Into the Badlands 2X10 “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire” Review

In the Badlands, love creates, unites, and destroys in 2X10 “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire”

We have been anxiously awaiting the final showdown between Quinn and Sunny for the past ten weeks, and it finally arrived. After leaving the Sanctuary and tasking Bajie with saving M.K., Sunny heads back to Waldo’s storage shed and find his old clipper gear and bike. Traveling along familiar roads, he arrives just in time to save Lydia, who has been given a death sentence by her husband for trying to turn his soldiers against him. He leaves her with one of his blades and a newfound, mutual respect before returning to the task at hand. Managing to survive a hail of fiery arrows after arriving at the entrance of the new fort, Quinn rains concrete down upon him before leaving him for dead. Bajie arrives and pulls him from the rubble, and they join forces in taking down Quinn’s clippers.

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Aware that Sunny has escaped her grasp and attacking the young woman she once rescued from abuse, The Widow’s perfect facade has been ripped away. In a last ditched attempt to keep at least one trusted ally, she offers Waldo a baronship of his own, believing that he secretly wants the same thing she does. He quickly denounces her suggestion, making it clear that he always suspected power would corrupt her. Later, he helps free Bajie, Odessa, and Tilda from captivity and sends them out to safety, while The Widow focuses her attention on M.K. and the return of her gifts. She makes it clear she has every intention of restoring her gift, but does offer him a chance to fight her for his freedom.

“Winter is coming,” a wise (but very dead) man once said, and in “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire,” the caped spectre came for many in the Badlands. Go get yourself a pint (or a gallon, in our case) of ice cream, settle in, and let’s take a look at what went down!

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Tilda is alive but far from well, but still determined to do the right thing

After the insanely intense battle between Tilda (Ally Ioannides) and The Widow (Emily Beecham) last time, we were left wondering if the woman she called Mother had lost herself in her bid for power. We discovered that the regent did indeed survive the fight, but has been thrown in prison along with Bajie for her betrayal. While Waldo becomes completely disillusioned with his baron for her actions, Tilda is licking her wounds and shocked at how little she knows about this new Widow. Her salvation comes in the form of Odessa, who breaks her out of prison and reluctantly releases Bajie as well at her request. The three of them manage to drive away with Waldo’s help while disguised as cogs, and they part ways soon after. Bajie heads off to help Sunny, and the two women drive off into the unknown.

Tilda: “Where am I?”

Bajie: “Oh, let’s have a think. Uh, cold, dark, locked away? Seems like we found our way into The Widow’s heart.”

Tilda: “Who are you?”

Bajie: “I’m a friend of M.K.’s. Maybe the only friend he has left in the world, now that Sunny’s charged off to some tragically noble end. No thanks to you, of course.”

Tilda: “I would’ve never believed it. I would’ve never thought it was possible that she would hurt me.”

We definitely were ecstatic to see that Tilda had survived their confrontation, but the psychological damage that was done is more painful than any injury she sustained. The Widow swore to protect her and taught her to defend those weaker than her, but turned her back on Tilda the very first time her hypocritical actions are pointed out. Her touchstone is gone, and she is going to need time to heal both her physical and emotional wounds. This is a young woman who has grown into someone who truly lives by the ideals that The Widow claimed to believe in, and we doubt this will be the last time we’ll see Tilda. When season three arrives, we expect to see the ex-regent come back stronger and tougher, but with the same dogged determination that has made her a survivor all these years.

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Bajie continues to amaze us with his ability to con his way even out of death…for now

He’s escaped the Master twice, made it out of the mines, traversed the Outlying Territories in once piece, and even made it into the Badlands with nary a scratch on him. Having been captured by The Widow/Flea and tasked with translating the Azra book for her, we wondered just what trick Bajie (Nick Frost) had up his sleeve this time. When The Widow brings him out to see M.K., she also reveals that his true intention has always been to reunite the book with the compass so he can find Azra. When he is unable to deny the truth any longer, we see the first crack in Bajie’s mask. Realizing belatedly just how important M.K. and Sunny are to him, he sets out to right his wrongs.

Bajie: “Well, you look like dog shit.”

Sunny: “What are you doing here?”

Bajie: “I’ve never watched a man die alone before, I was curious. Come on.”

Sunny: “Is M.K. with you?”

Bajie: “I’m sorry. I couldn’t get him out. But I promise you, as soon as we rescue your family, we’re gonna go back for him, all right?”

Sunny: “No. This is my fight. Get out while you can.”

Bajie: “Well, it seems like we’re gonna die alone together.”

We were incredibly impressed by Nick Frost’s exhibition of martial arts skill during the attack on the fort, which is due in no small part to Stephen Fung’s fabulous fight direction. After assisting Sunny in fighting Quinn’s clippers, his redemption is cut short when he’s stabbed in the abdomen by an opponent. We see him bemoan the fact that he cannot reach Azra before saving the world, but later Bajie steals the clipper’s bike and rides off. Arriving at a communication tower, he once again surprises us by activating a signal for Azra before collapsing. With this being the last scene in the finale, we can only wonder why he spent his (possibly) dying breath getting there. Into the Badlands isn’t a show without its twists, turns, and cliffhangers, and we have plenty with Bajie alone! All we can say is, thank the totem gods for season three!

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Sunny reunites with his family,only to lose what he fought so hard to protect

It’s been an entire season of waiting for Sunny to reunite with his family, and tonight was his last chance. Heading into Quinn’s trap alone was reckless, but there’s no stopping a man like that when he’s on a mission. After it seems his rescue attempt is prematurely extinguished, Bajie surprises him by arriving to help. Together, they fight their way through the underground fort until they reach the room where Veil has spent most of her days. After a passionate reunion, Bajie sends them off to save their son from Quinn (Marton Csokas), who has kidnapped Henry and is trying to escape. The confrontation is as heated as expected, with Sunny keeping his former baron distracted so that Veil can retrieve Henry.

Sunny: “No…”

Quinn: “Give me Henry. And you can have Veil. But you can’t have both.”

Veil: “Take him. Take Henry and go. I love you, Sunny. Take care of our son. Our son.”

*Veil stabs herself and Quinn*

Sunny: “It’s okay. It’s okay. Henry’s here. He’s here.”

Veil: “Teach him to be good.”

Sunny: “I will. I’m so sorry.”

Our beloved trio had one, brief moment of happiness, and then Matt Lambert, Alfred Gough, and Miles Millar crushed our dreams. Simultaneous screams of horror filled the air when we watched Veil stabbed herself with Quinn’s sai as he held her captive against him. We wept right along with Sunny as they said their last goodbyes with Henry clutched between them. Madeleine Mantock’s achingly tender delivery of her last words tore into our hearts like the sharp blade that pierced Veil’s, and watching Daniel Wu’s face crumble as Sunny loses it broke us too. We are so conflicted over the loss of such an innocent life, especially at the hands of Quinn once more, and we will never get over this loss. With this kind of brutality happening in the Badlands, we are fearful for all our beloved characters when the next season arrives.

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Final Verdict: The only certainty in “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire,” is that death comes for us all

We’re secretly glad that there will be some time before season three comes along, because we’ll be reeling from the events of “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire” for weeks to come. There were two epic fight scenes under the expert direction of Stephen Fung, and they’re some of our favorites from the entire series so far. As much as we want to say we hate Matt Lambert, Alfred Gough, and Miles Millar for what they put us through this episode, we can’t. Without the unpredictability and rich material they bring, Into the Badlands would not have gained as loyal of an audience as it has.

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Considering this is a season finale, it’s not surprising that our minds are filled with questions. We’re obviously wondering how many people will stay dead this time around. After all, we were convinced Quinn died, and yet, here he was, wreaking havoc across the Badlands this season. We’re also curious why Bajie sent out the signal, and just will come looking for him soon. How will Sunny care for Henry without Veil? What will happen to Lydia, Jade, Tilda, and Odessa?

It’s not hard to guess that we’re most unhappy about losing Veil this episode, especially considering how many kill blows Sunny delivered to Quinn before it all went down. Unless the baron injected some adrenaline into his system before the fight, it’s highly unlikely that the amount of blood loss (not to mention the organ damage) he would have suffered would allow him to get right back up at the end with such strength. On top of that, how could Veil have not considered another way to escape his grasp other than piercing herself with the blade?? We’re also a little disbelieving that after hearing of Odessa’s betrayal that Tilda would so easily forgive her, especially having suffered a major psychological blow from The Widow making decisions on what’s best for her.

Obviously, these are small issues compared to the overall spectacular delivery of the season finale. We love the quiet moments, such as the one between Sunny and Lydia, as much as we did the dramatic ones, and the show achieved their goal of hooking us into season three with the cliffhangers and shocking deaths. Daniel Wu, Madeleine Mantock, and Marton Csokas delivered a breathtaking scene that we’ll remember forever, and we’ll be tuning in to see how they fill the absence next season.

With Quinn gone, The Widow only has one remaining baron in her way: Chau. Of course, Sunny is still in the game, but with Veil gone he must double down on protecting Henry at all costs. M.K. is once again in the hands of someone who is trying to control him for his gift, and Bajie, well, he’s Bajie. We aren’t going to count out the other fierce women we’ve loved this season, and it’ll definitely be interesting to see how things develop for Tilda, Lydia, and Jade.

To say that “Wolf’s Breath, Dragon Fire” was explosive is still an understatement. Not only did we get our wish of epic fights, dramatic cliffhangers, and clues to next season, we were also so emotionally invested in the characters by the end. If the show continues on this path, we have no doubt season three will be bigger and better!

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While we regroup and recover, let’s walk through the questions that remain…

• Who is really dead? Will Bajie, Veil, or heaven’s forbid, Quinn be back?
• With the book stolen by Bajie, how will The Widow reactivate her gift?
• What will happen to Waldo once The Widow finds out he let Bajie and Tilda go?
• Speaking of allies, how long do we think it will take before The Widow burns all her bridges?
• We know Tilda’s gone off to lick her wounds, but what will she do next?
• With Veil gone and a young infant to care for, how will Sunny get by?
• Will M.K. ever gain the freedom that he seeks? What about finally learning the real truth about his mother?
• Just what is Azra? Is it a place? Could it be a person? Why is it so important?
• Where does Chau fit into all of this? We’re assuming she’s still alive and furious, so…
• Could someone new rise to power in the Badlands? What about a new threat?
• WHEN WILL SEASON THREE AIR??!!