Wolf King is Netflix’s CGI adaptation of the Wereworld books by British author Curtis Jobling. It is set in a fantasy land called Lyssia, where noble houses have the power to transform into half-animal hybrids. A farmboy named Drew Ferran (Cel Spellman) learns that he is the last of the wolflords, and Lyssia’s only hope of overthrowing the usurper king, the lionlord Leopold (Ralph Ineson).
The show feels a lot like a kid-friendly version of Game of Thrones: it has plenty of political intrigue, dark themes and atmosphere, plenty of deaths, and the major houses are all animal-themed. As its second and final season comes, it’s as good a time as any to look back on Season 1 and see how those episodes compare to one another. This list will rank every episode of Season 1 of Wolf King based on their importance to the plot, animation, voice acting, and overall quality.
8
Ep 5, “Return to Motley”
With Drew sick after being bitten by the ancient snakelord Vala, boarlord Hector (Chris Lew Kum Hoi) and foxlord Gretchen (Georgia Lock) go to his hometown of Motley to stock up on supplies. The return is a risky one due to the townspeople’s distrust of Drew, and the venom inflaming Drew’s temper as his animal side goes berserk. Meanwhile, Hector’s ambitious younger brother, Vincent (Colin Ryan), asks the king for permission to court the bearlord Lady Whitley (Nina Barker Francis).
“Return to Motley” isn’t a bad episode, but several details drag it down. The B-plot is your standard rebellious princess who doesn’t want to marry and be made a proper lady story, and Motley feels a little wasted due to how few characters Drew interacts with. Still, Drew succumbing to his animal side offers some compelling drama, as does his interaction with his childhood friend, Erin (Kim Adis). All in all, “Return to Motley” is more of a setup episode for the future, which it does well, but feels a little lackluster after the previous intensity.
7
Ep 2, “Brackenholme”
Drew’s arrival at Brackenholm results in his imprisonment at the orders of Duke Bergan (Paterson Joseph) to keep him safe while Prince Lucas (Tom Rhys Harries) is in the city for a banquet celebrating his betrothal to Gretchen. However, the longer the lions remain in Brackenholme, the more dangerous things become as Whitley tries to stand up for her people, and Drew tries to break free and speak to Bergen now.
As the second episode, “Brackenholme,” dedicates a lot of its runtime to establishing important characters and lore. It does its job well, establishing Hector as the intellectual heart of the team and both Lucas and Hector’s master, Vankaskan (Rob Rackstraw), as villains we’re going to love to hate. It even has some action when Drew works to escape his cell, though it’s not as good as some of the show’s later battles.
6
Ep 3, “The Caged Beast”
Lucas is enraged to learn that Bergan was holding a wolflord prisoner, who could only be the son of the previous king, Wergar, and thus a threat to the lionlord’s rule. Lucas pushes the wedding forward so he can return to Highcliff with Drew as his prisoner, so Whitley and Hector have to work fast to free him. Meanwhile, Gretchen arrives with Hector’s aging father, Baron Huth (David Yip), and Vincent, who makes it clear that he plans to steal Hector’s birthright and become the next Baron of Redmire when their father dies.
With the setup out of the way, “The Caged Beast” can get right into the meat of the story, and it wastes no time in doing so. It mixes in lots of political intrigue with Vincent’s ambition and the delicate tightrope Bergan has to walk between loyalty to Wergar’s memory and his duty to protect his city. The end of the episode also serves as a great point of no return, and reveals what kind of countermeasures the lions have to ensure their rule is unchallenged.
5
Ep 1, “The Rise of the Wolf”
On the night of a Hunter’s Moon, Drew finds himself going through strange changes, and his mother, Tilly (Kate Fleetwood), tries to tell him something important. Sadly, she is killed by a ratlord, and Drew’s father and brother accuse him of murdering her. Drew is forced to flee into the Direwood to fulfill his mother’s last request: to find Duke Bergen.
“The Rise of the Wolf” is the longest episode in the show, allowing it to get through the necessary establishments of character and world without feeling like exposition dumps. While the beginning in Motley can feel rushed, it helps to capture Drew’s confusion and fear. Speaking of fear, the episode establishes a forbidding atmosphere that dips into horror in places, such as the attacks on Drew’s home and the introduction of the horrific Wyldermen.
4
Ep 7, “Chained”
Drew is handed over to King Leopold, who declares that he shall be executed the same day as Lucas and Gretchen’s wedding. Duke Bergen meets up with the staglords Manfred (Peter Serafinowicz) and Mikkel (Rasmus Hardiker), but their attempt to free Drew fails when he turns himself in so that nobody will die because of him. For her part in the attempted mutiny, Whitley is sent to attend to Queen Amelie (Kate Fleetwood), who is trapped in a magical trance.
“Chained” does a great job building a hopeless atmosphere. Drew’s good heart sees him resign to death despite the efforts of his friends and allies to help him, and the revelation of Queen Amelie’s fate is nothing short of horrific. It’s even worse when Lucas implies that a similar fate might befall Gretchen once they’re married, which finally shatters the young foxlord’s fairy tale idea of her life as the future queen.
3
Ep 8, “The Fall of the Lion”
Held at bladepoint by his father and brother, all Drew can do is tell them the truth about what happened that terrible night. They spare him, but the next day it’s revealed that Leopold has decided Drew shall be executed via molten silver. Meanwhile, Hector and Whitley give Amelie a potion to snap her out of her trance, turning the execution into a full-blown rebellion.
“The Fall of the Lion” is a great climax for Season 1. Each of the characters has a satisfying conclusion to their arc, from Gretchen choosing her friends over queenship, Bergan finally going public with his true loyalties, and Drew finally learning to control his wolf during his battle with his mother’s killer, Vanmorden (Rob Rackstraw). It ends on a satisfying cliffhanger that leaves you feeling excited and worried about what Season 2 will bring.
2
Ep 6, “The Maelstrom”
Following a clue hidden by Drew’s mother, he, Hector, and Gretchen seek out Count Vega (David Dawson), the sharklord of the Cluster Isles turned pirate. He agrees to teach Drew how to control his inner beast aboard his ship, the Maelstrom. Meanwhile, Bergan and Whitley arrive at Highcliff at the behest of King Leopold, and Whitley’s defiance against Prince Lucas leads to consequences.
Vega is a huge reason for “The Maelstrom’s” success: he is everything you could hope for in a gentleman pirate, with plenty of charisma, helpful wisdom, and an unpredictable nature. The B plot in Highcliff is also good, both for showing King Leopold in all his glory and for showing Whitley the price of foolish rebellion against those in power. Even Hector gets a touching scene where he tries to speak to the ghost of his father.
1
Ep 4, “The Wyrmwood”
Forced to flee from Lucas and his men, Drew, Hector, and an unwilling Gretchen flee Brackenholme downriver into the Wyrmwood. Gretchen tries to abandon the boys the first chance she gets, but is captured by Wyldermen servants of Vala, a snakelord who has long since given in to her animal side. With no leads on how to find her, Hector is forced to use forbidden magic to save Gretchen before she is sacrificed.
“The Wyrmwood” is by far the best episode in terms of pace, structure, and atmosphere. It spends very little time away from Drew’s story, allowing for plenty of time for him, Hector, and Gretchen to develop their relationships and roles in the trio. As for the atmosphere, it’s even more terrifying than “The Rise of the Wolf,” with dark magic rituals, more Wyldermen, and Vala using mist to come at the characters as if she is seasoning her meal with their fears.
