*A mythical forest full of SPOILERS are ahead for the Netflix series Cursed and some spoilers from the book. *
Can we have Cursed Season 2 now? The latest fantasy Netflix series to drop on streaming left us with a ton of questions to wonder about after its shocking finale and we need to talk about it now. The exciting new take on the King Arthur legend followed Katherine Langford’s Nimue as she carried the powerful sword Devil’s Tooth to Merlin and became the queen of the Fey people. By the end of the series’ 10 episodes, the show created by Frank Miller and Tom Wheeler left a ton of loose ends. Let’s get to them here:
What Happened To Nimue At The End Of Cursed Season 1
The number one question on our brains after watching the end of Cursed would be the fate of Nimue. Katherine Langford’s sorceress character was shot with a number of arrows by Sister Iris while she was over a large body of water. After she plunges in, we see a series of shots of Nimue falling deeper into the water. But, there’s no way she’s dead right? Nimue is not only the protagonist of Cursed, but destined to become the Lady of the Lake. Readers of the book (Cursed is an adaptation) will have more clarity about Nimue’s fate. In the epilogue of Cursed, it is confirmed that she does survive and vows to be the guardian of the Sword of Power until “a true king rises to claim it.”
Her body is washed up “on a sandbar in the shadows of [...] the Minotaur Mountains” according to the text and “the arrow in her back had broken off to a stump.” The Cursed book also details that Nimue becomes surrounded by a mod of the lepers under King Rugen, who is the ruler Merlin stole Fey fire from earlier in the season. With these details in mind, it seems Nimue is inching closer to her destiny as the Lady of the Lake, who classically is known as the one who gives King Arthur the sword Excalibur. She could begin a second season (which has still yet to be announced) in a great deal of trouble since her father Merlin has wronged King Rugen.
What Is Next For Morgana?
The end of Season 1 left Shalom Brune-Franklin’s Morgana with an interesting storyline going forward that we’d be intrigued to see continue. After being introduced as a helpful nun to Nimue named Sister Igraine, we learn she is the sister of Arthur and has the power of sorcery with her as well. Morgana has the power to see between worlds as shown with her conversations with her late love Sister Celia after entering the ancient tunnels. Morgana became possessed by The Cailleach and killed the Widow and took her place. Since the Widow is the agent of death, where does this leave Morgana?
Morgana is certainly at the center of a lot of dark forces that have the potential to corrupt her into a villain in Season 2. After Sister Iris burned down the Church that was home to her killed Celia, she has alluded to a darkness she is feeling within her and her additional powers could amplify these emotions into something wicked. In Arthurian legend lore, Morgana (or Morgan le Fay) is an immensely powerful sorceress who has been known as both a friend to King Arthur and enemy to him and Merlin. Many iterations of her character have her unpredictably battling with her good and evil natures. That looks to be very much into play by the end of the first season of Cursed.
Is The Green Knight Really Dead?
One especially tragic moment in the Cursed season finale was the death of Matt Stokoe’s Gawain, aka the Green Knight, by the hand of the Red Paladins. In the show, Gawain is like a brother to Nimue and she is heartbroken by seeing his dead body, but she does enact some sort of spell on the knight that has him encased in a bed of greenery. It's true Nimue cannot revive someone when their injuries are too far along but it's possible Gawain could live another day with the help of some magic. Interestingly enough, Cursed is drawing on two different characters with Stokoe’s presence in the show.
He is based on the Arthurian poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and as the title suggests, the Green Knight and Gawain are classically two different characters. Sir Gawain is one of the Knights of the Round Table who accepts a challenge from a mysterious being called the Green Knight to strike him with an axe as long as he returns exactly one year later to receive a blow in return. Since Gawain has been placed in Nimue’s green spell, we're curious if he’ll become this mystical Green Knight and have a bigger part to play in Cursed.
What Does Sister Iris’ New Role Mean For The Fey?
At the end of Cursed, Sister Iris fulfills her goal to kill Nimue in order to carve her own place as a Red Paladin. She is given a gold mask and becomes a member of the Trinity Guard in the evil religious sect. She is named their “avenging angel” against the Fey people. The finale showed us that Iris is certainly a dark force to watch and the fact that she was able to train so quickly, actually get to Nimue and get away from Merlin unscathed is dangerously impressive. Not to mention Morgana’s previous mention of Iris being a real threat to begin with when they were nuns together.
Going forward, Iris and the Red Paladins will undoubtedly continue their war against the Fey people and without Nimue as their queen there’s a lot at stake. Oh and Iris has the upper hand since she spent time undercover with the Fey people. The Fey’s one saving grace while Nimue is presumably dead may be Morgana if she decides to act on revenge on Nimue and Celia. There’s a lot about Iris’ abilities we still feel in the dark about and are biting our nails in anticipation after the finale.
What About That Shocking Weeping Monk Twist?
One of the most intriguing curve balls the Cursed season finale threw at viewers was the reveal that the Weeping Monk’s real name is Lancelot. The character is known to be not only on the Knights of the Round Table but King Arthur’s most iconic companion. Daniel Sharman’s Weeping Monk spends a good chunk of Season 1 as an assassin hired by the Red Paladins to track and take down the Feys with his sharp skills. At the end of the series, we learn the Weeping Monk was born Fey himself and has been brainwashed since he was a kid. He ends up turning against the Paladins and riding a horse with young Squirrel, who we learn is Percival, another future Knight of the Round Table.
It all feels very Kylo Ren, but in another season of Cursed we may get a fleshed out redemption arc that wasn’t present in the Star Wars movies. It looks like the show may focus more heavily on Lancelot in a central role as he becomes a knight fighting on the side of the Feys and has the power to take the place of Gawain or Nimue while she’s gone. By way of legend, Lancelot was raised by the Lady of the Lake but since the timeline is off in this version, I could see the show positioning him as a second love interest for Nimue to compete with Arthur.
Where Does Arthur And Excalibur Fit In All This?
Cursed is the Lady of the Lake story, but even so her origins are heavily tied to the story of King Arthur and the prophecy for him to take Excalibur. As we left Arthur at the end of the season, he is in love with Nimue and does not look to be of the royal Pendragon lineage he is classically associated with. It feels like his journey to the crown is far off, if it happens in this new version but something important does take place for the character at the end of the season. He meets a Viking warrior princess who calls herself the Red Spear. She saves Arthur and the Fey on the season’s final battle.
In the Cursed book, the Red Spear is confirmed to be the material’s own take on Guinevere, who is destined to be Arthur’s truest love. Guinevere is also remembered for her affair with Lancelot. Even though the show itself doesn’t reveal this detail yet, it creates an interesting path for Arthur. Perhaps believing Nimue is dead, he will find solace in Guinevere, charting the fated path for Nimue without him. How he will become king or be associated with Excalibur is a big question we’ll be looking out for.
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more on Cursed and other ending breakdowns.
