The Yule Lads
The purpose of this episode is to broaden mythos. As an added touch, it has the benefit of being the closest thing to a Christmas episode the series will probably ever get. Whenever such a holiday like that is involved, stories tend to bring out the best traits in a show. In this case, it applies the holiday spirit to the main endearing world-building elements commendably.
The sights of Trolberg covered in snow, people setting up decorations, and promise of a winter festival already bring a feeling of Christmas. Then the feeling stands as this show’s brand of mythos gets involved. The basis of the winter festival relates to Trolberg’s Sonstansil tree, which blooms once a year, giving cause for the people to have a party. Hilda and her fellow Sparrow Scout friends plan to sell broth and possibly get tips to buy gifts at the festival.
Along the way, they find a mysterious shack of what appears to be tiny figures in multi-colored outfits. These are the titular Yule Lads, and their merrymaking makes them seem like innocent holiday figures. It isn’t long though when something shady is revealed about them. They appear too keen about ‘naughty’ children, and you can tell that whatever they want with naughty kids can’t be good. Hilda doesn’t get a chance to explain about any naughty kids she knows with the festival imminent, but she does invite the Yule Lads to come along. While there, she does, in a way, help their cause by pointing out any naughty kids present at the festival, particularly a bully she met in her earlier days in Trolberg, Trevor. This is a huge cause for alarm as the Yule Lad leader perks with excitement at this reveal as well as hearing that adults can be naughty too, hearing Trevor gets it from his mother.
In between the festival scenes, there are examples of how complicated Hilda’s bond with her mother has become. There’s still good heart to be found where Johanna tells Hilda that doing naughty things sometimes doesn’t make you a bad person, and amuses her with a fascinating story. Still there are a few tensions between them in a notable scene where they argue about Hilda leaving used tea bags around. This incident causes her to vent about her mother in front of the Yule Lads, making her seem naughty to them. Shortly after, the Lads’ dark side is known as they proceed to capture the supposed ‘naughty’ people in sacks, including Johanna. There’s a dark turn too, for relating to the story Hilda heard the previous night, the Yule Lads work for a creature called Gryla who takes naughty people and turns them into stew. As Hilda and her friends rush to intercept the lads and save everyone, the Yule Lads start to seem very bad. In a twist though, they’re actually unfortunate victims of circumstance. They too were branded naughty by Gryla, and only agreed to work with her so she wouldn’t eat them.
Best of all, it’s not a bluff, as they go
along with Hilda’s plan to save everyone by giving Gryla a substitute for the
people, the Sparrow Scouts' broth. It
turns out to be enough to satisfy the creature’s appetite, and that in turn
brings the most endearing end you could want from a Christmas episode. The Sonstansil tree blooms, lots of people
are around to admire it, Hilda is able to get her mother the perfect gift,
and there’s great cheer all around. It
really shows how much of an influence Christmas has in this episode of warmth
and joy from everyone present. Working
well with the unique strengths of this show though makes it something all the
more special.
A+
Series
Ranking
1.
The
Deerfox
2.
The House in the Woods
3.
The Nightmare Spirit
4.
The Tide Mice
5.
The
Old Bells of Trolberg
6.
The
Fifty Year Night
7.
The Witch
8.
The Bird Parade
9.
The Yule Lads
10. The Midnight Giant
11. The Beast of Cauldron Island
12. The Eternal Warriors
13. The Windmill
14. The Troll Circle
15. The Hidden People
16. The Storm
17. The
Draugen
18. The Black Hound
19. The Troll Rock
20. The Lost Clan
21. The Sparrow Scouts
22. The Nisse
23.
The Ghost
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the tide mice return and lead to an incident involving the frequently seen snack, jorts.
If you would like to check out other Hilda reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment