10 Most Underrated Sci-Fi/Fantasy Shows
1. The Shannara Chronicles
Legendary author Terry Brooks created one of the longest running franchises in the fantasy genre in the Shannara series. It has spanned multiple trilogies and even a tetralogy of books and is generally considered one of the quintessential works belonging to this category. As such, you would imagine it was only a matter of time before it arrived on TV or film. And given the vastness of the lore, it had all the potential for a massive, sprawling epic that lasted years and years. Well, we only got a part of that.
The Shannara Chronicles debuted in 2016 and was based on the second book of the original trilogy. For the most part, the show was absolutely brilliant. It starts off at a breakneck pace as Elvin Princess Amberle Elessedil becomes the first woman to win the right to become a guardian of the sacred Ellcrys tree.
The tree unfortunately, was dying. As a result of its magic fading, it was also weakening a mystical prison known as the Forbidding, home to an army of demons and their leader, the Dagda Mor. Her path eventually leads her to Eritria, a thieving rover girl with a mysterious origin and Will Ohmsford, son of the legendary hero Shay and now the last son of Shannara.
Together, the trio undertake a journey to a secret place where they would find the means of reiving the Ellcrys. In season 2 the threat shifts from imprisoned demons to dead evil Warlocks as being that was believed dead at the hands of Will’s father and the Druid Allanon, gets resurrected by Allanon’s estranged student.
The story is packed to the brim with shocking deaths, gut wrenching violence and a fitting final sacrifice that provided a grand pay off to the plot in both seasons.
The only shame was the season was cancelled after two seasons because of low ratings. But bear in mind the drop in viewership was largely a result of the show getting shunted from MTV to Spike in its second season. It had the potential to reach comparable heights to some of the other famous fantasy shows, but unfortunately now, we will never know.