Willow stars talk that epic training sequence, tease the finale

Warning: This article contains spoilers about Willow episode 7.

Between Willow and the Harry Potter movies, Warwick Davis has done his fair share of wand wielding.

But nothing quite prepared him to assume the role of sage elder in episode 7 of the Disney+ Willow series, as the titular character is tasked with training Elora Danan (Ellie Bamber) how to use her magic.

"I didn't think I'd ever see Willow in that kind of role," Davis tells EW (in part because despite a fervent fan base, the original film didn't earn the type of box office that begets sequels). "The last time I left him he had ambitions to be a sorcerer, to be High Aldwin. Now he's got somebody to train himself, even though I don't feel like he's fully accomplished as a sorcerer, which is quite interesting."

Willow's efforts to train Elora come to a head on an island in the Shattered Sea on their journey to the Immemorial City. The sequence erupts into a training montage as Kit (Ruby Cruz) and Jade (Erin Kellyman) spar for practice and the rest of the motley crew hone their own fighting skills.

Not only was Davis playing the elder wise teacher in the sequence, but he also had to impart some of his wisdom to the cast, a group predominantly made up of newcomers. "I get the process now, but that doesn't stop you feeling a bit ridiculous sometimes because you're on set waving around what is essentially a stick," he says with a laugh. "You have to believe that you are going to see lightning coming from the end of it. If you don't believe that as an actor, no one at home's ever going to believe that. You have to fully commit to it. Put all of that feeling silly to one side and go for it and believe in what you're doing wholeheartedly."

As they pieced together the magical scenes, the cast would go to Davis for advice. "I was the one that they turned to to understand magic — how would we use the wand and stuff," he explains. "We have our unique style in Willow, using the wand. On Harry Potter, [in which Davis portrayed Professor Flitwick], they used to refer to the wand use as the dance of the wand. They even employed a ballroom dancer to train us in the use of the wand. It had a very choreographed and graceful manner. The use of the wand and magic in Willow is a little more gung-ho. It's all free-form and improvised."

The montage is visually striking, cast against a sunset of orange, purple, and pink skies and spilling out into the shallow water that surrounds the island. Though Davis wasn't entirely fond of that aspect of the filming. "I got pretty wet during that sequence," he adds. "[Creator] John [Kasdan], in his wisdom, set it that we were knee deep in water the entire time. I was like, 'Why can't we be on the island doing this? Why am I standing out here?' Fortunately for me, taking all the falls was my son Harrison, who was my stunt double and stand-in on the series. He is exactly the same height as me, very physically able, and not 52. So, he was able to step in and take all of that for me."

For Jade and Kit, their sword fight isn't only about preparing for danger, but also a substitute for talking through their complicated feelings for each other (and it all culminates in an epic kiss). "It's so ironic because the way that they deal with their emotions or their intimate tension is to sword fight," Kellyman reflects. "They don't communicate very well. They can't really be honest with how they're feeling. Any tension that there is between them, whether that's romantic or that they're irritated with each other, they get it all out through sword fighting and that is what is happening here. Of course their first proper kiss would be after a sword fight."

Lucasfilm Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis)

But all the training in the world won't prepare any of them for what comes next. At the end of the penultimate season 1 episode, the ragtag group came to the edge of the Shattered Sea. While the rest of the party voted to turn back and throw in the towel, Elora decided to go over the edge and continue her mission to reach the Immemorial City and face the Crone.

Shockingly, Kit also followed her over the edge, bringing them to the fringes of the Immemorial City, which seems to now also be home to a much-changed Arik (Dempsey Byrk). After a journey fixated on herself and her resentments over her father's devotion to Elora, it was unexpected to see Kit make this choice.

"It took her losing all faith and all hope, in the world and in herself, at the end of 6," reflects Ruby Cruz. "This person, [Elora], who she thought she knew everything about defied all odds and saved Kit when she thought she was going to die. That really shook everything into perspective. In the beginning she has such a strong idea of who she is and who she's going to be and how she's going to go out and have this big adventure like her father. Everything is not how she expected it to be. She's very selfish in the beginning, and she finally accepts that it isn't all about her and that her purpose is to protect Elora like her father wanted. She's seen over and over again how her faith in Elora and Elora's faith in her have ended up really helping each other. She finally accepts that."

But what lies ahead for Elora and Kit, as well as the rest of the crew left behind at the edge of the cliff?

The last we saw of Jade, the loyal knight was ready to give up. "Two episodes ago, Jade found out that her entire life had been a lie and she gets to the end and it's literally the end," says Kellyman. "She's still a very practical person, and she can't physically see beyond this point. She's, emotionally and physically, completely exhausted."

But will the fact that Kit took this leap of faith change her mind? "There's a part of her that doubts that Kit will actually go over the edge," she adds. "But in episode 1 she says, 'Where the Princess goes, I go,' so that's all I'll say..."

The season's eighth and final episode promises an epic fight — for Elora and Kit certainly, but for whoever else follows them over the edge. "You can expect satisfying teamwork from our two heroines," teases Cruz. "She has nothing to lose anymore. She's like, 'This woman saved my life. I owe her something.' She's jumping off the cliff into the unknown, in a similar way to the beginning where she's ready to go off into the unknown. But she didn't have a plan and was aimless. Now, she's jumping off the cliff with Elora, to support each other and to save the world."

"You can expect the most epic magical fight you've ever seen," she teases. "And a very creepy Arik is waiting for her."

Kellyman also marvels at the eventful journey the characters and the show itself have taken. "The finale is the complete and utter opposite to everything in episode 1," she hints. "It honestly feels like a different show at that point. I don't think I've ever watched anything where the first episode is so different from the last. You get transported into a whole different world — and it's visual and emotional — and it's incredible."

The finale of Willow hits Disney+ on Jan. 11.

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