Galavant's Spectacular Finish to a Standout Second Season ("Battle of the Three Armies" / "The One True King (To Unite Them All)")

Image courtesy of Entertainment Weekly

Wow. Where do you even begin on such a finale?

At the beginning, I suppose, with the song I was waiting for all season.

Yes, the earworm recap theme was back, with Joker openly singing the plot of the entire season. It was a perfect Galavant moment, made even more perfect by the setting - Joker, alone between the armies of Hortensia and Valencia, serenading them all. And in fine Galavant fashion, the characters all acknowledged it was a great song.

That moment proved indicative of the entire two-part finale, with plenty of jabs and asides and lots of fourth-wall-breaking. We got the requisite jokes about whether they'll get picked up for a season three (sadly unlikely), but we also got some excellent self-referential humor (WELL WELL WELL).

It was nice to see all the plots wrap up. Galavant came to Isabella's rescue and, after much slapping, finally got to win her back. Gareth and Richard met on the battlefield, and Richard was able to immediately allay the feelings of guilt Gareth has been feeling. Madalena got her comeuppance for using the D'DEW, first by losing a heartbroken Gareth and then getting beaten by a pissed-off Isabella. Sid got to save the day, and we even got to see Chef and Gwen finally, used in a wonderful sight gag of the three armies converging on their hut as the battlefield.

But the standout character was and has always been Richard, and it was this week that drove home his heroic arc. Much to his surprise (and everyone else's, except perhaps Galavant), Richard does not die during the big battle. Instead, he stands up to Wormwood and faces the evil sorcerer/wedding planner down to win the day.

This season's finale was everything last season's wasn't, and that's likely because the show doesn't think the lightning of a renewal will strike twice. That's probably true, and if so, I can't think of a better way to end it than with Galavant and Isabella together, the wrongs of the world righted - and Richard feeding a fire-breathing, gigantic dragon named Tad Cooper.

Other Assorted Thoughts:

• Being a huge Lord of the Rings fan, I very much appreciated both the episode titles and Isabella's Theoden-esque speech to her troops.
• "Why do we need these? Are we not doing our own stunts?"
• The acknowledgement by Isabella's parents that there was no way the characters could die at the end of "Battle of Three Armies" was excellent, as was the deliberate cliffhanger cut-off. "Oh, please, this isn't Game of Thrones!"
• "Should I write you a theme song, my lord?" "SHUT UP MENKEN!" is probably my single favorite line of the series to date.
• I touched on this above but Richard finally got to use his "WELL, WELL, WELL" and it was so perfect.
• So great to see Weird Al and the Order of Our Father of Perpetual Refrain back.
• The final song, with Sid barely getting a line, was yet another example of the fine form of this episode.
• Despite my low expectations for the show getting renewed, they've left themselves a backdoor for a third season, with Gareth and Sid setting out to rescue Madalena from herself and Madalena arriving at the castle of the Dark Evil Lord (who is also a fashion consultant). 
• Finally, TAD MOTHERF***ING COOPER. My husband literally fell off our couch he was laughing so hard. Also - nailed it that Tad Cooper was actually a dragon, though I didn't get my moment of Tad Cooper saving the day.