REVIEW -- Unicorn: Warriors Eternal (Season One, Episodes 1-10)

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is an American adult animated fantasy television miniseries created by Genndy Tartakovsky and aired on Cartoon Network's night-time programming block Adult Swim. The series stars the voices of Hazel Doupe, Demari Hunte, and Tom Milligan. The visuals of the series are heavily influenced by the works of Osamu Tezuka and Max Fleischer.

Tartakovsky originally conceived Unicorn: Warriors Eternal in his early days at Cartoon Network Studios. The series took almost 20 years to get made, with Tartakovsky pitching it to various studios with little to no success. It was eventually picked up by Cartoon Network and HBO Max and was publicly announced in October 2020. It is produced by Cartoon Network Studios, with animation services by Studio La Cachette in France and Studio Zmei in Bulgaria.

Unicorn: Warriors Eternal was originally set to air on Cartoon Network as part of its ACME Night programming block but was eventually moved to Adult Swim. The first two episodes premiered on May 5, 2023, and released on HBO Max the following day. The first season concluded on June 30, 2023.

Cast and characters

The Order of Unicorn

• Hazel Doupe as Emma Fairfax, the daughter of the wealthy Fairfax family and the current host of the soul of Melinda, a powerful sorceress. However, due to the early reawakening of Melinda from circumstance, both Emma and Melinda's personalities conflict with each other, and she ends up losing control of her powers during any form of emotional outburst.

  • Grey DeLisle as the original Melinda. DeLisle also voices June Way, a mysterious kitsune somehow connected to the Evil who can appear in a small or large quadruped form or take the form of an anthropomorphic fox woman, and Clarice Leydoux, a member of the "Reawakened" who claims to be descended from a prior host of Melinda.

  • Marley Cherry Hilborne as a child version of the original Melinda, who was inadvertently responsible for the creation of the Evil.

• Demari Hunte as Alfie, an orphan who lived in the remains of an abandoned school and the current host of the soul of Seng, a cosmic monk.[3] Being reincarnated in a child has made the cosmic plane too much to comprehend, leaving him in a dream-like stupor, though he eventually comes round.

  • Alain Uy as the original Seng. He is credited as "Ancient Egypt Seng". Uy also voices Lao Xi Sheng, a member of the "Reawakened" who claims to be descended from a prior host of Seng.

  • Victor Alli as an adult version of Alfie in the cosmic realm.

• Tom Milligan as Dimitri Dynamo, a street magician and the current host of the soul of Edred, an elf warrior. Unlike the others, Dimitri managed to retain most of Edred's memories and power, though he admits even his mind feels "clouded".

  • Jacob Dudman as the original Edred. He is credited as "Ancient Egypt/Original Edred".

• Copernicus, a steam-powered robot who brings the three souls together throughout history, but in the present of 1890 was forced to do so earlier than usual.

Recurring

• Jeremy Crutchley as Merlin, the legendary wizard of the court of King Arthur, and the one who first brought the Order of the Unicorn together. It was Merlin who discovered Copernicus during a quest through time. He is later revealed to be Melinda's father.

• George Webster as Winston, Emma's childhood sweetheart and fiancé. He is later bitten and turned into a werewolf during his search for Emma.

• Ron Bottita as Lord Edward Fairfax, Emma's father.

• Rosalind Ayres as Lady Katherine Fairfax, Emma's mother. Ayres also voices Agatha, the mayor of London and Inspector Hastings' mother.

• Gildart Jackson as Inspector General Hastings, the head of the police investigating the supernatural goings on in London.

• Peta Johnson as Morgan, the legendary sorceress and Melinda's mother, inadvertently turned into the core of the entity known as the Evil.

• Sunkrish Bala as Rakshasa, a Bengal tiger demi-god who protected the Indian jungle.

Episode sUMMARIES

*** WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW ***

Episode 1: "The Awakening" (Part 1)

Part 1: The Unicorns battle an evil spirit in ancient Egypt. Before its defeat, the Evil injures Melinda and escapes. Merlin arrives and summons the mute, steam-powered robot Copernicus from the future, and plans to reincarnate the souls of the Unicorns into the future to continue the fight. In 1890, Copernicus activates and fights off automatons who desecrate his grave. Copernicus then ventures into the steampunk city of London and forcibly transforms a young aristocrat—Emma Fairfax into Melinda, at her wedding, before she can marry her betrothed, Winston. Now suffering from amnesia and split personality, Emma looks to Copernicus for answers.

Episode 2: "The Awakening" (Part 2)

Part 2: Melinda/Emma and Copernicus arrive at the orphanage where Copernicus transforms one of the orphan ruffians, Alfie, into the Cosmic monk Seng. Alfie's childhood persona starts to deteriorate Seng's capabilities and cosmic awareness. As they venture across the city, Melinda/Emma stumbles upon an amateur illusionist, Dmitri, which causes Copernicus to transform Dmitri into the Elven warrior Eldred. Both Seng and Edred remember their past selves and are surprised to learn that Melinda/Emma has no memory of hers. Their conversation is interrupted by the deceased Royal Indian Elephant, Lulu, summoned by a mysterious Fox Woman to test the Unicorns' ability. The team is overwhelmed by Lulu's strength until Winston's arrival (who was looking for Emma) prompts Melinda/Emma to summon Melinda's power to destroy Lulu—but it results in mass casualties and destruction in the process. Ashamed of injuring Winston, Melinda/Emma lashed out at the trios and flies off while the Fox Woman observes the entire event and ominously predicts that their current selves are their last reincarnation.

Episode 3: "A Fateful Encounter"

The Evil's automatons ambush and raid a shipment of Greek warrior statues. Following the Unicorns’ battle with Lulu and Melinda’s/Emma’s actions, Scotland Yard chief Inspector General Hastings denies to the press the existence of magic, believing the Unicorns are a trouble-making gang of parlor trick practitioners. Subsequently, numerous magicians, illusionists, and spiritual practitioners are arrested including two members of the Reawakened. Meanwhile, Melinda/Emma tries to sort out everything she’s going through in Emma's life—having run-ins with her desperate parents, finding Winston at the hospital, and then being chased by the police. Continuing to flee, she meets a fake medium who unintentionally does help draw out Melinda's spirit, allowing Emma to finally confront Melinda for the first time. Arguing over the control of their body, Emma demands Melinda leave her body to get her own life back, while Melinda insists on the importance of her own calling and demands Emma relinquish herself. At that moment, after being briefly chased by the police, Copernicus, Seng, and Edred, who were tracking Melinda/Emma, arrive, causing Melinda's soul to return to Emma's body. Suddenly, the animated Greek statues arrive, and while the rest of the Unicorns engage them, Emma refuses to let herself and Melinda get involved unless Melinda leaves Emma's body. But due to the increasing danger, she reluctantly and begrudgingly allows Melinda to unleash her power, finishing the fight. However, due to Seng's connection to the cosmic realm, Seng is attacked by Evil through the cosmic realm, disguised as a nine-tailed fox he encountered earlier. Meanwhile, Edred spots the fox woman standing on a rooftop glaring down at them.

Episode 4: "What Lies Beneath"

With Seng defeated in the cosmic realm and rendered briefly unconscious, the Unicorns discover the fox woman is linked to the Evil and pursue it, but are lured onto an old galleon ship with a magic barrier that negates Seng's connection to the cosmic realm, and are cast away into the open seas. Due to Emma's reluctance to try unleashing her full power after inadvertently nearly harming innocents during the chase, Melinda/Emma is unable to use it to free the Unicorns from the ship, so they search for another way off. During the search, Melinda/Emma and Edred meet with the unexpected arrival of Winston. Winston and Edred's argue over their respective love for Melinda and Emma, which starts to discomfort Melinda/Emma. The trio's argument is interrupted and they are attacked by the haunted ghost ship. Meanwhile, Copernicus and Seng discover that due to Seng's connection to the cosmic realm, Seng's existence conversely also depends on the cosmic realm. With the barrier negating said connection, Seng's very existence begins to fade away as he gradually becomes incorporeal. Copernicus and Seng are ambushed by undead pirates, which they fight off as Seng's body continues to fade. Melinda/Emma, Edred, and Winston flee back to Copernicus and Seng on the deck of the ship, but it grabs Melinda/Emma and pulls her back below deck engulfing her in a swirl of wind and debris. As she screams in pain, Melinda/Emma experiences a flash of Melinda's memory, causing her to lash out and free herself, which inadvertently summons an octopus monster that destroys the ship's magic barrier—incapacitating the undead pirates and restoring Seng's connection to the cosmic realm. However, the monster goes on a rampage—destroying the ship and another nearby ship, and the Unicorns fly off to stop the creature—leaving Winston behind, though he is determined to follow.

Episode 5: "The Past Within"

The Evil feels overpowered by Melinda's powers and questions her own fate, before the octopus monster attacks where she is. The Evil flees as the Unicorns arrive to fight the monster. As the Unicorns try to send the monster away from the city, Edred demands Melinda/Emma use her powers to banish the creature but she is hesitant to do so. As Melinda/Emma begins to unleash Melinda's powers once more, the octopus monster suddenly swats her away, where she crashes into a building and loses consciousness. While unconscious, Emma's persona wakes up and meets Melinda's younger self. Melinda tells Emma that she (Melinda) was born with powerful magic and was advised by her father to keep it secret and not use it. Meanwhile, Winston, who was left stranded at sea by the Unicorns, finds an old fisherman's boat. The reclusive fisherman frantically stops Winston from getting onto his vessel and warns him not to return. Afterward, the fed-up Winston returns to the boat only to discover the fisherman is a werewolf that bites him before he escapes. Melinda decides to help Emma return home and takes Emma to her father's study only to discover her father is Merlin. Merlin arrives at his office after Melinda accidentally opens the portal. As Merlin observes Emma's presence, he explains that Emma had time traveled from the future by accident. Morgan le Fay, Melinda's mother, arrives at their doorstep. When Melinda lets out that she has magic (which Merlin had told her to keep a secret), Morgan angrily scolds Merlin and decides to take Melinda's powers to ensure her daughter's safety—which Merlin opposes. Melinda chooses to keep her powers, repelling and overpowering her mother's magic. As a result, Melinda's powers transform Morgan into the Evil that we see in the future, leaving Merlin heartbroken. Melinda/Emma regains consciousness in the future and rejoins the fight, but gets distracted by Merlin's last words—an accusation implying she did something horribly wrong. While distracted, the octopus monster shatters Copernicus into pieces—which causes Melinda/Emma to unleash her powers and obliterate the octopus monster.

Episode 6: "The Mystery of Secrets"

Following the aftermath of the Octopus monster rampage, the mayor of London demands Hastings about the incident. Sailor Jim, who was secretly paid from the benefactor, informs them that he spotted a Fox from the dock and located her hideout at the abandoned church. As the Scotland yard arrives at the church, the Fox ambushes them and quickly escapes, feeling betrayed. The Unicorns try seeking help from a robot factory on repairing Copernicus but remain helpless. Seng ventures into the sea of time to find answers on reactivating Copernicus. With Seng's departure, Melinda/Emma and Edred are invited by the automaton butler, Dashwood, to help repair Copernicus. Dashwood transports them to an isolated lab and introduces his inventor and benefactor Otto who is willing to fix Copernicus, while implying to invent him later on. During their wait, Emma tries to reach out and reason with Melinda over what happened in the past not being her fault, but Melinda not only would not allow it but also wants nothing to do with Emma at all. Otto successfully rebuilds Copernicus but his consciousness remained mysteriously powerless. The Fox attacks them and Melinda clashes with it allowing Edred to use his sword Twillion to truly vanquish the Evil once again. Seng returns from the cosmic realm and revealed Edred's knowledge on fixing Copernicus, confirming they must travel to Edred's home, along with a cryptic message, "The blood to remake will flow for all time."

Episode 7: "The Heart of Kings"

In the past, the King Elf of the Northern Elves and the Eastern elves's regent Thraen set up an arranged marriage to secure their alliances. Edred, being the eldest son of the King, was disapprove to marry Threan's daughter and chose to leave his proposal over his love for Melinda. In the present, the Unicorns arrive at the forest, which is destroyed. After encountering Eastern and Northern elves in territorial conflict, Edred is reunited with his younger brother Aelwulf. Aelwulf informs Edred following his departure half of the forest was destroyed, the two elf tribes went to war, the king has grown weaker through his ancestral sleep, and Thraen stole the heart of the forest to obtain power, so Edred agrees to stay and fix the unbroken line. While the rest of Unicorn are put in a cell, they reunite with Merlin who was arrested for his accusation on Edred's departure. The Unicorns inform Merlin that the Evil is defeated, and Copernicus remains inactive which Edred choose to retrieve the heart. Enraged by Edred's departure from the wedding, Gobi, Twillion's swordsmith, summons the sword and keep it in case Edred returns from his exile. Edred threatens Gobi to return Twillion and acknowledge Gobi's promise for his hospitality. Gobi reluctantly returns the sword and strips Twillion's magic informing Edred that it will restore itself as Edred fulfills his oath. Emma convinces Melinda to reconcile with Merlin after what happened with Morgan, and scolds Merlin for blaming his daughter when in fact he himself, the greatest wizard, could not stop this while Melinda was only a child. Realizing his error, Merlin apologizes to Melinda and their relationship is restored. With Seng manages to free everyone from the cell, Merlin sees where Edred is and takes them all to him. Edred and Aelwulf learns that Thraen hired a necromancer to bestow the heart for himself, where the cryptic message Seng recited is in fact the necromancer's spell. After defeating Thraen and the necromancer, Edred recovers the heart and fulfills his oath, restoring the forest in the process. This allows Merlin to revive Copernicus from his magic and the restored heart. However, it turns out the Evil is not yet destroyed, evident by how only after it is destroyed do the Unicorns' souls return to Copernicus until the Evil returns again. Since Edred is having trouble facing parallel lives, the Unicorns devise a plan by reincarnating Aelwulf's soul into Edred's original body and fake his death to help maintain the unbroken line while Edred can remain in his host's body. Aelwulf gives Twillion to them leaving Edred despondent for his self-imposed exile. Merlin suddenly leaves to track down the Evil, promising to return.

Episode 8: "Darkness Before the Dawn"

While they are on the train, Edred is still upset that he can't go home again and his own body is no longer with him. He begins to question what will happen to them once they successfully destroy the Evil. They suddenly hear a commotion and they run to see an attack by a werewolf, who is revealed to be Winston. Melinda accuses Edred who left him stranded instead of placing him to safety. Winston tells them what happened and is now cursed to be a werewolf, Winston says this is a good thing as he is part of the group so he can be with Emma. Merlin arrives and tells them the Evil is Otto and they go to the jungle, Merlin informed them as he continues his search, he joins up with the guardian spirit Rakshasa and destroys Otto's ship by which he didn't mention what happened to them in the end. Merlin decides to splits the group up to investigate the wreckage. As Edred and Winston go together, Winston confronts Edred of his actions but because of Edred he has become one of them now, Edred then tells him once they leave their hosts Emma becomes normal again while Winston has his curse, their arguing leads them to a fight. Seng and Copernicus discovers the deceased bodies of Rakshasa and Otto, which the Rakshasa's soul reveals to Seng not everything is as it seem. Melinda asks Merlin to remove Winston's curse for Emma's sake. However, Merlin has been possessed by the Evil and begins attacking Melinda causing Winston and Edred's to stop their fight and regroup with Seng and Copernicus.

Episode 9: "A Love's Last Light"

Sometime earlier in the timeline, Edred and some of the soldiers in his kingdom are chasing after Melinda. As he is running, he tells his trusty sword that a great evil has entered his kingdom. Suddenly, he gasps when he sees a strange creature shrouded in magic. However, they are caught by surprise when, to the side, a creature shrouded in cyan magic with green and yellow highlights tries to attack them. In the nick of time, Melinda saves Edred and the two elf soldiers that were accompanying him. Meanwhile, electricity crackles as Merlin wields his staff to also attack the aforementioned creature. Melinda and Edred but heads, with the latter of which refuses to not help out. So he uses Twilion to try and land some attacks on The Evil. The creature howls in pain, and not long after Melinda and Merlin attack it, it explodes. Eventually, Merlin explains to Edred, that what he just helped them defeat is an evil entity that devours souls and drains the energy from all it can find. He further states that while they may have destroyed it for now, it will return. In the present day, Edred wakes up and sees both Copernicus and Seng attacking the possessed Merlin. But it is no use, as he conjures up force fields. Winston, in his werewolf form, tries to help but is quickly pushed to the side. Eventually, Edred has Seng, Copernicus and Winston join him in an all out coordinated attack on Merlin. Their teamwork pays off as Melinda manages to escape The Evil’s clutches. Without missing a beat, she attacks him, but rather than being defeated, the possessed Merlin comes across broken Otto-Mans, which he reanimates and makes them work for him instead. That also proves useless as Melinda uses her magic to take all out simultaneously. Eventually, The Evil finds a way to get the upper hand, and leaves Merlin’s body and uses Seng’s connection to the cosmic realm to its advantage. Then, The Order of Unicorn along with Merlin and Winston are forcibly taken to the aforementioned cosmic realm. Winston freaks out as he is unable to initially talk and can only bark. Much to Merlin’s shock, when they get there, Raksasha is fighting the evil alongside an older Alfie atop a lion despite the Hindu spirit being dead back in the real world. Rakshasa eventually tells Merlin and the others that they are safe for now. Merlin eventually tells his ally that it is good to see him, and the Hindu spirit says the same. Edred and Melinda go on to ask Seng why he is so old, and he explains that they have been waiting twenty years, fighting from the very moment it found entry into the Cosmic Realm through his younger self. The older Seng then states that Rakshasa saved him, and together, they have been trying to stop it ever since with no success. When Winston remarks that when they last saw him he was still a young kid, the older Seng explains that time can have different meanings in the cosmic realm. For some, one minute could be a lifetime. Unfortunately, the Evil is all around them now and it has been devouring everything in its path. Furthermore, it now controls all the beings, the terrain, and soon, the very notion of time and space. Rakshasa then goes on to say that as a result, all that was, and all that will be, shall never be again. Merlin summarizes it by saying that it will be the complete end of everything. Later, Edred finds himself alone as Rakshasa and Merlin are busy trying to see it into the future and see how it plays out. While Melinda is with Winston, who is still in his werewolf form, he excitedly tells her that his canine teeth are razor sharp. He then jokes that it is a wonder he doesn’t bite his tongue with them all the time. He sees how happy this version of Melinda is, and it reminds him of what he once had with her.

In the past, Melinda comes into Edred’s bedroom, but not long after Twillion tries to attack her, which wakes up the Elf prince. Melinda begrudgingly explains that Merlin sent her in order to recruit him into a team that will swear to protect the world from the clutches of the evil entity they faced before. Edred then suggests that perhaps if there were more of them, their victory against the evil entity would be more assured. Back in the present, Melinda eventually explains to Winston that she feels like she is neither his Emma nor Edred’s version of Melinda. But rather, she has become someone new. He suggests calling her by a different name, perhaps one that combines both Emma and Melinda. Not long after, the evil entity manages to find them, and Merlin remarks how it had never possessed such power. Everyone launches an all out attack, and Merlin tells the Hindu Spirit that he could not see beyond this moment they find themselves at. To which Rakshasa states that perhaps it is a sign that their destiny is not yet written. Which leads Merlin to exclaim that they shall create a destiny that will echo throughout eternity. Melinda in particular goes all out, but ends up getting trapped in The Evil’s magic.She shrieks in pain, and eventually Melinda and Emma are separated into two different beings. The Evil throws Melinda one way and Emma onto the other. Elsewhere, a fire is crackling in the chimney of Emma’s parents. Lady Fairfax urges her husband to go to bed. But he tells his wife that he can’t think of sleep, when they don’t know where their Emma is. Much to their shock, Emma crashes onto their floor. Emma freaks out saying she has to go back because they need her.

Episode 10: "The End of the Beginning"

Emma is still reeling from being separated from Melinda and being back with her mom and dad, who tried to calm her down. She initially tries to leave her parent’s home, but her dad stops her, and drags her upstairs, urging her to forget everything that happened since that terrible robot took her away. Later, Emma wakes up after dreaming that Melinda is in pain. She gets out of her room and manages to escape before her parents notice. Eventually, she makes it to Mystic Row, and comes across Darvish, who tells her he is just a shop owner from Birmingham, and can’t conjure magic. Eventually, the shop owner tells Emma that nothing on Mystic Row is real, that everyone who works there, including the three-eyed dog, are charlatans. Not long after, Clarice Leydoux and Lao Xi Sheng offer to help her. They explain that they descend from hosts of the warriors that were once assembled by Merlin. They both continue by pointing out that naturally, because of their lineage, they thought they would be chosen. So they had spent a big part of their lives training and preparing to be called upon. Clarice remarks that while they don’t have magic themselves, there are objects that can. Later, Emma with the help of Clarice and Lao Xi Sheng arrive in the Elvish kingdom. But they are stopped in their tracks by Northern Clan Elves. Emma gets out of the vehicle she is on, and demands to speak with King Edred. Initially, he is reluctant to help, as the Heart of the Forest has just healed; but after Emma vows to tell the others the secret of how it is Aelwulf in Edred’s body, he relents. With one last plea, Emma is helped by the Heart of the Forest, and is transported back into the Cosmic Realm.

The first person she reunites with is Winston who urges her to be quiet as it can see and hear everything. Winston goes on to reveal to Emma that for them, it has been four years since they last saw her. In all this time, they have barely managed to hold on. But not everyone has made it out unscathed as the Rakshasa is gone, believed to be dead. Adult Alfie then remarks how Emma has done the impossible as she has found a way back. The others then explain that The Evil has drained the power from the Cosmic Realm, so Emma is too late. So now all of space and time is under its control. Merlin then mentions how even when the Rakshasa unleashed its full power, it didn’t matter; as The Evil seemingly just obliterated him. Edred dejectedly states that they have lost. Emma then has the idea that even though it sounds crazy, what if they all become one to fight The Evil. Emma points out that when she and Melinda became one, she found power greater than she had ever possessed. Merlin thinks it is madness, but Emma doesn’t back down, and says that it is the one thing that makes the most sense. Emma continues that the day in the church unleashed a chain of events that have altered the world. So there’s a reason why they are all here at this very moment. Copernicus initially refuses, for he fears it will be too much for her. But eventually Emma convinces him, as it is their duty as members of The Order of Unicorn. Not long after, Emma and Melinda reunite; and after that, Winston, Merlin, Edred and Seng join Melinda and Emma, and become one being with Copernicus' help. 

Melinda and the others break inside The Evil’s domain together, and begin destroying it from the inside. With The Evil almost destroyed, Edred urges Melinda to finish it once and for all. Yet Melinda can’t after the voice of her mother yells out to her telling her daughter to help her. Morgan and Melinda reunite after all these years, but Melinda is unable to help her; as her mother is The Evil’s heart. The Evil then disappears, and the united Unicorn members separate with Seng back to his normal child self. Winston asks if it's over, but Melinda tells that nothing is over; and that this is just the beginning. When they return to their world, dragons and dinosaurs run rampant. Merlin then remarks how nothing will be as it was or as it would have been. As a volcano erupts, and a pterodactyl chases after a futuristic airplane, Merlin states that The Evil has changed everything. Resolute, Melinda says that none of it matters, and they will face anything from any time. That they will not stop until they find her mother.

The Verdict: 

After the successful revival and conclusion to Samurai Jack and the award-winning success of the adult-action thriller, PRIMAL, Genndy Tartakovsky has a rather impressive resume as of late in terms of bringing hits to Cartoon Network. It's crazy to read that it took over twenty years for Unicorn: Warriors Eternal to be greenlit after being pitched to several networks over the years until Cartoon Network gave it a chance as part of it's Adult Swim block with repeat airings showing up as a lead-in for the Saturday evening Toonami block and premieres being available on the MAX streaming app the day after they premiered on Adult Swim. 

The visual style of this series is something that is an acquired taste as it's something that you have to get used to as I would be lying if I didn't admit that I wasn't completely sold onto this change of direction for this series when Tartakovsky has grown to make his works a bit more realistic over the years. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal goes deep into visual inspirations and influences from the Max Fleischer-era of cartoons right down to the character designs and their mannerisms of how they convey emotion. As a result, you have a much more expressive visual style of cartoon, especially for one geared towards adults (that's not specifically comedic in nature) and more action-oriented. When this show cranks up the action, it really goes all out and doesn't take anything away from this unique visual style. In fact, it adds more to it, especially when facting in what Tartakovsky has learned from his work on Sym-Biotic Titan, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (miniseries), and PRIMAL over the past two decades. 

Characters

Visually, Melinda's appearance remind me a lot of the same visual effects/animation used for Demongo in Samurai Jack if I were to compare her to Tartakovsky's previous works. Although in terms of her powers and abilities, she reminds me a lot of Raven in DC Comics' Teen Titans. 

I absolutely LOVE the power dynamic/internal conflict within Emma/Melinda's mind and body. I creates a compelling moral dilemma that forces viewers to question if what the Order of the Unicorn (or rather Team Unicorn in which I'm going to opt to call them for the sake of simplicity in this review...) has been doing in terms of hijacking the bodies of their descendants and innocent bystanders via reincarnation to continue their war against the Evil. A question I had early into the season was whether or not were their hosts robbed of their lives as a result of these reincarnations with Team Unicorn living through them and using their bodies as their vessels for this mission. Emma has all of the right in the world to refuse Melinda's call to action when this isn't Emma's fight nor Melinda's life to claim as her own. On the other hand, it is understandable to see where Melinda is coming from. She is commandeering Emma's body as an instrument of justice to save the entire world. One life (or rather three if you count all three members of Unicorn) is sacrificed to save the lives of many - the ends justify the means if the Evil is defeated for good. 

This is a common reoccurring theme in this series. Team Unicorn are so laser-focused on their mission that they don't stop and recognize the damage that their actions have caused to those around them. Emma reasserts herself when she recognizes the destructive potential of what Melinda's powers is capable of, such as when Melinda had Lady Fox cornered, but Emma stopped her once she realized how much damage Melinda's powers did to the surrounding city and what harm she had done to the home of a mother and her frightened children in Episode 3 and 4. I see Emma's abrupt bonding to Melinda not as a hindrance to Team Unicorn's mission, but as a blessing. Emma will remind and urge them to be mindful of their humanity and ability to do good. Once that is lost, they would be no different than the Evil, which is very symbolic to the relationship between the Evil and Melinda if you think about it. Melinda lost her mother and became this cold, heartless, hardened black flame that only exists to extinguish the flame of that Evil; when that very same Evil took her mother as its heart to become even more heartless. Talk about irony. Edred would argue otherwise about Melinda but currently she hasn't shown any affection towards him in the least from what we as viewers have seen - at least of this current reincarnation. 

Speculation About Future Season(s): Where Do We Go From Here?

Episode 10 sees Emma Fairfax reuntied with Team Unicorn in the Cosmic Realm after her and Melinda's forced separation. Emma concocts a plan to take the fight to the Evil by combining all of their powers into her as one singular being. Copernicus hesitates to comply to this request at first, clearly fearing for Emma/Melinda's safety, but does so after her coaxing him. The combined Order of the Unicorn take the form of a fiery wolf (most likely from the transformed Winston's traits) and easily overpower the Evil and motion to deal the fatal blow, only for Emma/Melinda to hesitate when it is revealed that Morgan, Melinda's mother, is still alive and is being held hostage as the Evil's heart. Emma/Melinda refuses to finish the creature off, as she wants to find a way to save her mother as well as defeat the Evil. 

The Order of the Unicorn are then split back into their individual selves (including Alfie returning to being a child instead of a fully grown adult) after being thrown out of the Cosmic Realm and are shocked by the state of the world that they now stand in. The Evil has completely broken time and space with the world seemingly overlapping threats from the past, present, and future. Emma/Melinda stands confident that they will find her mother again and save her from the Evil. 

I think this opens the story up to cross over into a multitude of settings and genres with the restrictions to one time period being being ripped off like a band-aid. That was my only gripe about Primal. They were limited to essentially one prehistoric time period in history from where Spear and Fang resided in. My fear about this series was that it was going to be stuck within steampunk era Europe, but that seems like that will be thrown out of the window now. Genndy Tartakovsky has stated in interviews that he wishes to tell this story across roughly four seasons, but even then, if he gets bored with these characters the only thing he has to do is just reincarnate them in another time period with a new set of different hosts. From how close Emma and Melinda have bonded over the course of this season, I find it difficult to see them giving Melinda a new host anytime soon at least. Edred and Seng I could see that happening to. For example, I could easily see Edred getting killed off, only to be reincarnated through Winston to resolve their love triangle with Emma/Melinda down the road. 

I think a bigger mystery and/or revelation to uncover in the next season is to enlighten viewers about what happened in-depth over the course of the four years where Emma Fairfax and Melinda were separated from the rest of Team Unicorn. The only thing Winston tells Emma is that Rakshasa was killed, but the conversation pretty much ends there. What else happened during that time? Not to mention that Seng was there for years with Rakshasa fighting the Evil as an adult. Those events have to have some effect on those characters when they return back to the real world. That's something I would be thoroughly interested in seeing this series explore in the next season. 

Watch It or Don't Bother?

If you have been a fan of Genndy Tartakovsky's other works - Samurai Jack, Sym-Biotic Titan, Primal, and his take on Star Wars - then this is a no-brainer to check out. Unicorn: Warriors Eternal is a celebration and homage of classic cartoons (obviously the Max Fleischer era) while weaving the tale of an intriguing adventure that grows more profound with each new episode. There's a few moments early on where I felt the story gave away a little too much in terms of the plot, but I felt there were enough breadcrumbs spread throughout the season to keep viewers like myself coming back for more week-to-week. There's some excellent cliffhangers and twists towards the end of the season to keep things exciting as you're always left wondering what is going to happen next. 

The only shortcomings that I have about this series is that the art style might not be for everyone and I fear that not many people will have the patience to stick with this from the start to the finish of this season, especially when coming from Tartakovsky's more visceral adult animated series, Primal. That doesn't take away from the quality of the action scenes here though, despite the more whimsical take on the animation style here. The biggest question is how long will fans will have to wait to see more adventures from the Order of the Unicorn or will Cartoon Network/Adult Swim pull the plug with one season? I personally hope that Tartakovsky will be able to complete his vision for this story in its entirety without any issues. He seems to have a lot of good will with the network as of late and I hope more people give this series a fair shot. I personally thoroughly enjoyed watching this first season and cannot wait to see where it goes next. There's a lot of unanswered questions and mysteries to solve/resolve surrounding these characters and this world that they inhabit.