Somali and the Forest Spirit (Episode 6) - Dying Flowers Look Up at the Birds

Haitora tells Golem of his past as they try to find Somali and Uzoi before anything bad can happen. Even for the emotionless Golem, the similarities in their situation can’t have been even to take.

What happened?

So, Haitora is a human and has a disease that has left his blood unpure. Travelling with Uzoi to search for a cure, they came across a fortune teller that told him he would need clean blood. This information has stuck with Uzoi and when they came across Somali and the Golem, she realised that she had her chance to save her adopted father. The truth of their past, however, was far more sinister than anyone would have expected. Luckily, Uzoi couldn’t go through with it and was found by the Golem and Haitora deep in the caves.

They resumed their travels the next morning, but a twister pulled Somali and Uzoi from the wagon and sent them flying across the desert. Golem analysed the wind and the topography and was confident that they would survive. Once the storm had passed, they went to find them and arrived as a wild bird was hunting them down. In an attempt to make up for his past, Haitora used himself as bait to lure the bird away from the girls.

Somali and the Forest Spirit Episode 6 Uzoi telling Haitora that she couldn't kill Somali

What was your favourite element?

They’ve been hinting at the inhabitants of Somali’s world eating humans and it’s all be fairly low key. There were the moments in the first episode which drummed it home and since then we’ve seen the Golem continue to be careful with Somali’s disguise. That said, nothing could have prepared us for the reality of being a human in this world. Haitora’s story of how his village was attacked and the inhabitants captured, mutilated, or eaten was brutal. Given the gentle and fun nature of this series, it was quite the shock. Then to see things get worse as Haitora killed a harpy and then feed it to his family only for them to die. He, of course, survived but his body was infected with something. Then, he found the young Uzoi and realised he’d just killed and eaten her mother!

Somali and the Forest Spirit Episode 6 Haitora seeing his Family die after eating Harpy

What have you learnt?

It would be easy to say that this episode was a bit of a shocker, but in all reality, the preparations had been made. We had been made aware that humans were eaten on numerous occasions. We’d only seen Somali so there was very little in way of a connection to that part of the world, even with the risk of her being discovered and eaten. The fact that this series has focused on the wonder and cuter aspects have helped to hide this dark and brutal part of the story. This episode was a massive wake-up call and not just for the viewers. The Golem told Haitora that he would have to tell Uzoi and deal with the repercussions, but he must have realised that he too was facing that scenario with Somali. At some point, he will have to explain that he can’t stay with her. This episode was excellent and I’m glad this series has gone in this direction.