Yahoo News Willow star Ruby Cruz says episode 6 is 'the absolute low point' for Kit
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Willow episode 6.
Every hero's journey comes with a moment of abject despair — and with episode 6 of Willow, we have reached that point with Kit (Ruby Cruz).
From the start, Kit has been a complicated figure, her arrogance and hurt sometimes outweighing her nobler tendencies, like they might in any teenager. "You want people to root for this person, but also based on the circumstances, there's so much for her to be upset about," Cruz reflects. "There's so much that has hurt her in her past and that is currently hurting her. She is mean and abrasive because she tries to make herself as big as possible so that she can't get hurt again. It was important for me to sort of stay true to the pain that I felt like she was going through."
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"She keeps putting her faith into these people that keep telling her lies," she continues. "Her pain has been swallowed, which has been really unhealthy."
That pain reaches new heights in episode 6 as Kit learns more of her father, Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), who has been missing for years. Captured by trolls alongside Willow, Kit meets Allagash (Christian Slater), who has been assuming Madmartigan's identity for years.
Slater, another young 1980s heartthrob like Kilmer, is the perfect fit for the role — and Cruz says he brought much-needed levity to set. "He is the most enthusiastic person I've ever met. He is so excited about everything," she says with a laugh. "The shoot was nine months in Wales. There wasn't really any breaks and I was missing home a lot. Christian showed up and he felt like a little bit of home. He brought the sunshine with him. He was so excited to be a part of it that it sparked this joy in me — and also in Kit — about, 'This is why we're out here. This is why we're adventuring.'"
But as much as Slater sparked joy in Cruz, his revelation that he sacrificed himself to the trolls to allow Madmartigan to go on protecting Elora Danan (Ellie Bamber) was a crushing blow to Kit.
"She knows he's out there now," Cruz explains. "Once she finds out that her father saw her role was to continue on his mission of protecting Elora, that pains her. She knows it to be true, but it pains her so much because she's always seen Elora as the reason why she lost her father."
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Part of that pain also stems from the fact that Madmartigan's absence has directly impacted Kit's own growth as a person. "Her dad was her role model and losing him was really hard for her," says Cruz. "She's been left with this big question mark about not only who her father is, but who she is because she's always seen so much of herself in him. It's been detrimental to her growth and to her view on the world. She feels like she has to overcompensate her strength and her ability to be a warrior."
Episode 6 also brings Kit closer to her father than she has been in years, as she hears his voice (read by showrunner Jonathan Kasdan on set and then adjusted in post) talking to her through some sort of glowing portal or void. Kit is tempted to join her father in the void, but he insists she must stay to protect Elora, who then pulls Kit back from the edge.
"She's just so broken at that point," notes Cruz. "She gets this close to seeing her father, and after she loses that she feels like she doesn't really have anything anymore. She's ready to let it all crumble and crumble with it. That is a really low point for her; that's the bottom."
It might not just be the bottom either. The episode ends with Kit floating in a pool, trapped and potentially drowning as Elora attempts to save her with her magic. But does Kit even want to be saved? In that moment, Cruz doesn't think so.
"She's ready to give up," she concludes. "She's begging Elora to bring it all down, to kill her. She's searched and searched and searched for answers and she continues to get let down. She continues to be hurt over and over again. She's feeling hopeless in that moment."
New episodes of Willow drop every Wednesday on Disney+.
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