Disney+’s Willow, released in 2022, is an original series that continues the story after the events in the original Willow movie that came out in 1988.
The first movie follows the story of Willow, a young Nelwyn dwarf farmer who finds a young child and quests to return the baby home.
Willow braves the evil sorceress Empress Bavmorda, who is after every child born in the kingdom when it was prophesied that a newborn baby would bring her downfall. Willow teamed up with the unlikeliest of heroes to protect the child and bring her home safely, building friendships along the way.
The Disney+ original series picks up many years later when Willow must once again strike out into the wild to save the children of the child he has saved before.
The fantasy series is filled with magic and mystery, with one of the most powerful magical items being Willow’s wand. But what is the wand? And where did it come from?
Where Did Willow’s Wand Come From?
The sorceress Bavmorda became even more powerful after she stole Prince Mikhal Tanthalos’ heart from Fin Raziel. In her attempt to defeat Bavmorda and win back her true love, Fin Raziel asked the Fairy Queen Cherlindrea for her wand for her to use, but Cherlindrea refused.
After many years, Cherlindrea gave the wand to Willow for him to deliver to Raziel for her to use against Bavmorda. Willow finds Raziel in a not-so-great state - she was turned into a possum who cannot perform any magic.
Raziel and Willow came up with a plan - she would teach him how to harness his magic through the wand so that he could turn Raziel back into a human.
Near the end of their journey, Raziel and Bevmorda ended up fighting physically because their magic proved to be equally powerful. They struggled, but Bevmorda ended up with the wand, fully intending to use it to destroy the soul of baby Elora and to break the prophecy, but Bevmorda tripped over a bowl filled with a ritual potion which was accidentally ignited with the wand, which then sent her soul to eternal oblivion.
Raziel and Cherlindrea then use the wand to create The Barrier to protect Tir Asleen.
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What did Cherlindrea's Wand Look Like?
Cherlindrea’s wand did not look like the polished wands we saw in Harry Potter. It appeared to be a more ancient wand, like a twig that came from an old tree.
The twig was twisted at odd angles, with the base relatively thicker than the tip. Whenever the wand was used, the tip lit up to indicate that it was channeling magic.
Fun fact - in the original movie, the wand was indeed an old twig that the prop team found around the set. They only used the twig at first, but they were afraid the prop would be destroyed, so they duplicated the wand for the cast to use instead.
Why are Wands Important in Willow?
Like any established fantasy world, there are rules that govern how magic works in Willow.
Magic is not common in Willow and it is considered a rare ability. In both the series and the film, there is a number of characters who can perform magic. The users either use light magic or dark magic.
The evil sorceress Bavmorda used dark magic. On the other hand, Cherlindrea, Raziel, and Willow use light magic to protect and create, opposing the kill-and-destroy philosophy of evil magic. There is one magic user who seems to have both light and dark magical leanings - it is the character only known as the Crone in the series. We don’t know a lot about the Crone, but we are hoping to find out more about them, soon.
Magic doesn’t just happen though, users need to recite a spell to make certain things happen. Spells in Willow are in a different language, though we don’t know what the language is. The most important thing it seems to be is that the spells are recited correctly and that the spellcaster has utmost concentration, otherwise, the spell will not work.
Out of all of these factors, the one factor that particularly affects the story is the magical object that the spellcaster uses, which is the wand, in this case. Wands seem to elevate the user's power and their spells, which makes wands coveted property because they give a big advantage to their user. Wands are not the only object that can harness the power, though, since Willow is also seen casting spells using acorns.