The Spine of Night

 Time for a grim fantasy animation movie I stumbled along while browsing.

Okay, so the drawing style is way different from what I am used to, but with Lucy Lawless playing one of the lead voices, I decided to have a watch anyways!

 

It all begins with the witch-queen Tzod ascending a snow covered mountain, to meet with the Guardian of the Bloom.  As she shows him an identical flower, they tell each other the tales of the power of the mysterious flowers.

 

Years ago, she was taken prisoner by a young tyrant, when a renegade scholar called Ghal-Sur found and manipulated her.  While she manages to overcome the tyrant that burned down her swamp and get her revenge, she is betrayed by Ghal-Sur who only craves the power of the strange flower, called the Bloom, she carries.  He murders her, her body sinking away in the remains of her swamp. 

He is at first imprisoned by his fellow scholars, but slowly the promises of power start corrupting others in his order and he manages to be set free.  Slowly he transforms into a true tyrant, marching armies across the lands and putting the people under terror for his arrival.  An unknown years later, a trio of assassins try to take him out, but only manage to incinerate his stock of Bloom, whose last vestiges travel down a stream to the corpse of Tzod and ressurecting her.

The Guardian then in turn tells her the tale of how Bloom came to be, and how it is the result of the Gods living on Earth in a time gone by.  He tells them that once one learns the truth and the power of Bloom, they will take up the mantle of Guardian in order to prevent it's power to spread to humanity.  Ghal-Sur arrives at the mountain, summoned by Tzod.  They confront each other one last time, the spirits of the previous Guardians overcoming Ghal-Sur as Tzod takes out his heart, and in a final explosion incinerates the mountain and herself.

So, as I said, the drawing needs getting used to, but this was a brutal and quite good movie actually.  Definitly worth a watch on a lazy afternoon!