Review of "Garm Wars: The Last Druid"
A review of one of the few Celtic sci-fi movies, plus a sneak peek of this month's short story
In last week’s post (linked below) I mentioned this 2014 film as one of the few examples (in the 21st century at least) that incorporates explicit elements of Celticism into a science fiction story. I figured why wait on a review for this movie when I’m already dedicating this month to sci-fi and Sword & Planet? This won’t be as heavily in-depth as my scholarly reviews for Hound since it’s not based on one particular story from Celtic myth, but I will be looking at it more from the lens of a Celticist and pop culture enjoyer than a film critic’s.
This review will be very spoiler-light, but if you would rather watch the movie first before diving in (so you have a little more context) then it might be helpful for understanding some of the moments I’ll be referencing.
Celts in Space, Or the Lack Thereof
Garm Wars: The Last Druid is a very high concept film. It features live action actors in mostly computer-generated locations, similar in some ways to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) or Sin City (2005). Written and directed by Mamoru Oshii, best known for his anime adaptations of Ghost in the Shell, this film draws heavy inspiration from general Celtic mythology and culture, placing it in a secondary, science fiction/fantasy world. It’s difficult to reference other sci-fi properties to compare Garm Wars to as it is such an original piece of media. The closest I could come to it in terms of broad aesthetics and themes was the video game Eve Online and its spin-off first-person shooter Dust: 514. Unlike those games which span entire galaxies, however, Garm Wars is set on a single planet called Annwn (pronounce ah-noon). Those familiar with The Mabinogion will recognize this as the name of the supposed Otherworld or underworld in Welsh mythology. Unlike Irish stories related to the Otherworld, Annwn is seemingly “normal” and is often regarded as its own kingdom in Wales, but has some defining features such as material culture being of high quality and its inhabitants having specific habits or behaviors they cannot deviate from. The world of Annwn in Garm Wars primarily at first appears to be desolate and desert-like due to the amount of destruction waged between the inhabitants. It is quite a far cry from the usual plains and rolling, green hills we normally associate with Celtic cultures. Such biomes appear later on, however, in more unspoiled, unexplored regions of the planet.
The Annwn of Garm Wars orbits a larger planet known as Gaia (readers of Classical mythology will know exactly where this name comes from) and was created by the god Danaan. Now we have reference to Irish mythology as this deity is obviously taken from the possible goddess Danu (or Anu). We do not have a lot of information on Danu other than she might have had some connection to civilization or art and craft. Danaan creates a species of somewhat cybernetic beings called “Garm” who outwardly appear to be human but seem to have mechanical or digital physiologies. One of their defining features is that they are all remotely connected to a “network” that contains memories and consciousness of individual Garm and their people as a whole. I could not find any approximation of the word garm in any Celtic language, but on Garm Wars’ Wikipedia page, the name Garm hyperlinks to the article on the Tuatha Dé Dannan, the primary race or tribe (or the potential pre-Christian pantheon) featured in the Irish Mythological Cycle, which chronicles the prehistory of Ireland. I suppose, considering their creator is named Danaan, the Garm are meant to be this film’s equivalent of the Tuatha Dé. The expository cinematic following the film’s opening explains that Danaan originally created eight tribes of Garm that each specialized in specific technologies, vocations, or crafts. The film could be referencing the Tuatha Dé’s focus on skills and arts. At the start of the film, however, only three tribes remain after Danaan abandoned Annwn and left the Garm to war against each other. These tribes are the Columba, Briga, and Kumtak,1 and each one is represented by a main character in the film.
The names of these tribes, unlike the word garm, were easier for me to parse out their origins. The name Columba likely comes from the Latin name of one of Ireland’s saints following St. Patrick, Colm Cille (which means “dove of the church” in Irish). The Columba in Garm Wars specialize in air-based technology and warfare, utilizing massive flying warships and smaller dogfighters known as “six-wings.” The Columba are represented by Khara 23 (portrayed by Melanie St-Pierre).
Briga at first, to me, resembled the name for one of Ireland’s most revered female saint (or saint in general), St. Brigid, who may have originally been a pagan goddess. I questioned my comparison, however, as neither had any war-like functions (the Briga in Garm Wars are known for general military prowess). Later, I found an Old Irish word, bríg, which means “power, strength, force, authority; vigour, virtue,”2 which falls more in line with the expertise of the Briga. The Briga are represented by Skellig 58 (portrayed by Kevin Durand).
The last tribe, the Kumtak, I at first expected did not have any particular etymology in Irish or other Celtic languages and was just used since it sounded relatively in theme with the other naming conventions of the film. However, there is an Old Irish word that is somewhat comparable to the function of this tribe in Garm Wars, which is expertise in information and reconnaissance. This word, cumtach, has one of several meanings: “Of speech, writing etc. embellishing, heightening.”3 In addition to their informational skills, several characters are wary of the Kumtak because of their ability to manipulate data within the Garm’s network. This tribe is represented by Wydd 256 (portrayed by Lance Henriksen).
The Last Druid subtitle of the film is represented by a mysterious character named Nascien 666 (portrayed by Summer Howell), a masked figure who is protected by Wydd to reach a holy land in Annwn where he hopes to learn the truth of why Danaan abandoned the planet and the Garm. Druids in Garm Wars are also referred to as “sages of the trees”, which may reference one possible etymological origin “druid” meaning “oak-seer.” In general, druids in Garm Wars are meant to be the “voices of the gods” that helped guide the Garm before Danaan left. Garm Wars makes a smart decision by leaving druids mostly enigmatic and not trying to develop their lore too much as we know actually very little about real world druids other than their stations as scholars and religious leaders. Another smart decision on the film’s part is focusing the druids’ functions on knowledge and the collective memories of the Garm. The entire network aspect of the film is somewhat hard to follow as we do not get to see much of it from the perspective of inside the network and only have what the characters talk about to go off of. One small aspect of the druid that I thought may have had some connection to Celtic belief in magic was that there is a part when Nascien accesses the network and uses a single, robotic hand to explore the data. Characters in mythology that possess one eye, hand, or leg/foot are thought to have supernatural or otherworldly abilities. This partly led me to believe that the network was some kind of analogue for a spiritual realm of sorts.
Something readers may have noticed in my references to each character is the number next to their names. These are their “generation numbers”, which refer to how many times their consciousnesses have been downloaded into new, cloned bodies after being killed. This is also another aspect that pointed towards the Garm’s network being some kind of otherworld. The concept made me think of the belief in reincarnation, which many Celtic cultures believed in prior to Christianity. It is quite the novel way to incorporate reincarnation into a sci-fi setting, especially one steeped in Celticism. Another interesting characteristic of the Garm is that, since they are not entirely organic beings, they do not age and do not reproduce; in addition, they are not able to create anything original. It is made clear that Garm can only “maintain.” Generally speaking, tradition-bearers of Celtic language-speaking communities do not make a habit of “inventing” original things. This isn’t to say they don’t innovate, but the purposes of having storytellers in these cultures is not to come up with new stories, but to preserve what has already been said or what has happened. Cultural preservation is definitely not unique to Celtic groups, and it is likely Oshii was aware of this when creating Garm Wars, but considering this film takes so much influence from Celtic myth it’s difficult not to see the Garm’s cyclical, liminal nature as commentary on such a culture based on preservation rather than innovation.
There is an additional Otherworld in Annwn, which becomes the focus of the final two acts of the film. It is introduced once the primary characters reach the coast of the Torc Sea. Wydd explains that the land of the druids lies beyond it, much like how many supernatural islands in Irish mythology are said to be accessed by sailing west beyond the known world. Garm Wars, at this point, becomes an imram tale, which is a genre of stories in Irish literature characterized by religious sea voyages to the Otherworld. The narrator also literally describes the characters’ journey as a pilgrimage (on top of the second act being called “Passage to the Otherworld”); the players of imrama (plural for imram) usually set out to find God or achieve some form of religious enlightenment by braving the seas. Additionally, Khara notes that birds of Annwn specifically travel between the mainland and the otherworld. The land of the druids is a lush, forested area inhabited by giant, one-eyed robot guardians. The title of the third act, “Sacred Grove,” in addition to the sentinels made me wonder if the land of the druids was meant to be a nemeton. Nemeta (plural) were groves in Gaulish territories considered wholly sacred by druids; nothing could be built within any of them and supernatural guardians were thought to inhabit them. The single eyes on the robots also added to the idea of otherworldly characteristics, and specifically reminded me of Balor and the Fomorians from the Irish Mythological Cycle. Garm Wars seems to take a inspiration from Biblical lore as these giants are called malakh, which is a name for “angel” in Arabic, and they directly serve the creator god Danaan. In the last shot of the film, I couldn’t help but think of its possible parallels with Cath Maige Tuiread (“The Second Battle of Moytura”) as the image of one-eyed giants marching on the remaining Garm is quite reminiscent of the Tuatha Dé’s battle against the Fomorians.
Garm Wars: The Last Druid has a lot of things going for it that I’m not sure if a roughly 80-minute movie was able to capture. Outside of the film’s Wikipedia and IMDB pages, there is little information about its development. The link to the movie’s official site is dead, which dashed any of my hopes for interviews, concept art galleries, or director’s notes. During my viewing and writing of this review, I found myself wishing for some kind of companion piece to Garm Wars. It is possible Oshii wanted to do more with the concept, and perhaps it could have been more thoroughly explored as a series or video game. For what it is, Garm Wars is a completely serviceable artifact as a unique film steeped in Celtic lore. If there is some information out there, and community interest, I may also consider doing a deeper dive on the film that may take the form of a video essay or podcast. For now, I would recommend Garm Wars to anyone looking for a strange, yet intriguing watch this summer.
Now for the Sneak Peek of this Month’s Short Story…
Continuing the general theme of space, science fiction, and Sword & Planet, this month’s short story will be an S&P tale that has some familiar yet different settings and characters. It is a sort of continuation from a longer story of mine I had published in Broadswords and Blasters’ one-shot Sword & Planet anthology Futures That Never Were. My story featured in this collection, “The Vengeance of the Silvern Hand”, has space vikings, cyborg elves, and a young warriors quest for revenge. It is not required to read this story before “Red Sun Over Loch Rindach” but Futures That Never Were is nonetheless a good collection to have for enjoyers of space adventures. Additionally, if you pick a copy up for yourself, be sure to leave a review because it’s not getting nearly as much attention as it deserves!
A Sneak Peek of “Red Sun Over Loch Rindach”
A warband marched in the shadows of the mountains around Loch Rindach. Black and red hooded cloaks—the colors of horror—clothed them. Each fighter carried a forked spear, oblong shield with a gleaming boss, and a short-bladed sword or ax on his belt. They wore no mail for their bodies had been altered by silvern blessings bestowed by ingenious surgeons and alchemists; limbs, organs, and entire sections of their mortal flesh were excised and replaced with devices made of pure silver and empowered by Star Blood gemstones. Each of them came from under the hills, and were dubbed by the human Dumonnii as sidhe. Normally, the sun would weaken their physical might and arcane abilities, but their silvern blessings embedded in or replacing their flesh reflected its damaging rays as mirrors. None among them, however, had as many modifications as their prince, champion, and war-leader Kvassr the Moon-Troll, son of their overlord Kjartan the Silvern King. Though not but twenty Days old, Kvassr towered over his fighters and was as wide as at least two of them standing abreast. His blessings were those of strength and size, which aided in his gathering of glory and terrifying reputation spread by bards of men and the elfin people of the sidhe mounds. He served and slew for the Silver-handed Cult since he could hold a spear, built and tempered to be the perfect living weapon swung by his father’s will. When he took charge of his own warband, the forces of the mortal Domunnii and the Long-armed Cult, sidhe-people dedicated to the usurper god Lugh, broke, scattered, and trembled in the wake of his campaigns.
“This one,” he had told his father upon the eve of his departure, “will be the raid that cuts the path to your ascension over the whole Sunder.”
“Burn slow, Kvassr.” His father had placed his silvern hand—the very hand of the old true king, Nuada—upon his massive shoulder. “For the brightest stars die too quick.”
Kvassr laughed at the recollection. True, he thought to himself, but when a star dies, it takes whole worlds in its wake!
A thunderclap in the air blew away his musings. The ground trembled shortly thereafter and fighters at the rearguard cried out in pain and surprise. Kvassr spun around in time to witness the bodies of his best men flying through the air with chunks of earth and trails of smoke. Pieces of their blessings rained down in shards.
“Another!” screamed a warrior several paces from Kvassr. He pointed up as a fist-sized, silver-plated ball arced over a rocky shelf above the troop. A fire-stone, Kvassr ground his gleaming silver teeth—the canines protruding like tusks from his mouth—as he recognized the device.
“Out of the way!” he roared and his men made a path at once. He charged towards the trajectory of the ball, hefting his massive club off his shoulder and seizing it in both hands. Thick, fire-hardened oak composed its shaft while the chunk of a meteorite fastened on one end served as the head. He swung the great cudgel at the ball. It shattered, exploding in a blast of fire and wind. The rolling flames merely licked Kvassr’s body as his blessings inured him to such pain and vulnerability. His cloak, however, was not spared; he tore it off his shoulders and threw it to the ground. Turning towards the crags, mouth set in a gleaming snarl, head tilted up, he bellowed to the hidden ambushers, “Show yourselves, raven-starvers! Descend from your hiding and face me, Kvassr Kjartanson, if you truly wish for glory!”
Another silver-plated ball flew over the cliffside. Kvassr’s men cried out, but the Moon-Troll held fast. As it neared him, he shot one hand off his club and caught the explosive before it collided with his face. It detonated as his crushed it, the explosion somewhat quashed by his hold. He threw the smoldering remains to the ground and took up his club in both hands again.
“I bring down this whole mountain with you upon it!” he vowed, rushing forward with his club raised overhead. He brought it down upon the stone. The earth quaked under the blow, causing his followers to stagger. The cliff shivered, dark fragments of its face rained into the pass. Kvassr struck again and the crag shattered. His men rushed out of the landslide’s path; broken stone tumbled in a grey and black tide over the grass, draped covered in a choking blanket of dust. The Moon-Troll remained steadfast as the stone rose up to his sleek, silvern thighs, each the width of a maturing oak.
A pair of bodies tumbled down the newly made slope, accompanied by cries of pain and strings of curses. Two lads landed before Kvassr, caked in dust and coughing. One, a Domunnii, had coppery hair worn long in the front like curtains over his eyes and shaved close everywhere else. A fine yet weathered leathern coat clad his rangy body. He carried a star metal sword with a crossguard curved like the rim of the moon. A thick leather glove covered his left hand, which only had two fingers and a thumb. The other had a strip of black hair running down the middle of his head. Red and black tattoos of storm clouds and lightning decorated the shaved sides. A crest of proto-horns protruded from his heavy brow. No shirt or mail covered his broad chest, rippling with muscles and snaking veins that seemed to want to burst from his tanned flesh. He clutched a wooden club lined with sharp purple crystals as teeth on a great astral reef shark.
Kvassr glowered at the lads as they struggled to their feet. They returned his stare with bared teeth and furrowed brows.
Thanks for reading this week’s post! Have you seen Garm Wars? If so, how do you think Oshii should have continued the story? Are there other sci-fi epics on screen that have Celtic elements you know of? Leave your thoughts and recommendations in the comments!
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The names of the five extinct tribes are as follows (my spelling of them may not be correct): Wyrm(?), Basae(?), Seta, Borzoi, Xennen. The film doesn’t provide any information on these tribes beyond their names and figuring out the etymology of each would go beyond the scope of this review.
eDIL s.v. bríg.
eDIL s.v. cumtach.
Looking forward to next week’s story!
Interested in watching the movie now, sounds very distinct.