Azkadellia

Infobox character
colour = #4682B4
name = Azkadellia


caption = Kathleen Robertson as Azkadellia in the first episode of "Tin Man".
first = "Tin Man" episode 1: "Into the Storm"
last = "Tin Man" episode 3: "Conclusion"
alias =
species =
gender = Female
age =
born =
death =
occupation = Sorceress
title = Empress, princess
children =
portrayer = Kathleen Robertson (adult) Alexia Fast (child)
creator =

Azkadellia is a fictional character played by actresses Kathleen Robertson and Alexia Fast in the Sci Fi channel miniseries "Tin Man", which is a reimagining of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". Robertson plays the adult Azkadellia while Fast portrays the character as a child in several flashback scenes.

Azkadellia appears in all three episodes as the primary antagonist of the miniseries, opposing the central group of heroes including DG, Glitch, Wyatt Cain, and Raw. These characters are analogous to the central characters of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", with DG, Glitch, Cain, and Raw respectively representing Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. Azkadellia's role in the story is roughly analogous to that of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Plot summary

Azkadellia (Kathleen Robertson) is the primary antagonist of "Tin Man", and most of the plot centers around her plan to trap the O.Z. (Outer Zone) in permanent darkness while the protagonist DG (Zooey Deschanel) and her companions attempt to stop her. Initially presented simply as an evil villainess, many details of Azkadellia's past and her connections to the other characters are revealed through flashbacks over the course of the miniseries. At the outset of the story she is the tyrannical ruler of the O.Z., preparing to carry out a plan which will consolidate her rule. Upon learning that DG might be a threat to these plans, she sends her Longcoat soldiers through a "travel storm" to Kansas to kill DG. DG escapes through the storm and finds herself in the O.Z., where she befriends several other characters and sets out on a quest to recover her lost memories and find the Emerald of the Eclipse, which Azkadellia seeks in order to carry out her plans.

Over the course of DG's adventures she recovers many memories which explain Azkadellia's past and how she came to power. It is revealed that Azkadellia and DG are sisters and that their mother (Anna Galvin) is the former queen. As children the sisters were very close and practiced magic together, but that changed when the curious DG accidentally released an ancient, evil witch (Karin Konuval) from a cave. The combined magic of the two sisters could protect them from harm, but DG panicked and ran, allowing the witch to possess Azkadellia. Now evil, Azkadellia killed DG using dark magic. Their mother was able to revive her by light magic and gave her secret instructions on how to find the Emerald of the Eclipse before sending her to Kansas and obscuring her memories in order to hide her from Azkadellia. Azkadellia later raised an army from the eastern realm of the O.Z. and overthrew her mother. She now plans to use the Emerald of the Eclipse in conjunction with a machine called the "Anti-Sun Seeder" to lock the O.Z.'s twin suns in place behind the moon during an upcoming double eclipse, thus trapping the O.Z. in permanent darkness.

With the help of her father Ahamo (Ted Whittall) DG acquires the Emerald of the Eclipse, but Azkadellia quickly siezes it. In the climax of the story DG is able to help Azkadellia free herself from the control of the evil witch just as her companions shut down the "Anti-Sun Seeder" machine. With the witch destroyed the O.Z. is freed from her tyranny and DG, Azkadellia, and their parents are reunited.

Powers and abilities

Azkadellia is portrayed as a powerful sorceress possessed of many magical abilities. It is revealed in the story that she and her sister DG practiced magic together as children and shared a magical bond which could protect them from harm as long as they stayed together and held hands. As an adult, under the possession of the evil witch, Azkadellia demonstrates increased magical abilities which she uses to impose her will over the O.Z. She controls the Mystic Man (Richard Dreyfus) by addicting him to her magical "vapors", and kills both him and her Longcoat General Lonot by draining their life-forces from them orally. She keeps her mother in a magical prison in the form of an islet within a globe, and is able to teleport in and out of this prison to visit her. She also shrinks her father to fit in the palm of her hand, and teleports DG to the inside of a sarcophagus.

" and are used to perform errands and as spies. They appear in the cave in which the young Azkadellia and DG encounter the evil witch, and the tattoos on the adult Azkadellia correspond to markings above the mouth of the cave. These tattoos disappear when the mobats leave her body. Only the lead mobat, Xora, is given a name in the miniseries, and Azkadellia experiences physical shock when Xora is killed.

In addition to her magical powers Azkadellia makes use of scientific, technological, military, and other resources in her quest to dominate the O.Z. She uses discs that record sound and images to spy on DG and her companions, as well as holographic projectors in attempts to trick them. She has also enslaved a number of telepaths whom she uses to foretell the future and extract information from her prisoners, viewing these images through a tank of liquid. She has extracted the brain of Ambrose (Alan Cumming), the advisor to the former queen, retrieving from it the plans for his "Sun-Seeder" device and using her team of scientists to convert it into an "Anti-Sun Seeder" capable of locking the O.Z.'s twin suns in place. She also commands an army of Longcoat soldiers whom she dispatches to enforce her rule and carry out her commands. Much of Azkadellia's technological and military resources are depicted in the steampunk style.

Azkadellia is also shown to be highly intelligent, able to manipulate and bend others to her will with relative ease.

Portrayal and critical reception

". [ [http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=2&id=42220 "Tin Man Previewed", "Sci Fi Wire" - July 2, 2007] ] Azkadellia herself, however, is not a direct analogue of the Wicked Witch. A separate character, called "the Evil Witch of the Dark", possesses Azkadellia as a child and serves as the analogue of the Wicked Witch.

Actress Kathleen Robertson, who plays the adult Azkadellia, deliberately portrayed the character as a quiet menace, self-restrained rather than gregarious: [ [http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=45792 "Tin Man's" Azkadellia Plays Straight", "Sci Fi Wire" - November 26, 2007] ] "It's a very daunting prospect when you're asked to play one of the most iconic film villainesses in history. As opposed to playing Azkadellia archetypal and loud, I played her internal and psychological. She's narcissistic. She has every personality disorder that you can figure." [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/television/2004041481_tinman02.html "Seattle Times" review - December 2, 2007] ] Producer Michael O'Connor commented that "Our Wicked Witch is a little bit different than that in the book, but we think she's a touch more evil and diabolical." [ [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/925796/tin_man_a_touch_more_evil/ "A Touch More Evil: Azkadellia's World", "SciFi Pulse" video (UGO mirror) - November 17, 2007] ] Robertson, production designer Michael Joy, and actor Neal McDonough (who plays Wyatt Cain) have all remarked that Azkadellia's personality informed the scenic design of the O.Z. and the look and feel of her minions, from the costuming of Azkadellia and her Longcoats to the appearance of the mobats. According to Joy, "Azkadellia is in love with power - drugged by power. Everything is in the image of that power." [ [http://www.metacafe.com/watch/925840/tin_man_brick_by_brick/ "Brick by Brick: Bringing "Tin Man" to Life", "SciFi Pulse" video (Metacafe mirror) - November 17, 2007] ]

Reviewing "Tin Man", Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" criticized Robertson's performance as "dour and punitive", saying that "Robertson's heaving bodice is her most expressive aspect; this miniseries needed a villain with a wicked sense of humor". [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20162393,00.html "TV Review: "Tin Man", "Entertainmnent Weekly" - November 23, 2007] ]

References

ee also

*The Wizard of Oz (adaptations)