Watership Down episode 4 recap: The Siege

In its final episode, “The Siege”, the rabbits of Watership Down face the rage-filled General Woundwort.

What has turned General Woundwort (Ben Kingsley) so cruel? Why does he look down upon his fellow rabbits with such disdain? The opening of “The Siege”, the finale of Watership Down, provides some answers as we find a young rabbit following his peers to a nearby garden. He is on lookout while the others eat joyfully when he notices a fox slowly creeping upon them. He is frozen with fear, unable to warn the others. He runs back to the warren, but it is too late: the fox devastates them all, and the young rabbit is slashed across his face.

The young rabbit was General Woundwort, whose slashed face now faces Bigwig (John Boyega). As he is about to strike Bigwig down, a flash from the sky strikes him. Kehaar (Peter Capaldi) has come to the rescue in visually striking fashion, crashing into any who oppose the Watership Down rabbits. In the confusion, Hazel (James McAvoy) and the group make a run for it back to their warren.

The rabbits thank Kehaar for his bravery, who counts the debt paid from his recovery and flies off to seek his own life. They return to Watership Down in rousing fashion, having all returned to their warren with their lives and with the enemy far from them.

But it is short-lived after coming across an Efrafa scouting party in the vicinity. Hazel meets with Woundwort to strike a deal, but Woundwort shrugs him off, thinking he is dealing with a lame rabbit rather than the chief.

Watership Down prepares for the siege of Woundwort, who means to starve them into submission. But he grows impatient as his soldiers begin to question his motives, the smell of mutiny in the air. The warren is stormed, both sides clashing as tunnels are collapsed and many are wounded. Inside, the warren traps prove fruitful, but outside is more distressing: Captain Holly (Freddie Fox) is surrounded and killed by the enemy.

The remaining tunnels are collapsed and the rabbits retreat to the honeycomb, the middle of the warren. Hope feels distant as the enemy digs trenches from above, Hazel and Bigwig meaning to pull off a final stand in order to buy the others more time. Fiver (Nicholas Hoult) suffers a vision, howling in anguish as his scattered visions from the previous episode snap into place. He tells Hazel of the vision, and the two make for the farm while Bigwig stands his ground.

Hazel and Fiver make it to the farm, where they mean to break the rottweiler free and lead him back. Fiver bites through the rope, but before both can run back, the farm cat catches him, leaving Hazel to lead the dog back to the warren.

Bigwig and Woundwort finally have their duel. Both are wounded, Woundwort coming to the surface to demand his soldiers storm the tunnels and flush out the remaining rabbits. Due to his wounds from the farm, the journey back proves difficult for Hazel. The dog nearly catches him, but he manages to return to Watership Down. Those of Woundwort’s army who do not run are struck down by the large beast. Woundwort, however, regards the beast with curiosity. “I fear nothing,” he proclaims as both general and rottweiler lunge for each other.

Their shadows fade, and time passes on. The farmer’s daughter returns Fiver to the wild, allowing him to come home. The warren prospers, and families are made. Kehaar has returned, unable to deny the endless bout of worms. Hazel enjoys some silence by the nearby creek, exhausted from the events of bringing Watership Down peace. He is visited by the Black Rabbit again, as he had been in “The Raid”. He comes with the spirit, his reflection in the creek fading away as the joys of his warren can be heard in the distance.

What did you think of the finale to Watership Down?