We're here! We've reached the final death of Series 2, which brings us to the end of this retrospective after ten long, woodland carnage-filled months. It's been a difficult but also really fascinating dip into some of the darker recesses of my personal childhood nostalgia. A real bang we're going out with too - Bold's death, which comes at the very end of Series 2, is another candidate that's commonly cited as being the saddest of all the series. Does it measure up to that reputation? Well, let's take a look.
Much like Scarface's death, Bold's demise was a foregone conclusion by this stage, and the end- result of a character arc that had spanned the entire second half of the series, which means that it requires a bit of context. Unhappy with how his father was handling the conflict between the red and blue foxes (Bold's view was that the matter was purely between Fox and Scarface, and that Fox therefore had a responsibility to confront Scarface directly) and frustrated by his father's heavy-handed efforts at disciplining him for some trouble he'd caused after crossing into enemy territory, Bold decided to leave White Deer Park for good. To put it bluntly, he despised living in the shadow of his father and vowed to have nothing more to do with him.
Shortly after leaving the park, Bold encountered a carrion crow who, noting that Bold seemed to have no qualms about wandering around in broad daylight, advised him to start being fearful of humans. Bold dismissed the advice and arrived at a game reserve, where he killed pheasants recklessly. He befriended a young female badger named Shadow who gave him similar advice to the crow, warning him that the gamekeeper would not tolerate the presence of a predator who killed so rampantly. By twist of fate, however, it was Shadow herself who wound up getting caught in a trap which had been lain by the gamekeeper to catch the creature that had been taking his birds - Bold managed to free her, but suffered an eye injury in the process. His vision severely impaired, Bold later wandered right into the middle of a pheasant shoot, where he was shot in the back leg and badly wounded. He ran into the same carrion crow from before and convinced him to fly to Shadow to let her know that he was now the one in need of help. Shadow was more than willing to return the favour and, with help from Crow, regularly brought Bold food and enabled him to regain some of his lost strength.
Although grateful to Crow and Shadow for their care, Bold disliked being so dependent upon other animals for his survival and tried to return to his old life as a hunter. After an unsuccessful attempt at raiding a chicken coop (ironically, Bold only survived because the farmer, noting his crippled state, showed him mercy) he followed Crow's suggestion that he live as a scavenger, raiding the dustbins of a nearby town. There, Bold met Whisper, a young vixen, and was immediately smitten with her, but Whisper herself was not so impressed with Bold - that is, until she learned that he was the son of the Farthing Wood Fox, who had already become a legend among animals outside of the park. Later, once she'd allowed Bold to get close enough to get her pregnant, Whisper shamelessly admitted that she took him as her mate purely so that her cubs could have some of that famous Farthing Wood blood. Bold was crushed, but nevertheless remained loyal to Whisper, even when she dropped her ultimate bombshell - now that he'd planted his much-coveted seed into her, she wanted him to take her back to White Deer Park so that she and her cubs could experience that Farthing Wood kinship first-hand.
Bold reluctantly made the long trek back to White Deer Park with Whisper, although his health was by now severely declining and he was in no fit state to travel. Whisper eventually realised this, but nevertheless forced Bold to keep going. In the end, rather than break his vow never to return to his father's territory, Bold gave Whisper the slip once they'd reached the park and went off to find a quiet spot outside in which to die. Which takes us into the beginnings of Episode 13.
Whisper never sees Bold again. The only creature who knows of his whereabouts is Crow, who honours Bold's request that he not let on to Whisper but, out of his deep long-standing respect for the Farthing Fox, later shows Fox and Vixen where to find him. By now, Whisper has met with the Farthing clan and informed them that Bold is nearby. Bold's last moments are spent listening to his parents as they tell him that his cubs will be in good hands. Then, Fox offers him an olive branch: "I'm sorry I was hard on you. Forgive me. You're the bravest fox I've ever met. I'm proud of you." Upon hearing this, Bold heaves one last breath and is finally at peace.
Charmer and Ranger then arrive, and are informed by Fox that they have come too late. But not for nothing - realising that the residents of White Deer Park are weary from all the conflict and in desperate need of a new beginning, Fox finally gives them his blessing as a couple. Here, the series ends, with Charmer and Ranger walking off together, finally freed from the feuds of their fathers and hopeful for what the future might bring.
HORROR FACTOR: 10. This might seem like a bit of a cheat, but I am counting the fact that Bold's injury was drawn out over the course of several episodes, and his physical decline within this time was genuinely painful to watch. When Bold finally dies, it honestly comes as a relief, although the imagery showing his last gasp of breath as it leaves his body is nevertheless extremely stark.
NOBILITY FACTOR: 10. Bold did the honorable thing and led Whisper back to White Deer Park so that his cubs could have the best possible start in life (although note that, as per Series 3, only one of them, a male named Plucky, actually appears to have survived into adolescence). It was an act of pure altruism - Bold probably wouldn't have lived to a ripe old age even if he had remained in his relatively comfortable existence at the town, but there's little doubt that the stresses and strains of the journey (not to mention that he was nearly ripped apart by a couple of greyhounds along the way) took a heavy toll upon him.
TEAR-JERKER FACTOR: 10. I'm going to play much the same card here as I did with the Hedgehogs in Series 1. If you don't cry at this death, then nothing in this series can possibly move you. You heartless bastard.
RATING: 30
Anyway, I lied. Truth is, I'm not quite done with this retrospective just yet. Time to bring on the special bonus round - ie: gruesome injuries which didn't actually result in death. In Series 2 in particular, some of the most shocking instances of onscreen violence were surprisingly non-fatal.
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