Summary

• The Shannara Chronicles was a fantasy series that attracted a dedicated fanbase but was ultimately canceled after season 2 due to low ratings and high production costs.
• The move from MTV to Spike TV contributed to the decline in viewership, as Spike TV was not known for fantasy content or teen-oriented series.
• The rebranding of Spike TV to Paramount Network further sealed the show's fate, as the network shifted its focus to more adult-oriented content and The Shannara Chronicles no longer fit their aesthetic. Despite efforts to shop the show to other networks, it is officially considered dead, but a future movie or TV reboot is still a possibility.

Despite attracting a strong cult following, The Shannara Chronicles season 3 was canceled. The Shannara Chronicles was a fantasy series based on author Terry Brooks’ The Sword Of Shannara Trilogy that takes place in a distant future. The Shannara Chronicles season 1 was executive produced by Jon Favreau (The Lion King) and roughly adapted the story of Brooks’ The Elfstones Of Shannara. The series follows a group of characters who must protect a magical tree known as the Ellcrys from dying. If the tree dies, it will plunge the world into chaos.

In contrast to the violence and bloodshed seen on Game of Thrones, The Shannara Chronicles was a lighter, more family-friendly fantasy series. That’s not to say it didn’t feature its fair share of shocking deaths, however. The show also embraced its fantasy roots, featuring magic, elves, mages, and all the trimmings. The Shannara Chronicles season 1 was a huge hit for MTV, but once the network got out of making scripted series, season 2 moved to Spike TV and its fortunes changed for the worst. The Shannara Chronicles season 3 was canceled following The Shannara Chronicles season 2 finale.

The Shannara Chronicles Season 2 Suffered When Moved To Spike TV

The premiere of The Shannara Chronicles season 1 pulled in over 7.5 million viewers for MTV, and the season maintained healthy ratings throughout airing. The series was shot in New Zealand which maintained its links to classic fantasy movies like The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. The show also cast John Rhys-Davies in a major supporting role, and co-star Manu Bennett also played Azog the Defiler in The Hobbit movies. The cast and gorgeous visuals helped pull in genre fans while the storyline centering on young actors like Austin Butler, Poppy Drayton, and Ivana Baquero was perfect for MTV's young audience.

Sadly, the ratings for The Shannara Chronicles season 2 plummeted once it moved to Spike TV. MTV decided to embrace reality TV fully and cut many of its scripted shows. The network move allowed the show to get a little darker, but the ratings for season 2 never peaked above 310,000 viewers, which was a major downturn from the show's debut episode. The combination of low ratings and high production costs meant the writing was on the wall for The Shannara Chronicles season 3, with Spike TV – which was about to transition into the Paramount Network – canceling the show after season 2 ended.

The Real Reason Why The Shannara Chronicles Was Canceled

While The Shannara Chronicles might have seen a dip in viewership when it moved to Spike, some larger forces might have already doomed the show. It was announced that the TV series would move to Spike (previously Spike TV) in May 2017, and season 2 aired from October through November 2017. At the time, Spike wasn't known for having fantasy content or even series aimed at teen audiences. The network was known for airing syndicated episodes of crime dramas, mixed martial arts matches, and reality shows that focused on tattoo parlors. So, fantasy series like The Shannara Chronicles didn't seem like a good fit and made the possibility of a season 3 unlikely.

In February 2017 Viacom, the parent company of Spike, announced that they would be rebranding from Spike to Paramount Network. The name change took effect on January 18, 2018, just two days after the cancelation of The Shannara Chronicles season 3 was announced. As part of the rebrand from Spike to Paramount Network, the network began to focus on more adult-focused content and The Shannara Chronicles young-adult vibe no longer fit their aesthetic and likely led them to ditch the show rather than continue to invest while the fanbase built back up.

Of course, it's also likely that The Shannara Chronicles season 3 would have been more expensive than anything else planned for Paramount Network at the time. While filming in New Zealand gave the series a 20% tax credit while utilizing the local film community, the show was a visual effects heavy undertaking. Many of the computer generated imagery for landscapes, buildings, and even characters was done at SPIN VFX in Canada. The small company was working on TV quality imagery on a compressed TV show timeline. The Shannara Chronicles was visually stunning, but there was a cost for that.

Could The Shannara Chronicles Season 3 Still Happen?

The show’s studio Solar Entertainment hoped to shop The Shannara Chronicles season 3 around to different networks, with some fans hoping Netflix - who streamed the series - would pick up the bill. Unfortunately, those efforts came to nothing, and the show is officially considered dead. Even five years after the cancelation of The Shannara Chronicles season 3, however, fans still sign petitions in hopes of attracting the attention of producers and showing their unwavering support for the show. It’s a shame The Shannara Chronicles came to an abrupt end after such a promising start, but given the wealth of material in the franchise, a movie or TV reboot in the future is still a possibility.