WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Tales of Arcadia franchise and Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans, now available on Netflix.
Trollhunters: Rise of Titans was meant to be the epic conclusion to the three-series long franchise Tales of Arcadia. Each series built on each other, developing the world of Trollhunters and introducing fans to trolls, goblins, aliens and so much more along the way. When it comes to delivering a satisfying ending, however, Rise of the Titans failed to provide an actual conclusion for the story of Jim Lake Jr. and his friends.
Beginning with the show Trollhunters, the Tales of Arcadia franchise takes place in the fictional town of Arcadia Oaks, a constant pinpoint for magical (and alien) activity. Jim was chosen to be the first-ever human Trollhunter, the guardian of Trolls and slayer of evil Trolls known as Gumm-Gumms. And throughout the course of the three-series epic, Jim and his friends faced many adversaries and challenges that all led up to the movie.
The third series, Wizards, set up for the film the most with the introduction of the Arcane Order, a trio of ancient magic-users who wish to revert the world back to its original state while destroying humanity in the process. Rise of the Titans picks up with the Order hunting former member Nari and the apprentice of Merlin named Douxie to summon the ancient Titans needed to start the world anew. Unfortunately for Jim and company, they faced some heavy losses, with Jim's enemy-turned-father-figure Stricklander and his best friend Toby Domzalski both dying over the course of the conflict. This hard-won battle with serious stakes was set up to be the final ending for the entire franchise -- until it wasn't.
Taking a page out of Avengers: Endgame's book, Jim travels back in time to save his friends from dying. Unlike the MCU film, however, the Trollhunters movie failed to properly use time travel. Earlier in the film, Jim asked Nari how to stop the Order. Nari instructed him to find the "Krohnisfere," a device capable of showing future events. She said it will make everything right again, though Jim didn't know what she meant. The purpose of the device is not known until Toby's "wingman" smashes the sphere open in a fit of rage following Toby's death.
It's then revealed the Krohnisfere contains the Time Stone, which Jim uses to go back in time and prevent the deaths of his friends. For some reason, going back in time with the stone means going back to the day Jim became the Trollhunter. Ignoring that oddly specific and not-at-all-explained contrivance, Jim also decides that Toby should be the Trollhunter instead since he sacrificed his life to save the world.
Assuming Nari knew Jim could time travel and be prepared to stop the Titans, it's odd that she didn't mention it earlier. She could've been saving it as a last resort, but her wording implies Nari always intended for Jim to use the Time Stone. The whole point of Jim traveling back in time is to prepare earlier for the Arcane Order so that the team can stop them without any casualties, meaning it makes no sense to have a final battle and stop the Order in the present.
On top of that, Toby becoming the Trollhunter because of his sacrifice doesn't add up. The Toby of the past didn't sacrifice himself and knew nothing about him and Jim's future adventures, yet he was found worthy to be the Trollhunter. Toby was there with Jim in the original version when the amulet called out to Jim, meaning the amulet could have chosen Toby the first time around. Toby's shown he's an invaluable asset throughout the three shows, making his film journey of proving he's more than "moral support" redundant.
Jim's main story for the movie is dealing with the fact that without Merlin's Amulet of Daylight, he's not really the Trollhunter anymore, being only a powerless teenage boy. Yet all of his struggles and eventual regaining of his confidence means nothing thanks to the Tales of Arcadia shows officially being non-canon. Jim's time travel shenanigans created a world where he has knowledge of their upcoming conflicts and Toby is the Trollhunter.
The addition of time travel through the Time Stone means that Jim (or now Toby) could travel back in time over and over to prevent causalities, removing any stakes. Fans can't even rely on the ending of Wizards for a conclusive ending since it was meant to set up Rise of the Titans. Each show ended in a way that left its successor the ability to build and grow on what the last one brought to the world, but instead of giving fans a satisfying conclusion to the world built up over five years, Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans goes backward in its approach.
To see how the final film of the Trollhunters saga concludes, Rise of the Titans is streaming now on Netflix.
