Discussion of The Witcher, Season 1, Episode 2: "Four Marks"

This episode is a strange cocktail - 3 parts Yennefer, 2 parts Ciri, and maybe just a salted rim of Geralt. We celebrate the great introductions of Yen and Dandelion before diving into the decidedly rocky writing of Ciri's plotline and the extreme abbreviation of Geralt's adventure with the Sylvan. We also discuss the obligations and pressures of adaptation, the incomparable depth and subtlety of Sapkowski's dialogue, and why we still have hope for this version of The Witcher!

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Maggie is off-the-walls excited about these two books! Join her as she drags Cam along through the magical worlds that Erin Morgenstern and Susanna Clarke expertly created. Romanticism, atmosphere, beauty, and surrealism unite these two stories, while narrative style and story structure create vastly different reading experiences. Both books feature male protagonists written by female authors, and both unabashedly engage in "the meta" in ways that make your head spin. These two books are a triumph, and we hope you enjoy Maggie's enthusiastic analysis coupled with Cam's (insightful but stuffy-nosed) perspective and reactions.

Buy The Starless Sea: https://bookshop.org/books/the-starless-sea/9781101971383

Buy Piranesi: https://bookshop.org/books/piranesi-9781432886578/9781635577808

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Discussion of The Witcher, Season 1, Episode 1: "The End's Beginning"

Cam is sick this week, yet Maggie manages to be the whiny one (don't worry, Maggie's writing this description and she's allowed to hate herself). Our first impressions of Netflix's Witcher adaptation were mixed (structural problems galore!), but Henry Cavill's performance more than made up for it. Renfri was fun, Stregobor was cool, and the combat violence was ~ e x t r a ~ crunchy. We think Calanthe was given the short straw here, but hey, maybe we'll get fun flashbacks of her later?

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We're manifesting Halloween with a dive into this fantastic horror comic miniseries from Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. There's a painter, a haunted house, and a voice in the darkness - what more could you want? Discussion topics include: stylized art, narrative pacing / balance, the weaponization of shadows, the fantasy of creative freedom, The Shining, the muse / artist dynamic, surrealism, villain development, and the universality of isolation.

Buy this book: https://imagecomics.com/comics/releases/the-me-you-love-in-the-dark-tp

And join us this Friday as we begin our coverage of the first season of Netflix's The Witcher!

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"Destiny alone is insufficient, it's too little. Something more is needed." We spent this episode theorizing what this "something more" could be, and what destiny really means in Sapkowski's world. How much control does Geralt have of his own destiny? Does "destiny" even exist? Does Geralt not believe in fate / destiny or does he fear the implications of those concepts? Yennefer, Ciri, Dandilion, Calanthe, and Death herself all make appearances in this final Witcher short story. It's a doozy! Plus, Cam admits a mistake (for perhaps the first time in his life) and Maggie can't pronounce "irrevocable".

Join us next Friday as we begin our coverage of the first season of Netflix's The Witcher!

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Developed by Andrew Shouldice and published by Finji, Tunic is a plucky, silent, Pixar-style little fantasy adventure that absolutely kicked Cam's ass. In our first ever discussion of fantasy games, we break down the magic of Tunic and all it has to say about the genre. How is worldbuilding achieved? How are tangential side quests and lore handled? How is atmosphere developed? There's a lot to dig into here - tropes are celebrated, Dark Souls comparisons are made, and we find out that Maggie is the only host who is any good at boss battles.

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By a country mile, this is the most philosophically / theologically nuanced and provocative piece of fantasy we've ever discussed. Sapkowski's grand introduction to Ciri and the dryads is genuinely stunning, providing us with the examination of xenophobia that Tolkien only ever hinted at. Through action and conversation, we come to understand Lady Eithne's tragic and desperate position as a bitter reaction to centuries of unending colonialism / imperialism.

The concept of stories having hidden morals and lessons is also examined, not just at an academic level, but as an extension of religious belief and the narrativity that underpins any belief in "destiny" or "fate". We also discuss Geralt's more pragmatic definition of free will and the quiet human hierarchies of power and domination. What is "destiny" and what does it mean for someone to invoke that concept as an endorsement for their personal desires? Does Geralt truly not believe in the higher powers of this world or does he simply reject their authority over him? We end with a reexamination of Geralt's unbelief and the fundamental misunderstanding that leads Lady Eithne to call him a "nihilist".

What did you think of this story and the dozens of ideas that it played with? Let us know!

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Recalibration is the name of the game in this third entry of the Fantastic Beasts series. From the very first scene, the film mercilessly redirects and refocuses the franchise, cutting and demoting multiple main characters and launching into a frenetic, complex new story that Maggie compares to a heist movie. The nuanced exploration of fascism continues as well, with an all-new Grindelwald who evolves the character from an eccentric cult leader into a terrifying, calculated politician. We also discuss the ideal path forward for the franchise and continue to heap all sorts of praise on Jacob. This is definitely the most positive we've felt about a Fantastic Beasts film so far!

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Cam had a night alone and decided to watch a movie - and oh look, it turned out to be a fascinating Doctor Faustus retelling. So here's an episode discussing Oliver Stone's 1987 epic, Wall Street. Is Gordon Gekko an analogue for Mephistopheles or Satan? (Yes, both) How does the "greed" of this story compare to that of Faustus? (Hint: it makes the good doctor even more sympathetic). Martin Sheen also drops in to perfectly execute the Old Man role, and the final breaking point between Gekko and Fox pointedly echoes the homoeroticism of Marlowe's play. There's some discussion of American Psycho as well, and a deconstruction of the movie's ending, which pivots away from Marlowe and sees Faustus strike up a new, last-minute contract that leaves us with a message of hope, not divine punishment.

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Mermaids and troubadours are on the menu this week, but the special ingredient is still Yennefer. Sapkowski continues to analyze our favorite mysterious and magical witch from afar, this time through the fractal prism of just about every other character in the story! Echoes and pivots - it all swirls around Geralt's head until he realizes he's now on the other side of free will and his infamous "Last Wish" from a few stories back. Elsewhere, Dandelion gets an unexpected promotion in his role as storyteller to become a Samwise Gamgee level narrator / meta-prophet with a plethora of hidden powers.

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