Second Breakfast with Cam & Maggie

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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It's been four years since this film came out, and rewatching it now - it's great? Our discussion runs through a dozen improvements and recalibrations that make this matured, focused sequel so much more effective than its predecessor. We debate the believability / convenience of "fantastic beasts" being tied to each new development of the plot. Cam analyzes Grindelwald's politics and the vague, veiled, faux-inspirational salesmanship of fascism. Maggie tries to figure out what, if anything, the Leta Lestrange and Nagini subplots accomplished. Then we come together to absolutely, 100% reject the big Creedence / Dumbledore reveal and explain why it's just another chess move from Grindelwald, the guy who the entire rest of the franchise establishes as a "silver-tongued" master manipulator who should never ever be listened to or trusted or believed. Duh.

Join us next Tuesday for our coverage of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore!

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Fascinating and frustrating - this first Fantastic Beasts movie is probably more fun to talk about than to actually watch. We discuss the tonal and stylistic discordance between the Newt half of the movie and the Grindelwald half, and then try to re-cut the story to make it more satisfying and consistent. Would a Mandalorian-style mini cinematic universe have made more sense here? We also examine the character of Tina and try to figure out why she just doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the story. We close the discussion with our hopes / fears for the future of the "Wizarding World" franchise.

Join us on Tuesday for our coverage of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and again the following Tuesday for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. We're also continuing our lovely little jaunt through The Witcher every Friday.

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A magical creature means a new philosophical thought experiment! This week we're introduced to "mimics" and a fascinating exploration of personal identity and the concept of the soul - but it's Sapkowski at the helm so all of this is done through a breezy, wildly entertaining adventure story that's half Wolf of Wall Street and half The Thing. Discussion topics include: power, corruption, Tolkien, immortality, echoes, and a rather extensive tangent about slugs. Blame Maggie.

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Part two of our two-part exploration of Tolkien's appendices, this episode covers the rest of Appendix A as well as the entirety of Appendix B, C, D, E, and F. There are some fascinating revelations in these pages, as well as a whole lotta nothin' on many of the other pages. Hit and miss, as it were, but Cam has sifted through all of it and found the bright spots! Topics include the horrific, war-crime filled history of Durin and the dwarves' battles with Azog, the story of why and when Sauron created Black Speech, a whole host of updates about the fellowship's lives after LOTR, and then we take a goofy trip into the mind-numbing, pedantic world of Tolkien's linguistic annotations and clarifications that run like a funeral dirge through Appendix F.

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This story continues Sapkowski's discussion about free will, but he swaps out the mechanics of the story. Tolkien is out, replaced by relationships and humanity and messy, complicated emotions. Let's just say that we're incredibly invested in these characters now. Love triangles and duels and the limits of magic - tragedy comes to the world of the Witcher and we hope it never leaves! Cam introduces a theory about "nightmare payoffs" and Maggie wonders if Geralt can feel emotion after all. We also break down the "kestrals" as painful, physicalized metaphors.

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Holy great initial hook and compelling subsequent plot ramifications, Batman! Cam's taking a retrospective look at all the Batman stories that have really changed and interrogated an element of the character's mythology, "what if" stories that explore the butterfly effect of one clever change and reveal something new and profound about the Caped Crusader. After some examples, he zeroes in on Knights of Vengeance, and the stunning volley of gut punches that follow from the choice to turn Thomas Wayne into Batman instead of his son Bruce. The episode ends with a lovely little ode to comic shops and the joy of immersing yourself in art and artistic communities.

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More curveballs, more fascinating evolutions of existing ideas, more genre pivots, more philosophy, more Tolkien remixes - Sapkowski's winning streak continues as we begin his second book of Witcher stories. The theological preoccupation of The Last Wish is reframed into a discussion of chaos and order, and that new framework is refracted through a kaleidoscope of characters and perspectives. This story takes us from free will to prophecy to the problem of evil to misogyny to Dracula - we barely had any time left to make fun of Tom Bombadil!

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Bat-month continues with Darwyn Cooke's masterpiece, Batman: Ego, which launches us into a discussion about expressive character models and Hades from Disney's Hercules, color work as character commentary, the power of repeated panels, Batman's place in American folklore, Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the blurred line between creating art and commenting on art, and the influence that this story had on the latest Batman movie.

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"The Voice of Reason 6 & 7" & "The Last Wish"

The first Witcher book goes out with a bang! Sapkowski's dark, thoughtful fantasy world expands hugely with a short story about magic and love and a magical love that leaves us full of questions. Cam's got a theory about Yennifer that suggests she's more powerful than anyone we ever met in Middle-earth. (There are some worrying comparisons to Sauron, Gandalf, and Shelob) Maggie's got a whole bunch of concerns about the power of the djinn and the titanic ramifications of Geralt's mysterious "last wish". We also wrap up our coverage of the "Voice of Reason" framing device and consider the bookends and ideas that connected the short stories we've read so far. Join us next Friday for the first short story in the next collection, Sword of Destiny!

Cam also shares a very dumb idea about an easter bunny for adults.

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