Swords and Satire

In this unlikely hero’s journey, Moana travels across the dangerous ocean to find the hero demi-god Maui, who has gotten a bit cringe after living alone for over 1,000 years, to get him to lift the curse plaguing the land, which he kind of, sort of caused, you know, if you want to get technical about it. Through their trials and tribulations, Moana realizes she was the hero of this story all along and that there is a peaceful way to restore the balance between humankind and nature. And you know, here at Swords and Satire we ask the big questions, like: Is Moana a Disney princess?; What’s the best way to overcome obstacles in your path?; What makes a hero?; and, What is the memeiest way to mess with the gods?

What happens when you’re caught in a scary ruined city at night, and you find out the shadows are hungry for your blood? Why, you steal everything in sight and leave your friends to die of course, or at least that’s what this episode of The Wheel of Time would have you believe. In a world where light and dark battle each other and both sides are dicks, the only choice is to go through a sisterhood initiation and become the Wisdom of your village, and live in harmony with nature and all humankind.

This week we, your hosts Jamie, Chelsea and Jack, share our take on the brutal Viking tragedy, The Northman, in which a large, angry man exacts a tortuous revenge against his uncle, who killed his dad, Ethan Hawke. While the movie could be difficult to watch at times, the fart jokes and body humor helped break up the scenes of bloody killing. This modern adaptation of the Scandinavian folktale that inspired Hamlet is like one long Viking metal music video that tugs at your heartstrings and at your bowels. The film had us so engrossed we couldn’t look away, even as we cringed at the ruthless violence of it all. Listen in to hear more of our thoughts about this film, and share your hot takes with us on social media to @swordsandsatire! Also, we hope you enjoy our intro skit!

And, trigger warning for our discussion this week of difficult topics as a part of our discussion of the film, including: warfare, slavery, violence, ritual sacrifice, and murder. While we do our best to discuss these topics with care, and provide levity breaks, you may want to skip this episode if these are sensitive topics for you.

(intro skit sounds are from Zapsplat.com)

Listen in this week to hear us talk about our next show for Satire TV, The Wheel of Time, and take the journey of discovery with us as we attempt to decipher a plot that galloped away from us as we limped along behind it. We were left with a lot of questions, like: what is the morality system of this show?, why are mages so mean?, why are there so many reincarnated people?, and, what do the forces of darkness really want anyway? We are low key forming a love-hate relationship with this show, so listen in to hear why!

The Ash Lad is a quirky and whimsical tale about a young fuck-up peasant, who goes on a quest to save a salty princess from a Troll King of the patriarchy. There are many silly mishaps, feats of daring, and seeds of mayhem sowed along the way, which we recount after our own style for your listening pleasure. We take the Satirist approach to understanding this Scandinavian folktale, and even pull a class struggle discussion out of our proverbial hats.

As we cover the final episode of the second season of The Witcher we find many threads being stitched into the narrative tapestry with an equal number of loose ends, which leave the overall pattern of the themes of this series feeling tattered and confused. Although, perhaps these loose threads are simply waiting to be woven together in the future to continue the pattern in season three? But overall, this episode left us with a lot of questions, which we hash out for your benefit, dear listeners!

This week we bring you our take on the epic fantasy tale of a ten year old child who eventually overthrows an evil serpentine dictator! And no, we’re not talking about the Harry Potter trans-averse, but The Shamer’s Daughter, based on the novel of the same name, but you know, translated from the Danish original, Skammerens Datter. Try to say that five times fast.

In this episode family and frenemies separate only to converge later against their foes in a giant clusterfuck sword fight. But hey, that’s how you know you’re watching The Witcher! This episode also includes a lot of political intrigue that we endeavor to unpack for you, and we try to get to the bottom of who is on the other end of that owl that Dara and Dijkstra keep talking to. We also delve into the patriarchy of the Brotherhood, and explore the mage’s problematic relationship to magic. So listen, and then share your hot takes with us on social media to @swordsandsatire!

If you are a fan of this movie and you ever wanted to know more about the perfect being who generates the shimmer and about the scientists who tried to thwart its sacred mission, then look no further, because we are here with hot takes like this that no one asked for in our discussion of Annihilation, or Ascension, as we think of it. But the most eldritch thing we talk about from the movie is the one you might least expect. Of course it’s Dan, the colleague Lena was cheating with, but you will have to listen in to understand why.

Trigger Warning: For those of you who are unfamiliar with this film it is a science fantasy horror movie that covers serious illness, loss of loved ones, self-harm and addiction. We wanted to give you a warning in case any of these topics are uncomfortable for you.

(intro skit sounds are from Zapsplat.com)

This week in our discussion of the Witcher we get to talk about old friends reuniting, male posturing over female friends, scholars getting off on research, and Yennefer fucking up, as she ever does. But our savvy girl bosses, Fringilla and Francesca, are as tight as ever and ready to claim their own power. Their means are of questionable morality but they are just so damn compelling! Listen in to hear us delve deep into their relationship and motivations, as well as the role of feminine power and how people find a renewed sense of power in this series.