Tracking the Journey of one of the greatest villains in cinema, Darth Vader, may help us figure out where we've made missteps in our own life. We all start out as children - how and why did we get so off track?

Perhaps the truth is that we never escaped our past. Perhaps we've never made a real decision for ourself. Perhaps we're slaves to the expectations of others.

This episode was an unscripted YouTube livestream that turned out better than I ever expected it would. I've had a lot of these thoughts whirling around in my head and needed to get them out somehow. I talk about my Dual Ego Hypothesis, Man of Steel, explain the ending of Man in the High Castle and I also define Archetypes. Long episode, but it's a lot of good information that will expanded on as this project continues.

It took me a while to figure it out and get it written, but Step 4 of my Heroine's Journey model is finally here!

Be careful when making deals with the Fae!

Mark Stratton's Heroine's Journey:

Step 1: The Perfect World https://youtu.be/L-t_TF17yvM

Step 2: The Death of Innocence https://youtu.be/gTUeiZO4H1Q

Step 3: Denial of the Broken Glasses https://youtu.be/LoLDLiYLqWQ

The 19-Step Overview: https://youtu.be/McNZSIDFB_0

Hero's and Heroine's Journey Diagrams: http://thinkspiritual.ca/diagrams_backdated

Be your own Heroine! Be your own Hero!

Be your own Guru!

Change your Self. Change your world.

First listened to (and heard of) Man With a Mission's Into the Deep last night and I can't stop listening to it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMIaDLICMC4

This is my interpretation of these very "deep" lyrics - I don't care if the song/video is to promote a popcorn movie. Depth is depth.

The world is in good hands with artists like these guys holding the reins.

Be your own Heroine! Be your own Hero!

Be your own Guru!

Change your Self. Change your world.

It's been a year since I completed my Hero's Journey series. Let's take an alternate view of 5 common misconceptions that people often have about it.

Let's take a look at seven characters from popular film and TV that are various incarnations of Existential Nihilism.

Clips from:

The Matrix Trilogy

See my Matrix analysis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vZlJLAMp5k

Man of Steel

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power

See my take on Entrapta here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVwaQECjmvw

The Shallows

See my The Shallows analysis here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJmRoAznp8o

Thor: Ragnarok

My Thor: Ragnarok analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-A7VBkOxvE

The Highlander

A very long breakdown of The Highlander: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5jDAj_2iX8

Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid

Be your own Heroine!

Be your own Hero!

Be your own Guru!

Change your Self. Change your world.

I felt that I Am Mother, Soul and Entrapta from Netflix's She-Ra series all needed to be talked about in the same video as they all portray "Purpose" from differing perspectives.

It seems that the first steps of any Journey are the most difficult - especially if we didn't want to take it in the first place.

And even if we did want to take it, it doesn't mean that we're going to have an easy time leaving our "Perfect" world behind.

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is an absolutely beautiful animated show that is full of depth.

In this episode Mark explores the possible reason that Scarlemagne (aka Hugo Oak) HAD to die at the end of the series.

Sorry for the spoiler, but there was no way around it.

While Blade Runner may very well be a story of a former cop battling his own inner demons, I choose to believe that the real Hero of the film is the seemingly crazed Roy Batty: an android who develops a soul and attains enlightenment all in the last 10 minutes of his existence.