Goldfinch Spoiler Heavy Recap | Final Thoughts + Completing Our Plated Prisoner Fan Cast

In this milestone episode of FanCastic, we officially wrap up our journey through the Plated Prisoner series with a full spoiler discussion of Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy.

After covering each book and building our dream cast along the way, this episode marks the completion of our very first full series on the podcast. We dive into the biggest moments from Goldfinch, reflect on the story as a whole, and break down how the series concludes.

We also reveal our final two fan cast picks, officially completing our vision for the entire Plated Prisoner world.

Plus, we share exciting news about our connection with Raven Kennedy and what it means for the future of FanCastic.

If you’ve been following along with our Plated Prisoner episodes or just finished Goldfinch, this is the ultimate finale and series wrap-up.

In this episode:

• Full spoiler breakdown of Goldfinch
• Final thoughts on the Plated Prisoner series
• Last two fan cast reveals
• Reflections on completing our first full series
• Special podcast update involving Raven Kennedy

🎙 Subscribe to FanCastic for weekly episodes about fantasy books, fandom culture, and dream book-to-screen adaptations. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Hey everybody! Welcome to another episode of Fancastic, the fancasting podcast, where we fancast all your favorite fantasy, romantic, and fiction. I am Loretta.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

And I'm Emily.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

And we are here to say goodbye to the Plated Prisoner series.

SPEAKER_01 0:29

After weeks and weeks of diving into this beloved book, finale. It's our finale episode.

SPEAKER_02 0:36

This is it. There ain't nobody else to cast.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

So we cast literally every living soul in this book. Even characters that probably don't matter. We need it. We probably didn't need to do that.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

We did not need to. But we did.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

Committed to the bit.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Yes, we are committed to the bit. So, guys, we're not doing a fan cast for Goldfinch. We're doing this full recap of book six of the Play to Prisoner series. We're gonna toss in a couple extra characters, and then uh you'll get a drop of the final cast someday.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Someday. Someday, she's missed. Someday.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Someday. Yeah, and we have a lot to talk about, guys. So we're gonna skip our rant and rave that we typically do, but we did have some big shit happen.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Really exciting. Is everybody sitting down?

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Are you sitting down? If you're driving, pull over.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

Pull off to the side of the road, put your car in park, lock in everybody. Are you ready? Can I say it? Yeah. Raven Kennedy follows us on Instagram. It's very exciting. We have we I feel like this is I feel like we did it. She knows.

SPEAKER_02 1:52

She knows us.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

And all we have to do is talk about her books for like 17 business weeks straight.

unknown 1:59

Literally.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Like we just, I don't know how many people are.

SPEAKER_02 2:17

And after she started following us, I went back and like updated the caption and was like, what's up, girl? Because I didn't want her looking at our content going, What the fuck? Are you guys talking about my gut health issues? And I was like, Yeah, like respectfully.

unknown 2:33

Respectfully.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Everything that we say, even if it sounds negative, is said with so much love because we love these books, which is why we feel like we can be a little nitpicky with them because we love them.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

100%. And like in our brains, Raven Kennedy was already like our friend. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

But now she's We're like in a group chat.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Now she's like liking our stuff and commenting and being like, you guys are cracking me up. Like, hello.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

We did that.

SPEAKER_02 3:02

We did that. Like, that's us, dude. So, Raven, hey girlfriend. We love you, dude.

SPEAKER_01 3:12

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Thank you so much for writing these books. Thanks for your support. We love you. So, yeah, guys, that's the big news. And Pen Cole's still still creeping on us too.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

She likes some things. She interacts, but we need the follow.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

We need the follow, Pen. So, so we're gonna get her. We're gonna get her real soon in the next couple weeks, methinks. I did tag Rebecca Yarros today in a video in hopes that something would happen. I was like, let me tag Rebecca from our clip from last week talking about her secret book. And then I put a Taylor Swift song behind it to like extra be like, huh? Yeah. And nothing. So I was like, damn.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Okay, we have to try and we have to dream big, and you mustn't be afraid to dream a little bit bigger. As uh what's this bucket says in that one movie by that one guy?

SPEAKER_02 4:05

That rings a bell.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Inception. Tom Hardy and Inception.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Oh my god, I haven't seen Inception in so long. So Gordon Levitt's in that, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:16

He is. He runs down like a rotating hallway. It's the only thing I remember. That and Tom Hardy saying, You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bit bigger, darling.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Delightful British accent, which I'm not attempting to impersonate.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

I don't want to do that either.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

We'll just let Tom Hardy do.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

You can't fuck with Tom Hardy. Yeah. Anyways, that was really big.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

That was really delightful for us. It stopped the presses for a hot minute.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

It did. We were screaming at each other via text. Uh couldn't believe. I think I I also texted you and was like, hey, are you you uh are you sitting down? Are you sitting down? And I was like, hey, dude. And then you texted me later and she was like, you were like, she loves us. And I was like, who? I was like, what are you doing? And I was like, what are you talking about? And I looked and she was like liked and responded like a bunch of other posts. And I was like, and then I looked and I does she follow us and love us.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

She thinks we're funny. She thinks we're funny. She thinks we're funny, which is like the best compliment. Because we are. I mean, we are objectively hilarious, but it's really nice to be validated.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Right, right. We know we're a good time. Obviously. I'm gonna try to tone it down a little bit right now. Guys, I've had a lot of caffeine today.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

We had like eight coffees.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

I'm on a 25 and Emily's at like a normal 10 of a normal person, and I'm like, oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

So I might even be at like a nine, I think. Like I'm a little I'm I don't know that I'm at a 10 at this present moment. So my nine compared to your like 27 and a half is a lot.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

If it if it's any indication, Emily has like a beautiful like blowout hair style, and I'm wearing a fucking crown.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

Which we've yet to address, by the way. You just showed up on the Zoom and I was like, sure, Loretta's wearing a crown. I just, you know, I saw it on the shelf and I said, um I mean, should I go get my crown?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Do you want to put your crown on? Oh my god, go get a girl. We both got our crowns on now, guys. Okay, thank you for holding. Um, and now we are both princesses.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Um thank you, Phobi. Thank you, please. Thank you, Phobie. Thank you for this is like a different thing. Anyways, okay. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

This is an audio audio audio on a medium. This is a podcast, Loretta.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Everybody listening to this in their cars is like, what the fuck is going on? People have ran red lights right now, being like, they're not okay. Okay, okay, let's lock it. What are we talking about? We're talking about Goldfinch, okay? We are talking about Goldfinch finishing this fucking series before we get into breaking everything down. Out of five stars, what would you give this entire series?

SPEAKER_01 7:09

The entire series? Yeah. Out of five? Mm-hmm. 4.8.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

The point two is for the pacing. I have problems with the pacing.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Yeah. But you staunchly defend the pacing.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

I to a point. There are I wish we had more Anwin and I wish we had slightly less what is it? Aria. Orea. Sorry. I've had like four fantasy books between this and that, and they all have the same words in them. Oreo. Oreo. Yeah. The book I'm reading right now has an aura. So I keep wanting to say it that instead of Oria. Ourea. Um so I wish that was a little bit different. I also had to that was one point. I think you've also just reminded me that there's cannibalism in this book. So I feel like that's half a point. I forgot about that. Um and I do feel like it's a it's two points off. Oh, I I think it takes a little bit too much time to get to like the big bad and the big like things about Slade. Like it or like they're big reveals, like spoilers. The dragon, the wings, the stone king. Like all of that happens in the last book, and it's like Raven, you had six books.

SPEAKER_02 8:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

I would like to the dragon would have been cooler before. It would have been really helpful, actually, if Slade had had a dragon earlier. Um and I also actually okay, I'm gonna revise actually. I need to go down to point four point eight seven. I need to take point three percent three points off because I love Judd. I love Judd. And if you're gonna kill somebody just because you feel like you have to kill somebody, because clearly that's what you felt because you didn't kill anybody else, and there was like not very many. The stakes didn't feel super high, um, because not a lot of people were dying. Why did you have to kill the comic relief? If you wanted to be really and you also killed the single one. So, like if you wanted to be really tragic, you would have offed Osric, and that would have been like really awful and tragic, but it would have I don't know. I love Judd, and so I am upset that Judd was the sacrificial lamb to like make the stakes actually feel high. Or like all of the wrath should have died, like they should have all died when the bridge exploded and the ground crumbled away from everybody. Yep. Because then it also would have made more anyway. We'll get into this later. Yeah. But now I'm down to 4.87. Okay, 4.87. Final answer.

SPEAKER_02 9:49

My final answer, phone a friend.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

I do not need to phone a friend, actually. I am locked in.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Locked in.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

I would win who wants to be a millionaire.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Accepted. You're a millionaire.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Congratulations, you're a millionaire.

SPEAKER_02 10:01

You did it. Okay, I'm gonna say three point nine four.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

You started with a three?

SPEAKER_02 10:15

I did.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Poor K. Because please justify every 1.6 stars that you removed.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Okay, well, okay. One okay, so half half a star is for the first three books. I feel the pacing on those is so, so like vastly different than the pacing of the whole half of the other series.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

And that's gonna be a full half of a star for me.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

Okay. Okay. Another half of the star. Okay. It's gonna be the audiobook. I wish I would have read this with my eyeballs, because I think I would feel differently.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

And I'm so sorry to those narrators. Yeah. I know you're great narrators. I am fellow narrator. I get it, babes. But there was something about one of you who it felt to me.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Um, we know it's not Anthony, so just it's not Anthony. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:32

It felt to me that someone was trying to get their paycheck. And as a narrator, narrators are paid off of. Now I don't know how they were paid. It could have been a different thing. So I'm not going to speak to that. But how I am is off of my rate is PFH, so it's per finished hour. And the longer the book, the bigger the pay.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

It felt to me that Anthony's pacing was really on par to like a narrator of like, I'm I'm acting these voices, but I'm still reading you this story. And you kind of have to have this pacing for a reader to digest without being like, okay. All right. Um, I don't feel like Lily was on that same page. And therefore, in order for me to be engaged enough in the audiobook, I had to listen to it at 1.6. That's really it was really high for me to be like, let's fucking go, man.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:37

And I went back and listened to a couple of chapters today to like refresh my memory on a couple of things as I was making our outline here. And I listened to it at a normal pace. And I was like, holy fuck. Like, whoa! I was not I was reminded and I just I I speak that way too. Like I speak in the way that she reads. And so I think I felt that Anthony was reading and she was speaking. And the pacing didn't match for me. Like when you say something, she's the the eyes and that, and I do that. I'll be like, I am feeling this way. Like, but that's it felt conversational on one end and performative on the other end, and it just didn't match up for me. So that is the other half of the start.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Yeah. Do you think that's something that I've noticed as I get more and more into audiobooks? Is to me, that is something that needs to be discussed at the top. Yes. Right up there with how we're deciding to pronounce these words and how what accents people are going to have.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

100%.

SPEAKER_01 13:49

And so the book, the book I'm currently reading, the male male voice actor also speaks faster than the female voice actor. I will listen to them at different speeds. I switch them back and forth in my car. The girl gives one of the main characters who does not have a POV, but he has a lot of, they do his voice a lot, gives him a thick Irish accent. The male character does not give him an Irish accent. Um, yeah. So it's like to me, that needs to be like upfront. Like, are we reading or are we acting this out? How do we say they at least pronounce everything the same, but they do, he does not do accents and she everybody has an accent.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

So I've noticed that with like some places like Dreamscape, Podium Audio, these different companies that seem to have these and produce these dual POV narrations. I've never done a dual POV yet. Everything I've done has just been self-yeah. You know, like I do the characters, and when I do another project, which I actually have another uh uh one coming up. I'm not allowed to say what yet, but I scheduled a call next week with this author and I schedule a call with my authors, and we go through every character and I record how they would like me to say it. So I have a reference track to go back to. I will come up with a voice for each one, and I audition the voice for every character, and they will give me yay or nay. And I record that and I keep that so that I have a reference track to go back to and can keep a consistency with it. Now, if I were to do a dual POV as a narrator, I would want to meet with whoever is going to be acting with me or reading the other, and and I would want to set a pace. I would want to communicate what my voices sound like. I just don't know. If I ran a production company, which who knows, maybe maybe I should start one. If I ran one, that's how I would run it. I would make sure the people were talking to each other.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah. It's also interesting because the book I'm reading isn't like a I don't I actually think it is technically a dual POV because to me that's when they talk to each other in a scene. Um this is like there are some Tasana chapters, some Max chapters, some Apha chapters. So there are also moments where the female voiceover artist is like doing Max's voice, even though Max is an actor. Because I understand that it is much more expensive to like cut him in and like edit all of that together. But it like she gives him like a really gruff voice, which I liked until I met that there's a male actor, and he just has like a totally normal male voice that's like not affected at all. So it's definitely like audiobooks, I love them because I can listen to them in the car and they help my ADD a lot. And I really struggle to read with my eyes and focus, but it definitely adds a layer to how you interpret things and how you appreciate things that reading with your eyes does not give you.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

Absolutely. And so that's why I I think like if I would have read these, I think my score would have been a little higher. And some people might think it's unfair the the score that I have given based on the audio stuff. But that this is my opinion, guys. This is how I feel. And no hate to the narrators, it just wasn't uh it's not my cup of tea, and that's okay. But the story in general, I really liked the other pointage was these last two books. I really, really liked the books a lot, these two a lot more than any of the other books. And I really wish that what happened in Gold and Goldfinched was spread out more, like you said, with the the dragon, the wings, the all everything else that we learn in these last two books. Like, oh, we have two hours left on this audiobook and we're still learning new shit. Like I was like, whoa, I feel like I didn't have time to digest everything. Yeah. So then when the book ends, and I had said this to you when I it finished, you were like, What did you think of the ending? I was like, I think I need to sit on it. Cause I just was kind of like, what the fuck just happened?

SPEAKER_00 17:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:55

At the end. And not in a horrible way, but in like I just felt like an overwhelm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Um there's a lot of emotions and a lot of things to unpack and a lot of profit things to process. And it's not like a straightforward ending. I think there's a lot left unsaid. There's a lot of questions that people have about like, did you just like abandon all of Fourth Kingdom? Because you were in charge of them for a really long time and now you just are gone now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

And now it's like, they got it. You know, it's like little, there's little sentences in there that wrap things up really quickly.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

But I was like, and you know, like, and what? And like case in point, cannibalism, right?

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Completely didn't forgot about that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:37

It's it's a little blip. We meet the fucking Dahmer party uh as Eminy is running around. And all of a sudden goes, Oh, there's these types of people, they're cannibals. They have like body parts, and she was like, I don't even want to talk about it. Oh, it's like leather. Okay. And then boom, it's gone. And then you never hear about it again. And I was going, huh? Did she just run into the Dahmer party in the mountains? Like, what the fuck is going on here? And then it's gone. Oh, what did I say? Dahmer? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

I mean, Donald did also eat people, but the party is the Don Nur party. Donner party. Two cannibalism pop culture things into one, which some might say is efficient.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Yes. So uh that happened, like that being the point of like, of wait, what? Like, and and the dragon, and like, you know, we'll we'll get to everything, but there was so much there at the end that I was like, whoa, I will have to say that Gold is my favorite book, then Goldfinch, then Gleam, then Glow, then Glint, then Guild.

SPEAKER_01 19:53

Yeah. I ex I kind of align with that. Yeah. Okay. Mm-hmm. And to me, I think honestly, everything that we're saying about our pacing problems for the most part, except for the fact that book one is too long and should be combined with book two, is all like we find this so interesting. We want to spend more time with you. Like, we want more of this. This is good. Give us more.

SPEAKER_02 20:12

Yes. Like there wasn't anything that I was like, like with the cannibalism, I was like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_01 20:18

But I also was like more into that.

SPEAKER_02 20:21

It was like a it wasn't a what the fuck? Where did this come from? It was like a oh, what the fuck is that? And then I didn't get the answers and I felt sad. And I was like, damn, I really want, I, yeah, we want more of that. So, you know, that's our little, our little criticism and how we felt uh overall about it. Should we dive into this recap and kind of doodly doodle? Let's see.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

All right, guys. So we're gonna uh and we're back. And we're back. And we're back. We're back with Arn and Slade. I know last time we went by character, and this time it feels it's so quick, quick, quick, quick that we can't do that. So we're doing in chronological logical order, but this book does go from place to place. So that's how I sorted it. So, okay, we're back in Anwin when we kick it off uh with Arn and Slade. It picks up right after Arn gets knocked out by the Stone King, uh, King Carrick, uh, Stanton Call, and Una, who is uh Miss Crazy that bitch, hypnosis cuckoo lady. Slade is preparing armies and he leaves to find Arin and head to Ranhold because of his magical imbalance. And I thought this happened at the end of the book too. Um, but because I jumped, I know I jumped right into this one. And so I was like, oh wait, that's right. Um, but so we kind of already went over this. His heart explodes. Argo is like, I gotta, I gotta go. He's like, go back somewhere. Yeah. He's like, What do I do? And Argo's like, here you go, here's this place. That you can be, but I gotta go back because he's like, get out of here. So his heart explodes, but he's healed by R's aura or essence. Um like all of a sudden it's like gold, and then he feels himself coming back to life. And because there's peer, her, like her, pear, they come back vocal stem. Pear. They she like allows him to survive through that, and then a golden scale appears on his heart.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Cool. Um, so that's there now. His two fractured forms, uh, Commander Rip and King Rot, who we know that happened when he created the Rip and the Portal, come back together and he is whole again. Then shadows pour from his body and produce a fucking dragon.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

It's important to note to me that up until this point, this fantasy world has not had dragons. Not one. Not the whole one dragon. The one first dragon, this is the first smoke creature. Like, there's a lot happening in this little like puff the magic dragon moment that appears and then disappears.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

That's when it like it shows up and it's like, hey, hey, gone.

SPEAKER_01 23:22

Gone. And I was like, I didn't even know you all knew what dragons were. Yeah. Like I had no idea that this world had dragons.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

And Slave's like, I love that dragon.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

That's my way.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Like, that's my soul. I love that dragon. I love that dragon so much. Like, it's just immediately. And I was like, all right, let's go with it, buddy. Whatever makes you happy. You did almost die. She is physically and emotionally wrecked at this point, but alive and impress imprisoned. Imprisoned by King Carrick. Rather than killing her immediately, he's persuaded to keep her alive for public humiliation, for the rebellion. Uh, Arn does not know who she is because Una is putting fucking worms in her head.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Crazy.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

To which I thought she was like doing a hypnotic thing with her eyeballs. Yeah, no, she's got magic worms. She's got worms, and so you know, from Corpse Bride where the worm pops out. That's what I was fucking. I was like, all right. I think that's what it is. That's what it is. It's like these little mind worms, and so she's putting those in there so she will forget and can psychologically manipulate her with skewed memories because they're trying to unmake her and like break her. Arin has a cuff around her ankle that blocks her power. Uh, she continues to be manipulated and starts to lose all sense of self and reality. And the only thing that she can cling to is her name, Arn Turley, as she tries to survive. Now, I texted you about this. I fucking loved that every chapter through this book, it has been chapter 35, Arn, whatever, over and over. Chapter two. Yeah, nothing. It's amazing. And I was like, the first time I heard it, I went, why didn't she say her name? Mm-hmm. Because she didn't know who she was. And then the only thing she clings to to remember herself is Arn Turley. So throughout the rest of the book, it is chapter five, R and Turley, whatever. I texted you and I went, that was so fucking smart.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Yeah, it's such a great choice. I loved it. That I think is really impactful in the audiobook in particular, because I think you were annoyed by this initially, but Lily Drake says Arn in a like a very specific way in her chapter titles, and it is such a vocal stim of like chapter 32, Aaron. Like it's very specific. So it like I started saying them along with her because you could tell her voices for like Melina and Arin different, even when she was just saying chapter and number. So like I always thought it was fun to be like Melina or like that's Queen Melina, and I was like her. And so I would find myself saying Arin, and then there is no she doesn't know. I was like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Yeah, it was I was sitting at my desk listening to it, and then there was nothing, and I went, what the fuck? And I went back and it was like this, oh my god. And I was like, Oh my god, they fucked up. Like right now.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

It's one of those risky choices because if people don't get it, they think it's a mistake.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Yeah. And then once I realized that she was like trying to go through and she's like basically like swimming around in these memories, trying to figure out who she is, getting clips and pieces and things are being manipulated, and and I'm going, oh fuck, she has no idea who she is. Like she can't tell the title chapter because she don't know who she is. Loved that choice. But since she learns, she keeps hearing Arn Turley. She looked at this ring that Eminy gave her with the mocking J symbol broken thing on it. And uh respectfully, she starts to like cling to that name. And that's what brings her back. Arn begins to remember who she uh was with, like right before what happened, the hair colors, stuff like that, and who she is. As soon as she like is like, I'm Arn Turly, something like wakes up in her, her ribbon powers return. They break the cuff off of her, she gets her powers back. Una comes in, she said, none of those motherfucking worms no more, bitch. Crack kills Una. Loved that. Yeah, yeah. Loved that she just was like, fuck you, bitch. I was like, yeah. Like, I hate her.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Don't forget your favorite line though, before she kills Una.

SPEAKER_02 27:41

Yes. Oh my god, that's right. You're right. So the favorite line, I love, I think this might be one of my favorite lines in the whole series, is Arun's standing there. And so her ribbons are like like all like squirrely again because they work. And Una's like, I came here to put worms in your head. And she was like, Not today. And Una goes, Oh my god, what are you? at her. And Arun looks at her and she goes, Really fucking pissed.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

It's amazing. I love it when fantasy book characters swear. It's so great.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Oh, and it was so like intense. Like, like that's what I would have said too, bitch. Like it was very relatable, and I liked it. Now, I I love sometimes when fantasy books do that, where all of a sudden they kind of take you out of it, and it really is like very modernized, and then you pop back in and you're like, that was fun. I'll forgive it.

SPEAKER_01 28:31

Like, who says they don't say the word fuck in fantasy lands? Right. They say ass all the time.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

We got ribbons and feathers, grazing ass getting a little tickled all the time. Yeah. Um, so yeah, so that happens. She says, really fucking pissed. Uh Arn kills Una, like I said, and makes keys out of her gold to unlock her from the cells and unlock everybody else. She frees everyone and she starts looking for Wick and Eminy. Mm-hmm. And that's and that's what's going on in Anwin.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

And that's what she missed on Glee. And that's what you missed on Glee. Uh meanwhile, back in Orya, uh, okay, so Rissa has been stabbed, but she has been healed, and now she is recovering. We're happy about this. We love Rissa. Oswick visits her and their relationship quickly turns very serious. He admits um that while she was literally dying, he fell in love with her, which is an interesting um turn of events, but that is great for them. Um, and he can't stop thinking about her and doesn't want to live without her. Rissa is not into it right away because for years um men were shitty to her, and that's valid, and we support that. And that's a perfectly valid reaction. Uh, but she starts to come around because also I think Osric is low-key pretty hot. So, and also he respects her and how she feels and tells her that he won't fail her and he won't pressure her and he won't make her do anything she's not comfortable with, and it's all very loving and sweet. Yeah. Um, Rissa finally addresses her real feelings, but begins slipping into her old like performance patterns. There's a very sweet scene where they're banging and she starts to like fake.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

That's a very sweet scene where they're uh fucking.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

I mean, you're fucking. I don't know what to tell you.

SPEAKER_02 30:18

That's no, and they fully are like they're yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:22

And she makes a little fake sound and he immediately is like, absolutely the fuck not. Uh you do not have to fake that. We're gonna do that for real. None of that. Loki have no idea what you mean by this note. They do a Gray's Anatomy post-it note style and just pledge themselves to each other. I don't watch Grey's Anatomy and I don't recall this. Explain.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

Okay, so in Grey's Anatomy, yeah, Patrick Dempsey's character and Meredith Gray get married, but they don't get married. They just are in their like hospital locker room. Okay. And instead of getting married because Meredith is afraid of getting hurt, she does not want to Rita. Like our girl Rissa. She's like, I don't want this, I don't want to conform to this. My parents had a bad marriage. All my mother did was work as a doctor and it ruined their marriage. And I watched that happen and she had an affair, and men are trash. It's all the same. And so Patrick Densey sits down and he writes his name on a post-it note and has Meredith write her name on a post-it note, and they call that their marriage, and they frame it and put it above their bed for like the several other seasons of Grey's Anatomy after that. And that is how they've decided they're married.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

That's really cute, or if I hate that.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Both. Yeah, it's like, why don't you guys care enough about each other to like at least go to the fucking courthouse?

SPEAKER_01 31:47

Let's get government involved.

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Yeah, like what are you doing? Uh so this felt very much like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:53

Because Russell's very against marriage, and they come up with some sort of like, we'll just be married to each other. Nobody else has to know. We don't want to talk about it. Riot, boys in peril. Um, he is struggling to hold the kingdom together. Nobody in the kingdom has any fucking clue where Slade is. So Riot is trying to lead the armies. Of Slade and King Rot being Faye has spread, and people don't like that because I don't trust the Faye. So Riot is trying to calm them. And then they get word that Slade never made it to Ranhold. This is the problem because that's where he was supposed to be, and he is not there. This kingdom has fallen, and the Faye are coming in hot uh to Aurea. So everything is in upheaval. Yeah. Uh Lou's doing like literally the best she can, but she doesn't have any forces. So she's trying. She's like, a little help, guys. Yeah. Hello. Osric, Jud, where are you?

SPEAKER_02 32:43

Osric's like, sorry, I'm dealing with love.

SPEAKER_01 32:46

Osric is like, I am banging. I have to, I'm busy. Uh, you are on your own. Yeah. Um, okay, Queen Melina and Domek are with the Oriens that they found in the woods with their little refugee party, and they're trying to just uh survive. They find more Faye and try to hide, um, but that does not work. They get led right smack into danger. And you wrote, do they all die? I can't remember. I don't think that they do. Like you're talking about when they're in the city and they like fuck really quickly in the alley, like what happens to everybody else? I think they all hide and I think they're fine. Because it okay. At least that's how I'm choosing to be.

SPEAKER_02 33:22

I really can't remember. I can't remember. She I know that she was like, okay, I either lead them here and they kill us here, or I lead them here to this town and we can like all spread out and like hide places.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

That is what I think happened. And that's how I'm choosing to remember that scene is that they all like hid in random basements and like the Faye went right over them.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

Like and I well no, and well, I know that the Faye catch them. Oh. And confront Melina, and then I don't know what I like blacked out. I don't know. And I think she like talks her way out of it, or like he lets them go if he takes her or something. I just remember her saying something about the little girl who got the arrow in her leg.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah, but they save her, she lived.

SPEAKER_02 34:04

They save her, yeah, and she's sitting there like clinging to her mom as she's like doing better, and Melina's like trying to figure out. I don't know, somehow they got out of it. I same. Let's do that. Yeah, I don't remember what happens to those people.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:22

But then then, yes, they go to the alleyway safe house somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

And it's great. And she finally feels love for the first time, and we love that for her. And yeah, now she's dedicating the rest of her life to atoning for all of her shitty life choices that have led her to this point. And spoiler alert, Domek is really hot. And we all do that, and it's great to have our assumptions proven correct.

SPEAKER_02 34:48

Correct. Yeah. Good job, Dominic. There we don't really hear a whole ton from what Melina and Domek are doing. I think we'll get to what's so pivotal uh pivotable, pivotal pivotal about them. Yeah, there it is, we got it. But one thing just in general is huge props to Raven for creating a character that I fucking hated for three books. And cried. I sobbed. Sobbed when she died. I was so upset. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Spoiler alert, she dies. Yeah. Sorry, we're not there.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

Yeah. Everyone should know. Once again, guys, don't fucking listen to this unless you've read this book. Yeah. Like, and even before then, even like this scene where her and Domick sleep together, and he lays her down and says, May I and is is loves her in a way that she's never been loved before, and that's all she ever wanted. And like I think that stems back to like how her dad didn't really care for her, and how like her mom like was sick and lost her mom, and and she has just felt that the kingdom is first, the kingdom is first. Like, do what you have to do. And this is the first time she goes, I I can't do anything. And this man loves her, and it's just it was so beautifully written. Like I love the the spice between Arn and Slade and Rissa and Osric and everybody, but there was something about this that was like very, very tonally different, and I really, really loved the writing of it. And Raven, goddamn way to do that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Her character development should be like taught in classes. It's so good.

SPEAKER_02 36:39

Oh my god, it should. Yeah, it really should. I never thought I would like Queen Melina. I was like, that fucking bitch. I feel like as soon as she started writing the character, she knew what the character needed to do. And that's so smart. Okay, that was my soapbox on.

SPEAKER_01 36:56

No, that's great because we're segueing right into back in Anwin, which is only meanwhile, back in Anwin.

SPEAKER_02 37:03

Meanwhile, Arn uh has stumbled into the Globe Theater, it seems like, uh, from Timu and sees a weird play. Okay. This I do feel like this chunk kind of threw me for a loop. I had to stop and be like, what's going on?

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Propaganda. Propaganda's going on. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:23

Satire. They stumbled into they stumbled into the second city, an episode of Saturday Night Live. Whatever that means for Anwin. And uh that's what they see. All of a sudden she sees this tiggle-bittied actress on the stage running around being all goofy and being like, I'm the golden one, blah, blah, blah, and humiliating her. Um, which is what King Carrick wanted to do was like, I I don't want to uh kill her. I want to make a mockery of her. And I just I want everybody to hate her. And so she's watching this play happen and she's seeing people. I I picture it as like she's in the wings, she's like staged left, right? And she's watching this play happen, and she's like looking out at like all the people on the floor of the globe theater, um, and seeing that person's a woman and that person, and what's this person doing here? And she's seeing this and she's realizing this is a setup and something is about to happen. And so she steps out, he's like, Aaron is or the the gold your Liaryu Vare is dead and fuck that bitch type of thing. Emma he makes like Emany pretend to be her.

SPEAKER_01 38:36

Yeah, he makes Em Eman um like shift into Arn.

SPEAKER_02 38:40

Yes, and uses her to be like, see, she's gone. You guys, she's a loser. Like, I've got her. You don't have anybody. She's a loser. Um, but like, you know what I mean? It's like she's boo, you know, like boo. Um, and uh they plan to punish all of the rebels that are there. Um, and Arn steps out and fucks shit up and is like, nah, motherfuckers, I'm here. Um, again, I kind of sort of blacked out. It's like a big like battle thing kind of happens. Emony and him like run off, and he flees to uh Oria because of this. And meanwhile, all this is happening, and she's like, What's that over there? What's going on? And she's like kind of pulled towards Slade, and Slade is pulled towards her.

SPEAKER_00 39:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

And then boom, they're back, and then they reunite. Um because they're yeah, their their pair bond has put them together now that they're in the same realm. And he's like, could see her aura and whatever. So they're back together. Um, they quickly do a that's what you missed on Glee with each other. He's like, I have a scale now because my heart exploded and you saved me. And also, I have your little ribbon piece that I've kept with me this whole time, and it like melts her heart, and then they return to Lydia and see that the Volman Rebels have taken the city and they welcome Arn back, which is not what was expected. Slade and Aren Aaron uh start getting a little hot and heavy because turns literally cannot pull themselves away from each other.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Physically, we are attached. Yeah. We got ribbons smacking asses. Yeah, yes.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

And he's like, yeah, he's like nuzzling and like it's very animalistic because their pair bond is saying, you must formalize this shit. This is part of it right now. And so Wick is trying to like be like, hey guys, like here's what's going on. And he was like, Don't fucking say her name. And he's like, if one more male says your name, I'm gonna lose it. And so they kind of shove them in a cave and they're like, go do your thing. You gotta do this. And she's like, What's happening? And he was like, This is what happens, this is how we formalize this. Sometimes it takes a while. I I don't know, we just gotta do it and we'll see what happens. They're fucking for two days and they emerge and and all good in the hood. Um, and then they get they get caught up by Wick. Wick is like, here's what's going on. Um, Wick has explains that he actually l led the resistance takeover of Lydia and now they have their town back, which is great. Um Slade is real big mad at him for not protecting Aaron as best as he could. Which actually leads into this made me cry a lot.

SPEAKER_01 41:43

Yeah, I was really this was really upsetting to learn about.

SPEAKER_02 41:46

This was really I I cried for Aaron and I I cried for how badly he felt because he was a child. He was a kid, he was a baby. He was a kid, he didn't know. Wick. Wick breaks down and he admits that he is much worse than they think he is, and he should have protected her more now, and he really should have protected her more when they were children. They were cousins, and when everything was happening in Briel, when everything was happening, he was right next to her. And because he was very jealous of her, and she was very carefree, and she was golden on the outside, and everyone was like, She has so much promise, da-da-da. He didn't save her, he just ran. And he could have just grabbed her hand and taken her with him, and he always regretted it. And because of that, and learning what became of her, and that she was flesh traded by Brennan or Branwin, whatever his name is Harden East. That yeah, that guy was like, I don't know his name.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

She was Midas was Harden East, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:01

Yes, and yeah, she becomes like part of the Flesh Traders and yeah, uh, he learns that and he's like, holy fuck, like feels horrible. And so he admits that and he was like, I understand, like if you don't want anything to do with me, and she forgives him, she's really upset and like really hurt, and she does not obviously is like, wow, this fucking blows. Like, I could have had a totally different life, but everything kind of happened for a reason. Now she's with Slade and she's kind of hanging on to that fact and the fact that like she does have family now.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:35

And so she forgives him.

SPEAKER_01 43:37

And she never would have met Slade if that had hadn't happened.

SPEAKER_02 43:40

Exactly, exactly. And she needed to meet Slade for some reasons. And so, yeah, that that whole chapter was really heartbreaking uh for Wick. Um, and both of our Wick choices, I could see them acting the shit out of that. So I was like, ooh, this is real good. I was happy to get a little bit of that after Arn forgets it. And uh forgives him, she accepts him as his family because it's all left. Then we cut to what's Eminy doing? Emini uh was being used to impersonate Arn, like I said, on the stage, and King Carrick tries to make a mockery of her because she challenges him. And he was like, nah fucking way. You're getting into the like you're going back in this prison thing.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

And she tricks a guard and becomes a guard and sneaks away, and she's kind of using her glamour magic to like get the fuck out of things. She impersonates a soldier uh or two or three. She slips away. She learns that King Carrick has a weak spot. His men are falling, and he's he has a moment of oh fuck. Like this really couldn't go the way that we think it's going to. And so she learns that and is like, oh shit. She's get she gets some intel. Then she sees them cannibals.

SPEAKER_01 44:54

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

Yeah.

unknown 44:56

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

She sees them and she's like, ew, yeah, girl, get out of there. Uh she then accidentally yeets a soldier off the bridge.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

She does. And she causes a little kerfuffle when she does it.

SPEAKER_02 45:09

Yeah. And she's like, oh no, what have I done? And she kind of like slips away and is like, I gotta change into somebody else. So nobody finds me as the soldier who did this. Mm-hmm. And so she sneakity sneaks in. And she finds another disguise.

SPEAKER_01 45:29

Which is one of the twins, which is a little stupid. She didn't know he was a twin, I don't think. And then she has to like be a twin to the face of the other twin, which obviously doesn't work. Never has a care I know that I said that I like when characters lose because it makes the stakes high, but like never has a character had such a string of stupid bad luck as Ebony. It just like one dumb thing after another does not work out in her favor in this little adventure.

SPEAKER_02 45:55

No.

SPEAKER_01 45:56

Um, they obviously figure out that she is not the other twin, and then the twin that she's spoofing also shows up, and they beat her to within an inch of her life, which is really tragic, and you fully think that she dies. Um, they throw her in like a dungeon or a cell or something, and that's where she meets Domek and Queen Melina, and our worlds are colliding. Yep. Yeah. Um okay, does she get an antler?

SPEAKER_02 46:21

Am I making that shit up?

SPEAKER_01 46:22

No, there is something about her appearance that is an antler. I thought she wore like an antler.

SPEAKER_02 46:27

No, she doesn't grow an antler.

unknown 46:30

Why?

SPEAKER_02 46:30

She already had one. Is she like fa no, she's Faye. She's Faye.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

First of all, I thought she was like wearing an antler earring?

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Oh, her ear gets cut off. Yes. Maybe she replaces it with an antler.

SPEAKER_01 46:44

Anyways, something about an antler.

SPEAKER_02 46:47

It feels cute. I like it.

SPEAKER_01 46:48

I like it. It makes her quirky and weird. She uses her like last dying breath to free Domic and Queen Melina. Um, they uh um they try to go get her. Uh or Queen Melina makes Domic go back to try to save uh Emany, which is really nice. Uh seems really nice, but is actually a trick and a ruse because she's gonna go run and destroy the bridge and she doesn't want Dominic to come with her because she's gonna die and she doesn't want Domic to stop her or to die with her.

SPEAKER_02 47:18

Um, it's fucking mean, dude. That's so mean. This man loves you and like like gives himself to you, and then you're like, no, go back and get that girl. Like, I can't live with myself if that happens.

SPEAKER_01 47:33

I'm gonna go like save myself to uh sacrifice myself to save the world.

SPEAKER_02 47:37

Yeah, and like you don't think and then you're gonna live leave him there to deal with that. Like, what the fuck, dude? That made me mad.

SPEAKER_01 47:45

I get it though, because he fully would have stopped her if he for sure. Um, so Queen Melina uh has decided to sacrifice herself to destroy the bridge and protect the Orient people. Um oh, she has a flashback of her and her mom, which is really interesting. Yeah. Uh and Domit comes and like snaps her out of it and is obviously pissed at her. Uh, they end up going to the bridge together. So Melina doesn't have to be alone in death, and the bridge explodes, and they fall into the void together, and they save the world, and they end the war, and they both die, and nobody knows, and it is the saddest, most tragic thing that has ever happened. And I cried really hard, and it was really sad.

SPEAKER_02 48:25

Mm-hmm. The flash the flashback with her mom, um, and like it's like when she finds out she like catches her mom being visited by a mender and realizes her mom is sick, and her mom is like, Your blood matters, and so she like uses that to be like, Oh my god, my blood like opened the gate and the the bridge. My blood has to close it, and it's tragic. Like because then you get this like baby Melina being like, but why, mommy? And then she's like, anyway, stab this thing through my heart, Domic.

SPEAKER_01 48:59

Like, yeah. I do think like you even wrote this in a bullet above that is that like all Melina wants is to atone for how shitty of a queen she was. And like while I'm sure everybody would love for that atonement to not come at the cost of her life, that she does get what she wants, which is she gets to save her kingdom um at any costs. And I think that that is really beautiful. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 49:24

And she she knows that no one will know.

SPEAKER_00 49:27

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 49:27

And she does it anyway. She does it anyways. She's like, it's the right thing to do. Otherwise, they're just gonna keep coming and we're never gonna survive it, anyways. So let me just take one for the team, and then yeah, yeah, he's he's with her.

SPEAKER_01 49:41

He's with her, and he stabs her and they fall and they die, and it's uh anywho, Riot and Judd are fighting literal stone soldiers, um, which I pictured to be like that scene in Harry Potter where McGonagall like wakes up the gargoyles and the suits of armor and they like jump down. That is what I and she's like, I always wanted to use that spell. Um that is what I prefer, but stones. Judd dies. I don't want to talk about it. I'm really upset about it. He dies saving Digby? Lou? Saving somebody.

SPEAKER_02 50:15

Uh I think it might be Lou. I think it's Lou. It's uh it's uh Riot? It's Riot.

SPEAKER_01 50:25

I think it's Riot because He definitely dies saving somebody and making a joke about it.

SPEAKER_02 50:30

Yes, and all of a sudden he looks down.

SPEAKER_01 50:32

Yeah, he's got a sword through his chest. I don't remember. That's all I can say about that because I love Judd and I don't want to talk about that anymore. Uh moving on. Riot, dig me keep fighting. Uh Riot things over for him. Um, but somehow he like fully just decapitates the Stone King. Very unclear how Riot accomplishes that. Not that I have any distrust in Riot, but that just seems like a very human ending for a very mythological character.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

All of a sudden he's like, he says something about he's like cornered or maybe whatever, and he's like, there's no way out of this. And then he's like, and then I jumped three feet in the air and yeeted my sword, and his head toppled, and I was like, sorry, what happened?

SPEAKER_01 51:14

What? I'm like, rewind. Back 30 seconds. What are we doing? What's happening?

SPEAKER_02 51:19

Um like you know that meme? That meme of the where it's like uh driving by. It's that, right? Like going by. That's what it felt like. Like, sorry, what?

SPEAKER_01 51:34

What? Huh? Or the like John confused John Travolta meme. Like it's a little bit, it's a little bit of that. The big bad that we've waited six butt months to meet no longer has a head. It's six months, six books. Um, has been decapitated, and magically all of the stone statue soldiers that he was controlling are dead. What a come up.

SPEAKER_02 51:57

We just met the stone soldiers and then they're poop gone.

SPEAKER_01 52:00

They're gone. Um, okay. In the distance, Brian and Lou see two figures on the bridge, obviously Dominic and Melina. So somebody do they do see and they understand what's happening, but like, do they understand? Um, and then the world like falls apart. Like an earthquake is happening. When the when the bridge collapses, it's like the ground is hot lava. Things are there are crevices, there are cracks, there are earthquakes, there are things going on, and everybody thinks they're gonna die, and they all think they're gonna fall into these cracks in the world and fall into the void. Um, Digby gets on a timberwing somehow. He saves Rissa, who also is there, by the way. We didn't talk about that. Rissa, she's fighting for her life. Why? Who knows? What skills does she bring for the table? I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 52:40

Not exactly.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

But I do love that she was like, Oh, you're going? I'm also going. Like that this is non-negotiable. We don't get separated.

SPEAKER_02 52:47

Yeah. Oh, yeah, because she didn't want to be separated from Osric. She like watched him battle through a window with Manu in a house, and she kind of like uh resolves a thing with Manu and is like, I forgive him. And Osric's like, what the fuck?

SPEAKER_01 53:05

And but then she decides, like, you could have died, and I would have been up here in this fucking tower. And I don't really like that. If you die, I'm dying right next to you.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

So that's it. That's why she's with him. I was like, why the fuck is she with him? Why is Rissa there?

SPEAKER_01 53:16

Yeah. So Digby saves Rissa. Uh Ryan Lou think they're gonna die. They don't. Osric saves them. Everybody's fine. There are no stakes except for Jud. It's fine. Moving on. Back and Anwin, take it away.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

Back and Anwin. Here we go. All right. It's time for the daddy issue showdown of the century. All of a sudden, now I gotta say, I think James Marsden being not bald with some hair, a missing eye, and a crazy smile would be terrifying during this whole scene.

SPEAKER_01 53:51

I agree.

SPEAKER_02 53:52

So, all right. Aaron and Slade run into Stanton call, Slade's dad, and Slade's dad's like, hey, what's up, dude? Here's your mom. I'm gonna beat the shit out of your girlfriend, and I'm gonna trap you under this net, and I'm gonna kill your fucking dragon.

SPEAKER_01 54:11

Yeah, that scene is rough. The hair is going up. There's a lot that happens in that moment. I it was um not good. It was, I was really, we I really thought that we were in a pickle there for a second. Like we were really trapped. Um real bad.

SPEAKER_02 54:30

There's a lot of um, there's a lot of animal killing in this one.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

There's a lot of animal cruelty stuff. Yeah, pain.

SPEAKER_02 54:40

Yeah, and um, so oh, so Arn and Slate are like flying around on their dragon, and that's what happens. Dragon wing break. Yes, because Satan goes break, yeah, wing break, fall, gold can't save, gold fakes the fix the landing, uh-huh, boom, they're with Daddy Call. He fucks everything up and is like breaking Arn's arms. He stabs Allure in the stomach and like hits her in the face with a whip and then stabs the dragon through the heart. Slate is trapped and being like, What the fuck? Like, I have I can't do anything. I failed, I'm so sorry. Like, hates himself and then he pulls himself together.

SPEAKER_01 55:23

Um somehow gets like a pinky toe or something out from under the net, and that is enough to like get his rot out or something.

SPEAKER_02 55:30

Something and he like pushes through the earth to like get out or something, and then throws the net off of him, no problem. Then he fights his yeah, he fights his way out and he grabs his dad and he rots his dad, and this is so like oh, so good. Like, and he's like, I'm gonna crush your skull and piss on your corpse, and like that's basically what happens. And he does that, like he's a man of that and he just like he like rots within himself and he's like this pissing shit is coming out. And I was like, you hated that. Um but good for you. Uh he does the skull stomp, deserved, uh, does it. He's like, fuck you, dad. Yeah. Um then uh everyone's fine. Uh sure. Orin is in a pile of her blood, and she is we should say everybody's fine except for the main character who is actively dying. Fine. Like Laura is fine that's healed-ish. Like she's over there, and uh Orin is dying. And he is talking to her and like, please don't do this, like, please don't leave. What was it all for? I don't understand. And he explains this story of how he knew that they were pair before he saw her aura. And it was, it's why his mom like stopped talking, was like with the abuse, and his la her last words to him was goldfinch. And he's always been like, What the fuck does that mean? And then once he saw her, he realized like she's gold, she's the goldfinch, the goldfinch from the very beginning of the books, like it all clicks into place. He says to her, as she is dying, I will find you in any life. Arn dies. Allure uh says out loud in that moment, Goldfinch.

SPEAKER_01 57:22

And it's like, Mom, right now, she's dead. What are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 57:27

Stop it.

SPEAKER_01 57:28

And she's like, Goldfinch.

SPEAKER_02 57:30

And she's like, Mama, quiet. No, no. Um, the rebels arrive, they have a healer, they start healing Allure. Uh Aaron, do be dead. Like she really dies.

SPEAKER_01 57:42

She's really dead. I really thought that she was actually dead.

SPEAKER_02 57:45

She really is dead. Uh Slade leaves with Aaron and takes her to take her body back to Oria, carrying her. Wick is like, please don't do that. Like, people care for her here here. They are she's the Liari Uvair or the Liari other thing.

SPEAKER_01 58:00

They call it something else now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:02

Yeah, something else. And please don't. Like, we need her here. We want to pay our tributes. This is her home. She worked so hard to get back here. Please don't do that. And he's like, I don't know yet. I'm gonna keep walking. You guys follow me around to like figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 58:15

Yeah, I'm just gonna sculpt.

SPEAKER_02 58:16

Yeah, I was like, hate that for you guys. Like, so weird.

unknown 58:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 58:20

Carrying her around, he decides, okay, he's gonna leave her in Anwin because that is what is correct and that's what's like weighing on his heart. And then boom, the bridge explodes. So while all this is happening, yeah, the other thing with Molina happening at the same time. All at the same time. All the things are happening at the same time. So Riot and them are like killing the king, and then the bridge exploding, and then on the other side of the bridge, this is happening. So all the big kaboom, and he was like, Holy fuck, what do we do? They fall into the void. They're falling, and boom, we get to where Aren is. She's just in the in-between, and she sees a weird little star and some goddess things, and they're like, Hey, have this drop of power. Don't die. You don't have to.

SPEAKER_00 59:05

And she's like, All right, I'll live.

SPEAKER_02 59:08

She decides to live. Um, and she comes back to life with really excellent timing as they're literally falling to their deaths. Uh, and surprise, she has wings.

SPEAKER_01 59:22

I love this book. This book is insane.

SPEAKER_02 59:25

Girl, I stopped this and I went, what?

SPEAKER_01 59:27

She's alive and she has wings now. Don't ask any follow-up questions. Everything's fine.

SPEAKER_02 59:32

And it was like a little star being like, hey girl. Hey, you don't have to die if you don't want to. You don't want to be dead. Yeah. He goes has some power. Bye. Like, you know, did you see the Mario, the Super Mario Brothers movie, the first one with uh Chris Pratt voicing? There's this little star called uh Lumi. I think it's called Lumi. And I put it as one of my variants.

SPEAKER_01 59:55

Yes, okay.

SPEAKER_02 59:56

This little blue star that's rolling around in a cage, and it's like, hey, and everything is like, do you know that death is the most peace you'll ever feel? Like it's like stuff like that. It's so funny. Okay, amazing. It's very me. Okay. That's what I was picturing in that moment.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:13

And so she comes back to life. She's got her wings, but she also has her ribbons. So like she got earthing now. Like she's got wings and they turn into ribbons, and then they can ribbon in wings, and she's like learning. And she knows how to use them, which is great. Um, and flies them the fuck out of the void. Yeah. And crash lands and says, Hey, I'm here. And everyone's like, Oh my god, that's crazy. And then she's like, What happened? Everything looks nuts. Hold on. I got this drop of stuff, and I feel like I should touch the ground and fix it. So she's like, Hold on.

unknown 1:00:54

Boop.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:55

And like, heals the land. And then the land heals. This is all said with love. Because I was like, what's happening? Heals the land with this goddess dropless, and she breaks this whole curse thing that was happening. Yeah. I feel like I wasn't aware there was a curse. I thought there was just a war.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:16

There was a curse because of the bridge. Like when they broke the bridge, they damaged the land. Okay, okay, okay. Slade's dad broke the bridge. It broke the land.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

Okay, fierce. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:25

I was like, I feel like maybe you remember in theater history class in college when we learned about the Greek play, like Greek tragedies had the like Deus Esmachina thing, which means God in the machine.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:40

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:40

It worked like a trope in things. And it like in Greek tragedies, when they were actually performed in ancient Greece, it was like a literal like God character who would come down and be like, all of your problems are solved. And now it's like a thing that is used to explain, like, I don't know, plot points in movies where you're like, well, that was convenient. Right. It's the it's the Athena and the Odyssey. Very literal interpretation of Deus's Machina. 100%. And I think it's delightful, frankly. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:07

That's absolut Emily was a better student than I was. I think I got like a C.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:12

I was also the TA of theater history, so I was like requirements. No, with um Bill. Bill? Bill. I think I had Kelly. Mm-hmm. That's probably why I didn't learn anything respectfully. Anywho, that's all I was thinking when I was reading it of like, wow, that was literal. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:28

No, that's so smart. It's like, how do I how do we fix this? God power. God power.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:32

Got it.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:33

Okay. So then uh everyone wants her to be the queen because she just saved everything. She's a god. She's got a god. She's got the royal bloodline, technically, and they're like, be our queen. And she's like, no thanks. I gotta go be free and lay low. I've always lived my life for other people, and I don't want to do that memo. Which makes sense. Good for her. So she instead endorses Wing. Wing, she endorses Wick as king and says, uh, and Wick goes, I don't wanna have a monarchy. Let's have a democracy. Sound good? And everyone's like, all right. And he's like, beyond my council.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:08

Yeah, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:09

Sure. And they're like, everyone's gonna vote. And we were like, all right, that's great. Yeah. Okay. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:16

Home stretch. Home stretch, guys.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:19

Whew. Okay. Everybody realizes that Queen Melina saved everybody, which is really nice. I'm glad that Raven stuck that in there, that everybody, that what Riot and Lou saw was enough for them to be like, oh wow, she did that. Um, yeah. Kyla Kyla's a uh she's a bitch, and she is still trying to claim kingdoms and like while people are like barely dead, um chill out, relax. It's fine. I'm really personally offended by your third bullet point here, which were everybody at home just says, Judd is truly dead, and I stop it.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

I was holding out hope, dude. I was because they were.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:58

I was like, this hasn't killed anybody yet. Like, yeah, this is anybody important.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:01

The language was fallen, and I was like, oh, maybe he's gonna like walk over the hill and be like, hey guys, and I was and they were like, nah, he got really dead.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:10

I and everybody that I have bullied into reading this book has not responded as strongly as me to Judd dying, and I am offended by it because I love Judd.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:21

I love Judd, he was so fucking funny.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:22

You didn't even text me when he died, you weren't even like Judd's dead. You didn't say that personally.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:29

I was cleaning, so that's probably why. But out loud, I was probably going, Oh no. When did I text you? Oh, I was like, oh, by the way, I finished Goldfinch.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:39

And I was like, no comment about the death of my one of my favorite side characters. Really? No? Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:45

I think I think I think I was saving it like for this because sometimes I text you and then I feel like I repeat myself on here, so I didn't want to do that. So I was saving it.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:54

Fine because most of the people listening can't read our text messages to our knowledge. That's true. So unless the FBI agents, anyways. Anywho, so they're trying to figure out how to get Slade and Arn home. Riot finds Eminy and Friano, who's one of the twins, right? Eminy is cracking jokes and thinks Riot is super hot, which honestly valid. She's like so half dead and is like crying and like can't stop laughing and thinking how hot Riot is.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:26

Yeah, and she's like, Riot, like as in like a pile of or causing one. I was like, bitch, shut up.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:32

You are dying. You are in a you're in a jam, Emany. Like, you do not have a plan to get home. She's my fave. Um, Arn and Slade are chilling in Arn's hometown. This is great. They're living a little peaceful life. They do like casually miss their friends a little bit, which I guess is nice. At first, Riot and Team do not trust Eminy, uh, but she proves that she knows who Arn is because she turns into her and she can prove that she recognizes her, which is a really handy trick. Uh, Riot and Crew force Friano to take them back through the fairy circle to Anwin. Uh, Riot saves Emini and accidentally kills Friano. Bummer. Um, accidentally or like straight up murders him?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:11

He straight up murders him and then he goes, Yeah, oh my god, was that our only way back? And everyone was like, Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:17

And he was like, Oh shit. I guess we're making Anwin now. Um, but everybody's there, even Argo, which is delightful. Don't they like fly Argo through the fairy circle? He's he makes it. He's there, which is fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:31

Which wait, I was trying to figure this out because they were like, we're around the fairy circle, and then everybody steps in at the same time. And I was like, did Argo, was Argo like maybe. Yeah. How big is this fairy circle?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:47

All on, they were all riding Argo. Like in my head, they were like all I don't think that that's correct. This is just what I've envisioned.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:54

How is how big is the fairy circle? Because in my head it was like a hulu hoop sized.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:59

And so that wouldn't also also it's however big he walks, right? Because it's his little stomping feet that make the fairy circle. So he could walk 30 feet if you like he wanted to, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:07:11

Oh my god, you're right.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:13

I don't know that Raven Kennedy honestly has done enough to provide the scientific backing of how fairy circles work. And I think that is an oversight, frankly. Um, so we want more of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:25

Well, we need can we can we have can in this in this potential riot spinoff, can we do more about fairy circles, please?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:32

I do believe he just stomps his little feet into however big of a circle. And obviously, if he has to do it faster, he has to do a smaller circle because it would take longer.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

And it was like there. Uh, anyways. Anywho, it doesn't matter. Somehow he gets there. He's there.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:45

It was like a reunion. Uh Sleet and Riot hug. So cute. Brothers. Um, Digby loses his absolute shit that Aaron is alive, which is very sweet and very cute. I love that Digby makes it through the whole series. Um, everybody mords Judd, thank God. Um Emily and Aren reunite, which is very sweet. Riot and Allure reunite, which is really sweet and really emotional. Um and stop talking about Jud dying. Pour one out for Judd. Sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:14

They do.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:15

That's like what they do. And like like Arn and Rissa also unite, and our Osric's like, are you guys friends? And she was like, Yeah. We're friends. And I was like, Whoa, bitch, sorry. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:27

I didn't know you liked each other.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:28

Geez, sorry about that. And I put pour one out for Judd with some Feeywine and charcuterie, because that's just like how it ends in the present time. Uh-huh. And then we get a two-month time jump. Which was so unexpected. Out of nowhere. Yeah. Out of nowhere. Um, two months later, quick little catch-up with everybody here. Uh, Arn and Slade are living in Briole in houses that they've all like remade, and it's cute, and they all have colorful doors and the big tree statues there uh for the fam, which is cool. Osirk and Rissa are like holding hands, strolling around because they live next door. Lou is the city captain training people. Cool. Digby and Allure.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:16

I don't like this.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:17

I hate this.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:18

I hate so much.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:20

It felt like everyone had to be paired up, and that is why Judd was killed.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:26

And I don't like it.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:26

I'm sorry because Judd would have to be with Lou, and that would be weird. Yeah, I'm not into it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:31

I'm not into it either. And so, yeah, everyone's like paired up. I it the the Digby and Allure thing felt weird. I was like, this doesn't have to happen. They don't have to be together. But I did like that Allure is like making friends, which is really like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:45

Yeah. Like, go be with your girlfriends in your knitting club. We love that instead. Yeah. Um, Riot is straight up struggling.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:52

The man's having a rough time of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:54

Yeah. He's having a really bad time. And then he's uh gone. Do she's there, I guess, but she just goes back to her life and is not, we don't get a catch up with her. Um Slade is like, I'm gonna show you something. He brings her to like where they like to watch the stars by the stream in a little grass patch, and then gifts her this Faye book that she had from her childhood. And they flip it open, and there is like her family members, like as the strongest paired couple ever. And but there's a new page, and she flips it over, and the the what's marking the page is her little whibbon, and there's a new page, and it's her and Slade. And I thought that was the most perfect, beautiful ending, and it says like Slade is with like it's like the golden one and the deathly flight. So it's like her and his like shadow dragon man who he's was and it was a beautiful ending. And then there's one more chapter that I was like, that wasn't the end.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:11

There is one more chapter. This it literally the book ended with him being like, stand up, and I thought it was gonna be there and it was gonna be like left to the imagination of like, what are those guys doing? Not the case. We um we end the book on an explicit scene. I did not love it. It actually pissed me off.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:35

I felt that it was it was this beautiful ending, and I loved, like I said, like that, oh, maybe like we know what they're doing. We get that we get it.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:47

But no, we got the details of what they were doing, and it felt so very strange to me that for a book that started with an orgy, it had to end with RN, excuse my explicitness, guys, bouncing on his cock.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:09

So much so that it produced his dragon again. I love you, Raven Kennedy. But I did not support this ending. I was like what?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:27

I feel like so differently about the ending.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:29

Really?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:31

Oh my god, okay, wait, did I skip anything? I don't think so. No, and that's what happens, a dragon, and then boom, that's the end. Okay, please tell me why.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:39

I well, first of all, I read it now quite a while ago. So I don't remember quite that explicitly, but comparing your comparison to like the first scene of the book to the last scene of the book to me is not a weird choice because I think it shows like how that was not sex or love or anything that was like manipulation and rape and sex trade and like not good things, and then how much she has grown and like found out what real love and relationships and partnership really is. If I maybe if I remembered it as explicitly as you just said it, I wouldn't feel that way. But to me, it's like it's a really interesting like book end parallel of those two scenes. And like I would have also probably been fine if it had ended with like a closed door moment, but it does not, it did not bother me even remotely that that's how it ended.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:33

I do I respect that. I think that maybe if the dragon wasn't produced from their sex, maybe I would find it.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:42

Explicitly what happens, or does it just happen like after?

SPEAKER_02 1:13:46

Um, it's like like after they finish. Okay. All of a sudden, all of a sudden they are like, what's that? And like the smoke comes out.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:54

Huh. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:55

And it's a smoke dragon. And it is you are led to believe uh that this bond and this pair and them being back together and like having this big moment has brought his dragon back. And so it felt we it felt like she was like servicing him and he got more power from that.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:20

It was I definitely feel like their partnership and connection like makes both of them more whole.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:28

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:29

I can't that's I was like how I interpreted it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:32

I was like, did y'all just make a a a dragon baby?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:35

Like, no, I think neither of them is complete without the other one. So, like, this is the like obviously very physical interpretation of them being together, but that has solidified their bond and their relationship, and that's what made him be his full self again, which now includes a dragon, which is fun.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:53

Which is fun. Yeah. And I respect that. I respect that. Like, I know people loved this ending. They were like, oh my God, that scene was so beautiful. For me, I think the chapter before how it ended on that closed door, I thought that was like the perfect button. And so to hear another chapter, I was like, What? What's going on? Oh my god. So a dragon. Oh, that's the end. Here's the poem. Like, that's kind of how I was like, whoa. And again, I was listening at 1.6. So everything was much quicker. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:26

He came quickly in that one. Um, sorry. Jesus. Okay, that's it. That's the end. We did it. That's it. That's the recap, guys. Just thank thank you all so much like for listening to all of our recaps of this. We haven't recapped this like a deep dive podcast where they're like, and then this happens and whatever. We we vibe, we give our live reacts, we jump in, we chat about stuff, we talk about our different opinions. This is what we do. Thank you guys for doing that for all of these episodes. We don't have a fan cast for you guys, like we said, but we just have two characters. That's it. We're just gonna do it because we want to round it out. And then for the full fan cast, you will be able to see it this coming Friday. Okay. You are listening to this on Sunday. You will see it on May 8th, is when our full cast will be presented. You will be able to see that on our Instagram. Some lovely graphics. And you will also be able to see it in video format, all laid out for you here on our YouTube. Audio listeners, you gotta head to our Instagram or pop up on that YouTube to see this cute little video that I'm gonna add music to. And Emily's made some beautiful graphics for it. But we have two characters we need to add in for this.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:49

And so we picked them real quick. I uh we we did not each pick one, guys. We did this. Emily took one and I took one.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:58

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:59

I was picturing who Una would be almost immediately when I met her. So I had I jumped in and picked someone. The first character we have is Una. Go ahead, Em, if you want to read.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:10

Oh, sure. Uh she's a powerful Faye who works for the Stone King. Uh, and she completely erases RN's memories with the magic worms. The only physical descriptor of her I remember is that she has turquoise striped eyes. And I'm assuming you found an actor with this trait.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:29

Yes. Uh completely striped eyes. For all authenticity. Yes. It's actually just um a blue person. I kind of was Okay. I kind of was actually picturing, I can't think of the name, but the character from Guardians of the Galaxy, the blue what is her name?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:48

Nebula?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:49

Nebula. That's it. Kind of. Like Nebula-esque, right? So I've talked a lot about a show that I have been watching and I'm now fully caught up on is Paradise. Mm-mm. Sterling K. Brown. And this actress is from Paradise. And she plays a very interesting character. She's not who you would expect her to be. And she's very, very evil. I had said that Una was very similar to an Ianthe. And I think this character would be a lovely Ianthe, and she would be an even better Una. So I have chosen.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:27

Yeah, she's kind of she feels like she could be creepy really quick.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:31

Yeah. Look at that picture of her. She's first of all, she's beautiful. Yes. Um, Nicole Bryden Bloom. I think it's Briden. Nicole Bryden Bloom, that's what I'm gonna call her. Bride and Bloom. Funny. She's brand fucking new. I've never seen her in anything else. She plays a secret service agent in Paradise. And I don't really want to spoil it because I do want people to watch this show. I think that you and Ian would actually really like this show. A football husband would really like this show. Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Oh my god. I don't even, I don't even know what I did there. That was crazy. Who is that? Who is that? Who is the person? I don't even know him. Pratz will find out so it's my favorite. Uh yeah. So I just, I don't know. I picked her. She also she gives um Sandra Bullock a little bit. A little bit. Like, uh, I don't know what it is. There's something about her, and I just I think she would be such a great Una. And she's newer, and I love a new face.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:28

I love it. I support it. I took the Stone King, King Carrick. I remembered precisely zero physical characteristics about this man. So I used this quote from the back of the book, which I thought was really nice, which is the Stone King was trying to destroy me, but what he hasn't realized is this gold bends, but stone breaks, and a gold does not fall, it flies. Which I just really like. Great quote. I know, right? It's almost like a famous author wrote it for the back of the book.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:55

She should write books.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:57

She should write more in it. She should write more books. I think she would do a really good interpretation of the Pied Piper.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:02

Oh my god, we should tell her.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:04

We should text her.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:04

We're in chat. Yeah. Hello, Raven. My headphones on.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:12

Hello?

unknown 1:20:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:14

Anyways. So I remember no physical characteristics, so I went based on vibes with one of my favorite evil actors who's just really good at playing mean, evil, scary people.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:24

God wait, I have no idea who this will be. And this is Mads Mickelson.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:28

This is who I pictured the whole time without fail. Like, this is who is in my head. I just like he looks like he could be Faye. Like I told you about the girl on TikTok who sorts hot men into whether or not they're Faye goblins or elves, right? Or elves, goblins, or dwarfs. He to me is somehow both like the king of the elves and the goblins. Like he's like very pretty, but he's also creepy and like unsettling in a very goblin way. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That's my king. That's my big bad. I think he's so talented and so unnerving to look at. But also what a face card. Yeah. But also, like all Faye are beautiful, as we know, as the texts teach us of these remains, like they must be beautiful even if they're unsettling. And I think he is the perfect example of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:19

Yeah, dude. That's an excellent Stone King. And the came out of his head just rolling away.

unknown 1:21:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:26

And that's it.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:28

That's it. We're fine. Yay. That's it.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:30

That's our fan cast.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:31

We did so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:33

We did so good.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:35

Not me like speeding home today from work on the 405 being like, oh my God, I have to make this deck with 800 bajillion people. And then I was like, oh, it's two.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:42

No, it's only two because by the time this is out, our our next round of fan cast voting has been out. And instead of posting the results the following Friday, we're posting the whole goddamn thing. She bang. Oh, shebang.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:57

Everybody pray for me to fit all of these characters onto one slide. Pray for me.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:03

You've got this. You've got this. We're sending good vibes. I just have to say, this is our first full series. Mm-hmm. Not we did do the Shepherd King duology. That's not a series, though. Duology.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:17

Duology.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:18

This is our first full series to finish. We started Aquatar. We never finished it, and we're gonna restart it.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:24

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:24

We uh I started Throne of Glass, never finished it. Probably should do that one in the future again. We started Empyrean series. We're caught up to that. It's not done. This is the first full finished series that we have ever done on Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:41

What a momentous occasion. We did it. What a time to be alive. We did a whole series, we finished it, we did every character, the author follows us. Like, wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:52

I think this is a really big accomplishment, and I think we should be really proud. And we hope that we've made our listeners proud and really enjoyed this. So please tell us how proud you are of us.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:04

Yes, we need it. We both have praise kinks. Yeah. We do.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:10

That's two times I've told the people what Loretta likes. Rut Row. Rutro. I'm gonna start getting some weird DMs.

unknown 1:23:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:19

Anything else?

SPEAKER_01 1:23:20

What's coming up next? Um, we are diving into Spark. Spark of the Everflame.

unknown 1:23:25

Yes!

SPEAKER_01 1:23:26

Kimmer Curse Saga's next guy. I have a really controversial casting for Luther, and I'm standing by it, and I just need everybody to know that you might not like it because he's blonde, but you can dye his hair. And I just everybody needs to be fine with it. Asking him for the acting. But I'm casting a blonde man. I'm warning you now, I'm casting a blonde man. I I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:52

I have Okay. Can I ask you real quick? Because it it I I I I I've got three Luthers right now, and I I can't decide. I've started watching a new show which will need be unnamed so that you can't figure out who this is.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:07

There is one person loser. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:10

No, there is one person in this show that I'm watching who I actually do think will be my resand recast. Um I'm very confident in it. I also think he could play a Hunt Athlar. That's not who I'm talking about, but this other person is from this same show I'm watching. What age range are we going for?

SPEAKER_01 1:24:34

My character in his late 20s. Okay. I do think Luther actually is a bit would could be that age, or maybe even a scosh older, because I think it's unclear if he's like magically old.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:51

Right. They say that they have longer lifespans.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:55

I don't know that we know that actually. We don't know yet, I don't think.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:58

Yeah, because it's like they've said like have longer lives and they outlive their mortals, and like that's why they're like, no, no, don't be with people.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:05

But also, like he's Lily's older brother, and Lily is still like actively aging and is quite young and is doing the like I don't know. If we say like Faye puberty is when they s get to the like super hot age that they stay for a million years, like she's not quite there yet. Right. And to me, it's implied that there isn't that big of a difference between the two of them. So I wouldn't be surprised if he like recently hit Fey puberty and is actually like 30. Okay. Like, okay. That's what I'm doing.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:34

So we're going hot. Like we're going like, yeah, like hot, hot, like late 20s, mid-30. I think so, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:42

And same with DMI mid-20s, mid-20s. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:46

Okay. I just want to make sure we're on the same page with that, and that helps inform a little bit. It takes one of mine away.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:53

Cause he's too young or too old.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:55

Um, I think he's he in real life is not too old.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:00

But he looks a little old.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:02

He looks a little old. He's also playing someone very big in pop culture right now that I don't uh I'm removing him from this.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:18

Because I I don't think people would be able to, one, respectfully, I don't think they would get him for the Hulu show. So I don't even want to like attempt it's David Corn Sweat.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:29

Oh, okay. Yeah, he's a bit old. He's older than I picture.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:33

And he looks hot and lovely and like looks the part, but a little bit too much. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:37

I think everybody would be like, that's motherfucking superman. Like, you know what I mean? So I with the blue eyes and stuff, like I would love that. And I think he could give face card, and then when he smiles, that would be a bright, lovely thing. But I think he's gotta go. So now I'm down to two. So that was helpful for me. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:54

No problem.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:55

And thank you guys for listening.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:58

Thank you, listeners. Weigh in on how old do you think Luther is?

SPEAKER_02 1:27:02

How old do you think Luther is, guys? You know, I realized I didn't do our call to action in the beginning. So I'm gonna do it right now, guys. If you have stuck with us through this entire series and you have listened to our Super Bowl fancasts, our Dancing with the Stars fancasts, our Quick Fast March Madness things, if you've listened to the duologies, if you've been listening, please make sure you share and like and comment and follow and subscribe and tell all your friends so that Fantastic can grow and we can bring you more fun fancasts.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:36

Yeah. But until then, we will see you guys next time for a brand new series. I can't wait. I'm so excited. Oh my god. And we'll see you guys then to all you she's, the he's, the they's, the gays, the shadow daddies, and the fays.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:53

You're getting really good at that. It's like really rolling off the hunt.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:56

Thank you. Last week I fucked it up. This week I practice. It's my warm-up now. Okay, guys. Love you guys. Bye.