Hello and welcome to Big Gay Energy.
I'm Caitlin. And I'm Fiora.
Come along with us while we dive into the fun and nuances of
queer media. Representation matters, and
we're here to talk about it. Cheers, queers.
What's on the big gay agenda today, Fiora?
Today we are. Talking about a very long
overdue by the powers of lesbian Jesus TV show called Willow.
We are so, so sorry that this took so long for this to come
out because we like, talked about doing this when Willow was
airing and here we are over a year later, so we're sorry many
things happened like we started filming it.
If you watch your reaction videos, you'll notice we look
really different in the first video versus the other videos.
The. Second one, even from the 1st to
the 2nd. Yeah, exactly.
Because we started it and then things happened and we had to
put it on pause. So here we are to finally,
finally, finally talk about Willow.
So before we get into it, what is Willow if you don't know what
it is? So just to clarify, 'cause
there's multiple projects with this title, we're talking about
the TV show. It is a high fantasy adventure
adventure sequel to the 1998 film also called Willow, which
isn't confusing at all. No differentiation?
No, none whatsoever. The TV show takes place like 20
years after the film. 17 like 20 years.
OK, I'm just telling you. Sure.
Where we have 6 heroes that take off on a quest to be on the
magical wall that guards their Kingdom, where they face their
inner demons and literal demons and they come together to save
the world. Why are we talking about this?
Because huh? Because we were asked to, sorry,
continue. Yes, we were asked to.
For good reason, because this is the first true Disney franchise
to center a Sapphic love story. So naturally we have to talk
about that, because that's very exciting and wonderful If you're
new here. Welcome, Let me explain our
format for how we kind of talk about these episodes.
If you haven't watched Willow and you don't want to be spoiled
about this, but you want to know more about it, just stick around
for the beginning section of this episode where we would give
our Spoiler free review right up front.
And then afterwards we will give a disclaimer and jump into all
of the spoilers about every little nitty gritty thing about
this show. But we will warn you before we
get there. If you're watching this podcast
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to us, and these actions contribute to our ongoing
celebration of queer media. And you can see for better
representation. OK, so let's get into the
spoiler free review of Willow. So basically I just set the
groundwork of what it's about. It's a fantasy show, it's over 8
episodes. The main character is a Laura
Dannon I guess who's like the saviour of the world.
And then her super gay companion is we'll get into that term
later as Kit Tantalus, who's like the Princess of one of the
kingdoms and Kit is like canonically queer AF and has
like a night in training girlfriend named Jade and
hilarity ensues and they go on a quest.
Honestly, I think it's super fun.
I personally like fantasy genres.
That's one of my favorite. And when it's queer fantasy,
that makes it even better. So for me, I was going to watch
this show no matter what, because women with swords,
obviously, and I like fantasy stuff.
I like Caitlyn did not watch the movie before jumping into the
show, and I feel like maybe that would have enhanced things a
little bit. But the show did a pretty good
job of like giving us flashbacks from the movie and then like
kind of explaining things hitting from the movie, like a
little bit of the lore. It's very spread out, but it's
easy to just jump into the TV show I feel versus like watching
the movie from like 30 years ago and then jumping into this.
But overall it's very fun and I had a fun time watching it and
re watching it and I wish it kept going like it was
originally supposed to be three seasons but we only got the one
and then it got cancelled and here we are.
But I I enjoyed it personally. I don't know what what you if
you have. Anything Caitlyn.
It was great, especially once you get to 107.
Oh yeah, like it just keeps getting gayer and.
Gayer just just just wait for the discussion.
Just yes, we'll we'll explain what we mean by that.
But all the odd episodes are really gay, like odd number like
135 which is why that is why you will have those specific
reaction videos on on YouTube. OK.
So best way to kind of summarize what we think about Willow is we
will use the big gay energy scale.
So this is a super scientific from the scientists of SAPPO
about how much big gay energy does something have.
So on a scale of one to 10, I think that this is like A7
honestly, because to me it's a big deal to have something on
Disney of all platforms where you're centering A queer lead
first of all, and then to have it to be like a Sapic lead, we
like rarely get that ever. So to me that was a big deal and
it was a quality show, like it was very well done, beautiful to
watch. I thought it was pretty well
paced and interesting story. The characters are all really
great, like, honestly, all every single one of them except Willow
and we'll get into that. I thought he was annoying, but
all the characters, even the men, like, usually the men are
annoying. The men are great.
I actually like men in the show. Yeah, I know.
So like honestly it's a, it's a really well done show and I
appreciate that. So to me that makes it higher on
the scale because it's it's a valuable piece of media and just
to have a, you know, a queer fantasy story, you don't get
lots of those on screen. So for me it's it's a, it's a
seven, It has its issues for sure, but I give A7.
What about you, Caitlyn? I.
Base mine truly on solely not true.
Whatever. What are words?
Solely on like the queerness of it and the representation like
that. So I gave it a six.
I'm still developing my. Scale.
That's like actually scientifics because I don't want to, like,
put it up to chance each time. Caitlin's in the lab working
night and day on this gay scale. If anyone's interested, maybe
it'll be shared one day, you know.
She'll publish a paper or our website.
You should actually. That'd be so funny.
Yeah, coming soon. All right.
OK, the Internet near you. OK, all right she gays and nays,
we have reached the spoiler section.
So normally normally when we get to the spoiler section we would
say turn this off and go watch Willow.
But you can't. In an effort to save money,
Disney not only cancelled Willow after one season, they
immediately removed it entirely from their streaming platform.
So Willow is available nowhere for you to turn this off and go
watch. Or is it?
Is it? I don't think so.
Because you tell we we did the lesbian Jesus's work and we're
trying downloaded it before Disney took it off.
So that means you can go to our Patreon right now.
You can watch the full season without us reacting to it.
We have our reactions in addition to the full episodes
because we wanted to be able to share the queerness with all of
you. Yes.
So that means for $5 you can not only watch our content early,
full. Thing full reaction videos, but
also watch the lost series of Willow.
Yes, we are trying to preserve all the queerness because this
is not, this trend is not going to go away with these streaming
platforms, it's just going to get worse.
So you're welcome. If you missed the boat on Willow
and you didn't get to see it, become a patron and we'll go
watch it. And we may have some other
things too, depending on what we cover later.
So yes, yeah, we will keep this party going.
We're building our own personal queer database.
We are, we're trying. It's all very scientific.
Everything is preserved. Like we're basically historians
at this point. Right, exactly.
You can come study at the Big Gay Energy Podcast to get your
degree in queerness. All right, first of all, I'm
going to apologize because I'm a little sick at the moment.
So if I sound weird and I start sniffling and coughing, I very
much apologize. I'm trying to limit that.
I'm sorry. OK.
Everybody talk about Willow Caitlin, I am.
So ready because there is some great things going on.
Oh yeah. But first, before we jump into
the show, I want to give a brief synopsis of like the movie that
lays the groundwork for the show.
I have been trying to figure out this movie even I know the.
Show and neither I don't think I don't.
Is this is the movie streaming? I think they took that down too.
No, I didn't. I didn't get that far.
I don't know. I got as far as being like I
should watch it and. That was about it.
And then I put the show back on because the show is queer.
So I'm going to watch that. All right, so brief synopsis.
If you never if you're like us and you never watch the movie,
here's what that's about. In the OG movie, a Laura Dannon
was born. She's a baby with a red hair and
a weird birthmark that was destined to save the world.
Because of that, all the evil ever was after her.
And so she was low key, adopted by Willow, who kept her safe and
alive. Low key adopted.
Somehow Willow goes from Nelwyn farmer to badass sorcerer and
eventually teams up with Kit's future parents.
Mad Mardigan, who's a disgraced knight slash Thief, slash
Roguish Hero and Sorcha, the Princess of Tirazine their
Kingdom together. Kit's parents Vanquish Kit's
grandmother, the Wicked queen Bev Morta.
And might I say this family fucking meets therapy.
Because what the fuck That sounds like a typical family.
I don't know about you it. Was just a regular weekend.
I'd go destroy my grandmother back real quick.
Fuck that bitch. Anyway, so after defeating the
Big Bad and lifting the curse in the Kingdom, Willow has a vision
that one day an ancient evil will rise again and destroy the
future Empress Elora, which would herald a new age of
darkness. To this, Willow said Faktisha
cheese out and hid Elora Dannon away from everyone in the world,
including herself. Roughly 20 years later, the show
begins with a new generation and anew of a fellowship.
And Willow, of course, because his name isn't the fucking
title. So he's back.
But there's a new fellowship with him, and Willow leads this
group of misfits on a dangerous mission to save the world.
This show really needs to be called a Laura.
It really needs to be called yeah, Laura dot dot dot and
Willow. Or Willow The Rise of a Laura
Dannon. But like, that spoils it a
little bit. But yeah, right.
Laura Dannon. I had.
Such a funny title, but it works.
It's more in line with what's actually happening.
Well, it makes no sense to have it.
I think it's just branding, but I agree with you, it's really
confusing because he's not actually the focus, but like I
think that was just trying to blink the movie.
The dawn of a new era. Willow and the journey that
continues. Willow and the queers come out
and some. Queers all right.
If you have an alternate title for Willow the TV show that
would have been less confusing than Willow, please leave in the
comments. I would love to know.
There's no wrong answers except Willow.
I sucked, Willow. OK, so let's meet the fellowship
before we jump into our, you know, discussion of literally
everything. So the Fellowship.
First up is Kit Tantalos. It is the Princess of Tiazlene.
She's the main character, gay as fuck, and learns what life
outside the castle is like. Next up is her brother Eric,
with very weird spelling. Eric that hurts our brains.
You want to spell it Caitlin. How to say?
Do you? Spell Eric.
AIR K So basically, we're building an ark under an I.
The Ark's spirit was Eric. Eric that's a pirate name.
But they say Eric, but there's no I before the Ki.
Don't. Know it's wild.
Tyrazlane is a weird place, is what we're saying.
So he is Kit's twin brother and the Prince of Tyrazlane.
He is kidnapped immediately, and the entire season is centered
around a quest to find him. Poor Aaron.
Then we have, in my humble opinion, the best character,
Jade, who is a knight in training, Kit's best friend
slash, love interest, and the long lost daughter of General
Kale. And we'll get into who he is
later. I'm supposed to be like who's
that? I will educate you, Caitlin.
Don't worry. Excuse me.
Next we have arguably our least favorite, not arguably our least
favorite character, Willow of Good, who's a Nelwyn, which is a
a type of a humanoid species in this fantasy world.
They're all kind of like, they're kind of like the
hobbits, basically, of this world.
This is very Tolkien. Y I'll get into that later.
But he's a Nelwyn, he's a sorcerer from the OG movie.
We assume 'cause we never thought, even though we just
recap it. Then we have the person the show
should have been named after, Alora Dannon.
A lot. Of names to pick.
From Oh my God, this woman is the master of names.
She's Alora Dannon first and foremost.
Also dove by those who quote Love her and Brune Hilda, which
was the most fucked up alias of all time to name this chosen
one. Fuck those people that called
her Brune Hilda. She is the kitchen made by day
and by night the future Empress of Tiraslim and a witch.
So Brun Hilda I believe is a play on something that happened
in the movie. Oh, is it?
Mad Mardigan like was like undercover somehow or like or to
some mistress said that his name is Hilda or like.
Something like. That I don't.
I just read this somewhere, so don't come at us if it's wrong,
but something like that. It had something to do with what
happened in the movie, so they named her Brun Hilda.
Just poor woman. Yeah, but if your name is Brun
Hilda, good for you, because you could be the future emperor of
the world one day, like I. Hold on.
Speaking of, if your name is I met in a Laura Dannon.
Stop it and. Did you get put into a quest
immediately, Caitlin? I don't think I'm allowed to say
we're OK that's. Fair.
That's fair. I don't want to out a Laura
Dannons like Willow does in the show.
Yeah, No. OK, then we have my other
favorite character. I said no, you don't want to do
that, but I forgot it was muted at the time.
I thought you muted yourself on purpose.
And I was like, I'll just keep going.
OK, then we have my other favorite character, Borman, who
is Kit's father's former Squire turned treasure hunter slash
criminal. That is the Comic Relief and I
just the show would not be as fun without him.
Truly, the last member of our fellowship is Graydon, AKA.
Creonce, freaking Thora. That's all I read now.
I like Graydon. In my head is just Graydon.
Blame Borman, because in the reaction video I thought we came
up with that. But Borman says it.
No, he does. And then you rad with it and
then that's all we're able to say his.
Name is Beyoncé. OK, so he is the Prince of
Galadorn, which is another Kingdom, and in the beginning
he's betrothed to Kit as a way to unite the whole empire or
whatever. He's genuinely a good guy and
later becomes a very powerful sorcerer.
So we love Grant. Not for him.
Beyoncé is great. No, he's he is great.
And all the guys were great in the show.
Not gonna lie. OK, so let's start off the
spoiler section with positivity. So woo Hoo woo.
Because this is a very fun show and I think we should start by
talking about what we did like about the show.
And I think for me, the biggest thing besides gay stuff is it's
funny and fun. And like, we rarely get those
two things together for queer media, and I appreciate when we
get it on screen. I don't know about you.
Humor's my favorite thing. Me too.
I mean, that's also part of the reason why.
I mean, I like the guys. Because.
OK, Creonce. And Borman are the funny.
Oh my God. OK, I love them.
I also love Eric. One of my favorite moments is
when Alora and him and Herman. That conversation and she's
like, I burned the muffins, the way he reacts to that and he's.
Like, Oh no, how funny. Like the muffins.
His reaction is so funny. Yeah, I think all the men are
absolutely hilarious. And when I say that, I don't
mean Willow. I mean everybody else except.
Him. Oh, my gosh.
Yeah. Yeah, Borman, there's.
I have many moments throughout this that I just love about
Borman. He's so funny.
But yeah, it's funny and like every character has their
moments of like comedy, their own style.
But I like that. And it's overall, it's a fun
show. It's not like overly dramatic.
They're heavy despite they're on a quest and there's high stakes
that feel legitimate. It's AI think it's fun.
Another aspect that I really love about this show is it's set
in a fantasy setting, but the show kind of like puts it on its
head a little bit, particularly when it comes to like things
like gender roles. There really don't seem to be
any. I mean, gender is a thing, like
we have titles like queen, king, Prince, Princess kind of stuff.
But like strict gender roles doesn't appear to be a thing.
It's there's like a modern twist to it, which I really love.
Like in the beginning, I think it's pretty clear that, like,
Kit is going to be the one to take over as like the ruler,
'cause they're trying to mom's trying to like marry her off to
like rule the Empire basically, and like the brother's an
afterthought. So like Kit seems to be the heir
despite she's the girl and she has an older brother who's a
boy. So I think that's really
interesting. Older by one minute it.
Still counts Caitlyn. He's also physically bigger.
So it's confusing. The other thing, the other part
that I mean, I think if you're listening that you're a fan of
is the fact that Jade, her gender, did not exclude her from
becoming a knight. I mean, they comment that she's
the first essentially female to become a knight or get into
training to be one, but like, it wasn't a hard exclusion.
So I love that. And she's a badass.
She is. She is my favorite character in
the show. Love her.
Another thing that I love is the costuming and the wardrobing,
because it's a show that centers around basically all these
people going on a quest where they're going to be like
fighting, riding horses, doing physical things.
And the wardrobe people dress them appropriately.
Mainly, the women, like women, are dressed in actual functional
clothing. It's also commented on in one of
the episodes where they get Kit and Willow get captured by the
trolls and Skellen, I think it's called.
Yes. The troll is like trying to
figure out where she's from and she he's like, yeah, I knew you
weren't from this other place because of your clothes.
Like they're functional and stylish.
And I was like, yes, that is exactly how everybody is
dressed. So I personally love that
because usually women get dressed in this over sexualized
way that doesn't make any sense for the fact that they're using
swords to fight. It's ridiculous.
Go see the original Warrior Done comics if you wanted.
Like, Oh my God. Yeah, and not only that, there's
a gender role reversal that kind of happens with the wardrobing,
where, like, the women are dressed more modestly and in
functional clothing, like pants and like all that kind of stuff,
their hairs back. The men are dressed really
slutty, like particularly Foreman and Eric.
Eric is always dressed slutty, unless he's evil for some
reason, and so, like his, he's always showing cleavage and like
just looks slutty. And I love it.
I'm here for that. I'm here for this.
Borman would have no other way to wear clothes.
No. And like he gets to express
himself and be his slutty self. And I am here for that.
I am also here for women with swords and there's plenty of
that in this show and that makes me happy.
I need to make a compilation of you just women with swords.
It's my best. It's my favorite trope.
That's it. OK, Speaking of women in their
clothing, the other thing I like not only is the clothing
realistic, but I like the way they like Kit and Jade tapped
out Slash portrayed the fact that they are not dress wearing
ladies, like they fucking hate it.
Like there's a scene in the first episode where there's the
the ball or reception for like Grand on say and company and
they're both in formal attire. So they're wearing traditional
dresses and both Kit and Jade are on screen like fidgeting in
the outfits because they hate being in these, like
constraining elephants and Kit. Jade even says like for kit and
only kit do I enjoy this agony and like I felt that as my soul
as somebody who also hates wearing dresses.
I agree. If you ever saw me like when if
I have to wear a dress for a show, I'm always picking and
pulling at something. Awful.
But it was also, it was one of my favorite things in the first
episode because they are not dress.
Gays. No, they are not dress gays and
I like that they let them actually show that because it's
it's realistic. I would say though, like if
you're in a show wearing a dress, it is fun to twirl and
have it spin, but that's about it.
Yeah, that. That's it.
The fun ends there. I have to say, I am sick of
hearing why can't you sit like a lady?
I'm like I am a lesbian first and foremost.
We'll get to the. Lesbians that show up in this
show, the other lesbians look at how they say.
That's how we say dresses are not made for us.
It's just sorry. I'm just going to keep coughing.
OK, other thing that I like personally, I like fantasy
genre. I said that and I think I like
the way this show, it's Disney. So I if you've heard our other
Disney stuff, I have issues with Disney.
It just sanitizes things and makes it feel unrealistic to me.
I seem to like Disney. Caitlyn likes Disney, but I like
the fact that this is basically Lord of the Rings.
But it's gay. And I love that because it does
follow that format where you have like the fellowship, the
mentor, the quest, like all that kind of stuff.
I like that. But it centers a queer person,
which is also fun. And I also like in this show the
magic system like they do actually explain it, which is
different from certain pieces of media, Harry Potter, that don't
really explain how the magic works and what the limits are to
it and things like that. So I like in the show that like
the magic basically follows the first law of physics.
But. I.
Just don't agree with the Willow thing, because his magic makes
no. Sense.
But yeah, no, Willow's ability to do magic, that's another
story. I'm talking about the magic
system. Like how magic addicts in this
world. OK, I have problems with Willow.
Yeah, for sure. Because he's like, I can't do
magic. And then he's got to blow like a
flamethrower. The next scene you're like, I
don't understand you. Can you or can you not do magic?
But I like the magic itself because it basically follows the
first law of physics where it's like energy cannot be created or
destroyed. And it's like, OK, that's pretty
grounded. And they explained that like
basically what sorcery is, is it's and and magic, it's the art
of transforming essentially the lifeblood of the universe, AKA
that energy into different forms.
So that's what a sorcerer's doing.
There's manipulating energy, which I like that as an
explanation. So there's like limitations to
that. And what I found really
interesting is when we, when we come into the story basically
like there aren't many people left who can actually do magic,
which is why they're stuck with Willow.
He's the only one that can do it.
And so it's interesting that like that kind of like is like
the magic is like our ability to harness it is like kind of like
phasing out of the world over time because people it like
kids, mom, Sorcha are basically afraid of it.
And they have like PTSD from like the last time that like I
guess in the movie when like magical beings are trying to
like take over the world and throw it Into Darkness.
So I like that whole concept and kind of like why the explanation
of like why there aren't many people anymore that can do this.
So I thought that was well thought out and I really like
that in this show. Do you have any other likes
before we jump into the I said the.
Humor is the biggest thing that I will always remember is,
'cause I love laughing, 'cause there's so many things that are
sad. I love it if you can, like, have
a drama that's still funny. Yes, that's important.
Yeah, Celebrity and a break from the drama is very important and
it helps pace the show. And so, yeah, I agree.
I think if this had no drama or no, if it had no drama, if it
had no drama, if it had no drama, it was just a comedy.
I might like it more. If it had no comedy whatsoever,
I don't know that I would be. Yeah, I think I would have a lot
of trouble focusing. Yeah, I think.
Because fantasy is hard for my brain.
Yeah, I get it. OK, so we start with the
positivity now, the negativity. So like what?
What could have been better? But I just was not that.
The rest of our stuff isn't positive.
Yeah, no, no, not so much. Just just quick overview
thoughts. Yeah, and.
Then we're going to dive into like actual scenes and stuff.
This is just the general what we thought and felt, but expanded
and in more detail because this is the spoiler section, so we're
going to spoil stuff. So spoiler I think our biggest
critique is that it needed to be more queer than it was.
I mean, the more you watch it, the more queer it gets.
Oh no, yeah, we will get into that.
And there's, I think that season two and three would have been
way gayer than the first one. This was the set up season and
they were, they wrote this with a three season arc in mind.
So I take that into consideration.
But like, what I mean when I say more queerness is that the
straights spend way more time making out on screen than the
gays. And by straights I mean Eric.
Eric, Mostly Eric, but also warm in a little bit.
Which, get it, Boys, I don't care.
But like I wanted the gays to have the same type of.
Or you. Know like, not forget that they
liked each other. We'll get into that.
OK. But personally, like with that,
I also would have wanted more of an explanation for like why Kit
and Jade are into each other up front, like a prequel would have
been nice That explains their relationship.
Because like in the first episode, I'm having a really
hard time understanding what their relationship is because
the first episode happens and then they forget the first
episode happens for like a few episodes.
So I just I need an explanation for that because they seemed
confused and I was confused and like I just wanted that fleshed
out a lot more. Yeah, I hope they know what was
going on, on set. I don't think they do.
And then we also, so it's great. So we have Kid and Jade and then
we saw Borman, who's clearly a pansexual human being.
Like, clearly, because he has a line in the last episode where
he's like Beyoncé, Jade, we're about to die, Let's all make
out. So like, clearly gender doesn't
matter to him. I'm into that.
So, like I I would personally like to see a scorned
ex-boyfriend of Borman come back.
And the drama. Need a lot of people from
Borma's past to come back. Yeah, I want his mom that he
hasn't seen in years to come back and yell at him.
That'd be hilarious. OK, All right.
Other thing I don't like is Willow and Elora's relationship.
Now I understand why it exists because Elora is the proverbial
Chosen one. And or literally I guess in the
show. But in the context of like
Tolkien, the Tolkien format, how you do the kind of like Lord of
the Rings stuff. She's the Chosen 1 and Willow is
the mentor. This is very common in fantasy,
but he's a really bad mentor like he is.
He like puts his own shit on her constantly and has no patience
for her. He has doesn't tell her things.
He explicitly tells her not to do stuff.
So then she goes and learns how to do the magic on her own.
Then he gets mad at her for doing the magic.
It's just the weirdest mentor relationship and I it's not
productive, is what I'm saying. And then it like completely
switches to like where he finally knows how to teach her
in like 107 cause like he wasn't allowing her.
I mean, I'll get into it, but like, he completely switches his
philosophy. Right.
It's weird. Like at the end.
Exactly. So I'm like, we could have made
much more progress faster if he would have figured out how she
learns and how her magic actually works.
Yeah, I think part of the reason is like, he doesn't actually
know what he's doing, so it's not productive to begin with.
But I don't know. Was Willow like this in the
movie? I don't know because we didn't
see it, but. So something I struggled with
was figuring out this world. Because a lot of stuff was
thrown at us each time, and I did look this up, this stuff was
not in the movie. So the Gales were new, and all
those people were new except bad morning.
And today I finally learned that the Gales is just those four
people. I thought it was like this whole
people. No, it's just that.
Group. Yeah, I did not know that.
I I guess, 'cause if there's they only say it like once in a
couple words, I'm not going to pick it up.
So I I struggled with trying to figure out who everybody is,
where they are, how everything made sense.
So I I I wish they could have. I needed a book explaining this
world to me. Yeah, like OK, so I do like that
they they pace out the lore of the world and like they do world
building very slow And because like we only get 8 episodes,
it's very it's like a one and done sentence as explanations
and they kind of just move on because there's not enough time
and they kind of have to. So yeah, if you miss it then
you're confused. I agree with that.
So like for me, like the first time I watched this show, I was
like I really don't understand the lore either and like I like
fantasy and I'm good with this kind of stuff.
But like it was very hard to pick it all up on the 1st watch
on re watching and just like re watching the show in isolation
with like nothing else. It was better, but I agree with
you. I wish they could have fleshed
out the world building a little bit more.
I just wonder if it was a we only have eight episodes.
We have to do this very quickly and to be fair the the
characters are travelling throughout the world too.
So it's like they're on the move.
Your understanding of the world is on the move.
But yeah, I agree with it. The lore is is it's hard to pick
it up, especially if you're just watching it for the first time.
I thought that was that was challenging.
Yes. Like the gales, they never
explain. They just say the gales are
coming and then at the last episode they called them those
people, the Gales again. So it's like, yeah, it is the.
First time I thought they were talking about wind me.
Because then a mist comes in. I thought it was the mist.
Yeah, it was confusing. It's not very well like I
explained. But the wiki is helpful.
The wiki is great. Great resource.
Thank you to everyone who contributes to that.
No, for real. You guys are the real heroes.
Lesbian Jesus thanks you for your service.
OK, Speaking of lesbian Jesus, OK, let's jump at the
characters. Like are who like the characters
as a whole? Who do you like?
Who do you not like? I'm going to start with Jade.
Obviously, Jade is the character that all young lesbians want to
be and also date. That's Jade.
She's kicking one line about her.
That's Jade. She's kick ass.
We love her woman with a sword. The reason I I love her too is
not just because of all that she's cool objectively as a
character, but I love how she is explained as a character over
time. Like we eventually like halfway
through the season roughly, we get Jade's back story about like
who she really is because we don't really know.
She's just like in servitude to the crown.
She was orphaned and then we learn how she actually got to
Tyra's lean and who she really is.
And that was so necessary not only to flesh out this
character, but like to put her and Kit on equal footing as
people 'cause they were not. And that was weird.
And then because of Jade, we get insight into a whole different
culture of people in this fantasy world.
And I really love that particular episode.
It's the 5th episode because it's like a resting episode.
We're like we're not traveling, we're just in this place and we,
the viewers get to like experience this part of this
world that's foreign to us in that episode.
And that's probably my favorite episode for that reason.
It's very fun and the characters in it get a chance to like grow
and like evolve and it's a big turning point episode, but it's
all because of Jade and and I just, I love that aspect of her
character. She's lovely.
Jade is also very flushed out and very complicated.
Not as like a person but just like she become like her.
Life becomes more complicated. Yes, as we go on.
And this, this poor girl is going through it.
First of all, she has to deal with kit.
The whole time she does she she chooses a lot with kit, but she
deserves better some most of the time.
She does. She is the character that's
going through it and is like the silent sufferer for the most
part, too like. She like, she doesn't complain
at all. I'm like, no.
Meanwhile you have kid complaining.
About literally everything. She's the stoic.
She has a Knight's personality, we'll put it that way.
Yeah, but I I would like, I wish there was more so we could see
her open up more. Yeah.
And find herself because. Yeah, No, for real.
She has no idea who she is halfway through.
Yeah. And I mean, that was left open
like after we meet her sister and stuff, when they leave
Skellen, she's basically like, listen, at some point you're
going to have to choose either you're with us or you're with
Kit. Like you're going to have to
make that choice. I feel like that was going to be
her arc later in two or three, but Disney denied us of that
explanation. Oh, Disney, how you never
change. For real, Speaking of people who
should never change, there's Borman.
I absolutely love Borman, our pansexual king slash drunk uncle
that every fellowship needs. He's just the Comic Relief
constantly. Like he's a character.
He's very like loving, loyal, but he hides behind his humor
and I like that because I think he's funny and I just want to
point out some of my favorite Borman scenes.
So I love the scene where he catches Jade and Kit, where
they're like asleep, but they're like hands are almost touching
and then Jade wakes. Up.
Lesbians, because lesbians. And then Jade wakes up and sees
Borman, and Borman starts giving her this, like, knowing glance.
He's like, yeah, yeah, he's like, get it.
Then she's asleep. But also he's like, I see you, I
see you. Mm hmm.
And then, but still, despite seeing that at the end, at the
last episode I mentioned earlier, there's a scene where
they're about to enter like the city where Eric is captured and
Kit and Aurora are now and it's Borman, Beyoncé and Jade.
And they're just like staring at the city like, fuck, OK, we got
to go in there and Borman's like, we're probably going to
die, right? He's like, so let's make out
real quick and. Then how do you want to go out
in the world? Right.
Which is like, this could be our last moment, so let's just make
out real quick for fun. And they obviously ignore him
and then he gets all offended just like he's like, well, I
said we didn't make out you guys flew me off or whatever.
I just love him. He's the best.
But he's not just a Comic Relief like I loved his moments where
he actually connected with the characters and was there for
them because in the beginning he's made to be seem self
absorbed, only out there for himself And like he.
Don't get me wrong, he is for sure, but he does have a way of
connecting with people and seeing who people are and what
they need. Oh, for sure he.
Needs people really well and I just.
I love his. I think, Oh well, Will is not
the mentor to Jade, but him and Jade's relationship and like,
because she's going through so much as a basically a new knight
that he's already had to do some things, I guess, 'cause he had
to kill people before. Yeah, he was a Squire, which is
a night in training. Basically, OK, I had no idea
what that was, 'cause all I've heard was Squidward when people
would say that name. So I never picked.
Yeah, so I really liked when he interacted with Jade.
I thought that was cute. I also love.
So one of his big plot lines is like, he basically was Kit's
father's Squire and at some point after it when Kit was a
kid, so not a baby with like a kid.
Her father, Mad Martigan gets sent on this quest by their
mother Sorcha to go get this ancient mystical armor.
And they fail hardcore basically.
But Borman is still obsessed with like getting it because he
like failed. So he's like, I have to complete
the mission. I got to get this thing.
And part of it is like, he wants to be the hero that wears the
armor and fixes everything and saves the day.
And there comes this point where he's alone and he tries on the
armor and like, basically the armor you have to put a key in
and like, if you're worthy, it'll work.
And if not, it doesn't work. It's a very heartbreaking scene
with formula where it doesn't work.
And he has to come to terms with the fact that, like, he's not
the one that's meant to be the big hero, the save the day in
this way. And when he finally comes to
that realization and he gives it to Kit, he gives her the speech
and it's like the most beautiful heart warming thing ever.
He's basically like, it's not my story, but it's yours.
Believe in yourself. It's going to work.
And then he tries to sacrifice himself and like kill a bunch of
baddies that are in the temple or whatever.
But like that speech with him is very sweet.
Like it's very heartbreaking to watch him, like realize he's not
his dream are basically shattered.
Like it's very heart warming. It's bad.
Yeah, the new generation is here to save the day.
You're here to help them. Exactly.
He's the mentor. Speaking of mentors, somebody I
hate the show is Willow because he is grumpy and annoying as
fuck 99% of the show. He is.
I mean, there's no better way to put that.
I mean, if you like him, he's fine.
Like, that's fine. Yeah.
I just at the way he said things and like, by the end he was
getting really whiny and like, I didn't know how far it would be.
I want to go home, OK? Go home.
I know we got the Glee. Oh, that's fine.
But Greonse was telling everyone that Valentine is possessed and
they were asking questions, and Greonse is like, he's still in
there, but the evil is slowly eating away at him until there's
going to be nothing left. And then Willa is like, hold up.
Are you the Highland win? No, I don't think so.
I am like bitch. Please.
Maybe ask him how he knows all this because you didn't think he
got it wrong. I don't.
Know he was right. Grancer was right.
Because Grancer is like the bookworm, the book nerd I like
again. Also he went through it.
Yeah, no. Willow has a tiny ego my way.
I don't like him. And he's insecure about the fact
that, like, he's actually a fraud.
And he admits it later. He's like.
I didn't say the truth, Bombs. He I think he admits it without
the truth. Bombs he did.
After that. But yeah, he also, they watched
it happen, like that scene was wild because when they're in the
castle, the haunted castle, like everybody watches the end of
Bath Morda. And it's very clear that Willow
did not do what he said he was going to do.
So like, they all see it happen also.
But yeah, I think he's very insecure about the fact that
like, he actually isn't who he like, claims he is.
And Grant was like basically showing that he knows more than
Willow and Will was like, oh, I have to be in control.
And it's just, it's annoying. Yes, and he also does not know
how to train people. No, no.
Because I don't think yelling at someone and telling them that
they have no choice is going to help their confidence and
ability. Like also he kept saying to
Watha Orthrakmura Huatha so fast.
I'm not gonna hate that. How is she?
Supposed to get that? Maybe teach her the basics of
the language first. Correct.
She's never spoken this language.
Go word by word. Why does she have to say the
words in threes? Like make sure she gets the
first word right, then the second word, then the third
word? But it's like, no, no, no, I'm
going to say all of it. You say exactly how I'm saying
it. It's like, my question for you
is though, I guess just throwing this out there because Willow
wanted to train a Laura when she was younger.
How the fuck was that going to work out?
Because he can barely teach her as a competent adult.
How was that? Going to work.
The thing is he had more patience for the child.
He I think it's because he's more frustrated that he wasn't
allowed in her life. Basically he wasn't able to
start younger. When you're younger, like first
of all children pick up things really quickly, especially
languages. And I think he he definitely
would have been more because you saw how he talked to little
Laura like little toddler Laura and it that was he was very
sweet with her and talking to her.
But this is like he wants, OK, so the big thing is everyone's
talking about baby Elora. She grew up, but everyone still
wants baby Elora. So I think that's why he's also
frustrated as well. He doesn't like that he's she's
grown up. Yeah, I think that's valid.
The other thing I think too, now that we're talking about is that
allegedly it was easier for her to tap into magic when she was
younger because he says like, oh, you have to cultivate it.
If you don't, it Withers away. So like, she's starting at a
disadvantage because she has no idea how to tap into her magic.
And I think he's also like, what?
What if it's too? He says at 1.2 he's like, what
if she doesn't have magic anymore?
Because I didn't train her and I already failed her.
So I think he's also frustrated from that aspect too, because so
he let them tell. Him that he couldn't teach her.
Yeah, Sorcha basically was like, no magic.
Fuck that. I'm too afraid.
I don't want that back in my castle, essentially.
And so because he was denied that, didn't try to go back and
like negotiate this again, he was just like, fuck you Sorcha,
I'm never helping you ever again.
Maybe he shot himself in the foot.
So I feel like there's that too, because at one point he's like,
I made so many mistakes, bro, and he's talking like the the
Dog Whittler guy. So I.
Don't know He abandons a Laura. Right.
He saw her as a daughter and like, you just leave her in this
Kingdom, right. I think a lot of this is just
he's mad at himself and he's putting it on Omora and it's
he's a bad mentor because of. It he's not good at taking
blame. No, not at all.
Anyway, that's Willow. I feel like we could yell about
him all day. Let's talk about somebody else
who's really annoying. I have to preface this by saying
this is not hate podcast for kit.
It's going to sound like it at some point.
I don't hate kit. I just think that there's a pre
kit. There's there's two phases of
kit. There's kit before the Truth
plums and then there's kit after the Truth plums and they're two
different kits and the kit before the Truth plum is really
fucking annoying to me. I think she gets better once the
truth comes out. But.
I understand why she is like this.
I understand it's part of her journey and I think that's
great. I just find it annoying.
So in the beginning, Kit is the Princess.
Kit is the definition of white privilege and she's so
privileged she doesn't even know if she's privileged.
Until Jade is like girl, you are the most privileged person on
the planet. Like now we're out in the woods.
Like you are not equipped for this at all.
You were just supposed to always live in your little protected
bubble where you had all the money ever.
The world revolved around you. Like what?
Like Kit has no idea She's just so sheltered and has just it
doesn't understand that at all. So she's annoying because she's
overly arrogant, overly confident, and she has done
nothing to earn any of this. It's just it was handed to her
by birth because she was born into royalty in a protected
castle behind a barrier. Like she had every advantage
possible in the safest place on the planet and like doesn't
understand anything. So I understand she has to go on
a journey when they get out of that, but like, it takes a while
and she's annoying while that's happening.
So but I like her arc as it goes on and she like comes into being
her own person. It's good, but Oh my God, is she
annoying in the beginning? I find her annoying 3/4 of the
show, but again that that it's not all her fault, it's some of
it's the writer's fault. Yeah, yeah, agreed.
I agreed. I mean, you know why she's like
that? She had no outside forces
growing up. She had everything she wanted.
But I I do give props to the writers because Kit comes out
very strong and shows us what to expect immediately.
She is selfish and cocky. Very, very early.
Right away. First thing out of her mouth?
Really. Yep, and that's Kit.
Yes, but we'll, we'll talk about Kit more because like there's
some good, there's some great things that she does.
There's a lot going on there. Just beginning kit is is is
difficult. That's all, but I would like to
move on to apparently my favorite characters in the
entire show. Let's do it.
They're a lot of good characters, but these might top
them all. The lesbians?
Yes, that's just what we call them now.
Well, they have names. It's Ann and Hubert.
They're Woods and Hubert Woodswomen, which is code for
lesbians. The wood Lesbians.
Mm hmm. Yeah.
So they might be my favorite characters and they aren't even
in a entire episode. No, they're not.
They have like 2 scenes. It's Disney.
You can't have too many lesbians on a show.
Gotta get rid of some of them. Unfortunately.
So Hannah Waddingham plays Hubert.
Hubert, OK, yeah, thank you. You are.
Learn the names. I learned.
The names she She just truly nails this role.
I she does. I only know her from one other
show, but it's very it's a very different character and she is
very, very funny in this. But my favorite part is when I
guess Hubert says go on, give her mushroom.
No, not that one. That one's mine.
And I can't tell if it was scripted or improv, but like, it
seems like improv because of Hannah's cheeky smile at the
end. But either way, the delivery was
really great. I love it because the person who
plays in like, the face just like, oh fine.
Can I find another mushroom? Oh.
My God, I love them. They were great.
And Hannah literally put her whole soul into like, her speech
to Ellora where she's like, we will pledge our allegiance to
you the way she, like, delivered that lime, like it was just
powerful. I'm only sad that they buried
these gays because they were wonderful.
If you watched our reaction videos, you'll notice we comment
what we me, Caitlin. Also, we comment a lot on the
fact that despite this being a show where there's fighting, no
one bleeds like there's no blood ever.
Like swords are always clean. We never see blood.
Except what the lesbians. Apparently only lesbians bleed
Caitlin. I found the blood.
They come back a spoiler, I guess.
Well, the spoiler comes back. Hubert gets killed by Valentine,
who's possessed, and we cut back.
He's chasing Laura and Anne, and then we cut back to Hubert, and
Hubert is bleeding from her mouth.
So there is blood. It's on the lesbians.
Only in the mouth, though, not where she got stabbed.
Stabbed in the abdomen. She is bleeding from her mouth,
Disney, but that was the only blood I can find.
I just like to say that they didn't have enough in the budget
for it. They they spent like $120
million on the show because I learned.
I did learn some stuff about this.
Damn. And.
Then they got like 30 to 40,000 of it back in tax credits.
So I don't want to hear it from Disney.
I think that No Blood was a Disney choice to make it not
again. That's that's how they like they
wash, sanitize stuff to make it, like, friendlier.
It's a show where you're just killing me.
It's going to be what? Come on, anyway.
And you brought up how there's a medium shots instead of.
Oh my God, no. Anytime they fight, they fight.
I hate. This is something I actually do
hate about the show. I should have put this in.
I do hate it because it's it's annoying.
They do medium shots and so if you don't know what a medium
shot is, it's when it's the frame is waist up, OK?
Like a close shot is like your face.
A full, like is it full shot or it's like far away wide, wide
shot. Thank you.
They'll give you a graphic to put up on the screen.
Sure. So when they do fight scenes,
they do medium shots, so you see waist up.
If you're fighting with swords, it's better to do a wide shot
where you can actually see the full range of the sword and what
it's doing. When they're doing it in medium
shots, you can barely see what they're doing.
It's so dumb and they do it for all the fight scenes.
And my theory is that they're doing it so that they don't
really have to show as much gore, because if it's close up,
you can't see all the gore that's happening with the
swords. But like for me, I want to see
the fight choreography because people put a lot of time and
effort into that and the actors practice it a lot and it's it's
fun to watch. It's like watching dancing,
right? And so it just takes away when
they're so close you can't see what they're fully doing.
Well, we're on that topic, the darkness as well.
Oh my God. Which we had.
I hate that in in general. Yeah, the show does it.
And basically what we're talking about is when they do night
shots, but they wanna make it realistic.
So there's like barely any lighting happening in the scene
so that it looks realistic, but then you, the viewer, can't
fucking see what the Hell's happening.
Everything's just blue and I'm like, I wish I could see what
was happening. The flight coordinators done
coordinator. All their work is not being
appreciated, yes. I want to see it.
But there there is a character that we've talked about already,
but that we really, really love. Yes, I'm.
Going to be like Dora for a second.
Who do you think it is? I don't know.
I never watched this show. No, there's no response.
Then we just go into the Yeah, that's right.
It's Gray on say, Gray on say I. Love him.
He's he's a good dude. He is.
And yeah, like, I'm I was really surprised that I liked a guy,
'cause like, that's not normal. That's not normal.
For me. Yes.
But he like he fully cares about Alora and wants her to see how
amazing she is while like everyone else is doubting her.
Like Willow's yelling at her kids.
Like I hate you, Jade. Is the.
Worst, Jade is like, I will follow you to the death, 'cause
that's she's she's night, but that's her job.
So Jade is just like there with her, but he's like, I see you.
I know you're amazing. The only one He's saying that
everyone sees how amazing she is.
Because Kit is jealous of her, he basically he lists off a
bunch of. So there's a scene where
basically Laura's like she can't, feels like she can't do
magic. She's struggling with it and
basically she's like, maybe I'm not a Laura Dan.
And she's having one of those moments and he comes up to her
and talks to her and he's like, why do you think everyone's
acting like this? Like, why do you think Jade will
follow you to the end of the earth?
Why do you think Willow's putting so much time into you?
Why do you think Jade or not Jade?
Why do you think Kit is so jealous of you?
It's like, he's like, it's because you can do this.
That's why everybody's acting like this.
So that's what he's telling her. I'm really glad that he wasn't
forced to marry Kit because I feel like he'd be in for a
miserable life. Listen, when you marry a lesbian
and you yourself are not a lesbian, that's already bad, I
know. That but like.
Oh my gosh, what went on in that?
I feel like those types of marriages, they're always
cheating. I mean, like they have to cause,
like what else are they gonna do?
Listen, when you force people who are not into each other to
marry each other for political reasons, obviously you're just
making two people unhappy like it's dumb.
Anyway, yeah, that was never gonna work out.
And this dude has already been through a lot in his life.
I mean, he was possessed as a child and forced to kill his own
brother. Like.
This guy has an issue with being.
Possessed. Oh my God, I know he's the guy.
You know what the saying He's like it's really weird.
I've been possessed multiple times.
I mean, it happened twice, but it's weird that it happened
twice like that's. His I had a penny for every time
this happened. I have two.
Two nickels. Nickels.
Yeah, he has two. Nickels for being possessed,
essentially, and. It's not a lot, but it's.
Weird that it happens with that eyes other thing.
So yeah. OK, so the his back story is.
Wow. Really heavy.
And when we meet him in the beginning, so basically in the
beginning of the show, he is betrothed to Kit, which that was
a terrible idea, but it's because his father, King of
Galadorn and Kit's mom, Queen of Tears, Lane, are trying to unite
the realm. So this is a political marriage
to consolidate power as you do in a monarchy system.
So that's the that's the government system they're in.
It's not by merit. Everything is by birth.
And like, if your blood is tied to the other Kingdom, your
Kingdom gets bigger. So that was Grant's father's
motivation. He's like, you need to marry
her, make a baby that has a legitimate, like, claim on both
of these places because that expands our power.
So, like, that's his whole job. And the dad, the way his dad
treated him. Was that his dad?
Yes. Oh my God.
Yeah, his dad. OK, so we get the vibe in the
beginning that, like, he is super uncomfortable and he's
doing this because he's being forced to.
His kit throws A temper tantrum at one point and Rayonce is not
taking her bait. To be like, this is fucked up.
We're getting married, isn't it? And he's like, I'm happy to
serve the like, he sounds like a robot.
And I think it's because his dad like got a knife to his back and
he's like, you're going to fucking do this because that's
the only way he'll earn my love, basically.
And like, so he's, he is a good guy.
And we learned that after like, oh wait a second, no.
I was just going to say, like, he didn't want to go on this
quest. No but his.
Father, I guess his father. Now that I didn't, apparently I
don't pay attention. To my dad.
Whatever. But he told him to go so he can
kill Borman. Oh yeah, He had to make sure Kit
comes back because if there's no kit, there is no consolidating
the power. So, like, but yeah, he's going
to kill Borman, which I don't understand, but sure, how was he
going to kill Borman? It's never going to work out
anyway. I'm just distracted to be like,
hey, you want to make? Out.
I was something you seduced Foreman actually kind of want to
work anyway. Never mind, I take that back.
Borman's an easy target so OK. But all of this shit started
because like you mentioned, he was possessed and then killed
his brother under the possession and so the dad was like he has
when he's he is possessed for the second time.
Dad comes back and we start seeing his, like, memories.
And during this, we get a glimpse of, like, his
conversation with his dad, where his dad is like basically like
putting everything on him. He's like, you're an
embarrassment, you're a disappointment.
Like, you robbed me of my true son.
So like, basically he's mad at him because his brother was
essentially like the perfect Prince.
And then he's like, fuck, I'm stuck with a reject now.
So it's so fucked up. Like, that's his family.
Like, relationship, like poor grand.
That's awful. You know, I feel so bad for him.
So, like, I feel like the reason he's so smart is he probably
because he, like, escaped into books and studied Matilda.
Yeah, he was. He was probably like the Nerdy
Son and not like the Macho Man. And so Dad was pissed about.
That is my assumption. He's really like Matilda because
then he gets. Powers he does.
He is Matilda. He's the man of Matilda, and I'm
here for that. But OK, So what I love about him
in particular is that knowing all of that about him, about his
past, his the way his dad treats him, all of that stuff, he still
chooses to be a really good person.
Like, you know, like he can very easily be this very standoffish
downer, like closed off person. But he's not like, he very much
chooses to be like the cheerleader in a lot of
scenarios, a lot with the Laura. And yeah, he's kind of into her,
I'm sure, but he kind of is like that around everyone.
So it's not like discriminatory thing where he's like, I feel
like sure you're something to be treat you special.
He's like with everybody. And so I love that about his
character, the way he chooses to behave despite his
circumstances, that says a lot about his character, you know?
Yeah, he's a good guy. He's a good guy and I want the
best for him. I do.
I. Things I love about him is I
love when they're on the quest and they're like resting, doing
nothing, sitting by a fire and he busts out with the flute.
He's like, let me just play music for everybody.
Kid gives him shit, but he's like we're just sitting here,
like what else are we doing? So I love that he thought to
bring something to entertain people speaks to his character
and with the whole like marriage thing with Kit, I think he had
other like he was going along with it, obviously because his
dad was forcing him to do it. But I think he had other plans
about how to handle that because him and Kit, Kit finally gets
over herself and has a conversation with him about it.
And he basically says to her, the line that I love is he says
one day you and I are going to be in charge.
So that's how monarchies work. And he's like, we don't need to
do things the way our parents did.
So I think he was like, yeah, I'll go along with this, but
like, once we're in charge, like fuck it, we'll just do whatever
we want. And he very much admits he's
like, I thought this was weird too.
I think you should love the person you're married to, like,
not whatever this was. So again, he already like when
you get to know him, he very much has his own ideas and he's
a stronger person than people think he is, you know?
Yeah, he. I just love him.
I love him. I do.
I agree. Yeah, he's so annoying.
Sorry. I have to keep saying that.
This is true. Oh my gosh.
But yeah, I love that. OK, well that concludes our
character rant. After this, we're going to dive
into all the scenes we love and but I think we're going to end
our first episode here. Sorry.
We still have so much to talk about.
We have so much to talk about. We're going to talk about it
all. So if you like Willow, keep with
us. We're going to get into all the
good stuff. I mean, it's all good.
We're going to get get into some more good stuff in our next
episode. So until next time for lesbian
Jesus. And get it up all over the
place. Bye, bye.