I really can’t think of any way to introduce this review. As such we’re going to skip the preamble, and jump directly to the main point. We’re taking a look at Earth Eclipsed.
Earth Eclipsed takes place far in the future. Humanity has spread to the stars and colonized the galaxy. This galactic community, known as the Human Concord, is a shining utopia. There is peace and prosperity across all the worlds of the Concord. Dr. Alexine Prometh is the head of the Abacus Project. The Abacus Project aims to find a way to extract and display memories. Dr. Prometh has become a bit of a celebrity because of her work. However, all is not well. Alex soon finds herself captured by an anti-Concord terrorist named Nico Dunn. Nico claims that the Concord is built on a foundation of lies, and its prosperity has come at a steep cost. Dr. Prometh is about to go on a wild ride that will challenge everything she thinks she knows.
I think it is important that I disclose a few facts before we go any further. Earth Eclipsed is created by The Lunar Company. It was founded by three Brazilian guys named Victor Lee, AJ Churchill, and Nicholas Prufer. Earth Eclipsed was their very first time making an audio drama, but they wanted to do more for the world of audio fiction. To that end, they founded Apollo. Apollo is an app designed exclusively for fiction podcasts. It is, I will concede, far from perfect. However, they are working round the clock to iron-out the flaws. They have some very big plans for the future, and I certainly look forward to seeing where they go in the future. And yes, the name Apollo is a reference to the Apollo missions from the Space Race. The characters of Earth Eclipsed often call each other lunar when someone is acting crazy or insane. So, it’s a fun little bit of consistency in branding.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, Apollo was in need of a social media manager and head of community. To be clear, both of those are one job. I saw The Strata quote tweet Apollo’s call for applications on Twitter. Apollo was looking for someone who lived, ate, and breathed audio fiction. So, I thought to myself “Okay, that sound like something I might be good at.” I sent in my resume, and the next thing I knew, I had scheduled an interview of Victor Lee. I aced the interview, and made it to round two. Making it to round two put me in the top ten percent of all applicants. So, next interview was with AJ. I didn’t do quite as well this time, but I tried my best. Ultimately, the role went to Wil Williams. For what it’s worth, Victor said that there were over 300 applicants, and I was among the most impressive.
I like what Wil has done in the role. I’m particularly fond of the “guess the audio drama from the emojis” game they’ve implemented on Twitter. They gave me good tips on quality, and affordable microphones. And I’m eternally grateful to them for helping promote Residents of Proserpina Park’s season three Indiegogo campaign. Quick side note, please donate if you are capable of doing so.
I have maintained good relations with Apollo, and they even commissioned me to created three curated lists of recommendations for the app’s homepage. I was paid fifty dollars per list. If you’re curious, the ones I made were the For Kids, Exceptional Anthologies, and Sci-Fi: Beyond Infinity lists. In fact, I’m told I might to commissioned again in the relatively near future. Now, obviously, I did find Earth Eclipsed via Apollo. I mean, it is kind of hard to miss on the homepage. And if I’m being honest, I was curious to see what it was like for myself.
I went on this spiel because I wanted to be upfront about my connections to Apollo. But having said that, I’m going to judge Earth Eclipsed just as I would any other audio drama. That which is praiseworthy shall receive praise. Anything that I feel is a bit lacking will shall also be noted as such.
Let’s start with the positives. This is The Lunar Company’s very first audio drama, and it certainly starts out of the gate strong. The soundscaping and music are incredibly cinematic. It is easily on-par with anything you might find from a big budget audio drama. AJ Churchill handled the music, and did the sound design along with Shane Rutherford-Jones. You can tell that both of them are no slouches when it comes to working with music and sound. It liked how the music helps paint a picture of the world of Earth Eclipsed. Scenes set within the Concord feature a lot of electronic and mechanical sounding music. Meanwhile, the Outer Worlds feature more acoustic sounding music. You get an emphasis that the Concord is full of many technological wonders, but is also a very regimented and controlled place. It also didn’t escape my notice that the anthem of the Concord sounds suspiciously similar to the national anthem of the Soviet Union. By contrast, the Outer Worlds feel more organic and pastoral.
Earth Eclipsed also has a great justification for being in an audio-only medium. Dr. Prometh gouges out her eyes are part of her work on the Abacus Project. She theorized that pervious memory retrieval attempts failed because the test subjects were overwhelmed by visions of the memories. So, she got rid of the problem by getting rid of her eyes. Concord biotech can easily regenerate lost body parts, including eyes, so this is only a minor inconvenience. Of course, there is the minor snag of getting kidnapped by Nico. So, in a way, we are experiencing the story through Dr. Prometh’s point-of-view, or lack there of.
Speaking of Nico, his ship is call the Gungnir, which is the spear of Odin in Norse Mythology. That’s interesting, because Odin sacrificed one of his eyes to drink from the well of Mimir, and gain knowledge. Rather like how Dr. Prometh sacrificed her eyes in the name of the Abacus Project. Dr. Prometh’s name is an obvious nod to Prometheus; the titan who stole fire from the gods, and gave it to humanity, in Greek Mythology. I can’t really think how that relates to Earth Eclipsed. I’m also not entirely sure what the series title means. It is mentioned that nobody remembers where Earth is. In fact, some people believe that Earth is just a myth. Perhaps it is a reference to how Earth has become eclipsed in importance by the Concord?
The voice actors are all really great. I feel like I’ve heard Nico and Dr. Prometh‘s voice actors somewhere before, but I can’t think where that would have been. I also really love how the Earth Eclipsed website is designed. The episodes all have transcripts, which is very important, as I emphasized in my reviews of Seen and Not Heard and Main Street Mythology. However, each episode’s section also includes a glossary of term. Just click on a term, and a helpful pop-up explains what it means. That was a really nice touch, and quite helpful for a show with a lot of in-universe jargon.
Okay, now for a few things I thought could use improvement. I felt that the first half or so of the series could have done a better job establishing in characters and their world. I felt that it didn’t properly explain why I should care about the characters. I will say that this does improve as the series goes on. I’d say that episode six was where Earth Eclipsed finally found its footing. That part where the Gungnir is trying to escape the gravitational pull of a star had me hooked. Now, I was willing to ride the first season out, and my patients was eventually rewards, especially with regards to the final two episodes. However, not all listeners may be so forgiving. It is always important to try to get your audience hooked within the first few episodes, or they might not stick around.
I feel that the first few episodes don’t really introduce you to the world and characters of Earth Eclipsed, so much as throw you at them. I felt like I got thrown in the deep end without swimming lessons. I would compare this to The Culture series by Iain M. Banks. Consider Phlebas is the first novel in the series, but The Player of Games is generally considered a much better introduction to the world of The Culture, despite being the second novel. It helps that the novels can be read in whatever order you please. I started with The Player of Games, and I can safely say that was the right decision. Consider Phlebas doesn’t really establish who The Culture are, and why you should care. Probably doesn’t help that The Culture are actually the antagonists for most of that book. I don’t know if anyone on the Earth Eclipsed crew have ever read any of The Culture novels, but I think they would like them quite a bit.
Now, granted, I do understand why Earth Eclipsed was a bit coy with its worldbuilding and characters. It relates to the central mystery of the season. The series takes its time slowly pealing back the layers. But, with that, we now need to get into the spoilers.
So, if you don’t want any spoilers, turn back now.
Last chance, you sure you want to continue?
Okay, if everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.
So, we finally get to Nico’s home planet of Sogen. It used to be an idyllic pastoral world. We learn that they had a big debate about whether or not to accept genetic engineering technology from the Concord. After much debate, Sogen rejected the genetic tech, preferring to keep their kids just the way they were born. However, the Concord considered this an unacceptable answer, and attacked Sogen.
It is clear to me that Earth Eclipsed has something it wants to say, but I’m not sure what that something is. We don’t really get any solid arguments for why genetic engineering is bad. Sure, we get some hints that unmodified people are looked down upon, and subject to prejudice. However, the primary argument seems to be that genetic engineering is unnatural. Okay, but under that logic, open-heart surgery, vaccines, dentistry, and two dozen other routine medical procedures are also “unnatural.” Meanwhile, infectious disease, crude oil, and wild fires are all, technically speaking, perfectly natural. Point is, natural is not inherently good, and unnatural is not inherently bad. Personally, I think natural is a word that is overused and poorly understood.
Now, there are certainly arguments both for and against genetically engineering humans. Some people argue that eliminating conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety might deprive us of geniuses. After all, many geniuses and innovators suffered from mental illness. But answer me this: are they geniuses because they suffer, or in spite of the fact that they suffer? I would argue to the later. But I also concede this isn’t an entirely black and white question. What about eliminating disorders such as autism or dyslexia? These conditions can be a burden, especially for lower functioning individuals. However, these conditions often grant unique insights and ways of thinking to those who process them. And moreover, should society put emphasis on “normalizing” neurodivergent people? Or should it emphasize accommodating them, and treating them with kindness and compassion?
From my own experience, I can very much remember my school days, where I was constantly pressured to be more “normal.” But as the years went on, and after I left grade school, I saw attitudes shift towards society becoming more accommodating to those who fall outside the norm. Personally, I would not want to take any procedure that would render me neurotypical. Autism is all about how the brain is structure, and a change that radical would totally rewrite everything about me. In essence, it would be as though I had died, as I would be a completely different individual.
As you can see, there’s a lot of fertile ground to debate the merits of genetic engineering. However, you won’t find any of them in Earth Eclipsed. Though, this is slightly mitigated by the implication that the Concord is using genetic engineering to make its citizens more obedient and docile. Dr. Prometh’s faith in the Concord boarders on religious fanaticism at times. Interestingly, traditional religion seems to have largely died out in the future of Earth Eclipsed. The closest thing is how citizens of the Concord seem to view the government with reverence and devotions. They even swear in the name of the Concord. It almost reminds me of North Korea’s Juche ideology. Some people claim Juche isn’t a religion, but I’d argue it ticks off most of the major boxes.
Also, on a side note, where are the aliens? All lifeforms seems to come from Earth. Humans are the only intelligent species, and even the animals and plants are all imports from Earth. Were all of the planets originally lifeless rocks that had to be terraformed? Or did there used to be aliens, but the Concord killed them, and then covered up their existence?
The creators of Earth Eclipsed have said that they created the series to explore various ideas. Amongst other things, that it is our imperfections are what make us human, the importance of individuality, and fighting back against totalitarianism. Well, I did get that last one, but I feel that the other two themes weren’t articulated as well as they could be. I felt that the first half of the season struggled to find its footing. However, the second half are where things really kick into gear. Episodes six, seven, and eight are where the series really hits its stride.
It felt like season one was a bit of an extended prologue. Okay, so we’ve got everything set up now. Let’s see where Earth Eclipsed goes in future seasons. The keyword with Earth Eclipsed is potential. It is clear to me that everyone involved with the show is very talented, and there world they have created has a lot of promise. Season one was a pretty good prologue, but let’s see what you can do now that you have all of the pieces on the board.
Of course, it might be a while before we get season two of Earth Eclipsed. Obviously, ironing out the Apollo app’s kinks take top priority for the moment. Personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way. If the Apollo team can get the app stabilized, and expand upon its features, I think they could have a potentially hot property on their hands. Potential is also the keyword when it comes to Apollo. There’s some very bright things on the horizons at Apollo, and I can’t wait to see them all.
Okay, so what’s my final verdict on season one of Earth Eclipsed? Well, it starts off a bit rough and disjointed, but it managed to stick the landing in the end. I would remind regular readers of this blog that The Program Audio Series also started out a bit rough, but it managed to soar higher and higher once it found its footing. So, I’m going to give a tentative thumbs up to Earth Eclipsed, provided that season two keeps up the momentum.
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
I’ve had a lot of obligations and prior commitments as of late. However, I’ve finally got a temporary gap in my reviewing schedule. As such, we get to review an audio drama I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. We’re taking a look at Friday Knight Fights.
Arthur Padron was just an average teenager trying to enjoy his gap year before college. Then he met a girl named Lynn, and touched the magic sword she had with her. Arthur soon discovered that he is the modern-day reincarnation of King Arthur himself. Lynn turns out to be the reincarnation of the great sorcerer Merlin, and the sword is Excalibur itself. They’re also joined by Elliot, who is the reincarnation of Lancelot. The modern reincarnations of the Knights of the Round Table are scattered across modern-day America. Arthur, Lynn, and Elliot must set off on a cross-country roadtrip to recruit the reincarnated knights. However, though magic is returning to the world, so too are dark forces. It’s sure to be an adventure of Arthurian proportions.
I first became aware of Friday Knight Fights from the weekly new releases thread on the r/audiodrama subreddit. The premise sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try. I enjoy urban fantasy, and I enjoy Arthurian Legend. There have been a few other works that utilize the premise of Arthurian characters reincarnating in the modern-day. However, it is not how many times a premise has been done, but how well you execute it, that truly matters. Personally, I’d say that Friday Knight Fights did a pretty good job handling its premise.
Season one is split into two alternating parts. One part takes place during everyone’s freshmen year at college, while the other takes place one year earlier, and shows how everyone met. Each episode will features scenes relating to both plot lines. Usually, the freshmen year plot line starts off the episode, and then we transition to the one year earlier plot line. Also, in case you’re wondering, the sword on the cover art is Excalibur, and the red threads are the red threads of destiny.
The title of the series is obviously a reference to the movie/television series Friday Night Lights. Admittedly, I have seen either that movie or the television series, but I’ve heard good things about them. So far, Arthur hasn’t become part of any football team. Of course, as uncoordinated as Arthur is, that might be for the best. I also get some hints that anime might have been influence on Friday Knight Fights. Some points, usually halfway through the episode, there will be little bumpers where the name of the series will be accompanied by some dramatic music. Animes frequently do that as well; off the top of my head, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, KonoSuba, and The Way of the House Husband all do that. Come to think of it, the general plot of Friday Knight Fights wouldn’t be too out of place in an anime.
Now, let’s talk about the voice acting and should design. One of the biggest strengths of Friday Knight Fights is its absolutely stellar cast. I could tell from my first listen that the cast were all extremely talented and hard-working. I don’t know if any of them have prior experience in voice acting, but I see very bright futures for them all. Now, having said all of this, I need to do a bit of tough love. The audio quality, while overall passable, can have some noticeable inconsistencies at times. There will be sometimes when characters will have a noticeable background hiss accompany their dialogue. Also, there’s always a little bit at the end of each episode, after the credits, that feels like it was incidental recordings left in by accident. So, definitely want to even out those audio levels and remove that background hiss.
Scenes that involve a lot of action will often music and sound-effect. This is good, and I very much support this. You also sometimes get this in incidental scenes. For example, there’s the scene where Arthur and Elliot go on a shopping spree in the style of a 1990s rom-com movie. I do feel that maybe more of the less dramatic scenes would benefit from a smidge more ambient noise, and perhaps even a bit of music at times.
Speaking of music, let’s not forget them theme music. Overall, I do enjoy the theme music. It reminds me a bit of the theme music from the audio drama Red Rhino. Though, to my knowledge, nobody from Friday Knight Fights was involved with Red Rhino. So, it could be coincidence. I could never get into Red Rhino, unlike Friday Knight Fights. My biggest compliant is that Red Rhino was so busy trying to be metafictional and post-modern it forgot to tell an actual story. Thankfully, Friday Knight Fights does not have that issue. I also liked how the theme music played alongside the finals scenes of the season one finale. It reminds me of how certain animes also do that.
Now, let’s shift gears and talk about the characters. Arthur is a complete and utter dork who often trips over his own feet. Oh, he might attempt to look cool, but he often just makes an even bigger fool of himself. The Knights of the Round Table, and especially Lynn, frequently rib him and poke fun at his expense. All of the being said, as the series progresses, Arthur slowly grows into a competent leader. His plans and battle tactics are, more often than not, genuinely good and well thought out. We get hints of the king he will one day become. However, he’s still got a long way to go before he’s ready to measure up to the legends. But for all his dorkiness, he’s still endearing, and we want to see him succeed. Arthur is voiced by Ian Kennedy.
Lynn is Arthur’s left-hand woman. The position of right-hand woman has been filled by Elliot. That being said, Lynn does not spare Arthur any snark and sarcasm. In fact, she’s often the one who instigates it. But when the chips are down, she’s always there for Arthur. Lynn, being the reincarnation of Merlin, is quite skilled in magic. However, she’s even more adept when it comes to modern technology, particularly computers and hacking. However, she insists that her hacking skills don’t have anything to do with magic. In fact, her hacking skills are how she was about to track down Arthur and the Knights. Oh, and Lynn also shops at Hot Topic, but she’s mildly embarrassed about that. Lynn is voiced by Charlie “Rat” Sutton.
Elliot is the reincarnation of Lancelot. She has a sunny disposition, and is almost always bubbly and cheery. She has her occasional moments of ditziness, but that just makes her get along with Arthur even better. In fact, much like their medieval counterparts, they get along famously. Of course, if you know your Arthurian Legend, you’ll know that Lancelot had an affair with Queen Guinevere, which set off a series of events that eventually lead to the downfall of Camelot. Oh, but don’t worry, Elliot had promised that she won’t sleep with Arthur’s wife. Well, Arthur is currently single, but the point still stands. Elliot is voiced by series creator Ashton Lorelle. When I first started listening to Friday Knight Fights, I assumed that Ashton was exaggerating her accent. Elliot sounded almost stereotypically Southern at times. However, if the pre-show ads are anything to go off of, that’s apparently more or less how Ashton actually speaks. Of course, I’m not really in a position to be remarking on that sort of thing. Nobody who hears me speak ever guesses that Shreveport, Louisiana is where I’m from.
Anthony is the first Knight that Arthur, Lynn, and Elliot find. He is the reincarnation of Tristan. Anthony is…uh, cool, like, a really nice guy. Okay, I’m just gonna be real with you guys. Anthony kind of gets outshone by the more colorful members of the cast. If they were the Avengers, he would be Hawkeye. Anthony’s primary character arc revolves around finding out who Princess Isolde reincarnated as. We’ll get into that once we get to the spoilers section.
I think Gerry was easily my favorite character. He is the reincarnation of Gawain. Gerry’s fully name is Gerard Butler. No, not the one you’re probably thinking of. Gerry is the life of the party, but he has a very laidback and chill. He also usually the one who organizes parties. He sounds like one of those people who is dumb as a brick, but also completely lovable. The only thing Gerry truly hates is the color green. This is an obvious nod to the legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gerry loves to party, but he loves his mommy even more. In fact, Gerry initially doesn’t want to go to college if it means be away from his mom. Gerry is voiced by Tyler Gonelli, who also handles the music and sound design for the series.
Arthur has a cousin named Carlos. Unsurprisingly, Carlos turns out to be the reincarnation of Kay, who was King Arthur’s stepbrother. Well, in some retellings anyway. Lynn mentions that not all retells of Arthurian Legend are accurate. Personally, I thought that Friday Knight Fights had a pretty brilliant explanation for the inconsistencies within Arthurian Legend. The characters have reincarnated over the centuries. So, it isn’t that the chroniclers were being inconsistent, or changing details, they were recording different incarnations of the Arthurian characters. That also handily explains why the Arthurian Legends don’t mesh with the archeological record of 5th Century Britain. Stone castles, knights, and countless other iconic Arthurian elements hadn’t been invented yet in the 5th Century. Carlos is voiced by Mateo Rodriguez.
The exact number of Knights of the Round Table varies from legend to legend. On the low end, some source say there were only twelve. On the higher end, however, other sources claim there were anywhere from 150 to over 300. I bring this up because there’s a lot of obscure Knights out there. Oh, sure, you’ve heard of Lancelot and Percival, or maybe you’re familiar with Gawain or Bedivere because of English class. But have you heard Sir Lucan the Butler? I should mention that, in this case, butler doesn’t mean what it does in modern times. A medieval butler was someone in charge of the royal household and royal court. As such, Lucan was on par with Knights such as Kay and Bedivere.
I bring all of this up because Arthur and the gang eventually meet a girl name Lucy, and she is the reincarnation of Lucan. She’s not to thrilled about being The Butler. I suppose she wasn’t paying too close attention to the visions of her past lives. Lucy is the daughter of the dean of the university everyone eventually decides to go to. Said university is famous for its medieval studies program, and the town around the university has a lot of Arthurian themed shops and cafes. Lucy initially seems like she’ll be a spoiled mean girl character, but she turns out to be pretty nice. Lucy is voiced by Sydney Jones
Okay, so what if one of the reincarnated Knights doesn’t want to relive the old legends? Oh, don’t worry, we get our answer in the form of Poppy. She’s the reincarnation of Percival. She initially doesn’t want to get involved, but she comes around with time. Though, she does make Arthur promise that they’ll actually change things this time round, and won’t just repeat the old stories. Poppy gets along quite well with Lynn, especially when it comes to messing with Arthur. Also, Poppy wears glasses, and is basically blind without them. As an aside, I love that Poppy’s episode took place at Medieval Times Chicago. I went to Medieval Times Dallas for a field trip in sixth grade. Sure, Medieval Times plays a bit fast and loose with actual history, but it is tons of fun. I had an absolute blast, and would gladly go again if I ever got the chance. Poppy is voiced by Hannah Steele, who also acts as director and co-writer for the series.
Rounding out the cast is Delilah. She is the reincarnation of Bedivere. Delilah loves volunteering for just about everything. She even volunteers as part of a Catholic church choir, despite the fact that she is Jewish, and is raised by two gay men. She’s no slouch in a fight. In fact, she picked up quite a few self-defense skills from her time volunteering various hospitals. Arthur found this out the hard way. To be fair, he did kind of come across as a creep. He lured her into one of the church’s back rooms and ask her to touch his sword. He meant Excalibur, since touching it is how everyone gets memories of their past lives, but that’s not how Delilah interpreted it. Carlos has a crush on Delilah, and its hinted that she returns his feelings. Interestingly, in the original legends, Kay and Bedivere were quite close. Delilah is voiced by Strummer Steele.
Okay, now we’re getting into the spoilers. If you don’t want any of that, turn back now.
Last chance. You sure you want to continue?
If everyone who wants out is gone, let’s get into it.
Okay, first things first, Anthony’s love quest. The love quest ends in a way Anthony didn’t expect, but I certainly wondered about. Many of the male characters from the original legends were reincarnated as girls. So, it would stand to reason that at least some females characters are boys this time round. Well, it turns out I was right. Isolde has been reincarnated as a boy named Sawyer. Anthony initially doesn’t take that well. Though, he also admits he hasn’t really given much thought to his sexuality. One talk with Gerry later, and Anthony has patched things up with Sawyer. I’m not opposed to Anthony coming around to loving Sawyer, but I felt like things moved a bit too fast. At times it almost reminded me of the part of Spamalot where Lancelot discovers that he is gay. Or maybe Gerry is just that good? He’s not too bright, but he does have excellent people skills.
In other relationships, Arthur and Elliot become a couple. I had kind of suspected that this might happen. I thought that, instead of having with Guinevere, Elliot would have an affair with Arthur. Though, Arthur hadn’t found Guinevere yet at that point. We also know that something bad happened with Elliot the pervious year. She had considered tossing Excalibur into the lake where Lynn first found it. Did she try to go through with it? But then another thought occurred to me. What if Elliot wasn’t who she claimed to be? What if, somehow, she was Mordred, but wanted to be good this time around? But no, it couldn’t be, could it? How would she hid something like that from Lynn?
Well, lo and behold, I was half correct. The person claiming to be Elliot was indeed Mordred, though she prefers to be called Dread this days. However, she’s just as evil as she was in the original legends. Also, she’s the one who gave Lynn in info on how to find the Knights. It was all according to Dread’s scheme. I mean, I suspected this might be coming, but still, damn. Wait a minute, Mordred was Arthur’s son in the original legends so…oh no! Arthur was in a relationship with his reincarnated son! I mean, they aren’t biologically related, but still. Well, that’s going to make season two very interesting.
Oh, and Arthur found his Guinevere. She’s a girl he had a crush on name Winnie. Yeah, I saw the one coming a mile away. Most of the characters have names that are evocative of their Arthurian counterparts. Lynn is Merlin, Lucy is Lucan, Gerry is Gawain, Poppy is Percival, and Arthur is…well, you know. I would have been more surprised if Winnie hadn’t turned out to be Guinevere. I saw it coming, but that’s not a bad thing. It will be interesting to see how Winnie interacts with the rest of the cast come season two.
And from the looks of it, season two is going to be even more amazing than season one. We now know how the gang meet each other, and who the villains they’re up against are. Personally, I can’t wait to see what adventures we’ll be going on in season two.
So, there you have it. Friday Knight Fights is a modern-day urban fantasy adventure of Arthurian proportions. It follows characters from Arthurian Legend being reincarnated a modern-day college students. Season one was really great, and I eagerly await to see what season two will bring. From the looks of things, it will be just as great, if not even better.
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
It is always exciting when an audio drama puts out a new season. Especially so when you aren’t sure if the new season was on the way. Well, I don’t really have much more to add, so let’s get directly to it. We’re taking a look at season two of Live From Mount Olympus.
Persephone is a young goddess with a reasonably good life. Her half-sisters Athena and Artemis are her best friends, her parents Demeter and Zeus love her, and she’s a fairly talented artist. And yet, she feels that she doesn’t know who she really is. She worries that she isn’t pretty, and that she has no identity beyond being Demeter’s daughter. But that’s not Persephone’s only problem. She’s been swallowed by a hole in the ground, and now finds herself in the underworld. Apparently, Zeus offered her hand in marriage to Hades. Persephone must journey through the underworld to discover who she really is. Meanwhile, Demeter will search high and low for Persephone. She will do whatever it takes to get her daughter back, no matter the consequences.
I had been hoping that Live From Mount Olympus would be getting a second season. As you might recall, I absolutely adored season one of Live From Mount Olympus. There’s plenty of stories from Greek Mythology that would make for great adaptions. Lo and behold, Live From Mount Olympus put out some bonus mini-episodes, and announced that a seconds season was on the way. The only hint was that it would involve a female character as the protagonist. Who could it be? What myth would be adapted? Psyche and Eros? That one had a happy ending, which is fairly rare for Greek Mythology. Atalanta, perhaps? But the ending of that one is bittersweet at absolute best. Didn’t seem like the sort of thing Live From Mount Olympus would go for.
But what if it wasn’t anything about mortal heroes? What if it involved the gods and goddesses? Sure enough, it turned out to be an adaption the Persephone and Demeter myth. Well, season one turned out pretty great. So, I had full confidence that season two would live up to its predecessor. It would seem that my faith was certainly not misplaced.
As I noted in my review of season one, Live From Mount Olympus is all about filling in the gaps. The original myths don’t offer much in the way of introspection. Characters will do things, but we don’t really get insight into their inner thoughts, and there’s not much in the way of dialogue. Point being, there’s a lot of wiggle room, and room for creativity, when it comes to adapting myths. For example, while the myths never say that Persephone hung out with Athena and Artemis, there’s also no evidence against it. The dialogue is modern, but feels natural, and never comes across as trying too hard to be hip and cool.
Persephone is also more assertive, and isn’t just some damsel in distress like in the original myth. She has adventures exploring the underworld on her own, and this is a big part of her character arc. She gains confidence and learns to embrace her new role as the queen of the underworld. She learns to see her new role as a chance to finally step out from her mother’s shadow. Persephone also makes some changes to the underworld. Prior to her arrival, all shades drink water from the River Lethe. It makes them lose their memories, and Hades believes that this will help them adjust to life in the underworld. However, Persephone convinces Hades that it might be better to let some shades retain their memories of life. Technically, this isn’t really part of the original myth, but it was a nice addition. I’d say there’s enough wiggle room that we can let it slide.
I really liked how Hades was portrayed. It is depressingly common for works that draw upon Greek Mythology to portray Hades as, basically, Ancient Greek Satan. In actual mythology, however, he was stern, but ultimately fair and reasonable. Death comes for us all sooner or later. Also, unlike Zeus and Poseidon, Hades only had a grand total of two affairs. In both cases, his lovers were turned into plants by Persephone. Of course, this is Live From Mount Olympus, so, naturally the writing is going to portray Greek Mythology accurately.
Hades is shown to be a very kind, sensitive, and introspective. He isn’t forceful with Persephone, and allows her take her time getting acclimated to the underworld. He also willingly let’s Persephone return to the land of the living after she learns how bad things have gotten in her absence. Persephone and Hades’ relationship progress realistically. Persephone doesn’t instantly fall for Hades, and still isn’t head-over-heels for Hades by the end of the season. However, she has grown to enjoy spending time with Hades, and is eager to continue to help improve the underworld.
I also enjoy that equal time was devoted to Demeter. This is pretty much the only myth where Demeter played a starring role. Oh, she appeared in other myths, but usually as a supporting character. As such, it was nice to explore Demeter’s time living among the mortals. She teaches humanity how to plant and harvest crops in the last episode of this season. This is in keeping with the myth, but earlier segments of the season seemed to indicate that humanity already knew how to do that. Mortals complained that the ground was barren, and nothing would grow. Did Demeter teach them how to harvest, but not how to plant? The Greek Gods could be jerks at times, but that comes across more as being scatterbrained. Demeter is a bit overprotective of Persephone, but that’s because she’s worried about being a bad mother. Demeter never really had a relationship with her own mother, Rhea, due to being swallowed by her father Kronos as a child. So, Demeter’s kind of figuring out parenting as she goes along. But then, isn’t that true of all parents?
Hermes still acts as narrator, but he’s joined by Hekate this time. That pairing made me think of The Hermes & Hekate Road Show. Such a good show, such a same that it only lasted one season, and is no longer available to listen to. Anyway, getting back on track, Hermes has a more reduced role this time round. He still pops into the story ever now and again, but not to the extent he did in season one. On the flips side, Persephone meets the goddess Styx during her time in the underworld. Styx is the personification of the river of the same name. Many gods and goddesses were personifications of various concepts or geographic features. They usually did have much in the way of personality, so that gives you wiggle room when adapting them. Styx provides words of wisdom to Persephone, and reminds her of the new opportunities she can find in the underworld. And I did love how Cerberus was portrayed as, basically, a big happy, energetic puppy. But, you know, with three heads and all that.
Okay, let’s just get this out the way now. Hades is the brother of Zeus and Demeter, who are Persephone’s parents. So, that means that Persephone’s parents are also her aunt and uncle, she is both their daughter and their niece, and her hand in marriage has been offered to her uncle twice-over. Live From Mount Olympus doesn’t deny any of this, but it also doesn’t go out of its way to emphasis any of it either. Like, there are times Zeus and Hades are mentioned to be brothers, and a couple times that Kronos and Rhea are mentioned as the parents of Zeus and Demeter, but not at the same time. Also, just as a random aside, I did notice that Hera was conspicuously absent from the happenings. Personally, I think this was the best approach to take with such subject matter. Don’t deny it, but also don’t go out of your way to draw attention to it.
I’d like to take a moment to talk about the voice acting. Joanne Hernandez had to walk a very fine line in her portrayal of Persephone. She strikes a good balance between sounding confident, but also showing an insecure side at times. Likewise, Nidra Sous la Terre strikes a good balance of portraying Demeter as overprotective, but also genuinely sympathetic. Andre De Shields is once again wonderful as Hermes. He’s joined by Ching Valdes-Aran as Hekate. We also get a surprise cameo from Anna Kendrick as Eos, goddess of the dawn. In other cameos, Divine Garland briefly appears as both a soul in the underworld, and as a human learning how to plant crops. I don’t think the soul was meant to be Perseus. I’m pretty sure the story of Perseus took place after the story of Persephone and Hades. It was just meant to be a fun little cameo.
Well, there you have it. Season two of Live From Mount Olympus lives up to the standard set by its predecessor. This has opened up many more possibilities for future seasons. There’s still so many myths left to adapt. The possibilities are endless, and I can’t wait to see where this show goes next.
Well, that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.
