WEBVTT 00:00:01.389 --> 00:00:05.250 Our quest, Tales of Gael, is a live tabletop 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:34.579 podcast. And, you know, we lost. Now we are here 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:40.479 to talk. Your eye. We want it. I want to give 00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:46.000 you my eye. No. My other option is that we could 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:49.859 just wait until the eye is fully matured in you 00:00:49.859 --> 00:00:53.579 and it has then consumed your body. And maybe 00:00:53.579 --> 00:00:58.060 something will happen in season two. Did you 00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:01.619 manage to get her? Sadly not, but it will be 00:01:01.619 --> 00:01:05.739 easier once the eye has matured. What about the 00:01:05.739 --> 00:01:09.219 mirror? The shard was practically empty, so it 00:01:09.219 --> 00:01:12.420 was easy to grab. When do we get rid of these 00:01:12.420 --> 00:01:18.840 stupid masks? Not till we're back in Vera. You 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:22.920 must enter and claim the item inside. Once you 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:26.659 have it, our master's mission will be clear. 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:29.519 If you want questions, you can ask. If you want 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:31.099 toilet roll, you can have it. And if you want 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:33.840 a room, there's fucking 16 more. I feel like 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:36.719 an alliance may have formed between us. Atticus, 00:01:36.859 --> 00:01:39.859 would he miss you? Master Atticus probably doesn't 00:01:39.859 --> 00:01:46.480 know my name. So you're not important. Oh no. 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:52.489 Made a shipwreck. Look at this thing. It's beautiful. 00:01:52.950 --> 00:01:56.750 It's an incomplete dragon kit. Banner Rapids 00:01:56.750 --> 00:01:58.730 respects me, guys. They'll follow me anywhere. 00:01:59.030 --> 00:02:02.189 Oh, really? Ah, you must be the leader there. 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:09.789 Sure. Yes. On the world of Gael lies a constant 00:02:09.789 --> 00:02:16.729 named Varys. This is our destiny. No. This is 00:02:16.729 --> 00:03:15.300 our quest. Thank you. Those of you that have 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:17.120 been tuning in might recall that Oren had a bit 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.219 of a breakdown yesterday during his segment. 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:21.580 He's been under a lot of stress following his 00:03:21.580 --> 00:03:24.620 tragic experiences on God's Breath, and it, well, 00:03:24.699 --> 00:03:26.699 it just hit a boiling point, I guess. So for 00:03:26.699 --> 00:03:30.139 now, Oren, or Cully, has left to get some much 00:03:30.139 --> 00:03:32.159 -needed help at the House of Convalescence, where 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:34.259 he'll be staying for an indeterminate amount 00:03:34.259 --> 00:03:37.919 of time. He has requested absolute solitude during 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.240 his recovery, so we ask that fans do not trouble 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:42.699 him. Any kind comments or gifts can be sent to 00:03:42.699 --> 00:03:45.280 our usual studio address, and I will personally 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.099 see them delivered. And who am I? Well, my name 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:51.520 is Rune Rusong. I have been working behind the 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:53.340 scenes of the network for many years now as an 00:03:53.340 --> 00:03:56.500 agent to many top luminaries. As such, the powers 00:03:56.500 --> 00:03:58.460 that be felt that I might be an appropriate figure 00:03:58.460 --> 00:04:01.340 to take the reins temporarily until Gully is 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:03.939 ready to return. Now I know a lot of you are 00:04:03.939 --> 00:04:05.580 concerned over Cully's statements of blackmail 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:08.240 and mistrust. I can assure you that these were 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:10.419 simply the confused ramblings of a mind broken 00:04:10.419 --> 00:04:13.620 by trauma. Please, don't hold it against my good 00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:16.000 friend. The death and return of his son, the 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:18.879 coming criminal trials of his niece. I mean, 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:21.120 clearly good Cully has been through a lot of 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:26.319 anguish. I'm sure even now he is suffering profoundly. 00:04:28.490 --> 00:04:30.689 Yeah, I did it. Don't like it. Yeah, I did. I 00:04:30.689 --> 00:04:32.970 don't like it. I hate it. I think I wouldn't 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:35.189 do it. I didn't make you do any of this. Yeah. 00:04:36.050 --> 00:04:38.930 You did this. No, this is not. It's your fault. 00:04:39.029 --> 00:04:40.670 This is not my fault. You did this. This is not 00:04:40.670 --> 00:04:43.350 my doing. It's your fault. I didn't roll a die 00:04:43.350 --> 00:04:45.629 about it. This is not my fault. I won't take 00:04:45.629 --> 00:04:48.230 responsibility. There are consequences. God. 00:04:50.629 --> 00:04:53.410 Now people might be suffering profoundly. You 00:04:53.410 --> 00:04:59.750 ass. You horse's ass. So. You want to lighten 00:04:59.750 --> 00:05:01.350 up the mood before we start real fast? Yes, please. 00:05:01.610 --> 00:05:04.910 Yeah. Yeah. I have proof that there is still 00:05:04.910 --> 00:05:08.430 joy in this in this cruel, cruel world. OK. And 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:11.970 I've seen this two or three times in the past, 00:05:11.990 --> 00:05:14.509 like. couple of days enough to like bring it 00:05:14.509 --> 00:05:16.310 to the front of my mind and it happened to me 00:05:16.310 --> 00:05:20.110 on the drive over here okay no matter how many 00:05:20.110 --> 00:05:22.709 computers kids have in their pockets or how many 00:05:22.709 --> 00:05:26.589 tiktoks or snapchats they're gonna do stevie 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:30.889 you're oldest yeah there is still an age group 00:05:30.889 --> 00:05:34.110 of children that will do the arm motion for you 00:05:34.110 --> 00:05:36.990 to pump your toe to honk your horn oh yeah dude 00:05:36.990 --> 00:05:39.470 i see it all the time up here and that gives 00:05:39.470 --> 00:05:43.769 me profound joy yeah Yeah. Do you do it? Oh yeah. 00:05:43.870 --> 00:05:46.949 I try to, it's like, I pick an appropriate time, 00:05:47.009 --> 00:05:49.569 you know, like if I'm, if I'm in traffic and 00:05:49.569 --> 00:05:51.670 there's a bunch of pedestrians around, no, I'm 00:05:51.670 --> 00:05:54.149 not going to honk my horn. You cracked me up 00:05:54.149 --> 00:05:56.310 as you're over there. Like, yeah, me and my gigantic 00:05:56.310 --> 00:05:58.670 truck. The kids, like I'm driving a semi, kids 00:05:58.670 --> 00:06:00.490 see me going, you have a four foot long truck. 00:06:00.569 --> 00:06:02.730 Yeah. It's like the smallest truck they have. 00:06:02.850 --> 00:06:04.889 It's the F none 50. You literally call it the 00:06:04.889 --> 00:06:08.709 F none 50. Yeah. Yeah. But no, I don't think 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:10.709 it matters if you're driving. I think it's just, 00:06:10.750 --> 00:06:12.670 I think they'll do it to whatever. Dude, they 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:15.550 do it for me. Really? Yeah. I've seen it. It's 00:06:15.550 --> 00:06:17.170 funny you brought this up because I've seen it 00:06:17.170 --> 00:06:19.529 at least two times in the last two weeks. See? 00:06:19.709 --> 00:06:22.209 Yeah. It's happening. Damn. And it doesn't have 00:06:22.209 --> 00:06:24.029 to be a truck. It doesn't have to be a big truck. 00:06:24.170 --> 00:06:25.949 No. It's never happened to me. They just want 00:06:25.949 --> 00:06:29.769 you to honk your horn. It's a dumb car. It's 00:06:29.769 --> 00:06:31.610 not the key of soul. I'm just kidding. It's more 00:06:31.610 --> 00:06:35.470 trucks than your truck. No, that's not true. 00:06:36.490 --> 00:06:41.629 Dude, I had to go to Shaw's today for a little 00:06:41.629 --> 00:06:45.029 work run, and I was so blown away. So we talked 00:06:45.029 --> 00:06:47.129 about this before on the show. Sorry, we're going 00:06:47.129 --> 00:06:49.069 to extend the banter a little bit. We talked 00:06:49.069 --> 00:06:50.870 about this a little bit on the show, how it's 00:06:50.870 --> 00:06:53.870 like, yeah, we celebrate Halloween at the start 00:06:53.870 --> 00:06:57.089 of September, which I think is fully reasonable. 00:06:57.829 --> 00:07:01.149 It is July 9th while we're recording this. They 00:07:01.149 --> 00:07:03.689 were putting Halloween stuff out at Shaw's. Yeah, 00:07:03.730 --> 00:07:06.829 it's the next major holiday. So like July 4th 00:07:06.829 --> 00:07:09.689 happens and we're in July. It's like, oh yeah, 00:07:09.750 --> 00:07:11.410 it's already Halloween. Get your costumes, get 00:07:11.410 --> 00:07:13.269 ready. Spirit Halloween's open everywhere. They've 00:07:13.269 --> 00:07:16.730 been studying it. The sooner they put holiday 00:07:16.730 --> 00:07:18.550 stuff in there, the more they sell. You know 00:07:18.550 --> 00:07:21.050 what I mean? It's crazy. They're not going to 00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:22.930 sell a single, well, I mean, they'll sell single 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:26.899 things, but they're not going to sell. nearly 00:07:26.899 --> 00:07:28.819 as much halloween stuff the day after halloween 00:07:28.819 --> 00:07:30.459 that's where it drops off that's where it dies 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.180 so if they start immediately after fourth of 00:07:33.180 --> 00:07:35.199 july they have the whole run -up to halloween 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:37.519 to sell halloween stuff it's crazy it's the only 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:39.819 one yeah and as far as i'm concerned any time 00:07:39.819 --> 00:07:42.699 of the year is a perfect time for spooky wookiee 00:07:42.699 --> 00:07:45.240 i'm not you know what i won't i won't disagree 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:47.680 with that i actually love like like summertime 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.360 is where i really get into my horror podcast 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.600 you know what you know what i agree i agree god 00:07:52.600 --> 00:07:58.329 bless capitalism Speaking of horror and scary 00:07:58.329 --> 00:08:01.589 stuff, pretty scary last episode at the end there. 00:08:01.730 --> 00:08:03.810 I think that was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed 00:08:03.810 --> 00:08:05.949 throwing you in the sort of truth -telling eye 00:08:05.949 --> 00:08:09.290 -to -eye situation. I mean, I would have come 00:08:09.290 --> 00:08:12.490 at you so nasty and hard, Salome. You know, you're 00:08:12.490 --> 00:08:14.189 a third character. It's okay to get real mean 00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:16.589 with you. Yeah, exactly. It's like a challenge 00:08:16.589 --> 00:08:18.069 now. See how many characters Steven can make 00:08:18.069 --> 00:08:19.230 and how he's going to make the next one even 00:08:19.230 --> 00:08:22.149 tankier and harder to kill. I think my legs are 00:08:22.149 --> 00:08:26.930 still shaking. I was so ready, but you were clever. 00:08:27.449 --> 00:08:31.870 I mean, you were clever. And now we have a whole 00:08:31.870 --> 00:08:33.610 other plotline happening there, but I think it's 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:36.230 time. We spent some time out there on the Seydel. 00:08:36.269 --> 00:08:40.990 I think it's time we moved back to Unido. Let's 00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:44.029 rewind our clocks a touch. While Dresden and 00:08:44.029 --> 00:08:45.730 Salma fight to protect the cherry delights on 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:49.049 the radiant Seydel, on Unido, on the world of 00:08:49.049 --> 00:08:50.730 Hallery and the city of Unido, I should say, 00:08:50.909 --> 00:08:56.169 Jules and Blanche are... Now I need to set the 00:08:56.169 --> 00:08:58.009 scene here, but I'm going to need a little help. 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:00.669 I'm going to need Stephen's help. Because in 00:09:00.669 --> 00:09:02.309 order to solve the mystery our heroes have been 00:09:02.309 --> 00:09:05.169 entwined in, I want to utilize a trope much favored 00:09:05.169 --> 00:09:07.850 by the troubled genius detective genre of television. 00:09:08.629 --> 00:09:12.309 One known as the Mind Palace. The method of loci, 00:09:12.429 --> 00:09:15.309 as it used to be known, actually. Basically, 00:09:15.850 --> 00:09:17.830 this is a means for the very intelligent, very 00:09:17.830 --> 00:09:20.639 disciplined Blanche Trudeau. to compile and consider 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.139 her clues and her memories in some kind of metaphysical 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:25.440 manifestation of her mind. Kind of helps to, 00:09:25.480 --> 00:09:29.820 you know, view information as objects or something, 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:33.779 anything. We can get crazy with this shit. Let 00:09:33.779 --> 00:09:36.419 me ask you, Blanche, what does your mind palace 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:40.820 look like? That smile scares me. Oh, no, you 00:09:40.820 --> 00:09:44.220 shouldn't be scared. No, no. Okay. You have high 00:09:44.220 --> 00:09:45.419 intelligence. This makes sense, right? I think 00:09:45.419 --> 00:09:47.019 it's a cool way of being like, you have high 00:09:47.019 --> 00:09:49.039 int, and you guys don't have the memory of your 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:51.980 character. Is this what smart people do? I don't 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:54.039 know. I'm not smart. I know. This is a foreign 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:55.820 concept to me. Well, no, it's not a foreign concept. 00:09:55.940 --> 00:09:59.100 I know about the concept of mind palaces. I just 00:09:59.100 --> 00:10:00.600 don't have one. Stephen Moffat would have done 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:04.940 this, and he's a writer of some kind of quality. 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:06.919 Do you want to see Blanche's mind palace? Let 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:10.970 me see the palace! So, when Blanche... enters 00:10:10.970 --> 00:10:13.309 her mind palace, at least in her mind. I don't 00:10:13.309 --> 00:10:16.509 think she physically does this, but she pulls 00:10:16.509 --> 00:10:20.750 her head into her shell. What? And when she opens 00:10:20.750 --> 00:10:28.309 her eyes, she's in a library, but it's a circular 00:10:28.309 --> 00:10:33.129 library, and there are many, many levels and 00:10:33.129 --> 00:10:39.899 layers, so she can lean over this wooden... That's 00:10:39.899 --> 00:10:42.340 curved all the way around. And she looks up and 00:10:42.340 --> 00:10:44.179 she sees levels, levels, levels, levels, levels, 00:10:44.220 --> 00:10:46.320 levels, levels. And she looks down and she sees 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:48.059 levels, levels, levels, levels, levels, levels, 00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:50.279 levels. Just vanishing into like darkness either 00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:52.960 way? Well, I think darkness below. I think those 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:57.240 are the like deeper, older memories. And brightness 00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:58.980 above. I think those are the memories that are 00:10:58.980 --> 00:11:01.120 at the top of her mind. The really fresh stuff. 00:11:01.620 --> 00:11:05.759 That's so cool. And as she travels through this 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:09.669 library. There are little vignettes that will 00:11:09.669 --> 00:11:13.090 help her remember where she has these books that 00:11:13.090 --> 00:11:19.090 contain her memories. You know, there's a decanter 00:11:19.090 --> 00:11:25.429 with scotch over here on a sturdy wooden table 00:11:25.429 --> 00:11:29.929 with a purple seat next to it. She goes a little 00:11:29.929 --> 00:11:32.149 further. She goes to another level, and there's 00:11:32.149 --> 00:11:36.519 a go board. Situated between two chairs. It's 00:11:36.519 --> 00:11:39.419 all the old strategies. Yeah, just the things 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:45.500 that she likes to use to relax. There's going 00:11:45.500 --> 00:11:51.840 to be a display of her old sword. Maybe now Ichigenka 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:55.519 has its own spot. In her mind palace. Over there 00:11:55.519 --> 00:11:57.500 is where you keep all your oceanic terms for 00:11:57.500 --> 00:12:00.019 moves. Like a thousand of them. A bunch of unused. 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:02.539 Yeah. Like, oh, that sounds cool. Put it away. 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:04.960 Slap it in a bucket. Throw it on a shelf. That 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:09.620 book's right on top, man. See, cucumbers lament. 00:12:10.100 --> 00:12:16.059 Oh, God. What's that going to look like? That's 00:12:16.059 --> 00:12:19.919 a bedroom move. Anyway. Stay out of that memory. 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:28.120 Put that back on the shelf. Blanche, you stand 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.840 within your mind palace, looking down, you know, 00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:34.299 reach the baluster, you're looking down, down, 00:12:34.299 --> 00:12:37.340 down deep, looking back up towards the top, scanning 00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:40.279 this room full of books, full of memories, full 00:12:40.279 --> 00:12:44.120 of clues. Because you know you have one last 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:48.230 chance. Sholay has. said in the morning she will 00:12:48.230 --> 00:12:50.590 ask you to leave and if you get through that 00:12:50.590 --> 00:12:52.710 if that's something you can bypass even if you 00:12:52.710 --> 00:12:55.490 can stay people are dying and it seems like it's 00:12:55.490 --> 00:12:58.750 getting worse and worse you have to figure this 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:04.509 out tonight if possible you're looking down there 00:13:05.470 --> 00:13:07.889 And I imagine something happens here. I think 00:13:07.889 --> 00:13:10.830 Blanche, you are so regimented, so disciplined 00:13:10.830 --> 00:13:12.950 that like you probably remember being here in 00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:14.509 your dreams before. Like you taught yourself 00:13:14.509 --> 00:13:16.750 to just wander through this place in your dreams 00:13:16.750 --> 00:13:19.730 to like study, to learn, to wake up with new 00:13:19.730 --> 00:13:21.889 epiphanies, new knowledge, where you like study 00:13:21.889 --> 00:13:23.789 spells and that you've already kind of like looked 00:13:23.789 --> 00:13:25.730 over before. Exactly. Yeah, that's that was. 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:27.679 Part of what I was thinking was she would, you 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:30.600 know, once she has read a spell, you know, she 00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:33.139 can remember sort of what she's reading. But 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:35.740 it's like, you know, you have to really study 00:13:35.740 --> 00:13:39.299 it and understand it to like grok it. You know 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:41.019 what I mean? So you prepare spells? So she can 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:45.200 do this in her mind palace. That's so cool. But 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:47.960 all these times, all this time you've been here, 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:51.659 every night you've been here, you've always been 00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:58.049 alone in your mind. as one should be. And yet 00:13:58.049 --> 00:14:01.570 for the first time, you feel a presence suddenly 00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:06.289 behind you. You spin to see a golden, shimmering 00:14:06.289 --> 00:14:12.009 light appear. Oh, cool. As Jules LaRoche, who 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:16.070 found himself in his own dreams, perhaps floating 00:14:16.070 --> 00:14:19.610 on the notes of a song in your mind, in your 00:14:19.610 --> 00:14:24.129 heart, something building, you appear here. In 00:14:24.129 --> 00:14:26.450 this place. Very suddenly, Jules, like you were 00:14:26.450 --> 00:14:30.669 pulled, like you connected to something. And 00:14:30.669 --> 00:14:33.970 you're not sure why at first, where you are at 00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:37.250 first, but it feels like more than a dream. It 00:14:37.250 --> 00:14:41.970 feels so much more real. And you see Blanche 00:14:41.970 --> 00:14:45.529 before you. You see a place made for Blanche. 00:14:46.370 --> 00:14:48.029 And perhaps you would come to the realization 00:14:48.029 --> 00:14:50.070 that you have in some way, you could feel it, 00:14:50.090 --> 00:14:53.980 in some way connected your minds. And in truth, 00:14:54.059 --> 00:14:58.759 this power of connection you have that has shown 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:01.740 itself so many times, it has brought you into 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:08.179 Blanche's own dream. Into her mind palace. Uh... 00:15:08.179 --> 00:15:14.659 Hey, Blanche. Blanche is quizzically looking 00:15:14.659 --> 00:15:19.259 at Jewel. She has her chin rested in her hand. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.460 She's studying him. Top to bottom, she thinks 00:15:22.460 --> 00:15:26.639 out loud. Now that's peculiar. Why did I imagine 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:31.360 Jules LaRoche here? You notice as you're thinking 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.600 this, as you're saying this, there's a golden 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.379 moat, a band, around Jules. Very similar to when 00:15:37.379 --> 00:15:40.539 he used his bardic inspiration. Because as you 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:42.259 look down, you see that same moat is surrounding 00:15:42.259 --> 00:15:44.279 you. There's almost a line of connection between 00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:48.399 the two of you. I don't think you're imagining 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:54.029 me. She's still quizzically walking a circle 00:15:54.029 --> 00:15:58.409 around Jules, just looking him over. Very peculiar. 00:15:59.110 --> 00:16:02.990 Yeah, you're telling me. So you say you're the 00:16:02.990 --> 00:16:08.409 real Jules LaRoche? Yeah. I don't know how the 00:16:08.409 --> 00:16:12.789 fuck I got here, but here we are. Let's pretend 00:16:12.789 --> 00:16:18.820 you are, Jules. Sure. What are you doing here? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:24.159 You tell me. I don't know. I was just off having 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.340 my own wonderful dreams, and then suddenly I'm 00:16:26.340 --> 00:16:29.259 transported here. Blanche reaches out and tries 00:16:29.259 --> 00:16:32.600 to, like, touch the golden connection sort of 00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:36.019 thing. I think... Oh. Do you want to go somewhere 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:38.519 with that? Yeah, I'll touch your golden connection. 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:44.879 Yeah. You touch that connection, and a book appears. 00:16:46.899 --> 00:16:49.620 Shimmering golden light drops at your foot. A 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:53.559 book just like any other in this place. You want 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.919 to pick it up? Oh, yes. Sorry. Yes. Blanche is 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:00.820 definitely going to pick up the book as she's 00:17:00.820 --> 00:17:04.380 like out of the corner of her eye watching Jules. 00:17:04.619 --> 00:17:08.160 I'm not going anywhere. Stay right there, boy. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.039 Sure. She picks the book up. You flip the book 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.619 open, and I think as you open the pages, I like 00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:14.700 to imagine you open the pages and they start, 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:17.619 like, almost, like, moving very quickly. Like, 00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:19.359 there's images drawn on the pages and almost 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:21.279 like those old sketch, you know, kind of flipping. 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:22.779 Oh, shit, that's cool. It's creating actual, 00:17:22.859 --> 00:17:24.359 like, memory. I love that. That, like, as you're 00:17:24.359 --> 00:17:25.920 looking down on it in jewels, you see this, too. 00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:29.099 It begins to gain color and clarity, and it's 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:32.599 fascinating, Blanche, because you immediately 00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:37.500 know this is not your memory. Oh. Oh. You are. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:40.529 Oh, damn, this is so cool. Holy shit. You are 00:17:40.529 --> 00:17:42.869 looking up at Sholay in the very room you're 00:17:42.869 --> 00:17:46.130 sleeping in now. But you are looking up through 00:17:46.130 --> 00:17:50.329 the eyes of Jules as Sholay says, Learn of the 00:17:50.329 --> 00:17:54.589 Gwishin. Find the lie they are telling. The Dragon 00:17:54.589 --> 00:17:59.289 Clan's lie. And then, only then can you know 00:17:59.289 --> 00:18:03.609 the lie behind the lie. And you will know what 00:18:03.609 --> 00:18:09.460 I have done. The book closes. Blanche holds the 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:13.259 book in both hands, and her expression is different 00:18:13.259 --> 00:18:18.140 now. I don't know how this is happening, Jules, 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:22.880 but... Well, by all the gods, we'd better take 00:18:22.880 --> 00:18:28.559 advantage. Come to my Ionido shelf. It's up just 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.799 a few levels by the go boards. Oh, it's amazing. 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:35.980 It's so cool. I love this. It's so cool. I lead 00:18:35.980 --> 00:18:40.420 the way. I didn't know how you were going to 00:18:40.420 --> 00:18:44.500 prove to Blanche that this was real. And I was 00:18:44.500 --> 00:18:46.480 just like, I'm going to kick this along for a 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.839 minute and see what comes of it. And then I was 00:18:48.839 --> 00:18:51.519 just going to play along. But that was awesome. 00:18:51.859 --> 00:18:54.759 Do I get a button? Take a button. I already have 00:18:54.759 --> 00:18:56.440 one. No, don't give me two. You'll both die. 00:18:56.740 --> 00:18:59.740 You'll both die. I just like to say it sometimes. 00:19:00.140 --> 00:19:02.380 It feels really cool, right? It feels really 00:19:02.380 --> 00:19:04.819 cool. It's so much power. Yeah, a lot of power 00:19:04.819 --> 00:19:08.369 in just a couple words. Yeah. And so with these 00:19:08.369 --> 00:19:10.109 words of Shelley's in your mind, you begin to 00:19:10.109 --> 00:19:13.950 move up, up the sort of curling stairs towards 00:19:13.950 --> 00:19:16.910 the go board that marks off the guineado section. 00:19:17.390 --> 00:19:20.069 All your new recent memories, you must go pretty 00:19:20.069 --> 00:19:21.910 high up into the light where things are just 00:19:21.910 --> 00:19:27.049 so bright here. And as you move, Blanche, you 00:19:27.049 --> 00:19:31.619 think there is a contradiction before you. And 00:19:31.619 --> 00:19:33.259 you know that is the first step. It has to be 00:19:33.259 --> 00:19:35.720 your first step. This isn't like the last mystery 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.380 you both solved. In that case, the impossibility 00:19:38.380 --> 00:19:40.680 of events led you to find the one path that connects 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:43.339 all the dots. You realize that there was only 00:19:43.339 --> 00:19:45.099 one person that could have committed the crime. 00:19:45.799 --> 00:19:48.019 But here, the dots just don't line up at all. 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:50.579 They just contradict each other, as if half your 00:19:50.579 --> 00:19:53.720 evidence is built on falsehoods. But why could 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:57.140 that be? Could that in itself be evidence? What 00:19:57.140 --> 00:19:59.930 do you know now? You know, the foe that threatens 00:19:59.930 --> 00:20:03.329 this city is an extremely powerful Gwishin. This 00:20:03.329 --> 00:20:04.950 Gwishin seems to be connected to three main points 00:20:04.950 --> 00:20:06.630 of interest. The Tiger District construction 00:20:06.630 --> 00:20:09.210 zone, the Park of the Elders, which was built 00:20:09.210 --> 00:20:10.690 on the burned and destroyed remains of the Phoenix 00:20:10.690 --> 00:20:12.950 District, and the Seat of Dragons, where the 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:15.789 ruling Dragon Clan resides. The main gates of 00:20:15.789 --> 00:20:17.210 the city were attacked once, but strangely they 00:20:17.210 --> 00:20:19.410 don't seem to be a point of major interest for 00:20:19.410 --> 00:20:22.029 the monster, just one time attacked, never again. 00:20:22.710 --> 00:20:25.170 Through these three points, these three primary 00:20:25.170 --> 00:20:28.650 points, you know what the Gwishin must be? Daewon 00:20:28.650 --> 00:20:30.869 Ha, who was killed in the Phoenix District by 00:20:30.869 --> 00:20:33.329 Baraki, buried in secret by the Tiger District, 00:20:33.549 --> 00:20:36.970 and who would hold a vendetta against the Dragon 00:20:36.970 --> 00:20:39.710 Clan. A perfect explanation, right? A mystery 00:20:39.710 --> 00:20:43.289 solved. Except for the words apparently spoken 00:20:43.289 --> 00:20:45.869 by the Gwishn itself, written in your notebook. 00:20:47.130 --> 00:20:50.609 I was a hero, celebrated and loved. You forgot 00:20:50.609 --> 00:20:53.529 me. I did it all for fame. I sacrificed all to 00:20:53.529 --> 00:20:56.980 be remembered. You forgot me. I was a luminary, 00:20:57.119 --> 00:21:00.000 the best and brightest of them all. You forgot 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:05.440 me. Daewon Ha was not a luminary. So what can 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:08.480 explain it? What is causing this contradiction? 00:21:09.740 --> 00:21:12.160 As you move to the Nido shelf, as you're digging 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:15.640 this through, I imagine this connection between 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:20.960 you and Jules. Something happens. You're inside 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:24.000 your mind, and your mind knows things. Your mind... 00:21:24.430 --> 00:21:26.349 remembers things that you're the surface of yourself 00:21:26.349 --> 00:21:30.809 cannot recall right and yet you see just like 00:21:30.809 --> 00:21:32.670 bardic inspiration just like almost like i mentioned 00:21:32.670 --> 00:21:34.970 julius is your loot on with you as well in this 00:21:34.970 --> 00:21:37.329 place yeah uh i think he's fully equipped in 00:21:37.329 --> 00:21:40.589 in hell yeah dream state except why are you in 00:21:40.589 --> 00:21:43.289 your underpants jules i just thought i'm fully 00:21:43.289 --> 00:21:48.509 equipped yeah i can tell i don't want to go to 00:21:48.509 --> 00:21:59.059 that section Your loot lights up and beams of 00:21:59.059 --> 00:22:02.440 light shoot off into one of the sections behind 00:22:02.440 --> 00:22:05.259 the gold board, hitting a few different books 00:22:05.259 --> 00:22:09.519 that then begin to glow that same golden light. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:15.059 Do you want to approach these books? Yeah. Blanche 00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:19.779 walks over and, and reaches up and sort of as 00:22:19.779 --> 00:22:22.500 like a, I don't know, an allegory to what we're 00:22:22.500 --> 00:22:26.099 doing. She looks down at the go board and there's 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:29.220 a particularly difficult exercise set up. You 00:22:29.220 --> 00:22:31.299 know, like in chess, there are like famous chess 00:22:31.299 --> 00:22:34.660 moves and players will like study them and they'll 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:37.299 go back through and they'll run like experiments 00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:40.079 and stuff. She's got something like that set 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:45.160 up on the go board. A difficult puzzle and we're 00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:48.660 here to try to solve it. Hell yeah. I love it. 00:22:49.869 --> 00:22:52.250 What explains the contradiction, your first question, 00:22:52.309 --> 00:22:55.490 your first hurdle? You reach out for the books. 00:22:56.289 --> 00:22:59.970 You grab the first one and slide it open. And 00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:03.630 you hear the words of Kun Anjun as he was speaking 00:23:03.630 --> 00:23:06.890 of Baraki. Question, is Jules hearing all this 00:23:06.890 --> 00:23:09.690 as well? Absolutely. Both of you are fully aware 00:23:09.690 --> 00:23:11.529 of everything at this point. You're fully connected 00:23:11.529 --> 00:23:16.650 in this dreamscape. Maybe he wasn't killed, just 00:23:16.650 --> 00:23:18.930 repelled? I mean, the official story says he 00:23:18.930 --> 00:23:21.779 was killed. I don't remember seeing a body. I 00:23:21.779 --> 00:23:23.920 don't remember the events at all, to be honest. 00:23:23.980 --> 00:23:27.960 It's all oddly hazy. You grab the next book. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:32.619 Young Gee's line. I do not know why I did this 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:35.680 thing. I always thought I saw an honorable man. 00:23:36.579 --> 00:23:41.220 And yet... You grab the next book. You hear your 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:43.980 own voice, Blanche, asking the question, why 00:23:43.980 --> 00:23:47.599 did you make the burial site so large? And you 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:51.609 see an image. There's the pages of Young Gi blinking, 00:23:51.930 --> 00:23:54.829 eyes sort of confused and hazy and just saying, 00:23:54.970 --> 00:24:01.250 What do you mean? You grab the last book, again 00:24:01.250 --> 00:24:05.630 seeing Young Gi. I don't know. I remember so 00:24:05.630 --> 00:24:10.630 little. I can't even remember her face. You would 00:24:10.630 --> 00:24:12.170 think you'd remember the face of the woman you 00:24:12.170 --> 00:24:17.089 were raised. But I do not. Did you mean to say 00:24:17.089 --> 00:24:20.640 you were raised by? What is it? Erased. Oh, you 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:24.480 erased. I thought you said you were raised. No, 00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:28.759 sorry, you erased a line about Daewon Han, who 00:24:28.759 --> 00:24:32.019 he was the one that erased her from history, 00:24:32.180 --> 00:24:36.640 that buried her without honor. And yet you look 00:24:36.640 --> 00:24:38.299 at these lines and you realize something was 00:24:38.299 --> 00:24:42.420 wrong in both these statements. Kun Onjun and 00:24:42.420 --> 00:24:47.519 Young Gi, why would this traumatic event? be 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.019 so hazy for them? Why would their memories be 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:57.500 off? I mean, I'm thinking about, obviously, we 00:24:57.500 --> 00:25:01.579 at least think that Sholay did something to erase 00:25:01.579 --> 00:25:05.460 memories of her husband. You were thinking about 00:25:05.460 --> 00:25:08.240 that? That's what Stephen is thinking about. 00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:14.279 Jules, your loot lights up. It shoots down the 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:16.759 floor a ways. Oh, God. A couple of books on different... 00:25:17.069 --> 00:25:22.990 Floors actually light up now. Huh. Well, it looks 00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:25.529 like we've got a lot of work to do. Just follow 00:25:25.529 --> 00:25:29.890 the trail. And they head down to... Follow the 00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:32.869 logic trail. The next one. You slide down. You 00:25:32.869 --> 00:25:34.630 have to go down. You move down a ways. You see 00:25:34.630 --> 00:25:39.529 a book. What is the marker for Sansatian for 00:25:39.529 --> 00:25:45.309 your adventure there? Oh, gosh. Holy shit. There's 00:25:45.309 --> 00:25:53.430 a display. With a vintage, antique -looking Lucha 00:25:53.430 --> 00:25:59.269 Libre mask. Oh, that's cool. That's cool. You 00:25:59.269 --> 00:26:03.250 move in, grab a book, and you see yourself looking 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:05.190 down at the recording diamond, looking down at 00:26:05.190 --> 00:26:07.589 what you were recording off of Itzman's own files. 00:26:08.109 --> 00:26:10.670 And you see at the bottom of the file, very hastily 00:26:10.670 --> 00:26:13.029 scrawn, a note as if he was writing it down very 00:26:13.029 --> 00:26:16.859 quickly before it fled from his mind. My mind 00:26:16.859 --> 00:26:20.440 is razor sharp, my memory perfection, yet I cannot 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:22.740 recall a single detail about Calapsania's former 00:26:22.740 --> 00:26:27.859 mate, father to Zebulon. A curse? An impossibility. 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:32.480 What did Sholay do? Okay, yeah, so that's one 00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:36.880 of the reasons why we... Okay. There's just a 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:38.539 couple shelves up ahead you see another book 00:26:38.539 --> 00:26:41.460 is glowing from this angle. She'll reach up to 00:26:41.460 --> 00:26:46.289 grab it. Once again, you hear yourself. Speaking 00:26:46.289 --> 00:26:50.450 a question. Speaking it, the Bastite came and 00:26:50.450 --> 00:26:54.150 donned Incarnate. What do you know about Calypsania's 00:26:54.150 --> 00:26:58.289 mate? You remember this feeling of all the gravity, 00:26:58.329 --> 00:27:01.170 all the power pulling away from this creature 00:27:01.170 --> 00:27:04.269 as if it was shrinking within itself. As if it 00:27:04.269 --> 00:27:08.150 was absolutely horrified. But what does an immortal 00:27:08.150 --> 00:27:11.829 creature like an Incarnate have to fear? What 00:27:11.829 --> 00:27:16.160 did it know and why did it know it? Yeah, I remember 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:22.160 him, like, screaming. So now, harebrained idea. 00:27:22.839 --> 00:27:27.299 Sure. Blanche is kind of wondering, like, is 00:27:27.299 --> 00:27:31.680 there even a dragon called Baraki? Is that a 00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:34.819 false memory, too? That's very interesting, Steven. 00:27:35.640 --> 00:27:39.900 How much can you trust when memory itself can't 00:27:39.900 --> 00:27:42.799 be trusted? And you know what? As you say that... 00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:45.480 I'll say in this case a book falls down before 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:49.559 you, hitting the ground with a thud very loudly. 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:52.900 A book that seems to fall from the Sansation 00:27:52.900 --> 00:27:56.180 shelf higher up. Must not be very important. 00:27:56.460 --> 00:28:01.799 I guess I'll go on to the next one. Jules kicks 00:28:01.799 --> 00:28:06.720 it off the ledge. Sorry, sometimes they just 00:28:06.720 --> 00:28:09.160 fall off the shelves. I don't know why. Flies 00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:10.920 on the edge of the head. 20 points of damage! 00:28:12.430 --> 00:28:15.490 We've got a book concussion. No, no, no. Blanche 00:28:15.490 --> 00:28:19.170 isn't going to pick up the book. Youngie again. 00:28:20.470 --> 00:28:22.970 I wonder sometimes if nobody should hold this 00:28:22.970 --> 00:28:26.690 kind of power. The power to change history. To 00:28:26.690 --> 00:28:28.789 make a fool of everyone who believes in the truth 00:28:28.789 --> 00:28:31.390 of words past. To change all but the material 00:28:31.390 --> 00:28:33.990 evidence of an act and bury even that in lies. 00:28:34.430 --> 00:28:37.130 And in time, the liars will make God and falsehoods 00:28:37.130 --> 00:28:39.839 will become truth. History changed in every meaningful 00:28:39.839 --> 00:28:42.519 way. And the very idea of truth itself proved 00:28:42.519 --> 00:28:45.480 to be meaningless. Can you conceive of a power 00:28:45.480 --> 00:28:52.539 more vile than this? The power to change memory. 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:57.599 So is this, is this like, cause the, the crystals 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:00.740 have this weird sort of unexplained power that 00:29:00.740 --> 00:29:03.460 it's been Del Prado, like discovered and tapped 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:07.059 into. Did like show lay discover and tap into 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:11.210 some, Power that this world, like the diamond 00:29:11.210 --> 00:29:14.569 or whatever. And she's rewriting. And she's rewriting. 00:29:14.730 --> 00:29:17.069 All of history. Literally history and memories. 00:29:17.269 --> 00:29:19.369 Yeah. I like this. That was where my brain was 00:29:19.369 --> 00:29:23.250 going. You think of that. I'm not going to make 00:29:23.250 --> 00:29:24.910 you find a book on this one. I think this is 00:29:24.910 --> 00:29:28.609 very interesting. As you think about this, as 00:29:28.609 --> 00:29:30.390 you think about the auroral diamond and the power 00:29:30.390 --> 00:29:33.569 it has, the power to connect these worlds and 00:29:33.569 --> 00:29:36.319 the power to. transmit these messages you can 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:38.400 see like what is the crystal network really what 00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:43.519 is this ability you think about it when you look 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:45.859 at an image the crystal network you don't hear 00:29:45.859 --> 00:29:49.259 it until you're actually perceiving it until 00:29:49.259 --> 00:29:50.799 you're really looking at it what does that mean 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:52.640 you've never said that before that's right there 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:55.079 are no sound waves coming from images projected 00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:59.599 are the images projected even really there where 00:29:59.599 --> 00:30:02.039 where are you seeing them and where are you hearing 00:30:02.039 --> 00:30:05.380 them In your mind? Jesus Christ. And what does 00:30:05.380 --> 00:30:09.859 that mean? Taking a step further. The incarnates 00:30:09.859 --> 00:30:13.700 were terrified when you brought up this thing. 00:30:13.779 --> 00:30:17.059 Why would they be scared? Because Sholay's behind 00:30:17.059 --> 00:30:21.059 the controls. And if she did this, if she was 00:30:21.059 --> 00:30:23.000 to use the diamond's power, wouldn't she need 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:28.259 help to do something this grand, this powerful, 00:30:28.339 --> 00:30:32.759 this terrifying? Yeah, but who? I mean, like, 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:37.079 besides, like, the Sunweaver? Or the Incarnates 00:30:37.079 --> 00:30:40.240 themselves. Okay, so then did that Incarnate 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:43.359 freak out because it's ashamed of itself? What 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:46.640 it did? Maybe. Did it, like, surrender a bunch 00:30:46.640 --> 00:30:49.039 of power to Sholay? Is she holding him hostage? 00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:54.319 Think forward from this. What would happen if 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:58.580 it was revealed that this power existed? That 00:30:58.580 --> 00:31:01.640 memory itself can be changed by Sholay and by 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:05.160 the Incarnates. When their goal is simply to 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:08.680 create peace, that goal would be shattered in 00:31:08.680 --> 00:31:11.240 a heartbeat, wouldn't it? Wouldn't the people 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:14.200 be terrified? Well, but also, like, if Sholay 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:18.519 can do this, and she's been chilling here for, 00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:22.200 you said, 250 years, why hasn't she done whatever 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:25.099 she wants to do yet? That's a good question. 00:31:25.889 --> 00:31:28.849 To take the question at a different angle, if 00:31:28.849 --> 00:31:31.930 she's not willing to use this power, what would 00:31:31.930 --> 00:31:35.049 have caused her to break that sort of oath, to 00:31:35.049 --> 00:31:38.410 break that stubborn idealism? Why would she use 00:31:38.410 --> 00:31:40.730 it if she wasn't going to use it all out, right? 00:31:40.990 --> 00:31:42.829 Because she would have accomplished her goals. 00:31:42.930 --> 00:31:44.609 You're right. She could have rewritten everything 00:31:44.609 --> 00:31:47.009 to be perfect, but she didn't. She only seemed 00:31:47.009 --> 00:31:50.809 to use it in a few rare cases to erase a person, 00:31:50.849 --> 00:31:52.250 a person that you're starting to remember in 00:31:52.250 --> 00:31:54.250 this moment, this connection with you and Jules. 00:31:54.809 --> 00:31:56.170 You don't remember the person itself, but you 00:31:56.170 --> 00:31:57.769 remember remembering them, if that makes sense. 00:31:57.849 --> 00:32:05.250 Oh, oh, oh, okay. So, like, so Baraki is, I guess, 00:32:05.250 --> 00:32:11.230 maybe Sholay, and Daewon Ha is Zebulon? Like, 00:32:11.230 --> 00:32:13.329 was he going to squawk? Did he figure it out? 00:32:13.369 --> 00:32:15.049 Was he going to say something, or did he say 00:32:15.049 --> 00:32:18.150 something? Zebulon, the elder? The elder. Or 00:32:18.150 --> 00:32:21.589 are you thinking of their son? Oh, I get, right. 00:32:22.890 --> 00:32:24.430 The one that you don't remember, you would know 00:32:24.430 --> 00:32:25.589 in this moment, the person you can't remember 00:32:25.589 --> 00:32:29.750 is Shoei's son. Whose name you actually don't 00:32:29.750 --> 00:32:33.130 know. Right, Zebulon's father, yes. That is, 00:32:33.130 --> 00:32:37.509 as you say that line, as you think this through. 00:32:37.609 --> 00:32:39.609 Oh, she killed her son. As you think this through, 00:32:39.750 --> 00:32:45.450 more books light up in the Yanito section. Yeah, 00:32:45.529 --> 00:32:47.450 at this point, I don't even think that there's 00:32:47.450 --> 00:32:50.289 any commentary. I don't think they're speaking 00:32:50.289 --> 00:32:53.400 right now. I think it's... You both on the track? 00:32:53.579 --> 00:32:57.559 It's noses and books. Holy shit. Hearts pounding. 00:32:57.559 --> 00:32:59.819 You're starting to realize this is so much bigger 00:32:59.819 --> 00:33:02.119 than you thought. I'm imagining that a version 00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:06.980 of what we're talking through is what Blanche 00:33:06.980 --> 00:33:09.359 and Jules are saying to each other. You know, 00:33:09.380 --> 00:33:11.119 I'm thinking this is probably taking place over, 00:33:11.220 --> 00:33:13.740 I don't know how long of a time period, hours 00:33:13.740 --> 00:33:15.680 maybe. I don't know how time works in a mind 00:33:15.680 --> 00:33:19.789 palace, in dreams, whatever. I don't think we 00:33:19.789 --> 00:33:21.190 have enough time to go through all the conversation 00:33:21.190 --> 00:33:23.829 they're having. Hell yeah. No, I love it. It's 00:33:23.829 --> 00:33:26.890 just a study thing. You move back up, I imagine, 00:33:26.910 --> 00:33:29.150 to look at these last few books. Yeah, absolutely. 00:33:31.410 --> 00:33:34.650 Kunon June again. That's the part I don't get. 00:33:34.769 --> 00:33:37.329 It's the body. I can't find any record of the 00:33:37.329 --> 00:33:39.789 body's disposal or collection. An adult dragon's 00:33:39.789 --> 00:33:41.890 body inside can be displaced or easily hidden. 00:33:42.269 --> 00:33:47.089 So what happened to Baraki? The next book. One 00:33:47.089 --> 00:33:49.970 coffin. A large coffin. Not dragon large, but 00:33:49.970 --> 00:33:52.650 large by humanoid standards. Ten by six? Anyways, 00:33:52.710 --> 00:33:54.789 this coffin was particularly expensive and fully 00:33:54.789 --> 00:33:56.849 paid for by an outside party, one unnamed in 00:33:56.849 --> 00:33:59.109 record. There's a burial cost written off, too, 00:33:59.150 --> 00:34:00.789 and the receipt mentioned a vague location of 00:34:00.789 --> 00:34:02.710 a single burial plot somewhere outside the northern 00:34:02.710 --> 00:34:04.970 gate of the city near the new construction of 00:34:04.970 --> 00:34:09.769 the Tiger District. You see, uh, no words from 00:34:09.769 --> 00:34:12.579 this one, but just... A memory of yourself, Blanche, 00:34:12.659 --> 00:34:14.679 finding this burial site, seeing your innate 00:34:14.679 --> 00:34:17.280 dark metal coffin, opening the lid, and you can't 00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:20.099 remember seeing what was inside. Even now, you 00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:22.019 look around this book, and you're about to see 00:34:22.019 --> 00:34:23.800 it, and all of a sudden, almost like this magical 00:34:23.800 --> 00:34:26.980 darkness covers over the page before you, just 00:34:26.980 --> 00:34:29.699 like the darkness down below where your memories 00:34:29.699 --> 00:34:33.000 are lost to time. That darkness swims before 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:35.480 you. Something is stopping you from seeing what's 00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:38.320 inside. It will not let you, even in your own 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:42.119 mind, view. what you saw. It's there. The memory 00:34:42.119 --> 00:34:45.500 is here. It's just locked. You open the next 00:34:45.500 --> 00:34:51.380 one and it's Dresden speaking through this stone 00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:55.800 saying, surely not there for draconic attack 00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:58.739 nine years ago. Sent package to the world following. 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:03.559 Extreme guilt. Did not take it well. Be careful. 00:35:04.659 --> 00:35:08.019 Now, what you find interesting is this implication. 00:35:08.809 --> 00:35:11.010 Sholay not there for Draconic Attack nine years 00:35:11.010 --> 00:35:14.889 ago implies that Sholay was probably there before 00:35:14.889 --> 00:35:17.710 or after it, right? You wouldn't have any reason 00:35:17.710 --> 00:35:21.590 to think she wouldn't be there. So was she there 00:35:21.590 --> 00:35:25.349 near to the attack? You know she sent a package 00:35:25.349 --> 00:35:29.449 back. And you know someone sent a coffin. A large 00:35:29.449 --> 00:35:33.409 coffin. Large enough for a half -dragon. She 00:35:33.409 --> 00:35:35.730 set that whole thing up and then dipped when 00:35:35.730 --> 00:35:38.500 it was happening. set it up or do you think it 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:41.900 was her at all to begin with what can you trust 00:35:41.900 --> 00:35:44.000 when memories are changed right because if there's 00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:46.460 no there's no record of a body anywhere yeah 00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:50.440 dragon body give me an arcana check oh cool yay 00:35:50.440 --> 00:35:53.679 dice on the nature of this magic this is a pretty 00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:56.800 important one both of us yeah you both can roll 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:03.940 it oh um 20 no more than that 22 same You're 00:36:03.940 --> 00:36:07.059 thinking about this magic, both of you. Epiphany 00:36:07.059 --> 00:36:09.099 at the same, I love that action. It's so cool. 00:36:09.199 --> 00:36:10.440 You both kind of sit in there and you probably 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:12.420 both see, both your eyes go wide. You kind of 00:36:12.420 --> 00:36:14.360 have this like moment of thinking this through. 00:36:15.139 --> 00:36:19.099 This magic, you both are magic users. And so 00:36:19.099 --> 00:36:21.099 you could probably think this through. It's similar 00:36:21.099 --> 00:36:23.800 to a, almost like a modify memory spell, right? 00:36:24.739 --> 00:36:28.860 But in this grand, grand, grand scale. But for 00:36:28.860 --> 00:36:31.400 something like this to have worked, the lie. 00:36:31.929 --> 00:36:33.429 We need to account for the physical evidence 00:36:33.429 --> 00:36:35.769 left behind by the truth, right? There was no 00:36:35.769 --> 00:36:37.670 body left behind by Baraki, but there must have 00:36:37.670 --> 00:36:40.730 been evidence left of the dragon's attack. Evidence 00:36:40.730 --> 00:36:43.030 left of the battle between Daewon Ha and the 00:36:43.030 --> 00:36:45.590 dragon. The thing was destroyed and rebuilt. 00:36:45.849 --> 00:36:48.050 This is a set fact. People seem to remember the 00:36:48.050 --> 00:36:50.150 situation behind Baraki, but they know a dragon 00:36:50.150 --> 00:36:53.090 destroyed the entire district. So what if the 00:36:53.090 --> 00:36:55.230 memory of events was only altered by replacement? 00:36:55.769 --> 00:36:59.409 An easier way to change things. There was a dragon. 00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:02.610 And there was a hero who battled that dragon. 00:37:03.489 --> 00:37:05.409 And here you are, replacing the figures in your 00:37:05.409 --> 00:37:09.150 mind. You know that the Daewon Ha people remember 00:37:09.150 --> 00:37:12.949 was not Daewon Ha. Who was Daewon Ha? Who was 00:37:12.949 --> 00:37:17.369 Daewon Ha? Daewon Ha, the woman who battled Baraki. 00:37:17.849 --> 00:37:21.190 The woman whose guishin seems to be attacking 00:37:21.190 --> 00:37:25.150 the city. And yet, the lines spoken by that guishin 00:37:25.150 --> 00:37:30.289 don't add up. Who was this person, really? You 00:37:30.289 --> 00:37:33.650 know. Don't overthink. You know. Oh, yeah. Yeah, 00:37:33.690 --> 00:37:39.329 yeah. I think Daewon Ha was Sholay's son. Zebulon's 00:37:39.329 --> 00:37:45.570 father. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. So you're replacing 00:37:45.570 --> 00:37:48.190 the figures in the event in your mind. Daewon 00:37:48.190 --> 00:37:50.090 Ha and Baraki about between two figures that 00:37:50.090 --> 00:37:52.969 burned a district of the city, stole so many 00:37:52.969 --> 00:37:55.369 lives, and set Yanido on a path towards destruction. 00:37:56.150 --> 00:37:59.630 If Daewon Ha was Sholay's son... Then there is 00:37:59.630 --> 00:38:01.489 really only one more question to answer. One 00:38:01.489 --> 00:38:03.429 you've been circling for a while now. One that 00:38:03.429 --> 00:38:07.829 makes everything fit into place. Who was the 00:38:07.829 --> 00:38:10.610 dragon that destroyed the Phoenix District? Who 00:38:10.610 --> 00:38:18.869 was Baraki? Surely. Take a button, each of you. 00:38:18.949 --> 00:38:25.730 Oh, button. Baby boy. Nice. Take a button. No 00:38:25.730 --> 00:38:31.539 more books glow. I guess we should wake up now? 00:38:32.619 --> 00:38:38.519 Yeah. You might not like how I usually do it, 00:38:38.619 --> 00:38:44.840 but... Blanche grabs Jules by the shoulder. What? 00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:47.340 The shoulders, and they both fall over off the 00:38:47.340 --> 00:38:50.940 railing down into the darkness below. Go to the 00:38:50.940 --> 00:38:57.239 traumatic childhood memories. Oh, I love it. 00:38:58.989 --> 00:39:02.889 And you wake up. Jolt awake. You basically had 00:39:02.889 --> 00:39:06.090 a dream of falling, Jules. For a moment, I think 00:39:06.090 --> 00:39:08.570 your mind is sort of blank and then it all floods 00:39:08.570 --> 00:39:11.809 back to both of you. You look towards each other. 00:39:11.829 --> 00:39:14.289 I think for a moment you see a golden, very, 00:39:14.329 --> 00:39:18.329 very faint golden light between you. Yeah, that 00:39:18.329 --> 00:39:20.630 was exactly my first thought was that Blanche 00:39:20.630 --> 00:39:23.349 looks to Jules for some sort of recognition. 00:39:23.789 --> 00:39:26.070 You know, like saying with the eyes, like, that 00:39:26.070 --> 00:39:28.090 was real, right? That wasn't an actual dream. 00:39:29.930 --> 00:39:34.730 Holy shit, gentlemen. Something I should ask 00:39:34.730 --> 00:39:38.409 before I proceed with anything else. Sending 00:39:38.409 --> 00:39:41.190 stones reset at dawn. I will say when you wake 00:39:41.190 --> 00:39:45.710 up, it is now dawn. Is Jewelstone going off? 00:39:46.349 --> 00:39:50.230 Does Dresden have anything he wants to say? I 00:39:50.230 --> 00:39:55.710 think he just, just very simply, Ariad attacked 00:39:55.710 --> 00:40:02.960 the coyote. It's over. Kids. Safe. Tristan's 00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:06.239 an asshole. It's over. Kids. Dot, dot, dot, dot. 00:40:06.260 --> 00:40:11.699 Jules is like, pissing himself. Safe. Jesus Christ, 00:40:11.820 --> 00:40:17.300 Tristan. Sorry. Sorry. No, that's it. Okay. Hell 00:40:17.300 --> 00:40:21.260 yeah. Just kids and like a 30 second pause. Safe. 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:29.289 Drum roll in the background. Hell yeah. How does 00:40:29.289 --> 00:40:32.309 Jules react? I think he trusts Dresden enough 00:40:32.309 --> 00:40:35.610 to take that and be okay with it. Hell yeah. 00:40:35.789 --> 00:40:41.030 A lot of what wasn't said is important. He didn't 00:40:41.030 --> 00:40:45.670 say come back, help me now. Jules knows what 00:40:45.670 --> 00:40:48.230 happened. He can picture it in his head. With 00:40:48.230 --> 00:40:51.389 the exception of Salome. That's going to be a 00:40:51.389 --> 00:40:56.889 little fun little surprise. Hell yes. As you 00:40:57.230 --> 00:40:58.809 Listen to this. You wake up and you just hear 00:40:58.809 --> 00:41:00.130 the whispering. You look to each other. You grab 00:41:00.130 --> 00:41:01.789 it. You hear Dresden's message as he's sending 00:41:01.789 --> 00:41:04.809 it. Do you send anything back, Jules? No. Okay. 00:41:05.309 --> 00:41:07.769 He understands. It goes through. It's like an 00:41:07.769 --> 00:41:10.570 affirmative. Yeah. Hell yeah. I mean, that's 00:41:10.570 --> 00:41:13.929 exactly why Jules left Dresden. Yeah. Because 00:41:13.929 --> 00:41:15.570 of the likelihood of something like this. Yeah. 00:41:16.070 --> 00:41:18.429 The insurance paid off. Yeah, everything's working 00:41:18.429 --> 00:41:22.250 exactly how he wanted it to. Mae thinking of 00:41:22.250 --> 00:41:24.949 the kids, her eyes scan over, look to Chester 00:41:24.949 --> 00:41:26.849 who is sleeping. I think he's sleeping kind of 00:41:26.849 --> 00:41:28.510 a little far apart from where you were, which 00:41:28.510 --> 00:41:30.150 is rare for him. He usually stays close to you, 00:41:30.190 --> 00:41:32.909 but something, it's like he moved away. But I 00:41:32.909 --> 00:41:34.590 think seeing him sleeping kind of like alone 00:41:34.590 --> 00:41:38.590 and like a little, you know, half caught. Akio 00:41:38.590 --> 00:41:41.090 just kind of like wandered over and is like sleeping 00:41:41.090 --> 00:41:43.349 on top of Chester now. Kind of like, you know, 00:41:43.369 --> 00:41:45.050 he looked lonely. So the two of them are just 00:41:45.050 --> 00:41:48.190 kind of snoring away still, fully taken by sleep. 00:41:49.219 --> 00:41:51.639 Sholay's not in the room, but you can hear talking 00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:54.760 from just outside. Some sort of whispered dialogue. 00:41:55.940 --> 00:41:58.940 Is there anything you want to do before she comes 00:41:58.940 --> 00:42:02.760 back in? I don't think so. Blanche just wants 00:42:02.760 --> 00:42:04.820 to try to listen from here. Also, I don't know 00:42:04.820 --> 00:42:07.739 that it matters too much, but we had a full rest, 00:42:07.840 --> 00:42:11.860 right? Yes, full rest. Okay, cool. Sweet. Mind 00:42:11.860 --> 00:42:16.139 Palace still counts. Before Sholay comes back 00:42:16.139 --> 00:42:20.449 in the room. Blanche casts Shadowblade. No, I'm 00:42:20.449 --> 00:42:24.590 kidding. I was like, what? Hold on, I'm not ready 00:42:24.590 --> 00:42:31.150 for that. Hold on. You hear, the conversation 00:42:31.150 --> 00:42:35.250 breaks off. Footsteps coming back. You can probably 00:42:35.250 --> 00:42:36.909 hear bits and pieces of it and it sounds like 00:42:36.909 --> 00:42:39.550 just general intel coming to Sholay and her basically 00:42:39.550 --> 00:42:44.230 asking like, yes, yes, bringing trays of food 00:42:44.230 --> 00:42:49.110 we have. Oh yes, they'll be leaving soon. Then 00:42:49.110 --> 00:42:52.929 she kind of steps back into the room, sees the 00:42:52.929 --> 00:42:55.590 two of you awake. You see her just like something 00:42:55.590 --> 00:42:58.050 hardens in her eyes. She like nods slowly and 00:42:58.050 --> 00:43:01.750 gestures the two of you forward. Her eyes kind 00:43:01.750 --> 00:43:03.889 of look to the sleeping sidekicks in the back 00:43:03.889 --> 00:43:06.630 and back to you and kind of like shakes her head. 00:43:06.809 --> 00:43:12.250 This is for you. Just you. As usual in these 00:43:12.250 --> 00:43:14.409 sort of situations. Blanche is going to follow. 00:43:14.530 --> 00:43:19.730 Jules is late. Jules goes. As you get closer, 00:43:19.730 --> 00:43:23.269 he begins to speak. It's very matter -of -factly. 00:43:23.869 --> 00:43:27.530 Eyes very cold. There have been more deaths. 00:43:28.309 --> 00:43:31.369 It seems the zones of attack are growing wider 00:43:31.369 --> 00:43:33.869 with each passing event, and the assaults in 00:43:33.869 --> 00:43:37.190 the mist more brutal. The unappeased Gwishans 00:43:37.190 --> 00:43:38.949 of the city are also growing more powerful and 00:43:38.949 --> 00:43:42.190 erratic. The spirit arbiters are completely overwhelmed. 00:43:43.380 --> 00:43:46.059 I fear if this continues, the city will be lost 00:43:46.059 --> 00:43:50.460 by nightfall. And it cannot be stopped. And so 00:43:50.460 --> 00:43:53.679 we must talk. I have thought deeply on how to 00:43:53.679 --> 00:43:57.480 approach you this final time. You are stubborn. 00:43:57.840 --> 00:44:01.280 Eyes cannot fall on you, Jules. And so I had 00:44:01.280 --> 00:44:03.519 considered more threats to yourselves or your 00:44:03.519 --> 00:44:06.320 allies. I'd even considered threatening to call 00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:09.579 off the search for the child Paul, but... No. 00:44:10.369 --> 00:44:12.650 My foolishness already cost this world and Mazir 00:44:12.650 --> 00:44:15.429 Drakon. A miracle I let slip through my claws. 00:44:16.630 --> 00:44:21.630 A miracle in a person I respected. Now, I will 00:44:21.630 --> 00:44:23.690 make sure you receive any information my eyes 00:44:23.690 --> 00:44:25.949 and ears come across. That is my vow to you, 00:44:26.070 --> 00:44:29.769 Jules. We will save the boy. We will pull him 00:44:29.769 --> 00:44:35.269 from the fractured horns. Claws. Jules just nods. 00:44:36.130 --> 00:44:42.530 So no threats. No tricks. Just this. And her 00:44:42.530 --> 00:44:49.670 eyes soften. Please, leave me. Please leave Aharon 00:44:49.670 --> 00:44:53.269 and Xena. Leave Yanito. Leave Hari. Leave us 00:44:53.269 --> 00:44:56.150 to our fate. It cannot be stopped now, not without 00:44:56.150 --> 00:44:59.389 a consequence greater than you could know. You 00:44:59.389 --> 00:45:01.309 have discovered so much of this tangled web, 00:45:01.369 --> 00:45:04.869 but it does not matter. The truth does not matter. 00:45:04.889 --> 00:45:06.710 I should never have let you investigate in the 00:45:06.710 --> 00:45:09.409 first place. This is not your... Burden, not 00:45:09.409 --> 00:45:15.469 your sin. So please, please just leave. I ain't 00:45:15.469 --> 00:45:18.349 going anywhere until we get some answers. It 00:45:18.349 --> 00:45:22.150 doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You don't 00:45:22.150 --> 00:45:27.429 need answers. You need to go. Baraki. Yes, Baraki. 00:45:28.469 --> 00:45:38.210 You tell me, Baraki. Shirley stands frozen. Eyes 00:45:38.210 --> 00:45:47.289 wide. No. No. No, no, no, no. And she begins 00:45:47.289 --> 00:45:58.329 to change. You will leave. Why? This is my crime. 00:45:58.409 --> 00:46:02.329 We found the lie. Now tell us the lie behind 00:46:02.329 --> 00:46:07.460 the lie. It's not yours to know. No one can know! 00:46:08.900 --> 00:46:14.960 Spread the burden. A hand goes to her back, just 00:46:14.960 --> 00:46:19.179 ripping at scales. Long claws ripping at scales. 00:46:19.300 --> 00:46:25.280 No! No! After everything I've done for you, we 00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:31.260 deserve to know. A building in her throat. She 00:46:31.260 --> 00:46:37.650 looks down to you. You think you deserve. Why? 00:46:38.130 --> 00:46:42.690 And those words are lit by flame, building flame. 00:46:43.670 --> 00:46:49.369 Because we figured it out. And if we could do 00:46:49.369 --> 00:46:52.050 it, it's only a matter of time before everybody 00:46:52.050 --> 00:46:56.250 else figures it out. And guess what? We're the 00:46:56.250 --> 00:46:59.750 only ones still standing here, willing to hear 00:46:59.750 --> 00:49:49.550 you out. We still have more stuff to do, though. 00:49:49.690 --> 00:49:53.409 Jules, be pissed. Like, how are we supposed to 00:49:53.409 --> 00:49:58.530 just keep playing? I don't know. I don't know. 00:49:58.630 --> 00:50:01.849 I just got to say that this kind of shit can 00:50:01.849 --> 00:50:06.130 only happen with David Monroe and Mr. Jeremy 00:50:06.130 --> 00:50:11.329 Wolf. Like, this episode has been wild and amazing. 00:50:11.829 --> 00:50:14.369 Because the stuff that you have done here, David, 00:50:14.449 --> 00:50:19.250 is bonkers. And the fact that you did that, Jeremy, 00:50:19.369 --> 00:50:22.309 and, like, the story, I know, like, couldn't 00:50:22.309 --> 00:50:25.190 even have been spoiled. Like, you were making 00:50:25.190 --> 00:50:28.849 this while sort of getting, like, vibes from 00:50:28.849 --> 00:50:31.289 David about, like, what's supposed to. Actually, 00:50:31.389 --> 00:50:33.230 I thought about this earlier today. I don't know 00:50:33.230 --> 00:50:36.369 if we've ever actually discussed on mic how we 00:50:36.369 --> 00:50:38.650 figured this out. Save it for Unzipped. Ooh. 00:50:39.369 --> 00:50:43.309 Tune in. Okay. Good shit, yeah. Okay. Yeah. It's 00:50:43.309 --> 00:50:46.579 coming up soon, by the way. This arc is almost 00:50:46.579 --> 00:50:48.639 over. You said like two months. I asked you the 00:50:48.639 --> 00:50:50.860 other day. You said like two months. We have 00:50:50.860 --> 00:50:53.860 some final stuff. I say soon. Soon for me is 00:50:53.860 --> 00:50:56.900 like a year. It'll probably be like a month or 00:50:56.900 --> 00:51:03.019 two months. One of those. Holy shit! I think 00:51:03.019 --> 00:51:06.539 that deserves answers. It also deserves a butt. 00:51:08.440 --> 00:51:10.519 Oh, wait, no. That was my button. Absolutely. 00:51:10.519 --> 00:51:12.119 No, give me that button back. Hold on, hold on, 00:51:12.139 --> 00:51:15.059 hold on. I got extras. Thank you. Gosh. Oliver 00:51:15.059 --> 00:51:18.000 needs me to use that button. No, that was Jules. 00:51:18.659 --> 00:51:21.179 What? Oh, yeah. No, this is my button. Jules, 00:51:21.179 --> 00:51:23.179 this is your button. Well, right, but Jules gave 00:51:23.179 --> 00:51:27.139 me a button, which then gave you a button because 00:51:27.139 --> 00:51:29.760 of the... Yeah, yeah. But yes, Oliver did give 00:51:29.760 --> 00:51:31.880 you the button. Yes. Okay, so it couldn't have 00:51:31.880 --> 00:51:33.559 happened without either of them. Give me another 00:51:33.559 --> 00:51:41.429 button. No. For interrupting me. Go away. Just 00:51:41.429 --> 00:51:50.210 this explosion of music and light. Xolay, the 00:51:50.210 --> 00:51:53.329 fire flickering in her throat, this frozen back 00:51:53.329 --> 00:51:59.230 arch looking down at you. The deadly rage in 00:51:59.230 --> 00:52:04.190 her eyes fading as her conic eyes going wider 00:52:04.190 --> 00:52:07.829 and wider. As her last notes fade, you see the 00:52:07.829 --> 00:52:11.909 flame in her throat. dies, a stream of smoke 00:52:11.909 --> 00:52:17.570 billows out, and she slowly begins to shrink 00:52:17.570 --> 00:52:22.130 back to her humanoid form. Now she steps free 00:52:22.130 --> 00:52:25.170 of the smoke. You can see that she is crying. 00:52:25.969 --> 00:52:29.889 She looks smaller than you've ever seen her before. 00:52:30.949 --> 00:52:33.510 Small and frail, and you realize maybe you're 00:52:33.510 --> 00:52:38.070 looking at the real Sholay, what the world's... 00:52:38.739 --> 00:52:42.699 Turned her into what she has become as a result 00:52:42.699 --> 00:52:47.420 of the sins she has done. The suffering she has 00:52:47.420 --> 00:52:52.420 caused. She walks up to you, Jules. Steps up 00:52:52.420 --> 00:53:00.159 just before you. Okay. Okay. I will let you in. 00:53:01.460 --> 00:53:07.690 I will tell you everything. And we'll call it 00:53:07.690 --> 00:53:07.929 there.