WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.779 You know, in most fantasy stories, the hero's 00:00:03.779 --> 00:00:05.820 family is basically just background dressing. 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:08.560 Yeah, totally. Just the idyllic starting point. 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:11.439 Right. The boring, simple folks that the protagonist 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:14.300 leaves behind to go find, like, the actual adventure. 00:00:14.699 --> 00:00:17.320 But man, Act 2 of The Whistling Swordsman just 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:20.579 revealed that the most boring, strictly pacifist 00:00:20.579 --> 00:00:23.239 family in Sakaar hasn't been living a simple 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:26.620 life at all. Not even close? No. They have actually 00:00:26.620 --> 00:00:30.820 been waging like a 20 year covert cold war. So 00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:33.020 today we are tearing up absolutely everything 00:00:33.020 --> 00:00:35.140 we thought we knew about this story. It's all 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:37.880 going out the window. Exactly. Welcome to episode 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:41.100 six of our deep dive into the neogentrics multiverse. 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:43.899 I am I'm looking at my notes for this session 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:46.179 right now. And honestly, my entire perspective 00:00:46.179 --> 00:00:48.399 on this world has been flipped completely upside 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:50.299 down. Oh, I feel the exact same way. We are tackling 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:52.560 act two, part two of the Whistling Swordsman 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.359 beginnings. And you guys, this is officially 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:56.659 our paradigm shift. up to deep dive. It really 00:00:56.659 --> 00:00:59.479 is. It genuinely forces a complete reevaluation 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:02.740 of the text. I mean, neogentrics has essentially 00:01:02.740 --> 00:01:05.659 taken the entire foundation we built during our 00:01:05.659 --> 00:01:09.079 act one analysis and just he dismantled it. Totally 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:11.920 ripped it apart. Because up until now, we assumed 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.180 we were reading, you know, a localized coming 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:16.879 of age martial arts story. A kid finds a mentor, 00:01:17.079 --> 00:01:20.319 swings a sword around, learns to fight. But the 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:23.340 scope just expanded exponentially into this massive, 00:01:23.459 --> 00:01:26.019 multiversal, geopolitical thriller. And we are 00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:28.319 going to walk through exactly how that happens 00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:30.799 because the tonal whiplash in these chapters 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:33.000 is just staggering. Yeah, it gives you whiplash 00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.739 for sure. We go from the absolute lowest, most 00:01:35.739 --> 00:01:39.939 brutal emotional tragedy right into a bizarrely 00:01:39.939 --> 00:01:42.560 wholesome, almost slapstick surprise birthday 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:45.239 party. Which was so weird. So weird. And then 00:01:45.239 --> 00:01:47.260 straight into a magical forest with a ticking 00:01:47.260 --> 00:01:51.219 clock deathmatch. So let's trace the breadcrumbs 00:01:51.219 --> 00:01:52.840 here. I want to start with the buildup of dread 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.219 because the pacing Neo uses here is just masterful. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:59.340 We know Zeonix is heading home. He just had that 00:01:59.340 --> 00:02:01.200 massive victory on the battlefield of the old 00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:05.079 serviced war. And the broken blade he found reacted 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:08.719 to his aura. The wind surged and the sword basically 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:10.719 repaired itself. Right, which is huge for him. 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:13.740 Exactly. For the first time, he isn't swinging 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:16.939 Kenshin's heavy meat cleaver or like a bamboo 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:19.939 rod. He has a real weapon. he's riding this massive 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:22.620 high of confidence. Which is exactly what makes 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:25.139 the ensuing drop so much more devastating. Yeah. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:27.620 I mean, Neo understands that to truly break a 00:02:27.620 --> 00:02:29.919 character, you have to let them taste hope first. 00:02:31.189 --> 00:02:34.169 So, Xionix is returning to Sakaar, and he's taking 00:02:34.169 --> 00:02:36.150 that shortcut through the neighboring town of 00:02:36.150 --> 00:02:38.389 Kalien. Because his bike was totaled. Right, 00:02:38.469 --> 00:02:40.909 the bike is wrecked. And instead of a bustling 00:02:40.909 --> 00:02:42.990 neighboring community, he walks into absolute 00:02:42.990 --> 00:02:46.349 dead silence. It's a total ghost town, and not 00:02:46.349 --> 00:02:48.770 an abandoned for years kind of ghost town either. 00:02:48.849 --> 00:02:52.870 It's a freshly evacuated, freshly destroyed silence. 00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:54.960 Yeah, the imagery is chilling. Buildings are 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:57.479 scorched. The architecture is just riddled with 00:02:57.479 --> 00:03:01.180 impact craters. No people, no livestock, no noise, 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.599 just the wind. You can practically feel the temperature 00:03:04.599 --> 00:03:06.840 of the narrative plummeting right there. Oh, 00:03:06.860 --> 00:03:09.080 for sure. And Xeonyx draws his newly repaired 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:11.699 sword, recognizing that this wasn't just a minor 00:03:11.699 --> 00:03:14.340 bandit raid. The structural damage indicates 00:03:14.340 --> 00:03:16.939 an organized military force. And the tactical 00:03:16.939 --> 00:03:19.719 implications here are just terrifying. Because 00:03:19.719 --> 00:03:22.620 Kalien is a buffer town. Right. So if a force 00:03:22.620 --> 00:03:24.900 that size moves... through Kaelin unopposed, 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.900 it means the local constabulary is either completely 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:30.759 wiped out or utterly compromised. Yeah, there's 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.419 no backup coming. Exactly. And for Zeonix, the 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:36.139 realization sets in. Whoever did this, they didn't 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:38.259 stop here. They were moving toward Oakland country, 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:40.699 toward the outskirts of Sakaar. To his home. 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:43.719 And he just starts sprinting. And as he crests 00:03:43.719 --> 00:03:46.180 the minor hills, he sees the smoke rising from 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:49.520 Sakaar. The city is a chaotic inferno. Total 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.520 destruction. He grabs a local constable amidst 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:54.479 the panic and gets the horrible confirmation 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:57.729 right. Crater Steve is behind this, and his forces 00:03:57.729 --> 00:04:00.210 were last seen heading directly toward the hillside 00:04:00.210 --> 00:04:03.050 where Zeonix's family lives. The panic in that 00:04:03.050 --> 00:04:06.069 scene is so real. The sheer adrenaline is palpable. 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:09.389 Zeonix vaults the fence into his family's property, 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:12.449 and we get this paralyzing, horrific tableau 00:04:12.449 --> 00:04:14.870 right in the family garden. And I think the garden 00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:17.029 is such a crucial detail here. Oh, absolutely. 00:04:17.370 --> 00:04:20.189 Because for all of Act 1, that garden was established 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:23.240 as a sanctuary. It was where his mother and younger 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:25.660 brothers spent their time tending to the soil. 00:04:25.819 --> 00:04:29.300 It was this symbol of their peaceful agrarian 00:04:29.300 --> 00:04:31.980 life away from the lingering scars of the war. 00:04:32.180 --> 00:04:34.319 Yeah, it was their safe space. Right. So to have 00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:36.139 Crater Steve standing right in the middle of 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:38.040 it, just crushing the crops under his boots, 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:40.680 it's a profound violation of everything safe 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.160 in Zeonix's world. And it gets so much worse. 00:04:43.769 --> 00:04:46.250 Because right there in the dirt is Zeonix's father. 00:04:46.470 --> 00:04:49.930 Yeah. Dead. That hit hard. This strict, stern 00:04:49.930 --> 00:04:52.970 metalsmith who spent 20 years preaching against 00:04:52.970 --> 00:04:55.990 violence, the guy who grounded Zeonix for even 00:04:55.990 --> 00:04:59.129 looking at a fight, murdered in cold blood, and 00:04:59.129 --> 00:05:02.350 creator Steve's henchmen are holding Zeonix's 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:04.930 mother captive. And Steve isn't even rushing. 00:05:05.189 --> 00:05:08.629 No, he's lingering, taunting them. He literally 00:05:08.629 --> 00:05:11.569 laughs at Zeonix, calling him a tiny man and 00:05:11.569 --> 00:05:13.170 telling him if he wants his mother back, he has 00:05:13.170 --> 00:05:15.560 to. to fight for her. Notice Creator Steve's 00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:17.920 methodology there, though. This isn't just a 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:20.860 physical execution. It's psychological warfare. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:23.699 Total mind games. Yeah, he could have killed 00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:26.100 the mother before Zeonix arrived. He could have 00:05:26.100 --> 00:05:28.819 shot Zeonix the second he jumped the fence. But 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:31.480 Steve wants an audience. He wants to establish 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:33.720 dominance and break the spirit of his target 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:36.480 before finishing the job. And Zeonix reacts exactly 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.439 how... Kenshin trained him to, you know, he fights 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:41.459 and he actually holds his own against the henchmen. 00:05:41.540 --> 00:05:43.920 He does. All that brutal, seemingly impossible 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.660 training with the heavy meat cleaver really pays 00:05:46.660 --> 00:05:49.680 off. He is matching these seasoned mercenaries 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:52.420 blow for blow. But then Creator Steve just gets 00:05:52.420 --> 00:05:54.699 bored with the spectacle. He raises his gun. 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:58.199 But he doesn't aim at Zeonix. He aims the barrel 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:00.759 directly at the captive mother. It's the ultimate 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:02.959 manifestation of helplessness. It is entirely 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:05.899 gut -wrenching. Zeonix sees the trajectory. He 00:06:05.899 --> 00:06:08.319 screams for her to move. He physically throws 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:10.300 himself in the path of the shot to intercept 00:06:10.300 --> 00:06:13.959 it. But he's too slow. He just can't make it. 00:06:14.019 --> 00:06:16.500 The blast completely bypasses him, and there 00:06:16.500 --> 00:06:19.500 is just this massive, concussive explosion of 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:22.399 fire and smoke throwing his mother's body across 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:25.180 the ruined garden. Steve didn't just want to 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:27.519 kill her, he wanted to force Zeonix to watch 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:30.509 himself fail to save her. And this brings us 00:06:30.509 --> 00:06:32.750 to the moment that fundamentally rewrites the 00:06:32.750 --> 00:06:34.990 entire narrative structure of the series. Yes. 00:06:35.410 --> 00:06:37.490 Xeonyx crawls over to her. He's holding her as 00:06:37.490 --> 00:06:40.069 she dies. And, you know, as readers, we are totally 00:06:40.069 --> 00:06:42.750 primed for the standard tragic fantasy farewell. 00:06:42.889 --> 00:06:45.050 Right. The classic, I love you, be brave, protect 00:06:45.050 --> 00:06:47.910 your brother. Exactly. But Neogentrix pulls the 00:06:47.910 --> 00:06:50.629 rug completely out from under us. Her dying words 00:06:50.629 --> 00:06:53.310 are a massive lore bomb. She looks at him and 00:06:53.310 --> 00:06:55.730 says, do not worry, son. We knew about your training. 00:06:55.990 --> 00:06:59.860 I gasped. That single sentence shatters the entire 00:06:59.860 --> 00:07:02.720 reality of Act One. We knew about your training. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.620 Finish your training and avenge us. Head north. 00:07:05.699 --> 00:07:08.459 There you shall learn the secret of your grandfather. 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:11.959 This was the work of Eon Pax. You must defeat 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:14.980 him to save your grandfather. But most of all... 00:07:15.240 --> 00:07:17.699 Live on, my son. Incredible. And then she's gone. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:20.240 I mean, I had to put the book down. I was pacing 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:23.220 my room. It completely reframes everything. Oh, 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:24.879 completely. I've been thinking about this in 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.019 terms of naval warfare, actually. It's like discovering 00:07:28.019 --> 00:07:31.420 that this quiet, boring family wasn't a helpless 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:34.160 fishing boat at all. They were a nuclear submarine 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.779 running completely silent. Oh, I love that analogy. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:39.660 Right. They knew Eon Pax was sweeping the ocean 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:42.160 with sonar, looking for any trace of the whistling 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:45.670 swordsman's bloodline. So they ran dark. No martial 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:48.509 arts, no grand stories of the grandfather, absolute 00:07:48.509 --> 00:07:51.790 strict adherence to pacifism. Any ping would 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:53.790 have given away their position. That is exactly 00:07:53.790 --> 00:07:56.750 the mechanism at play. And it brings up the immense 00:07:56.750 --> 00:07:59.790 psychological toll of maintaining that kind of 00:07:59.790 --> 00:08:03.189 deep cover. 20 years of it. Right. For 20 years, 00:08:03.230 --> 00:08:05.529 these parents suppressed their own legacy. They 00:08:05.529 --> 00:08:07.810 watched their son chafe under their strict rules, 00:08:08.029 --> 00:08:10.689 watched him resent them for being overbearing 00:08:10.689 --> 00:08:13.050 and cowardly, and they had to just swallow that 00:08:13.050 --> 00:08:15.300 resentment to keep him breathing. Which means 00:08:15.300 --> 00:08:17.600 we need to stop the narrative right here. We 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.120 need to talk about our own massive failure as 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:22.800 analysts. Oh, here we go. Because we are officially 00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:25.879 at debate crisis number one. I was looking over 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:28.079 our transcripts from episode three and I realized 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:31.019 we completely and utterly misread the entire 00:08:31.019 --> 00:08:34.059 situation. We spent almost an hour critiquing 00:08:34.059 --> 00:08:36.840 the parents' parenting style. I was brutal on 00:08:36.840 --> 00:08:39.919 them. I called them foolishly naive. I remember 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:43.000 arguing that their strict household rule, you 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:45.179 know, fighting without a valid cause isn't allowed, 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.620 was borderline abusive in a post -war society. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:51.139 You really went after them. I did. I said they 00:08:51.139 --> 00:08:53.220 were sheltering him to the point of incompetence, 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:55.179 pretending the violence of Pekadesh didn't exist. 00:08:55.759 --> 00:08:58.659 We completely missed the subtext. They weren't 00:08:58.659 --> 00:09:01.100 oblivious to the danger. They were the most hyper 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:03.299 -aware people on the entire continent. Their 00:09:03.299 --> 00:09:05.600 pacifism wasn't cowardice at all. It was the 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:09.539 ultimate camouflage. And if we look back, neogentrics 00:09:09.539 --> 00:09:12.259 layered the clues perfectly. Their house was 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:14.340 on the absolute furthest edge of the outskirts 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:17.139 of Sakaar. The father deliberately worked a low 00:09:17.139 --> 00:09:19.980 -profile job repairing basic tools instead of 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:22.980 forging weapons, which we now know he probably 00:09:22.980 --> 00:09:25.299 had the skill to do. Oh, definitely. They homeschooled 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:27.500 the kids. Every single lifestyle choice was a 00:09:27.500 --> 00:09:30.139 calculated move to remain invisible to an empire. 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:33.519 But here's where I want your take, because this 00:09:33.519 --> 00:09:35.240 is the part that still gnaws at me. Okay, what 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:37.779 is it? If they were essentially sleeper agents 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:40.399 protecting this incredible multiversal lineage 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:43.279 and they secretly knew Xeonyx was sneaking out 00:09:43.279 --> 00:09:46.139 to train with Kenshin, why not just drop the 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:48.879 act behind closed doors? Like, why didn't the 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.720 dad pull him into the basement and say, look, 00:09:50.879 --> 00:09:52.860 here is the secret of your grandfather. Here 00:09:52.860 --> 00:09:54.779 is how you hold a sword. Just don't tell anyone. 00:09:55.039 --> 00:09:57.879 Why rely on a crazy old man at a local dojo to 00:09:57.879 --> 00:09:59.919 teach him? It comes down to the grim reality 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:02.960 of plausible deniability in a totalitarian regime. 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:06.350 Meaning what exactly? Meaning. Eon Pax doesn't 00:10:06.350 --> 00:10:09.389 just execute people. His forces interrogate them. 00:10:09.470 --> 00:10:12.450 They break them. If ZNX knew his true identity, 00:10:12.610 --> 00:10:15.190 or if he was receiving secret martial arts training 00:10:15.190 --> 00:10:17.309 from his father, he would eventually give off 00:10:17.309 --> 00:10:20.070 a micro -expression, a slip of the tongue, or 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:22.149 a defensive reflex that would expose them. Oh, 00:10:22.169 --> 00:10:24.049 so he would fail the interrogation before it 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:26.649 even started. Precisely. His genuine ignorance 00:10:26.649 --> 00:10:30.200 was his absolute best armor. By forcing him to 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:32.600 sneak around, by maintaining the illusion of 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:35.299 a strict, disapproving household, the parents 00:10:35.299 --> 00:10:37.740 ensured that if Zeonix was ever snatched off 00:10:37.740 --> 00:10:40.940 the street by Ian Pax's spies, his reactions 00:10:40.940 --> 00:10:43.360 would be authentically those of a sheltered, 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:47.049 frustrated kid. The parents took the entire Bowdoin 00:10:47.049 --> 00:10:49.370 of the secret onto themselves so their son could 00:10:49.370 --> 00:10:51.309 walk around with the weight of a target on his 00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:54.090 back. It makes their sacrifice so profoundly 00:10:54.090 --> 00:10:56.549 tragic. I mean, they died so he could have 20 00:10:56.549 --> 00:10:59.429 years of relative peace. And the mother's final 00:10:59.429 --> 00:11:01.730 instruction to head north completely acts as 00:11:01.730 --> 00:11:04.129 the catalyst for the rest of the series. She 00:11:04.129 --> 00:11:06.230 essentially passes the baton, telling him the 00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:08.649 submarine has been hit, the cover is blown, and 00:11:08.649 --> 00:11:11.460 it's time to surface and fight. And his transition 00:11:11.460 --> 00:11:14.120 from that sheltered life into a lethal combatant 00:11:14.120 --> 00:11:16.940 happens in a matter of seconds. Yes. Let's get 00:11:16.940 --> 00:11:19.519 into the immediate aftermath in the garden. Because 00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.620 the mechanics of this next sequence are just 00:11:21.620 --> 00:11:24.620 wild. The power scaling shifts dramatically here. 00:11:24.700 --> 00:11:27.679 It really does. Zeonix is kneeling in his mother's 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:30.730 blood. Creator Steve is literally laughing at 00:11:30.730 --> 00:11:33.149 the corpse, mocking her for not dodging the blast. 00:11:33.409 --> 00:11:37.129 And something inside Zeonix just snaps. The grief 00:11:37.129 --> 00:11:39.789 and the rage hit a boiling point. Yeah, he grips 00:11:39.789 --> 00:11:42.610 his new sword and the atmosphere physically changes. 00:11:42.970 --> 00:11:45.809 Neo describes the wind turning razor sharp around 00:11:45.809 --> 00:11:48.230 him. This is a crucial element of the world's 00:11:48.230 --> 00:11:51.389 combat system. Up until now, we've seen Xeonyx 00:11:51.389 --> 00:11:54.509 perform physical feats. But here, we see the 00:11:54.509 --> 00:11:56.870 actual atmospheric manipulation of the whistling 00:11:56.870 --> 00:11:59.490 wind style. It's actual magic. Right. The emotion 00:11:59.490 --> 00:12:01.769 is the ignition source for the elemental power. 00:12:02.009 --> 00:12:05.149 So Xeonyx charges at Steve. Steve arrogantly 00:12:05.149 --> 00:12:07.929 raises his gun again. But Xeonyx leaps into the 00:12:07.929 --> 00:12:10.149 air, and he does something completely counterintuitive. 00:12:10.309 --> 00:12:12.649 He draws the sword behind his back, but with 00:12:12.649 --> 00:12:15.210 the blade facing outward, away from his body. 00:12:15.309 --> 00:12:18.279 A very unorthodox stance. He spins violently 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:23.460 in midair. He shouts, The reverse rearward strike. 00:12:23.740 --> 00:12:25.720 The physics of this maneuver are fascinating. 00:12:25.940 --> 00:12:28.480 Explain that, because it sounded insane. Well, 00:12:28.620 --> 00:12:31.039 by using a reverse grip and spinning behind the 00:12:31.039 --> 00:12:33.659 back, he alters the aerodynamics of the swing. 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:37.000 The motion creates a localized vacuum. pulling 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:38.960 the surrounding air currents tightly around the 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:41.320 steel, effectively extending the cutting edge 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:43.759 with a slipstream of highly pressurized wind. 00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.740 And it creates that signature terrifying whistling 00:12:46.740 --> 00:12:50.139 sound. Exactly. And the sheer kinetic force is 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:53.320 devastating. He swings down and the wind blade 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.080 slices Crater Steve completely in half. Just 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:58.240 brutal. Straight through the heavy mercenary 00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:01.000 armor, straight through bone. It is an instant, 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:04.179 flawless execution. The remaining henchmen are 00:13:04.179 --> 00:13:06.490 so horrified by what they just witnessed. that 00:13:06.490 --> 00:13:09.090 they drop their weapons and scatter. It is a 00:13:09.090 --> 00:13:11.649 decisive, brutal end to the immediate threat. 00:13:11.970 --> 00:13:14.289 But Neogentrix doesn't let Zeonix celebrate. 00:13:14.389 --> 00:13:17.169 No, not at all. The aftermath is incredibly somber. 00:13:17.269 --> 00:13:20.690 We get these quiet, heavy paragraphs where Zeonix 00:13:20.690 --> 00:13:23.470 physically buries his own parents. He spends 00:13:23.470 --> 00:13:26.090 days sleeping in the charred ruins of his childhood 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:29.809 home, utterly paralyzed by grief. It's an incredibly 00:13:29.809 --> 00:13:32.330 grounded depiction of trauma. He doesn't just 00:13:32.330 --> 00:13:35.179 march off to the north the next day. He is broken. 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:37.690 Yeah, he's totally shattered. And this is where 00:13:37.690 --> 00:13:39.789 the narrative leaps forward. We get a one -year 00:13:39.789 --> 00:13:43.210 time skip. Kenshin and his wife take this orphaned, 00:13:43.250 --> 00:13:45.509 traumatized kid in, and they provide him with 00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:48.129 a home. Which is very sweet. It is. But then, 00:13:48.190 --> 00:13:51.830 fast forward to Zeonix's 20th birthday, and we 00:13:51.830 --> 00:13:54.370 hit a sequence that is a masterclass in tonal 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:56.789 whiplash. Oh, the birthday shock chapter. It 00:13:56.789 --> 00:13:59.470 is so wild. Zeonix wakes up on the morning of 00:13:59.470 --> 00:14:02.490 his 20th birthday. The house is completely empty. 00:14:02.750 --> 00:14:05.049 Eerily empty. Right. So he wanders down to the 00:14:05.049 --> 00:14:07.120 local marketplace to find Kenshin. or his wife. 00:14:07.419 --> 00:14:10.080 The vendors are acting cagey, telling him to 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.720 go check the dojo. So he walks into the dojo, 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:15.059 the one place he has learned to consider a safe 00:14:15.059 --> 00:14:17.759 haven over the past year. He opens the door and 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:20.559 instantly a masked assailant launches a violent 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.360 ambush. Which is an incredibly dangerous trigger 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:27.000 for someone with complex PTSD. Exactly. Xeonyx's 00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:29.519 mind instantly flashes back to the burning garden. 00:14:29.720 --> 00:14:33.620 He assumes Eon Pax has found him again. He assumes 00:14:33.620 --> 00:14:36.299 this assassin has already murdered Kenshin and 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:38.580 his wife. His worst nightmare repeating itself. 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:42.720 Yes. He screams, how dare you dishonor this dojo? 00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:45.679 If you so much as lay a hand on my master and 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:49.179 his family, I will kill you. He completely overpowers 00:14:49.179 --> 00:14:52.059 the attacker, pins him down, and he doesn't hesitate 00:14:52.059 --> 00:14:54.480 for a microsecond. He goes straight for the kill. 00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:56.820 He draws his sword, the wind starts howling, 00:14:56.940 --> 00:15:00.220 and he prepares to execute the Gyaku Shiro Suteraiku. 00:15:00.570 --> 00:15:02.889 The exact same high -pressure wind strike that 00:15:02.889 --> 00:15:05.610 split Crater Steve into two pieces. He is a fraction 00:15:05.610 --> 00:15:07.669 of a second away from lethal force. And right 00:15:07.669 --> 00:15:09.970 as the blade is coming down, the masked attacker 00:15:09.970 --> 00:15:12.350 screams in absolute terror, I give up, you win, 00:15:12.529 --> 00:15:14.769 and rips off the mask. It's Kenshin. Unbelievable. 00:15:14.830 --> 00:15:18.129 His master just ambushed a highly lethal, severely 00:15:18.129 --> 00:15:20.990 traumatized swordsman as a final exam prank. 00:15:21.230 --> 00:15:23.950 The recklessness of it is astounding. I was reading 00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:26.370 this thinking of the worst possible teaching 00:15:26.370 --> 00:15:29.129 methods. It's like a swimming instructor deciding 00:15:29.129 --> 00:15:32.009 to teach a kid how to handle deep water by shoving 00:15:32.009 --> 00:15:33.950 them off a boat in the middle of the night. Right, 00:15:34.009 --> 00:15:36.610 a trial by fire. Except the instructor completely 00:15:36.610 --> 00:15:39.370 forgot the kid is holding a live flare gun and 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:41.610 might accidentally set the entire boat on fire 00:15:41.610 --> 00:15:43.990 in a panic. Yeah, the variables were not controlled. 00:15:44.190 --> 00:15:46.330 But before I could even process the absurdity, 00:15:46.389 --> 00:15:49.830 the scene pivots to pure comedy. Kenshin's wife 00:15:49.830 --> 00:15:52.690 bursts out from the back room, marches right 00:15:52.690 --> 00:15:58.700 - She really laid him out. She is furious. She 00:15:58.700 --> 00:16:00.860 yells, Are you an idiot? Are you trying to get 00:16:00.860 --> 00:16:03.460 yourself killed today? We agreed to only test 00:16:03.460 --> 00:16:06.159 him, remember? She acts as the essential grounding 00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:09.789 force for the entire scene. Without her, Kenshin 00:16:09.789 --> 00:16:11.990 just looks like a maniac. With her, it becomes 00:16:11.990 --> 00:16:14.309 a chaotic family dynamic. And then the doors 00:16:14.309 --> 00:16:17.129 open and the entire rebuilt town of Sakaar jumps 00:16:17.129 --> 00:16:20.870 out. They have food, banners, and gifts. They 00:16:20.870 --> 00:16:23.789 throw this massive town -wide surprise party 00:16:23.789 --> 00:16:27.830 for Xeonyx's 20th birthday to thank him for saving 00:16:27.830 --> 00:16:30.529 them from Crater Steve a year ago. It's so heartwarming. 00:16:30.889 --> 00:16:34.149 It is genuinely wholesome. But I have to ask 00:16:34.149 --> 00:16:36.350 you, what was Kenshin actually trying to achieve 00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:38.669 here? Was this just a martial arts reflex test, 00:16:38.830 --> 00:16:40.950 or was he probing to see if Zeonix was psychologically 00:16:40.950 --> 00:16:43.149 stable enough to finally leave the village and 00:16:43.149 --> 00:16:46.789 go north? It is absolutely a psychological evaluation, 00:16:47.250 --> 00:16:50.970 albeit a deeply flawed one. Flawed is an understatement. 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:54.639 Well, Neogentrix is exploring how trauma alters 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:57.620 a fighter's fundamental instincts. When Zeonix 00:16:57.620 --> 00:17:00.039 first saw Sakaar burning, he had a moment of 00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:03.200 freezing, of pure panic. Kenshin needed to know 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:05.339 what Zeonix's default response would be now, 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:08.220 a year later, if his safe space was violently 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:11.480 compromised. Would he freeze again, or would 00:17:11.480 --> 00:17:14.019 he engage? He'd definitely engage. He bypassed 00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:16.039 defense and went straight for a lethal finishing 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.359 move. And that is where Kenshin's plan almost 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.200 backfired fatally. Kenshin underestimated the 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.539 sheer lethality his own student had developed. 00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:26.059 He didn't account for the fact that Zeonix wouldn't 00:17:26.059 --> 00:17:28.759 just defend himself. He would instantly attempt 00:17:28.759 --> 00:17:30.920 to eliminate the threat to protect his new surrogate 00:17:30.920 --> 00:17:33.900 family. It proves Zeonix is ready to survive 00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:36.859 the hostile world outside Sakaar, but it also 00:17:36.859 --> 00:17:39.259 highlights Kenshin's own blind spots as a mentor. 00:17:39.460 --> 00:17:41.579 Which perfectly sets up debate crisis number 00:17:41.579 --> 00:17:45.220 two. I am serving myself a massive slice of humble 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:47.359 pie right now. I was wondering when we'd get 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.579 to this. I have to formally apologize to neogentrics, 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:53.500 to Kenshin, and to you, the listeners, because 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:55.640 if we look back at episode four, I was spinning 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:58.779 wild conspiracies about this man. You were entirely 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:01.240 convinced Kenshin was an opportunistic villain. 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:03.720 I was. Look at the evidence we had from act one. 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:06.940 Kenshin bumps into a random, emotionally vulnerable 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:09.759 teenager in a market and immediately offers to 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.369 teach him a deadly martial art. Suspicious, sure. 00:18:12.609 --> 00:18:15.470 On day one, he throws him into a pit with lethal 00:18:15.470 --> 00:18:18.710 malfunctioning security robots. He gives a novice 00:18:18.710 --> 00:18:21.529 a live steel blade. He makes him swing a massive 00:18:21.529 --> 00:18:24.009 unbalanced meat cleaver to build strength to 00:18:24.009 --> 00:18:26.410 pierce skin. I argued forcefully that Kenshin 00:18:26.410 --> 00:18:28.670 was a sociopath grooming a meat shield so he 00:18:28.670 --> 00:18:31.210 could use Xeonyx to take revenge on Aeon Pax. 00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:34.109 You viewed every training exercise as an act 00:18:34.109 --> 00:18:36.490 of malicious manipulation. But the grand confession 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:38.329 I have to make today is that I was completely 00:18:38.329 --> 00:18:42.000 wrong. Kenshin is an incredibly loving, deeply 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:45.180 protective surrogate father. He and his wife 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:47.339 took in a shattered orphan and provided him with 00:18:47.339 --> 00:18:50.880 a stable home for an entire year. The man organized 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:53.940 a town -wide birthday party. It forces us to 00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.440 reinterpret his brutal training method. Exactly. 00:18:56.460 --> 00:18:58.759 He wasn't grooming a weapon. He was desperately 00:18:58.759 --> 00:19:01.799 trying to forge armor onto a kid he knew was 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.440 being hunted by an empire. He knew the world 00:19:04.440 --> 00:19:07.359 wanted Zeonix dead, so he subjected him to harsh 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.309 conditions in a controlled environment. so he 00:19:09.309 --> 00:19:11.769 wouldn't die in the real one. What neogentrics 00:19:11.769 --> 00:19:14.670 does here is a brilliant subversion of the crazy 00:19:14.670 --> 00:19:17.650 old master trope. Oh, absolutely. In many martial 00:19:17.650 --> 00:19:20.089 arts narratives, the eccentric master hides a 00:19:20.089 --> 00:19:24.210 dark secret or an ulterior motive. Neo leans 00:19:24.210 --> 00:19:26.289 into that suspicion. He makes Kenshin's methods 00:19:26.289 --> 00:19:28.750 look so unhinged, the robots, the meat cleaver, 00:19:28.809 --> 00:19:31.349 the birthday ambush, that we as analytical readers 00:19:31.349 --> 00:19:33.490 naturally assume foul play. Right, we thought 00:19:33.490 --> 00:19:35.990 we were so smart. But the reveal subverts our 00:19:35.990 --> 00:19:38.960 cynicism. The truth is simply that Kenshin is 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:41.119 a good man who lives in an incredibly dangerous 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:44.460 world, and his wife is the practical anchor that 00:19:44.460 --> 00:19:46.519 keeps his eccentricity from getting them all 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:49.319 killed. It's such a satisfying realization. It 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:51.359 shows that even under the tyrannical shadow of 00:19:51.359 --> 00:19:54.740 Eon Pax, genuine mentorship and found family 00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:58.299 still exist. So the party winds down, Kenshin 00:19:58.299 --> 00:20:00.819 pulls Xeonyx aside, gives him a grave warning 00:20:00.819 --> 00:20:03.359 about the reach of Eon Pax's forces, and the 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:05.539 next morning, the journey north officially begins. 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:08.400 We move into the next major phase of the story. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:11.339 The multiverse expands. This is where the geographic 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:14.019 and supernatural scope of Pekadesh blows wide 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:16.259 open. Xionix leaves the borders of his hometown 00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:18.599 for the very first time. His initial destination 00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:21.359 is a neighboring territory about 35 miles away, 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.960 a place called Shine Solstice. And the world 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.420 -building lore Neo drops for this city is fantastic. 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:29.140 It was founded by a simple potato farmer named 00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:31.259 Richard Ernesto. It's a great piece of localized 00:20:31.259 --> 00:21:02.619 mythology. Right. Like a beacon. Yeah. stones. 00:21:03.059 --> 00:21:05.740 It became this beacon of wonder, a major tourist 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:08.559 hub, and naturally a massive target for thieves 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.740 and syndicates. Which demonstrates that Pikadej 00:21:10.740 --> 00:21:13.180 isn't just a uniform, grim wasteland of post 00:21:13.180 --> 00:21:16.180 -war ruins. There are pockets of profound, unexplained 00:21:16.180 --> 00:21:18.559 magic and booming economies built around them. 00:21:18.700 --> 00:21:20.720 But to get to the glowing city of Shine Solstice, 00:21:20.819 --> 00:21:22.700 Xeonyx has to navigate through some incredibly 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:25.640 hostile geography, specifically the Xalen Timber 00:21:25.640 --> 00:21:27.740 Forest. It's a very dangerous place. And the 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:31.099 atmosphere Neocrafts here is so distinct, as 00:21:31.099 --> 00:21:33.670 Xeonyx... crosses the tree line, the canopy above 00:21:33.670 --> 00:21:36.150 grows so dense it completely blocks the sun. 00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:39.470 But it isn't pitch black. There's this ambient 00:21:39.470 --> 00:21:42.150 dark orange luminescence bleeding through the 00:21:42.150 --> 00:21:44.349 ancient trunks. It's very surreal. And if you 00:21:44.349 --> 00:21:46.230 look up through the branches, the sky itself 00:21:46.230 --> 00:21:49.230 is described as a purplish blue twilight that 00:21:49.230 --> 00:21:52.009 feels simultaneously dark and illuminated. The 00:21:52.009 --> 00:21:54.269 forest is heavily saturated with raw elemental 00:21:54.269 --> 00:21:57.150 magic. It's protected by a natural barrier known 00:21:57.150 --> 00:22:00.609 as the infinity crest. It feels ancient and deeply... 00:22:00.750 --> 00:22:03.269 unsettling so zionic sets up a small camp by 00:22:03.269 --> 00:22:05.769 a dry riverbed catches a few fish and tries to 00:22:05.769 --> 00:22:08.289 get some sleep but he is violently awakened by 00:22:08.289 --> 00:22:11.309 a massive concussive blast that literally shakes 00:22:11.309 --> 00:22:14.069 the earth someone is fighting nearby yeah he 00:22:14.069 --> 00:22:16.150 creeps through the dense brush toward the sound 00:22:16.150 --> 00:22:19.089 and he discovers a massive crater freshly blown 00:22:19.089 --> 00:22:22.250 into the forest floor Ancient trees are splintered 00:22:22.250 --> 00:22:24.210 and burning, and standing in the wreckage are 00:22:24.210 --> 00:22:26.509 two new characters locked in a deathmatch. One 00:22:26.509 --> 00:22:28.750 is a guy hurling sticks of dynamite, and the 00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:31.349 other is a man wearing a bearskin pelt wielding 00:22:31.349 --> 00:22:34.710 a glowing mystical axe. It's an immediate escalation 00:22:34.710 --> 00:22:37.309 of the combat stakes. Xionix, having just promised 00:22:37.309 --> 00:22:39.630 to protect the innocent, doesn't hesitate. He 00:22:39.630 --> 00:22:42.069 jumps right into the fray to stop the dynamite 00:22:42.069 --> 00:22:44.069 thrower from obliterating the sacred forest. 00:22:44.390 --> 00:22:46.930 And this intervention introduces us to one of 00:22:46.930 --> 00:22:49.269 the most mechanically fascinating allies in the 00:22:49.269 --> 00:22:52.970 series, Shane Ngo. Shane is a mystic, the last 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:55.430 known survivor of the Terrafaran tribe. And his 00:22:55.430 --> 00:22:58.269 physical description is completely jarring. When 00:22:58.269 --> 00:23:01.130 Xionix looks at him, he sees a frail, battered, 00:23:01.130 --> 00:23:04.099 deeply wrinkled old man. struggling to hold his 00:23:04.099 --> 00:23:07.099 weapon. But during the chaotic exchange of dialogue, 00:23:07.460 --> 00:23:10.700 Shane reveals a horrifying detail. He's only 00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:13.559 30 years old. Which introduces a completely new 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:16.059 mechanism of elemental consequences into the 00:23:16.059 --> 00:23:18.039 lore. I was trying to wrap my head around how 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:20.140 a 30 -year -old could look 80. The best way I 00:23:20.140 --> 00:23:22.640 can visualize it is by thinking of like a battery 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:24.920 dying on your phone, but the phone is your actual 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:27.539 life force. Right. Or like a pressurized cabin 00:23:27.539 --> 00:23:29.859 in an airplane flying at a high altitude. The 00:23:29.859 --> 00:23:33.269 airplane analogy is spot on. Right. Shane's weapon, 00:23:33.490 --> 00:23:36.349 the Mystic Axe of Shuriks, contains a specific 00:23:36.349 --> 00:23:39.829 elemental gem. That gem essentially acts as the 00:23:39.829 --> 00:23:42.329 pressurization system for his life force, maintaining 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:45.730 his youth and vitality. But the guide he is fighting 00:23:45.730 --> 00:23:49.029 managed to shatter the axe, breaking it into 00:23:49.029 --> 00:23:51.730 two distinct pieces. The whole of the cabin has 00:23:51.730 --> 00:23:54.490 been breached. Exactly. The integrity of the 00:23:54.490 --> 00:23:57.150 weapon is compromised. The enemy took the half 00:23:57.150 --> 00:23:59.690 of the staff that houses the core gem, leaving 00:23:59.690 --> 00:24:02.349 Shane with just the severed axe head. Because 00:24:02.349 --> 00:24:04.369 the symbiotic tether between the mystic and the 00:24:04.369 --> 00:24:07.609 gem is severed, the pressure drops to zero. Shane's 00:24:07.609 --> 00:24:10.950 life force, his very youth, is violently venting 00:24:10.950 --> 00:24:13.109 out into the atmosphere. He is aging decades 00:24:13.109 --> 00:24:15.309 in a matter of hours. It's a brilliant narrative 00:24:15.309 --> 00:24:17.369 device because it creates an immediate visceral 00:24:17.369 --> 00:24:20.089 ticking clock. Zeonix doesn't just need to win 00:24:20.089 --> 00:24:23.069 a spar. He has to engage in a high -stakes retrieval 00:24:23.069 --> 00:24:25.910 mission to recover that gem before Shane's biological 00:24:25.910 --> 00:24:28.069 clock runs out completely and he crumbles into 00:24:28.069 --> 00:24:30.710 dust. And the obstacle standing in their way. 00:24:31.069 --> 00:24:34.089 The guy hurling the explosives. He turns, gets 00:24:34.089 --> 00:24:36.609 a good look at Zeonix, pulls out a crumpled wanted 00:24:36.609 --> 00:24:39.630 poster and starts laughing. He reveals his identity 00:24:39.630 --> 00:24:42.230 and it ties the multiversal expansion right back 00:24:42.230 --> 00:24:45.950 to Zeonix's personal tragedy. This man is Creator 00:24:45.950 --> 00:24:49.089 Steve's brother. Known as Fusemaster. Fusemaster. 00:24:49.690 --> 00:24:52.470 And the weaponry he wields is a tactical nightmare. 00:24:52.789 --> 00:24:55.789 He fights with a long steel staff entirely coated 00:24:55.789 --> 00:24:58.509 in highly volatile gunpowder with a constantly 00:24:58.509 --> 00:25:01.450 burning fuse at one end. And the mechanic of 00:25:01.450 --> 00:25:04.500 this weapon is insane. If the staff strikes anything, 00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:07.599 the ground, a tree, or another weapon, the kinetic 00:25:07.599 --> 00:25:10.259 impact triggers a massive localized detonation 00:25:10.259 --> 00:25:12.140 right in the opponent's face. He has a devastating 00:25:12.140 --> 00:25:14.000 weapon. But through some elemental property, 00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.039 Fusemaster himself is completely immune to the 00:25:17.039 --> 00:25:19.720 blast radius of his own weapon. If we analyze 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:22.279 the tactical implications of this, it forces 00:25:22.279 --> 00:25:24.700 Xenix to completely abandon everything Kenshin 00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:26.660 taught him about defensive swordplay. How do 00:25:26.660 --> 00:25:29.480 you even fight that? If Fuse Master swings at 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:31.900 you, your instinct is to raise your blade and 00:25:31.900 --> 00:25:34.640 parry. But if your steel touches his staff, it 00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:37.059 acts as a detonator. You block, you explode. 00:25:37.180 --> 00:25:39.960 You attack his weapon, you explode. It nullifies 00:25:39.960 --> 00:25:42.099 the entire concept of blade -to -blade contact. 00:25:42.700 --> 00:25:45.640 Xehanix is forced to rely entirely on evasion 00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.559 and the ranged atmospheric strikes of the whistling 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:51.589 wind style. It's a brilliant way for neogentrics 00:25:51.589 --> 00:25:54.450 to test the limits of Xeonyx's new powers against 00:25:54.450 --> 00:25:56.369 an opponent who punishes traditional martial 00:25:56.369 --> 00:25:59.369 arts. The scene leaves us hanging right as Xeonyx 00:25:59.369 --> 00:26:01.690 attempts to strike the staff, gets blown violently 00:26:01.690 --> 00:26:03.829 backward by the concussive force, his clothes 00:26:03.829 --> 00:26:06.869 scorched, while Fuse Master just laughs maniacally 00:26:06.869 --> 00:26:09.609 in the burning clearing. We are promised an incredibly 00:26:09.609 --> 00:26:12.150 explosive, highly tactical confrontation to kick 00:26:12.150 --> 00:26:14.349 off the next chapter. And honestly, I need a 00:26:14.349 --> 00:26:16.809 break. The pacing of Act 2 is relentless. It 00:26:16.809 --> 00:26:19.349 truly is. We went from the quiet tragedy of a 00:26:19.349 --> 00:26:22.089 hidden family in Sakaar to a dynamite -wielding 00:26:22.089 --> 00:26:24.049 maniac in a magical forest fighting alongside 00:26:24.049 --> 00:26:27.430 a rapidly aging 30 -year -old mystic. My brain 00:26:27.430 --> 00:26:29.890 is absolutely fried processing the sheer volume 00:26:29.890 --> 00:26:31.890 of world -building and the massive shifts in 00:26:31.890 --> 00:26:34.170 character dynamics. It requires us to go back 00:26:34.170 --> 00:26:36.250 to the drawing board. It absolutely does, because 00:26:36.250 --> 00:26:39.329 Act 2 fundamentally changed the lore, the power 00:26:39.329 --> 00:26:41.829 scaling, and the true motivations of almost every 00:26:41.829 --> 00:26:43.910 mentor and parental figure in this universe. 00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:47.480 We cannot just keep moving forward blindly. We 00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:49.319 need to audit our own understanding of the text. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:52.319 So for episodes seven and eight of this deep 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.819 dive, we are going to do something special. We 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:57.259 are strictly dedicating the next two discussions 00:26:57.259 --> 00:27:00.000 to reopening all of our old Act One debates. 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:02.119 We're going to put our initial theories on trial. 00:27:02.750 --> 00:27:05.150 Using this new multiversal evidence. Exactly. 00:27:05.170 --> 00:27:07.490 I want you to join us next time as we look back 00:27:07.490 --> 00:27:09.990 at the Serviced War, the early dojo training, 00:27:10.190 --> 00:27:12.150 and the political destruction of Pekadesh through 00:27:12.150 --> 00:27:15.390 the lens of Eon Pax's surveillance state. We'll 00:27:15.390 --> 00:27:17.369 see if we stubbornly stand our ground on any 00:27:17.369 --> 00:27:20.130 remaining theories or if we completely cave and 00:27:20.130 --> 00:27:22.170 change our minds all over again. There's a lot 00:27:22.170 --> 00:27:24.089 of subtext we likely missed the first time around. 00:27:24.410 --> 00:27:26.869 There always is with neogentrics. But before 00:27:26.869 --> 00:27:29.069 we sign off today, I want to leave you with one 00:27:29.069 --> 00:27:31.769 final, deeply unsettling thought to mull over. 00:27:31.990 --> 00:27:34.210 We know the parents were hiding. We know they 00:27:34.210 --> 00:27:36.029 lived on the furthest outskirts, avoiding all 00:27:36.029 --> 00:27:39.130 attention. Yet E .M. Pax knew exactly where they 00:27:39.130 --> 00:27:41.730 were. He knew their exact address, and he specifically 00:27:41.730 --> 00:27:44.509 deployed Crater Steve to wipe them out. A targeted 00:27:44.509 --> 00:27:46.529 assassination requires precise intelligence. 00:27:46.930 --> 00:27:51.039 Exactly. Which means someone told him. Someone 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:53.599 in that quiet, seemingly peaceful town of Sakaar 00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:56.640 noticed something, or was paid to watch. If the 00:27:56.640 --> 00:27:58.779 mapmaker of this story is actively working for 00:27:58.779 --> 00:28:01.160 the enemy, we have to ask ourselves who else 00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:03.720 in the seemingly safe lands of Pekodesh is currently 00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:06.460 operating as a sleeper agent for Eon Pax's empire? 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:09.200 Who was watching the family? And more importantly, 00:28:09.380 --> 00:28:11.579 who is watching Zeonix right now? Keep reading, 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:13.720 keep questioning every character's motive, and 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:14.960 we will see you in Episode 7.