We maybe have not recorded a regular episode since I met that listener in a New York subway station. Oh! So I do want to quickly give a shout out to that person. Hi, Danielle.
It was great to meet you. I hope that any other listeners listening to this, who ever think they see me or Erin in a subway station or elsewhere, please approach us. We want to talk to you. I would make us so happy.
Yeah. Yeah. Danielle, we love you. Yeah, I could tell you're the best immediately.
Yeah. I was so sweaty and you weren't even put off by that. So you're a winner. Hello, pals.
Hello, pals and friends and amigos, et cetera. Et cetera. We are bilingual here and this is Laurel and Pod. Et cetera is the other language.
No, it was amigos. That makes significantly more sense. Erin is just so fluent in Spanish that she can't even tell when she's switching between those two. You can actually tell that by the way I pronounced amigos.
Yes, I personally, I could. Well, anyway, it's great over here. And we're back. Wait, no, we've been back.
You guys have heard us being back, but this is the first back episode we're recording. Yes, because we recorded the last two before the hiatus happened, because we did not realize those episodes would remain behind the fast pass wall. So here we are. Here we are.
We're back at it with the white vans with the white vans. I'm actually barefoot right now, which would upset Erin. I am also barefoot, but I don't want to hear about it. That's pretty shameful, which would describe your feet for me.
And then I'll describe mine. Absolutely not. I would rather die. I am sitting on top of mine so that I don't have to see them.
I'm gazing lovingly in mine. Yeah. So this is Laurel and Pod. We are a podcast about feet and Laurel and this, which is a comic by Michael Smith.
Fake news. Okay. Yeah, we are only a podcast about feet. We're not a podcast about Laurel and this.
I am Zoe. I am Erin. And this is Laurel and Pod. Yes, this is episode 137 in which we will be covering chapter 253 and 254 maybe.
That's what I have. Yay. Perfect. Great.
Before we start that, however, we do at the top of every regular episode read one of our five star iTunes reviews for your listening pleasure. Yay. This five star review comes to us from one year ago from username bless bless mess. Amen.
Bless bless mess mess. Best desk desk. Et cetera. Et cetera.
Back to our bilingual tongues. Yeah. The title is our girl Percy is just doing her dot dot dot. I assume it ends with best.
Probably. And this review says I discovered this pod last week and I am here for all of Erin and Zoe's shenanigans, screams and sweating. Y'all make analyzing this epic work of art so, so much fun. Never change babes.
XOXO. We love you. Bless bless mess mess. Thank you.
That was very sweet. Shall we dig in? Let us dig in. Erin, where did we leave off last episode?
We left off with Hades and Persephone going to the mortal realm with baby Dionysus to get ready for Persephone starting spring and they had just decided to call the interloper slash captured child, Dee Dee, Melanoe. Baby, baby. So this is picking up where that left off basically, but kind of jumping back and forth between the Cassandra stuff that we saw starting and the Hades and Persephone stuff. And it starts with the title panel and the title is episode 253.
It is him parentheses, mid-season finale. Dun dun dun. And when we pick up, we see this like gray charcoley sky and over it, there are these eyes. They're like kind of glowing purple and they seem like they're almost crying and there's this purple text and it goes as the famous story goes, the brave Olympians battle the Titans and we see these like mountains with like purple lightning strikes coming through them and it goes on to say the most difficult and fearsome of the Titans was Cronus and we say like a white outline of Cronus on black with like the trauma motif going through him kind of.
Very angry. Very angry. Quite fearsome indeed. Indeed.
And did you have the like gut instinct to try to retrofit these opening lines to the tune of the gospel truth from Hercules? Because it doesn't work, but that's like so badly what I wanted, you know? I love that. I think you're correct that that is what we should all be wanting in this moment.
It's so and then along came Zeus, he hurled his thunderbolt. You know, it's like it's exactly that. We'll have to work that into the musical we're writing based on Laurel and this right it'll be 98% Brittany Spears songs and then what? Wholesale copying of the gospel truth for Hercules.
10 out of 10. I watch the shit out of that. That would be pretty funny. I feel like that's also like kind of exactly our humor.
We're like, anyone who received it would be like, do they know they did a bad job? And we'd be like, first off, yes, second off, it is our best. Yeah. So yeah, so this and this whole framing that we're experiencing right now, it turns out to be a prophecy that Cassandra is conveying.
So Cassandra is going on to say, the Olympians stood no chance of defeating the tyrant king on their own merits. And we see this panel of the six traitors all in profile kind of split with the brothers on the left and the sisters who aren't technically successful on the right. And it's very impressively distinct silhouettes. Yeah.
And it goes on to say, they devised a plan to poison Cronus using a mysterious herb. It is said that the herb went extinct after the war. Its name and location lost to time. I tried to go down a rabbit hole on this herb because I was like, this whole concept of them poisoning him with an herb rang a bell for me, but I wasn't sure if I actually remembered that from mythology or if I was like conflating it with the book Cersei from Madeline Miller or if I was just making shit up, you know?
Amen. Yeah. So I tried to research like existing specific myths about the defeat of Cronus that referenced some kind of herb. And the only thing I could find was this one writing by our good buddy who folks might remember from the Patreon pseudo-epolitaurus.
Oh, our dinosaur friends. Who wrote this thing that said like, when Zeus was grown, so it was like blah, blah, blah, Cronus ate the rock and then Zeus went to hide on the mountain, blah, blah, blah. And then when Zeus was grown, he engaged Oceanus's daughter Metis as a colleague. She gave Cronus a drug by which he was forced to vomit forth first the stone then the children he had swallowed.
Oh, that's really interesting. Yeah. But that was the only source I found that mentioned something like this. Most of the other sources seem to just generally talk about Zeus defeating him by might or by lightning bolt or just saying like, and somehow Zeus defeated him.
Right. Right. That's really interesting. Yeah.
Okay. And now we see Cassandra and she's like holding some like candle thing that's like making this glowing purple smoke and her eyes are glowing purple and there's like a purple tint on things, presumably because Apollo gave her the prophecy power. Yeah. And she's going, this is where the famous story falls silent and my prophecy begins.
The nameless herb with the ability to undo a deathless god is not extinct. It is however, extremely rare and temperamental blooming only sporadically if at all. And Zoe, I don't know if you actually knew this about me, but temperamental blooming only sporadically if at all is actually my legal middle name. Thank you.
Thank you. That one came to me in a bit of divine inspiration. It's also so long, which adds a certain sick while, you know, but I really think everywhere it carries significance, you know, it really does. And knowing oneself is so important.
Amen. Yeah. And Cassandra is looking at these fucks like, yeah, well, you want this herb to fucking bad because it's temperamental and it blooms only sporadically if at all. And then she's like, but actually I do know exactly when it's going to bloom.
And after this, it seems like it is going to be extinct. So like everything I just said, forget about it. That's irrelevant. The important thing is what I'm saying now.
Also, like this is really great timing because that's today. Like, yeah. And she's like, it is foretold that the nameless herb will bloom once again for 12 hours only on the eve of spring. It's location no longer forgotten is on the outskirts of Anthedon.
And with that concludes Cassandra's prophecy that she's relaying. And we see that the people she was relaying into were arrows and psyche. And they both look kind of dumbstruck. Yeah.
And classic arrows has very inability to put two plus two together even to like the correct order of magnitude. Because he's going, why would Apollo want to know about some old herb? And immediately psyche is like, Zeus, like we need to warn Zeus, at least psyche has a brain. Arrows, it is such a blessing.
I hope you are thanking every other God every single day that psyche chose to marry you. Like, yeah, my God. But in the meantime, we flash away and we go see what Zeus is up to. And he's just like whistling a Mary to himself in his house.
Looking like he's about to like do like Riverdance or something. Like he's a right to just start kicking his legs around. He's in the cast of On the Town or whatever. And he gets to his desk and he sees this little like beverage and cupcake surprise for him.
And he says, Oh, yes, he is my best child. He is your best child. That is your best child. True.
That is true. And he picks up the little cupcake and reads the note and the note says, Dear Daddy, a sweet treat that you had coming and it signed he be. And my primary question is, did Apollo make this? So we're going to find out that this is like a poison cupcake that Apollo left here and made it look like it's from he be right.
Did he make this cupcake? Is he secretly hiding the fact that he is like the cake boss? And he's like just a really good at decorating cute ass little cupcakes? Maybe I mean, maybe he's like one of those kids in stick to the status quo who's like everybody thinks that I'm just bad at music and medicine but my secret passion is cupcake making.
Like maybe that's why he's so angry because he just wants to bake and he can't and Zeus just like goes to town on this cupcake. Yeah, immediately chomping it. But his phone rings and he answers it while he's chewing the cupcake like hello and it's like he and she's frantic like Zeus. It's like he I've reasonably believe Apollo is trying to cause you physical harm with the same plant used on Cronus and he's like behind the psyche at the phone like holding her shoulders for physical support which is all he can offer in this brain based situation.
And he still looks so confused like he is also still trying to figure out what's happening. Right. And psyche's going on and she's like I'm glad we caught you in time. We only just got the information from Apollo's oracle and Zeus like temporarily stops munching his cupcake and he's like so it's come to this.
All right, thanks for the update. That young man is in for a world of hurt and he has like little lightning sparks coming off of his head. Yeah, but he is not suspicious of this cupcake at all. He just like he goes I've got to make some calls.
Goodbye. And like even though it said you had this coming in the note and he's like I can only assume that this was truly from he be and he would never. Eros inherited his brains from his grandpa. He certainly did.
He certainly did. So anyway, yeah, now we're cutting away. And now we are in the mortal realm with like Demeter's household of nymphs and there's like a bedroom off in the side of the house somewhere and we see the speech bubble that's blue. So it's coming from Hades and he's going she can see him and Persephone is just calmly explaining that like Cronus is haunting Hera.
She's like getting dressed like behind these like dressing screens and she's like yeah Cronus has been haunting Hera ever since she woke up crazy right like just casually explaining it. Yeah like while she's putting on her mortal realm garb and Hades is already in his mortal realm garb doing a joint Steve Jobs Elizabeth Holmes cosplay with this like up to his chin and beyond the turtleneck that is skin tight. We have to like okay where does it end because it goes up okay this turtleneck is like it's all the way up his neck and like all the way up the back of his neck like into his hairline like to the sense that I'm like is it like connected to his crown thing? My theory is that in the spirit of literally doing a sexy Elizabeth Holmes cosplay he's only wearing a toga and then the turtleneck is all body paint.
Oh I like that. It is like skin tight it is and like it goes up so high that like surely it's body paint and I wouldn't it be and like why would you do that to us Hades? Why would you wear a layer of clothes when you could not? Exactly and okay they're going on and Hades is freaking out rightly and it's going how is he able to do that and Persephone is like maybe that's what he's using Melanoi for which yeah maybe that's a good that's a good hypothesis and Hades eventually is like we're gonna deal with this tomorrow we're gonna focus on the spring thing right now this is a problem for tomorrow us, Bella.
Yeah and that's when Persephone emerges from where she was changing like fully dressed with her hair done and he just goes wow you look really pretty and he's like blushing a little and it's cute and she does look really pretty and he goes so should I go out front and meet up with Demeter and she's just like that's right thank you so much for doing this my mother has agreed to be on her best behavior tonight and he's like oh don't worry about me and Demeter surely we can navigate some trivial small talk as you give the mortals with abundance and hope. Rip big rip these two are sitting outside waiting for Persephone and they are having a bad time yep Demeter looks bored and unhappy and displeased and Hades looks like he's trying super hard not to shit himself and it looks like they have like scientifically calculated the maximum distance they can be apart from each other without looking like they're trying to sit as far apart from each other as possible yeah that's so accurate and they're staring straight ahead not looking at each other and Hades is like it looks really nice out here and Demeter's like I know I made it that way and he's like right oh I also love that though like if someone you eat is like oh your outfit looks nice you're like yeah bitch it does get fucked yeah like honestly yes Demeter you just make it this way good job love it love it and Hades is like okay I'll just go I guess like Jesus except instead he rallies his emotional energy and he goes I brought you a gift and he's like handing her this piece of paper or envelope or something and she's like this isn't really a gift giving occasion but she takes it from him yeah and it's like Demeter it is always a gift giving occasion with our man Hades yeah this is his only love language his love language to Persephone today is giving your mother a gift it's like almost his only language she could get before more sound you just take it and at first she's like squinting it reading it and then she's confused and then she looks up at him and goes you're giving me your volcanoes and he goes I know it doesn't make up for our long history of conflict but I hope it's a start and yeah then Hades goes on to explain himself and it's very cute yeah he's saying the volcanoes were originally a gift from my mother so shout out to all the people who I apologize about cano said something to do with Raya oh my god I know like I have no idea how people realized that like that's such like who the fuck figured that out that was so smart of you yeah for real like that's amazing you guys are amazing and we see a very cute panel of Raya with baby Hades on her shoulder in behind this volcano yeah and baby Hades is like looks fucking thrilled like he like has a big mouth is gay baby got his little hands on his face he's like ah you kind of have to zoom in to see just how happy he is but I highly recommend doing it because it's so cute and then Hades launches into this explanation that is extremely fair yeah where he goes I have to confess that I've always had a chip on my shoulder towards you I got the impression you believed I was an outsider to the mortal realm when you wanted to trade for them I already fell pushed out of the mortal realm it felt like you were removing the last connection I had with my home but you were just trying to get on with things and I let my feelings get the best of me which is like all extremely fair yeah and at this point who do we see in the background kind of appearing between Demeter and Hades's heads yeah is minty and like god lover as soon as she sees the Hades is there she is fucking running for the hills yeah she's like her eyes are wide she's like shit shit shit and she is sprinting away and you know what ma'am good on you that's growth I love this I love this like I could definitely see other readers wanting her in Hades to have some like closure or whatever but not me not me like to be honest I think that would be an active bad for both of them just they're both doing great run away girl they're both doing great go live your it's my independent mental wellness life amen and Demeter looks unimpressed still but she kind of big grudgingly says I suppose that is something I can understand and then they're unified by the one thing they have in common their love of Persephone because Hades goes oh look there she is now they're both waving at her happily yeah and Persephone waves back to them and she has these like leaf branches in her hair and she's thinking they look like they're getting along and there are these nymphs around her preparing things and she says nobody is yelling or crying or turning into a bug so I'll take that as a win yeah and we see her like stretching her thighs and I was like our girl is 30 she knows she's got to warm up now she's like my body can't do what it used to I must stretch she's about to walk up a hill better stretch I'm not fucking around with that a fucking man I feel like I can't do literally anything without stretching my body or my body is like you want to what and now that she's properly warmed up she is walking up a hill with the nymphs following behind her with like instruments and all kind of stuff and the nymphs seem to me like they are generating some kind of magic or power themselves in the palms of their hands in this next panel I guess it's possible that they're catching something that Persephone generated but it seemed to me like this was coming from the nymphs and they were like sending it up yeah it was unclear to me if that was like something coming from them independently or if it's like Persephone like channeling through them you know what I mean yeah but I agree it seems like they're sending it up maybe the Persephone theory makes more sense yeah I don't know whatever regardless the ceremony is beginning music is being played yeah power is swirling around and Persephone does this like exhale and it's kind of a little smoky exhale which is kind of foreboding yeah and then we see one of these big long beautiful panels where it like horizontal to us and there's an input a liar and an input a drum and then there's like Persephone with her power streaming out before her and behind her and she's like putting her power all over everything and it's coming out in these like white balls yeah which we don't really necessarily understand yet but Hades is wowed by it and he's saying wow and he looks amazed yeah but then by the next panel it's like kind of looking like snow yeah it's it's really looking like snow and Persephone is still oblivious to it but by the time we scroll down we see another horizontal panel of like the nymphs looking concerned and some like wintery looking trees and more snowflakes and Persephone is still going about her business and she does not even notice she's like flying and spinning and doing a little dance yeah but then we see these speech bubbles that are like partially blurred out going Persephone Persephone and they're like gradually coming into focus but she's totally in her like white glowing eyes trance yeah and eventually someone is yelling Persephone and she snaps out of it and Hades is going something's happened to her powers and she looks over at what she just did like what and she's like tearing up because she sees that things did not go the way she intended they did not but we're gonna segue away from that so we'll discuss more of that snowy goodness in a minute yeah now we cut to something else that's fucking happening and we see like a purple like a dark purple night sky with stars and we see like kind of reflected images of Apollo being a nightmare and he's going hello can you hear me and there's some mystery space star universe voice being like did you do what did it to be done and all we see is like a big like north star type of situation yeah with these like rings emanating from it it seems like and I don't know who the fuck I thought this was so I genuinely just I was like I am out on this right right it what I did not guess it was gonna be this though no me either me either so Apollo is going like I have it I have it is nice good and the mystery voice is like good and now now you will be rewarded for your patience and we see this flash of like arrows and psyche walking somewhere and the mystery voice is being like you need the fertility goddess core if you wish to be unchallenged as king it may seem as though she is lost to you bound by a contract to the underworld however that very contract threatens the fate of the human race and we see more wintery scenes yeah I'm extremely bummed because I thought we were moving past the Apollo is somehow trying to marry Persephone plot why it never ends which I understand like not a criticism that like the plot line is coming back but just like man my emotional loving yeah exactly exactly exactly and the mystery voice is you know clearly an expert in marital law because it goes this calls her union with the god of the dead into question and we see Hades like coming up behind Persephone who is very sad about the winter wonderland she has created yeah and Hades looks like he's debating if he can beat the shit out of snow like he looks furious at the snow he's like I swear to god snow like I wish you would land on my shoulder as you fucking would why don't try it and see what happens yeah truly and then this way goes the prophecy is finally whole and we see Apollo like picking this weed presumably the one we talked about before with like fucking tweezers he's like I'm afraid to touch it little pussy whatever and the voice goes our time is come and we see Apollo signing the he be letter and this is what I thought was gonna fucking happen in season one where Persephone left that fucking note that was like no one worry about me or whatever whatever the fuck is that right no I thought it was written by Apollo or somebody else yeah and it was on fucking yellow paper it was the same thing I was so triggered yeah yeah yeah yeah me and then the voice goes Zeus must accept his fate like his father before him and we see this panel of Zeus unconscious on the ground of his study or whatever and he'd be like weeping over him he had a tough go of it with her parents having medical emergencies I just want her to have a good life and after the mystery voice goes Zeus must accept his fate like his father before him Apollo goes and his father before him which he dares say to the face of this mystery voice who we find out is Orinos so I have the same note like that is a wild thing to say to his father before him like yeah hold sir you really want a rub salt in that wound sir okay yeah fine fine yeah yeah I am fascinated by this for two reasons the simpler of which is like I'm intrigued to that Orinos like knows what's happening with the winter and the Arabist deal and the marriage and the whatever like that could be explained by just like general god powers but it is kind of interesting that he like basically instantaneously knows what's happening or maybe he's just like pals with Arabist or something and Arabist is like haha I guess what I took from Persephone or whatever but I don't know I thought that was kind of interesting yeah that is interesting I didn't even think about that yeah yeah and like this also surprised me a little bit because I was like in a way I'd almost imagine Orinos being on Zeus's side like yeah this was the one who castrated Orinos and Zeus defeated Cronus so you'd think he would be like hey man the enemy of my enemy is my friend like whatever but I guess maybe he just figures Apollo was a weak little shit so like if Apollo takes the crown maybe he could like wrestle it back from him or something I don't know yeah or he's just like I mean Zeus didn't come here and offer me some kind of redemption power and Apollo is here now and is like hey I'll give you something if you help me and he's like yep sign me the fuck up yeah could be any of that yeah yeah but that's the end of the chapter yeah and that was the cliffhanger that we were left on during the hiatus but fear not we have another episode now and we're gonna dive into it thank god it's episode 254 and the title is snow dum dum dum dum okay and continuing with the theme of aero's dumb as shit and psyche just hasn't been here long enough to have all the information we're back with aero psyche and he be looking at Zeus being unconscious on the floor with these like vines growing over his face from this poison yeah and one of them is going oh no we're too late and psyche who doesn't know any better it's like who can we call a scleepius as clapius yeah and aros is going I don't know if we can trust him like guys you need to call kyron you're being so fucking dense right now there is one good medical person it is kyron what is your fucking problem like I appreciate that you want to respect their retirement from corporeal medicine however fuck emergency fuck that yeah I'm sure kyron understands an emergency when they see one amen and they are the best and the only option the literal only option and aros is like coming apart of the seems like gosh darn it why you're the medical god so corrupt this is a terrible system like yeah I mean yeah it is except kyron yeah and as this is happening we see in the background apollo's piss yellow shiny car yeah then we see him emerge from the car and psyche's just like speaking of and aros and psyche just nod to each other and they're like we'll be right back and they're gonna go confront him and they for some inscrutable reason aren't like he be locked the doors yeah he be do you see apollo is out there we're gonna go fight hit like they don't say shit to her like he's a bad guy he be trust us yeah like we're pretty sure apollo did this and he's outside you should be aware of that fact call someone to come sit with you like guys and like this is literally psyches first rodeo so I do know it is funny of this but aros my fucking dude I couldn't agree more psyches older you like mine psyches carrying this team on her back she is brand new here aros I need you to contribute one thing even one time almost anything and they storm out there and they go up to him and psyches yelling it was you you did this say something and she gets right up close to him and he just like looks down at her like she is a peasant and he is the king which he is not the audacity and he snorts and goes this is so boring spare me or more or less a human ridicule which like I do think this characterization of apollo is spot on yeah like yeah on the one hand like yes gods and myths like are not human and don't operate by a human moral code and whatever but also on top of that like this is so sleazy politician of him yes pretend that morality is unreasonable in the course of doing business or whatever like this is so spot on and to pretend that it's not just unreasonable but that it's like naive to try to be moral to care in the face of a system that like that is so spot on and so infuriating and somehow this is not nearly the most infuriating thing that he does in this episode yep it's it's so bad yeah and he's like you've been a guy for all of two seconds you can't possibly understand the nuances of the olympian political system and arrows is like uninterested in this and he's like genuinely thinking about it and then he's like so patricide and it's like i can't tell if he is trying to be snarky or if he's literally like oh the olympian political system patricide right like could be either could be either yeah and then who shows up but this bitch leto i mean this yeah and she's going they know too much coming in like a supervillain wait yeah for real because so first we see this panel of sycian arrows and arrows is going leto and arrows his eyes are like glowing pink now which i i don't think we've seen before i agree i forgot but i agree i assume that's his angry look yeah and he's like he's like okay apollo does not register as a threat but leto does register as a threat right such that she gets my angry eyes and he's going leto and sycia at the same time is like cesandra and then we see this panel of leto like holding an arrow to cesandra's throat and cesandra's like i'm sorry and this is like a really good villain panel it is it is and apollo's just being like in your haste to save the day you forgot about someone so lapi work yep fuck here's the problem you see the two of you are new match for me in terms of scale or strength oh my god however as my mother said you know too much in judging by your reaction i feel like you might talk and then he's like unless you want my mother to poke a tiny little hole in cesandra's throat we need you to cooperate and sycian arrows like exchange a really nervous glance and then they're just like i mean yeah okay right and like they go with their hands up and leto is still holding the erotica cesandra's neck and it's tough and now they're just in a jail cell leto is locked them in her own personal dungeon in her basement yep and she's going i know imprisoning you may seem deeply unkind but your meddling must be stopped for your own good and everyone else's i'll have you know that my son is trying to improve our society shut up dumbass you don't believe that i'm gonna say do you think she believes that like i can i feel like maybe she does though i don't think she does i mean i could see people thinking she does i personally 100 do not think she does i think she wants power for herself and she sees a pelo as a vehicle to that yeah that's fair that's fair and then she as she starts to walk away she goes and don't try to escape this dungeon is enchanted with y'all sure i mean not so it would have to be yeah and eros goes to sycian can i ask you something and she's just like what and he goes do you also find it odd that leto has a dungeon in her house and sycian's just like what the fuck is happening why are you this dumb sycian's like i literally have a one-year-old child that is gonna need a babysitter for an indefinite amount of time uh but also guys separately from that this is your opportunity to have sex on a literal dungeon so you might as well pass the time that way i mean you might as well and frankly if leto didn't want to see and hear that she shouldn't have put you all here yeah she should not have hooked up the god of love and sex and his wife in a dungeon in her house that she didn't want them to fuck amen honestly i think that could be a really creative and effective way of getting yourselves let out like just have such a loud disturbing sex constantly that leto cannot stand it loud disturbing but obviously you're having an incredible time and then she gets so jealous and deeply uncomfortable yeah i think that's the only move honestly i can't think of a better move use your skills team right like it's not like you have a cell phone on you like use what you've got amen but then we cut back to non-dungeon area yeah and we're seeing he'd be like crying over her dad going pappa you know how to help you when i'm conscious uh so we i hate this i hate this let's just go through it really fast okay i hate it oh god it's terrible okay so apollo comes in off screen and he goes oh no he be what happened now he's a muppet now honestly fine yeah and he be is crying and she's like apollo we're aero's and psyche and she's still clinging to her dad and he's like oh don't worry about them i'm losing it they just got a little caught up with something else it's all over the place i kind of like that it kind of just cycles through different luppets you know and eventually we'll get to beaker that's the one that doesn't speak in english right so maybe we can do that for his most terrible line so we don't even have to say them okay perfect and she's like can you help being like you're the god of medicine surely this is a reasonable thing and apollo goes ahead and leans into his incompetent brand yeah and he just stares at his palm like he thinks that's something that would convince her i think it's the hand that was just touching zeus like as though the contact with zeus's shirt would give him some insight into zeus's medical condition the man who needed a first aid kit to deal with persophany getting a scratch yeah yeah and he goes looks like he ingested a taxxican rare poison there's nothing i can do it's a literal god of medicine what on brand on brand on brand it's like someone is like oh he hates there's a dead person here can you put him to work as unpaid labor and he's just like sorry there's just nothing i can't be capable of doing that it's like no that's your whole thing literally that's your jobing you are the guy yeah like apollo obviously is lying and just gaslighting he be but like he is so bad and incompetent that it's just believable yeah and that's when apollo picks up the note that he wrote but framed as being from hebe and is like dear daddy a sweet treat that you had coming and looks at her as though he's appalled and she's just like i didn't write that and he's like i think you would better step away from the king and she's like her body language is like she's threatened and his body language is like he's threatening and i hate it very much yep it's terrible and she's so small and he's so big and she's like i would never hurt my father and she's the only person in existence who means it and he's just like honestly he'd be i don't know what to think this note is pretty damning and now he's like in shadow in this big looming figure over her and he goes i'm sorry to say this but it seems like you poison zeus and she's like stammering and scared yeah and he's a monster he's literally the worst and he's like i'm really confused right now but since you're my sister i'm gonna give you a head start to get out of here because if you stay i might have to hurt you and then she runs away which is the only fucking thing she could do i have a question for you erin yeah at this exact moment in time is there any character in laura limpis that you would like to murder apollo more than hebe no absolutely not like right i'm on the same page yeah great yeah anyway so now hebe has run off and apollo is still being a dickhole like god everyone is so predictable and then he picks up the phone and puts on his like i went to of fifteen dollar an hour acting class for three weeks and now i think i'm a professional face and he's like hello it's an emergency something terrible happened i need you to send your best journalist and you like thought he was called for an ambulance but no like that is legitimately funny though i have to give him that yeah and he has his like boot on zeus's chest as he's saying this like what a fucking monster and hebe is like running out of the house and as she does she looks up to the sky and she sees snow yeah and she is confused and like uh oh it's snowing in olympus like that's that's pretty far away this is not just the mortal realm that is a toughy that is climate change my dear amen and now we are back with persefony in this like darker sequence yeah having a tough time very and she's thinking snow and we see her face like superimposed over a night sky that snow has snow in it and she's flashing back to when she was like on the roof with Hades back way back when and she's thinking i can remember a time when snow was a romantic mystery a thing of beauty interwoven with my most treasured moments but this is nothing short of a betrayal and she is seeing like a remembering the tree with a fucking pomegranate and putting two and two together being like arabesque really fucked me over because what the fuck else is this yeah and i do think this was an interesting reminder that snow was a thing just not in the world realm just only in the underworld i guess right and once i remembered that i thought this actually makes a ton of sense like it's kind of cool that snow was an underworld thing and now that she's an underworld goddess she like has that new power like she might not want it but it does kind of make sense you know yeah it doesn't come from nothing yeah yeah it's not arbitrary right right but like her categorizing this as a betrayal is really interesting and i think appropriate that she's like arabesque my dude i thought we were cool yeah like you fucking know what my deal is yeah and i know you were gonna take something from me but like you took my whole ass fucking thing like good god yeah that's so rude like i'm with you Persephone that's extremely rude yeah but honestly it's in line with my previous characterization of arabesque as just being totally chaotic neutral you know i mean i don't know that this is neutral like this is i mean it's targeted no it sucks for Persephone but i just imagined that arabesque was like this would be something cool for me to have and like didn't consider how much it would suck for Persephone at all like wasn't like maybe arabesque was doing it to fuck with her but i think there's a good chance that arabesque was just like i kind of want this i don't really care how it'll affect her you know what i mean yeah that's fair that's fair yeah and now we're scrolling down and we see this panel that is like these tall trees with no leaves on them and she's like a figure moving through them and she says she's thinking for the cold and darkness of the snow to be here in this way doing damage in this way and then the Persephone image kind of reflects down to be an arabesque image yeah the source is not an enemy but myself and we again see these reflected images of like what Persephone looked like on the roof of the underworld reaching for snow happily and then like what she was like today reaching out and making snow and it being a disaster and then we see this like flashback panel her her envisioning of herself as like a monster during the act of wrath like covered in blood and she goes once again i am the calamity and then we see her holding the minty plant just like thinking of all of her greatest hits of the worst things she's ever done this does suck this does suck that you kind of did not have control over any of these things like if you had wanted to do these things i would stand behind you girl but it does suck that you didn't even want to yeah and then we see like kind of faded behind her there's just like a quick glimpse of her in like the outfit she was in when she made her deal with arabesque right when she was drinking the pomegranate yeah and then she's like exhaling and her breath is coming out in little like almost trauma motif puffs because it's fucking cold and she looks upset and she's like this couldn't possibly be and now we're kind of stepping out of her internal monologue back to the real world and she's looking around going how and Hades is behind her and she's like immediately rushing into action like i'm just gonna try again maybe i just need to refocus and the meter is swooping in like a rut row yeah redirect yeah and for sepani is like going up to this tree and just making it dramatically worse just like wrecking this tree right like what was once a winter tree is now just a very dead rotting tree yeah and Hades is just kind of like fluttering uselessly around her with his arms out being like um i support you in anything my love however i love you what do you need to punch something yeah and Hades and the meter are both just concerned yeah and for sepani now it's like holding onto the street being like dead it's dead oh spiraling shit fuck fuck shit and demeter gently takes her hands and is like i think that's enough for now and persevani is screaming like i'm so sorry and demeter is just like i know i know and like demeter is hard on persevani you can say whatever you want but she is good in a crisis yes yes i agree i was like wow at least demeter is stepping up in this moment she's like yeah baby girl i'm not gonna lie to you this sucks yeah but i i understand that you're sorry i understand you didn't do this on purpose and it's gonna be okay yeah it's gonna be okay mommy's gonna fix it you go inside yeah we're gonna figure this out she definitely is still a little bit treating persevani like a child with a whole like i will deal with this okay you just go calm down or whatever but also like yeah bitch that's what i want yeah like if i was persevani right now i'd be like yes mom can you please do it for me yes exactly i'd be like this is a time when i very much want you to be my mommy and yes fix this this is very bad and she's being like i can stay and help endometers like maybe it's for the best if you go home for now persevani tries to protest me like button demeter is just like we can resolve this later for now i need to go to work die and is this is just inside and Hades is just like we'll start sending resources as soon as we get back and persevani kind of pauses in her tracks and it's like i'm gonna try again i know i can do it and she's like maybe you're all no bordering on manic yeah girl honey no like i get it but no and demeter is like persevani no yeah i thought and she looks back at Hades and is like would you know something right you're just gonna stand there maybe useless lump like fuck any progress we made have you forgotten that i fucking hate you and think you're useless yeah although like i guess she likes you now can you fucking nonsense in there and Hades is just like demeter i love her for doing exactly what she's doing i don't give a shit if your whole thing is ruined i just want her to do whatever she wants stop you know Hades is like i am actively in this moment commissioning a water slide to be built in the shape of this event water slide art is so underrated you know not to Hades Hades appreciates and you know water slide art can really be a multimedia affair you can have water slide painting you can have water slide sculpture amen like you can really do whatever you want to do with it it's a medium full of potential it is and he's just being like demeter i can't stop her from trying eneter is like oh no she is killing everything and Hades is like and furthermore i won't even attempt to say anything to her i won't even say hey babe maybe we should take a beat huh no if anything i'm gonna go you're doing great babe keep it up on i'm holding your purse for when you're done love this you want me to punch the snow and we just see Persephone like radiating out more death powers into demeters carefully crafted wonderland tough deeply tough and demeters just like reaching up like noooooo and Persephone's like i don't understand what these new powers are meant to be i'm like death girl they're death powers you're the queen of the dead like death i get that it's not what you wanted or what you're used to but i think it's pretty clear what they're supposed to be right like take a step back get some perspective it's death take a beat go inside yeah and she goes all i can make is ice rotten decay but she's still doing it she's like so far the first 90 minutes of this is just ice rotten decay but i bet minute 91 is gonna be sprinted and also her dress at this point is like tattered and raggedy like yeah yeah it's tough and she's like i can't give life to anything and she just like collapses into the snow yeah poor baby girl and demeter and Hades both rush up to comfort her and Hades goes she's passed out but she'll be okay i'm gonna take her home yeah and demeter is crying and she just like the switch flips yep and she's like i was literally trying so fucking hard but i'm gonna kill you i'm gonna fucking kill you remember how you felt about punching the snow that's how i feel about you also like yeah this is not Hades's fault but i understand completely the meter is like this is 100% exactly what i said was going to happen when i was afraid of happening and it's exactly fucking happening just like i fucking said it wouldn't know whatever fucking listens to me and now i'm gonna fucking kill you yep precisely and she just like literally grabs him by his toga and it's like i warned you and her eyes are starting to glow and she goes you and your underworld just had to have her and now she's like transforming into this huge primal version of herself which kind of resembles Gaia and Persephone's fancy form which might just be a genetics thing but also there's still a part of me that's like we don't really know what's going on with that extra fertility goddess i don't know i don't know i don't know oh man i don't know yeah and then it ends with her yelling you've killed the goddess of spring and Hades is just holding Persephone's past out body in the snow and demeter like flies off dramatically and i think one of my favorite things that's ever happened in the entire world correct correct correct but say is this postscript from Rachel being like hey guys i know you are the most insane group of people on the planet i know you will take literally anything that i say even one time a long time ago and spin it in a whole world of possibilities but just so you guys don't freak out yes let me be clear she was being dramatic that was a metaphor Persephone is not dead she's fine she's gonna be fine yeah yeah she literally the note says when demeter says you've killed the goddess of spring she does not believe that Persephone is actually dead she's saying without her union with Hades has caused Persephone to lose her powers rendering her unable to perform her role as goddess of spring thank you i love the thank you with the period that's so like thank you for coming to my TED talk yeah Rachel really knows her audience man yeah for real wait so it is fascinating to me that this is how this happened that like strongly because usually yeah like in the myths usually it's like oh demeter made winter because Persephone wasn't there right like demeter is so sad whatever but this is demeter does not make winter yeah Persephone makes winter yeah i haven't ever seen a version of the myth where it wasn't demeter yeah yeah it is i it that is very interesting to me and like i am always here for Persephone having more complexity and you know angst drives the platform and stuff but my first reaction to this honestly was that this might take away some of demeter's agency i mean i'm sure that demeter will claw her way back to agency because of who she is as a person but like the winter thing was like demeter's main agency in the myths for like getting herself reunited with her daughter you know it is interesting yeah that's a really good point but yeah i'm intrigued to see how Persephone handles this let's get her some appointments with chiron yeah for real also like i'm intrigued to see like what mechanism like allows for this to be resolved and why winter will happen on a continuing basis like maybe it's it's like oh half the year her powers literally can only do winter but yeah i don't know i'm interested to see where it goes right or like if her primary residence is the underworld at a given time then she has winter powers but if her primary residence is the mortal realm at a given time then she has spring powers or something yeah and that would explain the like year split yeah and for some reason demeter like doesn't just fix it right yeah and okay the other thing i thought was interesting is like since the original deal with arabis we have seen some small evidence of her normal like flower and spring powers like we've seen her like leave petals in her wake or like put flowers in her hair or whatever so i'm wondering if like either arabis was just waiting to do this until it was the most dramatic possible moment yeah or maybe it's like only with respect to providing for the mortals and like if she wanted to put some tulips on her dining room table or whatever she could do that but like yeah it benefits the mortals which is the thing she really wants to do then fuck you you know yeah yeah or like it only works to give life in the underworld or something yeah yeah yeah i don't know i'm really interested to see where it goes me too me too as well so that's that that's that so wow indeed and we're entering winter in the story just as we enter winter here oh i love that okay so that's that that's that until next time kiddos we'll see you then bye bye