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Take flight with best friends, Hannah & Karen, into the world of the Empyrean series, where they are currently dissecting Fourth Wing through the fresh lens of Iron Flame. Expect lots of fangirling, easter egg hunts, foreshadowing analysis, signet speculation, and deep-dive theories as they prepare for the upcoming Onyx Storm release! *All episodes include spoilers for the entirety of Fourth Wing and Iron Flame* Each week, we embark on a new chapter-by-chapter adventure, beginning with a sum ...
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I’m not trying to win. I’m not doing this because I want to beat someone, or because I hate someone, or because I want to blame someone. It’s not because it’s fun and God knows it’s not because it’s easy. It’s not even because it works, because it hardly ever does. I do what I do because it’s right! Because it’s decent! And above all, it’s kind. It…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 36-39 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron Fla…
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This week, things take an upsetting turn on Flight Through Entirety, as Bill is beset, in succession, by a nervous gunman, the master in latex (as usual), the passage of time, a creepy surgeon, and narrative inevitability. Also, the Masters are having an end-of-series party with the Cybermen again. It’s World Enough and Time. Notes and links For al…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 34 & 35 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron F…
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This week, John Dorney joins us in northern Scotland to investigate the disappearance of the Ninth Legion — only to discover that there are things here even more terrible than the Roman army, things that can only be fought with trust and empathy and music. It’s The Eaters of Light. Notes and links Crash (2004) starts with a voiceover by Don Cheadle…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, for an Emergency Empyrean Battle Brief: the JUST RELEASED Onyx Storm EXCERPT! In this expedited bonus episode (delivered via Dragon, no less 🐉), they bring you a full read through of both the brand new excerpt released on 11/09 in Cosmopolitan Magazine Winter Edition: “HOTTER Than DRAGON FIRE,” AND th…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 32 & 33 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before taking flight into discussion and analysis of key moments, foreshadowing, & theories! Then, they stop by the Healer’s Quad…
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This week, we’re huddling with Toby Hadoke in a tent in a cave set somewhere on Mars, wondering what that massive gun is for and trying to decide which terrifying Imperial Majesty to give our fealty to. It’s Empress of Mars. Notes and links Lucifer Box is the protagonist of three spy novels by Mark Gatiss set in the early twentieth century, The Ves…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 30 & 31 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron F…
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The Earth has once again fallen under the thrall of some wizened cadaverous monsters, who demand our love, our loyalty, and our uncritical acceptance of the Great Monk theory of history. And the only way to throw off their yoke is with a lot of laborious exposition. It’s The Lie of the Land. Notes and links Simon quotes from the Yes, Prime Minister…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 28 & 29 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron F…
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This week, Tom Salinsky joins us for a World War III–adjacent chat in Madeupistan, while a global apocalypse is self-organising somewhere in Yorkshire. Also, some scary people keep trying to invite us to a free Bible study. It’s The Pyramid at the End of the World. Notes and links Brendan compares Extremis to Star Trek: Voyager’s Course: Oblivion, …
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This week, Brendan, Nathan, Steven B and Johnny Spandrell penetrate the heart of the Vatican, only to discover that behind its dusty and arcane lore lies an eldritch horror that threatens the very idea of existence itself. It’s Extremis. Notes and links The most important inspiration here is Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code (2003), a massively popular…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 26 & 27 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron F…
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Did you know that if we had a nickel for every Doctor Who episode in which you have to pay the Company for the right to breathe, we’d have ten American cents? Which still wouldn’t be enough — even with Kate Orman’s help — to pay for today’s supply of Oxygen. Notes and links A clear inspiration for this episode, and for the opening scene in particul…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 24 & 25 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron F…
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This week, six millennials are astonishingly successful finding a large house to rent — the power points don’t work, there’s no mobile reception and the walls are quite literally made of alien woodlice. Oh, and it collapses into dust on their first night. It’s Knock Knock. Notes and links Brendan quickly identifies two of the film antecedents of th…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into the JUST RELEASED bonus chapter 27 of Fourth Wing from Xaden’s POV, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights f…
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This week, we’re joined by Melvin Peña for a day trip to the Thames Frost Fair in 1814, expecting a jolly afternoon of daydrinking, sword swallowers and juicy sheep hearts, only to find ourselves tied to a bomb and engaged in an intriguing discussion about race, class, death and the ethics of killing. It’s Thin Ice. Notes and links Once again, Frie…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, for an Emergency Empyrean Battle Brief: the JUST RELEASED Onyx Storm blurb! In this expedited bonus episode (delivered via Dragon, no less 🐉), they explore the implications of the blurb, discussing character arcs, potential plot developments, and the overarching themes of trust, uncertainty, and the q…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 22 & 23 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron F…
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In a distant future where all life has been destroyed by technology, Brendan, James and Nathan sit down with their friend Bjay from The Bjay BJ Game Show to record a podcast about a Doctor Who episode called Smile. Notes and links Anticipating with relish the final demise of X, we have decided to preserve here for posterity the Twitter exchange bet…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 20 & 21 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! In this episode, Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before taking flight into key moments, foreshadowing, & theories! Then, they stop by the Healer’s Quadrant for a…
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We’re back for the first episode of Peter Capaldi’s final year — a simple, well-told tale of Girl Meets Girl, Girl Becomes Puddle, Girl Loses Girl and, finally, Girl Goes off with Her Tutor on a Series of Adventures in Time and Space. Welcome aboard, Bill Potts. It’s The Pilot. Notes and links Friend from the Future was a promotional short designed…
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Join squad mates Hannah and Karen as they take flight into the world of the Empyrean, using their signets of precognition to discuss the highly anticipated release of a brand new Xaden POV chapter of Fourth Wing- out on September 17th, 2024! What pivotal moments will we experience through Xaden's eyes? (SPOILER ALERT) How will his signets unfold on…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 17-19 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into discussion and analysis of key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebecca Yarros’ Q&As and Iron Fla…
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Join us for some fangirling, laughter, and a whole lot of love for Taylor! 💖 In this bonus episode, we’re sharing all the magical, serendipitous moments from Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour in London—front row barricade! 🎤✨ We dive into how Taylor has been the soundtrack to our lives and friendship, and how all of the dominoes cascaded in a line befor…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 13-16 + 16 Xaden’s POV of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before diving into the discussion and analysis section on key moments, featuring transformative insights from Rebe…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 10-12 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before crossing the gauntlet into the discussion and analysis section: key moments, foreshadowing, & transformative insights from I…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapter 9 (Violet’s Version) & 9 (Xaden’s Version) of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! In this episode, Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before taking flight into key moments, foreshadowing, questions, & theories! T…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into chapters 5-8 of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame! In this episode, Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before taking flight into key moments, foreshadowing, & theories! They wrap up by exploring overarching and lingerin…
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Join your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, as they dive into the first four chapters of Fourth Wing, re-experiencing the story through the lens of Iron Flame. Hannah and Karen begin with a ‘Scribe Report’ (chapter summary) before crossing the parapet into the Rider’s Quadrant for a deep dive into key moments, enriched with transformative insig…
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Your fellow squad mates, Hannah and Karen, lay the groundwork for their in-depth exploration of the first book in the Empyrean series, Fourth Wing. They discuss their plans for analyzing it through the lens of the second book, Iron Flame. Discover what makes a reread of Fourth Wing an entirely different experience, including foreshadowing and Easte…
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This Christmas in July, we are joined by Adam Richard on a sleigh ride that flies right past the Marvel Cinematic Universe and lands on Margot Kidder’s rooftop in 1978. Which is, it turns out, not a bad place to be. It’s The Return of Doctor Mysterio. Notes and links Steven Moffat’s clear inspiration here is Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie (19…
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Join best friends, Hannah and Karen, as they travel through the pages of their favorite romantasy novels, diving deep into the chapters; exploring characters, scenes, theories, foreshadowing, and more! They begin their journey with Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, taking what they’ve learned from the second book in the Empyrean Series, Iron Flame, to…
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A big week for beginnings this week, with a new Doctor, a new origin story for the Daleks, and a whole new approach to defeating the bad guys. Oh, and a new podcast to discuss them all on. So let’s welcome Patrick Troughton to the studio floor, as we discuss The Power of the Daleks. Notes and links The most recent Blu-ray release of The Power of th…
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No, you can’t. They’ve been there for millions of years, through storms and floods and wars and time. Nobody really understands where the music comes from. It’s probably something to do with the precise positions, the distance between both towers. Even the locals aren’t sure. All anyone will ever tell you is that when the wind stands fair and the n…
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From Skaro to Gallifrey, twelve episodes of one of the strangest seasons in Doctor Who’s history. What did we think, what did we learn, and what are we most looking forward to? And, as always, who would we snog, marry or avoid? Notes and links Thanks to Bob Gilbey (@bobgilbey), Bryan says… (@bryan1981) and DJ Alpha-T (@DJ_AlphaT) for contributing t…
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This week, the Doctor learns that mere relentless persistence is no match for the inevitability of loss, and a Doctor Who spinoff is created which we will never get to see. It’s Hell Bent. Notes and links According to Todd, the old woman in the barn is either Leela or Aunt Adah from the Star Trek: Voyager pilot episode Caretaker — a hologram create…
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If you think because she is dead, I am weak, then you understand very little. If you were any part of killing her, and you’re not afraid, then you understand nothing at all. So, for your own sake, understand this. I am the Doctor. I’m coming to find you, and I will never, ever stop. This week, Rob Valentine drops by to spend four-and-a-half billion…
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This week, we’re hanging out in a mystical London street full of Sontarans, Judoon and Cybermen, investigating a murder with Johnny Spandrell — only to find, to our horror, that the murder hasn’t happened yet. And, of course, that it’s time for Clara Oswald to Face the Raven. Notes and links Fridging or Women in Refrigerators is a trope in which a …
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This week, in orbit of the planet Neptune, a Doctor Who story is created which kills literally everyone who watches it. Which is why we should probably have thought twice before inviting the lovely Jeremy Radick to discuss it with us. Notes and links Steven Moffat’s version of Dracula (2020) is actually Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’s version of Dr…
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This week, we’re all enjoying bombing and threatening one another, until the Doctor comes along and delivers a long speech about New Cruel People, which starts making us feel bad about ourselves. And fair enough. It’s The Zygon Inversion. Notes and links The Decimas were tiny squeaky-voiced aliens, who looked like nothing so much as miniature Zygon…
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This week, we’ve invited twenty million Zygons over for cocktails, and now we’re starting to feel self-conscious about cooking up all that salt-and-pepper squid. And so soon we’re involved in an international political thriller that takes us from Fake New Mexico all the way to Madeupistan. It’s The Zygon Invasion. Notes and links Sister Lamont from…
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It’s been a mere 900 years since last week’s episode, and it’s time to check in with Ashildr to see if she’s still the naive and loving young girl she was back in her Viking village days. Or — like the rest of us — has she simply turned into Peter Capaldi’s Doctor? It’s The Woman Who Lived. Notes and links Nathan refers to the Blackadder the Third …
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This week, we remind ourselves of what the Doctor stands for, as we watch him train up some very silly Vikings to be sweet and funny enough to see off an invasion by big stupid monsters with mouths full of teeth. Stacey Smith? joins us to discuss the story of The Girl Who Died. Notes and links Stacey discovered how much she liked this episode while…
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This week, a bone Vervoid joins in the fun as we travel back in time to Wales in 2015 pretending to be Scotland in 1980 pretending to be somewhere in the Soviet Union. And it’s hard to say which time paradox is the most annoying, the bootstrap one or the predestination one. Thank goodness Frazer Gregory is here to help us sort it all out — it’s Bef…
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This week, we’re playing Doctor Who madlibs — cowering in an UNDERWATER BASE, waiting for the ELECTROMAGNETIC GHOSTS to pick us off one by one. Fortunately, Peter Capaldi and some attractive young people are here to keep us entertained. We’re Under the Lake. Notes and links The CEO of this base under siege is apparently called Richard Pritchard, a …
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This week, the Doctor chats with Davros, Missy chats with Clara, and the four of us wonder if those chats are fun enough to sustain forty-five minutes of television. All while actually having quite a fun chat ourselves. It’s The Witch’s Familiar. Notes and links Quite a few mentions are made of the 60-minute LP of Genesis of the Daleks. This was re…
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So Doctor Who is back, doing the same old thing for another year, but this time we’re relitigating the main moral question of a thirty-year-old episode: can we kill a genocidal dictator even though he’s just a small child with a dirty face lost on a battlefield somewhere? Tom Spilsbury joins us to discuss The Magician’s Apprentice. Notes and Links …
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