#I feel like Brennan was trying to lead Siobhan there but she either didn’t see that in Rosamund or didn’t want to

[contrivedcoincidences6]

My Roman Empire

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Can I ask for your thoughts on the newest Fantasy High ep? I enjoyed it, but honestly I'm more excited for the next episode based on that preview...

**even more spoilers for the sisterly showdown**

OK, I’m back for Hot Takes: Part 2. 

First, just a few stray things I forgot last time:

I’m sure Adaine is enjoying having bested Aelwen (yeah,spelling #3 guys) in the moment but I can’t imagine she’s gonna enjoy all these nerds making cow eyes at her if her time in the AV office is any indication. Though, to be fair, these nerds could have more game.

“OOPS BITCH.” Siobhan with the awesome episode enders back to back.

Anyone who saw Fabian jump on the Hangman, make a lap while on fire, and then come back, still on fire, was probably like, “Classic Fabian.” I wouldn’t even question it. Very on brand. 

Did y’all notice that at a certain point of the fight, everyone clearly went “Game Face” and started playing to win? Like they were joking a lot less and getting all quiet. I was almost holding my breath for them at points. I am convinced they were all having war flashbacks to the first fight. I know I was. 

OK, on to new business!

I think I’m on record as saying that combat is my least fave part of RPGs.You’re spending a lot of time IRL to cover relatively small amounts of time in story and I especially dislike RPGs that use initiative based fighting systems (which is most of them I think) because then you end up with situations like in this ep where Siobhan kept  wanting to attack Aelwen but she couldn’t react when it would make sense for her to do so because she rolled low on initiative. And it’s where most of the rules of the game are and it can get nitty gritty when I prefer to loose, sandbox-y elements of an RPG.

I want to also reiterate that I think Brennan does a fantastic job of making the combat fun to watch by having inventive fight themes and the rest of the cast is fun no matter what.

That being said, I far and away prefer the story episodes to the combat ones and the entire ep I was like, “OK, but then I’m gonna have to wait a whole week for the conversation that happens after this fight,” WHICH IS THE PART YOU WANT TO SEE OBVIOUSLY.

So I am also more looking forward to the aftermath of the fight than I was the fight itself (although the little bit we got of Adaine getting to finally beat Aelwen was great). Here’s a shot list of things I want addressed/am looking forward to.

What exactly is Aelwen’s part in this? Mastermind? Doubt it. Pawn? Maybe. Being magically manipulated? I mean, possible but I kinda hope she’s just Like This. Anyway, if everything is going to end up dovetailing together (like these stories usually do) and Aelwen is a part of the Palimpsest conspiracy which was part of the Harvestmen’s attempted hit on Kristen which was part of the effort to start a war I’m curious about what reason Aelwen would have to want a war. Like, is that conducive to her lifestyle? Does she know about the war thing specifically or does she just know that s/t shady is happening and if she doesn’t ask too many questions, she’s in the clear? Brennan, fighting slime monsters is great but I have story questions. 

They basically have Aelwen dead to rights on this, but I wonder how she’s gonna play this. She doesn’t strike me as the spill guts immediately type. And she should be smart enough to play the diplomatic immunity card. But I hope we at least get some info out of her. 

Man I hope Riz’s mom gets to arrest her. Which would lead to Mr. Abernant yelling at her which would lead to Adaine yelling at him which she should more because it’s great.

 If Fabian lays low, he’s probably gonna get away with the whole kissing Adaine’s sister thing. She really did not care AT ALL compared to how pissed she was at Aelwen, even before she started actively trying to kill them. On the other hand, she could just be prioritizing and Fabian’s still in for it a, “What the hell, man?” Even if she’s not actively mad at him, this won’t be a point in his favor if he ever decides to make a move on her in the future (which it looked like he might).

I wonder how much, if anything, Mr. Abernant knows about Aelwn’s extracurricular activities. Because either he doesn’t know what she’s up to or he does but he’s in denial and/or protecting the family name. I wouldn’t even be asking the question except for that clip of  him being all, “You can’t jail a diplomat’s daughter!” Although, wouldn’t it be wild if it turned out he was talking about Adaine instead of Aelwen there?

And what’s up with Aelwen and Ostentasia? What did she know? What was she helping her with? Did Aelwen have this whole party set up just to get a good chance to snatch her? 

Y’all, there are 4 episodes left. FOUR. We’re getting close to the endgame. There’s not a lot of time to introduce a new set of antagonists, you know? So I feel like next ep has to drop some pretty major info bombs. Especially since we still haven’t addressed all the weird crap Adaine found in her sister’s room. See, the conversation right after the fight! That’s where the magic happens. 

Riz’s dad! I’ve been waiting for this to go down since the graveyard ep and it looks like it finally will! In the promo, Riz says, “Hey Mom. I know about dad.” Which is kinda throwing me for a loop because either that means he doesn’t know exactly how his dad died and Adaine tells him or (the more intriguing option) something even wilder went down which Sklonda is keeping from him and Riz is about to have a storm coming.

“Detect maiden.” MMM ominous. So, is this an classic maiden sacrifice for big spell thing we’re leading up to?

KVX? Ominous again. 

I’ve been meaning to say this. Wasn’t it established in E1 that the setting of FH is this weird little area of the world that happens to look like a modern irl suburb, and the rest of the world is like a normal DnD setting? I didn’t think that would end up mattering since the story has so far been confined to the immediate area but if war ends up happening, it could factor in. 

Also, Adaine finally read that book on Aguefort which raised a lot of questions and suggested time travel might become a factor at some point? Which would be WILD. Imagine Back to the Future but instead of Marty it’s Fig. The timeline would be in shambles.

Brennan keeps mentioning this Nightmare King person and I’ve been keeping that in the back of my head all season, waiting for it to pop up because I refuse to be blindsighted.

And, speaking of, that ice cream later wish is still in play. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.

So yeah! Next episode should drop some big story bombs and I’m SUPER pumped. Lemme know if I missed anything you wanted to hear about.