Title: Fantasy High: Junior Year
GM: Brennan Lee Mulligan
Players: Emily Axford (she/her) as Fig Faeth (she/her). Zac Oyama (he/him) as Gorgug Thistlespring (he/him). Siobhan Thompson (she/her) as Adaine Abernant (she/her). Lou Wilson (he/him) as Fabian Seacaster (he/him). Ally Beardsley (they/them) as Kristen Applebees (she/her). Brian Murphy (he/him) as Riz Gukgak (he/him).
Streaming Service: Dropout

If you missed it, catch our review of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth episodes!

Fig, Riz, and Sklonda sneak onto the Loam Farm. They discover similarly cursed soil around the area where Alonso and Hespia Loam died. The red crystalline sparks seem to be planted in the soil, suggesting someone intended to farm them and perhaps use them to bring back the dead god; however, after Fig impresses a twenty-four sided star on one, Riz ponders if the push toward rage isn’t innate but a result of external manipulation. His suspicions grow deeper when Molman reveals the profile of the soil Riz provided matches extraplanar mineral sediment seen at Ragh Barkrock’s old house. Sklonda also shares that the Loams’ bodies show blunt force trauma dramatic enough to carbonize blood into red diamonds; however, without defensive wounds, the rage itself may have been the murder method.

If Cassandra became the Nightmare King, then it wouldn’t be unrealistic for their spouse to be a daylight counterpart, making Helio and Sol all the more likely to have assisted in the dead god’s obliteration from mortal canon. With that, the red sand from the Loam Farm reaction to Cassandra’s shards ties tightly to Kipperlilly’s interest in devil’s nectar and ambrosia, which can help produce a honey that allows the eater to lie to those to whom lies cannot be told. Unfortunately, the eater’s memories may also be altered by the lie, so once told, who knows if the truth could be uncovered.

We also discover the meaning behind spy’s tongue as Aelwyn reveals she modified the spell for Kalina to prevent co-conspirators from naming each other. Though this leads to some distrust and believed relief when Kristen and the Bad Kids run into Tracker while on holiday in Fallinel, our two favorite clerics quickly make up.

From the first moment we learned there was a god with an unspeakable name, everyone has been waiting for the big reveal, and we finally have it. Ankarna, goddess of rage and summer, predates Galicaea’s influence in Fallinel where the wedding took place and where a wedding contract exists between Ankarna and Cassandra. The revelation unfortunately leads to chaos. Multiple divine interventions occur at once, and despite Adaine speaking the name, Fig’s the one under attack.

Of course, nobody could’ve predicted Baron would show up or we’d end up back in Fig’s bedroom at Mordred Manor.

Highlights

From the first season, Kristen suffered with the realities of her faith, discovering the lies of Helio and losing her faith only to struggle to find something worth believing in. Though she never discusses it, or at least hasn’t yet, like Fig, Kristen puts her faith in people and her friends. Her dedication to Tracker and to the Bad Kids came first, which would explain the way her faith fell apart after the breakup despite the dedication she had to Cassandra in the beginning. While it would be easy to argue that was an excitement in the founding and a boredom with the regular practice as Tracker stated, destruction of her closest connection and the person in whom she had the most faith undoubtedly factored into the situation more than we know.

Which is why the whole Gertie situation is interesting. Our resident bee enthusiast pulled a more successful Mazey, kissing Kristen and admitting to a crush similarly to how the current student body president did with Fabian; however, after this, Kristen seems reinvigorated in her intentions. She doesn’t sabotage herself, acknowledging the validity of letting Bobby Dawn take over rather than drawing a hard line due to her reasonable distrust of a Sol / Helio extremist. In doing so, she leans into doubt and uncertainty when she takes a chance and encourages his hiring. If nothing else, Kristen’s definitely headed in the right direction.

Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)

Finally, after eleven episodes, Emily recognized that the artificer teacher has the same last name as Ruben, and Brennan confirmed that Henry is Ruben’s uncle. Added to that, we finally confirmed his influence on Grix. While Henry downplays his influence, Zac rolls well, allowing Gorgug to find one of Grix’s motherboards.

Between that and Gilear’s terror at his sudden luckiness, we are on the up and up when it comes to acknowledging the elephants in the room. Baron’s return is terrifying. Ankarna and Cassandra are both corrupted. Considering how difficult the Nightmare King was to defeat, our heroes are in for trouble.

Were you relieved to see Sandra Lynn own up to her failures in freshman year? Is Baron slowly becoming real? Let us know what you think in the comments below or go over to our Discord channel to join the conversation.

Featured Image: Dimension 20

The Boss Rush Podcast: The Flagship Podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network

The Boss Rush Podcast – The Boss Rush Podcast is the flagship podcast of Boss Rush Media and the Boss Rush Network. Each week, Corey, Stephanie, LeRon, and their friends from around the internet come together with other creators, developers, and industry veterans to talk about games they’ve been playing, discuss video game and entertainment based topics, and answer questions solicited on social media and the community Discord. 

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