TV REVIEW: Fantasy High Junior Year – Episode 20: Ragenarok (Part 2)

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, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth episodes!

We return this week in our final episode of Fantasy High: Junior Year! Our Intrepid Heroes started off strong, but the superpowered Porter turned the tide at the end of last episode, nearly killing multiple members of the Bad Kids, but poor rolling on the side of the Rat Grinders gave us some hope. Still, the odds aren’t looking great.

In the shatter gymnasium, the combat continues. Fabian free Bakur, unleashing the demon servant of Ankarna on the world once more. Destroying another Stardiamond clone by kicking him into lava, Fabian puts some distance between himself and Porter. Unfortunately, Mazey gets hit by a shatter star. Rage takes over.

K2 banishes Buddy as Kristin moves forward. Though Kristin heals Gorgug, he almost immediately goes down as Porter attacks him again on his turn before the wanna-be god juices on the devil’s honey, allowing him to lie to Ankarna in hopes of summoning her to the mortal realm in order to take her place.

On a prepared action, Riz prevents Kipperlilly’s attack, sending to her death in the lava and revealing what we all suspected. Unlike the rest, Kipperlilly willingly and knowingly joined Porter.

^{Riz kills Kipperlilly (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

In another section of the lava, Mary Ann launches at Fig, not caring about the lava damage. Fig reaches for Ankarna in death.

Adaine quickly acts, sending the dying Fig to Riz, so he can save her while she moves other Mazey to K2 in hopes of getting the ballots in the box to ensure Kristin wins, so Aguefort Academy cannot be dissolved. However, Mazey is the president, and realizing this, Porter attempts to get her to disband the school, but while under control, she can’t disband the school. Kipperlilly’s death leads them into chaos, causing her to lose her turn as they attempt to plan on the fly.

One Stardiamond detects thoughts, finding K2, but the only other remaining one attempts to shove Adaine in the lava and fails.

Popping back up on a Nat 20, Gorgug eliminates another Stardiamond, shoving him into the lava, leaving only one remaining. The barbarian-artificer then turns his attention to Porter, managing to get the ballots back to Adaine; however, as he studies the wanna-be god, Gorgug realizes that Porter is in a constant rage and has no particular weaknesses.

^{Aguefort Academy Gymnasium (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

Fig shatters the floor, sending the last Stardiamond into the lava. Though Stardiamond at first succeeds, Riz immediately silvery barbs and causes the vice principal into the lava.

As they cut another enemy down, Bakur escapes his crystal. Porter attempts to sway him, and the devil’s honey allows the wanna-be god to lie, tempting Bakur toward his side. However, while he debates sides, Balthazar and Squeem appear, coming to the aid of the Bad Kids. Immediately healing the party, Squeem calls out.

^{Brennan as Mary Ann (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

The Hangman flies, hitting Mary Ann into the lava. As she sinks, she gets one last apathetic insult out, cutting Fig to the quick before vanishing beneath the lava.

Pulling out her shards, Kristen dispels magic on Porter and warns Cassandra about Ankarna being tricked. Unfortunately, Ally fails on both of their rolls as Kristen. The dice and the game seem to want to drive Brennan mad as Ally throws away the dice, hoping to get K2 out of the way in the midst of a line of terrible rolls, but immediately, they roll a Nat 20. Brennan goes bonkers.

^{Lou, Ally, and Murph losing it over K2 (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

Brennan can’t handle it. Sending K2 to another dimension in retaliation, he eliminates her from the realm of Spyre forever before walking it back. K2 becomes a human cleric, meaning that her spells will recharge, and she is no longer a simulacrum. Brennan literally has Cassandra double their number of clerics.

^{Gorgug wailing on Porter (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

Entering a rage after being revived by Mazey, Gorgug attacks Porter. Riz follows suit. As more allies enter, Fig launches at Porter, coming to Bakur’s aid.

Adaine uses her gift from Fabian to reach out and detect thoughts, knowing that this will send the information directly to Ankarna. Gorgug launches a flash bang grenade, ensuring Porter fails, so that the goddess can see Porter’s true intentions. As she succeeds, Bakur transforms, returning to his original form.

As he lay dying, Fabian aches in the injustice as he will not be with Mazey, inspiring as Ankarna breaks into the world. Taking her original realm of justice and the dawn, Ankarna divinely intervenes, slaughtering Porter.

^{Ankarna’s Divine Intervention (Image Credit: Dimension 20)}

As Ankarna enters, the Bad Kids are pulled to reflect on past injustices done to them. She offers them what justice she can give. Gorgug embraces the knowledge of the justice of what he succeeded in doing while Adaine and Kristin acknowledge they do not need justice but instead acceptance.

Reflecting, Riz laments the injustices he caused. He asks that she help him met justice upon himself by apologizing to those he wronged, specifically his friend.

Fig wrestles with what she faced, including the curse and her struggles as she stewed in her self-doubt. Ankarna embraces her. The goddess offers comfort. Then, she reunites with Riz.

Wrestling with his father’s expectations, Fabian wishes his father would understand the pressures. In an extremely touching scene, Bill tells his son that he would give up everything to spend a single more day with Fabian.

Kristen enlists Ankarna to find Kalina and fix those killed by Porter unjustly. Before Cassandra and Ankarna leave, Ayda and Arthur Aguefort arrive. They return to the school, and Kristen becomes student body president, resurrecting Yolanda and Lucy.

The Rat Grinders are also brought back. Ankarna frees them of the rage crystal, leading to guilt from Oisin and Ivy while Ruben is distraught by his changes as Mary Ann sees mostly unchanged.

As their junior year ends, the Bad Kids reunite with their family. Gilear confirms there will be a new baby as Tracker returns with hints of a break-up which leads Kristen to hope for their reunion.

Highlights

Brennan pulled out the stops with this finale. From Bill Seacaster proclaiming that he would remove his name from all the world for one more day with Fabian to Aelwyn admitting she would take all the horribleness of their parents because it gave her Adaine, the Dimension 20 DM didn’t leave a dry eye in the house.

The fact that this came in the same episode a second breakdown following a K2 dice roll only underlined how incredible Brennan is both as a comedian and a dramatic storyteller.

Final Score (4 out of 5 Stars)

This season has been one of the most intense yet. With some of the most absurd moments and strangest pacing, Fantasy High: Junior Year doesn’t feel like a triumph despite being a culmination of some of the best work by Dropout’s Art Department, but it does feel like a lesson.

Even the best can have off days. Sometimes, the dice are going to drive the DM mad, and even the most practiced storyteller might fall into a bit of repetition that gets missed in post. It would’ve been nice to see better balance in the earlier episodes. Perhaps a bit heavier of a hand in cutting would have resulted in fewer than twenty episodes; however, I don’t believe much would’ve been missed by reducing to seventeen or eighteen.

That being said, fans of Dimension 20 may be split on the question of quality, and those who are eager to have as many moments with the Bad Kids as possible likely think any complaints about pacing don’t understand the purpose of roleplaying games.

Regardless, our Intrepid Heroes once more wove an incredible story, providing laughter, heartbreak, and more in this incredible series. Plus, with the cliffhanger of Kalina’s return and the question of the Church of Sol still remaining, we have at least one more year to look forward to with the Bad Kids.

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

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