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These chapters had us rattling the bars of our literary cages. Arya and Catelyn are being put through the wringer, again, and we are made to feel endlessly frustrated and helpless as we read through their stories. This reaction leads us to look closer at the text, and ultimately uncover what might be the true ghostly point of view of this book, while also revealing an absolutely nightmarish conception of the afterlife. Maggie tracks GRRM's strange and sudden interest in alliteration to analyze the role that fate in this brutal fairy tale. Cam revisits our power rankings of the most evil characters in Westeros to consider what it really means to be considered "evil" when playing the game of thrones — and how useful that appearance might be. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 01:22 Recap of Chapters 15:02 Power Ranking Evil 22:44 Mythological Alliteration 29:46 Endless Identity Crises 34:18 A Couplet of Cruelty 37:34 Afterlife Nightmare 40:33 The Soul of Ned Stark 44:19 Chorus of the Dead 48:19 Closing Thoughts

To celebrate Halloween, we're revisiting our favorite movie of all time through the fascinating (and often horrifying) lens of female sexuality. Maggie is studying the relationship between witch mythology and the concept of liberation, which leads her to question our understanding of the movie's ending. Cam tracks the implosion of this family through the various appearances of the witch herself, as she seems to embody mocking, almost scarecrow-like exaggerations of both Thomasin and Katherine. We reflect on the transformative experience of finally seeing this film in IMAX, and Cam dramatically reinterprets the Faustian framing of the story. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 02:29 The Horror of Female Sexuality 05:52 Mother vs. Daughter 12:42 The Young Witch 20:17 The Old Witch 28:47 Liberation Mythology 30:32 Odd Woman Out 35:27 Misreading the Ending 39:47 Faustus Inverted 44:47 The IMAX Experience 47:52 Closing Thoughts

Clayface is a genuinely great body horror movie. No caveats, no qualifiers, no "for a superhero movie" — this is just two hours of gnarly, urgent, neon-drenched filmmaking. In this episode, we're exploring all the disparate influences from across the horror and superhero genres that combine to form this marvelous monstrosity. Comparisons include: Frankenstein, Doctor Faustus, Hellraiser, John Wick, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Joker, The Dark Knight, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Frankenstein 01:08 Doctor Faustus 05:54 Hellraiser 10:39 John Wick 11:27 Brand New Day 11:57 Joker 12:48 The Dark Knight 13:44 Texas Chainsaw Massacre 15:44 Impressions 19:48 Closing Thoughts

Nothing is ever as it seems in Westeros. In this episode, we're taking a magnifying glass to two apparently 'simple' chapters to uncover a viper pit of overlapping plots and allusions. Maggie tracks the most understated and dangerous power player in the Seven Kingdoms. Cam identifies three incredibly provocative Tolkien echoes and reversals. We reckon with the tragic dualities of Theon Greyjoy and the terrifying sincerity of Cersei Lannister. Finally, one of your intrepid hosts panics when they can't remember who the Elbow of the King is — spoilers: it isn't Maggie. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 The Cold Weather Genre 02:10 Recap of Chapters 13:39 Deceptive Simplicity 15:16 Theon's Tragic Duality 20:33 On Failure & Flattery 24:05 The Cautious Hand 27:07 Three Tolkien Teases 29:29 The Scouring of Winterfell 35:42 Littlefinger as Wormtongue 37:13 The Greyjoys in Gondor 40:20 Unexpected Empathy 41:51 Five Kings, One Kingmaker 50:13 The Cornered Queen 55:31 Closing Thoughts

The most controversial and censored movie of 1971 has finally been restored to its full glory — and it might just be the greatest Faust fable of all time. Vanessa Rengrave's Sister Jeanne is easily the best Mephistopheles ever put to screen, and Oliver Reed's Grandier is an operatic, literally mustache-twirling Faustus. In this episode, we're breaking out the Marlowe to do a full-bodied analysis of Ken Russell's The Devils through a Faustian lens. Topics include: offscreen contracts, implied terms, the effect that a hundred Mephistopheles have on one Faustus, Ken Russell's brutal interpretation of Faustus' final exclamation, the titular pluralism that defines this reading of Marlowe, and, more broadly, the unrivaled cultural staying power of the Faust mythology. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 The Faustian Lens 03:56 Many Mephistopheles 06:00 Offscreen Contract 10:06 Debating the Marriage 16:04 Dragged Down to Hell 17:07 Faustus' Final Line 20:06 The Mock Crucifixion  21:21 Parade(s) of the Seven Deadly Sins 23:31 Looking for Lucifer 25:06 Sister Jeanne Analysis 28:16 Populist Plurality  30:19 Slight of Hand Tragedy 31:36 Why Faustus Matters t33:16 Closing Thoughts

Maggie did the math and concluded that we see about 200 movies a year. In this conceptual episode, we're trying to figure out how that ridiculous fact has changed us, how we think about movies, and how we talk about works of art on this show. The answers are a kaleidoscope of good, bad, personal, and academic. And yes, before you ask, we do at one point passionately reflect upon Jason Statham's The Beekeeper. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Burnout 05:56 Fandom 11:13 Mediocrity 14:28 Curiosity 20:31 Ritual 24:35 Reflection 30:37 Context 39:09 Appreciation 43:14 Closing Thoughts

Digger is far and away the most thought provoking movie of the year. Ignore the critics and the box office, find the biggest screen you can, and make up your own mind. In this episode, we're focusing in on the film's incredibly complex and compelling navigation of satire — which has at least five distinct angles. We examine the film's central 'misdirection monologue' to disentangle these critiques, before working through our own interpretations of the moment. Then we engage with some of the (misguided) reaction to the film, including the absurd idea that this movie is just "satire about satire". Cam spirals through half a dozen works of satire that this film seems to be in open conversation with, and then we ask some essential / unanswerable questions: What is the point of satire? What makes a work of satire a 'success'? And what might that ending mean? There is so much to talk about with this one, so grab a shovel and dig in! LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction 02:23 Five Layers of Satire 05:23 The Misdirection Monologue 16:04 Our Interpretations 22:46 "Satire About Satire" 24:47 What is the Point? 28:56 Wag the Dog 31:03 Eddington 32:13 The Death of Stalin 33:11 I Love Boosters 34:03 Vice 35:14 Bugonia 35:46 Debating the Ending 38:00 Metrics of Success 43:47 The Danger of Parody 45:12 Cast & Crew 48:40 Top Gun 49:50 Birdman 50:57 Anna Karenina 52:37 Oppenheimer / The Odyssey 53:24 Megalopolis 54:02 Closing Thoughts

The Reeds have returned to terrorize Bran with dire, vague prophecies — and in this episode, we're going to follow their lead and explore all the horror, fantasy, and philosophical dread we can find. Maggie charts prophecy and prayer through the sudden resurgence of the supernatural. Cam rediscovers our old Macbeth theory, but through a brand new lens. GRRM's Macbeth isn't Ned Stark, or the Starks in general, but the castle itself. Winterfell seems to have come alive in the aftermath of Renly's death, and we work together to craft a theory about ghosts, gods, dreams that makes sense of all the reawakened magic that is crackling through Westeros. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 A Milestone Episode 02:01 Recap of Chapters 21:25 Supernatural Couplet 27:44 Prophecy & Prayer 34:53 Direwolf Dilemma 40:59 Macbeth Returns 43:33 A Haunted House 51:25 Refining the Theory 55:36 Reawakened Magic 01:00:10 The New Binary 01:04:50 Closing Thoughts

Verity has a fantastic premise and some jaw-dropping twists. We both devoured the book. But then we read the ending, which backpedals and defangs everything that's interesting about the story's most interesting character. And then there's the brand new epilogue, which unwids the central drama even further. And THEN there's the movie, which doubles down on all of these problems until there are no fun wrinkles left. No texture, no intrigue, no unlikable characters. In this episode, we're tracing this strange, compounding "nesting dolls" problem across multiple editions of the book and the recent film adaptation. How does a promising erotic thriller premise end up as a movie that is neither erotic nor thrilling?  LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Impressions 04:46 The Ending 11:21 The Epilogue 15:47 The Movie 18:56 The Actors 19:28 The Setting 22:05 Overall Theory  23:21 Alternate Endings 24:26 Ambiguity 27:25 Closing Thoughts

This might be the most difficult-to-describe movie of the year. It's Mad Max: Fury Road meets Curb Your Enthusiasm with a lot of Independence Day thrown in there, but then at the end it kinda turns into Avatar? We can guarantee you that you've never seen anything like this, and that it will be one of the most energizing and entertaining theatrical experiences you have this year. Topics include: the secret delights of (occasionally) bad CGI, unexpected genre mashups, evolving creature design, how to portray / maintain urgency onscreen, the relationship between action and emotion, and the important role that absurdity can play in grounding a narrative. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Introduction / Impressions 01:53 Genre Mashup 03:00 Controversial Effects 06:27 Creature Design 07:55 A Sense of Momentum 10:52 B-Movie Absurdity 13:23 Action & Emotion 14:51 The Ending (No Spoilers) 16:00 Closing Thoughts

As we discover in this episode, Maggie loves change and Cam hates change. Guess how we each feel about the big news out of Blizzcon? Diablo IV just dropped the best season they've ever made but also kind of put the game out to pasture. Diablo V was announced. Destiny 2 was brought back from the dead. It's a lot to talk about, in addition to our traditional state of the game check-in, analysis of the seasonal campaign, respective class updates, and wrap-up questions about the future of the franchise. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Emotional Whiplash 06:44 Conflicted Impressions 13:46 State of the Game 21:48 Seasonal Campaign 26:50 Class Update: Warlock 29:44 Class Update: Necromancer 32:15 Diablo V Wishlist 39:04 The End of Diablo IV 43:03 Closing Thoughts

The shadow baby has finally arrived, and with it, the tragic end of Renly Baratheon — except that none of it goes the way we expected it to. In this episode, we dig deep into the first ever explicitly supernatural 'act of god' in this series, only to find that the god in question might not be the Lord of Light at all. Maggie tracks the hit rate of prayer in Westeros and searches for narrative ghosts. Cam questions the duality and prominence of Stannis Baratheon. We work together to uncover the couplet comparisons between these two chapters and develop an overarching theory about the God of Death that involves a particularly illuminating metaphor about email forwarding. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Fantasy Updates 01:48 Recap of Chapters 13:44 Roly Poly Renly 17:38 The Villain of ACOK 24:25 Divine Right, Redux 28:04 The Duality of Stannis 29:19 The Least Worst Option 31:15 Couplets & Crimes 32:38 Troubling Deaf Heaven 38:13 Who Killed Renly? 44:05 The Narrative Ghost 46:30 Depictions of Tragedy 49:50 Closing Thoughts

Expectations are the trap of all adaptations. This Resident Evil movie lives in many shadows: the beloved game series, the false impression that the trailers gave that this was a very straightforward scary movie, and the towering legacy of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead. But the wonderful thing is that this movie is still fantastic. Even if it's not 'the scariest movie of the year,' it might just be the best horror comedy of this century — and the very first one to truly speak to our modern sensibility. Put another way, this movie often feels like a Twitch streamer playing a horror game, and the effect is both incredibly immersive and wholly unique. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Theater Heckling 01:38 First Impressions 09:29 Jump Scares 11:20 Fear Factor 14:21 Very Short And Too Long 18:29 The Fury Road Comparison 20:34 The Non-Gamer Perspective 23:10 Game Design Onscreen 24:50 The Gamer Perspective 27:27 Loose But Faithful Adaptation 30:34 Austin Abrams & Aaron Paul 32:04 Marty Supreme 33:00 The Evil Dead Comparison 36:29 Twitch Era Horror Comedy 42:14 Buried Themes 44:13 Zach Cregger Check-In 45:17 SPOILER ALERT: The Ending 50:52 Closing Thoughts

Parasomnia terrified me in a way that I haven't felt since Oddity. This movie feels like it was made in a lab to appeal to us specifically, as a mashup of Insidious 1 & 2, Hell House LLC., The Blair Witch Project. James Ross II has created a powerhouse work of indie horror with remarkable emotional investment, under-your-skin creature design, a grounded and restrained directorial style, and some deliciously upsetting body horror. LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Impressions 02:12 Insidious / Hell House 04:20 Emotional Stakes 07:48 Creature Design 11:24 Fear Factor 14:02 Closing Thoughts

It's never a bad thing for an indie horror to be ambitious, and Buddy is as bonkers and delightful as it is uneven. In this episode, we're trying to figure out why the conceit of this movie was so effective for us — and why the experience suffered when the movie moved beyond its premise. Topics include: three act structure, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a spirited carpet tangent, and the jaw dropping commitment of Cristin Milioti.  LINKS: Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, Cam's Books Feedback & Theories: [email protected] 00:00 Impressions 02:10 A Story of Thirds 09:25 Our Core Dilemma 12:46 The Gimmick Problem 15:26 Blood & Honey 16:59 Closing Thoughts