I'm Not Done With This, Blessed And/or Gifted Arthur.

I'm not done with this, Blessed and/or Gifted Arthur.

If you consider "You're Not Welcome" and "I Don't Get Sleep" from Arthur's rough POV, I think it strengthens the arguement for a Blessed and/or Gifted Arthur who has been pressured to do Great Things since a child.

In "You're Not Welcome", we get the lyrics "I can't believe you used to truly scare me / You were like a ghost story told to keep me weary", which could be about Arthur being told tales about Toltag from childhood. And obviously the next line is about how he "slept good til morning" BUT consider the possibility this is a lie! Consider this is how he was SUPPOSED to think about it! That Arthur, a Blessed child, is destined to make a difference, to kill giants, to kill Toltag.

And then "I Don't Get Sleep" is the truth!! How the pressure kept building and building since childhood, because "There's nobody else in the world/ Who can do it like me!". But in reality, Arthur can't sleep, is constantly under the pressure of the expectations put on him since birth. He's constantly doing his best, doing his DUTY, but in the meantime, he's become harsh! He's become so focused on a goal that is so hard to obtain it is breaking him apart!

I'm feral I'm begging someone out there to listen to the album and the dndorks episodes, I'm Begging to talk to someone about my Theories.

Fine. Fine fine fine fine, if NO ONE ELSE is gonna talk about Tales from Cazilor/Tales from Cazilor: The Golden Era, I WILL!

With the introduction of the squad roles (Stalwart, Climber, Anchor), I Deeply need to know what role Apollo and Arthur (from the OG album) fill. What was their training like? Are they Blessed? Gifted? We know Apollo was from Domita, but what about Arthur?

Given what little we know, I think Apollo would have willingly joined the Mazmus. (AKA doesn't need to be Blessed, would have willingly made the choice). Being in Domita during its fall and seeing all that destruction could spur anyone to join the Mazmus to make sure it never happened again. And with how much care Apollo has ("dying for a friend is a hell of a way to die" and all of "I Hope I Die Alone"), he feels like the type of person that would push through any hardship if it meant protecting those he cares about. Not necessarily from a sense of duty, but from a love for others.

Arthur, on the other hand, feels like someone who was born Blessed because he is So duty-bound. He "had no fond memories", dreams only of killing Toltag, never rests, etc. He kind of reminds me of Arge in TGE except to the extreme--born Blessed, told he is meant for greatness and has a duty to do Great Things. Except Arge is serving in a more peaceful time, and Arthur has likely only been serving after the fall of Domita, so there is more urgency, more pressure for Arthur. Arthur strikes me as the type that has had a singular goal--killing Toltag and ending the war--hammered into him since birth, and that would mean it is more likely than not that he would be Blessed.

This is, of course, assuming that the relationship between being Blessed and the Mazmus selection and training is consistent between the album and TGE. Which I guess isn't something we'll really know until the source books is released, Naethan reveals more information, and/or another album is released.

Join me for more theories and thoughts I scream into the void while Cazilor has no fandom, thank you thank you.

I love the way everyone treats Melinoe in Hades 2, but it also feels VERY accurate for toxic family relationships.

The older kids (Zagreus in this case) get the worst of it, and are often treated with either disdain or ignored (even Homer refers to him as “the lazy prince” or “the blundering prince” and so on). Of course Zagreus fixes the family, after dealing with everyone’s seemingly inherent disdain and anger at his existence and time (ha) goes on…

And then we get to the younger sibling, Melinoe, and she’s the light of everyone’s life. Even Homer narrates her differently - with more a positive spin, awe almost.

Love it, so many layers to it. She’ll never know the disdain everyone had for Zagreus - and that must be bittersweet for him.

Fine. Fine fine fine fine, if NO ONE ELSE is gonna talk about Tales from Cazilor/Tales from Cazilor: The Golden Era, I WILL!

With the introduction of the squad roles (Stalwart, Climber, Anchor), I Deeply need to know what role Apollo and Arthur (from the OG album) fill. What was their training like? Are they Blessed? Gifted? We know Apollo was from Domita, but what about Arthur?

Given what little we know, I think Apollo would have willingly joined the Mazmus. (AKA doesn't need to be Blessed, would have willingly made the choice). Being in Domita during its fall and seeing all that destruction could spur anyone to join the Mazmus to make sure it never happened again. And with how much care Apollo has ("dying for a friend is a hell of a way to die" and all of "I Hope I Die Alone"), he feels like the type of person that would push through any hardship if it meant protecting those he cares about. Not necessarily from a sense of duty, but from a love for others.

Arthur, on the other hand, feels like someone who was born Blessed because he is So duty-bound. He "had no fond memories", dreams only of killing Toltag, never rests, etc. He kind of reminds me of Arge in TGE except to the extreme--born Blessed, told he is meant for greatness and has a duty to do Great Things. Except Arge is serving in a more peaceful time, and Arthur has likely only been serving after the fall of Domita, so there is more urgency, more pressure for Arthur. Arthur strikes me as the type that has had a singular goal--killing Toltag and ending the war--hammered into him since birth, and that would mean it is more likely than not that he would be Blessed.

This is, of course, assuming that the relationship between being Blessed and the Mazmus selection and training is consistent between the album and TGE. Which I guess isn't something we'll really know until the source books is released, Naethan reveals more information, and/or another album is released.

Join me for more theories and thoughts I scream into the void while Cazilor has no fandom, thank you thank you.

@/folkoftheshelf on Twitter has made a thread of fundraising links for Gazans. I’ve transferred the links here, please boost them as the conflict is worsening:

Help Ahmad Hassan and his family escape Gaza

Help Halla Morshed’d family escape Gaza

Help Dr. Yousef Alsweisi and his family escape Gaza

Evacuate Sohad’s family out of Gaza

Help Donia Tanani and her family escape Gaza (they are close to reaching their goal!!)

Help Zinh and her family escape Gaza (they are close to reaching their goal!!)

Help this Gazan family rebuild their lives (they are not close to their goal as of writing)

Help the Zack Family

Help Hala Jad and her family (they are at a 1/3 of their goal)

Help Walid and his family escape Gaza (they are close to reaching their goal!!)

Help Mariam Radi and her family (as of right now they are not close to reaching their goal)

Help Maha Abu Shammala evacuate the family from Gaza (they haven't met their goal as of writing)

Help Ronza Alaa and her family (they haven't met their goal as of writing)

Help Noor and her family evacuate to safety (they haven't met their goal as of writing)

Help Manar Abuqata get his family out of Gaza (goal hasn't been met as of writing)

Help Farah save her family

Help Ahmad’s family escape from Gaza to Egypt

Help evacuate Mohammed Harara’s family out of Gaza (they are halfway through their goal!!)

Help Dana and her family escape (they have almost met their goal!!)

Help Anas’ family escape from Gaza (goal has not been met as of writing, note that the money is in krona, 1 usd=11 krona)

Help Ibrahem Ra’fat Daher and his family evacuate Gaza

Help Hakam Albalawi save his family (goal had not been met as of writing)

Help Tabseem AbuJamie’s family evacuate (goal hasn't been met and only has two donations as of writing)

Rafah Masterpost

Feel free to explain how you sort in the tags

The sorcerous Melinoë gazes with intensity toward her goal - and the audience! She's determined, focused, and powerful. Hecate, Melinoë's mentor, can be seen in the distance wielding her torches and gazing towards the moon. Standing on the precipice of the Crossroads with back turned, she is flanked by her trusty familiars, a hound and a polecat.

Hades II feature in Game Informer: Issue 366