Gary Butterfield

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February 19th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  4 mins

321: Enir Ilim

February 16th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  1 hr 9 mins

This week, we conclude the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC by talking about the divine tower of the Hornsent, Enir-Ilim, where the final showdowns of the game take place. First, Miquella’s followers have kind of a Civil War thing going on, and then we learn the truth about what Miquella was really after…

320: Ancient Ruins of Ruah

February 9th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  53 mins 49 secs

This week we go tour the many parking garages of the Ancient Ruins of Rauh, a beautiful area that we wish had more narrative and gameplay interest. It’s a pileup of a number of civilizations, all searching for the truth of the Crucible, but ultimately overwritten by the Scarlet Rot and its saint, Romina.

319: Jagged Peak

February 2nd, 2025  |  Season 12  |  53 mins 56 secs

This episode, we head up the Jagged Peak in order to do the last of the optional content in Shadow of the Erdtree. We’ve heard tell of a tyrant atop of the volcano, Bayle the Dread, a draconic betrayer so hated by Placidusax that the practice of Dragon Communion was created to bring him down.

318: Roundtable Roundtable: Marika and Midra (Feat. Phobia)

January 26th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  1 hr 3 mins

This week’s Roundtable Roundtable features an interview with Phobia, a YouTuber who documents glitches in games in an accessible and entertaining way. We talk about his process and how looking for glitches changes the way he plays FromSoft games. Then we read your responses to the northeastern part of the map and the Abyssal Woods.

317: Midra's Manse

January 19th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  51 mins 37 secs

Though the Abyssal Woods and Midra’s Manse aren’t huge areas gameplay-wise, we adore their lore and story so much that we had to camp out for some extra time. So this episode concludes our discussion of Midra’s Manse, including the boss fight, and a long talk about what Midra and Nanaya’s deals were.

316: Abyssal Woods and Midra's Manse

January 12th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  47 mins 7 secs

Though the Abyssal Woods and Midra’s Manse aren’t huge areas gameplay-wise, we adore their lore and story so much that we had to camp out for some extra time. So this episode concludes our discussion of Midra’s Manse, including the boss fight, and a long talk about what Midra and Nanaya’s deals were.

315: Recluse's River

January 5th, 2025  |  Season 12  |  48 mins 56 secs

This week we find the very hidden entrance to a very hidden path to a very hidden area. Shadow Keep hides a way to reach the Recluse’s River, which is the warpath that the hornsent inquisition took to bring great force to bear on Midra in the Abyssal Woods. Along the way we will complete our final two mini-dungeons and descend further than ought to be possible, as we approach the coolest area in the game.

314: The Cathedral of Manus Metyr

December 29th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  1 hr 2 secs

The hands of the cosmos have many fingers, and all of their movements tell a story. But what that story means is up for interpretation. And this week we venture to the Cathedral of Manus Metyr and meet a very strange man named Count Ymir, who claims to have knowledge of the true nature of the Greater Will, the Two Fingers, and the origins of Marika’s divinity. Is he trustworthy? Who knows!? Let’s go blow whistles for him.

313: Scaduview

December 22nd, 2024  |  Season 12  |  46 mins 52 secs

This week we complete the last of Shadow Keep, exploring the rear of the Specimen Storehouse before killing Messmer’s best bud Commander Gaius, and stumbling across the location where Marika’s whole story began.

312: Church District

December 15th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  49 mins 38 secs

You’d never guess it, but there’s still more Shadow Keep left to explore. Approaching from the Bonny Village side gets you into the flooded Church District, an area that calls New Londo to mind. But what lies beneath the water is stranger and more mysterious than the Darkwraiths.

311: Bonney Village

December 8th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  41 mins 7 secs

This week we head on down to Bonny Village, which doesn’t seem so bonny to us. Instead, it was the beating heart of the hornsent’s jar-making operation. This is where the shamans, Marika’s people, were butchered and put into jars in order to make them into “saints”. Eventually they wish they didn’t do that.