Gary Butterfield

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.

310: Roundtable Roundtable Shadowkeep (feat. Sophie Pilbeam)

December 1st, 2024  |  Season 12  |  1 hr 36 mins

309: Specimen Storehouse (Part 2)

November 24th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  50 mins 45 secs

This week’s episode concludes the Specimen Storehouse, and concerns itself mostly with the fight against Messmer and an exploration of what his whole deal was. What led to his genocide of the Hornsent, and how exactly did Marika screw him over

308: Specimen Storehouse (Part 1)

November 17th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  49 mins 49 secs

After clearing Shadow Keep proper, we find ourselves in a tower dedicated to the study and preservation of living beings touched by the Crucible. This is… unexpected in the home of someone leading a genocide against the Hornsent. But as we climb, we learn more about Messmer, and also discover the horrifying truth of Miquella’s plans.

307: Shadow Keep

November 10th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  45 mins 44 secs

For this entire season we’ve been walking in the wake of Messmer’s works, a fiery genocide of the Hornsent people. But now it’s time to visit the home of Messmer himself and breach the Shadow Keep which looms large over landscape. We talk about the level’s intricate design, and advance some quests related to Needle Knight Leda and her treachery about treachery.

306: Charo's Hidden Grave

November 5th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  48 mins 36 secs

Charo’s Hidden Grave is a region that is true to its name, resting above, but out of reach from, the Cerulean Coast. But once you get up there, you learn a little bit more about this cosmology’s relationship with death, and find a dirty little secret that the Hornsent tried to hide away from themselves.

305: Stone Coffin Fissure

October 27th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  53 mins 35 secs

Miquella threw something away which he should not have, and we’re going deep into the Stone Coffin Fissure to find it. So dress appropriately for wading through hip-deep putrescence, and let your least secure friend know where you’re headed, and come with!

304: Cerulean Coast

October 20th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  54 mins 14 secs

Having broken a Great Rune somewhere in the Shadow Realm, we now head south toward the Cerulean Coast, a beautiful region littered with gigantic stone coffin ships. But the path leading there is anything but obvious.

303: Roundtable Roundtable Scadu Altus (feat. Jeremy Greer)

October 13th, 2024  |  Season 12  |  57 mins 28 secs

This week we speak with Jeremy Greer, of Days of Future Cast and many other shows, about his experiences with the Shadow of the Erdtree. We also read your responses to Castle Ensis and Scadu Altus!