What is UP, Dreamwidth Family?
At long last, I’ve completed the next part in the Un-Iverse epic that is “The Pontue Legacy”, and getting it outta the way now, I had SO many good feels reading “Part IV: The Blessed Child.” This chapter left me with an even higher respect for series creator Matt Zimmer, especially given his statements on the entertainment industry and the dark side of fandoms. Not gonna preach too much about it, let’s just jump right in, shall we?
The Un-Iverse #12 – The Pontue Legacy, Part IV: “The Blessed Child”
• Oh, man, can you say coincidence? Reading the opening page with Zyle and Sarah promising each other’s partnership to the end while playing “True to Your Heart” by 98 Degrees w/Stevie Wonder from Disney’s Mulan soundtrack was just too perfect, especially with Zyle’s impulsive reluctance for perceivably “moving too fast”; she loves you, Zyle, and you know that can’t be bad… you should be glad! I don’t mean to invoke American politics, but Sarah’s view of Zyle’s leadership as the President of Kosram really echoes the current sacrifice of Joe Biden. Sarah refers to Zyle as the heart and soul of the movement to take the fight to Sorceress Augatha, basically calling him the hero, the Mjolnir-wielding Captain America who’ll assemble the resistance to make their stand. It just feels really fitting considering the current times and me happening to be playing “True to Your Heart” – you gotta be true to your heart, Zyle. She loves you; you can accept it now.
🎵True to your heart, you must be true to your heart
That's when the heavens will part
And baby, shower you with my love
Open your eyes
Your heart can tell you no lies
And when you're true to your heart
I know it's gonna lead straight to me...🎵
• Bob the Wizard was responsible for the banishment of the Dragons to the lair that now stands as the Dragon Council – damn, one human wizard single-handedly defeated an entire race of fire-breathing warriors means Bob was the shit. That takes guts from a human, magician or not. Gotta respect that. Eventually Augatha made a pact with them, but they broke the cardinal rule; they didn’t tell her they stashed the egg. And for that, well… it’s a “hell hath no fury like a woman deceived” lowdown in the works. And she’s already at the Council – our protagonists haven’t even set out yet. I believe the trope of “the shit’s gonna hit the fan” will commence in about the next two seconds it’ll take for me to scroll down to the next page, so…
• Dragon Springer, well met. You wouldn’t happen to know a human from Earth-1 named Jerry, would you? Judging by your attire, I think you two would get along great! Boco, you’d fit right in with the Sesame Street crew -- but you play nice with Elmo, got it? Larnath, my man, there’s a fella from Middle-Earth named Smaug who’d jive right with you, chemistry-wise. Oh, and uh, your cousin stopping by to say hello… and goodbye. She might throw in a “burn in muthafuckin’ Hell!” too, just giving y’all a heads up.
• Springer… see, Jerry from Earth-1 is known for fights breaking out on his pad, but I don’t recall him ever trying to start one. And if you know your “cousin” is a Sorceress, what exactly makes you think it’s a good idea to be lecturing her on the issue of respect? I mean, Boco and Lanarth picked up the hint that you overstepped your boundaries in one second just by doing that. Better prepare yourself, pal…
• See? Just like that, the ultimatum comes down. You already screwed up once by waxing pompous arrogance, Springer. You’d best hand over the goods now if you don’t want to lose your seemingly already meaningless life. The girl don’t play that, thought you’d have figured that out by now. And she’s implying it with the tried-and-true threat of intending to prove that indeed, there are many things worse than death.
• Holy—okay, this is new. Los Amigos Dragones have plotted something far more sinister as a response to Augatha’s threat; they’re blackmailing her. My repsonse? I’m just gonna paraphrase to ‘em: “Let me get this straight. You think that your cousin-in-theory, the most powerful sorceress you’ve ever beheld, of whom the Un-Iverse itself is terrified due to her immense power, isn’t a problem because you truly think you have an effective bargaining chip in play that’ll keep her at play… and you seriously wanna blackmail her, now of all times? …Good luck.” Ho-hoooh, this is gonna be good.
• Okay… I stand corrected on all counts. Turns out what I said before about Zyle was apparently only the tip of the iceberg. This guy isn’t just a magician’s apprentice, president, and hero – he’s the freaking namesake of this chapter of The Pontue Legacy. Dreamwidth Family, I give you… Zyle, the Blessed Child himself. And he literally is. I mean, the title card for the episode appears right afterwards, epic soundtrack by John Williams and all. And Augatha knows it, as Dragon Springer conjures an image of the other half of her soon-to-be-problem: a make-out session between Zyle and Sarah teetering on into censorship territory (we are watching a PG-rated visual comic, and Matt Zimmer is a man of standards). Sarah possesses knowledge about Pontue that if passed to Zyle will effectively Infinity Gauntlet-Snap Augatha out of existence. That’s some serious shit right there, and our Sorceress is terrified. It’s now decision time; like, split second decision time. Time to roll out the dice, deal her hand. This is one outcome she hasn’t foreseen.
• BUT she remains dead set on her goal – whether Los Amigos Dragones can keep the egg hidden matters not, and if Sarah finds the egg, our lady Augatha will have the princess dead at her feet anyway. Again, “hell hath no fury like a sorceress deceived” and all. Relishing the fact that she literally just played the three angry Gigante-lizards, Augatha boastfully takes her victory lap while Los Amigos Dragones look at each other with a singular facial expression that reads, “Dude… we just got royally fawked.”
• Now realizing their very lives are slated for execution, Los Amigos Dragones have no choice but to resort to Plan X – they have to kill Augatha or be killed themselves. It is time to release the Beast itself! Larnath seems most interested, judging by his sadistic grin and the fact that the mention of slaughtering Augatha just brightened his day in a nanosecond. Oh yeah, he’s gonna enjoy this.
• Zyle is a man after my own heart; to borrow a line from Milo James Thatch from the animated Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, when it comes time to decide on something, it doesn’t matter if it’s the smart thing – what matters is if it’s the right thing. But his Veep suddenly drops in and seems visibly unsure of the viability of his superior’s mission. Zyle responds by invoking a “failsafe servant” protocol similar to America’s process in the event a sitting President dies or is otherwise unable to effectively carry out their duties; if Zyle never returns, due to loss of contact or being killed in action, then Kosram will have the Veep serve as an interim President. The Veep will also be tasked with providing continuing support for Princess Sarah in her quest to take back the Kingdom of Finn. The VP is honored but doesn’t sugarcoat the facts; he doesn’t have full confidence in his abilities and knows next to nothing about leading a kingdom. Again, I don’t mean to mention American politics, but the situation oddly reflects the times today – Joe Biden deciding to have his VP Kamala Harris lead the Democratic Presidential Ticket for 2024 (now with her own VP pick Tim Walz at her side), putting his hope and faith in her to protect and strengthen American democracy is quite similar to the trust Zyle has placed on his VP, confident that his possible successor will find his way through the pressures of a position of leadership. It’s a neat emotional moment where I see two people who are terrified of what the future may bring, but who have also accepted that fear and have focused on having faith in each other and the world to strive towards defying the odds. It shows the kinds of emotions that run through the minds of heroes who are pushed to the brink – sometimes to an acceptance that the ultimate sacrifice may very well be necessary – when the odds are mountainous.
• Oh my God, Disney nostalgia overload here! Just as our protagonists prepare for what is arguably a daunting travel prospect – a three-day trek, followed by another’s day worth of steady trek and ending with a flippin’ two day mountain hike… all on HORSEBACK, mind you – Zyle reminds us all again WHY they call him a “magician”; Nope, he didn’t say “hocus-pocus” (that would’ve been SO uncharacteristic of him, wouldn’t y’all agree?), he stylishly channels magical electricity like the BOSS he is, and transforms each and every one of our heroes’ equestrian transports into dashing Pegasus horses! Yeah, man, they goin’ to the Mountaintop in style. I’m seeing Disney’s Hercules flashbacks all over again… it’s… so overwhelming, and so… beautiful. Matt, I HAVE to express some REAL gratitude for this scene, as Hercules remains one of my favorite animated Disney flicks since elementary school (even if James Woods is a prick now). And our Princess, understandably, feels like she’s on Cloud Nine at this point with her personal Pegasus, the wind on her face, and the closeness of her sweetheart more present than ever… sigh…
• At Sorceress Augatha’s campsite, however, the situation is nowhere near as optimistic… at least, as far as the two sentient footwear entities, Fuzzy and Scuzzy are concerned. Fuzzy is visibly unnerved about Augatha’s brazen confidence over coming out as the victor in the conflict ahead, and especially about just how much of a potential MacGuffin that Zyle could be, given his status as The Blessed Child. Scuzzy doesn’t wanna hear it, as his faith in his sorceress remains unshaken. Or does it? I mean, let’s hear Fuzzy out for a second; Scuzzy wants to believe that Augatha generally always comes out on top, regardless of being wrong sometimes. But Fuzzy begs to differ on that, citing that the last time Augatha was “wrong” about something, well… the sun – the light that God was said to have “turned on” on Day One of “Project: Genesis” – ceased to exist for THREE FRIGGIN' YEARS. Three years without sunlight would surely kill every living being on this planet, no joke. Fuzzy’s basically asking, “do we really wanna risk THAT again?” And y’know what? Scuzzy suddenly gets it, and he silently calls his own prideful piety into question. And just when things couldn’t get any tenser…
• THERE THEY ARE! The Kosram Cavalry has already arrived (yeah, having wings kinda makes things a lot easier. The power of flight is so underrated in this day and age…) Tork and Augatha are understandably surprised, but the Sorceress is still not intimidated upon laying her eyes on the Blessed Child bearing down on her. That… can’t be a good sign. Sarah and Zyle join hands, seemingly preparing for some kind of ritual, with Augatha looking on with a pair of binos that look like they could give the night-vision goggles from Jurassic Park’s SUV transports a run for the money in efficiency, given the weather conditions at the moment…
• Winifred and Krac are psyched up and ready to join the others, but not before… oh, come on, Winifred. You KNOW you wanted to get in a little lip-locking with him. Don’t lie to us, you wanted that. You trying to give the princess some attitude on that? Lady, Sarah knows a romantic moment when she sees one. You saw her plant a nice one on Zyle lips right at the beginning of this chapter! There’s no shame on being open about your infatuation with your beau here. S’all good.
• Zyle says that to enter the mountain ahead, the earthly construct demands an offering: the blood of either a Magician or a Sorceress. He offers his own blood, which triggers an opening awash with heavenly light. Opening another door with Zyle’s blood leads our intrepid protagonists… right into the mitts of Los Amigos Dragones! Sarah politely requests the egg she’s been questing for, but the three reptilian giants say that’s to be decided later as there are more pressing issues to discuss. King Krac is already leery, judging by the sinister glares from the dragon buddies that this is NOT going to be a friendly meet-and-greet. Dragon Springer, glad that he has his guests right where he wants them, narrows his eyes and grins menacingly as he assures them they aren’t here for serve as sustenance for the three dragons’ bellies, but rather “entertainment”… Oh, God. If he’s thinking about enacting his version of “The Jerry Springer Show”, then I’m gonna say right now that in the Un-Iverse, that very thought has me scared as hell. And that… is where the cliffhanger ending is capped! Matt, you tease me so! Seriously, though, this is looking pretttyyy bad for the good guys. And while all this is going down, who’s holding back Sorceress Augatha? Damn, it’s ‘bout to get real bad, real soon.
I gotta give props to Matt for this chapter in terms of emotions. The previous episode had a lot of powerful optimistic feels to it, and the moment between Zyle and Sarah were not only cute, but also real and human. I saw a lot of realism during those scenes, and for Gilda And Meek and The Un-Iverse, I always see that as one of this series’ strengths. Being to look at the past episodes from a more personal lens and not solely political ones (which, looking back, I think were mainly because the political climate in America prior to the rise of the newly christened Harris-Walz campaign dragged me to an alarming low, mentally speaking) has also made me really appreciate the work as something that is for all intents and purposes a story, first and foremost. I remember back in high school that my first “brooding superhero” comic “The Viper” was mainly politically charged (it was originally written to remind people of how America screwed up in Vietnam and as a voice to protest the calls for invading Iraq, given the known savagery of war and how it guarantees nothing both death and grief), but over time, I saw that writing it as a story first and ditching the anti-war tropes was a better idea. My series Sneakers’ U-Force is broader, focusing on awareness about the continued downplaying of the climate crisis and its very REAL consequences, and Lil’ Hero Artists turned out to basically become my personal expression on what it truly means to be an artist on my terms. It really shows how “writing from the heart” rather than writing “what sells” or “what the market wants” is what makes for successful series like Gilda and Meek and my own personal works. I have a whole new level of respect for Matt now, especially since he’s one of the few people out there who know how “the fans” actually DON’T know what’s best for mainstream IPs. Fans ARE the industry’s worst enemy in that regard, full stop.
Anyway, I’ll see you all again in the hopefully near future with a review for the next chapter in this arguably high-stakes saga in The Un-Iverse #13 – The Pontue Legacy, Part V: “The Dragons and the Egg!”
Peace and love to y’all!
Nana
--J.D.