Following on from last year’s brilliant pandemic special filmed entirely on zoom, Mythic Quest returns to bridge the gap between Seasons 1 and 2 with Everlight.
The episode starts out with the story of the sword that will destroy the darkness, in animated form complete with over the top fantasy narration from the legendary Anthony Hopkins. Right off the bat you can see there’s going to be something slightly different about this episode.
It turns out Everlight is an annual event in which the employees get to unwind by having a big roleplaying party featuring a LARPing tournament. Usually watched over by King Ian, this year thanks to their new found equality, Poppy joins him as Queen and they attempt to make sure everything runs smoothly.
The upcoming Season 2 of Mythic Quest is supposedly set in a post-COVID world, and after the very COVID episode ‘Quarantine’, this episode acts as the transition. There are a few mentions here and there, but overall it would still work watching it years from now without knowing when it came out. However, the message is clear for anyone watching it in the present, as Ian says, Everlight is first and foremost about hope. It’s obviously never said, but clearly the all-consuming Darkness represents COVID and the sword that brings the light is the vaccine. As Ian says, everyone has had a tough year and they need Everlight right now, they need that hope.
Without giving too much away, come the last act, the episode full-on leans into its fantasy inspirations giving a LARPing battle for the ages. It’s hard not to compare Mythic Quest to Community in this episode. The way it leans into the genre it represents similar to how Community’s paintball episodes did. It seems unlikely this will become an annual tradition, however it would be great to see more episodes dipping into other genres.
It’s great to see all the actors back in the same room together. F. Murray Abraham is still shielding due to being in his ‘80s, however, so his character only appears via video wall. This certainly dilutes his role and interactions but what you can do.
As entertaining as the episode is, the only real downside is that it’s comes at the expense of some of humour. Obviously is has jokes, but it’s more focused on the format, the story, and the underlying message. It has its moments, such as some of the over top fights, but also misses plenty of opportunities and the final battle it almost turns so hard into the fantasy genre that it almost misses any parody completely.
Overall, Everlight is a great episode that feels very different for the series. It would have been nicer to see a little more roasting of the fantasy genre, but it’s still very entertaining.
Where to watch: Apple TV+
