I just wanna point out that the elktaur was so in hate with his body, that even though the Woman said she liked his antlers, he still went through with the transformation. And I think that was a really interesting touch to show how his mind was. And remember kids: intrusive thoughts are not your thoughts.
He really never loved woman, he liked the excuse woman gave him to allow him to justify his actions out of love, in order to become the superior being he thought he should be. To become not just an important man, but the hero, the general, even as elktaur, he wants to be seen as an important respected man, appealing to humans and trying to gain their respect, he even got a job as a portal worker which is described as one of the most important jobs in both worlds. His actions were fuelled by insecurity, self-loathing, anxiety, a superiority complex and selfishness. He couldnt be comfortable in not just his body, but in his status as a simple worker, he wanted to be important and respected and well in the end both halves were important and respected, one a king and one a general. But in the end his pitiful tantrum for power and recognition, and to finnaly become comfortable, was nothing but a plague, killing thousands and turning thousands more into minotaurs.
@@dyppityjoop5912 I think a part of him loved her. Specifically the part that got left in the elk. Which makes sense honestly the part of him that wanted to be loved as he was would be one of his aspects he would want removed from himself. Because the nowhere King wasn't just created by that choice. He was also tortured for over a decade and consumed by self-hatred
@@dyppityjoop5912 i heavily disagree. Sure, he didn't love his job, but him going from that tl thinkinh being human would let him...what, have a better job? Is ridicolous
OH MY GODS ONLY NOW REWATCHING THE SHOW I REALIZED THAT THE GENERAL BEING HURT THE FIRST TIME RIDER MEETS HIM IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE WOUND THEY HAD INFLICTED ONTO THE NOWHERE KING BEFORE!?!?!?!?!?!
The concept of a villain who hated himself so much he tore himself apart, and that in turn led to tearing two worlds apart, is just so fascinating. And for the little gripes I had, I think they knocked that backstory out of the park Edit: please talk about this more if you're up for it!
@@emiliocoruna4552 because he did. No matter which half he wanted to be human. That's all he really cared about in the end. The princess was an excuse.
@@spinningpeanut dude was literally the little mermaid gone wrong and it was...... pretty horrifying tbh especially when you consider the consequences of splitting your psyche into two, and how it changed both of their sides/how it stunted any positive character growth they might've gone through otherwise (also the realization that the first thing the Nowhere King did when meeting the woman again was to ask her to kill him is...... Something. especially with the backstory of her saving him after TEN YEARS of being imprisioned in a box, like jesus)
I think the birdtaurs, since they couldn't see what happened in the rift, means they couldnt see wammawink inside the whale, or wammawink's backstory, so they missed her best moments
that's very possible. food is also a coping mechanism and i took it as the distraction when reliving the memories was too much. i hadn't thought of it like that. granted, it took me a minute to piece the order of the memories together lol
my theory, is that since Elk and the General are connected. Elk receives the impulse to eat delicious food from the General who has been living a life of Luxury.
@@charmagne2102 Who doesn't get the impulse to eat tasty food? bill's theory sounds very appealing to me, mostly cuz I'm an emotional eater. The way I see it, as a talking Elk who didn't much feel welcome around the centaurs to begin with there probably weren't many things he could have done to distract himself from the bad things but eat.
For extra sadness feel free to think about how Durpleton probably made all of his own toys considering how they all look handmade. He wanted his dad to think that he was clever for making his own jack in the box because his dad was asking him to be a clever boy (of course his definition of clever is quiet and obedient)
OMG ALSO Ched's backstory adds a new layer to what the tree shamans said he needs. He needed to become a horse not only to bond with horse, but as a way to confront an aspect of his past he's insecure about!
Yeah the tree shamans were surprisingly good at their jobs. Like it seemed most of the wishes they granted were just silly gags but they genuinely did have a reason for doing everything they did. Still mad at them for not helping wammawink in her backstory though.
I don't....*think* they're necromancers. They couldn't bring her herd back. And what she needed was to move on, which the tree shamans couldn't really help with, and in fact hanging around the burned settlement with the tree shamans would be the opposite of helping.
@@TheDeadlyShoe Well yeah but I feel like they could've just said. "Sorry sweetie, no magic is gonna bring your family back. What you need to do is go somewhere that's safe and nice andlearn to cope with your immense trauma." Instead of being cryptic and stuff. I get it's their whole thing but c'mon.
@thetinykid4169 I'm literally a year late responding to this I think but. She was a kid and all she wanted was her old herd back, she wasn't asking for help, she didn't then go on and say "what should I do? Where should I go? What *do* I need?" Now no one can say for certain what their answers would've been then but I think the reason they don't say it is cuz she doesn't ask and they know she still needs to process this grief before she even can find a new herd. Idk that's just how I see it.
In the hilarious Glendale episode, I think she's playing Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes who talks in an extremely low voice, doesn't blink, and wears only black like Steve Jobs. We love both seasons of Centaurworld!
@@TheCherrykye Yeah, I had no idea who Elizabeth Holmes was until reading this comment, but I can already tell that Glendale did way more to help people in 20+ minutes of screen time than Holmes has in her entire career lol.
I always knew Durpleton was a deeper character then people were giving him credit for. I feel like some people didn’t pick up on Durpleton’s implications about his dad’s treatment in season 1 because they brushed it off as a fart joke even though he’s sometimes visibly flinching when he farts and saying they say horrible things to him.
Ok you make a good point but frankly I cannot take the phrase "even though he’s sometimes visibly flinching when he farts and saying they say horrible things to him." seriously lol But yeah you do make a good point. Also why didn't anyone notice that his dad quite literally DROPPED him multiple times as a kid, which was the origin for the "Durple drop" holy shit
@@Fuzunga It's made with a general audience in mind, it's not targeted towards a specific age group. (however they where definitely aware that most of their viewers where going to be at least under 18)
The Nowhere King's story elevated the series for me because of how well it tied so many elements of the show together and was so uniquely devastating. It was weird how they wrote Rider's short-lived mistrust of Horse and her fake-out death since it narratively muddied their relationship for the sake of drama and didn't really add anything to Horse's story which had already stuck the landing before that point. Anyway pls have more musical theater people work in animation for gems like this.
it's a thought i'm yet to complete...but i think there's something about having a momentary rift in Rider/Horse as opposed to the Mysterious Woman/Elktaur/General/NWK relationship of lies and denial...im just not smart enough to find it all lol
@@thethirdbill that would've added another great layer in the relationship parallels! While I don't think they executed that conflict very well to make the connection clear in their rush to the resolution, the doubt did rip our hearts out twice over 😭
@Judgmental Badger Face TLDR at Bottom: I don't feel it muddle things myself, though could have perhaps been done better, maybe with more time. But it felt like two halves of a whole. Horse was gone for at least 1 year, they are in a highstress situation, from the outside centaur world looks nice, safe, calm. "Your just a horse" feels like a callback to who horse was. Horse is no longer horse. And with how long horse had been gone, Rider may still know her, but she doesn't know who she became. If I had to compare it to something - it like expecting your old friend you haven't seen in ages to still be the same person and to perhaps be in the same place they were before despite the obviouse changes. Either because of stress, nostalgia, need for normalcy, etc. It by no means makes it right. And whoever that person became, is who there going to be, just like despite the hurt of being called 'just a horse' didn't stop horse from doing what she needed to do. The dynamic has changed, and horse and rider need to figure out that part of their relationship again. Which brings me to rider's death. I loved this fake out myself. The lullaby though wasn't to the death of rider...but to the death of their old relationship. They are no longer a horse and their rider, they are sisters free from what the war demanded of them. The song, the lullaby (in it's entirty) seems to explore to celebrate, acknowledge and explain what they will need to do. To protect themselves (horses part), each other (wammawinks part), to take a moment for yourself (glendales bag), to explore your relationships and learn (durpletins) further by Zulious acknowleging he doesn't know who he is fighting with, and finally going for what you desire despite what others may think (ched). Which is then highlighted after the war when their song acknowleges how much they changed, how much they can still change, to know and accept your flaws but to not let it stop you from growing with your friends. At least that what I got out of it, and can totes see people not having that interpretation at all. But guess that is also the nice bit, how each person can see it a bit differently. TLDR: "Just a Horse" is a callout to the fact horse is now definintly more than a horse, hence why it hurt. The death of rider was more the death of their old relationship.
I think to me "you're just a horse" is less about rider not trusting horse, as she even says that's not what she meant, it's rider desprately clinging onto the only thing that's been consistently true and made sense to her "the general is a good guy" and because this must be true, that must mean "you don't know what you're talking about". She becomes so eager to prove this that she actually goes against the general's orders to "bring him to me alive" because she wants to kill him and show not even horse but herself, that there's one thing in this entire crazy messed up new world she's been thrown into that she still knows and understands. "You're just a horse" is rider clinging on to the past. She's saying "things couldn't have changed that much, could they?"
I am sobbing after all the Nowhere King story. Just the fact that he's known by that name because that's where he felt he belonged to, it's making me suffer.
Oh, as for "things that you missed", I'm not sure if you missed it or if it's just a really subtle joke that runs through S1 and S2, but did you pay attention to Gary? We met Gary in Holes Pt 2, where Zulius traded for Gary's cake while they were in prison. Well, Gary also was the rider for Becky Apples and that the General hadn't seen him in a while, and the Mysterious Woman even mentions how delicious Gary's cakes are and that she'd eat them all by herself if she could during the flashback in the NWK's memory. So, somehow, Gary ended up in the Gophertaur's Hole and died when he exploded via magic. So yeah, there's this weird subplot about how his cakes are delicious, and they keep showing up, even after his death. I don't understand it, but I find it hilarious that there's just this subplot about a guy who makes cakes.
@@universalpower419 Ched lays an egg with him somehow. Gary ends up in a hole, which is confirmed as an alternate set of rifts, in an underground prison, but continues to bake cakes as a skeleton somehow. People react to the way they are treated with centaurworld magic. Stabby is treated like a child and becomes a toddler, Horse is treated like a member of the herd and changes to fit, Gary is treated like a prisoner and ends up a pile of bones in the corner, the Nowhere King is abused for years...
Gary was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences by a shaman. My guess is he's finished the first of those three but he's still got at least one to go.
I really wish people paid more attention to Gary. He’s literally just as active a character in the show as the rest but we just don’t happen to see many of his actions onscreen. We’re even given a glimpse of how lively he once was when he was, well “alive”. Even in his undeath, not only does he continue to interact with others around him, but also seems to be amongst one of the most popular characters in this universe (he literally has fans and acquaintances in both worlds even when they’re still separated from each other).
Centaurworld is a show where tons of characters are dealing with some sort of dysfunction and learning to cope. It's fitting that the villain is the one character who never could. And his toxic self-hatred harmed a lot of people around him. Some minor trivia that's easy to miss on a first watch: -The leader of the horsetaurs is introduced as "Madam Lambsbury" and Horse correctly guesses her first name is "Malangella." A reference to Angela Lansbury. -The Birdtaurs DIDN'T see Wammawink's backstory. That's why they don't really understand her. -You caught the Les Mis reference on Glendale's wanted poster, but there's a second poster that appears with the number 59640 during West Covina's song which is a reference to a famous mugshot of David Bowie.
I have a love/hate feeling with Rider’s “death”. It was intense emotional and I nearly cried then she came back. To which the stab wound she received actually is a survivable one as long as she gets help and it doesn’t get infected. Though I think I would’ve felt better about it if after the lullaby she had been healed or something. Like something that may have shown more possibility in her surviving. Keep that is she going to die feeling while also having an element that doesn’t make her coming back seem out of nowhere. As for the Nowhere King’s backstory, I absolutely loved it. It was very well done and executed and that last lullaby from Woman to Elktaur/Nowhere King was stunning. I didn’t actually think she’d go through with it, that she’d hesitate and they’d go for a redemption (which I know people are tired of but for me, as long as it makes sense to the actions and the characters then it’s good) but dang I got chills. Lastly, I wasn’t expecting to love Ched and Derpleton in this season as much as I did. And I’m really glad for it.
@@orenbartal8504 She also has a bandage on her belly, and you see her hold it as well like it's still painful ^^ (Also she fell on the floor after the stab, so I guess it makes sense? But yeah she didn't seem to have any injury to her head before, so... xD)
I'm in love with how they handled the Nowhere King's backstory. Showing things out of order but in a really impactful way. I couldn't remember if they showed that side of the general before or after his song. I was afraid they were going down a redemption path. The Woman's song at the end is so powerful with her words that I just sob when she makes the whole statement. The whole thing is chef's kiss
I loved how the show was still funky and goofy, but how it still took the time to talk about or imply serious things like the affects of childhood bullying, emotional abuse/neglect, self hatred or intrusive thoughts, etc. And my FAVORITE THING OF ALL: the Nowhere King didn't get a second chance. I'm a sucker for second chances, but from everything he's done, both to the princess and to the worlds, it'd feel horrible to see him granted a second chance like that.
Horse became cartoony when she realized Centaurworld is where she belongs- if you noticed, Elktaur had the human world art style because he never felt at home in Centaurworld
It’s weird hearing Eda’s voice on a mother who doesn’t care about her son… also I wanna know how Gary went from the royal cake maker to a skeleton in the mole jail
Actually it’s weird hearing her voice on a character like Eda, who actually cares about her kids. Because she also voices Beatrice, bojacks mom from bojack horsemen, and she is another character who doesn’t care at all for her son.
ya, dude just made it 100000 times more horrifying by having the whole "splitting yourself", corruption arc (of the general), imprisionment, and corruption arc (of the nowhere king) debacle like jesus christ there's hating yourself so much you ruin all your relationships and then there's THAT
I think Centaurworld is a show we all needed in 2021, I know I sure did. There's so many things the show did really, really well and other things that needs more. (I need another season for selfish reasons.) I am thankful that Rider's warrior arch ended with literally being stabbed in the back by the person she revered as a parental figure through the war. Someone she blindly followed because of the chain of command. To me, it signified the end of that era in her life and she (and Horse) can go on living their lives for themselves as sisters. I also am appreciated that they didn't "heal" Rider right away, with say magical healing rainbow tears. They allowed us to feel the anguish of Horse and Rider's losses and let us stew long enough for it to sting. Then showing us that Horse has taken her to heal her with medicine as she wanted to for Stabby in the first episode. Giving Glendale, Ched and Durpleton story arcs were very much needed in this season. Giving their backstories helps with understanding why they are the way they are in season one. Each character's arch touches the human mind and mental health in different ways and it's done so neatly and respectfully. Nowhere King's story arch was just awesome. Back in season one I knew he and the "mysterious woman" (I wish she got a name and more singing because I love Jasmine and Mulan) were connected in some kind of love triangle but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until the General put the kill score on Becky's saddle. That was when I connected him with Centaurworld and the Nowhere King. The Elktaur shedding his antlers makes sense because they shed at the end of winter/early spring which is where they are in that point of the story, it gives us a timeline of when he separates his being into two halves. But the Nowhere King's back story definitely left me annoyed that the Centaurworld staff left me feeling bad for the goopy Nowhere King in the end. Honestly the finale was just a train wreck of emotions for me and I'm still thinking about it even as I go through my second watch through of it all. As a musical theatre nerd that I am I am SO in love with all the voice talent Centaurworld was able to nab. Kimiko Glenn, Lea Salong, Megan Hilty, Jessie Mueller, Renee Goldsberry and Brian freaking Stokes! These were just names that hit me in the face right away, I'm sure there's many more but their talents certainly made this show so much more enjoyable for me. Then there's Megan, long time fan of her work from way back in her deviant art days lol. I love seeing people I've communed with many years ago succeed in their careers so many years later. I love her work and her love of story telling and character development has definitely shown in this series that I need more. I'm not ready to say goodbye to this little herd of misfits.
I don't want to ignore all of these lovely thoughts Lindsay, but there is a shot where we see Elk's antlers on his workbench by a file and saw. :( Highly recommend doing your best to rewatch with s1. It's so cool to see it all play out as a long two act musical. I think there's something to be sad about the sympathy you felt for NWK. We've seen them as separate beings, but they're all pieces of one person (taur?) That split from Elk boi to goop demon is the consequence of the evils within the same Elktaur. I think I felt more pity than sympathy, but sympathy should not mean vindication. i think the lesson is understanding so we don't repeat the past. If horse never learned about NWK, she might have tried to use rift magic to save rider or something. I didn't even consider Rider being so obligated to the chain of command at the end there, but that makes so much sense! The decisions of war are not made by soldiers, but the effects hit the same if not harder (my dad is a desert storm combat vet with a purple heart who just got VA dental a month ago) I'll tell you a secret if you got this far, I found my playbills from my time doing shows in NY and I have actually seen most of the cast live at some point (EXCEPT FOR BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL WHICH IS A CRIME)
@@thethirdbill honestly surprised you read it all. BUT it’s not just a CRIME but a SIN!!! But I will be the first to admit that I too have sinned by not seeing him in all his musical glory live. 😢 But that’s the only thing you have on me!! ;p Overall I love what CW did in the two seasons they got and I think it holds a valuable message for everyone young and old. Especially with all that’s been happening in the world. *deep sigh*
It's the little details in the show that are so important. There's a LOT of attention to detail in Centaurworld that's really something else, a lot of which you don't and won't catch during your first watch. For example, during the Last Lullaby with MW and the NWK, whenever the elktaur sings, you can distinctly hear TWO voices - not one, signifying that the two halves were too far separated to ever truly be whole again. And the character details... Did you notice that whenever the General or the elktaur said he loved her, she got angry, and that was ultimately what pushed her to go through with ending his life? Chefs kiss. You can also see the way that she still struggles to do what she knows is right - looking away with tears in her eyes for a moment when she sees him cry, crying when she says "when you leave", showing that while she knows that it needs to be done, she does still love him (or at least part of him) and hates that she has to do this. But doing it was cathardic for her. Her last lullaby is an acknowledgement that what she was given was never really love, it was deceit and manipulation, and she's ready to rise above it and put it behind her in order to finally heal. Being a survivor of domestic violence myself, that was the part of the finale that hit me the hardest. Regarding Rider's fakeout death, with the blow delivered by the very person she looked up to and tried so hard to impress during the war, it was to symbolize her life as a soldier coming to an end. Her seemingly out-of-character moment of telling Horse "how could you know what needs to be done? You're just a horse." wasn't really out-of-character at all... Let me explain. We saw her spend the entirety of season two (with the exception of the later half of the finale) trying to win the General's favor (falling over herself when she realizes the "stable boy" is the General, going to the NWK's castle to get the key to stop them from making monsters, bringing Waterbaby back to be a counsel and contribute to war tactics, etc). She looks up to him and regards him as a hero, the leader that will take them to victory. So hearing that the war can only end when her 'hero' is killed, without an explanation as to why, is less about her really thinking that Horse "is just a horse" and more to do with her clinging to what she knows because what she basically heard was, "everything you know is a lie". It had nothing to do with trust. It's also important to note that the relationship between Horse/NWK and Rider/General is intentional. They are foils of each other. We didn't see the General in season one because if we had, and knew more about him, he couldn't have served as the foil to Rider in season two. IE, he's the fake hero and she's the real hero. This is why I don't think it was a relationship that came out of nowhere nor was it forced. And of course, the obvious foil between Horse and the Nowhere King being that his story is what happens when you let self-doubt take over and don't have a support system to pull you out of that isolated mental darkness, making you feel as if you don't belong anywhere. In the same breath, the NWK is also a foil to the setting of Centaurworld as a whole; being devoid of color in a world that's always so colorful, and looking so gnarled and wrong that he doesn't seem like a creature that belongs in that world (or any world). He is literally and figuratively the antithesis of the world and the main characters. He is a flawed show's perfect villain. And note that I say "flawed" with a note of affection, just as Horse does in the finale. The rest of it, you completely nailed on the head. Horse is the perfect main character, fitting all of the themes and messages that the show gave, including going through all of the stages of grief symbolized by how she interacted with each of the Shaman's. Anyway. I loved this review and all of your reactions. Keep up the good work!
When he sang it once I was like oh no okay no I can do this, and then his dad cuts him off and he repeats, going higher and higher and I went AAAAAAAAAA
@@mayhemm8796 yeah from the characters' perspective it literally is, I've thought about that a lot in the backstories episode because they reprised several songs
The wedding song is the same one she sang in "Rift, pt2" before not killing the Nowhere King. He didn't cut off his horns - deer/elk naturally lose them at the end of every mating season, then grow a new set.
Elk do shed their antlers but in this he did saw them off, antlers don't leave nubs when they shed and the antlers are shown on the table with a saw, he sawed them off before the party trying to look more human :(
yeah, there's a shot of his antlers on his workbench by a file and saw. On a positive note, i do talk about the vows in the video! i hope you check out the rest!
It makes sense that all the birdtaurs don’t like Wamawink, all her best moments and insights into her character happen in private moments. Horse’s vision at the tree sages forest, in the beartaurs caves, the wale and inside the rift
Its a small thing but at the end song when glendale gave horse something instead of taking something made me tear up more than I figured it would. This is also like the 3rd time I've watched your s2 reaction.
Regarding the lore of the show, Centaurs, being half animals half man things, differ from Minotaurs, who are basically the same. Maybe Minotaurs exist because they didn't want to combine but were forced to do so and Centaurs might have come to existence ages ago through a similar yet more "natural" process involving the magic of the gate/key and perhaps the Intention to exists that way.
@@thethirdbill ...............................centaurs have three sets of limbs. minotaurs have two. like, mythologically. and the minotaur was a result of a human and a bull having kids, which afaik isn't the case for centaurs. "man"-made minotaurs. natural centaurs. i spent the entire goddamn show wondering why the show called them that and it was a goddamn wink towards greek mythology/the minotaurs' origins all along im-
I can understand people's concerns regarding Season 2's pacing in comparison to Season 1, but I genuinely felt like it worked. It was chaotic because, well, they were panicking recruiting for an impending war. It really paralleled the "OHGODOHGODOHGOD" stress feeling that I know I get when I've got very little time to prepare for something that massively affects my life. And the darker bits? They were so jarring at times but I think if they'd played it safe, it wouldn't have worked. Bayden's transformation made me feel really uneasy and reminded me a lot of The Black Cauldron when the Skeletons begin to rise up with the Horned King's magic. The Nowhere King/General Elktaur's story was nothing at all what I was expecting. I loved Elk's innocence towards horse, I really sympathised with his character. I noted on another video (Alto the Altoiest has put his story through song in chronological order) that someone said Elktaur's less wibbly wobbly appearance may have been because he works on the rift, but that it also could be the case that you look like what you feel. Horse went wibbly wobbly through becoming closer to the herd and doing more and more silly things, Elktaur heard from humans that they disliked the centaurs so much that he became more human in appearance. I kind of agree about Riders "death" and what she says to Horse. I think that if they had added a song where the General and Rider are exploring him as a commander and possible father figure then I'd have accepted it more, and maybe a nod of "Hot Goss" from Zulius after Rider is shown alive and recovering being like "WHAT?! DID YOU THINK WE'D LET HER DIE?! CATHARTIC MUCH?!". Also, Zulius doesn't need a backstory. He's Zebra/Cat/Bat-taur Man. He needs a SPINOFF.
I just love the Woman's song (Nothing Good) uses lines from her wedding vows, but twists in. In the wedding the lines are all good and positive, in Nothing More, those same lines refer to something that only hurts you.
i didn't look at how long this video was when i clicked, but i enjoyed it so much i only noticed once i got to the 45 minute mark. great video Bill! On another note: With everything that happened in the finale, I thoroughly enjoyed the way the nowhere king was handled. I feel like the impact may have been a bit stronger if the general had more screen time, but the overall message still lands. I felt so bad for the elktaur during the episode, but I was also happy to see him not be spared. It felt like an appropriate ending. His character felt to me like a commentary on discrimination and the effects it can have on both a person's self-worth and overall mental state. He felt like he could never be happy being himself so he went and did something drastic, and overtime went mad. He's such a tragic character. overall i really enjoyed this season
i'm so glad the video flows nicely for you! haha yeah, Elk is a sympathetic character, but kind of isn't a character really, but a part of the general/NWK/Elktaur. Like I said in the video, I think we're meant to feel that pain of lost potential.
concerning zulius's backstory, (this is someone else's idea, not mine, but i think it's a good one) we didn't see it because we can probably piece it together from what we already knew. He was a star in cattaur valley, but splendib stole the show and betrayed him, and they cut it off with eachother, splendib ending up with the glittercats.
I agree. It can be assumed that Zulius spent a lot of time in Cattaur Valley before “falling from grace” at some point after which he encountered Wammawink and Glendale but apparently didn’t join their herd right away until after they recruited Ched and Durpleton, as we see when he hitches a ride on their helicopter.
Side note: It is heavily implied that Zulius is one of the oldest members of the herd (with horse implied to be the youngest), second in age only to Wammawink but this also is not strictly confirmed either. For all we know, he and Wammawink could actually be around the same age.
I find the scene with mouthpiece being a fanboy hilarious because I (and many of my friends) are that level of fan crazy about his voice actor Scott Hoying! He's part of the famous acapella group Pentatonix
For a few moments at the end, I thought (hoped?) that to save Rider, at least in a way, they would merge her and Horse together into a Centaur (TM). In the end I don't mind it that much that she "just survived", although I did kinda feel emotionally cheated by how devastating the moment was with the songs and everything... but then again, Horse probably also wouldn't have known right in that moment she would survive, so it kinda makes sense in-world how she would do the Reprise at that point. For her, that felt like it might have been the end. In that moment it WAS devastating for her. Even if afterwards it turned out to be alright.
If I had a nickel for every time a female protagonist in an animated kids' show got literally stabbed in the back by her mentor figure, I'd have two nickels which, isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
The spanish speaking Glendale, West Covina, has to be a crazy ex girlfriend reference, i think creator said she was huge fan of the show and the voice of the mole shaman is in that show as a major character. btw I think you would love to react to Crazy ex girlfriend, you could do a season per episode if you wanted, or just react to the best songs
Yes yes yes! Crazy-Ex Girlfriend is really an amazing show, addressing mental health in a very clever way (and with musical numbers, and lots of musical theater and popular music references, have fun naming them all), it's hilarious and catchy, and it hits (hard), in the sense that it's wayyy too real. Also there's 4 seasons, and already has its ending, so now you can experience it as a whole
Yes please! I think I've requested this one before, but if he's up for it I think he'd really enjoy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. With his musical theatre background and commitment to mental health and stuff I'm honestly surprised it hasn't come up before~ So much to talk about with that show and the songs are so good!
The ending messed me up soooo bad, i totally agree Rider's death fakeout could been handled a bit better but the emotional bombs, TNK's back story, the song reprises, oml so many tears; I love this show sooooo much. Honestly the first few episode i like more the more times I rewatch; seemed slightly fillery but this season caused so many tears haha. Also Glendale's anxiety seminar, yesss! Legit helps people
Your thoughts on riders "death" was everything. Like I'm so happy she was okay, but there just needed to either be any moment at all during when it seemed like she was being healed/stable, or there needed to be a biiiit more time before she came in to the wrap up where we could sit in it and see it hinted at that she was ok I guess? Just something between "I'm crying over a dying body" and her walking out bandaged but fine 30 seconds later. I think the wrap up in general fell a little flat to me only because everything in the battle and lore dumping felt so strong and earned, and the wrap up, while having a wonderful song, just didn't match up to me
I think a lot of what you’re feeling actually comes down to budget and timing. In short; CENTAURWORLD was limited in its ability to fully flush out its themes due to the limited resources it was allotted.
I just watched the whole thing, and at first it felt really...strange and almost disjointed? But by the end I really felt the themes of joining the two sides. You can't just have strong warriors, you can't just have funny goofs, you need a bit of both. I loved that horse became comfortable asking for help from the herd and realized our differences become our strengths when we work together. Also, I will continue to always love a found family story
I think with Rider's not-death, my main feeling was that The Nowhere King is *so* dark, and it's ultimately a kid's show about trauma and hope. I wish they hadn't manipulated the way they did, but I get it.
I loved the show and felt they did an amazing job of keeping the story both extremely emotional and incredibly well written. However, there was only one plot thred not resolved in the finale that I was really hoping for which was HOW DID HORSE KNOW THE NOWHERE KING SONG!!
yeah, that's stuck in my head too...i wonder if the implication was more about how it was the same army that attacked centaurworld that's attacking the human world? or it could imply the backstory magic was with horse all along?
I loved this show, but I got torn with the rider death/no death, at the same time I love her character, and I loved that she didn't die, I think that she dying would make it seems more of a "war fucking sucks, and people die in it".
I feel like Rider, the General, and the Woman should've had waaay bigger roles in season 2. They were SO important to the finale in their own ways, but we hardly saw them and didn't get a chance to see any of them truly shine imo. Especially since they tried to make Rider turn her back on Horse in favor of the General-- it didn't feel natural since we didn't really get to see Rider bond with him.
Absolutely. It would have been great to see the general bond with rider. That way we get invested in their relationship and in the general himself. Furthermore, the general being the other half of the nowhere king would have been so much more impactful if he got more screentime
I loved the show. It teaches so much and makes me feel good to be myself. I love singing the songs. I cried so much as well sad and happy tears. I just wish I had someone to watch it with XD So ... thank you. Durpletion ... the feels too close to home.
29:48 General: Look at what that thing's done to him! Nowhere King: What? *Genuinely offended* General: He's gross! Nowhere King: No >:( I honestly love this interaction so much, it goes by so quick but its so funny
I'm a filthy Elktaur apologist and I just really wanted him to have a second chance. I think the self hatred metaphor hit me a little too hard and personal
@@emiliocoruna4552 I get how and why people don't like the diamonds' redemption but I still think it was good. Not great, definitely could have been better, but I could argue that for literally most redemptions. I do agree that it would have been about the same, possibly even worse, so like, yeah probably best that they didn't but still! My fix it fics will be hearing about this!!
He wasn't even willing to get a second chance, even in the first season's ending he was bowing to the woman so she could end him, and she didn't do it. He did the same in this season, I guess it was his only way to make things right, as he knew he went way too far (and also the human half died from being pushed from the cliff, and so it was about time that the elk half would die as well very soon, she just ended him on proper terms instead.
@@majesticshrimp as a big fan of SU the diamonds did lack the necessary development to be "Redeemed" yellow came close but overall all of them felt shallow. The nowhere king is different since he had a very sad backstory which made us sympathetic towards his situation and made us understand his actions following the events of his own self betrayal. In short nowhere king got development and self reflected and the diamonds didn't which made their actions shallow no matter how good they actions are currently
I absolutely fucking loved the finale! The only two gripes I had were the hot-ification of the elktaur and riders death. I feel like it would’ve hit harder if you have this emotional dude be as cartoon-y as the other centaurs. You already covered my feelings on riders “death” pretty well, I can’t say I’d rather have her be dead, but they should’ve had handled it differently for her to live. Absolutely loved this dude! I’ve been so excited for this!! If you want something a little more fluffy, with a lot of emotion, I’d recommend you check out dogs in space next. But either way, I’m excited to see whatever you do :)
I agree. I don't want rider to be dead, but I also don't like how she just miraculously survived off screen. If she did die, but then was revived by the tree shamans, or something, I think that would have been a good compromise.
It’s not that Elktaur was “hot-ified,” but rather his more “realistic”, less-cartoony character design was an intentional choice to highlight his feelings of displacement living in Centaurworld despite being from there. It’s to help drive the point that he truly feels that he belongs “nowhere “.
@@brashblond I also feel like Elktaur being hot was so the audience can feel the dissonance between how he views himself and how he actually looks before he tears himself apart. It's like a visual representation of him being a perfectly fine dude with nothing fundamentally wrong with him that needs to be changed, almost all of his self-hatred is internal and doesn't really reflect who he is from an outside perspective.
It makes sense the birdtaurs hate wammawink. All of her big moments were out of sight. Horse in her backstory, I side the whaletaur, inside the cave and the rift, even fighting the beartaur. All the best stuff she does they couldn't have seen
ngl in the finale i thought to save rider they would use the key to merge horse and rider to turn them into a centaur who could survive this wound, opposite arc of the nowhere king in a way
I definitely felt it was a little off compared to the first season, especially in the middle, but I still really enjoyed season 2, as it brought new depth to the world and it’s characters, and the essentially mini movie ending was so good. 9/10 show for me.
I really enjoyed this season/show so very much! I had ironically been working on drawing my book's elk for some holiday cards while I was watching this season. That ended up giving me emotions. But the villain's arc was so fascinating to me, it's helped motivate me even more to work on my book. Thank you, Centaurworld!
Yeah... I feel like the finale was finished/animated first and they put all their effort and budget into it. But the epilogue was not... And after getting alot of feedback that Rider should live, they kinda threw her in the epilogue, and not able to re-write the finale proper due to time restraints/budget cuts. I bet my pinky finger something like that happened. Honestly, I was hoping that Horse's tears would magically heal Rider. Because of course it would. She's magical. They're rainbow. It's perfectly logical. Good way to kinda round things up that Horse keeps that promise to protect and be there for Rider.
I have mixed thoughts on some of the reprises. In some cases they felt really fitting, thematically appropriate and powerful. Other times it felt like "you're trying to push my emotional buttons by referencing season 1 instead of providing new emotional songs" (and given some of the new songs thats a real shame! I would have liked more of them!). And i think some of the more appropriate reprise moments got weakened relatively just because there were so many other little stings and references throughout, so they didn't stick out as substantial as much as they should have.
The fact they tied in Derpeltons farts being angry at him to his trauma with his father, was mind blowing, and such a good tie in. Something that was such a random joke in the first season becoming so heart breaking was just so unexpected. Also in a Meta sense was really cool, because it was showing that Derpletons randomness isnt really random but informs his character greatly!
Yessssssss we all be crying up in this bissssshhhh. I cried so much binging the second season and especially in the finale my eyes hurt for days, I pretty much got dehydrated from it. It was awful, I loved it so much. Your commentary does it justice, I think.
In regards to Rider not dying, I don’t mind that she lived. I think that we were misled and that it was pretty clear she was going to die and then her living kinda felt like a cop out. But it does seem like the intent was always for her to live. I also think her death wouldn’t have really accomplished anything in the overarching story. It still would’ve concluded the same way and so even if she had died, I think I wouldn’t like it because it wouldn’t feel justified or like it had much of an impact. I also can see why they went about it the way that they did. Rider needed to be hurt by the general in order to see she was wrong. And the general isn’t gonna stab her so she lives. The general would deliver a fatal blow. So the only way for them to really have her be stabbed in alignment for all story arcs to work is to have it be a near fatal hit but still have her be able to recover. I think if it was done any other way it wouldn’t work. It still doesn’t feel like it was handled in the best possible way, but I think that’s just because of how the story arcs came together. Because if we want to critique the writing, I think that would lie more in Rider not believing in and insulting Horse out of nowhere. Like, she can believe the general and not want to kill him. She can even try to stop Horse from killing him. But what doesn’t make sense is her driving a wedge between her and Horse out of the blue. It seems to be added in just to add more drama to Rider’s non-death, which is the part I don’t like. Everything else I think was handled the best it could’ve been imo
@@magixshiz2543 Oh I know! I watched it with my little brother right thinking it was a cute show about just dogs in space but as it went on it was so much more than that
I just want to say thank yo u for a genuine and emotional reaction to this show because it was exactly the way I felt when watching. Their balance of the heavy sob-worthy storylines and the laughs was amazingly done and I love everything you said when analyzing this show.
Centaurworld season two was amazing!!! Loved rider getting more screentime and also stabby was great. Love your vids, glad I'm early!! Here's a rec for something you can do in the future! For music: The Scary Jokes And for shows: Arcane (which is super popular rn!!) Glad to be a subscriber, you're one of my favorite reaction TH-camrs ever !!
My favorite kind of fake-out death. The "None of us have any fucking medical training and can't tell this person is just passing out from blood loss and/or shock"
Netflix/Dreamworks TV have seriously been killing it with all these animated shows. As goofy and fun as Centaurworld is, it’s also super deep and meaningful. Even all the silly characters in the herd have had trauma, struggles, and hardships that they’ve had to overcome even if it’s not obvious until we take a deep dive into them. Also, this show feels and especially sounds so much like a broadway musical. Like I feel like I watched a musical production in animated form, and it works great! Everyone wants live action movies of broadway musicals like Wicked, but maybe what we really need is a 2-season Wicked animated show. Anyways, I really love your analysis of the season. I’ll definitely watch any future Centaurworld content you might put out
I want a comfortable doug shirt. (spoilers) Durpleton as the nowhere king was MY FAVORITE. "I used to think sharks were my friends, but I know better NOW"
I only saw 2 screenshots of this show in season 1 from tumblr. I initially thought Durpleton was the nowhere king because of his little stumps. We've come full circle! 🦒
I’m so late to the game and just watched this wonderful series for the first time! Love your review and just subscribed! Took me listening more than once to notice that the last song with the woman has the three voices singing instead of two. That of the woman, captain, and elk. “Once shattered, now whole.” Also, I would bet money that Comfortable Doug is based off of Bashar the Extraterrestrial.
It’s poetic that the first time we see the Nowhere King is when he sings his song and the last time was when he hears the melody of the song before his death.
I was SO hoping you would talk about when he sings outside the window. And the lyrics are like 'how can you avoid the ghosts when you're a haunted house"? UGH that hit so hard
I really liked how the nowhere king was shown to us. at first you feel like he's this big bad guy who could swallow the universe, but the more season two goes on, the more you see he's more of a serial killer traditional grim fairytale villain. I at first felt a little disappointed by that but then when I rewatched the show I realized too how well that worked. That mini-fairytale of his backstory really drove my love for him home. I love fairytales. They're so good, even though I'm an adult, but there is this weird chaotic logic they have because sometimes there is this eye for an eye logic that is just so pervasive throughout the story. It's like you have this item, so this happens, but their's no explanation and sometimes it doesn't quite make sense, but that's the fun part. That is why I think the nowhere king maintains such a creepy pressence even after things are over and done with. I do think this is something that put a lot of people out though. another thing people fail to tal about is the fact that all the characters can be considered eldritch to some degree. They're crazy. Glendale with her tummy portal is the most obvious, but horse and her backstory magic , and derpleton with his powers. Basically everyone is at or above the nowhere king in power. The world itself is crazy and the king himself had the least amount of time to develop as a person, or beast or whatever he could have been. He spent a large majority of his life imprisoned in various forms. Horse had several people who've spent most of their lives studying magic on her side.
I feel they lost the pace a little bit in the season two. Idk the formula seemed it wasnt quite working. In the first season, for as crazy and goofy as it was, I could trace it back and understand the meaning of every little detail. I loved to see everyone backstory, but it felt strange, how it was delivered. They go back and forth trying to recrute centaurs, and it seemed each one of the herd would have their moment/episode, where their personality and problems would make them relate to the centaurs and grow interacting with them, like Glendale and Zulius do. Meanwhile, Horse having a problem is used as a motor in the formula, to make things work, but the problem this time didnt land to me. She did recruit centaurs, the rataurs say they listened to her song. But the biggest problem to me was the nowwhere king and the princess end. I didnt get why she had to kill him. Why he was hole again, and wasnt given the chance to heal and be better. They didnt have to be together. Also I didnt understand why they didnt just undid the minotaurs, but instead took them to centaurworld. They being a new thing must be as bad as the split the nowhete king went thru. I missed more musical songs too. Most of it felt just rumbling randomly, not really having the narrative weight seen in season 1. In another note, they not dealing in any way with the horde while they were frozen was so pointless to me. They were only stalling. I would rate it 6/10
Um, there was no way that Elktaur surviving would have been okay from a narrative nor from an emotional perspective. It would be like saying that you can kill and cause suffering for millions of people for decades and it’s okay as long as you have a change of heart. No. Life doesn’t work that way. Just because a character is sympathetic, doesn’t make them redeemable.
Now that I think about it, the song Mystery Woman and the General sing during their wedding is then used in the season 1 finale. *General's lines* _Mystery Woman's lines_ *_Once shattered, now whole. Once whole, now united. Once united, now eternal_* (MW approaching Nowhere King ready to stab him) *I swear, I will never stop thinking about you, You have come to set me free* (NK, upon seeing MW, says "She's come to set me free" and then "I never stopped thinking of you") *And if you should hurt me, I'll always forgive you* / _Love is a spark, love is an evergrowing blaze_ (NK says he'll forgive her for "making [him] what [he is]", and a more positive spin on MW's song in ep 10) *You are a part of me* / _I will never part from you_ Not only did MW _know_ NK and G's whole deal, she basically quoted her wedding vows to try and pacify him. _And it worked!_
The “Brain, but too much” slide from Glendale’s Ted Talk spoke to me on an intimate level. Edit: also, I love how quickly you pick up on things. You were calling some of these twists several episodes ahead. And I didn’t realize that it was a two-act musical until after I finished the finale, but the entire second season makes more sense once that becomes clear.
I just wanna point out that the elktaur was so in hate with his body, that even though the Woman said she liked his antlers, he still went through with the transformation. And I think that was a really interesting touch to show how his mind was. And remember kids: intrusive thoughts are not your thoughts.
He really never loved woman, he liked the excuse woman gave him to allow him to justify his actions out of love, in order to become the superior being he thought he should be. To become not just an important man, but the hero, the general, even as elktaur, he wants to be seen as an important respected man, appealing to humans and trying to gain their respect, he even got a job as a portal worker which is described as one of the most important jobs in both worlds.
His actions were fuelled by insecurity, self-loathing, anxiety, a superiority complex and selfishness. He couldnt be comfortable in not just his body, but in his status as a simple worker, he wanted to be important and respected and well in the end both halves were important and respected, one a king and one a general.
But in the end his pitiful tantrum for power and recognition, and to finnaly become comfortable, was nothing but a plague, killing thousands and turning thousands more into minotaurs.
@@dyppityjoop5912 I think a part of him loved her. Specifically the part that got left in the elk. Which makes sense honestly the part of him that wanted to be loved as he was would be one of his aspects he would want removed from himself. Because the nowhere King wasn't just created by that choice. He was also tortured for over a decade and consumed by self-hatred
@@dyppityjoop5912 i heavily disagree. Sure, he didn't love his job, but him going from that tl thinkinh being human would let him...what, have a better job? Is ridicolous
He wasn't "in hate with his body"... He simply wanted to be something else.
OH MY GODS ONLY NOW REWATCHING THE SHOW I REALIZED THAT THE GENERAL BEING HURT THE FIRST TIME RIDER MEETS HIM IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE WOUND THEY HAD INFLICTED ONTO THE NOWHERE KING BEFORE!?!?!?!?!?!
...holy crap i cant unsee this!!!
I hadn't thought of that, but it makes so much sense.
The concept of a villain who hated himself so much he tore himself apart, and that in turn led to tearing two worlds apart, is just so fascinating. And for the little gripes I had, I think they knocked that backstory out of the park
Edit: please talk about this more if you're up for it!
Is it weird that I see the nowhere king literally had body dysmorphia in the most extreme way possible.
if people seem interested, i'd love to!
... well the content makers work is never done!
@@emiliocoruna4552 because he did. No matter which half he wanted to be human. That's all he really cared about in the end. The princess was an excuse.
@@spinningpeanut dude was literally the little mermaid gone wrong and it was...... pretty horrifying tbh especially when you consider the consequences of splitting your psyche into two, and how it changed both of their sides/how it stunted any positive character growth they might've gone through otherwise
(also the realization that the first thing the Nowhere King did when meeting the woman again was to ask her to kill him is...... Something. especially with the backstory of her saving him after TEN YEARS of being imprisioned in a box, like jesus)
Idc what people say about him I feel bad and I wish he got redeemed
I think the birdtaurs, since they couldn't see what happened in the rift, means they couldnt see wammawink inside the whale, or wammawink's backstory, so they missed her best moments
especially the 'let me be with my heard before you reclose the rift' moment. oooof baby girrll
so that must be why they think wammawink is the worst, especially when she has been ignoring horse's feelings for half of the whale shaman episode
Oh that makes WAY more sense
thethirdbill but wait ... she was outside the rift for that part, she asked Mysterious Woman to wait until she was back inside before closing it! 🤔🤔🤔
@@LadyLeomon But she was INSIDE the ruins. They had roofs.
The nowhere king probably has so many foodmemories because he was starving when he was kept in the dungeons.
that's very possible. food is also a coping mechanism and i took it as the distraction when reliving the memories was too much. i hadn't thought of it like that. granted, it took me a minute to piece the order of the memories together lol
my theory, is that since Elk and the General are connected. Elk receives the impulse to eat delicious food from the General who has been living a life of Luxury.
@@charmagne2102 Who doesn't get the impulse to eat tasty food? bill's theory sounds very appealing to me, mostly cuz I'm an emotional eater. The way I see it, as a talking Elk who didn't much feel welcome around the centaurs to begin with there probably weren't many things he could have done to distract himself from the bad things but eat.
Can confirm. It takes awhile to get over food insecurity. Never had that click for me but it makes perfect sense now.
For extra sadness feel free to think about how Durpleton probably made all of his own toys considering how they all look handmade. He wanted his dad to think that he was clever for making his own jack in the box because his dad was asking him to be a clever boy (of course his definition of clever is quiet and obedient)
More extra sadness: he mentions his father used to derple drop him all the time. That’s not nearly as funny with the context
OMG ALSO Ched's backstory adds a new layer to what the tree shamans said he needs. He needed to become a horse not only to bond with horse, but as a way to confront an aspect of his past he's insecure about!
Just realized this
Yeah the tree shamans were surprisingly good at their jobs. Like it seemed most of the wishes they granted were just silly gags but they genuinely did have a reason for doing everything they did. Still mad at them for not helping wammawink in her backstory though.
I don't....*think* they're necromancers. They couldn't bring her herd back. And what she needed was to move on, which the tree shamans couldn't really help with, and in fact hanging around the burned settlement with the tree shamans would be the opposite of helping.
@@TheDeadlyShoe Well yeah but I feel like they could've just said. "Sorry sweetie, no magic is gonna bring your family back. What you need to do is go somewhere that's safe and nice andlearn to cope with your immense trauma." Instead of being cryptic and stuff. I get it's their whole thing but c'mon.
@thetinykid4169 I'm literally a year late responding to this I think but. She was a kid and all she wanted was her old herd back, she wasn't asking for help, she didn't then go on and say "what should I do? Where should I go? What *do* I need?" Now no one can say for certain what their answers would've been then but I think the reason they don't say it is cuz she doesn't ask and they know she still needs to process this grief before she even can find a new herd. Idk that's just how I see it.
In the hilarious Glendale episode, I think she's playing Theranos' Elizabeth Holmes who talks in an extremely low voice, doesn't blink, and wears only black like Steve Jobs. We love both seasons of Centaurworld!
Yep! When I saw it I busted up laughing because of the reference.
The difference is that Glendale is actually helping them
@@TheCherrykye Yeah, I had no idea who Elizabeth Holmes was until reading this comment, but I can already tell that Glendale did way more to help people in 20+ minutes of screen time than Holmes has in her entire career lol.
my little sister (9) told me that she thinks that glendale is very attraktive in those clothes, well..she is right!
She may be influenced by that celebrity, but it's too bad Holmes is being sued for fraud. Glendale deserves better.
When they pulled out the nowhere king theme motif at the end there. Chills.
1000% agree!
I always knew Durpleton was a deeper character then people were giving him credit for. I feel like some people didn’t pick up on Durpleton’s implications about his dad’s treatment in season 1 because they brushed it off as a fart joke even though he’s sometimes visibly flinching when he farts and saying they say horrible things to him.
EXACTLY
I thought back to this after the episode and realized how depressing his fart arc actually was with this new context, like wow the trauma.
Ok you make a good point but frankly I cannot take the phrase "even though he’s sometimes visibly flinching when he farts and saying they say horrible things to him." seriously lol
But yeah you do make a good point. Also why didn't anyone notice that his dad quite literally DROPPED him multiple times as a kid, which was the origin for the "Durple drop" holy shit
His father _is_ kinda an ass.
I mean the rest of the herd itself was like "are we gonna unpack that?"
"An alleyway, pearls for days" So Zulius is Bruce Wayne but fabulous
oh my god i didn't catch that lol that's fantastic.
HOLY SHIT-
I love that Centaurworld teaches kids a lot of hard to talk about but also really important topics.
ditto^
And gives children trauma
@@inigocejalara7102 as all the old kids shows used to~
I don't think Centaurworld is geared towards kids at all.
@@Fuzunga It's made with a general audience in mind, it's not targeted towards a specific age group.
(however they where definitely aware that most of their viewers where going to be at least under 18)
The Nowhere King's story elevated the series for me because of how well it tied so many elements of the show together and was so uniquely devastating. It was weird how they wrote Rider's short-lived mistrust of Horse and her fake-out death since it narratively muddied their relationship for the sake of drama and didn't really add anything to Horse's story which had already stuck the landing before that point. Anyway pls have more musical theater people work in animation for gems like this.
it's a thought i'm yet to complete...but i think there's something about having a momentary rift in Rider/Horse as opposed to the Mysterious Woman/Elktaur/General/NWK relationship of lies and denial...im just not smart enough to find it all lol
@@thethirdbill that would've added another great layer in the relationship parallels! While I don't think they executed that conflict very well to make the connection clear in their rush to the resolution, the doubt did rip our hearts out twice over 😭
@Judgmental Badger Face TLDR at Bottom: I don't feel it muddle things myself, though could have perhaps been done better, maybe with more time. But it felt like two halves of a whole. Horse was gone for at least 1 year, they are in a highstress situation, from the outside centaur world looks nice, safe, calm.
"Your just a horse" feels like a callback to who horse was. Horse is no longer horse. And with how long horse had been gone, Rider may still know her, but she doesn't know who she became. If I had to compare it to something - it like expecting your old friend you haven't seen in ages to still be the same person and to perhaps be in the same place they were before despite the obviouse changes. Either because of stress, nostalgia, need for normalcy, etc. It by no means makes it right. And whoever that person became, is who there going to be, just like despite the hurt of being called 'just a horse' didn't stop horse from doing what she needed to do.
The dynamic has changed, and horse and rider need to figure out that part of their relationship again. Which brings me to rider's death.
I loved this fake out myself. The lullaby though wasn't to the death of rider...but to the death of their old relationship. They are no longer a horse and their rider, they are sisters free from what the war demanded of them. The song, the lullaby (in it's entirty) seems to explore to celebrate, acknowledge and explain what they will need to do. To protect themselves (horses part), each other (wammawinks part), to take a moment for yourself (glendales bag), to explore your relationships and learn (durpletins) further by Zulious acknowleging he doesn't know who he is fighting with, and finally going for what you desire despite what others may think (ched).
Which is then highlighted after the war when their song acknowleges how much they changed, how much they can still change, to know and accept your flaws but to not let it stop you from growing with your friends.
At least that what I got out of it, and can totes see people not having that interpretation at all. But guess that is also the nice bit, how each person can see it a bit differently.
TLDR: "Just a Horse" is a callout to the fact horse is now definintly more than a horse, hence why it hurt. The death of rider was more the death of their old relationship.
I think to me "you're just a horse" is less about rider not trusting horse, as she even says that's not what she meant, it's rider desprately clinging onto the only thing that's been consistently true and made sense to her "the general is a good guy" and because this must be true, that must mean "you don't know what you're talking about". She becomes so eager to prove this that she actually goes against the general's orders to "bring him to me alive" because she wants to kill him and show not even horse but herself, that there's one thing in this entire crazy messed up new world she's been thrown into that she still knows and understands. "You're just a horse" is rider clinging on to the past. She's saying "things couldn't have changed that much, could they?"
At least that's how I interpret that
Derpleton's mom's voice actor was the same as eda from the owl house if you were wondering
Also Bojack Horseman's mom.
yeah, that was the joke i tried to make mid emotional clench
Thank you! It was driving me bonkers
And Chicha in Emperor's New Groove.
and even older than that, Ryoko from Tenchi. surprised me when i learned that one. was my first anime years ago.
I am sobbing after all the Nowhere King story. Just the fact that he's known by that name because that's where he felt he belonged to, it's making me suffer.
Centaurworlds tone was so unpredictable but it really worked somehow
escapism that yields some reality will be jarring, but when it's done well like this? *chef-taur's kiss*
In conclusion, me after this finale:
"I did it! Now I can finally lay down and die."
STARKID :D!!
I LOVE TTO!!!
Oh, as for "things that you missed", I'm not sure if you missed it or if it's just a really subtle joke that runs through S1 and S2, but did you pay attention to Gary? We met Gary in Holes Pt 2, where Zulius traded for Gary's cake while they were in prison. Well, Gary also was the rider for Becky Apples and that the General hadn't seen him in a while, and the Mysterious Woman even mentions how delicious Gary's cakes are and that she'd eat them all by herself if she could during the flashback in the NWK's memory. So, somehow, Gary ended up in the Gophertaur's Hole and died when he exploded via magic. So yeah, there's this weird subplot about how his cakes are delicious, and they keep showing up, even after his death. I don't understand it, but I find it hilarious that there's just this subplot about a guy who makes cakes.
And apparently Ched can talk to him.
@@universalpower419 Ched lays an egg with him somehow.
Gary ends up in a hole, which is confirmed as an alternate set of rifts, in an underground prison, but continues to bake cakes as a skeleton somehow.
People react to the way they are treated with centaurworld magic. Stabby is treated like a child and becomes a toddler, Horse is treated like a member of the herd and changes to fit, Gary is treated like a prisoner and ends up a pile of bones in the corner, the Nowhere King is abused for years...
Gary was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences by a shaman. My guess is he's finished the first of those three but he's still got at least one to go.
I really wish people paid more attention to Gary. He’s literally just as active a character in the show as the rest but we just don’t happen to see many of his actions onscreen. We’re even given a glimpse of how lively he once was when he was, well “alive”. Even in his undeath, not only does he continue to interact with others around him, but also seems to be amongst one of the most popular characters in this universe (he literally has fans and acquaintances in both worlds even when they’re still separated from each other).
Centaurworld is a show where tons of characters are dealing with some sort of dysfunction and learning to cope. It's fitting that the villain is the one character who never could. And his toxic self-hatred harmed a lot of people around him.
Some minor trivia that's easy to miss on a first watch:
-The leader of the horsetaurs is introduced as "Madam Lambsbury" and Horse correctly guesses her first name is "Malangella." A reference to Angela Lansbury.
-The Birdtaurs DIDN'T see Wammawink's backstory. That's why they don't really understand her.
-You caught the Les Mis reference on Glendale's wanted poster, but there's a second poster that appears with the number 59640 during West Covina's song which is a reference to a famous mugshot of David Bowie.
I have a love/hate feeling with Rider’s “death”. It was intense emotional and I nearly cried then she came back. To which the stab wound she received actually is a survivable one as long as she gets help and it doesn’t get infected. Though I think I would’ve felt better about it if after the lullaby she had been healed or something. Like something that may have shown more possibility in her surviving. Keep that is she going to die feeling while also having an element that doesn’t make her coming back seem out of nowhere.
As for the Nowhere King’s backstory, I absolutely loved it. It was very well done and executed and that last lullaby from Woman to Elktaur/Nowhere King was stunning. I didn’t actually think she’d go through with it, that she’d hesitate and they’d go for a redemption (which I know people are tired of but for me, as long as it makes sense to the actions and the characters then it’s good) but dang I got chills.
Lastly, I wasn’t expecting to love Ched and Derpleton in this season as much as I did. And I’m really glad for it.
there's always a small part of me that thinks "well...no one said Rider died, we just inferred....from...all of that" lol
I agree with u although I had been numb to fake out deaths ever since clementine's "death" from the walking dead
I totally get the points but also I was glad Rider survived
I just found it weird that she had a torso stab wound, but the bandage was on her head
@@orenbartal8504 She also has a bandage on her belly, and you see her hold it as well like it's still painful ^^ (Also she fell on the floor after the stab, so I guess it makes sense? But yeah she didn't seem to have any injury to her head before, so... xD)
I'm in love with how they handled the Nowhere King's backstory. Showing things out of order but in a really impactful way. I couldn't remember if they showed that side of the general before or after his song. I was afraid they were going down a redemption path. The Woman's song at the end is so powerful with her words that I just sob when she makes the whole statement. The whole thing is chef's kiss
I loved how the show was still funky and goofy, but how it still took the time to talk about or imply serious things like the affects of childhood bullying, emotional abuse/neglect, self hatred or intrusive thoughts, etc. And my FAVORITE THING OF ALL: the Nowhere King didn't get a second chance. I'm a sucker for second chances, but from everything he's done, both to the princess and to the worlds, it'd feel horrible to see him granted a second chance like that.
I love how you can hear the woman, the general AND the nowhere king singing in the last lullaby
"He looks like an evil Macy's day parade float" SENT ME
Horse became cartoony when she realized Centaurworld is where she belongs- if you noticed, Elktaur had the human world art style because he never felt at home in Centaurworld
It’s weird hearing Eda’s voice on a mother who doesn’t care about her son… also I wanna know how Gary went from the royal cake maker to a skeleton in the mole jail
Actually it’s weird hearing her voice on a character like Eda, who actually cares about her kids. Because she also voices Beatrice, bojacks mom from bojack horsemen, and she is another character who doesn’t care at all for her son.
@@debbieburns0156k then again she was also the mom from Emperors New Groove
So wendy malick played 2 awesome mums and 2 horrible mums
Balanced as all things should be
To add to that part about Gary, I also want to know what role Becky Apples played in all of this…
Me, slapping the Nowhere King's antlers: this bad boy can fit so much self hatred in it
The nowhere king/ general really went and pulled a pink diamond waging a war against himself huh
YES
Yeah, but good
ya, dude just made it 100000 times more horrifying by having the whole "splitting yourself", corruption arc (of the general), imprisionment, and corruption arc (of the nowhere king) debacle like
jesus christ
there's hating yourself so much you ruin all your relationships and then there's THAT
Listen, listen,its,it's a funny joke,but-but you- you gotta stop
I think Centaurworld is a show we all needed in 2021, I know I sure did.
There's so many things the show did really, really well and other things that needs more. (I need another season for selfish reasons.)
I am thankful that Rider's warrior arch ended with literally being stabbed in the back by the person she revered as a parental figure through the war. Someone she blindly followed because of the chain of command. To me, it signified the end of that era in her life and she (and Horse) can go on living their lives for themselves as sisters. I also am appreciated that they didn't "heal" Rider right away, with say magical healing rainbow tears. They allowed us to feel the anguish of Horse and Rider's losses and let us stew long enough for it to sting. Then showing us that Horse has taken her to heal her with medicine as she wanted to for Stabby in the first episode.
Giving Glendale, Ched and Durpleton story arcs were very much needed in this season. Giving their backstories helps with understanding why they are the way they are in season one. Each character's arch touches the human mind and mental health in different ways and it's done so neatly and respectfully.
Nowhere King's story arch was just awesome. Back in season one I knew he and the "mysterious woman" (I wish she got a name and more singing because I love Jasmine and Mulan) were connected in some kind of love triangle but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until the General put the kill score on Becky's saddle. That was when I connected him with Centaurworld and the Nowhere King. The Elktaur shedding his antlers makes sense because they shed at the end of winter/early spring which is where they are in that point of the story, it gives us a timeline of when he separates his being into two halves. But the Nowhere King's back story definitely left me annoyed that the Centaurworld staff left me feeling bad for the goopy Nowhere King in the end. Honestly the finale was just a train wreck of emotions for me and I'm still thinking about it even as I go through my second watch through of it all.
As a musical theatre nerd that I am I am SO in love with all the voice talent Centaurworld was able to nab. Kimiko Glenn, Lea Salong, Megan Hilty, Jessie Mueller, Renee Goldsberry and Brian freaking Stokes! These were just names that hit me in the face right away, I'm sure there's many more but their talents certainly made this show so much more enjoyable for me.
Then there's Megan, long time fan of her work from way back in her deviant art days lol. I love seeing people I've communed with many years ago succeed in their careers so many years later. I love her work and her love of story telling and character development has definitely shown in this series that I need more. I'm not ready to say goodbye to this little herd of misfits.
I don't want to ignore all of these lovely thoughts Lindsay, but there is a shot where we see Elk's antlers on his workbench by a file and saw. :(
Highly recommend doing your best to rewatch with s1. It's so cool to see it all play out as a long two act musical.
I think there's something to be sad about the sympathy you felt for NWK. We've seen them as separate beings, but they're all pieces of one person (taur?) That split from Elk boi to goop demon is the consequence of the evils within the same Elktaur. I think I felt more pity than sympathy, but sympathy should not mean vindication. i think the lesson is understanding so we don't repeat the past. If horse never learned about NWK, she might have tried to use rift magic to save rider or something.
I didn't even consider Rider being so obligated to the chain of command at the end there, but that makes so much sense! The decisions of war are not made by soldiers, but the effects hit the same if not harder (my dad is a desert storm combat vet with a purple heart who just got VA dental a month ago)
I'll tell you a secret if you got this far, I found my playbills from my time doing shows in NY and I have actually seen most of the cast live at some point (EXCEPT FOR BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL WHICH IS A CRIME)
@@thethirdbill honestly surprised you read it all. BUT it’s not just a CRIME but a SIN!!! But I will be the first to admit that I too have sinned by not seeing him in all his musical glory live. 😢 But that’s the only thing you have on me!! ;p
Overall I love what CW did in the two seasons they got and I think it holds a valuable message for everyone young and old. Especially with all that’s been happening in the world. *deep sigh*
wait how did the general putting the kill score on becky's saddle make you connect him to the nwk?
@@fletniapana3789 im curious about this too
The general: uh yes? but look at him, he’s gross
The knowhere king: what?
That small exchange of 2 half’s of a single person makes me laugh
I absolutely loved this show, the second season seemed a little unfocused in the first like 3 episodes but it was altogether a wonderful watch
i think that lack of focus added to the chaos of trying to recruit different groups in different ways, but it does come together nicely lol
It's the little details in the show that are so important. There's a LOT of attention to detail in Centaurworld that's really something else, a lot of which you don't and won't catch during your first watch. For example, during the Last Lullaby with MW and the NWK, whenever the elktaur sings, you can distinctly hear TWO voices - not one, signifying that the two halves were too far separated to ever truly be whole again. And the character details... Did you notice that whenever the General or the elktaur said he loved her, she got angry, and that was ultimately what pushed her to go through with ending his life? Chefs kiss. You can also see the way that she still struggles to do what she knows is right - looking away with tears in her eyes for a moment when she sees him cry, crying when she says "when you leave", showing that while she knows that it needs to be done, she does still love him (or at least part of him) and hates that she has to do this. But doing it was cathardic for her. Her last lullaby is an acknowledgement that what she was given was never really love, it was deceit and manipulation, and she's ready to rise above it and put it behind her in order to finally heal. Being a survivor of domestic violence myself, that was the part of the finale that hit me the hardest.
Regarding Rider's fakeout death, with the blow delivered by the very person she looked up to and tried so hard to impress during the war, it was to symbolize her life as a soldier coming to an end. Her seemingly out-of-character moment of telling Horse "how could you know what needs to be done? You're just a horse." wasn't really out-of-character at all... Let me explain. We saw her spend the entirety of season two (with the exception of the later half of the finale) trying to win the General's favor (falling over herself when she realizes the "stable boy" is the General, going to the NWK's castle to get the key to stop them from making monsters, bringing Waterbaby back to be a counsel and contribute to war tactics, etc). She looks up to him and regards him as a hero, the leader that will take them to victory. So hearing that the war can only end when her 'hero' is killed, without an explanation as to why, is less about her really thinking that Horse "is just a horse" and more to do with her clinging to what she knows because what she basically heard was, "everything you know is a lie". It had nothing to do with trust.
It's also important to note that the relationship between Horse/NWK and Rider/General is intentional. They are foils of each other. We didn't see the General in season one because if we had, and knew more about him, he couldn't have served as the foil to Rider in season two. IE, he's the fake hero and she's the real hero. This is why I don't think it was a relationship that came out of nowhere nor was it forced. And of course, the obvious foil between Horse and the Nowhere King being that his story is what happens when you let self-doubt take over and don't have a support system to pull you out of that isolated mental darkness, making you feel as if you don't belong anywhere. In the same breath, the NWK is also a foil to the setting of Centaurworld as a whole; being devoid of color in a world that's always so colorful, and looking so gnarled and wrong that he doesn't seem like a creature that belongs in that world (or any world). He is literally and figuratively the antithesis of the world and the main characters. He is a flawed show's perfect villain. And note that I say "flawed" with a note of affection, just as Horse does in the finale.
The rest of it, you completely nailed on the head. Horse is the perfect main character, fitting all of the themes and messages that the show gave, including going through all of the stages of grief symbolized by how she interacted with each of the Shaman's. Anyway. I loved this review and all of your reactions. Keep up the good work!
16:34
"Please sir..."
Bill: STOP
MY EXACT SAME REACTION AAAA IT HURT MEEEEEE MY BOYYYYY 😭
When he sang it once I was like oh no okay no I can do this, and then his dad cuts him off and he repeats, going higher and higher and I went AAAAAAAAAA
@@tomsparrow1823 AAAAAAAA
It's almost like the "where does food come from" song from s1 was a reprise of this instead of the other way around.
@@mayhemm8796 yeah from the characters' perspective it literally is, I've thought about that a lot in the backstories episode because they reprised several songs
I'm glad I'm not the only one who alternates between tears and laughter while watching this.
The wedding song is the same one she sang in "Rift, pt2" before not killing the Nowhere King.
He didn't cut off his horns - deer/elk naturally lose them at the end of every mating season, then grow a new set.
Elk do shed their antlers but in this he did saw them off, antlers don't leave nubs when they shed and the antlers are shown on the table with a saw, he sawed them off before the party trying to look more human :(
yeah, there's a shot of his antlers on his workbench by a file and saw. On a positive note, i do talk about the vows in the video! i hope you check out the rest!
One of my favorite gags was seeing the producer's name in random things
It makes sense that all the birdtaurs don’t like Wamawink, all her best moments and insights into her character happen in private moments. Horse’s vision at the tree sages forest, in the beartaurs caves, the wale and inside the rift
Its a small thing but at the end song when glendale gave horse something instead of taking something made me tear up more than I figured it would. This is also like the 3rd time I've watched your s2 reaction.
Regarding the lore of the show, Centaurs, being half animals half man things, differ from Minotaurs, who are basically the same. Maybe Minotaurs exist because they didn't want to combine but were forced to do so and Centaurs might have come to existence ages ago through a similar yet more "natural" process involving the magic of the gate/key and perhaps the Intention to exists that way.
i think centaurs are born, and minotaurs are made. also i think minotaurs usually have less appendages (sp?)
@@thethirdbill ...............................centaurs have three sets of limbs. minotaurs have two. like, mythologically. and the minotaur was a result of a human and a bull having kids, which afaik isn't the case for centaurs.
"man"-made minotaurs. natural centaurs.
i spent the entire goddamn show wondering why the show called them that and it was a goddamn wink towards greek mythology/the minotaurs' origins all along im-
Centaurs are beings of one mind that feature half man half animal features.
Minotaurs are two beings forced to be one.
I cried during that musical mashup, but that backstory on The Nowhere King was just amazing!!
I can understand people's concerns regarding Season 2's pacing in comparison to Season 1, but I genuinely felt like it worked. It was chaotic because, well, they were panicking recruiting for an impending war. It really paralleled the "OHGODOHGODOHGOD" stress feeling that I know I get when I've got very little time to prepare for something that massively affects my life.
And the darker bits? They were so jarring at times but I think if they'd played it safe, it wouldn't have worked. Bayden's transformation made me feel really uneasy and reminded me a lot of The Black Cauldron when the Skeletons begin to rise up with the Horned King's magic.
The Nowhere King/General Elktaur's story was nothing at all what I was expecting. I loved Elk's innocence towards horse, I really sympathised with his character. I noted on another video (Alto the Altoiest has put his story through song in chronological order) that someone said Elktaur's less wibbly wobbly appearance may have been because he works on the rift, but that it also could be the case that you look like what you feel. Horse went wibbly wobbly through becoming closer to the herd and doing more and more silly things, Elktaur heard from humans that they disliked the centaurs so much that he became more human in appearance.
I kind of agree about Riders "death" and what she says to Horse. I think that if they had added a song where the General and Rider are exploring him as a commander and possible father figure then I'd have accepted it more, and maybe a nod of "Hot Goss" from Zulius after Rider is shown alive and recovering being like "WHAT?! DID YOU THINK WE'D LET HER DIE?! CATHARTIC MUCH?!".
Also, Zulius doesn't need a backstory. He's Zebra/Cat/Bat-taur Man. He needs a SPINOFF.
I just love the Woman's song (Nothing Good) uses lines from her wedding vows, but twists in. In the wedding the lines are all good and positive, in Nothing More, those same lines refer to something that only hurts you.
i didn't look at how long this video was when i clicked, but i enjoyed it so much i only noticed once i got to the 45 minute mark. great video Bill!
On another note: With everything that happened in the finale, I thoroughly enjoyed the way the nowhere king was handled.
I feel like the impact may have been a bit stronger if the general had more screen time, but the overall message still lands. I felt so bad for the elktaur during the episode, but I was also happy to see him not be spared. It felt like an appropriate ending.
His character felt to me like a commentary on discrimination and the effects it can have on both a person's self-worth and overall mental state. He felt like he could never be happy being himself so he went and did something drastic, and overtime went mad. He's such a tragic character.
overall i really enjoyed this season
i'm so glad the video flows nicely for you! haha
yeah, Elk is a sympathetic character, but kind of isn't a character really, but a part of the general/NWK/Elktaur. Like I said in the video, I think we're meant to feel that pain of lost potential.
concerning zulius's backstory, (this is someone else's idea, not mine, but i think it's a good one) we didn't see it because we can probably piece it together from what we already knew. He was a star in cattaur valley, but splendib stole the show and betrayed him, and they cut it off with eachother, splendib ending up with the glittercats.
I agree. It can be assumed that Zulius spent a lot of time in Cattaur Valley before “falling from grace” at some point after which he encountered Wammawink and Glendale but apparently didn’t join their herd right away until after they recruited Ched and Durpleton, as we see when he hitches a ride on their helicopter.
Side note: It is heavily implied that Zulius is one of the oldest members of the herd (with horse implied to be the youngest), second in age only to Wammawink but this also is not strictly confirmed either. For all we know, he and Wammawink could actually be around the same age.
I find the scene with mouthpiece being a fanboy hilarious because I (and many of my friends) are that level of fan crazy about his voice actor Scott Hoying! He's part of the famous acapella group Pentatonix
For a few moments at the end, I thought (hoped?) that to save Rider, at least in a way, they would merge her and Horse together into a Centaur (TM). In the end I don't mind it that much that she "just survived", although I did kinda feel emotionally cheated by how devastating the moment was with the songs and everything... but then again, Horse probably also wouldn't have known right in that moment she would survive, so it kinda makes sense in-world how she would do the Reprise at that point. For her, that felt like it might have been the end. In that moment it WAS devastating for her. Even if afterwards it turned out to be alright.
I was so shocked when Rider got “Marcyed”. Glad things worked out though.
dang.
@@thethirdbill things will probably work out with Marcy too
@@MrStyro fingers crossed
@@aramyengoyan.7325 we’ll probably know in about a few more months
If I had a nickel for every time a female protagonist in an animated kids' show got literally stabbed in the back by her mentor figure, I'd have two nickels which, isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.
The spanish speaking Glendale, West Covina, has to be a crazy ex girlfriend reference, i think creator said she was huge fan of the show and the voice of the mole shaman is in that show as a major character. btw I think you would love to react to Crazy ex girlfriend, you could do a season per episode if you wanted, or just react to the best songs
Yes yes yes! Crazy-Ex Girlfriend is really an amazing show, addressing mental health in a very clever way (and with musical numbers, and lots of musical theater and popular music references, have fun naming them all), it's hilarious and catchy, and it hits (hard), in the sense that it's wayyy too real.
Also there's 4 seasons, and already has its ending, so now you can experience it as a whole
Yes please! I think I've requested this one before, but if he's up for it I think he'd really enjoy Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. With his musical theatre background and commitment to mental health and stuff I'm honestly surprised it hasn't come up before~ So much to talk about with that show and the songs are so good!
omfg I loooved that show it was like so awesome the songs and just the parodies. how the intro changes in each season ❤❤❤
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE
Me too !!
i hope it was worth the wait!
@@thethirdbill your reactions never disappoint
Episode 1 to 7 were okay. Episode 8 crashed over me like a cold ocean wave on a rocky beach. What an episode.
The ending messed me up soooo bad, i totally agree Rider's death fakeout could been handled a bit better but the emotional bombs, TNK's back story, the song reprises, oml so many tears; I love this show sooooo much. Honestly the first few episode i like more the more times I rewatch; seemed slightly fillery but this season caused so many tears haha. Also Glendale's anxiety seminar, yesss! Legit helps people
Stabby was a true gem in this season. He is so cute💓
It’s the way he follows up his reflection on his war crimes with “cup-cup dada” for me. lol
The Glendale song was my favourite of this season, so hood in so many senses
Your thoughts on riders "death" was everything. Like I'm so happy she was okay, but there just needed to either be any moment at all during when it seemed like she was being healed/stable, or there needed to be a biiiit more time before she came in to the wrap up where we could sit in it and see it hinted at that she was ok I guess? Just something between "I'm crying over a dying body" and her walking out bandaged but fine 30 seconds later.
I think the wrap up in general fell a little flat to me only because everything in the battle and lore dumping felt so strong and earned, and the wrap up, while having a wonderful song, just didn't match up to me
I think a lot of what you’re feeling actually comes down to budget and timing. In short; CENTAURWORLD was limited in its ability to fully flush out its themes due to the limited resources it was allotted.
I just watched the whole thing, and at first it felt really...strange and almost disjointed? But by the end I really felt the themes of joining the two sides. You can't just have strong warriors, you can't just have funny goofs, you need a bit of both. I loved that horse became comfortable asking for help from the herd and realized our differences become our strengths when we work together. Also, I will continue to always love a found family story
I think with Rider's not-death, my main feeling was that The Nowhere King is *so* dark, and it's ultimately a kid's show about trauma and hope. I wish they hadn't manipulated the way they did, but I get it.
I could honestly listen to Mouthpiece sing about Comfortable Doug for hours.
Scott Hoying is a beast.
I loved the show and felt they did an amazing job of keeping the story both extremely emotional and incredibly well written.
However, there was only one plot thred not resolved in the finale that I was really hoping for which was HOW DID HORSE KNOW THE NOWHERE KING SONG!!
yeah, that's stuck in my head too...i wonder if the implication was more about how it was the same army that attacked centaurworld that's attacking the human world? or it could imply the backstory magic was with horse all along?
I loved this show, but I got torn with the rider death/no death, at the same time I love her character, and I loved that she didn't die, I think that she dying would make it seems more of a "war fucking sucks, and people die in it".
I feel like Rider, the General, and the Woman should've had waaay bigger roles in season 2. They were SO important to the finale in their own ways, but we hardly saw them and didn't get a chance to see any of them truly shine imo. Especially since they tried to make Rider turn her back on Horse in favor of the General-- it didn't feel natural since we didn't really get to see Rider bond with him.
Absolutely. It would have been great to see the general bond with rider. That way we get invested in their relationship and in the general himself.
Furthermore, the general being the other half of the nowhere king would have been so much more impactful if he got more screentime
I loved the show. It teaches so much and makes me feel good to be myself. I love singing the songs. I cried so much as well sad and happy tears. I just wish I had someone to watch it with XD So ... thank you. Durpletion ... the feels too close to home.
Glendale's unexpected saving-the-day was probably my favorite bit in all of Season 2
29:48
General: Look at what that thing's done to him!
Nowhere King: What? *Genuinely offended*
General: He's gross!
Nowhere King: No >:(
I honestly love this interaction so much, it goes by so quick but its so funny
That one small moment was so telling of the general’s overall personality. Or rather just how much of a dick he truly is. Haha
I'm a filthy Elktaur apologist and I just really wanted him to have a second chance. I think the self hatred metaphor hit me a little too hard and personal
That and he became hot in his centaur form. In all seriousness if they gone that route it would be like the diamonds being redeemed in SU
@@emiliocoruna4552 I get how and why people don't like the diamonds' redemption but I still think it was good. Not great, definitely could have been better, but I could argue that for literally most redemptions. I do agree that it would have been about the same, possibly even worse, so like, yeah probably best that they didn't but still! My fix it fics will be hearing about this!!
He wasn't even willing to get a second chance, even in the first season's ending he was bowing to the woman so she could end him, and she didn't do it. He did the same in this season, I guess it was his only way to make things right, as he knew he went way too far (and also the human half died from being pushed from the cliff, and so it was about time that the elk half would die as well very soon, she just ended him on proper terms instead.
Yeah, I get how it's a proper ending and an appropriate conclusion, I guess I'm just really biased
@@majesticshrimp as a big fan of SU the diamonds did lack the necessary development to be "Redeemed" yellow came close but overall all of them felt shallow. The nowhere king is different since he had a very sad backstory which made us sympathetic towards his situation and made us understand his actions following the events of his own self betrayal. In short nowhere king got development and self reflected and the diamonds didn't which made their actions shallow no matter how good they actions are currently
I just binged all of season two and I'm screaming, it's such a perfect musical.
I was not prepared for the finale, I actually bawled my eyes out watching this.
I loved centaurworld so much, and this video was so fun to watch
Moments before disaster:
"Yay. Something fun after so much sad."
really thought we were just gonna use our words and have cake for a second there
I absolutely fucking loved the finale! The only two gripes I had were the hot-ification of the elktaur and riders death. I feel like it would’ve hit harder if you have this emotional dude be as cartoon-y as the other centaurs. You already covered my feelings on riders “death” pretty well, I can’t say I’d rather have her be dead, but they should’ve had handled it differently for her to live.
Absolutely loved this dude! I’ve been so excited for this!! If you want something a little more fluffy, with a lot of emotion, I’d recommend you check out dogs in space next. But either way, I’m excited to see whatever you do :)
Elktaur was his normal self, what arena You talking about?
I agree. I don't want rider to be dead, but I also don't like how she just miraculously survived off screen. If she did die, but then was revived by the tree shamans, or something, I think that would have been a good compromise.
It’s not that Elktaur was “hot-ified,” but rather his more “realistic”, less-cartoony character design was an intentional choice to highlight his feelings of displacement living in Centaurworld despite being from there. It’s to help drive the point that he truly feels that he belongs “nowhere “.
@@brashblond I also feel like Elktaur being hot was so the audience can feel the dissonance between how he views himself and how he actually looks before he tears himself apart. It's like a visual representation of him being a perfectly fine dude with nothing fundamentally wrong with him that needs to be changed, almost all of his self-hatred is internal and doesn't really reflect who he is from an outside perspective.
It makes sense the birdtaurs hate wammawink. All of her big moments were out of sight. Horse in her backstory, I side the whaletaur, inside the cave and the rift, even fighting the beartaur. All the best stuff she does they couldn't have seen
ngl in the finale i thought to save rider they would use the key to merge horse and rider to turn them into a centaur who could survive this wound, opposite arc of the nowhere king in a way
I definitely felt it was a little off compared to the first season, especially in the middle, but I still really enjoyed season 2, as it brought new depth to the world and it’s characters, and the essentially mini movie ending was so good. 9/10 show for me.
I really enjoyed this season/show so very much! I had ironically been working on drawing my book's elk for some holiday cards while I was watching this season. That ended up giving me emotions. But the villain's arc was so fascinating to me, it's helped motivate me even more to work on my book. Thank you, Centaurworld!
"Yay! Something fun, after so much sad!"
*Rider gets stabbed*
I love coming back to old TH-cam videos and still being emotionally impacted by them.
29:40 Yes, messing with that stuff made him like that. That's what the hint was about magical radiation and what not.
I'm now going to have to add "Becky his/those apples" to my repertoire.
The fact that you were immediately suspicious of the general... Couldn't be me, I was too busy simping aydarshfsch
Yeah... I feel like the finale was finished/animated first and they put all their effort and budget into it. But the epilogue was not... And after getting alot of feedback that Rider should live, they kinda threw her in the epilogue, and not able to re-write the finale proper due to time restraints/budget cuts. I bet my pinky finger something like that happened.
Honestly, I was hoping that Horse's tears would magically heal Rider. Because of course it would. She's magical. They're rainbow. It's perfectly logical. Good way to kinda round things up that Horse keeps that promise to protect and be there for Rider.
I have mixed thoughts on some of the reprises. In some cases they felt really fitting, thematically appropriate and powerful. Other times it felt like "you're trying to push my emotional buttons by referencing season 1 instead of providing new emotional songs" (and given some of the new songs thats a real shame! I would have liked more of them!). And i think some of the more appropriate reprise moments got weakened relatively just because there were so many other little stings and references throughout, so they didn't stick out as substantial as much as they should have.
The fact they tied in Derpeltons farts being angry at him to his trauma with his father, was mind blowing, and such a good tie in. Something that was such a random joke in the first season becoming so heart breaking was just so unexpected. Also in a Meta sense was really cool, because it was showing that Derpletons randomness isnt really random but informs his character greatly!
Yessssssss we all be crying up in this bissssshhhh. I cried so much binging the second season and especially in the finale my eyes hurt for days, I pretty much got dehydrated from it. It was awful, I loved it so much. Your commentary does it justice, I think.
"it's almost as gross as real Twitter" had me dying 😂
In regards to Rider not dying, I don’t mind that she lived. I think that we were misled and that it was pretty clear she was going to die and then her living kinda felt like a cop out. But it does seem like the intent was always for her to live. I also think her death wouldn’t have really accomplished anything in the overarching story. It still would’ve concluded the same way and so even if she had died, I think I wouldn’t like it because it wouldn’t feel justified or like it had much of an impact. I also can see why they went about it the way that they did. Rider needed to be hurt by the general in order to see she was wrong. And the general isn’t gonna stab her so she lives. The general would deliver a fatal blow. So the only way for them to really have her be stabbed in alignment for all story arcs to work is to have it be a near fatal hit but still have her be able to recover. I think if it was done any other way it wouldn’t work. It still doesn’t feel like it was handled in the best possible way, but I think that’s just because of how the story arcs came together. Because if we want to critique the writing, I think that would lie more in Rider not believing in and insulting Horse out of nowhere. Like, she can believe the general and not want to kill him. She can even try to stop Horse from killing him. But what doesn’t make sense is her driving a wedge between her and Horse out of the blue. It seems to be added in just to add more drama to Rider’s non-death, which is the part I don’t like. Everything else I think was handled the best it could’ve been imo
I recommend you watch a new Netflix series called" dogs in space "
It's surprisingly good
Oh I saw this with my brother and it was really really good
Ooh I second this! Kinda reminds me of centaurworld, in the way that there’s lots of cute stuff and a little bit of messed up stuff.
@@magixshiz2543 Oh I know! I watched it with my little brother right thinking it was a cute show about just dogs in space but as it went on it was so much more than that
I loved it! It's so cute!😆
It even has Kimiko Glen (horse)
I just want to say thank yo u for a genuine and emotional reaction to this show because it was exactly the way I felt when watching. Their balance of the heavy sob-worthy storylines and the laughs was amazingly done and I love everything you said when analyzing this show.
i'm so glad you enjoy it! :)
Centaurworld season two was amazing!!! Loved rider getting more screentime and also stabby was great. Love your vids, glad I'm early!! Here's a rec for something you can do in the future!
For music: The Scary Jokes
And for shows: Arcane (which is super popular rn!!)
Glad to be a subscriber, you're one of my favorite reaction TH-camrs ever !!
My favorite kind of fake-out death. The "None of us have any fucking medical training and can't tell this person is just passing out from blood loss and/or shock"
i mean...as someone who also doesn't have medical training i can relate to that lol
Netflix/Dreamworks TV have seriously been killing it with all these animated shows. As goofy and fun as Centaurworld is, it’s also super deep and meaningful. Even all the silly characters in the herd have had trauma, struggles, and hardships that they’ve had to overcome even if it’s not obvious until we take a deep dive into them. Also, this show feels and especially sounds so much like a broadway musical. Like I feel like I watched a musical production in animated form, and it works great! Everyone wants live action movies of broadway musicals like Wicked, but maybe what we really need is a 2-season Wicked animated show.
Anyways, I really love your analysis of the season. I’ll definitely watch any future Centaurworld content you might put out
I just gotta say, your reactions to this show are giving me so much. Like, you add so much to this already amazing show, I adore your channel.
I want a comfortable doug shirt. (spoilers)
Durpleton as the nowhere king was MY FAVORITE.
"I used to think sharks were my friends, but I know better NOW"
I only saw 2 screenshots of this show in season 1 from tumblr. I initially thought Durpleton was the nowhere king because of his little stumps. We've come full circle! 🦒
I’m so late to the game and just watched this wonderful series for the first time! Love your review and just subscribed! Took me listening more than once to notice that the last song with the woman has the three voices singing instead of two. That of the woman, captain, and elk. “Once shattered, now whole.”
Also, I would bet money that Comfortable Doug is based off of Bashar the Extraterrestrial.
It’s poetic that the first time we see the Nowhere King is when he sings his song and the last time was when he hears the melody of the song before his death.
I was SO hoping you would talk about when he sings outside the window. And the lyrics are like 'how can you avoid the ghosts when you're a haunted house"? UGH that hit so hard
I love how zulius just tags along on the backstory epesode 😂😂
I really liked how the nowhere king was shown to us. at first you feel like he's this big bad guy who could swallow the universe, but the more season two goes on, the more you see he's more of a serial killer traditional grim fairytale villain. I at first felt a little disappointed by that but then when I rewatched the show I realized too how well that worked. That mini-fairytale of his backstory really drove my love for him home. I love fairytales. They're so good, even though I'm an adult, but there is this weird chaotic logic they have because sometimes there is this eye for an eye logic that is just so pervasive throughout the story. It's like you have this item, so this happens, but their's no explanation and sometimes it doesn't quite make sense, but that's the fun part. That is why I think the nowhere king maintains such a creepy pressence even after things are over and done with. I do think this is something that put a lot of people out though. another thing people fail to tal about is the fact that all the characters can be considered eldritch to some degree. They're crazy. Glendale with her tummy portal is the most obvious, but horse and her backstory magic , and derpleton with his powers. Basically everyone is at or above the nowhere king in power. The world itself is crazy and the king himself had the least amount of time to develop as a person, or beast or whatever he could have been. He spent a large majority of his life imprisoned in various forms. Horse had several people who've spent most of their lives studying magic on her side.
I feel they lost the pace a little bit in the season two. Idk the formula seemed it wasnt quite working. In the first season, for as crazy and goofy as it was, I could trace it back and understand the meaning of every little detail. I loved to see everyone backstory, but it felt strange, how it was delivered. They go back and forth trying to recrute centaurs, and it seemed each one of the herd would have their moment/episode, where their personality and problems would make them relate to the centaurs and grow interacting with them, like Glendale and Zulius do. Meanwhile, Horse having a problem is used as a motor in the formula, to make things work, but the problem this time didnt land to me. She did recruit centaurs, the rataurs say they listened to her song. But the biggest problem to me was the nowwhere king and the princess end. I didnt get why she had to kill him. Why he was hole again, and wasnt given the chance to heal and be better. They didnt have to be together. Also I didnt understand why they didnt just undid the minotaurs, but instead took them to centaurworld. They being a new thing must be as bad as the split the nowhete king went thru. I missed more musical songs too. Most of it felt just rumbling randomly, not really having the narrative weight seen in season 1.
In another note, they not dealing in any way with the horde while they were frozen was so pointless to me. They were only stalling.
I would rate it 6/10
Um, there was no way that Elktaur surviving would have been okay from a narrative nor from an emotional perspective. It would be like saying that you can kill and cause suffering for millions of people for decades and it’s okay as long as you have a change of heart. No. Life doesn’t work that way. Just because a character is sympathetic, doesn’t make them redeemable.
Now that I think about it, the song Mystery Woman and the General sing during their wedding is then used in the season 1 finale.
*General's lines*
_Mystery Woman's lines_
*_Once shattered, now whole. Once whole, now united. Once united, now eternal_* (MW approaching Nowhere King ready to stab him)
*I swear, I will never stop thinking about you, You have come to set me free* (NK, upon seeing MW, says "She's come to set me free" and then "I never stopped thinking of you")
*And if you should hurt me, I'll always forgive you* / _Love is a spark, love is an evergrowing blaze_ (NK says he'll forgive her for "making [him] what [he is]", and a more positive spin on MW's song in ep 10)
*You are a part of me* / _I will never part from you_
Not only did MW _know_ NK and G's whole deal, she basically quoted her wedding vows to try and pacify him. _And it worked!_
I love how Woman's song from season 1 finale hits after knowing the whole story...
The “Brain, but too much” slide from Glendale’s Ted Talk spoke to me on an intimate level.
Edit: also, I love how quickly you pick up on things. You were calling some of these twists several episodes ahead. And I didn’t realize that it was a two-act musical until after I finished the finale, but the entire second season makes more sense once that becomes clear.