Interesting tidbit: The Talamasca surveillance photos from 1973 were taken outside the actual house which Anne Rice herself stated Daniel interviewed Louis in the novel. This house is located at 503 Divisadero Street in San Francisco. I LOVED that.
i think show louis conceives of the word "companion" as meaning something akin to "husband" bc that's what the word meant with lestat. when lestat seduces him, proposes to him, way back in the pilot....he asks louis to be his companion. louis is a pretty monogamous guy at least up until this point. he won't, perhaps can't, acknowledge armand as his lover/companion while he still is holding onto dreamstat and still considers himself lestat's companion. personally i see it as more of a bias of louis's specific baggage than a normative statement by the show on vampire monogamy.
Armand doesn't quit the job for the same reason he didn't quit doing the rituals after Lestat ruined the old coven: he is too addicted to habit and too terrified to go out on his own. It's rather lovely.
"ROMEO? He's barely Balthazar!" Considering Dreamstat is just expressing Louis' own thoughts, he really roasted Armand there. 😁Jokes aside, I don't think he thought it was cheesy, just that Louis thinks Lestat would find it laughable for Armand to cast himself as Romeo when he thinks he's just a side character in their own romance. But Balthazar also brought the news of Juliet's death...🤔🤔
It felt additionally horrifying/cruel to me that Claudia’s “little girl” performance had minstrel elements to it with her dance and exaggerated make-up. They don’t say it outright, but I think that affected how much Louis disliked the performance as well
In my head cannon, Lestat calling Armand a gremlin is meant to be a tribute to Maven. I mean, they do watch her videos and she is a huge member of the fandom as the youtube coven leader. So, thats my guess for calling him a gremlin.
I think Dream!Lestat's reaction to Armand's backstory is...telling. He's far beyond calling bullshit, he looks ANGRY. Probably about the Marius aspect. Which is still...nagging me in the whole 'Louis is just hallucinating' arena. Likely just foreshadowing in the writing, but...
Is Lestat buried underneath the theatre somewhere? And reaching out to Louis with his mind? Although bit weird that he hasn't at any point said IDK "get me out of here" or something. IDK
@@rachelstechman5959 [Spoiler territory if you haven't read the books so don't read this if you haven't] ..... but canonically speaking, Armand does have him somewhere. I don't know how much of that is going to be canon in this adaptation, for how long, where, etc. Hard to say. Lestat has the power to do weird mental communication stuff/astral projection type things but Louis is meant to be immune as Lestat is his maker. But, eh...again, this canon has some interesting variances.
@@rachelstechman5959 Yeah, the way they've done this is kind of genius, because even if we know what's going to occur, we have no idea HOW they're going to get there lol
I just want to say that Ben Daniels is so fun as Santiago. The only other thing I saw him in was The Exorcist (2016-2017) series and he was really great in that too. Didn't recognize him in the makeup at first.
listen ... that Dom'd out, powerful "You sure about that, Arun?" and Armand's nearly sub-spaced "Yes, Maitre" -- made me howl in kinkish glee. A part of me believes our The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty-era Anne Rice would've dug that turn. I'm so excited to have you as my companion guide for IWTV S2!!
I think this AMC version is bringing out a lot of strange takes and hate towards these characters, and I totally agree with you. We're talking about vampires, not humans. Predators. Fictional characters in a gothic romance with lots of drama and trauma. It's been insane how much hate Marius has gotten, Lestat too, especially after last season's episode 5. Anne's vampires are all a hot mess, and I love it.
I don't know if it's the language barier or just me not knowing the books, but I was anxiously waiting for your review to explain this episode to me, because I didn't understand like a third of it. So thank you for your excelent review, I can't wait for the next episode, it looks like it will be a banger!
In your season 1 reviews I seriously doubted that you liked the show but I now I see how much you like it.....your reviews have become so dear to me.This is so fun knowing you don't hate everything about it.
She’s never really said she hated it but she does call out the showrunner who kept claiming they were going to be accurate to the books, and they weren’t. It’s a great show, but they should’ve just shut up about being accurate to the book. It wouldn’t have been a big deal. People already expected changes were going to be made, but once you say you’re going to be more book accurate than the original movie, the expectation is there now. Ironically enough the original movie is the most accurate by comparison.
@@Linklex7the showrunner said that the series is more accurate TO THE BOOKS, not book. the show takes bits and pieces from the whole franchise, not only the first book, and adapts that to the current scenario.
no,what i meant was, she was kinda closed off to the show in s1 reviews,i get the comparison with the books coz its important but it felt like she didn't like the show .Now it feels like she does and the comparisons feel fairer coz she understands/accepts the changes kinda make sense in TV format
This episode got me so excited for the next episode. I LOVE devils minion and Armand this is truly a treat. I look forward to your videos every episode great work.
I am LOVING your breakdowns of this material. I fancy myself a light admirer of Anne's work (having read only Interview and The Vampire Armond YEARS ago), as well as a writer of semi-vampire fiction myself. And your knowledgeable insight on the material's history helps me see each episode of this retelling of my favorite cinematic vampire story in a fascinating new light. I REALLY hope that you'll find the time in your busy schedule sometime soon to do videos on both The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Abigail. They're both fantastic bits of vampire fiction in their own rights and I'd love to hear your thoughts on them.
I haven't watched the episode, but from your description (roughly the 25 minute mark), it almost seems like the 'finding the object's weakness to ignite it' applies more to what he's doing to Claudia. He has to know that her perceived age is a weakness for her, and he's using it to metaphorically torch her.
Thank you Maven of the Eventide. This breakdown made the episode so much more understandable. The stories are so complex..long life more problems. I just don't get why Claudia's diaries would be out when Armand is a frequent guest at the apartment.
The paperback came out in summer 1977 and everyone I know was reading it (just before and during 8th grade). We are still out there...maybe some of them aren't so into the Anne Rice world anymore but I sure am!
I never read the books or watched the series but I love watching your videos about the show. Very entertaining reviews/retelling. Hope the show goes for a long time so you can keep making these!
It broke my heart too when Claudia died, and I agree Louis did fail as a parent to Claudia. She was failed by both of her fathers, especially in the book.
This whole time, I've felt so bad for this version of Claudia *specifically* because I wished she could have a chance to meet Marius, Pandora and the other reasonably decent vampires. It's a tragedy that all the things she is seeking are so close to her, and she won't get to know. I'll be bummed if they take away one of the few decent vampires.
Does anyone watch this on cable? The commercial breaks happen randomly. Sometimes, I think I am missing parts of scenes because when the show comes back, it’s on the next scene. It makes it all the more confusing.
I truly enjoy your reviews! I await on baited breath each new week for it. Much love for your detail. The books really are a portal into a new an unique world. ❤❤❤ Ahhh that Par excellence!!! Lol
55:32 Thank you!! I can’t believe they’re gonna make Marius into this 2-dimensional abuser character!! His relationship with Armand was already so complex and problematic yet loving! Making Marius out to just be this pervert who kept Amadeo as his personal sex slave to pass around… Ugh I just hate it, it’s such a shallow interpretation of their relationship, which was already plenty problematic!? Like why did they feel the need to add this!? Marius would NEVER NEVER pimp Amadeo out, yes they were problematic but also definitely in love!! Which is a theme with all of the vampire relationships just saying. Also I think a lot of people miss the non-diegetic kink aspect of their relationship and don’t understand how intensional it is. My ship has been sunk by amc rip 😢
@@Danielle-30 Note I said he was turned into a 2-dimensional abuser. I fully acknowledge the inherent YIKESness of their relationship, which is why I said it was already plenty problematic without needing to add this plot line. My main issue is why would they add this unless they’re trying to make Marius harder to sympathize with/make him into an irredeemable villain character that the audience is meant to hate? It just feels so contrary to the point of the vampire chronicles to me. Why are we meant to sympathize with Armand (who is also an abuser) but not with Marius? And I could be wrong, maybe Marius will show up in the show some where down the line and be portrayed as more complex then what we briefly see of him here, I just think it’s an odd choice to add this element to Armand’s history with him if we’re not just supposed to see him as just “Armand’s evil abuser who never actually loved him” and nothing else. Basically, adding this element into their relationship dynamic does nothing to enrich it and actually dumbs it down quite a lot for me. Also the show seems to be taking a super moralistic writing approach to dealing with their relationship, which I do understand is a lot more palatable for general audiences and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad way to write it, but it does seem contrary to Anne Rices works in a lot of ways. This was long lol, I hope this makes sense
Also makes no sense. Why would he do this? He was filthy rich when he lived in Venice lol. Adding this to Armands already tragic backstory while also not including the fact that Armand literally had Boys like Deniz as Pets in a cage during the Theater is iffy lol
@@claw.7116 Literally, Armand was already a victim of csa!! His backstory was already hella tragic and his relationship with Marius was already plenty predatory and toxic… Also yeah it rlly doesn’t make sense why Marius would do this, and doesn’t make sense why Amadeo would see him as his savior if he was treating him like the brothel owners did… And yeah it is really convenient that they got rid of Denis… cause y’know that would make Armand look rlly bad, and we can’t have that, he needs to be the perfect victim for the audience to sympathize with him… (also probably because these vampires do have sex so it would make the implications of them much worse and pretty unsalvageable for most people-yikes🥶) But yeah it seems like they added this little fact about Marius to let the audience know that their relationship was purely abusive and is not meant to be shipped or looked at in any other way than pure abuse… I’m afraid that’s not how the Vampire Chronicles works show writers…
19:22 - I imagine, to Louis, a companion is when you're going steady(like he did with Lestat) .. but he's not going steady with Armand, they're just hanging out / hooking up sometimes. He's still trying to keep separate, too much. ((DE NILE, and all that!)) Lol It's also entirely possible that "companion" just means one thing to Louis and something else to Armand and they've just never officially DTR either way.
I ended up joining your Patreon. You're one of my fave TH-camrs for fun stuff that I can take my mind off of for a while. I have a huge obsession with vampires and mermaids. 💚🥰
The copyright bots got me! I've gotten last week's video unblocked, though it's now demonetized 😭And reuploaded a new version of this week's, so it's now finally public.
I’m almost 18:59 about to skip forward, a bit more about Claudia and coven life than I thought necessary to expound on… Dubai is the REAL story of this episode IMO…..
To be fair.... we do see Louis and Armand arguing about Claudia. (Like the way Armand is treating her, Louis doesn't like it, so it could be pushing Louis a little further away from Armand.) Ssoo ..I dunno if wanting her gone to keep Louis to himself is actually _entirely_ gone as a motivation, even though he's not going to admit that right in front of Louis.
I went down a rabbit hole on what dreamstat actually is... There is a theory that he's ACTUALLY astral projecting. Reaching out. So in the show, Lestat said u can't hear ur fledgling thoughts right? That's only half true. He actually could hear what Louis was saying. Louis doesn't know how to talk telepathically correctly and Claudia knew that. There is the thing vampires can do where they say things out loud and wide for all to hear telepathically. Lestat is speaking out loud in a way for Louis to hear from wherever he is in Paris. Another thing to kinda back this up, how would Louis know about 18th century Armand? Or the initial stitching on Lestats suit. Also louis saying he can feel him.
I wondered about that myself. I could easily see Armand deciding Louis is too attached to Claudia to have his full attention, so then planting the idea that she won't be able to handle her situation for much longer, and arranging things to make that come true.
@@MavenoftheEventide Oh, I thought Armand put that idea in Daniel’s head. I thought maybe Daniel was under the bag or maybe Daniel killed someone accidentally that way. The person shown with the bag over their head looks male. It’s just really creepy and I know Armand is manipulating Daniel’s thoughts…so…there is doubt on any past memory Daniel has. Alice might even be Armand too. I though maybe he replaced Daniel’s memories of him with memories of Alice.
Oh my God, I didn't think of that. It does feel very Angel Heart. His memories of Alice did trigger the start of his memories of Armand on that night, so maybe "his wife" rejecting Daniel's proposal never happened, and were planted by Armand, especially when Armand tries to reinforce them by saying *she wanted to say yes, but didn't trust you,* almost like a sleeper conditioning.
question, who are the vampires in the iron cages?...i know one is Santiago's maker and isn't he like very very powerful?...so, are they all really dead, or can they come back as long as the ashes are still present?...
If there are actual bodies in those vaults, then no, they're technically not actually dead, just asleep. Unless the show changed the rules. If Armand really wanted the guy dead, he would have burned him to ash and scattered the ashes. Anything less than that (or scooping out his heart and brain and pulverizing them), and he can technically come back oneday.
I need Claudia to be alive still somehow in the present. We've already deviated so much from the books and in modern day Claudia *could* conceivably live as an adult/young adult alone. PLEASE, WALK WITH ME AMC!
It could happen. I personally don’t think the Claudia of the books would be Baby Lu even if the theater let her. Her age in the books betrayed her. She doesn’t have to do that in the show, but chooses to.
THANK YOU for standing up for Marius. So much of the fandom just shits on him because it's cool without even reading the text thoroughly. This weird Moral Highground taking over fandoms is exhausting, as if characters aren't, you know, Fictional, and allowed to be depraved and flawed and loved regardless.
You have just spoken what I have been thinking for a long time now and I wanna thank you for that. It is as you say absolutely exhausting dealing with people who seem to have the idea that it is somehow wrong to prefer characters who are morally on the negative side. They are fictional characters and many of us still understand this fact. Anyway great comment lol.
Im Marius No 1 defender and I hate how hes so hated by certain Fans for things which were socially acceptable at these times. Meanwhile Characters which actually commited atrocities get away with it in the Fandom lol
Hi there I love your shows . I've got to say I like that the show has given Louis powers because technically going by the other books Lestat has had Akashias blood which would explain why Louis was always a stronger vampire from the beginning, Lestat also has had Marius s blood as well
I appreciate the positive spin you keep trying to put on the adaptation, but I can't deal with many of the character changes they've made, to say nothing of the inconsistencies in the writing. It was hard with Lestat in season 1, and what was said about Marius (by Armand) pushed it right over the edge for me. Like, don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the time shift and tweaks to the character backgrounds and the consequent changes those result in (like Louis' big struggles in season 1), but I would have thought they'd keep the core essence of the characters similar. Bleh
I really enjoy seeing Luis and Armand together. They have such spark when together (good acting from the actors surely). Unfortunately, we all know that there might be an expiry date.
What was up with the phallic candle placement with Armand? He was in the background and the candle was right at the spot where his manhood would be. :)
FYI the correct grammar is: Je n'aime pas que les fenêtres soient fermées Or more accurately Je n'aime pas quand la fenêtre est fermée All that production money.... seriously
I think it was strawberry?? They gave it out at the New York premiere event I was invited to last month, but I was too excited that night to eat, so I brought it home.
@@MavenoftheEventide Ooh ooh, how about after the last episode for this season of Interview with the Vampire, would you want to make videos about vampire related food items? I remember you did one about Dracula's Daughter tea.
Great recap and deep dive 👏 👏 I look forward to your breakdowns after every episode 😄👍 I like this season more than season 1. My theory: Armand has been influencing Louis' memories and is against the interview because if Louis really investigates his past, he could discover discrepancies with what he remembers. In the 70s, I think Louis brought Daniel home to eat, but then Daniel pulled out the tape recorder, and Louis was interested in telling his story. Armand came home, discovered them and brainwashed Daniel, possibly because Louis was already starting to remember the truth. Maybe Daniel was never even a drug addict. Armand just put that in his head. Why did this all happen? I'm excited for episode 5 to tell us 😄
That's what I'm thinking, too! Back in seson 1 as Daniel requestioned Louis' stance changes and also kept mentioning the toxcisity in the relationship w Lestat. Not that toxcisity wasn't there, just that there seems to be a pattern where Louis doesn't see he's being manipulated and is ignoring the red flags. I just kept thinking, well who do we know that is as much of a mess as Lestat when it comes to companionships and relationships? Oh, right...
From what's going on in this episode, it seems like Armand has not only retconned Daniel's memories with his psychic powers of what happened during his first interview in the 70s-80s, but also Louis's memories surrounding the eventual tragedy awaiting Claudia in her future. We all know how much Louis would hate Armand for his complicit part in Santiago's rogue justice against Claudia for breaking the laws, all in an effort to drive Louis in his rage to eliminate the Coven so Armand would have Louis to himself. I agree with you when Armand says he wants Louis more than anything, that he's willing to do anything to get it, even brainwash and neuralize Louis, the supposed love of his life, to make him stay. That sort've controlling nature reminds me a little of something like in Young Justice, with the relationship between Superboy and Miss Martian, how dhe beganbto abuse her psychic powers to gain intel on the villains. This abuse would leave her victims catatonic or brain dead, and M'gann manipulates Connor Kent's memories of this knowledge to make him forget he was upset with her, only for him to remember her psychic touch from performing that action, hurting him and thus leading to them breaking up until they reconciled at the end of season 2. It's ironic that Armand claims he's not another Lestat, when he claimed in season 1 that *he wouldn't be there this time to save Louis from himself,* much like how Lestat took it upon himself to come to Louis's rescue.
I think Louis remembers Claudia's tragedy in Paris just fine. He said at the beginning of the season that it was hard for him to talk about how Paris felt when he first got there considering what horrible things happened to him there later. In the book, knowing what Armand did to Claudia never kept louis from being with him. Louis knew all along. He was just resigned and accepted. He didn't care enough to hate Armand, so I think it could be the same here. And in the latest trailer, we hear Armand telling Louis he'll spend the rest of his life making up for Claudia. So Louis fully remembers all that just fine, I'm sure.
@MavenoftheEventide But Louis also says Armand could never make it up to him, to which Armand acknowledges he's aware of. Doesn't that mean Louis did hold the actions against Claudia over him despite staying with Armand? 🤷♂️I guess we'll see more next week. Still, great video, Elisa- I mean, 😏Maven. Sorry😅. Always love tuning into your Vampire Reviews.
Do you think that, with younger vampires having the fire gift and more, they will invent new ones for the very old ones? Are they like, going to be attended to by zombie-like undead minions or other weird stuff?
Or do you think that they won't and there would be just a series of fist fights instead of vampires being torched left and right by Akasha? I mean, now they can just be decapitated and truly die...
@@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396 Yes, but if Lestat can do it now, and Armand has it as well, I wonder if they're going to give the likes of Marius and older some kind of weird abilities never seen in the books. And if that's the case I worry it could end up looking a little too like Marvel movies. Or maybe they are making the stronger powers so common to save on special effects and have the future action scenes as simple fist fights, because if both hypothetical vampires can set each other on fire then a "normal" fight is the only way at least one can survive. I mean, even in the Queen of the Damned movie the scene with Akasha against the others was a lot longer and more like a proper fight compared to the book, so I don't think the show will pass on the occasion for a more drama/action filled action either.
I really appreciate your thorough explanation of the Marius situation, complete with alignment chart. ❤️ He's getting so much hate in the fandom right now.
Here's the coffee: deadsledcoffee.com/iwtv/ The popcorn was a gift at the New York premiere event for the first episode screening I was invited to last month, so alas it cannot be purchased.
As a teenager reading the vampire chronicles Marius was always one of my favorites; please don't do him dirty like that. Through Marius' eyes I fell in love with Pandora. Quin is also one of my favs, poor Tarquin smh
58:00 So a 14 year old is ideal, just not a little kid? Is there an age limit in the books here? Then Claudia of the show would be those vampires’ ideal companion?
But making Madeline into a vampire is still breaking the laws. Only the coven master is supposed to make other vampires. Since Claudia is a coven member, she broke this rule. In the Trailer is shows Claudia with Louis drinking from Madeline before turning her.
Only the coven master can ORDER the making of new vampires. He doesn't have to make them himself. Armand never makes vampires, it's against his personal code. But he can grant permission. So the question will be if they get Armand's permission or not 👀 In the book, Louis didn't want to make Madeline because it was against his personal code, but Armand used mind control to force him to do it as a way to try to get Louis to be free of Claudia so he could have Louis for himself.
The show did him dirty??? Haven't you read The Vampire Lestat? The book too stated that Marius r*ped Armand, and all the other boys, and tortured him! Yet you are mad that the tv show did it too? To be honest, I don't believe anyone, but I love a good drama!
@@Kuromi1989-z6b yeah i have read TVL actually. but did YOU read TVA or B&G? do YOU remember when armand said he alone shared the masters bed? marius never touched those boys, he didn’t have a romantic or sexual relationship with anybody but AMADEO at that time. and he certainly didn’t torture him. but please, point me to the passage that says he did. i’ll wait.
@@Kuromi1989-z6bthat was an innocent BDSM and Amadeo was asking for it, really - he is not an innocent lamb, he is ok with becoming a killer like all vampires and refuses to understand why Marius does not want to turn him
@@Kuromi1989-z6b Book Marius slaughtered people who even looked the wrong way at Amadeo... And no he was not touching any other boy, it's pretty clear in TVA and B&G. Marius says his coveting the 15 year old Amadeo was proof that he truly was a vampire, that he had to do something outside the bounds of morality to find any kind of joy. And he certainly isn't portrayed in a good light, abandoning Armand the second he stopped fulfilling Marius's egotistical fantasy and leaving Amadeo with a lifelong identity crisis. But he covered Amadeo in silk and put so many rings on his fingers it weighed his hands down... He planned to make him a vampire when he came of age because he couldn't stand Amadeo dying eventually... The idea he would lend Amadeo out or torture him intentionally is ridiculous.
Mojo being in the chart as Neutral Good took me out lmaoo
7 หลายเดือนก่อน +15
Thank you for everything you said about Marius! Too many fans don't seem to understand him, and love nothing more than to share misinformation. It's really disappointing that the writers seem to have decided to make him out to be this evil vampire.
@@ActuallyDoubleGuitars Yes. A lot of Rice’s work is about showing conflicting facets of her characters through different perspectives (hence Lestat changing from a vindictive oaf to a byronic hero). In Marius’ own story he’s a rescuer of children…in Armand’s he’s the teacher who seduced his pupil into a slavish devotion. I think it’s odd to accuse people of lacking reading comprehension when the moral ambiguity of Rice’s vampires invites different interpretations.
@tinymxnticore I haven't read the books in 20 years so I don't remember all the little details but I do think Maven really knows what she's talking about, perhaps you should try debate her instead of me.
Read Armand's version again. Armand never implied Marius seduced him into slavish devotion. He was the opposite of slavish with him, rebellious and defiant and constantly frustrating Marius with asking too many questions and not being obedient. But still he loved and adored Marius as his rescuer who have him a glorious new life of freedom and opportunity. And he begged Marius to give him the vampire secrets even though Marius wanted to keep that distance between them because he didn't want to curse Armand with the darkness. Marius kept trying to push Armand away so that Armand could have a true human experience, but Armand was the demanding one who kept clinging to Marius.
They can't, except when they're drinking each other's blood. When a vampire drinks blood (or has their blood drunk) the minds become connected, even if they're maker/fledgling. The blood is the link through the mental wall.
@@KpTheG If one of them is drinking the other's blood, they can see into each other's minds, yes. But because they're sharing blood in such a heightened moment, it would be like a flood of images and memories and feelings. Not just psychically talking to each other calmly.
Considering who Marius ultimately ends up with in the books, all roads might actually lead to Rome. Which would explain the introduction of Marius so quick in this interpretation.
It's not any quicker than he's introduced in the books. Armand tells Louis about Marius in IWTV: "You speak of works of art and natural beauty. I wish I had the artist's power to bring alive for you the Venice of the fifteenth century, my master's palace there, the love I felt for him when I was a mortal boy, and the love he felt for me when he made me a vampire. Oh, if I could make those times come alive for either you or me . . . for only an instant! What would that be worth? And what a sadness it is to me that time doesn't dim the memory of that period, that it becomes all the richer and more magical in light of the world I see today." "Love?" I asked. "There was love between you and the vampire who made you?" I leaned forward. "Yes," he said. "A love so strong he couldn't allow me to grow old and die. A love that waited patiently until I was strong enough to be born to darkness. Do you mean to tell me there was no bond of love between you and the vampire who made you?" "None," I said quickly. I couldn't repress a bitter smile. ... "But tell me . . . do you now feel love for this vampire who gave you eternal life? Do you feel this now?" He appeared to be thinking, and then he sand slowly, "Why does this matter?" But went on: "I don't think I've been fortunate in feeling love for many people or many things. But yes, I love him. Perhaps I do not love him as you mean. It seems you confuse me, rather effortlessly. You are a mystery. I do not need him, this vampire, anymore." You see how dirty they did Marius in the show?? 😭
It went up yesterday private for my Patreon patrons! They always get to watch it first before I make it public here on youtube: www.patreon.com/posts/interview-with-105913781
I swear by the dark prince Lestat, if they confirm TV-Armand's backstory and change Marius, one of the most likeable and heroic vampires (a low bar, I know) in the entire Vampire Chronicles universe, into a scumbag who pimped out Armand to his artist friends, then I'm done with this show.
23:55 - You don't think that Armand making Louis believe he was going to kill him but then had moved his heart so strongly he was willing to defy the coven and protect him from being killed doesn't count as finding Louis' vulnerability or making Louis dependent on him? 🙂🤔🙃😅👀 You really don't think literally everything Armand is doing and saying is every bit as calculated and purposeful in the tv series as in the books?? 😅 😅😅 It's strange how very different perceptions really can be, sometimes, when visual mediums show more than they tell and truly do leave it largely up to the audience to speculate on the characters' true internal minds/world.😁😏😊 Lol
Yeah, this Armand really doesn't come off as calculating at all to me in the Paris scenes. I think if the books didn't exist and people were just seeing this show on its own, he would come off as an insecure leader torn between keeping rule of his coven with an iron fist vs bending the laws for the sake of finally having love. It's a struggle for him, but we haven't seen him do anything precalculated to resolve that struggle. He really was going to kill him when he took him down into the tunnel, but when Louis said to take care of Claudia and tell her she's beautiful, it just struck Armand's heart so that he couldn't bring himself to do it and chose to give love a chance instead. He never planned on it being a fake out. And now by the end of this episode, if...being a completely submissive doormat to get louis to stay is some kind of premeditated sneaky "calculated" ploy, then I think he needs some more math classes lol
@@MavenoftheEventide Until the show explicitly shows otherwise I just think this is all armand playing with louis memories, making up part of it, at least his involvement in this chapter, maybe the interview itself is all armands doing, i dont know. But unless the actor was horribly miscast, every time hes on screen im thinking that guy is a freak and a liar.
@@MavenoftheEventide I know at least one person who hasn't read the books, who doesn't really talk to me about it until after watching each episode themself and forming their own opinions about it first, who also believes Armand is being hella calculated in both the Paris timeline and the 2020s timeline too though. (Someone out there should try and poll viewers of the tv show who haven't read the books for their opinions about Armand or something, that would be helpful information to be able to bring into these kinds of discussions; unfortunately, I haven't been in fandom actively enough basically anywhere except YT for at least the last decade or more, so I wouldn't even know where to start polling anyone myself. 😆 Lol) I don't think it's actually a struggle for Armand, at all. I think he just wants Louis to _believe_ that it was a struggle for him, because that is what Louis needed to believe to fall for Armand's snare. I think Armand almost definitely knows that Louis needs to feel more in control than Louis felt Louis was with Lestat, and I think Armand is intelligent enough to know how to make it seem like everything is Louis' own idea even when Armand is actually getting exactly what Armand wants. I don't personally buy that Armand was ever actually going to kill Louis in the slightest, I think he just wanted Louis to *_think_* that he was actually going to kill Louis so that *Louis* would believe that Armand was so in love with Louis that Armand would change his mind and defy the coven/rules for Louis like that; I don't think it looked in the least bit like they just "accidentally" or coincidentally ended up back at Louis' apartment at all, and I suspect if Armand felt anything hearing Louis ask Armand to take care of Claudia it was either guilt(because of SPOILERS which haven't played out on-screen in the tv series yet) or other less cheery feelings like possibly even rage(because he's tired of Louis always bringing her up and caring about her so much at all). I think it's equally possible that Armand might have said what he said to Claudia on purpose while Santiago was in earshot as it's possible that Santiago just accidentally overheard it, nevermind the possibility that Armand could have said any number of things to Santiago directly mind-to-mind[ that we the audience/viewers weren't allowed to hear] other than just what we heard that Armand said out loud, not to mention the possibility that we could also still be seeing things differently on-screen than they may or may not have actually happened[ especially with regards to the events that were happening in the past] if they(the tv show's creators) really are just showing us things as the various character narrators are alleging them to have happened. But it's not like we can actually hear exactly what is or is not going on inside any of these characters' heads anything like we often typically can when reading books from their own POVs, in the tv show we only know what these characters claim is true or at least whatever they claim to be what they believe is true[ in either actual spoken words or unspoken voice-over/thoughts], and we don't really have any way of knowing for absolutely sure or certain if/when they are somehow lying or mistaken or not. I really don't see Armand as behaving like he's just a completely submissive doormat, at all, in either Paris nor the 2020s. I don't think Armand carries himself or his facial expressions like he is submissive or a doormat or any of that in the slightest. I think Armand just wants Louis to believe that Armand is, and I actually think Armand's kind of exceptionally ticked off that Daniel doesn't just completely buy it that Armand is nothing but a totally submissive doormat or slave to Louis' whims/wishes and such too. I think, when it came to the withheld journals that Armand begrudgingly agreed to let Louis read and such, Armand is just smart enough to see when his control starts slipping and to know when[ like-it-or-not] he needs to change tactics sometimes to try and regain or keep his control over the situation and Louis and things. And I think if the tv show's creators and actors didn't know how to play things in ways that superficially seem as if none of that is going on even when it secretly is or could be actually going on, they wouldn't be very good at their jobs; but I think that they are all (cast and crew alike) also doing a pretty excellent job at showing just enough cracks sneaking in here and there that some people pick up on those cracks a little more than others might do simultaneously while other people pick up on them a little less than others do....kind of exactly like Daniel in the 2020s fully believing that Armand is controlling Louis, while Louis in the 2020s fully believes that Armand is completely in love and wouldn't ever control Louis at all, and it's basically just this constant push-and-pull contest to see if it will be Daniel or Louis who will start to doubt their beliefs or change their minds at all first. I think they're all doing a really wonderful job at playing things just close enough to the vests that it would be equally believable no matter which way they play Armand's character by the end of everything, and depending on how exactly they do or not actually play it all out, it could cast a lot of things that we've seen so far retroactively in very different lights all depending on through exactly which perspective / colored lens (either knowing that Armand is a calculating manipulative mind or that he isn't) it is or isn't going to be looked back on[ in hindsight or upon rewatching] by audiences/viewers after it all in the very end. And that's exactly what I really really love so much about this tv series, and why I think Season 2 episode 4 was probably my favorite ep of this particular season so far. But maybe that's just me, thinking far too highly of it/them all-Who knows(!). Lol 😁 But, yeah, of course we do know that sooner or later it's not in the longterm going be a fully tenable or sustainable situation forever because neither Armand nor Louis are really just being 100% completely true or open about it with regards to themselves and who they are or what they truly need/want the most; they are both behaving in ways that they probably wouldn't otherwise behave, in order to kind of forcibly keep their relationship together, regardless of whether or not and/or how much if any of it is actually a consciously deliberate choice in either of their parts or not. (I think. ^--^)
Tell me that Louis's face doesn't look pummeled in the last surveillance picture from 1973! Overanalyze with me! Did Armand attack Louis, and then alter Louis's memories and plant the memory of taking a beating at Lestat's hands? The beating in Season 1 always struck me as un-like book Lestat. But boy is violence and manipulation right up ARMAND's alley (not to mention dropping from high places)!
Armand never laid a hand on Louis in the books. He was violent with Lestat, but always gentle with Louis and only wanted to take care of him and keep him safe.
This has nothing whatsoever to do with the show, but I can't remember, so I'll ask. Have you ever reviewed Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint Germain books? I'd say they're more historicals than vampire novels, but I thought her take on vampires was interesting.
I just wonder how the dynamics were if Armand were a 17 years old body on this version. I'm sure TV 14 years old Claudia would been FASCINATED with him Just a random thought
Mauris is a complex character. The best characters are. I dont hate him, but I can understand why people may be triggered by him. I know a few people who have been abused or manipulated in relationships whenbthey were younger. I read the VC as a kid. When I read Armand's story, I was maybe 14 and didn't see anything wrong with Mauris and Armand's relationship, I thought it was romantic. But at the end of the day Mauris groomed Armand. If he wanted Armand to live a full human life, he should not have invited Armand to his bedroom countless times, to take and exhange blood with him, which in Anne Rice's world is blood taking/exchange is having sex. Mauris also mistreated Bianca, and made Sybelle and Benji into vampires without consulting Armand first. I love your videos Maven, but insulting viewers who have an opposite opinion and then questioning their reading skills, is not the way to go.
Well all these things you named are still nothing in comparison to what Lestat, Armand and others did yet they dont get the fraction of the hate Marius does. She rightfully calls out the double moral of these Fans
25:40 - This probably isn't actually happening.... but I do wonder, what of dream!Stat himself was actually Armand pushing Louis' head around. Or maybe even real Lestat, but Armand has tricked his mind out of remembering when Lestat was or wasn't really there, or maybe Louis just legitimately couldn't even tell what was real or what was his mind because that's how messed up he was between Armand's seduction/possible-mindf**kery and or his own guilt/shame or whatever. 🤔 👀 (Also, while emotion doesn't technically heighten powers in the books, I could maybe see emotion helping a vampire sometimes get psychologically out of their own way and fall more into instinct or something? I dunno-just random pondering thoughts!!🤷🤷♀️🤷🏻♂️😁😁)
Interesting tidbit: The Talamasca surveillance photos from 1973 were taken outside the actual house which Anne Rice herself stated Daniel interviewed Louis in the novel. This house is located at 503 Divisadero Street in San Francisco. I LOVED that.
So, it wasn't that building they showed in the movie?
Oh wow that’s really cool!
@@mysabic8096 Nope. That was a building which is on the corner of Market Street, Golden Gate Avenue and Taylor Street in San Francisco.
@@FransHattingh, yep, googled it now. Thanks!)
I noticed that as well... Little Easter eggs for die hard Anne Rice fans
They had no right to make Santiago this lovable
he’s such a gossipy bitch I love him
i think show louis conceives of the word "companion" as meaning something akin to "husband" bc that's what the word meant with lestat. when lestat seduces him, proposes to him, way back in the pilot....he asks louis to be his companion. louis is a pretty monogamous guy at least up until this point. he won't, perhaps can't, acknowledge armand as his lover/companion while he still is holding onto dreamstat and still considers himself lestat's companion. personally i see it as more of a bias of louis's specific baggage than a normative statement by the show on vampire monogamy.
Agreed , well said.
Armand doesn't quit the job for the same reason he didn't quit doing the rituals after Lestat ruined the old coven: he is too addicted to habit and too terrified to go out on his own. It's rather lovely.
"ROMEO? He's barely Balthazar!" Considering Dreamstat is just expressing Louis' own thoughts, he really roasted Armand there. 😁Jokes aside, I don't think he thought it was cheesy, just that Louis thinks Lestat would find it laughable for Armand to cast himself as Romeo when he thinks he's just a side character in their own romance. But Balthazar also brought the news of Juliet's death...🤔🤔
the Louis Lestat « goodbye » scene absolutely broke me, in a good way. I was ugly crying and everything.
Lestat will be back! Big bold and a super star modern day Star
Yes, it's really on the nose for the action of the scene, but the line "Too old to play Hamlet, too young to play Polonius" was just well played.
Too bad Armand didn't have a sword!
It felt additionally horrifying/cruel to me that Claudia’s “little girl” performance had minstrel elements to it with her dance and exaggerated make-up. They don’t say it outright, but I think that affected how much Louis disliked the performance as well
Absolutely!
I think that is why I found her performance to be SO CREEPY, it was unsettling.
I look forward to these reviews as much as I look forward to the episodes! :)
Always refreshing on Mondays waiting for them
In my head cannon, Lestat calling Armand a gremlin is meant to be a tribute to Maven. I mean, they do watch her videos and she is a huge member of the fandom as the youtube coven leader. So, thats my guess for calling him a gremlin.
I thought the same thing. When I heard "gremlin" I immediately thought of Maven. He's OUR sewer gremlin🥰
When Maven started in on Armand keeping Louis by teaching him Fire Gift I legit was 😂😂😂😂
I think Dream!Lestat's reaction to Armand's backstory is...telling. He's far beyond calling bullshit, he looks ANGRY. Probably about the Marius aspect. Which is still...nagging me in the whole 'Louis is just hallucinating' arena. Likely just foreshadowing in the writing, but...
Is Lestat buried underneath the theatre somewhere? And reaching out to Louis with his mind? Although bit weird that he hasn't at any point said IDK "get me out of here" or something. IDK
@@rachelstechman5959 [Spoiler territory if you haven't read the books so don't read this if you haven't] ..... but canonically speaking, Armand does have him somewhere. I don't know how much of that is going to be canon in this adaptation, for how long, where, etc. Hard to say. Lestat has the power to do weird mental communication stuff/astral projection type things but Louis is meant to be immune as Lestat is his maker. But, eh...again, this canon has some interesting variances.
@@LadyGreensleeves33 Yeah, I have read the books but at this point I don't know if that even matters. So anything could be going on!
@@rachelstechman5959 Yeah, the way they've done this is kind of genius, because even if we know what's going to occur, we have no idea HOW they're going to get there lol
I just want to say that Ben Daniels is so fun as Santiago. The only other thing I saw him in was The Exorcist (2016-2017) series and he was really great in that too. Didn't recognize him in the makeup at first.
Wait he was the gay priest??
He's really good in Foundation too.
@@tinymxnticore yep
I remember him from Madeline as the Kidnapping Tutor Leopold.
"OH TERRRIFIC, IT'S THUMBELINA!"
I love your mentioning Louis’s pyro tendencies. I mean, in the books, how many places did Louis burn down, lol?
listen ... that Dom'd out, powerful "You sure about that, Arun?" and Armand's nearly sub-spaced "Yes, Maitre" -- made me howl in kinkish glee. A part of me believes our The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty-era Anne Rice would've dug that turn.
I'm so excited to have you as my companion guide for IWTV S2!!
Jacob Anderson even called it a BDSM relationship in an interview that came out today!
Right!? I literally clutched my heart and melted with an "oooh yesss!" My little kink heart was delighted
@@moonorphan jyeaaaassss... 😈
@@MavenoftheEventide 🤩but as we see in Ep 5-- Armand is topping from the bottom in the most diabolical of ways...hahahahaha
I can’t wait! Jacob Anderson and Assad Zaman said that episode 5 of season 2 is their favorite!
I think this AMC version is bringing out a lot of strange takes and hate towards these characters, and I totally agree with you. We're talking about vampires, not humans. Predators. Fictional characters in a gothic romance with lots of drama and trauma. It's been insane how much hate Marius has gotten, Lestat too, especially after last season's episode 5. Anne's vampires are all a hot mess, and I love it.
I don't know if it's the language barier or just me not knowing the books, but I was anxiously waiting for your review to explain this episode to me, because I didn't understand like a third of it. So thank you for your excelent review, I can't wait for the next episode, it looks like it will be a banger!
In your season 1 reviews I seriously doubted that you liked the show but I now I see how much you like it.....your reviews have become so dear to me.This is so fun knowing you don't hate everything about it.
She’s never really said she hated it but she does call out the showrunner who kept claiming they were going to be accurate to the books, and they weren’t. It’s a great show, but they should’ve just shut up about being accurate to the book. It wouldn’t have been a big deal. People already expected changes were going to be made, but once you say you’re going to be more book accurate than the original movie, the expectation is there now. Ironically enough the original movie is the most accurate by comparison.
@@Linklex7 I disagree. This show is more accurate to books then 1994 version. Even with era changes and all the character changes.
@@Linklex7the showrunner said that the series is more accurate TO THE BOOKS, not book. the show takes bits and pieces from the whole franchise, not only the first book, and adapts that to the current scenario.
Sometimes people warm up to a concept, even if it is jarring at first. It happened to me.
no,what i meant was, she was kinda closed off to the show in s1 reviews,i get the comparison with the books coz its important but it felt like she didn't like the show .Now it feels like she does and the comparisons feel fairer coz she understands/accepts the changes kinda make sense in TV format
This episode got me so excited for the next episode. I LOVE devils minion and Armand this is truly a treat. I look forward to your videos every episode great work.
I am LOVING your breakdowns of this material. I fancy myself a light admirer of Anne's work (having read only Interview and The Vampire Armond YEARS ago), as well as a writer of semi-vampire fiction myself. And your knowledgeable insight on the material's history helps me see each episode of this retelling of my favorite cinematic vampire story in a fascinating new light.
I REALLY hope that you'll find the time in your busy schedule sometime soon to do videos on both The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Abigail. They're both fantastic bits of vampire fiction in their own rights and I'd love to hear your thoughts on them.
I haven't watched the episode, but from your description (roughly the 25 minute mark), it almost seems like the 'finding the object's weakness to ignite it' applies more to what he's doing to Claudia. He has to know that her perceived age is a weakness for her, and he's using it to metaphorically torch her.
Thank you Maven of the Eventide. This breakdown made the episode so much more understandable. The stories are so complex..long life more problems. I just don't get why Claudia's diaries would be out when Armand is a frequent guest at the apartment.
The paperback came out in summer 1977 and everyone I know was reading it (just before and during 8th grade). We are still out there...maybe some of them aren't so into the Anne Rice world anymore but I sure am!
I never read the books or watched the series but I love watching your videos about the show. Very entertaining reviews/retelling. Hope the show goes for a long time so you can keep making these!
It broke my heart too when Claudia died, and I agree Louis did fail as a parent to Claudia. She was failed by both of her fathers, especially in the book.
This whole time, I've felt so bad for this version of Claudia *specifically* because I wished she could have a chance to meet Marius, Pandora and the other reasonably decent vampires. It's a tragedy that all the things she is seeking are so close to her, and she won't get to know. I'll be bummed if they take away one of the few decent vampires.
This episode made me insane and I was sooo waiting for your review ❤❤
Does anyone watch this on cable? The commercial breaks happen randomly. Sometimes, I think I am missing parts of scenes because when the show comes back, it’s on the next scene. It makes it all the more confusing.
I'm so happy these reviews exist so that I can geek out about this fantastic show ! Thanks Ms Maven!
Let me tell you I’m been waiting for this review the minute the intro of the show started😊🤣😂
Me too!!! There are other reviews out there and they all suck compared to Maven! No pun intended!
The Marius dragging in that episode had me seething in my little linen PJs. I appreciate the coming to the defense of our Romano-Celtic Paint Daddy.
A small offering of thanks
I truly enjoy your reviews! I await on baited breath each new week for it. Much love for your detail. The books really are a portal into a new an unique world. ❤❤❤ Ahhh that Par excellence!!! Lol
as someone who have not have time to read the book yet, I appreciate your video so much!
As a friend of mine mentioned to me, "This series is my favorite Gay Bar Regulars Drama"
And I was,.."Oh, damn. You right."
Those lacy gloves(?) really match the butterfly sleeveless top. Love the summer goth wear, very elegant but also breathable.
55:32 Thank you!! I can’t believe they’re gonna make Marius into this 2-dimensional abuser character!! His relationship with Armand was already so complex and problematic yet loving! Making Marius out to just be this pervert who kept Amadeo as his personal sex slave to pass around… Ugh I just hate it, it’s such a shallow interpretation of their relationship, which was already plenty problematic!? Like why did they feel the need to add this!? Marius would NEVER NEVER pimp Amadeo out, yes they were problematic but also definitely in love!! Which is a theme with all of the vampire relationships just saying. Also I think a lot of people miss the non-diegetic kink aspect of their relationship and don’t understand how intensional it is.
My ship has been sunk by amc rip 😢
@@Danielle-30 Note I said he was turned into a 2-dimensional abuser. I fully acknowledge the inherent YIKESness of their relationship, which is why I said it was already plenty problematic without needing to add this plot line. My main issue is why would they add this unless they’re trying to make Marius harder to sympathize with/make him into an irredeemable villain character that the audience is meant to hate? It just feels so contrary to the point of the vampire chronicles to me. Why are we meant to sympathize with Armand (who is also an abuser) but not with Marius? And I could be wrong, maybe Marius will show up in the show some where down the line and be portrayed as more complex then what we briefly see of him here, I just think it’s an odd choice to add this element to Armand’s history with him if we’re not just supposed to see him as just “Armand’s evil abuser who never actually loved him” and nothing else.
Basically, adding this element into their relationship dynamic does nothing to enrich it and actually dumbs it down quite a lot for me. Also the show seems to be taking a super moralistic writing approach to dealing with their relationship, which I do understand is a lot more palatable for general audiences and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad way to write it, but it does seem contrary to Anne Rices works in a lot of ways.
This was long lol, I hope this makes sense
Also makes no sense. Why would he do this? He was filthy rich when he lived in Venice lol. Adding this to Armands already tragic backstory while also not including the fact that Armand literally had Boys like Deniz as Pets in a cage during the Theater is iffy lol
@@claw.7116 Literally, Armand was already a victim of csa!! His backstory was already hella tragic and his relationship with Marius was already plenty predatory and toxic… Also yeah it rlly doesn’t make sense why Marius would do this, and doesn’t make sense why Amadeo would see him as his savior if he was treating him like the brothel owners did… And yeah it is really convenient that they got rid of Denis… cause y’know that would make Armand look rlly bad, and we can’t have that, he needs to be the perfect victim for the audience to sympathize with him… (also probably because these vampires do have sex so it would make the implications of them much worse and pretty unsalvageable for most people-yikes🥶) But yeah it seems like they added this little fact about Marius to let the audience know that their relationship was purely abusive and is not meant to be shipped or looked at in any other way than pure abuse… I’m afraid that’s not how the Vampire Chronicles works show writers…
@@lillyk.265Armand is imperfect victim. Marius is just pedophile. Hope it helps!
19:22 - I imagine, to Louis, a companion is when you're going steady(like he did with Lestat) .. but he's not going steady with Armand, they're just hanging out / hooking up sometimes. He's still trying to keep separate, too much. ((DE NILE, and all that!)) Lol
It's also entirely possible that "companion" just means one thing to Louis and something else to Armand and they've just never officially DTR either way.
So many “no”s in so many languages. 🇫🇷 🇮🇹 🇺🇸
I've been waiting for this video!!!
I ended up joining your Patreon. You're one of my fave TH-camrs for fun stuff that I can take my mind off of for a while. I have a huge obsession with vampires and mermaids. 💚🥰
Hope everything is okay! Noticed last week's review is taken down and no review for this week. Wishing you the best.
The copyright bots got me! I've gotten last week's video unblocked, though it's now demonetized 😭And reuploaded a new version of this week's, so it's now finally public.
Whoo
I have been waiting for your breakdown. A lot happened in the episode
I’m almost 18:59 about to skip forward, a bit more about Claudia and coven life than I thought necessary to expound on… Dubai is the REAL story of this episode IMO…..
To be fair.... we do see Louis and Armand arguing about Claudia. (Like the way Armand is treating her, Louis doesn't like it, so it could be pushing Louis a little further away from Armand.) Ssoo ..I dunno if wanting her gone to keep Louis to himself is actually _entirely_ gone as a motivation, even though he's not going to admit that right in front of Louis.
I went down a rabbit hole on what dreamstat actually is...
There is a theory that he's ACTUALLY astral projecting. Reaching out.
So in the show, Lestat said u can't hear ur fledgling thoughts right? That's only half true. He actually could hear what Louis was saying. Louis doesn't know how to talk telepathically correctly and Claudia knew that. There is the thing vampires can do where they say things out loud and wide for all to hear telepathically. Lestat is speaking out loud in a way for Louis to hear from wherever he is in Paris. Another thing to kinda back this up, how would Louis know about 18th century Armand? Or the initial stitching on Lestats suit. Also louis saying he can feel him.
31 years and counting here!! Have loved them since I was 15!!!
Armand telling Louis last ep that Claudia would kll herself from frustration and then making her live in her blue dress is nasty work
I wondered about that myself. I could easily see Armand deciding Louis is too attached to Claudia to have his full attention, so then planting the idea that she won't be able to handle her situation for much longer, and arranging things to make that come true.
The Armand Malloy flashback has very Angel Heart vibes seeding Tale of the Body Theft
Did he kill somebody? Or did he have a bag over his head?
Daniel put a bag over a girl's head, because she wanted to have sex with him, but he didn't want to look at her for some reason.
@@MavenoftheEventide Oh, I thought Armand put that idea in Daniel’s head. I thought maybe Daniel was under the bag or maybe Daniel killed someone accidentally that way. The person shown with the bag over their head looks male. It’s just really creepy and I know Armand is manipulating Daniel’s thoughts…so…there is doubt on any past memory Daniel has. Alice might even be Armand too. I though maybe he replaced Daniel’s memories of him with memories of Alice.
Oh my God, I didn't think of that. It does feel very Angel Heart. His memories of Alice did trigger the start of his memories of Armand on that night, so maybe "his wife" rejecting Daniel's proposal never happened, and were planted by Armand, especially when Armand tries to reinforce them by saying *she wanted to say yes, but didn't trust you,* almost like a sleeper conditioning.
question, who are the vampires in the iron cages?...i know one is Santiago's maker and isn't he like very very powerful?...so, are they all really dead, or can they come back as long as the ashes are still present?...
If there are actual bodies in those vaults, then no, they're technically not actually dead, just asleep. Unless the show changed the rules. If Armand really wanted the guy dead, he would have burned him to ash and scattered the ashes. Anything less than that (or scooping out his heart and brain and pulverizing them), and he can technically come back oneday.
Santiago reminds me more and more of Lestat in a way in this episode. Also, Armand is never gonna live those 'bottom energy' memes down now, is he?
I need Claudia to be alive still somehow in the present. We've already deviated so much from the books and in modern day Claudia *could* conceivably live as an adult/young adult alone. PLEASE, WALK WITH ME AMC!
It could happen. I personally don’t think the Claudia of the books would be Baby Lu even if the theater let her. Her age in the books betrayed her. She doesn’t have to do that in the show, but chooses to.
I was thinking this too.
Wow, you're a walking and talking library. Very cool!
THANK YOU for standing up for Marius. So much of the fandom just shits on him because it's cool without even reading the text thoroughly. This weird Moral Highground taking over fandoms is exhausting, as if characters aren't, you know, Fictional, and allowed to be depraved and flawed and loved regardless.
You have just spoken what I have been thinking for a long time now and I wanna thank you for that. It is as you say absolutely exhausting dealing with people who seem to have the idea that it is somehow wrong to prefer characters who are morally on the negative side. They are fictional characters and many of us still understand this fact. Anyway great comment lol.
Im Marius No 1 defender and I hate how hes so hated by certain Fans for things which were socially acceptable at these times. Meanwhile Characters which actually commited atrocities get away with it in the Fandom lol
❤️👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👆🏼
Hi there I love your shows . I've got to say I like that the show has given Louis powers because technically going by the other books Lestat has had Akashias blood which would explain why Louis was always a stronger vampire from the beginning, Lestat also has had Marius s blood as well
The Time Gift is annoying me at this point. :/ If they all can stop time, what is the gambit now?
Thanks for the video. And Marius is my favorite character from vampires chronicles
Armand is absolutely not lying in the painting scene. We’re not meant to care about Marius, he’s not in the show! (yet?) It was an amazing scene
I appreciate the positive spin you keep trying to put on the adaptation, but I can't deal with many of the character changes they've made, to say nothing of the inconsistencies in the writing. It was hard with Lestat in season 1, and what was said about Marius (by Armand) pushed it right over the edge for me. Like, don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the time shift and tweaks to the character backgrounds and the consequent changes those result in (like Louis' big struggles in season 1), but I would have thought they'd keep the core essence of the characters similar. Bleh
I really enjoy seeing Luis and Armand together. They have such spark when together (good acting from the actors surely). Unfortunately, we all know that there might be an expiry date.
What was up with the phallic candle placement with Armand? He was in the background and the candle was right at the spot where his manhood would be. :)
FYI the correct grammar is:
Je n'aime pas que les fenêtres soient fermées
Or more accurately
Je n'aime pas quand la fenêtre est fermée
All that production money.... seriously
I'm happy to see you still got those books I gave you, also, what flavor popcorn you were eating?
I think it was strawberry?? They gave it out at the New York premiere event I was invited to last month, but I was too excited that night to eat, so I brought it home.
@@MavenoftheEventide Ooh ooh, how about after the last episode for this season of Interview with the Vampire, would you want to make videos about vampire related food items? I remember you did one about Dracula's Daughter tea.
Great recap and deep dive 👏 👏
I look forward to your breakdowns after every episode 😄👍
I like this season more than season 1.
My theory: Armand has been influencing Louis' memories and is against the interview because if Louis really investigates his past, he could discover discrepancies with what he remembers. In the 70s, I think Louis brought Daniel home to eat, but then Daniel pulled out the tape recorder, and Louis was interested in telling his story. Armand came home, discovered them and brainwashed Daniel, possibly because Louis was already starting to remember the truth. Maybe Daniel was never even a drug addict. Armand just put that in his head. Why did this all happen? I'm excited for episode 5 to tell us 😄
That's what I'm thinking, too! Back in seson 1 as Daniel requestioned Louis' stance changes and also kept mentioning the toxcisity in the relationship w Lestat. Not that toxcisity wasn't there, just that there seems to be a pattern where Louis doesn't see he's being manipulated and is ignoring the red flags. I just kept thinking, well who do we know that is as much of a mess as Lestat when it comes to companionships and relationships? Oh, right...
Maybe the drug addiction wasn’t real but was a mental cover for an ongoing relationship that Armand had with Daniel
@@averlinbc5680 I can see that, yeah.
Since Claudia comes back as a possible ghost, I wonder if she will start that early next season.
Engagement for the engagement god!
Should be the tagline of Part Two. :)
From what's going on in this episode, it seems like Armand has not only retconned Daniel's memories with his psychic powers of what happened during his first interview in the 70s-80s, but also Louis's memories surrounding the eventual tragedy awaiting Claudia in her future. We all know how much Louis would hate Armand for his complicit part in Santiago's rogue justice against Claudia for breaking the laws, all in an effort to drive Louis in his rage to eliminate the Coven so Armand would have Louis to himself. I agree with you when Armand says he wants Louis more than anything, that he's willing to do anything to get it, even brainwash and neuralize Louis, the supposed love of his life, to make him stay. That sort've controlling nature reminds me a little of something like in Young Justice, with the relationship between Superboy and Miss Martian, how dhe beganbto abuse her psychic powers to gain intel on the villains. This abuse would leave her victims catatonic or brain dead, and M'gann manipulates Connor Kent's memories of this knowledge to make him forget he was upset with her, only for him to remember her psychic touch from performing that action, hurting him and thus leading to them breaking up until they reconciled at the end of season 2. It's ironic that Armand claims he's not another Lestat, when he claimed in season 1 that *he wouldn't be there this time to save Louis from himself,* much like how Lestat took it upon himself to come to Louis's rescue.
I think Louis remembers Claudia's tragedy in Paris just fine. He said at the beginning of the season that it was hard for him to talk about how Paris felt when he first got there considering what horrible things happened to him there later. In the book, knowing what Armand did to Claudia never kept louis from being with him. Louis knew all along. He was just resigned and accepted. He didn't care enough to hate Armand, so I think it could be the same here. And in the latest trailer, we hear Armand telling Louis he'll spend the rest of his life making up for Claudia. So Louis fully remembers all that just fine, I'm sure.
@MavenoftheEventide But Louis also says Armand could never make it up to him, to which Armand acknowledges he's aware of. Doesn't that mean Louis did hold the actions against Claudia over him despite staying with Armand? 🤷♂️I guess we'll see more next week. Still, great video, Elisa- I mean, 😏Maven. Sorry😅. Always love tuning into your Vampire Reviews.
Do you think that, with younger vampires having the fire gift and more, they will invent new ones for the very old ones? Are they like, going to be attended to by zombie-like undead minions or other weird stuff?
Or do you think that they won't and there would be just a series of fist fights instead of vampires being torched left and right by Akasha? I mean, now they can just be decapitated and truly die...
@@danilogenovese8735i hope there won't be any fight scenes with Akasha at all
Well, all the older vampires seem to be able to stop time.
@@wildmarjoramdieselpunk6396 Yes, but if Lestat can do it now, and Armand has it as well, I wonder if they're going to give the likes of Marius and older some kind of weird abilities never seen in the books. And if that's the case I worry it could end up looking a little too like Marvel movies. Or maybe they are making the stronger powers so common to save on special effects and have the future action scenes as simple fist fights, because if both hypothetical vampires can set each other on fire then a "normal" fight is the only way at least one can survive. I mean, even in the Queen of the Damned movie the scene with Akasha against the others was a lot longer and more like a proper fight compared to the book, so I don't think the show will pass on the occasion for a more drama/action filled action either.
I really appreciate your thorough explanation of the Marius situation, complete with alignment chart. ❤️ He's getting so much hate in the fandom right now.
Where do you purchase the snacks? Can you drop the link please?
Here's the coffee: deadsledcoffee.com/iwtv/
The popcorn was a gift at the New York premiere event for the first episode screening I was invited to last month, so alas it cannot be purchased.
Yellow dress was a good spot.
As a teenager reading the vampire chronicles Marius was always one of my favorites; please don't do him dirty like that. Through Marius' eyes I fell in love with Pandora.
Quin is also one of my favs, poor Tarquin smh
58:00 So a 14 year old is ideal, just not a little kid? Is there an age limit in the books here? Then Claudia of the show would be those vampires’ ideal companion?
I don't remember if you addressed, but do you think that's why claudia and louis turned her, so the 2 of them won't be breaking one of the laws?
But making Madeline into a vampire is still breaking the laws. Only the coven master is supposed to make other vampires. Since Claudia is a coven member, she broke this rule. In the Trailer is shows Claudia with Louis drinking from Madeline before turning her.
Only the coven master can ORDER the making of new vampires. He doesn't have to make them himself. Armand never makes vampires, it's against his personal code. But he can grant permission.
So the question will be if they get Armand's permission or not 👀
In the book, Louis didn't want to make Madeline because it was against his personal code, but Armand used mind control to force him to do it as a way to try to get Louis to be free of Claudia so he could have Louis for himself.
waiting for ep 5 review 🥰
It lives! th-cam.com/video/3Z2Bq-oHf9I/w-d-xo.html
thank you for defending marius 🥺🤧 can’t believe the show is doing him so dirty! great work as always 💕
The show did him dirty??? Haven't you read The Vampire Lestat? The book too stated that Marius r*ped Armand, and all the other boys, and tortured him! Yet you are mad that the tv show did it too?
To be honest, I don't believe anyone, but I love a good drama!
@@Kuromi1989-z6b yeah i have read TVL actually. but did YOU read TVA or B&G? do YOU remember when armand said he alone shared the masters bed? marius never touched those boys, he didn’t have a romantic or sexual relationship with anybody but AMADEO at that time. and he certainly didn’t torture him. but please, point me to the passage that says he did. i’ll wait.
@@Kuromi1989-z6bthat was an innocent BDSM and Amadeo was asking for it, really - he is not an innocent lamb, he is ok with becoming a killer like all vampires and refuses to understand why Marius does not want to turn him
@@chenz67i think that's about the episode where Marius whiped Armand untill his legs were all bloody
@@Kuromi1989-z6b Book Marius slaughtered people who even looked the wrong way at Amadeo... And no he was not touching any other boy, it's pretty clear in TVA and B&G. Marius says his coveting the 15 year old Amadeo was proof that he truly was a vampire, that he had to do something outside the bounds of morality to find any kind of joy. And he certainly isn't portrayed in a good light, abandoning Armand the second he stopped fulfilling Marius's egotistical fantasy and leaving Amadeo with a lifelong identity crisis. But he covered Amadeo in silk and put so many rings on his fingers it weighed his hands down... He planned to make him a vampire when he came of age because he couldn't stand Amadeo dying eventually... The idea he would lend Amadeo out or torture him intentionally is ridiculous.
Mojo being in the chart as Neutral Good took me out lmaoo
Thank you for everything you said about Marius! Too many fans don't seem to understand him, and love nothing more than to share misinformation. It's really disappointing that the writers seem to have decided to make him out to be this evil vampire.
I mean the first thing we learn about him in the book is that he groomed Armand so I’m cool with them making him evil actually
Did you even listen to what Maven had to say about that or?@tinymxnticore
@@ActuallyDoubleGuitars Yes. A lot of Rice’s work is about showing conflicting facets of her characters through different perspectives (hence Lestat changing from a vindictive oaf to a byronic hero). In Marius’ own story he’s a rescuer of children…in Armand’s he’s the teacher who seduced his pupil into a slavish devotion. I think it’s odd to accuse people of lacking reading comprehension when the moral ambiguity of Rice’s vampires invites different interpretations.
@tinymxnticore I haven't read the books in 20 years so I don't remember all the little details but I do think Maven really knows what she's talking about, perhaps you should try debate her instead of me.
Read Armand's version again. Armand never implied Marius seduced him into slavish devotion. He was the opposite of slavish with him, rebellious and defiant and constantly frustrating Marius with asking too many questions and not being obedient. But still he loved and adored Marius as his rescuer who have him a glorious new life of freedom and opportunity. And he begged Marius to give him the vampire secrets even though Marius wanted to keep that distance between them because he didn't want to curse Armand with the darkness. Marius kept trying to push Armand away so that Armand could have a true human experience, but Armand was the demanding one who kept clinging to Marius.
35:45 Well, not only the cafe but Louie is showing an agent photos of vampires. That isn’t against the rules either?
I thought they said that they can’t read minds between makers and their fledgling.
They can't, except when they're drinking each other's blood. When a vampire drinks blood (or has their blood drunk) the minds become connected, even if they're maker/fledgling. The blood is the link through the mental wall.
@@MavenoftheEventideso Lestât could really read Louis’ mind?
@@KpTheG If one of them is drinking the other's blood, they can see into each other's minds, yes. But because they're sharing blood in such a heightened moment, it would be like a flood of images and memories and feelings. Not just psychically talking to each other calmly.
Considering who Marius ultimately ends up with in the books, all roads might actually lead to Rome. Which would explain the introduction of Marius so quick in this interpretation.
It's not any quicker than he's introduced in the books. Armand tells Louis about Marius in IWTV:
"You speak of works of art and natural beauty. I wish I had the artist's power to bring alive for you the Venice of the fifteenth century, my master's palace there, the love I felt for him when I was a mortal boy, and the love he felt for me when he made me a vampire. Oh, if I could make those times come alive for either you or me . . . for only an instant! What would that be worth? And what a sadness it is to me that time doesn't dim the memory of that period, that it becomes all the richer and more magical in light of the world I see today."
"Love?" I asked. "There was love between you and the vampire who made you?" I leaned forward.
"Yes," he said. "A love so strong he couldn't allow me to grow old and die. A love that waited patiently until I was strong enough to be born to darkness. Do you mean to tell me there was no bond of love between you and the vampire who made you?"
"None," I said quickly. I couldn't repress a bitter smile. ... "But tell me . . . do you now feel love for this vampire who gave you eternal life? Do you feel this now?"
He appeared to be thinking, and then he sand slowly, "Why does this matter?" But went on: "I don't think I've been fortunate in feeling love for many people or many things. But yes, I love him. Perhaps I do not love him as you mean. It seems you confuse me, rather effortlessly. You are a mystery. I do not need him, this vampire,
anymore."
You see how dirty they did Marius in the show?? 😭
@@MavenoftheEventide that's true, I think I'm feeling saturated in Marius because the Talamasca is already here with their observations of him
Where is your vid about episode 5 MAVEN?!?!
It went up yesterday private for my Patreon patrons! They always get to watch it first before I make it public here on youtube: www.patreon.com/posts/interview-with-105913781
No she’s actually starting to regret it 33:10
I swear by the dark prince Lestat, if they confirm TV-Armand's backstory and change Marius, one of the most likeable and heroic vampires (a low bar, I know) in the entire Vampire Chronicles universe, into a scumbag who pimped out Armand to his artist friends, then I'm done with this show.
Mojo = Neutral Good ❤
Mojo is the best!!! The goodest Boy!!!
46:32 She did it all for the nookie.
17:09 I like this aspect
23:55 - You don't think that Armand making Louis believe he was going to kill him but then had moved his heart so strongly he was willing to defy the coven and protect him from being killed doesn't count as finding Louis' vulnerability or making Louis dependent on him? 🙂🤔🙃😅👀
You really don't think literally everything Armand is doing and saying is every bit as calculated and purposeful in the tv series as in the books??
😅 😅😅
It's strange how very different perceptions really can be, sometimes, when visual mediums show more than they tell and truly do leave it largely up to the audience to speculate on the characters' true internal minds/world.😁😏😊 Lol
Yeah, this Armand really doesn't come off as calculating at all to me in the Paris scenes. I think if the books didn't exist and people were just seeing this show on its own, he would come off as an insecure leader torn between keeping rule of his coven with an iron fist vs bending the laws for the sake of finally having love. It's a struggle for him, but we haven't seen him do anything precalculated to resolve that struggle. He really was going to kill him when he took him down into the tunnel, but when Louis said to take care of Claudia and tell her she's beautiful, it just struck Armand's heart so that he couldn't bring himself to do it and chose to give love a chance instead. He never planned on it being a fake out.
And now by the end of this episode, if...being a completely submissive doormat to get louis to stay is some kind of premeditated sneaky "calculated" ploy, then I think he needs some more math classes lol
@@MavenoftheEventide Until the show explicitly shows otherwise I just think this is all armand playing with louis memories, making up part of it, at least his involvement in this chapter, maybe the interview itself is all armands doing, i dont know. But unless the actor was horribly miscast, every time hes on screen im thinking that guy is a freak and a liar.
@@MavenoftheEventide I know at least one person who hasn't read the books, who doesn't really talk to me about it until after watching each episode themself and forming their own opinions about it first, who also believes Armand is being hella calculated in both the Paris timeline and the 2020s timeline too though. (Someone out there should try and poll viewers of the tv show who haven't read the books for their opinions about Armand or something, that would be helpful information to be able to bring into these kinds of discussions; unfortunately, I haven't been in fandom actively enough basically anywhere except YT for at least the last decade or more, so I wouldn't even know where to start polling anyone myself. 😆 Lol)
I don't think it's actually a struggle for Armand, at all. I think he just wants Louis to _believe_ that it was a struggle for him, because that is what Louis needed to believe to fall for Armand's snare. I think Armand almost definitely knows that Louis needs to feel more in control than Louis felt Louis was with Lestat, and I think Armand is intelligent enough to know how to make it seem like everything is Louis' own idea even when Armand is actually getting exactly what Armand wants.
I don't personally buy that Armand was ever actually going to kill Louis in the slightest, I think he just wanted Louis to *_think_* that he was actually going to kill Louis so that *Louis* would believe that Armand was so in love with Louis that Armand would change his mind and defy the coven/rules for Louis like that; I don't think it looked in the least bit like they just "accidentally" or coincidentally ended up back at Louis' apartment at all, and I suspect if Armand felt anything hearing Louis ask Armand to take care of Claudia it was either guilt(because of SPOILERS which haven't played out on-screen in the tv series yet) or other less cheery feelings like possibly even rage(because he's tired of Louis always bringing her up and caring about her so much at all).
I think it's equally possible that Armand might have said what he said to Claudia on purpose while Santiago was in earshot as it's possible that Santiago just accidentally overheard it, nevermind the possibility that Armand could have said any number of things to Santiago directly mind-to-mind[ that we the audience/viewers weren't allowed to hear] other than just what we heard that Armand said out loud, not to mention the possibility that we could also still be seeing things differently on-screen than they may or may not have actually happened[ especially with regards to the events that were happening in the past] if they(the tv show's creators) really are just showing us things as the various character narrators are alleging them to have happened. But it's not like we can actually hear exactly what is or is not going on inside any of these characters' heads anything like we often typically can when reading books from their own POVs, in the tv show we only know what these characters claim is true or at least whatever they claim to be what they believe is true[ in either actual spoken words or unspoken voice-over/thoughts], and we don't really have any way of knowing for absolutely sure or certain if/when they are somehow lying or mistaken or not.
I really don't see Armand as behaving like he's just a completely submissive doormat, at all, in either Paris nor the 2020s. I don't think Armand carries himself or his facial expressions like he is submissive or a doormat or any of that in the slightest. I think Armand just wants Louis to believe that Armand is, and I actually think Armand's kind of exceptionally ticked off that Daniel doesn't just completely buy it that Armand is nothing but a totally submissive doormat or slave to Louis' whims/wishes and such too. I think, when it came to the withheld journals that Armand begrudgingly agreed to let Louis read and such, Armand is just smart enough to see when his control starts slipping and to know when[ like-it-or-not] he needs to change tactics sometimes to try and regain or keep his control over the situation and Louis and things. And I think if the tv show's creators and actors didn't know how to play things in ways that superficially seem as if none of that is going on even when it secretly is or could be actually going on, they wouldn't be very good at their jobs; but I think that they are all (cast and crew alike) also doing a pretty excellent job at showing just enough cracks sneaking in here and there that some people pick up on those cracks a little more than others might do simultaneously while other people pick up on them a little less than others do....kind of exactly like Daniel in the 2020s fully believing that Armand is controlling Louis, while Louis in the 2020s fully believes that Armand is completely in love and wouldn't ever control Louis at all, and it's basically just this constant push-and-pull contest to see if it will be Daniel or Louis who will start to doubt their beliefs or change their minds at all first.
I think they're all doing a really wonderful job at playing things just close enough to the vests that it would be equally believable no matter which way they play Armand's character by the end of everything, and depending on how exactly they do or not actually play it all out, it could cast a lot of things that we've seen so far retroactively in very different lights all depending on through exactly which perspective / colored lens (either knowing that Armand is a calculating manipulative mind or that he isn't) it is or isn't going to be looked back on[ in hindsight or upon rewatching] by audiences/viewers after it all in the very end. And that's exactly what I really really love so much about this tv series, and why I think Season 2 episode 4 was probably my favorite ep of this particular season so far. But maybe that's just me, thinking far too highly of it/them all-Who knows(!). Lol 😁
But, yeah, of course we do know that sooner or later it's not in the longterm going be a fully tenable or sustainable situation forever because neither Armand nor Louis are really just being 100% completely true or open about it with regards to themselves and who they are or what they truly need/want the most; they are both behaving in ways that they probably wouldn't otherwise behave, in order to kind of forcibly keep their relationship together, regardless of whether or not and/or how much if any of it is actually a consciously deliberate choice in either of their parts or not. (I think. ^--^)
Tell me that Louis's face doesn't look pummeled in the last surveillance picture from 1973! Overanalyze with me! Did Armand attack Louis, and then alter Louis's memories and plant the memory of taking a beating at Lestat's hands? The beating in Season 1 always struck me as un-like book Lestat. But boy is violence and manipulation right up ARMAND's alley (not to mention dropping from high places)!
Armand never laid a hand on Louis in the books. He was violent with Lestat, but always gentle with Louis and only wanted to take care of him and keep him safe.
Man I Saw I Didn't It,Poor Claudia
You are the cutest thing on youtube
Cute? More elegant and fantastic! :)
This has nothing whatsoever to do with the show, but I can't remember, so I'll ask. Have you ever reviewed Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Saint Germain books? I'd say they're more historicals than vampire novels, but I thought her take on vampires was interesting.
I just wonder how the dynamics were if Armand were a 17 years old body on this version. I'm sure TV 14 years old Claudia would been FASCINATED with him Just a random thought
Mauris is a complex character. The best characters are. I dont hate him, but I can understand why people may be triggered by him. I know a few people who have been abused or manipulated in relationships whenbthey were younger. I read the VC as a kid. When I read Armand's story, I was maybe 14 and didn't see anything wrong with Mauris and Armand's relationship, I thought it was romantic. But at the end of the day Mauris groomed Armand. If he wanted Armand to live a full human life, he should not have invited Armand to his bedroom countless times, to take and exhange blood with him, which in Anne Rice's world is blood taking/exchange is having sex. Mauris also mistreated Bianca, and made Sybelle and Benji into vampires without consulting Armand first.
I love your videos Maven, but insulting viewers who have an opposite opinion and then questioning their reading skills, is not the way to go.
Well all these things you named are still nothing in comparison to what Lestat, Armand and others did yet they dont get the fraction of the hate Marius does. She rightfully calls out the double moral of these Fans
everything you say after 50:00 mark *police sirens*
Wait, how come Vittorio isn’t on the bad list?
Who? I don't know her. 😔
@@MavenoftheEventide Vittorio The Vampire, what do you rate him on the evil list?
@@MavenoftheEventidethe book character alignment list is missing Vittorio the Vampire
@@bigmikecastle Maven doesn’t care about him so I’m not surprised he’s not there lol
@@lillyk.265 poor Vittorio!
25:40 - This probably isn't actually happening.... but I do wonder, what of dream!Stat himself was actually Armand pushing Louis' head around. Or maybe even real Lestat, but Armand has tricked his mind out of remembering when Lestat was or wasn't really there, or maybe Louis just legitimately couldn't even tell what was real or what was his mind because that's how messed up he was between Armand's seduction/possible-mindf**kery and or his own guilt/shame or whatever. 🤔 👀
(Also, while emotion doesn't technically heighten powers in the books, I could maybe see emotion helping a vampire sometimes get psychologically out of their own way and fall more into instinct or something? I dunno-just random pondering thoughts!!🤷🤷♀️🤷🏻♂️😁😁)
Is Armand going to be a painter in the TV series? Or revealed to be? Maybe painting Indian inspired art instead? That is what I was hoping for.
As far as I know, no. His only artistic outlet is directing theatre.
56:13 I keep seeing on tiktok ppl dragging Marius
I guess the majority don't like him and continue to say Marius is awful
Nah, it’s the minority. They’re just a very loud minority. Most people aren’t bad faith reductionists.
The thing about art is funny because Lestat technically is an artist since he wrote most of the books in-universe.