It's great to see that final rotation shot I did having an effect on people lmao. Awesome video! :D

Another fun little fact about Circe is that she and Hermes are canonically ex lovers. So Hermes really just gave his great-grandson magic weed to fight his former flame.

I too can’t help but laugh at the “a woman” part

One of my favorite details in Gigi's "puppeteer" animation is that when she says "I've got you" she's speaking to the men but the nest line : "don't worry Circe's got you now" is directed at the nymph. Circe says later on that she turns men into pigs to protect her nyphs and i find that detail so great! Edit: also I would LOVE a genderbent cover of pupeteer!!! PLEASE!

I will never get over how flirty this Hermes is, and I love it. Odysseus is thankful for the help but he so clearly also wants some distance from being borderline hit on by his great-grandpa 😂

Some fun facts here! In gigi's animatic, the reason you see Hermes' feet land on a branch is because during Odysseus' lines when it happens, you can hear very rapid harp playing. That is Hermes' instrumental signature, which is what you hear at the beginning of Wouldn't you like. Meaning, at the beginning of WYL, THAT is the "speech" Hermes overheard. He enjoyed the points Odysseus made and decided to throw him a bone. It also helps that Hermes is, I believe, Odysseus' Grandfather? He definitely does flirt with Odysseus a little in WYL. Finally, that run at the end is, in fact, not Hermes. I thought so too when I first heard the album, but it's actually Odysseus (thus Jorge!). It's the plants powers giving him a powerup, thus he joins Hermes in his singing to signify his power being different than before.

in ody's defense during wouldn't you like, Hermes is kinda known for just popping up and handing hero's mcguffins, so it's less weird for him to do so then a random god like aioles. PLUS Hermes is ody's great grandpa, so hermes has helped ody out before (hence why he was so quick to recognize him)

fun fact hermes and odysseus are related so- also when your asking odysseus to ask hermes what he wants, i don’t think hermes even cares he’s a trickster at heart

Hermes is like the Loki of the Greek gods; always up for a good laugh and a bit of mischief. He doesn’t really care how the situation is going to turn out as long as he is entertained.

True, power does not come for free in this world. Thankfully the price for Hermes' help is nepotism since Odysseus is his great grandson

Quick note on Hermes's help, I'm fairly certain Hermes is one of the few that offers help for little to no reason. He's helped many heroes through gifting magical items primarily, his help rarely seems to come with a cost either.

The opening of pupeteer perfectly lines up with "Polites gear up, you and ill go ahead, let us try to find a way noone ends up dead" right after loosing 550 people to Poseidon.

The theme at the beginning is the part where Odesseus said “we can try to find a way no one ends up dead” in full speed ahead

maybe controversial opinion, but i think the strength of this musical is how it can tell a story without any visuals, through the music and lyrics alone. animatics are great, i love animatics, but it's weird how a lot of reaction people are focusing on them so much. each animatic is only one artist's interpretation of the events, and i personally think it's good to form my own image in my head before i see what other people create. but in the end it's up to you, of course

I would happily watch you react to The Underworld Saga musically first then animatics when they're available. I feel like it would be cruel to make you wait for the animatics!

I can't even tell you how many times i rewatched Gigi's animatic for puppeteer... Just the ways Circe moves and dances at every moment, mesmerizing

As a german language nerd, one funfact i know is that Circe actually influenced the German language. "bezirzen" means to kind if bewitch someone with beauty and that stuff and it actually derives from Circe's name

The notes in "Puppeteer" that you're recognising from "Full Speed Ahead" are specifically where Odysseus is telling Polites to gear up and that they'll scout ahead of the others! It adds an extra little note of grief to the whole thing, really, realising that it's that moment... and you'll find that those notes are repeated on and off since they first appear, and they always add emotional moments. And oh, I almost forgot about Eurylochus's question of whether or not Odysseus will choose to leave if he finds Circe can't be defeated! The outright question of "will YOU admit defeat and just take the loss, or will you persist until you, and inevitably the rest of your men, perish here?" is a heavy question pertaining to Odysseus's tendency to not frigging giving up when it would offer him and everyone else a way out and a way to avoid more suffering. The statement of "It's a game of wits, but you don't have to play" echoes that perfectly too! Odysseus just can't leave it alone, and Eurylochus knows by now that it'll affect everyone else present too. I remember Jorge said he had initially wanted some sort of reminder of Hermes from Hadestown in the performance of "Wouldn't You Like", but eventually he decided on making something new, something unique to Epic, and the choice was absolutely perfect. Mischievous, flirtatious, and yet oddly distant and flippant - there's nothing I don't love about the performance for Hermes in that song! Cheshire Cat vibes are very accurate for Hermes in general - I mean, he is very much a trickster god, someone known to play pranks and who likes to mess around. And knowing that he's Odysseus's grandfather (or great-grandfather, not sure which) just... Yeah, it adds to understanding some of Odysseus's character, in my opinion. The wit and all that. And yes, Hermes is most definitely speaking from experience! If I remember correctly, he and Circe were lovers at one point, which is why he knows how to beat her!

5:36 I’d like to add; listening to it, I think that might be the instrumentation under “we should try to find a way no-one ends up dead” which is even MORE devastating

I mean odysseus was abandoned/abandoned by wisdom, he's not really thinking things through. That being said, Hermes is his great-grandfather and has a soft spot for his descendant so it isn't super surprising that he took over guiding Odysseus since Athena left him. He's also a well known trickster god so it probably wouldn't have helped to ask him why he's helping in the first place

Fun fact: when Hermes perched on the branch in Puppeteer the insturments changed to the instruments that represent Hermes to show that he was listening

I think you should check out the music for the Underworld saga, then animatics later when they eventually come out. Also, the predominant theory I've heard surrounding what Euryloches's confession is is the idea that he's confessing to having opened the wind bag in the lead into Ruthlessness.

Answering your question of how they would do the vocal layering in a stage performance… probably the same way Hamilton did the rewind effects in their production. I’m not sure of the exact process but it was a recorded version layered in with everyone actually singing

Actually in 27:42 when we hear the background voice sing is actually Odysseus filling up with power

Odysseus is known to not ask questions about gifts from gods in this but I like to think that this time he gets a pass because Hermes is known to help out Greek heroes a lot in mythology so maybe Odysseus thought he was safe.

Welcome to the first chapter of "Fun facts about EPIC": did you know that there actually is a spinoff series called Hermes(and jay) and he made a lot of cameos throughout next videos? The Hermes VA is Troy Doherty by the way

The beginning of puppeteer is indeed from full speed ahead, but its the instrumental from the vers not the bridge. Thing about: "watch where the birds fly! They will lead us to land There we'll hunt for food, my second in command"

Funfact: there are already finished animatics 😂 and it has just been 5 days And: the 'ooooohh' in the end are not hermes, that is Odysseus after he took the Moly and started to glow (got the power)

1. Actually this time Jay has collaborated with many artists to use the animatics in the premiere, which have covered most part of the songs already, so you can just check it out from his recording video, or wait until other animatics come out. 2. At the beginning of Puppeteer, the strings are playing the melody of “Full Speed Ahead” starting from “watch where the birds fly” to “there we’ll hunt for food, my second in command”, while the piano is playing the melody of “Luck Runs Out”, showing that this is the dynamic moment between Odysseus and Eurylochus. 3. I love how you describe the sudden transition in Wouldn’t You Like as a “pull”. It’s so accurate. 4. Why did Hermes help Odysseus? Well he was sent by the gods, as he said, “to send a message”, cuz he’s also the god of messages, and it’s not in their plan to let Odysseus die here, or be turned into a pig. BTW Hermes was the great-grandfather of Odysseus, so it’s certainly for free. 5. I love the way you’re asking Odysseus to ask questions first. Cuz bro, that’s his issue alright 😂 6. Can’t wait to see you get ~~traumatized~~ by the Underworld Saga (you didn’t see anything~)

In the beginning of Puppeteer, the chords do in fact come from Full Speed Ahead. They're from the part where Odysseus sings, "Give me 'til sunrise, and if we don't return, then 600 men can make this whole place burn."

If i remember correctly, Hermes is Odysseuses grandfather or something like that. Hes pretty chill and he's almost always the one to help travelers and adventurers without asking much in return

Gigi showing Hermes's feet at that part is GENIUS, because if you listen closely, the strings you're hearing are from a lyre. Hermes invented the lyre, so it's his motif in Epic. He was eavesdropping.

Hey Mortius! About how you could handle the underworld saga.. idk.. Jorge made a watch party yesterday (It include subtitles, irl video, animatic parts, and notes on what's happening on the scene) the thing is, he privated it, but there's people who have reuploaded it so could still watch it

I love how flirty Hermes character voice is! Also gigi's interpretation of Circe is by far my favorite. The movement in their animation during the chorus (No I'm not a player I'm a Puppeteer, No I do not play I Puppeteer, yeah) is always so fun to watch and makes me smile.

About the underworld saga-I’d be more than happy to see two videos, one with just the songs, and the other with the animatics. I’ve been listening to the underworld saga non-stop, and I can’t imagine making you wait to listen to them yourself.

Did you know that Eurilichus is Penelope's brother, making him Odysseus's brother-in-law? That's what I've heard at least

I fucking LOVE Hermes legitimately just straight up flirting with Odysseus through this entire song xD

The genuine best thing about Epic is that Jorge made sure that all the character had very distinct "flavors" from each other. He swirls said flavors so perfectly with each over the songs of Epic. It's truly so beautiful.

There may not be animatics for them yet, but the underworld saga IS out. I highly recommend checking out the songs anyway. You can always go back and see the animatics for those later.

Fun fact. When Odysseus says "Of that I'm sure" in his talk with Eurylochus in "Pupeteer", you can hear the melody from " Luck runs out" in the background

Fun fact: Odysseus is Hermes’s Great-grandson! Also I feel Hermes is menacing a bit in “Wouldn’t you like” because he’s known as the Greek trickster god! Gosh the underworld saga is so great! I think maybe react to the songs then react to animatics once they’ve came out for the visual interpretation and spreading love to the artists but that’s my opinion

Ha, you picked the two animatics I did for my animatic playlist of every song. Love it. The "A woman." "...what?" exchange is probably my most-quoted line when trying to explain the tone of Epic to people. It's so good. And yes, Hermes is a revelation. There's a Hermes song from later in the musical called 'Dangerous' that exists purely in demo form, with the vocals half by this singer and half by Jorge that is incredibly popular. There are a couple flawless animatics for it already. This musical is, heh, a godsend. Personally I'd rather you wait for animatics. I like the fully blind reaction. Plus since the visuals are purely fan interpretation at this point I would say they come secondary to the music, but I still want you to view both on the same playing field. There's only three songs on Underworld and there are already animatics popping up, so it shouldn't be too too long of a wait. Hope that helps! We love you, Big M!

The underworld saga just got released, im so excited for you to react to it, i started CRYING im not even kidding, good luck 😭

Hermes in Epic is my the most favourite character. He's so silly, can't wait to see him later

It was always my dream to have Greek mythology themed musical and I can’t believe that I actually got this. I’m so happy for everyone. I always wanted to come in this in the previous Epic related videos. And without a spoilers, I would say that I’m mostly excited for wisdom saga given from what I saw from the snippets. But I would say my favorite song in the saga is second because Hermes is just so… I don’t know how to explain it, but I just like him. Honestly, honestly, I don’t want to spoil anything but it always gets better with each saga

Puppeteer and Circe's voice are so amazing, one of my favourite songs definitely with Circe's lyrics and simple dual meaning of "Circe's got you now." :D Also damn that "wouldn't you like" animator was good making Hermes slightly unnerving with feeding the flower to Odysseus and not showing his eyes, that's good. :D

The first few notes actually is exactly like “…. there we’ll hunt for food, my second in command. Now full speed ahead”

Eurylochus is the one who opened the bag in The Odyssey. He was feeling guilty for opening it and getting everyone killed and was gonna tell Odysseus. But Odysseus already figured it out from "Keep Your Friends Close" warning from the Wind God. When he said it could wait, it was because if they really got into it, it would just lead to more fighting and break up whatever trust is left within the crew.

The phrasing "You must consume and digest it" makes it sound to me like the moly won't work until it's fecal matter outside of his body. 😂

I'm still not convinced you Lawrence a Troy doppelganger because you have made me think of Hermes ever since the music video came out. Also Be HURT or BEAT HER. The phonetic coincidence of this lyric is just so satisfying !!!!!

for some reason, I find out everything about this musical spontaneously. I just found this channel with reactions to the songs today, and it's very cool (because none of my friends are fans of this musical, and I get some kind of reaction and emotions at least like this, wow) and right now I find out that the next reaction will be released today. I'm probably lucky.(I'm sorry if something is unclear, I translated it with the help of a translator)

28:00 just a heads up the "oohh" part is sang by Odesseus and he starts singing the moment that he eats the flower (I also thought it was Hermes until I watched a video of Jorge)

You aren’t ready for the underworld saga prepare yourself

“Don’t worry circes got you” she said that while looking and holding a nymph, she wasn’t referring to the men, but to her nymphs

I realized that we should also support Jorge rivera-herrans because he's the creator of the whole epic the musical

I think this is the only time I understand Odysseus not asking follow up questions or questioning the help. Because, not only is Hermes KNOWN for doing things like this and just helping people randomly for fun, but that's his family. Hermes is his great grandfather as his mother was the daughter of Autolycus, a famous son of Hermes. So for Odysseus, it wasn't a random god offering 'help' again, it's his great grandpa. Like 'oh gramps wants to help me out, awesome!' Not many would question the help of their own family member. When someone of godly blood was offered any kind of assistance specifically by the god they're descended from, it was considered a great honor because your godly parent or ancestor was showing favor towards you, indicating a soft spot for you. So this is the only instance I feel like it makes sense for him to not question it. He absolutely should have with the wind god, but you would not question your own ancestor showing favor towards you. That could be seen as insulting and he doesn't want to piss off another god. When you're being shown favor by your godly relation, you just do not question. You graciously accept.

Fun fact: The “ooh” at the end is Odysseus getting his powers cuz he just eat the root.

You can tell that gigi has really upped her animatics game since her earlier ones. The camera work in this one, the little effects, tons of growth. And also Hermes, quit flirting with your grandson!

I love how it says “reaction and analysis” when in reality it’s just a guy listening to music he likes and exclaiming about the quality of the music. Not that much real analysis. I hope you do this series for the rest of the musical as it relaeases, I love the series.

THAT IS "Full Speed Ahead" HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT UNTIL NOW?!

Just to let you know, the only reason why Hermes does help him is because he is related to him. Hermes is Odysseus's great grandpa.

It makes some sense Odysseus doesn't question Hermes Hermes is Odysseus' great grandfather

Odyssius really does exemplify the difference between being intelligence and wisdom. just very very good at working out puzzles and strategies and direct problems in front of him, but just zero awareness of consequences and or forethought. also, i adore Hermes being just a disco little guy

There nothing to worry about Hermes thing is just randomly showing up and giving heroes stuff so they can win at something it just something he likes doing in his free time.

Also btw that was Odysseus taking off with the “OhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhHhH” also fun fact: Hermes is Odysseus’ great grandfather, thats why he is helping him

We need to get someone to make a playlist of the "Hermes and Jay" parts for you to react to PLEASE 🥺

The "Ooh-woaaaah" part of Wouldn't you like is actually Odysseus singing!

The beginning of Puppeteer is from full speed ahead. It’s the “ Polyites gear up, you and I’ll go ahead, we should find a way no one ends up dead”

Do you member the gummies that Hermes gave Percy before he set out in Sea of Monsters? Those were supposed to parallel the medicine Hermes gave Odysseus in the Odyssey. They work slightly differently there, just making the person who takes it immune to Circe's magic. Jay, though, had other ideas..... Also, Hermes is Odysseus's great-grandfather, so he might just assume his relative is doing him a solid.

I actually have a crazy strong preference for how you handle reactions moving forward. Join the watch parties. Record your reaction. Then, yeah, a few weeks/couple of months later, do the animatic reactions too in your normal format and deep dive into the music and such. Listen to it as much as you want in the meantime so you can really hear and appreciate all the little details, and comment on them in your reaction, but yeah. Definitely 100%, join the watch parties with us. It's like the whole recording vs live performance vibe, there's so much energy and hype with the launch and I want you to be able to enjoy that. Honestly I want to see your reaction to it as well 'cause it's overwhelming in a good way, and honestly? It feels Just Wrong to be part of a community that values art and humanity and is so wholesome and loving, and yet we're gonna deny you a place there at threat of your income? Lol no. So yeah, unfiltered reaction to the live launch, then in depth professional not-blind reaction to the songs a while later when the animatics are out. We get the best of both worlds (moreso than we do now, arguably, because we get blind reactions as well as in depth analytical commentary which we don't get as much rn, and you get to properly enjoy the community you're now a part of. I *really* want that.

"Odyssues, buddy!..." yes, that's right there. That's the exact emotion you are doomed to have again and again. Please, Odysseus, I'm begging you! (i say like the tragedy can have another end)

Odysseus is a trickster at heart and in Hermes, not only being the god of messengers, is also the god of tricksters and was maybe (probably) derived from an old version of pan, Hermes is an ancestor of Odysseus and so it makes sense that Hermes would help, I love your reaction and this video was so fun to watch, I'm just a mythology nerd with bad grammar😅 have an amazing day/night :)

Jorge does a great job at having the gods hijack the genre when they want. Everything starts out as the "world's" feel of standard musical when we deal with Odysseus and the Crew to whatever genre the god fits. It is intimidating and sells the power difference.

“Ask follow-up questions…Oh who am I kidding it’s Odysseus” had me rolling.

“ASK. FOLLOW UP. QUESTIONS.” Has such a panic to it that I can picture his second in command screaming lol

The vocalist of Hermes is Troy Doherty. He makes other music and I absolutely love his voice too!

5:00 It is from Full Speed Ahead. It's actually used a few times, and I think the two following times are better matches: "Watch where the birds fly, they will lead us to land, there we'll hunt for food my second in command" and "Polites gear up, you and I'll go ahead, we should try to find a way no-one ends up dead"

Happy subscribed to watch your takes on Epic the Musical! I hope you do animatic reactions to the Underworld Saga because I really like your visual & auditory reactions to both the animation tying in with the lyrics & song. I think you won't have to wait too long I'm sure by the time you do the 3 songs of the Underworld Saga there will be animatics to accompany them. But as you said you do what you think is best just really loving your enthusiasm & hooboy prepare yourself can't wait til you get to the Underworld Saga--it's brutally heartbreaking 😢 Can't wait to see your next half of this saga! Thanks for the laughs! Sidenote, you have the same swagger as Hermis' singer you should totally do a cover 😉 lol

Puppeteer is one of those songs that grows on you the more and more you listen to it. I enjoy it greatly lol

I do love how in Wouldn't You Like? Hermes as many other animatics he's slightly flirty with Odysseus (His great-grandson, mind you.) Due to him being all playful and all, as well as him dancing with him, was kinda teasing? In a way.

Hermes’s laugh always reminds me of the chattering of birds, like the noises they make when your on a walk through the woods

We want you to milk the context lol ! 2 videos pleaaaaaseeee i beegg youuuu i cant wait for the animatics and i love seeing you reacting to the animations SOOOO WE WANT BOTH 😂

A little late to the bat, but the instrumental at the start of Puppeteer is Odysseus singing "Polites gear up, you and I'll go ahead. We should try to find a way no one ends up dead"

The beginning of Puppeteer is actually from Full Speed Ahead, but it's not the bit you thought it was. It's the "Watch where the birds fly, they will lead us to land, there we'll fight for food my second in command" melody.

Great video! For the underworld saga, as much as I enjoy watching reactions to animatics, as someone who has heard the underworld saga, I wouldn't wish having to wait to listen on anyone. I vote to just react to the audios. Up to you of course! PS: I know that for The Underworld there are some animatics up already. How? I have no idea. These animators are wizards

I don’t know who’s going to see this because I’m not going to unpin Gigi but uh… I didn’t wait to watch the Underworld Saga 😅 www.patreon.com/posts/103190346

I know I am 3 weeks late, so maybe you already have the answer ( and probably will not see this comm anyway ) but the beginning of "puppeteer" is a call back to "full spead ahead" as you said. Just the moment where these exact note were playing was not for the "ithaca's waiting" line, but for "watch where the birds fly, they will lead us to land. Then we'll hunt for food my second in command". I think the parallel here is easy to understand : new island, he talk to hus second in command, and need for food

‘accessibility is more important than some slight spoilers’ as a hoh person i legit thank you sm YESSS

Love the reaction! By the way, I'm pretty sure the "Ohhhh" at the end of Wouldn't You Like was actually Odysseus, feeling the powerful effect of taking the magic root. While I'm sure Hermes could sing over himself if he wanted to, I'm pretty sure it's Jay's voice there doing the vocalizing. Anyway, I just watched your whole EPIC reaction series up to this point, and I'm really loving it! Can't wait for the rest of the Circe Saga!

React to the underworld saga as soon as possible no need to wait for the animatics

I am not sure, but I think that Eurylocus was the one that opened the wind bag. I think he was going to confess that he is the reason they couldn't get home safely. Either that or that he didn't stop the other men from opening it.

The moment Mortius heard (and saw) "let me bring you all something to eat" is the moment i knew he does know something about Circe's story. Oh yes. My face exactly 😅

Hermes is actually one of the few gods who help out mortals just because he likes them and want to see how far they can go. Also, Odysseus is one of his descendants, so he's kinda playing favorites here.

multiple things. 1. I would definitely love more videos and you reacting to the songs and the cinematics separately would be cool cause I also don't wan't to wait for your underworld saga reactions until animatics come out. 2. I 100% want to hear your gb cover of puppeteer XDDD 3. I don't mind longer videos like this. If you have a lot to say about a song I'd love to hear all of it.

Wait just a little bit for animatics, I bet it won't take long before all oc them pop up, the artists are unreal with the speed

I’ve listened to the underworld saga already, and Monster is definitely my favorite song so far. You should definitely do just the music first, and then move on to the animatics when they come out. Edit: Also, Hermes is a god that commonly helps heroes. He doesn’t usually take a price as far as I’m aware, and in this case he was definitely doing it for free. Also, he’s Odysseus’ grandpa, so… Edit2: nevermind. There’s already full animatics for all 3 underworld saga songs.

Cheshire Cat vibes is completely in character; Hermes is god of messengers, medicine, travelers - and Tricksters.

there isn’t an animatic for No Longer You yet but there is one for The Underworld and Monster by ShiQing47 and Lampyrcy respectively Update: NS2D studios just released a no longer you animatic. There might be more but I’m not sure.

I vote both! First time reaction can be based on the lyrics/music analysis and second time can be animatics. It's technically still reactions, so I think you're good!

27:49 Dont know is if anyone else said it but those are actually Ody singing, not another Hermes, I thought the same till I watched the lyric video specifically. Edit: saw that someone else did say it lol, mb