I’ll never understand why movies do this, because most of the time actual history is better then the movie versions.

They could have made an excellent story about the political interactions between germanic tribes and the romans.

This is why I dont watch many shows on Netflix/Amazon Prime anymore. Its all about changing the script or changing history, and I had enough of it

Congratulations on having the guts to quit! Too often history advisors are just placed on the set as decoration so that their name can be listed in the credits.

A series about historians written by barbarians? That sounds interesting.

i watched the invicta docuseries about germanicus and i thought barbarian 2 would deliver especially the part where Arminius and the brother had a dissbattle with a river between but no , seriously what did they smoke in the second season? the crime they did against germanicus Character is ridiculous

I once had a chat with Robert Woosnam-Savage who is one of the curators at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. He's worked as an historical adviser on several productions, notably Rob Roy in the 1990s and he told me how it usually goes down. Basically the director would phone him up asking him if they could do x thing or show y object and Robert would say no its not really very historically accurate, you should try this instead. The director would say that was a good idea and then completely ignore the advice and just do whatever they were going to do in the first place!

Arminius being killed by his own kin because he started to overstep would have been a great dramatic story line. Game of Thrones showed that people actually like stories where people are gray and they have actual, understandable reasons behind what they are doing. (Until of course they got disconnected from the brain).

Also, I don't think that putting some more details into the narrative doesn't have to be "boring" or too complicated. Just take a look at the complexity of long running TV shows, from Game of Thrones to Avatar. The question is: How do you tell the story in an interesting way?

I would much rather have a completely made up story, but with a realistic atmosphere (set design, costume design, behavior, etc) than something that butchers a historical event to the point its barely recognizable

This was amazing, I saw the trailer for season 2 and immediately knew in my head this was going to be completely different from season 1 and I wouldn’t like it…now I know why

The truth is that regular people learn from movies and dont fact check themselves. Most people put it in the back of their mind and thats where it remains forever. Movies have a duty to be as accurate as possible OR not use historical names. They can just use fictional names and places. im tired of propaganda films using historical names. You just cant do that if you want a "good guys" vs "bad guys" story, history is more complicated. It just ends up being racist.

All the best stories in the world have already been written. It's called history. The fact that people haven't realized that there's a massive audience for accurate, or at least not insultingly bad, historical entertainment will always astound me.

In an Forrest far far away , a small ragtag group of rebels fight a mighty empire...

Lalo Salamanca as Germanicus looking for the lost Legion Eagles, while killing everyone in his way, would have been a great story.

I miss HBO's Rome for all its political scheming. It was a show ahead of its time.

I find your reasons for quitting quite professional and honorable. Cheers to dignity and integrity

It’s clear the writers were trying to frame this as some sort of anti-colonial piece. I was so surprised that they didn’t implement the actual story of Arminius it’s a relatively compact story that could easily be told in a show within a reasonable number so seasons without becoming too complex or radical for a TV audience. It’s been done before with the show Spartacus. For all of the visual flaws and trashy aspects of that show the actual story of Spartacus in the later seasons was told with some accuracy. Also as a side note everyone seems to forget that the tribes in Barbarians mostly ended up being later displaced into France and were more the building blocks of the modern French state.

"Dates back to the most *ANCIENT* of times!" That delivery on that line was perfect

I am very proud of you guys for quitting. It takes a lot of courage to turn down a good paycheck for holding up quality standards. It has always been telling for me when historical advisors or lore experts quit on a production. This should be a major red flag to studios they are going to lose the audience and therefore lose money.

I know Norsemen is a comedy and not going for accuracy, but I really enjoy the vibe and look they achieved with it. It gives a better idea of what a typical tribe might look and act like than Vikings in my opinion. Barbarians had a similar vibe of a bunch of farmers doing politics in the first few episodes which got me excited, but then season 2 happened :(

History is in no way boring, you can easily make a show very entertaining based on history

Netflix: Our show is historically incorrect because we're trying to correct the wrongs of German nationalism. Also Netflix: We're making a historically inaccurate show that praises German nationalism...

For university I had to write a term paper about the relations of Romans and Germanic people in the area of the Limes and I went a bit beyond that and looked at the instrumentalization of the Battle of Teutoburg forest. It was fascinating to see how the here mentioned nationalist propaganda used this battle (hell, it's even used in the unofficial hymn of Lower Saxony, where I live) but also how parodies already existed back then. Heinrich Heine with his "Wintermärchen" as well as Joseph Victor Scheffel with his song "Als die Römer frech geworden" were looking at this battle and its reception with an interesting sarcastiv view. It is unfortunate that this one dimensional view on the Roman-Germanic relations is still reproduced today and it's even more unfortunate because I found the first season realtively intriguing although Ancient History is not my main field of study.

the most disappointing part about this is that they were positioned so well to really explore one of the most interesting periods of history: Late Augustan, but they decided to not do that because *checks notes* reasons

Wow, I'm so pleased to have run across this channel - after my own heart! It's amazing how many delicious historical stories are out there, but the studios continue to try to rehash things that have sort of worked before. Surely a visit to the library or even a bookshop could rectify this!

There should never have been a part II... The story of the varusschlacht was enough. Sadly no one will ever know its connection to the Rheingold legend

You know, I had really suspected that history took a backseat in the production of season 2, and this has confirmed my suspicions that historical advisors on the subject were missing. It’s a damn shame, but hopefully another production crew will seek y’all out.

3:32 As a Nordic person with a decades long hobbyist interest in history I feel a bout of anxious depression anytime someone reminds me of _that show_ 😢

Roman interactions with "barbarians" were always complex and way more interesting than what we get in pop-culture.

Great video, as usual. Glad you decided to make it in english - specially since the topic in general - is an international one. It seems to me, that the issues you had and described with "Barbaren" is currently a pretty general issue with most, if not all, historical (or history related) media productions. A very sad and concerning trend. You guys deserve alot of respect and praise for staying true to your ideals by stepping down as historical advisors for such a show, even tho you probably lose a good source of income. Keep up the good work and hopefully some more english videos in the future (even tho im german speaking myself)

02:18 that was the most energetic "Everything!" I ever heard, going to start using it from now on, great video! First one I've watched from you guys, I took a look at your channel, I think I'll stick around! Also since my moto is to give credit when credit is due, I would like to thank KZfaq for recomending you guys for me, came from the Metatron and I saw a recomendation on my homepage.

Oh wow, with a literal mic drop. I have to say, I've been following you guys for a long while now and it's clear that you have your hearts in the right places. Right now I'm working on my own TV series project that delves into the history of the Germanic tribes, BLACK FOREST WITCH. I know, some things are not accurate, but I really try to make it a meaningful story that makes sense.

Imagine how cool it would be if they depicted the revenge invasion the romans historically sent. They could have cool badass battles where the germans actualy fought cleverly and well against a supperior fighting force. But you can have the romans interacting with the locals as they set up camp in different places, and you can introduce a new villain. The main villain will be the historical germanicus who lead the invasions. He would start off being hateful, but as he sees and experiences these interactions with the locals, you can have him having letter comunication with arminius where arminius tries to get him to leave the tribes alone. In the finale something happens and germanicus sees past his hateful world view and comes to understand that conquest isn't good, not even for revenge or to civilize people. He decides that it's enough, and returns home, something arminius lets happen in peace. Germanicus then goes on about writing a letter to the emperor basically saying there is no point in conquering the place, but that he got revenge for rome. He concinces the emperor to leave germania alone. This keeps in general line with historical events although makes the story more driven by it's main cast. It would mean something and actually go against the narratives of the extreme nationalists. The ending would be a bit bitter-sweet as the suffering the germans went through still occured, but in the end everyone can be hopeful that peace has prevailed. The historical events that would have changed are as follows: -The roman emperor (Augustus) didn't historically want to conquer germania after the teutaburg battle. -Arminius didn't have any long term diplomatic contact with the romans, and just lost all his battles with them. -Arminius lead his force to try and stop the romans on their way back but failed.

Und ich hatte mich schon immer gefragt, warum die Römer so akkurat aussehen in Staffel 1 :). Ja so ist das leider. Das fängt bei der Adaption von wirklich guten Stoffen/Werken an, siehe witcher, halo sowie HDR und endet in einer kompletten Verfälschung der realen Geschichte und wissenschaftlicher Fakten. Nur weil ein Showrunner oder eine Drehbuchautorin meint, ja was eigentlich? Ich habe die besser Version?

Ich fand auch schade, dass sie die Geschichte einfach so umgeschrieben haben. Ich verstehe es auch gar nicht, da der Originalstoff mit den Schlachten, die dem Teutoburger Wald folgten, sicherlich interessant genug gewesen wäre, um daraus 5 grandiose Staffeln zu schaffen. Neben dem Verlassen der Geschichtlichkeit fand ich am schlimmsten: + Tiberius und Germanicus als Karikatur-Bösewichte + Römische Rüstungen, die wie Butter durchschnitten werden + Die Erstürmung des Römerlagers war irgendwie Obelix-mässig, aber dabei noch nicht einmal lustig. + Und warum zieht die gesamte Römerflotte aus dem Germanengebiet ab, nur weil ein Lager verloren war? Warum gehen sie nicht an anderer Stelle ans Ufer? + Flavus war einfach nervig. Ok, vielleicht war er es wirklich. Wissen wir natürlich nicht.

I was so looking forward to the second season and its a shame that they ruined it, good on you for standing your ground you have earned a sub from me :)

I think you've made a first and big step here. I too, like many of your supporters online, are tired of witnessing historical accuracy being swept aside for the sake of poor decisions on entertainment value. I will continue to support your values and position however I can, until we see better, amazing and historically accurate shows!

Thanks for standing your ground. If only more people like you, not just historical advisors but also film advisors for scientists, paleontologists, military, medical, and other fields for film, would do the same.

I study history and in our seminar about Romans in Baden-Württemberg our Professor wanted us to watch the first season of Barbarians. Just to see how the current popular media portraits the Germanic and Roman relationships. She liked the first season and told us to watch the second at our own risk :D

Gut das ihr da noch aussteigen konntet, weil mir auch zu Ohren gekommen ist, dass so große Produktionsfirmen auch mal ihre Angestellten mit Knebelverträgen versklaven. Zum Thema Hilfstruppen in römischen Diensten, finde ich das sogar Spartacus in Season 1 es versucht hatte komplexer zu machen, weil dort Spartacus zu einer solchen Einheit gehört hatte und am Ende jedoch von den dekadenten überheblichen Römern verarscht wurde. Sicher das ist auch in gewisser Weise ein Klischee, aber trotzdem besser dargestellt als ich in diesem Netflixunsinn. Also ist sogar Spartacus mit seinen Klischees akkurater als die Urukgermanhaiis. Kann man sich auch nicht ausdenken.

This is the first I have heard or seen of your channel and from this exposure I am interested in seeing more. I will attempt to check out what English videos you have. In refrence to your question at the end of the video I am grateful foir what english videos you have and would welcome more at this point.

Thank you so much for this analysis that's going to the deeper message of entertainment instead of surface details! I had the exact problem with the message of the show in the final episode of season 1. Thank you for sharing your experience, I'll follow your content with interest!

KZfaq Algorithmus hat mich hier hergebracht. Euer Video hat mir sehr gefallen und spiegelt absolut meinen Eindruck der zweiten Staffel wieder. Der Hinterhalt in der ersten Szene ist bereits ein guter Vorgeschmack auf die Peinlichkeiten, die darauf folgen. Netflix Abo steht schwer auf der Kippe, aber das nicht erst seit Barbarians II.

Interesting to learn from a seldom heard side of the story. Can’t imagine how frustrating being a historical advisor in any big budget production can be, so to be driven to the point of quitting shows just how bad it really was

Love your video! Excellent dissection of the producer's mindset.

I watched Vinland Saga (Anime) which has this nice documentary like edits here and there to explain history of what happened in that time period. The series itself is very over the top, especially the funny fights. At one point a big viking guy throws a spear from 2 or so kilometers and hits like 8 guys. But still a very nice story with amazingly written characters

I feel this is the natural tendency of Netflix. They fund some overseas venture, it does well, then some Hollywood suit goes "Oh, this thing was POPULAR? LET'S RUIN IT!!!" And then it slams into the ground. Literally nothing is done for art, or historical accuracy, anymore.

Nobody's gonna talk about that one Punic character bearing the longest grudge in history? The timelines in that historical series have been changed sure but if you were to look at it in another historical perspective, considering Carthage finally fell in 146 B.C. (at the same time Macedon was formally annexed as a Roman province 😑), that's an incredibly f*cking loooooong time to bear a grudge for someone who wasn't there when Carthage fell or that particular someone is just incredibly old as f*ck..

Thanks for the video. I subscribed and look forward to more as my daughter and I prepare for our trip to Germany this May. It includes visiting the German-Roman museum in Köln. Any tips and advice are appreciated. Can’t wait!

Love this so much, thank you for the video. I refuse to watch the new Barbarians 2 for many of the reasons you cite. Looking forward to watching more English content in the future should you choose to make it.

Not only did Barbarians S2 not capture the historical feel of a place and time, but neither did Barbarians S1. It still felt like you were taking 2020s people and placing them in the time of Arminius.

spannender Beitrag. Mich würde gerade interessieren, wie akkurat Ihr "The Fall of the Roman Empire" mit Sir Alec Guinness als Marc Aurelius findet. Mich hat dieser Film enorm beeindruckt nicht nur durch das hervorragende Schauspiel von Guiness, sondern auch die Ausstattung und eben auch die Kampfszenen, die ganze Atmosphäre / Marc Aurels Feldlager etc...

Awesome video, guys. You make an excellent point about making something less historical accurate, as long as you can tell a good story, and make people interested in history as well. It is shameful that the writers underrestimate the viewers so much, that they think we want bad fantasy. Also, if anyone is interested, you should check out the channel Invicta. They made a series called Avenging Varus, and it shows the aftermath and how the Romans reacted to losing those legions.

Great video, looking forward to some more English voiced/subbed vids in the future!

Bin zwar ein großer Kollegah Fan, aber den Diss fand ich gigantisch. 😂😘 Find ich gut, dass ihr das so handhabt. Studiere selber Geschichte und kenne das Gefühl, wenn etwas komplett falsch dargestellt wird.

Splendid! Thank you, Kaptorga!

VERY GOOD Commentary My Brother And Thank You And your Comrades for Standing Up to this MADNESS, It SICKENS Me to No End Every Time I See this Mess!

Respect from Canada, it's important for actual students of history to make their stand and call out bad historical filmmaking. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your videos

Thank you for season 1, when I first saw Metellus ride into the village and inform them in Latin that Rome demanded tribute, It felt like I saw a real Centurion just do that. It was brilliant, I use screenshots from it as a reference when I draw Centurions and Arminius in the Cavalry mask again was brilliant. I thought season 2 would interesting , how would they show Germanicus get revenge when the "Barbarians" were the "good guys". I didn't expect they would use potion and Roman Legions from Asterix and Oberlix. To not be involved in season 2 shows a great respect to history which is why season 1 looked so good, Thanks again and good luck

I studied archaeology up to a Masters degree, I only managed to watch half an Episode of Barbarians before my brain quit and I had to stop. Kudos to Historical Advisors to manage to stay and get paid to season two. You should probably get a CATscan to make sure you didn't get brain cancer from this job!

Keep up the great work! Just discovered your channel on my yt rec. You've earned my subscription. I'm from Malaysia 🇲🇾😊❤👍

Kudos to you! I was hyped for Barbarians 1 and watched it in German! Truly Magical! Alas, Netflix and many big film makers are too short sighted to see the complexity of history, that it isn't just a Good vs Evil (Though sometimes it's like that), it's an interconnected web of everything and just reducing it to a line to fit the "modern audience" is just frustrating! Kudos to you guys!

I did not watch the second season because the first one was already to cringe for me and i am happy about it. I did enjoy this rant though :D

I hope Metatron reacts to this.

Never heard of you guys before, but I’m subbed now :)

Sind die Rüstungen der wichtigen, römischen Schauspieler (ich glaube, die heissen lorica musculata) aus Metall oder aus Kunststoff? Mir ist aufgefallen, dass die etwas anders gewirkt haben als die Rüstungen der Legionäre und wollte hier kurz nachfragen. Besten Dank im Voraus :D

Sorry you had to let this go, man, that really sucks. I expected far greater from a foreign production since foreign cinema has usually been better than the crap Hollyweird dishes out, evidently thanks to passionate people like you! Your work is greatly appreciated and I'm glad I could at least see you doing okay on KZfaq instead of most other good people I hear about going through similar things just fading into obscurity. God bless you!

As a backgroung extra and occasional small part actor of the first season, Segimer's swordsman, I'm looking forward to this. I'm truly curious. During first season I noticed many things that were historically inaccurate (especially during the battle scene), but they say s2 is a next level. I still didn't have the time to watch it though. 😌

I really respect you 1) for trying to change this from the inside. I know you must have had to compromise a lot before deciding to quit, sometimes staying is harder than leaving 2) for quitting when you realized you could not have an effect on the direction the show took.

I haven't had time to watch BII yet, but I enjoyed season one. I will probably still watch it eventually, but after this it's not a priority, where it was next in my queue. The differences listed here though were great. And I'm interested in seeing more of your content....

Großartig, vielen Dank!

Wow, very well summarized Video about the self made problems of Netflix. I kinda feel like they dont even care anymore about losing money, it almost feels like they just want to produce disaster after disaster. I cant really understand why? Anyway, amazing video, thank you for speaking your mind as honestly as you did. Also, I cant wait to explore your channel a bit more, relived history is an amazing topic. You guys are based in Germany right?

Thank you so much for the enlightenment. I also believe in being firm on certain principles. Haven't seen Barbarians yet, though now I will probably limit myself to season 1. As a norwegian, I felt a lot of cringe watching Vikings until the end (what an atrocity how they depicted Halfdan the Black; in particular his relation to Harald and also the way he died; he drowned going through the ice over the Randsfjord, in Røykenvik, on a horse sleigh). Stay strong, and happy new year :)

vielen Dank, dass ihr ausgestiegen seid - ich teile eure Empörung. (und ja, ich habe mir auch Metatrons Beitrag angesehen und eigentlich teile ich auch seine Empörung über die historischen Lügen )

Ah the magical "modern audience", i cant wait for the far future to meet these mystical people.

I‘ve had this thought for years now, literally every aspect of filmmaking is advancing year after year. Except the writing.

Just BINGED Rome Season 1 & 2 in just one weekend. I would love to know what you thought of the show (if seen) and it's historical accuracy! thanks!!

I'm so happy that this video and your channel was suggested to me. As an American of 75% German, Swedish, and Danish combined descent, I am always curious about the history of my ancestors, both good and bad. I did like the show and both of it's seasons, but I also had no idea how historically inaccurate it was. I loved Vikings, but I kind of knew it was mostly inaccurate. I can't wait to watch more from your channel, as I love to learn the history and Language of my ancestors that was lost, when my families immigrated to the states. Also as an American, it pains me greatly to know that one of our recent leaders and history have helped give rise to a new Nationalist movement across the globe, as if we should have learned these lessons already. Pride in ones country shouldn't mean we become violently superior to those around us, and live at there expense since we are better than "they"

Was wäre eigentlich eine Empfehlung für Serien/Filme bei denen die historischen Aspekte nicht ganz vernachlässigt werden? Würde mich über Tipps freuen.

Historical advisors are one of the most important elements in historical movies/ TV series. Thing is their word isn't always heard and the director and producers ignore them whenever they can. It's not about nit-picking or being "awkward" it's to pay homage to these men and women whose story is being told, and also to further invite the viewer to step into a truly authentic world - no funny business.

hey, great job on the first season!

I was so stoked when Barbarians 2 came out! I actually started watching it when I was recovering from surgery, so I literally had nothing else to do but watch TV. I made it 3 or 4 episodes in and stopped halfway through. I realize they took their liberties with the first one but I was still an awesome series but the 2nd one just had me asking why.

If your not teaching in school you should be. If you are then keep doing it. You, sir, are a wonderful speaker and I really enjoyed your video which I found both informative and entertaining. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video.

I feel you. Thx for that heartfelt statement.

Hallooo kurze Frage.. Wie könnte ein dickeres Gewand für unters kettenhemd (als Polsterung) etwa aussehen welches für die Zeit 1050 -1150. (Kein Gambeson) Zone:Nördliches Europa und Mittel Europa.. Ich dachte einfach wie eine Tunika (etwa Knielang) mit ein paar schichten aus wolle oder Leinen nicht gesteppt..

I'm directly descended from Rollo and Tancrede the Viking in Normandy, cool to hear you bring him up here.

Thank you for your hard work. I am deeply sad, that Barbarians 2 went down the way it did. Good for you that you left. I'm not even going to watch that history altering crap. Keep up the good and honest work!

Haven't watched Barbarians yet, but this video earned my subscription :)

I think a good isolated story taking place only in one garrison could show the end of the empire with one of the garrisons who were left behind. They had a roman priest during this time trying to keep order north of Italy that would be cool to see on screen as well.

I think now more than ever people are craving historical accuracy rather than over the top entertainment and romanticised notions. Accuracy is breaking down preconceived ideas of people of the time and events that have shaped many contemporary ideas. I believe, due to the internet, the access of global historical information is what people are searching for. They say that if we ignore history we are doomed to repeat it, but when we interpret history in the manner of just making a entertaining story we can also do more damage.

The silver lining is, there is still need for a good film depicting this era and region in history (accurately). 🍻

Die zweite Staffel von Barbarians ist das deutsche Äquivalent zu Braveheart was historische Authentizität angeht

thank you for this video. surely, this will be ignored, but we can always hope it might have some impact. greetings from bavaria - stay true to yourselves.

Brilliant! Love the style and love that you, an actual historical expert is calling Netflix out for it's blatant politicizing and changing of history.

Respect for showing what is the reality, from a non partisan Sicilian/Italian

Oh this is going to be so great!!

When will there a movie about Friedrich II Barbarossa?

Even that best old Ben Hur movie clearly did show how the high class Jews of Israel were very Hellenized and in very good terms with many local Romans. Surprising.

Movies are made for 2 specific reasons: The main one is to make profit -or to keep intellectual property rights- (as is the motivation behind every private-owned business) but also to reproduce certain narratives. The re-writing of history is an old endevour. This second part can be seen in the US film industry (even more on the nose in their video-game industry) and the re-tellings of their many wars. If one doesn't understand this they can fall into dissappointment and rage facing such foolery. But it is not foolery. It is the same mechanisms that can keep such projects financed in this climate of movie-making. But it is not as if Season 1 was devoid of these mistakes they were present but to a lesser extent. If one honestly cares about history, like you fellows seem to, it will be really hard to differentiate ones self from such narratives. The process of nation building was followed by many countries in this human mode of development, so it is only understandable that the superstructure mechanisms will reproduce such rhetoric/narratives knowingly, and let me emphasize this, even unknowingly. It is the same reason, since the video comments on Germany's modern history, why we won't see a high budget film about the Spartacus uprising, the defeat of the revolution, the specificities of the rise of the Nazi party (meaning its founding) and their defeat (for an equivalent see how "historically accurate" Enemies at the Gate" is). However, I do love when people love something and they are passionate about it, especially, when they try to humanize the peoples of the past and "fight" against certain premises regarding the inherent violence of "human nature". I am honestly impressed by your integrity since I think I can assume you lost some money in the process.