Hello my friends!!
The Ithaca Saga is coming out iN LESS THAN SEVEN HOURS AND THE STREAM IS EVEN SOONER. AHHHHHHHHHHH *INTERNAL SCREAMING*

So I wanted to share my predictions and theories for this saga (the last one- ahhh) with you!! Because I have quite a few and I'd love to hear your opinions on it, and also to be able to look back to this when the saga is out and see which ones were correct and which ones were, well, completely pulled by the hairs if you know what I mean :P

Also I think I'll just yap about the Ithaca Saga in general because I have a looot of thoughts about it. I already love it so much, I just know it's gonna be one of my favorite sagas, if not the favorite saga.

Soo let's jump right into it! I'll go song by song and then at the end share those thoughts that didn't fit into any song specifically :)

Song 36: The Challenge
I just gotta say, I LOVE Anna Lea's voice. She sings everything soo beautifully and I can't wait to hear the whole song sung by her! I showed the whole saga to my friend to pass on my EPIC obsession and he agreed that her songs are absolutely beautiful (my masterplan of slowly converting my friends into EPIC fans is coming along great >:D)

My favorite part is the up and down thingie of the melody (I know nothing about song writing, I apologize) during "that my world is all about to change" and "for the challenge I've arranged", it's so cool! And also the "buying you tiiime (time is fleeting, it's running out" *-* *-* I JUST LOVE IT WHEN TWO DIFFERENT THINGS ARE SUNG AT THE SAME TIME, IT SCRATCHES MY BRAIN IN THE RIGHT WAY.

Yeah I don't think I have any more to say about The Challenge, but I am so so excited for it because PENELOPEE AGHH and the song is soo beautiful omfgg

Song 37: Hold Them Down
Again I am OBSESSED with Antinous' voice, he's so asdkfgasdfkjasgdf

Hold Them Down is probably the song I'm the least excited for - not because I'm not excited for it, I totally am, it's so cool and ahh! But I'm just SO EXTREMELY excited for the other songs that I'm the least excited for this one, yk? haha

Let's talk about all the cool stuff :D I loove the thing they have going on with the suitors backup voices, just like in Little Wolf, yk how the suitors only sing along with like half of Antinous' lines, it's so cool!! And singing along to Hold Them Down makes me feel like the ultimate cool supervillain >:D)

✨I HEARD TODAY IS TELEMACHUS' BIRTHDAY✨
(Did you guys see the animatic? It's so silly I love it hahaha)

Song 38: Odysseus
First of all THE TITLE BEING ODYSSEUS. HIS NAME. I know it was called King in the past, but it was changed, and I think that's absolutely genius!! Because you know how all the boss battle songs (Polyphemus, Scylla, Charybdis) are named after the opponent? Well now Odysseus is the opponent, because HE BECAME THE MONSTER (rawr rawr rawr). AND HIS NAME BEING CHANTED IN THE BACKGROUND IN THE DANGER MOTIF EXACTLY LIKE POLYPHEMUS' AND ALSO LIKE POSEIDONS >>>> AHHHHHH

This song will be sooo epic (hehehe) omfg Also I am literally SO excited because Jay said it would be one of the longest songs in the musical, if not the longest song, which means that it probably will be double the length of the snippets we have now!!

Which kinda brings me to my next point: ATHENA WILL APPEAR. SHE WILL APPEAR IN THE MITTLE OF BATTLE AND WILL HELP KILL SOME ✨NAUGHTY✨ SUITORS. SHE WILL. APPEAR AND I WILL DIE ON THAT HILL. TALK TO THE WALL IF YOU DISAGREE, I AM SPEAKING FACTS.
Okay so let me explain why I am so sure of this.
1. Goddesses can't die. I feel like this is the most obvious one, but gods are immortal and cannot be killed. Sure, she was quite literally deep-fried (sorry Athena, I love you) by Zeus - the most powerful of all gods -, and EPIC is a retelling, which means that technically, those rules don't have to apply here, and Jay can do whatever he wants anyway because it's his story. BUT I do think the gods' immortality has to have at least some sort of significance as it is mentioned twice in the musical (Calypso, "goddesses can't die" and Poseidon, "you can't kill me" - and yes, I know it could be like "*you*, as a mortal, can't kill me", but still).
2. It would make no sense story wise. Why have an emotional friendship break up and a whole ass redemption arc (the whole Warrior of the Mind melody thingies and Athena LITERALLY risking herself saving Odysseus, even having a dance battle against Hera!!) just to kill her off? That'd be a shitty resolution and make some shitty plot, and we all know that Jorge is an absolute genius who has worked on EPIC since five years and probably wouldn't do something like that (or at least I'm pretty sure he wouldn't).
3. In the Instrumental at the end of the snippets we have now, we can hear Athena's quick thought motif and a Legendary instrumental, which is Telemachus' motif. Jay pointed that instrumental out in an older video and said something along the lines of "can you guess who appears here?", so I'd say it's pretty likely that Athena and Telemachus will kick some suitors' ass!
5. In the Odyssee, Athena is the one who disguises Odysseus as a beggar and she also helps Telemachus fight in the battle against the suitors. (I haven't read the Odyssee yet, but I read about it being like that). Obviously Jorge could've changed that plot point, but I think it'd make sense for Athena to appear in the battle in EPIC since we've had a lot of built up in her relationship with Telemachus and her relationship with Odysseus as well.
6. IN AN OLD VIDEO, JORGE SAID THAT IN SONG 39 (now I Can't Help But Wonder), HE WANTED TO HAVE A RESOLUTION BETWEEN NOT ONLY ODYSSEUS AND TELEMACHUS, BUT BETWEEN ODYSSEUS AND ATHENA AS WELL. THIS IS MY STRONGEST PROOF. I DON'T THINK HE HAS CHANGED THAT. WHY WOULD HE?
6. Because I want it to happen >:(

I'm not very good with recognizing music instruments, but in the instrumental part before Ody says "no.", I think what we can hear is a viola. The viola is Penelope's instrument, so I feel like that part could be the suitors talking about Penelope - obviously they don't have anything good in mind, so they're probably saying something along the lines how they want to get to Penelope's room and k*ll or r*pe her. Odysseus' "no" could then be him having overheard the suitors' conversation and then killing them immediately because he's a wife-loving badass and they deserve it 💅

Odysseus "You don't think I know my own palace?? I BUILT it" of Ithaca AHHHHH

Also it's lowkey funny to me how Odysseus took inspiration from Scylla (aiming for the torches) LOL

I just know this song will slay soooo hard (just as much as Odysseus will!! Literally 🤭)

Song 39: I Can't Help But Wonder
I will cry. Periodt. I already wanna tear up when I hear it now so just imagine how it will be when I hear the full official thing. Yeah. (I showed the song to my friend I mentioned before before a chemistry lesson. He cried. I felt sorta bad but I was also proud).

So so so beautiful and emotional OMFGG

As Odysseus (the song) will probably just be the battle and maybe the start to a resolution scene, after Odysseus' reunion with Telemachus, he might talk to Athena and have some sort of resolution with her too. PLEASE 🙏🙏

Song 40: Would You Fall In Love With Me Again
I WILL BE BAWLING MY EYES OUT. MY HEART. MY HEART AND MY SOUL. OMFG. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. I LITERALLY CRIED WHEN I FIRST HEARD THIS. I DON'T KNOW WHY I DIDN'T LISTEN IT EARLIER, THE BAD QUALITY AT THE START DETERRED ME. I WILL NEVER GET OVER THIS SONG OR GENERALLY ODYPEN (SPECIFICALLY IN EPIC). I COULD LISTEN TO THIS SONG FOREVER AND I WOULD LIVE HAPPILY UNTIL ETERNITY. IT MAKES ME BELIEVE IN LOVE. I AM NOT NORMAL ABOUT IT. I AM NOT NORMAL ABOUT ODYPEN (IN EPIC) OR WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH ME AGAIN AT ALL.

THE JUST A MAN MOTIF/INSTRUMENTAL AT THE END. That's it. That's my point.

THE MELODIESSS. They're BEAUTIFUL. It makes my ears vibrate happily. It tickles my brain in the right way. It makes me feel all the serotonin and dopamine.

My favorite parts: ALL OF IT but the way Jay laughs a little when he sings Penelope's "so I guess that makes him you" and the EMOTION in his voice (he's so good at portraying the character's emotions <3) and the whole "I'd fall in love with you over and over again" part and the part with the wedding bed, especially Odysseus' "I have built this wedding bed" etc. and "FOOOOR... YOUUUU" (it being like No Longer You to symbolize that Penelope doesn't care that Odysseus is No Longer Him?? Excuse me while I go cry in the corner please) (I have written down the lyrics to this song so many times on several school papers. I am so serious. I will never be normal about WYFILWMA.)

I LOVE THE OLIVE TREE SO MUCH. IT'S THE MOST ROMANTIC THING I HAVE EVER HEARD. My best friend said it was weird when I showed the song to them?? I was only a little bit (a lot) offended. Luckily my friend (the one that cried during I Can't Help But Wonder) supported me in saying that it's NOT weird but romantic and beautiful as fuck.

ALSO I made this bingo card for the Ithaca Saga!! Feel free to make a screenshot and cross out your own predictions hihihi :D

I created most of the boxes during a boring school lesson btw because I hate economics (is that how it's called in English? Idk) with my whole being :)

I feel like I forgot some things but whatever lol my brain sucks so yeah :] I did not proof read this xx
Thank you so much for reading my rant, congratulations for sticking through it all lmao Please share your thoughts if you have any, I'd love to hear them!!

- 24.12.2024