Mythic Quest was one of the funny bright spots on Apple TV+ subscription service last year, but it was all too short, with just nine half-hour episodes. But fans can see a special standalone Season One episode today, dubbed Everlight.
It’s a short and sweet episode that continues the story of a fictional game studio and its zany characters who work on a faux massively multiplayer online game called Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet. And this one has LARPing, or Live Action Role-Playing (think folks who play games like Dungeons & Dragons but with props and gear, not paper and miniatures).
Rob McElhenney, the co-creator, executive producer, and co-star of the series, and his team pulled together the episode as a kind of prelude to the second season, which will debut on May 7. The last episode that aired was in May, when the creators pulled together a special episode, Mythic Quest: Quarantine, as a salve those working from home.
I watched the first season, the special episode, and Everlight in a preview. For the first season, I was impressed with how they got the details of how a game studio works right, but they also came up with a beautiful and touching story that raised serious issues inherent in the creation of video games.
McElhenney does a great job as the sometimes sympathetic egomaniac creative director, and he is always reined in by Brad, the studio head who has to report to “Montreal.” (Did I mention the show is produced by real-life video game publisher Ubisoft?)
In Everlight, the creative team, once again, presents a relatable subject that people all over the world are currently facing — the return to offices and co-workers. To get everybody back, they throw their annual Everlight company party that is like a fantasy LARPing tournament. The episode was director by McElhenney and written by video game personality Ashly Burch, who plays the tester Rachel in the series. I thought it was a good episode and it reminded me of happier days in the game industry.
In addition to the award-winning returning ensemble cast, special guest star Anthony Hopkins lends his voice to the episode. It’s funny stuff, and makes me want to watch the upcoming season two. I like how it captures the inflated ego of the creative directors (Ian and Poppy, the latter played by Charlotte Nicdao), the evil soul of the monetization guy Brad, and the Shakespearean writer C.W., played by F. Murray Abraham. I also still remember the fifth episode of season one, which had a thoughtful and touching story about the tension between creativity and making money in video games.