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Finished Malevolent
23 Feb 2026 22:16I finally finished the last episode of Malevolent yesterday, after stopping halfway through a few weeks back. The break broke the tension a little, but I did enjoy it. I haven't been the biggest fan of Kayne before, but I really liked him in this last part. John and Arthur's goodbye somehow still touched me, even though I would be more surprised if death actually did stick for Arthur at this point. The final ending was probably the happiest that could be hoped for, and Faroe at the end was a fun touch too.
That said, I was a bit underwhelmed at some parts. I'm not really a fan of Arthur telling ancient eldritch gods how they feel and how they are inferior to humans when it comes to emotional processing. That's not what I want from a horror podcast with eldritch gods, no matter if it's true or not.
It always annoys me when people take nonhuman characters and reduce them to being basically human rather than properly engage with their alienness. Considering things from the perspective of someone not human is such an interesting exercise of imagination that I don't understand why people opt out of it like that. There's so much fun one can have at the intersection of the human and the alien, yet so often people don't make anything out of it. It also annoys me when the human experience is treated as automatically superior to the experience of someone not human. Arthur is unfortunately guilty of both.
On a related note, I found the King in Yellow episode a little underwhelming too. John and Yellow's reunion was such a long time coming, and all we got was the King's explanation after the fact. I don't know how it could have been done better, but I wish there was more time to dwell on it, given John and the King's importance in the story. I'm alright with John being together with Arthur in the end though.
That said, I was a bit underwhelmed at some parts. I'm not really a fan of Arthur telling ancient eldritch gods how they feel and how they are inferior to humans when it comes to emotional processing. That's not what I want from a horror podcast with eldritch gods, no matter if it's true or not.
It always annoys me when people take nonhuman characters and reduce them to being basically human rather than properly engage with their alienness. Considering things from the perspective of someone not human is such an interesting exercise of imagination that I don't understand why people opt out of it like that. There's so much fun one can have at the intersection of the human and the alien, yet so often people don't make anything out of it. It also annoys me when the human experience is treated as automatically superior to the experience of someone not human. Arthur is unfortunately guilty of both.
On a related note, I found the King in Yellow episode a little underwhelming too. John and Yellow's reunion was such a long time coming, and all we got was the King's explanation after the fact. I don't know how it could have been done better, but I wish there was more time to dwell on it, given John and the King's importance in the story. I'm alright with John being together with Arthur in the end though.
