Issue 109 - Levana Blackburn

Released Wednesday, 10th February 2021

1 person rated this episode

Issue 109 - Levana Blackburn

Wednesday, 10th February 2021

1 person rated this episode

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Intro
- Shoutout to Ms. Yarbrough’s class - listened to episode on Xavier/Magneto
- Email us voice recordings of your thoughts on Batman & what he means to you for upcoming episode - [email protected]
Background (4:54)
- Levana Blackburn created by Marissa Meyer, introduced in Cinder, published July 2012
- Antagonist of the Lunar Chronicles, particularly the first book Cinder
- Based on the Evil Queen from fairy tales
- Levana is queen of Luna, a colony of Earth set in a future where cyborgs and magic are real
- Had an older sister who was mercilessly cruel to her as a child, and pushed her into a fire, scarring half her face and most of her body
- She spends all of her time using a “glamour” - magic that allows Lunars to alter their appearance
- At 15, her parents are killed, and her sister ascends to the throne, but is more interested in promiscuity and cruelty
- Levana has a crush on a palace guard at least 10 years older than her, Evret Hayle
- After Evret’s wife dies in childbirth, Levana changes her glamour to look like his dead wife in an effort to convince Evret to fall in love with her - when it doesn’t work naturally, she uses Lunar magic to persuade him to marry her
- Levana’s sister has a child out of wedlock, but then dies shortly thereafter - Levana becomes queen regent until the girl, Selene, is of age - Levana plots to have her die in a fire so she can remain queen
- Later decides that she must take over Earth to get its resources, and the only way to do that is to have a marriage of convenience with an Earthen ruler, so she has Evret murdered - later marries Prince Kai after sending Lunar soldiers to massacre Earthens
- Discovers Selene survived the fire and was smuggled to Earth, now known as Cinder - now tries to have her murdered because she is the rightful heir to the Lunar throne
- Is also responsible for sending a plague to Earth to decimate the population so she can show up with an antidote and be seen as a savior
- Dies in a battle with Selene

Issues (10:18)
- Ashamed of appearance, and always uses glamour to hide
- Parents were distant and sister is cruel - Evret’s kindness is the first affection she’s been shown (16:05)
- Lust for power then overrides that (22:04)
Break (29:58)
- Plugs for Freudian Sips, Bedknobs & Broomflicks, and Cullen Bunn
Treatment (31:31)
- In-universe - Use glamour as a treatment
- Out of universe - (33:16) Use the King’s Speech as a basis - acknowledge the fault
Skit (feat. Brittney from Popcorn Psychology as Levana) (39:39)
Ending (45:09)
- Recommended reading: Cinder & Fairest
- Next episodes: Superman: Red Son (Brian), Mojo (Matt), Batman Month 1
- Review read: Mike Buhtanic - 5 stars - Combining psychiatry and Super Heroes! What a great concept! I listened to the Maxwell Lord episode and loved it. Definitely going to go through the backlog. Would recommend completely! Check it out!
- Plugs for social