The war between the new gods and the old gods is drawing closer as Mr. World has made a deal with Laura Moon and Salim while Wednesday has to deal with the loss of Demeter and the out-of-control berserker that’s been killing his followers. And throughout all this, Bilquis is still attempting to complete her quest to find herself and discover a way to help Shadow, while Shadow/Mike Ainsel is focused more on building a life as he connects with Marguerite and is trying to help Derek, the kid that was caught breaking into homes and stealing ladies undergarments. As if that wasn’t odd enough, the image of Ganesha that Shadow saw beneath the ice while trying to learn how to skate appears to be pointing him to the old junker car on the ice, which readers will already know holds a dire secret that Mike has to discover before the car sinks into the lake. In short, things are moving in a way that’s going to send various characters crashing into each other eventually, and despite the deal that Mr. World struck with Laura Moon, it’s evident that he doesn’t enjoy what he agreed to when the meeting was over, nor is it likely that he enjoys thinking about his chances if the old gods do eventually go to war. After all, having resources and manpower is great, but the old gods have what Mr. World’s people don’t, a vast expanse of experience when it comes to surviving.
So far the season has been kind of up and down in terms of action as things have had to take an odd route to get to where they are now, and there’s still a great deal of exposition going on when it’s likely that people want to see more definitive action that will pit the old gods against the new gods. If that’s what people are wanting however they might not have been watching the show for that long since this is how things have been going for a while as the show blends brief moments of action with the brand of storytelling that explains the nature of the old gods, the confusing but slightly unsettling reach of the new gods, and the humans who are mostly clueless about their existence. In keeping this type of narrative, which makes it clear that humans in this story feel that the gods were once important but have more or less served their purpose and are now expendable, the show is mirroring real life in a very big way. Anyone trying to deny that the old gods are given that much value today might have to wander into a nearby city or town to see that worship is given to those that can keep a person entertained the longest, meaning that the new gods are often seen as more popular since they can offer more in the way of up to date entertainment. The promise of the old gods speaks of something far more valuable on an intrinsic level, though many people don’t appear to want to hear this, especially since Wednesday has been seen as such a duplicitous character. Up until now, he didn’t even clue Cordelia in as to the very real danger she’s been courting, though now that she knows, she’s still all in since she can’t appear to think of what life might be like now that she knows that gods walk amongst mortals. Hey, could anyone?
The small issue with Johan and his lack of control has been fixed since messing with Tyr probably wasn’t the best idea, given that Tyr is still technically a war god, someone that’s not to be messed, and someone even a magically-enhanced berserker should have been messing with. This confrontation does manage to deal with the firing of Marilyn Manson in a fashion that’s probably best for all involved, though one has to wonder if he’s been paid for his likeness, since thanks to the many allegations of sexual misconduct levied against him it’s not likely that he’s ever going to come back, especially with so few episodes left in the season. But the fact that Tyr left Johan’s eviscerated form in his chair for Wednesday to find while he went to retrieve Shadow kind of makes it look as though something is up, and it’s not bound to work out in Wednesday’s favor if anyone can help it. Right now allegiances on all sides are shaky at best, and the coming conflict is going to be one that might confuse and astound a lot of people since there’s so much that hangs in the balance, but if things go according to the book, it’s bound to make everyone wonder just how in the hell Neil Gaiman expected people to react. Oh yes, it’s coming.
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