285: Everybody Breathes a Sigh of Relief

## Summary

Batthwack snatches the book from Will and hides it away, refusing to let him look at it any further. Will's furious at being denied more information, and at being told what to do. Raphina tries to steer everyone back on course, reminding them of their task to unlock the dam door and Rosco agrees to help.

## Synopsis

Will demands Batthwack hand the book back, but he refuses. Batthwack shuts it, closes the clasp and puts it back in his pack, swatting Will's hand away when he tries to grab it. Will is furious. *"Someone's crown is showing,"* says Will antagonistically. Batthwack's eyes are full of rage for a moment before he takes a deep breath and looks away. Unsure who to take his ire out on, Will glares at Rosco and opens the door to leave.

Raphina tries to counsel Will, who explains why he's so mad. *"This book is complicated and weird. We have been given information from it before. I guess we don't know whether it's true. But a guy got sucked into it. I feel like we're watching something that's real. It would be good to have that information."* Batthwack insists that he doesn't trust the book. *"It has to be lies. If it's not lies, it's here to manipulate us."* What Batthwack saw in the book has clearly messed him up. He goes on, *"Sometimes it feels like there are two Batthwacks right? Well Will, I think they're both me. I think both Batthwack's are me."*

Sitting quietly on the floor is Rosco, ignoring most of the conversation. Instead he's been thinking through his various possessions, trying to recall when and where he obtained them, and not having much success. He gets up from the floor, dusts himself down and says, *"I don't know what you guys are talking about with the book, with the images, and quite frankly, I'm not sure that I care. If the key is useful to you guys, you can have it. But right now, I think what I really need is to go for a walk. You know, get some fresh air."*

Raphina reminds everyone that they do have a quest to complete and recites the cryptic message they were given earlier, *"Four keys for four keys. Four tied to hidden magic. Hidden gods."* Rosco says he's all for that as he could use some change in his life, but *"I'm not about gods, hidden or otherwise. Alright? I don't get them."* Raphina asks him about his transformation into a boar and whether he knew what was happening. Rosco tries to dodge the question, and even suggests it could have been Raphina's fault for smacking him with her arcane eyeball. *"He has no idea what he's talking about,"* thinks Will to himself.

Feeling pretty pleased with having made his very clear-cut case, Rosco levels his gaze at Raphina as he backs coolly out of the door, only to stumble slightly on a step that he didn't know was there. Rosco the dog follows suit, walking out backwards too into the fresh, warm, midmorning air.

## Quotes

* Add memorable quotes from the episode here!

## Trivia

* The episode title was a quote from Eric. Will and Batthwack are arguing over whether they believe the weird things they saw in the gnomish book, with Will saying *"It's some of the only information we've actually gotten, you know. Might be important to keep looking at it and not just close it and pull it away from everyone as though you're the boss of everything."* Batthwack: *"You're gonna let it twist you Will? Sometimes it feels like there are two Batthwacks, right? Wonder if there are two Wills out there."* Will: *"There could never be another me."* Eric: *"Everybody breathes a sigh of relief."* Shortly after that, Adam is recalling that Rosco was using a wooden spoon with a hole in it to eat some food that Raphina had given him. When they remember that it was actually Batthwack who gave him the food, Eric says *"Everybody breathes a sigh of relief!"*
* Episodes 285 and 286 were released together due to the technical problems during the recording of the session for episode 285.
* Adam mentions a scene in *Mystic River* (2003) between Laurence Fishburne and Tim Robbins: https://youtu.be/rbFIs5-Rn\_Y
* Adam in character as Rosco makes reference to Occam's razor, the problem-solving principle that in essence means where you have competing theories or explanations, the simpler one is to be preferred.
* This week's episode description describes the Pork Fried Dice wiki as: sensational.

## Recap

*Main article: The Music of Pork Fried Dice*
This episode featured Alex and Abby doing a recap in homage to *Peter and the Wolf* by Prokofiev. Rosco and his dog are portrayed using the wolf's theme, Will by Peter's theme, Raphina by the cat's theme and Batthwack by the duck's theme.

## Gallery

*Main article: The Art of Pork Fried Dice*