My head cannon for Penelope’s test was also: “Let’s make absolutely sure that this isn’t a certain god trying to trick me…” Makes perfect sense to me.

To me, I always saw the "test" with the wedding bed as Penelope proving to Odysseus who he is. I think Penelope already knows it's him, but after hearing Odysseus say such things about himself she wants to prove to him that he is still himself. He keeps saying that he is not the same person, and she's showing him that despite everything he's been through he's still him.

14:26  Imagine the relief Odysseus must have felt when he heard Penelope say, “No matter how long it's been, you're mine” to him after Calypso sang “you're mine, all mine” in Love in Paradise.

Also,FUN FACT: After the Ithaca Saga livestream, Jorge and the entire cast of Epic: The Musical received a two-hour standing ovation from me in my bedroom

I love that the last three song titles say, "Odysseus, I Can't Help But Wonder, Would You Fall In Love With Me Again?" Penelope has the same question.

The one, true queen. The only person to win an argument with and outsmart Odysseus: Penelope. No wonder Ody was so driven to get home!

I think it was Mortius who, in their reaction video, said re: the debate over whether Odysseus deserved a happy ending or not -- that the last two songs help us realize that it's not just Odysseus' story. Penelope and Telemechus' story is also there, and even if Odysseus might not deserve a happy ending, they definitely do!

"I am not the man you fell in love with" is a phrase that gets repeated and rephrased so many times. "Only my husband knew that, so I guess that makes him you" is a denial of that phrase. He still is the man she fell in love with, because only that man knows everything that that bed is.

One of the things I love most about the song is just how open and honest Odysseus is with Penelope.

We have ‘Love in Paradise,’ where Odysseus flat-out tells Calypso she has no clue who he is, what he’s been through, and doesn’t even try to elaborate. He simply doesn’t love her nor does he trust her nearly enough to elaborate and be vulnerable.

But here…Odysseus lays it ALL out on the table. Even if he initially hesitates, he still opens to Penelope, even at the risk of losing her love forever.

I do love to think that the secondary reason for the test was indirectly mocking his question altogether. Like she’s saying I’m about as likely to fall out of love with you as this bed is to be moved and you’re a dumb@ss for even asking that. Even if he’s not the same person, but he’s the man she fell in love with in the ways that matter to her.

Did you guys notice that during the big orchestral part the music is Just a Man? Idk if you’ll ever watch it, but in the livestream Jorge and the cast did for the release with commissioned animatics, Gigi did the animatic for this song and it is just so good and will definitely make you cry. I think the reason why Sofien’s animatic isn’t my favorite (still an awesome one so no hate) is because it feels a little too feel good especially for the emotion being sung in some of the lines. Like in Penelope’s waitings, especially as they ratchet up as she goes, you feel that 20 years worth of pain and fear and loneliness, and in other animatics she’s crying and emotional and there’s sometimes flashbacks to her hardships and the two of them don’t touch until after she sings “for you” and they’ll finally hug when the big orchestral part takes over. And during the orchestra that’s playing Just a Man it’ll focus on just the two of them holding each other and crying and it works so well emotionally because Odysseus really did basically trade the world to see his son and wife. I do like this animatic cause it, like you said, kinda ties up all the characters endings nicely but it just feels a little too Disney I guess to me and I like the ones that focus more solely on Penelope and Odysseus

Okay:
1.) Neal Illustrators "Just a Man" recently came out, and it's a gut punch.
2.) Formerly Human's "Open Arms" makes great use of color and is so sweet.
3.) Sirell has done most, if not all, of the Thunder saga, and it's fantastic.
4.) Gigi dropped a Legendary that I think you'd love.
Edit: 5.) Smoolio's Puppeteer needs to be here, too. Thanks for reminding me!

It's not that she's not sure if it's him. She just want to remind him that no matter how long,  he is the same person. No matter what she always be waiting for him.

7:15 in fairness to the animatics you watched at the beginning where you weren't sure if he'd killed the baby or not - fandom wasn't sure either because there had been no confirmation. At a later point, Jorge did clarify that yes, he yeeted the baby, at which point you start seeing it more explicitly referenced (and you get things like Gigi going back and adding a VERY quick shot on her final black screen of a hand opening like it's dropping something).

I really like how they made the bed test to fit the narrative of who Odysseus truly is. Seeing if he's a monster, just a man or something in between. In the original it was a test because Penelope have heard some many rumors of Odysseus returning and potential impostors claiming to be Odysseus, so she wanted to be sure it was him (that, but also they live in a world where Zeus has a habit of disguising himself as women's husbands.) In the original story, Penelope, having to use her cunning for years against the suitors and unsure if the man before her is Odysseus, provides a final test to see if it is him. She asks him to move their wedding bed but he replies that he can not for he build the bed as part of an olive tree and as a symbol of their love for one another, of how deep it is, like the roots of the tree and how strong their love is, that it would take a superior force to try to separate them (i.e all the obstacles in the way and even that didn't succeed). It also represents their devotion to one another and their refusal to uproot and establish new partners/families as their lives and destinies are intertwined like the branches of the tree itself.

With Calypso, there's a line Odysseus says along the lines of "You don't know what l've been through". He never told her a single thing about himself because where Calypso saw him as her one true love, he saw her nothing more than his captor. With Penelope, he wastes no time telling her everything he's been through and confessing everything he's done to get home. It shows just how much he loves his wife to be upfront about the truth and not sugarcoat anything he's done in the past 20 years. And Penelope doesn't let that falter or change her mind on her husband. No matter what, he's still the love of her life and there's nothing he can say or do to change that. Also another fun detail: Penelope did something in this entire musical no one else've done. Win an argument with Odysseus through words and wit. Any other kind of "win" others have had with Odysseus was through violence and intimidation. Here, she proves he's still the same man she fell for by issuing one final test: move their symbol of their love rooted in the earth. In the original epic, it was a test to prove to her that he's really the man he claims to be. Here, it's to show to him that he's still her husband even after decades of arduous trials.

One amazing detail about ‘Would You Fall in Love with Me Again’ is that when Odysseus is getting outraged over the idea of cutting down the tree their bed is built around the music swaps his more gentle guitar for the electric guitar that represents his monster, and when Penelope responds instead of changing to her signature viola it keeps going with the guitar. Because in this moment Penelope is matching Odysseus' ferocity with her own, not merely accepting the monster in him but staring it down on equal footing and daring him to keep saying it's something she would fear or that could change a thing about how much she loves him. I saw people in other videos getting worried when Odysseus got mad at Penelope, but that's the whole point. She wants him to get mad. She's trying to show him that he's still the same person in the ways that matter, because only her husband would care enough about the bed to get angry with her. Like she said “Only my husband knew that! So I guess that makes him you! I will fall in love with you over and over again I don't care how, where, or when. No matter how long it's been, you're mine! Don't tell me you're not the same person! You're always my husband and I've been waiting!” The red eyes don't vanish. They just dim slightly as he is feeling hope… but what was done cannot be undone. He is a veteran that has gone through trauma, and that PTSD will always follow him, as well as his actions, and that is what the entire point of The Odyssey is about. Tragic events change people so they aren't who they were before… however, that adds shields and pain around who they used to be, it doesn't erase that past, or the path to the present. Empathy, sympathy, and compassion can help ease those burdens, but never take them away fully. And if someone ever were to ignore their own misdeeds, that would be more monstrous than anything Odysseus still feels guilt and grief about. The suitors, on the other hand, well, no need to feel guilty there, as they were about to create tragic events themselves, and far worse than most along Odysseus's journey… without the justification of everything he had gone through to get to that point.

Pretty sure Someone else already Said this somewhere else But the Last "Just a Man" is even Better if you Imagine/Sing these Lyrics instead: "He's STILL a man. Who made his way back home. Even after, all the years away from what he's known. He's STILL a man. Who fought with all his might. Trading the men he knew to see his son and wife. But He's still a man" or He's just a man, who fought to get home. Even after all the years he spent away from what he's known. He's just a man, who fought for his life. He traded the world to see his son and wife. He's just a man... (Credit to the Person who came up with it)

It may be a hot take, but I’m okay that they don't kiss in the end. There is something about a kiss that feels somewhat playful and gentle, but with a deep, tight hug, that feels so much more profound to me. Pressing your soul, your vulnerability into someone with all that you are and them doing the same, grabbing tight so that the moment can't escape. It always seemed more emotional to me.

It’s so interesting how the core theme of Odysseus’s journey here is basically "despite everything, it’s still you", even though Odysseus himself thinks hes a completely different person now (not helped by the prophet). But at his core/soul he's still that same man who wanted to see his son and wife, and save as much of his people as possible

Odysseus: I know that you’ve been waiting, waiting for love
Penelope: I’ve been waiting for you

This is my absolute favorite animatic of this song i keep looking for people reacting to it because I feel it has so much substance, the background detail, the references and symbolism, I just love it

And with that…. That’s the end. This song genuinely makes me cry everytime I listen to it. It’s such a sweet catharsis to everything we’ve seen.

The test here both works for her making sure it is in fact Ody (cuz gods - Zeus - have been known to disguise themselves) but also to prove to Ody that he’s still him at his core, that he remembers the reason and feeling that went into making their wedding bed. He’s still her husband, and she will always love him.

Anna Leigh absolutely killed the vocals for Penelope, especially in this last song, and I need her to get all the awards.

I hope y’all will check out other animatics for this musical. So many talented artists it’s insane. Left I list a couple vids ago if you don’t know where to start. Have a good day, guys.

I'm always so charmed by the big goofy smile on Sofien's Odysseus, every time I see it I'm like "D'aww~"

Thank you both for this journey. I cry through this song every time I hear it.

No matter how many times I hear this song or see any animatic,
I'M NOT CRYING! MY EYES ARE COSPLAYING WATERFALLS I'M NOT CRYING I SWEAR 😭😭

Also, Penelope is looking at Odysseus like 'You think I won't love you anymore? Aren't you, like, one of the smartest Greeks in Ithaca? Don't be stupid of course I still love you'

The whole ending could be considered a bittersweet ending. Like yea, he made it home and is with his family again but at what cost?

Still it was a satisfying end to his hero's journey.

This is my favorite animatic for this song. Cause it so beautifully wraps it up making it feel like a proper finale. :D