Transcript Ep45 2:30:06 Scanlan, how do you do it?

This is one of the best insights we get into Scanlan’s core philosophy. Not happy-go-lucky so much as comforting nihilism. In being irreverent towards death, he accepts its inevitability and enjoys what he can. At 2:31:26, Scanlan says, “Everything before this was not as good. This is better, that’s why. It’s very simple. You had a shitty childhood, didn’t you? …We’ve all had our share of shit, before we all met. Now we’re together. We’re a family. This is better, that’s how I smile. It’s better than it was before. That’s it.” Which seems an indirect reference to his backstory where he says, at Ep05 0:09:35, “A loner much of his life, Scanlan has never quite come to terms with the violent death of his mother at the hands of a Goblin invasion.”

Scanlan is an exceedingly good liar. Which begs the question, how much is his past still haunting him? What happens when things aren’t better when they were before? At 2:32:01 Vax says, “We’re probably going to die in the next month.” Scanlan replies, “Yes, but it’s fun while it lasts.” What happens when Scanlan can no longer allow himself brush off death?

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Scene runs: 2:30:06 to 2:33:06 https://youtu.be/0uazTyTrk-8?t=9006

2:30:06 Liam: “Wait! Hold! While they’re sleeping, right? I take Scanlan outside.”

2:30:12 Matt: “Okay.”

2:30:13 Scanlan: “Oi!”

2:30:14 Vax: “Hey, buddy.”

2:30:15 Scanlan: “Hey, friend-o.”

2:30:16 Vax, nervously: “Yeah…” He sighs.

2:30:19 Scanlan: “What’s up?”

2:30:19 Vax: “We don’t talk a lot.”

2:30:21 Scanlan: “Well, we start to, and then you leave the room, usually.”

2:30:23 Vax: “Yeah… I don’t- I don’t handle confrontation, personal, emotional confrontation very well.”

2:30:31 Scanlan: “It’s okay.”

2:30:32 Sam: “I walk away.”

2:30:34 Liam gives a gesture of victory.

2:30:34 Marisha, laughing: “Oh shit!”

2:30:35 Sam: “Then I come back.”

2:30:36 Taliesin: “No! no! no! It was perfect!”

2:30:40 Vax: “Where did you go!?”

2:30:41 Scanlan: “Just kidding, just kidding.”

2:30:44 Vax: “Um… Well, pull up a chair. Sit down. I want to ask you something.”

2:30:49 Scanlan: “I’m already as low as I can go.”

2:30:51 Liam stands up briefly to mimic the height difference.

2:30:52 Vax: “You’re right. Um, how do you do it?”

2:30:56 Scanlan: “How do I do what?”

2:30:57 Vax: “How do you do it? You’re risking your life as much as anyone in this group. You’re almost dying every day. You’re fucking smiling all the time. How do you do it?”

2:31:11 Liam: “I’m kind of asking as Liam to Sam, as well. But mostly as Vax to Scanlan.”

2:31:15 Vax: “How do you do it? You almost died yesterday, as well. Or two days ago, fuck. Why do you do it?”

2:31:26 Scanlan, as if it’s obvious: “Vax, I… I don’t know. I mean, I just… I like you people okay. Everything before this was not as good. This is better, that’s why. It’s very simple. You had a shitty childhood, didn’t you?”

2:31:43 Vax: “Yeah.”

2:31:44 Scanlan: “You and the sister.”

2:31:45 Vax: “Yeah.”

2:31:46 Scanlan: “I think Grog had some troubles. We’ve all had our share of shit, before we all met. Now we’re together. We’re a family. This is better, that’s how I smile. It’s better than it was before. That’s it.”

2:32:01 Vax: “We’re probably going to die in the next month.”

2:32:04 Scanlan: “Yes, but it’s fun while it lasts.”

2:32:06 Vax looks at him in disbelief and bewilderment.

2:32:11 Scanlan gives a contented sigh.

2:32:14 Vax, dubiously: “Alright. I thought I might…”

2:32:18 Scanlan: “Glean some wisdom?”

2:32:19 Vax: “Yeah, but I’m just as confused as before.”

3:32:22 Scanlan: “Listen, I’m older than you.”

2:32:25 Vax: “How much older?”

2:32:27 Scanlan: “A bit. I’ve seen more than you have, and… it’s all shitty, so it just depends on how you look at it. You can dwell on the shit, or you can just leave it behind in people’s beds and keep going.”

2:32:47 Marisha: “Aw, god, that works on too many levels.”

2:32:48 Vax, going from a sour face to dawning realization, pointing at Scanlan: “It was you!”

2:32:49 Taliesin: “God, it’s too deep!”

2:32:50 Marisha: “Too deep!”

2:32:51 Vax: “You did!” Waving it off, “Water under the bridge.”

2:32:55 Sam: “I walk away.”

2:33:00 Vax, incredulous: “The little motherfucker shit in my bed!” He sighs.

2:33:06

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