‘Firebite’ Recap: ‘The Bastard King’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Six of ‘Firebite’. To revisit Episode 5, ‘I Wanna Go Home’, click here.
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One particular aspect of the vampire mythos that shows up often in vampire stories… is undying loyalty from those who have been turned into bloodsuckers, to the one that turned them, and it makes sense why this appears so often in vampire fiction. Because it gives the story, a true bloodthirsty heavy… the Master Vampire. A dastardly being that controls all and expects the eternal life he or she has given their flock, to be repaid in loyalty and complete compliance. Plus, having the master be the source of all things evil in the story, absolves the minions of evil and the finer points of free will… allowing for a streamlined good versus evil tale to take place, one where the hero is always triumphant when they plunge a stake into the master’s heart at the end of the tale. 

But while that makes for an engaging and entertaining story, it is fairly cliché to see these days and something of a crutch creatively. Which is why it is always wonderful to encounter a vampire story that shakes up the mythos and points out that vampires were once human and still carry with them some of their humanity and thankfully, Firebite took the time to explore that in its next episode. For ‘The Bastard King’ introduced a little selfish chaos into the Vampire King’s world, courtesy of Eleona. Because while Tyson and Shanika were making plans to go back down into the caves to rescue Shanika’s mom, shortly after escaping the attempts on their lives, Eleona kept making attempts to reach out to them to offer up quite the deal.

In that, she would lead them into the lair to rescue an ailing mum and help them to kill the Vampire King, an act that seemed way out of line for a vampire to want to take part in, but she had her reasons. Simply because, she was sick of the King and knew him from ages ago and knew that it wouldn’t be long before his brand of cruelty and ass-hattery would bring strife and suffering to this particular part of the world and the vampires that wished to live in the caves. Which was a deal that Tyson was skeptical about, because helping a bloodsucker seemed like a downright terrible and foolish idea. But Eleona made a compelling case for certain, and the chance to make Shanika whole again was too good to pass up, so Tyson agreed to the terms, and quickly came to regret it.

Because once they got into the caves and saw minimal suckers roaming about, Tyson got suspicious and those suspicions only grew when it became apparent that the King wasn’t present in his lair and that Shanika’s mom had been moved to another location and well, his concerns were justified. Because in essence, Eleona was working on a grand power play here… one that would give her leverage over Tyson and solve her problems with the King and in order to get exactly what she wanted, she surrendered up the nearby community to the King as part of a grand plan to have Tyson and Shanika ambush him upon his return. But alas, knowing that they were pawns in her plan, and that friends were going to die to execute it, was more than Tyson could bear and he worked to break the deal and rescue an ailing mother… only to get knocked out and captured.

Which left our heroes in quite the precarious and scary place. For there is no help coming, and the Vampire King’s fury is at its peak. But while we wait to see whether or not they will escape their current predicament, we can revel in the wonder of a unique tale. One that watched a vampire turn their back on their master and indulge in all the slimier parts of the human condition to get their way and to potentially take over as leader for the vampires that lurk in these caves, and that just was a wonderful touch to inject into this story. Since it added a wild sense of realism to a story that should have none. But this is a special type of vampire story, and it will be quite amazing to see what other surprises in this vein are in store for us, as we inch toward the end of season one. Until next time.

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