WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: The Fireys of Labyrinth

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lammin. This is The Monster Fact,

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<v Speaker 2>a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind,

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<v Speaker 2>focusing on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time. Once

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<v Speaker 2>more we return to the rich, magical world of Jim

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<v Speaker 2>Henson's nineteen eighty six classic Labyrinth, having previously covered two

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<v Speaker 2>other of its creatures here on The Monster Fact and

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<v Speaker 2>the film itself on Weird House Cinema. Today, I want

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<v Speaker 2>to talk about the most terrifying denizens of the Goblin

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<v Speaker 2>King's Labyrinth, creatures that have unsettled children for almost four

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<v Speaker 2>decades now, The Fieries of the Fire Gang. You remember them.

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<v Speaker 2>Do not tell me that you don't, because I know

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<v Speaker 2>even now you're picturing their lanky, vulturelike bodies, their huge ears,

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<v Speaker 2>their bright red and orange fur, and those piercing mad eyes.

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<v Speaker 2>The Labyrinth Bestiari by st. Bindet, with illustrations by Iris Complete,

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<v Speaker 2>devotes no fewer than eight pages to illustrations of the Fieries,

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<v Speaker 2>along with notations that describe them as chaotic, unhinged, good

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<v Speaker 2>natured troublemakers. And that is essentially correct. But Bende also

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<v Speaker 2>points out that quote, anyone adverse to combustion, disorder and

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<v Speaker 2>the possibility of dismemberment is advised to steer clear of

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<v Speaker 2>their revelry. Yes, because for starters, the Fieries are so

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<v Speaker 2>named not only for their brilliant, flamelike colorization, but also

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<v Speaker 2>for their innate pyrokinetic abilities and even more terrifying, they

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<v Speaker 2>possess the ability to detach and reattach their own limbs

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<v Speaker 2>and heads at will. They can also remove their own eyeballs,

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<v Speaker 2>roll them as dice, and then swallow them in order

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<v Speaker 2>to return their eyeballs to their sockets. But all of

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<v Speaker 2>this reaches a fever pitch when these inhuman hedonists engage

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<v Speaker 2>in what I can only describe as a dismemberment party.

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<v Speaker 2>Fieries will dance around the great fire and pull themselves

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<v Speaker 2>apart with gleeful enthusiasm. They'll employ their disembodied legs and

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<v Speaker 2>heads as clubs and balls in morbid games of croquet.

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<v Speaker 2>They will even swap body parts with each other and

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<v Speaker 2>reconstitute themselves into multi limbed forms that cavort through the forest.

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<v Speaker 2>The only rule they keep is thou shalt only throw

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<v Speaker 2>thine own head and all that is well and good

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<v Speaker 2>for the Fieries, except, as we see in Labyrinth, they

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<v Speaker 2>can scarcely comprehend beings that don't have these strange powers

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<v Speaker 2>of bloodless living, dismemberment and instant regrafting. We're to understand

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<v Speaker 2>that many an outsider guest to their festivities winds up

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<v Speaker 2>as a pile of body parts that puzzlingly refuse to

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<v Speaker 2>graft back together. Way to kill the vibe and welcome

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<v Speaker 2>also the guest. But it's a detail I always appreciated.

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<v Speaker 2>The Fieries are indeed good time party creatures, but their

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<v Speaker 2>inability to understand other beings makes them a very dangerous

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<v Speaker 2>encounter in the world of Labyrinth. Naturally, we don't have

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<v Speaker 2>anything quite like the Fieries in the natural world. Certainly

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<v Speaker 2>we have some amazing examples of regeneration, from C stars

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<v Speaker 2>and C cucumbers to the Axolotel, but they regrow, they

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<v Speaker 2>don't reattach. Humans alone have developed the medical knowledge of

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<v Speaker 2>limb reattachment, and even this has its limits, and in

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<v Speaker 2>the best of cases, is far from instantaneous. And as

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<v Speaker 2>for the grafting of another's individual limbs onto your body,

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<v Speaker 2>and even the zeno tissue of other organisms such as pigs.

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<v Speaker 2>Humans face severe limitations due to the body's autoimmune response

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<v Speaker 2>to transplanted limbs, tissues, and organs. This generally requires the

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<v Speaker 2>use of immunosuppressive medication to prevent rejection of the donor limb, tissue,

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<v Speaker 2>or organ, but the lowering of the body's immune response

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<v Speaker 2>in general can then open the door for other infections.

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<v Speaker 2>Donor recipient matching can also help, and a host of

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<v Speaker 2>more advanced techniques, including stem cell therapy, genetic engineering, biomaterials,

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<v Speaker 2>and more, may provide additional possibilities in the future. Now

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<v Speaker 2>with the Fieries, we might imagine, well, it's possible that

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<v Speaker 2>their own immune systems would reject another Fiery's head or

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<v Speaker 2>limbs if it remained attached for too long. Human rejection

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<v Speaker 2>can play out over days, months, or even years. The

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<v Speaker 2>Fieries might simply not remain attached to other limbs long

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<v Speaker 2>enough for it to be a problem, something maybe they

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<v Speaker 2>only do during these games and festivities. On the other hand,

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<v Speaker 2>knowing nothing about their deeper biology, it's also possible that

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<v Speaker 2>they're all genetically identical and therefore perfect donors for each other.

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<v Speaker 2>It's also possible that the fieries boast an overall reduced

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<v Speaker 2>autoimmune response to allow this sort of fusing, and evolves

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<v Speaker 2>some other form of complementary autoimmune strategy to make up

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<v Speaker 2>for it, which may well be the case with the

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<v Speaker 2>natural world anglerfish, in which the bodies of genetically disparate

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<v Speaker 2>male and female counterparts are able to fuse together without

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<v Speaker 2>invoking a strong anti graft immune rejection response, a rejection

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<v Speaker 2>response that we see in pretty much all other vertebrates.

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<v Speaker 2>The fieries don't seem particularly concerned with predators or anything really,

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<v Speaker 2>which raises the question of why they might have evolved

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<v Speaker 2>to be like this. If such logic even applies to

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<v Speaker 2>the labyrinth, one can imagine there could be a survival

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<v Speaker 2>advantage in simply being able to graft on the limbs, tissues,

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<v Speaker 2>and organs of other members of your group, perhaps even

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<v Speaker 2>in a role based way, sharing particularly healthy or strong

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<v Speaker 2>body parts for particular tasks. One can also see where

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<v Speaker 2>this could easily get out of hand. But then again,

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<v Speaker 2>perhaps it also benefits the fieries as far as group

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<v Speaker 2>cohesion goes. Not only can they share information and resources,

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<v Speaker 2>they can share body parts and adapt their forms to

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<v Speaker 2>different tasks. Hey, after all, there's no reason to domesticate

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<v Speaker 2>a horse when you can just make a horse like

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<v Speaker 2>body out of your own assembled limbs. If this is

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<v Speaker 2>all the case, however, clearly they overcame their natural obstacles

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<v Speaker 2>long ago and now devote their natural talents exclusively to

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<v Speaker 2>self enjoyment and celebration. Tune in for additional episodes of

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<v Speaker 2>The Monster, Fact, The Artifact, or Animilius Dupendium each week.

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<v Speaker 2>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow your Mind dot com.

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