Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast

Yuan Shao finally has enough of Cao Cao, and now it’s his sons’ turn to get stomped. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Cao Cao puts a couple more smackdowns on Yuan Shao, but then gets distracted by a pesky old foe. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Night raids, catapults, tunnels, fires. All these and more in a CG-packed episode and one of the most important clashes in the novel. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Sun Ce starts seeing his favorite Daoist priest here, there, and everywhere. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Liu Bei and his gang of loyal followers meet up for a reunion tour, with a few new faces in the mix. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Guan Yu unexpectedly discovers a lost brother, who gives him a surprising welcome. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

Guan Yu leaves Xuchang with Cao Cao’s blessings. If only Cao Cao had bothered to tell the men guarding the checkpoints along the way …. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships Notes * One of the checkpoints Guan Yu passes on his journey is Rongyang. I mistakenly pronounced it as Xingyang in this episode. Since I only mentioned it twice in the episode, I’ve decided to not redo the audio track. It is, however, correctly named in the map for this episode. * I could not find the first checkpoint Guan Yu passes, Dongling Pass, on any of the reference maps I use, so I have left it out of the map for this episode. * You might notice that Guan Yu seems to take a rather circuitous route toward his destination. Upon leaving Xuchang, he goes northwest for a good while before turning eastward. Various sources I have come across online have speculated that the origination point of the journey might have changed with the various versions of the story told through the centuries, and that Guan Yu actually set out from Changan, which was to the west and would have made for a much more logical route. Of course, there is no historical record of this journey, so it’s likely all just fiction, so nitpicking over the route of the journey is kind of a moot point anyway.

Guan Yu does a couple huge favors for Cao Cao and then discovers Liu Bei’s whereabouts. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

As Guan Yu prepares to fight to the death against Cao Cao, an old friend gives him three reasons why that is a bad idea and three reasons for surrendering instead. Guan Yu responds with three conditions. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

We take a look at the history of the more-trouble-than-it’s-worth imperial hereditary seal that everyone wants and everyone seems to regret getting. * Transcript (PDF)

Dong Cheng and company demonstrate how not to run a conspiracy. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships

While one of Cao Cao’s old enemies submit, he gets trolled by a new thorn in his side who just won’t shut up. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships Also, apologies for missing an episode last week. It wasn’t part of the plan, but I got blindsided by a vicious flu that left me too weak even to edit a prerecorded episode. I’m still not anywhere near 100 percent and my throat is shot from a lingering cough, but hopefully I can get back to the routine by the end of this week.

We saw Lü Bu exit stage left a couple episodes back. In this supplemental episode, we take a look at the historical Lü Bu versus his fictional counterpart. * Transcript (PDF) * Picture of what is supposedly Lü Bu’s burial site * Map of location of supposed burial site

Liu Bei gets out of the capital and does not look back. Yuan Shu becomes distraught after discovering the scarcity of honey. * Transcript (PDF) * Map of Key Locations * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships * Full text of Chen Lin’s denunciation of Cao Cao

Liu Bei develops a sudden interest in horticulture, while Cao Cao wonders out loud, “Who’s a hero?” * Transcript (PDF) * Graph of Key Characters and Relationships * There is no map this week since everything happens in the capital Xuchang.