My Big Issue with Pantheon
One issue I have with Pantheon is the lack of any real limitations on what's possible in this world. It lacks boundaries and meaning, especially in the jump from the somewhat constrained world of S1 to the anything-goes world of S2.
And any boundaries which appear present are handily and soon removed—or were never really boundaries to start with.
S1 seems to use a mix of a flaw, politics, family bonds etc. to limit the world and S2 blew that right open. This issue starts with >!MIST!<, who could do just about anything and ends with >!Maddie!< who really can do just about anything.
It's all a sandbox of anything that can go, goes. I personally (ofc this is just my opinion) prefer some kind of boundary to this world. I felt so little tension or concern toward the end because I didn't even believe any of the characters could even >!die at this point.!<
I watch a lot of Science Fiction. I'm okay with tugging at limits, questioning boundaries and stretching meaning. But Pantheon felt like when I was a child playing with toys and I just made them do whatever I wanted them to do to advance the plot.
For instance: >!They can store Stephen's brain for a couple decades. Alright. Humans just somehow engineer a self-learning programme that targets and destroys UIs. Okay. Maddie becomes de-facto ruler of the human world—and then somewhat deity of simulated realities. Wow.!< At this point, if MIST found a way to travel back in time, I wouldn't even question it. I mean, why not?
Surely, I'm not the only one who felt this? Interesting conceptually and some interesting characters, but story-wise, shy of the heavy hitters in Sci-Fi that masterfully weave tension and limits into their stories.