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The Horror of Primal
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- Published on Feb 16, 2026
- #primal #dinosaur #horror #animation
Genndy Tartakovski's Primal is every bit as beautiful as it is terrifying, so I yap a little about some of the stuff I liked about it.
Dinosaur cryptids, witches, and all sorts of madness.
Thanks for watching!
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Dexter's Laboratory was made for kids.
Then Samurai Jack was made for the same kids who grew up into teenagers.
And now Primal is made for those teenagers who are now adults.
So all these years Genndy has been like an uncle to us all. Always showing us whatever weird animated shows he's got cooking in his garage.
:EDIT: I also want to point out that The Plague of Madness and the Night Feeder are the perfect examples of how to differentiate "Horror" from "Terror". Horror is slow danger and unknowing until it is too late. Terror is fast danger and knowing it won't stop it.
I agree with this statement but i definitely feel like symbionic Titan and 2003 Star Wars definitely deserves their honorable mentions for being absolute hidden gems.
Genndy gave us the most terrifying version of General Grievous. Made the clone troopers the coolest they've ever been up to that point. And gave us someof the best lightsaber fight scenes in the franchise.
Then there's Symbionic Titan. Great fight scenes. The battles when they are the titan reminded me of something between transformers and power rangers mega zords. And had a ship between Octus and Kimmy that was just pretty wholesome looking back at. Except for that one scene lol.
@altonweaverjr.4091 Oh snap you are right!
I totally forgot about those shows. Or that I thought they were made by that other guy, Craig McCracken.
But nonetheless both of those shows deserve more seasons of episodes. There are literally novels of stories about the extended universe of Star Wars for Genndy to explore into. And Symbionic Titan needs a finally season to finish it's grand story.
And fixed is for the weird uncles who smell bad and make you uncomfortable at family functions 😭
@catkilled That uncle smells bad because he adopted all the dogs from the Dog Pound.
HEY
Don't forget Unicorn Warriors Eternal
2:20 He's basically a prehistoric version of Guts from Berserk
Chat this guy MIGHT be onto something
Spear and Guts should go out for a beer some time
Have you seen fang when she killed those creatures i know you seen it but i'm just saying
nah spear never been raped 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
*MY BROTHER,*
5:43 I remember that there was a massive fan theory that this small compy was actually the Night Feeder. The theory was the Night Feeder was basically a “weredino” and by day it’s a compy, and by night it becomes this monstrous killing machine. And the reason for its seemingly senseless killing was so that the corpses of its victims would attract the flies it eats. Crazy theory, I know. But considering all the crazy stuff we’ve seen in this show it’s not all that unrealistic. It’s a fun concept to think about at least.
I thought it was a similar tar to what the apes used.
It's practically canon now
There was concept art of the Night Feeder being a wendigo, but it was changed to a dinosaur
I remember hearing that. And honestly one of ny first thoughts on what it was, was that it was a smaller dino that got hold of that weird oil stuff the monkey men (and spear) used to transform into the giant.
I came to type this and confirm that this theory is 95% fact for 3 reasons.
1. The one and only shot you see of the compy shows the tar the ape men drank is already covering its body in a tribal-esque markings on its tail, chest, and eyes before transformation,
2. Every night cycle is a full moon that’s shows the night feeder awakening from a trance like state and immediately rushing around like a berserker
3. It has supernatural abilities akin to the ape men off the tar as displayed in its unnatural ability to chop down REDWOOD looking trees in one swipe.. what Dino naturally could do that? Fang is a t-Rex and it took her 2 bites and 2 swiped to knock down a regular tree.
And this is a bonus: but the compy and night feeder both have the same frequency pitch roar when analyzed with the exception being the night feeders is a supernatural supersonic high pitched screech- which again would be a byproduct of the tar amplifying one’s natural abilities to their max
Primal is PEAK fiction
Peak comment
Fr
Except the last episode of season 2
@royalentertainer3117 the last episode was really rushed but it was still good
@godzillabebravethetrexretu1381I agree. It would've been better if the second half of the season wasn't kinda wasted with that Colosseus arc. I think it should've been cut to one episode and spend the remaining episodes building up the finale.
The Colosseus arc was decent on its own, but I don't think it was good to have it right in the middle of the main plot.
I think that what I like most about Spear is that while he can *be* brutal, he isn’t actually a brute. I mean shit, his establishing character moment is that he's so heartbroken over the loss of his family that he initially can't bear living without them. We see him risk his own life for others, even strangers like that tribe of troglodytes from the giant spider episode. He might look like a generic Neanderthal caveman but all through the series it's made clear that there's a lot going on under the surface with him, he just isn't talkative about it like a Homo sapiens character might be.
Edit: Completely unrelated to that, the dyslexic racist joke fucking killed me.
How's the afterlife? Good wifi?
@S0Lace7410Honestly, not as fast as I thought it would be.
You also see this in Season 2 when he starts meeting other humans, he gets horrified immediately when fighting that viking tribe when he accidentally kills a kid and sees a woman with a baby strapped to her try to attack him. Hes brural but hes very much human in that he doesn't actually enjoy killing.
The scene where Fang lays eggs and he's like an excited uncle about it is so cute. At his heart, he's a kind, gentle man who has to be brutal to survive.
Even the mammoth episode is a good way to show this because they're also going through grief. But instead of getting murderous, he gives them what they want, which is the tusks of their fallen family
8:20 Not to mention, during the volcano scene *IT FUCKING JUMPED.*
Not even jumped, that fucker LEAPED. Like half its body length forward, AND a third of its height upwards.
That thing's legs would've been non-functional even without the lava melting them.
IT ISN'T SUPPOSED TO DO THAT
.... ITS NOT.. SUPPOSED TO DO THAT... FELLAS... do you get it!? are we on the same page... not physically possible.. ever... stop... stop it.
If it were to jump it would only go a few feet and would shatter its legs but this one did it jumped 40 feet without much harm
Mind you, _Sauropods cannot jump._ That virus is forcing the poor thing to break its body just to perpetuate the slaughter.
8:25 I always loved this scene because it demonstrated Spear’s intelligence. He understood the Sauropod was sick and that the sickness could spread to him and Fang. He might’ve been a caveman, but he certainly wasn’t stupid.
I hate it when they put fang when she was melted with her body 8:30.
He sure as hell smart enough to use armored bugs as brass knuckles
@Wa_hhhh Yeah spear is really smart like you said but i just love fang when she killing those wild dogs.
Smart would be understatement if u think mind u this a caveman in a time before they understood what viruses yet somehow wau he understands it can spread to them like ethier he has experience with a virus probably flu since when he had a family they probably and he learned how to avoid sickness or he is that just damn smart about something that most people viewed as divine punishment before science
@THREGAMER011 Most life on this planet understands sickness on a instinctual level even creatures less intelligent than humans will avoid diseased corpses.
So while neither a caveman nor a wolf understands germ theory and such they know to avoid a diseased corpse.
The plague of madness episode is one of the few pieces of fictional media that have GENUINELY disturbed me more than some real life horrors
Agreed, one of the first clips I saw of this show was the plague of madness episode. My friend randomly showed to to me one day and it definitely shook me a bit. It was a mix of "Wow this is interesting" and "Wow this is quite possibly the most terrifying concept ever."
As a kid i grew up watching the land before time, so ive always been fond of brontosauruses, so this was crazyy disturbing for me too.
The scene where he's desperately trying to make himself feel better by drinking water only to violently start purging blood😔ugh that shit broke my heart it was so fucking tragic i had to fastforward most of what ever else followed.
4:40 "Even woman have feelings" i chocked on my sandwich😂
Did you live?
@37_newts_in_a_costumeYeah this isn’t Primal
The mad sauropod episode is absolutely terrifying and one of the best pieces of television I’ve ever seen.
4:40 "Even woman have feelings", I died but also I am a woman and that is fake news, how dare. But I really need to watch this show now.
I am a guy and.. I think I would cry my eyes out when this old lady gonna see her daughter again.. that is just so powerful…!
What do you call a restaurant run by witches
Witchen
U da real woman
and ain't nothing wrong about dat.
Slay gurls! Slay and cry...
You probably think ending suffrage is a good idea too
1:25 "Do you ever look at someone and wonder, what is going on inside their head?"
6:13 the way that pentaceratops exploded has always been kinda comical
mf hit the TF2 killbind
Strangely the head witch is based off of something. What she turns into looks a lot like Cernunnos, the Celtic god of the wilds and is associated with fertility, life, death and rebirth. So the witches could possibly ancient druids
And she also has a transformation into a giant wolf, which sometimes mean as an alpha of the pack
I don't know alot about Celtic culture, but I did see the resemblance and inspiration
The scary part from this is that they never explained what origin came from the plague of madnes and the fact it never gets brought back is very scary
The Lord of Flies has been used to depict disease
Primal is VERY Lovecraft in that sense.
@your_enemy2878 Beelzebub appears to be a recurring theme.
Lots of incredibly hostile diseases existed a long time ago, and burnt themselves out. There's a reason people fear what might come from polar ice melting.
@jashloseher578anthrax spores are the most likely, nasty stuff and it can kill you in a dozen different ways.
8:35 what freaked me out the most of the infected sauropod was that spear and fang didn't even try to fight back, they realized it would've been a death trap and ran for the high hills, making this monstrosity even scarier...that's what spooked me for this thing
7:57 Other Sauropods: “Dang Jerry… right where we drink from?”
7:12 When you drink Belle Delphine bath water
What the hell am I reading
@Josh-x4byou still innocent
And no wonder, it's been like 5 years since that was first sold and they probably have Godknowswhatulinum now
Don't do drugs kids! Don't be like this dinosaur!
season 1 won like 3 emmys, with 1 word of dialogue ("mia"). when has that ever happened ?
2 of them came from plague of madness
11:00 I actually jumped a bit😭
Made me raise an eyebrow but not jump.
I still count it as a jump scare 😭😭😭
I’m so used to being on my toes when it comes to the internet that I barely flinched 😭💔
The Ape Men episode is the closest thing we’ll ever get to a Rated R Hulk.
11:30 backhanded into a TWIZZLER!
Holy s*** got my ass cackling
5:01 he just like me fr fr
Same here brother 😅😎
Same
The two blows that spear received from the ape-men when they captured them were comedically vicious.
"slimed all his day ones" cracked me tf up
6:51 that dyslexic joke actually got me and I did one of the only genuine spit takes that I’ve ever done in my entire life, literally coughing and near dying rn thanx
The episode of the witch who lost her child hit me really hard as someone who lost a baby. I thought it was extremely moving when they are reunited in the afterlife
who's here for season 3
Release date?
@Kara-c9hJANUARY 11TH!
@dr.drakofly756 thanks pookie.
THERE'S A SEASON 3???
@Devious_Ereptor1115Coming in January
Love that you talked about this gem. (also i adore your editing style)
Thanks for watching!
Zombie Spear?? I swear, if by the end of the third season we don't get the reveal that Spear's actually Doomguy, I will be... SLIGHTLY MIFFED.
Bigger… ONE OF MY FAVORITE YET
8:50 we forget sometimes that feeling empty is the most basic human feeling to have. It's want. Hunger, loneliness, desperation, any feeling of want. We can only describe it as an empty feeling because our brains are telling us we need something. Physical, mental, or even supermental (like religion or national identity). We witness a creature who did not ask for pain and madness, and yet was still dragged through the fires of hell all the same. It is not relief, it witnessing an innocent creature die after having been chased by a monster. Your brain doesn't care about the fact that the monster and the innocent creature were once the same thing.
True
0:41 best answer lmfao
3:20 Look up, "Wendigo," "Hag," and "HagSpawn." These are just about the 3 closest references you'll get for what we see with this "Ancient Druidic Magic" stuff in Episode 8.
11:36 the mega knight coming in after the opponent did a 10 elixir push
The plague of madness was one of my favorite episodes of a show I've ever seen
3:30 Her name is Lulu.
I always thought the night-feeder was a mutated version of a Therizinosaurus, mostly because mutated creatures do in fact exist in this world.
And it wasn't eatingvthe victims either
The zombie dinasour episode is the only episode I’ve seen of Primal and man… it hits so hard when it comes to the sheer horror.
What is so effective is how you can TELL the body of the herbivore is being piloted and made to do unnatural things. And how it ends not with triumph but tragedy fits so well.
That’s what Makes the disease so unnatural and horiffic .
I agree, this was the first episode I saw and it's so effective. The absolute SIZE of this toxic, rotting, furious beast always got me; the chase scene through the canyon with the perspective shot while they're rounding the corner makes the zombie dino look ENORMOUS it's so freaky
@GetOffIt That’s one of the best shots I’ve seen for a chase scene. Period.
The slow turn around the corner perfectly showcased the unrelenting horror as well as the sheer SIZE so well. You feel terrified for the characters throughout the whole episode
that ep was a surprise ! it was not announced, not on any tv/cable "guide". and it played on APRIL FOOLS DAY! on adult swim. that is some crazy kinda planning on gendys part!
you all can still turn to Christ if you have not God bless you
6:28
“Perhaps humanity’s greatest gift.”
*AIR FRYER-*
“Fire.”
*oh…*
Close enough, fire is still kinda used for frying and it uses air as fuel. :3
Interchangeable ngl
Ngl air fryers are just fire with extra fanciness
The zombie dinosaur arc was peak
Using that SPECIFIC shade of green for the word "horror" in the title card is a REALLY nice touch
I still like how during episode 2, Spear and Fang are unlikely allies and don't really work together, but after the snakes they now have mutual respect and can properly fight together as a team
6:04 "enough to make Spear start genuinely tweaking" nah I think he just needs to start to ignore it
10:08 How do u come up with this sh*t, man?! I can't breathe bc of ts.
9:42 never knew lincoln is certified join anitok
This video is hella underrated, great editing
we need more dinosaur content like this
Brother i live in appalachia. We hear those bobcat screams when we go camping.
I love your editing & general style. Keep this up, you'll be golden.
8:34 this is what makes me scared of this infected sauropod, this kind of animal is NOT built to jump-EVER! My response of seeing this clip for the first time: THATS NOT POSSIBLE! Until it was revealed later on in the lava chase scene, it’s now just a husk. All its insides Have rotted/melted away, which explains how it can run. But I’m still trying to figure out how it got the strength to jump tho.
That’s just how unnatural the disease affecting it is
@TaylorGordon-y4b The unnatural is definitely in focus as a theme. The bond between Spear and Fang is an unnatural occurence that puts them above the foodchain. They then encounter other unnatural forces that are threats to the balance of nature.
The editing was fuggin’ PEAK, Your earned a subscriber man!
1:03 “ she just like me for real” 😂😂
this is my first impression of you. it was a great one, I'm subscribing
6:40 nice try bozo, Maip was originally described in 2021-22, while the episode came out in 2020. It was very much correct to assume that The night feeder was a megaraptorid of some sorts as most of the fandom did but saying it was specifically Maip is impossible unless Genndy had access to the material(which tbf i would believe). Great video tho.
Ah, ya got me there. Check your closet
Understandable mistake, everyone seems to love Maip
Back in 2020 most people said it was Utahraptor
You are magnificent, anyone else would have made this an hour long video of mostly fluff. You had a goal and the mindset not to love the sound of your own voice so much we had to wade through it together. Great vid nice editing!
3:01 I always had a theory that these witches could be alien life forms based on the leader witch thing but hey they could just be regular cave witches lol
Loving your stuff bud, keep it up!
10:04 as a Portland Oregonian myself… you ain’t wrong, it be weird out here.
If I were you I would get out asap as it's not going to get better anytime soon.
@BrandonubHalcomb Lol yall really believe this portland oregon nonsense?
I think you mean Oregonionian
This man narration style is absolutely funny
This show is such a gem. I’m so glad I found it, everyone I recommended it to ended up enjoying it too.
I’m glad you brought up the music. Tartakovsky’s animation is peerless, but the sound in his shows are like no other. Especially the use of silence.
Holy shit a video talking about primal my day just got better
Whelp, that's a like n a sub.
Some of those edits were on point
The plague of madness got me fucked up back then
Made me blow air through my nose and talked about stuff I like. Great, now I’ve gotta watch through your channel’s backlog. Good vid
I’m surprised you didn’t talk about primal theory that one’s absolutely horrifying
That whole ep deserves its own video
How did it take so long to find a video assay on this?
This episode was the first and even the only thing in media that has genuinely shook me in years.
I liked it.
*The episode with rabies
First introduction to your channel. Primal is one of my all-time favourite shows, and the reasons for this are highlighted beautifully by this video, which went by too quickly. Your dry humour and insight into the storytelling of the show was a true pleasure to watch. I didn't even know there was an upcoming S3 till now, and I am so hyped to watch your next video on it.
Exactly that's my favorite thing about this series no words were spoken but so much was said
11:19 A Trogladite
The incredible thuk
Great video and nice editing, you got a sub brother
2:44 I can relate
Pretty well put together, nice vid.
The way this guy talks makes me think his conscious is falling down a set of stairs and than he just absolutely locks in and talks about some theme shit 👌
One of my favorite comments of all time 😭
@therealkingfisher.Don't worry about it, here's a subscription for your troubles
The scariest thing about the Night Feeder for me was the fact it seemed to hunt more for sport than just sustenance, given the surplus amount of creatures it killed.
5:06 "fishing" hell yeah
Very cool, would never have heard of this if not for Kingfisher. Thanks m8
This is the most well made primal video made lol
Excellent video bro. Well done
I feel bad when fang when she lost her baby dinos 0:55
That witch episode still chokes me up when I watch it. It’s such a roller coaster of emotion but at least it has a happy ending
I have nightmares almost every week about the zombie sauropod that haunts me so badly. I watched the episode 2 years ago. If that’s not horror then idk what is
Great video! Please make more like this! Your story telling is so good!!!
When peak appears on my fyp, I cannot help but click the shiny thumbnail.
This was just excellent. I’m bummed that this is the first time I’ve seen your channel recommended on my feed. Keep delivering high-quality exposes like this and in no time your subscriber count will rise.
I have a theory that the demon that gave that Viking powers is looking to capture Spear in one final test through hell. He’s probably gonna get away though. I would like to see his daughter and wife as they’re older
I fw the outro song, the intro, the character yes feels like my old yt, raw. I subbed
2:33 w mention i like ark
W opinion
Amazing video!!
Also is it me or is it the fact that Spear just looks like Samurai Jack but on Steroids.
Brilliantly accurate Ark analysis. Subbed. :)
I grew up with movies like The Secret of NIMH, and honestly they terrified me as a kid. But I always came back to rewatch them. Why? Because when a story is not afraid to show the darkest, scariest moments, the good parts, the light, feel ten times more rewarding. That contrast is what makes those films stay with you.
And I'm proud to say I had EVERY land before time DVD I was a dinosour nerd and devoured these movies.
The wait was worth it, this video is SO PEAK. Omg
The zombie episode got me in such a significant way. I was so disturbed it made my stomach hurt, and it took me a bit to realize it’s because it reminds me of those gross out SpongeBob episodes that traumatized me as a kid.
YUP, thats a subscribe right here...
Here you go sir, have a good day
9:00 A bit off-topic but can we talk about how well the soundtracks of "Dredge" would fit with some of the scenes shown in "Primal"?
Your narration and sense of humor is really great, stable, and awesome, as they have started saying now, peak. I would like to see more from your channel. Subbed. Thanks.
9:15 JESUS CHRIST THE 2 SECONDS OF QUALITY
Hell of a top 5 there my boy