The Fiery Sports Riot That Nearly Destroyed Constantinople • Puppet History 

Am I the only one that wants Puppet History bloopers? It could be an extra "episode" at the end of the season!

The development of Ricky becoming slightly anarchistic is what I live for in these episodes. Ryan and The Professor changing someone to be more like them is wholesome.

You should have Shane as a guest on the show. Something tells me he would be good at this history trivia.

Ricky is such a kind, sweet person that it looks like acting mean and aggressive physically hurts him.

ryan casually taking the professor's foot has me laughing so hard

I actually get so unreasonably excited when the professor talks about a topic I know about

Ricky becoming increasingly more bloodthirsty throughout these past 42 minutes was a surprising but welcomed development

“That probably would scare a lawmaker more than anything - people in unity” well-timed remark, go current strikers!!

Honestly Ryan is right, they should give him a sports show. Him and Steven could teach us stuff about sports history while playing 1-on-1 basketball. Shane just sits in a lawn chair on the sidelines with a lemonade or something

Professor, as an American in the 21st century, the phrase “how an artificially exploited society is exploited by the powerful to keep themselves in power” damn near triggered my fight or flight

I hope someday that we have a puppet history episode on The Battle of May Island, if for no other reason than to see Ryan's reactions to learning about the simultaneously most horrific and most comedic event in naval history.

"Yeah but you have a new adversary which is THE GOVERNMENT" in reaction to Ricky and Ryan's discussion of rivalry at 19:30 just got me - I love this show so much.

This was the best episode to put Ricky on, we love seeing him forced into senselessly confrontational situations

I love how the professor's dad doesnt know what a camera is but somehow knows about Nolan

Love how Ryan is being so brutally competitive and then Ricky is just like "yeah, well blue sucks" Ricky is so sweet lmao love you guys :))

Not gonna lie - I‘d kill if they would release a „puppet history“ history book. Like the big colorful ones you had as a child that acutally looked fun. With a lot of illustrations and pictures and the same style and humor as the show. Maybe I‘m just too big of a nerd, but I‘d love that.

If they did an extra episode of where Ryan was telling a sports story and the professor was one of the contestants I would be so happy lol

They're really pulling out the stops with the guests this season, but I wanna know is where is 5 time winner Katie to ascend from History Master to Master History Wizard.

I want all of the puppet history songs to be in an album, like this one is such a slapper. Those harmonies??? The synths??? The fusion??? The mixing??? Effervescent

The Leda and the Swan thing has some dubious historicity since Procopius wrote that when he was well and truly on the outs with Justinian and Theodora. Also, my favorite translation of what Theodora said was that “Purple makes a fine shroud” and that always struck me as incredibly badass. Live a coward or be buried an empress? Hell yeah.

It’s good to see the professor’s parents are doing good

Shane, it would be a very different world if rival sports team fans engaged in dirty talk rather than trash talk to each other.

Puppet History has been making my day since it first started in 2020. I absolutely love it. It's like an adult version of Horrible Histories, which was one of my favourite shows growing up.

Ricky’s evolution over 20 minutes was incredible.

Ryan's reaction to pulling the Professor's leg is hilarious. Also, I love how Ricky starts off to pure for this world and gradually starts to adopt Shane and Ryan's anarchy. I hope he becomes a regular returning guest.

I like that Ryan calls calling an actual hit that not only intended to but succeeded in killing the Prof "making a mistake"

The reason why the two guys survived two hangings in a row is because it was really common for a hanging not to take. It often took multiple tries before it worked. If I remember right, theres was a prison turned museum i visited once where the guide told us that one particularly infamous criminal was hanged 15 times before the rope snapped and he survived. He didn’t last long though, and i believe he died of suffocation right after. You’ll find that there were a couple of methods of death that were considered ineffective. Beheading by axe sometimes took multiple swings (it was common for friends or relatives of the one being beheaded to bribe the executioner to sharpen their axe to give them a swifter death). The electric chair would vary in how much time you had to be exposed to it before it would do its deed; it took some people several hours before their hearts gave out. All of these deaths were considered very painful specifically because it didn’t always work immediately and the longer one had to be exposed to fatal conditions the more painful it would be. That’s one of the reasons most of them were outlawed as “cruel and unusual punishment” in america.

I hope this series isn’t discontinued 😭 tbh Puppet History is the only series I’m invested in, and if it’s discontinued, my heart will break. I’ll still cherish the Puppet History playlist 💓

Once again, I have to congratulate Shane's skill at puppeteering. Lip-syncing hand movements consistently well is harder that it looks. This is always top-notch and never jerks or drags the viewer away from the show. Also, Ryan got totally/ robbed, and I'm seeing Bronto Burgers in the near future.

The Hippodrome song is already one of my favorites. It's really nice seeing Ricky on this show too, I like how he progressively got more bloodthirsty throughout the episode.

I live in a country where our two biggest political parties are the blue and the green, so this episode is very on point for me, and I now have this uncontrollable urge to set fire to bathhouses.

Ricky is so precious, I adore him. Also I feel like not nearly enough people are talking about how impressive it is that Theodora let a dang swan eat from her lady parts. That would be terrifying hahah

Ricky is that one innocent friend that we always fail to protect and ended up training them to be the nastiest one.

I giggle and kick my feet whenever Watchee uploads Puppet History

Love how Ricky looks uncomfortable with violence, but realizing mid show, he's enjoying it.

Props for diving into Byzantine History. It has so many kickass and positively absurd moments that could fill an entire season of puppet history. I am honestly surprised that there is not a single tv show like the Borgias or the Tudors set in Byzantium, it would absolutely be a contender for House of the Dragon or whatever the Vikings are doing this Season.

Ryan pulling off the professor's leg at 7:45 was pure comedy i never thought i needed until now...

This week's song gave MAJOR "Uprising" by Muse with hints of "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" in the bridge and I'm SO here for it, this might be my new favorite puppet history song

This is my favorite start to a riot. Two sides uniting over the freedom of two people who survived two hangings.

I wanna make a suggestion for a topic! The Nobel peace price winning poet and Irish political figure William Butler Yeats had an INSANE life!! He’s well known for his poetry, especially that about a woman he pined after for 30 years, proposing and being rejected 5 times. But his image has been pretty sanitized. He was a devout believer in the supernatural and occult and even got in a WIZARD BATTLE with a famous magician that was widely considered evil, which culminated in Yeats KICKING THE MAGICIAN DOWN THE STAIRS of their temple! Yeats also spent a lot of time privately casting spells and curses on the man. He was a crazy guy and this isn’t a very well known subject or would be so cool to see covered!

Ricky being all for arson while Steven attacks with ice, there's something poetic about that.

Ryan actually has a point about the Lakers-Celtics rivalry. It did save the NBA and bonus fact: The Lakers and Celtics combined have won almost half of the NBA Finals which started in 1947. Let that sink in, there have been 76 NBA champions, the Lakers and Celtics have won 34 of them.

1- this song absolutely slapped this week 2- you guys should cover the justinian plague sometime! You can reuse everything since it's dealing with the same guy. He had a busy reign, now that I think about it lol

Justinian and Theodora are my history OTP cuz they stayed true to each other, even after she died and Justinian was expected to remarry he didn't because he loved her too much to dishonor her by replacing her even though they didn't sire any heirs. Because it's so rare for a man to stay loyal to his wife after her death, I've always idolized Emperor Justinian and the man can do no wrong in my eyes.

The character development from wholesome ricky to wholesome slightly anarchist ricky was very fun

I think Ryan, Shane, Steven and Ricky are now legally required to play Istanbul (Not Constantinople) on Just Dance

I love everyone in the watcher universe. Ricky, Kate, Garrett, Joyce and Lim all bring so much to the already ridiculously talented table.

Hey dears, in the Puppet History playlist this episode is mistakenly at the bottom instead of mid-season where it belongs :3 just a heads up!

I love that Ricky is too sweet for this world to actually trash talk

the Professor made it into our D&D game, to provide pirate history and facts while they had a good style adventure

We'll miss you most of all, Professor, as Watcher leaves RU-vid.

Holy crap. That song ROCKED! Whoever wrote that is a genius. Loved it!

26:55 This is probably my favorite conversation from Puppet History. The way the Professor made sure we all knew he was also at the late-night protests outside Steven Lim's windows, at the founding of the company.

Is it just me, or are Ryan's curls extra voluminous today? I dig it.

Theodora is one of my favorite historical figures, so I'm always thrilled to see her get some attention

I remember learning about the Byzantine Empire over a decade ago in my Honors history class and I had a huge hyperfixation on it for some reason. I think I was able to answer all of these questions correctly! The capitol names trick question I got right, the first time Hypatius was mentioned I thought "oh isn't he going to be the emperor next?", and when the amphitheater was brought up I remembered reading about over 30,000 people being trapped and killed. I am SO happy with everything I retained from this part of my history class

This is absolutely my favorite song to come out of this series. Shane really outdid himself this time!!

Ricky saying “Party!” and Adore popping up behind him had me squeal 2:25 My two favorite series 🥹🥹

I burst out laughing at ricky “arson lover admits guilt!“ 😂😂😂

You should do an episode about Lewis and Clark, their expedition has such potential for hilarious skits and discussions and questions.

Im SO GLAD the professor's parents are recurring characters. I have become very attached to this lil family

This colosseum banger is my favourite one so far! Love Ricky’s conversion to violence in this episode.

Ricky's face at the violence of chariot racing had me *dying*

I love that Ricky is truly just along for the ride. Whatever vibes are happening, Ricky matches them

I mean, considering Leda and the Swan is essentially about a woman being assaulted by a swan (technically a god, but it's Zeus, so, freaky), I'm not shocked that she had grain in her parts (Leda is, in some myths, the mother of Helen of Troy)

When he was first describing chariot racing as this brutal sport with the clashes and dragging and dismemberment, I said, "NASCAR!"

i know yall may never see this, but i want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. i have sleep issues, but putting this puppet history playlist on shuffle every night helps me so much with falling asleep. its also comforting to watch when i truly cant sleep and it keeps me calm when i feel frustrated because of it. this silly little puppet show has changed lives (and sleep!) thank you so much Watcher team

as a Greek that studied this in school i loved how new it felt through your story telling.

This season finale is gonna be Ryan giving a 30 minute presentation on sports and at the end they summon a ghost

27:04 what a coincidence that both shane and the professor were both present, they have similar chaotic energy :)

The Professor deserves a bigger stage now that he grew.

Once, just once, I want Ryan to win. Not a tie, not a separate hat, just actually be recognized. That being said, it is a fun bit.

Just to note that we don't really know if Theodora was a sex worker or just some form of actress unique to the time. Procopius is a dubious historical narrator/author, especially in his "secret histories".

Shane is so powerful as a musician, please drop an album

I think it's insane the immense talent Shane has. I mean seriously, this man's creativity, intellect, humor, acting talent, including voice acting, singing, music playing, puppeteering, CREATING the actual puppets himself...Not just thinking them up, designing, and naming them; but actually creating the puppets, and bringing them to life. Skilled also at writing in song form, along with many other types of forms...I mean, look at this entire thing he created.... This entire universe. The characters, the plot, the music, the storytelling, the lore, the acting...It's all incredible, and one of the most entertaining things on YT to watch, if not THE most entertaining. Hell, not just YT, but in general. Marvel Universe who? Everything he is in, is going to be unique, and tears in the eyes hilarious. That's always a guarantee. The saying One of A kind was made for people like him. He is also brave as hell, does so many things without so much a twitch of fear. He is also possibly a touch insane (in the best way possible of course...) and has a huge heart. He is a genuinely good person. Very caring about all of those he loves, but so nice to everyone. Thaat's what everyone says, and you can see it, and know it's genuine. He has dark humor, and you know I can honestly say, that almost everyone I have found to be insanely funny, with dark humor, were all actually really good people. I think that's almost the only way to pull off the dark humor, and it be so damn funny. U can feel the person doesn't actually think those things; maybe some of the dark humor jokes about someone that is actually an awful person. Besides dark humor, he's incredibly funny in every way, always makes me laugh. Just one of these things alone most of us don't have; especially at this level. He is not just good at all these things, he's AMAZING at every single one of them, and more. Idc if I sound like a kiss ass, I genuinely mean every word I am saying. Feel blessed to be living on the earth the same time as Shane. Shane. You are very much appreciated Shane! Thank you for bringing so much joy, laughter, entertaining, and gosh dang learning at the same time! You maniacal genius. Ryan's cool too I guess. 😏

ryan is uncharacteristically chipper and friendly with the prof in this ep! love it as always

This entire episode is like a fever dream, and I love it.

Between the fascinating history, the obvious (and foreboding) foreshadowing of new alliances burning away into a violent rampage, and the absolute masterpiece of a special performance (both the handiwork of the puppet and the song itself) this episode is one of the best to date. Thank you all at Watcher!

The professor randomly getting eyebrows is always hilarious

Episodes like this are when I am reminded that Shane is actually insanely talented, much like getting struck by a bolt of electricity. Awesome song! My favorite one yet (the other involved throwing people out of windows or snitching on the rich... I guess I have a preferred theme lol)

RYANS REACTION TO THE LEG COMING OFF I WASNT EXPECTING IT TO ACTUALLY DETACH

For a reason as to why the men didnt die from hanging is probably due to the nature of older hanging. The classic trapdoor "short stop, sudden drop" hanging wasnt used till much much later. Most people who underwent that just snapped their necks. The older form was just setting up an elevated pole, tieing a rope around the neck and letting you swing. So it possible if they just didnt tie it tightly they could still breathe and thus not strangulate. Fun with execution

I think you guys released this episode at quite possibly THE funniest time. It was One Piece day when this dropped, and there was a huge event and trailer drop for a thing related to a character named Nika. I had to do a double-take when I saw this thumbnail on my feed because I was sure I was seeing things after spending 8 hours in the livestream lol. Phenomenal episode as always tho!

The fact that Ricky was surprised Istanbul, Constantinople, and Byzantium were the same place after literally referencing the song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) is so fucking funny to me

"I'm one of those people that just wants both teams to have fun! ✨️😃" "I despise you, then." There are 2 types of people

13:00 when Ryan and Ricky had the exact same reaction to the Professor's religious politician joke 😂😂😂

Ricky: "Now that I've experienced a rivalry, I kinda miss it!" * Steven seething quietly in the corner, a drink glass shattering in his grip *

It was great seeing Ricky really get in touch with his inner rage

I would love to see a sports history show tbh! I think sports history is a super cool subject tbh even though I don't watch a lot of sports, and it would be fun to see Ryan host

I can't wait until I'm lulled into a false sense of security that this season won't have any lore right before the professor reveals that there has been little things going on in the background the whole time

This episode feels like it boils down to Ricky vs Rick Goldsworth.

We need to get these puppet history songs on a music streaming platform, I want a playlist on my Spotify with these chaotic songs xD

i’m still at the beginning of the video but Ricky trying to be mean in his cheering is adorable. he’s just so sweet! it’s clearly hard for him to be ruthless

Ricky is such a lovely guest to have. The vibes are everything ❤

I'd genuinely buy an album of all these songs! They're fire! (pun intended)

When the Professor says sexy drawing to Ryan at 0:34 I immediately thought “omg it’s an enemies to lovers slow burn arc”

Love the They Might Be Giants shoutout! I assume you're aware they didn't write the song, they just did a famous version of it. Great episode!

bad days turn into good days when a new puppet history episode drops

Despite having one of the most horrifying thumbnails on the channel, this is easily one of my favorite episodes of Puppet History so far. I was moving rooms yesterday in my building and it was pretty emotionally rough for me, but this got me through the last push to get everything cleaned up and out so I could finally turn in the old keys and move on. Thank you, Professor, for reminding me why I've always hated sports, and for teaching us to laugh at completely devious/incompetent politicians again.

I love the fact that Ricky is part of the team! I wanna see Simu Liu as a guest. Also the lore with the parents! I love it