It’s Mythoss Monday again, and I’m up to checking out the very last figures that I bought from the Arethyr Wave. It took a lot of self control, but I saved the Big Daddy of them all for last! Arethyr is the reason for the season, as they say, and all the figures in this assortment have been leading up to his return!

This fiery manifestation of war itself was available alone, or bundled with his mighty steed Aethon, and I went for the bundle. The result is the biggest Mythic Legions box yet. The Demon Warlord and horse come resting in a tray beside each other, with a secondary tray underneath to hold some accessories. Let’s bust these figures open, and we’ll start with Arethyr himself!

It’s no wonder the inhabitants of Mythoss are up in arms against Arethyr’s coming, because he does not look like the kind of guy you want to have show up on your doorstep. Everything about this guy just screams bad news! Now, considering he’s one of the major players in the Mythic Legions struggle for power, I was surprised to see that he does recycle a number of common parts. But, with that having been said, it all works so well together, I’m not going to complain! The obvious recycling comes from the armored full sleeves on the arms and the armor on the lower legs. These are all finished off in a dark iron color, looking like they were tempered in the fires of hell itself… probably while he was wearing them! You get the typical bare torso and upper legs, this time painted a bright crimson with some orange highlights.

And then there’s all the new stuff… and it’s great! The first thing that draws in my eye are the massive shoulders, forged to look like the heads of some unknown massive demon beasts. They kind of look like the skulls of Chinese Dragons, with their squished noses and string of jagged teeth. The horns that protrude off of each make Arethyr look to be a prickly sort, and definitely adds an intimidation factor to his overall look. Arethyr has crossed straps on his torso and a new belt that includes a sculpted demon head sigil for a belt buckle. All of these pieces are finished in the same black iron color, but the shoulders and belt have shining red eyes.

Arethyr’s portrait is something straight out of the depths of hell itself. The top half of his face is covered with a twisted visor, while his jaw is covered in a jutting plate, each framing his creepy wall of exposed teeth. His exaggerated, pointed ears fan out on each side of his head and have loops stretching out his earlobes. Meanwhile, two horns rise majestically from the top of his head, with a blaze of orange flame nesting between them. Damn, this is great stuff!

The visor is removable, as it is pegged in on each side of his head. It seems like it should be able to flip up, but the horns prevent that. Under the visor is a nightmarish skull with the reddish-orange demon skin stretched thin over it. His nose is a lump with four nostrils, and his wide yellow eyes are staring right into my soul. I think I’ll put the visor back on now.

Arethyr comes with the fearsome Aetherblade, a two-handed sword of untold demonic powers. This weapon is finished entirely in black, has a double cross-guard, which curves toward the blade and a skull topped pommel. It’s a great weapon design for a demon king, and I’m thinking that this might be a one-off accessory, unless it’s been bundled in one of the accessory sets.

You also get a flame effect for The Aetherblade. This piece slots into one side of the blade and stays put quite well. The translucent yellow and orange flame effect looks outstanding!

And what Demon Lord would be complete without a set of wings? Most will probably argue that Arethyr should always be displayed with these, but truth be told, they are a little hard to manage. They connect to him using one of the back adapters that come with practically every Mythic Legions figure, and yet this one of just a few times I’ve had any use for them. You simply peg the wings into the adapter and then tab that into the slot on the figure’s back. Now, it does stay put fairly well, and I don’t think I will have problems displaying him with the wings, but they are problematic when handling and posing the figure, as they are apt to pop out. With that having been said, they look absolutely amazing. The paintwork on the wings is simply incredible, and they feature a decent amount of articulation, with pegged hinges at the connection points, and hinges up near the crest of each wing. He’s also fairly well balanced with the wings, as I was able to get some decent shots without having to resort to any additional support. OK, let’s move on to Arethyr’s demon steed!

Aetheon is a remold and repaint of Balius, which I reviewed a little while ago. His brown coat has been repainted to a more hellish red, and he’s got extra fur added to his lower legs, which are reminiscent of flame with their bright yellow and orange paint. He also has a newly sculpted mane, which is a bit more wild and painted in the same orange/yellow, with the tail also matching.

The head sculpt is thoroughly demonic, with exposed teeth and horns reminiscent of the Taun Tauns from Star Wars. The eyes are painted yellow with no pupils, and he’s wearing a spiked horsey helmet, which adds to the more sinister vibe of this beast. I also dig that the reins have been changed to black chain. I’m guessing this beast probably eats eyeballs instead of sugar cubes and fingers instead of carrots.

The tack is somewhat different, lacking the bedroll and the blanket that we saw on Balius. Unfortunately a few of the pieces of the tack have given me problems. The stirrups peg in over some flaps that also peg in right under them. Well, one of the stirrups and one of those flaps popped out and ever since, they do not want to stay put. I may eventually just resort to gluing them in place. Aetheon also comes with two extra swords and shields, which can be carried in the straps, similar to Balius. These are just nice extras, which I’ll probably hand off to some Legion Builders, or just display on a weapons rack.

Arethyr fits onto his steed quite well, although I did remove his groin armor to make him fit better. That piece just tabs in and can be swapped in and out easily. I have to say, these two make for quite an awesome site. The moment they entered the battlefield, I think I’d adopt the play dead strategy and hope Arethyr and his evil hordes just roll past me. Oh, and I was a little skeptical over how well he would stay on the horse with his wings attached, but it actually works quite well. I just found that getting him seated first and attaching the wings after was the best way to go.

And that’s a wrap for this wave! Arethyr turned out to be another fantastic assortment of figures from The Four Horsemen. There was a wonderful selection of different characters (and we got our first horses!), but I will concede that Arethyr and Atheon stand out as my favorites. I’d like to think that even fans of fantasy figures who aren’t in over their head with collecting this line (unlike me!) might consider adding this set to their collection as a stand alone piece. It really is that impressive! And now that I’m caught up with all the more recent Mythic Legions, I can spend a few Mythic Mondays going back to some of the earlier figures that I haven’t had time to get to!