Preview: Birds of Empire — an immersive tale of history, fantasy, and myth

December 5, 2022·58 min·5 clips

Jason Liu reveals Birds of Empire, a scripted fiction series set 12,000 years after civilization's fall.

The episode opens with a brief frame introduction by writer and producer Jason Liu, who describes Birds of Empire as a passion project partnered with the sound designer of Tenet and Dunkirk. The main narrative begins with a myth-style narration establishing the world: modern civilization collapsed around 2600 CE through war, plague, and natural catastrophe. Over thousands of years, four tribes emerged in New Dakota — the wolves, rams, bears, and birds. The story centers on Azara, a young wolf woman who works as a butcher but trains privately with a spear, believing she is destined to be a hunter. Her brother Yaffa is blind but possesses extraordinary sensory perception, and the two share a close bond. In an early scene, Yaffa teaches Azara to throw a spear using smell, sound, and air pressure rather than sight. A rivalry is established with Kaya and Reza, two hunters who mock Azara's role and attempt to pass off a diseased, dead calf as a fresh kill. Azara, using her acute sense of smell, identifies the calf as a corpse and stops the tribe from eating poisoned meat. Their queen mother is forced to publicly rebuke Kaya and Reza while also dressing down Azara for appearances. In a private confrontation, Azara demands to be allowed to hunt; her mother refuses. The queen then shares her own history — she was inducted into the hunting pack too young, was tortured and mutilated by a senior hunter named Zakhari, killed Zakhari and later won a blood tournament to become queen. This backstory explains the queen's protectiveness. In a grief ritual, Azara speaks privately to the spirit of her dead twin sister Gaia, confessing she can no longer feel her presence and fears losing her will to continue. That evening, the queen convenes the Den of Souls elders and has Azara anointed so she can witness the proceedings. A raiding party has captured a chest of silver from the rams — a new currency being traded between the wolves' enemies that excludes the wolf tribe. The queen frames the theft as leverage and advocates for military pressure to reassert the wolves' position. The shaman delivers a prophecy about a coming war and a new light growing in the mountains. A call to hunt interrupts the council: a buffalo herd has been located to the west. The queen leads hunters out on a night hunt, the first in months. Azara and Yaffa secretly follow, violating the elders' prohibition. The episode ends on the plains at night as Azara declares herself ready to seize her place.

As heard by us

A cinematic fiction launch that leans on immersive sound, clan politics, and the rise of a new empire.

Birds of Empire is a scripted fiction series set 12,000 years after modern civilization falls, in a world where people have settled back into a more ancient way of life.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a mythic sci-fi saga that feels huge from the first minute.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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