***The following interview includes spoilers from the season four finale***

In the highly anticipated season four finale of Mythic Quest, which dropped today on Apple TV+, the complex relationship between Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao) and Ian (Rob McElhenny) takes center stage. Poppy leaves for the Netherlands to move in with her boyfriend, Storm (Chase Yi), only to fake labor on the plane in order to return home, when she realizes Ian has returned from work after resigning. Ian admits the Elysium expansion is too important to him, because it’s all he has left of her. He didn’t tell her, because he knew she might not leave. Realizing he’s finally grown, Poppy admits that she had to come back if there was a “glimmer of hope” of making it with someone she loves. They hug, and in a shocking first, Ian pulls her into a kiss. The moment, however, doesn’t last as the two pull apart and are both shocked and not sure what to think.

Nicdao spoke with SciFi Vision last week about the season finale where she discussed Poppy navigating her impending motherhood, the intricacies of Poppy and Ian’s dynamic in the final episodes, the surprise of the kiss they shared, and much more.

All four seasons of Mythic Quest are available to stream on Apple TV+.

Read the full transcript below.

SCIFI VISION:   In these last couple episodes, talk about navigating the relationship between Poppy and Ian, because there's like this push and pull. She wants to stay away. She kind of doesn't. He's trying to do the right thing, but kind of isn't. Sort of talk a bit about that.

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   So, I think that it's kind of rare for these two characters, but in these last two episodes, they are kind of on independent journeys from each other. I think after Ian buys the machine art piece for Poppy, she has this moment of realizing that no matter how much she cares about this person, he's just never going to grow enough to be who he needs to be in their relationship for her to be able to be the healthiest, happiest version of herself.

I mean, we do a version of Poppy and Ian's complexity coming to a head every season, but I feel like this season, it was kind of different, because it wasn't each of them being like, “I'm right; you're wrong. I hate you. See my way.” I think it was a lot more heartbreaking. At least that's how I felt in shooting that scene where Poppy is really realizing, if I want to be a happy person, if I want to be a good mother, if I want to make good decisions for my life, I have to leave you behind, and I don't want to, but I have to. So, after that moment, she's really on this journey of being like, okay, I've cut this tie. It's time for me to decide who I want to be. Poppy, not Poppy and Ian, just Poppy. And Ian realizes, oh, if I don't want to lose this person who is so important to me, I have to do some growing.

So, for those last couple of episodes, they're both off on their own paths, trying to figure out how to be the best version of themselves separately, which has never happened before.

SCIFI VISION:   Were you surprised the sort of - I want to say romantic. I mean, they kissed, but yet I don't know, because they look at each other like, “Do we want to do this?” So, talk about that. Were you surprised, and also sort of balancing both sides of that?

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   Yeah, of course I was surprised. I mean, I think we've even said in interviews before, these characters will never hook up, and I think that that is kind of a beauty of storytelling and character development as well is it's just like life. You can say whatever you like, but life is going to do what it's going to do. You can say, “I'll never do this. I'll never do that,” but you don't know what's around the corner.

And I think that that's kind of what happened for these two characters. To your point, I do not think that we are leading them towards a healthy romantic relationship.

I think that the most honest moment of the whole season is the moment right after they break apart from that kiss and you see the response to what they've just done. I think that what is true for Poppy and Ian is that they do not know how to be healthfully dependent on each other. They only know unhealthy codependence.

And at the end of the season, they finally find themselves in a place where if I was friends with them, I would look at what was going on and be like, “Yes, guys, yes, this, this is great. Just stay on that track.” And then they're like, or we could be the chaos monsters that we always are and just do something completely out of left field that's going to absolutely destroy all of the growth that we've just had.

SCIFI VISION:   That's fair. That's fair. Now, David (David Hornsby) made her creative director. And obviously, if Ian comes back too, that may not stick, but if it does for a while, how do you think she'd, I guess, react? Because I feel like she might maybe hold it over him and be a little excited to make decisions herself.

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   I feel like one of the things that would be so fun and silly and ridiculous to explore next season, should we make another season, is Poppy is about to have a baby, like she's having a baby, and that baby is going to exist. I mean, the reason that we even explored this storyline this season was because I was pregnant, and I had my baby after we finished filming the season, and I love my baby so much, obviously.

And I remember having a moment, maybe a month in where I was like, “Oh my God, this is forever. I don't take a day off of this. This baby is now mine to take care of all the time.”

And I like to think I'm a little bit more emotionally intelligent than Poppy is. [laughs] I feel like if I had that moment, that moment for Poppy is going to be a breakdown moment of realizing, “Oh, I'm the creative director of this company. I just kissed my best friend, and now I have a baby that I have to take care of forever.”

I'm very excited to see how she navigates work life, personal life, and now motherhood all at once. I think it's going to be a hot mess, and I'm here for it.

SCIFI VISION:   That was going to be my other question. Can she stay away from work? Because she's tried multiple times. It just never works out. I mean, do you think the baby will push her there?

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   I don't think Poppy can stay away from work. I think, honestly, the moment that Poppy is able to actually prioritize something outside of work for any extended period of time, I think that the show is over. But the other thing that I think is really important to remember about Poppy and that we do explore this season, is she isn't just a mechanic; she is an artist. And I think for anyone that does something creative with their work or anyone that does something with their work that really helps them express themselves - I know I feel it as an actor - it's hard to draw those lines sometimes, because it's not just about going in and earning a paycheck. It's sort of integral to your own happiness is being able to express yourself through the art that you make at work. And I think that that is true for her.

So, yeah, I think even with a baby, it is just going to be about her figuring out, how do I be a mom and also continue to express myself in this way that is so deeply a part of who I am?

SCIFI VISION:   Were you worried at all to tell them you were pregnant? I mean, I had read in another interview you thought it would be a great storyline, but they may not have thought so. So, were you nervous?

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   I mean, I wasn't nervous, because we've all become really close, and they're all such supportive colleagues and bosses. So, I wasn't nervous on that front. I think I was nervous about how the audience might react to seeing Poppy, who we've typically seen as this asexual being up until now, become a maternal figure. And I say that even though I actually don't think that there's anything maternal about Poppy this season or any season past or future.

SCIFI VISION:   She might have to find it though. [laughs]

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   Yeah, and in fact, she might not. And I think that this is the thing that we forget sometimes when we see characters go through this sort of a journey on TV or in film is that we are used to these certain kinds of archetypes. So, we think, oh, Poppy's always been this, but now she's pregnant, so that means now she's that. No, no, she's still the person that she's always been. It's just that now she's going to have a kid.

And what does that mean for the way her story unfolds? She doesn't magically become a good mom just because she's having a baby, or she wants to have a baby. She's just as victim to, well, how do I put this? Like when I got pregnant, I had hormones swirling all around my body where suddenly I was obsessed with every baby that I saw, where I don't think that I was that way beforehand. And why would Poppy be immune to that? I don't think that she is.

And if Poppy was my friend and she got pregnant, I would be like, “Maybe think about this a little bit more before diving into this journey.” But I do think that it sets up some really interesting things for future stories for her.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah. I know we're out of time. I just want to say there's no news I'm assuming then on season five? Because after that ending, I want to see what happens.

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   So, do I. I really do. I hope that the audience feels the same way.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, I really enjoyed the finale, and she has to tell Storm too what she did.

CHARLOTTE NICDAO:   I know! What is that conversation going to look like, after he called it too, early on. [laughs]