The framing devise in this season wrt to unreliable narration...
People are confused by the framing devise this season, because we have the documentary on one hand and the "failures" on the other, and both devices seem to be used randomly. As a result every perceived inconsistency in the story is being blamed on unreliable narration. Maybe this can help clear some things up:
The failures, and only the failures, are the framing devise. It's likely here to stay all thru s3+4, and maybe beyond.
In contrast the documentary is one plot device among many (the music, the tour, the great conversion). Primarily the doc exists to generate conflict between Daniel and Lestat. We already know it ends sometime in 2025. From the perspective of the show's present time frame, which is the auction set in 2026 (or possibly later) and more importantly after the events of qotd, the doc is in its past. Hence NOT a framing devise.
The doc is an admitted performance (to parallel the 1973 SF interview). It's not meant to be taken as gospel. In universe the doc is a means for Lestat to wrestle back some semblance of control over his own story. Through it we see some things that are true and some things that might be embellished or downplayed. And yes, there are outright lies (i.e. Sophia), bc the doc is meant for the public. And Lestat doesn't owe the in universe audience or Daniel for that matter the truth. He can pick and choose what to tell about his life just like any irl artist would with their music/tour docs. It's a performance!
Now on to the failures: these recordings are Lestat's true reckoning, his attempt at truth and reconciliation (to parallel the 2022 Dubai interview). Only he doesn't need Daniel to bully him into telling thehis truth, bc he's doing it of his own volition. And bc presumably his target audience of one is Louis. For the most part we're supposed to trust this narration. He doesn't have any incentive to lie at this point. He's recorded them after Akasha's demise, when he's free of Marius' gag order. And as he says, unlike Louis he isn't deluding himself, meaning he doesn't have memory issues. He's neither deliberately lying to us nor subconsciously misrepresenting the past.
At the auction the failures were presented as "an omniscient history of the events of the 2025 album... and the consequential global catastrophes". This is the writers telling us to treat Lestat's narration as close to omniscient as a pov character can get. As for "but he wasn't there", the show already told us to focus on the what, not the how. And consider this: we're after the events of qotd, and the writers might very well have made the omniscient bit literal. Since the show has increased the power levels for everyone, post-qotd-Lestat can probably read anybody's mind anytime anywhere in the world, except for his fledglings' ofc.
Back to the particulars: while we aren't supposed to question the veracity of the failures in general, they're bound to include some falsehoods, bc it's still a subjective account. Especially in the beginning Lestat glosses over the worst parts of his trauma (incest, rape, grief). That's why there're 111 volumes. They're his version of journaling. It's how he's processing 266 years' worth of trauma, plus ptsd from Akasha on top of that. So cut him some slack, and maybe don't call him a liar at the slightest inconsistencies? The further along we get the more he'll open up to the truly vulnerable parts of himself.
And last but not least the writers will throw us some curveballs for sure! Most likely we've seen some deliberate misdirections, some of which will be revealed by the end of the season, and others probably won't be resolved until like season 5? 🤯 Let the tale seduce you...
