#i will not be putting in the HM portrait of flora d'esplora as an example of information control

[misccy27]

Since everyone is talking about Belos' past anyway with the Hollow Mind portraits, I thought I might as well share my ideas/receipts about how Belos concealed his past when presenting himself as Emperor.

Like he's been a public figure in the Boiling Isles for a long time. So I was wondering how much others knew or suspected about the truth. Here's what I've come up with:

1. There are traces of Philip still around.

S2E4 Gwendolyn tells Luz, “Humans are rare. My great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here. But one day he just vanished. Rumor has it he left something in the library.” 

S2E5 Luz finds an article in the library that tells her: “Hundreds of years ago, there was a human named Philip Wittebane living in Bonesborough. And he donated his diary to this library.”

The diary is so old that it’s kept in the Forbidden Stacks, only accessible by library staff members. It seems unlikely that many people have read it. But even if they did, there doesn’t seem to be anything really connecting it to Belos. Because:

2. Others think Belos is a witch

S1E18 Willow says, “the Emperor is the most skilled witch that's ever lived.”

S1E19 King says, “a mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island.”

S1E19 King also says, "He's the Emperor! He's the most powerful witch alive!"

S1E19 Lilith says, "Being in the Emperor's Coven was my dream. I wanted to work alongside the most powerful witch on the Isles and make the world a better place."

I don't remember anything contradicting this. There are demons on the BI that look pretty similar to witches, and demons (like Hooty) can be immortal ig, so it matters to me that Belos was specifically presenting himself as a witch.

That said, the lifespan of witches is never officially confirmed afaik (and I do hate that thanks). Bump gets that throwaway line about 300 years until retirement or whatever. But since we are shipping witches and humans, they have to have similar lifespans. You cannot convince me otherwise lol.

So that makes it even more implausible that the human that showed up and vanished centuries ago is at all related to Belos, the ~most powerful~ witch on the Boiling Isles.

The fact that the Emperor also has a 16 year old nephew lends further credence to the idea that he's a normal witch, aging normally, with normal (if mysterious) family ties.

3. Belos’ appearance

S1E19 The Unauthorized Boiling Isles History reads, “Before he ascended to the throne, Emperor Belos gained prominence as a crusader for unity during the Savage Ages.”

S2E16 We get to see Belos during this crusade period. He definitely already looks old:

We also know that Belos has been Emperor for ~50 years:

S1E17 a Hexside teacher says, “Over 50 years ago, Emperor Belos appointed a head witch to each coven.” [Bonus fun: this means Terra could be the first head of the plant coven]

S1E18 Kikimora says, “Up until 50 years ago, witches and demons practiced wild magic during what we called the Savage Ages [...] until our great Emperor ascended to the throne, and taught witches how to use magic properly.”

So that's 50 years on top of his age when he was crusading. Hasn’t anybody noticed that Belos is unreasonably old for a witch yet? (And if so, what did they think he was?) 

I think Belos could have handled this discrepancy by carefully planning how he travels around the island and changing his name as he goes; standard secret immortality stuff. This would also serve the double benefit of making it seem like he has a broader base of support from the start, if there’s the appearance of several crusaders going around spreading the ~good word~. 

At some point, though, he did start covering his tracks. By present day (s1), Belos’ Emperor outfit makes his age much more ambiguous:

This is also how he appears in all the official, state-sanctioned portrayals of the Emperor that I remember seeing. Examples:

Which brings me to my main point:

4. History is written by Belos

Lilith is a historian and the former head of the Emperor's Coven. She didn't seem to know any truths about Belos' past. Hunter had access to and was actively reading restricted books about wild magic from the Savage Ages. We get no hint that he came across anything, either.

But they also weren't looking. So let's say you're highly suspicious of Belos and actively digging into his past. How much could you find out about him? We already have the official narrative: Belos ended the Savage Ages and united witchkind 50 years ago. So what about the unofficial narrative?

This brings us back to The Unauthorized Boiling Isles History from S1E19. This is a book owned by Eda, the most infamous wild witch on the Boiling Isles. Here's King's full narration from this scene:  

A mysterious witch appeared who declared that he, and he alone, could speak to the island. He said that we were using magic all wrong. His teachings took hold, his strength grew, and he became... Emperor Belos. Belos said that mixing magic was wrong, that only he had that right. So he created the coven system. And there, our knowledge was restricted, and our potential sealed away. Those who resist are called wild witches, and they face harsh punishment. Emperor Belos has since retreated into his castle. There are whispers that say he's planning something big. 

King's narration is different from the text on the page. Here's the page on Belos:

“He rules by fear and an iron fist, and his past remains largely unknown.” 

So it sounds like Belos has indeed done a very good job of establishing and maintaining information control. He has erased his past so thoroughly that even an unauthorized history book offers no real rumors or speculation. Both inside the castle and in pockets of dissent, we find no trace of the truth of Belos' past. It is believable to me that even highly-ranked coven officials who are suspicious of Belos and actively looking for information about his past from inside the castle still wouldn't be able to find anything at this point.

With that said: there are probably rumors. There probably are witches who remember Belos from his crusades and grew suspicious. They probably did try to spread the word and warn others.  

At the same time, I’m sure that there are plenty of witches saying plenty of things about Belos. Belos is the most influential and powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, after all. So looking at it from the perspective of someone trying to piece together the truth:

How plausible does it sound that the witch ruling the Boiling Isles is actually a human? How plausible does it sound that he’s actually 400+ years old? How do either or both of those rumors weigh up against all of the other scraps of information and official propaganda and baseless conspiracy theories that you’re also coming across?

How much are either of these rumors worth considering if your primary concern is to, say, try to figure out what’s actually going to happen on the Day of Unity?

(At what point do you decide to just go straight to the source?)