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st4r-t3ars · 3 days ago

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Somewhere in the hole in the sea…

Analyzing the prophecy from 110

So, I've been going stir crazy over the course of the hiatus, and rewatching a whole bunch of just roll with it, and I've come up with a few theories, all of which are very clearly illustrated by the prophecy from 110. So I wanted to go through it and analyze the whole thing!

So strap in, because this post is going to be long.

TLDR: Chip is the heir and Champion of a long forgotten sea god, whose last egg currently resides in The Hole in the Sea, alongside Niklaus Hendrix

First up, we have the very first line of the prophecy: An entity threatens world stability

So, this entity is clearly a threat of some kind. But just who or what is it? My personal theroy is that it's Niklaus. Earlier in this very episode, Niklaus tells Chip that all he wants is freedom. Furthermore, Niklaus's use of illusions when making deals with the party (excluding Chip), implies that he has a limited range on his abilities, which would imply that he is trapped somewhere requiring freedom.

There is a possibility that this entity is whatever would hatch out of the egg we see in the one-shot, but I don't think that's what the entity is for reasons that will become clear throughout the course of this argument. But I think the show itself contradicts this. Although the canonicity of this is dubiously canon, the animatic that accompanies the prophecy shows us this entity: a humanoid figure made of the same black goop that comes out of people because of Niklaus's deals.

Time stamp is 1:16:03 of Episode 110

This entity is humonaoid, appears to have horns, and is made of goop similar to niklaus's. All of these factors point towards Niklaus being the entity, which brings us to the next line of the prophecy.

Caged in the deepest layers of infinity

As we've already established, Niklaus is trapped somewhere, as is this same entinty. Now, the question becomes, where is it that he's trapped. I propose that he's trapped under the Hole In The Sea. The obvious answer would be that he is trapped in the egg. After all, it has a black and gold color scheme, the same as Niklaus. Furthermore, when Finn touched it, it flooded the entire sea with black goop, turning it into the black sea that we currently know.

And these are solid bits of evidence, enough that I frankly can't dismiss entirely. However, as we get further into the prophecy, I believe I will be able to disprove this theory fairly solidly. But that still leaves the question. Where in the Hole in The Sea is Niklaus trapped?

Well, I propose that he is trapped in the city we first see in the second half on the one-shot. We are given the description of a decayed, abandoned city. It is clear that Niklaus has some connection to the Hole in the Sea with how intently he is pushing Chip and the rest of the Riptide pirates towards it. Sure, he could simply want his freedom and needs the Riptide pirates in order to achieve it. However, this feels somewhat inaccurate to me, as it does not fully encompass the way Niklaus speaks about the Hole in The Sea.

Furthermore, his residence appears to be a ornate, but fairly simple office. This would not make much sense as a residence, even as an illusion, if Niklaus were to be trapped in the egg. It would, however, make sense if he were trapped in that city.

Alright, so now, we've established that Niklaus is the entity that threatens world stability, and that he is caged in the deepest layers of the Black Sea. That brings us to the next line of the prophecy:

The seal remains locked by a key of divinity

So, what exactly is this key? Well, I have a couple theories. The first of which is that the key of divinity is chip. He does, after all, speak celestial. However, I don't think he is because of two key points.

Firstly, in the rolled for episode 110, Grizzly mentions that the keys to the Hole in the Sea (the large bronze doors carved with symbols of the moon and sun) were a pair of medallions dropped by a pair of goop monsters in the one-shot. This, in combination with the fact that the door was already ajar in Episode 115 implies that perhaps the seal has already been broken, and is perhaps the very act that set this prophecy in motion.

However, those doors may not be the seal, as they are largely non-magical. If we beleive the seal to be magical, may I propose the sea itself.

The main bit of evidence I have for this is a line from Gillion's original prophecy: One shall remain, sea or land.

Niklaus is trapped within the Hole in the Sea as we've established. Furthermore, the only way to access is quite literally called a Hole in the the Sea. If the sea were to dissapear, as Gillion's prophecy implies is possible, then perhaps that is the thing Niklaus needs to get rid of in order to escape, and would thus be the seal locked by a key of divinity.

But how would the sea be removed from the equation? Well, Niklaus's deal with Chip specifies that Chip cannot touch the egg in the Hole in the Sea, but only that Chip cannot touch the egg. It says nothing about Gillion. And, given that the last time that someone touched the egg, the sea was flooded with black goop, what do you think will happen when the Champion of the Undersea, a magical representive of the moon and sea itself touches that egg? I beleive the sea will retreat, which brings us to our next line:

It's release in time an inevitablity

This one seems fairly obvious to me. Niklaus has been planning this escape for a while. He made a deal with Captain Rose, led the Black Rose pirates to the Hole in the Sea, notably in a different location from where the Riptide Pirates enter the Hole in Episode 115. Of course he's going to escape. He's been planning this for far too long not to.

And now we reach the real meat of this analysis and the part that I wrote this entire thing for.

A sea god's last egg

At first glance, this line would appear to be referring to Gillion and his status as the Chosen One of the Undersea/Sea/Moon Goddess. And for quite a while, I took this line at face value. But the line directly after this thouroughly disproves that this line is referring to Gillion. For you see, it is all but explicitly confirmed in the rolled for episode 82 that Gillion was not born as the Champion of the moon goddess, but rather he became the champion after he was released from the Luxbris pearl. He was released in moonlight, storm, and sea. The title of the episode itself, litterally Moonlight, Storm, and Sea only highlights this further.

So Gillion became the Champion of Lunadeyis when he was released from the Luxbris pearl. If the line above refers to Gillion hatching from the Sea God's last egg, then the description this prophecy gives of his becoming champion should match up with the circumstances of Episode 82.

The chosen is born underneath an eclipse in the midst of a storm

The storm part is solidly covered by the storm that Pelagus generates as he moves. But crucially, there is no eclipse in Episode 82. Trust me, I checked. Therefore, the chosen born of the sea gods last egg cannot possibly be Gillion. So who could it be?

Well, I propose Chip. When he was flung off the Midnight Rose, there was indeed a storm in the sky. I could not find solid evidence of there being an eclipse in the one-shot aside from an odd description of the moon quivering on the water. However, it has been heavily implied that both Drey and Chip have a hole in their memory when it comes to the time they were flung off the ship to their arrival in the Hole, with Chip not remembering anything after he was flung off the ship.

Therefore, it is entirely possible that there was an eclipse when the Midnight Rose sank that we're simply not currently privy to, but also that Chip managed to end up in the Hole in the Sea, and simply has no memory of it.

Furthermore, we know of an egg in the Hole in the Sea. Combine that with the fact that Chip inexplicably knows Celestial and his innate ability to use magic, it is entirely possible that Chip, at least the version of him that we currently know came from that egg.

It is also possible that that egg is the remaining egg of the sea god, an entity that doesn't seem to match with the current panethon of two sister gods, Lunadeyis and Aster, that we currently has. Which brings me to the crux of my argument.

We know, both from Gillion's original prophecy, the Navy's hinting, and the mural in Liquidis, that there are two champions. One of the moon goddess, and one of the sun goddess.

Gillion is very obviously the Champion of the Moon Godess, the Undersea, and the sea itself. These are things we've known since the first episode.

Jay is most likely the Champion of the Sun Godess, the Land, and the navy. This is supported by her dream of the sun calling her in Episode 88, as well as Gillion explicitly saying in that same episode that she is probably Aster's champion. Furthermore, with the details we learn in the begining of Episode 115 about Fay Ferin's involvement with the Sun Goddess, and the tree in Episode 110 giving a vision of three parties working together, one of whom were red-haired aasimar, all trails currently lead to Jay being the Chosen One of the Sun Goddess.

So, between Gillion and Jay, we have The Navy and The Undersea covered. But, there is one other major party in this world that we have not yet discussed: pirates. Pirates, who is represented in the Riptide Captains by Chip.

We have an indication of a third god, this sea god who has one last egg waiting to hatch, and a third party: pirates.

Niklaus has targeted all of the Riptide Captains. I believe it is not an unreasonable assumption that that is because he needs control over the Gods' Champions, either for escape, or for some other goal later down the line. However, if there were to exist a third Champion, and a third god, it would also make sense for Niklaus to target them, hence, him making a deal with Chip.

Furthermore, Niklaus being Captain Hendrix lends further credence to this theory. He himself is a pirate, he himself has goals unrelated to either The Navy or The Undersea, and is trapped in the Hole in the Sea, a place that seems firmly and inextricably linked to this potential sea god.

Sure, Niklaus himself could be that sea god's champion, however I believe that honor goes to Chip, because I fully beleive Chip to be The Nameless Prince, an appropriate title for the creature that hatched from a forgotten god's last egg.

Now, why am I so sure of this? In the rolled for Episode 93, Condi proposes three ideas: Arlin is the guarding giant, Chip is the Nameless Prince, and Rose's child is the unborn king. Grizzly said that one of them was right. We know, Price, Rose's child to already be born. Therefore, that idea cannot be correct. Arlin is potentially the guarding giant, although given the encounter with Jug, I'm willing to bet that he was the guarding giant. That leaves only Chip as the Nameless Prince.

Thus, Chip is not only The Nameless Prince, but he is the heir of a forgotten sea god and the Champion of a third party aligned with the pirates of the world.

Finally, we draw to the last two lines of the prophecy:

The chosen is warned

I believe this line refers to all three Riptide Captains, and all three Champions. Gillion grew up with a mangled version of the prophecy, Jay's family has inherited warnings of their service to the Sun Goddess, and Chip was quite literally there to witness the first time the Hole in the Sea opened. All of these would serve as warnings of the things to come.

And finally we reach the final line of the prophecy:

The shape of all life take a new form, a choice to be made with no time to mourn

This line seems to me to clearly refer to some choice that will be made in the Hole in the Sea. Perhaps it could refer to a plan that Niklaus has further down the line, but given that the egg seems to be at the center of all of this, and an egg quite literally births new life I believe this new form will take place in the Hole in the Sea.

What do I beleive this new form entails? Well, that requires explaining what exactly I beleive Chip to be. I don't think he's human. I don't think he can be if he's the heir to a forgotten sea god and hatched from an egg. No, I beleive he is a dragon.

He hatched from an egg, has innate magic, and just generally is not what he seems. Furthermore, some dragons can shapeshift, which would explain Chip being able to look human despite coming from an egg. And if he can shapeshift, perhaps the new form that all life takes does not refer to the denizens of Mana, but rather it refers to Chip discovering his heritage.

So where does this choice come in? I think someone is getting left behind in that Hole. And I think it's going to be Arlin, largely because Chip's story has been entirely about forgign his identity without the legacy of the Black Rose Pirates, and especially without Arlin. Also, Niklaus ordered Chip to keep Arlin alive at all costs, which means he's definitely going to die.

So yeah, that has been my ted talk of most of my theories for what will happen after the hiatus. Hope you enjoyed! Let me know your thoughts!

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