#orpheus and eurydice theory

[blogthebooklover]

Noa & Mae = Orpheus & Eurydice AND Romeo & Juliet

So, something occurred to me after rewatching Disney's Hercules for like the millionth time (weird stretch, I know, lol). I remembered this post talking about how Mae and Noa's personalities are similar to Hercules and Megara. And then I remembered these two posts from @bookishdaze:

The Woman in the Hazmat Suit

Noa & Mae as Romeo and Juliet

She pointed out how Korina (the woman) may be a leader of the underground bunker, and how her name is from Kore, and we all know what other name the former is also derived? Persephone; the Goddess of Spring and what else? Queen of the Underworld! It's interesting to think about, and I'm really curious about what Wes Ball and team are going to do with this character in the next movie, but I digress.

Which also got me to thinking about the possible story inspirations for the next two movies in Noa's trilogy: the second movie might be a loose retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the third might be Romeo & Juliet (or it could be the other way around, too).

First, the myth/legend of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Orpheus was a demigod and a musician whose beautiful songs were loved by anyone who heard them, mostly by women. However, the only woman he loved was a human named Eurydice. Depending on which version it is, their wedding blessing wasn't entirely finished on the day of their marriage, which was to be ordained by Hymen, the god of marriage ceremonies. This is perceived as an omen of ill faith from the two lovers. Again, depending on which version it is, Eurydice is enjoying some time to herself, or with the Nymphs in a field; but a snake bites her ankle and she dies from its venom.

Overwhelmed with grief by the death of his wife, Orpheus decides to venture to the Underworld to bring her soul back. Since Orpheus is a demigod, it's easy for him to travel down to the realm of Hades to search for his wife. His songs tame Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld, and the creatures hidden in the shadows. When he comes upon the thrones of the king and queen of the Underworld, Orpheus pleads his case of returning Eurydice's soul to her body by singing a song so moving; that it even warmed the hearts of the immortal rulers. Hades and Persephone agree to let him take Eurydice back to the world above, on the condition that Orpheus does not turn around to look at her until they are both in the sunlight.

Orpheus has second thoughts about the gods tricking him that Eurydice is not behind him as they walk. Just before they reach the entrance to the world above, he turns around and manages to see his wife before she is taken back into the shadows of the Underworld. Realizing his mistake, Orpheus begs to try again, but he cannot. Once again, depending on the version, no one enters the Underworld twice while still alive.

Now the ending for Orpheus's story varies, whether he dies of a broken heart or is killed by a creature; however, in one version the Muses take his lyre and send it into the heavens becoming one of the star constellations.

Second, William Shakespeare's play of Romeo & Juliet.

The play that everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, had to read in their freshmen/1st year of high/secondary school. So, a quick recap: Two young teenagers from sparring houses in Verona, Italy, they meet up at an event hosted by the other's family, decide they are in love (after three days of knowing each other) and marry in secret. However, someone from both houses end up dead; Mercutio (Montague) and Tybalt (Capulet), the latter kills the former and Romeo kills Tybalt out of grief and revenge for his friend. Friar Lawrence advises Romeo to visit Juliet before he is sent into exile. After spending the night with her, Romeo leaves. Juliet is grief stricken by the fact that Romeo is in exile, and she has no choice but to marry the man who was chosen to marry her, Paris. Friar Lawrence, once again offers advice but to Juliet this time, to take a sleeping potion that makes her seem like she’s dead.

Once Juliet awakes from the sleeping draught, she finds that Romeo has poisoned himself due to misinformation about her death. Friar Lawrence urges Juliet to come with him to a convent to be safe. However, she does not, choosing instead to stay with Romeo and since her love drank all of the poison, she takes his dagger and stabs herself in the heart. By the influence of the Prince, the two grieving families put aside their differences in memory of their only respective children.

Third, Noa and Mae, and how the previously mentioned stories could work for them.

For the second film, while Noa isn't a musician per se, he does show the abilities of an engineer (fixing a fish rack, and the cattle prod). HOWEVER, he does have to sing to Eagle Sun to get the bird to come to him. My head canon is that maybe Noa works on various different inventions while he's training to be the next Master of Birds. If Mae returns to the Eagle Clan, and sees Noa's inventions for herself, she would probably have mixed emotions at the fact of seeing an evolved ape even creating something from the remains of human technology.

Remember: Noa's and overall evolved ape intelligence TERRIFY her.

However, I think the more she spends time with the Eagle Clan apes, the more she realizes apes and humans can probably co-exist with each other.

My head canon for Mae is that it was her entire family and friends as the team that was sent out on the mission in KOTPOTA, and after Proximus Caesar's apes killed everyone, she barely escaped with her life as she says to Noa. And she had to survive alone in the wilderness before coming across Noa and the Eagle Clan village. Like Noa, she is also just a scared little kid trying to understand everything that had happened in the 200-300 years of a post-apocalyptic world. And now, she literally had/has no where else to go, no home to return to (since we all agree on that one head canon she's one of the few humans immune to whatever remains of the Simian virus), until she spends more time with Eagle Clan.

For whatever reason, Mae has to go back to the underground bunker, or maybe she's kidnapped by another human group from a different bunker; but I'm going with the former for this take. Noa can't take the fact that she has to return to the humans, seeing how humans and apes can live together, and he sets out with Anaya and Soona to get Mae back. When the trio arrive at the human bunker (the one from the end of Kingdom), Noa must plead his case to Korina to get Mae to return to Eagle Clan. That her living amongst apes is proof that both species can co-exist. Maybe even offering one of his inventions and/or an eagle egg, to the human leader as a sign of peace and hope for a future.

After Korina hears Noa's case, she agrees to let Mae return to Eagle Clan; now I imagine that instead of the sadder ending of Orpheus and Eurydice, it's the ending of the Hades and Persephone myth instead, the human leader offers only one condition to Noa: that Mae returns to the bunker when the last leaf falls and the first snows begin. Unlike apes, humans cannot survive the harsh winter weather. Both Noa and Mae agree to this term, and they continue living in the Eagle Clan village until the fall/winter. On the other hand though, I do see this working the other way around: that Noa is the one who is captured, and Mae is the one to plead her case to Korina.

And finally, the third movie. The story line we all want to see!

When Mae returns for the winter, let's assume it's been a couple of years or so by now, there is tension amongst the humans in the underground bunker. Half of them don't like this arrangement of a human living amongst the apes in the above world. The Tybalt & Paris equivalents (gonna call them Bunker!Tybalt & Bunker!Paris) in the third movie are feeling reservations about the arrangement, confessing their concerns to Korina when Mae returns. Korina (also being The Prince equilavent for the third movie) tries reassuring them that Mae staying with Noa and the apes is a test to see if the two species can live and work together. But Bunker!Tybalt and Bunker!Paris are not having it, and they arrange for a duel with Noa until Anaya (since we all agree that he's the Mercutio equivalent, poor thing) steps in for his childhood best friend.

Aaaaaaand we all know what happens next! However, let's imagine Bunker!Paris somehow leaves the scene.

Noa, enraged with grief for his best friend, kills Bunker!Tybalt but soon realizes he made a huge mistake and he decides to step down as leader and exile himself from the Eagle Clan. Because a good leader doesn't kill in revenge, no matter the reason. Meanwhile, when Mae hears the news of Bunker!Tybalt, she blames herself for the whole outcome. Korina makes the decision for Mae to stay in the bunker, for a possible upcoming war with the apes and to keep her safe. Mae doesn't want any more bloodshed, and she confides her concerns with the Nurse equivalent (again, gonna call them Bunker!Nurse; or maybe it'll be Dar as the Nurse Equivalent as well, but I digress). Bunker!Nurse feels empathy for Mae, but agrees with Korina about staying in the bunker. That Mae's skills and intelligence are needed for an upcoming war.

Mae doesn't want a war though, she soon realizes that the apes and Noa are her family as well. She sneaks out of the bunker in the cover of night and tries to find Noa.

Not entirely the same, but I do imagine a scene similar to The Lion King 2 (again, another Romeo & Juliet retelling; although, it would be hilarious if Noa & Mae broke out into song, but that's my crazy take heeheehee); when Mae and Noa reunite, away from everything and everyone trying to keep the two species apart.

Noa tries to convince Mae to run away with him, and explore the remains of this post-apocalyptic world, hoping to find more apes and humans similar to the unlikely duo. And create a new village where the two species can co-exist. Mae doesn't buy it though, she confides in Noa about returning together to prevent an upcoming war between apes and humans.

Once they return, they see it has already happened, once again taking some inspiration from The Lion King 2 here.

Bloodshed and dead bodies from both sides of the battle field. The human girl and the male ape are horrified by the war.

They both enter the sidelines of the battlefield, the apes and humans pause briefly when the ape and human are in sight. Mae and Noa each take turns pleading their case, that humans and apes can live in peace and harmony if they work together. There cannot be anymore bloodshed between them. The test of Mae (and maybe a few other humans) living amongst the Eagle Clan works, and there can be a solution between the two species.

But wait, you dear reader ask, doesn't the Shakespeare play end tragically?

Yes, the OG play is a tragedy. However, like the aforementioned Lion King 2, there are other R&J retellings with a happier ending:

Gnomeo and Juliet

Warm Bodies

Interesting how the second one is also set in a post-apocalyptic world, albeit in the zombie horror subgenre xD.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

[k-martins]

This part of the song Flowers by Hadestown hits me really hard. I'm still surprised that no one thought of making an edit about it with Megumi and Itafushi.

THIS IS HIS SONG 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[field-cryptobotanist]

Charles makes the parallel to their story to Orpheus and Eurydice and Charles might be Orpheus in regards to Edwin.

But Edwin isn't Eurydice at all.

We can see throughout that episode that Edwin is Sysiphus.

Too smart for his own good, managing to cheat death twice using his cunning alone (the only reason Charles could save him was his detailed plan).

We see the exact same punishment Sysiphus got for Simon. Doing the exact same task over and over being promised freedom when it's over.

With Edwin not understanding the depth of despair that punishment puts him in.

And just like Sysiphus he won't cheat death a third time.

Next time he ends up in Hell it's permanent.

Or it would be but the fact that we see at the end of the episode that Simon (Sysiphus) can be redeemed means that Edwin can as well.

He has to give up on all the anger, hatred that he still holds against everyone that has wronged him that only hurts him in the end.

Charles gives himself the role of Orpheus because when it come to Edwin he loves him so much he would go to hell for him and ultimately he loves him so much he will always turn around when Edwin is hurting.

We see again and again Charles making snap decisions that he thinks are for the best that end up terribly (possessing the witch, hitting the bell etc.)

So Edwin when it is all said and done will have to save himself by letting go of the grudge he still keeps about his death

[1800naveen]

WHO CAME UP WITH THE TAMLIN AND RHYS' SISTER BEING LOVERS THEORY?

BECAUSE YOU COOKED WITH THIS!

It reminds me of Romeo and Juliet or Orpheus and Eurydice😢

[toastedclownery]

The God Hunt, part 3

Episode 2 and 3 characters + Killix and 62! I went a bit ham with one of these because it's one of my favorite myths 💥

Once again, I am summarizing these myths and only adding the information that can be applied to the characters! There's a lot more to these, check them out when you have the time (also feel free to fact check, I couldn't make some of these up even if I tried)

Part 1

[cautiouscrab]

Are we as a society ready to talk about how Orpheus and Eurydice are character foils in the game?

Orpheus is weighted down by his and Eurydices death. He’s trapped by it, unable to see past his mistakes

Eurydice, on the other-hand, is freed by her death. Although she is angry at orpheus for his screw up, she’s found peace within her solitude in Asphodel.

This in turn gives the line “don’t look back” a different meaning in Lament of Orpheus, as it shows how Eurydice refuses to “look back” on her past life due to the peace she’s discovered in death, while Orpheus ONLY chooses to look back into his mistakes.

Looking back for Orpheus would mean that he’d have to realize change could be made, even now that he’s dead

But that’s just a theory, a ga- *gets shot*

[freedelusionshere]

What if Demon Chef David

Is an investor in Chef Adam’s new restaurant and suggested poaching Sydney? 🤣

What if he was also an investor in Ever (deal with the devil) and the way for Chef Terry to get rid of him and Adam was to let Ever go?

[whereserpentswalk]

There's no actual proof there was hetrosexuality in ancient Greece, as much a lot of cishet teens online like to say there was. Yes they had a strange ritual known as marriage where older men would sexually exploit young girls, but that doesn't mean they had modern views about hetrosexual love being accepted.

Yes, I know a lot of people ship Orpheus and Eurydice nowadays, but that doesn't mean the ancient Greeks saw them that way. They were very close, and we know he cared about her enough to venture into the underworld. But we don't have any explict sex scenes between them in any source, so it could have been a friendship.

Stop trying to impose your modern values onto the ancients.

This isn't my actual opinion I'm making fun of how people talk about queer history.

[vancalox]

im a eurydice = solas truther btw and ill die for my beliefs

be so serious........ and lavellan as orpheus......

[possum-quesadilla]

IM OBSESSED WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE me and my best friend beans have watched it together probably five times (which is impressive because we live 5 hours apart so every time we see each other. its lighthouse time.) ANYWAYS. i'll die on the hill that they did more than just fight and cuddle.

YOU’VE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD UBER AUTISM!!!! BE PREPARED FOR A LONG RANT ABOUT THE LIGHTHOUSE!!!

(Rant under cut, warning for discussions of sexual content, including non-consensual encounters)

That is so slay!! Love that you share it with a friend, haha. I’ve seen it 152 times, only once in theaters for a special anniversary screening and it was MAGICAL. I have a dvd and a special dvd with extra art and the blueprint plans for the lighthouse itself and their clothing that I am happy to share, but OUUUGH I love this movie!! I watch it at least once a week!! I have read through the original script at least six times!!

They definitely did more!! Oh my goodness!! I’m so glad you agree. We of course have the moment they almost kiss while slow dancing, (which is phenomenal) but a lot of people glaze over Howard almost blatantly kissing Wake before he beats him up, when he is hallucinating him as the mermaid!!

And then, right after that, when he tells Wake to bark like a dog, the atmosphere is so TENSE I can’t stand it!! I certainly think after he told him to roll over and stood over him that they did… something. What in particular depends on the reading, but it definitely wasn’t kosher, let’s say. (Whether or not Wake did or even could consent is also very dubious at best).

I love rewatching the movie with a different reading in mind. The Proteus / Prometheus theory, Wake being the liar, Howard being the liar, them both lying, it all being a deathbed hallucination, Howard having killed Winslow bc they were lovers/he had a crush, etc., even different variations of them all put together!

Anyone have a favorite interpretation? Favorite theory? Moment? Anything?

Sorry Bunny… you walked right into my autism trap…

[lostplanetvoltia]

Prediction: One of Melione’s domains is ghosts. I think her cast will be shades she sends out to attack enemies. The shade NPCs from last game can come with you to help. In the trailer, the scene of the hub world with Nemesis has Patroclus in the top right corner standing at a table. You would talk to them to add them to your party. Dora will be the first shade cast you get, but after you convince her to join you.

Anyways, here's a doodle of the Hades 1 NPC shades as, well, shades.

[flippityflaps]

The movie "The Book of Life" is the Mexican equivalent of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice😳

[dearreader]

im thinking of what would’ve happened if orpheus hadn’t turned around. like, hik and eurydice would’ve never been the same. she died and he went after her, but he saw her dead body. he saw her lifeless and in grief tried to resurrect her. like he would still be carrying that grief and guilt with him.

or, what if only one of them knew?

what if only orpheus knew she died and she forgot… how could he deal with that? how could he cope with it?

or what if eurydice only remembered what he did? if only she knew she died but he didn’t. but he has brought her back to life…

like, i’m thinking of my novel and i’m trying to nail down the metaphor but now i’m also thinking of what happens after it all…

[incorrectmusicals]

Jax: How many kids do you guys want?

*at the same time*

Eurydice: 2.

Orpheus: 15.

[niko-sasaki-dbd]

A detail I love about Episode 4, is the symbol that appears in the music ball Charles finds and the meaning it has when it comes to his own story.

The relief in the ball, is a lyre, Orpheus' symbol. It was the musical instrument that he received as a gift from the god Apollo, who was considered his father in some versions of the original myth.

Note: In The Sandman Universe, Morpheus and the Muse Calliope are Orpheus' parents.

CHARLES: I found one of those at a maritime museum once. The Case of the Drowned Diver, wasn't it, Edwin? Superstitious sailors would use them to calm the seas.

Orpheus was well known as a talented musician; his music could intrigue people's minds with supernatural ideas and had the power to broaden their thinking to new and unusual theories.

When he joined the expedition of the Argonauts, he saved them from the Sirens' music by playing his own, more powerful and beautiful melodies. Later, it was also his music that allowed Jason to accomplish the purpose of his journey.

It makes sense that sailors used his symbol on an object designed to calm the seas and guarantee their safety while navigating.

When it comes to Charles, in particular, the way he ends up using the music ball (in the absence of a more technical name for that object) is both literal and metaphorical.

On one hand, he uses the music ball to put Angie, a sea monster, to sleep, thereby solving the case of The Lighthouse Leapers. On the other hand, he uses the instrument to save Edwin and himself from The Night Nurse—not just by literally pushing her into Angie's mouth with the ball in her hands, but by causing her to meet Kashina. This meeting prompts her to remember Kashi's words later, when Charles tried to save Edwin from returning to hell by pointing out it was a mistake, and again when he asked her to open a portal to hell so he could bring Edwin back.

In Orpheus' story, when Eurydice died from a snakebite, he charmed the ferryman Charon and Cerberus, the guardians of the River Styx, by playing the lyre and singing. By doing so, he also softened the hearts of Hades and Persephone, which gave him the chance to bring Eurydice back to the world of the living.

It's curious that the lyre symbolizes the power of persuasion for Orpheus, as this is a quality in which Charles takes great pride (he is indeed very convincing). Still, I hope that's where the coincidences end.

That's all for now. To everyone who knows about Orpheus' myth and the different versions of his story, I apologize for not quoting specific authors here.

[warriorlid14]

Based on @thejakeformerlyknownasprince's theory that Tobias is the Ellimist. Couldn't stop thinking about it.

....

“Have you heard of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice?”

Marco groaned. “What is this, a pop quiz? I thought I was done with those when I graduated- well, not graduated. You know what I mean.”

“It’s a Greek tragedy. The story goes that-”

“You know what’s tragic? This conversation.” Marco faked a yawn. “I think I’ll go wake Jake up to take over my shift. What time is it anyway?”

“Just humor me, will you?”

Marco sighed dramatically. He couldn’t even remember what they were talking about that led to this conversation. “Fine, Birdboy, tell me the tragedy of Opeus and Eurywhateverthefuck.”

“Orpheus and Eurydice.”

“Whatever dude.”

“I won’t bore you with all the details-” Marco let out a snort “- but the tragedy goes like this: Orpheus and Eurydice are lovers. She dies. In his grief, Orpheus decides to go down to the Underworld to rescue her. It’s a whole epic, long journey. Long story short: he rescues her. Kind of. He makes a deal with Hades, king of the underworld, to let her go. Hades lets her escape. She can follow Orpheus all the way back out of the underworld. The only condition is that Orpheus can’t look back to make sure she’s following. But it’s a long, epic journey you see. And towards the end of the journey, he can’t hear her steps anymore. Just as they’re about to make it, Orpheus can’t help but look back. She’s then forced to stay in the underworld forever. Here’s the kicker: in certain versions of the tragedy, it’s alluded to that the story keeps repeating itself over and over again. The hope is that maybe the next time, Orpheus won’t make the same mistake. But he always looks back.”

Marco let out a low whistle. “Nice bedtime story. Is there a reason you’re telling me this?” Then he narrowed his eyes. “Is this about Rachel?” Maybe it was a dick move to ask straight out. But there was something off about this whole encounter. There was something off with Tobias. Maybe posture? The voice? His eyes?

Tobias shook his head. “No. Well, not entirely. It’s about all of you. And humanity really.”

Yes, it was definitely the eyes. They were stormy and dark and- were those stars? Were those actual literal stars in his eyes? Marco took a step back, unnerved, looked around and- Yes, he was still aboard the Rachel. Everything was in its place and yet it all felt wrong. And when he squinted, the walls were- Yes, they were almost translucent.

“What?” he said, dread beginning to take hold in the pit of his stomach. “What is this?”

Tobias smiled at him sadly. “I was hoping the illusion would hold a little longer. You always were too smart for your own good.”

“Illusion?” The dread spread to the rest of his body. “What are you-”

“You’re dead, Marco.”

His face turned white. He remembered now. Ram the blade ship. He swallowed hard. He quickly sat down on the floor.

“So this is what, some fucked up afterlife? You’re dead too?”

“This isn’t an afterlife. I guess the best way to put it is that you’re not technically dead just yet, only frozen right before.”

As he spoke, Marco noticed that it wasn’t just the ship that was translucent. Tobias was too. “Ellimist,” he whispered.

Not-Tobias smiled at him again. But he didn’t turn into the old man the Ellimist always presented himself as. He just said, “Yes.”

“Why are you here? Why are you cosplaying as Tobias? Is he dead? Are the others-”

“I’m just here to talk. Aximili and Menderash are dead. Jake, Jeanne, and Santorelli will be dead soon. Tobias will too, in a way.”

If he hadn’t already been on the floor, the grief he felt then would have knocked him over.They had failed.They had failed so badly that-

“You didn’t fail,” the Ellimist said, still using Tobias’s voice. “You destroyed the One’s plans. You saved thousands of lives that would have been taken over by that creature had you all not intervened.”

Like it mattered. They had never set out to save thousands of lives. This mission was only about saving one. “The others. How did they-”

“I think it would be simpler if I showed you.” 

The air shifted around him. He was still aboard the Rachel, though it was now in ruins. He saw Jake, Tobias, and Jeanne, all human, all crouching and crying around- Marco swallowed hard. Menderash, head bashed in. Ax, a gaping hole in his chest. Himself. Marco brought his hand to his side. It had been practically cut open by some machinery when the ships had crashed. There was so much blood pooled around him. He could physically feel the agony and grief in the room, mixing with his own. He turned to the Ellimist, opened his mouth to tell him he didn’t want to see this, and then, as if he read his mind, the scene in front of him changed.

They were no longer aboard the Rachel, but in a smaller ship. An escape pod. Jake was at the controls. Santorelli was sitting next to him. 

“This took place- will take place- in about a week or so,” the Ellimist said. As he spoke, Santorelli stood up and walked towards the back of the ship, expression blank. He picked up a pole. “The rest of your friends thought the One had been defeated back at the blade ship.” Santorelli walked to the front of the ship, holding up the pole. His eyes flashed red. “We were wrong.”

“Jake, watch out!” Marco yelled, uselessly. Jake turned. Too late. Santorelli swung the pole, hard, and Jake fell like a sack of potatoes. Immediately, Santorelli was at the controls, typing away furiously, changing course. 

Jeanne was the first one out into the control room, weapon in hand. “What happened? What-” Santorelli turned to her, eyes still red. The smile he gave her was not human. Neither was the speed at which he ran at her. She fired the Shredder, missed. Santorelli was on her in half a second, bashing her head into the wall. Once. Twice. Marco knew the instant Jeanne died because he physically felt it in his stomach. Santorelli bashed her head once more. 

Then he was kicked across the room by a hork-bajir foot. <Jake! Jeanne! Wake up and morph!> Tobias yelled. Being kicked by a hork-bajir would normally kill a human, or at the very least severely injure them. Santorelli morphed. Breaking every rule Marco knew about morphing, he was a polar bear in less than two seconds flat.

<What the-> Santorelli was suddenly on top of him. Tobias kicked again, pushing Santorelli into the control panel. The ship rocked. Santorelli dove at Tobias again. The fight was over in a couple of minutes. Tobias fought hard. But a polar bear is the fiercest predator on all of earth. And The One was somehow supercharging it. Marco watched in horror as The One held a broken and battered Tobias up by the throat. But it didn’t kill Tobias. Instead, its eyes flashed red, the color growing in intensity. Tobias, who had been feebly struggling, went limp as he looked into the polar bear’s eyes.

“It’s starting to absorb him,” the Ellimist explained, once again reading Marco’s mind.

Suddenly, the polar bear roared and dropped Tobias. It fell to its knees as a tiger sank its teeth into the bear’s flank. <Tobias! Get to the panel! We can’t let this thing escape again!>

Tobias limped to the control panel as Jake continued his fight with The One. No matter how much he clawed and bit at the polar bear, it did not go down. Suddenly, the ship accelerated in the opposite direction as Tobias punched in new directions in the control panel. The passengers were slammed to the front of the ship.

The One got a hold of Jake. Made him look into its eyes. Tobias crawled across the small ship and grabbed Jeanne’s abandoned shredder. He switched it to the highest setting and fired at The One. The blast should have killed it. The polar bear roared, its fur burning. But it did not let go of Jake. Tobias switched gears, pointing the shredder instead to the front of the ship. At the window. He met Jake’s gaze, his eyes now glazed over and a horrible tint of red.

<Do it.> 

Tobias fired. The window cracked. The One turned to him then and charged at him. Too late. Tobias had already fired again. And again. The window shattered and there was nothing left to protect the ship’s passengers from the vacuum of space.

“Nooooo!” Marco screamed as Jake’s body fell off the ship, as he felt his best friend die. Jeanne’s body followed after him. The One had gotten a hold of Tobias as he held onto the console. It tried to reach over him at the panel. Tobias slammed his fist against the panel and the ship was spinning now, out of control.The One clutched at Tobias, trying not to fall. Tobias let go of the console. He and The One tumbled out of the ship.

Marco closed his eyes, expecting the physical pull of his friend’s death. But it didn’t come. Marco opened his eyes, and watched as the Ellimist essentially- Well, he zoomed out of the illusion. He watched Tobias and The One continue to fall. He saw them be sucked into a black hole. 

Still, Tobias didn’t die. Neither did The One. At least not yet. Time fast forwarded in front of him. Marco didn’t know how long. It could have been a few months, or a few centuries, but eventually he felt The One die. Saw the creature be killed by the Ellimist. Toomin. Tobias.

Marco turned to him, eyes narrowed. “It’s you. It’s been you this entire time.”

Tobias smiled at him, though his eyes were sad. “Your friend Tobias died in that black hole. Too much time has passed. I’ve experienced so many lives, some lived, others acquired through memories, that I could never claim to be just one person. But yes, I was once Tobias.”

Marco shook his head. The implications of what he was saying were- well, he couldn’t think about it right now. “I still don’t get it. Why am I here? Why are-” He thought then, of the story Tobias had told him. “You’re trying to change things.” Something like hope began to spread across his chest.

Tobias, not Tobias, shook his head. “It’s not what you think. I can’t change anything that has happened here.”

Marco’s heart sank. “Okay, so you can’t bring me back. But The One’s attack hasn’t  happened yet. We can still-”

“No,” Tobias was shaking his head again. “I can’t change anything here again. It would violate the rules of-”

“This isn’t a fucking game!” Marco exploded, throwing his hands in the air. “What the hell is wrong with you!? These are your friends, damnit! You have the power to change things. I know you do! So fucking do something! ”

Tobias stared at him for a moment, then said, “If I were to save any of you right now, Crayak would immediately retaliate by destroying humanity. He might send a deadly disease or a weapon like the Howlers to annihilate every creature on earth.” Marco swallowed. “He’s done it before.”

The story keeps repeating over and over again. The feeling of dread was back. I can’t change anything here again. “What is this, some twisted groundhog day?”

Tobias tilted his head, thoughtfully. “In a way. Time… time is a tool, a weapon, even, that Crayak can wield. That I can too. But not without its limits. Some things we can change. Maybe you save someone who later fathers a doctor who goes on to find the cure for polio or cancer or whatever. In the future, someone who would have died from said disease as a kid instead becomes a prolific campaign manager who helps elect a president that wouldn’t have been elected otherwise. Said president prevents what would have been a world ending war. Etcetera, etcetera. You remember the time matrix.” Marco nodded. “But other things… some things are unchangeable. They will happen regardless. I don’t know why, but they do. The yeerks will always invade earth. The outcome of that war may change, but not the fact that it exists. Tobias will always fall through that black hole. It might be when he’s 19 or 60 but it will always happen.”

It was too much. This was all too much. “Why am I here?”

The Ellimist smiled at him. “Because you’ve always been great at finding the bright clear line. And right now I need that.”

Marco yelped as suddenly there were strings and lines and threads of all lengths and colors around him. He had the strangest feeling that if he moved, he’d be cut in pieces. Tobias snorted. “These aren’t lasers.” Marco glared at him. He really hated it when he did that. Tobias ignored him. “This is the fabric of time and space. A copy of it anyway.”

“Right, because that’s so much less terrifying,” Marco muttered. Still, he reached out a tentative finger and touched one of the strings.That section of the thread vibrated, and immediately, the threads around it began to vibrate as well.

“That’s a ripple,” The Ellimist explained. “Some changes have much bigger ripples than others. Watch.” Tobias reached out a finger and plucked one thread. The strings around it barely moved. He plucked at another and hundreds of threads around it began to vibrate. One of the threads, one that seemed to stretch for miles, shook violently, shaking other threads as it went. Marco followed the string with his eyes until he saw-

“What the hell is that?”

Tobias waved a hand in the air. “Jesus fucking christ,” Marco exclaimed as the strings all moved to the side, a new section of the threads now in front of him. Tobias waved his hand again. This new section of threads made way for new ones. The Ellimist was scrolling through the threads. He continued to do so until the section Marco had seen appeared before them. The rest of the thread had been taut and a bright, glowing white. This part was brittle, twisting and sagging, and a putrid greenish-black.

“I call it the rot,” Tobias explained. “This is one of those things that can’t be avoided.” The rot spread from one section of threads to the rest. Tobias scrolled through sections of the threads again. Soon, the only threads Marco could see were those that were rotting.

“What is it?” Marco said.

“It’s not good,” Tobias said plainly. “It’s like a poison. Maybe a virus. Every thread you see here represents thousands, millions of sentient beings destroyed by the rot. Not killed, but worse. If left unchecked, it will continue to spread to all threads around it. This is what I wanted your help with.”

“Don’t suppose I have much of a choice,” Marco said bitterly.

“Of course you have a choice, Marco.”

“Yeah? Stay here and talk to you or go back to bleeding out aboard the Rachel?”

Tobias winced. “Yeah, sorry. I can’t-”

“Can’t interfere. Yeah, yeah.” Marco rolled his eyes and sighed. It had been the right move, to come to him as Tobias. Marco was angry. So very mad and bitter and betrayed. But it would be so much easier to refuse to help the Ellimist he knew, an aggravating strange old man, than his old, trusted friend. Marco wondered for a second if maybe the Ellimist was making the whole thing up. But what difference did it make, really? He was still dead.

“I’ve run through hundreds and thousands of scenarios,” Not-Tobias said. He zoomed out of this section of threads. Zoomed into other sections of threads. He strung some threads. Cut others. Braided some with each other.  “I’ve even played out a couple,” he admitted, “when I thought I had figured out a way to contain it.” Every time he zoomed out, the rot was still there. Sometimes the spread of it was bigger. Other times it was contained to smaller sections of threads. “I can’t get rid of it. I can only hope to contain it. Try to delay it as much as I can.” Marco stepped back. There were hundreds, thousands, millions of possibilities. How could he possibly- 

“I found one possibility, one way to contain it as much as I can.” Tobias zoomed out one more time, carefully zoomed in until he found a specific set of threads. He cut them. He zoomed out again and again and scrolled and scrolled. Finally, towards what seemed to be the end of the threads, Marco saw the rot. It was contained to a few single strings. “If I play my cards right, I may even be able to contain the Crayak here.” Marco looked towards the end of the threads and saw only darkness.

“What’s-”

“That’s the inevitable heat death of the universe. Or this universe at least. Maybe another one eventually evolves again. I can’t say for certain.” Not-Tobias shrugged. Marco blinked at him. “Don’t worry about it. It won’t happen for another few million years.”

Marco shook his head, looked back towards what was left of the rot in this scenario. “It seems like you have your answer then. Why not set it into motion?”

The Ellimist zoomed back to where he had cut the strings. He pointed at them. “This is humanity.”

Marco gaped at him. “No. No! Are you insane? How is this even an option??”

“I’ve been looking for other options for centuries. I haven’t found any other way.”

“Then keep looking!” Marco yelled. “How could you even consider this? These are your people!!”

The Ellimist shook his head. “I haven’t been a human for a long time. And regardless, it isn’t just humanity I have to protect. There are millions of other species out there. Thousands-”

“You can’t just undo everything we fought for! Everything you fought for! What’s the matter-”

With a wave of the Ellimist’s hand, Marco was suddenly gone. Back at the Rachel. But not in pain. The Ellimist filled his mind with only his happiest memories. For Marco, this conversation never happened. He would meet death not with fear, but with a laugh.

It was what the Ellimist should have done in the first place. He never should have talked to him, revealed himself, upset him for now reason before his death. Besides, this conversation usually ended the same way. 

It had been a while since he’d appeared in front of his old friends, since he’d told them the truth of who he was.

Hi Jake.

How’s it going, Cassie?

Hey, Ax-man.

Maybe he should have gone to Cassie, instead. Technically she wouldn’t be dead for another sixty years. Not that it mattered. She might be able to understand.

But.

The Ellimist had not gone to Marco to help him find a solution. He knew the solution. This was the solution. This was what he needed to do.

He could not sacrifice billions upon billions of lives to save one planet, no matter how dear it was to him. He could not be selfish about this.

But.

He had talked to one of his old friends. Felt his anger. His betrayal. The Ellimist has been reminded of he’d been, once upon a time. He had looked back.

The Ellimist needed to make his next move. He needed to defeat Crayak or risk losing so much more than humanity. He needed to stop the rot.

But the Ellimist always looked back.

He sighed. You win, he thought. He would keep looking. Maybe he would find another solution. Maybe this time, the end would be different. 

Maybe if he started from the beginning one more time.

..

My name is Tobias. I can’t tell you my last name. Or where I live. It’s too dangerous.