#theorytag

[obitv]

i feel like. for the most part, pd fans dont think about the spirit world often. despite the ENTIRE ARC they spent there the ost people take away is mal = big evil guy and.. idk. the wispering woods Exists? but there is SO, SO MUCH going on there thats so much more important than youd think. just for starters

its a SERIES OF FLOATING ISLANDS IN A VOID, JUST LIKE FAUNA

mal? not so important there. his guide, ghoul (who we see a grand total of ONCE, in episode 10, and is mentioned again in episodes 11 and 12), is POTENTIALLY THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD whereas mal i wouldnt put above 50, and thats even a stretch (i will get to the why later)

domains! those floating islands? all domains! ghoul? technically owns most of the domains! what does that mean? HE KNOWS EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS THERE AND CAN CONTROL IT.

also i think everyone forgets this but william was, visually, in his wisp form the entire time they were there

oh also ghoul has dozens if not hundreds of paintings of a man who might be jason king (ORIGAMI) in his castle.

so. ive taken the time to compile most of the information i could find on mal, ghoul, the spirit world, the wisps, an more into a handy post because im fucking insane (note: im only up to e13, the smoke samurai fight, in my rewatch. this IS where the majority of spirit world facts come from anyway, but anything i mention that isnt from those episodes wont be in as much detail bc my memory is ass. if you remember more things, let me know!) (also also, im going to avoid bringing up deadwood as much as i can because.... i think ive talked about it enough 😭)

starting with: GHOUL!

lets be honest. theres a very small chance you even remember this guy exists. but he is FASCINATING

to start with, he has a.. symbiotic relationship with mal, from what ive seen. he needs mal to interact with the physical world, mal needs him to go to the spirit world. ill go into this more in mals section

aside from that, mal is NOT the first physical vessel ghoul's taken. its not clear when he began working with mal, or how many forms he had before, but he's one of many

(also just a note because it can definitely be confusing... ghoul and mal seem to share control over the castle, but before seeing that mal is waiting for them in the dining room everyone was focused on ghoul and mal was barely brought up. its not clear if the things they see in the castle before going in to mal were his choice or ghouls but... ill include the paintings here)

on that note: the paintings!

what the fuck is going on in there

so. yeah. ghoul has.. dozens. and i mean DOZENS, hundreds if you count that they repeat over and over, of paintings featuring a man with "blond hair and chiselled jawline" in various important historical events. they line the walls of the upstairs corridor (the one that seems endless) and are never brought up again

do i think this is jason king? well im not convinced they ARENT... i will touch on this again later just keep it in mind

jumping back to domains, ghoul seems to have.. some degree of control over all of them. at least in the part of the spirit world he rules over, which i assume is. why he rules it. going by the king stuff its like. he owns all the land and "rents" it out to other spirits

rent is a nicer word, since he can CURSE PEOPLE to control domains and dictate how they behave

thats why the carnival is evil, if you remember. ghoul cursed the carnival skeleton (the REAL groundskeeper) to rule the domain and attack anyone who entered

what the fuck

also ghoul is a king

when looking for ghoul in ashes book, despite the very low roll they got some VERY important info: ghoul (who, when we see him, is comapred to antivenom from spiderman) -

this guy

HE WAS A HUMAN KING. his name is mentioned ALL THE WAY through ashes book, from front to back. a picture of a man in royal garb, was labelled with his name

something.. happened. that turned him from that spirit world king to a monstrosity.

its also never made clear if the man in the paintings is ghoul? we dont get a description of the kings face in the book and we dont get a description of the mans clothes

also, finally: when theyre in the physical world, mal and ghoul essentially share a body, with the body turning into That Thing ^^ when ghoul is in control. ghoul HAS to take control to open portals to the spirit world - he does it to william, and cantrip mentions it too when they interrogate her

he also appears separately from mal when they take william to the spirit world, but we dont see him at all in any other domains so thats a small sample size

BUT he Does have a fucking. encyclopedic knowledge of domains (which ill talk about later). he "knows all of these places [domains]"

NEXT: MAL!

where do i fucking start.

basic mal facts: asshole, british, very powerful, knows far too much about the spirit world to make any sense

just a basic overview of his powers, btw:

he can create illusions, float/fly (in the spirit world, at least), ghostshape, go intangible, and mayyybe has some sort of connection to earth or gravity powers because theres one point where he makes the ground beneath someone burst up but also that mightve been a weird ghostshaping trick and im honestly too scared to think about that

basically he seems to have most of williams powers + illusions and whatever that ground trick was. the only things we havent seen are invisibilty (which considering mechanically its just a flavouring of an advantage which isnt technically a power, makes sense) and the wisp form, though id consider the ghoul transformation to b the equivalent of that

oh in case you forgot he can also FREEZE. TIME. william isnt affected by this but im not sure if that was because mal wanted him to see what happened or because spirit shenanigans

also little aside but while williams powers manifest as wispy blue flames, mals are always black lightning (his ghostshaping, most noticeably)

the biggest mal question is.. how does he. know all that shit? youd expect ghoul to be the one who actuall has the knowledge but mal is ALWAYS the one they deal with

now you may be wondering: why is this an issue? well the thing is. we dont actually know ANYTHING about mal. we dont know where he comes from, what he wants, how he met ghoul, if his powers are his own or all come from ghoul... none of it

what we can ASSUME: mal was alive when he made some sort of deal with ghoul, because he obviously had a physical body. my personal theory is that mal is (one of?) the previous owner of ashe's book, since so far that's the only thing we've seen that allows you to summon spirits and allow them to possess you, and its full of references to ghoul. and quite honestly the thought that theres MULTIPLE books like that is terrifying. so

ok i actually just came up with that one on the spot but if mal had a better understanding of the language the book is in than ashe and wasnt so afraid to use it then actually him knowing a shitton about the spirit world makes so much sense. what the fuck

bizly bizlychannel youre prying that theory from my fucking corpse im in love with it now.

so. yeah. presumably, mal and ghoul made some sort of deal, because they work together. its not clear if mal is working to get william on his side by his own volition or if ghoul wants him to, or if its like a "ghoul brought it up and mal decided to go for it because hes better at talking and also isnt a horrifying monster" but whatever. unlike william and the wisps (amazing band name) who fight fucking constantly because william never ASKED for his powers, mal is comfortable with them

another thing mal seems to have control over is ghouls castle. he lays out the red carpet and makes every door lead to the dining room and also makes it impossible to leave

specifically, irt all the doors going to the dining room, bizly said "if he can control this castle and where it goes, thats what he wouldve done"

the corridor upstairs (without the carpet, with the paintings) also goes on literally forever. you cant go back once you walk far enough you have to go through a door. i have no idea if this was mal or ghouls choice

another thing! specifically layed out on the walls next to the carpet ("things he specifically wanted them to see") is an ornate dagger in a glass case. which vyncent with a gun steals but i dont think is brought up again ??? also the wording made me feel like there shouldve been more items listed but since condi immediately started stealing he just didnt include the rest ?? unsure

this is just a weird thing to note but theres like these freaky black tendrils that grab the table and hold it down when dakota tries to flip it. i dont know what to do with this information its just there

when william confronts mal on how much the spirits seem to hate him and ghoul, mal says "that's not what im here for" and, when pressed, says thats "a conversation for another day"

DOMAINS! AND THE SPIRIT WORLD IN GENERAL!

first: basics

the spirit world is, from what we've seen, a collection of floating islands over a void. these islands seem to all be "domains", places that are controlled by special spirits

the spaces between domains is the dead zone! this is where people go when they die, like 99% of the time. going there without special means (the hot air balloon, the carriage) will kill you.

so, how do you get a domain? ah. good... question....

one way is to kill whoever currently owns it. then its yours! congrats! you can alsp give away domains, but the only time we've directly seen this happen was the groundskeeper who was also cursed at the same time and ghoul seems to still have some control over the carnival anyway??? unclear

which leaves. william fucking wisp. because he has a domain! i am not getting into it here because ive said it all already but its there

also a little worth noting that williams domains seems to be shaped subconsciously without him even knowing it was there

i honestly cant speculate much more on williams domain because we just. dont have the answers. i could ask domain questions all fucking day like "did the wisps give william a domain" or "by being a powerful spirit did he just get an empty one or was one created just for him" etc etc we have no way of knowing

domains we know about: williams graveyard, the carnival, ghouls castle, the wispering woods (perhaps a series of domains? unknown), and the tricksters... house thing. do not ask me what the chaos zone is, i dont know and it scares me. if i had to guess itd be a series of. well. chaotic domains perhaps all partially ruled by the trickster but i also dont have ANY trickster lore written down bar "has a domain" so ill come back to that another day

and the obligatory deadwood mention: from what we can gather, the woods surrounding deadwood are where the barriers between the physical and spirit worlds are thinnest. specifically the area william died in was brought up which is totally linked to Everything about him

the wispering woods, in ashes book, is described as a "sanctuary" or "oasis". barely anybody has ever seen it and come back to say what it was like

ok bonus fact time. i dont know where to put these

WILLIAMS DAD? MAD FUCKING SUS

when they first talk to mal in his domain, he says the phrase "william! be a sport, be a pal, be my friend." its specifically noted that william recognises that phrase as something his dad said to him a lot as a child

mal is also pretty much.. the only person to call william "wisperer" consistantly. but for that phrase he said william

additionally, this entire. interaction between bizly and charlie

ill go crazy if i dont bring that up. so its here

AND! FINALLY! JASON MOTHERFUCKING KING!!! WHAT IS UP WITH THAT HUH?

in williams party city doritos induced fever dream (i am not talking about that ghost. i refuse) he sees the spirit world (floating islands) and he sees a throne made out of paper. this reads very clearly like a reference to origami/jason king, since hes dead at the start of the story

also i just want to say there IS a rolled where they say how jason died but theyre laughing really hard so i have absolutely no idea what theyre saying all i can hear is "dickass" im so sorry

so yeah. with that image in mind, hearing ghoul be described as a king (who HAS A CASTLE), and having so many paintings of a man who sounds similar to jason (am i reaching? maybe. but hes also the only prominent dead figure who already has connections to spirit world royalty and hes blond so let me have this) is just like. insane coincidence

i have nothing i can really prove here, because have o idea HOW jason an ghoul could be connected. but they are. i know it. believe me

thanks for reading this far it took me 2 hours to compile it all. if you have anything to add esp from later episodes PLEASEEEE PLEASE DO also if you wanna discuss anything i mentioned here i am always down.

[obitv]

ok ok i need to. write down everything about ashe's book. because its honestly FASCINATING at least potentially??

it seems to be... a mix of a history book, encyclopedia, and summoning manual?

we can guess it might tell the story of the spirit world or at least its recent-ish history, since ghoul is mentioned throughout the entire book and it's implied(?) it documents his shift from king to monster

its. a little bit sentient? the pages rearrange themselves randomly

mal knows a LOT about this book. he knows what it does, who wrote it, and its NAME

yeah the book has a name. im not writing it down because i have no idea how to spell it but s2e1 2:25:20

ashe doesnt fucking say where he got the book so i have. no idea what's up there. based on how much mal knows about it i think its possible he owned the book at some point? but that doesnt explain how ashe wouldve gotten it

also i just want to make it very clear here ok everything in the book is in the spirit world. ashe's summoning just takes them to the physical world, nothing is inside the book its just a link (like the pendant mal gave vyncent, in a way)

however it ISNT clear if ashe can summon EVERYTHING in the book? its my personal theory that mal used it to summon ghoul, but despite the wisps having an entry it's never said if ashe can summon them, same with the groundskeeper

[obitv]

what’re your thoughts on williams dad bc there’s so much going on with that guy but so little at the same time

my thoughts on williams dad. well. i certainly have a lot of them. i think hes mad sus but i ALSO think it could all just be a crazy series of coincidences and hes actually connected to something entirely different. because all we know about williams dad is. uh. last name wisp. hes an accountant, probably. likely remarried but im also not 100% on what the situation there is or what happened to williams birth mother, if anything (that is a whole different ramble that i literally have no answer to). he has... things going on. what things? no clue. likely something to do with deadwood but like 90% kf that info comes from this

so. "thats different" is. yeah. i do think theres some sort of town conspiracy going on but thats not Wholly founded on anything bc i dont have exact quotes for williams talk on deadwood from e24 or whenever it is. just bc if lots of people are disappearing and theres NO heroes at all theres gotta be something deeper... but william also doesnt inherently distrust cops since he has connections by the time s2 rolls around though ofc that could just be him realising oh npt everyone is the smalltown sherrif who pretends nobody is missing because he doesnt want to deal eith the Creatures <- again all specualtion we literally just dont have enough to go on OH GOD IM RAMBLING ABOUT DEADWOOD FUCK. yeah i think hes involved with that conspiracy also.

the most sus things about him thats hes actually DONE was try bring william back to deadwood. sure theres mal copyijg his phrase and the eyes in the hall of fearrors but like. condi literally said all the characters probably have dead family (william is up for debate but he also Was dead) that mal or ghoul couldve gotten information from in some way, the way mal showed vyncent an illusion of fauna. but like... william SAYS that his friends will die if they ever see him again. even assuming hes exaggerating bc of his curse (attracts supernatural monsters, which the woods are full of) going back still isnt SAFE like at all. for anyone.but william also never says "my family will die" and his dad doesnt seem at ALL concerned for their personal safety when he takes william back - hes worried BECAUSE william is in danger. which makes me think maybe wills family is ?? immune??? or knows how to ward them off?? literally the best i got i think its the most cohesive thing i could come up with

[obitv]

i think we also NEEDDDD to talk about thr hall of fearrors because williams vision was ??? weird to say the least. dakota saw his rooftop girl and ashe saw her mom dying but william saw his dad, without any eyes. not dead, just... no eyes. which yknow. pretty.. strange when we know williams scared of a LOT of things. with how mal specifically copies phrases from williams dad in their conversations and the fact the man named his son william wisp i am just. WHAT ? WHAT IS GOING ON THERE

[obitv]

i know everyone (including william) focuses on mal when they talk about his fears of his powers but. honestly i think he should look at ghoul MUCH more. sure mal is an immoral powerful asshole but he either sorta-willingly made a deal with ghoul for that power or hes something closer to a puppet. GHOUL, on the other hand, used to be respected. he had power but he used it right. but over time things changed and he became a literal monster. mals powers will never turn on him and turn him into something he cant return from - ghoul's already have

[obitv]

need to get a grip on who the fuck mallard conway WAS. we know he. uh. probably? has some sort of deal with ghoul. which seems to give mal power and ghoul a physical vessel. we know ghouls "taken physical form" multiple times before though he seemed to? favour? the form of a blond man for hundreds if not thousands of years (if ghoul was ever human, that could have been his human body? maybe?) considering he had dozens of paintings of that man in important historical settings. or he was in love with him idrk. i dont Think ghoul just created mal as an empty puppet vessel and just pretends to be different people purely bc if he can do that then william being a planewalker seems to be less special? but that leaves the question: who the FUCK is mal. was he always mallard conway? was he always BRITISH???? was he a human who petitioned a powerful spirit? but if he was just a normal guy why would he be so fixated on william and co - would that not be ghoul? did ghoul ??? train??? him??????? is one of the conditions of the deal that mal find the planewalker? did ghoul only TAKE a vessel because he heard about william??????? why cant anything in this fucking serious be straightforward for once 😭😭😭

[obitv]

ok. ok. what we got from this episode:

confirmation the 5 thrones that william saw back in s2e13 were from the 5 previous rulers of the spirit world

the one remaining throne belongs to "clarence albert", or maybe a descendent/successor? he overthrew the order of the previous system and. created? the chaos zone? and banished the other 4 there? im not fully sure what was said there

"wisperer" is more than just williams hero name - its a.. political position in the spirit world. they are "the balance" and "bring freedom". theres always a wisperer, and it seems its possible for multiple to exist at once

"clarence albert" (when checked against williams supernatural knowledge, NOT his memory recollection) is "not familiar to you in memory, but something about it... it carries a weight when you hear it and think it that is eerily familiar"

things we knew already:

the "ancient creators" of the spirit world were the ones to banish the trickster to the spirit world

yeah thats all i got i just spent 20 minutes making sure thats true

mal also says those creators are all "long gone" so it might not even be ghoul?

[obitv]

what’s the new mallard conway info 👁

just stuff i shouldve noticed before but didnt register bc i wasnt looking for it... ghoul (mals freakform) has ruled the spirit world for hundreds of years blahblah whatever. mals domain that we see isnt his at all but is ghouls. (though the small part we saw mught be mals? maybe? unsure)

important studf is that mal ISNT ghouls first vessel/host/???, the carnival skeleton says ghoul has "taken on physical forms" multiple times in the past. the wording of it + the fact mal has illusionary powers (makes an illusion of the woman traped in the car) makes me think that ?? maybe ??? ghoul can just Make physical vessels for himself ????????????

[obitv]

new concept to explore. william wasnt decaying because he died a few times he was decaying bc he was actively supressing his powers. mals been around longer than william but just looked a bit dead when they saw him in s1 despite not having blood - but in s2 when the chaos demons were let out and he had lost a lot of his power, THEN he looked more rotted. and after the trickster william completely stopped using his wisp form out of guilt and fear

[obitv]

wisperer being a political position is DEFINITELY why mal wants william on his side btw. like im near certain on this. if all wisperers are planeswalkers and "bring balance and freedom" while ghoul is connected to clarence albert who overtgrew the old order. like. you see? it explains how mal knew about him too, if ghoul knows what happens in the spirit world he'd know something happened to the last wisperer and to be on the lookout for a new one

[obitv]

the one thing i still cant understand is... why did the wisps give william powers??

it was on purpose, clearly, since even if they hadnt meant to kill him they still led him to a point in the woods where the barriers between worlds was very thin. and they HAD some sort of agenda for him?? they really, really want him to use his wisp form. every punishment they've given so far - e19, the decay, leaving entirely - it's all because he doesn't use their power enough. but why?

why make a planeswalker in the first place? why choose william for it? why is it so important that he embraces these powers? why stay with him? i know they've left him now, but considering they're in the spirit world and (meta-wise) still have a good while to go in this training arc, they'll likely still come back. why can't they just leave will entirely and make a new planeswalker who'll actually listen to them?

[obitv]

ok what if like williams dad made a deal with the wisps for Something and its like. theyll give his son powers and if william proves useful then theyll give his dad. i dont know. which would be why he encoyraged william to go and get training for his powers but when he realised what dangers he was in he tried to bring him home because a) thats his fuckin kid nd b) if william dies the deal cant be upheld. what if ive cracked it

[obitv]

how the fuck did jason even get in that room. mato's been going there for OVER A HUNDRED YEARS but jason only died 4 or 5 years ago???? but the island's been there the entire time right????? was there something else there before?????? where the fuck is it now how did jason replace it without anyone knowing he got in there????????????????

[obitv]

OHHHHH btwbtw new potential tjeory (i need to go factcheck some things) what if like. the wisp family line Are the wisperers. like. always. like williams dad was the last one, or second last maybe if theres more family members that just havent been brought up. it could be why williams dad is so set on trying to keep him safe but was ok with him getting traininh

[obitv]

but yeah. personal belief is that mal/ghoul are the midway point between william and ashe. william IS the body and the spirit so he has full control over both, while the trickster has cvomplete control over ashes body. mal and ghoul swap out depending on what they need to do, with mal taking the lead in the physical world (and dealing with wisperers?) while ghoul does the running/terrorising of the spirit world

[obitv]

really fucking interesting to think about how this set of islands work. since we know that "when you go to the spirit world, you have a physical form and your soul within the spirit world, your physical form is there. if you die in the spirit world, your physical form dies and will stay there and your soul will be trapped. you can't get out" but at least on matos islands if you get knocked out without adjusting you just leave. hm