#this one might be the shortest analysis i think? we'll see how concord goes

[sainteclectic]

What is Whole, Exactly?

Part 1 - Calamity

Disclaimer: This series of posts are meant to be my own personal interpretation of the album! I'm just one person, and the beauty of this album is that there's so many interpretations. I don't want to come off like I'm stating facts about the story here- it's all my personal thoughts, you're free to have your own!

that said, let's get into it!

Time Machine Reprise

(Soul)

Oh, live the dream in a time machine I've been waiting forever But I can't seem to find my footing back on one What's the time? Where's it gone? When's beat one?

This is the very first mention of Whole, or at least the concept of Whole. Here, “one” refers both to Whole and the first beat of the song. This sets up the idea that Whole is the end goal of this loop (whether it be a literal or metaphorical loop), and that the splitting of Whole is what causes this loop to continue. Soul has been waiting forever for the harmony to last, but he can't find his footing (i.e. ending the cycle). This segues into the next song nicely.

Dream

(Soul)

There’s still another sunset to be found inside this tangent, so I will try again. And perhaps when we become whole, it’ll hold.

Soul’s determination here defines this song. The first half of this song is chaotic and frantic, the middle half bitter and mournful. Here though, he finds his resolve. He knows that being Whole isn’t permanent, implying Soul knows something about the loop. This is further supported by the fact he says he “can’t go another round of cacophony.” It puts a lot more weight into his words: He knows that this is pointless. He knows that it won’t hold. Whole is an unattainable goal that Soul knows won’t last. But he still tries. This devotion in the face of futility is what defines his character.

Perhaps we’ll meet at Tycho, or somewhere more solar, yet colder. This world’s hard to shoulder. But when Harmonia shines, Atlas beholds her, so bathed in serenity; beauty, in synchronicity; blissfully entwined. Divine. So I will try one more time...

This is the reference most people think of when they think of Whole. Obviously, Atlas refers to Soul in this metaphor. People think of Atlas as holding up the earth, but he actually holds up the sky. He keeps the sky from crushing the world below. Now, what characters are represented as the sun and moon, the two main things you see when you look at the sky? This metaphor is even evoked in this very segment: Tycho is a crater on the moon, and the “solar, yet colder” is a clear reference to Mind, who’s directly referred to as cold despite being the sun. Soul holds up Heart and Mind, keeping them from crushing Whole—his world, the thing that he’s shouldering this burden for despite knowing it’s fruitless.

Now, Harmonia. Harmonia is the goddess of concord and harmony. In fact, she's also called Concordia—which could be the inspiration for Concord as a name. It's unclear here whether Harmonia represents Whole in this line, or she's the abstract concept of being Whole. Either way, Atlas seeing Harmonia is Soul clinging to the image of Whole as a beautiful, serene, divine thing. The perfection of Harmonia is what keeps him going. Becoming Whole is also referred to as “harmonizing” several times in the album, furthering the connection that being Whole is seen as a harmonious and beautiful thing.

{I had an entire paragraph interpreting the mythos around Harmonia before realizing it's probably not that deep, but I digress.}

My point is, our first descriptions of Whole come entirely through Soul and his determination to make it through Cacophony again. It's not until Cacophony that we hear Heart and Mind's thoughts on what Whole means. Next time... we hear those! I was originally going to make this all one big post, but I'm already at 2k words and I haven't even finished my analysis of Cacophony yet. So... no, we aren't doing that.

...I have no idea how to end this post. Ok bye