Points of interest about Micolash
● He uses A Call Beyond that is a secret weapon of the Choir! So either 1) He used to be in the Choir and left it to make School of Mensis or 2) Choir simply owes him this one, since A Call Beyond is stated to be product of failed Healing Church experiments.
● Research Hall as we know it from Hunter’s Nightmare predates Choir and School of Mensis + focuses on getting eyes through listening to the “ocean” rather than the blood, so Micolash could have been one of the doctors there!
(Using retranslations from LP’s document ( x ))
● He and Damian are the only known members of School of Mensis to have seven bars tall Mensis Cages! Other members have shorter four bars tall cages. Both versions miss a single bar precisely at the eyes level - which is an interesting symbolic parallel to how Choir has their eyes covered with blindfolds.
● “Other members” actually might not even be 'scholars' per say - they appear to be wearing rugs rather than uniforms so it is more likely they were brainwashed kidnapped victims, or prisoners.
● “Other members” are also possibly now Brain of Mensis. Lost in translation as Japanese implies the Brain appeared upon ascending in the Nightmare, not ‘retrieved’ from it. Plus it does look like many bodies melted together... :’) Not a biggie seeing how Winter Lanterns’ heads are also many bodies melted together (except messengers instead of people).
● Micolash consistently uses ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ - again, lost in translation but in original Japanese he doesn’t even switch to ‘I’ even upon dying. In retranslation document there is ‘I’ mentioned, but in actual Japanese there are ways to say a sentence without ‘I’ but keep it implied from the context, which... is what happens with his dialogue there! Might be royal we because of his vanity, or fracturing sense of self, or whatever. Either way, it is consistent!
● Everything connecting to Archibald is in School of Mensis! Darkbeast Paarl dropping his badge, both of his weapons found in Yahar’gul, the only NPCs using his weapons being Yahar’gul hunters... Basically, Micolash was affiliated with Archibald one way or another.
● He can not only run through the mirrors, but also puff into a smoke if you catch up with him while he runs, don’t forget! (So, literal smoke and mirrors, haha)
● His hair is black and very wavey, both in hunter’s model and in cutscene model. However his hunter model has dark brown eyes, whereas cutscene model has pale blue eyes. I don’t know what it means - could be devs deciding hunter model looked too weird with pale eyes, or could mean brown eyes are his natural color but they went blue upon his ‘enlightenment’ since in lore Arcane is associated with pale blue color!
(cutscene model here ( x ))
● There are other corpses in cages on the road to Wet Nurse, which feels redundant seeing that Brain of Mensis implication, so maybe Micolash was terrorising wayward people all along (if not somehow kidnapping them from the waking world into his Nightmare. My lucky bet would be his mirrors magic - for example, Hypogean Gaol is full of mirrors. Mirrors were also in Research Hall? Starts to feel like his trademark).
● The Choir Member found dead in Yahar’gul is not tied to the chair at all (hard thing to miss by devs, seeing how for example, dead person in Hemwick or Research Hall patients are obviously striped to the chairs). Their cage is also locked from within. Might imply Micolash’s brainwashing is so powerful that he convinced them to lock themselves inside and not budge from their place.
● By the way, some corpses in Yahar'gul are obviously children!
● He only laughs mockingly before saying ‘Oh, majestic!’ if player’s Hunter is male. If you play as a female Hunter, there is no laugher. It is just straight cut to ‘Oh, majestic!’. What a character of ALL people to respect women...
● He can do necromancy, nuff said. Like, he uses corpses as marionettes to defend him.
● The crow-dogs and dog-crows are only found in Nightmare of Mensis, not in Yahar'gul, so maybe this is something he's been doing here alone. Too bored without human victims? :P
● There is a focus on how his shoelaces aren't tied, nuff said.
● Lost in translation (yeah I know) but in original his phrase is ‘Submerged in mud, the lake is no longer visible’. In beta version, he used to jump into the Lake to teleport into Lecture Hall. In game, it says Byrgenwerth scholars are still waiting for Willem and that Byrgenwerth is now stuck between reality and Nightmare. This phrase about the lake being kept in his rambling might serve as base for the idea that the lake Rom guards used to be a working portal in the rest of Byrgenwerth, and Micolash (or Kos?) is somehow involved in locking this passageway. Hence why we simply walk on the lake like a floor even though that’s not how water works you know-
● There is Iosefka’s Blood Vial in Nightmare of Mensis. Iosefka and Fauxsefka share a model (which is further confirmed by their official depictions looking the same, give or take holding weapon) so odds are, they are twins. And since Fauxsefka is in the Choir it is possibly not accidental. My two guesses are either 1) Iosefka initially left with Micolash but got away and tries to forget or 2) she gave Edgar a vial upon departing (we do find Choir Bell and Eye Rune in Nightmare of Mensis too, so maybe he did just drop all his things lol!)
● Damian has Loch Shield that initially was used in Research Hall and then given to prospectors of Isz; he also helps to fight Ebrietas in both Altar of Grief and in Isz. Odds are, he was Isz prospector, which further implies Micolash departed from Choir.
● Lyrics in Ebrietas’ theme mention - ‘A winged God, a voice, a terror will come’ + ‘Cord of the newborn was stolen’ + ‘The abominable winner has made himself unstoppable’ ( x ), guess that refers to Micolash and Mensis ritual!
● Lyrics in Hail the Nightmare have something along the lines of ‘We are infected by the curse and silverwater blood’ ( x ). Cosmic Kin that do in fact seem to bleed grey liquid are associated with the Choir and reaching the stars overall - like celestial emissaries, Ebrietas, Fluorescent Flowers, all that. Amygdalas don’t do that, they bleed red! Seeing how School of Mensis considers “silverwater” a ‘curse’, further implies why Micolash and the idiots decided to depart.
● Overall reaching for the stars implies seeking salvation (like with Living Failures) and Choir people + Willem blind themselves (so, allow Great Ones guide them). School of Mensis seems to seek autonomy instead - Mensis Cages have eyes open, they are said to give power to face ‘objective reality’ and Micolash does ask for eyes, not for “letting pray for his sins” (another line in Ebrietas’ lyrics). That opens up an interesting (and sympathetic) philosophy, even too bad he screwed it up and only saught this autonomy for himself, right?
● There is a random mention of brother and sister in the Brain Fluid that you collect from one of the just-head patients:
It is possible this could be refering to Micolash and Rom since Research Hall patiens were listening to the sea. This Brain Fluid is collected from a head guarded by a Black Church doctor, but these are not quite the experimentalists; that is said to be for White Doctors (like Fauxsefka for example) so it isn't likely the description refers to him and this head! However, according to Micolash, Rom was blessed by Kos + hostile just-head patients protrude tentacles (not unlike Rom's tails) + Ebrietas does weep who seems to be Rom's mortal body. Yeah yeah I know,
Just saying it is possible!
● 5/7 out of Yahar'gul Hunters are not white! Might be a hint to Loran heritage (Yahar'gul is affiliated with Pthumerians and if Henryk and Afflicted Beggar are of any indication, Loran people were brown ok?). However there are also repressions against foreigners in Yharnam and seeing overall whiteness of the place, they are easily foreigners! And some of Yahar'gul Hunters appear to have Healing Church weapons, so it is possible Micolash simply "picked what Church dropped" and gave them a chance.
● There are plenty of Hemwick Gravewomen and Eye Collectors (who are just Witches of Hemwick but without eyes all over their clothes) in Yahar'gul! Not really surprised Micolash would be friends with these people, seeing how both sides are very interested in doing terrible things to corpses!
● Nightmare Apostles are abundant in Nightmare of Mensis; Bloodborne Patches is also the one and he seems to be friends with THE Amygdala that dwells in the chapel that leads to Yahar'gul and transports people in Lecture Hall (that now connects to Nightmare of Mensis). Rom in fact seems to be one as well - as a spider, and her kids have 12 legs like them (she seems to have holes above her tiny legs too, about 6 from each side). Basically Micolash might have been friends with them too, and Rom becoming a spider might have to do with it. At this rate seems like he was friends with everyone but Choir lmao
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