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[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 7)

7. Hell is a feeding construct made for the Root of Evil that was repurposed from the 7 stars (turned into the Seven Deadly Sins) of the Big Dipper constellation.

In Stolas' grimoire, he has it bookmarked on this page: symbols of a pentagram, an unknown but ancient language, thorns, celestial bodies, and the Big Dipper, alongside what I think is the sigil of the Root of Evil:

If the show creators were drawing upon the many myths about the Big Dipper and in particular focused upon this one, then the sigil they clearly created for the show aligns with the seven rings/stars of Hell being like an additional "tail" of the primordial plant-like alien monster that emerged from the apple that Eve/Rosie ate, the Root of Evil:

In other cultures, this constellation is a bow used to hunt a giant deer constellation called Sarva and in others it is associated with funeral processions, clearly linking this constellation to the concept of being simultaneously an afterlife and also a system designed to gather food in the form of souls for the Root of Evil.

Even the unique features of the Big Dipper's seven stars align very closely with how the kings of each Ring have been represented in the show:

This would explain why these entities have so much power to begin with because of their celestial origins, and it also calls into question whether every soul is basically the stuff that stars are made of, and perhaps this show centers on the universe going through constant cycles of reincarnation where souls are recycled and repurposed--perhaps that is what Stolas meant when he told Octavia that even if he "died" she could "find him in the sky".

[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 6)

6.) Stolas didn't just take drugs to suppress his memories of Blitzo, I think Stolas took memory-altering drugs to suppress his memory of what he knows about what Hell really is. We know that even when Stolas was very young, he was already gaining a tremendous amount of knowledge about the universe, including its eldritch recesses, and about plants, specifically through books rather than other media. This suggests he was digging into ancient texts about creation itself, including texts that may only be accessed by the highest hierarchies of Hell to preserve the truth of it being a feeding system for the Root of Evil--which I think is basically an alien plant derived from the apple of unknown origin that Eve/Rosie ate in the garden (see my previous posts about the Little Shop of Horrors parallels). In Season 1, Ep 7 we see that Stolas' grimoire was specifically bookmarked on a page that showed what I think is the sigil of the Root of Evil (a Little Shop of Horrors-type plant alien), with its flower-like extensions, open mouth, its extensions winding upwards in what I think represents how it permeates every vertically-arranged ring of Hell, a backdrop of the pentagram, celestial events that led to its rise, and even thorns, evoking Rosie/Eve's soul signature, on the other page, next to a constellation that looks like the Big Dipper, which consists of seven bright stars (aka the Seven Deadly Sins) --notably, the sigil only glows when a bottle of Beezlebub juice (the deadly sin of Gluttony) rolls across the page, which makes sense since the Root of Evil is constantly eating:

Even before this episode, in episode 2 Loo Loo Land, there were hints of Stolas having deeper knowledge of what Hell actually is when he is shown stepping inside of a ride that looks like Lucifer's mouth, called a "Fun House", as if it is meant to represent Hell itself--a ride where eyes are on every wall (directly representing the eyes of the Root of Evil), a bloodstream-like tube runs throughout, as if he is seeing souls it ate passing through its bloodstream, thorns, and hands reaching upwards as if they are souls trying to escape, with elements of the room topsy-turvy, as if representing his subconscious, struggling to remember how all of these jarring images fit together:

The ride then transitions to a scene that shows apples partially eaten, with the core containing seeds notably missing--supporting my theory that the Root of Evil grew from the apple that Eve ate. This scene even has the same bioluminescent lighting as demons from the Envy ring, which I suspect is the place where souls sacrificed to the Root of Evil end up infusing water that the Root consumes:

The idea that the souls of sinners that "die" in the Pride Ring, under the pentagram light, are automatically sacrificed to the Root of Evil by being forced down into the waters of Envy, which then flow into the Root of Evil, is bolstered by easter eggs in the surroundings, especially the one that says "Drown the Sinner" that shows up multiple times in the episode (far left below)--which is especially jarring with the wide-eyed, too-innocent apple hat positioned right next to the sign "Poison Apples":

The show leads the audience to presume that Stolas took memory-altering drugs to suppress his unhappiness in a loveless marriage, which is true, but I also think he was doing this because he realized that he is in a truly hopeless situation where the system he is trapped in is maintained by an omniscient, all-hearing, all-seeing ancient and supremely powerful plant-like monster (the Root of Evil). I think that part of the reason why Stolas started taking risks was because his memories and fantasies blurred together after his first foray with Blitzo, temporarily blinding himself to what he knows and the precautions he normally took with that knowledge (by expressing himself in a way that is silent). It looks like Stolas' primary form of medium for a long time was to write down his thoughts, which brings to mind the main character in 1984, who hides his thoughts from Big Brother by writing in a way that Big Brother can't see--I would be curious to know if Stolas took precautions to hide his true thoughts from the Root by writing them down instead of saying them aloud. Stolas expressing himself through song seems more recent, only after he reunites with Blitzo, suggesting to me that maybe the drugs he took made him unknowingly careless in relaying his thoughts openly (so that the Root could hear him). It then makes sense that it would only be after he loudly proclaims his thoughts and actions that he would end up eventually being punished by having his power and status removed, not directly via Big Brother (the Root), but through the system's agents and informants. The Season 3 trailers for Helluva Boss center on Stolas's memory sharpening as the line between fantasy and reality comes into focus, suggesting that perhaps the full extent of his uncomfortable knowledge about the universe may also come into focus as well.

[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 5)

5.) Rosie/Eve is a master manipulator--literally the Mother of Lies--who built the system of Hell in a way that leverages groupthink, misinformation, disinformation, and hierarchies, to sustain and conceal what the system is and why it exists. In setting up this system, she made it so that those in Heaven and Earth depend upon believing that Hell is a punishment for a very wide range of "evildoing", which is a lie: Adam engages in all of the sins and yet remained in Heaven, which convinces me that the reason Rosie/Eve is harming his human extensions is because they have his traits and she hates him. There isn't anything inherently wrong with having a temper/being a jerk/being lusty. Rosie/Eve built this lie so that she could justify harming humans who literally reflect her hated ex. She resents her human children for being living reminders of how her freedom was taken away, something that is reflected by other oppressed, discontent parents like Paimon, Cash, and Crimson. She simultaneously made the system to perpetuate groupthink by convincing those in Hell that they are being punished by Heaven for free will, so that those on Earth, Hell, and Heaven believe lies about what those systems are and why they exist--and not only that, their very sense of identity and power depends upon perpetuating misinformation/disinformation, so that she effectively made a self-sustaining system that protects itself and doubles down on the lies.

This may also be why there are only a few rare cult members (Alastor, Zestial) who know at least some of the truth and are allowed to thrive indefinitely while they keep that truth a secret, because as serial killers they are in a position to benefit from the system being sustained--this is why I think both characters represent and intentionally maintain the status quo (clunkily represented with being "old-timey", with aristocratic-like accents and behavior). The very fact that remorseless serial killers like Alastor and Zestial thrive in this system proves that it is not designed to actually punish wrongdoing, but instead to justify collecting enough souls to sustain Rosie/Eve's constantly hungry and ever-growing offspring, the Root of Evil.

It remains to be seen whether Rosie/Eve is truly in control of the system or if her primordial offspring has become so large and powerful that the system has become its own entity that Rosie can only serve, but either way she clearly has unmatched manipulation techniques. She misled Alastor into thinking she could give him a tremendous amount of power, playing upon his hubris to trick him into fighting Adam. This indicates that the information Alastor has is only partially accurate, and that he literally does not know who he is dealing with or that she is playing upon his egotistical blind spot to basically fatten him up for slaughter, encouraging him to gain more power, via souls, presumably up to the point that she "harvests" him for sacrifice. Because, after all, she can't allow him to gain so much power that he would threaten her feeding system (whether that is because she is truly in control or because her own self-preservation depends upon feeding the Root), and because of his ego, he won't be able to stop pursuing more and more power.

She undoubtedly knows that he wants to become more powerful than the Root of Evil but that he will never reach its "level", which is why I suspect that when he attempts to do that he will quickly learn that she has always been ready to sacrifice him to her offspring at a moment's notice, and her campy, "damsel-like" behavior was all an act to make him think he is in control, even with their contract being broken (something that further blinds him to his situation and makes him think he has control, like a pet pig breaking his leash but still being in a pen). Her attempts to butter his ego by saying things like his soul "is unlike any she's seen" and that he is "the one", in hindsight, may have been a manipulation that she used repeatedly with similar humans who reached her in the centuries before, effectively luring them into her orbit so that she could eventually sacrifice them to her offspring in Hell. If that's the case, that heavily foreshadows that Alastor is actually right where she wants him, mirroring how he died. I wouldn't be surprised if the fact that he was killed right after making a deal with her was not a coincidence but something she coordinated with her assets on Earth--and if so, that foreshadows that he is basically an unknowing cannibalistic fly who doesn't realize the spider he wants to become instead plans to eat him.

[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 4)

4.) Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss is explained by Little Shop of Horrors--Rosie is like a very complicit version of Seymour and the Root of Evil is like the out of control plant-like monster from outer space literally demanding constant human sacrifices and taking over the world as it becomes larger and more powerful. Seymour realizes it craves and demands human blood only after he pricks his finger on the thorn of a rose. Yes, a ROSE.

When Seymour first feeds the plant blood, script notes from the musical state that this offering acts like sealing a "contract" and that he "slides into evil" upon doing so.

It makes sense--Rosie is Eve, the one who originated the Root of Evil in the garden after taking the *red* apple (note the red color of the Root of Evil), which she presumably ate, and the seeds of that apple then took root (either inside her or in the garden), so that Rosie is literally its mother and only parent (bringing to mind the idea of immaculate conception). Lucifer gave her this apple from somewhere from outer space, so it's already canon that this plant is an alien. It's also canon that Rosie continues to care for it as the one who reaches out to Earth to obtain sacrifices and minions (which is why she is the one who Alastor reaches with the ritual to the Root). I wouldn't be surprised if Rosie, like Seymour, found out that her plant offspring needed blood upon pricking her finger, and she sacrificed to this monster the human offspring she was forced to have with Adam (which would explain why she fell like Lucifer and Lillith, and would account for her having an angel-like neck ruff). The Root of Evil is the monster permeating and feeding off souls in Hell and Earth, and Rosie is its complicit caretaker.

[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 3)

3. The Exterminations are actually about saving sinners from being sacrificed to the Root of Evil--if Adam and Eve are battling over souls, it would make sense that what he was doing to "kill" sinners wouldn't sacrifice them to the Root of Evil, because that would benefit Eve. Instead, it would make sense if Adam was doing that because by killing them with angelic weapons, those sinners are reborn on Earth as humans (which fits into the theme of rings/circles reflecting a recycling of energy and souls) that would temporarily remove them from Eve's clutches and weaken her power as the true overlord of Hell. It would then make sense that Eve/Rosie encourages others to assume the exterminations are horrible, since that's how they outwardly appear, since doing so would help her fight against Adam's attempts to weaken her power. Now I wonder if the whole dramatic reveal of angels being able to be "killed" was actually a temptation, planned by Adam and Lillith, to goad Rosie/Eve into trying to kill him--because if killing sinners via angels would actually resurrect them on Earth, that would be the only way that Adam could secretly get to Earth "legally", perhaps to find the resurrected sinners he "killed" in Hell, as a way to prove to the brainwashed, hive-minded residents of Hell that what they were doing was actually about saving them from being eaten--in the same way that Charlie could only convince them of redemption when Pentious was broadcast. Doing this would help to truly free the residents of Hell, something that Lillith clearly tried but failed to do, and would also put her daughter Charlie in a position to step into the power vacuum and build a new system based on love and forgiveness, if Adam were to succeed in exposing the truth about Hell. This would mean that even though Adam is a literal self-proclaimed dick, maybe this is also about him trying to find a way, along with Lillith, to repair the relationships that they broke--and the first step of that is trying to break down Rosie/Eve's power so that the brainwashed and/or complacent residents of Hell realize what it really is.

[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 2)

2. Rosie is secretly Eve, and the existence of Hell is all about Adam and Eve fighting over custody of their human offspring. The Root of Evil arose from Eve eating the apple given to her by Lucifer, so she basically birthed the Root of Evil and its feeding system, Hell. This explains why she reaches out to mortals on Earth as part of sacrificial rituals to the Root of Evil, gathering food/sacrifices to her favorite child, because she is tending to this plant monster like a gardener. This is eerily hinted at with constant cameos of carnivorous Hell plants that look exactly like the ever-hungry plant monster from Little Shop of Horrors--the plant that constantly feeds on human blood and receives sacrifices in exchange for promises of fame and grows larger and more powerful the more it eats. If Rosie is Eve, it makes sense that she would care more for the offspring she made by herself (the Root of Evil) than the human offspring she was forced to have with her hated ex Adam. This would mean that Rosie/Eve isn't just a cannibal, but is also potentially eating her own children, or at least the children of her hated ex husband. If Hell is literally just a savage garden feeding system tended by the spurned "first woman", then that would mean that the universe is literally broken because of the fallout from the universe's first messy broken marriages (Adam, Eve, Lillith, Lucifer). Lucifer justifies this system by doubling down on his pride of giving Eve the apple in the first place and also doubling down on his bias that humans deserve to be sacrificed, which explains why he is confined to the Pride ring and is estranged from Lillith. This would account for the constant theme of deals, word play, and written contracts, all related to marriage and divorce, found family, and family members hurting each other (spouses trying to kill each other, etc.). This convinces me that the entire confrontation with Adam was planned by Rosie/Eve with the intention of trying to kill him after learning about weapons that could potentially kill angels--it is only then that she manipulates Charlie into setting up a pretext to lure him down into Hell, and it is fitting with Rosie's dark humor that a little girl, Nifty, the puppet of her puppet Alastor, would be the one to stab Adam in the back with an angelic knife she just happened to get her hands on--this exactly mirrors Stella's attempted murder of Stolas by hiring a puppet to stab him to death, and also follows from Rosie talking to Charlie about how she wanted to eat/kill her first husband but he tasted bad (which would be a hilarious pun on "Adam's apple" if she tried to take a bite out of his throat). Rosie specifically laughs about Alastor having a similar anticlimactic death in the following episode, laughing about how he literally didn't see it coming (which would mirror her ex getting stabbed in the back). This also explains how Rosie successfully strings along Alastor, because he is just a human offspring with the same flaws and traits as her ex, something she knows how to manipulate since his ego blinds him to the reality of her knowledge and his situation (the fact that he is being actively hunted without even realizing it). As a divorced couple, Adam and Eve are literally fighting to gain custody of humanity by separating them into different spheres of influence both on Earth and after death (heaven under Adam and hell under Eve). Perhaps Eve also maintains this system because, in addition to spiting Adam by killing his human extensions, doing so is also about giving herself relevance, something she craves as the undervalued "first yet second woman"--perhaps humans, sinners, and hellborn alike strive for fame, power, love, and recognition because the oppression they feel is a direct reflection of how their primordial creator, Rosie/Eve, feels. That would in turn be directly reflected by the knee-jerk reaction of Hell's residents to assume that Heaven is oppressing them, because that ties back to the sense that Rosie/Eve feels herself being oppressed by Adam (the rep of Heaven).

[curiousponderer]

Hazbin/Helluva Boss Theories (running thread, pg. 1)

Hell is a complex feeding apparatus designed to feed the Root of Evil, a vast omniscient eating machine that permeates and sustains Hell itself, with every ring just a cog in the system that literally tempts, lures and captures souls in the topmost ring, which is directly beneath a ritualistic pentagram seal, reminiscent of a grow light, just like the one used on Earth as part of sacrificial rituals--this means that sinners are kept in the Pride ring because they are basically plant food, held there so that when they eventually "die" in Hell (unless they basically serve that root by killing others and in the process offer sacrifices), their souls will be sacrificed to the Root of Evil--and I wonder if the way this occurs is that the one ring yet to be revealed, the Envy ring (notably the 6th ring, 666), is basically like a Purgatory/Limbo where souls from the Pride ring infuse water there so that the soul-infused water literally drips into the open plant-like mouths of the Root of Evil, a Little Shop of Horrors plant-like monster that permeates the entirety of Hell (perhaps the real reason why there are elevators between rings is to prevent anyone from knowing the truth of how those rings intersect like a vertical growing system). This same water may be what gives Carmilla's weapons power (a key part of metalworking is to cool the hot metal in water as a final step to harden steel) and powers the healing medicine in the Sloth Ring (using water that spills down from Envy). If the Root of Evil is an omniscient presence with many eyes, extensions, agents/cult members, and can also hear everything (Stolas randomly says "Plants can hear you" in S2 Ep 1 of Helluva Boss), then it makes sense that part of how Hell is maintained is through a system of mass surveillance (something that Vox tries to mimic artificially without even realizing it), a structured hierarchy of menial workers (imps) and overseers (goetia and deadly sins), and making sure that the truth is a carefully kept secret, one that is perpetuated with disinformation and misinformation (pretending that Satan is the ruler of Hell instead of just a figurehead, something that is believed both on Hell and Earth). It then makes sense that knowledge is literally power in this universe, since knowing what Hell is gives someone there an advantage to gain eternal power without threatening the system itself, which the Root of Evil and its agents (people like Zestial and Alastor), would stop since it depends on the feeding apparatus being eternally sustained. I think this is the real reason why Vox failed, and why Alastor knew he would fail, not because Vox was doing anything immoral, but because he was going to inevitably break down the system in his attempts to unknowingly replace the Root as a mass surveillance cult leader, something that the Big Brother-like Root of Evil would prevent to preserve itself.