Please overanalyze the shadows in his palace I am begging you.
@appleyjuiceboyâ / jester owns my braincells of course i would do this for u
Okay so i think its best if i go about the order of shadows we meet in the game so. Iâm not going to go into the persona/shadows in marukiâs palace. Iâll leave that for some other day. Now! Lets hope i can remain fully coherent.
1) The fluffy haired noodle shadow we meet for (ka)sumiâs awakening
First off, look at the design of this shadow--it has the fluffy hair parted to the right like maruki, its androgynous figure, and that swirly face mask as well! The mask has two eyes, and it even looks like theres a smile there, lopsided.Â
We have never seen any other palace shadow taking a similar shape as the palace ruler (except maybe the yaldaboath palace). Shadows are meant to emulate what the ruler thinks of as protectors of their heart. Maruki doesnât trust anyone other than himself with this secret. And particularly at this phase of his distortion -- there are no scientists, to attendants, no patients. Just an empty, beautiful palace -- with possibly only one type of shadow and protector. The type that represents himself.Â
(Also androgynous/nb maruki confirmed ?? yes)
Okay then lets look at what this shadow says to Kasumi.
Shadow: ... Heresy. You dare to spurn our lordâs mercy. Accept yourself... Our lord laments the foolishness birthed from your pain.
Having the context that Kasumi is Sumire here ... Because this scene comes about because Kasumi sees a cognitive version of herself (Sumire) blaming herself -- and so, a part of her is probably trying to remember that she is Sumire. Thus âspurn(ing) our lordâs mercyâ. And yeah accepting herself as Kasumi instead of trying to remember that she is Sumire.Â
But most important is the fact that Marukiâs palace shadows refer to him as a religious or god-like being (âour lordâs mercyâ calling back christian themes). Someone who is merciful and, most of all, does feel grief over oneâs pain. Painting an ideal picture of a loving and caring god, ala abrahamic religions. This is a running theme with all the shadowâs dialogs. Letâs put a pin in this for now.Â
These design shadows are seen again later in the container room of the palace. Theyâre slightly faster. The container room is a strange one -- because it doesnât quite fit in with the rest of the laboratory/hospital/garden of eden thing going on. Â While yes labs and hospitals do have storage areas, i cant imagine them being a container warehouse like this. I do headcanon that this is a storage area for the pain and suffering that Maruki has taken on from other people in order to heal them, due to his hyper empathy -- but iâll analyse the room some other time. For now itâs interesting that the Maruki-like shadows are now relegated to this specific and really dark section of the palace.
Like the throne room/centre of eden that the Maruki boss fight takes place in -- He resigns himself to the darker gloomier parts of his palace. And the same goes for these shadows. This is where he belongs.Â
Also abso-fucking-lutely weâre going to talk about how this shadow transforms when it ambushes you:
Skin suit opening up to reveal fangs and rows of teeth, and a formless monster inside. Maruki ... dude ... are you okay? If these shadows are meant to emulate him -- is this how he sees himself sometimes? HHh boy...
2) First lab coat wearing shadow at the start of his palace investigation
Prior to this, while we understood that Maruki was a researcher, it was never a defining feature of him. Like the first thing that came to my mind on Maruki was that he was just the school counsellor and snack purveyor. Now this entire researcher, scientist, side of him is in full display. And this is the most common type of shadow we see, some which are violent, and others are non violent. Maruki sees scientists as the main residents of his palace -- his drive towards investigation and discovery, to puzzling out the intricacies of the human heart, human mind, and human pain. To better further his ability to heal. But thereâs also a sort of cold, methodical nature to these scientists. Their âhealingâ is methodical, based in science.
This coupled with the religious reverence and ideology that their dialog suggests, is a nice contrast. Experiments, data, research, are peopleâs salvation. Not the simple belief of a deity or of a higher purpose -- but science. Science, in many ways, becomes part and parcel of their religious belief.
Shadow: Those guises ... You arenât among those who desire salvation. Leave. You are unwanted intruders. Do not disturb our lordâs research-- this worldâs salvation. Why do you willingly strive for self-suffering? Why are you reaching out to your own pain?
So here -- the shadow wants them to leave the palace well enough alone. To leave Maruki to his research, and to allow this reality to exist. They donât want this to end violently and it seems like theyâre okay with the trio not âdesiring salvationâ. And when the trio refuse to leave, the shadow asks them why they want to suffer. Itâs something inconceivable to them. Maybe even challenging their resolve-- to reconsider their current path, which will only lead to more pain. Also âsalvationâ, ding, on the christian theme counter. Deliverance from above from sin, even redemption. Not for one person, but for the whole world.Â
We see this type of shadow again before the scene in the auditorium.Â
Shadow: You are misguided. Do not search for pain. Only tragedy awaits you beyond here. [After defeating it] Such a fool, rejecting our lordâs mercy. In that case -- witness it for yourself.
Same themes. Delicious. Lets move on now shall we.
3) Hastur -- the shadow that appears with Maruki at his reveal as his second-in-command / bodyguard
I donât think iâve talked about how much i love the lopsided smiles on these masks. Because i love it. itâs just the right amount of unsettling and creepy. fUCk. And the twitching, twisting, and the weeping blue paint that Hasturâs shadow form does before transforming is /chefs kiss. I wanted more.
Anyway, onto Hasturâs design. Not a labcoat this time, just an ordinary looking white suit with no tie. This is the only time we see Maruki have a bodyguard shadow -- something else he relies on. Hasturâs presence in this scene only shows how deeply afraid and uncomfortable Maruki actually is with intruders in his palace. This experience is a reminder that someone had come into Rumiâs parents house to kill him years ago (a theory for another time). Like that incident years ago, he doesnât resort to violence here -- he did and does try to negotiate. But when that didnât work, at least now he has something that can fight for him.Â
( It is only in the second infiltration when we see Maruki actually take a more active role -- but I wonât get to that here. )
Hastur: Stubborn imbeciles, rejecting our lord ...
There is a running theme here, unfortunately. The shadows again cannot comprehend why anyone would choose to reject Marukiâs salvation, why anyone would choose suffering. And words like âfoolishâ âmisguidedâ and finally âimbecilesâ here are all used to describe those who choose to reject it. While i do think Maruki only bends reality if the person wishes it (subconsciously or consciously), and does accept that there are people who wonât accept their wishes being granted and is aware of the reasons why-- He cannot fully understand or emphatise with it.Â
4) These deformed Maruki-like shadows guarding the control room
Jesus christ above, i donât like these, because they contrast with all other designs as these are more brutish and deformed. Thereâs used as gatekeepers at certain points of the palace, in the first control room, and later on in the brain-pod-room (my brain cells are stopping to work now excuse me) before the garden puzzle portion, at his final will seed and the entrance to the garden of eden.
We know Maruki isnât a brute strength kinda person. And yet we see these few whoâs only purpose is to defend certain things and areas with force. Its uncharacteristic, but at the same time, given the things that these shadows are defending -- it makes sense. No cunning, no wit, no negotiation, no compassion -- just forcefully defending very important parts of his heart and his work.Â
Shadow (at the control room): So you dare defy His Excellency. You shall not interfere with our masterâs work!
Shadow (brainwash room): Foolish rebels! You wonât take one step past here!
Shadow (entrance to garden of eden) : You?! I canât believe youâve made it so far ...
I had to do a double take on this. I think this is the only time this title âHis Excellencyâ has been used in the palace. While it is used for catholic bishops and that sort -- its mostly used in the context of heads of state, ambassadors-- more secular roles. The other times this shadow speaks is also similarly less reverent, less religious orientated. Of course this makes sense if the only function of these shadows is to use force to defend. Theyâre not the scientists or the first maruki-imitation shadows -- theyâre not as devoted, and they dont have to be.Â
5) Finally, these limbless noodles
This one is found during the horticulture portion of the palace. I canât exactly figure out why. And as far as i can tell, they only appear in this portion of the palace.
As far as the design goes -- these are probably the most unhuman like. Slender, androgynous with only a mask. Iâve got nothing. Braincells ran out. Sorry!
(Haha androgynous maruki go brr)
SO! Thatâs it. thanks for coming to my ted talk and following me down this rabbit hole. I need to go and drink some fuckin tea.Â
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