Some Yunshi Work – Analysis and Little Study of Die Society
(Originally written in Chinese and roughly translated. There could be some translation differences regarding the quoted source such as the Holy Bible, or some tense errors.)
First of all, this article started on Sunday, 28 July, 2024, and ended on Monday, 16 September, 2024, and there was a month in between when I didn't touch it at all for personal reasons, so for something I don't remember much about the details I wanted to write. Secondly, the title of this combination(Yunshi is a person’s other name who wrote a sequel for the unfinished A Dream of Red Mansions) expresses the purpose of my writing this thing: DS, Die Society, since you can see this article, probably have seen DS? I guess? However, I would like to briefly mention to those who have not seen this series: DS is a self-made drama series that I have been watching, the producer is called Jim, and the protagonist is audience "played" (so the gender is uncertain, because I am a straight female, so the following default protagonist is a straight female), and the theme has strong religious and cult elements. The first season has ended, and the second season is in a hiatus. The story is outlined below.
The total time extend of the DS update has been nearly four years, and it has been a year since the last update, and there is still no news of the next episode. In the meantime, he's been updating other videos, and I almost think he's given up on the series. So, really impatient, I decided to do my own large-scale combing and analysis, to do a little of the work, that is, "Yunshi Work" - although the original author is still alive and well (A Dream of Red Mansions is unfinished because the author was dead.), and I have always wished him to live to the age of 140.
One. Season 1 story summary, clue collection and brief analysis
(The following "we" is the protagonist)
1. SIE1 - Ricardo's spin class
Synopsis:
The story takes place in California, and we come to a gym for a spin class with a trainer named Ricardo. He stopps us after class and tells us that the place is owned by Hugo Hoffman, a wealthy man whose house often hosts parties. Ricardo is going to hire a part-time job for the boss Hugo, the salary is very good, if we are interested, we should go to a Valencia woman for makeup, and then go to Ricardo's girlfriend Erisa to take a photo to Hugo for his approvement to go. In addition, Ricardo mentions that if we could go, there is a bad-tempered bodyguard at the door of Hugo's mansion, he can’t remember the name, and we need to tell him a password, called "hilarious". After that, Ricardo wishs us luck.
Clues:
a. " I can't get over this feeling that I've seen you somewhere before." - Ricardo
A short analysis:
The first episode is basically a setting, not a lot of information, just introducing five characters, including Ricardo, and a "feel like I've seen you somewhere before," but it's clearly not flirting, but creating a bit of a suspicious atmosphere.
2. S1E2 - Make-up by Valencia's Pool
Synopsis:
We find Valencia, who is wearing a necklace with the Hebrew symbol for Chai (meaning ‘alive’), and she begins to do our make-up. As she does the make-up, she tells us things. Mainly the relationships of several characters, such as the fact that Ricardo and Erisa are not really boyfriend and girlfriend, but just wishful thinking on Ricardo's part; that she herself was penniless in the beginning, and was taken in and rehabilitated by Hugo; and that Hugo is a man who is very tolerant of all lifestyles, and takes care of his own people out of starvation, and so on. She also mentions for us to be ourselves, to be a fire that would light the world on fire. After that she mentios that we are advised to keep a clear head before the party. Finally, she compliments us and tells us to stay out of trouble with the goon at the door, she says his name is Gabe, an Antipodean, and doesn't mention anything else.
Clues:
a. “Little Cherub.”- Valencia
b. Valencia mentioned that we have a hidden ‘purity’. (Too long to quote. Same below.)
c. “You are something very special.” - Valencia
A short analysis:
Valencia doesn't have much information in this episode, even though she talks all the time, mainly mentioning some interpersonal relationships between characters and character traits, as well as spouting off about Ricardo. It's worth noticing that here she calls us ‘cherub’, a type of angel, but our names remain unknown or undetermined until episode five, when our names (or codenames) are confirmed.
The second appearance of the ‘guy at the door’. (The vocabulary used is Antipodean, the first time I know this word to represent Australians.)
3. S1E3 - Elisa's social media photo taking
Synopsis:
After getting our makeup done with Valencia, we came to Erisa. Erisa was a goth beauty, said Hugo knew everyone. After a brief conversation, she began to take pictures of us. And then she said, we should relax at the party, and it's easy money, and she's done it before, and then Hugo gave her a real chancet, and she became part of the family. Finally, she said, before the party starts, eat and drink.
Clues:
a. "It's like a family. Beautiful beautiful family. And once you are in, he'll look after you, forever. " - Erisa
A short analysis:
There is even less information in this episode than in the first two, and the only contradiction is the name of Elisa the name, whether it is Elisa or Erisa. Till now, the characters have called her "Erisa", which is what she calls herself, but the title says "Eisa". She'll explain that later.
In addition, she mentions that "we are like a family, Hugo will always take care of you", which corresponds to the words of Valencia in the second episode, and also corresponds to the rest of the plot.
The first three episodes are basically background laying, the DS religious elements are basically absent, and the next episode is the official start of the story.
4. S1E4 - Hugo's Bloody Dinner Party
Synopsis:
We arrive at Hugo's front door and see the bodyguard who has been mentioned twice. He stopped us and we reported the "hilarious" password, which he said was incorrect and had to call Hugo to confirm our identities. He did a routine check on us and collected our lighter and mobile phone. Suddenly he said, if we do not want to come, we can go now, see we do not want to go, he says, if there is something wrong, or we drink too much, use the com in each room to call him in, and he will get us out. And he also says that we don't look like anyone who had worked for Hugo before. After that, he told us the password was not hilarious, but "Hail Eris."
After a burst of party music, all the previous bad omens were fulfilled - we have been kidnapped. Hugo, Ricardo, Valencia, Elisa are all here. They are dressed in fancy clothes, but Elisa refuses to wear a mask and is more rebellious. Hugo says that they worship Eris, and that we must sacrifice our blood and combine it with gold to give them eternal life.
Clues:
a. " You look a little different to the people who usually work for Mr. H. " - Bodyguard
b. "Hail Eris"
c. "This is Eris's habitat, and we are all propagators of chaos." - Hugo (This is the haunt of Eris. We are demagogues for chaos.)
d. " Your lifeblood. Combine it with monotonical gold. Super conductive property which allows our bodies to regenerate over time, and allows us to live forever. " - Hugo ()
A short analysis:
First of all, the bodyguard who appeared twice in the line appeared, and the words were madly implying that we had a problem with this party and we could leave. But at the same time, he said, "You look different," and that's part of the problem - where are we different?
Regarding this password, we can see that Eris is similar to Erisa, which makes it suspicious of Elisa's identity. Eris was the mythical goddess of chaos, and specific questions about theology and pagan rituals are discussed further below. Anyway, the main story finally begins in this episode.
5. S1E5 - Gabriel's rescue
Synopsis:
We were taken blood by Hugo, weak and dying, Ricardo was wearing headphones, listening to music, dancing in front of us, suddenly the front door bodyguard rushed in, shot Ricardo, grabbed us who was gradually falling into coma out. The next time we woke up, we were in his car. It was a rainy night outside. He said his name was Gabriel and he was going to take us to the hospital, but Hugo would send his goons Doom and Gloom to hunt us down. He saw that we had lost so much blood that he had to stop the car and bandage us up, explaining that he was with the Vatican Guard, an undercover agent sent to Hugo's house. He wasn't doing anything, and his superiors wouldn't let him, until us, he finally decided to defy his superiors and save us. After apologizing and explaining, he returned to the driver's seat, but by this time, the two killers had overtaken him, shot Gabriel, and stunned us.
Clues:
a. " Hey, Angel, Angel, stay with me, okay? " - Gabriel
b. "I'm on a mission from God." - Gabriel
c. "I'm in Swiss Guard." - Gabriel
A short analysis:
Gabriel's name officially came out, and he called us "Angel", which officially became our names/codename in the DS (I always suspected that we actually had real name and told Gabriel, we'll get to that when I write S2E3), but how did we become Angel? How did Gabriel know we were an angel?
Gabriel was one of the common "rescue characters" in the early era of Jim's videos (2018-2020), saving us from trouble and sometimes getting hurt themselves (I can count at least four of them anyway: Gabriel, Dimi, Hamer, John the Black Eye, and, if you consider the open-ended ending to be bad ending, Malenkee too).
By doing God's work, which he'll say again later, does that mean literally? Or is there some deeper meaning?
Swiss Guard - It's confusing here, the Swiss Guard has to be Swiss. Gabriel, how does an Australian get into the Swiss Guard? He'll explain later. We will come back to this later.
In addition, it is well known that the name "Gabriel" is an angel's name, and is the only character in the entire series to be named after an angel, which may or may not have a special purpose. He'll mention the name himself later.
6. S1E6 - Doom and Gloom's Torment
Synopsis:
Doom and Gloom are a couple. Doom's a mute. Gloom talks to us. First he took the phrase "Your boyfriend is kicking" to let us know that Gabriel was still alive. And then they started torturing us brutally to punish us for escaping. At one point he mentions a cousin named Eletta or Regretta (doubt it doesn't matter). He hurt us badly, and he ended up saying Ricardo was Hugo's son, and he got shot, so Hugo wanted a revenge. When it comes to revenge and "God as my..."as he spoke, a holy light shone on Gloom, who started to burn with smoke and died. Doom gets up in anger, only to hear sirens, and he has to leave.
Clues:
a. "God as my..." - Gloom
A short analysis:
This episode got little important, mainly shipping the couples(the line), and the final Holy Light. Why did the Light kill Gloom? Is this about us? Or did we call upon the Light?
7. S1E7 - Brennen's trial
Synopsis:
We were taken to the police station. One of the officers, Brennen, who was covered in bandages, approached us. He was kind to us and opened our handcuffs, saying that he was covered in bandages because he had been in a fire. Then he said the D.A. wants to see us later, his daughter's missing, he's in a bad mood, and we're accused of killing a federal agent and a federal marshal." We described the incident in detail, and Brennen was shocked that Hugo was the D.A., that his daughter was Erisa, and that we had killed his son Ricardo. Hugo started the fire in which his cat, Bootsy, died. Ricardo was a federal agent, he told us, and Grom was a federal marshal, also known as Ozymandias. We didn't cover for Gabriel, either, but Brennen doesn't believe an Australian can get into the Swiss Guard. Brennen, though, took pity on us, and he said he'd worked on human trafficking cases before, and when he found Hugo, he was called off by superiors. And then he decided to help us, but we had to see Hugo first. Brennen left.
Hugo started swearing as soon as he sat down, asking us where his daughter was, saying that it didn't matter that they were adopted. After scolding us for a while, he said, don't think he doesn't know what we are and what we can do. Then he threatened to kill us, swore and left. And Brennen managed to get in touch with Gabriel before Hugo could find us again, and he took us to the motel where Gabriel was staying.
At the Vatican, a masked killer priest gets word that Gabriel killed Ricardo. He said things like "Death to Satan," "Death to all," and fired machine guns into the air and laughed.
Clues:
a. "They call him Ozymandias." - Brennen mentioned Gloom
b. Hugo says he knows what we are, but we ourselves don't, and he knows how to use us and kill us. If we run away again, we'll be plunged into a cold hell.
A short analysis:
The main new character in this episode is Brennen, another of Hugo's victims who finally decides to help us. As for how he was able to contact Gabriel, I consider it as a minor plot flaw. He was burned by Hugo, and the name Brennen is also German for "burn." Fire seems to be a very important image, our lighter appears in almost every episode (later as well), and Valencia also mentions fire. But in all, it seems like a coincidence?
Ricardo and Gloom's identities are bit of exaggerated, but it doesn't affect the plot, so they're probably indeed dead. Ozymandias is an important image that actually refers to the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II, known by the Greek name Ozymandias. Hugo has been using the words "bimbo" and "boy toy" to describe Gabriel, which is also funny to hear.
The words of the masked killer at the end and the information he received were in Italian, I can only figure out the general, hopefully not important information. So far, this is proof that Gabriel really belongs to the Church - he is about to be hunted down by the Church for disobedience. Or there is another possibility - Ricardo is an Italian name, is he connected to the Church? The Church is angry about his death? But that's very unlikely, and Riccardo is completely out of the picture, so he's probably indeed dead.
8. S1E8 - Psymon's treatment
Synopsis:
(This episode is one-hour long, and it's also very information-dense, so this part is going to be long.)
A new character appears in the opening credits, identified as Lucifuge Rofocale, from a book called Grand Grimoire, in which he is the Prime Minister of the great demon.
Brennen dropped us off at the motel and left, and Gabriel thanked him and turned to us and made a mean joke about how he looked like a mummy but the department was pretty inclusive. He started to get very close to us, and he called us Angel honey, in addition to calling us Angel. He said he thought he'd never see us again, but he survived by being a movie hero. He tried and failed to find us, and then Brennen got in touch. Gabriel was dressed as a priest, but with a gun. He explained that he was not a priest, that it was a cover. About the Swiss Guard - his mother was Swiss, he had served in the Swiss army, but he grew up mainly in Australia. Then he told us not to be angry, went inside, and wheeled out the missing Elisa, and it turned out that he had kidnapped Elisa.
As soon as Elisa sat down, she said we were demons, the exact opposite of Gabriel's angels. Gabriel, too, looked suspicious, and told himself that his boss was right, but immediately added that his task remained the same, that he would protect us. Then a phone call takes Gabriel away. Elisa took the opportunity to move closer and say that we were a demon, not an angel, that Hugo had always wanted demon blood, that we could trust her, that she was the federal informant and Ricardo wasn't, that she could contact the FBI and get us out, because Gabriel was insane and out of control, and why was he pretending to be a priest? And what would a priest do to a demon? Ricardo was bad, but he didn't deserve to die, and yet he died. Elisa said we can't trust Gabriel, not even the Swiss Guard thing since he's not even Swiss. About Ricardo and her and Valencia, Elisa said that Ricardo and she was adopted, her real name is Elisa, called Erisa because it sounds like Eris, the goddess of chaos. As for Valencia, she's dead. She's the one who called the cops to get us out of Doom and Gloom. And Brennen's cat Bootsy isn't a cat, it's his wife, and he has PTSD and thinks it's his cat. Anyway, Elisa really wants us to side with her, not trust Gabriel. But then Gabriel came back and said that the Vatican had excommunicated him and had sent men after him, but the good news is, he knows a shaman who can help us, and he knows about angels and demons. He left Elisa at the hotel and took us there.
Gabriel was waiting at the door, and we met Psymon alone. Psymon's name sounds like Simon and he says he's going to explain it to us, but we can't laugh or we're leaving with our boyfriend (shipping again). He said he changed his name from Simon to Psymon in the '90s. Then Psymon put the name thing on hold and told us first that we were not a demon but an angel. Then he dispensed a capsule of mercury to us, told us to take one immediately, and then went on to tell our story. He said that he had seen a real angel in Cape Town, and that he could hear a loud chorus, and that many people had seen them, and they had seen different things. His friend took a video, and it was a seraph, but it wasn't the same as what Psymon saw, either, so after that, Psymon went from pharmacist to shaman, believing in the supernatural. He said that when angels come to earth, they rarely remember their identity, only have beautiful qualities, and only know how to do good, but when demons come to earth, they remember their identity, know their purpose, and strive to do evil. Then he took out a notebook full of alchemical stuff, incantations, symbols and rituals, and mentioned that angels were made of mercury, sodium, and sulfur, and pointed to a symbol and said this is our symbol, the angel symbol. Then he made sodium and sulfur capsules, saying that mercury corresponds to our nerves, sodium to our blood, and sulfur to our bones. He says if we can remember who we are, we can go back to heaven. Finally, he gave us a capsule called the "Heaven’s Gate". If we or others took it, we or people who took it would immediately leave our bodies and ascend to heaven. He also told us that if we die on earth, we must obey the rules of mortals, and not necessarily go back to heaven, but possibly to hell. Finally, he wished us and Gabriel good luck.
Back at the motel, Gabriel discovers that Elisa has run away. He said Psymon had confirmed his belief that we were an angel and not a demon. Meanwhile, Gabriel says he is not an angel, but has come to do the mission of God. But at that moment, there were machine-gun shots outside the door, and Gabriel immediately realized that it was a masked killer sent by the Holy See and took us into hiding.
Clues:
a. " And it is- Father Gabriel, he has got a good ring to it huh? " - Gabriel
b. " I was in the military and my mother is Swiss, French-Swiss. They have national service there. " - Gabriel
c. " So my boss was right... the mission stands, I'm here to protect you. " - Gabriel
d. " He's insane." - Elisa mentions Gabriel
e. " Hugo owned all the orphanages. " - Elisa
f. " He calls me Erisa because it sounds like the god he worships, the god of chaos. " - Elisa
g. "Y You are the first one that's real. " - Elisa
h. " You should always look your best. You never know if today's your last. " - Gabriel
i. " You are not a demon. You are an angel. " - Psymon
j. "This angel, she descended onto the street." - Psymon
k. " When an angel dies, they come to earth... you have not descended from heaven with a chorus of angelic song. You are here because for whatever reason, in heaven, you died. " - Psymon
l. " When the angels come back to earth, they don't know what they were. But when the demon comes to earth, they remember. " - Psymon
m. " That means that if you die and you have done something questionable, or standing poor faith or judgment with the lord, you could go to hell. But it also means that anyone who you're associating with could go there too. " - Psymon
n. " I'm not an angel. But I am here to do the work of God." - Gabriel
A short analysis:
It's a long, information-dense episode. But Jim likes to play unreliable narration, and Gabriel and Elisa are at odds with each other, so can Psymon be trusted? Although at present I think Psymon's credibility is relatively large, he gives too much information, DS does not seem to be enough to carry such a large volume of unreliable narration, unless it is written as The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, but at present it seems that Psymon is not like it. And combined with Psymon's ending, he doesn't seem to be lying, at least he's giving the truth from his perspective. Or maybe, Psymon's not on our side, but he's probably giving us all the right information, or nothing wrong.
And first, Gabriel's appearance in this episode is my favourite appearance of Jim's character. Secondly, the editing of this episode is also very smooth and the production level is very high, but Jim's equipment was not quite up to date at that time, and the white balance is constantly changing. But the cons do not obscure the pros.
Now let's see the plots. I kind of feel like Gabriel's suddenly so close to us, but maybe it's just a sudden plot development. Does he really like us? Or is there a purpose to it (I'm shipping them anyway)? At least the first season is still very confusing (in the second season, Gabriel's character seems to have changed and become less complicated, but since it's not finished, I'm not sure about the second season). It's a pretty far-fetched explanation of the Swiss Guard, and if that's the case, then he'd have to be a Swiss citizen, but a guy who grew up in Australia, did his national service in Switzerland at 18, and then ended up in the Swiss Guard, which is kind of cool, and it sounds crazy but it can be done anyway.
Elisa came out and told us a big information that we were demons. At this point Gabriel's "So my boss is right" line is worth thinking about - who is his boss? The Pope? The Pope thinks we're demon, or Hugo's looking for demons, so why does Gabriel immediately identify us as angel? The mission remains the same, so what was the mission of the Pope before? Is it "protecting the demon"? Or is that Gabriel's way of saying he won't change and will still disobey the Holy See? The first season, if anything, left Gabriel's identity and purpose as a big mystery (again, Season 2 seems a little more prosaic, which is a pity). Then Gabriel gets on the phone, and Elisa gives us more information. According to the rest of the story, Elisa's claim that she was a federal informant is almost credible. And the resemblance between her name and Eris is a clue. The roles of Ricardo and Valencia are officially closed. Plus, Elisa doesn't believe Gabriel will actually help us, which is quite a contrast to Season 2 (which, of course, has a completely different storyline from Season 1, so it's hard to say). Gabriel's "never know if it's the last" is a little bit "If Psymon says you're a demon..." The detail is kind of interesting.
What Psymon says, which we assume to be true information, then becomes the principle of DS: On earth, angels do not know their identity, demons do. It is through this that Psymon confirms that we are angels, otherwise we would not have been killed this way. But again, is there a unreliable narration here? After all, the main character is the audience, and we can't talk. What if we actually remember who we are? Or remember a little? Let's just go with what Psymon said. Psymon mentioned that we died in heaven, so we lost our memories and came to earth, and if we die again, we may go to heaven or hell. That piece of heaven's gate also seems to be a foreshadowing, but so far, the main story doesn't mention it.
Finally at the motel, Gabriel says again that he is on a mission from God and that he is not an angel. So what is God's task? After all, he had disobeyed the Church, which had excommunicated him. Besides, is it possible that he was also an angel, one who had lost his previous memory? Being the only character to be named after an angel has denied it twice. But there is no other evidence for this either. And according to the following plot, Gabriel's number of murders is not small, not like Psymon said what an angel would be like.
In addition, there is a symbol in Psymon's notes that he says is our angel symbol - which, according to the search, is actually the symbol of Lucifer. It is well known that Lucifer was an archangel who fell into the form of Satan. So in this episode, we can pretty much confirm our angel-demon duality. Episode 8 is important.
9. S1E9 - Masked Killers and monsters
Synopsis:
Thanks to the ytb comments section, I saw something new at the beginning that I skipped - a few more symbols in the opening credits, the mercury symbol, the Demiurge (we'll talk about this later), and the Philosopher's Stone (Psymon mentions it).
The first half of the show is us hiding in a closet with Gabriel. The plots are shipping they two too still. And Gabriel says our hair smells good, needs to borrow our conditioner, goes on and on about how scary this masked killer is. The masked killer came in and said Gabriel's name, that he had betrayed the church, that he had betrayed him, that he would find him and kill him. In the middle of the tension, Gabriel gave us a kiss, didn't feel comfortable for a moment, and then started apologizing. Finally, the killer leaves without finding anyone, and Gabriel and we get out of the locker. He said nervously that it was a machine gun, fortunately the killer left. And then he asked us to forgive the inappropriate kiss. That's when a woman, claiming to be the FBI, pulled a gun on Gabriel and took us both away.
In the second half of the episode, we come to Venice Beach. The place is called Venice California, and a man with sunglasses paces irritably in a mansion, saying something about dino or dinner and cursing. He received a phone call from Hugo, and scolded Hugo, saying that he would go over to Hugo to solve the problem of the demon, and bring the demon to him. Then he ordered his men to prepare the plane and brought two men on board. There's a voice in the background, which could also be pagan or criminal human trafficking, which makes him seem to be Hugo's superior.
The camera then cuts to Psymon's lab, where a cold-eyed man is reading Psymon's notes and becomes intrigued when he sees the Lucifer symbol. Psymon's voice drifted off and said it’s you Sam, that if he'd known it was him, he wouldn't... But without letting him finish, Sam shot him. Sam said he was looking for the love of his life.
Clues:
a. "You betrayed the church, you betrayed me." - the masked killer
b. "If I'd known it was you, I wouldn't..." - Psymon
c. "I'm looking for the love of my life." - Sam
A short analysis:
This episode of Gabriel's scene is not too much, mainly on the road to shipping them two further. Hugo's sunglasses boss calls himself "Hermon," but I'm not sure if that's the name, consider it as it is. What he said was so vague that I couldn't make out what it was, whether it was dino or dinner, whatever it was, we didn't know what it meant. And Sam and Psymon seem to have known each other before, and Psymon seems to be trying to say something, but he's killed before he finished. Sam is officially introduced here, a mysterious character who has appeared in only two episodes of DS. If the "love of his life" is us, then who is he? Who are we? Why does Psymon know him? What is Psymon regretting now? Jim's cat comes out at the end, but I think Jim was just loving his cat here, so I won't mention it about the plots.
As for the name "Hermon," I'm not sure I heard it right. There is a mountain called Mount Hermon on the border between Syria and Lebanon. In some myths, the palace of Baal was located here. In other texts (the Book of Enoch), fallen angels descend on Mount Hermon.
10. S1E10 - Tikvah and recruiting informants
Synopsis:
The female FBI agent with the name tag Naomi Tikvah uncuffed us. Tikva, Hebrew for "hope." She said we weren't in trouble, we didn't kill anyone, we were victims of a criminal organization that trafficked people. Gloom died of an aneurysm. He said Gabriel killed a lot of people, that he was unhinged. And even more so with the man in the mask, a war criminal. She pointed out that what Gabriel seemed to be saying was true, that he did work for the Vatican, that we had become somewhat close to Gabriel, that Elisa was an FBI informant, and that Hermon's name was William, and that he and Hugo were using their power to run a criminal business. And now that Elisa is in Hugo's control again, Tikvah wants us to help her and Elisa in exchange for Gabriel's reduced sentence, which is fine if we stay out of it, but Gabriel will go to jail. She hopes we can help, get to Hugo, save lives. When we said yes, she gave us a microphone and told us to say the password "Ozymandias" (yes, the same as Gloom's nickname) if things got out of hand.
Clues:
a. "The code word is Ozymandias." - Tikvah.
A short analysis:
This issue is not very informative, but with a few puzzles, one of which is the cause of Gloom's death. We saw the light with our own eyes. But Tikvah said he died of an aneurysm; The other is the code. Why Ozymandias, too? Because Gloom is a federal marshal? And from her we learn that the Hugo’s business was a cult and crime syndicate, and next time we face Hugo again in order to save Elisa and Gabriel.
11. Gunfight in Hell
Synopsis:
The opening of the episode is a big difference from previous episodes, using a similar format with a cast list, with each character appearing, but the arrangement is a little strange. The characters are Bill (William), Doom, the masked killer priest, Sam, Valencia, Hugo, Elisa, and Ricardo. Can't find any pattern, not based on life or death or appearance in this episode, I don't know if it's intentional or not.
Tikvah checked with us at mic that the signal was clear, and we went inside, where we were met by a sad Doom at the door, who saw that we were angry, but received orders to let us in anyway.
Hugo was even more angry when he saw us, saying that his life had been a mess since he met me, and how we could cause him so much trouble. At this point, Tikvah prompts us to come in another man, it is Bill, still swearing, and asks Hugo who Elisa and we are, Hugo says Elisa is his daughter and we are the demon, Bill is very angry, and says why Hugo pointed a gun at his daughter, and the demon is already here, so why bring him here, he ate a whole person on the plane (depending on the tone, Maybe they actually ate them). At this point, Tikvah again suggested that there was a person at the door who seemed to pop out from nowhere. It was Sam. He came in and said we were the love of his life and didn't belong to anyone. Bill started teasing again about how it was like a restaurant. And to make matters worse, the masked killer showed up. All hell broke loose. Sam started shooting. Tikvah asked us what was going on, and if necessary, gave out the code. Hugo and Bill hide behind the couch, Elisa goes down, and Sam shoots Doom. The man in the mask shot Sam in the cheek. Bill and Hugo are scared, and Bill keeps cursing and telling Hugo to shoot the man in the mask. Hugo, as if afraid to shoot, shoots the masked man, the masked man shoots back but doesn't seem to hit anyone, and Hugo shoots again, knocking the masked man down. Sam got up again and began to say a strange spell. Bill shoots Sam, the picture shakes, Bill falls, and we are plunged into darkness. Tikvah called off the operation.
In the darkness, a mysterious voice said it was coming to clean things up. Several characters appear separately. First Bill says something nice, then dino/dinner and repeats it, then Hugo says something about us being his children and loving us; Then there was Sam, who still called us lovers, and asked us if we wanted apples, if we wanted them cut; And finally, Elisa, she said she just wanted to be loved, and she thought she'd get it with us.
The camera goes to hell, and there's Baal the demon. He gave us a good lecture, told us we screwed up, and we thought we were angels. Big D is disappointed in our father, and he is disappointed in Hermon (not sure here), Sam is perhaps the most like Lord, and Eris is not here. And we are the devil traitor. He also confiscated our lighters.
Clues:
A. "A demon who has been sowing the seeds of chaos around town." - Hugo mentions us.
b. "Neo-Nazi prick"- Bill mentions Sam
c. "Minimal blood, a living body... Long live Satan. (Sanguis minimus. Corpus animus... Satani.Ave.)" – Part of Sam’s spell. Originally Latin, can only figure out part of it. Imcomplete.
A short analysis:
This episode is more or less informative. There's not much new. The first question is, what is the masked man doing here? Shouldn't he be looking for Gabriel at the FBI? Or does he think we're easier to find? But it seems like he's not just trying to kill us, which means he's really crazy. And then there's Sam's incantation, which is actually a black mass, but it's a celebration of the devil. Next thing, I don’t know if it was because Bill killed Sam, or because of the black mass, we went into a dark place with Bill. Four characters appear in turn, which I understand as a kind of spiritual communication in limbo. In hell, Baal's words are worth investigating, it seems that Bill, Sam, and Elisa are all related to hell. I didn't quite catch that part either. It was a bit of a trouble. It's like we're a demon who've forgotten who we are. The first season came to an abrupt end.
12. A brief description of the Season 1 Recap video
At the end of 2021, Jim released a recap video of the first season of the DS, briefly introducing the contents of the first season and preparing for the second season. There's something interesting about Jim's wording here.
In the first place, speaking of Valencia and Elisa, it is said that they both showed sympathy for us, perhaps because they felt sympathy for the fate we were about to face.
Second, the phrase "spurious tales" is used to describe Gabriel's claim that he worked for the Church.
Third, that Glom was killed by holy light, not an aneurysm.
Fourth, that Psymon healed our wounds by feeding us mercury. (Because the original plot says mercury corresponds to nerves, it seems that there is just a bit of a difference in the setting here. But well, tt's not a short time since Jim has a chaotic memory or remembers the plots but doesn't care about corresponding them.)
Fifth, Jim himself summed up Psymon's words as - demons do not tend to live on earth, but angels who die in heaven will be reborn on earth and start a new life, because they are on earth, so if they are guilty, they may also go to hell.
Sixth, and more importantly, Jim called us "Astarte." We'll talk more about that later.
Two. Season 1 story summary, clue collection and brief analysis
Only three episodes have been updated for the second season, reportedly cutting the original six episodes to four. I don't know how Jim is going to wrap up so much threads of clues in the next finale episode... The overall style of the second season is also completely different from the first season.
1. S2E1 - The Hellhound
Synopsis:
The opening credits of the second season are great, and the music is great. Notably, the opening credits feature a woman wearing a star crown, which will be mentioned later.
Malcomb House, Los Angeles, December 22, 12:32 p.m., we, as a rookie constable, followed Detective Charles Holmes to investigate a homicide in which the victim was Dr. Malcomb, and we are now at his home questioning Mrs. Malcomb. The detective had an arm in a cast, which was a little inconvenient to record, and we were new, so we had to record. The detective and Mrs. Malcomb went over some of the details of the case.
That day, Mrs. Malcomb is taking the kids to school, and Dr. Malcomb is doing his daily routine before going to work. He has a memory problem. He remembers the big things, but forgets the little things easily, so there are stickers all over the house. The doctor showered that morning, brushed his teeth, made sandwiches, then took his medicine, blood anticoagulants, drank coffee, read the newspaper, and about to feed the dog. When he was about to feed the dog, the attacker burst in, shot him, and let the dog go.
The detective finished his review and asked Mrs. Malcomb if anyone would have thought to let the dog go. It is also mentioned that the FBI may be involved because this case is similar to another random killing spree they have on hand (same person, different locations, close timing). But if she wanted to contact him, she can contact him still and give her his card. Finally he wished the wife a merry Christmas.
The camera came to the car, we were driving, the detective sat in the passenger seat, took the child's toy gun/lighter to lit a cigarette, joked about why he loved to say merry Christmas inappropriately, and then began to analyse the case with us. He first said the woman was lying. And then he asked us if we noticed that dog cage, big and gorgeous. This case is about a kid doctor with a perfect family, and all of a sudden a maniac kills him, and then the dog is let go. Very strange. And there was no sign of forced entry at the house, similar to a recent case. The detective figured the FBI would take over, but he wanted to find out for himself. Finally, he asked us if we remembered D.A. Hoffman's disappearance many years ago. Then there was a crash, and in the darkness we heard a strange sound. End of episode one.
Clues:
a. "What you mean about the victim's wife? Yeah, she's lying." - Holmes
b. "Did you see the dog cage?" - Holmes
c. "Do you remember the disappearance of D.A. Hoffman?" - Holmes
A short analysis:
Looking at this episode alone, except for the last sentence, there is really no connection to the first season. Malcomb's memory problems, I don't really know if they're important, and why would Mrs. Malcomb lie? Where did she lie? I don't know. And the episode is about the dog. Malcomb's death was probably all about releasing the dog. So, what kind of dog is it? The title says Hellhound. What about the specifics? What's the role? Unknown. The episode also buried two clues: the recent killing spree, and the absence of a forced entry.
2. S2E2 - The Bwytawrdrwg
Synopsis:
The title of this episode is in Welsh, and it's actually two words without a space between. At that time, I estimated that many people were confused by the title, and this episode did a narrating all the way, resulting in a very poor amount of views, which directly led to the hiatus of DS. See below for a detailed explanation of this title.
The episode begins in a hospital, where a doctor is banging on about how our pupils don't respond, our brain looking good in MRI, and how we somehow look dead. There was nothing they could do but let nature take its course.
Southern California Hospital On December 22, at 6:45 p.m., the story officially began. The detective was stopped by the doctor for smoking, and he wished the doctor a Merry Christmas and turned to us. The detective said the accident wasn't our fault. The important thing is we're okay. During the afternoon, he looked into some more clues. He told us about a man named Richard Hart, who appeared to be a big charity man, but was actually a Nazi, a big war criminal, whose real name was Carl Reinhardt. This guy's been dead for 20 or 30 years, but just recently, someone dug up his body, burned the remains, and one of the things they dug up at the excavation site was Dr. Malcomb's. So the killer got from Malcomb's house to the cemetery within 12 hours of doing all of this. And in the exhumation scene, there was a priest, and he was the one who dug up the body. While having a priest in the cemetery is no big deal, the detective also mentioned that Malcomb's house was secured, but the killer didn't force his way in, so there was no sign of it. In addition to family members, salespeople, and public servants such as the police, the most likely to open the door, is the priest. So what we're looking for here is a murderer priest.
Then, the detective mentioned that D.A. Hoffman went missing all those years ago. It was an FBI operation, Hoffman engaged in criminal activity, the detective was a junior officer at the time, and an old colleague of his, Brennan, was involved. The prosecutor's daughter was involved, and his son was killed by a priest. Hoffman, his daughter, a murderous psychopath from nowhere, a masked maniac, and a Hollywood producer all disappeared, leaving the scene in chaos. There were a lot of bodies, one of them a priest, wearing a mask. The Vatican then covered it up with the FBI, and the female agent in charge of the operation was relegated to clerical work.
The detective said that he thought there was a connection between the current case and the Hoffman case, and that he planned to find Brennan, who had left the service, and that he knew the priest. Finally, he said there was something strange about the recording at Malcomb's house, and he played it back for us, and it was the voice we heard at the end of the first episode. We're having trouble staying awake. We're unconscious again. In the darkness we saw a figure that seemed to be a vicious hound.
At the end of the second episode, Gabriel is praying, and his voice is extremely vague, and I only managed to record part of it by asking questions in the YTB comments section. Anyway, it was Gabriel praying to Erisa saying he can't do this anymore, help him, she knows why he's here. A woman who appears to be Erisa says someone is approaching and someone is dead. Gabriel didn't understand, Erisa went on, please don't leave them, "he" was satisfied. Finally, Erisa said, Gabriel, someone is watching you. The scene ends immediately.
Finally, at the end, a book was opened, in which a number of names were recorded, some of which were crossed out, and the rest of which were written, respectively, Moloch (the evil god associated with fire and human sacrifice for Baal, and the literary image of war mania), death (the important religious concept, gave birth to the hell-hound with Sin in Paradise Lost), Abdiades (mentioned in the Book of Chronicles, with a literary representation of an fallen angel), Dragol (seems to be spelled that way, but no reference is found), and Methuselah (an extremely long-lived person mentioned in the Bible). One hand scratched out Moloch's name with a pen. End of episode two.
Clues:
a. "Someone dug up the corpse of this Nazi and burned the remains." - Holmes
b. "What about priests? You trust them, right?" - Holmes on no sign of break-in.
c. If we are right, then the missing persons in the "Hoffman case" mentioned by Holmes are Hoffman, Elisa, Sam, Doom, and Bill, in that order, and the dead priest is the masked man.
d. "Brennan, he knew the priest." - Holmes
e. The whole conversation between Gabriel and Erisa is obviously important, but I couldn't figure it out completely, but it's what it says in the synopsis.
A short analysis:
The initial views number of this episode was very poor. It was also after this episode that Jim began to procrastinate DS, dragging out the third episode after a year and a half. But it's a very informative episode, and it's starting to connect to the first season. A lot of clues really can only wait for Jim to explain, even if I analyse again and again, such as this Carl Reinhart in the end and what is the identity? I don't know. The only war criminal mentioned in the first season was the masked man, but first, if he was a Nazi, he "must be a hundred years old" (so said Gabriel), and Reinhart has been dead for decades, and the man in the mask died at the Hoffman murder scene. But then again, there is no clear time between the second season and the first season, maybe it has really passed 20 or 30 years?
A bunch of characters disappeared for unknown reasons. Sam's Black Mass? Besides, why is the masked guy the only one who hasn't disappeared? Because he's a priest?
In addition, the detective speaks about the Masked man as if he and Gabriel are the same person (because the masked man and Gabriel are both dressed as priests, and the detective refers to them as "priests"), but they have been in one picture together before S1E9, and from the point of view of Season 1 as a whole, this is not possible.
That strange sound and the image of the hound were obviously important too, but there was no clue as to what they were.
How did Gabriel and Elisa end up together again? Didn't they fight each other before? It's weird what happened between them. They seem to be asking each other, Gabriel asking Elisa for help, Elisa asking Gabriel not to give up on them. Besides, who is this "he" that Elisa is talking about? And who was that looking at Gabriel?
That last list seems to have a lot to do with the Bible and Paradise Lost. At this point, the religious concept of DS has become more and more extensive, from the gods of primitive religions to the religious culture of modern times. The religious element is mostly over in this episode, and the next one is just as confusing and exciting.
3. S2E3 - Vatican City Karaoke Night
Synopsis:
Adelaide, Australia, a few years ago. This time we were a bartender, looking at a gaunt priest with long hair and a beard standing on the stage, trying to sing but unable to sing, being booed off the stage for the second time. He came to us, and asked for cigarettes and wine. We gave it to him, and he asked if we'd met before, and immediately explained that he wasn't hitting on us, that he was a priest. Besides, his heart already belonged to another, and it's not God. It's just that we remind him of someone a long time ago who was a lot like us. He said his name was Gabriel, but first, we weren't allowed to call him "Father," which sounded too old, and second, he was adamant that we weren't allowed to call him "Gabe," only Gabriel. He asked again if we had met and said we were just like the person. The person has been gone a long time, and he was very close to the person, but the person is not dead, only missing. Gabriel asked if we'd ever seen a person disappear into nowhere, and then he again asked for a drink. He said something about tithes, and then about how he had worked in the Vatican for a long time, and how the Swiss Guard had karaoke nights – sing Hail Mary before a mission. Then he said that even if he was drinking now and wanted to throw up, he always felt that we had met him before, and he had met that person in the United States when he was on a mission. So he's here to sing and drink because he's here to work. Then he went to the loo. Meanwhile, the hound vision that appeared in the first two episodes flashes again.
When Gabriel came back, he asked us for more cigarettes and started talking. He said he had met the Pope once, another Pope, smoking a cigar, in the Vatican (Vat, or VC). He gave a terrible example, he said that when he met the person, it was like having a pet, he didn't care before, but as soon as he saw the person, he felt unconditional love in his heart, unconditional to be able to kill. So he defied the Vatican's confidential orders and went to protect that person. He was always there to protect that person, but in the end, he wasn't there when that person needed him most, and he failed. And when a man loses something, he has to go to the last place to find it, and that's what he came for, to the last place, to find his angel. He said he was an invisible priest on a mission and knew that the angel was alive and that he would find the angel and that he would never give up.
Later, Gabriel mentions Psymon's rule from Season 1 - angels don't know who they are on earth, and demons do. It was up to mortals like him to help the angels. And Gabriel sounded like an angel, but it hasn’t any relation, and then he asked us what our names were, and when he got the answer, he said, "Funny then. Coincidence.”
Finally, he decided to go on stage for the third time, and before that, he asked us if we were sure we hadn't met before. On stage, Gabriel sang a Hail Mary, and all of a sudden he pulled out a gun and shot us. Before the scene turned completely black, we heard Gabriel say, "I found you/I'll find you, Angel, I found you/I'll find you." (24. 9. 24 edit: it was "I found you".) The third episode ends. DS updated to this, once again entered the indefinite hiatus, has been a year.
Clues:
(There really isn't much to dig into this episdoe... Because it's basically a recap of Gabriel's experiences from Season 1, and then a follow-up to shipping Gabriel and Angel. A few notes briefly below.)
a. "I'm not coming on you. I'm a fxcking priest. Besides, my heart belongs to another. No, not God." - Gabriel
b. "Not Gabe, don't call me that. Gabriel." - Gabriel.
c. "VC, some call it." - Gabriel
d. "Go to the last place. That's where I need to be. That's where my Angel is." - Gabriel
e. "It’s up to us mortals to shine a light on that grace, and let them know what they are." - Gabriel mentions angels don’t know who they are
f. "Gabriel, yeah like the angel, no relation. What’s your name? Really? Funny then. Coincidence." - Gabriel
d. "Oh I'll ask one more time just in case- are you sure that we haven't met before? Alright, if you say so, if you say so." - Gabriel
A short analysis:
I still remember the mood and the scene I was in when the trailer and video came out... Now the ending is so far away, it's excruciating...
As we can see, this episode is Gabriel's solo, and it's mainly about what happened between season 1 and season 2, and the new plot is the shot that was fired at the end. People who don't like Gabriel are definitely not interested in this episode, and fortunately or unfortunately, I'm a huge fan of Gabriel. So waiting for the sequel is also very anxious.
In this episode, Gabriel's lines are all about finding someone until he finally says "my Angel", and the lines are great. Clue a and b seems to imply that Angel is the person, and only she can call herself "Gabe" Anyway, Angel is missing, and Gabriel is desperate to find her.
If there's anything in this episode - first of all, Vatican City is a VC, just like Venice, California, so let's hope Gabriel doesn't have anything to do with Bill. That would be crazy. Second, does Angel have a name? From the line "coincidence" we can see that the Angel seems to have a real name and told Gabriel, she or the bartendeer can't be called just "Angel" right?
The main problem in this episode is one line - is the last line "I found you" or "I'll find you"? I have asked several native English speakers about this word and they are not sure what it is (the moderator too but till now she hasn’t replied) (24. 9. 24 edit: Em replied that it was I found you.). But the line is uncertain, and Gabriel's motive for shooting the bartender is uncertain. If it's the former, then the "Have we met before" and the "coincidence" lines all make sense, but the shooting doesn't make sense, because Gabriel is looking for Angel, and if the person in front of him is Angel or an resurrection or something, and it's so hard to find, why shoot her? If it is the latter, then the reason for shooting could be some unknown preparation to find Angel or something, maybe we are demons (after all, there is the hound in the middle of the video), but the lines at the front thinking we are familiar do not make sense. All in all, the plot is tantalizing.
With that, the synopsis and brief analysis of the first and second seasons concludes.
Three. Try to collection the theological background
Next is the most difficult part, and very awkward – one of Jim’s mods Em majored in theology. Here I am to write these, maybe it will be what they learn. For those they didn’t, they can directly ask Jim himself, the final explanation.
There were no Jstor papers or whatnot for reference, and I didn't have a university network, just wiki. So the following are basically wikis.
I really don't know where to start.
1. The Malenkee Saga, The Origin of all Things
You can't talk about Jim's creation without mentioning the TMS mentioned above. Of course, TMS does not have an official Chinese translation name, it is simply TMS. It was Jim's first long series, running for a staggering 23 episodes, and the only finished long series. The theological and pagan ideas it has are likely to have been carried over to DS, after all, the first season of DS was released immediately after TMS.
In TMS, the protagonist Malenkee experiences a series of dangerous events (actually, these events are the main story, but we're talking about paganism and theology here), gradually awakening to various abilities, including time travel, and finally discovering that she is Astarte, so she confronts demons and saves two people who saved her in the past. During her time travel, she met a man named Aleister Crowley. This person is historically real and is one of the purposes of my mention of TMS. This man lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and founded a pagan religion called Thelema. This concept is probably important. First, because Thelema is actually similar to Gnosticism. Gnosticism is very complex, I understand it as an unorthodox dualism, and a lot of mysticism is affected by Gnosticism; Second - because Jim had the Thelema logo tattooed on his arm... (Right arm bend, left arm bend is the star of the octagon, Sumerian "heaven" "god/goddess", also used as a symbol of the goddess Inanna. And this Inana is basically equal to Ishtar, which is equal to Astarte.)
2. The trailer picture for the season 2
Jim posted a trailer picture for Season 2 on both Patreon and Ytb, featuring a framed photo of Hugo and Elisa together.
Clues include: Jupiter's mark; The ancient Greek word for hope; Two codes, translated as "No Revelations" and "No Salvation"; Two Bible passages, "The Beast of the Sea" and "the whore of the Beast"; The apple of chaos; "Demiurge"; Father Gabriel's reflection in the framed glass.
OK… So let's start with these clues. Then look at the elements in the film.
a. Mark of Jupiter: Speaking of Jupiter, the first thing that comes to mind is that "Jupiter represents Zeus", but the impression is that the DS series is not much related to Greek mythology, most of it is upstream Greek mythology, such as Canaanite mythology such as the older, and downstream such as Christianity (and Satan) such. Where have we seen similar symbols in two seasons? S1E8, in Simon's notes. He supplied us with mercury, sodium, and sulfur. mercury is not compatible with Jupiter or tin (if you must say, Mercury is Jupiter's son?) . And Astarte? Astarte's representative planet is Venus, representing the god Aphrodite/Venus (Astarte developed into Greek mythology as Venus), representing the metal is copper, and it does not match.
Later sections on Astaroth and Baal also mention Jupiter. See below.
b. Ancient Greek "Hope" : In the feature film, only Naomi's surname is "Tikvah/Hope"; in Greek, hope is "Elpis", which is also the name of hope in Greek mythology, and "Spes" in Roman mythology. The last thing left in Pandora's box was hope.
c&d. No Revelations. No Salvation: Revelation is a book in the Bible, the book of Revelation. Salvation is not, and the only thing I can find about no salvation is the phrase "Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus," which translates to "there is no salvation outside the church," and the biblical phrase "there is no salvation except him." These two lines are written under Elisa and Hugo. I'll talk about Elisa later. What does Hugo have to do with the phrase "no redemption"? Or is the placement of these two lines just a coincidence? In the feature film, the only thing I can think of "outside the church" is Gabriel's excommunication.
e&f. "Beast of the Sea" and "Beast's Whore" : The original text is two pairs of numbers, and it is easy to see that this is a format for recording Bible passages, but which book? There's only one revelation in this whole picture. So you see the corresponding sections of Revelation, the original text respectively (excerpted from the combined text) (translated from Chinese so it can be different from KJV) :
"When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will make war against them and overcome them and kill them."
"The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the Kings of the earth."
Revelation is the last book of the Bible. It talks about the end of the world, the rebirth and the battle between heaven and hell. The original text of Jim is 11:7 and 17:18, but the original text of 11:7 is "the beast of the bottomless pit." "Beasts of the Sea" comes from 13:1-10. But there is a view that these two beasts are one, both "antichrists," who receive their power from the "dragon," Satan. At the same time, the beast in 17:18 also came out of the bottomless pit, and can generally be regarded as the same beast in 11:7.
The term "whore of the beast" refers to the "whore of Babylon" in 17:18, as explained below.
g. Chaotic Apple: The story is well known - a golden apple sparked a dispute between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite that eventually led to the Trojan War. And this apple was left by Eris, the goddess of chaos. The original image shows Hugo wearing a necklace of golden apples, indicating his worship of the God of chaos.
h. Demiurge: The word "demiurge" has been mentioned before, and it appears in different philosophical schools, but here we look at the Gnostic Demiurge. Why? Because the image of the Demiurge that emerges from the opening of S1E9 is a Gnostic art. In Gnosticism, the physical world is created by the Demiurge and the spiritual world is created by God. The Demiurge was seen as inferior and malevolent.
In some Gnostic texts, the Demiurge is called "Yaldabaoth", meaning "son of chaos". It also has a name, Samael - a name that reminds me of Sam. Combined with Sam's mystery and his black Mass, he could really be the embodiment of some kind of evil power.
Besides, could the Big D that Baal was talking about be the Demiurge? Quite possibly. But in that case, would Sam be such a high-level figure? He's good and mysterious, yes, but Sam's in charge of Baal? Doubt it.
But in fact, the logo in the original image is a Chi-ro symbol, representing Christ.
The Demiurge concept is so complicated, it makes me dizzy. Sort these out first. I feel that if I want to study the A Dream of Red Mansions, I must be in Figurist school...
i. Gabriel's reflection: This is nothing important, presumably indicating that Gabriel is also looking for Hugo and Elisa, and that he is important in Season 2, after all, he also appeared in the season 2 opening credits (Gabriel is in the DS, I think is definitely the male lead right...). .
Gabriel in the reflection is very young still.
3. Season 2's Opening Women & Babylon Whores (and Dino speculation)
The second season opens with a woman wearing a crown of twelve stars, a woman also seen in Revelation, who is described as being clothed in the sun, under the moon, and wearing a crown of twelve stars, and being attacked by dragons who want to eat her soon-to-be-born child. It is widely believed that this woman refers to the Virgin Mary (the child is, of course, Jesus). So is there an image of the Virgin in the feature film? The only surviving female in the feature film is Elisa, and we can basically identify as female (although Jim has been using neutral words to refer to us, after all, the audience has all genders, but according to my observation, in Jim's only two big series (The Malenkee Saga and DS), the main character is still more regarded as female). And which of these two characters can match Maria? Honestly, I don't really see it. It's possible that Jim just added this image to enrich the picture, or it could have a different purpose.
The Babylonian prostitute mentioned above needs to be supplemented. She is "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth", It is the symbol of "the great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth". One of the things about this woman in the book of Revelation has something to do with the film, "And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus". It corresponds to S1E4's blood-taking scene, although I'm not sure if that scene was some other pagan ritual. With more vivid thiking: Bill had called Elisa "whore." I don't know if that's a hint.
Crowley appeared in TMS founded Thelema, she is called Babalon, is marked by the Holy Grail (and the blood in it), and the mate is Chaos. A Mass in Thelema refers to "faith in Chaos, the father of our life, created by fire," "Faith in Babalon, the mother of all," and "faith in the serpent and the lion of Baphomet" (in fact, the serpent and the lion are also figures of the Demiurge, and the Baphomet is traditionally the head of a goat).
About Babalon and Thelema - Thelema has sex magic associated with her, and in the synopsis, Bill repeats "dino" or "dinner," according to a hearsay (hearsay because I heard it from another subscriber in early 2021), someone asked Jim about this but got no answer; Another hearsay said that the dino was a ritual food associated with sex magic. Well, that fits Bill's profile, and it has to do with Thelema, and it fits the tone of the story. As for whether it's true or not, I can't be sure. I've been looking for a long time but I can't find anything about "dino". Maybe it is just a random name Jim gave.
To add to some Crowley's interpretation of sex magic - according to Kenneth Grant, the mixture of female bodily fluids and semen produced during sex with a scarlet woman or Babalon is known as the elixir of life. Another form of this Elixir is the Elixir Rubeus (abbreviated by Crowley in his magical diary as El.Rub.) composed of menstrual blood and semen, known as effluvium of Babalon, the Scarlet Woman, which is the menstruum of the lunar current.
I'm often not creepy enough to fit in you magical guys.
4. Astarte and Lucifer
I've already mentioned it, so here's a quick summary - Astarte = Ishtar = Inanna = Venus the Planet = Venus = Aphrodite.
Interestingly, Lucifer also means "morning star" or "Venus". Lucifer is relatively widely believed to be the fallen angel Satan, combined with the "angel-demon duality" of the main character mentioned above, can we say that we are a character with Astarte, or Lucifer's characteristics? Or is it one or the other, or a combination of the two?
In the Sumerian myth Inanna's Descent to the Underworld, Inanna was able to descend to the underworld and return to heaven.
(The above is written on the third night, and here is written from the fourth day, did not sleep well in the morning, dreamed of a good theory about Sam and the Demiurge, and forgot after waking up...)
5. Astaroth
Although this guy only appeared in TMS, but talking about DS still have to talk about him...
As mentioned earlier, his name is derived from Astarte, but he is not a naturally occurring figure of evil in history, but was created by medieval demonology. In demonology, he may rank alongside Beelzebub and Lucifer as the first Grand Duke of Hell, and possibly as "one of the sixteen Princes of Hell", among other versions. He is powerful and "appears in the form of an evil angel, riding on a hell dragon and holding a serpent in his left hand". In some demonology schools, he rules over the evil forces of Jupiter (" Some demonology schools, "meaning" Kabbalistic texts, "I see at least two sources that say" in the Kabbalistic texts, Astaroth rules over the adverse forces of Jupiter, "but the Kabbalistic texts, I didn't go into what that was. Isn't Kabbalah Jewish philosophy? But it's not the first time demonology has been developed from the philosophy of religion.)
Here's an excerpt from a Tumblr post explaining it:
"What is a qliphoth? Well… In the Kabbalistic cosmogony, between our human world/mortal existence and God the eternal and almighty, there are several… “steps/passages/points”. Key points, metaphysical doors and thresholds, powerful cosmic crossroads – each one associated with a given planet of the Solar system. Together, they form the “Tree of Life”, the structure that ties together the universe. Each of these points has a positive and negative side: the positive side is the Sefirot, a holy manifestation of an aspect of the world as prepared, planned and desired by God, as well as of a major virtue. We are talking kindness, wisdom, discipline, glory, victory, etc… The negative side is the Qliphoth, an impure spiritual realm, a manifestation of an aspect of evil, the polar opposite of the Sefirot. Each sefira has its angel, and each qlipha its demon. Astaroth is usually considered the archdemon ruler of the Gamchicoth, the demons of the qlipha of Jupiter: this qlipha opposes “chesed”, the sephirot of righteousness and mercy manifesting the unlimited benevolence and kindness of god. As a result, Astaroth can be considered to be the demon manifesting the inverse of kindness, or the opposite of love between people, an entity of hate and hostility that destroys all mercy."
Let’s say thank you to this online theologist.
6. Baal
The word "Baal" originally meant "Lord" and was later denounced as a false god in Christianity and Islam. The name Beelzebub, the king of Flies, can be split into Beel/Baal and Zebub/Flies. In demonology, Baal has the image of a human head, a cat's head, and a toad's head, which is probably the source of the cat ears worn in Jim's two Baal videos.
There are different myths about Baal's spouse, but one is that he was married to Astarte. Another theory is that Baal's spouse was his sister Anat, although there are similarities between Anat and Astarte.
Baal also practiced invisibility in The Lesser Key of Solomon, mentioned below. Reminds me of Sam who "came out of nowhere" (Naomi) "I'm looking for the love of my life"... But this book says that Astaroth can also make you invisible...
7. The Lesser Key of Solomon
This is a very famous witchcraft book, which contains a list of seventy-two demons, the first being King Baal, and the twenty-ninth being Duke Astaroth.
8. The Grand Grimoire
The new opening image mentioned above at S1E9 is from the" Grand Grimoire ". Much of the material in this book comes from The Lesser Key of Solomon. The first part contains summon demons and let them to obey, the second part contains signing a contract with demon. There are also some soul talk, to be loved by girls, winning the lottery and spells to make yourself invisible. (Why does it feel like Sam's identity adds another layer of possibility, that he might not be a great demon, just a practitioner of the dark arts? who really likes the protagonist or the angel/demon that the protagonist represents?) The book also mentioned the three big demons, Emperor Lucifer, Prince Beelzebub, and Archduke Astaroth. Baal is listed under Astaroth.
9. Gabriel
(Ah, definitely my favourite character...)
Gabriel in the canon Christianity is undoubtedly a very positive image, first of all, the name means "man of God", and as the angel of the Annunciation, he is also the angel who reports to Mary about the conception of the Holy Spirit, the overall image is not so full of strength as in the DS. In the Book of Enoch (a non-canonical text) mentioned above, Gabriel is depicted as "in charge of all power." In short, Gabriel is a very benevolent and positive figure in the Abrahamic Canon and related Gnosticism (occasionally fights in the Book of Revelation, though not mentioned by name, but he is definitely present. It is Armageddon, no one can sleep in...).
In addition, Gabriel is the guardian angel of messengers, radio and telecommunications workers such as radio and television, postal workers, clergy, diplomats, and stamp collectors (in this way, Gabriel is somewhat similar to Mercury).
I tried looking for Gabriel in demonology, etc., but no, he's basically a messenger angel and a powerful protective angel.
10. Cold Hell and Dante's Divine Comedy
Hugo had previously mentioned a cold hell in the DS, and this was mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy - the last layer of hell is cold and dark.
11. The title of Paradise Lost and DS2
Not Paradise Lost by Junichi Watanabe.
Some of the scenes in the DS bear some resemblance to Milton's Paradise Lost. Like fallen angels. The season 2 episodes are titled "The Hellhound" and "The Bwytawrdrwg", meaning "Hellhound" and "Evil Eater/Sin Eater" respectively. The title of the second episode is spelled Bwytawr drwg and translated as "Bad eater" or "Sin eater". The sin-eater appears to have originated in Welsh culture and refers to a person who eats a ritual meal at a funeral to take the sins of the deceased. Or - in Paradise Lost, death and sin give birth to hounds of hell, which in turn eat the insides of sin and can be considered sin-eaters. So the titles of these two episodes have something to do with Paradise Lost, although I still don't know why they were written in Welsh.
12. Material entity three elements
A famous medieval alchemists Paracelsus put forward a claim, the three elements of material is "sulfur for sou, mercury for spirit, salt for body". That's what Psymon was talking about.
13. Gnostic sundry
Add some possible both Gnostic and DS related content
Sophia is a character of gnostic texts, she represents the sacred feminine principle, but for some reason "fall", and "Demiurge" was born.
Gnostics believe that they are "divine spark", needs to be recalled and inspire from the material world.
Gnostics believe in reincarnation.
Gnostic is related with karbarra and alchemy.
Gnostic doctrine has affected the poetry of William Blake. As a student of romantic poetry in English literature, Jim has done a video about William Blake.
Four. To conclude
In fact, I originally planned to write a "possible outcome of the finale", but finally found that it is too difficult. I really can not analyse it, or have to wait for the author to wrap it up. Of course, I can do this “Yunshi”, but the quality of his sequel compared with the original text is obvious to all.
And, God damn it, isn't that the kind of work you're supposed to do when the author dies? Jim is very much alive. Why am I writing this? - But he won't continue, I am just waiting...
Anyway, here's a list of the characters that have appeared, and the ones that I personally think might correspond:
We/Angel - We were definitely called Astarte by Jim, but according to the previous article, we are also very likely Lucifer. Also, there are similarities to the Gnostic Sophia. Therefore, let us just consider her to be a high goddess (or angel) with both divine and demonic qualities.
Gabriel - There are all sorts of possibilities for Gabriel's identity, but here I'm leaning towards Occam's Razor and thinking that he is indeed a mortal. While there are questions about who his boss is, his original "mission from God," and so on, for now, let's just say he's an excommunicated mortal who's going to find us anyway.
Doom and Gloom – consider them mortal. Gloom's death by the light reflects our divinity.
Sam - This guy is harder to guess than Gabriel. Here's an exaggerated guess- Sam is the Gnostic Demiurge, or something like that, like an angel named Samael.
Psymon - consider him mortal, but what he says matters.
Brennen - consider him mortal.
Bill and Hugo - it's hard to say, I'm inclined to think of them as pagan mortals, but the hierarchical relationship between them in the original film is a bit of a concern.
Valencia - consider them mortal.
Elisa - the Goddess of chaos? There are not many references to the Goddess of Chaos in the whole DS, and if she is considered to be the goddess of Chaos, it is more difficult to relate to the whole DS. Elisa's appearance at the end of S2E2 is very noticeable.
Ricardo - consider him mortal.
Naomi - consider her mortal.
Mask Man/Mask Priest - consider him mortal. Maybe war criminal mentioned in season two?
Detective Holmes – consider him mortal.
Mr. And Mrs. Malcolm - although doubtful, they only appear in the lines, and there are very few clues.
Bartender - Depends on what Gabriel's last words are, whether they're "found you" or "I'll find you."
New cop - almost certainly the reincarnation of Angel.
...So, with so many lists, the ending is actually still no clue. How do we remember being an "angel" in our past live? Will Gabriel remain outside the Christian Church, or will he turn to paganism to save Angel? Who the hell is Sam? Is he gonna show up? When will Elisa's identity be revealed? How to solve the mystery of two seasons? What would Brennen tell Holmes? Will it end with another war between characters?
There are many more questions than are listed here. At the beginning, I added that it has been actually more than a month since I began to write this, most of which I have dealt with personal things, and this article is also very messy, and it is not a reference. There are a lot of things that come to mind because of memory confusion, probably not written down. And there are too many religious backgrounds involved, so if I didn't finish writing at that time, my energy would go a little weak later... In short, a thousand words add up to a sentence - update the sequel, Jim...!!
