“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil! –
Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted –
On this home by Horror haunted – tell me truly, I implore –
Is there – is there balm in Gilead? – tell me – tell me, I implore!”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” - Edger Allen Poe (lines 85-90)
While Raven Reyes is fighting to get ALIE out of her head in episode 3x10, she is reciting this stanza from Edger Allen Poe’s famous poem The Raven.
The poem The Raven is about a man who is mourning the lost of his beloved, when a raven appears at his door. The man then goes on to talk to the raven, asking it questions, until ultimately the man sinks into madness. There is much in this stanza that could apply to Raven’s story arc so far this season, but could this poem also be foreshadowing Raven’s fate?
The first part of the stanza refers to a “Prophet” and says it’s a “thing of evil - prophet still,” this could parallel Jaha and his prophet-like journey and role in distributing the ALIE chip.
The speaker of the poem refers to the raven as “desolate yet undaunted.” ALIE is desolate in that her main aim is to locate ALIE 2.0. ALIE is also certainly not giving up.
The speaker of the poem says that he is in a “desert land enchanted” a “home by horror haunted.” Isn’t this a fitting description of the city of light.
Finally. While much of Raven’s reciting is mumbled in the scene, the line that does come across most audibly is “tell me truly, I implore is there a balm in Gilead?” The balm of Gilead is a biblical reference. The balm was a perfume that was used medicinally to bring comfort or relief from pain. This has a double meaning. The ALIE chip was promised to be a balm because it ended pain, but now the balm Raven is seeking is relief from the chip itself.
If we accept that this stanza and poem were chosen specifically as a metaphor for Raven’s character arc, then what foreshadowing might be found in the remainder of the poem?
The raven’s answer in this stanza is “Nevermore.” Nevermore means never again, or at no time in the future will the man in the poem find relief.
This theme continues in the next stanza of the poem:
“Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil – prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us – by that God we both adore –
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore –
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”
Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.” (lines 91-96)
In this stanza the speaker of the poem asks the raven if he will ever see his beloved again. The entire motivation for Raven wanting to be rid of ALIE’s influence is so that she can remember Finn again. Again the raven’s answer is “Nevermore.”
The episode title for the next episode, 3x11 is “Nevermore”
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted – nevermore! (lines 105-108)
In the poem that mad man thinks he sees the raven turn into a large shadowthat then sucks out the man’s soul and imprisons it. So if we look at this poem as foreshadowing, it suggests that Raven’s soul will be consumed by ALIE and the city of light.
The episode title for 3x12 is “Demons.”
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