New Odin Panels’ Symbolism / Meanings
Hello everyone, we are BACK IN ACTION!!! Due to the length of the update, there isn’t much to make a proper theory or prediction on, but it’s still always fun to point out the symbolism or connect things back to previous theories that confirm or add to the evidence of, so I hope you all enjoy this post!
I have two main things that I want to discuss, so let’s start with one of my older theory/explanation posts by discussing this panel:
There isn’t really much context needed for us to know what’s going on here, but Ava has just entered Odin’s mindspace and immediately falls off a cliff and plunges through ice into water. Now, I have several things to discuss based on this, because it confirms one of my other theories while also adding more (small) details to it.
This practically confirms that Odin’s death was from the ice incident. We currently have been able to piece together a lot about what happened that day from small hints and symbols throughout the comic: Odin, Olai, and their father were hunting and Odin fell through the ice. The only reason Odin survived was because at that moment, Pedri had taken his potion and possessed Odin, which returns life to the host. His father couldn’t’ve been expected to predict this, so he’d tried to save Odin and ended up dying in his place. In panel 2614, Odin is repeating to himself that ‘it’s all my fault,’ which is presumably what Olai has been drilling into his head ever since.
There’s also a panel in the previous update that provides a little more (not-very-important-but-still-neat) detail about the incident:
In panel 2604, Ava thinks that the pit isn’t that deep. She isn’t worried at all when she climbs in to help him out, not until she’s already falling down the suddenly steep cliff. Even though this can be chalked up to ‘they’re in limbo, it doesn’t follow reality,’ of course it doesn’t, but from a child’s mind this could be real. Odin was ~10 when he died, and children often see things as easier/safer/closer/bigger than they are; What if his mind shows the cliffside like that because that’s what it felt like from his point of view?
The next thing I wanted to discuss was the subtle hint in panel 2614
I was studying the armour and the swords trying to find TiTAN armour, or maybe other Monarchy’s emblems, or small world-building things like that which could possibly connect us to Angellicpurr or something, but then I realised the swords themselves were as detailed as it got, which led me to this:
“The Eight of Swords shows a woman bound and blindfolded. Eight swords surround her, seemingly trapping her in place, a symbol of the limiting thoughts, beliefs and mindset that prevent her from moving forward in her life. However, look closer: if the woman removed her blindfold, she would quickly realise that she can escape her predicament by letting go of her limiting beliefs and establishing a new, more empowered mindset. The water pooled at her feet suggests that her intuition might see what her eyes cannot.”
Biddy Tarot
Odin represents the Eight of Swords in all its meaning right here (and possibly everywhere just as his character). The card represents self-imposed restriction and victim mentality, both of which he is subject to. Many people think it strange that Odin, (stuttering, nervous, shy Odin,) is the one with Pride’s sin, but it makes sense here. If you pull the Eight of Swords it is telling you to save yourself from that mindset because you’re the only thing holding yourself back. Odin is holding himself back, causing him to shy away from any sort of display of pride, even though he definitely has it.
This small clue makes me even more excited to see Pact!Odin, honestly, because I think that he’ll make the pact once he’s broken out of this and had a revelation-moment where he decided he’s had enough of playing the victim. This can also tie back in Odin’s fairytale (The Wolf and The Fox) where the wolf is lazy and uses the fox to get what he wants, until one day the fox has had enough and traps the wolf in a trap made for him. Olai is the wolf, and I can’t wait to see Odin’s fox decide he’s had enough.
