Hello @odyssey-owl, @odysseymysteryhour, @aiorevelations, @livehorses, @harlowdoylepi and all of the Odyssey Fandom at large!!
I wanted to share a theory about the first arc of the webcomic Adventures in Odyssey has been releasing on their Club.
Needless to say, spoilers for the Edwin and Jules arc of Odyssey’s comic…
In this arc, Zoe has written a musical inspired by the story of Jacob the Patriarch from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. For those who might not know, Jacob is the younger twin of Esau, who in that time, was destined to gain their father, Issac's, inheritance as the oldest son. When they were born, Jacob came out holding onto Esau's heel, the reason being that even in the womb, they were at odds with each other.
21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord.
23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.[d] 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.[e] Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. -- Genesis 25:21-26 (New International Version)
One day when Esau had come home from a long day out, he was so hungry, that Jacob managed to get him to exchange his inheritance for a cup of stew. No. I'm serious...
29 Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. 30 He said to Jacob, “Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I’m famished!” (That is why he was also called Edom.[f]) 31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look, I am about to die,” Esau said. “What good is the birthright to me?” 33 But Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright. -- Genesis 25:29-34 (NIV)
Not too long after, Jacob complied with his Mother, Rebekah's, wishes and managed to trick Issac to give him an official blessing just before said father died.
5 Now Rebekah was listening as Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau left for the open country to hunt game and bring it back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Look, I overheard your father say to your brother Esau, 7 ‘Bring me some game and prepare me some tasty food to eat, so that I may give you my blessing in the presence of the Lord before I die.’ 8 Now, my son, listen carefully and do what I tell you: 9 Go out to the flock and bring me two choice young goats, so I can prepare some tasty food for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat, so that he may give you his blessing before he dies.” Genesis 27:5-10 (NIV)
...
33 Isaac trembled violently and said, “Who was it, then, that hunted game and brought it to me? I ate it just before you came and I blessed him—and indeed he will be blessed!” 34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he burst out with a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me—me too, my father!”
35 But he said, “Your brother came deceitfully and took your blessing.” 36 Esau said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob[a]? This is the second time he has taken advantage of me: He took my birthright, and now he’s taken my blessing!” Then he asked, “Haven’t you reserved any blessing for me?” Genesis 27:33-36 (NIV)
In the post Focus on the Family added today, August 8th, 2022, on the Club, Edwin tells Zoe's that he's read the story and has the understanding that he will be playing Jacob the titular character. The post ends with Zoe suggesting that this will not be the case...
Here's my theory:
Esau and Jacob were twin brothers who had issues between each other for several years. The younger twin ultimately used really unfair methods to get what he wanted (even though Rebekah came up with the idea of tricking Isaac, he still could've said 'no', for example). Who do we know from Adventures in Odyssey, who are twin brothers with an unhealthy relationship caused by a deceptive younger twin who does messed up things to the dissatisfied older twin?
OH YEAH, EDWIN AND REGIS BLACKGAARD!!
According to Genesis, Esau and Jacob (later named 'Israel') do eventually make up and forgive each other for all the problems from before, as seen here:
3 He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. 4 But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. -- Genesis 33:3-4 (NIV)
So here we have a two pairs of twins with troubling histories. One pair make up later down the line, and the other only had one interaction in the radio program's canon, Episode #329 'The Return,' in which Regis threatens Edwin with further misery if he doesn't help, to which Edwin begs him to let him go. In the Blackgaard Chronicles Book #4 'Rook's Ruse', we also learn that when Regis and Edwin were young, Regis pitched a fit over their Mother almost changing their last names to Barnett due to their Father being a Nazi from The Netherlands.
"...she gave the immigration officials her maiden name, Barnett. Eddie didn't seem to care, but Regis remembered pitching a perfect fit about it. For some reason, he didn't understand. He didn't want to be a Barnett." -- The Blackgaard Chronicles, Book 4 'Rook's Ruse', Page 7, Phil Lollar.
Eventually, she gives in and their last name goes from 'Blaguer' to 'Blackgaard'.
The point is, is that much like Jacob, many issues within the Blackgaard Family as it is today, came from the younger twin, Regis. And given that Zoe's musical is all about Jacob, what I ultimately theorize is that Edwin is going to be cast as Esau and find himself remembering the emotional trauma he went through as Regis's brother. I don't see Zoe-a responsible, Christian girl-changing Jacob's story from the Bible to appease a modern audience, so since Esau and Jacob's arcs will likely end with them forgiving each other, Edwin will probably think over his troubling relationship with Regis. True Regis is dead, and can no longer talk to Edwin about their problems, but that doesn't mean that Edwin still can't ask questions about it. And I theorize that those questions could potentially be something along the lines of:
"Am I ready to forgive my problematic twin?" "Why or why not?" "What does forgiving someone as monstrous as Regis actually look like?" "What if those negative feelings he gave me come back?"
At least, this is what I hope the comic does: dive into these tough questions and really think carefully about them (at least, this is what I'd do, if I were being commissioned to produce an Odyssey webcomic). FOTF has confirmed that Jules will also play a huge part in this arc and will likely form an acquaintanceship with Edwin over their mutual sibling experiences. So it wouldn't surprise me if this is how Jules learns about Regis Blackgaard and all the issues he put Whit's End through when he was alive
