Analysis of The Church of The True Eye (From a cult survivor)
(tw for discussion of cults and religious trauma)
DISCLAIMER! Although I was in a cult, I am NOT an expert on this topic. It is possible I got things wrong, so apologies if that’s the case :<
- What makes TCOTTE a cult?
Many people assume that a cult is just any weird or unique small religious group, but this definition is inaccurate.
A cult is an organized, harmful group. Cults can be religious OR non-religious, though.
Most cults have a clear leader or group of leaders whom manipulate their members with the promise of something desirable such as safety, heaven, divine powers, etc.
So why should we consider The Church a cult and not just a regular religion? Let’s go down the list of reasons!
The existence of an “insider vs outsider” mentality
Notice how inphernals in the cult refer to themselves as “us” “we” “our family” etc. The use of “family” specifically is interesting. We know Father Overseer ‘The Father’ is the group’s main leader, implying that everyone within this cult view themselves (literally or metaphorically) as his ‘children.’
There is a clear line between when somebody is in the group or out of it. With most regular religions, you can choose to follow the doctrine in whatever way you please, and you won’t get “kicked out” for doing things “wrong.” You could go pick up a Bible and start going to church right now, begin practicing Christianity, and there would be no “entrance test.” You don’t need to PROVE your loyalty. You still have freedom.
You MUST remain loyal to the family and Father Overseer, however. In DITF he genuinely KIDNAPS Medkit just for moving too far away. Members are also forced to remove an eye as a sort of ‘loyalty test,’ which is an EXTREME act of self-harm just to prove your worth to Overseer.
In TCOTTE, you cannot leave. When Katana left, he was forced to flee to an entirely different faction, leave his biological family behind and cut contact completely. The Broker even threatens him with DEATH during their phone call.
It’s also been stated that Scythe’s job is to kill off anyone who may speak out against the cult, meaning it is EXTREMELY dangerous to leave.
You can’t just say you’re part of the family, you MUST abide by their very specific rules or be killed for it.
2. The promise of something
A quote from Grappling Hook, DITF - “A stranger from an unknown paradise, a ‘phernal that spawned without a gear… Or so he claimed, spoke of salvation for my people, for all of us who had lost everythin’…”
Cults will usually promise something in return for your loyalty. In the cult I was in, the promise was freedom from the Earth and access to the 5th dimension, the fulfillment of your divine contract. You may be thinking, ‘What does that even mean???’ And the answer is, I DUNNO EITHER!
The thing about these promises is that they will never truly be given. They’re usually magical promises of paradise and heaven, if you’re just willing to give your time, money, and dignity up for the leaders.
Overseer’s promise is ‘salvation.’ He came immediately after the Scorch, meaning many inphernals were left homeless, disabled, and lacking any family. His deal is safety in return for loyalty, a NEW family to he a part of.
It’s very important that he made that initial claim that he was spawned with no gear, because it’s something we understand is physically impossible. By claiming this, he could gauge which inphernals would leave immediately at the mention of something unbelievable like that and which ones would stick around and therefore be easier to manipulate.
His claim to be gearless (as my Cool Mutual pointed out in the reblogs) also further separates him from his members. He’s not like them, he’s not like ANY other inphernal because of this thing he’s saying is special about him. It’s important that he makes his members feel like he’s on their side while also making it clear that HE is the leader and they are the followers.
Many inphernals had also lost their religion at this time. They worshipped the SFOTH loyally, only for Firebrand to betray them in such a monumental way. The idea of new church to join, with a new leader and a new god, was likely very enticing.
These promises are made and dangled over your head constantly, which is how leaders manipulate their followers into crazier and crazier acts. For example, Scythe was likely a completely normal person before joining TCOTTE, but she is now willing to actually KILL other inphernals simply because Overseer tells her to. This isn’t because she’s crazy or maniacal, it’s because she has been manipulated over YEARS into believing that this is the only way she can remain safe and happy.
Promises are made to keep members loyal, and we can see Overseer doing just that.
3. Mundane control
Have you ever noticed that everyone in TCOTTE is wearing teal and blue? Combined with how everyone is missing an eye, it really makes it obvious when someone is affiliated with the church.
This is another tactics cults use to unite their members and strip you of your individualism. By making everyone dress, eat, or act a certain way, people lose their sense of self and act solely as a group.
This adds further significance to the use of ‘we’ and ‘us’ when Inphernals in the cult refer to themselves. They subconsciously view themselves as one big group.
It can be very hard to leave a cult when you feel like you’re physically attached to your fellow members, and that without them you’d have no sense of self.
Dress codes like this seem innocent at first, but by getting everyone to go along with them, leaders are furthering that “us vs them” mentality and isolating their members even further from the outside world.
4. Isolation
Many cults will forbid their members from EVER interacting with those outside. Luckily TCOTTE seems a little looser, as Medkit is still allowed to be friends with Sword and Broker has his connections with Zuka and Rocket, but we can still see this in practice in some ways.
Sometimes in cults, things aren’t explicitly ‘forbidden,’ but you still understand you aren’t supposed to do them. We can see this with Medkit moving to Crossroads, which Broker and Overseer both CLEARLY state their distaste for.
It’s. A little hard to explain this point, actually, but it’s important to remember that not every rule a cult has will be clearly stated, which only furthers members’ sense of confusion and fear.
In the cult I was in, I noticed that I had never heard of anyone being happy after they left. When my parents would tell me stories about members who didn’t worship with us anymore, they would say those people had “gone crazy” or “lost their spark” and such.
Nobody needed to tell me I wasn’t allowed to leave, because I picked up those social cues. There were a lot of things like this, things nobody ever told me but I understood them anyways.
It may not be forbidden to move out of Lost Temple or make strong connections outside, but it’s clearly discouraged heavily, and those unspoken social restrictions can be isolating enough.
- Why do inphernals join cults?
A common misconception is that cult members must be gullible, dumb, or even evil themselves because of their beliefs. This is very untrue!
TCOTTE was able to gain traction due to how unsafe those in the area felt at the time, likely desperate for a place to go and a family to be a part of.
Also, considering that the many of the Wranglers are injured, running low on supplies, and Chuck and Sword’s supply run was ruined by an ACTUAL EXPLOSIVE, it’s safe to assume that TCOTTE eventually became openly hostile to those residing in Lost Temple who resisted joining, meaning many inphernals may have joined after being severely threatened.
- What is Overseer’s goal?
Some cult leaders actually become so on accident, but it’s very clear that Overseer went into this with a plan.
It’s likely that he didn’t mention the eye-gouging thing at first, rather he waited until he already had many loyal members to introduce more extreme and hard-set rules. Manipulation is a gradual thing.
He also despises when people talk against him, so much that he is willing to have any opposers KILLED.
Well, I have a few theories here, but any of them could be wrong or right. This last bit of the post will be more speculative than the rest.
The first option is that he began the group simply because he craved power over others. This is a common reason why people in real life start cults or manipulate others— they want to be in control of a situation and hurt others to do it.
There is, however, the possibility that Overseer had a deeper motive.
Have you ever noticed that Lost Temple’s government is never mentioned? We’ve never really gotten any information about a leader, any sort of laws or law enforcement, really ANYTHING.
Grappling Hook said that, if not for the Wranglers, TCOTTE would’ve taken control of all of the land around the Spawn, and it’s likely that was at least part of Overseer’s motivation. He would be basically the leader of the whole region, giving him a LOT of political power and the ability to spread his doctrine even FURTHER.
My second theory (with much less evidence) is that, if Overseer is truly one of Flipside’s parents, he started the cult specifically to spite Firebrand/the SFOTH as a whole.
It’s ALSO likely that he genuinely believes his own doctrine and believes he’s doing the right thing by spreading his word further, unaware of his own manipulation. Sometimes dangerous people really don’t even realize what they’re doing until it’s too late.
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In conclusion, I LOVE TCOTTE SO MUCH !!!!! Maybe it’s strange that I like to study cults in fiction, but it. Gives me clarity about what I went through, I suppose, and I’m always interested in learning more about these things :]
If there’s one thing you should take away from this post, it’s that cult members are not horrible evil weird people, they are victims of mass manipulation and are often left traumatized if they’re able to escape. Even members of TCOTTE like Scythe and Broker who literally murder/threaten to murder people are, at heart, people who are hurt and scared and trying to find their way in the world. It doesn’t excuse their actions or their crimes, but it still EXPLAINS them at least.
If I got anything wrong or overlooked something crucial. Tell me!!!!
