TW 5x15: The paw and the footprint - can the manifestation change shape as well?
There’s a slight chance this won’t make any sense (I have a fever) or add anything new to a discussion that I’m sure is ongoing but that I haven’t seen much off or taken part of due to being curled up in a fetal position for the last four days. Anyway, during one of my feverish half dreams (or nightmares, whatever) I had a thought about the beast, the footprints and beast alpha peter from season 1.
If this makes no sense at all, we can all blame the fever and move on. Good plan. And if it’s been addressed already, just skip it and ignore. Even better plan *thumbs up*.
I know these footprints has people a bit confounded, me included. What’s most weird is perhaps that they’re bloody, both as paws and as shoes, which does sort of indicate that the paws actually turned into shoes. There is no blood around, so who knows where it got this, perhaps it’s from the beast itself maybe? It’s all very odd, so is it a trick to confuse them or is it just TV magic - a nifty effect to ensure that both Scott and the audience notice it? Maybe it’s that simple.
But if we assume that the paws are suddenly replaced by shoes, then this would either indicate that a) someone picked up the beast like it a was a cute lill Pomeranian and strolled out which seems unlikely, or b) the manifestation can change shape as well, between Elwood and the shape of its human “host”.
let’s roll with it for a moment. I want to make a comparison to Peter...
We now that Peter was comatose at the hospital in season 1. Derek visited more than once and all we saw him do in his human form was stare morosely out into thin air and in one memorable moment, twitch a finger
We know both from Peter himself and from what Lydia extracted from Meredith that Peter’s mind was alert, even if his body was paralyzed. And he was very angry. VERY ANGRY. The beast alpha went on a revenge spree, killing anyone connected to the Hale fire. So what if beast alpha peter in reality was nothing but a manifestation as well? A manifestation of Peter’s anger and lust for revenge. Perhaps helped along by experiments at Eichen, nurse Jennifer or dread doctors for all we know. I think it’s likely Peter has been at Eichen House before, the flashbacks he shows Scott at least suggest this
In these flashbacks we see that Peter is in fact not comatose. He’s sitting up and clearly shaking his head while being showered. And the showers does resemble what we’ve seen Lydia use this season.
There is also blood dripping down a drain.
Which we’ve also seen after trepanation, for example done on Lorraine Martin. Also in the shower/bathroom
So did someone experiment on Peter, amplifying his abilities? And did this result in his distorted wolf features as well as his comatose condition? Lydia does seem oddly obedient and is answering all of Valack’s questions dutifully after he’s drilled into her. We’ve theorized for ages that Peter was under someone’s control back in season 1. Is this how they did it?
(edit: funnily as I was about to post this, this exact thing was discussed with athenadark and auntpol just coming from another angle, see this post.)
It does make sense.
But what if we take it a step further. what if whatever was done to Peter resulted in his anger manifesting as a solid entity - the beast alpha that roamed the city and did all sorts of weird stuff - while the comatose Peter was still in his bed?
The gif above is very interesting. It reminds me of numerous movies and series where a character steps out of their own skin. We see just one body - but this was Peter showing Scott his memories of events - he might not have been aware of the manifestation himself, and so we only see what Peter thinks happened. In reality perhaps Peter’s real body stayed behind and his shadow body woke up. And was this “clone” (god I do love clone theories) capable of taking on a physical form - both as a man and a beast?
We see a flashback of Peter meeting Laura and he’s in human form. But his fangs come out, in other words it’s the start of his shift.
And then we have beast alpha Peter killing the video store clerk and bursting through the window. This was captured on a surveillance camera and the sheriff got a hold of it. And the beast changed into what looks like a man, walking away on two legs.
Interestingly, just as the beast jumped through the window, Lydia screamed. For the first time. That was possibly even what alerted Peter to her bansheeness. Did it even force the change? And if so, can her scream be a more powerful weapon than we’d thought? Can Lydia scream at Elwood, force a change and expose whose manifestation it is? That would be seriously cool :)
Something clearly changed to make comatose Peter not comatose anymore, and that was in episode 1x09.
In the very same episode we have not just one, but two very clear mirror verse shifts. One is in Stiles’ room (see this link for details), and the second at the hospital in Peter’s room. Could this be connected somehow?
When Stiles arrive the bed is pristine, like no one has been there for ages. the bed is different, the room looks more old-fashioned
Then Derek connects the dots, and next the room is back to looking like this
And then peter heals his burns while looking in a mirror, the mirror spins, as if two sides of him - the shadow side = manifestation and his real self is merged into one. His shadow self could shift, aka he was in control of his wolfy powers. When they merged, human Peter also heals his burns.
We can perhaps draw a parallel to the other chimeras who didn’t realize what was happening to them in the beginning either. Tracy thought it was night terrors, when it was in fact happening. Was it like that for Peter as well? He didn’t realize at first what was happening, but when he did and he accepted it, he became one with his shadow self? Is the damnatio memoriae not only to make it remember what kind of beast it was and the history of it, but also to make the beast remember and understand who it is during the day?
I’m being claimed by the fever again, so I’m going to roll over into a fetal position now . toodles.