evil of my evil @thecutepoison - Tumblr Blog

Okay, this is what I think Armand is up to regarding The Great Conversion and the coming Apocalypse (Post EP305)

So, to start with, for the record, I don't think Armand is trying to stop The Great Conversion, as I said here. I think he knows that trying to stop it is long past now, and that there is no stopping it, given what he said about it in EP304 to Daniel.

Nor do I think he's trying to stop the Apocalypse either. (Or, I guess I should say, Akashalypse). IMO, think Armand knows he can't stop that either.

However, Lestat did say that Armand "caused more damage than the Queen ever did" in EP304. And Sam Reid said in an interview that Armand would cause the most chaos.

Well, when does Armand, in the books, actually cause chaos? What are his motivations when he does? It's not because he wants to take over the world or anything like that. World domination is never Armand's goal regarding anything.

No. Armand only ever does the things he does because he wants power and control over his own life. But also… because he's desperate to try and hold onto something in his life… or someone.

And if there is one thing Armand is afraid of, it's death. To quote what he said about it in Queen of the Damned regarding the thought of giving up his immortality:

"I'd give it up. If I weren't a coward when it gets right down to it, if I weren't after five hundred greedy years in this whirlwind still terrified to the marrow of my bones of death."

And I think that is the desire at the center of everything Armand is doing at the moment.

Armand simply doesn't want to die.

I don't think Armand cares anything about the entire vampire population at large. I don't think Armand is interested in saving anyone except himself... and those he directly loves/cares about.

Because the crux of the matter is: when it comes to what is coming, when it comes to Akasha rising and her apocalypses of the vampires in the world, is that you can't kill Akasha without also killing off every single vampire in the world right along with her.

And that is because of Amel.

💬 0 🔁 16 ❤️ 87 · A word on Amel and the lore of the Vampire Chronicles in relation to the show · Spoilers for the upcoming arcs and books

I wish the show hadn't buried Amel's first name drop in Akasha's monologue, but what is done is done. And Marius at least directly established in that scene that if something happens to the Queen -- like what happened in December of 1802 -- then that is something that will affect every single vampire in the world.

And that is why there were only about 100 vampires in the world by the time Lestat turned Louis. However many thousands of vampires there had been in the world at that time were killed off during the December 1802 incident.

And that exact same thing will happen to every single vampire in the world again, that happened in December of 1802, if Akasha is killed to try and stop her Apocolypes, as long as the seed that connects all the vampires to her remains inside of her.

And that seed is Amel.

And yes, at the moment? I think Armand knows this. Just as Lestat knows it.

Because I think the same person told both of them: Marius de Romanus.

Yes, I've long believed that Armand knows damn well that Marius is alive and well, and that he's known so for decades now.

It is why that painting of Marius' was hanging up in the Dubai penthouse during Season 1 and 2:

💬 3 🔁 38 ❤️ 128 · Can we talk about the Marius' painting in the Dubai penthouse? Because it's the complete opposite of "The Temptation of

And then, of course, right after talking about Marius' painting, in EP102, the scene continues with Armand saying that he "serves a god" towards the end of it when Daniel starts pressing questions about his working for Louis:

💬 0 🔁 58 ❤️ 227 · Not Armand shutting Daniel up by playing a song from the 1970's so he stops questioning "the Groan" and his relationship

And I do not think Armand was talking about Louis or even Marius when it comes to that "serves a god" line.

Yeah, I think Armand was talking about Akasha/Amel. And more than that... well, walk with me here...

* * * * *

In the books, one thing Armand laments in the final book, Blood Communion, is that Marius never told him about Those Who Must Be Kept (TWMBK). That Marius never trusted him with the full knowledge of it; along with Marius never coming to rescue him from The Children of Darkness (Satan) either, after Armand was taken by them.

These things are some of the reasons that, for as much as Armand does love Lestat, he also deeply hates Lestat as well. Because Marius, in contrast, did entrust Lestat with the knowledge about TWMBK:

Well, in the show, we learn that not only did Marius tell Lestat about TWMBK ... but that Marius entrusted their keeping to Lestat for at least 20 years!

Because it was clear Marius needed a break from it, given how it was his fault that so many vampires ended up dying because of his carelessness back in December of 1802.

Now, I have, for a long while now, believed that it was Marius who erased Daniel's memories back in 1985 -- effectively revealing to Armand that, yes, he is still alive as he split Armand and Daniel apart. And I do still think, if this theory is true, that one of the reasons Marius did it was because Armand kept refusing to fully turn Daniel.

And, if you know the books, Marius is completely of the belief that humans and vampires can not be together long-term in such ways. It is the reason he gives, in the unpublished book Lestat and King Louis, for why he turned Sybelle and Benji.

However, what if... splitting Daniel and Armand up isn't the only thing that happened. What if, to try and... calm a very angry Armand about what he'd done, Marius at last revealed the truth -- revealed to Armand the existence and truth about TWMBK.

And maybe not just told him, but even entrusted their keeping to him as well at some point, just as he did with Lestat for a time.

And Dubai, IMO, is where they were kept when Marius left them in Armand's care for a time.

It would explain the "I serve a god" line he said to Daniel in EP102. And why Armand and Louis had one of Marius' paintings hanging up in Dubai.

And it would explain why, now, Armand seems to know so much about what is coming, as we saw in EP304.

Do I think Louis knew any of this about TWMBK and what Marius had tasked Armand to do for a time? No, I do not. I don't think Louis had a clue at all.

But I think that is one of the many reasons Armand was with Louis in Dubai. Because of the loneliness of that job.

But once Dubai fell apart? That would have meant moving and transporting them again, meaning I think Marius came back to help do so, and took over watching them again.

And also, during all that time, I think they both also knew -- or found out -- what The Great Conversion could bring... Akasha's awakening.

And Marius, being Marius, has likely decided to just stick with the Queen and will end up doing what he did in the books regarding it all, which is trying to talk her out of her plans regarding humanity and such.

But Armand...

* * * * *

For those who don't know, Marius does have a connection to The Talamasca because his Maker was one of the founders of the organization. And in the book Prince Lestat, when the world was being threatened by another apocalyptic event that was killing all the vampires in the world? Marius' Maker, Teskhamen came to Marius to tell of what he knew and urge of gathering to help in figuring out what course to take about it.

And look, I don't know if the show is going to go into all of this with Teskhamen about it. But I do very much think that the two people that Armand was with at Lestat's concert in EP304, and who were out on the street with him, were not vampires.

I think they were Talamasca agents.

And I think what Armand is doing, what his storyline is about, is basically one of the things Anne Rice had contemplated about for his character in Queen of the Damned... which was working with Lasher to figure out how to stop Akasha:

Only, in the show, I don't think Armand is trying to stop Akasha. I think he knows there is no real way of stopping any of it.

The Great Conversion is here, Akasha is going to rise, and she is going to kill off a whole bunch of these newly converted vampires because there are too damn many in the world.

"More deaths than births," as Armand said in EP304.

During Akasha's rule, she made it clear that, as Queen, only she could order the making of another vampire. And, within that, she did not want any other female vampires made -- again, unless she expressly gave permission -- because only she wanted to be worshipped among the mostly male population of vampires.

However, along with all of that ... when there are too many vampires in the world, then the seed that created them and connects them, Amel, becomes stretched too thin because of the connection every vampire has to him, and Akasha, the body that he himself is connected to.

Long story short? I think the Talamasca are trying to find a way to extract, basically remove, Amel's spirit from Akasha, for whatever reasons they want. (And given that it is the Amsterdam Motherhouse that is behind all of this stuff? I don't think the reasons that they want Amel's spirit have to do with sunshine and rainbows and just wanting to "save the world.")

And Armand, IMO, is working with the Talamasca to try and do so, too. But for only one reason:

Because if Amel isn't extracted from Akasha? That means that if Akasha is killed during her attempted world takeover, then he is dead too. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

And one thing Armand does not want? Is to die.

So I think everything Armand is doing is just him trying to delay the inevitable. Soptting The Great Conversion is not possible. Stopping Akasha's rise and the subsequent apocalypses is impossible.

The only thing left that can be done is to delay it.

* * * * *

And trying to delay it? I think that is what The Fang Gang was about.

I think Armand was the one who set them up, basically molding them -- and likely some other covens -- in the form of his old coven, the Children of Dakness. And I think he did so as a way to try to slow down, even possibly stop, the Great Conversion, if possible.

The Great Laws. "Only the coven master can order the working of the Dark Trick." All of that.

I think that was his way of trying to slow down the number of vampire births that were starting to ramp up more and more, likely even before Lestat started his rock tour thing.

And that, IMO, is what "Armand told the truth" is about. He knew that too many vampires in the world would reach a breaking point of some sort. And so, trying to get vampires like the Fang Gang back on the old coven laws was, IMO, one way he was trying to slow down what was happening.

However, the Talamasca, in contrast, very much want The Great Conversion to happen. Because, as I said, I think they want Akasha to rise so they can get their hands on Amel for ... whatever reason.

And that is why Raglan James has Louis go and take the Fang Gang out -- to squash any and all vamps who could potentially stop The Great Conversion from happening.

And I think Armand has either only recently started working with the Talamasca to find a way to extract Amel, in a kind of "quid pro quo" about it all, after all the dissenting voices/vampires have now been killed off or switched sides... or he's been playing both sides of all of this the whole time in quietly working with the Talamasca but, behind their backs, doing things like influncing the Fang Gang to try and stop it, or at least slow it down.

* * * * *

Anyway, the longer Armand can keep Akasha from rising, the more time he has to figure out -- with the help of the Talamasca -- how to extract Amel from her and save his life and the lives of those he loves and cares about.

Which, look, for Armand, isn't a lot of people. But despite all the ways Armand may have to really hurt those people he loves -- Daniel, Lestat, Louis, and yes, like or not, Marius is also included in that group for him -- Armand will do so for whatever larger goal he has.

We saw that here with him killing Larry.

And no, Armand will never have any remorse about doing that either. He didn't love or care about Larry. If Larry has to die to help Armand do what he feels he needs to do, then Larry dies, the end.

Because the only thing that keeps Armand from killing you is if he loves you. And he, of course, 100% didn't love Larry.

* * * * *

So yeah, at the moment, I think that Armand's goal regarding everything he's doing in the present day is to make sure that, no matter what happens, he and they survive this. And, the only way that is at all possible is if Amel is extracted from Akasha before she might have to be killed.

And I know what some people are thinking: "Well, why doesn't Armand just tell Daniel, Lestat, and Louis all of this?"

Yeah. I think EP307 is going to show explicitly why Lestat would never listen to or believe Armand... and rightfully so.

The end of Season 2 already shows why Louis wouldn't listen to him. And I think after EP307, Louis will have even more reason not to want to have anything to do with him, never mind believing Armand about anything.

And as for Daniel, well, I explained in this long post already what I think is going on there:

💬 2 🔁 3 ❤️ 49 · I'm just going to say it: I'm suspicious about what is going on with Armand and Daniel after EP305 · *stares at Devil's Mi

So yeah, if this theory I have is what Armand is up to? Then he is on his own. And, frankly, it was an isolation of his own making, due to his past actions -- at least wrt Louis and Lestat.

P.S. Don't also take it for granted that, in EP302, Daniel said that the Talamasca had him "on retainer," and are the ones who are producing Daniel's documentary. Along with being the ones who published the IWTV book.

As I said, I think Armand working with the Talamasca has basically become a "quid pro quo" thing for him, and that's all.

My lord, I think there are a lot of moving pieces wrt all of this. No wonder RJ said he wasn't going to change anything he had planned...