Is Monty the Dark Aether?

[Mattzs]

I have been toying around with this theory for a while now. I just posted it on the Codz reddit, but I feel it also belongs on Codz.

 

I believe this quote from the Zombie Chronicles timeline gives an interesting hint towards the true nature of Monty and the Shadowman.

“In the beginning, there was only the Aether and the Keepers. Among them were two beings who would later be known by many names. One would be known as Doctor Monty and the other as the Shadowman”

 

The second line appears to indicate Monty and the Shadowman were former keepers; the “among them” meaning “among the keepers”. However, if the second sentence only refers to the keepers, then it is awkwardly placed. The previous sentence sets the Aether and the Keepers as the subjects. Unless the author makes an explicitly transition, the next sentence should still follow through with the subject of the Aether and the Keepers. Simply put, if the sentence refers to the keepers, it should have read “Among the Keepers…”. The current phrasing is a bit ambiguous.

 

Therefore, what if the “among them” actually refers to among “the keepers and the Aether”. I know the Aether is thought to be a place, but what if it also sentient? In Greek Mythology the Aether is a deity and a place, just like Tartarus.

 

All of this leads me to believe that Monty is the Aether or specifically, the embodiment of the Dark Aether. If this is true, then it tells us more about the relationship between Monty and the Apothicons.

 

I think the Keepers were the first beings in the universe to sell their soul to the Devil. Monty corrupted the Keepers and made them his first servants. The Shadowman could have been an enforcer of Monty’s will, a sort of Mephistopheles-like character collecting souls for Monty. That would explain why Monty refers to the Shadowman as a “good friend”. Furthermore, the Shadowman also wears the Mark of the Beast on his suit. A sign of his former allegiance, perhaps?

 

However, at some point the Apothicons realized they were duped and rebelled from Monty. Now their goal is to stop all sentient life from making pacts with Monty. That is why Monty has such a disdain for the Apothicons and wants to rid them from the universe. The Apothicons know all of his tricks.

 

TL;DR- Monty is the Dark Aether and Corrupted the Keepers into the Apothicons. They were his first victims and servants. At some point, the rebelled. Now, the Apothicons consume all worlds to stop sentient life from selling their souls to Monty.

edit- added tl;dr

[anonymous]

I like the way you see Monty as an embodiment of the Dark Aether, as some Ancient Greeks believed Æther was a god. Yet, the Aether HAS to be a location/element/form at the same time, so I'm not sure how this would work. I'll come back on this later, but have some brains, @Mattzs

 

EDIT: Scheiße, I cannot give you brains on phone. Just wait untill I can use a PC

[Mattzs]

Thank you! Glad you liked the idea. @anonymous

 

I agree with you, the Aether has to be a location. Too much of the story points in that location (pun intended). Monty could be an Aethereal being instead.

 

However, a quick Wikipedia search does yield an interesting description of the Aether (when describing it as a place).

 

Under the mythology section of the Aether (Classical element) it reads

 

“The word αἰθήρ (aithēr) in Homeric Greek means "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky". In Greek mythology, it was thought to be the pure essence that the gods breathed, filling the space where they lived, analogous to the air breathed by mortals.[4] It is also personified as a deity, Aether, the son of Erebus and Nyx in traditional Greek mythology.[4][5] Aether is related to αἴθω "to incinerate",[6] and intransitive "to burn, to shine" (related is the name Aithiopes (Ethiopians; see Aethiopia), meaning "people with a burnt (black) visage")”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element)

 

  When Talking about how the Apohticons feed on energy Monty says "Energy is a rather broad term. It may be better to explain it as the spark of life, the purest form of energy that ever existed".  Monty's description of energy sounds a lot like the quote above. Plus it explain why he would refer to 115 as Divinium.

 

But what does this have to do with your question?

I think the answer is that the Dark Aether is something entirely different from the Aether. Perhaps it is death?

Monty does say the Afterlife is "a whole other can of worms" and mentions death is distinct from the Aether.

 

So playing with the idea that the Aether is purity and life, the Dark Aether would be corruption and death.

 

If I really wanted to stretch this dichotomy, I think it could lead somewhere interesting. As we have already stated, the Aether is a physical place governed by physics (in the sense that its behavior is mathematically explainable). The exact opposite of this would be a spiritual realm, not governed by science, but the supernatural. The Dark Aether could be the Afterlife?

 

Monty could even originate from somewhere else. Excluding the weird perk machine shenanigans, I would be willing to bet Monty’s true power rests in the afterlife.

[anonymous]

6 hours ago, Mattzs said:

Thank you! Glad you liked the idea. @anonymous

 

I agree with you, the Aether has to be a location. Too much of the story points in that location (pun intended). Monty could be an Aethereal being instead.

 

However, a quick Wikipedia search does yield an interesting description of the Aether (when describing it as a place).

 

Under the mythology section of the Aether (Classical element) it reads

 

“The word αἰθήρ (aithēr) in Homeric Greek means "pure, fresh air" or "clear sky". In Greek mythology, it was thought to be the pure essence that the gods breathed, filling the space where they lived, analogous to the air breathed by mortals.[4] It is also personified as a deity, Aether, the son of Erebus and Nyx in traditional Greek mythology.[4][5] Aether is related to αἴθω "to incinerate",[6] and intransitive "to burn, to shine" (related is the name Aithiopes (Ethiopians; see Aethiopia), meaning "people with a burnt (black) visage")”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aether_(classical_element)

 

  When Talking about how the Apohticons feed on energy Monty says "Energy is a rather broad term. It may be better to explain it as the spark of life, the purest form of energy that ever existed".  Monty's description of energy sounds a lot like the quote above. Plus it explain why he would refer to 115 as Divinium.

 

But what does this have to do with your question?

I think the answer is that the Dark Aether is something entirely different from the Aether. Perhaps it is death?

Monty does say the Afterlife is "a whole other can of worms" and mentions death is distinct from the Aether.

 

So playing with the idea that the Aether is purity and life, the Dark Aether would be corruption and death.

 

If I really wanted to stretch this dichotomy, I think it could lead somewhere interesting. As we have already stated, the Aether is a physical place governed by physics (in the sense that its behavior is mathematically explainable). The exact opposite of this would be a spiritual realm, not governed by science, but the supernatural. The Dark Aether could be the Afterlife?

 

Monty could even originate from somewhere else. Excluding the weird perk machine shenanigans, I would be willing to bet Monty’s true power rests in the afterlife.

Purity and life are exactly the opposite of corruption and death. And I think that is what the Aether and Dark Aether are: the exact opposite. Remember this quote from Richthofen in buried (It isn't exact the same but it was something like this)?

 

Quote

All this talk about energy, it's so vague, ja? Better think of the big ones: Light and dark. Positive and negative. Good and....HAHAHAHA...Evil!

 

This at the same time kinda proves @AetherialVoices's "Aetheric multiverse theory". Take a look to that one if you haven't read it yet, it's truly amazing (yet complicated, but if you understand the concept of multiple dimensions and hypercubes, it is readable). So indeed, while Aether could seed life and light into dimensions, Dark Aether could bring corruption and death with it, as you say, but than in the form of (negative) energy. Kinda makes me wonder why all those Mexican tribes honoured the Dark Aether that badly :P.

[Mattzs]

 

I always appreciate a Richtofen quote!

The post you mentioned sounds really interesting! I will give it a look.

 

I do have one question though.  Are the Aether and the Dark Aether truly polar opposites?

As I was typing the previous post, I started to think that even though the Aether is not bound by space and time like our world, it still exists in the physical multiverse.  I started to equate life with the material world, as creation is a physical thing. So it’s polar opposite would be death and an immaterial world.

 

I think the closest we have gotten to the Dark Aether was MotD. The MotD placement on the timeline is isolated and the exact time/place is listed as “???”. This made me think it was the death as the “other can of worms” Monty was talking about.

 

The time line comes from the kronorium, correct? That is how it is able to log all the time ways. It exists at a vantage point higher than ours. Therefore, it should place the time/location of MotD.  Otherwise, MotD must exist even out of the reach of the Aether.

 

I know Richtofen is the one viewing the kronorium, but the fact that he does not know about the specifics of MotD means Monty is hiding something sinister.

Although all of  my musings assume there is nothing higher than the Aether. Or that the Aether is a catch-all for every dimension beyond man’s understanding.

 

Lastly, as for why the Mexican tribes worshiped the Dark Aether, I am sure we can ask Mictlantecuhtli or the MotD crew.