The One

[Mattzs]

I'm starting to think “The One” is another Biblical allusion in zombies, specifically the Devil and Hell.

The Dark Aether seems to parallel something akin to Hell. First of all, the Dark Aether exists beneath creation. This placement is similar to Hell being the abyss that Satan and his minions dwell in after being cast from the Heavens. In both cases, the location doesn’t have to literally be “beneath” creation. Rather the metaphorical aspect of a banishment of some kind is the most important. 

Secondly, the Apothicons have always had some demonic flair to their aesthetic. The best example being the “mark of beast” in Shadows of Evil. The mark on the characters hands (for some reason on the left instead of the right) are 3 sixes imposed on one another. Hellhounds, ritual sacrifice, and pentagrams are abound in Mob of the Dead and Blood of the Dead. In fact, most, if not all 8, characters make some reference to Hell while there. And that’s not counting all the meta-references like achievements. The parallel works well if Alcatraz is a little slice of the Dark Aether or related to it.

Finally,  the Dark Aether is the dwelling of the One. And, The One is being billed as a major antagonist in the Dark Aether storyline.  It is a very fitting name for the being residing in a hell. 

In some translations of the “Our Father”, such as Matthew 6:9-13 in New Revised Standard Version, the prayer is written as
9 “Our Father in heaven,
        hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
        Your will be done,
        on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.[a]
12 And forgive us our debts,
        as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not bring us to the time of trial,[b
        but rescue us from the evil one.[c]”

“Rescue us from the evil one”

 

Our heroes investigating the Dark Aether are from Requiem. 
A requiem (especially in Catholic liturgy) is a mass for the dead, praying for the salvation of the souls that have departed. 
The Dark Aether contains lost, i.e. departed, souls from our world. These souls are trapped in the Dark Aether and in the domain of The One.
Requiem is there to deliver these souls from evil, to deliver them from the evil one. 

Here is some further proof
In the song Alone, we have the lyrics “Dies irae (The Day of Wrath)” and “Dies illa solvet… (That day will scatter/free..)”.
“Dies Irae” is a Lain Poem/Hymn and “Dies illa solvet” is a snippet from the beginning of the  poem.

The full stanza being "Dies iræ, dies illa, Solvet sæclum in favilla, Teste David cum Sibylla" (Day of Wrath, that day will scatter the world in ashes, David being witness with the Sibyl).

                                                      Side note- the ashes imagery is a nice addition in Alone, accompanying other ee songs like "We all fall down"

 “Dies Irae” is known for its use in a Requiem mass, often in song. 

And the Day of Wrath refers to the Final Judgement in Abrahamic Religions. The moment in which all souls will be judged by God. 
Souls either delivered from the evil one, or damned.  

[anonymous]

Great thread @Mattzs, brains to you! Recently I have been reading into the culture of Medieval Europe, also including the influence of Christianity (the fear for Antichrist, the ideas about dead and the afterlife, the Devil and heresy, etc).

 

I have been thinking whether the Dark Aether would better fit with Hell or the Abyss. The Abyss is referred to as a "bottomless pit" , an "immensely deep space" that even demons fear and try to avoid. A confinement for evil spirits. At the end of (Biblical) Revelations, the Beast is cast into the Abyss. This sounds very alike to how the Apothicons were cast into the Dark Aether beneath creation. At the same time, though, being the Abyss doesn't mean it can also be Hell. What's more, in Old Greek the Abyss (Abyssos) is also stated to be the Underworld or Kingdom of the Dead (similar to Hades). So I'd say it definately overlaps, and given the power the Dark Aether seems to have nowadays, I'd definately relate it more with the mighty realm of Hell than the "demon prison" of the Abyss.

 

"The One" also reminds me of an excerpt of GKNova6:

"Beware of the beast man.

For he is the devils pawn.

Alone among gods primates.

He kills for sport,or lust,or greed.

Yay he will murder his brother to posses his brothers land.

Let him not breed in great numbers,

For he will make a desert of his home, and yours.

Shun him, drive him back into his jungle layer.

For he is the harbinger of death."

 

The statement of him being the Harbinger of Death made me think it was a reference to the false prophet, the Antichrist, in our story known as the Shadowman, seducing the players to follow his plan (remember, in Biblical Revelations the Antichrist led the human population that was wearing the Mark of the Beast, just like the Shadows crew). But the Apothicons had no hierarchy, it seemed, due to their Hivemind. There was no Devil, mere a group of equal demons. With the current status of the Dark Aether, however, hierarchy exists. And the One definately stands above the rest.

 

Btw all this talk about Requiem and Dies Irae I had to share this one:

https://youtu.be/J9HqRohOPuI

 

 

[Mattzs]

Yes definitely! Great point about there being a distinction between the abyss and Hell; since they are conflated today. I figured the Codz lore is taking liberties and wouldn’t be too picky about that distinction. It does, however, make for an interesting discussion.

 

I am torn on what fits the Dark Aether theme better. I am with you on it leaning more towards Hell though. The scenery makes the Dark Aether feel like a tangible place- reminding me more of Hell because of structure. Unless what we are seeing is merely a layer of the Dark Aether bleeding into our realty (like an in-between).

 

On the other hand, the Abyss fits the Dark Aether well because the aesthetic evokes the sense of lonely souls wandering in darkness. It even has jellyfish to further a connection to the depths.

Places like the Abyss and Sheol seem more empty in comparison to the later concept of Hell with its influence from Hades and Tartarus.  

I imagine the Dark Aether borrows from both.

 

Spot on about the Anti-Christ. It is funny that Monty labels the Shadowman the Harbinger of Death in the map titled Revelations.

 

I wonder how the One works within the Apothicon structure now. The Dark Aether corrupted the keepers, so surely he should have some relation to the hivemind and the overlords.  Furthermore, I really want to know how Monty and Shadowman fit in; especially when the Shadowman calls Monty the Devil. While I have my own theories on how it all works, I would love to see more about this structure and whether or not the “One” is new management or has been directly involved all along.

 

Shi No Numa’s “The One” and its contradictory lyrics also have new implications.

“I've been waiting for someone

To find me and become a part of me.

Become part of me.
I've been waiting for you to come here

And kill me and set me free..

I've been waiting for the one.

I've been waiting for the one.

The one.
I've been waiting for someone...
I've been waiting for you to come here and kill me,

And set me free.

I've been waiting for...

I've been waiting for you to come here and kill me...

I've been waiting for...”

 

Is the corruption telling Sam to join The One? And is Sam telling us to kill her before she can become one? Or Does Sam want the One to end her suffering?

 

Lastly, that was perfect to link Verdi’s Requiem with all this talk! Nothing evokes powerful emotion like classical music.

[anonymous]

Those lyrics of the One are interesting, now you mention them in this context. I always assumed, of course, that it was a reference to a living being to end the Zombies suffering. It is also additional proof that Zombies are indeed conscious and that the souls trapped in their body may function like some kind of Purgatory: Not in Heaven nor Hell yet, but trapped in this horrid state. If we bear in mind what you just said, that the "individual" refers to a random living person that must end the zombie's suffering whereas "the One" refers to something more important, this One may be indeed a god-like creature for which the soul awaits in Purgatory. Either a god or demon comes to collect the soul which enables it to leave the physical body and go to a plane beyond the physical (Heaven/Aether or Hell/Dark Aether). Specifically, the Evil One.

 

Regarding the Apothicons I gotta be honest to you, I never really believed they all were Keeper at one point. The fact even the Keepers, heavily anti-Apothicon, refer to the Apothicon Overlords as "Elder Gods" gives me the feeling those Elder Gods were initially discovered and worshipped by the Keepers. When creating the MPD, the Keepers being loyal to the Elder Gods (now referring to them as their Overlords) "turned to the dark side", so to speak. The other Keepers realized those who they worshipped before were in fact evil and all-consuming. Kinda like John Dee the alchemist, who initially thought he made contact with Angels using a magical diagram. After a while however, he started to question their motives and turned out to be demons. His fraternal counterparts, under his instruction, performed similar rites. Their obsession was to contact pan-dimensional beings, the “Archons.” (so go the conspiracies...). What is espessially interesting is that these Archons are thought to desire, above else, blood and negative energy. Kinda sounds Elder God-like to me.

 

Man in what kind of conspiracy sites this story gets me haha.

[Mattzs]

I think you are totally right in your assumption. I believe the song might have gotten a slight retcon. I would bet the initial purpose behind “The One” was to provide insight into a zombie’s perspective. Der Riese onward set the precedent of the ee songs being sung by Sam. Yet, this doesn’t really change much about we are discussing.

 

I’d imagine The One lures the souls into his domain. In this case, it would be a promise of freedom and salvation for the zombie or Sam. Even in the Dark Aether intel we see The One exerting some type of brainwashing effect on the lost souls.

The One’s intentions appear more nefarious. Maybe it is connected to the afterlife Monty referred to in revelations?

 

As for the Apothicons, I think the have been apothiretconned a bit. Overlords, elder gods, apothicon blood, the structure seems to conflict at times.

 

I like your idea of the Elder Gods/Overlords being a precursor race. My main gripe with the Dark Aether is that we could be getting so much more on extraterrestrial/ interdimensional life. Yet they seem to push the narrative that things just get tentacles in the Dark Aether. I would love to see more Aether Ecology and having the Elder Gods be something else would be sweet.

 

Though, I supposed the stuff happening in the Dark Aether could be viewed as alchemical transmogrification and ritual sacrifice.  Still want my Elder Gods though.

 

This also reminds me of my old Monty Dark Aether theory. The way the Kronorium opens with “In the beginning there were the Keepers and the Aether. Among them were two beings known as the Shadowman and Monty” (Paraphrased a bit) leads me to believe that Monty isn’t a keeper. The first sentence sets up two subjects and the second, I’d argue, follows that parallel construction.

 

And yes haha. This story takes you to interesting places! I’d imagine it is also taking the devs places too. Otherwise, why would John Dee’s Seal of God  be in game?