#whereas in season one. when they razz each other. it's coming from a place of equal footing

[twdmusicboxmystery]

The Patterns of the Death Fake-Outs

Happy Monday! Glad to be back with some new theories. I’m about to make up for my week-long absence with a long post, so settle in. Today we'll talk about death fake outs a little bit more. I’ve thought about them a lot since the end of S9 and mentioned them a few times. But I wanted to lay out the pattern I’m seeing for you fore S10 begins because I’m already seeing this pattern with Carol and Ezekiel. I want you guys to be able to watch for it.

So, quick review. There are going to be four major death fake outs over the course of the series, from S4 to S15, which is what Gimple planned when he took over in 3x16/4x01. Beth hinted at them when she said, "I'm not Michonne, I’m not Carol, I’m not Maggie…but I made it." 

I believe that those four ladies, including Beth, are each one half of the couples that will be involved in the death fake outs. The major difference is that Beth herself is the person who seems to have died, whereas with each of the other three couples, it's the man who seems to have died.

The first major fake out was, of course, Beth. That happened in S5 and I don’t need to go through that for most of you. We’re all very familiar with it.

Next was Glenn’s in S6. Glenn seemed to be dead from 6x03 to 6x07. That was his death fake out. And even though it was of small duration, I remember how big a deal it was, was among the fans. They were split pretty evenly about whether he was alive or not and it caused a major stir in the fandom. TD was one of few groups who correctly predicted he would live. Plenty of other people hoped or believed he would, but I say we correctly predicted it because we looked at the symbolism around him, which was the same as the symbolism around Beth. If Beth was alive, Glenn must be too. And we were right.

More recently, we had Rick's fake out in S9. Unlike Beth and Glenn, the writers made it very obvious to the audience that Rick is still alive, but it was still a fake out where Michonne, Daryl, and the rest of TF are concerned.

I said at the end of last season that I was seeing that there would probably be a death fake out for Ezekiel coming, and I stand by that. I’ll explain why as we go along. I don't know if Ezekiel's fake out will be like Beth and Glenn’s, where they don't tell the audience what's going on, or if it will be more like Rick's, where it’s very obvious to the audience that he still lives. I think it could go either way.

So, I’d been thinking about the symbolism we see around each of these fake outs, which I’ll go over here in a minute. That led me to think about the actual sequence and realize there’s a very specific and discernible pattern do these fake outs as well. We can use this to prove that Beth is still alive and also to help us see the pattern as it plays out for Carzekiel.

Symbolism we see around the fake out:

1. Grady lighting. Many TDers have discussed this over the years. We often see an indoor setting that is dark on the inside but with light streaming in from outside, which makes it kind of murky and shadowy inside. Most of us think of this as “Grady Lighting.”

A.   For Beth, it actually is Grady, seen above. Though, I think you could also argue that the veterinary college in 4a, which had a whole lot of Grady foreshadows may also have qualified, especially as Daryl was there.

B.   For Glenn, it was the pet shop. Same kind of lighting, plus Glenn had a lot of Beth’s dialogue there. It was also in the pet shop that we saw the 5:10 time on his pocket watch.

C.   For Richonne, I'm thinking it was probably the school that held the amusement park. The amusement park was outdoors, of course, but they fell through the roof of the school before finding all the food, and the inside of the school had the murky lighting we’re looking for.

D.   I also think we already saw this for Carzekiel this past season. In the movie theater. This was another place we saw lots of suspicious Bethyl-like symbols, including a blonde walker who had the top of her head taken off, and a movie poster with a serious/Sirius piggyback on it.

2.    Cages. We often see small, pet-sized cages around these couples and especially around their death fakeouts.

A.   The original cage symbol we saw was the bird cage in Beth’s cell.

B.   For Glenn, again the pet shot. There were tons of DOG cages there (dog = return) and I remember also seeing one in 6x07 when he was chasing Enid. There was a bird cage hanging in the background nearly identical to the one in Beth’s cell.

C.   To be honest, I’m not 100% sure where we saw one around Richonne. (I haven’t had time to go back and rewatch all of S7 and S8, which I really should, so if anyone has any insights, let me know.) But I’m pretty sure we saw one in 7x12, either at the school/amusement park or while looking for supplies.

D.   We may see more cages around Carzekiel as the fake out gets closer, but in the movie theater, the popcorn machine with spokes sticking out did act as a cage of sorts for the walkers.

3. Candlelight dinner. Everyone remembers this as one of our favorite Bethyl moments, right?

A.   So of course the obvious one was in Alone for Bethyl.

B.   Remember that in 6x12, we saw Maggie and Glenn eating dinner together by candlelight while talking about the upcoming trip to the Saviors’ compound. I remember everyone talking about how much it LOOKED like the Alone dinner, but of course, where Beth was concerned, nothing ever came of it. Not in that season, anyway.

C.   With Richonne, it was their candlelight dinner in 7x12.

D.   I don’t think we’ve seen this for Carzekiel yet. Once I go over the sequence, you’ll understand why. But I think we’ll see something like this for them this season, before Ezekiel’s death fake out happens.

So, here's the thing. Over the seasons, every time one of us TD-ers see this kind of symbolism, we tend to just yell, “Beth symbolism! Beth symbolism!” And we’re really not wrong about that. But we also weren’t always seeing the big picture. I’ll admit that. Because while there are definitely ties between Beth and these symbols, in each case, they were put in the episodes less to show that Beth was about to show up, and more to symbolize the coming death fake out for these particular characters.

So for example, when Glenn used thee green balloons to tell TF he was still alive, we hoped that meant Beth was right around the corner. She obviously wasn’t. But we weren’t wrong about what that symbolized either. It was just present in S6 for Glenn, rather than Beth. But that doesn’t mean that she won’t follow Glenn’s arc of being alive and returning to Maggie eventually.

So now let’s talk about the sequence. While thinking about all of this, something came to mind.

A few years ago, I was doing a re-watch of S4 and I saw something that absolutely floored me. In episode 4x11, we saw a very similar sequence to Beth at Grady. This is the episode where Glenn wakes up in the back of Abraham's truck and demands they pull over so he can get out and walk back to start searching for Maggie. When he wakes up, the camera starts very close to his eyes and they flutter open much like Beth’s did at Grady. 

I was really shocked to see that because this happened before Beth was even taken in 4x13. There’s no way anyone could have zeroed in on this back once episode aired. So, here’s what this made me realize.

Every death fake out involves a romantic couple, and the following is always true of this arc for them:

1.    There is a foreshadow of it that’s not always obvious until later.

2.    Their romantic relationship is previously established.

3.    They go through what I’m going to call a trial separation. This is not the fake out. It’s a short separation BEFORE the fake out happens, and is characterized as at least one of them (perhaps both) searching for the other and having great faith that they will find each other again.

4.    At the beginning of the trial separation, a PLACE is lost and not regained.

5.    The one who will eventually be presumed dead wakes up without their significant other and the camera zooms in on their eyes as they flutter open. Just something they always put into this sequence.

6.    They come back together after the separation for a short time before the actual fake out happens.

7.    After the fake out, the other member of the couple has to realize the one they thought was dead is actually alive and they have a time of happiness together. It’s important to note that characters involved in the fake outs can die for real (Glenn) but this sequence had to play out FIRST, before he actually died on the show. Let’s take a look, shall we?

Glaggie:

1.    I believe the foreshadow here was when Glenn became sick with the virus. If you pay attention to what is done and said (Maggie talking to Beth through the door, and Hershel through the glass) there’s a lot of themes about her losing him and needing to go be with him again.

2.    Their relationship was previous established before this sequence began in S4 because they’d been a canon couple since S2. No sweat.

3.    Their trial separation happened in 4B. Glenn and Maggie both searched for one another, having faith they would find one another, and they eventually did. Abraham even razzed Glenn for his devotion, saying, "I get it. You have to find her." 

And this was also when a lot of the fandom grew angry at Maggie because she was so devoted to finding Glenn and seemed to have forgotten about Beth. My fellow theorists and I have talked about why they did things that way back in 4B. For the most part, we’ve always thought they wanted to establish Beth and Daryl’s relationship and that they were all each other had. But I also think it was for the sake of this pattern. Maggie needed to be solely looking for Glenn and him solely looking for her. Having her also look for Beth would've muddled the pattern and the writers didn't want that, even if it made Maggie look a bit shallow where Beth was concerned.

4.    The place lost at the beginning of the trial separation was the prison. They lost it when it went down, which is how they got separated, and even after they reunited, no one ever went back to the prison.

5.    As discussed above, once separated from Maggie, Glenn woke up in the back of Abraham’s truck and they did the eye flutter thing.

6.    Glenn and Maggie came back together after the separation in 4x16. The actual death fake out didn’t come until more than a full season later in 6x03.

7.    After the death fake out, Glenn eventually returned to Maggie and she realized he was alive, and they had a season of happiness together before his actual death. RIP Glenn.

Bethyl:

1.    How was this foreshadowed? Well, take your pick. There were about a hundred. But the one I’m going to focus on is the walker going through the roof of the Big Spot. I may talk about this more later, but with the helicopter on the roof and the exact same sequence happening for Carzekiel in 9x01 (Ezekiel going through the glass floor) it’s obvious there’s a connection between this symbolism and what’s currently happening in the show.

2.    Their relationship was established very quickly, in 4x12 and 4x13. The instant it was established (the candlelight dinner) the separation instantly began when Beth was kidnapped.

3.    The trial separation was, of course, when Beth was at Grady. Remember that in 5a, Daryl was super positive about her being alive and had tons of faith that he’d find her. So he was also actively searching for her. While Beth couldn’t really search for Daryl in a physical way, I think her question at Grady (“The man I was with, is he here too?”) was symbolic of her searching for him as well.

4.    When the trial separation began at the end of 4x13, the place they lost was the funeral home. They’d seriously discussed settling there, but left when Beth was taken and never went back.

5.    Beth, of course, woke up at Grady, without Daryl, and they did the close-up, eye flutter thing with the camera.

6.    They came back together VERY briefly in the hallway at Grady, but that fulfills the end of the trial separation. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much time—only a few minutes—before the death fake out began.

7.    Of course we haven’t seen them come back together and Daryl realize that she’s alive yet, but I’m hopeful that it’s coming up soon.

Richonne:

1.    7x12 was one great big foreshadow for the Rick death fake out. Doesn’t get much more clear than that.

2.    Richonne’s relationship went canon in S6, and their fake out arc didn’t start until S8, so the relationship was previously established.

3.    It’s a little harder to pin down where Richonne’s trial separation happened. After disussing it with @wdway, we’re thinking it was during S8 and AOW. Remember that at the beginning of the season, Rick left Alexandria while Michonne stayed behind. They made a big deal about him leaving. In keeping with pattern, this wasn't a matter of Michonne thinking he was dead. She didn’t know where he was and they were separated, but she fully believed he would return, and he did. believed he would return simply didn't know where he was or what was going on.

4. The place they lost was Alexandria, when the Saviors bombed it. I’ll admit this one is slightly different because they didn’t leave it and never return, but they also couldn’t return to the same Alexandria again. It had been bombed. They had to completely rebuild. So I think it still works.

5. Rick’s eyes fluttering open has happened several times, actually. Including in Carl’s vision for the future (Old Man Coda) and in 4x11 (same episode as we saw it with Glenn, which just proves both these death fake outs were already planned in S4) when he woke up in the Claimer house.

6. He and Michonne reunited, had the heartbreaking task of burying Carl together, and had some time to be happy together (and with Judith) before Rick’s death fake out happened in 9x05.

7. Like Beth and Daryl, we haven’t seen Michonne realize Rick is alive or the two of them reunite yet. But it’s kind of a foregone conclusion for them, as we already know Michonne is leaving the show this season to go to the Rick Grimes films. So obviously they’ll reunite at some point, and I’m thinking she’ll find out Rick is alive sometime in S10.

Carzekiel:

We’re still at the start of Carzekiel’s arc, so not as many of these steps have happened for them. But a few of them have.

1.    As I said above, the foreshadow here was when Ezekiel went through the glass floor in the museum in 9x01. It was kind of a combination of the walker going through the roof in 4x01 at the Big Spot, and Michonne thinking she’d lost Rick for a minute in 7x12, and then hugging him when she saw he was okay. Carol did the same thing here. 🤗Death Fake Out! 🤗

(Btw, this is why I think the walker that goes through the roof of the Big Spot represents Beth. I always kinda suspected, but with this happening to Ezekiel in 9x01, I think it’s the tie I’ve always looked for. The exact same thing happened in 4x01 with Daryl in Carol’s place. Meanwhile, the helicopter on the roof of the Big Spot ties Beth’s fake out to the helicopter people.)

2.    Their relationship is obviously well-established now. It grew in S7 and they came together in S8. Before their fake out arc began, they’d been living together as husband and wife for many years.

3.    Trial separation. We are right smack dab in the middle of their trial separation as we speak, y’all. Carol leaving Ezekiel at the end of S9 represents the beginning of their situation. So that’s where we are in the sequence and we should be able to chart it moving forward.

4. The place they lost when it began is, obviously, the Kingdom. Which they had to abandon for the winter due to bad plumbing and other problems. Now, maybe they’ll resurrect the Kingdom (pun totally intended!) as a community in future seasons, but AK said Carol would never go back to her life there with Ezekiel, so for her at least, it’s a permanent loss.

5. We haven’t seen Ezekiel’s eyes flutter open yet that I’m aware of. But given where we are in the sequence, I wouldn’t expect that we would have. In each other case, it was during the trial situation that we saw this (after Maggie and Glenn were separated, after Beth was taken to Grady, etc.) so I think we’ll see this at some point in S10. 

5.    Carol and Ezekiel will probably be apart for time. I think the come back together at least see each other at some point—probably not get back together entirely, but see one another; maybe even have a candlelight dinner together—and after that, Ezekiel’s death fake out will happen die. Again, I don't know if the audience will be privy to the fact that he's alive or not, but Carol will definitely think that he's dead.

6.    Obviously, as we aren’t far enough in the sequence yet, we haven’t see them reunite after the death fake out either. But remember the foreshadow of him falling through the floor in 9x01.

So just wanted to lay the sequence out for you so we can watch for it with Carzekiel.

I also think it’s worth throwing out there that we’ve also seen this with Al in FTWD. I believe she’ll be part of a fake out sequence as well. I don't know if she’ll be the person who seems to die or if it will be Isabel, but we saw a lot of the same symbolism around her when she met Isabel and a lot of similar things to Bethyl’s arc in S4. And of course Isabel, like Rick (and possibly Beth) is with the helicopter people. Not everyone watches FTWD, but if you do, that'll be something to watch for as well in the back half of the season.

And the more I think about it, the more things I think of that we always see. Another one is the lost shoe/foot symbolism. The shoe Beth sees in Inmates, and I know Rick pulled the shoe/foot off one of the army walkers in 7x12. The other two, I’d have to go back and find, but the point is that a lot of the symbolism we’ve pointed to for a long time because we KEEP seeing it is there to show the death fake out sequences.

This is the pattern of the fake out. We’re just waiting to see Rick and Beth return, and we’re in the middle of the sequence right now for Carzekiel. So, we can watch for these things going forward. Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiane #beth is almost here #bethyl

[takerfoxx]

She-Ra: Princess of Power, Season 1, Episode 3, First Impressions!

And speaking of which!

Anyway, this episode is a little weirdly placed. On the one hand, it’s technically the first of the serialized episodes following the two-part pilot, but plot-wise, it’s basically just part three of the pilot, and wraps things up to kickstart the series proper. We finally reach Bright Moon, Adora comes out of the closet about being an ex-Horde soldier and reveals herself as the new She-Ra and is accepted by queen and country, Catra gets promoted to Force Captain, and Horsey properly becomes Swift Wind. 

But some stuff had to happen first. Firstly, Adora’s whole montage about trying to get the danged sword to work was hilarious. Second, her accidentally turning Swift Wind into a winged pegasus and having both of them freak out was amazing. And thirdly...the Queen openly ships her daughter and Bow. Good choice.

Speaking of which, I really like Glimmer’s dynamic with her mom. Yeah, it plays into the sterotypical rebellious teen and overbearing Mom, but it does so well, and it’s made apparent that they genuinely do care about one another. Queen Angella is simply scared for her daughter’s safety, and she has every reason to be, whereas Glimmer feels the need to take up arms in defense of her home like the other princesses as well as prove herself, and who can blame her? So while they openly butt heads, their conflict comes from them both wanting what’s best for the ones they love, and it’s sweet when they do get on the same page.

So it’s fascinating how similar and how different their relationship compares with that of Shadow Weaver and Catra. Like Queen Angella and Glimmer, they are openly antagonistic to each other, with Catra constantly needling Shadow Weaver for never giving her a chance while Shadow Weaver keeps striking her down for her disrespect. But unlike Queen Angella and Catra, they clearly despise one another. Adora was always the favorite, and despite their friendship, Catra does resent that about her. And with Adora gone, Shadow Weaver is stuck with the one she had always passed over and mistreated. Catra is clearly starved for any kind of positive reinforcement. I mean, just look at her face when Hordak tears Shadow Weaver a new one and promotes her on the spot. That also makes her anger over Adora’s defection so heartbreaking to watch. Adora was literally the only thing good in her life, and now even her best friend had left her.

Speaking of Hordak, I already knew about his reveal scene and how it would play out, but I’m pretty surprised that it happened so early. I was honestly expecting it to happen much later in the season. But anyway, even though I already knew what his deal is, I love that his whole attitude to Shadow Weaver is pretty much, “Look, I do not care about your personal hang-ups over this one AWOL soldier. We train more than one person for these jobs for a reason! Get someone else to take over her duties and go back to what you’re supposed to be doing!” It’s like, fuck hubris! We’ve got a job to do! What, you think that running an intergalactic conquering army is easy? We don’t have time for your stupid Mom-feels! So quit bitching and do what I hired you to do! I mean, of course he’ll probably start caring about Adora much later once She-Ra is revealed to be a bigger threat than anticipated, but it’s a very refreshing change of pace.

Anyway, I looked up some stuff about the original Masters of the Universe, and this is how I understand it.

1. Skeletor is not part of the Horde, but Hordak did use to be his old master.

2. There is actually someone higher on the Horde hierarchy than Hordak, mainly an even bigger Robo-Vampire named Horde Prime. And...all this googling made me come across spoilers, so I’ll stop now.

Okay, back to Adora’s deal. Now, I know that all these characters are basically taken from the original 80′s show and updated for a modern audience (seriously, I got a giggle out of Bow’s midriff outfit, but then I saw the original Bow, and ho boy), but Madam Razz really does look and act like she stepped out of an 80′s cartoon. Based on what I’ve been able to dig up about the original Madam Razz, she was basically the obligatory wise old lady of the OG rebellion who had a habit of mixing up her spells or some kind of comic relief deal like that, but here it seems that she does have a legit connection to the whole She-Ra mythos. So...who exactly is Mara? Adora’s mom? The last person to hold the She-Ra mantle? Some lady that Adora is the new incarnation of? All of the above? Be interesting to see how that plays out.

Speaking of which, seeing how Adam (AKA He-Man) is supposed to be Adora’s brother, should the whole copyright issue get fixed up, I wonder if that will come to play. Because while I really want to see Skeletor, I also want to see what a modern incarnation of He-Man would look like. Specifically, will he still go HEYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAHYEAH?

But anyway, I expect the mystery to play out eventually. I’m mainly here for Adora, Glimmer, and Bow’s whole Freudian trio doing more stuff together and Catra showing up to bring oodles of antagonistic sexual tension, oh yeah!

#She-Ra princess of power #spop #reaction