Half Writer, Half Fangirl, All Nerd.

I wrote under this post by @commandermorganwrites about the tarots we see in the motel behind Lucy and Cooper, but I wanted to make my own post about the topic, too. I'd be happy to hear everyone's thoughts about this!

A tarot person here! Generally speaking, Kings and Queens of the same symbol - here the swords - are considered a good omen. They talk about a team or a couple which is balanced (same symbol, both royals and not like other one is King and the other one is Knight). Together, The King and The Queen of the same symbol can take on the whole world but they might collide because they're a bit too similar. In this case, the Swords follow their own rules and expect the others follow these same rules, period.

Swords royals are strict, follow rules, can be distant and cold in their pursues of their goals, but they're not ruthless when upright. They do things which can seem cold but there's a very valid logic behind it. They both rule firmly, with logic and they are analyzing everything. Their trickiest part is how to handle emotions, as they are both so logical and follow the rules, especially the rules they have set for themselves. Page -> Queen -> King -> Ace form a line of enlightenment, reaching out something through evolution. The page starts this new journey with curiosity and desire to gain more knowledge and clarity; the knight continues the journey with passion towards knowledge but is still a bit immature or wet behind his ears; the queen has established a solid foundation in the element's energy with knowledge and wisdom; the king rules even bigger area with even greater wisdom; and the ace is the point when the person has learned everything the page, the knight, the queen and the king teach. It is a culmination of all these cards' meanings, and signifies new beginnings, especially when it comes thinking, thoughts, logic and goals with the Ace of Swords.

Ace of Swords overcomes confusion, it's the clarity of mind, it's that moment where you go "Oh no, what have I done?!" or "Oh, this is how things actually are!" It is righteous, calling for justice, and since this whole journey is from Page of Swords to Ace of Swords, it symbolizes a steady pace towards a goal that will be reached. The person will get justice. The confusion will go away. The clarity will win. AHA moments will be meaningful and create change, both inside the person and outside of them.

If these cards are for Lucy, it represents her journey on the outside world; she starts with a naive logic, learning more, adapting, realizing that some of her logic is solid and sound but it doesn't work exactly the way she imagines. She pursues justice and will have it, even if she had to do it herself. She will eventually conquer the outside world and become a capable person to navigate the world, albeit she is changed in that progress (aka too much naive energy has to go). Her "Golden Rule" and everything else similar, which Lucy follows strictly even when she didn't had to, is typical for Swords cards.

If these are cards for Cooper, then I would read them as his regular worldview and how he has used to be will change. As he has been on his journey for 200 years, he is at the King of Swords now and is reaching for the Ace of Swords - the ultimate clarity, the clearest answers, the clear view - but how he gets there might not be the way he thinks he will get there (as Aces are extremely powerful and do recall a wake up call in some cases). This can also mean that the clarity Cooper gets is that bargaining with Lucy is not just a simple gig like in the past but this one SUCKS and he was not anticipating it. The King of Swords' issue is lack of emotions and he will reach his highest potential - The Ace of Swords - by understanding that in order to survive, in order to rule as a king, one needs to respect their emotions and feelings, too.

Fool's card for Cooper can be a message of its literal meaning "fool -> look you idiot, what did you do?!" because he followed so tightly his own King of Swords logic. Even when he hesitated, Cooper still chose Sword's energy. It can (also) mean, that this is a new territory to Cooper - Fool is a brand new beginning where the old ways (beliefs, thinking, behavior, personality, life style, job etc.) have to go. If so, he just reached his Ace of Swords, and every Ace is followed by The Fool, the new beginning.

I cleaned up the image a bit, but here it is. The art behind him is of The Fool in tarot. I even think I might've found the exact image, thanks to Wikipedia?

Anywho, I'm by no means a tarot expert, but generally, The Fool card signifies new beginnings, with an overall positive interpretation if the card is upright, but an overall more negative interpretation if reversed. General positive meanings suggest idealism, freedom, innocence, etc. - good new beginnings. General negative meanings are more in line with what the average person probably associates with the word "fool"- stupid, reckless, etc. It still suggests new beginnings, but beginnings leading to paths one should be cautious traveling, and/or reluctance to undertake these paths. Its position behind Cooper is upright, and it's interesting to consider what this can mean. Obviously, I could be looking wayyy too deep into this (and probably am), but set design is typically pretty intentional, and we've seen throughout the show many instances of little hints and clues nestled in the background of scenes and frames. Personally, I like to think the design choice, in this moment, is absolutely intentional. After all, Cooper is definitely at the crossroads of a new beginning here, and has been approaching one throughout the season, with Lucy's influence. All in all, I just thought this was neat to catch, and as I haven't yet seen it mentioned anywhere, I was excited to yap about it lol. Perhaps it's already been observed and noted, and I'm stating the obvious, but just in case it hasn't, and just in case I'm correct, and it does mean something ^.^ EDIT: Reviewed some more and found other tarot images- another beside the Fool behind Cooper, and four behind Lucy. However, these are harder to make out, and since as mentioned, I'm not very familiar with tarot, and especially since these cards seem like they're possibly from a more obscure deck compared to what I and most others recognize, I'm not too sure what they could represent. My best guess on one of the cards behind Lucy is the Ace of Swords reversed*? Which, if correct, seems to indicate confusion, lack of or reluctance to accept ideas, wrong decisions, miscommunication, etc. Generally just not a great sign. I can't make out the others, so I'm posting the images I grabbed here, in case someone more well-versed in tarot recognizes them and can contribute what they might mean- I at least would love to find out! I'll keep digging on my end and update again if I find anything new. I love a new rabbit hole to dive into <3 *took another look, and actually think now it's the Ace of Swords Upright- hand appears to be at the bottom of the card, if this is indeed Ace of Swords. If so, indicates realizing the truth, making decisions, etc. Makes sense to me for this situation Lucy finds herself in- both positions the card could be in do, really

EDIT TO THE EDIT: Believe the second image by Coop is the Page of Cups! It's from the same deck as The Fool, which I'm having quite a time of trying to track down images for lol. Anyway, if correct, the Page of Cups Upright indicates youthfulness, idealism, happy news, romance (👀), just generally good news it seems, and emotional openness. Gonna keep looking for Lucy's!

Also, the Tarot cards are most definitely intentional. They tell a story all their own. That's what Tarot reading is in a way. They represent major life events and archetypes in a persons life. Past or present. All the cards around Ghoul make sense given that he has had to fall back into how Cooper Howard was and still be The ghoul in a world he has traversed for 200 years. Of course he's gonna be at a crossroad with that. Lucy is his parallel. Whether you ship them or not, she's him. She's Cooper Howard. Trusting, Naive, strong but soft. That is what Cooper was. He was a man who was pulled into a dark web he still has not escaped. Lucy was born in a dark web she still has not escaped either. They're parallels and foils to one another.

I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

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