Just Another Arcana Fan Theory
Ever since I’ve read the last update of the Arcana game, I wasn’t really able to get my mind off of it. I’ve been pondering on it a lot since the characters and the plot is somehow inspired from bible scriptures, most especially on the book of revelations. These are just some of my speculations tho, everyone can either agree or disagree on it, or even better, discuss their own theories with me as well. I just want to talk about the 7 seals theory, a bit on the 4 horsemen and some of my conjectures on what happened.
So first off, remember how everyone in the fandom suspects the Vesuvian courtiers to resemble the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse? Welp, I’ve suspected as much too. For those who still has no idea about this, the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse came forth when the first 4 of the 7 seals were broken. I’m not going to tackle much about this since I guess there are already a lot of posts about it.
to summarize the 4 horsemen theory, it goes like this:
Quaestor Valdemar is likened to the first horseman (pestilence/infection) since they seemed to enjoy and would like to relive the times of the plague. Also note that the horseman was riding a white horse, which the main color motif of Valdemar’s clothing.
Pontifex Vulgora is likened to the second horseman (war). Vulgora’s personality often depicted their love for conflict and destruction. Vulgora’s main color motif is also red, much like the color of the horse of the 2nd horseman.
Procurator Volta is likened to the third horseman (Famine). As seen in Nadia’s route when the apprentice read Volta’s fortune, they said that Volta is always hungry, and will never fill the void no matter how much she eats. Volta’s clothing is black, like the third horse.
Praetor Vlastomil is likened to the fourth horseman (Death). Although it wasn’t quite obvious in the earlier books, but in book XI he was ultimately the one to decide death-- and obviously, he eagerly chose death upon Julian. His worms, in which he oh so loves, feed upon corpses. I’m thinking he is enticed by them because they devour death. Vlastomil’s complexion is pale, much like the color of the fourth horse.
Okay so now that we’re done with the 4 horseman theory, I would also like to present the 7 seals theory. On Asra’s route in book XI he revealed that on the night of Lucio’s “murder” all of them were present-- the courtiers, Nadia, Julian and Asra himself-- and were trying to cast a spell to move Lucio into another body. That’s 7 people in total and there are 7 seals. If the first 4 seals were the courtiers then the next 3 ones should be Julian, Asra and Nadia. (I might be spouting some nonsense here but its just my theory)
In old roman custom, when making a will of the dying there has to be 7 witnesses and with each of the 7 witnesses, there shall be a seal. The will shall be written in a scroll and shall be periodically sealed from time to time until the scroll will be sealed with 7 seals. So when the time for opening the scroll comes, it shall be in sections, breaking each seal after another. I’m thinking that it’s okay to refer to Roman customs seeing that the courtier’s titles (e.g. quaestor, pontifex, procurator and praetor) were used and originated in Ancient Rome.
Now, i’m guessing the 4 seals have been broken so what’s next? Well it’s most likely to be the breaking of the fifth seal. In the bible, the breaking of the fifth seal is portrayed as Tribulation, where martyrs cry out in suffering. They were saints/innocents that were slain for their testimonies/faith and shall be resurrected. Okay, okay now this is were it gets weird. What if... Julian actually gets hung in the next book? But because of the seal, he shall be resurrected (hopefully!) It is heavily implied in all routes that Julian is actually not the one who “killed” Lucio (well at least not directly. Yes maybe he was involved but I’m betting that he isn’t the main culprit or even if he was, he’s not the only one) so maybe he really is innocent. Plus, he is very self sacrificing, like the martyrs in the book of revelations. Think about it, if Julian is slain just like the martyrs, then he too shall be resurrected, just like the martyrs. But seriously! My heart can’t take it if he actually does end up being a hanged man askdaksjdlasdg
The next arcana card after “Justice- XI” would be “The Hanged Man- XII” which gives us an idea of what to expect next. After the hanged man card would be... Death- XIII (Oh no, I don’t like the sound of that!) Let’s hope that I’m wrong here, but I guess someone will indeed die, most likely Julian.
After the breaking of the 5th seal would be, of course, breaking of the sixth seal (The fall of celestial signs/bodies) in which involves eathquakes (like how the ground violently shook when the red beetles rose from the well during Asra and the apprentice’s investigation), a darkened sun, blood red moon (oohh red, its hinting the ubiquity of the red beetles). Plus! Here's the catch. The tarot cards after Death- XIII will be as follows: Temperance- XIV, The Devil-XV, The Tower-XVI, The Star-XVII, The Moon-XVII, The Sun-XVIII. I dont know what lies ahead in the following chapters but I guess it definitely has something to do with the 6th seal and the celestial bodies. Feel free to discuss it with me. I have a lot of thoughts on the sixth seal and as well as the seventh but I’ll post about it some other time hehe.
SO... one might ask, what happens after breaking the 7 seals? Well, the bible said it will be the start of the second coming. Where Christ will be in a new form and come again on Earth. Now let us compare this to the game. They were all trying to move Lucio to another form right? But in this case, the devil. My conjecture is that the spell didn’t end right because the seals didn’t work/break OR something else was up. In Book X of Asra’s route, Asra gave a comment to Lucio when his seal/symbol glowed. Lucio said to him “For someone with this, you’re high and mighty about following the rules. And look where it got you, your sweet little MC is here by your side.” Asra then answered, “Look where it got you, stuck on the incorporeal plane...” Asra was hinting that the seal had something to do with Lucio’s current form. Thus he wasn’t able to take a new form and completely transform into the devil. If we follow this line of thought, then perhaps if all of the seals are broken, then Lucio will take unto his complete new form.
Additionally, it was stated in the bible that the only one who could open and break the seals would be “the Lion of Judah” and the "Lamb.”... Lion huh, sound like someone we know, it’s just that he was a, oh i don’t know... caged lion. Or it must just be a coincidence.
Now who is this lamb? Is it the apprentice? Welp, i still don’t know, maybe the lamb isn’t significant in the story OR maybe it is... Anyone has an idea? The apprentice somehow has something to do with what happened to Lucio, seeing as all of those who participated have lost their memories, including the apprentice. But why the memory loss? Asra said that Julian and Nadia “chose to forget” and I bet Asra and Muriel remembered everything... but how about the apprentice? And where does Valerius fit in? I have my own theories too, but I’ll discuss them in another post since this post is getting longer than I expected haha.
Again these are just some theories and hullabaloos that have plagued my mind ever since. Feel free to add your thoughts on this~ I may or may not have articulated this properly tho haha but I tried my best to explain each point.