A theory on the border.
Yee, there be spoilers up until the latest chapter. We've got a lot of thoughts about this story, it's so good.
So, like, what is the border? is it an extra dimensional space? a separating void? is it natural? man made? I have a theory that ties it all together.
The border is man made, made to prevent the people of the sphere and the ground from causing another catastrophe. I believe that the creation of the border was an intentional act by one Canis Surebrec and that it's creation is both the reason for his death and the act of burying humanity that he discusses in his will.
We know that typically, anybody without a valid means of protection dies when crossing the border, up or down. But how? We think the border strips away anima, but also it strips away emotion and purpose, leaving the victim empty of anima and potentially brain dead.
We believe we see this happen with Noerde. For her, the world goes black and white and she is shown losing grip of her comb before being.. smudged out of existence?
But.. when we next see her, or at least what we assume to be her corpse, she is gripping her comb. We believe that the this is our way as the audience of seeing her most precious thing, her vital instrument and the bond it carries, is taken from her, not physically, but mentally or spiritually.
but what else does the border do? well, i think it prevents givers in the sphere, and propagates givers on the ground. Note how the clouds on the sphere side are always portrayed as black, while the clouds of the ground emit light, what if the border absorbs the anima of the sphere and distributes it onto the ground.
But would this mean the border is responsible for the trash beasts? Not necessarily. I think that perhaps trash beasts came before the sphere and the border. I think people seeking to escape an earth of monsters, build a ship powered by some limitless source of anima akin to the watchman series.
I believe that when the sphere launched, it exacerbated the problem on the ground dramatically, trash beast populations exploded while giver populations remained relatively stagnant. Canis couldn't stop the sphere, but with his act of creating the border, he could "bury" humanity, preventing more givers on the sphere, while simultaneously providing humanity on the ground with a line of defense.
the separation of the two worlds serves a twofold purpose, it prevents the ground from creating another sphere, as there is now no means to flee upwards, and it prevents the sphere from further exploiting the ground.
that's our theory on the border, what other keys exist beyond the watchman series? is Arkha Corvus the white crow from Too Lily's story? Will Zakna and Jabber finally kiss? Who can say, but it's neat to think about.
