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WITCH ARMY RANKING SYSTEM IN MOTHERLAND FORT SALEM - AN OVERVIEW

Season 2 of Motherland Fort Salem is over so I decided to make a chart of the Ranking System of the Witch Army after two seasons.

@smallfrost have a post explaining the Ranking System in Motherland Fort Salem back in Season 1 and it is very deep. I use their work as a reference while making mine, adding some new details, perspective and characters.

Check out their post if you want a better understanding on this subject, the link is below.

This season so far has been so absolutely incredible it has made me want to dust off my theorist hat after episode 4 and make a long winded post about all the correlations there seem to be between Raylla/the mycellium and my theories around it. Now keep in mind these are all just personal theories and nothing more, it could all be wrong and honestly, probably will, but I thought it'd be fun either way.

The thing that really made me (and everyone else in the fandom) start theorizing that Scylla might also be connected to the mushroom was probably the scene in episode 3, when Raelle tries to "reason" with the mycelium and ends up remembering that moment with Scylla in the forest.

Of Course, we find out she has that specific vision because the Mycelium for some reason wants that seed, which instantly got me thinking. Earlier in the episode, Raelle comments how Izadora has been making her sing every seed they can find to see if the mushroom will react to it, and then later, after the mushroom colonized her throat (which is so creepy btw), she has this conversation with the unit:

Now, that got me really thinking. Of course the sounds were changed by the mycelium once it entered Raelle's vocal cords but still, when Scylla sang that seed in S1 we were led to believe that it was probably a pretty simple necromancy seed that was taught at Fort Salem, and it could totally still be, but I'd think Izadora (the "Anacostia" of Necros) would've had Raelle try that seed along with other necro seeds when they were "trying every seed" to see if it got a reaction. Or that, idk, someone, might have sang tha particular seed close to the mycelium before since it's literally right there in the middle of the necro building.

Besides, I think it's pretty telling that the mycelium wanted that seed in particular, like maybe it means something to her. And then we got some visuals in the promos that really solidified the "Scylla has something to do with the mushroom" theory.

I mean???? Glowy eyed mushroom girlfriends if I've ever seen any.

Then this. In the first picture we see the spores or whatever smoky substance came out of the Mycelium in episode 3, and then, what seems like the same exact thing going into Scylla's mouth from one of the promos (I'm guessing from episode 5 based on the outfit).

I thought it could also be something spree related before but I think it'd be something totally new since there's been nothing like that in the show besides the mycelium, as far as I know.

Now, the real question is, how would Scylla be related to the Mycelium when she grew up with the Dodgers and was never supposed to be in Fort Salem in the first place? And I've got my own theory on that.

Some people have been saying maybe she was related to Nicte Batan, but I personally don't think Nicte has anything to do with Miss Mycelium. Whatever magic she developed is obviously related to the spree and they probably don't know how to mess with the mushroom since there'd be a more obvious link.

I think maybe it has something to do with the Dodgers, or even with just Scylla's family in particular. Think about it, we've seen how the Tarim chose to stay away from the military to protect this ancient kind of magic they thought would be dangerous in Alder's (or really anyone's) hands, which means they were Dodgers in their own way.

So it's possible that Scylla's family also dodged the military for similar reasons and they might have known things about the mycelium Izadora and the rest of the military doesn't know. Eliot said in interviews that the mycelium covers miles and miles of roots underground, so Scylla's parents could even have been studying it or interacting with it while also being Dodgers.

Maybe they taught her the death cap seed and that is why Izadora didn't seem to know it. Also, madam mushroom is like a goddess to necros according to Eliot so I think it makes sense they'd be protective over it.

@queerscifinerd snatched this question up. Here are her thoughts:

"Alright so here’s my theory about male witches at war college (Disclaimer: I am talking about biological sex/AFAB & AMAB in my entire comment here, NOT gender!):

In an interview last year Eliot mentioned that male witches are apparently born much less than female witches (so instead of a male:female ratio of biological sex of about 50:50 as normal humans have, witches maybe have a ratio of e.g. 80:20 or even less than that! (He doesn't actually mention the ratio, just that male witches are very rare). This theory is also supported by the ratio of attendance at Libba’s funeral (A LOT less male witches there than female witches!). 

I think male witches have about as much of a chance as female witches to attend war college based on their numbers (maybe a little less or a little more, because apparently in war college a coven consists of 2 units + 1 male witch + coven leader. But we could still be proven wrong on this, we only have one example so far!). And in war college male witches and female witches go through the same program but everyone also still has their individual tracks as M mentioned in 2x02.

The BIG difference is how the rest of the military is treated, i.e. those that don’t make it into war college, i.e. “War Meat”. The female witches get deployed to the front. Male witches on the other hand stay at home to build weapons, get married off (considering there are so few of them, they are probably in high demand of hand fasting, I mean they have freaking Pokémon cards of them), take care of the kids, etc. That’s why their basic training looks so different. 

I’m guessing after war college male witches still do different things than female witches, i.e. they don’t get deployed to the front (Eliot mentioned in the same interview that male witches have been removed from the front for about 100 years now!), so they probably stay in administrative positions at home. This is very possible since in war college everyone is on a different track. So I’m guessing Gregorio is on a track specific for male witches.

So that’s my guess based on what we have so far. I could be proven completely wrong."

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