"While I breathe, I hope."

Seriously like wtf is this‼️‼️

Malevolent's entire premise is based around the idea that the Bible and every other belief system is wrong. Let's state that right away. Technically in the Mythos there is a category called Other Gods that stand out from Outer Gods and Great Old Ones in that it's essentially a category for the Gods of our world to slot into. (Though, fun fact, Shub-Niggurath is also in this category). It's very controversial in the Lovecraft world because it starts to include human morality and mucks up pre-existing canon. I'll go more in depth about that in my breakdowns but for now that's what you need to know.

But even with the existence of this category, the creation myth in canon is Azathoths dream. You can argue that this leaves room for creation myths involving just individual worlds like Earth, but the overall creation of Everything is Azathoth, not God. And beings such as Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth are effectively the software within the computer that allows it to work properly.

Pagan belief systems have Gods for everything. There's the underlying belief that no single deity can do it all, though across history, plenty of rulers would try to collapse polytheism into monotheism, almost always under the image of a male deity. Straight cis men cannot create life and have spent centuries coping with that fact. If you cannot create a life, you control the narrative to still make yourself more important. You created everything. You rule everything. You are better based off of a cosmic roll of the dice.

And baked into this is the idea that humanity is the center of the universe and our actions will be rewarded/punished accordingly. The Mythos directly contradicts this idea by focusing entirely on the idea that we are insignificant. We are a blip on the cosmic timeline and our actions and ideas do not matter on that grand scale. Malevolent then focuses it's premise on the idea that the insignificance doesn't matter, the beauty is in the fact that we exist at all.

This is probably the best and most pragmatic take we can have. How many wars have been started over whos Gods favorite? Catastrophic losses on the global scale over that single idea. Untold atrocities spanning centuries and still happening this second. On the cosmic scale it is nothing. But on our micro scale? Those things matter. And likewise spirituality has its place. It's important that we feel connection to something.

As backwards and terrified of everything that Lovecraft was, at least there was the idea that no single being was responsible for everything. And that despite the idea that there are these incredibly powerful beings that dwarf us and our concerns on every scale, it's still human cultists that start these machinations. Because in the mythos we are insignificant remember? We are not interesting until we do something to become interesting.

I'm honestly surprised there has been no mention of the effect Kayne neglecting his job would have. He is the messenger, after all. Cults to the outer gods don't actually communicate directly with them the majority of the time. They go through him. Kaynes escapades would have a major ripple through those cults. They would be effectively neutered, unable to act and not receiving their messages or boons.

Which brings me to the cults themselves. Cults are a fascinating subject to me. It's human psychology at its most devious. Those that think they are most immune are most susceptible. They prey on your most vulnerable needs and use them to control you.

And to the elephant in the room: The cults in the Mythos are heavily inspired by how Pagan cults have been portrayed throughout modern history. Mysterious rituals and dramatic cloaks. Secret societies. Human sarcrifice. You know the ones. This is actually the thought that set me on this bender in the first place. It's very much worth mentioning that we never actually see the cults in the show ticking any of the boxes that would actually get them labeled as a cult. Well go off of BITE for this since it's the best metric at the moment.

BITE stands for control over Behavior, Information, Thought, and Emotion. Cults in the show are treated more like a secret society based around power or an individuals worship to a questionable power. We haven't really seen anything that fits this. The sacrifices and Larsons control over Addison is probably as close as it gets.

And maybe I'm sensitive to this because I live in an area teeming with Fundamentalist Mormon cults and are allowed to operate freely, but the math isn't mathing.

Cults prey on you by offering you what you lack most. Community, spirituality, family, etc. Then they slowly take away your support system until all you have is them. And ostracize you if you leave, at best. Scientology is notorious for its harassment campaigns. There are so so many established recognized religions that fit this criteria perfectly, and yet are accepted in society. Hell, Westboro Baptist Church is repugnant at best, and the world at large was expected to just take their bullshit.

Malevolent at times feels deeply confused about where it sits here. The show is still soaked in Christian morality, despite Arthur's distaste for it. It's still, at its core, a black and white, right and wrong, good vs evil story. Love and light will save us all. Atonement for sins. The Pagan cults are evil and must be stopped for the well-being of our corrupt world. That's not to say these tropes are inherently bad. But they do at times seem weirdly placed or heavy handed. Hell, Arthur's refusal to die is very Christ like. The introduction of the Manager INSTANTLY had the fandom naming him Abel despite previous rhetoric about 'the names we choose' and him demanding to be called the Manager. With the option to introduce a Christian parallel, that rhetoric was immediately tossed out in favor of fitting him inside a neat little pre-established box.

Let me be frank (don't call me Frank), this is a story of evil Pagan god vs good via a flawed human dying for humanities sins. We're no stranger to this story, especially in the world of the Cthulhu Mythos. And this isn't me bashing Malevolent by the way, I do love this show, but it had to be said. Despite the clear implications of John and Kayne existing, the show is still steeped in those story beats. And I mean. Two biblical names right there.

I haven't even touched on the real world relevance to Paganism and the Mythos. You heard me correctly. There's a solid chance if you go into a Pagan/Occult store, you will find things from the Mythos. Hell I have a Nyarlathotep pendant and when I bought it the blurb focused on the power it has and what working with him would be like. The mythos is taken as truth in some circles. Realistically the Mythos is probably the best example of a Tulpa. We MADE them exist by giving them names and faces and telling their stories. We gave them power by talking about them. And in many circumstances this is what makes a god. They become divine based off of their actions and the faith built around them. They will never die because we tell their stories.

Now

Look at Bill and the Axolotl.

"Dreamscape" "chaos" I KNOW WHAT YOU AREEEE

Not to mention that bro is built like a pyramid and has visited Ancient Egypt according to The Book Of Bill.

And who the hell is the Axolotl to be soooo important.

Guess who.