Welcome Back Ladies, Gentlemen, Cryptids and Creatures, to Lux's Tarot Deck of Victors
Back by popular demand, I have for you a repost of my original essay, as well as a bonus new Wild Life Victor for your enjoyment. Please be aware that that does mean there are spoilers for the Wild Life finale below, so if you're not caught up, please come back after witnessing the epic conclusion.
Again, this post operates under the assumption that ZombieCleo is a Victor. Real Life is a Real Life Series, and anyone who disagrees can argue with the wall.
Now, I see your celestial motifs. I really do. And while I cannot argue that they definitely fit in with the first three Victors, I feel as if the other four are far more grounded in their world or in reality to represent space. This is not to say I'm a planet-theme hater. I have my own headcanons and feelings about those, and oftentimes I use them to inform my decisions on the tarot cards below. However, I see the Victors as a collection. I mean, we as Watchers assigning them roles are quite literally doing just that. And while planets do come in a set, they aren't quite a collection in the same way a deck of cards would be.
Also, the planets start to run out much sooner than a deck of cards would, even if it's just the Major Arcana we're talking about here.
Without further ado, let's get into the Victors. Below, they'll be organized in chronological order of win, not number in the tarot deck. Additionally, the meanings I'll be using to determine my roles come from a mix of my three personal decks and the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, so if yours has a different meaning, feel free to share why you agree or disagree based on that.
Beyond the obvious desert motifs (a whole extra post in and of itself), the Sun is representative of not only Grian's gameplay, but also how the Watchers (those collecting this deck) feel about him. Grian is one of them, so he naturally starts out in their good graces, with a greater level of respect.
Rider-Waite-Smith defines the card as one of success. Of course the Watchers will gloat when their baby wins. Even if he wasn't meant to, it did inevitably mean that throughout his game, Grian was inarguably one of the largest sources of negative emotions, second only to the Red Army. Again. Extra post on its own. When he won, it saved anyone the satisfaction that might negate their negativity, alongside the delicious outpouring of grief that was the final duel of Third Life.
Reversed, the Sun is a card of depression. As I just touched on, one of the most defining moments of Grian's game was his final victory. When the ending came down to himself or his greatest ally, he went about it in the way that caused probably the most pain to both parties involved. It pushed him to the very brink, ending in him defining his own ending just moments after winning.
Even ignoring the starborne origins and headcanons, as well as the crown of stars included in his skin (Void below, these posts write themselves) this one looks like a super simple explanation, but actually requires me pointing out something that may not be obvious to some Watchers: Scott, in every game and Iteration has made it a point to rebel against the rules in whatever way he can. I could go into full detail, but that's a lot of words and I don't need anyone to get bored. (Void, this series and side tangents that require other posts)
In third life, a game about death and destruction, and the originator of factions, Scott took a very different route: he got married and built a house in a flower field. When grief finally found him, he refused to give the Watchers any satisfaction, literally crystalizing his grief into a part of his character design (and one that would remain for two to three more seasons, depending on your thoughts on the coral pieces). In Last Life, he is the singular person in all five seasons (technically two, but shhh this is more dramatic) to withstand the Boogeyman curse, something the Watchers installed purposefully to make people kill allies. Double Life, obviously, as Scott rejecting the soulmate the Watchers gave him. Limited life, in which kills gave more time, Scott did not die a single time without giving life freely, either to an ally or a temporary ally.
That got long. Anyways. Scott's game has always been one of hope, spreading positivity and refusing to be pushed around by the Watchers. And that's exactly what the Star means. Upright, this is a card about hope and perseverence, pushing through challenges, which is exactly what Scott does. He refuses to let the Watchers' actions upset him and continues to play the game for his friends and for the future and nothing else.
Even reversed, it still fits. Reversed, the Star means loss or abandonment. I've already used up too much time on Scott here, so I'll let you pick your favorite instance of that.
This one is far and away the easiest. Like the previous two Victors, Pearl's story connected her with her symbol even before she won. But blood moons and wolf packs aside (as that's a whole different post for a whole different day) when you take a look at the definitions provided, it becomes even clearer.
The Moon is a card of transformation and change, as well as revealing one's inner self. Rider-Waite-Smith attributes hidden enemies, darkness, and terror with The Moon. While I'll happily analyze every single one of Pearl's actions as the Scarlet Pearl, I think this one is plenty self explanatory. After her rejection early on in the game, she immediately isolates herself and latches onto the night motifs, leaning in to what everyone expects her to be.
The reversed meanings also explain Pearl's arc in Double Life perfectly: confusion, mixed messages, and disbelief. This perfectly encapsulates Pearl's feelings at the very beginning of the game via her rejection by Scott and subsequent abandonment by Martyn in an attempt to get back into Cleo's good graces. Her instinctual reaction is one of shock, not understanding why Scott would choose to pick a soulmate when she was right in front of him.
One of my favorite cards, the Tower is instantly recognizable. While most of my analyses aren't about how the card looks, I feel like it's important to share this time around. The most common image consists of a tower and one or both of two elements: lightning, and people falling. As a card, it represents sudden change, destruction, and chaos.
If anyone here is not yet convinced that I'm correct, please go rewatch Martyn's last LimLife episode, then come back and argue.
You're back? Great. We agree? No? Fine, I'll explain.
This fixates mainly on his winning game, but I'll touch on the rest of his games as well. LimLife ended with a huge betrayal on Martyn's part, one characterized by being so insanely sudden. (Of course it's the Watchers meddling. But the Tower isn't always about your own choices being your downfall.) He quite literally snapped as if hit by lightning (see description of the card), and this spells the beginning of the end for him.
Similarly, in all of his other games, Martyn finds himself with one pivotal moment that spells his downfall. The Red King, Betrayal at the Southlands (and honestly his worst move in DL was abandoning Pearl to try and beg for Cleo's forgiveness).
Funny enough, the reversed meaning of this card is almost a perfect match. I don't think this needs too much more explaining.
I adore Scar in these games. Every single season seems absolutely plagued by chaos. The worst season, obviously, was the one in which he gained his crown. Poor guy was just trying to make friends, and it seemed like every new secret was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
The Wheel is just what it sounds like: it's the card of luck, destiny, and fate. I won't add a new paragraph for the reversed meaning here either, as it means the exact same thing as upright, but with negative connotations in the form of bad luck and misfortune.
Scar is plagued by the whims of luck left and right. It seems like, more than any other player, Scar is unable (whether by others, fate, Watchers, what have you) to take full control of his own story and take actions that he wants to take, instead limited to where the current takes him.
But in the end, that chaos is what gives him his win. The lack of alliances and freedom that the game forced on him was what eventually lead him to be unmoored and able to volley his pain wherever he wanted, leading to a mostly painless win.
A little on the nose, I know, but which of these choices aren't? For a series entirely based on improv, there are a stupid amount of coincidences present.
Now, I know this is far and away the shortest series, so I'm going to analyse Cleo as a player across all of her seasons, not just her winning game. Sorry Real Life. You should have been longer.
While the meaning of the Death card may seem obvious, it's twofold in actuality. In some historical decks, even, the card is instead named Rebirth. I know how ironic that is that the zombie is the one who stands for death and rebirth, but again. Blame the stupid narrative, not the poor me trying to make sense of it.
In what my lovely mutual Honor called "phoenix behavior", I'm going to focus specifically on her deaths and rebirths, specifically BigB's betrayal in LastLife. Cleo takes her death hard, as anyone might. But her rebirth comes with change. The minute she respawns, it's with a different understanding of the world around her. She immediately embraces the change that has been given to her, burning down the Fairy Fort and ditching her alliance for a new one.
The reverse captures Cleo as a character over her seasons better than anyone on this list. While the upright meaning of the card is change, reversed, it signifies stagnancy, obsession, and immobility. This can be seen almost perfectly with her thoughts on alliances. Scott remains forever in her good books, even over the course of multiple seasons, simply because he has never wronged her. Even when they aren't direct allies,she still cooperates with him whenever, simply because she retains her previous feelings about him. The same can be said for BigB, but in the opposite direction. From the moment of the betrayal onwards, she refuses to trust him, going so far as to warn Pearl away from allying with him in LimLife.
Now here comes the new portion of this post. As a longtime Joel Smallishbeans enjoyer and watcher who has been rooting for his win for multiple seasons, I have to say that this was the best possible season for him to win. You mean the Wild Card himself wins Wild Life? Inconceivable.
Now, midway through drafting this post, a lovely mutual of mine sent me This lovely post by @ettle, which absolutely captures all of my thoughts and feelings about Joel as a Victor, but in a visual format. Please please please go check that post out, as it's absolutely gorgeous.
The Chariot is described by Rider-Waite-Smith as a triumphant feeling of freedom, victory, and success. Upright, it's also the card of confidence and progress. If anything describes Joel's confidently cocky attitude in one small form, it would be this card.
I want to give a little shout out to Joel being the last Green, the last Yellow, and the last Red this season. The Chariot, often depicted with a rider holding tight to the reins, is about being in control of one's own destiny, and if that's not what the level of control that being the last of every color shows, I don't know what it.
Now, the reversed meaning of this card is pretty self-explanatory, but I want to go into it anyway. There are two, but only one specifically that I'm going to talk about. That is the loss of control that comes with power. I think this perfectly captures the reason that it's taken seven seasons for Joel to finally win his crown. He's a fantastic pvper, always has strong allies, and could make it to the end if he didn't lose his cool. But that's exactly what we saw in past seasons: the rush of power, red madness, whatever you want to call it, getting to Joel, and he goes insane with chaos at the very end. This season, the first season we saw him temper that want for chaos and take control of it, is also the first season he made it to the final four/five/whatever. Coincidence? Definitely not.
But Lux! you shout, throwing your complimentary bucket of popcorn at me. Jimmy isn't a Victor! He's the exact opposite!
That's why he's so soggy and why he goes on this list. You wanna argue that he doesn't have the same lore impact as a Victor? Too bad. Can't hear you. Jimmy gets his own card.
Initially, I was kinda sad that I already used the Tower, because that's the portent of doom and gloom or whatever, perfect for a canary. But then I spied an even better, even more Jimmy card.
The Hanged Man is the card of sacrifice. While I could go on a whole rant about the Fool's journey and how it is represented in the Life Series, that is Extra Tumblr Post Number IDK Anymore. Instead, today I'm going to stick to the basics. To specify sacrifice, the card doesn't just mean giving up. It signifies self sacrifice specifically. And what is Jimmy if not a semi-willing first sacrifice to get the chaos rolling?
How many times has he gone out to stop his friends from being the one who has to herald the change? The canary knows that he will sing the final notes, but so long as he can ensure the miners don't have to, he will descend once more.
Is the Canary Curse broken, as of Wild Life? This may be a hot take, but I don't think so. Nowhere in the curse is there a stipulation that Jimmy is the first one out. Every version I've seen only says that the Canary's death signals the break of chaos that immediately follows. And I would like to argue that this fact remains true no matter where Jimmy has placed recently. His death is always the catalyst for the server to explode into what often is its final chaos, and thus the Canary retains his role, whether he wants to or not.
One of these days I might just have to assign the whole cast to their own tarot cards. Maybe I'm waiting for a certain someone to join (Who, I'll never tell), or maybe I just have to see a win in order to feel confident in my analysis. That's for me to know and you to wonder. Thank you to everyone who reached out to ask my thoughts on this, and here's your gift for your patience! I'll see you all next season!
