#analysis and speculation

I think we all know Okouchi harks to both Utena and The Tempest with the writing, but an influence that's underexplored is Norse myth. The following will be a quick mention and breakdown of these references, starting from the blatant to obscure.

Fólkvangr

Show: Hidden laboratory inside an asteroid. Under the control of the Vanadis institute and where the bloody events of the prologue occur.

Norse: Field ruled over by the goddess Freyja where half of those that die in combat go upon death, whilst the other half go to Odin in Valhalla.

Vanadis

Show: The institute which pioneered the GUND-format and gundams. They were disbanded and violently stopped in their medical and military operations.

Norse: Also known as Freyja, Vanadis is a goddess of war, fertility, and witchcraft/magic. She has dominion over Fólkvangr.

Gundams Lfrith Ur and Thorn

Show: Gundams piloted by the witches from Earth; Sophie and Norea. Sophie pilots Ur while Norea pilots Thorn.

Norse: Ūr or Uruz is a rune meaning the following-

It governs shaping and forcing fortunate circumstances creatively through will and inspiration, self-healing and maintenance of good mental and physical health, assertion of home ground, personal space, independence and freedom, strength and tenacity, courage, persistence against all odds. Uruz is a symbol of the wild bovine, a reminder that cattle were once wild creatures. Uruz represents young warriors. https://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/uruz

Thorn or Thurisaz-

It governs destruction of enemies, curses binds and fetters, awakening the will to action, breaking resistance of blockages in body, mind and spirit, Increased potency and prowess in romantic relationships, and understanding of the division and separation of all things. Thurisaz to be described as a thorn that is most sharp, a grim and evil thing to take grip on or touch. Thurisaz is also a fertility rune in the sense that it breaks down the barren and hard, rocky realms into workable soil as to bring fruitfulness to crops and wombs. https://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/thurisaz

These are just the ones I caught so if you see another, feel free to comment! The next will just be speculation based on my own knowledge.

Yggdrasil and Odin

It occurs to me as I drink in this image composition that it looks similar to Yggdrasil, or the world tree in Norse myth. Aerial forms the trunk/branches while the people are its leaves. Considering all the norse references thus far, it feels intentional. And I fully believe it is when you spot Miorine falling towards the base.

Her fall to the base of the 'world tree' is relevant because of this image. In Norse mythology, Odin has one eye because he sacrificed it to the Mimisbrunnr (Mimir's well located beneath Yggdrasil) in exchange for a drink of the well's water. It grants Odin wisdom and insight. It wouldn't surprise me if Mio is forced to make a similar trade during S2, either to solve a problem or make an escape. (from QZ maybe?)

The Thief is the Active Stealing Class. They steal for themselves, in contrast to their counterpart, the Rogue, who steals for others.

Our most known example is Vriska Serket, a Thief of Light. A background example would be the Condesce or Meenah Peixes, who is a Thief of Life.

Thieving in Homestuck's case of mixing narration and video game logic, means taking something from your target or adversary, and enforcing yourself with it. Mostly, this is in regards specifically to the aspect of the Thief, but valuables are always a constant. (A thief, no matter the aspect, will not say no to loot and treasure. )

An example of how a thief operates can be seen with Meenah, as her many selves serve as the prime example, and her aspect is less esoteric than Vriska's.

... Meenah Steals Life. This comes to be:

Literally stealing your life (Health), as in killing you. As a thief, however, Life (Health) can be used to reinforce herself. This means, in a sense, she can vampirically take your health.

Stealing your Life (Wealth), as in robbing you of a desirable lifestyle. She was Empress of the Troll Empire, and enforced the caste system that left thousands to millions enslaved, abused and fearing execution or just executed.

Stealing your Life (Natural Abilities), by the end of HOmestuck, the Condesce had taken on the various natural abilities of all trolls. In her case, as a thief, this was probably very literally.

Stealing your Life (Growth / Experience), her method of control over Jane Crocker, robbed Jane of experiences and healthy growth. Sometimes, with literal mind control.

There is, however, an additional definition to being a Thief. It ultimately lies underneath their Stealing tendencies.

And that is "Force".

In truth, Force can also be applied to the Thief's contrasting mirror classes, Page / Knight. So in this sense, Thief / Rogue and Page / Knight fall under "The Force Classes".

When Meenah steals Life, she is acting as the Force of LIfe for Trolls. (She isn't creating Trolls, mind, that lies with the Mothergrub), but she is actively directing how Life works for Trolls.

( This contrasts with her Post-Scratch counterpart, Feferi, who seeks to Change Life--mostly hers, but in addition to others as well. )

When Vriska steals light, she is stealing Meaning, Consciousness, and Symbolism. She acts as the Prime Force of Light, actively meddling in the aspect and its power over others.

As an acting Thief, the "Apprentice of a Thief", John Egbert stole Breath--Plot, Motion, Action, Freedom. Specifically, he stole Caliborn's (By beating the shit outta him), taking Caliborn's plot of Homestuck and running with it. John's retcon abilities, which heavily benefited his allying thieves and rogues, Literally Steal the Plot by Changing It. He is the ultimate proof of success when it comes to Role-Playing a different Class (In his case, The Thief.)

Welcome to the Star Trek: Picard Season 2 Extrailervaganza! I.e. your humble host has had a bit of fun over-analyzing the trailers for this show (because what else are you going to do if you’re under the weather?).

This is not strictly mapping, though some observations about La Sirena and her fate in season 2 are included in parts of this endeavour. Still, I hope some of you will have some use for any of these posts.

I am going to add the links to these sections as I post them, and I might add additional bits to this masterpost as my analysis continues. As we all know, tumblr doesn’t update reblogged posts if the original is edited. So, if you see this in a reblog, it might be worth checking out the original post (by clicking on my blog name (not icon) at the very top of this post) and see if anything has been added.

Season 2 Extrailervaganza Masterpost

Shot-by-shot transcriptions and screenshots of the six trailers released before 22.02.’22

Trailer 0 (First Teaser, Released First Contact Day, April ‘21)

Trailer 1 (Second Teaser, Released June ‘21)

Trailer 2 pt 1, pt 2 (First Full Trailer, Released Star Trek Day, September ‘21)

Trailer 3 pt 1, pt 2 (Second Full Trailer, Released January ‘22)

Trailer 4 (Third Teaser, released on Twitter and then deleted again January ‘22)

Trailer 5 (Fourth Teaser, released and then deleted again, February ‘22, officially released 3 March ‘33)

Trailer 6 (Fifth Teaser, released at the end of ep 1) [Coming Soon]

Links to other Promotional Material (but only a few because there is A Lot)

Detailed introduction to season aired on the Ready Room

In the Tempest, there is a character called Caliban. If you've seen episode 21 then this will sound familiar to you. We're told Guston and Belmeria need Suletta to pilot this monstrous gundam and it's without a permet filter. A true cannibal. Dire stuff, and not what we want for Suletta.

Yet I'm not entirely sure she will. Though she has some characteristics of Caliban, bound in servitude to Prospero, he's a symbol of impotent wrath beneath a slaver's chains, the injustice of colonialism, and failed revolution.

He loathes Prospero and is routinely tortured by the man's magic. Yet Suletta, even while outcast by her family, never succumbs to anger. Hers is a heart filled with love even as her Miranda (Eri) and master forsake her.

Caliban by contrast is unable to forgive Prospero for his misdeeds and scorned by Miranda's harsh treatment of him after her rejection. You can interpret that his love was true and he did not intend rape, but his affection for both Miranda and Prospero has soured into hatred.

It's a bit ill-fitting to place Suletta in the Caliban machine as a monstrous gundam capable of devouring its pilot. But then if it's not her, who else?

The Tempest describes Caliban as the son of a witch whom Prospero took as his servant. 'Hag-born, not honour'd with a human shape'

Elan 5, like Suletta, is the unnatural progeny of a 'witch', in this case Belmeria. And also subject to the injustices of Peil, his Prospero. He rankles beneath his fetters and wants more than anything to gain freedom. We're told Peil steals orphans to be used as research, the effects of space colonialism. He's the closest to a true Caliban this show has.

And like Suletta. he was rejected by Miranda. Only his was an attempted violation. It's no coincidence as I see it that 5lan aggressively harasses Suletta either. They are specifically invoking the Caliban parallel. And it's the same for his sympathetic moments

5lan wants freedom from his chains, to live freely without sacrificing himself for a corporation's whims. He's sly and angry but not without cause. And there's a certain weight to how he was forced into servitude wearing another man's face. It's like Suletta, but unlike her he does not serve with love. Only discontent.

As with Caliban, who allies himself with Trinculo and Stephano in the hopes of killing Prospero, I see 5lan doing the same. Him using a brutish path to freedom because it's all he knows and throwing it all on using a gundam, even if it means his death, would be fittng. We know he wants to live but in the wake of Norea's demise I wonder if he's concluded death is inevitable so why not take Peil down with him? This is just speculating on my part, but I did find his change in attitude strange. He's weirdly calm, it reminded me of 4lan. And that's not a good thing. Most tellingly, while Caliban rails against his master, he isn't freed; a message none of us want for Suletta.

I felt like I was onto something in my As Above, So Below post when mentioning the Philosopher's stone. After a bit more research, I'm fairly certain that's the intent

In Alchemy the marriage of the Red King and White Queen is an allegorical union between sulfur (Red King) and mercury (White Queen). Their dissolution and coagulation is a method for gaining the Rebis or Philosopher's stone.

The stages of the union are as follows:

Nigredo, dissolution or blackening. This stage is the complete breakdown and blackening of elements. In Jungian psychology, it signifies a complete beakdown of self/ego under immense despair

Albedo, purifying or whitening. The next stage involves the purging of impurities. The soul is cleansed of its shadow/ego.

Citrinitas, awakening or yellowing. In this intermediary stage the elements are filled with inner solar light. An awakening of self as the final stage nears. (Considering we have a solar ray involved, this feels pointed)

Rubedo, coagulation or reddening. The final stage is unity as two alchemical opposites marry. The Red King and White Queen

Considering the theme of cycles and my analysis on As Above, So Below this isn't the first time a Red King has joined with a White Queen. Notrette and Elnora were the first and spawned both homunculi and a method for eternal life. Their magnum opus

Suletta's position as an amalgamation/twist on Miranda and Caliban is obvious along with Utena. But what are some of the lesser known? She's a character shaped with symbology ranging from norse and greek myth to alchemy. Fenrisulfr, Hercules, Hermes/Mercury, and the Red King.

Fenrir

I've already broken this down a bit in a previous analysis, and in light of the finale, she finally fulfills the Ragnarok prophecy.

The freed wolf who eclipses the 'sun', heralding an end to the Gods(Benerit and SAL)

And her method of devouring Odin Miorine is consuming her in holy matrimony as the new cycle of the world is born.

Hercules

This one might be a surprise, but it's true. Suletta is undeniably coded with Heracles/Hercules symbolism, beginning with his 12 labors. In the very first episode of GWitch, she slew the invincible Nemean Lion and 'skinned' his coat

And her final labor is the subjugation of Cerberus, the multi-headed dog of the underworld.

Take note, before Hercules descends and encounters Cerberus, he's inducted into the cult of Demeter and Persephone. Notrette as Anesidora is revealed to be our Demeter, chthonic goddess of agriculture. And prior to this battle, Suletta speaks with the Persephone of our tale, inducting her within the mysteries.

You can draw other parallels between the various herculean labors and Suletta's duels. Such as the Grassley battles echoing that of the Hydra or Elan/Peil as the man-eating Stymphalian birds.

Suletta's godlike strength suddenly doesn't seem like an accident, does it?

So why was this done, other than for fun symbolism? The answer all boils down to Hermeticism, as it often seems to. Specifically this painting of Hercules, called Allegory of Wisdom and Strength

I'm unsure if it's common to interpret this image as another symbol of As Above, So Below but it's clear to me Okouchi has. We have Hercules focused on earthly matters while the greek personification of wisdom, Sophia, is focused heavenward. The light of enlightenment crowns her brow. Both are in frame and not in conflict; As Above, So Below. Coincidentally (or not) Sophia is one possible ciphered translation for Baphomet; a blatant esoteric symbol of perfect unity.

Mercury/Hermes

This is of course obvious considering its in her name, but there's one mythological parallel I want to highlight. The tale of Persephone/Kore. It was Hermes who descended into the underworld and retrieved the 'defiled' Persephone, escorting her safely above and reuniting her with her mother

Suddenly, Shaddiq's dramatic comment about Miorine's defilement doesn't seem so off-color. They were intentionally harking to Persephone Mio who was taken by Hades, Prospera here.

The Red King

I've already discussed this a bit here, but let's recap. Suletta is derived from Soletta. Her signifying colors are Red and Gold as Holder, both key to the Red King. She was 'eaten' by a lion (aqua regia solution) before being reborn, her metaphorical sun blackened with despair (dissolving).

All of it culminating into a Great Work, banishing gundams, defeating SAL, and saving Eri; her Filius philosophorum (Philosopher's Child) All miracles.

Oh and finally married her White Queen ofc, though their union was cemented with a tomato by then. In GWitch's version of Theogony Hermes wed Persephone, accomplished the 12 herculean labors, created a philosopher's stone, and completed Ragnarok

Hermes Trismegistus is the syncretism of the Greek god Hermes(Roman Mercury) and the Egyptian god Thoth. His name means thrice great, an epithet shared between both figures. Their combined worship was observed in Hermopolis and spawned Hermetic philosophy;  personal ascension from the constraints of physical being.

"As Above, So Below' is paraphrased from a Hermetic text known as the Emerald Tablet and gained great relevance in the occult, astrology, and alchemy-- All domains of Hermes/Mercury

Quod est superius est sicut quod inferius, et quod inferius est sicut quod est superius.

That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above.

"As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth." - Helena Blavatsky

In the occult and witchcraft, it's taken to mean there exists a balance between the cosms. Macrocosm, the universe, and microcosm, the human body. That which happens as above, so it is below. They are one; a perfect union

Symbology

What is happening, has happened, and will happen again. As I've observed in my Cycles of GWitch analysis, this theme is very prevalent. Cycles themselves are a sign of As Above, So Below. The World Serpent and World tree are symbols of this principle, along with the sign for infinity 8, the caduceus, and circles.

One major sign is the Magician from the Rider–Waite tarot deck

The magician is signaling with his hands As Above, So Below and is haloed by the sign for infinity above. A pentagram lies to the left, depicting the tie to the mystic world. It's no accident that we have Prospera referred to as a magician with her gentle words; hinting at her significance through Mercury (god of communication and trickery) and the hermetic principle. She is the Magician. And an argument can be made that Suletta is also a magician (witch) who inadvertently influences rather than manipulates. But that line of thought is for another day

The Sabbatic goat Baphomet is another Symbol of As Above, So Below

They are a sign of a perfect union of opposites; Man/Beast, Female/Male, Dark/Light, etc. All while bearing Mercury's caduceus and mirroring the magician. Note the pentagram and torch pointed to the sky as the Magician does. As Above, So Below. The words on its arms are Solve (dissove) Coagula (coagulate). An alchemical principle that means to create something new, you must dissove what came before. The End must come before the Beginning. The Beginning must come before the End. A connected cycle.

Ragnarok is an obvious use of this concept but it also exists in Greek myth; Cronos who overthrew his father Uranus who was overthrown by his son in return. What has happened will happen again.

Notrette, the Hermetic Alchemist

This is more on the speculation side of things but considering ep23 and soft confirmation she resides in the GUND nexus and even more of a genetic genius than expected; let's assume she's the one who created Suletta, the 12th key.

In Alchemy, there exists something called the philosopher's stone. FMA fans are very familiar but in layman's terms it's the holy grail of alchemy. And one of the boons is the ability to create a clone/homunculus. Considering QZ, the ability to unnaturally extend life is similarly on the nose. The 12 keys of Basil Valentine is an alchemical text by which you can create the philosopher's stone

This is the image for the twelth and final step. Twelfth Key. Inside a laboratory an alchemist stands with tongs in his left hand, while with his right he points to a triangular crucible on a bench behind him, with two rose-like flowers growing out of it and the symbol of Mercury above it. On the left is a barrel-like furnace from the top of which flames emerge. On the right a lion devours a snake. Through an open window behind, the Sun and Moon are seen.

Mercury's symbol and 12th key are undeniably Suletta but the Snake and Lion are Shaddiq and Guel. The Moon is Nott (Notrette) and the Sun is her child Dagr (Miorine)

We are meant to associate both Notrette and Prospera as Hermetic Alchemists, and the pursuit of their craft has led to the events of GWitch and the perpetuation of numerous cycles. As Above, So Below.

I do find it intriguing that the stone is said to be not one, but two. A red stone and a white stone. It's not hard to equate our girls to both. After all, they too are a perfect union of opposites

This notion has been brewing in my head since I wrote my analysis on GWitch's Cinematic Rhythm. With the second cour nearly finished I can confidently say my suspicions were correct.