#clique lore

Magnolia trees are most familiar to me in the pink form, but apparently there's another variety that have white flowers with yellow in the center. I don't know about you but the latter reminds me of a torch...

There is a plethora of symbolism that is associated with magnolias, some of which doesn't seem relevant to me, but one relevant thing they symbolize is resilience. If anyone is resilient, it's Torch. ("And we'll try again. Always.")

Allegedly, the first time Clancy and Torch meet (at least that we see) is in Jumpsuit:

|| "Jumpsuit" MV

Clancy's original choice is to surrender to Nico immediately, despite his brief moment of rebellion where he runs away, resulting in him being dragged back to Dema. In a way, this was letting Torchbearer down easy. Clancy did try, even though he failed in the end.

However, we don't see them literally meet until Nico and the Niners:

|| "Nico and the Niners" MV

They do a handshake, which insinuates they have literally met at least once before, which could mean we aren't shown their true first meeting (since Jumpsuit), OR, Josh/Torch and Tyler/Clancy had history together in Dema prior to confirmed lore (which is my personal headcanon, but I'll leave it open to interpretation).

The second option doesn't make as much sense with "you let me down easy," though, so I'm considering Torchbearer and Clancy's first meeting to be during Jumpsuit.

I think the "we" applies both to the Banditos, eight of whom have become Bishops...

... as well as Clancy and Torchbearer. They have also been split apart..... Clancy is once again left in Dema, and Torch went back to Trench.

|| "City Walls" MV

Despite Torchbearer's alleged disappointment in the City Walls MV, it seems Clancy's transition to Nova Bishop did something to change things. With the reference to things being different since the tower then the specification that the change in the winds is everything slowly growing more alive --

-- I believe that this decision of Clancy's positively affected the Bandito cause. If Bishops mean death, then Trench and the Banditos mean life. I think Nova Bishop and the ex-bandito Bishops have been changing things in Dema that allowed life all over Trench to begin to prosper.

I find it interesting the place they will meet is referred to as "East," capital E, no article (not "the east"). I wonder if there is a specific part of Trench, beyond just the eastward direction, that the Banditos call East-- maybe the Bandito camp? OR--

|| "The Outside" MV / Map of Trench / "Navigating" MV

-- is this referring to Volsøy, east of Dema and Trench? It's a great place to look across the Paladin Strait and see both the lights of Dema OR the lights of Bandito torches coming to the rescue OR the lights (stars) in the night sky (hence the astrological references).

|| "Nico and the Niners" MV / "Navigating" MV

My initial impression of this one was that these were meaningless names, but then Cass (oh1theseus) suggested that they are the two kids from Nico and the Niners who (allegedly) reappear in Navigating. I like this idea: correct me if I'm wrong, but other than the Bandito who talks to Torchbearer at the end of City Walls, they are the only characters the camera focuses on to this extent.

The mention of faith is fascinating to me. Using the specifically the word "faith" to denote hope in a message to a newly-ordained religious leader?

Putting this first to contextualize the closing of the letter:

|| "I Am Torchbearer" video

As has been established, "Oriens" is the Latin word for "the East," so obviously denotes something Bandito-related. Given that I already believe "Lyra" is Nova, the only Bandito I believe would be contacting him is the leader, Torchbearer. Besides, Torch, or "Oriens," represents the Banditos and therefore (the) East. It works out perfectly.

These next few will be a bit of a stretch, but let me know if you think there's credit to it:

"The praetorian prefect was the second most powerful man in the East, after the Emperor, in essence serving as his first minister."

If you think of Nova as the Emperor, and Torch as the praetorian prefect serving as the Emperor's first minister, the dynamic of Torch prioritizing Clancy over pretty much everything starts to fall into place. A bishop and a bandito... Then, the "Morning Star" links to the article on the planet Venus:

Who is Torch's brightest star? Clancy, now known as Nova (another stellar name).

Back to our usual programming:

Despite the confidence in closing the letter with "In victory," he still only says "Will you join us?" Torch isn't sure Nova is committed, or has even thought about leaving Dema. He has only hope. The whole letter reads like he's trying to persuade Nova of the merits of joining back with him and the Banditos again.

This poses another question: why are they using code names if things are getting better?

I think there are other Banditos with Torch who don't approve of his contacting Nova. After all, he became a Bishop, a betrayal to the Bandito cause.

Or, maybe the Banditos-turned-Bishops disapprove of Nova getting contacted by Torch. After all, they're liking the power. Why would they try to dismantle the system now that they're on top?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments or reblogs, I'm curious to see others' interpretations. I've been writing this post for so damn long I don't know what other people have been saying LOL.