Hermit horror week day 7: from beyond

screenshot below cut

hey! hi! welcome to my post. i will share with you what has been unable to leave my mind for the past week

you might have noticed this part in X's ep 1010! It is probably the cutscene with the least amount of lore in it, it's just EX relaxing and watching TV with other animations th3pooka (the person who animates these new EX cutscenes!) has done. The 2nd show shown is from their animation of Dragon Bro's, but the 1st and 3rd are from a 20 minute animation by them called Evil's Fault. When watching the 3rd clip, EX exclaims, "Oh! Jeff the Minion! Haven't seen that guy in some time." implying that EX remembers events that only happened in Evil's Fault, and that Evil's Fault, animated by th3pooka, IS canon to the s8 EX plot going on.

If you think that that's flimsy to say that the animation is canon I understand, but also consider that this is seemingly the only point of this cutscene: just to show that 1. EX is a tad depressed 2. They remember Jeff the Minion (while 2 scenes of Evil's Fault are played.) Episode 1010 was also uploaded on the 2 year anniversary of Evil's Fault. (Jun 19th)

Evil's Fault also includes voice acting (and music!) from other hermits, and X shouted it out when it came out and linked to it in his HC episode at the time. I think it's fair to say that Evil's Fault, and it's 3 prequels (the CarnEVIL trilogy) are canon to X's s8.

So! What is in Evil's Fault?

oh boy . there is a lot in Evil's Fault. if you are an ex enjoyer and haven't watched it yet, like i had. uh. its probably best to just watch it (tw, it said at the end its dedicated to people struggling with feelings of 'Hate, Addiction, and Doubt', and i think if you are sensitive to seeing violent internal intrusive thoughts, take caution)

So, in Evil's Fault we learn that since at least ep 500, EX has been 'working with' a mythical being named Jeff the Minion. (named "Jeff the Nightmare" in the Evil's Faults credits since he's not Dionyisus's minion anymore since Pungence freed him (listen it's a long story) but I'm gonna refer to him as Jeff the Minion for this post) If you don't know who Jeff the Minion is, like 99% of people on earth, HERE is a post by hermette-historian, and another by arandomshine. In short, they are a Season 1 Pungence and Skyzm lore character that appeared in. One episode. (and other th3pooka animations)

Jeff the Minion is also the evil voice that EX was talking to in ep 666 (that appeared as a wither skull), and likely the supplier of the Withermen in ep 500 (Jeff himself is associated with wither skeleton skulls, and we see in Evil's Fault that he has a lot of smaller minions that do his bidding. These were likely lent to EX as the Withermen)

Some time after episode 500, (while EX is stuck at the bottom of the pit in the s4 world), EX falls asleep and dreams of their life, before Jeff the Minion intercepts the dream. Jeff the Minion places this glowing wither skull into EX's head, saying that he'll always be there inside EX's mind, no matter how hard they try to wake up.

Then in the segment titled "Waking world?" we see EX, still stuck in the pit in the s4 world, trying to stay awake from episode 569-574. There is one scene in particular in this segment that I didn't understand watching the first time, that I think is very important.

On the wall, we see messages that EX scribbled in lava to remind themselves. They turn to obsidian as time passes, and by the end the pit is a Collage of desperate messages from EX to themselves to STAY AWAKE. But what I think is interesting is the message to EX's left here. "$ 1-Emerald Golden Chips <AND> Silver Fish"

It starts as just the chips thing (chips as in Bri'ish way of saying fries) and then they add the Silverfish when they catch one, but what does this message mean? They just caught this food for themselves, what does it being an emerald mean?

This seems to be EX making a shop. Saying that it's 1 Emerald to pay for their food. (the use of Emeralds is interesting too, why not 1 Diamond? Using Unusual Currency huh ex). Why would EX be making a shop, stranded at the bottom of a lava pit??

Now I want to move from Evil's Fault, and take a look at Jeff the Minion's original episode, and King Midas's Curse within it.

In Pungence's S1 Ep 12, he and skyzm are given a book with a message by a creature named Jeff the Minion. They own a shop filled with King Midas's Treasures, (just gold gear) sold at Ludicrious prices, and Jeff says that they need to toss them back into the Pactolus River to get rid of the curse (which has been passed down onto them). This is really a ploy from Jeff, because if the golden items and the 'successor of the gold curse' (Pungence) are under Jeff's control, he can use them to break free of Dionysius (who he is in debt too because he got drunk and ate a whole bag of Ritz Crackers) and return to his former powerful state. (Jeff the Nightmare). The curse was also originally given to King Midas by Dionysus.

Pungence and Skyzm laugh in his face and do not, in fact, do that. Jeff isn't seen again until CarnEVIL 2, Dream No More.

Pungence tries to attack Jeff (in the body of/masquerading as Evil GenerikB? idk), but uses King Midas's sword, releasing Jeff's full power as he has the successor of the gold curse and the King's items. Jeff's full power is shown briefly, before they defeat him and seal him in ice until Pixelated Heart.

A lot happens in Pixelated Heart, but the sum of it is that all the hermits use the power of love (and remembering their loved ones who Aren't there) to fight Jeff the Nightmare. Xisuma, along Pooka and GenerikB are the one's leading the charge, and Xisuma is the one who shoots Jeff's eye. They also say that all of those Little Jeff's (called 'Trapped Hearts' in Evil's Faults credits) are dead/inactive hermits, corrupted, so that's pretty fucked up if true!

Here is my full interpretation of when things happen up until s8!

What we know is that Jeff the Nightmare, who was a voice in EX's head from at least 500-666 (where he's then banished from EX's head by the power of EX and X's bond, put into X's hand by EX, (which is then why EX goes Oh Im Good Now! at the end of ep666. Jeff is gone from their mind)), and is then gone until ep 800.

I personally think that since it was X and EX's bond that drove Jeff away in the first place (the redstone represents Bonds with other people, you see that in Pixelated Heart), as X's trust in EX dwindled, Jeff was able to creep back into their mind and convince EX that they were evil and always were going to be, partially because that's what X was thinking.

Then, EX tries to break free and make a final stand, with Wormman and Xisuma (the only two people who. care about them) coming to help, giving Purposeful parallels to the big power of love fight scene in Pixelated Heart, but if its from Xisuma not actually trusting EX deep down, or just from the fact that there are only 2 of them vs the like 100 that fought in PH, Evil Xisuma loses their last fight, at the end of Evil's Fault. (see the emerald that flies Straight to their face)

So. At the end of Evil's Fault, EX falls under Jeff's control again.

Now onto S8.

First off, EX is a lot.. smarter, and subtler this season. This really doesn't seem their style, but would make sense if someone is trying to keep a low profile here, and manipulate someone else into doing their bidding and building their empire, so they can strike once all of the hermits are under their control. I'm not talking about EX manipulating Xisuma here, I'm talking about Jeff manipulating EX.

The sudden capitalist turn from EX, something they've never cared about before in their life (the only other time they had a shop was in s5, the shop with Wormman, where they literally gave away their knitting patterns and other things for free. it was literally free)... Could be because with Pungence no longer the successor, King Midas's Greed was something that Jeff could pass down to EX, and could be the reason why they are focused on wanting money (if it's not just for general Want of Control, to exploit people, which it could be too)

But now onto the parallel between Jeff's voice in EX's mind in Evil's Fault and the mind control (and i think th3pooka on twitter confirmed it was in fact mind control) that EX did on Xisuma. Both spells involved the persons signature 'thing' (wither skull for Jeff, lightning for EX), colored their color, that then went into the persons head and turned their eyes to that color. It's safe to say that this is likely the same, if not similar spells.

What Jeff's spell did was put his 'everlasting voice' into EX's head. He was able to send messages to EX, seemingly look through their eyes, and compel them to do things. It seems likely that EX now has the same 'backdoor' into X's mind, and if you count the streams as canon, you might even say that clips like these confirm that EX can see through X's eyes, and influence him to say things for them.

I think that the EX heads that EX is giving to the other hermits do a similar thing, give EX that same 'backdoor' into their minds if they're wearing them. The episode is called 'influencing the hermits' and EX seems VERY excited and Evil when the hermits put on the heads.

Jeff wants to destroy the Hermitcraft server, and has a motive to go after Xisuma and Evil Xisuma specifically. EX seems to be being used because they can access the psychical world, and Jeff can't, and their bonds with others are weak enough that Jeff can put the doubt and hate into their mind enough to control them (Maybe the reason that Jeff can't influence other hermits Directly yet is because their bonds with eachother are too strong, and wards him away)

Another thing I want to mention is EX, both in the "Waking World?" section of Evil's Fault and in 1010, sitting watching TV and being surrounded by food, and empty potion bottles. (probably the closest thing to wine in Minecraft, i think that these scenes could be hinting at Dionysius/Midas Curse control. the cookies in 1010 also are the closest thing in Minecraft to Ritz Crackers I can think of).

In short (and this post has not been short. dear god i am sorry that this post has not been short but i think i had to explain all this because nobody knows who the hell jeff the minion isJNKBHXC), I think it's pretty much confirmed that EX is working (unwillingly) with Jeff the Nightmare in s8, has a backdoor into Xisuma's mind, and is trying to influence and get into the minds of the other hermits. (And that the capitalism May be linked to King Midas's curse, which now that Pungence is gone, does not have a 'successor'. but honestly maybe this isnt connected to the midas thing i just wanna be clever with why specifically theyre doing shops and money out of nowhere)

But what makes me say that they're definitely working together with such certainty? Look at this shot from 1013.

Yep! Those eyes aren't EX's. Those are Jeff's eyes in the reflection. EX is certainly under Jeff's control in s8, but where the story ends up going from here we'll have to wait and see.

Here, have some obscure Evil Xisuma lore blame @micer2012 It’s the Dreamer

I’ve watched evils fault so many times this was inevitable.

(PLEASE Don’t repost my works anywhere without explicit permission from me first, thank you. Reblogs are appreciated < 3

Pastelly pallete version that I really like under readmore!

ok first off this is a sequel to this post , i wish i could say "this'll probably not make sense unless you read it" but that implies that the original post makes senseJBKHVCGFXGHDZ.

So! In the past 2 episodes we've had scenes where EX's eyes shift to white and gain a stronger glow, before shifting back. Some people have just said that this is them getting angry/feeling emotional, but I think that if we look at the scenes, ESPECIALLY in 1016, this white glow actually shows when Jeff is slipping things into their mind.

So! In 1016, EX is relaxing (specifically taking a break from their feelings of depression and isolation from being surrounded by useless wealth and craving wealth, but being lonely, unfulfilled, and unsatisfied (heh.Midas Curse EX)) in the Nether, helps their Strider friends back into the lava, and then exclaims "Oh, that's it! That's brilliant! That's genius! I have the answer now! How do we make diamonds? Compassion, kindness, charity!"

Then the background gets blacked out as it zooms in on EX, their eyes pulse white twice, and their tone shifts to sinister as they say "Yes, we must exploit the good will of the hermits.. We must indeed.."

(note how the background gets blacked out)

Before their eyes go white, EX isn't talking about anything nefarious. They're doing a gay little dance, just delicately put the strider back into the lava and referred to it as 'buddy', and said that they'll make diamonds through Compassion, Kindness, and Charity. Before their eyes go white, it doesn't seem like they're talking about the hermits kindness at all, they're talking about how they can make diamonds through Charity and Compassion. "Make Diamonds" is interesting also because that.. isn't EX's goal. That's just a part of their goal to exploit and take advantage of the hermits, saying that they know how to make diamonds through Compassion, Kindness, and Charity, (especially after they were just feeling depressed and worthless about how they have Money and Power, but they still feel empty) is a weird thing to say, when that is Not. Their Plan. at all

So Jeff just nudges them back into the "right" direction.

EX's eyes glow white and they clarify, (as the Nether, the place where they feel safe and friendly, literally falls away behind them), of Course they meant exploiting the HERMITS's compassion kindness and charity. They don't have any of those things, they're evil. Of Course they meant exploiting the hermits, that's their plan, why wouldn't they mean that? Note also how they go from using "I" (I have the answer now!) to "We" when their eyes go white, (though they're kinda just like that sometimes).

It's also important to note that Eyes Glowing A Different Color is quite literally how Jeff (and EX over X's) Control is shown in canon. In Evil's Fault, it's shown that Jeff's "never ending voice in EX's head" manifests as voices whispering to them as their eyes change color.

I want to say something about Jeff's control over EX (and likely EX's over X), Jeff can't force them to do anything. It doesn't just Make Them evil, we see in Evil's Fault that what it does is show EX clips of X not trusting them, and Zloy and Pix saying that they're cringe, while Jeff taunts them about how the only thing EX will ever be able to do is destroy the hermits, over and over again. But EX's fall isn't because of Jeff's powers, it's because Jeff successfully convinces EX and EX starts to believe it themselves and gives in. That's why EX can break out by (with the Dreamer's help) remembering that people do care about them, and that they can change.

Jeff and the Dreamer can't influence EX or anything directly, Jeff can't just possess EX and make them do things, both of them just need EX to be convinced of it themselves, by showing them their memories of how the hermit's feel about them.

So I think that if this white eye glow is Jeff subtlety shifting EX back to evil thoughts, redirecting them so silently that not even EX is unaware that it isn't their own thoughts, that would make sense and be consistent with Jeff's powers shown in Evil's Fault.

Finishing off, in 1017 EX's eyes change twice. First when X points out the shop doesn't use their CringeCoin, they go "WHAT?" and then their eyes glow white as they say "This is Unacceptable," and then continue on. It's notable that they go white right before EX gets Angry, they were just kindof bewildered before the white eyes and they get Aggressive. They go white again as they say "Something here has to change.. Everyone, Everyone must use the DerpCoin!"

While this isn't as big to me as 1016, I think the narrative of "White Eyes = Jeff influencing EX by going 'hey, that IS a big deal. you can't Stand for that. You should be angry" and nudging them towards hating the hermits makes sense. I think how EX interacts with the other hermits is very interesting because they clearly think that they all hate and are scared of them (asking every single hermits Are You Disturbed By My Presence? Do I Scare You? and them all going what? no i mean y. im a bit worried but you seem cool now), while the hermits have pretty unanimously been chill.

Could this be due to Jeff telling EX that they're only ever going to be able to hurt the hermits, they'll only ever be scared of you, they are your enemies, to drive them further into isolation and malice towards the hermits? I think that's likely, and the eye's going white in 1017 is Jeff trying to dig in the point of the hermits being Against them.