#s7x11

Angstober 2025, Oct. 06 prompt: Fatal Flaw

Symbolism/Allusion Spec: The Cloak of Protection

Covering a newcomer with a blanket or throwing one’s mantle over them is an age-old symbolic act. It evokes comfort, warmth, and protection; a minister bringing a new believer into the faith - a father welcoming his son home from the wars.

Here, Bill drapes Bellamy with a blanket to warm him after he succeeds in his pilgrimage on Etherea. Bellamy calls him “My Shepherd,” which might as well be synonymous with “My Father” going forward. In fact, the next time we see Bill and Bellamy in conversation, Bellamy is dressed in high-ranking disciple robes and Bill tells him that he reminds him of his son, Reece. 

Looking ahead, Episode 15 is titled “The Dying of the Light.” I suspect this is an allusion to Dylan Thomas’ “Do not go gentle into that good night.” Written for his father on his deathbed, the poem is a celebration of human strength of will and exhorts the old and the dying to fight against death, to “rage against the dying of the light.”

We’ll have to wait and see, but I have a hunch that Bill Cadogan will suffer a mortal injury at some point, and the allusion to this poem will contextualize Bellamy’s anguish while losing his father figure. 

Allusion Speculation (14): The Pilgrimage of Etheria

The earliest surviving memoir of a Christian pilgrimage was written by a French woman named Etheria in 380 AD. She traveled to many sites in the Holy Land, but one of the highlights was a trek along the Exodus route to follow Moses’ steps up Mount Sinai a thousand years earlier.

Bellamy’s climb up the mountain on Etherea will be a similar pilgrimage, retracing Bill “The Shepherd” Cadogan’s journey to enlightenment, also a thousand years earlier.

It’s been my observation that those who go on pilgrimages come back with either a renewed sense of purpose or heightened disillusionment -  to the point where they can be virtually unrecognizable to those waiting for them at home. 

Anyway, here is a fun trail map of the direct ascent up Mount Sinai, called the “Stairs of Repentance.” 

Iconic Imagery: The Crucifixion Between Two Thieves

Douchette claims these figures are “beings of the civilization that ascended, imprints of their energy, their mortal forms arisen” and holds them as proof of his belief in the transcendence of mankind.

The composition of these three figures is strikingly similar to the iconic depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ between the two thieves. Compare this imagery with these paintings by Duccio di Buonisegna (c1315-1330) and Pietro Lorenzetti (1340s). The figures’ arms reach up in a u-shape and the rays of light pierce the gloom like blood streaming in the firmament:

Were the Ethereans just holding up their arms in the exaltation of transcendence or were they actually crucified before leaving only their phantom energy behind? It’s a mystery.

Either way, this iconic imagery has a few implications:

Transcendence can only be achieved through a great sacrifice - one that must be made to save all mankind. 

If Diyoza was the “little” sacrifice of Ep 9, who will be the “big” one? 

Symbolism in “A Little Sacrifice” (S7x11): The Stigmata

In the Catholic tradition, it’s been said that a number of saints received the stigmata, bleeding marks on their hands, feet, and forehead corresponding to the crucifixion wounds Jesus Christ bore when he was sacrificed on the cross. 

They are usually depicted in art with their hands outstretched, displaying their wounds to the viewer. An example is Ruben’s “St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata” (1630): 

In my last Gem9 post I mentioned one of the themes of Kurt Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle: that science and religion are opposing but concurrent ways to find the truth, and that while religion is solely a comfort against the unknown, man’s hubris when creating technology can lead to his downfall. (Post)

Diyoza’s death by Gem9 is infused with these themes. The Gem9 falls on her hand like a drop of blood and instantly begins to take effect throughout her body. In the end, the ever-growing crystals spike around her forehead, recalling the crown of thorns. While her death was caused by a manufactured bio-weapon, the emotional impact and meaning of her sacrifice is conveyed through religious symbolism.

Elementary episodes 1x01 and 7x11: Kristen Bush

When I first saw Kristen Bush as Annie Spellman in episode 7x11,

I had no idea she was the same actress who played Eileen Renfro