hello

Right into the action. Ouch.

Luckily Isuel has Min to save him.

Scary. Sleepy so good at making the horror.

The way the cross necklace shines makes it really noticeable. Sleepy really wants us to notice it. I mentioned in my last episode post that it resembled Aera’s eyepatch. If Sleepy wants us to notice it then surely it is important right? I still want to know if it is somehow from Aera’s eyepatch or if it is just symbolically linked?

An interesting thing to note is that the name Aera means something like “to spread love” ("Ae" means love, "Ra" can mean expand, silk or net), and now we have “snake” wearing the cross necklace, so “love”, “cross” and “snake”. This just immediately makes me think of Christian theology again.

Oh interesting, so her eyes are also like a snake too? I wonder if she can see in the dark? Though usually slitted pupils means less light, which means worse night vision.

I thought her gift just had snake-like attributes originally, but with these eyes does that mean her gift really is “snake”?

Well at least she didn’t eat it, like I thought she would for a second there…

At least we have Taeho's funny expressions to brighten our day.

Oh so it's going to be a three for all, so each group is fighting each other.

Snake is under the influence of Wolhye's gift, so a bad memory?

That looks like Russian I think. Time for a search:

"I'm begging you!"

"I'm begging you.."

"Mommy"

This is tragic.

Huh this is a bad memory but Snake doesn't seem all that upset about killing the mother and daughter, which says a lot about Snake... Is it a bad memory because of the way Rarog reacts then?

Also there's that saying "If you uproot the weed, burn the seed" again. The very same saying that Samin said in the first episode "The Beginning of the End". Also Sayeon thought it in episode 63 "End of the Tunnel". Even episode 104 "The Endgame" references back to ep 63 "End of the Tunnel". The quote is connected to a lot of "End" there.

Is Snake connected to Samin or Sara somehow, or is this a very common saying in the underworld? Could it thematically mean something that we have someone called "Snake" saying it?

hehe for a second there I thought he was talking about the Sea Wolves and was very confused. I was like the Sea Wolves are all cannibals??? lol

Rarog seems to have a lot of regret for the type of lifestyle he lives.

Is Rarog close to Father Hope? What kind of stuff does Father Hope say? I wonder if Hope also dislikes his role, even though he seems to have the "important" (horrible) role of finding strays for the Cult of Naj or for Rapture/Begonia trade.

"Her husband"

Rarog and Snake were in Ruthenia for a whole 6 months to track this person down. What did the husband do that so many different people wanted to kill him?

I wonder if this will be relevant later? Why mention it and show this event unless it might be relevant?

Ohh a Relic!? This is the first time we have actually seen one get activated I think. Does this mean Relics are also associated with a aberrant color type?? (every other time a relic was shown with a color I just assumed it was because of the group or person associated with it).

This shows that a Relic could have completely different essence type to the user. Rarog is a green essence user, but his eyes have turned orange here. This is so interesting!

It's also interesting that his codename is "Rarog", which in Slavic myth is a fire bird. This matches his green essence gift that is "wings" and his Relic that is "fire". I wonder what came first the codename or the Relic?

Interestingly the words Rarog spoke here are Greek, which mean "burn completely" or "burn down". I wonder why Greek? Is the Relic connected to a Greek legend or God?

The first Greek God I think of that has to do with fire is Hephaestus. Hephaestus was the god of fire, smiths, craftsmen, metalworking, stonemasonry and sculpture. It kind of interests me that Rarog’s (the myth) father is Svarog, the supreme god of celestial fire and the forge. Svarog is apparently the Slavic equivalent of Hephaestus.

Doing even more research, I searched for any rings that Hephaestus made and one came up in my search: Prometheus's Ring. The interesting thing about this ring is that it showed an example of a “loophole” to a god's decree. Zeus originally made a decree that Prometheus must always be chained to this humongous stone, however this Ring allowed Prometheus to be released, since he is still “chained” to the stone through the ring (the ring had a small part of the stone in it).

Hmm could it mean anything?

Also is there a cost to use this Relic? The Rosa Book that the Begonia group has required 4 tongues to be "sacrificed" for it to work. Does this Relic need something too? Or could speaking in Greek be the only activation condition?

Oh wow she snapped out of it quickly. She is so emotionally gone that the Despair Field doesn't work well?

She is still thinking about Rarog though, so I guess she cares a little bit about him? About what he thinks at least? Hmm

Oh she got too close to Min so Taeho couldn't hurt her? Another weakness of Taeho's gift.

So red essence users are the freaks of even the aberrant world?

Isuel's scoring some good points in this fight too.

Ohh Wolhye is going to activate her Relic!?

Ishaan Cha! It's been a long time since we have seen him! Will he join the fight?

Number 1: Flower Symbolism

Let's start off where it all began for Jungwoo. Jungwoo thought something was off with Sayeon as early as the Capture the Flag Arc (maybe earlier), however his doubt really started to set in here (ep. 119) when Sayeon explained her plan for the Cult of Naj.

I found the white flower, and the single flower petal curious in its placement with Jungwoo. Jungwoo was looking at this flower petal when he thought the plan was "lowkey evil". When he started to question how Sayeon's brain worked.

The removal of a petal from a white flower in the context of trust/loyalty made me think this scene might symbolize a small doubt, and if Sayeon keeps plucking more of these petals of doubt... then this might lead into total collapse of trust/loyalty?

Number 2: Siegfried/Ryujin Symbolism

I mentioned in this post that Siegfried/Ryujin could be symbolically connected. They have the dragon, blood and X (cross) link.

Siegfried was betrayed by his ally Hagen. One of the things that stood out to me was Hagen's choice of weaponry. A spear. A betrayal. The reason for the betrayal is because Hagen was extremely loyal to his king, and saw Siegfried as a possible threat. Jungwoo, like Hagen, uses spears. He also seems to care a lot about Jaeil, similar to Hagen’s loyalty to his king?

I mentioned in my Siegfried/Ryujin Symbolism post that Ryujin might not be able to be killed unless she is wearing her weakness, the X (her hat). However, I noticed she still has an X-like symbol on her shirt? Could this act as her “weakness” in this arc?

Could Jungwoo see Ryujin’s loyalty to Sayeon as a threat to be eliminated? Would he betray her and strike her weakness (the X, betrayal)?

Number 2.5: Possible Future Roan and Ryujin Parallel?

The location of the X on Ryujin’s shirt is also curious in relation to Roan and the location she was attacked by Bones. Bones who also uses a spear. Roan was also protecting someone she loves, Ryujin. Could it parallel Ryujin protecting Sayeon in the future?

Number 3: Jesus Christ/Ryujin Symbolism

In this post I pointed out that Ryujin might parallel Jesus Christ. Ryujin has a scar on her right hand, and to activate her gift we have also seen her stab her left hand, similar to Christ's famous hand wounds. Christ according to Roman tradition also had a shoulder wound from carrying the cross, just like Ryujin has a shoulder scar.  

Furthermore, Christ also has another wound. A spear wound. Again it is interesting that Jungwoo’s weapon is a spear. Will Ryujin gain a scar from a spear in the future?

Number 4: Capture the Flag/Cult of Naj Arc Parallels? 

I think the “Capture the Flag” arc might symbolize this current arc? In this arc Sayeon gets speared through from the back by Jungwoo, which could easily symbolize future betrayal. An interesting thing to note is that this happened just when she was about to achieve her goal. Will Jungwoo betray her when she has almost completed her goal? 

Ryujin also gets injured by Jungwoo. She gets speared in her left hand, the hand we now know she currently uses to activate her gift. I don’t think this could be a coincidence. Does it mean Ryujin will use her gift on Jungwoo again in the Naj Arc? 

Number 5: Jungwoo, Jinhee, Naj and Cats.

I might be reaching but this last reason makes me think Jungwoo might even ally with the Cult of Naj or Jinhee? Following on with the possible parallels between the Flag and Naj Arc there are a few more scenes that might support this theory.

Jinhee is associated with cats because of Scruffy, this could also extend to the Cult of Naj through Jinhee's association, particularly if my Naj is based on the Jaguar God theory is true, so it's interesting to me that in this flashback in the Flag Arc (second image, ep. 38) we see Jungwoo patting a cat of all animals, just before he throws his spear into Sayeon's back.

It would be ironic too, if Sayeon's manipulation plan worked against her. In Sayeon's plan, we had the common enemy "Heejin" so that Jinhee and "Jugyeong" could become friends more quickly. In the future, could Jungwoo start to sympathize with the Cult/Jinhee, if he starts to see Sayeon as the common "enemy"?

There is another scene that also interests me in the context of this theory. Is it just me or does this look like an angry Cat’s Eye? If the cat is associated with Naj/Jinhee, then it’s interesting that Jungwoo’s spear here looks like the pupil of a cat’s eye, particularly interesting since Sayeon just finished saying "godlings are not really relevant now, just focus on the aberrants for now". This was true then, however in this current arc (Naj Arc) godlings are very relevant (the words makes me think this scene might just be Cult/Naj that it’s alluding to, however the fact that Jungwo’s spear is involved in the imagery makes me think he will be relevant too).

This might lead into another theory of mine about Ryujin. The “True Sight” theory, where Ryujin might injure her eye, but then get the ability to see the godlings after she heals her eye with essence.

Conclusion