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Before the beginning, after the great war between heaven and hell, God created the earth and gave dominion over it to the crafty ape he called man.... And to each generation was born a creature of light and a creature of darkness...and great armies clashed by night in the ancient war between good and evil.…There was magic then, nobility, and unimaginable cruelty.... So it was, until the day that a false sun exploded over Trinity and man forever traded away wonder for reason. |
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In the Age of Wonder, first there was the Alpha, the first female Prophet. She lived before the Flood. Her story is now lost with the destruction of the Royal Library of Alexandria. From her, to every generation is born a Creature of Light and a Creature of Dark. (speculation: she contained both light and dark within her). These Creatures are known as Avatara, manifestations of some higher power. Other than the Alpha, they have always been male. While the moral defect (i.e., Light or Dark) is randomly assigned to an Avatar upon birth, it will also play against their basic human nature that can be good or evil. When Avataric and human natures coincide, the Avatar will w**k well towards the goal of his House. When they are in opposition, the opposite is likely to happen (e.g. Scudder). The avataric blood travels within families forming a dynasty. The first born son of an Avatar is himself the Avatar of a new generation. Whether the new Avatar is Light or Dark is chance. All that matters is that there is one of each per generation. Any other children to an Avatar other than the eldest male is a Vectorus. The Vectori are those with avataric blood who are not themselves Avatara. They are not uncommon and are usually female. (speculation: can also possibly be male). They cannot become Avatara, as that mantle is only conveyed upon birth. They can exhibit some minor powers and are often crazy in some way. A woman who gives birth to an Avatar is stricken barren and insane. Before that time, she can give birth to unlimited females from an Avatar. The eldest Avatar within a House is called the Prophet and has blue blood. The next in line is the Prince. The Prophet always seems to know his Prince even if he is in a different family. (speculation: An Avatar gets one chance to sire a son). If the Prince dies before the Prophet, a dynasty ends and the first male child born elsewhere in the world with the most avataric blood is the new Prince unless the Prince had a son in which case the son will raise to Prince. If the Prince loses his son while the Prophet still lives, no new Avatar is born until the Prince rises to Prophet then a new Prince will be born elsewhere in the world starting a new dynasty. A dynasty usually lasts about 3 generations. When a Prophet dies while a Prince also lives, one of two things happens. If the Prophet dies at the hands of his Prince, the Prince will gain the mantle of Prophet with an extra boon. This boon is likely additional powers and knowledge not otherwise gained. If a Prophet dies in any other way, the Prince will be automatically raised to Prophet in his stead. An Avatar can grant some small measure of his power to a mortal. This does not make the mortal of the avataric blood, but does give them additional powers. Lodz is an example of this. An Avatar is still mortal even if they are more resilient. Anybody can kill a normal Avatar. The Usher of Destruction is a unique Creature. He has been prophesied throughout the ages but can only be manifest once. In visions, he is seen as the Tattooed Man. He can only be killed by an anointed blade thrust into the bough of his tree tattoo where the dark heart dwells. Justin is the Usher. He has gradually come into his role, believing he is the left hand of god. Norman was his last strand to humanity. Also prophecied is the Omega. It has been assumed by occult scholars that the Omega and the Usher are one and the same. This is not the case. The Omega is the last Prophet. She is also a female, the bookend to the Alpha. Sofie is the Omega. As the Omega, she is ruled by the principle of the three selves of the Gospel of Thomas. (speculation: the fixed hidden self is likely Dark, the varying hidden self is likely Light and the varying visible self is a mix of the the two, varying between both extremes yet tending to Dark). Sofie's mother, Appy, was raped by the Usher thus siring Sofie. Appy spent all of her time trying to protect Sofie from her fixed hidden self. With the arrival of Ben, her hold started to slip, causing her to become frantic, finally resulting in a failed attempt to kill Sofie. After Sofie comes in contact with Justin, her inner self finally manifests and Sofie comes fully into her role as Omega. Justin knows nothing about Sofie's nature, nor that he is her father. Ben Hawkins is the Creature of Light in this final struggle. He was reluctant until maneuvered into killing Belyakov and receiving his boon. He attempted to kill the Usher, but it appears he wasn't successful as the Omega is last seen attempting to heal the Usher. As Ben has grown in power, his use of powers has effected the Usher causing him discomfort. This effect seems to grow as Ben gets closer to him. This is a one way effect. The Age of Wonder gives way to the Age of Reason with the first explosion of a nuclear weapon at Trinity on July 16, 1945. After this, there are no more Avatara. It is currently 1935. ======================= Rules of powers established in the show that should apply to everyone: A magic item, when broken no longer works (e.g. Ben's mask). (speculation: This could mean that the dagger wasn't sufficient to kill Justin since it was broken). To heal someone in body requires the transfer of energy from elsewhere. To bring someone back from death requires the Avatar to consciously completely remove the life from someone else and "transfer" it. (speculation: this formes a connection between the dead and the living e.g. Ruthie and Lodz). To heal someone in spirit requires no such transfer in energy and is unlimited in scope. Other types of powers, like astral projection, are trying on the Avatar and may cause him damage (e.g. Ben's nosebleed when he projected). All Avatara draw from the same pool of powers. It is only in how they are used that differs. Imagine there is a toolbox with a knife. Both the CoL and the CoD can use the knife. Whereas the CoL might use the knife to help someone else, the CoD will likely use the knife to kill someone. On an individual basis, there is nothing to prevent a CoD from also healing someone, or from a CoL killing someone, it is only on the large scale average that the general trend can be seen. ===================== Other characters: Belyakov was the previous generation's CoL. He sired Justin and Iris. He thought that Justin had died in a train accident along with his wife and Iris. He manipulated Ben into killing Lodz and ultimately into having Ben kill him. He told Ben about the ritual necessary to kill the Usher. He had worked with Lodz because of a psychic connection he had with Scudder. After trying to cut a side-deal with Scudder in St. Louis, Belyakov never really trusted him again. Scudder was the previous generation's CoD. He sired Ben. He was reluctant in his role, fleeing from pursuit to protect those he loved. After Belyakov failed to kill him, he traveled through Europe with Lodz. Before breaking up the arrangement, he tried to pass on his avataric mantle unsuccessfully, resulting in Lodz' blindness and his new ability of inner sight. This included the ability to see inside people's dreams and psychometry. Lodz is a mercenary. He is trying to ride on the coattails of the Avatara. Because of the failed attempt to take on Scudder's mantle, he has a psychic connection that allows him to know where Scudder is. His spirit has remained after being killed by Ben to bring back Ruthie. He has been able to possess Ruthie occasionally, dropping hints about Sofie being the Omega (speculation: It would seem likely he is doing this to have leverage against Ben to get resurrected). Gabriel seems to have much more back story to come out. He is 23, therefore born before Ben and therefor not Scudder's son. [DK has since confirmed that Justin, Jonesy, and Ben all survived the battle at the end of season 2.] |