That's an interesting take on the bar scene with Saul. I always kinda saw it as the light bleeding out of him and influencing the people around him. Like just his presence caused the reactions, which is why his mindset during and after being subsumed is about separation. You could even argue the border manifested during his transformation specifically because he knew the influence his presence was having on people (from the bar,) and wanted to keep everyone out
I initially thought this as well, but then he goes back to the lighthouse and gets in the scuffle with Henry, and while he thinks Henry is fighting him, Henry insists it is Saul bringing them to the edge. Back in the bar someone says to Saul "What are you doing to me?" I think Saul was completely overtaken and had no control and was in fact killing these people. That's also why he got away from the lighthouse to spare Charlie. On the 11th expedition he also kills one of the expedition members in the Tower before the biologist is able to escape.
Near the end of Acceptance, while Grace and Ghost Bird are approaching the Southern Reach building, Grace notices a "broad-shouldered" marmot. The Director/Gloria/Cynthia is described as "broad" several times in the series, even in the chapter that follows. Could the Director have turned into a marmot after "dying?" The author makes a point to have Ghost Bird notice the marmot and when Grace asks her what she saw, Ghost Bird replies with "nothing, nothing at all" while being amused by it.
@Chris McRoy Because gay people exist and why not? Why are you so fragile that you can't handle reading about a gay fictional character without getting your panties in a bunch?
A few more points I'd like to add: The time between the formation of Area X and the first book is interesting, as there was the initial panic and military response, ultimately resulting in the loss of a battalion and an entire warship. It was during these "conventional" responses to the alien threat that the U.S. learned of Area X's malignant corruption of not just people, but also technology; thus the ban on high tech equipment going into Area X, they didn't want to feed it any more. This whole series of events lead to the creation of the Southern Reach which initially had unlimited cash and materiel to quarantine and study Area X... however over the decades, with no (visible) changes/progress/scientific breakthroughs (there were, but, sadly buried) the U.S. government gradually lowered the Southern Reach's importance and gradually starved it of money, reassigning primary duties back to the armed forces. The real risk to the planet was Whitby's fateful journey into Area X, where he either became infected (via the immortal flower with the alien shard) and/or cloned. Whitby's fate was sadly like Saul's: he was turned into another Crawler-like creature, a nucleus for a new "colony" of Area X, with of course the Southern Reach complex as the new lighthouse...and probably no barrier, so the Area X death wave is probably spreading across our beloved homeworld even now...
That’s very interesting, to think about how destructive the changes are and even so ,Area X gets to advance in their evolution feeding off of the curiosity and greediness in human nature. I wonder if it implies the type of point-of-no-return within our evolution (e.g., gene modification, contacting alien etc.) where it’s highly dangerous but we can’t help but go there. Anyways…thanks for sharing!
"conventional" responses to the alien threat that the U.S. learned ?!?! Hahahaha !! as seen across hundreds if not thousands of dumb ass hollytrash movies, is to bomb, kill and destroy and then maybe ask questions. This book is basically a doomers fantasy. Yet reality is always way worse, beyond any american imagination.
@Mist Assassin I'm pretty sure the mentality was that it's barely growing so its easier to just make it off limits. You never know if nuking is could inadvertently cause it to spread. It started as a shard that one guy poked. Honestly i think it could be likely that it might proppel something living further out into the world. Or cause even more mutated mutations.
Great video! Just want to point a couple discrepancies though, grace doesnt spend 30 years in area x before ghost bird and control meet back up with her she spends 3 years, the 30 years you're thinking of is the biologist before she writes her last will and testament. Cynthia call Lowry Jim because that's his first name not because he's old Jim. Old Jim has been confirmed by Vandermeer himself that he was jack severance's inside man in the forgotten coast. That's all the stuff I picked up on. I really like your theory about Saul becoming the border to prevent area x from expanding anymore but I don't think it fully covers everything like the way time is changed in area x. I have a bunch more questions about the series but your video has given me a lot of insight. Thank you
@@JennieChen With all of it's jumping forward only to double back on itself in multiples, this series is pretty much the written equivalent of mixing colored dye in to water: The twist- The key to fully grasping every single aspect in its entirety is that you have to figure out how to magically separate the dye from the water so things line up properly in their original order. That being said, you're owed a HUGE round of applause for this video. You've taken a literal round about and managed to transform it into a simple and direct linear route- and you did it in a way that is super visually appealing to boot. Thank you, I sincerely appreciate the effort that you have put in to this tiny masterpiece. ✌🏽
That ended abruptly but was a beautiful breakdown. It’s been 5 years, and I liked the first book the best. Couldn’t find much empathy with any of the characters in the 2nd & 3rd books but I was still fascinated by them. Thanks.
4:45 Yes yes yes. This was one of the more beautiful and deeply moving parts of the books for me, that Saul, even in the agony of his death throes, is so moved by love and sorrow and the fear for the safety of Charlie (and by default the rest of Earth) is able to muster the strength to manifest the boarder to hold the alien force at bay, saving his loved one, and the rest of us, at least for a little while. Totally cried when I read this section.
Nice vid! Love the illustrations and the theory of the border expansion. I disagree with a few points, but the main ones are - I don’t believe the splinter that infected Saul was meant to necessarily create a whole new ecosystem. It was meant to “repair” an ecosystem on a different world that was destroyed. By “repairing” where it ended up on earth, it was changing the humans it came across because those were what was causing damage. The animals seem to be untouched - the unknown animals we see seem to be former humans. The scene in the bar came across more as what had infected Saul was affecting the patrons in the bar, not him directly becoming a monster and murdering them.
Agreed - and I *really* want to reread this series *right now!* But I've just finished rereading Borne in preparation for reading Dead Astronauts - which I've only just started - and at the same time I wish I could go back and reread The Third Bear, but it's already all too much for my head to hold. O_o Basically, I'm just a Jeff VanderMeer superfan who keeps spiraling around and around the same stories. You might say he's colonized me. ;-)
@@Karin_Allen How did you like Dead Astronauts? I'm in the middle of reading Southern Reach for the fifth time right now. Vandermeer has two new publications coming out. The 1st is the Ambergris trilogy and will be a three in 1 hardcover like they did with The Southern Reach. It comes out Dec 1, 2020. The other is called Hummingbird Salamander, and that one comes out in April next year.
@@Vivaldi1Dvorak2 I really enjoyed Dead Astronauts, but it was a trickier puzzle than the Southern Reach trilogy. The pieces do fit together, but you have to do some backtracking to lay them all out. Thank goodness for e-books and their ability to add notations! I follow Vandermeer on Twitter (His account is lots of fun, and he's very responsive to his followers), so I know about the hardback trilogies and Hummingbird Salamander. I'm going to pass on the hardbacks since I have digital copies, and I'll be sure to buy the Hummingbird Salamander e-book!
This video really cleared up a few bits of confusion I had about the trilogy. That insight that the Southern Reach might be a way for Area X to get our knowledge is chilling. The only thing I think you might have confused is the bit with Grace in Acceptance. She’d been in Area X for three years, while the Biologist has been on the island for 30 years. This video was very helpful. Well done.
Well done, but I really had a different take on Saul in the bar. I never thought Saul killed anyone or changed his form. It's so surreal the man bleeding while playing the piano and Saul was able to drive to the lighthouse where he saw Henry and Henry didn't question his form. Did I miss something?
You could be right that it was just Area X started taking over the bar and the lighthouse. I somehow had this idea that it was all because the thing that got onto Saul's finger mutated him and bled out (including a detail where I thought Jackie, Henry and Suzanne witnessed his change and perhaps informed Central to start the evacuation). It’s totally possible that I imagined some of it myself :)
I wondered that myself, I think he did kill the people, at one point one of the patrons asked "why did you do that?" I assumed that Saul had started attacking people and not understood it was him...
I took it as it could have happened either way. It could be madness that took over. There’s a lot of it. I felt crazy at times. If it was madness then it didn’t matter whether it was or not since it can’t be rationalized. On the other hand I think there is a possibility that Area X was experimenting on humans as humans were experimenting on Area X. Just like humans practice on various subjects while maintaining a “control” so too was Area X. What would be the best way to assimilate. What would be the best way to “terraform” earth. Kill them, mutate them, copy them. What are the side affects. Ghost bird was a successful experiment, or was she. She didn’t die of cancer but she didn’t succeed at helping propagate Area X (the way Lowery did?)
Ryan Schumacher I think it’s like how the scientist described area x communication like a knife to the ears, I just assumed that the first exposure did start to drive people crazy quicker since it was like nothing else on earth, area X seen how the humans reacted and started to adjust and experiment
I finished the book today, and I thought the same, I thought he was just hallucinating again and ran away, I don't remember any indication that he transformed into anything at that point
Did not realize controls lineage w the S AND SB! Well done and very complete! Didn’t realize how complicated this series I loved was until you laid it all out like that 😂 there really was a massive amount of stuff going on all at once!
Such a great video! I just finished all 3 books and I loved them but I was still a bit confused on how some parts came together and this video really pulled it together for me! Thank you!
Omg I love the theory that Saul's last thoughts formed the border - maybe his protecting of Charlie at sea created the border and maybe when Charlie eventually died it expanded? I think there's other theories about the reason for a border that I also think could be possible but I just really like that!
Just listened to the audio books. Then I bought the actual books. I thank all your efforts here. This will make journey number 2 much easier. Thank you 🙏
Every once in awhile I come back to this video because I love this book I love her explanation and I love the echo in the background it sets the ambiance perfectly
I am wondering about premonitions. Ghost Bird had visions of things, Saul experienced visions of things that had happened before. Also where Saul fell there were 3 words that were behind him on the wall, 3 words? (whose name, what words?). Was the projection the border?? Saul's premonitions: "Trying to hold on to his wits. But a universe was opening up in his head, filled with images he didn’t, couldn’t understand. A flowering plant that could never die. = the origin???? A rain of white rabbits, cut off in mid-leap. - southern reach experiments w the border???? A woman reaching down to touch a starfish in a tidal pool. - biologist??? Green dust from a corpse blowing away in the wind. Henry, standing atop the lighthouse, jerking and twitching, receiving a signal from very, very far away. A man stumbling through the forgotten coast in army fatigues, all of his comrades dead. - biologist's husband??? And a light that found him from above, pinning him there, some vital transaction complete." "And projected back out behind him, toward the sea, Saul unable to say the name, just three simple words that seemed so inadequate, and yet they were all he had left to use" - Saul's moment of transformation/fall. Whose name? Charlie? "For an instant, some odd, broad-shouldered marmot pushed its face through the reeds. Then saw her and hurriedly disappeared with a plop into the creek behind it-while she rose, amused. “What is it?” Grace asked from behind her. “Nothing. Nothing at all.” - Ghost Bird after Control jumped into the light, who upon seeing marmot started grinning and laughing (is this Control?)
Broad shoulders makes me think of the director. I know she appears to fly around, but the book makes several references to her broad stature and wide shoulder
A fascinating interpretation, bolstered by wonderful graphics, it cleared up many questions still buzzing round in my head even though I have read the books three times now. I do wonder about the malevolence of Area X though, I see it as alien biotech designed to clean up the destroyed ecosystem of an alien planet and it perceives us as the "cancer" that needs cleaning up. Vandermeer's preoccupations in many of his books are ecological and this seems to fit in very well with those concerns. Thanks for an informative and entertaining video
Truly phenomenal breakdown of everything. I don't know what I'm more blown away by, how succinct, detailed and aesthetic this video is or that apparently I kinda did understand what was going on in these books lol. Nice work! ❤
So the tower is like an inverted/ upside down trunk of a tree. Kind of like a root structure. Where the canopy of the tree spans out further based on the root coverage ( on some trees)
14:03 Grace has been in area X for three years and the biologist of the 12th was in for (at least) 30 (after that time her notes, found by Grace, ended), if I remember correctly.
Just finished this series and thank you, this did clarify some things for me, but was also reassuring in that I did grasp much of it. i like your take on the bar scene, to me, it represented the formation of Area X and people's profound fear and confusion related to that. Like everything else, left nebulous.
Just wanted to say I really loved this video! Always fun to hear other folks talk about their interpretation of such an incredible set of books. The illustrations were a great touch too. Thanks for making it!
Excellent video! It definitely helps clear up some questions I had after finishing the 3rd book. I think the over arching story is the nature of an invasive species. We as humans have taken over the earth monopolizing it and destroying it while the nature around us doesn’t recognize or necessarily understand what’s going on it’s just different for them. So what happens to humans when an invasive creature enters their territory. There can be threads to follow but ultimately we can’t even comprehend exactly what’s going on just like the nature and animals around us now can’t comprehend what we are doing to the planet
Great summary! Nicely put together. I must have missed this but I thought the bar scene happened differently. As if the people in the bar started going crazy and Sauld had nothing to do with it or could help them so he ran. Perhaps, I interpreted it wrong.. Such a great book though. I was just un happy with the ending being a bit non-conclusive. Do you think Ghost Bird and Grace ever reached the end of the border? What do you think happened when Control jumped into the light in the tunnel?
I just wanted more of Saul. More days in his life, more time with him & Gloria & Charlie (and his interactions with the Light Brigade) before he became the catalyst for Area X. Saul was the beginning and yet we get so little of him. There were so many characters in this story that the important ones don't get the coverage they deserved to really connect with them.
Thank you so much for this. I just finished the series today but I was so confused by the way it ends. You did a great job at creating the plot timeline. I think i get most of how the story pans out now.
I like to think that Saul's sermon was somehow him trying to prevent area x from expanding. What happened when the crawler reached the bottom of the tunnel is the border expanded. I'm going to reread the series again with the extra context of absolution and see if there's any more buried in the subtext that backs this up.
Wonderful explanation. Thank you so much for posting. You filled in so many gaps for me. In fact, I'm now re-reading the trilogy with much greater insight and enjoyment because of you. Thanks again. 🙂
Pretty solid summary, though there are a few of tour theories that I disagree with. However, I think that is the fun of this series; it is so open-ended that any number of explanations are possible. Thanks for sharing!
Amazing and well organized analysis, and your art is fantastic! This is maybe my favorite trilogy I’ve ever read and this video is tiding me over until I re-read it again.
It was left on a very open end whether the owl on Island X was truly the Biologist's husband, because Ghost Bird compared the validity of "owl=husband" to the Biologist's beliefs of S&SB, reaching the conclusion that both were innacurate. Good video 👍
Then, I disagree with the phone being something used for Whitby to communicate with Lowry, because Area X was always described as being beyond humans, the Biologist and Ghost Bird saying how Area X can manipulate matter, so it seems unlikely such a being would need the best of human minds.
On my second read through now and didn't get the tower/tunnel/crawler being saul's body and brain until a reddit post I stumbled upon a few days ago. Apparently I'm behind you and everyone else on interpreting!
This became my favorite trilogy of all time. I’ve been trying to find something to scratch that same itch the Southern Reach series scratched but haven’t quite found it yet. Thanks for making this.
I'm so glad you made this, after I finished the last book I was totally lost and you've at least salvaged some understanding of the story and I don't feel as if I had wasted all that time reading it. I don't think my reading comprehension style is good at picking up on such loosely connected clues spread between three books
Jennie! Thank you!! I've just finished Acceptance. I had read Dead Astronauts first... back in April (and then Borne). Have you detected the pattern I detected???? John = Chen / Grace = Grayson / Ghost = Moss.... Holding ponds by the company... Holding ponds by Southern Reach Building.... The Beacon in the Strange Bird.... The Beacon in the LightHouse... biological distortions... Might Borne Series (Dead Astronauts included) be, in fact, a long future after Area X expanded and multidimensionalized everything? 😨😱
all the awards and popularity aside, for a moment, having read Annihilation and Authority - it comes across as a mashup of Alien (1979) with bits of Orwellian doom.
I'm a bit late to the party here having just finished the Southern Reach trilogy, but thanks for making this video! It was really interesting to watch (I love the diagrams, the visuals helped me personally) and it correlates with most of what I thought happened so it's good to know I was in the right direction thoughts-wise. I differ on a couple of opinions - for example, I'm not sure the owl is actually the biologist's husband - but it's nice to hear other theories, and that's the beauty of the book! I was wondering about the shark Lowry - I know Control compared him to a shark prior to his visit to Area X, but I didn't make the link until seeing this. An interesting idea! I'd love to see a similar video on the Dark Tower series in the future if you're open to suggestions for future content :) thanks again!
I just finished Acceptance and I love the trilogy. Thank you for your breakdown, it help to fill in the gaps I may have missed. Question: who was the person who turned into the flying creature in Authority. One of the tapes Control reviewed and saw someone flying with the camera.
Wow - great vid and super clear and concise. I have a number of questions for you - hope you dont mind ;) 1. Is it too simplistic to assume that Saul is the Crawler? Appreciate this is a blunt/basic question - but I was left with the impression that he was beginning to transform into the Crawler, the moment after he spotted Henry at the bar/when everything went sideways. And of course the sermon/prose from the tower started to erupt out of him so I had always thought it was Saul. 2. Is the ominous flying rip in the sky/ribbon/ripple in the sky the Director? I got this from the passages about her soaring over Area X and being nowhere and everywhere at the same...and obviously that her body transformed into something following her 'death' at the end of Annihilation. 3. How was the original Biologist considered a weapon to Area X by the Director? Did the Director plan to hypnotise the Biologist to get her to attempt to either engage the Crawler or reach the light at the bottom of the tower? 4. If the alien particles(?) were embedded and inert in the lens of the lighthouse - was it Henry that somehow activated them? How did he know, where did Henry get his knowledge from? Was it something to do with the distant look in his eye as he was speaking to Saul, where it is described as if he is receiving a message from a vast distance etc? 5. What is the connection between the blossom of light at the bottom of the tower in Area X, and the curving ball of light that Saul finds at the top of the lighthouse next to the lens? Are they portals - does one lead to the other? I got the impression that Saul was looking into an alternative lighthouse room with the stacked pile of journals from Area X, potentially in a different time.... 6. Is Area X actually not on Earth? This kind of blew my mind, I should have seen it coming but I didn't ever consider it. Was this confirmed beyond Grace and Ghost Bird discussing it? 7. I really missed the significance of the cellphone. Was it a specimen from Lowry's expedition? Is it somehow alive?! 8. Is Whitby the original or the clone!? The only evidence that he is the original (i think) is the description of him strangling the other Whitby, and that version being strangled having a totally calm and serene expression as he/it is being killed.... but then I got a growing impression that the Whitby left behind was a product of Area X/ the clone - and acted as a beacon..... 9. The splinter; this is the damaged shard of the lens with the inert Area X particle in it - that contains a9. mysterious light, that Saul touches....is this the trigger to creating Area X and how does it relate to the creation of the border? Does the border expand out of Saul as he transforms - or is curving light at the top of the lighthouse a portal into an already created, distant copy of the forgotten coast (Area X)....slight duplication/overlap with #5
This made me feel like re-reading the last two books of the trilogy. I loved Annihilation and I read it two times, but the other two I didn't find as good... maybe If I read them again they'll grow on me.
That's so interesting! I liked annihilation but it felt a bit dry which i took as being the biologists thoughts and point of view. Things REALLY start picking up for me on books 2 and 3.
It's probably because I'm a biology student myself so I related to the biologist a lot! :) And maybe the fact I read Authority and Acceptance on ebook played a role. I'll see if I can find them second hand so I can read them on paper.
did they ever explain what the massive unknown entity in the footage control watches is? also the "giant reptiles" are talked about a bunch in the first book then completely dropped..?
I think it might be some sort of manifestation of the crawler, as the crawler is described by control in the final book as he goes down the tower the same way that he described the massive creature
Also, a detail I don't see people point out as much is the "door" that leads into Area X. If Saul created the border, did Area X puncture a hole in it with a door?
Great job! I only read the last book once but didn't they come in contact with a large monster in the sky also? And what about that eerie video recording of a massive monster attacking one of the expeditions? Curious what your thoughts are on that?
Ma'am, can you help me with something? I've been wondering about a very important part in the second book. when the protagonist Control (*spoiler*) watches a VHS about a expedition and suddently THE FRICKING BACKGROUND starts moving. Control was in shock afterwards, as if he was shown some forbidden truth about the world (very lovecraftian), but what do you think it was?: The background moving, was it the camera malfunctioning, the clouds or a Great Old One?
Hi Jennie: This was VERY helpful. I appreciate it. Perfect for me because i read the entire trilogy but was confused towards the end of the last volume. I really loved the first two volumes - - unfortunately things kind of fell apart for me in volume 3. IMO there is too much timeline plot pushed into volume 3 - maybe about 80 or 90% of the true timeline, right? Part 2, Authority, was actually my favorite. For me, Control was the most relatable character. I enjoyed the movie which I watched before I read the trilogy. The psychologist in particular was perfectly cast (JJL). Thanks again for this terrific video.
I'm curious about the ending when Control jumps into the white light at the bottom of the Tower. Ghost Bird says she feels a shift in Area X and agrees with, I forget exactly who, suggested Area X could be changed. I wonder if this worked as a sacrifice, and by fully giving in to Area X, which others had tried to fight against and turned into 'monsters,' now allows the Area X intelligence to better mimic Earth's biologies and expand. I think that because the end seems to suggest there is no more border. And now Area X can engulf the entire planet. 🤷♂ Further evidence is from an earlier passage when Saul sees Henry at the lighthouse and the passage goes: And words erupted from him, but not aloud. 'And God said let there be light. God said that Saul, and He has come from so far away, and His home is gone, but His purpose remains. Would you deny Him His new kingdom?'
this is so well done! i just finished reading the whole trilogy and have been reading a lot theories and explanations on the southern reach subreddit. i'm hoping to reread it again sometime in the future. are there any other book recommendations similar to the southern reach trilogy?
Syafiza Habib Same here! I like his writing a lot and thought his other novels could be great as well. I’m currently checking out the three-body problem trilogy. Will see how it goes.
The books take a slight influence from Roadside picnic, you might want to start there and there's a bunch of similar ones down that path like an H.P lovecraft book/newly released movie called Colour out of space.
outstanding job! helped clear some of the events up for me (and i'm on my sixth read-through of the trilogy!), however, i would disagree with your interpretation on some of the minor plot points (that others have already pointed out below). That being said, over all you have done a magnificent job...might i make a suggestion? perhaps tone down the reverb in your recording app as it can get a little grating at times. Would love to see you do something with vandermeer's "Borne" and its sidequel whose title i forget but remember having something to do with a bird?
Hi Jennie. If you ever happen to read "The Gone World" by Tom Sweterlitsch - I would LOVE to see an animated explanation video by you. I just finished reading it and my head is spinning 😆
Fantastic video, I know I’m late to the game but I just finished the series last week and just started rereading it with a better understanding of the events now. I just wanted to see if you’ve made this graphic available anywhere online? I love it and think it would make a great poster! Thank you again!
Do you think the portal that takes the expeditions to the Area X is actually a wormhole to another planet? There is a reference to this in the third book when Grace, Control and Ghost Bird realize that the time is passing differently in Area X and that the stars are different from the stars they know. Also, if this is true, than what is inside Area X that is on Earth? And how is assimilation possible in that case? The border is expanding and Area X is getting bigger which means everything from the assimilated parts of Earth is now existing on another planet, but then what is left on Earth?
They hint at this. Basically where area X is on earth is actually the ruins of their old planet. Remember when they cross the wormhole they see the ruins of cities and bodies etc. Anyone who crosses the border ends up in those ruins and presumably die.
What made you come to the conclusion Lowry was communicating with area x using the cell phone? It makes sense, but I just would like to know what I missed to fill in the gaps. Amazing video with great illustrations btw!
The final conversation between Gloria and Lowry strongly hints at this. Lowry doesn't want anything to do with the phone and starts freaking out when Gloria shows him just a picture of it and starts guessing that maybe Area X wants to talk to him. The phone also seems not to work at all, which might suggest that it only works for Lowry. Also, he does confirm that it is his own cell phone that he had initially brought in.
3rd book when areaX expands is the craziest thing I’ve ever read.. people going schizo while alarms are triggered and people have to ignore the second mind they have been given while trying to get out., it’s nuts.
Not through the whole video yet but had to point out a mistake - the photo is not of Saul, Gloria and Charlie but of Saul, Gloria and Brad who is a minor character who supposedly assisted Saul as part of his parole or smt like that.
Hey thank you so much for the video! I was wondering what you thought about Control finding out someone was in the Directors house. Do you think the copy of the Director came back as early as the others? Or do you think it is another character going into the Directors old house to add notes and maps? 🤔
Reading the new book Absolution and wanted to catch back up from where Book III ended and this was perfect! Thanks!
Asked the internet WTF did I read for 3 books and here comes Jennie Chen to break it all down succinctly lol . thanks
Saul & Gloria talking on the rocks were my favorite parts. Wish there was more of that.
That's an interesting take on the bar scene with Saul. I always kinda saw it as the light bleeding out of him and influencing the people around him. Like just his presence caused the reactions, which is why his mindset during and after being subsumed is about separation. You could even argue the border manifested during his transformation specifically because he knew the influence his presence was having on people (from the bar,) and wanted to keep everyone out
I initially thought this as well, but then he goes back to the lighthouse and gets in the scuffle with Henry, and while he thinks Henry is fighting him, Henry insists it is Saul bringing them to the edge. Back in the bar someone says to Saul "What are you doing to me?" I think Saul was completely overtaken and had no control and was in fact killing these people. That's also why he got away from the lighthouse to spare Charlie. On the 11th expedition he also kills one of the expedition members in the Tower before the biologist is able to escape.
@@ohyeaaaa1 Doesn't it describe him just sitting in the corner of the bar watching it all happen? Or did I read that wrong?
Near the end of Acceptance, while Grace and Ghost Bird are approaching the Southern Reach building, Grace notices a "broad-shouldered" marmot. The Director/Gloria/Cynthia is described as "broad" several times in the series, even in the chapter that follows. Could the Director have turned into a marmot after "dying?" The author makes a point to have Ghost Bird notice the marmot and when Grace asks her what she saw, Ghost Bird replies with "nothing, nothing at all" while being amused by it.
I didn't notice this. Good eye
I cried a bit at that scene
@@dizzygnome6698 why'd you cry
I thought it was Control
1:50 Charlie wasn't in the photo, it was Saul's "assistant", who also a member of the band in the village bar.
@Chris McRoy Because gay people exist and why not? Why are you so fragile that you can't handle reading about a gay fictional character without getting your panties in a bunch?
@Chris McRoy Yeah, you really have to think twice before having LGBT characters. You end up triggering snowflakes anytime they're included.
The name of the guy in the picture is Brad
@Chris McRoy Or maybe he just wanted to piss off homophobes?
I don't understand the frustration. The book said it was brad.
A few more points I'd like to add: The time between the formation of Area X and the first book is interesting, as there was the initial panic and military response, ultimately resulting in the loss of a battalion and an entire warship. It was during these "conventional" responses to the alien threat that the U.S. learned of Area X's malignant corruption of not just people, but also technology; thus the ban on high tech equipment going into Area X, they didn't want to feed it any more. This whole series of events lead to the creation of the Southern Reach which initially had unlimited cash and materiel to quarantine and study Area X... however over the decades, with no (visible) changes/progress/scientific breakthroughs (there were, but, sadly buried) the U.S. government gradually lowered the Southern Reach's importance and gradually starved it of money, reassigning primary duties back to the armed forces. The real risk to the planet was Whitby's fateful journey into Area X, where he either became infected (via the immortal flower with the alien shard) and/or cloned. Whitby's fate was sadly like Saul's: he was turned into another Crawler-like creature, a nucleus for a new "colony" of Area X, with of course the Southern Reach complex as the new lighthouse...and probably no barrier, so the Area X death wave is probably spreading across our beloved homeworld even now...
That’s very interesting, to think about how destructive the changes are and even so ,Area X gets to advance in their evolution feeding off of the curiosity and greediness in human nature. I wonder if it implies the type of point-of-no-return within our evolution (e.g., gene modification, contacting alien etc.) where it’s highly dangerous but we can’t help but go there. Anyways…thanks for sharing!
"conventional" responses to the alien threat that the U.S. learned ?!?! Hahahaha !! as seen across hundreds if not thousands of dumb ass hollytrash movies,
is to bomb, kill and destroy and then maybe ask questions. This book is basically a doomers fantasy. Yet reality is always way worse, beyond any american imagination.
Two questions
1. Is the story over ? Or is there another book on the way?
2. Did they ever tried to nuke it ?
@Mist Assassin I'm pretty sure the mentality was that it's barely growing so its easier to just make it off limits. You never know if nuking is could inadvertently cause it to spread. It started as a shard that one guy poked. Honestly i think it could be likely that it might proppel something living further out into the world. Or cause even more mutated mutations.
@@RaduGhio he is writing a 4th book, but I believe it's a prequel.
What the hell. You should do this for other novels, movies, basically any form of storytelling you want. You’re very good at this. Like a hidden gem.
Thank you! Really appreciate it - I plan to do more.
Great video! Just want to point a couple discrepancies though, grace doesnt spend 30 years in area x before ghost bird and control meet back up with her she spends 3 years, the 30 years you're thinking of is the biologist before she writes her last will and testament. Cynthia call Lowry Jim because that's his first name not because he's old Jim. Old Jim has been confirmed by Vandermeer himself that he was jack severance's inside man in the forgotten coast. That's all the stuff I picked up on. I really like your theory about Saul becoming the border to prevent area x from expanding anymore but I don't think it fully covers everything like the way time is changed in area x. I have a bunch more questions about the series but your video has given me a lot of insight. Thank you
Thanks for the comments! I had definitely gotten things mixed up as I was speeding through the last book :). This is super helpful.
@@JennieChen With all of it's jumping forward only to double back on itself in multiples, this series is pretty much the written equivalent of mixing colored dye in to water: The twist- The key to fully grasping every single aspect in its entirety is that you have to figure out how to magically separate the dye from the water so things line up properly in their original order. That being said, you're owed a HUGE round of applause for this video. You've taken a literal round about and managed to transform it into a simple and direct linear route- and you did it in a way that is super visually appealing to boot. Thank you, I sincerely appreciate the effort that you have put in to this tiny masterpiece. ✌🏽
That ended abruptly but was a beautiful breakdown. It’s been 5 years, and I liked the first book the best. Couldn’t find much empathy with any of the characters in the 2nd & 3rd books but I was still fascinated by them. Thanks.
4:45 Yes yes yes. This was one of the more beautiful and deeply moving parts of the books for me, that Saul, even in the agony of his death throes, is so moved by love and sorrow and the fear for the safety of Charlie (and by default the rest of Earth) is able to muster the strength to manifest the boarder to hold the alien force at bay, saving his loved one, and the rest of us, at least for a little while. Totally cried when I read this section.
This description would sound insane if not for the fact that it describes a book series that really exists.
Nice vid! Love the illustrations and the theory of the border expansion. I disagree with a few points, but the main ones are -
I don’t believe the splinter that infected Saul was meant to necessarily create a whole new ecosystem. It was meant to “repair” an ecosystem on a different world that was destroyed. By “repairing” where it ended up on earth, it was changing the humans it came across because those were what was causing damage. The animals seem to be untouched - the unknown animals we see seem to be former humans.
The scene in the bar came across more as what had infected Saul was affecting the patrons in the bar, not him directly becoming a monster and murdering them.
That's a great perspective I haven't thought of! Thanks for sharing.
re the bar scene - yes that's how I interpreted it
Agreed - and I *really* want to reread this series *right now!* But I've just finished rereading Borne in preparation for reading Dead Astronauts - which I've only just started - and at the same time I wish I could go back and reread The Third Bear, but it's already all too much for my head to hold. O_o Basically, I'm just a Jeff VanderMeer superfan who keeps spiraling around and around the same stories. You might say he's colonized me. ;-)
@@Karin_Allen How did you like Dead Astronauts? I'm in the middle of reading Southern Reach for the fifth time right now. Vandermeer has two new publications coming out. The 1st is the Ambergris trilogy and will be a three in 1 hardcover like they did with The Southern Reach. It comes out Dec 1, 2020. The other is called Hummingbird Salamander, and that one comes out in April next year.
@@Vivaldi1Dvorak2 I really enjoyed Dead Astronauts, but it was a trickier puzzle than the Southern Reach trilogy. The pieces do fit together, but you have to do some backtracking to lay them all out. Thank goodness for e-books and their ability to add notations! I follow Vandermeer on Twitter (His account is lots of fun, and he's very responsive to his followers), so I know about the hardback trilogies and Hummingbird Salamander. I'm going to pass on the hardbacks since I have digital copies, and I'll be sure to buy the Hummingbird Salamander e-book!
This video really cleared up a few bits of confusion I had about the trilogy. That insight that the Southern Reach might be a way for Area X to get our knowledge is chilling. The only thing I think you might have confused is the bit with Grace in Acceptance. She’d been in Area X for three years, while the Biologist has been on the island for 30 years. This video was very helpful. Well done.
Thanks for pointing out! :)
Well done, but I really had a different take on Saul in the bar. I never thought Saul killed anyone or changed his form. It's so surreal the man bleeding while playing the piano and Saul was able to drive to the lighthouse where he saw Henry and Henry didn't question his form. Did I miss something?
You could be right that it was just Area X started taking over the bar and the lighthouse. I somehow had this idea that it was all because the thing that got onto Saul's finger mutated him and bled out (including a detail where I thought Jackie, Henry and Suzanne witnessed his change and perhaps informed Central to start the evacuation). It’s totally possible that I imagined some of it myself :)
I wondered that myself, I think he did kill the people, at one point one of the patrons asked "why did you do that?" I assumed that Saul had started attacking people and not understood it was him...
I took it as it could have happened either way. It could be madness that took over. There’s a lot of it. I felt crazy at times. If it was madness then it didn’t matter whether it was or not since it can’t be rationalized.
On the other hand I think there is a possibility that Area X was experimenting on humans as humans were experimenting on Area X. Just like humans practice on various subjects while maintaining a “control” so too was Area X. What would be the best way to assimilate. What would be the best way to “terraform” earth. Kill them, mutate them, copy them. What are the side affects. Ghost bird was a successful experiment, or was she. She didn’t die of cancer but she didn’t succeed at helping propagate Area X (the way Lowery did?)
Ryan Schumacher I think it’s like how the scientist described area x communication like a knife to the ears, I just assumed that the first exposure did start to drive people crazy quicker since it was like nothing else on earth, area X seen how the humans reacted and started to adjust and experiment
I finished the book today, and I thought the same, I thought he was just hallucinating again and ran away, I don't remember any indication that he transformed into anything at that point
Did not realize controls lineage w the S AND SB! Well done and very complete! Didn’t realize how complicated this series I loved was until you laid it all out like that 😂 there really was a massive amount of stuff going on all at once!
Such a great video! I just finished all 3 books and I loved them but I was still a bit confused on how some parts came together and this video really pulled it together for me! Thank you!
Omg I love the theory that Saul's last thoughts formed the border - maybe his protecting of Charlie at sea created the border and maybe when Charlie eventually died it expanded? I think there's other theories about the reason for a border that I also think could be possible but I just really like that!
Great work on this, entertaining as well with the presentation, it really helped to soak in all the information.
Just listened to the audio books. Then I bought the actual books. I thank all your efforts here. This will make journey number 2 much easier. Thank you 🙏
Every once in awhile I come back to this video because I love this book I love her explanation and I love the echo in the background it sets the ambiance perfectly
Thank you! Glad you enjoy it
I have understood the books, but it feels pretty good to hear the story again.
I am wondering about premonitions. Ghost Bird had visions of things, Saul experienced visions of things that had happened before. Also where Saul fell there were 3 words that were behind him on the wall, 3 words? (whose name, what words?). Was the projection the border??
Saul's premonitions:
"Trying to hold on to his wits. But a universe was opening up in his head, filled with images he didn’t, couldn’t understand.
A flowering plant that could never die. = the origin????
A rain of white rabbits, cut off in mid-leap. - southern reach experiments w the border????
A woman reaching down to touch a starfish in a tidal pool. - biologist???
Green dust from a corpse blowing away in the wind.
Henry, standing atop the lighthouse, jerking and twitching,
receiving a signal from very, very far away.
A man stumbling through the forgotten coast in army
fatigues, all of his comrades dead. - biologist's husband???
And a light that found him from above, pinning him there,
some vital transaction complete."
"And
projected back out behind him, toward the sea, Saul unable to
say the name, just three simple words that seemed so
inadequate, and yet they were all he had left to use" - Saul's moment of transformation/fall. Whose name? Charlie?
"For an instant, some odd, broad-shouldered marmot
pushed its face through the reeds. Then saw her and hurriedly
disappeared with a plop into the creek behind it-while she
rose, amused.
“What is it?” Grace asked from behind her.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” - Ghost Bird after Control jumped into the light, who upon seeing marmot started grinning and laughing (is this Control?)
I believe the three words are "Annihilation", "Authority", and "Acceptance".
Broad shoulders makes me think of the director. I know she appears to fly around, but the book makes several references to her broad stature and wide shoulder
A fascinating interpretation, bolstered by wonderful graphics, it cleared up many questions still buzzing round in my head even though I have read the books three times now. I do wonder about the malevolence of Area X though, I see it as alien biotech designed to clean up the destroyed ecosystem of an alien planet and it perceives us as the "cancer" that needs cleaning up. Vandermeer's preoccupations in many of his books are ecological and this seems to fit in very well with those concerns. Thanks for an informative and entertaining video
Truly phenomenal breakdown of everything. I don't know what I'm more blown away by, how succinct, detailed and aesthetic this video is or that apparently I kinda did understand what was going on in these books lol. Nice work! ❤
Very well done..I’ve re-read the series 3 times and still pickup new stuff .. hope he writes more
Thank you! Same here - I'm planning to read more of his novels.
So the tower is like an inverted/ upside down trunk of a tree. Kind of like a root structure. Where the canopy of the tree spans out further based on the root coverage ( on some trees)
First video that actually broke it down and examined the mystery with detail
14:03 Grace has been in area X for three years and the biologist of the 12th was in for (at least) 30 (after that time her notes, found by Grace, ended), if I remember correctly.
Just finished this series and thank you, this did clarify some things for me, but was also reassuring in that I did grasp much of it. i like your take on the bar scene, to me, it represented the formation of Area X and people's profound fear and confusion related to that. Like everything else, left nebulous.
Thanks for the chronology! Much appreciated for my future 'explanations' to other people!
Just wanted to say I really loved this video! Always fun to hear other folks talk about their interpretation of such an incredible set of books. The illustrations were a great touch too. Thanks for making it!
Cristian King thank you for the good words! Really appreciate it :)
Excellent video! It definitely helps clear up some questions I had after finishing the 3rd book. I think the over arching story is the nature of an invasive species. We as humans have taken over the earth monopolizing it and destroying it while the nature around us doesn’t recognize or necessarily understand what’s going on it’s just different for them. So what happens to humans when an invasive creature enters their territory. There can be threads to follow but ultimately we can’t even comprehend exactly what’s going on just like the nature and animals around us now can’t comprehend what we are doing to the planet
Great summary! Nicely put together. I must have missed this but I thought the bar scene happened differently. As if the people in the bar started going crazy and Sauld had nothing to do with it or could help them so he ran. Perhaps, I interpreted it wrong.. Such a great book though. I was just un happy with the ending being a bit non-conclusive.
Do you think Ghost Bird and Grace ever reached the end of the border?
What do you think happened when Control jumped into the light in the tunnel?
This was really helpful to recap before I read the new book Absolution that just came out! Thank you ❤
Wow this is amazing. Genius work. I didn't have much patience like you. And simply rushed through the books. I'll reread them now.
I just wanted more of Saul. More days in his life, more time with him & Gloria & Charlie (and his interactions with the Light Brigade) before he became the catalyst for Area X.
Saul was the beginning and yet we get so little of him.
There were so many characters in this story that the important ones don't get the coverage they deserved to really connect with them.
Wow, very well done. Great explanation, great art, great job! Thank you.
I'm 4 years late but this is great! Just finished the books and wanted to hear someone elses take on it
Thank you so much for this. I just finished the series today but I was so confused by the way it ends. You did a great job at creating the plot timeline. I think i get most of how the story pans out now.
Thank you so much for this video! I was so confused by books two and three, and now I understand them much better. :D
Omg it ended kinda abruptly!! I was so invested!
I like to think that Saul's sermon was somehow him trying to prevent area x from expanding. What happened when the crawler reached the bottom of the tunnel is the border expanded. I'm going to reread the series again with the extra context of absolution and see if there's any more buried in the subtext that backs this up.
I’m so high watching this rn and I got the munchies, gonna eat some dried mango slices
Wtf that was the most perfect square drawing I've ever seen
Wonderful explanation. Thank you so much for posting. You filled in so many gaps for me. In fact, I'm now re-reading the trilogy with much greater insight and enjoyment because of you. Thanks again. 🙂
Pretty solid summary, though there are a few of tour theories that I disagree with. However, I think that is the fun of this series; it is so open-ended that any number of explanations are possible. Thanks for sharing!
A few of *your* theories.
Thanks for the kind words! It's fun to debate about the theories and I wouldn't be surprised if I imagined some of the details myself :).
@@JennieChen as i reread the part about Saul's fall, your theory on him creating the border rings even more true... .
Amazing and well organized analysis, and your art is fantastic! This is maybe my favorite trilogy I’ve ever read and this video is tiding me over until I re-read it again.
It was left on a very open end whether the owl on Island X was truly the Biologist's husband, because Ghost Bird compared the validity of "owl=husband" to the Biologist's beliefs of S&SB, reaching the conclusion that both were innacurate.
Good video 👍
Then, I disagree with the phone being something used for Whitby to communicate with Lowry, because Area X was always described as being beyond humans, the Biologist and Ghost Bird saying how Area X can manipulate matter, so it seems unlikely such a being would need the best of human minds.
Agreed, that was one hypothesis I had as I otherwise couldn’t get what the purpose of the phone is
Great explanation, I'm glad you pointed out some things I missed and also affirmed some theories I had jumbling in my head :D
On my second read through now and didn't get the tower/tunnel/crawler being saul's body and brain until a reddit post I stumbled upon a few days ago. Apparently I'm behind you and everyone else on interpreting!
This became my favorite trilogy of all time. I’ve been trying to find something to scratch that same itch the Southern Reach series scratched but haven’t quite found it yet. Thanks for making this.
You should read Roadside Picnic
@@Justegarde I’ll check it out. Thank you
Well hey a new book absolution is here
@@ka-boom2083 what!!???
@@jayst yes a new book is out, I read it. We get some new revelations about area X’s creator and purpose, but there‘a also a new layer of mystery
This is so good, thanks. Got super interested into these plots but still left confused haha
Thank you for this! It's such a wonderfully mysterious story and I hope I can find more books like this
This is great, Jennie! Well done!
I'm so glad you made this, after I finished the last book I was totally lost and you've at least salvaged some understanding of the story and I don't feel as if I had wasted all that time reading it.
I don't think my reading comprehension style is good at picking up on such loosely connected clues spread between three books
Thank you. Glad you found it helpful!
Saaaaaame
saw the movie and had some questions. now I have way more questions :)
Jennie! Thank you!!
I've just finished Acceptance. I had read Dead Astronauts first... back in April (and then Borne).
Have you detected the pattern I detected???? John = Chen / Grace = Grayson / Ghost = Moss.... Holding ponds by the company... Holding ponds by Southern Reach Building.... The Beacon in the Strange Bird.... The Beacon in the LightHouse... biological distortions... Might Borne Series (Dead Astronauts included) be, in fact, a long future after Area X expanded and multidimensionalized everything? 😨😱
Hey! Thank you, this was a useful video. Doesnt get enough views for how well done it is. I'm here to correct that!
Thanks for the video! This really helped me figure out the books for me in such a clear manner
Thank you for this. Great job I agree with most of your views on the novels events. Very insightful and entertaining. Thanks again.
Very good plot summary, indeed. Thank you!
all the awards and popularity aside, for a moment, having read Annihilation and Authority - it comes across as a mashup of Alien (1979) with bits of Orwellian doom.
Great video - finished the trilogy a couple of weeks ago and was super confused, this really cleared things up!
Thank you! Glad it helped.
I'm a bit late to the party here having just finished the Southern Reach trilogy, but thanks for making this video! It was really interesting to watch (I love the diagrams, the visuals helped me personally) and it correlates with most of what I thought happened so it's good to know I was in the right direction thoughts-wise. I differ on a couple of opinions - for example, I'm not sure the owl is actually the biologist's husband - but it's nice to hear other theories, and that's the beauty of the book! I was wondering about the shark Lowry - I know Control compared him to a shark prior to his visit to Area X, but I didn't make the link until seeing this. An interesting idea! I'd love to see a similar video on the Dark Tower series in the future if you're open to suggestions for future content :) thanks again!
I just finished Acceptance and I love the trilogy. Thank you for your breakdown, it help to fill in the gaps I may have missed.
Question: who was the person who turned into the flying creature in Authority. One of the tapes Control reviewed and saw someone flying with the camera.
Wow - great vid and super clear and concise. I have a number of questions for you - hope you dont mind ;)
1. Is it too simplistic to assume that Saul is the Crawler? Appreciate this is a blunt/basic question - but I was left with the impression that he was beginning to transform into the Crawler, the moment after he spotted Henry at the bar/when everything went sideways. And of course the sermon/prose from the tower started to erupt out of him so I had always thought it was Saul.
2. Is the ominous flying rip in the sky/ribbon/ripple in the sky the Director? I got this from the passages about her soaring over Area X and being nowhere and everywhere at the same...and obviously that her body transformed into something following her 'death' at the end of Annihilation.
3. How was the original Biologist considered a weapon to Area X by the Director? Did the Director plan to hypnotise the Biologist to get her to attempt to either engage the Crawler or reach the light at the bottom of the tower?
4. If the alien particles(?) were embedded and inert in the lens of the lighthouse - was it Henry that somehow activated them? How did he know, where did Henry get his knowledge from? Was it something to do with the distant look in his eye as he was speaking to Saul, where it is described as if he is receiving a message from a vast distance etc?
5. What is the connection between the blossom of light at the bottom of the tower in Area X, and the curving ball of light that Saul finds at the top of the lighthouse next to the lens? Are they portals - does one lead to the other? I got the impression that Saul was looking into an alternative lighthouse room with the stacked pile of journals from Area X, potentially in a different time....
6. Is Area X actually not on Earth? This kind of blew my mind, I should have seen it coming but I didn't ever consider it. Was this confirmed beyond Grace and Ghost Bird discussing it?
7. I really missed the significance of the cellphone. Was it a specimen from Lowry's expedition? Is it somehow alive?!
8. Is Whitby the original or the clone!? The only evidence that he is the original (i think) is the description of him strangling the other Whitby, and that version being strangled having a totally calm and serene expression as he/it is being killed.... but then I got a growing impression that the Whitby left behind was a product of Area X/ the clone - and acted as a beacon.....
9. The splinter; this is the damaged shard of the lens with the inert Area X particle in it - that contains a9. mysterious light, that Saul touches....is this the trigger to creating Area X and how does it relate to the creation of the border? Does the border expand out of Saul as he transforms - or is curving light at the top of the lighthouse a portal into an already created, distant copy of the forgotten coast (Area X)....slight duplication/overlap with #5
- I saw your questions on Reddit :0
@@AlbertusSalvatierra Ha, I was obsessed with finding answers !
That’s why us wasn’t sure weather or not to read book 2 or 3 first
Like- I was told to read from Acceptance, Annihilation, and then Authority
This made me feel like re-reading the last two books of the trilogy. I loved Annihilation and I read it two times, but the other two I didn't find as good... maybe If I read them again they'll grow on me.
That's so interesting! I liked annihilation but it felt a bit dry which i took as being the biologists thoughts and point of view. Things REALLY start picking up for me on books 2 and 3.
It's probably because I'm a biology student myself so I related to the biologist a lot! :) And maybe the fact I read Authority and Acceptance on ebook played a role.
I'll see if I can find them second hand so I can read them on paper.
Acceptance was my fav by far
did they ever explain what the massive unknown entity in the footage control watches is? also the "giant reptiles" are talked about a bunch in the first book then completely dropped..?
I think it might be some sort of manifestation of the crawler, as the crawler is described by control in the final book as he goes down the tower the same way that he described the massive creature
It could be The Biologist. She is not localized in spacetime.
Also, a detail I don't see people point out as much is the "door" that leads into Area X. If Saul created the border, did Area X puncture a hole in it with a door?
Great job! I only read the last book once but didn't they come in contact with a large monster in the sky also? And what about that eerie video recording of a massive monster attacking one of the expeditions? Curious what your thoughts are on that?
I would need to revisit but honestly I was lost on many of the pieces as well and couldn't keep up with the full picture. :)
Ma'am, can you help me with something? I've been wondering about a very important part in the second book. when the protagonist Control (*spoiler*) watches a VHS about a expedition and suddently THE FRICKING BACKGROUND starts moving.
Control was in shock afterwards, as if he was shown some forbidden truth about the world (very lovecraftian), but what do you think it was?: The background moving, was it the camera malfunctioning, the clouds or a Great Old One?
Hi Jennie: This was VERY helpful. I appreciate it. Perfect for me because i read the entire trilogy but was confused towards the end of the last volume. I really loved the first two volumes - - unfortunately things kind of fell apart for me in volume 3. IMO there is too much timeline plot pushed into volume 3 - maybe about 80 or 90% of the true timeline, right? Part 2, Authority, was actually my favorite. For me, Control was the most relatable character. I enjoyed the movie which I watched before I read the trilogy. The psychologist in particular was perfectly cast (JJL). Thanks again for this terrific video.
Control, Ghost bird and Grace met at the second (old) lighthouse, thats where they met the Original Biologist
I'm curious about the ending when Control jumps into the white light at the bottom of the Tower. Ghost Bird says she feels a shift in Area X and agrees with, I forget exactly who, suggested Area X could be changed. I wonder if this worked as a sacrifice, and by fully giving in to Area X, which others had tried to fight against and turned into 'monsters,' now allows the Area X intelligence to better mimic Earth's biologies and expand. I think that because the end seems to suggest there is no more border. And now Area X can engulf the entire planet. 🤷♂ Further evidence is from an earlier passage when Saul sees Henry at the lighthouse and the passage goes: And words erupted from him, but not aloud. 'And God said let there be light. God said that Saul, and He has come from so far away, and His home is gone, but His purpose remains. Would you deny Him His new kingdom?'
this is so well done! i just finished reading the whole trilogy and have been reading a lot theories and explanations on the southern reach subreddit. i'm hoping to reread it again sometime in the future. are there any other book recommendations similar to the southern reach trilogy?
Syafiza Habib Same here! I like his writing a lot and thought his other novels could be great as well. I’m currently checking out the three-body problem trilogy. Will see how it goes.
@@JennieChen Well, how did it go?
The books take a slight influence from Roadside picnic, you might want to start there and there's a bunch of similar ones down that path like an H.P lovecraft book/newly released movie called Colour out of space.
Wow this is an amazing video! Helped me understand this awesome yet confusing trilogy, thanks!
Welcome old timers that forgot, and new people who are going to enjoy a wonderful world. =)
outstanding job! helped clear some of the events up for me (and i'm on my sixth read-through of the trilogy!), however, i would disagree with your interpretation on some of the minor plot points (that others have already pointed out below). That being said, over all you have done a magnificent job...might i make a suggestion? perhaps tone down the reverb in your recording app as it can get a little grating at times. Would love to see you do something with vandermeer's "Borne" and its sidequel whose title i forget but remember having something to do with a bird?
Thanks for the suggestion! I've also noticed the echo issue. Would love to read more of his book and other sci-fi in the future!
I would love an Authority movie adaptation with Severance (TV series) style aesthetics and directed by David Lynch.
Hi Jennie. If you ever happen to read "The Gone World" by Tom Sweterlitsch - I would LOVE to see an animated explanation video by you. I just finished reading it and my head is spinning 😆
Do you think who is the other woman with stay Henry and suzanne at the lighthouse ?
I'm thinking it was Jackie Severn.. "Controls" mother...
Excellent video!
Best recap!! Thank you!
Wonderful explanation
Fantastic video, I know I’m late to the game but I just finished the series last week and just started rereading it with a better understanding of the events now. I just wanted to see if you’ve made this graphic available anywhere online? I love it and think it would make a great poster! Thank you again!
I finished it yesterday. glad to know people are still reading it 👍
Thank you! I don’t have any graphic saved outside of video format. Hopefully a screenshot would do?
You did an amazing job on this! Thank you so much
Do you think the portal that takes the expeditions to the Area X is actually a wormhole to another planet? There is a reference to this in the third book when Grace, Control and Ghost Bird realize that the time is passing differently in Area X and that the stars are different from the stars they know. Also, if this is true, than what is inside Area X that is on Earth? And how is assimilation possible in that case? The border is expanding and Area X is getting bigger which means everything from the assimilated parts of Earth is now existing on another planet, but then what is left on Earth?
They hint at this. Basically where area X is on earth is actually the ruins of their old planet. Remember when they cross the wormhole they see the ruins of cities and bodies etc. Anyone who crosses the border ends up in those ruins and presumably die.
@@matthewrayson9340 thanks, that makes sense...
*footage. Never "a footage," as it is a mass, non-countable noun.
Its all there, I just needed some help to tie "events" together....the theory is what's bugging me now.
What made you come to the conclusion Lowry was communicating with area x using the cell phone? It makes sense, but I just would like to know what I missed to fill in the gaps. Amazing video with great illustrations btw!
The final conversation between Gloria and Lowry strongly hints at this. Lowry doesn't want anything to do with the phone and starts freaking out when Gloria shows him just a picture of it and starts guessing that maybe Area X wants to talk to him. The phone also seems not to work at all, which might suggest that it only works for Lowry. Also, he does confirm that it is his own cell phone that he had initially brought in.
3rd book when areaX expands is the craziest thing I’ve ever read.. people going schizo while alarms are triggered and people have to ignore the second mind they have been given while trying to get out., it’s nuts.
Not through the whole video yet but had to point out a mistake - the photo is not of Saul, Gloria and Charlie but of Saul, Gloria and Brad who is a minor character who supposedly assisted Saul as part of his parole or smt like that.
Great video thanks for the explanations.
This was really cool, nice work.
Thank you so much for this video, i really needed this
Your awesome!!! Good work breaking the books down.
Ive only seen the movie which is more of its own thing. This was a fun watch.
I don't get it yet. Too much why's and not much answers
Hey thank you so much for the video! I was wondering what you thought about Control finding out someone was in the Directors house. Do you think the copy of the Director came back as early as the others? Or do you think it is another character going into the Directors old house to add notes and maps? 🤔
Thank you! Hmm this detail escaped me. I don't have a theory for it. You could be right!