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| First of all, this is a "head shot," and that makes sense because the "head" often symbolizes government: the head governs the functions of your body, and the leader of a country is often referred to as the "head of government" so this is one head of government (Vortigern) who has usurped another head of government (Arthur, his poster is the very last image in this post, so you can scroll down to compare them). So, what is this "head" draped in? The signs of power. There is the crown (and we will discuss that crown further down) and chain mail, which is a sign of war. The chain mail is worn when going into battle, and as a usurper to the rightful heir, Vortigern has certainly fought for his position (we saw something similar in the film Gods Of Egypt with Gerard Butler's Set as well as Ravenna [Charlize Theron] in Snow White and the Huntsman). Besides the militaristic nature of Vortigern's government, there is also the other obvious trait of the chain mail: it conceals everything, in other words, there is no transparency. Because the head is where our thinking takes place, anything on the head symbolizes our thoughts and what it is, or how it is, that we think: in Vortigern's case, his thoughts are about using power (the chain mail) to keep his crown (the crown is also on his head). Because of the chain mail,we can't see anything besides that which Vortigern wants us to see; such is the breeding ground of corruption, when rulers do not allow anyone to see how they use their power, and the people can't put a check on the powers over them (we will discuss this in more detail below with the theme of Satanism). Besides the chain mail being a "cover," there is also the issue that Vortigern's ears are covered; ears usually symbolize a person's ability to hear the truth: does the person just hear what they want to? Does the person drown out what everyone else is saying? Does the person not have the slightest idea what truth is? Then, of course, there is the back of Vortigern's head which is also covered, and we might say this symbolizes his past, which he has reasons for not wanting anyone to know (if you think that's odd, remember, Barack Hussein Obama spent $4 million dollars just to seal his college transcripts). What about the eyes? "Eyebrows" are an interesting feature to interpret because they consist of hair, and for that reason, link the eyes to the mind and our thoughts, but because they are directly over our eyes, they form a part of our eyes also. Please note, in the inner-most corners of Vortigern's eyes, on either side of his nose, how it's black, and the eyebrows link that darkness in the corners to expand it over the top of his eyes. The eyes themselves are, as we all know, "the windows of the soul," and so what we see in a character's eyes tells us about their soul and its state (a state of sin, a state of grace, sadness, etc.); eyes, however, can also relate how that character sees the world around them (as with Hela, portrayed by Cate Blanchett in the upcoming Thor: Ragnorak). These blackened corners suggest that Vortigern's soul is blackened as well (without completely blacking out his eyes and making it look totally unbelievable). This is substantiated by his neck: the neck symbolizes that which leads us in life (a "leash" can be put around our neck) and Vortigern's is completely black, meaning darkness guides him (Vortigern has made some kind of a deal with the devil in exchange for power). Because the word "HEART" is also written over this darkened area, we can safely say that Vortigern's heart is black as well as his neck. What about his mouth? His lips are pale, as if they are chapped, and that pale color suggests a degree of death, as in, he has an appetite for death, and his face is also pale, suggesting the pallor of a corpse. One of the details about the film expressed below is that Vortigern is the only person allowed to wear the color white. Symbolically, "white" either means that a person is alive with the virtues of faith, innocence, purity, or that a person is alive to the world and their appetites and is, thus, dead to faith, dead to innocence and dead to purity (a dead body turns white if it hasn't been treated with embalming practices). Vortigern doesn't allow anyone to wear white as a means of keeping people from expressing their faith in God; it's a simple tactic to distance people away from their religion so they are easier to control and lead into sin, just as Vortigern has gone into sin and darkness. What about facial hair? This is tricky, because usually facial hair on a man signifies that he's a man of his appetites: the Romans in ancient times shaved their faces, and distinguished themselves from the "barbarian" men who did not shave their face, especially after Christianity began to spread, beards were associated with pagans. Later, however, Christian hermits and holy men who had retreated away from the world had beards and facial hair came to symbolize wisdom, especially on old men. With Vortigern, he's got a "five o'clock shadow," and given the other areas of darkness on his face (the corners of his eyes and his neck area), I think it's safe to say that Vortigern is a man of the appetites. What does "Temptation Blackens the Heart" mean? These four words reveal quite a bit about Vortigern: "Temptation" doesn't blacken the heart, "sin" blackens the heart. Temptation is the means by which we are taught what sin is and how to resist it; temptation is meant to be resisted, in other words, as well as building up our spiritual strengths: the saints are constantly under spiritual assault from the devil, but by their will united to Christ's, and the Grace they receive from God, they resist (as do we all); so it's not temptation which blackens the heart, just when we give into that temptation, which leads us to Vortigern: he obviously believes that if temptation presents itself, you automatically give into it and there is no such thing as resisting (you do not have the free will to resist). This reveals to us that Vortigern, believing all people to be weak and easily manipulated, is himself weak and easily manipulated by others and circumstances. |
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| Ritchie is a genius when it comes to small details. Please note, in the top image, how Vortigern is by an unlit candle; then notice how, in the second image, Guinevere has three lit candles off to her right (the upper-right corner of the image). The light is symbolic of the light of "illumination," that is, the light of wisdom, but also the illumination of the soul with virtue. Between Vortigern in the top image, and Guinevere in the center, note how sunlight falls on Vortigern's face (and there is a window at his back) but how light falls on Guinvere's back and she receives the light she is in need of from the lit candles. I don't know what is taking place in either scene, but it suggests (in the top image) that Vortigern has been "illuminated" about something (the sunlight falling on him) even though he isn't capable of reflecting/meditating upon what that illumination actually means (the window behind him symbolizes reflection). For example, if Vortigern has been informed of Arthur, Vortigern might be saying, "Find him!" and just thinking about having him put to death (like the chain mail over his head in the poster at the top of this post) without realizing that Arthur is going to put Vortigern to death for usurping his throne. In the middle image, we know Guinevere says, "You're starting to mean something. You are no longer just a myth," and that "illumination" comes from within her (the lighted candles) that she's able to communicate to Arthur that which she has reflected and meditated upon (it'snot like they took a Gallup poll of English peasants and got the results in that 42% had started supporting Author, up from 35% the week before). The light at her back suggests that she speaks from the "light of experience," that what she has learned from the past (maybe a failed attempt at overthrowing Vortigern) gives her understanding of what has changed since Arthur has pulled the sword and has resisted Vortigern publicly. On a different note, in the bottom image, there is a pitcher and a cup there by Arthur as he sleeps in his dungeon cell. Why? This is going to be a rather complicated image to decode, one because water itself is a difficult symbol (I am assuming the prisoner has not been given wine to enjoy while he's in his cell) but also because it can act as food, rather than just water. It's also possible that there is a water pitcher and cup, but it's empty, which would warrant its own different interpretation. So, on the one hand, let's assume there is water in the pitcher and cup: just interpreting the water, it represents consciousness, that Arthur will develop a new "awareness" in his conscience about what takes place in this scene (like why Vortgern hates him so much, or why Vortigern is so evil, etc.). It's also possible that Arthur becomes more conscious about himself (maybe this is the first time Arthur finds out that he is, really, Uther's son and Vortigern his uncle). Then, it's also possible to interpret the water pitcher as being a sign of grace. Something happens to Arthur (or, perhaps, doesn't happen) and the water there (which is also a sign of baptism) reveals for us looking for it that Arthur is in a state of grace and that's why he behaves the way he does in this particular scene. (Hypothetically, let's say Arthur is given wine in his cell: this would be a sign of the Blood of Christ, the true King Arthur, being drawn closer to the True King Jesus Christ, and thereby, Arthur fulfilling his destiny). Then, there is the consideration that the water function, not as water, nor as a sign of sacramental grace, rather, as food and drink, in which case, because food/drink symbolizes that which we take in and digest, we absorb it and make it a part of ourselves (or we don't, if we don't eat/drink it) then perhaps Arthur sees something in Vortigern that makes Arthur realize something about himself (like Vortigern's hunger for power, or Vortigern's thought of what kind of man Arthur would have become if his parents had lived and he had grown-up in court) or Arthur learns something about Vortigern that he can use against Vortigern latter. All of these are examples of tiny details which could potentially have big consequences of understanding what is truly happening in these scenes and, therefore, the characters and film as a whole. |
So, why is this important for today?
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| Two different types of kingship are at odds with each other in this narrative: it's not, however, the kingship of Uther and Vortigern, rather, the future those two men will usher in. Uther is the sign of what Arthur's kingship will be and what Arthur will represent and fight for; Vortigern is the sign of occult power and behind-the-scenes machinations, like this figure of him at the bottom (there is a similar image in The Cure For Wellness, with the head doctor wearing a deer's head during a sex rite of an occult ceremony). With the scene of Uther, his queen and young Arthur above, we can tell by the colors Uther wears what his values are: wisdom (his blue tunic), love (the red coverlet) and family. The gold band around his arm is a sign of the virtue of his kingship: arms symbolize strength, and gold symbolizes the king, so Uther probably uses restraint in his governance, unlike Vortigern. In the second image, did you notice how Vortigern put the crown upon his own head? That's not how crownings are done, at least, not how legitimate crownings are done: a high-ranking member of the Church puts the crown upon the monarch's head in demonstration that the monarch's rule is a sign of God's Will and all people should accept it. Vortigern putting the crown upon his own head clearly illustrates this is not an act of God's Will, but of Vortigern's will, and he is not supported by the Church, but is instead usurping the Church as well as the crown (usurping the Church with his pagan, satanic ceremonies in the image below). If we have any doubts as to what Vortigern's rule is, all we have to do is look at the soldiers' "Heil Hitler!" salute in the third image to clearly see the connecting to Nazi Germany. We shouldn't be surprised to see this: Ritchie's The Man From UNCLE started in Berlin, Germany and the main plot was trying to keep a band of Nazis post-World War II from getting a nuclear bomb. With the image at the bottom, let's consider the role of the occult/satanism that might be portrayed in the film. We know that the Democrat Party has severed themselves from God (remember the Democratic National Convention of 2012 when adding a statement about God to the official Democratic platform was booed three times by the crowd?) and added an extreme stand on abortion for the Party; we also know liberals are employing satanic spells and invocations against President Trump. So, we shouldn't be at all surprised to see Vortigern dressed in the guise of a devil-worshiper, or the demonic villain working on Vortigern's behalf. The more the Left aligns itself with evil, the less we are surprised. Remember, as well, Ritchie's use of occultism and Satanism in Sherlock Holmes, and how each of the leading members of the Temple Order were heading major departments of the government with massive political influence, so, again, we shouldn't be surprised to see Ritchie employing this theme once more. |
First, as you know, dear reader, history films are never, ever, never, ever, never, EVER about history: they are always about the here and the now. We, then, the viewers, are both the Children of Israel and the enslaved peasants of England, waiting for our deliverer, our modern Moses, our modern King Arthur, and he has been promised to us; why? Because we are oppressed. Both Ridley Scott in his Exodus, and Guy Ritchie in his King Arthur, see people today as being enslaved by tyrants who have intentionally sought to destroy our identities with gender-swapping (both the rise of transgenderism, homosexuality and oppressing masculinity and genuine femininity), with globalism destroying our national identities and our religion (with sin, Satanism and secular humanism).
What is the second reason?
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| In the very first trailer released for the film, one of the first things we hear Arthur say is, 'I woke up," and, indeed, we see people (especially Arthur) sleeping frequently throughout the material which has been released. In the top image, it's Uther waking up his queen when they are under attack, and in the second image, Uther lifting the sleeping boy Arthur from his bed to carry him to safety. There are at least two different instances when we see Arthur sleeping in his bed (the middle image) and then the two last images as well. Why? Over the past several years, the call to "Wake up!" has become politicized (we even heard it in Divergent when Tris tried to wake up her friends who had been hypnotized to do the government's bidding) so we can interpret it as England (or the free world) waking up to what was really going on with the "Vortigerns" of the world trying to take over. Then there is the real possibility that who needs to "wake up" are white men, like Arthur, the ones who are having their power usurped and losing their identity. Last, but certainly not least, there is an important detail in Captain America:Civil War: you may recall Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) who was the love of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and him receiving a text saying, "She died in her sleep," referring to the manner of death of Carter's passing. Carter very much illustrated the relationship between America and Great Britain, and this manner of death (which took place before the Brexit vote) was something of a warning prophecy that, if England didn't wake up and see what was happening to it, they would die in their own political sleep of inactivity. We may see Ritchie repeating the same warning here. Then there is the symbolism of "sleeping." Sleep symbolizes death, and, as we know, there is good death and bad death: there is also the theme of resurrection involved in sleeping. Each time we see a character during the film (especially Arthur) fall asleep/wake up, it's a moment when we need to ask why, and what transformation is the character under-going in "waking up?"The reason this is important, will be further discussed below with the advancement of Arthur's spirituality. |
Is there anything more masculine than King Arthur and his sword Excalibur? Then the Knights of the Round Table? The history of chivalry is the history of what it means to be a man, among men, to other men and women and children. As we know, a horrible and constant assault has been waged against masculinity, so that now, the word "toxic" seems to be always attached to masculinity, making masculinity appear to be inherently anti-social and anti-everyone-else-in-the-world. What Ritchie is doing, along with Ridley Scott (and we will likely see this in Michael Bay's Transformers: the Last Knight as well), is saying, males (especially white males who are under such strenuous attack) have had a code of morality and that morality has been undermined: men have been led astray--sometimes by their own free will--but now that morality needs to be relearned for the sake of the order of the entire world: we haven't seen a single "knight," in the sense which we understand it today, in any of the footage released heretofore; why not? The virtues of chivalry have been choked to death by the weeds of sin: because men allowed themselves to be led by the "easy life" of adultery and skipping out on their responsibility for getting women pregnant, having addictions such as drunkenness, drugs and pornography, allowing the divorce rate to skyrocket and living with a woman rather than marrying her, as well as tolerating the viral spread of homosexuality, have all undermined man's role in society, in the US and the world, which leads us to the third reason.
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| When Vortigern sits in Arthur's cell with him, Vortigern asks rhetorically, "What kind of man would you have become if you had inherited your father's kingdom, instead of being brought up in a brothel?" and, by the costumes being worn, we know exactly what kind of man Arthur would have become: worse than Vortigern. Fur is a sign of animal appetites and passions, the lower or base instincts we have in life and pursuing pleasure. Please note the furs the king and queen wear (the second image down) and how the child Arthur wears a full, thick fur coat completely covering him. That is our answer right there: he would have been given everything and worked for nothing. In the fourth image down, we can see Arthur fighting in the court and wearing a fur vest, suggesting that, his hard life has helped him "work off" or overcome the full fur coat he wore when he was found by the three women, but there is still quite a bit Arthur has to overcome. In the bottom image, however, we see Arthur successful, as he has exchanged the fur for sheep's skin, making him a "lamb of God," and a king willing to sacrifice for his people, instead of the people sacrificing for him and his pleasures. Note, too, how often we see Vortigern wearing fur, as in the top image, and the fur being white (an appetite for things that will not be holy, innocent or pure, but of worldly desires that will lead to the death of his soul). So, how characters wear fur in the film will provide us with important details about their psychological make-up and how--if at all--Ritchie works through their conversions to higher values and aspirations. |
The third reason is the Divine, and the way in which the Divine manifests Himself (yes, I, a woman, freely choose to use the masculine gender-designation for a male God, not a feminist female-gendered god or a genderless god, or an all-inclusive god, but the male God who took upon Himself the identity of Jesus Christ). Just as there is a natural law ordering all things to balance and harmony, so there is the Divine Law above the natural law, including the role of men in the family and society as ordained by God. Feminists label this order with two terms: "phallogocentrism" and "patriarchy" (two terms I will be employing far more often in the future). Minorities, especially women, have used these two terms as weapons since the 1960s, to great effect, causing men to shrink back from leadership roles and make massive concessions because of the "social harms" created by (white, heterosexual, Christian) males. Ritchie, Scott and Bay, however, far from cowering under these feminist accusations, have seen what has happened to the world when there is no phallocentrism, logocentrisim or patriarchy, and are now going to use those very same terms as weapons to protect men (please see the caption below for further discussion). So, these are important themes we shall see in King Arthur: Legend Of the Sword and, while we haven't even begun to exhaust these themes, we have a better understanding now that they have been identified.
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| So far, we have only heard Uther say two things: "I need you to do as I say," to his wife, and then, to Arthur, "Run, son!" both signifying his role as a patriarch. The reason Uther saying, "I need you to do as I say," is because Uther is basically telling the queen, "I need you to exercise obedience to me," which is basically the most horrible thing a man can say in today's hyper-feminist world where Liberal women have taught society that women should not be obedient to their husbands because everything their husbands do is done only to advance the husband's power over his wife, not help her. As a woman myself, I completely disagree with this expedient form of political propaganda women employ to insist they have been oppressed. The reason this is going to be important, dear reader, is because of who the queen is. We know that women of child-bearing age (as opposed to much older women beyond child-bearing capacity, or girls not yet old enough to bear a child) symbolize "the motherland," the land who literally gives birth to us and provides us with our home and a fair portion of our identities. So, as the symbolic incarnation of England, who we know is about to die (we see her drop dead backwards and know Arthur is orphaned) and that no one dies unless they are "all ready dead" or they have sacrificed themselves or another/a greater good, the HUGE point of this scene is, was the queen obedient to Uther? Does she do exactly as he says, OR does she act like a feminist and do what she wants to do? There will be an extremely important correlation established between the queen, Arthur's mother, and Guinevere, the Mage, because Guinevere is likely to become queen (Ritchie might have something up his sleeve with this, because, at this point, she's still just referred to as "The Mage," not Guinevere, so we will have to keep that in mind watching the film) and if Guinevere exhibits behavior(s) similar to what we see in the queen, then we know, also, that Guinevere is also "dead," following the same path as the dead queen. If obedience is so bad, why does Uther expect the queen to be obedient to him? Love. When a person loves you, they want what is best for you, and because of their love for you, they will be better able to decide how to help, nurture and protect you than you can for yourself because we do not have the proper love-of-self which we ought to have; so, when someone loves us, we owe them our obedience (the way children owe obedience to their parents because the parents love the children more than do the children love themselves, so the parents know what is best for them; the problem with this analogy is, it does, indeed, make feminists feel like children that they don't have a proper self-love, so feminists prefer to deny the existence of love altogether, rather than open up the possibility of legitimate obedience in a relationship). In the second image, we have the exact opposite of "obedience-through-love" and that is "subjection-through-fear." Love and obedience are associated with capitalism because capitalism/democracy are based upon a person's free will whereas socialism is always associated with determination because socialists hold that one, humans are just animals, and we aren't capable of making decisions (even IF we did have free will, we wouldn't be capable of using it) and, two, the state must be all-powerful in order to make the "necessary changes" for socialism to take root (read: seize all property, assets and currencies so there will be no one higher than the people in the government and everyone instantly becomes a member of the lower-class). Vortigern is a dictator who thrives on the fear of the people beneath him, and this is typically what happens in socialist countries (Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pott, Pinochet, Castro, Mao, the dictators of North Korea and Vietnam, etc.) where there is no freedom and people are treated like the animals the socialist leaders believe they are (consider this note recently found in a purse from a Chinese prisoner writing for help). Just as Vortigern kills Uther in the film, so we all know how socialism throughout the world is trying to kill capitalism and democracy, and Vortigern is exactly how that will look. So, how do we overcome these socialist tendencies in global politics? The return of the phallus, in the third image above. Just as Excalibur rallies the political resistance to Vortigern around Arthur, so it is the only reality which can stand against the fabrications of the socialist movement; how? Example. People need examples of exemplary behavior, and then they, too, shall follow, but if a man be of lax morality, the whole world will go to rot, and that is exactly what is happening. The bottom image, when Arthur takes up Excalibur and all the stones which have been broken up rise up off the ground and suddenly become weapons, symbolizes us, the people, the patriots willing to fight for our country, but also in need of leadership. Perhaps you have noticed that, in the two posters of Vortigern and Arthur, there is a stone behind that which has some chunks of rock taken out: those missing rocks are the rocks we see in the lower image above, and they symbolize us, just as the larger slabs of stone symbolize the "Founding Fathers" and the foundation for rule, law and society which is the right and duty of Founding Fathers to lay down; the question is, who will prevail as the Founding Father, Arthur or Vortigern? |
Where to begin?
Let's start with Vortigern.
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| This is truly a fascinating development in the narrative, and one we will not be able to exploit sufficiently in terms of interpretation. Whereas Uther has a son, Arthur, Vortigern has a daughter, Princess Catia (her name might be a reference to Katia von Dees in Hitman: Agent 47, but we will have to see). It's my understanding that Maid Maggie (Annabelle Wallis) is the nurse to Princess Catia, who is protected like "a little bird." If you look at the left side of this image, you will see a bird cage, which probably symbolizes Catia who appears to be dead. So, whereas Uther's son was exposed to probably some of the worst things Londonium had to throw at a child, Arthur survived and thrived, whereas Catia, protected from everything and pampered, dies. Does this sound familiar to you? Uther, as the rightful king, is the protector of the status quo, with his son going on and learning through suffering, not being protected, much like capitalism. Catia, on the other hand, not learning any survival skills, isn't strong enough to face whatever it is that kills her (probably Guinevere) which is like socialism. I could be very wrong and everything goes in the exact opposite direction, however, socialism tends to favor women, and it advertises that it protects people with authoritarian governments, whereas capitalism has less government and encourages people to become self-sufficient like Arthur and his "lads." |
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| How did I NOT catch this before? The top shot is to establish the scene the two detail shots beneath it are coming from; if you will notice, along the breast strap for his cape there is a beetle (center image) on it and then there is also a beetle (lower image) on the crown he wears. There is a myriad possible symbols for the beetle, because they have been around for thousands of years and they have carried with them meanings from a variety of ancient cultures, but let's at least look at one:in the book of Exodus, the locust is one of the ten plagues sent upon Egypt by God through Moses, but in actuality, it was more likely a beetle (because of the translation). The beetle entered into the house of Pharaoh and defiled Pharaoh's house, but the land of Goshen where the Children of Israel was not defiled. Given the obvious Satanic references we see in the trailers, and the prominent displaying of the beetle upon Vortigern's crown and armory, we can--at least at this point--deduce that Vortigern himself is the plague, sent upon the people of England for their sins until the new "Messiah" comes to deliver them (Arthur, like Moses for Israel). So, any reference we see to beetles, will be a reference to Vortigern, and elucidate for us something about his character and what he is to England, as the beetle was to Israel. |
The Mages, which includes Guinevere, are a race of magically gifted people. There is more magic than what I thought there was going to be in the film, and that includes the sword itself (more on that in a moment). It's interesting because trailer two is the first time we have heard Guinevere speak (although we saw her in the first trailer), and writer/director Guy Ritchie allowed Astrid Berges-Frisbey to retain her French accent instead of employing an English accent. Knowing Ritche, this was well-thought out and there is a reason for it (when I first heard her voice, she reminded me of Lea Seydoux's Madeline in the James Bond film Spectre) and possibly was done to emphasize the differences between Arthur and Guinevere because, sadly, we live in a time when the Left is attempting to erase all differences between male and female, and Guinevere's accent reminds us that she and Arthur are quite different.
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| There are at least two reasons for Ritchie to have Arthur raised by three prostitutes: first, it's actually an homage to the original story (and the film Excalibur) because all three women who were closet to Arthur were adulteresses: Igrayne, the woman who gave birth to Arthur (though she was married to another man), Guinevere, who married Arthur but slept with Lancelot, and Morgana, his half-sister, who took on Guinevere's likeness and slept with Arthur. These three women are known as the "Three Queens" or Arthurian legend. Not taking that road of the narrative, Ritchie does something else instead, which is genius (and our second point): by putting Arthur in an actual brothel, Arthur grows up surrounded by feminism. The three whores are very much like "sexually-liberated" feminists of today: sleeping with whoever, whenever and not uniting themselves to one man to have a family. As we watch the scenes involving them, ask yourself the question of how--if at all, because I could be wrong about this--the three prostitutes remind you of feminism today and what effect that has on Arthur and how he views women. |
Merlin does appear in King Arthur: Legend Of the Sword, and he does have an effect on how events take a turn, however, he and Arthur don't meet and there certainly isn't any kind of friendship between them at this point. The same is true with other famed knights of the Round Table: we won't meet Galahad, Gawain, Percival, Lancelot or any of the others; why not? There is excellent speculation that this is going to turn into a franchise, and each of the knights, Merlin, too, will be given a stand alone film until they are mingled with Arthur and his adventures (like Marvel's Avengers). This was probably an excellent call, as Nicol Williamson's Merlin in Excalibur is a difficult act to follow, and taking time for a stand alone film with Merlin will give Ritchie's Merlin the edge over any other version. Introducing Lancelot to an audience on Lancelot's own terms will also create a far deeper character and a far greater burden between himself, Arthur and Guinevere.
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| Birds are obviously going to be important in the film. The top image appears in all three teasers; the snake the bird is carrying, I guess, is the snake we see in the second image: pretty impressive. The third image, which isn't very good, I apologize, is of birds flying out and away from the tower Vortigern builds, and then birds leaving a tree in the bottom image. Birds are, traditionally, one of the oldest symbols of the Holy Spirit, from the time when Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him as a dove. But just as some birds symbolize the Holy Spirit and life, other birds denote death (consider, for example, Ritchie's use of ravens in Sherlock Holmes as they were associated with the evil Blackwood. Snakes are a bit tricky to decode; why? To begin with, they usually represent sin, because of the serpent in the Garden of Eden; but because of said serpent, snakes can also symbolize knowledge (because it was from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that Adam and Eve partook, but also because the serpent knew how to tempt them). Then again, snakes can symbolize health and healing--because of the shedding of the skin and they are believed to live long lives--but this same shedding of the skin can make them a sign of resurrection (born again). But it gets even more complicated: do you remember when Moses commanded Aaron to throw down his staff and it turned to a snake, then ate the snakes Pharaoh's magicians created with their staffs? Of the great bronze serpent God commanded Moses to make and place on a pole so that all who had been bitten by the seraph serpents could look at the bronze serpent and live? These are some of the intricacies of dealing with snakes (although nine times out of ten, it references the Garden of Eden and sin). It's not probable, but it is possible, that the snake in King Arthur will function in a similar fashion as the "dragon" does in Excalibur (the film). There is way too much for me to explain that at this point, and if they aren't going to do that, there is no point in going into it anyway; so I'll save it. BUT, we know there is a snake and that it will be important. On a totally unrelated note, look, if you will, at the third image down, Vortigern's tower. If you recall in the second trailer, we see Uther's castle, and it's big, but it's mostly horizontal, whereas Vortigern's is smaller, but really tall; why? Uther's is meant for the people, for lots of people to come in, be sheltered and experience his generosity; Vortigern wants only a small, select few coming in, and he wants his tower to function as a sign of power and his might; it is, in other words, a substitute Excalibur, a phallus with no power but that of fear. |
Young Arthur is orphaned when his parents are killed and three prostitutes take him in, raising him in the brothel where they live,.... and work. This might not seem like such a big deal, however, it does signal one of the many ways which Ritchie breaks with canon (and, as long as it's Guy Ritchie doing it, I don't mind one bit). However, the "three" prostitutes, probably pays homage to the original three women, i.e., the "three queens," who were such a big part of Arthur's life and were, in fact, adultresses: Igrayne, with whom Uther Pendragon slept and beget Arthur; Morgana, Arthur's half-sister, who slept with Arthur and beget Mordred (who does, in fact, make an appearance in King Arthur, but we don't know if he is, in fact, Arthur's brother and son,... eeekkkk!!!!) and, of course, Guinevere, who married Arthur but slept with Lancelot.
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| In the image of Vortigern above (the poster at the top of the post), we discuss how Vortigern is a "head" of government who has usurped another head of another government, both Vortigern's brother, Uther Pendragon, and Arthur. Beheading is a particularly favorite means of execution in medieval times because it symbolically denotes the manner of the crime committed: you have committed a crime against the head of the government, so you will pay for your crime with your own head. This threat of beheading Arthur not only speaks about the nature of Arthur's crime against Vortigern (in Vortigern's eyes) but also the nature of the threat which Arthur poses to Vortigern: being an alternative "head" of government. This particular shot provides us with an interesting detail: Arthur's hair style. As we know, hair symbolizes our thoughts (because our head is where our thoughts originate, anything on the head reveals what those thoughts are or are about). Arthur has longer hair on top and shorter hair on the bottom, a kind of "stacked" hair cut. This probably means--and we won't really be able to say until we see Arthur in action--that Arthur is capable of thinking things through (the longer hair on top) but he's also comfortable going with his gut instinct and just acting on an impulse (the shorter hair on the bottom). It might perhaps mean that Arthur is capable of "seeing through" people and situations, that he is a good judge of character because he can see what is "underneath" (the shorter hair "under" the longer hair). At different times in each of the trailers above, there are moments when Arthur's hair has a few hairs out of place (instead of all slicked back) and that indicates that his thinking is harried, he's not thinking "straight" or clearly, he's confused, as when he's pulling the sword from the stone, and when we see his hair getting messed up, it's a good indication that interiorly, he's messed up, too. Up above, in the very first image of this post, the poster of Vortigern, we noted how Vortigern wears the chain mail; a reason for that is because chain mail can't be pierced, especially with a sword, so the poster communicates to us that Vortigern wants to make sure that what he is doing to Arthur--having Arthur beheaded in this scene above--will not happen to Vortigern. |
Ritchie had a runic language invented just for this film. We see some of the writing on the sword itself, and the language is used by the Mages and possibly some of those Satanic-cultic people/demons we see in other clips. Why is this important? Because it signals to us that language is important and we will have to "translate" the language being used, in other words, language won't be stable. Just as Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) looks for clues, so Ritchie invites us to look for clues, and just as someone will have to translate inscriptions, so we will have to translate the language of the film as well. There is, however, another dimension to this: The Mummy with Tom Cruise, also has a fabricated language, the "text" written on the face of Princess Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella). Why would two big films of 2017 have made-up languages in their stories? Because of the "made-up" language of the Left and their abuse of what words mean (like "racism" and "male" or "freedom" or "toxic," etc.).
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| EXCALIBUR comes from the old Irish meaning "hard belly," or "voracious." Doesn't sound like much of a glamorous sword, does it? Please look at the bottom image here: Vortigern holds Excalibur in his left hand (you can click on it to make it bigger) and his right hand rests upon his stomach; why? That's the nature of power itself: either you develop a voracious appetite for the benefits such great power can bestow and put within your reach, or you develop a hard belly to the temptations of appetites and refuse to partake in any of them. It's important to remember, Arthur is as much a tool of Excalibur, as Excalibur is a weapon of Arthur: "I wasn't controlling the sword," Arthur says, "it was controlling me." We might draw a similarity with another well-known English fantasy artifact, Bilbo Baggins' magic ring from The Hobbit. But because Arthur grows up on the streets, and Arthur has had to earn everything, especially respect of his peers, Arthur is not going to give into the powers of Excalibur, but he will allow himself to be the tool of something greater than himself, and this is why Excalibur yields to Arthur, it has been waiting for Arthur to draw him from the stone and rule (we might also compare Excalibur to Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) Cloak of Levitation). Let us consider for a moment the third image down from the top: let's call her "the lady of the lake," even though we don't absolutely know for certain that this is who she is in the story.Why have a "lady of the lake" at all? For one thing, it's the contra-opposition of Excalibur. Another meaning for the name of Excalibur is "cut steel," that is, the sword is so strong, it can cut through steel as easily as cutting through wood (and we do see Arthur use Excalibur to slice through the blades of all the soldiers). Water, on the other hand, is completely malleable, although still powerful. Steel and swords, because they are man-made, are associated with man; because water is natural, it's associated with women, and the lady of the lake is to the lake what Arthur is to England. It is imperative that Arthur encounter the lady of the lake because she represents true womanhood and femininity (not feminism) and her lighting the sword aflame as we see in the third image above denotes that men receive their masculinity and rite of manhood from a woman: in other words, man rules over woman because woman (the lady in the lake) bids him to do so (Arthur). Why? Because we would have chaos, otherwise, and that's exactly what we see in happening in the trailers and clips (especially so in the film Excalibur with the "rule of Morgana"). The lady in the lake then provides us with the perfect example of perfect womanhood and what women are called upon to do, and it is to her figure that we will compare the other women in the film and their roles regarding Arthur (Maid Maggie [Annabelle Wallis] and Guinevere, for example, but also the sirens we have seen). |
It has been verified that the sword King Arthur pulls from the stone is, indeed, called Excalibur. This is important for a couple of reasons: first, it links Ritchie's Arthur with canon, which he doesn't have to do, but he obviously wants that weight of authority on his side, and this does it. Second, as Gandalf tells Bilbo in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, only swords that have performed great deeds have been given names, and Excalibur is the sword above all other swords. So great is the power of Excalibur, Vortigern has a duplicate of the sword made in the film, but it's not nearly as powerful as Excalibur. My question is: does Vortigern try and pass off the phony sword as the real Excalibur and that's why, at the start of the second trailer he's so worried that the "sword has revealed itself now," he's going to be exposed as a fraud? Then, there is the all-important fact that Excalibur has a long history, and while feminists have tried taking his-story and literally re-writing it to make his-story her-story, now, men are pushing back to claim their history once more.
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| We have no idea who--or what--this hand is (it appears female, however, but I could be wrong), however, the meaning is clear: from the trials and suffering Arthur endures, from the hardship and battles he fights to make himself a better man, he will become a better man: in other words, the trials and hardships of life don't "soil" us (the mud), they cleanse us (the clean hand). This is why the hand grabs the arm (of Arthur): arms symbolize our strength, that which strengthens us, and hands symbolize our honor (you give your word of honor with a hand shake), so Arthur's honor depends upon his strength, and he will become strengthened as his reputation for honor grows. This is a mutually reciprocal relationship meant to undermine the reign of terror and fear utilized by Vortigern. Again, Vortigern has taken, but Arthur has earned it. Why is this important? Because it's the ultimate situation of wealth redistribution, which is what socialists want. What greater wealth is there to steal from someone than the throne of a kingdom? |
So, you have been warned.
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| There are numerous ways to defeat our earthly enemies, but only one way to defeat our spiritual enemy, the devil: holiness. Holiness takes many forms, depending upon what we individually are called upon to do in life. As St. Irenaeus of Leone said, "The glory of God is man fully alive," and that "life" comes in the form of faith, hope, charity, purity, and these (in various forms) will be the pursuit of Arthur to overcome this demon we see in the bottom image. A BIG question will be, why does Uther fall to him? It's possible that Uther is a good and upstanding man, but that--for some reason--he isn't strong enough to overcome this demon that his son will be able to overcome; why? Well, if Uther, for example, has lived at court all his life, he may likely be a very good man, but unable to overcome a figure of socialism the way his son, who has grown up in poverty and earned everything, including respect, has become strong; not only strong, but strong in a targeted manner, in a way that has been specifically prepared for this battle. |
When Vortigern has taken over his brother's castle and throne, and is having Uther Pendragon killed, Uther is stabbed in the back with Excalibur and then, Uther himself turns into the stone holding Excalibur, until Arthur comes to pull it out.
Isn't that awesome!
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| You can click on this image to view it in a larger format. Now that I know it's a person bending over and a sword stuck in their back, it makes perfect sense, so I hope my little (or not so little) arrows and notes help in identifying how Uther was turned into the stone. Please notice how, after the water has receded, there are wrecked boats around the stone holding the sword; why? Ships are often used to refer to the "ship of state," as when in Guy Ritchie's film Sherlock Holmes when Watson (also played by Jude Law) tries to save Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) from the really big French man and they have gone into a ship yard and accidentally launched a ship before it was ready to sail; that was a metaphor of the "ship of state," and Richie probably employs it here, as well, specifically, that these are the wrecked people and governments as a result of Vortigern's usurpation and everyone and everything that has been "displaced" as a result of his crimes. |
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