25 réponses à ce sujet

[MichaelFinnegan]

I posted this midway in another thread, but realized later that it was way off topic.

Okay, here goes. Copied verbatim.

I just had a pretty weird theory about the Black City. I hesitate to say it out loud, though. Oh, well. What the heck. (Feel free to mock me on this one.)
It is my belief that every point of Thedas, and beyond, has access to the Fade, and every such point of one "world," "dimension," whatever is veiled (literallly concealed) from the other. There are some points where there is direct access (wherever the Veil is torn), and other points where the access is indirect (via subconscious dreamworld, lyrium, etc). So, if the world of Thedas and beyond is actually a sphere, then the Fade must be a sphere as well, based on this assumption.

What is the one point of a sphere that is equidistant from all points on its surface? It must be the centre. Now taking the similarity between the "real" world an the Fade further, we do have such corresponding "centre" points in both. For Thedas (for lack of a better word) it is its centre (underground). And for the Fade it is the black form hovering that is supposedly equidistant from every point within it.

But what could this really mean?

Well, we do know that non-mages enter the Fade when they dream (subconscious state) and mages can in their conscious state (assisted by lyrium). So, assisted or unassisted, everyone has access to the Fade.

Or do they?

Dwarves living underground don't. They don't go to the Fade when they dream. So, whatever it is that should represent them (the underground world) in the Fade might somewhat be more faded than usual in the Fade (no pun intended). Nay, inaccessible. And, yes, the black form in the Fade does fit this description - at least somewhat, in my mind at least.

This I think means that one cannot tap into the subconscious representationof the underworld/underground within the Fade,  which I take to mean the Black City, what I started off trying to form a theory for.

Now, was this always the case? It doesn't appear to be. The Primeval Thaig seems to suggest dwarven mages. So, at some point in the past, this must have changed. One could interpret this to mean going from some sort of Golden City to the Black City, but I guess that would be going too far. Right?

[Torax]

I'm not sure the location of their people truly is the exact reason for anything regarding the fade beyond what they were meant to do. Not to mention if you're short and stocky? Being in tunnels is far safer than being out in an open field strategically. But that is also based on the theory that some species were built to do specific tasks and all they are now is fragments of that past down to even how their cultures exist today.

edited to add.

You would be reading too deep into the fact that Lyrium is found under ground now. It's very possible that the Elves & Qunari being above ground and the Dwarves below ground for thousands upon thousands of years would have consumed all the Lyrium above ground first. The Dwarves have been forced to Tunnel to find more. The Elves were long using magic before the humans were able to learn it. So odds are they would have used all the Lyrium they could already and were trading with the dwarves for more. The Old Gods taught the Magisters who to trap Elven Mages within the fade to force them to teach them about Lyrium and the Fade. Does this mean it was all created at the same time as the races? Doesn't not imply either way. In fact it's all conjecture at best on our parts.

I just think the only true link between the realms is this supposed spark that some races supposedly have. The one that even allows them to use magic. The Lyrium being added to the world intentionally? A side effect of creation of spirits maybe? Who knows. I'm just not sure how much of it is the World and Fade not having a direct link geographically. The idea that the underground hints at some place in the fade? No basis to believe or leap to that conclusion on my part. Not much to support it. One is underground and one is floating in a world that can be shaped at will to be whatever you want it to be. In other words it's the mind and mostly in our heads if it were.

Modifié par Torax, 29 juillet 2011 - 06:28 .

[MichaelFinnegan]

Torax wrote...

I'm not sure the location of their people truly is the exact reason for anything regarding the fade beyond what they were meant to do. Not to mention if you're short and stocky? Being in tunnels is far safer than being out in an open field strategically. But that is also based on the theory that some species were built to do specific tasks and all they are now is fragments of that past down to even how their cultures exist today.

Actually, in the other thread you were mentioning something about the dwarves being "engineered." I think that it is very much possible. You hinted at the Maker or something like Him, but it may be something entirely different, or more precisely two different things. What if they were engineered not to go to the Fade sometime later after they came into existence (for whatever purpose or by whomever)? If we go by Sandal's abilities, we might actually be looking at a dwarven mage (I know it is a bit soon to say that, but still). This does lend some semblance of proof for this - if at all.

I'm still very much fixated with the "equidistant" hypothesis. I don't think it's entirely a coincidence. I need to think more about it. As I said earlier, I may have missed something very obvious.

[Torax]

I'm leaning more to ancient diety type beings. More than one type. A great war between them. Not truly anything like the exact beliefs that are given to us. Instead something alien to it in fact. That the races left now only remember pieces and parts or fragments. Pantheon and Forgotten ones a vague reference to said figures? Possibly but that doesn't mean they were it. The Maker is alone the creator? Possibly not. I don't think there was just one creator. I doubt there is one being as powerful. I think it was far more base and not as god like as some would think it to be. I doubt the Thedas bible would try to claim the Maker made the world in 7 days.

I do believe they are connected. I just don't write the Fade as important to things like you may.

[MichaelFinnegan]

Torax wrote...

I'm leaning more to ancient diety type beings. More than one type. A great war between them. Not truly anything like the exact beliefs that are given to us. Instead something alien to it in fact. That the races left now only remember pieces and parts or fragments. Pantheon and Forgotten ones a vague reference to said figures? Possibly but that doesn't mean they were it. The Maker is alone the creator? Possibly not. I don't think there was just one creator. I doubt there is one being as powerful. I think it was far more base and not as god like as some would think it to be. I doubt the Thedas bible would try to claim the Maker made the world in 7 days.

I do believe they are connected. I just don't write the Fade as important to things like you may.

I think we each have different viewpoints. Neither one is correct or false. My own focus is beyond the deities. I'm actually an atheist, so perhaps that has something to do with the way I think.

And I'm certainly not dismissing your theories. I'm just thinking that there may be more tangible things, by which I mean properties of worlds we can analyze, going on with the taint, the Black City, the Primeval Thaig, etc. I'm trying to cook up one such correlation at the moment.

[Alexander1136]

MichaelFinnegan wrote...

I posted this midway in another thread, but realized later that it was way off topic.

Okay, here goes. Copied verbatim.

I just had a pretty weird theory about the Black City. I hesitate to say it out loud, though. Oh, well. What the heck. (Feel free to mock me on this one.)
It is my belief that every point of Thedas, and beyond, has access to the Fade, and every such point of one "world," "dimension," whatever is veiled (literallly concealed) from the other. There are some points where there is direct access (wherever the Veil is torn), and other points where the access is indirect (via subconscious dreamworld, lyrium, etc). So, if the world of Thedas and beyond is actually a sphere, then the Fade must be a sphere as well, based on this assumption.

What is the one point of a sphere that is equidistant from all points on its surface? It must be the centre. Now taking the similarity between the "real" world an the Fade further, we do have such corresponding "centre" points in both. For Thedas (for lack of a better word) it is its centre (underground). And for the Fade it is the black form hovering that is supposedly equidistant from every point within it.

But what could this really mean?

Well, we do know that non-mages enter the Fade when they dream (subconscious state) and mages can in their conscious state (assisted by lyrium). So, assisted or unassisted, everyone has access to the Fade.

Or do they?

Dwarves living underground don't. They don't go to the Fade when they dream. So, whatever it is that should represent them (the underground world) in the Fade might somewhat be more faded than usual in the Fade (no pun intended). Nay, inaccessible. And, yes, the black form in the Fade does fit this description - at least somewhat, in my mind at least.

This I think means that one cannot tap into the subconscious representationof the underworld/underground within the Fade,  which I take to mean the Black City, what I started off trying to form a theory for.

Now, was this always the case? It doesn't appear to be. The Primeval Thaig seems to suggest dwarven mages. So, at some point in the past, this must have changed. One could interpret this to mean going from some sort of Golden City to the Black City, but I guess that would be going too far. Right?

 

Well we do know that the fade is shapeless. however  it is true that the fade seems to have some pretty extreme effects in the deep roads. the demons in "the calling" and da2 along with corrupted lyrium. what that means exactly i am unsure. it could be that there is simply and absence of presnece in the deeproads other than darkspawn, lyrium and your occasional warden or it could be its location alone that draws such attention.  as for the dwarves not going to the fade when they sleep that may be due to the absence of lyrium in them.
I have always thought that all mages stem from elves "all elvan once had the gift"  and sandal says "the magic will return one day all of it." so who knows. i will be certainly excited when the story line continue though.

[Torax]

The only part where the disagreement sits in this case is that I doubt you could point to one part of the fade and say "that ties to <insert thedas location here>." So far all we know of the fade is that some how the spirits link to the mind/spark of those dreaming or mages who can be aware while also dreaming. The Spirits are drawn to that spark and shape the fade to welcome the dreamers. Granted some are basically like spiders weaving a web to trap the dreamers. The belief that many Andrastians follow is that the benevolent spirits create the dreams for the non mages. This logic is that the spirits do this because since they can will things into being, making the dreamers happy gives them purpose. In particular supposedly all the spirits (this includes demons) lack this spark so they can create but have no creativity of their own. If that makes sense.

This means the waygate if you will is the spark within living beings that the Maker gave this spark to supposedly under that logic. So assuming that is true, at the very least the dwarves are possibly alien to the Maker's 2nd children? Maybe it's that instead all the other races in question mated with Humans in their past that allowed their blood lines to eventually become magic users? It's possible they are all intertwined I just don't agree that the underground = black city or anything like that. At best I'd say the Black City can be an allegory for the blackness that can be in the heart of anyone. So maybe the only reason the city was black for the Magisters because of the darkness in their hearts not because of the place it'self. It could very well appear golden for anyone else.

[MichaelFinnegan]

Torax wrote...

You would be reading too deep into the fact that Lyrium is found under ground now. It's very possible that the Elves & Qunari being above ground and the Dwarves below ground for thousands upon thousands of years would have consumed all the Lyrium above ground first. The Dwarves have been forced to Tunnel to find more. The Elves were long using magic before the humans were able to learn it. So odds are they would have used all the Lyrium they could already and were trading with the dwarves for more. The Old Gods taught the Magisters who to trap Elven Mages within the fade to force them to teach them about Lyrium and the Fade. Does this mean it was all created at the same time as the races? Doesn't not imply either way. In fact it's all conjecture at best on our parts.

What you say could be true. Let me reiterate - my idea wasn't actually to prove beyond doubt my theory. It's just to see if it holds some semblance of ground. And I believe there are other things that kind of fit. How the magisters (becoming darkspawn) were expelled from the Black City, and later darkspawn becoming first visible underground (a Veil of some sort, going purely by what we know of such things on the surface). Still I'm sure many things aren't explained by my theory - since it is not supposed to encompass everything. Just to explore one correlation.

I just think the only true link between the realms is this supposed spark that some races supposedly have. The one that even allows them to use magic. The Lyrium being added to the world intentionally? A side effect of creation of spirits maybe? Who knows. I'm just not sure how much of it is the World and Fade not having a direct link geographically. The idea that the underground hints at some place in the fade? No basis to believe or leap to that conclusion on my part. Not much to support it. One is underground and one is floating in a world that can be shaped at will to be whatever you want it to be. In other words it's the mind and mostly in our heads if it were.

Much of what I told comes from my belief that the Veil surrounds Thedas, everywhere. And the other side of the Veil must be the Fade, because that is what it separates, the two realms. I do not really intend to do a point-by-point correlation between Thedas and the Fade.

And your point about lyrium is a good one. What exactly is it? Where did it come from? And the notion that the Fade is some kind of a stream of subconsciousness also passed my mind.

In any case, the link I wanted to focus on was between the Black City and the underground, based entirely on the reasons I gave - I may be entirely wrong.

[Torax]

Keep in mind it's not that my goal would be to prove you completely wrong. I just have trouble finding some tie point between the realms. Keep in mind that the belief is that the spirits go through the fade when they die. When the veils have been torn it's either via mass deaths in the area or by forcing a tear by summoning too many things that once. This doesn't necessarily mean that veil surrounds the entire world more than surrounds the vicinity of the actions I described. It doesn't prove either way as the correct answer. I simply think the fade's link to this realm is just proximity to events regarding the spirits and or the spark that they crave from the mortals.

Either way the presence of Lyrium is the true puzzle in both theories.

[MichaelFinnegan]

Alexander1136 wrote...

 Well we do know that the fade is shapeless.

But what does that really mean? Does it mean that the Fade isn't contained? That its form keeps shifting (one day a sphere, another a rectangle)? Or does it mean that it is somewhat like a sphere, but the individual points on it keep shifting? The distinction is not entirely clear to me. And my assumption is the latter, that its points shift, but not its outward shape, its so called boundaries (if they exist at all).

however  it is true that the fade seems to have some pretty extreme effects in the deep roads. the demons in "the calling" and da2 along with corrupted lyrium. what that means exactly i am unsure. it could be that there is simply and absence of presnece in the deeproads other than darkspawn, lyrium and your occasional warden or it could be its location alone that draws such attention.

Ok, how about this. The magisters were expelled from the Black City as darkspawn and the very first darkspawn appear in the deep roads? Does it hint at a kind of a Veil breach between the two?

 as for the dwarves not going to the fade when they sleep that may be due to the absence of lyrium in them.

Here you go:
http://social.biowar...383900/4#385109
The logic is simply this: Dwarves don't go to the Fade,1. so they're more resistant to the effects of lyrium compared to other races2. so they're more resistant to magic compared to other races
Their reasons for not entering the Fade is actually unknown. And a very good mystery, if you ask me. One I found gets rarely discussed.

I have always thought that all mages stem from elves "all elvan once had the gift"  and sandal says "the magic will return one day all of it." so who knows. i will be certainly excited when the story line continue though.

Yes, the point by Sandal is an interesting one. I've wondered what exactly he meant by it. But I remember that he said that "magic will go back to the way it was" I thought. I maybe mistaken, though.

The origins of magic is another mystery. All elves had it at one point, apparently, but were they the only ones?

[MichaelFinnegan]

Filament wrote...

So if dwarves were to dream in their 'section' of the Fade they'd become tainted, hence they got cut off from it as a defense mechanism? Interesting notion...

I'm a bit fixated with it  In any case, my whole "theory" came to mind when I started linking the dwarves not going to the Fade when they dream and the Black City not being accessible - the equidistant thing was just a reason I searched for.

though I don't see anything wrong with the simpler 'exposure to lyrium' explanation.

Mostly because of this: http://social.biowar...383900/4#385109

I don't think we can make that assumption that the Fade must be structured analogously to Thedas or that the Black City being equidistant from all points in the Fade means it must be at the center. The Fade isn't a definite realm, it's always shifting, it doesn't follow normal physical rules.

True, but the Fade being structured isn't the only thing I focus on. It's just that the Veil extends throughout Thedas. And the only asumption I make is that every point in Thedas can lead to a point in the Fade. Being equidistant hints at a sphere (at least that is the shape that I know can have such a property). Heck, for that matter we don't even know whether Thedas is a sphere. It's in a sense all just guesswork.

[Torax]

Keep in mind the darkspawn starting out in the deep roads could be a coincidence in that for example they needed a TON of lyrium on top of the ritual sacrifices to enter the Fade as required by Dumat. That could mean going deep within the ground to do so. There are vast tunnels and hidden monuments all over Kirkwall for example. Being underground could just be where the ritual was done. It would have likely not been done above ground anyway. Since it could lead to the Magisters being vulnerable while doing the task. Vulnerable to even other Magisters. Much like the Sith. The Magisters plot and scheme against each other for power after all.

Modifié par Torax, 29 juillet 2011 - 07:26 .

[MichaelFinnegan]

Torax wrote...

Keep in mind it's not that my goal would be to prove you completely wrong. I just have trouble finding some tie point between the realms. Keep in mind that the belief is that the spirits go through the fade when they die. When the veils have been torn it's either via mass deaths in the area or by forcing a tear by summoning too many things that once. This doesn't necessarily mean that veil surrounds the entire world more than surrounds the vicinity of the actions I described. It doesn't prove either way as the correct answer. I simply think the fade's link to this realm is just proximity to events regarding the spirits and or the spark that they crave from the mortals.

I conceptualize the  Veil differently. I link it with the place, and also the event. Still, I see how I could be wrong. It is supposed to be "metaphysical" after all. There are geometrical references though that kind of make me sit up and take notice.

Either way the presence of Lyrium is the true puzzle in both theories.

I'd say it is a part of the mystery. Lyrium I think has however a bigger role to play than blood magic (or at least as big a role) - just a hunch though. Don't ask me to substantiate that.

Keep in mind the darkspawn starting out in the deep roads could be a coincidence in that for example they needed a TON of lyrium on top of the ritual sacrifices to enter the Fade as required by Dumat. That could mean going deep within the ground to do so. There are vast tunnels and hidden monuments all over Kirkwall for example. Being underground could just be where the ritual was done. It would have likely not been done above ground anyway. Since it could lead to the Magisters being vulnerable while doing the task. Vulnerable to even other Magisters. Much like the Sith. The Magisters plot and scheme against each other for power after all.

Being underground has the advantage of secrecy also. Agreed. Still, my point being it is a coincidence worth exploring. And I do admit the coincidence.

In any case, I got to go for the moment. Getting late for something. I'll be back later to check for any replies.

[Sepewrath]

I would think the Fade is more about flexibility than anything, any point in the Fade can exist anywhere in the real world, there is no need for it to have direct links in the world. More so I don't think it can, since anyone strong enough, demons generally, can reshape the Fade. Its hard to think of the Fade as having any real locations, minus the Black City giving how much change is possible at a whim.

That also probably feeds into why people cant get to the Black City, its not about having to go to some specific place in the world, its that the place is obviously something special and the fluctuation of the Fade is probably at its worst in route to it. Its like trying to walk to the end of a block and the path keeps changing every step you take, you would never get there.

[Drone696]

I just replayed the Dalish Origin and wanted to throw this in:

Tamlen examines the Eluvian and then he says: "... It's... showing me places.I can see... some kind of city...underground? And... there's a great blackness...It... it saw me!...".

Interesting...

[Sepewrath]

Well he could have been talking about Arlathan, isn't the story that the magisters sunk it. That would make it an underground city and who knows what is up with those mirrors. They seem like nothing but trouble.

[Drone696]

Sepewrath wrote...

Well he could have been talking about Arlathan, isn't the story that the magisters sunk it. That would make it an underground city and who knows what is up with those mirrors. They seem like nothing but trouble.

Could be Arlathan, sure. There are also theories that Arlathan and the Golden/Black City are the same.

[Torax]

I just think the flaw is ever trying to connect Point A to Point B in regards to the Fade and Thedas. I'm not sure it's ever truly required. I think it could just as easily be a funnel of emotions and thought that could control the fade. A bunch of people die and their spirits are returning to the fade. The emotions they felt in death flows through the fade and the spirits sense it like a beacon. They may gravitate to that thought or notion and some how use it as a jump gate to a "spark" on the other side. Since things are traveling into the fade at that instant it could help to tear a hole in the veil. Enough for something to sink in. But that doesn't mean anything in Thedas has or had a direct tie to the Fade. For example just because there is a lyrium node in a mine somewhere doesn't mean there was is a node in that same area of the fade as well.

[Bazedragon]

Could also be linked to the effects of Lyrium on dwarves (the merchant in Orzammar) if it does actually get into their blood. Appears to have a level of similarity to the taint (minus the dying and eating your friends part) in the form fo the individual becoming somewhat unstable, for lack of a better term.

[MichaelFinnegan]

Sepewrath wrote...

I would think the Fade is more about flexibility than anything, any point in the Fade can exist anywhere in the real world, there is no need for it to have direct links in the world. More so I don't think it can, since anyone strong enough, demons generally, can reshape the Fade. Its hard to think of the Fade as having any real locations, minus the Black City giving how much change is possible at a whim.

That also probably feeds into why people cant get to the Black City, its not about having to go to some specific place in the world, its that the place is obviously something special and the fluctuation of the Fade is probably at its worst in route to it. Its like trying to walk to the end of a block and the path keeps changing every step you take, you would never get there.

That is certainly an interesting analogy. I'll admit I haven't thought about it that way - the path to the Black City (or hovering black form) in the Fade being unknown because it is ever changing. Still, makes me wonder why that is the case. And who is doing it or has done it.

The Fade to me brings thoughts of subconsciousness - even memory perhaps. The term "fade" itself could mean it is somehow fleeting from memory or from the grasp of the consciousness. And the Veil is what makes this connection obscure. That obscurity and the penchant of the underground dwarves not to go into it when they dream (subconsciously cut off - so to speak) makes me strongly correlate the Black City and the underground. One cannot get there (the City) by the usual means we know if such access is cut off. And I do think the Veil to the Black City might perhaps be of a different nature, but that it exists. There does appear to be access points - we just don't know where they are at the moment.

That is however part of the explanation. Because in the waking world (we've seen several examples of that - especially where there are tears in the Veil and where beings especially from the Fade have crossed over to Thedas) there appears to be direct connections between the Fade and Thedas - more direct than the one through the dreams. The Veil therefore could be both physical and metaphysical at once.

I must admit though. Whoever thought about this whole thing (the writers I mean) apparently didn't have something simple in mind.

[MichaelFinnegan]

Filament wrote...

MichaelFinnegan wrote...

though I don't see anything wrong with the simpler 'exposure to lyrium' explanation.

Mostly because of this: http://social.biowar...383900/4#385109

Oh, hm. I'm not sure I get his explanation breaking it down like it has to be one way or the other. Seems like it could be both, i.e. they could develop a 'cut off from the Fade' trait which proved advantageous to their survival around lyrium which in turn made that trait selected for in a population of subterranean people.

It appears to me also to be a possibility. Evidence is mostly lacking though simply because we haven't progressed enough into the storyline for the writers to have made it apparent to us. Assuming of course we're still far off from whereever we're supposed to get.

One observation. You seem to imply a conscious intention on the part of the dwarves to have "cut themselves off." I'm not so sure it's actually their doing. I'm thinking it could also have been an accident or perhaps someone helped them. Say someones like the Old Gods - a hunch.

And the other thing about the dwarves is that they started recording their history in lyrium (memories) only a thousand or so years ago. I think there must have been more going on before that. The Primeval Thaig is a hint at pre-recorded history for dwarves.

But I get that regardless, that apparently is not the case, and it seems some Event caused them to be cut off from the Fade which just so happens to give them resistance to magic and lyrium.

I'll simply say the event itself could have been the destruction of Arlathan. Still the whys of it are not so apparent.

Though I'm not sure I buy it being about the Black City because it's at the center of the Fade analogous to Thedas' underground. I'd guess it's more related to whatever happened to the Primeval Thaigs. Maybe the Black City or its corruption do have something to do with them though.

There are other things that reinforce that correlation though.
1. The darkspawn first appearing underground after having been banished from the City (Corypheus' story does lend more credence to that theory).
2. What rapunzel696 said.
3. The Primeval Thaig - particularly the variety of lyrium found there, and the suggestion that it, too, causes a form of corruption.

Nothing conclusive, to be sure, but still something to think about.

[MichaelFinnegan]

rapunzel696 wrote...

I just replayed the Dalish Origin and wanted to throw this in:

Tamlen examines the Eluvian and then he says: "... It's... showing me places.I can see... some kind of city...underground? And... there's a great blackness...It... it saw me!...".

Interesting...

Indeed it is interesing. Thanks for sharing that.

The Eluvian is something I stayed away from in my original post. I was trying to establish first of all if there was something to the theory I came up with. The destruction of Arlathan, its sinking underground (if one takes that literally) and the access the elves had to the Eluvians, to wherever they might lead - perhaps beyond the Fade as Morrigan said, are all interesting things to ponder about.

What I wondered about Tamlen's statement is what did he mean by "it saw me." What exactly could have been that "it"?

[MichaelFinnegan]

Torax wrote...

I just think the flaw is ever trying to connect Point A to Point B in regards to the Fade and Thedas. I'm not sure it's ever truly required.

I'll somewhat agree with that.

I think it could just as easily be a funnel of emotions and thought that could control the fade. A bunch of people die and their spirits are returning to the fade. The emotions they felt in death flows through the fade and the spirits sense it like a beacon. They may gravitate to that thought or notion and some how use it as a jump gate to a "spark" on the other side. Since things are traveling into the fade at that instant it could help to tear a hole in the veil. Enough for something to sink in. But that doesn't mean anything in Thedas has or had a direct tie to the Fade. For example just because there is a lyrium node in a mine somewhere doesn't mean there was is a node in that same area of the fade as well.

Yes, but aren't you ignoring another, equally important, aspect of the connection between the Fade and Thedas? It is that beings can cross over from one to the other, physically. The connection is not just in the metaphysical realm as you seem to be implying.

But yes. The one-to-one correlation need not be assumed. I'm even thinking that it may not be required for what I proposed as you said in your opening two statements. Does that somehow invalidate my claim about the correlation between the black hovering form in the Fade and the underground where the dwarves don't enter the Fade? Perhaps. But it is a correlation that I'm not entirely willing to ignore, in light of the other things that it seems to be explaining.

It was meant to be a "mostly unsubstantiated" theory to begin with, so well...