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Introduction
In Heaven Official's blessing, Jun Wu was and remains one of the most psychologically complex characters.
His motivations are layered, his emotions are contradictory and his internal reasoning is strong enough to be able to justify abominable acts as necessity, cruelty as inevitability and the deaths of countless innocents as an acceptable loss. An almost utilitarian worldview which has the end justifying the means?
His relationships and interactions with other characters reveal the contours of a fragmented being, incomplete and filled with hatred and anguish.
While he is generally disliked, that doesnt remove his complexity. The choices of others to simplify him and make him more palleteable are not born from bad-intent but from a need to have a clear villain, to be able to separate things into neat moral categories.
But if the story teaches us anything is that there is no actual real villain, because to call Jun Wu a villain would be to strip away nuance and humanity from a character that despite everything remains undeniabiably human.
His actions are monstrous, inexcusable but still explainable if you trace his story far enough back.
It must be said that this is entirely an interpretation of the character based on textual evidence and not an absolute truth as well as not necessarily in accordance with other views on him. This essay serves as my personal interpretation of him , his motivations, his internal state and a psychological profile.
The crown prince of Wuyong
The events of the story are for the most part those placed around 800 years after the fall of the Xianle Kingdom, and this moment in time is 1200 years after Jun Wu's initial collapse, making him in the current events of the story ,around 2000 years old.
He was born as the crown prince of a prosperous kingdom named Wuyong. He was revered , admired and loved even as a mortal and his ascension, similarly to Xie Lian's was at a young age, after which he appointed his four vassals as deputies, one of which is Mei Nianqing, a character we initially meet in Xianle who acts as state preceptor and also Xie Lian's Guoshi.
Mei Nianqing in their youth compared Jun Wu to the sun, this comparison while initially intended as a way to illustrate his radiance, is also a way to foreshadow the danger he poses.
Even after the fall of his kingdom he does not stop being the sun, he brings people in his orbit and burns them alive, his presence and his existence are overwhelming as is his emotional intensity, his wrath and his rigid worldview.He is a gravitational pull, an architect of the story's tragedy, and the driving force behind many of the conflicts we are faced with in the books.
Jun Wu has a prophetic dream in which the volcano at the foot of which the kingdom was situated would erupt, engulfing everything in ash, in a sea of flames and destroy his home.
He shared this dream with his vassals and his people ,this action having and inherent naivety to it and a lack of predictive ability , which we later see in the story he possesses in spades. There’s a myriad of reasons why it is dangerous and unwise to inform the population of an incoming danger immediately after learning of it , instead of taking some time to formulate contingency plans. This course of action provoked unrest among the people of the kingdom.
He and his vassals started making plans on how to save the people of the kingdom, however a volcano is a natural force that not even a god can stop so another way was needed. It was initially suggested by the nobility of the kingdom to dispatch troops, attack surrounding kingdoms to take their territory so they could take refuge there. Jun Wu disagreed and forbid this course of action, not wanting to harm innocents to save his own and believing there had to be a better way.
Troops were still dispatched without his approval and he was enraged , descending on the battlefield to punish soldiers which lead to the nobility to start calling for the burning of his temples and the desecration of his status.
He remained loyal to his kingdom and his people and was willing to do anything to do anything to save his people, asking them to wait with war until he built the "Heavenly crossing bridge" which would allow people to temporarily be able to take shelter in heaven from the volcanic eruption.
This project however required a lot of time and spiritual power, to the point that Jun Wu stopped doing anything else, including answering prayers to work on the project. Initially his people had been supportive but as time passed they had begun to doubt his dedication and started worshiping other gods, causing Jun Wu's powers to wane. There is a certain youthful arrogance ,which we also see in Xie Lian, in his determination to complete this plan, a hubris born from empathy.
His vassals tried to convince people to believe in him again, but because he could not fulfill individual prayers most did not. Jun Wu asked them to cease trying and claiming that he would be able to support the bridge on his own.
This was the beginning of the end as this took a mental toll on him, causing a once radiant and idealistic crown prince to become progressively more silent and closed off.
Three years after the beginning of the construction of the bridge the volcano erupted and people rushed to the bridge. Initially it had been stable but as more people rushed , the bridge collapsed under the weight and Jun Wu had to watch his people fall into the flames bellow.
Afterwards he had asked the Heavens why they did not help, this action revealing how truly young he was despite his status as a divine being ,ultimately he was banished.
After banishment things started to go downhill, he tried cultivating to ascend anew but could not ,since he was met with the overwhelming hatred and rejection of his former believers. Piercing his heart to mush with swords, literally and metaphorically.
When Jun Wu presented the idea of throwing people in the kiln of the volcano to pacify it, specifically he wanted to do this with criminals, it started a fight with three of his vassals who were against the idea, it is implied that Mei Nianqing was unaware of this development.Going to stop him as he was leading people to the kiln and the three of them were thrown in as well. Their resentful spirits took Jun Wu's body as host, causing lesions to appear on his face which had human features like noses, eyes and mouths after which he started wearing mask, becoming the first ever case of Human Face disease, having to wear his sins as physical wounds,This disease in the story has its roots in actual Chinese folklore , “renmian chuang” or “human face sores” having been an actual affliction found in folklore , stemming as a form of karmic punishment.
Mei Nianqing, his remaining vassal, and the people ,believed he had conducted some kind of ritual and managed to calm the volcano, leading to people having their faith in him restored and his powers to grow anew.
Mei Nianqing however found the covering -of-his-face and the mood-swings odd. He soon started hearing voices coming from Jun Wu and learnt of the disease and what happened to the other three vassals which led to a verbal confrontation between the two which escalated until the climax, when Jun Wu physically strangling him.
He had become incredibly emotionally unstable but still ultimately let Mei Nianqing run away, not killing him.
Soon after, the volcano erupted again, destroying the whole kingdom of Wuyong and marking the beginning of an even deeper collapse.
It must be said that his identity itself was starting to fracture, his self ,fragment and him to start fraying at the edges. The lack of closure from not even having bodies to bury since the volcano destroyed them all combined with the complete loss of everyone and everything familiar led him on the path he eventually walks later in the story.
Revenge upon heaven
Afterwards he managed to wipe out the entirety of the last heavenly dynasty and take the role of Heavenly Martial Emperor. With this act he also destroyed any remembrance of whom he used to be, his kingdom, and his people, erasing the person he used to be in the process. His original name is never revealed in the story, it is never spoken and never alluded to, almost as if that person had died a long time ago , and that name with him.
Manufactured past
According to a made up legend Jun Wu invented, the last heavenly dynasty brought a calamity upon themselves and were eradicated in a chaotic battle.
Jun Wu used to be a general approximately 1500 years prior to the current canon events, who became king and ascended as a god after ruling for a while, establishing the new heavenly dynasty of gods and ruling as the emperor.
The heavenly emperor
As emperor jun wu kept a hands off approach, letting gods mostly solve issues by themselves and acting as an impartial judge.
His general demeanor was gentle and calm, rarely being rattled or surprised, always keeping perfect composure.
This stands in antithesis with how we see him act as White No-Face, where he micromanages minute details and orchestrates outcomes.
His past was known by none, which we can speculate led to an even deeper fall into madness.
His position as emperor, being at the top of the hierarchy also implies total isolation. He was viewed as less of a person and more of a symbol, his name becoming synonymous with Heaven itself. He was mythologized while still being alive, some of it done by his own hand, leading to even graver dehumanization and loss of self.
He was not a person but an Icon, he did not have any true peers, any true equals or anyone who could even mildly relate to the era he used to live in as he was much older then those around him.
White no-face
White no-face is a persona of Jun Wu's, characterized by the long flowing white funeral robes, his smiling and crying mask and his long unbound hair. He was said to move across the battlefield, no blood touching him, almost floating alike a wrath. This was also the first ever ghost king and calamity.
This persona did not exist until the beginning of the fall of Xianle.Prior to that he had taken an interest in Xie Lian, because of their similarities in demeanor, personality, background and values,Xie Lian resembling his younger self to a near uncomfortable degree in Jun Wu’s eyes.
Xie Lian's iconic phrase "Body in abyss heart in paradise" deeply offended Jun Wu as it fundamentally seemed to invalidate his own path. However ,while this did influence how invested he became in Xie Lian as a person, it did not immediately brew hatred.
"Body in abyss heart in paradise"
This phrase is considered one of Jun Wu's first straws regarding Xie Lian.
The phrase itself implies that even if you suffer you must keep your values and ideals and not to allow yourself to give into hatred or lose your morals. This kind of perspective is tied closely with Xie Lian's inclinations towards Taoism and the mindset associated with it.
Jun wu took it as a personal offense, further highlighting how unstable he truly is, viewing it as Xie Lian actively provoking him and questioning his actions.
Early relationship with Xie Lian
Contrary to popular belief, Jun Wu does not hate Xie lian. His feeling regarding Xie Lian cannot be simplified to just hatred. Their early relationship during Xie Lian's first ascension is almost familial in nature. The two grew close, it being implied that they would talk regularly, that they would spar and that their relationship was overall warm. This is not common behavior for Jun Wu as we never see him ever again engaging with another god in such a manner and it was quickly concluded by the other Heavenly officials that Xie Lian was the favorite of the emperor which would lead to underlying resentment that laid dormant until Xie Lian's banishment.
Jun Wu's feelings towards Xie Lian are odd and twisted. He does not hate him, but he hates what he reminds him off. He likes Xie Lian , but views him as naive, too idealistic and fundamentally wrong. He want to guide him towards the path he views as correct, by force if necessary. His behaviors our can be interpreted as unhealthy love twisted into his every action, as well as possession, obsession and a desperate desire to be proven right.
Cursed shackles
The possession part of the emotional mixer is subtle but one of the main hints of how deep it actually goes is the cursed shackle Xie Lian receives during his first banishment.
Unlike normal shackles it also has a immortality clause, which does not allow Xie Lian to die no matter what he endures. This is a way for Jun Wu to guarantee that Xie Lian cannot escape, it is his way of simultaneously protecting him but also claiming him.
The position of that very first shackle is also a significant detail, usually cursed shackles as we see on other characters are placed on the wrist, which is the case for Yin Yu and Mu Qing, the only other two gods we see to have gotten one at different points in the story.In Xie Lian's case it is placed on his neck. This could be interpreted as possessiveness, though the textual evidence does not explain this particular choice in location or give too many hints except Jun Wu’s psyche. Regardless ,it’s an odd choice of position that cannot be ignored as it does not happen with any other characters ,so we could work under the assumption that it is an intentional choice, subconscious or not, on Jun Wu's part. Conjecture however is not fact and this detail’s significance remains uncertain, all that we are left with being more questions and interpretations.
The fall of Xianle
When Xianle first starts experiencing a drought, Xie Lian's first instinct is to descend and help his people. Jun wu advises against it but Xie Lian disregards him and decides to do it anyways. Afterwards , Jun Wu intervenes, not as the heavenly emperor but as White no-face, a calamity who has layered on top of everything a plague which has premeditated murder itself as the cure ,which Xie Lian learns but refuses to disclose to the people , out of fear of mass hysteria and violence.
Things spiral more and more out of control and white no-face as an entity becomes an ever-present being, that stands as the architect and the accelerator of this collapse which under normal circumstances the kingdom might have been able to recover from.
An interpretation I am considering for this, which would fit Jun Wu's mindset as a whole is as follows:
He did not allow the kingdom to just fall naturally as he believed from the very beginning that given the similarities between him and Xie Lian, the collapse was inevitable and he just sped the process up significantly, which , while not entirely provable with the limited canon information we have, may have been almost an act of mercy in Jun Wu’s eyes , by not letting the collapse drag on longer than necessary.
Jun wu never believed Xie Lian could save his people, the way he himself never managed to save his own.
There is also the layer of yearning for understanding. Jun Wu as previously stated is isolated almost entirely by external factors such as his position but also by his own actions, however ,human beings tend to wish for kinship and want to be understood.
Replicating the circumstances that broke him, in a person he already fundamentally views as similar to himself is his way of potentially manufacturing someone who might understand how it all felt. A solace, a kindred soul, as his main trauma seems to be beyond the actual collapse, the collective betrayal and the total isolation.
He believes that if pushed far enough, Xie Lian will break in the same way as him.
There is also the need to justify himself, if Xie Lian breaks too,he can finally conclude that he is not a monster for what he became , but that anyone in his circumstances would break in the same exact way.
The first banishment
Even after the fall of Xianle , White no-face doesnt stop tourmenting Xie Lian.
His strategy is presence. He is described as being in the corner of Xie Lian's vision at all times, in every reflection, in the dark, everywhere. His presence surrounds Xie Lian.
And yet, he never shows himself to anyone else, making Xie Lian seem unstable and slowly but surely creating a divide between Xie Lian, his friends and his family. Isolating him completely from others but keeping himself as a presence. Always telling Xie Lian to join him, which Xie Lian initially refuses vehemently.
Behavioral patterns of White no-face
White no-face, uncanny as he generally is, oscillates between violence and affection with Xie Lian.
After the scene on the hill with Mu Qing and the other 33 gods when Xie Lian is deeply distraught and sitting in the mud, White no-face lowers himself into the same mud and hugs Xie Lian, gathering him into his arms and comforting him in his own way.
There is no middle ground, he is either aggressive or affectionate which causes Xie Lian to not know what to expect or which is worse.
This also mirrors the extreme mood swings which he developed during the fall of his own kingdom which on some level never went away, as well as real observed manipulation tactics used by abusers. By being the ones to inflict harm but also the ones to offer comfort, an abuser positions themselves strangely in their victims eyes, leading the victim to believe that the aggression they receive is their fault and the comfort is how the person naturally is. This leads to a vicious circle of trying to appease and minimize themselves in front of the one that harms them, becoming increasingly dependent on their validation. Xie Lian never quite falls into this pattern and manages to remain mostly himself, but the intention of Jun Wu’s behavior still exists regardless of how effective it is or if he himself even realizes what he is doing or not.
White no-face is not a linear entity nor does he appear human in any way. Jun Wu with this persona seems to intentionally dehumanize himself, removing any human connection points which might make Xie Lian able to relate even in the slightest to him which would have been an effective way to diminish the horror.
Psychologically speaking we reject that which we do not understand and when something resembles a human but there is no definite way to identify it as one, thats when the uncanny valley effect manifests.This effect is triggered by something or someone that looks too close to human but you cannot identify any true connection points that would cement the humanity. Its is believed to be partially an evolutionary mechanism we developed.
Agency
I hold the belief that he is a multifaceted character, with a complex psychological framework, tragic experiences of his own, layered motives and whom it is worth engaging with.
However, I must point out that despite being unstable in a myriad of ways, Jun Wu is not insane. I do not believe he is fully sane, but I believe that he is intelligent enough to be able to rationalize himself and transform even some of his more emotional outbursts into strategically coherent vantage points.
His actions are premeditated and calculated, justified to himself by himself, and rationalized endlessly. As such, we can state that he has agency despite instability in some areas. For the majority of the story , we encounter him as an incredibly powerful individual , not constrained by higher authorities as he represents that highest authority. He chose to do all that he did.
It is a fact that his actions should not be excused, romanticized or condoned. There is nothing he can meaningfully hide behind, and after trying my best to engage with his character, I could venture to say that he himself is very unlikely to wish to hide behind anything.
He is aware of all he has done, he has chosen every single time, he has been aware.
The fall of his kingdom is a tragedy, a cruel fate, something that he had done nothing prior which would make him deserving of this, but every action thereafter was a choice he made.
The Weaponization of patience
One of Jun Wu's defining traits that may occasionally get overshadowed by more obviously intense aspects of his personality is his almost inhuman patience.
Over the course of the story this is one of the more understated aspects of him, but a key one regardless.
We see how for the span of 800 years he allows pieces to fall into place, how he again and again delays gratification if it leads to a greater chance that his desired outcome will come to fruition.
His patience is a weapon in itself, we rarely see him as rash even if his actions have such monstrous scales, the majority is not impulse driven but premeditated.
There is however an emotional component to this, he isn’t only calculated, a lot of actions, especially those regarding Xie Lian or Mei Nianqing , have emotional reasoning behind them, but he is capable of rationalizing them to himself so well they undergo metamorphosis and appear to be entirely calculated, the impulsive aspect of them being overshadowed by premeditation.
In my eyes, the most dangerous aspect of him is not his instability, nor his obsession, but his ability to wait anything out.
A persistence hunter if you might, the technique which we learn was what helped primitive humans climb to the top of the food chain. The unparalleled ability to simply wait is what makes him so unnerving, so lethal and so undeniably brilliant. His actions although abominable have the fingerprints of a master strategist all over them.
The incomplete death of humanity
As established, to call Jun Wu inhuman or alien would be an oversight. He is recognizably humane , even painfully so behind his facade.
What I want to reference and underline is the toll time has taken on him.
In the majority of myths and legends and stories immortality is offend something to be coveted, something to be desired and aspired towards.
But there are also certain stories which show a different angle, that perhaps a human soul cannot and should not be subjected to it.
This I believe is also the case of our character. In his 2000 years of life Jun Wu has experienced extremes. Going from beloved to hated to beloved again. His relationship with time has not been a kind one, it calcified him, it froze him into certain rigid beliefs which humanity proved again and again to him until he concluded they must be universal. Time took everything from him and then he endured it alone in almost complete and partially self imposed isolation. The current of change touched everything, but it did not touch him, not entirely.
While the centuries have dulled certain things in him, like compassion , a fundamental belief in the goodness of humanity, and lead him towards perhaps a more inevitability centered world-view, it also made certain wounds rawer.
His humanity was never stripped away fully from him, but it was twisted beyond what we can reasonably perceive as such , which perhaps is more cruel than if he had lost it entirely.
The way he acts, the things he does, the things he says and the way he orients himself , still show the markings of a human, a broken one but human regardless
Time just happened to strip away the softer parts of him and leave the uglier parts of humanity which we recoil from, nonetheless they are still human in origin.
Symbolism in appearance
White no-face's design was previously described, but even that outfit is not random.
The white funeral robes can be interpreted as a reference to his own kingdom. Due to the nature of its collapse he most likely did not have any bodies to bury, closure was not possible so he now eternally attends a funeral. White is also a color that reveals all stains, however we see that his robes are never stained while he wears them, an antithesis between himself, marked physically by his sins, and his clothing which is immaculate.
The mask is half crying and half smiling, foreshadowing his dual identity as well as his unstable emotional state, his mood swing and his uncertainty regarding how to even feel most of the time.
The symbol of theatre are also masks, a crying one, the mask of tragedy and a smiling one the mask of comedy, this might reference the performance that his life has become: the emperor, the calamity , the mentor figure for Xie Lian. The fact that his mask is a made up of halves of each of these may indicate hysteria or instability.
His hair is loose, which in the Chinese cultural norms of the time the books seem to be set in due to the traditions , mindset, societal structure and beliefs, symbolizes disconnect as well as untidiness and internal turmoil that prevents one from caring for their appearance. A fundamental alienation from society and disharmony with cosmic order.
He moves through the world without being touched by it. Blood does not get on his robes in a battlefield, nothing wrinkles nor changes their state. He is perpetually unsynced and alien to a world he once belonged in.
“Mine has been a life of much shame”-Osamu Dazai, “No longer human”
Shame and self-hatred are important components of Jun Wu’s character. His constant need and desire to validate himself through Xie Lian indicates a person whom despite his demeanor is deeply ashamed of what he has become.
There seems to be the underlying belief that if Xie Lian breaks in the same way he did ,he can finally fully accept the inevitability of what he has become and finally stop hating himself. The validation he seeks isn’t because he wants to prove Xie Lian is weak, it’s because he wants to prove there is no other path, wants to find a way to cope with his own choices.
Guilt,Self-hatred and deeply rooted shame. These 3 while less visible than his other characteristics become driving forces behind his actions, they act as motivations , so prevalent within his psyche it seems that sometimes he himself isn’t aware that they are what provokes him to do what he does. The feeling is unbearable for him and he tries to find refuge in inevitably , in order and control to try and manage these feelings.
The desecration of the divine
During the 100 swords scene he recreates something that happened to him, the common people pierced his own heart to mush with swords and now he forces Xie Lian through the same experience in order to prove to him that people wont stay loyal, they will sway whichever way is the safest, and they are capable of desecrating even a god they believed in and used to pray to if it ensures their own survival.
It is also a way to break Xie Lian further to prove resolutely that his dream of saving the common people will always come at a price he cannot pay and that the common people do not return his love. A harsh reality is presented through an experience almost alike a vivisection , a desecration of the divine.
Xie Lian's third ascension
After the third ascension Jun Wu does not modify his behavior towards Xie Lian, despite it being implied that the court anticipated he would.
The underlying layer of it seems to be that he does not view Xie Lian's banishments as making him unworthy in any way shape or form and as a character Jun Wu is not the type to be swayed by collective opinions. He is resolute in what he believes and is willing take it to the ends of the earth, a virtue and a defect simultaneously.
He is just as warm to Xie Lian, just as kind as he was before.He chastises him for not reaching out for help, which Jun Wu did outright offer, further strengthening the argument that there is genuine care mixed with everything else he feels.
He helps Xie Lian in indirect ways and keeps his stand even if the rest of the court treats Xie Lian as a laughingstock.
The political side of this situation is rather odd, because most gods are aware Jun wu has a fondness for Xie Lian, even if they themselves do not see what he sees. Jun Wu indirectly helps Xie Lian with his debt by giving him missions to cover it, he gives him advice, there is an instance where he keeps him after court to talk to him since it’s the first times he’s seen him after he ascended. This kind of behavior from Jun wu does not present itself with any of the other gods, and the favoritism is not particularly obscured from the other gods.
The final battle
After Jun Wu is revealed as white no-face and the whole confrontation of Xie Lian's massive divine statue versus the Goliath Jun Wu makes heaven into, there is an almost cyclical moment where they fight across the "Heavenly crossing bridge". The starting point of everything that went wrong is the location for the final confrontation between two faces of the same coin.
There is a point where Jun Wu grabs Xie Lian by the throat and slams him repeatedly into a wall yelling "Will you change?" Over and over again.
This moment shows just how desperate he is to be proven right and for Xie Lian to become the same as him, because if he does not then he would have to face with the question of "What was it all for?".
The confrontation ends with Jun Wu pierced through the stomach with a sword, and asked by Mei Nianqing "Aren’t you tired?" to which he replies that he is.
In the end Xie Lian gives him his bamboo hat, lays it on his head the same way it was laid centuries prior on his own head, the object that gave Xie Lian hope and a way to move forward, now passed onto someone Xie Lian understands is someone he could have been. The bamboo hat is one of the most powerful symbols in the story, it is part of Xie Lian’s regular outfit, it became associated with him in many ways. It was what pulled Xie Lian from the edge of the abyss, a symbol of mundane human kindness without any strings attached. He carries it with him for the duration of the banishment, and he passes it on only at the end of the story, suggesting that he had made peace with his past, understands Jun Wu, and now wants to do for Jun Wu what someone once did for him, give him hope that kindness can exist.This act of compassion shows how complex Xie Lian’s and Jun Wu’s relationship truly was. By the end Xie Lian’s last act isn’t one of revenge, it’s one of compassion , and the last conversation they have is where after being defeated Jun Wu inquires about the last move Xie Lian used to defeat him, when Xie Lian answers Jun Wu’s last word to him is “Beautiful”. This exchange reveals far more than anything else in the story how genuine their relationship had truly been in spite of the centuries of manipulations and machinations, it’s a perfect end for his character arc, not painful death, not forgiveness from the ones he has hurt, not revenge upon him, but leaving him finally face what he has done, what he was and what he became, his punishment is being given the time to finally let everything sink in. The facts he already knew, but now seen with different eyes , and all the time in the world.
The radiance of a failed expectation
A fact we have yet to discuss is his subconscious, specifically the subconscious desire to be proven wrong.
We see how Jun Wu tried over and over to get Xie Lian to break, he was certain he would, he viewed it as an inevitable outcome. However what if part of him wanted Xie Lian to prove him wrong.
If he believed truly and entirely that there was no other way , his interest would have waned. The belief in inevitability wouldn’t have drove him to such obsessive and relentless pursuit of his desired conclusion, instead he would have let things unfold naturally. But he did not. He tested and prodded and pushed and applied pressure in all aspects of Xie Lian’s life, and I believe that might indicate a subconscious but desperate desire to be proved that in spite of everything another path can exist, even if he himself was not strong enough to take it.
The most illustrative scene is the moment after his defeat. There is no anger, or bargaining or raging wrath , he accepts defeat as soon as it happens. The last thing he says to Xie Lian is the word “Beautiful” complimenting his final move which took him down, however he may also refer to more than that , he may refer to the beauty of Xie Lian prevailing even in the face of the adversity Jun wu knows he put him through, and he may also be simply referring to the beauty is the fact that he was so thoroughly proven wrong.
Conclusion
Jun wu at his very core is an amalgamation of identities that all belong to him and yet none are fully him. He is a man who could not accept that his suffering was meaningless and that it was not all for something. This drove him towards control, obsession, and unspeakable acts of violence only to be ultimately defeated by the one being whom he felt kinship with, in an almost poetic way of ending the cycle of violence that was started 2000 years prior.