pareiwheeler

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Will as a Christ Figure Part II - Mike as Judas + Byler Kiss

In part one of this theory, I go into detail about how Will is a Christ figure and how I believe the plot of season 5 may parallel the crucifixion story. Towards the end of that post, I mentioned how part of my theory is that the effective Judas in this story was going to be Mike.

While this may sound bad Byler, this actually helped reinforce Byler endgame for me. I’m also gonna explain how this actually ties into the Byler kiss as well.

So anyways, Judas was one of Jesus’ disciples, and is most well known for betraying Jesus.

There’s much less evidence for Mike being a Judas figure in comparison to Will being a Christ figure, but part of the evidence is his relationship to Will. Judas was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, and sometimes theorized to actually have been his best friend.

I didn’t know this before doing research, but apparently there was a piece of lost gospel recently found that suggests that not only was Judas Jesus’ best friend, but Jesus was the one who asked Judas to betray his identity. Here is a portion of an NPR article that discusses it.

What convinced me of the parallel however is this interesting visual detail from season four episode six.

This is when they are in the Bingham house, and Da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting is positioned behind them in this shot.

Granted Suzie is in Jesus’ position here instead of Will, but I think that is to show that in this moment, she is acting as a savior by helping find El.

But what is interesting to me is that Mike lines up perfectly with where Judas is in the painting.

For those who don’t know, I circled where Judas is from this detail.

He is the one sitting at the table reaching his hand out in Jesus’ direction.

Now I’m going to explain how the Byler kiss fits into all of this.

An important part of the crucifixion story is the Kiss of Judas. This is where Judas kisses Jesus in order to identify him, effectively killing him. Here is Giotto’s painting of the Kiss of Judas from the Scrovegni Chapel.

The Kiss of Judas also made way for a literary trope called the Kiss of Death. Here is part of the TV Tropes article on The Kiss of Death.

So if season five follows the crucifixion story like I am theorizing, then the Judas figure (Mike) would kiss the Jesus figure (Will) before he is sacrificed.

I wanna make it clear, I don’t think that season five is gonna follow this story exactly. These parallels are just parallels, and these are different stories with different characters. I don’t think Mike is going to intentionally give Will’s life away through a malicious act of betrayal. I also don’t think he’s going to have the same fate of Judas as well. It’s not in his character and it’s not the kind of story this is. Here’s the play by play of how I think this will go down:

- Mike kisses Will (Kiss of Judas/Kiss of Death)

- Mike, either due to internalized homophobia and/or something with Vecna, rejects Will (Betrayal)

- After this, Will sacrifices himself (Crucifixion)

- Will then comes back to life to fight Vecna and saves the world (Ressurection)

I’m also a firm believer in Will living and getting his happy ending with Mike, and I think that can not only coexist with this theory, but it almost reinforces it. The parallels support the idea of Will as a martyr but more importantly as a savior.

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bro what is it about jesus will that is eliciting these strong reactions 😭

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Pippin’s favourites (2000)

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pro tip: never have a thought ever

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Remember that Mike's heart was as broken as Will's when he left Hawkins

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i PERSONALLY would like to FALL IN LOVE please!!!!!! and have the SAME PERSON fall in love with me BACK!!!!!!! could i get some MUTUAL AFFECTION out here!!!!!!!!!

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what theme would you choose for the met gala?

snoopy

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another man named eddie is another man destined for homosexuality

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They make her say this about Argyle in the show and then the next season he's just gone? No way, he's coming back at least for the last battle

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They will never take you from me

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annabeth’s gasp and breathless “wait” when percy pulls his sword trick in the arch will ALWAYS GET ME. she was so scared

#annabeth chase #percabeth #percy jackson #parei talking about pjo

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Let’s say the GA/Mlvns WERE right. Is it inherently homophobic to write a narrative like Byler where a gay boy falls madly in love with his straight best friend and gets turned down in the final season?

A) yes, in all cases

B) no, sometimes that happens

C) nuance, it depends on the story. Writing a gay kid falling madly in love with his straight best friend isn’t inherently homophobic, unless that “straight best friend” character is also written ambiguously and hard to read (like Mike)

D) nuance #2, it’s not so much about how the “straight best friend” is written because sometimes people and characters can be confusing. It’s mainly about the marketing

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i will not lie, friends in my phone, i have been imagining affection from time to time

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basically a lot of my problems boil down to me being really bad at waking up. and also really bad at going to sleep

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.

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bitches will be like “i want to kill myself” and “we’re all going to die anyway” and then eat a fresh strawberry and feel joy again

#i’m bitches #i love strawm. bery

[pareiwheeler]

*percy controlling akhlys’ poison to use it against her and choking her on her own tears and saliva*

annabeth: never do it again. never do anything like it again. i’m begging you

many years later

*percy and annabeth’s teenage children being held at knifepoint by enemies, seconds away from being killed*

annabeth: percy, do it