What the hell happened in 1926?
This is the first time I'm talking about theory stuff on Tumblr, despite making Wick theories since like 2020. So, for context, when I say “What the hell happened in 1926?” I mean this segment from Journal Page 34 (aka the one related to Tom)
Detective Stan Fielding was mentioned briefly in the newspaper about the homestead fire but makes another brief return in Duncan & Tbub's journal.
So, what happened for the detective to make a report two years after the fire? I have some ideas, but no exact answer.
The ideas are as follows:
1.) Pastor McAlroy's disappearance, a.k.a. what happened in the Sunday Worship achievement. We don't have a date for his death, just that it was after the homestead burned. The reason why it's first on the list is that right under Duncan's mention of the 1926 report, he writes “Apparently Pastor McAlroy performed an honest-to-god EXORCISM!” with “What happened to him?” and “Did John Weaver know?” On the other hand, I want to address that Duncan mentioning John as well suggests that this exorcism took place before the fire. So it's a “maybe, maybe not” situation.
2.) The missing kids from Pine Creek Summer Camp. Okay, so this is kind of an overlooked piece of lore but several people such as Tbub, Duncan, and Old Man Edwards state that kids from the summer camp went missing at some point after 1924, to the point that people hunted bears because they believed they were the cause. Now, there's no confirmed date of when the disappearances started happening but considering Benny used to go to the camp and the camp is so close to the Weaver property, I wouldn't be surprised if either the Weaver kids or something much greater started targeting the young campers after a while.
What do you guys think? I'm indecisive and can't tell which one is more likely, so I would be so happy to see everyone's thoughts on this :D
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Overanalyzing The Juniper Tree concerning Wick
HELLO EVERYONE! This is my second Wick theory posted here and I'm glad that I decided to do The Juniper Tree because Oh My God. There's SO much packed into this fairytale.
Long post ahead.
Anyway, for some context: what is The Juniper Tree? Well, it's an old, dark German fairytale that is featured in Journal Page 29 (aka the one related to Caleb)
Well, technically the actual fairytale isn't word-for-word written like how it is in Wick, but still. It's literally a variant of The Juniper Tree. Most people assume this is a poem made by Hellbent Games themselves just to be like “Yeah Mary killed Caleb lol” but it's a full fairytale published by the Brothers Grimm.
So, what are the themes, before we get into all the passages? Well...
Child abuse, murder, CANNIBALISM, and biblical symbolism. Very much in line with Wick, especially Caleb. Be warned, however, the cannibalism thing is an absolute jumpscare if you're reading it for the first time.
Anyway let's get started.
Alright, first things first is that the mom dies during childbirth and another woman (the stepmom) takes her place. Do I think this has any heavy relevance to Wick? Not really. It could be symbolic with Mary, as in once she had Caleb the past her “died”.
The next part about the stepmom loving her daughter but hating her stepson to the point of abuse suggests something not many consider... Caleb, like Tim and Tom, was abused by Mary as well. You'd think for seeming to be the golden child of the family, Mary wouldn't do that to Caleb, but expectations aren't always reality. I mean, none of the items relating to Caleb mentions anything about Mary caring for him, and Old Man Edwards even talks about how Mary seemingly neglected all of her kids. Of course, it'd extend to Caleb.
Another thing is that “the Evil One” is referenced throughout the story. This is a title of, obviously, the devil. Considering that throughout Wick, there are implications of another supernatural entity, likely a demon, haunting the Weaver family before their deaths... yeah, this is just more evidence.
And now we come to the son's... very fucked up death. This reminds me of how it's sometimes theorized that before being buried alive, Caleb had been struck in the head by the shovel. Like, the “DIG THIS!” achievement's picture shows Caleb being hit with, you guessed it, a shovel. If you look closely at Caleb's model's face, he looks to have some scarring on his face.
Another thing about this scene is the son saying “Mother, how angry you look. Yes, give me an apple.” almost feels... defiant in a way? Even if he's always afraid, he still fights back in his own way. This could be how Caleb was as well.
We now have a name for the daughter: Marlene. Or well, in the original English translation, it's Marlinchen, but I'll still use Marlene for simplicity.
This part of the story possibly gives insight into the aftermath of Caleb's disappearance/death. Caleb was likely not fully buried but still died, which left Lillian (who is obviously in the place of Marlene, she is the only daughter after all) to find the body. Being younger, and also the closest to Caleb via the version of the fairytale in the Journal, was devastated.
And then comes the... really fucked up part.
I don't have much to discuss for this, since this part was seemingly removed in the Journal's version. But seriously, this is actually messed up. The dad, largely absent until now, unknowingly EATS HIS OWN SON. The absence of the dad certainly fits with John being absent during the war.
First off is Marlene gathering her brother's bones and tying them up in her (best) scarf before lying them beneath the juniper tree. Like the stepmom killing the son, this matches up with the Journal's version of the fairytale. Lillian likely reburied Caleb, but while Mary was malevolent in burying him alive, Lillian put thought and care into burying Caleb's body as seen in the rags he's wearing in-game. (Another thing is the “crying tears of blood” which makes me think of Lillian's design in No Way Out.)
Second off is the firey entrance of a bird (specified to be a crow in the Journal's version). Fire obviously reminds us of Mary's death, which we will get to later. The bird, if it isn't obvious enough, is the son reborn, and sings atop a goldsmith's house his sad tale. This brings us back to the start of our journey, the Journal's version of this line of dialogue.
I'll skip some of this, but in short, the bird goes to three locations. A goldsmith, a shoemaker, and a mill. Each time, he sings his tale to the people there, who want him to sing it just once again. He's defiant, telling them he'll only do it if they give him something in return.
The goldsmith gives him a golden chain, the shoemaker gives him a pair of red shoes, and the mill workers give him a millstone. The first two are easy, but what in the world is a millstone? Well, it's a stone used for grinding grain and apparently corn. We'll see what it's used for in a short bit.
The bird returns to his father's house! As shown, the dad is happy while the stepmom and Marlene are upset (for different reasons). After this, the bird sets himself on the juniper tree and sings his tale again.
Of course, the stepmom is practically losing it due to the presence of the bird and his singing, but the dad thinks otherwise. He decides to go out and see the bird despite his wife's anxiety.
Quite an interesting line, considering Mary's fate.
Once the bird finishes, he drops the golden chain as a gift to his dad. In response, the dad goes back inside and despite his pleasant encounter, the stepmom is terrified to the point of falling onto the floor. Holy shit. Anyway, the bird sings once more.
Marlene decides that she'll go out and see if the bird will give her something as well. And as the bird finishes, he drops the pair of red shoes down to her as a gift. Marlene became content and happy, putting on the new shoes and going back into the house.
In response, the stepmom...
The stepmom goes out to see if she'll be given something as well. Technically, it did happen. The bird dropped the millstone onto her, instantly killing her. We're back to Mary's death. And even after this, everything related to fire rises, and from that appears the son, no longer a bird, stew, or a corpse.
I don't think this is a “Caleb set the fire” type of thing. There's more evidence for the twins and the pastor anyway. What I do think this could lead us to is that Caleb at least saw it as a ghost.
Besides that, the line of the dad, son, and Marlene happily going inside and eating is the ending to The Juniper Tree. Which marks my ending to this post!
Thank you for reading my (probably over) analysis of the fairytale concerning Wick's lore. What do you guys think? Do you have any other thoughts about how the story could connect with Wick's lore?
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