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twdmusicboxmystery · 5 years

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9x10: Music References and Ties to Beth

Okay, here goes. One of the things I really loved about this episode was how much of it revolved around music. The biggest things that jumped out to me were, of course, Lydia and the fact that her dad sings to her in flashbacks. There are some major Beth parallels going on here.

Because Beth was the song bird, we automatically tie any and all musical references to her. And there were TONS in this episode! We also saw the songbird pull the worm from the walker’s ear when this arc began (after Rick left) which gives us a lot of hope that Beth will show up somewhere in this arc. Keep in mind that doesn’t mean she has to show up this season, but we hope she will.

Alpha sang to Lydia and calling her “Bug.” Later, we find out it was actually her father who sang to her. That's significant because, back in S2, we saw Herschel not exactly singing to Beth but sort of chanting the rhyme to her about the doodlebug. It was their thing that they did together to bond and it brought her comfort when she got sick (emotionally/psychologically) after the walkers came out of the barn.

So anyway, Beth’s father called her Doodlebug and sang to her. There have been many theories by me and various members of TD about the doodlebug rhyme and the closely connected ladybug symbol, which we know is a major symbol for Beth. (Remember, she was associated with ladybugs in Still when she picked up ladybug off the leaf.)

We didn’t actually see Daryl watching Hershel sing to Beth, but he was probably aware of it, and he knew how close Beth was to her dad. We also know he watched her sing to Judith as a baby to comfort her, so he’s definitely seen people sing to their children before, specifically to keep them from being afraid. So, I really loved that when Lydia told the truth about her father singing to her when she was afraid, Daryl immediately recognized it as true and used it to differentiate Lydia’s truths from her lies. I think that’s super significant and can be tied directly back to Beth and Daryl’s memories of her.

On TTD, they said that the person who wrote the lyrics for the song Lydia’s father sang her (Lydia, the Tattooed Lady) is the same person who wrote all the songs for the Wizard of Oz (TWOO).

That's super important for several reasons. They went out of their way to point it out on TTD, which means they really want us to know about it. Obviously, knowing who the lyricist is, isn’t something we need to know in order to understand the show. They also reminded us that we'd seen Rick reading the Wizard of Oz book to Judith in 9A, before the bridge blew.

Now, I really need to update my Wizard of Oz theory, but remember the first place we saw the Wizard of Oz template was at Grady with Beth. Seeing it with Rick just reinforced that she's as much alive as Rick is. Both of them were injured and woke up in a faraway, strange land, separated from their friends and family. So, because we know Rick is alive, and they associated him with the TWOO template (Dorothy survives at the end of the story makes it back to her family; she doesn't die.) we can use that as evidence that Beth, too, is alive and well somewhere.

I also find it to be entirely too coincidental that they mentioned TWOO on TTD and in this episode, Daryl said to Lydia, “You don’t know shit about me.” Noah said that to Beth at Grady and he was also the one had the “of the Lollipop Guild” line. See the subtle ties? Tptb went out of their way to tie this episode heavily to TWOO and, by extension, to Grady.

Let's talk about the Tattooed Lady song. I looked at the lyrics and let's just say that there are a lot of extremely random references included in the song.

Here they are:

Lydia, oh! Lydia, say have you met Lydia Oh! Lydia, the tattooed lady She has eyes that folks adore so And a torso even more so Lydia, oh! Lydia, that "Encyclopedia" Oh! Lydia, the Queen of tattoo On her back is the Battle of Waterloo Beside it the Wreck of the Hesperus too And proudly above the waves The Red, White and Blue You can learn a lot from Lydia She can give you a view of the world In tattoo if you step up and tell her where For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paree Or Washington crossing the Delaware Oh! Lydia, oh! Lydia, say have you met Lydia Oh! Lydia, the tattooed lady When her muscles start relaxin' Up the hill comes Andrew Jackson Lydia, oh! Lydia, that "Encyclopedia" Oh! Lydia, the champ of them all For two bits she will do a Mazurka in Jazz With a view of Niag'ra that no artist has And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz You can learn a lot from Lydia. La la la La la la La la la La la la Come along and see Buff'lo Bill with his lasso Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon And Godiva, but with her pajamas on La la la La la la La la la La la la Here is Grover Whalen unveilin' the Trylon Over on the west coast we have Treasure Islan' Here's Nijinsky a doin' the Rhumba Here's her Social Security numba La la la La la la La la la La la la Lydia, oh! Lydia, say have you met Lydia Oh! Lydia, the champ of them all She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat And now the old boy's in command of the fleet

The song is about a woman who has tattoos all over her body. Most of them have to do with real people or historical events. So, the idea is that you can learn a lot from looking at her tattoos. Not all the references jump out at me as meaning something significant, but a lot of them do.

First, a LOT of them are water references. (Remember water =s Beth). It mentions the Battle of Waterloo, which I think is a dual symbol for the coming war with the Whisperers and also the fact that it includes “water” in the title.

It mentions The Wreck of Hesperus, which is a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about a shipwreck. This one is super interesting to me because the captain of the boat wrecks his ship due to his arrogance. His little daughter is on board. I just couldn't help but think of this shot where we see this boat in the storm, talking about a sailor behind Hershel.

I feel like we could substitute Herschel and Beth into this poem as the captain and his daughter.

The song mentions Treasure Island, which is an artificial island in San Francisco Bay. So again, more water references.

It also makes mention of different waves of the sea, Niagara, and the Crossing of the Delaware, which was when George Washington crossed the Delaware River in the dead of night to attack his enemies. For the record, that story is considered a modern-day miracle. It also mentions a fleet of ships tattooed across Lydia’s hips. There are probably a few other water references. Go through the lyrics and see for yourself.

Other references that jumped out at me include Buffalo Bill. I wondered if he, being a great hunter, could perhaps be a symbol of Daryl. One thing that caught my interest when I read about him was that he compared his strategy for hunting buffalo to a game of billiards. Obviously, we’ve see that in association with Beth and Daryl.

It talks about Capt. Jeffrey T. Spalding, who is a fictional character, but he was a great world explorer and went on many long journeys. Again, that reminds me of both Beth and Rick's long journeys.

It mentions the Trylon and Perisphere, which were central themes of the World's Fair in 1939. I wondered if perhaps that could point to the fair that's going to be at the Kingdom that they keep foreshadowing.

Finally, it also mentions a man named Vaslav Nijinsky who was a great ballet dancer. Music box anyone?

So I don't know if they mean for us to read into the references in Lydia, the Tattooed Lady. I think the a big part of the point of mentioning it on TTD was to point out it's ties to TWOO, which is clearly tied to Beth.

But we also did hear much of the song in the show, so I think that means the lyrics themselves are very important as well. I reserve the right to analyze the crap out of them. ;D

This is slightly off topic, but me, @frangipanilove and @wdway have also talked about the song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow from TWOO. The lyricist who wrote Lydia, the Tattooed Lady, Yip Harburg, also wrote all the TWOO songs, including the famous Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

We’ve talked about how a lot of the symbols in that song can easily tie to Beth. I’ve never talked about the song in my TWOO posts before, but obviously I should. The mural on the prison wall back in S4 included a rainbow, which is further proof that Beth’s arc and these symbols were planned back then, when Beth first came front and center.

@frangipanilove also pointed out that the shirt Sophia wore when she came out of the barn in S2 had a rainbow on it. That’s a great way to associate Beth with the Missing Girl theme. The song talks about wishing on stars (North Star Theory, Sirius/Dog Star Theory) and songbirds (Beth and the songbirds with Daryl and the tree walker in 5x06). And of course there’s the fact that Dorothy has a dog named Toto.

And keep in mind the basic plot of TWOO. Dorothy, who wore a lot of blue

hits her head (obvious head injury) and passes out. She wakes up in a far away land, away from her friends and family and spends the entire episode trying to get home.

This is why I can totally see them first bringing Beth back somewhere other than TWD (perhaps in Fear or another spinoff) so they can tell her story without completely taking over the main story line. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

I also noticed that we see a rainbow on the wall near Lydia that mirrors the one at the prison. Hmm. Especially given all the water references, could Alpha function as the Wicked Witch? Really no idea. Just conjecturing. But remember that in TWOO, it’s water that defeats the villain. (I’m melting!) Just saying. ;D

So, this is been kind of a rambling post, but there's a lot of music floating around this episode, and I can't help but tie it to Beth and feel like she's very close. Thoughts?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here #bethyl

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theacruzelle · 6 years

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Sharp panic, twisting, tangling my insides.

Melancholy song fills the air, lilting over the wind, like a freighter vessel crashing over heavy waves. The clouds roll in, little sneaks, tiptoeing over the sky, mischievous grins alighting their faces. Small blue wings beat up and down, my frantic fluttering drawing attention. It’s not every day a grown bird fails the flying test.

Meaningless drifting, fervent hope for a landing. Maple trees surround, wet leaves slapping against my body, throwing me further off course. Large droplets of water slide down my feathers, an odd, oily sensation.

I’m finally on the ground. Talons sink into the rocky earth, my beak snapping loudly.

Confusion. Gathering in a tangle, tugging the sides of my little bird stomach, gravel sanding down the lining.

I hop along the dirt. Squirming creatures traverse the blades of grass, numerous pairs of eyes blinking nervously in my direction.

“Hello.” I chirp, stopping in surprise. The intention had been for conversation, but speech capabilities were forgotten. They merely scatter, burrowing into the earth for fear of the danger I pose. It had been a loud squawk, certainly not attractive nor benign.

My journey continues, an astronaut bounding over the moon’s surface. Hollow bones—that’s why I’m so light. It’s a freedom, the desire tugging at my chest —try the skies again.

Five minutes ago I lived a different life. My worries included my grandmother’s cigarettes; Grady Pearson—who spent the majority of English class irritating from the desk behind mine; and Mr. Cosman, the reincarnation of Nero.

“Oh birdie!” A small blonde bounces up, not yet learned in the art of tiptoeing. “Mom look!”

“Mom” mutters a “that’s nice,” and continues to text, her cheetah thumbs bolting about the touchscreen.

The girl pouts, button nose scrunched, flipping her pigtails behind the puffed sleeves of her blue princess dress.

“Stupid bird.” She winds up, going to kick me, neglected eyes viewing a useless soccer ball.

Indignant squawking and screeching occurs, and I take to the overcast sky, my flight still awkward and off balance.

“Marissa!” Scolds the mother, curling her manicured fingers around the girl’s wrist and tugging the offender away.

The predators are different, but they exist all the same. Adrenaline courses through my veins, running a race that burns and excites.

A song passes my syrinx, pure instinct behind each sacred note. I glide on the wind, searching for something, though I know not yet what.

Up ahead is a tree, a poplar, taller than all the rest. The branches wind around the trunk—like a shield—whistling words of comfort and safety to the one it protects.

My talons clench around a green branch, head whipping this way and that. The eaves protect, sheltering from wind and rain. Shaking violently, I upset the gathering of water from my feathers, fluttering my wings in an attempt to become dry once again.

A screech startles me from my thoughts. This tree is not as empty as originally imagined. Flying down to my branch is large hawk, maliciously snapping his crooked beak. He outstretches his wings—showing the brown speckles of his feathers—an attempt to make a bigger impression.

I bow my head, keeping my eyes from meeting the predator’s. My goal—make it out alive. My exact size is not known, but I am aware of my low chances.

The branch shakes with the hawk’s weight. He tries to intimidate, screeching and flapping his wings madly in loud clamor—hopping closer, nearer...

Rolling my head and eyes to the side, I drop from the tree. It’s a free fall, and the hawk can only watch curiously as I get closer and closer to the ground. My fate is fast approaching.

An outstretch of wings, a frantic fluttering, and I pull a Wronski Feint, swerving up at the very last moment.

As swift as possible, I’m beating against the wind, wishing I didn’t hear that squawk of outrage, the takeoff.

I’m navigating unfamiliar suburbs, and the hawk is fast gaining. He hisses insults, mocking laughter curling from his throat.

There! A birdhouse. It’s newly painted, small, and the nearest shelter in sight. I duck inside, tucking myself in a ball.

Talons land on the roof, and he shakes the house vigorously. An earthquake rocks my only hope for survival, throwing me about, a little slip of fluff.

This is where I’ll die.

“Hey! Shoo!”

Hailstones pound against the box, an indignant screech from the hawk.

My ears echo with silence, ringing. I almost died byway of a hawk. It’s embarrassing how quickly this gift has gone to the dogs.

“Hello there.” A brown eye peeks through the door, long, black lashes blinking at me.

“Hello.” I chirp, shaking my tail feathers. The world won’t stop spinning.

“I’m not going to hurt you, my name’s Noah.”

I hop forward slowly, head cocked to the side. As my savior he’d be less likely to injure me, yes? One more bounce and I’ve planted myself on the soft, tender flesh of his hand. His skin is ghostly white, splattered with large brown freckles. On his head is a mop of red hair, from which two ears poke out obnoxiously.

“That was a nasty bird, wasn’t it.” Says the boy absentmindedly, stroking my back.

I nod, and he smiles, sitting down on a lawn chair with me in hand.

Noah hums, “I know lots of guys like that, just picking on anyone smaller.”

And that’s how our friendship begins. Every afternoon he arrives at my birdhouse, bearing seeds and fruit for me to partake in. Then he does his homework on the deck, or talks, or stares at the perfectly whitewashed fence.

Noah has a brother named Jason. He doesn’t talk much about him, but from his tone of voice I suspect the two have little to no respect for each other. Jason is in his early twenties and lives at home—without paying rent. He comes and goes as he pleases, often drunk. One night he managed to scale the fence and sneak in through the back. I’m the only one that saw.

It’s Saturday, and Noah is late. Or at least, I think it is a Saturday. As a canary I strongly doubt my sense of time.

I hop around in circles, keeping watch from the patio furniture, hoping for the moment the door would slide open.

“Hey Blue.”

A frantic fluttering of wings, I land on his shoulder, expectant eyes fixed on his freckled face.

“It hasn’t been that long.” He dimples, “I told you, I work on weekends.”

He’s only fourteen, yet Noah is the closest thing the Cohen family has to a responsible male figure. Jeanie, his mom, works all day, gone from 8-8. Noah does the shopping, the cleaning, spending the rest of his time in his room, never a word of complaint.

I admire him.

The sun sets over the horizon, and I stop a moment, giving it my full attention. The yard is small, nothing but my birdhouse within. We’re on the porch, the fresh wood smell prevalent. Noah’s father built it before he left.

Noah must be distracted too, because we both jerk when there’s a crash.

Again. Metal against metal, the sound similar to the crushing of a tin can. The fence gate cracked open, revealing Jason and a pretty blonde. They stumbled forwards, wrapped up in each other.

“Hem, hem.” Noah coughed, finally raising their attention.

“Hey look, it’s my little brother and his pet.” He spat the last word, making it seem stupid and immature.

“Jason,” Noah drooped, his hand coming up to stroke my back.

“Noah,” Jason sung, leading the intoxicated girl into the house, the two stumbling back and forth, walking over an earthquake only they could feel.

“So, that’s my brother.” He fished a graphic novel from his bag, embarrassed to admit it, even to a bird (or so he thought, anyway).

I desperately wanted to help, wished to be able to fix, yet what could I do? Even in my human form I had no power, and as a bird all that could be done was to bring comfort.

You’re not a superhero.

It isn’t some big moment. There isn’t flashing lights, screams, explosive emotions. There is no reason for it to happen—yet it does.

Noah is at the patio table, working away at his calculus homework. I bound away along the grass, searching for picky bits (aka creepy crawlies).

One moment I’m a blue canary, the next—I’m not.

I twitch, my hands digging into the soft, wet grass for the first time in weeks. Attired in human skin and clothes, I stand, legs wobbling.

“Blue?” Noah’s face is flushed of colour, his freckles popping more than ever. A galaxy traces over his cheeks and nose, a universe.

“Hi Noah.” His lips tremble, eyes flickering back and forth over my form.

“Please don’t hate me. I didn’t mean to—”

“Are you a human that turned into a bird? Or are you a bird that turned into a human.”

I giggle, finally figuring out how to sit up. “I’m human.”

“How?” He comes closer, plopping down beside me, but not too close.

“It just… happened.”

A squirrel bounds along the fence.

“You just magically morphed into a bird?”

I nod, grimacing at how stupid that sounds.

“Um,” I stick out my hand, “My name’s Emily.”

He grins, “Nice to meet you.” Noah clasps his hand around mine, hesitantly, covered in a cold sweat.

“Back at’ya.”

I don’t want to go back yet, and Noah can see that. Jeanie isn’t due to be home for a couple of hours, so he invites me onto the porch, thumbs twiddling.

“Blue—er—Emily?” His cheeks go red, “Aren’t your parents wondering where you are?”

Leaning back, my hand taps against my chin, face passive. “Probably not.”

He frowns, incredulous. “Wha—”

“They’re dead.”

“They’re dead?”

“I live with my grandma.”

“You were gone for over a week.”

“She doesn’t give a crap.”

Noah’s mouth nearly hits the ground. “Is she… abusive?”

“Pft, no, no of course not. I should—I should’ve tried to go back, but... “

I wiggle my toes, having long freed them from their cages.

“No responsibilities.” He smiled.

“Yeah,” I scratch the back of my head.

“Ooh, lookie here! Noah has a girly friend!” Jason leans against the doorframe, mocking eyes, dancing eyebrows. “Does mom approve of you being alone with her?”

Red sweeps across Noah’s skin, the tips of his ears bright and glowing. “Piss off, Jason.”

“Jason Cohen, pleased to make your acquaintance.” he holds his hand out to me. I stare.

“Emily Desdale, decidedly not so.”

Jason bursts into loud guffaws. “She’s a proud one. Good job, little brother.”

He leaves.

I wish I was a superhero.

“Well look who’s back. How were the streets, kid?” Grandma takes a long drag of her cigarette, playing with her bleached blonde hair.

I merely stare. There’s nothing I can say. I hadn’t wanted to return.

The house is a mess, more than usual. Dishes are piled high in the sink, everything covered in a layer of dust, couches barely seen underneath piles of clothes. All is soaked with the smell of smoke—something I only notice because of the two weeks we spent apart.

I get to work, scrubbing, arranging, sweeping, mopping. Grandma grins whenever I pass, laughing more at the refusal to make eye contact.

“Looks like they made their mark.” She chortles.

Cleaning lasts for the day’s entirety, and at eight o’clock she leaves for her boyfriend’s place. The house is finally empty, finally clean. I lie on my dingy old cot, counting the cracks in the ceiling.

There’s 37.

Lights gleam over the streets, an illusion of their power created by way of the fog. Dilapidated sneakers flop over the sidewalks, slapping furiously. Breath wheezes from my throat, but I don’t slow the pace.

The air lies thick on my skin, it’s as if I’m swimming through a dream.

A stitch stabs at my side; I want to double over. I don’t.

There’s a bird sitting on the fence of his yard, head crooked to the side. Its feathers are a mottled grey, eye focused on me. A pigeon.

I don’t know how long we stay there, staring at each other. At one point, it shakes its head, furiously, as if sneezing.

“Emily?” Noah walks into view, fire blazing about his head, no it’s merely a trick of the light. “Are you okay?”

I smile small, “Not really. I’m sorry. It’s super late, I should just—”

A hand curls softly around my shoulder. Turning me back towards him, he awkwardly scratches the back of his neck.

“Do you want to stay for a bit? I don’t—it would be nicer with you here.”

“Okay,” I say softly, sticking my hand in his.

We lie on our backs, staring at the bright quarter moon, the soft grass whistling in the breeze.

“I wish I could be a bird again.” I whisper.

“I wish I was one too.” He squeezes my hand.

Dimpling, I turn to him, supporting my head on my palm. “Then we could fly off into a distance.”

“Never anything to bother us again.”

“No stupid family.”

“No obligations.”

“No age restrictions.”

We dream of a happier life that’ll never come. We’re safe, invisible, under the moon’s protection. Monsters don’t exist. They never did.

The sun begins to rise. The moon lowers, and with its disappearance goes our confidence. We look into each other’s eyes, knowing the world will soon need to be faced.

“Hey Casanova!”

The clink of a fence gate.

We jump up, our hands still entangled.

Jason is alone this time, his speech slurred and slow, yet his feet planted surely along the ground. He comes closer, closer—

SMACK! Jason’s fist collides with Noah’s freckled face.

“Jason! Jason stop! Why are you—?”

Noah tries to put up a fight, punching, but Jason merely catches his brother’s fist, socking him again.

“Stop, stop!” I screech, running forwards. Attempts to place myself between them only leads to my head slamming against the wooden fence.

The redheads continue the battle; Noah is on the ground now. Futile attempts are made to protect his face, his brother not listening to either of our pleads. Skin is breaking, each punch just as solid as the next, becoming more frenzied, stronger as Jason spirals.

He’s not fighting Noah anymore. No, he’s fighting his Dad—he’s fighting the one that left.

My head is pounding, consciousness slipping away with each second that passes. My limbs are numb, unattached. Do they really belong to me?

What is—oh right, they’re fighting. What was I—?

I need to stop them.

Shimmying myself back to standing, my hands slide along the wood, pinpricks piercing the soft flesh of my hand. I stumble forwards—

There’s darkness, pain everywhere, spreading from my head down.

My throat is desert dry, eyes stuck over with glue. Rhythmic beeps sound throughout the room—they belong to me. My hands slide along a coarse blanket. I’m dressed in a gown.

“Emily Ross?” A woman is at my side, dressed in an ill-fitting blue uniform.

“Ye—a?” I croak. The room closes in, yellow, peeling wallpaper looming over me. Something has happened.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” Her smile is fake, just like her ruby red lips. “You’ve suffered a mild concussion, are you able to answer some questions?”

I gulp down some water, then nod.

“Great!” She squeaks, “I’ll send him in.”

The nurse is gone before I can ask for—

“Miss. Ross?” A policeman enters the room, deep bags under his eyes, half bald.

“Um, hi?”

“How are you?”

“I’m fine, I mean—”

“That’s good,” he pushes on, taking out a notepad and a pen. “Now, what were you doing on Walnut Grove Street during the fight that took place between the two Cohen boys?”

“You call that a fight? Dude, Jason was beating on Noah for no reason.”

He gave me a smile, barely constraining his irritation, “Answer the question, miss.”

I sit up, eyebrows raising. “Well, sir, I was out for some air. Noah and I are friends.”

“You were out for some air.” He said in disbelief.

“Yes, look, what do you want?”

The policeman hesitated, leaning towards me. “Is your grandmother abusing you?”

“Is that what this is about? No! A thousand times no! Why are you concentrating on that? Noah is obviously the kid that needs help.”

“Miss. Ross, I think we should be the judge of that.”

“Like you know him at all!”

He threw his hand up, speaking with a patronizing tone, “I think that’ll be all today.”

“Wait! Is Noah alright?” I jump to my feet, tethered by the needle in my arm.

“Kid.” He turned around, meeting my eyes. “Noah’s dead.”

The policeman walked away, shoulders burdened, step heavy.

You’re not a superhero.

Inspired by

A Boy in Fiddler’s Green—The Tragically Hip

Birdhouse in Your Soul—They Might Be Giants

#writing shortstory

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twdmusicboxmystery · 7 years

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Sirius the Dog Star and How it ALWAYS Returns

Okay, let’s talk dog symbolism. We all know how much we’ve seen dogs around Beth. I’ve done posts focusing on how they tend to be around kidnapping victims in the show (X) but the kidnap victims always make it back to TF alive. There have also been rumors of Daryl getting a dog this season, and Emily having filmed scenes with a Rottweiler that we haven’t seen yet. So obviously the dog symbolism is a big deal.

I never really thought the dog represented Beth herself. It definitely represents parts of her arc, such as the abduction, but not Beth herself. Well, I’m officially changing that opinion.

(Picture Source)

Let’s talk about Sirius, the Dog Star.

Sirius is the brightest star in our sky. (Interesting.) It’s even brighter than the sun. (Obviously it doesn’t appear that way to us because of it’s distance, but if put side-by-side, it’s larger and brighter than our sun.) It’s part of the constellation, Canis Major.

This is another thing (like the Bennu/Heron) that was big in Egyptian mythology. Many ancient civilizations (Rome, Greece, Ptolemy of Alexandria, the ancient Polynesians) charted Sirius, but it was most especially important in Ancient Egypt because of the Nile .The star always appeared in the sky each year before the Nile flooded, which the Egyptians needed for their crops to survive, so they watched the sky religiously for Sirius to appear.

Think about that trait: The star Sirius disappeared in the heat of summer before returning later. The scientific reason for that is that the sun’s light eclipsed the stat during this time. They two stars were rising and setting almost synonymously, so Sirius couldn’t be seen.

In fact, the term “dog days of summer” comes from this. During the period Sirius was missing was the hottest part of the year, when things died from lack of water. This was seen by the Egyptians as a period of death and rebirth. Then, after exactly 70 days, Sirius would rise in the east in the morning, just before the sun. The flood waters would come, and life would be given.

And when it reappeared, it gave (in the Egyptian’s minds) life, via water. Oceanside? Beth = Water?

We could go into more detail, such as it being part of a binary system (Canis Major and Minor; just reminds me of the retellings), and a debate over whether it is or used to be RED, but those become their own rabbit holes. Tumble down at your own risk.

Now let’s look at TWD.

There’s obviously the dog that appeared briefly before Beth was taken by the Grady cops. I’ll talk more about that furry dude in a minute. First, lets look at something else. I said in THIS POST that dogs are often seen around characters who are kidnapped or imprisoned. That makes a lot of sense with the Sirius symbol, because the character is separated from TF for a time, but then returns. We saw this as early as S1 with Glenn and the Vatos gang.

And we’ve seen it as recently as this season. In 8x05, when FG had been imprisoned at the Sanctuary, Eugene made a dog reference (”We’ve eaten dog together, so I imagine that joins us in some manner for life.”).

And then there’s Jadis imprisoning Rick. While the wire thing she was making looked like a pouncing tiger to me, there was some implication that it might have been a dog. If that’s true, we have a dog right before Rick is imprisoned and separated from TF for a time.

Everyone remember those pictures Michonne and Carl looked at in that house in 4b? Every single one of them had thematic significance. We saw rabbits and carrots, the scary one of a blond covered in blood that might have been Mary, Beth, or Lizzie. And then there’s this one:

I’d noticed it before, but never totally understood the significance. Obviously I connected the dog in the painting to the dog in Alone. That dog had only 3 legs and 1 eye, so it was mangier, but it was still white and looked a lot like the one in the painting. I’ve always wondered if the fact that it was looking up at the moon was a wolf reference.

I don’t think that anymore. Because Sirius is the BRIGHTEST star, the dog may not be looking at the moon at all. This was the most obvious way for tptb to point to Sirius as the reason for the dogs. Dog. Staring up at the stars. Dog…stars. Dog…star. Put them together people!

And Sirius ALWAYS reappears. In the East. With the sunrise.

The only worrisome thing about this is that it appears after 70 days. Let’s hope they don’t make us wait 7 seasons to see Beth. (Grrh!) Now, I really don’t think that’s the case. I feel like she’s REALLY close. But. Who DID reappear after 7 seasons?

Morales.

I’m wondering now if they brought him back exactly 7 seasons later in order to fulfill the Sirius 70 days thing. They aren’t going to wait 7 seasons for Beth, so they brought someone else back after 7 seasons to fulfill that. Thoughts?

At the very least, both of them were on the cover of that magazine. Morales has appeared. Just a matter of time before our Sirius returns.

Now let’s talk about the dog in Alone.

He had one messed up eye, right? And since then, we’ve seen a lot (I’d even say most) of the blond, Beth-ish walkers, have one missing or seriously messed up eye. Most of us have assumed that means that when Beth returns, she’ll have a messed up eye from the bullet. I’m not so sure anymore. It’s still a possibility, of course, but it also may be more of the Sirius symbolism, rather than a literal thing.

See, I’m not sure why, as I don’t see it anywhere in the ancient mythology, but somewhere along the way, Sirius started to be represented by a dog with one star in his eye. You can even see it in a modern, North American XM radio station. Their logo has a dog with a star in it’s eye.

More than that, Robert Frost (yes, the famous poet) wrote two poems about Sirius the Dog Star, and refers to him as the dog with the star in his eye. More on those poems in a minute.

So I’m wondering if the messed up eyes are just to show Sirius symbolism (again, rebirth or reappearance) but it won’t necessarily be an injury she’ll have. Or it still might be. We’ll just have to wait and see.

So the gist of this is to show that all the dog symbolism around Beth is, by definition, resurrection or reappearance symbolism.

And, as @frangipanilove said, the “serious piggyback” line might have come from an excuse to squeeze the name Sirius into the dialogue, even if the spelling is different. Daryl gave Beth a “Sirius” piggyback through the grave yard and to the other side. She made it.

Now for the poems.

Remember in the funeral home (right after the serious/Sirius piggyback) they drank something called Frosty Cola? That brand doesn’t actually exist. A made up brand for the show.

@frangipanilove’s theory is that it was put there as a reference to Robert Frost and his Sirius poems. Let’s check them out.

This one is called Canis Major. (Source)

The great Overdog That heavenly beast With a star in one eye Gives a leap in the east. He dances upright All the way to the west And never once drops On his forefeet to rest. I'm a poor underdog, But to-night I will bark With the great Overdog That romps through the dark. – Robert Frost

Short and sweet, and it basically gives us the attributes of Sirius. This next one is much longer, but there are some suspicious things in it. It’s about a dog the narrator takes in for the night, who then disappears. I mean, even though the dog didn’t stay overnight with Beth and Daryl, there are a lot of similarities here to what happened with the dog in Alone.

It’s called One More Brevity. We’ll take it paragraph by paragraph:

I opened the door so my last look Should be taken outside a house and book. Before I gave up seeing and slept, I said I would see how Sirius kept His watchdog eye on what remained To be gone into, if not explained. (emphasis mine)

That last line. “She’s just gone.” And think how much about Beth and S4 in general has not been explained.

But scarcely was my door ajar, When, past the leg I thrust for bar, Slipped in to be my problem guest, Not a heavenly dog made manifest, But an earthly dog of the carriage breed, Who, having failed of the modern speed, Now asked asylum, and I was stirred To be the one so dog-preferred.

A carriage breed, by the way, isn’t a specific breed of dog. It’s a dog that’s “bred” to run along beside a carriage and protect the people inside from possible dangers. Only the rich had carriage dogs. Not only are these protector dogs *coughs Beth as protector of children* (X) but it’s yet another link between Frost’s poem and Sirius and the dog they actually used for Alone. That dog was a rescue dog who lost it’s fourth leg and eye rescuing it’s owners.

He dumped himself like a bag of bones. He sighed himself a couple of groans, And, head to tail, then firmly curled, Like swearing off on the traffic world. I set him water. I set him food. He rolled an eye with gratitude, Or merely manners, it may have been, But never so much as lifted chin. His hard tail loudly smacked the floor, As if beseeching me, “Please, no more; I can’t explain, tonight at least.” His brow was perceptibly trouble-creased.

Pretty self-explanatory. This dog has been through a lot. (Foreshadow of both Beth and Daryl.) Also remember Daryl wanted to bring the dog food to try and lure him in, but walkers were at the door. And an emphasis on only one eye.

So I spoke in terms of adoption, thus: “Gusty, old boy, Dalmatian Gus, You’re right, there’s nothing to discuss. Don’t try to tell me what’s on your mind, The sorrow of having been left behind Or the sorrow of having run away. All that can wait for the light of day. Meanwhile feel obligation-free; Nobody has to confide in me.” (Emphasis mine)

Beth and Daryl definitely tried to adopt the dog. And that left behind line. The narrator doesn’t know if the dog was abandoned or ran away, but holy crap! And then there’s the “confide in me” bit. Beth and Daryl definitely became confidants.

‘Twas too one-sided a dialogue, And I wasn’t sure I was talking Dog. I broke off, baffled, but all the same, In fancy, I ratified his name; Gusty, Dalmatian Gus, that is, And started shaping my life to his, Finding him in his right supplies And sharing his miles of exercise. (emphasis mine)

Shaping my life to his. Reminds me of Daryl wanting to stay at the funeral home and build a life.

Next morning the minute I was about, He was at the door to be let out. As much as to say, “I have paid my call. You mustn’t feel hurt if now I’m all For getting back somewhere, or further on.” I opened the door, and he was gone. I was to taste in little the grief That comes of dogs’ lives being so brief. Only fraction of ours, at most, He might have been the dream of a ghost, In spite of the way his tail had smacked My floor, so hard and matter-of-fact.

Like in Alone, the dog runs away, rather than staying long-term.

And things have been going so strangely since, I wouldn’t be too hard to convince, I might even claim he was Sirius. Think of presuming to call him Gus! The star itself, heaven’s greatest star, Not a meteorite but an avatar, Who had made this overnight descent To show by deeds he didn’t resent My having depended on him so long, And yet done nothing about it in song.

All the dog symbolism in TWD = Sirius.

A symbol was all he could hope to convey, An intimation, a shot of ray, A meaning I was supposed to seek, And finding, not necessary speak.

The signs are all there. You just gotta know how to read them.

Okay, all that said, you want to REALLY go down the rabbit hole? Yeah, it’s about to get worse. ;D

Let’s venture back to season 3.

(Once again, let’s remember that we can’t be sure what was and wasn’t planned before Gimple tool the reigns, but we have ample evidence that he went back and built on previous symbols in order to build story lines.)

So in S3, Maggie and Glenn are kidnapped and imprisoned by the Governor. Uh, Merle, actually. So this happened right after the dude who’d been gone several seasons and was presumed dead reappeared. And we’ve seen many parallels between Maggie/Glenn’s imprisonment and Beth’s, and even some between theirs and Daryl’s time at the Sanctuary.

So Rick, Michonne (who is new to TF at the time), Daryl, and Oscar (one of the inmates who survived) head out to go to Woodbury and rescue Glenn and Maggie. On the way, they hit a few obstacles. One of them is an EXTREMELY random character in a cabin in the woods. This dude.

Our heroes run into the cabin to escape a walker hoard and immediately becomes obvious that something in there smells REALLY bad. (Video below.)

youtube

We’re then shown a quick shot of a dead dog. Obviously that’s where the smell is coming from. So we don’t know who this dude is or why there’s a dead dog in his cabin. Maybe he was eating it, but it’s obviously decomposing. The dude is obviously a little strange. They end up having to kill him to save themselves and feed him to walkers as a diversion so they can run out the back door.

Daryl’s flippant comment about the dog is, “I guess Lassie came home.”

Now, we don’t want to necessarily say that they’re following a huge Lassie template here, because the haters will have a heyday with that. But…yeah I think they’re following a huge Lassie template here. Don’t tell the haters.

Lassie is one of the most well-known dog stories in our culture. And arguable the most famous installment was the film, Lassie Come Home. In the film, Lassie is taken from her destitute family, including a little boy she loves, and sold to the rich Duke of Rudling. Lassie hates her new owner though and wants to be with her “real” family, so she escapes and goes on a long journey/grand adventure, eventually returning and reuniting with them.

So what evidence is there, other than the obvious parallels to Beth’s journey?

Well, for one, let’s return to 5x10. The dogs TF killed and ate in that episode are the ones Eugene was referring to in 8x05. So they just became relevant again. One of the dogs in 5x10 is a border collie. Lassie was a collie, which is a different breed, but the name is similar. @frangipanilove believes they used a border collie rather than a regular collie because border collies are black and white, which reinforces the black/white/shoelace symbolism.

One of the Doberman in that group of dogs was named Duke. How do we know? Well, the name was visible on the blue dog collar. (Blue = imprisonment.) But more than that, Duke has his own page in the Walking Dead Wiki (source).

This dog was not exactly a huge character, right? ;D But tptb really wanted us to know his name. And combined with the blue collar, we have Duke + imprisonment, right? Lassie was taken and imprisoned by a Duke.

And other than the actual colors, the dog collars from the dog in S3 and 5x10 are strikingly similar.

In this group of dogs we also have a German Shepherd (think Officer Shepherd). So we have the black and white border collie, Duke, and a German Shepherd. Coincidence?

But it gets crazier. Check out this pic. Notice the caption.

The First Escape? Um…remember that Skybound posted this pic

after Slabtown with the caption, “First Escape Attempt.” Then there’s the fact that Lassie is escaping for the first time through chain link.

In 5x09, we have this cabin picture.

Check out the cabin featured in Lassie Come Home:

Like, I can’t believe how similar they are. Right down to the chimney stack being on the outside of the house. Now, I do believe this cabin in Ty’s death episode is part of a larger cabin symbolism that will have to do with the white cabin she filmed at. But Beth is also in this episode. So this may also point to her eventually returning home.

@frangipanilove also sent me one more thing while I was writing this up yesterday. In this latest episode, the painting behind Maggie that has the white horse in it, also features a black and white dog. Much like the border collie. And remember that black and white represent Bethyl. Black = Daryl, White = Beth.

As for the future, there have been spoilers before about Daryl getting a little white dog this season, though we’ve seen no sign of it yet. And I know there were filming spoilers back in S5 (same time as white cabin stuff) about Emily filming scenes with a Rottweiler. So if they both end up with dogs, it’s interesting that Daryl will get the Beth dog and Beth will get the Daryl-dog. Like their perfect companions.

No idea how any of that will play out, but we’re definitely on the watch for it.

Also remember that Beth sang a song to Judith about not growing up. Here’s a mainstream article about it: X. At one point, the lyrics say, “I wish that I could be a dog.” So Beth is wishing to be Sirius the dog star? I don’t think it gets more on-the-nose than that. ;D The article also points out that they changed the lyrics, which actually kind of makes it LESS of a death foreshadow. Just saying.

Okay, I’m really gonna shut up. Let me just end on one more note about the scene in S3. Once again, Gimple may have gone back and used this scene as inspiration for Beth’s arc. Who knows? Maybe he figured out the Lassie thing first and then decided to go deeper with dog symbolism and stumbled upon Sirius. No way to know for sure. But I want to point out one more thing that fits about that S3 scene:

The dog, which Daryl named Lassie, was dead. That much was obvious. TF was sure of it.

They didn’t try to revive it. They didn’t try to check it’s vitals. They left it behind. Because it was dead. And they needed to prioritize the living.

Thoughts on the Dog Star?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here

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