random shoal
I think it better to call Clancy’s journey a SPIRAl rather than a CYCLE
A cycle implies we’re going in circles forever, with nothing truly changing. But a spiral allows you to revisit similar moments with small but important differences things evolve as you go “up” or “down” the spiral. They could get better or worse
Clancy’s story from Heavy Dirty Soul to escaping Trench, to being kidnapped again and again, to becoming a bishop in City Walls. These events as they are presented don’t seem to take place at the same time or in the same order every time.
With each album release more is added to the journey and the spiral grows.
Clancy faces familiar struggles but handles them differently, growing and learning as he goes.
Even within the lore, we see these smaller spirals: The Heavy Dirty Soul music video is almost its own spiral where we see Clancy go round and round, but eventually breaks through. Who’s to say how many times Clancy lived through that event before he even attempted to escape trench. As Clancy grows so does his story.
The blurryface album is another example of this spiral where goner loops back into Heavy Dirty Soul. Do you guys remember the original goner mv? The HDS screech played at the end of the video showing that “loop/cycle” whatever you want to call it again starts again. We now see something similar in City Walls as it plays that same screech at the end, linking back to HDS. Showing that Clancy is still fighting, but has grown a lot from the closing track goner.
To me, this all reflects the lores message that life’s struggles don’t just vanish they reappear in new forms. But each time we face them, we learn, adapt, and grow stronger. This ties into one of thr bands consistent themes “the night will come, but the sun will rise again.”
proud wind