The Big O – Episode 21

[Alderis]

The Big O – Episode 21

Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today I’m eager to return to The Big O, which we last left in a moment of total crisis, as both Roger and Dorothy found themselves under assault by agents of the mysterious “Union,” the only glimmer of civilization we’ve seen from outside the walls of Paradigm. Living in the ruins of the wider world, they have infiltrated Paradigm on all levels, from Roger’s would-be confidant Angel to Alex Rosewater’s associate Alan Gabriel. And now their agents have gathered, amassing in their chapel to pass judgment on this hedonistic dreamworld.

The unveiling of Paradigm’s true peculiarity has been the great work of Big O’s second half, as both Roger and the audience shift from taking his retro-futuristic city for granted to acknowledging it as a strange and unnatural outlier in a world otherwise fallen to ruin. Whatever Gordon Rosewater did, it appears his intent was to create a bubble world much like his tomato garden, a patch of enduring twentieth century excess that would resist the ruin otherwise enveloping the earth. To this end, he likely programmed Roger and others like him to act as this vessel’s antibodies, rooting out threats both internal and external in order to ensure the safety of the harvest. But what can Roger even do with this information? Knowing he is a pawn, would it be better to rebel against his programming and risk all of Paradigm, or remain complicit in Gordon’s project to protect his home? Neither answer seems quite right, which makes me all the more eager to see his own choice. Let’s get to it!

Episode 21

No time for an OP, we’re starting with a recap! Witness Angel get rejected by Roger one more time!

Roger’s awakening and current mental disarray seems to echo the larger tale of Paradigm, as well as the tale of the Garden of Eden. Both he and Paradigm were relatively content in ignorance, conducting their lives within the unconsidered assumption that this city’s history is presumably much like its present, and that its way of life is in no particular way controversial or unusual. But having eaten the fruit of knowledge (or vegetable of knowledge, in this tomato’s case), Roger can no longer live happily within paradise, knowing too much of its artificial nature and limitations. Of course, in this case, his paradise was not designed by an allegedly benevolent, all-knowing god: it was Gordon Rosewater who engineered this garden, and until Roger has a better grasp of Gordon’s intentions, he can’t possibly come to a peaceful relationship with either his city or himself

Given that clear religious framing, the show’s other flourishes of religious pageantry make more sense: they are essentially the intrusion of an older rival god, represented through either the lingering embers of Christian doctrine or the self-conscious rituals of the Union. Ultimately, The Big O is a battle for the hearts of humanity conducted by rival would-be gods, each god knowing that he who controls the flow of information controls our very identities. Roger has been an unknowing foot soldier in this battle, a mortal bearing the regalia of the gods, but he has come to understand too much to confidently continue his duties

“The Third Big”

Of course, the title “megadeus” was always a clue that this was a war between false deities

“What’s wrong, Negotiator? Does this mean that you’re just another one of those rotten tomatoes?” I wonder if Gordon intended Roger to be so curious, if an independent passion for truth and justice was essential to the acolytes he was attempting to create. Perhaps Gordon wasn’t even sure what would happen, and was intentionally leaving the future in the hands of his “children.” Megadeus-wielding pilots to guide humanity into a new age – I could see his arrogance extending that far

Just as Roger admits he’s “not afraid of memories” that he doesn’t have, Dorothy’s image flashes on the screen. He may not be afraid of discovering the past, but surely he’s afraid of losing his future

Dorothy is still unable to determine Alan’s true nature

“You’re forgetting your duties in recovering memories from this city of vanity.” So it doesn’t seem like the wave of amnesia was also Gordon’s doing – that apparently affected all of humanity, inside and outside the walls. But if so, how was Gordon so prepared to take advantage of it with his “city of vanity”?

“Big O… are you really sure? You can hold out until I get back?” Rather than fighting against the Big O’s choices, Roger chooses to see its silence as a gesture of support – it’s forcing him to get out and save Dorothy, knowing she is more important to him than the conclusion of this battle. A potential sign of him coming to a happier relationship with his assigned role, of finding agency within it

Angel herself first rushes to Dorothy’s aid, though she frames her support as being in the best interest of the Union. Still, when Dorothy offers her a questioning look, Angel can’t meet her eyes

Alan’s design offers another example of Big O’s purposeful, ostentatious shading – no matter which direction he faces, his hat always offers that same degree of shadows obscuring his face. He wears the shadows themselves as a tight-fitting mask

“Angel, what are you doing?” Angel refers to herself in the third person, seemingly questioning her own programming

Hah! Even when his hat’s knocked off, his face is still a black void. His whole design is really an exercise in negative space, shadows given definition by the white lines abutting them. An excellent animated conception of the boogeyman

Gorgeous effects animation as the Union megadeus begins to fire arcs of lightning all across the city. I believe this is Hisashi Mori’s work, one of the greatest masters of the craft

It seems Roger’s gamble is paying off, as Rosewater himself is now roused to action in defense of the city

Hah, love this mournful saxophone riff as Angel exits, the suitably tragic accompaniment to her abandoning her romantic hopes

“You’re a spoiled child, Alex Rosewater, who is stuck in his father’s shadow. Because of your treacherous act when you turned your treaty into scrap paper after you acquired the megadeus we discovered, this is the price you pay!” Vera neatly spelling out the finer points of the Union’s current grievance. So presumably Gordon struck some treaty with the Union to prevent their interference in Paradigm, but Alex was too set on acquiring even more power to honor it. Benevolent dictatorships rarely outlast their founders; even if one man like Gordon is truly dedicated to creating a peaceful, stable society, his successors will inevitably find their own, likely more near-sighted goals

Alan is then called away, drawn back by the collective chanting of the Union agents

The link between unconsidered faith and violence seems clear as their chorus greets the destruction wrought by their megadeus

Exceedingly cute moment between Roger and Dorothy – Dorothy’s too heavy for Roger to also lift his watch transponder to his face, but also refuses to put her down, so Dorothy helpfully holds it up for him. Both equally dedicated to this princess carry

“Next time, you’ll take me home.”

“We don’t have the power to protect this city. Only stronger forces that aren’t in our memories can protect it, like the megadeus.” Dastun is getting understandably dispirited regarding the seeming triviality of his role – though he plays the part of this city’s protector, he exists entirely outside the systems of power that actually define this world, more putting on a performance of protector for the crowd than actually keeping the city safe

Of course, he’s exaggerating, and Roger is kind enough to protest. These two offer a lovely portrait of a hard-won mutual trust

Vera’s megadeus is named “Bonaparte,” a fitting title for a creature intended to replace Gordon’s static regime with an ostensibly more equal order

Rosewater’s megadeus emerges from beneath his own personal Arc de Triomphe

“Sooner than I expected. But this too must have been predicted in the memories.” Alex sees the stolen memories as a prophecy designed to guide the future. Even in this era untethered from the past, he can’t see humanity as capable of deciding its own destiny. I wonder what his father would say to that?

Alex Rosewater cheers as he decides that he must be this new Big’s core memory, the spark allowing it to move

“The city is like a stage. And we’re actors who’ve been placed on that stage. Actors who haven’t even been told what the plot is, or what’s gonna happen next.” It’s a tough gig, Dastun

And then, with its target defeated, Rosewater’s Big starts to destroy the city altogether. He clearly misinterpreted his role in this production, seeing power and agency where there was only a brief correlation between his own goals and this titan’s intent

“Cast in the name of god, ye not.” Though Alex is Gordon’s biological son, it seems this Big does not recognize him as his rightful offspring. So it was Roger’s conditioning that made him “free of sin,” then?

And in contrast with Alex attempting to bend his megadeus to his will, Roger freely admits that he is now acting in service of the Big O’s own desires. Is complicity in Gordon’s play the only way forward?

“This is my Big! This is my dome! I won’t let you have it.” Remarkably how quickly Rosewater crumbles when he no longer feels in control. It’s an interesting contrast – Roger has essentially pushed forward by surrendering his will to a higher power, whereas Alex’s attempts to control everything have lead to his ruin

Roger even describes this new megadeus as “a monster that’s cursed with memories of the past.” So he’s even rejecting his own curiosity, seemingly embracing his position within Gordon’s project

And Done

Oh man, what a strange and illuminating episode! Though we’re moving closer to the Big O’s endgame, it feels like our leads are more lost than ever before, responding to the recognition of their complicity in a plan beyond their understanding with either fatalistic despair or fanatical allegiance. The show’s consistent use of Christian iconography is also getting more pointed and thematically relevant by the episode, emphasizing religious faith as either a compliment or counter to the determinism implied by Gordon’s mental conditioning project. So is humanity doomed to be a species defined by deference, recreating the ignorance of paradise that we may live happily in service to gods of our own making? I’m eager to find out!

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Source: The Big O – Episode 21