When Cursed Soh conjures up the Goddess symbol and invokes the powers of the Heavenly Generals, she uses the same movement Soh uses when creating a protective barrier.
Everything is intentional in this game.
The motion actress says the actions of the Tsuba guards have meaning.
The motion actress says the actions of the Tsuba guards have meaning.
So why does Cursed Soh use a protective gesture?
When first appearing, she challenges Yoshiro not Soh.
When luring them to the shrine, she's made of impurity and imitates Yoshiro praying.
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| Yoshiro's silhouette |
Her dark figure is then 'sucked' into where the spirit stone is placed. Horns are already forming on her head.
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| No horn. |
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| Horns! On the left side, it appears. I checked frame by frame so it's not part of the spirit stone. Squint! |
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| The horn in question |
Looking into the shrine shows a barrier inside it, similar one that Soh can create.
Looking at this with my current theory, could she be saying that Yoshiro, filled with impurity, is merged with the Goddess and is the cause of Cursed Soh?
In the Unknown Land, she acknowledges Soh as herself, greeting her.
It is Yoshiro who she is actually intent on destroying, the 'source' of impurity.
Every time she intentionally kills Yoshiro, she uses Taion's Lightning.
Yoshiro harbors all the impurity and is the cause of the Goddess becoming impure.
The protective gesture fits, as she wants to protect herself from the impurity held within the Maiden.
The Unknown Land looks hard, like spirit stone. The spirit stone wards off evil.
Is it the Goddess trying to protect herself? Casting a protective barrier over herself and hardening it like spirit stone?
Is it the Goddess trying to protect herself? Casting a protective barrier over herself and hardening it like spirit stone?
The Spirit Stone is crystal but so is defilement. It's easy to get confused and I still do...so I am unsure once again about this.
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| Spirit Stone or Defilement? |
Yoshiro turning the symbol into a spirit stone...was it intentional? Or is it saying in that moment, the merge was complete, the impurity further defiling the Goddess and causing Cursed Soh to be unable to use her full powers?
Perhaps this symbol is the 'marriage' of the Maiden and the Goddess. The spiritual union that resulted in this mess. Cursed Soh shatters it in her final stage.
This is the phase where she accesses the powers of multiple Tsuba Guards and we hear the soft melodies of the bases. The feel is melancholic as Cursed Soh nears her end.
(Could the destroying of this symbol have been what allowed Yoshiro and Soh to separate, thus enabling Soh to purify her after she's obtained her heavenly power?)
But...in all other cycles, there was no Cursed Soh nor was the Unknown Land corrupted this way. We see it in the normal ending. It looks like heaven.
This means during our cycle in particular, this mirror world became steadily infested with defilement.
Was there something special about Yoshiro and Soh's bond?
Cursed Soh's plaque says 'over time, the impurity entangled with the image of the Goddess', so it's probably related to 8 cycles...
(Nanamagari's theme is also Seven Woes. Something about 7...7 previous Maidens.)
Onto the Unknown Land...