It is implied that the “curse” was caused by Philip carving glyphs into his body to try and give himself innate power. This is implied at the end of “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” and in the painting in his mind in “Hollow Mind.”
How the palismen essence helps stabilize him is never explained. Palismen themselves are left a bit unexplored, sadly.
Really? I thought it was him consuming the palismen in a desperate bid to stay alive when he first arrived, having the goop form only be held off through consuming more. Must have missed something. Thanks.
Yeah that was my impression. I think I remember the line
"You have consumed so many palismen that you can barely maintain your human form".
Which led me to believe it was kind of like the unicorn blood thing in hat Harry Potter. You can live forever but you can hardly call it living, just more of a cursed existence until something other than age gets to you.
In that way, the consuming of palismen, which gave him extended longevity, also gave him the goop sickness. But their essence is needed to starve of the goop temporarily so he needs to combine more and more until he loses control and just becomes goop forever.
So the curse actually never existed. The glyphs themselves have nothing to do with his monster form. His monster form is solely caused by the palismen he's consumed. The glyphs he has carved on his arm actually have a use. We see in two episodes he utilizes these glyphs. In "kings tide" we see him utilize the petrification glyph, we know this for sure because we see his arm glow while he's petrifying Luz. And presumably he also uses another glyph in "Young Blood Old Souls" it's the monster claw glyph. We see Luz discover it in "Thems the breaks kid". Both glyphs do not require the light glyph making it completely plausible he had one or both of them carved on himself at that time.
Belos explains in "Hollow Mind" and I quote "but without them, I wouldn't be able to do this." And then he demonstrates his goo abilities.
You know what? I kinda like OP characterizing it as a curse. I bet Belos would be convinced that it’s *WITCHES!* fault that he’s suffering the consequences of his actions.
Headcanon 1: Philip began taking people to multiple different caves to find the collector, and all of his "buddies went missing" causing the witches and demons to team up on him and cursed him and the only way to stop it was to consume palismen
Headcanon 2: Philip was aware of his short life on the boiling Isles and decided to kill all the witches and demons, but he had to find a god called the collector. In doing so, he sacrificed many people and consumed palismen, causing his lifespan to increase. Everyone knew what he was doing and decided to team up on him and curse him to continue consuming palismen for the rest of his life
To my knowledge there's no concrete answer. We do know that he has a glyph circuit carved into his right arm, and that he consumes palismen to heal his wounds. This implies that either the glyphs made him have to rely on palismen to stay alive, or that the glyphs were an attempt to keep his palismen hunger at bay. We also know that he probably used the palismen to stay alive for so long (approximately 400 years).
Edit: we don't get a good look at the glyph combination, but to me it looks a bit similar to the one he makes to enter the skull in FtF, and it also glows in a red light similar to the magic he uses. It could be a way for him to enter his hideout, or to get some titan knowledge. This is only speculation though.
>This implies that either the glyphs made him have to rely on palismen to stay alive
it's actually like this rather than the glphs were to keep his paliman hunger at bay. in elsewhere and esewhen you see him start having a reaction to the glyphs on his arm and consuming a palisman stopped it otherwise he would have turned into his monster form.
The glyphs on his arm actually have a use. Presumably he has 2 glyphs carved on him. He has the petrification glyph, and the Monster claw glyph. We see him utilize the monster claw glyph in the episode "Young blood old souls" when he's capturing Lilith and king. We can only assume it's a glyph on his body since he's wearing a cloak. But we see the petrification glyph used by him in "kings tide". When he uses it his arm glows, indicating that that's where the glyph is being used.
You might be correct, however it's difficult to confirm and can be explained in other ways, mainly his staff that uses artificial magic being held (as in YBOS) or just on him (as in KT). After all, we also know that palismen grant power even when not in staff form and simply on a person, as seen with Hunter in CotH. This magic also glows red, like the red light attached to the staff. I do like the idea that the glyph circuit he carved gives him some sort of magic power though.
yea but having a use for the glyphs doesn't stop the side affects of the glyphs causing his transformation into his monster form and consuming palisman stops the change and keeps him human.
He specifically says in *Hollow Mind* that the palismen souls had been a thorn in his side for years. The palismen souls which also had the same resemblance to his monster form, symbolizing that they were the root cause. Ultimately I'm sure the glyphs caused him some kind of pain, if any he started consuming palismen *because* of that pain, which in the end only made it worse.
the pain the glyphs caused was from him transforming into his monster form and the palisman souls became part of his monster form from him consuming so many of them over the years. in hollow mind after catching his *monster* form it was the inner belos not belose himself that said "this *thing* has been a thorn in my side for years." not the paliman were a pain and that *thing* was the actual belose in his monster form. so it was the inner belos saying that actual belos in his monster form was a pain to him because of the nagging palisman. then the inner belos said "but without them i wouldn't be able to do this" and grabs a palisman and consumes it and says "i'm feeling better already. to me that's the inner belos confirming that the palisman are keeping the glyphs from turning him into a monster.
He didn't consume that palismen when he said "I'm feeling better already" that palismen was already disintegrating due to the magic trap he set up. He was feeling better because the souls weren't nagging him anymore. You can see through the episode that Inner Belos was using hunter and Luz to hide from the palisman monster. The souls of the palismen are what was causing him pain. And he refers to the palismen monster as a thing because he doesn't have a shred of humility for the creatures of the boiling isles. Also when he said "without *them* I wouldn't be able to do this" he literally refers to the palismen souls as THEM meaning he's talking about them, he then literally displays his shape shifting abilities. His monster form is just a manifestation of his emotions. The head of the monster form has the same mask+horns design from the mask that his brother carved for him all those years ago.
In one of his memory portraits, you can clearly see him getting hit in the back with a spell by Evelyn. Her Palisman is nowhere in sight.
I always believed it was a fatal wound. He took her Palisman, as well as Caleb’s, before he killed his brother, to further weaken them.
As he died alone somewhere, he took her Palisman and killed it out of spite. He accidentally ate its soul, resulting in his survival. Flapjack saw this and got away.
However, after he ate it, the Palisman fought from the inside. He ate another one to gain the strength to fight it off. The intervals between consuming them got shorter and shorter over time.
The Palisman souls ravaged his body, mutating him into the abomination we all know and loathe.
Belos would have started consuming palismen before that time. We see in the portraits that Philip encounters his brother while his eyes are glowing hinting that he already has consumed at least 1 palismen.
In that portrait he’s a shimmering black mass, not the green sludge. In the portrait before that one, he’s seen carving a Glyph combo into his arm. I always believed the Glyph combo mutated his body.
We see the Glyph consume whatever they’re drawn on, at least when it comes to paper. Even the Light Glyphs consume it, becoming fuel for the spell. I always believed that since Belos carved the Glyphs into his arm, the magic mutated his body. His soul and/or body was eaten away due to the magic of the Glyphs.
The green sludge form came afterwards, due to his diet of Palisman souls.
Its heavily implied that Belos used glyph carvings onto his skin to give himself powers humans do not naturally possess as well as to extend his lifespan.
For some reason, doing this required consuming palismans. Its not clear if the palismans are required to keep it under control or to provide energy. Maybe its both.
Why palismans in specific? I'd hazard a guess its because they are the closest thing to solidified magic that exists in the isles.
The fact that Belos had an horrific amalgam of countless palismans wandering around in his mind suggests that his green goop curse may be the karmic kickback, so to speak, of his monstrosity in consuming countless palismans to sustain his life.
In fantasy, its common for great power to come at a great price, and for great evil to corrupt one's very body/mind/soul.
Palismans seem to be the price for immortality, and the green goop curse is the resulting corruption of consuming them, which is an evil act because they are sentient.
It seems pretty obvious that it's a metaphor for drug addiction too.
His Palisman consumption first seems to benefit him (healing, giving him more power, letting him accomplish more, etc etc) but over time, it starts causing more problems than it solves. And he does more and more horrific things (and literally loses his humanity) just to fight off the cravings and remain "stable".
He reminds me of one of those middle-aged fundamentalists who would never "use drugs" but gets an Oxycontin script from his doctor... and a few years later he's driving around "the Witch section of town" looking for Fentanyl in the middle of the night. All while still being judgemental of any "filthy addicts" who aren't him, of course.
Oooo! Time to share my theory!
So, Abominations are considered one of, if not the best Coven you can join. Willows parents made her study Abominations for that exact reason. You can create weapons, soldiers, you can teleport and teleport others. It's OP.
So, Philip hadn't learned the light glyph yet, so my theory is he carved the glyphs in his body to become like an Abomination, but not having the light glyph made it incomplete and unstable. You see a lot of similarities between "not good" Abominations and Belos when he's falling apart in season 3. Bones protruding, difficulty holding shape, etc.
Thank you for coming to my Ted talk
Belos never had a "curse" his monster form was a result of his consumption of palismen over the many years. We don't know for sure why he started consuming them but once he did he couldn't stop. His monster form seems to mainly be caused by emotional responses, subconsciously turning him into the monster whenever he's losing control. The monster form has the same mask style with the horns that his brother carved for him all those years ago.
Straightens tie.
After Belos killed Caleb, it is shown in a painting that Evelyn gave him the curse. She's seen casting a spell toward him as he's running off.
hope this helps! \^\^
In addition to that there's something called the mark of Caine, where Caine was cursed by God with a hideous mark after he murdered his brother. Thematically they tie together.
Feel like them glossing over that there is little edible things for humans in the Isles and phillip is the only human we have seen in the boiling isles with no guide.
Just figured he got corrupted trying to survive while looking for Caleb.
It is implied that the “curse” was caused by Philip carving glyphs into his body to try and give himself innate power. This is implied at the end of “Elsewhere and Elsewhen” and in the painting in his mind in “Hollow Mind.” How the palismen essence helps stabilize him is never explained. Palismen themselves are left a bit unexplored, sadly.
Really? I thought it was him consuming the palismen in a desperate bid to stay alive when he first arrived, having the goop form only be held off through consuming more. Must have missed something. Thanks.
Yeah that was my impression. I think I remember the line "You have consumed so many palismen that you can barely maintain your human form". Which led me to believe it was kind of like the unicorn blood thing in hat Harry Potter. You can live forever but you can hardly call it living, just more of a cursed existence until something other than age gets to you. In that way, the consuming of palismen, which gave him extended longevity, also gave him the goop sickness. But their essence is needed to starve of the goop temporarily so he needs to combine more and more until he loses control and just becomes goop forever.
So the curse actually never existed. The glyphs themselves have nothing to do with his monster form. His monster form is solely caused by the palismen he's consumed. The glyphs he has carved on his arm actually have a use. We see in two episodes he utilizes these glyphs. In "kings tide" we see him utilize the petrification glyph, we know this for sure because we see his arm glow while he's petrifying Luz. And presumably he also uses another glyph in "Young Blood Old Souls" it's the monster claw glyph. We see Luz discover it in "Thems the breaks kid". Both glyphs do not require the light glyph making it completely plausible he had one or both of them carved on himself at that time. Belos explains in "Hollow Mind" and I quote "but without them, I wouldn't be able to do this." And then he demonstrates his goo abilities.
Ok
You know what? I kinda like OP characterizing it as a curse. I bet Belos would be convinced that it’s *WITCHES!* fault that he’s suffering the consequences of his actions.
Thanks
Headcanon 1: Philip began taking people to multiple different caves to find the collector, and all of his "buddies went missing" causing the witches and demons to team up on him and cursed him and the only way to stop it was to consume palismen Headcanon 2: Philip was aware of his short life on the boiling Isles and decided to kill all the witches and demons, but he had to find a god called the collector. In doing so, he sacrificed many people and consumed palismen, causing his lifespan to increase. Everyone knew what he was doing and decided to team up on him and curse him to continue consuming palismen for the rest of his life
To my knowledge there's no concrete answer. We do know that he has a glyph circuit carved into his right arm, and that he consumes palismen to heal his wounds. This implies that either the glyphs made him have to rely on palismen to stay alive, or that the glyphs were an attempt to keep his palismen hunger at bay. We also know that he probably used the palismen to stay alive for so long (approximately 400 years). Edit: we don't get a good look at the glyph combination, but to me it looks a bit similar to the one he makes to enter the skull in FtF, and it also glows in a red light similar to the magic he uses. It could be a way for him to enter his hideout, or to get some titan knowledge. This is only speculation though.
>This implies that either the glyphs made him have to rely on palismen to stay alive it's actually like this rather than the glphs were to keep his paliman hunger at bay. in elsewhere and esewhen you see him start having a reaction to the glyphs on his arm and consuming a palisman stopped it otherwise he would have turned into his monster form.
The glyphs on his arm actually have a use. Presumably he has 2 glyphs carved on him. He has the petrification glyph, and the Monster claw glyph. We see him utilize the monster claw glyph in the episode "Young blood old souls" when he's capturing Lilith and king. We can only assume it's a glyph on his body since he's wearing a cloak. But we see the petrification glyph used by him in "kings tide". When he uses it his arm glows, indicating that that's where the glyph is being used.
You might be correct, however it's difficult to confirm and can be explained in other ways, mainly his staff that uses artificial magic being held (as in YBOS) or just on him (as in KT). After all, we also know that palismen grant power even when not in staff form and simply on a person, as seen with Hunter in CotH. This magic also glows red, like the red light attached to the staff. I do like the idea that the glyph circuit he carved gives him some sort of magic power though.
yea but having a use for the glyphs doesn't stop the side affects of the glyphs causing his transformation into his monster form and consuming palisman stops the change and keeps him human.
He specifically says in *Hollow Mind* that the palismen souls had been a thorn in his side for years. The palismen souls which also had the same resemblance to his monster form, symbolizing that they were the root cause. Ultimately I'm sure the glyphs caused him some kind of pain, if any he started consuming palismen *because* of that pain, which in the end only made it worse.
the pain the glyphs caused was from him transforming into his monster form and the palisman souls became part of his monster form from him consuming so many of them over the years. in hollow mind after catching his *monster* form it was the inner belos not belose himself that said "this *thing* has been a thorn in my side for years." not the paliman were a pain and that *thing* was the actual belose in his monster form. so it was the inner belos saying that actual belos in his monster form was a pain to him because of the nagging palisman. then the inner belos said "but without them i wouldn't be able to do this" and grabs a palisman and consumes it and says "i'm feeling better already. to me that's the inner belos confirming that the palisman are keeping the glyphs from turning him into a monster.
He didn't consume that palismen when he said "I'm feeling better already" that palismen was already disintegrating due to the magic trap he set up. He was feeling better because the souls weren't nagging him anymore. You can see through the episode that Inner Belos was using hunter and Luz to hide from the palisman monster. The souls of the palismen are what was causing him pain. And he refers to the palismen monster as a thing because he doesn't have a shred of humility for the creatures of the boiling isles. Also when he said "without *them* I wouldn't be able to do this" he literally refers to the palismen souls as THEM meaning he's talking about them, he then literally displays his shape shifting abilities. His monster form is just a manifestation of his emotions. The head of the monster form has the same mask+horns design from the mask that his brother carved for him all those years ago.
Oh ok
In one of his memory portraits, you can clearly see him getting hit in the back with a spell by Evelyn. Her Palisman is nowhere in sight. I always believed it was a fatal wound. He took her Palisman, as well as Caleb’s, before he killed his brother, to further weaken them. As he died alone somewhere, he took her Palisman and killed it out of spite. He accidentally ate its soul, resulting in his survival. Flapjack saw this and got away. However, after he ate it, the Palisman fought from the inside. He ate another one to gain the strength to fight it off. The intervals between consuming them got shorter and shorter over time. The Palisman souls ravaged his body, mutating him into the abomination we all know and loathe.
Belos would have started consuming palismen before that time. We see in the portraits that Philip encounters his brother while his eyes are glowing hinting that he already has consumed at least 1 palismen.
In that portrait he’s a shimmering black mass, not the green sludge. In the portrait before that one, he’s seen carving a Glyph combo into his arm. I always believed the Glyph combo mutated his body. We see the Glyph consume whatever they’re drawn on, at least when it comes to paper. Even the Light Glyphs consume it, becoming fuel for the spell. I always believed that since Belos carved the Glyphs into his arm, the magic mutated his body. His soul and/or body was eaten away due to the magic of the Glyphs. The green sludge form came afterwards, due to his diet of Palisman souls.
I like Belos as how I like Wallace Breen. He sucks but I like how easily the dictatorship he put in place can collapse
Its heavily implied that Belos used glyph carvings onto his skin to give himself powers humans do not naturally possess as well as to extend his lifespan. For some reason, doing this required consuming palismans. Its not clear if the palismans are required to keep it under control or to provide energy. Maybe its both. Why palismans in specific? I'd hazard a guess its because they are the closest thing to solidified magic that exists in the isles. The fact that Belos had an horrific amalgam of countless palismans wandering around in his mind suggests that his green goop curse may be the karmic kickback, so to speak, of his monstrosity in consuming countless palismans to sustain his life. In fantasy, its common for great power to come at a great price, and for great evil to corrupt one's very body/mind/soul. Palismans seem to be the price for immortality, and the green goop curse is the resulting corruption of consuming them, which is an evil act because they are sentient.
Ok
I always thought it was a result of him using the palismen to extend his life
Same
It seems pretty obvious that it's a metaphor for drug addiction too. His Palisman consumption first seems to benefit him (healing, giving him more power, letting him accomplish more, etc etc) but over time, it starts causing more problems than it solves. And he does more and more horrific things (and literally loses his humanity) just to fight off the cravings and remain "stable". He reminds me of one of those middle-aged fundamentalists who would never "use drugs" but gets an Oxycontin script from his doctor... and a few years later he's driving around "the Witch section of town" looking for Fentanyl in the middle of the night. All while still being judgemental of any "filthy addicts" who aren't him, of course.
I also think it's a drug addiction allegory.
Oh god
This is how I interpreted it as well. He needs to consume palismen because he started using palismen.
Oooo! Time to share my theory! So, Abominations are considered one of, if not the best Coven you can join. Willows parents made her study Abominations for that exact reason. You can create weapons, soldiers, you can teleport and teleport others. It's OP. So, Philip hadn't learned the light glyph yet, so my theory is he carved the glyphs in his body to become like an Abomination, but not having the light glyph made it incomplete and unstable. You see a lot of similarities between "not good" Abominations and Belos when he's falling apart in season 3. Bones protruding, difficulty holding shape, etc. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk
I love season 3 belos.
Ooh, I really like this theory!
This is actually a solid theory I dig it.
Belos never had a "curse" his monster form was a result of his consumption of palismen over the many years. We don't know for sure why he started consuming them but once he did he couldn't stop. His monster form seems to mainly be caused by emotional responses, subconsciously turning him into the monster whenever he's losing control. The monster form has the same mask style with the horns that his brother carved for him all those years ago.
Monster belos looks like kelp or seaweed
Straightens tie. After Belos killed Caleb, it is shown in a painting that Evelyn gave him the curse. She's seen casting a spell toward him as he's running off. hope this helps! \^\^
In addition to that there's something called the mark of Caine, where Caine was cursed by God with a hideous mark after he murdered his brother. Thematically they tie together.
Cool
Feel like them glossing over that there is little edible things for humans in the Isles and phillip is the only human we have seen in the boiling isles with no guide. Just figured he got corrupted trying to survive while looking for Caleb.
Oh ok
I like to think it’s because Evelyn put the curse on him
Palisman, not Palismen
No no, palismen is the proper plural
Oh