Ars Arcanum – Unlocking the mystery of the Enforcers

In which I analyze the Enforcers and their associated symbolism, at great length. You might want to be sitting down for this one.

This is going to be my most audacious crack theory by far because I am going to seriously attempt to predict future developments in the series based on tarot cards. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d utter with a straight face…

We know the Enforcers numbers are all associated with the major arcana; it’s made explicit in Sun Door 5 in The 3rd and has been confirmed in several sourcebooks. This association is particularly obvious with Campanella whose title and associated card are one and the same and pretty obvious with McBurn (The Magician), Luciola (The Lovers) and Walter (Strength). Even the less-obvious associations tell us something of the characters in question so it’s pretty clear Falcom put a lot of thought into this. For that reason, I’m going to look at all the cards we know and the pattern that I think exists between personality and upright/inverted meanings, then see what might be predicted of the Enforcers we don’t know.

For obvious reasons, this theory is going to spoil the hell out of the entire series, so be warned.

Known Enforcers

 

– Campanella the Fool (The Fool)

As I said above, this association couldn’t be more obvious if Falcom tried and the symbolism is potentially revealing of this most mysterious of Enforcers. The Fool represents beginnings and of taking the first step towards a goal. It’s also associated with having faith that one will succeed. Campanella may well have been the first member of Ouroboros (given that he seemingly doesn’t age, we have no idea how old he is), he’s apparently the most informed member of the Society about the goal of Orpheus and he seems personally loyal to the Grandmaster who may or may not be Aidios Herself. All these fit the usual interpretations of the upright Fool. Per my theory of personalities this makes Campanella one of the ‘good’ Enforcers. Which is kind of scary to contemplate but there you go.

This is also a good point to talk about the concept called the Fool’s Journey, which is a way of looking at the major arcana as a story with the Fool as the protagonist proceeding on a journey of self-discovery that ultimately culminates in wholeness of self, active engagement with the world and great accomplishment. And then the journey can potentially begin all over again. This very easily could be a metaphor for Campanella’s purpose and that of Ouroboros as a whole. See my theory on Ouroboros’ goals for more details on that idea.

– McBurn the Almighty Conflagration (The Magician)

This card represents the power of creation, of altering the world by an effort of will. This fits well with McBurn’s power to create and control flame with a thought. However, it’s the inverted meanings that are the most significant. Power used for negative ends, or power not being used at all. Hmm, does that sound like a certain lazy man who can barely be motivated to fight and who could carelessly cause great harm? I think it does and that he’s one of the ‘bad’ Enforcers. For extra fun, the typical art on the card shows the magician with a belt made from a serpent biting its own tail…

– Leonhardt the Bladelord (The High Priestess)

This is the card that seems to trip people up when they think of the Enforcers numbers, since just two cards down the deck is one whose name is much closer to Loewe’s Japanese title ‘The Sword Emperor’. But the meanings associated with upright High Priestess are indeed Loewe through and through. The threshold that must be crossed, enlightenment, untapped potential. All of these are represented in Loewe, who Arianrhod believed had the potential to surpass even her, who attained self-knowledge in order to safely use his cursed sword and who is the strongest foe the player must face in the Sky games generally in fact and explicitly in perception, in The 3rd. Again, here’s a character who fits best with the upright meanings and is also one of the ‘good’ Enforcers.

– Luciola the Bewitching Bell (The Lovers)

Luciola straddles the line between fitting a reversed reading and an upright one, which I think fits her character pretty well. Obviously she was driven to a horrible act as a result of a relationship that didn’t go where she wanted it to (fitting a reversed card) and she has serious inner conflict between the darkness she saw in herself that day and the person she was before. The card when upright also represents values and determining one’s own beliefs, which is the position Luciola finds herself in after the events of SC and especially in Ao, at which point it is questionable whether or not she can still be considered a member of Ouroboros. We’ll see where her journey takes her in the future, should she return again in CS3 or a later game.

– Walter the Direwolf (Strength)

This card generally represents inner strength and control… which is why we’ll just skip straight to the reversed interpretations. Self-doubt, the questioning of one’s journey, aggressiveness and giving in to instinct too much. These are all traits that Walter represents, the first one especially after the end of SC. Again, he’s one of the darker Enforcers so this fits the pattern. We’ll need to see how he ultimately reacts to the end of SC to know how he proceeds from here and whether he flips meanings or not.

– Sharon Kreuger the Severing Chains (The Hermit)

Sharon is something of an enigma because after two games where she’s been a fairly prominent character we still don’t know much about her. That said, if we can’t look at her past we can look at her present and she fits this card quite well. The Hermit represents withdrawal and soul-searching, questioning whether one should seek a new direction in life. This is what we see Sharon doing right now, standing somewhat apart from Ouroboros but uncertain she could truly leave it the way Joshua and Renne did. We might be able to refine how well she fits the card once we learn more about her past and where she’s going from the end of CS2 onwards. Still, she doesn’t fit the reversed meanings associated with the card (excessive withdrawal/isolation) so I’m going to count her as fitting the upright/good pattern, pending developments in CS3 where it looks like she’s going to have to make a choice after being recalled to active duty.

– Bleublanc the Phantom Thief (The Wheel of Fortune)

Here we have the one card that seems especially significant in trying to establish a pattern for those Enforcers who are good (or at least, a lighter shade of grey) versus the nastier customers. Bleublanc really seems to fit the latter category as he enjoys having fun at everyone else’s expense far too much, solely for his own entertainment. And he’s pretty damned creepy. That said, absolutely none of the usual reversed meanings apply to him. He’s not experiencing a run of misfortune or resistance to change and he’s certainly not risk-averse. Rather he represents the upright meanings, acceptance of change and understanding that life has ups and downs (note how he never really minds being foiled by the protagonists) and he generally does have ridiculously good fortune, even if he makes most of it himself. So, does this break the pattern or is Bleublanc less ‘evil’ than some are giving him credit for? I’d answer but he just stole the words out of my mouth.

– Joshua Astray the Black Fang (Death)

Finally we come to the first Enforcer we’re introduced to and the embodiment of the easiest card to misinterpret. Death is about endings and beginnings and the process of transformation. Joshua actually starts out ticking the boxes on the inverted associations of the card: He can’t move on from the tragedy of Hamel that left him broken emotionally. His ‘curing; at Ouroboros’ hands was the first major transition, marking the end of his old life and the beginning of his career as the Black Fang. Then over the course of the first two games he undergoes another as he moves beyond his past in Ouroboros and starts a new life as Joshua Bright. But in order to get there, he has to accept the change and make peace with his past, with just a little help from Estelle, Cassius and Kevin. By the end of his story, he’s moved into representing the upright meanings of Death and is ready to begin anew.

– Renne Hayworth the Angel of Slaughter (The Devil)

Like Joshua, Renne transitions from one set of meanings of her associated tarot card to the other but she does it in reverse order. The Devil represents bondage, and forces, addictions or fears that imprison a person. Renne is indeed chained down by her horrible past and it’s only by confronting it that she is able to move on with her life. The association of The Devil with addiction has a certain resonance with Renne’s past as a victim of the Gnosis experiments as well, where she was given so much of the drug that she developed the characteristic golden eyes. Hopelessness is one emotion associated with The Devil and over the course of the games Renne is forcibly exposed to a new perspective courtesy of Estelle (who quite explicitly embodies the ideal of hope) and finally succeeds in overcoming her past and transitions to representing the inverted meanings of her card, freedom and reclaiming agency over her own life. Given the way The Devil’s meanings are ‘upside down’ this transition fits the upright/inverted pattern in principle if not in literal fact.

– Shirley Orlando the Ogresse Vermiglia (The Star)

This is the point where things get a little tricky. As I started working on this theory, we knew that Shirley was going to be an Enforcer thanks to Ao but we didn’t know anything else. I had her comfortably pegged as XIV, representing Temperance inverted. This fit her personally and it fit the pattern of all the other Enforcers. Then came the announcement that she’s become Enforcer XVII instead, representing The Star. That broke two theories, the other being that since The Star, The Moon and The Sun are symbolically linked in almost all other appearances, we’d see Enforcers XVII, XVIII and XIX as a trio of some sort. Apparently not. So, revision time.

Fitting Shirley’s somewhat bipolar nature, I could see her representing both aspects of The Star. Let’s start with the reversed meanings because this is Shirley and she is a certifiable whackjob. Reversed, the card can represent an upcoming test of faith, despair or a lack of connection in one’s life that signifies a need of change. Shirley has already gone through a massive change, never seems particularly depressed and she seems to enjoy her work rather too much. It’s possible things have changed over the past two years and she’s trying to find her way but we won’t know that until CS3 comes out. Perhaps the Grandmaster foresaw saw that Shirley will face a great trial in the future and assigned her the number for that reason. An early draft of Star Door 14 had the Grandmaster reflect on the inability of certain Enforcers to overcome the trials they faced so perhaps we’re looking at more of that mysterious foresight.

Now let’s look at the upright meanings: In the Fool’s Journey, The Star is the ‘peace after the storm’ and could represent a possible endgame for Shirley as a character. More generally it represents a goal that can be attained if the seeker works hard at it and is a sign that help is there if one reaches out for it. This could in a very twisted way represent the possibility of redemption for Shirley, in the same way that Randy attained his after leaving Red Constellation. So far it doesn’t look like Shirley has changed in a significant way but perhaps the Grandmaster saw in her the potential and recruited her not just for her connections and combat prowess but to give her a second chance to find meaning in her life outside of the constant fighting that is a jaeger’s life. With her destined encounters with Randy and Fie and the near-certainty that she and Rixia will cross paths again, she has the opportunity to either continue down the path she’s always walked or to make a new path for herself. So the question is, will Shirley recognize this opportunity and take advantage of it?

Unknown Enforcers

 

And now we get to those numbers which are either not currently assigned to an Enforcer (we know they have empty spots or they wouldn’t be actively recruiting new members like Shirley) or which are assigned to members we simply haven’t met yet. Here I’m trying to work out the possible personalities and potential character arcs of the remaining Enforcers and lacking any other information I’ll do it by running down the rest of the major arcana in order.

III – The Empress

The card representing the mother literally and symbolically in Mother Earth, as well as femininity and fertility in a general sense. In a ‘good’ Enforcer this could represent someone in touch with nature or someone who is literally a mother and has this as a key part of their character like Miralda in Ys VIII, if she were part of a secret society

More interesting possibilities can be found in a ‘bad’ Enforcer who represents the reversed meanings. This could be a character who is overly dependent on others or on one specific person and this is holding their own growth back. This actually wouldn’t be a bad fit for Rean if he ever went completely off the rails. A character with an especially creative streak who has since lost it and then joined the Society could also fit here. Imagine a ‘mad artist’ type character for example. So I’m calling the inverted interpretation as the likely way Falcom will set up this Enforcer when the time comes.

IV – The Emperor

The masculine opposite to the previous card, representing the figure of the father, authority, structure and rules. An Enforcer representing the upright card could be someone who enjoys and is skilled in leading others, who is analytical, organized and good with crafting plans and carrying them out. They could also be a character with strong moral standards.

The inverted Emperor represents unpredictability, defiance of authority or authority misused. Possibly an Enforcer representing this has a history as a failed leader, or was in an unequal relationship at some point in their past.

My prediction however is that we’ll get a ‘good’ Emperor representing the upright meanings, as a balance to the more unstable or unprincipled Enforcers. Such a character would be very interesting and potentially extremely dangerous even if they aren’t a powerful fighter. Think Lelouch Lamperouge from Code Geass (aka Proto-Crow) but hopefully with better fashion sense.

V – The Hierophant

This is a card that’s somewhat difficult to classify as the most obvious social and religious aspects that it symbolizes have been covered by two Anguis: Weissmann the excommunicated priest and (possibly) by the Fifth, who goes by ‘Sinner’. But the Hierophant doesn’t need to be a religious figure so let’s see what else we can find for this Enforcer. Upright the card represents the forces of tradition, conformity and identification with a group (all of which can include formalized religion but don’t have to). One possible interpretation of the card is one who joins a group or a belief for the pursuit of some goal. In this sense, we could have an Enforcer who deliberately seeks out Ouroboros because of some identification with their cause or what he/she believes to be their cause, or because they seek some knowledge that only Ouroboros can or will provide. Such a person could be extremely dedicated to the Society for giving them a purpose. The Hierophant can also represent an authority figure of some kind who teaches or inspires others. Ian Grimwood would have been an interesting fit for this card, or Weissmann had he dialed down the sadism and messiah-complex and joined in order to seek knowledge without also desiring to wield it as a club.

The inverted Hierophant represents one who challenges the status quo or who questions/rejects some/all norms. This could represent a rebellious figure with a motivation to join Ouroboros because they want to change things for some particular reason. Alternate possibilities include fundamentalism (religious or otherwise) so an Enforcer representing this could be something like an extremely radical follower of the Septian Church, imagine Kevin in his Heretic Hunter days if he wasn’t a Dominion but just an ordinary Gralsritter, then went off the deep end. Though it doesn’t have to be religious, any sufficiently fanatical devotion to a cause and/or inflexibility of belief would qualify.

Since we’ve had other opportunities to explore the religious angle and will likely have more in the future and the upright meanings offer more potential for interesting developments, I’m predicting Enforcer V will be someone who joined Ouroboros for knowledge and/or for their cause.

VII – The Chariot

This is the card of one who is self-assured, strong of will and above all else victorious. It also represents the idea of unification, as the card is visually depicted with opposite elements and conceptually a chariot needs multiple elements all working in unison to be effective. An Enforcer representing this card would have attained sufficient self-mastery and confidence to see their goals through to completion.

An inverted Chariot represents someone who lacks control or direction, who hasn’t managed to unify all their internal drives or who is too aggressive and pursues ‘victory’ without any idea how to get there, or with too much ruthlessness and no long-term vision. And I think I know where Falcom is going with this.

Let’s take the chariot symbolism at face value and assume it refers to an Enforcer who is themselves only a part of a greater whole that makes them powerful, as a charioteer needs the chariot and the animals that draw it to become a powerful force on the battlefield. Combine that with the symbolism associated with the card and I predict that at some point, Gilbert will finally man up, decide what he really wants and become Enforcer VII. He relies upon his G-Apache for most of his real combat effectiveness and currently represents the inverted meanings; he wants power and projects confidence but really has no clue how to get what he wants, is a constant loser in the game of life and is ultimately lacking in confidence. But if given the opportunity (and if Campanella can stop roasting him long enough) he might just learn to apply himself for real rather than relying on the authority he appropriates as a very minor member of Ouroboros and become a force to be reckoned with. Aion Type-Apache, you heard it here first.

XI – Justice

Unlike Death, this card is largely interpreted the way you’d assume it to be on its face. So, an upright Justice represents things like balance, fairness and the law in all its manifestations. It could refer to an Enforcer who upholds a particular code or who emphasizes ‘playing fair’. An Enforcer associated with this could also be less combat-oriented and function more in a supporting role but that’s not necessarily the case. Arianrhod would probably represent this card if she were an Enforcer. The card also symbolizes a key moment of decision, whether in the sense that the Enforcer would be called to judge a situation or to accept the judgment of another. The Grandmaster could assign this number on that basis if not for one of the more obvious ones mentioned previously.

Inverted of course, Justice represents injustice. As we’ve already had an ‘evil lawyer’ character I don’t expect Falcom to be literal in its application of this card if XI goes to a ‘bad’ Enforcer. More likely interpretations could be that the character operates on an extreme black and white view of the world or perhaps they (whether in reality or in perception) feel they were wronged in the past and have become obsessed with ‘balancing the scales’. Edmond Dantes would probably have made an excellent Enforcer XI under that reading. And so I’m going to predict that whoever we actually get in this position will have a similar backstory or personality, as that would be very interesting and I’ve been calling a lot of ‘good’ Enforcers lately, time to do a little scale-balancing of my own by calling the opposite.

XII – The Hanged Man

This is the card of suspension, the moment of inaction before the change. Upright, it can mean a moment when one should pause to consider the situation even if there seems to be a need to act. An Enforcer representing this could be someone who has recently faced a great moment of decision (possibly what led them to Ouroboros) or one who has such a moment in their near future; the Grandmaster having some form of prescience makes a lot of interpretations possible. The card also represents the idea of sacrifice in the name of a higher goal and could go to an Enforcer who embodies that concept. It could also cover the concept of an Enforcer who needs to let go of something in order to progress or who has already done so.

Inverted, an Enforcer XII could represent someone who is clinging to an idea or a sense of self and is closing themselves off to growth or to other perspectives, or who is too withdrawn and out of touch with others and the world. The card can also represent selfishness, which could make for an Enforcer who is easier to manipulate into doing particular things (once you know what buttons to push) but who works even less well as part of a team than most of the other known Enforcers do. The inverted Hanged Man also represents indecision but I can’t see the Grandmaster employing that sort of person so we’ll move on to the last likely possibility, which is taking the idea of sacrifice to its extreme of martyrdom. An inverted Hanged Man could indicate a person who can’t see the value of their own life and is looking to sacrifice themselves as an escape.

Either upright or inverted offer interesting possibilities and I just can’t make a decision here…

XIV – Temperance

As I wrote above, I was practically certain this one was going to Shirley until news from CS3 completely threw me off-kilter. I still more or less expect that whoever is assigned this number will represent the reversed aspects of this card. Imbalance (either internally or as a cause of it in others), lack of a purpose or inability to see beyond one’s immediate desires are likely to be the traits of whoever is Enforcer XIV. However, it’s possible I’m letting my previous ideas color my thinking so let’s take a look at what an Enforcer representing the positive aspects of Temperance might be like and see if I’m not giving this the thought it deserves.

Upright, the card is all about balance and having a clear goal that one proceeds towards at one’s own pace, at peace with oneself. The card can also represent having a moderating influence on others and cooperation or the synthesis of multiple aspects into a unified whole. So perhaps the person who actually represents this card with be someone with two distinct sides to their personality, or beliefs, or powers, who has learned to temper them into something harmonious through effort. This could be a much more interesting character than Shirley as Enforcer XIV if that’s the direction Falcom intends to take, so I’m now going to predict that’s what we get instead.

Here too, Rean would actually fit quite well if he were to join Ouroboros and not go off the rails, as opposed to the case of the inverted Empress.

XVI – The Tower

We finally get to the really ominous card in the deck, The Tower. It represents disaster and sudden change. More positive readings when the card is upright can represent a necessary revelation that leads to growth (as in the Fool’s Journey where this card stands between the escape from bondage that is The Devil and the hope and renewal of The Star) or the sudden destruction of a false belief. So an Enforcer representing the upright Tower could be someone who experienced such a dramatic shift in their life shortly before or in the process of joining Ouroboros.

But like I said, The Tower is ominous so I think this Enforcer is going to represent the inverted meanings. Reversed, the card can stand for fear of change or resisting the inevitable. An Enforcer representing this could be one who ‘struggles against fate’ as it were. It can also represent the triumph of lies and false beliefs, which isn’t exactly a comforting thought in an Enforcer. But the really ominous possibility is that the inverted Tower represents one who causes the upheavals, instead of being the recipient of such upheavals when the card is upright. This Enforcer could be a powerful force of destruction indeed. Had Shirley not been assigned The Star (or my original thinking that she’d be inverted Temperance) she would have fit here very nicely. Which makes me wonder how much worse the actual Enforcer XVI could be…

XVIII – The Moon

The card of imagination, but also of fear, illusion and self-deception. In the Fool’s Journey this is one of the last trials the fool must face. Upright, this card could represent an Enforcer who is struggling with insecurities and fears and who is unsure of their path in life. Another possibility includes the darker aspects of the card: the interplay of genius and madness. For example, someone with some form of prescience but who has been unhinged by it, or someone with astounding creativity that leaves them sometimes unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. The narrators of most HP Lovecraft stories come to mind as an example of what a character embodying that aspect of The Moon might look like. The association of the card with the otherworldly also suggests the possibility that an Enforcer could have some deeper knowledge of or connection to one of the other realms we’ve seen in the series so far.

Inverted, The Moon can be read to represent one who has overcome the uncertainties represented by an upright reading of the card. Or, it could represent the more extreme interpretations of an upright reading. This card is potentially a challenge for my ‘upright=good/inverted=bad’ theory of Enforcers but it will depend on what Falcom does with Enforcer XVIII and which particular spin they might be taking with this tricky card. So I’m going to leave this one up in the air right now.

Incidentally, had Rixia ever become an Enforcer (as Renne was surprised didn’t happen) she would have fit very nicely as the upright Moon both in the way the card is read to represent anxieties, plus the obvious symbolic associations that Yin has with the moon and that Rixia does as the Princess of the Moon in Arc en Ciel’s performance. And Ilya and Sully would each have fit nicely as the upright Sun and Star. I’m not exactly sad that never happened but the symbolism is interesting to note.

XIX – The Sun

And now we get to the number that Estelle would almost certainly have been assigned had she taken Weissmann up on his offer. Upright, The Sun represents vitality and a positive attitude, about being confident and bringing all that warmth to others. It also represents the clarity that comes after overcoming the fears and illusions represented by The Moon and success generally. However, just as it’s hard to imagine Estelle as an Enforcer it’s hard to imagine someone else fitting the upright meanings so well having the necessary darkness to be assigned the position, so let’s look at the inverted meanings.

If the upright Sun represents triumph, an Enforcer representing its inverted meaning would be one who has experienced some setback or series of setbacks that has left them afraid or uncertain how to proceed. Or it could be someone who has fallen from greatness in some way, whether they’re seeking to reclaim it or not. On the other end of the spectrum an inverted Sun could indicate an Enforcer who is too positive and lacks a realistic sense of self, leaving them overconfident and egotistical. This card is a good candidate for an inversion during the story, as with Joshua and Renne. In the meantime, I like the idea of someone who has fallen from greatness (however that’s defined) and is struggling to reclaim it and perhaps doing extreme things in pursuit of that goal.

XX – Judgment

Here we have the card of rebirth at the end of a long journey, whether a physical or more contemplative one. The card can also represent absolution and a positive cutting of ties with the past, including forgiveness either given or received. It could also be read as a more literal resurrection or rebirth. For an Enforcer representing the upright meanings, this could be someone who has had such an experience or more likely, someone whose life is about to come to a crossroad and they will have the opportunity as a result of their joining the Society.

Inverted, Judgment represents one who is judging themselves too harshly or who is being too cautious or introverted and is missing the opportunity for a great change. It can also represent the opposite of the upright meaning in the sense of someone who is unable to let go, who is haunted by the sins of the past. Either reading of the card offers opportunities but the inverted interpretations seem the most likely given the need for ‘darkness’ in the Enforcers. Imagine Loewe had he ignored what Joshua was trying to show him and somehow managed to stay with Ouroboros for an example of the mental state a hypothetical Enforcer XX might be in. Or Ash from Falcom’s Dinosaur Resurrection.

Now, given all the associations of the upright card, an especially crack-worthy interpretation of where Falcom could take things would be that Crow is resurrected, lays his past and hatred of Osborne to rest and dedicates himself to carrying out the goals of Orpheus as Enforcer XX. This of course requires the Grandmaster’s endgame to be ‘good’ but I expect that to be the case anyways. I’m not necessarily sure I want this to be the case because I think it would cheapen the end of CS2 for Crow to not stay dead (which is also why I’d rather not see Loewe resurrected in any canonical manner) but I feel compelled to point out the possibility now so I can claim credit as a genius if it does happen.

XXI – The World

At last we come to the end of the major arcana and the Fool’s Journey. This is the card of integration, fulfillment and completion. The Fool reenters the world he left for his journey with full understanding of his place in it and having accomplished all he set out to do. And then the cycle continues with a new journey. Take that and combine it with the Ouroboros motif of the serpent which has no beginning or ending and it would be both amusing and appropriate if Campanella was also Enforcer XXI.

However, on the assumption that they aren’t going to do that, this card is somewhat difficult to assign on an upright basis. Almost all of the things it represents do not fit well with the requirement that an Enforcer possess some darkness within themselves. On a very superficial level, the card can represent travel so a character with an adventuring spirit could fit here; think Adol if he decided to get out of freelance heroism and took up Secret Societies 101. If we just look at the idea of integration, understanding and success then someone like Cassius would actually fit quite well, especially as he’s mentioned in The 3rd and Ao as having attained a complete understanding of kotowari (part of the word which is translated as Divergent Laws, it can mean law, way, reason or in a philosophical sense ‘the way the world is’) which fits with The World. So an Enforcer representing the upright card could be somewhat like Cassius in their understanding, which is a terrifying thought but rather appropriate for the ‘final’ Enforcer.

However, the inverted elements of the card are also quite interesting. It can indicate someone who is holding back from taking the final steps necessary to complete some momentous task or change within themselves, or who isn’t giving it the time it needs and is always looking for the quick and easy path. Sort of like the Dark Side of the Force, minus the lightsabers. Other possibilities include the opposite of The Fool, one who believes themselves wise but really knows nothing. Borrowing a word Brandon Sanderson coined, that sort of ‘errorgance’ could be both entertaining and dangerous. Lastly, the card could represent a lack of closure. This Enforcer might have had something happen to them that their life is now centering around and they can’t move beyond it, to their detriment.

Both ways of reading the card have interesting possibilities but I’m going to predict that despite the challenges it poses, they’re going to come up with an Enforcer representing its upright meanings because that would allow for someone potentially very dangerous but also interesting, in terms of why someone in that situation would join Ouroboros. I’m also giving 50/50 odds that Falcom will make Campanella occupy both 0 and XXI simultaneously.

Conclusion

 

Well, there you have it, my examination of tarot symbolism in Ouroboros and thoughts on where they’re going with the remaining Enforcers. That was fun! And now my own Fool’s Journey is complete.

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