Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Shrine: A Modern Apocalypse?



With the premiere of "Shrine" drawing ever so nearer, many of you might be wondering about the concepts surrounding it, and why you should be interested.  You've seen the cryptic messages depicting a US President preparing to plummet the country into a war with potentially cataclysmic results, but what's the story behind it?  How did the country get to this state?

To put it quite simply, that's what the majority of the film is about; the background surrounding the man in white, why he's in control of the Free World, and what has sparked the current conflict depicted in the May 2011 trailer.

There are FIVE main characters in "Shrine".  Each of them shares a major significance to this film, but not just on the surface.  They also have a metaphorical meaning to their existence as well.  Shall we examine them?

Eugene Slavick:  Driven by the will of the Syndicate (as discussed in the last article) is the man who basically raised Victor Trevelyan (the future US President).  His ideas of hostility to achieve perfection have played a major role in Victor's current view on the world, and the use of the Red Toxin increased his ability to do this.  Slavick represents the Horseman of Conquest.

Melissa Carmichael:  The best friend of Skylla (the girl in the second trailer) and the main private eye behind the Syndicate's dark secrets, her primary focus is to uncover their true intentions before it's too late.  To do this, she's using Skylla as a vessel to get through to the person who seems most likely to be the group's key focus... Victor Trevelyan.  Unfortunately, she makes a fatal mistake when she orders Skylla to leave the country after a rather unfortunate event unfolds involving the future President.  Because she removes the last hope to subdue this hostile future, she represents the Horseman of Famine.

Emily Ceulex:  Though she is the adopted sister of Victor, she feels a much stronger connection to him than one that simply goes beyond that of family.  Influenced by her father, Slavick, she's forced to make Victor come to terms with his destiny by spreading the influence of worldly evil.  By condemning Victor with the ways of the Syndicate, she has become the Horseman of Plague.

Skylla Mlynczak:  Serving as the only true light in Victor's life, she works tirelessly to keep him on the right side of the playing field.  Knowing that the man has two equal but opposite halves, she is the only one who can truly turn the tide of his internal struggles of understanding himself and his meaning in the world.  However, love is a powerful thing, and one mistake can send it on an unexpected, spiral journey downward, making it even worse than it was before.  Her misdirection ultimately seals the deal, giving her the title Horsemen of Death.

Victor Trevelyan:  He himself has spent most of his life being formed by the other four.  His destiny is slowly revealed to him through his trials and tribulations of evolution.  However, his future actions are undeniably horrific, and combining his borderline insanity with his new found Presidential powers backed by the will of the extremely powerful Syndicate, Trevelyan finds himself NOT to be one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse at all, but rather Apollyon himself; the destroyer; the bringer of Armageddon.

Now the question remains... in the end, who will prevail?  Good or evil?  "Shrine" consists of twenty episodes depicting his past, present, and future, but only the final episode will determine the fate of the world.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

The "Shrine" Database: Part I



The Syndicate

On the outside world, very little is known about this secretive collective of powerful men from all over the world.  Believed to be a derivative of the Free Masons, the Syndicate's ranks remain small as to be undetected by the outside world and to keep their agendas in the shadows.  The people who run this organization are generally referred to as "Elders" or "the Council"

On the inside, their main objective seems to be maintaining a certain level of balance in the world, plotting and executing catastrophic events for the sole purpose of alterting the balance of power.  Earliest evidence of Syndicate encounters date all the way back to the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.  Since then, they have been tied to revolutions in both France and America as well as the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the more recent Cold War.  Very little has been uncovered to connect them with the current War on Terror, but it is believed that they are somehow involved in the current economic crisis that plagues the globe.  Their full current agenda remains to be a mystery.


Phantoms

Known as the "dark assassins of the Syndicate" very few have managed to see one of these monsters up close and survived to tell the tale.  Many of them pose to be extremely large (spanning nearly seven feet in height), muscular, and sporting dark clothing such as black overcoats and fedora-type hats.  Newer evidence suggests that these articles of clothing have been constructed with a type of state-of-the-art ballistic-proof fabric which protects them against most modern variants of gunfire and small blades.

In terms of weaponry, Phantoms have never been witnessed using firearms but rather a small, cylindrical device the size of a small flashlight known as a "gimlet".  It appears to be a cross between a switchblade and a hypodermic needle capable of piecing the skin and injecting the toxin in carries.  It can be both activated and deactivated using a small switch located on the side.  Curiously, some folks who are "infected" by this weapon are merely brought into a state of periodical comatose while others are killed instantly or shortly after the initial puncture.  Injection is thought to be automatic upon penetration.

Red Toxin

Another product of the Syndicate, the "Red Toxin" is thought to be the liquid stored inside the gimlet weapons wielded by both Council members and Phantoms alike.  Traces of adrenaline, PCP, and a light anesthetic have been isolated from the liquid, though how it was engineered remains to be a mystery.  On most individuals, the toxin forces the brain into overdrive causing massive brain seizures that ultimately result in fatal aneurisms.  However, in a select few, the short time effects cause the victim to pass out with side effects of delusions reported in the few that survived Red Toxin encounters.  Larger dosages over an extended period of time generate different side effects.  Reports of enhanced strength along with resistance to pain have been reported along with increased muscle mass of the body and decreased awareness of the mind.  Survivors of the infection can be identified by the blood seen swimming in their eyes.

It has since been suggested that the primary use of this substance is ultimately for mind-control purposes for those capable of surviving its initial effects.

More reports to come soon...