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.