The Symbol appearing to Jade in a vision.
The Symbol is a mysterious symbol associated with the Township that frequently appears in Jade’s visions. It previously appeared to Christopher, an inhabitant during Victor’s childhood, shortly before calamity befell all the other residents of the Town.
History[]
Background[]
When Victor was a child trapped in the Town, the formerly jolly Christopher started seeing the Symbol and became cold and withdrawn as he became obsessed with the Symbol. One night, Victor’s mother had him hide in a location unknown to Christopher. The next morning, Victor found everyone else in Town had been killed overnight.[1]
Christopher had a journal where he repeatedly drew the Symbol over and over again that ended up in storage in the Diner’s back room.[2]
Season 1[]
After his arrival in Town, Jade goes exploring and finds the Root Cellar. He descends inside and finds another wooden door. When he opens it, he sees a bloody corpse crushed by a boulder, whose face suddenly turns towards him and starts shrieking, frightening Jade and causing him to fall, where he sees a symbol painted on the ceiling above him. When he looks at the cabinet again, he sees nothing there. As he exits, he declares that Tobey is a genius, and continues on his way.[3]
Jade tries to explain his vision to Kenny, who brushes it off as the result of a hard first few days, and says that there are many unexplained mysteries in Town.[4]
While trying to call for help with a radio, Jade has Jim climb a tree to try and get a signal. As Jim continues upward, Jade checks on him, but hallucinates that his hand is covered in blood and that the tree is festooned with dismembered corpses dressed in Civil War uniforms, whose blood drips all over him and that a peculiar symbol is carved into the bark. Jade then turns around and notices a Civil War Soldier aiming at him and flees into the forest as the soldier fires. The soldier pursues him into the forest, and after Jade trips and falls, bayonets him. As Jade hyperventilates, Jim comes to his aid and helps him up, assuring him that whatever he saw as not real. Jade angrily pushes him away and leaves.
In the Diner, Jade obsessively draws the symbol he saw on the tree when Tian-Chen approaches him with tea, which he rudely dismisses. Tian-Chen speaks to him in Cantonese, and Jade relents and sips his tea, thanking her. Tian-Chen notices the symbol on the paper, and Jade begins to explain that he keeps seeing the symbol but Tian-Chen leaves to the storage room. Jade follows her inside, and he realizes that it is all the belongings of the former inhabitants. Tian-Chen finds a box and begins sifting through it before finding a journal whose pages are covered in the same symbol Jade was drawing, scaring him.[5]
In the Liu home, Kenny finds Jade squirreled away in his room repeatedly drawing the mysterious symbol he saw in his hallucination. Kenny admonishes Jade for drawing in his book. Jade angrily shouts that he was out of paper and asks Kenny if he wants him to draw on the walls like a psychopath. Later Jade continues to stare at the journal with the symbols during dinner with the Lius before realizing that two of the pages are stuck together. He is able to pry them apart, and a polaroid photo falls out of the book. The picture is of a smiling man holding the journal in front of the diner. As the three look at it, Tian-Chen points out that a young victor is in the corner of the picture, identifiable by his signature lunchbox, shocking Jade and Kenny.[6]
Season 2[]
After they fail to get a response on the Radio Tower they built, Jade privately sulks in a room. The Symbol appears on the wall in front Jade in blood, and a ventriloquist’s dummy next to him shrieks at him, prompting him to shout back, but both quickly disappear. Jade then searches through Victor’s belongings in the hopes of finding something that will explain its meaning.[7]
Victor arrives at the Lius’ Home and angrily demands that Jade return the violin he took from his room. Jade apologizes and asks Victor about the symbol in the journal, but Victor refuses to answer.[8]
In the Bar, Jade recreates the Symbol using glass bottles on the floor. Victor walks in, and remarks that Jade doesn’t look good. Jade brusquely replies that Tom is dead and the Bar is closed. Jade then explains that he is trying to figure out what the symbol means, which Victor refuses to help with even though Jade knows that Victor knows something. Victor promises to share what he can, but Jade has to do something for him. Jade refuses at first, but then asks what he wants. Victor then asks him to play the violin, surprising Jade, who agrees to the deal. Victor then leads Jade outside.
After Jade plays “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for Victor on the violin, Victor explains that the formerly jolly Christopher started seeing the Symbol and became cold and withdrawn as he became obsessed with the Symbol. One night, Victor’s mother had him hide in a location unknown to Christopher. The next morning, Victor found everyone else in Town had been killed overnight.[1]
Jade explains his visions to Tabitha, including the recurring vision of the Symbol. Tabitha explains that she always sees Ghoulish Children in hers. Tabitha then notices the journal with the symbols, and says she saw it in the tunnels, which Jade then asks about.[9]
Tabitha takes Jade to the mouth of the Caves and says it’s where she first saw the Children and the symbol, as well as the sleeping Creatures. Jade believes that it can’t be a coincidence, and references chaos theory to explain how two seemingly unrelated events can be intricately connected. Jade says that they need to find out more to figure out the connection, but Tabitha refuses to reenter the caves. Jade then asks if Victor saw the symbol, and Tabitha answers that he pointed it out to her. Jade is furious that Victor withheld information from him, and points out that all of the crazy things they have seen are connected to Victor.
Jade and Tabitha then find Victor, and Jade reminds Victor that in exchange for playing the song he was supposed to tell Jade about the symbol. Victor says he did, but Jade points out that he neglected to mention its presence in the Caves. Tabitha tries to calmly ask Victor for answers, and she and Jade follow him as he leaves. Jade grabs Victor again and orders him to tell them everything he knows because it might be how they go home, asking if he would like that. Victor defiantly replies that this place is his home and walks away.
Later, Tabitha approaches Victor and gently asks why he didn’t tell Jade about the symbol in the tunnels, and Victor replies that people should not go looking for answers because they do not return.[10]
In the Bar, Jade breaks a number of glass bottles on the table and examines the pieces. The vision of Tom asks what he is doing, and Jade explains that it’s a thought experiment. Tom asks if Jade will ask if he is real, and Jade replies that he thinks this is stress-induced psychosis and Tom will disappear soon enough. Tom asks about the purpose of the glass breaking, and Jade explains it’s a way to reorient his thought process to find a different way to look at the symbol because he has been looking at it wrong. Vision Tom takes a drink and notices that Jade changed the still, before telling Jade that he is overthinking it because he knows what he needs to do- find the symbol in the tunnels, calling it natural design. Jade says nothing about this place is natural, but Tom corrects him and says none of it is familiar. Tom tells him that if there are answers, which he grants is a big if, they will be in the tunnels. Jade asks if he is supposed to take advice from a man who died trying to rescue a woman who wasn’t even trapped. Tom says he would do it again because it was the right thing to do. Tom concludes that right now, there is a 16-year old girl who needs his help.
Jade continues to venture deeper into the tunnels, and stops at the large chamber. Suddenly, altars with the Ghoulish Children appear, surrounding him, as they all chant “anghkooey.” When Jade looks up, the roots on the roof of the tunnel have formed the symbol, with light from the sky shining through it. The visions then disappear, leaving him alone.[11]
People Who Have Seen the Symbol[]
Trivia[]
- There are several variations of the symbol.