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The Egg Unhatching

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'A faded pale white-gold seen in certain patches of the sky, when the mist is clearing but the sun might be mistaken for the moon. We hold our breath and watch it brighten, until each colour divides from the next like a new-minted alphabet. The Egg Unhatching' [1]


The Egg Unhatching was one of the gods-from-stone who ruled the Mansus before humanity. To avoid being sent to Nowhere during the Lithomachy, it fled to the Glory, though it still ultimately wasn't able to avoid that fate[2] and was replaced.[3][4][5] It is described as being a warmer and more merciful Sun, though no brighter, a pale-white gold peeking out through the mist.[1] He had some proto-Lantern perhaps, or maybe even Lantern itself, due to its role as the Sun and connection to the Glory.[5][6] It is said that he offered protection to humanity in exchange for blood sacrifices.

Events[]


Servants[]

  • Carapace Cross: The Carapace Cross are the predecessors to humanity, who worshiped the gods-from-stone such as the Egg Unhatching. They are believed to be extinct, though in truth, “the Carapace-cross did not perish but passed within”.[7][8]


Relationships[]

  • The Sun-in-Splendour: While the Sun-in-Splendour is not recorded as killing the Egg Unhatching, he did replace the older Hour as the Sun and became the ruler of the Mansus, before his own untimely death.[9]
  • The Watchman: The Watchman is believed to have been the Unwise Mortal who came into the service of the Egg Unhatching. After it fled into the Glory, the Watchman seems to have inherited some fragment of his power.[5][3][10]
  • The Second Egg (?): One of several Hours leaked. The similarities in name is enough to warrant fervent speculation about an association between the two.


Real-World References[]

  • One interpretation of the death of the gods-from-stone connects them to the rise of human civilization and a transition to a “higher” state of being. Egg Unhatching in this case could represent a time when mankind was not burdened with higher thought and reason, before being replaced by the Sun-in-Splendour and raising us above the “vermin” we once were. There are also hints that the Egg Unhatching (and possibly its removal) is tied to the birth of language.[1][11]
  • The First Egg likely draws influence from various “World Eggs” in mythology, from which the cosmos or some primordial being eventually emerges. These legends often associate this cosmic egg with the heavens, light, and the sun.[12][13]


Other Notes[]

  • The Egg Unhatching is the focus of one of the memories collected as part of the Palest Painting in the Ghoul Legacy. The Colours of the Horizon can be recalled from the remains of one of the Shadowless Kings.[14]


Theories and Questions[]

  • One story of the Egg Unhatching suggests that it may return someday, similar to both the Sun-in-Splendour and the Wheel, though this may have simply a reference to the Watchman or the Second Egg, if a connection between it and the First Egg really exists.[4] Several of the Histories the Librarian of Hush House can write confirm that the Second Dawn has the potential to revive the Egg Unhatching instead of the Sun-in-Splendor as does the book "Prophecies of Glory". The latter warns that if the Egg Unhatching does return it will bring forth a defective Second Dawn that can only be repaired by a second Intercalate.
  • The Egg Unhatching may be the entity called “Wound” in the Priest Legacy, who preaches about the aspect of Heart, and “those who were cast down, wave or wound or snow”—since "the Sun is a wound".[15] However, it also might simply be a reference to the Hours that have not yet been revealed, who from leaked information can similarly be tied to those symbols. A similar reference exists about incantations used to defend against Worms as well as “the Wave and the Wound,” though these Protections apparently haven’t been performed for at least a thousand years. Again, this may just be a reference to leaked Hours and not the dead ones, but there’s no way to be certain currently.[16][17]
  • The Egg Unhatching may have represented Albedo and Xanthosis, or some combined version of these two phases within alchemy. In its memory, its sun is directly compared to the Moon, which matches Xanthosis and Albedo representing the Sun and Moon respectively. Albedo and Xanthosis are also respectively paired with White and Yellow, which matches the Egg’s description as being a mix of those two colors and the lack of a White in The Manner in which the Alchemist was Spared.[10] Additionally, Albedo and Xanthosis are collectively paired with initial enlightenment, clarity, purification, and the “solar light of reason,” all of which fit the Egg Unhatching’s status as a god of the Sun and Proto-Lantern.[18] Albedo and Xanthosis are also often merged with each other in real life, including the Greek god of Dawn Aurora being a power of the lunar Albedo, and her brother Helios being the god of the Sun.[19]


Sources[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 The Colours of the Horizon
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Recitation of Lost Hours
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Read 'The World Does Not Weep'
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Read 'A Second Glory'
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Read 'The Focus of Amber'
  6. ↑ Glorious Memory
  7. ↑ Read 'The Songs of the Carapace Cross'
  8. ↑ On the Smoky Satisfaction..., Enigma compilation
  9. ↑ Splendid Memory
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Read 'The Manner in which the Alchemist was Spared'
  11. ↑ The Vision of the Peacock
  12. ↑ World Egg
  13. ↑ Orphic Egg
  14. ↑ Tombs of the Shadowless Kings, One More Treasure, Shadowless Segment, Feast upon a Remnant (#memory.horizon)
  15. ↑ Read 'The Sky, the Soul'
  16. ↑ 'The hearts of the false shall be taken from them when they cease; but the hearts of the true cease not.'
  17. ↑ Read 'Commandments For the Preservation of All That Exists'
  18. ↑ Alchemy - the Operations of the Forge
  19. ↑ When the Sun Might be Mistaken for the Moon
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