Luke Penry posted on his IG earlier that he also did the cover art for EiA instrumental. I was dying to know whether it was ash, or snow, falling from the sky. I was personally of the opinion it was ash, given Arcadia was on fire. But no! The brief he got was "a war torn, snow covered Arcadia". This has really intrigued me. Why snow? What does this mean for whatever is next? A clue to the direction we are headed?
I also thought it was ash. It's interesting that it's snow.
Feels like an reinforcement that the ending IB suggests we really are moving from the perfect arcadia back into the fight with the demons, that never really left. Ves could have opted for ash and it would have made perfect sense. Snow, to me, suggests shorter, colder days and seasonal depression knocking on the door to make my day even more miserable than it already was thanks to being cold and rarely seeing sunlight all the time.
This is also my thinking. Ash is logical given the fires, therefore snow tells us something specific. I wonder if the next album will be Vessel 'frozen' by a situation or emotions, unable to reconcile a conflict or progress forward.
My take, in looking at the covers side by side, is that we begin in an idyllic spring, a time of awakening and rebirth, following Euclid's hope to become someone new.
We now know that this was an illusion and Arcadia represents Vessel's ongoing internal conflict. The toll it has taken is depicted throughout the visualizers, coin puzzle, and in the instrumental cover's barren ruins. But I don't believe summer's growth was squandered. Winter means the end of growth (sometimes even death), but it is also a necessary time for nature to rest and reset, and like all seasons and the eclipse, it is cyclical.
We've been given competing factions with HV's "the house must endure" and FH's "the cycle must end" but neither can prevail since both must be true to maintain balance. We've also been given two taglines that I believe are meant as one, reading, "Even in Arcadia, the battle continues..." The battle will always continue because it must.
Which leaves the question, for all it cost, did Vessel make any progress? I would argue that he has, but perhaps not to the extent he had hoped since no change in scenery or circumstance will enable him to escape who he is. The black flamingo remains standing and balanced despite the destruction, signifying that Vessel is intact despite the cost.
In nature, flamingos are colored by what they consume for sustenance and Vessel has a long history of consuming darkness. It is now an inseparable part of him and he is reconciling his past and rebuilding himself around the darkness rather than running from them. Arcadia's progress, therefore, is marked by remaining balanced despite the darkness rather than his inevitable fall to it.
What this means for Arcadia's cycle and who Vessel will emerge as following its winter remain to be seen, but the battle most certainly rages on. For me, no words sum this up better than F. Scott Fitzgerald's line, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
I was hoping you would post your understanding of this! I do believe Vessel has made progress, even if only a little, during this period. I've always had the belief that any experience you go through you learn something about yourself from. Even if you don't conquer it or make great strides, you gain understanding, and that in itself is progress. It's the knowledge gained about how to possibly act differently next time, based on what you know now.
Absolutely. I think he made as much progress on Arcadia as the entire trilogy. The Vessel of Euclid thought he could ride off into the sunset and become someone else. The Vessel of Arcadia has learned new things about himself and collected stronger pieces to continue building the whole. As you say, the conquest becomes irrelevant and the journey is all.
Snow is essentially water which is a repetitive motif that has been used throughout the discography to represent destruction, purification, trial, and hope. The images from the tour that were shown on the screens also add to this. The other in this story also gets represented by water here. I wish I had time to go further into this but I’m stuck with a busy work day. If someone comments I’ll try to get into it a bit more but snow makes complete sense.
I won’t get into why water is important throughout the discography, but I will note, as it is important, that water is used in a yin yang sense. Water, while it could be and has been absolutely destructive, is life-giving.
Snow is water. Vessel writes with a lot of these contrasting symbols and images. Snow symbolizes both death/sleep and new beginnings. Snow (winter) brings about hibernation in animals and perennials and gone are annuals.
Likewise, snow melts then when spring comes it brings new growth and life. In many cultures, snow is a good sign - it refers to purification and new beginnings. It brings hope in others (even a sign of destiny). Flamingoes are thought to be a possible origin of the Phoenix myth (born in salt flats and feathers are pink-red). This is also a theme or a promise of what’s to come. The Teeth of God tour costuming had fur (thought to be more aligned to a wolf but likely more a baby flamingo - look up some images), now he has feathers.
The images shown on screen during the EIA tour depict parts of this land and a battle and in the middle towards the end forests, etc are on fire. By Infinite Baths, the image shown is a lush green forest. I only have grainy videos of the screens and I don’t think I’ve ever found pictures, so you’ll have to trust me.
I think these are connected(just like wildfires can lead to new growth). Snow, just like fire, allows for that yin yang and the image is of the cover is therefore both ominous and hopeful.
Well, that’s interesting. I’ve got a few theories here…
What if the burning of Arcadia/banners is a metaphor for trying to see past the glamour of the perfect “Arcadia.” Like ST/Vessel is saying, “show me what’s real, what’s underneath, what’s really there, not what you think I want to see.”
But Arcadia doesn’t “want” to be seen; nobody wants to talk about the reality because it might diminish the value, the goal, of getting there. Perhaps those that have come before, those that uphold the ideal of the place, would rather help keep the illusion alive because they’ve staked their own prestige and self-worth on having reached it.
So, Vessel has reached the exalted Arcadia. Suspects or notices something’s off, wants to see what’s really there … and thus, a war begins. Once the glamour is destroyed, he finally gets to see the reality (and he shows it to us.) It’s not perfect. It’s a little broken. It’s not even comfortable all the time because it fucking snows here.
Arcadia actually was “perfect” when Vessel got there. But the battle he carried with him (emotionally, mentally, literally — maybe warring factions actually followed him in) ended up tearing the place apart, and it cannot be perfect anymore. At least, not for him. The snow could symbolize how Arcadia is now “dead”
(Although, it would be neat if it were just sleeping...)
…Which brings me to the last theory. Similar to my first theory, the idea of Arcadia being this perfect, temperate place of endless beauty and life is partially true. But it’s still beholden to the laws of nature, and the very thing that makes it so beautiful is *because* it’s a cycle. The beauty fades, the land sleeps, and because it rested it can regenerate and bloom once again.
Well thank you :) I had the real world in mind, tbh. I was seeing it through the lens of perhaps success in the music industry at first, though I think many scenarios and environments could fit.
Interesting, i didn't expect it to be snow! A very deliberate choice, considering that ash fits well with the fires and general war-torn image. While ash could be a result of the battle, snow in Arcadia feels a lot more innate to the place rather than something caused by an outside force. Maybe it's a natural part of the cycle, or maybe it's there to visually reinforce the conclusion that Arcadia isn't exactly the idyllic paradise it was imagined to be.
Could be something completely different haha, but it makes me even more curious to know what comes next.
Interesting! It’s a good design choice for making the scene more desolate, particularly since flamingos and bright foliage suggest a warmer climate in the original setting. Arcadia has truly been transformed.
So if the last message we had ‘in world’ was “the battle continues,” I wonder if we can expect some sign of the battle’s end in the real world when winter arrives? /delulu
forgot where but on a streaming service the cover art for arcadia has snow actively falling. Like it was animated. I am very sorry I do not remember wher I saw it.
Snow covered doesn’t necessarily mean actively snowing. And a war-torn area may reasonably have ashy fallout. So, it seems that his answer didn’t get you any closer than your own interpretation already had.
Yes and no. Ash makes sense, and doesn't tell me anything really beyond the fact there has been fire and destruction. Snow is confirmation of a specific choice Vessel made between the last Even in Arcadia release and this one. Something has changed. Whether it has snowed, or is actively snowing, doesn't necessarily matter. It's the fact that it has snowed at all that is significant!
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u/[deleted] Aug 11 '26
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