i get how these relate to each other

and how these relate to each other

but not necessarily how the first group relates to the second group

in group one, nico mocks tyler as just another brick in the wall, and tyler believing this will stop him (tyler) from [something nico doesn't want].

tyler's response is to be ever-changing, the opposite of something static and unremarkable. defense mechanism.

sorry about posting that tweet three times i broke my thread

in group two, tyler is asking is there an afterlife, and what are the possible outcomes when you arrive at it. he suggests believing in heaven as the promising option.

none of these things are a commitment to believing god exists, he's just hedging his bets.

what is it that nico doesn't want tyler to do that can be avoided by morphing to someone else?

if morphing to someone else is a solution, than staying pinned down or locked into one identity must be the problem

so nico doesn't want tyler have an identity or change...?

but what does that have to do with the nature of the afterlife?

is it that nico doesn't want tyler to come to his own conclusions?

if i stare at this hard enough, i will understand it

if we were looking at the bishops as representing popular culture/the music industry, as we do from some angles, then this would fit like a glove - twenty one pilots is always morphing to someone else, un-pin-downable.

i guess the motive is essentially the same -- when you're pigeonholed into one identity, you are limited.

im still not seeing the connection to the afterlife/whether god exists unless concluding there IS a god, which tyler is at risk of doing, goes against the theology of vialism.

hmm.
what are all the things the bishops want.

1. for you not to escape
2. for you to be shamed if you do
3. for you not to remember the details of the outside world once you're back
4. obedience
5. conformity
6. trust
7. control of your future
8. control of your death

so then the banditos want:

1. to leave the city
2. to be proud of it
3. to learn of the world beyond dema
4. autonomy?
5. individuality?
6. not to be manipulated
7. agency?
8. not to off themselves

it's interesting that the bishops want *trust*. that requires buy-in. that means they don't want drones, they want zealots.

bah. we just don't have enough information.

!

maybe he means it like this

in the sense that if he keeps growing/moving forward/becoming a new person then he can't be...trapped or whatever

the artwork shows tyler and nico in opposition to josh and a vulture, so that lends credence to the thing nico is trying to stop being something that banditos do

also cool to note that the whole imagine forms a ø, which i think @AnaAllanPoe pointed out, and that's interesting for the song that contains the lyrics "ones and zeros..."

*image