"I'm Very Good At Forgivenness"

The theory of Gabriel's obsession.

In the S1, Gabriel is an unpleasant character - he is arrogant and sometimes really cruel. He has no empathy for people and his subordinates. When Gabriel loses his memory in the S2, he becomes completely different. Yes, he behaves like a child, but he is a kind child whose first motives are honesty and a desire to help people. When Aziraphale says that Gabriel was a terrible person, Gabriel asks him - And now? I assume that along with his memories, Gabriel extracted something else that controlled his behavior and influenced his personality. That's what I'm basing my guess on:

There are three scenes when Gabriel remembers something. I should immediately note that there are two types of these memories.

1.The first two memories do not belong to Gabriel, he was not present at these events. One memory from the past (for some reason it seems to me that it is addressed to Aziraphale), and the second memory from the future (for Crowley). When Gabriel speaks, his eyes change color, his consciousness turns off, he experiences physical pain and discomfort.

2.His own memories of events from the present. His eyes don't change color. It is obvious that Gabriel has kept pieces of his memory, his mind and the temperament of a gentle and sympathetic character.

Now learn more about the first and third memories.

1.Crowley asks - What is the very first thing you remember? Gabriel speaks the words of God that he spoke to Job. These lines were about the creation of the Earth. This cannot be Gabriel's first memory, but more on that later.

2.The most important thing is the third memory. Here is the scene and dialogue between Crowley and Gabriel. Crowley accuses Gabriel of involvement in Aziraphale's execution and cruel words. Gabriel replies that it couldn't have been him. After Gabriel's attempt to jump out of the window, Crowley says:

-"Well, if you're really not him, what are you?" (that is, Crowley is ready to believe that this is not the Gabriel he knew.)

-"I don't know, I feel… like, an empty house. A house someone lived for a very long time, but now they're gone (not "he" not "it", not "has gone" - "They") and the house can sort of tell where the things used to be. Like when I remembered how it all begin."

The "house" is Gabriel's brain. Some "they" lived in it. They left traces of memory there, so Gabriel was able to remember how it all begin. So "It" began for Gabriel right then, at the moment of God's conversation with Job. When the events with Job took place, God and Satan had an bet (and obviously had a personal conversation.)

Red rays descend on Job. Do you expect white or gold rays from God

I assume that at this moment something was implanted into Gabriel's personality, and his eyes turned violet. Gabriel is literally the only character with such eyes. Was it a joint work of God and Satan? The violet miracle is a powerful miracle that occurs when combining the miracles of the red and blue spectrum. (a violet pillar appeared above the bookshop after the joint miracle of azicro.) "This" suppressed Gabriel's personality, but when he fell in love, his personality became more mature and came into conflict with "this". Then Metatron was sent to depose Gabriel and take away "it" from him under the guise of taking away memory.

It follows from all this, if Aziraphale is hired to replace Gabriel, then he will receive this control and obsession. Maybe that's what happens to him in the elevator.

For the sake of objectivity, I will note. This theory is contradicted by the fact that Gabriel's eyes remained violet after gaining memory. Aziraphale's eyes did not turn violet. Although in that case, the solution would be too obvious.

- Wherever you are, I'll come to you.

Such words, Crowley, are like large-caliber bullets. Leave a little bit of a living place in my heart.

the whims of Aziraphale rubric

Oh, Aziraphale, your bookshop burned down, I'm so sorry!

Crowley, you'll cry about your car later! Go do what I can do myself, but I want you to do it!

- No, no, we're not giving her a lift. - Hey, she can hear you. Is it decent? - I'm not jealous at all! - What? - What?

Red-blue reflections.

There are a lot of red and blue colors in the film. Often these two colors mark opposites and/or couples in one way or another. Crowley and Aziraphale, Sergeant Shadwell and Madame Tracy, Adam and Pepper, Maggie and Nina's shops, and so on. A cup of coffee and an apple of Eden. My interpretation of these colors. I assume that the color symbolism is taken from the Christian religion of the Renaissance.

In this case, the Red color means everything earthly, sensual, full of life, sexual, chaotic. Sometimes it's something aggressive (Anathema saw the red aura of an angry villager). But aggression can also be righteous bravery like Pepper, who stood up to the War. The color red does not appear symbolically in Hell and does not directly mean evil. The Blue color means everything unearthly, reasonable, calm. This is order, discipline, loyalty and stability. The blue color also does not symbolize Heaven and does not directly mean good.

I would add here the fact about two Christian saints - St. George and St. Andrew. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of the Scottish flag. The flag of Scotland has a white oblique cross on a blue background. And St. George the Victorious (the man who defeated the snake /dragon) patronizes the flag of England (this flag has a red cross on a white background. Saint George and Saint Andrew are also opposites of each other - one is a warrior (red), the other is a martyr (blue), respectively. I think it would be interesting to see these characters in the second coming?

One more color thought. Here is a screenshot. (S1E3 [54:24])

This is an image of a monitor in an office at a nuclear reactor. At the moment, there is no fuel in the nuclear reactor, there is a yellow candy that Adam placed there. The monitor shows that this yellow candy gives energy by splitting into blue and red colors. Yellow (gold) color in Christianity is a Divine color, the color of divine energy and grace. People who see it say "it's impossible". They witnessed a miracle. I associate this episode with another one.

(all subtitles are original) In this scene our angel and demon exchanged bodies and Death itself says that it is "ineffable". Death stated that it was a miracle.

I will also mention White color in my color reflections. He appears in the series four times (something I noticed.) White in this theory means purity, innocence and/or sacrifice.

1.The third baby in the S1E1. He was wrapped in a white blanket. He was a victim of circumstances. I haven't read the book, but fish were mentioned in the movie in the context of the baby. These few little facts lead me to think that this child may appear in the third season. And he will play a direct role in the second coming, as the new incarnate Christ (the fish is a symbol of Christ and also the white color his symbol too.)

2. In the theater with a red interior (1941), Aziraphale takes out a white handkerchief and theatrically waves it. I think it reflects the purity of his intentions to help his demon. And also the fact that he is the only one in this "vicious" place (where illegal alcohol is sold and people stare at half-naked girls) is a pure immaculate soul.

3. Gabriel wears a white fur coat when he goes out to the demons in the second season. He obviously intended to sacrifice himself for the sake of saving people.

4. Muriel - everything is obvious here. She's a blank slate. I really hope she doesn't fall victim to any dramatic circumstances in S3. I love Muriel).

There is also a Violet color. I have already talked about him a lot in my other posts, for example in the post about Gabriel's eyes or about the joint miracle of Azikro. I'll just mention a funny little fact here. When Aziraphale gets inside Madame Tracy, her sleeves turn violet (because she herself is marked in red, and the angel is blue, respectively.)

Violet color appears once more at the end of S2E6. When we see that Shax and Furfur are up to something together, they unite. And we see them disappearing into a violet haze. I think we need to find out exactly what this couple is up to in S3.

I assume that the violet color here means unification, union, expansion, reaching a new level.

What happened in the 1920s?

There are only 2 small mentions of the 20s in the series:

00:29:19 S1E1

[Aziraphale]

"I have several very nice bottles of Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the back. I picked up a dozen cases in 1921, and there's still some left for special occasions."

00:38:04 S2E1

"You see, the record shop was opened by my great grandmother in the 1920s. Originally, our shop was in a corner of Mr. Fell’s bookshop."

I didn't find anything else. But it seems to me this time and the event that happened then are important.

In 1920s, great-grandmother Maggie's record store appeared at the Aziraphale bookshop. In 1921, Aziraphale somehow gets several bottles of French wine (it is stored in the back room, that's the name of Maggie's store). Who was Maggie's great-grandmother?

This wine is for special occasions. Aziraphale and Crowley drink it in 1941 in a romantic candlelit setting. The second time they drink it is in S1E1, when they decide to act together. (Even in the final episode of S1, they drink regular champagne at the Ritz.)

Everything French in the film is connected with love. And Aziraphale has certain difficulties with this. He talks easily about divine love for people and the like. But when it comes to romantic love, it confuses him. (and he couldn't learn French.)

In general, I would be interested to find out more about the events of the 1920s and I hope to see this flashback in S3.

A couple of miniteories

Staged S2E8 «Until They Get Home»

Michael and David say goodbye for a long time, while taxi is waiting for a David. He has to drive away to work. Michael tries to hold him back and talks about books and love. For a person who is ready to see references everywhere, this is a very fertile material (I hope the word "fertile" is appropriate here).

1 The ending of the book The Crow Road, which Crowley advised to read, is very similar to this scene. The characters come to mutual love at the end of the book, but they need to break up because one of them has to drive away to work. And a taxi is waiting for her. The hero tries to keep his beloved at least for a short time, comes up with something else to say and prolonging the conversation. If it's not a coincidence, it's very sweet.

2 The simplest thing. Michael talks about Ouroboros and how everything starts where it ends. With these words, the series begins, and the desire of many is for everything to end in the garden. Ouroboros is a symbol of eternity and the cyclical alternation of life and death. We can always see it on Crowley's belt.

3 Michael asks David if he has read The Last Question. This is a short fantasy and philosophical-theological story by Isaac Asimov. It starts with two friends drinking and arguing about eternity. One claims that there is enough energy for eternity. The second one says nothing lasts forever >< (because of the damn entropy). Then millions of years pass and each new civilization asks the same question. Is it possible to stop entropy, not to let death take its toll? The book ends with the words: "let there be light! And there was light-"

So I am waiting for a new round of Ouroboros and the birth of a new universe. Like a "LIGHT!Camera!Action!" and the love ending of course.

Another theory about Maggie and Nina, plus a theory about coffee and death and a lot of symbolism.

Theory One (Maggie and Nina)

Nina and Maggie can symbolize the two sides of Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship. Maggie (this name means pearl, it is a symbol of hidden treasure and purity) this is the best thing about their relationship. It's their love for each other, for music and for the bookshope. This is confirmed by the jewelry on Maggie's neck (heart, snake and ring). This relationship is timid and it's hidden, like Maggie herself. Nina is the side of the relationship that is visible "on the surface". Nina is a responsible person, but she looks annoyed, a little rude, closed, distrustful. She is disappointed in her past relationships, which were toxic and there was no love in them. I will also note that Nina is active, she wants to sell her goods to people. Maggie's main theme is music, retro and love. For Nina, it seems to me, this is freedom (there are several statues of liberty in her cafe, one of which stands right on the counter). Including freedom of choice.

Theory two (choice, coffee and death)

So. In symbolism, coffee means awakening, awareness and life force. The torch of the Statue of Liberty means enlightenment, knowledge and optimism about the future. First. Nina offers a choice of coffee or death. In other words, to be alive or to be dead, to wake up or to sleep. Secondly. The hand of death is depicted on the wall, holding out a cup of coffee, like the Statue of Liberty holds out its torch. I can make the assumption that if you choose death, you will still get something. Once again, you make a choice to take a drink from Freedom or from Death. Nina said that no one had ever made such a choice, to which Metatron replied - people are so predictable.

What can death offer? In symbolism, she separates (with her scythe) body and soul, and irrevocable changes occur after her actions.

The third theory (choice without choice or something else)

So. Metatron brings Aziraphale coffee. The coffee was obtained from Nina, who symbolizes the dark side of the relationship between Azi and the Cro, a pinch of almond syrup was added to this cafe - it is what was good in this relationship (Maggie brought the ingredients to the coffee). So this drink is a concentrated version of their relationship. Next, Metatron is lying, claiming that he added a huge amount of almonds to the drink. Almonds in the symbolism of Christianity mean divine favor and hidden truth. Aziraphale asks if he should drink it. Metatron says literally: "Of course, I ingested things in my time, you know". I suppose he also refused something or made a difficult compromise (perhaps for the sake of his high position). Next, a conversation takes place in which Metatron, with the help of manipulation and cunning, compels Aziraphale to accept his offer. Of course, the coffee wasn't literally poisoned. The poison was in his words and intentions. I clarify, Aziraphale still did not make his choice of "coffee or death" when he took a drink from Metatron. And also when he talked to Metatron. At the same time, an equally important conversation takes place between Crowley and the girls. Both Aziraphale and Crowley are confused, events have gained momentum too quickly. There is a climactic conversation at the end of which there is actually (almost) nothing new for them. They always abruptly end the conversation by being rude to each other as soon as the conversation gets a little heated. But this time, fate has put Aziraphale in front of a choice for which there will be no turning back. It is now that Aziraphale is making his choice. Between love and death, he chooses death. When Aziraphale goes up in the elevator, you can see that his face is painfully changing, like his face is cramping up. This effect is highlighted by flashes of light. I explain this by the fact his soul and love remained on Earth (death separated his soul), and he dies - that is, irrevocably changes. Most likely, Maggie also received "death", since we see that she fell asleep in her little back room (of the bookstore).

- Aziraphale, you speak Chinese pretty well, why haven't you mastered French yet? After all, French is simpler than Chinese. - Well I don't know. The Chinese have never tried to chop off my head. And also, you know, that French executioner pawed my neck! - In fairness, I note the neck is very magnetic. It beckons to touch.. - Is this some kind of French joke? - Yes it is. And you would understand its meaning if you finally learned French.

"i can't DISOBEY not do what i'm told". At first, these angels say such things, and then they are surprised there is more fan content than there are stars in the sky!