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True Detective is an American television anthology drama series on HBO, created and written by Nic Pizzolatto, with the first season directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. Season one stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson as Detective Rustin Cohle and Detective Martin Hart (or "Rust" and "Marty"), two Louisiana State Police Criminal Investigations Division homicide detectives, hunting for a serial killer in 1995 (and sees them being interviewed in 2012, reflecting on the events that happened).

The Carcosa Mythos?[]

The murder victim, Dora Lange (pronounced 'Lang') found at the beginning has a journal that references the King in Yellow and Carcosa, and related terms are mentioned by other characters as the investigation unravels. It is not clear whether or not these are the products of a deluded mind or a genuine supernatural manifestation (as of Episode 4 there has been nothing weird, save the hallucinations of Cohle).

The murdered girl also has a blue spiral pattern painted on her back. Although not The Yellow Sign as we recognise it, is this the Sign as manifest in this reality, to these people?

Is her name a vague reference to Leng?

This clip below is a behind the scenes look at what The King in Yellow means, for those who've been watching the show and are unfamiliar with the Mythos...


True_Detective_Season_1_Inside_the_Episode_5_-_The_Yellow_King_(HBO)

True Detective Season 1 Inside the Episode 5 - The Yellow King (HBO)

A List of References[]

Episode One[]

  • We first see the variant Sign tattooed on the back of the victim, Dora Lang. Also, given its prevalence surrounding the crimes and cult activity, the tee-pee like stick figures could also be considered a variation of the Sign.
  • Dora's ex, Charlie Lange, refers to things she'd said in the past, in an apparently delusional (drug induced) state, about how she was to become a nun, and had met a king.
  • Indirectly, does Cohle's choice of Lone Star beer relate to the stars of the Carcosa Mythos?
  • The song Sign of the Judgement, by The Mcintosh County Shouters, plays while on the way to Marie Fontenot's uncle's house. The lyrics of the song are repetitious, with phrases like "I see the sign", "Sign of the judgement", and "Hail O the time draws nigh". The inclusion of the song seems a vague reference to the Yellow Sign.

Episode Two[]

  • The victim's friend Carla, who tells the detective about the church and "a Spanish lake", has black stars tattooed up the left side of her neck.
    Carcosa0121

    A page from the murdered girl's journal

  • Dora's diary is discovered. It contains the first direct reference to The King In Yellow in the series, even though the "king" was mentioned in the previous episode. Cohle reads a few passages from this aloud, "I closed my eyes, and saw the King in Yellow moving through the forest" and "The King's children were marked; they became his angels." Also see various screen grabs on this site. The first page we glimpse actually states "I closed my eyes... and saw... THE YELLOW KING ...moving through the forest" (though, there's evidence to suggest that certain passages and phrases are repeated, potentially in slightly altered form). Cassilda's Song is also written out, albeit in a slightly altered form, with the words IN CARCOSA repeated several times in the center of the page. BLACK STARS are also written in upper case, and black stars (and two moons) are drawn in the margins. There are other pages of writing, and further evidence of THE YELLOW KING written in big letters, but we do not know any more about the contents, other than it reading like fantasy. The passage about being marked seems to hint at the spiral Sign tattoo.
  • The JESUS CHRIST WILL SAVE YOU leaflet, printed on bright yellow. There's no obvious connection to The King in Yellow, but given that the murdered girl has left it next to a page headed THE YELLOW KING there's every reason to believe she thinks there is. The leaflet also noteworthy for the strange symbol, within a circle, or what looks like a raging fire beneath a sun though, again, no direct link to The King in Yellow as we understand it.
  • In the burnt down ruins of the church, an owl is seen in the rafters, neatly paralleling the owl in Bierce's tale, An Inhabitant of Carcosa , which is seen in the ruins of Carcosa (although owls are often used on outdoor sets to keep native wildlife away, this owl does seem to be quite central to the shot).
  • The sun, reflected in the waters behind the gutted church, symbolically references the twin suns that set over The Lake of Hali .

Episode Three[]

  • The preacher, talking to his congregation, mentions a few things that might sound as if they had a connection to the Mythos. A snippet of his speech, at the beginning of the episode, reads as follows: "You were blind to him, as your footprints in the ashes, but He saw you... He saw you in those dark corners... He heard you, oh my brothers, He heard those thoughts... You are a stranger to yourself, and yet He knows you... and when your heart hardened, made you liken to the stone, and broke you from His body - which is the stars, and the wind between the stars - He knew you! (break) ...This world is a veil... and the face you wear is not your own..." Of course, the Carcosa Mythos themes of darkness, of strangers, of stars, of the world not being real, and of people wearing false faces, are not unique in any way. But it's worth noting that the overlap may be for a reason.
  • A second spiral, or 'sign', is found in a photograph from an older case, on an older victim previously not connected to the Dora Lange murder.
  • Cohle's speech at the end of the episode, talking about how much of a fragile 'dream' life is, all your loves all your hate, all your memory, all your pain, a dream about being a person... "And like a lot of dreams, there's a monster at the end of it." Again, too vague to be a specific King in Yellow reference, but sounds close enough to what we know of the Mythos to recognize parallels.

Episode Four[]

  • From the opening interrogation with Charlie Lange: "He said there's this place down south where all these rich men go to, uh, devil worship... He said, uh... they sacrifice kids and whatnot. Women and children all got, all got, murdered there... and, um, something about some place called Carcosa, and the Yellow King. He said there's all these, like, old stones out in the woods, people go to, like, worship... He said, uh, he said there's just so much good killing down there... Reggie's got this, like, brand on his back, like in a spiral... He said that's their sign..." Note that this is all second hand information from Reginald "Reggie" Ledoux, aside from the fact that this murder suspect has a spiral brand. This is the first time it is referred as a "sign", suggesting this is indeed True Detective's version of The Yellow Sign. It's worth noting that Charlie mentioned the king during the detectives' previous visit, but did not mention that the King in Yellow by name, nor did he imply that Dora was having anything other than a personal delusion. In fact, outside of Dora's diary, this is the first time the "Yellow King" is referred to out loud in the series.

Episode Five[]

  • When Reggie Ledoux was being arrested, he told Cohle, "It's time, isn't it? The black stars... The black stars rise... I know what happens next. I saw you in my dream. You're in Carcosa now, with me. He sees you.... You'll do this again. Time is a flat circle." Whatever version of the King in Yellow and Carcosa the cult believes in, it seems to share many of the basic motifs of the the Carcosa Mythos. "Black stars rise" is lifted directly from Cassilda's Song, Carcosa is an obvious reference, and the inclusion of prophetic dreams.
  • At the end of the episode, when Cohle is examining the stick figure, the camera zooms out to frame him within a broken window. Written on the glass are stars drawn in black marker. Referencing the black stars over Carcosa.

Episode Six[]

  • Billy Lee Tuttle is seen wearing a yellow tie and handkerchief. A hint of his involvement in the Yellow King cult.

Episode Seven[]

  • Cohle's board of clues include Yellow King and Carcosa spray painted above it. The spiral Sign is on the board, as well as painted on the inside of the store room's door. Other occult symbols can be found throughout the room, but nothing that seems to directly link to the King in Yellow.
  • After Miss Dolores was shown pictures of the stick figures, she began speaking of Carcosa and something that appears to be the King in Yellow. She says, “You know Carcosa?” Cohle asks, “What is it?” She replies, “Him who eats time. Him [in] robes. It’s a wind of invisible voices. Rejoice. Death is not the end. Rejoice. Death is not the end.”

Episode Eight[]

  • All along the inside of a shack, at the beginning of the episode, are a sprawl of words written along the walls in what looks to be blood. Found among them are the words Yellow King, Cassilda, Camilla, and Carcosa.
  • We see a spiral brand on the back of Errol Childress. In episode 4, during Charlie Lange’s interrogation, Charlie tells of a spiral brand on the back of Reggie. He called it “their sign.”
  • Childress says to Betty, “It's been weeks since I left my mark. Would that they had eyes to see.” He is referring to another murder or another display of a victim. He then says, “Now, Betty, I have very important work to do. My... ascension removes me from the disc and the loop. I'm near final stage. Some mornings, I can see the infernal plane.” He thinks that through these sacrifices he will ascend to a higher consciousness. He wants the confrontation with Hart and Cohle. Perhaps them killing him is the means of his ascension. This type of grandiose is sometimes seen in those affected by the King in Yellow. Most notably Hildred Castaigne. It’s clear Childress believes he will transcend this reality, perhaps to be in the presence of the King in Yellow, to be in Carcosa (the strange and otherworldly place, not the location from the show).
  • When Cohle and Hart arrive at the Childress house, Hart asks Betty “Where is he?” Referring to the killer, whose identity he is currently unaware of. She replies, “All around us, before you were born... and after you die.” It’s not clear if she understood who Hart was referring to, but her response seems to reference an individual of supernatural quality. This may be Errol Childress, in his ‘ascended form’, but most likely refers to the presence of the King in Yellow.
  • When Cohle gives chase, we see drawn on the back of one of the sheds are figures wearing antlers in a field of what might be flowers. The petals of the flowers appear very much like crude stars. The whole mural is drawn in black, again referencing black stars. Also drawn on the wall, in the upper corners, are what look like things flying through the air. Perhaps these are Byakhee.
  • When Cohle enters the ruin, Childress beckons him on by saying “Come on inside little priest.” This is not the first time Cohle is referred to as such. In a behind the sense video put out by HBO, it shows a scene in episode 5 where Reggie Ledoux is talking to Cohle, but an additional line from Ledoux is shown. He says to Cohle, “I saw you in my dream. You’re a priest too. I know what happens next.” From the beginning of the show, it’s been shown how Cohle has a perception of reality, life, and our place in the universe that disturbs other people, making them view him as crazy. This nihilistic perception of reality is in line with the greater, mind rending, truths of the general mythos. That normal human perception is nothing more than an illusion. This seems a very similar viewpoint to those who follow the Yellow King cult in the show, as well as those “enlightened” by the bleak truths of reality in the mythos. This makes him something of a priest, proselytizing the greater truths, as we see him do throughout the show.
  • We finally see “Carcosa”, the old stone brick ruin in the Louisiana bayou near Childress’s home, that houses a shrine to the King in Yellow. This is obviously not the Carcosa from mythos, but a holy site to Childress and the cult. We are not given the genesis of the name, so it’s unclear if this Carcosa is in reference to the mysterious city, in reference to something else entirely, or if the cult came up with the name. The ruin is filled with the reoccurring stick figures, many as tall as an adult. There is also evidence of former victims strewn around, including a pile of old children’s clothes, small shoes hanging from things, and what looks like desiccated bodies wrapped in cloth and on display. This is likely the place referred to in episode 4 by Charlie Lange. The “old stones out in the woods.” It’s odd that the area around the ruins is only lightly wooded and would be adjacent to the Childress house and not the old Tuttle estate. Perhaps this is not the original location from the 80s and 90s, but a place Errol had made for himself and his accomplices. Or maybe the Tuttle estate was vast, and the Childress house and the ruin are just a small part of it.
King in Yellow True Detective

Effigy of the King in Yellow

  • Deep in the ruin, within some kind of underground silo or other underground industrial structure, Cohle finds the shrine, or effigy, of the King in Yellow. Three skulls in line, one painted yellow, crowned in antlers and featuring a spiral Sign. Four arm like branches, draped in ragged yellow cloth, extending from its twisted body of antlers, sticks, bone, and a large stone base. Another appendage like branch extends forward with a sculpture made of black sticks hanging from it, in the shape of a star.
  • In the shrine room of the Yellow King, Cohle has another hallucination, or vision. The walls become black, turning into a dark star field. The vision focuses on a dark clouded vortex out in space, an eerie light emanating from its center. This is reminiscent of the spiral Signs seen throughout the season, and likely its origin. Black specks seem to orbit the mouth of the vortex. Perhaps these are black stars, seen from a distance to hint at the enormity of the vortex. There is a menacing quality to it, perhaps an intelligence. As if the vortex is gazing back at Cohle, as Cohle looks upon at the vortex. Could this be a vision of the presence behind the King in Yellow, Hastur in a different form? Or could it be a gateway of some kind to the real Carcosa, or Carcosa itself?
  • When Childress stabs Cohle, he says, “Now, take off your mask.” Another reference to masks throughout the show and mythos.
  • The state of Hart after the ordeal is obviously a result of the horror and trauma he endured, but its worth noting the common theme of how anyone who has a brush with Carcosa and/or the King in Yellow always come out the other end damaged in at least some way.

Cohle's Hallucinations[]

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Is this The Yellow Sign?

Although, strictly speaking, Cohle's hallucinations aren't evidence of the supernatural, they do sometimes seem to connect with the weirdness of the Mythos.

In Epsode One he sees his dead daughter standing at the edge of the street.

In Episode Two he sees a flock of birds swirl into the spiraling pattern of the Sign on the victim's back. There are also a couple of hallucinations that are strange effects of the light. In the first instance traces of light appear to Cohle as he drives at night, some of which relate to the steet lights, some of which seem to come along the road without a visible source. The second instance has what appears to be bright wave of colour, yellow and pink, across the sky, towards the horizon.

In Episode Eight he sees a spirally blue/white void in the darkness... a gateway to a genuine Carcosa? Or, symbolically, a whirlpool drawing in something from the real world into some other? (or both) Is it indeed just a hallucination? If so, what does it mean to Marty? Is it the physical representation of the spiraling blue Yellow sign? Could this be a manifestation of the presence behind the Yellow King figure?

Afterthoughts[]

These are thoughts that occur after watching the final episode...

It's odd that Rust, in all his years of trying to grasp what it's all about, never seems to find a small collection of short stories penned by Robert W. Chambers in the 1890s. Or maybe he does, but seems to attach no importance to it, doesn't find it worth mentioning it to Marty.

Does this mean that the short stories never existed in the True Detective world, and that the actual reference point for the killer and the cult is a rare 19th century play that drives all those that read it mad, and has those drawn into it assuming identities of characters from the story? A reality where there IS a genuine figure called The King in Yellow, a genuine otherworldly Carcosa? The killer's version of Carcosa, and his reference to removing masks (I half expected Rust to say "I wear no mask") indicates that he's familiar with the fiction of the King of Yellow... but from where?

One other thing:

An incredible show. I didn't know how it is was going to resolve, half expected the conspiracy to be blasted right open, but feel that the series stayed true to what had occurred before (if you'll excuse the pun). It's nice to have a TV show that can complete a stories in eight episodes, and not leave us hanging on for another season, and years of story before we get a sense of closure. That said, if the next season links into this one somehow, and there's a sense of a greater story behind the individual cases, that'd be amazing - that'd genuinely make the conspiracy/cosmic horror angle work.

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