The Pthumerian Civilization Collapses
The chalices tell us that, “The old labyrinth was carved out by the Pthumerians, superhuman beings that are said to have unlocked the wisdom of the eldritch Truth.” While we are not handed the eldritch Truth directly, we are given many clues, one of which being the cosmic eye watcher badge:
“Badge of a member of the Choir, elites of the Healing Church. The eye signifies the very cosmos. The Choir stumbled upon an epiphany, very suddenly and quite by accident. Here we stand, feet planted in the earth. but might the cosmos be very near us, only just above our heads?”
It can be inferred the Choir’s epiphany is the same secret eldritch Truth known to the Pthumerians. While the notion that “the sky and the cosmos are one” may seem almost meaningless at first thought, it is indeed the game’s core secret and without understanding it, the game is an endless maze.
The secret is that the Great Ones, though at first seen to both the Pthumerians and Yharnamites as Gods from the heavens to be worshiped, are not actually Gods at all. The Great Ones ascended their consciousnesses into higher planes of existence and it is possible for humans to do the same. The revelation was that there were undeniably other dimensions that could be crossed, and if this is where their worshiped Gods came from, then they had been fools to be their servants instead of searching for their own ascension to greatness.
“While early Pthumerians were mere humble guardians of the slumbering Great Ones, their descendants felt entitled to name themselves a leader.”
However, the Pthumerian civilization did not decline when the early Pthumerians were “mere humble guardians.” It is only after the Pthumerians began to carve out the old labyrinth and form the Chalice Dungeons that they started to endanger their society. It is suggested that the Pthumerians efforts to control the elements, summon the Great Ones, transcend dimensions, and acquire greater forms of consciousness and power is what lead to their demise.
We can also note here that Pthumerian sounds uncannily similar to Sumerian, which is one of the first human civilizations. Is Miyazaki perhaps making commentary on our world and society through drawing a parallel, or just using the name?
