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Last Active 08-01-22 11:41 pm
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| IKSSE:3: Behind the Concept
This is a beginner’s guide to the story of the Coheed and Cambria albums. I am not going to go into detail about planet names and specific details like that because it will only convolute the story and there’s only so much space I have for each post.
In order for any of this to make sense you have to understand some basic background shit. The Coheed universe is a collection of planets and “star transformers” bound together by a field of energy called the “Keywork” (the symbol for the band). Within the keywork there are many races, but the three main ones are Mage (powerful beings that wield lots of magic and make decisions for their sectors of the universe), Prise (the angels who follow the will of “God”), and Man.
I will be going through the albums as they happen in the Amory Wars story. | | 1 |  | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 | | 2 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Prophecy:
"If Man should decide to dabble in my affairs, then guardians must intervene. But, should I come forth to change the face of Man with you there to challenge me -- then I shall return with the stars to destroy' all I have made. Whether Man or I present that danger will not be told in the coming." | | 3 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Villains:
Supreme Tri-Mage Wilhelm Ryan- the dictator ruling all of Heaven’s Fence
Mayo Deftinwolf- Wilhelm Ryan’s right hand man.
Admiral Crom- Another one of Wilhelm’s top men. Think Darth Vadar with a suit that drains the energy from all those around him.
Onstantine Priests- After killing all the other mages, Wilhelm Ryan experimented on them, turning them into monsters that obey his every command.
Al the Killer: A star pilot with a deadly attraction to blondes. | | 4 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Heroes:
Claudio: the only remaining child of Coheed and Cambria and the prophesied “Crowing”: a being ordained by “God” to bring about the salvation or destruction of the Keywork.
Newo Ikkin: Claudio’s love interest who he abandoned after the death of his parents.
Ambellina: One of the only remaining Prise sent to guide Claudio to his destiny.
Inferno/Jesse: The leader of the resistance and builder of IRO-bots.
Chase: An IRO-Bot Jesse created to mirror Cambria. She shares her abilities but is trapped in the body of a child despite having the maturity and intelligence of an adult.
Sizer: An IRO-Bot Jesse created to mirror Coheed’s abilities. Can transform into a hulking juggernaut. Craves the attention/ affection of his maker despite being told time and time again he is a weapon and nothing more. | | 5 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Before the Album:
Having experienced a brutal defeat during the events of SSTB, Jesse retreats to Earth where it orbits a disconnected star (see my write up for SSTB). There he builds an army of IRO-Bots and waits for the opportunity to strike against Wilhelm Ryan.
Claudio, having witnessed the death of his family, retreats into the sewers and lower levels of a city where he lives in squalor, haunted by the ghost of his father.
Before their sacrifice to reignite the star transformer that Coheed and Cambria extinguished, the Prise sent one of their own, Ambellina, to find The Crowing. They burned her wings off and banished her to the Keywork to complete her mission. | | 6 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Author’s Note:
This and the next album are a little frustrating to dissect, as Claudio (the writer) and Chondra made some strange choices to veer the comic away from the story slightly (the most egregious songs being “Favor House Atlantic” and “The Light and the Glass”). As a result I am trying to meld both mediums into one analysis, meaning that the song meanings may differ slightly from what is presented in the graphic novel. | | 7 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Ring in Return:
Ten years have passed since SSTB. Starting AFTER the events of this album, and marking the passage of time with the Amory Wars theme, Claudio returns to Newo Ikkin’s house and, using a handheld device, calls her phone. She answers, but instead of speaking he hangs up, satisfied with the knowledge that she is still safe. Apollo, her dog, is outside and he decides instead to recount the story of the past decade (more specifically, the past year year) to him. | | 8 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
In the sector of the keywork broken off after the deactivation of the star transformer, Jesse and his army of IRO-Bots engage in battle with Willhelm Ryan’s Red Army. After the first part of the battle breaks, one of the IRO-Bots, Sizer, contemplates his role in this war. He acknowledges that this is a lost cause but wishes to continue fighting anyways to gain the affection of his father who, because of her maturity and calculating nature, has a closer relationship with his sister, Chase.
As they prepare for a second wave of attacks, Mayo and Jesse make their respective commands (“Man your own Jackhammer”= Mayo’s ships designed to deliver massive impact shocks to the terrain). Sizer desires to make his “father” proud, no matter the costs. | | 9 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Cuts Marked in the March of Men:
The battle continues as Ryan sends wave after wave of soldiers at Jesse’s army. Both sides endure heavy casualties. Chase is taken captive and Sizer, knowing that Jesse loves her more than him, runs into the fray and sacrifices himself for her so that she and the rest can escape.
(This differs greatly from the comic as Sizer just runs in blindly during those events, and Chase uses her powers to multiply the remaining Prise to turn the tide of battle. Go figure as to the change…)
(Out of Song) During the battle Wilhelm Ryan appears to bless the battle (as he believes he is God). The Prise and Chase seriously wound him, and he is taken captive. | | 10 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Three Evils (Embodied in Love and Shadow):
The first part of the song discusses the torture of Sizer, who despite being disassembled (he is a robot but with human flesh, nerves, muscles, blood. It is very painful) doesn’t give up the rebellion’s location or their plans.
He is thrown out with a pile of trash into the sewer and is found by Claudio who, for the past few years, has been wandering aimlessly, haunted by his father’s ghost and his own guilt. Claudio, seeing that he is both man and machine, and having a knack for repairing things, sets about rebuilding him. Once activated, Sizer is in an incredible amount of pain and Claudio offers to kill him but Sizer denies his euthanasia and vows to continue fighting, his desire to please his father now shifted to Claudio.
(Out of Song) Wilhelm Ryan is tried for his crimes against humanity and is incinerated. He anticipates his capture, however, and is revived back at House Atlantic (presumably through some sort of cloning technology). | | 11 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Crowing:
Continuing his haunted life below the city, Claudio is approached by Ambellina and informed of his destiny to be the Crowing, the being sent by God to destroy Heaven’s Fence should someone (Wilhelm Ryan) attempt to play God’s role. Claudio wrestles with this responsibility, and continually returns to the murder of his sister, Josephine, who was his favorite. Ambellina also informs him that her murder was not his parents’ doing, but the work of Wilhelm Ryan. He ultimately decides that he must play this part to fruition and avenge the death of his family. In the comic this decision is much less definitive. | | 12 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Blood Red Summer:
Claudio continues to wrestle with the information presented to him by Ambellina. The song is him lamenting this responsibility and ultimately wishing that this could be passed on to someone else.
(Out of Song) Claudio, not understanding the true depth of Wilhelm Ryan’s power and not fully grasping that the Crowing is also the bringer of the apocalypse, sets out to storm House Atlantic. In order to get to the planet where Wilhelm Ryan lives they must enlist the help of a pilot named Al.) | | 13 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Camper Velourium I: Faint of Heart
As The Camper Velourium (Al’s ship) travels through space Al frequents a backroom where, hanging naked and in various states of dismemberment, are Al’s victims (mostly young, blonde women). He tortures them mentally and physically and sees a past love in all of them (as the first to scorn him shared many of their traits). Returning to the living area of the ship he begins to see their form in Ambellina who, despite being a blue skinned angel, also has blond hair. He sees her actions as teasing and tormenting, and plans to add her to his collection. | | 14 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Camper Velourium II: Backend of Forever
Spending more and more time with Ambellina, Al becomes convinced that she is actually his former lover who scorned him. He talks to his former victims as if they are her and we see him moving even further away from sanity. | | 15 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Camper Velourium III: Al the Killer
This is another song that seems to stray from the comic. In both versions, after Ambellina finds his killing room, Al injects Ambellina with a paralyzing serum that causes her to lay powerless among the corpses of his former victims while Al prepares to begin his work on her. Where they differ is in the lyrics it seems to imply that Al has a change of heart at the end and lets her live because he discovers that, despite hating his former partner, has come to love Ambellina. In the comics he is fully prepared to kill her and Claudio engages him in combat, stopping him. In his rage, Claudio causes damage to the ship and they set a crash course for House Atlantic (“Let this colony know, in the name of the dead, we’re coming”).
(Out of Song) Jesse, hearing the distress call coming over the radio, sets course for House Atlantic, believing this is the final battle. | | 16 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
A Favor House Atlantic:
Again, the song and the comic vary greatly. In the song it seems to imply that, after crash landing into House Atlantic, Claudio and Ambellina attempt to escape and Al the Killer, in an attempt to redeem himself, offers to basically hold the line while they run.
In the comic Jesse and his army join the fight and Claudio uses his powers to mind-control Al and basically force him to die for them. Claudio and Chase have a final stand against the actual House Atlantic itself, which is revealed to be a giant mech that draws in power from the Keywork (Remember: the Keywork is an energy field composed of the souls of the dead so… pretty messed up). They defeat House Atlantic, but are still outnumbered by Ryan’s army so they retreat to fight another day. | | 17 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Light and the Glass:
The album ends where it begins. Claudio, having recounted the story of the past years to Newo’s dog Apollo, watches his former love sleep believing this is the last time he will ever see her and from this point on he needs to single mindedly march towards the end of days. He relives their memories together, and understands that the light in her room is a beacon for him to return to, but one to which he cannot. He tells Apollo that he would be better off dead than to experience the events to come.
The comic ends with him informing Apollo that he’s burning Star IV (going to destroy the star transformer and bring about the apocalypse) | | 18 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
The Light and the Glass Cont.
The song seems to suggest however, that some other event transpires. In the song Claudio considers reaching out to her and still invisible falls asleep outside her house as a way of sleeping “with” her. But he is awakened later by the sound of her sobbing and Newo’s mother informing her that her father has died. Claudio, seeing the beauty and tragedy in only one single death, begs Apollo to pray for them all as the end approaches. This is the only logical explanation as to what Claudio (the writer’s) initial idea was because all the fathers are dead or are going to die later. It’s a little thing, but it’s annoy that Claudio didn’t include it in the comics. | | 19 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
21:13
In a lot of ways this song is a retread of the events from SSTB. Claudio, in his dreams, relieves the events of the previous album from his father’s eyes, all the while wishing that his mother could come to aid him in this final task. | | 20 | | Coheed and Cambria
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
Thoughts as a Writer:
I consider SSTB, IKSEE:3, and GAIBSIV to be classic albums, musically, lyrically, conceptually… but I wish someone besides Chondra (Claudio’s wife) would review the overview of his whole story (in the comics) and provide feedback. A lot of the content in the comics feels like a weird retcon. The dude wrote a great story and he’s going back to change it because… who knows? In the comic, he takes away Al’s redemption. In the album, Claudio realizes his destiny and begins his vendetta whereas in the comic he waffles between vengeance and uncertainty. In the album Sizer struggles with his purpose and his devotion to his sister. One of the most beautiful moments in the album isn’t utilized (“and I woke to the sound of her crying/ your father’s dead he passed in his sleep”). The assault on House Atlantic is repetitive as it happens again in Good Apollo. So… I love you Coheed but imho the comic story for IKSSE:3 fell a little short. | |
WalrusTusk
05.03.22 | As always, I would love to hear your theories and ideas. Definitely excited to work on the next two. I don't know if I'll do Vaxis because I kinda don't dig the concept as much and it's not as clear in the music what's happening but who knows! | DadKungFu
05.04.22 | MAN YOUR OWN JACKHAMMER | WalrusTusk
05.04.22 | Still one of the best music callouts EVER. |
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