#ah now to start drafting my “Adrien is moon-coded” post...

[lostuntothisworld]

Luka is Sun-Coded, Why the Snake has Time-Related Powers, and What the Future Might Hold for His Character

There’s been some back and forth whether Luka is represented by the sun or the moon, with most people seemingly on the side of him being moon-coded.

I have to disagree. More below the cut.

The name Luka is usually translated as “bringer of light.” This is of course the most common translation of his name. In This post, it’s explained that his name is also a Serbo-Croatian word for harbor or port. (Another win for my “the Couffaines are Balkan-Romani" headcanon).

I would also like to point out his hero name, Viperion, is a portmanteau of Viper and Hyperion. Hyperion was a Greek Titan, and along with his son Helios, was a personification of the sun. Sometimes the two Solar deities were conflated. It has also been suggested that the name Hyperion actually reads as “Apollo,” another Greek solar god. In fact, Apollo’s name has been suggested that it should be read as Hyperion. Also, Apollo famously has a younger twin sister, Artemis, a lunar goddess. Hyperion’s name translates to “He who goes before,” which is an apt name for Luka’s hero form.

Famous romantic poet John Keats wrote two unfinished epics on the subject of Hyperion. The second poem he wrote, titled The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream, was published after his death. It is a prequel to his first poem about Hyperion. The prequel is about his personal quest for truth and understanding. More on the topic of truth later on in this essay.

On a more scientific note, the theorized massive star that went supernova and created the our solar system is often called Coatlicue, who was the mother of the Sun in Aztec mythology. She is depicted as a woman wearing a skirt of snakes, and even her name translates to [she who has] the skirt of snakes. An aspect of this goddess was known as “snake woman”, and she was considered a very motherly figure.

Anarka went supernova and destroyed her music career and relationship with Jagged after she fell pregnant. Luckily, she built a wonderful new life for her twins, and The Liberty is a safe harbor for them and all their friends, just like our Sun and solar system. Remember, Luka can also be translated as harbor.

It’s also worth noting that one of Saturn’s moons is named Hyperion. Yes, I know, a moon, but hear me out. Hyperion’s orbit is extremely chaotic, and unpredictable, a quality that is needed in order to end time loops. I had a lovely dialogue with another person on the implications of that in the notes in this post.

Now onto part two: Why the Snake Miraculous has time related powers. It has been suggested by fans that we don’t need two time-related Miraculous, and Snakes are mythologically healers (Think Hermes and his caduceus), so the Snake should have healing powers. It’s a compelling argument, but I disagree.

I’ve touched on this topic before, but it bears repeating. There is a misconception that Wayzz was originally the leader of the Kwamis, and Sass was retconned to be leader at a later date. This is untrue. For one, Kwamis cannot leave the Miracle Box without an owner, so Sass is stuck in there with the rest of the Kwamis. Secondly, in season 2’s Sandboy, the episode where we meet the rest of the Kwamis, Sass is the one calling all the shots. Tikki and Plagg even defer to him. Furthermore, Wayzz was chosen by Master Fu because his power is Protection. Narratively, it makes more sense for an un-evolved character who is terrified of his past choices to choose the power of Protection, as opposed to Sass’ power of learning from past mistakes, and change through choice.

I dare say that they made a point of Marinette wearing the Turtle Miraculous in the season 5 finale due to a planned character arc. I predict this character arc is one where she learns to not be so overprotective of Adrien, or one where she needs to learn to accept the help of others and not put up such a shell and be so controlling. Or both, even.

Anyway, back to Snakes. I made a previous post about how the main three kwamis, Tikki, Plagg, and Sass are a reference to (a very simplified) Hinduism, with Tikki being Brahma (god of creation), Plagg as Shiva (god of destruction), and Sass as Vishnu (god of preservation). Shiva and Vishnu are both symbolized by snakes, but I think it’s important to note that one of Vishnu’s mounts is Shesha, a primordial snake deity of creation. It is said that when Shesha uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place; when he coils back, the universe ceases to exist. Shesha’s name translates to “he who remains”, as even when the world is destroyed, Shesha remains as he is. It doesn’t take much thought to see how this relates to the Snake Miraculous and the power of Second Chance.

I had originally theorized that Second Chance erases the entire universe in order to reset, but the Paris Special brought the concept of a multiverse, and simple logic declared this untrue. No, I believe that Second Chance erases EVERY multiverse. Terrifying stuff.

And of course, there is the Snake Miraculous’ bracelet form of a serpent biting its own tail, an Ourobos. Ourobos is a symbol used all over the ancient world to represent various things, most notably of cycles, such as life, death, and rebirth. This feels like the most obvious reason for the Snake to have Second Chance.

Of course, we cannot ignore the elephant in the room… or the snake that swallowed the elephant a la the python in the beginnings of famous French novella The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The dominant religion in most of the western world is Christianity, and snakes have a reputation for being evil. But I think there’s more to the story ML is presenting to us.

In the season 5 finale, we are presented with a perfect utopia, an Eden, if you will. We can all agree this is not going to last, and all the glitter is not gold. Maribug’s web of lies, Lilamoth knowing the Truth, Adrichat being left in the dark. It will all come undone sooner or later.

Which is why I propose that it is Luka who helps Adrien discover the Truth. There are some academics who believe humanity wasn’t truly born until Eve tasted the forbidden fruit of knowledge and left the Garden of Eden. It’s very poetic that a Snake named Light would present Adrien with the Truth. Remember Keats’ epic poem Hyperion about searching for Truth.

And of course, it needs to be reminded that Ladybug’s Lucky Charm CANNOT bring back a sentimonster after the amok is purified or destroyed. But you know what CAN bring back a sentimonster? The Snake’s Second Chance. Adrien and Luka have unlimited chances to figure out how to sever the connection between Adrien and his amoks.

Remember also, the point of Second Chance is to end the time loop. This all goes hand in hand with my theory that ML is a 15-year time loop of Wishes, and Gabriel made at least one, if not multiple Wishes in the past.

Of course I could be completely off the mark and they made Luka a Guardian for no reason, and Adrien will never amount to anything other than being Ken to Maribug’s Barbie.

If you made it to the end, thank you for coming to my TED Talk.