#lmk analysis

[i-am-a-fan]

I hope that the overall theme of lmk is not that you are either a “hero” or a “warrior” but that you will always naturally have a partner in some way.

You may never always be the hero, but that’s okay. You help someone else have that moment. You may never always be the Sun, but you look so pretty when you shine as the moon.

You are both chaos and order and you can’t force others to choose to be only one either.

[cherllyio]

I noticed something in the "benched" episode of Lmk, during the talent show, Mk's painted face markings have small red spikes at the end of them. And then there's macaque who ALSO has spiky face markings. AND BOTH OF THEM ARE RED

It could just maybe be some foreshadowing or some type of hint?? Because otherwise they could've just given Mk a heart or a rounded face painting like wukong, but they didnt

Idk my brain is still in its harbinger and soldier phase and I haven't seen people other than myself talking abt it lol

Omg yea! Thats Macaques face marking!

And here is also a nice little detail...

He also has red face markings in some of the Lego Sets!

Our little Harbinger of Chaos is a mix of our two dear celistial monkeys! How? I have no idea-

Anyway thanks for the ask! Means a lot! <3

[bonnisbon]

⚠️ I am not chinese, so if any chinese person in the fandom wants to add something or just point out any mistake, please do ⚠️

I've seen people in the fandom call Macaque's smoke monster 'kaiju', but this is not a correct denomination.

It is better to call it "法相" (fa3 xiang4), meaning "image of (commonly Buddha)"

"佛教术语，指诸法之相状，包含体相（本质）与义相（意义）二者"

Trans.

"A Buddhist term that refers to the appearance of all dharmas, including both physical appearance (essence) and righteousness (significance)"

Following this definition, a 法相 is your true self, your essence, both physical and spiritual... meaning that Smokey (little guy) is not a 'kaiju'. It is an essence, Macaque's.

Same goes to all manifestations of characters who have a version of their 法相, it's their true essence.

Yes, you got it right! This little (not so little) guy is also a 法相.

(Don't call them 'kaiju', please).

Just to add, they can also be called 'war forms', since they appear in the original jttw.

[imminent-danger-came]

One detail I've noticed is that Wukong's outfit is different before and after Tripitaka places the circlet on him (and Wukong was notably unwilling to be chained):

Which is distinctly different than every other iteration of this scene we've been shown:

Other retellings of this moment have Wukong kneeling in servitude...when the reality is he was kneeling after being subdued—continuing lmk's tradition of biased/false narratives (like what was done with the multiple explanations of the samadhi fire). I think it's interesting to see the ways in which Wukong's past was made easier to swallow as time went on (or if you were Azure and didn't want to believe that Wukong had been changed by his journey lol)

[noose-lion]

Lmk is funny to me, because it takes the ridiculously over-powered character, Sun Wukong, and then gives him every reason possible to not be that.

Most of all, his unspoken desire to not let his student see the "real him".

Because it's not that he isn't still just as endlessly powerful (except for a few narrative driven exceptions), but that he is actively holding back. He is a changed man so to speak, and he'd like everyone to stop bringing up his past, 'monstrous' self, please and thank you.

It's fascinating really, how well a 10 minute per episode children's series (made to sell legos) so nonchalantly explores the inescapable truth of one's past, and in extension: the haunting reality of outliving all your friends and very little of your enemies.

[hyperfixation-tangentopia]

WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER EPISODE OOOOF - YOU GUESSED IT - HT OVERTHINKS!

So, I've been thinking SO MUCH about this expression.

Now, I'm shit at reading expressions, but to me this reads as confusion. Of "that's not how it happened...was it?" and if it's not, completely disregard the rest of this.

I'm pretty sure Macaque tends to stir on things. From the fact he tended to quiet about his concerns when others didn't take them seriously to his anger in his debut, and the fact that he has twice now recalled lines nearly to the word ("Good to see ya, bud." and "You always were the most cowardly of the bunch."), I feel like there's a good chance he has stirred on these lines. Stayed up at night with them running around his head type thing.

And that kinda stuff tends to warp memories and perceptions, and we've already established that Macaque's an unreliable narrator (whether he means to be or not) because his perception of events is warped by emotions.

I was just using this as a headcanon, but then I noticed it's not the first time we'd be shown memories of events changing from one person to another (even subtly). And here's where I'm probably overthinking (if I wasn't already).

After the Samadhi Fire ritual, in Demon Bull King's retelling, he drops the ring when he runs for Red Son.

But in (what I assume to be Wukong's) memory of events, he holds onto it.

If this was a deviation between memories and not just an inaccuracy, I don't think I'm reaching too terribly far to say that Macaque's memory of the argument could've been warped over time.

Buuuut I'm probably just overthinking stuff. Fun to do though!

[great-hon-equal-to-pot-pie]

So I've been thinking about the "monkey-mind horse-will" philosophy and the way it perfectly applies to MK and Mei all day today SO I NEED TO GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM.

So I feel like it's extremely common knowledge that Wukong is an allegory for the mind in jttw and this allegory is still somewhat present in lmk, especially in aspects of MK's character. The whole concept of the fluid, ever changing thoughts in his mind. The whole "I try not to think about it", "I play dumb to lighten the mood". Him saying "There's nothing MINDless about me" in the season 4 finale. THE WHOLE THING WITH SMARTIE KID/BIG BRAIN BOY? These are just some examples off the top of my head there's definitely so much I've missed. But yes, MK has this as a very noticible motif of thoughts and mind rooted in his character.

Mei representing the will- or as I like to put it - the heart is less apparent, but hear me out. The whole "she acts before she thinks". The whole "she puts her family and friends first", and the "she's a protector" vibe of her character. She puts her HEART first. The contrast between this and MK is admittedly slight but still visible.

Monkies and horses have had other connections in eastern history too, I'm sure most jttw fans are familiar with keeping monkies in horse stables to wear off illnesses (Wukong's role as Bimawen is a reference to that :D), but besides the duo can also represent great success and fortune and have ties in the Chinese zodiac. So I feel chosing Mei specifically to be MK's bestie was done on purpose.

ARGH I don't know just the concept of MK and Mei being the "Brain and Heart" IS JUST TOO GOOD. The fact it isn't the regular route of "he's smart, she's sensitive" but a lot more subtle and nuanced is just taking over my brain. I love the whole "MK and Mei will become the Hero and the Warrior" theory but imagine that the finale message is that they are equal and there is no point in overshadowing one another (I like both versions of the theory, I'm fine with both Hero MK-Warrior Mei and Hero Mei-Warrior MK) because "mind and will" are both equally important. Like? How they're both capable of greatness and need each other's support. LIKE??

AAAA I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M GOING FOR

[aroacenezhaanddainsleif]

(SHAKES LMK FANDOM) LISTEN TO ME ABOUT NEZHA AND MK PARALLELS...!!!!!!!!

LMK might not give Nezha the narrative importance he could have and that SUCKS but hear me out. the demon child. the monkie "kid" who might not be the hero he's been made out to be.

the kid born too powerful. the boy made too powerful. the prince who can read and comfort everyone yet ignores his own worries. the successor who can read and comfort everyone but never himself.

the two who are seen as monsters when it was never really their choice. the two who limit their powers, tamper them down or channel them elsewhere so as to avoid mass destruction. the two who live in Wukong's shadow, despite his best intentions.

the two who, at the end of the day, carry the responsibility of protecting everyone, whether they think they can or not.

[thatshinx]

thinking about the mural Sun Wukong has MK destroy it Macaque because like-

first off HOW DID IT GET THERE?!? Cause I’m pretty sure the Monkey King didn’t fly a painter to Flower Fruit mountain just so he could have a mural of his friends. Not with all the protection he puts on that place. So the only logical conclusion is that Sun Wukong painted it himself which is sweet but then- Why have MK destroy it years later? Here are my theories

Sun Wukong is trying to move on from the journey to be a better mentor but is doing it by trying to forget about his friends very unhealthily

this is representative MK and crew coming in to save the world after the pilgrims passing

(and this is real wild) this is foreshadowing to some crazy lore drop that MK’s birth destroyed the pilgrims or some crazy crap like that

I’m overthinking this and it was just a throwaway joke

[shadowpeachyuri]

anyone else up thinking about how macaque was soso wrong abt who mk is as a person in shadow play and went through all of s3 assuming mk was just Wukong Part 2 RIGHT UP UNTIL he refuses to abandon mei in 3x10. and then he just looks at mk like

^ this is the face of someone who just had his whole worldview rearranged in the time it took mk to say “i’d never abandon her when she needs me!” suddenly, mk isn’t just wukong 2: electric boogaloo anymore, he’s something Else to macaque. the Hero… isn’t abandoning his friend when it benefits him? even with all this power, even when no one could blame him, he still turns around and fights for his friend? who is this guy?

macaque’s spent this whole season wanting to get the hell out of dodge without getting LBD mad at him. he wants to free himself and then he wants to fuck off until this mess blows itself over. that was his plan, and he’s free now. he finally has the chance to do that, to make a clean getaway- but for the first time, he sticks around. he’s curious. who is this kid? and that’s why he goes Back towards the lady bone demon, and why he’s there to bail mk out when wukong gets possessed.

like, mac only starts being helpful After the samadhi fire. he saves mk, delivers the mayor to the gang, lets himself get tied up, and gives the gang valuable intel on LBD. he easily could’ve freed himself at any point, gotten the drop on them, and gotten away again. but that’s not what he wants anymore. why does he stick around to let mk convince him to fight? because he’s curious. he wants to see where this is going.

and then macaque, the guy who has never entered a fight that he can’t win (or at least escape from easily, which is still a win in his book since he survives the fight), the guy who fights dirty and stacks the deck in his favor, agrees to a completely unwinnable fight. there was no world where macaque beat wukong on top of that mech. mac knew this, and agreed to do it anyways, because mk asked him to. because mk’s smth macaque hasn’t seen before, and he wants to see where this goes. and i’m really really normal about it

[i-am-a-fan]

So remember in the episode “The first Ring” from season 3 where Mei and Redson bump into each other and share a vision of Mei getting the samadhi fire? Okay, well something's been bugging me. (Here's the full image btw. )

First off please appreciate how beautiful the artwork is because damn. Second, what does it mean? While the different color fires could be an homage to how the Samadhi Fire was first created, we would need to see the 5 elements, not the 3 fireballs we see in the photo. (pg. 575)

Therefore, I'm going to assume this is more foreshadowing, since the LMK team is amazing at planting seeds that will only grow within future seasons. (ex. Macaque's relationship with Wukong, the lady bone demon, Mk's nature, etc etc.)

So... I'm going to dissect the hell out of this frame.

The main focus is someone in the center taking in the power of the 3 fireballs. Their form isn't clearly defined, but we can tell it's most likely someone with the standard Lego build: Mk, Mei, Redson, PIF, Tang, etc. I always assumed this was Mei, but I feel like if it was they would have shown it. The next frame shows us Mei with the fire (and once again look at the artwork's beauty.) I have more thoughts on this, but I'll circle back.

Next up we have the balls of fire. I saw somewhere that these might represent the traffic light trio. Although Redson has mostly been sidelined, I like the sound of that theory, so I am going to piggy back off of it.

Mei would obviously be the green color, MK seems to be the yellow fireball, but then that leaves a blue flame. Yet, not one of the traffic light trio has their signature color as blue. The only character that comes to mind is Sandy/ Mo, but he doesn't have the standard Lego build.

Of course, this can be Redson, since the original samadhi fire was blue. However, at no point do I remember that Redson has had any teal/ blue markings. In her flashback, Redson is shown with dark red and black, the same as Mei when she eventually gains the fire.

Unless...

Maybe they character isn’t teal yet..

Ring a bell????

That's right, the blue/teal might actually end up being Mk. Thus, giving each character a flame. (Redson = Red/yellow, Mei = Green, and Mk = Teal)

Doing some color drops, you can see that these colors are very similar, but they aren't exactly the same. That being said, they’re close enough that it raises alarm bells in my mind.

Now, circling back to the main image and the person at its center. I think we might see Mk gain the Samadhi fire next. In the image, there is a red background, green under the person's feet, and blue fire emerging from the person's back.

Personally, I think it might be the framing of a timeline using background, middle ground, and foreground. The red background would be Redson, the person who (in this universe) was born with the fire and created it as a whole. Next up would be Mei, who gains the fire in season 3, but seems to lose it at the end of the fight with the lady bone demon. So, that only leaves the future...

A future that I am personally hoping for...

Edit: I fixed some grammatical errors. Sorry y’all, dyslexia never rests.

[cherllyio]

How the next Antagonist will manipulate The Harbinger of Chaos

To understand this theory, we first have understand ONE thing:

"The Traitor" is scary as hell. More scary than The Fucking Lady Bone Demon.

This guy hasnt even met the main cast, BUT he managed to give MK an idenity chrisis', kill the Sun Wukong and almost destroy the entire UNIVERSE.

I am fucking TERRIFYED for when this man acutally meets them in person-

In other words: This guy is frightningly intilligent, and, i therefore theorise, he will use that intilligense to manipulate The Harbinger of Chaos' own DESTINY.

What do i mean by this?

Well in my latest theory (here) at 8:46 i theorised about what i think MK's destiny is, using old chinese mytholgy about Nüwa herself.

(The video is about Nüwa's goal and MK's Destiny, and I found a lot of interesting stuff so go check it out if your interested in more like this theory )

The answer?:

MK's Destiny is to stop otherwise "destined" things to happen.

And how would The Traitor use this?

By expexting the UNEXPECTED of course!

Think about it! All the other villians and antagonist lost because they expected "Destiny" to let them win! Either directly, like LBD, or they had simply thought they were good guys so they COULDNT loose, like Azure Lion.

The only way then for the next Antagonist to win would be to understand that they instead have to push MK towards his own demise(but not directly)

Put thoughts in his head like The Traitor did through the Ink Demon:

And instead of trying to lay a plan, he understands that MK's "chaos side", will change what was originally planned.

Therefore, instead of making MK change a Destiny that was originally "bad", The Traitor will manipulate MK to change a Destiny that was originally "good".

Tipping MK closer and closer to fufilling that "Harbinger Of Chaos" title.

Idk if this makes sense- just have had this thought in my head for a little while now.

[bonnisbon]

Okay but the way Macaque looks at Wukong? He admires him so much

He has the biggest crush known to man like. Look at that face and tell me he isn’t IN LOVE

Wukong is probably the only person he would protect the MOST, he would literally give his life for him

Past Macaque looks so fond of him it hurts because IMAGINE if it was ONE SIDED

Pov you have a crush on your best friend but he is clueless (at first)

Isn’t fate artistic?

The things they lost

[imminent-danger-came]

Hot take, but I think MK is only focused on the city/innocent people mainly because of how it contributes to his vision of a "hero". Like yeah, obviously he cares, but he's so much more focused on his own life and his own friends rather than the greater good (which, valid). Like I think of instances like the end of 2x03, where they distinctly don't help clean up after Pigsy's ping-pong relapse, and the fact that we've only seen MK helping strangers TWICE in the whole show (2x05, where he attempts to stop spider queen by aiding who he thinks is an innocent girl, and those old ladies in 4x01, partly a result of his guilt over LBD), and it's just like. My mans is not his own definition of a hero ("We help people! I mean I- I help people!").

In AHIB MK steals a civilian's hover bike, and he didn't give it back (we see it show up again in 1x09). In 1x01 it's "What about my friends? The city? They're all counting on me!", with his friends notably first. In 4x02 Azure highlights "It's too late to save them! We can't risk unleashing the curse into the world!" to which MK replies "You don't know, we'd risk it for sure!". MK has already chosen his friends over the world. He'll do it again. I think of the end of s3 and his words: "The perfect world is what you make it—so as long as I have my friends by my side, this world! Is! Perfect!".

MK has spent the first 4 seasons of this show maintaining the status quo. Unlike the Lady Bone Demon and Azure, who try to bring about real change, MK is reactionary. He has to be pushed into taking action or solving problems. He's fixing what other people break rather than taking a stand himself. MK doesn't embody a typical selfless hero—which, tbh he doesn't need to, it's why I find him so interesting. He's so obsessed with being the hero and being a "good guy" that he's almost missed the trees for the forest.

Like, MK's defining moment as a "hero" who helps others (set up in 2x07) is saving Mei in 3x10. Saving his best friend. The only reason he had the determination to reach out to Mei at all was because she was so close to him. We see something similar to samadhi fire Mei play out in 4x14 with Jade Emperor Azure, and MK doesn't save him. MK let's Wukong stop him from reaching out to Azure. Azure dies.

I love this guy

[noose-lion]

So in the Lmk universe there is probably a dating sim game that has Wukong as a datable character. If so (which yes, because he's everywhere), can we all agree Macaque plays it.

[yurious-george]

LMK is pretty wishy-washy on whether the Monkie Kids are descendants or reincarnations of the JTTW pilgrims, often flip-flopping between the terms. The actual answer? It's a mix, but they haven't clarified. Here's a quick-and-dirty guide based on show canon:

Pigsy and Mei: Descendants. Mei's heritage as a direct descendant of Ao Lie is a central part of her character. Pigsy's link to Zhu Bajie isn't explicit, but Pigsy's family (recipes "passed down through generations") is a central part of Sweet N' Sour, and Zhu Bajie's status as a cook allows easy extrapolation. They may be reincarnations as well, accounting for their deja vu in The Samadhi Fire.

Tang: Reincarnation. Buddhist monks, famously, do not have sex. There is no mention of Tang's family but the Golden Cicada - heralding the unlocking of Tang's powers - appears in season 3, clarifying that Tang, like Sanzang, is the next reincarnation of Golden Cicada.

Sandy: Unknown. His family is never shown nor is there proof of reincarnation. He may even be the original Sha Wujing, owing to his flashback in To Catch a Leaf. It stands to reason that a river demon would live as long as the river does, but this doesn't explain the (inconsistent) difference in hair color, Wukong treating him like a stranger, or Mo.

MK: Neither. We can be reasonably confident SWK didn't hook up with anyone. Speaking of, SWK is still alive, so MK is not a reincarnation. Oddly, MK seems to be associated with the underworld (a sticker depicting him as the skull in a skull-and-crossbones in Pig Pong Panic, his eyes glowing blue in Minor Scale) and possibly born or even constructed out of a stone (The monkey statue & stone cracking in S4). Just what are you, MK...?