The Fall Of The House Of Usher Episode 2 The Masque Of The Red Death Explained- The Wicked Games We Play
C. August Dupin was in the Ushers’ life early on. They were all young then. Before the money and careers took over. In the end, when Roderick is talking to him in his crumbling family home, they reflect on their contributions to society, good and bad, and Roderick still can’t accept his part in the countless deaths as a result of his drug. Like the Sacklers that the Ushers are obviously parrelling, they are pushers victim blaming those they ruin. The dead are coming for Roderick, though, and they aren’t content listening to his lies anymore. The first to return is Perry. Here is everything you need to know about The Fall Of The House Of Usher Episode 2, Prospero, and The Masque Of The Red Death.
Prospero, or “Perry,” was the first of the Ushers to die. The party boy fu@k machine was interested in making millions off of pleasure, or so he said. Sure, he liked the idea of giving people their wildest fantasies, but he didn’t really care about the hedonism he claimed to love. His real business was the oldest. His currency was secrets and blackmail. He wanted to use one of the condemned properties for his party because no one would give him any money for anything else.
His party was everything he could have hoped for. The richest, most powerful people came to his party yearning for a wild night of fantasy, including Frederick’s wife. Someone special came to the party as well. Verna, the bartender from 1979 and from the funeral the day before, comes to taunt Perry and perhaps warn him. She also gets all the innocents out before acid rains down from the ceiling. She tells Perry there are always consequences, and it isn’t too late to stop. Too bad he doesn’t listen. He and almost everyone else who came to the party dissolve in a primordial goo of acid, melted skin, and screams of agony. Morrie saw them leave and was even offered the chance to leave, but she didn’t run when she could and paid the price.
Who is Prospero?
Poe’s Prospero is the main character in The Masque Of The Red Death. In this one of his most famous stories, everyone is dying of a plague called the Red Death. Hearing this, Prospero ordered the doors of the castle sealed and, along with the other dignitaries, partied while the rest of the kingdom rotted. Each room of his abbey is decorated in a different color, and an ebony clock ticks the time away, ringing every hour. Each time the clock chimed, the partiers became more and more anxious. The clock is death. It is the inevitability of time and disease.
The room colors all symbolize the cycle of life. The first is blue, representing birth, then youth purple. Next is adolescence green and adulthood orange. Old age is white and imminent death violet. Lastly is black or scarlet, which is death itself. It faces west, further positioning itself as the end of life. Everyone at the party avoids this room at all costs. The main theme of the story is that regardless of your wealth or status, you can’t avoid death.
In The Fall Of The House Of Usher Episode 2, Perry is part of that ignorant elite class that believes he is entitled to anything and everything. He is so confident in his wealth bubble of protection and desperate to earn a seat at the Usher table that he fails to heed the numerous red flags everywhere. The building he chooses to have his sex club is one marked for destruction because it is toxic. One of the buildings is so noxious whatever is in the tanks above it is acidic. He hears the words but only sees the dollar signs and forges ahead.
Ultimately, he was the master of his own destruction. His choices led to the grisly consequences. It was a terrible lesson to learn. Frederick’s wife suffered along with him. She was caught in a war between Frederick and Perry. In reality, she was a battered wife looking for comfort and failed to listen to the warning she was given.
The Wizard Of Id And The Golden Rule
Whoever has the gold makes the rules. In the comic strip The Wizard Of Id, Johnny Hart declares this. It is a take on the Wizard Of Oz with a large cast of characters trying to survive amid the tyrannical rule of a heartless king. Roderick and Perry quote the Golden Rule, alluding to the inequity of Id and life in general.
It all started with Rufus Griswald(Battlestar Galactica’s Michael Trucco). He was the original imposter and monster, according to Roderick. He was hardly the first to exploit and leverage people’s frailties. Roderick pitched him the pain medication that would later destroy countless lives and make the Ushers rich beyond their wildest dreams. Probably at one time, Roderick cared about people. Over time, his desire for money and power eroded his sense of right and wrong. As with all who become corrupted, nothing is left but a corrosive mass of flesh and bone grasping for more and more.
Time is running out for Roderick. He is dying that is why he is so concerned with Victorine’s heart mesh. Madeline is similarly concerned with immortality, but hers is based on algorithms and AI. It is the legacy she hopes to leave behind. The Ushers already have a legacy, however. It is one of greed, corruption, unhappiness, and death. They are just now realizing that.
Who is Juno?
Juno(Ruth Codd of The Midnight Club) is Roderick’s child bride. She is also a drug addict who is addicted to the medication that he invented. She appears in Eureka, the last story Poe ever told. To the Romans, Juno was a goddess known for marriage and childbirth. She was married to Jupiter and was the protector of Rome and a Queen.
The Fall Of The House Of Usher Episode 2 is the most straightforward of the Poe translations. Perry was foolhardy and desperate to make a name for himself and, like his namesake, believed his money and family name could insulate him from the dangers of the world. He didn’t account for the raven coming, though. We know how one Usher died. There is plenty left, and the only thing we know is few, if any, of them are getting out alive.
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As the Managing Editor for Signal Horizon, I love watching and writing about genre entertainment. I grew up with old-school slashers, but my real passion is television and all things weird and ambiguous. My work can be found here and Travel Weird, where I am the Editor in Chief.