Summary
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With religion playing such a prominent rolein the plot ofFire Force, the Holy Sol Temple’s true origins are worth delving into. The Tokyo Imperial Empire’s citizens were fed a sanitized version of events that Shinra, along with the rest of Company 8 and their allies, have come to learn is less than accurate. While the truth has been slowly brought to light throughout the series, it can be hard to keep track of every complexity. Now that the wool is being lifted from the collective eyes of the Special Fire Force soldiers, the true nature of the church and its founder have been revealed. How does this truth differ from the teachings the Empire’s citizens were brought up with?
Fire Forceputs faith front and center, introducing the story behind the Empire’s worship of Sol early in the series. The history of the Holy Sol Temple, as widely believed by the public, is a fairly simple one. After the Great Cataclysm 250 years ago that destroyed everything man had built, Raffles I went on a long journey, at the end of which he discovered the “unsullied” flame known as the Adolla Burst. With that gift, said to be bestowed by Sol, Raffles created the thermal energy plant, Amaterasu, with the help of Haijima Industires. After this,he founded the Holy Sol Temple, which is now the prevailing religion within the Tokyo Empire. This religion is deeply ingrained in the daily lives of most citizens. Their lives are comfortable due to the power of the energy plant, and their protectors, the Special Fire Force, could almost be considered a branch of the church.
The History, According to Scripture
Prologue: The Great Cataclysm
A long time ago, mankind was touched by the planet’s anger, and the world was engulfed in flames.
It was the day of the Great Cataclysm. The flames burned ferociously, with an intensity threatening to incinerate the places mankind lived, the languages they spoke, and the culture they had built up.
Chapter 1: Holy Fire
As the world was being covered in ash, one man appeared. He would later be called Raffles I.
Raffles took his disciples and left on a journey in search of light. At the end of his journey, he found an unsullied flame, and brought forth the light that would be mankind’s salvation.
Chapter 2: Amaterasu
Raffles and his disciples used the flame bestowed by the great Sol and the technology cultivated by mankind to create Amaterasu. The sacred flame of Amaterasu benefited the lives of mankind, and ended up establishing the foundation of a state in the Far East.
Unraveling a Twisted History
A Reflection of Amaterasu
During a trip to the Chinese peninsula,Shinra and his colleaguesdiscovered an abandoned energy plant, called the Tabernacle, that strongly resembled Amaterasu. During their investigation, Shinra shared an Adolla Link with the “woman in black,” a possessor of the Adolla Burst. She was inside the Tabernacle, powering it with her own Adolla Burst, blessing the surrounding land. She revealed to Kusakabe that she had her flame kindled by one of the Evangelist’s insects, after which, she came together with her to their world. The woman in black then shared a theory that the Evangelist could possibly be behind the origins of every religion in history, manipulating minds with visions of Adolla. Coupling this startling possibility with the likelihood thatAmaterasu is also powered by a human sacrifice, Shinra and the others went home to report their findings.
You are trying to go up against the being who created your god.
-The Woman in Black
Hidden Where It’s Least Expected
An even more shocking discovery was made whenJoker and Shinmon Benimaru teamed upto storm the Holy Sol Temple. After enlisting the aid of the captain of Company 7, Joker brought him to the Imperial Seat to search for the “true” scriptures he believed were hidden within. The pair put down the opposition barring their way,running into Captain Leonard Burns. Surprisingly, he offered his assistance to the pair. After recounting the shared Adolla Link that Leonard and himself had experienced years prior, he asked if the stone he had brought back from Adolla, proof of the other world’s existence, was still in Burn’s possession. Captain Burns confirmed that the stone still continued to burn within a jar devoid of oxygen. He then offered them an old diary, explaining that it was written by the wife of Raffles I. Within that diary, she had written that Raffles had returned from his pilgrimage alone, his entire caravan wiped out. His wife of thirty years had described him as behaving like a completely different man, even his mannerisms and idiosyncrasies changed. Benimaru, recognizing the phenomenon, informed them of the “dopplegangers” that had invaded Asakusa. Speculating that if the culprit of the impersonations was an infernal with no life expectancy, they theorized that the perpetrator who impersonated Raffles I could be the same individual.
The Lies of a Shapeshifter
It was, in fact,Yona, the mysterious White-Cladwith the power to alter faces, who had played the part of Raffles I and founded the Holy Sol Temple. He revealed as much to Inca after she joined them as a Pillar. He had formed the religion under the order of the Evangelist. Using the teachings to manipulate the masses, their plan was to lead humanity to Adolla. While the majority of the congregation are blind to the religion’s true origins, the temple is merely the means to an end, that end being the transformation of the planet into a second sun. While it would seemthe next step for Company 8would be to tear down the temple itself, with its tendrils so thoroughly entwined into society, doing so would have its own consequences.
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a proto-nationalist, but I just don’t like the Holy Sol Temple.
The energy that is produced by Amaterasu somehow has the stink of blood on it.
-Shinmon Benimaru
It’s A Tale as Old as Time
The trope of a corrupted religion with ambiguous figures pulling the strings from the shadows is hardly a fresh concept, butFire Forcecertainlypulls it off with flare. With season three still in full-swing, one can only wonder what new discoveries will be made in the coming episodes. The first Pillar’s true identity remains a mystery, and there’s still much to learn about the Evangelist herself. Does the deception go even deeper than what’s been learned so far? Manga readers aside, fans of the series will have to wait to find out.Things can only get more interesting from here!
