Keeping Up With The Earps: 3×09

There is A LOT going on in this show and it’s very easy to miss something that could be important. Since I have little else to do besides rewatch and think about Wynonna Earp, I thought I would offer up this kind of “cheat sheet”. It’s broken down into two main sections, first a look at the specific episode, the second part is kind of a deep dive into mysteries and clues surrounding all the main characters and entities.

Disclaimer: Nothing included in this post should be taken as absolute fact. Even information that I took directly from the show is stated as I see it and is in no way endorsed by anyone officially linked to the show.

Brief recap of  3×09: The Floor is lava.

We open on a very sexually frustrated Nicole trying to get Waverly the ring off. Nicole is worried that the powerful relic might end up hurting someone they care about, but more importantly, it’s put a damper on their sex life.
They enlist the help of a super creepy jeweler who becomes way too interested in the ring after noticing the engraving. Wayhaught “nope” out of the situation and head off to investigate a disturbance at the Gardner house that turns out to be O.G. Mercedes trying to break into a safe and from her first snarky line I’m so happy to see DFK back. She’s not quite her old self though, after months of surgeries her face is just a painful reminder of what the Widows put her through. The jeweler, who is a demon named Derek, seems to have followed the ring and is determined to get it from Waverly so that he can use it to pay fealty to Bulshar. Instead he gets his face melted by Bonus Features Waverly.
Waverly is left believing that all the ring does is hurt people and that she’ll be stuck in an oven mitt for forever. However, the last thing we see is Mercedes, whose face is as good as new after Waverly touched her with her ring hand earlier in the day.

Bulshar used his magic down feathers to put Wynonna and Doc in a hypnotic trance and proceeds to move their bodies into the woods. Wynonna is tortured by an endless loop of badness as Bulshar tries to get her to willingly give up Peacemaker. He finally succeeds by making Wynonna believe that it is the only way to save her family. Then, just in the nick of too late, the Unkillable Gay Squad frees Doc and Wynonna from their weird tree root cages.

IMPORTANT reminder about Tarot Cards:
They seem to assume that Wynonna and Bulshar are Tarot Twins and that their cards were the exact same. They did have the same three cards, but they aren’t in the same order. It makes perfect sense that the last two cards are different for Wynonna and Bulshar. Bulshar’s reading was done over a hundred years ago, his future is now Wynonna’s present. Kate even mentions this at one point “his future. or is it now his present?”.

Bulshar’s cards:
– Past : devil
– Present : lovers
– Future : Tower (Darkness and Destruction)

Wynonna Cards:
– Past : devil
– Present : Tower (Darkness and Destruction)
– Future : Lovers

Key Takeaways: 

• The creepy staircase in the woods is supposedly the entrance to the Garden and possibly can only be seen by the gays. Wynonna didn’t see it and suggests that it can only be seen by the “righteous”, which as of now includes Jeremy, Robin, Waverly, and Nicole (maybe the Garden of Eden is gay and it really was Adam and Steve?).
• Once again, Jeremy’s spidey sense kicks in and he stops Nicole from climbing the stairs just like he did with Robin. So who can climb the stairs?
• Bulshar needs the “tower” to get into the Garden, Peacemaker is the tower and now he has it.

Gems You May Have Missed:

• The first time Wynonna wakes up in Shorty’s basement she says “Could be worse, Dubs”. Guys, she called herself “Dubs”.
• When Wynonna is leaving Shorty’s basement she runs UP the stairs that lead UP to the bar, but she comes out of a door at the top of stairs leading DOWN into the bar.
• Check out those balls (not something I say often). This is not how you set up any game I’ve ever seen in pool. I’d say it’s similar enough to call it Bulshar’s symbol.
  
• Don’t shoot at a safe unless everyone is wearing protective eye-wear, sheesh, Haught.

Answers to questions you may have:

• I don’t know this week, what questions might you have?

Questions that I don’t know the answer to:

• Why did Waverly say she was worried that her ring hand would melt a human’s face then 5 seconds later caress Mercedes with it? I mean, I know she had to touch her so she could heal her, but later she won’t even high-five Jeremy with the mitt on.
  Then when she frees Wynonna she puts her ring hand on her face then jerks it away when Nicole reminds her about the face melting…but 3 seconds later she puts the hand BACK on Wynonna’s face.

Favorite Lines:

• Yeah boy. – Not “yeah boy”, no girl!
• When we get that thing off, we get off.
• Yeah, we’re all about challenging gender norms.
• …smuggled right up Granny Haught’s petticoats.
• It’s you do-good dorks.
• Are you two just gonna stand there like a couple of dildos?
• Is every dick-trumpet in Purgatory a demon?
• Everyone stop saying Derek!
• Bitch, you just brought sparks to an Earpferno.
• Leeroy Jenkins!!
• My face still looks like a goddamn charcuterie board!
• No more cutting off hand bits.
• Your sex life is either about to get really great or very, very very bad. Girl, put a mitt on it
• Supportive elbow bump.
• You’re the beaver expert.
• This is Purgatory, Jeremy. I carry a lot of shit in my backpack
• Mr. Bobo
• Did you always have this mustache?
• Waverly Earp…you sweet little lesbian.

Bonus: “The floor is lava!” It wasn’t technically in the episode, but I’m pretty sure everyone watching said it.

The Big Picture

My attempt at the timeline:

• Bulshar entomed: approx 130 years ago
• Wyatt died: 1929
• Willa Born: 1987
• Wynonna Born: 1988*
• Waverly Born: Sept 8 1994*
• Nicole survives Cult of Bulshar Massacre in the GRT: 1996
• Mama left: 1999**
• Attack on the homestead: May 2000
• Wynonna comes of age: 2015*
  *What we know for sure is that the attack was in 2000 and that Wynonna was 12 and Waverly was 6 when it happened. Keep in mind when doing the math, that Emily wrote the pilot in 2015. It all falls apart if you try to use the air date for the math. Also, because the month someone is born can mess up the math, this is all kind of give or take a year.
  **The original line was that Waverly was 4 when Mama Earp left, making me think it was two-ish years before the attack, but in 3×01 Wynonna says that Mama had only been gone six months when the Homestead was attacked.

Season Three Credits Breakdown:

• Angel with one wing in an old cemetery. Surrounded by several dead looking trees. When we zoom in the the angel is wrapped up by a large snake.
  – BOOM! It’s finally confirmed (if you consider Bobo trustworthy), Waverly’s father was an angel. The angel in the credits has one wing. Could this be because Waverly is only HALF angel?
  -Also, my theory is that the snake wrapped around the angel signifies “Jolene”, the demon that was born out of a need for balance.
  -Now that we’ve brought the Garden of Eden into the GRT I have to include the possibility that the snake represents the serpent in the garden.
• More ugly trees, the biggest one in the forefront has half a face
  – It’s because Bulshar is turning people (and Vampires) into murder trees.
• BIRDS. Ok, so I didn’t include the birds earlier because they aren’t unique to the S3 credits, but I’ve now noticed bird cages in the background of two scenes and it feels like it might not be a coincidence. 
  
  

  unsettling

  

  Fake (dead?) Bird in cage at Gardner house.

Main players: What we know about what we don’t know

Most of this will be things that were shown or stated in the show, however I am including theories that I feel strongly about, those theories with be in italics. Anything that was added since the last post will be in bold.

Mama Earp aka Michelle Gibson:

• Planned to join the rodeo circuit and leave Purgatory behind, but got pregnant with Willa when she was in town and ended up married to Ward.
• Spent nearly 20 years in prison, accused of trying to kill Waverly when she burned down the barn with Waverly in it.
• Was never trying to kill Waverly, she was trying to exorcise a demon that was after Waverly. She ended up binding the demon to herself and lived with it tormenting her the entire time.
• The demon talked to her about Bulshar.
• Used to run to the Gibson’s greenhouse to escape Ward, she was often met there by Julian, who is Waverly’s father.
• Is not happy that Bobo told Waverly about the night she was born. I take this to mean she is keeping some secrets that she doesn’t want her girls to know. I wonder if she let Bobo out so that Waverly wouldn’t know where to find him to get more answers.
• I STILL (yes still!) refuse to believe that it’s a coincidence that Mama Earp and the Widows wore the same perfume (I don’t know how to spell it…Shalotel?).

Wynonna Earp:
– Most of the mystery surrounding Wynonna has to do with the years she was away from Purgatory and doesn’t seem like it’s going to have much of an implication on the show (I’ve heard it’s explored more in the comics).

• Earp heir
• Great hair
• Refers to herself as “Dubs”.

Waverly Earp-ish:

• Was born in the greenhouse on the Gibson farm.
• Her father’s name was Julian and per Michelle he was “someone better”.  According to Bobo, Julian was a literal angel, making Waverly half ANGEL!
• I’m going to quote exactly what Kate said about the tarot card she pulled for Waverly: “Temperance. The angel card, balance and moderation, but it’s upside down. Lack of long-term vision.”… “She’s something alright.”
• Bobo referred to her as “kin”.
• Promised to Bulshar by Bobo.
• Has been given powers by a ring that stalked her and now won’t come off her finger. The ring is obviously meant for Waverly so I’m inclined to believe that it is her father’s.
• Her wearing it made Arabic words that translate to “Garden of Paradise” appear on it.

Julian:

• Alleged Angel. Still only have Bobo’s word to go on regarding WHAT he was/is, as Mama neither confirms nor denies it.
• Bobo refers to him as “missing for some“.
• Per Mama “Ward pushed Julian outside” the GRT the night Waverly was born. And he’s been lost ever since. This raises so many questions. Did Ward physically push Julian? How did Ward make an angel do anything? Why is Julian “lost” being outside the GRT? Remember we’ve heard the GRT triangle referred to as a prison and a sanctuary.

John Henry Doc Holliday:
There are plenty of questions, but I’m not going to dig TOO deep unless I think it’s going to have an impact on the show in the near (this season) future.

• Has a wife named Kate dating back to his pre-well days. Regardless he still talks about Wyatt as if they were soulmates
• Went to hell when he died in the AU. Is super emo about it.
• Is a vampire now.
• So much man-pain.

Jeremy Chetri:

• Has a sort of empathetic connection to people (“now I can sense when my friends are super scared”) every since he was in a car crash with his mother and stuck with her body for three days. My poor child.
• Black Badge “did stuff” to him as well.

Nicole Haught:

• Only survivor of an attack linked to the Cult of Bulshar. During the attack she “somehow” got down to the river. She was in the GRT with her aunt and uncle for a music festival. The incident was covered up by Black Badge and officially ruled a forest fire.
• After getting herself down to the river and in a canoe to get away from the massacre, she was found by Nedley! He “kept an eye” on her after that and offered her the job after finding out she was in the academy.
• Apparently her hippy, negligent parents don’t like that she’s a cop.

Bobo Del Rey aka Robert Svane:

• Was a good guy and close friend to Wyatt before he became a revenant.
• Was part of Black Badge.
• Can telepathically move metal objects, including Peacemaker.
• Was there the night Waverly was born. Took the baby to Ward and threatened his life if he didn’t care for the child, his angel.

Kate aka Katalin aka Countessa:

• Nobility from Hungary. Finally the nickname makes sense.
• Lied about being a Vampire since the day she and Doc met. She decided to become a vampire after she heard that the Stone Witch gave Doc immortality and hid him so that she could look for Doc no matter how long it took.
• Had her friend Sally pose as the outlaw Big Nose Kate because Vampires can’t be captured on film.

Charlie Fire-services:

• Fireman
• Really interested in Team Wynonna.
• Is aware of the supernatural presence in Purgatory AND knows that Peacemaker can ID demons. As of the most recent episode he seems to know the whole story.
• Seemed like the rescue mission wasn’t his first time killing stuff. He was equally unimpressed with Wynonna ask if they could cut their date short to kill vampires. Also, comfortable enough about vampires that he got Doc some blood. Bonus points for doing a kind thing for “the enemy”.
• When Wynonna thanks him for the help he says “No problem, it’s what I do”. Wynonna takes this to mean saving people in general, but it seems a little specific to killing demonic things and saving people from becoming trees…ok maybe not that last part, but I don’t think this was his first Demon Rodeo. 
• Not a homophobe. Way to be, Chuck.

Peacemaker:

• Bluntline Special that Wyatt Earp used to put down 77 “outlaws”.
• Only weapon that will send the revenants back to hell.
• Can only be fired by the current Earp Heir.
• Cannot be handled by a demon without burning the shit out of them.
  • Kate the Vampire had no problem handling Peacemaker.**
• Glows orange when aimed at a demon. My theory about it glowing orange in 2×12 when Wynonna pointed it at Doc is that it knew the bullet was meant for the widows. 
• Glowed blue for the first time when Wynonna used it to kill Willa.
• Glowed blue for the second time when Waverly pointed it at Rosita and Wynonna ordered it to fire, grazing Rosita.
• As Wynonna prepared to shoot the Stone Witch, which was presented more as putting her out of her misery, the barrel started to glow orange, but quickly switched to blue.
• Bulshar needs the tower to get into the Garden of Eden, Peacemaker is the tower, but it has to be given up willingly by the heir, which it was. 
• When Wynonna pointed the gun at Bulshar it glowed white, both IRL and in her hallucination.  
  

** There are two probable answers for this. 1) it’s because Vampires aren’t full demons, maybe if she was vamped out it would have burned her. 2) We already know that Peacemaker has sentient qualities and even though it generally follows a set of rules, sometimes it just does whatever it wants. Maybe it had nothing to do with with how much demon Kate is or is not, and everything to do with who she is, Wyatt’s friend.

Bulshar/ Cult of Bulshar:

• Entombed for over 130 years (I know I should know the exact time, but I can’t find it).
• Specifically wants decedents of the Original Families of Purgatory because he’s mad at them for letting him be defeated by Wyatt.
• His ultimate goal is to “enslave humanity”, somehow the Garden seems to be the key to doing so. 
• Turns people (and vampires) into creepy trees, which he controls and communicates with.
• There have been massacres linked to the Cult of Bulshar every 7 years since at least the 1920s. BBD file started in 1926, but the massacres were likely happening before that. It appears that Beret Demon was carrying out massacres on Bulshar’s behalf, but the possibility exists that he wasn’t the only one. 
• Wants the ring back. We now know (as much as we can “know” something on WE) that the ring wasn’t originally his, we do not know how he ended up with it, but he did have it on when he was entombed. 

The ring:

• Kate tells Waverly not to  “underestimate the power of this relic. It’s older than most things on earth.”
• Seems to have been trying to get to Waverly all season (sorry I don’t believe at this point that Nicole has anything to do with it).
• When Waverly finally puts it on, not only can she not take it off, Arabic writing appears on the ring. The writing translates to Garden of Paradise.
• Bobo tells us that ring belonged to Waverly’s father. Which I’m inclined to believe since it went to so much trouble to get to her 
• Was with Bulshar the entire time he was entombed, but who knows how long he had it before that.
• So far we’ve seen the ring: give Widow Mercedes a serious Glow-Up and enable Waverly to punch a zombie witch across the barn, melt a demon’s face, and heal her friend’s face. 

Black Badge Division:

• Supposedly a highly classified branch of the U.S. Marshalls, but as we according to Agent Moody BBD “isn’t a government agency, never was.”
• They disappeared from the Ghost River Triangle
• Early members include Robert Svane aka Bobo Del Rey.
• All the main characters except for Nicole have signed a contract in blood.
• Inconclusive as to what extent they still exist. Quinn, a friend of Dolls’ and fellow Black Badge agent wanted to take revenge on whatever is left of BBD HQ. Wynonna tells Quinn that if he ever returns to Purgatory that it better be because he recovered the blood contract her team signed. Quinn seems to agree to the mission mentioning paying “Mr. Moody” a visit.

Ok, friends, that’s all I have for this week.  Feel free to discuss theories in the comments. If you think I got something totally wrong from the show that I should correct, please offer proof. The format for this is still a work in progress, if there is something you think should be taken out or something you think should be added, please let me know.

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