13

Welcome To Night Vale (part 4)

This is going to be really long. Like really long. Please read the intro.

Before we begin the chapter, we need to cover some things. This is based around a theory my friend found on tumblr then sent me. The theory was made by theoriesofnightvale, you should go check out their blog on tumblr. I will put it after this note. To fully understand this it would be a good idea to listen to all of WTNV up to Old Oak Doors, episode 49 (part B), but this will take place after Triptych (ep 73), so it would be better if you listened through that. Also this contains (major?) spoilers from [Best Of?] (ep 67), Taking Off/Review (ep 70A/70B) and The September Monologues (ep 53). Sorry we didn't have this in past WTNV chapters, but in the other chapters it didn't matter as much. Also you probably won't understand the theory if you haven't listened through at least Renovations (ep 48) (or maybe ep 47, Company Picnic? I'm not sure.) If you don't listen to WTNV it will just be really confusing, although you're most likely already confused by the last chapters. But it's your life, so you don't have to if you don't want to. You just won't understand parts of this chapter and the theory as well. If you go to cecilspeaks.tumblr.com you can get transcripts of the episodes in case you are unable to listen to the podcast. This will be the last WTNV chapter.

The theory my friend found on tumblr:

What is the Smiling God?

Is it the sun? Or perhaps something more?

This theory started off as something very different than what it turned out to be. But I think the realization that I came to is far more eye opening than what I had originally intentioned.

I have been doing some critical thinking regarding Nulogorsk. I have briefly discussed Nulogorsk, 1983, and the threat of nuclear attack in a couple of theories (xx). It is no question that Nulogorsk is important. Maybe its true importance hasn't been revealed yet, but I feel as though it will become far more relevant in upcoming episodes.

I was also thinking about Kevin and what purpose he has in the Desert Other World. We know he's taking part in building this new town, which does not look good at all (x). But the more I thought about it and looked at the possibility of this being Desert Bluffs, I thought back to one of my first theories.

If you can look past how differently I used to compose theories, and how multiple things in the theory have been proven incorrect due to changes in canon over time, then focus on the main theme of the theory. Desert Bluffs being Night Vale.

I've stated before how time is becoming a confusing overlap of timelines, and when I thought about it a bit more, a sudden terrifying thought came to mind. Kevin described what happened to Desert Bluffs as blinding light filling their town, how it remained affected because of this, and so on.

What's more is what Steve said in Old Oak Doors Part B:

"Well, he was like, "Hey, y'all, there's a Smiling God and the world is unraveling because I was in 4H club." And he's mostly right. But I think that it's not a Smiling God, but a secret underground missile testing site."

An underground missile testing site? That came up in my first Nulogorsk theory. Then there was what Kevin said later in the episode:

"Everything was transparent. Literally. You could see through everything and everyone."

I vaguely recall that when nuclear weapons go off, the blinding flash shines through things because of its intensity. This, along with the extreme heat given off, is what creates the flash that is associated with these types of weapons. It is also what creates the burns. The flash can burn eyes and retinas, which could possibly explain Kevin's missing eyes.

Nuclear attacks. This is what was being mistaken for a Smiling God because that's what the Smiling God is. Nuclear attacks, or the aftereffects of such.