The King in Yellow

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The King in Yellow is a book within SIGNALIS. It appears multiple times throughout the game at vital plot points. The book is inspired by a real life book of the same name that was written by Robert Chambers, SIGNALIS has many parallels and references to the actual book throughout the course of the game.

WARNING: The following may contain spoilers about SIGNALIS, proceed at your own risk.

Appearances

Ariane's Room (Start)

The first time we see this tome is in the beginning of the game, following Elster leaving the Penrose she descends down a hole and finds another hole which she crawls through to emerge in what later turns out to be Ariane's Room. It is within this room that we first find the book, located on a ledge of the desk. We must interact with it in order to progress. Doing so it states

"An ancient-looking tome is lying on the table. It feels like it is calling to me..."

At this point the book has 6 Seals on it, over the course of the game this number will decrease. Picking it up will cause a cutscene to play, and will begin the S-23 Sierpinski section of the game.

The Library

The next time we see this tome is in the library within S-23's Protektor Layers. After a short puzzle we free the book from a book storage machine. Upon obtaining the book again we find it is hollowed out and within it lays a piece of the Astrolabe that was required to open the box within Adler's room.

Shores of Oblivion (First Visit)

On our first visit to the Shores of Oblivion before entering Nowhere we are able to find in a small niche. The book is just outside the reach but it can be seen that it has 3 Seals on it.

Shores of Oblivion (Second Visit)

On our return to the Shores of Oblivion after Elster jumps down the hole in Penrose after the Fake ending we again see the book. This time it is in the sea and it has 2 Seals on it.

Ariane's Room (Ende)

Our final time seeing the book is at the end of the game when we once again return to the Ariane's room. This is when we actually learn that it is Ariane's room. The book lays exactly where it did at the start of the game. Picking it up lets us leave Ariane's room and enter the final part of the game. At this interaction the book has no Seals left on it.

General Trivia

Generalized Lore regarding the book and characters interactions with it.

Readers of the King in Yellow

Within the lore of SIGNALIS a small group of important characters are established as having once read or seen this text. Obviously during the events of the game Elster opens the book twice first at the very beginning of the game when it has the seals upon it and again at the end of the game, making her one of these readers.

Aside from Elster it is know that the book has been seen by Ariane, when it was on display at the Itou book store before being confiscated by the Nation. Ariane also saw it again in a dream while on the Penrose, in this dream Ariane remembers her Mother once taking notes from the King in Yellow.

One of the two Itou's also interacted with the book, Ariane does not remember exactly which one meaning it could be either Isa or Erika.

Depiction of the Book

The appearance of the book in-game is a clear reference to the cover of the actual book, however it does sport some differences most notably is the change of the back cover from a stylized backing to a tesseract/the ritual design. And the addition of the 3 Stars that are usually connected with either the nation or Bioresonance. There are also seals on the book throughout the game, these seals are clearly the plates from Nowhere over the course of the game these seals slowly fall off.

Banned Book

The book is considered a banned book by the Nation, and upon discovering its presence it was confiscated from the Itous.

Connections and Possible Powers

The King in Yellow Connects to many locations, and ideas across Signalis. These connections establish it as something of great lore significance. There is also a deeper theory that paints the King in Yellow as having great power, this section will cover these connections as well as the deeper theory that relates to them.

Bioresonance

The King in Yellow holds some level of power, what the exact limits of this power depends on theory.

Considering the Kings Powers in its respective lore, the book can distort its readers , this influencing of the reader is similar in many ways to how Bioresonance can influence minds and emotions of others. Meaning that the book itself likely holds Bioresonant Powers.

On the cover of the KIY we see a halo and 3 stars, these are two symbols that are heavily connected to Bioresonance throughout the game. It should be noted that the origin of the 3 Diamond symbol for bioresonance is unknown as it is likely not a natural occurrence, and that a possible source for it was the King In Yellow seeing as this book predates any other possible origin point for the symbol.

If this is the case it means that the Empire likely knew of the King in Yellow and understood it as a Bioresonant Being, and it means that the Empire which worshipped Bioresonants decided to use a symbol from the King in Yellow to represent the group that they worshipped.

It is theorized that due to the books ability to manipulate the reader in most depictions this ability likely carries over to SIGNALIS. If the case then if a Bioresonant Individual crossed paths with the book the chances are they by being influenced by the book would be able to cause distortions in reality due to the corruption of their own mind being made manifest by the book.

It is also theorized that its powers go beyond just influencing the reader, but also being able to influence reality itself or that the King in Yellow is a Bioresonant Being in itself that should be considered at least in part responsible for the events of the game. Granted if he was manifest it should be noted that he would not be a human but rather a being of immense power.

The Flesh below Leng

The Flesh below Leng refers to Nowhere, this location is greatly connected to the King in Yellow. This connection is due to the plates appearing both in Nowhere and on the Book, and also due to deeper theories regarding the book holding actual power, and the manifestation of that power being connected to Nowhere.

Distortion of Reality

The King in Yellow is established within its own canon as a being beyond reality, a 4th dimensional creature beyond comprehension who is able to corrupt the minds of men as well as distort reality itself. If it holds the ability to distort reality, then the greatly distorted area of Nowhere, where doors are nonsensical and the decay is extreme could be assumed to be connected.

Physical Manifestation of the King (Theory)

Due to the many connections between the King and Nowhere, with it being the location of the plates as well as it being a location certainly within the realm of his creation, it has been argued that the King and The Flesh Below are the same being.

The Empire

Due to the King and the Flesh being connected, the King is by extension also connected to the Empress since the Flesh is.

There is another connection between this two albeit far weaker connection between the two the symbol of the ritual and the symbol of the empire are both centered around a hexagon, with the Empire having a rotating hexagon that grows, while the Ritual is a 2D diagram of a tesseract.

If it is believed that the Empire knew of the King in Yellow and since they worshipped Bioresonant Individuals it is possible that they held the King in High regard. The reason for this is not known however it raises the possibility that the Empress once used the king herself. This would make sense considering how powerful she was and how the King in Yellow is connected to the other very powerful Bioresonant in the Lore, Ariane.

The Empire's Test Subject (Theory)

It has been theorized that Nowhere is a lost test site for the Empire. This is based off the warning for Nuclear Waste found at the Start of Nowhere. The Empire could have been experimenting on how to contain the flesh from spreading airborne. With the empire eventually figuring out how to contain it within the seals. Possibly using the flesh to create the Replikas, due to the fact that Replikas feature a mostly black color scheme and the replikas with more of this color are more stable.

The Plates and Seals

The Seals or the Plates which are found throughout Nowhere, are also the plates that are depicted on the King in Yellow as being the seals holding the book closed. These seem to be made out of the Basalt Rocks mined in the mines with parts of the flesh from below within it, however investigating the plates states they are of Marble typing suggesting that the rocks within the mines may be some kind of marble.

The Plates Within Nowhere

Each plate required an action from Elster in order to obtain, most of these actions either related to the name of the plate or could be used to tell details about the obtained plate.

The Plate of Knowledge was obtained after using the rings on the Empress, due to the nature of this puzzle giving us an insight into the life of this figure it can be seen that this is the knowledge we learned, This plate also connects the Flesh to the Empress.

Seeing how this knowledge is important enough to be called "The Plate of Knowledge" this can be used to assume that the Flesh itself and by extension the King wanted Elster to learn about the Empress' Fate. This also creates a strong strong counter argument for Dream theory, as neither Falke, Ariane nor Isa would have any real care about what happened to the Empress and likely none had any idea about the nature of her rule considering the state in which they lived. However it is unknown why the Flesh/King would want Elster to know about her rule.

The Plate of Love was obtained after lighting an incense at the alter for the Yeong family, seeing how Elster loves Ariane this can be understood to be representative of that.

The Plate of Balance was obtained after using the dolls to balance a scale to take the plate.

The Plate of Eternity was obtained after opening the Butterfly box early into the game, it takes us to the Radio Station, the exact connection with the name is currently not known. This traveling to the Radio station holds some level of importance, as if we are physically are sent to the station, then the use of Bioresonence to bend space and possibly time as well was used by the plate in order for us to access the radio module. It should be added that upon accessing the plate a short cutscene plays where we see a large beating heart as well as the plate puzzle within nowhere. This could be interpreted as us communicating with the Flesh and as such perhaps it was the Flesh's desire that we gained the ability to go deeper towards it, with it using its powers to send us to this location to let us gather this tool. Or perhaps this is symbolic of it calling to us and us being tempted by its call to go deeper.

The Plate of Flesh was obtained after using completing the Maze this can be seen as a symbolic gesture of Nowhere as a whole (a giant maze, known in the code as "Labyrinth")

The Plate of Sacrifice is found in the second maze, its meaning could be seen as similar to the meaning of the Plate of Flesh, however its exact meaning is unknown.

The Plates can also be seen depicted on the TV's within the code room in Nowhere.

What Undoes the Seals (Theory)

Due to the ordeals connected with each of these plates it could be seen as a trial that must be surmounted in order to prove oneself, and perhaps much like the trials within Nowhere gathered the plates needed to open the door, the plates on the book may come lose due to trials outside of the flesh prison. if this is the case then it could be assumed that the various trials Elster went though caused the rest of the seals to fall off.

Datamining

Using Datamining we can find which seals are on the book during the two gestades, using this we learn that in prior to first Gestade: Love, Eternity and Flesh were removed. Between First and Second Gestade, Sacrifice was removed. And between Second Gestade and the end of the game: Balance and Knowledge were removed. Using this we can theorize over what caused the removal of each of these.

Love can be seen as the First Seal that breaks based off the Datamined knowledge, this seal would break due to Elster deciding to go on this adventure of love and search for her lost lover, granted at the start of the game she may not remember her lover's identity she still is going on this quest in the name of love and due to loving someone. If a specific moment in that game is to be named, it could be seen as her refusing to leave the facility after the Star tells her to, her choosing love and continuing rather then choosing herself and running away, despite someone telling her to do so.

Eternity can be seen as the Second Seal that breaks based off this knowledge, this one would break when one acquires the Eternity Plate in the Butterfly Box, and upon acquiring the plate we remove the seal from the book. It breaks not just due to the physical acquirement of the seal, but also due to Elster's interaction with Bioresonance and the Distortion that is causing the cycles. By interacting with these she is noticing the eternity and continuing despite them. A second possible moment that could be the point at which Eternity was broken, which could be seen as her surviving the elevator shaft, as in all prior eternities, she dies after hitting the bottom.

Flesh is a difficult one to theorize about, however it can be seen as either the moment Elster falls down the Elevator Shaft, as symbolized by her falling on a pile of her own flesh in order to survive and continue to progress with her journey. Or it can be seen as being unlocked during the beginning of the game with the Eules cutting up flesh and Elster traversing the flesh infested halls of Personell. The assumption should be that whatever room didnt cause Eternity to unlock, likely had flesh unlock in close proximity.

Next would be Sacrifice. This seal is unlocked between First and Second Gestade, meaning it unlocks sometime during either Nowhere, the Fake Ending, or Memory. This is a very eventful period of the game, however the only thing that resembles a sacrifice of Elsters would be her decision to take the Armor and Arm of the Prior Elster, by doing this her past (or future) self sacrificed her parts in order to help continue the journey and pursue the promise. Perhaps the sacrifice could be viewed as this prior Elster's failures to end the cycle, and our Elster's opening half opening of the hatch creating a situation where the journey could be continued.

From here we have the final part of the game and the final two seals, following Second Gestade is Corrupted ReEducation and Rotfront which close out the game.

Balance would have to be unlocked during this part of the game, however how exactly is still not defined clearly in theory, one possibility is the restoration of balance by the death of Isa. By someone who died long ago, returning to the state of death it represents a restoration of balance, this can be further supported by the fact she was also someone who did the ritual, and by her passing her influence on the Ritual and the space weakened granting Elster greater control, however seeing as this would suggest that this plate is the only one broken by an action out of Elster's control this is unlikely.

Knowledge is likely to have been unlocked last, the exact circumstances for which could vary as Rotfront is a part of the game that has several large plot developments. One option could be the learning of Isa's fate, learning the truth of what happened to our friend is one type of knowledge, however seeing as it doesnt pertain to our adventure, and this event is better explained as being one of balance this is unlikely. Another option is that the completion of the Mondenkind Puzzle is the moment of knowledge, by reading the Dreamers Diary, and gathering the 6 Tarot which also causes us to read several notes and explore all of Rotfront, we gain the most amount of knowledge possible to prepare Elster for the final act.4

This solution required information from datamining, which Yuri has stated is not to be used to shape our understanding of lore and the game. Due to this any possible combination of points of the game can be used to connotate the removal of the seals as long as it follows what normal gameplay states.

Why is the King in Yellow Sealed? (Theory)

The book as we see in it game is sealed by the seals, however the reason that it is in this state is not told to us, nor indirectly referenced by any notes, leaving it in the realm of theory

One concept is that the book is sealed by an external power, with some wagering that it was the Grand Empress who sealed the book and that is why the flesh presents her grave to us. This would also connect to the Empire's heavy connections to the book, as well as the fact that the Empress was very powerful during her life.

Another theory is that the book is sealed by rite of usage, as in Elster is not fit to use the book until she has completed it's various trials. This could be her needing to gain enough control over herself and her own brain inorder to harness its full power however that is unlikely. In the King in Yellow most of it's readers are driven mad by the book, so rather perhaps the trials are a testament to how engrossed she is in the character role she is ascribing to herself, that being of the Original Elster-512.

Why These Seals?

The Seals that Elster has to break, of Knowledge, Love, Balance, Eternity, Flesh and Sacrifice represent important milestones of her journey. However why these seals are chosen is unknown and left to theory.

One theory is that it represents fully becoming the character that you are representing from the play.

Love-Sharing of their passions and desires

Flesh-Sharing of their Physical Traits

Sacrifice-Willing to lose in the name of becoming akin to them.

Eternity-Willing to Hold that Status Into the Future.

Balance-Finding peace as this new character, and fully balancing your role as them

Knowledge-Knowing the nature of your change, but still embracing it.

Granted this is a rough idea, and further theorization will be required for more cemented ideas in this regard.

Connection to the Ritual

The 3 Keys required for the Secret Lily Ending hold the same names as specific seals on the King:

Love

Sacrifice

Eternity

These three keys, are theorized as going even further from just breaking the seal, but rather hyper focusing on these attributes and channeling them through the king to materialize something new

The Depiction of the Ritual on the book also suggests that the Book is what teaches one how to do the Ritual a concept that is backed by the fact only readers of the book have done the Ritual in the past. This includes either Elster in the Lily Ending.

The Shores of Oblivion

The Shores of Oblivion have heavy connection to the King in Yellow, being the location where we encounter the book twice. However there are other connections aside from just this.

Upon our first visit to Gestade we find ourselves emerging from a cave that takes a shape quite similar to that of the Hooded King

The presence of notes that are quotes from the King in Yellow on our first visit to Gestade solidly connects this place to the King.

These Notes State as Follows.

For there be different sorts of death - some wherein the body remains (-) some it vanisheth quite away with spirit.

One kind of death the spirit dies (-) while yet the body was in vigour for many years. Sometimes, (-) it dieth with the body, but (-) is raised up again (-) where the body did decay.

and a (-) star fell (-) sky, and a mountain fell into the sea and (-) turned to blood, (-) moon (-) turned dark,

along the shore the cloud waves break, the twin suns sink (-) the shadows lengthen

(-) the night where black stars rise, and strange moons circle through the skies but stranger still

song of (-) unsung, as tears unshed shall dry and die

In the Night where black stars rise note, the sentence ends at stranger still. However this is a line from the yellow sign which ends with But Stranger Still is Lost Carcosa.

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Connections to the Book

The King in Yellow is also a real book written by Robert Chambers. This book details a series of stories that connect to a mythical book which shares the same name. The game features allusions and details from both the real book, and the mythical tome.

Becoming a Character

One of the concepts within the King in Yellow, is that characters who reads it will find themselves adopting attributes from a character within the text. This can be seen primarily in the Repairer of Reputations Story, where Hildred Castaigne a young man in a futuristic New York City, comes across the mythical tome and reads it. Upon reading it he looses his sanity and ascribes onto himself onto the role of the Heir of the Imperial Dynasty of America. However it can also be seen in The Mask where the main character believes himself akin to the Pallid Mask.

In Signalis there is several examples of characters adopting attributes, knowledge or even blending with other characters.

One such example can be found with Alina, Ariane and Falke. This trio all recounts being overwritten in some degree by Ariane, with them all over the course of the game slowly turning into the Penrose Officer in some way. With Falke stating that Ariane had invaded her mind, and Alina stating that she is slowly losing herself to Ariane.

Another weaker example can be seen between Elster and Isa, These two seem to exchange memories, as can be seen in the flashback to the school on Rotfront, and seem to be traveling down the same path. However the connection is not as strong as the previous example, and could just be an example of a parallel character.

Seeing how the King in Yellow in it's canon posses the ability to distort people into a role within it's story it is possible that such an occurrence is occurring here

"I Wear No Mask"

The quote by Adler right before the final act of the game is a direct quote from the mythical King in Yellow. It is quoted in the Mask as being from Act 1 Scene 2 of the mythical play.

The quote is said by the Pallid Mask, this mystical character also known as the Stranger is seen as a emissary for, an avatar of, or is the King in Yellow himself. This character arrives before Cassilda and is asked to unmask, at which point he refuses stating that "I Wear No Mask".

Connecting Adler to this Character we can see Adler in multiple ways. The simplest would be to connect to the fact that he is in fact corrupted at this point and is wearing a physical mask of flesh following his corruption, him stating he wears no mask would be as to say he rejects accepting that he too has fallen to the distortions that took his beloved Falke. This can also be added to say that at this point in the story as a corrupted individual he now acts as how the King would see fit, seeing as the connection to the stranger would paint him as someone loyal to the king and the distortion, meaning he desires what the distortion or king does.

He is also the only character in the game shown with a yellow name, indicating that he is tied to the King in Yellow.

The Pallid Mask also holds connection to Alec, the Protagonist of the Mask. If we instead chose to focus on this connection, we can paint Adler as someone who has succumbed to the insanity caused by the distortions and the king, and can begin to draw parallels between their two stories. In the Mask, Alec loves Genevieve however she instead loves his friend Boris more.

However one day Alec and Genevieve read from the King in Yellow, following which she declares her love for him instead despite her past refusals and the pair rapidly descend into insanity. She ultimately in her fit of mania decides to leap into a pool made of a liquid that turns living beings into marble, a liquid produced by studying the King in Yellow.

Alec then falls into deep grief over the lost of his lover, and a passage of time Alec learns that the marble is thawing and ultimately is able to reunite with his lover in the end.

If we connect this to Adler's story we can find some similarities. Adler loves Falke but she loves Ariane, however unlike in the story Falke falls in love with Ariane due to the book rather then in love with him. However akin to the story she is ultimately consumed by the mania and and again contrary dies in a way becoming a distorted creature that Elster kills. It seems as though Adler is more akin to the Pallid mask then Alec which ultimately spells out tragedy for him.

Powers of Bioresonance

The Powers of Bioresonance are vast and seemingly no clear limit is known to them, however comparing the known powers of this ability to the known powers of the King in it's canon we can find some heavy connections.

Bioresonance can influence the minds of others, the King in Yellow can influence the minds of others either by ascribing characters or driving people insane.

Bioresonance can be used to telepathically communicate with others, the King in Yellow can grant its readers telepathia which is shown by Tessie in the Yellow Sign.

Bioresonance can be used to distort reality, the King in Yellow detailed within the play holds cosmic powers that can cause apocalyptic tier events of which include distortion of reality.

Kolibri Corrupted Text

Within the KLBR's corrupted text lays the following quote which is a reference to the King in Yellow story.

"Strange is the Night where Dark Stars Rise.

And Strange moons circling through the sky.

Songs that the hyades should sing.

Where the King's rags blow.

Must die Unheard.

Songs of my Soul, My Voice is dead.

You die, unsung, like tears unshed."

This is a direct quote from Cassilda's Song which removes the references to Carcosa that usually would be at the bottom of each verse. This heavily connects the distortion of the Kolibris to the King in Yellow which connects the distortion of the facility as a whole to him.

Gallery

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  The King in Yellow sitting on the table
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  In-game texture used for The King in Yellow
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  As seen on the first visit to the Shores of Oblivion, just out of reach
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  Old/unused version of the scene depitcting the Ritual on Ariane's bedroom floor