Part Thirty One

*A deep slumber, an old friend, a waking nightmare...*

### Content Warnings

Unreality, murder (throat-slitting, beating to death), earthworms/buried alive, death in childbirth, tentacle attack/attempted drowning, past child death, suicide/suicidal ideality/self-loathing, body horror (worm-like), parental abandonment, assault, disembowelment/torture, captivity

## Summary

Arthur wakes after a good night's rest with Kellin in his head. Ultimately, Arthur realizes he's woken into a dream: one intent on exploiting his guilt, pain, and fear. The conductor of this dream is Mr. Scratch, a demon who feeds on Arthur's torment. After reliving painful memories relating to the murder of Kellin and the death of Bella, Arthur confronts Mr. Scratch directly by refusing to cooperate by his rules. He recalls a happy memory of Faroe, infuriating Mr. Scratch. The two confront and Arthur wakes up, realizing that Mr. Scratch was able to influence his body in the waking world - he has just untied a woman (inhabited by Mr. Scratch) in the locked room.

## Synopsis

After a good rest, Arthur wakes. Inside of his head, Kellin greets him. They briefly discuss how well they slept and head down the tower from the elevator. Kellin reminds Arthur to take his sister, Samantha, with him. Arthur does, though briefly admonishes the head for calling him ‘Master’.

As they move, Kellin informs Arthur that Adam Fry is waiting for them in the café lobby (the Magic Mountain). In the elevator, Arthur reminisces about the city under the hotel in Leerie – Kellin admits that he’d been there before in pursuit of something that is drowned out by distortion (the King in Yellow). Kellin becomes angry and sings to calm himself down; distantly, a desperate John calls out for Arthur.

They reach their decoy apartment for the Butcher. Kellin says that Adam can wait until they check in, unless Arthur has killed him already. Kellin ultimately admits he knows Arthur killed him; confused, Arthur protests that they’d been together since the book. Kellin reminds Arthur of how he bled out on the dock after taking his sister’s head. He urges him to kill the Butcher as well.

Realizing something is wrong, Arthur flees and finds himself on a train. He bumps into Percival, who asks if Arthur killed his wife. After calling out for John (a being who he does not remember), Arthur begins to wonder he’s dreaming. He leaves the train and enters a mausoleum.

Arthur starts to question Kellin about this dream. Kellin states that John is gone and instructs Arthur to touch the bronze plaque Arthur had picked out for Bella, even if Daniel had paid for it. Arthur grows agitated and Kellin remarks that this was the same fire that burned her, brought Arthur’s house down, and drowned his daughter.

Arthur tries to break out of the dream, to no avail, and leaves the mausoleum to find himself in a graveyard. He asks why he would argue with Kellin in a dream, and wonders aloud who is doing this.

A voice approaches, introducing himself as Mr. Scratch. Arthur asks to wake up, and Mr. Scratch tells Arthur to see if the grave fits him. Arthur is pushed into an open grave filled with worms, marked with Arthur’s own name. He pulls himself out. Kellin informs him that they are in the widow’s house on the island.

Scared, Arthur tries to leave, but the door won’t open. Rather than following Kellin’s suggestion to go down to the caves, he tries to search for a window to break. None give. In his frustration, Arthur asks for a more useful companion and receives a flurry of voices: Arthur’s own, Adam Fry, Eddie, Marie, and settling on Kellin. Kellin asks why Arthur doesn’t bring back John.

Through their discussions, Arthur admits that something is off with John. He fears it has something to do with Kayne, or – as Kellin suspects – that Arthur has fractured the King’s soul so many times, and John is slipping away.

They find a letter in the widow’s house, addressed to ‘A’. The letter is different than the previous they found: this asks why 'A' led the King in Yellow to Sarah and got her killed, begging 'A' to leave Anna alone before she is killed like Faroe and Bella. Arthur angrily denies the latter, stating she died in childbirth.

Again refusing to descend to the caves, Arthur ascends to the Stanczyk Mansion. They hear a baby cry, and a feminine voice hum Faroe’s Song. Arthur admits he may have been responsible for the other deaths, but he did save the baby.

Mr. Scratch appears. Arthur accuses Mr. Scratch of torturing him with guilt to weaken him. Mr. Scratch, in turn, accuses Arthur of doing it to himself. A door opens and a red mist billows out. Rather than leave, Arthur stays to see what Mr. Scratch has to say.

When they become engulfed in mist, tentacles grab Arthur and attempt to drown him. He eventually resurfaces and climbs into the boat near the docks where Kellin died. They briefly discuss the morality of Kellin’s death and whether the self-defence justified killing him. Kellin requests they return to the dock and bury his body. Arthur agrees, and begins to dig a grave.

Kellin asks if Arthur thought he was evil. Arthur pontificates on what evil means, eventually settling into Faroe’s death and his desire for suicide. Arthur speaks on brief moments of joy without responsibility in Arkham – if that means he ultimately appreciated the death of his child, and if that makes him evil. Arthur wonders aloud, in killing Kellin, whether he killed an evil man or created one. Kellin has no answers. Ultimately, Arthur buries him, says goodbye, and apologies. Kellin returns the farewell and hopes Arthur finds his little girl.

Arthur calls upon Larson to guide him, next, to Leerie. Larson recites poetry to him, calling it a gift from the gods. They briefly discuss the gods they’ve met – Arthur denies that John is a god, but Larson believes Yellow was. Larson calls John Arthur’s “golden boy”, and points out that everything Arthur ever loved was taken from him. ‘Nothing gold can stay’, Larson says, reciting Robert Frost's poem, and Arthur agrees.

They enter Leerie, again encountering Mr. Scratch. Despite Arthur’s protests otherwise, Mr. Scratch says that Arthur is *choosing* to stay here. Larson points out the building next to them: Warren Tavern, which seems to upset Arthur. He enters, per Larson and Mr. Scratch’s insisting.

A memory unfolds. Arthur, as much younger man, argues with a man named James and reveals more about his past: that Arthur married Bella at her father’s insistence after getting her pregnant, that he does not love her, and that he wants to leave her because the relationship is ‘wrong’. The argument escalates when James accuses Arthur of simply having cold feet, and punches him. He storms out of the bar, informing Arthur that Bella is the only person who would ever love him.

Present Arthur explains by the time he got to the hospital, Bella had been dead – and Faroe, born and alone – for an entire hour.

Arthur disagrees with Mr. Scratch that this memory resurfaced because of his guilt with Bella; instead, he says he didn’t want to relive the first hour of his daughter’s life where she was alone. He is not proud of his behavior in the bar, but is still certain the relationship with Bella was wrong – he just had poor timing in realizing it.

The scene changes to the Larson’s estate, but Arthur refuses to engage with the dream any longer. He chooses to relive a happy memory: a duck pond, where he spent hours every day with Faroe. Mr. Scratch grows angry at this, banishing the park. Tendrils drop from the sky to restrain Arthur.

Mr. Scratch approaches. For the first time, Larson describes him: violet skin and silver eyes, floating apart from his body. Mr. Scratch pulls out a knife and guts Arthur, eventually bringing his intestines to his mouth. He wants Arthur to let him out; though Arthur refuses, Mr. Scratch says he already has.

Arthur slowly wakes to a desperate and agitated John. John tells Arthur he was sleepwalking; they are currently in the forbidden room. Arthur has just untied a woman who speaks with Mr. Scratch’s voice.

Mr. Scratch explains he’s been trapped for two hundred years, that this woman was a rare suitable host, but that he’d never found anyone with dreams as potent or persuadable as Arthur’s. Arthur had gotten out of bed, fallen down the stairs, opened the door, and untied Mr. Scratch. Mr. Scratch intends to spread his nightmares outside, and is grateful for Arthur for freeing him. After calling Arthur his favourite, he exits and leaves Arthur unharmed.

## "Nothing Gold Can Stay" - Robert Frost

*Nature’s first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold.*

*Her early leaf’s a flower, but only so an hour.*

*Then leaf subsides to leaf, so Eden sank to grief.*

*So dawn goes down today, nothing gold can stay.*

## Trivia

* Kellin sings fragments of 'Am I Blue?' by Harry Akst (1929).
* The song that briefly plays at the end of the episode is 'I'll See You In My Dreams' by Isham Jones (1924).
* Warren Tavern is a real tavern located in Charlestown, MA, just outside of Boston. It was built in 1780.