History Headscratchers / Aquaman2018

* After Arthur claims the Trident of Atlantis, he is able to communicate with and command The Trench to help him stop Orm and his Atlantean allies. Is it possible that The Trench have not completely regressed and still retain memories of King Atlan, or at least the Trident of Atlantis, even after a millenia of devolving into a feral species?
** Several generations have likely passed, nothing indicates the Trench we see in modern day are millenia old. Arthur's control of them is the same as on the other sea animals, the Trident is a MindControlDevice. When he grabs the trident for the first time, we see its power reaching the nervous system of every non-sentient sea creature, and the Trench are among them.

[[folder: Is Thomas Curry intended to be Maori or not?]]
* On one hand, Thomas has clearly displayed Maori tattoos on his arms and Arthur seems to do the opening of a Maori haka a few times during the movie. On the other hand, Thomas seems to speak with an American accent and Maine, where he lives, is the second-most homogeneous (read: whitest) state in the union, so someone coming all the way from New Zealand to be a lighthouse keeper seems a bit circumspect. I first thought they might try passing Curry off as a Native American, perhaps Wabanaki, before I saw his tattoos.

** Maybe Thomas' father was in the 2NZEF's Maori Battalion during World War II and contact with American soldiers motivated him to move to the USA after the end of the war.

** The Atlantean King in the Justice League Flashback had a different armor and trident from Atlan's. So it was most likely Atlan's predessor on the throne.

* All Atlanteans (or at least highborn) are implied to have some degree of hydrokinesis (note the trick Vulko tought Arthur that he later used to defeat Orm). Why is Mera the only one to use it regularly?

** To elaborate some: Arthur's only got two chances to simply pick up a phone and call anyone (after landfall in the Sahara and once they hit Sicily). Given Arthur's comments downplaying his involvement in superheroics in this movie, he may not even know a way to get in touch with anyone. Not that this justifies ignoring the plot hole.

* If Orm knew Vulko was helping Arthur the whole time, why did he wait until now to imprison him?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWpiG1uXcAAUkxx.jpg

[[folder: Is Thomas Curry intended to be Maori o

* They have to believe in aliens because of the invasion, but there's no real evidence of Amazons or Atlanteans existing.

[[folder: Is Thomas Curry intended to be Maori or not?]]
* On one hand, Thomas has clearly displayed Maori tattoos on his arms and Arthur seems to do the opening of a Maori haka a few times during the movie. On the other hand, Thomas seems to speak with an American accent and Maine, where he lives, is the second-most homogeneous (read: whitest) state in the union, so someone coming all the way from New Zealand to be a lighthouse keeper seems a bit circumspect. I first thought they might try passing Curry off as a Native American, perhaps Wabanaki, before I saw his tattoos.
** It is possible Thomas' parents or grandparents were the ones who initially came over for a better job and Thomas settled on a more meager life as a lighthouse keeper.
** Maybe Thomas' father was in the 2NZEF's Maori Battalion during World War II and contact with American soldiers motivated him to move to the USA after the end of the war.
*** Thomas is intended to be parallel to Black Manta's father, suggesting the above might be correct.
** Thomas Curry or his family moving from New Zealand to Maine for some reason is a great deal less weird than his non human girlfriend's immigration.
** Alternately, while the coast of Maine is homogenous, a lighthouse keeper's a pretty isolated job. Maybe he doesn't like the locals much beyond drinking.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: What did Arthur get from Mera in ''Justice League''?]]
* In ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'', Arthur meets Mera briefly and at the end of the exchange, tells her "I am gonna need something from you". The next time we see him, he has his mother's trident, implying that Mera got it for him. This movie shows he has always had that trident. What did Mera give him?
** She most likely gave him the Atlantean armored suit he wears in the film, which might be some sort of royal heritage she might have had access to since she's betrothed to Orm, or perhaps the Xebellian royal family kept it after the sinking of the original Atlantis. The ancient Atlantean king who led his people in battle against Steppenwolf ages ago wore a similar (albeit more golden) suit.
** We're, uh, all going to just ignore that he went all the way to Mera in Justice League, clearly knows her, gets a favor off her, and doesn't even know her name yet?
** Nothing really indicates that he knows her in ''Justice League'' (she probably recognizes him because his tattoos are obviously not Atlantean), but he somehow did know where the Mother Box was (not in Atlantis, as confirmed by James Wan recently). He is familiar with the surface world, so he's the most likely dude around her to go immediately after Steppenwolf, and he's the son of the Atlantean queen who raised her, those two reasons are enough to provide him with an armor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Why did Mera keep the bracelet?]]
* It's a gift from a man she clearly dislikes and yet she decides to keep wearing it all the way to Italy until Arthur points out Orm is tracking her through it. Even if she forgot about it, she somehow missed it while stripping off her formal dress ''and'' getting new clothes at the Sahara. Did she just like it a lot in spite of who gave it to her?
** Orm told her when he gave it to her that it belonged to his mother, it's stated that Mera held her in high regard so it makes sense that Mera kept it. Given that it was a tracking device Orm most likely lied about it belonging to his mother to ensure that Mera would keep it even if she ran off.
*** Adding to that, before Mera realized it was a tracking device, the only reason to discard the bracelet would be to spite Orm. Mera doesn't hate Orm. She just wants to stop his war by whatever means. Tossing his mother's bracelet in the trash would be a huge insult to him that could come back to haunt her in a big way if she tried being diplomatic with him later.
** It's easy to forget about a bracelet in the middle of a rescue/getaway. And later on her clothes for land appeared to be robes she could throw on easily over her Atlantean attire, so it was less deliberately keeping it and more carrying it along till it was noticed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Atlan the first...and last?]]
* King Atlan was the first king who united ancient Atlantis and was also the last because his messing with the trident resulted in Atlantis sinking (otherwise there was no way he could have gone on his exile with the Trident as his skeleton is the one holding it in it's resting place). Only one question: Who was the Atlantean king that [[Film/JusticeLeague2017 fought Steppenwolf?]] According to Wonder Woman, Atlantis was still aboveground when he invaded the first time. Their sinking was their reason for staying out of surface affairs until present day. Could that flashback secretly be his EarlyBirdCameo?
** The Atlantean King in the Justice League Flashback had a different armor and trident from Atlan's. So it was most likely Atlan's predessor on the throne.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DWpiG1uXcAAUkxx.jpg
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Hydrokinesis]]
* All Atlanteans (or at least highborn) are implied to have some degree of hydrokinesis (note the trick Vulko tought Arthur that he later used to defeat Orm). Why is Mera the only one to use it regularly?
[[/folder]]
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*** FreezeFrameBonus from ''Batman v Superman'': Lois Lane wrote an article titled "Amazon woman and the Batman help combat Lex Luthor's plans" after the Doomsday fight. So the public know Amazons exist.

[[folder: hydrokinesis]]
All Atlanteans (or at least highborn) are implied to have some degree of hydrokinesis (note the trick Vulko tought Arthur that he later used to defeat Orm). Why is Mera the only one to use it regularly?

*** Diana's still maintaining some kind of a secret identity per the Justice League movie, and was laying low before joining Bruce and Clark in BvS. People know a superheroine exists, and presumably call her Wonder Woman. That's probably about the extent of knowledge.

*** Thomas is intended to be parallel to Black Manta's father, suggesting the above might be correct.

*** Evacuating was impossible given that the tsunamis caused by the trident took the city by surprise. The trident might have been used in emergency by king Atlan to save the inhabitants who took refuge in remaining buildings, mutating them so they could adapt to underwater life.

** We would need to know what exactly made them adapt to life underwater (evolution taking an X-Men like turn? Poseidon magically changing them?). It's likely most of their technological water-based wonders wouldn't have happened had they not been forced to live underwater. They had an unmentioned power source and tech before, and their water-based tech came after the sinking annihilated the former.