Follow TV Tropes

Following

History Recap / AmericanGodsS1E6AMurderOfGods

Go To

OR

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

* {{Irony}}: The opening shows Jesus Christ (or a Mexican-Catholic version of him anyway) being mowed down by border-patrol adorned in Christian iconography. The cross-hares on one of the gun's scope even look like an elaborate crucifix.

Added: 312

Removed: 312

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* LesCollaborateurs: Mr. Wood is an ancient god of trees and forests that has aligned with the New Gods and sold out its domain, trees and forests.
** Vulcan has also joined the side of the New Gods - though he was asked to pretend to be neutral - and rats out Wednesday and Shadow's presence in Vulcan, Virginia.


Added DiffLines:

* LesCollaborateurs: Mr. Wood is an ancient god of trees and forests that has aligned with the New Gods and sold out its domain, trees and forests.
** Vulcan has also joined the side of the New Gods - though he was asked to pretend to be neutral - and rats out Wednesday and Shadow's presence in Vulcan, Virginia.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The red armbands and black clothing worn by the people of Vulcan - all of them Caucasian - sure looks a little fascist.

to:

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The red armbands and black clothing worn by the people of Vulcan - all of them Caucasian - [[PuttingOnTheReich sure looks a little fascist.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


** Vulcan has also joined the side of the New Gods - though he was asked to pretend to be neutral - and rats Wednesday and Shadow's presence in Vulcan, Virginia.

to:

** Vulcan has also joined the side of the New Gods - though he was asked to pretend to be neutral - and rats out Wednesday and Shadow's presence in Vulcan, Virginia.

Removed: 184

Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None


* DrinkOrder: At the Crocodile Bar, Mad Sweeney orders Southern Comfort and Coke. Laura orders vodka, as close to rubbing alcohol as they stock, and [[TheTriple Salim orders coffee]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None

Added DiffLines:

'''Season 1, Episode 6'''

!A Murder of Gods

After escaping from the New Gods, Shadow and Wednesday seek refuge with Wednesday's old friend, Vulcan. As Wednesday presses Vulcan to join the cause of the Old Gods, Shadow gets a distinct feeling that people of color aren't exactly welcome in this town. Meanwhile, Sweeney decides that the best way to get his coin back from Laura is to make it so that she doesn't need it anymore, so he takes her on a road trip to meet his old friend, Jesus Christ, courtesy of Salim, who's looking for the Jinn that gave him his new not-Salim life.

!!Tropes

* AffectionateNickname: Vulcan calls Wednesday "Big Daddy," which could be considered a modern version of the title "All-Father."
* AppeaseTheVolcanoGod: Every couple of months an employee of Vulcan Munitions falls into a factory furnace - due to faulty railings - to his death, thus providing Vulcan with a constant supply of HumanSacrifice to thrive in peace.
* AssholeVictim: After finding out how Vulcan gets his power, it is hard to feel sympathy for him when Wednesday kills him.
* LesCollaborateurs: Mr. Wood is an ancient god of trees and forests that has aligned with the New Gods and sold out its domain, trees and forests.
** Vulcan has also joined the side of the New Gods - though he was asked to pretend to be neutral - and rats Wednesday and Shadow's presence in Vulcan, Virginia.
* ContrivedCoincidence: Salim seems to be driving randomly around America looking for the Jinn and just happens to stop at the same motel where Shadow and Wednesday were staying and then Sweeney chooses his cab to steal. This is likely justified by the golden coin manipulating events in Laura's favour.
* ConvectionSchmonvection: Justified in the case of Wednesday and Vulcan being right next to a boiling vat of metal (and Wednesday urinating into said vat), as they are gods and feeling hot is an optional extra for them. Not so justified for Shadow, who should be feeling the burn... unless there's more to him than he seems. He did (possibly) make it snow and raised Laura, after all.
* CoolSword: Vulcan forges a badass looking greatsword for Wednesday.
* ClickHello: Salim does this while Mad Sweeney is attempting to steal his cab.
* CrucifiedHeroShot: Mexican Jesus, naturally. He even has bullet wounds through the palms of his hands and through his heart. A tumbleweed leaves thorns on his head for extra measure.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The red armbands and black clothing worn by the people of Vulcan - all of them Caucasian - sure looks a little fascist.
* DoubleMeaningTitle: The meaning of the title is [[TitleDrop dropped]] by Mad Sweeney as a gathering of gods, using the collective noun "a murder" that usually applies to ravens or crows. However, there is a more literal interpretation of the title, as the episode contains a scene in which one god murders another.
* DrinkOrder: At the Crocodile Bar, Mad Sweeney orders Southern Comfort and Coke. Laura orders vodka, as close to rubbing alcohol as they stock, and [[TheTriple Salim orders coffee]].
* {{Eagleland}}: Vulcan, Virginia, a Caucasian only town filled with American flags and that lives and breathes [[UsefulNotes/AmericanGunPolitics gun culture]].
* {{Egopolis}}: Not only is the town Vulcan runs named after him, but his factory is the centerpiece of the main street and his sigil is everywhere, including in armbands worn by the populace.
* ExcrementStatement: Wednesday urinates on Vulcan's furnace to lay down a curse on the new batches of bullets after killing him and dropping his corpse in the molten metal.
* FaceFullOfAlienWingWong: Mr. Wood had stabbed Shadow in the previous episode. We learn he infected him with a similar plant creature that grows within him until Wednesday removes it.
* FalseFlagOperation: Upon killing Vulcan for his betrayal, Wednesday states that he's going to tell everyone that the New Gods did it for apparently siding with him, thus creating a martyr for the Old Gods.
* FiringInTheAirALot: Zig-zagged. The residents of Vulcan's town fire in the air at the funeral of the employee who fell into the molten vat. Wednesday then tells Shadow to take cover as the bullets are shown reaching the apex of their trajectory and falling back down, denting Wednesday's car amongst over things.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Wednesday telling Shadow the story of Mr. Wood, an Old God who changed his image with the times and joined the New Gods foreshadows the reveal that Vulcan has done the same.
** Another one comes with Vulcan's talk about him "franchising" himself, exactly like Mr. World and the Media offered Wednesday in the previous episode.
** When Wednesday tells Vulcan that people no longer make sacrifices to him, Vulcan points out that he could always make a sacrifice of himself.
* ForgingScene: Vulcan personally forges an exquisite blade for Wednesday in his foundry.
* FreezeFrameBonus: The xenophobe group that attacks the immigrants use Vulcan's ammo.
* HumanSacrifice:
** We see one of the workers at Vulcan Munitions taking a dive into a forge full of molten metal, courtesy of a faulty safety railing. Wednesday tells Shadow this happens twice a year, and it doesn't take much to figure out they're sacrifices to Vulcan.
** Every person killed by one of Vulcan's guns and bullets are also sacrifices to him.
** Vulcan suggests that Wednesday needs blood sacrifices to get stronger, and Wednesday acts on this by murdering him and throwing him into his own forge.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Wednesday kills Vulcan with the sword he forged with him and then shoves his body in a vat of molten lead, just like the countless workers Vulcan has used as blood sacrifice.
* JerkassGods: Vulcan thrives on the human sacrifice of his workers and the victims of his customers, mocks Shadow for nearly being lynched, and ultimately sells out his old friend Wednesday to the New Gods.
* NoOSHACompliance: Deliberate in Vulcan's factory, so that regular workplace fatalities act as sacrifices to him. Even hand-waved by saying the insurance company finds the settlements to the relatives cheaper than paying to improve the factory. Like much of Vulcan's story, this is BasedOnATrueStory in Alabama that Creator/NeilGaiman found out about.
* OffWithHisHead: Wednesday decapitates Vulcan for selling out to the New Gods.
* PuttingOnTheReich: The people of Vulcan, Virginia wear military-esque uniforms and red armbands with the Vulcan insignia.
* RightWingMilitiaFanatic:
** A bunch of them attack a group of illegal immigrants after crossing the Rio Grande.
** The town of Vulcan, Virginia, seems to be a cross between CompanyTown and this.
* SoundtrackDissonance: The sequence of the Vulcan plant is scored with a rendition of "Come On Get Happy" by David Cassidy (most famously used as the theme to ''The Partridge Family''). It follows a worker punching in, greeting co-workers, generally enjoying his day... and then he falls off a walkway and into a molten vat of lead to be incinerated.
* SpottingTheThread: Shadow becomes suspicious of Vulcan because Vulcan seems to know about Shadow being lynched, something he would not have knowledge of unless he was told by the New Gods. It is implied that Wednesday figured out things were not right even earlier.
* StealthInsult: Vulcan brings up Shadow's hanging as an insult, which in turn is an insult to Wednesday. When Shadow points this out, Wednesday says that Vulcan has been subtly insulting him all night. The most obvious is the moment where Vulcan refused to open Wednesday's gift of Soma, opting for his own wine instead.
* StepfordSmiler: The people of Vulcan, Virginia are all constantly cheerful, while producing weapons by the ton and carrying assault rifles in public. Vulcan's comments suggests they life in a BigBrotherIsWatchingYou police state and feel safe as a result.
* TooDumbToLive: Vulcan forges a sword for Wednesday, while telling him that a blood sacrifice would help make him stronger, then admits that he's informed on him to the other side. No bonus for guessing what happens soon after.
* WalkOnWater: Mexican Jesus naturally does this on the Rio Grande, while helping a group of immigrants cross safely.
* WouldHurtAChild: The xenophobe group that attacks the immigrants doesn't care there's a girl among their targets and open fire on them.
* WouldHitAGirl: The xenophobe group shoot the women in the immigrant group.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Laura talks Salim into driving in the direction of Eagle Point while Sweeney's asleep. They end up in Eagle Point, and Laura ends up spying on her mother and her family - but they can't (or don't) see her looking through the window. Laura ends up deciding that she needs to break away, now that she's (un)dead.

Top