History WMG / TheSecretSaturdays

** This theory of Kur's relationship with the Sumerians lines up with historical fact and becomes FridgeBrilliance when you consider where the show's writers got the name Kur. Kur is alternatively used in Sumerian writings to describe: 1). An anthropomorphized concept of the Underworld, 2). the actual word for the underworld itself, and 3). the title for the king of that underworld (Sumerians often referred to political leaders by the lands they ruled). This underworld association actually works well with the show's mythology, if you know how Sumerians seemed to have interpreted the underworld. Going by the funerary artifacts they left behind, the Sumerian underworld appears to have been conceived as a topsy-turvery place where monsters dwelled, feasting was done, and animals were as intelligent, developed, and skillful as people. This could, in the show's context, be interpreted as different depictions of Kur's subjects, the cryptids. And Argost's insistence that Kur is an ancient being that "existed before time began" could mean that Kur ''did'' perpetuate himself by reincarnating as different beings, which would definitely associate him with death and the afterlife to ancient peoples. Also, "Kur" as a title further implies the possibility of a succession of Kurs, reincarnation-style. So to the ancient mind, it'd be easy to view Kur as a deity of the underworld and assume his subjects, the cryptids, came from there - and the fact that these underworld creatures obeyed him would obviously make him the king of the underworld in their eyes. Kur's supposed power over death, or at least his known ability to reincarnate, also explains why he was locked within the Kur stone: his enemies expected that otherwise, he would have just been reborn. Of course, this also further implies that it was Kur's enemies who killed him, and it was they, not his subjects, hid the Kur stone and set up the deadly RedHerring tomb map. Which further explains why Kur's "tomb" is a Meso-American temple and not an ancient Sumerian burial in the middle east.

[[WMG: Kur is not one entity, but a series of reincarnations ala [[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender]].

** The Lemurians, as mentioned above, obviously didn't like him, but we don't know anything about ''them'' either. It's quite possible they were combative enemies with Sumer when Kur was in power or even were the ones who had Kur killed. For all we know, they could have been giving themselves good publicity and defaming their enemy in one go. After all, in history the only thing the future knows about you is usually whatever label sticks longest, and if you've got an enemy who outlives you, chances are they're going to do their best to make sure that label's a nasty one. (Example: Napoleon was actually slightly taller than average for a man in his times, but the British liked drawing him short in political cartoons because it was harder to take him seriously that way. Guess what stuck?) In fact, later generations of Lemurians could have honestly believed these things their elder generations told them, and became genuinely terrified of Kur returning (Ditto for the Nagas, who could have heard these tales as well and ''liked'' what they heard, particularly sense they seem to have had at least some contact with the Lemurians given the room decor in "The Kur Guardian"). If that's the case, their belief that Kur was evil and fear of him resurrecting makes perfect sense. He's their ultimate political enemy that they turned into [[TheDreaded the Bogeyman]].
My point is, Kur appears to have been a warlord king, just like every other king in his time. And looking back, a lot of them were cruel, but rarely were they truly evil. So Kur could have truly been evil, but he also could have just been morally normal king for his time, because who Kur actually was [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot is never explored in the show]]. The fact that characters who claim to be the best in the fields of science and history just accept the ruling that Kur was 'evil' despite never actually presenting anything about him or what he actually did in his life ''and'' despite insisting they need to be "scientific" and "unbiased" about their investigations... makes them all look genuinely terrible at their jobs.

* Kur, while having the unusual ability to reincarnate, seems to have been a quasi-mortal being. He was likely mainly active, as noted above, in Mesopotamia during the golden age of Sumer, because he's never mentioned in relation to any other historic time periods. Somehow, he clearly died--whether during the time of Sumeria or after--and his soul entered the Kur stone. Possibly, he was killed and sealed inside it, and like we saw in the show, when the Kur's soul is removed from his body, he dies. The fact that he had a tomb implies that even after his death, he was respected enough by whatever civilization he lived among then to be laid to rest inside his temple complex which became his tomb. After all, with Kur dead and his soul and powers inside the Kur stone, he would have no remaining magical influence over the actions of the Cryptids and people he ruled over, yet they still willingly put him to rest respectfully. Even more, they used his SoulJar to create a world-encompassing map back to where his remains were. Both the Secret Scientists and Argost assumed the map led to some way of getting ultimate power, but it didn't: it just led to his mundane, non-powerful tomb. The only thing useful that came out of it was a detail about Kur's life: that the Lemurians were his enemies. And details about the deceased's life being painted on the tomb walls is pretty standard for ancient burials.

* The Sumerians respected Kur enough to worship him as a deity and build him temples, suggesting that he may have been considered at least a patron god somewhere (in Sumerian religion, cities usually declared one or more of the gods as patron deities of their city in hopes that they would extend favors of protection to the people, a practice also done famously in Ancient Greece). But regardless of what kind of relationship he had with them, Kur is constantly referred to as a Sumerian god, meaning he had a part in their culture and was definitely important enough to them that they went to extreme measures to protect his temple complex. That he had a functioning place in human society despite being a Cryptid that ruled primarily over other Cryptids is telling. Even more so is the fact that he chose to live in Sumer in the first place, the cradle of human civilization, when he could have picked anywhere else and never had to deal with humans.

* Kur, while having the unusual ability to reincarnate, seems to have been a quasi-mortal being. He was likely mainly active, as noted above, in Mesopotamia during the golden age of Sumer, because he's never mentioned in relation to any other historic time periods. Somehow, he clearly died--whether during the time of Sumeria or after--and his soul entered the Kur stone. Possibly, he was killed and sealed inside it, and like we saw in the show, when the Kur's soul is removed from his body, he dies. The fact that he had a tomb implies that even after his death, he was respected enough by whatever civilization he lived among then to be laid to rest inside his temple complex which became his tomb. After all, with Kur dead and his soul and powers inside the Kur stone, he would have no remaining magical influence over the actions of the Cryptids and people he ruled over, yet they still willingly put him to rest respectfully. Even more, they used his SoulJar to create a world-encompassing map back to where his remains were. Both the Secret Scientists and Argost assumed the map led to some way of getting ultimate power, but it didn't: it just led to his mundane, non-powerful tomb. The only thing useful that came out of it was a detail about Kur's life: that the Lumerians were his enemies. And details about the deceased's life being painted on the tomb walls is pretty standard for ancient burials.
** The Lemurians, as mentioned above, obviously didn't like him, but we don't know anything about ''them'' either. It's quite possible they were combative enemies with Sumer when Kur was in power or even were the ones who had Kur killed. For all we know, they could have been giving themselves good publicity and defaming their enemy in one go. After all, in history the only thing the future knows about you is usually whatever label sticks longest, and if you've got an enemy who outlives you, chances are they're going to do their best to make sure that label's a nasty one. (Example: Napoleon was actually slightly taller than average for a man in his times, but the British liked drawing him short in political cartoons because it was harder to take him seriously that way. Guess what stuck?) In fact, later generations of Lemurians could have honestly believed these things their elder generations told them, and became genuinely terrified of Kur returning (Ditto for the Nagas, who could have heard these tales as well and liked what they heard). If that's the case, their belief that Kur was evil and fear of him resurrecting makes perfect sense.

My point is, Kur appears to have been a warlord king, just like every other king in his time. And looking back, a lot of them were cruel, but rarely were they truly evil. So Kur could have been evil, but he also could have just been morally normal king for his time, because who Kur actually was [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot is never explored in the show]]. The fact that people who claim to be the best in the fields of science and history just accept the ruling that Kur was 'evil' despite never actually finding anything about him or what he actually did in his life ''and'' despite insisting they need to be "scientific" and "unbiased" about their investigations... is pretty bad, actually.

* The Sumerians respected Kur enough to worship him as a deity and build him temples, suggesting that he may have been considered at least a patron god somewhere (in Sumerian religion, cities usually declared one or more of the gods as patron deities of their city in hopes that they would extend favors of protection to the people, a practice also done famously in Ancient Greece). But regardless of what kind of relationship he had with them, Kur is constantly referred to as a Sumerian god, meaning he had a part in their culture and was definitely important enough to them that they went to extreme measures to protect his temple complex. That he had a functioning place in human society despite being a Cryptid that ruled primarily over other Cryptids is telling.
* Kur, while having the unusual ability to reincarnate, seems to have been a quasi-mortal being. He was likely mainly active, as noted above, in Mesopotamia during the golden age of Sumer, because he's never mentioned in relation to any other historic time periods. Somehow, he clearly died, and his soul entered the Kur stone. Possibly, he was killed and sealed inside it, and like we saw in the show, when the Kur's soul is removed from his body, he dies. The fact that he had a tomb implies that even after his death, he was respected enough to be laid to rest inside his temple complex which became his tomb. After all, with Kur dead and his soul and powers inside the Kur stone, he would have no remaining magical influence over the actions of the Cryptids and people he ruled over, yet they still willingly put him to rest respectfully. Even more, they used his SoulJar to create a map back to where his remains were. Both the Secret Scientists and Argost assumed the map led to some way of getting ultimate power, but it didn't: it just led to his mundane, non-powerful tomb. The only thing useful that came out of it was a detail about Kur's life: that the Lumerians were his enemies. And details about the deceased's life being painted on the tomb walls is pretty standard for ancient burials.
** The Lemurians, as mentioned above, obviously didn't like him, but we don't know anything about ''them'' either. It's quite possible they were combative enemies with Sumer when Kur was in power or even were the ones who killed Kur in the first place. For all we know, they could have been giving themselves good publicity and defaming their enemy in one go. After all, in history the only thing the future knows about you is usually whatever label sticks longest, and if you've got an enemy who outlives you, chances are they're going to do their best to make sure that label's a nasty one. (Example: Napoleon was actually slightly taller than average for a man in his times, but the British liked drawing him short in political cartoons because it was harder to take him seriously that way. Guess what stuck?) In fact, later generations of Lemurians could have honestly believed these things their elder generations told them, and became genuinely terrified of Kur returning (Ditto for the Nagas, who could have heard these tales as well and liked what they heard). If that's the case, their belief that Kur was evil and fear of him resurrecting makes perfect sense.
My point is, Kur appears to have been a warlord king, just like every other king in his time. And looking back, a lot of them were cruel, but rarely were they truly malicious or evil. So Kur could have been evil, but he also could have just been morally normal king for his time, because who Kur actually was [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot is never explored in the show]]. The fact that people who claim to be the best in the fields of science and history just accept the ruling that Kur was 'evil' despite never actually knowing anything about him or what he actually did in his life ''and'' despite insisting they need to be "scientific" and "unbiased" about their investigations... is pretty bad, actually.

[[WMG:Kur was actually [[TheGoodKing a good king/god]].]]

My point is, Kur as a king appears to have been a warlord king, just like every other king in his time. And looking back, all of them were cruel, but rarely were they truly malicious or evil. So Kur could have been evil, but he also could have just been morally normal king for his time, because who Kur actually was [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot is never explored in the show]]. The fact that people who claim to be the best in the fields of science and history never question the truthfulness of the legends surrounding Kur, despite insisting they need to be "scientific" and "unbiased" about their investigations, is pretty... bad, actually.

[[WMG:Kur was actually a good king/god.]]

* Years later, in my theory, the case reopens, and Epsilon takes the case, against his people's will. From there, he tries find out the truth. The ghosts responsible for it, not wanting the truth to come up, decides to [[Main/GasLighting torment him]], from making the old artwork become gruesome at random moments (the changing portraits) to repainting his portrait (The Hanged Man from the corridor of doors) to making him see his brother age and decay at a rapid rate (the Master of the House portrait). On one night, everything goes freaky, and [[Main/DrivenToMadness he loses his remaining sanity]] and [[Main/DrivenToSuicide hanged himself]], and, well, [[Main/KillEmAll you know the rest]]. Just as they hid the incident at Gracey Manor, his people sealed the room he hung in and claimed he disappeared. It remains an "unsolved case" to this day.

* Years later, in my theory, the case reopens, and Epsilon takes the case, against his people's will. From there, he tries find out the truth. The ghosts responsible for it, not wanting the truth to come up, decides to [[Main/GasLighting torment him]], from making the old artwork become gruesome at random moments (the changing portraits) to repainting his portrait (The Hanged Man from the corridor of doors) to making him see his brother age and decay at a rapid rate (the Master of the House portrait). On one night, everything goes freaky, and [[Main/DrivenToMadness he loses his remaining sanity]] and [[Main/DrivenToSuicide hanged himself]], and, well, [[Main/KillEmAll you know the rest]. Just as they hid the incident at Gracey Manor, his people sealed the room he hung in and claimed he disappeared. It remains an "unsolved case" to this day.

...[[Franchise/TheHauntedMansion the Ghost Host]]. Or rather, He's the man that becomes the Ghost Host. He was born as one of a pair of twins into the Gracey Family, destined to be the heir to the Manor. However, he left home for some reason, leaving his brother to be the heir. This brother was betrothed, wife died, he died, [[Main/KillEmAll everyone else but Epsilon died'', the end for that leg. His people [[Main/GasLeakCoverup made a cover-up]] to prevent word from coming out.
* Years later, in my theory, the case reopens, and Epsilon takes the case, against his people's will. From there, he finds out the truth. Before he knew it, the more malicious ghosts [[Main/Gaslighting torment his psyche]] from making the old artwork become gruesome at random moments (the changing portraits) to repainting his portrait (The Hanged Man from the corridor of doors) to making him see his brother age and decay at a rapid rate (the Master of the House portrait). On one night, everything goes freaky, and he loses it and [[Main/DrivenToSuicide hanged himself]], and, well, you know the rest. Just as they hid the incident at Gracey Manor, his people sealed the room he hung in and claimed he disappeared. It remains an "unsolved case" to this day.

...[[Franchise/TheHauntedMansion the Ghost Host]]. Or rather, He's the man that becomes the Ghost Host. He was born as one of a pair of twins into the Gracey Family, destined to be the heir to the Manor. However, he left home for some reason, leaving his brother to be the heir. This brother was betrothed, wife died, he died, everyone else but Epsilon died, the end.

...[[Franchise/TheHauntedMansion the Ghost Host]]. Or rather, He's the man that becomes the Ghost Host.

* The only known exceptions are the swamp monsters from "The Ghost in the Machine" (normal creatures who were [[Main/MixAndMatchCritters fused together]]), and Komodo, though the latter's debatable (who knows who worked on him?).

If you remember correctly, [[Main/WordofGod Jay Stephens said himself]] that "cryptids are to normal animals as the X-Men are to humans". [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent Demon the Descent]] states that cryptids are the result of normal animals bestowed with power by the God Machine. Thus, in my theory, every cryptid known in the series, from the bunyips to Kur himself, had been encountered by the God Machine at one point.

If you remember correctly, [[Main/WordofGod Jay Stephens said himself]] that "cryptids are to normal animals as the X-Men are to humans". [[TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent Demon the Descent]] states that cryptids are the result ofnormal animals bestowed with power by the God Machine. Thus every cryptid known in the series, from the bunyips to Kur himself, had been encountered by the God Machine at one point.

* The only known exceptions are the swamp monsters from "The Ghost in the Machine" (normal creatures who were [[Main/Mix-and-Match Critters fused together]]), and Komodo, though the latter's debatable (who knows who worked on him?).

* It explains the mutations, their hostility with each other (If you aren't emotionally attached to someone, it's a lot easier to attack them if they turn into an out of control monster) and the general negativity of their world. Since Ben, Rex, and Zak are all the same age, it puts Zak Monday's world before Rex was curing [=EVOs=]. Also, the antimatter thing was supposed, not proven. It could easily be caused by Zak vs Zak and their powers colliding.

* It explains the mutations, their hostility with each other (If you aren't emotionally attached to someone, it's a lot easier to attack them if they turn into an out of control monster) and the general negativity of their world. Since Ben, Rex, and Zak are all the same age, it puts Zak Monday's world before Rex was curing EVOs. Also, the antimatter thing was supposed, not proven. It could easily be caused by Zak vs Zak and their powers colliding.