Nothing is what it seems in Netflix’s tangled mystery “1899,” which is presented to the audience. A week-long voyage from Europe to America becomes entangled in a web of mystery with no clear solution in sight. Maura Franklin, a doctor who joins Kerberos with the goal of learning what happened to her brother, is at the core of this mystery. She believes their father might be involved in it. The appearance of a youngster, who appears to be the lone survivor of Prometheus, the ship that vanished four months earlier, furthers the odd situation. The pyramid he provides to Maura appears to contain the solution to the puzzle that surrounds him. What is this pyramid and what does it indicate to the ship’s passengers? Let’s investigate. Spoilers follow.
What is the Pyramid? What Does it Signify?
In “1899,” the pyramid is seen on two scales. The first is the little pyramid the boy is always carrying. The second is larger and resembles the Egyptian pyramids in scale. The repeating image of a triangle with a horizontal line in the middle also seems to be connected. It is present in everything, even the ship’s rugs, the jewels, the clothes, and the enigmatic letter from Maura’s brother. This proves that the pyramids and their emblems have a deeper significance, one that is hidden everywhere to guide seekers in the proper route.
The crew and passengers of Kerberos are aware that their ship is hidden behind a deeper mystery that also bears some resemblance to Prometheus. It’s noteworthy to note that Prometheus is best known in mythology as the person who, in a sense, emancipated humans by stealing fire from the gods and giving it to them. Similar to that, Maura receives the pyramid from the lad from the Prometheus ship. By contrasting the two tales, we can see that the youngster has taken Henry, the man in charge of the lives of the ship’s passengers, the symbol of knowledge represented by the pyramid. The boy hopes to release Maura and the others with it.
Eventually, it is made clear that the pyramid is actually the key to unlocking both the ship and the exterior of the ship’s awareness. The youngster gives Maura the pyramid because she is the only person who has the key to it. The ascent to the skies is one of the many interpretations of the pyramid’s symbolism. While the top points toward the stars, guiding one to a higher level and aiming for the greater heights of consciousness, the bottom stands for the foundation. The knowledge that had been kept from Maura all these time is eventually revealed to her when she uses a pyramid to unlock her own mind.
When the cloak is taken off, Maura discovers herself in an other universe. The episode radically defies viewer expectations in the final few minutes of the season, when Maura discovers herself in outer space. While this leads to a great deal more concerns about the nature of reality and everything that has occurred so far, it does provide an explanation for the triangular symbols.
Triangles were used as symbols by the Greek philosopher Aristotle to represent the constituents of all stuff. Fire is represented by an upright triangle, and water by an inverted triangle. Earth is represented as a triangle that is inverted from its upright position and has a horizontal line in the middle. All these images are truly memories of Maura’s home—the Earth she has left behind—if she really is in space. So it makes obvious that the shape that anchors her to reality would be the pyramid.
In this sense, Earth serves as the foundation of the pyramid, while Maura is physically reaching towards the stars. In the final shot, we also catch a fleeting glimpse of the sign tattooed on the back of Maura’s ear. It may be said that it serves as a reminder of her roots and her home, of where she came from. Consider a triangle in three dimensions; it becomes a pyramid. Therefore, it makes sense in a way that the simulation’s representation of the door leading back to her consciousness, back to her world, and back home would be a pyramid. It serves as a reminder of who she is and where she truly belongs, more so than just a lock.
