Angelwatch - the golden Boy revealed?

Lord Dalar on 7/10/2007 at 22:50

Maybe I found something interesting about that old question we all have riddling in our minds:

Who, or What is the Golden Boy in Angelwatch?

I have to say I spoke with a friend of mine about that to be sure this wasn't an Odd fantasy of mine, he confirmed they look identical!

Has Anyone of you seen Excalibur the film that came out in 1981? ( (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excalibur_%28film%29) )

Well in that film there is a Golden Knight, with a helmet mask almost identical to the "Thief II: the Metal Age - Angelwatch mission".

As far as I remember thief was meant to be setted in camelot before looking Glass came out with a new setting, or that's what i remember of the late 90's when I was expecting this videogame.

My thought is: it could be somehow a reference both to the original concept and to its most important film in that period (thank god king Arthur wasn't even a dream...) With such a thought I'm not saying that Thief's atmosphere or setting is anyhow connected to the film or the Arthurian Cyclus, it's just a tribute.

When wearing the Armor, Morgana says to her son Mordred: This armor makes you invincible, no man and no weapon can hurt you as long as you wear this armor.

In another scene we hear the little boy already in the same armor laughing through the trees, which sounds almost scary, and then he emerges, pointing to Parcifal as the little boy does in the Thief Mission, or it lookid like this to me tonight looking for the 10th time to these scenes before posting.

Maybe this doesn't explain what the golden noy in Thief Is, i mean in thief's setting, but it explains why it is invincible and why it doesn't hurt you: he is still the childish mordred, there only to scare you out, as he does with parcifal, he is invincible, because of the armor... is he the son of the master builder? if we look to mechanists theology and at king arthur as it's ruler in some methaphoric way? is he the Son of Karras, destined to kill him, if we consider him a machine that represents all the bots of the metal age? is he the most fearful enemy of garret that is growing up for his next adventure where they will face each other again?

just theories without official confirm; the mistery remains unveiled, but now we have some proof, some reference that can make us dream on...

Here are some links to images I found on the internet, if anyone finds others please post them here so that the community can see what i Speak of.
tell me what do you think about it, I still find it fascinating after all those years making theories and conjectures about Thief's fiction.

(http://whitewolf.htmlplanet.com/MORD.jpg)
(http://www.film.tv.it/imgbank/GALLERY/EX/00395708.JPG)
(http://azinazelle.com/Excalibur/EXCALIBUR24.jpg)

and here' s a video on Youtube:

(http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru5t5fx6Hiw)

Goldmoon Dawn on 7/10/2007 at 23:44

Good find, dude.

I remember in MM6 from 98' having to steal a dagger called Mordred. The dagger had life stealing abilities.

jtr7 on 8/10/2007 at 00:09

Hahaaa! Fun stuff, Lord Dalar!

The whole "Dark Camelot" genesis for Thief seems to go along with that.

Goldmoon Dawn on 8/10/2007 at 00:16

Quote Posted by jtr7

The whole "Dark Camelot" genesis for Thief

Which indeed could fill an entire book by itself.

Digital Nightfall on 8/10/2007 at 00:46

I feel that a golden cherub-like clockwork child is both generic and iconic, therefor not something one should too quickly attempt to prescribe a single original inspiration for. The Excalibur / Dark Camelot connection is very likely to be coincidental.

Your post is alot more fun than mine though, so feel free to ignore it. :thumb:

Lord Dalar on 8/10/2007 at 00:50

Quote Posted by Digital Nightfall

I know this could be coincidental, but you've seen how they look similar I couldn't simply walk away without saying evena word, and of course Fantasy does the rest...

I find it always amusing reading about the golden boy in thief II, so it' s stimulating :cheeky:

crunchy on 8/10/2007 at 01:27

I thought that Golden Boy was Seinfeld's favourite t-shirt.

The inscrutable po on 22/10/2007 at 03:34

Some time ago I saw a Public Television special on "The Medici". There was a story in there about a young boy who was painted gold for a feast. I wondered if he was the inspiration of the golden boy in Thief.

Quote:

Pope Leo X had more exotic tastes. Famed for his extravagant lifestyle, he was entertained by young boys leaping naked from cakes. When the new Pope entered Florence in triumph, he had a young boy painted gold, from head to toe, who paraded through the streets. It was pure propaganda, implying the return of a golden age under the rule of the Medici. The boy died shortly afterwards, poisoned by the gold paint on his skin but the papal celebrations went on for days.

(http://www.pbs.org/empires/medici/medici/dolls.html)

The Medici were a family of merchants who became very powerful. It was their money that got some of the most recognized artists of the era work. Eventually one of them at least tried to become Pope.

The Golden Boy in Thief - After seeing the show I thought maybe he was the ghost of Pope Leo's golden boy, forever wandering the mansions of the wealthy and powerful, an innocent soul trapped by his masters in the twilight between life and death.

This thread about the Medici has a lot of great artwork that would fit right in Thief mansions.
(http://www.renaissancefestival.com/community/discussion/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15795&whichpage=2)

Piero the Gouty
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Benozzo_Gozzoli%2C_cappella_dei_magi%2C_piero_il_gottoso.jpg)

Eleonora of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I
(http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/b/bronzino/1/eleonora.jpg)

dlw6 on 22/10/2007 at 09:18

I enjoyed the film "Excalibur" except that the armor & costumes had the same level of research as a later TV show, Xena Warrrior Princess. :eww:

The angelwatch Golden Boy is Karras' prototype for the residents of the post-rust Builder's Paradise. The appearance is cherubic in tribute to Karras' "holy" purpose.

For me, the real mystery is why the Golden Boy has the language skills of R2D2.

Don

Andarthiel on 24/10/2007 at 11:10

Quote Posted by dlw6

For me, the real mystery is why the Golden Boy has the language skills of R2D2.
Don

Because he's obviously speech impaired,hehe.:laff:
Karras spent too much money on the body and not enough on the brain.
That Golden Boy always freaked me out, I thought that it would give me away to the guards and he looks pretty creepy too.:eek: