James Delaney’s Mother Was Trying to Protect Him

Taboo FX

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Hey guys, love the show. I followed you guys from the Westworld podcast.

Two items of conjecture to hopefully explain Jame’s puzzling behavior for digging the grave deeper and to redress Brace’s faulty or misleading story of James’ mother.

1) I think the reason James helped dig Thorne’s grave was to ensure grave robbers wouldn’t get to the cadaver and possibly identify the cause of death to not be cholera, and thereby raise suspicion of a possible homicide (though I’ve yet to see any evidence of any sort of murder investigation occurring during the show).

If you recall from episode 1, you had to pay extra to have the grave dug deeper so robbers presumably wouldn’t be able to reach the coffin by daybreak. I believe James was acting to protect his lovely and lascivious sister, Zilpha, from any risk of prosecution. 2) Regarding Brace’s claim that James’ mother tried to kill him as an infant…

My theory is that his mother was actually trying to protect him as an infant with a ritual practiced in her tribe. Water seems to be a spiritual conduit in this show, and perhaps her spirit is still trying to protect him, which would help explain his superhuman invulnerability and also foreshadow some serious hurt about to be heaped upon Delaney.

When researching native American Indian rituals for newborns, I came across this:

“The Wichita people had their own customs postpartum. On the morning after the babies birth, the elder women of the tribe would take the newborn down to a stream or river, would pray for protection, strength, and health, and them bathe the babe in the stream. Other Native American tribes were said to have done similar river-immersion rituals for the first year of life for the baby.”

Not sure why the untimely vision of his mother placing him in the river came to him during his romp with Zilpha, except that he may be stirring up some mystical/psychosexual complex with his renewed incestuous relationship with his sister.

Anyway, my 2 pence.

On another note, I really appreciate the banter and back and forth between hosts, from the sublime to the ridiculous. I don’t think I would have enjoyed this show or Westworld as much, and I find listening to your podcasts strangely calming and welcome way to engage a different set of mental muscles and get a break from from the day’s stresses.

Cheers,

Tony (from the Garden State)

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