PART 2—
After Tyler, henceforth called Clancy in-story, was captured by the Bishops in Jumpsuit, we get a clearer view of the structure of Dema itself in the Nico and the Niners MV. Within the center of the city are nine pillars—with holes at their tops—each of varying heights, though massive all the same. These are called the Towers of Silence. (Dema itself, when translated, literally means Towers of Silence.) The name is drawn from Zoroastrianism, a religion in which Towers of Silence were used to dispose of dead bodies by having vultures enter through the open-holed tops and eat the corpses kept within. This manner of disposal was preferred over burial or cremation, as the belief was that earth and fire are sacred and should not be contaminated by the dead. Surrounding the Towers of Silence are nine “sectors,” each ruled by their own respective Bishop. It is here where the citizens reside and accomplish their assigned tasks. Then, encircling the sectors themselves on the outer perimeter of the city, are over a hundred neon-colored gravestones, referred to as Necropolis. They are neon to attract attention and seem appealing; the Bishops glorifying death. Self-oblivion is seen as the final and flourishing act, which citizens are encouraged to achieve. The band explained on Reddit that they were inspired by the "sad and intriguing concept of a dying religion... the reason it was dying was something they could never control: The lack of the vultures needed to carry out their theology. Something so natural and logistical can get in the way of your religion." This also explains the appearance of vultures on the album’s cover and in the Nico and the Niners and Levitate MV’s. Finally, encasing Dema is its signature wall, which no one can climb over. The entire city is made of cold concrete; drab and grey, and in direct conflict with the colorfulness of Trench, which teems with greenery and life.
Here is a map of Dema, officially provided by the band themselves—
justpaste.it/bdaj7We can learn several things from this map. In the top left corner, we see that the city is considered as being under the “Sacred Municipality of Dema.” And then beneath this, we see the phrase “United Vialists.” The city of Dema follows a religion known as “Vialism,” which has the main principle of ending oneself. It is important to recapitulate that Dema is a metaphor for mental illness, while its high walls exemplify the complexity of conquering depression. At the start of Nico and the Niners, we can hear some sort of distorted audio being played backwards. When reversed, it is revealed to be a message from the Banditos. It says, “We are Banditos. We will leave Dema at True East. We renounce Vialism.”
Further, if we zoom into those Towers of Silence, presented on the map, we can make out names; one above each Tower. These are the
Bishops’ names. They are: Andre, Lisden, Keons, Nico, Reisdro, Sacarver, Nills, Vetomo, and Listo. Interestingly, each of these names are taken from individual songs off of Blurryface; and this aerial view of the Towers themselves was actually the album cover for Blurryface all along!
Here are the songs their names are taken from:
Andre — “AND REpeat yesterday’s dance” (Fairly Local)
Lisden — “all I feeL IS DENial” (Polarize)
Keons — “choKE ON Smoke” (Heavydirtysoul)
Reisdro — “temperatuRE IS DROpping” (Doubt)
Sacarver — “she’S A CARVER” (Tear in my Heart)
Nills — “dowN I’LL Slip away” (Goner)
Vetomo — “be aliVE TOMOrrow” (Lane Boy)
Listo — “LIST Of people” (Ride)
The attached fears that they represent are as follows:
Andre – The fear of change. Both for good, and for bad. It leaves you standing still, too scared to act.
Lisden – The fear of not knowing yourself; never able to differentiate between the good and bad in yourself.
Keons – The fear of never having anything to call yours. Always under the foot of someone else, with no control.
Reisdro – The fear of no God, the fear that doubting God will be held against you, the fear of a violent God, etc.
Sacarver – The fear of love/loving, rejection, and betrayal of trust. It’s scary to trust people with your heart.
Nills – The fear of yourself. Losing to yourself, giving up on yourself, or the fear that you’re not worth saving.
Vetomo – The fear of conforming. Lack of control over what you do, say, or create.
Listo – The fear of life. So many things could go wrong, so many things to get done, etc.
So it follows that everyone in Dema is assigned a bishop; their greatest fear in one billowing red cloak.
The only one whose name isn’t specifically found in a lyric is Nico, the leader of the Bishops. He is very loosely found in Stressed Out, which is primarily his theme song: “WheN I GOt older, all my fears would shrink.” In an interview, Tyler explains: “Last record, Blurryface was a character that represented insecurity, and the more you learn about those insecurities and the more you learn about that character, the more control that you can have over things like that in your mental game of war. With this record being a continuation of that, one of the things that I knew I wanted to do was to figure out Blurryface's real name, and Blurryface's real name is Nicolas Bourbaki.”
His full name, Nicolaus Bourbaki, is mentioned in Morph, the third song off Trench. It is interesting to note that his full name is only exposed during Trench; when Tyler is with his people and gathering strength. In Morph, Tyler sings: “They always try to stop me, that Nicolaus Bourbaki. He’s got no friends close, but those who know him most know, he goes by Nico.” So, Nico is the
nickname for Nicolaus Bourbaki. Where, though, did this strange name originate from?
Nicolaus Bourbaki is the collective pseudonym for a real life group of mathematicians, established in 1934-1935, who invented the notation for the empty set — the Ø symbol used in much of the branding for Twenty One Pilots over the past years.
The empty set is often compared to an empty grocery bag. It has a purpose, to hold or carry objects from one place to another, but as it is empty, its purpose is not being fulfilled. A bit like, perhaps… an empty vessel.
The concept of the empty set has not only led to a number of debates in mathematics, but has also influenced many philosophical debates about the existence of nothing; How can nothing exist? What is ‘nothing’? What does it mean to
be nothing?
These kinds of questions are prominent when discussing three of the most used themes in Twenty One Pilots’ music – depression, religion and purpose. And the concept of the vessel has been very important to them, and can relate to each of these elements in Tyler’s lyrics.
Here is a quote from Tyler talking about what vessel means to him, and why they named their first studio album, ‘Vessel’:
"I think of taking that inevitable fact that we are going to die and realising that I have a body, I have a life, I have a voice. It's a vessel that really holds something... The vessel's not that important. My body is not that important, my voice is not that important, my life isn't even really that important. But the important thing is what's inside of that vessel, and right now I have a message. I have something to say. What I'm saying is the important thing inside of that vessel."
- Tyler Joseph
Calling back to Vialism, the religion which the Bishops promote, a
vial is a type of vessel, made of glass and traditionally used in medicine. And so if you take everything we already know, it’s not too much of a stretch to connect the two; vialism follows the belief that we are empty vessels and that we
need to be filled with something else, which someone else has imposed on us. This is demonstrated in the Nico and The Niners music video. You have the Bishops forming a vial of glass, and filling it with a neon light.
In Bandito, Tyler sings, “In city, I feel my spirit is contained, like neon inside the glass, they form my brain.” Throughout Trench, neon seems to depict something that is celebrated. And in the NATN video, the Bishops appear to be worshipping it. But it is also an artificial light, and it stands in stark contrast to the natural light from the fire and the torches associated with the Banditos. The Bishops created this light, and then they worship their own creation.
We will now discuss, briefly, the meaning of the NATN and Levitate music videos. In NATN, we see Clancy, back in Dema. Whilst inside of his designated room, Clancy stashes away his red skullie and glasses from the Blurryface era. Red could perhaps be seen as a color only to be worn by the Bishops, and so, possessing it is illegal. This may be why, in Chlorine, Tyler sings, “Had you in my coat pocket, where I kept
my rebel red.”
We then catch glimpses of the Bishops performing some sort of ceremony, filling vials with neon liquid and then waving their hands in an eery choreography. Within the same room are citizens, seated at benches. They look on to the Bishops’ ritual, paralyzed by fear; soulless in expression.
Meanwhile, Clancy makes way for a hidden part of the city. While there, he’s greeted by a swarm of Banditos, led by the Torchbearer (Josh Dunn), who we saw at the end of the Jumpsuit MV. Clancy and the Torchbearer then perform a long and complicated handshake, a comical callback to the same handshake done in Stressed Out’s MV. The Banditos return Clancy’s Jumpsuit to him, and he goes on to rap about overthrowing Dema. He shares his concern that “[the Banditios will] win but not everyone will get out.”
Further, in the chorus, Tyler sings: “East is up. I'm fearless when I hear this on the low. East is up. I'm careless when I wear my rebel clothes. East is up. When Bishops come together, they will know that, Dema don't control us! Dema don't control— East is up.”
This phrase, “East is Up,” is the motto of the Banditos, and can be explained this way: The fictional city of Dema is surrounded by giant walls, so every cardinal direction is blocked off—the only way out is up. This could also be referencing the sun rising in the east, suggesting a thematic parallel between “Nico and the Niners” and Twenty One Pilots' 2013 song “Truce,” where Joseph sings: “Now the night is coming to an end. The sun will rise and we will try again.” In his song “Message Man”, Tyler sings, “Remember the morning is when night is dead.”
Back in the NATN MV, the Banditos convening causes a disturbance in the Bishops’ ritual, as they can feel the ground shaking above them. By the time they arrive, the Banditos are gone, having escaped through a secret tunnel which leads outside of the city. However, the Banditos have left some of their apparel, as well as the Torchbearer’s drum kit, as proof of their being there. Two young children, doubtless citizens of Dema, find these items. One of them, a girl, lifts a Jumpsuit off of the ground, looking at it curiously. However, we see the nine Bishops stalking down the street, preparing to confiscate this contraband from the youths.
Moving onto the final MV of the trilogy, Levitate, we now find Clancy free again, back in Trench. The majority of this video is Tyler rapping while in the makeshift camp of the Banditos. We also see him getting his head shaved, which is a callback to the Car Radio music video. Additionally, that song revolved around Tyler’s car radio being stolen in real life, and him now having to deal with the silence. He raps: “I have these thoughts, so often I ought, to replace that slot with what I once bought, ‘cause somebody stole, my car radio, and now I just sit in silence.” Now, in Levitate, Tyler finishes that thought by rapping: “I got back what I once bought back in that slot, I won't need to replace.” Commenting on the creation of Trench itself, Tyler says in the song: “Danger in the fabric of this thing I made. I probably shouldn't show you, but it's way too late. My heart is with you hiding, but my mind's not made. Now they know it like we both knew for some time I'd say.” Essentially, this mythological world has blossomed into something larger than himself, and cannot be taken back. What was once known by Tyler and Josh only has now been shared with the world. This being the second track on Trench, Tyler raps: “By track two, at least they all know all they hear comes from a place.” This isn’t mindless music; these lyrics are contemplative, and well-thought out, encouraging us to think. As Car Radio, mentioned just earlier, says: “I will try with every rhyme to come across like I am dying to let you know
you need to try to think.” And in one of their earliest songs, Forest, Tyler sings: “I don’t want to be heard. I want to be listened to.” The purpose of this music, and this
world, is, not to dull our thinking ability and shut off our minds to sounds, but to see our fears materialized. And what’s more, to teach us how to contend and, hopefully, conquer them altogether. “Welcome to Trench,” Levitate invites us, in its final few seconds.
Finally, at the end of the Levitate MV, it’s revealed that a Bishop has infiltrated their camp at night, and he proceeds to pull Clancy backwards by the neck. And so the story of Trench ends, for now, with Clancy being taken back to Dema
again. This shows the ongoing struggle with feelings of depression and anxiety; it’s not something you can easily and permanently escape, unfortunately.
To round out PART 2’s discussion, I’ll conclude by mentioning Clancy’s letters. Tyler Joseph actually wrote a series of letters, from Clancy’s perspective, detailing even more lore from Trench. If you’d like to read all of those letters in their entirety, plus more hidden easter eggs, here is a link—
twentyonepilots.fandom.com/wiki/Dmaorg.infoI will only mention some of the most pertinent details.
* Clancy mentions that he didn’t realize the complexities of the Dema horizon until “his ninth year.” The release of Trench marked the band’s ninth anniversary.
* The act of Bishops stroking their black-tipped fingers across someone’s neck is called Smearing. It is used to control the FPE’s. If you recall, the phrase FPE stood for “the few, the proud, and the emotional,” back in Blurryface. Here in Trench, it stands for “Failed Perimeter Escape”; a tag given to those who are retrieved by the Bishops after escaping Dema. The black paint serves as a reminder of forced surrender and hopelessness. It represents the bishops stealing your memories; specifically the good ones, but in general just all life outside of Dema. The color, the vibrancy, the people, the help, and, essentially, the hope.
All of this is forgotten when Smeared.
* Clancy talks about the Annual Assemblage of the Glorified, which is an event in Dema where select citizens are chosen for what they assume is a privilege. But it’s really the Bishops transferring their minds into them (which again, is symbolic of anxiety and depression). Once this is accomplished, it’s referred to as the Glorious Gone. To the Bishops, the citizens are nothing more than available vessels through which to live eternally. In Leave the City, Clancy sings: “It's a Glorious Gone. It's only, time before they show me, why no one ever comes back, with details from beyond.” Once the Glorious Gone is achieved, the original host is beyond recovery, showing that they’ve succumbed completely to the effects of mental illness. Therefore, none of the citizens of Dema know what “the Glorious Gone” entails. In Blurryface, Clancy was one of the members who underwent the Glorious Gone, but unlike all the others who gradually decay after the process, he survived and lived to tell about it in Trench, which was completely new to the Bishops who were then frightened at being exposed. The character Blurryface is, in essence,
Clancy when being controlled by the Bishops.
* Keons is specifically mentioned as the most stoic and empathetic of the nine Bishops. Clancy’s own assigned bishop is Keons, as he lives in his sector. Now, the name Clancy is actually Irish, and means “son of the red warrior.” During the Trench era, Twenty One Pilots provided us a picture of a boy. Cropped out in the background is a mathematician named Andre Weil, who was a member of the real life Nicolas Bourbaki group. The photo, when reverse-searched on google, is titled “se_lf.jpeg,” so it’s fair to assume that it was a photo of Clancy. If so, it begs the question: why was Andre Weil there? Well, Andre is also the name of a bishop. Bishops wear red; hence, “son of the red warrior.” Clancy, then, is likely the son of a Bishop, namely, Andre.
In our next and final part in the reviewal of Trench, we will consider the meaning of the remaining songs and music videos, outside of the just-explained trilogy, which still reveal equally-as-important lore. Till next time!