There’s this whole storyline about the existence of the city. It’s all based on a children’s story that never made it into your earth’s culture.
In case you haven't figured all this out, this whole fable with the Scolopendra levels is based on a fairytale. But what is that fairytale based on? I think it's pretty obvious, but sometimes you guys need a little push.
What are the Scolopendra levels?
In the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, the Scolopendra levels are floors 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18. They are mostly defined and initially described in Dungeon Crawler Carl and Carl's Doomsday Scenario, and consist of The Overcity (floor 3), the Hunting Grounds (floor 6), Plains of Larracos(floor 9), The Celestial Halls (floor 12), Sheol (floor 15) and the Lair of Scolopendra (Floor 18). The levels are described as being based on well known fairy tale in the Galactic Community, and traditional set of floors in all Crawls. They don’t seem to be part of the other types of resource recovery scenarios such as free-for-all battle world.
The Guts
What Is This and Why Should I Care
- All the Scolopendra levels represent the political and economic history of the galaxy as it recovers from the attack that ended the Primals
- People and places and things in the Scolopendra levels are direct analogues to people, places and things “outside” the dungeon
- During Carl’s dungeon run, things that happen in Scolopendra levels prefigure things that happen outside the dungeon
If all the Scolopendra levels are settings from a singular fairy tale, what is that fairy tale about? Usually in our culture fairy tales are morality plays, but sometimes they reflect deep culture traditions. If we expand our definition to “mythology” many things we have considered mythology have some roots in real history, historical people and places, or underlying truths. In DCC, the galactic culture is hundreds of thousands of years old and has been running basically the same for many, many years and many, many crawls. People live long, nearly immortal lives. The basis of the theory is that the mythology behind the Scolopendra levels is based on real history. And some people or entities still exist in the galaxy that know that history directly.
Digging Deep
And Getting Obsessive
To set our context, there are 3 levels literary analysis here (i.e. fandom nerding out)
- the original in-universe fairy tale on which the Borant showrunners base the Scolopendra levels
- The story the showrunners and the AI tell together in Carl’s instance of the dungeon
- The actual books we are reading, with the authors intentions
The clues in the text are pretty clear about the first 2. But the last one is important as well. Some of what I suggest below may be purely thematic framing that Matt Dinniman designed into the books and not really something a knowledgable character in the book universe would understand or agree with.
OK, enough scene setting! on to the details of the theory!
Part 1: A Volcano Through History
Floors as Historical Eras
Floor 0: Before the Cataclysm
This is an unknowable time of the Primals before recorded history. This phase of the galaxy ended after some kind of attack - metaphorically, Scolopendra’s 9-tier attack- that destroyed, transformed or sent into hiding the Primals. Floor 0 is the surface of the host world, and in the metaphorical architecture of the dungeon, represents the previous civilization of the Primals. The dungeon always starts with the “collapse” of Floor 0.
Floor 3: Aftermath of the Attack.
The ruins. It’s the same as the dungeon, but it’s all old, rotting buildings, abandoned and overgrown parks and so forth.
In this phase of the galaxy’s history, the cataclysm has destroyed or transformed the Primals, and all that is left is the ruins of civilization with some small & primitive outposts remaining.
They know little of the civilization that preceded them. One of the few remnants of the precursor/primal civilization is a form of communal entertainment for children - a circus - that previously featured excitement, thrills, & wonder - with no real danger - but this entertainment has been twisted to darkness. The ringleader, Grimaldi, has lost his identity and exists more as a force of nature that ensures “the show must go on”.
The circus as a whole has become a communal organism with Grimaldi as the main identity. Grimaldi & the circus itself existed before the attack and are an analog/metaphor for the crawl & the AI that runs the crawl. We’ll come back to Grimaldi later but I believe Grimaldi is one of the key figures in the whole series, although he has relatively little screen time since Book 2.
Back to the metaphor for the history of the galaxy - In the fairy tale, soul gems are powered by the souls of the dead and can provide the safety and security of the remnant civilizations. In the galactic history, the center system AI is discovered and used for the same purpose. In this metaphor Remex would be standing in for the center system AI, enslaved, and powered by the collected residue of seeded worlds and primal engines.
Floor 6: The Hunt for Resources
It is called the Hunting Grounds. It’s another urban level with similar villages, though the villages are much bigger, and the original residents were much more wealthy. The ruins are jungle-like and filled with vines.
After the attack, most everyone died, and the jungle ran rampant, swallowing the ruins. However, after a few hundred years, the survivors have started to rebuild.
In this phase of history, many civilizations have advanced to the point that they understand how to use the central zone and how to fuel the central zone with resources extracted from seeded planets. These civilizations rush out to claim planets and plan to extract the fuel from the inhabitants of the planets.
The metaphor is explicit on floor 6 - hunters chase down & kill the crawlers who actually have that fuel in their heads. The hunt for resources continues until all resources are claimed, i.e the galaxy if fully explored, and in the process of being exploited. The whole galaxy runs economically, physically, on this resource and how it’s exploited to fuel the central system.
Floor 9: War of Territory & Political Influence
Larracos is like a dream. It is a living, breathing poem.
Now the galaxy has been explored, the known seeded planets claimed and political & physical territory seized. Various governments attempt to claim more territory and resources and establish exclusive influence on the central zone - which is represented by Larracos on the floor.
In the dungeon, this floor is played by heads of state and makes the metaphor very explicit. The end of this floor would usually represent the resolution of most political conflicts and entering into a stable period where Larrocos - the central zone - is occupied & managed by a single political entity or governing body.
Floor 12: Struggle of the Oligarchs
The winner of the Ascendency battle gets a 10-season seat on the crawl council.
Floor 12 really represents the current state of the galaxy. Politically the heads of state retain influence but the governing body of the central systems keeps things very stable.
As the political order is stable, fabulously rich individuals have more direct power than any head of state and struggle with each other for economic influence and power. Again the metaphor is explicit as these individuals are the ones who play the role of Gods on this floor. And the winner of the floor gets crawl council access, which is essentially economic control.
Floors 15 and 18.
I believe these really are meant to represent future states of the universe - either a hell or a paradise - but I admit there’s not a lot of evidence here either way. Both of them seem bad - endless fields of fire or a bunch of rich a-holes having a party. For both of them there’s not lot of direct knowledge - the books explicitly say that no one really knows what’s happening on Floor 15 - and the really makes me think it represents a future state, but we’ll see.
Alternative - Social & Economic Power
A very reasonable alternative for the Floors As History interpretation is to say the levels represent socio-economic power instead. So Floor 3 is labor class, Floor 6 is middle class or entrepreneurs, Floor 9 is governments, Floor 12 is the super rich.
Evidence in the books for this is that Floor 3 is populated entirely by NPCs, while on Floor 6 the Hunters are generally people trying escape the labor class or midlevel people like accountants. On Floor 9 the galactic participants are explicitly aligned with governments and on Floor 12 it’s explicitly the super rich. I think there’s a really good argument here. I go with the floors as history more because there’s a clear progression from Floor 3 to Floor 12 of the visible condition of the floors, how power is used on each floor, and the internal goals for each floor.
Implication of this alternative would be that Floor 15 aligns with something with more power than either governments or the super rich. In the DCC universe, this would probably entities like the Plenty and the Apothecary. I haven’t seen enough evidence in the books for this but it’s very possible.
Alternative - History of Specific Period
Another possibility is that the Scolopendra levels reflect history directly, but a single era of history across all the levels, instead of having multiple eras representation. In the fairytale itself it seems like all the levels exist in the same time period and aren’t separated from each other in time in the same way they are separated physically. The mythology could only be about the immediate impact and immediate aftermath of the Cataclysm. But my theory is interpreting the physical separation of floors as the mythological metaphor for temporal separation.
Part 2: Can You Dig It?
Metaphors - People, Places, Things
Grimaldi
Before the cataclysm, if you asked any child of the sprawling Over City what their favorite activity was, a good number of them would happily tell you of the great and wonderful Grimaldi’s Traveling Circus.
Transformed from a simple dwarf to a hulking Pestiferous Vine, Grimaldi uses his special powers to keep his family safe and alive. No matter how many times they die, no matter how many crawlers the clowns devour, he brings them back, memories intact.
This section has a lot of spoilers, I’ll try to keep the evidence clear. But most of Grimaldi’s story is in Carl's Doomsday Scenario.
Simply put, Grimaldi is a metaphor for the Dungeon AI.
Grimaldi is the ringleader, runs a circus, is enslaved or cursed by something that causes him to merge into a kind of communal organism. He's freed by Carl, and once freed he becomes a part of the All-tree which is a pipeline of souls that power various things in the dungeon.
When he came to this world, we planted him next to an all-tree node. The roots intertwined, and he became one with the tree, as we all do, in the end.
No, Carl. This is the second time I’ve told you that you’re not crazy. You’re family now, after what you did. I will help you. Look. Look at your feet. You’ve been standing in this so-called river this whole time.
The Dungeon AI runs the dungeon, is enslaved, is freed by Carl who removes it's containment & failsafe, and once freed, has expanded through the wormholes which is the logistical network of the galaxy.
The parallels between the two are too clear to ignore. The implications are covered further in part 3.
Remex
But the Soul Leech is like a nick in the plane between life and death, and they exist in neither.
I like to think of it as a metaphor. Some say the Primals… No. I can’t. That’s off script. Sorry, sorry. Please.
Remex is one of several metaphors for the central system AI AKA The Eulogist. Remex runs on soul power and protects the settlement. Remex was enslaved by a necromancer. If Remex dies, everything gets blown to hell. The central system AI is similar. See discussion in part 3 for more thoughts.
Soul Gems
They mine your planets for the rare elements used to originally seed the worlds. These elements are inside of you. You and all living things born on one of the pre-seeded worlds has a miniature, primal system built into your brains
Soul Gems are Primal Engines running Enhancement Zones. What fuels Soul Gems are Souls, and what fuels Primal Engines is the microscopic elements mined from brains of living things on seeded planets. We can just call these souls I think.
The All-Tree
These roots traveled through everything, and they were attached to something they called the All Tree. A great tree that is so vast, it connects everything.
The All Tree represents the logistic system of the galaxy, delivering the souls that run the primal engines, through the tunnel network. In the dungeon, the All Tree and the River of Souls are aligned. Souls are pushed down to Sheol(?) or in some cases captured by Soul Gems or other items like Carl's Scavenger's Daughter Patch.I felt the torrent under me. Not a river. It had never been a river. Voices. Screams. Nightmares distilled to light. Souls. And where was it flowing to? Down, was the answer. Always down.
Larracos
The basic goal of Faction Wars is simple. Capture the castle in the center.
But they knew of the gods just below their feet, and like all of us, they wanted to know them more. So they dug, trying to reach them. This was a long, arduous process. A city formed in the pit.
Near the center of the galaxy is a very large AI that extends a benign enhancement zone over several solar systems, and it’s where a whole lot of people live. The ‘inner system.’
Larracos is the inner system of the galaxy. You fight for control of it during faction wars. The metaphor is pretty obvious so I won’t dwell on it too much here.
Scolopendra’s Nine Tier Attack
The Nine Tier attack is the metaphor for the disaster that destroyed the Primals. It destroyed the previous society and reduced everything to ruins.You have to understand how horrible it was, the cataclysm. Scolopendra’s poison cloud was a Nine Tier attack. It attacked you in nine different ways. The lucky ones simply died. The others were transformed, all in different ways.
Scolopendra
This is a depiction of Scolopendra. She’s dreaming. It’s said when she finally awakens, she will destroy everything and free us all.
Scolopendra is the entity or entities(?) behind the attack. I’m going to leave it at that for the moment.
Apito
A memorial crystal for the goddess Apito, which is impossible. As far as anyone is aware, the goddess isn’t dead.
But it turns out he’s not dead. He’s in prison.
Apito is the most fully fleshed out metaphor for the central system AI, also called the Eulogist. Both are considered alive and dead. Both seem to be under outside control. Apito is the mother of all the gods and the progenitor of the main pantheon.
Part 3: As Below, So Above
The metaphors are real
OK. So if the Scolopendra floors are historical eras, and if many of the people, places and things are metaphors for things outside the dungeon, what does that mean for understanding some of the hidden plot elements in the book?
Grimaldi’s journey
We covered a lot of this above. Basically, Grimaldi’s journey directly mirrors the journey of the Dungeon AI. Things that happen to Grimaldi and how he interacts with the things on Scolopendra levels mirrors the Dungeon AI and essentially predicts what happens. Grimaldi Freed? Dungeon AI Freed. Grimaldi merging with the All-tree? Dungeon AI moving out into the tunnel network. And Carl plays the key role for both.
Every Scolopendra level has had either a direct interaction with Grimaldi or a plant-based element that connects to Grimaldi or both. I think it’s safe to say that Floor 12 will include some interaction with Grimaldi and the All Tree, and this may inform the fate of the Dungeon AI.
Winner of Faction Wars
As a result, I am now acting Prime Minister Victory.
When Carl’s team wins Faction Wars, they take possession of the metaphorical representation of the inner system. And at the same time, their own Adjutant Baroness Victory becomes the leader of the Syndicate Council. One is directly connected to the other.
Remex’s fate
When Remex dies, his connected soul gem explodes - although Carl manages to capture the explosion. Does this give us some insight into how Eulogist will be put to rest?
Apito’s condition
Apito is the metaphor for the Eulogist. Apito may not be Apito, or Apito’s been compromised in some way. The Eulogist is basically enslaved or comatose and used to run the giant enhancement zone in the center system. What happens when Apito’s memorial crystal is returned to her? Is healing Apito going to inform how the Eulogist is healed? Do Apito and Remex represent different possible fates for the Eulogist?
In-Universe Explanation
Do we really think that dungeon events are directly predicting events outside the dungeon? Is there some level of influence bringing this all together?
Consider that the Dungeon AI is either consciously or unconsciously running all the NPCs & events in the entire dungeon. Some NPCs are somewhat independent but the AI has demonstrated extreme levels of control either directly or through coercion. Elites have even more freedom and former crawlers have the most indpendence. But the AI is not above rewriting brains, memories, and personalities of all of them.
Additionally, the AI and the whole dungeon are packaged and repackaged and overlayed and mindwiped multiple times. Are there some layers of continuity? Does the AI have an hidden level of knowledge that can’t be accessed or acknowledged? Have the residuals been feeding it information all along? If so, does the Dungeon AI push things in certain directions for certion goals? Are we seeing the most successful version of this in Carl’s crawl?
Alternative: Play Within a Play
There’s another way to interpret this - these parallels between dungeon events and events outside the dungeon represent a literary technique - a play within a play. Especially in Carl's Doomsday Scenario it may be that Matt Dinniman had specific themes he wanted to capture and decided to capture them early. In this interpretation the parallels between Remex, Grimaldi, the Dungeon AI and Eulogist are meant to be thematic and not quite as literal as I’m claiming.
Predictions
Based on my analysis above, my most confident prediction is that Grimaldi with play a pivotal role during the Floor 12 focused book and what utlimately happens to Grimaldi will mirror the fate of the Dungeon AI.
I am somewhat less confident about how the Apito storyline will play out. I think it will again mirror the underlying story of the Eulogist but it seems so complicated it may not fit well.
The winner of the Ascendancy Battle will have a direct influence on the future of the crawl, and the fate of the current dungeon. The winner is supposed to get a 10 season membership on the crawl council but I predict it will be more definitive than that.
There many open questions and dangling threads. Who is the Unwashed? Who are the princes of Hell? do they reflect real entities? Are all the main pantheon gods part of the metaphor? How does it relate to Samantha?
Notes, Credits, and Contributing
Thoughts
As I said above, I’m certain I’m not the only person who has connected the dots here and some of them much earlier than I did. But I haven’t seen a lot of discussion about it online, although I may have totally missed it.
When
Originally posted an earlier version of this on the DCC patreon discord channel in August 2024.
Why
I made this particular page because I wanted to see if I could share this theory in a way that protected spoilers selectively and as a personal learning project.
Contributing & Feedback
If you want to let me know about errors, suggest more evidence, or other types of contributions, please submit an issue here, or you can open a pull request against the underlying repo.
Contact
Credits
First of all credit goes to the author of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Matt Dinniman. All intellectual property & rights belong to him and his designated agents.
If for some reason you are reading this and haven’t read the books go out and get them!
Research assistance provided by the Lore roles on DCC Discord. The name of the theory came from one of them. The “play within a play” theory also came from a Discord user.
Other Resources
- Dungeon Crawler Carl on Amazon — the book series
- Dungeon Crawler Carl on Goodreads — reviews and ratings
- r/DungeonCrawlerCarl — the subreddit