“ | The People of Sanctum have lost their way of life, but many still believe in the Primes. | ” |
— Indra [src] |
The citizens of Sanctum, known as the Sanctumites,[2][3] are the descendants of the embryos brought from Earth by Mission Team Alpha.
History[]
The group traces their history to Mission Team Alpha who came to the moon, referred to as Alpha, from Earth aboard Eligius III. At some point, the teams split up. The people of the Sanctum settlement only consider members of four families to be their founders, excluding other Mission Team Alpha members like Gabriel Santiago. The twelve members of those four families become known as the Primes.
The current Sanctumites are descendants of the embryos brought from Earth.
In the series finale episode "The Last War", when the human race achieves Transcendence, the Sanctumites are amongst them.
Society[]
The Sanctum ministate was led by the Primes. Outwardly, the people are happy and peaceful. The people seem loyal to the Primes and are happy to show their love for "the glory and grace of the Primes". However, there are strict rules and the Primes must always be obeyed. Among the population, there are those who disagree with the Primes' reign.
The society stands on four pillars of Sanctum: Repent, Renew, Rejoice, and Rebirth.
Primes and Hosts[]
The latest Primes are the reborn incarnations of the original twelve Primes. They use Mind Drives to take over bodies of willing hosts. Only those with black blood, also called Royal Blood, are compatible with the Mind Drive. This makes those born with black blood very important and they are called "Hosts". On their Naming Day, the Host's mind is wiped before a Mind Drive is inserted. At that point, the Prime takes over the Host's body and is 'reborn'. Both Primes and Hosts are heavily protected by guards.
Nulls and Oblation[]
Since black blood is a recessive trait, both parents must carry the gene for a child to be born with Royal Blood. People who do not carry the gene are referred to as "Nulls".
Because Nulls cannot bear Hosts (a child with black blood), they are discriminated against in Sanctum. Josephine Lightbourne calls Nulls "less than useless" because they "dilute the bloodline". No child of theirs can have black blood regardless of other parent's genetics (while if two carriers have a child, it's possible for child to be born with black blood), thus they are forbidden from having children.
Their job options are very limited. According to Gabriel Santiago, they can "clean toilets or volunteer to die as a guard or attend to the dead." Isaac confirms that they can be only janitors or guards.
Josephine wanted to get rid of Nulls to prevent them from further "muddying" the bloodline. Thus she created Oblation: offering Null infants to be killed by the plants and trees. This is one of the reasons why the Children of Gabriel wanted to get rid of Primes. Oblation was started because Gabriel Santiago destroyed the remaining embryos in an attempt to stop the resurrections.
In "The Gospel of Josephine", its suggested that Russell put a stop to Oblation in the six years between Josephine's death and resurrection in Clarke's body because Josephine complained about his changes to the "breeding program" once she was gone. Unaware that she's talking with Josephine herself, Abby Griffin shows her a book Josephine wrote herself called Oblation By and For the Grace of the Primes which Abby calls propaganda about Oblation. Having read it, Abby believes that Josephine is a monster. In "From the Ashes", Emori learns that it was Kaylee Lee who stopped Oblation, using the slogan "we are one". Due to her relationship with a Null, she realized what the Primes had become.
Carriers[]
People who carry the Royal Blood gene but do not have black blood themselves are the middle class. They are allowed to have children and have more options for jobs (e.g. Blythe Ann Workman owns a tavern). They are still below Primes but they are above Nulls.
Economic and Social Features[]
Despite Sanctum being an absolute monarchy, it appears that the economy doesn't use any money or currency, presumably due to the society being a cult, where there's no capitalism, meaning that they share food and supplies as they work together in their jobs and helps each other out. It is a utopian society, where everything in Sanctum is peaceful, despite the strict rules and the dark secrets of the Primes' corruption. It also appears the Primes are collective heads of state in the monarchy.
Adjustment Protocol[]
Josephine and Simone realized that during the Red Sun eclipse the citizens are becoming more faithful to Primes and more likely to attack "non-believers". This became the way to reduce or "adjust" the population and straight the faith in Primes. This regular ritual allowed them to get rid of people whom they could not brainwash. Its mentioned in "Memento Mori" to be Josephine's "favorite ritual."
The toxin was harvested from mushrooms in caves and spread out by exploding a bomb containing it over a crowd of Sanctumites.
Crime and Punishment[]
Sanctum has some form of punishment system. Any high crime is a capital punishment. Simone Lightbourne was the one who first started burning at the stake, as an execution method. Sanctum also has a trial.
Sanctum Guards[]
The Sanctum Guards are the royal guards of the Primes. They are known to protect the Primes and the Hosts. They are loyal believers of the Primes. The Sanctum Guards only consist of the red-blooded Nulls. The Guards' main job is to maintain order in Sanctum.
Notable Guards[]
Adjusters[]
The Adjusters, also known as the "True Believers" or "the Faithful", are a cultist group of Prime-worshiping zealots, who were sent and hired by Russell Lightbourne, to control the citizens, in case of a rebellion. The Adjusters' plan is to "purify" Sanctum, which means they'll kill anyone who refuses to believe in, disrespect or opposes against the Primes. They will drug anyone who decide to believe in the Primes, in order for them to stay loyal to the Primes. They are loyal believers of the Primes and they refused to accept the truth about the Primes, fearing that if they accept the truth, their lives mean nothing.
When Gabriel Santiago told the leader of the Adjusters, "I'm sorry this happened to you", it was implied that the Primes has forcefully re-educated the Adjusters into working for them, thus making them loyal sleeper agents.
As shown in "The Blood of Sanctum" and "A Little Sacrifice," the Adjusters sometimes works as dieners or medical service workers whose job was to move dead bodies or help the injured and wounded.[4][5][6][7][8]
As seen in "From the Ashes," the Adjusters remain loyal to the Primes, demanding the release of Russell while the Children of Gabriel call for his execution.
Notable Members[]
Events[]
Harvest Festival[]
- Main article: Harvest Festival
A Harvest Festival is where people begin to harvest the fields to collect crops. People are seen dancing during this festival. It sometimes likely happens after a Red Sun.
Naming Day[]
- Main article: Naming Day Ceremony
On Naming Day, the host has an implant containing the mind of one of the original Primes inserted into their neck. The process is similar to what the Grounders do with the Flame. The Flame has the minds of all its previous hosts, but the new host keeps control of their mind and body. Sanctum's Mind Drive's are different – the host is "erased" according to Russell Lightbourne and the chip only contains the mind of the original Prime, not any of the intermediate hosts.
In "The Face Behind the Glass", Delilah is implanted with a Mind Drive, containing a Prime and becomes Priya VII. The same is done with Clarke, and she becomes Josephine. Of the hosts, only Clarke survives due to having A.L.I.E.'s neural mesh inside of her head. The rest of the hosts are mind wiped with nothing of them surviving as shown by an experiment Russell and Gabriel Santiago once did using Red Sun toxin.
The Naming Day begins with a First Confession speech, before people begin making amends. The citizens release lanterns with their wrong doings written on them. A dance is also held, during Naming Day.
Unification Ceremony[]
The Unification Ceremony, also known as the Reunification Ceremony, is an event that was originally planned by Kaylee Lee. Her dream of this ceremony was to unify the Null members of the Children of Gabriel with their Sanctumite families, who abandoned them in the Offering Grove.
Emori, posing as Kaylee Prime, decides to start her planned ceremony, in order to make real peace, since Emori herself was left abandoned as a child to die in the desert.
Members[]
Primes[]
Deceased[]
Hosts[]
Deceased[]
Other Members[]
Transcended[]
Unknown[]
Former[]
Deceased[]
Notes and Trivia[]
- The citizens perform daily Tai Chi to show their respect to the glory and grace of the Primes.
- The practice of giving null infants to the Offering Grove (Oblation) is similar to how Grounders were noted to kill their young with birth deformities so that their bloodline would remain 'pure'.
- In "The Blood of Sanctum," the end credits reveal that one of the citizens is called a Sanctumite.[9] In Behind the Scenes video, Lindsey Morgan confirms that the inhabitants of Sanctum are called Sanctumites.[10]
Gallery[]
See Also[]
References[]
- ↑ File:S6Titles MapOfSanctum2.png
- ↑ "The Blood of Sanctum" end credits
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gLT8jAoNbY
- ↑ File:613 - 2 adjusters as medics.png
- ↑ File:613 Adjuster medic 1.png
- ↑ File:613 Adjuster medic.png
- ↑ File:613 Adjusters as medics.png
- ↑ File:613 Two adjusters as medics 1.png
- ↑ "The Blood of Sanctum" end credits
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gLT8jAoNbY