Over the Garden Wall: Turtle Theories

In case you haven't guessed from the title, this post is about the 2014 Cartoon Network miniseries ‘Over the Garden Wall’, which I have been obsessed with for about a month now. The story revolves around two brothers who get lost in a place called the ‘Unknown’. 

 

Spoiler Warning: Yeah, there'll be spoilers in this post. If you haven't seen the show before, I recommend you go and watch it right now! 

 

Now, there are plenty of theories about this show, mainly about how it may or may not be set in purgatory, and what exactly the ‘Beast’, the antagonist of the show, is. However, this post will explore a different, less commonly explored aspect of the series: the black turtles that appear in several of the episodes and yet are never explained. Though there are already a few theories for this, there's one that I have never seen brought up, and so I've decided to list the theories that I have found, and add my own at the end. 

 

1. They are merely another reflection of the real world

    This is probably the simplest theory of the lot. In episode 9, when we see Wirt's bedroom, a band poster for 'The Black Turtles' can be seen on one of the walls. This links to the theory that many of the aspects of the Unknown are actually just reflections of the real world, such as Quincy Endicott's name, which appears on a grave when Wirt and Greg attempt to retrieve the tape from Sarah's coat in 'Into the Unknown'. The reasons for this vary slightly, but the most popular suggests that the Unknown is Wirt's way of dealing with social anxiety, and so these references to the real world are hints at his ongoing concerns about returning home, and the worries he must face when (or if) he returns home.

2. They are the Beast's spies

    To fully understand this theory, we must think about where the turtles are seen, and why. The first appearance of the black turtles is in the first episode. Greg places a piece of candy on a turtle's shell as Wirt and Beatrice talk. Not long after, the Woodsman, who we later discover is under the Beast's control, finds the two boys and brings them back to the mill. In 'Schooltown Follies', a badger picks up a turtle and throws it into the water. The Beast does not appear in this episode. In the comics produced after the release of the show, we see a black turtle just before the Beast reveals itself the Woodsman's daughter, Anna.

    These are all instances that support the theory that the black turtles are spies of the Beast, sent out to find potential victims and follow the brothers throughout the show. Believers of this theory also link the turtle's colour to the Beast's similar shadowy black presence, and explain Auntie Whispers' eating of the turtles as her attempt to help the forest by weakening the Beast's control. After all, we are shown at the end of 'The Ringing of the Bell' to have been wrong to distrust Auntie Whispers, and she herself warns the brothers of her sister Adelaide, who claims to be following "the dark voices of the Beast".

3. They are a malicious force in and of themselves

    Going back to the first episode, after Greg places a piece of candy on the turtle's shell, Wirt and Greg are taken to the mill where they are attacked by what they believe to be the Beast. However, it turns out that this giant, black monster was merely a dog, who spits out the turtle from earlier in the episode. The Woodsman tells the boys, who believe that they have vanquished the Beast, that the dog was not the Beast, suggesting that what happened to the dog may not have been related to the Beast at all, as the Woodsman would be the character most likely to know what the antagonist is capable of. If this is the case, then it is possible that the turtles themselves are a force of evil that may be unrelated to the Beast.

    Though there is not much other evidence for this, it may be the reason for Auntie Whispers' strange appearance. She may be eating the turtles to protect others, or she may eat them without any knowledge of their malicious effect, but either way her appearance is unusual in comparison to the other human characters of the Unknown and this may be because of her ingestion of the turtles, which could have a weaker effect on humans than smaller, simpler animals like dogs. As well as this, early Christians saw turtles as a symbol of evil, and the colour black is obviously connoted in Western literature with death and evil.

4. They are the souls of those who have become Edelwood trees or have been devoured by Lorna's spirit

    This theory stems primarily from Auntie Whisper's large collection of black turtles, and from the common appearances of the turtles near Edelwood trees. In episode 1, the turtle appears after we are shown the Woodsman chopping down an Edelwood tree. In 'Songs of the Dark Lantern', the Woodsman watches a turtle crawl across the trunk of what could be an Edelwood tree. In the comics, Anna comes across a turtle in a puddle of Edelwood oil as she stumbles upon the Beast. These may reference the idea that the turtles are actually the souls of those who have become the trees due to the Beast's malicious influence. This would explain why the turtles pop up so often (they are seen more often in the series than the antagonist himself), and are not seen as a threat by any of the residents of the Unknown.

    The other half to this theory, that they are really the victims of the spirit that possesses Lorna, revolves more around Auntie Whispers' eating of them, as she may do this in order to give the souls peace, or merely to get rid of the evidence of Lorna's actions. This may be the most unlikely suggestion, however, as Lorna would have to devour a lot of souls for the turtles to have spread so very far from her home, and Whispers' diet could also be explained as her mercy for the victims of the Beast.

5. They are a symbol of hope and life

    My own theory, and the most optimistic outlook on the black turtles, this conjecture supports the idea that the turtles, though they do not act as guides in any way, are beacons of hope for the two protagonists. The turtle, due to its long lifespan, has been seen throughout time as a symbol of endurance, persistence, and the continuation of life (sometimes against impossible odds), and so their reoccurring appearances on the show, a story that is speculated to be about the thin line between life and death, may hint at the boys' eventual survival.

    It may be that, in the first evidence, the dog is not corrupted by the evil force of the turtle, but entirely the opposite. The act of eating the turtle, a symbol of life and survival, may have corrupted the dog until the turtle was spat out again. The raccoon in 'Schooltown Follies' may have been attempting to help the turtle by throwing it in the water, or it may be a symbol of the brothers straying from their goal of returning home, as this episode does not help them in this pursuit, and only distracts them, as shown when Wirt suggests that he stay at the school to Beatrice. Auntie Whispers may be eating the turtles in an illogical attempt to preserve her own life, or as a warning of the evil that lurks within the house, in Lorna. This is also the only theory that explains the anthropomorphised turtle in the Cloud City sequence of 'Babes in the Woods', and the turtle that is caught by Fisher Fish in the epilogue of 'The Unknown', a sequence which shows the positive endings of our characters, including Beatrice and the Woodsman. Furthermore, this, like the first theory, explains Wirt's poster, as it can be seen as a symbol of Wirt's life and his safety by the end of the series.

 

Conclusion

    So these are all of the theories about the black turtles of Over the Garden Wall that I could find. I hope you enjoyed reading about these mysterious little creatures, whichever speculation you believe to be most accurate. And whether you think the turtles are evil, or good, or if you still think that they mean nothing at all, I think we can all agree that Patrick McHale (and co.) made an amazing show, and I hope that this post did his work justice.

 

If you'd like to read more about the black turtles, or any of the reading material I used to make this post, the links below should help to satisfy your curiosity.

 

The Wiki page for the black turtles:

http://over-the-garden-wall.wikia.com/wiki/Black_Turtles

A thesis about the show's portrayal of anxiety:

http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/10323/DuQuaine_thesis_2016.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y 

A Reddit discussion about the black turtles:

https://www.reddit.com/r/overthegardenwall/comments/41esi5/what_do_you_guys_think_the_significance_of_the/

Another blog post about the show and the turtles:

http://rachelsteadpieday.blogspot.com/2015/05/over-garden-wall-existentialism.html