Support for the idea that a fringe religious cult (in particular, one based at least in part on the cosmic horror mythos found in the works of Robert Chambers and H.P. Lovecraft) is behind the murders of Dora Lange and Rianne Olivier as well as the disappearance of Marie Fontenot has increased dramatically over the past week or so. The following two theories expand on the possible nature of the cult in some detail.
“Five Kings” Theory Theory submitted by wrongview, originally from reddit.
Rating: 4.
This theory is essentially a greatly expanded version of the Hart Family Cult Theory. Like the Hart Family Cult Theory, this theory holds as its central principle the idea that a secret religious cult is responsible for the Olivier and Lange killings and the Fontenot disappearance, and that Marty’s daughters are connected to this cult through a member of Marty’s family. However, unlike the Hart Family Cult Theory, this family member is not Marty’s father-in-law (Maggie’s father), but rather Marty himself. The author of this theory maintains that Marty is one of the “Five Kings,” a group of five men who, sometime prior to the Fontenot disappearance and the 1995 killings, formed a secret church dedicated to the resurrection of the “Great Old Ones”—powerful beings from the fictional Ctulhu universe created by the (real) American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. According to this theory, the four other Kings are: Dora Lange’s father, Marie Fontenot’s father, Rianne Olivier’s father or Reggie Ledoux’s father, and Reverend Tuttle. The author claims that the cult’s theology consists of a combination of elements from the Ctulhu mythos, satanic worship, and Christianity, and that the central doctrine of the church is that a daughter of each of the Five Kings is required to willingly allow her own ritual sacrifice in order to bring about the resurrection of the Great Old Ones. Four of the five sacrifices must each take place in one of the four classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire, or Water. In support of this claim, the author cites the media in which the bodies were found: Rianne Olivier’s body was found in a river, thus her sacrifice was made in water; Dora Lange’s body was placed underneath a tree, hence her sacrifice was made in earth; the Lake Charles woman was found suspended in the air; finally, the author holds that because Marie Fontenot’s body was never found, she must have been burned, and therefore her sacrifice was made in fire. While it cannot be denied that the deaths do fit the pattern of sacrifice in each of the elements, it is unclear to me whether or not this requirement is an actual component of the Ctulhu mythos (perhaps someone better versed in Lovecraft can clarify this).
Understandably, in order to ensure that their sacrifice is made willingly, the girls must be indoctrinated in the ways of the church from an early age. As evidence for this indoctrination process, the author cites Audrey’s sexual drawings from episode 3, the dolls tableau from episode 2, and the spiral drawing on a wall of Marty’s house that can be spotted in episode 3. This evidence is nothing new, and it is also cited by proponents of the Hart Family Cult Theory. However, this theory makes an additional insight that is very intriguing—in three weeks on this board, I have not seen the following observation made by anyone. The author of the Five Kings Theory notes that the mural discovered by Hart and Cohle on the wall of the abandoned church at the end of episode 2 does NOT depict a woman with antlers; rather, the five vertical markings surrounding the head of the woman (which can easily be mistaken for antlers) are the silhouettes of FIVE MEN. Now, when I first saw the image of the mural, I distinctly remember thinking that what I assumed to be the crown of deer antlers on the woman’s head was too angular and symmetrical to represent antlers. When I inspected the image more closely after reading the present theory, I realized that the five figures surrounding the woman bear an eerie resemblance to five men standing upright. In fact, I am now almost fully convinced that the five figures do not depict antlers, but rather five men standing around the woman in the foreground. This is a remarkable bit of evidence in support of the author’s perspective. The author then goes on to speculate that the mural of the naked woman was painted by the girls to be sacrificed, and is therefore further evidence of the girls’ indoctrination at the hands of the Five Kings. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the mural was painted by any of the daughters, but it could easily be revealed to have been painted by one (or more) of them in a later episode.
Drawing from the above evidence and his postulation of the existence of the Church of the Five Kings, the author of the theory proceeds to lay out a prediction of how the entire story will unfold given Marty’s status as one of the Five Kings. I will not comment on the author’s hypothetical plot developments, as they are all founded on the idea of Marty’s involvement with the Church of the Five Kings, and that is one aspect of the theory I find fault with. I do not believe that Marty is one of the Five Kings, or that he is involved with the cult in any way. I find it very hard to believe that Marty would have been able to conceal the indoctrination of his daughter(s) from Maggie for so long (assuming, of course, that Maggie is not complicit in the cult’s activities as well, which I highly doubt). I also find it highly unlikely that he would have been able to conceal his cult-related activities from Cohle, with whom it seems that Marty developed a fairly close relationship over the 7 years following the resolution of the Lange case. As I did in my evaluation of the Hart Family Cult Theory, I hold that the troubling behavior of Marty’s daughters is simply a thematic element specifically designed to portray the loss of childhood innocence. In addition, I am doubtful of the author’s claim that the Five Kings are influenced by the work of H.P. Lovecraft. Again, I am not familiar with Lovecraft’s work, so I do not know whether or not the nature of the killings resembles anything found in Lovecraftian literature. However, it seems to me that there is just not really any evidence at this point indicating that the cult’s work is in fact influenced by the Ctulhu mythos (so far, there have been references to the works of Chambers and Bierce, who both influenced Lovecraft, but there have been no references to the work of Lovecraft himself). Therefore, in light of these considerations, I would make a couple of adjustments to this theory: 1) An as-yet unknown character, and not Marty, is the fifth King; 2) the cult’s religious doctrine is not derived from the Ctulhu universe, but rather from an earlier brand of cosmic horror; namely, the work of Robert Chambers. In light of these adjustments, I find the evidence concerning the mural to be strong, and I am willing to regard the adjusted theory as being likely based on that evidence alone. Whatever the source of the cult’s religious inspiration, it is beginning to seem indisputable that a cult with five leaders is behind the murders.
Yellow King Theory Theory submitted by lipanwrangler.
Rating: 3.
Like the “Five Kings” theory, this theory holds that a cult is responsible for the killings. However, this theory posits that the cult is not merely influenced by the works of Robert Chambers, but rather that the fictional universe created by Chambers is REAL in the world of True Detective; that is, the events of True Detective have a supernatural underpinning. Lipanwrangler holds that True Detective writer Nic Pizzolatto has created a world in which the writings of Chambers do not exist; therefore, Pizzolatto’s references to the literary genre of cosmic horror (i.e. the Yellow King and Carcosa) are signs that these fictional places and things are real entities in the True Detective universe. In essence, Pizzolatto has chosen the mythos of cosmic horror as a vehicle through which to portray the supernatural nature of the grisly happenings in Louisiana from 1995-2012. Of course, this theory cites as evidence the references to Carcosa and the Yellow King in episodes 2 and 4. In the world created by Chambers, Carcosa is a fictional city ruled over by the Yellow King; anyone who comes into contact with the Yellow King loses the ability to distinguish between what is real and what is imagined, and as a consequence he/she becomes insane. Lipanwrangler suggests that the members of the cult have been “touched” by the Yellow King and therefore have been driven to insanity. Followers of the Yellow King come to believe in a line of inheritance to dominion over Earth; this lineage is sponsored by the Yellow King, and his followers will kill to secure their rightful place on the line of inheritance. Thus, Lipanwrangler contends that the cult’s members, in the grip of the Yellow King, have sought to achieve this end by committing the murders investigated by Hart and Cohle. Standing alone, this theory does not seem to make much sense, as it is unclear why the cult members would only target young girls if they are indeed driven by the need to secure their inheritance to the rule of earth; Lipanwrangler himself acknowledges this difficulty. However, when we consider this theory in conjunction with the “Five Kings” Theory, in which each of the victims is a daughter of one of the Five Kings, we see how the nature of the killings may reflect the work of Chambers. If the Five Kings are driven by the desire to secure the inheritance granted to them by the Yellow King, and if for some reason they believe that the inheritance will be passed down to one of their daughters (perhaps the eldest one), it stands to reason that the Five Kings would seek to kill their daughters.
Although it seems possible to draw a logical connection between the murdered girls and Chambers’ fictional universe, the connection alone does nothing to suggest that the Yellow King mythos is actually real in the True Detective universe. Even if it is true that the cult’s murderous activities are driven by the desire to prevent the passing of the Carcosan inheritance to their daughters, I see no reason to discount the idea that the cult is influenced by Chambers’ writings to a radical extent, rather than being influenced by a real, supernatural incarnation of Chambers' writings. As evidence of supernatural forces at work, lipanwrangler cites Cohle witnessing the flock of birds forming into the shape of a spiral in episode 2. He claims that this was not one of Cohle’s hallucinations, and that the birds did indeed form a spiral due to the influence of a supernatural agent. In opposition to this view, I argue that Cohle’s hallucinations and visions due to his extended term of duty in undercover narcotics have become a well-established element of his psyche; this fact alone is solid evidence in support of the notion that the birds forming a spiral was just another one of his visions. On the other hand, there is no concrete evidence that the birds did indeed form a spiral. However, just as there has been no concrete evidence so far to support the notion that the cult’s activities are driven by supernatural forces, there has been no concrete evidence to support the converse of this statement. Indeed, within the context of the narrative, it is impossible to prove that supernatural forces are NOT at play; we will only know for sure if, when the series comes to a close, no supernatural events have occurred. Therefore, since so far there has been a lack of evidence indicating the presence of supernatural forces, I make the following adjustment to this theory: No supernatural forces are at play. In light of this adjustment and the possible connection between the Yellow King lineage and the murdered girls, this theory seems plausible.
the chick Marty was banging, not Mcconaughey 
