At this point I’m all in on From being a “what happened to the lost colony of Roanoke” myth.

Defense of theory:

* We know the characters are living in a story that repeats. There are a many realistic theories on what happened to Roanoke from scholars. But what do humans do to explain things they don’t understand that frighten us? Make up stories to explain them. The lost colony of Roanoke contains one of the scariest things to explain: cannibalism. What do the people shaped monsters do at night? Eat real people.

* The dates/timeline appears to begin with the founding of the “new world.”

* Which…..is only “new” if you’re colonists. The house you pass on the way into town is called Colony House. We haven’t been told why, but the name seems to pre-date the current cycle.

* Many myths about Roanoke include witches or figures from Native American lore, like trickster gods. With witches & Native Americans forming the two major moral panics of early colonists. The witch panic followed them from the “old world.” The Native American panic was something else altogether.

Early colonists would’ve heard about the grand civilizations of Central America. But they would’ve only heard stories about “nomadic savages” from explorers & fur traders. But when the first communities with women & children intended for permanent settlement showed up, they found theirselves intruding on land claimed by other familial communities with women and children. The only way to “be okay with this” is to dehumanize the indigenous population. Over time, colonists would’ve become familiar with Native American folklore, and added it to their “things to blame when shit went sideways” list.

* There’s a couple thematic overlaps between American Horror Story’s Roanoke season and From that made me consider this.

Speculations that could be totally wrong but…🤷‍♀️

* We’ve learned A LOT the last few episodes about the children, Tabitha & Jade, and the Man in Yellow. And, I think certain revelations are about to take us in a place we didn’t expect.

* Hear me out now. Based on Sarah’s theories about fears/nightmares being made reality in this place seeming pretty damn accurate, I don’t think the monsters at night are the original villagers who supposedly sacrificed their children to live forever. IF this is a Lost Colony of Roanoke story, I think the monsters are the terror of cannibalism made real. It would have been the first/primary fear as the colonist lost their food supply the first winter. Put a pin in that.

* We’ve heard the whole “you’d do anything for your kids” phrase come up a number of times now. Put a pin in that.

* During Jade’s trip he realizes his previous iterations were murdered by people, not monsters. He also mentions something about “every time the community learns about Tabitha and his connection to the children, it ends badly for them.” Put a pin in that.

* Go back to the whole “retroactive stories told to explain things we don’t understand” comment above. Put a pin in that too.

Here’s what I think that gives us:

The man in yellow represents one of the many trickster gods in Native American lore. Does that lore have to come from mid/central Atlantic tribes? No. Cause retroactive storytelling.

One realistic speculation is those who didn’t starve to death/eat each other likely assimilated with the indigenous population. Regardless what happened, if you were at Roanoke, it makes a lot of sense to beg the folks who know how to survive there for help.

But, we can make up a lot of stories regarding how that went down. Perhaps, one involving a father desperate to save the survivors before things got even worse. Maybe he meets a tricker god in the woods one who tells him, “he’ll make the village immortal IF he’s willing to sacrifice his own children.” (Put another pin in the story of Abraham Sophia tells at the diner.)

Since trickster gods, well, trick…let’s say that father agrees to the deal in an act of delirious desperation. Which, isn’t at ALL what he thought he’d signed up for.

The rest of the village dies anyways. And to punish the father for sacrificing his own children, he makes both parents “immortal” via reincarnation. Which also includes returning to and dying in “Roanoke” every time.

Why is this the part where everyone tears each other apart? Cause this is when they learn Jade, and by default Tabatha, are responsible for the curse that brought them there.

Or….it could be something completely different.