Introduction[]
Troubles, also referred to as curses or afflictions, are supernatural, paranormal, and metaphysical abilities that tend to run in family bloodlines. Haven, Maine has a unique protection for the Troubled, and most of the time is a place where Troubles cease to be active. Haven is not protected all of the time though, and that period of time without protection is known as "The Troubles".
It is unknown if these people originated in Haven, or simply came there in numbers for the protection that the town provides. The Guard has long run a campaign, helping relocate Troubled people to Haven.[1] Troubles can be traced back to most of the Founding families. The only Founding Family known not to be afflicted were the Driscolls.[2]
History[]
Haven comes from the Mi'kmaq word, "Tuwiuwok", which means "haven for God's orphans".[3] Troubled people, those with supernatural abilities running in their bloodlines, can be found all over. Most of the time, the town of Haven functions as a true Haven for these people, and their Troubles cease to be active. The Troubled are able to live their days in Haven as normal people, unaffected by the metaphysical abilities that run in their bloodlines.[1]
The Troubles[]
The Troubles follow the twenty-seven year cycle of the Hunter Meteor Storm, and are associated with the appearance and disappearance of Mara with an inexplicable immunity to the Troubles and an innate ability to help the Troubled.[note 1]
Mara spent most of her time in The Barn functioning as an umbrella-like protection for the town keeping the Troubles at bay. This protection only worked for just over a quarter of a century at a time and so 27 years after the last appearance of the Hunter, the Troubles would begin to come back. A year after that, Mara would arrive in Haven and work to assist the Troubled. Every time she arrived with the memories of another person, and as she worked to help the Troubles she either remembered or was informed of her past appearances in Haven and the role she played in protecting the town.
When the Hunter Meteor Storm returned, Mara travelled to Kick'em Jenny Neck and entered The Barn. The original Mara was dragged into The Barn kicking and screaming William recalls with out explaining who was initiating the punishment. Upon entering The Barn her memories were stripped away and she was given new ones for the next cycle. When she entered the Barn the Hunter would pass safely overhead and the Troubles disappeared.
In 2010, Nathan Wuornos shot Agent Howard, destroying The Barn.[4] The Hunter Meteor Storm pounded the town of Haven and the Troubles did not end.[5] After The Barn was destroyed, the Troubles got worse. It is unknown if the Troubles got worse because of the destruction itself, or if because without hope, the Troubled had less ability to control their Troubles.
Mutated Troubles[]
William, a mysterious man who escaped the imploding Barn came to Haven with two associates Heavy and Sinister. Once in Haven, he made the Troubles worse still, in an attempt to draw out the original personality of Mara, who currently had the memories and personality of Audrey Parker. He mutated Troubles to make them more deadly,[6][7] triggered Troubles,[8] gave Troubles to the un-afflicted,[2] and created monsters.[9][10]
New Troubles[]
Mara had altered Duke Crocker using Aether to turn him into a walking bomb. When Mara "died" inside of Audrey, all the troubles inside of Duke came out and infected people with a whole new batch of troubles. Audrey is not immune to these new troubles, but Duke is. This causes everyone in Haven to become troubled.
The Cure[]
Charlotte figures out that the troubles can actually be cured by creating a new barn to remove all the aether from the troubled people. In Forever, the troubles are cured by the new barn, never to return again.
Causes and Triggers[]
According to William, Troubles required an alchemy of three things: intent, a person chosen to match that intent, and a ball of "evil black goo", or as William called it, "the breath of life." With a proper understanding of the personality, talents, and abilities of person they intend to trigger, and a creative and well-matched intention, William and Mara/Audrey could use the black balls to force people to manifest new supernatural abilities.[8]
Once someone has a Trouble, it stays in the bloodline, lying in wait until it's triggered by severe emotional distress, often the death of a loved one. Some Troubles, once triggered are constantly active, mostly biological Troubles. Troubles that are not always active, can often be stopped with proper management of emotional triggers.
Bloodlines[]
Once a family has a Trouble, it stays in the bloodline. Most lineages come from the father using a single line of descent.[11] It is unknown what happens when two Troubled bloodlines mix.
Some Troubles are specific and manifest in an identical fashion in every generation. But many Troubles function in a Dante-esque manner that is specific to the situation and the person. Cornell Stamoran was too afraid to kill Henry so his Trouble created a deadly clone. Stamoran then had to repeatedly kill his clone in order to stop it from killing.[12] Don Keaton's Trouble was triggered by his survivor's guilt; anyone who congratulated him for being hero was flash-burned, dying in the same manner that his partner did.[13]
According to William, he and Mara used to set up complementary Troubles to see how they'd interact.[8] Nathan Wuornos' inability to feel and Jordan McKee's touch causing extreme pain is one example of this.[14]
While the specifics of how a Trouble manifests may change from generation to generation, the underlying concept and emotions that trigger it are the same.[note 2] It is unknown what happens to a child who has two Troubled parents.
Types of Troubles[]
There are 6 main types of Troubles:
- Manipulation - posses the ability to manipulate the world around them through supernatural means
- Manifestation - a subtrope of manipulation, involving some sort of spontaneous generation
- Biological - a subtrop of manipulation, when the manipulation physically affects their own body, or gives abilities related to their own physical bodies
- Time travel - a subtrope of manipulation, when time itself is manipulated
- Psychometric - Troubles affecting psychological or mental states
- Creature - Troubles that create creatures. May be manifestation, biological or psychometric
See also[]
- The Troubled - a list of all Troubled characters
- Timeline for when Mara was known as Sarah Vernon
- Timeline for when Mara was known as Lucy Ripley
- Timeline for when Mara was known as Audrey Parker
- The Barn amplifies Mara's love to protect Haven
- Agent Howard - avatar of the Barn
Notes[]
- ↑ The 27 year cycle is modelled after the 27 year cycle in Stephen King's It.
- ↑ Brian Millikin confirmed that Troubles may manifest differently over time on twitter.[15]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Escape to Haven"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Crush"
- ↑ "Welcome to Haven"
- ↑ "Thanks For The Memories"
- ↑ "Fallout"
- ↑ "Lay Me Down"
- ↑ "The Trouble With Troubles"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "When the Bough Breaks"
- ↑ "William"
- ↑ "Shot in the Dark"
- ↑ "Trouble bloodlines"
- ↑ "Friend or Faux"
- ↑ "Survivors"
- ↑ "Double Jeopardy"
- ↑ Tweet from @bmillikin 16 Nov 13 - 01:56 am (EST)