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Hey brother.
Guys, it is the week of Christmas and what could be more
Christmasy than Voldemort and his band of Death Eaters.
- Yeah, heh heh
- Okay, but to be fair, Harry does come back from the dead
and Christmas is like Jesus's birthday.
So Christmas movie.
Or wait was coming back Easter?
In any case, though, today we are going to be talking
about Voldemort and the origin of the term Death Eaters
for his followers.
This is a topic that we've talked about in the past,
but we have a fresh take on it
that I think makes even more sense
and it even further ties together Harry and Voldemort's wand
in a really cool way.
So today we uncover why they're called Death Eaters.
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Okay, so the term Death Eaters has always sounded like
really ominous and dark,
but we've never really been given any actual explanation
as to why they're called Death Eaters.
Right out of the gate, I feel like it brings some type of
like cannibal esque thing to mind,
like they literally eat the dead or,
or if you want to get fun with it,
maybe it makes them sound like some type of
like pro wrestler, you know, like
I Eat Death for Breakfast.
They do have fun masks,
but there really is no explanation at all
that suggests that this is something that they do
other than maybe Greyback,
but that's a completely different situation
because he's a werewolf.
Also, not even technically a Death Eater,
also, also I think could make it as a pro wrestler.
Also, also, also who says that he isn't already?
However, there is another aspect of Voldemort's existence
that is just absolutely shrouded in mystery
that might give us some idea
as to where the Death Eater title comes from.
And that is the idea or approach to how you make a horcrux.
After all, at the very least, we know that
it involves killing somebody, but the second part
is something that's never been explained.
Although I do think that it can be assumed
that whatever it is is something
that actually happens after the person is dead,
because we actually talk to someone
who remembers their death,
that was killed and turned into a horcrux.
and that person is that ever reliable Moaning Myrtle.
- I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes.
- I always thought this was particularly interesting because
one, the diary really isn't that significant
of an artifact at all.
Two, Moaning Myrtle is not a very
significant person to have killed.
And three Voldemort himself didn't actually kill her.
It was the basilisk.
Though, to be fair, it is on his order.
So I just don't know how it works.
It obviously did.
Anyway, horcruxes, how are they made?
The only other tidbit we have on this is really just
a legend that when the author explained to her editor,
how it was done, it nearly made them throw up.
But the more I think about that particular detail,
the more I just come to believe
that it is in fact just legend
or that maybe the editor just had food poisoning.
But to that end, what we are left with,
the information that we have is someone who is in fact dead,
something that is apparently disgusting that happens
and a group of people called Death Eaters.
So the cannibalism thing sort of tracks,
but just recently I was scrolling through the Tik Tok,
as you do, which by the way,
we are officially on Tik Tok now,
if you'd like to go and follow us at Super_Carlin_Brothers.
But I came across this girl, AKA Kirby.alice,
who has a completely different take on the story.
And I think it really lines up nicely.
At the very least, it sent us down quite a rabbit hole
and we ended up learning a lot about wand woods
in the Wizarding World.
The idea starts with the big, bad himself, Tom Riddle,
AKA the Dark Lord, AKA Voldemort.
Voldemort's wand has always been a particularly
interesting artifact within the Wizarding World
because right out of the gate, Harry is matched with a wand
that has a feather from the same Phoenix
that's in Voldemort's wand.
- The Phoenix, whose tail feather resides in your wand,
gave another feather.
Its brother gave you that scar.
- I gotta say, Olivander's casting, simply tremendous.
Also, Olivander as a character,
what a total true neutral, am I right?
Like I think during our video where you're talking
about all the different alignments, we said Cedric,
but Olivander works too.
But the fact that these two wands share a core
is very important and it really comes into focus
in "Goblet of Fire" when Voldemort and Harry
are dueling in the graveyard.
But let's pause it right there because
despite these two characters sharing the same core,
they do have different wand woods
and the symbolism behind those wand woods says a lot.
In fact, I would go so far as to say
that Voldemort's wand wood in particular
has everything to do with
where the name Death Eaters actually comes from.
Voldemort's wand is made of yew wood
which according to Pottermore "are among the rarer kinds,
and their ideal matches are likewise unusual
and occasionally notorious".
Occasionally notorious?
Look at this thing.
Who didn't see this coming?
You just know Olivander was like,
just whittling away one day and was like,
this is gonna be good, terrible, but good.
Anyway, this is the lore-based description.
Meaning that within the Harry Potter universe,
this is absolutely true about this particular wood.
But what makes this wand even more interesting
is what yew wood represents out here in the real world.
Yew trees have many different
unique characteristics and properties,
but one of the ones that stands out in particular is that
they are very frequently planted specifically in graveyards.
This is due to the fact that nearly every single part
of the yew tree is poisonous.
The branches, the leaves, the berries, all of it.
And by planting yew trees in these burial grounds,
it prevents other wildlife from scavenging the area.
So right out of the gate, it is not a far reach
between the real tree and the character of Voldemort.
I mean, poison and graveyards.
That's like two of his favorite things.
♪ These are a few of my favorite things. ♪
Can you imagine that Voldemort version of that?
("My Favorite Things").
I mean he literally turns like a lake inside of a cave
into a graveyard and then hides one of his horcruxes
inside of like poison in the middle.
Interestingly though, because they are specifically planted
in graveyards where nothing else is specifically planted,
it means that these yew trees aren't competing
with any other plants for nutrients, sunlight, anything.
Thus, they tend to be extremely healthy
and live for hundreds, if not even over a thousand years,
which is bananas,
or not bananas, cause bananas don't last very long.
Which isn't quite immortality,
but it's super duper in line with exactly
what Voldemort is trying to do,
achieve immortality, defeat death.
Or should I say eat death?
Yeah, because here's the thing.
Yew trees being planted in graveyards means
that they're absorbing nutrients from the soil around them,
in a graveyard.
And the thing about the ground in graveyards
is that it's full of, you know, graves.
So the yew tree in a way is in fact, a Death Eater.
And that right there is the theory.
The reason that they're called Death Eaters
is directly related to the wand wood of Voldemort's wand.
And honestly, I actually think this tracks
in several different ways.
For one, when Voldemort grew up in an orphanage
where he knew he was special, but didn't know why.
He was just able to make things happen.
- I can make bad things happen to people who are mean to me.
- The scene is also where he witnesses somebody use magic
for the very first time, which is Dumbledore,
literally setting his wardrobe on fire.
And his reaction is,
"Riddle stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore;
then his expression greedy, he pointed at the wand.
Where can I get on of them?"
Voldemort's wand is much more than just a wand to him.
It's like a rite of passage.
It's the thing that makes him special.
It is the truest extension of his own power.
To him, his wand is everything.
And when he can't defeat Harry with his own wand,
he goes on a three books side quest
to find one that he believes will defeat him,
which by the way, was a total waste of time.
Little did he know about what was going to happen
at Malfoy Manor between two school yard rivals.
Got in a fight over a stick.
Changed history.
It's not even the stinking question, I know, whatever.
Another interesting detail about the orphanage situation
is the fact that yew trees in graveyards typically
are very healthy because they have no other competition.
But yew trees in general are also known for being able
to survive in the worst possible soil conditions,
which again, fits Voldemort.
At the orphanage, he was all alone.
He was in poor soil and yet his magic still thrived.
Even the horcruxes fit, like after he tries to kill Harry,
he's less than the meanest ghost, but he lives anyway.
Maybe not thriving, but eventually is reborn in a graveyard.
And that brings us full circle to the other wand
that is present during that graveyard duel,
Harry's holly wand.
Now you might not think that Harry's wand
would have anything at all to do
with Voldemort's naming of the Death Eaters.
And that's probably true, but at the very least,
the symbolism attached to Harry's wand fits the same idea
that the inspiration for the Death Eater name
came from Voldemort's wand.
Because if yew is the death eating wood,
then holly is pretty much the death blocking wood.
And you know, when it comes to death blocking,
Harry's kind of an expert.
I mean, I guess he's only ever technically done it
the one time, but that's way more than anyone else.
But holly wood, according to Pottermore,
wait Hollywood, like famous?
Harry's famous?
Hollywood.
- Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter,
I can't believe I'm meeting you at last.
- According to Pottermore, "holly is a traditional symbol
of luck, prosperity, and protection from evil".
So yeah, that seems to fit.
But we also did some digging
into the meaning of the holly tree.
And did you know that they used to give babies baths
in the water from holly trees in order to protect them?
Let me do a think here.
Are there any famous babies
who are protected
from harm
in Harry Potter?
I mean, I guess to be fair, not like completely from harm,
he does get the lightning scar.
But on that note,
did you know that holly trees resist lightning?
Well, they do.
And we can't make this stuff up.
I was actually pretty excited to learn
that particular piece of information
because way back when, we made a theory
about what actually powers the Avada Kedavra spell,
and our theory is that it's lightning.
But of course, Harry resisted because he is holly wood.
By the way, if you want to see that entire video,
you can do so by clicking the card right over here.
But the short version of it is,
is that it's part of the reason why Harry's scar
is specifically shaped like lightning
and that the chapter where Dumbledore dies
is literally called "The Lightning Struck Tower"
where, you know, Dumbledore is of course struck down
at the top of a tower.
And, and, and though,
if you really want to bring the entire video full circle,
and the reason that we decorate with holly around Christmas
it's because they're meant to represent the crown of thorns
that Jesus wore when he was nailed to the cross.
And of course, Harry also comes back from the dead.
So in the end Voldemort's wand is the Death Eater
and Harry's wand is the death blocker.
And personally, I think it's amazingly cool
that you have the Phoenix feather as kind of like
this connective tissue between these two,
but then there are woods that represent
both of their respective ideals.
For my question of the day, what is your wand woods?
Mine is personally Phoenix feather, walnut wood,
10 and a half inches.
Let us know in the towel section down below.
But guys as always, thank you so much for watching.
Be sure to like this video and subscribe to the channel,
if you haven't already.
If you'd like some more Harry Potter action from us,
you can check out this video right here,
which was our first stab as to
why they were called Death Eaters.
Or if you'd like to find out how Voldemort got his wand back
after so many years,
you can check out this video right here.
Otherwise until next time. Bye.