Twenty One Pilots is known for the in-depth lore attached to their albums. Here is everything you need to know about the lore attached to Trench before the release of their new album Clancy.
The lore starts following almost a year of silence after the end of the Blurryface-era, when Twenty One Pilots teased their fans with a glitched-out URL that appeared on the top of the Vessel store page. The URL brought them to a site with cryptic messages strange images and letters signed-off on by a “Clancy”.
On July 2, 2018, members of the band’s mailing list received an email titled “ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING?” which was accompanied by a GIF of a vulture with a half-closed yellow eye. The eye would open on July 10, 2018, when the band released “Jumpsuit” and “Nico and the Niners” singles from the band’s fifth album Trench.
The website that appeared on the top of the Vessel store page would be referred to as DMAORG, which was used as a conceptual teaser for the lore associated with the album. While the website is populated with a variety of things now, when it was first discovered, the link led to a “404 ER_ROR” page which read:
“you are in violation. thEy mustn’t know you were here. no one should ever find out About this. you can never tell anyone about thiS — for The sake of the others’ survIval, you muSt keep this silent. we mUst keeP silent. no one can know. no one can know. no o ne c an kn ow_
(Violation Code. 15398642_14) ”
A variety of capital letters were spread out throughout the entirely lowercase message which led fans to quickly realize that the band was providing them with a secret code. The code read “EASTISUP,” which is a lyric from their song “Nico and the Niners.”
When pasted into the correct location in the existing URL, the violation code listed in the message would lead to another page that contained journals and images that detailed the story of Clancy, played by Tyler Joseph.
Clancy, the story’s main character, lives within the walls of a theocratic city that is ruled by an organization made up of nine bishops called the Sacred Municipality of Dema. The people of Dema live under an autocratic religion called Vialism which requires its citizens to take their own lives to get into their so-called Paradise. The bishops’ names are Andre, Lisden, Keons, Nico, Reisdro, Sacarver, Nills, Vetomo and Listo.
After being trapped inside the walls of Dema for nine years, Clancy begins to question Vialism and the rule of the bishops, attempting to escape the fortified city on multiple occasions. But Nico, the head bishop (also known as Blurryface), always tracks him down and drags him back to Dema.
On one occasion, Clancy convinces Nico to leave the city and, in an attempt to escape, he destroys the car they were travelling in (the events of the “Heavydirtysoul” music video) and gets lost in the wilderness of the world surrounding Dema called Trench.
Within 5 days, Nico has found Clancy again and attempts to take him back to Dema. Using a tactic called smearing, Nico captures Clancy, black marks appearing on his neck and hands. But during his time out in Trench, Clancy encounters the Banditos, a legendary rebel group that resides in Trench. This all takes place in the “Jumpsuit” music video.
After being returned to Dema, Clancy attempts to escape again, being met by the Banditos and their leader, the torch bearer, who is played by Josh Dun. The Banditos help Clancy escape during the Annual Assemblage of the Glorified, a horrifying ritual that ends in the death of the most upstanding citizens of Dema (events of “Nico and the Niners” music video). While they make it back to the Banditos camp, Clancy is captured by Nico again and brought back to Dema.
While that is the last we hear from Clancy in the Trench-era music videos, there is the introduction of Ned in the “Chlorine” music video. Ned is a small creature whose species grows antlers that can be removed to give the person who has them the power of psychokinesis, a ritual the bishops use to possess the dead bodies of the Glorious Gone. The Glorious Gone are those who have committed to killing themselves in the name of Vialism.
On April 2, 2021, DMAORG changed, letting the viewer know that the site would be terminated and on April 5, 2021, everything was deleted. The website listed a message about account termination which read:
“The page you are looking for has been removed from our servers. The account violated terms established by The Sacred Municipality of Dema and was deemed contraband material. Disciplinary action has been taken, and the offender no longer has access to this account. Further actions have been taken to ensure these violations will not occur again. Anyone attempting to access or share any contraband material will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the laws set forth by DMA ORG and The Sacred Municipality of Dema.
Infraction No. 3.12.1.14.3.25.9.19.4.5.1.4. ”
Following this message, a year of silence ensued which led into the Scaled and Icy era, a heavily debated season throughout the Twenty One Pilots fan base.
This article is part of an ongoing in-depth look at the lore associated with the albums “Trench” and “Scaled and Icy” in the run-up to Twenty One Pilots’ newest album. The next article in this series will cover the lore associated with “Scaled and Icy.” To remain updated on this series, stay tuned to The Brock Press.