My Understanding of the Plot Logic in Black Myth: Wukong
After becoming a Buddha, Sun Wukong realized the true nature of immortality: both the celestial and Buddhist realms achieve it by exploiting the lower realms.
Eastern Heaven’s Method: Creating a “demon factory” to mass-produce resources to satisfy the upper realms.
Western Heaven’s Method: Planting the “Meat Buddha Head” to absorb spiritual energy.
In some cases, even great immortals would prey on lesser ones. This is why Wukong confided in Zhu Bajie, saying, “If they want to eat you, there won’t even be bones left.” He also remarked, “Immortality isn’t eternal.”
Initially, Wukong may have simply wanted to avoid complicity in these schemes. He resigned his celestial post and returned to his homeland. However, from the perspective of the upper realms, not choosing a side is itself a stance. Someone aware of such secrets could not be allowed to act freely. This led to both the Eastern and Western Heavens joining forces to annihilate Wukong.
The irony is that even after murdering Wukong, they still needed a being as powerful as him.
At the end of Chapter 4, the storyteller reveals that the number of celestial ranks is fixed, but the entities occupying them can change. Thus, the upper realms still required a Great Sage Equal to Heaven or a Victorious Fighting Buddha.
After Wukong’s death, they discovered that even when the Five Great Demon Kings obtained the root essence, none could refine it to Wukong’s level of power. They couldn’t become a new Great Sage Equal to Heaven. This led to the launch of the “Mandate of Heaven Project: Five Root Retrieval Action”. Under the guise of reviving Wukong, they created a vessel, guided by the Old Monkey to retrace the journey westward. If this vessel could gather all five roots from the upper realm’s demon kings, it could produce a compliant “Great Sage” aligned with their interests.
This explains why, throughout the vessel’s quest, the gods and Buddhas either overtly or covertly assisted:
Black Wind Demon was stopped by an unseen force when trying to flee with Eye of Joy.
Lingji Bodhisattva didn’t keep Ear of Wrath after reattaching his head.
Maitreya willingly handed over Nose of Desire.
When the Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord was killed, Wang Lingguan and Crane Immortal stood by idly, ignoring his pleas for help.
Bull Demon King, who didn’t even desire the root essence, was still forced into tragedy, resulting in the destruction of his family.
Once the demon kings failed to become Wukong’s replacement, they became expendable pawns for the factions behind them.
This also explains why:
1. Despite the slaughter at Huaguo Mountain, new “Mandated Heroes” kept emerging to retrace Wukong’s journey.
2. When the hero gathered the five roots and returned to Huaguo Mountain, celestial troops and Wukong’s old armor appeared.
The Mandated Hero’s quest to revive Wukong was orchestrated by the upper realms, merely a “strength test” for their new “product.”
If everything went as planned, the story would end with the Mandated Hero gathering the five roots, donning the golden circlet, and becoming the new Great Sage Equal to Heaven. The “Mandate of Heaven Project” would be declared a success, neatly tying up the story.
However, as Yuan Shoucheng told Maitreya, “I can’t calculate the result because I don’t know all the causes.” The unknown factor here is the Root of Will.
In Erlang Shen’s Godly Concealment Illustration, it’s revealed that he silenced witnesses after taking the Root of Will and hid in Maitreya’s Meishan Map. To the outside world, it seemed like Erlang Shen led the demon kings to kill Wukong, the six roots were split among the demon kings, and the Root of Will dissipated. Erlang Shen then vanished, which wasn’t unusual for a deity who follows orders but doesn’t submit to supervision.
When Erlang Shen learned of the Mandate of Heaven Project, he realized the vessel being cultivated could potentially revive Wukong. His plan was to wait for this vessel to gather the other five roots and then inject Wukong’s Root of Will into it, creating a completely new Wukong without restrictions.
The subsequent story is well-known. Erlang Shen sent the Six Saints of Meishan to guide and test the vessel’s strength. He then released Wukong’s Root of Will, allowing the complete six roots to merge into the vessel. Yet even then, what the vessel would do with these roots remained uncertain. Neither Erlang Shen, Yuan Shoucheng, nor Maitreya knew. This is why Erlang Shen entrusted his three-pointed, double-edged spear to the vessel, saying, “With the death of my mortal body, may my will endure. I hope you won’t let him down.”
As Huang Mei argued with Tang Sanzang, Black Myth: Wukong is, at its core, a philosophical debate between Erlang Shen (and perhaps Maitreya) and the upper realms. While Wukong cannot be revived, the Great Sage’s spirit lives on. There will always be someone to rise against injustice and oppression. As long as the will remains unbroken, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven will never truly die.
My Personal Interpretation:
Wukong didn’t collude with Erlang Shen. When he said he would remove the circlet, he meant through his own death, as no restraint could hold him. (It’s similar to Nezha’s mindset when he said, “I return my flesh to my father and my bones to my mother.”) If Wukong and Erlang Shen had staged a play, it would mean sacrificing an entire mountain of monkeys and apes for Wukong’s rebirth. That’s something the Great Sage would never do—it would make him unworthy of the title.
