It seems like we're largely skeptical of Pareidolia's claim of both benevolence and subsequent banishment to the bottom of the well. I admit I took its claims at face value and assumed it would exit the narrative, but I likewise see the value in the perspective of its unity with HOPE. Any strong opinions on this particular god's place in the narrative moving forward?
short answer: we'll have to wait and see.
longer answer: I don't think Pareidolia is outright lying, even if he's lying.We have seen proof that gods are bound to their legends, and he is the concerned god. He has been dragged from the well by Akira when he was a kid, and provided for Akira "concern" since then. So even if he is lying, it would still be out of concern. It is highly unlikely that Pareidolia is "dead", as even during his sacrifice he makes mention of leaving gifts scattered through the timeline and that "when they next meet, he hopes they'll be able to harmonize better" or some such. Pareidolia is definitely taking his biggest gamble there (by sacrificing himself), including sending our Nodoka as one of the gifts to "move Akira", that ultimately led to her sacrifice in order for Akira to learn that Ami is a psychopath (among other things).
just plain long answer: We still don't know enough about the nature of the gods, what we do know now, although helpful, complicated things further. There are millions of gods, and they are born and vanish without much notice (which is a very real take on the eastern approach to gods anyway). Pray to the moon enough and you might summon a moon god, same for air, same for chair, same for anything really. Forget about them, and it's down to the bottom of the well, and eventual manifestation as a human, or worse. The way this complicates things is because we still don't know if the four gods are of the same group as these or not. Are HOPE, Wires, Pareidolia and USER4 gods that just happened to get to this cycle first? (or are they something different, as Akira is called the child of makeshift gods, maybe these gods aren't even real gods in the first place). Is the myth of the four that were one just a way to interpret the notion that the Kaori (or a similar hotel) at the time had four slots to be filled and they were the first in? Without proper understanding of this, it becomes hard for us to properly distinguish between HOPE the peerless god of light coming back with "3"s around him just after Pareidolia's gone (which is USER3) being their union, or another random thing thrown out there.
Okay, I'm tired of writing. Pareidolia, teleport me back home. Or to Molly's house... Actually, teleport me and Molly to a cosplay store instead.
(
praise Pareidolia, our one true bro and uber service)
