Over to the Other Side: An Interpretation of Over the Garden Wall

HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD! If you have not watched Over the Garden Wall and do not want to be spoiled, do not read this until you have watched the show!

While it isn’t my favorite season, Fall comes with its perks. Those perks being snuggling up in a heated blanket while listening to the rain, wearing cute clothes that can combine into even cuter outfits, and, of course, getting the holiday season jitters. One part of Fall that I thought I would enjoy more than I do is Halloween. I know what you are thinking, “Sophie, it’s December, you are too late to be talking about Halloween. It’s been and gone! Plus, it’s not Fall anymore!” Well, anonymous reader, that is not where I’m going with this (and technically it is still Fall. Trust me, look it up). You see Halloween is the start of many traditions that take place by the end of the year. First, it is Halloween, then it is the many snowballing holidays that follow it. The last few months of the year are filled with a diverse collection of traditions that are supposed to bring us closer together, spread joy, and remind us that there are people who love and care about you… That’s great and all but there is a tradition that I have during this season that I must indulge in every time it comes around. This personal Fall tradition is watching Over the Garden Wall.

Introducing you to the World of the “Unknown”

Over the Garden Wall, created by Patrick McHale and released on November 3rd, 2014, is a short series about two step-brothers named Wirt and Greg lost in the world of the “Unknown,” trying to find their way home. Along the way, they come across many unusual, supernatural, and magical beings who, despite appearances, occasionally aid the boys on their journey. One of those magical creatures is Beatrice, a talking bluebird who is “honor-bound” to help the brothers after Greg saves her from a bush. But, it’s not just finding a way home they have to worry about. The Beast, a being who seeks their souls, follows close behind with his reluctant acquaintance The Woodsman, who tries to warn the boys and give them advice on how to keep out of The Beast’s grasp. Over the course of the show, Wirt and Greg grow to become more confident in themselves and build a healthier relationship with one another as they work together to find a way back home.

This is the very basic, barebones, spoiler-free version of the show’s summary, however. The second to last episode reveals an unexpected truth: the two boys are actually not a part of the supernatural world of the “Unknown” and live in our own world. In this episode, the boys are chased by a police car through a graveyard, hop a wall, and are nearly hit by a train before tumbling into a freezing cold river. Their world fades to black and that is when the beginning of the show takes place.

When I first watched episode 9, I had thought that the fade to black when they fell into the river was simply an indicator of the two having a dream or their minds being transported to another world through the river. As the years passed and I watched the show every fall, I continued to believe this, blissfully unaware of the show’s darker undertones. Fast forward to this year, 2021, I am rewatching Over the Garden Wall for the umpteenth time as is my tradition. That is when I reach episode 8, called “Babes in the Wood.” For anyone who has seen the show, episode 8 is when Greg has a fever dream about flying into the sky with cherubs and fighting the personification of the “Old North Wind.” In doing so, Greg is granted one wish from the Queen of the Clouds which, due to The Beast’s hold on Wirt, ends up being Greg sacrificing himself to The Beast in lieu of his brother. While the whole show is very quirky, this episode in particular always struck me as very odd. It starts very lighthearted with a bunch of child-like cooky characters singing songs in Greg’s dreams then ends very darkly with the audience wondering if Greg is going to survive The Beast, if Wirt is ever going to find him, and if they are both going to get home in one piece. This dream world is where most of this episode takes place and when Greg travels to this world, things start to feel off. Is it the fact that the denizens of this world are drawn in a slightly different art style? Is it that one second where we see a creepy dog with a rain cloud over its head? Or is it the extremely stark contrast of the light, happy dream world to the darker but equally bizarre world of the “Unknown?” Whatever the reason, it was this episode that inspired me to write this blog post.

In the following episode titled “Into the Unknown,” the audience is shown where the boys originally came from and the events leading up to the beginning of the series. Not only does this episode serve as a prelude to the story’s start and establishment of the boys’ relationship to one another, it also provides many hints to infer what the world of the “Unknown” really is. In the attempt to secure an embarrassing tape Wirt made for his crush, the brothers follow a group of Wirt’s peers into a cemetery. Not too long after they arrive, a cop shows up and chases the boys, cornering them against a stone wall which results in the two climbing a tree and jumping over it. A small detail that many may have not noticed is that the cemetery they enter is called the Eternal Garden, making the show’s title all the more clear. The boys jumped over a wall and the wall was part of the Eternal Garden, the name of the cemetery, hence the name Over the Garden Wall. However, that is not the only meaning the show’s title holds. While the two are in the cemetery, Wirt hides behind a tombstone, labeled “Quincy Endicott,” to spy on his classmates. An attentive viewer may recognize the name on this tombstone as the same name as the owner of the large, sprawling mansion in episode 5, “Mad Love.” All this evidence points to one thing: when the boys fell into that river, the fade to black wasn’t them transporting to another world. It was them starting the process of dying. The “Unknown” is what is on the other side, the afterlife, or limbo meaning that everyone they meet on their journey is dead.

Now, of course, this is my interpretation of the show, but there is a lot of evidence that supports this other than these observations from episode 8 and 9. Their journey is one. In episode 5, Beatrice tells the boys that to get to Adelaide’s house in the woods, they must get two coins to cross the ferry, a voyage commonly associated with the trip to the afterlife. According to 20th century prolific archeologist and museum curator L.V. Grinsell, the Egyptians were the first to be documented placing coins with those who had died so that they could take the ferry to the other side. At the end of episode 5, Wirt and Greg manage to get themselves two coins, but Greg throws them into a pond, a possible symbolic representation of his defiance to giving in and passing away. This could have also been foreshadowing to the show’s conclusion since neither had proper payment for the ferry and so neither of them could travel to the afterlife anyways. Music, unsurprisingly my focus for this blog post, is another piece of evidence. This show is full of it and if you listen to the music, many of the song’s lyrics are either about death, can be interpreted to have a double meaning that relates to death, or references death. This is especially true of episode 8, the one that always threw me off and left me feeling unsettled, and episode 9, the one that made me realize that my comfy tradition had darker nuances.

“Babes in the Wood” More like Terrors from the Afterlife

(Credit: Cartoon Network Studios)

As I mentioned before, episode 8, “Babes of the Wood,” always felt like an outlier despite it not being too off-brand for what the show presents. Everything in Over the Garden Wall is slightly off and creepy even with Greg keeping things lighthearted and Wirt generally serving as the audience’s placement in the show, being the one to see things how they truly are. Pottsfield was creepy even after we left knowing it was a place where skeletons party. The Highway Man’s animation in his short song was trippy and gave off the air of a fourth-wall break. Lorna’s spirit was terrifying, especially after realizing that the sweet girl they had been helping was the one they should have been avoiding all along. Balancing this out are the funny, quirky, and bright plot points and characters come by. The school for animals who just wanted to learn and the birthplace of “Potatoes and Molasses,” the song many fans remember even years after watching it last. The terrible disguise that Wirt dawns on the ferry as he tries to act like a frog person while Greg pretends to be a drum. Wirt’s hilarious attempt at singing a song in the tavern after they pressure him to sing a “lover’s song.” It is this balance that keeps many stuck to their seats and watching the whole show in a day, like I shamelessly have. However, episode 8, despite its pleasant exterior, never felt like it upheld that balance. It always seemed to tip toward the side of eerie rather than joyful.

“Babes in the Wood” begins with a very downcast Wirt while Greg is upholding his optimistic attitude that has never seemed to waver throughout the whole show. Wirt has given up all hope on ever going home, especially after their one lead from Beatrice ended up being a trap. After telling his brother that they should just concede that a way home is impossible, Wirt designates Greg the leader before they both fall asleep under a tree. Before falling asleep, Greg wishes on a star that they can guide him and Wirt home. This is when an ethereal womanly voice sings the song called “Forward, Oneiroi” and Greg’s dream sequence begins. Here are the lyrics:

Forward, cherubs, hear the song

A child's wishes call us on

Descend! Descend!

'Ere he 'scapes, for dreams

Our winged wind hath made

For only beneath the veil of sleep

Can we oneiroi act on men

(“Babes of the Wood” 3:07)

While this song may seem very innocent from an initial reading, a deeper look into the meaning behind these lyrics reveals that it is more sinister than it seems. First off, these are the lyrics you will find when looking up this song online, but what actually plays in the episode is slightly different. Everything is the same up until the last two lines which are, suspiciously, cut off. However, it is these two lines that are the most important and change everything we know about this episode. Looking at both the song’s title and lyrics will make one word stand out amongst the rest: Oneiroi. The Oneiroi, as described in Greek mythology, are “dark-winged spirits (daimones) of dreams which emerged each night like a flock of bats” and are meant to be the personification of dreams (Atsma). They hail from the land of darkness, Erebos, and when they leave their home, pass through one of two gates, also known as pylai. One gate, “made of horn,” creates “prophetic god-sent dreams” while the other, made from ivory, conjures dreams that “were false and without meaning” (Atsma). After learning this definition, this scene and the rest of the episode completely shifts. Let’s keep in mind that, to my knowledge, there is no gate that the Oneiroi can go through to provide comfort or provide aid to those who need it like the “cherubs” and the Queen of Clouds offer to Greg. The Oneiroi are simply vessels that serve to provide prophecies sent by the gods within dreams or dreams with no purpose at all. In fact, Homer even described their dreams as “deceitful” if they came through the ivory gate (Atsma). Since this is the name that the “cherubs” have given themselves and Greg is given no sort of prophecy in his dream, it can be assumed that those who he met in the dream world are indeed Oneiroi with devious intentions.

While most of the dream sequence in the land of the Clouds can be placed in the meaningless category, it is when Greg is met by the Queen of the Clouds where the Oneiroi’s true intentions come to light. For saving the Cloud lands, the Queen of the Clouds says she can grant one wish from Greg which he replies that he wants to be a good leader and get home. The Queen says she can do that for him, but when he mentions bringing Wirt home with him, she remarks that The Beast has already claimed Wirt and that he can no longer leave. After learning this, Greg whispers his wish in the Queen’s ear. After the dream sequence ends, we see Greg leave to go with The Beast and the following exchange takes place:

The Beast: Yes. Come, Gregory. There is much to be done.

Greg: And then you’ll show us the way home, right?

The Beast: Of course. We made a promise, didn’t we?

(“Babes of the Wood” 9:53)

While many may dismiss these lines, they provide further evidence that the Cloud people and the Queen of the Clouds were more than just figments of Greg’s dream. We do not see this “promise” take place on screen, but what we do see is Greg making that wish to the Queen of the Clouds. Even though we do not explicitly hear exactly what Greg wishes, it can be inferred that his wish, as I have stated before, is to be taken by The Beast instead of Wirt. This is what the Oneiroi were after all along. They may have appeared to Greg in his dreams as cartoonish characters repaying him for his good deeds, but in reality, they were leading him to this moment. In reality, they are in cahoots with The Beast from the start. This promise that The Beast mentions is likely just the wish that Greg made to the Queen of the Clouds: to be taken by The Beast so Wirt can go home. Greg does say “show us the way home” in this scene. but this is simply his resolute hope shining through. He understands what the Queen of the Clouds told him—that anyone claimed by The Beast can no longer leave the “Unknown”—meaning that he knows that by going with The Beast, he will not be going home. Greg, the innocent kid who just wants to please his step-brother, just wants to be a good leader. Now, I can hear what you are saying already: “But, what is the point of replacing one brother with the other? Why would The Beast work with the Oneiroi to get Greg to sacrifice himself instead of Wirt? Why did the Oneiroi listen to The Beast in the first place?” My answer to all these questions is simple: The Beast, the representation of the ruler of the afterlife, knew that claiming Greg would be more difficult than Wirt and believed this was the easiest way to kill two birds with one stone.

Starting with the Oneiroi’s connection to The Beast, Erebos, the land where the Oneiroi come from, is more than just the place that they dwell. The land of darkness also happens to be a synonym for “ the netherworld realm of Haides” (Atsma). In addition, Erebos is not only another word for the underworld but also the name of the “primordial god (protogenos) of darkness” which was, at times, simply interchangeable with Hades himself (Atsma). The connections between Erebos/Hades and the Oneiroi don’t stop there. According to some Greek literature, Erebos and Nyx, the goddess of night, are parents to the Oneiroi (Atsma). If we are to view Over the Garden Wall with the lens that I have put forward (the boys are actually wandering through the afterlife, limbo, or the like), this means that The Beast is essentially the ruler of that afterlife, the Erebos or Hades of this world. With this knowledge, one would conclude that the Oneiroi that Greg encounters in his dream are indeed working for The Beast and were never the good-intentioned beings that they presented themselves as at all.

If we follow this line of reasoning, the intention behind The Beast enlisting the help of the Oneiroi to replace Wirt with Greg becomes clear. At this point, Wirt has all but given up hope on ever going home, but Greg continues to stay determinedly enthusiastic about their chances. The beginning of the episode makes this apparent while also confirming that The Beast is close behind them, watching them from afar. Anytime The Beast is around, he sings a very distinctive song which is heard at the start of this episode. After Greg asks Wirt who it is that is singing, Wirt replies, “The Beast. It must be the Beast out there. The obsidian cricket of our inevitable twilight singing our requiem” (”Babes of the Wood” 1:14) .Wirt is right and his reply to Greg makes it evident that he has accepted that The Beast will claim them. Greg, on the other hand, has not and responds that the singing “must be a really fat cricket” (“Babes of the Wood” 1:24). Likely seeing this exchange and the scene following it, The Beast knows that claiming both Wirt and his brother will not be easy with Greg’s optimism there to possibly bring his brother back from the brink like it has before. This is when The Beast’s plan begins to form. If he can get Greg to fall into his hands, then Wirt will not be too far behind, especially when Wirt is already feeling so hopeless. But, how does one make someone like Greg, who has unwavering positivity, fall into despair? It is impossible unless Greg willingly goes with The Beast. That is when the Oneiroi come in, The Beast plan is a success, and the rest of the episode plays out.

Together with all this information and evidence, I now understand that my underlying uneasiness was warranted. However, while writing the notes for this episode, I was not yet under the impression that the boys were in the afterlife. I still thought that they had been transported to another world that they were trying to escape from and the allusions to death were placed subtly (and sometimes not so subtly) in the story because The Beast, who wants their souls as fuel for the lamp, was chasing them. Episode 9, “Into the Unknown,” is where everything fell into place for me.

The Whistle of Death

(Credit: Cartoon Network Studios)

Near the beginning of this blog post, I provided most of my evidence, many of which come from episode 9, for my interpretation of Over The Garden Wall taking place as Wirt and Greg are dying. However, I neglected to mention the song in this episode that made everything click in my head. That song is called “Old Black Train” and it plays after Wirt and Greg, funnily enough, nearly get hit by a train and begin to fall down the hill into the icy river water at the summit. This song is actually a cover of Woody Gutherie’s “Little Black Train” but shares very little resemblance to its inspiration when it comes to its lyrics. Here are the two sets of lyrics side by side for comparison:

First Stanza of “Old Black Train” (“Into the Unknown” 9:58)

While both are undoubtedly about death, the lyrics by the Blasting Company, the band behind many of the songs in Over the Garden Wall, take on a more symbolic and figurative approach. Comparing the two, one may notice that “Old Black Train” is more subtle about its meaning than “Little Black Train,” especially with its first stanza containing the lines “You gotta ride that little black train,/But it ain’t a gonna bring you back.” Although some may argue that the changes between “Little Black Train” and “Old Black Train” are unnecessary if they are both about death, I believe that these lyrical substitutions best fit Over the Garden Wall and tell the story of the show within one song.

Stanza 1 of "Old Black Train" by The Blasting Company

Even though the show only uses the first stanza, the rest of the song references their journey and how that journey has been about the boys walking the fine line between submitting to death or fighting to live. The first two lines refer to what they are currently experiencing as it is being sung in the show both literally and figuratively. A train is “a-coming” and it is “scrapin’ ‘long the iron” as it was the sound of scraping that alerted the two to the train in the first place. Just like the unexpectedness of the train itself coming towards the boys in this moment, death is just as unexpected without a “ticket” or warning to let you know “when its time” to go.

Stanza 2 of "Old Black Train" by The Blasting Company

Similarly to how they are treated by the denizens and the world of the “Unknown,” the second stanza symbolizes the sense of limbo they have been placed in. One thing I noticed about these lines in particular is that half of the lines are formed as questions, representing the confusion on both Wirt and Greg’s side as well as the people of the “Unknown.” Wirt and Greg are wondering how they got here, who The Beast is, how they can get home, and many other queries about the people and world they have been dropped in. The people they meet on their journey are wondering where these two come from, how come they don’t know who The Beast is, and why are they messing in affairs that they are not a part of. Wirt and Greg do not feel like they belong nor do they look like they belong as the last line indicates. However, this stanza could also be remarking at how young the boys are to be fighting for their lives at such a young age.

Stanza 3 and 4 of "Old Black Train" by The Blasting Company

While stanza 3 uses straightforward figurative language given the context of the show, stanza 4 offers multiple interpretations. In stanza 3‘s case, the train that nearly hits them is just behind a graveyard literally and, figuratively, stopping by a graveyard and being warned to not let it “leave you there” is a pretty direct way of saying to not give up fighting, a message Wirt and Greg need to hear even if they don’t realize it themselves. Similarly to stanza 4, the two meet many on their journey, all of which are dead just like the ones in this part of the song, and many aid them on their way home, becoming acquaintances to them both. However, the last line could be referring to all the people they meet who either try to force or convince the boys to stay in the “Unknown,” to give up fighting for their lives. Alternatively, this stanza, viewed as a whole, could also be referring to Wirt, Greg, and Beatrice and their adventures in the “Unknown.” The trio who we follow in this story consists of two brothers (“the coachmen is my brother”) and Beatrice who by the end of the story becomes a good friend to the two (“the engineer is my friend”). It is over the course of the show that the three build their relationships with one another and by the end, have very strong bonds (“They’ll get you more acquainted/ By the time you reach the end”).

Stanza 5 of "Old Black Train" by The Blasting Company

During the majority of this post, I have been referring to the show as the boys’ journey and stanza 5 is the reason why. While we are not given any sort of span of time for how long they have been in the “Unknown,” the arcs and character growth that we have seen Wirt and Greg undertake has made it feel lengthy. It is likely that we are not told any sense of time throughout the show to emphasize the limbo-ness that the “Unknown” is supposed to represent. This journey has “take[n] [them] all around” to many places and have them come into contact with many walks of life (despite everyone being dead) before they come to their ultimate decision: will they keep fighting to stay alive or will they die?

Stanza 6 of "Old Black Train" by The Blasting Company

Finishing off this song is the last stanza which repeats the similar sentiments of stanza 1: death is coming for them. In fact, this notion has been following them each and every episode. Many fans would recognize that every episode starts with its title screen along with the same ditty, ending with a train whistle blowing. This serves as a reminder to the boys that the old black train, the would-be literal reason for their death and the figurative bringer of death, is always following them and it is fast approaching.

After breaking this song down and considering all my other evidence while writing notes for this blog post, I came to the conclusion that this show is following the brothers through a limbo or afterlife where they must decide whether or not to come together and fight for their lives. The other songs in this episode can be interpreted to convey matching sentiments, but this piece particularly brought this idea to the forefront while also pulling in the events of the show as well. With all this in mind, connections began to take shape and my interpretation of the show was born (one that no doubt others have concluded as well).

A Darker Side of Childhood Nostalgia

Since I came to this new interpretation while writing notes for this blog post, not only did it change my entire view of what I was about to write, but it also changed the view I had of the show as a whole. Because I didn’t watch the show with this lens from episode 1, there is likely much more evidence I am missing and it’s possible that this was all obvious from the get-go, but 16-year-old me didn’t seem to catch on from her initial viewing and didn’t catch on for many more years to come. However, this is not the first—nor the last—time I have used a more critical eye at a childhood show of mine and uncovered its opinions on certain deep, dark, or serious topics and issues. One of my favorite assignments from college was doing just that; I wrote a fantastic paper on Avatar the Last Airbender and its take on war. On top of getting an A+ on the assignment, the essay actually convinced my professor to watch the show with his son. What many fail to remember is that behind every “kids” show is a team full of adults, aware of how their media can affect those watching and that there are those outside the initial target demographic watching as well. You may never know what your childhood may have been trying to communicate to you until you take a dive into the past and find out for yourself. So, I implore you, watch that show from your younger years, play that game from your past, watch that movie from your youth, and try to discover a whole new side of it that you may not have even realized before. I know my yearly tradition will be seen in a different light to me for now on.

Atsma, Aaron J. “Erebos.” EREBUS (Erebos) - Greek Primordial God of Darkness, https://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Erebos.html.

Atsma, Aaron J. “Oneiroi.” ONEIROI - Greek Gods or Spirits of Dreams (Roman Somnia), https://www.theoi.com/Daimon/Oneiroi.html.

Bodnar, Mark, et al. “‘Babes of the Wood.’” Over the Garden Wall, created by Patrick McHale, season 1, episode 8, Cartoon Network Studios.

Gorman, Zac, et al. “‘Into the Unknown.’” Over the Garden Wall, created by Patrick McHale, season 1, episode 9, Cartoon Network Studios.

Grinsell, L. V. “The Ferryman and His Fee: A Study in Ethnology, Archaeology, and Tradition.” Folklore, vol. 68, no. 1, 1957, pp. 257–269., https://doi.org/10.1080/0015587x.1957.9717576. Accessed 2021.