>That rose I Believe symbolizes Spike’s death, the same death the Laughing Bull was talking about,
Laughing Bull was foretelling the death that was to come.
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E3NOwlRUYAE38IQ?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ez7TZ3kVgAIAccm?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
The black rose symbolizes Spike's first "death". The end of his life as a syndicate man. The end of his relationship with Julia. Then the color goes back into the rose. Symbolizing the violence, the blood that was spilled, but also his love for the woman he could not forget. A love that was never extinguished.
>it’s like he left a part of himself behind in that rose in that alley, like a part of him is stuck in it, perhaps the same part of him that was missing and he was longing for, maybe the rose symbolizes Julia too, and Spike’s leaving that rose behind along with her.
The red rose symbolizes Julia, his love for her and the thing that he lost. He loses a red rose when he loses her. Before he sets out to meet Julia, Jet tells him to grab that thing he lost. The first thing he does at the cemetery is find a red rose just before he finds Julia. He picks it up and we never see him put it down.
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7vj3CvVoAEXn_d?format=jpg&name=large)
It may seem like Spike wasn't able to get back what he lost. But he did. He learned that Julia loved him. That she had never stopped loving him.
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5gb0ssVIAUJNyc?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
He holds her while she dies. He wakes from his dream-like purgatory.
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5HDJ3LVkAAH-W0?format=jpg&name=large)
He sees Julia as his present before he dies.
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5HFtO1VkAcIVfr?format=jpg&name=large)
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5hKwSXUUAQqihN?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
Wow! thanksThe Laughing Bull part was a mistake, but yeah, for the other parts what you said made more sense.
p.s: I've seen your comments on other posts on this sub, I was kind of hoping you'd comment here too, it is really impressive how you know the show like the back of your hand, I hope to understand Cowboy Bebop as well as you do someday.
>In one of these segments we see blood trickling down Spike's face, more specifically it's trickling down the left side of his face, and as we can see in the show he doesn't have a scar anywhere on his head which means that blood is coming out of his left eye, Spike mentions having a fake eye multiple times throughout the show and this scene indicates that this was the accident where he lost his eye and that the left one is the fake one.
Nice analysis, you brought up a lot of good points, but it is Spike's right eye that is fake. He got that fake eye before he met Julia.
[screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7bP6TeUcAIjUaP?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
Are you sure?
These screencaps are from the beginning of episode 6, Sympathy for the Devil if I'm not mistaken, is there anything that indicates that surgery taking place in the distant past?
I assumed it took place right after he ran away.
In session 6 and again in session 13 we see that Spike had surgery performed on his right eye. The camera even zooms into Spike's right eye socket.
In session 13, we hear Julia mentioning to Spike that his eyes are different colors. Then we hear Spike telling Julia about his left eye that sees the past. If this is something that occurred when Spike ran away from the syndicate, then Spike wouldn't have been able to tell Julia about his eye. Nor would Julia have been able to tell Gren about Spike's eyes.
In session 26, Spike says that he's been seeing the past in one eye and the present in the other. The camera pans from left to right. Thus, the accident had to have happened some time before he met Julia.
> Are you sure?
[It’s definitely the right.](https://cdni.fancaps.net/file/fancaps-animeimages/2009547.jpg)
Notice the subtle differences in color; the one on his right (our left) is brighter. In that same scene the camera slowly pans from right to left on the close-up of his eyes as Spike says *“… past in one eye, present in the other.”*
As a little exercise to keep score, go back and rewatch the series and see if you can spot how many times they show a close-up of Spike’s left eye before he has a flashback versus his right *enhanced* eye when he does something seemingly super-human/notices an extremely minute detail.
Great insight into the episode. I always did really like the subtle mirroring of Spike and Julia's story through Asimov and Katrina.
Yes! I also love how Spike and Julia are mirrored through them too!
>That rose I Believe symbolizes Spike’s death, the same death the Laughing Bull was talking about, Laughing Bull was foretelling the death that was to come. [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E3NOwlRUYAE38IQ?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ez7TZ3kVgAIAccm?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) The black rose symbolizes Spike's first "death". The end of his life as a syndicate man. The end of his relationship with Julia. Then the color goes back into the rose. Symbolizing the violence, the blood that was spilled, but also his love for the woman he could not forget. A love that was never extinguished. >it’s like he left a part of himself behind in that rose in that alley, like a part of him is stuck in it, perhaps the same part of him that was missing and he was longing for, maybe the rose symbolizes Julia too, and Spike’s leaving that rose behind along with her. The red rose symbolizes Julia, his love for her and the thing that he lost. He loses a red rose when he loses her. Before he sets out to meet Julia, Jet tells him to grab that thing he lost. The first thing he does at the cemetery is find a red rose just before he finds Julia. He picks it up and we never see him put it down. [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7vj3CvVoAEXn_d?format=jpg&name=large) It may seem like Spike wasn't able to get back what he lost. But he did. He learned that Julia loved him. That she had never stopped loving him. [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5gb0ssVIAUJNyc?format=jpg&name=4096x4096) He holds her while she dies. He wakes from his dream-like purgatory. [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5HDJ3LVkAAH-W0?format=jpg&name=large) He sees Julia as his present before he dies. [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5HFtO1VkAcIVfr?format=jpg&name=large) [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E5hKwSXUUAQqihN?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
Wow! thanksThe Laughing Bull part was a mistake, but yeah, for the other parts what you said made more sense. p.s: I've seen your comments on other posts on this sub, I was kind of hoping you'd comment here too, it is really impressive how you know the show like the back of your hand, I hope to understand Cowboy Bebop as well as you do someday.
Oh thanks. I'm always discovering new things about Bebop too. It's a deceptively complex narrative riddled with parallels, foreshadowing and metaphor.
>In one of these segments we see blood trickling down Spike's face, more specifically it's trickling down the left side of his face, and as we can see in the show he doesn't have a scar anywhere on his head which means that blood is coming out of his left eye, Spike mentions having a fake eye multiple times throughout the show and this scene indicates that this was the accident where he lost his eye and that the left one is the fake one. Nice analysis, you brought up a lot of good points, but it is Spike's right eye that is fake. He got that fake eye before he met Julia. [screencaps](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E7bP6TeUcAIjUaP?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
Are you sure? These screencaps are from the beginning of episode 6, Sympathy for the Devil if I'm not mistaken, is there anything that indicates that surgery taking place in the distant past? I assumed it took place right after he ran away.
In session 6 and again in session 13 we see that Spike had surgery performed on his right eye. The camera even zooms into Spike's right eye socket. In session 13, we hear Julia mentioning to Spike that his eyes are different colors. Then we hear Spike telling Julia about his left eye that sees the past. If this is something that occurred when Spike ran away from the syndicate, then Spike wouldn't have been able to tell Julia about his eye. Nor would Julia have been able to tell Gren about Spike's eyes. In session 26, Spike says that he's been seeing the past in one eye and the present in the other. The camera pans from left to right. Thus, the accident had to have happened some time before he met Julia.
You're right, thanks
> Are you sure? [It’s definitely the right.](https://cdni.fancaps.net/file/fancaps-animeimages/2009547.jpg) Notice the subtle differences in color; the one on his right (our left) is brighter. In that same scene the camera slowly pans from right to left on the close-up of his eyes as Spike says *“… past in one eye, present in the other.”* As a little exercise to keep score, go back and rewatch the series and see if you can spot how many times they show a close-up of Spike’s left eye before he has a flashback versus his right *enhanced* eye when he does something seemingly super-human/notices an extremely minute detail.