The Torchbearer

Lore & Background

In the "Overcompensate" video Clancy arrives on the continent of Trench together with the Torchbearer, who is described there as imaginary.

Role in the Dema Saga

The Torchbearer stands as one of the two central figures in the fictional world of Dema, a cement city ruled by nine Bishops who occupy a towering circular structure at its heart. This conceptual city lives within the broader Trench universe that Twenty One Pilots have constructed across their discography since Blurryface in 2015. The Torchbearer's narrative partner is Clancy, and together the two anchor a story that spans multiple albums. The duo's seventh record, Clancy (2024), was positioned as the conclusion to this decade-long series, yet its final track, "Paladin Strait," left the plot hanging on a cliffhanger. It fell to the eighth album, Breach (2025), to deliver what frontman Tyler Joseph described as the proper resolution to the Dema storyline, with the Torchbearer occupying a pivotal position in that final chapter.

The "City Walls" Climax

In the nine-minute-and-fifty-five-second music video for "City Walls," the Torchbearer arrives at the story's most desperate moment. Clancy is locked in a brutal fight with Nico, the Bishop leader, atop the central tower. The Torchbearer, accompanied by a group of Banditos, scrambles up the stairs to lend aid. The battle is harrowing—Clancy is haunted by recurring flashbacks of being beaten by Nico at various points along his journey. When Nico fatally impales Clancy with his sharpened antlers and then snaps them in half, severing the bond that let Clancy channel Nico's powers, Clancy performs one last act: fusing their souls into a single entity. By the time the Torchbearer bursts through the door, Clancy appears transformed, draped in a Bishop hood. He distributes the remaining robes to his squad and extends one to the Torchbearer, who silently refuses and walks away.

Portrayal and Physical Presence

The Torchbearer is brought to life on screen by Josh Dun, the drummer of Twenty One Pilots. While Tyler Joseph embodies Clancy, Dun carries the stoic, loyal companion who has walked alongside Clancy through the Trench narrative. The "City Walls" video, directed by Jensen Noen, is the duo's longest music video and the second most expensive music video of the 2020s. Dun's physical performance bears much of the emotional weight of the Torchbearer's arc: the urgency of the stair-climb and the deliberate packing of belongings at the tower's base all rely on Dun's understated, physical storytelling rather than dialogue.

Departure and the Promise of Continuation

The Torchbearer's final scene in "City Walls" is perhaps the most thematically resonant moment in the entire Dema saga. After declining the Bishop hood and watching Clancy's team assume the roles of the new Bishops, the Torchbearer is seen gathering their belongings at the base of the tower. A remaining Bandito asks what comes next, and the Torchbearer delivers the closing line of the narrative: Clancy is still out there, and they will always try again.

With that, the Torchbearer and the Bandito set off from Dema, embarking on a new journey to find the next Clancy. This ending reframes the conclusion not as a period but as a departure—a torch passed forward. The song "Intentions," which plays during the end credits, is a backmasked version of "Truce," the closing track of the duo's 2013 major-label debut Vessel, bookending the entire era and suggesting the cycle of seeking and finding will continue.