Paladin Strait

Lore & Background

Paladin Strait is a narrow, perilous channel that separates the mainland of Trench from the island of Voldsoy. Clancy escaped to Voldsøy after being captured by the bishops of Dema, and there obtained the power to take control of recently deceased people. In the "Paladin Strait" music video an army of Banditos led by Clancy battles the Glorious Gones, and Clancy climbs the tower of the nine bishops, where Nico confronts him. In the music video for "The Outside", Tyler Joseph's character washes up on the shore of Voldsøy.

For fans, Paladin Strait represents the ultimate threshold in the band's allegorical story of mental health, resistance, and hope. It is the point where the journey either ends in liberation or is swallowed by the darkness of Dema. The Strait's lore is deeply tied to themes of sacrifice and rebirth, as crossing it requires leaving behind all that is familiar and facing the unknown with nothing but faith.

Reader's Guide

Paladin Strait is the strait between the continent of Trench and the small island of Voldsøy, revealed in 2024 on a map mailed to fans by the "Sacred Municipality of Dema". It is also the title of the closing track of the 2024 album Clancy, the longest song the duo had recorded to that point. In the mailed journal pages Clancy implied he wanted to cross the strait and "create an inferno" together with the Banditos. To cross Paladin Strait is to commit, fully and without a safety net, to the possibility that something better might exist—even if you can't see it clearly through the fog.