Indoctrination and Agency in Markiplier’s Iron Lung (2026)
By Mark A. Rivera for GenreOnline.net.
I. The Architecture of Control
The world of Markiplier’s 2026 Iron Lung begins at the end of all things. The "Quiet Rapture" is a chillingly efficient apocalypse—an instant erasure of the habitable universe that leaves humanity shivering in the dark. As the starlight we see becomes a mere echo of dead suns, and the galaxy moves toward absolute zero, the remnants of our species have divided themselves into two distinct, yet equally suffocating, forms of indoctrination.
On the Martian station Eden, survival is wrapped in dogmatic ritual. They keep the "last tree," a dead husk they hope to resurrect with their own ashes. Theirs is a philosophy of passive acceptance: the Rapture cannot be understood, only endured. In contrast stands the Consolidation of Iron, a utilitarian, socialist collective that views religion as a distraction. They are the "scientists" and "soldiers," yet they are no less dogmatic. They enforce an atheistic devotion to the state, viewing individual life as a resource to be spent.
These systems remind me of the dual imprints of my own upbringing—the Roman Catholic "indoctrination" of private school paired with the civic "prayer" of the Pledge of Allegiance. Both systems seek to place themselves as the middleman between the individual and the truth. Our protagonist, Simon, is the ultimate victim of this. Born into Eden and tattooed without consent, then captured and having those tattoos burned off by the Consolidation, he is a man whose very skin has been a canvas for other people's ideologies.
II. Purgatory in the SM-13
When Simon is bolted into the SM-13 "burner sub," he enters a mechanical purgatory. The ship is a tomb by design—a vessel for the "rehabilitation" of the "Butcher of Filament." The Consolidation tells him this mission is "bigger than us," a phrase used by every government in history to justify the sacrifice of the "unworthy."
Simon’s first real act of agency is a violent one. When he realizes the lethality of the radiation from his camera equipment, his response to the dying crew—"It’s not my fault"—is the cry of a man who has been told his whole life that he has no agency. This mirrors the central tragedy of humanity in Iron Lung: we are all "sinners" by virtue of the systems we are forced to serve.
III. The Faustian Bait-and-Switch
Approximately 1:10:28 into the film, the mystery shifts. Simon hears what he believes to be survivors on the SM-8.The entity reveals itself not through violence, but through a calculated "carrot-and-stick" psychological maneuver. Initially, the voices offer companionship, only to cruelly withdraw it moments later, claiming talking will deplete his oxygen.
This is a masterclass in gaslighting. By the time Simon breaks down, asking, "I just want to live. Is that so wrong?", he has been primed for a Faustian bargain. He rationalizes the Rapture as a technical error of the universe—a defense mechanism to avoid the crushing reality of his isolation. When he finally agrees to "give everything" to survive, he is submitting to a malevolent, Pretender God. This entity, which mimics his father’s voice to call him a "fool," is a scavenger of souls—a Gnostic Demiurge requiring human consent to maintain its trap.
IV. The Transmutation of the Butcher
In the final act, the physical and spiritual realities collide. Simon’s encounter with the "Light" has left him in a state of supernatural limbo. The submarine begins a bio-organic transformation—veins sprout from the metal, and the blood ocean leaks through the hull like a living infection.
The tragedy reaches its peak with the death of Ava and the SM-14. When the creature crushes her vessel, it blames Simon: "Why did you make us do this?" It attempts to use Simon's mother and his past as a murderer to shame him into submission. It wants him to believe he belongs in the blood. But while the blood begins to physically mutate him—growing teeth from his jaw and fusing his arm to the wall—his spirit finally breaks free of its "Samsaras," his karmic scars.
V. Redemption Through Implosion
Simon rejects the entity’s bargain, telling the creature: "You’re just a piece of sh* that doesn’t even know it’s dead."* He accepts his identity as a killer, but he repurposes that violence for a selfless act. By sabotaging the SM-13 and securing the black box in a life vest, he ensures that the truth of the "Light" will reach the surface.
His final plea—"Please, Mom... it’s more than me"—is his first act of true prayer. As the ship implodes, Simon destroys the vessel that was becoming part of the creature’s hive-mind. He dies as a man, not a mutation. The final image of the black box floating on the surface offers a flicker of hope. In a universe of absolute zero, Simon’s sacrifice suggests that while the stars may have gone out, the individual soul still has the power to generate its own light.
(C) Copyright 2026 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
