The fourth episode of Nightmares and Daydreams is one of the weakest in Joko Anwar’s entire series. It follows a hard-working fisherman, Wahyu, who is saving money to go to Saudi Arabia and find his mother. Wahyu’s mother left him at the age of seven and never tried contacting him again or wrote him back. Wahyu, on the other hand, has been longing to meet her one last time, and even though everyone around him believes she is dead, Wahyu doesn’t give up. However, things take a pretty nasty turn when Wahyu spots a white angel on the beach and clicks a picture of the same. The entire village starts to believe that Wahyu is some kind of messiah and that he is going to save their village, but Wahyu is unsure if he can be the hero people yearn for.
Spoiler Alert
Why Did Wahyu’s Wife Leave Him?
The episode didn’t waste a moment to establish the fact that Wahyu had been obsessed with finding his mother since the day she left him. And even though he was married to a beautiful woman and could have led a normal life, Wahyu chose to be cold and distant. He spent his days collecting shellfish from the beach so that he could save enough money to spend a week in Saudi Arabia to find his mother. His wife found it quite stupid that Wahyu was ready to throw away their entire savings just because he couldn’t make peace with the fact that his mother had left. It had been seven years, and Wahyu’s wife was done waiting for her husband to look at her and treat her like a spouse. Feeling the need for some warmth and intimacy, she started an affair with a widower of the village named Ohim, which was pretty much an open secret.
After Wahyu spotted the angel in the sky and clicked a picture of it, some village women started spreading rumors that Wahyu would soon get powers to read people’s minds. The thought terrified Wahyu’s wife a bit, as she didn’t want her husband to find out that she had feelings for another man. Wahyu had become suspicious about his wife’s affair and tried to hide his money, as he had lost trust in his wife. Wahyu’s wife grew paranoid that Wahyu knew about her affair, which was why she took all the savings and ran off with Ohim. Also, both of them knew that the slum would be razed sooner or later as multinational corporations wanted to build luxury apartments for the rich. Additionally, the villagers didn’t legally own the property, which was why their chance of keeping their slum was slim.
Why did the angel appear to Wahyu?
Until the very end of the episode, I thought that the angel that Wahyu had seen on the beach was none other than his mother’s restless spirit that had come to see her son on his birthday. But then, the ending of the episode brought in some new revelations that suggested otherwise. So basically, the Supreme Beings have been testing Wahyu’s character for a long time. He was a kind and gentle human being who helped those in need whenever he could. Wahyu had treated everyone with respect and never tried to wrong anyone, even when he had the chance to do so.
The entire village, except for Rusman, saw Wahyu as a messiah, but he wasn’t interested in such hollow titles. He just wanted to have his money back so that he could take the first flight to Saudi Arabia and try to find his mother. But maybe at the end, Wahyu realized that his dream would never come true, which is why he destroyed the angel’s picture, which could have earned him some 7 million rupiah. Or maybe it was a test. Maybe the Supreme Being wanted to see what Wahyu would do with the picture if he got the chance to sell it for a huge sum of money. The episode here created a distinction between a greedy man like Rusman and a selfless individual like Wahyu. Rusman, who had been fighting for the village’s cause since the beginning, had a change of demeanor when the goons threatened to kill him if he failed to pay 3 million rupiah for his partner’s medical bills. Rusman wanted to steal the picture from Wahyu and sell it directly to the reporter so that he could take away the prize money and run away from the village, just like Wahyu’s wife.
But Wahyu had now realized that the picture was the root of all evil, which is why he destroyed it so that no one could use it for their personal gain. However, while trying to find the prized picture, Rusman tore apart Wahyu’s mother’s picture, the only thing he had left of her. Wahyu couldn’t bear the pain of losing the last connection with her mother, but as it turned out, this moment also became his moment of enlightenment. Wahyu was now free from all ties in the world and could selflessly help people around him without thinking about his personal agendas. That was the moment when the Supreme Being brought Wahyu, along with his house, to space or heaven and explained to him his true purpose in life.
Is Wahyu A Messiah Now?
The angel took the appearance of Wahyu’s mother because they wanted Wahyu to see the familiar face that he had been longing to see for a long time. It also implies that Wahyu’s mother is probably dead, and therefore Wahyu should stop looking for her. The angel wanted to give Wahyu the divine knowledge of the world, which he can use however he wants. He can either share this knowledge with his friends and family and make the world a better place, or he can choose to keep the knowledge to himself and use it for his personal gain. But considering how much we have known about Wahyu so far, he won’t misuse these powers. Instead, he would try to help humanity become a better version of themselves. As soon as Wahyu lands back on Earth, he quickly runs out of his hut to stop the brewing war between the police (military) and the villagers. The corporations had sent the authorities to evacuate the villagers from the slum, but the poor people had nowhere to go, which is why they decided to defend their lands until the last breath. But, fortunately, no one’s blood was shed that day as Wahyu, the powerful being, intervened and stopped the war between the two factions.
In the closing shot of Nightmares and Daydreams episode 4, we saw Wahyu floating in the air, which suggested that he has superpowers. It is also possible that Wahyu has been dreaming this entire thing and there is really no angel as Rusman said earlier. But we also know that Rusman had been lying all along just to get hold of the picture so that he could sell it, so maybe Wahyu indeed got super powers in the end. Additionally, when the angel touched Wahyu’s forehead, we saw a glimpse of the mystical kingdom of Agartha once again. The kingdom made its appearance in the previous episode. Now, the way these episodes are showing glimpses of Agartha, I guess all the supernatural beings in Joko Anwar’s universe are somehow connected to it. However, episode 4 takes place somewhere around 1985, while the third episode takes place in the 21st century, so I don’t think any of the characters in these two episodes are related to each other. Agartha is the only connecting link between the two stories.
Will Wahyu try to find his mother?
Nightmares and Daydreams episode 4’s ending didn’t explain the extent of Wahyu’s powers, but I think it would be safe to assume that Wahyu won’t be using it to find his mother or his wife. I know the angel had given him a choice to use his powers in whatever way he wanted to, but still, what’s the point of being a messiah if one cannot overcome their personal desires? I guess Wahyu, the messiah, has to make peace with the fact that his mother is dead and his wife left him because he never gave her the love she deserved. It is the only thing that might help him move on with his life and become a prophet in the truest sense.
