Queensyche - Who Killed Sister Mary--Solved!
In 1988, Queensryche released the CD that many feel is the apex of their career. Metal
fans went apeshit over the story of a disenchanted young man brainwashed to assassinate
political leaders and his problems with love. 'Operation: mindcrime' has been called one
of the greatest if not THE greatest metal records of all time and all the band's
subsequent releases are still being compared to this masterpiece.
The Mindcrime period was phenomenal with its mixed presentation combining audio and visual
media through videos, concerts and the songs themselves. Recently, it's been reported in
press releases that after 15 years, Queensryche will be revisiting the story of Nikki,
Mary & Dr. X in the sequel called 'Operation: mindcrime II'. One of the enduring
mysteries of the plot is who killed Sister Mary the reformed prostitute/love interest of
the main character Nikki.
Did Nikki kill her while drug-induced and not remember? Did Dr. X kill her and frame
Nikki? Hints and suggestions were placed all through the songs and videos that suggest
certain scenarios. It's currently being noted that no consensus has ever been reached and
the band has shied away from answering the question for the past 16 years. Singer Geoff
Tate has said that he gets still gets hundreds of letters asking for the answer.
"In particular, fans have always asked one burning question in relation to the
'Operation:mindcrime' plot: "Who killed Sister Mary?" The new album, scheduled
for release in 2005, will address that question." --Queensryche Press Release:
What hasn't been touched upon lately, is that it's already been revealed who killed Mary
and I'd like to speculate on how it all went down.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER!!!!!
In 1989, MTV's Headbanger's Ball held a "Queensryche - Solve the Mindcrime"
contest, asking viewers who killed Mary. Figure it out and you could be one of 7 people to
receive a leather tour jacket as a prize. It was said that a clue or answer was in 'Video:
mindcrime" the 1989 VHS collection of 9 videos based on the record's songs. I believe
that all the answers were revealed in the tape and that by looking at the lyrics, you can
tell the basic outline of how it happened.
The setting: In the intro to 'Suite Sister Mary', Nikki has been told by Dr X from his car
window to "Kill her. And get the priest as well." In the church, Nikki shoots
the molesting priest, Father William, as told in these lines: "The priest is cold and
dead on his knees he fed/From my barrel of death, he turned the holy water red",
leaving him and Mary together.
From Queensryche's website: "Mary watches in disgust as her lover Nikki's troubled face
dissolves into the leering, drooling face of the priest huffing and puffing above her.
"...Altar...sacrifice..." something snaps inside her head."
Nikki decides that instead of following his mission to kill her, he sets off to get Dr. X.
Sound effects at the end included a large door closing and one loud rim-shot on the drums.
From Queensryche's website: "After Nikki leaves, Mary is plagued by the vision of Nikki
turning into Father William. As they made love on the altar, the memories came flooding
back. Years filled with men who has used her, degraded and beaten her, and driven their
hatred and coldness into her heart. Once, she thought Nikki was her hope. But now he
seemed like all the rest. She hated him. She hated men. She hated life."
Nikki returns and finds his lover dead and runs off into the night only to be arrested and
charged with crimes (disorderly conduct, carrying a concealed weapon without a license,
and resisting arrest) and sent to the State Hospital where he tries to recall the events
of what happened. The entire CD is supposed to take place over the course of 1 minute of
reflection in Nikki's mind and everything is wrapped with the words "I remember
now." completing the circle.
So, who killed her and how?
In an old interview with ex-guitarist Chris Degarmo, he said that for the song 'Electric
Requiem', "Nikki comes back to the church and finds Mary dead hanging by her
rosary..." and in the song 'Eyes of a Stranger', the lines are written "Every
night the dreams return to haunt me/Your rosary wrapped around your throat". This all
seems to suggest a choke/hanging, but I don't think so.
If you watch 'Video: mindcrime' all the way through, you get all the same videos that were
shown on TV. Then the credits roll and after that a second video version of 'I Don't
Believe In Love' is played. Words are images are flashed throughout the accompanying
videos showing what could be reality or what could be mental fantasies, but two scenes and
one word stands out near the end that I think give it all away.
On the top is a shot of Dr. X handing a gun to a kneeling Mary and below it is a
quick flashing pic of a dead Mary with the word 'suicide' done completely different from
all the other word flashes throughout. That's the clue referred to in the contest. Mary
killed herself. My theory is that she shot herself with a gun that Dr. X gave her and it's
indicated by the drum sound at the end of 'Suite Sister Mary'.
Is Queensryche going to change things around, maybe come up with some ulterior reasoning
and conveniently forget what's been done for the new CD? I don't think so. It states in
the press release that in regards to Mary's killing, "The new album, scheduled for
release in 2005, will address that question."--address being the key word.
Possibilities exist to expand the details and fill in gaps along the timeline in II.
Some ideas:
Dr. X came back in and gave her Nikki's gun to use on herself. Nikki returns, takes the
gun and is later caught with it?
Nikki gave her his gun?
Mary used a different gun which was later removed?
Before Dr. X left, he gave her a gun telling her to get the priest and Nikki as well
opening a chance for one to eliminate the other?
What happened with Dr. X and Nikki afterwards?
Queensryche is now on tour performing Operation: Mindcrime complete with classical
musicians in addition to an actor and actress/vocalist playing the two major roles. When
the final curtain drops, a preview of a song from Mindcrime II entitled The
Hostage makes its debut followed by Coming in 2005 as the last message
on the screen. We shall see soon enough what the answers are.
If you've made it this far then here's a treat--images of some breasts flashed from
'Video: mindcrime'. But those breasts belong to who....mwahahahahahaha!?