The Natinim Wooden Ring is the central artifact of the motion comic Time Out.
History[]
The ring was created by an Israeli tribe of woodcutters, the Natinim from the ancient city of Gibeon. As recounted in a story in the Bible, God stopped the sun from setting so that the Israelis could defeat their enemy in daylight.
The ring came into the possession, and was passed down through generations of, the family of Gabi.
By 2012, the current owner of the ring, Gabi, lived in Univille. After entering a romantic relationship with Russ Farrell, she gave him the ring as an engagement or wedding ring. Sometime after, while jogging through the city one afternoon, faulty construction equipment snapped and fell onto her, killing her. Distraught with grief, Russ discovered the ring's properties and used it to rewind time over and over in an attempt to save Gabi, to no avail.
Claudia Donovan became aware of the time loops at some point after they began thanks to her innate temporal sense as a Caretaker candidate. She managed to convince the other agents of Warehouse 13 of the time loop's existence, and they worked together to find and stop it. They discovered Hunter Doherty Adams' Jack-in-the-Box, which led them in the direction of great sadness, and used it to locate Russ. After Gabi died yet again before she could be saved, Claudia convinced Russ to relinquish the ring. She neutralized it and the time loops ended.
Effects[]
The ring stops the sun from setting by creating a time loop from the moment it's activated up until the time the sun is supposed to set. However, the more loops occur, the harder it is to deactivate it.
Real World Connection[]
The ring and its effects are derived from a story recounted in the Hebrew and Christian Bible and Book of Joshua: After the destruction of Jericho by the Israelites led by Joshua, the people of Gibeon (Gibeonites) wished to protect themselves from the same fate. The Israelites had been commanded to destroy all non-Israelite Canaanites in Palestine, and so the Gibeonites presented themselves as ambassadors from another land entirely. The Israelites entered a peace treaty with them, but later they and Joshua discovered they had been deceived and that Gibeon was actually nearby. As punishment, Joshua would maintain the peace treaty in exchange for the Gibeonites' servitude, condemning the people as a whole to remain woodcutters and water-carriers forever.
Learning of Israel's allyship with Gibeon, the Amorite people waged war on Gibeon. Under Joshua's rule, they waged war, and God aided Gibeon with miracles, such as summoning hail and halting the movement of the sun and moon, and the Gibeonites ultimately won.
The Natinim (also known as Nethinim) is a term applied in the Book of Joshua to the people of Gibeon. The term, translates in Hebrew to "subjects" (נְתִינִים), referring to their condemnation to servitude.
Research suggests that the sun and moon standing still may identified with an annular solar eclipse that occurred in the late 13th century BCE.
Trivia[]
- TBA