'Lovecraft Country' Episode 2: Atticus' matrilineal ancestor Hanna may be the reason for his magical bloodline
When AfricanAncestry.com came into being in 2003, it had one sole purpose -- to help people connect with their ancestry prior to the Atlantic slave trade. Given the long history of enslaved women being raped by White owners, the company's records have seen African lineage in 92 percent of the maternal lines it tests but only 65 percent of the paternal lines. These facts find an echo in Episode 2 of 'Lovecraft Country'. Atticus has no idea that he is the descendant of Titus Braithwaite who was so "kind" to Hanna, his slave, that she was pregnant with his child when she escapes the burning 'Sons of Adam' lodge. Hanna is his maternal great-great-grandmother whose origins Atticus's mother, Dora, had told Uncle George about when they were together.
Atticus sees a vision of Hanna in the portal holding a book, which could be a spellbook since she wields the power to appear to Atticus in the portal despite being dead. She seems to direct him to use the black smoke emanating from his 'ring of power' to counteract the spell Samuel Braithwaite was casting. When Atticus does this, channeling the power of his bloodline, it turns Samuel and the others in the Order of the 'Sons of Adam' to stone and brings the lodge crashing down on them.
Atticus then sees Hanna running, escaping the lodge, and he follows her to safety. The last shot we see is of her smiling at him, a strong and undaunted figure of resilience. The scene gives some grist to speculation that Hanna might have also been the one who helped Titus discover the portal to Eden and immortality. It is also possible that the special "bloodline" that opens the portal belongs to Hanna, not Titus and it is her blood Titus used in the ceremony years ago, which she thwarted, unwilling to be used in that way.
According to the 'Out of Africa dispersal' theory of human genetics, the "Mitochondrial Eve", the matrilineal ancestor of all living humans, lived in Africa. So it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine that Hanna's bloodline has some special genetic or blood link to the biblical Eve. But Samuel, in his White supremacist logic, believes Adam and Eve were White, and also believes in a patriarchal "order of things", tracing the bloodline to Adam and the "Sons of Adam" rather than looking at matrilineal ancestry.
His patriarchal "order" also excludes his own daughter, Christina Braithwaite, who seems to be working against her father and subtly tells Atticus to look for an opportunity to turn things his way. Could she be aware that the bloodline of Eve is more important than Adam's and that Hanna's blood is what makes Atticus "the one", and not Titus' bloodline. If so, the fact that she lures Atticus to Ardham County and baits Samuel into using him for the ceremony is all part of her masterplan. And now that Samuel is dead, we will have to see what she has planned for grief-stricken Atticus who isn't thinking straight. Will she bring Uncle George back to life if Atticus does what she asks of him?
The next episode of 'Lovecraft Country' airs on August 30 at 9 pm ET on HBO.