Quote
From the 1983 song "Shout to the Top!" by The Style Council. This bouncy Thatcher-era protest song about raising your voice until someone takes notice seemed on track with the events of this chapter. The full lyrics talk about getting on your knees to pray and call out to God.

I'm not sure if it's obvious, but the song is about Noel this time, rather than Julian.

https://youtu.be/7m94ip38UKs

Rosemary and Sage
Mary Gideon provides Afterlife first aid when Julian faints, by holding these herbs under his nose to revive him. This is another mention of rosemary, "for remembrance", as Ophelia says in Hamlet shortly before she drowns herself. Sage is a herb symbolising wisdom and immortality, and likewise was thought of as a treatment to improve memory.

Rosemary and sage really are both used as treatments to improve memory. Studies show that inhaling rosemary oil during exams help students to retain information better. Pro tip! Both rosemary and sage have been used in treatments for Alzheimer's.

Mary is not only helping Julian's mind to clear, but also to spark his memories. In case it's not clear, the previous flashback chapter where Julian relives the events before he was brought to the Waystation was the result of his memory being awakened by Mary's ministrations. I think we can feel pretty confident that the cool liquid she gives him to drink would also be something to protect and heal his mind.

Julian

Julian is now able to tell Marcus what really happened that night. He had planned to take his own life in the lake, but changed his mind. He drowned when someone pulled him under the water - Julian says at first he didn't know if it was a man or a woman, then he felt unsure as to whether it was even human.

This is taken from the episode, "The Legend of Old Gregg" from The Mighty Boosh TV show. In the episode, Noel plays an intersex water creature named Old Gregg [pictured], who kidnaps Julian and drags him down to their lair at the bottom of Black Lake. The body of one of Gregg's previous victims can be seen in the background in one scene, placing an ominous question mark over the fate of the unfortunate student who disappeared after falling into the lake at Julian's university.

Julian blamed himself for what happened, as it only occurred because he had willingly entered the lake for the purpose of drowning himself. Therefore, when he reached the Waystation with his memory suppressed by trauma, he truly believed that he was responsible for his own death.

Everyone at the Waystation was unable to see the truth about Our Julian, because his records had got mixed up with those of The Other Julian. And because Our Julian was alive, and beyond the purview of the Waystation, they had no way of understanding what had happened. Julian's records can now be set in order, and Chief Justice Dharmayama is speedily rewriting his file.

(Notice that Julian did not have the ultra-wise judge diagnose all his problems - in the end, if was Julian who had to remember what happened and discover the truth for himself. This also felt quite Wizard of Oz to me, when the Wizard ultimately tells them that the answer to all their problems lies within them).

Dharmayama tells Julian that his soul will be returned to his body as soon as possible, with the hope that he will awaken and live out his life to the end of his days. You will notice this is not a guarantee - but at least if Julian does actually die in a coma, his records will be accurate and complete, and he won't have any issues at the Waystation again. It might seem a little callous, but from the judge's point of view, Julian's problems have now been fixed either way.

Noel
Noel originally thinks that Julian remembering that he didn't actually commit suicide means that he can now go Forward - the problem is that Julian can't, because he isn't dead. If a living soul was accidentally sent Forward, it would not survive the process (it would be torn to nothingness, and experience soul death). Thank goodness that did not happen to Julian!

(Also, anyone who thought Julian and Noel both getting sent Forward together would be a happy ending - nope. It would have been a tragic ending filled with horror).

Noel then demands that he be sent back to Earth with Julian, arguing that he only died because his soulmate did. Therefore, with Noel's soulmate still alive, he should get his own life back. Chief Justice Dharmayama points out that Noel's soulmate didn't actually die, so that can't be what happened.

A shocked Noel must face the fact that he died from liver disease, went to the Waystation, was assessed and has been approved to go Forward, while his soulmate will live on Earth for many more years. It is not possible for Noel to go back to Earth now - because he shared his Afterlife energy with Julian, thus helping save his soul, his own soul has now swiftly transitioned to the point that it would not survive a return to the earthly plane.

Thus the soulmates are left with a dilemma - if Julian followed Noel to Heaven, his soul would be destroyed, while if Noel follows Julian to Earth, his soul will be destroyed. Like Miranda and Rudi, they seem doomed to be separated, just as Viv and Pete warned.

Nasati and Dennis, Surprise Soulmates
We discover that Nasati Dharmayama and Dennis Kay are soulmates. Nasati went Forward a thousand years or more, and had to wait centuries before Dennis joined him. Now he fears being left alone again, because Dennis will be going on a mission to Earth, helping people so they will be more likely to go Forward or Sideways when they come to the Waystation (evidence that Forward doesn't just send people Back to Earth with a quick blessing and leave them to get on with it).

I didn't intend for Nasati and Dennis to be soulmates. However, whenever I wrote dialogue between them, they always called each other by their first names, rather than Chief Justice Dharmayama and Mr Kay. I was all prepared to do a big edit and fix my 'mistakes', until it struck me. Who else kept calling each by their first names? None other than soulmates Marcus and Mary. That made me think that Nasati and Dennis were actually telling me themselves that they were soulmates, and after that the plot seemed to get 'unblocked'.

So if it was a surprise for you, it was also a surprise for me!

Avatar (It's Not Just a Movie)
Dennis tells us that he is merely an instrument of the Universe and has been called to Earth as an avatar. He will fulfil his duty faithfully, even though it will be hard for him to be separated from Nasati (we know that soulmates like to be together wherever possible).

Avatar (Sanskrit for "descent"). In Hinduism, the material appearance or incarnation of a deity or spirit on Earth in order to perform a certain task, such as defeating evil or bringing righteousness - some have claimed spiritual leaders such as Buddha or Christ as avatars.

Dennis will be coming to Earth as the representative and literal embodiment of Forward. His task will be helping people so that they are more likely to go Forward or Sideways after they die, and it doesn't seem to be a job he volunteered for, but rather one he has been charged with, and therefore an act of self-sacrifice. I believe avatar was the word Noel thought sounded a bit like 'angel'.

The Appeal
Noel begs anyone in the assessment room to help him stay with Julian, starting with Dennis and Jeannie. It is Pauline, until now sitting quietly in the gallery, who stands up and reminds Jeannie that she always has the option to appeal to a Higher Authority. Of course, being a former judge, Pauline knows all the legal regulations of the Waystation.

Jeannie immediately calls upon the Supreme Justice of the Universe, taking the appeal to a higher court, so to speak. Marcus is impressed by this power move, and I think I'm right in thinking Marcus wouldn't be easily impressed, so that's a big kudos to Jeannie. She has a different style of being a Case Worker than Marcus, but she clearly knows what she's doing.

Marcus calls the Supreme Justice "the big J.C.", and when he arrives in a flash of blinding light, he's in a white judge's robe, in contrast to Nasati Dharmayama's black robe. Cliffhanger!

I based the different levels of legal authority on the British court system. Did you notice that we were all prepared for Julian's appeal against his sentence, but the chapter called "The Appeal" is actually about Noel's appeal?