Diksha Sundriyal
In Apple TV+’s ‘Time Bandits,’ a history nerd named Kevin goes on an adventure of a lifetime when a group of bandits show up in his room and whisk him away to a different time and place. Before meeting them, Kevin’s life had been uneventful, and the lack of friends made it even drier for him. With the bandits, he finds a group where he belongs, but even amid all the fun and games, danger lurks around them. Their enemy is the leader of the bad guys, Pure Evil, who finally has the opportunity to do something otherwise out of his reach. He wants the map that the bandits have. Why does he want it, and what is so special about this map? SPOILERS AHEAD
The Map Represents the Universe in Four Dimensions
The universe is a big place, even for the Supreme Being, and to travel around it, one needs to have a map. Unlike the usual maps that humans use, the map in possession of the bandits is much more advanced. It doesn’t just take a person to a certain place, but it also takes them to another time. To do this, the map treats time like just another dimension that can be traveled back and forth, but it cannot be laid out in a map like other dimensions. For that, the map shows its reader the position of portals through which one can travel through time.
Because it is a one-of-a-kind map, reading it requires special skills. At first, Kevin could not understand how the map worked, but the bandits, who had spent some time with it, were a bit more familiar. Widgit is responsible for finding the portals and leading them to their next destination. However, he also seems to be learning its ways and sometimes takes his team to the wrong place and time. For example, when asked to take Kevin back to his house, Widgit takes them to the correct place but at the wrong time. Instead of 2024, he takes them to the Ice Age.
Apart from showing where to find the portals, the map also shows its readers when to find them. Timing matters while traveling in time, and the portals don’t always stay open. They close for short windows, which differs from portal to portal. In some cases, they have to wait hours for the portal to open; in others, it is barely minutes. Only someone who can read the map can know when a certain portal will open and, more importantly, how long it will remain open.
The Map Allows Unimaginable Power to Its Possessor
Due to its ability to lead a person to any place and time they want, the map acts as a key that opens all locks. If you could travel back and forth in time, you could change things to suit yourself. Similarly, if you had the map, you could be anywhere in time, and no one could find you without the map. This is why the Supreme Being cannot find the bandits despite being the “supreme being.” They keep jumping from one place to another, and without the map, the Supreme Being finds it difficult to keep track of their movements.
Just as the map gives power to the Supreme Being, it can also give power to the bad guys. Pure Evil has been eyeing the thing for a long time, but he couldn’t take it from the Supreme Being (whose name he gags at every time). But now that the Bandits have the map, he can get his hands on it. Once that happens, he can use the map to travel back and change everything according to himself. He could make everything go up, turn everything sharp, and do every other ungodly thing that pleases him. The fact that the map being out of his reach prevented him from doing all these things proves how much power that piece of paper holds. While it takes only a moment for the bandits to leave Kevin’s room and return, Evil’s demon has to wait there since Ice Age, disguised as a stone, for the bandits to come back with the map.
Another interesting thing about the map is that it shows the power of a place or the portal it holds. For example, Widgit talks about how the map showed him that Kevin’s room held much more power than he’d seen before and that there were two portals simultaneously. On their first meeting, Penelope tells Kevin that his house is very dangerous because it sits on a spot like an active volcano. Interestingly, the map also tells him that a person of great intelligence lives there, which means that the map can determine whether danger lies on the other side of the portal. All of this combined makes the map a very powerful asset, and it is no wonder everyone wants it.
Read More: How Does Time Travel Work in Time Bandits?
