11 Intriguing Connections Between "Black Swan" And BTS's Past Works

BTS‘s just dropped “Black Swan”, a new song about the bittersweet relationship between an artist and their art. It was inspired by this Martha Graham quote: “A dancer dies twice — once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.”

Fans, who have been brainstorming theories since its release, believe that that “Black Swan” may also draw on Black Swan, a 2010 American psychological horror film inspired by Tchaikovsky‘s Swan Lake ballet.

Here are 11 connections, hints, and clues BTS may have dropped about “Black Swan” in their past works!

1. The dark angel statue

In the MV for “Blood, Sweat & Tears” Jin approaches this towering statue. What if this dark angel was a black swan all along?

2. Jin’s kiss

In the “Blood, Sweat & Tears” MV, Jin kisses the angel statue, but in the 2017 BTS LIVE TRILOGY EPISODE III THE WINGS TOUR trailer, he kisses…

…his watery reflection. In Black Swan, the main character, Nina (The Swan Queen), suffers from hallucinations, including ones where she sees her dark doppelganger. At one point, Nina hallucinates about kissing and sleeping with Lily, who plays The Black Swan in their ballet production.

3. Jin’s reflection

At the end of “Blood, Sweat & Tears” MV, a crack appears on Jin’s face when he looks at his reflection.

The image is strikingly similar to this one of Nina on the theatrical Black Swan poster.

The contrast between light Jin and his dark reflection in the BTS LIVE TRILOGY EPISODE III THE WINGS TOUR trailer might remind some fans of the Swan Queen/Black Swan doppelganger dynamic in Black Swan.

4. V’s wings

In the BTS LIVE TRILOGY EPISODE III THE WINGS TOUR trailer, V has black wings that many fans are now seeing as swan wings instead of angel wings.

When V fully extends his wings, he is standing on a black-curtained stage, as if giving a performance.

This is reminiscent of this Black Swan performance where wings appear on Nina as she is dancing.

5. V’s wounds

In the “Blood, Sweat & Tears” MV, V has wounds on his back from where the wings used to be.

In Black Swan, Nina finds unexplained scratch marks on her back after she begins hallucinating about her doppelganger.

6. Jungkook’s car accident

In BTS’s original “I NEED U” MV, is it implied that Jungkook was struck by a car after walking out into traffic. In Black Swan, Beth (who plays The Dying Swan in the film’s Swan Lake production) is struck by a car when she walks into traffic, possibly on purpose, after a confrontation with Nina.

7. J-Hope’s arrows

In Swan Lake, Prince Siegfried (the love interest of the Swan Queen/Odette) is a hunter who nearly shoots Odette with a crossbow while she is in her swan form.

Looking back now, J-Hope is giving major Siegfried vibes in “Blood, Sweat & Tears” and the WINGS tour trailer!

8. V’s stabbing scene

In the original “I NEED U” MV, V brutally stabs his abusive father with a broken glass bottle. Glass also happens to be Nina’s weapon of choice. (Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not!).

When Lily transforms into Nina’s evil twin in Black Swan, they have a fight that ends with Nina stabbing her doppelganger with a glass shard. Only, this was a hallucination. Nina actually stabbed herself.

9. The final act

After realizing that she did not kill Lily with a glass shard, but rather stabbed herself, Nina dances the final act of Swan Lake. When it ends, Nina attempts to commit suicide by falling off a cliff, but instead she lands on a hidden mattress.

BTS’s on stage: prologue, the sequel to the “I NEED U” MV, begins with V washing blood off his hands after killing his abusive father. He then falls onto a mattress, where his members find him.

10. Water

In Swan Lake, Odette and her companions are turned into swans. Only at night, on the bank of an enchanted lake created from the tears of Odette’s mother can they become humans again. The spell can only be broken if someone who has never loved before swears to love Odette forever.