The Meaning of "Pentaverate" Could Have Multiple Sides to It (EXCLUSIVE)

In the new Netflix series, The Pentaverate, there's a lot of goofiness and absurdity, but also plenty of mystery. While the series may come from a one-liner joke from Mike Myers’ So I Married an Axe Murderer, the meaning of the “pentaverate” is actually quite complex. Not only does the series itself mirror the Illuminati conspiracy theory, but the Pentaverate actually has its own meaning.

Many fans watching the series want to know what its title means and where it comes from. When we break it down, it’s actually pretty simple. Plus, Distractify spoke with several of The Pentaverate cast members, who were able to explain the meaning of The Pentaverate in a bit more detail.

When we break down the word, “pentaverate,” we can go to the word’s Latin roots behind “pent” and “vera.” “Pent” typically refers to five of something, and “vera” means “truth.” While the series, The Pentaverate, says that the Pentaverate is called that because there are five people who actually pull the strings behind all of the world’s events, there could be a deeper meaning rooted in its “truth.”

Basically, there’s a double meaning in the word, “Pentaverate.” As far as we know, it references the fact that the truth of the world rests in five people. However, it could also mean that there’s a deeper meaning behind what we know about the Pentaverate — potentially, there’s something else going on beneath the surface, some sort of truth, that no one really knows about.

Although it may seem just like a goofy comedy, there’s a deeper meaning behind The Pentaverate. “I suppose it's about that you don't necessarily have to believe in conspiracy theories that somebody out there is making decisions for you,” Richard McCabe, who plays Exalted Pikeman Higgens, mused.

“It's about taking responsibility for your own life because ultimately, it's a very dangerous conclusion. It leads to the erosion of democracy. So, it's comedy, it's serious, but it's got great fart jokes too.” Basically, concepts like the Pentaverate and the Illuminati lead people who believe conspiracy theories to believe that they don’t have control over their own lives, and The Pentaverate mocks that.

“It speaks to a part of life that exists that we don't really hear about often,” Lydia West, who plays Reilly Clayton, explained. “And I didn't personally know too much about it — the conspiracy world and secret society world. I think what the series does is just paint a light on those that do buy into these conspiracies and these theories, and base their whole existence off of them and search for answers in them in the wrong places as a way to fill a void in their lives.”

Lydia and Richard, both of whose characters support Canadian journalist Ken Scarborough (Mike Myers) in different ways, found their own meaning in The Pentaverate. And now, like people who look for meaning in life’s smallest details and form conspiracy theories from that, we can search for our own meaning of The Pentaverate.

All six episodes of The Pentaverate are now available to stream on Netflix.