#ANYWAY im probably embarrassingly wrong about at least 80% of this but we'll let this post die if that happens

[deepspacenova]

I'm so glad you're bringing this up because I'm literally in the middle of a dissertation post about the order of events in this trailer but since it plays perfectly into this I'm adding it here instead...

[disclaimer: some of you Big Brain geniuses might've already clocked this but my brain takes approximately 22 business hours to fully process what it's seen so bear with me]

My assumption/conviction up until this point has been 'Caleb can't kill MC' kindled scene → 'Caleb and MC are falling' kindled scene

but the more I'm watching this the more I'm certain that's not the proper order because of THIS

"No matter what... Please wake me up"

This is a request, a plea from Caleb to MC and this is said AS they're falling. Which means this is a precaution, a preparation. ...for what? For when they... meet again?

SO i was like, how would they meet again after the literal explosion of the world?! And then I realized... we don't know which world is ending right?! AND THEN i saw these lines:

"Seeking me out... That's dangerous." // "You didn't want to be woken up?"

Which are said right after MC unplugs the wire from Caleb. And I feel like it would be HIGHLY unlikely if the reuse of the word "awake or woken" was a coincidence, so it feels like this is MC literally following Caleb's request from when they fell.

Her question also seems confused, surprised. Not only because this is the opposite of what he'd asked of her, but because of the words he'd just said, the words that were warning her away from him?? Which begs the question: why/where was he plugged in and…

who controls that access to him??

ALL OF THIS TO SAY:

What if their kiss was the beginning and NOT the end?! What if MC and Caleb fell first?! What if Caleb was cast out to his death and MC went with him!?

WHAT IFFF that was so unexpected for 'Them' that they have to put Caleb back together, reprogram him, restructure him (metal DNA?):

while they wait for MC to resurrect/come to?!

And what if "Seeking me out… That's dangerous." is a warning from Caleb in the same way that he warned MC about the Toring Chip?! What if it's his way of telling us that us being near him, seeking him out, unplugging him, unrestraining him might lead to him hurting us without being able to help it?!

Cue: "TARGET ACQUIRED... ACTIVATING ELIMINATION PROTOCOL... EXECUTE... NO... COMMAND REJECTED."

AND THUS

CALEB IS ONCE AGAIN IMMEDIATELY FIGHTING THE VERY NATURE OF HIMSELF WITHIN ONLY A FEW MOMENTS OF BEING "REBORN"

JUST like he did in Farspace Bloomfall with the Toring Chip

JUST like he’s destined to in EVERY LIFE TIME.

Rewatched the trailer for the 500th time because I am not normal, not calm, not stable, and I love him so much 🥺

But I got to thinking.

This would be a kindled scene, and kindled scenes don't typically appear until a few chapters into the myth. Before that, the LI and MC would obviously have some initial interactions and bonding moments.

What if by this point, they are bonded already, but whoever is controlling him had, so to speak, "factory reset" him to follow his original programming and eliminate her. We do get these voiceovers early in the trailer shortly before this kindled scene:

Note it says "repair A-01". It's highly probable that his memories of her were "extracted" and wiped clean. Any feelings he had for her up to this moment are gone, and even any personality traits he developed would be gone. He's been reset to literally a machine that only knows its programming and has lost all sentience.

She tries to speak to him and break him out of this state even if in her mind, it might seem impossible. And then, somehow, he does remember her enough to consciously try to override his own programming, hence: "Command rejected."

The last shot of them sitting side-by-side could just be them comforting one another after that intense traumatizing moment. The voiceover: "I always wanted to be in the same world as you... Instead of just watching you... And imagining you..." could be something he had said earlier in the myth before this scene; possibly even during an initial meeting in a nonhostile environment.

[Anyway....trailers are never as they seem. Scenes can be manipulated and rearranged in order. And significant lines can also be used over other scenes, so this is why I don't want to take the scenes as they are. All of Sylus' trailers have taught me this lmaooo 🙂]