#It's a Bird!

[cannibalchicken]

[mysoulspiralbound]

michael the distortion!

(you may be noticing a trend, i just like drawing him, okay?)

[kowtownart]

Got back into watching Underdog again recently since setting up my VHS player, it's one of my favorite old cartoons!

The Original one's the best version and you can't change my mind :3

[coupleofdays]

Alright, it's time to finally compile my thoughts about how the premise of Tron Identity fits, or rather, doesn't seem to fit, together with Legacy, and my thus far failed attempts to make them fit. Long post with spoilers ahead.

First of all, I would like to state that I'm not opposed to the retcon that Quorra isn't in fact the last surviving ISO. I like to compare it to Superman: Depending on which continuity you're reading, Kal-El is either the only survivor of Krypton's destruction, The Last Kryptonian, or he's one of several survivors, including Supergirl, Krypto, Zod, the whole bottle city of Kandor, etc. Both of these premises are compelling to me: There's certainly a poetic tragedy of being the absolute last survivor of a calamity that wiped out your people, but I think that many people can also relate to the concept of a small group of survivors of a catastrophe trying to preserve and perhaps re-establish their culture. Similarly, Quorra being The Last ISO is interesting, but I see plenty of story potential in her being one of several survivors, perhaps trying to find and rescue her kin trapped in the Arq Server. And from what I can recall from watching Legacy recently, I think that they technically never outright say that Quorra is the last of her kind, though it is of course very heavily implied.

EDIT: Okay, Kevin does specifically call Quorra "the last ISO". Nevermind, then.

With that said, I think the main problem with the idea that Kevin Flynn created a backup server to which he migrated a bunch of ISOs can be summarized thus: Why the hell didn't he tell Sam? I guess the question could also be "why didn't he tell Quorra?", but I honestly have a difficulty seeing a scenario where Quorra isn't aware of the Arq Server in some way. I think that one of the very first things Kevin would tell Quorra when they meet after the Purge would be that he's saved other ISOs, I just can't imagine why he would keep her thinking that she's the last survivor. And even if he didn't tell her for some reason, I still think she would have suspiscions, since I imagine that most of the ISOs remaining on the Grid would notice if Kevin suddenly sneaked away some of them without telling anyone.

I have tried to figure out some explanations for why Kevin never told Sam about the Arq Server, and I have seen some possible explanations by other Tron fans, but none of them seem to hold up perfectly, for reasons I will explain below:

Kevin did tell Sam, we just never saw it in the movie: Okay, I guess there could be some moment when they're talking, like on the Sailer, and Flynn says "Oh, by the way..." I would probably have to do a rewatch of Legacy, but I suppose it could be possible that Sam isn't motivated by "I have to save Quorra, she's the last of her kind" and instead by "I have to save Quorra, so she can reunite with her fellow ISOs". The big problem with this idea is that once Sam got out, I have to imagine that his top priority would be to check on the Arq Server as soon as possible. Even if Sam procrastinated for whatever reason ("I have to start building a themepark ride!"), I imagine that Quorra would be on his ass about it every waking moment, for obvious reasons. But as I understand it, the premise of Identity is that the Arq Server hasn't been visited by anyone from the outside since the end of Legacy. It's been running by itself since 1989 up to our current present day year of 2023, perhaps even longer, and that's why it's in danger of running out of power. I don't think that works if Sam is aware of it.

Kevin thought the Arq Server had stopped functioning/was destroyed/was stolen: This was a scenario I saw someone else here on Tumblr suggest, and it's certainly a tantalizing idea. The idea of some as yet unknown third party carrying around a copy of the Arq Grid in their pocket is particularly fascinating, but I would assume that Kevin would tell Sam about it in that case: "When we get out, we have to find the person who stole the backup." Kevin believing that the server was destroyed or nonfunctional in some way is probably the scenario I have the least problems with, though I imagine that in that case he would at least have told Sam "I tried to make a backup, but..." I think it's especially interesting to imagine a conspiracy where someone inside the Arq Server somehow managed to "hack" it to fool Kevin into thinking it was shut down, perhaps some unscrupulous ISO who wanted to rule it for themselves?

Kevin forgot: And I don't mean "Oops, it just slipped my mind", I mean that something happened to his memory that erased his knowledge of the Arq Server. I had actually started sketching out a piece of fanfiction in which Kevin at some point before Legacy is temporarily captured by Clu (though later escaping, of course), and during his capture Clu manages to access this particular memory from Kevin's identity disc, and erases it for evil reasons. I liked the idea that Clu would know about the Arq Sever and was plotting to visit it once he got out, while Kevin was no longer aware of it, only regaining the memory when he reintegrates with Clu, and being unable to tell Sam before he disappears. However, I couldn't fit this together with the timeline of when Kevin meets Quorra (as I understand it, according to Tron Evolution that happened very shortly after the betrayal and purge). For the reasons stated above, Quorra would have to be aware of the Arq Server, and if Kevin got his memory erased after meeting Quorra, I have a hard time believing that she wouldn't mention it to him at some point after he escaped from Clu.

So there you have it. I really wish I could fit together Identity and Legacy in some way, since I really do like the game and all the concepts it introduces. It's possible I have missed or misunderstood something in my thoughts described above, and I'd be more than happy if someone points it out. It's also possible that the creators of Identity will come with some explanation in the promised sequels, that this whole thing is an intentional larger mystery that will eventually be revealed.

[jyedthrry6]

meme

[jiggleb0ners]

HOOTS LIKE AN APE

[daringdoombringer]

hi here’s a cool bird I betcha didn’t know existed, ✨the wallcreeper✨

it literally looks like a monarch butterfly it’s so cute

[bob-artist]

My brain: You have so many tight deadlines. So many things on your weekly schedule. So many important jobs. You have to get important work done!!!

My hands:

[bird-prince-art]

friend made my birthday cake

[ur-daily-inspiration]

Cute birds appreciation post

[shrubsparrow]

It's in the eye of the beholder

[everythingfox]

He needs a napkin

[daily-spooky]

[todaysbird]

that’s a whole man.

[gawki]

Royal Pigeon