#canary curse analysis

[mikorae]

canary curse analysis

alright. i keep seeing people call Lizzie the new canary. i would like to kindly disagree with all of ye :D

Lizzie is not the new canary.

lets take a look.

an enderman pushed Lizzie into the void, in the End. her cries were unheard. her fall was unseen. the only player there was Scott(hes irrelevant rn though sorry cyan guy) Joel was the only one in the overworld, who hadnt witnessed the death, to notice. her husband was the only one to notice. he spread the word. but still, no one had actually been there. (im really disregarding Scott im so sorry but hes just not a part of this)

lets look at our canary. he died in the overworld, with witnesses, to the hands of a wither and warden. (technically just the warden but shh) Jimmy's death was seen, his call was heard. the canary sang again. they heard his song. they heard the warning. they watched as the canary didnt make it out of the coal mine.

oh and Mumbo died too- he died just to make Grian sad.(#theWatchersagainsmh) thats about all i can say about that lol.

Lizzie is not the canary. Jimmy still is. his call was heard.

Lizzie's just silly and fell :3 (the Watchers forgot she existed so they couldnt prevent it)

hope you liked my analysis!!

[nerdyenby]

Jimmy broke the curse fair and square, but he’s still the canary. Lizzie died in the End, alone. Not to another player, not to the effects of the game itself, she just fell. A tragedy in its own right, it took minutes for the others to even notice she was gone. The game barely acknowledged her passing, as it was so beyond its reach. She died first, yes, but the canary’s call means nothing to those beyond the coal mine.

[solidaritygaming-fanblog]

right. So I'm kinda insane and found another song to talk about in some life series / evo context: Copycat. (Song will be linked at the end of the post!)

So, many people headcanon Jimmy and Grian being brothers- and it makes a lot of sense. They're both dirty brown haired, have dark brown eyes, are British, bird coded, have warring personalities, and actually are associated both with yellow, and then one other primary color- Grian taking red, and Jimmy taking blue. Even their main colorations show a kind of "parallel difference" between them, with recently, Grian being associated with red and purple, and Jimmy with blue and yellow.

Now. Recently Jimmy did some lore of him praying to the Watchers. And back in Evo, Grian was taken into the Watchers ranks- so there is some repeated or rhyming elements in their arcs. However, I raise you this- Jimmy is Grian's "replacement", or basically, a backup for if he defects from the Watchers. That's why he has such a deference to them- its hard coded into him. That's why he's acknowledged them so much recently, because Grian's slowly leaving, and they're beginning to get Jimmy to replace him.

For a long time, those two have had a sibling dyanmic- Grian, the older, stronger, and smarter brother, and Jimmy, the younger, weaker, stupider sibling. Grian basically torments Jimmy for his own amusement, and the Watchers let it happen- if Grian ever defected, they could simply feed Jimmy praise -you're better than Grian ever could have been, hes weak and you're incredibly strong, of course we will listen to you- and he would instantly be completely loyal to them.

The song has a few choice lyrics I'd like to point out:

"We get along just fine!" "I say everything you like to hear..." "It's funny how much I feel like I'm looking in a mirror!"

Say "Hello! What's up with you?" "I'm starting to talk like you do..."

"We've grown apart this time, I can't figure out the reason why." "It's funny how much I'd kinda like to see you cry."

"I've become what you like! I am what you wanted, right? Sacrificed all that I know, I have taught myself to let go!"

In any case, the main motif of the song is losing your identity- and that's exactly what's happening to Jimmy, memories of servers being scrubbed as the Watchers prepare him to take over Grian's position. The whole chorus is Jimmy giving in to the Watchers, and thinking about Grian in anger- he pushed him too far, yes, of course- the perfect way to get back at him, to team up with the eldritch gods Grian hates. Grian said he should be stronger- well now look at him! He's one of the strongest beings alive! He is now what his brother wanted him to be, perfectly made in his image.

Oh, and in case you need further convincing, look at how Grian's wings are usually portrayed. Scarlet macaw- red, blue, and yellow. Now look at Jimmy's wings- nearly always yellow, but in Wild Life, he's become a parrot. His wings are blue and yellow now. I bet he sometimes sees little red feathers and rips them out, desperate to distance himself from Grian- unfortunately, his brother.

Meanwhile, Grian doesn't know what's up with his little brother, and is desperately trying to get him back, to prevent him from making the same bad decisions he did- maybe even losing some of his Watcher powers as Jimmy's power begins to eclipse his own.

Link+ a lil more below the cut. This post is too long already. Whoops

Okay I can perfectly see in the "Copy that copy cat!" bit in the chorus, different sprites show up with every beat. The first four are of Grian (followed by a short animation of him saying the line) hitting poses, with maybe each sprite having a little refrence to a different season or series they have been in together. And then it swaps to Jimmy, facing towards him, hitting the same poses, with matching refrences. However by the end of the song, Jimmy takes charge, doing the poses first and surrounded by eyes- and Grian, trying (and failing) to match the poses and control the eyes, confused why he's lost his power.

Give my boy Jimmy the power. Grian has tormented him far too long.

[samathekittycat]

inside the life series universe, of course it's fun to mess with jimmy! look at the guy, no one respects him!

"jimmy died first! again! how clumsy, how stupid! he's bad at the game, what a loser!"

but you want to know what i think? i think that it's all a front, a lovely comedic shield to hind behind.

how terrifying the mere concept of jimmy solidarity is: The Canary in the Life Games. he's there, trying to survive, just like the rest of them! gathering supplies and finding allies...

everyone knows he's going to die.

well, obviously everybody's going to die. that's the whole point. but these games are uncertain, literally amything is possible! all except that First Permanent Death

how reassuring must it be for them, to know that they are safe as long as the canary stays alive! they have a security blanket, they can rest assured that even if they lose everything, even if it all burns down, at least they'll survive! at least they have a chance to win!

how do you then treat the canary? do you confront your ugly feelings of pity and shame? shame at your relief that it's him instead of you?

is it really any suprise they all refuse to take jimmy seriously? if they did, they'd have to acknowledge the horror of his existence.

[omegamoo]

jimmy dies first yes yes but his curse is called the canary curse for a reason. he dies first (usually) but what his death actually means is chaos. it means the end has arrived. it means nothing good will come of the next few days/hours/sessions. lizzie's death doesn't signify more chaos. jimmy's, on the other hand... in the middle of the wither/warden battle... yeah.

[poppyseed799]

I feel like life series fanon jimmy is kind of mischaracterized and there’s an easy way to make sure you’re doing it right: he has a lot of unearned confidence

[boatemlag]

oh also. canary curse right. well id like to see some analysis on jimmy that isn't incredibly reductive but when i see canary curse talk my eye twitches and i endure.

[cloverjelly]

life series duos as songs!

1- team rancher (tango and jimmy) - born to die by lana del rey

song analysis under the cut! (lowk this post is more writing than drawing lol, if u read the analysis ilysm)

feet dont fail me now, take me to the finish line / oh, my heart, it breaks every step i take / but im hoping that the gates, they'll tell you that you're mine - both of these little guys are cursed in horrible ways (peep the target on tango and the arrow in jimmy) but its ok bc they ~love eachother~!!

the road is long, we carry on / try to have fun in the meantime - this holds a lot of significance to double life - they were both kinda doomed from the beginning but still managed to make THE RANCH THAT SHIT AFFECTED ME EMOTIONALLY

choose your last words, this is the last time / cause you and i, we were born to die - same as before! since tango and jimmy r cursed they go into games ready to die <33

(not song related) - the target above tangos head is abt his insignificant death curse, and the arrow in jimmy head is the canary curse. this is mostly about double life; for the curses to come true, aka the arrow meeting its target (bc it always comes true), it has to cross through and kill both tango and jimmy! :)

[fivepoints]

So I’ve been thinking (re: obsessing) about the canary curse since I saw the last episode. And I read @goldenwitherphoenix13’s analysis which you should definitely check out here! And I realized that when

Jimmy died first, there was always a good chunk of players that would perma-die in that very same episode, and the series would end in either the episode after or the one after that, with many perma-deaths spread out along the way. 

But, in secret life, the only people who died after Lizzie were the others in the mine (Mumbo+jim). And, the series ended a whole 3 episodes after with the next perma-death being that final episode. This is way more indicative of a freak mining accident taking out a few people than of a canary falling silent due to CO2 which would then spread quickly to the others. I, obviously, don’t have any data on the rest of the perma-deaths for wild life, but it is important to note that mumbo’s death was not followed by anyone else’s immediately.

That being said, I do love diversity in headcannons within fandom. So, if you do prefer the headcannon of the canary curse being passed on, then there is definitely an argument that Lizzie and Mumbo actually did their jobs as canaries (successfully warding off death for a good while). Contrast this to when Jim fell silent, it was already too late to escape the cave.

[raticalshoez]

Heavily based on this post! Please check it out cause it's such a cool analysis of the Canary Curse type stuff!

In this post, op points out how Jimmy's canary stuff still lingers, just in a different form, but the thing that really stood out to me is how his allies seemed to always be doomed to die faster upon being allied with him. I remember thinking, huh, this reminds me a lot of someone else.

Then it clicked that that someone else (or multiple someones) was Grian, and Pearl. I've seen both associated with losing their closest allies, and given that these three are heavily headcanoned to be siblings, I thought it was so interesting.

We all know Grian's curse, which my favorite way of referring to is the Icarus Curse. His closest ally in his alliance tends to meet an untimely demise that is often (unintentionally) by his own hand. Those allies are Icarus, and he is the sun he burns their wings and causes them to fall. He got his curse first, all the way back in 3rd Life.

I'm wary to refer to Pearl's as a curse as opposed to an unfortunate pattern given that it hasn't been around for nearly as long, but I think Pearl's started in Double Life when she won. Ever since then, Pearl's been trying to make sure anyone in her alliance wins, as long as it's not her. Yet she tends to always outlive said allies, and she's always distraught about it. With limited research, I have learned that the moon is associated with not only being a guide and aprotecter, but is also connected with the concept of death. I don't think I would call Pearl's "curse" the Moon Curse cause it sounds a bit silly to me, but the description of a guide and protector failing to guide and protect the ones she wants to is just so bitter to me. It also doesn't help that she was seen as a bad omen in Double Life already, adding more salt to the wound.

Now, I don't wanna say Jimmy's the last one to develop this dooming others trait because as the other post states, Jimmy's been dooming his allies to die earlier ever since 3rd Life, but I think the full extent of his curse has only ever been fully realized in Secret Life and honestly, Real Life too because in my heart that season is real (pun not intended lol). People would always think that Jimmy's curse would doom him specifically, a curse that would cause death to catch him first, but of course a canary in a coal mine doesn't have to stay there. Again, the post linked goes into detail about Jimmy's side of things, but when I read it, I came to a realization that all the Skyblings are really just connected with the concept of death.

[readerofoddities]

The Curse is Broken

A poem by Grey (readerofoddities), originally posted to Wattpad on November 27, 2024

Poem written in honor of LDShadowLady dying first in Secret Life

The Canary calls

Yet the first to fall

Is not the accursed

The Shadow Queen

Neither just nor mean

Felled by the Widow

Her knight not found

And her life unbound

Now cursed by the living

For when canaries call

The first shall fall

And those who watch rejoice

Analysis of my poem (by me) to come later in reblogs. Any "friendly advice" is not welcome (I was and still am very proud of this because I don't do poetry often)

[what-is-my-life-lmao]

I'll try but there's gonna be some spoilers (idk if I put the cut right)

The Clover one has kinda already been explained by another person, but basically from what I know the song is about only being useful as a sacrifice and Clover sacrifices themselves for their monsterkind in pacifist (also the lines "and when you break the surface, oh, without me | Please don't return me to the dark of all the memories, yeah" just fit)

And about Curses, it just gives me big Ceroba vibes, "There's still cobwebs I the corners | And the backyard's full of bones" (the Ketsukane house being abandoned after the tragedy™, and the "backyard full of bones" being the spot behind the house where Chujin's grave is)

"Ashes ashes, dust to dust" with monsters turning to dust when they die, "The devil's after both of us" (the devil being either humanity as a whole, the integrity human, or (my personal fave interpretation) no-mercy Clover, in the last case the "both of us" is Starlo and Ceroba), "Lay my curses alll to rest | Make a mercy out of me" (Ceroba begging Cloverbto kill her after her pacifist fight)

And the "Ashes ashes dust to dust | Tell me I am good enough" could maybe be about carrying on Chujin's plan, her questioning if she truly deserves Starlo's forgiveness after pacifist

There's some more, but it's mostly interpretations I have or smaller stuff

That fanart I rebloged about "Canary in a coal mine" being Clover-coded reminded me of how whenever I listen to "Curses" I think of Ceroba

[crystaljellie]

Flower husbands big long over-analysis rant because I'm insane. This is very angsty tbh so no fluff here, even though in my heart they are the softest and most in love couple ever, that's still true they just also happened to go through death games so-

Overall

They make me miserable knowing they’ll never get to be happy because Jimmy keeps running away from the relationship, maybe because he doesn’t want to commit or he’s just happier leaving it in the past while it was literally Scott’s everything and seeing him still teasingly trying to bring it up to Jimmy. Like in a "haha I’m so over it aren’t I so over it look at how over it I am’" way when he’s definitely, joking about it with Jimmy just so that Scott isn’t the only one with memories of what once was a perfect marriage. They got to be in love in third life and Jimmy hadn't been so occupied with Tango or anything (Not Ranchers hate just thinking about flower husbands)

He's hoping those times of peace and love aren’t so far gone that he will forever be the only one to hold them. Because Scott still remembers burying his husband, Scott still remembers arriving at the desert just a second too late. Scott remembers the anger he felt from its loss. Jimmy remembers the happy times, the teasing the loving the smothering the tender love and gentle care for each other yet he still doesn’t want to go back. Jimmy wasn’t alive for the bad times, Scott was, and maybe something about those bad times makes Scott cherish what they had ever dearer. Maybe because Jimmy doesn’t remember, he takes it all for granted, that if he came back, if he ever decided to, it would always be that way, and if he moved onward to someone else, it would be that way too.

The thing is with love is that Scott's only been hurt by it. Except for when he was with Jimmy. Scott’s love came with 3rd life only to have it ripped from him by a husband taken too soon. Scott’s love came with last life only for that loved to be tainted by the nightmare of winning. Scott’s love came with double life, a love so strained and painful that it could hardly be counted as a love at all, the fighting and spite the swords held at each others throats both seeking revenge for their tarnished relationship. Both never willing to sit and understand each other. Scott’s love came with limited life, where he gave and he gave and he gave, and the only thing he received was the scorching hot bucket of lava that covered his skin. And Scott’s love came with secret life, where he trusted and was betrayed, where he forgave and was used, where he loved and he let himself be killed. Jimmy constantly surrounded by people trying to save him and Scott by people who try to use him. Jimmy is the only ever love Scott had that was gentle and it is something that he will never get back.

But Jimmy doesn't have malicious intentions, Jimmy also is just trying to find a way to live. The canary curse affecting everything that happens to him, maybe it's because he knows he'll die before everyone he both wants to live that time to the fullest and not get peoples expectations up because he doesn't wanna hurt people when they lose him.

3rd Life

Jimmy’s 3rd life death I will never ever get over. The last thing he gets to see is his husband being shot down in front of him after fighting for both their lives. And then Jimmy can’t even live for him, he tries to, he tries his best. He’s shot right at the escape tunnel, and somehow Scar who’s been on red for much longer and is much more reckless is still alive. The man who has double-crossed everyone on the server lives, yet the man who only ever wanted to protect his husband was cruelly shot down. Scott running back to the desert to see everything in ruins, and he finds out that Scar pulled the TNT too late, that all of that was for nothing, and the only one who actually died was his husband. Scott not even being there to see it happen, he wasn’t there in his husbands final moments neither of them got to say goodbye. And then Scott being so fucking distraught about it that all of his grief crystallises around his head, so that he can keep his grief with him and out of the grasp of the watchers of which grief they love to feed out. Maybe one last desperate attempt to keep their love untainted.

Double Life

There’s something about how Scott went out of his way to build a ranch. Like he could have called it anything else at all, but he decided to make it a ranch. The same thing Jimmy and Tango called their base. And not only did he do that but he made it basically a couples counselling but so he could break up pairings. So he could break up pairings like the ranchers. Maybe he misses his husband so much he's willing to do things he would never normally do. Because he doesn't want to hurt people or hurt their relationships, but he also wants his husband back

Limited Life

Limited life flower husbands ruins me the most because of what could have been. Scott trying so hard to get Jimmy to say literally anything that could be taken in an “I still care for you sense” and Jimmy just giving him nothing to work with. ‘I gave you a pufferish of peace, Jimmy’ ‘Yeah, someone took it. i don't know where it is anymore, I lost it.’

The whole ‘Love you’ thing, the fact he didn’t even have to mean it but he still wouldn’t bring himself to say it. BUT ALSO!!! Why wouldn’t he say it? If he really didn’t love Scott, then he surely would have no problem lying to him or just saying it was platonic. I mean Scott was offering up a whole 30 minutes for something so simple, but he didn’t. He just outright refused. Which makes me think maybe he does still love Scott; he didn’t say love you back because he knows he means it and he can’t risk loving anyone in a death game.

Maybe Jimmy is avoiding all of this and purposefully trying to sever ties so he doesn’t have to worry about the pain that comes with watching someone you love die. He doesn’t say ‘love you’ back because giving Scott that hope when Jimmy knows they can’t have anything like that is cruel, so in his own way, it’s a sort of mercy. They could love each other, though I mean Scott shows that constantly that he isn’t really worried about the consequences. Jimmy just sees how everyone else has suffered because they’ve loved and doesn’t want that for himself. Which is okay, that doesn't make him bad, he just cares.

End notes

They're both just trying to love each other in a way that keeps them both safe. They love each other too much and neither of them can love the other in the same way. Both are so longing and hoping for third life back.

Tbh I have hope for flower husbands redemption in season 6

But yeah 3rd life flower husbands peak and I am so third life brainrotted it's officially the only season for me

[asmallcommitteeoffrogs]

The way I see it, each life series is related to a season.

Third Life- Fall

Last Life- Winter

Double Life- Spring

Limited Life- Summer

Secret Life- Fall

Real Life- Winter?

Third Life is fall. Now, you might say, "but, Frog, what about Red Winter?" to which I point out that Red Winter was coming, but it never fully came. The Red King and Dogwarts fell before it could ever officially be winter. Third Life is also fall because of the slow decent into death of everything as well as scarcity of resources as winter approaches. It's not winter yet, but it lurks on the horizon and as things get colder, so do the players and their relationships with each other.

Last Life is winter. I haven't actually seen Last Life in a while so this might not be a great analysis but bear with me. Everyone sort of went into this season with an almost sense of scramble and knowing what was to come. The winter set in quick and they all made their groups hastily in an attempt for shelter (which ended up causing unstable alliances). The boogyman caused distrust as players just tried to survive and keep themselves safe. Everything feels inevitable and every player is aware of what's at the end. I have strong feelings about this one, but if anyone else who is more familiar with Last Life wants to add on, please please do.

Double Life is spring. Third time around, everybody is sort of starting to get used to the game and how it goes. They know what'll happen, but their attitudes are lighter. The ranchers ranch, new fresh partnerships are made, and everyone is sort of out and about. New elements are introduced such as, goat horns, allays, frogs, powdered snow, and the warden (rip Rancher's Revenge). The whole energy feels kind of excited and fresh in a way. Like just coming out of hibernation.

Limited Life is summer. I feel like I don't need to explain this one too much. The amount of water and ocean themes we get tie into the warm weather aspect. Everyone is social with each other (even if that's because of murder). I've seen this season compared to little kids playing pretend on the playground which sort of ties in with the fun and lighthearted energy. And yet the ticking timer reminds them that nothing, not even summer, can last forever (play 2000's teen summer movie trailer music here)

Secret Life is fall and it's the start of the season cycle again. Lizzie's pumpkin vibes help this theory. This season also had a sense of division to it with the secret tasks forcing people to go off on their own most of the time. In sort of a call back to Third Life, this season could be seen as a omen of what's to come in the winter, and I think that with, as the biggest thing, the Canary Curse getting broken can show that these people have changed and that they are prepared for the winter ahead and that things are going to be different.

And then I guess Real Life would be winter. I haven't quite figured out where this fits into my season theory, but I feel like it could show how this winter is different than the ones that came before. I admit, this season was too short to get a great vibe, so depending on the next season it might get cut to Fall 2.0 (cause I definitely think it's been accepted as canon and I don't want to just remove it)

Anyways those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear what anybody else thinks. I definitely could have said more about some of these but I don't want to ramble too much. I also feel like this could kind of tie into some funky things with the winners too, but I'll save that for another time.

[qoldenskies]

I want you to know how brilliant The Canary Continuity is.

Also this-

I just wanna talk about this-

This conversation with Leo is where things REALLY started going down hill in my mind because the curse takes hold. So it’s the ‘beginning’ of the horrors and the pain. And when you contrast it to Raph’s dream of everything being perfect and the situation getting resolved it’s like the two statements “It was wishful thinking from a guilty man” and “It was the wishful thinking of a guilty man” is a reminder that this COULD be where the story ‘ends’ that streak and summarizes things in a sweet loop but ACTUALLY NO.

This COULD BE the fanfic-usual sweet ending and then maybe a chapter or two of bonding and apologies afterwards with everyone else that sums up the story- BUT NO

Actually, this statement is the beginning of ANOTHER batch horrors that are hidden in positives because despite things getting better they’re actually getting worse which is ALSO contrast from the first story where it’s OBVIOUS what’s bad and now it’s test with no right answer for literally everyone involved.

I don’t know if that makes sense at all, but I love your stuff.

Thank you for writing it and going absolutely feral all the time

Each update makes my day a little better <3

AYYYYY THIS ASK IS SO SWEET THANK YOU!!! yeasss ive used that line in ME as well but the parallel here was fr meant to indicate that i was moving to the next "act" of the story in the same way that argument with leo was .... the beginning of the real downwards spiral in both!!! also notice the relevance of doors to the two passages. real big door motif going on in canary continuity

LOVE THIS ANALYSIS EATING IT UP YUM

[griancraft]

Guys I hope you realize that you can’t do actual analysis of canon through the lens of fanon?? Scrolling through the life series tag. Canary curse isn’t real and the watchers are not confirmed as far as I know??