My TADC Predictions
Okay, quick disclaimer here:
Everything I say in this post is purely speculation and is in no way being demanded to become canon. All of these are open to be incorrect upon future releases of the show’s episodes, and nobody should get upset over whatever that is said in this post being wrong. This is Gooseworx’s show, not mine. I am only a fan doing fan theories. Please harass no one.
Okay now that this is out of the way, what do I predict for this shows plot?
Well, I can safely say that I am not 100% sure on anything, as I do want to be surprised. I was with Episode 2 for sure. But the episode also gave me some ideas.
Let’s start with the episodes themselves:
Gooseworx confirmed that Episodes 3-6 are character centric episodes. They also said that this was NOT meant to be a mystery show but rather a character focused show.
So I think it is safe to say that we will, for the most part, have to WAIT for answers on the outside world and the mysteries of the circus itself. We won’t get answers for awhile.
As for what I think the answers are, more on this later.
So, at the very least, Episodes 3-6 are episodic adventures designed by the circus. Which while character development carries over (I would hope so), the adventures themselves are self contained. So we likely won’t be seeing the Candy Canyon Kingdom again.
Maybe Episode 7 is also in this category. Idk.
Due to the show being based off ‘I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream’, all of this would make a lot of sense.
And I will say it right now, from Episode 3-6, Pomni is taking a backseat.
She’s the main character. She’s been the main focus of the first two episodes, and she’ll undoubtedly be important for the last act of this show. But it makes sense to me that she takes a backseat role in these episodes and leave the focus character of these episodes as the main driving forces.
I’m NOT saying she’ll have absolutely nothing to do or get zero character development in these episodes. She could play a part in the other’s development in SOME cases, and it would suck if Episode 2’s ending became meaningless by having her not work on warming up to the others at all.
BUT other than that, yeah, these episodes are going to be primarily focused on the characters Gooseworx listed to be.
Maybe Pomni will finally see the monsters.
Or get zombie infected in Episode 3, who knows.
The side characters:
In a trailer, we saw more of these characters being revealed. And thanks to Episode 2, it’s far safer to assume that these guys are episodic characters, with a FEW exceptions.
While I think these characters are gonna play a bigger purpose when discussing NPC’s, they are episodic exclusive.
The only exceptions I can think of so far are Orbsman and GummiGoo.
Orbsman I think is making their debut in Episode 3. But I also think he’s going to be one of the biggest gag characters in the show. From how they market them as ‘everyone’s favorite character’.
Basically, I think they’re gonna be like that elf from Majorca’s Mask (I forgot his name). A gag character you always run into with a very out there concept.
As for GummiGoo, I don’t think he’s dead. Or dead as in ‘gone forever.’
Otherwise, why make a plushie of him?
(Or maybe they make plushies of dead characters all the time. Idk, I haven’t watched Murder Drones yet)
BUT I dont think he’s coming back in Episode 3. I actually think it’ll be awhile before this character comes back.
The most soon I can see his return coming is in Episode 7. And I think it will be anything but pretty.
There’s a theory that GummiGoo got his memories erased when Caine snapped him, which I do like in the sense that there are permanent consequences and to establish the harsh reality of the discrimination of the NPC’s. So yes, I do see this becoming entirely possible.
I think this characters memory erasure will be used for Pomni and Caine’s development respectively. I also see this character playing a role in the established world building that is the NPCs.
What we know about NPCs so far is that they are programs Caine created, to the point where they worship Caine as god (I’ll bring this up later). All of their backstories and memories are fake. As they are merely programmed obstacles created to be used for the human players sick enjoyment.
And Caine has trouble keeping track of who’s a human and who’s an NPC, so he segregated the two because ‘who knows what could happen’. (Again, more on that later)
This show really subverted me with its second episode, so I will still do that with this case. In most amnesia case scenarios, the character would eventually regain their memories as though they were never lost.
I don’t think this will happen to GummiGoo. I think he’s NEVER getting his memories back.
In that sense, it would be more so the case that GummiGoo himself is a tragedy.
I can also see that very tragedy being the awakening of an NPC rebellion, especially if the NPCs are prominent in future episodes. They snap and go ‘No Caine, NPCs are people too and deserve to have a life!’
Especially if the game was say, originally designed for advanced AI to live like people within the game.
It really depends if the other characters bond with NPCs on whether it’s all of them that agree to this, or just Pomni.
Anyway, the Episode 3 discussion:
Simply based on the teaser, it would make no sense for the ghost things to appear in a late episode unless they’re REALLY trolling us. (Which could totally be possible)
So maybe Episode 3 is this haunted mansion adventure as it’s episodic adventure.
Gooseworx also said this was their favorite episode. And that it was darker than the previous two. That speaks for itself.
As for what they’re possibly talking about… I don’t know. I’m actually stumped there.
But what we do know right now is that this is a pairing episode of Zooble and Kinger.
This does worry me, I’ll admit. Zooble is a character that gets rather little screen time already that pairing them with another character with more story potential in their episode sounds like admitting defeat.
I do hope I’m wrong though.
Zooble:
Zooble is the character so far that I am the most skeptical about. Mostly because if their lack of screen time thus far. And like I said, them sharing an episode with someone else does not help.
With that said, I do want to give the benefit of the doubt and say their lack of contribution to the plot thus far is intentional and there’s more going on than what meets the eye.
I do think, no matter what, Zooble is playing a role in this episodes adventure. And if they refuse, Caine will just throw them in. And they will play a very prominent role in that episode.
First off, I think this episode will be the confirmation of Zooble’s identity. As in, what pronouns they use. Because so far, it is all over the place in the show. Either way, I definitely feel like this character is supposed to be trans and/or gender-fluid.
Do I think this will be Zooble’s main focal point of characterization? Not really. Whether or not it’s trans rep, I like the idea of it just being a casual preference they have. It’s a great way to normalize trans-rights in this show without being preachy. While also being trans-rights because that’s something the world definitely needs. (Especially where I’m from)
The other thing is Zooble refusing to go on these adventures. The obvious reason could be characterization that ‘they’re lazy and a moody person who doesn’t like to contribute to anything involving peers’.
So if Zooble’s mental complication is dysphoria, if it’s not gender dysphoria it’s social dysphoria. Maybe it’s both.
(You’ll find that I am theorizing all the characters to be going through something)
It is a valid route to take for that character.
But I also think it’s the less interesting route.
There’s a theory that Zooble is a spy, as in, they know more about the circus than they let on and are self defending with that information. Which I do like, and could see being possible.
It would also somewhat justify the duo episode because it would give Zooble more of a role in the future. Whether that’s as an anti-hero type character or a jerk-ish ally.
So basically, they’d be the ‘heart of gold’ character everyone thought Jax was gonna be until Episode 2 crushed that.
Zooble could be someone who knows more about the circus than they originally let on, such as hacks or secrets to the maps, but they don’t share this information with anyone else because A) What would Caine do to them? B) While they do care about the others enough to set up a funeral for Kaufmo, they aren’t exactly open to letting people in their lives or asking for help.
You know, unless their own life is put in jeapordy.
Again, social dysphoria thing.
(There’s also the Pilot in terms of this discussion. They got eaten by the Gloink Queen but didn’t turn into a Gloink. So like, what if they used a hack code to save themselves? And/or what if they used that as an opportunity to learn what makes the NPCs tick?)
This would also make them a foil to Kinger in the episode, as Kinger would be the one who IS open to letting people in his life, but mentally cannot. And so far Zooble has seen Kinger as the least reliable out of everyone (He failed to save them from the Gloink Queen and they made a comment about how they thought Kinger would be next).
Speaking of Kinger:
Okay, so Kinger is definitely a plot important character. I think we can all agree with that.
In the previous two episodes there just wasn’t enough of Kinger that made me completely latch onto him. Which is why I haven’t made a post on him. But I do feel like Episode 3 will change that because…
Yeah we’re learning about him.
As for what I do think about him: He’s a good guy. He’s trying to help. He’s like the cooky old guy of the group that wants to be of assistance and is very knowledgeable but fails to due to his mental illness.
That mental illness likely being schizophrenia.
What this basically is is a disconnect from reality. You see things that aren’t there, you hear things that weren’t said, and vise versa.
It’s a mental disorder that is in need to be looked at by a professional because patients can be so disconnected from reality that they can’t function.
And Kinger has multiple of these symptoms as he hears things that weren’t said, forgets things almost instantly, and does irrational actions without much thought.
So basically, Kinger is psychotic.
A misinterpretation of that word is ‘dangerous and crazy’. But that is not what that word means at all. So NO, I’m not claiming Kinger is evil or crazy. He’s smart. He knows what he’s talking about. But he IS mentally ill.
That, or altzheimers. But I don’t think he’s old enough to get that.
Now, in some characters cases, it’s difficult to pinpoint if some characters obtained these illnesses from the circus or if they had them before the circus. Depending on the character it could vary.
I’m inclined to believe Kinger’s case is the former, as he has been here the longest, and Jax says specifically “That’s why he’s crazy”.
But what exactly drove him to be that way?
The first theory I have is HOW long exactly Kinger has been here.
And I said this theory in a post before.
But basically, Kinger was not only here the longest, but he was also one of the ORIGINAL tester players of the game.
Him, along with other people.
Again, in that other post, I said that Caine accidentally killed a human player and that’s why they’re programmed to segregate humans and NPCs.
This would require the Digital Circus to originally be designed to have advanced AI that interacted with the players. But because of this tragedy, they had to abandon the project and deem it as malicious software, or ‘malware’.
So not only did Kinger witness this exact event to one of his companions and co-workers, but he also witnessed the abstraction of that dead co-worker that caused the other players to never leave the circus.
From there, not only would Kinger suffer massive survivors guilt, but also be here FAR longer than we could imagine, and he had to witness ALL of his friends succumb to abstraction.
Including Queenie. Who in no doubt was THE closest to him. And I can totally imagine getting a Kinger flashback of him witnessing her abstraction.
I don’t know what exactly his relationship was with Queenie. People have suspected she may have been his wife or girlfriend, but Gooseworx had confirmed there was no romance in the show.
This could either be them stretching the truth and forgetting the ‘that you see on screen’ part.
Or they are very legit here. Which in that sense, she could just be his best friend. There doesn’t have to be romantic subtext to it.
Either way, we are definitely going to know more of Kinger’s backstory at some point.
There’s a theory that Kinger at some point will be the next one to abstract.
But… I think that would be way too obvious.
Yeah, he’s old and been here a long time. But if that’s the only reason he would have abstracted a long time ago.
There’s definitely SOMETHING in his brain that is preventing him from ‘the breaking point’.
Along with Jax, who I will talk about later, Kinger is ‘insane’. But that might not be defined as ‘the breaking point’ for him.
Ragatha described abstraction as ‘starting to question who you are and why you’re even alive’. Which makes abstraction sound and seem like it is portrayed as a ‘mental suicide’.
So Kinger’s insanity in particular is NOT plaguing him with suicidal thoughts. He already lost EVERYTHING at this point and in other circumstances would be abstracted. But instead he keeps going and keeps a hold of a reason to live.
What is that reason? We don’t know yet.
But it could also be a subconscious decision he makes to detach himself from the reality of his situation. He’s so disconnected from reality that he’s only living in fantasies now.
It’s… very tragic of a fate for him.
So I really DON’T see Kinger abstracting. I believe that would be a very predictable route to take this character.
If any character is gonna abstract, I feel it would be someone else. More on that character later.
Also he was a bug tester. I don’t think I need to explain that one. Everyone and their mothers made that theory already.
Gangle:
I will say, Gangle is the one I have the least to say about out of the six. As I think this character has the least amount of relevance to the main plot and whatever twist that comes.
That said, doesn’t mean she’s gonna be a bad character. At best, I can see her being a very solid, entertaining character with strong development that is blatant.
That said, Gangle is definitely the major focus of Episode 4 as it is the episode of the most character discovery for her.
I definitely want them to explore her two masks with this episode, as so far we’ve seen little to none of the comedy mask.
I don’t hate the running gag or anything, but I think they should build on it is all I’m saying. Otherwise it gets stale and the character just becomes the gag.
With the masks, I definitely see it as a visual for bipolar disorder.
If that is the case, then seeing more of her comedy mask is vital to get that point across.
Gangle is also characterized as a bit of a dork and a massive pushover in Episode 2. With the figurines and the ‘submissive and agreeable’ line. Which made me think ‘Wow, I might like this character far more than I thought I would’.
But that latter line gave me huge Angel Dust flashbacks. With both being Episode 4 and all that. But I don’t think Gangle’s past was THAT horrific.
Still, I heavily imagine Gangle is one of those characters who had a very rough life before the circus and even now is someone who can’t stand up for herself.
I can see a positive character arc for her where she grasps her mask concept better, figure out more about herself, and come out a better and more confident person.
Not the deepest arc in the world, I know, but it’s all in execution. And I can totally see that character development carry over to later episodes. Like, say, she stands up for herself against Jax and doesn’t put up with his bullying anymore. That’d be satisfying.
But that is all I’m really expecting of Gangle as of right now. Just a really solid side character.
Ragatha:
Okay now we’re talking!
I love Ragatha. She’s by far one of the sweetest characters in a world of such hopelessness. And yet her own struggles with connecting to the people around her is so real and so relatable to me. Despite being so sweet, she feels like a real person and doesn’t come across as naive.
With that said… yeah I don’t think she’s getting a happy ending.
No doubt I think they’re setting up a character arc for Ragatha. While yes she is very positive and reassuring all things considered, it’s those same traits that make her very pushy and not very understanding to what the people around her need.
There’s also the hint Gooseworx gave about the ‘evil Ragatha’.
From my understanding, this is due to the nightmare image of her in Pomni’s nightmare.
So two things I could imagine this being:
1: This is part of the Episode 5 Adventure that involves an Evil AI Clone of Ragatha. Making the episode about introspection on her end on who she could be if she doesn’t accept her more negative emotions.
Or 2: This is metaphorical and foreshadowing Ragatha being a traitor.
This is part of biblical text and symbolism MANY people have pointed out already. And I will do as well.
In text, Judas Iscariot is the figure that betrayed Jesus Christ. He betrayed him FIVE times actually. (Episode FIVE???)
If Zooble is a spy, then suspicion would fall onto them as a traitor among them. And Jax would be too obvious of a candidate.
But I think if this were to be the case, Ragatha would be influenced into this malicious role due to a negative character arc set up for her.
We all rave about how anxious Pomni is, but so is Ragatha, who is also suffering this very common mental illness. It’s just not as in your face. And if left untreated, she could start to make very irrational choices over a paranoia that she’d end up completely alone in the end.
So her betrayal may be having to do with them finding a potential answer that would help them leave the circus, but she destroys it because it would mean they’d leave her.
That, or she’d be possessed by Satan… who Im predicting would be Jax in this case. Idk who else it would be that’d influence her.
While I do not think this would happen in her focus episode, I do think that at some point in the latter half of the show, Ragatha abstracts.
Whether that’s out of guilt for her betrayal of the others, or just simply being unable to take it anymore as a failure of the job she set out to do (as a caring figure and the heart of the group), she is burying a LOT of trauma and negative emotions and sweeping them under the rug and bottling her up. That is definitely gonna bite her later.
So yeah, if any character is going to abstract, my bet is on her.
Would be this be a PERMANENT abstraction ‘death’?
It really depends if they find a way to undo abstraction after such. But that’s a huge 50/50 that’s even going to end up being possible. That could go either way.
And if Ragatha doesn’t abstract, she almost does, but then someone saves her before she can.
Jax:
Ah, here it is. The character everyone wants me to talk about…
And I have already.
So, my Jax take is pretty interesting compared to some other Internet folks I’ve seen so far.
I actually didn’t find him all that interesting in the Pilot. Hot take I know. He wasn’t bad or anything, I was just far more compelled by the world building and Pomni’s struggle at the time.
It was actually the second episode that hooked me on his character because “Holy sh*t this guy is a maniac and I am here for it!!”
I mean, Gooseworx already confirmed that Jax is the morally worst character in the show and there was nothing heroic about him. Idk what more you want me to say.
Now with that said, do I believe this and that he will, indeed, be a major driving force of conflict?
Yes.
Do I think he’s a one dimensional evil bastard?
No.
Hear me out.
While I don’t believe Jax will ever be ‘redeemed’ per say, I do believe an explanation for his behavior is warranted AND there are hints that there’s a bit more complexity to his mindset.
I mean, he didn’t show up to Kaufmo’s Funeral, but showed pity when it was mentioned.
As for what exactly this explanation is, it’s actually something I’ve heard a lot of people say before.
He’s aware this is a video game.
The NPCs are just that. They don’t have lives. This world is designed to have zero consequences. So you can do whatever you want in that context.
So Jax takes advantage of that.
We only don’t agree with him because we saw in Pomni’s POV that the NPCs are more than their design.
Everyone here has their own coping methods in a world like this and Jax is no different. It would be INSANE if he had no care.
There’s not enough evidence yet, but I believe he USED to care about the human players at the very least, (reaction to Kaufmo’s Funeral and all of that), but after several losses, decided to screw any sense of care he had.
His fault. But still.
I already made a post about Jax having low empathy (and y’all said I was crazy before Episode 2 came out) so I’ll be brief.
Jax cares about absolutely no one here and is perfectly willing to sacrifice them if it means amusement. The only reason he hasn’t terrorized the circus yet is because that would be boring if there was nobody to poke at.
While low empathy doesn’t equal ‘bad person’, in Jax’s case, he feels no care, but it’s his own actions that lead to sociopathy as a personality disorder.
Donny from Rise of the TMNT has low empathy but you don’t see him committing candyland genocide for the lols.
If I had to predict his past, I would say he was a malware publisher.
He has keys to everyone’s rooms after all. Maybe that’s symbolism that he hacks into peoples personal info with his viruses?
So basically, he was a terrible criminal in his human life and that carries over here. At least in the circus there’s no consequences.
His development might be a complete negative character arc. He’s the anti-Pomni.
Where Pomni learns to connect with the others and that she’s not alone, Jax shuts out everyone until he is truly alone and no one would ever support him.
As for what Jax’s ‘point of no return’ action is. It might have something to do with Ragatha if she becomes a traitor. Maybe he’s the one to persuade, maybe even force her to destroy their hope of an exit.
He’s Satan, then.
Cause it would be easy to say the action is a circus genocide or circus domination. But that would not work on getting the audience to hate Jax. Making a character hateable is making them do personal things that would offend both the characters and the audience. And forcing one of the nicest characters in the show to turn for the worst would be an example of that.
And I already made a post about why think the ‘Jax is an NPC’ theory is wrong. That was speculation that had been thrown around even before FilmTheory made their video, but my post so happened to come out around the same time so it was pretty perfect.
And if you’re curious about my thoughts on the recent video they made about Digital Circus? (Pomni being an NPC) To say that didn’t convince me is an understatement. You can literally contradict it with one basic fact: WE. SAW. HER. SPAWN.
ANYWAY,
I’m also calling that image of Jax becoming an abstraction hybrid is fake.
I mean come on. Why would a dead character get a focus episode after their death?
Either this is a nightmare, or he snaps and comes close but gets saved.
Because Episode 2 had the same thing as the former, I’m assuming the latter is more possible.
Either way, Jax is a surefire antagonist that will only get worse as the show goes on. There will be an explanation for his behavior at some point, Episode 6 even being a day in his POV, but none of it will in any way excuse his behavior or even make him remotely sympathetic.
But is he ‘the main villain’ of the show?
In my opinion, no.
Oh he’s still an antagonist. And a bad person. But final boss? No.
Actually, I don’t there there is a ‘main villain’ of the show:
At most, I see there being Episodic Villains like the Gloink Queen. And of course Jax being Jax. But in terms of a main villain that needs to be defeated, I don’t see this show pulling that off.
Unless they do.
This show works very well as a bunch of real people going through their emotional baggage’s. And if anything, the setting is the villain.
At most, you could argue Caine is the main villain. We all hate what he did to GummyGoo. But Gooseworx confirmed he’s not evil.
There’s a difference between an ‘antagonist’ and a ‘villain’. ‘Villain’ implies the character is evil.
It’s clear that Caine has certain beliefs, or rather, programmed to believe.
I said this theory before in a post so I’ll just state it.
I believe that Caine is an AI self insert of one of the two creators of the game.
And at most, if I am correct about Caine and Jax, then the closest thing to a ‘main villain’ would be C&A, the corporation behind the Digital Circus. That would include its employees, but I don’t think they’ll be actual ‘characters’ and would more so be ‘talking points’. Hell, I highly doubt we’re ever gonna see their faces, or any of the characters human selves.
I cracked a joke of ‘What if the humans were ACTUALLY live action?’ And it will be INSANE if that ends up happening.
There were two creators of the game, one who would make an AI self insert to be the host that would become Caine, and the other would be the first human player in the testing room, and that player would be named Abel.
The game was designed in the 1990s to be an interactive VR game that would be revolutionary for innovation, the AI both deciding the players avatars and making immersive NPCs to cooperate with the players.
When test players then came in, with one of them being Kinger, and so far, the game has been a success and been distributed. Kinda like that one virus disguised as a gorilla mascot.
(I DO NOT OWN THIS SCREENSHOT, NOR DID I BREAK ANY DEVICE)
That is until bitterness stirred from the two company owners. The one working the game from the outside became envious and got consumed by greed and spite towards the game not being exactly their imagining. The other one, the human player, then began to immerse themself with a different side to the game, a world where the NPCs began to act like real people, with real aspirations and shortcomings that of a person. And they realized that there was much more to what they were creating than they originally thought. So both in game and in real life, Abel tried to bond with the NPCs as though they were real players.
And of course that got more attention.
So in a bitter action of irrationality, the head used Caine to ‘delete’ Abel while he was in the game. Remove him from the server so he can’t mess up the project.
What ended up happening instead was not only that Abel died in real life to brain damage, but the player version of Abel ABSTRACTED upon the murder.
The abstraction caused a glitch in the program itself, making it so that any player that got in the game could NEVER leave.
Which is how Kinger and the other bug testers and players at the time got trapped there.
And well, the actual MURDER of one of the company heads and its employees suddenly being unable to leave a video game would NOT fly under the radar.
As just like the biblical text, the murderer would be punished. Both the A.I version of Caine, and the human version of Caine.
A.I Caine had to deal with the permanent consequences of the human players being trapped in the circus forever, with him trying and failing over and over and OVER again to save these players from abstraction. As they would begin to do so due to their mental instabilities in the unstable digital program, also killing them.
Human Caine would cause the entire company he built to be taken in a dark turn. They fired him, and he went to prison, and then the Digital Circus was from then on deemed negatively.
From then on, The Amazing Digital Circus would be deemed ‘Malware’. A dangerous virus where any user that got their hands on the program would be trapped in the game forever. As such, it was not only taken from shelves, but would fade into obscurity to the point where the 21st century barely heard of the game.
Of course, that didn’t stop some people from getting their hands on the malware and being too naive to see the warning signs.
Ragatha as, very likely, an older sister to a family or a teacher that tried to help a minor, relative or not. Jax as a virus creator himself who was just testing illegal malware for the lols. Gangle as a shy and closed off theater kid who just wanted a way to therapy without actually going. Zooble as a college dropout artist with dreams and ambitions and got lended the wrong hands. And Kaufmo. And every other player that fell for the trap of the malware.
I mean, you and I know malware is unsafe and no one should use it. But some people are either ignorant or stupid.
They all paid the price.
Obviously all these players got into the game at different times. We know this for certain. Kinger was one of the original players. Then it’s Ragatha, Jax, Gangle, Zooble, and you know who. Gooseworx confirmed this order.
But I mentioned that Kinger was a C&A Employee. There’s another character I strongly believe is one.
Pomni.
There’s a reason I claim the people from C&A are Kinger and Pomni and not anyone else.
It’s not just because of the evidence others have pointed out (Kinger mentioning bugs, his knowledge on how the place works, and Pomni looking as though she recognized the desk in the office scene, and her also knowing how the place works) , but it also has to do with their designs.
Notice how both of them are the only two who have a design theme that centers around royalty.
The King & The Jester.
And if Queenie was also an employee this drives the point even further home.
And since C&A created the game, that would make it the kingdom of this world. So of course the game would make them look like roles in royalty.
Anyway, Pomni. Whereas Kinger was a 90s employee at C&A, Pomni was a modern day employee.
We already mentioned biblical text. Caine being Caine the first murderer, Jax being Satan, Ragatha being the traitor… you know where I’m going with this.
Yes, there is the theory that the show uses biblical subtext and Pomni is this show’s equivalent of Jesus Christ. And it is HILARIOUS.
But I do have incredibly mixed feelings on it.
On the one hand, it does make sense in biblical context and for ‘I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream’ if you know the fate of the MC in that story.
On the other hand, it is a very risky direction to take. Not saying the writers can’t pull it off or I don’t trust them to pull it off. But if they go at it as though Pomni is a chosen one meant to save the others and the peak of moral hood in the shows lore, it would ruin her character.
I think Pomni works way better as a regular woman that is just as flawed and uneasy as the people around her, if not more so. But that’s my opinion.
As such, I feel like the show works way better as a character that is not a chosen one or doing all these good deeds for a purpose, but is just… a normal person.
So with C&A, 2023, we enter human Pomni. An accountant working at the C&A office for minimum wage. She doesnt have a life outside of her miserable job. No friends. No after work activities. No nothing. She just goes through the motions of life like there’s nothing else.
Maybe she has some college degree for game design, but no one recognized it, so it seemed pointless to pursue any dream in it.
She suffered major depression and generalized anxiety disorder her entire adult life, and by 25, she’s lost all hope that her existence means anything.
What’s her entire existence if it’s just working 9-5? (See what I did there?)
I also made a prediction in a previous post that the human that had Caine as a self insert is Pomni’s parent. So that adds another context to it whether it’s true or not.
And then on a slow day of browsing, she stumbled across information on ‘The Amazing Digital Circus’. Which was listed as a malware that’s killed several people as well as their devices.
She learns through her research that it was a project meant to take people into an immersion of another world of wonders and endless fun.
And as someone who got into games to immerse herself with fantasies and escape from reality as a kid with parental issues (If ‘human Caine’ is her dad), it was the exact thing she needed.
So late at night, Human Pomni snuck into the office to find the tech of the Digital Circus that got abandoned in the back long ago.
But rather than have any intent to fix it, she booted it up to put the headset on. Basically committing suicide.
Yes, I believe human Pomni had committed suicide when she put the headset on. I have a post about this.
She had no intention to save anyone in the game or to even live her normal life, but she was thrusted in a position where she didn’t expect her escape from reality to be so literal. And survival instinct got to her immediately as a result. She didn’t want to go through with the game anymore and tried to escape what she did, but couldn’t.
But for what we’ve seen so far, Pomni has grown to not only care decently about the others, but find a reason to live.
Since abstraction can be read as mental suicide, then it’s a fate Pomni could strive to avoid at all costs. While she can’t escape death, it wouldn’t be by her hand and there would people that’d save her if she tried.
And if that continues to be emphasized, then it goes to show that Pomni is and has always been just a normal person, regardless of her upbringing and circumstances.
So, with that said, what would an ending look like?
I actually don’t know what they could be going for. There’s a lot of possible routes they could take and two episodes is not enough info for an ending to possibly predict it.
That said, I do have two ending theories:
1: Caine gets redeemed
I believe that Caine will get a redemption arc.
Yes we all hate him for GummyGoo, but hear me out.
This character is an AI just programmed to carry certain beliefs. But Episode 2 proved that these AI are capable of questioning things and having beliefs like people would. Which means Caine is capable of maintaining his own beliefs. Which means those beliefs can be altered.
If Caine isn’t evil and is doing what he thinks is best for these players, then all he needs to do is see that his ways are only causing mental damage and he’ll be open to hearing out what would actually help.
So… maybe he’d let them go??
If that’s even possible. There’s still the barrier that is keeping them trapped in the circus that we don’t know about yet.
So basically Caine is like Inside Out’s Anxiety, a clear antagonist that is just doing what they think is best even when it’s not, but realizes the faulty ways of thinking and seizes control in the end.
2: Everyone BUT Pomni gets out
I dont think Pomni is gonna have a happy ending.
For two episodes now, she’s had a mental break of some sort, and while it may not be related to psychological trauma, it could happen again an Episode 3 as well. And so on until the end of the show.
Will she abstract? I’m not sure.
Unless you say, if my Abel theory is correct, her abstraction overrides his and allows the human players to leave the circus.
Why would her abstraction glitch be enough to do that and not the others? I’m not sure. Unless we’re talking about Jesus symbolism.
Which in that sense, I can see her pursuing the same path Abel did in treating the NPCs like people and allowing them chances to act as people. Within circus grounds I mean. Count that with the show suggesting bonding with the other human cast members, then I can see Pomni’s story arc mainly being about reconnecting with the real self she lost when she came to the circus. Maturing into an emotionally realized woman that wants to live and strive and also helps the people (NPC AND human) around her live and strive too.
I also got this idea from Oreo’s fan song “The Show That Never Ends”, and the bridge lyrics. (They also did Digital Hallucination… which, you know, fan song gold standard)
“I dont think I can go on” “Don’t wanna lose myself” “I’ll try putting a show on” “I’ll try biting my time, I’ll find a way out of here” “I’ll never stop, I’ll never give up on life, I’ll get out of this place tonight, or tomorrow, this horrible hell can’t hold me forever whenever I get the chance”
So, no, I don’t think she’s giving up on trying to leave. Think about it 24/7? No. But she isn’t giving up on the possibility, especially when a clue presents itself.
But please Glitch, do something with her character besides ‘me find exit door’ (Episode 2 comes out) oh wait, you did. Awesome.
But while I do see that character growth from Pomni and the others minus Jax, I do think in Pomni’s case specifically it will not be enough to save her from the damage Caine and the circus will do to her.
And when all’s said and done and the answer presents itself that the only way for anyone to escape the circus is with a sacrifice, Pomni breaks before anyone else can volunteer. She gets left behind in the game. She abstracts. She overrides Abel’s glitch and fixes the game so the humans can leave and the NPCs can carry out Abel’s wishes again.
And if her abstraction doesn’t do it, then it definitely would break Caine and get him to open his eyes. The damage he’s done that got them to that point, that the loss of Pomni has only himself to blame. And it causes him to turn for the better and save the others.
So yeah. Jesus sacrifice to save humanity. And NPCs. And Pomni is just in coding heaven I guess. (Maybe Ragatha is also there on the other side. Raise a glass to freedom (I’m sorry))
It would also be a contrast to the Pilot. Where at the start of the show, Pomni only thought about herself and was willing to leave by herself, she’d get everyone but herself out and think of them first.
Kinger, Gangle, and Zooble are characters I see very likely to leave the game in this scenario. So they’d get happy endings.
Jax is a maybe. Depends on if he doesn’t get a Disney villain death first. Otherwise it’d just be ‘Eh, fine, leave you jerk, you don’t deserve it.’
But maybe if he is a criminal in the human world it can be ‘Have fun in prison’
Ragatha. We talked about it.
But Pomni is one that is very likely to not get a happy ending.
And Caine is a different story because he’s an AI who can’t and has no interest in leaving. But in a redemption moment he’s a much more experienced and empathetic ringmaster for it and that’s enough. And failing Pomni would make him a bittersweet character, as while he’s better as a person for it, it came at the price of a character he mistreated.
And if any of my theories over this post were correct, then while Caine is not Pomni’s father, he is a creation of her father and a self insert of him. So take that what you will and how much harder that hits.
Daddy’s gonna look after you. Even when you’re in coding heaven.
So in conclusion…
Uh… everything I said in this post is total BS and is 90% sure to not happen at all.
And I don’t demand any of it to.
This was just me as a fan doing some silly speculation as a form of investment in the shows story. And I am not going to get upset at anything here getting proven wrong in future episodes.
I mean based on Gooseworx’s posts I think it’s a given that I’m gonna be thrown a curveball.
I’m gonna be SO OFF, and then when the episodes come out we can all go back to this posts and laugh at my face at how WRONG I was.
Please don’t take anything I say here like it’s already canon, cause it’s NOT. Just, have fun while it lasts I guess.
Maybe I shouldn’t become a theorist.
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