**SPOILERS FOR THE PEACHYVILLE HORROR PODCAST EPISODE 14 AND POTENTIALLY THE SERIES**
I’ve been relistening to the series, and I feel like a lot more dots are connecting after Episode 14. I’ve been going through most of the podcast to listen for clues.
Blake tries to press Jenkin’s on the possibility of a third chamber, and Kelsey starts questioning if their own world is a chamber, but Jenkins (Will) dismisses it as “oh that would be crazy” or “she’s chamber-tripping”. As soon as Kelsey mentions it he seems to jump in and try to brush it off. I do think these two are onto something though. The Bigfoot World is the third chamber, and the Peachyville World is the second chamber.
Jenkins explains with the Bigfoot World that the people on the outer chamber are able to flood the entire world via the flood hatch in the sky and the drain below. Will specifically mentions “there really is a hole at the top the sky” in the Bigfoot world, which sounds similar to the “hole in the stars” we hear in the theme song and at the end narration of Episode 10. But this isn’t the only thing hinting to a similar chamber system that Peachyville is in. If there are holes in the sky in both worlds, there is probably a drain in Peachyville too, along with an observation bunker like the one Jenkins leads the main characters too.
We do get references throughout the series to something happening below the town. In episode 10, ARLO says something “smells bad” beneath the town. Could this thing that smells bad be a reference to a sewer? Will also mentions the Hole in the Stars with the Horrors Beneath the Town at the end of Episode 10, further connecting something happening both high above and far below the world.
Project Heartland’s motto is “Victory from Beyond the Stars”, which I first thought meant something to do with space exploration or with the Eldritch deities, but now I’m wondering if they mean “beyond the stars” as in the escaping through the hatch in the Hole in the Stars.
There’s probably a secret Observation Bunker located somewhere in Peachyville too- Jenkins said they are included in each simulation. They can see the outside world from there via a screen. I think we might actually have a hint as to where this is located. In Episode 3, when Francis is hiding in the woods, he sees The True Believers bowling team, and they say that they are trying to get the mysterious trophy to The Powers that Be. Brian, who is part of this team, explains he has a map that will lead them through the 1840s mines in the woods, but one of the members objects saying that he heard it was haunted. I think that the reason that people believe it is haunted is because the same “haircut and a shave” whisper technology is being used to prevent people from going to the Observation Bunker in Bigfoot World. They are trying to scare people into not exploring.
Jenkins says that each civilization’s technology eventually leads them to being able to reach far up or far down, closer to each escape. He explains that with the simulated worlds, “whenever they (the simulation civilians) get close (to escaping) we (the scientists) press a little button and flood the entire world and kill them all”. If Peachyville is in a similar situation and has a flood hatch and drain, this could happen to them too. Peachyville is set in the 1950s— the start of the Space Race. They are about to launch a bunch of rockets up to space and realize their world is not what they thought it was. They are scarily close to reaching the Hole in the Stars.
A “Hour of the Hole” is mentioned a few times in Episode 10. I believe that this is the time the real world/first chamber is planning on flooding the Peachyville world. The people on the outside chamber can probably tell that this is around the time this world will start to make rockets, and have set it so that they will flood the world around this time. They are moving slower, and the main characters have some time, but not a lot because rockets are coming soon and the first chamber knows to flood them around that time. Additionally, ARLO says something bad will happen with the thing that smells down below during the Hour of the Hole— something close to the drain.
Zouzel, the Mother, and the Cult
I am wondering if there is a “Jenkins” of Peachyville. Meaning, I wonder if someone or a few people from the outside world are trapped in, and/or coming in and out of, the Peachyville simulation. This could be someone who has access to the Observation Chamber, someone who can speed through time, someone who knows about the outside world and its advanced technology and can use it to influence this one. My theory is that this person is Zhouzel, or someone linked with him.
The Bigfoot World could be parallel to the Peachyville World if the simulation theory is true. And with this parallel, I want to focus on the mural they see. They see a false-history of a brave hero of the plains/bigfoots discovering a pod in the ground with a key inside (put there by Tucker), which they say is a gift from the gods to open a “door in the sky”— the flood hatch. But, the swamp people stole the key because they wanted it for themselves. Looking closer, they see this was marked over and that originally the mural showed that the key was given to the swamp people. They need it to access the door below— the sewer drain. They are also trying to escape.
How do these people know of these doors if they are so far away? How do they know they need a key? I’m guessing someone who is aware of the simulation told them, maybe Tucker or maybe Jenkins, but I’m not sure it’s Jenkins since he’s not been in the situation long and it seems like this key feud was before his time in the simulation.
It is mentioned that gods from above and below give the people gifts. I wonder if these gods are just people from the outside world that have advanced knowledge and technology who appear godlike to the Bigfoot and Swamp people. And, I wonder if this logic could expand to the people of Peachyville— their “gods” might just be people with tech and knowledge they can’t fully comprehend.
We see a similar situation happening in Peachyville with the god worship. The Brotherhood of the Bison worship the Mother and Zhouzel.
I don't believe Zhouzel is this great being, though. Like I said, I’m guessing he’s just someone with advanced tech and knowledge. I think at least someone has been time traveling using the Observation Bunker, spreading prophesies of Zhouzel and The Powers that Be. We do see a lot of old paintings and historical documents on the conspiracy board at the Project Heartland base. The person in that bunker would have stopped around this Space Race time now as the world is about to flood.
Like I said, the theme song of course talks about the Hole in the Stars and how it’s “so far, so far away”. The person singing the song wants to escape, but they will “stay today”. The singer also talks to a Mother and a Brother in the full version. I don’t know right now, but I’m wondering who is singing the song? Is it Zhouzel? Someone trapped in the simulation? The main characters? Why do they want the Mother to fear them? Why do they want a chance to feel ordinary— what makes them not feel ordinary in the first place? Just something to keep tabs on.
Chart of the Zhouzel/Powers that Be Teams
Pro-Zhouzel: The Brotherhood of the Bison, Adothe(?), the Mother
Anti-Zhouzel: Hal, Mothman, Powers that Be
Pro-Powers that Be: The Ones that Watch, Relish Wet (messenger from The Ones who Watch), Brian, The True Believers, Hal
Anti-Powers that Be: The Brotherhood of the Bison, Zhouzel
Will did specifically mention events having affected the V-2 rocket of the 1940s via the old film reels, showing that at least Will is incorporating rocket history into his DMing.
Will says “Alien demigod known as Zhouzel defending world from cruel whims of Powers that Be, throughout history… first mother summoned into reality, then a warrior drinks Zhouzel’s seed in a moment of great triumph, then fed to Zhouzel’s mother at the Hour of the Hole, where Zhouzel is born in warriors body, after feasting on 10000 souls he gathers the strength to fight powers that be and fights them back to darkness” Anthony clarifies: kid gets eaten by mother and then vomited back out as Zhouzel. Is Zhouzel helping humanity through history using the Observation Bunker?
Trudy makes that analogy that the scientist are The Powers that Be for the Bigfoot World.
Jenkins helped Tucker make ARLO before Trudy was made a robot, as in the flashback where ARLO is being made Trudy mentions she’s picking up Timmy from school— Timmy is not homeschooled at this point.
In the Chapter 14 cover art, swamp monsters are running to a mess of tentacles similar to the ones during the Mother sacrifice.
In the Bigfoot world there is a star chart showing constellations, and a place they believe is the center of their universe.
Is Tucker running simulations on how the civilians might escape by giving them the key? To help them escape or learn how to prevent them from escaping?
Jenkins says about the swamp people that “something contaminated the water and they evolved. This isn’t the typical thing we see when running these experiments.”
Will in Episode 2 is specific about how Zhouzel is spelled and says “Zhouzel is only us humans trying to say the correct name”. So Zhouzel could actually have a different name?
I am unsure about the prophesy that both Trudy and Hal have had about the future of Peachyville. Is it real or a trick to mislead them?
I could be missing information or have information that doesn’t quite line up here admittedly— I tried going through the podcast but there is a lot of information scattered throughout.
