What if Pomni and the gang's confrontation of Caine was them projecting their issues they had with their parents IRL onto Caine? That's not to say that their complaints aren't real or valid, but it's the first thing they notice.
"You're a horrible host. You don't care about us at all."
"You care more about stroking your own ego than giving us anything we'd actually enjoy."
"Yeah, you're a failure."
"We're all gonna abstract someday and what will you have then? Nothing."
My take: Pomni had parents with extremely high expectations that like the look of parenthood to outsiders than actually being a parent. Pomni was probably showered with gifts she didn't actually want.
The comment about "Do you know who I am?" really seals the deal for me. That's exactly what a power tripping parent would say. She's forcing her parental figure to acknowledge that she'll be gone someday and they'll be powerless.
That's why Pomni is so insecure about being tiny and being a jester. She was always serious but never taken seriously. She was made to feel small by those with power over her.
"And this whole stunt? Just torturing us because we hurt your feelings?"
"Pathetic! You're like a child. What kind of all powerful being has such a fragile ego?
My take: Zooble's family was NOT supportive of their alternative lifestyle. Zooble is gay, trans, likely had tattoos, and never really settled on a career, meaning they probably never had much money. Their family took it as a personal transgression to rebel against them.
Zooble criticizes an all-powerful being for having such a fragile ego. That makes sense a lot of sense as an alt person. Zooble clearly has a good head on their shoulders and wanted to make a mark on the world. They always move past Jax's nonsense even though he's awful, while also holding him accountable.
Yet people are angry at their very existence because it falls outside of the social norms.
"You never let us feel like we're at home. You don't comfort anyone when they're upset and you never bother to understand what it's like in our shoes."
My take: We know that Ragatha had an extremely toxic mom that berated her at least verbally, if not also physically. Her mother never considered the pain that Ragatha was going through at the hands of her abuse, and her mother was never impressed by anything Ragatha did.
Because of her trauma with mer mom, Ragatha now constantly fights to make everything OK and to fight for everyone's affection. Ragatha grew up in an environment to always keep fighting for love because she never received the love she deserved, and never settled into any home.
"You discourage us from thinking outside the box and doing things our own way!"
My take: Gangle was an art school dropout. While people drop out for many reasons, lack of parental support certainly is one of them. Gangle went into the workforce and became a manager, even though it clearly made her miserable. To add to that, it was a chain restaurant, meaning conformity was the goal of everything that restaurant produced. There was absolutely no creative outlet for her in her adult life.
Gangle had no support in her art career and instead pursued stability, making her severely depressed.
"You lie to us constantly!"
My take: In episode 5, Jax mentioned that he didn't trust Ragatha because he felt like she was trying to take advantage of him with her kindness. He doesn't see her kindness as genuine. In episode 7, Jax called out Caine for lying to him because Caine also pretended everything was fine while manipulating him and the other humans.
Jax probably came from a family that lied to him to make him more complacent with a terrible situation. Judging by how badly he copes with loss, I wouldn't be surprised if somehow mortality ties into Jax's disdain for lying, even though he lies (or avoids the truth) frequently.
"And on top of it all, you JUST DON'T LISTEN."
Nobody in this group felt they were taken seriously during their lives outside the circus by those superior to them. There's an extra level of torture when you see that they're all toys based on their insecurities.
In this camera angle, everyone is looking up at Caine. They all FINALLY confronted the person that made them so miserable, even if that person has vast power over them and can hurt them.
It's symbolic that, despite everything, these people were able to find their courage in the digital circus to confront their captor instead of abstracting like those before them.
Besides the fact that he was occupied, Kinger represents the emotionally stable parent they all deserve, yet cruelly, Kinger has memory issues, meaning they don't even get the kind man they all deserve all of the time.
And that's life. Sometimes cruel things happen to good people. Even Kinger said to cherish the people around you, because you don't know when they'll be gone.
