I’m sorry for having a rather crazy theory. I was thinking: “What if things were swapped?”
If this is a loop, then in order to reach a “happy ending,” there must be something that changes. For example, starting with the numbers. Yana once said: “Malleus is the first student everyone meets.” But in the actual game, it’s the opposite—MC meets everyone first, not Malleus. That day, by pure coincidence, Malleus did not appear there.
In other words, the “few” (from the previous loop) had been replaced by the “many” of this loop.
I’m also curious about the Crowley’s Groovy illustration. The one missing is still Malleus. If we connect it with the image below, then perhaps the one who is sleeping… is actually Malleus?
I also think there’s more than one Mirror Hall. Since it’s a mirror, it must have “two sides,” meaning there’s another mirror. The Mirror Hall is divided into two chambers. If that’s the case, it would make sense for the Dark Mirror to be placed in a different location.
OR…
We have two worlds connected to each other through a mirror. One world where the “Bad Ending” takes place—and one world where the event has not yet occurred.
This connects to the fact that Malleus and Crowley share the same space, as shown below. And the fact that Malleus is surrounded by coffins. —> The "Bad Ending" occurs in the world of Malleus A
Crowley flies through the mirror to the present world. —> Instead of being Malleus B, is it actually Malleus A that is asleep and needs to wake up???
From Malleus' birthday card. I'm thinking about a rather interesting theory . That there are certain moments when the photographer (the one preserving memories) isn't Yuu but could be Malleus. For example, if the "correct loop" requires a "return," there must be a "checkpoint." It could also be a "loophole" that allows Yuu to return to Twisted Wonderland once more.
He said he wanted to borrow Yuu's camera.He also offered to take pictures of Yuu. Although he didn't know how to use it and needed Yuu to teach him.
It's strange that only Malleus has two beams of light compared to the others in the OP anime. And in the "Characters song," there's a very strange hand that appears at the end of the video (the others don't have it).
The hand seems very different from the characters already in the game, so I think the game developer's implication here is that it's the MC's hand?
Oh right, regarding loops and multiverses, if they actually exist in the game... it's a bit crazy, but I think there might be another Malleus. I remember Yana once said Malleus was "the first student you meet."
Clearly, in the game, we don't meet Malleus first.
Even though there were only two people in the dorm, MC and Grim, Mr. Crowley gave us three tickets to VDC. The remaining one ticket is for Malleus. He knows and he is deliberate right?
And if he can see the future like Levan. He knows MC will invite Malleus or maybe?
Crowley’s curious eating habits and the significance of soup
This sounds really out there, but PLEASE here @moonlightequin1 and I out 😭😭😭 We had a very impromptu “theory” collab again, but to us it felt like less of a theory, and more of like…this is what is literally happening in canon.
Edit: Link to Ray’s Twitter thread that discusses what I did above the cut! ^_^
So I’ve been noticing that Crowley has mentioned soup or stew, especially in the manga and novel which came way after the initial in-game books. In the novel, he gives a soup pot to Yuuya, his unified exam voiceline has him trying out tomato stew, and in the manga, he says he was KIND enough to not turn Grim into stew. As if implying that if he weren’t so kind, he would’ve served Grim for dinner by now- fully capable of both cooking and eating a monster like Grim.
Crowley is very raven/crow inspired, and Ray and I think it’s more literal than just his outfit. We think these are a shared trait in Raven/Crow Fae. Because…Hm??? Crowley’s first instinct is to eat Grim- who is first believed to be a monster!! Perhaps this comes off as a joke at first, but in the second Valentine’s Day card merch, Crowley says he ate the gift that we gifted him. But…the thing is, it was an inedible object, and Crowley couldn’t even tell the difference. He even calls it DELECTABLE, but apparently it wasn’t food. He tries to save face by saying “…he was joking,” but the pause is very telling in that he did indeed eat the gift.
Ravens and Crows scavenge carrion and even literal garbage. What’s also interesting to note is that Crowley’s favorite food is “Wild Game,” which is wild animals that are hunted for consumption. As Ray put it, he likes his food fresh from the hunt. It feels very in-line with Crowley being a Raven/Crow Fae, but when you think about it…isn’t it a very odd specification? Crowley comes across (or at least tries to) as a gentleman. He even made the Culinary Crucible to encourage healthy eating habits for the students. Wild game is indeed said to be healthier, but when you consider that Crowley suggests eating a monster, and eating (and enjoying) inedible gifts, it seems like he can eat just about anything because of his own nature as a raven/crow.
But what about the soup? Considering that Crowley doesn’t really talk about food much, isn’t it interesting how nearly every time, it’s related to soup/stew despite it not being listed as his favorite food? Look at the screenshots above, and notice how he mentions soup in every single medium that Twisted Wonderland has been written in so far: The game, the manga, and the novel. Each a mention of soup.
Well, when I first mentioned this to Ray, I mentioned that Crowley’s mentions of soup reminded me of how General Lilia says that Levan summoned a pot to make soup for him and Meleanor. Because…of course I did lmao, I’m one of the resident Crowley-Levan theorists here! 🤣 But the more Ray and I discussed it (Aka freaked out lmaoo), the more we realized that this connection might be more important than we thought. You see, Levan was praised for this action, as Meleanor told him that he was “the only one he could rely on.”
And circling back to Crowley’s favorite food being Wild Game, and the implication that he genuinely thought about eating Grim who is a monster…General Lilia was in the habit of eating wild rats and lizards. And even now, Lilia’s cooking is pretty much inedible- where things get riddled with liver where it really doesn’t belong lmaoo.
When putting this all together, it all feels quite strange. Crowley can eat inedible objects and think it’s delectable, he repeatedly mentions soup/stew, his favorite food being hunted wild animals, and doesn’t seem to hesitate at eating a monster. And why not, Crowley’s was interested in tomato stew as Lilia’s favorite food is listed as tomato juice 👀
Since Ray and I love Crowley very dearly haha, we naturally go to an angsty direction with him when discussing our theories. But food is very strongly associated with memories and nostalgia. The experience of eating, especially with others, includes many of our five senses. Food can have you “relive” the emotions of a time you once experienced in the past. It’s often very symbolic of the experience.
Think of what the strawberry tart meant to Riddle, for example. Of the tart’s forbidden sweetness, of how he disobeyed his mother just wanting to be with his friends. Or even Malleus with his disliked food being “full-sized birthday cake” and his favorite being shaved ice, and how these experiences came from being alone on his birthday!
TWST uses food in their storytelling very deliberately- not only for backstory/memories but for character relationships. Think of how Cater pretended to like sweet things when in actuality he despised them and only Trey noticed it (relating to his own personality of being trendy and cool, but rather detached to the people around him), and sweet things brought back memories of how his sisters used to force him to eat sweets that he didn’t even like. OR how Kalim’s least favorite food is curry, because Jamil was once put into a coma after taste-testing Kalim’s poisoned curry. But hey, even though curry was banned in Kalim’s banquets because Kalim was so terrified from the incident, Jamil’s favorite food is curry anyway! Or Azul’s favorite food being friend chicken disliked food being “healthy foods” despite constantly eating it due to his weight insecurities. Jade and Floyd’s favorite foods relating to octopus. Trey and Vil even have stories as to why they hate MUSTARD AND MAYONNAISE respectively.
I could go on and on, but I suppose what I’m trying to say is that I refuse to say that “it’s just soup” or “it’s just wild game.” There’s a wide array of foods mentioned in the game, to the point of each character having their own unique favorite and hated food listed. There’s a story behind their preferences, to the point character relationships are established and strengthened through food.
This is not just for the students, but for the staff too. Trein’s vichyssoise establishes him as a traditional and old-fashioned (and “elegant”) man, Vargas’ raw eggs and Sam’s chicken gumbo connects them to the movies they’re twisted from (frog meat is said to have the texture and a bit of the flavor of chicken. So Sam’s favorite food being chicken gumbo is a sly way to imply the frogs from the film!)
And in the end, there is the soup, the tomatoes stew and juice, and the wild game meat. If something as specific as a full sized birthday cake means something significant to a character, why not the specification of wild game? It’s just…interesting that Crowley’s mentions of food ties back in some way with the very very few mentions that Lilia makes regarding Levan. Perhaps Crowley’s mentions of soup and wild game means more to him than first meets the eye? 🥣
Anyway it’s so over for me, local theorist crying over a bird eating soup 🧎🧎🧎🧎🧎
Oh, so that’s why Malleus has something like blot around his egg? If Levan is proficient in learning languages, teaching, and... if Levan is Crowley, perhaps Levan is also proficient in blot research. Maybe as a test, he also ate it.
Hmm? If Levan is still alive, is he really trying to bring Meleanor back? I also noticed the Princess Glow and Dragon's Eye Jewel.
In “Maleficent's Revenge” Maleficent's soul was inside the Dragon's Eye Jewel. So is it possible that the theory of Meleanor's soul being trapped inside the Princess Glow stone is entirely possible?
Levan is called: “Dragon’s Eye” which may be inspired by Maleficent's stone. I think Levan is also considered Meleanor's power.
In the movie, Diaval can transform into any animal. He has transformed into a human and dragon.
I think that's why they call him that.
Once, Lilia mentioned Meleanor's "waiting for the white dragon prince", so I think instead of waiting for the "white dragon prince", maybe she would rather have the "black dragon prince" (Revan/Levan). 😂
Why do people care about Malleus' height? I mean, do you just like him for that after all? That is a sad thing. I want to talk about him more. Because he has more to say than that.
