Was thinking about this a few nights ago. Had to have my input.
Many say that the fact that the female voice speaks of a “time long ago” that it can’t be Roll, but if the Gambler were a grown up version of Roll, that would say a lot.
I want to start out by saying that even if the Gambler in the storyline wasn’t Roll, the female speaker is still probably Roll. The band has denied a lot but when speaking upon Roll, they’re always “Maybe.” There wouldn’t be another significant female unless it were Emily Stanton, but Act III is to take place after both of the previous acts.
With the idea that it is Roll, even if she does speak of a time of youth, she would be the creation of Thomas Light. Let’s not forget the idea of Joe and Emily, characters created to make the story more dramatic. They can change the original canon into whatever they please. It really is just one big fanfiction if you think of it that way. Roll could be human in the story. It would make a lot of sense.
In the original canon, Roll was nothing but a helper robot, but since we know that in the Protomen canon, Light has less resources and the city is in a slightly different situation, building a robot for this purpose wouldn’t be entirely practical. And if she is Light’s human daughter, then Emily Stanton would be her mother.
Now let’s get back to the idea of the band themselves being involved. Wouldn’t it just make sense that Roll, after her mother is killed, would try to find some way to help her father? This brings in the storytelling factor. Telling the story of all that has happened would truly benefit Dr. Light, warning the people. She’s like a second Joe, spreading awareness to the people of the city about Wily’s wrongdoings.
This also explains some to do with The Cover Up. I’ve heard multiple things about the album’s involvement in the story, but it all has a similar idea. The Cover Up album was a soundtrack to a movie that was banned when Wily rose to power. Of course, the band did the soundtrack, meaning that during Act II, if Roll is the Gambler, she could have just been out doing her work and touring around as a normal band before she knew about the events going on in the city, which is why she didn’t appear within the story till later on, in Act III. Her involvement in the movie’s soundtrack could also be part of the reason why it was banned, other than the fact that, judging by the cover, it depicted robots negatively.
The theory that the Gambler is Roll actually does explain a lot to do with the previous albums, and makes it all more believable.
With Act III though, just the title of “This City Made Us” says a lot. It could mean that the events that took place in the city, such as Emily Stanton’s death, made the band who they are and changed their lives dramatically.
“You’ve given everything you’ve got,
And still they want to watch you burn”
does imply that they are talking to a newly built Protoman, who did everything he could for the people who would not stand with him, as well as the beginning lyrics,
“There was a moment in the darkness,
Just before the blinding light.
The world was standing there before you,
“Just before the blinding light, referencing when Protoman was destroyed in “The Sons of Fate”. “The world was standing there before you, just out of sight” could be referencing how Megaman tried to convince him to keep fighting against Wily’s forces, and he had the brief moment to change his decision to join those forces.
As stated, those lines mostly point to Protoman, but could apply to Megaman for slightly different reasons, since he did let the crowd be attacked after killing his brother.
I don’t really have a great way to end this post, but I’d invite you to think about that.
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