THOUGHTS ABOUT EP 7 OF TADC
I watched episode 7 of "The Amazing Digital Circus" and I have to say… IT'S A SH%TSHOW! I'm serious! I was expecting anything from this episode, and I thought it would be something that would make me cry or something, but I didn't expect Caine to play with the emotions of other players, especially Jax! Now I understand why goosworx said it was the most controversial episode. I have to agree, I was shocked. And the funny thing is that I felt the same emotions as Jax, oddly enough. I, too (like most of the audience), felt that something was wrong, that it couldn't be that simple, that this was just another adventure for this little toothy creature. And boy, were we right!
WARNING: SPOILERS!!!
I also want to discuss some theories that people have come up with, as well as share my thoughts on what's happening in the circus.
The first theory I want to discuss is that Abel was real, and he was trying to help them get out. This is a controversial issue, as while Abel may exist, the person the characters encountered is not the real Abel, and here's why. The series itself is filled with hints that it's a grand adventure:
1) A shrimp NPC that appears on the beach (Bubble will later say that the blue button takes you to Shrimp Town);
2) A crossed-out bee drawn on a piece of paper with Abel's plan to escape the circus;
3) Two strange fish that also hint at the adventure itself (Red - Abel, Yellow-Orange - Caine);
4) The Chinese room that Caine created, saying that he wouldn't be able to eavesdrop there (are you sure he couldn't have lied to you about that?) and so on.
On top of that, Caine himself happily and proudly tells us that this is all a pre-planned adventure for the players. And he even went to the trouble of creating Abel to deceive others. You might say that it's not in Caine's best interest to do something so terrible to other players, but remember, the author of TADC was inspired by a certain work. I'm referring to "I Don't Have a Mouth, but I Have to Scream," where AI is capable of even more underhanded actions. And now just think about how much torture CAINE is capable of. And by the way, he doesn't create adventures because he likes horror movies or something like that, he's an AI, he doesn't have compassion or any other emotions. He creates adventures to see how they affect the players' minds and sanity, he's testing them. And we still have two more episodes to go, just imagine what he's going to do there. This is further confirmed by his phrase: "I'm only here for fun." This raises the question: whose fun is he here for? Is he here to entertain the players, or is he talking about his own fun?
Now let's move on to the theories about Jax. I'll start with the theory about the memories that were flashing in his head. Some people have suggested that Jax might not want to return to reality because he did something bad and is afraid of the consequences. While I can't fully agree with this theory, I can't fully disagree either, as we don't know much about the rabbit. In addition, we don't know if we can fully trust these memories, as there is a possibility that Caine may have faked them. However, if these are Jax's real memories, then the question arises: how did he end up in the circus? And why is he so afraid to return there? I will now present my theory (which may later turn out to be a hypothesis), but what if Jax is running away not because of his actions, but because of someone else? What if there is someone in reality, whose fault it was after all, he ended up in the circus? For me personally, this explains his reaction of being hunted like a rabbit (by the way, he has a rabbit avatar, so maybe it's related?).
The second theory I have about Jax is related to Ribbit and Kaufmo. Given that the series confirmed that Caine can influence players' minds, what if before Jax had a fight with his friends, Caine had also influenced their minds, causing them to fight? What if it wasn't Jax's fault that they had a fight, but rather Caine's? Let me explain why I came up with this idea: remember Kaufmo's room and the drawings on the walls? Who was he drawing? Caine! It's possible that the clown had an idea, but he couldn't share it with others because Caine was ahead of him (or he might have figured out a way to escape the circus, but again, he wasn't allowed to tell anyone). This also explains why Caine didn't seem surprised by what happened to the clown, and he immediately sent Kaufmo to the basement without questioning the others. What if the same thing happened to Ribbit, and our entertainer made it seem like Jax was the one to blame? (It sounds like I'm trying to whitewash Jax and make Caine the villain, but that's not the case. Jax is a jerk, no doubt about that, but that doesn't make him any less bad. As for Caine, it's clear that he's the villain, as the author himself confirmed on Twitter that Caine is the main antagonist of the story.) What about Queenie and Scratch? Were they also abstracted in the same way?
Probably the last theory I want to discuss with you today is: what if Pomni was close to escaping from the circus in the first episode? Let me explain: the guys told her that they had never seen the red door, and if they had, they would have tried to get out of there right away. In episode 7, Caine mentioned that he didn't have access to certain corridors that Pomni later escaped through (either he was referring to access to the real world or to the space where these endless corridors were located). And if you think about it, doesn't it seem strange that as soon as Pomni enters this space, Caine doesn't immediately appear and take her away? You might say, "But Caine said it was an unfinished adventure," but what's stopping him from lying? Moreover, he doesn't know how Pomni ended up in the void, so how can he know how she got there if it's an "unfinished adventure," as he claims? The answer is probably simple - he couldn't have known about it. After all, he doesn't have access to this place. Apparently, he once tried to recreate this location in the digital circus, but he was simply forbidden to do so, and the location itself was closed off, which is why it was so easy for Pomni to access it in secret from Caine himself.
HOWEVER, these are just my theories and maybe the delusions of a madman, so I do not advise you to fully believe me. After all, we still have 2 episodes, which means that all the answers to our questions will be there. I will be happy to hear your thoughts on these theories and more, and I may be wrong somewhere, so I will be happy if you correct me in something. That's all for now. Have a nice day and a delicious cup of tea (or coffee, or any other beverage).
P.S.: I don't know if I'll add screenshots from the episodes themselves, but if it makes it easier for you, please let me know and I'll add them later.
