I think as theorists, we should really be looking at episode 3 to get Kinger’s lore in check. So, we all know that ep 3 is Kinger-centric, and the main narrative is told by tapes recorded by Barren Theodore Mildenhall. But I haven’t really seen people analyze Mildenhall’s dialogue in relation to Kinger yet!
A quick summary: Mildenhall hunted a creature who we learn to be one of God’s angels, and kills his wife out of paranoia, thinking she was the angel, and ends up in hell :)
So, what if we think of Kinger as Mildenhall, Queenie as Mildenhall’s wife, and Caine as The Angel. Hear me out.
So, since Caine created this adventure, we can assume he’d paint himself in a good light. What if he saw himself as one of God’s angels? Something that Mildenhall (Kinger) would be obsessed with. Though, when the other AI was created and Kinger looked away, Caine disappeared and created his own circus, trapping Kinger and Queenie inside.
Even if we don’t assume that Kinger was the source of Queenie’s abstraction, he may feel that he inadvertently caused her abstraction by creating Kinger and allowing him to create the circus through inaction. In this way, he may feel that he killed Queenie. In episode 6, he mentions to Ragatha, “I couldn’t help but hate myself for the things I thought I was responsible for” I feel like that relates to how Kinger feels about Queenie and the Circus itself.
The adventure itself was kind of to spite Kinger, at least in the horror-Zooble route if we consider Caine’s intentions. Wife-death related story and “How’s your wife, Kinger?” As examples. Caine most likely still resents Kinger for helping to create another AI to replace him.
The difference between Kinger and Mildenhall is that Kinger didn’t cause his actions and guilt to lead him to isolation. Kinger had Ragatha, someone new and scared, and he took care of her. While Mildenhall had nobody left but his own soul, Kinger continued to be surrounded by people he could help, guide, and interact with!
I may be looking into this way too much, I’m not sure if it was an obvious connection that I’m just making now, but I wanted to share my thoughts, just in case!!!
If you have any disagreements or additions, please be kind in the comments! I don’t do this stuff very often, but I’d love to have a good convo about it!!!
Edit: My good friend @halloweencatsart also brought up some good points I want to put here!!!
“the fact that they get dragged to hell after killing the angel might be relevant to the upcoming episode”
“another noteworthy thing is that in the bible, god declares that "whoever kills cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance".”
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