the thing about chip is that he's a little too unassuming. an orphan kid with no name and no memory of anything beforehand, yet is old enough to beg to join the black rose pirates. sure, you can believe it, even if the other orphan aboard definitely has a name
that orphan kid then goes on to survive the hole in the sea, amongst few who lived and made swift recoveries, but unlike lizzie he had no protector, and unlike roofus he was a child, only nine. alone in the recently corrupted black sea and with no magic, he managed to make his way to land, which we've learnt is at least a few days travel when on a ship. he didn't drown, or freeze, and he doesn't seem to remember it. it's odd. almost impossible, you could say. but fine, we move on
with gillion and jay, he's so clearly the odd one out. standing between the chosen one and a descendent of the sun, he seems out of place (especially from a meta perspective). but even then, fine, it's probably just meant to be funny
but then there's all the other things. out of the three deals we've seen, he's the only one who's found niklaus rather than vice versa. he slipped through a dream into the realm of who we can only imagine to be one of the most powerful people in mana. and you have to remember he didn't possess any magic until after the feywild. the deal happened after joaldo
he's undead now. his heart was ripped out, his flesh is decaying, but he lives. sure, the other crew members of captain widow were technically undead too, but the fact remains true that this is unusual. the undead thing lead to him following the compass (which is something else i'll get into, because doesn't he seem oddly interested in it yet unaffected) into that sack where he met with niklaus for a second time, the only riptide pc we've seen met him more than once. and the wish doctor seemed more than happy to share some of his secrets with chip
now the compass. it's made by niklaus, linked to desire, and when ollie used it just a few times in joaldo it had instant effects. chip keeps looking at the compass, so much so that it's now magically increased his desire to find arlin, and yet he's had no other effects
when he made the deal with niklaus, his price seemed hardly anything. "don't interfere". it doesn't exactly align with gillion's favour or jay's name and a command she must obey. also it technically gave him two things: knowledge of arlin's whereabouts, and reverting the effects on ollie. and once again niklaus shared more of his plans with chip than any other captain. like he trusts him, almost
inexplicably, chip can speak celestial. a language which just so happens to be key to unlocking all these clues surrounding the hole in the sea (the map, the door in the place beneath the sea as well iirc). jay's understanding of primordial is explained by navy lessons (makes sense if they're dealing with the undersea), but chip's celestial never is
and now the place beneath the sea -- where the cumagoon (do i have to write that in a serious analysis post?), now unlocked by the compass, led -- a voice welcomed him home
i think chip's more deeply connected to the black sea than even he has ever considered. it runs much deeper than simply the loss of arlin and the black rose pirates. i think he, like niklaus, is intrinsically tied to the entity known as the nameless prince, and thereby the egg. he might be more significant magically than we previously thought
