There’s something about how Techno was pretty much the only visitor in prison to keep his word…
[45:42] Tommy: “Okay, I’ll be back on—on the 24th, okay?”
There’s something about how Tommy was upset that Dream didn’t have the books written for him when he visits again even when he doesn’t come back till a month later on Feb 21.
[40:00] Sapnap: “He’s gotta stay in prison. You know—”
Michael: “For how long?”
Sapnap: “I don’t know. As long as it takes for him to stop being fucked up.”
Michael: I mean but—I mean but like—have you checked on him recently? I mean if he’s like your friend, have you like went and—”
Sapnap: “I visited him once.”
There’s something about Sapnap’s expectation for Dream to get better even when he hasn’t visited to see how he’s doing like he said he would nor has he even inquired about his wellbeing.
[1:42:37] Sapnap: “This is where you belong for now. A—you know—you know maybe I’ll come and visit you. George will come and visit you. You know, we can still be friends but, dude, you have to stay here for now”
[1:44:42] Sapnap: “If you break out of this prison, it’s gonna be—it’s gonna be me who takes your final life. An—and—that’s not because I have any resentment towards you or anything—it’s because this is where you need to be, dude. You have to say here. Okay? We can still be friends. I can come and visit you. But you—you need to stay here.”
He said they could still be friends and then never came back.
[24:06] Tommy: “This is my last visit, uh, seeing you.”
There’s something about Tommy being one of the only visitors to return. There’s something about his return being just to tell Dream he’s never going to see him again. Only to then add insult to injury, by coming back after all only to try and kill him.
[1:16:14] Quackity: “It’s simple, Dream. Alright? You’re gonna tell me all the knowledge you have in that fucking book or I’m gonna come here. Every. Single. Fucking. Day. To make your life hell. That is exactly what I’m gonna do and I’m gonna fucking stick to it until you give me knowledge on that fucking book.”
There’s something about even Quackity not following through on what he said, promising to visit every single day until he gets the book only to stop coming, for better or worse.
To be fair, Bad may have said things that didn’t happen, but he did at least try. He did become a guard and try and make things better for Dream, feeding him sandwiches and trying to get him a plant. In the end though, Techno was really the only visitor to keep his promise. The only one to keep his word. The only one to say I’m your friend and mean it, so when he comes back it’s no wonder that Dream is surprised.
[56:15] Dream: “You came?!”
Techno: “Bet you didn’t expect to see me here.”
He really didn’t. And not because he doubted Technoblade as a person, but when everyone else lets you down, when everyone else abandons you, when everyone else lets you rot alone, when everyone else decides in the end you’re better off just dead, it’s hard not to accept that pattern.
Punz's bluntness in this clip has me rolling.
(transcription below the cut)
Tommy: "Dream, you're a monster! You can't— Punz! Punz. Tell me—"
Punz: "What, Tommy?"
Tommy: "Have you always been like this? Cuz we—"
Punz: *bluntly* "Yes."
Tommy: "—trusted you."
Punz: "Alright, well you're a fucking idiot and simple-minded. I've said this like eight times, Tommy. Get it through your head."
Transcript of Wilbur and Quackity arguing over Tommy
Let me preface this by saying that these motherfuckers (affectionate) spend half of the stream talking over each other which makes transcribing dialogue a nightmare
Anyway, here it is, starting from Tommy and Wilbur's conversation next to the safety penis
Tommy: There was a time when you weren’t here on this server...on this- this SMP. When I went… I went against… (sigh) I put a lot of things to the side that I shouldn’t have, Wil. I prioritized the wrong things. I put… I put revenge over- over humanity, humaneness.
Wilbur: Mmhm
Tommy: I guess all I’m seeking now is just someone that’s gonna be honest with me and a place where I can feel safe. I- I- I betrayed Technoblade and it- I just couldn’t admit it. Um… and I did the wrong thing with Tubbo. But… (sigh)
Wilbur: This can be a safe place for them.
[beat]
Tommy: Yeah I can’t… can’t go against family anymore, Wil. I’ve got…
Wilbur: Yeah.
Tommy: No, you’re right. I’ll stay here. I’ll- I’ll uh…
Wilbur: I think you’ve made the right choice. And Tommy, it’s gonna- more than anything, it’s gonna be fun.
[they talk about penis walls and then start building a penis in the lake]
Wilbur (about Quackity): I will be mean! Tommy, he challenged me! Did you see him? Did you see the look in his eyes? God, it was cool! It was cool. I was about to say it was hot, but that would be wrong. Look, Tommy, it was- it was-
Tommy: Listen, before we keep going, you don’t have a crush on Big Q, do you? ‘Cause that feels like-
Wilbur: I have a complicated relationship with Big Q but I don’t think it’s at that level yet. Look, it’s…
Tommy: Ok. That’s…
Wilbur: Tommy, listen, Big Q-
Tommy: That’s fine for now.
Wilbur: Big Q’s gonna wish he’d never fucked with me. [whispering] Look wait- oh he’s looking he’s looking. Get to work, get to work, get to work.
[they continue building the penis]
[Wilbur types “HEY BITCH” in chat]
Wilbur: Hey bitch! Hey bitch!
Tommy: Let me add the hair.
Wilbur: Can you hear me over there? Big Q?
Quackity: Yeah! Yeah I can hear you! I can hear you just fine!
[Wilbur and Tommy yell over each other about cock and balls while Quackity makes sarcastic comments. This whole exchange has the energy of two next-door neighbors yelling at each other over a fence]
Quackity: Good job opening your eyes and not realizing that this guy is just using you, Tommy! As he has all this time!
Wilbur (over): I- oh big coming from Mr. Casino Man!
Quackity (under): Good job, Tommy! You made a big mistake! You made a great big mistake, Tommy! Good job!
Tommy (over): I opened my eyes and I saw balls! I SAW BALLS!
Wilbur (over): Bigger balls! Bigger balls!
Wilbur: Oh, nice work.
Quackity: Oh my god. The hi- history repeats itself, Tommy.
Wilbur: (laughs)
Quackity: You’re just letting this guy use you. You’re just letting him emotionally manipulate you. I- I heard what you told him, Wilbur. Good job! Good job! You’re repeating the same tactics and he’s falling for them.
Wilbur (over): You used his hotel -- the one thing Tommy’s tried to do was a failure!
Quackity (under): Good job, Wilbur. Good job, Tommy. Good job, Tommy! He’s just gonna bring you pain, he’s just gonna bring you suffering, he’s gonna bring you all the same things, Tommy!
Wilbur (over): Tommy, look at me! The one thing you tried to do when I was gone, Tommy, was make that hotel and it failed! It failed! You’re in the right place. You’re in the right place, Tommy!
Quackity: Remember! Who destroyed L’Manberg, Tommy? WHO DESTROYED L’MANBERG, TOMMY? Think about that! Think about that for a second!
Wilbur: Who ran against you! Who laughed as we were exiled?
Quackity: Think about that for a second, Tommy.
Wilbur: Who cheered as we were thrown out of our nation that we built? WE built!
Quackity: Who wanted- who wanted a better outcome for L’Manberg, Tommy? Who did? Who wanted to run a “democratic election” with just one party? He’s right up there, Tommy! He’s right up there above you.
Wilbur: Remember the pit, Tommy? Remember what happened in the pit?
Quackity: Remember who joined you after you had to leave the pit to fight. It was me, Tommy. It was me.
Wilbur: Don’t trust people who would have fought you in the pit.
[beat]
Quackity: Tommy? Every time… every time you’re doing a new project with this guy, you’re building a new country -- a new nation, whatever it may be, just think about what happened to the last one. Just think about that, Tommy. Hm? Think about what happened to your home. L’Manberg. Think about what happened there. And look at who the responsible is.
[Wilbur builds the penis higher while Quackity tries to match his height with blocks]
Quackity: Now he’s making you build a penis just to spite me? Wow! Great job! Wilbur, you are SO… you are SO incredibly mature. You know that? You know that, Wilbur. You’re so incredibly mature. Great job, Wilbur, great job at doing the same thing to TommyInnit you’ve done your entire goddamn life. You know-
Wilbur: Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you, don’t listen to him, Tommy. Don’t listen to him, Tommy. He’s… he’s as immature as I am. He’s… he’s um, he’s… I guess, my- my yang. He’s the yang.
Quackity: [laughs] Don’t try to compare me to you, Wilbur. You and me are not the same. We’re not the same people. We have different goals… You know what! You know what, keep doing your penis. Keep doing the immature shit that you are doing. You know what, Tommy? [sighs]
Wilbur: He has no response. He has no- we won! Round one. Round one, Tommy. Round one, Tommy, we won. Look, come here, we won! We won! [beat] Tommy, you’re not smiling. We won!
Tommy: Wil, you told me-
Wilbur: Whoa whoa whoa whoa hey hey hey! Don’t come near Tommy! Don’t come near Tommy!
Tommy: Wil, wil, just-
Wilbur: I see you.
Tommy: Hey, hey! I- LET ME SPEAK! This is about me so let me speak! I- I- I don’t know-
Wilbur: I just don’t want him to hurt you. I don’t want him to hurt you.
Tommy: I can fend for myself. You weren’t here for a long time.
Wilbur: Ok, Tommy.
Tommy: I thought… [sighs] I thought you were gonna make me feel a bit safer. Let me tell you now, either of you-
Quackity: Fellas, fellas.
Tommy: No, shut the fuck up! I didn’t feel- That didn’t make me feel… That was weird. I didn’t- Don’t do that, either of you.
Wilbur: I won’t do it again. He will, though.
Quackity: Listen… Listen to me, ok? I think we all got off on the wrong foot. I don’t think this should’ve turned out the way it just turned out. Ok? So, on my side, I want to apologize to you, Tommy. I want to apologize. This was very unkind of me...
Tommy: Apologies mean a lot…
Quackity: Yeah. I want to apologize to you, Tommy. This was very unkind of me and this was not welcoming at all, so let’s do this…
Wilbur: That’s very nice of you, Quackity. Thank you.
Quackity: Let’s all relax. Let’s all relax. And Wilbur, come here too. How about you guys take a nice little tour across the country?
Tommy: You know what. Quackity, why don’t I- why don’t we just put a pin in this conversation, alright?
Wilbur: No no wait! Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. Wait. A tour?
Quackity: I- yeah! Yeah yeah yeah. I would like to show you guys what I’ve been working on. I think- I think from the outside it looks fine and all but I wanna show you really what I’ve been working on.
Tommy: Yeah that sounds- that sounds fun.
Quackity: Ok. How about- how about-
Wilbur: Quackity, I want to say… I want to say to you from here on, as much as we have our disagreements here, man, I… We gotta leave Tommy out of this. Like, Tommy, I- I- I’m sorry if we came off a bit strong.
Quackity: Tommy… Tommy, you don’t- you don’t deserve any of it.
Tommy: It was a little bit- I feel- I feel like it was getting taken out on me, fellas. You two just kiss, make up, it’s fine. It’s just- it’s not…
[Wilbur and Quackity have another height competition with blocks as they talk]
Wilbur: No, I don’t think I wanna kiss him…
Quackity: Tommy, Tommy. Just remember that it was very wrong of us to do such- You know what, let’s just continue on. Let’s continue on…
c!fundy (or “you’re only wanted when you’re sleeping”)
@/dsmptranscripts on twitter // ellen jackman // “call down the hawk” by maggie stiefvater // fundy gets stuck in his dreams // “planet of love” by richard siken
Awesamdude 9/14 WHERE IS DREAM Lore Transcript, Most of one anyway
Ello! This is a partial transcript of Sam's stream on 9/14, WHERE IS DREAM, mostly his convo with Dream in the cell because I found it interesting and didn't want to do all of it, I don't have that time-
Anyway, this is my like second transcript, so enjoy! RBs appreciated!
DREAM: I can’t be telling people about the book, if i tell people about the book, then- then just, I dunno, everyone becomes too powerful, what if- what if the wrong person...knows it?
(Long silence)
DREAM: I mean, I’m the perfect person to know.
SAM: How are you the perfect person to know? You’re not the good guy, Dream. Don’t pretend like you’re the good guy. We both know that’s not true.
DREAM: I don’t think that I’m a bad guy.
SAM: How are you not the bad guy?
DREAM: Well, I think, there’s, yknow, good people do bad things.I think, yknow, it’s just, / a matter of perspective, good guys, bad guys….
SAM: /Bad people do bad things.
SAM: So what you did to Tommy. You were just a good guy, doing a bad thing? Making a mistake?
(Dream stays silent for a long while.)
DREAM: Look, just don’t tell Quackity.
SAM: Y'know what? I might tell Quackity. It depends on what kind of shenanigans I see…. This is-
DREAM: I’m telling you, this is the only thing- Look everywhere, this is the only thing-
SAM: I’ve already been looking everywhere, Dream. *Sigh*. I- Fine. Fine. I won’t tell Quackity you’re still here.
DREAM: ...Okay....
SAM: But-
DREAM: Cause… you know he’ll kill me. But you’ll still have to feed me, and you still have to, yknow-
SAM: I mean, I don’t have to…. You have a few potatoes in here, I see you’ve been...eating half meals, or what?
DREAM: Yeah, we’ve been saving them, but….
SAM: Saving them so you could escape, right? Out of this… tunnel you were going to dig, under-
DREAM: No! Because you gave us raw potatoes, and we don’t have food half the time, so we’re saving them.
SAM: ...Who’s idea was it to eat raw potatoes, Dream, let’s remember that.
SAM: Y’know what, stay here. Don’t come towards the bridge. (Sam turns to leave)
DREAM: No! Wait….
DREAM: Look, okay, at least… I dunno, what if you let me- what if I… Can you- I dunno, anything, I’ve been in here for so long, Sam.
(Sam silently looks at him)
DREAM: Can I go to the courtyard, y'know… can I-
SAM: Dream, what do you mean “can I go to the courtyard”?! You-You’re…! *sigh* I just had a situation where you were- you looked like you had disappeared!
(long silence)
DREAM: ...It’s secure, though….
SAM: ...Yeah. Why is the courtyard secure? You wanted to see the light, Dream, you wanted to see the outside.
DREAM, quietly: Yeah….
SAM: Guess what, Dream. Guess what. Guess what happened to the courtyard.
(long silence)
SAM: I sealed it up.
DREAM: Alright, I get it-
SAM: I sealed it up, yeah, I sealed it up, yknow why I sealed it up, Dream? ...Because it was a security flaw!
DREAM: Well, I didn’t know that-
SAM: Because it was a security flaw, Dream, that’s why I sealed it up. And the prisoner didn’t need to see the light, remember? Oh, and the steak, remember the steak, remember the potatoes, the steak? The cows? I was gonna cook the cows?
DREAM: ...Okay, well I didn’t know that I was gonna end up in here.
SAM: Right, right, so it was okay as long as someone else was the one eating the raw potatoes.
(Dream is silent)
SAM: Right? That’s when it was- when it was okay, that way, right? But now that it’s you, it- it’s not as fun, right? Yeah. ...And we can’t go to the courtyard, Dream, that’s a big security issue, big security flaw.
DREAM: ...May-Maybe you were right….
SAM: You think so? ...I can’t believe this, Dream….
DREAM: I didn’t realize how, bad it was…. I thought they’d be fine with potatoes, I thought they’d be fine with not seeing the courtyard…!
SAM: Hm.
DREAM: I get it, you wanted to be fancy, you wanted steak, and…. Light
SAM: Yeah. Yknow. Just because someone was locked in jail doesn’t mean they, yknow, deserve to...have nothing. ...You didn’t even- you didn’t even want to have books!
DREAM: Well, then put it back like that! Put it- Change it to you're- the way you wanted to do it. The way you wanted to do the prison, make all the changes-/ give me more stuff in here- (unintelligible)
SAM: /What is the trick here?! What’s the trick here, what’s the trick, is, like- What have you two planned?! You’re- there’s something, something’s wrong here.
DREAM: How is that a plan?! Me saying, / steak, and... seeing the light-
SAM: /Something’s here, something’s wrong here, something’s wrong here…. What are you planning?
DREAM: I didn’t know that- I wouldn’t- (inteligible)
SAM: You’ve never asked to go to the courtyard before, and now suddenly you want to go to the courtyard? After Technoblade has magically disappeared from the cell with you?!
DREAM: I thought I’d be getting out of here and seeing the light! I haven’t seen the light… in ages.
SAM: I sealed it, Dream. There is no light, even in the courtyard.
DREAM: Yeah… Well, that’s ‘cause I said to, you can undo it.
SAM: I guess I could…
(silence)
SAM: It’s-
DREAM: … you could.
SAM: ...I...I can’t believe this, Dream... I…! Every-Everything that you hate about the prison was your idea. You should- You should exp- You should, y’know what?! Y’know what, I’m-I’m glad. I’m glad that you haven’t seen the light in a while. This was literally- this was literally the experience you wanted for the prisoners!
SAM: (Stammering) You made this bed, literally. You- Like, I may have built it, I may have engineered it, but... it was... you were the one that wanted…!
SAM: (Stammering) Do you know what you put Tommy through?! ...This is… I mean, I don’t even think this is as bad! I th- You should be thankful!
SAM: You wanted this to be for Tommy, Dream. You and me both know it. You- We both know, you told me to build this so you could put Tommy in here, didn’t you?
(Dream remains silent)
SAM: That’s why you wanted people to be able to visit. That way you could… flaunt Tommy, who you’ve got stuck in a cell, in front of everyone! That’s why you wanted people to be able to visit, that’s why you didn’t want the courtyard, because you didn’t want that for Tommy.
SAM, angrily: And you didn’t want him to have a good place to live, you didn’t want him to have good food, because, you wanted to- you wanted to give him raw potatoes! You didn’t want to give him steak. You just wanted him to- have a horrible life in here! So, keep it for yourself, Dream.
(Dream remains silent)
SAM: you… You deserve this. You’re the bad guy here! And you’re- you’re lucky I don’t tell Quackity you’re here!
(Dream remains silent)
SAM: Maybe next time it won’t be Quackity who comes into the cell, maybe it’ll be me! Don’t ask me to go to the courtyard.
DREAM: ...Alright.
SAM. Go over there. (Dream moves to the back of the cell). I’ll be back to fill in this hole. And… no- no more shenanigans. Or I will tell Quackity that you’re here. And we both know what will happen. (Sam walks out of the cell) ...You’re very certain of it, so….
(He drinks fire res and pearls out)
SAM: I’ll be back soon, Dream. Just… why don’t you write me a little book, Dream? Write me a book about… y’know, how much you’re going to enjoy your experience here in the prison. Sound good?
(Dream is silent)
SAM: And if you know something, about Techno, Dream? I expect that while you’re here enjoying your stay, you’ll think about, uh, y’know, letting me know whatever you know. Right?
(Dream is silent)
SAM: Good.
(He watches Dream as the lava curtain falls slowly down)
Something I found interesting in my rewatching of the exile arc the other day is the fact that c!Tubbo tries so hard to protect c!Tommy while also trying to keep the nation’s best interests in mind. He offers probation, court trial, stripping c!Tommy of his title, anything to avoid war, walls and losing his friend, but c!Tommy makes things worse every step of the way. The fact that c!Tubbo catches so much slack is sad because he tried so hard to save c!Tommy and yet there’s only so much he can do when c!Tommy outright confesses to his goal of provoking Dream.
[44:53] Tommy: “Now I’ve done—now I’ve had my big war, I want my discs back. I’m out to piss off Dream. I’m out to get my discs back.”
[46:47] Dream: “But listen, Tommy is Tommy. He’s never gonna stop he already said his goal is to piss me off and if you want that as somebody in your nation that—that—even if he doesn’t have power. You know, there’s not that many members of L’manberg, like he’s one of them.”
Because at that point he becomes a liability to the safety of the people and buildings of L’manberg. Even if this conflict can be resolved he has admitted to planning to seek out more. And while c!Tubbo has been by c!Tommy’s side for these wars over and over again like for example the disc saga, I think it shows a great amount of not just logic but compassion for not wanting to drag everyone into wars they didn’t sign up for just because c!Tommy wants to keep acting out. Because while c!Tubbo will always chose to risk his life for c!Tommy’s wars it is unfair to make the people of L’manberg do so. (Yet again an example of nations dividing friendship because if c!Tubbo wasn’t president and things were simple like in the beginning he totally would rush into battle alongside c!Tommy.) Which is such an admirable respect for people’s lives and creations that c!Tommy has rarely shown c!Tubbo.
And I think the fact that so many people see this situation as a betrayal of L’manberg versus recognizing the complicated politics at play shows just how persuasive c!Tommy’s pov is. Because c!Tubbo summarizes it perfectly.
[48:37] Tubbo: “Tommy, there’s one big difference between you and Dream. Dream can go around and kill people, cuz guess what? Dream isn’t vice president and you are. Actions have consequences.”
At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what c!Dream does or did or whether c!Dream tried to frame c!Tommy with explosions he did with c!Puffy, it only matters what c!Tommy did because of his affiliation with a nation, and not even just what he did but what he himself promised to continue to do…
So in light of rewatching the scene with the Death Book [post], I actually noticed something kinda interesting.
You see, I kinda wonder if DreamXD banned Sapnap from using it on someone with the Revival Book because he knew that Dream could just come back due to Punz, so it was pointless. But then upon Sapnap’s insistence, he caves into helping Sapnap’s quest despite knowing Sapnap will be wasting his lives. Still the deal he offers is essentially information for Sapnap’s entire existence if he succeeds, which isn’t that great of a deal to be honest. I mean even without considering that Dream can come back, Sapnap has to put in all the work to kill Dream.
Which makes me wonder if XD had a soft spot for Dream or something, given this terrible deal. At minimum, he does seem to be at least be testing Sapnap because while Sapnap is talking about how he’ll never get to see his friends again if he accepts, XD questions not in a persuasive manner but more so a genuine one:
[12:51] DreamXD: “How much do you want him dead?”
When Sapnap says fine, he’ll do it, XD even double checks, which I feel like is kinda out of character to be honest.
[13:05] DreamXD: “No takesie backsies.”
When Sapnap stands firm and agrees to the deal trying to shake his hand, XD simply mutters “Ah, interesting…” before with little fanfare telling Sapnap Dream is in the prison… And I don’t know I just find that reaction interesting for the god who loves death and chaos and plaguing people’s nightmares. It almost feels like he offered the deal but didn’t necessarily want Sapnap to take it and whether or not that means XD cares about Dream or just likes how Dream “feeds him” is debatable.
Still, he does seem to at least disprove of Sapnap and his hypocrisy and delusion of morals. In fact he even goes on to say:
[13:54] DreamXD: “You can set up a trap. You can uh… booby trap it—I don’t know. Whatever you want to do. I mean you’re the—yeah, you know, the guy—the killer. Sure.”
Sapnap: “I’m not a killer. I’m—I’m—I’m justice. Okay?”
DreamXD: “Oh, everyone thinks they’re justice in their own eyes.”
Sapnap: “I’m here to make—I’m here to make—I’m here to make—I’m here—I’m here to make a safe world with no bad people in it.
DreamXD: “Oh… I mean literally everyone thinks that. And then, you know—someone else that wants to kill them thinks that. And then someone who wants to kill them thinks that. And then someone who wants to kill them that! And then someone who wants to kill Them thinks that! And then someone who wants to kill THEM thinks that!”
And I don’t know, like I’m not the most refreshed on DreamXD lore and his dynamics when interacting with people, but I don’t remember him really calling people out like this. Like this feels similar to the discussions Dream has in Daedalus and that just feels strange for the god. Especially a god who made two powerful books just to entertain himself with the chaos and death. Like he doesn’t exactly seem like the one to judge people, even saying “I like bad guys.” And yet, as Sapnap tries to defend himself and claim he’s actually a good person, XD suggests that his murdering of pets is a sign of him being a serial killer. He also kinda subtly implies that a good person doesn’t just hold the power of death in the palm of his hand like Sapnap does now… and I don’t know it just makes me wonder if he has a soft spot for the first human he set eyes on, or the one feeding him, or the one that lives rent free in George’s head. Or perhaps he’s just annoyed at Sapnap’s flawed logic and sense of morals in general…
Something that I see a lot is the reasoning that Dream’s motive is unity. That staged finale was about uniting the server against him to bring them together even if he couldn’t be apart of that. And honestly I’m just not sure that’s the case. For starters, in the big moments when he talks about his reasoning he doesn’t mention unity he mentions together, he mentions family, he mentions team.
[from early days]
“We just wanted to have a good, safe, productive team. And when one person has a tyranny over everybody else—that keeps killing them, then you can’t have a team.” [clip]
“Listen, from now on we’re going have a civilization, okay? That lives in harmony and… and there’s no ruler. Not even me—not even anybody.” [clip]
[Punz and Dream planning]
“Always, the goal has just been that—it’s all one united server that everybody follows the same rules, there’s no countries, there’s no—you know, any of this. It’s just… One giant like—family, right?” [clip]
[prison]
“I just wanted to… I just wanted to bring the server together. Have it be a happy family, you know?” [clip]
[finale]
“Once we know everything, we—we’re able to live and everyone can be invincible and everyone can live together and be in harmony and—and not have to worry about death or pain or anything, then it’ll be worth it. The ends justify the means.” [clip]
“I want everyone to able to live and be happy and together… and you’ve—you’ve ruined that—you’ve ruined that yourself. You’re the one who separates everyone!” [clip]
And I know for some people unity and together might seem synonymous, but in this context I don’t think they are. I think it’s important to realize that Dream wanted people to not be divided, he wanted them to be a happy family, but families aren’t always united. They don’t always agree, they aren’t always peaceful, they don’t always have the same goals or agenda or beliefs, but a close family always makes up in the end and when all is said and done, generally gets along and is there for each other.
Additionally, the way I’ve always understood it was that Dream didn’t want peace, he wanted people to do the right thing [clip] and he wanted people to be happy which means that conflicts where people are getting upset opposes that. Dead pets, items not being returned, houses being burnt, people being insulted, and offenders refusing to simply apologize [clip] that tends to cause a conflict without resolution that leaves a lasting divide and unhappiness, which goes against Dream’s goal. But I don’t think he was against violence or wars as a whole, after all those happen at the beginning, when things were still simple. The point was that people stayed as a whole happy or content and as long as no one got too upset it was fine.
To keep people happy and safe, Dream also needed to prevent any one person from holding the power, because they would abuse it and use it against people, which we see happen over and over again. This is one of the reasons why he had a problem with Wilbur’s self appointed presidency, it’s why he kills George early on and takes his stuff when he became op before everyone else, it is why he kills Tubbo’s villagers. He didn’t want anyone to be too overpowered and then use that power to harm others. Dream considered himself the mediator and one to balance out the sides, the one to make sure people had their stuff back when all was said and done, the one to help people get revenge for their dead pet. Yes, he broke the very rules he made, which people love to point out makes him a hypocrite and therefore his gripe with Tommy has no footing, but notice what he says in the finale:
“You break all the rules. Tommy, there wasn’t even that many rules. They were simple things: respect others, don’t destroy things. You broke everything—every rule.” [clip]
“Respect others,” that’s the first thing he mentions, because that’s the most important. That’s the one that Tommy broke that bothered Dream the most. It wasn’t really about the stealing or the killing or griefing, after all George and Sapnap did that too. No, it was the lack of respect he had for the people he hurt that bothered Dream the most. It was that lack of respect which led people to be unhappy even when the war was over and sustaining that divide even after the war, which goes against the civilization Dream strived for.
It’s not about unity, it’s about the opposite of exclusion. It’s about Sapnap and Punz who were both friends with clingy duo, but not able to join L’manberg because they are American. It was the divide and separation. Like Ranboo who because of nations and politics struggled to be friends with both Techno and L’manberg.
Dream didn’t want people to be truly united in a cause nor did he want true peace - the absence of conflict and chaos because you only truly get those by enforcing them through dictatorship and oppression when you force everyone to have the same opinion and obey. But Dream didn’t want to be a tyrant, that’s one of the reasons why he kept handing the power to a king. He wanted everyone to live in harmony by doing the right thing themselves and he thought that if he could keep the server from splitting that they would.
So then, the reason I think he put himself in prison and planned staged finale, wasn’t about uniting the server even if that’s against himself, but because it was the only way he could see a path to be allowed and accepted back into society. That if he served his time in prison maybe they would see him as a person again and think he got better and let him out, which I’ve talked more about [here] and [here].
“Maybe—maybe I’ll be better and then you’ll let me out.” [clip]
He wanted a family. As Tommy points out in the finale: he just wanted to have friends. He didn’t want to ever be alone. So it doesn’t make sense for his goal to be a self sacrificial move to unite everyone against him for the sake of unity, he wanted to bring people together into a happy society again, where they spend the afternoon fishing and playing hide and seek, not wars and executions and politics. But he wanted to be apart of that society and family too, because he didn’t want to be alone. Honestly, he probably wanted to be friends with everyone, but the division was preventing that, the propaganda was preventing that, and so prison became the only option he could see to undo that. To allow him back into the family that he was trying to keep together. That’s what staged finale was about - protection for him and Punz and the opportunity of reconciliation [post]. If he really just wanted unity then he would have been fairly pleased with Doomsday, where most everyone sided against his side. If he wanted the whole server against him, then staged finale was an abysmal success, as he points out to Sam in Daedalus plenty of people like Techno weren’t involved. But of course it was never about unity because that doesn’t make sense, it was about friends, and family, bringing people together so that no one was alone and excluded, forming a simple happy community again…