He's different, changed, and set to square one all over again. All his growth? Poof.
Well, my theory is this isn't the Eclipse that died. I'll explain under the cut, and also touch on if this is the Eclipse that died, and how it might work.
Why do I think that?
He is audibly confused when Sun and Moon talk about him getting blown up. That's my main reason.
Other reasons are the fact that he has lost almost all character growth
Is upset about the star being gone
Doesn't seem focused on the Astral Bodies and Lunar
And acts like he's suffered a hugely personal grievance from the celestial twins
And, well, let's linger on the word act. He's an actor. He's acting. His words are strained, as if scripted. Playing a role he doesn't think fits... or isn't one for him to fill.
Our Eclipse was moving past that. And I've heard the theories on him being bitter because he was blown up but... apparently, he doesn't remember that.
So who is he?
We've got a few ideas here
The first thought is, this is the Eclipse. Yeah. THE Eclipse. The original. The one that was blasted from Sun's mind. Remember that conversation? It went something along the lines of:
"I said queso, not keso!"
"You said what?!"
"I mean, it worked? He's gone."
"He's either dead or... immobile in the woods somewhere broken beyond repair."
If he's in the woods well... he'd have shut down. His processors would have failed. His body first overheating with the melting plastic, then going deathly cold as his vents and fans shut off one by one. However, as we know, broken beyond repair is not a real problem for animatronics. It's a setback. Lunar, Sun, Monty, Earth... all have been "broken beyond repair". What happens when they reach that state? Their AI is transferred to an entirely new body. Who would do that for Eclipse?
A few people, actually. The creator is the first to come to mind. The second is KC, who is now dead, but it's possible that with Eclipse ending up in the forest... and KC living in the forest, KC could have repaired him or begun to repair him. Especially with what we know about KC. He knows magic, he knows star power, and he came from old Moon, who was quite the techie. This would give us the option of Eclipse being made of materials that aren't entirely mechanical if that is the case.
The last person to come to mind is Ruin. Ruin was living in Moon's old bunkers with Bloodmoon for quite a bit, he visited a lot of the same places Eclipse had, and he's probably been in quite a few deserted areas where the OG Eclipse might have ended up in. He has an aptitude for tech, he built and programmed Bloodmoon, after all.
The second thought is a backup (AI and body). It's always possible that Moon missed something. As we've all noted, Eclipse seems to be on his first character arc again.
The third thought is a backup but in a different sense. Ruin takes play here again.
Remember when Ruin raided Moon's computer and found 'encrypted code left by Eclipse'? There's a possibility that Eclipse left a backup of his AI in the computer just like how he left the entirety of his Bloodmoon schematics in Moon's computer. Which seems careless, and makes one wonder why he would do that, or even when he would do that. And why the computer wouldn't have removed it. Well, if it's encrypted that means it's hidden. And we all know how big a fan of the show Ruin is, he probably knows alllll about Eclipse. So, he could have built Eclipse just like he built Bloodmoon. Or, even without a back up, could have done *exactly* what he did with Bloodmoon, pick and choose what parts to show a new Eclipse about who he was, leaving out bits that would alter the desired outcome.
The fourth thought. It's Ruin. Ruin built his new body, we have no idea what he added to it. Like I said earlier, "His words are strained, as if scripted. Playing a role he doesn't think fits... *or isn't one for him to fill.*" Plus, Ruin has been veryyy suspicious lately. "There's not cameras in here, is there? Oh wait, yes there are." And then the footage cuts out, did he dismantle the camera? Maybe. And if it's not Ruin himself, it's probably option 2 or 3 and Ruin is helping him. I have a feeling that Ruin didn't want them to come through the tunnels because Eclipse was hiding in them, watching the scene unfold. Eclipse does like to watch the chaos of his actions, this is a pattern with him.
The last thought. He could be the Eclipse that died. Unlikely, but it's possible. Dying is something *deeply* traumatic, and it could be repressed. Or he could be suffering amnesia. I talked in a different thread about the potential of Sun going comatose and that is what Eclipse saw when he told Moon "I have seen the future and sun will die" or whatever. When I talked about that, I touched on the amnesia aspect of a comatose state, in which the victims of such a state lose the recall ability of events that happened shortly before entering such a state without assistance in the matter. The longer the comatic state, the worse the recall ability, and the further the memory loss goes.
Other support with the idea that he could be the Eclipse that died in Solar's world, he didn't look like he wanted to move on. Flare walked out, Flare left, and I don't think we'll be seeing Flare again in the series as much as that hurts (I love Flare if you didn't know). Anyways, Flare left. Eclipse? Eclipse lingered, he didn't walk out of consciousness, he didn't leave, he just sat there as the darkness ate away at what was left of him.
In fact, rewatching that episode, I noticed something.
We see Moon press the button, the laser fires, and presumably, Eclipse explodes just like that. Except we go to the shared mindscape of Eclipse and Flare, and watch their final interaction. Flare walks away. Eclipse stays. I've always thought it weird that the mindscape was *clouds* unless the host of the mind makes a conscious effort to alter it (see KC) or requires a structured mind to be able to function properly (see Solar). Seems very... virtual. Like, maybe the digital 'cloud'. Uploading to the cloud? They are connected to the internet, they automatically connect to internet when available, and they've never needed to mess with passwords even if they are in an entirely new environment. So it's possible... it's possible that Eclipse lingered. Lingered and connected to the network in Solar's world, if we're going to go with the cloud idea.
Well folks... Today's the day when we find out whether the TS6 "Eclipse" theory is real, or whether it will join the ranks of Roses and Chasing the Wind. Good luck.
Of COURSE EXO's Countdown got released today... With an eclipse... A frigging super(blue)moon eclipse happening tonight. I know it's release got postponed because of sad events but this is just freaky coincidental O.o