the angst implications of bdubs’ experience with phantoms in hardcore hermits back in 2018 are living rent free in my mind.
back in 2018, bdubs, doc, and etho did an nho team up for a season of hardcore hermits. their season was ended on the third episode when all three of them were killed back to back to back by a group of phantoms.
it was clearly one of their first experiences with phantoms. when they’re out at night and hear a phantom screech, bdubs asks “what’s that screaming sound?” literally seconds before a phantom swoops down and kills him almost instantly. doc and etho are killed by the same phantoms moments later, ending their series.
i like to think that this is what kickstarted bdubs’ fear of the nighttime and is why he started sleeping through it. it’s worth emphasizing that this was between seasons 5 and 6, and was after the nho fell apart. this would be the first time in months that the nho (or at least 3/4 of it) was reunited, and the last time they’d see each other until years later in early season 7.
so bdubs, newly reunited with his friends, is ripped away from them after only a few days back together, by a rather violent death from an unfamiliar monster, and doesn’t see those same friends again until years later as a result.
so yeah, you know what, if i were him, i’d be sleeping through the night from then on out too
