Bendy Theory: Chapter 5′s Ending and the Cycle
You read the title, you know what it’s going to be about, let’s just jump into it. Before we begin, though, I will acknowledge that Chapter 5 is a HOT MESS and while I don’t necessarily consider it bad, it’s still the weakest out of all five chapters in Bendy and the Ink Machine. Nonetheless, we’re still going to dissect it, because why not?
(Also I’m sure this has been talked it about before. Let me know and preferably link it (or if you can’t, feel free to tell me where it is).)
So, Chapter 5 ends with Henry restarting the game and meeting Joey at his apartment. This ending confirms that Henry is stuck in a time loop, of sorts, as Joey sends him to the workshop, causing us Henry start the game’s plot from scratch. From here, we (the player) are able to use the Seeing Tool in the previous four chapters.
Now, this is notable because among these hidden messages in Chapter 1 are the tally marks.
(screenshot from eclectic-spaghetti's blog; DO NOT GIVE ME CREDIT)
In total, Henry has been through the loop 414 times. But that doesn’t really make sense. The ending implies that what we played isn’t Henry’s first time in the studio... or is it?
See, here’s the thing. We are able to use the Seeing Tool yet Allison gives Henry the item in Chapter 5. If this was the case, did she take it from Henry when he wasn’t looking or he managed to lose it and Allison somehow found it and returned it
Also, she has this to say about the tool:
Anyways... there are two problems:
If Henry lost the tool or had it the entire time, why would he need Allison to give it back to him like he’s never seen it before? Also since she’s the only person he ever responds to, wouldn’t he correct her?
Granted, Chapter 5 is, again, A HOT MESS (but that’s a discussion for another time and also better people have talked about it before; like @adobe-outdesign, who did an entire youtube video about it, check it out it’s pretty good!) but that still raises a question. When we play as Henry for the first time upon entering Bendy and the Ink Machine why don’t we have the Seeing Tool? It’s implied that 90% of the game we played was a loop, so shouldn’t apply to the same logic as the rest?
Well... here’s the catch. We played a loop. The very first loop.
See, time loops — despite being radically different within every story depending on the author’s pov on the concept — run across a basic set of rules that define it. Within a time loop, time in a fixed state, and no matter how many changes are certain events will always be identical, even after a loop is reset (i.e. in this context Joey’s apartment scene etc). The is why we can play the game indefinitely and nothing will ever change, with or without the addition of the Seeing Tool.
The first time anyone plays BATIM (aka 90% of the game; Chapters 1-5) as Henry is the very first loop Henry has ever done. It explains why he didn’t have the Seeing Tool throughout Chapters 1-4, and only receiving it in Chapter 5, where’s it revealed to be a time loop. Because of this, the events portrayed in the game are identical, including Allison explaining the Seeing Tool, even if we have it. However, when we end up in Joey’s apartment, Henry has been through several loops already, explaining why we still have the Seeing Tool.
I’ll admit that this is pretty disorganized, but feel free to agree/disagree. Anyway, feel free to send an ask if you have any questions or comment/reblog if you have any thoughts about this. Or not, it’s entirely your choice. Come to think of it, I might do a theory over why Henry turned on the machine. Maybe. Maybe not. Anyways, good night!
