#silas mann

[the-mercurial-star-o-vesper]

TF2 COMIC THEORY (and Spoilers)

What, did Zephaniah Mann do?

Look, if there's one thing I know about Valve Lore, is that its really hidden, really coded, and TF2 has been fucking TEASING for decades now.

And as far as I'm concerned...

We know who the mystery man in the rip is... That's Gray Mann, the missing brother. Gods knows he's been teased enough over the years.

But here, I'm interested in...

[ Spoilers below ]

... Where the stinger occurs.

Zephy is not an only child.

Because his brother is Silas Mann, the Headless Horseless Mann. Owner of a mansion, haunting that very mansion. Shown in the first picture posted. They ran "Zephaniah Mann and Sons, Quarterly Munitions" Together.

Its a tradition for Mann sons to kill the other siblings. Its why there was such a rivalry between the Mann twins (erm, Triplets).

Our Admin apparently knew already, was already observing the situation...

She was waiting.

What, did Zephaniah Mann do?

Why does the administrator hate him so much?

Does it have something to do with a little girl...

... Who can't remember how her parents died.

The man in the picture wears a Towering Pillar of Hats. While that's just the TF2 Timeline Aesthetic... there is another significant element.

Its in Coal Town, surrounded by Hales. While its the "Booths" hat, it was around, clearly, before Bilious was a baby--in Barnabas Time.

Zephaniah and Sons would become Mann Co, after being given to Barnabas.

What, did Zephaniah Mann do?

Easy.

He murdered the Administrator's father, Silas Mann, and her mother, out of "Tradition", and then claimed that HE was an ONLY CHILD like the selfish self-centered bastard he is.

And Our Administrator ensured, even through vengeance that lasted centuries, to a point where she didn't even remember why she started, that it would Never Continue.

Vengeance of a little girl who lost her parents.

Arguably, in comic lore, the torn picture isn't exactly accurate anymore.

Because that Gray Mann in the center, and our Mann Twins didn't even know there was a Gray Mann, and in fact, most of the people in the picture didn't even know about him. And if they took a picture, then clearly, someone would've known.

So its more than likely, a portrait or lore symbollic only. Only meant for the fans, to know what we're looking for and Who, about the time of the first Halloween Events.

( Look it took decades to get all the comics, mate, its not gonna be a craft masterpiece. We get what we get. )

[abberantmachine]

I SEE YOU

AND I CAN SEE RIGHT THROUGH

[twilightofthesandwiches]

I’ve said it elsewhere but although the idea of Silas Mann being Zepheniah’s brother that he not only killed, but totally wiped off the Mann Family History seems to be a pretty popular Headcanon/fan-theory (and often also paired with the idea that the Administrator was his daughter and that this is what originally sparked her eternally burning hatred for Zepheniah).....I personally can’t bring myself to buy it.

First of all, the one confirmed image of Silas Mann in life is in this Mann Family Portrait

Which doesn’t seem to have been retconned out of the comics, considering it literally appears as an actual physical object in “The Days Have Worn Away”

This picture shows him as an aging man alive at the same time that Zepheniah was old and dying and the Administrator has already been working for him for decades. On the most basic timeline level, him dying before the Administrator became the twins’ governess obviously doesn’t make any sense.

(Even if we were to assume the Silas in this picture is some ghostly apparition, he’s just too old to be a brother Zepheniah killed when they would have both being young-ish men and/or the Administrator’s father)

And much more importantly for a story whose big thematic point is “the lore was ultimately Meaningless, what matters is the characters”, the idea of Zepheniah hiding the fact that he has ‘bested’ his brother and instead pretending he’s an only child just feels flat-out Out of Character for me with the way “The Days Have Worn Away” characterizes Zepheniah.

Zepheniah sees the act of killing your own sibling for fun and profit as an inherently noble act and a prove of one’s worthiness and determination. He talks about his father and grandfather’s dead siblings, without technically legally admitting that they killed them, but heavily implying it and clearly admiring them for it.

And he very very heavily insinuated to his new governess that her goal is to raise his more ‘worthy’ son to engage in fratricide.

The whole point of him saying he’s an only child ‘sadly’ is because he thinks it’s unfortunate he never got to prove himself by killing a sibling.

So the idea that he would somehow draw a line at mentioning the brother he himself defeated, that he wouldn’t mention it as to not.... tarnish his good name (even though he is proud of his ancestors’ fratricide and brags about it) or to give himself farther legitimacy as the worthy Mann Heir (even though he views being ruthless enough to kill your own sibling as the ultimate proof of being a worthy Mann heir) or to just not discuss his crimes with a total stranger (even though his explanation of his father and grandfather’s deeds didn’t technically incriminate them of anything and he also pretty clearly admitted to her that he wants his kids to be raised to be brother-killers) is just… it just feels totally antithetical to how Zepheniah is written in this comic.

However, I actually don’t think this totally deconfirm the “Administrator is the daughter of Zepheniah’s brother out for revenge”.

After all, Zepheniah is not the only possible Unreliable Narrator of this flashback. The Administrator is the one telling the story.

And the Administrator totally forgot what Zepheniah did to make her hate him so much.

And while it’s implied that he might’ve been responsible for her parents’ death in some way, it’s also implied the specific details have become hazy and unclear through the years….

So, like, if the Administrator is the daughter of Zepheniah’s dead sibling (It being Silas still doesn’t really make any sense timeline-wise so let’s call this Hypothetical Mann ‘Barshnibnab Mann’, okay?)… Would she remember that? Would she remember any detail about Zepheniah having a sibling if her own familial connection to that sibling was wiped away by the waves of time?

Maybe Zepheniah did tell her “Ah yes, and I became an munitions magnate after I took over the company from my sibling Barshnibnab who died under very unfortunate and mysterious circumstances lol” but because she has forgotten everything about her parents and her original motivation she just flat-out forgot it and misremembered that Zepheniah was an only child?

I think that works a lot better with the themes and the characters’ personalities. Really emphasizes how the Administrator’s hatred has become such a singular and twisted thing, that it literally wiped away all memory of the people whose loss was the source of this hatred. Her quest of vengeance didn’t just drag down, like, the entire world for the last hundred years - it basically wiped out all possible memories of her parents. Really shows how it turned from revenge to just Fuck This Guy In Particular.

If Zepheniah killed a sibling, he would have wanted it memorialized as a proof of his own cutthroat ruthlessness - but the Administrator’s hatred is the one who wiped them from history as collateral in the way of her burning loathing.

[jevilowo]

Finally it is completed:

THE TEAM FORTRESS UNIVERSE TIMELINE!!

with minimal theorising and guesswork.

Tf2 Timeline (Final Final)

*THE (un)OFFICIAL, CANON SOURCED, AT LEAST 98% ENTIRELY ACCURATE TEAM FORTRESS TIMELINE (TFT)* By Jevilowo of Tumblr dot com (apologies in

(I made a new google account for this lol)

It's actually ridiculous how long this took me, but I'm VERY GLAD I perserveared and completed it! READ IT NOW!! if you have time. Hehehhehehehehe its 10pm.

(Oh ueah @shephardofthedamned you wanted to be @/ed on this back in like July HERE YA GO)

edit: TIMELINE IS NEW AND IMPROVED, UPDATED POST COMIC 7

[the-1-foxy]

Happy Halloween, Mortals!

Personally I think Merasmus keeps up with Mann family drama like its a weird sitcom, and now he's hosting the reunion episode!

[coolhorse]

[themannfamily]

I had built up a significant backstory for the Mann family, and long before the final comic came out, I believed that in the Mann family, it was customary for one son to be considered the best. And although the comic forgot about Silas, I remember him, and he plays a big part in the development of Zepheniah’s character. As the eldest and most promising, Silas was burdened with expectations and lessons in many areas, while the parents did not have high hopes for the younger Zepheniah. This created a rivalry between the younger and the older, a need to prove his worth. And Zepheniah’s growing resentment always frustrated Silas, who didn’t want to be first, and still loved his brother dearly.

Subsequently, Zepheniah’s ‘victory’ in this brotherly race was due to how ambitious he was and also to the fact that after the rather early death of their parents, Silas no longer wanted to fight, giving way to his brother as a leader. This later turned out very sadly for him.

Silas had always loved his brother. Even if his feelings were sometimes mixed and he hated him, he had witnessed his birth and death and treasured him from beginning to end. Even if those feelings were accompanied by endless regrets for what Zepheniah had become.

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

Hidden illustration of the original Mann Co. lineup, including Silas Mann, who became the Horseless Headless Horsemann upon his death, on the right, from the first Scream Fortress Update in 2010 (the portion on the left was originally included in the first Halloween update in 2009)

(descriptions in alt text)