TADC Timeloop Theory ⏱️♻️ (Caine version)
the groupchat was working on a timeloop theory (and gods I love timeloops), but it was mainly for a full timeloop, that everything we have seen in TADC is part of the loop. But then a theory hit me:
What if the timeloop STARTS in ep 7?
And it's Caine's doing???
''Okay, but why a timeloop to begin with?''
The trailer itself is basically a timeloop already; it keeps resetting itself to show The Beach Part. And THAT reminded me of Gooseworx describing the plot of ep 7 as ''beach part''. And while it can definitely be Goose trolling this user, because they said not to say that, I think The Beach Part actually is a major part of the plot. Like, what if it's a timeloop that starts at The Beach Part?
The trailer also really put emphasis on the words ''IT'S TIME'', and so does the caption of the trailer on other socials. Really hammering down that ''TIME'' is an important factor. Like obviously it says ''It's time to soak in the sun.'' But even in the full sentence, there is weird emphasis on the word ''TIME''. And further down the trailer Caine just keeps looping on ''It's time''.
''But why Caine?''
The only time we see Caine in the trailer is him Blue Screening in the restaurant he was in in episode 1 and inside one of the glitches, but he is also referenced in that weird labyrinth area and his office door.
The only other time we saw him with a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) was in ep 1, when he was giving Pomni a tour and describing the activities in the Circus. You know that same tour he told Pomni to go drown herself in the digital lake? The lake the titular beach is at??? Which makes me think his previous glitching is going to be very relevant, and likely get to a climax.
Over the course of the show, his glitching has gotten worse, duration increased and he went from just buffering for a moment to losing his memory of the last minute or so.
The type of glitching is also escalating; at first it only affected him/his model. But in episode 3, during the Zooble therapy session, we saw his glitching affect the environment, but it was still limited to the textures and 3D models. But it scared Zooble (who seems hard to scare), telling me that was a first. And in episode 6, when Zooble expresses they want the ability to have sex, not only was the glitch very long, it affected an area outside his model AND he lost memory of the question even being asked. Oddly enough, he already got scared of what Zooble was gonna ask beforehand?
I think Caine's glitches are a filter/limiter, albeit a broken one.
The glitching mostly happens when someone questions reality that goes against the rules of the Circus (exit, sex, real life money, etc.), or Caine or someone else is questioning his existence/purpose. That's why he keeps forgettin what people say, because it's deleted from his memory. He is not SUPPOSED to think about that. And everytime he doesn't glitch out when this happens, it's because Bubble already interrupted the conversation and changes the topic. (At this point I either think Bubble is an extension of Caine and that's just the alternative way of the filter to kick in, or Bubble is Caine's ''babysitter'', keeping him in check. But Bubble's AI is definitely getting more broken too, so IDK.)
And tbh, it's probably a good thing, because the idea of having a hyper intelligent AI like Caine become self-aware is terrifying. But in my Bee Theory video, I already theorised Caine is not the one in charge; there is someone above him limiting him.
''But why/how would Caine cause a timeloop?''
So, let's say your brain automatically erases the memory of something traumatic happening. But what if you're in a car crash, your memory hits reset so you don't remember the crash itself to prevent trauma, but you then wake up INSIDE the car wreck full of wounded people. Wouldn't that still cause trauma, even if you don't remember the crash itself? Exactly.
Resetting the last 30 seconds of your memory only works if the thing you are resetting is fleeting, not if the situation persists. And thus far, everytime someone says something and Caine resets, nobody asks again. Thus it worked so far. But what if something permanent happens, let's say the Circus member discover something? Or someone goes missing? Caine can't just reset his memory to ''fix it''; he would have to reset the whole situation, people included. Return to a save point. But depending on where that save point is (let's say, the beginning of The Beach Part), and what happened (people drowing in the digital lake), the situation can very likely occur again. So he resets again. And again. And again. Thus creating a timeloop.
''What has that to do with the rest of the trailer?''
A lot actually. I was kind of stumped on why Caine's office door would be so relevant, as we have already seen the inside of it and members of the Circus have been there too. But Caine was always there to teleport them.
What if with Caine bugging out, they have to find the regular entrance to his office and that's where all those weird pillars are?? Maybe to fix/reboot him? Perhaps that weird labyrinth place is inside of Caine's mind/code, a type of mindpalace? The mouth and eyes on the left side look like him after all, so it's likely connected.
It could also explain why that mannequin is there too. What if that's Abel, another AI Caine hurt/killed, and it's trying to regain the power it once had? Or - like in IHNMAIMS - Caine absorbed Abel? But for that I don't have a strong enough theory right now, but it FEELS related.
Anyway, I had waaaaaaay too much caffeine today, and I'm going back to my video editing cave....
