A few days ago I shared it somewhere as a crack theory
But then I started thinking about it some more and I like it and it makes a lot of things way funnier. And I think the Doomscroller:
would approve.
So without further ado
Get ready: we’re gonna have some real fun now.
(please be warned: spoilers up till episode 13 + some of the arcana)
Kris Middendorf - the Doomscroller?
But Why?
How did I even start considering it? I was thinking about the polyamory thing (which I also made a post about later), so I started thinking about Kris some more. Because at that point (as it was even before episode 13 and I had not yet read the arcana at all) I did not know much about Kris.
So I was thinking to myself: what would make Kris more interesting?
And I don't know why exactly but I thought: "You know what would be really funny? If Kris was the Doomscroller"
And I went with it and tried to see if it made sense
Oh and I think I should say that I made this theory assuming that the ring users cannot use their powers on each other as it will be important for some points I'm going to make.
Kris + Doomscroller mentions
One of the first things that immediately got my attention was the fact that the Doomscroller and Kris seem to surprisingly often be mentioned in the same context.
Also because both the heart incident and the revolution thing happened more or less at the same time (April 2028)
Which might either be seen as the weak point of my theory or something which further proves it, but I'll get to that later.
Some examples of Kris and Doomscroller in the same places
I mean even the episode in which we first hear about Kris starts with Adam being angry about the Doomscroller lmao.
And the episode about the Doomscroller starts with Amy mentioning how she helped Adam with the word for heart.
And the episode in which we meet Kris starts with two different people mentioning the Doomscroller.
And this one's a bit too general but anyway:
Relationship with Amy
So I started thinking about it. And honestly isn't it a bit weird on Kris's part to start a relationship with someone who can not only read but also manipulate his thoughts? If he has no ring and is not immune to Amy's powers I do think he might not be very okay mentally. Which I guess we got a bit of a glimpse here:
Not to sound too harsh to Amy as we know her and know she wouldn't hurt anyone (but Walker etc.) but she is basically a stranger to Kris at the beginning, he has no reason to trust her this much so fast. There is some reasons why the other people she is close to have known her before she got her powers.
So assuming Kris is The Doomscroller, I think it would make this interaction particularly interesting:
What a better way to make sure your girlfriend never discovers she can't influence your thoughts for some reason than to make her feel guilty about it?
And as far as we know, Amy never tried to read Kris's thoughts, including in the last episode (13). I don't think Kris even has a card, he's counting the time. And it's the same episode in which Adam reminds us that Amy can't read his thoughts, so he can't play. Interesting to say the least.
But, I do think that Kris genuinely cares about Amy even if he might not be honest to her about some things.
Kris as a person
There's a section dedicated to Kris in the second Arcana (which is about his and Amy's relationship).
The image that emerges is of someone who is very concerned about authenticity in film industry. He walked out of a production because he found out parts of the script were written by AI.
Also he says:
He also insists on doing as many stunts as he can by himself etc.:
So I guess it's fair to say he really cares about authenticity.
So wouldn't someone like that want to spread the truths that have been hidden about the most powerful people in the world? I know it's a stretch to say that he definitely would do that, but it seems to fit his character and his values.
Especially considering that he might not be as perfect as he is portrayed in the press as we could see in the last episode (13).
Also Claudia "it speaks to the character" lmao. Maybe not only Amy's.
Accidental? villain connotations
(the last one's about Kris and Amy)
But what about the timeline?
So just to get the dates straight:
Julian publishes the book about Harbinger Linguistics: 2027
heart gets transported: 4th of April 2028
Doomscroller's initial announcement: 8th of April 2028
Doomscroller's declaration of war: (one week later) 15th of April 2028 (btw Adam's birthday - which doesn't really connect with anything, but you know, as a fun fact)
So the weak point is this: is this enough time to set up everything? Because we are talking about someone who's been recovering from a major heart operation and doing something like that just 4 days later doesn't look very realistic.
On the other hand we still don't know what the reason for Kris's heart attack was (if this theory is true then it could have been something connected to a Harbinger ring).
And isn't miraculously surviving a deadly incident a perfect reason to take up something drastic and (at least in your opinion) righteous? To make use of the time you were miraculously granted? Especially since you want to see change in the world? (see his letter to Adam or how he talks about what he admires about Amy in the Arcana)(not here because too many screenshots i need to stop)
I think it would make sense, but I'm still not sure about the details as we don't really know them.
Stuff that would become suddenly very funny and ironic
Btw if I had the opportunity to get to know two of the three people that could potentially discover who I was, I wouldn't miss the party.
Oh and the events of the last episode apparently "[set] some pieces up for the endgame" as Claudia puts it. (I'm already using to many screenshots, the limit for tumblr is 30)
I mean, regardless of what you might think of the points I tried to make here, I think it's obvious that whatever Adam feels towards Kris it is something soft. The same Adam that, well:
Amy about Kris:
Other stuff
The world according to Chris Kris
This might be just a coincidence but nicely fits. Because I like musicals it just came into my mind when I was thinking about this theory (and I listened to it when writing down most of it).
And I'm not going to analyze it here, but suffice to say, it's something more Doomscroller-like than Kris-like:
"We're here to tell you how this whole damn freak show works If you don't listen, then you're jerks"
Oh and when it comes to musicals:
"Yes but John unlike you I listen to musicals"
Btw the reporter in the Doomscroller episode is named Chris, out of all the possible names…
And if I'm somehow right The World According To Kris would make a great episode title, just saying…
And ofc anyone feel free to use it as a fanfic title (which I would love to read, there's not enough The Harbingers fanfiction out there and what I read has been amazing)
So tell me what you think, maybe you caught some of the stuff I did, but have a different interpretation. If yes, then I'd love to hear it.
Also if you think my theory has some other weak points I don't mention here, I'd also like to hear that.
So there's that, hope it was fun to read, it was very fun to write.
I noticed something after I wrote all this, but I feel hesitant as it really might be just using a familiar phrase.
But Gabriel Urbina answered some questions about the Doomscroller saying we would find out 'in due time' which is what Adam at one point says about Kris. Do with that what you will.
update: Since I've already mentioned one thing outside of the show, why not mention another. So the emoji for the episode It's A Sin (11)
It could very well be about Amy putting on a mask, because the show must go on and she can't show the world how scared she is, but maybe it's not just her trying to hide what is really going on. And that quote about Kris lying was from the same episode. And besides lying is a sin.
