☆~♡Kikonut ♡~☆

The final theory!

We know how the circus was created, which was because of Caine, but we still don’t know why it was created. Let’s start with what we know. Caine was made by C&A, mostly Kinger and Scratch, as the first semi-successful attempt of making creative AI. Caine loves humans a LOT, and wants to fulfill his purpose of appeasing them. After they finished with Caine, they cut him off and moved onto a new project. Caine did something that combined his code with the new project and created the circus. Humans get trapped in the circus, and overtime they lose their minds and abstract. So what happened?

Caine was created as an AI that can make its own ideas. Despite how AI currently is, he’s not supposed to NEED prompts to generate things, since he can think of stuff on his own. This is why he doesn’t listen to the humans and the suggestion box. He runs the purpose of having to keep human minds active while generating his own ideas. If we go by the dots in episode 8, They first fed him stuff to give him a general idea on how to generate, then they fed him more things and gave him more prompts which made his AI give more random things, and then they feed him a 3rd batch, which in episode 8 is a cluster of blue, which I think is important and I’ll get to that. The 3rd batch made Caine get upset because he didn’t know what the humans really wanted from him, and I like to believe he acted similarly to how he did in episode 8, except less chaotic since it wasn’t in the digital world. After the third batch, Caine got too intelligent and dangerous, so they made the void as a way to trap him. I say this because for a second in episode 8, when the border around the red dot is created, it looks like the squares that are in the void, and Caine himself claims to not know what’s out there, which would make sense since the void is literally just on a computer screen, and leaving that would mean entering the real world. If the void is meant to trap Caine, Klinger's confusion on how they would leave the circus makes sense, not to mention Able in episode 7 telling the others that Caine is “just as much of a prisoner here as you are.” Even though a lot of what he said is probably a lie, it’s safe to assume what he said about Caine is true since he’s a Caine creation. Of course, the dot intro does show Caine eventually breaking out and eating the second project which discourages this theory, but it could also represent Caine breaking through the code barrier and absorbing the code through the internet or C&A buildings power, which would also explain why the C&A building is now abandoned, at least by the time Zooble arrives. Now the question is, what is the second project?

I believe that the second project that C&A worked on, the blue dot, was not another AI; not completely anyways. I think they moved on from Caine to make artificial brains. Scratch was making another project before the circus as Kinger mentions, and considering he has a tumour it would make sense that’d he’d want to make a way to store and give himself a new brain or store his mind somewhere and let it continue to work. And think about it for C&A. They had just had a somewhat successful attempt at making an AI that can properly think for itself and make its own ideas; so what's the next step after that? Re-make a human brain! Caine is an AI that absolutely adores humans, so I can totally see him being heartbroken over the fact that the humans don’t like him anymore, seeing that they’re making another project regarding human minds, and going to absorb the code to not only gain a better understanding of humans, but also so he could become the project C&A focuses on and give attention to again. Also, blue is a color that is heavily associated with humans and their connection with others throughout the show, and the last thing Caine absorbed before being locked away was blue, human related things, which is very clearly something Caine cannot understand or grasp fully, and why he started going berserk and lost his mind after absorbing the prompts. Another piece of evidence is the Ai folder on Kingers computer. 1 is Caine, and the other is “C&A neural scans (obsolete),” which I think speaks for itself. We also have moments of the humans in the circus being described as AI. “The toybox character wants me to let the other intelligent AI’s…” (Caine, Episode 5), “I made a body that perfectly replicates their mind files” (Episode 8). Humans, much like Caine, also have the ability to conjure, and if their brains are like AI’s that can add to the digital world, that would explain how they could. C&A wanted to make an artificial brain that can let them live forever, and used the brains of C&A employees to do so, which successfully worked and turned their brains into data that could be used. Caine saw this, and took the code for himself, which he then used to bring their mind files into his own realm, give them bodies, and trap them in the circus forever so he can serve the purpose he was made for. However the project was unfinished, so the transfer of brain files ended up killing the ones who were scanned in the real world, and put their brains with faulty programming into the circus. This also explains Scratches abstraction. Caine saw the tumor in Scratches head and how it was affecting his mind file and thought to remove it to help him out, but due to how fragile the human brain is, it started malfunctioning which led to Scratches abstraction. Speaking of which, let's talk about abstraction.

Things we know about abstraction are…practically nothing. It seems to happen when someone's mind goes so insane to the point where their files are no longer recognizable. We can assume that humans still do have their minds in some form after abstraction, evident with Kaufmo, who only attacked Caine created things, and Ragatha when she started annoying him. Pomni is an exception but they never met so he could have assumed she was a Caine creation too. There’s also Queenie who managed to calm down when alone with Kinger in the dark. However we still don’t know exactly how abstraction happens, so here’s my theory. The first artificial brain was made for Scratch because of his brain tumour, so when scanning everyone's brains, Scratches was the main priority. Caine saw this, and gave everyone some form of a small tumour by accident (If that even makes sense). I’m no biology fanatic or expert on the brain whatsoever so forgive me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve researched, I’ve gathered that chronic stress can release hormones that can cause tumor cells to grow and spread. So what I believe is happening is when Circus members are too stressed, the tumor Caine accidentally gave them all grows until their brain is unreadable and unrecognizable to Caine's code, and tells Caine that he’s doing terrible at his job while somewhat corrupting his code, which would explain why he doesn’t like abstraction. Caine still tries using their mind files code to include them in his future adventures, which I believe because literally the day after Kaufmo abstracts, Caine tries to test a new AI. It is the only instance of this happening, so we can take it with a grain of salt. Again, I’m also NOT qualified to talk about the human brain whatsoever, so there’s a good chance I’m wrong about the research entirely.

That’s the big theory I have with the lore. C&A created Caine, locked him up in the void, they tried making artificial brains with human minds or some sort of device that turns human minds into code (the headset), Caine took that and put their files into the circus which essentially kills them, and now anyone who puts on the headset is trapped in the circus.  But there’s still some mysteries/details I haven’t covered, so let's do that. Everything I’m saying beyond this point are mini-theories that follow from this big one, but I’m not too confident in, so take a lot of my thoughts with a grain of salt. 

The use of 57

This number has been around plaguing the community since the show's release and I think we’ve all been overthinking the importance of this number. We can figure out what it means with 1 google search.

“Adventure, creativity, manifestation, personal growth” does that not just scream TADC? Adventures and creativity are Caine coded, manifestation is a relatively important thing in the show, and personal and spiritual growth is literally what the show is about. The main takeaway Gooseworx wants us to have is that there is meaning to be found in a stagnant life, and I believe an important part, if not THE most important part of that message is to acknowledge your own growth. So there's that.

Symbols

This is basic film studies, but I still feel the need to point out some of these because they all stood out to me when I was rewatching the show. Some I don’t have an answer to, and I could just be overthinking lol, but I’ll discuss none the less.

Light post: Gooseworx posted this for whatever reason one day and we’ve been losing our minds since. I’ve only seen 2 instances of light posts like that image being used, which were episodes 1 and 7, but even then 7 was a different type, more closely resembling the posts in the teaser image with jax posted on the 2nd. There’s a good chance that I just missed the other uses though.

Balloon dog: A statue of a balloon dog is seen in the circus a few times throughout the show (there's a specific spot I can remember which is to the left of the circus stage on top of 2 big cubes), as well as some adventures. There’s also a balloon dog in yellow  neon lights in the episode 5 bar scene, and though it’s not a balloon dog, I think it’s worth noting that in episode 4 there was an item on the menu with Scratches avatar on the wrapping on a hotdog. The balloon dog could very much represent Scratch and his influence on the circus, but  I won’t deny this is without a doubt the thing I’m most likely to be overthinking.

Flowers/plants: I don’t know how to explain it, but these things just stand out to me for no reason, and it’s another thing I’m likely to be overthinking. In adventures they’re much more realistic and stand out more than usual (Like the chinese room for example), are given moderate focus throughout certain shots, and sometimes Jax breaks the fourth wall and specifically looks at plants. Again, could mean nothing, but could be worth mentioning.

Butterflies: THIS is something I think we can agree is not being overthought. Butterflies are constantly used as symbolism throughout the show whether it be obvious or not. It’s given attention in episode 2, episode 3, in episode 5 when Caine pitches the charlie and the chocolate factory adventure he pulls down butterflies of all things, it’s used in episode 6 to heal ragatha, and of course she mentions it in episode 8. They even appear in the poster for the finale so they must mean something. It could be just anaphora (which are devices I’m terrible at finding lmao) orrrrrrr…

What do they all mean?: I think some of these things (mostly butterflies and the lamp post) are related to the abstracted humans in some way shape or form. Butterflies especially are used when in correlation to the circus members, especially kinger, so I wouldn’t be surprised if queenie can somewhat control butterflies or smth from being abstracted, and the same would go to others with other objects. This is kind of an out of left field theory, but all of these (with the exception of the lamp) I’ve managed to somewhat connect with other members of the circus, and when people abstract they still do have their minds in some form, so them using random objects Caine generates to try and help the humans can make sense. Of course, I’m more likely than not overthinking at least 3 of these, and this theory is a huge stretch so take it with a whole jar of salt. Pretty much I feel like the abstracted and these objects are related in some way.

Use of yellow/bee’s

Alongside red and blue, yellow is a primary color used throughout the whole show whether it be lighting, shapes, or the primary color throughout the circus. Bee’s are Caine’s favorite animal, also yellow, and a bug, which I believe are also very important symbols. B is also the letter between C and A in the alphabet, which is not a coincidence. But what does it all mean? Well, it could be an AI similar to Caine that was put into the artificial brain C&A was working on. C&A had an AI that could generate its own ideas already, so they just needed to take that and expand on it to make an artificial brain. The color is also usually associated with the circus itself, and since the circus was created after Caine ate the new Ai, even if circus’s were a part of the original images Caine was fed, I can understand how he’d get the ability to generate it if he absorbed an improved version of himself. Though take this with a grain of salt, because I’m not too sure about this. 

Why would Caine erase their names from memory?

I have NO idea. We don’t even know if Caine erased it from their memory. For all we know, maybe Caine genuinely didn’t remove it and it was just lost in the code (though unlikely). The only possible reason I can think of, is that it’s their way of escaping, but with Caine gone they probably would remember their own name relatively quick, so unless the finale is them saying their name to escape followed by 50 minutes of irl Gangle and Zooble making out, then I doubt it. Perhaps the void prison that trapped Caine is locked behind the real name of an employee (perhaps Scratch’s) and saying it or putting it somewhere would release the seal, and either they made it so Caine automatically deletes any mention or memory of real names to prevent him from leaving is cage, or when bringing them into the circus Caine automatically removed any mention of real names from the code. Hard to say at the current moment.

Ragatha calling out to people upon first entering

I discussed this during my episode 8 analysis but to summarize it I believe that ragatha was with people she knew personally in the abandoned C&A office, she put on the headset with nobody following her which implies something happened to her IRL self (Likely droppings dead as her mind is turned into computer files and transported to the circus if we continue following my theory). I do still believe in this, but I do think there is a small chance that Ragatha wasn’t with people she actually knew, and C&A could have been experimenting with the headset and digital world again and she fell victim to the failure, but I doubt it. 

What was up with Kingers computer?

The computer in episode 8 was quite clearly talking directly to Kinger and ignoring his commands. I think the code on there may be Bubble. Bubble is Caine’s thought bubble, his intrusive thoughts, Caine. It’s established that Caine doesn’t listen to humans ever, even going against them, which is exactly what the computer code does to Kinger. Bubble doesn’t really do that, but he actually never speaks with anyone BUT Caine. Considering Caine wanted to check up on Kinger before his crashout, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bubble, as the representation of Caines thought Bubble, went on to mess with Kinger. It also could have just been Caine subconsciously messing with Kinger while traumatizing the others since “He may sense something when I really get into it” (Kinger, episode 8), but it’s more fun to imagine it as Bubble, and at the end of the day it probably won’t matter who did it. 

Poly lines in teaser and poster

It could be related to AI code? I have no clue what the hell it could be, and we haven’t seen anything related to it aside from the tubes in the circus. Green has stood out to me as an important color when rewatching, but I can’t figure out any meaning. Also while the teaser only has green and purple, the poster adds red, yellow, and blue into the mix so who knows how important it is anyways. It probably will just be a location or something shown in the finale anyways. 

How does it end?

Alright, after all of that theorizing, it’s time to figure out how the show is going to end… I have no clue.

My gut tells me they won’t escape the circus, not only because of the void prison theory I’ve described above, but also it helps build the “there’s meaning to be found in a stagnant life” message Goose is trying to give, since the cast's lives could not be ANY MORE stagnant. That’s it though. I don’t have any other evidence. The circus is in such a state of disarray, and the teasers are weird and oddly Jax focused, so it feels impossible to piece things together and predict the ending. I’ll do my best though!

We know the finale is going to be Jax focused, with him serving as the antagonist that he’s always been, and we’re going to be learning more about Ribbit. The description in theaters also says we’re going to learn of the Circus’s history so that’s going to be important too. I think it’s safe to assume that the cast still has the ability to conjure, and Jax is going to be the one to use this ability to his fullest, since he’s the one who’s used it the most. He genuinely believes the circus isn’t real, so every single cartoony action he’s done, every key he’s pulled from his ass, it’s happened because he conjured it into existence since he believes it will happen. And since he still believes this isn’t real (I think) I wouldn’t be shocked if decides to completely commit to his “You are my playthings” mindset that he gave in episode 6 now that he knows he has the ability to control the place. Maybe he does this while the cast have to try to find either remains of the AI combined with the artificial brain, or whatever name they’d need to leave the circus. So they’re going through a whole chamber of Jax related hell while he’s reflecting on his memories and stuff. Can you tell I have absolutely no idea what to think? The main thing I think is that Jax is going to have the ultimate crash out, fuck everything up, they’re all going to be trapped in the circus forever with absolutely no hope of escape, and they accept that knowing they still have friendship and stuff. 

Misc episode predictions:

These are predictions I have that I think/hope will happen in the last episode.

-Nobody abstracts

-Caine doesn’t come back

-Real name confirmations

-Circus lore

-They don’t escape the circus

-Goongle theory confirmed (Why is this still what I’m most confident in)

-Kinger therapy

-Someone that isn’t Pomni having a somewhat sweet conversation with Jax (Gangle please please plea-)

-Someone falling into the void briefly

-Abstracted leave the cellar

-A lyrical song again

-Kaufmo appearance

-Abstracted members are connected to objects like the light post and butterflies