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The story is told primarily through the liner notes that come with the CDs of each act, and we’ve been waiting for Act III for literally over sixteen years, since 2009. They released each song digitally on Bandcamp every week for a few months during the last quarter of 2025, and we hadn’t gotten any of the liner notes until MAGfest, where they were selling the CD physically with the libretto.

I won’t get into the actual ending details because there’s still a bit of an embargo, but some people thought it was really abrupt and sudden. It was abrupt. It was fucking scary! You should listen to the whole album on Bandcamp! I kind of loved it, but there were some plot threads that went unresolved. On top of that, years ago, there was a song called The Fight (which is a much more uplifting song than the ending we got) that they outright said was part of Act III— but it never showed up on the album. They said during a Twitch stream a few weeks ago that there was almost nothing left on the cutting room floor, so why was The Fight excluded?

So people started to do the classic thing that usually never ever works— theorize that there was another secret part they weren’t showing us.

Then, MAGfest people were buying the MAGfest Power magazine (which is a really cool magazine about all the stuff to see at the con) and noticed in an interview with Panther and Commander that they were dropping literal actual ARG hints. Along with that, they were selling bracelets with a cipher on them. Most of being in the Protomen Discord during MAGfest was watching people run around the Gaylord hotel trying to figure out what the fuck was going on before the Act III performance— there was a scavenger hunt that ended with one guy finding a jar of Ovaltine?— and you can read the whole thing about the ARG here. Spoilers for the libretto part of the ARG. It’s so fucked up.

I literally met the band at the meet & greet with my friend Veg, we asked Reanimator, “hey, what’s going on with Act III? Is that it?”

He tells us to “look at the disc”. Veg pulls it out, looks at the back without the design. Reanimator goes “no, no, the other side”.

Yeah alright man. Just cut off half of your logo like it’s only part one of two. Just cut your logo in half for your “final” album. Sure

As of this morning I was reluctantly looking for jobs because I love my job and don't want to leave it, but see: $10k raise problem solver.

As of noon today this was no longer an issue, because my boss called me with the news that I was getting a $10K merit raise.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. This is roughly $200 extra per paycheck. Enough to pay off debt faster, rebuild my savings, and spend a weekend a month in Milwaukee getting obscenely laid. The sex I'm going to have on $200 extra per paycheck. You can't even.

the lighting??? the fog?? the atmosphere???