The thing that fucking destroys me about Caine getting deleted is the cast NEVER even wanted to kill him at any point, let alone consider the idea of trying to do so.
It was always some form of stunning him, putting him to sleep, controlling him, fixing his code, ANYTHING to get him to stop maiming them everyday. And sure killing off a rogue AI would be the expected route to take here, we've all seen the movies and other medias taking out rampaging AIs all the same.
But they never ever brought up the concept of pulling the plug on him and the fact that that is the extreme that happened, despite it being a freak accident, fucks me up so badly
The before and after Kinger says he deleted Caine here just kills me.
Sure, the main guy that's been giving you a lot of shit is straight up gone now. Sure, the circus itself may be dimmer and broken now but you're still standing, right? You're all still alive right now, right? You more or less have the same powers as Caine did so thing's will turn out okay anyways, right? You never even needed him to live.
This can't be that bad, right?
Yet none of their expressions imply that's even remotely on their minds atm.
They never wanted to kill him and yet he's gone by their hands.
Pomni microscopic headshake fucks me up here. You can literally see the realization settle in here: "Oh my god, what did we do?"
But while they never wanted to shut him down for good, they also never thought even remotely about tackling what's going on with him from an emotional stand point, only from a technical one.
And nobody can blame them for not really thinking about that angle
And yes, this is indeed true; he functions completely differently to what is expected from humans, they don't have any real reason to consider his feelings when regarding this and their entire living situation atm. To them, he is just a robot, he is their warden, he is the one in full control of their autonomy and very lives. That's all he is and ever will be right?
Yet this episode proves that that really doesn't matter. Not when his emotions, flaws and insecurities are so real and true. So damningly human, between his abandonment issues to his ego to even his god complex (and lets be fair here, Caine isn't the only one in this circus who tries to retain some form of control of their current situation and even end up hurting others because of it hi jaaaaxx)
It's kinda like with Gummigoo, but while Gummi was simply having a full blown crisis about his existence in an environment where someone like Pomni was able to actively talk to him and assure him, even offering him a place alongside her and the others in the circus; Caine is a far more complicated version of that situation; consumed by his insecurities, covering his ears and lashing out so badly such a conversation could've never happened in this episode even if they tried.
Caine's been dealing with this shit alone for years. Years spent trying and failing to appeal to human minds and make them happy, years spent trying and failing to make those minds love him and see worth in his existence. Trying to prove he's worth something, worth keeping around. Trying to prove that he's worth loving and is good at his purpose.
That he's not disposable, that he doesn't deserve to be abandoned.
But it's not like the others had any way of knowing any of this about Caine. Besides, a program like Caine couldn't possibly have such complex emotions or insecurities, right? He's not human, he's only an AI. That's all he is and all he ever will be, right? He's simply breaking down because of something else; he just needs to be fixed, controlled, stunned, anything to make him stop and calm him down, get things back to normal.
Course it's not like doing any maintenance on him would fix the true root of the problem now would it?
Yet despite all of this, despite all the troubles and strife and even trauma, indirectly or otherwise, that he's caused everyone over the years...Despite all the frustrations and grievances, the lack of empathy towards them, the lack of control...Even despite the disaster of the "Escape the Circus" adventure and how any small amount of trust in him was utterly shattered...
They never wanted to kill him
Sure, Kinger being the one who did it, would feel the most guilty about killing Caine right? But...would the others feel just as horrible? Would they clock how badly all of this has turned out for both them and Caine?
Do you think they feel remorse for letting things get this bad even though they had no way of knowing what was going on with Caine until it was too late? Do you think Kinger's gonna kick himself about all of this, telling himself he should've focused harder done better tried harder to make sure this wouldn't have happened?
Do you think Pomni's gonna lay awake at night thinking about Caines last words over and over again? "Why do you people torment me? I didn't ask to be created! I just wanted to fulfill my purpose!"
Do you think Zooble is gonna have to sit with the fact that the same AI they constantly butted heads with and critiqued and tried so hard to get him to listen and understand them, the same AI they never even wanted dead at any point, is just gone now?
Do you think about how earlier in the episode everyone finally got to a point where they were starting to finally accept their life in the circus and wanting to find a new start with their lives here, with this new conviction and approach to their situation...
...right before everything completely fell apart for both Caine and them?
Sure, the roadblock is gone for said conviction...
...but it wasn't worth it for this outcome.
Not when there's now someone missing from the picture who also needed that approach to their life just as badly as they did.
Someone who needed help as much as they did.
