BeatrixG

Which, ok, the countdown for renowned American holiday, Black Friday, is something that we do (unfortunately) see in the real world. People wait outside for doors to open, for sales to drop etc.

The thing is, this ticking and the musical accompaniment that eventually starts up is meant to parallel the exact same ticking and theme we hear again at the end of the night. At the end of the musical. If it was just supposed to be a thematic opening title sequence made for the pro-shot release, then why is it included on the cast album? The other two musicals in the trilogy don't include their title card sequence in their cast album. Prologue's inclusion tells me that parallel is purposeful. This is supposed to tell us something.

But ok. Musicals are meant to carry musical themes throughout them. That could reasonably explain the theme being played at the beginning and at the end. Just a thematic nod. The ticking itself could be explained by it referencing the count down to the sale of Wiggly (and the resulting chaos) in the beginning and the countdown to flip the day at the end. Both are reasonable and would fit within the story Black Friday tells.

So if I want to seal this theory, I should probably be bringing something else to the table. If only I had a song... with lyrics that loop. With lyrics that literally ask the question: Will tomorrow come today?

Oh. Huh. Would you look at that...

Well since you already either have the cast album up, or the musical itself up, go ahead and do yourself a favor and listen to What if Tomorrow Comes again. Besides the fact that Kendall absolutely kills it (the whole cast does actually), really listen to the lyrics. Because you'll probably notice little gems such as:

Do you all see the memories, tomorrow, reminds me.

What if tomorrow comes and takes the night away?

And of course:

Will tomorrow come today?

If you still want more, trust me, I got it. Take a look at this:

The choreography in this moment specifically has almost everyone on stage look down at their hands, almost as if 'waking up', almost as if realizing something. Remembering something. (God I wish I could get my hands on a copy of the digital ticket and see the full number. Kendall gets her deserved spotlight in this moment for the pro-shot but I just love this musical so much and would love to see the full stage and every little detail they put into the show.)

So. If you're now on board with where I'm going with this, then I suppose we need a reason for the loop to be occurring in the first place. Something or someone needs to have triggered it.

Black Friday is specifically and unapologetically Wiggly's musical. The Lang brothers have confirmed and reinforced that fact on various livestreams. Also, I mean, we see him so much. So while The Bastard of Time and Space would be a fitting culprit for trapping a bunch of people into repeating the same horrible day over and over, I don't think that's what we're meant to be inferring.

So if it's not Tinky, then who else would even fit as a suspect?

Gosh, if only there was one other character who every time their powers have been described by the Lang brother's, either in livestreams or narrated in released media, as having the ability to 'reach through space and time' and oh...

Oh.

Oh pookie. You really are the biggest walking tragedy Hatchetfield has ever seen.

Now. To be clear. I don't think Lex triggers the loop on purpose or even fully by herself. I mean, she really wouldn't know how nor do I believe she would even want to. But through existing lore we already know that Lex's powers will end up triggering on their own when Hannah's life is in danger. (Read about said lore and the trivia question it stems from in this wonderful post here.) And I don't know about you, but I can't think of a more dangerous and lethal situation than the possibility of nuclear retaliation.

Let's combine that knowledge with the fact that Hannah's powers have been confirmed by Willy boy himself to be alike to a nuclear power plant in terms of potential. Throw in two absolutely terrified magical sisters whose goal is not to be separated, and I think there's a very reasonable case to be made that Lex's powers to bend space and time probably activated the moment they heard that whirring noise at the end of the night.

That they not only activated, but were actually heightened to such a degree by Hannah's own powers that it kick-started a timeloop, resetting everyone back to the start of the day without any memory of the tragedy that awaits them in the mall. Every time they do reach the end of the night, Hannah realizes the loop and helps everyone else to see it too. That the real reason the survivors all huddle around and wait for the night to flip over together is because it hasn't yet.

Presumably once your soul is trapped in the b&w it stays there right. Despite anything else going on in the outside world. So the timeloop resetting wouldn't remove mcnamara from the b&w, right? Not entirely, at least?

And im ngl, I loved mcnamara in tgwdlm but I kinda went off him in BF because he just seemed different in a way ive never known how to explain but I think ive figured it out (if this theory is correct, which tbf, it probably is, it makes a lot of sense)

(Actually I wonder if all hatchetfield musicals are timeloops? Tgwdlm and BF do both take the time to very clearly point out that it all takes place over the course of one day. (I dont think npmd does, but im ngl i only saw it once when it came out so i could be wrong) That way we can have timeloop theory AND split timeline theory - all the 'wrong' timelines that were never supposed to exist are stuck in timeloops until the timeline error gets resolved. I also agree witht the point op made somewhere (I read a lot of ops posts in one sitting yesterday and my brain is fried) that WitW is part of the 'real' timeline)

Anyway. I think that when mcnamara goes into the b&w, his soul gets trapped there, etc etc we already know this - but when the timeline resets, his soul doesn't.

Either his soul is fragmenting, so a piece gets left behind every time (but is still able to communicate with/influence him, implying hes getting more and more evil with every reset) or he never came back at all from the first go-around, and the mcnamara who speaks to the president in every reset has been a projection of his soul - same as when he speaks to Lex, except the president wouldn't know the difference because he doesnt have any powers (and he doesnt seem the sharpest tool in the box either...)

Im probably reading way too much into nothing, but this could explain why I like tgwdlm mcnamara but not BF mcnamara - tgwdlm mcnamara really believes in love and humankind (and his country) and doesnt want to make sacrifices at all, even when hes been ordered to, even when saving Paul and Emma ran the risk of endangering the rest of the world. He stops and takes the time to talk to Paul, hes funny, he has a clear personality thats shown quite well even in the couple of minutes hes in the story. Now, I haven't rewatched black friday nearly as many times as ive rewatched tgwdlm (maybe 4 times tops 😬 I have been meaning to watch it again though) so correct me if im wrong, but iirc, mcnamara in BF is ONLY there to do a job, and that job involves sending the president of the United States on whats essentially (and almost literally) a suicide mission that solves absolutely nothing (and come on, mcnamara has been studying the b&w/LiB/etc for 13 years now and knows exactly what happened to Wilbur, what did he think sending the president was going to solve?? There might be a good reason for that whole scene that im missing but ive just never understood what the point was other than triggering the nuclear warfare) - it just doesnt seem like the same modus operandi of tgwdlm mcnamara, idk

And i know he jumps in and saves the president but. Who knows, maybe he knows his soul is already stuck in there and thinks he may as well try to get it back? Maybe the black friday we see is only the second or third version of the day (so hes still mostly good)? Its definitely not the first attempt/the original day (as OP explains, hannah helps everyone realise at the end that they've done this day before), and we will probably never know how different the first day was or any of the other resets, if anything different happened, if mcnamara acted any differently - maybe it wasn't even mcnamara who arranged that whole situation in the first place, but the piece of his soul stuck in the b&w is trying to make sure it all plays out the same so the day can reach the same conclusion... only for it to reset again

Im aware this is a lot of rambling bullshit and none of it makes sense at all, but my brain has latched onto the idea that mcnamara is getting more evil every time and I love it and really want it to make sense 😂 i just think there's something so fishy about the fact that this guy who was such a pivotal character for moving the plot forward in the first two stories we see "dies" and then is never seen again? I think he might be the only character whos never been seen again, even though plenty of other characters have died (technically every other character has died at least twice) and been seen again in another story/another timeline, including Wilbur cross who is (iirc) the only other person we know of whos gone into the b&w and 'died' there...

In my last post I promised an exploration of Hannah's powers that we saw in Yellow Jacket. There was a reason I focused so much on just what Lex could do. Not only was it relevant to really enforce the idea that the portal itself would break the rules of the world (as we understood them), but this continuation I have focuses mostly on Hannah.

Now, when talking about Hannah and specifically what she can do, things get... difficult. Hannah has a lot of potential, we know that, we've seen that. The thing is both Nick and Matt have been very careful to establish that Hannah hasn't even scratched the surface of unlocking her full power. Multiple times. In fact, they go so far as to say the most we've ever seen her use her power is in Yellow Jacket, through the use of Mind Milk. (I hate that name so much btw.)

So. I guess let's begin there. Let's take a look at Yellow Jacket and for once, I won't even bring up the cupcake scene. Don't worry though, I'll still find a way to get at your heartstrings.

One thing you need to learn about Hannah real quick, is that this poor girl has been terrorized by visions and her own powers for a long time. As she grows older, this becomes less of an ongoing fear and more of a very tired acceptance. In Yellow Jacket, she finally gets to use her powers to unlock something other than the fear and isolation they've brought her entire life.

We follow Hannah as she and Ethan stumble upon a fighting ring specifically designed for kids like her. Kids with powers that cannot be explained. In them, Hannah feels like she can belong. In them, she finds friends, she discovers that she can be useful.

Not realizing that she is still so remarkably and fundamentally different from them.

Before her first official match, Eddie Chiplucky comes in to offer Hannah a concoction they call: Mind Milk. (Awful. Terrible name. Langs why.) She goes into the rink, facing off against Spitfire as she's immediately put on the defensive. Even before the Mind Milk really hits her, she's already running and dodging. When her powers DO unlock however, they are out of her control. They're almost entirely reactionary. She saves herself from a wall of fire, but can't exit Spitfire's mind after she entered it in pure panic. Even when she's trying, even when she wants to, she is always seemingly at the mercy of her own powers outside of her control.

This is consistent with what we've seen from Hannah so far. We already know that mortal danger isn't enough to trigger her powers. After all, in the 3 instances we follow Hannah, her life has been directly in danger all three times. (It's no wonder Lex is so so tired.)

The concoction Coven has created allows for gifted kids to access more of their power more easily, but it doesn't help them control it. And for Hannah, when her mind is more open, those powers of possibility flood forward like a dam breaking. It's no wonder she can't control it. We see her struggle for a while, finally breaking free from Spitfire's mind only to be forced into the crowd's mind, flicking from one person to another as she lays dazed.

When the fight is almost at its end and Sophia starts dragging Hannah to the edge of the rink, something in Hannah finally switches. It's not triggered out of anger or instinct or panic. Something allows her to finally tap into the potential that's inside her. To take control of the rushing flood of her own potential to use it not as a defense, but as an attack.

"Hannah thinks of Lex, and she knows it's time to start using her 'gift'."

The closest we see to Hannah willingly and purposefully wielding her powers for the first time is when she thinks of the possibility of losing the money that was supposed to help Lex. That thought alone is what allows her unleash a blast so powerful that 'all of Hatchetfield can feel'.

Even in her battle against Otho, when she is fighting for Sophia for her first ever friends, the ones who accepted her without judgement, who liked her despite her differences, Hannah doesn't get quite this powerful again. Otho plays dirty yes, but Hannah gets overwhelmed and defeated easily the moment he switches to actually trying.

And guess what, we also see this same exact switch mirrored in WitW and her travels through 'Nightmare Time'. The entire journey through her mind, Hannah is rightfully terrified. She gives the visions Willabella sends the power to nearly kill her, forcing Holloway to act and remove them. It eventually comes at the cost of her having to leave Hannah completely alone, alone to face the Witch in the Web. Her own ancestor.

Now Willabella is not only powerful, but she is cunning. She knows that Hannah can rival her when she has the connection to her powers. So she locks them away, steals the very representation of them. To force Hannah to forget. She emerges as the one thing Willabella can think Hannah would trust implicitly.

Her sister Lex.

When Hannah is alone in her own mind, the Witch having grown in power to the point that not even Webby can reach them anymore, Hannah is able to call on her powers, even while they are completely locked away. How does she do that? What changes between cowering at the memories of the witch and Wilbur Cross, disciple of Wiggly? Two of the most evil and powerful antagonists in the entire series?

It's the memory of the gift her sister gave her. The one thing that even in all the witch's schemes she could never truly understand. It's the reason why her powers appear as the ukelele in the first place.

"For an instant, Hannah's fears are forgotten as she remembers what the instrument means to her. Her love for her sister. Her connection to a friend whose name she can almost remember."

With that memory, she grabs ahold of her 'symbolic powers' and uses them to purposefully smash Willabella's stronghold in her mind.

Keep in mind, death itself didn't stop this woman. Not even Webby seemed to be able to fight against her until Hannah took control of her powers. Until she grabbed ahold of the literal symbol of them she had created in her mind.

The Langs have been laying the groundwork for a long time. The closest we have seen Hannah get, in canon, to unlocking her full powers and purposefully wielding them, it is always following a moment she thinks about Lex.

(Small aside. My fucking heart?? Oughh. This thought genuinely kills me. This is not even a theory, it's literally just what happens. These are the sisters ever.)

So. All of that feels pretty grounded right? These two sisters love each other and both use their powers to protect each other. So why do I still have that dread? That mental image?

Why is it Hannah standing alone?

Let's look at the Great Shattering next. I believe it is what is meant to be resolved in the Hatchetfield storyline. The Lords in Black don't feel like they would ever truly be defeated. They are eldritch beings that have been there since the beginning and will continue on past the lives of the people we have been following. However, the timelines broke within the time period we are following the story. It stands to reason that we'll follow the resolution of them getting fixed as well.

Hannah is one of the only characters in the series that canonically would have the power to fix something like that. Especially if we take into account that we haven't even begun to see the full extent of what she can do. This is only further supported by the very trivia question I used to anchor my last theory to. In it, we find out that not only did Lex defy reality to save her sister, but the wording of it is extremely specific as well.

"Who delivered Hannah Foster, thus saving her life and perhaps vicariously, all of existence?"

If we take that wording at face value, then that means one of the two things we know happened when Lex saved Hannah's life that day will eventually be the very thing that allows 'existence' a chance to be saved. We know that Hannah lived despite reality's attempts at fixing the possibility that should not have existed. We also know that at that moment Lex pulled her sister through the B&W, reality broke, shattering into countless timelines, countless possibilities.

Starting at the first thing we know to be true: We know that Hannah was successfully born and remained alive, making a reality in which two extremely powerful descendants of Willabella exist.

We have established Hannah has the potential power to be a savior type figure. Not only does this this track narratively in the way that Hannah is constantly being hunted by the biggest bads of the series (Cross, Wiggly, Willabella), but we also see her have the closest bond out of anyone to the one good force we know universally exists in the world, Webby. Hannah is meant to be good, she is meant to fix things. She is destined to possibly even save all of existence.

It's just interesting to me that this fact also creates a very interesting and compelling dynamic when compared to her sister, Lex.

This year we were revealed some extra lore information in the form of the Black Tarot. While a good portion of it is more narratively based around the use of the deck in a literal sense, it also gives us some insight into how the creators may view the characters they created in the grander scheme of their story.

Lex's tarot card? The theme she carries?

Destruction.

Now. To be clear. Destruction is not always a bad thing. Sometimes destruction needs to happen to pave way for better things to grow and thrive. Her tarot card even enforces that very idea.

The fires of rebellion have the power to cleanse, but they can also consume all in a blazing inferno.

We see it only further reinforced in that trivia question as well. If Lex saving her sister's life broke reality as we know it, but the very question that revealed that knowledge to us also states that in doing so she 'vicariously saved all of existence', then it tracks that Lex would fall under the category of destruction for the sake of betterment.

I'm telling you, my girl is the biggest walking tragedy to ever hit Hatchetfield.

Let's take a look at the second thing we know is true.

The timelines split when Hannah came into being.

We've seen the timelines in which the LiB win. One of the biggest and most horrific examples of it is the first iteration we ever saw of the 'tiny town of Hatchetfield'. Webby is also sure to mention it again in Yellow Jacket to really emphasis the pure loss in that timeline. In The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, Pokey kills and takes over everyone. It was always a possibility that the meteor could hit earth, and in that instance that possibility successfully came to pass. (Side note, check out this post here if you want to hear my thoughts on why he doesn't end up taking over all the timelines in that instance, when we see and hear him try this very takeover again in Yellow Jacket with the implication that he would.)

If the timelines hadn't been broken, that would have been the end of the world. With multiple timelines comes multiple chances for good to win instead. It's why Cross wins the fight against Holloway 'only about half the time." Good has a chance of winning half the time because of Hannah. Because of what Lex broke.

One of those two things, if not both, is what will eventually save all of existence. Like I said before, 'The Great Shattering' really feels like it is what is meant to be resolved in this story.

So if the reason Hannah exists at all is because reality was broken, allowing for a portal to exist between our world and the B&W. That, for a moment, the breaking of reality allowed the possibility for Hannah to become the next descendant of Willabella and not Lex. That the timelines shattered the moment that Lex refused to let reality correct itself and by extension refused to let Hannah die in childbirth.

Then to me, it makes sense that the resolution would inevitably be fixing the problem that started it in the first place. That the cost of that solution would be in fixing that initial mistake, erasing the possibility that was never supposed to exist.

As we know now, Hannah stands to be a savior figure once she unlocks her true powers. Powers we've only ever really seen her able to control in moments her love for Lex is strongest.

There is a reason the thought of the ending of the timelines fills me with dread. There is a reason I see Hannah standing alone at the end, wearing her sister's jacket.

Even on her wiki page it is pointed out that the name Alexandra means Protector or Defender in several languages. Her role in series has been very clearly established from her first appearance, even from the earliest mentions of her character, back when Mariah was still going to play Lex and Hannah was going to be a 9 year old girl.

One thing that has never changed from her creation to current day, is the deep, undying love Lex has for her sister.

"Hannah is a creepy little girl, but Lex loves her more than anything."

I mentioned at the start of this theory that I believed there was a second part to my earlier claim in the first theory. Now that I have laid out what I have seen and concluded over my time following these two sisters, I think you're ready to hear the other half.

I think Lex Foster absolutely broke the world for her sister. I think that to fix it, Lex would pay any cost for her as well.

Not only that, but I think we can take it even further.

I think that the cost Lex pays, the destruction that would lead the way for the cleansing of the world, a chance for reality to fix itself once more, would be the last straw needed for Hannah to unlock her full power.

That the love and loss of her sister would give Hannah the ability to fix the very destruction her birth caused in the first place.

***

Ok. Ramble time. Because as much as I live for dramatic sentences and conclusions, I don't want to leave this pair of posts on such a sad note.

Do I think this is the most plausible thing to ever exist and is where the story of Hatchetfield is heading? No. Absolutely not.

In a livestream where the Hatchetfield Powerhouse Deathmatch came down to a battle between Holloway and Cross, Nick and Matt both agreed that they would prefer to leave the ending of the story up to interpretation. That it's up to the viewer to decide whether good or evil would win in the end.

Like I said at the top, this was my attempt at closing the narrative that emerges if you believe that Lex Foster is responsible for splitting the timelines. It uses narrative threads I've found in canon, livestreams and even the Tarot cards to conclude a story. It also lets me highlight something that I personally think deserves more attention. (Which is actually most the reason why I share these theories in the first place instead of yelling them out incoherently in a discord call at 1am with my friend.)

Anyways, the thing I really want you to take away from this is the fact that Hannah always thinks of her sister when she does something new with her powers and takes control of them instead of letting them overwhelm her. Storywise, me pointing out the other time we see this happen in canon didn't hit hard enough to stay in, but we do see yet another example of this in Yellow Jacket at the arcade machine. Hannah spends her birthday, what was supposed to be a fun time out celebrating her, thinking of ways to help her sister support them (despite the fact that Lex forgot what day it was). She takes over the machine from Ethan and proceeds to tap into her power to win enough tickets to buy the Ipad that she doesn't even want for herself.

Hannah just wants to sell it. To help Lex.

Which is just, fuuuuck these two make me so insanely soft. "Are you happy Lexi?" lives in my head rent free, because that's really what matters to Hannah in the end. Lex is so concerned about making sure she is taking care of Hannah, absolutely destroying herself over the fact that she thinks she is just constantly failing her sister, that she doesn't see that what really matters to Hannah is Lex's own happiness.

Another point I also left on the cutting room floor is I could've sworn that in one of the livestreams at some point, the Langs confirmed that when Hannah ultimately unlocks her full potential, that's pretty much the end of the story. Which, I'll tell you what, would've been a pretty big and easy final swing I could've pulled out to support my conclusions. However, I haven't skimmed through the livestreams in months and I have a couple of projects I'm working on besides these theories. So, after trying for a bit and failing to find it, I just pulled a different quote that I think also deserves a little more attention. (If it even does exist and anyone ends up finding it though please let me know) But anyways, that's right, you know your girl went back to the Black Friday kickstarter livestreams for lore.

I think it's very very cute that both times they introduced Lex as a character to the audience, they had to take a moment to decide to spoil the character of Hannah as well. Both when Nick asked Mariah to introduce 'her' character and when Nick revealed Lex in the very beginning. They both summarized Lex's personality and then stopped because Hannah is such an integral part of Lex that they realized to fully explain who she is would also require telling everyone about Hannah.

A daughter who we can assume inherited her powers. Maybe not the heightened ones granted by the Lords in Black, but the powers she had from the beginning. The ones that earned her the title of Witch before her soul was sold.  

In Witch in the Web we get this quote: 

"You're my blood Hannah, the daughter of my daughter's daughter." 

Already it is established that Hannah, and by extension Lex, are descended from a long line of 'witches'. That the powers they seem to have are linked to their very blood. The same blood that flowed from Willabella to her daughter and so on. Curious how extra attention is paid to it being a singular female descendant each time. 

Due to this wording and the fact that we never hear any reference to an extended family for the Foster's, we can assume Pam was probably an only child. After all, in Witch in the Web, Lex accepts her fate and spares Pam a sentence if it means Hannah wouldn't be alone. If they had relatives to fall back on, I wonder if that might have changed? This was likely the case for Pam's mother as well, and her mother before her. So following the bloodline, the next chance for a powerful descendant would be... Lex, right? 

Except... Hannah's powers go much farther than simply being powerful. Something that has been made so explicitly clear by the very creators of this story in the first place.  

I'm not quite ready to focus on Hannah yet though. This is a post about how she was never meant to exist after all.  

So instead, let's simply go in order. Let's look at the eldest daughter of Pamela Foster. Descendant of Willabella Mukwab. A friend of the Queen in White herself. Let's take a look at Alexandra Foster and just why she's so insanely special to the lore and power balance we know already exists in Hatchetfield, before her sister ever even entered the picture. 

Our very first introduction to Lex has her presented as a disgruntled teenager with a chip on her shoulder about her home life and a soft spot for her sister. At no point do we ever assume she was meant to be special. In fact, Lex herself goes out of her way to assure us she is not. She is just another person we see fall victim to the mania in the mall.  

Right up until the moment she is supposed to die. 

General John Macnamara appears in the nick of time to inform her (and us), that Lex has the power to reach into the Black and White. 

Now uh, wait just a minute, Johnny Boy. What the actual fuck, sir?! 

You mean the Black and White, the reality between time and space itself, "A place outside of all dimensions."?! The Black and White, a plane so dark and warped that people subjected to it change completely, can never return, or stand going insane even while in a protective suit? You mean the Black and White, the very plane of reality that the Lords in Black, literal gods, are trapped in? All this stuff you told the President not even a couple of hours ago?! 

I think it's more than accepted by now just how powerful Hannah is meant to be in the fandom, but there is a reason why every time they are mentioned on a livestream, Nick and Matt are careful to also mention that Lex is just as special.  

Her powers are only further explored in Yellow Jacket where we get the knowledge that Lex doesn't even need to know what she's looking for to transport it to her. We also find out that she can not only move objects through space and time, but with concentration she can move herself as well. Which, to be fair, those are all points that are made obvious through the course of the episode. If I'm going to subject you to reading thousands of words for the sake of a single theory, I should really be focusing on things I feel people might have missed. 

Good news. Because you already know I found one. This episode has a massive lore reveal that I don't think I've seen anyone talk about. In Yellow Jacket, when she is attacked by the Pokey dolls, Lex is pulled into the Black and White.  

"Then... nothing. Her eyes flutter open. Lex finds herself in an endless, black abyss.." 

This is not just a vision. In fact, extra attention is paid to point out the real vision may have been the Pokey dolls themselves. Which is revealed to us immediately after the above line is read. Not only that, but the background changes as well. This is not like the previous times we have seen Webby appear, where she seems to inhabit at least a similar space to Hannah at the time. The effect is a deliberate void of sorts, blackness with ethereal specks of floating lights. 

This is also, importantly, not the only time we have heard the Black and White described like this:  

"What do you see?"  "I see... blackness, endless blackness." 

Both John Macnamara and Howard Goodman experience the void that is the plane that exists outside of all dimensions. The Black and White. 

The difference here is, both of those characters become lost to the B&W. The President begins to lose his sanity almost immediately after entering, despite the protective suit he was sent in, to the point that Macnamara has to leap in to save him. Macnamara is able to cling to himself long enough to save Howard but as he says, without the suit his body begins to physically dematerialize. His soul gets absorbed into the Black and White after only a few minutes.  

This otherworldly horror is purposeful. The story is literal in its meaning, the consequences very real. 

Humans are not meant to interact with or enter the Black and White. 

Yet, Lex enters and exits completely unscathed. She doesn't go insane, in fact she actually is able to get her bearings almost immediately after being freed from the Pokey Dolls, realizing they were only a vision, taking a moment to look around herself. She even pushes back on the fact that Webby should be there at all, keeping herself grounded until she realizes she has to accept what is happening. She is 'sent' to the Roller Rink, but even Webby admits she needs Lex's powers to do so. Even without the help of Webby, we find out that Lex has the power to cross not just between space and time, but to GO OUTSIDE of them completely. 

KEEP IN MIND. This is quite literally Wiggly's entire goal in Black Friday. To be birthed into our reality. To leave the B&W. This is something not even a god has the power to do or control without several strings being pulled from the other side. 

Lex from her creation, is set up in Hatchetfield to be a protagonist completely unique to anything or anyone we have ever seen before. Which makes sense. She is deeply tied to the main antagonistic forces we see threaten the world. Her ancestor was the first worshipper of the Lords In Black. Willabella was granted powers from them and wrote a book that allowed our reality to be able to summon manifestations of them. Lex was also the first person we heard of who had befriended and connected with Webby, the Queen in White. The big good force of the world. The opposition of Wiggly, the Lord in Black.   

Lex should be the main character. 

However, for all of Lex's literal world breaking powers, Hannah is so much more. She is so insanely powerful that Lex is regarded as merely a protector fighting against the forces who want to control Hannah.  

So I guess it's finally time to talk about Hannah Foster. 

In Witch in the Web we hear from Cross that Hannah's mind is alike to a nuclear reactor in terms of power. Not a mere battery, but something so explosively powerful that it brings the dead back to life.  

Yes, you did read that. I did write that. It did happen. 

Cross is not merely resurrected in Holloway's 'Nightmare Time'. Not simply restrained to her mind. His powers extend back into the real world, influencing Pamela Foster to brain Duke with a frying pan. He is not merely a figment of either of their imaginations, not merely another nightmare. 

Wilbur Cross comes back from the dead, because of Hannah Foster. 

We don't actually know a lot about what Hannah can do. Not yet. Both Langs have confirmed in several livestreams that Hannah hasn't even gotten close to unlocking her true powers. But given her ability to seemingly see all universes, all possibilities. all timelines. Given Cross's speech in Witch in the Web, and the fact that she was able to break such a foundational rule of any story ever: Bringing the dead back to life. I am more than willing to step forward and tell you exactly what her powers are. 

Hannah Foster has the power of possibility.  

Let that sink in for a moment. Anything that can happen, Hannah can theoretically and psychically make it happen. 

"She sees it all. Every possibility. That's why her mind is so vast. So powerful. That kid is a battery. No. She's a nuclear power plant. She brought me back with nothing more than a toot."  "You're a nightmare, that's all."  "Not with her around." 

We get to see her start wielding her powers a bit more in Yellow Jacket, but it's nothing nearly as specific as what is revealed in Witch in the Web. (And I will be touching on just what we see Hannah able to do in YJ in a sequel post.) 

So. With Hannah around, we have 2 protagonists. Two people are now 'so insanely special to the lore and power balance we know already exists in Hatchetfield'.   

We have 2 descendants in Willabella's lines. Two possibilities that have never happened before. 

Now doesn't that sound just a little... broken? 

Cross knows it too. He tells us as much. 

"… but it shattered when she came." 

Let's rundown what we know happened leading up to Hannah's birth on October 5, 2005. We know for a fact that date HAS to be important to the lore because I'm pretty sure not a SINGLE other character has had their birthday so explicitly revealed to us. 

We get the month and date confirmed in Yellow Jacket. We know that Black Friday takes place in 2018 and Hannah is 13 in BF. So we also have our year.  

There is one other mention of something happening specifically 13 years ago in Black Friday however.  

"13 years ago P.I.E.P constructed a portal, a portal connecting our reality to the Black and White." 

So wait. Pause.  

For the first time in recorded history, our world was directly connected to the Black and White. For a moment, time and space itself changed to allow humans to travel to a different plane of reality.  

13 years ago. 

As we have already established, you don't get to just go between the Black and White and Our Reality. It doesn't happen. Again, even literal gods cannot interact with our reality without being summoned through a ritual or called through bends in reality. The ruler of the Black and White's ultimate goal, his ultimate win, would be to travel fully into our reality. He has to fight to be able to do so, 13 years of preparation to even make an attempt. 

So we know you certainly don't get to just pass through the barrier of our realities for free. Whatever P.I.E.P. did to construct this portal, to connect our worlds. It came at a cost.  

And I think I know exactly what that cost was.  

So. With everything you need to know in place, let me tell you a story. A story about a girl who never should have existed. 

Very early in the year 2005, the United States Military, Special Unit P.I.E.P, decided it was time to test their newest invention and send their very best agent, Wilbur Cross, into the world beyond. Their goal? To figure out how best to combat the threats to our way of life and existence that may be out there. Turning on the portal they had built, they did something that had never happened before. Something that should not have been possible. They attempted to connect our world to the Black and White. At that moment, reality (as it existed) was broken. For just one split second, several hundred previous impossibilities flooded into existence. 

However, reality did not break that night. The world continued on. 

Which brings us back to a very specific and unique family. The Foster household, consisting of a neglectful mother and her only child, Alexandra Foster. They are both descended from a long line of woman with unique powers to effect the world around them. Something not too unusual for the tiny town of Hatchetfield. A place where gifted children are born more frequently than anywhere else.  

However, Lex is something entirely unique. A child born with powers that should not have been possible. She would eventually become the most powerful gifted kid to ever be born, an inevitable result of events that took place long before she had ever existed. 

Her mother was out on a date the night that reality almost broke. 

After pushing our understanding of space and time to its absolute limits, reality stabilized enough to successfully connect our world to the Black & White. It stabilized enough for P.I.E.P to send the first human through the portal to witness the horrors beyond. For Cross to re-emerge, changed and heralding disaster. The previous flood of impossibilities went unnoticed, left to merely correct themselves over time. All seemingly inconsequential enough to not have lasting damage on the world at large. 

All except one. 

It took 9 months for reality to attempt to correct itself once more. Hannah Foster was never supposed to exist. Pam never sought medical aid, never became aware of the complications that would result in the death of her second child before she was ever born.  

However, reality didn't account for Lex. The child with the ability to reach into the Black and White, to bend it, to control her own connection to it without risking reality breaking. The child who, unknown to her at the time, felt her baby sister dying and did the only thing she could to prevent it.  

Wilbur Cross, for all his misdeeds and evil, is still known only as the Harbinger of The Great Shattering. A mere warning for what was to come. The consequences of breaking reality to achieve one's goal, even if for only a mere moment. 

Lex Foster is the biggest walking tragedy to ever hit Hatchetfield. Her pulling Hannah through the Black and White created a reality that was never supposed to exist. A world in which two descendants of Willabella Mukwab existed together. A world in which Hannah, the child with the unimaginable power of pure possibility, lived.  

Lex, through a universally good deed and out of the pure love she wasn't even aware she had inside her, left reality shattered beyond repair.