Overthinking Object Shows

THE OBJECT SHOW ANALYSIS DISCORD SERVER

Hi there! I’ve been really wanting to answer this one. The exact motives of cobs’ call aren’t clear yet. Theres a lot we can speculate on. It could have something to do with the aliens, for example. But nothing we know concretely. I can answer your second question very easily though. The fact that he’s calling now is influenced by a very simple thing: Cobs has Toilet.

It’s something we pretty much know, but that has been very intentionally vague. II episode 14 ended with the shot of MePhone X approaching Toilet while he was all alone on the beach.

This is a scene a lot of people have been very nervous about for years now but never got any closure on. We were expecting to finally get answers when ii episode 15 dropped, and we just didn’t. Never once is he shown, nor is his current situation talked about. The only thing that we get is Cobs calling.

It was very clear to me immediately that Toilet had to be related to the reason Cobs was calling. We had heard absolutely nothing about him and last we saw him, he was face to face with one of Cobs’ creations. MePhone never got any sort of notification for him, so if we are to assume he has a MeLife set up for toilet (something I’ve been skeptical about in the past, but I think is pretty easy to assume now given how death was talked about in the last episode. Even someone that everyone hated Had to be brought back to life, and it was considered ridiculous and cruel to even consider not bringing her back to life. So I think we can say pretty certainly that MePhone wouldn’t just not have a MeLife set up for toilet just because he didn’t like him. Also if there was going to be something as dramatic as toilet being perma dead like Dough, the fact that he doesn’t have a MeLife probably would have been mentioned by now) we know that toilet can’t be dead.

This means he Must be in Cobs’ custody. It’s the only possibility other than MePhoneX just letting toilet go, which wouldn’t make any sense either

Today’s trailer for episode 16 solidified this for me, when we hear a conversation between MePhone and MePad that goes like this:

MePhone: “this is it. We can’t escape him this time. You have to help”

MePad: “We no longer work together”

MePhone: “then… don’t do it for Me.”

With an emphasis on “me” that implies there’s someone Else MePad would do this for. I do believe the sentence here is going to be “don’t do it for me. do it for toilet.” I can’t fathom anyone else it could be about. All signs point to Cobs having Toilet within his custody and using him as some sort of motive to get to MePhone. So I would say That is definitely why Cobs has chosen to call now of all times. He finally has something that he can use against MePhone and MePad.

So for this most recent challenge Two puts one person from each team to sleep to have a nightmare that reflects a fear of theirs with the intention of bringing the teams closer together by having the other team mates save them from it. We’re not given a ton of information on the specifics of this fear from Two. At no point do they say that they’re making them face their Worst fear, but later contestants like Winner and Book come to refer to the subject of their dreams as their personal nightmare outside of a dream sense so we can assume that even if it’s not their worst fear, it is a pretty pressing concern.

These nightmares are Really interesting insights into the worries of some of the characters, and also the responses that their teammates had. It also gave us a lot of really great information that we didn’t previously have, like Winner’s backstory, which a lot of people have been waiting for

While I was excited to see all of the nightmares, nothing stood out to me quite like Barfbag’s. Which I think told us the most about her and her team, despite the lack of obvious attention that it got and I really want to talk about it

Barfbag’s nightmare

The dream opens with the top of Barfbag’s head huge and exposed to her teammates, with different substances in containers above her. Her teammates are confused by what it means, but the substances cause Pin to immediately jump into action, pouring a container of caffeine into her.

The caffeine immediately effects her, which is when Gaty connects the dots as to what the nightmare is about

This is the last time that the actual substance of her fears are acknowledged, as Pin suggests they “commit to the nightmare” and use the substances to wake her up. This is fascinating to me because it shows a clear disregard for Barfbag’s feelings and confirms that this is something she has reason to be afraid of

Barfbag has had to struggle a lot because she is made out of barf. Going so far back as to the first three episodes of BFB, in which she was continuously ridiculed and hurt by the people around her because of cruel assumptions they made about her being stupid because she’s full of vomit

And later in BFB when she’s filled with water for the first time, and she feels much better than she normally does, implying that being full of vomit does actually make her feel very sick

And in the second to most recent TPOT episode (as of now) TPOT 9, where she was turned into a zombie because of what other people put inside, causing a zombie outbreak

This is something she’s shown to have a lot of guilt over now, becoming immediately clear at the beginning of TPOT 10 where she’s hiding from the rest of her team due to fear that they will retaliate against her for the events of TPOT 9, even though she had no active influence in any of those events. Her body was forcibly changed without her knowledge, and she had no ability to stop it. And yet her fellow contestants like Black Hole actively blame her for it.

Barfbag’s existence as a Barf Bag clearly makes her very vulnerable. I’m really glad to see TPOT addressing this reality as something that she’s actively very scared of. And on top of that I think the lack of self awareness regarding this fear among her team mates is Fascinating.

Immediately upon realizing her fear, her teammates exploit it with no care to her feelings about it. And while it works for the challenge, it shows a very clear issue about the lack of respect that people have for barfbag.

I’d be happy to! I can definitely see how it can be confusing so I’ll do my best to clear things up.

A big conflict in this episode was Silver Spoon and Candle vs. Nickel, Balloon, and Bot. When the episode starts, Candle and Silver are spying on the other three. That’s when they learn that it’s Nickel, Balloon, and Bot’s goal to get to the final three together. Obviously this would be bad for Silver and Candle, because that would mean they do not win.

Candle mentions that she knows there’s a tainted history between the team of three (Nickel and Balloon’s rocky past in seasons 1 and 2) but she doesn’t know the specifics of it. However she knows someone who will know the specifics.

Cabby.

The implication we’re supposed to make here is that they’re going to attempt to use this information to drive the team apart, giving them a better chance at success.

So Silver bribes Cabby for a file. Making her feel like she has no other choice but to help him, because he’s offering to save her from elimination

We never see exactly what he asked for. But we do see later that she gave him the file on Baseball. We can assume he asked for information on Nickel and Balloon’s past in some way, because all he knows at this time is that they’ve had a rough history.

Now I think this is where most people get confused on exactly what’s going on. To understand what happens next, it’s important to keep in mind that this is All that Silver and Candle know. They never met Baseball or Suitcase. They never saw Season 2. No one ever talked about what happened between Nickel and Balloon. All they have to go off of are the files, which we’ve seen in the past are full of limited and basic information. So when they open up Baseball’s file and read it, they are given a VERY simplified and description of events that’s lacking a lot of nuance

They don’t understand at all what actually happened. I don’t think anyone would describe what happened as “Baseball and Nickel got split up because Balloon went rogue.” But they’re working with very limited information.

They approach Nickel with this same very limited sense of understanding, trying to convince him to turn his back on Balloon again

And really, it doesn’t work. Nickel comments that baseball always wanted him to get along with balloon, and how he should have listened. And they never actually convince him that trusting balloon is a bad idea.

However two Other plot lines are happening at the same time: Nickel’s Luck, and Balloon’s fear of betrayal

Nickel’s Luck is something he’s been struggling with for many episodes. The gift from Clover has been really negatively effecting him. He makes it clear that he hates this luck. That it makes him feel like he’s not really Doing anything. And when Silver and Candle are trying to convince him to betray Balloon, he responds by saying “none of it is real anyway”

When questioned about this, he says the relationships he’s forming in the game aren’t real, because they’re a result of his luck.

He complains that everything he wants happens. Even the fact that Silver and Candle are choosing to side with him instead of Balloon or Bot

On its own this would have been nothing but a sign of frustration. But that leads us to the other plot point: Balloon’s fear of betrayal

See earlier in the episode Balloon expresses that he’s terrified of Nickel and Bot taking Silver Spoon and Candle’s side.

Nickel assured him at the time that he has nothing to worry about, and that they’ll always stick together. And Balloon believes him at the time.

But he’s still very much present during Silver and Candle’s conversation with Nickel. He hears everything. He hears them call Balloon the reason that Nickel and Baseball split up. And he hears Nickel say that the relationships in the game don’t really mean anything.

Regardless of if Nickel really meant it in regards to Balloon (which I doubt, considering he got close with Balloon Before he gained his luck) or if he was just frustrated, hearing this dug into Balloon’s insecurities and fears. And from Balloon’s perspective, they confirmed what he had been worrying about.

An excellent question! A lot of people are expecting a rejoin so let’s talk about it

Now I do want to start off by saying technically, we don’t know we’ll be getting a rejoin. That has never been confirmed. Walkie Talkie has been very particular in her wording that she’s giving them “another chance” and even the text in the newest trailer only says “what if it wasn’t over”, and while Cabby says in the trailer that she Assumes that Walkie Talkie means continuing the game, we’ve gotten no confirmation of that. We don’t even really have reason to believe MePhone knows walkie talkie exists at all! Especially considering the fact that he says he doesn’t hire anyone anymore.

But since there’s really no evidence to point to any other specific “chance” that they could be given (at least none that has been clear to me) let’s talk about what a rejoin would mean.

The current characters on the island are Blueberry, Lifering, Teakettle, Cabby and Goo.

We don’t know how a potential rejoin would work. It could be via competition, viewer vote, contestant vote, etc. So it’s sort of impossible to judge who would be getting back into the competition. Rejoins in object shows can be game changing. Let’s discuss the potential each character could have IF there is a rejoin.

Blueberry

Now Blueberry isn’t someone we have gotten to see a lot of. He was meant to be eliminated right off the bat, so there isn’t a lot of complexity to him. While there is potentially room for him to grow and improve as a character, I can’t really see any needed revelations happening with the current atmosphere of the show. Another thing about Blueberry is the fact that his tired and depressing nature sort of blocks him off from interactions with others. I can see him potentially getting some interaction with more patient characters like candle, but for the most part he’s closed himself off. He also doesn’t compete in challenges at all, and seems way happier on the indefinite island. He stayed not because he wanted to rejoin, but because he prefers to be there. All-in-all I can’t see him getting much out of a rejoin.

Lifering

Now see Lifering is interesting because he left the game on pretty good terms with everyone. He never had any huge major plots of his own (other than some interesting interactions with Box who is no longer on the show and not available to rejoin) I think he could potentially rejoin the game pretty smoothly. He didn’t exactly miss out on any needed development by being eliminated so I can’t think of anything that he would inherently gain by having more screen time, but I think he’d still definitely be very involved and serve as an asset to whatever team he was on

Teakettle

The possibility of Teakettle rejoining is very interesting considering the social aspect of her elimination, and the state of her old team. Last we saw her, she was still very loving towards Nickel and Balloon, but clearly resentful of what happened to her. With Nickel and Balloon on two separate teams now, I have to wonder how she would act in the game working with one and fighting against the other. I think we have solid reason to believe if she was put on a team with Balloon again, she may try to break him apart from Nickel like she did last time, especially now that Balloon is actively fighting against Nickel in the competition. Which may be interesting, but considering Nickel and Balloon seem to be relatively inseparable now, even with the different teams, I doubt that would be very effective, and might lead to Teakettle being kicked back out pretty quickly

Cabby

Now Cabby is definitely interesting because Testtube essentially ruined her relationships every member of her old team, and left her incredibly hurt. So bringing her back could cause some interesting conflict. At the same time, every storyline she’s been a part of has basically come to a close, especially with the mystery of Bow being solved. She could be a very valuable asset to a team, but with many relationships ruined and her trust most likely destroyed, it’s hard to say if she would use that full potential to help others or even if she’d stay in the game very long at all.

Goo

Now Goo was a very interesting player, as his unique personality and abilities were often very useful, but just as often his team’s downfall. Story wise he was great emotional support and worked well with other characters, but it seems he’s sort of done everything that he needed to do. He was never really an important factor to any major plot (not that he wasn’t relevant, he just didn’t add much on his own) I cannot see the story gaining much from his presence. He had a pretty good send off and it may be odd to bring him back so soon. Though I do think now that he has a better understanding of other people’s needs, I think he has a solid chance of getting really far in the game if he were to rejoin.

Now as we know, MePhone spent a large majority of the first two seasons with no memory of Steve, or his time with him whatsoever. But just because he couldn’t remember any of it, that doesn’t mean it didn’t still have an effect on him.

The Effect That MePhone’s Trauma Had On Him After He Erased His Memories

One of the most prevalent (and least concerning) effects of MePhone’s time living with Steve is his love of reality TV. We know from the ii crew, and the obvious context clues, that those shows that MePhone watched in his early childhood were the inspiration for his job as host of inanimate insanity. MePhone’s only reprieve in Meeple HQ were the TV shows that he loved and wanted to share with others, including Steve himself. So it makes sense that even after his memories were wiped, TV shows remained a thing of comfort for him. He puts everything into his show and clearly cares about it more than anything else. And we know now exactly why TV holds so much importance to him.

Another thing he loves, both in childhood and after his memory wipe, is eating. He loves food. Which on its own would be perfectly fine, but this is where we start to see the negative effects of his time with Steve.

See- even in ii season 1 we can tell that MePhone’s relationship with food is far from healthy. He loves eating, but actively shames himself for doing so. At first it seems like a one off joke (in very poor taste) but it becomes a constant with him, even going into season 2, and as of now, season 3.

Now when this issue was at its most prevalent, we had no way of knowing what the context behind it was. But we know now that this love of food was a part of him since creation, and this was one of the first things that MePhone was ever yelled at for. He was told that food wasn’t something he needed, and he was shamed for it. This clearly has a deep psychological impact, as even without his memories, he associates food with something to be ashamed of.

There’s a lot of minor things as well, such as MePhone’s subtle avoidance of touch, which may be attributed to the lack of positive contact that he had as a child, along with his defensive reaction to being yelled at.

We may even be able to go so far as to say there was some influence of his past in his original method of elimination in season two, which shares quite a resemblance to something Steve Cobs did in the past that effected MePhone greatly.

In fact it seems pretty likely that the fate of MePhone3GS had some influence on the fact that MePhone put the eliminated contestants in a closet, due to the visual parallels shown above, and the fact that we know steve cobs was already a planned character at this point in the show’s production, because he is referenced later in that same episode

And of course there’s the obvious point of the bad feelings that MePhone associated with Cobs himself, even before he had regained his memories. Without even knowing who Cobs was, he was able to recognize him and know that he didn’t like the way that Cobs made him feel.

I think this is a very interesting take on Liam’s character, so I’m going to give my two cents.

Liam and Bryce have very different and conflicting feelings on this situation. But I wouldn’t necessarily consider either of them to be toxic or similar to Airy in any way because of this.

I’m certainly not the only person to point this out, but ONE season 2 has put a lot of focus on the effects of grief and trauma that can happen depending on circumstances before and after traumatic events. And I think this really shines through in Liam and Bryce’s actions.

On one hand we have Liam, who had everything to lose. A stable job, friends, a life. All of which was ripped away from him when he was taken away and assumed to be dead.

On the other hand we have Bryce, who had everything to gain. A failing job, possible alcoholism problems, struggling to pay his rent. Having everything taken away from him is what pushed him to start over and get his life together.

We see how these experiences effect them throughout season 2. Liam wants to make sure no one had to suffer like he did. And he’s willing to do anything to make that happen because he has nothing left for himself. He sees no issue in checking as many homeless shelters as he can find or breaking the law because it’s of no consequence to him. He’s lost absolutely everything at this point and now his only purpose is saving others from that fate

Bryce on the other hand has a good life now. He enjoys and values what he has. He has a stable job and all he wants is to put the past behind him. He put so much work into building this life for himself after ONE that he doesn’t want to give it up just to save others. But I don’t think that makes him inherently selfish either.

Both of them went through similar, and yet opposite experiences. And their conflicting views on the situation is what caused so much turmoil. But now, with the newest episode out, we see something interesting. I think we’re starting to see these views change as a result of each other.

Liam started to give up. He felt like he hadn’t gotten anywhere and that everything was just a waste of time and energy. And as they get to SF, he realizes how much he misses his old life, and how he wants so badly to return to it.

But Bryce has been inspired by Liam. He wants to keep trying. He wants to save others. He even says directly to Liam that he’s grateful that Liam changed his priorities, and now he’s set on saving the contestants of ONE

So no I don’t think Liam is doing something evil or equivalent to Airy. I think he’s hurting. And I think Bryce is hurting as well. But it seems like they’re starting to heal with the help and encouragement of each other.

I do actually! Well- it’s more a detail that I feel needs to be pointed out. In all honesty I have no idea what they are or where they came from. But I can say with certainty that they used to be fully functional. And there used to be more than one.

This is a detail that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else notice but we actually see both the gemory cave, and the fully functional robot arms in season 1

Season 1. Episode 7. Halloween episode. Marshmallow and lightbulb enter a cave in the middle of the island. Similarly placed to where the gemory cave is.

Due to an unseen threat, Lightbulb and Marshmallow run out, but marshmallow is grabbed by a large purple hand

Season 2. Episode 13. We see the robot hand of the same color coming out of the same wall.

In season one, Marshmallow is a bit beaten up when she returns, but is still alive, and is actually helped! Resulting in her winning the challenge. We later see in season 2 once again that the arm is not a threat.

In all honesty it doesn’t seem like this is going to be brought up again? Felt like more of a reference to the first appearance of the cave. But who knows!

Hi there! As always I love to see your analysis in my inbox. I think you’re 100% right in saying that she’s hurting herself more than others with her luck, and I’d like to add to that a little more.

So obviously like you said, Clover is pretty incapable when her luck is taken from her. She lacks basic skills that she’s never needed previously due to her luck. Now that she’s had her luck taken from her, she’s unable to do basic tasks. Her luck has stripped her of the learning experience.

However, if it were not for the body swap, this would have never been an issue in the first place. She would have no need to learn these things because her luck would always be there to help her out.

That’s not to say that her luck isn’t hurting her regardless. In fact I think if it weren’t for the body swap, her luck would hurt her even more. So let’s talk about it.

Despite the fact that Clover is unable to do most things now that she’s in Testtube’s body, she’s a lot happier. The reason for this is obvious, of course. She hates her luck. Or more accurately, she’s afraid of it. She’s made no secret of that in recent episodes.

Ever since she realized other people could be hurt to save herself, Clover has been going into a downward spiral. She doesn’t trust herself, she doesn’t trust others. She doesn’t even know what’s real or not anymore, which we see when Goo offers his help to her, and she’s unable to be convinced that it was of his own free will.

She’s constantly scared that she’s going to hurt someone, and any help she receives is viewed as a burden to others by her.

This is all a very sharp turn from what her personality used to be. When she was unaware of her luck and could just get through life easily without worry, Clover was very care free, if not often a bit confused. She was happy and loving and easily distractible. And she didn’t take things too seriously most of the time.

But now that she’s gained this awareness, it’s clearly taken an extreme mental toll on her. Personally I don’t feel as if the pain that she’s taken on is equal to the pain that she causes others.

The only person to suffer any long-term effects from her luck is Box. And he’s currently in the hands of a medical professional.

Everyone else that has fallen “victim” to Clover’s luck hasn’t suffered more than a mild inconvenience (considering that in the universe of ii, death isn’t really a huge issue) Meanwhile Clover is constantly on edge, fearing for others, and terrified of her own capabilities.

The pain here is not equal. So on many levels I do agree, Clover has definitely suffered far more than her fellow contestants due to her luck.

(The first half of this analysis was written pre-episode 8 part 2. I just forgot to post it LMAO. but since it ties in so well with what happened in the new episode, let’s discuss the rest)

Clovers luck hurt her so much that it was considered lucky for her and everyone else to get physically hurt so that she would be free from it. And her luck put her in so much pain that it was obvious to everyone that she would be happier outside of the show.

I think what really drives home the fact that she’s being the most hurt for her luck is that Goo tells her that she wasn’t voted off because she’s a danger to others, she was voted off because everyone else thought she would be happier that way.

Taking Clover away from the game isn’t going to stop others from being hurt. It’s going to stop Clover from being hurt. Because she’s the one who’s faced the most pain at her own luck.

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EYO YOUR THEORY ABOUT SEASON 3 EPISODE 8 BEING VERY SIGNIFICANT IS LIKE 999% TRUE NOW HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT ROBOW

Feels good to be right! But yes Robot Bow was certainly a massive reveal and currently there are a lot of questions and theories going around. I already covered some things about her, specifically who I think built her [you can find that analysis right here]

But with that out of the way, we can have some fun speculating.

Robot Bow - possibilities/predictions

As anon mentioned, I had previously brought up the importance of episode 8 in inanimate insanity, especially when related to MePhone. Now MePhone is interesting in this situation because as I have mentioned before [in this analysis here] MePhone has started to warm up to Bow, and even seems to show favoritism towards her. He’s even showed that he cares about her again in episode 7, looking upset and pushing Cabby away when she puts Bow in distress.

This poses an issue now, considering MePhone has a history regarding people keeping secrets from him, especially secrets relating to robotics. In addition to his tendency to jump to conclusions.

Right now it’s impossible to say for sure what his reaction will be if he ever finds out the truth, but from what we’ve seen in the past, I can’t imagine that it will be a very good reaction. Even if it might not be as catastrophic as his reaction to other revelations in season 2, given that season 3 is intended to be more light hearted

But MePhone isn’t the only one who might not take this well.

See at the end of the episode we’re shown Candle and Goo. Candle seems quite disturbed by this info, and informs Goo about the truth, speaking in a warning tone.

Candle is definitely not happy about not being able to read Bow’s aura, and she’s trying to warn Goo. This is also right after Goo and Bow have been separated and put on different teams

It seems very possible that Goo and Bow may be turned against each other, or at the very least that strain will be put on their friendship, just as MePhone had intended with the change in teams. This seems even more possible when you consider the fact that Goo has started to take on an identity on his own, separating himself from the cheer factory now that they’re not on the same team, and instead solidifying the idea that he’s working solo now

Aside from interpersonal relationships, being a robot also puts Bow at a physical risk. As we know from creator confirmation and also the death of many meeple products, robots can’t be brought back to life via MeLife.

As we discussed, MePhone finding out that Bow is a robot would not be good. But the alternative may be even worse, considering that if Bow dies and he attempts to bring her back, this would not be the first time that it didn’t work for him.

Things don’t seem to be looking very good in general. But I’m staying optimistic. When I originally mentioned the importance of episode 8, I mentioned it in [this post] about how I believe MePhone4S may have a chance at returning in season 3. And if I’m correct about TestTube being able to bring someone back from the dead via robotics, and even be able to give them some of their memories to an extent, then who’s to say she couldn’t do the same for 4S?

I do! I have a solid theory that I’m pretty confident in and I’d love to share it.

Who Built Robot Bow

“Who built robot bow” seems to be the biggest question circling the ii community currently. And it’s a perfectly valid question! Especially considering the history that this series has regarding robots. But before we answer who Could be responsible, let’s talk about who’s definitely Not responsible.

I’ve seen many people suggest that villains such as Steve Cobs or Taco are somehow linked to the creation of Robot Bow. As interesting as that would be, we know this couldn’t be true, because the creators have outright confirmed that season 3 will not be linked to any major plot development in season 2, and that it’s meant to be a more lighthearted season. Taco specifically has been confirmed to not be making an appearance in season 3, as she won the popularity vote to get in, but she isn’t part of the cast because she still has things to do in season 2.

I’ve also seen some theories linking it to be either Walkie Talkie or MePhone. Which very well could be possible, but given MePhone’s surprise when Bow first showed up, in addition to the fact that until episode 3 of season 3 he didn’t want her around, I’m inclined to believe it’s not him. Walkie Talkie could supposedly be responsible, but there’s really no evidence to suggest that they are. So until anything else comes up, there’s really no room to speculate.

Personally I believe there’s a lot of evidence to suggest that TestTube is responsible for the existence of Robot Bow.

We know that TestTube is capable of making a robot such as this. She’s certainly made more complex projects in the past. But what really made things obvious for me was her reaction to Bow glitching out at the mention of chairs in the most recent episode

TestTube doesn’t seem concerned or confused for Bow at all. When Cabby notices that there’s something wrong with Bow, TestTube looks concerned at Cabby, and immediately interrupts her, grabbing her attention away. It’s very clear in this scene that she’s making an effort to keep Cabby from taking notes on Bow.

(TestTube later gives paintbrush the same worried expression when they notice something is up, but without the other evidence, this could just be read as concern for Bow)

We see no signs of TestTube’s own curious nature when Bow begins to glitch. It seems obvious to me that she knows something in this scene that no one else knows. She drags Bow away and tells her to “cool off” (interesting choice of wording) and it’s only after this that she really seems to want to get Cabby off of the show.

Obviously I cannot describe the full moment word for word but I do encourage others to rewatch the scene with the mindset that TestTube is displaying suspicious behavior.

It wasn’t just this episode that made me think that TestTube was somehow related to Bow’s reappearance. What really got me suspicious of TestTube was Fan’s elimination, in which he seems to whisper the words “you have to tell her”

(Lip reading was done by me)

The clip cuts to Cabby. But we know the “her” couldn’t have been referring to Cabby, because she’s no longer in the game. Her story is over (unless she rejoins, but there’s no guarantee of that) Therefore it makes the most sense for this to be in reference to Bow, the one who Cabby was studying earlier that episode.

I think that’s more than enough evidence to say TestTube is most likely involved, but I have seen some other people point out that we saw a Bow related machine built by TestTube back in season 2. Perhaps this also has some relation to Bow’s reappearance?

I definitely believe it was TestTube who is responsible for the creation of Robot Bow. Out of all the theories I’ve seen, it has the most evidence to stand on.

Alrighty its Very clear that this is something you all want (this isn’t even showing all the requests for an AIB analysis on my main blog and on discord) so here we go!

Alef and Nabla are very interesting in terms of object show relationships, because it’s not often that we see a familial bond between two objects. Especially on with so much conflict.

This conflict changes throughout the show, but it doesn’t seem like this change is actually related to either of them. Let’s talk about it.

Alef and Nabla’s Relationship, and the effect that Glue has on it

When we first see the two of them interact, it seems pretty clear that Alef has been tormenting Nabla for some time. He teases her from the beginning, and Nabla seems to anticipate this behavior. On top of that, Nabla has a sense of shame in the fact that she’s related to Alef. And Alef seems to know that. He teasingly yells the fact that they’re cousins, and when Nabla confirms it, she adds “unfortunately” to the end of her statement.

Alef is rather cruel to Nabla. From the very beginning he threatens her. He calls her names, he shuts her down, and he hurts her chalkboard, which is clearly very important to her. And we know this has been going on for a while, as Nabla confirms in episode 3 that his bullying has been going on for years.

Now the interesting thing is that Nabla doesn’t Do Anything about the way Alef treats her. She sits there and takes it. While she shows she’s upset, she doesn’t do anything in relation. She does this out of fear, due to Alef’s threats

But Alef doesn’t play completely nice despite the fact that Nabla tries to stay on his good side. He throws her chalk board into the ocean simply because he doesn’t like her plan. We know for a fact that this is something that upsets Nabla a lot later, but in the moment she doesn’t do much at all to stop it.

Alef even continues afterwards, telling her to keep her “geeky-ness” to herself. Which makes Nabla feel really bad. Still, she does nothing to retaliate.

And when Nabla continues to make plans in order to help the team, Alef continues to put her down. Calling her a nerd and ridiculing her in front of the whole team. He even mocks her for having to use a smaller chalkboard, even thought he was the one that threw away the first one.

Alef continues to put Nabla down and Nabla can’t do anything to fight against him.

But that’s until Glue steps in.

Glue, as an outside force, changes up the dynamic between Nabla and Alef. Because unlike Nabla, Glue is willing to fight back against Alef.

She stands up for Nabla, telling Alef to cut it out. And while it doesn’t stop Alef from coming up with a different plan, it does get him to stop tormenting Nabla for the time being.

Now, Glue has Also been hurt by Alef. As when he threw Nabla’s chalkboard into the ocean, it landed on Glue. So she has some reason to hate Alef herself. But she seems to really want to support Nabla. As we see she follows Nabla down the mountain and into the ocean to help her get the chalkboard back. Nabla really seems to appreciate this gesture.

When they bring the chalkboard back to land, Nabla is venting to Glue about her experiences with Alef. Clearly she has a lot of pent up anger regarding the situation. When Glue agrees that Alef is a jerk, Nabla is relieved, and says that Glue is the only person who sees how terrible he is to her.

No one else has seen or acknowledged the pain that Alef is putting Nabla through, and Glue admits that she only realized it after Alef hurt her as well. Being bullied by her cousin was an isolating experience for Nabla, and she believes that she’ll never have a say in anything because of it.

And this is where Glue really begins to change the dynamic between these two cousins.

Glue asks Nabla if she knows anything about Alef that they could use for blackmail. Nabla Does know something that would embarrass Alef a lot, but it’s clear she had never considered the use of blackmail before. Continuing the idea that Glue’s interference is what ends up changing the dynamic between Alef and Nabla. Nabla would not have thought to use this information against Alef on her own.

Nabla once again creates a team for the plan, which is what consistently has made Alef bully her in the past. But when he starts to, Glue once again takes Nabla’s side and mocks Alef. He starts to get in Glue’s face, but Nabla is left alone. This is the second time now that Glue has managed to get Alef to stop harassing Nabla. They don’t even need to use the info about Alef’s name yet.

But when they leave the claw machine challenge, Alef continues to get violent and hurt others. Once again, Glue steps in to defend Alef’s victims. Only this time, she calls him “Aleph”

And once again Glue is able to stop Alef from hurting another person, as he does drop Whoopie Cushion and turn his attention to Glue.

When Alef is trying to come up with a plan, Glue calls him “Aleph” again, and Nabla joins in. It’s important to note here that Glue is the one who starts it.

This cues the rest of the team to call him “Aleph” as well. And once again Glue uses the opportunity to take control of the challenge, allowing Nabla to take control with her.

Alef is annoyed by this, but not completely upset. He admits it’s just his ego that’s being bruised, and that he’d be proud of Nabla for taking charge if he wasn’t annoyed with her. It’s only when Frisbee and Ketchup come to his defense that Alef starts to get really upset. Before talking to the two of them, Alef genuinely didn’t think it was a big deal.

(Alef’s ego does seem to be a big part of his character and I am willing to go more in-depth on that in a future analysis if that’s what people want)

And this is where Nabla actually takes the lead for the first time, and torments Alef just as he’s been tormenting her for years.

Alef ignores her, and continues to try to work even when the rest of the team tells him that everything is almost done, but Nabla once again tries to take control and tell him to stop.

Alef claims that Nabla shouldn’t be treating him badly because they’re family. Which of course was wildly hypocritical, considering how terrible Alef has been to Nabla in the past. This shows a complete lack of awareness from Alef about why he’s being treated this way.

Nabla brings this up later once Alef embarrasses himself in front of his whole team, saying “consider this revenge for everything you’ve ever done to me”

Alef almost gets physical with Nabla again. At this point, Nabla clings to Glue, which makes a lot of sense considering that Glue has consistently been the one to protect her from Alef in the past.

But Alef feels like he’s been defeated, and he starts to tear up. He tells Nabla that he hopes she got what she wanted, and he storms away.

Nabla clearly feels guilty, and fears that Alef wouldn’t accept her apology. And it’s been clear from the beginning that Alef has blamed Nabla when she fights back

But really this doesn’t seem to be an issue between Alef and Nabla at all. This is about Alef and Glue. Glue is the one who continuously stands up for Alef’s victims. She’s the one who wanted to use the name “Aleph” against him. She’s the one who pushes Nabla to fight back herself. She’s the one who changes Nabla and Alef’s relationship. The fight is between Alef and Glue. Nabla just happens to be one of Alef’s most prominent victims, and the one who Glue sticks up for the most.

Alright so I’ve been putting off answering this ask because this theory has been one that I think a lot of people have been dreading because of the assumption that if Good is Hot, then Bad must be Cold. Which of course leads to a lot of issues with the relationships of the two pairs. But at this point I can confidently say that I really don’t think this is the case. So let’s get into it.

Good is Hot: An Object Cringe Theory

Now first I’m going to go into detail on why I think Hot is Good, but I will then follow up with why I do not believe Cold is Bad. I want to make that clear now so that there is no discomfort while reading theory.

Alright so let’s start by addressing the biggest point of this theory: Hot’s rant to Note.

In the latest episode of OC3, Episode 3: Internalized. Hot says this:

“I certainly don’t wanna be here. I don’t wanna be in this body. With this voice. I wish I could be my regular self but I shut up and deal with it”

Immediately it’s obvious that Hot was not always Hot. He was someone else. Someone with a different body and a different voice.

The Only goodsonas that we know of in this universe that Could be in a different body are Good and Bad, as they essentially killed themselves to get away from Brainy

Along with that, the words that we hear when they disappear seem to very clearly indicate that they will be brought back in some way

Those words being: “my time in the latest lifetime has come to an end. I rest in the realm of souls until it is time to be reborn.”

So we were basically told that at least one of them (note: the words say “I” and not “we”) is going to be reborn. They will come back.

So what we’ve got is someone who obviously used to be someone else, and two characters who previously died and are going to be “reborn”. Seems like a very easy connection to me.

But then there’s the matter of who Hot is. As I previously stated, I believe it’s Good. But why couldn’t it be Bad?

Well- in all fairness it Could be Bad. But let’s look at Hot’s behavior.

Hot is prone to angry outbursts, which is how we know he wasn’t always Hot in the first place. He’s irresponsible with the powers he has, straight up erasing Pipe from existence. And he’s passionate about the competition itself, getting upset when challenges aren’t completed. All traits that he shares with Good, and that he doesn’t share with Bad.

Now this next part may be a bit of a stretch- but it feels worth mentioning when discussing the idea that Good is Hot, that one of the teams in Object Cringe Again is quite literally named “Good is Hot”

Could be a reference. Could be a coincidence. Either way it seems important to note.

But clearly it makes the most sense for Good to be Hot. But most people seem to be wary of this theory because of the easy conclusion that if Good is Hot, then Bad must be Cold. Which of course has some gross implications to it. But I really do not think Bad is Cold. So let’s get into why

Believe it or not the thing that ultimately lead me to this conclusion was the parody of All I Want For Christmas Is You, in which Hot and Cold sing the known Christmas song together.

Because in this cute and silly video, Hot makes yet another reference to the fact that he is not who he always was.

Hot says the line “I just want to see my baby” which is a real line of the song, but then follows it up with “and to recognize my face” accompanied with the atmosphere of the video changing drastically before going back to normal.

This once again relates back to the idea that Hot is someone else, most likely Good as I’ve previously said.

But what about Cold?

This is the second time that Hot has mentioned he used to be someone else. And he’s clearly very distressed by it. But Cold hasn’t said a word.

In fact Cold seems rather happy where he is, very different to how Bad was. If Hot and Cold were really Good and Bad, why wouldn’t Cold be aware of the situation as well?

On top of that there’s the relationship between the two of them. I’ve mentioned this a few times already but Hot and Cold are dating, and Good and Bad are brothers. It would be morally wrong for them to be the same people, and on top of that they clearly treat each other very differently.

Hot is aware of his situation. He makes reference to who he used to be. If Cold was Bad, he would not be treating him with kindness. Especially not to the level of a romantic relationship (even putting aside the obvious issue with it)

The clearest comparison we can make is in the Other object cringe cover of All I Want For Christmas Is You. The one between Good and Bad.

Because unlike the Hot and Cold cover, that parody takes a Very different direction. Before the main part of the song even begins, Good changes the song to Two Trucks by Lemon Demon, which upsets Bad.

And while this is just a silly joke, it gives us a clear comparison on the difference in relationship that Good and Bad have as opposed to Hot and Cold. Good doesn’t like Bad. He pulls jokes on him. He yells at him when he messes up. But Hot seems to really love Cold. He tells Cold that he loves him. He sings love songs with him. And even though Hot is shown to have the same outbursts that Good had, he’s never once snapped at Cold. As opposed to Good, who often snapped at Bad.

Right now it’s hard to say exactly what Cold is or where he came from, and it’s unclear how Hot and Cold met, as we aren’t sure what the circumstances behind “rebirth” are in this universe. But I think there is substantial evidence to say that Hot and Good are one in the same, and that Cold is not Bad.

Now the only question left is: if Good is Hot and Bad isn’t Cold, then where is Bad?

I would love to!

Clover and Lightbulb parallels

So truth be told I only really made this connection when Clover flips TestTube’s mouth over in the newest episode, and immediately thought “hey Lightbulb does that in episode 12 of season 2”

But then I started actually Thinking about Lightbulb in Inanimate Insanity season 2 episode 12 and how she relates to Clover, and I’ve noticed some similarities.

Lightbulb in late season 2 was often regarded as someone who did not need to try in order to succeed, as she often kept a quirky and positive attitude. She was often cheery when the rest of her team was falling apart, and this effected the way that her teammates viewed her, this most notably includes Testtube

Now episode 12 of season 2 was very important for Testtube regarding how she viewed Lightbulb as a person. Throughout the episode, Lightbulb continues her antics, much to TestTube’s distress. This eventually leads to TT expressing all of her issues with Lightbulb at the climax of their plot

TestTube makes it clear that she doesn’t believe Lightbulb actually has to try in order to succeed in life. That she can be silly and goofy and put no real effort into what she does, going off the assumption that Lightbulb can always stumble into a solution. One thing stood out to me more than others: TestTube refers to Lightbulb as getting by on purely “Luck”

Now of course this Isn’t True and Lightbulb makes this known to TestTube, before demonstrating her actual abilities. She’s confused and upset by the idea that she doesn’t actually try.

But moving onto Clover, as a character she seems very similar to how TestTube had perceived Lightbulb in the past. She easily makes it through life, even when others get hurt. She doesn’t need to try to succeed. She’s Lucky.

Unlike Lightbulb’s distressed reaction to the idea that she doesn’t put in any real effort, Clover simply brushed off the idea that she’s able to succeed no matter what, because it wasn’t an incorrect assumption! Clover has genuinely never had to try. She only seemed upset by the idea when she learned it put other people in danger.

Now I believe this will be important for two reasons, both involving TestTube. Specifically regarding TestTube’s future actions, along with the change from her past.

Clover shares a team TestTube. The two of them will have to work closely together. And we know that TestTube did not react positively to Lightbulb when she believed her to be this way. I’m very interested to see if this has any future effect on the way TestTube and Clover interact, especially now that it seems Clover is starting a new arc regarding her power and the guilt she feels because of it, and therefore it seems she’ll gain a lot more plot significance.

It’s also worth noting that TestTube didn’t immediately agree with Cabby’s belief that Clover is lucky, and actively stated that she didn’t want to believe such things, which speaks a lot to how she’s grown as a character since her time on season 2. S3 E5 was a call out to a lot of TestTube’s past mistakes, so it’s nice to see she’s made some strides in the right direction.

Hi there! I would be Happy to talk about Nickel. However I think instead of how Nickel’s changed, it would be a lot easier to discuss how he Hasn’t changed. Because he’s gone through a lot less development than it might seem.

Honestly I find it incredibly interesting how *little* he’s changed. He’s so. Similar. Throughout all of season 2 and 3. And I think I’ve narrowed it down to one issue: trust.

Nickel’s issue with trust

Nickel is very slow to trust people. When he talks to Baseball (who later grows to be a close friend) in season 2, he doesn’t like Baseball much at all. He actively talks against his ideas and shows instant distrust in his ability to lead. Despite being in an alliance with him it takes until episode 10 for him to actually take back precious statements and claim that Baseball is a good team leader.

Suitcase is even worse. The moment he meets suitcase he tries to figure out what’s wrong with her, he continuously shows that he doesn’t see her on the same level as him, and barely acknowledges her as an equal until after he’s eliminated.

Despite his lack of trust toward his alliance, it’s clear he expects them to be trustful towards himself. He acts as if Suitcase should see him as a friend, even though she clearly doesn’t feel that way given the fact that he’s never treated her as one. He’s shocked when his team doesn’t take his side and expects Suitcase to separate herself from all others.

With all this in mind, let’s move on to the one other consistent relationship he’s had through seasons 2 and 3: Balloon.

Nickel’s distrust towards Balloon is hardly different than his distrust towards Baseball and Suitcase. He started off not trusting them at all, and then slowly began to put more faith in them, or at the very least started to expect things from them.

Now obviously Balloon is a little different, despite Nickel’s clear inability to create instant trust, he’s still able to put some faith in his alliance, unlike Balloon who he is only starting to warm up to now in season 3.

Well there’s a pretty clear explanation to that as well: he had a reason not to trust Balloon.

Nickel had no real reason to be suspicious of Baseball and Suitcase, unlike Balloon who has actively hurt them in the past. So it’s taken him a lot longer to accept Balloon as he truly is now.

Despite the lack of development, I see a lot of potential for a big character change in the future.

Nickel had no real character arc in season 2. Narratively he served as an antagonist towards suitcase. He left the show as a narrative tool for suitcase to grow and be better, and as such he was not able to change as a character himself.

However it seems II3 might be giving him that chance.

See- we know that Nickel heavily distrusted Balloon, despite being on the same team with him once again. The main point of distrust being that someone voted for him in the first elimination.

Nickel immediately suspects Balloon. His lack of trust coming into play as he refuses to believe Balloon even when he swears he didn’t vote for him.

But there’s a difference between this and all the other times that Nickel has shown this kind of blatant distrust: he’s been proven wrong.

Nickel knows now that Box was the one voting for him, and the distrust he put on Balloon was misplaced. His instinct to assume the worst in Balloon was Wrong. And he Knows that now.

We haven’t gotten to see the sinkers interact much since then. So it’s unclear wether what kind of effect this will have on Nickel. But it seems to me he’ll finally get the character development he needs.