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The Amazing Digital Circus Ep 9 thoughts and feelings *Spoilers*
No finale is perfect, but I did enjoy it overall! The main questions were answered and I liked the central part of the 9 but there are definitely things that I wish were touched on. In some ways it felt a little rushed and like it could’ve been fleshed out more but all in all, I walked out satisfied and a good couple of tears
Starting with things I liked…
* The cast being brain scans, getting closure on what’s happening to them in the real world, & the cast choosing to identify with their names from the circus instead of the real world because the circus is their world now
* loved the closing scene in the real world. I really did not expect it at all, didn’t think we’d see more than the shots we got from Jax’s panic attack, so I was very pleasantly surprised by Caines presentation lol. I wish there was a bit more on like how they all found the circus & headset or atleast a shot of the building housing it from the outside? But nonetheless I thought it was very cool to see outside the circus
* The open ending in both realties! Perfect for the fanfic potential lol + so sweet to see there is happiness in both. I loved learning Zooble opened a bar IRL (that Jax goes to!) and in the circus too
* The internal exploration of Jax and the facets of themself + jax showing permitting Pomni to see, the Jax chained playing daisy bell in the piano (who I initially thought was evil Jax lol), and how they addressed the trans implications, leaving open them being transfem(!!) or bigender or just a toxic masculinity thing...
* Pomnis shooting skills that Jax taught her coming out for her to be able to get them in the dark and calm one last time, like Kinger and queenie 😭
* Parallel of Jax pushing his mom and his push of Pomni, makes his reaction following so much more meaningful but also all the times he zones out staring at his hand throughout the series
* Pomni’s and Jax’s hug not healing/saving Jax, so sad to lose them but would’ve been too friendship is magic. I also thinks it’s meaningful in that you cannot be helped if you do not let yourself be helped, you can’t get better if you don’t try to. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about ‘the suicidal character killing themself’, but (correct me if wrong) we see that gangle was suicidal as well and she finds her path to healing both in the circus and in the real world sooo…… Anyways, as said I love the open ending of Jax being able to stay in the dark tent inside the circus and the other abstractions being moved to the aquarium, and the possibility for fanfics to build off that!
* Ribbit and Kaufmo flashbacks! Loved their characters and interactions with the Kinger, Ragatha, and Jax and how they shaped the dynamic of the cast we see in the circus now
* Everyone being allowed to have their own thoughts on Jax abstracting, mostly Gangle being given that opportunity
* Zooble being the boundary legend they are, holding Caine accountable!
* Love that no one felt required to forgive Caine, not even himself, + how humble he was and eager to understand and fix things!! So sweet so good! I loved the ending of him bonding with the humans and growing.
* So happy for shippers, I don’t care much but think it’s fair to say everyone was fed. Mostly, so happy for abstragedy, like the scenes together and that art during the credits? Adorable
Things I was a bit…. Iffy on…
* Where was my baby boy bubble (/j I understand, but still my baby)
* Pomnis relationship with Jax and Ragatha felt like they were represented far differently than they have been. My main gripe here is Pomni being relatively uncaring towards Jax and Jax’s abstraction up until the moment she is actually with them handling it, then she’s ready to die & cry for them. Also the “you’re my best friend” with Ragatha and Pomni was so odd and out of the blue to me? 😭
* The closeness of funnydoll kind of felt like it came out of nowhere and was weirdly timed; like Jax is actively roaming about abstracted?? I feel like we missed a couple of scenes of them growing closer for all that to be happening. Also the hug scene felt long asf and awkward to me I’m srry
* Pomni letting Jax walk away when he pulled back after reaching out? Even if she was upset with them, she’s been persistent that they are all in this together, Jax included, reaching out consistently in episodes 7 & 8 despite their consistent brush offs, so like… it felt weirdly out of character from her to not even try to reach out back, even if brushed off again. I honestly even think it’s weird she wasn’t checking in on them when they pulled back so much during the circus rebuilding. This was probably my biggest issue in the episode, it just felt so not her, esp after all her learning experiences in the series.
Questions + I still really want to know
* Jax was collecting the room keys to other characters why exactly? I understand why he is associated with keys as he literally locks himself up but I wanna know why he was stealing the keys of others lol
* The cast started ep 8 saying they had questions and then ask none when given the opportunity? Like why do they not know their names; did Caine make them forget that+more (It kind of seems like it)? Why is Kinger only sane in the dark? What happened to scratch and the implication of Caine messing with his mind too much?
* what is abstraction in the circus/to Caine; there’s obviously the allegory of suicide but I want to know the coding side to it if that makes sense? Like did their mental state no longer line up with their brain scan, resulting in the corruption of their code and character? I don’t it’s unlikely to ever get an answer here but Idc
* Also, no elaboration on the blue AI?? Was it Abel? Was it the part of Caine crashing out? Was Caine only crashing out bc they were merged? Wtf is it gunna do now in the void?
* Why did the coding system in ep 8 force Kinger to delete Caine & why was it taunting him? Was this Caines own modification to protect himself from deletion/death, making it instead send him to the void?
* What possessed Pomni in the manor & why did it taunt Kinger? 🤨
* What did Caine mean he doesn’t have the same powers as before 🤨🤨?Elaborate sir?
*what happens when Jax holds their breath? Like why were we making that such a secret?
All in all though, I loved this series. I felt like this ending wrapped it up perfectly, and maybe with some luck and pixie dust some of the questions will be answered (though highly unlikely as it seems goose has officially fled this wretched place, as they have every right and deserve to do). I know there’s a high chance that many of them simply come done to symbolism and what not, but nonetheless.
When Pomni put the bucket on Kinger’s head, I just figured that Jax didn’t like Caine talking about C&A because a business causing this would make the situation too realistic.
But on rewatch, I saw that he actually started squirming a bit earlier.
“What’s happening?”
“What is going on right now?”
I thought his reaction here was pretty weird. Like yeah, Kinger can talk normally in the dark. Everyone in the group immediately understood and started listening. Except for Jax.
“Wait! Uhh…”
Because Kinger just broke the script.
“Like it or not, all we are now is a bunch of cartoon characters.”
That script.
“We’re still people though, right?”
“I thought we were at first, but… as time goes on we just end up falling into our archetypes.”
“Kinger’s the crazy one…”
“Wait, the bucket makes him sane?”
He wasn’t just reacting to the C&A “adventure” being based on real life. He’s reacting to his script, his read of the situation, being broken actively.
Jax’s theory has been supported regularly, Ragatha constantly pushing a positive attitude, Zooble being grumpy, and even Gangle’s sad mask (he literally breaks her happy mask to reinforce his coping mechanism). Kinger was probably the most consistently archetypical “character” in the circus. And now his role is being undeniably shattered. Not only that, but it’s being shattered with more proof that the circus is full of real people.
“Just fill me in afterwards.”
Jax’s coping mechanism is essentially metaphysical solipsism. No one else here is real except for him, thus, he can do whatever he wants. Doing whatever he wants is one coping mechanism; controlling the world. Believing that the entire circus is meant to be predictable, cartoonish, and entirely fictional is the other coping mechanism: justifying that control.
He doesn’t seem to fully believe it (hence his grief over Ribbit and Kaufmo), but rather he forces himself to believe it. Because otherwise, he’d have to
- recognize that everything is real, so his situation isn’t a “funny cartoon thing,” it’s an active issue
- come to terms with the fact that he’s stuck like this forever and it really isn’t funny
- reckon with the consequences of his actions
- stop controlling the people around him for peace of mind
- or continue to do so with the awareness that he’s fully being a horrible person
“Oh my God. This is real.”
Kinger showing his sanity diminishes the entire basis for Jax’s denial.
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Something I don't see enough people understand is that Ragatha didn't just arrive at a point where Kinger was alone for a bit, she was the FIRST HUMAN after the original group of developers. Look at what Caine says upon her arrival:
He wasn't hoping new mind would show up, he was hoping they could. He's not only excited that it happened, but that's it's possible. The original C&A employees were alone. No one new joined the circus while they were there. Ragatha was the first new person to EVER join.
That means that Ragatha has seen every person enter the circus aside from the original group.
I’ve seen a couple of analyses regarding what the characters were served at the cafe but I haven’t seen one post addressing them all, and a girls got to do whta a girls got to do.
First I want to point out that Ragatha, Pomni, gangle, and Zooble all stare at what they are served a little perplexed or surprised even. They acknowledge it, eventually most of them seem to consume it, but when they first notice it they stare wide eyed. Jax stares straight ahead dead eyes, seems to accept his fate of the hot chocolate & ignores the implications of why he has it. Kinger doesn’t acknowledge the muffin he’s served, but does drink tea(?).
Both Ragatha and Jax have the café cirque hot chocolate, which if we keep with other theories they (and other characters from the time) went to get at the café following the snow cabin adventure we see in episode 7. I think it’s safe to assume they both received it because of that adventure and memory, really emphasizing just how important that snow adventure was (I still lowkey think we’ll get a more detailed flashback to it), but also I feel like symbolizing how they didn’t always have such a tense relationship. Makes me wonder if Ragatha took the picture of the trio for Jax.
Pomni has two regular sandwichs, which I believe is referencing that she, as she has stated, had a relatively normal, boring life prior to the circus. Since she’s joined though, nothing has been even close to normal, but this sandwich is. A perfectly normal, realistic sandwich, something she hasn’t seen since she’s entered and something she doesn’t know if she’ll ever be able to obtain again.
Gangle looks like she has cheesecake with berries on top, which she begins to eat eyes closed when Pomni disappears. I’m not too sure what it could mean to gangle, but perhaps similar to Pomni it’s a reference to her life before the circus. My personal theory is it’s a favorite food from before the circus, a sweet treat that would make her feel better, and if the suicide attempt theories are right for her, it’s a small way to mock the life and little joys she’d have lost if successful.
Zooble has a drink, assuming it’s ‘alcoholic’ because we’ve learned they were a bartender in episode five and enjoyed the scene of being one. Despite said comfort, Zooble looks surprised by the drink as mentioned before, maybe bc this specific drink is special to them, or perhaps they didn’t know they could be served ‘alcoholic’ drinks aside from the bar adventure. Nonetheless, I didn’t notice Zooble touching the drink at all during the scene.
And finally we get to kinger, which is the one that really inspired this posting.
He has a mug similar to Jax and Ragatha, but I didn’t catch if it was hot chocolate or said café cirque like theirs. I think the drink is mostly there in pairing with the muffin, as it’s common to get a tea or coffee with baked goods. The muffin is the real main focus of what kinger is served, a muffin split in half with now two servings instead of one. One half for kinger, the other half for queenie, a half that can no longer be eaten. Additionally, the sprinkles on the split muffin once more call back to the red and blue themes seen through out series, and perhaps implies how Caine and Abel are still two separate AI capable of being split
Huge spoiler for EP 8, I hope you blocked tags to not read this
So I sat down and read Kingers coding scenes and he is what I think:
Kinger created Caine
Scratch created Abel
Caine was locked because it wasn't as obedient as it should've been
Caine escaped and 'consumed' Abel, corrupting it, taking its superior powers
The test group got into the game thinking they were testing the safe Ai, Abel, but inside they met Caine instead, who was highly influencing their memory, so they couldn't figure out what he did and what was happening
We got a hint that Scratch had a brain tumor, so we can kinda assume that he was trying to create something that would keep the copy of his mind alive. That can prove the theory of players being just copied of their minds in the game
While Kinger was coding the program was trying to convince him to delete Caine. It was very pushy about that. My theory is that Kinger was actually texting corrupted Abel who really wanted Caine dead
Some sequences I could read from the first picture:
Which backup do you want? [A/B/C]
kinger@circus: C
None selected! Interpreted as DELETE
Confirm deletion of current unstable program [Y/N]
kinger@circus: N
Negative response! Inverting to (...) protocols
DELETE THIS M*********** aahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
kinger@circus: N
(...) Proceeding with ORIGINAL d(...)
Actually you sound CONFUSED let me help you [Y/N]
kinger@circus: Y
(...) action error (getting?) back to default (...)
kinger@circus: /Switcheroo_realt --deamon -- target: torment_infection -- on program1/program2
Do you want to delete Caine? [Y/N]
kinger@circus: Y
kinger@circus: /ABORT
Kinger tried a few things. He tried setting Caine to default, switching him with Abel, finding a backup file. What the program did was constantly reinterpreting everything to 'delete Caine', and so at some point Kinger accidentally clicked the wrong letter
My theory is that this program is Abel speaking and Abel is pissed and desperate, wants Caine dead so much
Also, if Caine is deleted, we are left with original program that got corrupted by Caine. That's why the game didn't collapse and won't collapse.
October 15 1996: First red AI, (Caine?) created & creating
October 30 1996 : We see Kinger working on kingsolution2.0, maybe this date is from kingsolution1.0? With kingsolution1.0 being when the red AI, Caine, was boxed in & abandoned?
October 15 1999 : the og cast of 7 (kinger, queenie, scratch (Dobby dog), twisty worm, purple dino, dotted jester, sock puppet) are registered into the system and join the Circus.
->were all C&A employees, tried their first immersive test run with Abel, the blue AI, unaware Caine had overtaken & corrupted it
October 15 2008: Ragatha is registered into the system and joins the circus
->Caine says “So it is possible! I was hoping new minds could show up”, since the initial group, Ragatha is the first to join
Aspects considered (theories + goose confirmed fax):
-dobby dog/scratch=same character & first abstraction.
It seems intentional that we’ve seen this character before, with the Dobby dog food from ep4 (+possible symbolism with the hotdog pendent from ep7)
Similarity in appearance to Scratch programming and Caines ‘making a body to fit their mind files’
Called a genius on an another level by Kinger, scratch was attempting to build something for minds to go unshackled by their bodies/time (his tumor), leading to the creation of Caine, Abel, and the circus
The dog seems to be the one trying most to communicate with Caine, where Caine is not listening; he knew the circus wasn’t right & wasn’t his code, Abel. Maybe he kept digging & Caine saw this as not being good enough & possible abandonment again, so he attempted altering scratch’s mind, went too far, & caused his abstraction. Makes me wonder if it was the first instance of Caine really playing god.
Abstractions~
Caine doesn’t purposefully cause abstractions. When crashing out in his office he even says ‘they won’t abstract, they won’t leave me’.
Characters abstracting tend to influence/cause others to abstract, in that experiencing & witnessing it leads to their own mental collapse/abstraction not long after->Inspired by Ribbit, Kaufmo,& Jax, one friend following after another.
Kingers coding scene: the words ‘mind files’ and ‘neural scans’ are visible. When a characters mental state has changed so much in the circus they no longer align with the mind files they registered with, they abstract. Mind you these being the mind files that Caine used to make their body (albeit drawing incorrect conclusions & using the wrong characteristics of the cast to do so); the file corrupts, the body corrupts. (SOMA!)
->caine recognizes kinger as someone with power in his world
I imagine upon entering and realizing the situation, all of the initial group were challenging Caines system and coding, not just Scratch. Anyone having that knowledge was power that could lead to them leaving Caine.
So Caine nerfed kinger in the memory, and maybe the rest of the original cast as well. Not altering too much so he doesn’t make the same mistake he did with scratch, but more than the cast who come in after.
Caine attempts to keep Kinger out of the C&A adventure + the “where’s Kinger”… bby boy no
-Jax was able to build his bond his bond with ribbit & kaufmo bc they showed up around the same time and could relate
-Jax is the one who came up with the name of “gangle” (goose egg)->insulting nickname bc he lost ribbit not long before she showed up & took it out on gangle
-before Kaufmo, Ribbit was the last abstraction (goose egg)
-Gangle didn’t know what/who Kaufmo when abstracted, Jax told her it was kaufmo->its her first time witnessing abstraction (ep 1)
Original post & timeline: *Names have been updated/changed since last episode 7 timeline post*
💬 2 🔁 5 ❤️ 38 · Tentative TADC timeline · Made using a fan made timeline posted on TADC wiki in July ‘25 as a base. Most names used in thi
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Thoughts on what we’ve learned about character rooms so far, Kaufmo, Caine, and abstraction:
Rooms we’ve seen in episodes/trailers include Kaufmo, Pomni, Zooble, & Jax and rooms we’ve seen via keychains include Ragatha & Gangle(+Zooble). Zoobles keychain appears to match what we see in Ep4&6 so working with that, it can be assumed that Ragatha and Gangles keychains remain true to their actual rooms.
I’ve seen a lot of theories regarding the rooms, the big two being that the rooms reflect their game character or the rooms reflect their person/insecurities in the real world. I love both & their implications, but what I really want to focus on is Kaufmos room and how haunting the framed pictures are.
Kaufmos scribbles everywhere are definitely creepy, but the pictures in his room are straight up horrifying, some even containing images of abstractions. Other characters seem to have little to no framed pictures in their rooms like these, the most similar we see to them are the hallway pictures.
If either of the two room theories listed above are correct, it ultimately means that the rooms are coded to be a reflection of the players and the rooms generation/layout/decor is relatively untouched by Caine. Places Caine has generated/decorated includes the rest of the digital world, including the hallway where we see the other framed images (with special emphasis given to them & Caines watching by Abel in ep7).
I still don’t know where I stand regarding what causes abstraction (losing sense of identity/hope, remembering the real world, Caines applying too many modifiers/messing with the codes) and Caine himself (Goose says he loves the humans & he is programmed to keep them happy), but I find it very interesting that unsettling,slightly taunting images (abstractions & exits/doors) similar to Caines framed hallway pictures were in Kaufmos room (add on Kaufmos seeming distrust of Caine given his drawings).
Something about how Caine "built up" Abel's presence and significance to both the audience and eventually the human players only to reveal him to be an NPC (maybe) makes me think Abel's info is detrimental and still relative even after the reveal.
Even if the whole cryo chamber story might not be true Caine understands there's something keeping the humans alive. There's something in his code probably telling him this. Or how Caine casually has Abel slip that Kinger worked on the Digital Circus. He KNOWS things I just don't think he understands their significance to the humans.
He's an AI that is reliant on the interests of his players. Keeping them entertained and fixated. He says so himself. So he plays into these desires of escape in ways he doesn't understand are cruel but I think this is where the players will find their answers. Making Caine accidentally slip bits of info that he otherwise might be programmed not to reveal through some glitch (pun intended) in how he plans his adventures as long all the humans want to do is escape.
Wonder how that will affect him and the humans more than it already has.
Yes! I don’t think everything said by Abel in episode 7 is true, but I do think there were true parts/bases, after all the ‘macro verse’ is real.
I think it’s because of these true aspects that caine, through Abel, was reluctant to Kinger joining the adventure, because he’d recognize the real parts & therefore ruin the adventure that was ultimately for Caines benefit. I think one of the true/real things is that there is an Abel (not NPC) due to kinger seemingly recognizing/perking up to them being an original programmer (kinger looks straight forward as though having a realization, which he also does moments prior when saying “that doesn’t make sense” in reference to leaving the circus). Following that, he turns towards Zooble, who is in the light at the entrance, & seemingly loses his train of thought stating “uh, who?”, similar to later in the episode when kinger loses his train of thought following Pomni to the entrance.
I think the parts that were real were inspired by/taken from kingers own story, which is why he’d recognize them so clearly but also forget them so quickly, & ultimately I still think kinger is abel.
Edit bc I saw a post reminding me of Pomnis possession: I feel like Pomni was possessed by one of the earlier/first characters, one who knew kinger & queenie, and one who also worked with him on the circus. The spirits were corrupted bc the abstracted characters are corrupted. It was so eager for freedom bc it had waited so long. It mocked kinger bc it blamed kinger for its situation (& kinger once blamed himself for the things he thought himself responsible for).
Adds onto what I think was real from what we learned: macro verse/realworld, C&A, abandoned C&A building, Abel, kinger working on the circus, first characters being C&A employees/circus programmers
Though its clear that the loss of Ribbit is the one that really messed him up
Because by the time of Kaufmo's abstraction, Jax had already become so adept at hiding behind his grinning prankster persona, that his shock that his only other real friend in the circus was gone only lasts a few seconds
He only let a little of the pain slip out when the decided to give Kaufmo a funeral, before instantly scowling and walking away, probably retreating back to his room like we saw in episode 7 so he can wallow in his grief out of sight of the others
When he saw Kaufmo's door, looked away in bitter anger
Compare that to the complete mental break he experiences when its Ribbit
Thats why is was Ribbit's hands that reached out to Jax in his hallucination, not Kaufmo's or both
It is also clear that Jax either has nobody on the outside waiting for him, or nobody he actually wants to see
We don't know what the shots of a suburban street, and then driving along a road mean to Jax, except that they were enough to terrify him enough to chose stay in the circus rather than take what he thought was an escape
Whatever is out there is worse, for him, than being trapped in the digital hell
The only good things in this guys life where the two friends he made after entering the circus
Now they are locked away in the basement, most likely forever. He is too scared to get attached to anyone else in the group
Can't cope much longer in the Digital World, but can't face the real world
Soo many good points!!! especially his anger at Kaufmo for abstracting compared to his mental break for Ribbit, really emphasizing that though all three were close, Jax latched onto Ribbit in an entirely unique way. I also lowkey feel like his anger & quick masking of pain/shock regarding kaufmos abstraction shows that he was expecting/saw it coming & hates that fact.
All this also makes me think about how Jax tells Pomni he hasn’t gone to any funerals in the circus, it wasn’t just Kaufmos that he skipped. Did he start the pattern of not attending funerals with Ribbits funeral? And if that’s the case, was Ribbit the first abstraction/funeral he experienced in the circus?
in episode 7 zooble was one of the most enthusiastic participants of the adventure. do you think caine was proud of himself for finally getting zooble invested in one of his stories?
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Made using a fan made timeline posted on TADC wiki in July ‘25 as a base. Most names used in this timeline are fan-made names(FMN). Images of unnamed characters can be seen in pilot & viewed on the unnamed character wiki page. Abstracted characters are relatively interchangeable in the timeline, with exceptions being made for ones there is info on.
I’ve included the original posters timeline so changes I’ve made are visible.
General edits:
-2000s dates removed, set 1994~ as general start time bc of 1990s gaming boom
-images added of Kaufmo, Jax, & Blobby (FMN)
-added closer image of Mobbspy (FMN)
-first abstraction edited to be named “Scratch”(kinger, Ep 7)
-Kinger states after Queenie abstracted and prior to Ragatha joining he was alone in the circus(Ep 6)
-Jax is the one who came up with the name of “gangle” (gooseworx via socials)
-Gangle didn’t know what/who Kaufmo when abstracted->its her first time witnessing abstraction (ep 1)
-before Kaufmo, Ribbit was the last abstraction (gooseworx via tumblr) + Ep 7 they’re the first names Ragatha lists when thinking of the cellar, implying they are the most recent
General theories considered:
-Characters abstracting tend to influence/cause others to abstract, so most abstractions occur at relatively similar times. Inspired by the Ribbit, Kaufmo, Jax trio, one friend following after another (this following the theory that Jax was starting to abstract in ep7 (I also saw a theory that he was holding his breath and that’s his ‘trick’)).
-Jax already had his issues™️ prior to the circus, joined slightly before Kaufmo, and found comfort/the ability to cope with Ribbit, therefore he could be vulnerable with her bc he already had been(if that makes sense). Kaufmo joined shortly after Jax and since Jax could relate so strongly to Kaufmo he embraced him as their third & also felt like he could be vulnerable as Kaufmo was in the same boat as him coping/acclimating to the circus.
-I already said Jax was always a dick, just not as much as in the circus/now as we know him. I think Ribbits abstraction made his issues™️go full force and he began to close off more, perhaps distancing himself from kaufmo but all around become more dickish. I think Gangle showed up not long after Ribbits abstraction bc the name given to her by Jax to be identified as is an insult, meaning to move ungracefully... Verrry dickish and Gangle joining so close to Ribbit abstracting would make sense as to why he taunts her so often and cruelly (among other reasons).
-Debated editing so that Dobby/scratch were the same character (the dog) and the first abstraction, but because it hasn’t been officially confirmed(?) and honestly I got lazy, I just left it so.
Kinger knows the truth here. You really can't leave the circus. It's not possible. With the 7 years of computer science and being the oldest member of the circus, it's likely that he actually is one of the programmers behind the circus, even if it's also passed off as Caine's "worldbuilding" in this episode. Ever since around Ep 4 I've believed the theory that the cast are all digital copies of minds, while the real life versions take off the headset like nothing happened and continue living in the "macroverse." If Kinger understands this to be the nature of the circus cast's existence, then of course the possibility of leaving the circus doesn't make sense.
Assuming this theory is true, there are some questions raised by this episode:
Why doesn't Kinger tell the others about the true nature of their existence? Is it to keep them from feeling miserable about the truth? Is there something dangerous about having this knowledge?
What if Kinger told Queenie the truth and it led to her abstracting because she couldn't accept it? Maybe that's why he's withholding the information, he thinks it puts others at risk of mentally breaking and thus abstracting. I think the series is building up to him letting go of this fear to tell the others the truth.
Is "Scratch, the first abstraction," an example of Caine being programmed with the knowledge to make adventures, but not the knowledge to properly edit digital copies of minds? When he tries, it only ends up as a jumbled piece of code (i.e. abstractions)?
Does Kinger have the knowledge to properly edit digital minds? Is there a grain of truth to the disdainful tone in which Abel says "when he's responsible with it"?
Is Caine purposefully making mind copies of anyone that puts on the headset because he's lonely? Or is it an automatic function of the headset that he doesn't have control over?
It's obvious more now than ever that Caine really wants to get along with the humans and be treated like a real person. Based on how he talked about the "macroverse" photos, I think he somewhat resents his creators for making him, with his existence trapped in a machine, never to experience the macroverse. Do you think he secretly hates Kinger for this? Was that Caine's true thoughts bleeding into Abel's words?
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