Happy second anniversary, everyone! Today, Mercury and I are going to be talking about Es, our beloved prison guard.
Esās theory is going to be formatted in more or less the same way as the prisoner theories, but obviously without the vote and explanation at the end. So, Iāll be listing out claims, providing evidence for each, and at the end, thereāll be a summary.
Iāll also be referencing audio dramas a lot, so if you want to see translations of them, Iāll try to link them along the way!
Letās get started! For Es, I want to start here:
Es has no memory of anything besides Milgram.
This is pretty much a given, because theyāve said that they have amnesia. However, I think that this is perhaps more intense than at a first glance. Obviously, Es lacks knowledge of their own biographical information. They say that they think theyāre 15, and in their character introduction, they repeat that their name is Es and that theyāre a prison guard as though looking for an answer of some kind. In Muās Audio Drama, they also indicate that theyāre not sure about their surname, or if theyāre even Japanese.
However, I think that Esās amnesia goes past simply forgetting biographical information. In Shidouās Audio Drama, he implies that Es doesnāt know about the real world outside of Milgram. However, this seems odd, because Es is in charge of the supply list and gets things the prisoners request. To me, it almost feels like this is saying that Es has never known the real world, even in their forgotten memories.Ā
In Amaneās Audio Drama, thereās a moment where Es even seems to doubt if theyāre human.
Es wakes up in Milgram in the video, āJackalopeās āThis is the Milgram.āā Jackalope says all they need to know is that theyāre a prison guard, and that theyāre here to judge the prisoners. Es takes to this very well. However, Jackalope says some suspicious things too.
There have been other Milgram experiments.
In Esās Audio Drama, when Es says that they donāt really have memories, Jackalope says āthatās always the case.ā Obviously, this implies that Jackalope has worked with other prison guards, and in that case, Milgram has likely happened multiple times in the past. I believe that this may be touched on in the novel, but unfortunately, I canāt read it, so I canāt say much more on that.
However, related to this is the existence of an eleventh prison cell. In the panopticon, Es notices that thereās an extra room. You can see it in the layout Jackalope presents in āThis is Milgramā:
Thereās very clearly a prison cell labeled ā000.ā In Esās Audio Drama, they note that it looks very rusty, and that unlike the other cells, thereās no lock on the outside. So, what is this prison cell used for?Ā
It makes a lot of sense. In the order, which goes in order of prisoner numbers, we get Es first: their MV, their introduction, everything. Their intro is a bit different than everyone elseās, because it doesnāt have the glitched out line at the endābut their image does still get glitchy for a fraction of a second at 0:38.
Plus, if the 000 cell is intended for wardens, it makes sense that it wouldnāt have an outside lock, because the warden would be able to let themself out as they please.Ā
Furthemore, thereās a key part of Undercover that makes it really seem like Es is prisoner 000. After the Milgram text pops up, it shows them holding a box, which they then open.
After they open this box, which is labeled 000, in the same way that the prison cell is, it launches into the whole series of visuals of prisoners and of Milgram in general. At the very end of the video, Es closes the box while Jackalope watches. I think that this is meant to indicate to us that Es is Prisoner 000; their prison is Milgram as a whole, rather than a specific cell.
But, if Es is a prisoner, then what is their crime? Before I answer that question, I want to address something else important.
This one also seems pretty obvious, but itās important to establish what this means. Es being āusā goes beyond us being able to control Es through their verdicts. Es quite literally is us.Ā
In the āThis is Milgramā video, Jackalope talks about the voting system to Es, even though in-universe, I strongly doubt that Es would place a vote every day and then total it up at the end. There are other indicators as well.
In the āReport on the End of the First Trialā video, Jackalope talks to Es about their votes. Jackalope tracks how the fandom waffled over certain votes, as well as some of their rationale behind it. It seems like Es used the same logic; voting Shidou innocent to get a greater impact on him, voting Kazui innocent but believing weāre missing some of the story, or voting Amane guilty because we want to change her mind. Es uses the same logic as us in voting, and has the same deliberations of the collective fanbase.
However, there are even more clear signs that Es is us as a collective. Towards the end of the Report video, we get this visual:
For a bit, instead of seeing Jackalope and the screen he projects images on in real life, we see this, the audience view. Jackalope does this when addressing fears about the next trial. Itās like heās talking to us in this moment, not Es. We are the audience inside of Esās head, seeing through Esās eyes.
But it doesnāt stop there. In Kotokoās Audio Drama, while Kotoko is listing her observations of Milgram and theorizing as to Esās involvement, Es seems to have a bit of a crisis. During this time, they refer to themself as āusā instead of āmeā at one point. While this could refer to Es talking about Milgram as a whole and them aligning with Jackalope, Muās Audio Drama is much more clear cut.
Mu voices confusion over Es and why they act like their thoughts arenāt their own. Es had said that they didnāt know how they felt about Mu, like they werenāt the one to decide their own opinions (we are). Then, Mu very directly asks who Es is talking about when they say āI,ā and Es has a full-on mental breakdown. Jackalope has to come in to set them straight.Ā
However, we donāt actually hear what Jackalope has to say. When Mu points out how Es is talking to a rabbit, Es then reminds us that only they can hear Jackalope.
But, thatās not true, is it? We can hear Jackalope. Except here, in this moment in the audio drama, we couldnāt hear Jackalope.
I think that we can usually hear Jackalope because we are usually Es. We exist in their mind; we are their mind. Therefore, as Es, we can hear what Jackalope has to say. But in this audio drama, when Es is questioning who they really are, we canāt hear Jackalope. I think that this signifies Es temporarily breaking free and being their own person.
It doesnāt last. We go back to asking questions in the interrogation and voting on Mu immediately after. But, I think that itās important to keep in mind that Es has shown that theyāre their own person separate from us, even if weāre usually inhabiting their mind.
Esās sin is voting in Milgram.
This is what I gather from Esās MV. Itās not completely clear where, in universe, Esās MV comes from. For the other prisoners, itās clear that the MV extraction machine was used in order to get a song, but did this happen to Es as well?
In any case, the only thing that we see within Esās MV is them going over the prisoners. The lyrics of the chorus ask the question of if we can really judge the prisoners for their sins. Thatās the crime Es will commit: judging people for their sins.
That leads me into what I think will happen:
Those voted guilty in the end will die.
Itās the only thing that really makes sense to me. Weāre dealing with murders directly, and so death seems like the obvious punishment. In Shidouās Audio Drama, he even says that Milgram smells like death, implying that death occurs here, and given his track record, Iām inclined to believe him. Additionally, it makes Esās involvement as Prisoner 000 in Milgram make sense. We canāt vote on them yet, because theyāre not yet involved in a murder. However, assuming we vote at least one prisoner guilty in the end, Es will be responsible for a death, just like all the other prisoners.
Futa hints at this in his audio drama, too. He says that Es imprisoning them is a crime, too. I believe that this is meant to be a hint to the audience, that Es is, too, responsible for their actions.
After the Third Trial, I believe we will vote on Es.
This is largely based on conjecture and a path of logic from my earlier points, but I think that, at the end of the Third Trial, weāll see the results of our votes. Those who were voted guilty will die, and if I had to guess, those who were voted innocent will be launched back into society as they are, for better or worse. Then, after seeing the results of our actions, Jackalope will be there to ask us, the audience: did we do a good job? Did we have the right to assign these judgments to these people?
I think that thatās the real question Milgram is getting at, because itās very tied into the Milgram Experiments in real life. The real-life Milgram Experiments sought to see how far people would be willing to inflict pain if someone told them to; with our votes, we are telling Es how to inflict their judgment, and they comply without question.Ā
And now, a summary of my theory.
Es doesnāt remember anything about the world outside of Milgram; they only know that theyāre a prison guard. They donāt even seem to have a sense of self, and freak out when people ask them existential questions about who they are.
To us, though, they are the lens through which we see Milgram. They may also be Prisoner 000, someone who will cause the death of at least one of the other prisoners, and be the target of a final vote after the Third Trial concludes. However, Es does have the potential to break free from our control, as seen in Muās audio drama; maybe this shows potential for them to break free from our final judgment, too?Ā