I'm no longer here

Red Festival

This is the first time we Techno is developed outside of just his use as weapon, because he deals with a great deal of internal conflict which is at odds with Pogtopia.

Audiences who were familiar with Anarchy, were more able to realize that Techno was being misled and used before this point, but for the majority of DSMP audience, this moment introduces the idea the Techno might be more than just a prop.

Here we see how both his enemies and allies deny his agency and deny his personhood.

Enemy - Schlatt

I'm not going to go into huge amounts of detail here, as I have already written about how Schlatt denied Techno the ability to choose, and his ability to act a moral agent, but it is important to note the Schlatt did not care what Techno wanted. Techno was largely just wielded as a sword, someone to carry out Schlatt's dirty work, and someone he could exert control over. It should be pretty obvious who schlatt forces techno to act against his will, and how Techno is denied agency and personhood because of that.

Tommy, Wilbur and Tubbo

During the execution:

Wilbur, Tommy and Tubbo don't consider Techno as a person with an internal world during the red festival. Wilbur and Tommy instead watch Techno as if he were undergoing a character test.

Instead of seeing Techno as a complex person who is scared and trying his hardest and who has no other options, he is flattened to a flow chart, where if he kills he's a traitor and if he doesn't he's the hero.

Wilbur, Tommy and Tubbo’s streams frame techno as an NPC, someone whose actions are only relevant in terms of how other people feel about them. We see him from a long way away, disconnected from Tommy and Wilbur. The 3 of them talk to each other in a chat which other characters cannot see. The reassurances are directed at Tubbo and Tommy, not at Techno, we as an audience are not encouraged to consider his emotions. (2)

This is at odds with how Techno’s stream presents the situation. Visually we see his characters gaze flit around constantly, looking for a way out or for someone to help him. His asides to the audience highlight how he is scared and unsure he is, and how he is out of his element. He stutters continuously, his attempts to control the conversation are shut down. When he does finally kill Tubbo, we see him already apologising. We are very much encouraged to empathise with Techno in these moments. The text explicitly states how he feels, we see this reflected in his non-verbal cues. (3)

There is a tension here between these 2 veiws. How much of a person in Techno in the red festival? He only considered in terms of being a weapon, where the question is “who is wielding him (pogtopia or schlatt)?”, not “why did Techno do what he did?”.

During the fesitval is his not seen as a person and he is not given autonomy.

Response:

Wilbur and Tommy's response to Techno’s actions also dehumanises, him in how he is treated like he’s superhuman. Tommy’s anger at techno stems from the fact that he is convinced Techno could have done otherwise and been fine “because he can literally fly” (4), despite Techno repeatedly explaining that he couldn’t have taken on a whole army.

His attempts to explain himself are denied, and he is unable to articulate fully why he did what he did. Not only does he incorrectly summarise the threat of death as being “Peer pressure”, but Tommy and Wilbur repeatedly ignore him and repeat the same argument over and over.

Wilbur, in this situation, is the one in control of what is occurring. He encourages Tommy’s anger, he ignores Techno all together and he ultimately decides on “The Pit” and it’s rules. This is dehumanising for both Techno and Tommy. The pit is reminiscent of gladiator battles against animals, visually we see it carved out the walls and undecorated. It positions Tommy and Techno lower than Wilbur, both literally and metaphorically.

He does not allow Techno to throw the first punch, instead encouraging Tommy to take out his anger using violence instead of listening to Techno. The fight begins one Tommy decides to act. (5)

The Red Festival marked a split in viewers. Those who watched Tommy, Wilbur or Tubbo, still saw Techno as a flat character with few emotions, someone be watched, but not to be empathized with, a symbol of the growing distrust among pogtopians. Techno's veiwers instead see him as someone of Schlatt’s rule, where he was unable to do otherwise, and then was cast aside by what were supposed to be his allies.

Techno goes against what Wilbur and Tommy want, not by his own choice, and is punished for it through distrust and anger.

As a whole, the Red festival brings the concept of agency and personhood to the center of Techno's character.

Between

Between this and the next major event, the theme is not explicitly revisited other than recurring references to the execution. Tommy forgives him, Tubbo forgives him and Wilbur congratulates him. After a moment of tension we see it simmer down again.

However, it does simmer in the background. Wilbur lies to Techno about his goals of anarchy (6) which misleads Techno about the purpose of the revolution. He obtained weapons, gear and food under the pretense they were overthrowing the government and disbanding it all together.

THIS IS HIM BEING USED.

Someone deliberately misleading a person about why they should work for them, they are being used. If I spend hours doing work collecting money for someone after they told me they were doing a charity fund, and it turns out they were using it to fund an oil company, I have been used. I did not make the decision to fund the oil company of my own volition, I was denied agency.

In the same way, Techno maybe acting freely, but he cannot make meaningful choices, as he is being misled. He is not able to control how and why he acts.

While agency is not the central focus on this part of the story (it's wilburs mental spiral) it runs as an undercurrent.

The tension rises as we get closer and closer to the revolution

NOV16

It was at this moment that I realised I’d been used…. In the end, they’d only been using me to seize [power] for themselves (7)

After realising that they had intended to set up another government all along, and after Wilbur blows everything up, after his allies proved themselves to have been lying, he spawns Withers.

Within the stream, Techno’s speeches center both anarchy and betrayal. He talks extensively on how the time and effort he had put in was being used to replicate the systems that brought about the conditions of Manburg. They went against everything he stood for (8)

These speeches are reinforced by the fact he delivers them to people who are wearing the armour he acquired. It reframes the previous friendship and comradery between the pogtopians to being based on deceit.

This is when we revisit what was set up in the Red festival, and also the undercurrent of between plot points. He was still being used and seen as a weapon, and this is where that clashes with who Techno actually is. He is not a weapon to be wielded, without wants or desires, that can be used without issue, who needs no control over his how and why he acts, he is a person with internal goals and motivation, that are independent from Tommy, Wilbur, Tubbo and Niki ect.

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There is also a focus on refusal of these conditions.

NOV 16 was not a fight Techno won, it was a last ditch effort to prevent people from taking advantage of him and replicating systems that cause “countless atrocities” (9). Techno does not succeed on NOV 16. While he does impact the land in terms of violence, L’manburg ultimately rebuilds and reforms. His attempt to control his own past was futile, and he does not get to change how he was used.

However, he was able to freely control how and why he acted on NOV 16th. He was exercising his agency in these moments, even though he sacrificed his perceived personhood as he did it.

Other revolutionaries' surprise at Techno’s actions showed they hadn't been listening to him, they had not been thinking of him as more than just a tool used to plan and acquire resources. The fact they did not listen to him even when he was clear about his goals, is something that he brings up a lot and clearly stuck with him.

He got approval from them while he was giving them things, and while they didn’t listen to what he had to say, and then when he exercised agency and made his words un-ignorable, he was villainized. (10)

I see I was wrong to rely on other people (11)

From this we see him internalise the idea that people’s love is contingent on his capacity to be exploited.

That being seen as a person is incompatible with exercising agency.

Retirement:

After being used by L’manburg, Techno isolates himself.

He'd lost everything, he'd failed to achieve anarchy, failed to prevent a government from reforming and found out his friends had been using him. What they had was formed on false premises.

This is where his relationship with agency and dehumanization are more stable, however this was earned through choosing isolation. He decides he cannot trust other people and instead has to live alone in order to protect his personhood.

It's a time where we see him re-evaluate his own methods, and his relationship with violence and other peoples' agency. He plans to change his method of spreading anarchy from one of violence to one of information.

“You just can’t free people who don’t wanna be freed, I think the real way to achieve our goals … is to prove that our ideals are the best (12)

It is a moment of reprieve from the intensity of revolution, this is where Techno does a lot of introspection.

In terms of pacing his streams, he had longer solo streams that focused on him gathering materials and telling stories. As a result we slow down and consider Techno as a character. This is the first time we see Techno entirely separate from other people, and not actively preparing for war. It is a period of time where viewers are encouraged to connect with Techno outside of revolution, and see him as a person.

The place he ends up as well is noted to be cold and barren (13), a absent of life, absent of people to exert control over him. Visually it is untouched by other people, a place with no history. It is vast and empty unlike the closed space of the ravine. It provides an opportunity to start fresh, to try again. This is where the arctic being a place of healing is born. It is a place of peace.

However, he exists in negative peace, the absence of conflict rather than the presence of justice.

While he has found himself a place where his agency is not violated, and his personhood is not reliant on other peoples view of him, it is a place of instability, of isolation. This is what we see unravel next. (Post coming in a few days maybe)

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After thoughts

Okay this marks the end of what I consider to be his first arc in terms of Techno's relationship with agency. He starts with little to none but a lot of companionship, and ends with full control over himself but little to no friends.

I have left a lot out here. The theme of agency and personhood is just one of the many many themes techno embodies. It connects hugely to power, to communication, to loyalty, all of which are things explored by the DSMP as a whole. Much was sacrificed in the name of brevity and even then I failed.

These posts were originally going to 1 big post but I got like a 3rd of the way through and had hit 2k… so I decided to split them up a little more.

This is my first attempt at this sorta analysis and its been fun if difficult. I don't expect to be perfect by any means, my formal education in this sorta thing finished longgg ago, but it's been good to give it ago. Discussions are welcome