TADC Theories

Once the fandom slows down and people talk about the series less, I'll probably not post frequently.

Seeing that the merch ads are still dropping and Glitch is posting post-finale pics, there's technically still content being added to the fandom, even if it's not official.

Ohhh, that's tough.

I'd say episode 5. There was a lot of content in that episode, like the outfit changes, Zooble and Jax calling each other gay, Pomni and Jax bonding, Ribbit introduction, backstories, and character development through the introduction of the suggestion box adventures.

Episode 4 was a close second, though. Anyone who's worked with the public in any capacity probably related a little too hard.

I think it was a way to let us know why everyone moved on so fast from Kinger's reveal.

Surely the cast asked themselves the questions that we also asked, like why didn't anyone come looking for them? What happened to their bodies? Is there even a way out?

Even during episode 7, it seemed like everyone understood that the adventure could have been fake.

I WISH it was addressed in the show that these characters never talk to each other about the dark parts of the circus. It seems like they never discuss with each other ANY of the abstracted people after they're gone, what they actually are, and if there was even a way out. It's toxic as hell that nobody talks about these things and I hated that the show never addressed how messed up it was that everyone avoided talking about their dead friends as soon as the funeral was over.

1. If Pomni said anything to him in that moment due to the other episodes he’d definitely listen to her because of his regrets in episode 6.

2. If ANYONE called him over while noticing he wasn’t there because of their conversation in episode 8, he’d not back out .

3. Literally any real conversation with Kinger in the dark.

Every character had to be nerfed because…plot.

I’m not saying any of these stuff would help him immediately or at all, but I feel like the script just wanted him to fail despite him as a character going against its own statement of him being irredeemable. Including this episode despite even Jax being a bit off in this episode at times.

I know that Jax is capable of redemption because Leeroy was able to pull his life together. Leeroy couldn't have passively had a better life; he had to make friends, sign a lease, get a job, and most importantly, get closure on his mom. I know that Jax and Leeroy are no longer the same person, but they come from the same mind and the same trauma.

Addressing each point:

1.) I wish we had a solid reason why Pomni let Jax walk away this time. Pomni wants him to live more than anyone, including Jax himself. It didn't have to be complicated. It could literally been an extra sentence on her monologue. "I didn't want to push him." or "I thought he would come back to me so I gave him space."

Pomni knows that Jax is on suicide watch and I have a hard time she'd let him walk away without a good reason.

2.) Zooble and Pomni kept Jax on a leash. I do understand why they didn't pursue him because they were all mourning, but it's very clear a lot of time passed between Caine's deletion and Jax's abstraction.

I don't blame anyone for not reaching out, but I also don't understand why they didn't? Jax had a MAJOR crash out at the beginning of episode 9, which was probably his last conversation with the group. I don't know why anyone was surprised when he abstracted, especially Pomni.

3.) Jax's relationship with Kinger is weird...

Kinger never addressed Jax's abstraction, Jax never thought about Kinger's abstraction.

If the series wasn't over, my first thought would be that scene from episode 6 where Ragatha said something like "It's for the better to keep Jax and Kinger apart." Alas, my days of theorizing about TADC are over.

Since Caine loves bees, what animals do you think he dislikes?

Hi, thank you for checking in :) I also hope you're well.

Wasps and hornets, because they look like bees but they hurt bees :(

If you want to go off of the inspiration for his love of bees, it actually comes from AM, the sentient supercomputer, from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream

It's been a while since I read it, but I think AM talks about bees as a way to make a metaphor about how jealous he is of living things, and how bitter he is that he became sentient, but could never dream of becoming a human. He tortures human partly out of jealously, partly out of loneliness.

Sure, that works. It could also work that Ragatha went to Catholic grade or middle school.

Jax's surname, Mateo, is Spanish origin and is fairly common in former Spanish speaking countries such as the entirety of Latin America and the Philippines. Any of my Latino and Filipino followers can confirm that being Catholic is super common in those countries.

Anyways, my point is that I could see Jax's parents being passive Catholics, even if he wasn't raised in a super religious household.

I lean toward no, not permanently anyways.

I don't think Pomni is ready to let go of Jax, so he'll never be in the aquarium long-term. I could see Pomni asking Caine to snap Jax in and out of the aquarium for some enrichment, lol.

There are a few!

-Jax low-key has a crush on every non-man in the circus.

-Pomni is on the asexual spectrum.

-Jax's mom and/or dad struggled with alcohol.

-Ragatha is a super repressed lesbian that went to Catholic school.

-Jax and Ragatha went to the same high school, but many years apart, so they never crossed paths.

-The story isn't completely over. There's some sort of mini project coming up to help round out the lore.

-Jax is Filipino

Yeah, it felt pretty forced, though it was a HUGE red flag for Jax's upcoming abstraction. Jax had ample opportunity to harass people for their deepest insecurities, but he never sunk this low until this episode.

I think Jax said those things to Zooble and Ragatha because those two always called Jax out on his bullshit. He wanted a reaction.

I agree. I never even thought about it but yeah, Jax was probably still pretty new to the circus. In that conversation, Jax also mentioned something like "I already told you I was homeless. What else do you need to know?" It seems like she tried to get him to open up before. Ribbit most definitely didn't mean it like that, but for someone with severe trauma around being manipulated, the "Don't you trust me?" line would have been really triggering.

I feel bad for Goose even though she's pretty clear about her feelings. This is a trans-coded character to reflect her trans experience. She's fine with us interpreting that character how we want even though he's clearly written as trans.

Jax is still abstracted. Pomni still cares for him, but she's clearly misses him dearly.

Abstractions still exist and Caine still fears the people around him abstracting, especially Zooble.

Even Pomni's answer to if she plans to abstract is "No plans currently." seems to imply that her abstraction isn't impossible.

I think 9 episodes would have been fine if she shifted around some narrative stuff and cut down on Jax's backstory. The fact that Jax is an insecure asshole that deflects because of trauma and fear of being judged was long established well before Ribbit was introduced.

As cute as Ribbit and Kaufmo were, I hate that they were reduced to tools to show Jax's backstory.

I'm trans and I clocked it, but I didn't expect it to be central to Jax's backstory, his trauma, and his behavior. I would have preferred it to either stay more vague or for Goose to fully commit to Jax being trans in the canon.