#answer mv

Masterlist

Answer (Z-World)

An iconic MV for sure as it's the first time we'll be seeing Ateez and the Black Pirates all facing each other without a prison wall between them

The lyrics are all about making a toast, and referencing things they've already overcome (the desert, waves, etc.)

The setting is very fancy and we've got a huge conference table in the room from the start which hints at what's to come later in this video

We also get to see Wooyoung with the blue butterflies I already pointed out in Deja-Vu and which are finally confirmed to be a remote-operated drones created by Yeosang in the Will - The World Ep. Fin Diary Entries

My theory here is the butterfly in Deja Vu was real and Yeosang chose to study it since - for one - there were a lot of them in the area but - more importantly - because the ones who cannot feel emotions also can't perceive beauty and thus won't take note of them (more on the emotionlessness of Strictland residents in The World - Movement Diary Entries: The Revolution)

After creating a hologram copy of it, he created a 3D rendering which flashes by in Deja Vu and the drone based on this 3D model now looks convincing enough to go undetected by the enemy and can thus be used to spy on them

We cut to Ateez and the Black Pirates gathered at the table where Ateez proudly state they're no longer afraid and finally feel ready to - I'm paraphrasing - bring the fight to the central government's doorstep

The two captains toast, sealing the deal and finally fully joining forces - no more operating separately or Ateez hiding behind the Black Pirates' image

This gives us this iconic shot where every single person in the room seems to be riding a totally different emotional wavelength

The highlights: Ateez's Jongho, Mingi and Yeosang smiling all cutely, Black Pirates' Mingi, Seonghwa and Yunho looking hella bored, Ateez's San lowering his head as if he's trying to peek under his alternate self's hat brim and Black Pirate Jongho looking like he's asking Ateez's Mingi if he wants to throw down right here and now

We end on an Android Guardian walking into the room after everyone's long gone, indicating they've finally managed to be one step ahead of the central government

My ATEEZ theory is that it’s a TIME LOOP, a CYCLE, where they’re constantly trying to get the Treasure, but keep failing. Yes, people have said this before, but I want to say it with my own words, from what I’ve noticed,

So, they’re stuck in a cycle. Yet, they try time and time again which is what Hala Hala represents. Them in the ending of the MV all falling down means they’re starting the loop again, going to Say My Name where they begin their journey. Hala Hala is the very beginning when they reset time, Say My Name is basically the initial call to action, Treasure and Pirate King are them beginning of their search for the Treasure as a group, Illusion and Wave are obstacles where everything seems great, like they got everything they wanted, but it’s too good to be true.

And then Wonderland is when they realize they have to come back, go on, return to their journey. “We must going on” as Jongho says. So the door to reality is open, as the lyrics say and the literal DOOR that opens in the MV represents, and they go again.

But!!  This search and constant reset of time is making them crazy, which is why:

1- everyone seems a little insane in Hala Hala, they tried so many times that it’s getting to their heads

2- no one remembers exactly that they’re restarting a time loop when they get to Say My Name, which is why everyone is seen confronting they “Haler” side. I think it’s reality trying to seep through, and the members are struggling to keep their own selves, their identities, safe (represented by their names being written over and over again all over their clothes). Most of them win the batle. Except for Wooyoung, who already knew the truth and is very aggressive towards his Haler, and Seonghwa, who remembers and takes his mask off, revealing the truth to himself.

3- Wooyoung is trying to sabotage the mission, not because he’s bad exactly but because he sees that this constant search isn’t good for them. This is shown by him messing up the papers in Say My Name, and saving them from the “Illusion”  in the Illusion MV by saying “open your eyes”. He is also the only member not shown waking up in Wave.

3- Seonghwa wants the search to keep going, which is why he and Wooyoung are always shown as opposites in mv and in choreography.

4-  Hongjoong gets more and more aggressive, both in lyrics and in choreography, because he’s being consumed by ambition.

5- Mingi is helping Wooyoung (in Wonderland when Wooyoung is restrained, probably by Seonghwa, Mingi is the one who frees him, and then is shown in choreography banging his chest with Wooyoung). He also has headphones in Illusion, that he also has in Wave, which to me symbolizes that he had a certain idea that it was all an Illusion, because his is the only piece of technology found in the entire MV.

6- San is constantly being manipulated by the people who want this journey to keep happening, but this is mostly shown in choreography. Hongjoong is always slapping him, holding him by the neck, and Seonghwa even treats him as a puppet at the end of Wonderland choreography. He’s like their soldier.

I also think FIRE represents everything that’s real, or corresponds to real time, and water represents everything that’s fake, or what they wish were happening. None of the MVs set in reality have Water, and the new teaser photos for Answer have the members drinking SAND. They’re only seen with actual water in the not-so-set-in-reality mvs.

Oh, and the only members that don’t have any objects with them in these new teaser images? Wooyoung and Seonghwa. Our hero and villain, you decide which is which.

Any time a member is shown with fire, it means that member knows the reality, or that the time loop is happening, like when Wooyoung lights a match in Illusion, or when Mingi is inside a circle of fire in Wonderland.

Seonghwa doesn’t want Wooyoung to show everyone what’s really happening though, so he puts out the fire Wooyoung tries to get going, as shown in Wonderland when he blows at the match (and Wooyoung is shown immediately after, connecting the two shots).

This time loop theory only gets stronger as time goes by, because the lyrics, titles to songs, and even mvs, are always suggesting a cycle. The Halers are coming back, the ashes in the teaser video for Answer are shown going upwards instead of downwards, the beginning and end tracks for the full album have opposite titles (end of the beginning and beginning of the end), and the boys are all shown with flags in the desert in this new teaser, just like they were in Treasure. Even the lyrics to Hala Hala talk about “Rewinding”. It doesn’t get more obvious than that.

Precious, which is gonna be the last song in this new mini album (except for the outro) is literally a mirror of Treasure, their debut song. It has lines directly from Treasure. GUYS COME ONNNN

PART II

pack of layouts; answer mv; ateez

ateez videos that butter my biscuit: 1/??