Now I don’t have any screenshots yet, but I will quote from what I remember.

At the beginning, Max saw Lumpy as a random being he and Sam found during a case that is conveniently the only one who can use a rocket launcher. When they defeat the monster, Sam gets the idea of recruiting Lumpy while Max groans and begs Sam not to.

Throughout the game, Max constantly insults Lumpy, being sarcastic and telling them to “suck it”. When Sam asks why he’s like this, he replies:

“I’m like a Silverback, Sam. I lash out at anyone who encroaches at my territory. Also, Lumpy sucks raw eggs.”

There are rare compliments he does every now and then such as calling them “Kid” and such, but he quickly says “but I still hate you”, “sort of”, and what not. There’s a part where Max gets possessed by a demon and when he gets saved, his first words were in disbelief: “Did Lumpy just save my immortal soul?” It seemed genuine, but then he goes back to being sarcastic.

When the main story really begins, It gets interesting. Sam gets kidnapped and Max immediately gets depressed/separation anxiety. When he sees Lumpy, he demands them to act and help him get Sam. Although he knows that Sam’s alive and he does go back to joking, he‘s still worried about Sam and does everything to get back to him. When Max and Lumpy disguise themselves to break in, it seems like everything is back to goofy normal for a Sam and Max adventure.

But I think the turn happens is when everyone gets back from the Nanoverse and the final boss appears. For the first part, Max and Lumpy are working together. Max gives instructions and encouragement:

“Remember your training, Lumpy! … (whispering) God, I can’t believe I said that in public.”

At one point, he even calls Lumpy “Junior” like Sam does.

But I think the moment that Max’s views of Lumpy changes is when he grows into a giant and saves Sam and Lumpy. After he stuffs the boss into the portal, he kneels and offers his paw to Lumpy, Lumpy climbs on and Max is like “Going up?” As he stands up and brings Lumpy to the portal. When Lumpy starts shooting and solving puzzles, Max is surprisingly patient. He gives Lumpy his gun, he jokes as he’s lifting them up, and he holds still even when he’s complaining and cursing about puzzles and Sam tries to calm him down.

But I think the moment his view changes of Lumpy happens when Lumpy solves the puzzle and Max is like:

“You better get yourself down before you get kilt!” as he’s lowering Lumpy back down.

Throughout the giant Max sequence, he is gentle, smiling, and he doesn’t want Lumpy killed. And I’m like 🥺😭

In relation to this: https://sevendeadlyvices.tumblr.com/post/657177646668595200/the-creatorceo-of-happy-giant-and-the-mike

I discovered something while rewatching the gameplay and replaying the quotes in my head like I always do. This may be a big stretch but I think there’s a callback quote that further confirms Max changing his views on Lumpy!

In the beginning of the game when Lumpy helps Sam and Max with the giant five-headed worm, Max says this:

When you play/watch this scene, note his tone. He sounds annoyed, like he doesn’t want a random casualty to happen and it gets pinned on him and Sam kind of thing. This is the first time Max meets Lumpy. In the street. With a giant monster.

In the finale/final boss when Lumpy solves the puzzle section, Giant Max says this:

The giant voice effect aside, note his tone here. It’s more gentle sounding and I want to say concerned but maybe that’s just me being optimistic here. To me, it’s the same type of tone when he jokes and notice how he says “killed”/“kilt” here. This is a major moment in the finale where once again, Sam, Max, and Lumpy work together. In the street. With a giant monster.

Although the wording is different, I’m just blown away at this and I would never thought of this.

So in the picture, we see a Giant Max in a city at night, kneeling to the Player and putting his hand down with a grin on his face:

My love for giants aside, there must be a reason why this is going to happen in the game. Most people are freaking out because of the Telltale Games (if you know, you know), but I will continue to believe that this would be different from the Telltale Universe. It can be either:

A) A dream/nightmare sequence

B) Max gets angry at the player for changing Sam and wants to hurt them. This might coincide with A.

or

C) Max teams up with the Cadet to save Sam.

Hear me out on this: study the picture. He is bending down and rather than simply grabbing the Player, he’s putting his hand down as if waiting for the player to hop onto his hand. He is smiling rather than frowning or scowling. This is from the cadet’s point of view. And there’s no Sam in the shot.

In a previous ask, I predicted that Max would be the one who goes under character development, realizing that the player is genuine and changes his views on them. And just the themes of some of the items and creatures make me think of alien technology. So what if the dark secret that Captain Aquabear is hiding is that somebody made a deal with a monster/alien to help with the Aquabears and it didn’t work out, then there is some plot of revenge using the five headed worm, plot, plot, plot, Sam gets captured by the entity, Max gets big (most likely by a growth ray or something), and Max realizes that he needs help to save Sam so he offers to carry the Cadet and chase the bad guy to save Sam?

Look at my son, back from the Nanoverse and being a sizeshifter all casual while Sam’s like nonchalant about it. I just love the voice effects they did for this. And look at that size difference! 

Another shot. I just love the use of colors for the growing and shrinking here. It’s like lightning, but it’s smooth like fire. 

I... just want to gush at this since I’m into g/t things and point of view shots. They didn’t have to do this, but they did anyway. Although most people had flashbacks from this (and with good reason), I was just excited. This is not a dream sequence and this wasn’t how I initially thought it would go, but it made me smile. The fact that he immediately crouches down and offers his hand for the cadet to climb on, the fact that he comes hopping in to save Sam and Lumpy, and just everything. The detail is nice in this even though I expected more. I’m just... *chef’s kiss*

One more for the road. Here’s another shot of him if you turn around. He’s just... holding you gently and being patient with you (while whining about it) while you’re doing your thing to save the world and I’m swooning. It really helps with my creativity and muse for Max.