#hmt poll

In the Pilot session of the Swollen Eyeball Studies, we determined that the pilot's story, "the food fight incident" must be canon since Dib's arm-mounted food launcher is prominently shown in the Membrane garage in Enter the Florpus

However, we have a problem: the Pilot characters are written differently than in the series (most notable with Dib, but also very prominent with Zim). So while a food fight between Zim and Dib happened, the pilot as-is can't be canon.

Which leaves us to developing our own theories! Of the ones we discussed, these are the best:

Zim's POV: Zim is more innocent in the pilot (he's only shown on the defense), Dib is crazier, and there's no mention of Zim's mission being a lie. Therefore, it lines up with how Zim perceives his world, or at least what he would tell you when recounting this event.

Pilot Dib is Zib: Before Zib attached Zim's pak to himself, he was a Dib that not only won, but was crazy enough to kill Zim and attach his pak to himself. In addition to a crazy Dib, in order for Zib to have happened, there had to have been a Zim weaker than his timeline's Dib. Pilot!Dib and Pilot!Zim happen to line up with this dynamic, so the Pilot may be a peak into Zib's world.

The Pilot is in its own Reality: The most simple answer; the "beta" versions of the characters from the show bible and/or Pilot exist in a universe that parallels or is at least similar to the main one.