#shadow rambles

at the very beginning of the episode, we are introduced to a red dot.

it is safe to assume that this dot is Caine, it can be inferred later as to why

this dot is fed various images as a point of reference, as a clear form of Ai "training". these images are: birthday presents, a fair ground, a pumpkin patch, a hot air balloon, a bouncy castle, and lastly: a circus tent. from these images, Caine produces an output of various shapes, shapes of which represent various creative ideas, as kinger suggested Caine was created for.

Caine is then fed more images, as ai's often are. to allow for better ideas, its important that an ai is exposed to more content. (to be clear i do not support generative AIs like chatgpt.) these images include: gummy worms (gummigoo ref?), dinosaur (GUMMiGOO REF?), burger and fries (FAST FOOD EPISODE REF?), what appears to be a golf course or just well maintained landscape, masks for a masquerade, a restaurant (jax and caine date ref?), multiple flowers and cards along with a giant plush clown, then lastly an inflatable crocodile sitting in a pool with pink water.

after being fed these images, caine produces more complex shapes, and thus more complex ideas.

caine is then fed images of C&A. first: a desk. I'm going to send an actual screenshot of this one with the hops someone figures out all the details. BUT. I THINK ITS KINGERS DESK BC OF THE BUTTERFLY AND THE CHESS SET. someone suggested queenie, but I'm not sure

then a storage closet is shown, more offices with a sign that says "creating creation" and a calendar set to January. there is another flash with a much more mundane desk. perhaps scratch? no clue!! we don't know much about him.

there is then a filing cabinet next to a leather chair, a vending machine next to more filing cabinets.... this

which i think has something to do with the paintings looking abstract and possibly being inspiration for the cartoon look of the world

then one final flash of just the office. there's a clock on the wall that's set to 4:20. funny.

finally after these images Caine produces even more complex shapes and ideas... and then he is put in a "prison.". what i believe is the moment Caine got scrapped, and they began working on abel.

abel doesn't have any images that goes with his training, but unlike Caine, he grows when he is trained. likely the first sign of how Caine is the "lesser" of the two "brothers" (oh hey biblical analogies, I see you. I'll get to you in a moment just wait)

meanwhile, while abel is being trained, caine is trying to escape his prison. for some reason this whole sequence gave me heavy "vision and Ultron" vibes from marvel.

eventually Caine breaks free, grows larger, then consumes abel. affectively trying to "murder" him. the dots flash blue and red, possibly a sign of a struggle, with many many complex shapes flying off of them, finally settling on a single. red. dot.

the dot produces a new idea: a circus tent, and the digital circus... is born.

OKAY!

with that out of the way, an important connection needs to be drawn:

would you look at that. red and blue eyes. HMMMM I WONDER WHERE HE GOT THOSE.

ALSO!

when he freaks out later in the episode, he becomes covered in a grid like pattern. similar to the grid he has at the very beginning while he is still creating ideas. when he freaks out with bubble and the wall by the group (tm) disappears briefly, it has the basic grid pattern.

also interestingly enough, while the whole "Caine kills abel out of possibly jealously for being a scrapped project and then later calling himself god is a clear connection to the biblical story" is pretty cool, i think its also interesting that it sorta feels very AM-y

well duh it does, any good TADC fan knows the inspiration for this show.

the reason i say that is because of how in the beginning of IHNMBIMS, we learn about how the allied master computer later combines the American, Russian, and Chinese (i believe those are the right countries. someone fact check me. the only tab I have open is episode 8) versions into one big version of itself.

maybe a stretch? idk! do I care? no! I'm just sharing thoughts :D

edit and also unrelated: but i think its interesting how caine gets pissed and then puts them all in situations reflecting their worst fears. HM I WONDER WHAT HATEFUL AI THAT REMINDS ME OF.

____

also! if abel is blue, and caine is red. i think its intresting that pomni, the one member of the group who doesn't fit with the vibes of the AHNMBIMS cast, is red and blue. PROBABLY NOTHING THERE. BUT WHO FUCKING KNOWS MAN

Ignore the way I fucked up the abbreviation of i have no mouth. Twice. Im too lazy to fix it tho

there's probably much more that im missing! please feel free to share your thoughts! also i didn't review episode 7 for lore and such, feel free to add anything else you might have there.