Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOvhHim78YA

Don't read this thread until you've watched episode 6 or you'll get totally spoiled!

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  • I was just thinking...with Kinger clearly being set up as the Abel to Caine's...Cain...with his admin powers (butterfly summon, oddly knowledgeable about the Circus, etc.) and Caine looking like he's starting to lose it like Jax is...what if Caine has never been an AI at all?

    What if Caine is himself a human, but he's simply so far gone from doing what Jax is, suppressing his humanity, that he's simply forgotten he ever was?

    Remember how folks were into the whole "Jax is secretly an AI" theory? Maybe instead of him abstracting, we'll see what happens to a human who totally and utterly forgets themselves and basically becomes an AI in the progress.

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    Seeing how Caine seems to not have taken very good the fact no one voted for him, and how a lot of the time he acts like he is the main character, I wouldn't be surprised if he was the very first real person to be in the circus and supposed to be the main character

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    the other thing that lends credence to this theory of "Caine is just a human who forgot he was one" (imo) is that we saw every character this episode do something that should have been "impossible" all because they wanted it to happen (pomni's trick shooting, ragatha pulling the gun gag, the tommy gun appearing right when gangle needs it, kinger's butterfly, zooble's extra limbs being exactly what she needed, and jax's...everything 😅). Perhaps Caine only seems "god-like" because he's put himself into the archetype of "Ringleader" and the others simply haven't even considered that, maybe, they can do everything he does but just haven't tried because...well, why would they assume they could?

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    I don't think those admin powers are exclusive to Kinger. It's starting to look more like the circus runs on belief in a way. Pomni turned into a crazy trick shooter when she embraced the idea that she could be, and Jax seems to use this principal constantly to get room keys and appear where he wants. Even Ragatha seems to get it a bit; her gun shoots a flag since she doesn't want to hurt anyone, and Jax's gun backfires because she doesn't want to get hurt. It will be interesting to see how this goes if the characters start realizing that there don't seem to be any actual limits to what they can do.

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    See I just started watching this week and binged all 6 episodes, and I honestly never got the impression that Caine was an AI. Just like a game developer that’s gone crazy being stuck in the circus.

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  • Jax's human emotions are haunting the narrative worse than Ribbit

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  • never have I ever switched headcanons of which character I think's gonna abstract so friggin fast 😂

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    At that point it's just what you think is possible not even a headcanon.

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    Grave 🤣 dans les episodes 1-3 je penser que ca aller etre pomni puis dans l’épisode 4 gangle, episode 5 j’etait sur que ragata n’en avait plus pour longtemps et maintenant j’ai peur pour Jax et Caine 💀

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    Peut-être que le prochain épisode sera Kinger et ensuite nous aurons tout un set haha

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    Ou peut être BUBLE 🤣

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  • That Ribbit lore is gonna hit hard when we finally find out

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  • Is it just me or the writing seems MUCH better than the previous episodes?

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    I don't see it, this episode was just a lot darker (I still liked it so much more than episode 5 though)

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    I think it's because all of the characters are actually starting to talk to each other. As much as I love the random hijinks, the best part of this show is when we start really delving into who these characters are as people. Ep 5 was also pretty good because of this.

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  • Jeez, Jax...what happened to you...?

    Great episode overall but that confession was brutal even for him...

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    My theory is he got close to someone (Ribbit), they abstracted, and he decided he was never gonna get close to anyone in the Circus again so it wouldn't hurt so bad.

    The thing about actively suppressing human emotions like that? It makes you more liable to lose yourself completely...aka, prime Abstraction material 😖

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    He did mention people who abstract become unbearable...

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    I suspected Jax was going to abstract even before watching this episode. Many said Ragatha was going to but now Jax is in an even more precarious situation. If Pomni is going to abandon him (which seems very likely to happen after that confrontation), he's done for...

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    I don’t think pomni is going to abandon him. I think she saw through his mask . So she fully understands what Jax is doing . I think she’s worried about him enough that she’s gonna tell ragatha next episode they need to get through to Jax even if it’s for gangles sake

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    In what way? Just curious what you’re seeing that I’m not

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    It was totally freaky how he was just able to slip his "I don't care" mask back on after losing his cool like that. No way that's healthy.

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    I actually think Jax was friends with everyone at first , except gangle . Then he lost ribbbit , so he broke and decided to hide his emotion while playing the game

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    That's probably the case. But a theory I have is that he may have gotten close to kaufmo as well, or at least is still sad he abstracted.

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  • Not sure if anyone has noticed this, but after watching the newest episode as well as rewatching episode 1 there is this reoccurring “brand” (or company? not sure) called Caine & Abel. It is shown faintly on the gun (with the logo version near the handle) and I also spotted it in season 1 when Pomni walks through the exit door right before she walks into the void, when the camera panned up before transitioning.

    I’m wondering if this is some sort of reference to the story of Cain and Abel. Anyone else find any other references throughout other episodes?

    https://preview.redd.it/n469ghuzkajf1.jpeg?width=588&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7806c1c6c0f889f73a87e721dc1e8d9d0be1c91a

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    Perhaps there were meant to be 2 Ais, but Caine then killed Abel, as Abel was favoured more by god (Kinger, as his experience in comoutor engineering could suggest he was a developer of the digital circus or even Caine)

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    It’s likely that Kinger and his wife Queenie were the devs of the circus. In EP 3 during the scene with him and Pomni, you’ll catch him say “7 years of computer science for this”. He also comments how Queenie’s love for bugs made him love it as well, and he could be talking about “computer bugs”. Not confirmed, but this was what some ppl theorize.

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    I have the theory that Cain is not AI but human.. I have this theory from the first ep, too much ego for a machine, I believe he created it with Kinger (Abel) and Queenie was part of the company too

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  • I think Caine is going to abstract. Whatever error correction mechanism he has will break, and he won't return from a destructive looping condition

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  • I honestly love Kinger using bugs-

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  • What if the company isn’t called Caine & Abel… but “Can & Able.” Their product is to create a virtual world where people can do and make whatever they want. Just theorizing because I notice the consistency with characters able to will things like conveniences and comedic timings into their universe. The Cartoon Logic.

    Perhaps abstraction happens the moment someone understands this mechanic and tries to will themselves out of their universe, which ultimately fails and results in abstraction because… they can’t. Maybe people are insufferable before they abstract because they get prideful, believing the world revolves around themselves as they learn how to abuse this logic.

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  • Im sorry but Pomni was a bad bitch in this episode 

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  • Oh hey, just another instance of Caine being able to mess with Jax's head specifically.

    It probably desn't mean anything.

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  • Idk if anyone ever pointed this out, but when did Jax get his life back, he was shot by ragatha, meaning he only had two lives. However, when zooble shot them, he had 3 lives again and was down to one. So where did he get the extra life

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    First thing that shot into my head second Zooble mentioned Caine looking for her.

    Even more important reminder: Daisy Bell was the first song officially sung by a computer voice synth (IBM 7094 in 1961). 2001's inclusion was a reference to that, also.

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  • I liked the guns

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  • ming is awesome

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  • I love that kinger gets more lucid in the dark , like a reverse sundowning .

    And the reveal that jax isn’t truly a monster , he’s the most broken out of everyone there . He’s given up entirely . He had a mental breakdown and has been trying to keep everyone at bay because he doesn’t want to be attached to people or for them to feel attached to him. His entire rant is him trying to get pomni to not care about him anymore after he unintentionally let his guard down and started caring about her . He is a true Greek tragedy . Mentally he has been destroyed . I wouldn’t be surprised if he was there as long as kinger if not secretly the first person there .

    Also I’ve formed a theory

    Gangle was the project manager.

    Zooble was a beta tester

    Jax a hacker or programmer

    Kinger was the creator of the circus and definitely still knows what’s going on but only in the dark . In fact he probably still has his controls when he’s more lucid

    Pomni was a salesperson

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  • So honestly? Why is everyone saying Jax was going to abstract in the bathroom? Pomni literally did the same thing in the first episode. It was a panic attack, not a abstraction mark.

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  • why does zooble want to have s*x?

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  • A lot of people are speculating Jax will be the one to abstract, and the foreshadowing from his breakdown sure leads me to see that as a potential story avenue, but I kind of expect that may be too on the nose. It’s all too neat from a story perspective, just having the “villain” abstract, and seemingly early if it were to happen in episode 7 of 9.

    I feel after the events of this episode his antics will become even more sociopathic and (accidentally) may drive one of the others to abstract. Ragatha or Gangle… or maybe even Zooble?

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  • i think that Caine might be a human who was bored and makes a game out of the people who enter the circus and he is either played or is on a autopilot/ai mode and the autopilot mode is going rogue

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    and the creator probably is dead or forgot about the game

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  • I think Jax is hiding someting

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  • jax has his tail back

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  • Jax’s face and calling people his “play things” 😳

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