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#i just posted this and it autodeleted..huh
darlinique · 5 years
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[elliot voice] Jesus Fucking Christ
ah. This Shit, finally. some (MANY) robo-thoughts that aren’t all Joaks regarding 4x02, for the sake of my own organization and mapping bc *mcdonald corporate overlord jingle* I’m Losin’ It. so let’s just get this started:
1. another alter confirmation! huh. i know this one has long been theorized & i always looked at the evidence as subjective, but it’s definitely concrete now. nice work to anyone who called it early 🤙🤙 with this in mind though, we can comb back over the series to examine places where this alter may have fronted without us being aware at the time. i haven’t rewatched yet (gotta get on that), but from what i can remember, there’s certain interactions that stick out.
so, this is about to be my pepe silvia moment.
of course, the most notable is when tyrell recited the red wheelbarrow poem after his confrontation with robot in the car. whoever he was speaking to at that moment and whoever told him he wasn’t seeing what was above him definitely wasn’t elliot or robot—elliot has no recollection of the meeting at all, and robot demanded to know what the fuck tyrell was talking about in the arcade when he brought that exchange back up. plus, the demeanor of whoever was fronting was just...entirely different from what we’ve seen of both elliot and robot.
elliot takes on a similar demeanor when he berates bill harper in season 1. now i have to wonder, was this really elliot talking down to bill, or did this other alter front to handle it? if this were the other alter, theoretically, it makes me wonder why he’d front here. or why he fronted around tyrell...or why he wanted to name stage 2 after the poem tyrell recited. i don’t think i can fully place his intentions.
the halloween scene where darlene asks elliot to put on the mr robot jacket and mask, and elliot, under the mask, begins to calmly explain his ideas that eventually led to 5/9. this was framed as robot fronting before—maybe even the first time robot fronted—but...maybe it wasn’t even robot? i also have to remember that at the end of s1, robot begs elliot to not let darlene & angela get rid of him “again.” so robot seems to have existed for a while, and elliot can’t remember it? i’m assuming he was dormant? then maybe it was the birth of this other alter? but regarding another theory i’ll mention later, that doesn’t correlate. my god, So Much Is Happening.
the flashback where edward alderson (presumably) dies and young elliot leaves his body behind in the lobby to go sit in the movie theater. that kid wasn’t acting like the elliot we’ve known over the series. if this is actually that alter fronting, then how long has he existed? and who was the imaginary friend he was talking to in the theater? or was this elliot, and maybe he was seeing the alter as he “sees” robot beside him? who knows anymore!
2. this is all especially so tricky because while some instances are more definitive than others (i would consider the initial red wheelbarrow scene a definite instance of this alter fronting), i can’t actually place For Certain if these other speculations are true or not. because i can’t be positive about who was fronting when in light of the reveal, i can’t actually pin down...much of anything about the alter. we know he didn’t care much about vera returning. he’s calm and not reactive, sure. but what does he want? and what’s he been doing? (and if the speculations i brought up are correct, it seems to lean toward supporting that this alter may have more sinister intentions...? sinister as in: trying to keep the current, unfortunate status quo. or maybe he’s just handling dirty work to protect elliot? and what’s his deal with tyrell+the poem? more about that last one later, i guess.)
3. there are still several unaccounted for time periods that elliot has lost. the month between seasons 3 & 4 (during which darlene told the alter about vera), the month(?) after shayla died, and the three days after irving+the dark army took tyrell. we know this alter definitely fronted at some point between s3 & s4 based off of what darlene said, but was he ever in control during these other periods? was it robot? a combination? i’m stressing myself out trying to place these, lol.
4. but, regarding the reveal, i’d also like to think about what sam said this “twist” leads to, and that is a plotline that he’s called surprising but inevitable, and one that should feel earned. the word inevitable catches my attention most out of these, because that implies that whatever’s coming has been built up for the whole series—which is something else that sam has confirmed. sam has also said that while knows third alter theories have existed, he hasn’t seen anyone figure it out entirely. a lot of people on the subreddit jumped on the bandwagon again that the third alter was tyrell (and even more people gave them hell for it, lol) due to the end scene being in his meeting room from s1, but this theory can’t be true. not only because it’s been guessed multiple times (and sam said that the truth hasn’t been guessed), but because of other reasons that just don’t line up.
some include the fact that tyrell and elliot were separated on the FBI board in s2, the fact that elliot was in jail while the general public was searching for tyrell (the world would know if The Most Wanted Man were in prison), tyrell being in hiding when elliot was stopping the NY building from blowing up (prior to the 71 ecorp buildings attack), just...many, many things. tyrell is indisputably his own person.
going from there, the alter can’t be angela or darlene, either. these have both also been previously guessed, and the timelines just wouldn’t make sense. they all have definitely been in different places at different times, doing different things. i’ve seen people suggest (following 4x02) that the alter may be leon, but that also can’t be true, because trenton & mobley would’ve recognized him as elliot, and trenton trusted elliot enough to send him the backup email. and i really, really don’t believe she knew about elliot’s DID. vera is most likely not the alter either, because he had a plotline that involved his brother (and why would darlene tell vera she saw vera? that’s pretty convoluted).
5. so, if i’m trying to determine who this alter might be, i think it would require another examination of the season 1 dream sequence. i’m pretty sure that’s still applicable, and it’s really the only thing i think i can still turn to, lol. in the dream, angela tells elliot that he was only born a month ago. i have to consider that maybe this new alter may have been the original host, and who we know as elliot is an alter who only came about at the beginning of the show, or a bit prior to it, chronologically. that might make sense, but then...if this alter who seems to be very different than the elliot we know was fronting for almost every other moment of elliot’s life, why don’t darlene or angela notice a difference in elliot in s1 if a new alter is fronting? basically, there’s a lot to consider with all of this. the dream sequence can be read a whole bunch of different ways, and honestly, i still don’t even know what the key is supposed to symbolize for sure. so this is also speculation, obviously.
6. a theory that seems to have gained traction on reddit is that elliot’s online alias, sam sepiol, may have more to do with him than we think. people have suggested that this new alter has existed for a long time and was probably created due to a childhood trauma that elliot has repressed regarding someone named sam. in s2, elliot does say he had a friend named sam as a child, but as far as i recall, this is the only mention of sam outside of elliot’s online presence (and the scene with bill, obviously). while this makes logical sense for why elliot could have developed DID, i don’t really think there’s been much hinting at him having childhood trauma revolving around some kid he knew / a friend he had? because esmail said this plot should feel inevitable, it just makes me wonder. i don’t think a reveal like this would feel like it was coming, or as if it’s been “earned.” but it still does make some sense! i would just need to see more evidence. maybe that rewatch will help.
7. a reveal that i think would feel “earned” would be that the audience that elliot speaks to may be this alter. or, that we are the alter, who have been watching this show. because of how ingrained elliot’s narration has been in the style of the show itself, that could definitely be a big move—revealing that elliot hasn’t been talking to us, but to another alter. there’s a hole in this theory, though, because both elliot and robot were unaware of this alter’s presence (evident by their reactions at the end of 4x02). maybe esmail could justify that elliot hasn’t realized he’s been talking to another alter? hmm. this one is up in the air, too.
8. so, going back to the end of 4x02 regarding elliot’s alters...why was the young version of him in the room tyrell brought elliot to in s1? and in the same chair? is it symbolic of a higher power—those who play god, elliot once said?—or does it have to do with tyrell specifically? i want to say it’s symbolic, but tyrell’s impact seems to have some weird role in this. again, why did this alter we’re being introduced to front after the confrontation in tyrell’s car, just to listen to his desperate ramblings & admissions and then tell tyrell to see what’s above him? doesn’t that seem religious in nature, parallel to how tyrell’s love of elliot is pseudo-religious? is this exchange why tyrell’s love of elliot manifested in such a pseudo-religious manner? and why again did this alter choose to name stage 2 after the poem tyrell shared with him? i initially assumed it was to mock him, but from what i recall, tyrell seemed genuinely touched by the gesture in season 3. so, i guess what i’m trying to figure out is: what does this alter want with tyrell?
(broke theory: this alter recalls elliot’s initial trauma that led to his DID and empathizes with tyrell sharing a memory that’s affected his psyche for all his adult life;
woke theory: the alter just has a crush on tyrell and is acting out for his attention)
9. i’m not sure...with any of this, i guess. i’m really just not sure! like i said, this post is just an amalgam of Thoughts that have been nagging at me. hopefully the next few episodes will help me start to put more pieces of this whole puzzle together. and, uh, that rewatch too, of course.
10. so, onto another topic: whiterose! and her plan! someone on reddit came up with a theory i think makes a lot of sense, if it hasn’t hit the nail on the head entirely: she’s collecting everyone’s private & personal data around the world because she’s making a virtual reality. Of Reality. she’s creating a digital copy of everything & everyone who’s existed in the world to shape as she sees fit. maybe with some wacky, illegal technology. don’t know why the congo is necessary for that, though. anyways, angela claims to have seen this project, and angela also claimed that she knew there was a way to take this project away from whiterose. i think this theory is a good mix of both sci-fi & being realistic. or, realistic in the sense that a major antagonist could have it as her monumental Moment Of Evil trump card. i’d love to see how close this idea is to the actual plan that’s happening on the show. i thought it was a good guess, at least.
11. just a general comment, but i’m so glad darlene played a bigger role in this episode. i love seeing her and elliot work together, and while i’m also worried for her safety, it’s good to have her in on the plan. literally, my greatest priority for the end of the series is that her and elliot are safe, lol. and preferably happy. maybe that last one is a stretch, but... i’d really, really just like to see the aldersons survive and come out on top.
12. that’s enough yelling, right? right. wow, i’ve spent a lot of time trying to organize everything i’ve been feeling. lol. UH, ANYWAYS THOUGH—if anyone has any other theories to discuss that i haven’t mentioned (and you want to discuss them, of course)—just let me know!!! i’m so stressed! i love & hate the Thinking this show requires! Oh, Boy! but thanks to anyone who made it through this XOXO. ur sacrifice of time will be remembered...by me, and not whiterose. el oh el.
13. and remember 2 Keep it 💯
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