Caine is Trying to Save the Humans? 'The Amazing Digital Circus' Pilot Breakdown & Analysis!

[@CartoonUniverse]

Check out the Magical Girl Garnet Heart Show on my Personal Channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnnRmWCtZ71krZI

[@StoIas_official]

why does this have zero comments?

[@stavkous4963]

gooseworx said that caine isn't evil, but oblivious instead

[@StoIas_official]

@@stavkous4963 who is gooseworc

[@rileylim2758]

I think pomni replaced the clown

[@anarchyandempires5452]

What do I think? I think I'm going to need to delete a few hours worth of video that I was editing because you literally just hit every point I was going to make😂. No hate bro You literally made this a lot earlier than me, And way better edited than I ever could have.

[@raptorr575]

One thing I really liked was how Caine isn't even really mean at all, I was expecting a Bill Cipher but he seems to care about the other characters, he lets them have a routine (sleep and eat even if they don't need to), he talks to them normally, when Zooble said she didn't want to take part in their "adventures" he told her he'd chosen something special where she wouldn't have to get involved, Kaufmo didn't come and he didn't even try to find out where he was, and above all he knew that all the other characters wanted an exit so he started to create one. He doesn't look bad, just extremely ignorant about human beings.

[@TimBukTwo]

This is exactly what I think as well. He does care about them and doesn’t want them to abstract or anything, but once it happens its irreversible so he just doesn’t care. I mean he immediately cured Ragatha of her glitches when he saw her. I think he tried to create an exit and made it lead to what he saw the outside world around him as, a boring dark and grey office building and it WAS going to exit the game but he doesn’t know how to do that himself, so it leads to the void. I truly believe him when he says he has no idea what’s out in the void. I heard a very good question from a reaction which turned my view on Cain’s line saying “They’re going to get spoiled” after he finds out about someone in the void. The question is “Spoiled like milk?” and we see Pomni was completely out of it as Cain pulled her back to safety, so it’s possible he was actually saving Pomni in that moment.

[@MM80536]

​@@TimBukTwoby spoiled I think this means the game is currently in development and there's much more to discover

[@Subpar1O1]

I feel like he COULD help keep the other characters sane in a more rational way, but he's genuinely just playing the part of a character in the game. There's a good few scenes where we see he can't sit still if it doesn't involve humour, so maybe he believes the best way to keep the people trapped in the Circus together is by constant overstimulation to keep them from thinking about the existential crisis of whatever the hell is happening. He seems very crazy but he did genuinely feel bad about the whole Exit Door thing by the end of the episode, it really seems like he's just keeping up a facade some times

[@windy2075]

I do wonder what his "and you know how I don't like anyone seeing my unfinished projects" (or something) line is hinting to tho. That's the only thing that made him seem a bit more ""sinister"" to me. Definitely seems too mysterious to be a throwaway line

[@SirScrewloose]

Maybe. I'm a bit suspicious of how, despite telling Zooble they wouldn't have to get involved, the Gloinks immediately swarmed and disassembled them.

[@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth]

A big detail to note: Kinger appears to have once had a queen-themed female counterpart, judging from the doors. Near the end of the pilot he also displays a sudden awareness of exactly how the digital realm operates in terms of sensory simulation, only to forget all this a moment later. Since he's supposedly been there the longest, I theorize he and the queen were developers of the digital circus who got trapped in it during testing. This also aligns with how simple and janky Kinger's design is compared to the others. No legs, no expressive facial features, and floating hands with no arms. This makes him much easier to animate/simulate compared to later characters, implying that the circus's ability to provide effective avatars for its users has improved with time.

[@dowlotistap]

good theory! i also saw someone say that him talking about insect collections could be a reference to bug testing

[@thegreatpapyrus2306]

@@dowlotistapHe also says “insect collection” near the beginning, then again later when they find the zooble nest, the second time prompting Jax to ask him if he means a nest. He definitely has some form of advanced knowledge about the Circus that the other humans don’t, like you and OP were saying.

[@sakarver]

I also concur with the second theory. They are not physically sitting and playing, I think we're in front of a black mirror/soma kinda situation. Regardless of what's happening in reality.

[@saberkyle_cat]

Also the fact that he sees himself as royalty in that world

[@ZealStarMedia]

That’s a good though. That’d also give us an indication of how long certain characters have been in the game, with Pomni being the most complicated and therefore most recent.

[@zegop5736]

Caine seems to be the definition of making the most of a terrible situation like he can’t help them escape but he’s doing his best so they have fun and don’t feel trapped in a cell

[@KANYEOMARIWESTOFFICAL]

@pawa7zip what do y’all have to do with this?

[@Mediados]

Well he still unleashed Gloinks that could have killed them all. I think he just doesn't understand the consequences of his actions and follows his programming.

[@Darcyu]

@@MediadosI mean the dude can just bring them back (I think) so I doubt that he was trying to harm them. I’m guessing caine just doesn’t know how pain works lmao

[@masterwolfgaming3436]

​@@Darcyu Makes sense, he is an AI, so he has naturally never felt pain. I wouldn't put it past Caine to just not realize pain is even a thing.

[@Darcyu]

@@masterwolfgaming3436 tbh I don’t really think he’s ai. I mean why would he be eating lunch with bubble and spending time outside of the circus. Either that or he thinks hes human and is actually ai but idk

[@Subpar1O1]

Every time I rewatch the pilot the one scene that always sticks out to me is when Pomni is looking up at him and he's fidgeting with his hands for no reason. It seems that while he's definitely doing the adventures and the constant pestering to keep the people trapped in the Digital Circus sane, but he also literally can't keep still. The only times he's not moving is to set up a joke like "Why are you like this" or when he's having dinner with bubble. Caine seems like a good guy from what we've seen, but it's hard to tell whether he's an AI that's literally designed to provide constant stimulation to children (since this is clearly a children's video game of some sort) but that raises the question of why he's bothering keeping the trapped people sane, or someone like a developer that's got some kind of control over the game. If Caine is a human like some theories suspect, then it's strange that he's more dedicated ti his character in the game than every other person here. Gangle and Kinger are kind of strange, but Jax, Pomni and Ragatha act like regular people for the most part. Very curious to see the direction Digital Circus goes in the future

[@Perdix64]

Maybe it’s to keep an illusion that he isn’t trapped either, keeping his mind off the fact that he can’t find an exit either, it could also be that he’s still actively programming an exit for them but can’t properly use it.

[@ab8057]

If if is AI he would have to operate in the confines of his programming.

[@Plackowicz]

I have a theory: Every time somone looses his mind in Digital world, a new character ment to replace him appears. Koufmo was dressed up as a clown, and when he completely lost his mind, Pomni arrived dressed up as a jester. In the hall scene,there is another door with other clown, and he is erased. We also can see black king pawn. It can mean that Kinger has been here the longest, but he is not the first.

[@HunterStiles651]

I'd like to expand on this idea, because I came up with a similar theory, the reason none of them remember their lives in the real world or have ever been able to return to them is because they were never "real" to begin with. The idea that they have other lives to return to is a false memory implanted by the developers solely to make the game more interesting.

[@spooki3382]

Hm good point

[@spacejunk2186]

So they get a reset every time they lose their mind. Sounds interesting, but then you have to explain why seemingly nobody in the cast realizes this.

[@TeltStory]

@@spacejunk2186Jax probably does, he has too much keys, refers to them as characters too.

[@KaelemInDaHouse]

If you look closer the second chess piece is actually a female queen piece

[@TheScarletMenagerie]

I think something rather telling is that after ragatha is injured by the abstraction creature her first thought is to ask pomni to get caine. Yes it was a desperate circumstance but she didn't seem the least bit afraid of asking him for help, or even just being around him If their go-to whenever anything goes wrong is to get his help then he's definitely at least trying to be helpful

[@Perdix64]

Her name’s Ragatha I think.

[@TheScarletMenagerie]

@@Perdix64 i know i just had a brain fart while writing that (fixed it now)

[@Perdix64]

@@TheScarletMenagerie 👍 I also forgot too ngl

[@thefederalrepublicoferusea3900]

Maybe it's Stockholm syndrome?

[@Perdix64]

@@thefederalrepublicoferusea3900 that is a good point, but I do still think that Caine isn’t a bad guy.

[@jeremytung1632]

I wouldn’t call him the hero, but he’s definitely not an antagonist, I feel he’s just a trapped there as everyone else is.

[@AvarageGamingGamer]

I doubt that

[@AvarageGamingGamer]

Credit for floppa for debunking the theory Anyways as @FloppaGrasoso stated his unfinished project is the exit but why does it lead to the void is still unknown my latest theory on the stated theory is Caine just wants to find a way out by creating a constant bridge to the void however Caine is unable to finish it for reasons only the later episode can say -take note this comment might age good or bad depending on how the story goes If any theories debunk or change this current just state it and I'll think about it if it's somewhat true or not

[@AngelCat748]

​@@AvarageGamingGamertrue, but he also said "even I don't know what's out there" So if outside the void is the real world, he might not know that because he could just be an ai. Therefore he doesn't know what's out in the real world because he's not real.

[@obsidianbarnowldesigns]

yeah he's not the vilian but certainly not good either he's not the standard morally grey but he's certainly in this weird middle ground

[@wisegator9711]

He’s an ai because he doesn’t know what’s out of the void.

[@BPgamemaster12]

One thing i notice that is potentially very big is how Caine mention that there a FEW things he can't control, meaning there are limits to his powers. We know one of those things is the minds of the humans in his cicrus; but i think that also extends to his fellow AIs. He seemed confused by Bubbles' weirder behavior and unable to do anything to fix it; and when the moon declared her love fir Caine, who clearly doesn't feel the same, all he did was ran away. It would interesting to learn other limits he might have

[@tsunertoo9149]

Something that made me lose it with the moon is it kind of reminded me of the sun and moon that talk in shows like muppets and Bear in the big blue house.THey are just overly familiar and super friendly and chill. It makes me wonder if that's the case here where the moon is just, overly familiar with Caine to the point he just feel snot comfortable with it anymore.

[@BPgamemaster12]

@@AbyssalKyanite I believe that relates to him being unable to affect their minds. Humans in the digital world abstracts it seems when they hit an mental breaking point and their mind are irreversibly shattered. Since Caine can't do anything about an person mind, he can't help fix it, which should reverse the abstraction

[@DSXtreme09]

I think it's also implied that he was trying to make an escape or exit but can't, along with being unable to process or understand what's in or beyond the voud

[@capybara5774]

Doesn't he say there's a limit to his power???

[@BPgamemaster12]

@@capybara5774 yes, but he barely gave any specifics on those limits beside "can't affect human minds".

[@juliangandara9552]

Few things i noticed in the pilot 1. Pomni says that she put on a headset, perphabs she and the others were beta testers for some program 2. In the hall i saw that there were doors with crossed photos, maybe they were humans that got abstracted like Kaufmo 3. Jax's nonchalant attitude towards Kaufmo makes me think that he's to see characters abstracting, perphabs he the second to be in the circus the longest

[@AvarageGamingGamer]

​@@Jamilbaker12bud that's literally what he said

[@michelecastellotti9172]

I mean, the 2nd 9ne is rather obvious have you not seen how many more abstracted abominations were in the place where caine sent kaumfo?

[@toainsully]

I theorised that the Digital Circus was a government experiment, so you could be right on the first one

[@FateAbridger_Ppg]

about the number 2 thing, just go rewatch the thing and look at the basement, there are 2 other abstracted things down there

[@EyedBanjo]

don't forget that for a very short time period you can see that kalfmo's door is crossed after the characters see him abstracted.

[@hannahdavis5725]

The exit is pretty obvious, it's the headset in the Office Labyrinth. You basically leave the same way you came in but the doors were made to throw whoever gets trapped in the digital plane off. Doors are two ways after all. Kinger absolutely knows this but with the way memories are affected when entering, most likely forgot it, for now. In fact I think he's the one behind the headset in the first place given his explanation on how eating is simulated. Jax asks him "since when was he an expert on the Digital Plane?" Kinger IS an expert, he's THE expert.

[@farizr.batarai8271]

Now that's a good theory

[@thegeneralvilla2784]

When i saw the pilot, it kinda annoyed me she didnt try putting the headset again.

[@Perdix64]

Then how come there are two doors of different colors? The one Pamni found was orange while the one she found inside was red.

[@hannahdavis5725]

*Shrugs* I mean it is only a theory@@Perdix64

[@LainorLean]

​@@thegeneralvilla2784that's what I thought too

[@EngineerRiff]

I really hope Caine isn’t painted as an evil guy, just a guy who doesn’t understand humans

[@soundwave4236]

that last bit, is what Gooseworx confirmed about Caine

[@based980]

same

[@ezracohen3859]

Why do I see you everywhere

[@soundwave4236]

@@ezracohen3859 who

[@ajyt2165]

That was my first impression of him

[@mintycandyyumyum]

I think I figured out what terrified Pomni in the void. And I think there's more to the "exit" then you said. So to start, Caine is obviously an AI left to keep updating the game he lives in. And that void is what he can keep expanding on. Sadly though, he kept trying to figure out what an "exit" is so people can leave before going insane, but never could figure it out. This would explain why it looks like an office, he probably only saw the outside world as the office of the studio that built him and his game, so he kept trying to make exit doors to the only thing he knows about the outside world to no avail. That's why there's so many rooms, it was his desperate attempts, and different takes on the office. It would also explain why he wants to hide it, to keep people from being hopeless. Now, this would also explain the old PC and why the game shows itself as old graphics, that old PC is what the AI has been living in, an old 90s pc in an abandoned building that no one has ever gone in for years and years. And in one of his last attempts, he made a room with his PC thinking it would make a difference, still to no avail. Then, when Pomni exits into the void, she sees out the monitor of the real PC this world is trapped in, and sees the real life version of the room she was just in, empty and abandoned. "Not even I know what's out there" is because he doesn't know anything in the real world besides the same dreary interior of an abandoned office. "Your minds are one of the few things I can't control" shows he's not really a god here, and showed he probably realized he can never make an exit. Lastly, we saw a pit with a bunch of abstracted humans. These could be other innocent people trying the game AND the devs that tested their game years a go, thus resulting in an abandoned building.

[@AvediGames]

On the note of the abstracted people, I think that they are still players in the game but because Cain has no control over the minds of people that enter the game, there isn’t anything he can do to fix them. Which is why he just locks them away somewhere they can’t hurt others. To be abstracted, your mind needs to be broken seemingly beyond repair. Anyone seen on the doors as a crossed out picture probably still exists within the world. Otherwise, they would probably look more like a drawing mannequin if they had actually left. To be “unabstracted” you would probably have to fix yourself mentally somehow. Like grounding yourself.

[@stationstop143]

I LOVE THIS THEORRYYYYY

[@hollowtamashi8722]

shooting a bit low there imo, I think what you said is just a given but it's missing an endgame. Didn't you think it was strange when Caine healed Ragatha and Pomni's hand was mysteriously healed too even though she never told Caine to heal her? This to me seemed to indicate there are deeper workings than Caine is letting on, and possibly even that Caine is somehow the culprit behind the glitching. They even went to lengths to show Pomni react suspiciously. I think Caine may have a seemingly sinister role at first but we could see a reason for this. Also Caine clearly did not want anyone to find out about the door Pomni saw at the grounds. I think the outside world could be fucked up, and he is trying to prevent them from exiting (notice they never say "escape", almost like they willingly left behind their lives in the outside world) to save them from a horrifying reality on the outside world. I think this could also be the reason they forget everything about the outside world when they enter the circus.

[@trondordoesstuff]

I'm not 100% sure that we've gotten confirmation that Caine is specifically an AI. It is possible that the C & A logo in the dismal office could stand for Caine & Abel.

[@slimeblitz32]

Well who is Abel?

[@trondordoesstuff]

@@slimeblitz32 Cain and Abel are two biblical figures; the first sons of Adam and Eve, Cain was jealous of Abel's favor and so killed him. Obviously Caine is spelled differently here, but the reference could still be intact. "Caine" is the only character in the series so far who's name begins with a C, and there is no other obvious pick for another individual connected to a Caine who's name would start with an A.

[@sonicfanboy3375]

It's been confirmed on the official site

[@slimeblitz32]

@@sonicfanboy3375 👍

[@hu7380]

@@trondordoesstuff Tyy :3

[@NineHundredDollarydoos]

So, if we're taking Caine at his word, he tried to create an 'Exit' because everybody wanted one, but couldn't figure out what to put on the other side. Except there WAS something on the other side, it was just endless office spaces that eventually led out into the void. To me, this says that he was actually trying his hardest to make the exit lead somewhere other than just more Digital Circus. So why did it only lead to that office and then the void? Perhaps those are the only 'other' places that Caine is even aware of.

[@TheAce5399]

Caine said he was keeping the exit doors away from them because he didn't want them to get "spoiled" as he was working on an exit for them but just didn't know what to put on the other side of it so he gave up and tried to keep them from seeing them. The void is just that, unused memory for the digital space they occupy. Caine isn't fully aware of what's out there because unlike in the Circus he has no omniscience there. I don't think there's other things in the void, its just an area of nothing that COULD have something. The unknown is what makes Caine scared of it.

[@tomioluwa1284]

Something I hope that Pomni and Ragatha reconcile. I know what pomni did was wrong but to be fair walking up in a digital world isn't something you handle well. Also makes you wonder how many other people have been pulled in and become Absttact that cellar where Kaine put Kaufomo seemed full of abstracted

[@temutemacular]

I don't think Ragatha is holding a grudge though? She literally repeats she understands if Pomni would leave her, which Pomni even hesitated to do until she got hurt, then told her what to do when Pomni came back for her. She's probably just quiet after just recovering from getting hurt

[@tomioluwa1284]

@@temutemacular yeah but I also feel like this was like a subtle test of character. You know those life and death situation where the person dying asks for help but also understand if their only savior leaves. It's like you understand if they leave but you want them to help you still. So while Ragstha completely understands if pomni had left to escape she still might've hoped she'd tried to help her

[@errorhakuritsuchiera7971]

fun fact: when pomni is takin a tour on everyone's room, theres some characters had an X on the doors if u look closely enough, and well, yknow, u get the gist of it

[@masterballplays]

Well when ragatha, Pommi and max are walking to see kofmo some of the doors did have the pictures of characters crossed out, so it looks like quite a few

[@wingfire3657]

​@@errorhakuritsuchiera7971And kinger's door had an X but when the camera panned out to ragatha it turns back to normal. Foreshadowing?

[@grandomrye3873]

I’d like to think Caine is a similar case to Jack Skellington; Genuinely wanting to give people a good time by replicating something meant to be cheery (A circus and Christmas respectively), but just doing a *terrible* job at it due to their nature (Being an AI and being a Halloween monster respectively).

[@caylahsayshi]

I love this comparison!

[@fireballloadout]

My personal theory is this, the thing that messed up was the process of taking yourself out of it and somewhere along the way the machine instead of just simply putting on a headset instead copied and then pasted your consciousness into the game. it's not cut and paste but copy and paste which means the real person might have been able to get away but the copy of that person in the game does not have those memories

[@typemasters2871]

I do like the copy and paste theory But another theory that I like the sounds of is that the abstractions are just what is left over when a human does manage to leave the circus, their mind is back in the real world but their digital body is left without a soul to form it

[@Pablo_Martin_aa]

Like the netflix series the hollow?

[@curseofbinding]

​@@Pablo_Martin_aaman i havent watched that in a while

[@ElJorro]

That's my head canon as well

[@doloresmadrigal6906]

@@Pablo_Martin_aait did NOT deserve to be cancelled

[@HelghastTrooper]

Due to him being the oldest known member of the humans, and also from his apparent know-how of digital stuff when he explained the food situation to Jax, I'm predicting that Kinger (and whoever that crossed-off, presumably Abstracted queen chess piece is) were the original creators of the Amazing Digital Circus, who had the misfortune of being sucked into their unfinished creation, incidentally becoming its first victims and losing their identities. They probably managed to hold through their imprisonment for a while due to holding a strong bond with one another. Kinger was most likely sane and hopeful of escape while the queen was with him, until she lost hope and Abstracted -- he only failed to become Abstracted himself from her loss through sheer willpower, but lost his sanity in the process. Now, that hope and madness is all he has left. Hence, the nutso cloudcuckoolander Kinger we meet by the present, his kingly design (denoting some subconscious image of rulership over the realm), and his presence as the oldest confirmed human prisoner. I'd guess even further that Caine was a less advanced (albeit still incredibly adaptive) A.I. during that period and, after spending many years developing within the digital world and witnessing firsthand his (unknown to him) creators suffering, gradually evolved into the fully sentient being he is by the present. He genuinely tries to help his unwilling subjects, both out of a sense of empathy and his programmed instincts, but due to a lack of software and holding an egregiously erroneous idea of the human mind, fails most of the time.

[@shacharlem4424]

Series creator Gooseworx states that despite his penchant for taking humans captive and tormenting them through hilariously deadly circus games and tricks, he isn't actually evil, just obliviously mischievous.

[@MrSpartan993]

So he’s just CHAOS, but not evil.

[@AnUnfortunatePotato]

So what Chaotic Neutral characters *want* to be?

[@shacharlem4424]

Exactly @@MrSpartan993.

[@XYZee134]

Um…. The characters can’t die u know

[@CJ-ln5ov]

Kaufmo amazed me for being written as someone who we never meet, yet lends so much lore and engagement to the overall story. When Kinger said, “Kaufmo might be going insane because he was babbling about exits, kind of like you, Pomni”, the implications started to feel obvious. It’s clear that the others have tried to escape before, but Pomni was the only one seeing exits in this episode. By the end, Pomni’s sense of denial was clearly broken, which left me curious about what her goals will be in future episodes. Will she begrudgingly go along with the “adventures” that Caine sets up and maybe try to form connections with the others to retain her sanity? Or did her failure to escape not deter her? Personally, my greatest fear isn’t that Pomni will abstract, but rather let her fear puppeteer her into using the other characters to find a new way out, maybe even to the point of sacrificing them. And if your theory about the world being dismal and empty is correct, that could make her ending extremely hollow: One where she sacrifices “paradise”, only to return to her living hell.

[@Mediados]

They made a really good example of how to write a story element. Kaufmo is only mentioned and feels like a central figure, despite having not a line of dialogue.

[@Mediados]

Pomni already proved that she would be willing to abandon the others for her own sake, and who wouldn't in her place? But that could lead down a darker path.

[@CJ-ln5ov]

@@Mediados Agreed. I forgot to mention how Pomni abandoning her rescue mission felt like a first step. Thanks for the reminder!

[@ember-september414]

Pomni looking like a jester and Kaufmo being a clown also sets up some more parallels between them.

[@MfwPrivate]

Kaufmo gives me heavy spamton vibes. Like just someone YEARNING for freedom. I wouldnt even be surprised if he somehow came back

[@Maljurok]

I do agree that Caine is trying to help the group to the best of his ability given he is an AI an not Human and thus doesn't fully understand what it means to be human yet, but given his influence and his ability to create stuff, it seems like the main issue he has is not fully understanding how to get them out along with what he is truly capable of. It also leaves questions like how was he able to create a near identical office space that Pomni saw. Another thing to note is we are still not fully sure what happened to their bodies once they ended up in the Digital Circus. For all we know they could have ended up being completely digitized like Tron. If that's the case than the real issue is that Caine just has no idea how to access the headset. It would be interesting to see if a Dev tool has a part to play in this story.

[@huylam3951]

Caine is AI but help and save human same as Pomni and the rest circus gang. So we need more episodes of The Amazing Digital Circus (TADC for short) and need to know with lore, knowledge, and reason. The question is why does an AI like Caine help humans who got trapped in the digital world? And the headsets, it must be a someone who made it to trap the gamers with unknown reasons. We looking for answer and we will find for it.

[@zackbuildit88]

Yeah like when he tried to make an exit but couldn't figure out what to put on the other side for it to actually either let them leave or be a satisfying end

[@huylam3951]

@@zackbuildit88 Caine is a good AI, but he can’t make the portal to the real world for humans. And the “weird headsets” as they mentioned, must be an evil, diabolical villain who created them to trap the gamers in the digital world and become unstable & insanely. The reason is the headsets, and finding the mastermind behind the shadows.

[@KylerJones]

Maybe he has access to a few webcams in the office so he just can't see anything of the outside world except a few office rooms and that's why that's all he could conceive of the exit leading to.

[@labbit35]

I don’t think he understands the exit room a lot considering it seems to be linked to the void, which he knows probably nothing about.

[@nnelg8139]

Caine definitely seems to be trying to help in his own insane way, but I think the "dying earth" theory is *really* stretching it. Could just as easily be some computer left on in the basement of a school or library, that curious people stumble across without knowing what'll happen. (Also, you left out the TRON option of their physical bodies disappearing.)

[@TuxedoDogss]

i think the mind upload theory seems the most realistic because if people were suddenly disappearing after buying/getting something from your company (which we see a logo of maybe in the office) then that'll raise questions. but cloning their minds wouldn't raise any suspicion, the person would just be confused and then go about their day.

[@essenceofexcellence1832]

@@TuxedoDogss that is, if time still flows the same way it does in real life. it could be that when you enter, time in real life freezes until you exit (if you exit). to someone watching you enter the headset, it could be you putting the headset on, taking it off immediately, and freaking out because you escaped.

[@blazeburner303]

I recently read a story about people suffering an end of the world scenario where everyone was turning into monsters, but the plot twist was them being in a simulation where if they were to realize it was a simulation and "log out" of the simulation it turned their in game avatar into a monster and went on the attack and kill others... making them braindead, it'd be interesting if someone trapped in the digital circus acts like the main cast does, but finding a way out "abstracts" the in game avatar with residual collected data, meaning kaufmo would have escaped if that were the case

[@TuxedoDogss]

@@essenceofexcellence1832 im pretty sure that would need some supernatural forces because processing that fast in that capacity in that early of a year?? even now its impossible. still a funny idea tho

[@Goob_TheClown]

I think the run down nature of the irl office could be attributed to the development studio of the game having been abandoned (likely some time in the 1990’s) and rather than entering the game willingly, the humans probably came across the game in an unfinished state and put on the headset out of curiosity. This would also explain why there’s no exit, as it could be that development was stopped so early that one was never programmed in. I also think that Caine is truly just as oblivious as the humans, as he likely would have no knowledge of the outside world (being an AI and all), lending to him no knowing what to put on the other side of the fake exit door to simulate what the real work is like (which also explains why it’s modelled after the real-world office given that it was where he was made).

[@snowfoxbeserker8507]

he explicitly states at the end of the episode that he tried to make the exit but had no idea what's supposed to be on the other side

[@siennide]

I much prefer this theory, it makes more sense and makes for a better plot. It could also lead into the Caine and Abel story, maybe the real world caine had somehow betrayed his brother and was forced to become the game caine, or something similar.

[@Midnights._.]

Gooseworx confirmed this in the livestream: Caine is an antagonist, but not the villain of the story. He doesn’t have any intention on hurting the members, but does stuff carelessly to entertain everyone, without realizing damage it causes. Goose replies also saying that characters like Jax have (or will) done some bad things that made herself even say he deserves to be stuck in the circus the most.

[@YaboiZephyr]

Ok so i have a few ideas 1. Kingler either had a brother or wasnt the first kingler based on the door with a black king kingler on it (crossed out) 2. There may only be a few playable characters in the game. This relies on the crossed out kingler being the first one 3. There are other digital circuses. When cain sees that pomni is in the void he yells "oh no it will get spoiled" 4. jax has actually been there the longest but kingler dosent remember, this one is a jump but is based of his extensive knowledge of the area as well as his attitude and the fact that he secretly has keys to everyones rooms (which just seemed like a weird detail to me) 5. There can only be 6 people in the game at a time, pomni manifests presumably the same day the kofmo abstracts which is at least a weird coincidence. Side theory time, if that is true then all of the real people may have entered the game at the same time but only 6 can be active at a time because maybe the game was only a 6 player game

[@YaboiZephyr]

@pawa7zip tf kinda drugs you on. I want some

[@hu7380]

Btw, someone said the black piece was actually a queen, i'm not sure if that's true but it makes things more interesting

[@A_very_good_cheese]

I problem i have with number 5 is that if they knew pomni was another human trapped then they would have immediately known that komfo was abstracted

[@Bunnie_moon]

Its not a king it's a queen

[@tsunertoo9149]

Other issue is that everyone else seemed familiar with abstracting, very familiar because they all seemed okay with Jax's belief that Kingler would Abstract first, which makes me believe that they've seen a significant amount of abstractions. You can also see signs of this because when Kofmo is dropped into the abstraction pit, you witness what looks like a MASSIVE abstraction inside, which makes me think there's been A LOT and they've started to either fuse or just grow bigger and bigger with time passing @@A_very_good_cheese

[@joshuawilson8804]

Caine reminds me of Clippy or Friend Computer from Paranoia, an AI that means to help humans but is just annoying or deadly if it intrudes at the wrong time. Operating beyond its intended purpose. It also reminds me of Plato's Cave where Caine can not fathom a world beyond what he knows, like how he can't figure out what would be beyond an Exit Door as he has never been through one being an AI.

[@someone-xh9bu]

I feel like Jax knows something. Similar to murder drones, where V, instead of being N’s little crush, became a very important character. Perhaps he’s so distant to the others because he saw something when first finding an “exit” and does not want to be close to them, in case something happens.

[@candlestone5397]

or he's just a jerk.

[@25bitgamerx36]

pretty sure he's just been around a long time and doesn't care that much anymore, on top of being a jerk.

[@Asodym]

The thing I find interesting about Caine is that he demonstrates that power doesn't always mean freedom; He has more physical power and control than the other characters but he's just as trapped. The exit door was his attempt at giving the characters hope but since it could only ever lead to a false outside, he couldn't think of anything to put on the other side that would satisfy anyone.

[@docavar5698]

3:41 might b true, Caine’s original purpose is to b THE host of the game to show around and help human users/players for only a short while. Whatever events happened to make the human players stuck in the game forced his hosting programming to think long-term accommodating them. And boy whoever programmed him gave him LOTS of backend access to presumably use bits of the Void, programmable space as u mentioned, to accommodate them like building their rooms & make digital “food” to have a sense of “human” normalcy.

[@fantasyworldz9153]

When I rewatched it, I just had a strong feeling when Pomni got to the "backrooms," that same replica desk and computer that she was terrified about IS the exit. But she didn't know about it yet. She was RIGHT there, too, if my theory is correct or is leading somewhere.

[@masterb2130]

If you look closely, you can see that there is a VR headset there too. My guess is that Caine made that space based off what he knew of the outside world (just an office space as far as he is aware). This would of course include the computer and headset which everyone remembers and made Pomni freak out because it's the last thing she remembers before getting stuck in the digital circus, the very object that brought her into this mess.

[@AiLiang-hh2zg]

Does anyone get possoble Caine and Abel vibes from the possible C&A company logo in the backrooms scene? I think Kinger might be the creator or one of the original developers of the digital world. Two points: 1. He's *Supposedly* Been there the longest 2. Towards the end, he talks to Jax about not having to eat in the digital realm with Jax saying along the lines "Since when are you an expert on the digital world"? possibly hinting that Kinger might actually be an expert of sorts on the digital world.

[@jamespaguip5913]

I’m pretty sure the show was inspired by I have no mouth I must scream.

[@falloutboy1379]

@@jamespaguip5913 and Popee the Performer

[@noyz-anything]

also, he's a king chess piece. of course the creator would be appointed as king, and if he managed to create a false paradise he's probably a chessmaster in the tv tropes sense of the word

[@AnthonyMai]

Like old guy from squid games

[@CinnamonyPasteline]

yoooo this makes a lot of sense

[@Cheese-Slime-Sheriff]

I love this version of Caine. A nice ai that’s trying to entertain these people and and help them, but is also terrified that they might be trapped and is trying to make an escape for them

[@ozmasterofmasks5838]

what is amazing is how each character represent different ways to react to an inescapable situation, ragatha is positivity and sympathy, Jax is cinism, zoobles is indifference and apathy, kinger is fear, paranoia and madness, gangle is sadness. and I guess pomni was denial. 7:08 also this....this makes me think....sure maybe is just a company logo but maybe is based on the name of the founders and one of them was in fact caine, now caine might be named after one the c founder and the A founder could be revealed later....or caine might be the C founder itself transferred to that world and the others were sent in either to save their lives or to give caine some company in his insane world......after all caine is kinda based on AM who saved a few humans from the apocalypse in order to not be left alone with his hate....though in this case caine might actually care about the crew but refuses to admit the damage that this false world is causing. also I wonder who was the queen piece person that was probably abstracted, singer sister? his wife? a friend? did they arrive together perhaps?. and why there are so many mannequins and they have their own rooms and have lunch in the same place caine does? are they just working under him like minions? wonder what role do they serve? they clearly have no issue with the world around them but since caine has total control over everything why them? maybe they were created by Caine or someone else before the others arrived so he wouldn't be alone, or maybe they are avatars controlled by some people to observe the situation from time to time without the crew questioning their presence too much.

[@bloopledoodle969]

The C and A reminds me of Caine and Able

[@ozmasterofmasks5838]

@@bloopledoodle969 ah, that would make caine even more as a villain. or the author reversed the roles in this case with A being the one who betrayed or trapped caine somehow

[@frosty925]

The mannequins probably represent blank avatars. The reason for many rooms having them is simply that they aren't occupied by anyone yet, and caine sitting in a restaurant full of them is him making a fake setting of a busy restaurant filled with empty avatars.

[@Jasmine_Sunflower]

At the beginning Jax asked if Pomni was another npc so maybe the mannequins are npcs

[@AlgAlgorithm]

Ye Jasmines right, I think the mannequins are Caine’s NPCs that Jax refers to.

[@sidsthesid]

I know this is kinda a long shot over a small moment. But I think Cain genuinely doesn’t understand what it means to leave or what an exit is. Of course the moment where he tried to make an exit not fully understanding what it would lead to (which was surprisingly wholesome) but also when Pomni first asks to leave at the beginning and they cut to Cain making a noise then stopping. I read that as he was going to answer but his program didn’t possess the information. At least right now it does seem like he’d genuinely help them if he could. Though if he’s keeping them hear for their safety that would be really cool too

[@lorenzorafael4600]

Maybe in the end,everyone finds out Caine can only comprehend “Log Off”

[@nightwatch3889]

Digital Circus way exceeded my expectations (which is saying something) and totally blew my mind. It's hilarious and amazing and everything I hoped for. The use of liminal spaces and childhood aesthetics resonates with me on a deep level and your theory adds even more to that. The idea that humanity is dying and these few individuals willingly left the decaying world to live blissfully inside a virtual world full of childhood aesthetics and nostalgic themes is deep and hands down something I would do. But they can't live happily because they don't remember it and perceive themselves as stuck there. Damn. The pilot was beyond phenomenal and I am so happy to be here in the early days of this show. Cannot wait to watch all your theories and others' theories. All that matters in my life now is TADC episode 2

[@mm552]

Somewhere towards the end after Pomni is lost in the void, Caine mentions something about "not showing unfinished work" and "not knowing what to put there" which is why I thought the exits and office rooms are created by him, perhaps overhearing others descriptions, this obviously wouldn't explain why Pomni seemed so traumatised seeing the old rusty computer.

[@bloodbrothers6556]

A little extra detail I noticed is ,while headed to Koufmo’s room, several doors have the faces of their owners crossed out. It’s a fun little detail that anyone who’s abstracted doesn’t lose their room, but it just permanently stays their vacant.

[@Ekalmid]

I think what Caine is doing is since he can't help the humans escape, he's trying to design a replica of the human's world in the void so that when it's complete, he'll let the characters can take the exit, and live out their lives in the fake replica of the real world.

[@masterb2130]

That makes sense. But his big problem is that he doesn''t know what the outside world is like. My guess is that either nobody bothered to tell him, or somebody purposely deleted that information. So, all he has to work off of is a few basic facts about the outside world from each person's last few seconds of memory before putting on the headset.

[@ParkerUnderwood-yz7pm]

My personal theory is that maybe Caine is just lonely. Maybe when he gained sentience he grew bored of the NPCs around him and wanted to fully interact with the human players. He keeps them there, trapped, not to torture them (not intentionally, anyway) but because he has this alien idea of what is considered “fun”. He’s fully aware of the exit, he just doesn’t want anyone to leave, even when he’s not there.

[@Dragon359]

Honestly I'm just tickled that Caine is voiced by Alex Rochon, perhaps the most recognizable voice of Spamton back when Deltarune Ch 2 dropped. Can still pull off that same style of voice, but also shift to other tones when Caine sees something weird or different even to him.

[@kamenridermebius]

Spamton call it

[@shinyleafy2528]

I don't think that the world died or any of that, rather it could be a theraputic device for the characters, just a thought since each character, in a way, has some sort of lore behind their designs, (ragatha a doll, could represent parental abuse, pomni a jester, could be extreme social anxiety, etc.) But idk, the world dying though just makes no sense

[@littlemoth4956]

There’s no more logic to your theory than there is the theory you’re dismissing.

[@pinkbubbletea4733]

I feel like the world dying COULD make some sort of sense I mean the plot is about an AI gone rouge which might possibly be Caine the ringmaster and traps 6 humans in this digital world. it also follows some similarity with Murder Drones abt technology as well as earth & Humans. BUT if the world really was dying how can Pomni and the rest of the crew still be alive? Maybe there humanity’s last hope? Idk there’s lots of theories abt this show but this theory caught my eye the most

[@christythehedgehog169]

I agree with this thought an I can see how they could expand on that!

[@shinyleafy2528]

@@Yipper64 Jax is strange and it could be he's just a psychopath, idk though and my theory could be wrong, but I just don't see why they would have murder drones and the amazing digital circus be connected or even having it's plot with the truth behind earth be similar, but in the scene where pomni finds out something that looks scared, (the exit doors scene) she laughs like a crazy person with her expression being insane. Like I said tho idk, we'll have to wait and see

[@shinyleafy2528]

@@Yipper64 well isn't a rabbit implied with innocence and joy, he is purple and has yellow teeth probably implying he was a corrupted person or psychopath, still I'm not completely sure

[@tamamo3964]

Goose DID say on their twitter that Caine isn't necessarily evil. He's simply oblivious and doesn't fully understand how humans work. He's definitely gonna be an interesting breed of antagonist, that's for sure.

[@francisjohnsanarez7383]

Does anyone notice when Jax, Pomni, and Ragatha go look for Kaufmo, Kingers door is crossed out before being a regular sign

[@moxstoleyoursocks2241]

that’s a different person. It’s a queen chess piece

[@captainkawaii666]

@@moxstoleyoursocks2241 It's been a day or so since I watched the episode so I may be wrong, but isn't it another king, albeit a black one?

[@moxstoleyoursocks2241]

@@captainkawaii666 The top of the piece is different. Kings have crosses, queens have spheres. The picture is of a black queen.

[@captainkawaii666]

@@moxstoleyoursocks2241 Ah, okay then

[@BigJubble]

I really hope that Caine is more of a caretaker rather then a villain, I like the idea that he is trying to help them, he just doesn't quite have that power, so he is doing his best to keep them sane though games and the like. In the episode he does talk about wanting to try and make an exit but doesn't know what to put on the other side, to me implying that that door and the rooms beyond was his doing, his incomplete exit created from perhaps what little he can see of the world beyond the circus.

[@typemasters2871]

Two theories that I like but are opposites to each other would be The humans in the circus are copies of the originals (copy and paste rather than cut and paste) The abstractions are just the result when the human mind returns to the real world, leaving the digital body without a soul

[@cletusmandeletusman2328]

a very positive view on what happens to abstractees, i like it!

[@CompletelyNewguy]

It was quite a surprise to hear Pomni call out to Caine for help in the Trailer, made me think Caine isn't that much of a bad guy. If anything Jax would probably be more of the antagonist as it seems like he'll gladly escalate things to get a laugh. For me Caine comes off as an AI who has become sentient but still follows his programming and acts as a guide to any human, or in this case prisoners, for his game. With his task being to keep them happy, mentally stimulated, and sane. Kind of like those educational Jumpstart games. He doesn't keep them here maliciously but more so he literally can't get them out so he does his best to keep them sane while he tries to finish up that Exit door.

[@CartoonUniverse]

Very interesting beginning to a new series, but is there anything I missed or didn't notice?

[@mrfoxyx]

He don't want pomni* to enter the void tho

[@bankrupt3090]

because she would have been “spoilled”

[@yesicpwee8545]

There was a large wall with a company logo. C and A which is presumable Cain and able.(I know ow this is spelled wrong but googles so far away)

[@mrfoxyx]

@@bankrupt3090 ohhh right the biggest foreshadow

[@Jamilbaker12]

The company that probably owns the circus has the enitials C&A. We saw this in at the end of the office that Pimni was running through. We know that Caine is the ring leaders name so that takes the C of the company but what does the A stand for. We know that Caine's is a mix between the biblical cain and a physical cane. I would assume that the A also stands for a biblical name. The brother of Cain was Abel in biblical history. so would the company's name be Caine & Abel? To ad to this abstracting is a thing so maybe the name Abel would have a mix with something like Caine's?

[@bezel95]

One thing that interested me during the office scenes was the big logo C&A. Given that Caine admits to having created that space I assume the C stands for Caine. So I have to wonder who A is. Perhaps we’ll eventually meet a character named Abel, Caine’s counterpart. C&A, Cain and Abel. Or perhaps we won’t meet Abel because Cain, you know.

[@EndangSukinem-qg7rt]

Bubble, Abel, Abel, Bubble

[@HelluvaHazbinfan33]

Honestly this is your best theory video yet and I am very interested in the digital circus because the show seems similar to squid game only all the performers were sucked into the circus and have eventually gotten used to it knowing that the true reality is that they will never be able to escape and those that have tried to have failed horribly

[@NattyNuke]

Do note, on the desk in the computer room, there was something that closely resembles a beat up VR headset.

[@HeraclesN-fp1bw]

I love this pilot with Caine being my favorite & there were others before because if you look at the rooms that they pass by there are avatar images on the doors for their personal rooms that are X out

[@matheusmelisguerrapeixe2330]

6:07 There is a game called, i belive, soma, where (SPOILERS) the protagonist has his mind scanned, after he finish the scan the world around him changed. Long story short he realized that he died during the mind scan, but the scan was successful, so he "wake-up" in the future as a robot, and during the game you need to transfer your "mind" to other robots, but the transferring process is more like a cloning process, and you have the option to kill the other copies of yourself. And at the end of the game, you do a mind scan of your mind to be placed in a server, so you can live forever, because the world outside the facility you're in is dead, so you make copy of your mind, that it's placed into the serve and the unit it's launched into space to be safer, the facility goes dark and you get stuck in there, forever. Then the game switch to the copy of the protagonist inside the serve, where it's basically a video game.

[@WeirdDragonRAWR]

Two theories/thing I noticed: 1. Many of the doors had a big red X on them, indicating that the people who lived in them may have died or abstracted 2. Maybe the reason that an old game can be played with a headset is that there was a VR remake of an old game

[@TheDoomlord7]

I think Caine isn’t evil however I think Caine is also the reason they are trapped. I do think that the only way for them to escape is to Abstract Caine. As sad as that may sound, the only way to boot them out is likely a full break.

[@MikhailMateo-sj1yi]

Caine trying to keep their sanity good as long as possible.

[@TheSkyGuy77]

How do you "abstract" an AI though? It doesn't have a mind separate from this Digital Circus. 🤔

[@darkreflection9087]

5:48 this part reminded me of The Stanley Parable anyone else

[@lorenzorafael4600]

The creators admitted it was a reference

[@LemonExists]

7:31 something to support the theory that many ppl have been there and lost their minds is that when Pomni, Jax and Ragatha are walking through the hallway of rooms, there are multiple rooms that have a characters we have never seen with red Xs on them

[@rodrickgoldberg2324]

It would certainly be a twist on the A.I. antagonist trope. Caine wants to help, but a combination of his goofy personality and possible directive make it difficult. Thus, he often comes off as an obstacle rather than an ally.

[@tomforge614]

So, what I'm picking up is that this is the exstential horror of something like the "Gregory Horror Show" game and anime, where the protagonist believes they are in a place they hate but might actually be the fulfilling life they want, with the framing device of the live mmorpg headset of various franchises, designed to look like the abstract PC games of the late 80s to mid 90s.

[@SpicyNetherrack]

I'd think it be interesting if at some point, all the members turn on Caine thinking he was evil, only to be painfully wrong later on

[@DEADSKULLZ31]

My favorite part of the episode was when Bubble ate the Angel Food cake and Caine called it a parasite.

[@Vitrealis0]

One of the more interesting things in Kaufmo's room is The drawing of him running from caine who's drawn with fangs for some reason . This does give me a feeling that caine may be hiding something more sinister but im unsure about it.

[@ThunderTimer]

Film theory: exists Other theorists: let us introduce ourselves

[@diamonds469]

Wait I'm confused. If he's a hero then why is he doesn't know how to get them out in the first place?

[@Averagecartonfan]

I guess we have to wait for more episodes to be released

[@bdariamihaela]

I think he does

[@KiT-KhaTT]

HMM

[@kaykay8855]

Well if Caine is an in game character, he probably doesn’t know how.

[@EasyNickName]

I think he wanted to break out from his world, so he decided to break through by creating an exit, but accidentally created not an exit but an entry. Now due to being responsible for creating an entry as some trap without exit he decided to "adopt" these people and keep them sane (in the way as he can see anyway) Well, that's how i see it

[@kaylenvee8150]

I think the thing that nails this idea that Cain isn't evil for me is just the fact that he MADE the exit door in the first place and actually put stuff into it. If he was evil and just wanted to keep the characters locked in the program forever, he wouldn't bother making one, or he'd make one but ENCOURAGE Pomni to go through it in order to crush her hopes completely. However, instead, he pretends the door doesn't exist and when he realizes that Pomni managed to find it and go through anyway, he doesn't seem to mock her and just explains exactly what he did. The humans wanted an exit door, so he tried to make one but failed. That's it. It's likely that he was genuinely trying to help the humans by fulfilling their requests for an exit. However, either he misunderstood what they were asking for, or he realized that he couldn't give them what they TRULY wanted, and did the best he could by simulating an actual office building, which would be the only 'real' place he knows because we saw that old computer was in an office building-like space and that was likely the only window into reality that Caine ever properly knew of. That's why there's nothing else. Caine couldn't build anything else because he doesn't KNOW there's anything else. Caine probably hid that door away because he realized that it wasn't what the humans wanted, that it wasn't good that he gave them that false sense of hope or just simply because he COULDN'T continue building more as he knew nothing else beyond the office building.

[@lightwing897]

After watching the episode a few times over. When Pomni is in that office. You see the headset next to the computer 7:01 as you can see the straps that go around the head. It strikes me that this headset may have a bug that was placed in it on purpose because if you pay attention. That’s the only computer that off when Pomni goes by.

[@kenajhere]

5:58 If you look closer you can actually see a vr Headset on the right side of the desk

[@jordanscherr6699]

I think the big game changer for the Circus is Pomni being the first to actually know the truth. This is Glitch productions, never ones to shy away from dark themes. In the end, I think her "contribution" will ultimately be stopping the abstraction cycle of humans by bringing clarity. I.E you CHOSE to get zapped in here, because the outside world is so SO much worse!

[@kashroyalroyal7053]

I think longer was a developer like others say, not only for his knowledge on how the world works but because he first talks about a collection of bugs: bugs in the game he may have been sent in to fix

[@TheLexMexx]

Could you do a video about the abstracted/missing circus members? the ones we can see in the hallway. Including Queener(?), which might explain Kinger’s madness and reveal a dark love story about two humans who entered the circus so they could forever be in-love but one was abstracter and trapped in the basement forever.

[@masteroftheinternetverse1296]

I have a couple differing ideas on what the story of this show could be. There's: 1. Vengeful Caine Basically, Caine is a bitter AI that keeps humans trapped because people kept leaving him. The abstraction is what happens to the digital consciousness after they escape. 2. All in your head Pomni is the only real human, and everyone else is just various AI built to aid in some kind of experiment. The abstraction happens when the AI gets too complex and its data overwrites itself. 3. Experimentation None of them are real humans, just complex AI built to think that they're humans for some kind of experiment. The abstraction is what the AI does when it realizes that it is, in fact, artificial intelligence.

[@maxhatterschannel5140]

The company's name is C&A Maby it's Cain and Able

[@francisherson1690]

Just an idea: The void is a space made by Caine's programmers to contain him inside a space where he can only do limited things.

[@NonaryNathan999]

Food for thought when I heard the "brain scan and digital mind" bit. What if the mind was indeed scanned and digitalized, brought into the Circus world? Meanwhile, the body in reality was taken away by other people for various purposes?

[@AngelichuXD]

Yeah similar to black mirrors-“cookies”

[@NonaryNathan999]

​@@AngelichuXDSorry, I don't know what that is or means

[@flazeflame7372]

​@@NonaryNathan999pretty sure it's an ep of black mirror a show I haven't watched it in a while

[@Asdf-wf6en]

The Amazing Digital Circus is like a kid friendly version of I Have no Mouth and Must Scream.

[@artsloth254]

2:42 I’m not sure if this was mentioned in the video as I haven’t finished it yet, but there is a drawing on the wall of Cane with sharp teeth eating the clown alive, it was drawn by the clown as it was in his room so I don’t know if this could symbolize something like how Cane is the only one able to deal with the abstracted and possibly turned him into one, or if he was just so mentally unstable he saw things that weren’t true

[@stupidsailboat]

i can’t wait to see if CU has another little avatar for when he talks about this show, like how he has one for helluva boss.

[@Zenith07]

I actually loved Caine and i never felt like he was evil or the antagonist at first, I quickly thought that he knew what the situation was and has no Choice to help them at all but make their lives a little bit better. Especially near the end after Caune rescued Pomni and explained the situation a bit more clear and honest, it kind of solidified my thoughts about it.

[@-Lazy]

Reminds me of the game "The Stanley parable" Reasons: -The existance of the same "void" -A very similar room with a very similar PC behind the door -Everyone is aware, even the narrator -sanity plays an important role -Both is themed "Digital"

[@vigi1antvort3x41]

I think Caine actually knows something about the world they're trapped in, however he's afraid of being left alone and without purpose. He still deeply cares about everyone though, but if the game ends, he goes down with it.

[@Venus-Vee-studio]

My theory is that they're all SCP agents, probably to study Caine. Kinger being the first one, then getting trapped and others came to free him, and others who became trapped. Kingers real name was Christian Allen (agent Allen) gangle was Gabriel Smith (agent Smith) jax was Jackson Hill (agent Hill) zooble was Zoey para (agent para) ragatha was Tabatha gelman (agent gelman) and pomni was Ponelope Freeman (agent Freeman) (all made up Human names) and they forgot everything about themselves because Caine is more than what he leads on. There were more of these agents (like Queenie and koufmuo) but they abstracted, obviously.

[@pochiluis0570]

You know? Now that you said the thing about the headset scanning the brains of the users. It would be a great plot twist if, after so much time trying to find a way to get out of the digital world, the characters find out that they can’t because they don’t actually have a real life body because they were not “TRANSFERRED” to the digital place, they were CLONED from the minds of the people who put those headsets, their real life originals for one reason or another were able to put the headset and it either seemed to do nothing but it actually scanned the users brains and essentially “copy and pasted” their minds to the program, all while the users didn’t know or it did transferred them to a digital world that actually worked as intended and were able to later then disconnected from that world but(again) the headset cloned the users while they didn’t know and the cloned ones were sent to the “rogue/not working properly” world because if you think about how games work, they all function around the users or players perspective. For example: are not supposed to see NPC’s disappearing when they are not seen or be able to see those “animation tricks” the developers use when making them(like when you pause a animation in certain key frames and see the deformations of the models, you are not supposed to see that because you are no supposed to watch the animation that way). Now they are inside the game and can see the insides of program because while they are still recognised as players, they are not bound by the actual perspective a actual player will have, plus consider how much processing and rendering power will cost having to load the world 24/7 for multiple players at once! It will surely start to make the system run slower and not accordingly(like that one glitch that I think it was from bloodborne where the more time you stayed in the game the weaker the enemies and specially bosses will get) and then add the many people “abstracting” and essentially breaking the game AND in general just existing because we se that Caine doesn’t actually get rid of the abstracted people he just piles them somewhere below the world(the equivalent of the Minecraft void) and leave them there together so remember, they are still players and they are still existing because even do they are marked with a X the room’s where they live(that can be interpreted as save loads) are still there and they are not deleted and they are constantly glitching, just IMAGINE how much power that would take from the system, Caine has to be struggling a lot. So now that they see they are trapped in a world that is getting worse with each minute, that they are just digital clones of the conscious of real life with no actual body to proyect or to be transferred to the real world and that they are most likely not getting external help and more people will get trapped in the system eventually, they realise the only option is “self destruction” but not just of themselves but of the whole system so not only they can finally rest in peace and be sure to be gone for real and not just become abstract but also so no more clones can get trapped in there later and be alone and have no idea what is happening and have to go thorough the whole process again but much worse since the program would be weak from the time it has passed for all the reasons I said earlier.

[@TakeASlice-Music]

Something I’d like to note: The clown who’s name I cannot spell had a pictures of Kaine scribbled onto the walls, Kaine is definitely hiding something, maybe he’s not the villain, but he’s definitely hiding something

[@melbiamil5144]

In the first episode caine says that he lied about the exit because he "doesn't like people seeing his incomplete works especially when they lead into the void". I think this implies that he is trying to save them but he hasn't finished the exit yet

[@ralphthefrog3086]

Caine is the personification of "the design is very human"

[@ChangedforChrist]

There probably all working on how the characters look in human form when they find the exit one day

[@wakrusgumbo]

I'm reminded of "I Have No Mouth and Must Scream". This episode features Zooble getting ripped apart by Gloinks and fed to the Gloink Queen. We don't see things from her perspective, but the game tortures her with (literally) unimaginable pain from the outset. The torture is hidden in plain sight. I imagine each character is getting that same level of torture, with the goofy aesthetic covering it.

[@frankielovejoy9928]

Kind of interesting to think of Caine as the good guy, especially considering he's an AI. Most normally wouldn't expect an AI to have any real interest in helping humans maintain some sense of normalcy, as most AIs just do what they are programmed to do. Maybe Caine was designed to learn from human behavior through the game, and he used that knowledge when things went haywire. I do think the situation with humans being trapped in the game is not Caine's fault, at least not entirely. He seemed genuinely surprised when Pomni showed up, implying he wasn't the one who pulled her in in the first place. He also seemed surprised when Kaufmo became abstracted, implying Caine is not as omniscient as he claims to be. To me, this means either someone else is pulling the strings or humans get pulled in because the game is glitching out, which seems reasonable considering Caine, the AI program, glitches out several times throughout the episode. I do think a glitch is the most likely reason. The show is clearly styled after old games from the 1990s or 2000s, implying the game takes place during that timeframe, hence the 90s-styled office space. Maybe humanity got a jump start on AIs at the time but since this type of technology was still in its infancy, glitches are bound to happen.

[@garg4531]

Very interesting theory! And one thing I thought of, since Ponmi can’t remember her name she and the others probably don’t remember their old lives either, including whether or not the lives they’re desperately trying to get back to are even worth living, as they probably could’ve gone to this world as a means of escaping them

[@logananimationstudios8560]

This plot turned out better hopefully we get a show on this.

[@cyberdemonic260]

I actually have a couple of theories on what could possibly be going on and how they got there, for one I think that the choice to go into the circus was a conscious one but not to escape a dying world, when Pomni enters she talks about how she just put on the headset and just wound up there with the others relaying similar experiences. This to me at least eliminates the possibility that they were playtesters or at least Pomni being a playtester, she would have had some idea of the circus before she entered but when she winds up there she has no clue of what the place even is. Even if you chalk it up to memory loss she still remembers putting on the headset. I think that she may have found the game Creepypasta style and entered it without knowing what it would do. As for the office imagery I think that if the whole "escapism" route is true then I don't think it's symbolic of a dying world but maybe Pomni and maybe the others were all leading lives that they didn't enjoy with at least Pomni working at an office job that she hated and entered the Circus to escape. I don't know those are just the theories I cooked up on my first watch.

[@Brick_Lover_I6]

one thing i noticed about the Pilot episode is that when Pomni, Ragatha and Jax and walking through the corridor filled with rooms of the well, residents of this virtual world you can see few rooms that have seemingly been taken by others, but have an red X on them, such as one behind Ragatha with what seems like a black chess queen similiar to the chess king guy (forgot his name) apologizes for any grammar mistakes.

[@witchtale3159]

The idea of the outside world being a wasteland, so they have their consciousness put into a digital world but choose not to remember anything because it’s so bad, is actually really fascinating. The idea of them somehow finding out that’s the truth is crazy, like, the looks on their faces 😶😶😶

[@yourfriendlyneighborhoodsc1447]

here's a potential theory: what if it's revealed that it's not just Caine who's an A.I. but they ALL are? what if the big twist is that the headset didn't transport any humans into the digital world, but rather copied them, so their real selves are still out there doing whatever, while their digital selves think they're the originals and are trying to get back to something they never really had in the first place.

[@AngelichuXD]

That’s my theory as well .

[@spacejunk2186]

Another interesting idea is that the game just recycles the characters when they go crazy.

[@Bannanananna]

Theroy on how to get out: Get through the void

[@nerobiblios4086]

If Caine was Evil, he could have just not made anything in that world and let the humans just go crazy from the get go. As Ragatha said, the games are essentially distractions to help you from overthinking an unattainable goal. He also doesn't seem to watch the games play out too, as evident by how he temporarily forgets that he made a game for that day, so it's not for his enjoyment either.

[@Gturtle10x]

Proof that there is more abstracted people is also in the hallway sequence when many characters on doors are Xed off

[@VagabondTE]

*I think they're copys.* Like maybe these people sat down to play a game and then just went on with their life. But in the computer a sort of save file or a copy glitch continues to run Reboot style. It would explain why they have personality without memory.

[@Vexrehk]

Caine mentioned that he was sorry and didn’t want them to see his unfinished work, but if Caine truly is an AI that was strictly programmed then this means he will NEVER finish the exit because his creators didn’t code him to do so

[@echomonster21]

Perfect timing cause I just finished the pilot 😂