TF2: The Final Comic's Biggest Reveals... And Unanswered Questions

[@Casperr]

I haven't been this excited to make TF2 videos in *literally* years! 😭Which of the below would you most like to see next? 🔵 A deep dive into the census & genealogy records 🔴 The COMPLETE Team Fortress timeline 🟣 Meet the Manns - a profile of every member of the Mann Family

[@yoshikagekira1337]

🔴

[@frugon2999]

Honestly, make all three no matter in which order, I want to see them all!

[@Cornejo1015]

🔴

[@setoadhi9040]

What does TF industries stand for?

[@originalramen7152]

All of the above

[@flazzorb]

I think the idea of the administrator's plan being "bad for the world" is that she is permanently destroying the entire world's known supply of a wonder material for effectively no reason.

[@Nebularban]

She had a reason... She just forgor 💀

[@TheDragonfriday]

​@@Nebularbanshe continues wasting for no reason

[@coolersnoipah173]

women

[@newturtle3]

It was hinted long ago that grey mann said the administrator could not be trusted and that he could have changed the world if he had access to all that australium reserves. It was also heavily implied admin was nuts from start Oh explosions deaths same old same old Pffff 2 enemies are getting too chummy with each other *activate plan make them both enemies again*

[@tomorbataar5922]

8:06 I think it implies the Administrator herself doesn't even remember. It's so long ago she can't remember the specifics of her parents death, perhaps it doesn't even matter to her at this point, all that's important is that Zepheniah must pay.

[@knocked_for_six]

I personally took it in another direction which could also fit; She had 3 sets of parents, all killed by Mann Co. shenanegans.

[@Casperr]

I agree that from the perspective of the in-universe narrative she has genuinely forgot... But the reason the writers CHOSE to make her forget is what I was trying to make a point about. To her, originally, it REALLY mattered, even if she forgot all those years later. But to us? The speculation over all these years was what mattered, having an actual answer in the end would partly ruin all that fun, so why give one? All we really need to know in the end was: she real mad.

[@people174]

@@knocked_for_six yeah same thats a tf2 answer

[@BrunoMaricFromZagreb]

@@Casperr The final comic was RELEASED just TWO WEEKS AGO!?How the FCCK did I not learn this till RIGHT NOW!?

[@vxpdx]

It also strangely goes well with her different identities, Elizabeth, Helen and Emily. Maybe it has something to do with the stories she came up for each identity, all having the tragic tale of the death of her parents in some form.

[@bennie1079]

my personal canon is that Zephiniah not only killed her biological parents, but also 2 pairs of adopted parents as well. That could also partially explain why the administrator had many names. Because she lived in many families as a girl, possibly with many different identies.

[@Percy-Jackson-15-846]

🤯 That's actually a brilliant way to interpret the covers!!!

[@bennie1079]

@ thank you

[@Chuck_Normies]

I think it's just a representation of a thing that administrator started forgetting about reason for her revenge. Firstly she started forgetting how exactly her parents were killed and after all that time she forgot why is she even doing all of that. Multiple names should be used to hide the fact that she lives much longer than any normal human being and also hide her actual origin in the eyes of Mann family.

[@Percy-Jackson-15-846]

@Chuck_Normies . Well, that might actually be the case, but bennie's head canon also explains why The administrator has such a vendetta against Zephiniah. It's one thing to have your parents be killed by someone, it's another to have it happen two more times by the same killer.

[@bennie1079]

No matter which head canon you follow though, there’s still the question of why Zeph would do this in the first place?

[@stormstrikerpro]

I see everyone always interpret Hale’s last line as an invitation to live forever, but for me, I see it as the opposite. To me, he says it in a jokingly bewildered way, confused at the notion that someone would want to. It reads to me as a final goodbye, a “we both knew we this would end someday”. To die in a blaze of glory rather than slowly wither away. I can very much appreciate it as a notion that TF2 will continue to live on, but with the comics motif of letting go, I see at as a final send off. And what a send off it was. TF2 will always be something magical, something unreplicable, something timeless. But all great things must come to close, because at the end of the day, why would you want to live forever? Thank you TF2, for everything

[@Kinsect101]

I saw it as a final way of going when I first was it.

[@woof-io]

This can be applied to so many things people have grown up with. Would you rather go out and say goodbye in a blaze of glory? Like the Beatles? The Lord of the Rings? Back To The Future? The Guardians of the Galaxy? Your favorite youtuber who put out their final video saying goodbye? Or would you rather keep it alive as long as you can, deteriorating the integrity and the impact of what it originally meant to you? Like Star Wars? Marvel? The Simpsons? The Walking Dead? Your childhood Disney Movies? That one youtuber you still follow, but has fallen into obscurity and posts YT kids content to artificially keep up with the algorithm, even though their time has long since passed? I'm glad though that TF2 is probably not going to end up like all these other movies, games, and other stuff that's gone on for way too long just for the sake of money and reminiscing- when they should've ended a long time ago. The comic itself is putting a neat big bow on top to end off the story, and on the buzz that the game still generates when it comes to "when's the new update? when's the new lore, when will we get new weapons?" All that would be nice, but the game's lived past it's prime, and it won't ever reach that prime ever again- but it's still going to be around for us to savor and enjoy while we can, to look back on the memories- because not everything lasts forever.

[@Handlelesswithme]

I see it as this. Saxton Hale is facing tough odds so jokingly says: you didn’t want to live forever did you As in he meant “we’re dying hope you ain’t disappointed”

[@Casperr]

I feel it can be read with both extremes TBH, that's why I wanted to leave the end of the video kind of open as well. It's like... 1. Do you want to live forever? Yes, I do so I will continue playing this game and telling this story until the end of time 2. Do you want to live forever? No, I don't... but damn if we didn't have an amazing journey to get here

[@RobloxSteve]

honestly, i feel like this comics motif of letting go is also them telling us that the heavy update is sadly not ever gonna happen lol

[@Chord_]

For the genealogy records, I think that was either: a dropped plot point that got lost in the 8 year shuffle, or maybe some attempt of Gray's to find out about the Administrator's parents, who are almost certainly the impetus for everything. He THINKS she's planning something big and world ending, but doesn't what it is, or why she's doing it. To him, finding out more of her history could potentially answer at least one of those questions. As for why he's looking in 1850 records... ehhh, continuity hiccup? As for the mystery person in the middle of the family photograph, I'm 100% confident in saying that it was SUPPOSED to be Gray, or at least the character that would develop into Gray. It was a character who, either by willfully leaving the Mann family and its squabbles behind, or by being disowned by the family, left for their own ventures, only returning in the modern day with their Machine army. But when they eventually settled on Gray being abducted by eagles at birth and presumed dead, that naturally made it irreconcilable with that photo, so they quietly dropped it. If they were ever to "reveal" the whole photo, it'd probably be, like, the photographer using the first ever selfie stick or something.

[@heheheiamasuperstarwarrior9281]

Nope yeah no you You're right Inventor of the selfie stick

[@leviathanthetallone8299]

I think gray might have wanted to revive her parents to use them as hostage to talk the administration down

[@thespringlock1794]

9:02 Thats the thing, he *isn’t* an only child. His whole family’s tradition is built upon one sibling rising above the others to claim their fortune as champions, while the others are discarded (after dying early). Neither Zepheniah nor Silas died early, which poses a problem for Zeph’s position as a Mann. Idk how Zeph feels about Silas, but he may just be saying that to hide the fact that he is a living contradiction to his family’s precious tradition and to save his pride from being compromised in front of his new maidservant. Also, some other mysteries that weren’t brought up here that I’m left asking: - What happened to TFC Engie? Was he killed offscreen? If so, who was continuing to activate the robots after TFC Sniper’s death in TNaTD? Is he related to Dell (Is/Was he Dell’s father?) - What happened to TFC Medic? Did he leave the team or die? Also man it sure would be nice if anyone had any proof of the whole “Emily” thing outside of word-of-mouth.

[@addchannelname2052]

I think it's implied spy backstabbed him and disguised as him or used the YER

[@Casperr]

A couple of interesting extra mysteries there for sure! The whole "Team Fortress Classic" gang is certainly more interesting now we know more about what Fortress means. It implies that they were formerly a complete team who worked for the Administrator before our team... But I don't think that was how it was written originally given that the whole team name thing was something only decided with this comic. With regards to relation to our Engie, I think not - even in the Catch-Up Comic, the Engie is completely different - www.teamfortress.com/catchup/#f=14 and Dell's granddad Radigan doesn't look like he was a merc for an earlier team. Him (and presumably his son) worked directly for Red/Blu, and it's possible our Engie is the first one to actually join the merc squad.

[@Casperr]

Also whilst researching this I found this Korean blog post from two weeks after Loose Canon's release. If you use an image translator (or ask a Korean friend) the phonetic translation here is... Emily! blog.naver.com/xjrldia/10090302033 BUT I also found a Spanish translation posted only a couple of days after Loose Canon and that said Elizabeth 😅 It's 100% possible that the origin of Emily is a Korean mistranslation. It's also possible that this person saved the pages when the were new, the English was corrected, but this translator never knew that and posted their translation of the original text some time later. I think the truth is genuinely lost to time - if anyone can find actual proof of Emily in the English comic I would love to see it!

[@thespringlock1794]

@@Casperr Huh, that’s pretty neat. Hopefully someone finds the Emily Cut in English. Also yeah, I imagine TFC was the original/previous “Team Fortress” before they got blacklisted from TFI for one reason or another, being replaced by a team somehow more “incompetent”, which is what inspired them to go rogue once Admin was vulnerable. Also, if Fred isn’t Dell’s father (which the photo on the Engineer Update page made me think), who was? While there had been some particular wording about Engie’s “family” working for Admin, Engie directly mentions in Comic 7 that his father worked for her. (Also noticing that the translation says that Barnabus is from Austria. lol.)

[@spoy6606]

@@Casperr Now about that Engie thing, in a small picture from the Engineer Update page, we can see the TF2 Engie and his Father. The Father looks exactly like the Classic Engineer, he has the same cigar, clothes and all.

[@SuperCaitball]

I think something we're missing from the ending of the comic is pretty important. Saxton says, "Fist-fighting all these *cheetahs* managed to attract more *cheetahs!"* I think they very deliberately chose to use _cheetahs_ for a very specific reason. This comic came relatively soon after the bot crisis finally had its first real official response from Valve. It may just be as simple as a basic HWID ban, but it was effective. They've officially started fist-fighting the che[a]t[er]s, and they've acknowledged that this might just be a continuous war against them as a result... _but they'd rather go down swinging_ than simply just accept defeat. I think that's what they meant by having Hale end it with "You wanna live forever?"

[@vulagopes]

Also, note that at the end Saxton is fighting cheetahs, referring to the "cheaters" - what a game ✨

[@brown-eyedcheese5440]

omg

[@Dimitri9511]

As Joker said one time during the whole monologue of "The Killing Joke": "...Something like that happened to me you kno'... not exactly sure how it was. Sometimes i remember it one way, sometimes another. If I'm going to have a past I'll preferred it to be multiple choice..."

[@evilcrucian8989]

Just one more thing I wanted to add about Saxton Hale's final words which other people apparently didn't catch. The plot of TF2 comics resolves around a group of people with immortality machines, them wanting to live forever and achieving their's fanatical goals. Yet non succeeded. But what about the mortal characters of the story? Our mercs, people of 2fort, Bidwell and Reddy, Saxton Hale and others? Their always had the limited lifetime, yet their lived the lives through to the fullest, enjoying most of it. So maybe the point of life is not living as long as possible to achieve unachievable, but rather taking that short time you have and making sure this short period matters. So I'll ask you again. You wanna live forever?

[@J_Bernard]

for the picture that started it all, i like to imagine that the mann in the middle is tf2's G-man (hear me out) we see him on the ripped parts of the photo, and his shoulder is on the height of Redmund mann, but in the photo where soldier is holding it the figure that had his shoulder at the height of Redmund is now gone, i like to imagine that his trace on the photo had just been wiped off from existence, or it could represent us, the viewer but who knows i'm just a jester, jester bernard

[@Casperr]

Hey I'm not gonna poo-poo the G-man idea. Portal and Half-Life are the same universe, why not the rest of the Orange Box, too? Heck, G-man moves BETWEEN universes, so even if TF2 stands alone that still doesn't eliminate him!

[@adamnakamura8003]

@Casperr “I… suppose you might’ve… not had a… reason to begin with… Administrator… By the time you had tricked his sons into a lifetime of war, ending… unceremoniously, ultimately… you had decided it was enough… that… you’d ultimately benefit from them through their companies… “But that is beside the point! What you call… Australium… is no longer in circulation… though… it still exists… just not in public knowledge, anymore… That… may sound unfortunate to you, but as you have chosen to… go down with the ship, as it were… you choose to break our contract… but… as you’ve kept it for so long… I’ll grant your rival the same fate I give you… “That should be a… welcome conclusion to your… dept…”

[@mistermoo7602]

​@@Casperr I've always been a fan of the interpretation that G-Man is just an in-universe manifestation of the VALVe and the people creating and guiding the game world. It fits even all the way back to HL1.

[@heinrichze-france4089]

​@Casperr considering how technically we have a slight confirmation of Aperture being a thing in the tf2 universe through some promotional items for portal 2, I'd say it's valid.

[@AdamGothCroc]

"You wanna live forever?" My answer is- Nothing lasts forever, but it was all worth it. TF2 is a lightening in a bottle. It struck at the perfect time and kickstarted an Online FPS phenomenon and beyond. It brought the most wholesome community into the world, and as someone who is in their early 30's creeping neigh into their mid 30's. I been there from the start, and 17 years later? Whether TF2 thrives forever or not? I been apart and witnessed a revolution that has rocked the very foundation of online gaming, I feel blessed with all the friends and memories over the years. I will cherish my time with TF2 forever. TF2 may not live forever, but it's mark and the memories will live on forever.

[@elaynadiedinside]

I'm 99% possitive the person in the middle of the picture was Gray, but things played out differently with the way he was revealed and whatnot that it just never made sesne to show him in the picture. It doesn't even make sense for him to be there because the lore changed from whatever Valve originally had, things happen

[@Generic_Phantom]

Could also be pyro. Although that's just a gut feeling

[@shaggyrogers8869]

Nah, it’s the G-Man

[@hapytreefriends78]

I think it's supposed to be one of the Darlings, given how the mother of Redmond,Blutarch, and Gray was a Darling, the man wore green suit, current day Darling wears a green suit as well. Curiously, Olivia also wears green, so she may be a Darling whom Gray adopted.

[@manmonster3932]

so basically, tf2 comics started as "let's write a story!" and ended up as "hey, let's fuck with the community of this game, it will be funny trust me" at least, that's my interpretation of this last comic, a thanks to the people who still play the game!

[@timfrolov7891]

You are the first person I see with whom I share this opinion

[@thomas044]

i'm starting to think the game didn't need a "lore", the maps tolds us all we need to know, a war for 2 companies were they had factories all over the world. The comics tried to expand and tell more, but everything feels like a nonsense, all because the game has a "cartoon" style.

[@kingcamelot1395]

​@@thomas044Hey, sometimes nonsense is all the sense you need.

[@dooplon5083]

​​@@thomas044no it feels like nonsense because this is a game where you have: 1.healing rays that can make you invincible 2.rockets explode at your feet but make you fly around instead of instant death 3.people can double jump 4.a pyromaniac can join a profrssional merc team with a flamethrower that looks like it was built in a garage with duct tape. 5.you push goofy looking bomb carts to arbitrary points and stand in one spot to "capture" it as a crazed voice cackles maniacally 6.a drunk man runs around flinging bombs like nobody's business 7.teleporters, ammo dispensers, and sentry guns come out of tiny toolboxes to build themselves and do it faster by hitting them with a goofy wrench thats never used for any actual wrench stuff 8.a spy has literal invisibility watches but his disguise kit is a paper mask with other folk's faces on them 9.a fake pair of forts so badly constructed that they're not only literal _feet_ from each other's important enemy bases but the facades contain cardboard cutouts of poorly drawn cows And so much more that I'm probably missing that was almost all in the game since around at least 2007 or so. Tf2 has always been goofy and nonsensical and while it certainly shifted to be a bit more bizarre than you'd expect given where we started the skeleton was always there for a goofy nonsensical story

[@thomas044]

@ tf2 has a balance between crude comedy and it's cruel world of war, "meet the team" is the example is like "the incredibles" a disney pixar movie, if you want to put it like that but it is definitely not "a goofy movie"

[@Blastertronus]

There is a theory out on one of the official reddits that states that The Rick May statue was the statue that was removed in TF industries statue.

[@manintheline5331]

Based on tf2 humor, the person in middle of the photo is probably a random stupid joke person, like George Washington or poopy joe the first

[@JadedNugget]

Preposterous their too old or too young to be there

[@wrathshorts2894]

The Baboon is the new Poopy Joe.

[@Steelbow]

Now I'm not fully aware of the picture but some people that make sense being there include: Someone related to engi Someone from the darling family And ofc a yeti

[@Generic_Phantom]

Could be pyro, I have no evidence, I have no proof it's just a gut feeling.

[@RamboDrogado]

@@Generic_Phantom was gonna make that joke

[@veljkomicic]

In the end they are fighting cheetahs (cheaters)

[@omegabr5257]

🔥✍

[@brandonfranco9340]

Underrated comment

[@SunTzu-fromTf2]

Wwaaait that a great detail

[@maroonedinxen]

14:03 "Finding the 7th Comic, though, thats not the hard part... *It's letting go."*

[@8970-R]

Did... Did you just fucking quote rvb?

[@OneUnintelligentSpork]

Begin again.

[@emmafox3284]

no matter how hard i try i can never escape the sierra madre

[@whiteowl5370]

I felt sad when I read the final comic, and that scout spoke to the audience. I am so glad to be part of the community.

[@SunTzu-fromTf2]

"Don't cry because it's ended, smile because it happened"

[@Wolf-oc6tx]

@SunTzu-fromTf2 At this point that the healthiest way to respond to the final comic.

[@agunggumilar4732]

Pyro's real face is still a mystery

[@deantallica8445]

And it should stay that way until the tf3 comics come out

[@memes_gbc674]

@@deantallica8445 the ricochet 2 lore has heavy bearing on this mystery

[@yuricock]

pyros face being hidden as well as the comic not fully answering the lore is such a genius move to keep the community discussing this game for years

[@Generic_Phantom]

@yuricock It's pretty simple isn't it? Medic CONFIRMS that brainscooping is a thing, although not an exact science so some memories might be left over, hence why pyro is such a good business... person. So probably just brainwashed and then put in those goggles by some of the better teams. Then seeing that pyro is damn near useless they just put him with the F team. Although the goggles are probably a visual representation of what pyro sees rather than the goggles being something that impacts your vision.

[@Generic_Phantom]

@yuricock pyro was probably brainwashed, medic says brainscooping is a thing but the better teams obviously botched it and said "he's worthless now, put him on Team F"

[@Barb0nius]

I beleive Grey was saying that wasting the australium like how the administrator planned to do with it is worse than anything he was planning to do with it.

[@Tough_soldier]

Took 7 years and all they did is change a dialogue from the sixth comic book and thats it. Also they finally finished the last comic book

[@nomezz]

8:03 i think the reason of having 3 different scenes are to show that the administrator at that point couldnt even renember how they died

[@TheEmperorGulcasa]

I think that team Fortress may have been scrubbed from record, as they are ranked lowest but serve the most important purpose. Engie, of course, is the Administrator's main technician and his family has been core to her plans since the beginning. Then, Pauling is very close to the administrator, frequently directly meeting in her observation room, given her supposed lowly status. Lastly, the rest of the team is the one that is conducting the gravel war, the real endless war the Administrator truly cares about.

[@MrCoolioto]

It would make sense that her other mercenary teams, and the mercenary-industrial complex she established were all intended to fund the Gravel Wars, but the Mann twins were so broke by time of the game that they could only hire the F-tier team.

[@AnakinFury]

@@MrCooliotoI really do like the twist that someone with so many resources and time ultimately spent it all on a fruitless, endless endeavor compared to how usually the villain types tend to always have a big plan

[@Zeno2806]

they were fired, we know they were. The comic literally starts with every team member looking for a new path in life since they don't have a job anymore

[@TheEmperorGulcasa]

@@Zeno2806 They were fired because their role had ended. The gravel war was over with red and blue dead and grey having won. Only Engie was kept on for his obvious role.

[@mrfrog0913]

I think the administrator chose team fortress for the gravel wars to humilate Zephiniah Mann even more, it just makes the endless fighting of his children even more ridiculous.

[@lunaleonem3378]

About the final section of your video. While I understand the somewhat bittersweet analysis of the ending that you provide, while also getting the idea of a feelgood interpretation of the final comic; I believe is kind of shitty to be given that message from Valve when the monetization of the game is still going on and, this has been said multiple times by many people, gambling tactics that could possibly be argued to be somewhat predatory (although in a way less aggressive way compared to the current industry standards).

[@Casperr]

Yeh I feel that. Honestly, I felt the message is possibly a bit stronger than what I let on in the video, I just didn't want to be a downer 🙃 One possibly way to read it is them directly telling us "move on guys, let it go". I'm sure Valve aren't upset about making $$$ of a game they do near zero work on, but at the same time I think they'd be fine if it completely died too - at least then they wouldn't have all these fans expecting them to do work on something that they clearly don't want to work on anymore. But at the same time, the comic writers, the developers, and the accountants at Valve are all different groups of people. I'm sure the comic writers were genuinely thrilled that the game stayed relevant long enough that they could both literally quit working at Valve, go independent for a few years, get RE-hired at Valve for another project, and then when that project finishes still be employed long enough to finish that funny little gravel tale they'd started 15 years earlier.

[@lunaleonem3378]

@@Casperr Yeah, I get that Valve is made of a lot of people working together to deliver all the things that the company provides. I just think it's worth keeping them accountable because at the end they're still shitty to some degree. There's a reason for the class action lawsuit that they have going against them.

[@diciestcar3575]

TF2's motto: you wanna live forever? It fits perfectly yet it gives so many meanings to it from a question to an answer, this one quote gives you a choice and man this literally as I'm righting this hits hard to me like a truck like Saxton Hale... Live on TF2 live on forever.

[@SaintRedFox]

something than not many point out: On the 3 different covers we see an element than changes yet remains consistent, the stack of 3 hats seamlessly belonging to the admin's father. one of them being the towering pillar of hats found in-game, another a regular stack of top hats and a stack of 3 soldier helmets. also, in the latter, we see their parents skin turning green, which would imply Zepheniah used poison to kil them, and while maybe a strech, theres a paint can tool item called "Zepheniah's Greed" which is a dark green, maybe is this a clue of then intent of zeph to kill them?

[@urdeadnotbigsuprise7439]

Actually good catch, I also questioned why their arms were green in one cover.

[@Spunow]

0:35 I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! EVERYONE THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY! I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT WAS CALLED TEAM VANGUARD AND NOT TEAM AJAX! I KNEW IT!

[@Casperr]

I had made my comic recap video like 2 months before, so I knew 100% it was Vanguard because not only did I have a video of it, but still had the screenshots on my computer lol. When people were telling me it was Ajax I thought THEY were the crazy ones. I actually looked up in on the Wayback Machine and could say that up until *the morning before the 7th comic released* it still read "Vanguard". The update to Ajax was literally simultaneous with the comic 7 release itself!

[@Spunow]

@Casperr pretty wild

[@charbway]

my biggest querstion: why is miss bowling purple

[@Clanker-boi]

Lol

[@manintheline5331]

Shes neutral, red and blue

[@TriggerzConnors]

Neutral color.

[@grogthefrog4424]

The woman behind the slaughter

[@charbway]

@grogthefrog4424 miss balling

[@TheGreen_Banana]

As much as I love the last comic, it is a shame that it creates some plotholes in the lore. What relevance DOES Silas Mann have to the family? How is it possible that Zepheniah is still alive when his ghost is on Harvest Event? (and he even speaks to Redmond & Blutarch in some of their Helltower lines) Oh well. Maybe the person scout is talking to at the end of the comic is the same person ripped out of the middle of that one photo.

[@Maceror]

The writers confirmed that the Halloween updates aren't actually canon, they're more akin to Treehouse of Horror Simpsons episodes rather than things that actually happened, over time they went on to include parts of them into the main canon such as Merasmus and Monoculus, but things like Zephaniah's ghost are not actually canon

[@Generic_Phantom]

Zephaniah probably didn't even give Silas Mann a statue or a grave. Also the person in the middle of the picture HAS to be pyro, I have no evidence I just know it's him.

[@X-SPONGED]

He doesn't have to be alive always. Australium has revival properties and perhaps Harvest event is just Zepheniah flatlining for a match before the Administrator plugs in the life support again

[@TheGreen_Banana]

@@X-SPONGED Honestly, good take.

[@Metal_Lobster53]

There is a different ghost in a map but i cant remember the name of it it was in a cart the payload cart and it was wearign a hat maybe it might beacuse of that

[@ByWho-js5bq]

Another take I got out of the comic was when Saxton was staring at his old trophies and reminiscing over his golden days, but Olivia couldn't care less about the old stuffed animals. Saxton realizes he should go out there making new trophies for himself again and finds a renewed purpose in life. I took from that Valve sitting on their old games like TF2 and CS:GO, Portal and L4D, games that won them so much praise and acclaim, but are now over a decade old. And new gamers don't care about those old games. Saxton going back out to start making new trophies reminded me of what Valve is doing with their projects like Deadlock now. They'll always have their classics to reflect and reminisce on, but now it's time to make something new

[@hiddendesire3076]

1:40 There is also apparently a missing statue which many believe to be of Rick May’s Soldier that we now find in game.

[@Casperr]

You'll have to give me a page number because YT will probably block it if you try and send a link, but where do you see that? This page is the most clearly look in the lobby and there's nothing at all there that looks like a missing statue to me: www.teamfortress.com/tf07_thedayshavewornaway/#f=82 The only other page we see the lobby is there one, and there's even less to see here: www.teamfortress.com/tf07_thedayshavewornaway/#f=78

[@alexanderhood8993]

Rick may statued only appear briefly for the time on Day of his death to paid respect for a voice actor.​@@Casperr

[@maxtube1952]

@@Casperr While I'm not the one who said this, and this may be a stretch - The Rick May memorial statue is, to my knowledge, pretty small, so it could've been a tiny little dinky statue right at the bottom there, between the main base and the tiny rock you can see. It makes sense for it to be small too if the "Team Fortress was literally the F-tier rejects of the other actual mercenary teams" thing is correct. Pretty funny that a Statue made to exemplify the team's incompetence ended up being forgotten and then used to pay respects to a real-life and in-game legend.

[@DarkStar-nw8ee]

Well, now we know where all the 2Fort cameras are broadcasting to.

[@MindAtItsFinest]

12:19 it's the G Man

[@guilhermepereira558]

16:33 yes cause well... the heavy update but yes we want

[@MarcusFigueras]

I really do wish it just wasn't a huge stash of australium that soldier sat on in a cave hadn't lived in, and it was just one sole rock. Like it would mean more that Ms. Pauling is clinging onto hope of a literal fist sized rock rather than "jeez, how did you not check that cave?"

[@megatonradiolive]

I personaly think Zepheniah caused the death of 3 different sets of adoptive parents of the administrator

[@RenerDeCastro]

Or her real parents and aunts and uncles.

[@Wolf-oc6tx]

@@RenerDeCastro Would explain her vindictive actions.

[@booyah344]

Helen's dad had a tower of hats on every cover. Clearly he was either John "Tower of Hats" booth and Mann turned him in/got him killed by the police. Or the original Tower of hats cartoon strip is canon and Zeph was the "slightec peasant" killing Helen's father in vengeance.

[@BlueSkyTankAnimations]

John "Tower of Hats" was the man who killed Abraham Lincoln and Abraham Lincoln was in the first team fortress team, so it can't be him

[@KairanFarr]

I personally believe Admin's dad is a Booth, but probably Tower of Hat's father or grandfather considering Admin's age.

[@Malevolence460]

NEED Merasmus VA to bust out some Tom Jones and my life would be complete

[@Zainium]

at 13:15 when you say "Something special" and the music kicks in in the background verry lightly is such a good little touch.

[@maskofthedragon]

You can tell they had to convert the climax of a mini series meant to release in 2014 into a series finale while having 7 years to get rusty The character stuff is all pretty good but none of lore really adds up; Stairs before 1857, really?

[@usernameisuckatusernames7130]

had a thought about it in the middle of the night after reading the comic. Basically: Zephaniah said the brothers will get their inheritance instincts or whatever and try kill each other intending for it to be 1 left. Finding out australium can extend life by Gray, that's when the administrator snuck in the idea of using australium to extend both their lives and fight each other via mercs to both of them when they got the opportunity to one-up a kill each other (also explains the Halloween stuff). In the comic with engie's grandpa, Radigan was told to build a life extender for both by the administrator, and proceeded to rope in 2 generations of his family into it to keep it going. As well as the Hales to keep weapons flowing, and being Australian, keep stockplies of australium. So despite meeting Gray, knowing he's alive, and still being part of the Mann family, she really was blind sided by his takeover of mann co because Saxton was supplying weapons for the mercs and hording the australium (likely unknowingly) for her whole plan, putting it in a dead stop both ways. So, looking at the other comics, Saxton did know the existance of the administrator enough to (vaguely) know Pauling, and her deal with the mercs assigned to her, constantly doing business with all of TF industries to know Fortress was the bottom of the barrel. How much did he really know about what was going on? I think it was nothing, and that was the administrator's undoing because of the mann co challenge and Gray being left alive. Focusing so hard on the gravel wars, she didn't spy check the supplier and got backstabbed.

[@ojhat]

The thing I'm curious about, is what team IS the classic team? We know they targeted Ajax, Citadel, and Echelon, and Fortress. So are they, Team B, or Team D? One could assume them to be Team B, given they were successful in taking out Team Ajax, but on the alternative it would be SO like TF2 to have them be Team D, just barely better than Team E and Team F, succeed as such underdogs then only to turn around and lose to even an even lower-tier team.

[@Casperr]

I suspect they aren't related to the A-F teams at all, as all those teams work directly for Administrator and the TFC guys in this clearly don't. I wouldn't even assume they are an old team either, as they don't seem to have any knowledge about her or her organisation outside of what we see them discover throughout the story itself. Obviously them being called "Team Fortress Classic" doesn't really make sense after comic 7, but God knows what the writers could have possibly retconned their name to in a way that still made any sense after the tier list reveal, so they just left it 😅

[@GregTheBaumann]

@@Casperr I think it makes perfect sense for them to be called Team Fortress Classic, since they were the previous members of the team. I imagine it's a name they themselves chose after getting replaced and staying together as a team since they seemed to work well together.

[@shaun034]

I've been waiting for this finally :O

[@pablo.gonzales945]

11:53 I think it’s pretty likely that the original plan was to reveal Gray Mann in this portrait and they later retconned it. By the position of soldiers thumb we should still be able to see whoever’s hidden’s head

[@_indii]

This was the best conclusion my lifelong obsession with this game could have gotten. Great analysis as well :D

[@heinrichvonschnitzel8600]

Silas Mann is most likely Zepheniah's half brother, he would be an illegitimate child of Ezekiel Mann and an unknown woman. When Zepheniah states he is an only son, he means he is the only legal son and heir. He never killed Silas as he was no threat, Silas had no right to his father's inheritance due to him being born out of wedlock. The reason why Gray asks for census records from 1850 and not earlier is because the Mann family only started living in Teufort in that year.

[@noxtheblacksmith4705]

One of the most beautiful things about this game is I have been a fan of this series 10 years and I have not played a single second of the actual game

[@charlesalvarez3903]

"You wanna live forever?" Only because a soldier said told us that we are going to live forever.

[@kentity5272]

We’re getting a new installment in the team fortress series featuring team vanguard

[@Languste]

Excellent video once again, Casper :) A bunch of details and throwbacks I hadn't been aware of before!

[@SturgGaeming]

I think the administrator got adopted at least twice, but every time Zephaniah was responsible for her parents deaths. Another idea is she doesn't remember how her parents died, and these are 3 different recollections of the event.

[@szmidutm8556]

What if administrator was Silas Mann's daughter, he was a brother of Zephenian and probably lost competition for family's fortune to his brother and died/was killed in a process. That is why Helen wants revenge. I was also wondering if diffrent colour background from comics (8:06) is something more than a coincidence

[@BlueSkyTankAnimations]

Silas Mann is on the right side of the mann's family photo near the fireplace

[@pablo.gonzales945]

9:03 this is just speculation, but the Administrator’s father could have been a long lost Mann and that’s why he was killed. That also makes sense as to why when the Administrator leans in as Zepheniah dies he looks so shocked, he didn’t think any other Mann descendants survived. This is also why Gray wants the census records, he’s trying to trace her birth record by following census records

[@maxtube1952]

I liked the idea of the guy in the center of the picture having been Silas, and he was just forgotten for some unknown reason, but this is better.

[@djockeur5829]

Like a absolute legend once said "We are going to live Forever"

[@Vienna3080]

Can’t wait for Team Echelon 2

[@Elitedestructfulnoob]

Thinking about it team fortress should be put into s tier. They done everything the other team couldn’t

[@TheSynthPunk]

Last comic left me watery-eyed, so whether the unanswered questions are there for shits and giggles or if it's sequelbait, I'm happy regardless.

[@ninjasuperman9538]

I think this may be Valve finally saying TF2 is entirely in community hands now. I wouldn’t expect anything more from the series from Valve

[@grimreaper1542]

Imagine how good TF3 will be when we get too play as Team Ajax

[@ninjamasterbuilder8675]

What if what Classic Heavy said referenced how no matter what newer game comes, Overwatch, Fortnite, COD Team Fortress 2 won't ever die and will still have it's fans

[@nickstewart5873]

Hi there I’m a value employee and I 12:52 can confirm the missing person is madcap

[@anonymousman34]

so glad they wrapped a nice little bow on the story after years of procrastination

[@ThatguycalledJoe]

Something I think is probably worth acknowledging is that in the "original" photo the shoulder of the man in the tear is set slightly higher than Redmond's elbow. In the "new" one, Soldier's thumb does not cover enough of the photo that he would've been covering the face of the man in the tear, there's simply nobody there.

[@geoshark12]

8:13 no the zeff family killed her parents 3 times , if you look around the covers each resembles the fields that zeffs made the fortune off of

[@boi7316]

What were the fields? I actually don't know.

[@JodaroKujo]

I feel like it’s satisfying and poetic that it shows the mercs enjoying Christmas together and it came out a few days before Christmas

[@markuswesterberg3256]

Admins parent's are red/blue on the image, might've been that they were mercs & ended up on opposite sides on the conflict for Mann? Then this of course destroyed the family & ended their lives, hence admin wants eternal vengeance...

[@Jackaks]

This cant be possible since she helped raise Redmond and Blutarch so she is older than the gravel wars.... I think

[@Casperr]

As Jackaks rightly says, the whole red and blue team conflict was created BY her, but certainly the last cover with the blueprints suggests they may have worked for Mann Co

[@Metal_Lobster53]

2:08 the funniest thing is how the team in F tier Fortress was the only one to defeated the classic team saved the world from machines and were put in F tier really poetic if you think about it

[@justpinklasagna]

the person in the middle of the family photo I like to believe is us the player who's been playing Team Fortress 2 since 2007 and who the Scout is talking to in the final comic at the end or at least that's what I believe they became because of comic seven. 11:54. it just makes so much sense for that to be us and why we'll never know what they truly look like.

[@thequietkid5178]

Hold on, so you’re telling me Australium is the real reason all the 9 mercenaries keep resurrecting!?!

[@Casperr]

Whilst the universe would certainly allow for that, nothing in the story seems to suggest Australium has ever been used on our mercs nor that the in-game respawn mechanic is story canon. Every time someone dies in the story, the reaction of those around them is that it's permanent, and every time someone is inevitably revived it is never with the use of Australium (minus Zephaniah and The Administrator of course). Given that Her goal is to punish Zeph for as long as possible, it doesn't make much lore sense that she would use her very precious supply on the mercs when they have no individual value to Zeph (so seeing those people specifically get killed over and over again wouldn't be anymore painful to Zeph than seeing them die once) and she could (and we see that she already) just employ new mercs should any of the team die in battle.

[@thequietkid5178]

@@Casperr makes sense, it would of been the coolest plot twist of the resurrection theory team tho.

[@tu4764]

We already knew it was a petty conflict, but now we see it was even pettier.

[@lithium444]

Another detail is that the Administrator's 3 fathers all wear the Towering Pillar of Hats

[@AndresinReal]

8:05 I think the meaning of the three covers are that the administrator forgot all the details because it was so long ago. She forgot how they were killed, where they were killed, what they were wearing, what hat he had on, if they were close to each other or not, if it was cold, warm, neither or both. All that motivated her was the gut feeling that at some point in her childhood Zepheniah killed her parents, and she just kept moving forward until she couldn't even remember why she was crying in the first place.

[@pablo.gonzales945]

8:06 I think the point of the three covers is to show that after all this time even the administrator has forgotten the details of how her parents where murdered

[@BigRedNerdBird]

7 years till the next one then

[@Cashbans]

I believe tf2 comics are now done. For good

[@ussul6524]

The last comix was really nice touch. I loved that. Sometimes if I am down I just go and read one. Watch a TF2 offic video and I am as brand new. Does wonders.

[@LostManLiquid]

My personal ideas on the comics detail go something like this.. 1. The 3 openings represent the mis-match of Helen's memories of WHY she hates Zephaniah so much. 2. Due to Grays request of documents for 1850, I think its not out of the question to suggest the Idea that Helen had genealogy documents tied to one of her names because she had Grey's daughter. Grey's daughter had to be born somehow, someway; the only hole, however, is that Grey's daughter is 7, then 14. She could have Australium in her, or be cyro'd and to be released for once Blu and Red were dead. I believe the latter. 3. The man in the photo torn out could be someone in the Hale family, owners of Mann Co. This explains why soldier refers to it as the 'start', because Mann Co has, and always will play a start in this whole saga. 4. Due to the removal of the F, I believe Fortress is seen as the joke of T(letter here) industries, as they don't even have their names of file. 5. Notice how Zeph is being forced to observe TF2 maps. This leads me to the conclusion that part of Elizabeth's original plan as to punish the Mann family was showing them the mistake, the failure they had made off themselves to fight in a forever stalemate.

[@KairanFarr]

I think it would be funnier if Olivia was born when Gray was in his hundreds. Maybe like it's a sperms donation thing or he can still perform in bed.

[@Uncle_Scruffy]

I think administrator is a Mann. The Mann family kills off each other till one remains. I think Zephaniah Mann's dad killed the administrator's dad cause they might have been brothers. Unassuming or unaware of the administrator being person. We see Zephaniah has a clear plan to kill and bury his brother. Its the plot that administrator buries Zephaniah in. Cause she is a Mann, its in her blood to only kill her generation of siblings. I assume its what Gray Mann was thinking and trying to figure out on the old records. It would explain the look of pure shock on Zephaniah's face if its what she told him in his death bed. She doesn't remember why he needs to suffer other than her parents died for it. All she knows is that she needs to eliminate the competition, but after she did there was nothing else for her to do. So this is my reason and mad rambling of an idea! PROVE ME WRONG! I want your thoughts.

[@RYZEN-5070-TI-SUPER-OC]

Honestly maybe the 3 separate cover pages are representative of the 3 Mann kids

[@pyrofromtf2]

I am Pyro. I became real.

[@kaelisprime9087]

Holy shit

[@anubis_atg]

This is a bot, do not interact with it.

[@doctormedic2682]

Funnily enough, I don’t think this a bot. Just extremely committed to the bit

[@Cornejo1015]

@@anubis_atg No it isn’t a bot, this is a actual person

[@stefan6347]

No way

[@fireflywhy3809]

Wait... Imagine we get a new "Team fortress 2" and we are playing for "Echelon" or "Ajax"

[@SunTzu-fromTf2]

Deadlock's secret name was "project citadel"

[@Verifeddd]

6:56 the feint revenge sound from the game is really funny lmao

[@Morecajete]

Valve just dont wanna close the door fully. Putting the foot at the door of team fortress. I love it ❤

[@plugnplaystation]

I honestly do think the overarching story of Pauling and the Administrator is an allegory for the TF2 Community / Community contributors and Valve (or at least the TF2 development team). The administrator was always the "officiator", so to speak-- announcing for missions, managing the organizational tasks keeping the Team Fortress operation together. Pauling was more of the direct liaison with the mercs (representing the players) and was responsible for organizing contracts and events for the mercs and managing business with Mann Co. to get access to their latest creations (see "The Contract" comic). With the comics already starting just barely towards the start of TF2's first downward trend in interest, the administrator's disappearance and the sudden loss of the Australium reserves could have been the writers starting draw a parallel about what the future of TF might look like without the Administrator (Valve) in the picture, or at least in a more background, behind-the-scenes role. This kind of makes more sense when looking at the relationship between Pauling and the Administrator after the Australium ran out. Pauling was on a wild hunt to meet with the Administrator one last time to try and figure out what she was doing. Perhaps the Australium is an allegory for Valve's motivation to work on TF2? It would also make Soldier discovering the Australium out of nowhere a great parallel to how TF2 got a resurgence in popularity around 2020-2024, completely unexpected by Valve and the Community. The Administrator dying at the end, not really caring about why she was doing what she did or what was going to happen next, is probably also a parallel to Valve losing interest in working on TF2 as a company. And at the end of the comic, with Pauling denying the Administrator the new supply of Australium and it being left ambiguous about what Pauling decides to do with the Australium, this could be a roundabout kind of way of the writers saying it's now in the community's hands to decide what happens to TF2.

[@matheusmelisguerrapeixe2330]

15:33 Where is Pyro? Everyone is here, so... wait, every team member is wearing red, the ones that aren't, aren't using red. Who's that blonde woman? She's wearing red and I don't remember her before. Is she Pyro? Did I miss something?

[@Casperr]

Pyro is resting their head on the table to the immediate right of the turkey and to the left of the "CAPTAIN DAN'S" can and directly under Sniper's wine glass. The blonde woman is Heavy's sister Yana - www.teamfortress.com/tf03_cold_day_in_hell/#f=59 You can see her arrive with Heavy's mom, Zhanna & Soldier, and Heavy's other sister here: www.teamfortress.com/tf07_thedayshavewornaway/#f=316

[@matheusmelisguerrapeixe2330]

@Casperr it looks to be just the mask. I saw it, I just thought it was the mask.

[@RaisinHook]

10:57 assistants A-E are dead, killed by Team Classic

[@lastwymsi]

"You want to live forever?!" Is a reference to movies and books, and the idea of going down in legend acheiving immortality.

[@WrinkledPaper674]

Administrator went full Cassidy on Zephaniah Mann

[@clayton_rose]

I think the 3 different covers go to show how over the years The Administrator forgot how her parents died only remembering that they did before forgetting all together

[@paxvictori2385]

what if the guy who's supposed to be in the Mann family photo is the Gman and TF2 is set in the past of the Half-Life/Portal timeline? THE VALVE CINEMATIC UNIVERSE!

[@SunTzu-fromTf2]

You can see him in the comic

[@imthecoolestguyalive]

"Who's to say, now with many lifetimes' supply of Australium at hee fingertips, that she doesn't go and take that idea of a plan, and turn it into a real one?" - Herself. Flo is one of the few characters, whose backstory before working for TF Industries was never even touched on, or hinted at. Her whole life revolved around the Administrator. Everything she does, everything she says, everything loops back around to that woman, she sees her in a state between life and death - be it a direct visit to the only person in the world who seems to mattee to her, or just a hallucination of the one person she loves, _wants, _*_needs_* more than anyone else in the world. Without the Administrator, Emily, Elizabeth, Helen, whatever name she used this century, her life was hollow. Just as the Administrator's life was without her quest to punish Zepheniah for all eternity. And seeing that woman she would do _anything_ for turn away, the moment she said she didn't have what she wanted, was the harsh wake-up call Flo needed. You can see the subtle hurt in her face, the _restraint_ it takes her not to call out again, as the Administrator turns away, and the hollowed out and miserable look in her eyes, after she's gone. I think what Dell says to her is important. Not just the trench idea, but the "I ain't gonna help you.", because there is one thing Flo _does_ have, that the Administrator didn't. She has these nine idiots. She has the many more weirdos she met along the way. She started out casually manipulating Demo and Soldier to go on a warpath - even if she found their friendship cute - and ended up hesitant to let Heavy risk his life, even if it turned out to be a disguised Classic Spy. She loves these people - something the Administrator never knew, because her life was so consumed with the hate and heartbreak as a result of what Zepheniah did to her, that this rage and thirst for revenge was all she had. Flo found people she could move on for, even if everything she built crumbled around her and failed. "Do you know any deep trenches?" She says, this small, mousey woman, asking a friend for a favour. Dell's life was as tethered to the Administrator and the endless war as hers, and both of them choosing to move on from it, and leave this stupid yellow rock behind was a wise and healthy choice in the end. Flo has Bonk Farms to busy herself with now, great source for any new massive mutated hearts Medic might need for his teammates. She doesn't need to define herself as the Administrator's second-in-command anymore. She's got her own life to live. I am very passionate and emotional about these two, and as much as I appreciate all the endings where they keep the war going either while Reddy and Bidwell war over Mann Co., be it for funny Team Fortress 3 reasons, or for angsty "the cycle begins anew" reasons, in my heart, they deserve a good ending, free from all this nonsense.

[@Casperr]

That's the cool thing about endings like this: anything left unanswered, we get to decide our own answers based on everything we've seen and everything we personally believe about these people. And those decisions will never be "wrong" because the official story is over, what happens next in the unofficial story is now yours :) And mine, and all the other readers' too.

[@darkron288]

I think alot of the weirdness and inconsistency with hte earlier comics to what we got in the final issue is due to the fact well. i think what the adminstrator's plan was suppose to be changed a few times, it was like 8 years snce the last issue, the people who wrote that stuff probably left despite what the writers say i do believe the adminstrator's plan was suppose to be different at one point and the earlier comics point to that.

[@origin9141]

So, the enire comic is out now? Iv been avoiding reading it once iv heard that it was unfinished, if thats not he case anymore id wanna read it for sure

[@PhiaNotFromHere]

Okay so I know that the saxton asking mags if she wants to live for ever is a reference to the post cards but solider also mentions living forever at the end of expiration date.

[@igfferftygee2194]

this chapter struck me with feelings of cancelled mangas where authors desperately trying to close all plot points, and I was surprised how well community accepted this ending. And its not that authors decided to "joke around" its just valve doesnt want spend any time on "dead game" no matter what community thinking about matter, its probably struck one employee "hey maybe we half-ass end this story comic we did decade ago?" and thats it

[@thorveim1174]

something that helps a lot as far as players accepting that ending... its that as far as we were concerned, we werent going to get any ending. As far as we knew the last comic wasnt ever going to be a thing, especially not after more than 7 years. They could have just as well abandoned it as is, no one was even hoping to see a conclusion anymore. And its oddly fitting to me that the main reason behind the conflict through the whole story was a conflict just as petty and pointless than the two Mann brothers fighting over pits of gravel.

[@NotWendy3]

It was more of a group of artists and writers deciding that if they keep working on the comic in between the bigger projects (as Jay Pinkerton said), they'd actually be able to complete it and say what they wanted to say. Likely connecting some writing that was done around the time the sixth comic came out with ideas that were born from the more recent developments surrounding TF2. They didn't half-ass it, they did what they had a chance to do, in spite of what Valve's own focus was at the time.

[@sumobear5010]

In my opinion, this all sets things up for a sequel. We already know that Valve is working on HLX, possibly our HL3. Perhaps at some point we might get a TF3. But I'm doubtful lol

[@TheOneEyed-Music]

Imagine if TF3 is sent in a sort of future, with the mercenaries no longer being fully humans, cyborgs of sorts

[@thecrabmaestro564]

I feel like that’s a good explanation for the ending line, but it’s also a callback to the themes of the story for me. The administrator has been torturing Zephaniah by keeping him alive, and the tone of the final line is more like “who would want to live forever anyway?” coming full circle

[@starkillaa2444]

0:37 This one right here almost made me think I'm subjected to the Mandela-effect

[@El_Leviatan]

Writters: You wanna live forever? TF2 Community: We already are.