On the cusp of Episode 8’s release, The Amazing Digital Circus is terrifying it’s own fans over social media.
A large marketing poster depicting Caine looming over the cast in preparation for Episode 8 – possibly even looking straight towards the viewer? – is truly an intimidating sight to behold.
What Are They Implying?
With abstraction eyes surrounding the corners and background, could we finally be learning more about what causes abstraction and what it actually entails? It’s hard to predict exactly what’s going to happen next, but we can come up with some ideas.
With the trailer out 2 weeks ago, we have some hints of either a flashback or twist relating to already abstracted characters. (Will someone investigate the cellar?)
Queenie appears on the side of one quick scene – will we learn more about how or why she abstracted in particular? Episode 7 left us with a ton of questions as Jax almost fell into it’s depths – and calls out Caine for possibly being manipulative this whole time.
If the Rules depicted in Episode 1 are all for naught – then what IS true about the Circus? Who or what can we trust moving forward?
Admittedly I’ve only recently gotten into the show. Theorizing alongside my friends about what’s going to happen next and wondering what IS actually happening – is probably a major source of the fun itself for the show. The mysteries surrounding the Circus, the characters, and even Caine – keep everyone guessing. We enjoyed watching 7 episodes together and discussing after each episode what happened and are very much looking forward to watching again together on Saturday – which is a full day after release but I would love to be surprised alongside my watch group.
The Rabbit Hole of Identity
We have some fun theories and thoughts we been discussing amongst each other, and also sharing some from others to just talk about.
A recent one shared with us was talking about their loss of names – which is a pretty good one to point out.
“Losing your name” or “Giving away your name” is a very classic trope of gaining power over another particularly in stories related to the Fae. Names can be tied “tied to a person’s identity and power”. We have seen across episode 6 and 7 that the cast does seem to have the ability and will to make changes or their own “powers” within the Circus world. Jax has a tail after realizing it’s gone or wasn’t there for example. Kinger “made up” the butterfly healing Ragatha. Pomni can will a bullet to hit where she needs it – maybe they aren’t as fully powerless as we thought, although Caine has far more control.
At the very start we meet Pomni – who is originally nameless due to not remembering her own name. Caine spins a wheel to find a name for her. She is confused, overwhelmed, and concerned over the events transpiring and everyone else so so oddly calm in comparison.
It’s hard to guess how long some of these folks have been around – all we know for sure is that Kinger seems to be one of the oldest. And the show keeps us guessing just how close he has been to the TADC project this whole time.
The original theory video mentioned about how Pomni is the “key” to remembering things – maybe even her own name? Which could help unlock either memories or something else entirely. Jax is shown to have recalled scenes from his life, but whose to say how it happened? Could the beginning of the abstraction within him unlocked clues?
Is Data Truly Deleted?
One theory I been mulling over – and most likely isn’t close to actuality but I still think it’s a fun one – is whether data is being Re-used or Recycled.
Looking at the hints of being inside a digital world and what it could actually mean for the crew – we see the characters glitching in Episode 1 after being touched by the Abstracted . It reminded us of Data Corruption – the data is so unstable it can’t render correctly any longer. Caine sends the Abstraction “into the cellar” which just seems to be a space below them – their presence never fully gone?
In computers there are a handful of common variables – things are usually multiples of 8 – which is the “power of 2” – and I’m gonna leave it simple to not over complicate the discussion. (Feel free to learn more basics here.) But in Episode 1 as Pomni enters the scene, the cast is unaware that Kaufmo has been abstracted.
The main cast is comprised of 6 characters – Pomni, Ragatha, Jax, Kinger, Gangle, & Zooble. That IS only 6.. however what if we add Caine + Bubbles? That means the Circus is running with “8 characters” at all times – potentially. Seeing as we haven’t seen flashbacks of how big the cast has been in other points of time, I can only speculate on this one currently.
But seeing as the data is never truly deleted – only stored away – what IF the data is being reused? What if through abstraction the data gets spit out into someone new altogether? Or what if it’s just a different point of time from that original person’s life that gets copied over into a new cast member?
Kinger says he was losing hope until he met Ragatha. What if parts of Queenie are a part of her? Kinger has so much mystery surrounding him and his origin still – I really am hoping we learn so much more moving forward.
Queenie and Ragatha sound quite different – based on Kinger’s description of her – his wife seemed far more confident. But what if Queenie was just an older mature version? What if Ragatha popped out from a different point of time in of her original life?
People change and grow – get new or different hobbies or become more true to themselves. Ragatha has trauma related to her mother in particular, but what if she moved away from her family and horses? Could she have grown more confident and married a calm and collected comp sci guy?
Ragatha is a doll-like form, while Queenie seems to even be looming over Kinger in our current preview. Ragatha is far more people-pleasing and malleable to the people around her, but if Queenie is a later form who broke free of the shackles of her Mother – who knows what she is truly capable of?
The Possibilities are Endless
I would love to deep dive more into the characters and all sorts of theories. Some other aspects I find interesting: The checkerboard flooring and Kinger being like a chess piece , the “sky windows” overhead of the circus – brings strong Windows 95/XP vibes, and why the heck is Jax so secretive and surprisingly sensitive?
I’m definitely hoping Episode 8 will leave us with more Answers than Questions this time around before the finale releases, potentially later this year.
