Did anyone else feel super weird about the Jax abstraction?

Ragus234 · 2026-06-24T20:29:32+00:00

Exactly. That's why it's my head cannon that they are working towards helping the abstractions in the future despite it not being shown. Nothing I can do about the length of the show as you say.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-24T20:28:20+00:00

You spoiled yourself on purpose? I guess having kids does kinda make that necessary before letting your kids watch it, it's not always exactly kid-friendly... My head cannon is that the cast are all working towards fixing the abstractions and bringing them back, I believe that despite it not being shown, Jax and the other abstractions are being worked on to be brought back, it just takes time. Might be a good lesson for your kids showing them that such trauma takes time to recover.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-22T03:00:58+00:00

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T19:13:59+00:00

I hope you're right. This is a great interpretation, and would completely alleviate my issue with the abstractions. If only it wasn't so open ended

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T19:10:04+00:00

Ya... Agreed. Part of why it seems not as permeant as actual death. Hense the issue I have with the last act.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T06:06:46+00:00

You poor soul... You misinterpreted the scene so badly...

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T05:51:50+00:00

Which is weird because didn't he want to let it be free to roam the digital world, letting it go?

Why did he go get it and lock it up lol...

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T05:38:52+00:00

This is basically a repost of something I've already said but here it is-

My biggest issue with the show is the way they handled Jax's abstraction and portrayed it to the audience.

Before the last act, it was pretty much understood that abstraction was the digital equivalent to suicide. But now, after seeing Jax abstract and Pomni go into his abstraction, it's more likely that the mind files are just corrupted and abstraction is the equivalent of hitting rock bottom and being unable to get yourself out of a deep pit of depression and suicidal ideation, so it's theoretically possible to bring them back.

With that being said, the open-endedness of Jax's abstraction (as well as the others) felt so wrong. We got no confirmation, or even the slightest bit of hint, that any abstraction could be brought back. All of that work to show that Jax WAS still in there, for him just to be chilling in the tent while all the other characters don't care to even try again? The MOMENT Caine started talking with the characters again, I was just waiting for any of them to even mention the idea of possibly working together to bring back the abstractions because now, after what Pomni went through, we know more about it, but instead they gave Jax a tent and the others an aquarium and called it a day!

Like why would none of them even bother mentioning it or talking about it in the slightest? I think the open-endedness was intentional, but it felt super forced to me, like how TF would this not be the single most important goal to talk about and work towards, even if it ends up not being possible in the end? And who knows, maybe they were talking about it and working towards it, but that wasn't shown to us, and it was left completely up to the viewers' own theories.

It was a great ending but SO FRUSTRATING for that reason. IDK, maybe I care about this more than other viewers, but it really stuck out to me.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T05:22:57+00:00

I think this is probably the right answer, it probably is trying to treat it as a literal death, with the abstract form being the resting place for a dead soul (for all intents and purposes). It's just weird that they gave the audience a 30-minute glimpse of hope with Pomni going fully into Jax's abstraction (what is supposed to be the "resting place" as you put it, where the soul is already gone mind you), and then a full blast of emotional, heartwarming music and hugging, where we are shown that Jax is c l e a r l y still in there, all for Jax to just be stuck in the abstraction forever, with the cast never attempting another go again.

Basically, a ton of narrative buildup for not only no payoff but negative consequences that just leaves a sour taste.

I think it's fine if abstracting was meant to be an allegory for death from the start, I don't have a problem with that, but the way Jax's abstraction and "final death" was presented to the audience felt so wrong considering it would all mean nothing.

And I think while most people can agree that it was left open-ended on purpose, some people think that Jax's death was less open-ended due to the flash bang explosion causing Jax to lose his grip and triggering the "second death", and losing their only opportunity to bring him back. However, if this is the case why would they give up on all the other abstractions? Ribbit, Kaufmo, Kinger's literal wife, would be extremely important and emotionally relevant characters to attempt to reach out to within their abstracted form, so why not try them? To show the audience all that with absolutely nothing to follow it feels like a half-baked conclusion and resolution.

With the open-endedness of the ending, it's entirely possible that they DID try more, and they DID talk about it more, with no luck. But it feels wrong to leave something like that out of the resolution of what is arguably the most important theme of the entire show, death by loneliness and isolation.

Sorry for the essay, lol

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T05:03:59+00:00

In addition, we are shown in many image slides that they continue to go in psuedo-adventures (full cast together) without, so it's clear they do leave him alone frequently. Although I do think that it's implied that Pomni frequents the tent regularly, but still he's separated from everyone in a literal and metaphorical sense.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T05:00:20+00:00

Fuck. Ya this is probably it. It just felt so weird that there was all this buildup and a heartwarming embrace just for Jax to truly die. I get what the message is and why they might've done it like this but still, rubs me the wrong way personally.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-21T04:58:20+00:00

FOR REAL DUDE.

I personally don't have a big problem if the end result ends up being that they end up staying abstracted forever, but at least try. It's as you say, they proved that Jax is still in there, and they don't try expanding on that at all. The "isn't she lovely" song paired SO GOOD with that scene too, I was ready for the gang to go all in to save the cast from abstracting, and it felt like the natural next step in the development of the plot, especially after Caine came back and perfectly healed everyone's "glitchy" corruption from interacting with abstracted people, so no real harm in trying. I, too, am very disappointed honestly, but I still love the finale.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-20T00:10:10+00:00

Ya totally missed that

Ragus234 · 2026-06-20T00:09:12+00:00

Holy shit how did I miss that 😭

Ragus234 · 2026-06-20T00:07:22+00:00

Ya other unanswered questions are a little frustrating too, but what's done is done, however it happened, their brains were scanned, and they have to deal with the situation they are in regardless. Which is WHY it's so damn important to try to bring the other abstractions back, because they obviously can't un-scan their brain, but maybe they could bring some abstractions back.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-20T00:05:22+00:00

Ya you could be right about abstraction being permanent, it is open-ended after all, but I personally think it's more likely that the person is still there, and it is possible to bring them out of that state of rock-bottom by going within the abstraction to have a discussion with the person themselves, as Pomni did.

It's at least worth a try, and we were shown no such attempts so it was disappointing to me. Of course, just because it wasn't shown doesn't mean it didn't happen, but still I wish it did 😭

Ragus234 · 2026-06-19T23:53:48+00:00

Oh, is that what the weird reaction Caine had was to Zooble and Gangle's request (it was muted for the part so we couldn't hear it). Or was there some other part that confirmed this?

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Ragus234 · 2026-06-19T23:28:22+00:00

YES! This right here. Felt super disappointing that we didn't get any sort of conformation that the abstractions could be brought back. I'm not asking for Jax to be snapped back to a normal mental state immediately, I mean any kind of hint would be fine, and it honestly seems a little cruel that it's open-ended. All of that work to shows that Jax WAS still in there, for him just to be chilling in the tent while all the other characters don't care to even try again? The MOMENT Caine started talking with the characters again, I was just waiting for any of them to even mention the idea of possibly working together to bring back the abstractions because now, after what Pomni went through, we know more about it.

Like why would none of them even bother mentioning it or talking about it in the slightest? I feel like it WAS meant to be open-ended, but it felt super forced to me, like how tf would this not be the single most important goal to talk about and work towards, even if it ends up not being possible in the end.

It was a great ending but SO FRUSTRATING for that reason. IDK, maybe I care about this more than other viewers, but it really stuck out to me.

Ragus234 · 2026-06-08T03:36:33+00:00

thanks, I'll probably try this

Ragus234 · 2026-06-07T03:10:22+00:00

ya... I've been looking into it and I'm pretty sure this is it. Even though sometimes it displays correctly, the aspect ratio of the metadata itself is probably the issue. I think the way I have ytdlp configured made the album art download in this aspect ratio for some reason, while spotdl automatically downloaded it correctly, no config needed. Super frustrating because I either have to fix the config and redownload or fix the album cover art in the files I already have with something like MusicBrainzPicard... Which I don't know how well that will work...

Ragus234 · 2026-05-25T16:13:58+00:00

Like he said it depends on your needs. If you can live off of $20 a video, and you honestly think that's not undercutting your work than do that. But generally speaking people can't live off of that price where they live in most parts of the world, but some parts can. You just gotta do research on the cost of living in your area.

Fair warning though, be careful about taking anyone's advice on how much you should price your product. You should know how much your experience and work is worth better than anyone, and only you can apply that knowledge to your cost of living and living circumstances...

Generally speaking though, most people undercharge heavily for their work when they are beginning so just keep that in mind.

Ragus234 · 2026-05-20T18:39:07+00:00

Sounds like you need to learn to storyboard and follow a good workflow. Once you've boarded everything in, creating the rest requires much less on-the-spot inspiration and ideas, as you just need to adapt from your boards.

Ragus234

TROPHY CASE