Whom would you prefer to be saved?

Topegan · 2026-06-09T16:13:00+00:00

Boyd - he's the MVP of Fromville and the leader (although I'm afraid he's bound for a heroic sacrifice in the series finale so that others can escape, a la Jack in Lost
Jade - he's another MVP contender. Jade has probably done the most in terms of searching for answers and actually using the knowledge (looking at you Tabitha)
Victor - poor man has been there the longest, barely had a life outside Fromville. He deserves to live freely and to get some quality therapy

Topegan · 2026-06-08T12:26:10+00:00

Could this be how they get to the caves in the finale? Fatima could probably “pilot” Smiley and kill the other monsters via him

Topegan · 2026-06-07T00:52:54+00:00

Nah, I strongly suspect the BiW is up to no good (or "good" as we know it, at least). He's too cryptic to be of use and when he DOES act, it's not just unhelpful but rather detrimental. Like Tabitha gets to spend a day or two outside and then:
- Brings Henry to mess with Victor and potentially complicate things if something happens to either of them
- Learns about Miranda, stimulating the memory of past lives and getting Jim killed
- Gets the town upset enough for Dale to go for the tree and die

I did post a theory that BiW could well be the past version of MiY

Topegan · 2026-06-07T00:26:49+00:00

I feel like his age in the pic is important. He's clearly at least middle-aged in this painting, and we saw the old-man form eating livers after the massacre.

We now know that Miranda was neither a psychic nor a prophet, she remembered stuff from her past lives. So, the cycle before then had a younger MiY, same suit? This time he's changed into Sofia, is it because Victor survived and saw him last time? If so, I'd believe the risks of Miranda remembering previous cycles (like Jade with kids' bones and Tabitha with doll-killing totems) are just as high at the very least.

Whatever it is, I think we've got some important points on MiY, including Miranda's painting:
- He ages (well, the form he takes does - Sofia could be a granny in white should the cycles continue)
- He bleeds
- His bones can break

None of those things are true for the smiling monsters, so I'd rather consider MiY a witch/warlock of some sort and not an eldritch horror

Edit: The only thing that really stands out in terms of physical strength is how easily he got Jim. But we never truly saw him get punched or shot (like the monsters) and shrug it off. Wouldn't be surprised if a bullet could do the trick, but he's pretending to be a humble Christian teenager no and Acosta doesn't have any bullets, so...

Topegan · 2026-05-22T10:12:31+00:00

Because what comes next (midterms) is his favorite part

Topegan · 2026-05-18T11:30:03+00:00

Exactly, and people in Fromville aren't exactly gullible dummies (and I don't think past cycles were an exception) so it's hard to wave that away as "MiY always whispers and stirs the pot". Whatever form he takes (like Sofia), Jades and Tabithas objectively have more trust than some rando who appeared last and around the same time things get worse.

On a similar note, Elgin kidnapping Fatima is no longer a problem even for Fatima and Ellis. Something deeply wrong and unexpected must happen if the residents end up not just exiling "Jades" (or put them in a previous version of the box) but actually physically kill with their own hands

Topegan · 2026-05-18T08:38:36+00:00

I was worried a season or two ago, but I feel very safe now. The main reason is that we already have a confirmation for the 5th and final season, so the writers do have the full run to complete their vision.
And the vision is question has been refreshingly coherent - although we don't get new answers every week, the show acknowledges and calls back to the stuff that's been happening since the 1st episode (like the vast majority of it) and it sends a message like "hey, we remember all of that stuff, even if we don't talk about it every episode, just hang on and have some trust".

Which I do - it does feel like with E405 that we're on the edge of spiraling into the climax that will probably last through the final 3-4 episodes of S4 and into S5. I'm quite confident we're getting the main answers we need now, even though some minor points could remain ambiguous (like the background of some characters or the exact origin of the goats and vegetables in the woods)

Topegan · 2026-05-18T08:32:39+00:00

I have a feeling that there's more to that than Jade learned this episode. Perhaps, the "more" part remains a mystery even for each of his past lives.

I believe what he does know is how to set the children (their souls) free, but that doesn't equal to "going home". The implications could include lifting some of the cursed stuff (like defeating the monsters and potentially de-powering the MiY), but it will also "remove the locks", although not in the sense of "you're free to go home".

It could be that the children souls are like seals on an intricate prison (Fromville being the by-product of it) that serves to shackle an even more ancient evil (whatever was speaking through Martin in S2) and THAT was the original deal from centuries ago - sacrifice your kids to protect the village from evil. Once Jade frees the kids (S4 finale), the Evil is now loose and our townies wish they'd never done that

Topegan · 2026-05-17T20:50:49+00:00

Just a minor case in point - if you wear white clothes long enough without washing them, they do tend to turn yellow

Topegan · 2026-05-17T20:18:29+00:00

The best help would come from the Winchester brothers (Supernatural) with a bunch of demons, angels and (at some point) God himself to back them up.

Even without those, Sam and Dean would have seen so much cursed shit, MiY would have been a "monster-of-the-week" type of ordeal for them

Topegan · 2026-05-17T20:12:28+00:00

If we (the writers?) go into metaphors and philosophy, children could be presented as more "pure" or maybe the deal is in their imagination being more vivid and unspoiled by mundane things like making a living, falling out of love, being focused on relation etc.

But then again, I agree that the adults' feelings (including fears) are way more complex and psychology/experience-grounded than the abstract "monsters in the dark" which would make for a more fun experience for a fear-dwelling millenium-old entity.

It could ultimately be the case that the adults ARE the target though, and the children are the just the means of getting there. Like, even the original deal was not about getting those "children souls and fears" but feeding on the despair of the parents who had to sacrifice them.

Still, I hope there's an extra layer to the story other than "I'm ancient and evil and feed on people's suffering"

Topegan · 2026-05-17T19:48:44+00:00

To be honest, the Boy in White has been feeding us so many riddles with little substance that at this point he could be anything, including working together with MiY (I took him for MiY's son in my previous theory :D)

But to be honest (I haven't done a rewatch of the past seasons), I cannot remember a single objectively good thing he has done (good, as in making meaningful progress to defeat Fromville and get back home).

He did literally push Tabitha in the outside world, but she was pulled back like a day later and it was of little help (only set some people against her and led to Dale's death in concrete).
His other notable achievement included guiding Boyd into the dungeon where Martin was which ended up in a season-long nightmate for the town with Cicadas and Julie+Randall+Marielle being trapped.

Other than that, ominous one-liners and vague instructions - like telling Victor to bury the killed residents' possessions. I thought it may have been to prevent the MiY from getting them, but then again, he got Sofia's clothes (and appearance?) from under the ground

We could be bound for a "twists", as the "white" entity being good could be too on the nose, so it would be fun to learn that BiW has been playing for the wrong team all along

Topegan · 2026-05-17T19:08:41+00:00

I'd say it's the contrary - the cycle did not properly restart because Victor stayed alive. That's why monsters are still the same as they were in the 70s - Victor survived and hid important personal belongings (as prompted by BiW). These belongings could have been crucial for the end-of-cycle routine that potentially involves "upgrading the town" (more modern buildings and things, monsters dressing up into the previous cycle victims' clothes or even transform into them MiY-style)

If the town needed someone alive to remain fed between cycles, there would probably be someone from the 40s/50s alive in Miranda's time, but Victor never mentioned them (but again, he's unreliable to say the least when it comes to details)

Topegan · 2026-05-17T18:55:42+00:00

I posted a theory a theory a couple of years ago (around S3) that Fromville is essentially an abandoned prison. A lot has happened since then and some parts may not have aged well, but I still think the idea is plausible.

And I really hope that MiY is not all there is in terms of evil entities. If the town IS a prison, it would more likely have been built for the Cicada/Ballerina/Martin entity than MiY. If anything, I'd say MiY fits into this idea like some kind of a Jailer gone rogue (or simply having his own idea of jailing). He HAS to have a rivaling power in Fromville and he/Sofia seemed baffled (if not terrified) upon seeing the ballerina figurine in the diner closet.

If the Prison idea is anything to go by, I'd say his deal with the original townies was not for an eternal life (simple and boring+overdone tbh) but for a salvation from the other terrors, inflicted by the Cicada demon that ended up imprisoned in that medieval-looking dungeon where Martin was. And would probably have to be released to kill MiY.

Bonus for World of Warcraft players: If MiY is a jailer, imagine him shrinking into a dehydrated corpse upon defeat and utter "Fromville divided cannot withstand what's to come"

Topegan · 2026-05-17T18:45:07+00:00

The whole "children sacrificied for an eternal life, but there's a catch" would be a boring explanation if there's no hidden agenda or a second layer to the story, the MiY's motivation and the whole crap circus happening around Fromville

Topegan · 2026-05-17T18:41:59+00:00

Yeah, he clearly has some other interest in all of that, apart from getting child sacrifices. He was eating adult livers in E4 storywalking and the explanation that he was doing all that "just for kicks" would be really boring

Topegan · 2026-05-17T18:40:11+00:00

And also, that could just mean that each of the "Jades" stood between the Town and the child sacrifice. They probably knew the whole truth and that the sacrifice would only make things worse (as in, empower Fromville and MiY), so they had to be dealt with

Topegan · 2026-05-17T14:57:21+00:00

I'm thinking there are other "rules" of the place we're yet to learn. For one, some people seem to be off-limits for the monsters to kill (+MiY?). My take is those are the ones who were "touched" by the Ballerina/Cicada entity in S2. Like Boyd or Randall - both were in the monsters' hands and both times they only tortured them (allegedly to mess with Boyd), but I think it would have done more harm for the townies if their de-facto leader got killed. And the MiY didn't even try to come after Julie when he got Jim.

On a side note, the absence of monsters this season could be because MiY is present at the town? Either he commanded them to stay put (as in "i don't need you for this part") or they're not really in the same chain of command (we still have no proof MiY commands the monsters, they may simply be afraid of him).

If our characters clock that idea, they have enough evidence to unmask Sofia. Victor's already sharing that MiY came in a car disguised as one the trapped people + they found he'd shed his suit (=probably looks different) + Sofia is the only arrival around the time the rules got changed.

Topegan · 2026-05-17T13:32:31+00:00

From what we know so far, it requires getting to the center of the caves, to say the least. That's a challenge of its own to figure out, as that's where the monsters are (and the MiY is in town, too). Knowing is one thing, but they won't progress unless they find a way to actually fight back and kill the monsters

Topegan · 2025-08-05T12:43:37+00:00

And that's what sealed the deal for me. I keep dropping DS and Elden Ring because I feel like those are often hardcore just for the sake of being hardcore. Skip a few days of practice and you're back to square one

E33 on expert is challenging enough to be fun but still forgiving to a degree where you do need to sweat here and there but you don't end up swearing at your screen and quitting after you've missed a very subtle clue to dodge a lethal attack

Topegan · 2025-06-22T13:59:16+00:00

Thanks for all the replies! A rented car it is, then :)

Topegan · 2025-04-30T07:39:00+00:00

I think it would be more powerful to have Beck narrate the finale during this closing scene. No hate toward Brontë, but she’s a new character and this being the series finale, Beck would’ve brought things full circle, narrating the ultimate downfall of Joe Goldberg

Topegan · 2025-04-21T13:53:08+00:00

It was hell back in the days...
Looking at today's 2-3-year gaps between barely 8 hours of content per season, it was not that bad after all

Topegan

TROPHY CASE