Welcome back to part 4 of our Petscop analysis series. We've gone through the videos,
and we've analysed each of the characters, and now, it's finally time for the climax of
the show – today on the Panopticon Theatre, we will be covering overarching theories
about what actually happened in Petscop. Before we hop into theories, I want
go over some smaller elements that are useful or interesting to mention,
but haven't fit directly into theories, so I haven't had a spot to talk about yet,
mo
stly background elements that might or might not tie into things we've mentioned
before, or the theories we have coming up. I have two interpretations of the
counsellor scene I want to present here. The first is simply that the scene didn't happen
in real life and is being used to communicate something to the intended player, likely
a sense of therapeutic safety and offer of help. The questioning of the player's identity
is particularly interesting to me, as it's possible that Rainer is usi
ng this in some way
to identify the success of rebirthing, perhaps? The alternative interpretation is that this
scene represents a time after Care's return from Marvin's capture. This is following specifically
the transgender theory but may also apply to the Paul-is-Rebirthed-Carrie theory. At this point,
Care is Paul, but is only just beginning to use that name. This is why the counsellor asks if the
name they have is correct – it's listed in their documentation as Carrie, but the counsell
or called
for Carrie and they didn't come – because that's Paul, not Carrie. The reason for him being
called in is probably that he seems to have some sort of injury, and likely has been acting
differently since the incident. As Paul is still pretty young at this point, the counsellor
playing a game with him is likely a way for them to try and get some information about Paul's
situation in a gentle manner. This is likely what led to Paul being removed from the family's
guardianship in theo
ries that involve that. Either way, it's important to still remember that
this dialogue is written by Rainer. The text, at least to me, feels rather like it switches
between the counsellor speaking, and Rainer speaking. I think it's more likely this scene
never happened and it's a Rainer fabrication. Otherwise, it would have to be something Paul told
Rainer about before the last version of the game, which... maybe? We don't know how close
the cousins were, but from the sound of it, Paul doe
sn't remember Rainer that much, so I doubt
they were close enough for Paul to be sharing stuff like that with him. Also, of course,
Rainer was missing around this time anyway. Whilst we're on the topic of the counsellor,
there are 4 board games seen in this scene. Graverobber is the one we see played. It's a
bit complex to explain, but there are actual playable rules out there – I'll leave a link
in the description. The digging up of graves is pretty interesting – we do see Rainer
mention
that photos are buried in graves, and that he may have dug up some
graves himself. The gameplay also seems vaguely aligned with the door
puzzle mechanic, as the player has to navigate potentially unseen obstacles –
also, rather like Care upon her return home. Rotation obviously connects to the general
ideas of rotation and perspectives throughout the series – probably why it's the
only one upside down. There is a real board game called Rotation – it's like
a wheel maze connect-four sort of
thing. Accident, likewise, connects to the theme
of accidents, and the symbol on it looks rather like this from outside Tool's room
– possibly a simplified visual of a car accident? Another interpretation that I like a
little better is that the pieces represent Care, as Carrie and Paul. They are the right colours
for that, after all. They are together at first, as the same person, then Paul splits
away from Carrie. There's more red because Paul has been... well, Paul,
longer than he was C
arrie. The word 'accident' doesn't connect to this idea
that much, but it's still interesting. There's not much to be said about Checkers, I don't think – though I'm sure you
could find a way to read into it. There are a couple of loading screens
in the game that might be interesting to mention. Most of them need to be
brightened to see properly. I'll only discuss the ones I have something
to say about, but there are others. This one is potentially the school basement
stairway. The door be
ing down and to the right ties in with the initial note
about becoming the shadow monster man. This one clearly shows the party hat piece,
which again reinforces that this piece is perhaps more important than the others,
which again ties into our theory from the previous video about them representing
Lina, especially as they are the same shape. This one is very unclear, but it looks
a little bit like a chair in front of a piano. This other one also shows a piano,
but also with a PS1 contro
ller surrounded by a red ring. It's popularly assumed that
these shapes in the Ghost Rooms are pianos, and it's possible this connects to the themes
of music throughout, and also the needles piano. This one seems to show a revolving door in a
room with the Even Care colour scheme. This door doesn't seem to exist within the game, but
this image does seem to connect with the ideas of rotation, and perhaps also multiple worlds. It
also may be referencing the closed door puzzle. This one seems
to be a real
life photo of crayons on a sofa, and they seem to be the same brand
as the ones we see in the game, like here when Paul pushes them into the pit
under the school. They seem to be tied to Care. Here are the other images, though I don't
have much to comment about them. They show: Tiara/Belle's face, the quitter's room from
above, the grass in the Newmaker plane, the GiRL photo from the school, Marvin's head and
the needles piano, the dirt pillar under Randice and Wavey's room, M
arvin's head from the side,
the Garalina logo, and the garage at the end. I've sort of skimmed over it a bit, but
Garalina is... a confusing element. It's the company or publisher associated with
Petscop, as seen in the splash screens. It's typically assumed to be a
compound of 'garage' and 'Lina', and seeing as we do see a garage with a
computer in it, it... kind of makes sense? But it's unclear exactly who Garalina
is. It could be a single individual, perhaps just a name Rainer came up w
ith to publish
the game under, or a group of people involved in Petscop's creation. As Lina is often referred
to as 'Boss', she could possibly be connected as a part of this company, heading it in some way,
though how or why are unclear. Perhaps, as well, this company is associated with the family as a
whole – I've seen people suggest Jill or even Anna are a part of it in some way or another, likely
because the garage is indeed in Anna's house. I think this specific element is difficult
be
cause your interpretation of it relies almost entirely on which theories you believe.
Either way, all we really know about it is it's name and that it's associated with Petscop.
What do you think the story behind Garalina is? The '5 words written on a chalkboard' is
still something of an unsolved mystery. Some people interpret it to be the
'Do you remember being born?' line, however looking at the text, those
words don't seem to line up super well. The writing on this paper in Petscop 2
is
often assumed to be the same text, and they do look pretty similar, although why one
would be censored and the other not is unclear. It's likely these words are connected to Care,
as all the caskets are. As they are located in the school, it's possible they were written by her
during her time there – the fact that they're in the lower corner of the chalkboard supports this,
as she was a child, and that's a likely height for her to be writing at. An adult would likely
have written it higher
up, nearer to eye height. There are many different interpretations of
this text. The first line, many people see as either 'Garalina', or 'Care A'. The
middle section looks potentially like 'is a' or 'isn't'. The last line
could be 'present', or 'monster', or... well, a lot of things. I think 'Care A is
a present' is a sensible combination of those, but it's really very hard to tell what it
could be. Can you see other words in there? Some smaller points: The early sprites seen in 18 are in
black and
white, and look much like the design of the Tiara character, suggesting that Tiara's sprite
may be from an earlier version of the game. The handwriting style of the Pets menu
names is somewhat similar to the style of the red Tool text and the 'Do
you remember being born' sign, suggesting they may have been
written by the same person. The area code seen very briefly in Petscop
16 before it's censored is for the south west Connecticut area. This might mean
that the primary locati
ons of the series, at least the school, may be in this region. Throughout this section of video, I will
attempt to present as many of the facts for the major theories surrounding Petscop as
possible, without too much bias, though I will conclude with my own personal opinions. More
than ever with this particular video, I want to make it clear that YMMV, and you are free to
have your own opinions on the subjective truth of Petscop. Some elements of theories contradict
each other; some ignore
certain elements, others stretch and twist the presented story to
fit their ideas. I want to present these theories without trying to objectively say which one is
'correct', because Petscop is one of those pieces of media where it's almost impossible to say that
one interpretation is in fact objectively correct. Also, some of these theories originate from
earlier in Petscop's lifespan, when certain reveals had yet to come to light; often these
were popular theories prior to these reveals, a
nd people remained very attached to them,
and as such, there are cases where later information is either ignored or stretched
to fit theories that no longer quite work. I'll nonetheless present these theories,
as they still remain very popular ideas. Please keep in mind these points as we go ahead. Are you right or left handed? If we sit
at opposite sides of a square table, your right is my left. But if
you sit to my left at this table, your right becomes my... backwards. And what
of a cir
cular table? If we all sit around it, all our rights and lefts don't line up at
all. And how many sides has a circle? How many people can sit around? How many
different lefts and rights are there? This is the concept of the idea of
rotational perspectives. What is true from one person's angle is not
necessarily true from another angle. Such is what the counsellor mentions within
their scene. My right is actually your left. Rotations, mirrors, and directions are a
recurring theme in Petscop
, and it makes up a large portion of the overall discussion
of Petscop theorising. We don't have time to discuss every single instance of it appearing,
so I'd highly recommend checking out mysticete's Petscop Rotation Theory for a good discussion on
the general idea. I'll link it in the description. Why are we discussing all this? Well, it's an important prerequisite for
understanding the Rotation theory. The basis of this theory is the idea that whatever
happened at the windmill caused Lin
a and the windmill to 'rotate' to a different perspective
reality or timeline. Lina, and the windmill, continue to exist, but can only be seen via
certain perspectives or by certain people, the specifics of which vary based on
individual takes on this theory. Thus, Marvin continues to believe she exists, but
to much of the rest of the world, she is dead. His idea of rebirthing could therefore be
perhaps 'rotating' Lina back into another body. This could also explain an alternative
take on
the theory that Paul and Care are the same – they are variations of each other from
different timelines that swapped in rotation. In Petscop 19, a message on the menu screen
reads 'There are no changes, only replacements'. The open door puzzle is a great example of this.
The door was open in the DEMOs, but in the actual game, it was closed. Paul essentially had to use
knowledge of a quote-unquote 'other world' or 'other timeline' – the DEMO timeline – to navigate
the room. Can you see the r
oom? Not everyone can. The Graverobber game is another example of
this theory in motion. Each player has to navigate their own world whilst working around
unseen obstacles from another world – their opponent's world. This is a fantastic
visual representation of this whole concept. We see often multiple slightly variated
versions of things, such as the two very slightly different versions of Even Care,
one version of which has been nicknamed Odd Care. Perhaps the world of Petscop is much
li
ke this – multiple very similar realities, varying in priority, that can
affect each other in different ways? My personal opinion on this theory is that it
began to evolve pretty early in the Petscop timeline, and supernatural elements were often
used to cover up unexplained or strange things that later in the series were given a more mundane
explanation. This theory still generally works, but as you've probably guessed from the way I've
discussed theories before, I much prefer the more mun
dane explanations of Petscop, as I think it
works with the themes of the story much better, and I think the story can be tied up
without the need for a supernatural twist. This is a very popular theory and I
can certainly see where it comes from, though! “You're the Newmaker. You can turn Care
NLM into Care A, and close the loop.” The basic premise of this theory is that Petscop
represents a thematic loop – things are repeating over again, and Paul needs to 'close the
loop' and stop the re
occurring trauma. This is often presented via things
like the persistent mirroring, and particularly scenes like this, where Paul
follows the exact path of a duplicate of him without realising it (though notably, the creator
did say this particular moment was an error). Whether this involves literal time travel or just
a thematic repetition is just based on personal interpretation. There are things that could hint
towards time travel, such as this rotated clock scene. However, it's generall
y assumed to be
more like trauma repeated across generations. The loop theory can be applied to and mixed with other more specific theories
about the occurrences in Petscop. As for my thoughts on it, I think there certainly
is an element of thematic looping occurring in Petscop, but I don't personally think it's the
core element of the series, nor is it really a full explanation for what's going on. It's
an interesting element to reference, though. "Are you still sitting on a chair? Can you
still
look around the room? Is there still a room?" This theory was primarily popularised by
Game Theory, though unfortunately the Game Theory videos present a pretty warped view of
the series, especially as they were largely made with incomplete information. However,
this does not discount this theory entirely. Basically, this theory suggests that Petscop is
in some way being used to train AIs. Proponents of this theory suggest a Darwinian algorithm,
or generation-based algorithmic learn
ing system, which to put it basically in the context
of a game, involve running a large number of bot players, and those that get
closest to succeeding are reproduced, and so on and so forth until one is
trained to beat the win condition. This is suggested to be seen in Petscop
17, where we see the various generations of seemingly randomly-acting players,
until one finally makes it out the door, and we follow them. This successful one
would be our next-generation start point. I'd recommend
watching the previous video
in which I discuss the in-game characters of Tiara and Marvin if you haven't already, as
I did already slightly discuss this concept. One interpretation of this theory is that
the Marvin in the game is an AI designed by Rainer based on Marvin's inputs, so
that Rainer can use the AI to figure out secrets that real Marvin keeps, such as
the location of Lina's potential grave. We already discussed Tiara as an
AI, so I wont re-hash that idea. It's worth noting that
this level of highly
sophisticated AI didn't really exist around the time the game would've been being developed –
Rainer would've had to be some kind of incredible, ubermenschian genius to figure something out
like that, especially on his own. The series generally otherwise seems to stick with
realistic technology, at least as far as I can see. Getting an AI to go out through a
door through Darwinian learning is one thing, but one that develops it's own genuine personality
and can answer
non-programmed questions about a real person's actions is another thing entirely
– it's something we don't even have today. Another take on this theory is that Rainer
developed the game as an AI project in the first place. It's been suggested that it was
developed to create AI versions of children, perhaps as the pets, perhaps
as a therapy tool of some sort, or to keep records of the children in case
something were to happen to them – either to 'rebirth' them back into themselves, or perha
ps
as a historical record of them for their families, like those services that create social media
bots based off a person's typing style. This might explain why the pet named Amber acts
a little similarly to the tester named Amber, and why the pets seem to be occasionally
referred to like people. There's also the mysterious Petscop Discovery Pages, on which we
know there is a page called 'Your Child' – is this Rainer setting up a service for people
to inter their children in the game? Thi
s would also explain the controller inputs
being used. The Child Library rooms might also connect to this idea in some way, as
'storage' for the different AI children. It also may be of interest in the Tiara conundrum
– could Rainer's rebirthing attempt on Tiara be him trying to 'remould' an AI state he already
had – Belle – into a different one? We discussed it before, but to reiterate – this may be why
her game had been running for 17.5 years – that was her AI running. That's why she was
asked –
"Are you still sitting on a chair? Can you still look around the room? Is there still a room?". She
isn't in a room, she's an AI acting like a player. Again, this is something that's not possible
on a technical level with today's technology, however, if we suspend our belief a little, I think this version of the theory
is maybe a little more plausible. Finally on this theory, the AI theory in
general may pose an interesting answer to the Care-Saying-Paul's-Dialogue-From-A-Year-Ago
scene – if the game has been fed real life data to train AI, it's possible someone plugged that
conversation into the game, and the game is putting it out as dialogue, as conversation-based
AI often outputs exact or very similar sentences it's been fed before. Notice that Paul says the
conversation is 'based on' the conversation he had, not the exact conversation. Who would
do this and why is still unknown, as it would be after Rainer's death, but it is an interesting
way to approach that p
articular mystery. “We're going to help you, together. Everyone is.” This theory posits that the game of
Petscop was initially designed as a therapy tool. There are several
references in the game that could be interpreted to be related to
therapy or therapeutic practices. There are some clear references to this,
such as the counsellor scene. This scene, as well as reflecting a school counsellor,
could also reflect a child therapist. These therapists often use different tactics
to engage wi
th children than with adults, such as playing a game with them to both gain
their trust and analyse their responses to it, or saying things that might seem random or
disjointed but are used to judge the child's reaction to them. This could explain the weird,
slightly stilted dialogue. It might also explain why they bring up swearing, if Care had been
sent there regarding their changed behaviour. Other elements reflect therapeutic concepts
in a more abstract way. For example, the scene where
Paul is pushing items down
the hole outside the machine room – the items he pushes in are generally connected to Carrie,
like the crayons that we see multiple times. This might reflect the idea of distancing himself from
Carrie or discarding parts of his previous life. The associations with music could also be
a connection – a popular form of therapy, especially for children or people who are less
responsive to regular types of therapy due to things such as learning disabilities, is music
therapy. I've actually had the pleasure of working briefly alongside a music therapist myself at a
previous workplace, and it's a really wonderful way to connect with clients who would otherwise
struggle to communicate, and as a musician myself, of course I think it's an interesting concept. It
involves using music and instruments to connect with the patient and using their responses
to it to analyse issues they may be having, but also to allow them to relax and open up
via the medium of p
layful creation of sound, establishing a therapeutic relationship
between therapist and client. It is particularly interesting in regards
to Petscop, where the use of music seems to have implications beyond just sound. Some
people interpret Marvin's connection with the school as him having once been a music teacher
there, explaining why even though the school is abandoned, he has the knowledge of it to use
it for whatever he's doing. Pianos show up frequently – the needles piano is a major
part of the story, and pianos can be seen in the loading screen image and probably in the
ghost rooms. Background music in the game seems occasionally of interest, even – I'd again have
to recommend mysticete's videos on the music of Petscop. So it's very fair to say that music is
at the very least relevant. It's in this view that we should look at the rebirthing process,
which clearly seems to involve music in some way, shape or form – Paul is asked to play in
the machine room, and his ch
oice of music clearly affects the process, and Stravinsky's
Septet is associated with the Tiara rebirthing. I've seen some suggestions that Garalina may
not be a games company at all, and instead be some sort of therapeutic company or service. To
connect with what we said earlier – games are used as therapeutic tools. It's typically classic,
physical games like board games, but companies have created video games as therapy tools before.
It's interesting, in fact, that we see some sort of Ga
ralina office or computer room in the school.
When asked about the school, Tool says 'you can't go back in time' – this could mean that the
school is in fact no longer a school, though it used to be, and now is owned by Garalina, a
company associated with mental health tools. It also explains how Rainer was able to get access
to a PlayStation devkit – that might be hard as a single developer, but a lot easier if he happened
to work for a company that could get access to one. It also might e
xplain why the game records each playthrough – it's meant to be played
then reviewed by a therapist. Though, other games of the time did record
gameplay, so this isn't for certain. Of course, the website and the 'Your
Child' pages could very easily tie in with this theory, especially if
this company was looking for clients. So, what theory do I personally prefer? Well, as I've mentioned before, I generally
prefer the more mundane-leaning theories for Petscop. Earlier in the series' release
timeline, a lot of theories leaned heavily on supernatural elements to make up for lack
of information. As more videos came out and more things were figured out, I think a
lot of the things people were trying to solve with supernatural explanations were solved
instead with more terrestrial ones. Personally, I think Petscop reads so much better when
it's read without supernatural theorising. This feels like the tragic story of a particular
family and the things that happened to them, seen t
hrough the eyes of their shared traumas.
I think reading it as magic or supernatural happenings takes away from that a little bit.
When you start introducing things like alternate universes or time travel, it takes away from that
grounded tragedy that suffuses throughout Petscop. Some things can't be fully explained or
understood by us, and that feels like part of the design of the series – the
creator noted regarding a website that would have been part of the series, that
he decided not t
o include that element, as it would provide too much information –
clearly, we aren't meant to know everything. It's also worth noting that we're seeing this
story through two blurred lenses. One is that both our main information sources – those being Paul
and Rainer – are unreliable narrators. Paul is restricted in what he says in the videos – he's
keeping certain information away from the family, so thusly, that information also never makes it
to us. A lot of things also clearly happen of
f camera that we never really get told about, and
have no reason to be mentioned in the videos, so we just never get explanations for them. We
don't know exactly what Paul and Belle found at Tool's coordinates, for example, or exactly why
Paul was in a car – this is stuff that happened outside our blinkered view, as all we see is the
selected video recordings we're given. Rainer, for his part, is almost certainly dead, and
the only information he can provide are the things he left behind in
the game. He also
doesn't seem to make much of an attempt to communicate those things in a particularly
clear manner. He is providing a huge chunk of information in the story, as the series
spends it's entire course inside the game he made, but he is also speaking through
layers that we can't easily pick apart. The second blurred lens is the fact that
the people involved in the story start out with information we don't have, and assume
they don't need to give it to us, because from an in-
world perspective they don't know or care
that we're watching. What I mean by that is, let's use Jill as an example. Paul clearly knows
who Jill is, and probably way more about how she's involved. Belle, who his words are directed
to, seems to also probably know who Jill is, as Paul makes no attempt to explain. So... he just
doesn't explain. Which is great writing – Paul shouldn't just infodump about who someone is
just because the audience doesn't know. There's no reason for him to sit the
re and explain who
Jill is when he knows the person he's speaking to already knows that. But we don't start out with
that information – We aren't part of this family. We don't have the historical and personal context
needed for elements like this to make sense to us. But they make sense to the people our narrators
are directing their speech towards. So that is why we don't have certain points of information
that feel like they should be important – the people involved already know it, so we
're left
to piece it together without that context. Because of these points, a lot of Petscop comes
across as a little disjointed and confusing, which is where I think most of the more magical
interpretations come from – a way to explain without accepting that we just don't know certain
things. It's intentional, of course – as I said, we're not meant to know everything. We have
a good go at piecing it all together, and a lot of it does actually make pretty clear sense
once you've spent the
time to think about it, but that's why there are still elements that
are distinctly unclear and unexplained. I do believe that everything in Petscop has
a direct explanation and personally I do think everything can be justified without
the need for magical or supernatural elements, it's just that we're missing
the context for certain things. So for me – I like my Lina theory from
the previous video, that she's alive but mostly no-contact with the family, and
that her and the windmill's di
sappearances were more natural. I like the Paul is Care
theory, particularly the transgender variant, as personally I think it fits the best with
the themes and information we're given. I'm not 100% sold on it, but to me, Tiara being
an AI makes the most sense with what we know, though there's parts of that theory I'm not super
happy with. And I like to believe at the end, that Paul and Belle got a happy ending, in
whatever form that takes for them – and I like to believe that Lina is invol
ved, somehow, and
they're making some sort of new family together. After months of digging, scouring,
head-scratching and confusion, we're finally here. I feel like I've watched
every Petscop video on YouTube – even the ones in languages I don't actually speak – read every
post on the Reddit, delved into just about every social media and wiki to put together all the
different theories and evidence on Petscop that I could find. And was I successful – do we finally
have a solid answer to wha
t happened in Petscop? Well... no. Not really. And I don't think
we ever will. Petscop, at it's core, is a deeply interpretive piece of art. It's
not meant to be fully, 100% understood. There are common themes and concepts we can
put together, questions we can answer, and thoughts we can turn into theories, but
we're genuinely never going to have the whole, entire story as the creator intended – unless he
happens to decide to just explain it all one day. But I really hope he doesn't, becaus
e for me,
the main appeal of Petscop, the thing that I find so engrossing and intriguing about it, is
the community that grew around it. Petscop was the perfect petri dish to grow a community of
people that wanted to put their heads together, throw their evidence into the ring,
and create theories together. Every place I stuck my eyes into to look for
more ideas, I found people discussing, dissecting evidence together and working
out their own unique takes on this series. Even though Petsc
op may have faded a little from
the public conscious, that bed of creativity and theorising will always be there. For an analysis
lover like me, what heaven that is to see. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone from
these communities for their help in creating this video series. The creators of and contributors
to Petscop Comprehensive Progress Document, the folks over at the Reddit, all
the other YouTube video creators, and of course everyone in the comments
who gave their own sugges
tions, theories and corrections – you all in particular played a
huge part in my research and work on this series. I may come back to Petscop – there's
always going to be more to talk about, of course. Once you start digging, you
never seem to find the end of the hole. But for now, this is where I'll end it, and we
can move on to other things in the meantime. But rest assured – every comment
you leave, I will be reading. Every theory you put forward, I will see it.
I hope you enjoyed this
series as much as I enjoyed making it, and keep looking into
Petscop – we can investigate together. Thanks for watching today’s Panopticon
Theatre performance. What do you think? Did I miss anything? What do
you want me to talk about next? Make sure to sub and join the
audience if you want to see more.
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