BATDR Analysis/Post-Playthrough Theory Revision!

Fair Warning: Lots of spoilers and some pretty gruesome topics ahead (this game definitely lived up to the “scarier than BATIM” promise, wow)!

Abbreviation Key: BATIM = Bendy and the Ink Machine (videogame), DCTL = Dreams Come to Life (book), BATDS = Boris and the Dark Survival (videogame), TIOL = The Illusion of Living (book), TLO = Bendy: The Lost Ones (book), BATDR = Bendy and the Dark Revival (videogame), JDS = Joey Drew Studios, OC = original character (often used to refer to characters that fans created to exist in the universe of a story/game/etc. they enjoy)

←Pre-BATDR’s Release Full-Series Analysis/Theory

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Part One: Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Spacey Crud

Okay! So, as I said in my reactions, I love, love, love, loved the game and I’m really excited about how much I definitely got right or almost right. Especially that the song info was canon and Freaky Teeth Bendy was gonna be linked to grayscale!! I also noticed, though, that a lot of things that it seemed like I got wrong… seem to start falling apart once you examine them? There’s so much that’s really confusing under scrutiny, but I think there’s actually very good explanations for a lot if not all of it.

Let’s start with the dates.

So, BATDR says it takes place on June 18, 1973, and that Joey died in 1971. Except… if either one of those dates is true, then the other cannot be true? Look at the images of Joey’s apartment that we see in the game’s intro and outro:

How, if it’s only been two years since Joey died, did this apartment which A: while it was indeed very messy (because Joey’s very clearly an ADHDer and also has mobility problems in his old age), did not look the absolute rat-infested wreckage of an apartment that Nathan Sr. claims (notice he only claims to have heard how garbage it was and not to have seen it with his own eyes, by the way. Not only does that reduce his credibility as a witness, but it also tells me that if Joey ever actually did call him, then either he did not want him coming around in-person or – absolute best-case-scenario – Nathan Sr. refused to visit out of classism) the last time we saw it, and B: should definitely have a landlord who would be watching over it and new tenants living in and next door to it after Joey died, be in literal ruins being reclaimed by nature?? Either Joey died a much longer time ago than that, this game is not actually taking place in 1973 (we’re just seeing a repeat of June 18, 1973 inside a time loop), or… somebody did something to ensure that this apartment would be completely abandoned the second Archgate finished stripping it of museum-worthy plunder (why the heck did they think that one random painting from Joey’s place was museum-worthy, by the way? Sure, it was related to Joey, himself, but it was unrelated to JDS, so it shouldn’t be in the JDS museum). Whichever is the case, things already ain’t looking good for the timeline nor for the “innocent Nathan Sr.” image this game is trying to cultivate, which I’ll expand upon as we go. Also, why did entire walls, doors, and windows apparently rearrange between shots?? There’s gotta be some of that reality warping/leakage and/or memory alteration that I originally theorized about (and we got confirmation of the possibility of) going on.

Did anyone notice that Wilson (while literally ranting to our faces about how “none of this ‘makes sense’”) calls JDS “an ancient studio that died out almost thirty years ago?” If JDS was shut down in 1948, and it may have continued operating in a much smaller form until 1962 (which I still don’t think I believe, but I’ll explain that more in the next section) thanks to that Chapter 11 bankruptcy claim (which shouldn’t exist as a possibility until 1978), I absolutely would not say, in 1973, that this happened “almost thirty years ago.” In the 1948 scenario, I would just come right out say it happened “twenty-five years” or “a quarter of a century ago” (that second option even has the benefit of sounding like a larger amount of time than it really is, if he just wanted to be dramatic), and, in the 1962 scenario, “just over ten years ago.” I see no good reason for him to say it the way he did except in the specific circumstance that they’ve been reliving the same day in 1973 over and over in a time loop that time has moving as normal outside of (we got confirmation that this is indeed how it works, as well, by the way), so that, in the real world, it’s somewhere between 1974 and a day before the anniversary of the “true shutdown” in 1992, very close to the original dates I’d theorized (between 1978 and 1991).

Did anyone notice that, when Wilson’s trying to pull Audrey into the soul extraction machine, she says “not this time” before pushing him in?? Like not only has this happened before, but maybe she’s agreed to his plan and/or he’s succeeded in forcing her before???

Now, the studio, itself.

I know people have been theorizing that there were actually two JDS locations: one smaller, original one located in the meatpacking district that’s probably where BATIM, BATDS, and TIOL take place, and another, bigger, fancier one that overlooked Broadway, is attached to a theater, and is probably the location of DCTL and BATDR… But did anyone notice that Wilson referred to the massive city with the wide-open night sky in BATDR as “Lost Harbor” – the exact same name as Sammy and the Lost Ones’ shanty town in the cave with the ink river dock in BATIM – over the intercom while we were being swarmed by Lost Ones…?! So, the city is the exact same place as the shanty town and these are not different studios??

Even if they were different places, the BATDR location makes no sense as being the fancier one. It doesn’t remotely resemble the location in DCTL, and honestly… doesn’t even make sense as being a studio at all?? I know the audio logs claim that Joey opened the studio up for tours to make some extra cash (sounds like something he’d do, sure), but the sheer amount of things they’ve apparently done to this place for that to work (while simultaneously claiming that nothing’s been done and they’ve just got tourists walking through hazardous areas) is preposterous; there are whole-@$$ life-sized dioramas of different workshops complete with mannequins and pre-recorded audio tour buttons?? This is high-budget museum reconstruction stuff!! And some of the places that were reconstructed have other audio tour buttons in the actual locations, which is redundant and means there was no reason whatsoever for the dioramas to exist. Honestly, it feels like someone… pasted my mental images of Nathan Sr.’s JDS museum onto the studio…

“Over the years, I have collected every single piece of the studio memorabilia I could find to restore it to its former glory, to create, in a sense, a private museum that gleamed with the true vision of Joey Drew…”

Nathan Arch Sr., The Illusion of Living, pg. 2

…Nathan Sr.’s museum was, instead of the fancy-schmancy thing it sounds like he was planning, exactly the kind of microscopic, low-budget museum you’d expect to see in a drive-by small town’s one-and-only tourist spot?? This makes zero sense! Is this version of the studio a mashup of the studio and what the museum actually looks like? Was I right that it’s the JDS museum that the bankruptcy paperwork is for and this is a mashup of the studio and what the real museum used to look like? Or… is it a mashup of the studio and the false image of his museum that Nathan Sr. wanted us to expect?

Another thing, as much as it makes sense that Joey might want to make a change like this, how the actual heck could he possibly add a whole Japanese capsule motel-style sleeping quarter wing to his studio so that his employees could sleep in cubby holes in the walls instead of commuting to work every day? One so big and fancy, in fact, that it includes a sauna and apparently has enough room to hide unsavory activities, loud parties, gambling, etc?? He couldn’t even have more elevators built to improve traffic flow!! This doesn’t make a single lick of sense, either! And why is the studio covered in gigantic flowers as if it’s being reclaimed by nature… just like Joey’s apartment is?

We already knew from DCTL and TLO that both reality and people’s minds were being modified way back in 1946, so what’s the most logical explanation for the description discrepancies across TIOL (1942), DCTL (1946), BATIM/BATDS (1963), and BATDR (1973)? Reality warping/leakage and memory alteration, right? The same studio is just being added to, taken away from, and moved around until it’s no longer recognizable as itself!!

(…Did anyone notice that the “modern conveniences” Eugene talks about, which include those card readers that shouldn’t be invented until 1979, are heavily implied to have come from outside of whichever dimension he wrote that memo in? They 1,000% were imported from the real world into the Ink Dimension.)

I’ve seen a lot of people talk/joke/complain about how BATDR seems to be a story about OCs and feels like a fan fiction; Carley the fourth Butcher Gang member created by JDS animator Jane Todd and rejected from canon by her team, Audrey being an ink child Joey created to fill the void left in his life by his decision to build a crooked empire rather than start a family, Wilson wanting to use his OC Shipahoy Dudley to defeat Bendy, etc… Well, um, guys? I got news for ya…

…That’s literally the whole dang point. This world is being modified all the freaking time, and we now know for sure that much of this modification is the work of an apparently-unknown outside force, just like I theorized, thanks to the first conversation between Audrey and the Memory of Joey (I refuse to call him “Joey” nor “Memory Joey” for reasons I will expand upon as we go, and why wouldn’t he just tell us it was Wilson if it’s apparently common knowledge that he commands the Keepers and they, themselves, will literally just tell you he made them if you ask? The only situation in which that’s not Because Plot™ nonsensical is if it’s someone else doing most of it 👀). That whole exchange was fascinating, was it not? Got a lot of theory confirmation, actually.

Audrey: Mr. Drew?
The Memory of Joey: Joey! Please.
Audrey: Joey, what is this place? This studio. These… monsters. Am I dreaming?
The Memory of Joey: It's a cycle, Audrey. An ink-stained nightmare, forever stuck on repeat. With just a pencil and a dream… and a little help from the Gent corporation, it came into being. From what I gather, it exists in parallel with the outside world, but completely removed from the march of time. And like a record, played over and over again, it's begun to crumble, wear down. This studio is a monument to choosing the wrong road. Now whether it was built for revenge or regret, I don't know. That's my riddle to solve.
The Memory of Joey: The truth is, Audrey. Someone out there is messing with what's in here. Bad things have begun to emerge from the puddles. Wicked creatures that never came from my pen. The worst ones call themselves Keepers. Dangerous, deadly folks. They've taken over the old Gent workshop, just beyond the sewers. Trying to bring what they call order to this world. Freezing the cycle in place! Changing the script! Whatever answers you're looking for, you'll find them there.
The Memory of Joey: *Inhales* Look, above all, never forget: You're here for a reason, Audrey. There's always a reason. Even when you can't understand it.
Audrey: You made this world. Why can't you fix it?
The Memory of Joey: Because I'm not the man. I'm just… the memory.

I think part of why this game is so much bigger and feels so much more surreal is because it’s cobbled together from stories made up for many, many different observers, as the Sillyvision explanation implies… Feels very symbolic of gaslighting, doesn’t it? Hum, hum, hum… I’ll come back to that. I’ll also come back to the fact that the Memory of Joey, while they do try to nudge us towards believing he’s either Joey’s ghost or a soulless copy that Joey made of himself for… some unknowable reason that doesn’t make sense with how much he wished for immortality— he admits, here, that he is not, in fact, Joey, but simply the Memory of Joey (this makes no sense for him to do in this world fulla trapped human souls who would very much rather cling to/reclaim their former human identities than accept their ink forms and names even if their human bodies are dead) and that he doesn’t actually know why the ink dimension was created (for revenge or regret). First, I want to call everyone’s attention to what I believe is the unexpected key to understanding how the stories of BATDR, TLO, TIOL, and even DCTL intertwine:

Part Two: The seemingly random, hilarious fairytale on Audrey’s bed in Wilson’s ink mansion, “The Mug and the Maiden: Vol. 1 by Sir Wilton Moore”

(This is my absolute favorite part, it made Wilson one of my favorite characters in the entire series~! 💕)

Let’s just get this outta the way, “Wilton” is literally only one letter away from “Wilson,” this thing was definitely written by some version of him. Now, I’m sure most people skipped over this thing like my brother did, it’s very long and seems borderline nonsensical at first. But I think it’s much more important than it seems on the surface; not just comedic relief to break up your horror adventure or meaningless flavor text to fill out the world, but in fact a “twisted riddle that reveals more than meets the eye,” as Wilson’s character bio says. Here’s some screenshots, if you wanna read the story in full (click the info button to read the description, if you can’t make it out):

When I first read this, it struck me (when I wasn’t busting a gut laughing) that several descriptions sounded very similar to characters in the Bendy games and books (and that there’s a lot of returning repeated themes, like people going by two different names). The mouse who went to find cheese in the governor’s basement, got crushed by the false wall, and eventually only briefly had the fact his wife worried when he didn’t come home mentioned (also who apparently decayed much faster than he should’ve, his body practically reduced to nothing by sundown) sounded like Brant from TLO following Bill and Constance into the factory’s secret moonshine basement hoping to get a scoop, getting crushed by the secret door, and eventually only briefly having Bill wonder if he had anyone who would miss and go looking for him (also who freaking turned into an ink bubble and popped moments after passing out from the pain so that the only remnants of his body were ink splatters). The cheese store man with big eyes and ears and belts of cheese around him sounded like Norman (I mean, besides how the man has a hobby of eavesdropping on and watching everyone from the shadows, just look at his ink form: The Projectionist). The ugly lizard man in the blue cloak with the distracting eyebrow hair sounded like Joey Drew in his blue bathrobe who many complained in BATIM was designed/animated too uncannily so that they found his face distracting. Riktor the Cracked sounded like Wilson with his scar (speaking of which, I’m not at all convinced that he’s who Boswell Lotsabucks really represented. I’ll explain more as we go)…

In fact, it occurred to me that Riktor’s entire story sounded similar to the story Wilson tells about himself, both directly and through context clues (no, I’m not gonna bother with writing out sound effects/tones for this guy; that would add so much extra text that this would be incomprehensible. Just assume that the whole time he’s talking he’s wheezing like it’s physically laborious for him to breathe and he has a Resting Villain Tone™).

“It seems that Arch Gate Studios, in all its misplaced admiration, was so eager to absorb the life’s work of that crooked charlatan, Joey Drew, they didn’t fully realize what they had acquired.

Call it fate that I just happened to be there on the loading dock that morning. When the delivery boys dropped one of the crates, it smashed open, and inside there was something truly special. A mass of yellow steel and beautiful rivets. Some kind of machine. No one knew what it was. So the fools put it on display for all to see. But I could tell that this crude device held secrets. Secrets that could be mine.”

Wilson Arch, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Machine” audio log (emphasis added)

(I’ll come back to the red part later.)

“When I first entered this world, it was an untamed wilderness. A wretched, crawling slum, ruled by that grinning demon. From chaos, I brought order. From order, I brought peace. Once you cut the head from the snake, the snake bleeds out quietly onto the ground. Now the only question that remains is: ‘What if the head grows back?’”

Wilson Arch, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Snake” audio log

“The machine speaks to me revealing its many possibilities. What I can accomplish using its power is beyond any measure. Life and death can become a thing of the past. Poverty and hunger, a distant memory. I can remake the world anew. But does the world deserve such a gift? For now, I have bigger matters at hand. A man in a black coat came asking at the front desk about the machine. Said he was from the Gent Corporation. Fortunately, the receptionist knew nothing and he left quietly. Later, I found his name on the sign-in form. Mister Allen Gray.”

Wilson Arch, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “A Gift To Mankind” audio log (emphasis added)

(I’ll come back to the green part later, too.)

“It’s been years and my face is still a mystery to my co-workers. They don’t know me. They avoid me as if I carried some infectious disease. At first, I felt this was an insult. But now… it is a gift. With the right costume, I can play the part of anyone. I can go completely unnoticed, hidden amongst the shadowed walls. As a clerk, an artist, a producer. Or even… a lowly janitor.”

Wilson Arch, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “In Plain Sight” audio log

Wilson: You must be very tired. A quick rest will do you good. Betty will show you to your room. She's my housekeeper, among other things.
. . .
Audrey: And… do you trust Wilson?
Betty: This is the realm of the Ink Demon. His shadow hangs over us all. I don't trust anyone. But Wilson takes care of me. Keeps me safe. He once said I remind him of something he called his… “mother?” Tell me, is that a good thing… where you two are from?
Audrey: I'm not sure. I don't think I ever had one.
Betty: Well, no matter. Now, I was told to make sure you get some sleep once you got here. So get nice and comfy and relax. I left something for you on the table that might just help you nod off. It's my own recipe. Works very fast. Just follow the instructions. Carefully.

• Riktor was a “distant descendant” of one of the Three Grand Flagon Kings whose ancient exploits were legendary, though which one he comes from he isn’t sure. I think this 100% confirms that while Nathan Sr. was never officially involved in JDS, he was always pulling strings behind the curtain, cause that brings the count to Three Kings of JDS. We, the audience don’t know which of the studio’s three original “rulers” (as Audrey calls herself at the end of the game) Wilson is the apparently-estranged son of – Henry Stein, Joey Drew, or Nathan Arch Sr. – until right before he dies (I know when Audrey was confirmed Joey’s daughter, he first said he wanted to save his father’s life, and I hadn’t yet questioned if “Fake Henry” was actually fake or not, I wondered if maybe he was Henry’s son), but there’s definitely a reason he told Audrey, “shh, don’t fret. We’re going home,” when he sacrificed both her and himself to the Ink Machine: they were going home, to the place their fathers ruled over so very long ago!

(Anyone notice that they literally call the Ink Dimension a “kingdom” right there in the game’s description??)

• Riktor is called “the Cracked” even though everyone can see that he isn’t cracked at the time the narrator is telling us this, and the narrator basically calls us stupid for wondering why the heck that is; we find out he gets the crack from being used to shatter a lizard man’s face (which must’ve gotten better seeing as he was seen again the next week) at the end of this story that begins with the deaths of two major characters. Sure sounds like Wilson being called “the Man Who Killed the Ink Demon” even though half the Lost Ones we run into say “he says he killed the Ink Demon, but I saw him” and we frequently get chased by him ourselves, and how he basically calls anyone who questions this filthy slanderers; we find out that he’s been trying his darndest (describing his previous attempts at doing so as cutting off a serpent’s head that winds up growing back) and the reason he sacrificed himself and Audrey to the Ink Machine at the beginning of the game was because he needed her for his big plan to finally kill Bendy for real.
• Riktor was the second son of his parents; the first was apparently more well-known because the narrator says there’s probably no need to tell us his name, and apparently nobody liked him. Sure sounds like how everyone just already knows that Nathan Arch Sr. must have a son named “Nathan Arch Jr.” since he’s called “Senior,” and Exhibit A for Boswell Lotsabucks not being Wilson: we just got confirmation he’s Nathan Jr.’s younger brother! Also, I can smell the intense sibling jealousy, roflol. Either that, or… did Nathan Sr. also dislike his Favorite Son™, but like him enough to make Wilson jealous?? I mean, he does only ever mention having one son throughout the whole series and, as @dreamfisher-nux on Tumblr pointed out, says that son is as important to him as Bendy was to Joey, but he actually rarely ever speaks of even him and, unless that “Nathan Arch” portrait in Archgate’s animation department is actually a replacement one of Junior (or perhaps even Nathan III, either of which would support my “Nathan Sr./Nathan I is actually dead from old age, at this point, the reason the JDS museum is bankrupt is because his [grand]son is nowhere near as ruthless a businessman as his [grand]dad, and Nathan Sr./Nathan I’s soul is the ‘new evil’ in the Ink Dimension” theory), then we don’t even see his face where we see Nathan Sr. and Joey’s; he claims Junior’s the one who gave him the idea for a studio/etc., it doesn’t make sense not to memorialize him in any way, shape, or form.

(Sidenote: we also get a year of birth for Wilson, here. Twenty years before Mr. Darble Mouse/Brant “died;” he was born in 1926, so he’s only 47 in BATDR… The stress of being Nathan Sr.’s son really did a number on ya, huh, bud?)

• Riktor was “accidentally” put under a sleeping curse by a seemingly kind witch who at first offers him cake, then when he’s still convinced she’s evil instead offers a scone, which he does accept. She seems confused when Riktor falls asleep after eating it, then just finishes her cake and walks away to get a civil service job like she doesn’t care; when he fulfills fate’s purpose by getting cracked and wakes up, she just nods from her faraway office like she knew what was gonna happen all along. This witch sure sounds similar to Betty, the seemingly kind doll-like housekeeper who “accidentally” winds up sending us on a convoluted and pointless scavenger hunt for the final sleeping draught ingredient that honestly felt like some sort of test to see what we’d be willing to do if we thought we were supposed to with the way she just happened to catch us right before we went through with killing the fish we already sent into shock with the suspiciously convenient piano… and when we finally do take the sleeping tonic we’re captured by Twisted Alice— Wilson, buddy, pal, friend, did your dad have your mom put you through some sort of obedience test, at the end of which she drugged you with some kind of sedative, and that was the reason you happened to be on the loading dock when the crate broke (Betty, honey, I… don’t think it was a compliment)…??? Also, wait— why did you make an ink creature who reminds you of your mother the housekeeper? And… oh gross, was my initial assumption as to the meaning of “among other things” correct—?? Wilson, are you not the son of Tessa Arch but Nathan Sr.’s illegitimate son from an affair he had with the housekeeper (a bit Soap Opera™, but… it happens)?!?! Is that why he hated you (also, clearly Nathan Sr. did not learn his lesson, seeing as he was looking for girls to dance with at the Sparkle Unicorn a year after Wilson was born… Tessa, honey, you need a better husband. Blink twice if you need help escaping your current one)?! Nathan, dude, it’s your own dang fault if you can’t keep it in your pants!! Don’t take it out on your kid, ya @$$hole!!!
• Riktor sits unsold on the cheese shop man’s shelf for years. Sure sounds like how Wilson goes unnoticed by all his coworkers in his dad’s studio (or wherever the heck he was working when he recorded that audio log) for years.
• Riktor became a “hero” not through his own actions, but by “accident,” just happening to be in the widow’s sack when she swung it at the ugly lizard man. Sure sounds like how Wilson just happened to be there when the crate containing the Ink Machine was “accidentally” dropped and broken, setting him on his seemingly noble mission.
• Riktor goes off to fight another great Evil that awakened at the stench of death, his adventures not over yet. Sounds like Wilson setting his sights on Gent CEO Alan/Allen Gray/Grey (he spells it all the ways in different audio logs/memos), who’s apparently been trying to get the Ink Machine since JDS was still around (I dunno if I believe that, except by a very specific technicality, which I’ll explain later) and isn’t happy Archgate has it now that Joey’s dead, hm…?

My most important epiphany about this story, though, came while I was complaining to my bestie how creepy and nonsensical it was that the “who’s the real villain?” attention seemed to be being pulled in even more directions than before, now, and even less attention was being paid to Nathan Sr., his audio logs making him out to be a genuinely friendly and grief-stricken man who didn’t know what was going on with the ink machine and was creeped out by its apparent influence… Why the absolute heck was so little attention being paid to the man within whose animation studio/museum two of our main characters – one of them his own son – perished at the beginning of this game and so many of whose previous statements absolutely do not line up with what he’s saying now?? Then, I noticed the weirdly specific discrepancies in The Mug and the Maiden, and I realized…

“I just received the call. Joey Drew is dead.

What a quiet end to an extraordinary life. Last I heard he was staying in some cramped apartment downtown. You could practically hear the rats through the telephone when he called me last April. In spite of that, old Joey sounded quite happy when last we spoke.

More like the excited, hopeful young man I knew once upon a time. Ah, well, farewell my friend. What will become of your creations now?”

Nathan Arch Sr., Bendy and the Dark Revival, “End of an Era” audio log

“I’m ready for something different in my career.
I’ve built steel companies from the ground up, dabbled in petroleum, even tried political office once. ‘That Nathan Arch,’ they used to say, ‘He’s got the magic touch!’ But I’m hungry for a bit of fun, I think. Something both the masses and I can enjoy. My son suggested movies. Open a studio! Now I love a good film as much as anyone, but the magic of animation, now there’s something special! My old friend Joey knew the thrills of bringing characters to life, rest his soul. Maybe with a bit of elbow grease and a small cash investment, I can resurrect the past.”

Nathan Arch Sr., Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Inspiration” audio log

“The papers are signed! The animation staff is hired! Arch Gate Pictures is open for business! As of nine o’clock this morning, Bendy and all his little cartoon friends now belong to me. I’ll admit, it’s strange owning a dear friend’s legacy. But I think Joey would be content knowing it’s safely in my hands. ‘You just gotta believe,’ he used to say. He was such a showman. Well, I believe Joey. I wholeheartedly believe!”

Nathan Arch Sr., Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Grand Opening” audio log

“I haven’t had much sleep the past few nights. I usually can separate myself from the office when I get home. But lately, I’ve been feeling something pulling at my mind. My thoughts fall to the Joey Drew exhibit we opened last week. Outside one or two of the artists, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single soul go inside. It’s a shame how so many of us refuse to learn from the past. The past can give us our greatest lessons. But still, ever since we moved in Joey’s old things, there’s been a strange feeling around Arch Gate. Like the ghosts of long ago are wandering about. Calling out to me.”

Nathan Arch Sr., Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Exhibit” audio log

…the widow symbolizes Nathan Arch Sr., and there are actually two characters that symbolize Joey— the ugly lizard man, yes, but also the widow’s dead husband. We already examined, in small part, how similar her interactions with Riktor’s story were to Archgate’s interactions with Wilson’s; let’s get more in-depth examining her story, now.

• The widow was already planning on adding her cheddar cider idea onto her preexisting business before her husband died, she was just using distraction from her grief over him as an excuse to kick her plans into gear. Sure sounds like how Nathan Sr. admitted to working on his museum for years before when we find out Joey apparently died, back in TIOL, but then he turns around and tries to gaslight us into thinking that this is a new idea he just had shortly after Joey’s death to try and spice up his life while also preserving his beloved friend’s memory in BATDR (and, by extension, that TIOL is no longer canon), doesn’t it? Also, wow, the repeated theme of alcohol returns, once again. 👀
• The widow just goes from grief-stricken, to making herself skip mourning her husband to move on with her life, to suddenly crying about her situation in front of the cheese store man with the big eyes and ears so he’ll give her what she wants (including things that don’t match what she originally said—? Swiss? You were supposed to be getting cheddar?? And how are you picking up things like some random cat, a personalized pen, and the cheese store man’s cash box “on accident???”). Sounds an awful lot like how Nathan Sr. just goes from “oh no! Joey’s dead!” to “oh well, wonder what’ll become of the Bendy IP” and then kicks his aforementioned plans into gear (and how he, for some reason, grabs that random painting of Joey’s I was confused about and keeps this machine which also makes no sense for him to keep if he doesn’t know what it does— it could be completely unrelated to Joey as the engine out of some truck or boat that a previous tenant left behind, for all he knows), hm? I realized the cheese store man doesn’t symbolize Norman, he uses Norman’s image to symbolize all observers of Nathan Sr., Joey, and the situations surrounding them. 👀 Both Nathan Sr. and the widow are putting on a performance of grief to manipulate observers (this also feels like more gaslighting us into thinking TIOL is no longer canon)!
• The widow is the best-looking creature in the kingdom, who all the men desire now that she’s single, but that seems implied to only be because nobody knows about the beautiful deer woman who lives over the hill. I wonder if it’s not an accident that nobody knows about the deer woman, cause that sure sounds like how Nathan Sr. makes himself out to be the most innocent, kind, and intelligent character in the whole series, especially after not only erasing the evidence of multiple people’s existences but also writing a whole smear note against Henry in TIOL that seemed to successfully gaslight a lot of fans into believing that Henry might be the real villain. 👀
• The widow gets angry when the ugly lizard man tells her he’s reformed, saying right after previously saying that she has to go because she has no time and he eats people that it’s boring if he’s not gonna be the danger in the story which means she came all the way there for nothing (wait, I thought you supposedly came to the forest by accident because nobody in this place can read) and now that’s why she should just leave, causing him to panic and beg her to stay while claiming that actually he’s not reformed he was just putting on an act to manipulate her. Sure sounds an awful lot like all of Nathan Sr.’s manipulative self-contradiction (e.g. saying he wants to dispel the negative rumors about Joey and then turning around and saying things about him that he really shouldn’t be saying if that were his goal) and how I pointed out in my original analysis/theory that he seems to get off on not just turning people into Murder Puppets but also seeing how absolutely brutal he can make them while still having them believe they’re in the right and was not happy when one of his favorites’ (Joey) conscience grew loud towards the end of his life, doesn’t it? Is… this saying Nathan Sr. did something to make Joey play the villain again, after he was reformed…? Might this even be saying that it was under Nathan Sr.’s manipulation that Joey claimed responsibility for a lot of things that he didn’t actually do…? 👀

*Stares at the ending of DCTL when Joey claimed that A: Sammy was nabbing random people who stayed at JDS too late at night under his orders when it was clearly implied to be because of his own hallucinations, and B: Buddy had been hired specifically for the purpose of sacrificing “a real person,” meaning someone who hadn’t had their soul leeched out by the ink; which doesn’t make sense because, for one thing, that should mean they’d already be in the Inkwell without dying like in TLO, and for another, it’s implied Buddy was hired before Bendy (the first ink creature, apparently soulless because Joey’s soul failed to merge with him for some reason, seeing as it’s heavily implied that Mr. Unger can tell that Joey’s hand perfectly matches Bendy’s handprint) was even created – heck, before the Ink Machine was even working, seeing as Buddy witnessed Tom bringing Joey blueprints – with Twisted Alice (the second ink creature, who definitely has a soul) being implied to have also been created by the time he dies, so he can’t have been hired for that specific purpose*

• The widow acts surprised that something in her sack of cheese smashed the ugly lizard man’s face, despite swinging it at him like she fully expected doing so to save her. Sure sounds like how Nathan Sr. acts confused and creeped out by the strange energy contained within the museum exhibits in BATDR despite keeping this junker-looking machine as if he knew full well it was related to JDS and having made very ominous comments in TIOL about how he now understands all of Joey’s unhinged musings which should also mean he definitely knows what it does, successfully gaslighting most players into thinking that he didn’t take the Ink Machine for nefarious purposes (and, by extension, that TIOL is no longer canon), doesn’t it? Not to mention his company’s “accidentally” setting Wilson on his seemingly noble mission… 👀
• Riktor winds up having a lovely friendship with the widow once he “saves her life.” Wilson wanted his dad’s attention and approval (what child wouldn’t want that from their parent? Poor baby /gen 🥺), but seems to know at this point that the best he’s gonna get is showing him he succeeded at life despite what he thought of and how he treated him (or possibly… that he can be a useful puppet too); he tries to trick Audrey into giving him her soul with the lie that they’d be saving his dad’s life with his big plans and doesn’t even get the extremely messed up “good enough” ending because he gets freaking shredded in his own soul extraction machine (I was not expecting— there were pieces of him on the floor, my gosh 😰).

Now… I want to get into the widow’s dead husband symbolizing Joey in addition to the ugly lizard man a little more. I still think I was right about Freaky Teeth Bendy’s link to grayscale being a hint that he’s Joey, but now I think there’s more context around that. In my original analysis/theory, I mused about how it seemed like Nathan Sr. was trying to create a very specific image of Joey in the public consciousness with his notes in TIOL (a simultaneous A: genius and saint whose inventions should be accepted with open arms, and B: perfect scapegoat to take all blame in case we don’t… *Stares long and hard at the fandom’s reactions to the Memory of Joey*). I also mused on how several characters seemed to have become personifications of different parts of Joey’s psyche once inked, but right now I want to make special note of the fact that Susie Campbell/Twisted Alice’s story seems to parallel Joseph Dempsey/Joey Drew’s in many ways.

I think that the dead husband symbolizes the Memory of Joey, who in turn is the image of Joey that Nathan Sr. has ingrained not only into official real-world history, but also into the memories of everyone trapped in the Ink Dimension. Did anyone notice that… the Memory of Joey literally introduces himself with the intro of the BATIM audio log I think directly addresses that Joey hated being who Nathan forced him to be (“I believe there’s something special in all of us…” Nathan Sr.’s just outright flaunting that this is his version of Joey straight out of the gate)? What about how the nasty mouth-spider monsters we fall into a nest of right before meeting the Memory of Joey for the first time… those were called “Widows…” and the boss one was called “King Widow…??” Or how the followers of Amok, who decorated everything including themselves with Widow motifs, had a whole thing about “passing on the name” when the previous holder dies…??? 👀👀

“Within our isolated walls, Lord Amok reigns. The drips and drops of the leaking world above cannot stop his rule.

Those who oppose Amok’s hand, have their bodies crushed and fed into the narrow pipes that lead below into forgotten sewers under our feet. Those tunnels are even deeper, even darker, than this one. There is only suffering down there.

But, should anyone defeat Lord Amok, cast him down, our small kingdom will belong to the conqueror. This is the secret of Amok’s immortality. Pass on the throne, pass on the name.”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Next in Line” memo (emphasis added)

(Holy monkeys does the first red part reek of Nathan Sr.’s disappearing people mafia-style, as well… 👀)

The husband “didn’t do much. Until he died…” Does that sound like Figurehead Joey having his image hijacked by his “good friend” Nathan Sr. postmortem to A: create a much more successful business in the real world than he did in his lifetime as a human, and B: meddle much more personally in Ink Dimension affairs, to anybody else…? 👀👀👀

The ugly lizard man, on the other hand, symbolizes Bendy and his Dapper and Freaky Teeth sides, who in turn are the Joseph Dempsey and Joey Drew sides of the real Joey. At the point in his life that Audrey knew him: the healing heart of the reformed old man who tried his best to be a good friend and uncle/father vs. the habitual remnants of the “become a manipulative abuser” survival mechanism brought on by Nathan Sr.’s manipulation and abuse. I’m especially convinced of this after listening to the experiment logs detailing how inhumanely the Keepers treated both Freaky Teeth and Dapper Bendy in their attempts to help Wilson vanquish the Ink Demon…

“Experiment thirteen: The Ink Demon is successfully sedated for transport. Laboratory 9 is prepared for arrival at the receiving bay. Be advised that sedation will not last long. Termination must commence immediately upon reception. Wilson will expect a detailed report of the creature’s demise.”

A Keeper, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Experiment 13” audio log (emphasis added)

“Experiment twenty six: Frequent delays due to the Ink Demon’s refusal to terminate. Keepers have administered quarter hourly sessions of physical tortures and surgical invasions to wear down his powers. All of these efforts have been ultimately unsuccessful. A new method of control must be devised. Termination impossible.”

A Keeper, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Experiment 26” audio log (emphasis added)

“Experiment forty four: We have successfully pressed the Ink Demon into the form designated as Bendy. He is smaller in size and harmless in this more timid state. His powers are also greatly reduced. Using lengths of steel wire to cut into the side of his body, he now registers emotional responses. There were tears of ink documented. Screams of pain. It was delightful to see such progress.

The Ink Demon will remain in this small form indefinitely.”

A Keeper, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Experiment 44” audio log (emphasis added)

…and the way Wilson said, “to truly destroy such a monster, he must be dethroned. Humiliated…” How the actual heck do you humiliate a soulless ink blob and why would that help you defeat him? That line just doesn’t make sense, unless… Well, I’ll just say that all sounds uncomfortably similar to some of the things I talked about suspecting Nathan Sr. did to Joey (loving to belittle him and watch him suffer, especially in front of large groups of people?? Having him kidnapped and tortured for failing/disobeying too many times, his mobility problems being caused by injuries he sustained during that time??? Etc????) in my original analysis/theory, based on things said in the books and BATDR archive images. Which… doesn’t make me feel good about the ending of The Mug and the Maiden…

“…But for now, dear reader, we return to our own lives. So let us end this tale with one closing thought, shall we?

Be we cracked, or small, or even dead, there’s always a purpose to where we all are led. Be brave, and strong, and lest we forget: Fate isn’t quite done with any of us just yet.

The End”

The Mug and the Maiden: Vol 1 by Sir Wilton Moore, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 5 (emphasis added)

“They promise us peace. But they bring us only more pain!”

The Ink Demon, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 5

I think “fate” is symbolic of Nathan Sr.’s machinations, I was right to describe Joey as being “a very-long-term abuse victim who can’t even escape his abuser postmortem” in my thought summaries… and this actually might still fit my “the perfection vs. imperfection of the ink creatures comes from the intactness vs. brokenness of their hearts, not the purity” theory, if we include healed/healing hearts like I said Dapper Bendy represents. Anyone notice that Dapper only seemed to turn back into Freaky Teeth after betrayal? When Audrey tells him, “it’s okay. I won’t hurt you. I promise. It’s okay. See? I’m your friend. I won’t hurt you,” only to accidentally hurt him with her powers? When she talked to the Memory of Joey in what I suspect was actually Dapper Bendy’s hideout, not his (Dapper was just down the hall on both sides of it… the Memory of Joey might’ve literally just been camping the doors to keep Dapper out and catch Audrey)? When she promises him that they’ll stay together and she won’t let anything happen to him, then disappears for way too long talking to the Memory of Joey yet again before walking right up to the front door of the laboratory that tortured him alone because he’s disappeared presumably in heartbroken fright?? Coming to kill Shipahoy Wilson after it freaking ripped her legs off (and had Wilson’s soul banished from it, which – alongside the very fact that Shipahoy Wilson was capable of not just physically existing, but also being alive without his soul in it just like Bendy before Joey’s human death and unlike, from what I can tell, literally every single other ink creature, which I’ll come back to – tells me that his soul may have been powerful enough to defeat him just like Audrey’s, but I’ll come back to that as well) and then save her when she’s bleeding out on the cold laboratory floor??? Freaky Teeth literally even calls Audrey a traitor when she chooses to play the End Reel partly to resurrect the Memory of Joey in the end.

“It’s time, Audrey. Your road is broken. Join the Dark Puddles and give in to your suffering. You have nothing. You are without purpose. Your very existence was a terrible lie. You’re a mistake. A monster. Like me. But I will make you strong. I will make you meaningful. It’s time… *Offers his hand, which Audrey accepts* We are one. The daughter of Drew. The power of the Demon.”

The Ink Demon, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 5

“…The only important question is this: Who are we, Henry? I thought I knew who I was… but… the success starved me. Nothing left but lines on a page. In the end, we followed two different roads of our own making. You, a lovely family… Me… a crooked empire. And my road burned. I let our creations become my life…”

Joey Drew, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 5

Sounds to me like what might’ve felt like freedom to Joey/Bendy (and Nathan Sr. certainly wanted him to think was freedom) – becoming a monster – was not actually freedom (*stares at my notes on Constance and Susie/Alice’s personification of parts of Joey’s psyche, particularly how they’re both conflicted between feeling bad about doing/being forced to do bad things and doing them because it makes them feel so powerful/in control/etc., and then at how Dapper Bendy admitted he doesn’t want to hurt Audrey like Freaky Teeth does* …It was odd how Audrey worded her apology, wasn’t it? “I didn’t mean to hurt you… and I really don’t think you want to hurt me either, right?” It’s almost like… she already knew that both Bendys were the same being…), like the kinds of circumstances under which I noted that Joey’s “cruel prank” survival mechanism kicks in were when Audrey saw her dad’s ugly side, and like Freaky Teeth merging with her in that moment was symbolic of her leaning on her dad’s maladaptive coping mechanisms generational trauma-style.

“I reached up and pushed [Mister Drew] away, hard. Harder than I’d ever pushed anyone away before, and he fell back against the wooden stage with a crash. I felt strangely powerful. I also wasn’t in any pain anymore. I stood up. I marched over to him. It was my turn to stand over him.

He cowered. He actually cowered in fright. I felt really good about that.

‘What did you do to me?’ I asked.

‘Now, Buddy,’ he said, holding up a hand, ‘don’t be angry. Just remember I saved your life.’

‘What did you do?’ I took a step closer, placed my hands on my hips. I enjoyed that my shadow loomed over him like this, filling his small world with darkness.

‘You’re angry. You’re frustrated. You can’t express yourself, I understand, but don’t you see that I fixed you? And now you’re, you’re—perfect!’

. . .

He was talking to me like I was stupid. Like I was him, the happy wolf who shares my mind. I know he was excited about it then. I could feel him pulling me, wanting me to go to Mister Drew. But at this moment, back then, I was much stronger than he was. Mister Drew didn’t know that.

That was my advantage.

I turned to him. We stood face-to-face. He smiled. ‘Come with me.’ He extended his arm toward me and I grabbed it. I held it hard, and he cried out in pain. I wasn’t going to kill him. I can’t kill. That’s not who I am. I threw him to the floor.

And I stood over him.

And breathed for a moment.

I ran then. I ran away. Into the darkness of the theater, down the trapdoor and through the vents. I just ran. I disappeared into the building. Into its secrets that even Joey Drew himself didn’t know. I hid.

I hid and he didn’t find me.

He couldn’t find me…”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 288 and 295 (emphasis added)

*Stares at my notes on how it seems like Joey went into hiding to escape Nathan Sr. after JDS shut down* Maybe I’ll be right that there’s yet another secret ending that will involve unlocking Grayscale Mode to fully reveal the truth (though I’m sure that’ll take a while for anyone to uncover if it exists, considering what unlocking BATIM’s Grayscale Mode was like)? Maybe something involving merging the Memory of Joey with Bendy the way Bendy merged with Audrey in the default ending, or separating the Bendys and revealing them both to also be Joey, either way symbolizing that we can only know the truth by looking at the full picture? Or revealing the Memory of Joey to straight-up be Nathan Sr. in disguise (which would support my “Wilson’s not actually the ‘new evil’ in the Ink Dimension, it’s Nathan Sr.’s soul” theory)?

Back to the fate thing, there’s actually a freakish number of “accidents/coincidences” and weird amount of attention that gets called to the “accidents/coincidences” before they get brushed aside in this series. Remember all the ones I called out in my original analysis/theory? Remember that rant of Wilson’s I mentioned earlier, about how nothing that’s going on makes sense?

Audrey: You did this to me. You brought me here. Turned me into this… this thing! This doesn't make sense! I've never done anything to you!
Wilson: Open your eyes and look around you! None of this “makes sense.” Drawn walls. Nightmarish creatures. An ancient studio that died out almost thirty years ago. It's all fiction. Utter nonsense! And yet… in here, it exists. It breathes. It flourishes! Reality guided by its master's pen. The foundation for a new reality we can bleed into our own. Just think of it. Anything we create in here, we can release out there. *Pours blob of ink into hand* But first, this world must be controlled. *Makes a mini Bendy out of the ink blob* Made safe. *Plops mini Bendy onto his suitcase and pokes it until it stands up* These… things. These angels and demons. *Mini Bendy waves at Audrey, she waves back* Are they really life? *Picks mini Bendy back up* Or are they just… *crushes mini Bendy* stains? Old mistakes ready to be cleansed away for newer, greater things?

How the flipping heck does this rant make sense as a response to what Audrey said? It doesn’t, unless there’s a hidden, second meaning to it. Another riddle? Is he telling us that there’s a specific reason that this doesn’t make sense? That there’s a Puppet Master behind the curtain, pulling everyone’s strings, altering our perceptions of reality through gaslighting, manipulation, and complex plots executed in secret, and who sees people as playthings to shape into monsters that may not be who they really are and will destroy and/or erase any who become a liability or that he simply grows bored of? That many of his victims turn to Joey’s Illusion of Living “philosophy,” deciding that if they’re not allowed to know what reality is then they’re going to create their own, better realities in order to cope (which Nathan Sr. of course loves and encourages because that makes them easier to control, so it’ll only be safe if someone takes control away from him)?

“…And I got to know the world underground. I got to know the theater and the studio. I watched, hidden, as they were merged together. I watched Mister Drew fire people and hire new ones, and I watched as he tried to make the machine work.

I learned that pictures came to life. Like I always feared. Like I always knew.

And so I decided to write this down.

And I think, I think I’m done.

I think I have to be done because, Dot, I’m so tired. And he’s getting stronger. Now I’m really not Buddy anymore.

I am also Boris. Descending deeper into this world of aging, yellowing madness…”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 295-296 (emphasis added)

Something tells me that the entire reason Wilson speaks in riddles is because he figured out that’s the only way he can trick his dad into letting him say what he wants to say… and that the version of him who wrote The Mug and the Maiden did so because he could tell that his dad’s Murder Puppet process was working on him… and that he indeed connected to the hivemind, as that one Lost One was worried about, but for much less nefarious reasons than they thought… *Stares at my notes on how Joey seems to have had to jump through hoops in order to be permitted to publish TIOL and then create the hivemind in order to get more S.O.S.es out*

“That Wilson! He’s everywhere! Yet he’s nowhere! I don’t know how he does it! It’s madness! Madness!! What if he’s inside my head? What if he can hear my thoughts?! Can you hear me now, Wilson? Can you?! You won’t get me! I’ve got a plan! If I tear out my brain then you can’t hear my mind! Ha! I’ll show you! I defy you! All hail the Ink Demon! Hail! He’s not dead, I tell you! He will rise again! And his dark revenge will be terrible!”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “In My Mind” memo (emphasis added)

Maybe all that’s another reason Nathan Sr. hated him, he really was “one smart mug of cheese…” Too smart to be kept alive— was Riktor putting the cowbells on the skunks symbolic of Wilson warning people about what his dad was doing?! And was the great skunk famine that forced Riktor to “seek a new purpose” and get a job as an adventurer symbolic of Nathan Sr. punishing him for doing so, starting him on his journey to Murder Puppet status?!?! @inkdemonapologist on Tumblr pointed out that TLO calls attention to how these teens seem to have been swept up in the mess they were “for no reason,” they just happened to be in the wrong places at the wrong times (I don’t recall any specific parts to quote, myself); now this fairytale calls attention to how the mouse (Brant) and the widow’s dead husband (Joey) didn’t need to die because there was a nearby cheese store, brushing the reader’s questions as to why the mouse did this aside as unimportant? Could… this be saying that the “accidental” events of TLO were not, in fact, accidents?

“Again I shook my head. Didn’t [Constance] understand that this was not how it worked? She hadn’t lived in my world. Any company that could afford such a machine, that could hide it, that had such dark huge secrets, they had to be protected by something huge as well.”

William “Bill” Chambers, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 191 (emphasis added)

Bill’s right, not only did Joey definitely already have the investors money, at this point, based on DCTL, but he also must’ve already had Nathan Sr.’s protection, like I pointed out in my original analysis/theory… So, why, exactly, were Joey and Allison in Atlantic City schmoozing Bill’s dad? Were they trying to get the richest, most influential, most dangerous man in Atlantic City on their side in order to get out from under Nathan Sr.’s thumb after whatever event happened in between DCTL and TLO to start waking Allison from his trance? And did Nathan Sr. decide to retaliate by causing the very same man to put a price on Joey’s head for causing the “death” of his son so that Joey would have no choice but to come running back with his tail between his legs and beg for his protection from Mr. Chambers??? Was the diving board incident sabotage staged to see if Bill was as good at fixing things as the rumors said, and then were the blackout at the party and projector malfunctioning during the ad screening further sabotage staged to impress Scott so that he’d bring Bill into the Ink Machine situation???? Could everything have been orchestrated in order to ensure Bill would come back until he “died” (none of the kids in TLO actually died, remember. Brant and Bill were absorbed by the ink, and Constance was still alive last we saw her. For all we know, she’s only in the Inkwell now because it became too much work to keep taking the very, very temporary “ink cure” every single day), specifically?! Except, perhaps… Well, I have a sneaking suspicion that Brant was the only person involved in this fiasco who was never supposed to be there… I’ll come back to that in a bit.

Back to Nathan Sr.’s side of things, could it be that behind all the horrible events in this series that get written off as “accidents/coincidences,” there really is “always a reason, even when you can’t understand it,” as the Memory of Joey says? There’s another very specific and horrific incident in BATDR, itself, that literally gets described as “fate dropping a solution in your lap.” I wonder if this side story, told through memos and an ink window message…

“Management has come up with a new way to ‘reward’ us employees: Instead of paying out bonuses or overtime, they’ve started handing out these little tokens that you can spend in company vending machines. Besides that, these tokens ain’t got value of any kind. Obviously, a lot of people didn’t like the idea.

But the best part about the whole thing is that, within a week, someone figured out how to make fake tokens that fools the vending machines. We started calling the fake ones ‘SLUGS.’ Now, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a real token around here. Them SLUGS are everywhere!

Probably costing the studio a TON of money in snacks alone.”

Hudson Doyle, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Slug Problem” memo (emphasis added)

“Fate is a strange thing. Just when you think you’ve run out of options, it puts a solution in your lap. Andre stopped by my office to say goodbye on his way out the door. As far as everyone else knows, he’s gone home to Rio. But, he never made it. Never even made it out of the kitchen. Little Andre slumped over dead right in front of me. Barely even made a sound. And here I was worried about running out of meat for today’s special. Fate is a strange thing. Just when you think you’ve run out of options, it puts a solution in your lap.”

Chef Buck, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “A Bit Of Fate” memo (emphasis added)

…could be yet another of the many incidences there seem to have been of Nathan Sr. A: disappearing anyone who displeases him mafia boss-style, and B: turning ordinary people into Murder Puppets through suffering that made them believe they were in the right by committing their horrific acts, all without anyone ever being the wiser Nathan Sr. himself was even involved? Did he hire the worker who figured out how to make the counterfeit tokens to do so and/or to share the info on how, in order to make sure the studio – especially the cafeteria and snack machines – would be so flooded with them that if he ever needed somebody to conveniently dispose of a body for him, all he’d have to do would be to ensure the person just happens to die in front of this chef in desperate need of free meat? 🤢🤮 And what if this particular story, centered around food, and the fact that so many characters now kill us by “consuming” us, is also a way of Nathan Sr. getting back at Joey, once again twisting his dreams into something horrific to continue punishing him for his disobedience postmortem…?

“An amusement park. A land. A fully immersive place where illusion and reality danced together to create something else. Something wholly new. It wasn’t just about fun rides or tasty treats, though of course we’d have plenty of that, it was about an experience. A whole new way of looking at life.”

Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 204 (emphasis added)

“(After Richie is sent to get Joey because the teens have no idea where else to turn for help and then Buddy describes in excruciating detail all the sensations of drowning and fatal injuries that the soulless Ink Demon inflicts upon him, leading him to beg Dot multiple times to just give up on him and save herself and Jacob because he was beyond saving and he knew it.) The five senses:

Touch: nothing.

Taste: nothing

Sound: nothing.

Smell: nothing.

Sight: blackness.

And then:

Nothing [I was already dead when Mister Drew got there].

. . .

I’m dead. That’s my dead body.

‘You see, I saved you,’ said Mister Drew.

. . .

‘That’s your body, Buddy. But it isn’t you,’ said Mister Drew, crouching beside me. He said it as if he could read my mind.

I looked at him angrily. I knew now I couldn’t speak. I didn’t even bother trying. I pointed instead, at the body’s face, torso, legs…

Something is missing.

‘Those are just parts. The real you. The real you is here.’ Mister Drew reached up and touched my chest, placing his palm firmly on my ribs. ‘Your soul.’

. . .

‘I saved your soul, Buddy. And you saved me. You’re going to save Bendy.’

. . .

‘This is going to be wonderful. You’ll see, you’ll see,’ said Mister Drew. ‘Now come with me. I’ve set up a nice little room for you. A nice place. You’ll like it. There’s food.’”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 284, 291, 293, 294, and 295 (emphasis added)

“Because ultimately there is no conclusion to this story. Even after my death I am certain the story of my life, of my studio, and of my philosophy will continue. Of course, I intend to live forever, so that will never happen! Ha, a joke indeed, but in a way not a joke, for what is art but a doorway to immortality? The greatest Illusion of Living then, living on after we are no longer alive. What is more of an illusion than that?

All this being said, while forward has always been my direction, and backward has always been unnecessary to me, I will concede that there may indeed come a day in the far-flung future where I will revisit all that I have done, walk through the halls of my mind, and spend time with the characters of my past. I hope then we can all sit around a table and have a drink—the fictional characters and the real, Bendy, Boris, Alice, Dr. Squier, Isabel Newsome, Mr. K, and so forth—and toast to the great accomplishment they were all instrumental in helping me create: the Illusion of Living.”

Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 248-249 (emphasis added)

…When I first read that second-to-last paragraph of TIOL, it sounded like Joey was saying he wanted to immortalize particularly interesting people alongside himself or something. But now, with the broader context, I think it’s sounding like he was hoping to make a paradise for people who’ve suffered in life (the scene where Buddy notes he seems disgusted driving through a crowd of his neighbors in their poor neighborhood easily explained by his shame over his own poor-person origins that Brant became, in part, a personification of) and that he couldn’t bear the thought of losing. If Norman and Dave were really already infected by the ink (as anyone who spent too much time around it definitely was, seeing as it could slip off pages to crawl into the mouths of sleeping people), they would’ve already been “safe” in Joey’s mind. The only one in that pile of bodies who wasn’t “safe” was this boy who reminded him a lot of Henry; these kids came to him for help and Buddy was already dead with zero chance of resuscitation when he got there. Of course he’d try to bring him back, why wouldn’t he?? Of course he’d try to soften the pain of knowing his human body was dead for Buddy even if he had to keep up the ruse of the reason behind events to avoid Nathan Sr.’s wrath, why wouldn’t he???

What if the Ink Dimension originally existed for Joey’s regret but now exists for Nathan Sr.’s revenge? What if it started out as a poorly-executed attempt to rescue those who fell victim to Nathan Sr.’s machinations, including at Joey’s hands under his influence (*stares at my notes on how Joey seems to have genuinely hoped his Illusion of Living coping mechanism would help people, and on how he seems to have used the Illusion of Living to pretend he’d saved Lottie’s life rather than having lost her to suicide*), and eventually became a prison for whoever Nathan Sr. wanted, including Joey (similarly to my original theories)? Perhaps the machine was speaking to Wilson of Joey’s true, original intentions? “Life and death can become a thing of the past. Poverty and hunger, a distant memory. I can remake the world anew…” Maybe the whole “entertaining the masses” angle was largely or even purely to get Nathan Sr.’s approval of the plan, like how it seems like a lot of the horrible and/or nonsensical things he said and did were to keep Nathan Sr.’s approval?

“‘…but after that comes the team. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a good one?’

. . .

…You have to find the right mix, you have to find men who can work without you looking over their shoulder but at the same time don’t feel that urge to add their own personal improvements. At least not without your permission. You need loyalty, so you need people who share your vision. But you don’t want them taking over either.’”

Nathan Arch Sr.’s business advice, The Illusion of Living, pg. 149 and 150 (emphasis added)

Did anyone notice all the Alice in Wonderland imagery in BATDR? The memo heavily implied to be from Dapper Bendy/Real Joey titled “White Rabbit,” Twisted Alice throws that “tea party” for Audrey where we have to play a game of riddles (remind anyone of the Mad Hatter and Wilson?) with the Lost Ones in Wilson’s mansion… Alice in Wonderland imagery joined the hivemind when Bill Chambers was infected. This is all another callback to TLO…!! I wonder… was the Alice in Wonderland stuff how Wilson was trying to warn the kids about what his dad was planning to do to them…? It wouldn’t surprise me if he chose Alice in Wonderland for his warning riddles because he could tell Bill was familiar with it and he hoped both of the other kids would have it as fresh and clear in their minds (much like he seems to have done in making his fairytale’s main character a cracked mug, trying to communicate what happened to him to Audrey. I’ll come back to that)… Was this incident how Nathan Sr. found out that Wilson was helping his victims escape, the incident that genuinely started all the trouble in Wilson’s story as the mouse dying supposedly started the trouble in Riktor’s…?? Was Wilson being punished off-screen while Joey was collecting the “oysters” who almost escaped as he now had no choice but to do…???

“‘“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things…”’ replied Bill, walking toward it. I followed him.

‘The Walrus?’ I asked, feeling a little concerned.

. . .

‘From Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Have you ever read the book?’ he asked, still looking at the machine.

I didn’t want to admit that I was not much of a reader…

. . .

‘I know of it,’ I replied. I was standing next to him now, but I didn’t want to touch the machine. Something about it made me uncomfortable.

‘Well, it’s a poem from the book. The Walrus and the Carpenter take several young oysters for a walk along the beach.’

‘Odd,’ I replied. Perhaps odder still was why on earth he was telling me any of this. Why was he acting so strange? It occurred to me then how dangerous innocuous strangeness could be. The beginning of our night together had been such fun, but now it had turned, like overripe fruit. I felt my defenses rise.

. . .

(About what looking into the machine felt like) A hole, like Alice’s from her book. I knew that much. She fell for forever and ended up in a completely new world. I felt a shudder rising in me. I didn’t want to fall down any holes today.

. . .

‘How does the rest of the poem go?’ I asked, trying to make him feel a bit better. I looked up at the machine. It rose up so high when standing this close. There was a pipe here, large and winding like a boa constrictor.

‘Oh, it just goes on and on, more absurdity, very typical,’ replied Bill, standing next to me and looking up as well.

‘Of why the sea is “boiling hot?”’ But of course that’s not true. Was that what the absurdity was then? Just a lie? ‘What’s the point of it?’

‘They eat all the oysters,’ said Bill. He was looking closely at the pipe.

‘I don’t understand,’ I replied.

‘They invite the little oysters for a walk and then eat them.’ He tapped on the pipe. It made a hollow sound. He moved his hand and tapped again. The same sound.

‘That’s the point of the poem?’ Something about that horrified me.

‘I don’t know. But that’s what happens.’

Another tap. Another hollow sound.

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘It’s what happens.’”

Constance Gray, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 147-148, 149, and 151 (emphasis added)

(I’d already noticed, when I first read this, that it seemed like something was telling them that bad things were gonna happen to them. At this point, it definitely sounds like Wilson saying that he didn’t yet know why, but he did know that Nathan Sr. was using Scott and Tom to take them on this adventure and “kill” them. Yup.)

“My beam landed on a wide toothy grin. Sharp teeth loomed above me. Like the Cheshire cat’s smile, just floating there. But I knew the monster had claws. It looked at me, or at least seemed to. I was paralyzed. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t turn off the flashlight.”

William “Bill” Chambers, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 267 (emphasis added)

(Could this be Wilson saying that the smiling face everyone’s so afraid of, aka Joey, is not the real danger, the real danger is the unseen claws who won’t allow anyone to escape nor to look at anything but the smiling face, having found out what the reasons behind Nathan Sr.’s plot were?)

“Here we go. This was madness. But weren’t we all mad here?”

Brant Morris, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 273 (emphasis added)

(This is the line that made me realize we were dealing with a hivemind. Brant wasn’t there when Bill was talking about The Walrus and the Carpenter, there’s no reason for this line to cross his mind other than someone else’s thoughts were entering his head.)

“I started running again. I didn’t feel tired, even though my muscles ached. I felt grateful for my rage. It spurred me on. It made me want to get out of here, and most importantly it made me confident that I was right in all my decisions. I knew this was probably problematic in the real world, but in this strange underground world, I was like Alice from the book. This wasn’t reality.

It was Wonderland. I was falling down a rabbit hole except I was running along it and it was sideways.

We’re all mad here.

. . .

Something yanked me from behind. My head snapped in a whiplash and I fell hard on my back, dropping everything in my hands . . . I saw a shadow along the wall, a creature. The monster? No. It seemed to have two long ears. Like a rabbit, or possibly some dog. But it was tall and human sized. And fleeting.

The shadow vanished down the hall. It left me. It had attacked me and then left me. I didn’t understand.

I turned to look at the mess around me. I watched as the poker rolled away from me a few inches and then suddenly vanished [over the edge of the cliff I’d just narrowly been saved from running off of].”

Constance Gray, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 277-278 (emphasis added)

(First of all, Constance literally told us she hadn’t read the book, so this can’t not be more hivemind shenanigans. Second of all, could that second part be Wilson saying both that the reason Joey ran to Atlantic city after Buddy died was to try and prevent Nathan Sr. from hurting anyone else through him and that the reason Dapper Bendy runs away and hides so much, even tiptoeing away if he’s not sitting down during battle, is to protect us from Freaky Teeth?? I’ll come back to the first part in a moment.)

My gosh, that all adds whole new levels of chilling to the story… and sends me to whole new levels of “I hate Nathan Sr. and wanna adopt Wilson—” he was such a good, sweet boy, the poor baby /gen… 😭 Back to that sneaking suspicion… Does the amount of attention the story draws to the idea that Brant might just be a nobody whose disappearance won’t even go noticed not seem… excessive, to anyone else?

“Knock knock!

Who’s there?

Brant.

Brant who?

That was all my mind could tell me, repeating the same phrase over and over. Brant who, indeed. Did he have a family? Were they missing him? Would the police start looking for him?

Brant who?”

William “Bill” Chambers, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 216-217

It feels like… this moment might not just be about Bill’s emotions. Like it’s not just him wondering this because he’s been effing traumatized. It… feels like Wilson might be trying to tell us that his dad didn’t have a reason to lure Brant in. Like, perhaps, he’s panicking because he, himself, doesn’t know if this boy’s disappearance will garner attention. Like… he didn’t think this through enough, and now he’s regretting it hardcore. I wonder if it was Brant’s “death,” specifically, that got Wilson caught because he did a little orchestration of his own trying to get our beloved Mr. Reporter-In-Training to expose his dad to the world just like Brant, himself, had originally planned to do to Bill’s dad, but things really, really didn’t go according to plan…?! 🤯 Moving forwards, I wonder if that especially important line of Buddy’s at the beginning of DCTL was a message from Wilson, as well?

“This has always stayed with me: Of all the memories that are getting mixed up a bit in here, in this brain, in this head, this… this for some reason just sticks out. Right then when he clapped, the lights came back on. It was like they were waiting for him, it was like he was in control of them.

He wasn’t. But I made that connection back then. Somehow it made sense that maybe, just maybe, he had the power to do that.

He didn’t. And he doesn’t. Don’t let anyone make you think he does.”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 20 (emphasis added)

While we’re on the subject of Wilson and the abomination that is Nathan Sr.’s deplorable parenting (this is the worst possible way I could’ve been right about Wilson being just another Murder Puppet, oof… 💔🤬), I find it strange that Wilson’s scarred-blind (heavily implied to be his dad’s fault by The Mug and the Maiden) vs. undamaged seeing eyes are switched in the real world vs. the Ink Dimension. In his human body, his right eye is whited out presumably due to the same injury that scarred that side of his face. In his ink body, the right glows just like Audrey’s, Porter’s, and so many other characters’, suggesting he can see through it, whereas his left is dissolved into black ink on the same side of his head as what appears to be an injury from either falling and hitting it or being bludgeoned. And then both of his eyes are blacked out and he’s undamaged in his posters— until you get down to his laboratory and discover that he’s subtly colored his posters so that you can tell that his eye sockets are empty and bleeding? There’s gotta be some sort of symbolism, there.

Where has left vs. right been important before, in this series? Anyone remember in BATIM…?

And what about in TIOL…?

Angel: Spending my time with a devil has been an enlightening experience. Working with you over these years with you sitting on that left shoulder, so far yet so near, all our debates, they were invigorating for the spirit
Devil: So that is a yes [you'd miss me if our human has become only good and I have to leave]?
Angel: I suppose it is.
Devil: I won't miss you [if he's become only bad and you have to leave]! Fighting all the time, trying to trick you into agreeing with me, trying to push you off that right shoulder of yours. The violence and the anger. I won't miss it at all!
Angel: Oh, but you will, dear Mr. Devil.
(Pause)
Devil: Maybe I would a little.

I think Wilson’s posters symbolize the fact that if we allow Nathan Sr. to gaslight us into ignoring the evidence of his crimes, then we, the audience, are blind to the truth behind the horrors of the series. And I think that the difference between the two has to do with how Nathan Sr.’s manipulation and abuse completely and utterly fudges up his victims’ consciences (“…most importantly it made me confident that I was right in all my decisions. I knew this was probably problematic in the real world, but in this strange underground world, I was like Alice from the book. This wasn’t reality. It was Wonderland. I was falling down a rabbit hole except I was running along it and it was sideways. We’re all mad here,” as Constance said… To people living in the literal and figurative real world, it looks as if Nathan Sr.’s victims just have no consciences and are evil for the sake of being evil; but, in the literal and figurative imaginary world that Nathan Sr. traps his victims in through gaslighting and so on, they’re seeing the good intentions/desperation/etc. behind their actions, and therefore see themselves as good and their actions as justified even if they still have a sense that maybe they’re not, in reality) and possibly also the different ways we perceive the results of Nathan Sr.’s actions in the real world vs. the Ink Dimension (not a fully formed thought, feel free to disregard that one). By the way, did anyone notice Bendy seemed to have control of the right hand – that’s the hand he crushed the Memory of Joey with – while Audrey seemed to have control of the left hand – that’s the hand she picked up the End Reel with – when they were first sharing a body? 🤔 This feels a possible hint that the End Reel was created by Nathan Sr., not Joey, as part of turning the Ink Dimension into a prison (“those tunnels are even deeper, even darker, than this one. There is only suffering down there,” after all)… and that the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr. is not actually a good entity, but Bendy/Real Joey is, at the end of the day…?

As for Boswell’s monocle meaning he was actually Wilson… Exhibit B: Boswell first appeared in 1932; Nathan Jr. and his baby bro Wilson were literally little kids at that point. Exhibit C: monocles usually aren’t worn all the time in real life like they are in cartoons, they’re usually used by farsighted/longsighted individuals and kept in one’s pocket until one needs to pull them out for reading. If Nathan Sr. did have a monocle, he probably would not be wearing it to pose for a painting. Exhibit D: Ignoring that one slightly similar design detail, and regardless of whether the “Nathan Arch” portrait is of Senior or Junior, I think Boswell resembles the round, mustachio’d Nathan much more than the angular, bare-faced broomstick that is Wilson…

…In conclusion: honestly, it sounds to me like people being convinced that Wilson and Nathan Jr. are the same person and therefore Boswell must not be Nathan Sr. is literally just another example of Nathan Sr. successfully gaslighting everyone into an altered perception of reality (and you should just assume from this point forward that when any form of the phrase “Nathan Sr. is altering reality/memories” comes up, you can replace it with “Nathan Sr. is gaslighting us,” lol). Speaking of which, now that I think of it, I’m very suspicious of the fact that the comics where Boswell seems like a decent and oblivious person and Bendy seems to be (trying to) take advantage of him are sepiatoned, whereas the comic that I think got the two main comic artists disappeared is in black-and-white… *Stares at my notes on the possible symbolism of the sepiatone color pallet representing a preserved altered perception and the grayscale color pallet representing an easily destroyed purer perception* Also, my gosh, they make him look so goshdanged welcoming and saintly in his portrait. That smile is glowing with Santa Claus Vibes and I don’t trust it.

Part Three: All this brings me back to Henry and Allison’s apparently-retconned stories.

Funny how the Memory of Joey tells us this story like a fairytale told to a child, isn’t it?

The Memory of Joey: Once upon a time, Audrey, there was a bitter old man. Who had lost just about everything.
Audrey: Joey.
The Memory of Joey: Right. The real Joey Drew. He blamed everyone but himself for his mistakes, but mostly he blamed his old business partner for abandoning their work, years and years ago. A man by the name of Henry Stein. A great artist and a good friend. In his anger, Joey used an evil machine to create another world. A world made of paper and ink, where he'd torment his own version of Henry forevermore. But one day, a miracle happened. An angel came into Joey's life. A young woman by the name of Allison Pendle. She didn't visit often, but when she did, she saw something good in Joey that no one else could. Including himself. Through their friendship, he began to see the world with better eyes. So one day, in his cartoon cycle of hatred, he gave Henry an angel of his own. To guide him when things were most dark. To always provide hope…

I’m certain that (aside from the green part) this is a fabrication created by Nathan Sr. and his modification of both the Ink Dimension and the memories of the real world contained in the loop in order to keep Bendy/Real Joey trapped and at odds with not just Henry (as I’d originally theorized), but also Allison beyond the grave (while also allowing them to stay friends although they’re both trapped as well just to further taunt Joey). First of all, Allison’s surname was already Connor in her BATIM letter, remember? Doesn’t that mean she can’t have been called “Allison Pendle” when she met Joey, if the Memory of Joey’s story were true?! He’s claiming Allison and Joey met after Henry started going through his loops in 1963, remember (he’s literally saying that every scrap of information we have on her is imaginary just with this one claim, because this would mean that the invitation to her and Tom’s wedding in 1952 in The Employee Handbook [BATIM guidebook], where Allison herself wrote that Joey was the reason they met, was fake… Need I remind everyone that theMeatly, himself, literally told us multiple times, including the day after the trailer dropped, that all of BATIM’s established lore is still 100% canon in BATDR)?!?!

Second of all, I noticed long ago that there looked to be about 12-23 hatch marks (depending on if some of those are actually hatch marks or just meaningless scribbles) in Henry’s prison cell in Allison and Tom’s hideout, like the ones in the beginning hallway, and theorized that this meant Henry had been counting not just how many times he’d gone through the whole cycle, but also how many times specific endings had happened. If I’m right, that would mean that about 12-23 of those 414 loops Henry went through before BATIM ended with him in Allison and Tom’s hideout…

…which means that, even if all the other messages on this particular wall were written by Joey, Audrey, and Wilson, Allison’s addition was most definitely not what made Loop 414 different, as the Memory of Joey seems to be implying. I’ll talk about my new theory on what did make Loop 414 different in a bit.

Now, if that part of the Memory of Joey’s story is untrue, then what if the Henry we meet in Wilson’s prison for Cyclebreakers is not a copy created to be tortured, he’s just been gaslit into believing he must be by the fact he’s survived for years without eating in his new ink body? So much so that he believes that maybe he should just give up on holding onto his human life and memories (translation: he’s leaning on Joey’s Illusion of Living coping mechanism, trying to create a reality that hurts less. Which, as I’ve said before, Nathan Sr. loves because it makes him easier to control)?

Henry: What's your name?
Audrey: Audrey. What's yours?
Henry: Honestly, I've almost forgotten. My name is Henry.
Audrey: Have you been a prisoner long?
Henry: When the Keepers think you're a threat to their plans, they lock you away, forever. Still, it's given me time to think. Things like: if you haven't eaten in years, you might not be human.

The Memory of Joey literally confessed that he doesn’t actually know if the Ink Dimension was created for revenge or regret, remember? So, why is he now suddenly claiming that he knows for sure that it was specifically created for this particular brand of substitutionary revenge?? Sure sounds like Nathan Sr.’s manipulative self-contradiction, again, doesn’t it? I also find it extremely suspicious how this headline that seems to be confirming the retcon of Henry’s death…

…not only sounds nothing like a headline you would read in real life (except maybe in a trash tabloid or something, which this might be judging by some of the other headlines and would mean we shouldn’t be trusting it to have done any fact checking rofl) – it sounds like something that a player (maybe one of JDS’s real-life beta testers, even) said during their playthrough, after hearing the Memory of Joey’s “retconning” story – but also… isn’t even properly capitalized or in any of the same fonts as the other headlines on this paper nor on the other we have! Especially considering the fact that one of these headlines is talking about the angry moon Easter egg you can spot in Lost Harbor, I don’t think this is actually a headline confirming that Henry’s not dead in the real world; I think it’s the observer’s (be that Audrey’s or those of any other random ink creature who’s run into the Memory of Joey and/or “Fake Henry”) thoughts leaking into the wider reality of the Ink Dimension.

Oh, by the way, we do have evidence that either Henry or at least one of the other potential message writers, at one point, seemed to know our dear Mr. Animator was dead in the real world, also found in his cell in Allison and Tom’s hideout, if anyone who knew forgot.

I highly doubt it was referring to the message about Allison leaving him for dead, considering how he was awakened by her sounds of panic and would have no reason to still be in bed when Bendy arrived, even if not knowing about the secret toilet meant he didn’t escape Bendy the first time he experienced an Allison and Tom Loop. Funny that this is also where we see the evidence of Audrey existing in BATIM, by the way; hand with a swirl saying “follow me” and another swirl labelled “trust her,” as SuperHorrorBro on YouTube pointed out? Hm…

Let’s go back to her. It does seem we can trust parts of what the Memory of Joey says, like how we were able to glean clues as to what was going on behind the curtain through TIOL despite both the hoops that Joey had to jump through to get Nathan Sr.’s permission to publish in the first place and Nathan Sr.’s postmortem edits; you just gotta pay attention to the patterns in the broader picture. We do know, for example, from clues in BATIM, TIOL, and TLO, that whether or not he wanted anything to do with romance and having kids was a huge internal struggle for Joey that culminated in regret at missing the chance; which tells me that, yes, Joey created Audrey to be the daughter he could never have (speaking of which… based on the Keepers’ “surgical invasions” comment, I wonder if Nathan Sr. might’ve… *clears throat* had someone forcibly sterilize Joey… ☹️). However, unlike many fans (including MatPat of Game Theory on YouTube, I saw the morning I added this note), I think Audrey has a completely new soul; Joey didn’t sacrifice Henry’s daughter or Tessa Arch or anything like that. Lemme explain.

Y’know how Audrey talks and behaves a lot like Henry (planning on drawing her animations all night long and actually doing so in the secret ending you unlock if you don’t make her move at the very beginning of the game, saying a lot of the same lines as him, etc.) and there’s an Easter egg where you can spot a ghost train on Platform 77 at 4:14am or 4:14pm (the same number as the loop that was different, Henry’s identifier in the Cyclebreaker prison, in the corner of the so-called “death of Henry retconning newspaper,” and the dates marked on so many lore drops… Anyone remember Nathan Sr. saying the last he heard from Joey, when he sounded so happy, was during April? I wonder if Audrey’s “birthday,” when Joey tried to cut ties with Nathan Sr. and disappear off his radar for good, was April 14… and mayhaps Nathan Sr. had the announcement of his buying the Bendy IP published and caused Wilson to discover the Ink Machine on April 14th as a way to poetically rub it all in Joey’s face and dance on his grave)? There’s also another place that we can spot a ghost: when you make Audrey strike a pose in front of the mirror in her office too many times, like the goshdarned peacock that Joey was.

There are Lost One memos that say not only that ghosts are what happen when souls randomly, accidentally slip out of the Inkwell, but also that new souls can be created by combining old ones inside the Ink Machine…

“We don’t live forever. When we’re killed or finally pulled apart, our diseased souls return to the ink to be reborn. An unending cycle of torment.

But sometimes, something even worse can happen. A soul can slip from the ink completely. It gets caught between worlds, unable to die or return. They wail in the night. Drifting in shadow. The Phantoms of the Machine. The ghosts.”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Ghosts” memo (emphasis added)

“We live in the ruins of the past. Forever lost in the shadows of those who came before us. Blended souls to make something new. Birthed from a machine into a world we cannot own.

But the Ink Demon lives in all of us. A voice that calls us to a purpose. We know it’s a lie, but his intoxicating pull is strong. He is calling. Always calling. Can you not hear him?”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Who We Are” memo (emphasis added)

What if Audrey’s soul is a combination of pieces of Henry and Joey’s souls, so she’s Henry and Joey’s daughter, but none of the three of them realize it?? As far as Joey knows, she’s only his own kid (because he knows with 100% certainty that he put a piece of his own soul inside of her), but the Arch family figured out what changed for Joey to finally succeed at creating life (by the way, I saw someone in some YouTube comment section point out a long time ago that, if you translate “414” to the alphabet, it spells “dad…” Wowzah, the symbolism)???

“I believe there’s something special in all of us. With true inner strength, you can conquer even your biggest challenges. You just have to believe in yourself and remain honest, motivated, and above all, who you really are.

Okay, let’s stop it right there. I can only do so many takes of this trash a day. And tell the guys in writing I want more use of the word ‘dreaming’ in every message. Keep railing on that, get it? Dreaming! Dreaming! Dreaming! People just eat up that kind of slop. Hmm, what? It’s still on? Well, turn it off, damn it!”

Joey Drew, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 4 (emphasis added)

The Memory of Joey: Well, geez! You haven't gotten far!
Audrey: Don't do that! Wait… how… how did you get in here?
The Memory of Joey: Oh, I have my ways. So, tell me. How goes the journey?
Audrey: Slow, but I'll get through.
The Memory of Joey: Ah! I see you have your father's never quit, go-getter spirit.
Audrey: Oh, now you knew my father. Well, news flash! I didn't even know my father… or my mother. Or anyone else in my family.
The Memory of Joey: I see then. You've chosen to forget the past. I can understand that.
Audrey: What are you talking about?
The Memory of Joey: Look, I don't think you're ready for this, *pats her hand* but hang on to your lunch money. There's something I want to show you. *Starts using his teleportation powers*
Audrey: Wait. What are you doing?
The Memory of Joey: *Teleports her and himself to BATIM Chapter 1*
Henry's Voice (echoing like it's supposed to be a memory): Alright, Joey. I'm here. Let's see if we can find what you wanted me to see.
. . .
The Memory of Joey: …It was then, Joey decided to make something new. Something he had always wanted, but he could never have: a family. But not a cartoon one. Something real. And after many, many tries, he created something that made him happier than he ever could have imagined: a wonderful, loving daughter. Bright and kind. Almost human. He created you, Audrey.
Audrey: What? Are you crazy?
The Memory of Joey: Listen, I know it's a lot—
Audrey: —Who do you think you are? I wasn't born from some… machine! I'm flesh and blood. I'm not some kind of ink monster.
The Memory of Joey: Just because we're born of darkness, doesn't mean we belong to it. We're always free to choose. To believe what we want to believe.
Audrey: Take me back! Right now! I'm not listening to any more of your lies!
The Memory of Joey: Remember who you are, Audrey. *Tries to take her hand again*
Audrey: *Yanks her hand away* Leave me alone!
The Memory of Joey: *Sighs and sends her back to the Downside Hotel*

“This may be my last chance to record a message, I’m pretty sure he saw me talking into this thing, He probably won’t let me keep it. Not much left to say except… Linda, I miss you and I love you so much. Coming back to this old place well… it kind of reminds me of how much I’ve gained. I feel like there are so many questions that need answering, so many things that don’t make any sense. If anyone hears this, if you make it out, don’t ever return, because the Ink Demon will find you.”

Henry Stein, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 5 teaser audio log #3 (emphasis added)

Audrey: Why would you be a threat to them?
Henry: I'm what they call a “Cyclebreaker.” Once upon a time, I knew how to start the cycle over. And when that happens, everything begins again. Completely new. Obviously, Wilson and the Keepers don't want that to happen.
Audrey: How did you do it?
Henry: Reset the cycle? It turns out the Ink Demon himself is the key. This world is his, but even he must obey its rules. For now at least. If you can get him to look at something very specific, it will reset everything.
Audrey: What is it?
Henry: It's just a reel of film, labeled with the words “The End.” I can see it in my mind, every day. They keep it upstairs in the Pit [where Heidi says the ghosts live and nobody ever comes out of. At least, never quite the same].
Audrey: I'll see if I can break in and steal it. Maybe, if I reset the cycle, we can make things better for everyone here.
Henry: And what about you?
Audrey: I just wanna go home.
Henry: So did I.

(*Side-eyes that “even Bendy must obey the rules” comment hard*)

Was Audrey created from Joey’s hatred of being what Nathan Sr. forced him to be, his coping mechanisms, and his desires for a family and to be his true self (which comes out in her as wanting to be a real human being of flesh and blood with a normal family, even if that means she has to forget her real family), and Henry’s kindness, curiosity, compassion, perseverance, passion and talent for drawing, and desire to go back home to his family? Joey says in TIOL that he admired Henry’s smile, and I noted in my original analysis/theory that Joey’s smiles that people find unsettling don’t seem to be a sign of malice but instead that he’s going through some sort of suffering, usually related to Nathan Sr., that’s causing him to dissociate just like Bill from TLO does, so of course the newest Audrey’s smile – Henry’s genuine, kind, confident smile – would fill Joey’s heart with joy!!

“Who would have ever dreamed? In the declining years of my life, I have someone more precious to me than any piece of art I could make. When she laughs and smiles, it fills my heart so much it overflows. For all the evil that’s come from me, this is something finally good.

We play and talk as we both learn from each other. There’s not much time so every moment has to count. Unlike my versions that came before her, the ones who called me their ‘uncle,’ I’m proud to have her call me ‘Dad.’ Because she is truly my daughter.”

Joey Drew, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “True Daughter” memo (emphasis added)

Before anyone says anything, it’s for the very same aforementioned “broader pattern” reasons that I’m unconvinced his motivations behind having the previous (implied “imperfect,” which I agree with others could mean “unable to live very long in the real world,” explaining in addition to Joey being very old and sickly the extreme focus on not having much time 😢💔) versions of her call him “Uncle Joey” were as selfish and cruel as they seemed. I feel like it was simply, once again, a way to cope with grief, as he does so often (and Audrey seems to have done generational trauma-style, once again, “choosing to forget” rather than mourning)… I think, in reality, he didn’t mean that the other Audreys weren’t good enough to call him “Dad,” but that he couldn’t bear to have them call him “Dad” because he could tell they’d be gone soon and he needed that fact to hurt less, his thought process something like “of course I still care about my nieces, but losing them is less utterly devastating.”

Speaking of the memories, was anyone else weirded out by the way Wilson said that Nathan Sr. “only ever had time for the grand creatives of the world. The ‘doers,’ as he called them. How could his lowly son ever compete,” after that conspicuous comment from Nathan Sr. that he dislikes creative people, back in TIOL (I specifically noted this comment in my original analysis/theory because it sounded like he was indirectly ending his relationships with every other creative he’s ever met specifically so that nobody would believe anyone who claims he looked down upon Joey)? And was anyone else disturbed by the fact that, in the very same room where Wilson went on his rant about how Nathan Sr. was beyond saving (definitely didn’t sound like he meant physically 😬👿) before he got freaking shredded (still not over it 😵‍), we find a hotdog connected to Audrey’s pleasant childhood with Joey and a final Nathan Sr. audio log where he talks about going on a lovely walk and eating a hotdog for the first time in a long time (no, this isn’t implying that the memories are actually Wilson’s; the achievement for getting them all is called “Self Discovery.” And, sorry MattyPatty, but I’m not buying “they’re Tessa’s because the Fashionable Men’s Hat was in fashion in the 1930s but not the 1960s;” I didn’t know or care what was actually considered fashionable as a little girl – I mean, I still don’t, but I’m autistic and that’s beside the point – I even called old clothes of my grandmothers’ that they gave me to play dress-up with “fashionable/chic/etc.” If I was pretending to be fashionable, I could tell it was expensive, and/or I thought someone – especially my parents – looked good in something, I called it such things without question. Multiple memories make a point of saying how old and/or cheap they are, the Rubber Duck straight-up saying that it was “still dusted with the decay of old soap;” it sounds to me like Joey kept a lot of old/broken things in order to save money and possibly also go out in public as little as possible in order to stay off Nathan Sr.’s radar, his biggest exceptions being making memories with his baby girl)?

“I decided to go for a walk this morning. Took a little stroll down to the park. Enjoyed the warm sun for a while, found a quiet bench, even grabbed a hot dog. It’s been ages since I’ve done that. Tessa would kill me if she knew I’ve been off my diet. When I got back to the office, I stopped by the animation department and said hello to the troops. My gosh, they’re getting younger every day. Either that or I’m just getting older. It all made me realize time is moving on. The hard struggles don’t seem as dire as they used to. Life has other value. I think, I’ll go home early today. Maybe I’ll even pick up a hot dog for Tessa.”

Nathan Arch Sr., Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Bigger Things” audio log

Just this one scene in this one room felt like a big, flashing neon sign highlighting the stark contrast between Nathan Sr. and Joey’s parenting. So much here is screaming to me that:

1. Nathan Sr. – who seems to have just chosen to be a monster of his own, perfectly sane and untraumatized free will – had been working hard to make observers believe he was a good father while neglecting The Favorite Son™ (Nathan Jr.) and abusing The Hated Bastard Son™ (Wilson) so horribly both emotionally and physically that not only was Wilson jealous of how much his dad liked people he just disliked and/or of anyone who got his dad’s attention and approval by being used in his machinations, but he was also made into a social pariah (just like Walter and Joey) by the horrific injuries his father inflicted on him, making him look and sound so creepy. I think Nathan Sr. was relieved that day in 1973 when his intricate plans finally came to the fruition he was actually planning on and they found his least favorite son’s dead body on the floor of his JDS museum; the hotdogs were a way to celebrate finally ridding himself and Tessa of Wilson for good (seriously, frick you, Nathan Sr. I’mma slug you and then hug and adopt both your sons; nobody deserves a dad as pure evil as you).
2. Joey – who was clearly forced to be the way he was for survival reasons – really, genuinely was trying to be a good uncle/dad to the Audreys, despite the mistakes he definitely made with them due to decades of being trapped in survival mode (and Audrey definitely loved him despite his flaws, which is probably why she’s so willing to give Wilson a chance! Anyone notice the description of the Cracked Mug childhood memory? I… why are you making me tear up over a broken cup with a frowny face drawn on it?? Stop making me cry… 😭😭😭 Not only was Wilson trying to communicate what happened to him to her, but he was successful and she sees her dad in him and wants to help… Unfortunately, he ain’t in the same place Joey was, anymore. His dad’s Murder Puppet process worked, just as he feared; he’s not the same person now as when he wrote The Mug and the Maiden, so she gets hurt for her kindness). He didn’t want her to become like him, he wanted her to be safer and better able to move forward than he was, as seen in the memos signed “your best pal;” he fought for his daughter to not just survive, but joyfully thrive, taking her out for hotdogs just so that they could relax together on a Saturday.

“Every great story begins in mystery. Although things may be dark at the start, the truth will illuminate your way.

Don’t be afraid of who you are. Fear only what you may become, and banish it away.”

“Your Best Pal” (heavily implied Bendy/Real Joey), Bendy and the Dark Revival, “The Beginning” and “Something Familiar” memos (emphasis added)

(The “Something Familiar” copy is literally found on the Memory of Joey’s bed which, as I said, I think was actually Dapper Bendy’s.)

“Around here, it’s just best to stay out of sight.

Don’t ever go running into some place if you don’t know what’s in there! If you attack a problem head on, you’re going to find yourself in trouble. And that’s just foolish!

You gotta watch, listen, and when the time is right, push forward.”

“Your Best Pal” (heavily implied Bendy/Real Joey), Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Be Careful” memo

“Don’t ever lose hope. When in doubt, the answer you seek is usually nearby. We all have dreams, ghosts in our past. But those ghosts can give us the path forward.”

“Your Best Pal” (heavily implied Bendy/Real Joey), Bendy and the Dark Revival, “White Rabbit” memo (emphasis added)

Back to the whole soul blending idea. If I’m right, this would all explain:

1. Why our Audrey could survive in the real world while the others couldn’t: they needed complete souls, but they only had part of Joey’s soul until part of Henry’s escaped!!
2. What made Loop 414 different: Henry’s memories of the previous loops were erased because part of his soul had (genuinely, cause Joey seemed awfully surprised that something changed) accidentally slipped into the newest Audrey!!
3. The Memory of Joey saying A: that Audrey doesn’t have to be the Ink Demon anymore, making a big deal about how Audrey’s real and loved – the Ink Demon has the rest of Joey’s soul, he’s saying that she’s her own person and not either of her dads (while also making Joey sound like a selfish creep by passive-aggressively rubbing the fact that he was forced to be the monster he became in Real Joey’s face and also telling him that he’s unlovable trash unlike Audrey *stares at my notes on how Susie Campbell/Twisted Alice’s story parallels Joseph Dempsey/Joey Drew’s, again* but seeming like he’s being a jerkwad to another one of his children, as @inkdemonapologist pointed out. So many reasons for Bendy to have crushed the life out of him, there) – and B: “just a pencil and a dream isn’t enough, you have to have heart” – not only does she need to keep choosing compassion to avoid going down the road Joey did, but Joey was The Dreamer, Henry was The Heart, and together they made a separate life!!
4. Why Wilson would A: describe Audrey’s powers as “devilish” (they came partly from Joey, who is now the Ink Demon) and make a big deal about how the Ink Demon can’t get into his lab (he knew that Bendy/Real Joey would 100% come to rescue his baby girl, if they were somewhere he was capable of entering. As he did at the end of the Shipahoy Wilson fight), and B: think that her soul would be powerful enough to create a deity that could defeat Bendy (she’s also a descendant of the Third King of JDS, who left the kingdom) while also, apparently, not realizing that his own soul might be powerful enough, as well, and therefore never actually trying to kill Bendy himself (he tried to have his Keepers do it, remember? That’s literally what those audio logs were all about); maybe this is how souls always work in the Bendyverse – everyone’s souls are a combination of pieces of their parents’, so Wilson’s soul is partly Nathan Sr.’s, another one of the Three Kings of JDS (this might also explain why Henry, the Memory of Joey, Audrey, and Wilson are the only ink creatures we see who resemble humans; if the Memory of Joey is actually Nathan Sr., that means they all have Royal Souls, making them the most powerful beings in the Ink Dimension. Bendy/Real Joey is probably the way he is because A: he chose to be, B: Nathan Sr. forced him to be, or C: nobody had any choice in the matter because he was already bonded to the soulless Bendy body by the failed ritual performed way back in 1946) – but, as far as he knows, it only works that way for ink creatures…?

“Now I’m not lookin’ for trouble. It’s just the nature of us projectionists to seek out the dark places. You see, I’ve learned the ins and outs of this here studio. I know how to avoid being bothered by the likes of this… company. ‘That projectionist,’ they always say, ‘creeping around, he’s just lookin’ for trouble.’ Well trouble or not, I sees everything. They don’t even know when I’m watchin’. Even when I’m right behind ‘em.”

Norman Polk, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 3 (emphasis added)

“‘Of course,’ Norman said to himself. He took another sip [of what was almost definitely ink]. ‘He says it like that, knowing that he’s the one who brought this creature upon us. Of course. Of course.’

I felt cold then, like the temperature had dropped and it was winter. Like if I talked my breath would freeze. ‘What do you mean?’ But I knew what he meant. He meant the infirmary. The thing in the room with the locked door. The door I’d opened.

I’d let it out.

Me.

It was all my fault.

‘What do you two know about the ink?’ Norman asked instead.

‘We know Sammy is obsessed with it,’ said Dot.

‘So not much then,’ said Norman.

‘How much do you know?’ I asked, trying to hold it together.

‘Everything.’”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 210-211 (emphasis added)

“I’m a fan of darkness. It just appeals to me. As old Norman would often say: people really become themselves when they’re hidden in shadow. That creepy guy always had a story to tell about this place. But I think I’ve found a few narrow passages even he didn’t know about. I can watch. I can listen. I can even steal. And no one ever sees me. I’m just a ghost, *giggles giddily* living in the walls, peering from the darkness. *Chuckles ominously*”

Grace Conway, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Dark Places” audio log (emphasis added)

Is Grace a combination of Norman and somebody else’s souls (someone who’s not at all in denial that they enjoy getting into mischief and ruffling people’s feathers, clearly… roflolol what if it’s Shawn?? What if him leaving JDS was also one of Nathan Sr.’s lies, so he really was the Top Hat Searcher Boss in BATIM??? Omigosh, I wanna meet Grace, she sounds fun 🤣 but also, poor Shawn 🥺), so just as much his daughter as Audrey is Henry and Joey’s? Was she created from his desire to find secrets? She has a very similar voice to him and everything, goodness. And while we’re back on the subject of dear old Norman, could he have become a personification of part of Wilson’s psyche when he got addicted to that same ink that Sammy did (which would also support my “Wilson’s not actually the ‘new evil’ in the Ink Dimension, it’s Nathan Sr.’s soul” theory)…? Wilson seems to have a Royal Soul, after all; maybe that gave him the ability to work himself into the hivemind that thoroughly… “Wilson’s always watching. He knows your purpose…”

Speaking of which, it sure looks to me like we got a whole heckuva lotta “Joey’s the center of the hivemind and anyone infected with the right kind of ink becomes a personification of part of his psyche (otherwise, they just send/receive thoughts to/from him)” confirmation, besides that second paragraph of the “Who We Are” memo (especially if Porter really is Brant; he assisted us in escaping Freaky Teeth alongside all the freed Cyclebreakers in the end, I highly doubt he betrayed us).

“A new terror has descended into our lives: This man named Wilson. Ever since, our world feels strained, like a great beast held in chains. The Ink Demon hasn’t been seen in a long time. Many of us refuse to believe he’s really gone.

But what does it matter? Down here, we’re all sinners. Children of the Machine all have the Demon in our inky blood.”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Beast in Chains” memo (emphasis added)

“His eyes see all. His claws tear and thrash. His whispers turn your mind into dark, unspeakable trash.

Listen for the heartbeat drone. Your doom is close at hand. The Ink Demon is both beast and lord. His powers, too vast for us to understand.

Death is fast. Death is near. His reign will last beyond your fear.”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Lament” memo (emphasis added)

“The Dark Puddles awaken. A voice, a soul. The ink speaks to me. It whispers your secrets. Who are you? Tell me your sweet name, that I may devour it.

My ink swells and boils. It consumes. I am the Ink Demon. This realm is mine. You were born from it. You belong to it.

You cannot hide forever. I will find you.

(After telling Porter her name) The deep abyss remembers you, Audrey. A child of the darkness.”

The Ink Demon, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 2 (emphasis added)

(Anyone notice the implication there that not only does the very fact that Bendy can hear Audrey’s thoughts mean she has a soul, but also that the very fact that we can hear Bendy’s thoughts must mean he also has a soul inside of him now, by the way?)

“I see your mind as the truth unfolds. You will accept your fate before the end.”

The Ink Demon, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 4 (emphasis added)

Wilson: The Demon's evil continues to spread. This world has began to shutter…
The Ink Demon (literally interrupting her conversation with Wilson telepathically): He’s lying, Audrey.
Audrey (whisper-shouting): Be quiet!
Wilson: What did you say?
Audrey: Nothing. It was nothing.
Wilson: Hm. *Opens door to security checkpoint* Just a quick stop. Won't take but a moment.

Did Susie/Alice not mean that Bendy killed her, but that she knew Joey was the center of the hivemind, back in BATIM? And if so, did she find a way to cut herself off from him or did his power just become stronger when his human body died and his soul finally merged with his ink one, I wonder? It seems like people could only fully hear others’ voices in their heads in BATDR; before that, you had to actually be inside the inkwell or else people’s thoughts just popped into your head as if they were your own…

“*Alice voice* …Take this little freak for instance! He crawled in here… Trailing his tainted ink to my door! It could have touched me! It could have pulled me *Susie voice* back!! Do you know what it’s like? Living in the dark puddles? *Alice voice* It’s a buzzing, screaming well of voices! *Susie voice* Bits of your mind, swimming… like… like fish in a bowl! *Alice voice* The first time I was born from its’ inky womb, I was a wriggling, pussing, shapeless slug. The second time… well… *Susie voice* It made me an angel! I will not let the demon touch me again. I’m so close now. So… almost perfect… *Dreamy sigh*”

Susie Campbell/Twisted Alice, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 3 (emphasis added)

Back to the soul children thing. I wonder if even Alan/Allen Gray/Grey (who can’t even spell his name consistently. Yes, I’m mad about it. Jiminy Christmas, my guy) could be one of these “children of the darkness/Machine,” born of its ghosts?

“So we’re looking at quite the job here! Walls come out, pipes go in… dang walls go back in again! It’s like banging your head on a rock over and over and over. The first time, it hurts to heck. The hundredth time, well… you just don’t think much about it. That’s what it’s like working for Mr. Joey Drew. At first you feel that bad pain in your gut that you’re doing something very wrong. But after a time, when the dust settles, and Joey has played his cards, you just learn to go with it. Bit of your soul dies with each pipe you put in.”

Thomas Connor, Bendy and the Dark Revival, teaser audio log dated November 12th, 1943 (emphasis added)

“‘I’m not leaving until I get what’s mine,’ Tom said as Mister Drew stared him down.

. . .

‘I want my patent back,’ Tom said right to Mister Drew’s face. They were practically nose-to-nose. Or more like, nose-to-chin.

. . .

‘It’s my machine, Drew, it’s mine.’”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 247 and 248 (emphasis added)

“Joey,

Sorry, it’s been a while since my last letter. Been Busy with work at Archgate Films. The Studio ordered another sequel! So I have been spending many hours in the recording booth again! It’s fun though.

Tom is doing good, thanks for asking. He’s always tinkering or something. Mostly he’s still upset about someone stealing one of his dusty inventions from your old studio. He’ll get over it. Have a good New Year, Joey. I’ll send you another recipe soon.

Warm Regards,”

Allison Connor (formerly Pendle), Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 5 (emphasis added)

(No, Allison, I don’t believe he ever will get over it, rofl.)

“To Grant Cohen, accounting:

Please inform Mr. Drew that despite his insistence that the rumors of Joey Drew Studios going bankrupt are untrue, I want to remind him that if his studio does indeed fail, all equipment and experiments produced through our partnership, by contract, belong to the Gent Corporation. We will reclaim these assets forcibly if necessary.”

Alan/Allen Gray/Grey (he spells his name “Alan Gray,” here), Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Gent Property” memo (emphasis added)

Could he be a combination of Tom and somebody else’s souls (someone more privileged, with money, power, and a college education… Could be Allison, I guess… but also maybe Bertrum, or Nathan Sr…? Something tells me that ghosts gravitate towards ghosts who complement/complete the part of their parent that they embody to form new souls with), so actually his son, created from his desire to get his effing inventions out of JDS’s hands (there’s that very specific technicality I mentioned), and perhaps altered by Nathan Sr. to create a new villain to distract us from himself (he’s clearly not against doing that to his own sons, so… Also, this would support my “Wilson’s not actually the ‘new evil’ in the Ink Dimension, it’s Nathan Sr.’s soul” theory, too… The Memory of Joey was the one who retrieved the End Reel from the Pit, by the way. Remember? Audrey never gets to go inside)?

“We’ve hit rock bottom. No doubt about it. By all accounts, I don’t even know how this studio is still going at all. If you follow the money, you just hit a big old brick wall! Well, let me tell you, blank ledgers, spare cash, Weird amounts that plain just don’t add up. There’s still income finding its way onto the books, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out where it’s all coming from. Though the obvious answer is that Gent is privately pouring in some funds. And truth be told, they really creep me out. Especially that Mister Gray. He doesn’t seem to be motivated by money, and he sure as heck ain’t telling us what he’s REALLY after. You just can’t trust someone like that.”

Grant Cohen, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Strange Money” audio log (emphasis added)

Something tells me we shouldn’t be looking at the obvious answer. I can think of someone else right off the bat who “sure as heck ain’t telling us what he’s REALLY after” and we know for a fact that Joey has audibly nervously begged for money from, before…

“It’s been quite a struggle to put this into words, Nathan. After so many years, you know I’d never ask unless it was dire. But when a man’s in a spot, he should call upon his friends. Truth is… well, the studio is… *slight tremor in voice* coming up a little short. Hit a few unexpected bumps. If you could… lend us the amount I mentioned in my last letter *inhale* it would be a big help to me… Hope this reaches you in South America. You and Tessa enjoy your vacation.”

Joey Drew, Boris and the Dark Survival

…and I think we just figured out what Mr. Gray/Grey’s true motivations are by figuring out where they came from… Could being the second of Audrey’s kind, “born of ink but living in flesh,” be why he seems to understand how to make things cross dimensions…??

“The future has arrived. I just didn’t know it would get here so soon. Some of the stuff that’s coming out of Gent doesn’t follow any of the rules of physics that I know. Hard to believe they started out as a brick laying company once upon a time.

Nowadays, we have all the modern conveniences and, worse yet, the headaches. Take that ID Card machine they’ve got at the door. You don’t bring your ID, you ain’t gettin’ to work. So I started putting my ID Card on my nightstand in my room at the Downside Hotel.

It’s not the safest place, but at least I know where it is.”

Eugene Lloyd, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Daily Headache” memo (emphasis added)

Y’know, I find it incredibly suspicious how one of the secret endings reveals Audrey to be in an insane asylum, unlocked if you collect all the copies of TIOL (the biggest source of info on Nathan Sr.’s abusiveness towards Joey) that are scattered around the studio and then staring into the colored ink in Wilson’s (the biggest source of info on Nathan Sr.’s machinations) lab. They’re clearly tryna nudge us towards thinking Audrey might be a fan with an unhealthy parasocial relationship with Joey (the achievement for unlocking it is titled “The Insane Reader”)… but how many times have I said that anyone who might be an info leak or even just displeases Nathan Sr. seems to get disappeared mafia-style? What better way, if she couldn’t be trapped in the Ink Dimension with everyone else, to simultaneously silence and torment Joey’s only family member than by fabricating a different, more believable life story for her and getting her committed?

I wonder how many of the many more audio logs/memos/etc. there are in this version of the studio – many of which seem outlandish and surreal even in the context of the rest of the series – may have also been made up by the souls of the series’ scapegoats/etc. in attempt to call our attention to the discrepancies and reveal the truths?

“Something funny’s going on around here. Call me suspicious if you wanna, but I know the signs of weirdness when I see ‘em. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve always had visitors around the studio, but lately we’re getting just one kind of visitor in particular: Gent Corporation Employees. Tons of ‘em. They’re working in the hallways, ripping up the floors, taking the best toilets, you can’t even get near the Little Devil Lounge these days! It’s starting to feel less like an animation studio around here, and more and more like some crazy scientist’s laboratory.

It’s just plain weirdness.”

Lance Derby, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Weirdness” audio log (emphasis added)

(Hm… Sounds an awful lot like Constance’s comment on the potential dangers of “innocuous strangeness…” 👀)

“This old town [Lost Harbor?] really has changed ever since that big Gent Building went up. Yesterday, I took a trip over to the Farmer’s Market, and they had the whole dang street ripped up! It was like a large hole had just plain swallowed the sidewalk. Men were going in and out with strange iron tools. Kind of looked like they were installing some kind of tunnel under the road. Pipes just everywhere! Pete behind the produce counter was just shaking his head. ‘They’re up to no good,’ he kept sayin’. ‘You’ll see. This is how it always starts.’ I think old Pete might be right. But I don’t like to dismiss people just on rumors. Only time will tell, I suppose.”

Kitty Thompson, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Trouble Town” audio log (emphasis added)

“I heard some of the workers from down the hall last night talking about storming Joey Drew’s office. They were using some colorful language, banging their fists on the tables and chairs. It was the same bunch who whistled at me yesterday. Things must be getting serious.

That accountant, Grant Cohen, just walks from his desk down to the men’s room and back all day. Over and over again, gripping his stomach. Kind of green in the gills. I can’t tell if something he ate isn’t agreeing with him, or if he just can’t take the pressure anymore.

Joey’s got a plan, he keeps saying, Gent is making something special. I really hope he’s right. I may just be a secretary, but this place has a magic I don’t want to see end.”

Sally Newt, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Getting Serious” memo (emphasis added)

Are the children of the Machine straight-up trying to tell us that A: Nathan Sr. is (genuinely) editing Mr. Gray/Grey into the story as yet another one of his many Decoy Villains for us to hate and pursue instead of him, B: in real-life, Grant was infected with ink (as the audio log in the version of his office in BATIM suggests he was) in order to disappear him for figuring out what Nathan Sr. was doing through the financial records, and C: Joey meant for the Ink Dimension to be salvation for people like Grant?? Wow…

While I’m still on the subject, I think I might know who a couple of other characters are the soul children of. I think Steve is the son of Wally and Tom, and Heidi is the daughter of Allison and Susie (sorry, SuperHorrorBro, but I don’t believe Porter and Heidi are previous Audrey versions. Besides the “Who We Are” memo spelling out what “child of the darkness/Machine” actually means, the “True Daughter” memo implies that all of Joey’s previous attempts at creating a child were daughters, Porter would be a son and Bendy calling Audrey “the daughter of Drew” as if there’s genuinely only one – why the actual heck would he say that if he’s not Real Joey and considers himself “one of the children of Drew?” Shouldn’t he be giving his sister Heidi the same honor he, himself, wants but was denied, just like she was? That doesn’t make sense, which Wilson explains to us is a sign that something was Nathan Sr.’s doing in some way – along with the way Audrey and Betty talk about Betty being “one in a long line of failed experiments” as if Wilson continuing to try and get her to come out the way she was supposed to is a good thing that’s going to positively impact her eventually implies that all the Audreys were the same piece of Joey’s soul reincarnated. Also, Porter says that he “learned” his powers, and there was a delay between the hivemind speaking to Audrey and her using her default powers for the first time, but zero delay between Porter and Heidi giving her their powers [which Porter does by taking Audrey’s hand like the Memory of Joey does when trying to get her to accept the entire so-called “retconning story” as truth, and Heidi does by touching Audrey’s face like the Memory of Joey does when using his teleportation powers on her, which suggests that this was how they were given to them…] and her using them. I think that A: the Memory of Joey gave Porter and Heidi their powers to push us towards believing that Real Joey was a cruel uncle/father who discarded the failed Audreys when he got sick of taking care of them [I wonder… could Porter’s seemingly randomly dubbing Audrey “Bobby,” leading her to describe their interaction as “weird” – which can be another sign of Nathan Sr.’s interference or a sign of Wilson’s warning riddles – was a message from Wilson, trying to highlight both his dad’s “Fake Siblings” plan and the fact that Audrey’s desire to be a normal human stems from Joey’s desire to be his true self rather than the monster that Nathan Sr. forced him to be? 👀👀 And, by the way, did anyone notice that Porter, Heidi, and the Memory of Joey’s powers are all travel-based?? 👀👀👀 Sounds to me like the Memory of Joey meant it when he said he has his “ways,” plural], B: Audrey just had her default powers automatically because she has a Royal Soul, but they didn’t awaken until she wanted them [no, not “needed.” That Searcher outright tells us we don’t need to kill them and, from my and my brother’s playthrough, you can literally play your whole game without them ever leaving that spot, even if you fight Lost Ones right next to them. I think this moment is further symbolism for Audrey leaning on her dad’s coping mechanisms generational trauma-style and the fact we actually do have a choice between cruelty and compassion], and C: Audrey, herself, as a benevolent ruler, is considered a gift from the two main users of the hivemind/Dark Puddles – Wilson and Bendy/Real Joey – by many inhabitants of the Ink Dimension. “And from the hallowed darkness, from the wretched abyss, a savior comes at last,” as Wilson says), created from their playful, lovey-dovey sides…

“These guys down at the warehouse get to play games all day while I’m stuck cleaning up after ‘em. They keep locking themselves out of their own back room. So I says to ‘em, ‘look guys,’ I says, ‘you’re smart, right? Here’s an idea! Why not rig these games to knock open the door if ya win? It’ll be fun for you guys, and it saves me the trip down here every day.’ They went for it like a dog to pot roast. I tell ya! If these guys don’t start realizing who the real genius is, I’m outta here.”

Wally Franks, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 4

“So here we are! Another big day at Joey Drew Studios! Lot more people running around here these days. But for me, it’s the same old dirty floors they’ve always been! Just more feet messing them up now! The only [new] feet I don’t mind tromping around here are Miss Campbell’s. She’s good to me! I’ll make sure I empty her garbage every day just to see how she’s doing. Speaking of which, I heard her talking with Sammy the other day. If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was magic there. But who am I to judge? I think they saw me looking though… So I just tipped my hat and said: ‘See you later!’ … ‘I’m outta here!’”

Wally Franks, Bendy and the Dark Revival teaser audio log dated March 5th, 1933 (emphasis added)

“I thought of Mr. Connor. Gruff, rough-around-the-edges Mr. Connor. Was he the manager? I thought he was, but he couldn’t be, could he? Not if this elegant creature was the manager’s partner.”

William “Bill” Chambers, Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 204 (emphasis added)

“‘We aren’t in your studio right now, are we?’ replied Tom. There was no way Mister Drew could physically intimidate this man. Tom wasn’t burly and bear-like like Bertrum Piedmont. He was more wall-like. Still Mister Drew grabbed him by the elbow and through clenched teeth said:

‘The hallway. Now.’

‘Come on, Tom, no need to make a scene,’ said Allison with a warm voice, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

Tom allowed them to escort him to the pink lobby…”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 247-248 (emphasis added)

“First week on the job at the Gent Workshop, and I can tell already this’ll be interestin’. ‘Think you can lift this still girder?’ they asked me with a smug smile. I didn’t even bother to answer. Just picked the whole thing up with one hand.

You should have see the wee men drop their jaws. All in all, I’ve noticed this building just ain’t built for someone my size. Every time I walk by the workshop shelves, the tools all fall to the floor. That and I gotta bend down for every doorway in the place. Still, there are some positives to workin’ here. Take that new secretary, the shy little one with the blonde locks, the one who follows around Mister Gray. I’m pretty sure she’s been giving me and my muscles the eye. But I ain’t no smooth talker. A work-worn man such as myself, ain’t got no business with a woman that fine.”

Steve McGregor, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “New Job” audio log

“Allison just smiled her dazzling smile that made me melt a little, even though the scene was making me incredibly tense. ‘We’ll talk about that in the morning, Joey. Come on, dear.’ She gave Tom a little push on his shoulder, and evidently she could move mountains because once again he gave in and took a step back.”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 248 (emphasis added)

“Who would’ve thought? Me having lunch with Joey Drew! Apparently times are tougher than I thought. For a moment there, I though I’d be stuck with the check. But I gotta say, he wasn’t at all what I expected. Quite the charmer. He even called me Alice. I liked it.”

Susie Campbell, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 3 (emphasis added)

“So turns out it’s my lucky day! I got to cleaning some of the offices around 2 am last night. And what do ya think I find on one of the chairs? A big freaking chocolate cake. Just sitting there! Practically yelling my name! You know, I work hard! I earn my pay. Every darn dollar. But you know what this company’s missing? Little, benefiting perks. And this here cake? It’s a perk! Hopefully no one finds out what I done. Cause if they did, I can tell ya what would happen. I’m outta here.”

Wally Franks, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 5 (emphasis added)

“The Keepers have taken my friend! Locked him away like some animal! Just cause he’s big and strong.

But they don’t need to fear him! No! If they just make sure to feed him on time, Big Steve won’t ever hurt a fly!

He loves the food from the ‘Little Devil Lounge’ best. If only someone would take the long road back through the sewers, climb up the elevator shaft, and seek out his favorite thumping delicacy. Then they would see how harmless he really is!”

Unknown (heavily implied Heidi), Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Feeding Time” memo

“*Alice voice* …But for now, let’s have fun. Plenty of time for a bloodbath later. Ooh! How about a game? Let’s all play a game of riddles! *Susie voice* Riddles? *Gasps* Oh, what a wonderful idea!”

Susie Campbell/Twisted Alice, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 5 (emphasis added)

“But… but first! May we play a game? Oh, I love to play games! I like hide and seek best.”

Heidi, Bendy and the Dark Revival, ch. 4

(…Anyone notice this ink message we see right before we hear Freaky Teeth Bendy’s voice for the first time? 👀)

My gosh, no wonder Heidi and Steve are so flipping cute (I may actually have a new romantic ship, that’s rare for me), roflol. Also, remember what I said about ghosts gravitating to ghosts who complement/complete the part of their parent they embody to form new souls with? *Stares at my notes on how it seems like Nathan Sr. was secretly driving a wedge between Tom and Wally the exact same way he secretly drove a wedge between Henry and Joey: through lies and sabotage* Something tells me that Nathan Sr. could tell our dear Mr. Inventor and Mr. Janitor would be a good team and too difficult to control if he allowed them to get along.

Anyways, now that I’m excitedly vibrating over all those prospects, let’s return our focus to Allison’s so-called “story retcon.” I really, really, really dislike how the Memory of Joey seems to be trying to convince us that one of the most critical pieces in noticing the similarities between the story of Joey, Allison, and Susie and the story of Walter, Arthur, and Isabel, and therefore in arousing suspicion that Nathan Sr. had orchestrated both situations was never involved in any of the previous stories she appears in at all except for BATIM, specifically, in a completely different way as just a character that Joey edited in decades after the fact, based on someone he’d just recently met; that’s suspicious as heck and very reminiscent of Nathan Sr.’s erasure of Lottie’s existence in TIOL. And, especially after my further thoughts on TLO inspired by The Mug and the Maiden, I wonder if not only was I right about Henry being murdered to punish Joey for contacting him (and him for responding like the good friend he is), but there’s also another story that hadn’t occurred to me despite noticing that Allison seemed to have started waking up from Nathan Sr.’s trance in between DCTL and TLO… Did Allison and Tom also get murdered, as punishment for Allison’s deciding to try and be a proper friend to Joey rather than continuing to be Nathan Sr.’s pawn in the aftermath of Henry’s murder (I wouldn’t be surprised if it was straight-up the last straw for her… Nathan Sr. certainly could’ve used her as a spy in whatever other animation studio he worked at after he left JDS when he realized Joey was thinking about calling him for help, so maybe she knew Henry and liked him like everyone else – minus Nathan Sr. lol – who knew him seemed to… Now, he was gone, and she was just as devastated as Joey)?? Was she, indeed, able to see the good in Joey that even he couldn’t see (because he was being eaten alive by guilt in his old age), as a fellow reformed abuse-victim-turned-abuser (when I first read DCTL and TIOL, not yet having read TLO, I thought the way she said “we’ll talk about that in the morning, Joey,” when he tried to fire her sounded like she knew full well about the true nature of her Pretend Boss and True Boss’ relationship and really meant “we’ll talk after Nathan Sr. puts you in your place, tonight…” Maybe I was right 😬)? She certainly tried to do that for Susie Campbell/Twisted Alice…

“Dear Alice,

I don’t know if you will read these notes, but I’ll keep leaving them for you. I hope someday you’ll understand my words and the madness will fade from your mind.

In this strange and dark place, we can find light and purpose. We are not left to just wander alone, craving beauty, power, and other meaningless things. Even the heart of someone feeling incomplete, can discover joy. We’re not lost. We’re merely waiting to be found.

We are so much alike. Formed from the same mold. We’re like sisters, you and me. I wish you comfort and the wisdom to let your heart melt into happiness. I won’t give up trying to reach you before it’s too late.”

“A Friend” (heavily implied Allison Angel), Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Two of a Kind” memo

…so why not for Joseph Dempsey/Joey Drew? In fact, why not for Wilson, yet another abuse-victim-turned-abuser?

Allison: Are you crazy? Wilson's our enemy.
Audrey: Do you even know him? Have you even talked to him?
Allison: I've seen what he's done. That's good enough for me.
Audrey: Look, it sounds like he has a plan to kill the Ink Demon. I think he can help us all! I just… I just need to go back and hear him out.
Allison: Well, if it's true. You'll both need as much help as you can get. The Ink Demon won't go down without a fight. Tom and I will gather some of our friends. Anyone who's left. Good luck, Audrey.
Audrey: Thank you, Allison.

This is turning out to be quite the support group, ain’t it? Also, hm, sounds familiar, again…

“That big question. Why? The biggest of all the ‘W’ questions, I have found over my years, and often the hardest to answer. Especially when the why disguises itself as something else.”

Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 21 (emphasis added)

“‘What?’ The most used of the ‘W’ questions, and I think the most useless…”

Joey Drew, The Illusion of Living, pg. 33

Speaking of which, it makes zero sense for “Cyclebreaker” to mean “someone who’s capable of resetting the loop” as Henry claims when the Memory of Joey specifically said that Wilson, in preventing the resets, was “freezing the cycle.” The time loop cycle is supposed to keep resetting, that’s literally the entire reason it’s called a “cycle.” Why would all of these characters be potential cycle reset-ers in the way Henry says, anyways? Bertrum’s ink form doesn’t even have legs or hands like Henry, Sammy, Susie, and Norman’s do; he can’t even leave where he’s supposed to be without being subjected to destructive force like he apparently was in order to remove his head from the octopus ride and put him in the Cyclebreaker prison, forget playing the End Reel. Y’know what all the Cyclebreakers do have in common, if my theories are correct? They could’ve broken that other cycle I mentioned in my original analysis/theory: Sammy, Susie, and Bertrum all became personifications of different parts of Joey’s psyche and by extension are symbolic of how trauma often causes people to cause the same trauma in others, so they could’ve broken the cycle of trauma/abuse by choosing not to inflict their own trauma on others like Joey did; Norman was a habitual eavesdropper/etc., so he could’ve broken that cycle by hearing/seeing things he wasn’t supposed to and using that knowledge to get the truth out and find Joey help, much like Wilson did in his youth; and Henry was Joey’s dearest, truest friend, his Shoulder Angel, who he reached out to for help in the guilt-stricken latter years of his life, so he could’ve helped Joey to break the cycle himself if he hadn’t been fricking murdered as punishment for trying…

…Did anyone notice that, right after telling her all about how they serve and were created by Wilson, the Keepers suddenly decided that Audrey was too dangerous and they needed to just gas her then and there when she asked them to take her to Wilson because he wanted her to find him…?? And how, when she escaped the gas chamber, they specifically sounded an alarm for access to the Cyclebreakers to be cut off…???

Something tells me that:

1. There’s a reason that not only are these creatures referred to as “Wilson’s Keepers,” but it’s also only safe to be around them when Wilson is: the son may have created them, but the father Arch gave them orders to ensure that the son continues obeying and remove anyone who might genuinely help him recover from what he did to him from the picture, one way or another…
2. There’s a reason that everyone thinks “Cyclebreaker” means what they think it means: to throw everyone off the scent of its true meaning.
3. The fact that the Memory of Joey wants the cycle to keep restarting and the potential Cyclebreakers think that the resets are a good thing is both A: symbolic of the fact that Nathan Sr. loves perpetuating the cycle of trauma/abuse by orchestrating situations where he can cause his old Murder Puppets to create new ones who are just as or more brutal while still thinking they’re in the right, and B: another hint towards the End Reel having been created by Nathan Sr. in his twisting of the Ink Dimension from the heavenly paradise that Joey dreamed of into the hellish prison that he, himself, now relishes; mayhaps the secret Grayscale Ending, if it exists, will also involve destroying the blasted thing?

Frick. You. Nathan Sr. I. Hate. You. So. Much.

Part Four: Guess what? I found some more highly suspicious songs…

So, let’s add some nice, juicy lyric/film analysis to our dish (sorry, Betty, I couldn’t resist the joke rofl… Speaking of Betty’s comment, “all those juicy, lovely books gone to waste. Only Keepers go in there these days, and they’ll tear you apart limb from limb if Wilson isn’t with you…” sure sounds like the fandom simultaneously lamenting that all the Bendy books are supposedly “no longer canon” after the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr.’s so-called “retcons” and, in a few cases I’ve seen, getting downright vicious towards anyone who tries to dig back into them)!! I’m very excited about how perfectly these wound up matching my theories, I had all but the first one in a playlist to watch/listen to later, and when I did and re-watched/re-listened to the first after writing Parts Two and Three? Wowzah… 👀

Real quick, some thoughts I had while working on fanarts:

• The cheese store man may symbolize Porter and Steve McGregor in addition to all observers of the Joey-and-Nathan Sr. situation (a giant man with bits of cheese stuck in his beard? Sounds like Big Steve with all those bits of metal and whatnot that he eats stuck in his body. An old man with a long beard and ropes around him? Sounds like Porter, who got stuck in a pipe just like how Brant/Mr. Darble Mouse got stuck under the secret door in the warehouse basement/Governor’s cellar… And the cheese store man knows the widow’s real name but she calls him by the wrong one? Porter’s definitely Brant Morris using a different name and he may have actually spied on the Memory of Joey in order to tattle on him, I love him even more now. Also… Brant/Porter is totally a personification of Wilson’s sense of humor in addition to Joey’s shame. Brant’s the funniest character in TLO, Porter’s downright mirthful about everything, Wilson/Wilton wrote the funniest fairytale I’ve ever read in my life… they also both apparently dealt with early hair thinning, interestingly), trying to push us towards investigating them in order to expose Nathan Sr.’s Fake Siblings plot.
• The Decoy Villain and their Keeper dynamic is actually something we see repeatedly across Nathan Sr.’s victims, especially when the torch is about to be passed from one Decoy Villain to another… Arthur was Isabel’s Keeper when it was time for her to kill Walter, Allison was Joey’s Keeper when it was time for him to turn his employees into ink creatures (turning several into fellow Decoy Villains in the process), mayhaps we could even say that whoever figured out how to create the Slugs was Chef Buck’s Keeper when it was time for him to start his “recycling” spree… and Heidi is Mr. Gray/Grey’s Keeper now that it’s time for him to take over from Wilson? 👀👀

“We’re in the final days here. I can tell. People are packing things into boxes. Tools are going missing. You can smell the panic in the air around the studio.

But us Gent boys, we’re just watching from the shadows. We lock the doors, and keep our research going. Mister Gray already gave us a little wink. All is well. When one ship sinks, another one leaves the dock.

I just need to keep my Ink Machine safe in the chaos. It’s the key to so many discoveries.”

Thomas Connor, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Business as Usual” memo (emphasis added)

“It’s a funny thing. How so much can fall apart so fast. We never really had control at the studio. Either you were in someone’s pocket, or you were putting someone else into yours. I just wanted what was promised to me. I just wanted to be beautiful! Surely you can understand that. Henry… Why are you here? We’re all dying to find out. Do you just enjoy the terror of the drop into hell? Because if that’s the case… Hang on tight. I’ve got a surprise…”

Twisted Alice, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 4

• Wilson’s BATDS audio log was 100% about him wanting to pass on his secrets before his dad could silence him completely and forever in death as he did to so many others, just like how Joey managed to leave clues about the reality of the whole situation behind despite everything.

“It’s important to seize an opportunity, before it slides through your wrenched fingers. The past so often dies without passing on its bountiful secrets. But oh… Mister Joey Drew. The secrets you’ve left behind. How very interesting, such… knowledge, such… opportunity. The time draws near… For a dark revival to come at last!”

Wilson Arch, Boris and the Dark Survival (emphasis added)

• The answer to why someone wrote Henry a letter sent from California to New York in the 1940s might just be: Henry still had family in New York that he visited sometimes, usually for a decently large amount of time considering the two states are literally at complete opposite ends of the continent. When he was in town, Nathan Sr. probably strictly goalkept him in case Joey got any ideas about visiting or contacting him. I wonder if Joey might’ve tried to write him after the Buddy incident but he happened to be visiting New York and would be gone a while so someone forwarded it to him, or perhaps he called someone to have them take dictation in the hopes a letter from outside of New York wouldn’t raise suspicion, but either way it was intercepted. In which case, the Employee Handbook is totally just a scrapbook of Nathan Sr.’s favorite parts of orchestrating JDS’s downfall (and the archives are overflow he couldn’t fit in the scrapbook), starting with making Henry leave in the first place and intercepting the most reckless attempt at getting him back…

…Welp, now that that’s out of the way, on with the show!

I believe that this one, released back in July 2022 (close to when you would’ve expected the Bendy Twitter to release a third teaser image), is supposed to have been written by Wilson:

*Dapper Bendy bounce-dances in what looks to be part of BATIM Chapter 1 as it looked when the Memory of Joey brought Audrey there*

“Under foot, have you looked, where the light don’t shine no more? Here’s a hook, what it took, to break their spirits and yours”

*Dapper Bendy rests against a pipe in what looks to be the sewers in BATDR but with the contraband display case from outside the Pit in the Cyclebreaker prison*

“Didja make, give or take, a bigger difference away? Didja break, didja quake, when you saw what’s really at play?”

This sounds like the singer’s asking us if we’ve read the Bendy books and looked for clues in the other games – all of which the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr. is distracting us from with his erasure of Allison’s existence, writing Mr. Gray/Grey into the story, etc. – and directing us to read The Mug and the Maiden for the explanations of events that we need. They then seem to be giving us confirmation that Wilson, Joey, and eventually Allison were trying to make things better from the inside and asking them if they broke when A: Buddy’s death at the end of DCTL made Joey realize how Nathan Sr. was going to keep on using him to hurt people despite his best efforts, B: Allison experienced whatever it was that woke her up from Nathan Sr.’s trance in-between DCTL and TLO, and C: Wilson was punished at the end of TLO for learning too much and being a good boy, all while also D: acknowledging Audrey’s ghostly origins and generational trauma??

*Dapper Bendy bounce-dances in what looks to be another part of BATIM Chapter 1 as it looked when the Memory of Joey brought Audrey there*

“When it started, this commotion, this great disaster, what a brilliant revelation, what he’s really after”

This sounds like Wilson realizing why his dad was doing what he was doing to Bill, Constance, and Brant by the time TLO ended!! “For it was the death of Mr. Darble Mouse that started all the trouble.”

*Dapper Bendy sits on a table in what looks to be the Little Devil Lounge, behind him is a buffet sign with graffiti that reads “Fetty was here,” which could be “Betty” with part of the “B” smudged off??*

“It’s a daily shift of churning, burning down the candle, it’s more than we can handle”

Did you just confirm that Wilson’s mom indeed drugged him as part of Nathan Sr.’s plot to punish him for warning people about his machinations and turn him into a Murder Puppet with your environment design, and then that everything was more than Joey, Allison, and finally Wilson could handle with your lyrics?? Which, y’know, now I think about it, honestly gives whole new meaning to TLO’s epilogue…

“Swirling blackness wrapped so tightly, at first like a hug and then it squeezes, it crushes, it smothers . . . A quiet buzz, then louder, like a thousand voices talking at once. Screaming at once. Outside and inside. Our thoughts are not our own thoughts. Whose thoughts are these? How many of us are there? How many more will join us?

We are all screaming. We are all waiting. We are all… lost.

The light appears in sudden bursts. Too bright, it pierces at you, tears you apart even as you reach for it.

What is there to reach for? Why hurt yourself? Just sink back. Sink back in with your friends.

. . .

We sink back and back and back. We understand now. We see how all this time we were wrong. We understand the joke now.

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

We can’t fix the machine. We never could.

Knock knock.

Who’s there? Who is there? Out there? Out here?

We’re all here.

We understand now.

It’s the punchline to the joke:

You can’t fix what isn’t broken.”

The Ink Machine(‘s Hivemind), Bendy: The Lost Ones, pg. 290-291 (emphasis added)

I think that this was the hivemind poetically describing what happened to Joey, Allison, and Wilson at the end of TLO, and to who knows how many more puppets and other victims Nathan Sr. collected over the previous and following decades: This man, who seems perfectly friendly and kind on the surface, turns out to be an abuser once you’re caught in his vice-like grip. His victims seek freedom, salvation, genuine love, even try to provide it to each other, but are punished for doing so, often alongside those who they tried to reach out to (e.g., Bill and his dad, Henry, etc). Eventually, they’re trained to see potential help/etc. as something painful that they shouldn’t even bother with, and learn to think that they should just allow themselves to sink back into obedience, because at least that hurts a little less. They understand, now, that they can’t fix the Ink Machine, because just like every other thing they, themselves, intended to be good, Nathan Sr. intended it to only hurt them more. And he thoroughly enjoys watching them struggle, only to finally give in to him… Terrible. Dreadful. I’m sad, again. *Sniffs* Back to the music.

*Dapper Bendy is falling, possible reference to both the “falling down the rabbit hole” message Constance received from Wilson and Audrey’s falling down the elevator shaft to where she meets the Memory of Joey and is set back on the path of meeting Wilson in his ink mansion*

“So come on a ride! Further down below! And learn the prophesy of the hypocrisy that runs this broken show!”

“Come find me, Audrey. Come find me and I’ll show you your purpose. I’ll show you… the truth. And now… we die,” and learn the prophesy of Nathan Sr.’s puppeteering hypocrisy through Wilson/Wilton’s twisted riddles??

“There’s nowhere to hide! There’s nowhere to go! You brought the hallway to a standstill, now the desolation grows”

This sounds like it’s referencing Nathan Sr.’s not allowing anyone to escape and reality/memory alteration??

*Audrey wielding a pipe appears. Behind her, in the top right corner, “Jose[scribble],” presumably Joey’s legal name “Joseph” scribbled out, is written in black ink; underneath that, written in the golden invisible ink, is the word “Life” with a halo, a dotted line like on a cartoon pirate treasure map that leads to an anarchy symbol that could also be being used as a certain family’s last initial (Arch), and the letter “D,” presumably beginning “Death,” with devil horns. On the far left, in the same golden ink, is drawn a key*

“Well it took, just a look, to see it wasn’t the same, wrote the book, then he took, all the fortune and all the fame”

*Audrey’s now somewhere kinda nondescript other than signs pointing to the Art Department and a “Devil Cafe,” possibly a work-in-progress placeholder for the Little Devil Lounge*

“Broke a tie, let it die, the love that made him a king, tell me now, can you find, the end to pull on this string?”

“Open your eyes and look around you! None of this ‘makes sense,’” yeah, I think I know exactly where the end of this (shall we say “puppet?”) string is: Nathan Sr.’s hand!! This looks and sounds like confirmation that the version of Joey’s story that everyone knows, the one that makes no sense because nothing matches up, was written by the Great Puppet Master, the Second of the Three Kings of JDS, Nathan Sr., as Wilson explained in that rant I just quoted!!! While also confirming that Nathan Sr. has forced Joey back into the Decoy Villain role postmortem as Bendy?!

*Audrey’s now somewhere littered with toon carcasses like what Henry and Boris encounter all over Twisted Alice’s territory in BATIM and BATDS*

“Something in you brought you back here into your history, it’s no mystery why your feelings seem so contradictory”

This sounds like it’s acknowledging both Joey’s seeming emotional/motivational contradictions under Nathan Sr.’s influence and Audrey’s emotional conflicts being caused by the pieces of the First and Third Kings of JDS’s souls that make up her own???

*Slow zoom on a door with a Gent pipe lock*

“It was love that built this testament to artistry, warped by hate and trickery!”

Confirmation that the Ink Dimension was indeed created for Joey’s regret and corrupted for Nathan Sr.’s revenge?!

*Chorus repeats with Audrey in an elevator until after the prophesy line*

“Why have you arrived? Is there something you know?

Confirmation of Nathan Sr.’s mafia-style disappearing of potential info leaks?? Perhaps even of the Insane Reader Ending being Audrey getting disappeared for knowing too much???

“Will hope or desolation be the seeds that you will sow?”

I think y’all will see why this line is fascinating in the analysis/theory conclusion… 👀

*Shot of Sammy, Boris, and a boatload of Lost Ones huddled around a flaming barrel like we see the Butcher Gang huddle around in BATIM Chapter 4*

“Hello again, my dearest friend, *shot of the chasm in BATIM* don’t look so down, it’s not the end, let’s play the same old little game, *shot of Joey’s office door in BATIM* to back out now would be a shame, now step in time, follow the lines, I’ve saved your seat right next to mine, *Dapper Bendy and Audrey stare at a wall of what looks like graffiti mixed with notes on employee and cash numbers as well as assorted pieces of paper* like an oiled machine, rhythm and key, we’ll make you fit in our harmony, your eyes can lie, you’re doing fine, it’s just a chill run down your spine”

*Unintelligible noises* 👀👀👀 There?? Are?? So?? Many?? Layers?? To this?? This sounds like it could just be Wilson singing to Audrey, but also like it transitions from Joey and Henry singing to each other to Nathan Sr. singing to everyone, then the original Three Kings all singing to their kids, back to Nathan Sr. (with an implication that we should be searching the whole series for clues and a hint at most of the Children of the Machine never having actually lived in the real world as Nathan Sr. wants us to think they did), back to all Three Kings, Wilson singing to everyone, and back to Nathan Sr. again!!

“Don’t be afraid, you’re not alone, *Audrey and Dapper Bendy turn around to see Freaky Teeth Bendy with one eye X’d out* he’s always watching”

“Shh, don’t fret. We’re going home,” Wilson and Bendy/Real Joey are always watching in similar hivemind-y ways?!

*Shot of Freaky Teeth running through inky darkness*

“There’s teeth in the night, a life as dark as coal, and in the prophesy, he’s just the mockery of your own heart and soul”

This sounds like confirmation that A: the Cheshire cat reference in TLO was indeed one of Wilson’s riddles, telling us that the smiling face that everyone’s so afraid of isn’t the real danger, it’s the unseen claws who won’t allow anyone to escape nor to look at anything but the smiling face, and B: the literal and figurative Memory of Joey as well as Henry being a copy created to be tortured are blatant lies meant to keep the First and Third Kings of JDS at odds even beyond the grave as well as torment and mock the both of them?!?!

“There’s fear in your eyes, so where now can you go? Can you own what you have made here, or will terror take control?”

*Chorus repeats over shots of the Ink Machine being raised on chains like it was in BATIM, then of Archgate Studios, and a couple of empty hallways*

More that I think y’all will find extra fascinating in the concluding section… 👀👀 Also, If you’re somehow still questioning the books’ canonicity, at this point, I dunno what to tell you. Before we move on to the next song, I wanna bring up… I’d noticed, way back when it was first posted, that if you turned off the audio and just focused on what the final BATDR teaser audio log is actually saying before we hear Wilson’s voice for the first time, there seemed to actually be a coherent thought being communicated…

“So what can you expect in the coming months? You never know! He’s always watching me… I saw Mister Drew the other day, meeting with that Connor fellow, holding some papers. I think they saw me looking though. Just too many secrets being cooked up in the kitchen! If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was magic there. Well calculated understanding between creation… -big things are coming!- …and creator. Massive things! That smile… You just learn to go with it. He’s always watching me… You just watch! I’ve got a good feeling something great is going to happen.”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival teaser audio log dated April 14th, [YEAR REDACTED]

At first, I thought that this plus the fact that they’d released seven audio logs but only six shorts at the time of the seventh meant Bendy was alive as a cartoon, he’d been watching events from inside the drawings and was splicing audio logs together to express that he thought Joey realized he was alive and he was excited about the idea of having a real body… But who do we know, now, communicates like this? Through hints dropped all over the place via the thoughts, mouths and pens of many different people? Wilson and Joey, communicating with us through the hivemind, right? With this new perspective… it actually sounds like this is two people talking…

“So what can you expect in the coming months? You never know! He’s always watching me… I saw Mister Drew the other day, meeting with that Connor fellow, holding some papers. I think they saw me looking though. Just too many secrets being cooked up in the kitchen! If I didn’t know better, I’d say there was magic there. Well calculated understanding between creation… -big things are coming!- …and creator. Massive things! That smile… You just learn to go with it. He’s always watching me… You just watch! I’ve got a good feeling something great is going to happen.”

Unknown, Bendy and the Dark Revival teaser audio log dated April 14th, [YEAR REDACTED]

Joey and Wilson, talking about the events of TIOL, DCTL, and TLO… Joey saying he’s excited about creating his paradise for the lost, even if he’s nervous about being caught by Nathan Sr… and Wilson saying he’s excited about what he knows so far that the Ink Machine can do – watch people and get messages out more discreetly through the hivemind, not even having to be physically near anyone and risk getting caught to do either thing – and that he can tell Joey has good intentions, but he knows better than to get his hopes up for this whole thing to go well because his dad is involved in the situation, with his smile that masks the monster underneath with its Santa Claus Vibes and you just have to learn to play along with or else, because he’s got spies everywhere… I love how they can make that same statement of “he’s always watching” go from creepy in all instances to kind of comforting when it’s referring to Wilson and Bendy/Real Joey and positively gut-wrenching when it’s referring to Nathan Sr., once you dig deeper… *Shudders again* Anyways. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

This one’s preview was dropped the same day as the BATDR trailer (which means it was most definitely already written, recorded, and filmed, at that point), and it’s by one of the very same artists who previously released songs containing canon info:

*Obvious Joey shadow puppet appears*

“Pictures in my head contained all, *Bendy cutout puppets appear* to make standing out art, *cutout puppets are replaced by an Ink Machine puppet* we need to take big steps not small, *Ink Machine puppet is replaced by a mannequin puppet* draw animate your part, *mannequin puppet disappears* trying to impress *Lost One puppets appear* in this mess, *Joey puppet looks around to find himself alone* you were trying your best, it wasn’t close to the success, *obvious Bendy smile materializes behind the Joey puppet* you’ll stay in this nest”

*Bendy smile consumes the Joey puppet*

First of all, I’m frightened by the fact that he’s telling us this story with literal puppets, considering how many times the only way I personally could think to accurately describe the relationship between Nathan Sr. and his victims was with “puppet-and-puppet-master” imagery (by the way, I saw someone point out that Betty’s mask looks an awful lot like the marionette faces in Showdown Bandit did… Sounds like another layer to Wilson’s intentional symbolism for his mom’s involvement in his dad’s machinations, if you ask me. Remember how the marionettes had such a big thing about how they shouldn’t look up at whoever or whatever was controlling them that many of them literally plucked out their own eyes to avoid it? Sounds an awful lot like the symbolism I proposed for Wilson’s posters). Second of all, this sounds like Joey was the one who was singing for exactly one line, then somebody took the microphone away from him to sing to/with/about him rather than letting him sing about himself. The mannequin puppet seems to imply that, while we may think Joey’s the one pulling the strings, it’s not actually any of his employees who’s being spoken to in that “draw animate your part” line. And everything from “trying to impress in this mess” onward seems like it’s confirming that Joey was trying his best to create a paradise to rescue his fellow victims-of-Nathan-Sr. in without tripping the man in question’s alarms, but he failed at both that and obeying Nathan Sr.’s orders to satisfaction in general and was both A: isolated and villainized in the real world, and B: finally merged with the soulless Bendy body in the Ink Dimension when his human one died, all partly to punish him??

(Speaking of mannequins, anyone notice these ones sitting right across from each other in Twisted Alice’s part of Wilson’s mansion that seem to imply that both Susie and Joey were just puppets in the whole “creating Twisted Alice” situation?! The Joey one even has distracting eyebrows drawn on, further correlating him to Bernard the Ugly Lizard Man Who Wears a Blue Cloak in The Mug and the Maiden!!)

Sepiatone: I gave you all that I had, frames are showing new way, the apathy that's so sad, you lead my name away
Grayscale: Calling it phantasmagoria1, when you're seeing more than them, means not knowing what's euphoria2, now I can live it through again

¹A sequence of real or imaginary images like those seen in a dream.

²A feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness.

Holy… guacamole… He just crammed so much information into the space of only two freaking verses!!

The first one sounds like it has two meanings, using the “frames are showing new way” line to transition from A: confirmation that Sammy Lawrence became a personification of part of Joey’s psyche (his desire to be protected/saved by and feelings of betrayal/abandonment at the hands of Henry and Nathan Sr.) when he was infected by the ink and that Nathan Sr. caused Henry leaving but manipulated the narrative so that the only options anyone was allowed to believe were “it was Joey’s fault” (when, in reality, he genuinely tried to make things work) and “it was Henry’s fault” (when, in reality, he also genuinely tried), to B: confirmation that Henry’s being gaslit into believing he was never human and, as a result, using Joey’s Illusion of Living coping mechanism to try and forget his human life and become apathetic so that his imprisonment in the Ink Dimension will hurt less and that The Mug and the Maiden, King Widow, and Lord Amok pretty overtly point towards the Memory of Joey being Joey’s name and image stolen by Nathan Sr. (the context implied by the previous two lines being: “in order to rewrite history”).

The second sounds like confirmation that A: the symbolism behind Wilson’s blacked-out eyes and lack of damage until you see him colored in in his posters being that, if we allow Nathan Sr. to gaslight us into ignoring the evidence of his crimes, then we’re blind to the truth (and adding that, consequently, we’ll either not realize that the default ending isn’t the happiest possible one [as most of the YouTubers I’ve watched play the game seem to think it is] or find the story – especially the ending – utterly nonsensical and/or unfulfilling [as even I did, at first. I’ll explain why I was wrong in the analysis/theory conclusion]), and B: specifically because we didn’t know the truth, the time loop cycle is continuing (she showed Bendy the End Reel, remember? And they literally showed her walking through the same door in Joey’s apartment to get back into her own studio as Henry did to get back into Ink Dimension JDS. Audrey reset the time loop cycle, she didn’t break it. Probably the only reason it was daylight is because her and Wilson’s loop is larger than Henry and Joey’s was). Hot dang, y’all good at cramming several layers of meaning into lyrics.

Now, I’d like everyone to notice that there seem to be two Joeys singing the chorus!! One speaks in sepia text and seems friendlier until you pay attention to what he’s actually saying, the other speaks in gray text using a deep, growly, stereotypical villain voice and seems to enjoy this role until you pay attention to what he’s actually saying…!! 👀

Sepia Joey: Hey, can you hear me now?
Gray Joey: Even if you don't like it you'll die in ink
Sepia Joey: You'll breathe when I allow
Gray Joey: You will die so make it easier, just sink
Sepia Joey: I left for you my legacy
Gray Joey: All consumed by fear, inky atmosphere
Sepia Joey: Take my hand, that's the destiny, let's spin the last gear, we are back my dear

Sepia Joey is actually scarily controlling (honestly, that “you’ll breathe when I allow” reeks of Nathan Sr.’s mafia-style disappearing of anyone who becomes a liability or he grows bored of, just like the first paragraph of the “Next in Line” memo did) and the fact that he says that taking his hand (as Audrey refused to do when the Memory of Joey was telling her the obvious lies about Allison and Henry and half-truth about her origins, only to decide that taking Bendy’s hand when he came to save her was wrong and she needs to reset the time loop partly to resurrect the Memory of Joey), spinning the last gear (sounds awfully similar to playing the End Reel), and returning with him+ (to the beginning of the time loop?) is our destiny (a synonym for “fate”), all sounds like further confirmation that the Memory of Joey is either a puppet controlled by or straight-up Nathan Sr. and the End Reel and its endless “cartoon cycle of torment” was his creation and plan. Meanwhile, Gray Joey actually sounds… downright despairing… and, I probably don’t need to reiterate, at this point, but uh…

“…I remember this night well. Though I remember it being at the Bee Room, gold and black, not [the] silver [that Joey describes] as the main design aesthetic. Doesn’t really make much of a difference though, I suppose.”

Nathan Arch Sr., The Illusion of Living, pg. 44 (emphasis added)

…confirmation that Bendy is Real Joey alert (it makes a whole heckuva lotta difference, Nathan Sr. Shut the heck up)!! Also— did anyone notice that the visual effects for transitioning out of Bendy Is Chasing You Grayscale is freakishly similar to the visual effects for transitioning in and out of Henry’s visions in BATIM?

Further evidence that Audrey is Henry and Bendy/Real Joey’s daughter alert!!! Possibly also further implying that we need to be looking at more than just what the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr. wants us to, and that Henry, Bendy/Real Joey, and Audrey are three of the five most powerful beings in the Ink Dimension— even without the Seeing Tool, they all seem able to see things that other ink creatures seem unable to…!

*Obvious Joey shadow puppet reappears*

“Disappearance in the big silence, *Lost One puppets reappear, who the Joey puppet looks around at like he’s panicking* world turning upside-down, *Lost One puppets disappear, leaving the Joey puppet alone again* everyone needed a new guidance *new Lost One puppets who seem to be kneeling in worship of the Joey puppet appear, only to disappear again, replaced by an obvious Henry shadow puppet, who the Joey puppet turns away from* one had but he has drowned”

This looks and sounds like confirmation that Joey went into hiding to escape Nathan Sr. after JDS shut down and indeed contacted Henry for help fixing his mistakes but Nathan Sr. had Henry murdered and made it look like Joey either lured him to his death or created a sentient clone to torture in his place, both of which options make Joey look irredeemably evil?! And that, when Sammy’s cult were worshiping the soulless Bendy back in BATIM, they were worshiping Joey’s future image?!?! Y’know… it occurs to me, what if Joey wasn’t the one who removed Henry from the ending of Tombstone Picnic?? 👀👀

Bendy (Joey) runs away from a skeleton (Nathan Sr.’s machinations?) and stops to catch his breath, Henry’s shadow looms, Bendy looks up at him and smiles, only for the film to suddenly, inexplicably be cut short… Could this have been a clue that Nathan Sr. had Henry murdered when Joey called him for help all along??

Forgive me, I’m about to go on a bunny trail, cause I just remembered, as well, that I thought it was weird that the thumbnails for all of the shorts are sepiatoned, but the animation is black-and-white… A hint that these are the versions that Nathan Sr. has altered, we’re only getting a peek at Joey’s truth? *Stares at my notes on Joey having to jump through hoops to get Nathan Sr.’s permission to publish TIOL and then Nathan Sr. further editing it postmortem via his excessive, creepy notes* (While I’m on the topic: I wonder if Audrey colorizing Tombstone Picnic at the beginning of BATDR could be a hint at the further story detail we get through The Mug and the Maiden, Audrey herself, etc… Wilson does import color into the Ink Dimension, after all…) My bestie pointed out once, as well, that it’s weird that Bendy’s literally known for his iconic grin, but… all of the shorts (excepting Tombstone picnic) seem to end with him scared, frustrated, or sad… *Stares at my notes on Bill, Constance and Brant being personifications of Joey’s fear, anger, and shame* and also how it’s weird that Boris is supposed to be his best pal, but he’s actually really mean to him… *Stares at my notes on Nathan Sr. isolating and villainizing Joey, turning all of his friends against him* and also how it’s weird that none of them (excepting Tasty Trio Troubles) really… have any music to speak of… aside from the beginning ditty… when BATIM made such a big deal about it (like, an “every single one was fully orchestrated” kind of “big deal”)… Now I’ve read TIOL, where Joey literally titled a chapter “Without Music, Life Would Be a Mistake…” and, in the BATDR teasers, there’s those audio logs from Sammy and Jack…

“Every time I turn around there’s more work to do. Four cartoons almost complete and all of them need a tune by tomorrow. Typical Joey planning. I’m working so much I’m starting to see Bendy in my sleep. That smile… He’s always watching me. Few more months of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if that grinning demon drove me completely insane. That smile… something’s just wrong with that smile. Can’t put my finger on it. Shake it off, Sammy. Best get back to your songs. Someone has to keep the little devil happy…”

Sammy Lawrence, Bendy and the Dark Revival teaser audio log dated June 16th, 1935 (emphasis added)

(Could this be a hint that Sammy figured out that Joey, a terrible planner, was not the one in charge?? And the reason behind his unsettling smiles that get read as malicious but are actually dissociative???)

“Okay, the smell is kinda starting to get to me now. Ever since they started putting in more pipes, it’s really begun to flow a lot more down here. The good news is that it’s helped me to work on things a lot faster. Definitely been some of my best lyrics lately. Sammy and I even won an award for one of our songs last month… I was told. Of course it had Mister Drew’s name on the award, but it’s the thought that counts. Speaking of which, I saw Mister Drew the other day… was meeting with that Connor fellow, holding some papers. Why they’d want to meet down here is beyond me. Something stinks.”

Jack Fain, Bendy and the Dark Revival teaser audio log dated November 18th, 1943 (emphasis added)

(This already suggests that Jack learned something he shouldn’t, but could it be that we were completely wrong about the circumstances and information? Could he and Sammy have put what they each learned together…?)

…And then, in the actual game, there’s that memo from Telly Wester we find on a desk right after climbing a ladder that’s had rungs removed for some unknown reason next to the first two “Wilson Knows” posters we see, and a memo from Sammy shortly after which is under the third poster… and Jack has mysteriously changed his tune about the sewers…

“Geez! You’d think I was drowning kittens the way these people are lookin’ at me! I’ve never seen such disappointment in a person’s eyes.
But this is the way of things, if management can’t pay their bills, then the bank takes the goodies back. Still, it does break me a bit knowing how much I loved them old cartoons this place used to make. Oh well! Times change. Life moves on.”

Telly Wester, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Hard Times” memo (emphasis added)

“Joey,

Jack and I have been wondering if you could meet with us considering the current situation? We have been with you for many years and we feel we have contributed to the success of Bendy in the past.

Our interest is purely in keeping this company strong. We just want to help however we can. Let’s talk.”

Sammy Lawrence, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Let’s Talk” memo (emphasis added)

(When I first read this, I thought “ouch, poor Joey. Someone finally offered help and they made a big deal about how it’s only for the company’s sake? That must’ve stung…”)

“You gotta follow your inspirations when you’re a musician. Stick to what you know works. But when they built the new studio buildings, they all but filled in my office down in the old sewers. Turns out, I’ve gotten so accustomed to working in those disgusting conditions, that now if my office doesn’t stink, the lyrics I write do. So when Gent started digging their massive utility shaft between their place and ours, I knew it would be just the right spot for me to move in. Now, I’ve got a song in my heart, and a creative stench up my nose.”

Jack Fain, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Sewer Songs” memo (emphasis added)

What… what “goodies” was Telly talking about? What would cause people to look at him like that? Why this suspicious placement of items in a room that Wilson obviously had set up to welcome Audrey home…? I just remembered reading an old comment of mine… but I’d noticed that Tom, in his first BATIM audio log, talks about the ink pipes like he wasn’t the one who put them in like his BATDR teaser one implies he was by placing him in the studio in 1943, just six days before Jack’s audio log…

“It’s dark and it’s cold and it’s stuck in behind every single wall now. In some places, I swear this godforsaken ink is clear up to my knees! Whoever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something about pressure I don’t, or he’s some kind of idiot.

But the real worst part about all this… are them noises the system makes. Like a dying dog on its last legs. Make no mistake, this place… this… machine… heck, this whole darn thing… it just isn’t natural.
You can bet, I won’t be doing any more repair jobs for Mister Joey Drew.”

Thomas Connor, Bendy and the Ink Machine, ch. 1 (emphasis added)

I’d originally thought this meant BATDR was taking place in an alternate timeline/universe, not the same one as BATIM, but is this actually another case of Wilson and a child of the Machine trying to explain how past events have been edited and hint at what really happened? Is… is this saying that A: Jack figuring things out happened long before Tom arrived, perhaps it wasn’t even Tom who he saw Joey meeting with at all (it would actually make his confusion at seeing them meet in the sewers make more sense if perhaps it was not just his boss, but also a fricking steel tycoon… All Nathan Sr. would need to do here to incriminate Tom instead of himself is edit the dates and a name), and B: Nathan Sr. orchestrated the events of DCTL to look like either Tom’s incompetence or Joey’s poor planning was the reason the pipe burst and infected Sammy, but, in actuality, Nathan Sr. sabotaged the pipes like he sabotaged the things he did in TLO, in order to disappear Sammy – start and supply his ink addiction – for trying to help Joey (both obviously also providing further evidence that Nathan Sr. editing Mr. Gray/Grey and all those other extra Gent employees into history)?? And… did Jack just sink into obedience because he didn’t wanna get disappeared, too (in which case, the tune change is similar to Tom’s between DCTL and TLO), or did Joey tell him he should go into hiding to protect him (in which case, the tune change is him leaning on Joey’s Illusion of Living coping mechanism to make the fact he needs to stay in the sewers more bearable)???

“[Sammy] stared at me longer this time. Then he started to laugh this laugh that was all breath and no sound. Almost like wheezing. ‘Art Department. Okay. Okay, gofer for the Art Department, answer me this: Why are you guys storing ink in my sheet music closet? And why is JOEY running a pipe through my closet that’s apparently filled with ink?’

A pipe? With ink? That definitely didn’t sound normal, but then again, I had no idea what was normal for an animation studio. ‘I don’t know.’”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 48 (emphasis added)

(The comments on seeming “innocuous strangeness” and theme of brushing questions aside return… Also, whose voice do we know by its distinctive wheezing? 👀👀 Wilson literally just commandeered Sammy’s mouth, didn’t he?!)

“I want to tell about Sammy. About when he disappeared. I want to get to that part of the story. But the thing is, we only notice someone is gone when time has passed…

. . .

Three days after that, when enough time had passed, but not so much that people really noticed it, Toby from accounting mentioned that Sammy hadn’t come in for his paycheck. Again, us workers only knew anything about this because Mister Drew himself was storming around the building, angrily muttering about it. Interrogating folks he met as he went. I didn’t feel like the rage matched the situation, but then I figured maybe he had something more on his mind than just a missing music director.

. . .

But then things took a turn.

I remember coming to work and the police were outside and the studio was shut down. I remember being told by Richie that someone had broken in and messed the place up. That they were looking into a possible burglary. I remember Mister Drew rushing from his car and shouting in the detective’s face something about sabotage. How seeing him shout like that was worse than seeing Mr. Schwartz lose his temper. Than seeing even Sammy lose his temper. It was jarring and a little scary. Especially compared to how he usually seemed.”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 193-194, 194-195, and 196 (emphasis added)

(Wilson seems to be highlighting an important part of Buddy’s story for him, again…! 👀👀👀)

Was Joey so seemingly excessively upset by Sammy’s disappearance because he was worried that Nathan Sr. might’ve taken another friend who was genuinely trying to help him away from him, changing the narrative around the situation, just like he did with the Henry leaving (and possibly also ) situation?! Was he not shouting about the “burglary” being sabotage, at all, but exploding because he now had confirmation that the whole weird situation was his “good friend” Nathan Sr.’s handiwork (honestly… why would he assume sabotage straight out of his car and what would this “burglary” even actually be sabotaging? How does this make sense as a response to the situation outside of the context I’m proposing? It… doesn’t… but making Joey explode like that in front of many people sure as heck fits Nathan Sr.’s Classic Abuser Villainizing Their Victim M.O.)?! Could the lack of music in the shorts have been a hint at both how Nathan Sr. edits the Ink Dimension to be joyless and torture Joey in particular and how he punishes anyone who reaches out to/for help all along?!?! And… could Nathan Sr. have straight-up orchestrated Buddy’s death, as well, besides forcing Joey to make up a story about how it was his own plan the whole time, because he realized Joey liked him?! Was the incident where Joey tricked Buddy into paying for a fancy dinner to make Nathan Sr. think he only saw him as a pawn when he started suspecting he’d done something to Sammy, but it didn’t work?! Why was Buddy sat where he was (at… Henry’s desk… which was being kept somewhere nobody wanted to sit, like Joey didn’t want anyone going near it…) and Bendy locked up somewhere that this kid who people knew tended to stay late after work (just like Henry…) would hear him (recognizing, because he was under the pipes all the time, that this was a new and unnatural noise), let him out, and be blamed for unleashing the Ink Demon?

“It was because of the pipes. I know that now. My little corner of the Art Department that no one wanted to sit in…

. . .

So the pipes making the odd noise as I sat and worked in my corner that night really didn’t even make me blink. Didn’t make me look up.

Until they did.

. . .

I stood up instinctively. This wasn’t the furnace feeling frustrated. This was something else. What it was, though, I had no idea. Well, the thing I did know was that it was none of my business. So I sat back down and focused on my paper.

That’s when the moaning started.”

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 139-140 (emphasis added)

(Sibs, I think this might even be saying that… Nathan Sr. either was or had someone else agitating the soulless Bendy on purpose in order to lure Buddy in…!!)

Nathan Sr. took Joey’s goodies away… drowned his kittens in ink because he kept disobeying/failing to obey to satisfaction… I get the feeling that, when Joey confronted him about Sammy being disappeared, Nathan Sr. said something like: “don’t give me that look. This is just what happens when you don’t behave, you know that. I felt a little bad doing it, I did enjoy his music… Oh well! Life goes on…” and it seems like he made sure the soulless Bendy took Buddy out extra poetically, because he could see Henry in him just as much as Joey could… so, he knew that death would hurt his “good friend” the most…

“[Mister Drew] grabbed me under my chin and held my head still. I tried to shake him off, but his grip was like a vise. He brought up his other hand and held me tighter. He came even closer and looked at me hard in the eyes. His scent was powerful. I’d never really noticed that before. But now for some reason I could smell him clearly. It wasn’t just cigar smoke and pomade. I could smell his hors d’oeuvres from the party. I could smell whiskey and champagne. I could smell the city air and the heat of the day.

His sweat.

His madness.

. . .

Just because something is unbelievable doesn’t make it not true.

Remember that, Dot. Oh, please, above all things, remember that.

. . .

‘The soul. But how do I get a soul? Sammy lured those people down here… I thought I could use them, but the ink had infected them for days. There was no soul left in there. I needed someone real. Someone good. I never thought I’d be so lucky as to have you, Buddy. But this was meant to be. This was the plan all along. That’s why you were sent to me. When I came here, when I saw you—in the clutches of that beast—I understood your purpose.’

No. That’s not my purpose. I felt anger rise in me, and I pushed his hand off my shoulder finally. I stayed where I was, white-hot rage now energizing me, making me almost afraid to stand up. Of what I might do.

‘I saved your soul, Buddy. And you saved me. You’re going to save Bendy.’

I didn’t do that. My purpose was saving Dot and the others. That was my purpose. He couldn’t and wouldn’t take that away from me. My purpose now and always would be to protect the world from this beast. This machine.

Daniel “Buddy” Lewek, Dreams Come to Life, pg. 287, 293, & 294-295 (emphasis added)

Was Joey literally trying to tell Buddy that Nathan Sr. had plotted his demise because he knew he cared about him?! And was that comment about unbelievability a message from Wilson about the whole Nathan Sr.-and-his-puppets situation?!?! Which makes me think of… Okay, these next couple thoughts may be more of a headcanon than a legitimate theory, but I’ve had this weird, nagging feeling ever since I first read DCTL that I’d just totally discredited when I first heard Nathan Sr.’s voice, and I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have… cause this line in The Mug and The Maiden, “two characters have died already, surely a third wouldn’t hurt anything? Are you perhaps just reading this story because you want to see who will get the axe next? You’re a little warped, do you know that?” is most definitely speaking of/to Nathan Sr… Any of y’all remember that scene in the elevator as Buddy was arriving at Joey’s party? I wonder if my initial, gut reaction that the man with the southern accent who tried to get Buddy to join him in making fun of Joey (honestly, it seemed like laughing at the poor man was the one-and-only reason he was even there) and his wife who seemed done with his B.S. – both of whom mysteriously vanish after being introduced in a similar manner to Allison, like they might be important later – were actually Nathan Sr. and Tessa, except they were in disguise so that Joey wouldn’t realize Nathan Sr. had come to watch his dominoes fall… until it was too late. Susie and Sammy already died (or “died”), surely another of his toys dying (or “dying”) tonight wouldn’t hurt anything… but oh, goody-goody gumdrops, whichever will get the axe next? 👀 I also had this weird feeling when I first read TLO, before Andrew told Constance his name, that he was was going to be Nathan Jr… and I still felt like he might somehow be involved with Nathan Sr. – maybe a spy or something – until he just sort of got unceremoniously kicked from the story and nothing really came of him except adding more fuel to the raging inferno that was Constance’s anger… I wonder if Nathan Sr. enlisted his neglected Favorite Son™ as Constance’s Keeper? 👀👀 Back to things I’m more sure about, hm… that scene I just quoted sounds an awful lot like a certain scene at the end of BATDR…

Wilson: …All of the factors must be perfect. *Machine chamber rotates from the one containing the painting of Shipahoy Dudley to an empty one* The right design, the right science, and… *saw blades pop out of the chamber walls* the right soul.
Audrey: What?
Wilson: At last your purpose is revealed, Audrey. This is why you're here! With your soul inside him, my creation will live forever.
Audrey: Stay away from me! You're insane!
Wilson: Come now, Audrey! Part of you knew this was your path. Leave yourself behind… and ascend!
Audrey: I thought you said we needed to save your father! I thought you had a plan to send me home! To make everything right!
Wilson: I lied… My father is beyond hope. Perhaps you know him: Nathan Arch, owner of ArchGate! Industrial genius. Business tycoon. For years I've lived in his reaching shadow. He always had time for the grand creatives of the world, the “doers” as he called them! He knew only the best! The biggest thinkers! How could his lowly son ever hope to compete with that? But now, thanks to you, I can.
Audrey: *Clenches fist* *tries to use her banishing powers on him*
Wilson: *Catches her hand before she can* No need to struggle. My signal prevents you from using those devilish powers of yours… and more importantly, *catches her other hand before she can hit him with the Gent pipe* keeps the Ink Demon from getting in. It's time to die, Audrey… *starts dragging her towards the machine* and live again… as a god!
Audrey: *Hits him with her pipe, continues struggling, and gets her right hand free* No! Not this time! ERRGH! *Hits him much harder, frees herself from his grip and pushes him into the saw blades*

More evidence that both Joey and Wilson’s evil plans were actually Nathan Sr.’s all along?? He’s done this before, to Susie, Sammy, Buddy, Henry, Allison, Grant, and who knows how many others through Joey (and, I mean, y’know, he’s probably why Joey tried to sacrifice himself at all… I wonder if the reason his soul failed to merge with Bendy, the reason it was purportedly Joey’s fault Bendy was soulless, was because he came to his senses at the last second and fought back like Audrey did), now he’s trying to do it to both Audrey through Wilson and to Wilson through Audrey… This series is so filled to the brim with narrative parallels, it’s astounding… And my. Gosh. I. Hate. Nathan Sr. More. And. More. The more I think about it all… Anyways, honestly, the whole Sammy and Jack situation would explain:

1. Joey’s comments on Sammy and Jack seeming to secretly hate each other in TIOL: maybe he added that in so that, if one of his friends was caught by Nathan Sr., then maybe the other wouldn’t be (clearly it didn’t work, unfortunately)?!
2. Joey describing Jack as an attention-hogging showman when all of his audio logs show he was very introverted, didn’t much care about getting credit, etc: maybe he wanted to create this image of him so that Nathan Sr. wouldn’t notice him if and when he went into hiding?!
3. Why Joey put a pump switch in Sammy’s office: maybe he realized Nathan Sr. was catching on and wanted to make him think he didn’t care about him while also getting Sammy to start hiding like Jack?!
4. Why Sammy made the comment he did to the (sepia!!) newspaper in the Employee Handbook that most people interpreted as meaning he was always a villain and on Joey’s side in a bad way when he, himself, clearly didn’t like being ordered around and under a tight schedule: maybe he, himself, was also trying to throw Nathan Sr. off the scent of rebellion (also, this means we have even more evidence of Nathan Sr. A: letting rumors spread to punish Joey, and B: creating Decoy Villains through manipulation/etc. all the freaking time)?!

Now that we’re all chewing on that food for thought, back to the music. 😝

Sepiatone: You were all my gold that has been never sold, giving life for art is going to be told, with a new name but an old soul, playing the old remastered roll, backing to tracks forgotten, all is fresh not rotten 
Grayscale: But there was just one creation, couldn't ever imagine, it brought my needed retaliation, for the artistic salvation
*Two-Joey chorus repeats*
Grayscale: Never-ending cycle started the suffering revival, the offspring has survived, angels and demons darkly revived, the vision brought a very costly decision, *obvious Joey silhouette appears* how great it is to feel the artistic *Joey silhouette flickers out of existence* catharsis, thaaa—
Sepiatone: —aaat feels like I'm living,
Sepia Joey: losing what I've been dreaming is what I'm fearing, but the true god of conceptions know, when from the spotlight he should go
Grayscale: Anyone know? I'm! Still! Here!

*Wheezes* Did you just further confirm all my theories on how the version of Joey’s story that everyone knows was written by Nathan Sr. (while simultaneously nudging us towards the idea that the Memory of Joey is straight-up Nathan Sr. in disguise and reinforcing that the End Reel is his creation and the resets are part of his plan to torture everyone), there was only ever one studio it’s just that reality and people’s memories have been modified and re-modified beyond recognition, Joey intended for the Ink Dimension to be salvation for those who’ve suffered in life and the victims of Nathan Sr.’s machinations but Nathan Sr. hijacked his creation, twisting it from a heavenly paradise into the hellish prison he, himself, now relishes and doesn’t want to lose control of and consequently it was a good thing for Bendy to crush the Memory of Joey?? And possibly also drop a hint about the explanation of the events of TLO provided by The Mug and The Maiden before definitely reinforcing that the real Joey (who mused about ascending to godhood in TIOL and, if he’s really Bendy now, has been described as a “deity” by Wilson, and has definitely been described as a “Dreamer” throughout the whole series, therefore “the true god of conceptions”) has been pushed outta the spotlight by the Memory of Joey and using Bertrum’s line to simultaneously confirm that Bertrum also became a personification of part of Joey’s psyche (his desires for the respect of others and praise for his work, hatred for anyone who belittles him and desire to upstage them in retaliation) and that Real Joey’s soul is indeed still here inside Bendy???

Sepia Joey: Hey, do you hear me now?
Gray Joey: After all these years, vision's still in the minds
Sepia Joey: You'll breathe when I allow
Gray Joey: Even dried-out ink is still drawing new lines
Sepia Joey: I left for you my legacy
Gray Joey: All consumed by fear, inky atmosphere
Sepia Joey: Take my hand, that's the destiny, let's spin the last gear, I'll miss you my dear

Did you just also confirm that even the long-dead are still modifying the Ink Dimension for various purposes, simultaneously confirming that many of the new audio logs/memos/side stories may indeed have been made up by the souls of the series’ scapegoats/etc. in attempt to call our attention to the discrepancies and reveal the truths and that Nathan Sr. – as the person who seems to be doing most of the reality/memory modification – might indeed already be dead, which would mean his soul would indeed be the true “new evil” in the Ink Dimension?! I’m vibrating again, omigosh…

The rest of the lyrics were all lines from the artist’s previous Bendy songs ending on a lineup of posters of each one, which I’m thinking is probably further confirmation of theMeatly’s repeated statements that all established lore is still 100% canon, and then did you notice… that while all the other posters only include drawings of cartoon characters, the poster for Legacy is a drawing of Bendy and human Joey as he looks in Archgate’s documentary banners, haircut and all, and we see the Joey shadow puppet’s shadow looming over it before the shot fades to black??? 👀 He’s practically screaming in our faces that the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr. is not supposed to be here and is the real villain!!

Whilst we’re still talking about there being two Joeys, one of whom is clearly heavily connected to Nathan Sr. in some way, for history rewriting purposes… Did anyone notice that, in his letter at the beginning of BATIM, Joey says that he “needs” to show Henry something… Then, in the monologue in his apartment at the end of BATIM, the subtitles (which are what I transcribed the quote from in my original analysis/theory, by the way. In case anyone was wondering. I have auditory processing issues, sue me) say he “needs” to show him something while the voice actor says he “wants” to show him… And then, when the Memory of Joey tells the version of Henry’s story that’s definitely, 100%, undeniably a blatant Nathan Sr. lie, at this point, he says both verbally and in the subtitles that he “wants” to show Audrey something… 👀 “Need” suggests there was a genuine need, and therefore that the “Joey called Henry for help” option would be correct, whereas “want” suggests he wanted to show off something he was proud of or something, and therefore that either the “Joey lured Henry in to murder him” or “Joey created Fake Henry to be tortured” options would be correct… Sounding like the subtitle mismatch was not a mistake, but actually a hint at the transition from Joey’s Truth to Nathan Sr.’s Lie, to anyone else? Like maybe Henry remembered that his old friend was supposed to have said “need,” and he was confused as to why he was saying “want,” now??

This song was illustrated by someone kept anonymous in the video description, who I think we all know is the same person who did the visuals for that first highly suspicious song, despite him saying that Desolate Hallway would be his last project (if you couldn’t already tell just by looking at the style, the crucial hint in the comments returns):

First things first, it’s suspicious that this song is titled “Black and White,” considering Joey and Freaky Teeth Bendy’s heavy ties to grayscale. I think this song is straight-up Bendy/Real Joey explaining his side of the story to us.

Grayscale: Ooh you're outta luck! Somebody's pulled the rug, and everything you've known has bid farewell, now demons run amok, this land from which you're stuck, the heavens pray this fresh hell treats you well, oh no…
Sepiatone: *Whisper that shakes the screen like it frightened the singer* No

Frick, that was Joey despairing that his baby girl’s been dragged back into the Ink Dimension and praying for her to be safe and Nathan Sr. interrupting him to say that she won’t be, wasn’t it?

Grayscale (w/ sepia drawing of Audrey): One moment drew with ink, the next I feel it coursing through my veins, I look around to see, reanimated dreams, that festered into frights that never drained
Sepiatone (drawing of Audrey): This portal to the past, has morals I could pass, these monsters justify the wrong, in hopes to find their song, knowing it's already gone
Grayscale (w/ sepia drawing of Audrey): Catch ya in the credits, captivation to this black and white, just don't feel right, yeah, when the shadows grimace, all it takes is an *highlights with a golden glow* enlightened eye, *back to grayscale* to see that I don't belong

This could be Audrey singing about getting sacrificed to the ink machine… or it could also be… Joey describing the day his human body died and he woke up in his cartoon world that was warped from paradise into prison by Nathan Sr. and he was never able to fix… He’s also describing how Nathan Sr.’s manipulation and abuse fudges up his victims’ consciences, using empathy to make them believe they’ll be relieving suffering, creating great art, and/or achieving greatness, so that they think they’re in the right committing atrocities… and how he didn’t want to continue the cycle of abuse/trauma with his daughter… He even seems to be pointing us to the drawing at the end of the credits – which I’ll come back to at the end of this analysis – saying it’s unfair that he’s the only one who can see his truth in the grayscale, and asking us to look at his story through a new lens…

Grayscale (drawing of Dapper Bendy): Oh can't stop for breath, in a world that leaks with death, I stick out like a stain that won't wash out, creatives always said, work can't go to your head, but never said that they'd go for your throat

He’s literally confirming that Nathan Sr. sees him as one of the “stains ready to be cleansed away” *cough liabilities in need of disappearing mafia-style cough* in Wilson’s “none of this ‘makes sense’” rant, confirming that this rant was indeed a riddle trying to tell Audrey about Nathan Sr.?? And then seems to be quoting something Henry and others might’ve said to him when he/they noticed that the studio chapter of their lives seemed to be changing him, and then explaining what it felt like when Nathan Sr. started villainizing him, causing people who he thought cared to turn against him…?

Grayscale (camera pans over to show a drawing of Freaky Teeth Bendy in a mirror behind Dapper): A cartoon made to dance, had finally got a chance, to never be erased again, now I have been condemned, to the marks from my own pen, catch ya in the credits, captivation to this black and white, just don't feel right, when the shadows grimace, all it takes is an *highlights with a golden glow* enlightened eye, *back to grayscale* to see that I don't belong

This sounds like he’s confirming that he thought he’d escaped Nathan Sr.’s clutches only to find himself trapped in them again by his own creation?? And then back to pointing us to the credits of BATDR, saying it’s unfair that nobody else can see his truth, and asking us to look at his story through a new lens…

Sepiatone: Passion amassed all our pass time distractions, to fight for their rations and live a tortured life, but the reels just repeat, lost the chance to redeem, when corruption’s defeated, remembrance always dies, yet even when memories fade, your legacy carries your fate, the devil may reach for my heart, *highlights with a golden glow* but I don’t belong to the dark

This sounds like he’s describing what Nathan Sr. did to all his victims now trapped in what should’ve been their salvation, again… Confirming again that the End Reel and the Memory of Joey are evil, and that it was good for the Memory of Joey to be crushed and bad for the loop to restart… And then we seem to have Nathan Sr. bragging about the fact he’s turned Joey’s baby girl against him, so he won’t win even if he kills him??? But then what seems to be Audrey providing her much more positive side of the story, that she’s trying not to lean on her dad’s maladaptive coping mechanisms… I’m coming back to that, I’m coming back to that. I’ll wait.

Grayscale (w/ sepia drawing of Audrey): Catch ya in the credits, captivation to this black and white, just don’t feel right, when the shadows grimace, all it takes is an *highlights with a golden glow* enlightened eye, *back to grayscale* to see that I don’t belong
Sepiatone (drawing of the Bendys): (Oh no), to see that I don’t belong, (black and white, it don’t feel right), to see that I don’t belong

Let’s do a some more examination on the fully animated version, which seems to provide further insight:

The beginning seems to be confirming that it’s Bendy singing for the majority of the song, though it tries to make it look like the “no” is coming from Bendy… highlighted by a switch to sepia, as if we’re only seeing it that way because our perception has been altered. Then it seems suggested that it is Audrey who’s singing the “one moment drew with ink, the next I feel it coursing through my veins,” except… “I look around to see, reanimated dreams” is accompanied by what looks like footage of BATIM Chapter 2… which is weird… and suggests that maybe we’re seeing Henry and/or Joey’s memories… *Stares at my notes on Audrey’s parentage* Then, “that festered into frights that never drained” is accompanied by all four Butcher Gang members appearing around Audrey… *Stares at my notes on reality editing and children of the Machine* And then “this portal to the past” is accompanied by a shot of the “again & again, around & around” hidden message from BATIM, “has morals I could pass” a Bendy statue from BATIM, “these monsters justify the wrong” a Searcher wrenching a door open to attack, “in hopes to find their song” a Lost One throwing herself against a wall and looking sad, “knowing it’s already gone” Dapper Bendy looking at the toy train in his lap all alone…

The first chorus, “catch ya in the credits” is accompanied by Audrey and Dapper Bendy doing a handshake like they’re already best pals and teammates, “captivation to this black and white, just don’t feel right” the pair walking together to the library in BATIM where Henry saw his first vision that wasn’t triggered by passing out from a magic-induced headache or doing something you don’t do in a normal playthrough (which suggests that this might’ve been a point where the script was changed), “when the shadows grimace, all it takes is an enlightened eye to see that I don’t belong” Audrey looking at a copy of TIOL (I probably don’t have to reiterate, but I’m gonna: the biggest source of info on Nathan Sr.’s abusiveness towards Joey), then Bendy narrowing his eyes and looking over at a projection of the hidden messages from Henry’s cell in Allison and Tom’s hideout, *stares at my notes on these being evidence that Henry and Allison’s story retcons are blatant lies* followed by shots of Carley the fourth Butcher Gang member, several Lost Ones who seem to be sitting at school desks in front of the ink messages Grant scrawled all over the walls of his office in BATIM, *stares at my notes on how the children of the Machine seem to be tryna tell us that Mr. Gray/Grey is being written into the story as a Decoy Villain partially through highlighting how Nathan Sr. changed Grant’s story to fit this pretend history* Porter (one of the most critical parts of arousing suspicion that he and Heidi aren’t Audrey’s siblings, the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr.’s just tryna make Real Joey look bad), an empty music studio, and Wilson with the invisible ink messages “who is the man behind the monster?” and “you bring death” behind him, which suggests that… maybe a large number of the secret messages we found in BATIM, even ones we thought were just jokes (as many assumed The Mug and the Maiden was), were… being used as riddles by him… Omigosh, guys, read these in the (general) order we encounter them with the idea that – no matter who actually wrote them – Wilson could be using these to talk to us/himself, tell stories, etc. in mind:

This feels like it goes from a description of the events of DCTL (especially considering the fact that Wilson used the widow – a “she” – in The Mug and the Maiden to symbolize Nathan Sr. Secret messages relating to Twisted Alice could very well be being used to talk about him… I wonder if Twisted Alice’s line “I see you there. A new fly in my endless web” in BATIM was a reference to Nathan Sr., as well? Seeing as Wilson used the King Widow and Lord Amok to tell us that the Memory of Joey is either Nathan Sr.’s puppet or Nathan Sr. himself)… to Wilson lamenting that his dad is changing him and that he can’t seem to help anyone anymore (oh, sweetie pie… cupcake… 💔)… and then a description of Joey’s guilt spiral and calling Henry for help only for his dearest friend to be murdered by Nathan Sr., then Allison trying to be there for him and also getting murdered by Nathan Sr., but Joey being blamed for both incidents just like every puppet always gets blamed for everything that Nathan Sr. orchestrates… Y’know, all that stuff with Sammy and now with Henry’s secret messages would explain why it was specifically Henry’s axe and seeing tool and a record in the contraband display case, wouldn’t it–? Did the Keepers put them there under the Memory of Joey/Nathan Sr.’s orders, or was this another of Wilson’s attempts to call our attention to what he was trying to say (“guys please I’m trying so hard but my effing dad keeps silencing me, I’m literally begging you to look into Sammy and Henry for the love of all things good”)…?? Mm! I’m vibrating, again. Anyways, “creatives always said, work can’t go to your head” is accompanied by a shot of Dapper Bendy gripping his head like he’s in pain, “but never said that they’d go for your throat” him looking up at Audrey with his little betrayed sad face as he melts, “a cartoon made to dance, had finally got a chance, to never be erased again, now I have been condemned, to the marks from my own pen” he reemerges from the puddle as Freaky Teeth Bendy, the hidden message depicting the soulless Bendy’s monster horns and claws that should be around the Bendy clock in Boris’s hideout in BATIM behind him…

“*Panting* When you animate, it’s so much more than just motion.

It’s a way of life, an art, a passion. *Crazed giggle* Each tiny movement is an *growly* emotional trigger to the audience. Get it wrong, and you will lose them. You must live the characters to draw them. You must feel the motions in your mind. *Pitch raises to be like the giggle again* Act them out around your room. Today, I’m a clock, a dancing timekeeper. *Giggles again* Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock. *Giggles* Watch my movements. *Growly* See my frames of animation! I have so many characters to animate yet. Thousands of frames to go. *Giggles again, but sounding on the verge of tears* But for now, I’m just a clock. *Giggle, sniffle* Tick tock. *Giggle, sniffle* Tick tock. *Sniffly gasp, leading into a crazed laugh that almost sounds like sobbing* Hahahhaha!”

Bill Danton, Bendy and the Dark Revival, “Dancing Clock” audio log

Oh, honey… Danton (sorry, sweetie, I gotta refer to you with your surname to avoid confusion) is a personification of the part of Bendy/Real Joey that’s in agony playing the villain again postmortem, unable to free himself from Nathan Sr.’s sadistic script even now and, worse, made the key to the resets, isn’t he…? Oof… Anyways, he chases Audrey until she hides and he can’t find her, at which point she looks sad, and then determined. Then, the second “when the shadows grimace, all it takes is an enlightened eye to see that I don’t belong” is accompanied by a shot of Audrey hiding from a Keeper in a Little Miracle station before panning up to Wilson and Betty, followed by shots of the Memory of Joey facing left in red lighting, Henry facing right in green lighting, *stares at my notes on the Angel and Devil play in TIOL being about Henry and Nathan Sr.* Twisted Alice going ham with the Tommy gun, a Keeper, and the Bendys in black-and-white before they’re swallowed by sepia lighting.

“But the reels just repeat, lost the chance to redeem” is interestingly a cut from Bendy saving Audrey from bleeding out on the floor after killing Shipahoy Wilson for ripping her legs off to… the Memory of Joey (I checked, that’s definitely his watch and pinstriped suit) standing looking at Norman’s projector head that we use to reset the loop… *Stares at my notes on the Memory of Joey wanting the cycle to continue being a very bad sign* Ouch, the “when corruption’s defeated, remembrance always dies” line being accompanied by Henry and Audrey-in-Bendy’s-body nodding at each other before resetting the loop hurts so bad… Y’know… now that this brings it up… the parallels to the soulless Bendy saving Henry from the Projectionist only for him to go after the End Reel… which Bendy stole from the vault and hid in his Throne Room… Is this saying that Real Joey was trying to break the cycle through Bendy by making him steal the stupid reel (which might suggest that the reason Henry had a vision when Bendy saved him was because Norman wasn’t supposed to be able to see him and Joey briefly connected to Bendy to rescue his friend, now that I think about it), the audio log that came with it was basically the Memory of Joey before Nathan Sr. died and was able to physically manifest in the Ink Dimension…

“It’s simply awe-inspiring what one can accomplish with their own hands! A lump of clay can turn to meaning… if you strangle it with enough enthusiasm. Look what we’ve built! We created life itself, Henry! Not just on the silver screen, but in the hearts of those we’ve entertained with our fancy moving pictures! But… when the tickets stopped selling, when the next big thing came along, only the monsters remained. Shadows of the past. But you can save them, Henry! You can peel it all away! You see, there’s only one thing Bendy has never known: He was there for his beginning, but he’s never seen… The End.”

(The Memory of??) Joey Drew, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Chapter 5

…created in order to push Henry to reset the loop while making Bendy look like the villain (and indirectly confessing to orchestrating the deaths of so many – Henry included – under his true identity [Nathan Sr.] and what he was planning on the Ink Dimension coverup for Henry’s death being?? Please tell me everyone’s seeing that line’s similarity to Wilson’s “None of This ‘Makes Sense’” riddle, the epilogue of TLO, the “Wilson Trying to Make Audrey Into Shipahoy Dudley” scene, and the “Joey’s False Confession to Buddy” scene), just like how he did to Audrey coming in with his love-bombing her and making Bendy look like the bad guy for crushing him?? I— holy— woah… oh my…

Audrey: I'm scared. I don't know what's happening.
The Memory of Joey: The past doesn't define you, nor the present! In the end, all those years ago, Joey Drew finally succeeded! He created… life. But Audrey, you're so much more than that. You were his family, his daughter. My daughter… and I love you so very much.
The Ink Demon: Be quiet. The wretch is mine!
The Memory of Joey: Remember who you are, Audrey. Remember!
The Ink Demon: Your words are wasted! The failure of Joey Drew dies here!
. . .
The Ink Demon: *Crushes MoJ with their right hand*
Audrey: Noooo!
The Ink Demon: *Throws MoJ in the ink* The future is sealed. *Puts their right hand on the floor and does nothing else, as if he just wants to rest*
Audrey: *Turns their head to look at the End Reel*
The Ink Demon: What do you think you're doing?
Audrey: *Picks the End Reel up with their left hand* I'm starting over.
The Ink Demon: What?
Audrey: This… is the end.

This scene was literally Real Joey fighting to claim his daughter as his effing daughter and break the time loop cycle while Nathan Sr. sneakily directed her attention and affection towards himself to save both his own skin and the accursed cycle!! 🤯 Nathan Sr. has fricking manipulated the script so much— this makes Danton’s audio log twenty times more upsetting…!

The “your legacy carries your fate” line is interestingly accompanied by a shot of Audrey and Shipahoy Wilson, possibly alluding that they could fight against Nathan Sr.’s machinations together? “The devil may reach for my heart” is fascinatingly accompanied by Audrey and Henry looking at each other, then the soulless Bendy from BATIM and Freaky Teeth looking at each other, and then Audrey says the “but I don’t belong to the dark” line back in her office, and the door behind her opens to reveal Dapper Bendy in a grayscale version of it before we’re pulled back into the sepia where we see a shot of the soulless Bendy from BATIM for the “catch ya in the credits” and Freaky Teeth looking around like something’s wrong for the “captivation to this black-and-white just don’t feel right” lines.

The final “when the shadows grimace” comes with a shot of Shipahoy Wilson, “all it takes is an enlightened eye to see that I don’t belong” a shot of Tom pointing behind us where we turn to see Allison Angel and then Henry. Then, that final “to see that I don’t belong, (black and white, it don’t feel right), to see that I don’t belong” line is accompanied by shots of Audrey falling down the elevator shaft like a rabbit hole, Freaky Teeth touching her shoulder and head, and, finally, a shot of Audrey in front of the cork board from Joey’s apartment with the items from it that correlated to the ones used to turn on the Ink Machine (including another copy of TIOL!!) floating around her…

Anyone notice that this drawing from the credits of Daddy and Daughter drawing together in their apartment is the only one that’s in black-and-white? I dunno about y’all, but this all feels a little too on-the-nose to just be a coincidence…!! 👀

Finally, everyone probably already knew about this one, but I think it’s important to look at this official BATDR song through a new lens:

“Come what may, I’m watching over you, when darkness comes closing in, I’ll turn that black sky to blue, I’ll always guide you, protect you, I’ll never forsake you, you know my heart is always true, so no matter the odds, what lies between us, I’ll always be here for you, lost in the shadows, I’ll be your light, shining your whole life through, so no matter the odds, what lies between us, I’ll always be here for you

I’ll always guide you, protect you, I’ll never forsake you, you know my heart is always true, so no matter the odds, what lies between us, I’ll always be here for you, lost in the shadows, I’ll be your light, shining your whole life through, so no matter the odds, what lies between us, I’ll always be here for you”

…Fudge nuggets, y’all got me crying, again. 🥲 This is supposed to be a song that our potential Cyclebreakers can sing to each other, including Allison and Tom as pictured in most of the video, Joey and his baby girl as that Bendy-and-Audrey drawing in the middle of the video might be implying, and so on, isn’t it? 😭💕 *Deep breath* Anyways…

In Conclusion: I do think BATDR is the end of the original story.

I feel like future games will probably focus on what on Earth happens when the children of the Machine move on, what with Gent’s return teased in the post-credits scene. But at any rate, while maybe the final story might not have been quite what they originally planned and has changed a few times while BATDR was in development limbo, I wholeheartedly believe that Nathan Sr. is still very much the true villain of the entire Bendy series so far. He’s just sticking to what he’s good at and staying the heck behind his beloved curtain, pulling everyone else’s strings… And I know I said in my initial reaction that the default ending didn’t feel like the true one due to all the things that didn’t make sense, but now that I’ve put all my other thoughts into words and mulled things over more, I wanna leave you with this thought:

“We’re always free to choose. To believe what we want to believe. But when you step back, when you really look at where you’ve been, and the things you’ve done, your past will come… to devour you. *Bendy’s growl echoes in the background, as if another memory)”

Audrey Drew, Bendy and the Dark Revival, intro (emphasis added)

“You must be really lost to be asking me for help.”

Henry Stein, Bendy and the Dark Revival, Chapter 4

Audrey: Dead end! Now what?
Henry: Need some help?
Audrey: Henry! You came!
Henry: Some battles are worth fighting for… Even a million times. Come on! I found a projector up ahead! Run for it!
The Ink Demon: This realm is mine… and the cycle will continue!
Audrey: Well then, we'll just have to do better next time.

“My father once told me, that just because we’re born of darkness… doesn’t mean we belong to it. We’re always free to choose. And here, at the very beginning, there’s a choice to make. My father’s cartoon world was now mine. To rule, to watch over, and to protect. I can make the cycle more bearable for my friends inside. But as for me, I’m the first of my kind. Born of ink, but living in flesh. Joey’s world is escaping into ours. So, what’s next? Who can really say?”

Audrey Drew, Bendy and the Dark Revival, outro (emphasis added)

I… don’t think the default ending is about all the other ink creatures literally escaping into the actual real world with Audrey— except for her fellow children of the Machine, who already exist in-between the two worlds, belonging to both and neither, thanks to their ghostly origins, and consequently can cross over just fine if they so desire. I think it’s much more about her choosing to A: acknowledge and accept the Joseph Dempsey (aka Dapper Bendy) part of her dad’s story – that while he made mistakes, he did in fact love her and was trying his best to make sure she’d have a better life than he did – remember the memories that she’d suppressed through her dad’s Illusion of Living coping mechanism and allow herself to grieve for him and embrace what’s left of him, B: possibly get the truth of what Nathan Sr. did to Joey, Wilson, and everyone else out into the world?? That’s another copy of TIOL that she’s holding!! And C: reject (or “banish away,” as Bendy/Real Joey said in his “The Beginning” and “Something Familiar” memos) what she, like her father, thought was her only option for survival – becoming a monster – after seeing the creature she became torture and eventually kill a being with the face and voice of her loved one (making her realize that this was just as bad a road for herself as it was for him), and to break the cycle of trauma/abuse by taking control of, especially, the real-world memory part of her father’s creation (mayhaps it’s actually another of those “many wires” mentioned in A Theory about Spaces? It’s not quite the real world, but it’s also not truly the Ink Dimension…) to make the fact that they’re all still trapped in the loop more bearable. Even if they still have to relive many of the events we’ve seen, maybe she can eventually figure out how to do things like let Henry visit Memory Linda (yes, she gets the honor of dropping the “the” and “of” in the moniker), who may still exist within the Real-World Memory Space, and so on. Maybe she’ll even be able to get through to Wilson, someday, and they can rule the Ink Dimension together?

It’s not perfect, they’re all gonna be affected by what happened to them forever, like trauma survivors in real life. But they’re gonna manage. Those who are willing are gonna do what they can and make the most of what they have, do their best to heal and move on. Honestly, even if there isn’t a secret Grayscale Ending (which I do still really hope there is— Wilson and Joey deserve better than they got in the default ending and I want so badly to make Nathan Sr. face more-permanent justice)… I think that’s a pretty beautiful way to have handled it.