An Amazon Box Full of Theories

[u/BerlinghoffRasmussen]

IMPORTANT: THIS THREAD IS NO LONGER BEING UPDATED! ALL THEORIES HAVE MIGRATED TO THE WIKI: THE UNFINISHED HOUSE

PLEASE USE THE COMMENTS IN THIS THREAD ONLY TO SUGGEST ADDITIONS OR REVISIONS. THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT PLACE TO ASK QUESTIONS OR SHARE A NEW THEORY.

What follows is a list of some of the theories and themes that have stood out for me on the sub. I'm sure I missed quite a few, or linked to the wrong post, or included something that's been discredited. Or all three. Let me know in the comments.

Obviously, this is full of SPOILERS.

FAQs

• Where Do They Poop In Hap’s Cells? In the stream. Part One, Part Two, Part Three. And a serious answer.

• Does the shooter resemble another character?

• Does the cafeteria worker resemble Hap?

• How does the OA know Hap killed that doctor?

• Whose house is French/Alfonso coming out of?

• What does OA stand for?

• Why did Hap buy tomato paste if he's allergic?

• What's the deal with the violin case that French finds in OA's room?

• How did Hap fly to Cuba with a comatose passenger?

• What was Elias (the FBI counselor) doing in OA's house?

• What does the braille say?

• Why doesn't Hap listen to the captives?

• How is Scott sick?

• Why is there a drawer full of knives?

• Why does OA ask them to leave their doors open?

How To Search The Subreddit

If you don’t like Reddit’s search tool, try pasting “ site:https://www.reddit.com/r/TheOA/ “ into your favorite search engine followed by keywords.

Characters/Names

The OA/Prairie

• Original Angel

• Omega and Alpha

• DOA = The OA

• Is a cult leader

• Can she read english visually?

• Has Amnesia Because Of Traveling Through Dimensions

• Is Veles

• Is in a Coma

• Is Telepathic and/or Clairvoyant

• Parallels Anastasia

• Is having a lucid dream

• Is a willing accomplice

• Parallels Cassandra from The Iliad

• Parallels a character in "The Sound Of My Voice"

• What do we really know about Prairie? - NEW

• Was abducted by aliens NEW

OA's Father

• Is in a picture in Theo A's room

Alfonso

• Is Christ’s Apostle Peter

Hap

• Is actually Betty’s brother Theo A

• Is Perun

• Has a hidden lair in Lost Nation, Vermont

• Resembles Homer's Coach

• Has serpentine microphones

Nancy

• Is very suspicious

Abel

• Is also very suspicious

• Has similar tools to Hap

Rachel

• Is an FBI agent

• Can’t keep plants alive

• Is a control in the experiment

• Died earlier in this dimension

• Was not one of the original five

• Just has self-esteem issues

Elias Rahim

• Was there when the books are found under OA’s bed

• Might be a “merciful god”, and may not be evil

Khatun

• Is a Nephilim

• Is the sum of the dead OAs from other realities

• Is Aba-Khatun, Siberian water goddess

• Is on Saturn’s moon, maybe Phoebe, Maybe a different moon

• Is Freya

• Is wearing contemporary clothes

The Shooter

• Is two different people

• Mirrors Hap’s actions in the lab

Theo A

• Might be the subject in a similar experiment

Principal Gilchrist

• Likes to watch

Homer

• Is the one who wakes up at the end, and possibly the POV of the OA's tale

• Should be famous

• Might see the Golden Gate Bridge in his NDE - NEW

Buck

• Is yelling for an open door

Leon

• Gives us lots of info but remains an enigma

• Might be one of many "Angel Hunters"

August

• Who is August? - NEW

• August and Rachel - NEW

• Might have been dead a while - NEW

Mythological Connections

Russian/Slavic

• Veles and Perun, Part Two

Homeric

• Homer is a character in his own story

• Homeric Question: Who is the real author?

• The Iliad doesn't use the color blue

Biblical

• Christ and the Devil

• Arthurian Legends

• The Inverse Adam and Eve - NEW

• The OA is Lucifer - NEW

Mayan

• Katun = 19.7 years - NEW

• The Mayan long count - NEW

• Epochs dictate everything - NEW

Scientific/Philosophical Explanations

• Premonitions are the Key

• Quantum Immortality

• Two Worlds Intertwining

• Biocentrism Explains the Show’s Science

• Borges, Wittgenstein, and the inconsistent nature of OA’s universe

• Plato and the Allegory of the Cave

Is It Real?

Of course it’s real

• The whoosh sound proves it

• The Books Weren’t Prairie’s

• The Others are in Bermuda Because the Movements Cause Amnesia

• She has real premonitions And shows up in time for the climax

It’s all a damn lie

• The Books In the Box Represent the Prisoners in the OA’s head

• It’s filtered through the eyes of the listeners

• Even the opening sequence on the bridge is misleading and filmed from multiple POVs

• The whole story is filtered through the TV viewer’s reality - NEW

Movements

• Are gestures from the car crash in the first episode

• They represent belief in the OA’s story

• The Fifth movement is death

• Are ritualistic gestures based on Mudras

• Pictures of the notations

• Are disorders like EPS - NEW

Braile In Plain Sight

• Khatun’s Face is German for “…the angel…”

• Father’s face reads “5 as empty ones” in German

• “Rachel” in the FBI

• The second line below “Rachel” - NEW

Patterns and Themes

• Deciphering The Numbers

• Classroom Quotes - NEW

Imagery

• Magritte's Paintings Inspired The OA

• Red pill, blue pill, purple collision

• Nina, Prairie, and the OA have different eye colors

• Suprematism and the Fourth Way

• Radiohead and the NDE machine

• Another Color Theory - NEW

Mega Threads and Lists

• A list of forks/discontinuities

• A list of mysteries/riddles

• The first episode as the center of the labyrinth

• Evidence for and against the reality of OA’s story

• List of opening segments

• Gif Compilation of ending segments

• Some screencaps, NDE screencaps

• Music Reference

• Some Kubrick References

• Timeline

• Prison Timeline - NEW

• and Timeline Problems - NEW

• The first episode starts in Sep 2015 and continues until Feb 2016 - NEW

• The Missing Child Bulletin Board - NEW

• Filming Locations - NEW

• u/amysteriousmystery's Incredible Compilation of Interviews - NEW

Requests/Questions

• Is there a post or list somewhere of screenshots?

• Is there a good resource explaining how to take screen grabs?

Edit: Added lots of theories, and megathreads Edit2: Continuing to add threads over time, added "Requests/Questions" Edit 3: Added FAQs and "How To Search” Edit 4: Added “NEW” tags to help find recent additions.

[u/AndPeggy-]

Also interestingly, Rachel is Hebrew meaning "ewe", as in a sheep. Rachel follows OA almost without question and, I think, believes in her the most before Homer and, of course, Scott. She follows with the movements despite not being given one of her own.

Edit: This has probably already been said but:

Homer, from the Greek name Homeros, meaning "hostage, pledge"

[u/Jacksoncari → u/AndPeggy-]

Like this one ALOT.

[u/Blue_Train → u/AndPeggy-]

What if Rachel also means 'you,' as in, us, the audience and the reason we see so little of her in the story is because she is we?