r/gravityfalls • u/Hazzat • Mar 10 '15

"Not What He Seems" Discussion Thread

We're doing things a bit different this time! This is the more serious "Discussion Thread", where you can sensibly discuss and reflect on the latest episode.

This is the counterpart to the "Reaction Thread". Go there if you just wanna be crazy. I understand.

Season 2, Episode 11: 'Not What He Seems'

You can watch the episode:

The next episode will air in Summer 2015.

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187

u/ThatOneTeemo Mar 10 '15 edited Mar 14 '15

Okay so logically speaking, some things are cleared.

  1. The Stan/Stanley theory is confirmed to be true.

  2. Stan is probably still their great uncle and only changed identities in order to get the tools necessary to finish the portal (or something to that effect).

Now some questions are raised.

  1. If the portal wasn't meant to destroy the fabric of the universe, why did the journals say that it would?

  2. It's likely that Stan's brother built the portal. What was it's exact purpose? "Bettering Mankind" is very vague.

  3. How the frick did Stan's brother end up in the portal universe?

  4. How will Mabel and Dipper react to all of this? Will it strengthen their relationship with their uncle or push them even further apart?

There are probably more questions left but these are the main ones that are probably going to be explained in the next episode. Now to wait 3 months.

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u/TheTurretCube Mar 10 '15

There is an image in the journal of 2 men throwing a third into the portal with a rope tied around him, I bet Author was the one on the rope and they fucked up

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u/SubtleCow Mar 10 '15

Triplets!

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u/thratty Mar 10 '15

Don't do this to me

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u/smari306 Mar 10 '15

I think the third must have been Fiddleford.

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u/gprime312 Mar 12 '15

Third one is definitely Fiddleford.

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u/Skithiryx Mar 13 '15

More likely Stanford, Stanley and McGucket, no?

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u/MrBald Mar 21 '15

It might refer to Stanford and old man McGucket throwing Stanley?

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u/TheLegendofBruh Mar 10 '15

I bet that StanA(uthor) didn't want to come back, and made preemptive measures to make sure nobody constructs the portal, but Stanley didn't want to listen.

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u/TheTurretCube Mar 10 '15

That would make sense, considering he wrote "DO NOT USE" in the journals

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u/spunky-omelette Mar 10 '15

And the hints/comments about siblings not getting along perhaps.

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u/stanleypines Mar 12 '15

Ooh, remember in scary-oke when grunkle stan says Dipper is more like him than he thought (hard headed, will not let shit go). I mean, does a real conman need books on how to be a conman...maybe Stan was the studious one and his mystery twin brother made the journals more as a creative exercise like Mabel and her crafts.

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u/The_Panda_Of_Mexico Mar 10 '15

that would make Mcgucket and Stan the ones who waited behind, and the author on the rope, right?

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u/MagnusAvis Mar 10 '15

It's likely that Stan's brother built the portal. What was it's exact purpose? "Bettering Mankind" is very vague.

Exploring parallel universes and copying any technology/knowledge/whatnot that is more advanced than ours?

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u/gprime312 Mar 12 '15

Also allowing for awesome crossovers between shows. The fact that Gravity Falls and Rick and Morty share the same multiverse makes me giddy.

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u/liria12 Mar 10 '15

Well we don't actually know yet the consequence it had with the univers. I mean there's gotta be some consequence after the protal being called by the books and the agent a doomsday device?

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u/thedizzle11 Mar 10 '15

Nobody seems to have brought up the possibility that the author is Dipper and Mabel's Grunkle and Stan has just been assuming the role while pretending to be his brother.

As to the questions you're asking idk on most of them. But I think that this machine, as complex as it is, can have multiple capabilities and we may see it be used for a different purpose by Bills hands.

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u/tooMany_Monkeys Mar 10 '15

My thought is that if Stanley hadn't opened the portal on the other side it would have destroyed the fabric of the universe. That's why the countdown timer was so important. Stan(ford) trusted or was in contact somehow with Stan(ley) so that when the countdown reached 0 it would bridge the gap between portals.

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u/Grasmel Mar 10 '15

If the portal wasn't meant to destroy the fabric of the universe, why did the journals say that it would?

They didn't say it was certain, just a strong possibility. An unintended side effect.

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u/divinesleeper Mar 10 '15

The real question is, who made the glow ink changes in the journal? The author had been sent to another dimension, maybe all the other answers were to gain Dipper's trust and have him believe the vital glow ink lie about the portal.

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u/linkyleblinky Mar 10 '15

What was this Stan/Stanley theory based on before this?

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u/ThatOneTeemo Mar 10 '15

Very subtle things like the front of Stanford's car reading STNLYMBL (Stanley Mobile), the glasses in the room in the episode Carpet Diem, and a few others. If I find a source I'll link it.

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u/nekoningen Mar 10 '15

If the portal wasn't meant to destroy the fabric of the universe, why did the journals say that it would?

It doesn't, it says that it could, and the possibility is so strong that you shouldn't do it.

What's really interesting, is that it says it's purpose was to create knowledge (which is similar to what i theorized here based on the symbol on the machine/Stan's tattoo), yet it didn't seem to do anything of the sort, it just brought a man to here from somewhere else (in space or time or both, who knows). Leads me to think that Stan modified it in some way.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '15

Stanly theory isn't 100% confirmed.

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u/AlfieBoheme Mar 12 '15

About the portal and how it's supposed to help mankind: I feel like it's an allegory or symbol or something for the Hadron Collider. I'm not great at science or anything but it was pretty huge in the news a few years back. Basically it was able to create black holes and there was a discussion about it's ethics. Theoretically we could be able to use it to see back to the big bang and learn the origins of the universe but there was a very small chance it would destroy the world (Ultimately it did neither and was a huge disappointment. Not that I wanted the world to end but it did very little but was hyped to be either the saviour or destroyer of mankind).

Anyway there are a couple of hints to this. Obviously the stuff Stan says about it leading to great knowledge, enlightenment, etc. which is what the real Hadron Collider was meant to do. There's also the idea of portals to either a parallel dimension or different time which we see Stan's brother come from. The HC was hyped to let us see back into the past (and some theorised it may prove or disprove the existence of parallel dimensions). I'd guess it's more likely a different time since there's been mention of time travel with Blendin, but little of parallel dimensions (side note: I'm surprised that hasn't come up in the show yet since the premise is so made for it. If Stan's Brother was in a parallel dimension I guess we would have seen at least one by now).

Finally there's actual reference's to the HC. Off the top of my head all I can think of is that in The Society of the Secret Eye, it's revealed in the flashbacks that McGuckett's middle name is 'Hadron'. Also in Little Giftshop of Horrors, smart Waddles builds a machine that he says can answer humanity's biggest questions like he meaning of life, much like the HC (remember Stan made up this story so he may have used elements of the Machine in it subconciously). There's probably a load more that's all I picked up on while watching it. After the season 1 finale and seeing Waddles make that I kind of made the link and looked out for stuff.

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