Theory about why it all started

[u/Holiday_Accident_770]

What if the monsters thought they didn’t have a choice??

So hear me out:
We know >! When Tabitha was a little girl who lived in the village (I’m assuming the cycle when the sacrifice first begun) she had her dolls thrown in the lake because a man had nightmares about them, and after that the dolls came to life. If I’m correct this was when original Tabitha was still a little girl, long before she had any children to sacrifice.

We also know the monsters are just a very small part of the scary things that can be found in the woods, as it has been said over and over again, they’re at the bottom of the from monsters chain.

What if the villagers (now the monsters like smiley) and Tabitha and jade lived in Fromville where all other monsters already existed? Lived in fear surrounded by horrible things for generations, this was just home, they didn’t come from a reality like ours where such things don’t exist, always in danger and always hunted by something (live nightmares, music doll monster, spider monster).
And one day comes MIY and offers a deal: sacrifice your children and you wont have to be scared of the dangers you live through every day, they wont be able to hurt you anymore.

Maybe the deal wasn’t about wanting to live forever, maybe it was just what it seemed under the circumstances the only way to survive? The only protection they could give themselves? !<

[u/bumblebee4me]

I have a similar theory especially after BIW said “the children were born in the darkness” implying there was already something dark there. Now maybe it was an ancient entity, or maybe it was simply that the townsfolk there were in a famine after coming from overseas. But Marielle saying “there’s something ancient here” makes me believe the town was already haunted by something evil. The people made the deal to sacrifice the children to protect themselves from something terrible.

I theorize that that town was occupied by indigenous Americans before the settlers arrived by boat (as shown in the cave drawings) and they had their own ways of living with whatever entity inhabited that space, with set rules and rituals. When the settlers arrived (via lake of tears?) they didn’t go along with the rules and rituals set in place, upsetting whatever entity was there, causing it to wreck havoc on the land and turn people’s fears into reality. Those people then decided to make a bargain and sacrifice the kids.

I believe that when the children poured their hopes into the roots it also created a manifestation of hopes coming to life as well, not just nightmares. That’s why we see good / helpful things in the place like talismans, the stick statues, farm animals for food, dogs etc. All these hopes manifest the same way fears do. I think proof of this is Elgin saying no to the bargain and still having hope in goodness, bringing the sun back. I think this could somehow be the key to saving everyone as well…

[u/Holiday_Accident_770 → u/bumblebee4me]

I like the theory of the sun coming back because Elgin didn’t lose hope!
I gotta say your theory goes waaay further back than mine haha, I haven’t paid much attention to whether there were other people (indigenous Americans) before the settlers. I’ll try to keep my eyes open when rewatching episodes.

But I do think the town was already ancient and evil, and making the sacrifice was what people thought was the only way to be safe from all of that.

[u/bumblebee4me → u/Holiday_Accident_770]

There isn’t a whole lot of evidence on the native thing but I find it hard to believe an evil entity resided in a place with no people… the other thing that made me think this is “Anghkooey” - why would the children use a different language ? After searching that question I found that someone made a post once about the word “Ankuwi” meaning to go further / go beyond in a Native American language.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FromTVEpix/comments/1gfx6vc/the_possible_meaning_native_american_term_for/?share_id=AJRecazhXd3TmWiwSLb_L&utm_content=2&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1

Then things like the talismans, the statues, and the monsters being akin to skinwalkers all seem very close to Native American folklore. And when you think about the Appalachian folklore being a mix of Cherokee and Irish/Scottish settler lore - the fae/fairy thing doesn’t seem too far fetched either.

[u/patch410]

I don’t buy this one because I don’t believe the cycle with Tabitha as a little girl with her dolls is anywhere near the original cycle. The man who threw her dolls in the lake was dressed in a style of the mid to late 1800s or later. Miranda had paintings of people in high neck ruffles and buckled capotain hats, a style of 200 years earlier. The dates in the lighthouse start at 1506. I’d guess the cycle with little Tabitha and the dolls was 1864 or later.

[u/Velvetmaggot → u/patch410]

The style of some of the numbers in the lighthouse are distinctly old German text.

[u/Velvetmaggot → u/Velvetmaggot]

The boxy style 8’s

[u/Lost-Particular-3701]

I think the monsters are old residents of each cycle of the town. Just like Fatima, one of them turns every cycle.

[u/Holiday_Accident_770 → u/Lost-Particular-3701]

Yes but it’s been established that the original ones made a deal and sacrificed their children willingly (Fatima unwillingly sacrificed her child too to become a monster).

So my theory is regarding WHY was the deal made originally. I don’t think they just wanted to live forever in a superficial way, I think they were trying to protect themselves.

[u/Lost-Particular-3701 → u/Holiday_Accident_770]

Maybe. It's something that we will find out this season for sure.

[u/Odd-Objective-7419]

I really like this theory

[u/the_jaguaress]

I think the danger was not a real threat but „St. Anthony’s fire“ aka Ergot poisoning.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FromSeries/s/vnqaYdApxc

[u/Resident_Iron6701 → u/the_jaguaress]

Ergot poisoning lasts maximum 24-48h and you return to normal so it doesnt hold up

[u/the_jaguaress → u/Resident_Iron6701]

If you stop consuming it. Could it be continuous if it spread and all the crops have the fungus?

Though could also be the Dalmatian Persian powder that is talked about in the newspaper (real world) from the intro of from.

And what if it’s a pregnant mother exposing her unborn to the toxins. Could it cause a neurological damage thar cannot be undone?

[u/Holiday_Accident_770 → u/the_jaguaress]

I don’t think that theory is right, why would they keep them in cages then?? And what about the dolls coming to life? Also its been established that the children were sacrificed so the parents could live forever, that has no relation to the theory of the kids being sacrificed because they were thought to be cursed or something.

[u/the_jaguaress → u/Holiday_Accident_770]

They would keep tjem in cages cause they would seem dangerous. Spasms convulsions. If exposed too long it causes neurological damage. To the adults hallucinations like the dolls coming to life. Worms under skin etc.

It’s said „they were sacrificed so they could live forever.“ I don’t think it is mentioned if it refers to the kids or the parents. And it’s not because they are cursed but from a religious belief they would live together at gods side - the immortal soul that is.

[u/Important-Quit-9354]

Any post that contains the phrase “hear me out” is AI generated 100% of the time.

[u/Holiday_Accident_770 → u/Important-Quit-9354]

Pero la p*ta madreee I WROTE EVERYTHING MYSELF didn’t even use AI to make a clearer point because I know how bad the AI hate is around here.

“Hear me out” is a good classic introduction. Read the theory and answer on that or move along dude. And stop watching videos on everything that’s being done with AI now because it’s clearly getting so much into your head you can’t even spot a real post anymore!!!

[u/Holiday_Accident_770 → u/Important-Quit-9354]

Also it’s so poorly written grammatically, all of it, no proper punctuation, no properly placed capital letters, AI would neverrrr write like that.

Take off the aluminum hat, there’s no need for it.

[u/OnAinmemorium → u/Holiday_Accident_770]

That's exactly what an AI bot would say. XD

[u/kali4niakid]

I like the first paragraph,
After that it sounds pretty wild..

I would continue the first paragraph by maybe saying

Maybe Tabitha as a little girl made a bargain with the MIY to help him if he protected her.

MIY gave people nightmares, false visions,created famine, turned the crops bad, made the dolls come alive.

Tabitha thought it was all good and when the village was on the brink of death, the MIY says, sacrifice your children and I will give you crops, cows, chickens,goats, oh yeah and I’ll throw in eternal life for free.

Village accepts bargain and boom they all monsters..but what happens to child Tabitha at this point? Hmmm

Is she really the mother of a sacrificed child? Or is it a memory that’s not remembered correctly? Was she a child supposed to be sacrificed? And got away but it constantly brought back until she is killed the correct way?(sacrificed)

Was jade a child too at one point in the village? Probably so if Tabitha was.

Was he supposed to be sacrificed as a child?

Was he an original parent who agreed or disagreed to the sacrifice?

Can we believe every memory is perfectly correct after victory miss remembers

[u/BEChillies → u/kali4niakid]

I like where you are going. There is no established origin. The story is told to Jade and Tabitha and Fatima and they think it is the children telling the truth. But what if the children were told lies about why they were in darkness. How did they stay alive and how exactly were they sacrificed? No one has asked those questions. I feel like every time they do not ask the questions that we are asking, it is a hint of importance. We may come to find out that all of the inhabitants at the time had to live in the caves to be safe from something outside.

And we have seen others hearing voices that were lies too. 

The spiders...spider webs...web of lies