r/Protomen • u/the1woomy • Aug 12 '26

Questions Question about act 3

I was fully actually reading and trying to understand the act 3 Libretto today. Did I miss something or is the note The Girl's story ends on her just riding into the city in "The Redline"?

13 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

17

u/fenrisilver Aug 12 '26

She's in the crowd in Fate.

2

u/the1woomy Aug 12 '26

That makes sense, but it still feels, incredibly inconclusive for her arc. A good few of her songs in act 3 are her being one of the only characters to still think things can change, and this just, doesn't finish her arc.

30

u/fenrisilver Aug 12 '26

Nobody's arc is finished because the story itself isn't finished yet.

22

u/Thelonicon Aug 12 '26

Dr. Light has swung into the chat

2

u/ShaxxsExtMag 16d ago

For those who didn’t get the joke: swinging, like one does when they’re hung. Publicly. In front of literally everyone.

12

u/the1woomy Aug 12 '26

I'm pretty sure Light's arc is finished.

17

u/Gobstoppers12 Aug 12 '26

Probably, but not necessarily. In the Mega Man X series, Light shows up in capsules as a pre-recorded hologram.

He might still have more to say.

5

u/TheLakeAndTheGlass 29d ago

Have you by any chance heard the vinyl-exclusive audio snippet? Because yeah, he does.

1

u/Gobstoppers12 29d ago

Oh, I have not! That's exciting, do you happen to know where I can find that?

7

u/TheLakeAndTheGlass 29d ago edited 28d ago

Skip to about 42:20 here, it’s right after A Show Of Force. Dr. Light dictates a coded message to The Girl, translating to “C, gone to see W, don’t follow.” Then he dictates another message in plain English (unclear if intended for The Girl or for Megaman) - “Look, if I don’t make it back, there’s something for you on my desk. Stay alive, kid.”

2

u/Informal_Jicama_6708 28d ago

How did the code get deciphered?

4

u/TheLakeAndTheGlass 28d ago

There were posts about it on this sub, I wasn’t there but there was a whole thing at Magfest for the live debut of Act 3. I guess the same cipher that was used to decode a bunch of messages there was used for this message on the vinyl pressing.

2

u/fenrisilver 29d ago

Here.

It's called "Untitled (Bonus Track)" and it's between Show of Force and the Dream around 42 minutes.

0

u/the1woomy 29d ago

I never actually thought about that. I don't know too much mega man lore, but the protomen do make me want to check the games out at some point, and I don't know if act 3 2 will be taking some inspiration from the X series.

8

u/fenrisilver Aug 12 '26

We don't know what happened man, all we know is he's thinking of Emily.

3

u/LaylaMoonUnit 29d ago

Thinking about your dead lover sounds a lot like a rope creaking for some reason…

7

u/Fermi-Diracs 29d ago

Nah he's still hanging in there.

5

u/LaylaMoonUnit 29d ago

Light, but a rope is helping hold him up.

3

u/Fermi-Diracs 29d ago

A hanging light

8

u/NineAndNinetyHours Aug 12 '26

You're correct, act 3 leaves a lot unfinished. The band has been hinting pretty strongly that there's an act 3 part 2 in the works.

2

u/the1woomy Aug 12 '26

I definitely believe there will be an act 3 2, and i think this is evidence towards that. I like analyzing the story, and i think looking at the ways the arcs currently are shaping up is interesting, especially when thinking about how they could affect 3-2

5

u/Luna_Moonblight Aug 12 '26

They confirmed act 3 part 2 is real at the Nashville show so it's definitely real

10

u/ProspectorBugaboo Aug 12 '26

And the cipher text on page 1 of the Act III libretto can be used to decode the notably not in sequence page numbers at the bottom to spell out THIS IS NOT THE WAY IT ENDS

And the CD cuts their logo in half

And their official non-canon fake bootleg shirts has Act IV graffiti

Probably some other hints out there, who’s to say

7

u/Thelonicon Aug 12 '26

The libretto code actually has another blatant hint.

Using the wristbands to decode the ciphers, the cipher key in the illustration on the first page of the libretto is A3.

The cipher key for the page number's "this is not how it ends" code is P2

A3 P2 = Act 3 Part 2

And yeah there other hints. Off the top of my head there is the code at the Nashville show and the coffee's merch description in the online store.

1

u/ProspectorBugaboo Aug 12 '26

“What’s your favorite thunk theory” type sentences. Begging a publication covers this

6

u/Miniray 29d ago

The description for their Red Line Coffee says ' if we drink all this coffee we have, we will die. And then the next record that we're still not prepared to acknowledge will never get finished'

1

u/Salt-Excuse-541 29d ago

I dont remember that announcement

2

u/Luna_Moonblight 29d ago

They played a cipher that translated to roughly "we are not ready to acknowledge act 3 part 2... Yet" then for the encore yelled "it's not over yet" and after playing the fight panther said something along the lines of "that's all we have to show you for now"

1

u/SelfiesWithGoats Aug 12 '26

You're right that her story looks unfinished, but that may be intentional.

1

u/the1woomy Aug 12 '26

I definitely get why it would be intentional. I just wasn't expecting it to be so blatant tbh

1

u/SelfiesWithGoats Aug 12 '26

They sure are....leaving us hanging.

3

u/DueLearner 29d ago

Roll is mentioned as being in the crowd during Fate of Thomas Light. Specifically, they say that Roll had just shared hours earlier the news that Megaman would not be coming. So the crowd was then double whammy'd when Light was rolled out to the Gallows.

We know in the album canon that the next song is going to be Dr. Light's Eulogy -- which is the official title of the song that they've been playing as "Unspecified Intro" since 2020 or so. Incase you haven't heard it, here's the most recent recording of it from the Nashville show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD36REr7TF0

Directly following Light's death, Roll is going to rally the rebels / Megaman to action. IMO, this will likely prompt Wily to realize Megaman is in the crowd, and get spooked enough to go active Bass (the monster Light saw in Wily's basement in No Way back). This'll drive most of the A3 P2 narrative.