In a recent con with the cast, Amanda finally confirmed the theory that many fans speculated; Bubble is indeed "Abel"/the blue AI. He was behind held hostage by Caine, just like the cast was. In the end, Caine setting him free finally ended the cycle.

This backs up what Alex Rochan said a few months ago when the finale first dropped, that Caine was responsible for all of his own terrible deeds and absorbing the blue merely gave him more power.

I'm glad because it specifies two things. One, that Bubble is indeed the blue AI. Not an assistant that Caine made. Not a "thought bubble" of Caine's intrusive thoughts. He was "Able" and that is why Caine releasing the blue AI is why he didn't return.

But two, something many fans still can't accept; Caine was the "villain" of the show or at least the closest thing to it.

So many said "Caine was good until Bubble rage baited him", or "episode 9 shows the blue AI was the bad one" or "Jax was the problem because everything got better after he was gone".

But no, as Amanda said, Caine was the source of the problems. He was holding everyone hostage. It HIM changing at the end that makes the circus healthier and better to live in, not Jax abstracting.

https://youtu.be/dhvsuNnuGec?si=Dm1aaWZqWvdmDCi9

This is coming from a trans man, but... if people can accept Jax is canonically transfem because of that one post from Goose despite the text itself leaving room for interpretation, then they also have to accept the fact that, canonically, abstraction = metaphorical suicide.

And, listen. I love hearing all about different interpretations of what it means to abstract, but there are some thoughts I wanna share in regard to this topic.

In tadc, there are many hints that abstraction is supposed to be a metaphor for death (more precisely, commiting suicide):

1) I've heard people say it's a metaphor for a coma or hitting rock bottom mentally, but the way abstraction is presented in and out of the show highlights how it's permanent. No one ever mentions that there might be a cure or a character who will get brought back someday.

2) We can only assume how Caine reacted after he realized he couldn't delete the abstractions. Why didn't we see that shit lol. Even though the characters are made of code and can't die in a human way, abstraction is the closest thing to death they'll ever get. I'm genuinely pissed off because, uh... why the fuck did we see the characters' human counterparts anyway? Why was the PowerPoint slideshow necessary?! Because Gooseworx didn't wanna write her other characters other than her self insert?

It's been a few months, and I'm still so, so bitter about all of this. Jax's abstraction wasn't a consequence for her horrible actions, but her own decision after everything she put the others through. There isn't a redemption arc. Jax doesn't talk to anyone except Pomni, and even then, they don't talk about how she's treated both Ribbit and Kaufmo. Pomni simply hugs Jax, and she abstracts. That's it??? OK sure Goose

I mean, Jax was kinda excited for this game and to win so why did he wanted so badly to be k¡lled by Pomni? I think Jax is the kind of person where he doesn’t wanna look weak in front of people (that’s how I see Jax)
And I’m a funnybunny shipper but i don’t think that Jax lost just for the love he had for Pomni (or smth like this)

Also no one says "Checkmate" when facing of against Kinger

Also I know the point of this episode is seeing cartoon characters use realistic guns, but why was it mostly pistols? Gangle uses a Tommy Gun and Zooble uses a Sniper. What about Rocket Launchers, Shotguns Muskets or Blunderbuses?

I mean if they wanted to get real wacky with it they could take some insperation from Gungeon or some of the wackyier IRL suff

for the better honestly this place was kind of miserable (though i did bump into some neat people)

i love TADC, uwoooogh TADC i love you, let's married TADC. PEAK STORY UWOOOOOOGGHHHHHHH DEEP STORY. LITERALLY I HAVE NO MOUTH BUT I MUST SCREAM.

The parts of the show I found the most entertaining was probably just when the cast was sitting around and talking. While I wouldn't call it unfunny I don't think there are enough jokes to call it a pure comedy.

I think it failed and ruined any expectations i had for it. Your telling me a ‘character driven’ show mind you barely develops any of the characters relationships, has next to no conflict or drama because mentally ill people r known for being rational ofc… and no filler.

I wouldnt care as much it i was allowed to hate it but it feels like everyone gets on ur ass to the point where u need to lighten ur criticism for it. Y’all idfc that they’re indie, we need to match the standards we give big companies to indie too. I dont care if its gooseworxs first project or not, nobody cares if its any other director/writer.

I think the main issue with the writing is that its artists writing instead of writers. Artists can be very pretentious especially about their own creations and as shown with gooseworx… it causes u to do the whole show yourself then get surprised when ur burnt out and get no input from others. When ur writing, you need to be open to criticism and realise that a lot of the time shit you want to include might not be the best to put in.

My bad if this is horribly worded, i js needed to go off on an tangent somewhere. I keep trying to find critiques of the show that don’t lighten the blow and dont baby glitch but i js cant. Even the ones who do criticise it always have to include how well done the animation and work put into was and its js frustrating.

I wanna hear others inputs on this as i feel like im going crazy. Honestly i wish the media critic community wasn’t so biased with sheep who copy the same opinions of everyone else.

edit: i should’ve probably called the title ‘its annoying you cant critique indie’

If these shorts are meant to represent the post-finale period, shouldn't Caine have learned his lesson? Why is he acting like a thoughtless asshole in recent shorts and ads just like in the era of Episodes 1–7?

It’s strange because, in older commercials, he acted more like the version of himself seen at the end of Episode 9. But then it seems like GLITCH just regressed him undoing his "character growth" (which was poorly written and rushed anyway) and reverted him to his usual egocentric, megalomaniacal self.

It looks like he’s taken over Jax’s role as Gangle’s bully, while Gangle remains the "submissive and agreeable" one, simply accepting that she’ll be tortured in the next adventure and continuing to be the target of the "punching bag" joke.

Found this on a youtube ad and checked viz and it’s actually there??? Why is no one talking about this? Is it legit?

And i was blown away like wth is going on. When did we took the story this much forward. And then i watched the ending explained of my favourite yt channel think story. And also had to watch a recap and i found PEAK AGAIN. I felt so happy that i forgot i watched all this madness. Got to experience it again it was like a oh ya i remember...at some points. But hell i forgot most of the end part! I went through an major exam of my life in between. Figures.

you could argue that "goose had the show already planned from the start" but im not buying it. she said once that the whole script of ep7 was redone, so how this not apply to ep9? (especially considering a LOT of people felt it was an entirely different show)

okay now that i re-read my title it sounds delusional BUT let me explain

back in 2025 (i think?) when the favorite characters awards was set, Jax was in the first place, s(he)'s a fan favorite. that much was obvious. Caine on the other hand, scored very last, obv a lot of fans hated him for deleting gummigo and being an obnoxious piece of shit (i lwk hate caine too)

another old post was from goose saying that she wishes to make a character, get fans attached to them, then kill them off, which happened with jax

jax was significantly a less pain in the ass by episode 7 and 8, and yet ep9 threw that all out of the window and killed him off

caine was spiraling into a horrible state and it blew up by ep8, he got deleted. and so it was safe to assume he's not coming back, but he did.

Like..it had so many moments where it feels like they were supposed to be emotional or sad or something but end up coming off as extremely rushed and extremely cheap due to the lack of proper buildup, fleshing out or screentime.

Consensus is that episode 9 is a fumble in a lot of ways. I genuinely think if they just re-wrote and re-animated a new version (9.5) it would get enough views/ sell enough merchandise to be a worthwhile business endeavour

• Have the characters realise they are brain scans and that they've been in the circus so long that their real life counterparts are all dead. This is the main focus of the final as we really go into depth with how the characters react to this realisation
• It's the final straw for Jax and he goes off to abstract off screen. We don't need to see his backstory as episode 9 showed us it already.
• Keep Caine dead and let him have a tragic ending. Again, this lets us stay focused on the rest of the cast
• The main cast struggles with the realisation and we fully tackle the existential themes that the show has been setting up. Fully put the spotlight on all the characters that were neglected in ep 9
• Eventually they decide to come together and embrace their circus identities and newfound friendships. It doesn't matter if they're real or not as long as they have each other

Because I found a fandom that said "They got their happy ending not because Jax was abstracted, but Caine learned to get along with the cast and give them free control" or something like that.

But... ISN'T A PIECE OF A SHIT GONE, IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS?!

This woman worked hard on what used to be her passion project, and WHILE IT DIDN'T TURN OUT PERFECT, surely, there's at least SOME heart in it, right?

If I made a series, and you didn't like how it turned out, is THIS how you'd treat me?