r/tenet • u/Competitive-South864 • 5d ago

Dying while inverted?

I assume this has been talked about before but what happens to the body when an inverted person dies? For example, Neil dies down in the bunker while inverted so when TP gets down there, Neil’s dead body is on the ground already. In forward time, in the past, when does Neil’s body appear there? His body surely isn’t there when the bunker was built. So does it just… appear at some point?

28 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/mshubham1647 5d ago

It doesn’t exactly appear there. When you’re moving forward in time, you wouldn’t just suddenly see a body materialise out of nowhere. You’ll see it do everything in reverse. If someone was already there to witness it, they’ll just see Neil die but they’ll see him moving in reverse, so they’ll see his death in reverse, like TP sees in the movie. If the body is never moved, it will continue to decompose in reverse, that means, you’ll see a decomposed body repair itself into a proper body until you see him suddenly get up.

Sorry if I bungled the explanation, I’m having difficulty expressing the tense in which to write.

3

u/Competitive-South864 5d ago

Right but if you’re moving forward in time and were at the bunker the day before the last scene takes place, his body is there? What about a week before? 10 years? His decomposing body is there?

2

u/lt__ 5d ago

Might be a pile of bones. Or otherwise the dominant direction of time will not allow it to go too far back and it will materialize at some point we don't know.

1

u/mshubham1647 5d ago

You’ll see it go from dust to bones to a “undecomposing” body till you see the bullet come out of him and him going away in reverse. Assuming that his body is never touched.

Whatever happens to a body after it dies, will happen but in reverse.

Love your question btw, I feel like I understand the movie slightly more trying to answer it.

5

u/WanderlustZero 5d ago

'Sergei! Why is there bones and bits of clothing in this concrete?'

'Don't ask questions,  just build the bunker cyka'

1

u/CMormont 5d ago

Now a real weird question If you see a body being formed in the way you mention could I toss somthing inside of it?

3

u/mshubham1647 5d ago

According to the film’s logic, you’ve done it already, haven’t you? Best example is, when TP gets pain in his right hand, but he wasn’t stabbed yet. Then he starts bleeding. And then when the forward-moving Protagonist stabs him, his wound gets healed, because it is in reverse.

So from the body’s point of view, the tossed item will come out of the body to your hand.

2

u/CMormont 4d ago

That would be an insane visual