User:Scientific Guy/The OT Theory
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This page is no longer updated (as of July 23, 2017). |
Prologue
I believe it goes without saying that projects like this are usually based on Jon Negroni's The Pixar Theory. His work gave me the initiative to start experimenting with the possibilities. In making some story like this, I have to maintain the integrity of the characters. Though it is good to have twists, compromising integrity for notable characters (like Whit) is never a good thing. Therefore, I work to avoid that.
I know this is really messy. Comment on the discussion page this theory's flaws.
Pass One
Introduction
Some people will know that a while back, I traveled to the Focus on the Family headquarters in Colorado Springs. In the welcome center there, in the basement (I think it's called main street), there is a hallway showing pictures of AIO albums throughout the years. At that particular time, at least, there was a soundtrack playing. That soundtrack had the music from around Albums 30 - 50 (maybe more) of AIO in ONE COMPLETE SCORE!
This got me thinking: what if we took that soundtrack and broke it up into sound bytes, then connected all of the episodes that had those bytes in them? The answer: ERAS. (Everything from here on out is speculation.)
The Eras
For all intensive purposes, the chronological episodes of Adventures in Odyssey (and Odyssey USA), starting with #1: “Whit's Flop” and going to the latest from Odyssey Adventure Club, are all broken up into at least three Eras. Those three are the first (#789: “The Journal of John Avery Whittaker” - #369: “It's a Wrap!”), the second (#372: “For Whom The Wedding Bells Toll, Part 1” - #645: “Kidsboro, Part 3”), and the third (#646: “Darien's Rise, Part 1” - #560: “The Present Long Ago”). Notice the beginning and end of the First and Third eras, respectively. More on them later. A problem appears that should be dealt with now: #642: “The Imagination Station, Revisited, Part 2” and #655: “The Inspiration Station, Part 1” appear to take place one right after the other, but this is obviously not the case. There are twelve episodes in between #643: “Kidsboro, Part 1” and #646: “Darien's Rise, Part 1”! So Connie gets into the Inspiration Station and comes out twelve episodes later? Sure. It's possible: the Inspiration Station is a time machine.
The Inpiration Station: A Time Machine
Think about it: Whit tells Connie "See you later," but that day was career day, so he talks with the kids, takes fifteen days to build Kidsboro, introduces it, waits six or eight months for it to snow, reads the manuscript of Darien's Rise, returns it to Jack the next day, and then checks on Connie. Obviously there is a time warp somewhere. All this time Connie has to be in the invention. Time can progress normally after #656: “The Inspiration Station, Part 2”. A better explanation for this is that the machine allows the user to lapse through time to the future, but not to go back.
Non-Conformants
Back to The Journal of John Avery Whittaker. Since young Whit is narrating, and Whit is obviously not young in neighboring episodes, this episode jumps into the past, making it the earliest episode chronologically. It forms a bookend at the beginning of the timeline. The immediate thought is here: older Whit is probably reminiscing about the past by reading his journal. No.; whenever a character reads, his voice is heard at the beginning and end of the story (like #346: “St. Paul: Voyage to Rome”). Thus we have one bookend.
The other bookend is The Present Long Ago. Someone is obviously not telling a fictional story, and the Official Guide even says that this episode jumps into the future; hence, it does. Whenever a new episode joins the ranks of Odyssey, The Present Long Ago is bumped up one notch on the timeline.
The Imagination Station
Here's my idea, the one that makes this whole thing plausible. The Imagination Station really is a time machine! How else could Beth go into the first one and Patrick go into a later version and the two of them meet up in Pompeii? ("Doomsday in Pompeii") (I'll explain the extra-curricular connections later.) This would make sense since the characters are always sent back home before they can change history. A safeguard is in place. (In #259: “The Potential in Elliot”, Sam actually did change history. Whit obviously had a different safeguard filter to automatically revert the changes when Sam exited the machine.) This would make #184: “Isaac the Chivalrous” plausible, too, thus sending Sir Richard back to the 1200's, and Isaac, Whit, and Eugene back to Whit's End. The remote control probably had a use in this.
Storytellers
I said earlier that someone is obviously not telling a story about the stories in Odyssey. That's not completely true. Chris is!! In early episodes, like Whit's Flop, there is often a 'skit' at the beginning of the episode. That is real life in Odyssey. The stories are not, though the characters are. Essentially, Chris is storytelling characters telling stories.
I probably shouldn't say that the stories are not true. They may be; at least one is: #167: “Dobson Comes to Town”. In this one, the characters know that:
- They are in the real world (because of Dr. Dobson)
- An Odyssey video series is being produced
- A radio program (AIO or otherwise) is being broadcast
Seeing this whole wiki dedicated to AIO and the stories involved, the episodes are probably all true. Excuse me.
Anyways, storytellers pull characters into their stories as they tell them (#41: “Return to the Bible Room”). The characters being "Storytold" can influence the story (#237: “Deliver Us From Evil”). They can stop or interrupt it (#297: “Blackbeard's Treasure”). The characters in the stories can talk to the storyteller (the narrator) (#5: “Gifts for Madge and Guy”). Storytellers can synthesize sound effects (#527: “Black Clouds”) and imitate different character voices (“Backwoods Jacobs”). Storytellers cannot tell fiction about the past.
Characters that are storytellers may inherit this trait, or it may be simply specific to them. They learn how to storytell over time (#62: “Let This Mind Be in You”), I know that much.
The thing is, the storytellers tell stories just like the Room of Consequence!!
The Room of Consequence/The Transmuter
Here's the way this works: the ROC is a time machine, too!! However, since it affects the future, the changes made automatically revert when the user exits. The Transmuter pretty much works the same way but since it only has one function (turning the user into someone else) it does away with the annoying startup sequence.
Storytellers use their stories to tell about the past or a possible present. They never tell about the future. (Cite needed) Thus, The Imagination Station: sticking past; Storytellers: reverting past and present; The Transmuter: reverting present; The ROC: reverting future.
There is a list of all known storytellers at the bottom of the page.
The Gallery is Whit's creation to make computers into storytellers. Or, it pulls the storytellers from the past into the future right before they die and gives them a portrait.
#211: “The Mortal Coil, Part 1”
What Happened? Go to Whit's next utterance after he says "It's wonderful!" The answer: "Hmmhh." Whit uses this same tone of voice in multiple places, when he's confused, and things like that. The answer: #425: “Blackgaard's Revenge, Part 2”. This is where it gets complicated. Take this: Revenge of the Red Knight - Problems in Plymouth. Hugh uses Mr. Whittaker's ring to jump through time when he pleases. Whit explains this as a glitch caused by the broken remote control left in the machine. But what if it's not? What if the ring really is connected to the Station and the it lets the user jump through time even outside of the Station? That is the basis for the main OT Theories. Who is the user? Dr. Regis Blackgaard!!
Blackgaard takes control of several different devices: the Ring, a Mask, and Mist. The ring lets him jump through time, the mask disguises himself, and the mist makes its victims delirious, experience visions, warp through time, and, on the outside, appear strange. The Ring is made of copper (Significant because a regularly worn copper ring makes a green ring on the finger) and never appears in the audio series. But the Mask and Mist do: I Slap Floor. I Slap Floor is a generally misunderstood episode because it aired on April Fool's Day, but it has to be true because Bernard storytells the whole story, and storytellers cannot tell fiction about the past! HA! Bernard did slap the floor, the floor of the tunnel in the basement. The mineral there can counteract the effects of Dr. Blackgaard's mist. Blackgaard was not always Richard Maxwell, though, he just became him to get back into Odyssey for that episode.
Blackgaard came to Odyssey to get Applesauce, then he went to Chicago to take a computer with Applesauce on it. He then went to Switzerland to get TA-418, so he didn't have to get Applesauce anymore. He then came back to Odyssey to get the mineral that would react in TA-418. And he didn't die.
In being thrown back in the tunnel, he slipped on the ring and lapsed into the past, to Lincoln's Gettysburg address. He then used his mask and mist so send Lincoln somewhere (I'm not sure where) and became him for a bit. After scaring Connie and Aubrey, he lapsed into the Station itself and coaxed Aubrey to come in with him. Why Aubrey? She's a storyteller, and he's not! He wanted to be one because that would make him virtually invincible. As stated, Whit worked better, but he wasn't a hologram. He went into the station in The Mortal Coil, and encountered Blackgaard. He knew what was going on because the station enlightens you about the information you don't know.
So when he and Blackgaard jumped into the vortex, what happened? Blackgaard couldn't become Whit anyways because Whit is a Christian, and he is the best storyteller in the Odyssey world. But it didn't work because to imprint himself on Whit, he released his ring from his finger. Even though Whit experienced a heart attack from the shocks the ring was giving him, he mustered up the willpower to grab the ring and put it on his finger, thus meaning the actual end of Blackgaard's life, and thus putting Whit into a coma, sending him back to The Mortal Coil.
The Life of Dr. Blackgaard
Dr. Blackgaard is Mr. Charles! Also, Richard Maxwell is Robert Mitchell! Dr. Blackgaard met Charles somewhere in time and used the mist to send him to prison a year later. Thus, he successfully tried to take over the world again. After failing in the Novacom Saga, he found Sherman Wurt (The Whisperer) running away from jail. He sent him into the future, and headed to Odyssey to get Applesauce (Which was stored on a laptop). When he was punched by Carson McKay, the real Whisperer returned. Blackgaard then turned his attention to taking over the world again via Koflax, not Ruku, this time. He became Mr. Grote! In virtually the same way as before, though.
So, Richard Maxwell used Dr. Blackgaard's mask to become Mitch, and Agent Billings, thus becoming Blackgaard's adversary in all cases.
The ring controls time. When there was an explosion in the tunnel, the top of Blackgaard's ring was broken off, making a circle with a slight crack in it. This sent him back into the imagination station. Whit kept the ring, and sometime after The Present Long Ago, the ring was broken, thus reverting and erasing time. Erasing it all the way back to Family Portraits, which had not yet taken place.
This whole thing is complete. I will add to it and clean it up sometime.
Pass Two (The Reset Button)
| “ | Hi, I’m Paul McCusker, a writer and director for Adventures in Odyssey, and I’d like to welcome you to our special bonus scene. Now, a little explanation is needed about what you’re gonna hear. If you’ve been listening to the show for a while, then you may remember that we ended our 50th album with Whit introducing Connie to a new invention. He told her to “Push the button,” and when she did, everything went silent. And we did that as a fun punctuation mark to the series, not only because it was our 50th album and our 20th anniversary, but because we knew we’d be taking time off from the production to regroup and rethink the show.
When we released Album 51 a couple of years later, we tried to answer the question posed by the end of Album 50. We began with Connie in the new invention, something Whit had created called the ‘Inspiration Station.’ The machine was designed to inspire creativity, putting our characters into situations that would help them to think, to learn, and then come out feeling rejuvenated about the possibilities of life. That was the start of our unofficial relaunch of the program, in which we heard a new actor voicing the character of Whit, we introduced some new families and situations, and, in general, just tried to re-establish the tone of the show. It was a lot of change for us, and for our fans, but we pressed on into that album, and into Album 52, and then the Green Ring Conspiracy. The ongoing discussion behind the scenes has been whether or not the changes are working. So, just in case they weren’t, we came up with another idea to hit the reset button. A way to start the show all over again, and again, and again, whenever we wanted. So how could we do that? Well, that’s what you’re about to hear.
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Odyssey Eras
When I made the first pass of this project, I tried to tie my crazy speculations about Dr. Blackgaard (way too far-fetched, now that I think about it) to the Eras of Odyssey. There is no good connection, but I will tell about the Eras here anyway. This is the result of the Episode Dispersion project.
Eras (linkless):
- Albums 1 – 3
- Albums 4 – 18
- Albums 19 – 20, 21 – 22, 23 – 27, & 28
- Albums 29 – 34
- Album 35 & albums 36 – 42
- Album 43 – Truth Chronicles
- Passages: Darien’s Rise – album 56
- Album 57 – Adventures in Odyssey Club: Season 5
Those who haven’t put as much research into this see the obvious era divisions: the hiatuses after albums 28 and 50. See my Episode Dispersion project to see for yourself how this works with 8 eras. Refute me if you like.
Episodes that Break Chronology
There are several episodes that break the chronological timeline of Odyssey, and cannot be reconciled. “Kidsboro” and “Passages: Darien’s Rise” do to some extent, but can be explained.
Yes! I am including Swept Away in this list! If Wooton and Penny are in this episode, and they were on their honeymoon in #807: “Connie the Counselor”, did not stop back in Odyssey during their honeymoon, and returned in #826: “Find a Penny, Part 1”, why do they appear in Swept Away? HA! Riddle me that!
Anyway, The Journal of John Avery Whittaker has Whit as a young boy narrating. Not old Whit telling about his childhood, just young Whit. This episode has to appear before #1: “Whit's Flop”.
The Present Long Ago features Mandy DeWhite (married to Trent) as a grandmother, in a future with a voice-activated, seemingly artificially-intelligent computer. In later chronological episodes, Mandy is not a grandmother, nor married. In The Present Long Ago, no one is telling a story about Mandy’s future; Mandy is telling a story about the current Odyssey timeline. Thus, The Present Long Ago is the farthest episode chronologically to date.
Storytelling
This is where I have a hard time explaining what comes next, so bear with me. The reason The Present Long Ago takes place in the future and not present-day is because Mandy is storytelling about Odyssey to her grandson. I know I just said that, but think about it again: Mandy is telling a story. She's in the future, telling a story about present day. Now, think back with me to #266: “It Began With a Rabbit's Foot”. That episode features Whit and Connie storytelling about #24: “Gotcha!” and that episode takes place regularly chronologically. The reason we hear scenes from Gotcha! is because Whit and Connie tell them. That's the reason we hear scenes from present-day in The Present Long Ago. But, it's also why we don't hear those scenes in #695: “Forgiving More...or Less”. But it is why we hear Mr. Skint's accent in #682: “The Green Ring Conspiracy, Part 4”. And, in a deleted scene from “Backwoods Jacobs”, Amanda says that when her dad reads stories, he changes his voice for the different characters. One final thought: #41: “Return to the Bible Room” features Whit telling Jack and Lucy a Bible story... with them in it. Of course, Whit could have told the story without them, but he decided to pull them into it.
Okay, are you ready for the big jump? Hang with me here. Those who tell stories are the equivalent of the Imagination Station. That's why, when they tell stories, you hear the different voices and accents and, sometimes, sound effects. That is why the characters who tell stories have scenes with sound design and voice acting behind them.
I've got a headache from trying to sort this out. I'll try again later.