Analysis, Meta, & Theories

Parallels & Things of Note

This narrative is so haunted by generational trauma.

• I have to wonder if Clara raised Iris so strictly to prove to her own mother that she hadn't made a mistake with her choices. If so, that trickles down into Principal tirelessly perfecting clones to please Iris, initially out of a need for praise/belonging and later out of spite.
• Jiao once cut her hair to be more like Iris. She tried incredibly hard to mimic whatever she could so she could fit in more or so Iris would like her. It seemed like Iris found this to be a violation of sorts, foreshadowing to how Iris would feel about being cloned.
• The Occupants mirroring human form in a well-intentioned way to communicate feels similar to cloning.
• The ways our Watcher reminds Knower of her Watcher are so fascinating to me. Knower watched ours get on the train, meanwhile she never got to see hers do the same. She seems to already know what's going to happen to ours, talking about how Watchers are so susceptible to feeling. It seems like she was so confident in her analysis that she didn't account for her own blue assistant betraying her.
• Clara often calls out Iris for sleeping so much, which actually seems to be because Iris is up throughout the night watching her sleepwalking. Sleepwalking itself feels a bit like a communion since it seems truama-fueled in Clara's case, being surrounded by memories.
• There are a lot of things that seem to stem from budget and time restrictions that thematically panned out really well! No one's mouths move when they talk? It's because they're fragments of memory frozen in time. Old Town looks just like Hong Kong so they could reuse the set? Totally fine, it just puts the characters symbolically back in the place that started it all. Jiao clones not allowed to have different hairstyles or clothing? It's just a mark of them being treated as standardized laborers.
• Blue wanting Melody to sing for her feels influenced by Watcher's memories of Fixer singing
• Knower seeing her Watcher in our Watcher versus Healer seeing Fixer's face every time she guts a shell
• Healer and Mimi both go to insane lengths to further science and save humankind but Healer seems weighed down by her compassion the way Johnson was
• There is no actual process for sorting into classes but it plays out anyway because Principal always chooses the blue sisters who are most prone to "outbursts of feeling" because they're better pawns
• I think Healer was trying to spare Sorting Shell by shutting her down whenever she tried to talk about her colorblindness, since it seems like the most "defective" ones would be next to be experimented on

Theories

Some thoughts on some theories that have floated around and others I've come to myself.

• Principal Post-Iris - It seems intentionally left vague what Principal has been doing in the time sinse ALLMOTHER's death; I believe the devs said they may use it for future content. From speculation, it seems that she has taken over for Iris in communing with Source. Perhaps she does this through Vice primarily. This is my favorite possibility because it ties well into generational trauma themes. As is said, she truly had no idea what Iris did to protect her. Principal gaining this perspective feels akin to Iris coming to understand her own mother's experiences with motherhood, navigating leaving home, and perhaps even in communions if Clara's memories were accessible. This, of course, does not make their actions right, but it does begin to close their circles.
• Knower is Eldest - I think the game works better if this theory is false, but it is a possibility since clones directly from Iris seem as immortal as she is. Plus, we can't know for certain what happened to the Ancient Sisters since Principal's communions are often manufactured. Eldest is also physicaly quite reminiscent of Knower in particular. The common argument against this theory is that Knower and Eldest were both in the mass communion at once, which could not happen if they were the same person. However, I've never found this reasoning to be very sound. Why can't they be the same in such a reality-bending event, with the version of Eldest that Principal speaks with being a memory frozen in time? Isnt that what they all are? If anything, I would point to Knower's personal history with her deconstruction and refusal to board the train as too integral to her character for her background to be a lie. Even though she has never been a very honest character, it just doesn't feel aligned with the core of her traits to have been there since the start. She has been around long enough to unravel the threads of their society and become jaded and survivalistic, but not long enough to have always had the truth in her pocket.
• "Scary" on the Map - This has been confirmed by devs to be where Iris buried the 50, but I prefer to speculate on it. I had a few assumptions initially: 1) This may be one of the places Mimi took Iris to isolate and abuse her if the map originates from Iris; 2) If Youngest's design, it may be where Youngest buried her initial Jiao clone or the original sisters if they did remain with her; and 3) There is a possibility this is a map Watcher herself personalized, in which case... who knows. She seems too young to have really experienced anything all that awful, but maybe there are just some spooky vibes there that happen to correlate with it being a burial site. It is possible this map belonged to someone entirely different as well such as the prior Watcher, but I doubt Principal would have allowed her possessions to remain unincinerated.
• Iris's Betrayal of Jiao - It's never confirmed exactly what Iris did to betray Jiao, but I think she leaked a confession letter Jiao wrote her or pages from Jiao's diary. She may have also spun lies based in one of these things since the reaction to whatever it was seemed quite extreme from the students. Jiao always talked about wanting to sleep over and she would also do anything for Iris. It wouldn't be hard for Iris to get her hands on it. The fact that Iris had Jiao's diary with her at the Orchard feels like a hint that she was in possession of it before Jiao's death. I would think Jiao's mother would have it, if anything, but it is also possible Jiaos mother passed away by that time or Iris grabbed it from Jiao's locker when she got the 50 to take her back to the school.
• The Ancient Sisters - Since we know that Principal fabricated many of the communion memories, I don't believe that what we saw was real. After all, the sisters seemed so protective of her in it that it feels like wish fulfillment for them to have stayed. We also don't know exactly how their immunity works; is it something that Iris actually could take away? Do they have inherent genetic immunity or did Source simply allow Iris's clones specifically to have immunity? Overall, it seems like Principal depicted their deaths in such a manner to make Youngest seem more sympathetic and to make Watcher see Iris as unbelievably cruel. The idea that Iris stole their immunity away also implies that, because all the other clones believe they directly descend from Iris's hair, they would be immune if not for her choice. It implies that they wouldn't have lost so many sisters needlessly and that they don't need to live in fear. It just seems like a way to further control how Watchers see the ALLMOTHER, especially in conjunction with "Fixer" in the first communion. So, if the Ancient Sisters didn't die as depicted, what happened to them? We have the "Knower is Eldest" theory, which I don't go for but can always be an explanation if you want it to be. They may have died from accidents or other causes. But I think they went with Iris to the Other Side and Source probably drained them until there was nothing left, realizing that the Jiao clone experience would probably fuel Iris's trauma for centuries in a connection that now wouldn't need to be interrupted. The memorials by the waterfall could be legitimate graves I suppose, but I think Youngest put them up for her own mourning process. She may have done it to make her story more realistic, but they seem so old and like such a fixture that they were more for herself.
• The Yellow Familiar - I have seen some theories that the third familiar from Source, which we don't see since the focus is on Secretary and Vice, is actually Picture Jiao. This adds so many layers to how Source manipulates Iris if true in a way I find so fun and disturbing. Source would have access to all of the memories needed to do this realistically and Jiao is clearly a horribly difficult topic for Iris. It isn't hard to manipulate her through that guilt and grief. I am fairly certain that Youngest spoke to Picture Jiao once as well, implying it isn't a hallucination of Iris's.
• Fixer in the Communion - This seems to have been Principal, not Fixer. "Fixer" talked about the ALLMOTHER abusing them on the Other Side, but... there's no one on the Other Side. (I assume Source drains any clones who are sent there similarly to how it treats Iris, but without the intent of keeping them alive. Lossless transfers mean death, so it probably benefits more from devouring their whole existences while keeping Iris on loop). Anyway, Iris has been in a dissociative communion for centuries. Her lines also feel akin to Principal's at times regarding the Occupants. It just all feels worded in a way a traumatized child trying to spite their parent would go about it since we can assume Principal also fabricated many of the communion memories to push Iris's cruelties over the edge to be more convincing.
• Evelyn - She seemed to have memories she shouldn't have had. It could be luck, some interpretation of genetic memory, or even the Occupant's influence leaking now that Iris isn't its main focus.
• Ephemeral? - There could be survivors on the surface, he could be cloned from one of the 50 (I believe he shares a voice actor with one of them), or one of the Iris or Jiao clones started testosterone. Who knows. I personallyyyy like the idea of cloning the 50 best because it goes along with the theme of moving on and breaking cycles if they intentionally begin producing a new clone type rather than waltzing into a pre-made world.

Media like 1000xRESIST

Some media with similar themes of identity, generational trauma, and more.

• Pluribus - Incredibly similar post-COVID media: alien virus causes people to join into a hivemind, losing individuality in favor of every body having the same knowledge and memories all at once. Is efficiency, harmony, and all living knowledge's preservation worth the cost? There are also lesbians and lots of speculative fiction questions about how these beings really work.
• Pantheon & Citizen Sleeper - If your personality gets stripped and replicated into technology, is it really you?
• Severance - Severance raises questions about what makes you You: your memories? Your subconscious impulses? Where does nature's influence begin and nurture's end? There is also this theme of, because it's two consciousnesses in one body, who "deserves" how much of their life? It reminds me of the Occupants in a similar fashion because the Occupants can only relish in memories at the cost of the host's life. Is there a compromise to be made?
• Bad Fruit by Ella King - I haven't read this myself, but I saw a review recently that highlighted the generational trauma themes in a way that feels similar to how tangible memories are in 1KXR. The daughter has a lot of internal conflict about cultural identity in a similar manner as Iris and she also experiences flashbacks that belong to her mother.
• Wolf 359 - Human experimantation and identity themes galore, particularly with how it ties into the Swampman Philosophy later in the podcast. This quote is very reminiscent of the questions of how preserved memories in 1KXR work, with some application to cloning:

"Suppose there’s this person. Could be anyone, really. For the sake of convenience, let’s call him… you. One day, you’re walking through a swamp when suddenly you’re struck by lightning. You fall into the swamp, and you sink. And you sink, and sink, and sink into the depths. And then you’re just… gone. But that’s not the end of the story. Because right at that moment, another thunderbolt hits the swamp water… And by some miraculous alchemy it rearranges the swamp molecules, starting a chain reaction that culminates with the formation of… You. Of a new you. Exactly like you at the moment of your death. And now is when things get interesting. Because you, new you– they’ve got a brain exactly like yours down to the neuron. They think like you, talk like you, make poor decisions about their personal diet like you. They will walk out of the swamp believing they are you. They’ll go back to your life, show up at your job, love who you love, and live your life. And die your death. And the world will go on. But are they really you? And if they’re not, what makes this person that has your body and your memories, and believes with every fiber of their being they are you, not you? What is it that makes you, you?")

• Tales from Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin - It has honestly been a while since I've read this series so I cannot remember the context, but this quote felt worth mentioning given 1KXR's themes of breaking generational trauma and letting go of what has become too heavy:

“What goes too long unchanged destroys itself. The forest is forever because it dies and dies and so lives.”

• Orphan Black - Obligatory mention for clones and lesbianism. I vaguely remember how Cosima's sexuality was a subject of nature versus nurture, which I think is fun to apply to Iris. Maybe her own clones are sapphic as an effect of being in an all-women society, but if you think her feelings for Jiao were returned or perhaps she was uncomfortable with Jiao's crush on her because it brought unneeded attention to her sexuality... It could be a fun thing to compare. OB is so interesting as well because the clones didn't know about each other until later in life, whereas the clones have never not known they're clones. OB's Sarah and Helena also makes me with 1XKR had given us a twin clone dynamic, so I may make some OCs to explore how that would play out in the Orchard!
• You can also check out some of the confirmed influences on the game over on the Wiki here.

The Occupants/Keepers

I just want to make a little section about these guys because they're soooo controversial in a way I find so boring honestly. It's very reminiscent of how people treat the Hive in Pluribus in that they are viewed through an intensely human lens of morality. So, here's what we know about the Keepers.

What We Know

Source

Why They're So Stupidly Controversial

Things I didn't love about 1000xRESIST

Eh, this had to go somewhere, lol. For the most part, this game is... insane. It's indescribable. It is an experience like no other. That said, I have a few things about it that kinda bother me.

The Second Half

At this point, I do like how things played out for the most part. But playing the game for the first time made that hard. For one, it was kind of hard to know there was more at all, but once I did dive into it, I felt... lost. I wanted so desperately to know what had happened to Watcher and Healer! I kind of sped through faster than I should have hoping to see the original Sisters again. It was hard to just sit with the story, even though I do appreciate the layers of inception. It's fine, it just... also all happened too quickly, I think. I want to talk more about the time scale later, but it is hard to believe so much changed in just seven years. Clones age quickly and are born with innate knowledge, so I guess it makes sense things would be more sped up? And I suppose rebellion had been brewing for so long it was ALLMO's death that really set everything off in a way that worked out. Propaganda is powerful. The clones just want to be safe. And the train clones could only exist so long on their own, I suppose... Sometimes it just feels like more time should have passed based on how clones like Bartender aged and spoke about the time before.

The Time Scale

I think when dealing with Occupants, the science is going to get kinda bendy and that's fine. Sometimes, though, I have trouble wrapping my head around Iris being a thousand years old and perfectly preserved, totally unaging. The generational trauma themes are good! It's really interesting to see how everything trickles down through different stages! And Iris is a necessity to hold the world in place, to keep Source occupied and be a figure on the Other Side at all, I guess. Her weird immortality also passes down to Principal which is cool and makes sense to me... I just... idk. It's hard to ground myself in at times. There needed to be immortality for the Principal story to work at all, I just also have to wonder how things could have played out if Iris and Principal had died centuries ago and the world had naturally progressed based around those stories and teachings? I wonder sometimes if that would have been more impactful or grounded, or if having this particular generational trauma stage span and spiral out centuries and centuries in the palm of Principal's hand is what actually helped get the message across best.

Unanswered Questions

FOR THE MOST PART THIS IS A FEATURE NOT A BUG!!! I actually LOVE how much we can guess about and discuss. Sometimes though, there are little things I wish we'd been given a big more guidance about or context on, like... who the fuck is Uriah? I wish we COULD have a chance of ever knowing, y'know?