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[Jingleman]

Re: Who The (Bleep) Is totheark?!?!?!

[SomeUnfictionDude]

Re: Who The (Bleep) Is totheark?!?!?!

[Drnothing1]

There is no way in hell we're getting close to the endgame.

[paladin181]

[Lithp]

Supposed to be the last season according to whom?

[McGregor]

Troy said that the first two seasons both having 26 entries was a coincidence, and they would take this season as long as they need to. He did say that this would be the last season, but there's no reason to assume we're getting close to the end of it.

It sure doesn't feel like we're getting close to me.

[Andvalli]

[Lithp]

My face when they change their minds again.

I'm not even sure if I'm joking. The Operator has barely done anything this season. Alex has not even showed up. We're just maybe exiting Exposition Stage with Tim. If anything, Totheark has gotten even more ambiguous. To say nothing of the loose ends from the previous seasons.

It sure as Hell doesn't feel like an ending.

So, yeah, at the very least, this season's going to be a long one.

[Serum]

[Jingleman]

There's a lot going on other threads about TTA's identity, so I thought I might bring this one back to topic. I've been up and down these forums waving the flag for the "TTA is one person" theory, but for what it's worth, here's my take on the other issue: just who is it? A lot has happened recently, so I think it's time to revisit this discussion in a more comprehensive way. I'll just run down a few of the possibilities. The probability that any of these options is TTA should apply whether they are TTA alone or part of a true group, unless otherwise noted.

Brian: Good chance. This is one of the popular theories, and I cautiously lean his way among the known characters, only because he has been seen more often, he was supposed to have a connection to the House from season 1, and he is Tim's connection to the rest of them. That's not enough to make me confident, though.

Seth: Medium chance. Another popular theory, similar to Brian in terms of involvement in the original film and date of disappearance, but I don't buy the argument that because he may have been the cameraman he has the special skills and access he needs to be TTA. I just don't see how operating a consumer camcorder makes you an enigmatic mastermind. Plus, anyone could conceivably have gotten footage from the shoot.

Jessica: Small chance. She was a major character in season two, and has a plausible connection to the Operator from childhood, meaning she could have been pulling strings since the original film shoot, but Hoody is probably male, and there are some other issues. I think this one would be cool, but it's unlikely.

Tim: Medium chance. I'm not trying to start the minion vs. member debate all over again, so let me just put Tim down as a member if TTA is a group, which is a reasonable theory, but not one I believe in.

Alex: Almost no chance. 45 had Hoody and Masky attacking Alex. Plus, the threatening videos, and well...I just don't see it.

Jay: Almost no chance. With Jay, as well as with Alex, if you think he's (in) TTA, you have to believe that he participates in his TTA duties on an extremely part-time basis, spending that time trying to get himself to do things, and that he has a really serious split personality disorder. But hey, Tim does, so why not?

Amy: Almost no chance. She's almost a non-character, we saw so little of her. She serves only to connect Jessica to the gang, to illustrate the extent of Alex's temporary reprieve, and to bring him back into play. She could have any backstory, though, so who knows?

Sarah: Small chance. We know nothing about what happened to her, which is the strongest reason to believe she's a candidate, but otherwise she's unremarkable.

An unknown character: Medium chance. I actually like this theory best, but it would have to start getting foreshadowed soon to avoid deus ex machina status. Part of the reason I like this is that I'm not confident that the other characters are well known enough by most of the audience to just bring back in a big reveal. I also like the idea that there's been a powerful malevolence out there the whole time and none of them had any idea what they were getting into the middle of, just as they stumbled into the Operator (if that's how that even worked). Ultimately, though, I just don't find the evidence for any character overwhelming.

So there you go. I'm really not convinced about any answer here. Where do you all put the odds?

[Lithp]

That is a fairly straightforward analysis, save for 2 things:

1. Seth & Brian should probably have similar chances. No one has been shown to resemble Totheark in methodology, that's why it's such a mystery. Aside from that, we've seen quite a bit of involvement from Seth, even going as far as being the only one known to have helped Alex with The Operator after the original shooting ended.

2. That is not what a Deus Ex Machina is.

[paladin181]

[Jingleman]

We're going to haggle over my use of literary conventions? Really? Deus ex machina is a Latin phrase that refers to the Greek convention of having a god character come in and tie everything up at the end of tragic play, without any previous reason or foreshadowing. It was famously used too often by Euripides, but many of the Greek playwrights liked to use it.

While the literal meaning is "the god out of the machine," referencing the crane with which an actor playing the god would be lowered into the scene, it is used in literature to describe any plot point in which the protagonist's fortunes are drastically reversed for no reason, unexpectedly, and without foreshadowing, by forces beyond his control. It is usually, but not exclusively, used to describe that kind of plot turn at the end of a work. Mass Effect 3's Crucible was an example of a deus ex machina plot turn at the beginning of a work. I was using it here to reference a possible ending I fear: some character we've never met shows up right at the end with all the answers and takes care of the Operator threat without Jay doing anything. That's deus ex machina. Might as well be Zeus, if that's how it turns out.

I guess I should have been more clear and not been so offhanded about using literary terms, but that was the last thing I thought we'd be discussing right now. I certainly didn't think that my understanding of the term would come to question. Also, if we're going it pick nits, then the Latin should not be capitalized, and it should be italicized to indicate a non-English phrase. Can we all just be assured that I'm not an uneducated idiot and get back to discussing TTA's identity now?

[Exetera]

[Cyberpineapple]

If Tim's been stalked by slendy since childhood, surely Brian his friend for years would have been affected too. It was Brian who met Alex and introduced him to Tim. If you look at it that way, Brian could be the primary cause.