A project two years in the making - for Petscop fans and first-timers. Thank you all for the love and support 🖤 Oh, also, Disturbing Things from Around the Internet relaunches December :)
I think its not emphasized enough how the game was originally a B-day gift for Mike, and after his presumed death, Rainer/Daniel took the game (literally and figuratively) and warped it into something unrecognizable. A creation of love made rotten by grief. You could say Daniel was just as obsessed with “getting back” at Marvin as Marvin was with Lina. Love this. Everyone is a real, flawed person.
How is this not emphasized? This is literally stated to be The original motive behind petscop, and Daniel shows nothing but love towards every mike reference out there.
A side note about Rainer's death: he possibly killed himself in the bathroom of the house. It would explain the "fuck you all, and fuck me as well. Check your bathroom now" after leaving the game and recordings for them
It's a little weird that Rainer _decided_ the bathroom is where he dies, to the point that he literally coded in his suicide into the game lore before doing it. That is some next level premeditated. It wasn't some spur of the moment guilt attack, he really planned out his own suicide and then made it lore for his game.
I think the timeline goes like this, sorry for a lot of text. - Petscop is made and shortly after Mike's death, is turned into a machine to create a virtual Marvin who thinks enough like the real one to confess to his crimes. In trying to make it accurate, Daniel gets caught in Marvin's schemes and can't live with himself, but leaves the game to his family. - Paul gets a hold of Petscop and plays out of curiosity, recording his episodes to show to Belle. His family sees how far he is progressing in the game, and pressures him to keep going, even though it is messing with his mind. - Belle had been on the phone with Paul, but knew that he was suffering and decided enough was enough, her virtual self also agreed, trying to get Paul to leave, which he eventually does when Belle arrives and his voiceovers stop. - Paul's virtual self is left to run around in the game with the other virtual copies, but the real Belle and Paul leave the family to join with Lina who had been in hiding. They will make things right on their own without using Petscop, and move on from all this madness.
Why would Pauls family care about a video game he plays? I'm glad you broke it down into different points but I still fail to realize why this game was made in the first place
@@sumdood7011 it seems the the was originally created by Daniel to find the body of Lina. The family ended up using the game for a different purpose, to discover if Paul was actually Carrie and subsequently to see if Lina was actually dead or alive. If the family are the ones uploading the rest of these videos to YT, is it kind of a way of letting Paul know that they know everything?
One small thing I think you missed but that has interesting implications for the history and timeline: The early iterations of the game weren't "a simple egg collector", but rather there was just one egg in the game. The rest were in the office: Not an office in the game, but the game developer's office in real life. Somebody had kicked off an Easter egg hunt, whether for the literal holiday or for some other reason, and they hid one of the eggs in the game. Both a cute reference to video game Easter eggs as a whole and a very difficult hiding spot for seekers who are expecting to find something physical. You could draw some parallels there to the hunt for the buried body but honestly I just think it points at the genuinely positive early vibes at Garalina and for the people working on this project before things went south.
I'd argue that the "office" in question is the home office where they kept the computer Daniel was working on. It's pretty clear that he was making the game for Mike's birthday, and the egg hunt was probably planned to lead into the game. It's not until two years after Mike's death that Garalina (based on Daniel's aunt Lina) copyrights Petscop, so the corporate aspect definitely came later.
After Petscop ended, Tony gave one or two interviews. In one, he said he likes ambiguity, and he thinks sometimes it should stand for its own sake. He accomplished this.
Ambiguity? Oh boy, that reminds me of KrainaGrzybowTV... Petscop has a story with a lot of details left out, while *that*... Uh... um... it has themes, and I'm pretty sure it's actually nonsense
I just want to say, I truly appreciate you making this so late in the game. It shows that you really care about creating a comprehensive video, instead of what most creators do, which is create their analysis before the series is even finished. You didn't chase the hype at the cost of the quality of your content, and I think that is truly commendable.
@@xopasstheaux6617not really, he made a random video midway through the series branching his content off and trying something new about something he was really intrigued by. I'm glad pyro made his petscop video, without it he might not have changed to a review channel
@@urmum30005 A theory I once saw suggested that there was a secret microphone planted by the Family, and Belle (the ingame AI belle) was suggesting for him to look right in real life to discover the microphone. When he discovered it, he stopped talking.
This is the best version of AI theory, and it also goes to explain AI Marvin's weird behavior: being cruel yet somehow childlike, and how he keeps evading the police.
watching the not in table scene knowing ai paul attempted to type dad (right after pleading) but failed to do so is both absolutely horrifying and such a clever way to hide a clue
That to me has the same energy as Kurt Cobain denying his lyrics had any deeper meaning. And in both cases that feels like an attempt to avoid a "Paul is dead" situation where people overthink to the point of seeing things that were never there. Which is understandable The Candace Newmaker thing is a good enough reason to want to steer clear of that
39:57 my hot take is that it was both. Michael got hit trying to save the dog, the dog survived but Michael didn't, and that's why there was an argument around putting it down
@@ekwfan6 honestly the term 'hot take' was so overused and diluted by the time I started using it I deadass don't know what it really means and I'm too embarrassed to ask 🤣
The saddest part is that the real Paul never experienced this. Had he continued to play this and the parts his ai played, (after all the ai is meant to be a complete copy of Paul’s real mind) he would’ve found some closure to his trauma, and perhaps lived a much better life. Wherever Paul is now, I pray that he is living a happy life.
My interpretation is that the real Paul got the answers. When he stopped talking, he either had a realization, or at least started asking questions that led to the truth being told to him. Therefore he had no reason to keep playing. The AI copy of him in the game, however, had to fight to find everything out itself.
I think Paul was able to stop playing of his own volition. Maybe he never fully confronted the buried personal trauma he stumbled on, but the family he's with now let him stop playing because the AI was able to take over. Also, Paul is presumably away from Marvin well before he starts playing the game. When Belle stops talking, I think it's because she's finally home. He's with Belle and Lina again in the real world. The game is just catching up.
Well no matter Paul's involvement it's nice to note that unlike Rainer/Daniel he never had that kind of obsession with Petscop and related events. If it wasn't for the family seemingly pushing him to keep playing he likely would've stopped long before that even. He has a long life to live out and I hope he (even though he doesn't really exist) gets to enjoy every minute of it.
I think that the theory of care not existing is fantastic, and really ties a lot of things together, such as him not being able to remember her, but belle did because of petscop
Petscop is one of those things you can't exactly just dip your toes into, it's either all in or you will never fully understand it/draw your own conclusion
Same honestly. I can’t see there being an actual story that *flows* well or maybe there is a story and I’m just not getting it. I think the person that made this really wanted it to be an ARG like the rest and it just isn’t sticking.
I find it so disjointed and mangled together, I really don’t think the creator went into it with any story in mind then just kind of made things up as they went
@supershasha @pgakt the creator apparently didn't have a real overarching story in mind, saying that whatever interpretation you have is correct on their twitter. I also know for a fact that petscop isn't an arg, the series was always just meant to be mysterious horror videos showing a fake game akin to some creepypastas. I personally think this style works great, as it fits well with petscops' themes of differing perspectives.
For years I've always felt that Petscop left such a void in me, because I was desperate to understand what happened. It fascinated and terrified me. Although this isn't 'canon', this honestly feels like a satisfying conclusion. Even though there are still some loose ends, it's an amount of ambiguity that I'm happy to leave to interpretation. Thank you for making this! Brilliantly done 👏
In my eyes, Petscop is a masterclass in how to make something that has no real story or even purpose, hinging on people's desires to discern patterns and to make sense of it all. I especially like how it launches several narratives that all seem to intertwine, but never quite do.
there is a lot of the series that is left open ended by design. tony, who made the game, didn't want this to have a proper story-line, he wanted it to be surrealist (hes stated this himself). i think nexpo felt a duty to try and make sense of the story, so he had to draw some conclusions to keep the video going. but the beauty of this series is its open-endedness. the entire youtube series is really only meant to evoke a feeling. the only "concrete" theme is that of familial trauma. the rest is up to the viewer to interpret for themselves.
the most disturbing moment in petscop for me is when marvin kidnapped care by literally breaking through the window AND THE AIR CONDITIONER. like breaking in through the window is one thing, but he pushed through the air conditioner and took her. that gives me a sense of him being extremely determined in taking her. he NEEDED to get in. he didn't care about the fact that something was blocking him or the fact that it could have landed on care. he just needed to get in
"You've officially watched 3 hours and 48 minutes of Petscop Coverage." To be honest, it was more than that, between rewatching the first part during months, watching another videos in the subject and watching the Petscop CZcams channel for the remaining parts until the second part was released. It was worth it.
@@jeso7606nah I fr waited for pyro's video for years too, I tried with other videos but it wasn't the same so I never finished it. and then nexpo my beloved dropped these
I think the Care stuff is 100% spot-on, I think Paul was forced by his family to live out his life as Care against his will for some reason and that the trauma of being forced into this caused him to repress things. But, with Petscop, he couldn't ignore his past and eventually he just had to run away from home to escape his family's overreach. There's definitely a lot of hints that Paul is Care throughout the series, along with references to someone who goes by Care suffering and maybe even dying. It wouldn't be that surprising to me if the intent is that Care was real, but after dying, Paul was forced to take on her identity (either literally or metaphorically) as a replacement. And when that didn't work out, they tried to train the game on Paul's data to create a simulated Care in the game. But this, too, failed, as the replica refused to complete the ritual, instead opting to play "Paul's Song". A representation of Paul as his own person and NOT as the one they wanted him to be.
it also heavily reminds me of the theory that paul is a trans guy, so if care was paul all along that would make sense as well. and a personal headcanon i have for petscop is that rebirthing in the game is meant to symbolize perhaps conversion therapy, an abusive "therapy" used on lgbtq kids to make them "normal". possibly a bit of a stretch but i think it would tie pretty well into the general abuse care faced and the abuse that the rebirthing process is implied to be
@@Bonkpunktexe Paul being trans and carie was something I thought about as well. But I don't think there is enough evidence for that. It would fit very well though.
@@Bonkpunktexe Ok I'm ngl, I kinda joked in my head about Paul being trans a few times as I watched these two videos but I'm kinda shocked to know that's an actual theory
@@vividclarities7860 tbh i feel like a lot of the reason to why it's an actual theory is because the care/paul connection and the whole story around them resonates a lot with trans people growing up. i see why people are surprised it's a theory tho, even if i think it's a theory that is pretty easy to think of
I think the only thing I’m left questioning is how the interaction between AI Marvin and Paul went. It’s presented as Marvin breaking into Paul’s room, but since these two don’t actually exist and the “rooms” are probably just separate abstractions of how it predicts the real life players would act in the physical world, then what even happened there? My only guess is that AI Paul was being convinced Marvin was coming for him, and the game itself kinda pieced together their probable relationship, and so AI Paul reacted accordingly?
Somehow AI Marvin was hurting AI "Tiara" It seems likely, being the oldest AI, Marvin just has access to the back end. As well it seems likely the Ghost Rooms are meant to simulate the IRL people getting up and playing the game as well. So he was just able to suppose his AI into wherever Paul/Care's AI was kept.
I think the "Not In Table" was a typo made in a moment of panic. I think it was supposed to be "Not ON Table". I'll let you fill in the blank from there of what might have been going on...
I really like the theory of Care being Paul because it makes Care dancing to The Sign in Petscop 21 so fucked considering that the song starts with "I got a new life, you would hardly recognize me I'm so glad"
Honestly the gravedigger name convo reminded me of what it's like being a trans person using a nickname cause you're scared of using your chosen name and don't wanna write your deadname on paper. Like him finally being able to say his nane to the counselor
Gonna be honest - I watched both of these Nexpo breakdowns and I still have no idea wtf is going on with this game/storyline. This was like trying to understand quantum physics as an 8 year old. How certain conclusions were drawn based on certain "evidence" is beyond me, lmao. Congrats to Nexpo for being smart enough to decipher this, but I could not keep up.
seriously tho. some of it makes…some sense, but lina being knocked unconscious in a windmill and him pretending she went missing? i cannot figure out how one could get to that conclusion. not saying nexpo is wrong, i just don’t get it lol
@@frankiesayspanic I'm confused too. The only conclusion I can draw is Marvin maybe accidentally hurt his friend, so he hid her under a floorboard in the windmill (maybe that's why there's that weird woman in the gear room inside the windmill that Paul finds.) And he told everyone she went missing by running away, knowing good and damn well he hid her. What's confusing is wouldn't Marvin know instantly whether or not his friend died? Perhaps not since he was young: she could've very well looked dead to a young kid, but as Marvin grew up he realized 'maybe she was just knocked unconscious; did she escape?' The problem with this theory is, if she woke up or escaped in any way possible, wouldn't she tell her sister INSTANTLY what happened, and not ran away? That's a portion of the theory I just don't agree with.
me too!! especially the last 10 minutes.. what? I've tried rewatching and I'm so confused. Lina isn't missing? and what is that about Paul's mom being presumed dead? I assumed his mom was Anna since his dad is Marvin and Paul is Care. WHEN WERE ANNA AND LINA TRAPPED IN A SCHOOL? I really tried to pay attention and I usually can follow his other videos but I have no idea what I just watched
The fake pauses are annoying i h8 it he tries to be so suspenseful about a fake ahh story coming up with clickbait titles : AVIRTUALVOIDOFMISERY🫨🫨 like bro😑
I was today years old when it finally occurred to me that Paul wasn't playing Petscop in a car, he was playing in a garage, bc that's where Daniel's setup was. ... also, I think - given that we're inferring that mike got a pet on his birthday - maybe mike was walking his dog when he was hit by marvin? and maybe the dog survived and mike didn't, or they were both in a bad way? Though this still does lead to the same reading of 'Daniel wasn't REALLY talking about the dog was he' so it ultimately doesn't matter, just food for thought
Man. The things people just make for the internet to unravel without asking for anything in return. Thanks for sharing this, Nexpo. You're one hell of a storyteller.
I can't believe I was so enraptured in this ARG where you play as a walking olive bean to the point where I genuinely felt emotional at the epilogue. What a masterpiece.
Petscop is one of my favourite pieces of internet art ever. I almost want to make a physical copy of it, it's the kind of art you want to keep for the rest of your life. I remember watching them as they came out and theorizing on reddit, thinking paul was dead and the series was over after episode 13 came out, watching the multi episode release on christmas. Love this series so much. Can't wait to see what Tony does next.
As a fellow major petscop fan, I can only say, thank you so much. Your videos on it are like reading a love letter to the series itself. Petscop is a series that I think we will all look back on in 20 years and it will still be as mysterious and enigmatic then as it is today.
I think Paul got out of the car because he saw his sister on the road waiting for him, and he finally knew who she was. He was directed there by the quitter eyeing away from the road
Wait that's so trippy, you mean like he was somehow indeed driving while playing his sister or even creepier, her AI, was directing him to go to his right *in real life*? Sskskskkskskskskskskksksks I hate that and love it at the same time.
@@lydoofusbinderp9853 That makes a lot of sense, actually. The AI can think for itself and it's established that the system can even monitor where Paul is and what his room is like to get more data. It's not just using inputs, it's crafting characters off of their real world bodies as they play and walk around their own rooms, so it probably knew what was going on in the real world as well.
I actually love this idea. It's a fitting resolution for the real Paul, mysterious yet beautiful. The AI Paul could potentially be mirroring the series of realizations that would occur upon him realizing Belle is his sister and Lina is his adoptive mother- he's finally able to come to terms with his situation, begin to process his trauma and accept his place in their family.
Nexpo has given us what Pyrocynical couldn’t. PETSCOP 2 BABYYYYYY!!!!!!! Memes aside this and part one are absolute masterpieces. Nexpo may not upload often but when he does he certainly delivers.
When I was a kid, I also had a counselor due to reasons, and on top of being left handed, the counseling scene hit a little too close to home for me and made me feel really unnerved the first time I saw it, especially considering the implications of petscop. I can definitely get why Paul feels so unnerved during certain parts that relate to him.
Dude.. this was entirely worth the wait. To say I’m completely blown away is an understatement. The way you pieced together every aspect of this series has been an absolute treat to watch. You’re an amazing story teller, Ryan. Thanks for all the effort you put into this, it was truly special.
I’d argue maybe Anna also went through a “rebirthing” at the end (ie changed names). The way belle says boss/lina smuggled them away to me implies that maybe Anna decided enough was enough and ran away to give her and her children a fresh start. Just like the original Lina did. Garalina means “we are Lina”
I actually have a theory about the conversation with Jill on Paul's birthday. It's possible that on the day he thought he heard the conversation, in actuality something triggered PTSD and made him relive the conversation from his childhood. I've heard from people who suffer from PTSD that these attacks can seem very realistic, and feel like you're literally reliving it in the present. If Marvin abused Paul as a child, it would not surprise me if he came out of it with PTSD
i've known the person behind the rotation theory (mysticete) for YEARS and it's so cool seeing his theory be covered by one of my favourite content creators. petscop is so beautifully crafted. thank you for covering it in so much detail :)
I do wish Nexpo had mentioned that video and its creator by name, Rotation Theory made me Get It properly after just being kind of upset and unsatisfied for ages about Petscop
Reiner name choice might be worth pondering. When the Reiner character appeared, I thought of Rainer Maria Rilke. When mentioned of Marvin attempting to rebirth the child from boy to girl, I thought of Rainer's early life with his mother dressing him up and treating him like a girl, seeking to recover her earlier deceased infant daughter.
@@E-bunnythat that is nexpos theory presented at the end. That care never existed, and Paul was Marvin's son. I take it you didn't watch all the way through before you commented this?
here i was expecting some super dark, depressing twist but it ended up being really sweet... a family overcoming childhood trauma together.. how nice. LOVED this series of yours, nexpo!! thanks for creating so much high quality content.. absolutely insane how you grind out full-out movies so often lol keep it up dude!!
Ikr! I love the dark and scary stuff but it's always nice to see a happy ending yk, this was actually probably one of my favorite video essay style videos I've ever seen and I can't wait to see more!
This was so amazing. I straight up got emotional when it was translated as "Dad" because that adds a whole new layer onto that. I love this interpretation of petscop
When you said "Hear me out....what if Care never existed?" I knew EXACTLY what you were on to. I had the same theory about Care ever since the calendar.
As someone who was brought into the story by Nexpo’s first video, spent the next two days reading and obsessing over the community document, and dropped everything when this video dropped, words cannot DESCRIBE how much I love this conclusion. Nexpo, your explanations are so wonderfully delivered, both ominous yet crystal clear as to what you mean. Your editing is so crisp, balancing audio and video like it’s easy. I went from never hearing of this series to completely obsessed with it!!! I think your theory is well crafted and rock solid, which only leaves me with even more heart wrenching compassion for Paul and Belle and PaulAI and TiaraAI and everyone trapped- Well, used to be trapped- Within a brother’s twisted need for truth blending horribly with a rebirthing self centered father. Incredibly explained, magnificently shown, and your words flow off your tongue as if they are guided! Bravo, Nexpo, bravo indeed!!!
I like to think that, because Daniel made the AIs to predict the thought process and actions of their real life counterparts, that what AI Belle and AI Paul went through is roughly what happened. Lina disappeared. Belle disappeared. And finally Paul disappeared, just like his mother because he went to be with her.
(Last month, Nexpo drops a banger Petscop continuation video) (1 month later you hear a knock at your front door. Suddenly, Nexpo breaks down the door with a Tool-shaped battering ram and gives you a mile-long grin) Nexpo: I NEVER SAID I WAS DONE
Holy shit man. What a journey. I'm not very good at putting pieces together when watching various media and I've always been fascinated by petscop but never been able to understand the story. Thanks to this mini docuseries it's all been cleared up and I am fucking blown away. Well done for this dude, this has gotta be one of my favourite yt videos of all time.
Can't believe this whole coverage project was more engaging and shorter than the Nightmare Masterclass version. You, Fredrick Knudsen and DefunctLand are three reasons these kinds of vids deserve to be called documentaries. Well done. Well. Fucking. Done. Also, I missed the epilogue, and as a fan of the series, I couldn't help but shed a tear at the ending.
This is so refreshing and good. I love that people are still finding Petscop and discussing it. Tony's a humble guy and I think really downplays how impactful this series was. I was honestly so disappointed when NightMind shit on Petscop, but given how his channel had begun to grate on my nerves in other regards (which I'll leave out for propriety), I shouldn't have been surprised. Thank you for making two stellar videos on Petscop and all the hard work you do!
You made me realize that the reason I never understood this series for so long was at least in part because my main source of info for it was Night Mind, who judging from the comments of his second Petscop vid kind of didn't really understand it like Nexpo did (or like much of his audience did). Also the fact that Night Mind never actually finished covering Petscop.
im with Jaxon, what happened with him? im not trying to jump you or anything for your opinions, i just haven’t watched him in a while and im curious to hear other perspectives
@@DarisuccSA I mean, I can say that I can't recall their exact quality, it has been 4 years since I watched them, but basically from what I read in that video's comment sections he basically treats it as an ARG and doesn't really follow the logic in some parts. Like he just refuses to accept the part about texting using button combos and assumed it was random, unlike this video that did bring up that there was a guide to them that could translate. And to the others, while I can't speak for the OP, I'll say that in recent years I've noticed a pattern of Night Mind playing super long clips from whatever he's covering, then briefly summarizing what he just played. He's also been relying more on livestreaming for some topics rather than going in depth on them and breaking them down properly. I still like him over all personally, but I can say that I enjoy him less than I used to.
The left and right in Pall's game were flipped. If you go back and look at button prompts when he's in certain menus, you can see that the prompt on the left side of the screen is the same shape as "right" on a playstation controller and vice versa. There was also the confusion Pall had at times about whether he was going right or left, when he was doing the imagination stuff, that could have been because his controls were wrong too.
Yeah, as soon as you mentioned "maybe Care was Paul's twin sister, but how come he doesn't remember her?" in previous episode, I thought that far more plausible explanation would be if Care just WAS Paul. And a lot of things hinted at this being a correct assumption (like Care having conversations in game that Paul had in real life or being unsettled about the resemblance between them)
Literally the best most well crafted theory of this series yet. The idea of it being about perspectives kind of has a meta aspect to it for me, since my perspective never lead me to thinking of it BEING about perspectives and mostly "realistic" scenarios as opposed to the supernatural. Basically the only supernatural aspect to this is Daniel's AI being able to copy a human that effectively.
i actually REALLY, really love your interpretation of petscop. paul and the rebirth of his family really made me pause and audibly go 'woah, no way...'
Honestly, I think Petscop making barely any sense and staying ambiguous makes it an even more memorable and well-crafted piece of art. It is what you personally feel it is. To one person, the door is open. To another, it is closed. The door never opened or closed at all. It's all in our heads.
Hm. I wonder. What if Care _was_ real, but was rebirthed as Paul in an attempt to bring Michael to life? After all, Paul's room is unlocked by combining Care's face with *Michael's* eyebrows...
I just find it so interesting that of all people to accidentally run over, it had to be the little brother of the nephew of Lina, same Lina, Marvin was so obsessed about
I honestly can understand why you believe that Paul and Care are the same person. When you consider the timeline where Marvin's mind is so hyper fixated on Lina that it's eating away at him, reality would distort. He would see some people as other people. Maybe that's a stretch, nothing is 100% clear, but whatever it is, what matters is that the cycle of pain ended, and a new dawn has risen
Regardless of what's actually going on in the series, I really don't think there's any doubt that Paul is Care - possibly an alt-universe version, possibly the one and only. There are too many parallels. Personally I like the theory that Paul is a trans man and was actually born Carrie, but Marvin being so far gone that he thinks Paul is Carrie is disturbingly plausible.
@@MrfnordTim That was something that came to mind too. The constant body dysmorphia put on Care, Paul's slightly feminine voice; if that was the creator's intentions to make Paul a trans-man I wouldn't be surprised. Bell also saying them "being born" could be their transition into the opposite sex. I can't really think of any other explanation for why they're so similar and the epilogue, so I'd be interested to hear.
@@kirby2002it's actually an extremely popular theory. So much so that half of the reddit posts about it are either for it or trying to debunk it in some way. I think it depends on how much repression Paul has done. There's a lot of evidence to suggest it's true, but it's also undeniably a stretch and has a lot of detracting evidence too. I think it's intentionally fuzzy to put things up to viewer interpretation. I don't necessarily believe in the Paul is trans theory, but I do believe in the idea of Paul/care being the same person. Either through weird dimensional shenanigans (unlikely, honestly) or through repression with dissociative identity disorder.
I remember those days when Petscop just came out and I thought that it was just a random thing that someone posted for fun. Never seen such a complex, yet beautiful stories. Thank you so much, Nexpo, for making these videos!
Interesting little tidbit that I thought was odd, how the game keeps writing his name as "Pall", despite us seeing he enters it in properly as "Paul"... The definition of pall can be something enveloping a situation in gloom/heaviness/fear, or it could be a "covering" or "cloak", particularly appropriate in this context as a funeral cloth or casket covering
I don't think your idea of Care not being real is that outlandish at all! In fact it ties into my idea of what "Rebirthing" is. This whole "Rebirthing Ritual" in my eyes is just Marvin's (and later Daniel's) scheme to psychologically abuse the children so badly as to purposefully drive them to develop Dissociative Identity Disorder, thus "rebirthing" a new child in the image of whoever they wanted the first one to be. After suffering so much abuse at the hands of her adoptive father and cousin, Belle was almost driven to create an Alter named Tiara as per their demands but "quit halfway through" and escaped to Lina's custody and was deemed a failure as a result. They set their sights on Paul who ended up developing the Carrie/Care Identity to take the abuse in his stead while in Marvin's custody, with his wife going along with their son's new personality out of an innocent desire to help him feel accepted and loved, this gave the man hope that Paul could develop an Alter in Lina's image next if the boy were simply traumatized hard enough. All culminating into "Care's" horrific kidnapping at the hands of his own father. Daniel rescued the scared, shivering, and long-haired "Care" as a final act of goodwill before ending it all. Merry Christmas. This would explain why despite the multitude of similarities down to having the same face and birthday, Paul has no recollection of meeting any version of Care, because he was "hiding in the closet" when Marvin supposedly snatched her instead. AI Paul, with none of the human intricacies that lead someone to develop such a debilitating mental illness, remained as Paul through and through in the simulated gameplay, with none of the psychological safety nets that being Care gave to the Physical Paul. Especially when both identities have separately labeled logs of player input for the AI to work off of and differentiate the play-styles of, coldly marking them as "seperate people" who played the game. This is where his extreme discomfort from the once-censored "Caskets" comes from. Those aren't supposed to be his memories. Of course, I could be completely wrong about everything, but hey that's Petscop for you. Lol
ah damn you pointing out the AI training play ligs being different, and AI paul not being susceptible to rebirthing totally got me also the way the Pall is told that doors will open and there will be ground beneath his feet, and how he plays his own melody to the discontent of marvin chef's kiss
These have probably been the most complete and coherent look at Petscop I've ever seen. I didn't find Petscop until several episodes had been put up, but I was there for probably the last 3/4 of it. I remember staying up far too late at night the day before Easter in order to watch the newest episodes that had JUST dropped, and being so disturbed with the moment Marvin just says "Here I come." These videos are definitely going onto my list of things to rewatch while I sleep haha
I’ve been following petscop for a bit, and never noticed Paul actually calls Marvin “dad”. Also appreciate you giving your two cents on your theory, and shouting out all the other amazing community theories !
You really summed it up greatly in the end. What made Petscop so eerie and engaging was the fact that it always made me feel as if I had been given all the info to piece it all together but simply couldn't grasp what it was trying to tell me and it had truly stayed with me for that reason. As always, great video!
Nexpo, This video is incredible but i have something else to say. I am watching your video to keep my mind busy while my parents argue. I hear screamibg and yelling, but your voice and the beautifully chosen music of yours are one of the most comforting things. Thank you so much for the amazing yet unsettling videos. You end your videos with a "I live you all" i love you too, i really look forward to your next video. Thank you for helping me through some of the toughest of times by providing content and comfort to enjoy. Take care
From someone who also grew up with this experience nearly every day, I can tell you that as an adult, things will eventually get better if you try. The scars never really go away but they definitely teach you what not to do as a parent. Hope all is well bud.
I legit joined your patreon last night just to get this a full day early, and it was worth every penny. I'm definitely going to re-watch here as well to give you the extra view! This is truly a masterpiece, Ryan. Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort and love and commitment into this project. It's incredible and you should be very, very proud. We all certainly are. ❤
So, the way I interpreted the riddle with the door was a hint that things are not in order. If the door was closed in the first picture but open in the second, was never opened and didn't open itself... Well, one good answer is that the door was *closed* and the pictures were out of order.
@GeorgiGochev-kf1qm Another possible theory, yeah. The only counterargument I might be able to make is that it says, "...two photos of a door..." which isn't completely sound. It's just an implication of a singular door, but the verbiage could go either way.
I think one side-theory that would help strengthen the final analysis is if you view the Carrie/Care - Paul connection as Carrie transitioning ("rebirthing") into Paul when passed onto Lina's care. The credits' thank you note from Anna does mention Carrie by name, and prevents potential self-conflicts with avoiding Carrie not equaling to Care.
Yeah I also had the thought that Paul might be a trans man. Tie into Marvin being so disappointed with Care not being the “perfect little girl” he was looking for.
Thats what i was thinking too! You could say that Daniel played along whith Marvin's delusions, that's why Care was in the game, but it wouldn't make sense for Paul to be called that in beta testing or by his real mother. Trans theory explains that real good - he was just named Care at the time. I think the only time Paul is mentioned in the game ever is by himself, Marvin and Belle, but they can probably read the name of the save.
I had the same theory of "Care was pre-transition Paul" bouncing around my own head for a long while before Nexpo brought up the "Care isn't real" idea too, glad I wasn't the only one thinking it. The digust 'Care' had with their own appearance and thoughts of disfigurement bring up thoughts of how gender-dysphoria and body-dysmorphia can manifest, or conversely how a physical transition can be seen as "disfigurement" by those unsupportive of it paralleling how 'Care' was sometimes seen and described. Maybe there's something in Paul quite literally being stuck 'hiding in the closet' when Care was abducted too, but at that point I feel like I'm going from "maybe" reading too deep into things to "very probably" reading too deep into stuff.
thank god i found someone else with this theory in the comments lol, as a trans man myself i was seeing and hearing all of the stuff about how closely tied care and paul are and i was like "oh my god it's SO obvious that paul is trans", not to mention 'egg' being a term for a trans person who hasn't fully realized they're trans/come out yet lol
I'm almost a bit conflicted because my interpretation of the Paul Paradox was always that Carrie got reborn (perhaps against Marvin's wishes) as Paul, but that doesn't really align with your whole interpretation of the game's backstory and Marvin's motivations and I really like that interpretation too.
I love your interpretation of the game. As someone with a history with familial issues, I wasn't expecting such an emotional and honestly hopeful conclusion to a game that covers such dark topics. It's nice to have a message of a brighter, hopeful future no matter how dark and ugly the past has been. 😊
I love how you’ve expanded this story so much by explaining it. I remember when the videos first started dropping and everyone was theorizing about it, but none of it had felt as in-depth as this did. As for your theory, wouldn’t it make more sense if, instead of Michael’s body being found by the police, Marvin hides the body somewhere and tells the family that Michael went missing or something? At the very least, perhaps marvin says something that, combined with the pictures of the light house, offputs Daniel and makes him suspicious of Marvin?
petscop has a special place in my heart. those first episodes started coming out around the time my mom started getting terminally ill. episode 13 came out on my moms birthday, while she was in the hospital, 6 days before she passed. the eerie mystery and the voyueristic dread of that little webseries kept my brain occupied while i was drowning in grief. a year after that, i started writing my novel, and in every draft i've left little references to petscop. i think this project is not something to be objectively understood or mapped out on a timeline, but something to glean a message from and something to witness as it is. nothing else has come close to portraying what my experience with grief, childhood trauma, and childhood mental illness as petscop has. its writing is effortlessly natural, dripping with intimate familial hatred, and wallowing in the ambience of psychological destruction. nexpo, i've been with you since the days of nightmare expo, years and years ago. i was always hoping you would cover this artwork in your own wonderful style. you delivered this so well. thank you so much for this.
There is an unexplained bit of your theory: if Lina is Paul’s adopted mom, and Belle is Paul’s adopted sister, then how does Lina go from missing due to Marvin and Anna running away from the windmill to being able to take custody of the two of them to keep them away from Marvin? Like, what even happened there?
Maybe.... Lina was able to find out where her sister was and secretly got in contact with her. They had a nice secret reunion and that's when Anna knew it would be best to put her kids into Lina's care to keep them safe from Marvin? I'm just guessing all of this.
Given that the series likes to play with memory, Lina probably experienced head trauma severe enough to give her amnesia. She was found, taken care of by another family, she was "reborn" like others, but eventually like Paul, remembered the reality, probably even found Petscop on the channel, and was horrified as she made similar realizations.
Always love seeing new analysis videos on Petscop. I think what makes Petscop so great as a series is the fact that it’s ambiguous, it forces you to come up with your own interpretation on what the series is about. I think most viewers of the series have a basic idea of what’s going on in the story, but the message the story is trying to get across is all up to the viewers interpretation. I really like that.
I feel like your analysis of Paul being Care, and Care therefore not existing, misses a big point- the egg after Paul turns Marvin's ritual into a playing of Paul's Melody. In the conversation with the counselor, Paul's name is in red. And Care has been associated with yellow the whole time. And that egg is specifically red and yellow. I feel Care was reborn as Paul and that is what tells us this. I could be wrong though, point out holes in this theory if there.
I also feel like it’s entirely possible that care/paul is a trans male who wasn’t traditionally girly/feminine which angered Marvin to the point that he abducted and tormented him. This would also explain why Paul never mentioned a father and didn’t recognize “care” (himself) as the trauma may have been so severe that he had to block it all out. It might just be me making connections where there are none though😅
@@miriamwamsley8873I think that’s a nice way to see it, but I would say there’s more evidence to suggest Care has been reborn as Paul, though after watching countless videos on Petscop, and watching the series myself several times, I still can’t get my head around it fully
I think Care also exists in the same space as Lina and the door. Care both exists and doesn't. Paul is Care from another angle, like how the windmill never REALLY disappeared--but still did from the photo. And as someone trans, this makes sense. You can't really GET RID of your past self. That still exists. But they also don't exist, because you were always you.
@@AnakhaSilver Another nice theory, though I personally doubt the trans angle, I’ve seen it posted a few times, I think that a lot of trans people relate to the themes in the series but there isn’t much evidence to suggest Paul is trans, I’ve also seen it commented a few times that Paul’s voice is evidence of him being trans as it’s supposedly feminine, which is unfair as that’s just the creators voice and to my knowledge he is not trans lol, though until the creator comes forward with the story, we are free to speculate and create our own head cannons to whatever makes us happy, I personally believe Marvin tried to rebirth Care into Lena but failed and got Paul, though after looking at the creator Tony Domenico’s comments on the series, I don’t think he actually has a story, he stated originally there was a story but he kept changing and removing things, so now it’s up in the air lol
Huh. I feel like, at some point i had thought maybe Paul transitioned, at some point, but your theory honestly makes a lot more sense. Marvin wanted a girl. He *NEEDED* a girl. He needed a way to know that what he did could be fixed. He needed Lina. Telling "care" that they looked ugly, the way they are now. Marvin was trying to make Paul into Lina. Dang. I was hoping for trans plot twist, but this has a lot more impact, imo. Makes everything that much scarier. Care always looked more like a little boy with long hair, to me. Being locked in a basement wouldn't give you many chances to get a haircut, whether you liked long hair or not, and regardless of what Paul may want, Marvin wanted Lina back. A girl with long hair and (apparently) no eyebrows. God, that makes it a lot more chilling. A parent forcing their child not only to be something they are not, but essentially telling their child they don't want them to exist. They just want to bring back an old friend, and you happen to be a convenient vessel.
I don't usually comment on CZcams videos but in this case, i felt compelled to. I spent so much time and effort to try piece together the story of petscop in a way that's digestible and without any plot holes but always ended up finding them. the way you told the story comprehensively was so beautiful, and i especially enjoyed where visuals were accompanied by explaining what happened during the windmill incident. the conclusion was everything we could have ever asked for and now i finally feel so satisfied since i understand petscop. no other story, arg nor video game made me feel as confused as petscop did, but that's no longer the case with the release of this video. this was so well worth the wait Ryan. thank you so much for this amazing, well articulated video
A project two years in the making - for Petscop fans and first-timers. Thank you all for the love and support 🖤
Oh, also, Disturbing Things from Around the Internet relaunches December :)
yooo
Heck yeah
I’m so excited for more disturbing things
LETS GOOO
Less gooo
I think its not emphasized enough how the game was originally a B-day gift for Mike, and after his presumed death, Rainer/Daniel took the game (literally and figuratively) and warped it into something unrecognizable.
A creation of love made rotten by grief. You could say Daniel was just as obsessed with “getting back” at Marvin as Marvin was with Lina.
Love this. Everyone is a real, flawed person.
What a great take on this. Very solid 👏👏
Good take
That's what I thought too when he said "what was originally a gift" because it definitely was twisted into grief.
How is this not emphasized? This is literally stated to be The original motive behind petscop, and Daniel shows nothing but love towards every mike reference out there.
So what happened to Mike if he's only presumed dead but never comes back?
A side note about Rainer's death: he possibly killed himself in the bathroom of the house. It would explain the "fuck you all, and fuck me as well. Check your bathroom now" after leaving the game and recordings for them
hence how you trap yourself in the tub if you walk off the ramp into it
Plus the track on the Soundtrack “bathroom-tomb”
i think he either drowned himself or electrocuted himself in there
It's a little weird that Rainer _decided_ the bathroom is where he dies, to the point that he literally coded in his suicide into the game lore before doing it. That is some next level premeditated.
It wasn't some spur of the moment guilt attack, he really planned out his own suicide and then made it lore for his game.
@@alzhanvoidi mean yeah, most suicide attempts are very planned out, he thought he had nothing more to live for and just went out with a last fuck you
The idea of computer marvin getting just absolutely pissed because computer paul is spitting fire is funny to me
“DAMN IT! THIS MF GOT BARS!”
EPIC RAP BATTLE!!
MARVIN, VS, PAUL.
BEGIN!!!!
computer marvin been real quiet since computer paul dropped
@@sugarkane1571 coughing baby vs hydrogen bomb
The sequel we have waited 7 years for. Finally, Petscop 2.
YO SEVEN YEARS????? DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE
Someone else already made a "PETSCOP 2"
Plus, this guy already did another petscop video, so this is petscop 4
Don't do this to me bro it's like thinking about how dark souls 1 is 12 years old now
I'd like to say "back when Pyro was good", but truth is, I was just young. I had shit taste.
@@franciasii2435pyro has only gotten better tbf
Thank you pyro for finally bringing us petscop 2
Now we're waiting for petscop 3
@@disappointingperson9162 I mean counting his old video, Nexpo has already beaten pyro to a Petscop 3
Child predator reference
@@--Lumiinous--where tf did this come from
i have a hunch Nexpo made this series just to finish what Pyro started
The part where AI Marvin attacks AI Paul is heart wrenching. It’s so painful watching Paul’s messages fizzle out.
yeah..
Its not that deep bro
@@gsc8713that's what she said
@@gsc8713 Saying "It's not that deep" under a petscop video? did you watch the same video as us bro?
@@Stp1497i guess the only good thing is he doesnt have tiktok brainrot attention span and actually sat through the entire video
Paul saying “What, no, no” made my heart drop god this series is so good
and that he types it faster after he figures out how to type it :(
@@IntelegentFool god GOD the way he frantically asks belle for help makes me feel so SAD😭
One of if not the best moments in the series
Do you have a timestamp? I don't remember that
@@sunfl0weryy It happens in Petscop 23. Its right after the “here I come!” moment from Marvin.
I think the timeline goes like this, sorry for a lot of text.
- Petscop is made and shortly after Mike's death, is turned into a machine to create a virtual Marvin who thinks enough like the real one to confess to his crimes. In trying to make it accurate, Daniel gets caught in Marvin's schemes and can't live with himself, but leaves the game to his family.
- Paul gets a hold of Petscop and plays out of curiosity, recording his episodes to show to Belle. His family sees how far he is progressing in the game, and pressures him to keep going, even though it is messing with his mind.
- Belle had been on the phone with Paul, but knew that he was suffering and decided enough was enough, her virtual self also agreed, trying to get Paul to leave, which he eventually does when Belle arrives and his voiceovers stop.
- Paul's virtual self is left to run around in the game with the other virtual copies, but the real Belle and Paul leave the family to join with Lina who had been in hiding. They will make things right on their own without using Petscop, and move on from all this madness.
This is Canon, change my mind
oh hey I know you from somewhere
Cant put my finger on it
Why would Pauls family care about a video game he plays? I'm glad you broke it down into different points but I still fail to realize why this game was made in the first place
@@sumdood7011 it seems the the was originally created by Daniel to find the body of Lina. The family ended up using the game for a different purpose, to discover if Paul was actually Carrie and subsequently to see if Lina was actually dead or alive. If the family are the ones uploading the rest of these videos to YT, is it kind of a way of letting Paul know that they know everything?
@bertbugsby_ What happened to marvin at the end did he gone to prison or is he still alive. 🤔
One small thing I think you missed but that has interesting implications for the history and timeline: The early iterations of the game weren't "a simple egg collector", but rather there was just one egg in the game. The rest were in the office: Not an office in the game, but the game developer's office in real life. Somebody had kicked off an Easter egg hunt, whether for the literal holiday or for some other reason, and they hid one of the eggs in the game. Both a cute reference to video game Easter eggs as a whole and a very difficult hiding spot for seekers who are expecting to find something physical. You could draw some parallels there to the hunt for the buried body but honestly I just think it points at the genuinely positive early vibes at Garalina and for the people working on this project before things went south.
I'd argue that the "office" in question is the home office where they kept the computer Daniel was working on. It's pretty clear that he was making the game for Mike's birthday, and the egg hunt was probably planned to lead into the game. It's not until two years after Mike's death that Garalina (based on Daniel's aunt Lina) copyrights Petscop, so the corporate aspect definitely came later.
OMG. I never made the connection between Lina and Garelina. That is so obvious!@@shadow81818
After Petscop ended, Tony gave one or two interviews. In one, he said he likes ambiguity, and he thinks sometimes it should stand for its own sake. He accomplished this.
Tony Hawk?!??!? 😲
Something that today's modern movie creators lack.
@@Curlyheart naw he's talking about Tony, Toni, Toné.
Ambiguity? Oh boy, that reminds me of KrainaGrzybowTV... Petscop has a story with a lot of details left out, while *that*... Uh... um... it has themes, and I'm pretty sure it's actually nonsense
ALI G WANNABE
I just want to say, I truly appreciate you making this so late in the game. It shows that you really care about creating a comprehensive video, instead of what most creators do, which is create their analysis before the series is even finished. You didn't chase the hype at the cost of the quality of your content, and I think that is truly commendable.
Pyro😂
@@xopasstheaux6617not really, he made a random video midway through the series branching his content off and trying something new about something he was really intrigued by. I'm glad pyro made his petscop video, without it he might not have changed to a review channel
@@xopasstheaux6617 Game Theory not Pyro
Tiara: **very obviously gesturing to go right**
Paul: What? What do you want? What are you asking me to do?
(This goes on for several minutes)
To be fair, my dumb ass didn't figure out what she was getting at until Nexpo said it either LOL
will forever be curious as to what she wanted him to see sp bad lol
@@urmum30005 A theory I once saw suggested that there was a secret microphone planted by the Family, and Belle (the ingame AI belle) was suggesting for him to look right in real life to discover the microphone. When he discovered it, he stopped talking.
there's also implied that Paul isn't that great in direction, and I don't blame him when the game have confusing left and right
I was reading in too deep and thought she was trying to speak in Morse code
"We can investigate this together" actually brought tears to my eyes
Such a wonderfully crafted series
This is the best version of AI theory, and it also goes to explain AI Marvin's weird behavior: being cruel yet somehow childlike, and how he keeps evading the police.
tax eva-
watching the not in table scene knowing ai paul attempted to type dad (right after pleading) but failed to do so is both absolutely horrifying and such a clever way to hide a clue
For a series whose creator admitted that Petscop "had no real story" this video captures everything so well and is spot on.
That to me has the same energy as Kurt Cobain denying his lyrics had any deeper meaning.
And in both cases that feels like an attempt to avoid a "Paul is dead" situation where people
overthink to the point of seeing things that were never there. Which is understandable
The Candace Newmaker thing is a good enough reason to want to steer clear of that
“Hollow Knight has no lore” said by Team Cherry moment
Oh did they? It’s always felt like they were just making it up as they went to me which I found so hard to follow or enjoy
Wait, did Petscop's creator really said that?
@@pgaktThe same can be said about FNAF but fans defend that game religiously
39:57 my hot take is that it was both. Michael got hit trying to save the dog, the dog survived but Michael didn't, and that's why there was an argument around putting it down
True but it could also be Michael, then discussing if Michael could even survive being hit by the car
@@rontheauraknight9606 that's another good theory!
It is implied he gets a pet for his birthday present so I think this is not a hot take, but a very valid one.
@@ekwfan6 honestly the term 'hot take' was so overused and diluted by the time I started using it I deadass don't know what it really means and I'm too embarrassed to ask 🤣
@@finn_in_the_bin5263hot take just means like an unpopular opinion or belief!
The saddest part is that the real Paul never experienced this. Had he continued to play this and the parts his ai played, (after all the ai is meant to be a complete copy of Paul’s real mind) he would’ve found some closure to his trauma, and perhaps lived a much better life. Wherever Paul is now, I pray that he is living a happy life.
Wasn't the implication that he was moved into Lina's custody?
@@stan8479 yes
My interpretation is that the real Paul got the answers. When he stopped talking, he either had a realization, or at least started asking questions that led to the truth being told to him. Therefore he had no reason to keep playing. The AI copy of him in the game, however, had to fight to find everything out itself.
I think Paul was able to stop playing of his own volition. Maybe he never fully confronted the buried personal trauma he stumbled on, but the family he's with now let him stop playing because the AI was able to take over.
Also, Paul is presumably away from Marvin well before he starts playing the game. When Belle stops talking, I think it's because she's finally home. He's with Belle and Lina again in the real world. The game is just catching up.
Well no matter Paul's involvement it's nice to note that unlike Rainer/Daniel he never had that kind of obsession with Petscop and related events. If it wasn't for the family seemingly pushing him to keep playing he likely would've stopped long before that even. He has a long life to live out and I hope he (even though he doesn't really exist) gets to enjoy every minute of it.
I think that the theory of care not existing is fantastic, and really ties a lot of things together, such as him not being able to remember her, but belle did because of petscop
damn, so the cunny isn't real? 😔
@@fortnitesexmanThere are some things I wish I could say to you but I don’t think the terms of service would allow.
@@fortnitesexmankeep yourself safe
@@fortnitesexman man schizo'd his own uoh into existence
@@fortnitesexman It's Petscop, not Petscunny you DEGEN
Petscop is one of those things you can't exactly just dip your toes into, it's either all in or you will never fully understand it/draw your own conclusion
I’ve watched probably 10+ videos on petscop and I still don’t fully comprehend it. Like salad fingers but. I’m here for it.
Same honestly. I can’t see there being an actual story that *flows* well or maybe there is a story and I’m just not getting it. I think the person that made this really wanted it to be an ARG like the rest and it just isn’t sticking.
I find it so disjointed and mangled together, I really don’t think the creator went into it with any story in mind then just kind of made things up as they went
@supershasha @pgakt the creator apparently didn't have a real overarching story in mind, saying that whatever interpretation you have is correct on their twitter. I also know for a fact that petscop isn't an arg, the series was always just meant to be mysterious horror videos showing a fake game akin to some creepypastas. I personally think this style works great, as it fits well with petscops' themes of differing perspectives.
For years I've always felt that Petscop left such a void in me, because I was desperate to understand what happened. It fascinated and terrified me. Although this isn't 'canon', this honestly feels like a satisfying conclusion. Even though there are still some loose ends, it's an amount of ambiguity that I'm happy to leave to interpretation. Thank you for making this! Brilliantly done 👏
Me too. This is the conclusion I think is the most correct one.
You have officially beaten Pyrocynical to the chase. Congratulations, Nexpo!
the time has come.
Who cares pyro is a weird mfer
Big facts, plus I'm the only Pyro that should be mentioned around these parts 😂😂😂
Literally way more better than a cute little lesbian twink to ever make a new petscop content
What about night mind? 🤔
The madlad did it. He brought Halloween to us early. This is truly a Shadow Monster Man Moment.
I WATCHED THE VIDEO AND WHEN I GOT TO THE END, INSTEAD OF CLICKING OFF, I PRESSED SUBSCRIBE AND BECAME A SHADOW MONSTER MAN
Not to be confused with MiniLad😅
My man Nexpo turned the right and shit
@@squibmanyeah, "not to be confused with" to the point where idk why tf u would bring it up....
you do the mash
the shadow monster mash
In my eyes, Petscop is a masterclass in how to make something that has no real story or even purpose, hinging on people's desires to discern patterns and to make sense of it all. I especially like how it launches several narratives that all seem to intertwine, but never quite do.
Literally this,
For real, Petscop is a great example of that. Its ambiguity in its story reminds me a bit of another favourite media of mine, Twin Peaks
there is a lot of the series that is left open ended by design. tony, who made the game, didn't want this to have a proper story-line, he wanted it to be surrealist (hes stated this himself).
i think nexpo felt a duty to try and make sense of the story, so he had to draw some conclusions to keep the video going. but the beauty of this series is its open-endedness. the entire youtube series is really only meant to evoke a feeling. the only "concrete" theme is that of familial trauma. the rest is up to the viewer to interpret for themselves.
If we can't trust pyro to make petscop 2, we can trust nexpo to release both 1 and 2 within a month of each other
LET’S FUCKING GOOO
Something something French girl
Pyro just milked his viewers for too long
@@8Phobos8 being milked by pyro is fine, i just wanted petscop 2
Its all about those views baby. Chase the trends, fuck actual content
the most disturbing moment in petscop for me is when marvin kidnapped care by literally breaking through the window AND THE AIR CONDITIONER. like breaking in through the window is one thing, but he pushed through the air conditioner and took her. that gives me a sense of him being extremely determined in taking her. he NEEDED to get in. he didn't care about the fact that something was blocking him or the fact that it could have landed on care. he just needed to get in
So true its just so unnerving
I'm just realizing how easy it could've been for him to Flat-Stanley her if she was lying down or something
"You've officially watched 3 hours and 48 minutes of Petscop Coverage."
To be honest, it was more than that, between rewatching the first part during months, watching another videos in the subject and watching the Petscop CZcams channel for the remaining parts until the second part was released. It was worth it.
🧢🧢🧢🧢
@@jeso7606nah I fr waited for pyro's video for years too, I tried with other videos but it wasn't the same so I never finished it. and then nexpo my beloved dropped these
@@jeso7606What
I think the Care stuff is 100% spot-on, I think Paul was forced by his family to live out his life as Care against his will for some reason and that the trauma of being forced into this caused him to repress things. But, with Petscop, he couldn't ignore his past and eventually he just had to run away from home to escape his family's overreach.
There's definitely a lot of hints that Paul is Care throughout the series, along with references to someone who goes by Care suffering and maybe even dying. It wouldn't be that surprising to me if the intent is that Care was real, but after dying, Paul was forced to take on her identity (either literally or metaphorically) as a replacement. And when that didn't work out, they tried to train the game on Paul's data to create a simulated Care in the game. But this, too, failed, as the replica refused to complete the ritual, instead opting to play "Paul's Song". A representation of Paul as his own person and NOT as the one they wanted him to be.
it also heavily reminds me of the theory that paul is a trans guy, so if care was paul all along that would make sense as well. and a personal headcanon i have for petscop is that rebirthing in the game is meant to symbolize perhaps conversion therapy, an abusive "therapy" used on lgbtq kids to make them "normal". possibly a bit of a stretch but i think it would tie pretty well into the general abuse care faced and the abuse that the rebirthing process is implied to be
@@Bonkpunktexe Paul being trans and carie was something I thought about as well.
But I don't think there is enough evidence for that. It would fit very well though.
@@Bonkpunktexe Ok I'm ngl, I kinda joked in my head about Paul being trans a few times as I watched these two videos but I'm kinda shocked to know that's an actual theory
@@vividclarities7860 tbh i feel like a lot of the reason to why it's an actual theory is because the care/paul connection and the whole story around them resonates a lot with trans people growing up. i see why people are surprised it's a theory tho, even if i think it's a theory that is pretty easy to think of
I think the only thing I’m left questioning is how the interaction between AI Marvin and Paul went. It’s presented as Marvin breaking into Paul’s room, but since these two don’t actually exist and the “rooms” are probably just separate abstractions of how it predicts the real life players would act in the physical world, then what even happened there?
My only guess is that AI Paul was being convinced Marvin was coming for him, and the game itself kinda pieced together their probable relationship, and so AI Paul reacted accordingly?
Somehow AI Marvin was hurting AI "Tiara"
It seems likely, being the oldest AI, Marvin just has access to the back end.
As well it seems likely the Ghost Rooms are meant to simulate the IRL people getting up and playing the game as well.
So he was just able to suppose his AI into wherever Paul/Care's AI was kept.
I think the "Not In Table" was a typo made in a moment of panic. I think it was supposed to be "Not ON Table". I'll let you fill in the blank from there of what might have been going on...
@@ChristopherSadlowski So are we literally just going to ignore 1:31:11, or what?
@@mememachine5417people can have interpretations other than those that nexpo has. There's no confirmation for anything like this by the creator
@@mememachine5417 i mean nexpo said so himself at 1:03:06
I really like the theory of Care being Paul because it makes Care dancing to The Sign in Petscop 21 so fucked considering that the song starts with "I got a new life, you would hardly recognize me I'm so glad"
Maybe Care turned into a trans guy
@@mr.d00m37 my thoughts exactly
@@mr.d00m37Trans Paul real!!!!
Trans paul my beloved
Honestly the gravedigger name convo reminded me of what it's like being a trans person using a nickname cause you're scared of using your chosen name and don't wanna write your deadname on paper. Like him finally being able to say his nane to the counselor
After all these years, there isn't a single phrase more chilling, unnerving and depressing than _Care left the room._
Not In Table is pretty up there tho
why so?
@asriel114 I think that they are scared of tables, and I would be too if I were you
@@catwithapaperhat8614 I'm referring to the care line but yeah tables truly are a terrifying kind.
@@Melissa31179 It is a horrifically casual way to say that someone got frickin kidnapped. From their own home, by their father.
Gonna be honest - I watched both of these Nexpo breakdowns and I still have no idea wtf is going on with this game/storyline. This was like trying to understand quantum physics as an 8 year old. How certain conclusions were drawn based on certain "evidence" is beyond me, lmao. Congrats to Nexpo for being smart enough to decipher this, but I could not keep up.
Same 😢
seriously tho. some of it makes…some sense, but lina being knocked unconscious in a windmill and him pretending she went missing? i cannot figure out how one could get to that conclusion. not saying nexpo is wrong, i just don’t get it lol
@@frankiesayspanic I'm confused too. The only conclusion I can draw is Marvin maybe accidentally hurt his friend, so he hid her under a floorboard in the windmill (maybe that's why there's that weird woman in the gear room inside the windmill that Paul finds.) And he told everyone she went missing by running away, knowing good and damn well he hid her.
What's confusing is wouldn't Marvin know instantly whether or not his friend died? Perhaps not since he was young: she could've very well looked dead to a young kid, but as Marvin grew up he realized 'maybe she was just knocked unconscious; did she escape?'
The problem with this theory is, if she woke up or escaped in any way possible, wouldn't she tell her sister INSTANTLY what happened, and not ran away? That's a portion of the theory I just don't agree with.
me too!! especially the last 10 minutes.. what? I've tried rewatching and I'm so confused. Lina isn't missing? and what is that about Paul's mom being presumed dead? I assumed his mom was Anna since his dad is Marvin and Paul is Care. WHEN WERE ANNA AND LINA TRAPPED IN A SCHOOL? I really tried to pay attention and I usually can follow his other videos but I have no idea what I just watched
@@ratcheesecakeDw bro im as lost as you are😭😂
Nexpos narration is both anxiety inducing and eerily soothing all at once.
Word
dude should honestly make an asmr channel already
"It would appear that everything................... was not as it seemed."
@@cinemaspire7258 exactly. Love the narration as much as the content
@TracvM320 I'll admit I find it a little goofy at times but it's still awesome
The video itself isn’t scary, but the way it’s edited makes the story telling unnerving. It makes me feel like I’m being watched. Lol… Love it.
It does and it’s so unnerving 😭
it feels like im waiting for a jumpscare that will never come
The fake pauses are annoying i h8 it he tries to be so suspenseful about a fake ahh story coming up with clickbait titles : AVIRTUALVOIDOFMISERY🫨🫨 like bro😑
@@jeso7606bro why are you even here then
@@cosmicbunnyy i emjoy his other work and i can be wherever i please
I was today years old when it finally occurred to me that Paul wasn't playing Petscop in a car, he was playing in a garage, bc that's where Daniel's setup was.
... also, I think - given that we're inferring that mike got a pet on his birthday - maybe mike was walking his dog when he was hit by marvin? and maybe the dog survived and mike didn't, or they were both in a bad way? Though this still does lead to the same reading of 'Daniel wasn't REALLY talking about the dog was he' so it ultimately doesn't matter, just food for thought
So when the car sounds started he was about to leave with the car? or was it someone else using it?
Man. The things people just make for the internet to unravel without asking for anything in return.
Thanks for sharing this, Nexpo. You're one hell of a storyteller.
Paul, famous protag of Petscop. Famous for his saying: "Every Pet has its Scop."
I can't believe I was so enraptured in this ARG where you play as a walking olive bean to the point where I genuinely felt emotional at the epilogue. What a masterpiece.
"play as a walking olive bean" omg LMAO 😂
Petscop is one of my favourite pieces of internet art ever. I almost want to make a physical copy of it, it's the kind of art you want to keep for the rest of your life. I remember watching them as they came out and theorizing on reddit, thinking paul was dead and the series was over after episode 13 came out, watching the multi episode release on christmas. Love this series so much. Can't wait to see what Tony does next.
God I remember the absolute panic, ecstasy, and chaos on Reddit when new videos would drop.
Tony will do a 900 😲
My favourite is that bridal shop website.
As a fellow major petscop fan, I can only say, thank you so much. Your videos on it are like reading a love letter to the series itself. Petscop is a series that I think we will all look back on in 20 years and it will still be as mysterious and enigmatic then as it is today.
Cant believe they made a entire game just to tell Paul that he is adopted.
I think Paul got out of the car because he saw his sister on the road waiting for him, and he finally knew who she was. He was directed there by the quitter eyeing away from the road
Wait that's so trippy, you mean like he was somehow indeed driving while playing his sister or even creepier, her AI, was directing him to go to his right *in real life*? Sskskskkskskskskskskksksks I hate that and love it at the same time.
@@lydoofusbinderp9853 That makes a lot of sense, actually. The AI can think for itself and it's established that the system can even monitor where Paul is and what his room is like to get more data. It's not just using inputs, it's crafting characters off of their real world bodies as they play and walk around their own rooms, so it probably knew what was going on in the real world as well.
I actually love this idea. It's a fitting resolution for the real Paul, mysterious yet beautiful. The AI Paul could potentially be mirroring the series of realizations that would occur upon him realizing Belle is his sister and Lina is his adoptive mother- he's finally able to come to terms with his situation, begin to process his trauma and accept his place in their family.
Nexpo has given us what Pyrocynical couldn’t. PETSCOP 2 BABYYYYYY!!!!!!!
Memes aside this and part one are absolute masterpieces. Nexpo may not upload often but when he does he certainly delivers.
Undoubtedly
Ahhh thank goodness someone said it was the 2nd part I thought he re-uploaded it
You aint even wTched it yet bum🤬
Pyro had probably the worst video to cover Petscop, your obsession with a dimwitted youtuber is sad and pathetic.
When I was a kid, I also had a counselor due to reasons, and on top of being left handed, the counseling scene hit a little too close to home for me and made me feel really unnerved the first time I saw it, especially considering the implications of petscop. I can definitely get why Paul feels so unnerved during certain parts that relate to him.
Dude.. this was entirely worth the wait. To say I’m completely blown away is an understatement. The way you pieced together every aspect of this series has been an absolute treat to watch. You’re an amazing story teller, Ryan. Thanks for all the effort you put into this, it was truly special.
It's been two years, yet you never dropped this at all. Congrats on pulling through this massive project dude!
I read your comment as if part 1 of his video came out 2 years ago and almost had a stroke lmao
What was two years?
nexpo has been working on these petscop videos for 2 years@@tophatcat1173
@@tophatcat1173 Think Pyrocynical's Petscop video
@@steel5897same 😭
I’d argue maybe Anna also went through a “rebirthing” at the end (ie changed names). The way belle says boss/lina smuggled them away to me implies that maybe Anna decided enough was enough and ran away to give her and her children a fresh start. Just like the original Lina did.
Garalina means “we are Lina”
The best part of this whole series is when Paul said "It's Pettin Time" and pet all the scops
I loved the part where he copped all them pets
@anonymouswatcher37ARG entirely
"Time for petscop 2" goes so hard. We've been wanting to hear that for years.
57:21 I think the reason why a dog was chosen as the cover up for Mike being run over is that I think the sot of pet Mike was gifted was a dog.
I actually have a theory about the conversation with Jill on Paul's birthday. It's possible that on the day he thought he heard the conversation, in actuality something triggered PTSD and made him relive the conversation from his childhood. I've heard from people who suffer from PTSD that these attacks can seem very realistic, and feel like you're literally reliving it in the present. If Marvin abused Paul as a child, it would not surprise me if he came out of it with PTSD
i've known the person behind the rotation theory (mysticete) for YEARS and it's so cool seeing his theory be covered by one of my favourite content creators. petscop is so beautifully crafted. thank you for covering it in so much detail :)
I do wish Nexpo had mentioned that video and its creator by name, Rotation Theory made me Get It properly after just being kind of upset and unsatisfied for ages about Petscop
Reiner name choice might be worth pondering. When the Reiner character appeared, I thought of Rainer Maria Rilke. When mentioned of Marvin attempting to rebirth the child from boy to girl, I thought of Rainer's early life with his mother dressing him up and treating him like a girl, seeking to recover her earlier deceased infant daughter.
Are you saying that Marvin, in his obsession with Lina, pretends that Paul is a girl( Care)?
@@E-bunnythat that is nexpos theory presented at the end. That care never existed, and Paul was Marvin's son. I take it you didn't watch all the way through before you commented this?
here i was expecting some super dark, depressing twist but it ended up being really sweet... a family overcoming childhood trauma together.. how nice.
LOVED this series of yours, nexpo!! thanks for creating so much high quality content.. absolutely insane how you grind out full-out movies so often lol keep it up dude!!
Ikr! I love the dark and scary stuff but it's always nice to see a happy ending yk, this was actually probably one of my favorite video essay style videos I've ever seen and I can't wait to see more!
@@EMO_BITCH absolutely agree!
Once you read « House of leaves », every uncanny horror game seems to have some sort of influence from this book
This was so amazing. I straight up got emotional when it was translated as "Dad" because that adds a whole new layer onto that. I love this interpretation of petscop
When you said "Hear me out....what if Care never existed?" I knew EXACTLY what you were on to. I had the same theory about Care ever since the calendar.
As someone who was brought into the story by Nexpo’s first video, spent the next two days reading and obsessing over the community document, and dropped everything when this video dropped, words cannot DESCRIBE how much I love this conclusion.
Nexpo, your explanations are so wonderfully delivered, both ominous yet crystal clear as to what you mean. Your editing is so crisp, balancing audio and video like it’s easy. I went from never hearing of this series to completely obsessed with it!!!
I think your theory is well crafted and rock solid, which only leaves me with even more heart wrenching compassion for Paul and Belle and PaulAI and TiaraAI and everyone trapped- Well, used to be trapped- Within a brother’s twisted need for truth blending horribly with a rebirthing self centered father.
Incredibly explained, magnificently shown, and your words flow off your tongue as if they are guided! Bravo, Nexpo, bravo indeed!!!
I like to think that, because Daniel made the AIs to predict the thought process and actions of their real life counterparts, that what AI Belle and AI Paul went through is roughly what happened. Lina disappeared. Belle disappeared. And finally Paul disappeared, just like his mother because he went to be with her.
(Last month, Nexpo drops a banger Petscop continuation video)
(1 month later you hear a knock at your front door. Suddenly, Nexpo breaks down the door with a Tool-shaped battering ram and gives you a mile-long grin)
Nexpo: I NEVER SAID I WAS DONE
Cursed_Nexpo
I'm here thinking: This must be a re-upload, then, I see that the original is still up. Next thing I know, it's a Pt. 2
NEXPO❤ REALLY needs to pin your comment! It's 🔥!
What
No
No
Holy shit man. What a journey. I'm not very good at putting pieces together when watching various media and I've always been fascinated by petscop but never been able to understand the story. Thanks to this mini docuseries it's all been cleared up and I am fucking blown away. Well done for this dude, this has gotta be one of my favourite yt videos of all time.
Sometimes I wish I could erase my memories of watching Petscop so I could experience its mystery all over again. Beautifully done Nexpo.
right, I miss when I was younger and thought it was a real game
Can't believe this whole coverage project was more engaging and shorter than the Nightmare Masterclass version.
You, Fredrick Knudsen and DefunctLand are three reasons these kinds of vids deserve to be called documentaries.
Well done. Well. Fucking. Done.
Also, I missed the epilogue, and as a fan of the series, I couldn't help but shed a tear at the ending.
fax
Rip nightmare class lol
This is so refreshing and good. I love that people are still finding Petscop and discussing it. Tony's a humble guy and I think really downplays how impactful this series was. I was honestly so disappointed when NightMind shit on Petscop, but given how his channel had begun to grate on my nerves in other regards (which I'll leave out for propriety), I shouldn't have been surprised. Thank you for making two stellar videos on Petscop and all the hard work you do!
You made me realize that the reason I never understood this series for so long was at least in part because my main source of info for it was Night Mind, who judging from the comments of his second Petscop vid kind of didn't really understand it like Nexpo did (or like much of his audience did). Also the fact that Night Mind never actually finished covering Petscop.
No no, I'm curious to hear what you think of NightMind. How has his channel become grating?
im with Jaxon, what happened with him? im not trying to jump you or anything for your opinions, i just haven’t watched him in a while and im curious to hear other perspectives
Damn I didn't know NM's petscop videos were that bad
The more you know I suppose
@@DarisuccSA I mean, I can say that I can't recall their exact quality, it has been 4 years since I watched them, but basically from what I read in that video's comment sections he basically treats it as an ARG and doesn't really follow the logic in some parts. Like he just refuses to accept the part about texting using button combos and assumed it was random, unlike this video that did bring up that there was a guide to them that could translate.
And to the others, while I can't speak for the OP, I'll say that in recent years I've noticed a pattern of Night Mind playing super long clips from whatever he's covering, then briefly summarizing what he just played. He's also been relying more on livestreaming for some topics rather than going in depth on them and breaking them down properly.
I still like him over all personally, but I can say that I enjoy him less than I used to.
The left and right in Pall's game were flipped. If you go back and look at button prompts when he's in certain menus, you can see that the prompt on the left side of the screen is the same shape as "right" on a playstation controller and vice versa. There was also the confusion Pall had at times about whether he was going right or left, when he was doing the imagination stuff, that could have been because his controls were wrong too.
The audio design in all of Nexpo's videos is so evocative and atmospheric.
Let’s go more lore!!
YEAH
LORE FEST
Lore ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Yeah, as soon as you mentioned "maybe Care was Paul's twin sister, but how come he doesn't remember her?" in previous episode, I thought that far more plausible explanation would be if Care just WAS Paul. And a lot of things hinted at this being a correct assumption (like Care having conversations in game that Paul had in real life or being unsettled about the resemblance between them)
Literally the best most well crafted theory of this series yet. The idea of it being about perspectives kind of has a meta aspect to it for me, since my perspective never lead me to thinking of it BEING about perspectives and mostly "realistic" scenarios as opposed to the supernatural.
Basically the only supernatural aspect to this is Daniel's AI being able to copy a human that effectively.
i actually REALLY, really love your interpretation of petscop. paul and the rebirth of his family really made me pause and audibly go 'woah, no way...'
Honestly, I think Petscop making barely any sense and staying ambiguous makes it an even more memorable and well-crafted piece of art. It is what you personally feel it is. To one person, the door is open. To another, it is closed. The door never opened or closed at all. It's all in our heads.
It's all in le head 💀
Hm. I wonder. What if Care _was_ real, but was rebirthed as Paul in an attempt to bring Michael to life? After all, Paul's room is unlocked by combining Care's face with *Michael's* eyebrows...
its completely possible that since paul and michael were cousins, they had similar facial features
Disturbing things returns in December? I CANT WAIT!!!!
Thank you Nexpo!
Another reason I'm not being patient waiting for December besides Christmas & New Year!
I just find it so interesting that of all people to accidentally run over, it had to be the little brother of the nephew of Lina, same Lina, Marvin was so obsessed about
I honestly can understand why you believe that Paul and Care are the same person. When you consider the timeline where Marvin's mind is so hyper fixated on Lina that it's eating away at him, reality would distort. He would see some people as other people.
Maybe that's a stretch, nothing is 100% clear, but whatever it is, what matters is that the cycle of pain ended, and a new dawn has risen
Regardless of what's actually going on in the series, I really don't think there's any doubt that Paul is Care - possibly an alt-universe version, possibly the one and only. There are too many parallels. Personally I like the theory that Paul is a trans man and was actually born Carrie, but Marvin being so far gone that he thinks Paul is Carrie is disturbingly plausible.
@@MrfnordTim That was something that came to mind too. The constant body dysmorphia put on Care, Paul's slightly feminine voice; if that was the creator's intentions to make Paul a trans-man I wouldn't be surprised. Bell also saying them "being born" could be their transition into the opposite sex. I can't really think of any other explanation for why they're so similar and the epilogue, so I'd be interested to hear.
genuinely shocked i haven't seen any 'paul is transgender' theories yet even as a shitpost. LOL
This is Myhouse.wad all over again. What if instead you, the viewer, were trans all along?
@@kirby2002it's actually an extremely popular theory. So much so that half of the reddit posts about it are either for it or trying to debunk it in some way.
I think it depends on how much repression Paul has done. There's a lot of evidence to suggest it's true, but it's also undeniably a stretch and has a lot of detracting evidence too. I think it's intentionally fuzzy to put things up to viewer interpretation.
I don't necessarily believe in the Paul is trans theory, but I do believe in the idea of Paul/care being the same person. Either through weird dimensional shenanigans (unlikely, honestly) or through repression with dissociative identity disorder.
I remember those days when Petscop just came out and I thought that it was just a random thing that someone posted for fun. Never seen such a complex, yet beautiful stories. Thank you so much, Nexpo, for making these videos!
Interesting little tidbit that I thought was odd, how the game keeps writing his name as "Pall", despite us seeing he enters it in properly as "Paul"...
The definition of pall can be something enveloping a situation in gloom/heaviness/fear, or it could be a "covering" or "cloak", particularly appropriate in this context as a funeral cloth or casket covering
I don't think your idea of Care not being real is that outlandish at all! In fact it ties into my idea of what "Rebirthing" is.
This whole "Rebirthing Ritual" in my eyes is just Marvin's (and later Daniel's) scheme to psychologically abuse the children so badly as to purposefully drive them to develop Dissociative Identity Disorder, thus "rebirthing" a new child in the image of whoever they wanted the first one to be.
After suffering so much abuse at the hands of her adoptive father and cousin, Belle was almost driven to create an Alter named Tiara as per their demands but "quit halfway through" and escaped to Lina's custody and was deemed a failure as a result.
They set their sights on Paul who ended up developing the Carrie/Care Identity to take the abuse in his stead while in Marvin's custody, with his wife going along with their son's new personality out of an innocent desire to help him feel accepted and loved, this gave the man hope that Paul could develop an Alter in Lina's image next if the boy were simply traumatized hard enough. All culminating into "Care's" horrific kidnapping at the hands of his own father. Daniel rescued the scared, shivering, and long-haired "Care" as a final act of goodwill before ending it all. Merry Christmas.
This would explain why despite the multitude of similarities down to having the same face and birthday, Paul has no recollection of meeting any version of Care, because he was "hiding in the closet" when Marvin supposedly snatched her instead.
AI Paul, with none of the human intricacies that lead someone to develop such a debilitating mental illness, remained as Paul through and through in the simulated gameplay, with none of the psychological safety nets that being Care gave to the Physical Paul. Especially when both identities have separately labeled logs of player input for the AI to work off of and differentiate the play-styles of, coldly marking them as "seperate people" who played the game. This is where his extreme discomfort from the once-censored "Caskets" comes from. Those aren't supposed to be his memories.
Of course, I could be completely wrong about everything, but hey that's Petscop for you. Lol
ah damn you pointing out the AI training play ligs being different, and AI paul not being susceptible to rebirthing totally got me
also the way the Pall is told that doors will open and there will be ground beneath his feet, and how he plays his own melody to the discontent of marvin
chef's kiss
Oh my god, I never even considered that the Care sprite having long hair is due to Paul being in the basement for five months. Holy fuck
These have probably been the most complete and coherent look at Petscop I've ever seen.
I didn't find Petscop until several episodes had been put up, but I was there for probably the last 3/4 of it. I remember staying up far too late at night the day before Easter in order to watch the newest episodes that had JUST dropped, and being so disturbed with the moment Marvin just says "Here I come."
These videos are definitely going onto my list of things to rewatch while I sleep haha
the first 3 episodes were released before the reddit post, rest of the first 10 shortly followed. you've been there pretty much from the beginning.
I’ve been following petscop for a bit, and never noticed Paul actually calls Marvin “dad”. Also appreciate you giving your two cents on your theory, and shouting out all the other amazing community theories !
You really summed it up greatly in the end.
What made Petscop so eerie and engaging was the fact that it always made me feel as if I had been given all the info to piece it all together but simply couldn't grasp what it was trying to tell me and it had truly stayed with me for that reason.
As always, great video!
Finally, Petscop 2. Thanks Pyro!
Pyro never fails to disappoint us! ❤
Finally Petscop 2 so he can return to making slop
Aaaah, Petscop 2, I'm not a gamer, so I didn't get this one at first. 😊
😂😂😂
Pyro is a weird mfer don’t know why people like him
Nexpo,
This video is incredible but i have something else to say.
I am watching your video to keep my mind busy while my parents argue.
I hear screamibg and yelling, but your voice and the beautifully chosen music of yours are one of the most comforting things.
Thank you so much for the amazing yet unsettling videos.
You end your videos with a "I live you all" i love you too, i really look forward to your next video. Thank you for helping me through some of the toughest of times by providing content and comfort to enjoy.
Take care
Hey man, I know it’s 4 months later from a stranger in the CZcams comments, but I hope you’re doing well.
From someone who also grew up with this experience nearly every day, I can tell you that as an adult, things will eventually get better if you try. The scars never really go away but they definitely teach you what not to do as a parent. Hope all is well bud.
I legit joined your patreon last night just to get this a full day early, and it was worth every penny. I'm definitely going to re-watch here as well to give you the extra view! This is truly a masterpiece, Ryan. Thank you so much for putting so much time and effort and love and commitment into this project. It's incredible and you should be very, very proud. We all certainly are. ❤
Yooooooooooo!
I hope Tony sees that his hard work is still being discussed and appreciated all these years later!
well he knew about nexpo's first video
So, the way I interpreted the riddle with the door was a hint that things are not in order. If the door was closed in the first picture but open in the second, was never opened and didn't open itself... Well, one good answer is that the door was *closed* and the pictures were out of order.
U genius
Or there are two different doors
@GeorgiGochev-kf1qm Another possible theory, yeah. The only counterargument I might be able to make is that it says, "...two photos of a door..." which isn't completely sound. It's just an implication of a singular door, but the verbiage could go either way.
I think one side-theory that would help strengthen the final analysis is if you view the Carrie/Care - Paul connection as Carrie transitioning ("rebirthing") into Paul when passed onto Lina's care. The credits' thank you note from Anna does mention Carrie by name, and prevents potential self-conflicts with avoiding Carrie not equaling to Care.
Yeah I also had the thought that Paul might be a trans man. Tie into Marvin being so disappointed with Care not being the “perfect little girl” he was looking for.
Thats what i was thinking too! You could say that Daniel played along whith Marvin's delusions, that's why Care was in the game, but it wouldn't make sense for Paul to be called that in beta testing or by his real mother. Trans theory explains that real good - he was just named Care at the time.
I think the only time Paul is mentioned in the game ever is by himself, Marvin and Belle, but they can probably read the name of the save.
So glad I wasn't the only one going "PAUL TRANS" the whole time!
I had the same theory of "Care was pre-transition Paul" bouncing around my own head for a long while before Nexpo brought up the "Care isn't real" idea too, glad I wasn't the only one thinking it. The digust 'Care' had with their own appearance and thoughts of disfigurement bring up thoughts of how gender-dysphoria and body-dysmorphia can manifest, or conversely how a physical transition can be seen as "disfigurement" by those unsupportive of it paralleling how 'Care' was sometimes seen and described.
Maybe there's something in Paul quite literally being stuck 'hiding in the closet' when Care was abducted too, but at that point I feel like I'm going from "maybe" reading too deep into things to "very probably" reading too deep into stuff.
thank god i found someone else with this theory in the comments lol, as a trans man myself i was seeing and hearing all of the stuff about how closely tied care and paul are and i was like "oh my god it's SO obvious that paul is trans", not to mention 'egg' being a term for a trans person who hasn't fully realized they're trans/come out yet lol
I'm almost a bit conflicted because my interpretation of the Paul Paradox was always that Carrie got reborn (perhaps against Marvin's wishes) as Paul, but that doesn't really align with your whole interpretation of the game's backstory and Marvin's motivations and I really like that interpretation too.
In any case, I hope Paul is doing alright.
I love your interpretation of the game. As someone with a history with familial issues, I wasn't expecting such an emotional and honestly hopeful conclusion to a game that covers such dark topics. It's nice to have a message of a brighter, hopeful future no matter how dark and ugly the past has been. 😊
I think it's beautiful too. So many ARG's are dooming. I like seeing a writer's personal challenge to create a good ending from a dark preface.
You’re truly one of the hardest workers on the platform. Can’t wait to dive into this one.
I love how you’ve expanded this story so much by explaining it. I remember when the videos first started dropping and everyone was theorizing about it, but none of it had felt as in-depth as this did. As for your theory, wouldn’t it make more sense if, instead of Michael’s body being found by the police, Marvin hides the body somewhere and tells the family that Michael went missing or something? At the very least, perhaps marvin says something that, combined with the pictures of the light house, offputs Daniel and makes him suspicious of Marvin?
petscop has a special place in my heart. those first episodes started coming out around the time my mom started getting terminally ill. episode 13 came out on my moms birthday, while she was in the hospital, 6 days before she passed. the eerie mystery and the voyueristic dread of that little webseries kept my brain occupied while i was drowning in grief. a year after that, i started writing my novel, and in every draft i've left little references to petscop. i think this project is not something to be objectively understood or mapped out on a timeline, but something to glean a message from and something to witness as it is. nothing else has come close to portraying what my experience with grief, childhood trauma, and childhood mental illness as petscop has. its writing is effortlessly natural, dripping with intimate familial hatred, and wallowing in the ambience of psychological destruction. nexpo, i've been with you since the days of nightmare expo, years and years ago. i was always hoping you would cover this artwork in your own wonderful style. you delivered this so well. thank you so much for this.
Nexpo: “Previously”
Me: *Gobsmacked he’s about to summarise a two-odd hour video*
Nexpo has officially given us Petscop 3, he truly is the goat
There is an unexplained bit of your theory: if Lina is Paul’s adopted mom, and Belle is Paul’s adopted sister, then how does Lina go from missing due to Marvin and Anna running away from the windmill to being able to take custody of the two of them to keep them away from Marvin? Like, what even happened there?
Maybe.... Lina was able to find out where her sister was and secretly got in contact with her. They had a nice secret reunion and that's when Anna knew it would be best to put her kids into Lina's care to keep them safe from Marvin? I'm just guessing all of this.
Given that the series likes to play with memory, Lina probably experienced head trauma severe enough to give her amnesia. She was found, taken care of by another family, she was "reborn" like others, but eventually like Paul, remembered the reality, probably even found Petscop on the channel, and was horrified as she made similar realizations.
That's the Linas evil twin sister that was replaced with the real Lina at birth. The actual Lina that was left behind at the windmill was never found.
Always love seeing new analysis videos on Petscop. I think what makes Petscop so great as a series is the fact that it’s ambiguous, it forces you to come up with your own interpretation on what the series is about. I think most viewers of the series have a basic idea of what’s going on in the story, but the message the story is trying to get across is all up to the viewers interpretation. I really like that.
I feel like your analysis of Paul being Care, and Care therefore not existing, misses a big point- the egg after Paul turns Marvin's ritual into a playing of Paul's Melody. In the conversation with the counselor, Paul's name is in red. And Care has been associated with yellow the whole time. And that egg is specifically red and yellow. I feel Care was reborn as Paul and that is what tells us this. I could be wrong though, point out holes in this theory if there.
REAL there's so much evidence that care is paul and i feel like everyone ignores it >:|
I also feel like it’s entirely possible that care/paul is a trans male who wasn’t traditionally girly/feminine which angered Marvin to the point that he abducted and tormented him. This would also explain why Paul never mentioned a father and didn’t recognize “care” (himself) as the trauma may have been so severe that he had to block it all out. It might just be me making connections where there are none though😅
@@miriamwamsley8873I think that’s a nice way to see it, but I would say there’s more evidence to suggest Care has been reborn as Paul, though after watching countless videos on Petscop, and watching the series myself several times, I still can’t get my head around it fully
I think Care also exists in the same space as Lina and the door. Care both exists and doesn't. Paul is Care from another angle, like how the windmill never REALLY disappeared--but still did from the photo. And as someone trans, this makes sense. You can't really GET RID of your past self. That still exists. But they also don't exist, because you were always you.
@@AnakhaSilver Another nice theory, though I personally doubt the trans angle, I’ve seen it posted a few times, I think that a lot of trans people relate to the themes in the series but there isn’t much evidence to suggest Paul is trans, I’ve also seen it commented a few times that Paul’s voice is evidence of him being trans as it’s supposedly feminine, which is unfair as that’s just the creators voice and to my knowledge he is not trans lol, though until the creator comes forward with the story, we are free to speculate and create our own head cannons to whatever makes us happy, I personally believe Marvin tried to rebirth Care into Lena but failed and got Paul, though after looking at the creator Tony Domenico’s comments on the series, I don’t think he actually has a story, he stated originally there was a story but he kept changing and removing things, so now it’s up in the air lol
Huh. I feel like, at some point i had thought maybe Paul transitioned, at some point, but your theory honestly makes a lot more sense. Marvin wanted a girl. He *NEEDED* a girl. He needed a way to know that what he did could be fixed. He needed Lina. Telling "care" that they looked ugly, the way they are now. Marvin was trying to make Paul into Lina.
Dang. I was hoping for trans plot twist, but this has a lot more impact, imo. Makes everything that much scarier. Care always looked more like a little boy with long hair, to me. Being locked in a basement wouldn't give you many chances to get a haircut, whether you liked long hair or not, and regardless of what Paul may want, Marvin wanted Lina back. A girl with long hair and (apparently) no eyebrows. God, that makes it a lot more chilling. A parent forcing their child not only to be something they are not, but essentially telling their child they don't want them to exist. They just want to bring back an old friend, and you happen to be a convenient vessel.
I wonder if the repeated mention of an injury on Paul/Care's face is a cut from him flinching while his eyebrows were being shaved?
@@ellyelly7235 its possible that marvin shaved his eyebrows to make him look more feminine
I don't usually comment on CZcams videos but in this case, i felt compelled to. I spent so much time and effort to try piece together the story of petscop in a way that's digestible and without any plot holes but always ended up finding them. the way you told the story comprehensively was so beautiful, and i especially enjoyed where visuals were accompanied by explaining what happened during the windmill incident. the conclusion was everything we could have ever asked for and now i finally feel so satisfied since i understand petscop. no other story, arg nor video game made me feel as confused as petscop did, but that's no longer the case with the release of this video. this was so well worth the wait Ryan. thank you so much for this amazing, well articulated video