Third Scratch - Blog Posts

The Third Scratch

BladekindEyewear has a theory that there will be a third Scratch, one in Caliborn’s session. While I’m not completely sold on it being necessary (and I disagree on the events that will play out if it happens), thematically, a Third Scratch makes sense, and evidence does support it.

Three scratches across Gamzee’s face:

Dave’s game glitching, making it unplayable and unwinnable:

Time to reset for the third time this hour.

> Dave: Reset.

So, if a third Scratch will indeed occur, what can we extrapolate?

We know a Scratch Construct is different between sessions.

It will always be an edifice of similarly cryptic design, located on the planet that is home to the Hero of Time. Its environment dictates the nature of its construction.

The Trolls’ construct is the Cardinal Movement, which looks similar to Aradia’s time machine music boxes. It also reflects the Land of Quartz and Melody, Aradia’s planet. Damara must have the same (or similar) planet as Aradia.

  The Kids’ construct is the Beat Mesa, which matches Dave’s emblem and his time tables. It also fits with the gears and tech theme of his planet.

  That just leaves Caliborn, the Time player of the third session. And what’s the theme not of his planet, but his entire session and character? Billiards.

Caliborn’s session includes a planet representing each pool ball. Notoriously missing is a Cue Ball planet.

What if Caliborn’s Scratch Construct is an entire Cue Ball planet, and we haven’t seen it yet? Or seen it in its final form, anyway. Rather than being ON his planet, it IS a planet.

Two likely candidates are Caliborn’s planet (Earth), or the Land of Heat and Clockwork, Dave’s planet.

  (Personally, I love the idea of LOHAC, and its transformation resembling a cue ball.)

During a typical Scratch, once the construct’s surface is scratched, it will head toward Skaia.

  Except Caliborn’s session no longer has a Skaia. However, recall Skaia transformed into a black hole. The black hole Caliborn uses to sink the pool ball planets!

I predict Caliborn’s Scratch will involve scratching the surface of a Cue Ball planet and then sinking it into the black hole that was formerly Skaia. In billiards, pocketing the cue ball is called a scratch. How perfect is that?

TT: This terminology can be very literal sometimes.

What do else do we know about Scratches?

Its power is dangerous, and is meant to be utilized only in emergencies such as yours. TT: You mean, in sessions where victory is no longer possible? Yes. […] TT: Then, it's like a panic button for the players to push once they realize the cause is lost.

Only in this case, replace “session” with “reality.” It sounds like this could describe the situation the heroes are in, with Lord English wreaking havoc throughout Paradox Space. An even greater emergency would be after Vriska begins the process of the Green Sun’s destruction, which has the potential to lead to the Big Crunch of Paradox Space.

Within the context of Rose and Doc Scratch’s exchange, “victory” means ability to successfully create a new universe, which is the goal of a typical session. However, Caliborn’s session is unique and extreme—a dead session. Its goal isn’t to create a new universe. In all likelihood, it has some connection with all of Space-Time, all of reality itself. A Scratch for a dead session would be employed for a different, more extreme reason.

TT: What exactly does the Scratch do, then? It resets the game. […] The release of temporal energy will be quite massive. This is a hard reset. It will reboot the conditions in your universe well before you began playing the game. You will have lived different lives after the reset. The different initial conditions will ideally lead to a more favorable scenario in the new session. Unfortunately, you will have no memory of anything that has happened in the session you are in now. TT: What will happen to us? Everyone in this session now? You will all cease to exist completely if you remain here during the Scratch.

Now, all this is true of typical null sessions. If scratching a null session resets the universe, perhaps scratching a dead session—Caliborn’s session—resets REALITY.

Instead of resetting the cherubs’ universe and which cherub plays, I think the third scratch will reset all of Paradox Space, all of reality, producing an alternate reality. A new reality perhaps ruled by a Pink Sun instead of the Green Sun.

Just as the kids escaped their Scratch and entered the new, reset instance of Earth’s universe—the Alpha kids’ session—through the window, the heroes will have to find a way to escape the third Scratch (and the Big Crunch) and enter a new, reset instance of Paradox Space.

While simultaneously destroying reality, the massive black hole created from the Green Sun’s destruction could very well be their escape route, like the hole in the window.

UU: and while the emerald eye of this storm is fixed in the abyss forever UU: today yoU are poised to escape its scowl once and for all. UU: by skaias gUiding light, yoU may leave behind its tUrning arms of bright coloUrs and mayhem, and secUre peace for yoUr cosmic progeny for all dUration.

A third Scratch, the destruction of reality, a black hole escape route, and the creation of a Pink Sun would make absolutely lovely parallels to the events of [S]: Cascade. It works.

The Retcon Timeline

Timeline includes events that actually happen, plus what I suspect will happen.

I am almost certain this is wrong, but it's a starting point.

Some notes:

Calliope must be from a non-LOWASplode timeline, where John is present on the golden ship. (MINISTRIFE is optional, since that happened in a dream bubble.) Her knowledge of events comes from this timeline, which she most likely learned through Skaia's vision clouds. Some events she could have learned from Rose's book, but it doesn't seem like John passing out on LOWAS would be something found in the book.

Caliborn is from a non-LOWASplode timeline, as well, because he rips that page out of Calliope's book.

Unless Caliborn's monitors can show events from any timeline, Caliborn must be witnessing events from a timeline where Erisolsprite is Jake's sprite, Arquiusprite is Dirk’s sprite, John is dead, and the kids get trapped in the house Juju and trap the Lord English fusion in Lil Cal. (Caliborn does seem to be aware of John’s ring going missing, though. Hmm. Yeah, it’s pretty likely he can view all timelines, what with being a Lord of Time and all.)

The Caliborn who becomes trapped in Lil Cal apparently has no idea who Arquiusprite is. The Alpha Kids, too, although that’s ambiguous enough that it’s open to interpretation. I’m not sure what to make of this. It’s possible the Caliborn who witnessed this event is making an assumption, but... I dunno.

I'm having difficulty placing both the Green Sun's destruction and the Third Scratch on the timeline.

Right now it seems like Vriska stealing the Green Sun's light will happen in a timeline where everyone's alive and well. I think the purpose of its destruction will be:

To destroy Paradox Space à la Big Crunch,

To hinder the Green Sun powers of Jack Noir (and presumably Lord English),

To create a breach for the heroes to escape both Paradox Space and also the Third Scratch (similar to the kids escaping through the hole in the Fourth Wall during their Scratch).

The kids need to be around if #3 is going to happen.

I have a feeling the Third Scratch is meant to happen in a timeline different from the one where Caliborn et al. are trapped in Lil Cal. Mostly because Dave and Caliborn both need to be around. (Remember the "whilst the pimp's in the crib" prophecy.) I suppose time travel is possible after Jujutrapped (retcons, probably not, since John's trapped), but that would mean these events happen in a doomed timeline, and that doesn't really make sense.

I get the impression the Third Scratch is meant to occur in Caliborn-who-made-Homosuck's timeline (or a branch), but I can't make sense of that either.

The answer to all of this is probably another retcon and timeline branch somewhere. But, just... no. My head already hurts from all this. I’ll sort it out another time.

Time to reset for the third time this hour.

> Dave: Reset.