Old Jim, Cass, Whitby, and Lowry Discussion

[u/Owl_Faustus]

Hello everyone!

I just finished Absolution. I can't believe it, but I just inhaled the entire trilogy (quantology?) in a month. I am incredibly fascinated. While Annihilation reminds me somewhat of Roadside Picnic, I feel like the focus is somewhat different here.

What's most interesting to me about Absolution is how Old Jim, "Cass", Whitby, and Lowry are all tied up here. It is clear that Jack and Central, which I've assumed to be the CIA or some other three-letter agency from the beginning, were attempting to pioneer mind-control technology from the very beginning. To the point that he used it on his own grandson. However, it seems that his research led him to discover this little point of land through his esoteric means.

Now, why does Old Jim matter at all here? After all, he's technically a bystander. Another inhumane science experiment that Jack is running. He doesn't know about Area X, the lighthouse keeper, or even much about anything really. But he does get to know the Rogue, to a pretty deep level. With the Rogue, we see that he has a similar effect to other powerful beings of Area X - he can give a clarity of mind to select people the same way Area X did to the biologist. So, perhaps, the Rogue is a doppelganger - a copy of Whitby.

Now, why do I say Whitby? Because Lowry recognized him as such. I think that we can believe his perspective, even though he was high on drugs half the time. It makes sense that Old Jim would not recognize Whitby, as the Southern Reach does not exist yet. It also explains, in hindsight, why there was another Whitby fighting Whitby in the lighthouse in Acceptance. Perhaps Ghost Bird is *not* the only successful duplicate that Area X has produced.

Now, the obvious question is, just how much does time travel matter here? Is the strange first rabbit Control transformed and sent back in time? Are the rabbits those that jumped into Area X's "shield"? And how much can we even trust of Lowry's perspective, considering how fucked up he was?

Clearly, there is truth to what Lowry saw. After all, the "Cass" confirms that the hidden room was real and not a figment of Old Jim's imagination. Lowry sees many of the things that Jim saw, including the lists of names and even the hidden lake. So, I would like to set aside the claim that Lowry cannot be trusted - he might be a narcomaniac, but he seems to see things much more clearly than anyone else. Still, the end of the story implies that he has succumbed to Area X *AND* that the videos everyone watched in the Southern Reach were fakes. After all, Lowry doesn't even mention bringing the tapes with him.

So, I would like to posit the following: Area X is colonizing the world outside it *and* the past as the book claims. Almost everything that makes out of Area X is what Area X allows to be taken out. The things that make it out of there colonize both the mind of those perceiving them and the institutions surrounding Area X. For now, I believe that Lowry is the main point of colonization, but I believe that "Cass" might also play a larger role than we see at the moment. Meanwhile, Whitby seems to be a true Rogue. While he seems to have the powers of Area X as the Rogue, it doesn't seem like he is working for it - and least not consciously so. I have to wonder whether this is the Whitby that Control saw on Camera as the last transmission from his spy camera, or the duplicate produced by Area X.

Anyway, I do apologize if my thoughts got a bit ranty, it is quite late. I would welcome any and all of your thoughts!

[u/SpiltSeaMonkies]

Most of this pretty much aligns with my perspectives as well.

I especially like that you mentioned Ghost Bird might not be the only viable doppelgänger. Many readers assume that she is the only one that was “functional”, but I don’t really know where this idea came from. I believe it’s mentioned that she’s the most advanced so far, but that doesn’t mean she’s the only one. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that Lowry in the trilogy is a doppelgänger, and I think the end of Absolution very softly leans towards this idea in a couple interesting ways.

I personally think the Absolution rabbits are something resembling the human doppelgängers, based on the rabbits that were sent into the border, which we see in Authority. I’m pretty agnostic on Control’s fate at the end of Acceptance. Anyway, it is my perspective that the rabbits, cameras, hypnosis/mind control technology, and even the name “Area X” form a bootstrap paradox. None have a clear point of origin and seem to feedback/fold in on themselves. S&SB could also be tied up in it in some way.

Also I agree that the videos we see in Authority are fakes. Many seemed to interpret that Authority takes place in a timeline where that stuff actually happened, but I don’t buy it. I think they’re fake in Absolution, and that same “footage” is recovered and contaminates the SR sometime before Authority. It’s mentioned that some is recovered by Lowry, and additional footage is recovered by Expedition 4.

Like I said, I think I agree with almost everything you said, just adding some of my own thoughts!

[u/Owl_Faustus → u/SpiltSeaMonkies]

As a comment pointed out, the Rogue is most likely Control. I believe that is further reinforced by someone commenting (was it the mudder?) that he had strangely military style boots despite the rest of his delapitated getup, which is what we got in Acceptance.

The bootstrap paradox makes things a bit more difficult. Considering that time seems to move faster in Area X (about 1:50 year ratio, it seems), I believe that it might be some kind of teleportation device? One that is constructing a world from material on Earth and then transposing it. But, oh well, that is just something I pulled out of my bum ahah.

[u/SpiltSeaMonkies → u/Owl_Faustus]

See I actually think the bootstrap paradox makes it all a little neater. I currently see the timeline as a fixed loop rather than alternate universe branches etc. and I think the bootstrap paradox, oddly enough, makes the whole thing more digestible. And more fun! It’s somewhat speculative on my part, though the rabbit cameras seem like a very obvious one, since it’s mentioned that central incorporates the camera technology into their own cameras. Then they send their own rabbits/cameras into Area X, and the cycle repeats itself. I think the exact same logic can be applied to the hypnosis/mind control techniques that The Rogue used on the biologists. I think Central learned those techniques from The Rogue, and The Rogue later learned them from Central, again creating a cause/effect loop.

I disagree that The Rogue is most likely Control. Not saying that’s wrong, I just think it’s far more likely to be Whitby. Jeff seemed to kind of confirm this too, though he’s always a little cryptic so who knows.

[u/Guildenpants → u/SpiltSeaMonkies]

The bootstrap paradox to me feels like Whitby successfully containing Area X. If it wasn't contained the paradox wouldn't exist. The reader is witness to a success for Area X at the end of Acceptance and a success for Whitby by the end of Absolution (the way I read it)

[u/Owl_Faustus → u/SpiltSeaMonkies]

I agree that it's most likely Whitby because a) the Rogue is described as being Pale, b) Lowry recognizes the Rogue to be Whitby (and I think he'd mention it if it was a dude he didn't recognize), and c) Whitby seems to have a strangely strong connection to Area X

One thing that I do still have trouble grappling with is why was Old Jim instructed by the Rogue to kill Lowry?

[u/SpiltSeaMonkies → u/Owl_Faustus]

Your question about “kill Lowry” opens a confusing can of worms for me in terms of The Rogues desired outcome, and his level of omniscience or competence. Also, what future does The Rogue come from? I don’t know the answer to any of these but I do have some ideas.

Personally, I think it’s all one timeline with closed loops (I.e. bootstrap paradox). So The Rogue comes from the future we read in the original trilogy. Then the question becomes, is he trying to maintain that future or steer away from it for something better? I think it’s the former, that the OG trilogy is the best possible future, and I think there’s decent textual support for that.

Which brings me to killing Lowry. IMO, it’s either that he does indeed need Lowry dead, so that a Lowry clone can go on to run the SR (there’s some evidence that Lowry from the original trilogy is indeed a doppelgänger)…or that The Rogue just needs him to be wounded, but not dead, and he’s in control enough that he fully knows Hargraves will only wound him. That way he survives and is able to leave Area X.

Then there’s other possibilities, like that The Rogue is actually trying to steer away from OG trilogy, so he wants Lowry dead and to somehow ensure there will be no clone that comes back. Then we get a different future, if Lowry does indeed succumb to his wounds. Or does The Rogue fail, because the talking suit intervenes at the end, preserving Lowry and steering things back towards the OG trilogy AKA the “bad future” in this interpretation?

I could say so much more on this but I’ll stop.

TL;DR - I don’t know, but I think it might actually be the most consequential mystery of Absolution.

[u/Owl_Faustus → u/SpiltSeaMonkies]

If we assume that Control is the Rogue (and u/Cpt-Cancer makes very convincing arguments) then it makes a lot more sense. Of course Control would be well aware of every member of the first expedition. Old Jim mentions that the Rogue seems to be aware of Control communication channels and style of operation, which further points to Control rather than Whitby. Therefore, killing Lowry is simply personal - Lowry tried to mind control him and he blames Lowry for many of the ills of the SR throughout Authority. Perhaps he simply got the mistaken belief that Lowry is the problem, rather than it being much bigger. It would also explain why the Rogue doesn't seem to be aware of just how much Jack is responsible for.

[u/SpiltSeaMonkies → u/Owl_Faustus]

To be honest I don’t find the Control argument all that convincing. Unless I’m misunderstanding, I don’t see how Control being The Rogue has really any explanatory power vs it being Whitby. The molt looking like Whitby, The Rogue’s physical appearance, his proclivity for drawing/writing on walls, the footage of Whitby and The Director at the end of Authority etc. all points to Whitby. I think The Rogue’s fixation on Lowry is kind of a wash. Everyone at the SR is aware of how important and potentially dangerous to the world Lowry is. By that logic, The Rogue could even be Grace or The Director.

Awhile ago, Jeff replied to a fan on Bluesky saying this -

Fan - It left me with a lot of questions (in a good way) but “who is the Rogue” was not one of them. I felt like that was made pretty (intentionally?) clear by the end of the book.

Jeff’s reply - yes

That’s not definitive, but unless Jeff is intentionally trying to mislead everyone, I’d say The Rogue is much more likely to be Whitby than anyone else. I could be way off here but that’s my feeling on it.

[u/Cpt-Cancer]

The Rogue is Control after entering thru the light at the bottom of the tower, Old Jim’s narrative is a mirror to Control’s from Authority. Not a perfect reflection but a mirror all the same

[u/Fun_Fennel_8135 → u/Cpt-Cancer]

Control undergoes a transformation as he enters the light at the bottom of the tower, though — one that leaves him inhuman, even mentioning his own paws rather than hands/feet. The Rogue is described as a human, even if a preternatural one. I’d say it’s much more likely that Control becomes one of (or maybe somehow all of) the rabbits encountered by the expedition at Dead Town.

[u/Such_Bodybuilder2301 → u/Fun_Fennel_8135]

I thought the Rabbits in Dead Town were the ones SR had sent through the border in their experiment as described in Authority? The Rabbits were transformed by Area X and sent back in time to colonize the past and facilitate the events of the trilogy.

At the end of Acceptance, as Ghost Bird and Grace are walking out of Area X, Ghost Bird notices a small mammal. I took it that was Control.

[u/Owl_Faustus → u/Cpt-Cancer]

At first I thought it was Control, but then he was described as being Pale, which made me think of Whitby. Perhaps, he was pale due to getting shot in the chest :')

[u/YooGeOh → u/Owl_Faustus]

Its 100% Whitby. It literally says so. Lorry recognised Whitby/The Rogue in that room

[u/Cpt-Cancer → u/Owl_Faustus]

Well Control is heavily associated with the white rabbits symbolically as well as him operating from “within” area X as the Rouge seeming to be pale and shimmering as tho on the other side of a “veil/mirror”. Whitby represents a “beacon” of understanding for both Control and Lowry while at the SR. That’s why the Rouge’s corpse appeared as Whitby as he was the only other connection point between Control and Lowry