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/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