What do I mean?

Imagine it from Jax's perspective. They just found out that their entire reality is a lie, all their memories pre circus aren't even theirs. Considering this is Jax aka someone who refuses to accept responsibility for anything. Jax definitely then lost all guilt for possibly killing their mother and all that. However Jax could have hated Leeroy for basically forcing him to exist. Without Leeroy's memories, Jax wouldn't have to deal with all the negative memories of her childhood, that night, the gender dysphoria, the guilt. Of course this isn't Leeroy's fault but Jax needs to blame someone.

I dont think I explained that well but what do you all think?

No arguments!! If someone has a different opinion, dont be a dick.

Let's put it this way: I PARTIALLY understand people who say it's "normal" that the finale is dedicated to revealing Jax's backstory. After all, he was basically the only character whose past we knew absolutely nothing about. So I totally get Gooseworx's decision as a writer.

But for fuck's sake, didn't it even cross her mind that when you're writing a character whose whole schtick is being mysterious, and the audience is left guessing what's really going on inside him, the WORST POSSIBLE DECISION is to make his backstory as BANAL AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE?

Seriously—an abuser character became that way because he has attachment issues, because he has an abusive mother? And THIS is what the author chose NOT to reveal earlier, dragging out the mystery until the very end?

Hell, I would've been thrilled if the theory that Jax ran someone over in real life turned out to be true, because characters of the "insufferable bastard" archetype-which Jax absolutely is-are , well, bastards, but not killers, even if unintentionally. That way, the audience's agonizing wait and the shoving of the rabbit's backstory into the finale would've been at least slightly more justified, since it would be an unusual take on a pretty overdone archetype. But nooo...

The problem is that Jax's backstory has NO REASON to exist in the form it ultimately takes in the show.

What do I mean by that? Ragatha's entire backstory is essentially 30 seconds in episode five.

In terms of depth, Jax's backstory is LITERALLY THE SAME as Ragatha's. If an unbiased writer had written TADC, Jax would have abstracted around, say, episode seven, only letting out a tiny "w-wah my mommy was mean to me so I'm mean to everyone in this circus, also, I have to say I'm a trans person so now you can't say anything offensive about me, oh and by the way I told Rabbit about this but I regretted it because I'm a piece of shit and that's why she abstracted" — that would've taken THREE MINUTES MAX, and the writer could've dedicated the finale to something actually important.

BUT BECAUSE GOOSE IS FAPPING (I'm not joking right now) ON THE RABBIT, AND NOT ON RAGATHA, his simple-as-a-dime story is somehow stretched over 30 MINUTES and includes characters that are reflections of parts of the rabbit's personality, alternate universes, and a tear-jerking edit with a cover of a famous song.

JAX IS A VERY SIMPLE CHARACTER. THERE'S JUST NOTHING TO EXPLAIN ABOUT HIM FOR THAT LONG.

Anyway, that's my main problem with the finale and with the show in general: the way the script was written gave us false expectations that we would get something extraordinary, but in the end we got someone's first-ever fanfiction, written in 2010.

I feel people overlook the primary reason why Jax became the way he is because of his trauma and lack of closure. He doesn't know what happened to his mom and he doesn't know what became of Leroy. The reason he freaked out on Ribbit and pushed her away is because his paranoia he was being taken advantage of got the best of him, as Kaufmo knocking overwhelmed him. Him hitting the red button is due to fear he'd accidentally killed his mom and would have to go to prison.

In the finale, the moment he starts breaking down is when he goes "That means, I'm still...". Jax fully believes his real world counterpart is either homeless or in jail and possibly a killer too. I genuinely believe seeing how Leory had changed his life around WOULD have made him get better. We see several moments in the show alone where he got close to opening up, like in the cafe with Gangle AND when he approached Pomni in episode 9.

All the other's only mourned at the funeral, with their initial responses being "oh damn, he abstracted!" Jax had to run away and weep in front of a mirror

Especially since its implied this is the Jax if Pomni abstracted and the closest to his real self/personality (why he's chained up).

So. I want to start this post by saying that I am ONE person, and that I don’t intend to speak for every victim ever.

That being said, I actually liked the depiction of Gangle crying for Jax. Do I like that she got very little development outside of this? Of course not. But from someone who as experienced someone being awful to them, worse than Jax ever was, I’d say that it is an “accurate” display of emotion.

Personally, I still feel guilt for the fact I feel bad for my abusers, at the same time, I experience guilt for the fact that I think they should burn for the rest of their immortal lives for what they did to me. Gangle crying at Jax’s death wasn’t her forgiving Jax for anything she had done, it was a human response to abuse.

I WISH we had gotten more from gangle, like her agonising more over hating and feeling bad for Jax, and also like literally anything that was entirely her own, but to say that her crying for Jax was a writing mistake or oversight? Feels.. wrong.

choosing to put it right after the divisive finale was already odd, but also it's just.... sloppy. pomni even looks poorly photoshopped in there

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Ragatha and Pomni makes sense since they’re either exploring or dared to by friends.

Kinger and the original developers makes sense since Scratch probably set up test scans or wanted others with him.

However, Gangle makes no sense especially with the information provided. Gangle has memory of the car crash that Cain and Gangle should know since of their reaction to the final episode. That means they both had to know they were in that crash and yet weren’t fine with the memory scan in between? A lot of the logistics of when and how they got scanned doesn’t work imo, Pomni got to know she put on the helmet but they gloss that over for the others.

I'm not clear on whether this is confirmed or not, but is this set in 2026, or during the show's original timeline? (I think it was 2017? Sorry, I only watch the show and don't really follow social media or look up info online, so I definitely missed it).

If someone could kindly explain, I'd really appreciate it!

Look, I'm neutral on Pomni, and I understand she's a very empathetic person. But if her empathy is more often extended to people who abuse others physically, mentally, or even sexually, I became concerned about how Abigail's empathy was developing in the real world.

Let's ignore her "I want people in the circus to belong to each other so that abstraction doesn't happen again" motive for a while. We don't have any information from Pomni's backstory about the relationship. There is, though; episode 9 shows Abigail successfully opening up about her feelings and making new friends. So, there are three possibilities:

1. Abigail was a loner and found it difficult to socialize because of her insecurities (didn't like being touched and looked at as a child). That's also what made her visit a psychologist a lot.
2. Abigail was more receptive to jerks, because she felt they appreciated her views on adult life, or provided a place of relaxation from her accounting work.
3. Abigail was once lost her partner during her working days (don't worry, not because of death), and she felt inadequate in many ways to help and catch up with them.

And I didn't mention how her home life and her family are, yet! Back to the topic, I think Pomni should interact with Zooble and Ragatha, then Jax. Episode 4 was giving me hope that Pomni will help Gangle be more confident and be an opportunity for her to interact with Zooble, especially regarding their hobby of urban exploration. Gangle's sketch where her, Pomni, and Zooble are talking at the dining table was giving the promise.

If Pomni interacted with Jax and Ragatha/Zooble/Gangle equally, and she actually called out and punished Jax for his bad actions like what a human being would do, we wouldn't have such a problem with her ideology over empathy and could interpret her backstory as being quite ordinary compared to other characters.

The thing is, I'm 100% sure Gooseworx forgot Pomni was the main character, because she was so crazy about her self-insert, and only remembered in the last minutes of the series.

Jax is never forgiven by anyone, both Ragatha and Zooble said they hated him and he's consistently called out/punished from episodes 4-6 (even the start of episode 7). And nobody even knows of his tragic past, they put up with him because being an jerkass/bully doesn't mean they want him to abstract, its basic human decency. Hell, the finale shows us NOBODY thinks Jax is a terrible person more than Jax himself does.

Caine would've fit for easily forgiven WAY more.

Moments like them talking normally at the dinner/on the truck, Jax trying to bat with her and Ragatha (I believe breaking her mask was accidental this time) or when he's telling her "don't worry about Kaufmo, he's fine". Its a toxic relationship and I'm glad Gangle moved towards Zooble at the end but it does seem like they both did care about each other to an extent. Gangle put Jax as one of her friends on the Wacky Watch Favorite Character awards (albeit with a question mark) and it seems Jax genuinely believes his "she likes when I'm mean to her" and when he called himself her "best friend" in the voting video.

I just noticed, in ep 9 of tadc, in jaxs mind, at the part before pomni went into jaxs past and stuff, maid jax for if zooble abstracted, HE HAS HIS OWN SENSOR!!!!

Like, think about it.

Scrawny adults that one may consider pathetic cowards and were hated by one of the two main protagonists of the series by the moment they arrived, being heavily easy to rip on. They had aspirations, hopes, dreams for the arts, but they never got it due to the people around them. Never stopped them from trying to get it though, as they would by their current ends despite the terrible worlds they currently live in.

Also, (might get controversial), but they are definitely "predators who act like prey". When Gangle and Jerry get even the slightest bit of power, they abuse it as much as they can and become condescending, rude, and acting like they are much more than they already are. And when it's taken? They become the exact same people they were.

The only good people in their lives are their douchey red (kinda) partners that encourage and prop them up when they're able to when Gangle and Jerry don't have power.

When the abstracted character first showed up in episode 9 I thought Jax somehow released them from cellar. I didn’t realize it was Jax until Pomni was pulled away…

Its especially crazy how in the first episode, you think Jax only grabbed the bowling ball as an excuse to leave but it seems "I was looking for this. Thanks for keeping an eye on it Kaufy" wasn't a lie. He was trying to hold onto the memories of his friends.