On December 23rd, 2013, a man named Wiktor Stribog
would launch a channel by the name of "KrainaGrzybowTV",
which translates to "LandOfMushroomsTV".
On this very same day, the channel would release their pilot episode, for a series by the name of "Smile Guide".
If you're unaware, "Smile Guide" is an anomalous series that lasted until April of 2017,
with six entries, being home to our main characters, by the names of:
Agatha, Maggie the Squirrel, Agatha's mother, the Jeansman, and Carolina (Caroline),
among a few others.
Back in September of last year, I made an in-depth video, explaining what my thoughts were on the series;
while giving you a summarized walkthrough of the events, that played out.
I attempted this definitive version mainly because, at the time,
I believed the series was at a final conclusion.
On August 30th, 2018, the channel would release
a video titled: Excerpt from the Program "Where is Agatha?"
In this, we're presented with what seems like a spin-off episode of Smile Guide;
filled with dialogue from another interview with Agatha's mother.
Now, it's been quite a while, since we've talked about Smile Guide.
And your memory on the series might be a little fuzzy.
Before we proceed, I'd like to do a quick recap of events and theories that we've already covered.
Remember, that will be a super-summarized version of what takes place in Mushroom Land.
So if you haven't yet seen it, and want to get the full experience,
go watch the series first, then my explanation, then return,
so we can get caught up, links are below.
Okay, so if you're still here, let's get going.
So the series has a typical format of opening with Agatha,
front and center, accompanied by Maggie the Squirrel.
If we can remember, each of the videos in this series are named bizzarely,
carrying a format, that just doesn't make sense in writing.
While this is so, the titles are generally referenced in each video.
For instance, the first episode is titled "How to Apple", and in it, we can see Agatha coring one with a knife.
Check, if she's breathing. Her eyes are so soft.
At the end of my segment on this episode, I told you guys to remember three notable topics, that are presented to us:
mushrooms, a uterus, and a cored apple.
The second episode was named "How to Make From Paper".
And featured Agatha simply naming items off, that were made of paper,
before getting into a short spat with Maggie the Squirrel.
Afterwards, we're presented with multiple, bizarre shots, and one of them was of a cow.
This was a notable point as well, being that the term "cow" was also brought up in the description of this video.
Jumping forward to Smile Guide 4, we were greeted with yet another bizarre segment,
where Agatha's mother claims in an interview,
that she didn't recognize her own daughter, due to changes in her behaviour.
Afterwards, we're presented with a city from Berlin on a map,
before video cuts to a segment with Agatha, as she opens fan mail.
When doing so, she then proceeds to cut her hair off, before finally introduced
to the Jeansman and Carolina, who appear to torment her.
After this, distortions begin to occur, before we see Agatha appear to wake up,
next to a very ominous profile of her mother.
However, when she turns around, it appears to be none other than the Jeansman, as he creepily smiles at her.
In this episode, we can recall, that the notable themes were Agatha's mother not recognizing her,
the city from Berlin, and the torment from the Jeansman.
Jumping forth once more to Smile Guide 6, we're greeted with a segment, titled "How Your Child".
In this, we can see Agatha, as she bizarrely cares for a doll named Justine,
that, according to Agatha, ends up misbehaving.
After this, we're shown a strange moment of dialogue between her, Maggie the Squirrel, and the doll.
Afterwards, Maggie then tells Agatha to open her eyes to the Mushroom Land,
before a small and extremly bizarre segment,
with Agatha standing in front of a hyper-realistic version of Maggie.
At the end of this episode, Agatha appears to be in a garden with Maggie.
And after a small bit of dialogue and excessive laughing, Agatha then has flashbacks, before the camera pans out;
showing almost a prison-like cell, that she's trapped in.
The series then comes to a close, in the bonus episode following this.
Agatha is seen in a heaven-like field, and gives dialogue about her mother.
This is notable, because it's a direct shift in tone, from the strange and bizarre segments of Smile Guide.
The series then closes after this, and the credits proceed to roll.
Giving the audience the names of the masterminds behing this series.
Since the close of everything, not much - other than a couple ads, and quite a few music tracks - have been uploaded to the channel.
On August 30th, 2018, however, that would change,
with a new, epilogue-like segment, in the same canon as Smile Guide.
In this one, we have a distraught mother of Agatha, stragely, telling us about some... oddly mundane activities.
It seems, that she's in some sort of haze or limbo, that she just can't seem to escape.
Now, I made the connection in my previous video, that the show in either a reference to drugs,
to Agatha being raped by the Jeansman, an all-out atomic war, or that it was total nonsense.
Now, if any of these were so, it just wouldn't make sense for Agatha's mother to say the one thing, that stood out to me the most.
"I know, that Agatha is somewhere, and wants to come back".
Interesting.
This doesn't seem to line up with her doing drugs.
This doesn't even sound, like it lines up with her being raped.
She is physically gone.
So, where did you go, Agatha?
I wanna say something, before we proceed further.
I definietly do not stand by my previous theories in my previous KGTV video.
They did not age well, at all.
Going back and re-watching the entire series, all the way through,
after becoming reinvested into it, due to this new episode;
really caused me to have the largest epiphany about this behemoth,
that I am shocked, that I had never noticed before.
And it's funny... the entire key to this revelation, was during the last episode of the series.
Now, if you still by this point, haven't seen the series, or everything prior to the 'theories' portion in my last video -
- please go watch it, and return when you do.
I promise you, this will make so much more sense then.
Okay, alright. Here is what I think KrainaGrzybówTV is really about.
Agatha was sheltered by her mother, as stated in the final video, where she says she spooned out her eyes.
Agatha never got to do anything.
She was always confined to the safety of her own home with her mother.
I believe that one night, she decided to rebel in spite,
exhibiting a greed for something more, than the confines of her mundane life.
When doing so, she went off with friends and did drugs, that ended up killing her.
This is referenced in the caption: "Is she breathing? Her eyes are soft".
They're saying, that she's dead.
Anyway, at this point, her soul got thrusted in a limbo.
She's stuck between heaven and hell, in Mushroom Land.
Mushroom Land is, far and large, an allegory to purgatory.
A Catholic reference to the region between heaven and hell.
A very strong point of support in this theory, is that in Poland, the primary religion is Catholicism,
and purgatory is believed to exist in their teachings.
This is where it gets interesting.
The series then begins to reference a 14th-century literary work, by the name of Dante's Divine Comedy.
This describes purgatory as a physical place, between heaven and hell.
In the novel, a Roman poet named Virgil, guides Dante through the seven levels of purgatory.
Now, what are these seven levels an allegory to?
The seven deadly sins.
The first terrace is pride, then envy, then wrath,
then sloth, then greed, then gluttony, and lastly lust.
This area is meant to serve as a test to people, who equally loved God and man at the same time.
Agatha is figuratively being put through this trial.
And throughout the entirety of Smile Guide, we have references and direct examples of Agatha displaying these sins.
In KrainaGrzybówTV, Maggie, while referenced in German as "Devil",
is a representation of Virgil, and Agatha is the figurative Dante.
In Smile Guide 1, we have her mother explaining, that she ended up running away with friends.
This is Agatha's exhibition of Greed.
Further on in the episode, we see her coring an apple.
I previously made an inference, that this was a reference to her own rape.
I no longer believe, that this is a direct reference to her being raped.
While yes, it could be an allegory in some theories;
I really think, that this is nothing more than a setup for a scene, that follows.
Agatha binging on this cored apple, stuffing her face with it.
This, in its entirety, is Agatha's first direct on-screen display of a deadly sin, that being gluttony.
In Smile Guide 2, we have the mother explaining, that Agatha was on the TV.
She's shown as missing. However, I believe that it's at this point,
where she's dead, and her mother is in denial.
This is where she embarks on a journey to find Agatha, dead or alive.
Later on in Smile Guide, we see a reference to Fat Cow, combined with imagery of cows and pastures.
A quick, very brief moment arrives though, where we can see a certain something, pop up on screen.
The word 'jealousy', which is a direct synonym of Envy.
In Simle Guide 4, we have no sins displayed.
However, I believe this is more of a character-building episode, where we're able to see the Jeansman's tendencies.
Either, he's taunting her here, or he and Carolina are trapped in purgatory,
and are at this level in the trials as well.
In Smile Guide 5, Agatha begins sleeping.
This is a direct reference to yet another deadly sin, being Sloth.
She's baing lazy, and has to be poked awake by who we can assume, is the Jeansman at this trial as well.
Soon after this, we can see Agatha appear to be electrocuted;
before a different version of her arrives with makeup on, appearing to be a completely different person.
It's at this point, where she seems boastful, and acts almost like the Jeansman, taunting the viewers and laughing.
This is her exhibiting the deadly sin of Pride.
In Smile Guide 6, we see Agatha with a child.
After the child is shown acting erratically, Maggie, Agatha and the baby have a conversation, and continously switch bodies.
This ends up resulting in Agatha becoming frustrated, exhibiting Anger as 6th deadly sin.
This is where I wanna pause for a second and note something.
We do not have seven Smile Guides. We have six.
At this point in the series, Agatha exhibits her sixth deadly sin,
and the show takes a total halt, before we're shown the words "The End".
We can notice here, that she never exhibited lust, did she?
This is her in the end game.
She has one more chance to reclaim herself, as she's at the doorstep of Hell itself.
At this point, we see the screen go black, and every other character in her life, and whom she's met, floats above her.
It's at this moment, Agatha realizes this.
And this, my friends, is where we're shown a glimpse,
of what her life would become, if she commits the last one - being Lust.
This episode draws to a close, with Agatha being trapped in what seems like, quite literally, a physical purgatory.
I believe, that this is when she has an awakening.
A change of heart, an acceptance, that the life she's led,
the rebellion that she's caused, and the great pain, that she's inflicted on her mother out of spite,
is something inherently terrible. And the final episode - not being Smile Guide - is her reaching out to her mother.
She references, how she was always sheltered by her.
And the allegory is given, that she spooned out Agatha's eyes, and didn't let her see the world as it is.
She was always babied, and her own curiosity led to her demise.
This acceptance has ulitmately led her to heaven.
The grassy fields, that she's in at the end, are a reference to peace and harmony, that it brings.
And Agatha is finally able to put her soul to rest.
This is where the new episode comes into play.
This is her mother'e end game.
Think about it. We never got closure for her, did we?
Kraina Grzybów TV isn't back. It was never back at all.
It's always been over. Ever since those credits rolled, and this is nothing more than an epilogue.
In this, she gives dialogue, explaining how she's doing nothing in her life anymore,
but mundane activities: cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes, and time still passes.
The knocking that occurs, is what she believes in her mind as Agatha coming to visit her.
Giving her a glipmse, that maybe, she will come back.
She's in denial, that her baby girl has gone from her.
And will do anything to believe otherwise.
At the end we hear her explain: "Strange street, strange people.
And you just keep lying to yourself, that maybe someday you'll move somewhere.
Somewhere better, different, right?
That is not yet real life, that is still yet to start someday."
Her life is fuguratively gray.
The entirety of her life, raising Agatha to the age that she was, was for nothing.
Her baby girl was ripped away from her, by the temptations of experiencing something, greater than being sheltered.
But that was a central problem of her entire life.
Her baby girl, wasn't a baby anymore at all.
She was grown, and unprepared for the dangers that life could bring.
Nothing will be able to bring her peace.
Not moving, not spending time with friends, not even going outside for some fresh air.
She lives the rest of her life, refusing to accept the tragic fate that befell her daughter, and now herself.
In a way, she's now in her own little purgatory: a real-life purgatory of emotion, unable to ever escape.
"Deep down, you know that everywhere it's gonna feel the same.
That there is no other life.
There's only Mushroomland."
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