“Most importantly, when the next installment is.
Spoiler alert, it’ll be a while.”
Aw YOU GOTTA BE KIIDING ME!
[Spooky glitch intro]
Hello Internet!
Welcome to Game Theory where last time, we began unraveling the puzzle that is Petscop.
To make sure everything is clear, let me quickly summarize our findings in the form of a timeline:
The story begins in 1977, when a dude rocking some sick eyebrows named Marvin takes his
female friend and her sister to a windmill. As you do....
The friend, who is named Tiara, is killed by Marvin. Marvin then goes on to marry his victim’s
sister, a woman who would come to fear him.
So clearly, Marvin’s is set up to be our bad guy.
Now, fast forward 11 years to 1988 when we know our next key character is born -- Michael
Hammond.
We know this based on his gravestone.
He eventually disappears, kidnapped and abused by Marvin, leading to his premature death
at the age of seven in 1995.
In the aftermath of Michael’s death, his older brother Rainer starts developing the
game Petscop in 1996, which he specifically says is “for Marvin." It's a game that he would
complete a year later in 1997 as evidenced by the copyright date on the game’s Start
Screen.
Around the same time, June 5, 1997, Marvin kidnaps his own daughter Care, a girl who
bears a striking resemblance to Tiara - Marvin’s first victim back at the windmill twenty years earlier.
Eight days after Care's kidnapping, June 13, a note appears on a copy of the game Petscop that reveals
a password which unlocks a hidden game buried under the surface that seems to expose all
of Marvin’s crimes.
And that’s where we left off -- a battle between Rainer - the creator of Petscop - and Marvin - the
serial kidnapped / murderer.
But that still leaves us with a TON of unanswered questions.
Why would Marvin kidnap his own daughter?
What is he ACTUALLY doing to these kids?
Why would Rainer create a VIDEO GAME of all things to catch this killer?
And how does ALL of this relate the videos that we're watching and to our Let’s Player Paul?
So pluck those eyebrows Ladies and Gentlemen and watch out for windmills, because today we’re putting the final touches
on one of YouTube’s longest and creepiest Let’s Plays.
Let’s start today by taking a closer look at Marvin.
Coming off of last episode, I saw a lot of people asking why he would kidnap his own
daughter, but you needn’t look any further than episode 11 to find your answer.
In episode 11, we watch as Paul unlocks a “frozen house”, Marvin’s house,
that we’re told was captured at three different points in time.
And we can tell when those moments are based on calendars found posted on the wall.
Now they don’t specify the year, but we can see how the dates align with the days of the
week and extrapolate the year from that information.
The first has Christmas falling on a Thursday...which, by checking past years, we know happened in
1997. Which just so happens to be the year of Care’s kidnapping.
The episode makes sure to linger A LOT of this paticular calendar, showing off a strange pattern of days
highlighted in green, beginning as every other day, then reducing to only weekends, then
skipping a few days before turning into a solid block of green for a series of months.
In those few images, Rainer - through the language of the game - has shown us a tale of a family falling apart.
Bassically what we've just seen is a custody calendar -- Marvin sees his daughter Care every other day at the top of
the year, then his custody is reduced to only weekends until finally, on June 5, he breaks
into his old house and kidnaps her, resulting in a solid block of green until November 10, the day that she’s
rescued.
In other words, he’s kidnapping the daughter that was taken from him by his wife and that
block of green is all the time they’re spending together now that she's under his inprisonment.
And like we discussed last episode - it’s a kidnapping that we actually see, as the second calendar CONFIRMS that we’re
watching her kidnapping. June 5, 1997.
And the last calendar we see puts us at Christmas of the year 2000, a date we’ll talk about
a little bit later.
So, what is Marvin doing once he kidnaps these kids?
Well, we know from Care NLM’s in-game description in Petscop 9 that “Care NLM escaped from
the school’s basement and wandered the Newmaker Plane for days.”
Escaped the school’s basement?
What does that mean?
Well, in episode 3, we visit actually visit her room and find out: “A young person walks into your
school building.
They walk in with you.
You're holding their hands.
They come out crying into their hands, because nobody will love them, not ever again.
“Nobody loves me!”
They wander the Newmaker Plane.”
Last episode, we established that the “you” being talked about in these notes is Marvin
-- Rainer made this game for him to see... “Well this part of the game was made for somebody
to see."
...which means Marvin is a teacher who abducts children and takes them to his
classroom or a basement in the school...first Michael, then Care...then does something to them that makes them unlovable...something
that ruins them.
Turns them into NLM status.
But what is he DOING?
Well I'm sure you could be imagining any number of awful things that a guy could be doing to kids in the bottom of a school
but here’s where things get a bit odd.
In video 2, Let’ s Player Paul finds a device named TOOL under the Newmaker Plane which
gives him the ability to ask questions.
Now most of his questions don’t yield all that much information until Petscop 7 when TOOL
suddenly turns pink and starts talking on its own, as if it’s possessed, saying:
TURN OFF PLAYSTATION.
MARVIN PICKS UP TOOL HURTS ME WHEN PLAYSTATION ON.
I LOVE YOU NEWMAKER PLEASE SHOW MARVIN WHERE HIS HOUSE IS.
GO THERE AND HE’LL FOLLOW YOU HIS DAUGHTER IS THERE.
ALSO WANTS 1000 PIECES FOR “MACHINE BEYOND SCHOOL BASEMENT STAIRWAY."
So he’s not only hurting the kids, but he’s putting them into some kind of machine.
It’s also worth noting that this Pink Tool asking for help, by process of elimination,
MUST be the voice of yet another child.
I mean It can’t be Mike's, since we JUST walked past his gravestone, and it
can’t be Care, since she’s crying in NLM form under the shack.
This means there must be a third victim, someone else captured and tortured by Marvin.
And based on Petscop 12, we know who this is: a girl named Belle, a girl who we know
somehow manages to escape.
“Hi Belle.
You’re free!
I left these messages for you to look at, in case you were ever rescued.”
And it’s these messages to Belle in Petscop 12 that actually reveal A LOT about the plot
when you read between the lines.
First, we know these messages are coming from Rainer, himself, since he specifically mentions features HE
put into the game.
“You’re not family, so I didn’t add your traits to the face system.
That means I didn’t add your eyes or your eyebrows or your nose.”
Now that revelation right there also drops a HUGE bombshell on the dynamics of this game -- Michael Hammond
isn’t JUST Rainer’s dead younger brother, he’s also part of Marvin’s family.
I mean think about it - the text box says, only FAMILY have their features in the game’s facial system, and
since we know Mike’s features are in there, his nose and eyebrows, as well as Care's features in there - it means that Rainer,
Care, Michael, and Marvin are all related.
In short, that one line tells us that Petscop is the tale of a broken family -- a family dealing with the consequences
of their abusive father. But thats not all!
The family connection also ties in with our player, Paul.
“When I found my room, I was shocked at first, but it made sense.
In that line Paul EXPLICITLY STATES that he found a room dedicated to HIM in the game, meaning that now HE TOO is aslo a part of this
family.
He also mentions that he and Care look alike and happen to be the same age.
“I remember you saying that we are... exactly the same... age...I
do agree there is a resemblance... very strong resemblance between us."
The game seems to run in the family, as Rainer reappears multiple times throughout the timeline
to deliver it on Christmas Day.
First in Christmas Day 1997, which we see in the Frozen House, and again on Christmas
Day in the year 2000.
Paul actually mentions in episode 8 that his mom was the one with the game, which she had
in 2004. "Well it could have changed between then and 2004. After 2004, my mom had it, reportedly."
So Petscop is the equivalent of a family heirloom, Rainer’s chronicle of the bad behavior his
father committed that he now passes down between generations.
Secondly though, thelines that Rainer programed into the game for Belle show that Marvin’s machine is somehow tied to playing
music.
“I was overeager before and started calling you Tiara prematurely.
I created a space for you in the menu, still unused now.
Then I put you inside the machine and played the second movement of Stravinsky’s Septet
on the Needles.
I played it wrong, but that would have been okay.
If you hadn’t given up halfway, you would be Tiara.
This is not what happened, and now I’m gone.”
The machine’s connection to music is further supported by hidden images sprinkled throughout
the game’s various loading screens.
At first glance, most of the load screens simply look black...and yet, throughout the
entirety of the 13 episodes, there are hidden images that reveal themselves when the screen
is brightened or the exposure is cranked up.
What you find are real-life equivalents of key in-game objects and places: the bedroom
layout we see in the Quitter’s Room, wooden stairs leading into a basement just like the
ones we descend in-game to get into the Newmaker Plane, a piano with a Playstation controller
connected to it, someone being forced to play the piano, and Marvin’s face...or perhaps
Marvin's mask. I doubt in real life his face is REALLY that green.
So what’s really going on here?
What’s all this about a piano?
Well, it seems like Marvin steals kids...often his own kids...to “rebirth” the most promising
candidates into Tiara, his friend from decades prior -- the windmill girl.
It began with his son Mike, plucking his eyebrows to best recreate Tiara’s hairless face.
We know this based on the tweezers hidden in Michael's room.
When he didn’t work out, Marvin moved on to Care, who’s natural lack of eyebrows
made her an exciting prospect.
As we can see from a note in the back of her room: “Your wife says, “Care isn’t growing eyebrows.”
You say, “That’s a puzzle.”
You’re secretly very excited to hear this news.
You’re in the bathtub thinking about her.
I have a guess at which child you’ll pick next.” That last line there CLEARLY indicates that Care is definitely not the first child
to undergo this procedure.
Now once at the school, he forces the kids into the basement, which we see in the real-life
loading screen image descending a wooden staircase, then gets them to play music that somehow
is tied to the bizarre rebirthing process.
As evidenced by the hidden real-life photo in the loading screens, he specifically forces
them to play the piano.
Those who fail are punished by getting locked into a real-life version of the Quitter’s Room. Something that Rainer recreates in the game.
That’s where Belle is imprisoned at the beginning of the series and where she is rescued
from in episode 12.
While under his watch, Marvin “motivates” his students to do better not by using a controlled
shock, but rather by using TOOL, or rather a tool, what appears to be an awl, a tool
used for punching holes in leather and wood but also, fittingly enough, a tool that’s
often included in piano tuning kits.
This is the cycle of abuse he creates, trying to recreate his lost love Tiara.
And that’s the way it continues for DECADES. At least until Rainer’s game, but the story doesn't conclude in the way you might think.
You see, Petscop doesn’t seem content to just retell the story of Marvin’s crimes.
Like Paul says: "This game is trying very hard to make it seem like there's an entity in it."
And he’s not wrong: Petscop seems able to act on its own.
We see Marvin’s in-game avatar literally able to manipulate the level editor in video 6.
We also know this is Marvin talking by the language he is using in the game.
Notice how he phrase his questions: “Where is my house?” “Where
is the School?”
MY house.
Marvin’s house.
He’s trapped and now he's looking for a means of escape.
It seems like Rainer made Petscop to stop Marvin’s violent acts not by simply exposing him but by trapping him inside
the game.
Petscop is Marvin’s prison.
And the Demo screen at the end of Petscop 12 confirms it.
If you watch to the absolute last second of the video, there are a few frames that reveal
the pause menu for the demo screen and you can see that there is no escape available.
Unlike when Paul is playing, where the pause menu has a “Quit Game” option, the demo
screen doesn’t; the Demo players are literally trapped in the game.
So how’d Rainer get Marvin trapped inside the game?
Admittedly it's a bit unclear, but I’d say it has to do with the Playstation controller attached to
the piano that we saw during one of the loading screens.
I’m honestly not 100% sure, but knowing that Marvin’s machine is tied to music, that he forces kids to play piano, and it’s the one
place we see music and the game cross in real life imagery, that seems to be important.
REGARDLESS! Based on the way Marvin's avatar behaves in the game - it seems undeniable that HE'S the entity who's trapped inside of this code.
So does that mean Petscop served its purpose?
Does it mean Rainer won by capturing Marvin inside the game?
Well yes, and no.
You see, the game is still out there.
And like any good creepypasta, that leaves open the possibility of a tragic conclusion.
And in this case, it seems like it might be falling on Paul’s hands.
We see Marvin, in Petscop 8 trying to communicate to Paul, leading him to the pictures of the
school and his house, trying to walk into a wall to show Paul the way to get there.
Marvin is trying to use Paul to escape.
Or at the very least, to make Paul into a new Marvin in the real world. I mean just stop and think:
Even after Paul watches Marvin kidnap Care, going so far as to say, "uh oh",
Paul, given the same opportunity, DOES THE EXACT SAME THING.
He literally does EXACTLY what Marvin just did.
In fact, Marvin is literally training Paul throughout the course of this series.
Remember, in Petscop 5 when Pink Tool tells Paul, “Marvin picks up Tool
hurts me when Playstation on.”
Well, Paul knows that just keeping the Playstation on is causing someone pain, but he doesn’t
stop for a second. He doesn't turn it off.
That’s because Paul is Marvin reborn.
That’s why we see multiple scenes of Marvin teaching Paul...or Pall as the game says.
Marvin may not be able to escape, but it seems like Paul will be able to carry on his dirty work for him.
So there you have it: Rainer vs. Marvin, son vs father. A tale of loss, murder, and piano-controllers.
In the end, it’s Rainer who comes out on top.
But still, that all begs the question: When can we expect the next installment?
Well, apparently earlier this week -- I forgot the series was having a one-year anniversary,
so...you know...I may have been a bit wrong in my prediction there.
But I do stand by my ACTUAL prediction that you should keep an eye on the Petscop channel
around June 5 of this year.
This game plays with dates, and June 5th is the pivotal moment of Care’s disappearance,
so that seems like it’d be the perfect time to continue the story...if it at this point it even wants to
be continued at this point -- episode 13 really had an air of finality to it.
Anyway, in the meantime, here’s something I’d love to discuss that I'm just throwing here at the end of the video
because 13 just came out and I haven't had time to really process it: there’s a crucial
point in episode 13, where Blue Tool becomes Black Tool and is used to UNLOCK something on the table outside of
Care’s room.
Notice how the green chainlinks disappear after black tool flies towards the objects.
And we know this is June 5, the day of Care’s kidnapping. Most interestingly of all we know that unlocking these objects is
important enough to get rewarded with a bunch of pieces - just like when windmill girl died - but what are those things left on the table?
It looks like a speaker system and a new microphone to me, but who knows.
I’m still working through what it could mean.
Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments below.
Obviously there’s still A LOT of details to work through on this one.
And who knows, now that this episode went up, maybe Petscop 14 is going to be released
tomorrow (something tells me it won’t). But hey crazier things have happened!
It's Like Paul is the new Scott Coffin.
ANYWAY! In the mean time remember: that’s just a theory!
A Game Theory!
Thanks for watching!