I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I would love nothing more than for some closure to the web series. It was building up to something big, and we were left with a ton of unanswered questions that weren’t even touched on in the movie. I also don’t think I’m alone in giving up hope on ever getting that closure from Jarett and Geoff. So here’s my attempt.
I know there are mixed opinions about the whole “micro ball” and supernatural element of the show, even among the creators (which I’m sure is a big factor that led the movie in a different direction, and why none of it was addressed), but given how heavily they were still leaning into an impending conflict of some sort, and literally the last scene in Ep18 was related to teh_masterer’s plot line, those are the storylines I’m going to be focusing on. For simplicity’s sake I’m also going to just assume that Tagi is out of the show for the remainder of S2, and she reappears some years in the future and they make up sometime before the movie. I’m also not going to delve into any of the social aspects of the characters or any filler, because of the largely unscripted nature of the show, and I don’t claim to have anywhere near the creative abilities of Jarett and Geoff for the stuff that is scripted. I’m going to stay away from too much dialog, and might depart a bit from the mockumentary style (i.e. Kyle isn’t going to be present for some of the scenes, much like when Doug meets the arms dealer in Ep9, or the ending of Ep12). This is going to lead to some weird pacing, and the timeline would obviously unfold a bit differently, but I hope to at least paint a picture of how the events could have unfolded, were the web series allowed to continue.
To recap the story so far: Despite defeating the Big Bad at the climax of Season 1, teh_masterer is still ramping up for some sort of major conflict in Season 2. (
Ep15, 2:35: teh_masterer is addressing a room of at least 15 members of the Gamer Army besides Jeremy and Dave, and states “When the time comes, and it may be soon, you will stand together under my command and we will be victorious”.
22:50: “We cannot ignore the threat that is before us. Our enemy has a history of relentless aggression. They seek to destroy us, and they have the means.”) The flashback at the end of Ep13 also raises a few questions:
As far as Doug’s allegiances, I’m going to assume that he stays on Jeremy’s side after the events of Ep16, where he and Jeremy team up in CoD, and then Doug comes over after the birthday party to game. They are still best friends in teh movie, and the reason why Doug turned on Jeremy in the first place is because he didn’t feel appreciated. With Jeremy having apologized and their friendship intact, it’s unlikely to me that their relationship would flop back and forth in any major way a second time. (I guess technically third, but the first rift in their friendship was more of growing apart as they grew up and into different interest, i.e. FPS vs RTS). This leaves the question of Doug’s relationship with the secret agents:
- Does he give them back the Menacer? Does he keep it? Does he ever see them again?
- Reiterating from above, but does he have any further communication with the Big Bad’s crew?
So here we go.
The story picks up a few weeks after the events of Ep18. Jeremy has been training with Kris, and everything is going really well. Her focus is on RTS, and is one of the first people to actually give Jeremy a genuine challenge. She doesn’t pwn as much as he does of course, but she’s no n00b. She’s a quick learner, and her micro is nearly über.
Meanwhile, Dave’s mentee (I don’t think they gave him a name, I’ll just call him Walter) has been improving a lot as well. He trains mostly fighting games with Dave, though he has also expressed interest in FPS, a genre he’s never really taken seriously. Doug offers to show him the ropes, and it turns out that Walter has a natural talent for FPS. Walter then begins splitting his time between Doug and Dave.
---
A few days later we catch up with Doug walking somewhere by himself. A dark van pulls up and drags him in, and drives away. It’s the secret agents. They start grilling him about why he went dark and hasn’t been keeping up with their agreed upon communications. He’d been dodging their calls and purposely avoiding them for weeks. Doug is sheepish, and explains he doesn’t want to be involved anymore. He just cares about gaming, and doesn’t want to be involved in any wars.
Through the course of their discussion, we learn that it was the agents who roused Doug the morning after the events of Ep12:
They introduced themselves as special agents, investigating teh_masterer and his network. The sting of defeat and betrayal still fresh in Doug’s mind, he was willing to help them if it meant a chance to take down Jeremy. He told them everything he could remember about the previous night’s encounter, but some details were hazy. He couldn’t exactly remember the Big Bad’s face, he explains that he must have blacked out or something. This is the first real information they’d managed to obtain on The Big Bad’s network, but unfortunately for them, it wasn’t much to go off of. They hoped that having an insider would help them out though. They instructed Doug to contact them if he received any new information from The Big Bad, but there was never anything to report; Doug never heard from him again.
There were no real communications other than periodic check-ins, until one day Doug was told to meet the agents at the storage locker to get the Menacer. With Doug essentially a free agent without any alliance to one side or the other, they wanted him to be able to wield enough firepower to parley a peaceful resolution to the impending conflict that their intel suggested was looming.
They demand he give them back the Menacer they lent him, but Doug explains that he doesn’t have it anymore, he threw it away. The agents are alarmed, and demand that he get it back so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. He says that’s impossible, it was destroyed.
Eventually they drop Doug back off where they picked him up and go on their way.
Doug is at home, and it’s revealed that he does in fact still have the Menacer, and he has a conflicted look on his face. Despite what he told the agents, he knew that a war was coming, and he knew he had a part to play.
---
Fast forward a few more weeks, and Jeremy, Kris, Doug, Walter, and Kyle are all in a LAN cafe gaming. Jeremy gets a call from teh_masterer on his cell, telling him to come to his hideout right away. Jeremy says they are almost finished up and they’ll all head over soon, but teh_masterer urges him to come immediately, and to come alone. Jeremy, a bit taken aback, but used to teh_masterer’s typical curtness, heads out. When he gets to the hideout, teh_masterer is there, but wasn’t expecting him. He told Jeremy that it wasn’t him who called.
The rest of the crew leave the LAN cafe a few minutes later, and are ambushed by 5 guys on their way home. Kyle (and Doug, if we include the comics as canon) had been in a situation like this before, but it was a first for Kris and Walter, who didn’t quite know what to expect.
The ambushers had masked faces, and bore a strange insignia on their chest. They all had weapons. There was no clear leader, they all seemed to be acting as a unit. Doug had his Phaser on him, and started firing. Surprised at first, Kris quickly realized what they had been training for, and started microing. Walter on the other hand was shell shocked. After some prodding from Kyle and the others, he snapped out of it and did his best to deflect some of the incoming fire, but was hit in the shoulder by a Zapper shot. Noticing the weak link, the ambushers started focusing their attention on Walter. Doug with his Phaser and Kris with her experience microing on multiple fronts closed in around Walter and Kyle to try to protect them the best they could; Doug managed to incapacitate one attacker with a headshot while he was distracted, focused in on Walter, and Kris was doing her best to defend against the remaining 4.
Things were looking bleak, as Doug took a shot to the leg and dropped to a knee as he continued firing. Kris was stunned by a few microballs that slipped past her defenses, and it seemed that all was lost. But then, out of the night from behind the attackers came a flurry of microballs of all different colors. Jeremy was still too far away to be of any assistance, but he and teh_masterer were able to rally a few nearby members of the GA to come to their aid. Disoriented, confused, and now clearly outnumbered, the assailants began to flee, dragging their fallen comrade as they went. The GA reinforcements run over to teh_crew to assess the damage. Doug is hurting, but hopped up on adrenaline (as usual). He badly wants to chase after the assailants, but the pain in his leg (and the better judgment of the rest of the group) holds him back. Walter’s still in pain, and still recoiling at what just happened. Kris is silent, staring off into the distance. A shadowy figure can be seen on the roof of a nearby building. He turns and disappears from sight.
Later that night, everyone is gathered at Jeremy and Kyle’s apartment. Jeremy explains that teh_masterer has called a meeting of his lieutenants in three days, and expects Dave and Doug to both be there. Doug is hesitant, because he hasn’t seen teh_masterer since the events of Ep12 went down. Jeremy assures him that he’s vouched for him; He’s explained to teh_masterer that Doug can be trusted, and suggested that Doug would be a valuable asset. Teh_masterer, who was originally furious at Doug for the betrayal, has decided to accept Doug back into the army, especially given current events.
Walter starts kind of freaking out. This isn’t what he signed up for. He just wants to learn how to game and beat his n00b friends. He didn’t know he was going to be getting shot at. Things are getting tense and there’s a lot of yelling back and forth when there’s a knock at the door. Everyone goes quiet, and Jeremy walks cautiously over to open the door.
It’s Alex. He explains that the shop where he works was attacked. He hasn’t been gaming in a while, but this put things in perspective for him: he had a responsibility to use his talents for good, and to defend the things that he cares about. He’s back in.
There’s a sober mood in the apartment, and all is quiet for a while. Jeremy speaks up and addresses Walter, “Don’t you see? This is why we have to keep going. This is why we train. Innocent n00bs are being attacked, and we have the skills to help them”. Walter reluctantly agrees to stay.
---
The next day Kris and Alex are training C&C: RA3. It’s been a few years since Alex has gamed seriously, and his micro is lagging. After a few hours though, he’s started to get back into the swing of things. Dave and Walter are playing Brawl. Doug and Jeremy decide to go out; it’s time they recruit T -Bag.
Initially T-Bag laughs. There’s no way the things they’re telling them can be legit. He knew they were a bit more “eccentric” than some of his other, more mainstream Halo friends, but this was too much. Until Doug shows him his Phaser. T-Bag is blown away; this is a side of gaming he could never have imagined. He’s not entirely sure what to think. Jeremy suggests that Doug stay and train a bit with T while he mulls it over. He’s got somewhere he needs to be.
Jeremy and Kyle leave and head to a LAN cafe, where Jeremy logs into WoW for the first time in years. Kyle makes some surprised remark, asks about the doctors’ orders not to play WoW.
“I’m not here to play, Kyle”
Jeremy contacts he and Tagi’s old guild. He sends out a message explaining there is an urgent situation going on in Toronto, and for everybody to get here as quickly as possible, if they are able. For the most part his call went unanswered, but when he was about to log out he got a PM from Sirko. He told him he’d be there for sure, and would try to rally as many others as he could. Sirko then asks if Jeremy knew what was going on with Tagi, she hadn’t logged in for a few months. Jeremy told him he hadn’t heard anything.
Jeremy logs out and they head back over to T-Bag’s. After having some time to process, and hearing more about Doug’s experience being ambushed, T-Bag decides to join their cause and tells the guys he’ll try to recruit some of his closer friends as well. Kyle, Jeremy, and Doug head back home.
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A couple days later, Jeremy, Doug, and Dave are gathered at teh_masterer’s, along with several of teh’masterer’s overseas contacts. Luuksk, Weiman, and Verruckter. Teh_masterer takes the floor:
It’s revealed that he and the Big Bad used to be very close friends.
One day teh_masterer went to his local arcade after school and noticed a large crowd of kids around the Space Invaders machine. Teh_masterer had the highest score in Space Invaders, and wondered what all the fuss was about. When he came near, there was an older kid playing, and doing really well. Eventually he lost, just missing the high score. Still though, it was a spectacle for all the other kids gathered watching.
Teh_masterer introduced himself, and learned that The Big Bad had just moved here from across the country. They quickly became great friends; neither had ever really had someone that could challenge them at games before. Through the years though, The Big Bad started to get fixated on power. He was hungry for it. He started to resent n00bs, and even gaming in general. He kept telling teh_masterer about these rumors he had heard about abilities that could help them use their gaming skills in RL, that would give them a real competitive advantage against other people in the real world. Teh_masterer would always shut him down though, because for him it was enough to pwn n00bs in the game, and was a bit wary of The Big Bad’s ambitions.
Over time, teh_masterer realized that the arcade was becoming less and less busy. He mentioned it to The Big Bad, and learned that he had been using his gaming prowess to bully other kids, and scare them away from the arcade. He was causing n00bs to lose interest in gaming because they weren’t very good. This obviously upset teh_masterer, and he gave him a version of his “without n00bs we wouldn’t be 1337” speech. Things escalated, and eventually The Big Bad challenged teh_masterer to a final duel. The winner would stay, and the loser would never step foot in the arcade again. Teh_masterer agreed, and the game began.
It was a very close game and went on for what seemed like forever. Eventually, teh_masterer started to gain the upper hand. When he was on the verge of victory, The Big Bad took his hands off the controls, and began microing against him in RL. teh_masterer was shocked; shocked at first that this technique the Big Bad had been talking about and secretly crafting for years was actually real, and shocked that he would go to such extremes to win. He began microing back, and one of the first micro battles in history unfolded. Teh_masterer won, but just barely. The Big Bad, humiliated, left the arcade and wasn’t heard from again. But teh_masterer knew he would return to try to ruin gaming and pwning for everybody, and he knew that he had to be ready. It was that day that he decided to dedicate himself wholly to gaming; to pwning. It was that day that he locked himself in his parents’ basement, not to emerge for 15 long years.
Teh_masterer recruited Jeremy and the rest and began his Gamer Army when he sensed that the time was approaching that the Big Bad would re-emerge. While there had been previous attempts at weakening teh_masterer’s army through ambush and targeted attacks, (alluding to deathstriker6666 at Lanageddon, the ambush in the comics and ep9, the events of Ep12, etc), teh_masterer knew that an all out war was imminent. Jeremy interjects that the Big Bad was already defeated, but when pressed, neither he nor Dave could conclusively say that he was gone for good. When Doug was asked, he said that when he came to, everyone was already gone and that he hadn’t heard from them since. Teh_masterer went on to point out how the recent attack on Doug and the others falls perfectly in line with the Big Bad’s MO, and without confirmation, assuming that the Big Bad is still behind the recent attacks is the only way forward.
He’s gathered together some of his top gamers to plan out a plan of attack. Convinced now there is no other plausible option, they start to discuss a strategy. They first need to find The Big Bad’s base of operations, and from there they can go on the offensive.
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Flashback to the night after Doug was grabbed by the agents; The agents call their leader to give a status report. They recount what just happened, and report that Doug said he’s destroyed the Menacer, but they sense that he was lying. After the call is over, the boss pushes a button on his desk, and Deathstriker6666 walks in and the camera pans to reveal The Big Bad.
We then enter a flashback about The Big Bad to flesh out his backstory:
After his falling out with teh_masterer, the Big Bad began using his skills and natural charisma to manipulate the people around him in order to amass power and wealth. Despite his general success, he obsessed over teh_masterer and his final battle with him. He knew the day would come when they met again in battle, and he wanted to be ready. He was also prepared to use any and all advantages at his disposal. As he started building allies and training pupils, he made sure that teh_masterer was aware of his actions. When teh_masterer caught wind of what The Big Bad was laying the groundwork for, he in turn began training and recruiting for his army. The whole thing was a game to The Big Bad, the biggest RTS ever. If there’s at least one philosophy that he and teh_masterer share, it’s that RL is a game, and it’s all about manipulating your environment.
Of course, he didn’t let his captains in on this detail. He first began recruiting his underlings with promises of power, and that he would teach them how to be elite gamers, and how they could in turn use those skills to their own advantages, as he had done. He explained his version of the feud and falling out, painting teh_masterer as a cheater and a threat to their dominance.
The secret agents don’t realize who The Big Bad is, or his relationship to teh_masterer. They were two wannabe detectives that were hired out of their local police force for a “classified government” position by The Big Bad, posing as a big shot government official. He hired them to gather intel about teh_masterer’s network for his own purposes. He has given false information about teh_masterer’s intentions to paint him as a dangerous threat to the public. They have no idea that the aggressors in Ep9’s micro battle that they were investigating are actually The Big Bad’s cronies.
The Big Bad fed the agents lies about the “war” that the Menacer was used to end; in reality it was what teh_masterer used to defeat The BB in their last encounter when they were kids; He had to resort to using weapons when his micro wasn’t enough (teh_masterer left out this detail in his account). The Big Bad tricked the agents into giving it to Doug as a way to toy w/ teh_masterer, as well as to to power him up, thinking that Doug would still prove useful in his fight against Jeremy and teh_masterer.
He had kept his distance from Doug to keep the agents as much in the dark about his organization as possible, but what he didn’t count on was Doug flipping back to Jeremy so readily. Worried about what that could mean for the long term success of his plans, The Big Bad orchestrated the attack on Doug. He orders him to rally the
, an elite 5-man crew that specializes in light guns and advanced micro techniques.
---
Two days after teh_masterer’s council, Doug knocks on Jeremy’s door in a panic. Kris is there training, and Doug asks if he can talk to Jeremy in private. Someone has broken into Doug’s house and ransacked the place; they took the Menacer. He tells Jeremy everything about the secret agents, and asks what they should do. Jeremy, knowing how delicate the current situation is, decides they should tell teh_masterer.
Teh_masterer’s is furious. As he begins to put together the pieces, he scolds Doug for keeping this crucial bit of information secret. He tells them that the agents are working for The Big Bad, but doesn’t explain why he knows this. But then his mood changes, and he realizes this could be an opportunity. He instructs Doug to contact the agents immediately, and to tell them he’s got information about the head of the opposition’s organization.
Doug goes alone to meet the agents, and tells them that their boss isn’t who they think he is; he’s behind all the ambushes and attacks that have been escalating the conflict. They don’t believe him at first, but then Jeremy and teh_masterer step out of the shadows to address them. They’re alarmed at first, they’ve never seen teh_masterer in person. He assures them they’re in no danger, and that they are just here to talk. Teh_masterer starts grilling them about the intel they’ve received from their higher ups, and points out inconsistencies. Eventually they start to believe them.
They’re pissed they’ve been getting duped for all these years, but ultimately their goal remains the same: to prevent a conflict. They want to be finished with The Big Bad, but don’t necessarily want to help teh_masterer either. Jeremy chimes in and helps them see that The Big Bad is the bad guy, and that he won’t stop at anything until they are destroyed. He’s violent, and is the one urging the aggression. If it weren’t for him, Jeremy and the rest wouldn’t be fighting a war, they wouldn't be microing IRL at all; up until they were first attacked in Ep9 it was forbidden, but they’ve since had to adapt to the threat that was upon them. In order to end this all and go back to peace, they have to defeat the Big Bad once and for all. The agents reluctantly agree, and ask how they can help.
They discuss plans to try to find The Big Bad’s base of operations. After some back and forth, teh_masterer decides they’ve been in the shadows for too long, and that there needs to be a final resolution. They need to draw The Big Bad’s forces into the open, for one final battle. He is going to offer a formal challenge to The Big Bad. When Jeremy expresses doubts about whether this is a good idea and if The Big Bad would even respond to such a challenge, teh_masterer quickly shuts him down and asserts that he knows the challenge will be accepted. They decide to stage the final showdown in an abandoned shopping mall to minimize any danger to bystanders. They plan to do it one week from today, and teh_masterer calls a final council of the entire Gamer Army 1 day before the conflict.
The agents call The Big Bad, and request an in-person meeting; they have big news about teh_masterer, but don’t feel comfortable sharing the information over the phone. He assures them this is a secure line, but they persist. He starts getting suspicious and presses them. Eventually they break and tell him that they’ve met with teh_masterer and know that he is really The Big Bad. He eventually accepts the proposal, and agrees to gather his army at the agreed upon time and place.
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The morning of the battle, the GA is assembled in force; teh_masterer with his contacts from the Netherlands: Luuksk, Weiman, and Verruckter, with a few of their allies; T-Bag with his crew: Ryan, Kaibot, and jup1t3r; FPS_Doug with Ion Dragon and 4 other clan mates; teh_pwnerer with his recruits: Alex, denw0, Skrie, KashimirZ, eNtaK, kazai, Sirko, and Myren; Dave with Kris and Walter; along with various other members of the Gamer Army. In total there were 45 gamers, standing under the command of teh_masterer.
The mood was somber, and after a time teh_masterer addressed them all giving one final speech; this is the culmination of all their training. Newly invigorated, they headed towards their final doom.
The two forces approach from opposite ends of the mall, meeting in the middle, separated by a large courtyard; both sides are heavily armed. The Big Bad’s forces are about equal in number with teh_masterer’s. There’s the usual faces, Power Glove man, Deathstriker6666, The Spy, and several other of The Big Bad’s cronies that we’ve seen up to this point. Among them is also a group of 4 who bore the same insignia as the group that ambushed Doug. Jeremy and teh_masterer walk forward to meet The Big Bad and one of his captains in the middle of the court (we recognize him as the Government Agent Boss from Ep11). The Big Bad and teh_masterer greet each other and some banter is exchanged; once it’s clear that neither side is interested in surrendering, they back away and head to their respective sides.
Once they’ve made it past the front lines, they each give a motion to begin. Chaos ensues as micro energy begins to fly and people on both sides scramble to cover and attempt to get to more strategic vantage points; the battle rages for quite some time and spreads across the mall campus.
It was a grueling battle, with no clear indication of a winning party. As time went on, several gamers from both factions have either retreated or been stunned by opposing micro, lying motionless on the ground. After what seemed like hours of intense combat, the Big Bad emerged, wielding the Menacer. He took aim at an unsuspecting teh_masterer. Jeremy, noticing just in time, yelled out to teh_masterer, who was able to turn just in time to defend against the shot. The Big Bad recharges and steps closer to teh_masterer, firing again, yelling about vengeance, and how sweet the taste of victory will be with the same tool of his previous defeat. Jeremy hears this, and is confused. This isn’t the version of events that he’d heard from teh_masterer. He yells at The Big Bad, calling him a liar. The Big Bad stops his advance, and turns to address Jeremy. He asks him “Surely you don’t actually believe the lies that he’s been feeding you, do you?”
He begins a retelling of his version of events:
Their meeting was as described, and it’s true that The Big Bad had loftier ambitions. He was a few years older than teh_masterer, and had begun thinking about his future and career. Meanwhile, all teh_masterer could think about was gaming. The Big Bad never hated n00bs, but was more or less losing interest in gaming as he began to look ahead towards his future. He had searched for a way to use his talents to help him in the real world. He stumbled upon some interesting findings, of people using micro to influence the world around them. This interested him greatly, and he tried to share his excitement with his friend, but was shut down. He couldn’t understand why teh_masterer was so against this from the start.
Eventually, the day of their final face-off arrived. The two friends were hanging out in the arcade, playing as usual. As they went on, The Big Bad suggested they raise the stakes; if he won then teh_masterer would agree to become his apprentice, and finally study the micro technique that he had been developing. Teh_masterer was fed up with his talk of microing outside the game, and accepted the terms, with the agreement that if he won, The Big Bad would leave him alone about it, and never bring it up again.
Despite spending less and less time gaming lately, The Big Bad was still doing really well; he was far from rusty. This frustrated teh_masterer, who spent almost every spare minute gaming. Teh_masterer asked him how he was still so good, how he was keeping up his skills. The Big Bad said “I’ll show you” and stepped away from the arcade cabinet. He fired a micro ball at teh_masterer.
The teh_masterer was shocked; he microed back. He was catching on quickly, but wasn’t as experienced with this application of micro as his opponent. When he could tell he was on the verge of defeat, he got an idea. He dove to the corner of the room and picked up a Sega Menacer that caught his eye. He channelled his micro energy through the gun, and fired an impressive first shot at The Big Bad. “What, that’s cheating!”, exclaimed the Big Bad. The Big Bad withstood the first shot, but soon it was too much for him to keep up with. Teh_masterer had won, and left without saying a word.
Jeremy was shaking with rage. He started microing against teh_masterer, who in turn microed back in defense. Teh_masterer tried to reason with him, but Jeremy wasn’t hearing it. Delighted by this development, The Big Bad lifted the Menacer and pointed it at Jeremy, but before he could line up a shot, he was hit with a quick flurry of micro balls from. teh_pwnerer’s quick attack disarmed The Big Bad, sending his Menacer flying. The Big Bad and teh_masterer had now both set their sites on Jeremy, who was microing harder than he ever had in his life. Everyone that was still around stopped fighting to watch what was unfolding. Teh_pwnerer let out a loud cry as he continued to furiously micro, and there was a huge flash of light that engulfed the scene.
---
1 week later, Jeremy wakes up in a hospital bed. Kyle and Doug are both there, and explain that after the battle Jeremy passed out, and has been asleep this whole time. Kyle took him to the hospital, but aside from physical exhaustion he was perfectly healthy. He was transferred to the psychiatric ward for further observation.
They tell Jeremy that after he released the huge flash, he, The Big Bad, and teh_masterer were all left unconscious. What was left of teh_masterer’s Gamer Army disbanded and went back home. With The Big Bad defeated, and his true ambitions revealed, his cronies abandoned him as well. The agents called the local authorities and had them put teh_masterer and The Big Bad into custody.
Sitting in a chair facing an open window, teh_pwnerer contemplates the recent events, and the actions that led him down this path. He’s been both ostracized, and revered; He’s pwned, and been pwned; He’s loved and lost; He’s traveled to far off lands, and met people from countries all over the world; He’s been a mentor and a teacher, as well as a disciplined pupil. And for what? To act as a soldier in a mindless war, a pawn in a self-serving game; fulfilling the selfish interests of two petty psychopaths who manipulate and use people to drive their decades old feud.
It used to just be about pwning. And that’s it. And now, it’s all over.
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So that’s my take on the ending! There's some parts I'm not really sure about, but here are my general thoughts.
- Number 1, I really wanted to see a large scale micro battle.
- I wanted to keep with some of the themes that were introduced in the show, such as “Good and evil. This is a dichotomy that rarely applies to the real world.” Especially when it came to the_masterer and The Big Bad's relationship, I wanted to give them an intertwined backstory that was more than just good vs evil. I wanted teh_masterer to actually have been in the wrong (i.e. he only won because he cheated/ used a weapon), which made The Big Bad vengeful, which drove them both towards some final, big conflict, while exploring the idea idea that it wasn’t just Good vs Evil, and even though The Big Bad’s name is a literally a trope, I thought it’d be more interesting if it was more complicated than that (i.e. teh_masterer wasn’t pure good to The Big Bad’s pure evil). Neither are really “good” or “bad”, just both greedy and self-serving, which certainly isn’t good, but also not evil. I liked the idea of a petty feud escalating into something much bigger.
- The secret agents. I’m not sure why any government would be interested in gamers, or what they are doing in their basements. Obviously things escalated past that towards the end, but why would they see teh_masterer as any kind of threat? He’s not blowing up buildings or being a terrorist or anything? They did arrest them at the end (of my version), but more for endangering the public and at this point anyway, people had actually gotten hurt. It also never really made sense to me why they would be investigating teh_masterer, when The Big Bad was the clear “bad guy”; The Big Bad was the source of all escalation and aggression. So it made more sense to me that they were actually working for The Big Bad all along.
- The Menacer. I couldn’t really see why a mass produced toy would be that influential. Like I get why it is a powerful tool when using it the way they do in the show, but why was this particular one so significant? Like why was it hidden away in some storage shed, and why couldn’t whatever opposing force just go to a retro game store and pick up the exact same one? I decided to give it more of a sentimental value which played into teh_masterer and The Big Bad’s backstories. Although given the timeline, the Menacer might be a little bit anachronistic by a few years, but I figured it’s fine to fudge the timeline just a bit. Another (arguably better) idea I played around with was making it a sort of “artifact” that wasn’t mass produced, but more of a prototype or something that’s built specifically for this type of micro. This would have also played more into the mythos of the arms dealer as well, where he’s actually got some type of unique items, not just stuff you could buy from ebay. (You can’t get stuff like this anywhere else in the city) Maybe there’s some modifications that need to be made for you to be able to channel micro through it? If I went this route, I'd want the backstory to be that teh_masterer and The BB were in some sort of battle together, maybe on the same side, and then The BB betrayed him, and that's what sort of started the feud. But that would involve a lot more work, trying to create a whole other bygone conflict. I think it would have been more interesting and more in line with the existing story, but much more difficult for me to figure out :P
- T-Bag. I wanted to lean into the idea that part of the reason Jeremy was on meds in teh movie was to cope with the grief of Terrance's death, which is also somehow tied to gaming. I was going to include some scene during the final battle where he gets killed to deepen the impact of it all, but it just seemed... distasteful?
Anyway, I hope you like it. I'm definitely open to feedback, maybe I'll write a second revision one of these days. If nothing else, it was fun for me to write it out :)
