Before the actual release of the Dread Architect video, a short film was published to preface it. This would re-define our understanding of this ARG, contextualizing some aspects of the narrative that may have been unclear previously.
This video is pretty entertaining and different in the sense that it comes off as like a snippet from a movie, and is much longer compared to the other videos we’ve seen with a different kind of polish to it. With this video, we are able to piece together more context upon The Arm, Revens motives, and Angel. Angel appeared to be from those previous "Plato Interception" videos, and must have been seeking Phae.
A summarization this one due to it’s size and content would be difficult, so instead I will just voice some general takeaways I have. The read is optional, but I think it'd be helpful to lay out what I've noticed for anyone who'd be confused.
- Firstly, it appears that this event was foreshadowed as early as Part 18 of GNS, with Dr. Y mentioning that it was their mission to identify the "universal void synthesizer" and guide them to their destiny. Speculative / conclusive rant (warning: long and unstructured)
- One of the other biggest revelations to come out of this video is that Phae, Reven, Call, and other characters are all implied to be alternate-universe counterparts of real people. Somehow, this is achieved with the use of "Plato II" and allows someone to link their consciousness to another. Moreover, due to the Plato series having this relation to "dreams" as seen in the tags of one such video.
- The party made up of II Sky employees seems to be occurring in the “true universe” that The Arm had alluded to prior.
- Phae and Reven seem to be directly viewed as “characters” in this “game.” When Reven possesses Sydney, it appears that seeing posters around of herself in this context infuriates her.
- The "Dread Architect" as alluded to in earlier puzzles is revealed to be Mark Otherman, CEO of II Sky Interactive, which is the corperate entity to use this technology to produce entertainment. "Mark Otherman" is also revealed to just be a persona for this character, with his real name being "Marok Ozer"--(if this is spelled correctly). It is implied that he holds more outreach than just his identity as a CEO, but the extent of this is unknown. He also has a forehead scar, but it’s notably “cleaner” / seems more surgical than Phae and Revens.
- Machine Girl is referred to as a "brand" which must have been aquired by II Sky. This may be able to explain some things earlier on in Act I, with MG accepting Piper as a sponsor and all.
- As for these realities, were they constructed, or had “already existed” and been exploited? I'm inclined to believe in them being “constructed” in canon for various reasons; The use of the word “Projections” from the real-life actors, the “Dread Architect” title, and finally “Plato/Plato II” being required to “produce” this. This is pure speculation though and I can be wrong. Regardless, Plato seems to be required to link Sydneys' consciousness to these alternate counterparts. It's a bit weird to think about, that the reality is in fact "real" but produced/extracted from another reality, or rather someones' mind in another reality.
- Why did Mark insist on referring to Reven as Phae? His motives regarding Reven specifically are a little unclear, and he doesn't even appear to be too disturbed by the slaughter of II Sky employees. He clearly recognizes a potential in Reven, or he wouldn’t have asked for her to join him.
- “Mark Otherman” is definitely a play on the name “Matt Stephenson.” The other band members; Sean and Lucy as well as other real-life people are seen in the video, even credited as “theirselves,” which makes this weirder. You would think this to be an “alternate reality version of Matt” ..but this was clarified not to be the case in an AMA. Who he exactly is and where he may be from perplexes me a bit, since obviously this is not someone we recognize from the "true universe" and neither is II Sky by extension.
- JC is listed within the credits as a Plato II test pilot. JC is also known as Calls' actor, so this itself can be grounds for a lot of theorizing.
- Angel showed up previously within the plato interception series, and as it turns out, they seemed to be the figure in the gas mask/suit searching for Phae even prior to this ending. Did they also know what’d happen? They allude to Revens’ origin as being complicated.
Lots of other good theorizing occurs around here within the discord in relation to the video at the time.