You should definitely react to "The Cipher Hunt: Gravity Falls' Insane Worldwide Treasure Hunt". After the show ended, Alex Hirsh would launch a global mystery involving the Bill statue. The entire fandom came together for one last hurrah to find the statue
How many days did it take for the community to solve that? I feel like it wasn't long (aside from the one hint that got cleaned up by someone causing that hint to be lost.)
I think it lasted at least a few weeks. I was on Oregon around when it ended, me and my family could’ve passed within a few miles of the statue as it was being taken by the cops
There’s been quite a bit of secrets that’s been leading to finding that statue. Like ever since the hunt, it was moved to private property reasons, then moved it again to the iconic replica of the Mystery Shack in the real world. Quite the tale to say the least and you should check out other things Gravity Falls related as well as any secrets you might’ve missed Alicia. P.S.: For instance, there’s a couple secret messages if played backwards. One was simple when Bill first debut and the other is really interesting on Bill’s final words before the Stanley yell final blow. P.S.S.: Book of Bill(code?) reaction? When? There’s some including some “familiar” faces.
Fun fact: in the commentary for Society of the Blind Eye, Alex Hirsch elaborated that the memory gun doesn't "erase" memories, just buries them deep in the mind, hence why viewing the recordings or reading Mabel's scrapbook is able to jog everything loose. In point of fact, the memory gun alone wouldn't have killed Bill, just buried him along with Stan's memories. Stan punching him out in the mindscape was the true killing blow.
@@anusaukko6792 I mean, dying is kinda a prerequisite for getting reincarnated, isn't it? (I haven't read the Book of Bill, but that is the axolotl's whole deal right?)
@@OculusObscurumHe's not even really reincarnated though? From what we see in the Book of Bill he still looks and acts exactly the same. I think that he genuinely believed the memory gun erased memories, and so he made a shitty deal with the AXOLOTL thinking it was his only way out. Basically, Bill saw smoke coming under the door and thought it was a fire when it was a fog machine. He got bamboozled into defeating himself by the greatest con man, Grunkle Stan.
@@DraconianBS Nope, he actually died. He has scars from where he shattered from Stan's punch. He isn't reincarnated, just stuck in purgatory. Edit: Well, he's not....DEAD dead.
@@DraconianBS well, he did try going into mcgucket's mind that one time and saw how absolutely effed up that place was due to the effects of the mind erasure gun, so he is justified in being terrified of being erased.
"Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon! You're a real wise-guy, but you made one fatal mistake - you messed with my family." One of the best moments in the entire show and delivered perfectly, on both ends, by Alex Hirsch. Still get chills to this day.
“YOU’RE making a mistake! I’ll give you anything! Money, fame, riches, infinite power, your own galaxy, PLEASE! NO!!” Seeing Bill in such a state of pure distress and panic is catharsis incarnate.
That photo of McGuckett and his son is an underrated, but wonderful part of those credits - not only is his mind healing, but he's healing his relationship with his kid
Alex Hirsch saved the Durland and Blubbs in love thing until the very end SPECIFICALLY because he knew Disney wouldn't be able to do SHIT about it at that point, considering it was the last episode.
In fairness to all parties involved, Alex originally wrote the two as really good friends which is why Disney was cool with it. It wasn’t until the fandom started shipping them and calling them lovers that he started to lean more towards that and then went all in at the last second.
Dude... I can't believe people actually believe this, because this isn't how animation works. Episodes are made in full months before release, and reviewed to make sure nothing slips by the producers' (in this case, Disney) standards and practices, else someone could just as easily put in some racist stuff or something. If Disney didn't want this scene in the episode, they would have had it removed. Even if it was given to them for review at the last possible second, the scene is nothing that couldn't be changed in 30 seconds using Premier. Here, I'll do it my self. Durland: Zap! Zap! We're mad with power! *Immediately cut to the next scene where the Northwest Mansion is being sold, possibly cycling Durland's hopping back and forth animation a few frames more.* That's all you'd have to do, and anything Alex would have "slipped in" would be removed, which is why it's more likely Disney just approved everything ahead of time, because they were already starting to be more LGBT inclusive. Heck, production on Owl House started just 2 years after, and even the lead up to that takes months of negotiations and contract signing, not to mention other shows that Disney was doing with LGBT characters at the time, so Disney was probably well into this direction already. When you actually think about how a show is made, the idea that things like this being put in without the producers' knowledge, or that they somehow had their hand forced, becomes a ridiculous notion. It's the reason what I really don't believe Alex's stories about how he got past S&P, because it just doesn't make sense when they eventually let this scene happen.
@schorltourmaline4521 I'm pretty sure they were talking about the numerous cases where disney let them include it at the cost of ending the show earlier like what happened with steven universe and the owl house
Stan’s greatest con. Fooling an all powerful madman like Bill is quite the accomplishment. Fortunately for him he hadn’t had as many shots from the memory eraser as McGucket.
@@MegaNinjaRyanI mean the gun not only alters memory but it can change your mind. McGucket got hit with it so many times his mind deteriorated. So the more you use it, the more your brain chemistry changes completely.
@@paulbrown9328Even then that deterioration can be reversed with proper stimuli. Ford had a lengthy conversation with McGucket before summer’s end post-Weirdmageddon (he was the one to convince McGucket to sell his invention ideas as patents (McGucket called them doodles) to the government that allowed him to move into the Northwest Mansion), and apart from his physical appearance and a heavier accent, McGucket was no different in how he behaved before his and Ford’s falling out.
@@Rexaura888 idk McGucket isn’t the best example because we don’t know what he was like before other than he was an amazing engineer. He seemed the same to me even after he got his memories partially back. It was never confirmed McGucket made a full recovery as he said he only remembered fragments and he was definitely still a bit wild. But also you forget McGucket is a weird case because not only was it the memory gun but also his brief moment in the nightmare realm that messed with his mental state. And yeah I just guessing it was the nightmare realm he visited because he found out about bill and the portal was made to go to that specific dimension first for bill. It’s hard to measure sure McGucket is the only case we have to really go by but it’s unreliable because we don’t know what made him unhinged whether it was the memory gun or the nightmare stuff being in the back of his head. None of the town folk were unhinged, they were a bit slow(which is kinda the opposite) but not unhinged which makes me believe it’s more of the nightmare realm stuff that made him that way. Maybe it’s a good thing he stays wacky and never fully recovers because if he remembers the nightmares he could go full on crazy. So maybe he made a full recovery scientifically and he’s not as crazy before but he definitely still has memory gaps otherwise he’d probably be even more unhinged if you go by my head canon.
You know, when I first watched this finale, I thought Stan getting back his memories only minues after losing them was a cheap and hokey way to still get a happy ending. But then, I had an experience very similar to this in real life, when one of my loved ones had a nervous breakdown that resulted in temporary amnesia and I was there to witness it. It was as if they suddenly couldn't remember anything from the last couple of years and it was so terrifying to live through. I tried my best to remind them of everything that had happened and I even showed them pictures to remind them. I was so scared that all those memories would be gone forever. Eventually, over the course of a few hours or so, they did start to remember again. I was so relieved, like you wouldn't believe. They ended up getting all their memories back as well. Ever since then, I look at this scene very, very differently. It hits way too close to home now. Needless to say, I've gained much more respect for it. For Stan, it may not have been the grand sacrifice that we all thought it was going to be, but the feelings attached to it are still legitimately gutwrenching. And I'll always be reminded of the rollercoaster of emotions I went through in real life, whenever I watch this episode.
According to Journal 3, it took a week to get Stan's memory back. Meanwhile, Ford's character arc wraps up pretty nicely. Ever since he took up the fight against Bill, he'd gotten obsessed with the idea of 'being a hero'. By the end, he's come to terms with the fact that he's 'a hero's brother'.
7:30 A.X.O.L.O.T.L MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN I INVOKE THIS ANCIENT POWER SO THAT I MAY RETURN! The Book of Bill confirms that Bill IS in fact alive by the power of the mighty A.X.O.L.O.T.L , another godlike being, who is a LOT more benevolent than Bill that is forcing him through therapy before he resurrects; which is where he wrote the Book of Bill as PART of said therapy
It was confirmed long before The Book of Bill. It just showed us what exactly happened after his defeat(Well...other important parts of lore don`t count, those aren`t part of question of "death").
something that REALLY hurt me was fords face when Stan couldn't recognize his own house. ford, the genius, could do nothing but stand aside and watch his brother struggle to remember ANYTHING they have been through
The reason why the second season has 21 episodes is because in the original brodcast the finale was a three part episode with the last one being double the normal run time, but for convinience sake disney splite the final episode in two to be able to fit in reruns
According to Alex’s commentary/posts: -Bill isn’t dead. What he was saying just before Stan punched him was an ancient ritual that would get him out of dodge (explored more in Book of Bill). -If he was going to die, Stan’s punch wouldn’t have changed the result; it just looked cool. -The series ends with the twins and Waddles arriving home. They’re still on that bus, sleeping, permanently 13. According to Journal 3: -Bill’s defeat restored all three Journals to mint condition, even bringing back pages that were torn out or burned. Dipper however elected to start his own journal, as well as breaking the news to Ford that he’s not taking the apprenticeship, Ford completely understanding (he was already thinking of taking Stan along). -Stan’s memory wipe and restoration went so much faster than McGucket’s because the wipe was still fresh when Mabel started the recovery, less than an hour compared to decades, which is why McGucket despite having some restored memories is still a little mad. It took the rest of their summer vacation though to get his memory fully back. -The memory wipe and seeing Stan afterwards was the only time Ford had been shown to cry in front of the kids. He also was the one who did a bulk of the memory recovery since he had a bunch of home movies from their times as kids back in Jersey. He spent a lot of the time apologizing for his mistakes to Stan too. -The argument with Stan at the end of the previous “episode” and their time imprisoned made Ford realize that he had a lone hero complex for so long, that he was the one who had to save the day every time. Watching Stan sacrifice who he was made him realize that Stan was the hero all along. -Ford was the one who told McGucket to sell his patents to the US Government (which McGucket saw as just “doodles”). McGucket in Ford’s presence was absolutely sane (he even managed to solve his Rubic/Cubic’s Cube), and Ford told him to reach out to his family even after they turned their backs on him with how much he’s restored of his sanity. -August 29th, the gang spent the evening around a campfire burning up everything Bill Cipher related sans the journals which Mabel suggested get tossed into the Bottomless Pit instead (which is how Journal 3 wound up in stores everywhere; Oregon Parks Dept. (Alex’s made up group) found the Journal in a forest and sold it off to get rid of it). According to the Book of Bill (just going over the part pertinent to the epilogue of the show. I’m not going to go over Bill’s life story. That’s for you to read): -Ford spent weeks after Weirdmageddon trying to make sure that Stan didn’t have any traces of Bill left with him, realizing that the Memory Gun’s effects not being permanent means Bill may not be dead (he wouldn’t know about the ritual Bill invoked when he thought he was dying). -Bill singing “We’ll Meet Again” became an ear worm in Ford’s mind. -In picking for his trip to go anomaly hunting with Stan, Ford found the Book of Bill. No matter how many times he tried to get rid of it (including feeding it to Waddles which means either they had a lot more time past their birthday before their summer vacation ended (like Fall Equinox?), further evidenced by Dipper and Wendy’s hats not being exchanged yet), it would find its way back to him. -Mabel found the Book of Bill and was reading it off to the gang minus Ford. Ford realized that despite his written warnings in the book that none of them were possessed and were instead laughing at how pathetic Bill was in trying to convince them to see his side of things. Ford realized the only one he was hiding the book from and who he wanted to keep from reading it was himself out of shame of getting tricked and that the Book was just a desperate attempt to keep Bill from being forgotten. -Ford asked Mabel, Dipper, and Stan to write their own warnings into the Book of Bill. The warnings largely consist of death threats towards Bill and treating him like a joke.
As other people have mentioned Bill calls out to the Axolotl a god in gravity falls, but fun fact axolotls get their name from the Aztec god Xolotl Xolotl is the god of twins, deformities, misfortune, monstrosities, lightning, fire, etc. He’s an underworld god, and is the twin of Quetzalcoatl(and Quetzalcoatl can even be translated as “Precious Twin”). Twins were seen as unnatural and a sign of misfortune, and that’s what Xolotl represents. The hairless Mexican dog the Xoloitzcuintle also get their name from Xolotl. Axolotl often being translated to either ‘water dog’ or ‘water monster’. Though Axolotl being a god in gravity falls and Xolotl being a god of twins, deformities, and monstrosities, is likely coincidence. As far as I know the creator just likes axolotls.
At the end when bills voice distorts its actually in reverse. He says "A-X-O-L-O-T-L MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN. I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN" the Axolotl is a powerful god in the gravity falls universe, one probably stronger than bill. The axolotl made bill go to therapy where he is stuck as of now. We learn about this in the book of bill.
In the episode commentary they say that if Stan never got his memory back, the person most affected would be Soos. Which to me makes perfect sense. He might not be a blood relative but he’s the only one in the group who’s consistently had Stan in his life for the past 10 years and we know he’s come to think of him as a father figure. We saw how much it affected Soos to have one dad leave him, I can only imagine how tough it would be on him to lose Stan too. Oh and speaking of which, if you remember, Soos’ dad used to mail him postcards on his birthday. We recently found out through supplemental material that while Stan is away adventuring with Ford, Stan does NOT send Soos postcards, and Soos really appreciates it. They have such a nice bond 🥺
some additional information about the show: - Stan survived because Bill pulled a desperate move and begged for help from a higher power known as the Axolotl, which negated the memory wipe gun and gave him a chance to regain memories so that Bill can live. - in each plane of dimension, there is a god that controls it. Bill controlls the Second Dimension (dimension of area), we dont know who controls the 3rd (dimension of volume), Time Baby controls the 4th (dimension of time), and the 5th dimension is controlled by the Axolotl (dimension of alternate universes). - Bill was the smartest being in the 2nd dimension, studied to find ways to break out of it because he was tired of his "flat world full of flat minds". ythis resulted in his planet being destroyed. Axolotle told Bill that he must pay for his crime of destroying his original planet when he attempted to break into the 3rd dimension, but he must accept his punishment willignly. Thats why he invoked Axolotle's name to accept punishment so that he could survive the memory wipe. - its insinuated that Dipper and Mabel were sent to Gravity Falls because their parents were working through a divorce. - too many people were figuring out that Stan may have a twin brother who wrote the journals, so Alex Hirsch created a fake leak and posted it on Reddit, where it was a blurry shot of Fiddleford writing the journals. the posting of this "leak" followed by the episode of the blind eye, was enough to throw fans off his track. Alex then admitted that he made the fake leak - the password in Mcguckets laptop was "STANFORD" - theres a montage of Alex Hirsch arguing with Disney execs because they kept making him change the show. that final shot of live action Bill was part of a Gravity Falls contest created by Alex and not connected with Disney. Fans would have to solve a bunch of riddles that would lead them to different locations around the world. there were a few setbacks since sometimes people didn't find them or a random person from that country would find the clue on accident and assume its trash because they cant read english. still it all worked out, and the final location was in the middle of the woods of Oregon, where they would find the statue of Bill in the episode. The winner recieved a limited edition Journal with invisible ink and signed by Alex Hirsch.
Btw, I didn't want to say this before, but fun fact: it was revealed in extra content outside the show that Dipper's canon real name is Mason Pines. Yet another set of twins born with uncreative names, lol.
@@117dragonking It’s a Pines thing evidently, but at least Mason has a tie to the whole Stonemasons thing about secrets and whatnot so it’s a fitting name.
It's such great storytelling that Stan and Ford's relationship strains Dipper and Mabel's relationship, causing Weirdmageddon, and then Dipper and Mabel's relationship helps to mend Stan and Ford's relationship, ending it.
8:36 I love how the animators were able to subtly show how memory-less Stan is "not himself", via his iconic hat. While his memories are gone, the fez just sits awkwardly half on top of his head, as if it doesn't fit, as if it doesn't _belong_ there. But as his memories start returning, he adjusts it and suddenly it fits again, subtly letting us know that the Grunkle Stan we knew is returning. 9:12 - *“That's all he wanted! He just wanted acknowledgement!”* That's true. Oh, and also everybody else's money; he wanted that, too. And never, ever having to apologise for his own actions, or even _acknowledge_ them. That's all he wanted. Some say that returning Stan's memories so easily was a cop-out, and in some ways that's true. The writers wanted to make the returning of Stan's memory a bigger deal, and if Disney had allowed then the extra epilogue episode they wanted, the twins would have gone on an adventure through time, grabbing all sorts of mementos from earlier episodes and from Stan's past, to jog his memory. As it is, they had to make do with _implying_ that it took a while, and explicitly stating so in the real-life _Journal #3._ However, the fact that his memories _can_ be returned was _not_ a cop-out, since we've known this is possible since episode 2x07, which introduced the memory gun. Even after thirty years of living with his altered brain, and forming new neural connections on top of the old ones, McGucket was able to re-connect to his erased memories. They got to Grunkle Stan before he even had time to form any new habits or change in his personality, so it stands to reason that it would work faster and more thoroughly. The first episode started with a voice-over from Dipper, and the last episode ended with one. That's the attention to detail that made this show such a great one. And the final end-credits code perfectly encapsulates the bittersweet melancholy of the memories of past golden summers: _Faded pictures, bleached by sun._ _The tale's told, the summer's done._ _In memories the Pines still play,_ _On a sunny summer's day._ A year or two from now, when the series is still _somewhat_ fresh in your memory, but you no longer remember _exactly_ how each episode went, you owe it to yourself to re-watch the series by yourself. This show _really_ rewards re-watching, while you still remember how it ended, so that you can see all the foreshadowing and seeds being planted early - and also spot a couple of things that _clearly_ didn't mean yet, what they would later be retconned to mean. 😁 Thank you for sharing your journey through _Gravity Falls_ with us. It was fun, re-living the series anew through your eyes. I join in with the other commenters that encourage you to watch the video about the great Cipher Hunt ARG that Alex Hirsch organised, after the series ended. It's a hoot!
I haven’t seen anyone else mention this detail so far but another hint that Stan and Ford switched is their chins. Ford has a cleft chin while Stan does not. Another fun fact is that Stan is the only one of the four main Pines to have never made a deal with Bill.
I remember my first episode of Gravity Falls being episode 8, and I've been keeping up with every episode as it was airing. It's surreal to me that the finale was almost 10 years ago. Thank you, Gravity Falls.
One thing I particularly love about Bill's defeat is that after all the speeches he made to Ford about how his sixth fingers make him a freak which makes them kindred... Bill never noticed that "Ford" only had five fingers, and "Stan" had six. Goes to show how little he actually cared, and that was his downfall.
I love the fight between Grunkle Stan and Bill. Because in the whole show. We see grunkle stan as old man greedy for mony and power. Yet when Bill offer him anything he ever dream about, he anwser by punching him in the face. Beacause the only valuable thing in his life for him, is his family. Literaly one of my favorite moment every cartoon i ever watched
When Bill left his physical form and went into Stans mind he left behind his stone body. The last frame of the show shows the real life statue Alex placed in Oregon. It was the last puzzle of the show and an international treasure hunt to find Bill. The statue had to be moved because it was on private property but it now has a new resting place on Confusion Hill in California and can still be visited today.
@@sadi5713 Confusion Hill also being the closest thing to an IRL Mystery Shack and a major inspiration for the fictional second home for the Pines Twins (both pairs). Alex during the pandemic helped boost a fundraiser to help keep the place open and the fans blew past the 9k goal well into five figures.
I wasn't a fan at the time this show happened. But I was on tumblr and got to see friends going into super mystery solving mode trying to find that statue of Bill. It was the infectious kinda fun.
The younger twins really did save the day just by being a good enough team that they could stall Bill long enough for the older twins to make up. This show seriously does sell how the twins perfectly compliment each other in a way that makes them unstoppable if only they work together.
So in the recently released Lore book: The Book of Bill, it’s basically said the Pines family’s victory was basically impossible. In almost every timeline they loose, but this one. The deciding factor that makes this different? Waddles. The glimpses shown don’t include the pig, so it seems Dipper giving up a fun day with Wendy for his sister’s happiness is what saves the day.
If I were to guess at the critical moment that Waddles served, I think it'd be the fact that they rode him out of Mabel's prison. Without him, escaping might have been much more difficult, possibly even impossible to do with everyone surviving. Good pig.
@@Axius27 honestly I think the more important thing was Waddles strengthening the bonds between the family. Dipper, as he’d continue to do all summer, puts his sister first. Maybe if he was more selfish at the fair that doesn’t happen as much. Waffles helps break Stan out of his shell and brings him and Mable closer in the Dinosaur episode. As a small gag character, he’s used in a lot of little points strengthening the bonds of the Pines and their friends that ultimately lead to their victory.
To which I say "Sure Bill/Alex. Out of infinite possibilities, only one was the good one. Even though we saw at least two other ways Bill could be beaten (Quantum gun if Ford hit. The Zodiac Circle had either Ford or Stan chose to not fight until the ritual was finished), there is absolutely no possible way Bill could have lost. I tooootally believe that". Alex has a habit of wanting to retcon things to "explain" things that never needed explained.
@@CapyMartinBara Lady Rainicorn also shares the same VA. Giffany’s VA shows up as a regular character in a later season. John DiMaggio who voiced Love God and did the Two Kings rap voices Jake the Dog. Then there’s the guy who voiced Blendin being the voice of a rather sour character in AT which the less said about the voice actor the better.
People may call "Shenanigans" to Stan getting his memory back but...let me direct you to Futurama. In the bee episode; it was established that even if the LINK to one's memories were severed, the memories themselves would still be there. Ergo, Stan still had his memories; he just needed something to regain his connections to them
After the show ended, people immediately started theorizing that if Stan was able to get his memories back, then Bill was not really dead either. Alex Hirsch later released some additional media material, and explained that Bill called upon the ancient Axolotl to save him, leading him to being reborn in another form and place As such, when The Owl House premiered, and King -- also voiced by Alex Hirsch -- was introduced, people speculated that he was actually who Bill had been reincarnated as. Although, it now seems "The Book of Bill" has disproven that.
You know watching this episode back after getting a niece and becoming an uncle myself for like a little more than a year now, it makes gruncle stan's "sacrifice" significantly more powerful because I get it 100% I would not hesitate to do this if it means my niece can live, and it makes me all the more pissed at stanford for his actions throughout the season (and the flashback) and Im glad stanford was willing to do that for the kids at all so he gets some points there but stanley I salute to hell and back
17:08 The friends I made when I was 12/13 are still my best friends. We all met in middle school but went to different high schools. We kept in touch through discord and hung out over summer, and now that we’re all in college we still keep in touch
Its also the only timeline where Mabel has Waddles. Meaning that this as the only timeline where Dipper prioritized Mabel over his hopeless attraction to Wendy.
That idea is eye rolling, to be honest. Had Ford hit Bill with his quantum gun (we have to assume it would have worked as he said, else missing is meaningless), or they completed the Zodiac (Either Stand or Ford could have been adults for 10 seconds to do that, and Bill confirmed it would work), Bill would have lost and everyone would be fine too. This is why you don't say there is only one way to win when possibilities are infinite.
Sassy Girl. Glad you seem to have gotten over your grudge against Ford! It is so beatiful that the brothers finally made up and went on the trip of a life time that they dreamed about. It seems like a lot of people seem to gloss over "some" of Stan's bad behavior throughout the series but he got the redemption that he needed! I thought the same thing about Gideon that it is an improvement from where he was before. Ironically it is probably the only way the could have realistically portayed Gideon changing. I doubt he could have gotten much better in such a short period of time. Speaking of slow but realitic changes. I was a little disappointed in Pacifica durring the finally given how much people were shipping Dipper and Pacifica. But it is hard for anybody to completely change in such a short time and she is just a kid. Depsite being a kid it was only years latter that I realized when Pacifica's family lost most of their fortune she was upset but she was the only one that wasn't crying over it which does show how much better she is becoming than her parents. I like how you pointed out that dispite the drama her own family was going through Pacifica went to the birthday party smiling and wrapped the gifts herself. You should also look closely at what her gifts were. She gave Mabel a golf club from the golf episode and she gave Dipper a ghost video representing the episode with the ghost in the episode where her and Dipper became close. Not only does this symbolize how much Pacifica's relationship has grown with the twins. But also Pacifica almost died in both episodes and yet this shows that she STILL thinks fondly of both events because they are what brought her closer to Mabel and more importantly Dipper!
If you haven't already you should absolutely watch Over the Garden Wall through October, especially if you liked Gravity Falls. It's perfect Halloween viewing and in total only takes about 2 hours.
When I first watched the bus scene, I didn't see the golden part of Ford's laser gun, and I thought he was just threatening the bus driver with a glock.
Always love seeing the pictures at the end as they show how other characters are doing after the finale. It's especially great to see McGucket got to reconnect with his son now that he got his mind and sanity back.
You know, i usually have a hard time crying or showing emotions in general, but this episode genuinely made me tear up for the first time in my life. Ironically the only other show to do that for me was actually adventure time! Also it wouldn't be the last episode without a crap ton of secrets: So for the last time, here are the ciphers: Bill's speech: "A-X-O-L-O-T-L. MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN. I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN!" Code on the bus seat (the key is "hidden deep within the woods a buried treasure awaits"): "SECRETS LOST AND STATUES FOUND BEYOND THE RUSTY GATES" Page: "FADED PICTURES, BLEACHED BY THE SUN. THE TALE'S TOLD. THE SUMMER'S DONE. IN MEMORIES THE PINES STILL PLAY. ON A SUNNY SUMMER'S DAY." CREDITS: "GOODBYE GRAVITY FALLS" P.D. a kid actually found the bill statue shown at the end (yes it's real) before schedule and alex had to pay him money so that he would keep the secret until the show was over Man. I love that guy, and I love this show.
to this day, I admire the courage of Hirsch and the entire GFalls team to put together a concise, cohesive, and ultimately satisfying story, and commit to ending it when it needed to end. interviews and lore books and post-hoc code fun aside, this episode wrapped up every loose end, and this show was truly something special. enjoy Adventure Time, I'm rooting for a visit to Steven Universe someday, but also, you should consider Over the Garden Wall for Halloween! that show is a work of ART
I always let slide the amnesia thing because of the point made at the end that if this was truly the end of the summer, Stan needed a proper goodbye to Dipper/Mabel. Maybe their goodbye could have been rewritten for that to happen before he lost his memories or something, but I like the bittersweet but ultimately saccharine ending. Think that’s worth the easy way out Stan got. Plus it made it more obvious for people to theorize Bill survived which led to future works on that, so that’s always a plus too.
It's been a blast everyone, going down through tis like memory lane is wild. I still remember the time I watched this at like 3 in the morning on a weekend where I just lay on my dimly lit room with small light from the outside where I just sat and stare at one direction like i was having an existential crisis. not to mention my obsession with this show for like a solid 2 to 3 years before it cooled down. I look fondly back to this show and its nice to see that a lot of new people watch it and its great. Stay Weird everyone.
I bought the collectors edition of this series on DvD and I love it so much. The cases are just like the journals with season 1 in journal 1, season 2 in journal 2 and bonus features in journal 3. Every single episode also has commentary from cast and/or crew and it even came with a physical copy of Wendy’s ‘see you next summer’ letter to Dipper
Well Alicia, this truly has been a trip. Thank you for watching this great show and exploring the mysteries in the mysteries that came with it. This has been a big part of my childhood and i’m so happy that i got to revisit it. I don’t know what’s next, but i’m looking forward to the next journey with you
I only first watched this show a couple years ago through Blind Wave’s reactions but god it’s probably one of my favorites now. This is such a special show, I’ve never seen anything else do something quite like it. And now I’m going all in getting the books to see what lore there is, and maybe actually try solving any ciphers that are in them.
17:40 So Wendy winked at Dipper with her left eye. It’s notable in that in contrasts the fake Wendys in 2x02 and 2x19, both of whom winked at Dipper with their right eyes. Just a fun finale fact. Wendy has been shown to be left side dominant in the show.
so Stan gaining back his memories is considered a bit of a controversy in the fandom - as it weakens the sacrifice he made to defeat Bill and had the obvious implication that if Stan could regain his memories then Bill could revive himself or was still alive somewhere in Stan's mind. Speaking of - yes, Bill IS canonically still alive! After the show ended, there was a real-world treasure hunt to find Bill's statue, which revealed he's still living in Stan's mind. A very recent book was also release that further confirms this (the Book of Bill, which I believe was released this year?). What does this mean for the series? i dunno, maybe a continuation or maybe just a fun little side thing for the fans
Fun fact: The creepy bill statue at the end of the credits WAS a real statue you'd see in the forest with a briefcase somewhere..but to my knowledge it got taken away by ranger or something and then took by a random fan of the show, luckily theres a new bill cipher statue out there
@@FutileStruggleofaBoulder The cops took it away since the land it was on was on the edge of two private properties that had a property line dispute (Alex only got the OK from one of the landowners, not both). Alex took that statue and placed it at Confusion Hills, California, the inspiration of and the closest thing you’ll get to the Mystery Shack unless Disney somehow makes one at one of their parks; there is no second statue taken by a fan.
I think maybe I figured out why the Mystery Shack was in shambles, even after all the other consequences of Weirdmageddon got reversed. It was actually all of Bill's modifications to reality that got reversed, including improvements and repairs to the Shack that probably happened while Ford was using the Shack as a lab and Bill was on Ford's side.
Fun Fact: I'm sure plenty of people will tell you of how Bill's final words backwards are a cry to the godly being Axolotl. If you follow a series of hidden breadcrumbs throughout the series, you'll be led to a website where Bill met with Axolotl, who determined that Bill wasn't happy and offered him a chance for a new life in a new time and new place. Bill's final words were him accepting that deal. The recently released Book Of Bill shows Bill in some sort of limbo afterlife therapy he needs to go through before he can have that new life and trying to get out of it. If you follow more breadcrumb and Easter Egg trails both in and outside the show and other Gravity Falls media, it's heavily implied that once his therapy is done, Axolotl had Bill reincarnate as King from The Owl House. Didn't you notice that out of all the voices Alex Hirsch does, King and Bill sound EXACTLY alike? And if Bill is going to be reincarnated, it would have to be as something like a Titan to contain his immense power. Also, The Owl House takes place 8 years after Gravity Falls ends, and King is 8 years old in it. Meaning he was born at the same time Bill died.
You know looking back on the sheriff and deputy relationship it’s kinda crazy how Disney censored it so hard and not even a decade later we have shows like Steven universe and owl house. Now they rely on lgbt representation and are known for it. Goes to show you how much the audience/mass dictates the content. I just wish they did live action better. All their good lgbt characters are from animated content.
Soos gave an update recently saying he is running the shack better than ever with profits at an all time high with his now wife. She runs a small train tour that goes all over gravity falls and he is the happiest he's ever been. There are even little soosetts coming soon
It was a long trip, I just finished the show a few months ago after only getting to parts of season 2 earlier in life. It felt like a decade long treasure hunt coming to an end.
that was such a blast to rewatch this serie with your reactions ! an I'm sooo hyped for Adventure Time, it start chaotic and fun af but gradually become an amazing character focused show with lores and shit... and even more chaotic an enjoyable
I can never say it enough how legendary of a show this was. It will actually go down as both one of the best cartoons of all time and one of the last best cartoons to be aired. The story from season 1 left a lot to be known, and season 2 ramped it into high gear as we came to the climax of the series, both in finding the author and defeating the ever malevolent and chaotic yellow triangle, Bill Cipher. The love I have for this show, and my undying wish of getting a sequel with them being older---with the Book of Bill Cipher out, I have but just a hope. Also, like many others, I also recommend looking into the hunt for the Bill Cipher statue. Even after the conclusion of the show, Alex had one last ride for us to go on. A global hunt to shake his hand one last time... or was it?
You should definitely react to "The Cipher Hunt: Gravity Falls' Insane Worldwide Treasure Hunt". After the show ended, Alex Hirsh would launch a global mystery involving the Bill statue. The entire fandom came together for one last hurrah to find the statue
for sure! would be awesome!
How many days did it take for the community to solve that? I feel like it wasn't long (aside from the one hint that got cleaned up by someone causing that hint to be lost.)
I think it lasted at least a few weeks. I was on Oregon around when it ended, me and my family could’ve passed within a few miles of the statue as it was being taken by the cops
There’s been quite a bit of secrets that’s been leading to finding that statue. Like ever since the hunt, it was moved to private property reasons, then moved it again to the iconic replica of the Mystery Shack in the real world. Quite the tale to say the least and you should check out other things Gravity Falls related as well as any secrets you might’ve missed Alicia.
P.S.: For instance, there’s a couple secret messages if played backwards. One was simple when Bill first debut and the other is really interesting on Bill’s final words before the Stanley yell final blow.
P.S.S.: Book of Bill(code?) reaction? When? There’s some including some “familiar” faces.
Yess
Fun fact: in the commentary for Society of the Blind Eye, Alex Hirsch elaborated that the memory gun doesn't "erase" memories, just buries them deep in the mind, hence why viewing the recordings or reading Mabel's scrapbook is able to jog everything loose.
In point of fact, the memory gun alone wouldn't have killed Bill, just buried him along with Stan's memories. Stan punching him out in the mindscape was the true killing blow.
''Killing''
@@anusaukko6792 I mean, dying is kinda a prerequisite for getting reincarnated, isn't it? (I haven't read the Book of Bill, but that is the axolotl's whole deal right?)
@@OculusObscurumHe's not even really reincarnated though? From what we see in the Book of Bill he still looks and acts exactly the same. I think that he genuinely believed the memory gun erased memories, and so he made a shitty deal with the AXOLOTL thinking it was his only way out. Basically, Bill saw smoke coming under the door and thought it was a fire when it was a fog machine. He got bamboozled into defeating himself by the greatest con man, Grunkle Stan.
@@DraconianBS Nope, he actually died. He has scars from where he shattered from Stan's punch. He isn't reincarnated, just stuck in purgatory. Edit: Well, he's not....DEAD dead.
@@DraconianBS well, he did try going into mcgucket's mind that one time and saw how absolutely effed up that place was due to the effects of the mind erasure gun, so he is justified in being terrified of being erased.
"Hey, look at me. Turn around and look at me, you one-eyed demon! You're a real wise-guy, but you made one fatal mistake - you messed with my family."
One of the best moments in the entire show and delivered perfectly, on both ends, by Alex Hirsch. Still get chills to this day.
“YOU’RE making a mistake! I’ll give you anything! Money, fame, riches, infinite power, your own galaxy, PLEASE! NO!!”
Seeing Bill in such a state of pure distress and panic is catharsis incarnate.
That photo of McGuckett and his son is an underrated, but wonderful part of those credits - not only is his mind healing, but he's healing his relationship with his kid
“ I’ve got some children I need to make it into corpses”
Jesus what a line
Also: “WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU KIDS, I’M GONNA *DISASSEMBLE* YOUR *MOLECULES.”*
Not as scary as Belos' "I can cleanse this perdition myself"
Soos: “Yep. That’s a line.”
@@SilverScribe85 I don't see why that's so poignant, although I admit I haven't seen that
Alex Hirsch saved the Durland and Blubbs in love thing until the very end SPECIFICALLY because he knew Disney wouldn't be able to do SHIT about it at that point, considering it was the last episode.
In fairness to all parties involved, Alex originally wrote the two as really good friends which is why Disney was cool with it. It wasn’t until the fandom started shipping them and calling them lovers that he started to lean more towards that and then went all in at the last second.
Dude... I can't believe people actually believe this, because this isn't how animation works. Episodes are made in full months before release, and reviewed to make sure nothing slips by the producers' (in this case, Disney) standards and practices, else someone could just as easily put in some racist stuff or something. If Disney didn't want this scene in the episode, they would have had it removed. Even if it was given to them for review at the last possible second, the scene is nothing that couldn't be changed in 30 seconds using Premier. Here, I'll do it my self.
Durland: Zap! Zap! We're mad with power!
*Immediately cut to the next scene where the Northwest Mansion is being sold, possibly cycling Durland's hopping back and forth animation a few frames more.*
That's all you'd have to do, and anything Alex would have "slipped in" would be removed, which is why it's more likely Disney just approved everything ahead of time, because they were already starting to be more LGBT inclusive. Heck, production on Owl House started just 2 years after, and even the lead up to that takes months of negotiations and contract signing, not to mention other shows that Disney was doing with LGBT characters at the time, so Disney was probably well into this direction already.
When you actually think about how a show is made, the idea that things like this being put in without the producers' knowledge, or that they somehow had their hand forced, becomes a ridiculous notion. It's the reason what I really don't believe Alex's stories about how he got past S&P, because it just doesn't make sense when they eventually let this scene happen.
@@schorltourmaline4521 Wow, way to make yourself sound like a dick in four paragraphs. Also, why'd you write an essay? It's not that deep, bro.
@@schorltourmaline4521 Dude... I can't believe you think people actually care about your opinion, pegasister.
@schorltourmaline4521 I'm pretty sure they were talking about the numerous cases where disney let them include it at the cost of ending the show earlier like what happened with steven universe and the owl house
Mabel says "it's time to grow up" then Dipper says" but not to much." If that isn't character development I don't know what is.
Stan’s greatest con. Fooling an all powerful madman like Bill is quite the accomplishment. Fortunately for him he hadn’t had as many shots from the memory eraser as McGucket.
Fortunately Mabel had been making that scrapbook all summer
And as long as the gun collects the memories then McGucket started to remember too.
@@MegaNinjaRyanI mean the gun not only alters memory but it can change your mind. McGucket got hit with it so many times his mind deteriorated. So the more you use it, the more your brain chemistry changes completely.
@@paulbrown9328Even then that deterioration can be reversed with proper stimuli. Ford had a lengthy conversation with McGucket before summer’s end post-Weirdmageddon (he was the one to convince McGucket to sell his invention ideas as patents (McGucket called them doodles) to the government that allowed him to move into the Northwest Mansion), and apart from his physical appearance and a heavier accent, McGucket was no different in how he behaved before his and Ford’s falling out.
@@Rexaura888 idk McGucket isn’t the best example because we don’t know what he was like before other than he was an amazing engineer. He seemed the same to me even after he got his memories partially back. It was never confirmed McGucket made a full recovery as he said he only remembered fragments and he was definitely still a bit wild. But also you forget McGucket is a weird case because not only was it the memory gun but also his brief moment in the nightmare realm that messed with his mental state. And yeah I just guessing it was the nightmare realm he visited because he found out about bill and the portal was made to go to that specific dimension first for bill. It’s hard to measure sure McGucket is the only case we have to really go by but it’s unreliable because we don’t know what made him unhinged whether it was the memory gun or the nightmare stuff being in the back of his head. None of the town folk were unhinged, they were a bit slow(which is kinda the opposite) but not unhinged which makes me believe it’s more of the nightmare realm stuff that made him that way. Maybe it’s a good thing he stays wacky and never fully recovers because if he remembers the nightmares he could go full on crazy. So maybe he made a full recovery scientifically and he’s not as crazy before but he definitely still has memory gaps otherwise he’d probably be even more unhinged if you go by my head canon.
You know, when I first watched this finale, I thought Stan getting back his memories only minues after losing them was a cheap and hokey way to still get a happy ending.
But then, I had an experience very similar to this in real life, when one of my loved ones had a nervous breakdown that resulted in temporary amnesia and I was there to witness it. It was as if they suddenly couldn't remember anything from the last couple of years and it was so terrifying to live through. I tried my best to remind them of everything that had happened and I even showed them pictures to remind them. I was so scared that all those memories would be gone forever. Eventually, over the course of a few hours or so, they did start to remember again. I was so relieved, like you wouldn't believe. They ended up getting all their memories back as well.
Ever since then, I look at this scene very, very differently. It hits way too close to home now. Needless to say, I've gained much more respect for it. For Stan, it may not have been the grand sacrifice that we all thought it was going to be, but the feelings attached to it are still legitimately gutwrenching. And I'll always be reminded of the rollercoaster of emotions I went through in real life, whenever I watch this episode.
According to Journal 3, it took a week to get Stan's memory back. Meanwhile, Ford's character arc wraps up pretty nicely. Ever since he took up the fight against Bill, he'd gotten obsessed with the idea of 'being a hero'. By the end, he's come to terms with the fact that he's 'a hero's brother'.
Dipper was also obsessed with being a hero (if not an adult too soon)
7:30
A.X.O.L.O.T.L
MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN
I INVOKE THIS ANCIENT POWER SO THAT I MAY RETURN!
The Book of Bill confirms that Bill IS in fact alive by the power of the mighty A.X.O.L.O.T.L , another godlike being, who is a LOT more benevolent than Bill that is forcing him through therapy before he resurrects; which is where he wrote the Book of Bill as PART of said therapy
Couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy. Hope he gets rehabilitated... eventually... I hope his therapist has infinite patience.
@@Axius27 To had been chosen to deal with a cosmic entity of pure chaos, it's probable they indeed might have.
Didn’t she say that she was going to react to the cipher theories?
It was confirmed long before The Book of Bill. It just showed us what exactly happened after his defeat(Well...other important parts of lore don`t count, those aren`t part of question of "death").
Invoke*
something that REALLY hurt me was fords face when Stan couldn't recognize his own house. ford, the genius, could do nothing but stand aside and watch his brother struggle to remember ANYTHING they have been through
In journal three it's revealed that it took a week for Stan's memory to come back...Ford cried...🥺
The reason why the second season has 21 episodes is because in the original brodcast the finale was a three part episode with the last one being double the normal run time, but for convinience sake disney splite the final episode in two to be able to fit in reruns
According to Alex’s commentary/posts:
-Bill isn’t dead. What he was saying just before Stan punched him was an ancient ritual that would get him out of dodge (explored more in Book of Bill).
-If he was going to die, Stan’s punch wouldn’t have changed the result; it just looked cool.
-The series ends with the twins and Waddles arriving home. They’re still on that bus, sleeping, permanently 13.
According to Journal 3:
-Bill’s defeat restored all three Journals to mint condition, even bringing back pages that were torn out or burned. Dipper however elected to start his own journal, as well as breaking the news to Ford that he’s not taking the apprenticeship, Ford completely understanding (he was already thinking of taking Stan along).
-Stan’s memory wipe and restoration went so much faster than McGucket’s because the wipe was still fresh when Mabel started the recovery, less than an hour compared to decades, which is why McGucket despite having some restored memories is still a little mad. It took the rest of their summer vacation though to get his memory fully back.
-The memory wipe and seeing Stan afterwards was the only time Ford had been shown to cry in front of the kids. He also was the one who did a bulk of the memory recovery since he had a bunch of home movies from their times as kids back in Jersey. He spent a lot of the time apologizing for his mistakes to Stan too.
-The argument with Stan at the end of the previous “episode” and their time imprisoned made Ford realize that he had a lone hero complex for so long, that he was the one who had to save the day every time. Watching Stan sacrifice who he was made him realize that Stan was the hero all along.
-Ford was the one who told McGucket to sell his patents to the US Government (which McGucket saw as just “doodles”). McGucket in Ford’s presence was absolutely sane (he even managed to solve his Rubic/Cubic’s Cube), and Ford told him to reach out to his family even after they turned their backs on him with how much he’s restored of his sanity.
-August 29th, the gang spent the evening around a campfire burning up everything Bill Cipher related sans the journals which Mabel suggested get tossed into the Bottomless Pit instead (which is how Journal 3 wound up in stores everywhere; Oregon Parks Dept. (Alex’s made up group) found the Journal in a forest and sold it off to get rid of it).
According to the Book of Bill (just going over the part pertinent to the epilogue of the show. I’m not going to go over Bill’s life story. That’s for you to read):
-Ford spent weeks after Weirdmageddon trying to make sure that Stan didn’t have any traces of Bill left with him, realizing that the Memory Gun’s effects not being permanent means Bill may not be dead (he wouldn’t know about the ritual Bill invoked when he thought he was dying).
-Bill singing “We’ll Meet Again” became an ear worm in Ford’s mind.
-In picking for his trip to go anomaly hunting with Stan, Ford found the Book of Bill. No matter how many times he tried to get rid of it (including feeding it to Waddles which means either they had a lot more time past their birthday before their summer vacation ended (like Fall Equinox?), further evidenced by Dipper and Wendy’s hats not being exchanged yet), it would find its way back to him.
-Mabel found the Book of Bill and was reading it off to the gang minus Ford. Ford realized that despite his written warnings in the book that none of them were possessed and were instead laughing at how pathetic Bill was in trying to convince them to see his side of things. Ford realized the only one he was hiding the book from and who he wanted to keep from reading it was himself out of shame of getting tricked and that the Book was just a desperate attempt to keep Bill from being forgotten.
-Ford asked Mabel, Dipper, and Stan to write their own warnings into the Book of Bill. The warnings largely consist of death threats towards Bill and treating him like a joke.
As other people have mentioned Bill calls out to the Axolotl a god in gravity falls, but fun fact axolotls get their name from the Aztec god Xolotl
Xolotl is the god of twins, deformities, misfortune, monstrosities, lightning, fire, etc. He’s an underworld god, and is the twin of Quetzalcoatl(and Quetzalcoatl can even be translated as “Precious Twin”). Twins were seen as unnatural and a sign of misfortune, and that’s what Xolotl represents. The hairless Mexican dog the Xoloitzcuintle also get their name from Xolotl. Axolotl often being translated to either ‘water dog’ or ‘water monster’.
Though Axolotl being a god in gravity falls and Xolotl being a god of twins, deformities, and monstrosities, is likely coincidence. As far as I know the creator just likes axolotls.
@@xochipilli9435 You forgot to mention that those dogs are indeed goodbois
Given Soo's handyman skills, he should turn the mystery shack into an Escape Room business.
At the end when bills voice distorts its actually in reverse. He says "A-X-O-L-O-T-L MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN. I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN" the Axolotl is a powerful god in the gravity falls universe, one probably stronger than bill. The axolotl made bill go to therapy where he is stuck as of now. We learn about this in the book of bill.
"stuck". we better hope he is
In the episode commentary they say that if Stan never got his memory back, the person most affected would be Soos. Which to me makes perfect sense. He might not be a blood relative but he’s the only one in the group who’s consistently had Stan in his life for the past 10 years and we know he’s come to think of him as a father figure. We saw how much it affected Soos to have one dad leave him, I can only imagine how tough it would be on him to lose Stan too.
Oh and speaking of which, if you remember, Soos’ dad used to mail him postcards on his birthday. We recently found out through supplemental material that while Stan is away adventuring with Ford, Stan does NOT send Soos postcards, and Soos really appreciates it. They have such a nice bond 🥺
June 2022 - in celebration of the show’s 10th anniversary, Alex Hirsch sang We’ll Meet Again as Bill, Soos, Stan, and McGucket.
some additional information about the show:
- Stan survived because Bill pulled a desperate move and begged for help from a higher power known as the Axolotl, which negated the memory wipe gun and gave him a chance to regain memories so that Bill can live.
- in each plane of dimension, there is a god that controls it. Bill controlls the Second Dimension (dimension of area), we dont know who controls the 3rd (dimension of volume), Time Baby controls the 4th (dimension of time), and the 5th dimension is controlled by the Axolotl (dimension of alternate universes).
- Bill was the smartest being in the 2nd dimension, studied to find ways to break out of it because he was tired of his "flat world full of flat minds". ythis resulted in his planet being destroyed. Axolotle told Bill that he must pay for his crime of destroying his original planet when he attempted to break into the 3rd dimension, but he must accept his punishment willignly. Thats why he invoked Axolotle's name to accept punishment so that he could survive the memory wipe.
- its insinuated that Dipper and Mabel were sent to Gravity Falls because their parents were working through a divorce.
- too many people were figuring out that Stan may have a twin brother who wrote the journals, so Alex Hirsch created a fake leak and posted it on Reddit, where it was a blurry shot of Fiddleford writing the journals. the posting of this "leak" followed by the episode of the blind eye, was enough to throw fans off his track. Alex then admitted that he made the fake leak
- the password in Mcguckets laptop was "STANFORD"
- theres a montage of Alex Hirsch arguing with Disney execs because they kept making him change the show.
that final shot of live action Bill was part of a Gravity Falls contest created by Alex and not connected with Disney. Fans would have to solve a bunch of riddles that would lead them to different locations around the world. there were a few setbacks since sometimes people didn't find them or a random person from that country would find the clue on accident and assume its trash because they cant read english. still it all worked out, and the final location was in the middle of the woods of Oregon, where they would find the statue of Bill in the episode. The winner recieved a limited edition Journal with invisible ink and signed by Alex Hirsch.
Btw, I didn't want to say this before, but fun fact: it was revealed in extra content outside the show that Dipper's canon real name is Mason Pines. Yet another set of twins born with uncreative names, lol.
@@117dragonking It’s a Pines thing evidently, but at least Mason has a tie to the whole Stonemasons thing about secrets and whatnot so it’s a fitting name.
It's such great storytelling that Stan and Ford's relationship strains Dipper and Mabel's relationship, causing Weirdmageddon, and then Dipper and Mabel's relationship helps to mend Stan and Ford's relationship, ending it.
8:36 I love how the animators were able to subtly show how memory-less Stan is "not himself", via his iconic hat. While his memories are gone, the fez just sits awkwardly half on top of his head, as if it doesn't fit, as if it doesn't _belong_ there. But as his memories start returning, he adjusts it and suddenly it fits again, subtly letting us know that the Grunkle Stan we knew is returning.
9:12 - *“That's all he wanted! He just wanted acknowledgement!”*
That's true. Oh, and also everybody else's money; he wanted that, too. And never, ever having to apologise for his own actions, or even _acknowledge_ them. That's all he wanted.
Some say that returning Stan's memories so easily was a cop-out, and in some ways that's true. The writers wanted to make the returning of Stan's memory a bigger deal, and if Disney had allowed then the extra epilogue episode they wanted, the twins would have gone on an adventure through time, grabbing all sorts of mementos from earlier episodes and from Stan's past, to jog his memory. As it is, they had to make do with _implying_ that it took a while, and explicitly stating so in the real-life _Journal #3._
However, the fact that his memories _can_ be returned was _not_ a cop-out, since we've known this is possible since episode 2x07, which introduced the memory gun. Even after thirty years of living with his altered brain, and forming new neural connections on top of the old ones, McGucket was able to re-connect to his erased memories. They got to Grunkle Stan before he even had time to form any new habits or change in his personality, so it stands to reason that it would work faster and more thoroughly.
The first episode started with a voice-over from Dipper, and the last episode ended with one. That's the attention to detail that made this show such a great one. And the final end-credits code perfectly encapsulates the bittersweet melancholy of the memories of past golden summers:
_Faded pictures, bleached by sun._
_The tale's told, the summer's done._
_In memories the Pines still play,_
_On a sunny summer's day._
A year or two from now, when the series is still _somewhat_ fresh in your memory, but you no longer remember _exactly_ how each episode went, you owe it to yourself to re-watch the series by yourself. This show _really_ rewards re-watching, while you still remember how it ended, so that you can see all the foreshadowing and seeds being planted early - and also spot a couple of things that _clearly_ didn't mean yet, what they would later be retconned to mean. 😁
Thank you for sharing your journey through _Gravity Falls_ with us. It was fun, re-living the series anew through your eyes. I join in with the other commenters that encourage you to watch the video about the great Cipher Hunt ARG that Alex Hirsch organised, after the series ended. It's a hoot!
I haven’t seen anyone else mention this detail so far but another hint that Stan and Ford switched is their chins. Ford has a cleft chin while Stan does not.
Another fun fact is that Stan is the only one of the four main Pines to have never made a deal with Bill.
Well... he has now! To trick Bill 😄
I remember my first episode of Gravity Falls being episode 8, and I've been keeping up with every episode as it was airing. It's surreal to me that the finale was almost 10 years ago. Thank you, Gravity Falls.
One thing I particularly love about Bill's defeat is that after all the speeches he made to Ford about how his sixth fingers make him a freak which makes them kindred... Bill never noticed that "Ford" only had five fingers, and "Stan" had six. Goes to show how little he actually cared, and that was his downfall.
20:27 McGucket is hanging out with his son
Why does no one points that out 😭😭
Here we go! The big finale! That was a CLOSE one! TIME FOR ADVENTURE TIME! ⚔
7:39: SO satisfying!
Bringing Dipper’s internal monologue that was only in the first episode back for the finale. I love this show so much.
I love the fight between Grunkle Stan and Bill. Because in the whole show. We see grunkle stan as old man greedy for mony and power. Yet when Bill offer him anything he ever dream about, he anwser by punching him in the face. Beacause the only valuable thing in his life for him, is his family.
Literaly one of my favorite moment every cartoon i ever watched
When Bill left his physical form and went into Stans mind he left behind his stone body.
The last frame of the show shows the real life statue Alex placed in Oregon.
It was the last puzzle of the show and an international treasure hunt to find Bill.
The statue had to be moved because it was on private property but it now has a new resting place on Confusion Hill in California and can still be visited today.
@@sadi5713 Confusion Hill also being the closest thing to an IRL Mystery Shack and a major inspiration for the fictional second home for the Pines Twins (both pairs). Alex during the pandemic helped boost a fundraiser to help keep the place open and the fans blew past the 9k goal well into five figures.
I wasn't a fan at the time this show happened. But I was on tumblr and got to see friends going into super mystery solving mode trying to find that statue of Bill. It was the infectious kinda fun.
Grunkle stan, the only human capable of making bill beg for mercy on his knees.
That whole scene in Stan's mind is amazing on every level, but only gets better when you remember Alex is doing both parts of the exchange.
The younger twins really did save the day just by being a good enough team that they could stall Bill long enough for the older twins to make up.
This show seriously does sell how the twins perfectly compliment each other in a way that makes them unstoppable if only they work together.
So in the recently released Lore book: The Book of Bill, it’s basically said the Pines family’s victory was basically impossible. In almost every timeline they loose, but this one. The deciding factor that makes this different? Waddles. The glimpses shown don’t include the pig, so it seems Dipper giving up a fun day with Wendy for his sister’s happiness is what saves the day.
Bill's one fatal mistake was NOT him messing with Stan's family, or his arrogance, but not killing the damn pig bruh
If I were to guess at the critical moment that Waddles served, I think it'd be the fact that they rode him out of Mabel's prison. Without him, escaping might have been much more difficult, possibly even impossible to do with everyone surviving.
Good pig.
@@Axius27 honestly I think the more important thing was Waddles strengthening the bonds between the family. Dipper, as he’d continue to do all summer, puts his sister first. Maybe if he was more selfish at the fair that doesn’t happen as much. Waffles helps break Stan out of his shell and brings him and Mable closer in the Dinosaur episode. As a small gag character, he’s used in a lot of little points strengthening the bonds of the Pines and their friends that ultimately lead to their victory.
@@georgev3433 As I said, good pig :P
To which I say "Sure Bill/Alex. Out of infinite possibilities, only one was the good one. Even though we saw at least two other ways Bill could be beaten (Quantum gun if Ford hit. The Zodiac Circle had either Ford or Stan chose to not fight until the ritual was finished), there is absolutely no possible way Bill could have lost. I tooootally believe that". Alex has a habit of wanting to retcon things to "explain" things that never needed explained.
Heads up for Adventure time, theres a tiny robot called B-mo thats voiced by the same voice actress as Candy
@@CapyMartinBara Lady Rainicorn also shares the same VA. Giffany’s VA shows up as a regular character in a later season. John DiMaggio who voiced Love God and did the Two Kings rap voices Jake the Dog. Then there’s the guy who voiced Blendin being the voice of a rather sour character in AT which the less said about the voice actor the better.
@@Rexaura888 I cant believe I forgot about Lemongrab
People may call "Shenanigans" to Stan getting his memory back but...let me direct you to Futurama.
In the bee episode; it was established that even if the LINK to one's memories were severed, the memories themselves would still be there. Ergo, Stan still had his memories; he just needed something to regain his connections to them
After the show ended, people immediately started theorizing that if Stan was able to get his memories back, then Bill was not really dead either. Alex Hirsch later released some additional media material, and explained that Bill called upon the ancient Axolotl to save him, leading him to being reborn in another form and place As such, when The Owl House premiered, and King -- also voiced by Alex Hirsch -- was introduced, people speculated that he was actually who Bill had been reincarnated as.
Although, it now seems "The Book of Bill" has disproven that.
Bill to this day has remained as one of my favorite villains, the true definition of Chaotic Evil that you can't influence to change and I love it
I’m sad to see this series end but I’m even more excited to see the beautiful chaos that is adventure time
You know watching this episode back after getting a niece and becoming an uncle myself for like a little more than a year now, it makes gruncle stan's "sacrifice" significantly more powerful because I get it 100% I would not hesitate to do this if it means my niece can live, and it makes me all the more pissed at stanford for his actions throughout the season (and the flashback) and Im glad stanford was willing to do that for the kids at all so he gets some points there but stanley I salute to hell and back
17:08
The friends I made when I was 12/13 are still my best friends. We all met in middle school but went to different high schools. We kept in touch through discord and hung out over summer, and now that we’re all in college we still keep in touch
here's a fun fact! this is confirmed to be the only timeline where both of the twins go home alive!
yeks... o_o
Its also the only timeline where Mabel has Waddles. Meaning that this as the only timeline where Dipper prioritized Mabel over his hopeless attraction to Wendy.
That idea is eye rolling, to be honest. Had Ford hit Bill with his quantum gun (we have to assume it would have worked as he said, else missing is meaningless), or they completed the Zodiac (Either Stand or Ford could have been adults for 10 seconds to do that, and Bill confirmed it would work), Bill would have lost and everyone would be fine too. This is why you don't say there is only one way to win when possibilities are infinite.
Sassy Girl. Glad you seem to have gotten over your grudge against Ford! It is so beatiful that the brothers finally made up and went on the trip of a life time that they dreamed about. It seems like a lot of people seem to gloss over "some" of Stan's bad behavior throughout the series but he got the redemption that he needed!
I thought the same thing about Gideon that it is an improvement from where he was before. Ironically it is probably the only way the could have realistically portayed Gideon changing. I doubt he could have gotten much better in such a short period of time.
Speaking of slow but realitic changes. I was a little disappointed in Pacifica durring the finally given how much people were shipping Dipper and Pacifica. But it is hard for anybody to completely change in such a short time and she is just a kid. Depsite being a kid it was only years latter that I realized when Pacifica's family lost most of their fortune she was upset but she was the only one that wasn't crying over it which does show how much better she is becoming than her parents. I like how you pointed out that dispite the drama her own family was going through Pacifica went to the birthday party smiling and wrapped the gifts herself. You should also look closely at what her gifts were. She gave Mabel a golf club from the golf episode and she gave Dipper a ghost video representing the episode with the ghost in the episode where her and Dipper became close. Not only does this symbolize how much Pacifica's relationship has grown with the twins. But also Pacifica almost died in both episodes and yet this shows that she STILL thinks fondly of both events because they are what brought her closer to Mabel and more importantly Dipper!
Mabel's love of scrapbooking saved her Unkle's mind
Gravity falls has a more satisfying ending than most finished popular animes.
If you haven't already you should absolutely watch Over the Garden Wall through October, especially if you liked Gravity Falls. It's perfect Halloween viewing and in total only takes about 2 hours.
Fun fact, in a book there is a picture of a bird on the bill Statues hand, its theorized that the bird is now possessed by Bill
When I first watched the bus scene, I didn't see the golden part of Ford's laser gun, and I thought he was just threatening the bus driver with a glock.
Always love seeing the pictures at the end as they show how other characters are doing after the finale. It's especially great to see McGucket got to reconnect with his son now that he got his mind and sanity back.
One of the pioneers in animation industry, let alone the West. And with the amount of content we’ve been getting, it shows us the show never died.
What an amazing series.
Stan punching Bill is so satisfying and the end is just so emotional.
I like the little detail that Pacifica and Candy signed that letter and added hearts.
Let’s go Adventure Time. Get ready to lose your mind even more.
You know, i usually have a hard time crying or showing emotions in general, but this episode genuinely made me tear up for the first time in my life.
Ironically the only other show to do that for me was actually adventure time!
Also it wouldn't be the last episode without a crap ton of secrets:
So for the last time, here are the ciphers:
Bill's speech: "A-X-O-L-O-T-L.
MY TIME HAS COME TO BURN.
I INVOKE THE ANCIENT POWER THAT I MAY RETURN!"
Code on the bus seat (the key is "hidden deep within the woods a buried treasure awaits"): "SECRETS LOST AND STATUES FOUND BEYOND THE RUSTY GATES"
Page:
"FADED PICTURES, BLEACHED BY THE SUN.
THE TALE'S TOLD. THE SUMMER'S DONE.
IN MEMORIES THE PINES STILL PLAY.
ON A SUNNY SUMMER'S DAY."
CREDITS: "GOODBYE GRAVITY FALLS"
P.D. a kid actually found the bill statue shown at the end (yes it's real) before schedule and alex had to pay him money so that he would keep the secret until the show was over
Man.
I love that guy, and I love this show.
Seandra Himenez was willing to call him Bodacious T, so I think that says something.
Now watch the dub of the Lost Legends comic!
20:43 Dipper copies 3 and 4 are still out there!
10:10 The scrapbook reminded me that she still hasn’t seen the remaining Gravity Falls shorts.
to this day, I admire the courage of Hirsch and the entire GFalls team to put together a concise, cohesive, and ultimately satisfying story, and commit to ending it when it needed to end. interviews and lore books and post-hoc code fun aside, this episode wrapped up every loose end, and this show was truly something special.
enjoy Adventure Time, I'm rooting for a visit to Steven Universe someday, but also, you should consider Over the Garden Wall for Halloween! that show is a work of ART
I always let slide the amnesia thing because of the point made at the end that if this was truly the end of the summer, Stan needed a proper goodbye to Dipper/Mabel. Maybe their goodbye could have been rewritten for that to happen before he lost his memories or something, but I like the bittersweet but ultimately saccharine ending. Think that’s worth the easy way out Stan got. Plus it made it more obvious for people to theorize Bill survived which led to future works on that, so that’s always a plus too.
It's been a blast everyone, going down through tis like memory lane is wild. I still remember the time I watched this at like 3 in the morning on a weekend where I just lay on my dimly lit room with small light from the outside where I just sat and stare at one direction like i was having an existential crisis. not to mention my obsession with this show for like a solid 2 to 3 years before it cooled down. I look fondly back to this show and its nice to see that a lot of new people watch it and its great.
Stay Weird everyone.
I bought the collectors edition of this series on DvD and I love it so much.
The cases are just like the journals with season 1 in journal 1, season 2 in journal 2 and bonus features in journal 3. Every single episode also has commentary from cast and/or crew and it even came with a physical copy of Wendy’s ‘see you next summer’ letter to Dipper
0:23, We're doing Adventure Time soon.
RODENTS, GET YOUR DIVING SUITS READY FOR THE SEA OF TEARS!!!
"Thank you for reigniting this journey. See you in the next adventure"👁:-)
Should react to Amphilia, it gives real Owlhouse energy
*Amphibia
Grunkle Stan MVP
Is the GOAT. THE GOAT!!
Well Alicia, this truly has been a trip. Thank you for watching this great show and exploring the mysteries in the mysteries that came with it. This has been a big part of my childhood and i’m so happy that i got to revisit it. I don’t know what’s next, but i’m looking forward to the next journey with you
You made it, Bodacious T. You faked it 'til you made it. Godspeed, you Determined Toby.
I only first watched this show a couple years ago through Blind Wave’s reactions but god it’s probably one of my favorites now. This is such a special show, I’ve never seen anything else do something quite like it. And now I’m going all in getting the books to see what lore there is, and maybe actually try solving any ciphers that are in them.
17:40 So Wendy winked at Dipper with her left eye. It’s notable in that in contrasts the fake Wendys in 2x02 and 2x19, both of whom winked at Dipper with their right eyes. Just a fun finale fact. Wendy has been shown to be left side dominant in the show.
he calls on the power of axolotl a creature one might find to be of great power in amphibea
so Stan gaining back his memories is considered a bit of a controversy in the fandom - as it weakens the sacrifice he made to defeat Bill and had the obvious implication that if Stan could regain his memories then Bill could revive himself or was still alive somewhere in Stan's mind.
Speaking of - yes, Bill IS canonically still alive! After the show ended, there was a real-world treasure hunt to find Bill's statue, which revealed he's still living in Stan's mind. A very recent book was also release that further confirms this (the Book of Bill, which I believe was released this year?). What does this mean for the series? i dunno, maybe a continuation or maybe just a fun little side thing for the fans
The book said he actually died, left Stan's brain and now he's stuck in a sort of purgatory. Facing his worst challenge yet.
This show will always hold a special place in my heart and I’m glad you enjoyed it
Gravity Falls is one of those precious rare shows that has a completely satisfying ending
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER EVEN THOUGH IT'S BEEN LIKE. A DECADE
you need to look into the cipher hunt seriously ITS SO AMAZING
Theres also the comic lost legnds dub on youtube, basically 3 to 5 short stories that take place after this written by the shows creators
The real life version of the bill statute was hidden and there was a scavenger hunt for it when the show ended
Fun fact: The creepy bill statue at the end of the credits WAS a real statue you'd see in the forest with a briefcase somewhere..but to my knowledge it got taken away by ranger or something and then took by a random fan of the show, luckily theres a new bill cipher statue out there
@@FutileStruggleofaBoulder The cops took it away since the land it was on was on the edge of two private properties that had a property line dispute (Alex only got the OK from one of the landowners, not both). Alex took that statue and placed it at Confusion Hills, California, the inspiration of and the closest thing you’ll get to the Mystery Shack unless Disney somehow makes one at one of their parks; there is no second statue taken by a fan.
Can we all appreciate how Stan and Ford were both willing to beat that bus driver so Mabel could keep Waddles?
If we ever get season 3, I hope they go with the idea of pastel goth Mabel
I think maybe I figured out why the Mystery Shack was in shambles, even after all the other consequences of Weirdmageddon got reversed. It was actually all of Bill's modifications to reality that got reversed, including improvements and repairs to the Shack that probably happened while Ford was using the Shack as a lab and Bill was on Ford's side.
There is this reading with pretty good voice acting for the comics with extra stories. It's on youtube and pretty good. More content baby!
Fun Fact: I'm sure plenty of people will tell you of how Bill's final words backwards are a cry to the godly being Axolotl. If you follow a series of hidden breadcrumbs throughout the series, you'll be led to a website where Bill met with Axolotl, who determined that Bill wasn't happy and offered him a chance for a new life in a new time and new place. Bill's final words were him accepting that deal. The recently released Book Of Bill shows Bill in some sort of limbo afterlife therapy he needs to go through before he can have that new life and trying to get out of it. If you follow more breadcrumb and Easter Egg trails both in and outside the show and other Gravity Falls media, it's heavily implied that once his therapy is done, Axolotl had Bill reincarnate as King from The Owl House. Didn't you notice that out of all the voices Alex Hirsch does, King and Bill sound EXACTLY alike? And if Bill is going to be reincarnated, it would have to be as something like a Titan to contain his immense power. Also, The Owl House takes place 8 years after Gravity Falls ends, and King is 8 years old in it. Meaning he was born at the same time Bill died.
You know looking back on the sheriff and deputy relationship it’s kinda crazy how Disney censored it so hard and not even a decade later we have shows like Steven universe and owl house. Now they rely on lgbt representation and are known for it. Goes to show you how much the audience/mass dictates the content. I just wish they did live action better. All their good lgbt characters are from animated content.
Thank you so much for your reactions to this amazing show!
Hope you react to Amphibia one of these days!
Have a great day you precious cinnamon roll 💕
Soos gave an update recently saying he is running the shack better than ever with profits at an all time high with his now wife. She runs a small train tour that goes all over gravity falls and he is the happiest he's ever been. There are even little soosetts coming soon
Fun fact it's semi-cannon that stan calls his thang the "stan o' war"
(Based on a joke in an interview with Alex Hirsch)
It was a long trip, I just finished the show a few months ago after only getting to parts of season 2 earlier in life. It felt like a decade long treasure hunt coming to an end.
This show is so good, so perfect on so many levels. Glad you enjoyed it. ❤️
that was such a blast to rewatch this serie with your reactions !
an I'm sooo hyped for Adventure Time, it start chaotic and fun af but gradually become an amazing character focused show with lores and shit... and even more chaotic an enjoyable
My sister still has the same best friend from when she was in like 2nd-3rd grade.
She’s now 19.
I can never say it enough how legendary of a show this was. It will actually go down as both one of the best cartoons of all time and one of the last best cartoons to be aired. The story from season 1 left a lot to be known, and season 2 ramped it into high gear as we came to the climax of the series, both in finding the author and defeating the ever malevolent and chaotic yellow triangle, Bill Cipher. The love I have for this show, and my undying wish of getting a sequel with them being older---with the Book of Bill Cipher out, I have but just a hope.
Also, like many others, I also recommend looking into the hunt for the Bill Cipher statue. Even after the conclusion of the show, Alex had one last ride for us to go on. A global hunt to shake his hand one last time... or was it?
the final episode was split by disney in all future releases in return for getting to make a double length finale
I always cry at the finale of this show 😂❤❤❤
Masterpiece
this was yet another really fun watch with this channel and i am super super stocked to see adventure time next LES GOOOO
You have witnessed the finale to THE BEST ANIMATED SERIES OF ALL TIME
Finale time, lets gooo
this damn ending makes me tear up every time 😭