u/Individual_Pomelo692

This is about Noco and Monoco.
And how it reveals something about >!Real Verso!<.

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Monoco (after Noco's death in act 2) :
"partially we can bring Noco back. But it will be a different Noco. the one you knew is gone."

Monoco is saying every time we bring back Noco it will not be the same Noco.
this implies that Noco could have unfortunatly died few times before.
maybe just maybe... 3 times before🤔.

And also in the manor as Alicia we meet "Monoco The THIRD" and "Noco" (dogs 🐶)

we all thought the bigger (perhaps older) dog was Monoco and the smaller dog was Noco.

but maybe it is reversed

The smaller dog is Monoco the THIRD which implies that it has been replaced 3 times.
sadly they might have passed away, and every time a new one comes it will not be the same dog as before (just like >!Noco the gestral!<)

And Noco is the bigger, older dog that has witnessed the replacing of Monoco 3 times.

Noco (dog) is Monoco (gestral) the one who loves feet.

Monoco (dog) is Noco (gestral) the one that has been resurrected/replaced 3 times.

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But why?

Real Verso painted Monoco and Noco into the canvas.
Maybe reversing them is his way of guarding the truth with lies.

His way of dealing with the grief.

Don't know if this has been said here before. Sorry if it has

What seems to be just the sad fate of an expeditioner at first has way deeper meaning after your first playthrough

And a clever way how the devs managed to foreshadow the game in a poem

[Spoilers]

"Deep they flow to centre
Where lie the edges of
Another 'verse
Another maze"

referring to another universe or reality.

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"Winter souls drift through"

implying souls passing between worlds. (Verso's soul , Alicia's soul, Aline's soul, ...)

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"Golden folds adorn the stems
A maze our eyes beg to follow
A meditation of winding curves."

This reads almost like a description of a >!*painting*!<

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"Golden folds adorn the stems"

Golden folds could be Maelle's golden petals, and her golden petals will make the canvas world (stem) beautiful again.
(describing her ending)

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"Whose snowy shrouds hold tight
The hope I'd whispered
Once
Long ago"

The shrouds symbolize the passing of a loved one (Verso).

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Everything is in front of us, but we never expect it

In Maelle's memory/dream we see glimpses of how rVerso died, calm, smiling "you're ok" sacrificing himself for Alicia

But in Old Lumiere when pAlicia is holding her hand we hear his screams of agony of how it actually was

Maelle is trying to forget his screams, pALicia had to live with it

BUT

pAlicia's memory is inherited from Aline to punish her, so that can't be entirely true either

every single character in this game unreliably narrate the story they all share.

Esquie's poem:

"There once was an Esquie who swallowed the sea
And burped out a cloud full of turtles and bees
He sings in the caves, he naps in the deep
He could rule the world, but he'd much rather sleep."

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"He could rule the world, but he'd much rather sleep."
How much nicer our own world would be if those with grand ambitions for war and conquest would just... take a nap.

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which one would you place higher/lower?

be as mean as you'd like