r/Vita_Carnis

Everyone who watches Terminal Rally leaves with the exact same question: Why on earth did the Elder Mimic wait 28 days to kill Farren?

The standard theories are always the same: "it was psychologically torturing him," "it was studying human behavior," or "it was waiting for him to starve so it was a safer kill."

But if you actually look at the timeline, every single one of those standard explanations completely falls apart.

Why the usual theories don't make sense:

* The Starvation Theory: Starvation destroys muscle and burns fat. By waiting a month, the Mimic let its meal completely waste away. Eating Farren on Day 1 gives you a high-calorie meal; eating a dehydrated skeleton on Day 28 makes no biological sense for a predator. * The "Scared of the Gun" Theory: People say it backed off on Day 16 because Farren shot at it. But on Day 28, Farren shoots it multiple times and the bullets do absolutely nothing. The Mimic just tanks them effortlessly and obliterates the door. If it could ignore the gun on Day 28, it could have done it on Day 16. It wasn't waiting out of fear. * The Bait Theory: Farren literally says multiple times that no one is coming. A hyper-intelligent creature wouldn't need 28 days to figure out that the trap was empty and backup wasn't on the way. * The "Study" Theory: Elder Mimics are supposed to be hyper-intelligent apex predators. If basic Mimics can hunt and adapt instantly, an Elder Mimic doesn't need a month-long audio course just to figure out one guy's voice or a basic bathroom layout.

My theory suggests some sort of​​ An Alien Attachment

If the Mimic is unstoppable, doesn't care about the gun, is actively losing calories by waiting, and knows no backup is coming... why just sit there?

Because during those 28 days, Farren stopped being just meat.

Farren spent a month isolated in that bathroom, constantly talking into his recorder, and inevitably talking out loud to the creature outside. The Mimic just stood there and listened. Day after day. For nearly a month.

I’m not saying the Mimic grew a human heart and wanted to cuddle. But higher intelligence is a double-edged sword. With higher intelligence comes higher psychological complexity. A basic Mimic sees a human as a walking snack. An Elder Mimic might actually be advanced enough to recognize individuals, remember them, and develop its own weird, alien form of attachment.

On Day 16, when Farren fired, the Mimic didn't run away because it was scared. It backed off because its "companion" suddenly got super aggressive, which completely disrupted the strange, familiar routine they had built up.

The Real Tragedy of Day 28

So why did it finally break the door down on Day 28?

Because Farren's supplies were completely gone. He was starving, dehydrated, and losing his mind. He was going to die anyway.

The final attack wasn't a calculated hunting move—it was a predator's version of compassion. In its own disturbing, non-human way, the Mimic realized Farren was dying. It needed to eat, but it also chose to end his suffering. The two motivations became the same thing.

That doesn't make the Mimic the good guy. Honestly, it makes the story way more horrifying. It means Farren spent 28 days trapped with a monster, completely clueless that the monster was actually forming a twisted bond with him. Farren died thinking he was just prey, never knowing that he had become the closest thing to a friend that the Elder Mimic would ever have.

The final breakthrough isn't just the death of a C.A.R.C.A.S. specialist. It's the death of the only real relationship an Elder Mimic ever attempted with a human.

Change my mind. If it wasn't some kind of messed-up attachment, how else do you explain a hyper-intelligent predator willingly letting its meal waste away for a month?

Allow me to verbally illustrate: Adult mimic eats lots of humans, becomes a meat-pupa: Meat-pupa starts out red, tender and soft but as time goes on and the mimic within grows, the pupa slowly turns black and becomes strong and durable like the hide of the elder mimic

I was rewatching and saw the line in the first episode about Vita Carnis possibly being either an alien or a demon. (EDIT: I misspoke, i know the carnis itself is from earth but I mean the Prince) Are there any other good theories about that? I mostly hear the alien take but not much else.