http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=010203

OK, it's been 4 1/2 years since the comic orginialy appeared and we're still talking about it. Wether Pete intentionally threw in so many clues about erything he was going to write about or he's been re-checking to see what he can plausibly get from it,it's still an amazing thing to me.

This thread is about the letters on the stage and the dr steve is daedalus theory, not the possible connection to the moon twin, zoe burning, the marionettes or who is number's 1, 2 or 3.


Anyway, the letters on the top of the stage most assuredly spell out DRSTEVE upside down. When the comic first appeared, I just thought it was to spell out to us that the marionettes represent oasis. There are a few bigger theories:


Others on these boards thought that the bottom letters represented oasis, or DRSTEVE/ISOASIS (supporting "the puppet is the puppeteer" written on the boarder)

There was the theoy that it meant DRSTEVE ISDEAD, but that was pretty much debunked when it was pointed out that whoever came up with that theory was clearly dyslexic (the letters, if interpreted in that way, spelled out DAE, not DEA)

There's the more recent theory that it means DRSTEVE/ISDAEDALUS.

I'm going with this one for now:

Dr. Steve makes himself (as daedalus) in the same way that he made Oasis, so we need to look into the nature of oasis and kusari for clues.

Oasis, when killed, seems to come back in her mid-twnties form without a scratch and a full head of hair, with a fuzzy memory, but with a memory nonetheless of what happened to her previous body. Oasis is in peak physical condition when reborn. Oasis has free will, dipite override b-1. This is supported by the know thyself phrase and represed memories both having to do with finding oneself on a personal and spiritual journey in ones mind, something I am quite familiar with. These are clear signs of free will and discovering ones boundaries within that freedom.

Kusari has only been killed once, and there's no mention either way as to wether or not she can remember what happened in her past life. She, also, appears to be in peak physical condition. Some have suggested that he lacks some free will. I can't remember the specifics, but we'll just go with it this time. we're speccing here, right?


Dr. Steve cloned himself in much the same way as he did with oasis, making a more physically in shape, younger version of himself. This had to have been done at least 23 years ago because daedalus took over in 1982. Presumably, daedalus was either an expiriment gone wrong, or steve had a change of heart and cut tie with hC whie daedalus took over.

Daedalus continued research with the oasis/kusari project based on what he had known before steve split. He made kusari while dr. Steve made oasis. Maybe dr. Steve learned how to give the clones free will and an ability to remember past lives while daedalus focus only on making a soldier. Genetically, kusari and oasis are identical, but oasis tends to win because of her ability to think/have a soul/be able to understand more to life and become more human or whatever, so daedalus is looking for dr steve's lab so he can figure out how to make kusari the better weapon.

This has a number of symbolic and dramatic reasons to be true. Their names themselves are the first clue (a kusari being a weapon and an oasis being a life giving or saving entity). It shows the importance of freeing ones mind and understanding onesself so that they can have character and substance vs. simpl existing to kill. The difference between a rembrandt and a pretty picture, a honda civic and a lexus, brittney spears and O.A.R., a more advanced human being and biomechanical soldier. If that makes any sense to anyone. I'm sorry, my brain thinks in concepts. It's sometimes hard to comvey meaning, but i'm working on it.


Anyway, any thoughts? I'll add more to it as it comes to me.

I'll toss out one of the other old theories (since I've never really bought into the Dr. Steve is Daedalus theory):

We don't see the whole stage. It might say 'OASISDAEDALUS' across the bottom.

(And by the way... since the letters are upside down.... is it 'ISDAE', then 'DRSTEVE' or 'DRSTEVE', then 'ISDAE'? Might make a difference...)

What would that imply? Perhaps that Oasis and Daedalus are 'children' (=creations) of Dr. Steve.
Which, looking back, is similar to what Biggerin is saying... except that I don't think of Daedalus as a 'new version' of Dr. Steve.

There were a few other theories, too. The letters underneath may not have meant anything at all, just a distraction from the other letters. If you read the whole thing upside down, someone mentioned somethnig about how it would be more like this:

...ISDAE....
DRSTEVE

because the whole thing is upside don. There's also questions about the shapes of the letters. The 'a' in the bottom looks like an upside down 'v' from the drsteve. The 's' looks more like a 5 than the s in drsteve. The 'e' is partially hidden. The 'd' was an 'o' before daedalus's name was mentioned. It looks like the 'd' in drsteve, but it's not pointed in the same direction.

So, it could be nothing or it could be anything. My guess is that it was originally nothing, but pete named daedalus because it looks like it could have been there, so it WAS nothing, but now it's something. Either way, it's pretty smart on his part.

I always assumed 1,2 and 3 were Zoe, Sasha and Gwynn. He's been involved with all of them and "juggles" them (even though Sasha's gone for now)


Am I completly off track? Probably... Ignore me if I am talking about something else.

This just occurred to me:

Dr. Steve
Oasis Daedalus

Implying that Oasis and Daedalus are both creations os Dr. Steve. Daedalus could be a prototype and trying to find a way to become immortal himself.

Bigger: My guess is that it was originally nothing, but pete named daedalus because it looks like it could have been there, so it WAS nothing, but now it's something.

Good theory. If so, then Daedalus's name was created as a red herring. This becomes especially apparent when one includes the supporting clues. "The Puppet is the puppeteer" - there is little to no evidence that Daedalus was Dr. Steve's or anyone's puppet. He was his own loose cannon, no one else's. Even if Dr. Steve did create him or clone himself into him, Daedalus would still be working on his own and outside of Steve's control. (...as far as we know.)

I'm actually willing to bet that Pete was originally banking on the 'D' vs. 'O' problem being the major hangup, but soon discovered that people needed someone with a 'D' name in order for that do work..


Hm. The major flaw in this theory is, of course, the fact that the half-hidden letter, while not necessarily an 'E' (L or Z could fit), cannot possibly be an 'S'. Even when dealing with inconsistant 'S's, to believe the bottom curve could bend backwards is a big stretch.


So...
Square one, then. Nevermind.

This and other theories have been kicked around regarding Riff's juggling, but note that this thread is specifically about the letters on the top/bottom of the stage.

I think that the theory that the bottom of the stage says "OASISDAE" is probably false, but that's just me. What's important is to realize how the stage relates to the show it frames. It's pretty obvious that the puppet is Oasis (why else the four pillars of flame), but why would a controlled yet still malicious being be surrounded by those words specifically?

Theorem: What if daedalus is a clone that Doctor Steve created to run hereti-corp, maximising profits and giving Dr. Steve a handsome salary every month for doing nothing? Only Daedalus started doing very ethically questionable stuff, Dr. Steve objected, and suddenly found himself voted off the board (Daedalus having planned carefully). Dr. Steve, in order to forstall Daedalus' plan of world domination using clones, manages to escape with most of the cloning technology, and creates Oasis as the "solution" to the mistake he made with Daedalus, a clone made for the express pupose of killing Daedalus, but a clone that could not, itself, be killed. Daedalus guessed or found out Dr. Steve's plan, and thus was created Kusari, Daedalus' answer to Oasis.

And then Torg gets into the middle of the whole affair.

Don't b so quick to say the puppet is clearly oasis. The puppet is black as night. It looks more like a combination of oasis and kusari. /this strip came just a little while before kusari's first appearance, so it's more than plausible. Oasis and kusari being the same puppet with the "puppet is the puppetee" and "from heaven" words around the boarder of that panel bring up even more questions.

it could mean that Oasis is the original, and thusly, the puppeteer, while kusari is a slightly inferior clone. Oasis is able to regenerate hersef (apparently) and being "more powerful than even she knows" could suggest that she has power over kusari as well as herself. Throw all that together an add "from heaven" and you'd have to continue this discussion in the moon twin thread.


Personally it looks more like a debate between emotions and lack ofemotio pecifically in combat. You may have seen a few movies on the issue, particularly movies involving genetically altered soldiers (soldier,universal soldier,i-robot, etc). Oasis' finding of herself will ultimately lead to her power increasing and sanity sticking around for longer perods f time while kusari's cold, unemotional style of business will ultimately lead to her perminant death and/or incompasitation (in some form).

Thematicly, this actually suggests the Dr. Steve is Daedalus theories may actually be true for reasons I can't seem to put into words (give me four years or so o take some philosophy classes so I can put some of these theories into words better for you)

Hmm. I was initially skeptical of the idea of Daedalus being a[n improved] clone of Dr. Steve, but a few recent discoveries have made me a bit more open to the idea...

Probably the best view we get of Daedalus' face is here. Compare that to the younger, thinner Dr. Steve seen here. Notice anything? General head shape (excuse my defacement) seems to more or less match...And look at those eyes...

Alternately, Daedalus might not be a clone of Dr. Steve at all, but simply his son. That might explain why the good doctor is always referred to as Dr. Steve, not Dr. Hereti, a designation which could be just as easily applied to Daedalus.

Then again, maybe I'm simply drawing too much from a few letters and some silhouettes...

hmmm... interesting points on the head-shape thing, but I think that could also just be chalked up to Pete's artistic style... I've been just about convinced random other people are Gwynn, only to find that Pete was just being somewhat unoriginal in artwork.

My thoughts:

The puppet is on fire, yet not consumed by it. This may symbolize Oasis' regenerative properties. Her actions lead to her destruction (fire), but she still remains to produce more fire. Kind of like the burning bush that Moses saw.

Also, the OasISDAEdalus angle is pretty spot on. If you were to ask me, it seems as if the letters denote a production-author type setup:

OasISDAEdalus
A puppet production by
DRSTEVE

I know it's funny, but let's try reading Oasis and Daedalus' hair. The Oasis-puppet has five firey strands of hair, just as Oasis has those weird orange strands of hair sticking out. In DDA and Fire and Rain, her hair is black and scattered, like Daedalus'. Weird, eh. I think it might be a way to denote some connection between Daedalus and Oasis. Come to think of it, their eyes look similar: roundish-rectangular, slanted. As opposed to Torg, with big, grayling eyes, or Zoe, with rounder eyes. Daedalus and Oasis share this eye style with Steve.

Note the hair, again:
Oasis: Wild, orange, strand all over the place: fire;
Daedalus: Scraggly, disorganized, black: Ashes;
Steve: Nothing, bald: A clean slate.

Heh. Maybe Daedalus and Oasis represent different parts of Steve's personality? Oasis is determined, Daedalus is cunning. Steve, an evil scientist, is determined and cunning with his plans.

Doesn't it seem funny to have a dancing marionette puppet (Oasis) on fire made by Dr. Steve, and then have mere finger puppets made by Doc Schlock? Maybe Pete's telling us something about scientists...

Not like Riff has made any puppets, though. Seriously:
LE ZURECAIN NON
A puppet production by
Dr. RIFFington

Just doesn't have the right ring to it.

Bah.

I don't know if this makes any sense to anyone else, but I'm beginning to suspect that Kusari is Sasha.

Evidence:

*Sasha appears before Kusari but after Hereti Corp finds out about Oasis and Dr Steve. *she just appears on the scene at halloween as Riff's girlfriend and he hasn't even told his best friend about her which Torg remarks is unusual http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php *Kusari is unemotional and so is Sasha: she doesn't get upset with Riff and continually doesn't react with any kind of passion ie: she doesn't get upset about the break up. *The breakup is almost convenient for her if she is Kusari because that is when Daedlus tells her that they are going to putting the Oasis plans on hold. *Given Riff's odd behaviour he might have been brainwashed into thinking that Sasha was his girlfriend or Pete didn't want to waste time and kept the story moving by skipping Sasha's background.

This theory might be a little out there but I think it bears consideration.

Unfortunately, this comic strip throws quite the wrench in your theory. Notice Sasha in the foreground while Schlock confronts Kusari.