Shadowing Practice: Gravity Falls: The Real Secrets & Bill Cipher's History! - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Gravity Falls wasn't just a cartoon.
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It was a revolution of western animation and a game changer for Disney Channel.
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The premise was simple.
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Two twins, Dipper and Mabel, are sent to live with their great -uncle Stan for the summer in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls,
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where strange, supernatural things seem to happen that the locals just try to ignore.
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For season one, the show focused on Dipper and Mabel exploring random mysteries in the town that all seemed unconnected unconnected,
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except through the strange story being told to them through the mysterious journals they find in town, made by an ominous missing researcher trying to solve the town's mystery himself.
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Even without getting to what would become the show's main plot, Gravity Falls captured the minds of children and adults around the world,
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giving kids the entertainment they wanted and adults the entertainment they wished they had at that age.
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It wasn't just that the show was funny or even a bit spooky and edgy compared to previous Disney shows.
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The show tapped into something most children feel a strong connection to, the desire to uncover mysteries that adults seem to have written off as fables and urban legends.
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However, the show didn't just play with these themes.
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By the end of season one, the show would begin to try
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and give its own covert take on what the reality of spiritual and supernatural experiences really are,
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referencing real -life mythology, conspiracy theories, and even secret societies.
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And all of this really started with the introduction of Bill at the end of season one.
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Bill was one of the many supernatural entities explored in the three journals left behind in Gravity Falls,
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but one that the journals warned was so dangerous that he should never be summoned under any circumstance.
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Despite this, Gideon gets his hands on one of the journals
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and uses the power to summon Bill to make a deal with him.
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At this point, Bill seemed just like any other magical being in the world of Gravity Falls, but it quickly became clear
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that his plans were much bigger than any of the other little villains that we had met so far.
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When summoned by someone like Gideon, Bill's goal is to make a deal where he gives the person something specific, and in return gets the promise of a vague favor that he can call in at any time.
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In this episode, he promised to go into the mind of Grunkle Stan to find the code to his safe.
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This would allow Gideon to steal the deed to Grunkle Stan's land, and in return, Gideon is supposed to help Bill later, but the plan was ultimately unsuccessful.
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Answers about Bill wouldn't come until Season 2, when the show finally revealed the author of the journals, Grunkle Stan's twin brother, their great -uncle Stan Ferd.
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Our Grunkle Stan, Stan Lee, was revealed to be using his brother's identity
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while in Gravity Falls to cover up for the fact that he accidentally got his brother Ford lost in another dimension, thanks to the interdimensional portal that Ford had created.
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After years of trying to find his brother's journals and figure out how the machine works, Our Grunkle Stan was able to bring his brother back, who was then able to fill in a lot of the details on Bill.
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Ford had traveled to Gravity Falls with a grant to study its strange supernatural phenomenon.
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At first, like with Dipper, the strange things happening all seemed unrelated outside of their supernatural origin.
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But when researching the ancient peoples that once lived there, Ford stumbles upon a cave mural that depicts Bill and contains an incantation to summon him.
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Ford recited this just to see what he would experience, but nothing happened until he fell asleep, when Bill would visit him in his dreams.
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Bill claimed to be a cosmic entity that chooses a human to help every 100 years,
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giving the implication to Ford that Bill is so powerful that he personally guided Ford to this mural to recite the incantation.
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Bill does have some gift of foresight, and is able to see things like various character deaths, and perhaps even his own entry into the third dimension.
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But through the show and its books, it's explained
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that this particular incantation to summon Bill was to bring him
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back after he had been banished from the area by a shaman that once lived in Gravity Falls.
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According to the Book of Bill, this was done by the first human that he interacted with, a shaman in the Americas known as Modok the Wise,
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in a time before civilizations had really developed and people were still on that smaller tribal scale.
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Bill guided Modok similarly to Ford, telling him that by building a portal, he would get access to divine knowledge beyond what humans could understand at that point.
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After seeing a glimpse of Weirdmageddon and realizing that Bill was an evil entity, however, Modok the Wise used his spiritual expertise to banish Bill from Gravity Falls in particular.
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Meanwhile, the attempt at the portal would just create a bottomless pit, believed to be the bottomless pit beside the Mystery Shack.
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While the town of Gravity Falls would eventually be revealed to have a special connection to Bill's attempt to enter reality,
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he would still continue to try and get other people to build this portal in places around the world, before Ford stumbled upon the ruins and recited the incantation that would allow Bill to return.
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Bill presents himself to Ford as a muse, similar to the Greek tradition of spiritual muses who had greater knowledge than the humans
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and would help guide them to their own revelations.
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With Ford, just like with MODOK, the goal had always been to get him to build an interdimensional portal, something that was so successful,
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it even created an interdimensional rift or tear that Ford would hide from Bill.
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With this, Bill himself would not just be able to enter Gravity Falls, but the entire Nightmare Realm and its chaos could as well, bringing about the Weirdmageddon.
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According to Bill, his entry into the physical world, the third dimension, was something prophesied one billion years in the past,
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and inevitably, he ends up tricking Mabel into giving him the interdimensional rift so that he can rip it open.
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After starting his Weirdmageddon, Bill realizes he can't leave Gravity Falls, however, protecting the rest of the world from his terror, with the only way out being a secret kept by Ford himself.
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With that in mind, the Stan twins are able to swap clothes and trick Bill into entering the mind of Stan Lee, thinking he is Stan Ferd.
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This allows the real Stan Ferd to use the memory gun on Stan Lee, leading to Bill dying as the memories of Stan are erased with him in them.
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This seemingly saved the world from Bill after technically fulfilling the prophecies about him.
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But in the years since the finale, we have learned a lot more about Bill from the release of the journals and the later book of Bill.
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This didn't just give us more details on the origins of Bill, but also what happened to him after the show.
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Now, in Weirdmageddon, Bill explains that he is from a two -dimensional reality separate from ours.
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He describes it as a flat world where the flat people had flat dreams.
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It would be a world where entities exist on a two -dimensional plane, only seeing and recognizing the outlines of each other.
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In this episode, Bill claims he liberated his dimension the same way he plans to liberate the third dimension with his Weirdmageddon.
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But when he says this, we can see fire in his eyes, and we can hear screams, clearly telling us that, like with Gravity Falls, this liberation is just destruction.
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These are not the only two dimensions that exist, however, and instead, all these different worlds are connected by Dimension Zero, which is the Nightmare Realm.
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This is a place that lacks the order and rules that you can find in the other realities, with nightmares just being the chaos of the unconscious let loose.
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Because of this sort of formless chaos, it's the perfect place for beings like Bill who are not welcome in the other dimensions after committing heinous crimes,
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with the nightmare realm being the home to other chaotic and criminal entities, some of which end up becoming Bill's henchmaniacs.
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It's from here that he is able to communicate with the third dimension, as the nightmare realm allows him to connect to the personal dream spaces of different humans,
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at least when not magically banished like Bill was from Gravity Falls.
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In the book of Bill, we get a lot more of Bill's perspective on his life, with the explanation that he was able to see into the third dimension from his own 2D reality,
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thanks to the special eye that he was born with.
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Bill claims in this book that he was beloved in his dimension, and was declared by the mayor to be the best baby in the world.
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But Bill is the Prince of Lies.
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It's the reason his name is Bill Cipher, as even if he seems to be giving you the truth, it's one hidden in a complex coded language to mislead the person he is talking to, a cipher.
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It's because of this another Gravity Falls book, The Curse of the Time Pirates, makes it clear that Bill cannot be trusted.
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This is a non -canon story in the greater world of Gravity Falls because it's a choose -your -own -adventure story.
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But according to the series creator Alex Hirsch, it has one part in its story that is 100 % canon, with this later being confirmed within the show.
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This particular moment is at the ending where Dipper and Mabel meet the cosmic axolotl between dimensions, who allows each of them to ask him a question.
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When Dipper asks for information on Bill, the axolotl gives this poem.
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Sixty degrees that come in threes, watches from within birch trees.
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Saw his own dimension burn, misses home and can't return.
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Says he's happy, he's a liar.
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Blame the arson for the fire.
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If he wants to shirk the blame, he'll have to invoke my name.
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One way to absolve his crime, a different form, a different time.
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The important part of this poem was the axolotl's confirmation
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that Bill is constantly lying about his origins as well as his feelings.
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It emphasizes here that he says he's happy, but that he's a liar, meaning he's a lot more tortured than he seems by what he's done,
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despite seemingly trying to do it again to the third dimension.
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This axolotl is seen as the highest being of power in the Gravity Falls multiverse, and just as the poem claims,
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Bill Cipher invokes the name of this axolotl when he is being erased in order to avoid a permanent death.
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This was one of the well -known moments throughout Gravity Falls where a character speaks backwards, so the audience has to play in reverse to hear what is heard.
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You'll notice that he spelled the word axolotl while asking for a second chance, confirming within the show that this axolotl is a being far above Bill,
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one who ultimately decides Bill's fate.
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With that in mind, it makes sense that Bill is lying
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when he says that he was the most beloved baby in his dimension, so important that they made his birthday a holiday.
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It's made clear in the book of Bill that Bill had a disdain for the people of his dimension, who refused to think about the third dimension, which was apparently outlawed to even be discussed.
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Bill says he wanted to show his people the splendor of the third dimension, but when he somehow rips open their reality, something horrible happened.
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This was his dimension's version of Weirdmageddon, with Bill not even being sure what his chaos did to everyone around him.
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In the Book of Bill, his explanation of this event is corrupted and censored, with little glimpses of the text having Bill being shocked by the consequences of his actions,
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but it being too late to stop before finding himself alone, covered in the blood of every being in his dimension.
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After his failure to explain what happened, Bill reveals that anytime he thinks about this, he just blacks out, showing that he has a hard time accepting what he did to his own people.
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The implication from the axolotl is that Bill has had this sort of purposeful self -ignorance from the beginning.
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A desire to destroy and hurt others that he takes too far
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when not being treated with the reverence that he seems to think he deserves.
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His act of destruction was a longing to be greater
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and to show the 2D people what they are not capable of handling to prove that superiority, but he also has some level of trauma and regret from that childish,
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almost impulsive seeming choice.
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Despite the claims that he just wanted to show the people the third dimension, the axolotl says that he's a liar and that he is the arsonist who needs to be blamed for the fire,
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indicating that he did intentionally do this and then just regretted it afterwards.
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A lot of people prefer more humanized villains, people who aren't evil from the beginning, but who were instead shaped by something bad happening to them.
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But if something did twist Bill from a well -meaning baby to the monster he became, he doesn't want to share it.
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He claims in his book that people want him to have some sort of humanized backstory, but by the end of it, it becomes clear that this just isn't the case,
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that he was just born evil and believes he can keep being evil even when being given mercy by the axolotl.
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After destroying his home dimension, Bill claims he didn't really focus on the third dimension for a while, which probably seemed out of his reach.
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After an endless time conquering and hanging out in the nightmare realm, however, Bill learned that this chaotic nightmare dimension was going to revert to nothingness at some point, and when it did that,
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it was going to take everyone else with it that wasn't rooted in some other dimension.
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And with that in mind, Bill turned his eye towards the Earth again.
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Unfortunately, Bill's first obstacle was the Great Time Baby, who he claims is the guardian of our dimension.
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This is interesting because this Time Baby is a funny parallel to the real life Greek god Cronos.
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According to the Book of Bill, Time Baby's real name is actually Cronelius Infinitum Titanicus, with the name Cronelius just being a formal way of saying Cronos.
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And Titanicus, because Cronos of course was the leader of the Twelve Titans.
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Later in the Book of Bill, when Bill is seen to be in an interdimensional prison, we see that he is sitting next to the actual depiction of Kronos eating his own children, however.
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Regardless, after defeating Time Baby and destroying the dinosaurs, Bill would begin to guide humans in their evolution, so he could manipulate one into building a portal machine for him.
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The Earth would be chosen for this because of the weirdness attractor that exists in Gravity Falls, where the wall between the different dimensions is its thinnest in the entire universe,
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which 30 million years ago attracted a spaceship towards it that ended up crashing into the area.
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This was exactly what Bill needed as it was with this technology
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that he thought people in Gravity Falls could build his portal, making his plans possible without humans having to develop the technology that aliens already had themselves on other planets.
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This is why Bill would choose to interact with MODOK the Wise in the beginning, as he was the wisest shaman not near Gravity Falls, but near the technology that would be used to create the portal.
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After guiding MODOK to its creation, the portal would only unleash some lake monsters, and MODOK would have his people flee, leaving behind only that magic spell to keep Bill out of the area,
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and warnings to those who may one day come there not to summon him.
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Additionally, they left the prophecy that he would be defeated, and that certain symbols would bear witness to that defeat.
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But Bill didn't take that prophecy too seriously, and began to try and find other places to open the portal.
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Now, according to the Book of Bill, he made contact with our most ancient cultures, including ones we think of as mythological, such as Atlantis.
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Bill actually managed to get the ancient Egyptians to also create a portal, but it only worked for a mere ten minutes,
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with the only thing coming through the portal being a strange humanoid with a jackal head.
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To punish the Egyptians for their failure, Bill would begin haunting the people in charge to such a degree
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that they would eventually build the pyramids in order to worship him.
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According to Bill, the pyramids even once had top hats just like him and arms, but they ended up falling off over time, just like the nose of the real -life Sphinx.
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That would mean that Bill didn't just do this in ancient Egypt, but pretty much anywhere where pyramids are found all over the world.
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Trying to convince anyone he can to make a portal, even though they didn't have access to the space technology in Gravity Falls.
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The fantastical idea that Egypt or other ancient cultures had some sort of portal technology is not unheard of, and it's a popular conspiracy theory
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that this kind of technology has been purposely suppressed by modern
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cultures who don't want us to know about our origins and our ability to travel beyond our limited planet.
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This theory is often accompanied by the symbolism of an O with a triangle or pyramid -like structure underneath it.
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This is believed by theorists to allude to the shape of the triangular portal, with the pyramids in this theory being a monument not to Bill, but to that technology.
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This O and triangle symbol is often associated with different gods and different cultures as well, meaning in -universe all of these different cultures that have this symbolism are alluding just to Bill,
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with his big O -shaped eye and his triangular and pyramid -styled body.
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Like the Egyptians, the others would fail of course, leading to Bill haunting their dreams and then them creating different symbols to worship and appease him.
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Additionally, what these cultures saw through the portal also seemed to inspire their local mythologies.
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For the ten minutes that the Egyptian portal was opened, they were said to see a jackal -headed humanoid.
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With this fitting the description of the Egyptian god of the dead, Anubis.
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Anubis was not just the god of death either, but the god of mummification, an important aspect of the ritual for preserving a pharaoh's body in the bill -shaped tombs of the pyramids,
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a ritual that's designed to make sure you live on in the afterlife.
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The Egyptians seemed to believe that this figure that they would call Anubis
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and Bill were both from the same spiritual dimension that they thought of as an afterlife.
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Other cultures would see different things when they opened their own portals
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and develop local mythologies based on what passed through and what caused conflict.
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Some cultures would get dragons, others would get fairies, and others minotaurs.
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Explaining the strange mythological creatures described all over the world.
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Bill also likely had to give his history to these people as he explained himself, and while he likely lied to them the way he would to Ford, he also likely gave some truths.
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I like to think that Bill himself convinced the Greeks that he's the god that they now call Zeus, as it was Zeus who was said to defeat the titan Kronos in Greek mythology.
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Bill had said that the Time Baby was the guardian of the universe, and when asked about such an entity by humans, Bill could have explained that he had to overthrow this Chromelius Titanicus,
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so that he could assume the throne the same way Zeus does in the Greek myth.
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The Greeks would have adapted this to their mythology, and echoes of that story could also be found in myths all over the world then.
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Apparently, Bill's interference would be so big in the East
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that different cultures would develop cipherstitions that were meant to keep Bill's influence away from them.
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The folk rituals that we have for warding off spirits and such from our homes.
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Part of the reason these portals likely failed was because they weren't in Gravity Falls, which isn't just a weirdness attractor, but the thinnest point in reality where the other realities begin to spill in.
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According to the Book of Bill, Bill had the power of cypher buoyance.
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Since free will exists and realities are constantly splitting off, there is no way to know exactly what will happen until it becomes inevitable.
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Nothing is inevitable from the beginning of time, but with enough guidance, it does become possible and then eventually inevitable.
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Bill had an interest in the third dimension for trillions of years, but he explains in the show that this invasion of the earth was prophesied just one billion years ago,
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likely the time when, for whatever reason, the area of gravity falls began to weaken the barrier between the dimensions.
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This event happening was what made Bill know that he would get into the third dimension at some point, but he still had to navigate all the potential timelines to get there.
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He can already see different outcomes for characters like Ford dying at 91 because of a heart attack,
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but he also talks about keeping around people like our main characters because of how useful they might be in the future, showing that he is seeing multiple timelines and possibilities, and he does know that he can change things.
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The location was so important to Bill that even after being banished there by MODOK the Great, he seemed to manipulate it so that people would eventually return there, allowing for humans to come in and eventually set him free.
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This had to start with getting people to move out of Europe and into the Americas, where Bill became the secret ruler of the American government.
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According to the Book of Bill, he did this by providing secrets to George Washington that would help him defeat the British.
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However, Washington and the other figureheads of America were not happy with Bill's plans, which were more about anarchy than actual freedom, so they changed their minds about building his portal apparently,
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though other accounts say they did get the portal started and that it sank into a river.
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Regardless of what actually happened, Bill would go on to haunt Washington until he eventually put the image of Bill on the U .S dollar,
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explaining why in real life we have this pyramid with an eye at the very top on our money.
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It is the founding of America that would eventually lead to the founding of Gravity Falls, with the founding implied to be tied heavily to Bill Cipher, and interestingly, back to George Washington,
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thanks to the third journal.
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The founding of Gravity Falls in the show is its own conspiracy, with episode 8 of season 1 first giving us the explanation that the town was founded by the Northwest family, the town snobs.
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In that same episode, it was revealed that Nathaniel Northwest actually stole the credit for the founding of the town, but the exact reasons for this are not explored in the show,
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other than the family's own greed of course.
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The author of the journals, Stanford, wasn't quite able to piece together what had happened himself, but in the journal he did leave a massive clue.
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The point of the journals is that they aren't just text, but also images, specifically focused on what Ford is seeing as he investigates.
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He doesn't just draw the monsters when talking about them, but also their surroundings, things related to what they did, and things he saw while investigating that he needs to remember.
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This is important because in Journal 3, when talking about the unsolvable mystery of the Northwest family's sneaky takeover of Gravity Falls,
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he mysteriously drew a logo for the secret society, the Freemasons.
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This was not mentioned in the book itself as far as I know, or in the show, and that was likely on purpose, as putting that into children's media may be seen as a bit controversial,
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especially when it's about the conspiracy surrounding it.
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By leaving the image in the book, Alex Hirsch gave the implication however that the Northwest family, or at least some of their ancestors, were initiates into Freemasonry.
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Now in real life, Freemasonry presents itself as a secret society that focuses on charity,
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but throughout history they have been accused of controlling different civilizations around the world, particularly America.
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This is important in the show, as we already established that Bill Cipher was in direct contact with George Washington.
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George Washington was not just one of our founding fathers, but like many of our founding fathers, he was actually a Freemason himself.
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In the darker conspiracies, Masonry is accused of just being the latest in a line of mystery schools worshipping a devil -like entity, trying to make it into our world to be served like a god.
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Essentially, the story of Bill in Gravity Falls.
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The accusation is that the Masons inherited this tradition from the Knights Templar, who were known to excavate Jerusalem in hopes of finding esoteric secrets from the Second Temple period of Judaism.
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It is here that they are accused to have found a way to contact an entity that they called Baphomet,
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who the king of France accused of being a demonic force trying to control our world through the very rich Templars.
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This king himself was in debt to the Templars, and it's largely understood today
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that he accused the Templars of devil worship in order to get out of his debt and have them executed.
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The conspiracy theory continues to claim that the Knights Templar didn't inherit this information just from Jerusalem,
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but rather that the findings in Jerusalem were based on what the Israelites had learned from Moses, who had been initiated into the ways of the Egyptians, as an adopted son into the royal classes.
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All of this coming back to the ancient Egyptian contact with Bill back before they had even built the pyramids.
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In the show, then, the implication is
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that Freemasonry is just one of many groups throughout history that had direct contact with Bill, allowing him to help guide their civilizations in return for trying to build the portal.
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It makes sense that in Gravity Falls, masonry would be associated with Bill Cipher, as Bill's original dimension, the flat 2D universe, is referred to in the book of Bill as Euclidia.
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This is a reference to the real -life Euclid, founder of the study of geometry in the form of shapes and lines, like a flat 2D dimension.
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Freemasonry is themed largely after architecture and geometry, with its logo just being the geometric tools of the square and compass,
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a reference that did manage to get sneaked into the original show with one of Bill's henchmaniacs.
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In the Masonic logo, each of these also forms a triangle, the symbol of Bill.
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These two intersecting triangles are theorized to represent the same thing that they can in Judaism with the Star of David, the upper spiritual world merging down with the lower physical world,
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with Freemasonry being an important part of the real -life start of America and its spread to the West.
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In the show, it would seem Bill purposely guided the new Americans to this point, just so that he could eventually get humans to Gravity Falls again.
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A place I imagine Native Americans avoided ever since the time of MODOK the Wise.
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From outside of Gravity Falls, Bill could directly interact with the Freemasons to guide America towards colonizing the land to the west,
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and eventually having the Masonic Northwest family take over as Gravity Falls leaders.
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This allowed for Bill to have a bit of control over Gravity Falls from the shadows, in a way not even explored within the show because of the controversial real life conspiracies.
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Apparently, the plan for Masonry's connection to the show was even deeper.
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As in Journal 3, the same journal where we see the Masonic logo with the Northwest family, we learn that Dipper's own real name is actually Mason.
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This makes sense with the similarities it would have to Mabel, as Mason and Mabel share a similar star, something fun to do with naming twins.
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However, the symbolism goes even deeper.
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Mabel is of course just the name Abel with an M, Abel being one of the first two children in the Bible of Adam and Eve.
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Abel's older brother was Kane, who was known to found the first big city, making him the first architect of the world, or first Mason, if you will.
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Some of you have even found me on the original Angel subreddit, where you've pieced together that I am Theo Mason.
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Eventually, the influx of people into Gravity Falls would lead to someone finding the ruins depicting Bill and setting him free, exactly what we saw would happen with Ford.
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Now, after Ford set Bill free, he did eventually make it to Gravity Falls and start his weird mageddon.
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But as prophesied, the proper symbols had aligned to witness Bill's defeat.
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What was interesting about this was that the prophecy specifically said
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that they would witness Bill's defeat and not necessarily cause it in the magical way that a lot of fans were expecting, or even the characters in the show.
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This looked like it was about to happen
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when Ford drew the symbols of the Zodiac that were predicted to one day witness Bill's defeat, with each of its appropriate characters taking their spot.
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But it was the disharmony between two of the symbols in that chain that led to this magic not working.
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Instead, the true nature of the prophecy was how those two pieces would link back up again.
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It is through the grunkle stans and largely their arguments that Bill has gotten as far as he did into the world.
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It is only by those two uniting that they are finally able to contain him again.
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At this point in the story, Bill was trapped within Gravity Falls due to the weird bubble that exists around it containing all of its weirdness.
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The only person who had the answer for how Bill might escape this was Ford, with the information being locked inside of his head, which is guarded by a special metal plate.
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Together, they had the idea that they could lure Bill into the mine of Stanford
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and then erase his memories using the memory ray gun.
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But with that metal plate in his head, the only way for this plan to work would be for the two of them to swap clothes, so that Bill is tricked instead into going into the mind of Stan Lee.
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From here, Stan Ferd is able to do what he needs to be done and erase his brother's memories, wiping out Bill's cipher with him.
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It makes sense that these symbols of the Zodiac were a chain, with these two pieces being broken in a way and unable to connect.
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Thus, the only way to fix the chain and fulfill the prophecy was not to link hands, but to actually switch places, to wrap themselves around each other like the links in the chain.
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But this wasn't enough to actually kill Bill, just to contain him.
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As discussed earlier, Dipper and Mabel were told that despite the axolotl's seeming derision for Bill and his lies, Bill could escape his death by invoking the axolotl's name,
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the highest of all gods in the Gravity Falls multiverse.
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This is interesting because in many cultures, the name of God is said to have special power, the power to do just about anything you desire in particular,
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but only in a way that ultimately suits the highest God.
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This is particularly important to Judaism, with its focus on the lost, ineffable name of God.
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According to Jewish tradition, this lost name was once held by the entire world before coming to just the Jewish people, and then being lost after the destruction of their second temple in 70 AD.
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It's at this point that the Jewish people would stop saying the ineffable name out loud, as the ceremonial space where it was okay to invoke this name had been destroyed.
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When Bill invokes his name in reverse, it's not by saying the axolotl's name, but by spelling it,
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something the Jewish Zohar says to do with the different versions of God's name in order to invoke its power, pronouncing it the way it's spelled instead of how it's spoken.
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In doing this, you invoke the power of God to do what you want, but at the price of what God wants for the future.
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In this case, it allowed Bill to be able to exist maybe in another time and another form, as the axolotl said in his poem to Dipper and Mabel.
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But why would the axolotl allow this?
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The axolotl appears to be the most omniscient force, seeing the outcomes far beyond what Bill is able to see with his ciphervoyance.
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With that sort of multi -timeline prophecy, ironically being one of the gifts that the name of God is said to bestow upon those who invoke it.
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While life existed elsewhere in the universe with aliens, such as proven by the crashed ship into Gravity Falls, Bill's influence on the Earth changed it from a land of roaming,
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wild, monstrous dinosaurs to a place filled with intellectual humans who can begin to communicate with higher celestial beings.
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If the axolotl can see ahead and manipulate events, it seems like he would want to get rid of Bill as early as possible, before he destroyed the dinosaurs, or his own dimension even.
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But if the Axolotl can see the potential of all realities, he also saw what humans could be with the guidance of Bill.
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He basically saw what humans could one day become, but only if Bill was there to actually make sure that they existed and guided their evolution.
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It's because of Bill that humans are able to interact with spiritual entities like him, and perhaps the reason that Dipper
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and Mabel were able to meet the Axolotl themselves in the Gravity Falls Choose Your Own Adventure book.
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To put it simply, to stop himself from interfering with the free will of other beings, the Axolotl simply lets other people accumulate a negative debt doing this work for him.
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The Axolotl seemed to set up existence exactly as he needed to
277
so that Bill would eventually bring the humans to what we are today, something that wouldn't happen without the forbidden knowledge that Bill was constantly trading to humans for their help.
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He dangled the prize of the third dimension in front of Bill
279
and even allowed him to have the prophecy that he would get into the third dimension one day, just so that he could manipulate Bill into manipulating the humans into something amazing.
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Further evidence for this comes from a character known as the Oracle, explored in the journals detailed by Stanford's travels.
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Stanford meets the Oracle in Dimension 52 after being sucked into the portal thanks to his fight with Grunkle Stan Lee.
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This figure knows a lot about Bill, and, like Bill, appears to be able to see the future.
283
This Oracle warns Stanford that he is the face of the man who will defeat Bill, slightly misleading him as the Oracle also likely saw Stanford's twin brother, Stanley.
284
After Stanley was responsible for sending Stanford to the multiverse, hearing that he had to work with his twin brother likely would have set Stanford on a bad path.
285
So this obscured half -truth allowed the Oracle to push Stanford in the right direction.
286
The Oracle is the one who apparently gave Stanford the metal plate in his head as well, saying it was to protect him from Bill.
287
In reality, this seems to have purposely made it so
288
that Stanford himself couldn't be the one to make the sacrifice to have his memories erased.
289
This would force him to work with Stan Lee, being what repairs their relationship and what causes them to work together instead of continuing to fight.
290
It is also, I believe, the reason that Stanley was able to get his memories back and why Bill was given the option at redemption.
291
Throughout the journal, secret codes are used to give hidden messages from Stanford, including one that claims that the Oracle is the opposite of Bill, implying that they are very different,
292
but also of equal power.
293
The Oracle thus would appear to be a good version of Bill, one who focuses on the many possibilities with their many eyes,
294
instead of just the single minded one goal that Bill focuses on with his singular eye.
295
This is important because at some point the Oracle was seemingly pictured with Bill
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and his gang before being scratched out by Bill later.
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This could imply that at first the Oracle was evil and later found a good path.
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Maybe the Oracle and Bill had this same basic origin, but evolved differently in opposite directions, to different extremes, but I think the truth is something else.
299
The Oracle, to me, appeared to have known early on that Bill would be a problem, with a similar gift of foresight.
300
And like the axolotl, the Oracle would use this to guide Bill towards a better future, one in line with the axolotl's vision.
301
The show mentions Yin and Yang once when talking about Dipper and Mabel, and how even though they seem like opposites, it's the balance they bring that makes them such a great team,
302
even when they can fight because of those differences as well.
303
This was meant to parallel the story of Stanford and Stan Lee, whose eventual return to balance leads to Bill's defeat, and perhaps his own balance with his own yin -yang counterpart.
304
For Dipper and Mabel, it's obvious that Dipper is yang, the light side or creation.
305
This is the side of order for people who like things organized and perfect, the kind of person to solve a mystery.
306
Mabel, meanwhile, is yin, the dark side, destruction, or even just disorder and chaos.
307
She, of course, is a chaotic and wild a personality that brings destruction everywhere she goes, but in the end she does bring balance to Dipper and even keeps him grounded.
308
The joke is that yin and yang are opposite sides of the same wheel, that you can't have one without the other, with creation itself only possible through the destructive forces like Mabel,
309
who tear away what came before in order for something new to be built from it.
310
We see this as well with Stanford, who, like Dipper, represents creation or light, and Stan Lee, who, like Mabel, represents destruction or darkness.
311
Finally, it makes sense that if Bill's destruction is being used to create something as great as human civilization and its progress,
312
that he would represent destruction with some other opposite end, creation, guiding him.
313
And that I believe is the Oracle.
314
If the show was ultimately about Dipper, a creator, having to save Mabel, a destroyer, and Ford, a creator, wanting to save his brother,
315
Stanley, also a destroyer, perhaps the Oracle is just the next level up on this, with the Oracle being a creator orchestrating things on their end in order to save Bill,
316
who they care about in a similar way, like a brother.
317
If it had been Stanford alone who had his memories erased, I think the family would have ultimately recovered in a way they wouldn't have if Stan Lee had permanently forgotten everything.
318
Stanford's sacrifice would have been seen as something more necessary, the karmic return for what he did to bring Bill into this world,
319
the conclusion of his great research into what causes all of this supernatural phenomena, and how to use that information to better the world.
320
But with Stan Lee, even before Stanford got there, there was this entire summer of memories with Dipper and Mabel.
321
Despite his hand in things, he does seem rather innocent, at least in that he doesn't deserve to have his memories erased in a way that we might think Ford could deserve.
322
Not as a punishment, but as some sort of destiny to defeat Bill.
323
However, because of the more innocent Stan Lee, I think the Oracle and the Axolotl purposely set it up so that Bill would have a way to save himself, so that Stan Lee's memories could be spared as well.
324
With Grunkle Stan pretty quickly getting some of his memories back, Bill himself gets to continue to exist as well,
325
but we see in the Book of Bill that this is in a sort of karmic space prison called the Therapism.
326
This is a place meant to rehabilitate entities like Bill, though he is explained to be an exceptional prisoner, who managed to use the Book of Bill to contact the reader in an attempt to escape.
327
Despite being in this prison, Bill claimed that if someone went to the forest in Gravity Falls
328
and found the statue of him that was left behind when he entered Stanley's mind, all it would take is a handshake to maybe bring him back and let him inhabit another human body.
329
Or it could destroy reality in an instant to even try.
330
The idea of a godlike entity being tricked into going into
331
the earth to be destroyed there is actually rather common in mythology.
332
In the traditions of Judaism, this is essentially the story of Satan and the fallen angels, who watched from the heavens as humans developed and said that they were too sinful to inherit the earth.
333
To prove how hard it would be to live in the material world, God dropped the angels down to the earth where they immediately fell in lust for the human women
334
and abandoned their duties to guide humanity.
335
This is presented as part of God's ultimate plan to get rid of these envious angels, who are later banished even deeper into hell.
336
This is also the key myth of Zoroastrianism, where the world is created specifically by the god of the good, Ahura Mazda, in order to trick the god of evil,
337
Ariman, into thinking the earth is important.
338
When Ahura Mazda goes into the earth, Ariman goes after him, entering the hearts of humanity to lead them astray, but allowing him to be defeated by good humans then.
339
This all mirrors the story of Bill, the divine being tricked by the axolotl and the oracle, not just into his near death, but into his later imprisonment to escape it.
340
It makes sense that the axolotl would take on this role in the show, as the axolotl is one of the forms.. taken on by the Aztec god Zolotl when trying to escape his own death.
341
Zolotl is the god and twin brother of the more well -known Quetzalcoatl, with these two gods having very interesting similarities to the Egyptian Osiris.
342
This gives the Axolotl in the show a twin to balance him out, even if we don't actually see him on screen or in any of the materials.
343
The same way Dipper has Mabel, Stanford has Stan Lee, and the Oracle has Bill.
344
With Quetzalcoatl and Zolotl, they both are involved in a death and resurrection narrative involving the saving of human souls.
345
But in this duality, Quetzalcoatl takes on the more noble ideas that Osiris represented, accepting his death, but also his spiritual ascension that comes afterwards.
346
His twin brother Zolotl, meanwhile, tries to escape death by turning himself into different forms, finally settling on the Axolotl.
347
The Axolotl was believed to be an amphibious creature that was constantly in a larval or baby -like state, suggesting that when Xolotl refused to die, he actually refused to grow.
348
Creating his own prison where he's forever godlike, but also something of a baby.
349
While earlier we discussed the idea that the Axolotl of Gravity Falls is the ultimate being of light and creation,
350
the implication here is more so that the Axolotl represents the end of the destruction characters like Bill, who Bill can become after facing enough punishments to reform them.
351
This is why Bill can invoke the name of the Axolotl in order to save himself in the series finale.
352
Not because the Axolotl was some ultimate good giving him another chance, but perhaps it's instead because this is what the axolotl had done himself to escape death in the past,
353
with his own brother Quetzalcoatl representing creation and having ascended beyond this reality already.
354
And for now, it seems to be the story of Bill Cipher.
355
Of course, they could produce more books like the journals or the Book of Bill and tell us even more, but at this time, I think what fans are really hoping for is the actual return of the show.
356
In the past, Alex Hirsch has set up something of a treasure hunt, leading people to find the statue of Bill Cipher in the forest with the opportunity to shake its hand, giving the implication
357
that all of this is meant to set up some sort of story where Bill could return and escape from this prison, perhaps being given another form in another place that isn't what he expects
358
and one where he actually will continue to be taught how to be a better person.
359
This is just the latest in my series breaking down the intense mythological themes of different cartoons, and I'm trying to do more and more of them, so please consider signing up for an early access membership here on YouTube,
360
or over on our Patreon.
361
This video was available early first for people who really like this kind of content.
362
Right now, we're getting enough support to make about one of these a month, but with enough members, we could bust out two a month and do even more interesting projects.
363
Right now, we have our big breakdown on the Disney Hercules movie there to watch, with a strong focus on the secret sequels to the real -life Heracles myth that a lot of people don't realize exist.
364
And we also have a large playlist of other cartoons and movies that we've broken down the deep mythological inspirations for.
365
Consider checking those out, maybe starting with our Atlantis video.
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Links, as always, are in the pinned comment down below, and I'll see you guys next time.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 366 sentences and 7928 words to shadow. The speech runs for 37:34. The speaker talks fast, about 211 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 82% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| gravity noun | /ˈɡɹævɪti/ | Of an activity such as a ceremony, a person's conduct, etc.: the quality of being deeply serious and solemn, especially in a dignified manner; seriousness… |
| dimension noun | /daɪˈmɛn.ʃən/ | A single aspect of a given thing. |
| portal noun | /ˈpɔːɹtl̩/ | An entrance, entry point, or means of entry. |
| oracle noun | /ˈɔɹəkəl/ | A shrine dedicated to some prophetic deity. |
| entity noun | /ˈɛn.tə.ti/ [-tʰi] | That which has a distinct existence as an individual unit, often used for organizations which have no physical form. |
| destruction noun | /dɪsˈtɹʌkʃən/ | The act of destroying. |
| twin noun | /twɪn/ | Either of two people (or, less commonly, animals) who shared the same uterus at the same time; one who was born at the same birth as a sibling. |
| symbol noun | /ˈsɪmbəl/ | A character or glyph representing an idea, concept or object. |
| mystery noun | /ˈmɪs.t(ə.)ɹi/ | Something secret or unexplainable; an unknown. |
| spiritual adjective | /ˈspɪɹɪt͡ʃuəl/ | Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul. |
| prophecy noun | /ˈpɹɑfɪsi/ | A prediction, especially one made by a prophet or under divine inspiration. |
| nightmare noun | /ˈnaɪt.mɛɚ/ | A very unpleasant or frightening dream. |
| supernatural adjective | /ˌsu.pəɹˈnæ.tʃə.ɹəl/ | Above nature; beyond or added to nature, often so considered because it is given by a deity or some force beyond that with which humans are born. |
| implication noun | /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/ | The act of implicating. |
| summon verb | /ˈsʌmən/ | To call people together; to convene; to convoke. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| end up verb | To bring to a conclusion. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
| break down verb | To stop functioning. | |
| leave behind verb | To abandon. | |
| back up verb | To move backwards, especially for a vehicle to do so. | |
| come through verb | To come into a room or other space through a door or passageway. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| get out of verb | To leave, exit or escape from; to become free of. |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 38 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, wasn't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: mythology /mɪˈθɑ.lə.d͡ʒi/, myth /mɪθ/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: dimension /daɪˈmɛn.ʃən/, destruction /dɪsˈtɹʌkʃən/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, explanation /ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən/, worship /ˈwɝ.ʃɪp/
- Long words — get the stress right: entity /ˈɛn.tə.ti/ [-tʰi], supernatural /ˌsu.pəɹˈnæ.tʃə.ɹəl/, implication /ˌɪmpləˈkeɪʃən/, conspiracy /kənˈspɪɹəsi/, manipulate /məˈnɪp.jʊ.leɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like gravity, dimension, portal.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are sent · being told · be summoned |
| Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing | Zero, which is · one who ultimately · dimension, which was |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have learned · has been · have been accused |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.