History Headscratchers / SteinsGate

** Another possibility: Okabe's memories in this timeline allow him to plot against SERN much more secretly and effectively; he knows that D-Mails will trigger Echelon and therefore is in a much better position to hide from them. He eventually reassembles the team and they send Suzuha back in time to dismantle SERN in 1975, much like what happens in the Steins;Gate timeline. After all, Hashida Suzu still has to return to 1975 to save Mr. Braun and leave the meter behind.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine never being made and ending up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled back from the future, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trawls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter. And that's not even getting into ''why'' Daru or Suzuha want to travel back to 2010 and 1975 in this timeline...]] The whole "convergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it, not to mention that unlike most other convergences this one isn't explained.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine never being made and ending up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trawls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter. And that's not even getting into ''why'' Daru or Suzuha want to travel back to 2010 and 1975 in this timeline...]] The whole "convergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it, not to mention that unlike most other convergences this one isn't explained.
** The existence of the Divergence Meter doesn't prove that [[spoiler: Suzuha travelled from the future to the present]], only that [[spoiler: she travelled from the future to the past.]] Perhaps there is some more mundane reason in this worldline for that. Additionally, apart from convergence, Reading Steiner suggests that [[spoiler: Kurisu, Daru and Mayuri may start associating with Okabe at some point in the future]]. In all likelihood, they end up inventing the time machine at a point after [[spoiler: SERN has ceased to be a threat.]]

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine never being made and ending up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled to from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trawls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter. And that's not even getting into ''why'' Daru or Suzuha want to travel back to 2010 and 1975 in this timeline...]] The whole "convergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it, not to mention that unlike most other convergences this one isn't explained.

** They were able to read the Jellyman Reports without the 5100. The only thing requiring it was the Echelon database. SERN's normal servers and email systems were on normal PCs.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine never being made and ending up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled to from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trawls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter. And that's not even getting into ''why'' Daru or Suzuha want to travel back to 2010 and 1975 in this timeline...]] The whole "divergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine never being made and ending up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled to from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trolls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter. And that's not even getting into ''why'' Daru or Suzuha want to travel back to 2010 and 1975 in this timeline...]] The whole "divergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine was never made and ends up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled to from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trolls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter. And that's not even getting into ''why'' Daru or Suzuha want to travel back to 2010 and 1975 in this timeline...]] The whole "divergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine was never made and ends up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled to from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine in the future besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trolls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter.]] The whole "divergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it.

* So wait... in Faris' ending, divergence changes and goes beyond 0% (admittedly backwards), thus [[spoiler:SERN's dystopian future ceases to be at the cost of Okabe losing any history he had with his friends, the time machine was never made and ends up as Faris' "amnesiac" boyfriend. Except Suzuha still travelled to from the future to the present, suggesting that a bad future still awaits. We know this because the Divergence Meter she leaves behind after travelling to 1975 is present in Braun's home.]] How is this possible? [[spoiler: The main creator/contributor of Suzuha's time machine besides Makise (whose fate is left unknown in this timeline) is Daru, who in this timeline has no reason (except, perhaps his time travel board he trolls in the Alpha timeline which may still be the case here) to pursue that creation. There's not even a lab anymore to accidentally stumble upon time travel in some experiment so it's less likely, yet he had to have played some role in its eventual creation since Suzuha is his daughter.]] The whole "divergence will cause it to happen no matter what" is certainly an easy answer to this but a rather cheap one considering the extreme odds against it.

** I think the implication is that [[spoiler:once SERN detected the D-Mail, that set them on the path to stealing Okabe's time travel technology and becoming a tyrannical superpower, and that led to Suzuha going back in time to stop them and accidentally crashing into the radio building, which prevented Kurisu from meeting up with her father, causing a major worldline shift.]]

** Movie's canonicity aside, there's no problem here? [=IIRC=], it was never stated outright that this moment was what Okabe meant by [[spoiler: his first kiss]], only implied. Even if it was, convergent worldlines could come into play here as well; [[spoiler: what would've been Okabe's first kiss through Mayuri originally would instead be through Kurisu. Like Mayuri's death, the method (or in this case, person) changes but the event remains the same.]]

** [[spoiler:Moeka]] isn't exactly the most stable person to think for themselves and come up with that instead. FB ordered them to [[spoiler: kill Mayuri and]] take the others captive, so that's what they'll do. Regardless, even if they didn't do that it's pretty clear that [[spoiler: Mayuri will die no matter what, even if it isn't by Moeka's hand.]]

** Movie's canonicity aside, there's no problem here? [[=IIRC=]], it was never stated outright that this moment was what Okabe meant by [[spoiler: his first kiss]], only implied. Even if it was, convergent worldlines could come into play here as well; [[spoiler: what would've been Okabe's first kiss through Mayuri originally would instead be through Kurisu. Like Mayuri's death, the method (or in this case, person) changes but the event remains the same.]]

** [[spoiler:Moeka]] isn't exactly the most stable person to think for themselves and come up with that instead. FB ordered them to [[spoiler: kill Mayuri and]] take the others hostage, so that's what they'll do. Regardless, even if they didn't do that it's pretty clear that [[spoiler: Mayuri will die no matter what, even if it isn't by Moeka's hand.]]

* In the chapter ''"Metaphysics Necrosis"'' of the visual novel, an observant player will notice that John Titor's text to Okabe on the current Divergence measurement is missing after sending back the D-Mail which [[spoiler: stops Suzuha from leaving.]] The headscratcher is this; what is the significance of this text disappearing? It was sent before the D-Mail arrives chronologically speaking, so cause and effect isn't the answer here. Yet the chapter ''"Made in Complex"'' where that D-Mail is undone brings the text back, suggesting that D-Mail somehow did have an impact on it. So what happened in the 0.337187% Alpha worldline to merit this change?

** In the chapter ''"Metaphysics Necrosis"'' of the visual novel, an observant player will notice that John Titor's text to Okabe on the current Divergence measurement is missing after sending back the D-Mail which [[spoiler: stops Suzuha from leaving.]] The headscratcher is this; what is the significance of this text disappearing? It was sent before the D-Mail arrives chronologically speaking, so cause and effect isn't the answer here. Yet the chapter ''"Made in Complex"'' where that D-Mail is undone brings the text back, suggesting that D-Mail somehow did have an impact on it. So what happened in the 0.337187% Alpha worldline to merit this change?