Warning: Fridge pages are Spoilers Off. Proceed at your own risk.
- In the original novel of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, it is said the Wicked Witch of the West fears the dark and water, and she infamously melts when exposed to water. In chapter 6, we find out that wicked witches also melt when exposed to the former...or at least night air.
- Night air was assumed to be poisonous for many years in the Western world, especially in Britain (where Patrick McHale's mother is from) — it was thought to contain "miasma" that would make people sick. See Emily of New Moon, where her aunt assumes that if Emily sleeps with the windows open, the girl will catch consumption and die.
- Also, the wicked witch of this story specifically says she can't stand fresh air; compare to the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz who is defeated by a bucket of water used for cleaning. Both were so corrupt that they were destroyed by a cleansing.
- In "Into the Unknown" we see that Wirt's house has a skeleton with a pumpkin head for a Halloween decoration. And, in Pottsfield the citizens are skeletons dressed in pumpkins.
- Pottsfield is also a portmanteau of the word "potter's field", a burial place for people too poor to afford a proper burial and unclaimed bodies. It makes sense it is populated by skeletons.
- 'Why does Miss Langtree decide to point out that cry begins with C when she's already sung up to the letter K? Maybe because "C...see what he did to me," doesn't really count as a C word, and the song needed to have a word for every letter, so she's correcting that to give her students proper information!
- Also, she skips from four to eight in the number section. But she uses four in the phrase "four times two", which puts the sequence at eight. She skipped the numbers because she multiplied ahead!
- In fairy tales, breaking a curse on a Forced Transformation victim can often get quite gruesome, most notably how The Frog Prince gets his head chopped off in some early versions, and it turns out that Adelaide's magic scissors really did break Beatrice's curse by cutting off her wings.
- It is also notable that the show takes advantage of the fact that most people would not get this reference since we are initially led to believe Adelaide is lying.
- The dog turned into a monster after being exposed to an Edelwood oil-covered turtle. That same oil keeps the Beast's lantern alive. In chapter 10, the Beast's eyes briefly turn into the same "beautiful eyes" the dog exhibited, showing the connection.
- The title can seem a bit strange, considering that the plot-significant wall that Wirt and Greg go over is in a graveyard... until you realize that a slang term for graveyard is "bone garden".
- That and the name of the graveyard is "The Eternal Garden," which is likely in itself a reference to the above...
- A lot of early viewers complained that Greg acts way too happy for a lost kid. However, people seldom question what happens in a dream.
- If the whole thing was only Wirt's dream, of course he would flanderize his little half-brother into The Pollyanna.
- It may not have been completely a dream or some sort of a shared dream as it seems that Greg is recounting the tale of their adventures in the last episode as Wirt woke up. We also see the fate of everyone Greg and Wirt interacted with at the end as if everything in this purgatory/dreamscape was somehow real (even if it doesn't physically exist in the human world).
- It's a case of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane, as Greg's story seems to be intentionally lacking in details, so it is up to the viewer to decide whether he was actually recounting the same adventures that Wirt experienced, or just... being Greg.
- This whole idea is rendered moot anyways, whether only a dream or not, since he acts the same as he always did while in the maybe-dream world.
- If the whole thing was only Wirt's dream, of course he would flanderize his little half-brother into The Pollyanna.
- In Chapter 2, Wirt inquires about finding a phone—something that seems very anachronistic. Then in Chapter 9 it's revealed that Wirt and Greg are actually from the 1980's at the earliest.
- The show was a bit inconsistent about which time period it was meant to invoke, like a Gibson Girl (from the 1890s) to Betty Boop (literally the 1930s, though she was based on 1920s style flappers). Children would obviously overgeneralize the past in real life, let alone in their dreams.
- Overlaps a bit with Fridge Horror: people who succumb to despair or exhaustion in the woods turn into edelwood trees. In The Divine Comedy, suicides take the form of trees in Hell. Made even more appropriate by the fact the the Unknown is loosely implied to be some sort of purgatory/afterlife.
- The edelwood trees are filled with a thick dark sap used to fill the Beast's soul lantern — and the branches in the vale of suicides bleed when broken, symbolizing the violence of their deaths and the extremity of feeling that led to them. Perhaps the comparative listlessness of the edelwood sap is due to the slow and numbing nature of this particular kind of despair over time, since the edelwood-growing process is gradual, rather than frantic pressure.
- In the theory of four humors, the humor associated with depression is Melancholia — from the Greek for "black bile". The black, languid sap of the Edelwood trees is thus representative of the despair that caused the transformation.
- The edelwood trees are filled with a thick dark sap used to fill the Beast's soul lantern — and the branches in the vale of suicides bleed when broken, symbolizing the violence of their deaths and the extremity of feeling that led to them. Perhaps the comparative listlessness of the edelwood sap is due to the slow and numbing nature of this particular kind of despair over time, since the edelwood-growing process is gradual, rather than frantic pressure.
- The second episode revolves around the undead town of Pottsfield, where one of the protagonists' punishments for intruding is to dig holes from which emerge the skeletal last comers to the town's festival. Historically, "potter's fields" were places where the people too poor/in debt to afford proper graves were buried in unmarked ones... And thus, it's literally the final resting place of the Unknown!
- Even though days seem to pass for the duration of the series, the phase of the moon never changes during nighttime scenes, hinting to how the events of the series actually take place in one night.]]
- In the episode with the school for animals, the animals which actually attend are domesticated, while the ones playing in the woods around the building are wild.
- Not quite - one of the school-goers is a fox. Some species of fox can be tamed as pets, but they aren't domesticated in the strictest sense. note Foxes, raccoons, and deer have been tamed on an individual basis fairly commonly, however, and of the "wild" animals in the episode the fox would arguably be considered the smartest, so perhaps his inclusion among the domestic animals was intentional.
- That aside, it seems they are all supposed to attend the school. Some of them are merely playing hooky.
- Not quite - one of the school-goers is a fox. Some species of fox can be tamed as pets, but they aren't domesticated in the strictest sense. note Foxes, raccoons, and deer have been tamed on an individual basis fairly commonly, however, and of the "wild" animals in the episode the fox would arguably be considered the smartest, so perhaps his inclusion among the domestic animals was intentional.
- At first, Greg's desire to play "two old cat" with the school animals in episode 3 seemed like just a peculiar non-sequitur, since for Greg this means literally finding old cats. But then in episode 9 at the Halloween party in the real world, there's a cluster of older kids talking about older bat-and-ball games besides baseball — including one old cat and two old cat.
Greg overheard them and misunderstood. It fits with the old-timey atmosphere of the Unknown, too. - In Songs of the Dark Lantern, the Tavern Keeper claims "he who carries the lantern must be the beast." This makes Wirt think that the Woodsman, keeper of the lantern, is the Beast. While this is proven false in the same episode, we later learn that the lantern contains the Beast's soul, so it technically does belong to it.
- By chopping down the edelwood trees and keeping the lantern lit, the Woodsman is, however unwittingly, feeding it the souls of people who succumbed to despair in the woods. Which is a rather Beastly thing to do, no? Really, the Tavern Keeper might as well be saying "Battle ye not with monsters..."
- In fact, the axeman reveals that he fought the Beast for the lantern and won, meaning the Beast really did carry it at some point.
- The fact that the Woodsman fought the Beast for the lantern implies he pulled a trick to pass on the job he didn't want to do for himself. Likely, the Beast came across the wandering Woodsman, found out about his lost daughter, and then convinced the Woodsman he was carrying her soul in the lantern, deliberately withholding it and then losing the ensuing fight on purpose to make the Woodsman think he won. After all, he's known for making bad things look good for his enemies, and letting the Woodsman think he triumphed while he only got a burden is right in the Beast's wheelhouse.
- In ''Songs of the Dark Lantern', Greg helps himself to many plates of food at the Tavern, and the food disappears while off camera; but Greg remains hungry. This is because the horse Beatrice is with can be seen looking at Greg's food through the window, and is shown licking food off his lips. Fred does enjoy stealing, after all.
- A deleted animatic on the DVD reveals that Greg did indeed feed all the food to the horse, also explaining why it didn't talk to Beatrice earlier in the episode.
- After Wirt is told, at the end of chapter 9, that he'd be no good to Greg dead, Wirt replies "I was never any good to him alive, either." He seems to speaking of how he was a poor older brother in general. Thinking of things from Wirt's perspective, as the episode's events were probably something he was finally remembering, makes it likely Wirt thought he and Greg were already dead rather than dying.
- One of the last scenes shows Beatrice and her family eating a meal. Beatrice's mother refers to the food as "dirt". which likely implied that when Wirt woke up in the hollow tree with Beatrice's family, and her mother is feeding Wirt spoons of "dirt"- it could actually be something a bit more edible.
- Remember the dog from the first episode? Later it's revealed that the dog belongs to Beatrice's family, and they all used to live at the mill house... before being cursed anyway. After that they had to move into a bird nest somewhere in the woods, meaning there was no one around to feed the dog afterwards. It had to survive on its own, and as a result couldn't resist eating the candy trail Greg left... which included the candy stuck on the eldelwood turtle.
- As the camera pans out when Wirt and Greg are in the hospital, Jason (the frog) can be seen with a glowing yellow belly, implying he still has Auntie Whisper's bell in his stomach. This supports the theory that the boy's adventure wasn't merely a dream, or a vision, but a potentially physical dimension in which Jason was able to return from with a souvenir.
- What further solidifies this is Greg supposedly dying and briefly ending up in a cartoony version of Heaven. It wouldn't make sense for Greg to die again if he was already in the afterlife!
- In a series that emphasizes Dark Is Not Evil, The Beast's survival relies on a source of light.
- There are some hints that the Beast is a representation of none other than the devil himself. And let's forget the obvious horns. First of all: the lantern which he was carrying before The Woodsman won it from him. One of the meanings of the name Lucifer is "light-bringing", so it can be connected with the fact that "he who carries the lantern must be the beast". And there are the other traits: lying about the true nature of the lantern to The Woodsman (The Prince of Lies), tempting (The Tempter), and striking deals that in the end turned out to be greatly disadvantageous to the other side. Also the name Beast could be connected with The Beast and The Mark of The Beast from the Book of Revelation. His voice actor has also made a career out of playing operatic devils (he even released an album called A Date with the Devil).
- When Wirt and Greg first see the Woodsman, Wirt cautions that they should stay away from him because he might be a crazy axe murderer. Back in the graveyard, they overheard Jason Funderburker telling the other kids a story about an axe murderer.
- Pottsfield is home to undead skeletons dressed in pumpkin costumes. Their leader Enoch is revealed in the epilogue (and in hindsight, the prologue) to actually be a black cat. Skeletons, pumpkins, and black cats are all associated with Halloween, the night Wirt and Greg's adventures all began. On a related note, Pottsfield also has corn fields and giant turkeys, likewise connected to Autumn and Thanksgiving, which is right around the corner from Halloween. It makes sense that these elements would be on Wirt's mind at the time and thus some of the first things he encounters in The Unknown.
- Jason Funderberker has a croaking quality to his voice because of the stutter, indeed making it the perfect frog name. It's not terribly nice but that was more or less the point.
- In Chapter 1, Greg has a stash of candy in his pants for... some reason. This makes more sense in hindsight, since we learn in Chapter 9 that they went into the Unknown on Halloween.
- Also, if the Beast Dog was after Greg's candy, why did it approach Wirt towards the fireplace? It turns out that Wirt had a piece of candy stuck to his cape which Greg uses to throw it off the roof.
- Beatrice says "walking" and "wash my hands of this whole affair", which is odd considering she's a bird. Except she's really a human, but most people wouldn't think of this twice.
- The Woodsman tells Wirt to stop blaming Greg and be a good older brother, accepting the responsibility for the two of them. Once Wirt believes he's the Beast he stops listening to his advice and gives into depression, blaming Greg for their predicament and letting his brother be the leader by himself.
- If the Unknown symbolizes the afterlife, then the Woodsman is going through the Five Stages of Grief over his daughter. Although he's the one lost, not her.
- Denial: he doesn't realize she's even dead, but maintains that her soul in in the lantern, kept alive by his work. She isn't.
- Anger: when he realizes the Beast tricks him, he lashes out with an axe.
- Bargaining: he literally made a Deal with the Devil to keep his daughter alive.
- Depression: he's heartbroken when he realizes his daughter has been dead this whole time.
- Acceptance: only after passing all the other stages of grief can he finally leave the Unknown and be reunited with his daughter.
- This makes especially solid sense when one remembers that the Five Stages of Grief were originally created as a guideline for people diagnosed with terminal illnesses - as in, people who are going to die themselves - rather than dealing with the loss of a loved one. The fact the Woodsman is the one who's truly lost can be him accepting his own mortality, and ends with his triumph over the death of hope itself.
- Fred the horse is obsessed with stealing things. Out of all the tavern's residents, the only one whose profession requires a horse is the Highwayman, so Fred must logically be the Highwayman's horse. So it makes sense that he steals things—he belongs to a thief.
- Issue 2 of the four-part comic confirms this.
- Fred's kleptomaniac tendencies also seem to parallel how Greg stole Mrs. Daniels' decorative rock from her garden.
- Why is the present day in this series the early 1980s? Because the show is aiming for a "nostalgic" tone and the '80s would've been the most recent era in which the eldest surviving generation could pass on nostalgia of turn-of-the-century Americana to the youth, either being born into it or having it passed down from their elders, whereas even the oldest living people circa 2014, most of whom were likely born in the 1930s at the earliest, would consider that era ancient history.
- It makes perfect sense that it is Halloween night. Halloween is loosely connected to the Celtic festival of Samhain and folklore has it that the veil between worlds (including between this world and the afterlife) is the thinnest that night.
- From the very start, it seems the relationship between the boys and Beatrice will fit the typical fairytale archetype: lost and distressed children, lead home by a helpful bluebird. But "Over the Garden Wall" full-out averts this trope, as Beatrice isn't really leading the boys home. In fact, in the end, it's the other way around: the children (Wirt and Greg) are the ones who help the lost bluebird (Beatrice) find her way home (Adelaide's scissors).
- While it's not emphasized, the show also has a theme that even adults have fears. These fears can range from your child wasting away money (Miss Langtree's father), going insane (Quincy Endicott), getting sick (Adelaide), your kid getting sick (Auntie Whispers) or losing your kid (the Woodsman). But sometimes, these fears can turn out to be just as irrational as a child's fears. Namely, the Woodsman learned his daughter's soul never did rely on the Beast's lantern remaining lit.
- When Beatrice calls Wirt a "wonderful mistake of nature" in the last episode, it occurs that this isn't just a reluctant attempt to praise Wirt. It could also refer to how Wirt handled the Beast. If the Beast is nature, then it was his mistake for thinking he could trick Wirt.
- In the fifth episode, Greg throws away the two pennies he received as a reward from Endicott and his new wife. Now this could be viewed as Greg being his usual silly self. But later, when we learn he stole his "rock fact rock" from Mrs. Daniels, it could also be interpreted as Greg feeling guilty that he stole something and didn't deserve to be rewarded.
- Ten ten-minute episodes gives Over the Garden Wall, when watched in a marathon, almost the same runtime as the 1939 Wizard of Oz.
- The whole thing is also Wirt's Coming of Age Story. In the end, he learns an important lesson about facing his fears instead of running from them, and makes the first steps to getting over some of his social awkwardness. But the theme of growing up is also touched on by many other aspects of the story. Wirt spends most of the plot wandering through childish fairy tales, picking up lessons from them, but also learning to move on from them. He gets annoyed at being called a kid. A lot of the stories are about self-discovery and growth for Wirt; in the Tavern he literally has to define himself. The title song is full of references to nostalgia, memories, and letting go of the past. Learning to let go of the past and accepting things as they are also turns out to be a major point close to the end of the story. And of course we learn eventually that Wirt is having a near-death experience — and near-death experiences are often associated with moments of clarity and growth, when we finally realize what's really important in life, and how to move forward.
- Greg's response to seeing a school? "Not today." The night he appeared in the Unknown, there was a high school football game - meaning, it was Friday night. This was still his first day there following that. He doesn't want to go to school because it's a Saturday!
- The glimpses of shadows at the start of episode 1 may have been the POV of Greg and and Wirt peeking their eyes through the water, explaining the blurriness and indistinct blobs of shadows.
- Enoch was joking when he stated that Wirt and Greg were accused of murder. At first, you assume it's because of how they stepped on the pumpkins...but after The Reveal, you realize that neither of them could commit murder because all the residents of Pottsfield are the skeletons wearing pumpkins as costumes and thus are already dead.
- The first Chapter's title, "Babes in the Wood", is a Shout-Out to the ballad of the same name as mentioned on the main page. The reference is also a very sharp piece of foreshadowing to those in the know—the ballad has two children get lost in the woods and die tragically young, to be covered up by birds, just as Wirt and Greg are on death's door after drowning in the woods' river, accompanied by a bird for most of their journey through the other world.
- It's a modest two coins to board the ferry to Adelaide's place, this is similar to the toll for Charon the Boatman in Classical Mythology who accepts a single coin per passenger to ferry them to the afterlife - fitting with the show's usage of metaphor, buying passage to Adelaide is effectively the brothers buying their way to their own deaths. Greg throwing their fare away is thus him unknowingly rejecting dying without a fight, that extra time and bonding moment they had with Beatrice because they had to sneak on board and run from security helps lead to her changing her mind and saving the brothers from the witch.
- The opening and closing images related to the Dark Lantern are carved toys of its' denizens - likely made by the Toymaker. This image makes more sense when you realise that the Tavern Keeper is a tribute to Betty Boop (even down to the phonetic similarity in her song "Better Beware"). In classic Boop cartoons, inanimate objects would frequently come to life to join in her songs or react to her shenanigans, only to become inanimate again. In thr Dark Lantern, it's almost the opposite - living creatures come in and the Toymaker reimagines them as inanimate objects.
- Auntie Whispers could have cured Lorna earlier by commanding the spirit to leave her at any time. It can be interpreted that she willingly made Lorna her slave (and risked countless lives) just so she could avoid losing her.
- Another possible interpretation is that Auntie Whispers had a good reason to keep the evil spirit confined to the girl, and Wirt freeing it just released an even bigger evil unto the world.
- A more merciful interpretation is that Auntie Whispers was simply too senile to realize that was an option (after all, a "good witch" might not know the ways of demons) or simply did not want to risk making things worse, and exorcising Lorna really did defeat the demon... but it still does not change the fact that Lorna's victims died in vain.
- Alternately, Auntie Whispers was familiar with the demon, and was led to believe that it could do way more damage if it were free from Lorna, so keeping her possessed was for the greater good. If this were true, it would lead to frightening implications of what's going to happen now.
- The spirit has left Lorna, and that is great. Except it's clear that she remembers what happens while she is turned into a monster. And from what we see of the little clip at the beginning of the first episode, she has killed a lot of people.
- It's possible that the demon was a parallel to the Beast; it operates by tricking a human into aiding it by convincing them that they are actually helping its victim. So an unwitting mortal maintains the status quo because they are too afraid to see that failing to do so would actually defeat the monster and free their loved one. And both times, Wirt is the one to remain rational and figure out the solution.
- Lorna reassuring Auntie Whispers that "you're my family" is heartwarming on its surface, but grows sinister when you realize that Lorna probably means this literally. Her real family was probably her first victims.
- At one point Beatrice suggests to Wirt that he stay in The Unknown instead of trying to find his way home. While this is soon revealed to be because she's having second thoughts about selling them out to Adelaide, even later on we find out she was unintentionally telling them let themselves drown.
- When Beatrice talks about leaving Wirt behind, at first it seems like she just doesn't like Wirt, or how poorly he treats his brother. Then, later on, it looks like she was singling out the more gullible of the two for Adelaide. But there's another reason to look at: throughout the series, Wirt is almost constantly forlorn, pessimistic, and angry about his trip through the Unknown. All of these traits attract the Beast.
- Similarly, in the next episode, Beatrice asks Greg why he can’t be more like Wirt; always doing what he’s told with no willpower whatsoever. At first this just comes off as her being rude out of nowhere, but then you realize it’s because she was taking them to Adelaide, who wanted child servants who would be “just like sheep” and follow her every command.
- It is revealed that the Woodsman wouldn't chop down the edelwood with Greg inside it because he didn't know that was how edelwood was created in the forest, meaning having being unknowing of that, have chopped down numerous other edelwoods regardless of being created by the souls of those who died in the Unknown. How many souls do you think the Woodsman burnt up to keep the beast alive?
- From Chapter 8 and onward, the Unknown starts getting colder, and snow begins to fall and cover the ground. If The Unknown is just a Dying Dream by the brothers as they're in the river, then this winter could have been a sign of hypothermia setting in.
- Episode 10 reveals from an overhead shot that Wirt and Greg's hometown is none other than Aberdale. Just imagine the thought of Clarence and friends on a wacky Halloween adventure, completely unaware of two boys nearly drowning in the same town...
- When partway through his Edelwood transformation Greg starts to cough up leaves and then clarifies he's just been eating them, it's a nice moment of comic relief. But what else is there for Greg to eat? And when's the last time he's eaten? They're lost in the woods and Greg is too young to provide for himself; is it possible the kids are beginning to starve as well as freeze?
- And he's probably been hungry for a while; you can see him trying (and failing) to cook a leaf to eat in the earlier episode "Lullaby in Frogland," and even earlier than that, in "Songs of the Dark Lantern," Greg talks at length about how hungry he is.
- Watching closely, the only food we see him eat during his time in the Unknown is a bite of bland potatoes at the schoolhouse. He tries to order a meal at the tavern, but Fred the Horse keeps stealing the food through the window, and we never see him eating the dinner at Quincy Endicott's manor. Poor little guy's been operating on a single spoonful of carbs ever since this started!
- And he's probably been hungry for a while; you can see him trying (and failing) to cook a leaf to eat in the earlier episode "Lullaby in Frogland," and even earlier than that, in "Songs of the Dark Lantern," Greg talks at length about how hungry he is.
- Basically everything involving Enoch. While he is not as outwardly threatening as he seems initially, there are undertones that he seems to be a facilitator of Death. With theories involving Pottsfield being an implied reference for the burial ground of the poor or unknown, it gives more context when you consider his closing lines to Wirt, which seem to imply all who die might come to Pottsfield and raises the question of what he means by "Good Harvest This Year".Enoch: Oh, what a wonderful harvest. And what about you? You sure you wanna leave?
Wirt: Me? Yes!
Enoch: Oh, well. You'll join us someday.- Enoch is a biblical figure notable for his death—or, potentially, his lack of one. The Book of Genesis states that Enoch lived over 300 years before he was "taken by God," which is interpreted by many Jewish and Christian traditions to mean Enoch moved to the afterlife without physically dying, the only biblical personage stated to have done so.note It's doubtful that OTGW's Enoch is supposed to be that Enoch, but the name's connection to a unique position in the afterlife is reflected in Enoch's position of leadership among Pottsville's residents.
- Not to mention that in Jewish/Biblical history, the first city was named after Enoch by Cain, his father. Notable in that Pottsville is itself the first sign of civilisation that Wirt and Greg come across...and that Cain, a farmer, is known for the first murder, which occurred in the middle of a field. And the victim was his brother.
- The Woodsman thought the lantern kept his daughter's soul safe, but when it's revealed that the Beast lied, think about it from the Woodsman's perspective. If his daughter ever fell prey to the Beast while he was chopping Edelwood trees, do you really think the Beast would pass on the chance? He could have killed his daughter at any time without his knowing...
- Wouldn't anyone lost and frightened in the woods be drawn to the light of a lantern in the darkness? Especially when accompanied by a song inviting them to forget their sorrow and fear? The Beast isn't stalking his prey; he's luring them to their doom with the promise of safety, making him twice as sinister.
- The very brief glimpse of the Beast's true form shows that he looks to be made out of Edelwood. As in, the Beast is comprised of the remains of dead people.
- Beatrice complains that bluebirds have short life spans and that Greg and Wirt are wasting hers. In its place this is just a bit of Black Comedy, but considered in light of her being a Forced Transformation victim, it implies that her effort to restore herself and her family to their true forms is a race against time.
- More Fridge Sadness, but as if the Woodsman's situation isn't bad enough, consider that when Wirt tells the people of the inn that the Woodsman was the one who had the lantern, the Innkeeper tells him, "he who carries the lantern must be the Beast." Which means that if the Woodsman wanted to try alleviating any loneliness his burden would create by talking to someone other than the Beast, most people would run away, presuming the Woodsman is the Beast. And this is presuming that the Woodsman would consider taking any time away from harvesting the Edelwood trees or that the Beast would even allow him to interact with others.
- It may very well have been the Woodsman who spooked the carriage driver in the beginning of that same episode, having spotted someone with a lantern out in the woods during a storm, seeing as how the Beast would have been too dark to see under such circumstances.
- Wirt's sudden realization in Episode 10 that the Beast's intentions are anything but benign, and that him taking the deal would be for the worse may feel a bit out of the blue, but considering the entire series as a whole, it makes a lot of sense. Wirt has always been the 'odd one out' of the world of the Unknown, and while starting as a fairly overdramatic and somewhat cynical person, he and Greg are able to solve the situations they're in because they're not from the Unknown. They run a benefit concert in Episode 3 when no one had considered that, they find out both of the houses are connected in Episode 5. Wirt's realization here isn't out of the blue, it's the culmination of a pattern of behavior. The story is headed for a classical fairytale tragedy, but Wirt is not a fairytale tragedy character.
Fridge Logic
- At the end, the other kids cross the tracks to find Greg and Wirt climbing out of the river. That means the train had to pass for them to cross to get to where Wirt and Greg are. Anyone who has had to wait at a crossing knows how long it takes some trains to pass. This could give a clue as to how long Greg and Wirt were under water.
Fridge Heartwarming
- Consider Wirt joining in on the Adelaide Parade song on the Ferry. He slips in pretty early, which isn't easy; when you join in on a song like that, it takes a moment, you really have to listen and think about the melody and which lyrics are coming next. The fact that he works his way in so early in the song seems to indicate that he's been planning for some time to join in if Greg started the Adelaide Parade again.
