Unpopular characters really are killed
I'm basing this theory off of two major pieces of evidence: 1. The person who is telling Trevor about this is Vivian, and you can trust her just about as far as you can throw her. If she's willing to go back to her prison just to make it more difficult to break out and literally brainwash newborn children, what makes you think she's unwilling to cap somebody in the head and dispose of the body somewhere in the less popular sections of the city?
2. We only see Gus, the "Opening Kill" as it were, on a TV screen and never in person. The game is explicitly set in modern day, and with Deep-Fakes and Voice Alterations being a hot topic, along with the fact that pretty much all of Arcadia is recorded 24/7, making a person look and sound like Gus digitally should be a cakewalk for Walten Media.
- Jossed, at least with Gus - a secret room in Vivian's penthouse reveals that he's been an NPC for 18 years.
Vivian tweaked the Antijingle Angela created.
When playing as Angela, the Antijingle is put together using love to distort routine, music to increase control, animals to suppress fear, and cars to increase the aspiration of freedom. But during the Visi-o-rama sequence playing as Trevor (and guided by Number 6), Trevor instead went through a video game sequence and a night club sequence to represent control and freedom, things which the jingle usually distorts. Considering Vivian is Number 6 and she was trying to get Trevor to rebel as part of the show, she likely purposely tweaked the Antijingle to distort his sense of control and freedom while suppressing his fear to take dangerous risks when he could have just left the dome at that point. In addition, it's Vivian's voice narrating the Antijingle sequence, further supporting her role in the whole thing.- Partly confirmed - a secret room in Vivian's penthouse reveals that she tweaked the Antijingle to emphasize the "reset button."
Arcadia will end... peacefully
There's a lot of Arcadians who saw the Interceptors chasing Trevor; that number is bound to increase as Escape From Arcadia starts coming up with crazier and crazier stunts to keep the viewers' attention. Sooner or later, the "popular" upper echelon of Arcadia will catch on, and some will want out. The producers will try to cater to them (while boosting the show's ratings) by letting them go on trips outside the Dome - Merle Jefferson, for example, would probably sell out all over the country. From there, it's only a matter of time before the entire Fourth Wall breaks (temporarily boosting ratings again) and Arcadia simply becomes an oversized resort town. Trevor and Angela will win, just not in the way they planned it.
Romano really was an NPC
Trevor theorizes that Romano was likely an NPC since he got promoted to supervisor despite his obnoxious personality. Though this was never confirmed in-game, the very fact that Romano mentions wanting to go to the beach in his only on-camera scene hints that Trevor is right — since the Jingle stops Arcadia-born residents from ever wanting to leave, Romano's desire to be somewhere else sets him apart.- Confirmed - a secret room in Vivian's penthouse reveals that he's been an NPC for 2 years.
