Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
The timeline matches up pretty nicely. Assuming the first season of the series takes place a little bit after the Total Drama 2023 season, Heather and Alejandro are in their mid-30s when the show starts. Heather could very easily concieve Fiore during the timeskip in-universe, and Fiore is stated to have a strained relationship with her mother, which fits Heather's character pretty nicely.
- The theory was discussed by one of the creators
. - Probably Jossed. Season one of DC canonically takes place in 2022, plus, Heather is Asian, Alejandro is Hispanic, and Fiore is Italian-American.
What's the way for everyone to have a Happy Ending (or at least a Bittersweet Ending)? Have Alec and his wife divorce, Fiore's mom disown her, and then Alec adopt her (potentially still keeping in touch with his son).
- DEFINETELY Jossed as of Episode 12.
We're never told what her acting career was actually like, only that it tanked once she moved to America, and she went 50 films stuck in uncredited bit roles.
However, if there's anything that Riya shows in the second half of the season, is that she makes a pretty good villain: being able to lie and deceive the people around her, pretend like she's innocent when necessary, and playing people like a fiddle when she wants something out.
Since villains are usually the most popular roles in media, after the show, Riya would likely be searched to play the role of a villain in a movie and this, coupled with her decent acting, could help her to reinvent her career and return to the big shot status she had in India.
- Confirmed in the premiere episode of All-Stars.
This theory may sound dark but hear me out, we never get to see the eliminated contestants after their elimination episodes not even a small scene, nothing (something that we did get to see in Season 2) so what if Derek and Trevor owe a lot of money to Jensen and he is taking all the eliminated contestants hostage until they pay it back? It is canon that Jensen is a wanted criminal so he may have ties to the mafia. Disventure Camp could be the way for Derek and Trevor to pay back Jensen's schemes (even if the prize is a big Fraud) and Tom must have been hired to try to stop Jensen. This could also explain why Gabby was so scared in her elimination episode and why in Episode 9 they kept them away from the actual camp with the VR.
- Jossed, the main twist was Derek and Trevor were killing the forest animals making it false.
- Jossed. Assuming the secret refers to the false flag trick from Episode 1, it gets overshadowed by their later strategies. It wasn't used to save Alec and it doesn't seem like something Fiore would be eliminated over in the finale.
- Yes, this does refer to the flag trick, but I wrote this back when Alec was still in the game. So either way, it’s still Jossed.
- While still Jossed as the secret itself didn't play a role in it, Fiore is eliminated in the finale after a similar flag switch trick in a sort of Book Ends way.
- She's written as the most sympathetic character of the entire final 5. Given that she didn't get Rosa Maria treatment, she's likely bound to get TDI Owen one.
- Her confessional from the end of Episode 11 basically hints her winning. This likely wasn't just in regards to Episode 12.
- She went through a major Character Development over the course of the season.
- Both Ellie and Fiore already won in their own endings of Adventure Camp. This will not only allow the elimination order to slightly change to prevent predictability, it will also mean there will be more winners in the series.
- Both Ellie and Fiore had an Elimination Houdini moment, so them winning wouldn't feel as fair. Fiore survived fake voting ceremony in Episode 1, Ellie did the same in Episode 6, and then Ellie was saved with immunity idol in Episode 7.
- Confirmed.
- Staff: seemingly unchanged from Season 2. Kristal appears on a poster. We know Oliver got promoted, so he won't be competing either.
- 18 contestants - the easiest/laziest way to select them would be to pick just the 9 highest-ranking contestants of each season = mergers + Dan from Season 1 and mergers from Season 2.
This sort of makes sense. While it seems most of the highest-ranking characters have their plots already concluded, they can still offer something more:
- Miriam - helping Jake and Tom reconcile (unless she does so in Season 1's finale)
- Ellie and Gabby - more of their relationship, perhaps learning more about Gabby's condition, Gabby triumphing over Grett this season
- Fiore and Riya - potential redemption arc
- Alec - potentially patching things up with Fiore
- Jake and Tom - patching things up, at least being restored to friends (could happen in the finale, though)
- Grett - her character arc has been concluded, so the only thing left seems to be letting Gabby triumph over her this time
- Dan - trying to restore his friendship with Gabby
- James, Aiden, and Karol - Karol has yet to have her Revenge against Jaiden
- Hunter, Ally, Tess - their plot concluded weirdly...they seem to be more than friends, yet still too platonic to be called a poly couple. This season should conclude the status of their relationship
- Rosa Maria - helping with Riya's redemption? And maybe being explored more since she was pretty much just a supporting character for others' plots
- Lake - another character with completed character arc. With that being said, the Pride Month post revealed her as lesbian. This could be explored more since it wasn't referred to at all during Season 2. A potential Love Triangle with Ellie and Gabby?
Not too sure about the theory since it feels like more should be done with at least Ashley and Will's Ship Tease (though their relationship status could be confirmed by Season 1's finale or with a simple cameo/Aftermath-like show). They also might need Yul if they go with Heroes vs. Villains theme. But the pre-mergers generally didn't offer much (Drew), had their character arcs concluded (Kai and Maggy), or were too minor characters to be considered All-Star worthy (pretty much all of them, except maybe Yul, Lill and Ashley). The remaster also doesn't put much focus on Nick and Lill, so there's not even much to patch up here. Connor could play a role in Riya's redemption, but he could do so while just having a cameo. Ashley could potentially replace Dan, but then again her most important non-Fiore interactions were with pre-mergers only.
- Partly Confirmed and partly Jossed. The cast will include Aiden, Alec, Ally, Ashley, Connor, Ellie, Fiore, Gabby, Grett, Hunter, Jake, James, Lake, Miriam, Riya, Tess, Tom, and Yul.
- The same goes for the plots. Miriam, Jake, and Tom's already came true in Season 1's finale. Ally and Hunter will be bickering (it was confirmed they're a couple and are platonic friends with Tess, though), Alec and Fiore don't seem to be patching things up, Fiore and Riya don't seem to be getting a redemption arc, Grett's will be about her weight loss and her relationship with Yul, meanwhile Jake will be jealous of Tom and Aiden's friendship.
- Appears unlikely now. It's been stated that one contestant (likely James) will return after initial elimination. This means around 18 elimination episodes. The premiere was a non-elimination, leaving only 2 spots for non-elimination episodes left, one of which might be a part 1 of a two-parter finale. This is not enough for a few Aftermath episodes.
Adding to the theory, here's a list of potential teams based on the theme:
Heroes:
- Ally - a Nice Girl
- Ashley - a Nice Girl
- Connor - a Cool Old Guy
- Lake - a Nice Girl (could be proven wrong if she's neutral for her new rebellious self)
- Tess - fits a neutral team as well, but she was generally a good person (could be proven wrong if she's put on neutral team for not warning Ally and Hunter of her and Ally being targeted)
- Tom - a Nice Guy and Big Damn Heroes
Neutrals:
- Aiden - a Nice Guy, but Season 2 Episode 9
- Gabby - assuming her being a Designated Hero doesn't make her a hero instead
- Hunter - a Nice Guy infamous for his couple Unintentionally Unsympathetic moments
- Jake - a Nice Guy who can be a Hypocrite and a Manchild
- James - The Strategist of Season 2, redeemed by the end, but he still had his questionable feats, like using Aiden at first or his Pay Evil unto Evil against Yul
- Miriam - generally nice, but started as Grumpy Old Woman, had Would Hurt a Child moments (even if against a villain) + the way she eliminated Ellie was on par with other antagonists
Villains:
- Alec - could in theory be neutral, but the show constantly portrayed him as a villain for being Fiore's The Dragon
- Ellie - also could be on neutral team in theory, but I needed numbers here, plus she was called out for her morally questionable strategies
- Fiore - obvious
- Grett - obvious, though she seems to have Took a Level in Kindness, judging by her promo art
- Riya - obvious. Even though she had room for development, her promo art suggests she hasn't learnt her lesson (potentially because it allowed her career as villain actress, as theorized earlier on this page)
- Yul - obvious
- Mostly Jossed. While the yellow team has majority of past villains, the theme isn't heroes vs. "neutrals" vs. villains and contestants have been selected on the teams randomly. There are indeed 3 teams of 6 with those colors, though.
- Jossed. She's the 17th confirmed camper returning for All Stars, so she's alive.
- Partially confirmed. Yul and Grett really are dating, but it's not clear if he had anything to do with her weight loss.
- At least half-confirmed for now. Connor and Riya do break up, although it's Riya who breaks up with Connor.
Yellow Team:
- Yul
- Grett
Cyan Team:
- Aiden
- Tom
Magenta Team:
- Ashley
- James
- Confirmed.
Meanwhile, Tess also interacts a lot with Lake, with it being confirmed they collaborated together on Lake's books in the past. They also both have compatible sexualities. What's more, Lake's wasn't explored on the show at all, so it's likely going to come at play this season and Tess seems to be the best choice for her love interest so far.
- Unlikely. Lake is 17 and Tess is 23, meaning that the former is a minor. If it did happen, it would raise a lot of eyebrows from fans.
- The issue could be avoided if Lake has a birthday during the competition, making her a legal adult. It could still raise some concerns from some fans given how they knew each other before that point, though.
- Likely Jossed, as Lake's early elimination makes it unlikely to happen.
- The issue could be avoided if Lake has a birthday during the competition, making her a legal adult. It could still raise some concerns from some fans given how they knew each other before that point, though.
- Mostly Jossed. In spite of their bickering, Ally and Hunter don't break up, at least not during Hunter's time as a contestant. While it remains possible that Tess talking to Ally about her issues could lead the latter to believe she needs to break up with Hunter, this would mean that Tess's involvement was what partially led to it rather than not having her by their side. In fact, Tess already interacted with Hunter. However, they did have significant couple problems while Tess wasn't around, although to be fair, it's been stated that it's been the case for a while after getting a lot of hate online, rather than due to Tess being on a different team.
Emily's main job is to stir up conflict among the contestants, and we're not provided further context for the interviews themselves. Who's to say that they weren't either Taken out of context or manipulated behind the scenes to emphasize Ellie's harsh words?
Not only that, but Aiden's boyfriend, James, is bound to have a big target on his back as the winner of Season 2. However, targeting him directly wouldn't work since he has the skills to survive. Aiden, meanwhile, is a slightly easier target, so he might be made the first boot to throw James off his game.
Finally, this could be a chance to bring back the brief spat Kristal had with Aiden in Season 2: Emily could bring up said spat to Kristal and, seeing little drama that the boy could be bring on his own, could convince her to let Emily stir enough issues among the contestants to convince them to get Aiden out first.
- Jossed. James was the first boot instead.
Since the intro implies Jake might get jealous over Tom and Aiden growing closer, and Miriam's implied to leave early due to health issues, this leaves Jake with nobody to help keep him in check in case his emotional instability gets the better of him, which could lead to him becoming more and more determined to get Ellie out until he goes through a Face–Heel Turn in a desperate attempt to get her out of the game.
Gabby, meanwhile, has been confirmed to be a huge fan of Riya, which could lead to the actress to convince her to form an alliance with her in order to get far, especially if Ellie does become the first boot like many think she'll be.
- Added to the above, Ellie did say in an interview that next time she saw Miriam in pain or ill, she would "let her go into the light", so there could be a chance that Miriam could end being medically evacuated because Ellie denied her medical attention.
- Jossed. She suffers no health problems upon her elimination.
Also, the colors are more or less the same as in World Tour, so you'd expect Pink/Magenta Team to be superior team, Cyan/Blue Team to be the middle one, and Yellow Team to be the inferior one. But in order to subvert that (as well as because Grett and Yul are bound to stay for a while), their performance will likely be either switched around or kept even like in Part 1 of Island (2023).
- Confirmed. She's the third boot, eliminated through a regular Voted Off the Island method.
- Yul - See above
- Jake - See above
- Ellie - Wanting the money so bad, used morally questionable strategies
- Alec - In a way similar to Bowie from Total Drama in that he’s not a Card-Carrying Villain but more The Chessmaster
Furthermore, Jake's issues are still as prevalent, and Alec manages to use those issues to trick Jake into getting James eliminated, which can only end up causing friction with the blue Team. All of this leads this troper to believe that the Pink team might suffer the most casualties before the merge; either being completely wiped out, or having the least number of members left by then.
- Likely Jossed. Derek and Emily stopped interacting afterwards, Emily gives Trevor advice on how to get closer to him, and if anything Derek seems more interested in Kristal.
James and Lake were the first contestants shown in the intro, and James was the first boot, with Lake right after him.By this logic, the placements would be:
- Riya *
- Connor *
- Tess **
- Gabby **
- Ellie **
- Ashley ***
- Jake ***
- Tom ***
- Aiden ***
- Yul ***
- Grett ***
- Miriam
- Alec
- Fiore
- Ally ***
- Hunter ***
Characters with the same number of asterisks next to them are interchangeable.
- Jossed. Miriam is the third boot.
- Likely Jossed due to both Connor's and Ellie's eliminations. Although there's still the finale...
It's very likely that, even if she gets to stay long enough, her luck will run out and she'll be out right before the merge happens.
There's also been no mention of Gabby's mental issues so far, and one of those includes an apparition of herself that argues with her sometimes, and even convinces her to do things she wants to do but can't. What if this apparition returns after she learns the truth about the alliance, and convinces her to join it? Both in an attempt to be supportive to Ellie and to try speed up their dissolution by being a wild card.
- Confirmed at the end of Episode 8.
By contrast, Ellie's still stuck working two jobs like in Season 1, everyone but Gabby and Tess hate her, and the villain alliance she's a part of is starting to crumble. When she gets voted off, which is very likely if her attitude continues as it is, she'll be sore about it because she'll be going back to her terrible life empty handed, possibly for real this time.
- Jossed. She actually ends up being a Graceful Loser.
- Both have names that can be spelled in Korean Hangul (율, 에미리)
- The interaction between them in The Stinger of “The Turbulent Triathlon”
- Both are Jerkasses, could be a case of It Runs in the Family
- Similar speech mannerisms
- Jossed, at least in regards to the second reasoning. She confronted him about his behavior on the show (especially towards Grett).
With this in mind, and the trailer for episode 6 putting some decent focus on Yellow, there's a chance that Cyan could lose once again, and and the next episode would see Yellow lose again. Then the sequence would repeat until the merge.
- Jossed. Yellow Team lost in Episode 6 instead of Cyan Team.
As for the other members of Cyan Team, she doesn't know Aiden or Tess personally enough to think they'd be behind the kiss (and Ally could be Tess' alibi for this) while Gabby, despite her mental instability, generally seems to be someone who values relationships and wouldn't mess with a fly. This leaves only Ellie and Tom, both whom have history with Jake. She might sneak off to the camp while nobody else is around, or speak to each of them one by one to try get the full picture of what happened.
- Likely Jossed with Ellie's elimination, not to mention Jake already confronted Tom about the kiss.
