The meteor is one of the Chorn from Firebringer.
All of the ecological problems Prof. Hidgens was so worried about, which were already foreshadowed in Firebringer, have convinced the Chorn to change their mind about the worthiness of the human race and to save us from ourselves, using the psychic powers Chorn demonstrates at the end of Firebringer.
- Nick Lang has specifically Jossed any connection between the Hatchetfield shows and any past Starkid content, particularly Firebringer.
Black Friday is set in a parallel universe.
The upcoming musical Black Friday is also set in Hatchetfield, but since The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals ended with the societal destruction of Hatchetfield (and the implied imminent societal destruction of Earth), Black Friday is unlikely to be a sequel. If it's a prequel, then it's a Foregone Conclusion that the villain's apocalypse attempt won't succeed, and fan favorite characters Paul and Emma can't appear since they met for the first time in TGWDLM. A parallel universe allows for the same characters we already know to go through a new world-destroying catastrophe, possibly with new interpersonal relationships and dynamics.- But… the main consequence of Hatchetfield (and the rest of Earth) becoming wholly infected by the Hive Mind would just be that everyone would start singing about whatever they're doing, right? Couldn't Black Friday just be implicitly set post-worldwide-infection, thus justifying its nature as a musical? It's true that Hidgens's motivation in TGWDLM seems to be that he thinks the Hive Mind will bring about true worldwide harmony once it infects everyone with the music bug, but he could very well have been mistaken. Or perhaps that's how it's supposed to work, but humanity is too set-in-its-ways and irrational for the Hive Mind to take full effect.
- Unless the Hive Mind did a very thorough job of cleaning up its tracks, it seems confirmed that Black Friday takes place in an alternate timeline where TGWDLM didn't happen.
Paul may not have actually been converted.
Since Emma is singing with the rest of the (presumably post-apotheosis) cast in the opening number, it can be concluded that it takes place chronologically after the rest of the musical. This means that Paul missing his cue to enter would be very unlikely, if he was really infected. It doesn’t seem impossible that he may have been faking being converted in order to not be killed by the musical zombies. The Hive Mind had planned to orchestrate a Betty and Veronica Love Triangle between Paul, Emma, and Greenpeace Girl.
Assimilated Greenpeace Girl cheerily asks Paul to sing a duet, or smile with her, and their brief interaction before the meteor can come off as Slap-Slap-Kiss. Paul and Emma would’ve been the Birds of a Feather pairing and Paul and Greenpeace Girl would’ve been the Opposites Attract pairing (a very common cliche, fitting with the meta nature of the Hive Mind). But, as Paul wasn’t assimilated long enough before Hatchetfield was nuked, with the un-Assimilated Emma also escaping by helicopter when this happened, the Hive Mind wasn’t able to implement this. The Hive Mind never converts Emma.
They just wipe her mind so they can do the story over. And over. And over. Jane didn't marry Tom in this timeline
Black Friday establishes that Emma is the Cool Aunt to her nephew Tim, and they adore each other despite the fact that Emma was a deadbeat sister. You'd think Emma would be anguished on realizing that Tim was dead, as was Tom. Instead, she complains about not having a cool death and is more concerned that Paul didn't survive Hatchetfield's cleanup. The simple explanation? Jane remained single. She never married Tom, and thus Tim wasn't born.- As Emma mentions Jane's wedding and baby shower — not to mention that the fact the car crash happened at all, given that we know Tom was driving — it's very likely that Tom and Tim are in the picture in this timeline. If it's any defense at all, Emma's lack of mourning is likely because she's never met them; her Black Friday incarnation is only just beginning to attempt to connect with them.
Lex, Hannah and Ethan escaped Hatchetfield before the meteor hit
Webby would have warned Hannah about the meteor, and Lex was planning to leave for California anyway. They got out of dodge a few months early with Hannah telling Lex they needed to go sooner rather than later and bought some time. Or...Webby told Hannah how she, her sister, and brother figure could hide from the zombies to figure out a Plan B.