YMMV / Ebenezer

• Moral Event Horizon:
  • If Jacob Marley didn't cross this when he kills Scrooge's sister Fran, he does when he convinces Scrooge that Emily is cheating on him, and upon purported proof he took advantage of, forecloses Emily's orphanage on Christmas Eve, killing everyone there from exposure.
  • Scrooge crosses this when it's revealed he knew about all of Marley's doings from the start and didn't care what they'd done, having attacked Emily viciously and ordered Marley to foreclose her orphanage beforehand himself.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The reprise of "Out, Out!" details Scrooge and Marley foreclosing Emily's orphanage by force, leading to dozens of panicked children's screams in the background. The militaristic beat to the song makes it worse, and it starts with Marley stomping on Tiny Tim's leg and breaking it.
  • As much as he deserved it, Marley's death is a nightmare full of creepy singing children, wildly spinning clocks, red lights, and chains.
  • The reveal that Scrooge knew of Marley's crimes from the start and didn't care because he feels the world has no goodness in it at all.
• Tear Jerker: The final reprise of "Air Balloon" is sung as Emily and the orphans freeze to death in the cold.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The big plot twists of Act 2 are so dark and cynical it can be hard to care about anything that happens before or afterward, especially in light of A Christmas Carol itself. Jacob Marley was in a one-sided love with Scrooge's mother, swore vengeance on the family when she died in childbirth, impregnated and killed Scrooge's sister Fran, concocted a plot to make Scrooge think Emily was cheating on him with Bob Cratchit, and foreclosed her orphanage, killing everyone there while breaking Tiny Tim's leg just to be cruel. The characters repeatedly try and fail to warn Scrooge against Marley to no avail, and it's ultimately revealed that Scrooge knew about it all from the start and didn't care. Scrooge's speech detailing this revelation hammers it home.
  Scrooge: You must think me a simpleton, sir. Don't you think I've known about everything from the start? Don't you think I've known about Marley's motives all along?
  Dickens: Then why have you stayed here?
  Scrooge: Because I learned a long time ago that there is no goodness in this world—and whatever goodness there is is extinguished like a sputtering candle.

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