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As a WMG subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.


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     Pre-Release 
The wolf and bears presented in the trailer are different from the ones presented in the original Shrek.
  • It could just be Continuity Snarl or this could be like that theory that explained Rumplestiltskin’s change in appearance between Shrek the Third and Shrek Forever After: there are different individuals that have these names.
  • Confirmed with the Wolf. He is never referred to as the Big Bad Wolf, and is actually Death himself.

Goldilocks remembers Puss
  • In the trailer, she seemed to recognize Puss, when she claimed that he was supposed to be dead, almost as if she was aware of what happened to Puss.
    • Likely she heard about Puss getting crushed by the bell… or one of his many other deaths.

Goldilocks and The Three Bears want to have The Last Wish.
  • Confirmed. They initially attempt to hire Puss to help them steal the map for the star. Goldilocks initially seeks the star to wish for a real family, but eventually comes to realize the bears are her real family.

Goldilocks and The Three Bears will have their redeeming qualities.
  • Confirmed. Despite being criminals, Goldi and the bears are a loving family. By the end, as Goldi comes to accept the bears as her family, they team with Puss and friends in a final battle against Jack Horner.

Shrek could cameo at the end of the film.
  • Rumors flew around early in production that the ogre would have appeared in the film. It’s not out of the question that Shrek could still appear.
    • It is possible that the end of the movie could lead into Puss's first encounter with Shrek and Donkey in Shrek 2 and that a third movie could be set sometime after.
    • Gingey makes an appearance during the final trailer, lending some credence to the idea.
  • The film is actually set after the Shrek movies. Shrek briefly appears in a flashback, and the gang heads to Far Far Away at the end of the film.

The Big Bad Wolf of this film is the one from The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids.
If the one from the four Shrek films belongs to the The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood stories, to avoid a Continuity Snarl, the wolf of this movie belongs to those two stories, as he was much more successful than that wolf (who didn't get to eat the Three Pigs nor Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother). The clothes this wolf wears are the ones from the deceased shepherd boy and has hooks as weapons because the Mother Goat cut off his belly with hooks to rescue her goats previously.
  • Jossed. This wolf is actually Death.

Similarly, the Three Bears of this films are from a Darker and Edgier version.
They are not the same Three Bears who are later captured by Lord Farquaad in the first Shrek film. The ones from that film were the modern ones who just scared Goldilocks after she broke into their house. The ones from this movie are the more violent ones who in one version ate/mauled Goldilocks for breaking and entering their house. Possibly, after Goldilocks met the first Three Bears, she later turned more badass, went to meet these Three Bears and dominated them, making them her henchmen.
  • Jossed. The story was actually Lighter and Softer than even the modern interpretation, with them taking Goldilocks in as a member of the family after discovering her in Baby's bed.

Kitty Softpaws will die at the end of the movie.
This film is likely intended to still be a prequel to Shrek 2, as in that film, Puss mentions that in one of his nine lives, he was the great cat burglar of Santiago de Compostela, but that film presents Puss as a hitman instead of the hero he is in this movie and its predecessor. Now let's note that Kitty never appears in the Shrek films. Why? Because she will possibly die at the end of this film, maybe at the hands of the Big Bad Wolf to save Puss and ensure Puss restores his eight lost lives, and her death leads Puss to fall into depression and turn into a hitman. Bonus points if the film ends with Puss arriving at the Poison Apple.

  • Jossed. Kitty ended up being alive.

Puss in Boots will give up his wish for Kitty Softpaws.
Though Puss in Boots would originally want to get his other 8 lives back so he can have all 9 of his lives in reserve, he might remember Kitty telling him that when you only have 1 life, that’s what makes it special, and he will either let her have the wish, or if she dies, he will wish for her to come back to life, because he would feel that all 9 of his lives would be empty without her.
  • Jossed. Puss does give up the wish but it's to overcome his fear of Death rather than for Kitty's sake.

Santiago de Compostela will appear in the film.
And that will explain, as theorized above, Puss' dialogue about Santiago from Shrek 2.

Doris the Ugly Stepsister will appear at the end of the film.
Assuming that the film ends by setting up Puss' first appearance in the second Shrek film, perhaps Puss meets Doris and that's how Doris knows about him when King Harold comes to ask her if she knows who could kill Shrek.
  • Jossed. The film takes place after the Shrek films.

Puss will face an evil ogre.
So then that would explain why Puss immediately believed King Harold that Shrek had to be killed, whereas in the previous film it's shown that Puss acts more like Robin Hood and just robs Jerkasses who deserve it.
  • Jossed. He not only never faces an ogre, but the film takes place after the main series, so Puss already knows Shrek at this point.

Assuming some of the above theories about the bounty hunters (namely Goldilocks and the Three Bears) are true, they are not the ones with a major grudge against Puss and were hired by an outside source with a deeper connection and hatred for Puss that wants him dead for good.
  • Jossed. The antagonists are all pursuing their own agendas and are not working for a Greater-Scope Villain.

Goldilocks was Happily Adopted by The Three Bears
Given how a lot of movies in the Shrek and Puss in Boots movies have the Even Evil Has Loved Ones tropes throughout, this could be evident. Especially, if you look closely, you'll notice Goldilocks' teeth are sharpened to look like a bear.
  • Confirmed. The bears consider her their adopted daughter and she reciprocates by the end of the film.

Perrito will diagnose Goldilocks
He's a therapy dog and he could be doing this to gather time for Puss and Kitty. He accurately analyzes that Goldilocks has severe hatred for humans because her biological parents abandoned her and she also a huge amount of insecurity within the Crime Bear Family as she is the only human.
  • Confirmed. Perrito tells Goldi that she “hit the orphan jackpot” with the bears and it helps her come to accept them.

Goldilocks will be revealed to have a Dark and Troubled Past
Goldilocks was abandoned by her cowardly biological parents at some point in her as a child, so she had to fend for herself. It also led her to steal from the Crime Bear Family who were both impressed by the girl's skills and also greatly concerned for her being an abandoned orphan. So, they took her in.
  • Confirmed. She was an orphan taken in by the bears.

Alternatively, the Three Bears actually are the same ones from the Shrek films
It's likely that the end of the film after failing to stop Puss from gaining his nine lives, Goldilocks decides as punishment and/or because of a no longer needing them, to sell them to Duloc knights as Disproportionate Retribution.
  • Jossed. The film is set after the main series and these are different bears.

Goldilocks & The Three Bears will be shown to be a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk
There's probably going to be a scene where at first Goldilocks and the Bears seem to have changed their ways and had a Heel–Face Turn but then reveal that it's an act by them to backstab Puss & Kitty and get the last wish.
  • Jossed. Goldilocks genuinely loves the bears and comes to accept them as their family. All of them come to aid Puss in the final battle. That said they don't give up their criminal ways and are last seen coming up with their next scheme.

The villains will all suffer violent deaths
It is quite common for the villains in the Shrek films to die violently and horrifically, so it likely at least one will die violently.
  • Partially confirmed. The Wolf turns out to be Death himself and abandons his pursuit of Puss after observing his character development, and Goldi comes to realize she doesn’t need the wish. Only Jack Horner, the card carrying, irredeemable villan, dies when the wishing star collapse beneath him.

There will be a Sequel Hook that sets up Shrek 5
Since Puss and his friends will likely be seeing his friends from Far Far Away.
  • Confirmed, the film ends with Puss, Kitty, and Perrito sailing to Far Far Away to meet up with Puss's old friends for a new adventure.

     Post-Release 
This film is making fun of the wishing star from Disney Movies
Since the Shrek films love making fun of Disney, it's likely this is a jab at the famous wishing star, showing that not everyone who wishes is a good person and you don't need to wish for more like Disney protagonists.

It's also Hilarious in Hindsight considering Disney's upcoming film is about the Wishing Star.

  • I don’t know about “making fun of”. It takes itself very seriously, so maybe less mocking, more deconstruction?

Death is working for The Devil
Since he turns out to be following people for their souls such as Puss, was likely able to go to the Dark Forest and had cease-fire when he cornered Puss on the Wishing Star. it would make sense for him to be working for The Devil.
  • If he was working for the Devil, why would he let Puss go? Also, I do not keep up to date with Dreamworks, but is the Devil an established character, or…?
    • Not to my knowledge? We get close with some very wicked characters like Lord Shen and Horde Prime, but I dunno about the Devil himself.

Goldi and The Bears are going to help and become the new owners the Bakers Dozen Factory
At the end of the film, Baby thought of the idea of becoming the new owners of the Baker's Dozen, since Jack Horner is currently dead.

Death exists as a person in this universe because of countless myths and stories about the Grim Reaper

In a world where even someone from a minor nursery rhyme exists as an actual person, it makes sense for the concept of Death itself gaining a body after people tell stories about meeting the Grim Reaper and the widespread belief in a psychopomp. His seemingly playful and sadistic personality could be a reflection of how so many people feel death is unfair or a kind of cruel joke.

  • So, kind of like the New Death (the Death of Humans) from Discworld. Not much like the original Death since he is actually benevolent, and loves cats.

Death’s physical form is specific to each person
  • While it’s clear that Death is perceivable to everyone when he appears, his physical form is specific to whomever he’s targeting. Since Puss is a cat, Death took the form of a wolf to intimidate him further.
    • So when Death showed up at the climax, it’s likely that Kitty, Perrito, Goldi, and the Bears each saw him as something different?
      • Maybe not for the bears, since wolves are major competitors to them.
    • This is supported by the fact that Death, like Puss, lapses into Spanish at times. It would be strange for a raceless, universal embodiment of the concept of death to specifically speak Spanish, unless this particular avatar was personalized as a rival for Puss.

Death has three brothers.
  • Also, like Death, each of them takes the form of an anthropomorphic animal: a lion (War), a vulture (Famine), and a plague rat (Pestilence).

Death in this movie is the same one that was in Geoffrey Chaucer 's The Pardoner's Tale

It's likely that he assumes Puss would be just like the three young men in that tale and try to beat him just so he can easily win.

Him saying "Everyone thinks they'll be the one to defeat me. But no one's escaped me yet." is likely a subtle reference to that tale.

He seems cunning and malicious enough to have planted a large hoard of gold coins so that they can kill each other with.

The events of the first Shrek film ties to Goldi and the Three Bears' story
  • The Three Bears we saw in this movie are actually relatives of the family in the first film. Lord Farquaad's men attacked the bears' homes and destroyed them. Maybe during that event, those bears of the first film sacrificed themselves to protect Goldi and Goldi ever since blamed herself for her aunt's death because she wasn't as capable as the bears.
  • Depending on the Time Skip between this film and the main Shrek series, Goldi's Papa or Mama Bear might actually be the Baby Bear that lost his or her mother in the original film. So when starting their own family, they decided that becoming hardened criminals would better prepare their children to defend themselves from people like Farquaad and Jack Horner in the future.

The wishing star wanted to help people through their problems rather them relying on magic
  • The dark forest that surrounds the star changes by someone looking at the map reflecting their hearts desire and insecurities as well as leaving messages in the map, basically forcing the person holding the map to reflect upon themselves and see how to change for the better without magic. So, the wishing star knowing people would come after its wishing power grew the dark forest so it could help them grow without using up the wish.

Death personally went after Perrito's owners
  • Given his MO, Death would hunt down the pup's former owners and kill them Final Destination-style.

Shrek and the rest of the gang were guests at Puss' botched wedding with Kitty
  • After seeing how happy Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey were, Puss decided to give marriage a try himself and proposed to Kitty, then invited his new friends from Far Far Away to Santa Coloma to see his marriage. If Kitty didn't turn up either, as she claims later in the film, she may not have gotten the chance to meet Puss' other friends yet.

Kitty will become a Violently Protective Girlfriend after the events of the movie.
  • She's aware of the fact that her love, Puss, has only one life. In order to prevent being left alone by his death as long as possible, she takes up a very active defense.

This advertisement took place after the film

  • It's likely Puss decided to avoid going on dangerous adventures to keep his last life and decided to work in a safe job at a theater, meeting Goldilocks & The Bears who would have moved on from committing crime and do normal things as a family.
It's why the Bears didn't immediately kill him when they saw Puss.
  • The patrons flee from the family and Puss still refers to them as a crime family.
    • The patrons probably fled because they're bears and Puss probably still thinks they're running a crime family.

Death would've left Puss alone if he'd stayed at Mamma Luna's

  • Puss was completely miserable at the place but continued staying there (presumably for weeks or months given his beard) out of fear for his life. It's only once he leaves in an attempt to reclaim his lost lives that Death starts appearing again and does so several times over the course of a few days. Death was likely content with Puss being afraid and miserable for the rest of his days and only came back to make sure he didn't return to being "An arrogant legend who thought he was immortal".

Death knew Puss would change.
  • It was just a matter of getting him to properly respect the value of his life that was the trick. The whole unavoidable death, sadistic streak, etc was a show to get someone who clearly needed it to start respecting his life so he would die pointlessly. Granted he did enjoy it, the 'laugh in the face of death' boast was angering him, and was a bit annoyed the fun ended earlier then anticipated but getting Puss to respect death and the value of life was his actual goal the whole time. After all he's Death; he had to know exactly what would happen/ being a force of nature who has seen this sort of story play out since the dawn of time.

  • This one is actually "borrowed" from a comment on Know Your Meme, where the following points and observations were made:
    • Jack runs a ludicrously wealthy company inherited from his family (Symbolic of Disney execs taking over the wealth and fame that was attributed to Walt)
    • He collects magical artifacts (Disney's continuous desire to have a monopoly on the "magic" of what makes people attached to film and television)
    • His wish is to have all of the world's magic (Disney is obsessed with attempting to create a media monopoly)
    • Mass production of pies, all of which are plum pies (Disney releasing similarly-plotted movies for the past decade)
    • He actively abuses and sacrifices his workers to reach his goals (Self-explanatory, as Disney has done this nonstop since the '90s; in fact, that was why Dreamworks was founded in the first place)
  • Tumblr user starleska also made a lengthy essay that delves into this interpretation.
    • As a child, he refused to change his overused act, boring his audience. This could represent how Disney now focuses on huge franchises and live-action remakes at the expense of original properties, leading to fan backlash.
    • Not to mention that he has many parallels with Farquaad, who we know is meant to be a satire of Disney.

Death is just playing, as a way to teach a lesson
  • Death takes a different form for anyone, and for the arrogant legendary Puss in Boots, the fitting form is a sadistic bounty hunter who mocks him at every turn. However:
    • Death never actually goes in for a kill, no matter what opportunities he has.
    • He never shows up at the Cat Refuge, even when Puss tries to fight back.
    • When he says he can end Puss in the cavern of lost souls, one soul says "but that's cheating", before Death destroys that image and says "don't tell".
    • In their final duel, Death seems to actively restrict himself, going for more of a flashy duel than for the more pragmatic routes, like he is playing.
    • The final moment when they lock eyes during the duel, Death says he came to reap an arrogant little legend.
Death can not kill Puss in Boots, because, as with many fairy tales, he has a set of rules and morals. He is also not there to actually kill the cat. He is there to kill the legend, and he did when Puss learnt the lesson about the value of life.They will meet some day, and Death may not take the form of a wolf at that point.

We never see the Dark Forest change in accordance to Jack holding it. If we had, it would have simply ejected him from the forest automatically.
  • The Wishing Star is implied to not want to be found by anybody, and it changes its layout in accordance to whoever is holding the map. This change is always meant to not just reflect the person's wishes, but to allow them to appreciate what they have. When the map changes for Kitty, Puss and Goldi, it provides them with a lot of challenges, but also gives them chances to self-reflect on what they have and reevaluate whether they want to actually make their wish or not (the cabin Goldi and the Bears find help her to realize that she already has a family, and Puss confronting his past lives allows him to face down Death properly in the end). Jack, on the other hand, is completely incapable of such self-reflection, so such a change to the environment would not work on him at all. Instead, had Jack gotten the map, it would have simply kicked him out of the forest to avoid the wish falling into the wrong hands.
    • It's also simple math. Puss, Kitty, Goldi and the Bears all have somewhat selfish but ultimately small scale wishes that only really effect themselves, and as such, the Dark Forest, while difficult to navigate for them, doesn't make it impossible to get the Wishing Star because if they do get it, it ultimately won't be that bad for the world at large. Perrito, someone who doesn't have any wish to make, is given the easiest path because the Wishing Star knows he's not interested in the slightest. Jack is on the opposite extreme; he has an insanely selfish wish that would not only alter the fate of the world for everyone, but do so extremely negatively, and the Forest would theoretically retaliate in full.
    • Counterpoint: We never learn what would have actually happened if Jack got all the magic in the world. Perhaps Jack's forest would have been extremely easy... right up until Jack actually used the star and spectacularly blew himself up using his stolen magic.

Jack Horner handed over a number of magical creatures to Lord Farquad in the original Shrek film.

Horner holds an intense hostility to and jealousy of magical fairy tale creatures and beings, much like Farquad. It would make sense for Horner, as part of his efforts to acquire magical artifacts, to go hunting for animals and other beings with magical abilities to take their stuff and why not get a little extra money on the side by taking the beings in question prisoner and turning them in to a somewhat local, like-minded monarch?

Expanding on the above, Horner personally convinced/threatened Gepetto to hand Pinnochio over to Farquad.
Whether he threatened Gepetto or simply sweet-talked him into handing over the puppet, Horner acting as The Corrupter would fit his character, as would seeking petty revenge on the magical creature who upstaged him as a child.

The Baker's Dozen were orphans taken in by Jack
There is no explanation given for why the Baker's Dozen is loyal to Jack, someone who is not only openly apathetic to their wellbeing, but directly causes most of their deaths. One possible explanation for this level of devotion is that they were all orphans taken in by Jack and raised by him (or, more accurately, by his factory workers). Given that this is Jack, he of course would not have taken them in out of the goodness of his heart, but because children would work for less (or for free).

If Jack got his hands on the map it would've turned the Dark Forest into a place similar to the Psi-Moon visited by Rimmer from Red Dwarf

A place inhabited by an army of Jack's flaws made manifest: an impossibly vast desert symbolizing he's empty inside. Giant plums all singing his nursery rhyme hanging from trees symbolizing his insecurities that just spawn more the more he burns, crushes, or smashes them. And an indestructible gate house run by a cheerful, immortal, invincible, business lady who Jack can't kill, intimidate, bind, avoid, etc, and forces Jack to experience helplessness, and the toll always being manipulated ... trapping him in a metaphysical prison he could only escape if he learned empathy.

Kitty was lying about not showing up to the wedding either
She did show up, but after realizing that Puss was genuinely regretful about leaving her at the alter, she just told him that she didn't show up either in order to make him not feel as bad about it.

Any wish made by the Wishing Star would've either backfired, or been worthless
Each character's path to the star appears to be designed to dissuade them from making their wish by showing them that they don't need it, and making them learn some kind of lesson to help them grow into better people. The two exceptions are Perrito (whom the star apparently judges as pure of heart, and who doesn't have a wish to make) and Jack Horner (who never gets the map at all, and thus his own path is never shown). No one ends up getting to make the wish, but if they had, it would've blown up in their face somehow as punishment for failing to learn anything on their path, and leave them either no better off than they were before, or worse off.
  • Puss' wish for more lives would've been utterly pointless because of Death's relentless pursuit of him, as well as his own tendency to squander them.
  • Kitty's wish for a person she could trust would've simply granted her a mirror; her failure allow herself to take down her walls and let people in would ensure that the only person she could trust would be herself, and she would be no better off than she was before.
  • Goldi would be reunited with her birth family...only to discover that they were all a bunch of abusive assholes and she was far better off with the bears.
  • Horner would receive all the magic in the world, which would end up being Too Much for Man to Handle and he would either die or become an unstable Humanoid Abomination like Tetsuo from Akira.

The Wolf’s Whistle Is a Rendition of the Song “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”
Albeit a slowed version. However, if you listen closely, he doesn’t start the melody at the beginning of the song, but rather at the fourth verse, when one sings “♫ Wishing I could hear your voice again. Knowing that I never would. ♫”, signalizing the mourning of a deceased loved one.But ultimately, the song is about moving past death and not resenting lost time (hence, why he whistles it), which is what the Wolf teaches Puss.

The Wolf is Thanatos the Greek God of Death
It doesn’t get more “straight up” than being the divine personification of death as a concept. That’s why the Wolf doesn’t bother pursuing Puss when he runs. As a divine being, he is literally everywhere, all at once, in every different scenario that may diverge into an alternative timeline. Not only that, but he is also all knowing, meaning he knows how the story plays out and how it ends. This is also why it is impossible to beat him, as he knows every move you’d ever make. It is also said that death is our eternal companion, another reason why he doesn’t chase his quarry…he’s always with you…

Furthermore, when Puss spots him a second time, while fleeing, the Wolf places two gold coins over his eyes, while gesturing to Puss that he’s watching him. This was a funerary custom in Ancient Greece, where gold coins were placed above the closed eyes of a person’s body, in order to pay the ferryman of the Underworld, Chrion, in order to cross the River Styx.

He’s enacting the age old Greek god custom of knocking a hubristic mortal down a few pegs, so they learn how to become better people and avoid tragedy (or die trying).

  • In Greek myth, the Wolf’s weapons, the sickle, is a symbol of Chronos the God (and personification) of Time. And in his hands, it symbolizes the end of one’s life.

We end up finding out The Wolf is Death incarnate, and for most of the film, the only person who notices him is Puss-in-Boots, who's on his last life.

No matter where he appears, nobody else notices him, except during the climax, where everybody's surrounded by the Wishing Star's barrier where one wrong move could spell their doom.

With this in mind, perhaps The Wolf is physically invisible to those who still have some life left in them, or are stuck in a situation where death is very much a possibility.

Life is also has an anthropomorphic representation who is connected to Death
And this relationship is a positive one. Besides life and Death being connected concepts; Death is noticeably angry about Puss wasting his lives. Which would make sense if Death has a positive relationship with Life.

Death is Anubis

  • Anubis is the Egyptian Mythology God of the Dead. Similarities include:
    • Both are Canines.
    • Both judge people.
    • Both use sickle/khopesh and halberd with a sickle.
As for why there isn't anything Ancient Egyptian in Death's design... are you going to tell gods what they can choose to look like? Or they have to have designs like their woshippers'?

Death can't take Puss in Boots' last life unless Puss fights him
Death is still bound by the laws of nature and can't take Puss' last life without cause. But there's an exception that Death can take the life of someone who directly challenges him to some kind of contest. So, everything he did wasn't just for the fun of the hunt, it was to goad Puss' ego into attacking him so his life would be on the line for challenging him. Every time Death appeared when Puss was unarmed and not in a position to fight him, he never went for the killing blow because he literally wasn't allowed to.

Evidence:

  • When Death first appears, he says "everyone thinks they'll defeat him, but no one has yet" and doesn't make a move until Puss raises his sword first.
  • After Puss gets cut and loses his sword, Death keeps telling him to "pick it up" and keep fighting.
  • For the rest of the movie, Death keeps appearing to intimidate Puss but never attacks.
  • In the Cave of Lost Souls, the only time Death uses his sickles are against the past lives in the crystals, never against Puss himself.
  • Even when chasing Puss out of the cave, the most he does is grab at his cape, never swipe at him with his blades.
  • Finally, when they meet at the Wishing Star, Death asks if Puss is "gonna take the coward's way out and run away to more lives, or fight" Death then returns Puss' sword and demands him to pick it up. Death had plenty of time to just kill Puss before he could read the spell, but the dialogue implies he couldn't actually stop Puss from making the wish.
  • Death only starts fighting after Puss finally says he's done running and picks up his sword. If he had wanted to, he probably could have still killed Puss right after telling him he'd never stop fighting for this life because he still had his sword raised at him.

The Baker's Dozen aren't actually dead
The Dark Forest never actually let them in. Puss, Kitty, Perrito, Goldi and the Three Bears (as a unit) and Jack Horner all have their own icon, but none of the Dozen do, nor do they appear on Jack's icon. Why? The Wishing Star isn't evil.

It knew its only hope to get Jack to not destroy the world with his wish was lethal force, but the Baker's Dozen are just employees, kept in line through paychecks and abuse. What loyalty they have is misguided at best, and doesn't run deep.

As the Forest killed them, they each woke up outside, none the worse for wear except for a very vivid nightmare and, after the human bridge incident if not the unicorn crossbow into melee incident, the knowledge that Jack really wasn't worth it.

Once the Star was freed and the Bears came out, they enthusiastically jumped at the chance of having a better boss, maybe even branching out into savoury pies - or at least anything other than plum...

Death will be romanced by Thanos
This is a huge Crack Ship that could only ever be real if (god forbid) Disney bought DreamWorks, but a man can dream.

Puss was about to drink himself to death when the wolf first showed up
To Puss, leche (milk) is like alcohol, and there were 8 empty glasses on the bar in front of him, symbolizing the 8 lives he had already thrown away frivolously. He asked for a 9th drink shortly before Death appeared next to him.

Big Jack Horner was originally in cahoots with Lord Farquaad
Given that Big Jack Horner had collected magical artefacts from many places and magical beings, it's fairly possible that he could've originally been allies with Lord Farquaad, who probably gave him said items, at one point before the events of the first Shrek film, all until his death.

Puss' first 8 deaths were specifically to teach him a lesson.
Absolutely none of Puss' 8 deaths were heroic by any means. In fact, they are downright embarrassing. They all resulted from hubris, pride, and in some cases rank stupidity. Lifting weights and refusing a spotter, drunkenly falling from a tall tower, shooting himself out of a cannon just to prove a point, eating shellfish despite knowing full well that he's allergic and so on. Even with the bell crushing him, Puss seemed like he was going to step out of the way but then he went straight back to drinking up the crowd's praise. Death likely gave Puss these humiliations in the hopes that he would be humbled and when he was not, he decided to go after Puss in person.

Perrito's owner is a Corrupted Character Copy of Dorothy Gale

It's common for the Shrek franchise to have evil versions of normally good fairytale characters and Perrito somewhat resembles Toto.

While Dorothy is nice and friendly to people, this girl would be mean and abusive.

And after throwing Perro down with a sock, she would receive a Karmic Death in an Expy of Oz.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears had three obstacles, just like the cats and Perrito

We see only Nostalgia Pines because they got the map once they were two-thirds of the way into the forest, past their first two obstacles. Note how when Kitty or Puss get the map, it shunts them to the corresponding obstacle, not the beginning of the journey.

The first obstacle would have been some reference to the Crying Tears Orphanage, perhaps the "Sea of Tears" or the "Storm of Tears" or something like that (and it would have been sunny, because orphan's tears). The second would have been some funhouse mirror zone, like the Cave of Lost Souls, but showing Goldi some glimpses of 'proper' families - including all-human ones that aren't really all that good and mixed species ones that are just as good as the Bears.

This also explains why the map took the time to speak to Goldi directly: she had missed most of her journey and the character development it would have given her.

Death is a dog person
Not just because he outright says he isn't a cat person. The form he specifically chooses is of a wolf, the primal ancestor of all dogs. This also conveniently connects with the above theories of him being Anubis (the dog-headed Egyptian god of the dead) and personally going after Perrito's owners. If you even want to assume he has a pet, there's Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the underworld in Greek mythology.

Categorizing the 8 lives in The Cave of Lost Souls
While some of the crystals are easy to pick out for which lives were which, the fact that they're more about Puss's attributes rather than direct parallels for half of them makes figuring out which crystal is which..annoying.
  • First are the 4 easy ones.
    • The Red crystal is life 1. He's wearing the bandanna from the Running of the Bulls, and talks about having Gazpacho like when he flirted and got killed.
    • The Dark Green Crystal is life 2. He's still got the playing cards from when he was gambling and cheated at poker.
    • The Teal crystal is life 3. He's wearing the odd green cape, and holding the milk from when he stepped off the tower.
    • The white crystal is life 4. From when he was his most muscular, including weights and his flamboyant mustache from that life.

However after this things get trickier as there aren't as many connections to how Puss died visually in the other 4 crystals. So, here's where I see the back 4 lives landing.

  • One is dark purple and holding a mirror, representing his vanity. I see this as his 7th life. Where he insisted he was "A master of the baking" even when Gingy knew he would get a face full of fire by setting the oven too high.
  • One is blue with a rose for his "dancing". I see this as connected to Life 6. Where his own pleasure and disregard of his personal health to continue getting pleasure from eating the shellfish is his way of not taking care of where he stepped while living his life.
  • One is yellow with a sword for his "heroic legend". I see this as his 5th life where after being rescued by Kitty, his refusal to admit he needed to be saved is his letting "the legend" get in the way of being sensible. And hence his claiming that being shot out of a cannon would "revolutionize travel".
  • And the last one is pink and has a lute to represent his singing. I see this as his 8th life for the simple reason that he was holding his instrument when he was crushed by a bell. And was about to play another song for the crowds.
Death would go after more souls prematurely, but Life stops them.
Life, knowing Death's tendency to do this, would likely keep a close eye on him. But sometimes, she gets busy, leaving Death to do as he pleases. And what's this, a cat who claims to laugh in the face of death? A recipe for one very unhappy Death chasing after you.
  • Or she's throwing the Wolf a bone because it's someone who disrespects them both. Disrespecting death means you don't value life either.
Death disguised himself as the doctor that Puss talked to in the beginning.
  • Rather than go for the scare tactics right away, Death chose a softer approach, hoping to get through to Puss that he needs to be more careful with his life. Perhaps recommending him to Mama’s Luna’s house was the more merciful option before he realized that he needed to do something else to get through to Puss.
    • If this is true, the doctor character still exists. Others were in the waiting room.

     Sequel Theories 
Possible Spin-offs
Given that Puss In Boots already had his films, and a series, there could be possibilities of spin-off happening for a few.

  • Perro
  • Goldilocks and The Three Bears
    • Given the natural trend of DreamWorks sequels, Perrito and Goldi’s original families might come into play.
  • The Wolf

Possible Titles if a Puss In Boots 3 happens
Since the sequel was named The Last Wish, there can be possibilities of what possible titles Puss In Boots 3 could be named on.

  • Puss In Boots: The Forty Thieves
    • Alternatively, it could be the fifth Shrek where we see Arabian mythology come into play.

Possible Ideas for the spin-offs
With each or any spin-off possibly happening in the future, there are possibilities in what the spin-off of the Shrek franchise could focuse on.
  • Perrito:
  • Goldi and The Three Bears:
    • After taking over Horner's Pies, Goldi and the Bears are closer to each other than ever. But with their newfound fame and success, Goldi's biological parents suddenly show up wanting to reconnect with their long-lost daughter, creating a conflict where Goldi's tries to figure out whether they or the Bears are her "real" family.
  • Death:
    • A Day In The Life (no pun intended) story showing him visiting different folks and how he interacts with them in their final moments. It could even have flashbacks showing his perspective of other death scenes in the Shrek movies (King Harold, Humpty, the villains, etc).
    • Another idea is an adaptation of Godfather Death as this depiction of Death already has some similarities to Death in that story. Though they would obviously either have to change the circumstances of why Death is the godfather or excise it entirely.note 
    • A third possibility is an adaptation of one of the various fairy tales where Death is trapped or tricked by a person, like in the fairy tale Aunt Misery.

Possible Villains
While there are possibilities that there could be a third film of Puss that could work with ending the trilogy, there are other possibilities on what kind of villains could appear in Puss In Boots 3.

Plus, this still isn’t the end for Puss In Boots since it could happen after Shrek 5 or after the events of Forever After.

  • Abu Hassan and The Forty Thieves
    • If they have them as supporting characters, the villain would be a genie.
  • Hansel and Gretel
  • Queen of Hearts
  • Little Red Riding Hood (just like The Bears she would be a different version that the one in Shrek 2 & Shrek The Third)
  • The Sorceress
  • The Sorcerer
  • Since the irredeemable villains in the first movie were nursery rhyme characters, and the irredeemable villain of the second version is a nursery rhyme character, it's likely the villain of third film would be a nursery rhyme character, who would likely be either:
    • Little Miss Muffet
    • Mary from "Mary Had A Little Lamb" who is basically a child friendly version of Amanda the Adventurer who constantly mistreats her lamb sidekick.
    • Little Bo Peep who's foreshadowed in the Second Movie by Jack Horner and is depicted as very creepy and sadistic.
    • The Grand Old Duke of York
    • The Black Sheep from "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" who's a massive slave owner and trader
    • Doctor Foster
    • Mary from "Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary" who's name is literally "Mary Q. Contrary"
    • Old King Cole
    • The person that killed Cock Robin in "Who Killed Cock Robin?"
    • The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker

After being set up here, Death will return as a major supporting character in a future Shrek sequel
One of the previous villains (Farquaad or Fairy Godmother) will escape from him and try to return to the living, and Death needs the heroes' help to stop them.

In Shrek 5, there will be a minor reference to the Three Bears
While the family won't show up in-person in the film, we are going to get a follow-up to their plan to take over Jack's pie factory. We'd probably see in a kitchen or on a table a pie with a label like, "Just right pies." or some other reference to the Three Bears.

Puss will die for good in a Heroic Sacrifice in Shrek 5.

The sequel will go global.
We've only seen fairy tales/nursery rhymes/folk tales/public domain children's literature from Europe from the franchise, so this opens a lot more possibilities. We could see Aladdin (already alluded to with the magic carpet in Jack's possession), Mulan, Sun Wukong, yokai, and Anansi. Plus, they could go beyond the normal world and visit Wonderland (alluded to with the "Eat Me" cookie and "Drink Me" potion) and/or Oz.

The next movie will be in Interquel.
It might not be logical to have it carry-off from The Last Wish because that's where Shrek 5 may begin, and also not logical to carry-off from Shrek 5, since Puss in Boots may not even be alive (Heroic Sacrifice theory) or not want to risk losing his last life, a film taking place during one of Puss' several lives or mere days before his 1st or 8th death is plausible, but a sequel can be amazing if it's done right.

Puss and Kitty will raise a family by the end of the next film
With Puss on his last life, he and Kitty may decide to settle down for a while and then pass on adventuring to a new generation of kittens, with Perrito as an Honorary Uncle. Especially since Shrek and Donkey are both raising families, it would make sense for Puss to join the path of fatherhood as well.

The next film will be about Donkey
Eddie Murphy has voiced interest in a Donkey movie, which could mean he will have major focus in the upcoming film. Furthermore, small hints about his Dark and Troubled Past have been dropped in Shrek the Third that imply he was once a human. There are theories that he may have been one of the victims of Pleasure Island who managed to flee and kept it to himself.

Let's say this theory is true. The sequel will have the Pleasure Island Coachman tracking Donkey down in order to recapture him, forcing Donkey to spill the beans on the whole conspiracy. Much like how The Last Wish was Break the Haughty for Puss, this story will be Break the Comedian for Donkey, as it turns out all along he has used singing as a way to cope with the trauma and guilt. Pinocchio of course would also have a big role in this, being under the same threat as Donkey. The story's lesson will involve opening up about your fears rather than keeping them secret and lying, a nice follow-up on The Last Wish and its lesson about trauma.

Kitty will pull a Heroic Sacrifice to save Puss
Thankfully, she still has her nine lives and ends up coming back afterward.

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