By popular demand! You guys wanted to know where I put Because and Maison in my Ultimate Timeline theory, so we're going to talk about it here! Plus, I've been wanting to try and do some discussion about Maison, so... here we go!
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Summer holiday turned nightmare
Let's start with "Because". Now, when Summer Holiday was first announced, it was kind of a surprise for most fans. We weren't expecting Dreamcatcher to go with a bright and summer-y concept... We pretty much knew something was off, that there was something more to this album.
And sure enough, while this album felt perfect for summer, there was still a hint of darkness with the title track "Because." The lyrics detailed a love turned into obsession, while the music video portrayed the girls being taken over by doll-like doppelgangers.
Obsessive love? Doppelgangers? Doesn't that seem... familiar?
It should! These were elements present in the Nightmare series.
Songs like "Chase Me" and "Good Night" highlight a playfulness to the Nightmare selves the girls portray; they want the target of their affection to chase after them as they toy with them and frighten them, even comparing them to a doll to play with. However, once we get to "Fly High" and "You And I", we see a desperation hidden underneath it all.
The girls are trapped in a nightmare, a dream that's too good to be true, and their begging for someone to stay by their side and set them free from the curse.
This is why "BEcause" not only highlights the obsessive love of the singer, but the sadness that's born from it. They're so desperate for love, it's driving them crazy. The doppelgangers are nothing but dolls, wanting to be loved.
Given these similar themes, I would put the story shown in "BEcause" in the Nightmare side of the timeline, somewhere between "Fly High" and "Chase Me" as an unspecified point in time after becoming Nightmares.
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Apocalypse after Dystopia
Does Apocalypse take place after the Dystopia trilogy? I believe so. In the end of the Dystopia trilogy with "Odd Eye", technology has overrun the world, taking over the tree of language, and people's obsession with social media warping their reality. In a scenario like this, it's only natural for people to become indifferent to the world around them, and eventually leave the planet in a state of ruin.
To quote something from Hello Future Me when they analyzed Dystopian stories in fiction alongside Red from Overly Sarcastic Productions, they said that dystopias fall apart because of the specific problems their type of society creates. It doesn't always have to fall because of a band of rebellious heroes tearing them down; sometimes they crumble because of an inherent problem caused by them.
It makes sense that Maison, the start of the Apocalypse series, would serve as a direct sequel to the Dystopia series, showing the aftermath of when this already near apocalyptic society overrun with hatred and corruption does lead to the end of the world. As the lyrics of the song state, people got too comfortable in their ignorance and took for granted the resources of the planet, turning it into the wasteland we see in the MV.
Buildings are broken down and overrun with plants, land is barren and dry, and what's left of humanity go about wearing these creepy animal head masks. Technology and human greed caused people to neglect the damage they were causing, leading to the world falling victim to an environmental collapse. The one light of hope this world has left is Dreamcatcher, the superheroes who are trying to help heal the planet.
This would line up with their previous roles in the Dystopia series, specifically "Boca", where I previously theorized that they were a rebel group trying to silence those spreading harmful words to others. Now, however, they seem to possess supernatural power and strength to act on a more global scale threat.
This also lines up with my goddess reincarnation theory, as that trend seems to continue here. We see the girls in white dresses in a heavenly palace above the clouds in some scenes, while in others, they appear to act as otherworldly heroes. These heroes were sent by their goddess counterparts to start the revolution in starting the Earth's restoration.
And even though the situation seems beyond repair, the girls are still fighting. Dami looks to have infiltrated a high-tech base, and lifting seemingly dead bodies (creepy btw), and Sua faces off against a big boss looking character wearing a ram's head mask. And from what we can tell of the scenes following it of the ram head burning and goddess Gahyeon crushing a hologram of it, it's very likely Sua defeated them.
So what happens after that? We'll discuss that in Part 2.
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Current timeline outline:
● Scream
● Deja Vu
● Fly High
● Because
● Chase Me + Good Night
● You & I
● What
● Piri + Breaking Out
● BOCA
● Rose Blue
● Odd Eye
● Maison
So yeah... This was something I had on the back burner for a while now. 😅 But now, with Vision having released, I really wanna dive into that video and how it follows up on Maison's story. So, in the second part of this analysis, we will look at the developments seen in Vision, how it lines up with some of my previous theories, and maybe try to guess how the Apocalypse series will end.
Until then, stream Vision! ✌🏻
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Dreamcatcher Ultimate Timeline theory
RandomMy theory regarding Dreamcatcher's lore and how all their storylines and music videos are connected.
