I Think the Timelines need to be tracked under 3 banners. 1. the progression of technology (from memory viewing to full on virtual world emmersion). 2. Whats happening in the "Real World", and 3. which episodes are entirely in a Cookie or VR Environment.
Episodes I believe that were entirely VR - Fifteen Million Merits. White Bear (I think she is in Jail, however her "Cookie" is in a VR theme park that people jump into to watch her suffer. Nose Dive (I think this is a social media App, being depicted in the same vein as Hang the DJ). San junipero (obviously), and Men Against fire.
And wasn't the white chick the same one from White Christmas? Greta... the one getting the cookie for her smart house? Or do they just look similar? I swear those eyes are what tipped me off. Could be totally wrong though I'm still new to the series and am looking forward to rewatching the series to really digest it. Love this fucking show!
Also probably worth acknowledging that episodes/seasons happen across several countries, and that perhaps technologies advance/are introduced at different rates in different places. Also, re Men Against Fire, it's totally possible for the nature of that war as well as the idea of "roaches" to have been kept secret from the public - it's also very plausible that, as the world becomes more and more insular, people stop caring about wars being fought elsewhere.
Did anyone else like that Black Mirror WASN'T a connected universe? I don't want the whole show to be under one timeline because the writers will start to focus more on fitting new episodes into that timeline rather than making an original short film. Also, the fact that none of it was connected is one thing that made Black Mirror unique. I'm fine with little Easter eggs, but I hope they don't turn the whole series into jumbled mess of plotholes like every other connected universe.
David Stewart so far, but the Easter eggs are becoming more and more common. The last episode of season 4 wasn't very subtle about it. I'm fine with Easter eggs too, but they shouldn't have to go out of their way to explain how it's all connected.
J A C E I think people are reading way too much significance into them. They're just a bit of fun for fans, not evidence of a unifying grand narrative.
David Stewart true. I just see a lot of fans hoping that it becomes more connected and I think it's fine how it is. Hopefully they keep doing what they're doing.
Doesn't need to be a plot. Doesn't need to be connected. We all live on the same plant we all have different plots of our lives. Only thing that connects us is this universe
Mohammed Chowdhury But his death was his own fault. He was told his phone needed to be off for the test, but he turned it back on anyways to take the pictures of the tech.
If you combine some of the technology seen in black mirror, you basically get immortality. If you could upload consciousness to the robot that is seen in be right back, you basically have the person back, even if they are not technically alive. I feel like this is why black mirror can't be connected fully because the technology would be playing off itself and creating even more advances.
Just like the mob mentality, seeking immortality would definitely be seen as another motif throughout the series. Completely separate from the idea of Black Mirror, but House of Cards (emphasized in Season 5) talks about seeking that, though the argument was between using technology to create that (with Raymond Tusk investing in some mobile software that harvested a piece of his brain) versus authentic legacy through accomplishments and making history (Francis Underwood).
I would saw "revived" as opposed to "more extreme". Some of the episodes get really trippy, considering their lack of technology past a juke box, talking dolls and rotary phones lol
*In 'Crocodile', the architectural project Mia hides her friend's body at is the construction site the same place people are living in '15 Million Merits'. This can be seen on a poster in the episode at 20:10. They are described as a 'unit of 9 apartments combining ecology and economy' and 'affordable living for all with renewable power' They also look very similar with the black, square rooms seen in the episode. This is definitely the same place - no question about that. The idea I propose is that only some of the world lives in the '15 Million Merits' type housing. This is probably the case as someone has to have grown the fruit and produce the drinks seen in the episode and others must develop the technology seen also. The rest of the world probably used the people living in the '15 Million Merits' housing to harvest some more energy. There were also likely security cameras in the '15 Million Merits' apartments which explains how Jack from the 'Jack and Carrie' story in 'Black Museum' was able to read a comic book explaining the events from the episode. The creators of the comic were able to see what was happening and decided to create a comic about the absurdities. I don't know how this effects the timeline but I thought even this tiny portion of the episode had lots of interesting and helpful things to point out about the timeline. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Please tell me if I made any fallacies within this or how this effects the timeline (if it does - which it might not).*
Very interesting! One thing I was always a little confused about was the little avatars that attended hot shots, meanwhile there were real judges and real contestants. I suppose people in "the real word" have avatars that would attend the show when the real person is watching it on TV? The whole time I was watching 15MM, I couldn't figure out how any of it made sense. However, it makes sense that they would lure people in with affordable living, all you have to do is a ride a bike, but if you're lucky, and have 15 million merits, you can "upgrade" and become a star. Seems like a sweet deal if you can't hold down a job or afford an apartment.
I have thought about this myself, that metalhead may occur further in the future when they are using the dogs to find the roaches instead of human soldiers.
I also think that the dogs in metalhead have a conection with the bees in hated in the nation. Although in the militairy a helicopter is sometimes called a bird because it's shorter, And the same might be the case with the dogs. I also think that following the events in hated in the nation celebrities act more like-able to avoid the #. The people follow and we get nosedive.
There is a much more mundane explanation that Charlie Brooker himself has articulated for why there is interlinking between the episodes. Whenever they create a fictional brand or even technology user interface, they have to clear it through a team of lawyers who are on the lookout for potential legal liability (defamation, trademark, etc.), so it's simply much easier from a writing and production standpoint to re-use previously cleared material.
I've been trying to figure this concept out for ages but I couldn't place some of the eps and only had a really rough idea. This vid is spot on and the 'whole episodes in cookies' idea is so great!! I can die in peace now knowing someone figured it out 😂
I like that second theory. It really answers several things that do not match. I'm just asking, it's not supposed that at the end of Waldo, the character becomes a kind of dictator or tyrant, I just thought that that figure standing more at the end of the timeline was responsible for metalhead and the destruction of humanity, who finally He locked himself in an anvil dominated by screens. But yes, the theory of cookies is much more stable.
I think that Crocodile might come after USS Callister because of the Fences pizza self driven pizza deliverer, whereas it's still a human in USS Callister.
Emjay Hamilton a comment by TheBlueDitto about 15 million merits is the best theory. Only some people live in the energy producing building not the whole world.
Great job, even going that far to fix timeline problems, though it would be highly appreciated if you gave us the images of the timelines you finally went for at the end (link please :)). Loved all the effort you put into these videos
LOVE the cookies theory. Makes the show even more layered than it already is. Currently reading the Inside Black Mirror book and loving seeing how each episode was created
The truth is said ALSO, in Nosedive and USS Calister, the same actress plays two roles: The black girl at the airport ( Nosedive) would be the cookie, and the black girl in USS Calister ( I don’t remember her name), the « original ».
I know people want the episodes not to be connect but...they clearly are; or at least some of them are. At the end of Shut Up and Dance you can see adverts for the cookie and articles about the woman from the white bear and how the prime mister that had sex with a pig is going through a divorce from his wife. There’s even a sticker of Waldo. I think maybe it’s like only some are connected but if you follow all the clues every episode links to one another in some way. This isn’t a bad thing. The episodes so far haven’t needed a strong connection or even a return to other characters. Each story doesn’t have to relate but it keeps in the same universe clearly. There’s nothing wrong with that. I would prefer it if it all connects together rather than a random pluck and pull.
Right--this connectivity resembles the attempted connection between Pixar's motion pictures and the creation of the Pixar universe/timeline (which the company also denies was their intention). Can't deny all the Easter eggs (e.g. the Pizza Planet truck, "A-113")
What about the same actress in the episode nosedive that worked at the airport and the episode The USS Callister as one of the players in the game. I forgot her name but is it a coincidence or in nosedive she's in the cookie because in real life she works at the video game company? Did that make any sense? Lmfao I'm sorry if it didn't but I hope someone understood me
My favorite way of looking at black mirror is that each episode is the same universe but a different what if. Like the world follows the same time line but each episode is a what if this happened in this universe how would it effect it kind of story. So looking at episode 1 of season 1 the universe goes on like normal but the first episode is a what if the princess got kidnaped and the prime minister had to fuck a pig scenario. It would explain why some episodes mention things from other episodes, because bits and pieces of those episodes exist in the main timeline and everything else is a what if
I find that you have great arguments trough out this entire presentation. With the inconsistencies and other problems, have you considered that other parts of the world may adept quicker towards new technology and thus are also willing to experiment publicly with / on them? Also, sometimes the time in one episode of BM seems to jump forward with out any warning. While I haven't seen White Christmas yet, I am pretty certain that there are might be other clues in there depicting when it might have taken place in this fictional time line. Again great work and thank you for it
I’m still confused as to why there aren’t any news articles referring to the anniversary of the events in “Hated in the Nation” THOUSANDS of people died and it seemed like the world didn’t care. It’s my favorite episode so it baffles me a little more than other episodes lol
I wish Black Mirror made an episode about a tv series called Black Mirror where people put theories together to make sense of it. It's a mirror after all.
In Crocodile it is mentioned that one of judges from 15m merits was at the hotel with a rent boy and the press found out. So if Crocodile is in the "real" world then so must 15m merits. Also season 5 kinda changes everything as in the episode smithereens a lot of episodes as referenced as happening at the same time as smithereens. Also smithereens is the only episode that gives us a year, at the start of the episode is says that the year is 2018
the first episode I watched was Black Museum and I was hooked! But oddly enough I have yet to find an episode that I like more than Black Museum. My favorite one.
This is a little unrelated, but there have been lots of fan theories tossed about, and I'd like to share mine about the justification of Metalhead: a seemingly meaningless episode. First of all, side note, I think the whole 4th season had an overarching theme of strong female characters and having a black & white episode with a wild west feel to it is the classic hero's tale. But to justify in the grand scheme of the show, I think we find lots exposition in the protagonist's radio calls, the final scene, and in Black Museum. In her radio call out she mentions the trip being to retrieve something for a member of her group. The box they wind up finding, as seen in the end, is full of stuffed animals. In Black Museum, we learn that people can be put into stuffed animals and that they all eventually get outlawed if they possess 5 or fewer emotes. If they were to be recalled, they would not have a lot of options as what to do with them, given that cannot be destroyed because they have human rights. So I believe they were just stored away, and that the three characters were trying to retrieve a loved one. Tell me what you think. So glad to see that other people think about this show as much as I do.
Omg.. 0:25 in... He says some stuff is put in for fun, it's only if a character SAYS something or explicitly references something from another episode THEN it is canonical! So he's basically saying if it's in the background, like a billboard or ticker, it's NOT canonical! So I just love how you show that, then proceed to make a video that relies on all that background crap to make your time line... Really???
15 million merits definitely makes sense as an episode following the experiences of cookies. In the episode Bing kept making reference to his "doppel," I took this to mean doppelgänger or something along those lines. I'm glad to hear my theory is somewhat supported.
My theory is that Fifteen Million Merits happens way way in the future, concurrently with Metalhead, which is what is happening outside whilst the rest of the population lives in the relative safety of the talent show world.
I Think that Men Against Fire does take place in a VR world, but i believe its further into the future and "Cloud" space is at a premium so they are actually weeding out Clones from the Cloud.
@@saraclarke2663 I know, that's why I commented lol. Also it may have confirmed Nosedive to be a video game too, as well as that one symbol from White Bear to have a more murderous meaning behind it.
In Bandersnatch they show the metal dog from Metalhead. I feel like you may of overlooked this very important fact for Metal head, presenting the idea that it was all just a game or an actual movie within the series.
Wonder how the Fences Pizza thing works bc the delivery van seems more advanced than a delivery guy but Crocodile comes before USS Callister. Or maybe they happen simultaneously who even knows @CharlieBrooker
Luke M vans can't go up stairs. They'd still need regular delivery men for home deliveries, the pizza van is just a driverless food truck which just makes it more convinient and instantaneous for people who are going for a picnic or walking home and want pizza
15 million credits being all about cookies makes perfect sense and would explain a lot about this world actually, but Nosedive, no Nosedive seems like something that might exist at least in the Black Mirror universe
Isnt the app in hang the dj the same one the protagonist of play test used to find his FWB, and isn't the bar they met at the same as well? And remember some episodes span mutliple years while others span a day or two
so in 2019 how is the newest black mirror episode of bandersnatch stay in the timeline of the black mirror universe, because theres lots of easter eggs in it too, maybe it's another cookie universe?
I understood Callow's post about getting thrown out of the zoo as a self-ironic move to improve his score in society or this shows that he's already much liked again to write humorous stuff like this and apparently being on the trends with it (since he might not appear on her dashboard if that wasn't the case).
I have seen a few other reappearing actors, like the airport desk worker in Nosedive who calls on security. She is also one of the people at the company who are in the US callister episode.
I have to object to the placement of Metalhead after Black Museum, as the bathtub Bella sits on as she slits her throat at the end is prominently featured in the museum, blood stains and all. Wouldn’t that place Metalhead before Black Museum?
I wouldn't place 15 Million Merits early into the timeline simply because of Wraith. I would assume he's about late 30's, so his empire probably had near two decades to grow if he was hustling early. The way society is structured within this enclosed society tells me that humanity is at its endgame (thus life being a game, and a distraction from the world's actual condition.) Furthermore, the main character questions what it is that everyone is powering. The logical assumption is that there's no more electrical grids; because no more geo-society. OR, if humanity were subject to a *_dictatorship_*, it would end up being one fueled by human desire for entertainment. I.E. Waldo.
I love that every time I see or read a “BLACK MIRROR TIMELINE EXPLAINED” theory every single time 15 Million Merits is placed very early in the timeline because of some Easter eggs or something with very passing references (if at all) to the fact that it takes place in a dystopian society where people are practically slaves. I just have a hard time believing that this world coexists or predates some of the stuff we’ve seen in other episodes.
The hospital Carrie is sent to in Black Museum is named Saint Juniper's. You already put San Junipero before Black Museum, but this further confirms it.
I really liked your theories! Especially the final one! My one issue is that they didn’t take into count that it’s possible that some of these are happening while the tech is in a beta faze. A lot of these episodes reference certain tech as beta or not for public distribution. I’m sorry if you mentioned this and i just didn’t hear it but it’s possible that Waldo is trying to cover up the war from happening or that Waldo and the war are taking place at a similar time.
There is absolutely no need for a zed eye to use cookies. Hang the Dj uses the same tech as USs callister. But the cookie idea at the end is really smart. Would explain a lot!
After watching bandersnath, there has been another theory about the weird timeline of black mirror in my head: In bandersnatch, we get, for the first time, an accurate description of what the white bear symbol might be, which is diverging timelines. It seems kind of oddly fitting for this symbol to also appear in the few episodes that seem hard to place in the black mirror timeline. So that might actually be a hint that, while those odd episodes may share a similar history, might be diverging points in the major timeline, where technology and humanity just went into a different direction. Like how tormenting prisoners for entertainment became socially accepted instead of locking them in cells like the news ticker implied. Or how a digital rating system became a valid replacement for class structures. It would be hard to place any future episodes on this kind of world, since it would just become increasingly hard to relate to. But diverging timelines may solve that problem.
I don't think arkangel would happen after hated in the nation because Sara keeps a Tusk poster on her wall, and she probably wouldn't do that if she heard his rude comments on tv
Oh my god! I was literally working on the same dual timeline theory, just with the real and fake worlds reversed. I had a whole post on reddit where I outline what I call 'The Netflix Theory' Basically the timeline splits into a real life timeline, and a timeline which is its own timeline in a TV show on Netflix (hence the name of the theory). To split them quickly results fairly close with TCKR being real and UKN being tv show Men Against Fire would line up as to why its on the Arkangel TV
It might just be me but what about the fact that at the end of fifteen million merits when the guy looks out the window into earth it's completely overgrown and barren
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
What do you make of our Black Mirror timeline?
GameSpot Universe it’s amazing!
It's the most well thought of i've seen.
I think u have too much time on your hands to nic-pic every episode. Go outside and get some sun.
I Think the Timelines need to be tracked under 3 banners. 1. the progression of technology (from memory viewing to full on virtual world emmersion). 2. Whats happening in the "Real World", and 3. which episodes are entirely in a Cookie or VR Environment.
Episodes I believe that were entirely VR - Fifteen Million Merits. White Bear (I think she is in Jail, however her "Cookie" is in a VR theme park that people jump into to watch her suffer. Nose Dive (I think this is a social media App, being depicted in the same vein as Hang the DJ). San junipero (obviously), and Men Against fire.
Now that Bandersnatch is out, it lends a TON of credibility to White Bear being a cookieverse episode.
And that Metalhead is just a game.
Also, nobody is talking about how 15 million merits is a comic from black museum
Deception975 yeah that makes sense!
The actress from the airport in nosedive is the same actress from USS Calister.
yup and she has her own show called Chewing Gum also on Netflix its hilarious you should check it out
And wasn't the white chick the same one from White Christmas? Greta... the one getting the cookie for her smart house? Or do they just look similar? I swear those eyes are what tipped me off. Could be totally wrong though I'm still new to the series and am looking forward to rewatching the series to really digest it. Love this fucking show!
Pretty sure the singer on the screen from 15 million merits is Sonya from playtest
L p nah I agree that Sonja from play test is the one that got the cookie for her house
Which further indicates that nosedive is a cookie story
Also probably worth acknowledging that episodes/seasons happen across several countries, and that perhaps technologies advance/are introduced at different rates in different places. Also, re Men Against Fire, it's totally possible for the nature of that war as well as the idea of "roaches" to have been kept secret from the public - it's also very plausible that, as the world becomes more and more insular, people stop caring about wars being fought elsewhere.
Did anyone else like that Black Mirror WASN'T a connected universe? I don't want the whole show to be under one timeline because the writers will start to focus more on fitting new episodes into that timeline rather than making an original short film. Also, the fact that none of it was connected is one thing that made Black Mirror unique. I'm fine with little Easter eggs, but I hope they don't turn the whole series into jumbled mess of plotholes like every other connected universe.
Sometimes an easter egg is just an easter egg.
David Stewart so far, but the Easter eggs are becoming more and more common. The last episode of season 4 wasn't very subtle about it. I'm fine with Easter eggs too, but they shouldn't have to go out of their way to explain how it's all connected.
J A C E I think people are reading way too much significance into them. They're just a bit of fun for fans, not evidence of a unifying grand narrative.
David Stewart true. I just see a lot of fans hoping that it becomes more connected and I think it's fine how it is. Hopefully they keep doing what they're doing.
Doesn't need to be a plot. Doesn't need to be connected. We all live on the same plant we all have different plots of our lives. Only thing that connects us is this universe
I am just glad cooper gets the justice he deserves for his death
Mohammed Chowdhury But his death was his own fault. He was told his phone needed to be off for the test, but he turned it back on anyways to take the pictures of the tech.
Mohammed Chowdhury Completely safe if you take the necessary precautions.
Me too, that episode always made me feel uneasy.
Exactly! lls there were multiples on that list and i feel like the word "again" was used after he died lol
Yes! Im glad i watched this video because i thought his number never got closure for her last sons disappearance :c
If you combine some of the technology seen in black mirror, you basically get immortality. If you could upload consciousness to the robot that is seen in be right back, you basically have the person back, even if they are not technically alive. I feel like this is why black mirror can't be connected fully because the technology would be playing off itself and creating even more advances.
Just like the mob mentality, seeking immortality would definitely be seen as another motif throughout the series. Completely separate from the idea of Black Mirror, but House of Cards (emphasized in Season 5) talks about seeking that, though the argument was between using technology to create that (with Raymond Tusk investing in some mobile software that harvested a piece of his brain) versus authentic legacy through accomplishments and making history (Francis Underwood).
Is Black mirror basically like the twilight zone but more extreme?
Excited Cat, that's one way to look at it. I suggest checking it out.
Technically yes, the “monster of the week” is replaced with technology.
I would saw "revived" as opposed to "more extreme". Some of the episodes get really trippy, considering their lack of technology past a juke box, talking dolls and rotary phones lol
Twilight Zone and Asop's 21st Century Morals for Dummies.
I even saw an aero-plane in a Twilight Episode once!@@Dayneishadavis
*In 'Crocodile', the architectural project Mia hides her friend's body at is the construction site the same place people are living in '15 Million Merits'. This can be seen on a poster in the episode at 20:10. They are described as a 'unit of 9 apartments combining ecology and economy' and 'affordable living for all with renewable power' They also look very similar with the black, square rooms seen in the episode. This is definitely the same place - no question about that. The idea I propose is that only some of the world lives in the '15 Million Merits' type housing. This is probably the case as someone has to have grown the fruit and produce the drinks seen in the episode and others must develop the technology seen also. The rest of the world probably used the people living in the '15 Million Merits' housing to harvest some more energy. There were also likely security cameras in the '15 Million Merits' apartments which explains how Jack from the 'Jack and Carrie' story in 'Black Museum' was able to read a comic book explaining the events from the episode. The creators of the comic were able to see what was happening and decided to create a comic about the absurdities. I don't know how this effects the timeline but I thought even this tiny portion of the episode had lots of interesting and helpful things to point out about the timeline.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Please tell me if I made any fallacies within this or how this effects the timeline (if it does - which it might not).*
TheBluDitto ohhh that’s a great shout!
Very interesting! One thing I was always a little confused about was the little avatars that attended hot shots, meanwhile there were real judges and real contestants. I suppose people in "the real word" have avatars that would attend the show when the real person is watching it on TV? The whole time I was watching 15MM, I couldn't figure out how any of it made sense. However, it makes sense that they would lure people in with affordable living, all you have to do is a ride a bike, but if you're lucky, and have 15 million merits, you can "upgrade" and become a star. Seems like a sweet deal if you can't hold down a job or afford an apartment.
TheBluDitto y
I paused and saw the poster and thought 😲
good idea! I need to go watch that part again now to see the poster.
can you make one with season 5 in the new timeline?
I would think that the episode metalhed it is conected with men agains fire but from the point of view of the roarches
The Gfa man holy crap that's clever
The Gfa man But why would they have implants?
The Crow exactly!
I have thought about this myself, that metalhead may occur further in the future when they are using the dogs to find the roaches instead of human soldiers.
I also think that the dogs in metalhead have a conection with the bees in hated in the nation. Although in the militairy a helicopter is sometimes called a bird because it's shorter, And the same might be the case with the dogs. I also think that following the events in hated in the nation celebrities act more like-able to avoid the #. The people follow and we get nosedive.
I heard a theory that Metalhead was like a hellish/punishment version of San Junipero which I why it is in black and white.
good theory!
There is a much more mundane explanation that Charlie Brooker himself has articulated for why there is interlinking between the episodes. Whenever they create a fictional brand or even technology user interface, they have to clear it through a team of lawyers who are on the lookout for potential legal liability (defamation, trademark, etc.), so it's simply much easier from a writing and production standpoint to re-use previously cleared material.
Do you remember where abouts he said this? :)
I've been trying to figure this concept out for ages but I couldn't place some of the eps and only had a really rough idea. This vid is spot on and the 'whole episodes in cookies' idea is so great!! I can die in peace now knowing someone figured it out 😂
Lily Nesbitt hahaha thank you!
I like that second theory. It really answers several things that do not match. I'm just asking, it's not supposed that at the end of Waldo, the character becomes a kind of dictator or tyrant, I just thought that that figure standing more at the end of the timeline was responsible for metalhead and the destruction of humanity, who finally He locked himself in an anvil dominated by screens. But yes, the theory of cookies is much more stable.
This is one of the most brilliant BM videos I’ve watched on RUclips. Congrats.
I think that Crocodile might come after USS Callister because of the Fences pizza self driven pizza deliverer, whereas it's still a human in USS Callister.
Frank Spacey Helder But a car can't go into an apartment, so for them to be using a human to deliver to the indoors make sense.
Yeah they look like basically mobile vending machines - you would still need humans to enter any apartment buildings, go up any stairs, etc.
maybe i made it up but I understood that the vans were a prototype? didn't they say something about it in the episode?
Good point. Shit
Or maybe they discontinued the driverless cars after the accident where one of them hit a guy.
10:06 Season 6!
Justin Shuman dang it!
I noticed that. Season 6 Episode 5? TF?
3:30 WHAT IF.... it wasnt a slip up but the whole episode 15 million merits IS the reality show
They literally explained that in the episode
Omar Khwaja-Clarke when did they explain that?
Emjay Hamilton a comment by TheBlueDitto about 15 million merits is the best theory. Only some people live in the energy producing building not the whole world.
Bing named his show "15 Million Merits" for Abi
15 million merits is a comic that is in the episode black museum
Thank you for taking out if your time to simplify it for the rest of us. I truly appreciate it :)
this was awesome guys!! especially with the cookie realities in the end. I think you did this perfectly.
I might be wrong, but I have a sneaking suspicion that metalhead wasn't in the 6th season of the show.
Ah, yes. I spotted that mistake too. I was waiting to see someone point it out in the comments.
This whole video is like a Black Mirror episode.
It fucked up my mind.
Great job, even going that far to fix timeline problems, though it would be highly appreciated if you gave us the images of the timelines you finally went for at the end (link please :)). Loved all the effort you put into these videos
exactly, thank you!!!
LOVE the cookies theory. Makes the show even more layered than it already is. Currently reading the Inside Black Mirror book and loving seeing how each episode was created
15 M Merits is definitely just fiction. I don't think it ever actually happened because of the 15 MM comic and the game show
Thank you, finally somebody notices it
The truth is said
ALSO, in Nosedive and USS Calister, the same actress plays two roles: The black girl at the airport ( Nosedive) would be the cookie, and the black girl in USS Calister ( I don’t remember her name), the « original ».
Antoine Lozeau this is the most genial theory ever
NOW THATS A BREAKDOWN BABY !!! The cookie theory brought everything together ! Congratulations!
Whew, so...when should we be expecting a new video featuring the Bandersnatch references?
>.>
This show blows my mind and you guys just blew it even more
Great job Lucy.. 👏👏👏
Though I feel bad about you that you had to digest an overdose of freaking BLACK MIRROR... 🤯😖
The King in the North ... True.. me too.. 👍
Thank you! Now I shall decompress and watch happy things....
No I can’t. Dystopian sci fi or nothing
LucyJamesGames 😂
Good luck.. 🖖🖖🖖
I know people want the episodes not to be connect but...they clearly are; or at least some of them are.
At the end of Shut Up and Dance you can see adverts for the cookie and articles about the woman from the white bear and how the prime mister that had sex with a pig is going through a divorce from his wife. There’s even a sticker of Waldo.
I think maybe it’s like only some are connected but if you follow all the clues every episode links to one another in some way. This isn’t a bad thing. The episodes so far haven’t needed a strong connection or even a return to other characters. Each story doesn’t have to relate but it keeps in the same universe clearly.
There’s nothing wrong with that. I would prefer it if it all connects together rather than a random pluck and pull.
Right--this connectivity resembles the attempted connection between Pixar's motion pictures and the creation of the Pixar universe/timeline (which the company also denies was their intention). Can't deny all the Easter eggs (e.g. the Pizza Planet truck, "A-113")
What about the same actress in the episode nosedive that worked at the airport and the episode The USS Callister as one of the players in the game. I forgot her name but is it a coincidence or in nosedive she's in the cookie because in real life she works at the video game company? Did that make any sense? Lmfao I'm sorry if it didn't but I hope someone understood me
Emili that would explain why they had her play the two roles! I like this theory a lot tbh
Emili Weintraub Makes sense to me.
Definitely think the movie explains how these could even be connected by how there are 1000s of alternative realities 🤷♂️ who knows tho
The song “anyone who knows what love is” plays throughout different episodes, adding to the idea of them being in the same universe/connected.
Great video! Thanks for doing the heavy lifting and thinking so we didn't have to too much.
At 6:50 isn't he the doctor from S4 Black Museum?
Bamba Sidibe he is!
I couldn’t find an explanation for that one 😬
LucyJamesGames haha I'm sure you'll figure something out
We need Season 5 already!!! Ugh I hate waiting !!! We need more shows like this in life !!!
M Goode yes but with waaaay more episodes!
My favorite way of looking at black mirror is that each episode is the same universe but a different what if. Like the world follows the same time line but each episode is a what if this happened in this universe how would it effect it kind of story. So looking at episode 1 of season 1 the universe goes on like normal but the first episode is a what if the princess got kidnaped and the prime minister had to fuck a pig scenario. It would explain why some episodes mention things from other episodes, because bits and pieces of those episodes exist in the main timeline and everything else is a what if
at 10:43 a rail crash is mentioned which could be connected to bandersnatch but i’m not sure it was a thought while these episodes were being filmed.
Can you release a full photo of the two time lines, they’d be very useful to have
I think Bing named his chat show "15 Million Merits" for Abi :(
What about Jack from black museum reading the book ‘15 Million Merits’
This was a fantastic analysis! Great job :D
I find that you have great arguments trough out this entire presentation. With the inconsistencies and other problems, have you considered that other parts of the world may adept quicker towards new technology and thus are also willing to experiment publicly with / on them? Also, sometimes the time in one episode of BM seems to jump forward with out any warning. While I haven't seen White Christmas yet, I am pretty certain that there are might be other clues in there depicting when it might have taken place in this fictional time line.
Again great work and thank you for it
The white bear symbol becomes REALLY important in bandersnatch ;-)
How?
Great analysis, much better than the other video floating around
I’m still confused as to why there aren’t any news articles referring to the anniversary of the events in “Hated in the Nation” THOUSANDS of people died and it seemed like the world didn’t care. It’s my favorite episode so it baffles me a little more than other episodes lol
I found your last theory fascinating 👌👌
@Gamespot Universe then what is that symbol to bandersnatch? it was a choice so could please explain that
I wish Black Mirror made an episode about a tv series called Black Mirror where people put theories together to make sense of it. It's a mirror after all.
This is very intresting, great video guys. Must've took quite a while
and where would u place Bandersnatch?
EDGE #316 - was in our universe the March 2018 issue. The release of 'Playtest' where it appeared was 21 October 2016
I like how every season has one episode that features that one song "any one who knows what love is".
I see that Bioshock poster at 0:59 ;)
yeayyy! I’m so glad somebody did this! I was doing my own timeline thing, and I was getting a headache lol well done
In Crocodile it is mentioned that one of judges from 15m merits was at the hotel with a rent boy and the press found out. So if Crocodile is in the "real" world then so must 15m merits.
Also season 5 kinda changes everything as in the episode smithereens a lot of episodes as referenced as happening at the same time as smithereens. Also smithereens is the only episode that gives us a year, at the start of the episode is says that the year is 2018
the first episode I watched was Black Museum and I was hooked! But oddly enough I have yet to find an episode that I like more than Black Museum. My favorite one.
The only thing is that metal head happens last as you can see one of the dogs deactivated in the background when it pans past the bathtub
I love how smithereens can now be added very early in the timeline
This is a little unrelated, but there have been lots of fan theories tossed about, and I'd like to share mine about the justification of Metalhead: a seemingly meaningless episode. First of all, side note, I think the whole 4th season had an overarching theme of strong female characters and having a black & white episode with a wild west feel to it is the classic hero's tale. But to justify in the grand scheme of the show, I think we find lots exposition in the protagonist's radio calls, the final scene, and in Black Museum. In her radio call out she mentions the trip being to retrieve something for a member of her group. The box they wind up finding, as seen in the end, is full of stuffed animals. In Black Museum, we learn that people can be put into stuffed animals and that they all eventually get outlawed if they possess 5 or fewer emotes. If they were to be recalled, they would not have a lot of options as what to do with them, given that cannot be destroyed because they have human rights. So I believe they were just stored away, and that the three characters were trying to retrieve a loved one. Tell me what you think. So glad to see that other people think about this show as much as I do.
Omg.. 0:25 in... He says some stuff is put in for fun, it's only if a character SAYS something or explicitly references something from another episode THEN it is canonical!
So he's basically saying if it's in the background, like a billboard or ticker, it's NOT canonical!
So I just love how you show that, then proceed to make a video that relies on all that background crap to make your time line... Really???
15 million merits definitely makes sense as an episode following the experiences of cookies. In the episode Bing kept making reference to his "doppel," I took this to mean doppelgänger or something along those lines. I'm glad to hear my theory is somewhat supported.
this makes so much sense for the Bandersnatch episode
My theory is that Fifteen Million Merits happens way way in the future, concurrently with Metalhead, which is what is happening outside whilst the rest of the population lives in the relative safety of the talent show world.
In one of the past stories in Black Museum, the father is reading a comic about the events of 15 MM.
Doesn't make sense
I Think that Men Against Fire does take place in a VR world, but i believe its further into the future and "Cloud" space is at a premium so they are actually weeding out Clones from the Cloud.
Bandersnatch changes your timeline a bit
Teo Q Also bandersnatch confirmed metalhead is a videogame
@@saraclarke2663 I know, that's why I commented lol. Also it may have confirmed Nosedive to be a video game too, as well as that one symbol from White Bear to have a more murderous meaning behind it.
Was looking for a comment talking about this!!
In Bandersnatch they show the metal dog from Metalhead. I feel like you may of overlooked this very important fact for Metal head, presenting the idea that it was all just a game or an actual movie within the series.
Is there a downloadable timeline we can get a hold of?
10:05 why it say S06????
Wonder how the Fences Pizza thing works bc the delivery van seems more advanced than a delivery guy but Crocodile comes before USS Callister. Or maybe they happen simultaneously who even knows @CharlieBrooker
Luke M vans can't go up stairs. They'd still need regular delivery men for home deliveries, the pizza van is just a driverless food truck which just makes it more convinient and instantaneous for people who are going for a picnic or walking home and want pizza
that's a massive amount of work done
15 million credits being all about cookies makes perfect sense and would explain a lot about this world actually, but Nosedive, no Nosedive seems like something that might exist at least in the Black Mirror universe
Isnt the app in hang the dj the same one the protagonist of play test used to find his FWB, and isn't the bar they met at the same as well? And remember some episodes span mutliple years while others span a day or two
so in 2019 how is the newest black mirror episode of bandersnatch stay in the timeline of the black mirror universe, because theres lots of easter eggs in it too, maybe it's another cookie universe?
I understood Callow's post about getting thrown out of the zoo as a self-ironic move to improve his score in society or this shows that he's already much liked again to write humorous stuff like this and apparently being on the trends with it (since he might not appear on her dashboard if that wasn't the case).
this video is extremely interesting. thank you!
SpinqMusic thank you!
I have seen a few other reappearing actors, like the airport desk worker in Nosedive who calls on security. She is also one of the people at the company who are in the US callister episode.
I have to object to the placement of Metalhead after Black Museum, as the bathtub Bella sits on as she slits her throat at the end is prominently featured in the museum, blood stains and all. Wouldn’t that place Metalhead before Black Museum?
That’s the bathtub from crocodile I think?
Ah, I believed it was the bathtub from Crocodile, hence why I placed it there. But you might be right! Need to double check
Skyler Betz Bathtub is from crocodile
I wouldn't place 15 Million Merits early into the timeline simply because of Wraith. I would assume he's about late 30's, so his empire probably had near two decades to grow if he was hustling early. The way society is structured within this enclosed society tells me that humanity is at its endgame (thus life being a game, and a distraction from the world's actual condition.) Furthermore, the main character questions what it is that everyone is powering. The logical assumption is that there's no more electrical grids; because no more geo-society. OR, if humanity were subject to a *_dictatorship_*, it would end up being one fueled by human desire for entertainment. I.E. Waldo.
I love that every time I see or read a “BLACK MIRROR TIMELINE EXPLAINED” theory every single time 15 Million Merits is placed very early in the timeline because of some Easter eggs or something with very passing references (if at all) to the fact that it takes place in a dystopian society where people are practically slaves. I just have a hard time believing that this world coexists or predates some of the stuff we’ve seen in other episodes.
Can you find out how bandersnatch fits into this?
The hospital Carrie is sent to in Black Museum is named Saint Juniper's. You already put San Junipero before Black Museum, but this further confirms it.
I really liked your theories! Especially the final one! My one issue is that they didn’t take into count that it’s possible that some of these are happening while the tech is in a beta faze. A lot of these episodes reference certain tech as beta or not for public distribution. I’m sorry if you mentioned this and i just didn’t hear it but it’s possible that Waldo is trying to cover up the war from happening or that Waldo and the war are taking place at a similar time.
This is greatly appreciated!
If Inception and Westworld were episodes of Black Mirror,
where would they fit in the timeline?
i've very impressed, good job
this is awesome thanks for enlightening but confusing me
This entire video is GENIUS!
can someone explain why Crocodile as the name of the episode?
There is absolutely no need for a zed eye to use cookies. Hang the Dj uses the same tech as USs callister. But the cookie idea at the end is really smart. Would explain a lot!
After watching bandersnath, there has been another theory about the weird timeline of black mirror in my head:
In bandersnatch, we get, for the first time, an accurate description of what the white bear symbol might be, which is diverging timelines. It seems kind of oddly fitting for this symbol to also appear in the few episodes that seem hard to place in the black mirror timeline. So that might actually be a hint that, while those odd episodes may share a similar history, might be diverging points in the major timeline, where technology and humanity just went into a different direction. Like how tormenting prisoners for entertainment became socially accepted instead of locking them in cells like the news ticker implied. Or how a digital rating system became a valid replacement for class structures.
It would be hard to place any future episodes on this kind of world, since it would just become increasingly hard to relate to. But diverging timelines may solve that problem.
The theory on Victoria being a cookie, what about all the other people in the episode. Like the people recording and the people that are in on it.
I noticed there was a comic called “15 million merits” that the guy with two consciousnesses was reading. Maybe that’s worth considering?
I don't think arkangel would happen after hated in the nation because Sara keeps a Tusk poster on her wall, and she probably wouldn't do that if she heard his rude comments on tv
Oh my god! I was literally working on the same dual timeline theory, just with the real and fake worlds reversed. I had a whole post on reddit where I outline what I call 'The Netflix Theory'
Basically the timeline splits into a real life timeline, and a timeline which is its own timeline in a TV show on Netflix (hence the name of the theory). To split them quickly results fairly close with TCKR being real and UKN being tv show
Men Against Fire would line up as to why its on the Arkangel TV
It might just be me but what about the fact that at the end of fifteen million merits when the guy looks out the window into earth it's completely overgrown and barren
Like like like great vod
This „white bear symbol“ gives me chills everytime... is it just me?😳