What's a popular media-related fan theory you like?

[Koopa con Carne]

bring up and discuss your favourite popular fan theories regarding works of media (film, animation, literature, music, fine arts, video games, weather forecasts etc.) By "popular theory" i mean a theory that has gained some traction (and maybe even became long-standing) in certain circles, and not something that you personally came up with, unless of course that theory of yours happened to become popular at some point.

i know it's a bit too overwrought and grimdark--but i've taken a liking to the general idea that the characters in Ed, Edd, n Eddy are actually dead kids from various periods of time gathered around in an afterlife of sorts (fantheories.fandom.com).

 

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

The Doctor Who Season 6B theory.

At the end of the Doctor Who serial 'The War Games', which was the final story of season 6 (referring to season 6 from 1968-1969, not series 6 from 2011), the Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie and Zoe, are captured by the Time Lords (The Doctor's people, which we learn the identity of in this serial) and the Doctor is put on trial for violating the Time Lord's law of non-interference.

In the end, the Time Lords return Jamie and Zoe to their own original times with only the memories of their first encounter with the Doctor and, having accepted the Doctor's plea that there is evil in the universe and he has a role to fight it, have made the decision for the Doctor to 'change his appearance' once again, be exiled to Earth in the 20th century, and have his knowledge of how to operate the TARDIS taken from him during his exile. The story concludes with the Time Lords making the decision for what the Doctor's next appearance will be for him as he spins away into a dark void to begin his exile on Earth.

And in the next serial, 'Spearhead from Space' (the first story of season 7, broadcast several months after The War Games in January 1970), the TARDIS materializes on Earth and the Third Doctor stumbles out of it and collapses, wearing the outfit of his previous incarnation. Obviously viewers were meant to infer that this was occurring (for the Doctor) immediately after the events of 'The War Games'.

But the Second Doctor made several reappearances after 'The War Games', namely in 'The Three Doctors, 'The Five Doctors', and 'The Two Doctors'. And when the Doctor Who fandom was beginning to coalesce on the early internet in the 1990s, which just so happened to be during a time when these stories were being released onto VHS, fans began to notice various incongruities in these stories compared to what we're supposed to take from the events of The War Games.

Namely the following:

• In 'The Three Doctors', the Second Doctor makes reference to the Time Lords having plucked him out of his own time stream to help the Third Doctor because the problem they were facing on Earth was effecting the Time Lords too and all they could do was send his earlier incarnation(s)
• In 'The Five Doctors', the Second Doctor realizes that the appearances of Jamie and Zoe in the Death Zone are just illusions because the Time Lords erased their memories when they were sent back to their own times
• In 'The Two Doctors', the Second Doctor is with Jamie once more, but Jamie knows who the Time Lords are and the Doctor makes note that he is an exile from Time Lord society but he is following their instructions in exchange for his freedom (and to give the Time Lords plausible deniability).
• Also in the same serial as above, the TARDIS console is not the same one that the Second Doctor used during his actual run on the TV series
• In both 'The Five Doctors' and 'The Two Doctors', the Second Doctor is visibly older than he looked when he was the current Doctor (and Jamie looks older than he did when he was a main character as well in the latter story)

This led to the creation of the fan theory known as Season 6B. What this theory entails is that, contrary to what may be implied by the ending of 'The War Games' and beginning of 'Spearhead from Space', the Second Doctor was not regenerated at the end of season 6 to begin his exile on Earth, but was instead temporarily recruited to perform missions for the Time Lords (along with being reunited by his companions Jamie and Victoria [the latter being referenced in 'The Two Doctors']) until this recruitment ended and his full regeneration and exile onto Earth was carried out. (The events of 'The Three Doctors' is not considered part of Season 6B, as the fact that it's explicitly said that he was 'plucked out of time' means it can fit as being pre-'The War Games')

The Season 6B theory would be published in the Doctor Who Discontinuity Guide in 1995 where it was presented as a possible explanation for all of the continuity kerfuffles involving the Second Doctor post-'The War Games' and would quickly become a widespread piece of fanon in the Doctor Who fandom.

I should note that the Season 6B theory is one of those rare fan theories that has actually gone from just being a fan theory to being, effectively, canon: the BBC's Classic Doctor Who site includes a page for Season 6B and there have been several text and audio stories that are explicitly set in 'season 6B' by featuring the Second Doctor post-'The War Games' but pre-regeneration-and-exile.

Of course there are also plenty of Doctor Who fans who only treat what happens in the TV series as canon, so for them, Season 6B is still just a fan theory (or at least non-canon) and nothing more.

 

[DarkAdorable]

I used to follow the theory that "Big Hero 6", "The Little Mermaid", "Frozen" and "Tangled" shared the same universe. (at least until Frozen 2 shot it down).

Spoiler: Theory

The Little Mermaid/Frozen: The ship Ariel and Flounder explored at the beginning was the Arendelle ship, albeit different (hey, 1989 and 2013 are different years)

Tangled/Frozen: The King and Queen were headed to... the kingdom that we can never say because of current events... to attend the wedding of Eugene and Rapunzel, who happen to be related to Arendelle as cousins; after the King and Queen died, Rapunzel and Eugene decided to visit Arendelle to pay their respects and attend Elsa's coronation (hence their cameo in the song "For the First Time in Forever").

Big Hero 6/Tangled: I believe Honey Lemon is a descendant of Rapunzel, with the gold hair (never mind that Raps has different hair now), green eyes, and a big part of her chemistry knowledge is also colorful, which translates from Rapunzel's art skills.

Now my other favorite theories from Film Theory are the ones from "Blair Witch Project" and "Don't Hug Me I'm Scared".