There’s a strange gap in Buddy’s memory

I created a timeline of events in DCTL novel, because I’m a nerd. And I found something very curious.

The first date we get is based on the St. Louis Woman play in the Theatre Buddy passes on his way to the studio in Chapter 1. The last performance of this play was on July 6, 1946, which means that Buddy was hired before that date. July is New York’s hottest month, so Buddy had to have been hired between 1-5 of July, or perhaps a week before, but no later than July 6th.



Knowing this, we can pinpoint the next date - his dinner with Joey. We know it took place 3 weeks after he joined the studio. The Handbook also tells us that the payday is always on Friday. So, if Buddy joined between 1-5 of July, the dinner was on Friday, July 19th.

In the following week, three things happen - The Ink Demon is released, Sammy goes missing, and Joey takes Buddy out to buy tuxedos.



That covers 22-26 of July.

And this is where the timeline gets… weird.



In Chapter 14, we’re told two things: that’s it’s now September, and that it’s been 2 weeks since the tuxedo trip.

Now, let’s take a look at our timeline and tell me if you can see what’s missing:

How about THE ENTIRE MONTH OF AUGUST?

If it were any other month, I’d have dismissed it as ink!Buddy’s faulty memory. But August has a special significance in Bendy’s lore.



On August 2, 1946, someone sent a letter to the studio, addressed to Henry, as if they expected him to be there at the time.

And soon after this, the ink machine has gone missing.

Previously, I’ve dismissed the possibility of the machine being stolen at the time when Buddy’s working at the studio, because I thought he would be able to remember the news article about the missing machine. But, seeing as Buddy has a gap in memory specifically around August 1946, this is no longer an issue. Furthermore, he describes the machine in the book as having a “makeshift look”, which fits the one inside Joey’s garage more than any of the other ink machines we see in the game. It implies that this is the same ink machine - the original prototype created by Thomas and hidden away by Joey.

So, on August 2nd, Henry came by with a visit, the ink machine went missing around the same time, and then at the end of the month everyone’s memories got wiped and the ink machine was back, this time in Joey’s hands.

Sounds silly, doesn’t it? And yet… it does fit in with the game lore.



In August (!) 1963 Henry returned to the studio. As per the changing calendar in Joey’s kitchen, Henry walked in on August 1, he then walked out on August 30 and all of his memories have been wiped. And not just his, but everyone else’s as well - they all repeat the same lines over the over, as if they forgot they’ve already said them before. The entire month of August has been removed from their memory, just like it was with Buddy in August 1946.

It’s worth noting that people like Sammy and Dot act like they’ve been stuck inside a loop during the events in the book.



Sammy writes “he will set us free” already as a human, and draws images of Beast Bendy before ever seeing him.



Dot has knowledge of objects in places she’s never been to (the axe in the Theatre) and she makes strange comments such as “You have no idea how much I understand“ and “Keep asking questions, it’s important!”

All of this seems to hint that the loop Henry’s stuck in the game is not an isolated event, but something that has repeatedly happened in the studio’s history. Each time, someone would find a way to break the loop, and everyone’s memories of the events would be wiped.