Who will Bill possess next?

dragonretirement:

dragonretirement:

So, the obvious answer to this question is Gideon, since we’ve seen that he’s desperate and willing to cut a deal. However! The cipher in The Last Mabelcorn reads:

A SIMPLE MAN WITH EAGER EARS MAY TRUST THE WHISPERS THAT HE HEARS

A simple man? Could it be Soos? Well.. maybe. There was foreshadowing in the Stanchurian Candidate, with Soos being controlled by Dipper and Mabel via the tie. But if Soos is our guy, why bring Gideon back? My theory: Gideon is going to sell Bud for a deal with Bill. He’s desperate and evil enough to do it, and Bud sure is simple.

I just rewatched the Stanchurian Candidate, and I think I have some more evidence for this theory.

So, in the Stanchurian Candidate, Bud returns for the first time since Society of the Blind Eye. His first few lines are relatively in-character, but this one surprised me:

You just made a powerful enemy. I’ll win either way, and when I do, you might not like the Gravity Falls you wake up in!



This is definitely a more threatening tone than Bud’s ever taken before, and he’s not yet controlled by Gideon at this point. What concerns me most, though, is the “the Gravity Falls you wake up in” line.

As we know, Bill Cipher is a dream demon. So the reference to waking up is a bit unnerving.



Further into the episode, we find out that Bud is getting orders from Gideon (unsurprisingly). Gideon’s creepy line “maybe you need to have more of an… open mind” is most likely referring to his plans to possess Bud, but it could have a more long-term implication.

The possession paper clearly states “one time use”, which is odd, considering Bud screams “Anything but that!” as Gideon begins to chant. If this was a one-time thing, why does it sound like Bud knows whats coming? It’s almost as if Gideon had tried and failed to posses him before.

So it’s obvious that during this episode, Bud is being controlled by Gideon, not Bill. But when Gideon’s plan fails, we have the end credit scene, where Gideon says:

I’m finally ready to make a deal.

Thinking practically: Bill has no use for possessing Gideon, he’s still stuck in jail and far away from the Pines twins. What could Gideon’s bargaining chip be, other than his father? He tried to “use” Bud himself in this episode, but it didn’t work, and the possession spell has a one time use. So now he’s exhausted all his other options, and he’s ‘finally ready’.

One more thing: when Bill has his line about “finding his next pawn on the outside”, Bud is one of the characters that appears while the cipher is on screen (the one talking about a simple man with eager ears):

The other characters are, in order: Gorney, Tambry, Grenda, Lee, Priscilla Northwest, Mr and Mrs. Valentino, Old Man McGucket, and Wendy.

The only one of these who fits the description of a simple man with eager ears is Bud (or arguably Gorney, but I think we can all agree that’s not very likely, he was a one-off character). The other characters who are simple men with eager ears are Soos and Toby, neither of which appear under the end-credit cipher.

You heard it here first, folks. Bud Gleeful is going to be Bill’s next puppet.