Great points! I too think there's more to what Jaeseob said than what we already know from what SC told us during S2 finale. SC is giving "I told you about everything you know, not everything I know." and this could be why Doha wants to gets his hands on his older tapes because if Doha and SC were essentially archnemeses, then the data and info on there might be important to either keep SC under his boot, or beat the game itself (while keeping Bada around). Do you think it's simply because they fought over (what to do with) Bada? Because they were both in on using the 'harbinger npc' to solve the game's puzzles initially, but they had a falling out cause the older Doha had started to get attached to Bada and started to see him more than a tool while SC just wanted out of the game by hook or by crook? And maybe seeing things change in that direction pissed SC off enough to walk down the bad guy of the week path.
And how much do the others know about the Bada situation really? I think if they all awakened they'd have much better chances against SC. Having Jaeseob's perspective is truly refreshing. I know Bada removed his tape again for now but I hope he sticks around for a longer time. It'd be great if he brought back HS and Yongtaek while he's at it too. I need a regroup and planning sesh with everyone por favor.
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Edited to add my third mini light bulb moment
Posting this here because I had a mini light bulb moment while responding in the comments:
DOHA IS NOT COMPLETELY AGAINST BADA KNOWING THAT HE IS AN NPC
In the previous chapter, he didnt stop Bada from inserting the tape. If he truly wanted to prevent it, he couldve just easily just killed Bada and removed his tape so he'd forget that whole round, But Suujin why is he pretending he doesn’t know Bada, and why is he stopping Bada from talking to others? Thats because he knows Bada is smart and naturally inquisitive, like he could start questioning things, piece them together, and then eventually rediscover that he's an npc. And Doha doesnt fully trust how the current Bada would handle that revelation. That's why he's withholding information and keeping this Bada isolated. He trusts the previous Bada more bc that version of Bada knows Doha best and has bonded with him longer and on a deeper level. which is why, again, in the previous chapter, he wasn’t actually against Bada remembering he was an npc if that tape truly belonged to him.
ETA: i just remembered that the previous Bada's tape was already taken out before the round started, so that would mean he wont remember anything from that round. he wont remember all of the things that seongchan said and that he was an npc. HE WONT EVEN REMEMBER HE SAID I LOVE YOU TO DOHA!!! WTH this is rekindling my hate for seongchan so frustratingggg (╯°Д °)╯╧╧
but besides all that ig its still safe to say Doha is not against Bada learning that he is an npc. bc come to think of it, if we recover the previous Bada's memories he would definitely ask what happened after. obv Doha can lie again but he still cant avoid that Bada will eventually realize the loopholes in his lies and piece everything together. he can easily avoid all of that by just making the current Bada forget they ever found a tape but he didnt. Doha ngl youre still sketchy most of the time but I trust you with this
"I shouldve known since he began harassing his cousin to relieve his rage. I know he's just an npc, but-"
What Jeoseob said really stands out to me bc harassing Bada how? and rage from what? this also adds to why he removed bada's tape. it wasnt just to mess with doha but also a form of his "harassment to relieve his rage". but again, rage from what? YT also mentioned before that Doha and SC had some tension between them but he didnt go much into detail bc it was also unclear to him. maybe this has some connection with what JS said
DOHA AND SEONGCHAN DEFINITELY KNOW MORE ABOUT THE GAME THAN EVERYONE ELSE
we know from earlier chapters that Doha and SC constantly clashed and they had a falling out right? If we recall YT's and SC's revelations on the early gameplay, it goes like this:
- HS and JS removed their tapes because they couldn’t handle the endless deaths
- Doha, SC, and YT continued playing
- YT also eventually decided to remove his tape (the white one)
- Doha came up with the idea to make Bada insert a tape
- Doha and SC pretended to be npcs
- SC used Bada to convince YT to insert a tape (black tape)
- as they approached the true ending, SC feared only one player could escape the game so he removed Doha's tape to secure his survival. It can also be assumed that SC stopped YT's black tape.
now here's the part that doesnt add up: If JS is right that SC was the one who removed his tape… then why didn’t SC remove Doha’s tape earlier? Why target JS (and probably HS and YT) but not Doha? One of the commenters here suggested that JS mustve found out SC's real motives and took him out before he could alert others. But if that was his concern, why was Doha's tape also not ejected? If we were to compare them all, wouldnt it be Doha who's the sharpest and most capable person to stop SC with his motive?
this is also why i find it weird. if they did indeed constantly clash, why was SC putting up with Doha so much so that he didnt remove his tape? (also vice versa, why didnt Doha remove SC's tape). the only time SC decided to remove Doha's tape was when he "needed to secure his own survival". Wouldnt that mean that, up to that point, they needed each other? Badly enough to overlook their conflicting personalities and work together despite all the tension. But why do they need each other? For info? What kind of info tho?