Game Theory - FNAF, How to STOP the Mimic... For Good!

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

Join Game Theory Host Tom as he gives YOU the keys to stopping the Mimic, which are…Sun and Moon? This game has given us SO much symbolism to these characters through mini-games, a lullaby, and even the OG costume. In today’s episode, I will be discussing Sun and Moon’s connection to the Mimic as well as how we can stop the Mimic for GOOD…

Sun and Moon are the key to solving The Mimic. We always knew that these strange characters were in some way connected to our latest Big Bad. But thanks to Secret of the Mimic, we finally know why. And it tells us everything we need to know to end it all. Hello, Internet! Welcome to Game Theory, the show that's looking for lore all day and night. And I've been deep on the Law Hunt, friends, thanks to the release of Secret of the Mimic. In the last episode, we focused heavily on the podcast.

the past and present of the mimic. Or mimics. M1 and M2. M2 being the physical animatronic that we fight during the game, a copy of M1's programming gone wrong that ends up locked away underneath Murray's costume manner and eventually the Pizza Plex all those years later. Thanks to the inclusion of the scoop and costumes from MCM, the spare parts we find lying around the facility,

and, you know, the fact he's still doing the whole attack humans thing because of what Edwin did to it. Not him. You're not, stop sounding like him. M1, on the other hand, is a program that during the game is primarily appearing as Fiona, Edwin's deceased wife, trying to fix M2 in order that she can get her son, David, back. She convinces Edwin to build something called The Cradle, a large computer that mixes spawns from during ruin. The problem is, as time's gone on, M1 gets removed from the cradle and is used by Fasbear to create a VR game. Help Wanted.

taught all about Afton's escapades and therefore beginning to mimic his actions creating Glitch Tram. Now M1 is confused, still trying to bring back her family, but who her family is has become a mix of her own family, like the magician and nanny bot representing her and Edwin, with the children of the Afton family that we saw in the original run of games. But what we didn't get to talk about last time was the future of the mimic and its connection to a character that we have been theorising about for years. Sun and Moon. When he first showed up in Security Bridge, we knew nothing about the sky or what his purpose in the whole story was. By the time Ruyn came along, it felt like he had to be connected to the mimic, with both

of them sharing the same individually moving teeth and the fact that he wears a jester costume, which felt very connected to both the jester costume we learnt about in the books, as well as the whole Fallfest Carnival. But now we have Secret of the Mimic, and Sun and Moon are all over this thing. We've got OG versions of the characters, we've got symbolic mini-games, we've even got a mysterious lullaby, all of which make one thing extremely clear. We were 100% right about Sun and Moon being connected to the Mimic. Throughout the game, we are being shown that these two, or three, or I suppose four, characters,

are intrinsically connected in so many interesting ways, but most importantly, Sun and Moon is actually the key to not just solving the Mimic, but ending it once and for all. I hope you've knocked over all your stackable toys, friends, because it's finally time to clean up the mess. That is Sun and Moon. The first instance we get of Sun or Moon appearing in this game is right as we enter Murray's Costume Manor for the first time. As we head over to the computer and the security office, we can find a few options to select. Maps, obviously a map of the facility, logs, which is where we get to see all the juicy law-filled chat logs that were found from the mailboxes strewn about the building. And then there's our main focus for today, Moon.EX.C.

We've talked about Moon.EXC in our previous episodes, but in case you missed those or the massive playthrough we did over on GT Live, it's basically a game within a game. We start in a bedroom, and while the goal is initially unclear, if you take a wrong turn, you face the wrath of sleepy Moon, who tells you to go back to bed. Now, as you play the normal game, you can find collectibles inside of presents that you can then load into the system, and they will appear inside Moon.exe for you to use. Each one serves a specific purpose, either helping you to thwart Moon's attempts to stop you, or giving us information about Edwin and his family. In a previous episode, we've talked about the Snow Globe that is next to a married man and woman, where the woman looks burnt, and how it's meant to be symbolic of Edwin and Fiona Murray. But that isn't the only law this game provides us.

The initial premise of us being told to go back to bed gives you the impression that we're a child, trying to sneak out of our bedroom and go on an adventure. As we go through this adventure, we encounter a baby owl that we can, save, that then sticks with us throughout the journey, cooing and rubbing up against us like a pet. However, things take a weird turn when we encounter the old woman that lives in a cabin in the woods. This old woman has a head covered in spikes, kind of like you'd expect a son to be represented. After fulfilling her tasks and fixing her three broken masks, she then hands you a final mask, the mask of a baby owl. At the same time, our baby owl friend seems to have gone missing.

but the oven is now on and there's a suspicious smell of chicken in the air. With our new mask equipped, this sun woman takes us to a cave that Moon is guarding, only for Moon to see the baby owl mask and to run away crying. This was the moment that things clicked for me. At first, I figured we were playing as David, with Moon being an obvious analog for his father, Edward. That's why we got explicit messages like, go back to bed, I'm too busy,

things that Edwin would actively say to both David and his wife, Fiona. Just give me a minute. David's two years old, he won't remember a thing. Besides, he's got plenty more where his face. However, this moment where Moon, Edwin, sees us wearing a baby owl mask and then runs away crying, along with us only gaining the owl mask as the baby owl disappeared, it made me realize we weren't playing as David, but the mimic M2. M2 was designed to mimic David perfectly,

like it was wearing a mask pretending to be him. And we know that that actually really upset, Edwin. Stop, not him. You're not. I'm sounding like him. This game, therefore, moon.exe, is essentially M2 learning how to be David, being taught how to behave, like being in David's bedroom and being told to go back to bet. The baby owl, therefore, the one that we get the mask from that disappears and dies,

is the actual David. And the old woman's son, the one guiding us through the game that directs us on our journey once we have the owl mask? Well, the game is pretty clear about who that is. Once you execute the parachute program and head down to the R&D department, we find M1, the original mimic, now taking on the persona of Fiona, sitting there like we spoke about last time. And on the monitor surrounding her, we see the same Sun character. M1, Fiona is Sun.

And that actually explains how M2 learned to be David in the first place. When M1 and Edwin are arguing about whether to make M2, David is already gone. It happened and you have to deal with it. You did it before. So how did M2 learn to copy something? that wasn't around to be copied. Well, if you saw our last episode, you'll know that M2 is actually a copy of M1's program,

and M1 was around while David was alive. We even see a photo of them sitting on a hill together. So, Sun, the one who is controlling and guiding this game for M2, is able to use her memory of David to help inform M2. This does bring up an interesting detail, though. M1 gives M2 the owl mask, and suddenly, baby owl is gone, being cooked on Sun's stove. We also know that M1 was the one that Edwin asked to go down and get David from his playground.

Fiona, go get him. I left him out of the playground. This would seem to imply that David's death may not have been an accident after all. That M1 actually killed David in order that she could have a real family, a robot family, just like her. We spoke last time about how she's getting confused between different iterations of Fiona, one from the books and one from the games, thanks to this note we found in the basement of MCM, it's possible that she figured out she wasn't the real Fiona and so wanted her own family, rather than just an inherited one where she didn't really belong. But I'm aware this part's a little bit more speculative, it just occurred to me while I was writing this.

Anyway, the point is that moon.exe is showing us that moon equals Edwin and Sun equals Fiona. Well, M1's version of Fiona. This finally explains why we see our modern Sun and Moon presented the way they are. By the time we get to Security Breach Glitch Trap, or M1, has control of the Pizzaplex. She is in control of the animatronics, which is why they turn on us in the first place. But when she gets control of Sun and Moon, we see that Sun is the caretaker. They are the one who wants things to be perfect and wants to win the child's affections. They are also the one during ruin who wants to

to be rebooted. Just like M1 Fiona wants M2 to be fixed. Moon, on the other hand, they want the child to just go to sleep and are far more aggressive reflecting how M1 sees Edwin. She believes him to be aggressive

both because of Moon.exe and, well, Jedi. However, there is one more mention of Sun and Moon that's inside Moon.EXC that I want to mention because on the surface, It is slightly confusing. Once we get inside the cave that Moon was guarding, we encounter a broken statue.

We go through the various tunnels and one by one find pieces of the statue, putting it back together to create a moon-like figure. Suddenly, we're told that we have been reborn. You rebuilt yourself, but now you are split in two. Moon and Sun, destruction and life. So, does this throw a hole in my argument here? Sun and Moon are now being used to describe M2, not Ed, Edwin and M1. And at first, that was my concern. But as I've thought about it more, I've realized it's not about the metaphor or symbolism changing, they're actually feeding into one another.

The rebuilding of the statue is reminiscent of M2 rebuilding itself after Edwin destroyed it. You know, speaking of legs, what do you think? I just finished mine. But then, why a moon statue? Something that specifically references Edwin. Well, because it's not the same moon. Edwin is represented by Sleepy Moon. Moon, a full Moon character, but this moon is a crescent moon. This is a new character, one that is similar to Sleepy Moon, even inspired by, you could say, but it's entirely its own thing. And when we're finished, we are told that it has been reborn.

M2, putting itself back together, wasn't just fixing itself, it was reborn. Now, with a new input, violence. Edwin's violence, moons, violence. It was no longer just the M1-based program it was before. Edwin's actions affected M2 and caused it to be reborn as the violent animatronic we know now, like a new version of the character Moon. But it isn't just Moon. We're told that it is a combination of that destruction and the life of Sun.

M1 wants to create life, making M2 their son, while Edwin wants to destroy M2. These two things have combined together to make the mess that is M2. And those pieces are now at war with each other. Again, just like Sun and Moon are in Security Breach. Duality in this franchise is something that I've wanted to write a theory about for a long time. It felt like there's been so much of it in the series. From the two-toned logo on the ruined website, the two-colored eyes of the tiger plushy, Sun and Moon,

to even as far back as William versus Henry. It's always been about these two opposing sides being mixed together into one thing, something that usually ends in a mess or tragedy. At the time, I just didn't really know where it was going in order to write the theory on it. But now I understand. This is what it was trying to tell us. Visual clues to tell us the story of Edwin and M1 Fiona without actually spelling it out. It's also why Sun and Moon's moving teeth are the same as the mimics.

They may not literally be the same. Sun and Moon may not actually be a mimic, but it's visual storytelling, giving us a physical clue to their connection. We were just missing the key detail of Edwin and M1 even existing in this continuity to be able to tie it all together. Although I'm sure the law reason for the T-thing is once again just the mimic rebuilding itself with spare parts. We'll see. But Sun and Moon isn't done teaching us about the mimic just yet. Because in ruin, we get to see that these opposing sides can turn from a mess into something new.

We see Sun struggling to keep control while Moon is acting dangerous, again like we've been seeing with M2. the original program unable to keep control, with the violence taking over and attacking people. But after Cassie is able to plug in the data diver, I mean, FAS wrench, they reboot and Eclipse is born. They are calm, fun, friendly, protective, exactly as they were supposed to be. We fixed them. But did you notice the key detail? Eclipse isn't Sun now fully in control, nor is Moon completely gone. It's both halves mixed together in order to create something new.

Sure, Sun was trying to help us and was the good side of both of them, but we're being shown that you actually need both sides in perfect balance in order to make things work. And this idea is reflected in secret of the mimic too. When down in the basement, we encounter Sleepy Moon in the Flesh, or cloth, or whatever it is he's made out of. And one of the telltale signs he's close by is you can hear him singing. It can be hard to make out the exact lyrics he's singing while you're trying death. desperately not to lose all your progress, but the melody should definitely ring a bell. It's actually the most popular lullaby of all time, simply called Vagan Lai, or Lullaby in English.

You may have also heard it known as Brahms, Lullaby named after its composer Johanna's Brahms. And it goes a little something like this. Lullaby and good night with roses bed eyes, with lilies or spread his babies we bet, we bet. Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed. Lay thee down now and rest, may thy slumber be blessed. Thank you, thank you. Now, you could say that the use of this song was just, They needed a lullaby from Sleepy Moon to sing, so they picked the most obvious one.

But where does that ever been the game theory way? You see, this song wasn't written to be sung on its own. It was designed as a little bit. as a mother and father duet. While the mother would sing the lullaby alongside it, the father would sing an old German folk song called Siz Andesht, which is a song that the original mother actually used to sing two Brahms when they were together. This would then work as a counter melody underneath the primary melody of the lullaby.

Counter melodies are super interesting because rather than a harmony which works in lockstep with the melody, the counter melody is literally a second different melody that plays at the same time. If you try this with just any two songs, you're going to have a lot of clashes and mess and it's just not going to work. But when done right, these two parts that don't feel like they should go together suddenly begin to almost dance. They bounce off one another, creating something totally new. It's not working together in harmony, but they do work together despite appearing diametrically opposed. But right now, with mimic as is, it clearly is, a mess. These two forces are working against each other, not as a countermelody, but as clashing

melodies. So if Eclipse and the Lullaby are showing us we need to bring these pieces into alignment, how do we do that? Well, I think the answer lies in the secret ending of Secret of the Mimic. In order to get M2 to calm down enough that we can insert new programming into it, we have to play a bedtime story for it. The bedtime story itself changes each time, but what doesn't change is the people telling the story. The pre-recorded tapes that we find throughout the Murray household to get here include Edwin's voice and Fiona's voice. Both of them working together to tell a story, telling M2 that violence doesn't solve anything in order to bring balance to M2. The lullaby also hints at this because it actually has one more name that I neglected to mention.

It's sometimes known as the cradle song or cradle lullaby, just like cradle.com. which we spoke about last time is Mex's, a program designed to soothe M2, keep it under control, but required M1 and Edwin to work together to implement. M1 wants to restore M2. Edwin wants to destroy all versions of the mimic. These two things shouldn't work together. They feel like conflicting views. But when these characters come into alignment with one another, the song begins to form.

M1 cannot restore M2 on her. her own. Sure, she may have the glitched code, but Edwin's voice was crucial for the plan working. We need to bring M1 and Edwin back together in order to truly stop whatever M2 has become. And to put both M1 and M2 to rest finally. But you may have noticed a problem with that solution. As far as we can tell, Edwin is dead. Usually minor detonation. There is damage to my office interior as well as a small fire.

So, M2, response, please. I can't move. You can't feel my legs. M2 blew up part of the house and refused to help Edwin while it burnt and collapsed around him. But remember what franchise we're talking about here, friends. Just because someone is dead doesn't mean they're truly gone. In fact, Moon basically tells us as such with the lullabies he's singing. Oh yeah, this thing still has...

a lot to give in terms of law significance. And it's to do with the more meta side of it, why it was written and who it was written for. Brahms wrote this lullaby for his close friend, Bertha Faber. Brahms and Faber used to date many years before, which is when she used to sing Siz Arndish to him, a song about a shepherd and his lover. When they reconnected years later,

she was married to someone else, had a child with another on the way. Brahms wrote this lullaby for the birth of that second child, but it wasn't a completely self-loyal. sweet act. He wrote it so that when she and her husband sang it together to their baby, he would also be there. It was a way of making sure he was connected to her always, even when he wasn't physically around. If Moon is supposed to represent Edwin, and he's the one singing this song, it makes me think that we're being told that while he may be physically

gone, he's not completely gone. He's just somewhere hidden, somewhere we wouldn't expect. And that somewhere I believe is Princess Quest. Because I think that Edwin is the King, otherwise known as Old Man Consequences. Okay, okay, before you start writing in the comments about how I followed in Matt's footsteps and I've lost my mind to this franchise, hear me out. I'm not the only person to have had this idea. This idea was actually brought up during our recent life theory crafting session by fellow FNAF theorist, Gibby's Horror Homestead. Oh, I see that Gibby Horror's Homestead. Edwin as Old Man Consequences.

Hello, Gibby. Great for you to join us. This thought actually occurred to me today. And not only had the thought occurred to me earlier that day, since then, I've not been able to get it out of my head. It just makes so much sense to me. I mean, Edwin is the ultimate man of consequence. His creation of Crazy Gadgets landed him in bed with Fazbear, who then took everything from him. His rushed inventions meant things could go wrong easily, so Fiona went to Fallfest to make sure that didn't happen and she died.

He didn't pay enough attention to his. son and so David ended up dead. He created an incredibly powerful AI and then beat it up, and so in return it killed him. Everything Edwin did came back to bite him on the butt. Consequence, thy name is Edwin. Plus, in the tales from the Pizzaplex story, the storyteller, Edwin does come back 40 years later and tries to stop the mimic. And Old Man Consequences in Security Breach is all about equipping the princess to defeat the glitch-trap virus, aka the M1 program that's been corrupted by Afton's influence and is now running the Pizzaplex.

We also know that Game Edwin wants to stop the mimic. Both mimics. You, I let a machine raise my kid. You're not real. What was I thinking? He realized what he'd created and that it couldn't replace the real thing, which is why he didn't want to fix M2. Instead, just going along with the plan to create Mexies to pacify it.

Now, I'm not saying that Edwin is possessing Princess Quest or anything like that. Modern FNAF requires modern solutions, and so I believe it's more likely that like M1 isn't really Fiona, but the M1 program mimicking Fiona, that this is another program designed to imitate Edwin, like a digital signature of sorts. In the real world, programmers will sometimes physically put part of themselves into their code. They will leave a line of code or even just a few letters or symbols, so that when someone else takes a look, they will know whose code it is. We actually see Gregory do this in GGI.

Why? When the animatronics begin behaving strangely, the characters take a look at the code and find the letters GGI all over the place. It's not really doing anything, it's just a digital signature to let you know that this was Gregory's doing. At this point, M1 has been integrated into basically every part of FASB entertainment's technology. M1 is running the show, corrupting everything, but M1 was Edwin's code. He created it, and so I'm suggesting that deep in that programming lies a little piece of himself, almost like a failsafe that's there trying to fight back. Old Man Consequences. In Fnaffworld, he was buried deep in that code, but as time's gone on, he slowly come more

and more to the surface, able to help more and more. He helped Vanny fight back against the Glitch Trap virus. We even saw Moon, the character we talked about representing Edwin, giving over GlitchTrap to Vanny so that she could crush it and be free of its influence at the end of Princess Quest 4. And I think in whatever sequel Steelwell has planned, we're going to have to help old man consequences one last time to free M1 of GlitchTrap's influence and bring Edwin and M1 together to stock M2. They may be doing it for different reasons. Edwin may still want to destroy it.

M1 may still want to fix it. But if we can get them to put aside their differences, those countermelodies are going to start to work together to create a complete piece that will end the internal battle of the mimic once and the. for all. Although, the mimic in ruin does seem to have a convenient hole, where we had to insert the data diver during the secret ending, so we might have to figure out a different way to get these two fighting programs into it in the first place. But hey, that's just a theory. A game theory. Thanks for watching.