Game Theory - Where’s Wally?

Episode Date: June 12, 2025

Welcome Home is FINALLY back with a spring update, and with it comes a whole new batch of lore! But something, or someONE, is missing. Can you find Wally?

Where is Wally? Across the new Welcome Home Spring Update, our friendly Mr. Rogers puppet man is missing. Has Home done away with him like he's doing with everyone else? Or is it Wally who is trying to break free? Hello, internet. Welcome to Game Theory, the show that is sending you Spring Salutations. It's time for frolicing in the flowery meadows, enjoying the sunshine, and if you're me, sneezing your brains out. But it'll all be worth it because this springtime,

also means a brand new update from our good neighbour, Welcome Home. It's been a year since our last visit to the neighbourhood and I have been so excited to see what Clown is cooking up, so much so that we made a compilation of all of our past theories, plus a little bonus mini theory at the end of last year just to scratch that welcome home itch. But now we have ourselves a proper full update all about this wonderfully weird long-forgotten TV show that isn't quite what it seems at first. The website has always been riddled with glitches, drawings and literal bugs crawling across the screen that led us to secret videos that reveal the true nature of the neighborhood and its central character, Home. While this neighborhood seems idyllic on the surface, it turns out to be more like a cult, one with an abusive and controlling leader.

Slowly, we have seen both Eddie the Mailman and Poppy the Bird experiencing psychotic meltdowns, and Home is at the center of all of it. Which brings us to this new update because now another one of these lovable characters is in the spotlight, the joyful Julie. So what does this Spring Update makeover have in store for her? I am budding with excitement theorists. So grab your gardening tools because we got to trim back the mysteries around Welcome Home Spring Update. According to the newsletter, the organization that runs the website, the WHRP, have received a lot of new packages, so much so that they couldn't go through it all in one of one. update. Instead, they've decided to categorize their findings by each neighbor, with this update

being all about Julie Joyful and her family of rainbow monsters, who we briefly saw on a gooped-up poster during the launch of the website. Oh, I love it when these small details get paid off. Maybe Fnav could learn a thing or two. These colorful creatures are called Franny, Jonesy, and B, and through the various new additions to the website, we learned that these guys are the perfect choice for a spring update, because their whole thing is literally spring. There's a bunch of new storybooks similar to Poppy's brick by brick that we talked about last time, all revolving around Spring, Julie, and the Joyfuls. Springtime salutations is the story of how Julie woke from hibernation, ready for spring, only to find that it was still snowing. So she calls on the help of the joyfuls

because it turns out each of them has the magical ability to make springtime happen. Franny makes the rain come, Jonesy makes the plants grow, B makes the sun shine, and Julie makes the flowers bloom. There's also Julie's guide to being joyful and what makes the flowers blue. There's a radio show with Wally hosting the Joyfuls, and there's a record of the Joyfuls singing about nature. Oh yeah, the Joyfuls are also a band. Gotta make money on all mediums, I guess. There's even a new board game called Floriography, a Candyland-style game with playing cards that are different types of flowers. Though, as always with these discoveries, things like the rules are missing.

So, sorry, gang, no theorist board game night this week. But that wasn't the only disappointment I faced. As I read all the stories, as I listened to all the songs, as I read it. all the new articles, I realised that weirdly nothing seemed out of place. Even the secret website away from prying eyes.net didn't seem to have anything out of the ordinary going on. I mean, he does say that he hears constant ringing, is existing in the pitch black and is drinking expired juice, but then that sounds like me most nights, so who am I to judge? The point is, there's no secrets here either.

The only other weird detail I could find is that WOMI is noticeably absent from the website, And I don't just mean because Julie is now on the front page. He's literally gone from the drawings that used to include him, like this one of him and Barnaby. He seems to have just vanished. Where is Wally? Wally being missing is strange, but without any glitches or links to follow, I was beginning to lose hope that there was actually any G to this ARG, or that we'd get any answers as to why Wally is missing.

So I did what every great puzzle solver does in times like these. I clicked everything and hoped something popped up. And you know what? It worked. On the toys page, there is still the Wally telephone that we talked about in a previous video. The one that gave us audio lines from each of the neighbours, with Wolley's button being a little different, speaking to us directly rather than spouting the typical catchphrases. On the new website, however, these button functions have all been removed, except for Wally's button. Though it doesn't do what it did last time. Instead, clicking on it brings us to a brand new web page.

The page is simply black with a single chair and an audio phone. Now, this is the spooky welcome home I was looking for. The audio is another classic Wally speaking to us directly a fair. But this time, something seems off. You found me. Kelshoundh! Wally has always talked a little funny, but his voice in this clip is all over the place, with inflections going up and down at random, almost like audio that's been cut together

rather than spoken in full sentences. The channel was dark. I do not know what has. When I found you again, everything was not where I left it, but I do not understand. Wait, he's talking about the old website. Wally used to talk to us through his drawings in the guest book and secret links. But when W. Shut it down and set up the new website last time, we lost connection with Wally. Now, he's found the new website, but everything has been rearranged.

Is that why he's missing from those pictures? Because he couldn't find his way back? He then goes on about speaking in code so as to not get in trouble. And in doing so, he gives us this little tidbit. We can't hear the flowers. Julie says they still have something to say. Though let's play a game called gather good words from the flowers. Julie has given us so many so I know you will find that.

Now we're getting somewhere. Wally wants us to find words from flowers and that will explain to us what's really going on with him and this website. The thing that immediately springs to mind for me was the new board game in the toy section, floreography. Floreography is a fancy word for the language of flowers. Basically, the idea is that every flower carries a secret meaning. Things like which hazel can mean hope, daffodils can mean regard. Iris can mean message or messenger. And so, when you create a bouquet of flowers, it's not just a nice gift, it's imparting a hidden message. Maybe you should pay a little more attention when you're buying some flowers for your

mother this mother's day. But the cards from this board game are presenting us with a bunch of flowers, and that's not the only place they're present. The same flowers also show up on the pages of these new storybooks, and so we can trace their names thanks to the cards on the board game. For example, in Springtime Salutations, where Julie makes the Joyful Spring Spring, you can find trefoil, Iris, and Oleander. The meanings of these flowers are revenge, message, and beware. The question is now, what do we do with all these words? Well, the thing I felt that was missing from the previous updates, were secret links. Additions to the main website URL that would take you to somewhere new.

And if you put these three words at the end of the welcome home URL, you are indeed taken to a secret page with a new secret video. It's very similar to the videos we found about Frank in the past. Random shots of the grass or sky while the characters speak off screen. In this video, Julie and Frank are going around making the flowers bloom. But there seems to be one that isn't responding to Julie. Maybe you're still just a little too cold. I don't like getting up early either.

How about you warm up in the sun while I go get everyone else ready to go? I'll come back before you know it. That's a joyful guarantee. I don't know about you guys, but that flower Julie is having trouble with doesn't look like any flower I've ever seen. It's black and it has a colored spiral in the center. And whenever there's a spiral in this series, that usually means home is involved, just like we saw with the Playfellow exhibition and like we saw in the void underneath home in the neighborhood. Something is definitely off with this thing.

But now that we've cracked Wally's code, all we need to do is go through these other storybooks, find the words for these flowers, and find more videos to get to the bottom of it. Just a quick side note here. If you're trying to do this for yourself, depending on where you look online, different flowers have different meanings. So this step took a little bit of trial and error until I found the right meanings. But eventually, I did find all the secret words in the storybooks, as well as a few more in the song played by The Joyfuls, leading us to four new secret pages, all of which center around

this black flower. Julie wants to show Frank her powers of making flowers bloom only for this black flower to not open. At this point, Julie's tone begins to shift. What incarnations? You're still closed. Well, that's no good. As always, Julie tries to stay chipper and begins telling stories to the plant about how she met Frank. But she can't fully remember it all and begins second guessing herself. Was he mad? I don't think he was. What would Frank say if he saw you again? How did you think of me? As we go through these videos, we're seeing Julie begin to crack, just like we saw with Eddie and Poppy. She's relied upon to make the flowers bloom, and now she can't. That in turn is causing her to doubt other parts of her life, like her friendships.

She's worried that people may judge her, thinking her usefulness is running out. All of this culminates in the final video where Julie speaks one last time to the black flower. You're still here. I don't know what the problem is. Was that not enough? Do you want to get me into trouble? Where are you? Whoa, whoa, whoa, there, Julie.

This is a kid's show. Who do you think you are, Santee? It's just a flower. It's not a big deal. But clearly it is to Julie. She's losing her mind because of this flower, and the reason why comes down to a single throwaway line. If I can't make a flower bloom,

if I can't bring springtime around, what would I do? Will I have to leave? I'll have to go back. I just... Julie is currently in the neighborhood of home. So, when she asks if she'd have to leave, she must be referring to leaving home. And when she says, go back, it's probably the place she came from before she arrived in home.

All the neighbours have stories of how they arrived in the neighbourhood, except for Wally, that is. And Julie lived with her family, the Joyfuls. But if you go through all the different pieces of new material like I have, you quickly realize that going back is something that Julie does not want to do. On Wally's radio broadcasts, the Joyfuls are taking phone calls and Julie is on the other end of the line. All the Joyfuls ask Julie the same question. Julie, when are you going to finally join our band? Doesn't sound like a happy family if you ask me.

Something with the family isn't sitting right with Julie. And she doesn't really want to be with them anymore. This is likely what brought Julie to home in the first place. And that ties in really well with the whole cult thing that we've been suspecting since our very first theory. Colts typically operate by praying on those who are looking to escape. To get away from the issues they're facing in the real world, be it debt, lost loved ones, or family. issues. Cults use this to draw people in, promising them a better life. They also give everyone a unique role to put value on them, like say, being the one responsible for spring and making the flowers

grow. However, it's these exact same tactics that cults can use to stop people from ever leaving. Studies into cults have found that some of the leading reasons why people choose not to leave, even if they might want to, is that the cult leaders threaten them with their fears of the outside world. The same things they were promised they no longer have to deal with can be thrown right back at them to make sure that they stay. This fear is what drives members to keep working hard and follow the ways of the cult leader. If they fail to meet the needs of the cult, they will be thrown back into the world they ran away from where they will quote unquote suffer. This is what is happening with Julie. She does not want to go back to her family. She came to home to run away

and now that she can't fulfill her job and make the flowers bloom, she's afraid she'll be forced to go back to whatever bad situation awaits her there. Home is using this fear to control Julie, just like it did with Eddie and Poppy, bringing them to the point of pure fear in order that home can keep them in line. Perhaps this is the case for all of these neighbours. Each of them have come to the neighbourhood from somewhere. So what are they running away from?

In Eddie's episode, he was made to feel unwanted. Perhaps this is how he felt in the outside world as a mailman, constantly being attacked by dogs on people's lawns. Sally Starlight is constantly putting on shows and plays the leading role. Maybe where she came from, she was nothing more than a background extra. Maybe she was even booed off stage. Unwanted. One by one, we're seeing Home give each of the neighbours a reminder of the world they left behind. And what it will be like again if they leave.

And that fear is what will make them do whatever Home wants. What that is exactly isn't super clear right now, but I do think we have some reasons as to maybe why it's happening now. If we look back over the list of flower meanings to the secret videos, we can see that they are actually describing what we're about to see in that video. The last video uses words like instability and tears, which is exactly what we're seeing happen to Julie. Julie is becoming unstable and is crying. The one where Julie forgets how she met Frank and the flower isn't speaking to her is called regard, forgetfulness, and silence. When Julie can't make the flower bloom for Frank, even though she promised she could, the words

used are innocence, constancy and a spell. Constancy means being faithful and reliable, and Julie is not being reliable. She cannot be faithful to her word. But the very first video we watched, the one where we first meet the black flower, the words used are revenge, message and beware. As we've said, the black, along with the spiral visual, tells us that this flower is connected. to home. It is a message, a warning of what is to come. Revenge. In a previous theory, we talked about how Wally, who was under Holmes' control, would react when the neighbors

started bickering with one another. Home promised them the perfect life, saving them from their previous ones, but now they're ruining it. They are betraying home and not being the perfect neighbors. And so now it wants revenge on them. It's punishing them to keep them in line and acting perfect. But this idea that home is essentially threatening the neighbors into behaving, showing them what will happen if they don't, it actually gives us a little more insight into what was going on with Wally back at the very beginning of this episode.

During his massive monologue, we get sound bites like this. I can hear home. I want to hear you to talk. I know you are here. Talk. This is what we've come to expect from Wally. In previous updates, he's been talking directly to us or to W or to the question answerer. He's addressing us and trying to convince us to let him in.

Let him and therefore home take control. But then, midway through this monologue, this happens. You are you in the dark? Are we in trouble? Trouble. Trouble. But I have to continue. So that you, so that we, so that I can, I do not know what to call what we are doing, neighbor.

That right there is where Wally suddenly shifts. He drops the facade and admits he doesn't really know what he's doing, but that he is aware of it. We've talked in previous theories about how there seemed to be two Wollies, or at least two sides to Wally. One that is under Holmes control and another, that is sorry for the things that are happening to W and is looking for our help. But what I think we're seeing here is that it may not be quite that clear cut. And the reason I think that is because of the exact moment Wally changes tone. Are we in trouble?

Trouble. Trouble. But I have to continue. As soon as Wally mentions the possibility of being in trouble, he begins to sound worried. And that isn't just me in front. By the way, it's literally in the transcript. Just like Julie, he suddenly gets very nervous about being in trouble. This, therefore, may not be a possession type situation where Wally is directly controlled

by home, but instead, he too is being scared into fulfilling a role, just like Eddie, just like Poppy and just like Julie. That's why he's able to break character midway through. He's not suddenly free of the possession, he's just starting to question himself. And that's the key, because while all the other neighbours seem to be paralysed, by that fear. It appears Wally is actually trying to free himself from it. If you take a look at the neighborhood page and zoom in to reveal what's hiding behind home, we see something new. Before this update, home would disappear and you would find a black void with a spiral underneath. This led

us to the image where Wally is worshipping home. But now the void is gone. Blue and yellow colors are scribbled all over it and there's a red X covering the void. Those are Wollies, colors, the colors that he's used to fill in the guest book and draw all over the website. No one else uses those colors, which means it's Wally painting up the void, covering it up and saying, I'm done, showing us he's trying to break free of Holmes control. At the end of the monologue, he talks about speaking to us in code and telling us all about the flowers that led us to the secret videos. He's actively showing us what's going on, what Home is doing, much like we suspected Frank was doing during the bug update. Wally doesn't want to keep going along with Holmes' plan, and he wants to help us see it. Wally needs us to see the truth in order that we can help him and the others break free of home.

But if home is using fear to coerce the others into doing what it says, what is Wally afraid of? Every other neighbour came to home from somewhere, and I suspect with each update we will start to see what each of them was running away from. But Wally has always been here, at least as far as we can tell. So if home has a hold on Wally like it does everyone else, Wally must also be running from something, something that Home is able to use to manipulate him into being its good and fateful servant.

According to the WHRP, there are piles of boxes to go through, so it may not be too long before we find out what that something of Wollies is. But I guess we're just going to have to wait and see for the next update to find out. In the meantime theorists, remember, that's just a theory. A game theory! Thanks for watching.