✩ ‧₊˚ ⌞ PLANARCADIA THOUGHTS (4.0) ⌝

— what the stars reveal: aha!sampo, analysis, 4.0, planarcadia, divergent universe: arcadian chronicles, casual list turned multi-part behemoth, aha!sampo is everywhere for those with the eyes to see

— word count: 2k

— overview: (4.0) a compilation of aha!sampo (and sampo in general) clues / easter eggs in planarcadia. includes discussion of planarcadia’s divergent universe update as well.

To be clear, beyond a straightforward “Aha is Sampo and Sampo is Aha” interpretation, I also subscribe to past Aha!Sampo who was abandoned by his own “self”, as well as the idea that he’s Aha’s “reflection” or shadow. I am specifically partial to Sampo as Aha’s Body while Aha’s Mask holds the Aeonic authority via its light — essentially, Aha only “truly” emerges with the combination of Sampo the Body putting on the Mask. (Those ideas will also be present here.)

— Aha’s action bar skill is called “Unboxing Surprise,” similar to Sampo’s “Surprise Present” burst.

I’m torn:

— On one hand, the red goblet card with Aha’s signature mask (you can tell because of the spikes at the top where the light would be) could symbolize Sampo, a former or abandoned Aha, now occupying the position of a card (or Masked Fool), who is clearly not happy about his predicament. In this case, the blue card with the pi symbol in the second photo could also symbolize Sampo since it has those spikes. These two cards could be his dual sides as a former Aha, now reduced to cards and the vacant space for Aeonic authority at the top.

— On the other hand, Sampo is directly referred to as “Black Joker” and “Red Joker” by Sparkle in Hi3, which makes me think Sampo is 1) the black card shown in the Planarcadia trailer, and 2) the red joker present on-screen when Aha deals damage. This would place him in a more active role, since the red joker card is pretty much Aha in action.

— If Sampo is the blue and red cards here, it could additionally symbolize that Aha is also a Fool, or takes the guise of a Fool.

— Lots of reflection motifs, they come up everywhere. Specifically, when we are on our way to the Tavern, the “Ferryfae” says: “An old friend returns to fish out the moon’s reflection in the water.” The mention of “old friend” as we’re on our way to the Tavern sticks out to me, as does some of the mirrored Interplanar Jump gameplay, where there is literally a reflection of our character, shadowed and translucent, that we need to find to become “one” again.

— Notably, the Aha Laugh room has a darker, blue reflection on the other side. (It reminds me of “two sides of the same coin.”)

— I won’t include it all here, but the Miss Mary phone booth interaction that talks about Belobog and leaves us a note at the end is definitely Sampo-related. Notably, one of the calls before the note talks about Miss Mary being “abandoned” in the trashcan, stating, “you grew up, and heartlessly left me in the closet” and “[you tossed] me into the trashcan like some worthless rag.” This could be indicative of a previously-abandoned Aha!Sampo, but Miss Mary’s general thing is “abandoned doll” so it may not be specific to him.

— At the very least, the Belobog part mentions “taking it slow and smelling the roses” and moving at one’s own pace, which comes as more of a solid connection to Sampo given the presence of Belobog. However, he does sign his letter the “King of Trashcans,” and since Miss Mary did specifically mention trashcans by name, perhaps those earlier parts could still apply.

— Either way, interesting stuff!

— This could be a translation error, but when Zhongshan talks about meeting Aha in person, she says “he.”

— She also, generally, brings up the idea of Aha being among the Fools.

— Aha’s ban sign right next to the glowing blue door that sounds like Sampo’s laugh when you hit it. Either this could be insight into how Sampo feels about Aha personally — notice that only the mask is banned; the silhouette/body is not on the sign — or a very ironic twist of fate (being banned from his own Tavern). I actually really like the idea of Body Sampo getting pissed at Mask Aha and putting Them in the figurative time-out corner.

— The reason for Aha being banned could align with Sampo being abandoned by Them as well.

— Or, the abandonment coincided with Aha!Sampo “losing” his Mask, making it pretty much impossible for Aha to respond.

— Another option is that Sampo (the door) is melancholic because Aha was banned — he has no choice but to realize his own followers have cast him out (“betrayed” him). Himeko even says that the action is meaningless but the message is loud and clear. What matters in this case is the message the Fools sent: That they don’t want Aha, that they are the students expelling the teacher from a classroom. Of course Aha doesn’t have to comply, but it’s a hit to the ego regardless.

— As for masks, we now have confirmation that Sampo directly “lost” his mask — this could be for any number of reasons: perhaps the Mask of Aha abandoned its Body (Sampo), perhaps it has something to do with Asat Pramad, or perhaps Sampo simply got too drunk one night, left his Mask on the table, and someone accidentally spirited it away. Who knows?

— Also: “losing one’s mask” could be similar to “losing one’s head,” which is what Aha says to “Akivili” (The Trailblazer) in the Simulated Universe. Now I’m thinking about Body Aha!Sampo without his “head” (Mask).

— The Barrel! It’s like meeting a celebrity!

The text for the barrel / Sparkle doll reads:

“Lifting the flimsy lid reveals a Sparkle Doll with a painted face, sitting upright in the center of the empty barrel. In front of it is a note with a smiley face drawn on it: “My sincerest thanks to Miss Sparkle for ‘keeping’ my mask. I shall one day return the favor… in full.”

— The note Sampo leaves Sparkle makes mention of Sparkle “keeping” Sampo’s mask, in quotations. I’m not exactly sure that that might mean, other than if Aha (the Mask) was held hostage in some way by Sparkle until Sampo was ready to use it. No idea how the logistics of that would work, though.

— He also mentions returning the favor “in full,” which is so juicy and cryptic! I’d love to see the Sampo ➜ Aha switch happen via Mask, and then Sparkle getting whatever benefits they decided on beforehand.

— There is also the possibility that Sparkle somehow stole his mask, found it, or tricked him out of it, and the whole note is a passive-aggressive dig at her (“keeping” “… in full” etc.). (Although I think this clashes with the Penacony conversation a bit, where the vibe, to me, seemed that she was doing him a favor.)

— Also, he drew a smiley face on the note. :)

— Sampo, as an operator, not intervening directly in the Cosmicon Collective because others would just assume he used tricks rather than skill. This could be similar reasoning for why Aha doesn’t interfere in certain situations.

— At the top of the mafia building (the inverse of where the Tavern is), there is the specific text: “The city lights twinkle in the distance, mirroring the stars above. And you stand alone in this massive, luxurious office. It feels a little lonely at the top.” The phrase “It feels a little lonely at the top.” especially gets to me, in light of the “Great Climber” I will discuss later. Reaching the pinnacle of existence, becoming untouchable, only to wish to come back down.

— Also, note mirroring as a theme once again.

— Notably, as far as Sparkle is concerned, it is now canon that Aha did have a First Laugh. I take this to mean the Masked Fools’ fable is not far off, and if later clues are anything to go by, I think Aha climbing the Imaginary Tree actually happened. I’d also like to think this is because Sampo started the rumor or fable based on his own experiences!

— The Blisstar that houses Aha’s Primordial Laughter is a split mask of red and blue, Sampo’s signature color motifs. Also, he seems to be able to appear and disappear from the room at will. Also, if he is in fact high-up in the Tavern, then he literally just has part of Aha’s first laugh on hand. Casually.

— The Portrait of Elation in the Tavern’s collection room is simply a dark blue mirror that reads: Know Thyself.

Divergent Universe

— In Arcadian Chronicle: Moonlit Tales, the story “Do Aeons Weep for THEMSELVES?” seems like it might have something to do with Sampo, but it’s filtered through so many layers that I can’t quite make sense of it. Presumably a Sparkle stand-in talks about the mask Hanami, and how it hops from host to host getting bored of each wearer, discarding others along the way. The story of being confronted by a Hanami Killer, which doesn’t believe “Sparkle” has already been discarded, then having to run and hide, questioning her sense of self, feels somewhat Sampo-aligned to me. Potentially a previously-abandoned Aha!Sampo running into trouble with Asat Pramad or other enemies.

— Especially the “Hey, Boss! You’re jumping the gun.” line, since that’s usually a term only Sampo uses out of the two.

— But who knows, honestly it’s a little confusing to me.

— The questions to “Ego” are also very existential, like “Who am I?” which can track with Sparkle, but also, potentially, a Sampo who finds it hard to conceptualize himself outside of Aha.

— Also, aside from Aha, I also think Sampo could be “Dealer” from Divergent Universe. (Sampo quite literally functions as an information broker and “dealer” in his daily life.) However, it is important to note that “Dealer” is in quotations, and I take that to mean “Dealer” might just be Aha doing more shenanigans in a different way.

— The Infinite Improbability Elation Boundary Equation also screams Sampo to me. It reminds me of the “infinite” pi blue card mentioned earlier, as well as the “improbability” of all his little mysteries like not leaving footprints and appearing and disappearing at will.

— Very suspicious that the Equation grants Aha an “extra turn” with a fixed amount of points, rather than any other buff. Basically, it makes Aha act again, directly.

— Another point of note is that, when Infinite Improbability shows up on the Equation sidebar, the picture specifically focuses on what looks to be Masks surrounding the blue pi card. I feel like this could be a hint towards Sampo being the silhouette or “true self” under the Mask(s), otherwise surrounded (and even shielded protectively) by the Masks of Aeonic authority.

— “Two” Masks, with the “two” in quotations, also brings back the running themes of duality in Sampo’s character, as well as the more recent general theme of split personalities in Planarcadia. I’ve posited for a while that Aha may be literally dual-sided in consciousness, with “joy” and “sorrow” representing two sides of the same coin, and we can see that here in one side of the mask being dark and frowning, while the other is light and shining.

— “Two” being in quotations is especially interesting, because it implies that the number is not entirely true. To me, I read it as the mask really only being one, but coming across as “two.” This could be similar to an Aha!Sampo with a sort of split personality — to most, this would seem like two personalities, two sets of eyes, two bodies, but the reality is they’re one and the same.

— This is a little random, but going forward, I’m also going to keep in mind that Sampo might be initially introduced as a “guy who just knows Aha really well,” even if he is Aha. Similar to “Spirithief” Bartholos and Zagreus, I’ll keep my eyes peeled, because “I just know Them” might not be the whole story. There may be some truth Sampo is literally unable to say, for risk of exposing himself, his plans, or a greater endgame. (The “Spirithief,” too, pretended to just be really close with Zagreus so no one would find out the truth that they were one and the same.)

thanks for reading to the end !! :3

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