Bill Cipher: His Past Revealed

Bill documenting and publishing his findings

So just what happened to Bill after? Take a look at this quote from A square, who reminder; did the exact same things as Bill.

"I devoted several months in privacy to the composition of a treatise on the mysteries of Three Dimensions. Only, with the view of evading the Law, if possible, I spoke not of a physical Dimension, but of a Thoughtland whence, in theory, a Figure could look down upon Flatland and see simultaneously the insides of all things, and where there might be supposed to exist a Figure environed, as it were, with six Squares, and containing eight terminal Points. But in writing this book I found myself sadly hampered by the impossibility of drawing such diagrams as were necessary for my purpose; for of course, in our country of Flatland, there are no tablets but Lines, and no diagrams but Lines, all in one straight line and only distinguishable by the difference of size and brightness; so that, when I had finished my treatise (which I entitled, "Through Flatland to Thoughtland") I could not feel certain that many would understand my meaning."

A Square/Bill started researching and writing down in a book his findings over a long period. Though there was one missing piece to truly complete and solidify it all. Something he couldn't explain fully to those around him and even to himself.

Hmm.. why does this sound so familiar? As if almost.. we've seen it before? It's because we have. This is almost an exact parallel to Ford and his time in Gravity falls with his journals.

Think about it, documenting everything that was unlike their world in a book(s). Both struggled to truly explain their claims. Bill's not knowing how to draw and describe what he's seen, and Ford not knowing how and why Gravity Falls attract so much weirdness. This is something I believe to be intentional. There's no way this can just be a coincidence. The two parallel one another in the story and this just works TOO well to be an accident.

Like Ford, his journey also doesn't end well.

"My life was under a cloud. All pleasures palled upon me; all sights tantalized and tempted me to outspoken treason, because I could not but compare what I saw in Two Dimensions with what it really was if seen in Three, and could hardly refrain from making my comparisons aloud. I neglected my clients and my own business to give myself to the contemplation of the mysteries which I had once beheld, yet which I could impart to no one, and found daily more difficult to reproduce even before my own mental vision."

After visiting the 3rd dimension, nothing was ever the same. Once they had a taste of what was greater than them, they couldn't just go back to Flatland and live normally. The more he spent in the 3rd dimension, the more life in the 2nd would feel blander and blander. Life became harder to live. This is what is known as Psychosis. In general, Psychosis is a condition that causes you to lose touch with reality. Normally it's tied with hallucinations and delusions, but the kind Bill has at this point is one of the more extreme versions. I could go deeper into this subject, but I think you all get the idea I'm trying to convey. Wanna know who also started losing it when they were righting their own book? Ford.

Eventually, A Square/Bill finished their book on the third dimension. This next quote is a bit wordy, so I apologize for that. I'll sum it up after.

"At last, to complete a series of minor indiscretions, at a meeting of our Local Speculative Society held at the palace of the Prefect himself, - some extremely silly person having read an elaborate paper exhibiting the precise reasons why Providence has limited the number of Dimensions to Two, and why the attribute of omnipotence is assigned to the Supreme alone - I so far forgot myself as to give an exact account of the whole of my voyage with the Sphere into Space, and to the Assembly Hall in our Metropolis, and then to Space again, and of my return home, and of everything that I had seen and heard in fact or vision. At first, indeed, I pretended that I was describing the imaginary experiences of a fictitious person; but my enthusiasm soon forced me to throw off all disguise, and finally, in a fervent peroration, I exhorted all my hearers to divest themselves of prejudice and to become believers in the Third Dimension."

A Square/Bill had finished the book. At first, they presented to the public as theories and ideas. Something that wouldn't completely get him in trouble. He didn't really explain the fact he traveled to space with Sphere, as that would automatically make them look like a lunatic and put them in danger. However, eventually, they got too excited and went full out, explaining everything he knew. And as you can probably already guess, things didn't turn out so great for A Square/Bill.

Lets review:

- Bill is from the 2nd dimension, a world filled with different kinds of shapes and lines known as Flatland.
- Bill as an equilateral triangle is part of one of the lowest classes in society and is thus mistreated. Flatland has a social hierarchy that has triangles at the bottom, squares next, then pentagons, etc. Circles are at the top of society. At the very bottom (not considered part of society) are irregular triangles and irregular shapes, and the women who are straight lines.
- Unlike equal-sided shapes (every child has one more side than his father), Irregular triangles over many generations of careful breeding can have equilateral triangle sons.
- Bill Cipher, an equilateral triangle, comes from a line of ancestors (the isosceles) who have been oppressed all their lives for generations. Those same ancestors main purpose in society is to eventually give birth to Bill.
- Because of laws in Flatland, Bill would have been forcefully taken away from his birth parents and then adopted by a new family. He'd be forbidden to ever know or meet his birth parents.
- It's likely when growing up, Bill's ego, personality, mental health, and ideology were affected by living in Flatland.
- Bill would have gone to school and then would have started to learn about the hard truth of flatland.
- Bill Cipher's voice is echoey and loud because of Flatland. This is how Flatlanders can discriminate against triangles without being able to see shapes.
- In the gravity falls story, Bill Cipher takes the place of A Square from the book Flatland. Anything that happened to A Square, happened to Bill. The next parts of this review will be explaining what happened.
- A stranger appears before Bill. He is a Sphere (named Sphere) from the 3rd dimension. He explains to Bill that there is a third dimension but Bill does not believe him
- As a way to convince Bill, Sphere takes him into the Mindscape for the first time to see three dimensions.
- The theory of Bill being from Flatland and all the other things mentioned are proven by cannon, never before seen evidence in Journal
- Sphere came to Flatland to attempt to convince the government of flatland there is a dimension.
- The pupil was Bill. Sphere taught Bill all about the third dimension and magic. Eventually, Bill became bored with the information he was given. He wanted to know more. Bill believed there were more dimensions to learn about but Sphere denied this. The two fought and Bill decided he'd discover the fourth dimension by himself without sphere. He left the guidance of Sphere after.
- Determined to document what he's seen, Bill starts writing a book about everything he saw in the third dimension but continued to reach roadblocks and becomes mentally unstable. Just like Ford Pines.