breaking off the classpect talk for a moment; can you please explain what exactly happened with LE in intermission 2? i still dont really understand it.

Back during Act 5, Sollux shows us this.

“ You did not write this virus. You copied it from an obscure server, far beyond your planet’s global network. This application is running on that server perpetually.

It is an extremely simple ~ATH program. Its main loop is tied to the lifespan of the universe. When the universe dies, a mysterious subprogram will be executed. You have no way of knowing what that subprogram does. It runs on a protected part of the server. It is completely unhackable.

You delete the file, but it won’t do much good. The program is already running elsewhere. Luckily, whatever harm it will do will not be done for many billions of years. And even then, what harm could a virus do after the expiration of the universe? This file always struck you as quite odd. “

By this point, people knew Spades Slick was Karkat’s Exile from the first Intermission, and that the Felt are all Billiards-coded, so this was an obvious nod to something regarding them. And specifically, to Lord English, given the Flashing Billiards are the O of his name.

Then we meet Doc Scratch.

The Cue Ball to the rest of the Felt’s Billiards. He tells us some more information about English and about the Code Sequence above, specifically…

This tells us that the code is basically representative of how Lord English gets into the Universe. We’re also told several times through Act 5 about how he is Already Here and that he cannot be stopped- He will arrive one way or another.

We also learn that Doc Scratch has done this before- He’s been born through the Multiverse, and in every single Universe he has been in, he’s managed to die and bring his Master forth into it.

We also learn an interesting detail from Aradiabot in the Bubbles. While on Pre and Post Scratch Earth we had a single person holding the Genetic Code that creates the First Guardian- MEOW for Rose, BARK for Jake, on Alternia this is a little bit different. The code is split through the four Players of FLARP. t1ck t0ck, 8r8k H34DS… But then we’re told that there’s one extra sequence to this First Guardian code. honk HONK. Something that comes from a Gamzee of a Doomed Timeline, after going through a rampage and killing everything, writing the sequence in a ~ATH book. This code is what makes Doc Scratch- Combining the First Guardian code, along with a Cue Ball- Which Scratch calls his ‘Seed’, and with Lil Cal- The vessel of Lord English’ Soul.

The result is Scratch being, fundamentally, no different than the Host Plushes Tavros plays Fiduspawn with. And in fact? He even tells us outright- He is an excellent Host.

As such, in retrospect, we know that Doc Scratch’s presence in the Universe basically means he’s corrupted the First Guardian creation to insert himself in the Universe, and now Lord English is going to be born through him eventually. Lord English is fully immortal- As Caliborn, he destroyed his own God Tier Clock and absorbed the Rainbow Majyyks, becoming 100% immortal. So when all is said and done, when the entire Universe has collapsed, when Doc Scratch, who contains Lord English’ Soul, perishes? The God Tier clock starts to swing. But there’s no Just or Heroic Death for English. There’s just resurrection.

As his code tells us, his coming begins with the Death of the Universe, represented through those billiard balls activating in the ‘server’ in the Furthest Ring.

And so the Clock Ticks.

It t1cks. And it t0cks. t1ck. t0ck.

And so Scratch’s Fate as a ‘Host’ truly becomes evident. Lord English starts to be reborn, through his body, through him as a ‘Vessel’ of his Soul.

Almost like with Calliope and Caliborn, when Scratch goes to ‘sleep’, English wakes up. Once the Host dies, what was inside blossoms forth, and through him. And since Scratch has been leading the Felt, they have the Cairo Overcoat and his Peg Leg ready for him to warp with the First Guardian powers he now gets from being born out of Scratch.

And then we have the next part of his transformation. The moment he is fully reborn and spawns as Lord English. When the last bit of Doc Scratch shatters to reveal his appearance. When his Cue Ball shatters. When his Head breaks. Break. Heads. 8r8k. H34DS.

This is not just for the code, either. Doc Scratch calls the Cue Ball his ‘Seed’, from where he’s born. But there’s something else the Cue Ball is called in Homestuck.

“The bird struggles out of the egg, the egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird then flies to God. That God is Abraxas.“ To be Born you must Destroy a World. To be Born you need to Break through the Egg. This concept of the Egg is seen in various religions and cultures, but this tie to Gnosticism ties well with the fact Lord English is the Yaldabaoth of the story- The one entity that claimed its grip over reality as a supreme ruler, who causes death, pain and suffering to everyone within, who the Protagonists must escape from. This theme of the Egg Breaking, of the Cue Ball, of English’ only weakness, a cycle of Creation and Destruction, appears several times through the story. But while the Cue Ball appears mostly in opposition to Lord English, as the Hope Bubble, as the actual Cue Ball, as the first form the Treasure takes when it pops out of the Juju Chest, this time it’s featured with Lord English tearing through it to be Born, to come into being, in both the Alternian Universe, and, for the first time, into the Story itself.

Here is where we see English, fully, for the first time…

A moment to make us realize the similarities between him and Lil Cal, a first glimpse at the skull-like head of the Cherubs, before Cherubs are revealed as a species themselves.

And just like that, the Cairo Overcoat doubles as English’ Time Travelling device, his Sarcophagus (Which ties him to some Egyptian Themes as well)…

And he warps back to Alternia’s Universe, where as we know, he has already been. He was already there. Always. We can see this in the closing shots of the Flash, when the Billiards envelop Alternia, showing us that he’s always had a deep grip in how Troll Society works, through his Servants being there, through Him controlling everything.

But, much like the Code, we are not done yet. We had the t1ck, and the t0ck. We had the 8r8k, and the H34DS. Of course, the only thing we have left…

… Is the Vast Honk Gamzee’s Religion speaks about. honk. HONK.

Lord English is Born, into the Universe, into the Story. And his Coming marks a turning point in the narrative of Homestuck, and the entire flow of the story, much like his influence changed the way Alternian Society should have gone.