2025-06-17 2:09:40 ¶ ●

I want to learn more about Danny Stoker because multiple things we learn about him sets off my “something might be weird here” alarm.

The first thing that stand’s out to me is Nikola stating that she is only Grimaldi for special occasion’s, like when she killed Danny.

So that leaves the question: Why was Danny special enough to be Grimaldi for? While that’s not answered in the series, personally I think there are some implications that Danny might have been more involved with fears than Tim was aware of. My “proof” of this idea is that’s a lot of weird circumstantial evidence that just seems…off. For example:

A: Tim says that Danny was the face of a gym for a few month’s. The only other time a gym is mentioned in the series is when a women gives her statement about a gym run by Jared Hopworth.

B: There’s a weird amount of parallel’s between Tim and Danny’s story, and the story of the Mother who watched her son be eaten by the sky. For example: In both episode’s, Tim/The Mother says that their relative would go a long time without talking to them directly, but that they would always keep them up to date on their latest obsessions. In that same episode there’s also the parallel of Tim/The Mother having their relative randomly show up at their doorstep after having a traumatic experience.

C: One of Danny’s interests were sailing. Which, isn’t weird on it’s own, but this is TMA we’re talking about. Sailing could easily corelate with The Vast. What makes this idea even more interesting is that, like I said above, Tim’s statement about Danny parallel’s a statement about a son being eaten by the sky.

D: Danny had an interest in ghost buildings and said they were “crumbling pieces of history desperately clinging onto existence.“ That…seems like a concept that could possibly be linked to The Extinction. Tim points out that The Covent Garden Theatre had been destroyed by a fire twice. That could be linked to The Desolation. Danny going UNDER the theater could also be linked to The Buried.

E: Tim says that Danny said the name "Joey” when he showed up in his living room. Joey is one of the few names we don’t see in the series, but Joey could easily be a nickname for “Joseph.” Like, for example…Joseph Grimaldi. I think it’s interesting that Danny might have mentioned Joseph by first name considering he’s mentioned by last name for most of the series.

F: There’s also the fact that Danny even wanted to check out a building made by Smirke in the first place. While it could be a coincidence, it is something to think about considering everything else I’ve mentioned. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but maybe he had an interest in his work for a reason.

G: Danny’s skin being pulled off is described as “It was like an impressionist painting of a dancer, all colors and shapes that made you feel movement you couldn’t see. Silently, imperceptibly, moving from one position to another. The music had stopped and the dance was silent.” It doesn’t seem right that Danny’s death is compared to a dance considering we know a dance is linked to The Stranger’s ritual. There’s also the fact that Tim doesn’t remember anything after that other than walking out of the theater, he’s disoriented in the same way we saw that The Stranger’s ritual makes someone disoriented.

Now, admittedly, I know all my proof for this idea is circumstantial. But I would like to raise this point: Is anything in this series really a coincidence? Because in my opinion it seems like TMA is full of thread’s that all seem to lead somewhere one way or the other, and that’s why I think the idea of Danny being entangled with fears can’t be ruled out. Plus, I just find the idea interesting because it adds a lot to Tim’s story as whole. There’s a certain tragedy in him spending so much of his life trying to avenge a brother he might not have even known.