Abigail's Demise: A DST Lore Analysis

[Rinkusan]

Obviously, there is quite a lot of lore to unpack from the recent Wendy short. I'm still doing research to figure out what happened afterwards, but I think I've nailed down Abigail's death and what happened prior to what we see in the short. As with my previous threads, I'll present the pieces of the puzzle and then put them together at the end; feel free to skip whichever sections don't interest you, but keep in mind that some of the points I bring up at the end might make no sense without that context. 

For anyone who hasn't watched the Wendy short yet, please take a few minutes to watch the whole thing. Aside from just being an emotional rollercoaster of an animation, it has a couple of details that are important for this theory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ozRwX35fHE


The William Carter Puzzles

So as with most lore puzzles, you have to make sure the old matches the new. So I decided to go back to the old William Carter puzzles from 2013, the same puzzles that established a connection between Wendy and Maxwell. 

So, just really briefly for those who aren't caught up in the lore, in the 3rd puzzle, you can see a post card from Jack Carter referencing his mother who "hasn't met the twins yet". Many have already pointed out that this is in reference to Wendy and Abigail, and both this puzzle and the short show that Jack Carter is Wendy and Abigail's caretaker and possibly father. 

However, what the 3rd puzzle also tells us is that Jack dislikes the urban setting: "the city was too much for me, so I've gone west - It really is amazing out here - maybe you could visit sometime?" This sentiment is consistent with the setting we see in the Wendy short; an isolated abode on top of a cliff. 

In the 4th puzzle, however, we see a reply from William (Maxwell's real name for those who aren't aware) after the mysterious train crash that started William's descent into madness. The thing to note here is the address on the right of the letter: Jack Carter, 33, 4th St, Corona, CA 91720. What this tells us is that Jack Carter and his family lived in the city of Corona, CA within the Riverside County at the time of the incident. Keep this address in mind because it is the single most important piece of evidence in this theory.

 

The Wendy Short

For those who didn't notice, during the scene where Abigail trips and falls over the cliff (safely into a bush), you can hear the sound of a car tire screeching as Abigail falls in slow motion.

Another thing to note is the setting itself. As I previously pointed out, it's in an isolated rural setting which is consistent with Jack Carter's disdain for the urban setting from the 3rd puzzle. However, what's also worth pointing out is the background. The house is situated on a cliff overseeing a large body of water with a likewise large island in the distance.






With the addition of the Wendy short came a Klei announcement where a snapshot of Wendy's belongings (not unlike the William Carter puzzles) was shared. While there are a ton of noteworthy things in this picture, the main one I want to focus on is the date presented in Wendy's diary: April 16th, 1914.

 

Real-World Research and Analysis

So with all of the game info on the table, I started off by looking at the address; not just the city, but the actual address. For those who aren't aware, the ZIP code is basically a mailing address for your local post office, but the code is also tied to the delivery routes from the post office. Because those routes can move around, the ZIP code can change as well. I bring this up because the address in the 3rd puzzle technically does not exist with the given ZIP code. HOWEVER, it does exist with a different ZIP code. I feel like whoever made the William Carter puzzles was absolutely aware of this because within the same postcard in the 3rd William Carter puzzle, Jack says, "The post is dreadfully inconsistent out here". 

Anyways, the picture below shows the location of Corona, California. It's a city located in Southern California, southeast of Los Angeles. 

 

Here is the city of Corona itself.

Finally, here is the actual present-day location of Jack Carter's residence at the time of the train incident in the 4th puzzle.

I will come back to this in just a bit. For now, let me provide a brief summary of the relevant parts of Corona's history. This is why I said earlier that the only thing from the Wendy snapshot that I wanted to focus on was the date: April 16th, 1914. While the specific date seems irrelevant, the TIME FRAME that the date fits within seems interesting. 

Corona was actually called South Riverside before 1896; it was renamed Corona after the Grand Boulevard was built. The Grand Boulevard is a beltway (i.e. a road or series of roads that go in a circle) well-known for being almost perfectly circular. The Grand Boulevard is the EXACT SAME circular road that you see on the map right above this paragraph. At some point after this road was built, the city wanted the whole world to know who they were, so they hosted international car races using the Grand Boulevard. They ended up hosting 3 races, with one on September 9th, 1913; another on November 26th, 1914; and the last one on April 8th, 1916. While extremely popular, these races were a nuisance to many nearby residents who disliked the fans who left trash on their yard, not to mention the car noises. A vague, minor accident supposedly occurred during the 1st race, but a major accident occurred during the 3rd race that took the life of one of the drivers, his mechanic, and a security guard while injuring 5 spectators, resulting in the termination of all future Corona Road Races.  

As you can see, April 16th, 1914 fits within the races' time frame, specifically after the 1st race and before the 2nd. Clearly, these road races are involved in Abigail's death, and if you put all of this information in context, it explains why Klei decided to choose something as "random" as a car sound effect during a serious supposedly-life-threatening moment in the animated short. 

All of this also explains why Jack and Wendy are living on a cliff in the middle of nowhere; they are no longer in Corona, and both of them have every reason to not be in Corona. You can see from the map above that there is absolutely no large body of water within the vicinity, so we know for sure that wherever Jack and Wendy are in the animated short, it isn't 33 4th St. This brings me back to one of the first pieces of info that I brought up in this thread, which was the setting. It's clear that the house is situated on a cliff, but judging by the flora in the area and the large islands that are unusually close to the coast, I think it's very likely that the body of water in the animated short is a lake. I used the satellite option on Google maps to look at some of the lakes in and near Corona based on the criteria that there has to be islands in the lake AND that the lake has to be large enough for you to see the horizon. The best candidate I could find was Lake Mathews.

So to reiterate:
1) Abigail's death is tied to the Corona road race of 1913. I suspect it's an indirect cause, however, since the real-life deaths and major injuries took place in the 3rd race, not the 1st
2) The timing of Wendy's diary entry makes sense if this is true, being only 7 months after the road race
3) This theory is consistent with what little we know about Jack Carter's personal views
4) This theory explains the random car sound effect in the animated short AND the relevance of the date in Wendy's diary
5) Jack Carter's Corona, CA address being located within the Grand Boulevard circle of all places isn't much of a coincidence anymore




So, with all of the information and analysis out of the way, this is my interpretation of Abigail's tragedy based on the info I covered in this thread. Jack Carter, a man who enjoys the simple quiet life out in the countryside, decided to move West and eventually settle down in Corona, California with his twin daughters to get away from the bustling noisy city of New York. Unfortunately, he chose one of the worst possible countryside spots to live in, not knowing that the automobile craze would be exceptionally popular within the Grand Boulevard beltway; the same beltway that he's smack-dab in the middle of. 7 years pass after the 1906 San Francisco "Earthquake" that took William and Charlie from our world. Jack is getting a bit annoyed with all the car noises going on in the neighborhood and all the car fanatics leaving trash on his yard; it kind of reminds him of the urban hell hole of New York. One of his daughters, Abigail, on the other hand, feels the complete opposite. Some time within the period of the big Corona road race spectacle, Abigail, being the happy-go-lucky, carefree child she is, decided to play with Wendy on the Grand Boulevard belt line much like how she played around with the edge of the cliff. Unlike that cliff, however, there was nothing to protect her from a rush of automobile fans in their death machines coming from outside the city. Seeing what the city has done to his family, Jack decided to leave Corona behind and settle for a lake house. 

Also, sorry for the bad title; the joke was probably too soon, but hopefully all of you are doing okay. Wash your hands with soap, especially under the nails.

It's 9 in the morning, and I don't have the processing power right now to come up with a better title nor the will to prolong this since the last time I prolonged a large thread, all the pictures got corrupted.

Anyways, that's all I got. Let me know if there's any information that I missed or any information already covered that could viably be interpreted in another way.

Sources:
https://dontstarve.fandom.com/wiki/William_Carter_Puzzles#The_Postcard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona,_California#History
https://www.google.com/maps/place/33+W+4th+St,+Corona,+CA+92879/@33.8762308,-117.5657539,17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x80dcc813dbde5b47:0xc7ad07d0ee3252c5!8m2!3d33.8776204!4d-117.5674276
http://www.coronaheritage.org/roadraces.html
https://www.coronaca.gov/government/departments-divisions/library-recreation-services/library/heritage-room/history-of-corona
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Boulevard_(Corona)
https://forums.kleientertainment.com/forums/topic/116540-wendys-character-refresh-is-now-available/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZIP_Code#Scope_and_international_mail

 

[DeusNUST]

Clicked because of title but get alot of information. GJ!

[Captain_Rage]

Wow. Reading your investigation made me feel.... lucid. This is greatly interesting. Thank you for looking into and sharing these details. And thanks for the reminder to stay alert next time updates are posted. Eyes peeled.

[Axelocke]

I thought the "tire screeching" noise was just Abigail's voice, with Wendy being voiced by a flute and all. 

 

Great investigation though!

[fimmatek]

Wow. This is an amazing theory, it makes a lot of sense. Huge thanks for the effort you put into it! 

Side note: the title does sound clickbaiting, which made me just fly through the post until I read the first few comments. Maybe you could change it some time?

[minespatch]

Spoiler

I sent my father the thread and he was aware of the 1908 race but this thread illuminated him to some details. He's a big fan of the film "The great race", so yeah.

[OMGkawaiiAngel]

Uhhh DUDE, the virus is happening now, in 2020, Abigail died sometime during the early 1900s! 

[minespatch]

Just now, Charlie Dark said:

Uhhh DUDE, the virus is happening now, in 2020, Abigail died sometime during the early 1900s! 

Corona is a name of a California city. Look at my spoiler.

[OMGkawaiiAngel]

Just now, minespatch said:

Corona is a name of a California city. Look at my spoiler.

oh right!, it's also a name of some beverage isn't it? I remember I found it at a store... the last time I went out... 

[minespatch]

1 minute ago, Charlie Dark said:

 it's also a name of some beverage isn't it?

Yes, to the point youtubers had to say "beer" instead so they wont get demonitized.

[mathem99]

Incredibly meticulous work, Rinkusan! I'm certain now this is how Abigail died.

Thank-you for your detailed presentation and all of the hard work and research you put into it.

[me real life]

2 hours ago, Axelocke said:

I thought the "tire screeching" noise was just Abigail's voice, with Wendy being voiced by a flute and all. 

Yeah, it sounds like one of Wendy's hurt sounds slowed down, and it plays whenever Abigail opens her mouth and screams. As much as I appreciate the effort, I just can't really get into this theory whenever it relies on a misinterpretation of a noise one of the characters make. It's like if there was a theory based entirely around that one Malbatross scream in the Salty Dog trailer actually being Wes, y'know?

[Rinkusan]

3 hours ago, fimmatek said:

Wow. This is an amazing theory, it makes a lot of sense. Huge thanks for the effort you put into it! 

Side note: the title does sound clickbaiting, which made me just fly through the post until I read the first few comments. Maybe you could change it some time?

I absolutely will change the title. As I mentioned in the last few paragraphs, I pulled an all-nighter making this thread. My semi-insomnia's gradually gotten worse since I came home from being kicked out of the house I was living in on-campus thanks to the whole shelter-in-place lockdown happening in San Francisco. The title wasn't intended to be clickbait; it was the result of a sleep-deprived madman who really wanted to make a coronavirus joke/pun off of the name of the city. I was consciously aware that it was a bad joke, but I was too tired to come up with a better one at the time.  

1 hour ago, Sunset Skye said:

Yeah, it sounds like one of Wendy's hurt sounds slowed down, and it plays whenever Abigail opens her mouth and screams. As much as I appreciate the effort, I just can't really get into this theory whenever it relies on a misinterpretation of a noise one of the characters make. It's like if there was a theory based entirely around that one Malbatross scream in the Salty Dog trailer actually being Wes, y'know?

I went back to the animated short and played the clip again at 2x speed. To be frank, it still sounds very much like a car tire screech, but maybe 2x speed isn't enough to accurately determine what the sound is? If there's a way to listen to the sound at a higher speed, I'd love it if someone could tell me how, or share the clip at 3x or 4x speed for me to listen to.

All of that being said, while the sound effect is a piece of evidence, this theory is in no way "based entirely around" that screeching noise. It's actually mostly based around the 4th William Carter puzzle and the date in Wendy's diary. Everything else like the screech, the lake, and the 3rd puzzle is supporting evidence I was using to make a "oh hey, this theory is consistent with this detail" point. The screeching noise could be The Screecher from the official DS mod, and everything else I mentioned would still hold, granted it would be a much weaker argument.

[YesterdaysMindr]

I always felt like this shot provides the simplest answer:

Spoiler

(lighting artifacts are due to me trying to stitch two shots together)

 

[user1464576869]

5 hours ago, Sunset Skye said:

It's like if there was a theory based entirely around that one Malbatross scream in the Salty Dog trailer actually being Wes, y'know?

I want to
believe

[maciu67]

18 hours ago, Rinkusan said:

I think Abigail fell from cliff and drowned. Flower bush and everything after was only in Wendy's imagination.

[Rinkusan]

5 hours ago, maciu67 said:

I think Abigail fell from cliff and drowned. Flower bush and everything after was only in Wendy's imagination.

If Wendy's imagination only took hold after the flower bush scene, Jack would be a really bad caretaker for not wondering where Abigail is and locking her outside. 

@Sunset Skye I went back to the short to investigate a bit more. While what you're saying is still possible, I'm even more confident now that whatever that screeching noise is, it is not Abigail's scream because the entire short had no other instances of character voices even though they are visually making noise from their mouths. Basically, I think Klei intended for this short to be a silent film of sorts, and if that was Abigail's scream, it isn't consistent with the rest of the short. Here are some notable instances that had no "voice audio".

[maciu67]

40 minutes ago, Rinkusan said:

If Wendy's imagination only took hold after the flower bush scene, Jack would be a really bad caretaker for not wondering where Abigail is and locking her outside.

Scenes before flower bush is a day of Abigail's death. After flower bush we have scenes some days/weeks/months after tragedy when Wendy is in mourning. (But The flower bush scene in only in Wendy's imagination.)

And I also think that house is not placed at sea because Abigail's flower looks like chrizantemum and these flowers can't grow at sea.

[Pab10Suarez]

Omg this is an amazing theory great job, i didn't notice that sound

[Rinkusan]

1 hour ago, maciu67 said:

Scenes before flower bush is a day of Abigail's death. After flower bush we have scenes some days/weeks/months after tragedy when Wendy is in mourning. (But The flower bush scene in only in Wendy's imagination.)

And I also think that house is not placed at sea because Abigail's flower looks like chrizantemum and these flowers can't grow at sea.

While technically possible, do you have any evidence to suggest that only the flower scene is in her imagination while everything else, including the scenes prior, are real?

I covered your second point in the original post in the real-world analysis section. 

[maciu67]

52 minutes ago, Rinkusan said:

While technically possible, do you have any evidence to suggest that only the flower scene is in her imagination while everything else, including the scenes prior, are real?

Look at flower "on the wind" at the beginning of animation. When flower was close to Wendy, Abigail has appeared. Similary this flower is at the end but then we have Abigail in ghost form.

[Rinkusan]

2 hours ago, maciu67 said:

Look at flower "on the wind" at the beginning of animation. When flower was close to Wendy, Abigail has appeared. Similary this flower is at the end but then we have Abigail in ghost form.

I'm not sure I follow. How does the red flower in the wind show that the scenes prior to Abigail landing in the bush were reality and not Wendy's imagination?

[maciu67]

13 hours ago, Rinkusan said:

I'm not sure I follow. How does the red flower in the wind show that the scenes prior to Abigail landing in the bush were reality and not Wendy's imagination?

You know it's interpretation but you can find proof that Abigail drowned in Wendy's quotes e.g. pond.

[fimmatek]

1 hour ago, maciu67 said:

You know it's interpretation but you can find proof that Abigail drowned in Wendy's quotes e.g. pond.

I think it's just your interpretation; calling this quote a proof is greatly exaggerating. 

POND = "Ophelia? Are you down there?"

Or did you mean a different quote? Because I didn't find and can't recall any other with a similar subject.

[maciu67]

1 hour ago, fimmatek said:

POND = "Ophelia? Are you down there?"

Yes this quote.