Odd Fan Theories Injecting Time Travel into Stories Where it is Unexpected

[aboleth_lich]

I quite enjoy reading creative, outside-of-the-box fan theories of stories that at best casts the entire narrative in a new light when re-examined and at worst induces laughter at its absurdity! (Well known and less-absurd-than-most examples of such fan-theories include the speculation that: James Bond is a MI6 codename and each new actor portraying Bond is really playing a new spy altogether, Ferris (and possibly his girlfriend as well) was merely Cameron's imaginary friend in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Zion and its human resistance is actually part of The Matrix's simulated reality, nearly all of Total Recall was in Quaid's head, and so on.)

I've even encountered a few truly imaginative, out-of-left-field fan theories that attempt to inject time travel elements into tales were it would not be expected. Namely, the fan theories that:

- Jack is a time traveler sent from the future to save Rose and ensure that the Titanic sinks! (Well, it is a James Cameron film after all!)

- Various characters in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels (the basis of HBO's Game of Thrones) are secretly time travelers. In fact, there are several separate such theories in which either Bran Stark, Daenerys Targaryen (disguised as Quaithe), and Tyrion Lannister (who is secretly the spirit of Daenerys' and Drogo's miscarried child) are the time traveler! (I can somewhat see the theorist's reasoning with the Bran Stark theory given Bran's dreams, but those other two theories are... a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly.)

- In the Harry Potter franchise, Dumbledore is secretly an older, time-travelling Ron Weasley.

- Time travel is actually central to The Blair Witch Project.

What are your thoughts about these odd fan theories attempting to inject time travel into stories where it isn't expected? Personally, I consider them to be among the silliest and most far-fetched fan theories I have encountered!

Are you aware of any other, unmentioned odd fan theories for stories in which time travel would be quite unexpected?

 

[Demon_skeith]

All of are pretty wild and I've heard of the harry potter one, kind of wish it was true to make the story interesting and have a good twist to it but that would just make things odd and raise more questions.

Anyways, I've never heard of any myself and most of the shows I watch (including GoT) I just don't see how time travel can fit in.

 

[Valkyrie]

Looks like you forgot an epic one that was portrayed as unexpected time travel- the original Planet of the Apes. I sort of liked the literary twist that Taylor did not know he was a time traveler till the end. I would imagine that would be pretty much the way it would have been if one found themselves in a time traveling situation unexpectedly. I know people like to think of time travel as jumping through a wormhole, or using some sort of device, but looking at it from the unexpected perspective is pretty cool to. Rod Sterling was a master at these ideas.

If I was to give any modern movie the possibility of a character being a time traveler it would have to be Gandalf the grey/white in the Lord of the Rings. In fact I would think that he is more like a supernatural being, because he gets on the ship to cross over when Frodo seems to be going to die, but maybe they are not dying, maybe they are like the gods or demi gods from Roman times? and simply going to another place? i guess then they would be extraterrestrial then huh? Funny at the time I first saw the movies I always thought that Frodo would become a mage like Gandalf in the future, maybe he still will.

 

[aboleth_lich]

I didn't mentioned the use of time travel in The Planet of the Apes because that's not an out-of-left field fan theory derived through some viewer's creative interpretation, it was the film's actual, unambiguous twist ending!

I'm not aware of any weird fan theories in involving The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings. (I feel like one may needed to fix a major plot hole at the end of last year's The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies! Legolas is told to seek out a ranger named Strider at the end of that film, even though Aragorn is merely a child of ten at the time!)

It's interesting that you state Gandalf seems more like a supernatural being, as J.R.R. Tolkien's wizards are actually not mortal men especially skilled at casting magic spells as they are in most medieval fantasies. His wizards are actually holy immortals, analogous to angels, sent by the Tolkien analog for God into Middle Earth from its beginning. (Presumably, a hero wizard who is merely a mortal man skilled in pagan witch-craft just wouldn't sit well with a conservative Catholic as devoted as Tolkien!)

It's interesting that the general topic of wizards is being broached within a forum about time travel, given that the original wizard archetype, Merlin, is living backwards in time throughout T.H. White's The Once and Future King--though, again, that's an intended part of the actual story and not a fan theory proposed by one of its readers.

 

[CallipygianGamine]

- Jack is a time traveler sent from the future to save Rose and ensure that the Titanic sinks! (Well, it is a James Cameron film after all!)

This one! I only wish it was the truth. Would have made that movie far less cheesy and cliche. Okay, so it’s more likely the evidence listed is a result of not properly researching, but it’s still a more interesting plot than what we ended up with :ROFLMAO:

 

[Nicolas]

I quite enjoy reading creative' date=' outside-of-the-box fan theories of stories that at best casts the entire narrative in a new light when re-examined and at worst induces laughter at its absurdity! (Well known and less-absurd-than-most examples of such fan-theories include the speculation that: James Bond is a MI6 codename and each new actor portraying Bond is really playing a new spy altogether, Ferris (and possibly his girlfriend as well) was merely Cameron's imaginary friend in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Zion and its human resistance is actually part of The Matrix's simulated reality, nearly all of Total Recall was in Quaid's head, and so on.)I've even encountered a few truly imaginative, out-of-left-field fan theories that attempt to inject time travel elements into tales were it would not be expected. Namely, the fan theories that:- Jack is a time traveler sent from the future to save Rose and ensure that the Titanic sinks! (Well, it is a James Cameron film after all!)

- Various characters in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels (the basis of HBO's Game of Thrones) are secretly time travelers. In fact, there are several separate such theories in which either Bran Stark, Daenerys Targaryen (disguised as Quaithe), and Tyrion Lannister (who is secretly the spirit of Daenerys' and Drogo's miscarried child) are the time traveler! (I can somewhat see the theorist's reasoning with the Bran Stark theory given Bran's dreams, but those other two theories are... a bit of a stretch, to put it mildly.)

- In the Harry Potter franchise, Dumbledore is secretly an older, time-travelling Ron Weasley.

- Time travel is actually central to The Blair Witch Project.

What are your thoughts about these odd fan theories attempting to inject time travel into stories where it isn't expected? Personally, I consider them to be among the silliest and most far-fetched fan theories I have encountered!

Are you aware of any other, unmentioned odd fan theories for stories in which time travel would be quite unexpected?

Wow, thanks for bringing that up! That Ron/Dumbledore theory just blew my mind!