One of the first theories I’m going to discuss is the time travel/parallel universe theory. I’ve mentioned this theory briefly in my second blog post and in my third blog post, but this time, I will fully explain the evidence in BU that supports the theory.
ARMY believes BU is a coming of age story about loving oneself, but there are various instances in the storyline that allude to changing the past. These instances are predominantly shown in the Notes, BU youtube videos, and the Love Yourself posters.
**Disclaimer** These are just theories. Bighit has yet to confirm anything; therefore, the information below may be false. Also, there will be a graphic GIF in my explanation that shows blood.
Various diary entries from The Notes that come with all three of the Love Yourself albums hint at the possibility of time travel and parallel universes in BU. It appears that only Jin can time travel due to the two notes: Seokjin 30 August Year 22 and Seokjin 11 April Year 22. Epiphany’s music video also suggests that there are multiple storylines because there are times when two Seokjins can be seen in the same shot.
However, if Seokjin has traveled to the past, his actions don’t affect just him but all seven BU characters.
These effects can be seen when differing storylines pertaining to Taehyung and his father are shown in both the Notes and certain videos. The diary entry, Taehyung 20 May Year 22, describes how he almost kills his father. In this note, Taehyung holds himself back from stabbing his father and instead, smashes the glass bottle into the floor, which results in a piece of glass cutting his hand. This aftermath of the previously stated scenario is also shown in the ‘Euphoria : Theme of LOVE YOURSELF 起 Wonder’ video.
This is in contrast to what occurs during the I NEED YOU music video, where Taehyung is shown stabbing his father with the broken bottle.
The example with Taehyung’s nightmares referenced in the note Namjoon 28 April Year 22 exemplifies parallel universes and time traveling. Taehyung has reoccurring nightmares where Yoongi dies, Jungkook gets in an accident, and Namjoon gets in a fight. While none of the videos or the subsequent notes mention anything about Yoongi’s death or Namjoon’s fight, Jungkook’s car accident is shown in both the videos and the Notes. This leads ARMYS to believe there may be alternative endings to the story where Taehyung’s dreams are a reality.
In the promotional posters for the Love Yourself series, two of the posters (Seokjin’s and Taehyung’s) point towards possible time travel references. The posters are included below and the others can be found here.
Seokjin
“If I could turn back time, I want to be the greatest man in the world.”
Taehyung
“Would you not have left? If I had made a different choice.”
One of the main reasons why time travel is a plausible theory is the LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel ‘起承轉結’ . Seven minutes and twenty-five seconds into the video, Seokjin is getting dressed to meet the girl who wanted the semeraldo flowers. The date is August 30th.
After getting dressed, he notices that the vase has fallen down on the table next to his mirror.
Ten minutes and thirty-seven seconds into the video, Seokjin sees the girl across the street from him. Unfortunately, a car hits the girl while she crosses the street.
Immediately following that scene, the video plays back clips of older music videos in black and white with Seokjin narrating, “If we could turn back the clock, where should we go back to? Once we reach that place, can all our mistakes and errors be undone? Will happiness be ours to stay?”
Then, the screen goes back to the scene where Seokjin is getting ready to meet the girl. It is August 30th again.
This time, Seokjin catches the vase before it can fall.
The highlight reel ends before viewers can see the second encounter Jin has with the girl, but it is obvious that two different August 30th storylines exist.
I hope you enjoyed learning about the time travel/parallel universe theory. Keep in mind that Bighit hasn’t confirmed anything, and that these are just guesses as to what is occurring in BU. Thank you for reading!
References
Love Yourself Series Promotional Posters
Photos screenshoted from
‘Euphoria : Theme of LOVE YOURSELF 起 Wonder’
LOVE YOURSELF Highlight Reel ‘起承轉結’
Hi Nicole,
I think your argument is very sound as the images of the vase are very compelling according to their time frames. It’s very cool how you came up with this theory and caught all the little details. Are there others that agree with you?
Est delectus minus