“HAPPY BURSTDAY” trailer analysis/theory

hi!!! please bear with me, as this is my first time using reddit!! (please let me know if i need to change any of the tags??) any engagement, positive or negative, will be greatly appreciated! enjoy!!!

also, i’d like to add that this was written prior to the concept photos and the behind for the trailer being released😭 i just haven’t had the time to update/edit this (maybe i will in the future once all the promotions get released👀)

after getting over the initial shock of the trailer posted , i took some time today to go over a rewatch, hopefully cooking up a theory, and i did think of one that i would be willing to share on reddit. it is a bit of a stretch but here i go:

continuing off of the JxW story, wonwoo wakes up jeonghan, making him realize that his power of forcing dreams was not good, but rather bad for people. because of it, he decides to give his ability to wonwoo. the MV for LMF was basically jeonghan figuring out the true meaning of life and love, and once his figures out the meaning, he decides to leave (whether that'd be leaving lore-wise or just because of military service, it's up to you to decide). Also at the end of the MV, we see wonwoo walking away by himself.

back to where they are now, svt has been feeling strong emotions recently. since it has been 10 years already, all their insecurities, feelings, and other negative emotions had bottled up into something the members can no longer control. wonwoo decides to use jeonghan's ability to put himself and the rest of the members asleep until they can fight off these feelings. however, he underestimates the strength of the emotions causing him and the rest of the members to be stuck in a nightmare-ish world.

additionally, the emotions mix, causing a demonic like entity to spawn, which i will refer to as "the entity". some carats of X/TWITTER pointed out that the entity looks like the members combined. The entity represent everything seventeen isn't, evil, harm, and violence. the entity is so strong that it can create clones of the members, looking the same, just acting differently. i thought this because of the "warnings" throught the different viedos along the lines "warning 12 faces and 1 daredevil, remember they are one" and "count again how many are you?" and "we are many yet one". these suggest that the entity can split into differnt beings at the same time.

the trailer consist of the members (real or fake) chasing and looking for each other, while the entity is looking to devour and defeat the real SVT. however, the entity cannot change into wonwoo, as he is the one with the true power in the world. wonwoo is the one controlling the fire (ex: the man caught on fire in the elevator, the truck, and seungkwan (which was most likely a fake) was one fire). wonwoo is the omniscient observer, waiting and watching for the real members so he can wake them up.

with wonwoo's (and jeonghan's) powers also comes his responsibility to stop the entity. afterall, he is the one who unleashed it. wonwoo has the power to stop the entity, by sacrificing himself for the team, or he has the power to join the entity, by not giving up his own life. however, wonwoo doesn't choose for himself, rather the CARATS choose what he should do

DARE (he sacrifices):

by choosing dare, wonwoo jumps and gets caught on fire, due to him unable to control the powers. the members watch in shock as wonwoo, on fire, falls from the sky. suddenly, JxW power's combine the hopes and ambitions of the rest of the members, causing them to fuse into one being (shown by odd body parts???? veins?? in the video). with all the members combined, they go to fight the entity. whether they win or not, it is still unknown. the end has the quote: "face the challenge, burn anew" possibly referencing the fact they face the entity head on as a "new person" (the members fused into one).

DEATH (he lives)

by choosing death, wonwoo does not jump, but he turns around to join the entity. The members look lost and confused, and they walk around the scenes of the trailer without looking frantic, but rather scared and unsure of what will happen. at the end of the video, there is a missing person poster, for seventeen with the picture resembling all of the members (not a ot13, but like a fusion of them). the quote at the end reads "without challenge there is no new beginning" symbolizing that the members did not face the entity, so they cannot "start fresh".

slightly related, the album is a play on the phrase "HAPPY BIRTHDAY", obviously referencing the group's 10th anniversary. the word "burst" means: "break suddenly and violently apart, spilling the contents, typically as a result of an impact or internal pressure" (according to google). emphasis on the word "pressure". no doubt, SVT has gone through a lot of pressure and stress throughout the last 10 years, so it would make sense if they "bursted" emotionally.

this one is a stretch, the game truth or dare is a popular game to play during a birthday (or BURSTDAY) party (at least here in the USA). the "DARE OR DEATH" is sort of a play on the game "truth or dare". DARE or DEATH refers to a game of truth or dare, the truth being the DEATH in a metaphorical sense. DEATH in this case is literal. the members will have to face dares that pin them against each other or choose death in order not to betray the other members. the members who choose “DARE” join the demon while others who choose “DEATH” fight the demons. either way it is a loose-loose for the members because they will have to betray each other either way

these are just my thoughts and i am so excited for this album!!! if you have any ideas, different or similar to mine, please let me know :) also i am very sorry if this is formatted horribly, its (was) almost 12 am and i have school tomorrow!!! i think i put more effort into this than my final for school <3! anyways, thank you for reading all the way and have a good day/afternoon/evening/night/etc.! junranghae😸!