I wanna talk about Vol 6 because I've seen complaints about its length, themes, and characters but it was the perfect addition to the lore of the story

(This is a comment I posted on a different post but wanted to turn into a post)

TLDR; This Volume was a perfect addition because it showcases Adam as an alternate, what he can do as an alternate, the importance of mirrors and reflections to alternates as mirrors were apart of the ban along with TVs and screens, that MAD can be given via text, Adam is making new tapes, the conclusion of the collaborative arc between Adam and Thatcher, and lastly a neat narration about how humans are at the top of the food chain due to nature "respecting" our superiority, where Alternates are at the top of the food chain due to "fear". Fear and respect being used to mean the same thing when it comes to worshipping God, clearly showing a mirror between humans and Alternates (No pun intended). All in all the volume added a lot of understanding for me personally.

Maybe because of how much I watched these videos over and over to try and fully understand I'm a bit biased, but this volume was a perfect addition. It concluded the arc between Thatcher and Adam, gave us more insight as to what happened to Adam as the last time we see him is 2009 and this takes place in 2011. It also put way more emphasis on mirrors/reflection, which were banned along with TVs but haven't gotten nearly as much attention lore-wise as the tech aspect of Alternates. We got to see Adam as a full Alternate and now we know for sure that he isn't gonna be some form of hero or anything.

For me, these are the core things this video helped me explain:

• What happened to Adam and specifically more stuff his kind of alternate can do. This also gives us a clear look at overdriven assimilation which hasn't been seen or explained outside the short video on it. Goes to show overdriven is when one of these sleeper agents goes completely off the deep end. This then also helped me understand Tulpas better. I now get that they're the imaginary friends Stanley got many kids to make and those imaginary friends, because they were made by 3rd dimensional beings, were able to physically touch those 3K kids and kidnap them to replace them. This then also explains what 6 is because Alex said 6 is something else altogether. He's most likely a Tulpa, but specifically a reflection of a reflection. By that I mean, in the hunters story in vol 6 he was killed by his reflection and never went back/looked at it again. The reflection, being perfectly assimilated, could not risk looking at itself and overdriving its form. That's hinted at when Adam asks Thatcher if he's seen his reflection or something like that.

• MAD can be given through screens/text as Adam gave that woman MAD and caused her to off herself (which he recorded himself) I think the recording is important because the Alternates inspired fear and gained power through the Exhibition tape and other VHS tapes which they hijacked so maybe Adam is making new recordings to replace the old VHS tapes.

• Going back to reflections and how they help Alternates connect with our world. It would seem the same way Alternates feed on insecurity and fear to gain power over humans, they use the same thing to create themselves through reflections. Mirrors in the bible, much like in our time, can stand for the limitation of our own perception. In this case our limitations being our fears/insecurities.(this is why the whole nature talk about having dominion over animals was important. Alternates gain dominion over humanity through fear because it's their nature, where humans gain dominion over nature because nature "respects" our superiority. "Fear" often means to "respect" God, showing the religious connections Alternates have and how humans and alternates mirror one another. Which has to be intentional because mirrors were a big thing in this volume)

• While not necessarily relevant, this video also helped me realize how humans were dying to Alternates outside of MAD. In the beginning of the series we only ever see humans die by sewerslide due to MAD, but there are some deaths where Alternates got physical such as Jonah and Ruth. Now it's clear to me that the sleeper agents are able to physically touch 3 dimensional things. The nature talk is important here once again because it explains a 4th dimensional being watching us. Alternates are 4th dimensional, meaning they can't meddle with us on a 3rd dimensional plain. So they need a proxy, which would be the sleeper agents and also connects back to the Tulpas too.

So once again, because I've been watching these over and over I could be biased and also reaching/making it deeper than it is, but this volume added A LOT to the lore of TMC. Honestly I'm surprised no one is geeked about how the mirrors work.