Headscratchers / Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

• How many topside humans are there? Besides Wolf and Benson, Scarlemagne captures two more humans hiding in Ratland. He couldn't have gotten all of his human armies from raided burrows. So, while burrow humans maybe the majority, they can't be the only remaining human society.
  • "Requiem For a Dave" finally clears this up. The world was still full of humans when Mutes became a thing. There were wars between the two groups for a long time, but neither one ever totally wiped out the other. Some humans took shelter in burrows, but many of them kept fighting Mutes on the surface for 200 years.
    • Aside from the ending of the story I wouldn't give much credit towards Dave's story. Seemed like he made up an elaborate story based on his own experience with Benson. Benson's confusion for most of the story would point to that.
• How did Lio leave clues for Kipo when he was traveling underground to the new burrow? And for that matter, why was he never caught leaving the burrow to plant said clues?
• If Dr. Emilia had Song with her for thirteen years, what had she been using her for? Was she using her to drive other humans out of burrows? Also, she harvested a lot of Hugo's pheromones. Who did she use it on before Song's transformation?
  • Well, Emilia DID use the Pheromones on Lio in order to coerce him to work on the Experiments with Hugo, after she discovered the power of his Pheromones. She used that to drug maybe not just Lio, but perhaps many other Burrow people as well into doing her bidding. The Episode "Sympathy for the Mandrill" shows us Emilia threatening Lio with the Pheromones to "convince" him to work for her. So that's the answer to the question I think.

• I don't want to be too harsh, but does anyone else feel Kipo is way too optimistic and forgiving toward Emilia in the finale? Like this woman enslaved her mother for years, turned her mandrill "brother" into a supervillain through cruel experiments, repeatedly attacks her friends... and Kipo decides to invite Emilia and her minions to a gathering of the creatures she wants to destroy. Like I get Kipo can make reckless decisions but this is a near-suicidally bad idea (something that's even pointed out in-universe). You'd think seeing Scarlemagne nearly kill everyone with molten gold (after she tried to convince him to give people choices) would teach her to be more careful with trying to redeem evil people. She constantly gives Emilia more chances, even when it's painfully obvious she won't change, and it nearly gets her killed. What is stopping the girl from just going Mega-Jaguar and capturing the crazy lady and destroying the cure? Even worse, Kipo seems to think Margot is more irredeemable despite being a child who made a bad decision.
  • Kipo is defensive and suspicious around Margot specifically because Wolf is, and Wolf is her best friend and adopted little sister.
  • Kipo didn't totally intend to invite Emilia, she was inviting the people from her burrow and seemed to assume that Emilia would refuse out of racism—she's surprised and disgruntled when Emilia includes herself in the invitation but knows from experience how bad a public argument with Emilia would go. Also, given that Scarlemagne did make a Heel–Face Turn after the Aurum incident, it makes sense that Kipo would think she could do the same thing with Emilia (i.e. to jaguar-pen her back in and try again until Emilia starts to atone out of sheer exasperation). She does say that Emilia deserves punishment, just not by being trapped in her own mind and body for the rest of her life as a half-mutated Mega Walrus. At that point, Emilia is genuinely exhausted, surprised by Kipo's mercy, and seems too rattled to be actively plotting evil. A person who's normal-level idealistic probably wouldn't expect Emilia to be looking for an Improvised Weapon in that moment, much less Kipo... Emilia is just too fanatical for anyone's experience.

• If Hugo was a Mandrill Clone made from a fossil, does that mean he would have broken down eventually? Last I heard, clones don't stay stable because they are only made of one strand of DNA.
  • That's not how cloning works. Clones are no more or less "stable" than organisms produced by any other means of reproduction.

• How do Kipo’s clothes change with her when she goes Mega-Jaguar?
  • Magic Pants rule, of course.

• Why didn't Lio join in the titular song to turn Kipo back to normal in "Heroes On Fire"? I'd think he would know it considering it's one of his daughter's favorites. Or maybe not. I don't know.

• The final season involves trying to stop Emilia from devolving all mutes back to regular animals, and celebrating mutes' status as equals to humans. Yet they keep calling the serum that can devolve them "the cure," as if being a mute is an undesirable affliction. The ever-racist Emilia of course refers to mutes being the result of a "virus," but the main characters never change their terminology to dispute this.
  • There is discussion of creating a vaccine, but the plot point is quietly dropped even though it would be possible for another extremist to devolve mutes without one.
  • In the epilogue, devolved mutes are seen still being devolved, suggesting there is no way to reverse the process. This is never explicitly addressed, despite the fact the same universe has seen regular animals be turned into mutes by a serum created by the main characters' parents, and one of the supporting cast members literally turning into a baby repeatedly yet maintaining all their memories. This becomes particularly strange considering devolved mutes seem to retain some memories.

• Emilia's plan to restore humankind to the surface-world is so flawed it seems guaranteed to fail. First of all, despite creating a cure for Mutes, it's implied Mute animals (some of which are massive beasts) inhabit 90% of the earth. All Emilia's faction would succeed in doing is curing one part of the country (Las Vistas). Unless the cure is somehow contagious, there's no way it would spread at such a global scale. Secondly, humans are very rare above ground. If other Mute factions got word of something that could threaten their rule, they might very well just come in to stomp out Emilia's comparatively small group. Thirdly, humans are so used to thriving underground by now they likely wouldn't adapt to a rapidly evolved ecosystem overgrown with flora that can poison and eat them. Removing the inhabitants who can help them adapt might just bring mankind closer to extinction. Really makes you wonder why nobody pointed this out before she went through with this bonkers plan.
  • Never accuse a fascist of having critical thinking skills.

• The Burrow people's familiarity with fireworks is puzzling. Setting off fireworks indoors is never a good idea, and none of the ceilings we see in the Burrows seem high enough to eliminate that risk. Something small like sparklers or bottle rockets, maybe, but nothing that would reach the sky. Even with a strong history program explaining what fireworks are, and even with Emilia's group's familiarity with the surface, it doesn't make sense that "fireworks" would be anyone's go-to celebration. I mean, I know Kipo's a nerd and all, so her being able to recognize a box of fireworks isn't out of character, and Dr. Emilia finding a way to sabotage Prahm under the guise of friendship is totally in character, but everyone else knowing and being totally comfortable with fireworks doesn't seem right. And if they have gunpowder, why do they use crossbows? The cure darts are probably too fragile to shoot out of a gun, so that makes sense, but before obtaining the cure darts, guns and bullets seem like a more effective means of eliminating mutes than crossbows and darts.

• Why does Roberto have a thick accent? Accents are generally the product of your environment, and if he's been living in a burrow with the same people all his life, you'd think there'd be a fairly homogenous accent among everyone from the Clover Burrow.
  • He probably came from another burrow. The Chevre sisters said there were multiple burrows, and the Clover Burrow accepted Lio and Kipo and were willing to accept Wolf, Benson, and Dave, so immigration does still happen.

• Why weren't Amy and Brad among the first mutes to join HMUFA? They made Ratland for every sentient being to enjoy, human or mute, so it would make sense for them to support humans and mutes living in peace with one another. But they're only recruited along with the rest of the Ratland rats and the Fitness Raccoons in the episode A Wolf In Wolf's Clothing.

• Whatever happened to the rest of the Mod Frogs? Beyond that, where did Scarlemagne's Nobles go after the events of Heroes On Fire?