YMMV / Evolution SMP

Due to the series' canonical connection via the "Eyes and Ears" continuity, spoilers are off for both Evo and the Life series.

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Whether the Watchers are Jerkass Gods, God Is Evil, or run on Blue-and-Orange Morality depends on the perspective. Evo itself is ambivalent on the subject but generally runs with Jerkass Gods; Martyn's "Eyes and Ears" continuity of the Life series has them lean directly into God Is Evil territory; and the fandom runs the whole gamut of the spectrum, depending on whether they are referring to themselves as Watchers/viewers (in which case Blue-and-Orange Morality is predominant) or whichever interpretation would be best for a story.
• Fanon:
  • Grian is sometimes drawn in his original Link skin as shorthand to differentiate his Evo SMP-era appearance from his later appearances in Hermitcraft and other series.
  • The Watchers are usually associated with the colour purple because their portals to the next updates are purple in colour. The Listeners, in turn, are often associated with the colour yellow for the Yellow/Purple Contrast.
  • Individual Watchers are typically drawn to look like angels, at times of the "Biblically accurate" variety similar to the Ophanim. Alternately, they are depicted with "halos" shaped like their Arc Symbol. As a collective, they are usually depicted as hundreds or thousands of eyes floating in thin air.
  • A recurring depiction of Grian in fan works is that he actively fled the Watchers (who are depicted as evil in these interpretations) after his induction in Evo, then joined Hermitcraft for his own safety, often after being invited in by Mumbo. This is often done to reconcile the timeline between the two series from a multiversal perspective, and just as often for the angst factor.
• Friendly Fandoms: With the Life SMP due to creator overlap. It helps that Martyn's POV of Last Life canonizes the Watchers from Evo to his "Eyes and Ears" continuity of the Life series, confirming that they are part of a Shared Universe and the same continuity, which has led to fans of the Life series flocking to watch Evo to catch up on the OG Watcher lore.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • In his 7th episode, Grian explains that he knows his Beta-era mob farm isn't very "big" in the grand scheme of things, comparing the scale of his farm with the "crazy, crazy contraptions" on Hermitcraft. This episode was released in October 2017. Less than a year later, Grian joins Hermitcraft Season 6. The YouTube comments of the episode are quick to lampshade this too.
  • Grian nominates Taurtis for Mayor of Evo without him knowing in his 27th episode. He does the exact same thing with Mumbo in Hermitcraft Season 7 two years later.
• It Was His Sled: Just about every single fan who came to Evo from the Life series is aware that Grian becomes a Watcher.
• Just Here for Godzilla: After the Last Life finale, many Life SMP fans who hadn't seen Evo flocked to it just to see the Watcher lore.
• Nightmare Fuel: The mysterious entity stalking Taurtis. It starts with him missing a portal jump and finding himself stranded in a version of the server with strange purple lighting and weird noises playing, with creepy whispering heard after he jumps through the portal. Later, he starts having nightmare sequences featuring a glitching, floating version of himself from that same place with ghost-white skin and hair and purple eyes that speaks in garbled speech. While the scenes with said entity appear to just be nightmares, one video description implies it's very real... and then Taurtis disappears from the server permanently.
• Tear Jerker: After Grian becomes a Watcher, leaving the server in the process, there's a farewell segment in Pearl's episode featuring a montage of herself and Grian hanging out as he slowly fades out of each clip, complete with emotional piano music.

---