Oh Snap! The Other is just that.

[on:]

I recently came to the conclusion that The Other might have nothing to do with Fry at all.

Here's what we know: The Nibblonians prophets predicted that there are two beings essential to the fate of the universe: The Mighty One and The Other. You guys already know everything about The Mighty One (globviously) so I'll just get to the point: If Fry had any purpose to the Nibblonians after his banishing of the Brain Spawn (such as with The Other) then wouldn't they have taken every measure to make sure he would survive his mission (such as not cheaping out on the escape vehicle). Since the Nibblonians didn't put in the extra effort to save Fry I conclude that he might have nothing to do with The Other.

[Reply #1 on:]

Yes, but when Fry mentions Leela, Nibbler says, "She must be the other."

[Reply #2 on:]

Yes, but when Fry mentions Leela, Nibbler says, "She must be the other."

But not that she is.

[Reply #3 on:]

Yes, but when Fry mentions Leela, Nibbler says, "She must be the other."

But not that she is.

True, but we will probably find out who the other is if there is a Season 6

[Reply #4 on:]

Yes, but when Fry mentions Leela, Nibbler says, "She must be the other."

But not that she is.

True, but we will probably find out who the other is if there is a Season 6

Risk to not reveal it with a chance of it not being renewed.

[Reply #5 on:]

That's an interesting theory, FOA, but I think it's easy enough to explain away the whole Scooty Puff Jr. thing. Without being trapped in the Infosphere, Fry would never have had the opportunity to travel back to December 31st, 1999 (and the episode would've been a wee bit short); without that opportunity, we as an audience never would've even known about this Other business. Granted, Nibbler does tell Fry that "for ONE moment" the fate of the universe will depend on him; however, at the end of the episode, he says that they will need a savior again (that savior presumably being Fry). Which leads me to believe that, after Fry was frozen, the Nibblonian prophets foresaw other occasions where they would require Fry (like during the Brainspawn attack in "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid").

Anyway, I don't think the Scooty Puff Jr. was the Nibblonians way of shrugging off any possible harm that might come to Fry in the Infosphere. I think it was just a joke that enabled the writers to answer the question they'd established in the pilot: What the hell is Nibbler doing in 1999?

And I doubt that the writers would reveal something like that, have Nibbler specifically help Fry to win Leela's affections (with the flower), and end the episode on a shippy note (what with the smoochin' and all)--just to mislead us, so they could later reveal who the true Other is. In a couple of interviews, DXC mentioned that they never got to fully address "the Other", and it makes sense that, if the show comes back, they'd want to do it now that Fry and Leela are probably dating. 

Also--and correct me if I'm wrong--wouldn't your theory mean that the Nibblonians still assume that Leela is the Other? Why else would Nibbler need to moonlight as Leela's annoying, stupid pet? Isn't he ostensibly on Earth to help Fry with Leela, and to make sure nothing horrible happens to either of them? 'Cause it doesn't seem like he's too interested in tracking down the "real" Other (then again, it's not like the show would devote time to that anyway).

[Reply #6 on:]

I dunno, Nibbler clearly states that they do not have the ability to time travel, therefore it is virtually impossible for him to know about Leela.

One can assume that Nibbler's quip about "the Other" comes from the prophecy, which probably suggests that "the One" (Fry) will have a partner or love-interest that will be "the Other".  So it makes sense for Nibbler to say that, without knowing who Leela actually is.

[Reply #7 on:]

I think the 'Other' could reference that Fry's lover would join him in the battle of the brains, but just the 'other', like Svip said, could just reference 'Partner of the Fabled One' that would make more sense.

[Reply #8 on:]

I dunno, Nibbler clearly states that they do not have the ability to time travel, therefore it is virtually impossible for him to know about Leela.

One can assume that Nibbler's quip about "the Other" comes from the prophecy, which probably suggests that "the One" (Fry) will have a partner or love-interest that will be "the Other".  So it makes sense for Nibbler to say that, without knowing who Leela actually is.

That's true. I suppose the Nibblonians could just be operating under a false assumption, seeing as how the prophecies were probably, like you say, kind of vague. Still, the Nibblonians obviously knew that Fry, specifically, was the Mighty One, because he's the one they intended to freeze. So I don't think it's such a stretch for them to know that this purple-haired cyclops is the Other, without having a name to match the face. Hence Nibbler's statement that "she must be the Other."

Eh, I don't know. I'm too ship-ily minded to believe that Leela is not, in fact, the Other. I think it makes sense, because both she and Fry are anomalies of sorts. Fry is his own grandfather; Leela is the least mutated mutant ever born. They're both exceptional cases, and it seems fair to say that both of them could be of use to the Nibblonians. 

[Reply #9 on:]

DXC seems to strongly hint that Leela is "the Other", and I can't remember any previous instances of him or anyone else attempting to use red herrings, leaking false information, etc. to deceive the audience about running storylines.

Of course, I suppose "the Other" could mean a variety of different things.

[Reply #10 on:]

Phew! Nice to get some responses. I want to remind everyone that there is at least 2 versions of the universe- the original run where Fry didn't make it out of the blast and the second run where he did. My theory operates on the first run since Fry had to convince Nibbler to pony up on to the SP Sr. to save himself on the second run.

Gorky: To your first post- Nibbler does say that they will need a savior again but he doesn't say that savior will be Fry. Fry tells him that if they "need a savior again, just ask" to which Nibbler responds "Oh, we will. We will". I think Fry just convinced Nibbler to not be so secretive to The Other.

I'm pretty sure that Nibbler was moonlighting as Leela's pet to be close to Fry. Leela and Fry are friends so Nibbler would be able to keep tabs on him and make sure no harm came to him.

As for why he stuck with Leela after Fry succeeded in banishing the Brain Spawn, He is now ambassador of Earth so he figured there was no reason to blow his cover.

Everybody: I am mostly overanalysing this for conversation. As Gorky said the whole business of the SP Jr. is likely just a plot device the writers used to be able to explain what happened on the night of Fry's Freezing. As Speedracer said DXC has strongly hinted that Leela is the Other. The writers put a lot of thought into this story arc and a few vague lines or questionable plot points probably don't mean much. I just think it is an interesting thing that I came up with.

As a point for all of you who are against my theory: Clearly the Nibblonian Prophets aren't that good since they didn't figure out that Fry would be needed again to save the universe from the Dark Ones. It is possible that the prophets simply failed to connect the Mighty One to The Other. Also, they probably wouldn't call their second champion The Other if she(?) didn't have anything to do with the Mighty One.

[Reply #11 on:]

Or perhaps The Other is the Dark One. *dramatic chord*

Although that's highly unlikely. This is all speculative and is thus suspect. None of us has any proof to affirm anyone's opinion, it's all based on one line in one episode that's not in the affirmative or positively true tone.

[Reply #12 on:]

Maybe it was just a throw-away line by the writers (and a nod to The Empire Stirkes Back) to create an unspecified hook for future plot requirements.

Or am I over-thinking this too much?

[Reply #13 on:]

It should've been revealed about Leela being 'the other' in ITWGY. 

[Reply #14 on:]

Could have, should have, wasn't.

[Reply #15 on:]

As a point for all of you who are against my theory: Clearly the Nibblonian Prophets aren't that good since they didn't figure out that Fry would be needed again to save the universe from the Dark Ones. It is possible that the prophets simply failed to connect the Mighty One to The Other. Also, they probably wouldn't call their second champion The Other if she(?) didn't have anything to do with the Mighty One.

Well thats the nature of prophecy isn't it? It's vague and ambiguous. If it wasn't it wouldn't be prophecy but merely a statement of fact.

On the wider picture I think it's interesting that they seem to abandoned the secret identity of Nibbler since he/they are now known to be sentient and not merely Leela's dumb pet. The importance of The Mighty One and the Other still remains a secret however....

Also I think it was Fry who said "you forgot to blank our minds last time", which if you think about it, makes no sense whatsoever since if their minds were blanked then how would he know it had been blanked since he should have no memory of it...

[Reply #16 on:]

Also I think it was Fry who said "you forgot to blank our minds last time", which if you think about it, makes no sense whatsoever since if their minds were blanked then how would he know it had been blanked since he should have no memory of it...

I have a similar issue with Fry's response to learning that he is the only one that can defeat the Dark Ones in ItWGY: "Yeah, I get that a lot." The other two occasions where he was the Savior of the Universe (TM)--"The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" and "The Why of Fry"--he was either 1.) unaware that the Nibblonians considered him their Mighty One (TDtESS), or 2.) memory-blanked by Nibbler after the whole ordeal (TWoF). I think that line--and the line you mentioned from BG--are more a wink-wink-nudge-nudge to the audience, almost a fourth-wall break of sorts. And they bother me, because they show that the writers really handled the whole reveal of Nibbler's identity quite sloppily, and ignored aspects of continuity when it comes to the Fry/Nibblonian saga.