Hello all!
What could have warranted this long delay? Me moving to another country and starting life all over? Ahahaha! ...please.
...
...well, actually, I indeed moved to another country to start life over.
Yep! xD And where else would it be but...JAPAN! So this was a personal break for me: a few months ago, I packed everything up and now, here I am! Probably across the world from most of you.
So I missed you guys a lot : ) I missed this story a lot! I often tell people here about my hobbies, and I always say writing. And I tell them that I miss writing. And then I end up crying.
But in reality...
...I actually do genuinely miss everything. Almost every day, I think of this story. Well, okay, not every day, but you'll be surprised by how often. I often look back at these stories in my spare time, reading them again and again.
And your reviews...how do I even show how thankful I am for them in my life? I often read all your reviews, whenever I have the chance. And I simply appreciate and miss every one of you. Your reviews...they keep me happy. Even when this is all over, they still will keep me happy. So thank you all so, so much for that.
You don't even have to read the following chapter below! Please just leave a review for and tell me how life had been going this past year! What's new?! What's old?! : D Have you also traveled out to a new country like I had and abandoned society?
But ANYWAYS! Emotions aside xD I want to keep this concise and say that I WILL INDEED FINISH THIS STORY! Though after all, I know all you guys want at this moment are the hidden clues, right? ; ) Hehe.
BUT FIRST THE STORIES OF OUR VERY WINNER, AND OUR VERY MOLE! So, what is revealed in this chapter? Two chapters before the very end of the story?
1 - Piantissimo was almost as clueless as the next player about the Mole's true identity.
He didn't know! Well...at least he knew at the very end. That shows just how good our Mole was, huh? ; )
2 - You learn that Piantissimo's entire story and personality was false.
WELL, NOT HIS ENTIREEE STORY. And definitely not his entireeee personality. But a portion of it : ) Hehe.
3 - A hint to one of the biggest clues that was hidden throughout the entire season is revealed, hidden at the end of every episode's execution.
And it's a crazy one! : )
I couldn't let these things be secret to you all forever. So...enjoy!
The Finale - PART 4
"Welcome back! We were lucky to have a shorter-than-usual commercial break," McHallyboo greeted.
"Uh..." Dry Bones commented. The players had all returned to their seats.
"Before our break, we had two tales told!" McHallyboo announced. "The tale of our runner-up, Tiny Kong, and our forever beloved Pixl, Dashell Knot." Dashell looked amused, but never the less still blushed from hearing his title.
"But the final tall tales are yet to be told," Flurrie said inquisitively. Everyone looked at Piantissimo, who was waiting in his seat, looking a little nervous but still grinning.
"Smiling and excited to splurge your story of victory, eh?" Zess teased.
"Well, I am smiling, yes," Piantissimo spoke without denial, "because of course, I am relieved that my story will be told...but in addition, just a bit, tad anxious for it to be...entirelymade privy." Everyone smiled, though couldn't help but be intrigued by the assertive player's anxiousness.
"Your game wasn't all confidence and conviction," McHallyboo began, introducing the truth to Piantissimo's game.
"I'll reveal with confidence that it was not," Piantissimo said, giving out a shrug. "But I'll let the video explain for me."
"Il Piantissimo," McHallyboo continued. "Our winner of the game. Against all odds and battling to the end against seven other opponents, he was the sole victor of The Mole: Agent's Elevation. Winning the grand pot's total of 240,000 coins, Piantissimo not only went home with a large sum that would change his life, but also an adventure of victory that changed his entire life as well. But what was his whole story? And just how much did he really change, from beginning to end? Let us find out." To an entire room of waiting eyes, the television turned on.
Piantissimo's Story
The game was set. When Piantissimo entered the building, the game had its first overconfident, brazen player: something that every drama-filled game needs to fully swing into motion. It was an archetype that was quintessential.
But it was a painted image, almost too cliche to be true. Piantissimo's outwards demeanor did not match the full truth of his inner personality. It was an outward image taken out of suggestion.
(pre-game interview)
Piantissimo: Confident, you ask? Certain that I'll win? Well, yes, I suppose those are qualities I have within me, I suppose.
Producers: But we want you to truly make it outward. Make it visible to the others. Only if you choose to.
Piantissimo: Well, I suppose, uh,...hmm. Why yes, of course. I can do my best.
Piantissimo had taken heart to the proposition of the producers to play the image of the overconfident, cocky character. Though Piantissimo himself admits to be overall an assertive, confident individual at heart, his gameplay and outward appearances throughout nearly the entirety of the game were blown out of proportion.
Episode 1...
He was successful to giving this impression to everyone since his first day in the game.
(In Lineland Road during Mission 1)
Flashback Piantissimo: ""Hahahar! If we are in a building, how am I supposed to run outside in the wild air, compete against the others, and beat them?" (some of the other players visibly roll their eyes at his statement)
Dry Bones: "Oh geez…"
He was a character that many of the others found both annoying and threatening. It was a perfect balance of both qualities, and some of the players were genuinely intimidated by his overconfidence appearance. Players like Mimi, however, just could not stand him.
(Before Purchase of the Desert)
Flashback McHallyboo: "Who would like to volunteer as one of the three players? As someone who knows the most about the others?"
Piantissimo: "I know a lot about everyone too, so I will volunteer for this role! I know every single detail about every one of you, from every nook and cranny...and, my brain is simply the biggest." (flashes a smile)
Mimi (groaning): "Oh...my gosh."
Mimi: The only person that Piantissimo knows most about is...himself.
But this wasn't the true, inner personality of Piantissimo. This was something that was revealed as early of Chapter 3 of the game, when he and Bowser Jr. spent their first night in Yold Desert. There, Piantissimo confided in Bowser Jr. about his false appearance...and that he wasn't who he truly appeared to be on the inside..
(In the Yold Desert Tent, Bowser Jr. is holding Journal 1 in his hand)
Flashback Bowser Jr (jokingly): "Do you want to switch journals, Mr. 1?"
Piantissimo: "No need...everybody assumes I like to be Number 1 to an inordinate amount. But sometimes, I simply feel like I'm Number 2. It is too much stress and pressure on me to keep on being on top." (laughs lightly, but Bowser Jr. senses unhappiness)
Piantissimo: "But, do not tell anybody that. I need to appear as the most self-assured and confident player here." (The two flip through their journals in silence).
From then on, he formed a friendship with Bowser Jr, a player that he had revealed his true and actual self to. Together, they formed a list of suspects. The two people on the top of Piantissimo's suspect list in Episode 1 were Flurrie and Dashell.
Piantissimo: Dashell… he is indeed a questionable character. He does not seem like the Mole, at first. But maybe there is something deeper in his exterior we are not seeing at first.
Piantissimo also suspected Flurrie on Quiz 1. It was for her suspicious actions as an archaeologist in the Purchase of the Desert. Piantissimo fully believed that no genuine player would ever willingly turn down and refuse as exemption...exactly the action that Flurrie did.
Flashback Flurrie: "I will make a decision...and I will not press the yellow button."
(Her two teammates, shocked, look at her with gaping mouths.)
Piantissimo's beginning game was a game of ruthlessness. In just the game's second mission, Purchase of the Desert, he was just that. In genuine thoughtlessness, he was willing to shock people for money, an act of harm and complete inconsideration for the others around him. It was all in the name of greed.
Flashback Piantissimo: "If we electrocute out opponents, it is only temporary pain for our teammates. We must think like that. Only temporary pain. Nothing terrible at all!" (Flurrie shakes her head, shocked)
Flashback Flurrie: "Whenever you decide an important action in life...you must think twice about it, especially if it's something that will affect other people to a great level. A very bad level." (Piantissimo's looks down at the remote in his hand, guilty)
This quality of ruthlessness was something that completely changed in him by Episode 8. From refusing to burn houses to guiltily hurting fictional castle guards, a transformation had indeed taken place within Piantissimo by the finish of the game.
Episode 2...
Piantissimo began his second episode suspicious of not only Dashell, but also other elements of the game as well. In Isle Delfino's game, when he had to push Yoshi into the water, Piantissimo suspected something was odd with the floor around the dock.
(Flashback in Isle Delfino's hotel room)
Flashback Piantissimo: (showing the bottom of his shoe soles to Bowser Jr) "The ground was extra slippery! Look! Do you not see it? Look at my shoes!"
Flashback Bowser Jr. (laughing): "I don't think blaming slippery grounds is going to keep you from admitting your mistakes of not being able to push Yoshi into the water. You have to admit your faults. And just know! If you aren't the Mole, then you shouldn't feel guilty! Easy as that!" (Defeated, Piantissimo nods slowly)
It was moments like these that slowly lead Piantissimo to realize the true Mole of the game, Eclair Choux, towards the final episodes of the game.
One of the first moments, where Piantissimo's proneness to anger and competitiveness had cost money in a mission, was in Exemption or Bust. In the game, he caused the team to not meet a final conclusion on the sailing boat in Isle Delfino on who should receive an exemption, an act that played right into his game of selfishness and inconsideration for any of the others. Since he figured that no one would vote for him for the exemption, due to his negative image as an undesirable player in the game, he did his best to avoid anyone from getting the exemption.
Flashback Piantissimo: "I declare this whole straw-drawing thing faulty!"
Tiny: "What! How are we even going to do this then and decide who gets the exemption?!"
In addition, he decided to rile things up, but by making the bad decision of utilizing harsh words...an act that just made him even more the least-liked played in the game.
Flashback Snifit: "Err, I disagree with us voting by popularity on who should win the exemption."
Piantissimo (snickering): "Of course you would disagree. You're so silent in this game that you don't even have any friends. You would never win in such popularity." (the other players look at him in shocked anger)
Mimi: "You're not popular either! You aren't exactly the most respected person here, and on top of that, you don't have that many friends either…Stuck up-Issimo!" (Piantissimo mouth drops open)
In fact, the only true genuine friend that Piantissimo had was Bowser Jr, the only player who knew his true side of non-arrogance. Despite a small falling-out before the second execution surrounding Bowser Jr.'s questionable cheating actions in Mission 4, they wanted each other to succeed in going on in the game. They each wanted each other, if they couldn't win themselves, to be the winner of the game of The Mole.
In Episode 2, Bowser Jr. and Piantissimo had an emotional, brief exchange of words to each other, wishing each other well.
(Flashback of Bowser Jr and Piantissimo, silent together in their Isle Delfino hotel room)
Flashback Bowser Jr. (turning to Piantissimo suddenly): "Hey Piantissimo."
Piantissimo: "Oh...yeah?"
Bowser Jr: "I hope you make it far." (Piantissimo, overcome with emotion, pauses before replying)
Piantissimo: "Th...thank you. I hope you do, too.." (Bowser Jr grins)
When Episode 2 ended, so did the existing friendship between the two players. The game, mercilessly for Piantissimo, continued on.
Episode 3
The game was beginning to become more tense for everyone, especially Piantissimo. He was in a game of nothing but opponents.
Piantissimo: I am…just quite so alone in this game. Episode 3 begins. Another day with these enemies.
And of course, we cannot ignore the rivalry he had with Mimi through the first three episodes of the game. Even in her three episode run...Mimi had taken her heavy toll on the surprisingly sensitive player.
(During Minigame Madness, after Lava Tile Isle ends)
Flashback Mimi (taunting in song): "Piantissimo couldn't keep his balance on a rock! Piantissimo couldn't keep his balance on a rock!"
Piantissimo: "I'M DONE!" (storms off past McHallyboo)
Dry Bones: And then he just ran off. Whoa...Mimi was good.
Piantissimo: (confessional): I'm not even that haughty in real life. That's probably what they all think of me. And now, it is already three episodes in. I cannot just change my image. It...it quite stinks. Because I was told since the beginning of the game that I should keep it...I feel like I have subconsciously brought back the haughtiness and arrogance that was in me from years back, when I truly thought I was the best. I hate it.
But there was just someone else that Piantissimo felt a true competitiveness with, starting from Episode 3. It was the other athlete in the game who, like Piantissimo, also prided himself in speed. Almost as if they were destined to be competitors, Dashell Knot was Piantissimo's true rival.
All of a sudden, Piantissimo's competitiveness was activated...and with that, jealousy was heightened and his confidence was lowered.
(Flashback beginning of Episode 3, at the beginning of Minigame Madness. The players are choosing teams.)
Flashback Dry Bones: "I'm not…the most athletic. I'll pair with the most athletic player. Who's team should I go on?" (Dashell and Piantissimo both raised their hands, then stop and glare at each other)
Piantissimo: All of a sudden, there were two separate teams and everyone wanted to be on Dashell's team. I felt...extremely insulted, understandably.
Flashback Mimi: "I'll go on Dashell's side too! He's a better captain, and we might be able to work together." (Piantissimo's mouth drops open)
Snifit: "I'll be on your team too…Dashell. I want to be able to work things together, and I feel like you are a sufficient captain."
Piantissimo: "Oh come on, really?"
He started to find new strategies, and with that, a darker side of the game was activated. Players were willing to do everything they could to guarantee the fall of others, and Piantissimo wanted to try and make Dashell fail. And this was visible and present in his scheme during Episode 3 when he tried to make Eclair lose trust in Dashell.
Flashback Piantissimo (in the forest): "I mean, that Dashell dude. I thought I could trust him, but….geez."
Eclair: "Dashell? What about…Dashell?"
Piantissimo (laughing): "Oh, it is nothing. It is simply nothing. He's a smart guy. Except for that time during our game of Saboteur Island Sabotage, when he devised that plan to make Dry Bones run for the megaphone. What a foolish plan. I mean, that was all his idea."
Eclair: "Dashell…he created that plan? Not Dry Bones?" (seeing Eclair's shocked face, Piantissimo feels satisfaction in his plan)
Episode 4…
In Episode 4's beginning, one player was on the pinnacle of Piantissimo's suspect list. When Snifit was brought back into the game in Episode 4, his suspicions on Snifit rose to a newer level than ever before.
Dry Bones: Like, does that mean that Snifit CAN'T be the Mole at all, if we saw proof of him leave the game before? How could he possibly be the Mole now? It's not possible for him to be it…unless…
Piantissimo: Unless, simply, the whole bribe execution was a decoy. Which is my theory.
He tried to interrogate Snifit at multiple times in the game: he needed to know his truth. Immediately after his announcement of being back in the game in Fahr Outpost, Piantissimo immediately began trying to question him, attempting to pry out the truth when they were alone in the snow cabin.
(Flashback of Piantissimo and Snifit rooming together in the Snow Cabin)
Flashback Piantissimo (suspicious): "I must say, Snifit: no one has ever been let back into a Mole game after removal.. That's unprecedented." (Snifit is silent, unresponsive)
Piantissimo did learn one thing from Snifit: that Eclair apparently suspected Piantissimo as the Mole.
Flashback Snifit: You are a suspect to others as well. Dashell believes you may be it. And Eclair...she has some doubts about your level of genuineness. I believe she suspects you.
However, that is all he was able to get from Snifit. Piantissimo's attempts at trying to play other team members into his traps almost never went through. For example, in the Ice Cave, he was played by none other than the Mole herself. His plan was to wait till the end, then grab the exemption for himself. He wanted to be the last one in the cave.
Flashback Dry Bone (in the Ice Cave): "Well, it surely isn't going to be me getting out next, because Piantissimo doesn't trust me!"
Piantissimo: "I am honestly fine with you going...as long as you promise on your left bone toe that you will in fact not select the exemption. (Dry Bones looks at him, suspicious)
Dry Bones: "Are you sure that YOU won't take the exemption in the end?" (Piantissimo looks at him, silent).
With a plan of wanting to be the last one in the cave to get the exemption, he waited. And in moral uplifting, Piantissimo found it impossible for himself to do the cruel alternative: to grab the exemption early while people were still in the cave, leaving them behind to freeze. All of a sudden, a new side of Piantissimo was emerging, one that contrasted heavily from his earlier self of lacking any consideration for anyone else. He knew that in his heart, there was something...something that was stopping him from doing such a cruel act. Even if that cruel act would have meant winning forwards in the game.
But he was outsmarted by none other than the Mole, and forced to leave the cave early before his intended final spot.
Flashback Eclair (in the Ice Cave) "And hmm, I believe a scarf will do fine-"
Piantissimo (jumping up): "Okay, okay! I get it. I'll walk across…and not grab the exemption. Just stop spending our pot on useless things."
By Episode 4's end, Snifit remained at the top of Piantissimo's list. Trailing on a close second, however, was someone that he kept in the back of his mind...someone who he should have been focusing on the entire game: Eclair.
Episode 5...
In Episode 5. Piantissimo began to focus on his Number 1 suspect, Snifit. He tried to break him down and even try to rile him up.
Piantissimo: If someone is the Mole and I tell them that I suspect them, or that they're suspicious...they'll try to change their gameplay, most likely. So for Snifit...I wanted to see if after I talked to him, if he would change his gameplay. Then I'd know he was the Mole.
At a busy intersection crosswalk, Piantissimo decided to shake Snifit's confidence.
Flashback Piantissimo: "I just want you to realize that you are still one of the more suspected players at this point. So if you are not the Mole, use it to your advantage. If you are, however...then it would be logical to be a bit more...careful. Adieu."
(As Piantissimo leaves and crosses the street, Snifit is startled by a car that almost hits him)
Also, Piantissimo was heavily suspicious of Snifit when he wasn't asked the question in the Lie Detector game. When talking to Snifit at the ice cream parlor before Execution 5, he had a moment, once again, alone with Snifit. It was an episode full of Piantissimo's interrogations and questions, almost like the very chair itself.
Flashback Piantissimo (in the Icecream Parlor): "But what was even more of abnormal surroundings...is the fact that yesterday McHallyboo had skipped you in the lie detector chair." (Snifit's eyes turn wide)
Snifit: "Oh yes...he did indeed skip me. How could...wait, why did I...get skipped?"
Piantissimo: "Actually, I don't think any of the others realized either. I was the only one acute enough to have realized, it seems." (flashes a grin at Snifit, who looks unnerved)
Piantissimo's strategy was changing as well. Like a good Mole player would do, Piantissimo realized that he should be making purposeful errors in order to make others think that he was the Mole. Episode 5 was the starting time for him to do such suspicious actions.
That is why in the Who Said That? Game in Episode 5, Piantissimo did the unimaginable: he got Bowser Jr's quote wrong...something he was sure people would notice.
Flashback McHallyboo: "Who Said This: 'I just want to say that I'm sorry for what I did. It was all in the heat of the moment.' Piantissimo, you have twenty seconds to decide." (Piantissimo exaggerated an immediate thinking face of confusion)
Dashell: "Oh, come on! This one's easy!"
Piantissimo (exaggeratedly sighing) "I do not know. But I will guess either Dashell or Snifit. Dashell?"
McHallyboo: "Incorrect. That was Bowser Jr...after being revealed cheating at the end of the Dining mission of Episode 2." (everyone looks at Piantissimo, shocked)
Zess: He got a quote wrong that was said by Bowser Jr?! That's definitely suspicious. Something is going on with that guy in pink.
Piantissimo even heard from Dashell himself that Eclair suspected him as the Mole from the quote act...something that made him happy.
Dashell: "She suspects you, you know. Eclair. Even more after that quote mistake of yours." (Piantissimo's eyes widen, but he pretends not to care).
Piantissimo (confessional): So I see that Eclair is suspecting me as the Mole. I am glad. I must continue this act.
When Dashell changed human, Piantissimo's competitiveness with Dashell got even stronger. Almost jealous that Dashell had turned into a human, and realizing in himself that he couldn't yet whole-heartedly identify as one, it was a sudden realization of identity crisis that truly spiraled down Piantissimo's game.
But what exactly was Piantissimo's case with his lack of human reflection?
It all lied in Piantissimo's own backstory before the game. When he moved from his quiet farmlands to the bustling island city of Isle Delfino, Piantissimo felt like an outsider in a community of Piantas. As the only human, he was an outsider, alone and ostracized. Forced to live years among a community while being different from everyone else, he wanted to change.
Piantissimo: I...just didn't want to be a human anymore. I refused to be.
And change he did: he adapted himself into the image of a Pianta...but not just any ordinary Pianta. One that was better than a simple Pianta, better than the rest: Piantissimo.
Like being an outsider and alone in his own community, Piantissimo was also an outsider in the game. He realized this at the end of Episode 5, right before the execution.
Flashback Tiny (whispering and laughing to Eclair): "I think I'm going home. I have no idea who I'm voting for on the quiz."
Eclair (smiling sadly): "I cannot say I am confident either. But perhaps your fast speeds will help you on your quiz, no?" (Tiny gives her a hopeful look)
Dashell: "Well, if anyone's gone. it's probably me. I already proved my innocence this episode, so now I'm going home. What a good chapter to go home! When I finally turn human."
Zess (shaking her head and smiling): "You're wrong in two ways. First, being proved you didn't say that quote doesn't remove you from the master list of being the possible Mole. You know that well from me, don't you? Second, maybe this change has revitalized you to look further into your true self. Keep fighting!" (Dashell nods, feeling in a better mood)
Piantissimo: Everyone was so optimistic at dinner and supportive. What is this? Are we supposed to wish each other good luck in this game, and let our opponents beat us because of it? It was just...strangely altruistic. And new to me...and it opened my eyes just a bit.
Seeing the strong bonds built between everyone else in the game, Piantissimo realized that this was what he was missing. But with Episode 6 coming, he felt like it was something that was too late for him.
Episode 6
The game was down to the final five. Piantissimo's Number 1 suspect was Snifit. And his Number 1 opponent in the game was still Dashell. Their rivalry was still strong throughout Destination Sail game. But slowly...Dashell had already begun his personal attack on Piantissimo. As Piantissimo's heart became warmer with every episode that passed...Dashell's became colder. And with that, Piantissimo's confidence began to dwindle.
Flashback Dashell: "I'm a good captain. I'll take the captain role. What do you guys think?" (Everyone but Piantissimo nods)
Piantissimo (weakly): "Well, if Dashell takes captain, I will be the second captain. The quarter master it is."
And the attacks to Piantissimo's ego continued. In Dashell's phase of evilness, he called Piantissimo a "weak" player, a shock of realization for Piantissimo.
(Flashback in the Underwater Hotel)
Flashback Dashell: "You just stopped at the fifth tank in the aquarium game and didn't bother to look further. You didn't even bother to go more than a +1. You just...gave up. You have no motivation to win, it seems."
Piantissimo (angrily): ""A Plus 1 was good enough."
Dashell: "No, it's not, dude. You actually got the worst prize out of everyone else. You didn't go on and just stopped halfway down the tanks. I think you were just...what's that word again?" (stops, looks at a shark chase after a fish outside the window, and smiles)
Dashell (smiles): "Scared." (At his words, Piantissimo looks stunned)
In fact, it seemed like Piantissimo was no longer a threat to his opponents. At the end of Episode 6's ocean mission, Piantissimo tried to threaten Tiny and Snifit both with a Minus 1, in exchange for possible Plus 1's. But the plan failed, and his opponents saw him in a weaker light.
(Flashback to before Execution 6; Piantissimo had just failed in his coin negotiation with Tiny and Snifit)
Flashback Tiny (smiling confidently): "We'll be worthy opponents…whether you believe it or not. So just don't count your winnings just yet."
Snifit: "Yep. I second that." (Piantissimo faces them silently, not sure about his own confidence anymore)
Even with Dashell gone, Piantissimo's belief in himself had begun to shake.
Episode 7…
The ocean-side van ride to the next location was full of fake confidence. Piantissimo tried to falsify an image of superiority to his opponents, boasting in the car about his ability to make it to the end of the game. But it seemed to always end in a loss: Tiny delivered a line to him that made Piantissimo quiet in his thoughts.
Flashback Tiny (in the van in Episode 7's beginning): "I'm more scared of you, Piantissimo, than anything else in this game."
Piantissimo: "So? "What...whatever."
Tiny: "I'm more important to this game than you think, if you want to win. In fact, I think if Snifit here had to choose a partner for a game, he'd choose me over you." (At her sentence, Piantissimo looks away, hurt)
In fact, that was exactly what happened. In the City Scavenger Hunt, Snifit chose to pair with Eclair. This also hurt Piantissimo's chance at succeeding: he wanted to be paired with Snifit throughout the penultimate episode, since Piantissimo was fully certain in his own mind that Snifit was the Mole of the game.
Piantissimo: I'm set on Snifit being the Mole. He has been my suspect since Episode 1, and he is my suspect on this very day, all the way to Episode 7. There is just no possible way that it could be anyone else. Snifit is the saboteur.
Something else important happened during the City Scavenger game, something vital and inspirational that changed his outlook on his goal and gameplay. It was his exchange of words with Vivian Shadens, the winner of Season 2, that made Piantissimo reflect on what the true meaning of winning was.
(Flashback of the end of the City Scavenger Hunt game)
Vivian: "I hope you all do well in the rest of this game. You may be the winner in this game, or the loser in this game, but just remember that the most important thing of all is to end this game happy and satisfied…in yourself and who you are by the end of this game. Remember to end this game…gratified in satisfaction and true happiness in yourself. That is my lesson."
Piantissimo (smiling): "Well, if you win, that already takes care of the happiness. Right?"
Vivian (shaking her head): "You can still win, but be left unsatisfied in the end and feel you've lost." (Piantissimo stops)
Vivian: "It wasn't until the very end that I realized I had to change myself, to become a stronger and more confident person, in order to be happy and satisfied as a winner. That was the real winning of the game. And if you do not end in a way that changes you for the better, then you won't be happy…even if you win. Do remember that."
(Piantissimo's expression changes to one of silence and revelation, his eyes turning to the sidewalk in heavy thought)
She told him advice that he wouldn't forget. Little did we know, Piantissimo would be the one to end up following right in her footsteps, as the season's winner.
As the game got darker...everyone's thoughts become more serious and heavy. And all of a sudden, alone in his hotel room in the second day of the city, Piantissimo decided to get rid of his mask. It was a decision that shocked not only the other players and the host, but himself as well.
(Flashback of Piantissimo in his hotel room, staring at his own shadow and gasping. The shadow is of him...his real head.)
Piantissimo: "It's…it's not me..is it." (hangs his head, then sighs in defeat)
Piantissimo: "I cannot play under a disguise anymore. I have to play as…who I am." (throws his mask onto his bed, then exits the room)
Piantissimo was determined to play the game differently. But before he was set for his step into the final episode, and right after he believed he had gotten everything figured out...one more twist of the game into play. Snifit was indeed not the Mole of the game.
(Flashback of Snifit disappearing from the game, leaving all three final players shocked)
And now, determined to win the game as a new person...Piantissimo needed his new, final suspect.
Tiny...or Eclair?
The Final Episode….
It was the episode that Piantissimo had always boasted that he would make it to...and the episode that Piantissimo slowly began to believe, episode by episode throughout the season, that he would never reach. As his own confidence slowly dwindled within the season, Piantissimo was left with just a fraction of who he had begun the game as. And just like Tiny, he was entering into the last episode on a blank slate of suspicion.
He had to answer for himself: Who was the Mole? But at the same time, he was on the mission to find the answer to just another question: Who was Il Piantissimo?
Flashback Piantissimo (stepping out of the moon hotel): "The final step awaits, Piantissimo…do as you always do your best." (He exits...leaving his mask on his bed).
Piantissimo: A journey of self-discovery this has been, no doubt. But this final episode is where we will learn the most about ourselves.
And what could be more of a self-reflecting, albeit extraordinarily cruel mission than the 3 Questions game. On the players' final round, they were forced to answer a dreadful question that shocked both of them, as well as hit them with undesirable realization.
Flashback McHallyboo: "If both players were to die today, who would feel more underachieved and unsatisfied in the life they had?" (both players look shocked and at a loss for words)
Flashback Piantissimo: "Put me."
Flashback Eclair: (surprised) "But, I do not agree!"
Flashback Piantissimo: "But I do."(Eclair is shocked, but nods)
But among the intense and dark constituents of the final episode, there were glimmers of light. The players were showing appreciation for each other, even if it all the way at the end. Tiny and Piantissimo, the true two rivals of the game, were forced to work together in the Castle Game in Waffle Kingdom. They almost succeeded, and from that, were able to share a genuine moment of appreciation for one another as finalists in the game.
(At the Waffle Kingdom dessert restaurant)
Flashback Tiny: "And that quick thinking with the rose…that saved us too. Thank you for saving me with that thinking, Piantissimo."
Flashback Piantissimo (caught off guard): "Thanks…thank you. (coughs, then continues) "It was quite nothing at all. I solely did it to saving my own hide, but whatever…it does not matter." (the others at the table smile and laugh).
The question still remained. The identity of the Mole. Who was it?
And finally, in the final three, it seemed so obvious to Piantissimo that he couldn't believe it himself. Piantissimo reflected back on his subconscious thoughts of Eclair through the game, and realized that something had been strangely mysterious about her all this time. He knew from Dry Bones, Dashell, and even Snifit himself that Eclair's suspect through the game was him.
Piantissimo: How odd...to know that since Episode 4, Eclair has been putting me down on the quizzes as the Mole. But yet, she is still here...so who is the true Mole here?
And one singular incident stuck out in his mind: the dock moment in Episode 2, when he slipped into the Isle Delfino's water. The player standing on the the slippery, oiled dock flooring, right before he had stepped on it himself...was Eclair.
But for a strange reason, he had never truly gone for her on the quizzes.
Piantissimo: It was just so strange. I always suspected her, but something always blocked me from putting her at the top of my list. I always shuffled her down.
He deciphered the true reason of his prevention of choosing the right Mole: his overconfidence in believing it was someone else. Eclair was always second place in his mind to none other than Snifit, Piantissimo's prime suspect through the majority of the Mole: Agent's Elevation. Thus, for this reason, since Piantissimo was so confident in his one and sole choice, he neglected her throughout the entire game for Snifit.
Piantissimo: It was almost a testament and analogy to how cocky I was through the entire game. I was sure all my choices were correct and that everything I did was right. But it was all wrong. I wasn't going for the Mole the whole time. I was wrong.
Now that Snifit was gone, and it being the final three, it just seemed too obvious to Piantissimo. Piantissimo knew exactly who the Mole was: Eclair Choux.
Another reason that swayed Piantissimo towards Eclair in the final three was that Tiny, through the entire game and through every mistake she had made in every challenge, was too human to be the Mole. Throughout the entire game, Piantissimo saw himself in the errors and stumbles that Tiny made in each mission. But the contrast was, while Piantissimo always neglected blame for his own errors through the game, Tiny always acknowledged and apologized for them, self-taking in her errors as her own. It was an element that Piantissimo admired and saw in Tiny and it was an element that he needed to fix in himself. And in addition, it also led him to believe that because of her genuine, whole-hearted character, Tiny was not the Mole.
On the farmlands before the final mission, Tiny decided to divulge to Piantissimo that she had seen Eclair secretly chatting with McHallyboo. But in reality, she was also indirectly announcing her suspicions of him as the saboteur.
Flashback Tiny: "I just wanted to also say..."the choice to sacrifice a full point on the final quiz of the game….wow. I mean…well..." (she laughs)
Tiny: "I don't even think I MYSELF would do such a thing like that. "I can't believe someone like you...a genuine player...would willingly risk an entire point on the last quiz, just for the possibility of adding a mere 20,000 coins to the pot."
Piantissimo (pausing): "I find it almost disparaging...that you would insinuate that I took the Minus 1 not from the kindness of my heart...but for perhaps other reasons."
It was more fuel to his final decision that there was no possible way that Tiny couldn't be a genuine player: she was subtly hinting her suspicions of him. Learning that Tiny was on his tail for the final episode, and that it was Eclair who floated through the game with a false suspect of her own, Piantissimo had his answer.
And now, Piantissimo was getting close to discovering who the Mole was. But the game's most crucial question, for Piantissimo himself, was still yet to be answered. Who was he?
The answer did not reveal itself until the final episode. Piantissimo was a player whose entire self changed, from his first arrival to Isle Delfino to the final level and floor of the game of The Mole. From his beginning as a ruthless player who would harm others for his own self-interest, he transformed into a person who played differently.
Nothing was more of a truer test than the Home, Burn, Home mission. It was the game that tested and solidified just want kind of person Piantissimo truly was. And the idea game was synthesized and written by none other than Eclair herself: she created the game for Piantissimo, wanting to see who he had transformed into. Did the game of The Mole: Agent's Elevation change someone for the better?
Flashback McHallyboo (In the Pinnoseault farmlands): "Press this button...and Eclair's house with her father is no more. And press this button…and you will be exploding Tiny's house instead." (The players are in shock and horror)
Flashback Tiny (in disbelief): "This is crazy!"
Flashback McHallyboo: "And Piantissimo, if you press the third button, then no bomb will be activated…and 20,000 coins will be added to the pot. But…you will be given a -1 on the final quiz of this entire game." (Piantissimo's mouth is open in shock, unable to find words)
And it did. With a heart transformed, he decided to sacrifice his potential chances of winning in the game, taking on his final test score a -1, in order to save the families of the others.
Flashback Piantissimo (breathing heavily): "I think I know the decision…that I must take. It is the decision…I must do for myself."
(He presses the third button, and the sky explodes into an orange, bright morning)
This new, transformed Piantissimo worked his way to the very end of the quiz, right into the final elevator of the game. And when Piantissimo was revealed to be the winner, even he himself was in disbelief.
Flashback Piantissimo (on the roof of the building, gasping in disbelief with a shocked face): "I...have won the game?"
(McHallyboo only nods with a happy, amused grin)
Piantissimo joined the game for every reason a normal player would have joined for: for pride, for the money, and for the goal of showing one's own superiority. But he did not anticipate just how insignificant those reasons would have become by the end of the game.
Playing a game against both the Mole and himself, Piantissimo became the winner of the The Mole: Agent's Elevation.
The Winner's Story - End
Everyone clapped loudly with appreciation, smiles, and cheers. The winner's story was complete and told.
"Aww...thanks guys," Piantissimo replied, grinning and shaking his head. "You shouldn't. I didn't...quite...play the best game."
"But you ended it well," Flurrie reasoned. "And that is all that matters." Everyone nodded in agreement at the cloud spirit's statement.
"It was really fake...huh," Dry Bones said, folding his arms and huffing. "The confidence...you hating my bones...no pun intended... was all fake. That's a relief."
"Hey!" Piantissimo spoke up, laughing. "I absolutely, never stated that I did not like you!"
"At least in the cave, you didn't like any of us," Dashell commented, and the entire room laughed.
"Piantissimo, for being a person who gave us trouble, but in truth wasn't REALLY that meany-weeny, of a guy…" Mimi announced, turning her head to the player sitting in the front seat. "I...forgive you." Piantissimo gave her a look.
"ANDDDD...I hope you can forgive me," Mimi finished, as everyone laughed. She gave him a wink.
"Well, that is that! Congratulation to the winner...for we know the true, arduous, yet rewarding game you had to play," McHallyboo announced. Everyone looked at one another, grateful and pleased. And then, McHallyboo faced the screen.
"And now...everything from here on...all the way to the ending of this story...will be about the Mole."
WELL...THERE YOU HAVE IT!
Next chapter, the Mole's story….and ALSO, all her sabotages.
I feel as if I owe you all something.
So here it is.
A mystery to one of the biggest clues in the season, right below your eyes.
Someone a few months commented this...about Eclair's dresses throughout the executions.
"I mean, I can't believe I was that blind back then but... When McHallyboo and the Mole discuss at the beginning of Chapter 4, the Mole mentions that they like to dress smart for the ceremonies of the game.
And something which I doubt has been mentioned in any other reviews is how, every single execution chapter, there is a mention of Eclair's current dress. It's the only character for whom you take the time to detail what they are wearing, and I honestly find it super suspicious that you would go out of your way to describe in a hidden yet obvious manner what she is wearing, unless it really was a clue…"
And...they are completely right. But that's all I'll say. (credit to Princess Toady ;D you go, FRIEND!)
ANYWAYS, BESIDES THAT…. (changing the topic so you forget about the above paragraph xD) That is just just one SMALL, SMALL, SMALL MINUSCULE tidbit of the entirety of mysteries to be uncovered very soon! Like, there's literally...just too many. Too many hidden mysteries in this story that must be told. And I promise to tell them all to you!
STAY TUNED! :D