Jax is going to be the villain of ep9 (prediction)
I'm going to make a prediction now:
Jax is going to be the villain of episode 9. My guess is that Jax had accidentally caused the abstractions of Ribbit and Kaufmo through accidentally conjuring and manipulating with their minds (like how Caine caused scratch to abstract). This would also match up in episode 8 when Jax had a panic attack and left the group to distract Caine when Kinger was telling the group about their ability to conjure. In episode 6 Ragatha also accused Jax of "corrupting Pomni" which could be referencing to how Jax caused the abstractions of Ribbit and Kaufmo.
It also makes sense because in the series Jax seemed to have the most control of his conjuring ability (unknowingly) like when he seemingly vanished in episode 1 when he saw Kaufmo abstracting, his ability to conjure up any keys to anywhere, and the rest of his "cartoonish" powers be thinks he has.
Also this matches up with ep6 when Pomni said Jax's archetype was "the villain" with Jax replying that he's simply the "funny one". and at the end Pomni said "You're not the funny one (again implying he's the villain)" which would be further foreshadowing if this were true.
I think in episode 9 Jax and the rest of the group is going to find out they're just digital copies from Kinger, which will cause Jax to go crazy and cause chaos around the circus(or what's left of it) with his ability to conjure and maybe set the abstracted ppl free and the rest of the group has to find a way to calm him down and help him "find that meaning in a stagnant life" Or Jax abstracts and everyone has to live on without him womp womp
In the episode we will likely also get the backstory of Jax and how he probably had a hit and run incident. He likely has nothing outside the circus backed up by his action in episode 7 and him getting electrocuted in episode 8 during the musical which makes his character even more tragic.
Also in the ep9 trailer the part where Pomni opens the a door, it's actually proven to be Jax's door. So my guess is that hes probably abstracted in there or something (this would also match up with Pomni saying "I really wanted to help")
Jax being the villain also explains why he appears so much in the promotional posters with his villainous smile
I can't really think of any good way the story's gonna end. A happy ever after ending after they've found "the meaning in the stagnant life" where they just continue to live in their circus of their own creations feels kinda cliche especially considering that this is a Gooseworx story. My guess is that it's gonna end by somebody from the outside world shutting off the computer or the cast deciding together that they're going to close off the circus as they've accepted their fates or smth.
I don't think Caine is going to come back in this episode and I also don't think an exit exists at all.
Also some more evidence on why they're just digital copies:
\- Pomni mentioned she joined the circus in an abandoned building through a headset which means there's no way for her body to be preserved
\- Kinger in ep 8 mentioned Scratch had a tumor and that he wanted to build something other than the creative AI so it's likely that he wanted to build some way to copy his own mind to live on after he dies from the tumour
\- Kinger has been there for more than 20 years.. the building is abandoned so again, no way for his body to be preserved
\- Kinger also seemed confused about leaving in ep7 looking as if that wasn't even possible
\- If they could've left Kinger wouldve left ages ago with his wife before he went crazy
\- Gooseworx mentioned that the series is about "finding meaning in a stagnant life" which the digital copies theory perfectly matches
\- Ragatha mentioned she was a real-estate agent so my guess is that she was surveying the building with some of her coworkers before the building got abandoned and she put on the headset just out of curiosity. This is backed up by in episode 8 when she joined she was definitely around people (this is kind of a stretch ngl)
also don't take this too seriously I'm just bored really and can't wait for the episode to come out 😭😭