Ford’s Dreamscape of Failed Prosperity.

Man, okay can I just. Can I just level with you all for a second. Because this just KILLS MY HEART.

Okay so first things first; Ford is standing in a huge field of wheat. Behind him, we see the swingset to his right, the Stan-O-War to his left, and the destroyed portal behind him. The sky is full of smoke and the sun is half-blotted out; perhaps a fire is on the horizon; one we can’t yet see.



THE WHEAT is the important factor here.



I would paraphrase all the articles I read online about this, but it boils down to one thing; wheat represents prosperity, money, the spoils of hard labor, the sowing of your deeds and collecting what you’ve earned. It’s usually a good sign to have in dreams, except this dream is anything but positive; the air is filled with smoke and the sun is hardly peeking out of the sky. This wheat is grown, for sure, but it also shows what Ford has reaped from it; a huge pile of failed attempt after failed attempt. Everything in the wheat is something he worked for, and something he failed to obtain. The worst part is? All of it could be attributed to his brother.

The Swingset. The swingset for both brothers in their dreams represents their feelings on their relationship together. In Stan’s dream, his swingset is broken, rusted, and overgrown; it represents how Stan feels his relationship with his brother has rusted away over the years, though he fights to get that relationship back. In Ford’s brain, the swingset is intact and prominent; it looks much like it did in his younger hears. It looks like it did when his brother and him played on it; It’s the relationship he built up with Stan and how close they really were. However that relationship was built up only to be burned down by their father. It’s important though to note that his swingset is intact. Unlike Stan, he doesn’t feel the strength of the breakup; hell he might not even HATE his brother, but he may want to completely reconnect with him. Stan may feel that the relationship has long since busted, but hopes for the best regardless of how he thinks his brother sees him. This tells me that while Ford was initially mad at Stan, he didn’t hold that resentment, or at least, he doesn’t anymore. Either way, the swingset is a failed relationship with his brother; he reaps what he sowed and what he sowed was an estranged sibling. The Boat. The Stan-O-War was his childhood dream, hell it could have been a dream he held onto into his later years. I know some people speculate that Ford didn’t care about the boat like Stan did, but I think that’s completely inaccurate; Ford was the one who named it Stan-o-War, Ford was the one who was uplifted by the thought of sailing away from the Jersey town that only made fun of him, Ford was the one who was the most invested in building the boat, Ford was the one with a boat painting in the Shack, with the scribbled out boat drawing in the journals… need I say more? Ford loved that boat and the idea it represented. He didn’t leave the boat project because he ‘grew up’, he left the boat project because the idea of being somebody in his field was more appealing. He left the boat idea because he thought his partner(Stan) betrayed him. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t work for it; work ON it. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t still want that boat to be a reality that he never finished. Again, the boat describes something that links back to Stan that is also a project that he is reaping what he sowed; he worked on it and nothing came out of it. And in the background, the fire causing the smoke looms closer. The Portal. While this less links to Stan than the others, it still does by virtue of Stan pushing him into the portal, Stan bringing him out of the portal, Stan restarting the portal, causing Ford to dismantle it. This Portal is half-baked; it’s the portal after Stan has reopened it, and it’s crumbling from being completely busted and ruined. It is also again a symbol of something Ford has worked for that was a failed project; Ford built the portal thinking that he would “change the world” and got the knowledge from the trusted force that is Bill Cipher, only to be tricked, fooled, and given bad information. Not only this, but his brother unknowingly makes it worse; he opens the portal, destroying it, sure, but also causing the rift and bringing Ford back. And again, it symbolizes something that should have been prosperous but the fruits of his labor again turned sour. It again another rift in his relationship with Stan. It’s another failed attempt at a relationship with him, but it ends badly.



And Finally;

Bill Cipher Himself.



Bill comes into this dream and antagonizes Ford, calling him by his full name. The fact that Bill has so many names and knows his full name gives him a kind of control over Ford, which is incredibly ominous. Ford is basically helpless against Bill, though this is his dream. This is clearly Ford and Bill’s “reunion” after Ford has come back through the portal. Bill is surprised to see him, and quick to trivialize him. He also acts as the catalyst that destroys everything Ford has worked on; the swings, the boat, the portal. Everything that matters to Ford is burned when the wheat is burned. Bill knows what matters to Ford and Bill knows how to pull Ford’s strings. Calling him “Sixer” only solidifies this fact.



But I’m sure Bill is using the fire to send Ford a message; everything you care about is going to be crushed under me. Nothing will be left. This is what the fruit of all of your labors will become; ashes to be crushed under my dominion.



Ford’s wheat field is all he ever cared about. Everything he ever worked for. All his failed prosperity. And Bill just burns it to the ground with glee.

And if all that Ford has worked for links back to Stan, and Bill burns it to the ground well…

Let’s just say I fear for our favorite con artist.

Cause he might just MAKE LIKE A PINE TREE AND BURN TO THE GROUND.

