I wonder what happens in Return to Monkey Island – wrong(ish), wild and wonderful answers only

[Vainamoinen]

 

Kickoff theory:

 

The Monkey Island series is and always was set 1000 years in the future. There was an apocalyptic weather event right on what is now called Monkey Island that brought civilisation as we know it to an end. But what we know as Monkey Island today was actually a much larger island that broke in three: Monkey Island, Brr Muda and Melee Island.

 

The original Pangaekey Island held weather in balance, but now that it's broken, Brr Muda has become this icy thingamagig. Way back when Melee Island was of course called "Meltee Island" for obvious reasons.

 

Return to Monkey Island is about joining these islands again and fixing the climate catastrophe.

[OzzieMonkey]

My dumb theory about the Secret:

Guybrush finds a chest hidden inside the catacombs under the monkey head. He opens it, and as it glows in front of his eyes, he exlaims "wow! so THAT'S the secret!" 

 

We never see what he saw, but our inventory now has a little question mark in it that says "The Secret of Monkey Island TM" and every time we look at it Guybrush has a different variation of "this was well worth all those years lookng for it" and such. 

Edited August 8, 2022 by OzzieMonkey

[KestrelPi]

Chuckie is Guybrush's brother, or half-brother.

 

He's been dead since Guybrush was a child.

 

Monkey Island is his way of dealing with his complicated memories of his brother, who used to bully him but also used to play pirates with him.

 

LeChuck in all his forms is basically a monster of Guybrush dealing with his own complicated grief.

 

At the end of Monkey Island 2 he falls down a hole, and has a strange dream while exploring around a fairground that he somehow brings Chuckie back to life.

 

When he grew up, he stopped thinking about Monkey Island but he never really resolved anything about his brother.

 

He revisits the fairground, and it starts to bring back memories of Monkey Island.

 

The Secret of Monkey Island is that it's a mental contstruct that Guybrush used to used to help frame his complicated relationship with his brother.

[Marius]

I think the #MonkeyIslandMonday clips make it obvious that Return to Monkey Island is about

Spoiler

Guybrush getting the band back together ("The band, Threepwood, the band!"). The Brrr Muda Judge plays the drums, the important-looking pirates play several wind instruments. Violin ghost will certainly join him too. The clip today will reveal another musician, mark my words.

 

[BaronGrackle]

The world itself is on the verge of destruction because the number of pirates has been gradually decreasing, resulting in global climate change.

 

Surprise: Monkey Island has always taken place in modern times, in a reality where the world's governments have coordinated (as the Mêlée Island Chamber of Commerce) to avoid environmental disaster by re-introducing pirates to various areas of the world.

 

 

The problem now, is that no new pirates have been created for decades because the Three Trials on Mêlée Island were disrupted.

 

1) The Swordmaster disappeared for several years, and upon returning she refused to fight new recruits. The situation is even more dire with her election as governor, as the Mêlée Island charter expressly forbids the governor from interacting with the swordplay or treasure huntery trials, and a bureaucratic oversight made the position of Swordmaster a lifelong term.

 

2) The Idol of Many Hands disappeared at about the same time as the Swordmaster. Rumors are unclear as to whether it was last seen with the Formerly Very Important Looking Pirates, or with Guybrush when he first left Mêlée. The Three Trials bylaws have no stipulation for the Idol of Many Hands being lost or removed from the island, so the true idol must be located and stolen, so that someone can break into the governor's mansion and return it to its proper pedestal for future generations of pirates to steal.

 

3) Swag experts have finally agreed: the Legendary Lost Treasure of Mêlée Island has been reduced to nothing. It's probably been that way for years. To provide for the future, a new hoard of treasure needs to be buried. All of the old maps were also made obsolete by the most recent update, so a new burial location must be found with new maps drafted and distributed.

 

4) Four? Yes, each new pirate must drink grog with the current Pirate Leaders. A grog source must be found, and the sitting Pirate Leaders must be made amenable to their key role in the three trials.

 

When this is over, the world can be saved and Guybrush can finally be certified as a pirate.

 

EDIT: This is all completely unrelated to the Secret of Monkey Island. The Secret of Monkey Island is that the Giant Monkey Head has holes in its ears and nose that have secret buttons to open the mouth.

Edited August 8, 2022 by BaronGrackle

[Vainamoinen]

1 hour ago, Marius said:

I think the #MonkeyIslandMonday clips make it obvious that Return to Monkey Island is about

  Reveal hidden contents

Guybrush getting the band back together ("The band, Threepwood, the band!"). The Brrr Muda Judge plays the drums, the important-looking pirates play several wind instruments. Violin ghost will certainly join him too. The clip today will reveal another musician, mark my words.

 

Great. Now I want to paint that band.

[BaronGrackle]

Violin ghost confirmed to be named Razor. Brrrmuda judge confirmed to be named Syd.

[Staple Remover]

I think Return to Monkey Island will have Guybrush searching for the secretory of monkey island, accessible by 3 stone disks hidden throughout the Caribbean. He will partner with Elaine, who now has a voodoo necklace associated with a voodoo god and together they island hop to retrieve them before LeChuck and his ghost army. 
 

Long story short, the secret of Monkey Island turns out to be orichalcum.  

[BaronGrackle]

12 minutes ago, Staple Remover said:

I think Return to Monkey Island will have Guybrush searching for the secretory of monkey island, accessible by 3 stone disks hidden throughout the Caribbean. He will partner with Elaine, who now has a voodoo necklace associated with a voodoo god and together they island hop to retrieve them before LeChuck and his ghost army. 
 

Long story short, the secret of Monkey Island turns out to be orichalcum.  

I look forward to playing as Elaine for a brief moment on the Swords path, getting Guybrush ready to dive.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I know this thread is for wild and wonderful-ish answers only... but seriously I think we're going to get into some deep meta territory. But then again Ron said he wanted to tell a pirate tale... Can you do both? 🤔

[Garystu]

it turns out ninjas were better than pirates all along, and both guybrush and lechuck are defeated by ninjas.

[Jake]

I know it sounds improbable but there have actually been two guys called Guybrush Threepwood with incredibly similar lives, and we’ve played them both across the different games (I’m not saying which was in which game, but if you knew it would surprise you). In Return their paths will finally cross.

[Marius]

21 minutes ago, Jake said:

In Return their paths will finally cross.

Their paths crossed already in the nightmare sequence in LeChuck's Revenge.

[Jake]

4 minutes ago, Marius said:

Their paths crossed already in the nightmare sequence in LeChuck's Revenge.

Ah no that was the same Guybrush just having a dream. You can tell by the presence of Blue Coat LeChuck, who is very important to the Second Guybrush theory. 

[Marius]

1 minute ago, Jake said:

Ah no that was the same Guybrush just having a dream. You can tell by the presence of Blue Coat LeChuck, who is very important to the Second Guybrush theory. 

Their paths crossed already in the swamp sequence in Escape.

[Jake]

Ah, you’re a believer in Third Guybrush (“Time Pyramid Guybrush”) theory. 

[Marius]

Nice Third Guybrush (“Time Pyramid Guybrush”) theory.

[Garystu]

have we considered Bigger Guybrush theory?

 

 

[Vainamoinen]

The main villain in Return to Monkey Island will NOT be LeChuck.

 

The villain will be unveiled in the third third of the game. It's ...

THE FISHERMAN OF THE FIFTEEN PIPES

[Jake]

11 minutes ago, Guybrush Transmasc said:

have we considered Bigger Guybrush theory?

 

Maybe Guybrush was cloned at some point? Maybe he'd be known as Guybruush. Just a thought.

[Marius]

3 minutes ago, Jake said:

Maybe Guybrush was cloned at some point? Maybe he'd be known as Guybruush. Just a thought.

What a rip-off.

[KestrelPi]

This is Largo.

[Wally B.]

In Return to Monkey Island we finally find out that the world of Monkey Island is actually the real world and that real life is actually a video game. The final chapter is actually Guybrush coming out from the computer to pull us in and live as a pirate by his side (maybe, idk, you decide).

 

Also, the secret of Monkey Island IS the giant robot monkey, built by Lemonhead in a moment of boredom

 

13 hours ago, Jake said:

Maybe Guybrush was cloned at some point? Maybe he'd be known as Guybruush. Just a thought.

Also also, all the different Guybrush designs are because clones

[Torbjörn Andersson]

I tried to get an online AI to write a plot synopsis, but only one of my attempts came even close:

 

My other attempts were much more vague: