Everything We Learned From Gravity Falls' The Book of Bill (2024)

Ever since its premiere in 2012, Gravity Falls has been full of mysteries and codes. As Dipper and Mabel arrive in the supernatural town of Gravity Falls, they try to understand the magic around them and decode The Journal, a guide to the strange town. The audience, too, was able to uncover mysteries throughout the show, allowing popular fan theories to predict things like how Stan had a secret twin, and that the symbols on the wheel in the show's opening correspond to characters in the show.

However, the show still ended with several unanswered questions, with even more popping up with the release of Journal 3 and Dipper and Mabel and the Curse of the Time Pirate's Treasure.Now, in the new, more adult, The Book of Bill, several questions from previous Gravity Falls stories are answered, especially those about Bill Cipher and the Axolotl.

Bill Cipher Survived After Weirdmageddon

One of the main questions audiences had was whether Bill Cipher had survived after Gravity Falls' iconic four-part finale. After bringing on the apocalypse in Gravity Falls, Bill wants to take it worldwide, and needs Ford's help to do so. Ford and Stan trick Bill into entering Stan's mind, which they then erase with the Blind Eye Society's memory gun, seeming to destroy Bill. However, a few pieces of evidence made fans question if he was really dead. For one, Bill shouted one last (backwards) phrase as he died, "A-X-O-L-O-T-L my time has come to burn! I invoke the ancient power that I may return!" For another, Stan's other memories came back after the memory gun, which means that Bill could probably return from the memory erasure as well. Finally, rather than being completely eradicated, Bill became a stone statue in the woods, his hand still outstretched for a deal.

The Book of Bill reveals that he did, in fact, survive, and he did so with the help of the Axolotl. This figure appeared in another book following the beloved sibling duo of Gravity Falls, Dipper and Mabel and the Curse of the Time Pirate's Treasure. In this choose-your-own-adventure novel, one path leads to a secret ending found through an encoded website, where Dipper and Mabel meet the Axolotl. Dipper asks about Bill, and the Axolotl, in verse, responds essentially that Bill misses his dimension which burned, and must invoke the Axolotl to "shirk the blame." They also say, "One way to absolve his crime / A different form, a different time."

This poem slightly indicates how Bill could have survived, but The Book of Bill gives the full explanation. When Bill invoked the Axolotl, he was brought out of space and time to ask for another chance. The Axolotl tells Bill he must join a program and change his ways, and the powerful villain rejoices, thinking he pulled one over on the fellow god. However, the program winds up being inter-dimensional therapy in the Theraprism, where he is expected to become fully rehabilitated. Then he'll be reincarnated into another life form, like a lizard or a spore. This explains the Axolotl's statement that he will take a "different form." It also explains the very existence of The Book of Bill, which turns out to be a therapeutic journal that Bill sent to Earth despite it being against the Theraprism's rules. In essence, Bill managed to save himself only to wind up in his worst nightmare; a place where he needs to be honest and confront his feelings.

Bill Cipher Destroyed His Home Dimension (By Accident)

Fans have known for a long time that Bill destroyed his home world, the Second Dimension; it is even implied in the show, one of many reasons Gravity Falls is one of Disney's darkest cartoons. However, the new context from The Book of Bill shows that Bill was actually deeply traumatized from destroying his dimension and that it was likely an accident. His whole life he could see the third dimension, but it was outlawed to even mention such a thing in his 2D world. Some hidden codes on the book's page on silly straws even indicate that he was medicated to prevent him from seeing it. However, while he views himself as superior to the other people of his dimension, it doesn't seem that he destroyed his dimension in an attempt at revenge. Rather, he states that he wanted to free everyone from their delusions, show them what they were missing, and have them be grateful to him.

Of course, Bill is an unreliable narrator, but there are certain details that back up this interpretation. For one, when he tries to write about what happened to his dimension, the text is mostly blocked by static. The few visible words indicate his guilt and distress, like the phrase "my hands, shaking as I realized I could never undo th[obscured]." He then says talking about this event always makes his ears buzz, and he blacks out. The static is likely not purposeful redaction on his part, either, as he usually does that by crossing things out, censoring, or butting in to interrupt; it's always visibly purposeful when he means to alter things, while the static shows up in distressing moments, like Stanley punching Bill out of his head. Clearly, something horrifying and even darker than Gravity Falls' scariest episodes happened in Bill's home.

Other details indicate that the destruction of the Second Dimension still haunts Bill. Coming back to the Axolotl's poem, they state he, "Saw his own dimension burn / Misses home and can't return." In the sections of Ford's journal that are included in The Book of Bill, Bill shares that his dimension was burned, but he keeps the last remaining atoms in his hat. In this interaction, Bill both indicates that he has tried to undo his past and that he sees himself as a monster. Ford also describes him as looking "more distant" than Ford had ever seen. Fans are already theorizing about what else could have contributed to his dimension's destruction and whether he worked alone. They continue to speculate about whether his story is based on the novel Flatland from 1884. One thing is certain, though, and that's that Bill didn't kill his home in cold blood.

Stanford Pines and Bill Cipher Were Actually Close

Finally, The Book of Bill explores more of Bill and Ford's relationship and shows that they were actually pretty close. Bill tried to get several humans to build his portal (even seemingly meeting The Owl House's Philip Wittebane on the way, continuing the connection between the two shows) but grew truly close to Ford. One example of this is the aforementioned moment when Bill told Ford about his home dimension, but there are many more. Bill reveals that he has some pages that Ford ripped out of Journal 3, specifically pages that were too personal and emotional. Fans of the show and readers of the original copy of Journal 3 will know some things about Bill and Ford's relationship: Ford looked up to Bill, saw him as a mentor, and then was betrayed when he realized the portal Bill was helping him build would lead to Bill's apocalypse. However, The Book of Bill shows there was actually more between them than that.

Ford and Bill acted like real friends, and sometimes, even acted slightly romantic. They hit it off immediately in their first meeting, already joking around. For Ford's birthday, Bill leaves him a message (in rats, but it's the thought that counts). Bill and Ford even drunkenly sing karaoke together, something that would have never been allowed in the show with Disney's notorious censoring. When Bill doesn't talk to him for a few days, Ford accuses him of going to inspire other scientists, and then Bill accuses Ford of blowing off portal building to hang out with the "third-wheel hillbilly," Fiddleford. The whole scene reads like two partners accusing each other of cheating. After Ford realizes the consequences of building the portal and stops working on it, Bill starts begging Ford to talk to him again. He even gives him a monologue that sounds like it comes from a toxic ex-partner, saying that no one will care about or understand Ford like he does.

Of course, with Bill still being a morally bankrupt inter-dimensional overlord, he escalates his methods of persuasion to physical and psychological torture. From possessing his body to stand on the roof in the freezing cold winter to making Ford forget his own name, Bill gets intense. However, he still acts every bit the heartbroken ex. He goes to a bar "in the Rock Bottom Asteroid Belt of the Vicious Spiral Nebula," gets wildly drunk (banking on the adult audience of the show to make the joke land), and gets arrested for creating a scene at a Mexican restaurant. There, he asks for "one Sixer, please" (his nickname for Ford), and when denied, starts crying and destroying the place. Even Mabel, writing a note to the audience, says that Bill seems like "a super-needy ex" who needs to work on getting over her Grunkle.

That's hardly the last of all the mysteries Gravity Falls, or even The Book of Bill itself, has in store. As of publishing, there is still a website from the book, thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com, that is password protected. It leads to a countdown, which has now become a negative countdown. In short, Gravity Falls still has plenty more to give.The Book of Bill, with a Barnes & Noble special extended version, is also full of more jokes and details about fan-favorite characters, like Dipper's most embarrassing moment. The biggest, most pressing questions of Gravity Falls have finally been answered, though, and in a highly satisfying manner. Now it's just up to the potential revival series to find new stories to explore, and a few remaining threads to tug on.