I have a love/hate relationship with this question. I mean, I LOOOOVE it, but there are so many possibilities, I can't decide which I like better.
My assumption has always been that Alan knew a little, and guessed at a lot. I mean, he's not dumb, and he was a programmer, and Flynn's partner to boot. So I always thought he knew more than he let on, but maybe it was more like he had a lot of puzzle pieces and just couldn't make them fit together. I see it like this...
Flynn went to see Alan "the night before he disappeared" but from what Alan told Sam, it seems Flynn must have been hard to follow. Flynn already knew about the ISOs at this point - he must have, to be so excited. It's possible the term "ISO" came out of Flynn's mouth in the conversation and made an impression with Alan. Then Flynn left Alan's, went home, and the next night he told Sam that bedtime story about the miracle (the ISOs) and returned to the Grid. And never came home.
Someone continued to pay rent on Flynn's Arcade, and pay the electric bill, at a
( ... )
I think it was "two nights before" but certainly you are correct that Flynn could have dropped the term "ISO" then. He could have even said to Alan that ISOs were the miracle that would change everything
( ... )
Thinking on it some more, I would probably (very tentatively) say that Alan does not yet know of Flynn's death in "The Next Day." While he is shutting down "Flynn Lives," he seems too chipper and laid back for someone who just learned (or had it confirmed) that his best friend is dead. Of course, he could just be faking.
The Flynn-speech scene does make me wonder about the timeline. Other things make me think the ISOs were a very recent discovery, but the speech and the tag-line for his book make me wonder. Then I thought maybe the speech had nothing at all to do with the ISOs. The speech was made back when Flynn was wrong-minded, back before his revelation. As seen by the creepy parallel with Clu and Flynn saying he was chasing perfection. But his belief in the ISOs did not change - even in 2010 he still thought they could change the world. So I'm not certain, but I'm thinking it may be possible that his "in there is our destiny" speech was about the (impossible) perfect world and pre-dated the ISOs
( ... )
I love minutia, am still trying to determine the timeline. I re-watched "The Next Day" and the "The Market Floor" interview with Alan (where he talked about being chairman again and the direction of the company). Alan didn't seem to be wearing the same tie (can't tell about the rest of his suit). I'm putting that down to continuity error because of when things were filmed and still saying those two events happened the same day.
Also, Alan seemed to be wearing a wedding ring in "The Next Day" even though he didn't wear one in the movie. Maybe he forgot it by the sink that day. :)
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My assumption has always been that Alan knew a little, and guessed at a lot. I mean, he's not dumb, and he was a programmer, and Flynn's partner to boot. So I always thought he knew more than he let on, but maybe it was more like he had a lot of puzzle pieces and just couldn't make them fit together. I see it like this...
Flynn went to see Alan "the night before he disappeared" but from what Alan told Sam, it seems Flynn must have been hard to follow. Flynn already knew about the ISOs at this point - he must have, to be so excited. It's possible the term "ISO" came out of Flynn's mouth in the conversation and made an impression with Alan. Then Flynn left Alan's, went home, and the next night he told Sam that bedtime story about the miracle (the ISOs) and returned to the Grid. And never came home.
Someone continued to pay rent on Flynn's Arcade, and pay the electric bill, at a ( ... )
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Also, Alan seemed to be wearing a wedding ring in "The Next Day" even though he didn't wear one in the movie. Maybe he forgot it by the sink that day. :)
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