You may have already noticed throughout the video that I love referencing a lotta old Hollywood and vintage material. That's 'cause that's actually what I usually do commentary on!!

I know there's a smaller audience there analyzing film from then, but I love making video essays like Harley's here and old film as well.

So if you'd like to see some of either, do let me know!! I'm extremely new into commentary and only want to provide the best of content moving forward with sharing my interests ^^

Thanks again for watching and supporting my work ❤

The fact that Harley wasn't mad or upset about being turned. He was just mad White was involved.

In one of his streams, Baldwin said that one of his personal head cannons is that Harley hates humans, like he hates human beings and I can see it.

Something that I find interesting is that  Lieth Pierre repeated one of Harley swayer lines when talking to him.

"So fight, or give in, or whatever, because either way we own the infrastructure you're wired into."

"So speak, or don't. Fight, or give in. Regardless, I learn something new about you every day..."

I wonder if Leith did that on purpose and if Sawyer recognizes that he was doing it.

Aside from the fact that white was apart it,the part that pisses him off is how he is at the mercy of those he hated,just like he did to the experiments.

They turned bro into a snarky version  of chatgpt and he can do nothing about it.

What I found interesting about Sawyer is that when he's made into a bigger body, he's barely fazed by it. Compared to how the other experiments reacted, freaking out about their new body and how this wasn't what they wanted, for Sawyer it was exactly what he wanted.

He's everything Playtime represents in its truest form, a company with no regard for human life, created with the ultimate goal of immortality.

"Call me a monster, but I am simply a man who will escape incineration, and embrace the infinite!"

Something I never see people mention is that the way Harley speaks to Quinn is a direct reflection of how Elliot treated Harley.

It would not shock me that Elliot used those very same words to Harley once, to make him feel understood and to encourage him, and to bring him closer.

Which makes me think, did Elliot also employ (NONSEXUAL!!) grooming techniques to bring Sawyer closer to him? I think about the motivations of his YGP program, what was his goal? Poppy was not back at this time, she was still dead, was his goal mainly to get her back? A solely selfish desire, one that we know Elliot did not shy away from sacrificing other children to achieve (Oliver).

What really brings me to this conclusion is that Elliot does not seem to encourage Sawyer to make connections with the other kids in the program, in fact, he states he has the selfish urge to keep him to himself. He says he is EXACTLY what he needs… and what does he need? A selfish goal.

We know Sawyer’s help likely aided somewhat in Elliot’s successful revivals of Poppy and Oliver, because he was the only scientist who proposed & headed the creation of new living experiments, and he succeeded in less than a year. He has the inherent skills, the knowledge, and we know 100% that Elliot was also trying to bring things back to life VIA small experiments due to the rat experiment. He definitely involved Harley in that.

Generally, something about Elliot saying this lonely, isolated, hurt, and vulnerable boy is exactly what he needs, leads me to believe Elliot was far more predatory of a man than most believe, and that one of his first victims is Harley Sawyer.

Where else did Harley learn to sacrifice children for the “greater good”? Where else did he learn to put innovation first before the individual child? As much as Elliot claimed he himself had humility, he had none, his actions were selfish, his actions were to benefit himself, NOT humanity. Harley of course picks up these traits, he thinks this is what benefiting humanity looks like (as we see in his final death rant, he directly mentions that he benefited humanity).

Finally, some actual analytical respect for the GOAT villain of Poppy Playtime. Harley is insanely underrated for how well-written he is.

You know the doctor actually could have been different if Eliot didn’t kick him out of playtime co because he wasn’t “happy or interactive” enough to be in it but seriously Ludwig you got a boy who has a troubled home life and has difficulty connecting to others except you and see you as a father figure.

This makes me think Eliot wasn’t really a great person to be family with except as a boss. I mean he let his ambition get him a divorce with his wife and used it to make the prototype instead of getting a new orphan to replace poppy.

Doctor Sawyer has become one of my favorite character next to the Prototype because i think he is just neat!

3:05
The Prototype: "I thought you were- DEAD."
The Doctor: "My death was, GREATLY exagerated."
The Doctor: "So, you're the punk I've head about."

The punishment is inflicted by the people who enabled his crimes to begin with. He was allowed to commit such atrocities until the higher ups think it's "wasting their funds" yet still keep him around to continue that crime. It's not a proper punishment as Harley genuinely didn't know what he did wrong, neither Leith nor White told him specifically what he did wrong. Hence why he sees it as a betrayal and viewed himself as a victim. Leith just told him that they gave him a chance to "clean up his mess" but he "couldn't do it right". Harley must've assumed that they are just simply unsatisfied with his work, which he disagreed because he thinks he's the best at the job. And in a way he's right, they still need him around. The quality of the experiments dropped after he left. But the point is, he's not being properly punished for his crimes (experimenting on children) if the people who punished him do the same thing and turned him into a tool that could help them continue the thing. Later, when the Prototype took over, Harley was forced to help the Prototype continued the experiments. Whatever the Prototype's agenda is, he still ended up doing the experimentation without anyone to tell him that it is wrong. He's just being punished "for not doing it right" or "not doing it for me". In his twisted mind, he is right to paint himself as a victim if his crime is just being not good enough (which is most likely what he thinks Elliot thinks of him, leading to Elliott "betraying"him ). Harley was constantly punished by his supposed allies, not enemies. No wonder he preferred to be alone and doesn't want to trust anybody, let alone listen to others.
Edit: Finally get to the White section. Fun fact: Harley calling White a leech is actually true as you can find White's unpublished article about research that are founded by Harley. Not to mention White did replaced Harley afterwards, taking his old title and authority so White might just pretend at times to be on Harley's side, making him believe that White might've been a friend, only to be revealed that White had actually been using Harley as a stepping stone, making Harley feel regretted for over being vulnerable enough to see White as a companion.

Tbh Harley is a close second place of my favorite villain of all time (William being the first) it's just so well writing and important in the lore of this game and not forgetting how baddas it is even before he was turned in the DOCTOR a simple and great villain I miss villains like this

I was SOOOO freaking happy when Harley came back (even though it kinddaaaa was implied he would come back) bc he was done a little dirty in ch.4, he had the best main villain potential but ended up dying before I could continue basking in his beautifully written aura. Even though I want to see him has one of the main villains, I hope we get a tomadachi harley in ch.6 so I can continue listening to his voice (baldwin is the effing goat at voice acting)

i have my woes about poppy playtime bringing back characters but am i GLAD they brought back the doctor.. i needed so much more from him

I've always said that Harley has been REALLY well written as a developed character standpoint. We know exactly why and how he went on the path he did. Too bad Chapter 4 was cut up & didn't develop enough, because there's a reason why he's one of my favorites.

Dr. Harley Sawyer is legit the devil of mascot horror and I love(not really) him for it. I applaud Mob Entertainment for creating a character who is arguably worse than William Afton. I really wished the Doctor did more in chapter 4 instead of being underutilized and dying an anticlimatic death. That aside, I really dig the analysis! Good work, Lorenzipan!

Another thing I’d like to say. Harley Sawyer to me, as an autistic person, is HEAVILY autism coded. (BEAR WITH ME, and even if you don’t agree, just read because I talk about some stuff not brought up in the video)

Almost every arc of his character is something I to a degree went through because of my autism.

The self induced isolation from other people when he was a child. He learned when he was even younger that his peers did not understand him. Which is so painfully relatable. He cut himself off from further pain by refusing to give others a chance, by separating them even in how he views them. I believe this is the root of him in the future calling the average child a drooling piece of the automaton, because when I was little and isolated, I ALSO coped by labeling the others as being less fortunate and completely unaware of the real cruelty of life.

When Elliot managed to break through these barriers, to become someone that Sawyer saw as understanding him deeper, he latched on. Which is something I also did, and still do. Proving himself to Elliot is likely the goal he then set upon, to show Elliot that they’re both on the same wavelength.

When Elliot rejected him, he was torn apart. Suddenly the man he loved and saw as a father figure, didn’t understand him anymore. Of course he didn’t think to blame himself, after years of others GENUINELY not understanding him, he assumes Elliot doesn’t either.

And did Elliot truly understand him actually? Probably not, he assumes Harley would benefit from the same harsh rejection that he did, when that is so obviously NOT true. Harley seems to have faced enough rejection in his life already, what he needed was compassion and guidance, not to be abandoned and sent off alone into a world he never felt he belonged in.

Harley’s hatred and heartbreak is honestly 100% valid to me, literally probably forced to move back in with his abusive parents because he is a child, how could Harley think Elliot cared if he was willing to send him back to the place his pain started? After sharing his vulnerabilities Elliot still threw him back into the source of his pain. That’s messed up, he was a CHILD, a child needs to be taught humility, not expected to suddenly develop it!


Going further on in the timeline, we see that he becomes a neurosurgeon, which is honestly a surprisingly noble & by definition, humble job. He saves lives, and even if ASPD rates are higher in that profession, it’s a job still benefitting humanity above all else. It feeds his ego, but this is where he learned that despite his hatred of others, he still wants to “help” them, he sees others as helpless, needing his hand to save them, which he will carry in the next decades

Leith offers him understanding & opportunity in his job proposal. And of course Harley takes the bait hook line and sinker. He sees that this is a place he can “help” others, he can “help” straight from the broken source, children, before they lose the chance to become something “more”.


And god, the way he is treated in the workplace is so relatable to my past highschool experience.

Ok sure he is an ass and definitely does not deserve respect for all his bossing and yelling, but those actions are not just cruelty for the sake of cruelty, it’s a self defense mechanism to keep others from getting close just to hurt him. I too, was a bossy little prick in HS because I was scared that every gentle hand was waiting to slap me.

And he wasn’t even entirely wrong, because a few of them were waiting to slap. Whether it be because they’d hate him anyways, or because his asshole behavior, those around him did in fact, only get close without respect, and talked behind his back. I mean, who the hell makes fun of someone for their preference in pickles?? They should be mad for him acting like an ass about it, not the preference itself.

Nevermind the one time he offered warning about “one bad day”, he was simply mocked by everyone for it, the one act you can argue to source from care for others, was mocked and ignored.

Don’t get me started with all the framing Leith did on Harley. Every incident, even ones that Harley could not have possibly been involved in, were immediately said to be his fault in Leith’s words. The escape of Huggy? He blamed Harley despite it being the fault of whoever guards his doors.

The escape of catnap? The same thing.

Among all the other incidents Leith decided to list in the vhs tape.

Even the theater incident I believe was a framing. Why would Harley sabotage himself by setting the room of HIS experiments on fire?? What does he gain from that? He gains nothing. (I honestly believe it is probably the Prototype who was at fault for that, and probably the other incidents too. Mainly the Theater because it involves fire, and Kissy was severely burned after being attacked by him, so he has SOME way of setting and utilizing fires).

Generally, Harley is constantly the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong… and hell if that’s not relatable. Even those he foolishly believed respected him were quick to point fingers.

That’s kind of why I do not agree with your assessment that Harley MUST have someone in his life. Everything points towards him being alone, and being focused on work above all else. To me, it’s more likely Leith is just fibbing and stretching the truth about things, like saying he’s off schedule when in reality, Harley might just be taking time to get the experiments right. Or maybe, Leith has been setting increasingly stricter guidelines that Sawyer cannot reach in time, which is definitely possible.  It’s obvious Ludwig does NOT like him, and would set up anything to create a reason to push him down a peg.

Hell, it’s kind of implied he forged the documents lockehart used in the “investigation”, we can even piece the documents back together again and see that there’s actually no evidence of Sawyer’s involvement in the incidents, it’s just a bunch of random documents.

I love how ppt has different flavours of evils like alot of characters are evil in here but alot of them are so different from each others .
Take a look at harly , oliver/prototype , elliot , preston etc .they are all bad people but everyone from them is a different type of evil

I don't know how canon this is, but I like the idea that in Miss Gracie's case she was at least a little brainwashed herself by the time she was doing those conditioning tapes for the kids & toys. She gave me the same vibes as those Ba Sing Sei tour guide ladies, you know?

Great vid on the Doc though; Dr. Sawyer is one of my favorites too so I'm excited to see what he might do now that he's back.

The Doctor in Chapter 4 is a prime example of a very well written character, but so unutilized. I was so happy when he returned at the end of Chapter 5.