 I've run through that night over and over in my head and I keep coming back to one thought: I should have caught the die and not let you roll it.
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| — Evil Abed, "Remedial Chaos Theory" |
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A die is a small cube used as a tool in gaming with a number of dots (called pips) from one to six indented on each of its sides. The object is rolled or sometimes thrown in the air in order to determine a numerical value. Whatever number appears face up when it lands is then applied to the game. Aside from its gaming application, Abed Nadir believed that the die was a cosmic nexus, the focal point where six potential timelines could emerge if someone dared to roll it. One such die first appeared in the Season Three episode "Remedial Chaos Theory". |
History[]
Season Three[]
In the study group's third year at Greendale, Troy and Abed invited the rest of the study group to their new apartment for a housewarming party. When the pizza arrived for the party, Jeff used a Yahtzee die to determine who went downstairs to get the food. He would roll a die, use the number that came up to count down from his left at the table where he was seated with the rest of the study group. Whoever he stopped at would have to get the pizza. Abed warned Jeff that if he did roll the die he would end up creating six different timelines. Jeff ignored him and threw the it up in the air anyway as Abed imagined six different scenarios unfolding.
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"Timeline One" | Roll number: 2 Chosen: Annie | |
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Jeff rolled a 2 with the die and Annie is chosen to go. After she leaves Jeff stops Britta from singing and she goes to the bathroom to smoke a joint, Troy finds a gun in Annie's purse ignoring Pierce who tried to give him a housewarming present and Jeff hit his head on the ceiling fan. Annie returns with the food creeped out by the pizza guy she just met. | |||
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"Timeline Two" | Roll number: 4 Chosen: Shirley | |
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Jeff rolled a 4 and Shirley was chosen. She asked the others to look after her pies but Jeff reminds them not to enable her baking. He stops Britta from singing prompting her to go to the bathroom, Pierce freaks out Troy after giving him a present, Jeff hits his head on the ceiling fan, Shirley returns only to be angered that everyone let her pies burn. | |||
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"Timeline Three" | Roll number: 3 Chosen: Pierce | |
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Jeff rolled a 3 and Pierce was chosen. Before going he mentioned a tryst with Eartha Kitt on an airplane. Shirley checks her pies while Jeff insults Britta and Troy who commiserate in the bathroom. In the kitchen Annie checks Jeff's head after he hit it on the ceiling fan. Pierce returns with the pies and everyone notices how happy Troy and Britta are. | |||
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"Timeline Four" | Roll number: 6 Chosen: Britta | |
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Jeff rolled a 6 and Britta was chosen. Shirley interrupts Pierce's Eartha Kitt story to check on her pies. Annie checks Jeff's wound in the bathroom when he hits his head on the ceiling fan. The two almost kiss but stop when they hear Pierce terrorizing Troy with a troll doll. Britta returns with the pizza delivery guy and announced their engagement. | |||
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"Timeline Five" | Roll number: 1 Chosen: Troy | |
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Troy runs out after being picked knocking over the diorama, Annie trips over the boulder crashing into the coffee table and shattering a bottle of rum, Pierce kicked his housewarming present into Annies purse causing the gun inside to go off, he is shot in the leg as Britta accidentally ignites the puddle of rum by dropping her lit joint into it, Troy returns to see the apartment in fire and Pierce bleeding out. | |||
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"Timeline Six" | Roll number: Chosen: Abed | |
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Abed is chosen and demands money from his guests to pay for the pizza. Britta goes to the bathroom after Jeff stops her from singing; she later emerges high and reveals to Shirley the group's pact not to enable her baking. Jeff and Annie make out in the kitchen until the mood is spoiled. Pierce has a change of heart about his housewarming gift but is too late to stop Troy from opening it and angering him. Abed returns unaware that everyone is upset | |||
In the real world Abed caught the die before it could land. He advised that they shouldn't let the roll dictate their fate. Instead they should rely on each other to make the right decisions. He then revealed that Jeff had tricked them all since his proposed method of deciding who would leave was fixed. Counting down from his left at the table from one to six ensured he would never be picked as he was seventh one seated. Jeff owned up to his attempted manipulation which made the group insist that he do the task he was trying to avoid. As Jeff went to get the pizza, Abed gently placed the die on the table without rolling it ("Remedial Chaos Theory")
Season Four[]
In the study group's fourth year at school, Jeff had earned enough credits and was set to graduate early. However, he was uneasy about returning to his old life and leaving his friends behind. Jeff decided to create an excuse for him to stay by exploiting Abed's fears about creating new realities through dice rolls. At a study group meeting he produced the very same Yahtzee die Abed caught a year ago in order to resolve a study group dispute. Ultimately, Jeff couldn't bring himself to use the die due to a vivid daydream he had involving the Darkest Timeline ("Advanced Introduction to Finality").
Trivia[]
Other dice[]
| Although Abed was worried about Jeff throwing a die he has been shown himself on two separate occasions using a far more multifaceted die for a game of Dungeons & Dragons without fear of creating alternate timelines. |
External link[]
Why the plural of "die" is "dice" not "douse".