Music Discs: Minecraft's Trickiest Item | Deep Dive

The music discs are a challenging thing to understand from a lore perspective. But I have put it off long enough - it's time to see what secrets they hold!

Since I forgot to mention it in the video, this refers to Java edition.

Music by RetroGamingNow:
"Disc Overture"

[muscleman]

If you play 13 and then start 11 as 13 ends, it continues into 11 perfectly. It tells a story of a miner entering a cave, getting lost, trying to find his way out, and being chased by something, at the end he screams help me.

[blueorion]

C418 said that he imagines it as C418 in the game being a monster that runs around and records music My theory is that the c418 monster can make a wide variety of sounds with it's mouth thus the weird instrument sounds

[Basegud]

Imagine Star Wars where during a battle the camera cuts to an orchestra playing off to the side and then back to the battle. That would be hilarious

[mf]

“Don’t make a theory more interesting than the facts suggest”

Matpat: I’m gonna pretend I didn’t see that

[metrophidon]

I’m surprised you didn’t mention the fact that parrots dance when a music disc is played.

[noahryan]

What if creepers were secretly spies and their discs were just intel they recorded while out on missions. It would also explain why they explode when you get to close to them, as it could compromise their organization/faction. Even further, it would explain their green coat and they'd need grassy-looking camouflage to remain undetached. Food for thought.

Edit: This would also explain why they travel under the cover of darkness even though they don't burn up in sunlight like many of the other hostile mobs as they don't want to be seen by enemy forces and have their mission compromised.

[alba]

Fun facts: Discs don't have subtitles unlike every other diagetic sound in the game.

[mylescarley]

The music editing to this is as fantastic as the music discs themselves.

[hunter_does_art]

"I'm not going to create a theory more interesting than the facts suggest."

And this is why we watch RGN instead of Game Theory

[Aziara]

What if creepers were made to be mobile jukeboxes? They see you, think you look like the old Builders... but they've so old they blow up when they try to play the disc for you.

The skeleton *was* a Builder, and so maybe they have a very specific way of firing the arrow that the player doesn't use. A particular way of disabling a malfunctioning mobile jukebox without damaging the music.

[Milkthatsock]

The part about “not everything is thumbnail ready hype” really solidifies you as a great theorist we can get behind, you’re willing to let people down when there isn’t much there, for the sake of tegridy in your work, huge respect

[ignacioescandon]

Literally every time these come out I’m excited to watch them

[joelcolegrove]

Since all skeletons use bows they must have been trained as skilled archers and hunters during life. Maybe they know how to kill creepers without destroying the valuable treasure inside them?

[TheOGSB]

so appearently in bedrock u can find "mellohi" and "wait" in buried treasure.

[FogzArt]

And now there are two new ones… and the deep dark disc is DEFINITELY lore heavy

[ny]

I think Minecraft’s lore is connected to the real world and even acknowledges it’s a fictional universe in a semi-paradoxical way. I think it’s lore could be connected to even its creators, the device it’s running on, and even you the player.

[bigotis]

You're an og if you remember when the disc "wait" was called "where are we now"

[samurexatlas]

Disc 11 is someone hunted, and 13 is a graveyard with rattling chains they sound.

[RailfoxStudios]

Just a thought: Many zombies are what remains of the ancient builders. What about skeletons? They are obviously powered more by magic rather than fungi, but the skeletons come across as smarter than zombies, at least by a small margin.

Skeletons have been using tools long before zombies have, and maybe over time they managed to “teach” them to wield shovels and what-not, but skeletons had bows and arrows since day 1. I can’t help but think the skeletons know something…such as where specifically they can aim to get creepers to drop their discs.

The skeletons aren’t on your side obviously. But they seem like they retain memories from their previous existence, even if it’s only in shreds here and there. They don’t remember what it was like to have humanity but they do remember how to use bows and arrows, which is kind of complex for a dead thing to remember.

Zombie fingers no doubt struggle to use their own weapons effectively, they obviously have rigor mortis. Skeletons haven’t got stiffening flesh to slow them down, and bows do take some considerable coordination to use. Not to mention they have reasonably good aim.

Maybe in that moment, when a creeper ends up in their line of fire, something about the sight reminds the skeleton of more hidden knowledge. “If I shoot this creeper in this spot, it will die and drop a disc.”

The skeleton has no idea what a disc is or why it knows this specific piece of info. But, curiosity strikes in that split second, and they are generally compelled to do this strange thing and see what happens. In that moment, they are acting on one part instinct and one part forgotten secrets known only to the ancient builders.

[lasercraft]

Strangely enough, if a Wither Skeleton somehow kills a Creeper it will also drop a music disc. All types of Skeletons work, even though you would never feasibly be able to get a Wither Skeleton to kill a Creeper unless you spawned one in artificially holding a bow.