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The Amazing Digital Circus's leaked finale has sent the offbeat animated series's fanbase into a bit of a tailspin. As with any major negative development in a fanbase these days, a very loud minority of viewers have already started pointing fingers as to who is to blame, or even who isn't reacting to the news properly. Which is why, amidst all the chaos, it's worth remembering that TADC's studios GLITCH actually fought to keep spoilers from the internet, even as they were making a historic deal to get the finale into theaters.

We came across the story thanks to the reporting at Cartoon Brew, who published a letter from GLITCH's CEO Kevin Lerdwichagul addressing fans' spoiler concerns. At the time of the publication, the episode hadn't leaked yet, and online Amazing Digital Circus fans were worried that spoilers would flood the internet in the interim between the time that episode 9 came to movie theaters and when it streamed on YouTube - a gap of roughly two weeks.

"The two-week gap came after a lot of back and forth," wrote Lerdwichagul. "Theaters were originally asking for a minimum of a month. I pushed hard to get it down to just one week or less, but they weren't willing to budge that far. Two weeks was where we finally landed, and even that was apparently 'unheard of' for them." 

Of course, with the details and footage of episode 9 now crawling across The Amazing Digital Circus forums, the fight to limit the theatrical run could feel a little bit in vain. It's worth remembering, though, that GLITCH did put up that fight, even with such a massive opportunity on their hands, and that in the end, the other purpose of putting The Amazing Digital Circus in theaters has absolutely been achieved.

"The reason we're pushing for this at all," Lerdwichagul said earlier in the letter, "Is because this one event has the potential to change how the entire industry views indie animation. If this works, if we get a YouTube animated series into thousands of theatres globally, it opens the door not just for us, but for many creators, many projects, and the future of original, creator-led storytelling."

The Amazing Digital Circus episode 9 begins its limited theatrical run June 4 before debuting on YouTube June 19. Given what's potentially at stakes, maybe we should all be headed to the theater.

Watch the full Amazing Digital Circus panel from Emerald City Comic Con 2026: