Witches are not attracted to sugar. New Theory

[Jaffart]

So the theory for over the past decade is that witches are attracted to sugar because the largest concentration of them are in the sugar mill of Hard Rain, but I believe this theory is wrong. Witches were women that had extreme sources of grief. Once they turn into witches they tend to teem at the source of their grief such as the abandoned bride at her wedding in The Passing, the bikini witches in the p0rn yacht in The Sacrifice comic, and the sugar mill where their loved ones died in a sugar dust explosion.

What happened to Ducatel?

Hard Rain takes place in a small town, probably named Ducatel. By the time the survivors run through, there are multiple homes that appear to have been deteriorating for years as evidenced by collapsed walls and plants growing through the floor. Other homes have large moving boxes and one home was having a garage sale before the infection hit. That is not something to do when trying to evacuate a fast moving disaster, which the people of Ducatel have experience with due to hurricanes. Many people had moved away, were trying to move, or were too poor to take care of their homes. Something caused an economic collapse in the town; the permanent shut down of the sugar mill.

What happened to the sugar mill?

The sugar mill is extremely damaged and was starting to be demolished before the infection came, but all of the damage cannot be from controlled demolition. The roofs of all of the main buildings are either collapsed or completely missing. The walls of the main three buildings have partially collapsed with piles of rubble strewn about the place. The floors of the buildings are covered with dirt and grass. Large pipes and giant tanks have fallen over. The largest building, the one with the temporary elevator, is almost unrecognizable with the concrete showing signs of extreme deterioration and cracking. And while there are infected workers and contractor trailers present, there are few to no signs of large construction equipment or cranes being deployed. This was not a controlled demolition.

The damage to the sugar mill is also not from a hurricane. The survivors go through the mill during a hurricane and no additional damage occurs, even though all of the structures are structurally unsound.

If it wasn't a hurricane or demolition, what could have caused all of this damage? The answer is a sugar dust explosion similar to the 2008 Imperial Sugar refinery explosion. When fine sugar dust is suspended in air it can ignite like gun powder with just a spark. This is what happened at Imperial Sugar where 14 people died and 36 were injured. I recommended looking up photos of the explosion's aftermath. There are so many similarities between the Hard Rain sugar mill and the Imperial Refinery that I can't believe I haven't seen posts on it before.

The Effects from the Sugar Mill Explosion

The sugar mill explosion most likely killed well over a dozen people and left dozens more severely injured and crippled. This would have left many women with dead loved ones to grieve and/or surviving loved ones without a job or too injured to work. Either way this would also cause these women to financially struggle, adding to their grief. The high concentration of grieving women led to a high concentration of witches once the infection hit. The witches then congregated at the source of their grief, the sugar mill.

The idea that sugar attracts witches never made a whole lot of sense. If witches are attracted to sugar then why aren't they all in the sugar cane field? Why are they mostly inside a sugar mill that has been abandoned for possibly years with all of its sugar and molasses most likely washed away or spoiled?

Even if sugar does attract witches that would not explain their high concentration in such a small town. More witches are encountered in Ducatel than in major cities like Savannah (Dead Center) and New Orleans (The Parish).

Last Bit of Speculation

In the house with the garage sale there are multiple piles of dead bodies with splashes of blood on the walls. The only bedroom has a single person bed, but the bathroom has two sinks with two mirrors. I believe this points to the home being occupied by a woman who once lived together with a man who died in the mill explosion. The grief caused by the sugar mill explosion led to her transforming into a witch. The dead bodies in the house are her victims after she turned.

TLDR

The Hard Rain sugar mill is damaged the way it is because of a sugar dust explosion (look up the 2008 Georgia Imperial Sugar refinery explosion). The explosion killed the loved ones of many women in the town, leading them into extreme grief and becoming witches. They gather in the sugar mill not because of sugar (which is probably washed away or rotten), but because the mill is the source of their grief.

[Thee Frog Of Wisdom]

k

[Geebanger0]

correct, they are not attracted to sugar, they are attracted to buff shirtless men such as myself

[Witch]

that is a really good, well thought out, and well researched theory. but unfortunately im the witch and your entire theory is wrong

[sokolov]

the sugar mill is just a crescendo event similar to the impound lot in the parish and the sugar part is just a joke from writers to make chatgpt morons like you post these "speculations"

[sʜᴀ]

Mods can we pin this thread ?

[Thee Frog Of Wisdom]

Originally posted by sʜᴀ:

Mods can we pin this thread ?

mf no

[PHAT CAT]

Originally posted by sʜᴀ:

Mods can we pin this thread ?

no

[JAiZ]

That's a really interesting theory. I always found it weird how the sugar mill is clearly dilapidated and abandoned, so there obviously wouldn't be any sugar stored there anymore, which begs the question of what the witches are actually being attracted to.

Even with the assumption that the cane field is what attracts them, the witches are strewn about in other parts of the mill - If they were attracted to the sugar cane, then they'd all be in the cane field (Or at least most of them).

This theory does rely on some assumptions, but the real life event in 2008 (A year before L4D canonically takes place) and the connection to grief and trauma of the witch bride (Left at the altar/Heartbroken/abandoned/etc.) and bikini witches (Sex work/Degradation/Exploitation/etc.) would make those assumptions consistent and plausible, so the theory as a whole has considerable merit.

I also like how this notion gives the witches more depth than just "She's depressed so she cries all day lol", and adds a potential extra layer to the green flu virus - This theory would imply that the virus doesn't just mess with your biology, it messes with your fundamental consciousness on a deep, mental level beyond just making you hallucinate while your brain overflows with adrenaline and testosterone.

[Razör]

So the theory for over the past decade is that witches are attracted to sugar because the largest concentration of them are in the sugar mill of Hard Rain, but I believe this theory is wrong. Witches were women that had extreme sources of grief. Once they turn into witches they tend to teem at the source of their grief such as the abandoned bride at her wedding in The Passing, the bikini witches in the p0rn yacht in The Sacrifice comic, and the sugar mill where their loved ones died in a sugar dust explosion.

What happened to Ducatel?
Hard Rain takes place in a small town, probably named Ducatel. By the time the survivors run through, there are multiple homes that appear to have been deteriorating for years as evidenced by collapsed walls and plants growing through the floor. Other homes have large moving boxes and one home was having a garage sale before the infection hit. That is not something to do when trying to evacuate a fast moving disaster, which the people of Ducatel have experience with due to hurricanes. Many people had moved away, were trying to move, or were too poor to take care of their homes. Something caused an economic collapse in the town; the permanent shut down of the sugar mill.

What happened to the sugar mill?
The sugar mill is extremely damaged and was starting to be demolished before the infection came, but all of the damage cannot be from controlled demolition. The roofs of all of the main buildings are either collapsed or completely missing. The walls of the main three buildings have partially collapsed with piles of rubble strewn about the place. The floors of the buildings are covered with dirt and grass. Large pipes and giant tanks have fallen over. The largest building, the one with the temporary elevator, is almost unrecognizable with the concrete showing signs of extreme deterioration and cracking. And while there are infected workers and contractor trailers present, there are few to no signs of large construction equipment or cranes being deployed. This was not a controlled demolition.

The damage to the sugar mill is also not from a hurricane. The survivors go through the mill during a hurricane and no additional damage occurs, even though all of the structures are structurally unsound.

If it wasn't a hurricane or demolition, what could have caused all of this damage? The answer is a sugar dust explosion similar to the 2008 Imperial Sugar refinery explosion. When fine sugar dust is suspended in air it can ignite like gun powder with just a spark. This is what happened at Imperial Sugar where 14 people died and 36 were injured. I recommended looking up photos of the explosion's aftermath. There are so many similarities between the Hard Rain sugar mill and the Imperial Refinery that I can't believe I haven't seen posts on it before.

The Effects from the Sugar Mill Explosion
The sugar mill explosion most likely killed well over a dozen people and left dozens more severely injured and crippled. This would have left many women with dead loved ones to grieve and/or surviving loved ones without a job or too injured to work. Either way this would also cause these women to financially struggle, adding to their grief. The high concentration of grieving women led to a high concentration of witches once the infection hit. The witches then congregated at the source of their grief, the sugar mill.

The idea that sugar attracts witches never made a whole lot of sense. If witches are attracted to sugar then why aren't they all in the sugar cane field? Why are they mostly inside a sugar mill that has been abandoned for possibly years with all of its sugar and molasses most likely washed away or spoiled?

Even if sugar does attract witches that would not explain their high concentration in such a small town. More witches are encountered in Ducatel than in major cities like Savannah (Dead Center) and New Orleans (The Parish).

Last Bit of Speculation
In the house with the garage sale there are multiple piles of dead bodies with splashes of blood on the walls. The only bedroom has a single person bed, but the bathroom has two sinks with two mirrors. I believe this points to the home being occupied by a woman who once lived together with a man who died in the mill explosion. The grief caused by the sugar mill explosion led to her transforming into a witch. The dead bodies in the house are her victims after she turned.

TLDR
The Hard Rain sugar mill is damaged the way it is because of a sugar dust explosion (look up the 2008 Georgia Imperial Sugar refinery explosion). The explosion killed the loved ones of many women in the town, leading them into extreme grief and becoming witches. They gather in the sugar mill not because of sugar (which is probably washed away or rotten), but because the mill is the source of their grief.

[geordiebroon58]

nice theory, however to me it always seemed that the suger mill was more just incomplete and in a bit worse of a state because of the zombies trashing the place than there been some sort of explosion being set off

and while that tends to in some way explain the swarm of witches besides haha suger (never liked the theory) it just seems too unlikely

i just find that a bit of a streach to be the case when theres no sign of it taking explosive damage and if its small enough not to have been seen by the survivors then it wouldnt have had such a big impact to turn so meany into witches

dont get me wrong its a nice theory and better than suger idea but i tink its a bit of a loophole on its own

not to mention the additional spawning of witches was first and foremost nothing more than a bug that got turned into a feature and lore explamation was probably something that slipped their mind

[RandomDude]

Witches are supposed to be female survivors-turned zombies that were abandoned by their friends to die / were betrayed etc. Some of them may have seen their children/babies be eaten.

That's why they're full of grief/anger.

[Wiesshund]

Witches are attracted to an auto shotgun to the face
It is also the cause of their grief/anger

[Sr Xiliann]

Imagine still making some theories about universe which was abandoned by Valve.

[Witch]

Originally posted by Addiction:

Imagine still making some theories about universe which was abandoned by Valve.

your point, being?...

[Razör]

Originally posted by Witch:

Originally posted by Addiction:

Imagine still making some theories about universe which was abandoned by Valve.

your point, being?...

I think you can figure that out