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My Stray Kids Universe theory:
The members are in a dystopian world where they’re brainwashed into a system that expects perfection. They’re told they’re all different but for some reason they still feel like they’re all the same. In order to break out of that “system” to find themselves, they created their own District. District 9 is a safe place for anyone around the world who feels astray. A Haven where you can be yourself and Step Out of societal norms.

The whole I Am mini album series is trying to identify who they are as individuals. (I Am Not, I Am Who, I Am You) So it’s like questioning yourself. If I Am Not who they say I am, then Who am I? The mv for I Am You, can be interpreted in your own way just like many open ended Stray Kids songs but at the end of the day the members had the same goals to reach their ambitions and dreams as one team which led them to take the Hellevator to start their journey together.

When they embark the first “key” in their journey, Clé 1: Miroh (Clé is French for key & Miro means maze in Korean meanwhile the “h” in Miroh stands for heaven or hell depending on how their path goes) they enter the maze but when they tried to escape the maze, the hellavator brought them back to the same systematic society that they tried to run away from. So they rebelled and took the Road Not Taken or in other words choosing their own paths instead of “being guided.” Which brings us to the 2nd key, Clé 2: Yellow Wood mini album.

Side Effects is the most essential part of this whole Stray Kids journey and the way I viewed Side Effects was like a fork in the road. One path leads to the New World where everything they do is led by the system and guided with comfort but the 2nd path is the hard path to the unknown led by their own actions. These paths turn into 2 universes that chronologically happen at the same time and according to Chan, IN is the “glitch in the matrix” so he’s conscious of both worlds where they take the bus to the New World vs the off-road path, where they experience frustrations and dead ends but comfort each other and stay together despite the challenges.

In Levanter they showed both of the parallel universes. It starts off with Stray Kids in their apocalyptic world (where they chose their own path) staring at the door to the parallel world and then the mv enters through the keyhole into the universe to the New World in the same fields you’ll recognize from Hellavator.

The word Levanter is translated as a Mediterranean wind and we see the part where they feel the wind in the New World and follow its way through the doorway that parallel Chan is guiding them into. Notice that the members went from one field into another field when they walked through the door. It may represent being at a plateau in your career or life or whatever aspirations you might have. Sometimes people stay at their jobs for a long time and it’s bc they’ve become comfortable and they don’t want to move up in their careers bc they’re happy where they’re at. Which is okay but for Stray Kids they want more out of their careers and their lives so in order to grow they had to let go of that comfort. This explains why IN is “the glitch” bc he’s symbolic for that very reason. He’s the representation of struggling between comfort and growth.

Speaking of growth, the reason why the members have cuts on their faces is found in their TOP mv (jap vers.) The members fight against the Mediterranean wind (facing their challenges head on from making their own choices) which explains the cuts on their faces in Double Knot/Levanter and why they’re always found running bc they’re chasing after their goals even if they get hurt along the way.

They realized that they didn’t need a “key” to guide them through their journeys bc all they needed was themselves. Which 1) is why they burned the one way ticket to the New World and the Hellavator. And 2) why the 3rd mini album is called Clé: Levanter and not Clé 3, bc there is no 3rd key, they’re the key to opening whatever paves their way to their own successes.

As Levanter concludes its chapter in the Clé series by watching the moons collide in the New World, Go Live album/God’s Menu continues where Levanter left off from the other side (apocalyptic universe’s perspective) from the moment the 2 moons collided (explains why the red and white moons are on opposite sides) and two halves of themselves and the universes become one.

IN Life repackaged album represents the boys starting a Stray Kids rebellion by entering restricted places led by the system and sneaking through the back door. They Unlock District 9 for everyone not only Stays, to welcome an open haven for all.

This all seems like it’s about their journey through the kpop industry. You know? Stray Kids are rising to the top (just like what they wanted in Miroh) and they’re changing kpop by influencing how different they are and breaking out of the established system. Their song Haven concludes the Go Live album, and the lyrics literally say “Step out, do what you want”. Pretty much emphasizing, being your true self. Do whatever you want and live your best life no matter what anyone says. Hence why the repackaged album is called Insaeng which means “one’s life” - Go Live In Life

Symbols & more theories:
-Peter Pan and the lost boys is a recurring theme in the Stray Kids universe, Stray Kids can also mean “lost boys” and District 9 can be interpreted as skz’s version of Neverland and may also explain why “Captain Hook” is featured in most of their mv’s, as one of the politicians in Miroh, bus driver with the hook tattoo on his hand in Side Effects, security guard in Backdoor, and gangster leader in ALL IN.

-In Levanter, IN and Felix’s choreography where Felix stands behind IN like a shadow portrays letting go of your comfort or whatever may be holding you back from your true self.

-In Levanter, Felix’s “It’s all good now” can mean “I’m going to follow my heart, I’ll be okay” especially holding the “Broken Compass” in his hand. 3racha created a song called Broken Compass (which was recreated into Mixtape 4) and had inspiration from Pirates of the Caribbean. If you haven’t seen the movie, the main character Jack Sparrow has a compass that people think doesn’t work bc it doesn’t have the typical North, South, East and West. Little do they know it’s a magical compass that is not broken it leads a person to what their heart desires the most. So for Stray Kids, they’re letting us know they’re not following the basic structure of moving up the ladder of success or in this case pyramid (hint hint pyramid in Levanter) to get to the top. They’re following their own paths and doing whatever they want .

-Hyunjin is found lost and running into cross roads in Double Knot, TMT, and Astronaut bc he’s a metaphor for uncertainty, confusion, and “not knowing which path to take.”

-The bird that flies in Miroh might symbolize “the system” which is also the same bird that flies off of the door to the New World (universe led by the system) in Levanter

-The Astronaut mv is the comfortable parallel which explains why they’re so happy and Hyunjin runs into their systematic clones. Like I mentioned earlier, IN is the “glitch” so he sees the struggle Hyunjin experiences in Astronaut and is shown by himself sitting alone with the parallel moons at the end of Astronaut and sitting alone while everyone is running in the TOP mv.

-At the end of Side Effects the boys find Hyunjin sleeping, Astronaut could be Hyunjin dreaming? And it picks back up when Chan wakes him up in Levanter. Not the mv itself but the Levanter choreography starts off with Chan “waking up” Hyunjin just like when he woke him up at the end of the Side Effects mv.

-The Mirror choreo that’s shown by Changbin and Hyunjin in Levanter is symbolic for their parallel universes which is why the Red Moon and White Moon are on opposite sides in Levanter and in the GO生 trailer.

God’s Menu mv:
God concept: They’re the creators of their masterpieces
Science lab/Construction Site: They construct and experiment w/ genres, lyrics and concepts (God’s Menu concept possibly inspired by Alchemistry by 3racha)
Chef concept: Food comes in different flavors just like their music
Racetrack: Competition in the music industry

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