Theories for Mateo Javier Ruiz

• Ruiz has appeared in the following scenes:
  • Plan (B)ella
  • Interesting People
  • The Razor
  • Be the Overflow
  • Maybe in Another Life
  • Dess
  • Ruiz's Bookend
  • The Fear Of Emptiness/The Fear Of Excess
  • 607
  • Después de que el relámpago
• So far he has recognized Lynette and Odessa, referring to them rather familiarly as 'Nette and 'Dess
  • He also recognizes Veronica Sawyer, referring to her by surname
  • He did not recognize Tamara
  • He recognized Bella, noted that she's "always a therapist," and used her surname without it having been offered
  • Lynette died in his timeline (in his presence, it sounds like) and it was not a fun experience for him. Ruiz Bookend
    • Um. This is also a thing. Después de que el relámpago
      • Co-signed - I popped in here to say that I think this one is about Lynette
• Possible flood future refugee? Many references to water and boats, etc. (Be the Overflow, The Razor)
  • Ruiz states he doesn't "think anyone's ever been further" from home than he is, suggesting he may not be from this timeline (Interesting People)
  • He also implies that wherever he came from, he didn't mean to leave (Dess)
  • Wherever he was from, Ruiz and Odessa were lovers (Dess)
    • When she finds him in the Ark, newly restored, he initially mistakes her for his Dess, suggesting his timeline is either divergent from after this point, or in some possible parallel where Odessa's bloody confrontation with Eileen never happened
    • His Dess may be dead, he says he didn't mean to leave her behind, but maybe he had to leave her somewhere to die (Oscar Isaacs sang a song once and it had pretty lyrics and I haven't slept in 36 hours)
    • It's possible that Dess doesn't have Odessa's ability, because he seemed to recognize he wasn't looking at Dess anymore when he realized she had stopped time on him (Dess)
      • Or maybe she's just shooting up with Adynomine (The Ordinary World)
• He apparently knows and hates Veronica Sawyer (The Razor)
• Ruiz has a collection of books in his suite (The Razor)
  • By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart
  • The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
  • The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick
  • The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
    • This one was given to him by Tamara, and it was used to conceal the weapon he used to attack Veronica (Interesting People, The Razor)
  • Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges
    • This is now in the possession of Odessa
  • But has he read Mean Heat though?
• According to his dossier, Ruiz has the ability to create connected portals (Known by Odessa, known by Veronica Sawyer and confirmed in The Razor)
  • According to what Odessa has read, tests of his ability by the Institute have Not Gone Well
  • Should we be calling him Chell or…
• What is the garden?
  • In the delirium, Ruiz speaks to Odessa in Spanish, which she barely understands, save for one word: Jardín (Dess)
  • Could be referring to The Garden of Forking Paths, a short story contained within Ficciones
    • In the story, the each path in the garden represents different choices made, each path running parallel, suggesting that all possibilities happen simultaneously in different space, rather than time
• So, Liz found a really great article about black holes and I theorize that this is how Ruiz managed to travel from his timeline into ours
• In the drabble "607", Ruiz laments that he was unable to save someone 607 days ago
  • This could be referring to Lynette, who he definitely saved in the Ark
  • It could also be referring to Dess, as he did die knowing she escaped the Ark
    • Incidentally, 607 days before November 8, 2011, Odessa Knutson was being "recruited" to return to the Company as an agent (What)
      • This is almost certainly a coincidence that I'm not reading too much into; after all, we have no idea if Ruiz stepped properly sideways (i.e. May 3 in Flood Timeline to May 3 in our canon timeline)