Theory time
Cooked up in the horrible minds that inhabit the SSF official Discord (me and ‘The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’ but idk if they have tumblr)
So in Episode 4 “Freudian Sleep,” Einstein’s therapy session is interrupted by Tesla screaming at Darwin, saying “How could you do that to Pigeon?”
When he uses ‘pigeon’ as a name, he’s always referring to the white pigeon that he ‘loved in the way a man loves a woman.’
Everyone’s immediate assumption is that Darwin ate the pigeon. It makes sense, because he comes into the room taking the form of a cat.
But later in the show, Tesla’s white pigeon is shown to be alive.
Cat-Darwin leaves behind a trail of white feathers as he runs around Freud’s room. With a few exceptions, Darwin typically evolves into a white/grey animal, and has been shown to shed feathers before, even after he’s evolved into something other than a bird.
In real life, Charles Darwin not only kept and studied pigeons, but bred them. He was very enthusiastic about this hobby. Historian Janet Browne said that “Darwin loved his pigeons.. he spent hours reading self-help manuals and books by breeders to make sure he was doing the right thing and visiting shows and exhibitions to see what was available… The esoteric world of pigeon fanciers seemed to him delightfully fresh and curious.”
In the tight hallways of the clocktower, he may have thought it more reasonable to turn from a bird into an agile cat to avoid Tesla chasing him. In Freud’s office, Darwin tells Tesla that “It was natural selection - I was gentle!” which is an unusual thing to say when you’re caught in the middle of killing something.
Darwin wasn’t attacking or eating Tesla’s pigeon. He was attempting to mate with it.
