I used to think Fuentes would burn the bridge first, but now I think Ralph will do it. I’ll explain.
For perspective, go back about about a month ago to shortly before Nick began gunt guarding in earnest. Ralph was still reeling from getting blown out by Jim, Kino Casino was dunking on him weekly, his bowling event was a laughing stock of the internet, his views were consistently under 1k, and everyone was calling him a rapist. To top it all off, Dick Masterson was being distant toward Ralph, even inviting Metokur on TDS. Ralph wasn’t getting the validation he needed from his usual internet daddies, or his audience. You could see the desperation on Ralph’s face.
But that all changed when Nick, for reasons that elude me, started essentially co-signing Ethan Ralph. At that point in time, the AF brand was much stronger than it currently is, in part because many Groypers still had illusions about AF being a conservative political movement. Of course AF was struggling, and there was drama behind the scenes, but overall Nick’s brand was still a million times healthier than Ralph’s brand. Remember, unlike Ralph, Nick has charisma, and there were people who actually gave a shit what Nick had to say. So when Nick endorsed Ralph’s petty misbehavior (abusing DMCA takedowns), it was like giving water to a man dying of thirst. That was all the validation Ralph needed to begin his manic cycle again. From Ralph’s perspective, Nick had the appearance of a shiny new internet daddy.
It’s pretty obvious what Ralph stood to gain from that transaction. But what did Nick expect to gain for someone as universally reviled as Ralph? The fallout was almost instantaneous. People who were favorable or on the fence about AF felt compelled to disavow. Nick then made the stupidest decision of his life and started attacking Ralph’s enemies. Ralph, of course, has a massive collection of enemies (biggest in the sector), and they’ve pretty much all been radicalized by Ralph’s antagonistic tendencies. Most notably, Nick started attacking Mister Metokur—a guy who is funnier, smarter, more quick-witted, and more popular than Nick. They had a debate in which Jim humiliated “Nick the Knife” like no one has before. I won’t rehash that episode here. Suffice to say Nick basically exposed himself as a painfully unfunny fraud and a hypocrite.
Fast forward a month. A ton of shit has happened, much of it either directly or indirectly as a result of Nick letting Ralph hitch his wagon to AF. AF has basically imploded. The name “Nick Fuentes” is now almost universally maligned by both the Right and Left. The shitposters and meme-makers are now making fun of Nick for being a fed, catboy, incel, homosexual cum detective. But Ralph is actually in about the same position he was before Nick co-signed him—pulling about 600-700 viewers. Ralph only broke even, and Nick lost the house.
In short, Ralph is gonna realize that he didn’t need Nick. He could have pulled those same 600-700 viewers all by himself. And when Ralph doesn’t need you, it’s just a matter of time until he tells you so.