The universe portal is a machine hidden away in Stan Pines' underground laboratory.
History
The completed blueprint.
The key to starting the machine is a complex algorithm that can only be completed by owning the journals 1, 2, and 3. Stan has searched for 2 and 3 for thirty years.
During his studies on the anomalies of Gravity Falls, the Author of the Journals theorized that the source of the weirdness was a dimension of weirdness that leaked into the Earth. Deciding to investigate this dimension, he and his associate Fiddleford McGucket built the Universe Portal to break the boundaries between worlds. During the initial test run, McGucket was almost sucked in, and after being pulled out by the Author began to speak in gibberish and says the strange prophecy; "When gravity falls and earth becomes sky, all fear the beast with one eye" Regaining his senses, McGucket realized that the Portal could destroy the world and begged the Author to take it down. When the Author refused, McGucket left to forget what he had seen.
Eventually the Author realized that he was in over his head, and that McGucket's warnings were right. Hiding Journals 2 and 3, he called his brother Stan Pines to Gravity Falls to take 1 and hide it somewhere on the other side of the planet. However, Stan was outraged at being asked to go further away, and the two began to fight. During the struggle the Portal activated, and pulled the Author in. Stan would spend the next thirty years trying to reactivate it and bring his brother back.
After Dipper and Mabel Pines defeat Gideon Gleeful's giant robot and Stan exposes Gideon for the fraud he is, Stan steals journal 2 from Gideon. Later, Dipper shares that he owns 3 and Stan takes it on the pretense that fantasy books such as those were making Dipper's imagination run wild.
Stan takes the two books and combines them with 1. He inputs the combined data gathered from them into a large machine. This activates the portal, and Stan sets his computer to run a scan on the other side quadrant by quadrant.
In "Not What He Seems," the portal slowly starts to lose its stability, causing anomalies that result in the Earth losing its gravitational pull. It is then revealed towards the end of the episode that, when fully functional, the portal could result in a universal catastrophe, resulting in the destruction of everything. After Mabel decides to trust Stan's word and let the timer reach zero, the portal explodes with tremendous force, seemingly obliterating everything around it. However, the energy given off from it settles before any damage happens. The explosion results in most of the portal being destroyed, save for the still-functional main center piece, where the author of the journals is able to walk out.
Function
Originally the machine was built to potentially benefit all of mankind, but something went wrong.[1] Dipper gathered from his section of the algorithm in journal #3, that it is some kind of strange, futuristic, super weapon. And Gideon believed it would lead to a gateway of unimaginable power.[2] The cryptogram written on the page describes it as a portal that opens a gateway to infinite new worlds.
However, according calculations by a young McGucket, the more time that passes the more unstable the portal becomes, and the probability of failure increases dramatically.[1] If necessary there is an emergency shutdown switch to the right of the portal.
When all three journals are placed together, the following is written in invisible ink:
The machine was meant to create knowledge but it is too powerful! The device, if fully operational could tear our universe apart! I was wrong the whole time! It must not fall into the wrong hands. If the clock ever reaches zero our universe is doomed! Total global destruction!
Appearance
Portal with Behenian fixed stars denoted.
The main section is a large, inverted metal triangle with lights dotting along its edge. There is a large hole in the center and symbols encircling the hole. The symbols represent the Behenian fixed stars, which are a selection of fifteen stars considered especially useful for magical applications in medieval astrology. The bottom tip of the triangle is connected to a base with many large thick cords.
In the episode "Not What He Seems" we see the portal many times. In the beginning we find out that it is fuelled by radioactive waste. Late in the episode we see it causing several anomalies that cause the world to lose gravity and then shortly after drop everything. In the end we see the symbols on the outside flash rainbow colors and spin until a dark background appears revealing Stan's brother, the author.
Most of the portal's infrastructure was destroyed in the blast when its countdown clock reached zero. The only part left intact was the main portal itself. The symbols for Spica and Arcturus stay lit.
Sightings
Season 1
- 120. "Gideon Rises"
Season 2
- 201. "Scary-oke"
- 204. "Sock Opera" (pictured)
- 207. "Society of the Blind Eye"
- 211. "Not What He Seems"
- 212. "A Tale of Two Stans" (flashback)
Trivia
- Once activated, anomalies occur in close proximity, causing periods of zero, and even anti-gravity.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Society of the Blind Eye." Matt Chapman, Alex Hirsch (writers) & Sunil Hall (director). Gravity Falls. Disney XD. October 27, 2014. No. 7, season 2.
- ↑ "Gideon Rises." Matt Chapman, Michael Rianda, Alex Hirsch (writers) & John Aoshima, Joe Pitt (directors). Gravity Falls. Disney Channel. August 2, 2013. No. 20, season 1.