Theory on Keter's final abnormality (spoilers obviously)

[snek]

I get the feeling that the 5th abno of Keter is not only how the story will proceed for its ending, but that the abno faced will also depend on the ending taken.
I reckon that there will be four endings based on who's set of realizations you have completed.

Neither side fully completed: Poor Screenwriter's Note, Angela has used her revenge against Ayin as her mask to essentially depopulate The City yet never truly escaped the grasp of the strings that now pull her. At the end, a stranger (Roland) enters and eventually kills them, ending the killings. Neither side has truly changed from who they were, but the curtain is called, the play is over.

Only Angela fully completed: [CENSORED], representing the horror Roland saw alongside Salvador within the heart of the old L Corp that required both of them to have it scrubbed from their memory. Roland is the one that goes nuts, still blind with fury, distorting .

Only Roland fully completed: Silent Girl, Angela hasn't changed, she remains exactly as she was within L Corp despite all her effort: A bystander that is under the complete manipulation of another, but not the one that originally controlled her in L Corp of course. Angela is the one that has gone off the wall, now needing to be put down to stop her from destroying everything.

Both fully completed (100%): Mirror of Adjustment. I think the quote from it's abno page on release fits what I mean by this choice perfectly: "Those who face themselves in the mirror may appear the same, but in actuality, they have become completely different people.".
Through all that has gone on, with the support of the Sephirah, Roland and Angela have changed from who they were at the start, both originally being blinded by revenge for an event neither one never really were in control of.
What probably happens here likely involves both the T Corp box Argalia stole, and likely Carmen coming into the picture proper, serving as the voice that had been trying to coordinate all of these events for her own goals.

Both Silent Girl and Mirror of Adjustment were abnos of Keter previously, and the concept of mirrors and reflections are prominent in places in the game's opening, which not only hinted at Roland's realization, the final episode of the Floor of Religion, all of the Reverberation Ensemble, etc. Angela looks in the mirror and instead sees Carmen, she may look and see the same, but she has become a completely different person, she's no longer a shell made in the image of Carmen, becoming her own person throughout her trials and struggles.

[GeneralWarts]

Don't know if that would work for LoR, mechanically speaking. Imagine missing out on the 3 "bad ending" boss fights and having to hard reset your save to get them because you did what you were supposed to and realized every floor up until now e_e.

I could see something like LC's branching endings, where you get a different bad end if you fail one of the final receptions (A, B, and C corp anyone?). Although I'm thinking whatever Roland has planned has to do with the Kether fight, but afterwards we get some kind of third-party final boss with only one ending. Something (wild speculation time) like The Head's army or the Pianist or maybe the Reverb gang fused into some horrible early Final Fantasy Kefka-esque monstrosity by Carmen/Angelica's spooky distortion-ghost-voice or whatever.

[AritheReaper]

Interesting theory. Sort of weird to imagine going for a "Roland only" or "Angela only" ending, especially given the nature of the Blue Reverb fight, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if there aren't multiple endings at this point.

[snek]

Originally posted by ExtremeGary:

Don't know if that would work for LoR, mechanically speaking. Imagine missing out on the 3 "bad ending" boss fights and having to hard reset your save to get them because you did what you were supposed to and realized every floor up until now e_e.

I could see something like LC's branching endings, where you get a different bad end if you fail one of the final receptions (A, B, and C corp anyone?). Although I'm thinking whatever Roland has planned has to do with the Kether fight, but afterwards we get some kind of third-party final boss with only one ending. Something (wild speculation time) like The Head's army or the Pianist or maybe the Reverb gang fused into some horrible early Final Fantasy Kefka-esque monstrosity by Carmen/Angelica's spooky distortion-ghost-voice or whatever.

In LC you unlock the previous endings as you move on through the final days even if you had the conditions to not get them (I.e. you already had all meltdowns completed). I expect MoA is the one to actually end up on the actual abno page tab whereas the others are basically "the game ends here".
And my guess is similar with the blue crew who might likely be supported by Carmen, for all we know the One True Book might've just been something Carmen has used to string along Angela and is actually just to bring Carmen back to the physical world.