Theory about the ending (contains spoilers!)

[Gremling]

We've all seen the strange way the pixel-coins and dreams shove themselves into the game and I think that they seem that out of place for a good reason.

The points and the quest-like way to collect them was all about "being pious, faithful and god abiding". It wasn't about doing the right things, like giving the prisoner medicine or being kind to other people. Points could only be collected through religious acts, like collecting iconography or lighting a candle on a grave. And they were lost when she did things that went against the religion like sexual stuff. That's why she lost all of her points while getting r***d by the prison guard. It was also, why the artifact in the end was spitting endless points. It was a holy artifact, a tool of god, so it should fix every problem, right? But it turned out to be an empty promise of salvation. Religious deeds did nothing but collecting imaginary karma points, they didn't heal the sick prisoner, it didn't free her of her intrusive thoughts (aka "the devil") and there was no plan after all. All the leveling up in piousness did nothing and served nothing. So she tossed the artifact away and the rest of her faith with her.

The prisoner realized that earlier, when he took the artifact and sold it at a pawn shop. Him hearing "the voice of god" probably was the infection of his rotting arm leading to hallucinations and it stopped when Indika gave him shots of the medicine (probably an antibiotic). Which is why he said he stopped hearing god when they met.

There was so much hypocrisy in the religious structure Indika had to conform to, that the inner voice that criticized it became part of the "devil". She felt plagued and mocked by these intrusive thoughts and the struggles to believe blindly - so she outsourced these unwanted thoughts into this ugly, devil like figure. You can see that he has always been a part of herself when she looks in the mirror while holding the artifact. The physical manifestation of that devil was all in her mind, just like the hallucinations and the "world that ripped apart" when she was confronted with his rants. Because it questioned everything she wanted to believe. The prison guard wasn't attacked by the devil the way she's seen it, but he got crushed by a falling wardrobe. As player, you can see that while she's hurrying away. The moral debate Indika had with the devil was actually him comforting instead of mocking her in that traumatizing moment. Explaining, that the world can't be painted black or white and everything can be seen from a rational, analysing point of view instead of a judgemental one. Her inner devil then said, he would love to leave her, but she had to stop pushing him away first. Which is more or less what a therapist tells someone who's struggling with intrusive thoughts. She had to accept, what was a part of her.

In the end, it's pretty open what she thinks or feels after tossing away the artifact. Maybe she felt rejected and lied to by the religion that was supposed to save people like her. Maybe she felt freed. I guess it's a matter of perspective and interpretation.

I think the entire game is a sad story about losing faith.

[BlueJC]

It’s makes no sense. The lives of the saints are all about helping others, if she was God loving and pious that’s exactly what learning about them would do. Not collecting them a thinking magic would save her, but loving lives like they did.

All I can get from the ending is that she always cared about nothing but herself. She never understood her religion or God. If anything the devil alone is her true self, regression to a self serving narcissist.

[Pazuzu]

It interestingly connects the kinds of mindless tasks she was forced to do in the cloister with gaming loops (carry the water--get XP!) There is an undercurrent of the Stanley Parable in all this, except it is not just gaming that is critiqued, but the overlaps between mainstream gaming and organized religion.

[Anw3ndung]

Originally posted by BlueJC:

All I can get from the ending is that she always cared about nothing but herself. She never understood her religion or God. If anything the devil alone is her true self, regression to a self serving narcissist.

You completely misunderstood the whole game. Please read again what Gremling wrote, that's what the game tries to say.

[Landfar]

Originally posted by Anw3ndung:

You completely misunderstood the whole game. Please read again what Gremling wrote, that's what the game tries to say.

Well, that's very confident of you to assume you know exactly what they wanted to say. I think we all just sharing our thoughts. OP's post is entitled "Theory" for a reason. And honestly, one theory is as good as another; discussion is always more interesting.

I personally like both theories. I like Gremling's take, but something about the assumption that it's all Indika rings true to me.

I think Indika was traumatized by the death of her lover and felt partly responsible because she froze and lied to her dad about him. She started hearing voices, seeing things. She was just a little girl who didn't know how to deal with it, so her mind whispered her a convenient and easy answer: hey, it's all the devil's doing. And so she decided that the only way to get rid of him and become "normal" again was to become a god's servant.

But she found no comfort in her peers, just rigid rules and rigid people. And you can take it just as a critique of organized religion, but I think it's more than that.

For her, the path to salvation was just a game. If you get enough carma points or whatever, you'll surely be saved. For example, do you remember how important it was to her that it was SHE who saved that raped girl? She mentions it quite a few times to be just a selfless act.

But I think the truth is, she was no saint or possessed by evil; she wasn't searching for god or doing the devil's bidding. She was just an ordinary girl who didn't know how to deal with her trauma, and who tried to use religion to "mend" her mind. And partly because of her environment, partly because finding God was just a selfish means to an end for her, she didn't find true faith.

We don't know what happened to her after, but I think the final scene with the mirror shows that she has at least come to terms with her condition. Maybe she finally understood that it was not the devil but just a part of herself, which is a good start to healing.

[IndridCold]

i enjoy this interpretation of the ending and i agree with it.

[Charlie]

Originally posted by Landfar:

Originally posted by Anw3ndung:

You completely misunderstood the whole game. Please read again what Gremling wrote, that's what the game tries to say.

Well, that's very confident of you to assume you know exactly what they wanted to say. I think we all just sharing our thoughts. OP's post is entitled "Theory" for a reason. And honestly, one theory is as good as another; discussion is always more interesting.

I personally like both theories. I like Gremling's take, but something about the assumption that it's all Indika rings true to me.

I think Indika was traumatized by the death of her lover and felt partly responsible because she froze and lied to her dad about him. She started hearing voices, seeing things. She was just a little girl who didn't know how to deal with it, so her mind whispered her a convenient and easy answer: hey, it's all the devil's doing. And so she decided that the only way to get rid of him and become "normal" again was to become a god's servant.

But she found no comfort in her peers, just rigid rules and rigid people. And you can take it just as a critique of organized religion, but I think it's more than that.

For her, the path to salvation was just a game. If you get enough carma points or whatever, you'll surely be saved. For example, do you remember how important it was to her that it was SHE who saved that raped girl? She mentions it quite a few times to be just a selfless act.

But I think the truth is, she was no saint or possessed by evil; she wasn't searching for god or doing the devil's bidding. She was just an ordinary girl who didn't know how to deal with her trauma, and who tried to use religion to "mend" her mind. And partly because of her environment, partly because finding God was just selfish a means to an end for her, she didn't find true faith.

We don't know what happened to her after, but I think the final scene with the mirror shows that she has at least come to terms with her condition. Maybe she finally understood that it was not the devil but just a part of herself, which is a good start to healing.

I really like this interpretation

[Kanóc János]

Originally posted by Landfar:

Originally posted by Anw3ndung:

You completely misunderstood the whole game. Please read again what Gremling wrote, that's what the game tries to say.

Well, that's very confident of you to assume you know exactly what they wanted to say. I think we all just sharing our thoughts. OP's post is entitled "Theory" for a reason. And honestly, one theory is as good as another; discussion is always more interesting.

I personally like both theories. I like Gremling's take, but something about the assumption that it's all Indika rings true to me.

I think Indika was traumatized by the death of her lover and felt partly responsible because she froze and lied to her dad about him. She started hearing voices, seeing things. She was just a little girl who didn't know how to deal with it, so her mind whispered her a convenient and easy answer: hey, it's all the devil's doing. And so she decided that the only way to get rid of him and become "normal" again was to become a god's servant.

But she found no comfort in her peers, just rigid rules and rigid people. And you can take it just as a critique of organized religion, but I think it's more than that.

For her, the path to salvation was just a game. If you get enough carma points or whatever, you'll surely be saved. For example, do you remember how important it was to her that it was SHE who saved that raped girl? She mentions it quite a few times to be just a selfless act.

But I think the truth is, she was no saint or possessed by evil; she wasn't searching for god or doing the devil's bidding. She was just an ordinary girl who didn't know how to deal with her trauma, and who tried to use religion to "mend" her mind. And partly because of her environment, partly because finding God was just a selfish means to an end for her, she didn't find true faith.

We don't know what happened to her after, but I think the final scene with the mirror shows that she has at least come to terms with her condition. Maybe she finally understood that it was not the devil but just a part of herself, which is a good start to healing.

I was looking for a similar comment and am thankful for finding it. In my opinion both the theories above have of plenty evidence and neither of them exclude one another. In other words: Indika as traumatized as she was, feeling shame, guilt and whatnot really is someone that might not make the best decisions and often puts her wellbeing first than the others as it's seen in the "flashback" (though im not sure many people would have acted better, so I wouldn't judge her especially at such a young age) and when she saw the girl getting r***d, she thought about helping her, but in the end she hid. The only reason she was able to help the girl is because her hallucinations got the better of her. But she did try to help Ilya and I believe she meant well, even though she mostly stayed with him, because of the promise of a miracle.

I don't think she is a bad person because of this. She's someone who just couldn't grasp what true faith really is, in the midst of her suffering, she desperately wanted something that would mean redemption and reward, everything else has been already said.

[blablaji]

Originally posted by BlueJC:

It’s makes no sense. The lives of the saints are all about helping others, if she was God loving and pious that’s exactly what learning about them would do. Not collecting them a thinking magic would save her, but loving lives like they did.

All I can get from the ending is that she always cared about nothing but herself. She never understood her religion or God. If anything the devil alone is her true self, regression to a self serving narcissist.

Every saint you read about in the game is actively hurt by their faith, and none of the stories have anything to do with helping others.

All of the nuns in the cloister shun her and get her to do busy work to keep her away from them, none of them try to understand what she is dealing with or help her in any way.

The demon is never narcissistic, it doesn't even offer Indika any help until she starts to come to term with her feelings at the end of the game, it's obviously a stand in for intrusive thoughts and the questions she is trying to suppress in order to live the way she's "supposed" to.

Indika is a traumatised woman being forced to live a restrictive life she never wanted since childhood, the ending is her coming to terms with her disillusionment about faith

[blablaji]

Another point about the "demon" just being repressed parts of Indika, in the boiler room puzzle where you drop into the same room from different angles, if you get into a position to see yourself through one of the doors you'll see the demon mirroring your position and movements in the other versions of the room