Ending Sequence(s) Discussion (Spoilers)

[ShortRound]

Got through the game and watched all the endings. I don't see many places (or a dedicated sub-reddit) to chat about the story, so posting here. A had some questions, particularly about the last set of memories / communion right after Secretary merges with the Source / Occupant. There are a series of dialogue sequences in an apartment building where we see conversations with various characters and also Iris' mother..

I'm confused about a few things:

1. I generally interpreted this section as in Blue's head (or Secretary's?) as everything merges with the Occupant. It is hard to tell what conversations actually happened (memories of character conversations) vs. what is being constructed (such as the conversation with Iris and her mother).[/spolier]


2. There were some dialogue sequences with Healer and Bang Bang where they talk about BB being "sick" with a virus. This is the first time it is ever mentioned. Then a subsequent shot of BB killing herself(?). Was this all metaphorical for BB struggling with having to kill one of the sisters when they broke Watcher free from captivity? She was clearly still alive (at least up until the end when she is shot by Mauve).[/spolier]


3. Was Knower actually the Eldest? There was a conversation between Principal / Youngest and Eldest in the mass communion. Not sure to interpret this as a construction, or as an actual memory.[/spolier]


4. Originally I thought Principal / Youngest was the only one to survive out of the original group of sisters. But there seemed to be lots of memories / cutscenes with the elder sisters still alive in the aftermath of the Jiao cloning mishap.[/spolier]


5. The game heavily implied that the original Iris had some mental health struggles, much like her mother did (she took medication), and that this perhaps also manifested in her clones. Was it ever elaborated anywhere or are we supposed to just assume there is some unspecified mental health issue that Iris and her clones must grapple with?[/spolier]


6. Was it ever explained anywhere what the "Other Side" actually was? I mean, we obviously see the "bridge" that commands the vessel / station. Not sure if that is the "Other Side".[/spolier]


7. It is unclear what BB and Fixer were up to for the 7 (?) or so years after Iris was killed by Watcher. Just going around on the train? [/spolier]

[Imago]

1) I think it's important to remember that, as Source/Keeper says, there was no data loss. Conversations that only happened in the communion between dead characters still happened in a meaningful sense.

2) I think you are correct.

3) No, definitely not. That was just the memory of the Eldest.

4) Not sure what you mean, I don't remember anything like that. We see memories of the immediate aftermath when Youngest was struggling to make new sisters and they were all gone.

5) I don't think it was ever specified. Whatever it was probably got worse after the prolonged isolation and stress she was under.

6) Definitely looked like a different place from the command deck. I think it was just another section of the ship where Iris happened to decide isolate herself. After she died, the Jiaos were housed there, so it probably wasn't anything particularly special.

7) Evidently just avoiding the Reds, learning about the ship, and figuring out a plan.

And one question of my own: what happened to all the sisters Principal sent to Iris over the years? Was Source/Keeper just absorbing them after they arrived?

[Mosquito Senorito]

On 5) I think it was more about a trauma, than mental illness - but it's all very connected in psyche of course and one can lead to another.
It's one of the heavier themes in the game: the trauma that tanscends generations, and what it takes to finally heal it.

[TonicMinor]

Originally posted by Imago:

And one question of my own: what happened to all the sisters Principal sent to Iris over the years? Was Source/Keeper just absorbing them after they arrived?

That was my thinking - that they essentially get absorbed into the keeper's memory (and presumably die of the disease) as part of the exchange/agreement Iris has going with them. Weren't there some figures that appeared around Watcher after her murder though? Maybe those were sisters still working on the other side?

[Swimming Rock]

Originally posted by Imago:

1) I think it's important to remember that, as Source/Keeper says, there was no data loss. Conversations that only happened in the communion between dead characters still happened in a meaningful sense.

I hadn't put that together during my playthrough. Thank you for pointing this out, so I can appreciate this wonderful game just a little more.

[Snailor Lazzy]

3. I often got the impression that Knower was Eldest, yes. They never confirm it, but the Eldest was the sister who was shown in memories taking place after the Youngest was punished and Knower frequently seemed to do casual remarks about being present for events very long ago that she then hand waves. Couple that with nobody knowing how old she is but agreeing that she's very old; her complete lack of desire of joining Iris on the Other Side; and Watcher's suspicions that Knower knew who Principal was and what she was doing the whole time. All of this frequently made me feel like Knower was the Eldest, trying her best not to rock the boat so that everybody can be safe and comfortable.

4. Principal mentions how she was able to use the Keepers to alter memories stored inside them. My impression was that the memories you witness during the commune with Healer were a falsification and that her sisters were not actually punished for her crimes. Although a later memory has Iris panicking over the state of her daughters, which implies that something did happen to three of them, with Pink being in the worst condition. I don't recall the game ever saying what happened to them though. The commune with Healer also shows the originals sisters taking Youngest's side, but in a later memory Youngest accuses her sisters for siding with Iris.