Which ending of the original Deep Sleep trilogy do you think is canon? (spoilers for the original Deep Sleep trilogy)

[Ligma peanuts]

I think it's safe to say that the protagonist of the original trilogy is, in fact, Thomas, Amy's brother. In The Deepest Sleep it is revealed that Thomas had actually been caught by the shadow people and that he's unknowingly been one of them throughout the entirety of the third game. In the end, the player has an opportunity to possess another traveler in order to escape back to the waking world, at the cost of leaving said traveler trapped in the dream realm instead. Whether the player takes that opportunity or chooses to sacrifice themselves instead determines the ending of the trilogy.

So, which outcome do you think is canon here? Personally, I don't think either really fit in with what we've seen in Labyrinth of the Forsaken so far. As far as I understand, the shadow people's MO is stealing travelers' original bodies in the waking world. The notes found in Deeper Sleep suggest as much. Furthermore, it seems the time shadow people spend in the dream realm seriously messes with them psychologically, which results in them acting completely insane after they get a body in the waking world if the newspaper clippings in a secret area of the original Deep Sleep are to be believed. I'd expect something similar to have happened to Thomas, but he appears to instead be dead by the time of the events of Labyrinth of the Forsaken. This isn't necessarily a contradiction though: maybe the shadow person possessing Thomas's body did something crazy that ultimately got said physical body killed.

All this to say, I don't think the player's choice of ending really impacts what happened to Thomas's physical body whose funeral Amy attended. What it DOES impact is where can Thomas (his soul/consciousness, that is) be found. If the possession ending is canon, that would mean Thomas is somewhere out there in the waking world, meaning that Amy would have to look for him outside the dream realm. If the sacrifice ending is canon, that would mean Amy CAN find him somewhere in the dream realm, but she's in for a nasty surprise when she finds out what happened to him.

So, which of the two outcomes do you think is more likely?

[jordanalexli]

I suspect the "good" ending of Deepest Sleep is the canon one. There is also a possibility that the game would have something I call "reverse causality" where specific choices in the game will determine past events.

[沃思刻哀笑南梁]

About Shadow people who possess traveler’s body to get back to real world: Since there was this kid Cody who got back and turned out to be totally fine, I think not all who get back are insane; Maybe the longer they stay in the realm of dreams, the crazier they get(like the attic woman), and whether or not they return to real world as mad killers depends on how crazy they get when they manage to get back;
And the former protagonist didn't have much connection with other travelers in the trilogy(at least not telling anyone his name and things like a sister called Amelia), and since it's a realm that many people get into, it's totally likely that Thomas is just another random traveler;

[DreadRoach]

Given what our "friend" has to say about finding Thomas through dreams, it seems like the ending where he stayed in the Dream World is canon. And it's definitely him - the dream Amy starts in, which the other Traveler states is her brother's dream, has many of the same rooms as the first two games.

Edit: Actually, I just came back to this and realized there is no "canon" ending. Remember how in Don't Escape 4 we learned there are an infinite number of alternate realities? I would definitely say this game is set in a timeline where he stayed behind, but also, both endings are canon in the overall lore.