About the Ending (SPOILERS)

[Kaladin Stormblessed]

Something I've been confused about is how time scales while inside the Canvas. Is it a 1:1? Did Alicia growing up as Maelle in the Canvas mean she spent 16 real years in the canvas and the fire happened when she was an infant?

Probably obvious and I missed the detail somewhere along the way.

[SirLQF]

I can't exactly tell you the time scales inside the canvas, but my guess is it is slowed down from the real world.
Because in the prologue when Maelle/Alicia entered the canvas she was already 16 (or something close), They also mentioned several time duration in the game (Renoir being stuck in the monolith for 60 something years) so it's definitely not 1:1. I don't know if there's an exact date for us to make the correct conversion, but I assume it's something to 1 day in real life is a year in the canvas? Because judging from Clea's reaction they've been stuck in the canvas for quite some time, but not too long for her to be that worried about their live. Just a mere inconvenience that she's dealing with the writer's alone.
From what I gathered, the main concern from Renoir of Alaine and Alicia staying in the canvas is that they don't want to come out of it because they are too attached (The price they pay when you are in your canvas too long).

[Kaladin Stormblessed]

Originally posted by SirLQF:

I can't exactly tell you the time scales inside the canvas, but my guess is it is slowed down from the real world.
Because in the prologue when Maelle/Alicia entered the canvas she was already 16 (or something close), They also mentioned several time duration in the game (Renoir being stuck in the monolith for 60 something years) so it's definitely not 1:1. I don't know if there's an exact date for us to make the correct conversion, but I assume it's something to 1 day in real life is a year in the canvas? Because judging from Clea's reaction they've been stuck in the canvas for quite some time, but not too long for her to be that worried about their live. Just a mere inconvenience that she's dealing with the writer's alone.
From what I gathered, the main concern from Renoir of Alaine and Alicia staying in the canvas is that they don't want to come out of it because they are too attached (The price they pay when you are in your canvas too long).

Ah yeah! I forgot about the prologue segment of the game. Definitely confirms it isn't a 1:1.

[MiMi]

I think time moves differently in real world and the painting. I picked Varos Path at the end, and ending show everyone come out with the same age. No change.

[Shin Happens]

Alicia is 16 when she enters the painting or so, then becomes overpowered by her mom's chroma and gets repainted as a baby who is born into the canvas world, where she then spends the next 16 years growing up with no memory of the real world or who she really is (because she was repainted). My understanding is that the canvas world has accelerated time, i.e. 1 day in the canvas is not 1 day in the real world but much less. In the cutscene Renoir and Aline look like normal middle aged people posed in front of the canvas, not 90 year-olds. So maybe just a few weeks have passed in the real world in the meantime whereas for everyone inside the canvas it was 16 years.

[Miro Fox]

Originally posted by Kaladin Stormblessed:

Something I've been confused about is how time scales while inside the Canvas. Is it a 1:1? Did Alicia growing up as Maelle in the Canvas mean she spent 16 real years in the canvas and the fire happened when she was an infant?

Probably obvious and I missed the detail somewhere along the way.

Time Pauses Completely when your in a canvas.

Maelle plans on dying with her friends in the canvas, which will kill her In real life.
as shes activally using her Chroma which is essentially life energy.

so she'll Die at 16 in the real world, but would have lived a full life.

[aNg3L]

Originally posted by Shin Happens:

Alicia is 16 when she enters the painting or so, then becomes overpowered by her mom's chroma and gets repainted as a baby who is born into the canvas world, where she then spends the next 16 years growing up with no memory of the real world or who she really is (because she was repainted). My understanding is that the canvas world has accelerated time, i.e. 1 day in the canvas is not 1 day in the real world but much less. In the cutscene Renoir and Aline look like normal middle aged people posed in front of the canvas, not 90 year-olds. So maybe just a few weeks have passed in the real world in the meantime whereas for everyone inside the canvas it was 16 years.

Agree, it's definitely not 1:1, otherwise Alicia would've had like 30 something years old in the final epilogue. Though I wonder, if a painter were to die inside of a canvas due to old age, would that kill them in real life? Or would they just reset back to the moment they entered?

[Phishfood]

Originally posted by Miro Fox:

Time Pauses Completely when your in a canvas.

I don't think that's the case because if Aline had chosen to spend her entire lifetime in the canvas until she ran out of chroma then she would have died immediately after entering it. Time moves slower inside but we're never shown what that ratio is.

[Blurrg]

I don't think its confirmed at any point in the story what the timescale is, maybe if someone revisited the interlude where you talk to Clea before entering the painting there could be a reasonable answer.

Regardless, Alicia at the end of the story does not look like she aged at all, and we know 16 years passed while she was in the painting. I would say it is at least 10:1 years in painting:real life time ratios. It could also be much much higher than that even.

However, its also possible that being in the painting while using Chroma ages you quickly, which could explain why Renoir and Aline could arguably be 60+ years old while having a teenage child. So the parents look a bit older, while Alicia didn't age much at all since she wasn't using her Paintress powers much until the end.

[Shin Happens]

Originally posted by Miro Fox:

Originally posted by Kaladin Stormblessed:

Something I've been confused about is how time scales while inside the Canvas. Is it a 1:1? Did Alicia growing up as Maelle in the Canvas mean she spent 16 real years in the canvas and the fire happened when she was an infant?

Probably obvious and I missed the detail somewhere along the way.

Time Pauses Completely when your in a canvas.

Maelle plans on dying with her friends in the canvas, which will kill her In real life.
as shes activally using her Chroma which is essentially life energy.

so she'll Die at 16 in the real world, but would have lived a full life.

I do not think the game supports this. Some time must surely pass or why else would the other characters remark how so and so has been in the canvas for much too long?

And Maelle will die in real life because her actual body won't eat or drink etc and the magic can only support her for so long. You see how the magic and the canvas begin to negatively affect her when her eyes turn weird towards the very end. This is the first sign of overexposure to the canvas and neglect of your real life body outside.