WTF? (Spoilerrific)

[Snablas]

I thought we could dedicate a thread to tying together the story for those of us who are a bit lost, or want to discuss certain parts of the the plot.

I'll start:
Who are the dead people who are seemingly hanged from the trees right after the older brother has fended of the wolves?
What killed all the giants?
How did the dad get feathers from a hippogryph?
And what's the deal with the frozen town, the snowsoldiers and the invisible giant?

[r4z0rbl4d3]

I think it's part of the mystery and adventure to actually make up your own story as you go. A lot happens and because of the narrative approach, you actually don't know much at all about the world. All you know is; Your father is sick, he needs nectar from the life treey thing and you and your brother swears to get it. I love the game and everything about it and all the amazing stuff you see in your travels only makes it more intriguing. Who knows, maybe we get a sequel?

[kalirion]

It looked to me like there was a literally Giant battle - Giants killing each other. I mean, where else would the giant arrows (they were arrows, not ballista bolts) come from?

The invisible monster was probably some kind of a snow beast responsible for all the frozen people.

[Doomy4Life]

Originally posted by snablas:

I'll start:
Who are the dead people who are seemingly hanged from the trees right after the older brother has fended of the wolves?
What killed all the giants?
How did the dad get feathers from a hippogryph?
And what's the deal with the frozen town, the snowsoldiers and the invisible giant?

1) Nameless women (Im assuming they were added to inc the creepy vibe)
2) Each Other (looked like there was a war/battle not to long ago)
3) The feather the dad used wasnt from the hippogryph... The older brother was just reminded of his time with his father from seeing the feather
4) That part I have no idea...

[Pt.Jones]

I think thats the beauty of the game, compared to most modern video games where the designers/ writers tend to explain just about everything, they don't leave any freedom or hint of immagination for the player.

Games such as this and dear esher allow the player to contruct his own version of the story, and so each players expierence is different and unique.

My thoughts:

1) Well the hanging bodies further emphasizes the idea of danger and death. They remind me a bit of the man who wants to hang himself, so maybe they might have lost love ones due to a war or etc...

2) I also believe that perhaps there was a great war between giants, but for the reason i don't know

3) I as well believe the feather just reminded the elder brother of his father. I also noticed that each brother has a particular different connection with each parents. The younger brother tends to remember more about his mother compared to the older whose always encouraging him to help their father.

4) I believe that people onced live in that city, and there was a great war either between another city or against the invisible giant. Not only this, but theres a small sign that the girl who starts guiding you, might had lured some of the citazen back to her cave and feed on them.

[AJ, Lord of Chaos]

That's exactly why this game reminds me of dark souls. You enter a world and not everything's spelled out for you. The hanged persons, the giant battle - it's like the world exists independently from the player. The same phenomenon exists in literature compare the silmarillion to popular fantasy where any mentioned piano has a place in the plot. This climaxes in the deathly hallows (which I specifically didn't like out of HP beside the series being well written) where all chars get their happy "future" ending. While inception (movie) had a strong ending because they didn't explain.

Oh and those fishing feathers are probably only bird feathers.

Anyway it's nice not to know everything and have the mystery stolen by the narrator.

[TirithRR]

I think the frozen town, people, and invisible creature was part of a battle that had happened some time ago. The town was under seige by another group. Either one of the sides summoned the creature, who in turn just turned everyone to ice/snow in some mistaken "Scorched Earth" event. Or the creature was awoken from the surrounding icy area due to noise or possibly emotion of the battle.

[kebrus]

I'm just gonna add that everything you see and do is related in some way with life and death and how to deal with it.

(BIG SPOILERS AHEAD)

Just think about it:
1. You free a bird that later on finds his partner
2. You save the wife of the crying wolf
3. You save a man from hanging himself after his family died on a fire
4. You save the turtles cubs
5. You free a griffon/quimera only to die later
6. You visit a cemetery
7. You visit a battleground full of dead giants
8. You visit a frozen city that was on war when they got frozen
9. You save a girl from a blood worshippers only to let her kill your brother
10. You burry your own brother

There's probably more i'm not remembering now... all this helps the boy to grow up. When he finally has to swim all by himself thats when i lost it...

[lastnOn]

Originally posted by Pt.Jones:

I think thats the beauty of the game, compared to most modern video games where the designers/ writers tend to explain just about everything, they don't leave any freedom or hint of immagination for the player.

Games such as this and dear esher allow the player to contruct his own version of the story, and so each players expierence is different and unique.

My thoughts:

1) Well the hanging bodies further emphasizes the idea of danger and death. They remind me a bit of the man who wants to hang himself, so maybe they might have lost love ones due to a war or etc...

2) I also believe that perhaps there was a great war between giants, but for the reason i don't know

3) I as well believe the feather just reminded the elder brother of his father. I also noticed that each brother has a particular different connection with each parents. The younger brother tends to remember more about his mother compared to the older whose always encouraging him to help their father.

4) I believe that people onced live in that city, and there was a great war either between another city or against the invisible giant. Not only this, but theres a small sign that the girl who starts guiding you, might had lured some of the citazen back to her cave and feed on them.

Thanks for your opinion and the good explanation .

[Shadowspaz]

Originally posted by AJ, Lord of Chaos:

it's like the world exists independently from the player.

This. The game does a great job of getting the idea across that the world does not revolve around the brothers.

The war with the giants was clearly a separate incident, in a distant part of the world, over matters that don't affect the brothers. They're merely onlookers of the aftermath.

The scene with the depressed man next to the burned house reinforces this pretty well, too. There's a full story there that the brothers just happen to run into, and again, they only deal with the aftermath- Convincing the man not to kill himself because of it all.

Everything in the game - The giant's castle, the mysterious town with its monster problems, the cultists, the troll and his wife - they're all stories that go on outside of the player's view. They aren't meant to be fully understood, much in the same way that you won't know the story of another person's life.

[lastnOn]

It remind me with old cartoon "The Wonderful Adventures of Nils " this game was journey and Adventure that will keep in your mind for a long time .

[2053]

The small men of the tribe were fighting the giant spiders. There is a primitive drawing with blood in the wall close to the first blood waterfall which the brothers can stare at that shows it. This explains why they want to sacrifice the woman - they know she is one of them. The tunnel where she sets the trap for the brothers is full of entangled tribesmen.