Insane Episode 5 ending glitch. *ending spoilers*

[Captain Hammer]

For those who aren't aware, the game can bug out pretty badly after the crooked man trial. As best as I can tell, the glitch only happens to people who choose to kill him one way or another. I chose to rip his head off, if that has any bearing on it. Before I describe the glitch to those who haven't heard about it, let me preface this with a few things:

1. The 3rd scarecrow scene from Arkham Asylum has a permanent place in my heart as one of the greatest moments of breaking the 4th wall in fiction history. I've been waiting forever for someone to one-up that scene.

2. I heard a lot of people talk about a crazy twist at the end of the game. I assumed this was it.

3. Aunty Greenleaf's line "...Another one of us erased from the storybooks..." stuck with me right before this madness began.

Here's what happened. Other sources, including videos, can confirm that this is a real glitch and I'm not just making up a creepypasta (here's an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59oYjTo4r9M). After dropping the crooked man and his head down the well, the game cuts to the scene "One day later" where Bigby is getting off the elevator to talk to snow. Right off the bat, he's invisible except for his teeth. I get silence plus 3 options, all which say "This choice is blank!" I figured, okay, some kind of invisility glamour joke or something with bigby and colin, because I press "..." and it jumps straight to telling Colin "you know, someone is going to see you" line. Then it's a shot of Crane's office, with "This choice is blank!" being the only available option for anyone.

The game now cuts back to the scene where you're about to be attacked in the Crooked Lair, except some characters are invisible while others are visible. This is the "denial" part I was talking about in the title: The characters who are invisible ARE ALL THE ONES WHO ARE DEAD: Bloody Mary, Georgie, his girlfriend, and crooked man are all invisible, at least in my game. Dee and Jersey, both living, are still clear as day throughout. The invisible ones appear briefly for certain animations, but otherwise cannot be seen. I'm not kidding you. Once again, look up a video of this glitch if you don't believe me. So I'm thinking, "Ah, this is the big twist! I know what's happening! These Fables who were killed are being erased from the storybooks literally; past and present."

Those familiar with the glitch know the next scene all too well. An invisible Vivian carries an invisible georgie out of the car and into the club. You teleport around a bit outside the Puddin and Pie. Then you go in, and you hear Georgie talking about how it's hopeless and that they're both dead. I was lucky enough to not get the most common glitch in this section: Bigby's bloodied head floating around with eyes missing from the sockets. He was just entirely invisible for me. If you approach the doorway, you can't continue, but you see Vivian's floating head facing Georgie, her body lying dead on the ground. This is the stopping point for the glitch. I thought "Okay, I bet when I reload the save, something different will happen."

And it did.

I reloaded the save. I don't know which option I chose or whether it actually matters, but I didn't see colin this time. This time, I saw Aunty Greenleaf, who said something like "Remember this next time your deputy mayor decides that my possessions need to be destroyed!" and then walked out, leaving me to the glitched Crane's office scene again. Is this a scene from the game elsewhere? Does she ever actually say this? Was this from a cut version of the ending?

This sealed the deal for me. Nothing after this would convince me that what I was experiencing was a glitch. I just KNEW it was part of the game and that Greenleaf was supposed to be tormenting Bigby with some kind of spell. I just had to figure out how to escape the glitch.

After a few trips through, I figured out that I could change the outcome of the puddin and pie scene of the glitch by letting the car go instead of attacking it. It triggers the scene where Bigby picks up the car and begins the chase. Weird, obviously, as we just witnessed the END of the original chase scene. I jumped on the crooked man's car, and then all the normal stuff with bigby waking up happens. Except the camera is looking at a different angle so I see the end of the world at the corner where there are no textures. "Okay" I think to myself. "Now he's starting to realize something is wrong and that the witch is screwing with him." Nope. Back to the puddin and pie. Now his whole body is rendered, but it doesn't matter. I can't escape that scene. I reload again, and again, and eventually one of my reloads fixes the glitch. The game plays as normal. I expect an expanation for what happened any time. It never happens. I look it up later online and no one is talking about this incredibly confusing yet presumably awesome (if I could figure it out) ending. I eventually figure out that this is because it doesn't exist. I'm still coming to terms with that.

PS: After watching some videos of the glitch in the middle of writing this, I believe I understand why dead people appear invisible. The crooked lair scene is identical in every way when Tweedle Dum is left alive, except he's there, not really interacting with anything. I suspect all of the dead characters get put on some kind of "deceased" list where they don't render in the cinematics anymore.

[AgeOfArmageddoส็็็็็]

Man, that's insane. The game ended pretty normal for me :P

[fatal Eruption]

I got the same exactly glitch at the end, with invisible body on Bigsby and no invisible Georgie. That exact scene played with me.

[gimbal]

yep, got that 'ending' too after ripping his head off. Weirdest thing I've seen yet!

[jcastellanospinzon]

Hmmm... That happenned to me... I was thinking is a "actualization" bug and i was reinstalling right now...

[c5wag]

TL;DR but bugs are bugs they dont mean anything lmao

[[NeW]Spiked]

Man, this sounds like the beginning of a Ben Drowned-style creepypasta.

[Deepblue]

I didn't kill him, everything ran fine. But the game crashed when Bigby got in the elevator.

[Xayam]

Originally posted by Captain Hammer:

As best as I can tell, the glitch only happens to people who choose to kill him one way or another.

Got the glitch without killing him.. but very interesting indeed, thanks.

[Fabio]

same here, just reload the save

[twincast]

Something along those lines--same basics (this choice is blank x3) but even more ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up--happened to me after throwing him down the Witching Well as well. First time I had a Telltale game glitch out on my like that and frankly the first glitch in ages, to boot, (not counting pre-patch Batman: Arkham Origins) as I rarely have any problems even with famously buggy games.

[SpacePanda001]

ripped his head off...teeth in the elevator

[Zatos]

Same here, but I didn't kill him. Also, I didn't notice anyone being invisible. After it went back to the fight scene, I just quit and reloaded my save and then things played out like normal. This is a pretty big bug, but at least I didn't have to replay everything.

[Elymnir]

Just finished the game and got the exact same glitch. After cutting gorgie's invisible guts, I just exited to the main menu and resumed the episode, it solved it out.

[m0vi3drag0n]

DUDE! Same ♥♥♥♥ happened to me! I cuffed Crooked Man then all of the sudden im playing sequences ive already played Rayman style lol!

[Maggo]

Similar happened to me. I threw Crooked Man to the well, then there was those "this choice is blank" and after that there was that fight, but I died and then there came "start from the last checkpoint" option, I chose that and after that the game continued normally to the end.