SPOILER: End of repentance theroy.

[Tellme-Ninetails]

So that dogma fight was kinda weird as the way the beast was preceded immediately by dogma but I have a couple of ideas to what may have been going on.

It's pretty clear that dogma represents the fundamentalist Christian broadcasts that Isaac's mother watched and became fanaticised by.
"Isaac and his mother lived alone in a small house on a hill. Isaac kept to himself, drawing pictures and playing with his toys as his mother watching Christian broadcasts on the television."

It's also weird because after being defeated dogma seemed to give him wings which allowed him to survive the fight in hell? Though apart from the four horsemen, when you actually fight the beast Issac is always running from it. This is a stretch but to take flight also means to flee and run away sometimes, used in the phrase "Fight or flight response."
I'm thinking Issac actually smashed the tv in real life and that's why his mother turned into the beast and maybe had to flee the house itself from his mother?
The walls falling apart seem to signify that outside the walls of his house is hell also does this quote from the opening.
"Issac's soul is still corrupt! He must be cut off from all that is evil in this world and confess his sins." Issac was then locked in his room "away from the evils of the world."
Maybe the ocean of lava was due to it being a sunny day and Issac not wearing shoes on the ground burning his feet?

[Ω Yukich]

I think Home level is actually real home of Isaac, when his soul actually returned to the living world
The TV was the only Christian thing powerful enough for Isaac to finally escape his personal hell
Dogma was corrupted itself by the Beast but his lyrics worked anyways through battle and when Isaac cleansed Dogma, he took his powers for himself - randomly.
After that Isaac's new found powers destroyed all of the illusions around him and let him finally fight The Beast who was all this time (10 fecking years) chewing on his soul

[The deadly Cutsman]

Either that or it's just a story (a very intricate one) written by a kid and narrated by his dad. I think you are looking too much into it, in my opinion Edmund jumped the shark a little bit with this ending, but it's better than isaac actually dying everytime.

[Archmage MC]

Origineel geplaatst door Yukich:

I think Home level is actually real home of Isaac, when his soul actually returned to the living world
The TV was the only Christian thing powerful enough for Isaac to finally escape his personal hell
Dogma was corrupted itself by the Beast but his lyrics worked anyways through battle and when Isaac cleansed Dogma, he took his powers for himself - randomly.
After that Isaac's new found powers destroyed all of the illusions around him and let him finally fight The Beast who was all this time (10 fecking years) chewing on his soul

Thats an interesting ending idea and very nicely thought out. My proposals are a bit simpler.

1. Isaac is dead, no question. He died in the Chest and this is what happened after he made his way out of purgatory, his faith gave him the power to defeat the Beast and free himself from his own demons, allowing him to ascend. As he was now in heaven, he could meet his dad again. (Isaac was dead for a long time.), in which the ending happens. (Supported by the final items being Death Certificate and the final menu being called Dead God.)

2. Isaac has two routes to take himself. Route A, Isaac is abused by his mom and locks himself in the chest and dies. Route B, Isaac is abused by his mom but doesn't commit suicide. Before he commits to it, he remembers his dad thanks to the polaroid and finding the custody papers that lets him break free of his mother and live with his dad, his mother and her christain broadcasts being Dogma and the Beast, Issac, abused and beaten, tells his story to his dad who does the best he can.

[Tellme-Ninetails]

I don't think Issac is dead at least in this ending. at the end Issac's father, the narrator reveals that it's his story and he gets to choose how it ends. This means less of "the ending is open to interpretation" but rather "you get to choose issacs ending" From mother being killed by the bible falling on her head, to issac suffocating. It seems to be the endings get more and more dark the deeper issac gets. That is this game isn't just set in a large therapy session where issac has to work out his trauma after being rescued, which is what I think is happening.
Thinking about it, the higher(earlier) endings tended to be the better ones, the highest one being the one where he goes backwards and out of the basement of course.

If issacs mother chased issac outside of the house, wielding a knife then someone would most likely notice. Perhaps the light that "destroyed the beast" where the headlights of a police car also? Though maybe that part is a stretch.
Though I do believe issac was chased out of his house by his mother after breaking the tv she worshipped, and was rescued after people noticed this lady trying to kill a naked child with no shoes.
Actually maybe the stalagmites are also rocks that poke at issacs feet as well.

[UwU]

Origineel geplaatst door Tellme-Ninetails:

I don't think Issac is dead at least in this ending. at the end Issac's father, the narrator reveals that it's his story and he gets to choose how it ends. This means less of "the ending is open to interpretation" but rather "you get to choose issacs ending" From mother being killed by the bible falling on her head, to issac suffocating. It seems to be the endings get more and more dark the deeper issac gets. That is this game isn't just set in a large therapy session where issac has to work out his trauma after being rescued, which is what I think is happening.
Thinking about it, the higher(earlier) endings tended to be the better ones, the highest one being the one where he goes backwards and out of the basement of course.

If issacs mother chased issac outside of the house, wielding a knife then someone would most likely notice. Perhaps the light that "destroyed the beast" where the headlights of a police car also? Though maybe that part is a stretch.
Though I do believe issac was chased out of his house by his mother after breaking the tv she worshipped, and was rescued after people noticed this lady trying to kill a naked child with no shoes.
Actually maybe the stalagmites are also rocks that poke at issacs feet as well.

He is 100% dead. Was confirmed by Edmund himself (sourse: one of the Hutts stream), even in this new ending he's dead.
So yeah, person above gave you one of the theories from community (the first one), but you can choose another one, just remember, Isaac sadly dead :(

[The deadly Cutsman]

Origineel geplaatst door Volodya Walrus:

He is 100% dead. Was confirmed by Edmund himself (sourse: one of the Hutts stream), even in this new ending he's dead.
So yeah, person above gave you one of the theories from community (the first one), but you can choose another one, just remember, Isaac sadly dead :(

The stream was before Repentance, it is possible that the story was changed to give Isaac a "happy" ending to set up a sequel. It's not uncommon for developers to change lore on the fly especially when introducing new content to an old game.

[Revalopod]

the ending is suppose to be up to interpretation though. Just cus he's canonically dead doesn't mean you have to believe that. There's a reason it's not just out right stated in the ending that he's dead or not. You're meant to be able to interpret it the way you want to. The ending could be him in heaven, it could be his last thoughts before dying, or it could really just be a story all along that he somehow wrote which would make him a very clever writer for a 5 year old lol, or it could be any other number of interpretations taking it as literally or as metaphorically as you feel like.

[Revalopod]

Origineel geplaatst door The deadly Cutsman:

Origineel geplaatst door Volodya Walrus:

He is 100% dead. Was confirmed by Edmund himself (sourse: one of the Hutts stream), even in this new ending he's dead.
So yeah, person above gave you one of the theories from community (the first one), but you can choose another one, just remember, Isaac sadly dead :(

The stream was before Repentance, it is possible that the story was changed to give Isaac a "happy" ending to set up a sequel. It's not uncommon for developers to change lore on the fly especially when introducing new content to an old game.

edmund said he'd still be a kid in the sequel because "dead kids don't age"

[The deadly Cutsman]

Origineel geplaatst door Revalopod:

edmund said he'd still be a kid in the sequel because "dead kids don't age"

The sequel could take place months, days, or even minutes after TBoI, so... still a kid but not a dead one. What he said could also be a joke coming from his strange sense of humor (the "haha dead baby funny" humor).

[UwU]

Origineel geplaatst door The deadly Cutsman:

Origineel geplaatst door Volodya Walrus:

He is 100% dead. Was confirmed by Edmund himself (sourse: one of the Hutts stream), even in this new ending he's dead.
So yeah, person above gave you one of the theories from community (the first one), but you can choose another one, just remember, Isaac sadly dead :(

The stream was before Repentance, it is possible that the story was changed to give Isaac a "happy" ending to set up a sequel. It's not uncommon for developers to change lore on the fly especially when introducing new content to an old game.

He was also on stream after repentance release, in the chat.
Here's the link https://www.twitch.tv/videos/971830328?t=06h05m30s

So yeah, my theory is that we saw his last moments and all those memories of his life flashing before his eyes (and how he was wishing for a happy ending).

[UwU]

Origineel geplaatst door Revalopod:

the ending is suppose to be up to interpretation though. Just cus he's canonically dead doesn't mean you have to believe that. There's a reason it's not just out right stated in the ending that he's dead or not. You're meant to be able to interpret it the way you want to. The ending could be him in heaven, it could be his last thoughts before dying, or it could really just be a story all along that he somehow wrote which would make him a very clever writer for a 5 year old lol, or it could be any other number of interpretations taking it as literally or as metaphorically as you feel like.

Well, heaven is possible. Most likely that last part with his dad. (Archmage MC said that), but sorry, "sadly" no bedtime story :(

[The deadly Cutsman]

Origineel geplaatst door Volodya Walrus:

He was also on stream after repentance release, in the chat.
Here's the link https://www.twitch.tv/videos/971830328?t=06h05m30s

So yeah, my theory is that we saw his last moments and all those memories of his life flashing before his eyes (and how he was wishing for a happy ending).

Well I be damned, he did said he is dead. Guess people obsessed with dead babies would write a story where the baby ends up dying lol.

[UwU]

Origineel geplaatst door The deadly Cutsman:

Origineel geplaatst door Volodya Walrus:

He was also on stream after repentance release, in the chat.
Here's the link https://www.twitch.tv/videos/971830328?t=06h05m30s

So yeah, my theory is that we saw his last moments and all those memories of his life flashing before his eyes (and how he was wishing for a happy ending).

Well I be damned, he did said he is dead. Guess people obsessed with dead babies would write a story where the baby ends up dying lol.

Atleast he also said about not knowing what happens after death. So we can sorta create happy ending after bad ending.

[The deadly Cutsman]

Origineel geplaatst door Volodya Walrus:

Atleast he also said about not knowing what happens after death. So we can sorta create happy ending after bad ending.

I believe he meant it in a more literal sense, like if heaven/hell exist or not. Possibly an answer to someone asking what happens to Isaac after the events of the game.

[Tellme-Ninetails]

That would mean issac's father is dead and I don't believe that.