WARNING - SPOILERS. What do you think the end of braid is about?

[Joobs]

At the end of the story you realize that the princess was actually trying to escape you and you've actually been an evil character the whole time. There are many theories as to why and what the ending is actually about, what are your thoughts?

[Arthur]

The ending's overtly about the atomic bomb, specifically shown by the explosion of the princess if you actually manage to catch her in the game's "true" ending ( when you have all the stars. )

Furthermore, the continuous process of finding one star after another, puzzle peice after puzzle peice is a representation of Tim's actual process of making breakthroughs towards the atomic bomb.

[xeL'o]

spoiler t.t

[Joe Hendrey]

there is no denying that the end is a refference to the atomic bomb. however I tend to agree with the view that the atomic bomb is itself a metaphor

[Ewo]

Tim has already been through the breakup at the beginning, and he tries to get her back through the game, trying to fix his behavior, erasing every mistake, and at the end (The "bad" one), nothing changes, and he's left off at the beginning again.

He's hopeful that he can get the princess back at the end of the epilogue. When remembering the events, he thinks there are ways he could have gotten to her (the ladders when rewinding). He doesn't care much about how he isn't wanted, he doesn't care about the princess herself, how she was the one closing the supposed ways up to her, only about getting to her.

He finally does get a way to get to her, after a ridiculous amount of work (the stars). It just doesn't work for any reason in particular that Tim can point out and blame as a mistake. She just explodes.

There most definitely is reference to the Manhattan project. Direct quotes aren't exactly coincedental. However, the game is not a metaphor for the atomic bomb, it uses the atomic bomb as a metaphor for the relationship.

The people working on the atomic bomb tinkered until they got what they were trying to get. Tim did the same.

I'm not stating this as fact, but it's my best take of the game.

[Joe Hendrey]

anyone who is interested in reading a little bit more about Jonathan Blow should take a look at
'The Most Dangerous Gamer' article. It's a good read

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928

[Deltau]

Right away from the quote "Now we are all sons of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥" you know it's about the atomic bomb. The quote is from Kenneth Bainbridge, a scientist working on the Manhatten project (also mentioned in the epilogue is the setting, Manhatten).

From the looks of things, the protagonist Tim is obsessing over the discovery of the atomic bomb. Take this into consideration. Notice how hidden the stars are in the game. If you as the player "obsess" over finding them all, you get the bad-ending, with the princess/bomb detonating.

Anyway, there's a lot more to it but it's more fun to read the text in-game and figure it out yourself. But yes, the game is about the atomic bomb.

[Joobs]

It was hinted that there was an abomb, and stars are super hard to find. If you read everything though it hints a-bomb type things.

[Tired Cliche]

THE GAME IS NOT ABOUT A BREAKUP. The atomic bomb is a metaphor for knowledge- the kind of knowledge that comes in a blinding insight. That is the "princess" that Tim seeks. However, trying to find this leads him further and further away from others- a change he at least somewhat regrets.

[Tired Cliche]

Originally posted by eggfillet:

My interpretation goes something like this: Braid is the Princess' ex-husband, which you can figure out quite easily if you read the expositions before each level. The supposed bad-guy at the end is the Princess' new lover and Braid has been stalking the Princess the entire time.

I'm not very partial towards the atomic bomb idea. The story seems too personal to address that kind of subject matter.

That's ridiculous. His name is Tim. Braid is just a reference to "her braid lashing at him in contempt." And the ending SPECIFICALLY TALKS ABOUT THE ATOM BOMB. It's like just because there was a stalker-y premise in the last level, you forget about everything else in the entire game.

[envoy]

good write up here http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/190136-the-story-of-braid/

[Ewo]

Just because it's about the atomic bomb somewhat doesn't mean it can't also be about a breakup. It draws parallels between this toxic relationship and the manhattan project, comparing the two. There wasn't a "twist" or a "reveal" at the end of the game, Blow said so himself.

[Ewo]

It's called a motif.

[envoy]

long read but the closest you'll get to Blow confirming what the games about http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/the-most-dangerous-gamer/308928/1/

[Jackson_wxyz]

Braid has been my favorite videogame ever since I played it in 2009. By now, I get pretty tired of seeing people go on about "it's all about the atomic bomb!!" vs "nah, the bomb theory is pretentious, it's all about a break-up!! (or creepy stalker, or etc.)"

The truth is, BOTH the story of the Trinity nuclear test AND the literal, mario-style quest to rescue the Pincess are legitimate stories that are a big part of the game. But more importantly, they're both metaphors for a THIRD, more abstract, philosophical tale. This third story is about Tim's craving for a transformative kind of scientific/philosophical knowledge that goes way beyond nuclear physics; the atomic bomb stuff is just one example of the kind of fundamental understanding of the world that Tim is seeking. As others have pointed out, Blow talks about this kind of thing in "The Most Dangerous Gamer". Of course, this story also makes sense with the gameplay: playing Braid means solving intellectual conundrums and coming across pieces of insight as to how the world works, just like Tim wants so badly to do!

eh... I'm approaching tl;dr territory here. If you want a clearer explanation, I've tried to sort everything out here: http://jacksoninblogform.tumblr.com/post/31846989768/epilogue-missing-pieces

[Joobs]

lol at the comment "I'm tired of everyones opinion"