Ending Discussion (SPOILERS obviously)

[geraldvincentt]

So I just finished the game. What a beautiful game. Good graphics, great music, awesome and mind-blowing short story. It's one of those games that'll gives you unique experience that you will remember for the next 10 years or so. Thank you for all the people who made this (free) game.

Now with that being said, let's talk about the mind-blowing ending. But before that, let me tell you now that this is going to be SPOILERS ALERT! Don't even think to read this before you finished the game unless you want your Serena experience to be a little bland.

So what really happened? Is Serena cheated on him? Is he dead? Who's the dead body? I didn't see the last photo, but I heard that his face changed? Is it just a dream? Did he have stroke? Why did he forgot about her in the first place? Share your thoughts below.

[excel]

i think the "plan" was that of poisoning him with the blood pressure pills, but then husband & wife fought and she "ruined" everything but not on purpose, because he fell down and hit his head on the table, dying. She didn't kill him there, but she would have done it more slowly and without a corpse to hide. So she and her lover had to fake his disappearance, but when (for any reason) the cabin was about to be crushed down, then the lover turns angry at her for not having been patient and not being able to put their initial plan to its proper and safer end.

(sorry for my poor english ^__^ nice game, i loved the fact of not having understood anything until AFTER i finished it - at the very end i was still clueless, it's nice to think about it and read everyone's opinion. thanks!)

[SPF_55_#wrinklefree]

I see where you guys are coming from... But the way I found the ending to be diifferent. The narrarator has severe demetia. His voice sounds young, but that's how you remember the way you sound. He did love Serena, and she loved him. But times have come and gone and the memories they have have so much dust.

His dementia, coupled with beta blocker side effects, cause him to forget many things and see and hear things. He remembers old, long gone days with clarity, but what happened recently is incredibly difficult to remember. He knows Serena will come back, because that's the way she used to. Depression has also set in.

Somewhere along the way, Serena died. She had an accident by the kitchen table. The narrarator feels it was his fault. All his memories of their marital strife flood back, and he thinks it's his fault he killed her, because he couldn't save her life. He initially wrapped her in the rug by the bed, but couldn't stand it so close, so he put her in the closet. He also put her ring back in the jewelry box. He knows there's bad stuff in these, and that's why he is hesitant to open them.

He now just fumbles around the cabin, where he's boxed in so many memories. The demo crew came out before to mark the outhouse, and he ran away. They don't know someone is still in here. They think it's abandoned. They come to burn it down for cost effectiveness. He doens't leave because he wants to die and it has it that fate says being in the building while it burns is the best way. He can die with her. They both die together, though she's been rotting, both in his memories and in the closet for some time.

All I saw was how in old age with dementia, the starkest of memories remain and get twisted. The highlights and the lowest pits.

[Stigma]

Автор сообщения: SPF_55_#wrinklefree

I see where you guys are coming from... But the way I found the ending to be diifferent. The narrarator has severe demetia. His voice sounds young, but that's how you remember the way you sound. He did love Serena, and she loved him. But times have come and gone and the memories they have have so much dust.

His dementia, coupled with beta blocker side effects, cause him to forget many things and see and hear things. He remembers old, long gone days with clarity, but what happened recently is incredibly difficult to remember. He knows Serena will come back, because that's the way she used to. Depression has also set in.

Somewhere along the way, Serena died. She had an accident by the kitchen table. The narrarator feels it was his fault. All his memories of their marital strife flood back, and he thinks it's his fault he killed her, because he couldn't save her life. He initially wrapped her in the rug by the bed, but couldn't stand it so close, so he put her in the closet. He also put her ring back in the jewelry box. He knows there's bad stuff in these, and that's why he is hesitant to open them.

He now just fumbles around the cabin, where he's boxed in so many memories. The demo crew came out before to mark the outhouse, and he ran away. They don't know someone is still in here. They think it's abandoned. They come to burn it down for cost effectiveness. He doens't leave because he wants to die and it has it that fate says being in the building while it burns is the best way. He can die with her. They both die together, though she's been rotting, both in his memories and in the closet for some time.

All I saw was how in old age with dementia, the starkest of memories remain and get twisted. The highlights and the lowest pits.

I believe you're completely mistaken. He's a ghost, unable to leave the cabin. Serena killed him in a fit of rage. It's his own body in the closet. And Serena and her lover (clearly it's them) comes back to burn the cabin, destroying the evidence.
This becomes even more clear when you see that he does look dead and rotted in their picture, and Serenea herself looks more and more unhappy.

[ə]

Автор сообщения: AgustinCordes

Автор сообщения: Virtual Gee

There are? What are they? I totally forgot about it atm. And what does it have to do with the story?

My lips are closed. All I'm going to say is that the current weather may explain an alleged inconsistency mentioned on this thread.

I'm kind of late to the party, but has anybody got the meaning of the "weather"? I couldn't find references in the replies (have to admit that I skipped the last replies tho, 6 pages of walltexts are bulky all in a run).

Game is wonderful tho, really got me hooked, played it three times in a row to get (hopefully) all the details.

[MagicianMana]

Автор сообщения: Alunduyn

Автор сообщения: AgustinCordes

My lips are closed. All I'm going to say is that the current weather may explain an alleged inconsistency mentioned on this thread.

I'm kind of late to the party, but has anybody got the meaning of the "weather"? I couldn't find references in the replies (have to admit that I skipped the last replies tho, 6 pages of walltexts are bulky all in a run).

Game is wonderful tho, really got me hooked, played it three times in a row to get (hopefully) all the details.

I'm not sure, but I think that the hints about the weather imply that he wasn't killed just recently. If you look first at the window near the bed, he says something about it being "deep into SUMMER" but the magazine in his nightstand is dated "February" and he practically told us that he gets this one quite regularly. Also, all the clothes and other stuff in the cabin (like the thick blankets in her nightstand) are for WINTER. Maybe they only came to the cabin in winter, to replay that magic moment Serena mentioned in her first letter.

My theory about how he died is that she didn't actually kill him when she thought she did. I read about the bloodstain in some of the posts here and how it gets bigger the more you progress in the game. But even at the end it is quite small when you assume that she bashed his head in with the frying pan or on the edge of the table. Head wounds bleed like crazy, I don't believe there would have been such a little puddle after a deadly blow. But even a minor wound to the head often looks quite impressive, so maybe she thought he was dead and panicked enough to not check thoroughly. From the conversation she has with her boyfriend/partner in crime at the end of the game you can assume that they had some kind of plan to kill him/make him vanish without anyone suspecting anything. I'm not sure how. But it had to be something that needed time, maybe they were really going for "natural death" through poisoning. Or telling everyone he was living as a complete hermit from now on. I don't know. But I think during that last big fight they had, when he tried to leave to "blow off steam" as he said, she lost control in her anger and hit him hard with the frying pan. If you look at the corpse carefully you see something on his forehead that might have been a big wound. Not life threatening but enough to render him helpless. Then she dragged him through the cabin and stuffed him in the wardrobe. At that time he was STILL ALIVE. Then she left, discussed it with her boyfriend and decided that it didn't matter, even though he thought they should dispose of the body. But they didn't. So nobody came to find or help the poor man in that dark place. I think he died of dehydration because his head wound was severe enough that he didn't have the strength to open the door to his prison. At one point of the game he even tells us about it, again when you look at the window by the bed. He says something about "dehydration, delirium".

Also, I think he knows what has happened and that he is dead from the very beginning even though he doesn't realize it until the very end. Some of the things he says are quite strange. Looking at the wardrobe he talks about "skeletons in our closets", looking at the mirror he says "I must look awful." and "I can't bear to look at my face. She's done a number on me." and when looking at the flower (which by the way he later labels as "belladonna" which is poisonous as far as I know) he talks about how plants are supposed to be alive and how that seems to be a "horrible existence, confined in their own silent, dark world". I got the feeling that he was talking about himself painfully dying in that dark and cramped wardrobe and his spirit lingering in that spot because he waited for her to come back. When she came back to cover her tracks he kind of awoke to the world again not understanding what had happened to him. You can tell she has to have been inside the cabin shortly before she burns it down because there is fresh bread on the table and a bottle of red wine on the sideboard that also looks quite new. I find it really tragic that he didn't get the chance to fully realize what happened and that he didn't kill her, because the fire burned his corpse to ashes to fast and so destroyed his spirit as well.

I will play this game a couple of times just to see if I can squeeze some more information out of it. It really has me hooked.

[cupcakewarrior11]

Автор сообщения: MagicianMana

Автор сообщения: Alunduyn

I'm kind of late to the party, but has anybody got the meaning of the "weather"? I couldn't find references in the replies (have to admit that I skipped the last replies tho, 6 pages of walltexts are bulky all in a run).

Game is wonderful tho, really got me hooked, played it three times in a row to get (hopefully) all the details.

I'm not sure, but I think that the hints about the weather imply that he wasn't killed just recently. If you look first at the window near the bed, he says something about it being "deep into SUMMER" but the magazine in his nightstand is dated "February" and he practically told us that he gets this one quite regularly. Also, all the clothes and other stuff in the cabin (like the thick blankets in her nightstand) are for WINTER. Maybe they only came to the cabin in winter, to replay that magic moment Serena mentioned in her first letter.

My theory about how he died is that she didn't actually kill him when she thought she did. I read about the bloodstain in some of the posts here and how it gets bigger the more you progress in the game. But even at the end it is quite small when you assume that she bashed his head in with the frying pan or on the edge of the table. Head wounds bleed like crazy, I don't believe there would have been such a little puddle after a deadly blow. But even a minor wound to the head often looks quite impressive, so maybe she thought he was dead and panicked enough to not check thoroughly. From the conversation she has with her boyfriend/partner in crime at the end of the game you can assume that they had some kind of plan to kill him/make him vanish without anyone suspecting anything. I'm not sure how. But it had to be something that needed time, maybe they were really going for "natural death" through poisoning. Or telling everyone he was living as a complete hermit from now on. I don't know. But I think during that last big fight they had, when he tried to leave to "blow off steam" as he said, she lost control in her anger and hit him hard with the frying pan. If you look at the corpse carefully you see something on his forehead that might have been a big wound. Not life threatening but enough to render him helpless. Then she dragged him through the cabin and stuffed him in the wardrobe. At that time he was STILL ALIVE. Then she left, discussed it with her boyfriend and decided that it didn't matter, even though he thought they should dispose of the body. But they didn't. So nobody came to find or help the poor man in that dark place. I think he died of dehydration because his head wound was severe enough that he didn't have the strength to open the door to his prison. At one point of the game he even tells us about it, again when you look at the window by the bed. He says something about "dehydration, delirium".

Also, I think he knows what has happened and that he is dead from the very beginning even though he doesn't realize it until the very end. Some of the things he says are quite strange. Looking at the wardrobe he talks about "skeletons in our closets", looking at the mirror he says "I must look awful." and "I can't bear to look at my face. She's done a number on me." and when looking at the flower (which by the way he later labels as "belladonna" which is poisonous as far as I know) he talks about how plants are supposed to be alive and how that seems to be a "horrible existence, confined in their own silent, dark world". I got the feeling that he was talking about himself painfully dying in that dark and cramped wardrobe and his spirit lingering in that spot because he waited for her to come back. When she came back to cover her tracks he kind of awoke to the world again not understanding what had happened to him. You can tell she has to have been inside the cabin shortly before she burns it down because there is fresh bread on the table and a bottle of red wine on the sideboard that also looks quite new. I find it really tragic that he didn't get the chance to fully realize what happened and that he didn't kill her, because the fire burned his corpse to ashes to fast and so destroyed his spirit as well.

I will play this game a couple of times just to see if I can squeeze some more information out of it. It really has me hooked.

Okay, this is just one amazing theory and honestly I fully agree with it, ive played the game a few times, and never have i once thought of it like this thank you!

[XzessTool]

No one notices the cabin's wood is already burned in a 50%? And the asylum draw and the wine reflection... even if it's an easter egg in this game, is like putting a full 1 hour chapter and saying it's only decorative... This game it's about little details, and that's a big detail. I think the game it's an prelude to Asylum. The history well, i think it's well explained, but you cannot say he is dead or ill, the history varies in subjetive details if you think one or the other, but I haven't saw things which denies both. So for me both histories are valid.

But the best option for me is that it's a construcion of an ill mind. Nothing real, but the game itself, the history is builded by the protagonist as the games progresses, with his own memories as building blocks, same as insanity.

[clutterArranger]

Автор сообщения: MagicianMana

Автор сообщения: Alunduyn

I'm kind of late to the party, but has anybody got the meaning of the "weather"? I couldn't find references in the replies (have to admit that I skipped the last replies tho, 6 pages of walltexts are bulky all in a run).

Game is wonderful tho, really got me hooked, played it three times in a row to get (hopefully) all the details.

I'm not sure, but I think that the hints about the weather imply that he wasn't killed just recently. If you look first at the window near the bed, he says something about it being "deep into SUMMER" but the magazine in his nightstand is dated "February" and he practically told us that he gets this one quite regularly. Also, all the clothes and other stuff in the cabin (like the thick blankets in her nightstand) are for WINTER. Maybe they only came to the cabin in winter, to replay that magic moment Serena mentioned in her first letter.

My theory about how he died is that she didn't actually kill him when she thought she did. I read about the bloodstain in some of the posts here and how it gets bigger the more you progress in the game. But even at the end it is quite small when you assume that she bashed his head in with the frying pan or on the edge of the table. Head wounds bleed like crazy, I don't believe there would have been such a little puddle after a deadly blow. But even a minor wound to the head often looks quite impressive, so maybe she thought he was dead and panicked enough to not check thoroughly. From the conversation she has with her boyfriend/partner in crime at the end of the game you can assume that they had some kind of plan to kill him/make him vanish without anyone suspecting anything. I'm not sure how. But it had to be something that needed time, maybe they were really going for "natural death" through poisoning. Or telling everyone he was living as a complete hermit from now on. I don't know. But I think during that last big fight they had, when he tried to leave to "blow off steam" as he said, she lost control in her anger and hit him hard with the frying pan. If you look at the corpse carefully you see something on his forehead that might have been a big wound. Not life threatening but enough to render him helpless. Then she dragged him through the cabin and stuffed him in the wardrobe. At that time he was STILL ALIVE. Then she left, discussed it with her boyfriend and decided that it didn't matter, even though he thought they should dispose of the body. But they didn't. So nobody came to find or help the poor man in that dark place. I think he died of dehydration because his head wound was severe enough that he didn't have the strength to open the door to his prison. At one point of the game he even tells us about it, again when you look at the window by the bed. He says something about "dehydration, delirium".

Also, I think he knows what has happened and that he is dead from the very beginning even though he doesn't realize it until the very end. Some of the things he says are quite strange. Looking at the wardrobe he talks about "skeletons in our closets", looking at the mirror he says "I must look awful." and "I can't bear to look at my face. She's done a number on me." and when looking at the flower (which by the way he later labels as "belladonna" which is poisonous as far as I know) he talks about how plants are supposed to be alive and how that seems to be a "horrible existence, confined in their own silent, dark world". I got the feeling that he was talking about himself painfully dying in that dark and cramped wardrobe and his spirit lingering in that spot because he waited for her to come back. When she came back to cover her tracks he kind of awoke to the world again not understanding what had happened to him. You can tell she has to have been inside the cabin shortly before she burns it down because there is fresh bread on the table and a bottle of red wine on the sideboard that also looks quite new. I find it really tragic that he didn't get the chance to fully realize what happened and that he didn't kill her, because the fire burned his corpse to ashes to fast and so destroyed his spirit as well.

I will play this game a couple of times just to see if I can squeeze some more information out of it. It really has me hooked.

This is the best theory I've seen yet. Nice digging you did really.

[Expalphalog]

To back up MagicianMana's theory, remember the purple flower in the nightstand next to the bible? The protagonist explicitly mentions that it is not a flower that grows around the cabin, implying that Serena did not just see it and pick it because it looked pretty. It was something that she sought out and kept hidden. "Belladonna." Nightshade - highly poisonous with purple growths.

The plan was to lace his food with nightshade (although I personally suspect she might have ground up some leaves and put it in the salt and pepper shakers, hence why they were always full despite him using so much). I believe the plan had already been enacted as symptoms of nightshade poisoning include confusion, disorientation, dehydration, delirium, and agitation.

[tcortese]

Автор сообщения: AgustinCordes

Автор сообщения: Virtual Gee

There are? What are they? I totally forgot about it atm. And what does it have to do with the story?

My lips are closed. All I'm going to say is that the current weather may explain an alleged inconsistency mentioned on this thread.

Wow, y'all created a game with a possibly ambiguous ending, AND you're a developer making a comments in a thread where numerous people are trying to figure out what the ending is, and you STILL can't just simply explain it?

C'mon, maybe it's OK to have a little bit of mystery in the game itself, but in a forum such as this, where people are honestly trying to understand what y'all created, and you can't be bothered to explain what it all means?

Thanx a lot for the middle finger (and right back atcha!) ...

[gibbousmoon100]

I low-key feel the same way. Sometimes in art the creator deliberately inserts ambiguity in order to enhance the experience. I do not think this is one of those times, because the absence of clarity feels less like an artistic expression and more like a failure in communicating with the player.

So just come clean, be honest, and tell us what you intended to convey, and then we can back-track from there when trying to understand certain scenery details and/or monologues. Your game isn't perfect, and you know what? That's OK.

Thank you.

[Paddy]

Am I the only person getting the impression that the protagonist groomed Serena from a young age? And she only 'abandoned him' after growing older and realizing how manipulated she had been the whole time. I feel like her letter in her trunk heavily implies that. Plus, the way he describes her/the memories during the early portion of the game where he's fawning, all lovey-dovey; It gives off a very weird, twistedness to me but idk, maybe I'm reaching? I skimmed the beginning and end of this discussion board so maybe someone else did mention it, but I didn't want to read through all 6 pages of discussion, sorry!

Also this doesn't mean she didn't kill him with the cast iron pan and stuff him in the armoire; I just think she's more validated for it now lol I've also been rewatching criminal minds lately so that could be a contributing factor in my interpretation!