The Lore of BATIM (SERIOUS SPOILER ALERT)

[Skeleton_Dork]

Overview

Before I start with my explanation I need to get this out of the way:
Bendy and the Ink Machine, the ENTIRE GAME...
...
...
Is fake. (Queue defiant screams). Alright, got your rage out, not going to explode all over me? Good. Now let me explain.

Chapter One

So, the first thing we have to touch on is the fact that none of what we see is actually happening. Everything is a metaphor, presented in the form of a children's story. Told by Joey Drew, listened to by Henry's daughter, and reflected upon by Henry Stein himself. The first Chapter is mostly a metaphor for Joey's initial reaction to the changing of the times. He becomes desperate, and sets into motion changes that turn out to be extremely taxing for the employees of the studio. This is evidenced by the pedestals, as well as the audio log explaining that Joey had everyone give an "offering". Again, this didn't REALLY happen.

Chapter One, Unexplained

However, there is one thing that is still unexplained about this chapter. As of yet, i still don't quite understand what the actual Ink machine is supposed to be. But let's not dawdle on about that for now. Without further ado,

Chapter Two

Chapter Two has long been a fan favorite, mostly because everyone seems to love Sammy Lawrence. I think that this explanation will only boost the hype about this character, as many people will sympathize with this dejected musician. At first, when Joey first starts implementing the taxing changes we see in Chapter One, Sammy turns to his music. His "Safehouse" represents the little space in his mind that he can retreat to when he is overwhelmed. But, as the mental war rages on, he becomes fanatic, and begins thinking that maybe Joey Drew had the right idea after all. Sammy then began acting like an acolyte (and yes, Ink Bendy does, in fact, represent Joey Drew himself). The musical director started preaching Joey's ways, and was unfalteringly loyal. (At least until Chapter Four, but we'll get to that). Sammy even went so far as to begin turning in his fellow employees, even for the smallest mishaps (as evidenced by the audio log found next to his office as well as the events at the end of the Chapter), in order to appease him. But, do to the stress wearing down on Joey, he did not accept Sammy's gifts and loyalty, and even went so far as to forsake him, which is described by Ink Bendy (kind of) killing him.

Chapter Two, Unexplained

Not much was left unexplained about this chapter, so we can trudge right on towards the next chapter.

Continued in Part Two

[CyanDoomdragon]

I originally said this and people on the forum yelled at me. Doesn't help that themeatly has retconned the ending with the second game and changed it so that it actually happened and it's not a story anymore. It's was originally all just a story that never happened, then the Devs learned people hate that in works of fiction plus the game was popular enough to start a franchise and they couldn't do that with how they ended the first game, so they changed it and said "no, it was real and actually happened".

[Skeleton_Dork]

Originally posted by CyanDoomdragon:

I originally said this and people on the forum yelled at me. Doesn't help that themeatly has retconned the ending with the second game and changed it so that it actually happened and it's not a story anymore. It's was originally all just a story that never happened, then the Devs learned people hate that in works of fiction plus the game was popular enough to start a franchise and they couldn't do that with how they ended the first game, so they changed it and said "no, it was real and actually happened".

That's fair enough. However, developers (especiallyfor games like this) can be deceptive. The context in which it was real may be different from what some may think.

[Jerboa_Queen]

What's funny is that, yes the "it's a story" thing kind of sucks, but the explanation for everything makes sense

[Skeleton_Dork]

Right. Unfortunately, im gonna have to play through the next two chapters again before we get to part two, because its kinda been a while

[Freeze_Zane06]

According to the book, Sammy accidently drank ink bc a pipe bursted in his "sanctuary". After that, he started stealing ink in the studio and drank it. He then said that the more he drank ink, the more he believed that Bendy is god and can free him. Also, the book is proving that Bendy isnt Joey. Joey was trying to create bendy using his machine but ended up creating a monster with thirst of blood. The problem: Bendy didnt have a soul. He then learned from this and used his employees souls to create his characters

[Freeze_Zane06]

The novel explains a lot

[Skeleton_Dork]

But what we can see from this is that the Ink represents Joey's semi-sinister motivations, and the fact that Sammy drank this metaphorically stands for the fact that Sammy became fanatic and reinforced Joey's power and ideas to the utmost extent

[Skeleton_Dork]

And rather than Bendy representing Joey himself, it may represent the wrongness of his plan for the studio and the evil that overtook him.

[Freeze_Zane06]

Sammy... legit drank it... The protagonist saw some ink dripping from his mouth

[Skeleton_Dork]

In the STORY, he did

[Skeleton_Dork]

Perhaps you're right, but i Imagine the novel came out after they retconned all the lore