SPOILERS "good" ending easter egg

[Saturn]

So I've finally finished the Longing after about 2 months! Over all it was an incredibly enjoyable experience - I fell in love with the Shade almost instantly and went in search of nice things for them to collect and good experiences to have. The secrets were neat and fun to find, the Angst genuinely spooked me, and letting the Shade go home and just sit in their comfy chair and read was probably my favorite part of the game. I never left them just hanging out somewhere random, I cared about them too much lmao.

But I finally completed it! I got what is genuinely considered the good ending, where the old man carries the Shade out of the well and they become part of the family. As I was exploring before rolling the credits though, I found something interesting, and so far I haven't seen anyone else mention it! (spoilers ahead - it will likely all be spoiler text from here on)

Just past the house where you end the game, there's a small field of crops, probably turnips or something similar. Just past this is a grave. The inscription reads "Deep beneath the earth here is laid a poor soul who is now forever lost." I think this is a fun little easter egg, and there are in my mind Three different possibilities for who the grave might be for.

1. It's the skeleton next to the secret tower with the stalactite in it. I think this is the most boring answer honestly, and would reduce this down to a fun nod to something you missed if you didnt see the tower before escaping.

2. It's the King. This is the most unlikely answer I think, and doesn't make Much sense, but has some interesting implications for the King's possible origin story.

3. It's the Shade. This last one is probably the most likely, and has some Very cool implications for the Shade. It implies that the shade used to be human (or some variation there of - as we can see with the imp child not everyone is human in this world) and living on the surface, and probably knew this family. If that were so, it would make sense that the old man wouldn't bat an eye at the Shade climbing out of the well but the imp child Would - aside from being young and easily spooked, its likely the imp child probably wasn't born/around when the Shade first descended into the ground. It also implies that the King didn't create the Shade, simply co-opted them for his own purposes, which honestly makes this ending more satisfying for me - the King was simply a thief, and didn't deserve to be woken up by them. I say this ending is the most likely also because of the wording on the grave - the inscription specifically states "Deep beneath the earth here." If I'm imagining the map correctly, the grave would be nearly directly above the Shade's home cave.

Anyway that's my theory. I think it's a neat easter egg regardless of what the intention for it was, and I'm glad I spent the time to wait and go through this whole experience. A delightful game.

[The Thuban]

My initial thought was that it was referring to the king, but now I have some weird interconnected conspiracy theories about who the grave is for, as well as the identity of the skeleton. Probably deserves it's own post as it's rather long lol.

[Saturn]

Originally posted by The Thuban:

My initial thought was that it was referring to the king, but now I have some weird interconnected conspiracy theories about who the grave is for, as well as the identity of the skeleton. Probably deserves it's own post as it's rather long lol.

i would love to hear it!! with something small like this any long winded theories are gonna be super interesting and fun. it’s up to you of course hehe

[Kakhi]

Or simply... ?

"Deep beneath the earth here is laid a poor soul who is now forever lost."

Was also the last sentence that concludes the "Suicide Ending".

[The Thuban]

Originally posted by Saturn:

Originally posted by The Thuban:

My initial thought was that it was referring to the king, but now I have some weird interconnected conspiracy theories about who the grave is for, as well as the identity of the skeleton. Probably deserves it's own post as it's rather long lol.

i would love to hear it!! with something small like this any long winded theories are gonna be super interesting and fun. it’s up to you of course hehe

Heh, I'll start organizing my thoughts then

[Chap]

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