Thanks for being here! We'll be covering The Lake House in early 2025. In the meantime, get hyped for some Yakuza on December 1st and a certain Webhead in the new year 👀👀
Can we just agree that, while Remedy can set up a lot of story shit, but that they can do comedy and parody REALLY well, and this DLC is a great example of that?
We’ve all kind of accepted the second Night Springs is a parallel to Control and the Third is Quantum Break. If you kind of take those parallels as being the theme of the Night Springs DLC then The Waitress works as an American Nightmare parallel. We have more action packed combat, a funny kind of campy version of Scratch, and a noncannon happy true love ending. So this DLC is like Dark Place writing versions of the series between AW1 and AW2
1:16:02 I feel like Control will probably take the same route with the multiverse as the SCP Foundation itself normally does: We acknowledge it exists, occasionally we contain something that comes through from another universe, but we are *way* too busy dealing with all the shit from our universe to be bothered with all of that nonsense. Plus, there's normally an alternate universe version of the FBC in said other universe, and we don't want to make things awkward with them, so...
This would be my preferred way of dealing with the multiverse stuff. I like having a core, important universe (the one these games are in), and we can occasionally deal with shit from other universes. But I agree with Monty, that I don't want a theme park ride, hoaky trip through multiple realities in the form of a 30hr game. That's the kind of stuff that makes me despise multiverse stories.
Yeah, like there's a Multi Foundation Coalition that was basically set up so, at most, the Foundations of each universe can share info between each other, but everyone deals with their own problems (except when it comes to the Temporal Anomalies Department). You could legitimately headcanon the FBC as as a Foundation-like institution (in this case, the UIU of this universe becoming the Foundation analogue) with it's own bubble of alternate universes
@@SidPhoenix2211 I think we might see stuff from another "universe" make its way into ours via a shared threshold or astral plain, but I don't think we would ever have to go universe hopping. At least not any time soon. It takes too many resources to do environments to Remedy's high standards for them to take us universe hopping. It might be something they do in the future if they've built up enough environments to make the experiences worthwhile, but we aren't there yet.
I really appreciate coming back to discuss Neil's and everyone's thoughts on Alan Wake 2 at the beginning of this episode. I felt like we didn't get enough discussion about the base game at the end of that episode. Cheers!
Remember: Alan is clairvoyant. He can see bits and pieces of other realities in the Dark Place (and probably in real life too, in his dreams, if one of the letters from Control is his). So the last episode, and the three of them, actually, could easily be his versions, rebuild versions, his madeup versions, of the bits he gets to see, trying to make any sense of it.
I know this is kinda a loaded question since it’s probably asking you to do homework but do you possibly remember which letter your referring to? I might have missed it.
@@Woombi i swear I wrote a reply to your message a few minutes ago? But I can't see it for whatever reason (probably I messed up white editing the mesage). Anyways. The letter may not be Alan's after all, or may be his but under a pseudonym. It's a dead letter titled "Vivid Dreams", penned by some Richard Bowker. You can find the text and the location on Control online, if you google for it. I remember reading that letter and thinking that it easily could've been Alan in an earler time in his career, writing the letter under a fake name.
Let me just whisper this out to the world and see if I can follow Sam's spiral of madness that is this universe. Here are the reasons these three failed escape attempts in Alan's Ascension or Destruction Journey: Number One Fan: Yes, Rose (our baby girl badass with a shotgun or in Chase's case, a pot of Bright Falls House Brew lol ) saved her Writer but One-sided love (or as Warlin Door summaries the Obsession) probably did nothing but feed the Lake. Side Theory: You guys mentioned why not just write a fairy tale. Rose’s reads like a romantic fairy tale but the phrase "And They Lived Happily Ever After" is ambiguous as it doesn't state where they end or provide enough "Artistic Vision" that the Lake feeds on to keep it distracted enough for Rose to pull Alan free. North Star ( Also known as Polaris well at least for the next thousand year but I digress): I think you are right on the money, Monty. Alan is probably a very powerful Parautilitarian but no where near powerful enough to replace Dylan but the "Hiss" like a hiss of coffee hitting a hot plate in this section was a lovely nod to Control. The other issue I have with this is the motivation of the Hero. If this was Dylan, then yes Jesse would be hauling his ass out of the Lake no problem. But this is Alan. Even a echo of Polaris can sense this is wrong. The story isn't right. Honestly maybe it was the echo of Polaris that pulled Echo Jesse back. The sense of wrongness that are blaring like tornado sirens. Side Theory: Since the time in the Lake is a bit wibbly wobbly like a time soup, this might have been a rough draft because he had a sense of Jesse because the Oldest House might be closer to The Dark Place than the "Shores of the Lake" because the Oldest House is connected to the Oceanview Motel, literally just a door away (no pun intended). Which might be why he just asked her for help. Time Breaker: Alan clocked he needed a emotional connection for freedom but he pulls the wrong "Time Breaker", a man who hasn't met his "Besse" yet and formed that connection. He then meets her but the "fleeting echoes of the them in this world" is a spark. A spark isn't enough as compared to Saga's love for Logan and Casey. Saga is willing to sacrifice herself for them. Unfortunately, we aren't looking at Beth and Jack. The willingness to sacrifice themselves for the other and the drive to come back for the other is absent, almost glaringly so. A "Maybe" is hardly strong enough. Warlin Door Theory: Also a possible snag is that Warlin Door is just done with yet another mask placed on his face by Alan as the villains and the Night Springs Host. He might just be bucking against the story causing just enough chaos to throw it as well. Or possibly the fact that Alan has limited him to just his current form. He might have been the Night Springs Host in one life, a late night TV host, the face for the CEO of a diabolical company but that has been wiped clean by a few clicks of a typewriter and one writer desperate for an escape plan outta this place. Side Theory: I feel like Jesse might save Tim E Breaker from the Dark Place. I'm going to pull something from Bioshock Infinite (please don't hate me, y'all but it fits) but "Constants and Variables" might play a part in this because Beth saved Jack before as well The Agent protecting The Actor. Perhaps even touching up The Sibling and The Sheriff with The Sibling asking The Sheriff for help and he provides it to her without hesitation. Also Tim E. Breaker might have had glimpses into his alternative selves including Jack and Shawn through their eyes at their Beth or Agent or Jesse in this world. Side Theory: The act of sacrifice might also be part of the ritual that powers the Dark Place. Rituals seemed to have more power here so maybe Alan's "sacrifices" are not significant enough to gain his freedom because they are shallow emotions. Sure it's a symbol of selfless love but they are twisted down here. Obsession isn't love. Alan isn't Dylan thus destroying the familial bond to save one's "Sibling". The Connection for Time Breaker wasn't there, at least not in this lifetime unfortunately only a spark of "Maybe". These are Night Springs, a supposed horror show which all of these are a bit weak in their horror aspect. Thus breaking the rules of the show's format and ultimately breaking the "ritual" of the show. Perhaps making all of these doomed to fail, just by straying from the genre. THOMAS "YOU UNINSPIRING PARASITIC MOTHERF*CKER" ZANE Theory Time: Yes, maybe his soul has been spirited away with Barbara cocooned by his great works. More power to those lovely people who have suffered but their bodies that were left behind filled to the brim with the Darkness. His soul might no longer be in there but a twisted echo from the Lake that is going crazier with each restart of Alan's bids for escape. Zane would have been stuck in there for 40 years in there already before Alan joined him (53 years total) or in Dark Place time (using Darling's day counting as reference) 8,833 days and 8 hours give or take because Darling's "days" are really 2 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes, and 6 seconds long judging by his "665 days" in captivity, I mean, his "Ascension" into the Dark Place after climbing into Hedron during the events of Control (4 years before AW 2) Who knows what kind of madness that would entail facing by yourself with no one else to talk to. Alan had Bright Presence Zane at least for a bit to take the edge off. He had nothing but the screwed images and horrible echoes of loved ones in the Dark Place for years. 13 years (2,166 days and 16-ish hours) had Alan spiraling headlong into madness. What can 40 years do to someone all alone with nothing but failed attempts to leave and horrific parodies of loved ones? Also I think we forget what Zane was at the beginning. He was a poet with poems probably literally choking with metaphors which are used in poems pretty often. Metaphors are practically death sentences in the Dark Place because the Dark Place can twist it however it wishes. So the thery that LD has about him cannibalizing other folks left in the Dark Place might be correct because he can't write his way out. Who's to say that he didn't consume a errant filmmaker who got lost in the Lake and maybe a reporter as well to get a better handle on writing a way out. Him literally leaping on Darling is telling. What is that but a fresh new perspective to devour and implement into a new means of escape? He's tried poems, fiction, and in Scratch's case, horror without a hint of the welcoming sunlight he craves. Why not try experimenting with a mix of science and artistic vision since all of Darling's hypothesis come true? Okay. I'm done. Now to crawl out from under a couple sheeps' worth of red string since I've put this to paper figuratively speaking.
I love finally getting to hear the Lore Dump thoughts on Time Breaker- it’s been one of the things I’ve looked forward to since playing it! My theories on the Wake/Zane connection have changed several times in the last few months, but at this point, I’ve become convinced that they are both just Vessels for the Dark Presence (and the Bright Presence) from different points in time. Tom the Poet was a real person who was one of many potential Vessels, but whose Battle in between Light and Darkness was ultimately lost because he was unwilling to sacrifice to get what he wanted: his Love. Tom shunted his role onto Alan Wake, whose life contained echoes of Tom’s and made him fit for the role. But with Alan Wake on that spiral path, Tom Zane moved out of the spotlight and became part of the Shadow, his selfishness becoming entangled with Alan’s egotism that he keeps out of the Light. Mr. Scratch was Alan’s externalization of the parts of himself that he couldn’t even fathom as part of Alan Wake, twisted into a nightmare. Mr. Scratch was destroyed, but Alan can exorcise those parts of himself, he has to integrate them. Enter Scratch: the “other half” of Alan that he wants to reject, but that he cannot contain, so Alice acts as psychopomp and helps him accept those parts and reconcile them with who he is and who he has always been. He will never be free of that monster, but they don’t have to destroy each other. Tom the Filmmaker then is the parts of Alan that Wake has successfully shed on the path to himself (his vanity, his rebelliousness, his vices) twisted up with the parts of Zane left in the Darkness and driven by Zane’s selfishness to be the center of everything. Tom the Filmmaker hopes to usurp Alan’s role as Master of Many Worlds using their connection because as far as the universe is concerned, they’re just the same person with different faces (which is why the Andersons and Ahti- fellow gods- call Alan “Tom” and why Zane has started to look more like Alan: to close that gap) (Mini theories in the comments)
Mini-Theory 1: Branch’s role as “The Agent” is to get Shawn Ashmore (“The Actor”) into important roles across the Remedy-verse: “the Director”, “the Writer”, “the Producer”, etc. But his Heroic role is as “the Sheriff”, one who maintains order when you’re too far away to get attention or help from anyone else. Mini-Theory 2: I believe that Door taking Odin’s eye is actually what gives the Andersons their ability as Seer’s- they are literally connected to the Sea of Night in the flesh, and because time doesn’t flow in a single direction in the Dark Place, that quirk of reality rippled out to affect anyone who shares their blood. Mini-Theory 3: Door helps Alan because Alan unintentionally (perhaps intuitively) tangled up their timelines so that- now- Door cannot exist in a role mutually exclusive from Alan. If Door’s comic origin is to be believed as canon, there is only ONE Door, whereas there are still Many versions of Alan. So if Alan crosses onto Door’s spiral path, there are no alternatives for Door to take, meaning then that Door has to make sure that their path leads to a place that benefits both of them. He goes along with Alan’s quaint little process even though his preferred process is brute force (he let every other version of himself get burned up in his path to Master of Many Worlds, so he has no Shadow to contend with), as shown by his manipulation of Branch- whose role as Agent/Actor should mean that Branch can act for himself, but he is only ever relegated to the Roles chosen for him by Door. Mini-Theory 4: Tom the Filmmaker is the ultimate antagonist of the Remedy-verse because of the path he has chosen for himself: auteur filmmaker. No longer the Poet that barely resembled the Shadow of Alan, Zane has become someone who has always thrived on the work of others and who is able to take on many Roles all by himself at the same time: Writer, Actor, Director, Producer- never having to collaborate or share the spotlight and able to shape the work in his own image. Fun Fact: Wake as a word meaning “the path left behind a Vessel in water” comes from Old Norse vok: “a hole in the ice”, something like a makeshift Door in the Sea.
Congrats on being a dad Monty even if the little noobit isn't here yet, I hope everything goes smoothly for the Noobus and I'm wishing her so much luck with recovery, and so much well wishes and congratulations to you both!!! 💗💗
I think Alan could never write himself out because he didn't have his muse. He needed Alice. When Alice joined him, he was finally able to write Return
I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's heavily implied in Alan Wake 2 that Alan's "inspirations" are actually visions of reality that he used to write his books. Alex Casey says that he feels watched since it's similar to what he lives, everything written down in Alan's books. Therefore, Door is surprised at how similar it is to the real thing (his origin story) since Alan saw it in one of his inspirations/dreams. And it's always similar never exactly alike, since Alan's memory is so foggy since his visions are like dreams.
I also think these are small ‘set ups’ meant to cement certain things from happening. I think that while the inspiration is certainly the case, my brain surmised that these stories are effectively setting up: Rose connecting to Alan and ‘helping’ him. Jesse going to the FBC and becoming director, and fidning Dylan which we already knew was going to happen because of the AWE dlc. And Wake getting Door involved and in his role because of his ‘borrowing’ of Breaker, but then pissing him off when he grabbed Saga during the edits. Idk, i feel like these are supposed to hint to some things but not be explicitly regarded as truth.
Little bit disappointed yall didnt talk about the fanart in Rose's board but I'm enjoying this episode too much to be that bothered. ❤❤❤ Congrats on parenthood Monty! Neil and Chase will be the best uncles 🎉
So I think Control 2 or AW3 might be released 665 days (Per Darling's video) after AW2 so....August 23, 2025. Since Remedy said we wouldn't be waiting long for AW3. Also the bullet of light opened Alan's third eye and gave him enough omnipotence to see Alice for a few seconds before the loop restarted. Alice and Alan are separated and not merged together.
Lol I wish Earliest I would expect Control 2 is spring 2027 based on how many projects are in the pipeline for remedy (unless both the Max Payne remakes and Firebreak releases next year, which would be surprising)
Sorry to disappoint, but 1) as the other commenter exclaimed, we know that both FBC Firebreak and Max Payne 1 & 2 remake are to be released sooner than either Control 2 or AW3 (if there even is such thing, I doubt there's anything more than brief ideation going on right now, let alone a fully blown pre-production / production) which makes your predicted date almost certainly impossible for them to achieve and more importantly 2) being in the AAA game production is far too serious business for anyone to be able to prioritize some wacky fan theories over the needs of the company and the current market situation.
1:03:48 I think the simplest way to look at the picture of Tom Zane in the comic is like this: Sam Lake plays Alex Casey (in scenes of Alan Wake 2) but he is not Alex Casey or multiverse variant of Casey, yet he is in the comic picture. Tom Zane plays Alan Wake (in Nightless Night) in the same way and can be in the picture for the same reason, without being Alan Wake. Or you can also phrase it like, Tom Zane is Alan Wake (or Alan Wake has Tom Zane's face) in the reality of the Nightless Night movie.
their next game, while admittedly will probably be their lightest on lore, is coming out next year. i think they’ve said they plan on releasing something every year now
1:22:50 this is just my theory, but maybe the Dark Presence only posesses dark people because they can't resist it as well as well as happier people, and since Jagger's body had no soul there would be nothing to resist that posession.
While it's a shame the Lake House timing didn't quite work out, I'm more than happy to have all the variety it sounds like we're getting in the meantime. Great show as always, and best wishes to the hosts.
I think the Writer's Room has become something somewhat similar to the Oceanview Motel. It no longer has a fixed location outside the Dark Place, but can seem to exist where Alan needs it to exist.
I am so excited to hear what you have to say about the Lake house. I finally started it today and I'm loving it. It's like the best of Alan Wake and Control. Loved the night springs video, and you guys are always fun to listen too. Especially when it gets to some of the goofy stuff
Oh man, thank you guys for this upload! I haven't even started watching yet (wanted to give it a boost with a comment though lol), but I've had a hell of a week, grief is a bastard, and this is the exact distraction/brief escape I needed. I hope all is going well with you guys on your side of the screen!
1:12:00 this is a stretch, but in interactive fiction, a choice structure that rapidly branches into entirely different stories (with the caveat that unlike here, they don't reconnect), that's called a "Time Cave" after the first book in the "Choose your own adventure" series, "Cave of Time", which follows a similar structure.
1:17:07 at the end of the awe dlc when Jesse's talking to Langston she mentions how shes in nead of a new head of the investigations department and seeing how saga is an fbi agent and the nature of her paranatural abilities i could see her fitting well in that role.
Nah I think Saga would make a great field agent under the command of the new Head of Investigations, Kiran Estevez, whose injuries have made it so she can no longer do field work.
There's something at 50:42 I wanna point out: among the names listed for the red headed woman we see (Elisa)Beth and Jesse, but more interestingly, we also see Dylan. Very reminiscent of Control, where Dylan said how their names are nonbinary and they were both one single person, Jesse Dylan Faden
It’s interesting on the topic of voice actors that the version of Zane from AW1 has the same voice as Casey almost as if that’s the voice Alan read’s characters he makes in (if we’re assuming that was Alan’s creation)
1:38:44 in theory we know that an edited story can still hold power because of the base games manuscripts which were heavily edited. If an entirely separate author can edit another’s work and change the power is a bit more iffy and whether or not we’ve already seen it depends on whether or not you think of scratch and Alan as separate entities sharing a body or Alan having gone completely crazy.
About the "Zane is Scratch" theory there are cut voice lines from when the game was still being made of a Dark Place phone call between Alan and Zane where Zane gets worried that Alan's remembering more then his voice suddenly changes to the growly voice of AW2 Scratch. Then Scratch says "Hello Alan Wake. This is Alan Wake? We hunt the same thing. I am close now. I can feel it. The manuscript, Alice. I am with her now. She is waiting for the train at Underwood Station" then Alan tells Scratch to fuck off.
My head canon, is that these are Alan's escape attempts, of course, by writing each concept and ending with him being found by his new protagonist each time. Hoping that at least ONE of them will end up half true and save him. After the end of each attempt, he wakes up back in the room and begins again. Out of all of Alan's writing escape attempts, American Nightmare was, not only one of them, but the first time Alan and Scratch started "writing" against one another. The whole game was a trope in a half being written by scratch, and Alan had to work "within" the constraints of the campy story as the hero. And after "saving" himself, he and scratch re awakened where ever they were in the dark place. From there on, Scratch would try to interfere one way or another. I'd like to imagine that the "Brother" in the waitress's story, was ACTUALLY Scratch trying to get Alan again, but tied to the wacky story's rules like all the others. As for how Alan knows about everything? Just that innate dark place magic that made him write about Hartman and Jesse. Maybe he now gained complete knowledge of Door before he met him. And the constant amnesia that was endlessly hinted at throughout the game is the out that the devs have. On a side note. I want to believe that scratch and the darkness are two separate entities. When thirteen years pass and they couldn't finish Alan, they try to "drown" him with a solution, play on his fear of Scratch being a physical manifestation and trick him into an endless loop using Casey in the real world. But Alan's escape was laid out when he rewrote Saga in the place of Casey. And Saga, being and Anderson, would be able to work outside constraints. Making her the key.
I also really thought one of the DLC would be from Alice’s perspective doing photography in the Dark Place. It’s the perfect kind of next step I think for her as both a character, and for Alan Wake in general. Really hoping we didn’t get her as a DLC story because they want to do more with her in the sequel. Also just imagine Sam Lake and the Remedy crew having fun with photo mode in a game where the main playable character is a photographer. I think they could get silly with it.
When I played episode one, I was making a reference to a similar joke. I was like thinking this is someone canon. This would explain how Rose got from the diner to the lake house old folks I imagine is immune to the darkness one and reason 2 she got right up her nose. I was cackling like a madman every time I went through roses segments of talking to the bad boy.
Watching this after the lake house DLC has been out. Nice theories, though. I can’t wait for the lore dump for the lake house. I also can’t wait for the talk about the teaser for control 2
Regarding the whole Scratch, Zane, Alan multiverse stuff. I think it's not implying that Tom Zane (AW1 Zane or AW2 Zane) is just an alternate universe version of Alan (or that Scratch is that either). I think in the narrative of AW2 (the base game), it's quite clear that Zane is trying to replace Alan. He's reinvented himself as a filmmaker, in order to essentially leech off of Alan's written stories, by turning them into movie adaptations. Zane, while in the past as a creative was making entirely original works, has become somewhat corrupted by the Dark Place/-Presence, after literally 50+ years of being stuck there. He's been unable to get out of there, through his own writing and is instead trying to piggy-back off of Alan's. That's why, pretty much as soon as Alan entered the Dark Place and Zane became aware of him, he decided he's a filmmaker now. He finally got given someone else he could manipulate into doing his bidding. Now, multiverse stuff - my theory very simply is, that the Zane and Scratch we see on that panel, are from alternate universes where Zane and Scratch respectively, succeeded in replacing Alan. Because we know for a fact that Scratch was trying to do that in AW:AM. And again, my theory makes me think Zane is trying to do that same in AW2. It's also just from a meta-narrative perspective, something that works for me. It leads into a whole discussion about what's derivative and what's transformative - and every UA-camr's well aware of that discussion - because where Zane's film lies, especially because we don't get the written first draft of Return, is debatable. It's imo a nice setup for whatever will happen in AW3 and potentially Control 2, on the side. I think that's what that frame is teasing. It's giving us an idea for who or what Zane will be, in the future. An antagonist. Edit: Yea, Monty downright says he thinks Zane is a parasite as well. I think it's just setup for that.
31:28 This episode was probably an early attempt by Alan to get Jesse to help free him from the Dark Place before he influenced some of Control's events.
My assumption about Tom Zane is that he's the Bright cult leader that got trapped in the Dark Place (there's mention of a movie studio about Bright in Control, iirc, that was making use of the video camera) and he's trying to get himself out but doesn't know how. So he's been trying to find people in the Dark Place that can help him escape. That's why he knows who the FBC are, and is trying to take advantage of an FBC member to reach his goals. We don't know exactly when he ended up in the Dark Place, but he might have used his, uh, director powers, to try and take Alan's place and get his powers. After all, we know from the Time Breaker part that you can assume the part of another person in a universe and gain a bit of them when you do, since that's what Shawn does. The Cult of the Word probably spawned from him, too, since we never see Scratch have anything to really do with any cult other than showing up where the Cult of the Word tried to summon him. There's just too many mentions of Bright in a lot of things for it not to be relevant, and I think the most obvious way it can be is through him.
My theory about Zane is that thematically he's Alan's Dark Muse as opposed to Alice who is his Bright Muse. He encourages Alan to create, but we see all that creation is fueled by drugs, alcohol, violence and other destructive behavior and what eventually comes out of it is creation, but it is a creation that makes everyone involved pay a horrible price. On the other hand Alice inspires Alan to create in positive ways, by giving him love and support and keeping him grounded to reality. She helps Alan see that there can be heroes too, not just monsters and victims. Even the light bullet at the end can be tied to this, since it comes from Alice and essentially helps Alan snap out of the destructive cycle he was trapped in and start his creation anew, this time with hope and determination inside of despair. This is just how I interpreted them in the game of course, doesn't mean they can't be other things too or that I'm not completely off track here.
on the Oceanview Motel/Hotel and what it means. you all think about it as a multiverse nexus, but I think the easiest answer is in its name. The Ocean View. if you posit that the multiverses are an ocean, then this would be something outside of them, peeking in. and that's why there's no polyhedrons - they're inside the multiverse and cannot be outside.
18:24 another funny thing monty didnt mention cause its super unconsequitonal but the bad boy initally says "okay no more tricks, come upstairs" and when Rose gets to the top of the stairs he goes "ha! I tricked you again! Alright fine come to the beach" just adds to the super immaturity of the bad boy in this story haha Edit: also my theory about what these epsiodes "are supposed to be" are Alan's first attempts to write a "hero" to come save him from the dark place and scratch but not really able to lock it down because they go too far out of Alan's 'niche'. Number 1 fan reads like fan fiction where "the waitress" comes to rescue the writer and sweep him away from haters and evil twins. North Star reads like a supernatural thriller with "the sibling" coming to save him, and Time breaker maybe reading like a script for a sci-fi video game. He only really "succeeds" when he turns the story into a noir crime thriller with fbi agents leading the charge because that was his bread and butter as a writer
about alan knowing door's origin: he sees into other realities, it's not out of the question that he saw door's origin without realizing it was his actual origin. while i'm sure there's plenty in time breaker that isn't accurate, it doesn't mean there aren't SOME accurate details, especially since this one aligns with what powers we already know alan has lol
I do think it's interesting that in the comic panels, Alan is the center of his (and I think the scratch is the one from American nightmare not the one from AW2 which has its own implications) but also judging by the outfit, sam lake is in the middle of his. The real sam lake, not the actor playing Casey in the dark place. And we don't really get to see the left Sam's outfit. Is it Casey? Or max Payne?
28:03 Alright, so from my understanding the clicker can't change things on its own, but it's something that will set in reality once a piece has been completed. Whichever ending he wrote, has to be believable, and then the clicker can work to make it real.
So is it possible that Zane is helping Alan become the master of many worlds so that he can then become Alan? Zane plays Alan in the movies in game so it's possible that rather than being a parasite just siphoning ideas, he's looking to become Alan after he goes through all of the hard parts of becoming the master of the dark place.
I just had a theory. What if door was originally the master of many worlds, but something shifted? Alan now controls the story, same as jesse now is the head of the FBC. Everything shifted, I think that's the overarching plot of the multiverse. Edit: after hearing your zane theory, I think zane was the creative and it shifted to alan, but zane wants to get that back thus he's leeching off alan.
I think Tom wants to explore what he can become or what he can make with the power of the Dark Place (or depending on where the ability comes from, through manipulating the dark presence). Maybe he really was Tom the Poet originally, and made himself become a successful film auteur. It seems each time we hear more about Tom as a filmmaker, the amount of popularity or reverence his image and legacy receives is increased. Somewhere in AW2, someone (Casey in an echo?) even comments something like "He was supposedly a famous filmmaker come from Finland, but when I looked into him, all I could find was this one film." So he is Tom the Poet, obsessed with art but obviously not getting any fame. He comes to Bright Falls and enters Cauldron Lake, changes his story to have been a Filmmaker, an auteur with masterworks. He can write his story to have been different, but no matter what he writes, he's still in the dark place. But maybe he did eventually figure out how to fabricate something entirely, and created a writer. The Lake House does explore different forms of art with the Shadow and speculates that writing is inherently stronger. Idk, I know it's hard to take Tom's hints at this seriously towards our protagonist, but I can't stop thinking that they might really do it.
Did anyone mention Rose's fanart of Alan where he has cat ears and the other one with him in a crop top talking on the phone (reference taken from a pic of Johnny Depp when he was 20)? 😂
so I know this will probably never happen but I would kill for you all to cover the game "Still Wakes The Deep" now granted it's only 3 to 4 hours long but I would kill for someone to do a full dive on it and also I just thought it would be interesting for scottish people to cover the game and point out and discrepancies but mostly just because it's a damn good game and it needs more recognition
A thought just occurred to me, not about Alan wake: have any of you guys played horizon zero dawn? Or rather, any of you NOT played it? Cause there's some wild lore in those games, the story is so good
I believe they are all different: Tom the poet Tom the diver Tom the film maker Tom the rhymer And possibly: Tom the parasite. There is also another possible Tom: Tom the A.Wake
I'm pretty confident the remedy multiverse only really exists in order to leave the door open for getting the rights back for quantum break or max Payne (and like chase said, for control to play around with a bit but I think it would primarily be a QB sandbox if they got that back) Also, I'm not convinced saga would join the FBC. Her daughter was just caught in the crossfire of this crazy shit and she almost lost her from this one case, I don't think she'd want to 1) risk accidentally bringing something home with her, or 2) getting caught in a situation like RIGHT NOW where she'd be in lockdown for literal years and miss years of Logan's life, if she even got see her again. Estevez is telling her all about it, she knows the oldest house is compromised and that there may not even be any survivors, who in their right mind would join at a time like this when they've got a kid to think about?
Thanks for being here! We'll be covering The Lake House in early 2025. In the meantime, get hyped for some Yakuza on December 1st and a certain Webhead in the new year 👀👀
Even the vid says Mid-November, you spoil us.
Big hype, can't wait for that Madame Web review 🥳💀😂
I can't wait for the Lake House!
Can we just agree that, while Remedy can set up a lot of story shit, but that they can do comedy and parody REALLY well, and this DLC is a great example of that?
They can do BOTH, at the same time.
We’ve all kind of accepted the second Night Springs is a parallel to Control and the Third is Quantum Break. If you kind of take those parallels as being the theme of the Night Springs DLC then The Waitress works as an American Nightmare parallel. We have more action packed combat, a funny kind of campy version of Scratch, and a noncannon happy true love ending. So this DLC is like Dark Place writing versions of the series between AW1 and AW2
1:03 Congrats on becoming a dad Monty.
1:16:02 I feel like Control will probably take the same route with the multiverse as the SCP Foundation itself normally does: We acknowledge it exists, occasionally we contain something that comes through from another universe, but we are *way* too busy dealing with all the shit from our universe to be bothered with all of that nonsense. Plus, there's normally an alternate universe version of the FBC in said other universe, and we don't want to make things awkward with them, so...
This would be my preferred way of dealing with the multiverse stuff. I like having a core, important universe (the one these games are in), and we can occasionally deal with shit from other universes. But I agree with Monty, that I don't want a theme park ride, hoaky trip through multiple realities in the form of a 30hr game.
That's the kind of stuff that makes me despise multiverse stories.
Yeah, like there's a Multi Foundation Coalition that was basically set up so, at most, the Foundations of each universe can share info between each other, but everyone deals with their own problems (except when it comes to the Temporal Anomalies Department).
You could legitimately headcanon the FBC as as a Foundation-like institution (in this case, the UIU of this universe becoming the Foundation analogue) with it's own bubble of alternate universes
@@SidPhoenix2211 I think we might see stuff from another "universe" make its way into ours via a shared threshold or astral plain, but I don't think we would ever have to go universe hopping. At least not any time soon.
It takes too many resources to do environments to Remedy's high standards for them to take us universe hopping. It might be something they do in the future if they've built up enough environments to make the experiences worthwhile, but we aren't there yet.
I really appreciate coming back to discuss Neil's and everyone's thoughts on Alan Wake 2 at the beginning of this episode. I felt like we didn't get enough discussion about the base game at the end of that episode. Cheers!
Remember: Alan is clairvoyant. He can see bits and pieces of other realities in the Dark Place (and probably in real life too, in his dreams, if one of the letters from Control is his). So the last episode, and the three of them, actually, could easily be his versions, rebuild versions, his madeup versions, of the bits he gets to see, trying to make any sense of it.
I know this is kinda a loaded question since it’s probably asking you to do homework but do you possibly remember which letter your referring to? I might have missed it.
@@Woombi i swear I wrote a reply to your message a few minutes ago? But I can't see it for whatever reason (probably I messed up white editing the mesage). Anyways. The letter may not be Alan's after all, or may be his but under a pseudonym. It's a dead letter titled "Vivid Dreams", penned by some Richard Bowker. You can find the text and the location on Control online, if you google for it. I remember reading that letter and thinking that it easily could've been Alan in an earler time in his career, writing the letter under a fake name.
Let me just whisper this out to the world and see if I can follow Sam's spiral of madness that is this universe.
Here are the reasons these three failed escape attempts in Alan's Ascension or Destruction Journey:
Number One Fan: Yes, Rose (our baby girl badass with a shotgun or in Chase's case, a pot of Bright Falls House Brew lol ) saved her Writer but One-sided love (or as Warlin Door summaries the Obsession) probably did nothing but feed the Lake.
Side Theory: You guys mentioned why not just write a fairy tale. Rose’s reads like a romantic fairy tale but the phrase "And They Lived Happily Ever After" is ambiguous as it doesn't state where they end or provide enough "Artistic Vision" that the Lake feeds on to keep it distracted enough for Rose to pull Alan free.
North Star ( Also known as Polaris well at least for the next thousand year but I digress): I think you are right on the money, Monty. Alan is probably a very powerful Parautilitarian but no where near powerful enough to replace Dylan but the "Hiss" like a hiss of coffee hitting a hot plate in this section was a lovely nod to Control. The other issue I have with this is the motivation of the Hero. If this was Dylan, then yes Jesse would be hauling his ass out of the Lake no problem. But this is Alan. Even a echo of Polaris can sense this is wrong. The story isn't right. Honestly maybe it was the echo of Polaris that pulled Echo Jesse back. The sense of wrongness that are blaring like tornado sirens.
Side Theory: Since the time in the Lake is a bit wibbly wobbly like a time soup, this might have been a rough draft because he had a sense of Jesse because the Oldest House might be closer to The Dark Place than the "Shores of the Lake" because the Oldest House is connected to the Oceanview Motel, literally just a door away (no pun intended). Which might be why he just asked her for help.
Time Breaker: Alan clocked he needed a emotional connection for freedom but he pulls the wrong "Time Breaker", a man who hasn't met his "Besse" yet and formed that connection. He then meets her but the "fleeting echoes of the them in this world" is a spark. A spark isn't enough as compared to Saga's love for Logan and Casey. Saga is willing to sacrifice herself for them. Unfortunately, we aren't looking at Beth and Jack. The willingness to sacrifice themselves for the other and the drive to come back for the other is absent, almost glaringly so. A "Maybe" is hardly strong enough.
Warlin Door Theory: Also a possible snag is that Warlin Door is just done with yet another mask placed on his face by Alan as the villains and the Night Springs Host. He might just be bucking against the story causing just enough chaos to throw it as well. Or possibly the fact that Alan has limited him to just his current form. He might have been the Night Springs Host in one life, a late night TV host, the face for the CEO of a diabolical company but that has been wiped clean by a few clicks of a typewriter and one writer desperate for an escape plan outta this place.
Side Theory: I feel like Jesse might save Tim E Breaker from the Dark Place. I'm going to pull something from Bioshock Infinite (please don't hate me, y'all but it fits) but "Constants and Variables" might play a part in this because Beth saved Jack before as well The Agent protecting The Actor. Perhaps even touching up The Sibling and The Sheriff with The Sibling asking The Sheriff for help and he provides it to her without hesitation. Also Tim E. Breaker might have had glimpses into his alternative selves including Jack and Shawn through their eyes at their Beth or Agent or Jesse in this world.
Side Theory: The act of sacrifice might also be part of the ritual that powers the Dark Place. Rituals seemed to have more power here so maybe Alan's "sacrifices" are not significant enough to gain his freedom because they are shallow emotions. Sure it's a symbol of selfless love but they are twisted down here. Obsession isn't love. Alan isn't Dylan thus destroying the familial bond to save one's "Sibling". The Connection for Time Breaker wasn't there, at least not in this lifetime unfortunately only a spark of "Maybe". These are Night Springs, a supposed horror show which all of these are a bit weak in their horror aspect. Thus breaking the rules of the show's format and ultimately breaking the "ritual" of the show. Perhaps making all of these doomed to fail, just by straying from the genre.
THOMAS "YOU UNINSPIRING PARASITIC MOTHERF*CKER" ZANE Theory Time: Yes, maybe his soul has been spirited away with Barbara cocooned by his great works. More power to those lovely people who have suffered but their bodies that were left behind filled to the brim with the Darkness. His soul might no longer be in there but a twisted echo from the Lake that is going crazier with each restart of Alan's bids for escape. Zane would have been stuck in there for 40 years in there already before Alan joined him (53 years total) or in Dark Place time (using Darling's day counting as reference) 8,833 days and 8 hours give or take because Darling's "days" are really 2 days, 4 hours, 33 minutes, and 6 seconds long judging by his "665 days" in captivity, I mean, his "Ascension" into the Dark Place after climbing into Hedron during the events of Control (4 years before AW 2) Who knows what kind of madness that would entail facing by yourself with no one else to talk to. Alan had Bright Presence Zane at least for a bit to take the edge off. He had nothing but the screwed images and horrible echoes of loved ones in the Dark Place for years. 13 years (2,166 days and 16-ish hours) had Alan spiraling headlong into madness. What can 40 years do to someone all alone with nothing but failed attempts to leave and horrific parodies of loved ones?
Also I think we forget what Zane was at the beginning. He was a poet with poems probably literally choking with metaphors which are used in poems pretty often. Metaphors are practically death sentences in the Dark Place because the Dark Place can twist it however it wishes. So the thery that LD has about him cannibalizing other folks left in the Dark Place might be correct because he can't write his way out. Who's to say that he didn't consume a errant filmmaker who got lost in the Lake and maybe a reporter as well to get a better handle on writing a way out. Him literally leaping on Darling is telling. What is that but a fresh new perspective to devour and implement into a new means of escape? He's tried poems, fiction, and in Scratch's case, horror without a hint of the welcoming sunlight he craves. Why not try experimenting with a mix of science and artistic vision since all of Darling's hypothesis come true?
Okay. I'm done. Now to crawl out from under a couple sheeps' worth of red string since I've put this to paper figuratively speaking.
I love finally getting to hear the Lore Dump thoughts on Time Breaker- it’s been one of the things I’ve looked forward to since playing it!
My theories on the Wake/Zane connection have changed several times in the last few months, but at this point, I’ve become convinced that they are both just Vessels for the Dark Presence (and the Bright Presence) from different points in time.
Tom the Poet was a real person who was one of many potential Vessels, but whose Battle in between Light and Darkness was ultimately lost because he was unwilling to sacrifice to get what he wanted: his Love. Tom shunted his role onto Alan Wake, whose life contained echoes of Tom’s and made him fit for the role. But with Alan Wake on that spiral path, Tom Zane moved out of the spotlight and became part of the Shadow, his selfishness becoming entangled with Alan’s egotism that he keeps out of the Light.
Mr. Scratch was Alan’s externalization of the parts of himself that he couldn’t even fathom as part of Alan Wake, twisted into a nightmare. Mr. Scratch was destroyed, but Alan can exorcise those parts of himself, he has to integrate them.
Enter Scratch: the “other half” of Alan that he wants to reject, but that he cannot contain, so Alice acts as psychopomp and helps him accept those parts and reconcile them with who he is and who he has always been. He will never be free of that monster, but they don’t have to destroy each other.
Tom the Filmmaker then is the parts of Alan that Wake has successfully shed on the path to himself (his vanity, his rebelliousness, his vices) twisted up with the parts of Zane left in the Darkness and driven by Zane’s selfishness to be the center of everything. Tom the Filmmaker hopes to usurp Alan’s role as Master of Many Worlds using their connection because as far as the universe is concerned, they’re just the same person with different faces (which is why the Andersons and Ahti- fellow gods- call Alan “Tom” and why Zane has started to look more like Alan: to close that gap)
(Mini theories in the comments)
Mini-Theory 1: Branch’s role as “The Agent” is to get Shawn Ashmore (“The Actor”) into important roles across the Remedy-verse: “the Director”, “the Writer”, “the Producer”, etc. But his Heroic role is as “the Sheriff”, one who maintains order when you’re too far away to get attention or help from anyone else.
Mini-Theory 2: I believe that Door taking Odin’s eye is actually what gives the Andersons their ability as Seer’s- they are literally connected to the Sea of Night in the flesh, and because time doesn’t flow in a single direction in the Dark Place, that quirk of reality rippled out to affect anyone who shares their blood.
Mini-Theory 3: Door helps Alan because Alan unintentionally (perhaps intuitively) tangled up their timelines so that- now- Door cannot exist in a role mutually exclusive from Alan. If Door’s comic origin is to be believed as canon, there is only ONE Door, whereas there are still Many versions of Alan. So if Alan crosses onto Door’s spiral path, there are no alternatives for Door to take, meaning then that Door has to make sure that their path leads to a place that benefits both of them. He goes along with Alan’s quaint little process even though his preferred process is brute force (he let every other version of himself get burned up in his path to Master of Many Worlds, so he has no Shadow to contend with), as shown by his manipulation of Branch- whose role as Agent/Actor should mean that Branch can act for himself, but he is only ever relegated to the Roles chosen for him by Door.
Mini-Theory 4: Tom the Filmmaker is the ultimate antagonist of the Remedy-verse because of the path he has chosen for himself: auteur filmmaker. No longer the Poet that barely resembled the Shadow of Alan, Zane has become someone who has always thrived on the work of others and who is able to take on many Roles all by himself at the same time: Writer, Actor, Director, Producer- never having to collaborate or share the spotlight and able to shape the work in his own image.
Fun Fact: Wake as a word meaning “the path left behind a Vessel in water” comes from Old Norse vok: “a hole in the ice”, something like a makeshift Door in the Sea.
this is a really cool theory
Hey Monty, since the Alan Wake 2 episode I wanna mention this, if we do getting a Alice Wake game, it’s basically Fatal Frame 😂
December can’t come soon enough
Congrats on being a dad Monty even if the little noobit isn't here yet, I hope everything goes smoothly for the Noobus and I'm wishing her so much luck with recovery, and so much well wishes and congratulations to you both!!! 💗💗
I think Alan could never write himself out because he didn't have his muse. He needed Alice. When Alice joined him, he was finally able to write Return
I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's heavily implied in Alan Wake 2 that Alan's "inspirations" are actually visions of reality that he used to write his books. Alex Casey says that he feels watched since it's similar to what he lives, everything written down in Alan's books. Therefore, Door is surprised at how similar it is to the real thing (his origin story) since Alan saw it in one of his inspirations/dreams. And it's always similar never exactly alike, since Alan's memory is so foggy since his visions are like dreams.
I also think these are small ‘set ups’ meant to cement certain things from happening.
I think that while the inspiration is certainly the case, my brain surmised that these stories are effectively setting up: Rose connecting to Alan and ‘helping’ him. Jesse going to the FBC and becoming director, and fidning Dylan which we already knew was going to happen because of the AWE dlc. And Wake getting Door involved and in his role because of his ‘borrowing’ of Breaker, but then pissing him off when he grabbed Saga during the edits.
Idk, i feel like these are supposed to hint to some things but not be explicitly regarded as truth.
Little bit disappointed yall didnt talk about the fanart in Rose's board but I'm enjoying this episode too much to be that bothered. ❤❤❤ Congrats on parenthood Monty! Neil and Chase will be the best uncles 🎉
I made fan art of that fan art cause this world needs cat Alan xD
Another grand episode. Gonna go listen to Nightspring (the song) 10 times or more.
Massive props to Neil for always being the one to call out “for those that are just listening, here’s what we’re looking at.”
So I think Control 2 or AW3 might be released 665 days (Per Darling's video) after AW2 so....August 23, 2025. Since Remedy said we wouldn't be waiting long for AW3. Also the bullet of light opened Alan's third eye and gave him enough omnipotence to see Alice for a few seconds before the loop restarted. Alice and Alan are separated and not merged together.
We can only hope
Lol I wish
Earliest I would expect Control 2 is spring 2027 based on how many projects are in the pipeline for remedy (unless both the Max Payne remakes and Firebreak releases next year, which would be surprising)
Sorry to disappoint, but 1) as the other commenter exclaimed, we know that both FBC Firebreak and Max Payne 1 & 2 remake are to be released sooner than either Control 2 or AW3 (if there even is such thing, I doubt there's anything more than brief ideation going on right now, let alone a fully blown pre-production / production) which makes your predicted date almost certainly impossible for them to achieve and more importantly 2) being in the AAA game production is far too serious business for anyone to be able to prioritize some wacky fan theories over the needs of the company and the current market situation.
1:03:48 I think the simplest way to look at the picture of Tom Zane in the comic is like this: Sam Lake plays Alex Casey (in scenes of Alan Wake 2) but he is not Alex Casey or multiverse variant of Casey, yet he is in the comic picture. Tom Zane plays Alan Wake (in Nightless Night) in the same way and can be in the picture for the same reason, without being Alan Wake.
Or you can also phrase it like, Tom Zane is Alan Wake (or Alan Wake has Tom Zane's face) in the reality of the Nightless Night movie.
I lost my shit so many times during these. The combat music during #1 Fan was absolutely hilarious.
I'm devastated there won't be more Remedy content for years. I can't handle another lore drought
their next game, while admittedly will probably be their lightest on lore, is coming out next year. i think they’ve said they plan on releasing something every year now
1:22:50 this is just my theory, but maybe the Dark Presence only posesses dark people because they can't resist it as well as well as happier people, and since Jagger's body had no soul there would be nothing to resist that posession.
Saved this for work tonight! Can’t wait for the lake house coverage!
While it's a shame the Lake House timing didn't quite work out, I'm more than happy to have all the variety it sounds like we're getting in the meantime. Great show as always, and best wishes to the hosts.
Its not the first time though, in Alan Wake 1, in one of the DLCs, (The Signal, if I recall correctly) you went into the kitchen.
Lol idky you thought the FBC research station at cauldron lake wouldnt be control centric
I think the Writer's Room has become something somewhat similar to the Oceanview Motel. It no longer has a fixed location outside the Dark Place, but can seem to exist where Alan needs it to exist.
Yeaaaaa, my brain 24/7 rn
🎶Night Springs, stuck in an endless time loop...🎶
I am so excited to hear what you have to say about the Lake house. I finally started it today and I'm loving it. It's like the best of Alan Wake and Control.
Loved the night springs video, and you guys are always fun to listen too. Especially when it gets to some of the goofy stuff
Oh man, thank you guys for this upload! I haven't even started watching yet (wanted to give it a boost with a comment though lol), but I've had a hell of a week, grief is a bastard, and this is the exact distraction/brief escape I needed. I hope all is going well with you guys on your side of the screen!
1:12:00 this is a stretch, but in interactive fiction, a choice structure that rapidly branches into entirely different stories (with the caveat that unlike here, they don't reconnect), that's called a "Time Cave" after the first book in the "Choose your own adventure" series, "Cave of Time", which follows a similar structure.
Great episode.
Even greater Spotify ad XD
1:17:07 at the end of the awe dlc when Jesse's talking to Langston she mentions how shes in nead of a new head of the investigations department and seeing how saga is an fbi agent and the nature of her paranatural abilities i could see her fitting well in that role.
Nah I think Saga would make a great field agent under the command of the new Head of Investigations, Kiran Estevez, whose injuries have made it so she can no longer do field work.
YASSSSSSSSSS MORE ALAN WAKE 2!!!!!!
There's something at 50:42 I wanna point out: among the names listed for the red headed woman we see (Elisa)Beth and Jesse, but more interestingly, we also see Dylan. Very reminiscent of Control, where Dylan said how their names are nonbinary and they were both one single person, Jesse Dylan Faden
The Spiral is on a painting in Zanes room, which can explain why the spiral seemingly lead to two places.
What a great drop for the morning after Halloween
"What a beautiful beach! Dunno whyit's covered in blood." Oh dear, did he get a death stranding teaser?
It’s interesting on the topic of voice actors that the version of Zane from AW1 has the same voice as Casey almost as if that’s the voice Alan read’s characters he makes in (if we’re assuming that was Alan’s creation)
I needed this, thank you! The video is going to be a blast, let's go!
For those that don't know, Remedy changed its official discord server name and picture to Poison Pill when this DLC dropped. I love them.
1:38:44 in theory we know that an edited story can still hold power because of the base games manuscripts which were heavily edited. If an entirely separate author can edit another’s work and change the power is a bit more iffy and whether or not we’ve already seen it depends on whether or not you think of scratch and Alan as separate entities sharing a body or Alan having gone completely crazy.
i just realized that y'all also did the night springs lore dump. my evening plans are settled :D
About the "Zane is Scratch" theory there are cut voice lines from when the game was still being made of a Dark Place phone call between Alan and Zane where Zane gets worried that Alan's remembering more then his voice suddenly changes to the growly voice of AW2 Scratch. Then Scratch says "Hello Alan Wake. This is Alan Wake? We hunt the same thing. I am close now. I can feel it. The manuscript, Alice. I am with her now. She is waiting for the train at Underwood Station" then Alan tells Scratch to fuck off.
My head canon, is that these are Alan's escape attempts, of course, by writing each concept and ending with him being found by his new protagonist each time. Hoping that at least ONE of them will end up half true and save him. After the end of each attempt, he wakes up back in the room and begins again. Out of all of Alan's writing escape attempts, American Nightmare was, not only one of them, but the first time Alan and Scratch started "writing" against one another. The whole game was a trope in a half being written by scratch, and Alan had to work "within" the constraints of the campy story as the hero. And after "saving" himself, he and scratch re awakened where ever they were in the dark place. From there on, Scratch would try to interfere one way or another. I'd like to imagine that the "Brother" in the waitress's story, was ACTUALLY Scratch trying to get Alan again, but tied to the wacky story's rules like all the others.
As for how Alan knows about everything? Just that innate dark place magic that made him write about Hartman and Jesse. Maybe he now gained complete knowledge of Door before he met him. And the constant amnesia that was endlessly hinted at throughout the game is the out that the devs have.
On a side note. I want to believe that scratch and the darkness are two separate entities. When thirteen years pass and they couldn't finish Alan, they try to "drown" him with a solution, play on his fear of Scratch being a physical manifestation and trick him into an endless loop using Casey in the real world. But Alan's escape was laid out when he rewrote Saga in the place of Casey. And Saga, being and Anderson, would be able to work outside constraints. Making her the key.
I also really thought one of the DLC would be from Alice’s perspective doing photography in the Dark Place. It’s the perfect kind of next step I think for her as both a character, and for Alan Wake in general. Really hoping we didn’t get her as a DLC story because they want to do more with her in the sequel.
Also just imagine Sam Lake and the Remedy crew having fun with photo mode in a game where the main playable character is a photographer. I think they could get silly with it.
When I played episode one, I was making a reference to a similar joke. I was like thinking this is someone canon. This would explain how Rose got from the diner to the lake house old folks I imagine is immune to the darkness one and reason 2 she got right up her nose. I was cackling like a madman every time I went through roses segments of talking to the bad boy.
Let's goooooo
Thank you for the video!
Watching this after the lake house DLC has been out. Nice theories, though.
I can’t wait for the lore dump for the lake house. I also can’t wait for the talk about the teaser for control 2
53:50 i thought the gag here was monarch--> monarch butterfly--> butterfly effect--> ripple effect corporation no?
Regarding the whole Scratch, Zane, Alan multiverse stuff.
I think it's not implying that Tom Zane (AW1 Zane or AW2 Zane) is just an alternate universe version of Alan (or that Scratch is that either).
I think in the narrative of AW2 (the base game), it's quite clear that Zane is trying to replace Alan. He's reinvented himself as a filmmaker, in order to essentially leech off of Alan's written stories, by turning them into movie adaptations. Zane, while in the past as a creative was making entirely original works, has become somewhat corrupted by the Dark Place/-Presence, after literally 50+ years of being stuck there. He's been unable to get out of there, through his own writing and is instead trying to piggy-back off of Alan's. That's why, pretty much as soon as Alan entered the Dark Place and Zane became aware of him, he decided he's a filmmaker now. He finally got given someone else he could manipulate into doing his bidding.
Now, multiverse stuff - my theory very simply is, that the Zane and Scratch we see on that panel, are from alternate universes where Zane and Scratch respectively, succeeded in replacing Alan. Because we know for a fact that Scratch was trying to do that in AW:AM. And again, my theory makes me think Zane is trying to do that same in AW2.
It's also just from a meta-narrative perspective, something that works for me. It leads into a whole discussion about what's derivative and what's transformative - and every UA-camr's well aware of that discussion - because where Zane's film lies, especially because we don't get the written first draft of Return, is debatable. It's imo a nice setup for whatever will happen in AW3 and potentially Control 2, on the side. I think that's what that frame is teasing. It's giving us an idea for who or what Zane will be, in the future. An antagonist.
Edit: Yea, Monty downright says he thinks Zane is a parasite as well. I think it's just setup for that.
Alan Wake 3: Fatal Frame.
At that point they could just call it Alice Wake
The most important video.
also can't believe none of the theories mentioned was the bullet of light being mpreg and t4t Alan and Alice, *obviously* /j
i i think you should cover the lake house first because of the hype and to cover the story back to back
big love for you guys
31:28 This episode was probably an early attempt by Alan to get Jesse to help free him from the Dark Place before he influenced some of Control's events.
My assumption about Tom Zane is that he's the Bright cult leader that got trapped in the Dark Place (there's mention of a movie studio about Bright in Control, iirc, that was making use of the video camera) and he's trying to get himself out but doesn't know how. So he's been trying to find people in the Dark Place that can help him escape. That's why he knows who the FBC are, and is trying to take advantage of an FBC member to reach his goals. We don't know exactly when he ended up in the Dark Place, but he might have used his, uh, director powers, to try and take Alan's place and get his powers. After all, we know from the Time Breaker part that you can assume the part of another person in a universe and gain a bit of them when you do, since that's what Shawn does. The Cult of the Word probably spawned from him, too, since we never see Scratch have anything to really do with any cult other than showing up where the Cult of the Word tried to summon him.
There's just too many mentions of Bright in a lot of things for it not to be relevant, and I think the most obvious way it can be is through him.
My theory about Zane is that thematically he's Alan's Dark Muse as opposed to Alice who is his Bright Muse. He encourages Alan to create, but we see all that creation is fueled by drugs, alcohol, violence and other destructive behavior and what eventually comes out of it is creation, but it is a creation that makes everyone involved pay a horrible price. On the other hand Alice inspires Alan to create in positive ways, by giving him love and support and keeping him grounded to reality. She helps Alan see that there can be heroes too, not just monsters and victims. Even the light bullet at the end can be tied to this, since it comes from Alice and essentially helps Alan snap out of the destructive cycle he was trapped in and start his creation anew, this time with hope and determination inside of despair.
This is just how I interpreted them in the game of course, doesn't mean they can't be other things too or that I'm not completely off track here.
on the Oceanview Motel/Hotel and what it means. you all think about it as a multiverse nexus, but I think the easiest answer is in its name. The Ocean View. if you posit that the multiverses are an ocean, then this would be something outside of them, peeking in. and that's why there's no polyhedrons - they're inside the multiverse and cannot be outside.
A lore dump? So soon? You shouldn't have. But I'll never turn it down and always will be thankful. Hope you had a good spooky season lads!
18:24 another funny thing monty didnt mention cause its super unconsequitonal but the bad boy initally says "okay no more tricks, come upstairs" and when Rose gets to the top of the stairs he goes "ha! I tricked you again! Alright fine come to the beach" just adds to the super immaturity of the bad boy in this story haha
Edit: also my theory about what these epsiodes "are supposed to be" are Alan's first attempts to write a "hero" to come save him from the dark place and scratch but not really able to lock it down because they go too far out of Alan's 'niche'. Number 1 fan reads like fan fiction where "the waitress" comes to rescue the writer and sweep him away from haters and evil twins. North Star reads like a supernatural thriller with "the sibling" coming to save him, and Time breaker maybe reading like a script for a sci-fi video game. He only really "succeeds" when he turns the story into a noir crime thriller with fbi agents leading the charge because that was his bread and butter as a writer
1:34:58 i couldn't contain my laughter
The models are really dang good. People look like People.
about alan knowing door's origin: he sees into other realities, it's not out of the question that he saw door's origin without realizing it was his actual origin. while i'm sure there's plenty in time breaker that isn't accurate, it doesn't mean there aren't SOME accurate details, especially since this one aligns with what powers we already know alan has lol
Well... Lake house was just an adendum - a fun one, but Tom Zane is still a mystery
I do think it's interesting that in the comic panels, Alan is the center of his (and I think the scratch is the one from American nightmare not the one from AW2 which has its own implications) but also judging by the outfit, sam lake is in the middle of his. The real sam lake, not the actor playing Casey in the dark place. And we don't really get to see the left Sam's outfit. Is it Casey? Or max Payne?
28:03 Alright, so from my understanding the clicker can't change things on its own, but it's something that will set in reality once a piece has been completed. Whichever ending he wrote, has to be believable, and then the clicker can work to make it real.
The idea of the multiverse existing and the only guy who knows anything about it is a finnish video game writer is so funny.
So is it possible that Zane is helping Alan become the master of many worlds so that he can then become Alan? Zane plays Alan in the movies in game so it's possible that rather than being a parasite just siphoning ideas, he's looking to become Alan after he goes through all of the hard parts of becoming the master of the dark place.
I think Bob Balder didn't actually die but rather went into the lake when he was on the brink of dying and that's how he lives on in the Dark Place.
I just had a theory. What if door was originally the master of many worlds, but something shifted? Alan now controls the story, same as jesse now is the head of the FBC. Everything shifted, I think that's the overarching plot of the multiverse.
Edit: after hearing your zane theory, I think zane was the creative and it shifted to alan, but zane wants to get that back thus he's leeching off alan.
I think Tom wants to explore what he can become or what he can make with the power of the Dark Place (or depending on where the ability comes from, through manipulating the dark presence). Maybe he really was Tom the Poet originally, and made himself become a successful film auteur. It seems each time we hear more about Tom as a filmmaker, the amount of popularity or reverence his image and legacy receives is increased. Somewhere in AW2, someone (Casey in an echo?) even comments something like "He was supposedly a famous filmmaker come from Finland, but when I looked into him, all I could find was this one film."
So he is Tom the Poet, obsessed with art but obviously not getting any fame. He comes to Bright Falls and enters Cauldron Lake, changes his story to have been a Filmmaker, an auteur with masterworks. He can write his story to have been different, but no matter what he writes, he's still in the dark place. But maybe he did eventually figure out how to fabricate something entirely, and created a writer. The Lake House does explore different forms of art with the Shadow and speculates that writing is inherently stronger. Idk, I know it's hard to take Tom's hints at this seriously towards our protagonist, but I can't stop thinking that they might really do it.
Did anyone mention Rose's fanart of Alan where he has cat ears and the other one with him in a crop top talking on the phone (reference taken from a pic of Johnny Depp when he was 20)? 😂
so I know this will probably never happen but I would kill for you all to cover the game "Still Wakes The Deep" now granted it's only 3 to 4 hours long but I would kill for someone to do a full dive on it and also I just thought it would be interesting for scottish people to cover the game and point out and discrepancies but mostly just because it's a damn good game and it needs more recognition
A thought just occurred to me, not about Alan wake: have any of you guys played horizon zero dawn? Or rather, any of you NOT played it? Cause there's some wild lore in those games, the story is so good
Putting alot of heavy lifting on lakehouse...
I believe they are all different:
Tom the poet
Tom the diver
Tom the film maker
Tom the rhymer
And possibly: Tom the parasite.
There is also another possible Tom:
Tom the A.Wake
I think Tom wrote Alen into his story the same way Alen wrote wrote thors granddaughter Into his
I'm pretty confident the remedy multiverse only really exists in order to leave the door open for getting the rights back for quantum break or max Payne (and like chase said, for control to play around with a bit but I think it would primarily be a QB sandbox if they got that back)
Also, I'm not convinced saga would join the FBC. Her daughter was just caught in the crossfire of this crazy shit and she almost lost her from this one case, I don't think she'd want to 1) risk accidentally bringing something home with her, or 2) getting caught in a situation like RIGHT NOW where she'd be in lockdown for literal years and miss years of Logan's life, if she even got see her again. Estevez is telling her all about it, she knows the oldest house is compromised and that there may not even be any survivors, who in their right mind would join at a time like this when they've got a kid to think about?
Yakuza 4 is gonna go so hard AKIYAMAAAAAAAAAAA AKIYAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
34:29 The Astral Cuneiform?
Dope
Big bad Option 3. Chester Bless
I don't know if it's a meta intentional thing but the timestamps in the video and description seem to be copied from the Red Dead 2 video.
Whoops! Formatting error, should be fixed now. Good catch!
Wait is Allen written into existence by Thomas zane??
🍿 🍿 🍿
Is Alan aware that Alice is in the dark place?😮
I'd call this a victory lap but you still have the lake house right?
Really starting to think Alan was trapped for so long because he's a bad writer
Was this re-upload? Feel as if you already talked about it?
Alan Woke. This game is garbage but I appreciate you guys trying to talk about it as if it was not.