Will the Real Eide Please Stand Up? A Night in the Woods Theory
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- Опубліковано 14 жов 2024
- A close look at Eide, the most well known member of the Cult of the Black Goat. In this video, we'll speculate about his true identity, his role in the cult, and his connection to the Black Goat.
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I do like the idea that Eide is a descendent, he hasn't gone through the hardships his family did but instead thinks he's special because of his connections.
Edie: well unfortunately I did and that’s why I joined the cult
Same here! It just makes so much sense in a variety of ways. Really puts the way he acts throughout the game into perspective! Glad you liked the theory, and thanks so much for your support!
I like the idea of Eide being the grandson of Ed, it adds to him being a foil of Mae. Mae's parents may be struggling financially, but she is still the most privileged member of her friend group (as her interactions with Bea in particular show pretty clearly), and Eide is essentially the cult's own Nepo Baby.
Eide can walk through walls, disappear and fly. He's much more unique than the other guys.
Eide is a silly little cultist who kidnaps people
Honestly, I don't think he can actually do that stuff. I will admit its hard to explain how he appears in some places, but still, we the viewers never see him do anything like that, and between Mae's mental illness and overactive imagination her perspective might be just a bit skewed, so at best its left ambiguous if Eide really has supernatural powers. When it comes to the fence, maybe he's just crazy-strong and was able to either climb over the fence with his victim in tow, or throw the teen over the fence before vaulting over himself. Or perhaps theres a hidden latch or something on that fence that would allow him to slip through.
@@Omnywrench My friend, it was a Danny Phantom reference 💛
Love the Danny Phantom reference! Easily one of the best 2000's cartoons.
"It was then that he knew what he had to do / He had to stop Mae and her friends from coming through / He's here to fight for Possum Springs and you!" -The Cult, probably
I never actually thought much about Eide's identity.
I never thought he was supernatural himself. I assumed he was probably trained in some way and became the main guy to go out and grab people over some years, and in that time got skilled in running away..But also got arrogant about his position and therefore reckless. I like the idea that none of them are actually that special. They've stumbled into this as much as Mae did, and that's partially why they're so hell bent. They need to feel powerful and special but at the end of the day, their god doesn't care or even save them.
I felt he represented the cult as a whole: has some genuine power and determination but wastes all potential in his self righteous arrogance, acting like he's above being noticed and caught because of his divine favor..only to be ended by some random kids by coincidence.
These theory videos are really cool. I used to watch so many lets plays of NITW and now I'm playing through it myself. It's really fun and nostalgic. I'm even finding things I didn't know about or forgot..but also it's been so long that it's hard to find fresh conversations on it.
i totally agree w all of this ! i always saw him as like the group leader that showed what the group stood for and their values. i play NITW every autumn - since i watched jacksepticeye play it like 5 years ago(i think?) n it’s super nostalgic for me. definitely one of my favourite games !!
Joz - I like this take! You raise a lot of good points, especially about them stumbling into this as much as Mae did, and that being part of the reason they're so dedicated to their work. And at the end of the day, you're absolutely right - the Black Goat really doesn't care about them or even save them, otherwise it would have made sure they weren't killed off by some random kids! I also agree that Eide is a pretty good representation of the Cult at large.
User - I also play Night in the Woods every autumn! Always gets me in the mindset for that time of year!
4:12 "In other words, he can hide and vanish at will"
Thought I'd add onto this statement- another youtuber noticed that when he first kidnaps phone bear, when he runs away you can see straight through him if you pause the video and look closely. The lights behind him pass though him.
edit: I went on the wiki and his sprites are transparent.... he ain't normal!!
You're absolutely right on both accounts - great observation! You can indeed see through him at Harfest and his sprites are transparent. Great catch! Definitely adds to the many reasons Mae thought he was a ghost, too
@@owlbatross9187 Mae's got sharp eyes! Also I credit this wisdom to some youtube comment from many years ago. Glad to help!
I'M SO GLAD I discovered your channel. Although like Night in the Woods itself, it comes with a touch of sadness, as I find it so soon after learning a dear friend of mine, my Casey, had passed away. 🍁
Welcome to the channel! Hope you enjoy all of these Night in the Woods videos, there are a ton more on the way! So sorry to hear about your Casey, that's so sad. Hang in there and thanks again for the support.
@@owlbatross9187 Thank you for your kind words. 🍁 And I look forward to bingeing through your wonderful treasure trove of content 🍁
Very excited for this! I personally don't think Eide is a character that we know, but if I had to throw out some wild theory- he could be Casey's dad? Idk, they're both cats and we know nothing about Casey's family so. But I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Idk why would Casey’s dad be okay with sacrificing his own son. I mean maybe if they are faithful enough to their beliefs no matter what.
Hope you enjoyed it! Eide turning out to be Casey's dad would be a dark and wild twist. The idea of him sacrificing his own son reminds me some Silent Hill Homecoming style stuff in terms of their devotion to the Cult!
It doesn't seem likely to me. There is a very missable line when Mae is trying to fix clanky where she mentions that he died
And if I remember correctly, the cult talks quite negatively about Casey's parents
You know what freaks me out? I know of an Ed Skudder. He's an animator I've known about since maybe 2006 or so, back during his Newgrounds animation days. He went on to make Dick Figures, and now he's showrunner of the Unikitty cartoon.
I forget if you mentioned this in the Borowski video but according to the (underwritten lol) wiki: "Mae's grandfather has notches in his ear, similar to both Mae and Eide. It should be noted that Mae and her grandfather only have notches on one ear, while Eide has notches on both ears." So kind of visual parallels too, both ears suggesting he's fully devoted vs the Borowskis who are resisting the temptation despite it constantly tormentin them?
Do you think Arthur had a similar moment to Ed of finding the goat, and that's how the Glimmer happens? Forget if you discussed this as well but for a moment I thought you were implying Ed was actually a grandson of Arthur (some family drama LOL) but then I reminded myself of how Ed found the Goat. Back to Arthur, it's just the difference of him choosing to resist after all this time, while Ed found it and embraced it. I actually wonder about Ed too - was he in any position of power when he was around? Because if he was an ordinary worker, what made him turn to the goat? Obviously many blue collar workers can still hold conservative beliefs (very interesting discussion of how the right co-opts traditionally leftist symbolism BTW), but I wonder if it's just that or IDK the Goat drove him mad or something. Could make for a juicy prequel game.
Anyway, kinda now imagining Eide as some sad alt-right dude complaining about feminists online lol, ie the new generation of reactionaries being created through stuff like the MAGA movement and all that bait like anti-feminism content. So basically, he's like those US shooters who do massacres because they were radicalised online by these movements. Except instead of 8chan or wherever they all hung out it's a cosmic horror entity.
Also wait a minute... EiDe... very close names, huh? Also also: funny sidenote but apparently Ed Skudder is also the name of an IRL animator... time to see if there's conservative propaganda in uh... Unikitty? /joking
Great observation about the ear notches! I love the idea Mae and her grandfather having a single notch as opposed to Eide's double notches represents them resisting temptation while he fully embraces the Black Goat. Great analysis!
I wouldn't be surprised if Arthur had a similar moment with the Black Goat and that's how things kicked off with the Borowski family and the Glimmer. Something DEFINITELY had to happen for it to become such an integral part of their lineage, and it would make sense if it were something along those lines. I'll be taking a look at how the Glimmer itself in a future theory video, there's a lot of good questions there!
Glad you enjoyed the discussion of the right co-opting leftist symbolism! I'll be covering more things like that in the future, I actually plan on taking a heavy look at this game from a political perspective at some point down the line. I love the idea of Eide as some alt-right goofball, going on message boards to complain about the fact that girls won't date him and calling Witchdagger "WOKE" music or something like that lol. I can definitely see him being that type of guy!
Hey man, I was watching this vid yesterday, love your content, and saw you were talking about the black goat next. Little would you know i was reading a book on ghost storys of butte Montana later that night, and well if you dont know butte was a major copper boom mining town. Lot of similarities to NITW. One of the storys that stood out to me was a smaller one that talked about miners thinking of a "White goat" It has little relevance, only talking about supposedly a spirit comings up behind you and ramming you into pits, but it was interesting to see nonetheless. I can find little to no info online about it, but the book was called "Spirit tailings, story's from Virginia city, butte, and Helena."
Hey there! Glad you're enjoying the content, there's plenty more on the way! That sounds like a really interesting book, that's wild that there were so many similarities to Night in the Woods and that it even had a white goat figure! I'll have to look into that, sounds like an interesting book!
Wait... if Eide can seemingly teleport and vanish, then assuming he survived his arm getting ripped off and the elevator falling, he could potentially continue to support the cult and leave the mine through his powers... he's going to wreak ABSOLUTE HELL on Mae and co. when he's done...
Eidie: he he oh yes i definitely will
If we had a Night in the Woods 2 it wouldn’t be a stretch to say he’d return, with possibly only 4 or 5 remaining members.
@@Malxishere Eidie: yes i definitely would return and get my revenge on borowksi but sadly that doesn’t seem likely to be the case but trust me I will get revenge on her one day I swear I will
@@Malxishere Yeah, IMO there would be a gap. Eide might survive and get medical care for himself first, but when he returns to the mine the cultists might have realised that they were trapped in there and decided to all offer themselves to the black goat. Eide would have to live with SO MUCH GUILT if he realises that they all died because of him. It'll make him more determined than ever to get revenge
@@anthonycuevasproduction lol why do you keep on roleplaying?
Such a cool theory. You’ve done a great job connecting the dots. Been playing this again, and with friends who haven’t played it and it’s so awesome seeing all these things happening with fresh eyes.
Thank you so much, glad to hear you enjoyed the theory! I had a blast putting this one together and tying all the little fragments of Eide's story together. It's been a while since I've replayed the game as a whole, but I'm very excited to do it sometime down the line now that I've put together all of these theories!
i always thought Eide looked like a cobra ever since i saw him on the hill lmao but after getting a closer look yeah its obviously a miners helmet
Everyday I learn something new about this game from this channel
Glad to hear it my friend! That's always been my goal with this channel - to keep the spirit of the game alive and expand our understanding of it!
Ooooooh interesting, but I think if Eide is a descendant he'd be the son of Ed, not his grandson. The cult was formed in the 90s and we know that their members are men between 40 and 50 years old. We cannot know for sure if the glimmer is hereditary, and even if it is, we don't know if that power jumps a generation. Maybe the glimmer is something people get because the black goat just reach to them somehow. Another thing that gets my attention is when the cultist says "I never seen it, but they said Ed could walk through walls". This is weird because that could mean the cultists don't know about Eide's powers, cause they may have seen Eide going through walls, so maybe Eide is hiding his glimmer for some reason?
For me, Eide doesn't have any powers, in fact I don't think the glimmer exists, is just a fantasy Ed made up in order to get followers, this is something very common in cults, they think their leader is a god or someone who has powers. I just think Eide is just a very well trained man, quick, strong and agile. He maybe threw that poor kid over the fence and then he jumped, they were gonna put that poor child to sleep anyways. Or, in fact, he jumped while carrying the body, maybe Eide is into parkour.
Oh, and one thing that makes me a bit mad: The kid at harfest drops their phone, why no one thought on check on it to see who they are???? I think that's a whoppah.
Thanks for the awesome comment! Definitely possible that it's his son instead of his grandson, we never get a good look at Eide so it's hard to say how old he is! You make a good point about Eide and the Glimmer as well - the other members seem to be unaware he has it, so perhaps he is indeed hiding it for some reason.
As for the phone, wow, in all the years I played this game it's the first time I noticed that! That really is a whoppah! Talk about some major evidence left behind at the scene!
I have a good plot twist and idea of the true identity of Eide. Mae's friend Casey who the cult could have easily said they had thrown in the hole just to cover his identity as Eide who it would make sense because with all the physical demands of carrying people to their doom Eide must be younger than the others.
Great video, I need to watch the rest of your night in the woods series.
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it, hope you enjoy the rest of the series as well!
I’m a little late, but thank you so much for another video!
No worries! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for the support!
This is a neat video. Always wanted to know about eide
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it! Me too, as soon as I started this channel he was one of the character I was really looking forward to exploring on a deeper level.
@@owlbatross9187 no problem dawg. Always cool to see a new video from you
This was great!
Thank you! I had a lot fun putting this one together!
I feel like the black goat might be a NITW character in disguise. There are very few goat characters we meet in the game, including Bea’s friend Jackie, Angel the drifter, and Mr. Twigmeyer. All of them seem like good candidates to be the black goat, if not a vessel for it.
That's a really interesting observation! Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if someone of the goat characters in the game have a deeper connection to him than we realize. Especially Mr. Twigmeyer - that guy gets more suspicious every time I think about him!
@@owlbatross9187 Agreed! If Mr. Twigmeyer really is a cult member, then he might’ve been the one who convinced the cult to let Mae and her friends live, as well as join the cult.
He did call her a “daughter” to everyone on the block, after all. He clearly cares about her, and the black goat has also obviously taken a shine to her.
Best birthday ever!!!
Happy birthday my friend! Hope it was a good one, glad I could contribute with this video!
Nice video :).
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
Wait, "Eide" is pronounced like "Eyed"? I've always pronounced it as "Eee-dee"
Eidie: well you were wrong it is pronounced edie eidie
It would be unlikely for an E at the end of a name to be pronounced that way as it would be silent in English, and definitely not EE-sounding in any other.
I would pronpunce it either EHYD or EED if going for an English pronunciation, and AHY-duh if going for German. Or EHY-dehy for any other language pronunciation.
As far as I call tell, Eyed seems to be the right pronunciation, but since it appears to be a name they created for a game it's hard to say haha. I think EYED, EHYD, and EED all make sense. If I ever get the chance to talk to Scott Benson, this is high up there on the list of questions I'd love to ask him about the game haha
@@owlbatross9187 Made up names are difficult, becuz they are often made by people who don't understand how English works, like Sheeda in Fire Emblem. That's how her name _should_ be, but Nintendo of America rendered the name as Caeda and pronounce it "SEE-duh", which isn't even possible, so everyone argues over that name as well. Lol. They must've meant Ceada, but...whoops!
And I guess AHYD works too, given the shift of "either" becoming AHY-đər instead of the way I used to hear it in the 90s: EE-đər.
I think we should get a video about why the cult itself matters. I know it sounds odd but outside of the game context it holds the whole game together in my opinion.
From a game standpoint; it's kinda needed. How do you end a game about life without death? There needs to be a threat to overcome.
But beyond that I see all of the worst in Mae as a visual representation. Solid color of black, like a shadow of oneself. Eide being a cat, as you said, is very important for that! Plus I'd argue eide is more like a jumble of shapes. Mae's issue. The softball game could've lead to Mae being in a cult of sorts, but Mae refusing even after that, to me, is like her confronting her own demons and concurring her own mental illnesses. Mae is just a complete idiot and I love her. There's a reason why the crew saved her and didn't let her get killed in a mine in the middle of the night.
It's because everyone can change and be a better person. That message, for me, is incredibly important. We all say it but all good writers know that you have to show, not tell. Funny how I usually need things spelled out for me but when I saw this metaphor it literally changed my life. Sorry if this is incredibly scrambled and such. This is just so important and I want others who were in my situation to experience this game and turn there life around like I have. Thank you for making these videos. I think I've already made it clear enough how important this game is to me, haha. So you making videos about it and keeping the fandom alive while also bringing in new fans is very very amazing to see. Thank you
Thanks so much for the awesome comment! I really appreciate the support - I love making these videos, and with the cancellation of Revenant Hill, I think it's more important than ever for me to do my part to give the fandom content and help create some new fans along the way.
I can definitely do a video on the importance of the cult itself! My plan all along has been to end the current run of theory videos with one summarizing my findings on the cult, and I could definitely add some analysis of their importance to the end of that video. Thanks for the suggestion!
Eide is just Edie backwards. Edie. Ed.
That's smart. Be it Ed or a descendant, it definitely points in their direction.
Good catch! Yeah, that's definitely another nod towards Ed and his descendants. The name Ed and variations of might be common in his family tree
Great video as always you definitely brought up some good points on good old Eidie definitely makes him more interesting now but let’s see what the man himself thinks about it what did you
Eidie: well i must admit he was absolutely correct on most of the things the actual, reason why where this helmet is because it was my fathers when he worked at the mines and I wanted to honor his work as for me being related to Scutter I actually have no idea my dad never mentioned anything about my grandfather so who knows maybe I am maybe I’m not who knows i’ll have to look into that more and the actual reason why I stalked borowksi and her friends was to make sure they didn’t find out about us and and our master I wanted to keep our plans a secret and if I was there chasing her when they found out about us I surely would’ve caught up or maybe even have actually shot her but sadly i wasn’t and they then went into those mines and not only ruined my life but the life of many other two I swear when I find them I’m gonna make sure they pay good : he said while grinning evilly he clearing what did nothing but to kill Mae and her friends for what they did to him:
Ok well sounds like he like it as well glad you didn’t anything like actually wrong or bad about him or else um let’s just say he wouldn’t be happy anyways can’t wait for your video on the black goat can’t wait to see what you think him
Edie: yes me two i’m very intrigued to see what you have to say about our master there a very intriguing creature let’s just say also I have one more question how did you even know any of that stuff about me and borowksi and her friends i definitely haven’t ever seen you in town before we’re you stalker us or something?
Ummmm well that’s kind of complicated to explain
But anyways love the video can’t for me 😁
Also the random question do you find Mae cute because I definitely do and not like in a weird way like in a adorable why since you know she’s a cat 🥰
Hahaha, this awesome! I'm loving the interview with Eide and all the roleplaying. Good to have his perspective on all this!
Yeah Mae's character design is definitely very cute, I'd say that's a big part of the initial appeal of the game to a lot of folks. It's one of the many reasons my wife wanted to play it and why my daughter often asks to play the game as well.
Not gonna lie I never realized he was wearing a miners helmet, I thought he was some weird ass wolf/dog with the helmet being his snout.
I'm glad to have come across your channel cause I just done bingewatched all of your Night in the Woods videos, thanks for the interesting discussions and keep the good videos coming!
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed all of the Night in the Woods videos, they've been so much fun to put together! I have a bunch more on the way!