Alan Wake 2 - Secrets, Answers and Sequel Theories

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  • Опубліковано 31 тра 2024
  • Alan Wake 2 might be the most confusing game I have ever played. With any other game, that confusion would turn me off from wanting to engage... but the writing in this game is crafted in such a way that I can not help but seek out answers to the game's myriad of mysteries, and enjoy myself while doing so. With this video, I hope to clearly outline what those answers are, and determine where the narrative might go from there.
    1. Mini-Review: 0:00 - 1:32
    2. Setting Up the Analysis: 1:33 - 1:54
    3. Answer #1 - Alex Casey's True Nature: 1:55 - 3:47
    4. Setting Up Summary of Game's Ending: 3:48 - 4:01
    5. Answer #2 - Mr. Scratch's True Nature: 4:02 - 4:46
    6. Continuing Summary: 4:47 - 7:02
    7. Theory - It's Not a Loop, It's a Spiral: 7:03 - 8:06
    8. Evidence #1 - Collective Unconscious and Archetypes: 8:07 - 9:23
    9. Evidence #2 - The Self, Shadow and Anima: 9:24 - 12:33
    10. Answer #3 - Thomas Zane's True Nature: 12:34 - 15:41
    11. Answer #4 - Wrapping Up My Theory: 15:42 - 16:40
    12. MIND-BLOWING DETAIL: 16:41 - 17:36
    13. Outro: 17:37 - 18:28
    Post-Game Stream With Gaming University: • Alan Wake 2 | Discussi...
    Extra Footage Borrowed From:
    - Vash12349 (Alan Wake Remastered)
    - Gaming University (Control [AWE DLC])
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    #horror #alanwake2 #alanwake
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 463

  • @jasonblundelldobebussing
    @jasonblundelldobebussing 6 місяців тому +714

    Alan Wake 2 is certainly one of the games of this decade. And certainly wasn't written by Zane, who was written by Alex, who was written by Zane, who was written by Lake, but it's not lake - it's an Ocean. Frank Ocean, brother-in-law of Sam Lake, who is the brother of Sam Ocean, who has written Tomas Zane.

    • @Carcosahead
      @Carcosahead 6 місяців тому +107

      It’s not a loop, it’s a spiral.

    • @Phantom86d
      @Phantom86d 6 місяців тому +33

      Then Wake wrote a Saga who sung a Wake from Scratch.

    • @roastyou666
      @roastyou666 6 місяців тому +76

      Alan Wake 2 is the desperate attempt by Sam Lake to escape from the dark place, who wrote himself into the game too.

    • @planetzdr
      @planetzdr 6 місяців тому +6

      @@Phantom86d that’s not the real Saga Anderson though. The real one was shown in Quantum Break.

    • @Discombobulate453
      @Discombobulate453 6 місяців тому +22

      @@planetzdrjust let it go. It’s embarrassing at this point

  • @farzadshbfn
    @farzadshbfn 6 місяців тому +166

    There’s an element to consider: even though the game suggested Scratch was Alan with Dark presence inside him, I think it’s the other way around. Dark presence is the embodiment of each person’s most powerful nemesis, which is Self. (Confirmed by Saga’s ending chapter)
    That’s why he’s called “scratch”, a nemesis, an enemy to every author. If you have self doubt as an author, you’ll keep scratching old storylines and make new ones, and repeat and repeat. And every time you do: either the story gets better and leaner (ascend), or you keep having more doubts and convince yourself that you are not good enough, and scratch it all out (descend deeper into one’s dark place of self doubt)
    And that’s the Spiral.

    • @mrt.1903
      @mrt.1903 4 місяці тому +3

      Genius. The new ending with the NG+ actually makes this theory even better

    • @xMorogothx
      @xMorogothx 4 місяці тому +1

      no. Scratch is just the dark presence in Alan Wake's body. Casey wasn't a writer but was possessed by it as well. Scratch = Dark Presence. It's an entity from a parallel universe.

    • @Reddervetter
      @Reddervetter 3 місяці тому +1

      ​@xMorogothx in the most bare and evident manner yes. But how did scratch manifest? As a fragment of Wakes ego that could not move on with himself, the part he hates. The dark place in essence exists in all of us, and scratch is one manifestation, while we saw Saga falling down the spiral as well, dealing with her own manifestation of doubt.
      And tbh I don't think Casey is real. I think he was written into the plot through reality bending by Scratch to mock and then defeat Alan

    • @Reddervetter
      @Reddervetter 3 місяці тому +1

      What I think and hope is that the spiral itself is in essence hope, and the inverse is destruction.
      While the loop implies the events will be perpetually relived forever, the spiral implies that it's not 2 dimensional, doomed to spin forever in circles. The spiral implies that there is directionally and incremental change, which can be ascended or descended. What we witnessed throughout alan wake 1 I'd say was descent, and in 2, ascension.

    • @jesse16309
      @jesse16309 3 місяці тому

      @@xMorogothx: there are really three possibilities and there's evidence for all of them.
      The first possibility is that yes, these are all parallel universes somehow connected through the End of Time in Quantum Break, and that the threshold under Cauldron Lake is where they connect and can merge. We can call this the Science Fiction Interpretation. In this case the Dark Presence is an entity from a parallel universe.
      The second possibility is similar, but these are different "dimensions" -- not parallel universes in the sense of, say, the Quantum Suicide from AW1's first Night Springs episode and the "Many Worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics -- but fundamentally different realities that connect to each other in certain areas. The Astral Plane, Dark Place, Earth, the Oldest House, Slidescape-36, and the Oceanview Motel are all connecting to each other. We might call this the Lesser Occult Interpretation.
      The third possibility is more extreme: these separate "dimensions" or "planes of existence" are not parallel universes, but aspects of our single universe. The Dark Place is, but may itself be wholly immaterial -- it may take up no space, and no time, because it isn't a material reality but a conceptual one. The Shadow A-010 isn't a malign entity separate from humanity. That's the point this video is getting at, and may be what Sam Lake was getting at in having A-010 have the same name as a Jungian psychological aspect. That then raises the question of what exactly the Board and the Astral Plane is -- is it the Ego? But if it's the Ego, then what exactly is Former? What does it mean for the Astral Plane to bleed into the Oldest House -- does Former's escape from the Astral Plane into the Oldest House mean transitively that it can escape from the Oldest House to Earth? If the Board is connected to human consciousness somehow, how is it possible for Former to have been expelled? Could Former be the abstract concept of God?
      We might call that the Greater Occult Interpretation.
      And here's the thing, as I said at the beginning: all three interpretations can be supported with evidence from the narrative.

  • @fattiger6957
    @fattiger6957 6 місяців тому +306

    One of the things I always found interesting about Alan was how flawed of a person he is. He's moody, rude to his fans, violent with reporters and an ass to his wife. The revelation of Scratch being Alan indicated to me that the Dark Presence preyed on Alan because of Alan's dark side. Scratch is literally a metaphor come to life, Alan's inner darkness.
    As I was playing AW2, I noted that Saga is less interesting because she doesn't have as many flaws as Alan. She seems like a pretty well-adjusted person. And that's probably why the Dark Presence wasn't able to take her over like it did with Alan.
    The Dark Place we see in AW2 is very personal to Alan. It isn't some generic nightmare world. It's New York City, Alan's home. He probably walked those streets and rode through those subway stations every day.
    Maybe the Thomas Zane we see in the game is just another one of Alan's creations. Based on the interview he has when he first meets Doors, Alan seems to have some disdain for the filmmakers who adapted his books. Maybe this Zane is Alan interpretation of filmmakers.
    Maybe the ascending Alan needs to do is more personal. Give up his anger and his bitterness. Become a better person. Get rid of the darkness inside himself so the Dark Presence won't have anything to anchor itself to. Maybe Alan won't make it back to the real world, but maybe his triumph at the end will be reaching some kind of nirvana state.

    • @Besse109
      @Besse109 6 місяців тому +27

      Saga had flaws and insecurities you see them all in her mind place in the dark place

    • @roastyou666
      @roastyou666 6 місяців тому +49

      @@Besse109 I think she is excel at self-control (probably since she’s an FBI agent?) so she didn’t appear to be emotional at first, but eventually the dark place had an impact on her rational thinking.

    • @chexfan2000
      @chexfan2000 6 місяців тому +21

      Every time i play the first game, I can’t help but imagine, like, one layer of reality up, in which Alan goes to Dr. Hartman’s workshop and ends up writing, but doing it spitefully. “Oh yeah Alice I’m writing ok?! it’s a story about a writer who gets TRAPPED IN A SHITTY LAKE by his BITCH WIFE” and Alice takes a couple tylenol and commits a deep nose exhale. and later when she asks him not to call her a bitch so much he says “i can’t help it! i had to go to the Dark Place to write my grim horrors! It was Mr. Scratch, my edgy twisted alter ego!!!”
      I’ve always found the world of alan wake to be fascinating but the actual character borderline insufferable. He reminds me of how Brian Griffin is characterized when Family Guy remembers he’s an aspiring author: a barely-competent hack who’s super defensive about that. The way he treats Rose is so revealing in the first game; he can’t stand that he’s her favorite author because he doesn’t want to be the favorite of people like her, and how dare he?! some people go their whole lives and never become anyone’s favorite anything! He should be HONORED! he should be HUMBLED.
      so it was awesome to have it made explicit that this was intentional characterization. my favorite line on the subject was the Alex Casey echo where he’s like “I wasn’t *in* a dark place; I *WAS* the dark place.”
      Because that’s been Alan from the jump: a vortex of negativity who brings nothing but problems to everyone in his orbit, a mean drunk and a fairly belligerent sober who yells and insults and blusters his way through nearly every interaction and blames external forces for all his problems.
      It felt like he actually learned something this time, and I like the idea of the spiral: he can’t just clicker himself to a better Alan; he has to try and fail and learn new habits and it’s not gonna be easy, but he’s finally actually trying 🥹

    • @fattiger6957
      @fattiger6957 6 місяців тому +23

      @@chexfan2000 Agreed with everything you posted.
      I love that Alan is one of the least standard video game protagonist ever. The beginning of the first game really doesn't make you like him. How he treated Rose and Alice did not presented him as a good person.
      And I find it interesting that Mr Scratch, the embodiment of Alan's darkness, created a world where everyone mindlessly praises him constantly. He is Alan as a petty, entitled megalomaniac.

    • @fattiger6957
      @fattiger6957 6 місяців тому +19

      @@Besse109 Like I said, Saga seems like a well-adjusted person. Her fears and doubts are pretty standard and she never allowed them to manifest in a destructive way like Alan did. Though I don't find her particularly interesting, I think she was intentionally written that way to contrast her with Alan whose flaws do manifest in some bad ways.
      I feel like Casey fit the archetype of the cop on the edge and Saga was the "straight man." The Roger Murtaugh to Casey's Martin Riggs (Lethal Weapon). In fact, I hope we get to play as Casey in a future DLC or game.

  • @priscilabee583
    @priscilabee583 6 місяців тому +128

    I think the musical number is a representation of how the spiral works, looping within the same song over and over but progressing each time, culminating with the last verses being sang by Ahti. So even though Alan can do his part, he will still need the Janitors 'key' to succeed. Also the chorus 'Champion of light, herald of darkness' to me means that both roles are the same person.

    • @CorporalCookie
      @CorporalCookie 6 місяців тому +21

      "Show me the Champion of Light. And I'll show you the Herald of Darkness." The lyrics were quite on the nose about that plot reveal.

    • @thehater6189
      @thehater6189 6 місяців тому +3

      The looping of the musical scene is just to make it so it doesnt stop mid level.

    • @Shashamhya
      @Shashamhya 6 місяців тому +4

      I thought it was influence from the person who was writing the musicals in brightfalls. I might be confused, but i remember finding a bunch of things about someone writing a musical.

    • @titularhero
      @titularhero 4 місяці тому +2

      The musical number was created by Mr door to help alan remember what was happening

  • @eatmerawww69
    @eatmerawww69 4 місяці тому +9

    the best thing about this game it actually makes u a detective in real life , trying to decipher what the game is trying to tell u . thats how i feel ... replaying older games and connecting evidences from previous entries is so much fun .. when u finally understand the game its mindblowing how deep and how back in the past it goes

    • @Reddervetter
      @Reddervetter 2 місяці тому +2

      Not only did I feel like a detective, but I had a very surreal experience with AW2, in that I almost saw straight through into most of the metaphors and had an understanding of their meanings. Or they saw through me, because I in a way am living in a "dark place", morally, creatively, and motivationally. I see so many connections between mine and Alan's situation, its almost like I knew it from the start too, from the first time I heard "its not a lake, its an ocean" and the title of the next book "Return". It all just made sense to me that AW2 would essentially be the story of an artist escaping from a spiral of darkness he did not foresee, drowning in the abyss, and the light is the metaphor to navigate and fight the dark forces, only to reveal its "a not a loop, its a spiral", in that this fight will be perpetual, but is in fact not an endless loop, but something you can and must work against every day to literally "unscrew" yourself from the dark place.
      Fascinating game fr

  • @SaberRexZealot
    @SaberRexZealot 6 місяців тому +6

    Seeing Sam Lake’s face, in photorealistic graphics, with James McCaffrey’s voice, in 2023, in a game that isn’t Max Payne, is so bizarrely awesome.
    Remedy are awesome.

  • @Cuiasodo
    @Cuiasodo 6 місяців тому +20

    Regarding Casey, Alex Casey the book character was more or less a Max Payne expy back in Alan Wake 1. While Remedy made the Payne games, they no longer had the rights to the IP, so having a character who's from a hard-boiled film noir detective series with the likeness of Sam Lake, voiced by James McCaffey, but with a different name and backstory was probably the best Remedy could hope to have. You see a similar thing happen in Alan Wake 2 with Tim Breaker and Warlin Door, who are stand-ins for the hero and antagonist from Quantum Break respectively. Remedy doesn't own the IP for that game, either, so they're close copies.
    As for where Casey came from in-universe, Wake has a conversation with Saga where it's all but stated that he had some degree of clairvoyance BEFORE entering into the Dark Place and he subconsciously tapped into that when writing Casey. It's likely part of the reason he's such a successful author in the first place as he's able to tap into ideas that feel real, because they actually are. Wake isn't, however, able to create people wholecloth, it seems. He has dialogue with Saga that suggests he can only nudge things with the power he has from the Dark Place

  • @SergioLeonardoCornejo
    @SergioLeonardoCornejo 6 місяців тому +70

    Alan Wake is a must for any and all writers. Change my mind.

    • @swamp345
      @swamp345 6 місяців тому +13

      Truth!!! So much inspiration comes from this series

    • @thehater6189
      @thehater6189 6 місяців тому +7

      Def a must to show how pretentiousness can lead to horrible writing.

    • @GenericHandle666
      @GenericHandle666 19 днів тому +1

      I’m actually writing right now. The game started negatively affecting me, making me see things, drinking too much. Makes for kickass inspiration though!

  • @pott3r
    @pott3r 6 місяців тому +61

    Finally someone who really did some analysis and not just some recap on the stories of Alan and Saga. Huge respect! Subbed to both of you guys

  • @ubralex
    @ubralex 6 місяців тому +52

    This story is SO similar to Twin Peaks The Return

    • @kennethcoxg
      @kennethcoxg 6 місяців тому +8

      Even the way scratch is portrayed somehow mirrors the way evil agent cooper is in twin peaks revival, i think the twin peaks revival was too much confusing tho, even more so than AW.

    • @KingArthur39
      @KingArthur39 5 місяців тому +3

      which is interesting, because the first Alan Wake game has similarities to the original Twin Peaks. Maybe It is intentional

    • @pacizalive1759
      @pacizalive1759 2 місяці тому +1

      It's clearly inspired by Twin Peaks since the first game yep

  • @filipmarinov2154
    @filipmarinov2154 6 місяців тому +49

    I believe the Thomas Zane we meet in Alan Wake 2 is actually the Mr Scratch from American Nightmare. That original scratch was created by the bright presence Zane at the end of the first game and sent to the real world in place of Alan (so he wasnt originally Alan possessed by the dark presence). In American Nightmare that Scratch was infleunced by the dark urban legends about Alan and became dark. At the end of American Nightmare Alan defeats Scratch. My theory is that that defeat of Scratch just sent him back to the dark place with Alan. And he now pretends to be Thomas Zane to influence Alan's writing in order to get out of the dark place. My supporting evidence is the following. He is dressed with similar clothes to Scratch from American Nighmare. He wears a ring around his neck and in American Nightmare Scratch says he has a ring just like alan. When we meet this "Zane" in AW 2 the same psycho song plays that played in one of Scratch's videos in American Nightmare. And it makes sense why this "Zane" makes Alan drink both in Control AWE and in AW2, he wants to manipulate him easier, so he makes him get drunk. I think the flashback we got in AW2 of Alan drunk with "Zane" was Scratch manipulating a wasted Alan to write the horror story that was the original draft or Return.

    • @filipmarinov2154
      @filipmarinov2154 6 місяців тому +21

      Also Zane being a film maker is probably some rewrite of reality (like Saga losing her daughter). Since in the Anderson brothers' song he is a poet (and they are seers). Also in Control, Jesse remembers him as a poet whereas the rest of the world seemingly remembers him as a film maker. Cynthia also remembers him as a poet. And the fake Zane that I think is Mr Scratch says he is a film maker.

    • @L1z43vr
      @L1z43vr 6 місяців тому +4

      When was it stated that Zane/Bright Presence created Scratch and sent him to the real world? All he said was state “your friends will meet him when you’re gone”, which was a fact. Scratch appeared to Alice Wake and Clay Steward afterwards. I don’t know why people seem to theorize that Zane created Scratch or sent him. We already have an origin for Scratch in American Nightmare.

    • @kennethcoxg
      @kennethcoxg 6 місяців тому +1

      i think american nightmare isn´t even canon, more like a spinoff, but cool interpretation, kinda make sense.

    • @shogert2370
      @shogert2370 6 місяців тому +6

      ​​@@kennethcoxgit is canon
      For example, in the subway you can see excerpts from AW:AN written on info signs - something about satellite falling from the skies and so on)

    • @CorporalCookie
      @CorporalCookie 6 місяців тому +13

      ​@@kennethcoxgIt was kind of reconned that the ending of American Nightmare wasn't Alan escaping and getting his happy ending, but just one of his many failed attempts to write his escape during the years. But that the events happened.

  • @toothemaxx4027
    @toothemaxx4027 6 місяців тому +29

    Great breakdown, Tho I think Tom and Alan are the same person just one has been written over the other. My evidence for this is how the Andersons(and Ahti) call him Tom abd never sway from that. They are implied to resist or are immune to the changes to reality since they all remember Saga’s daughter. Another point of evidence is Yoton Yo, Tom plays Alan and follows Alex Casey as he tries to solve the mystery of his cult. It kind of follows the events of the game and might the Magnum Opus he was trying to complete. Not to mention Alans las confrontation with Tom which ends with Alan shooting the director in the head and him waking up after being shot, directly mirroring Alan at the end of the game. I think there is much more to Tom/Alan connection.

  • @JakeTalksGamesYT
    @JakeTalksGamesYT 6 місяців тому +42

    Just a note, you skip over American Nightmare, which is important to the plot and more clearly delineates Mr Scratch vs Scratch.
    Mr Scratch was beaten in AN, the Scratch we see isnt referred to as Mr Scratch in the game, just Scratch. He functions differently, being a more violent hurricane of anger and rage, whereas Mr Scratch was all the rumors about Alan made into a person. He was separate from Alan, but Scratch is not

    • @CoolSaver
      @CoolSaver 6 місяців тому +7

      That's an interesting theory, but the second game always makes connections with that scene from the first game, where Mr. Scratch revealed. "Your friends will meet him, when you are gone". Initiation chapter "Gone" is the most obvious clue, it shows you the birth of Scratch, also repeating that same line. I think what actually happened here, it's just that the developers had one idea about what Scratch is, and made AN around it, but this time they has a deeper or maybe different idea, so that's why this is the same Scratch, but also not the same. It wouldn't be much of a surprise, considering how long the second game was in some sort of stasis.

  • @EpsilonXero
    @EpsilonXero 6 місяців тому +8

    With the Anderson "gift" and having inherited Door's powers, Saga is a veritable god. She's one little push away from being one hell of an antagonist for AW3. She's capable of wicked anger and stubbornness. A little manipulation from daddy and fully harnessing her stack of powers would be quite a sight. Alan isn't dead and Saga was manipulated by Alice for her own purposes (not maliciously, but still) and it may cost her her family. There's so much to dig into with this game, it's like a membership to the jelly of the month club!

  • @Mentleif
    @Mentleif 6 місяців тому +39

    I don’t know if I’d describe Scratch as a Taken. I feel that Scratch just represents a third method of the Dark Presence influencing people. There’s merely “touching” someone like Barbara does to Alan and Rose in the first game, direct possession as happens with Scratch, and then turning someone into a Taken. The difference matters a lot in that the Taken aren’t well suited for complex tasks and the process is, as far as we know, irreversible once you’ve become a Taken.The first of these reasons is why Barbara Jagger didn’t simply turn Alan or Rose into Taken in Alan Wake 1 and instead merely touched them

    • @Fragmentsinfractals488
      @Fragmentsinfractals488 6 місяців тому +6

      This is because , from a Meta standpoint, the Darkness is the holes in the Plot. The Voids the Dark Presence fills . And the Darkness themselves are not very Creative, So, they must take the Light (Imagination/Creativity) from other people. But if They take all the Light, the humans become empty shells.
      So, The Dark Presence had to have Alan make the Character , Mr. Scratch, the Herald of Darkness, so Mr. Scratch can keep his Mind. (See American Nightmare). The Dark Presence/Mr. Scratch will then be fused into Alan in his Despair.
      It is the Character becoming the person. Real person and "fictional person" overlap.

    • @homelander2243
      @homelander2243 6 місяців тому +2

      He didn’t even get that much into Control? These games are connected, the spiral, pyramid, upside down pyramid, all these symbols are in the OceanView motel in Control.

    • @Rhythme18
      @Rhythme18 6 місяців тому +1

      ​@@homelander2243the game did drop a lot of bombshell information so it's going to take a while to decipher all this information

    • @Fragmentsinfractals488
      @Fragmentsinfractals488 6 місяців тому

      The Cult of the Tree also was based on the Oldest House's Tree the Pyramid is attached to.@@homelander2243

  • @SuperAp0calypse
    @SuperAp0calypse 6 місяців тому +9

    In the first game its mentioned somewhere that Alan has some form heightened reaction (almost like an allergy) to bright light when he was a child. This is never mentioned again, but I thought it was interesting in that it could have been a plot point going forward with the Darkness picking him as its champion, but no its never mentioned again.

  • @LucasMp
    @LucasMp 6 місяців тому +8

    In black ocean summoning there's a line that says "diving deep to the surface".
    To me, that meant both a need for Alan to go further into the darkest place to actually be able to enforce some meaningful changes to it, as the need for Alan to dive deeper into himself, to actually find himself, which would align pretty well with the videos theory.

    • @donchep
      @donchep 6 місяців тому +1

      I don't remember that lyric being in dark ocean summoning I know it's in Herald of Darkness though.

  • @cupof_jo924
    @cupof_jo924 6 місяців тому +20

    This game reminded me so much of House of Leaves and I loved it. Kinda spoilers but Zane and Alan made me think of Zompano and Johnny. The story was amazing and I look forward to whatever content comes in the future.

    • @CorporalCookie
      @CorporalCookie 6 місяців тому +3

      Just started reading the book myself.

    • @ethanrosaschi4153
      @ethanrosaschi4153 6 місяців тому +6

      POE who wrote and sung Haunted as well as This Road for AW and AW2 respectively, is the sister of the writer of House Of Leaves.

    • @cupof_jo924
      @cupof_jo924 6 місяців тому +2

      @@ethanrosaschi4153 yeah i knew that, it’s pretty cool to see her making music for the game

  • @Cuiasodo
    @Cuiasodo 6 місяців тому +8

    One last thing: Saga's benefactor, the one who gets her the clicker and the bullet, likely is Alice. It sounds a lot like her on the phone and Alice had to have created the Clicker and light bullet we see in this chunk of the game, since they came from photographs, Alice's media of choice. Alice has some degree of mastery over the Dark Place, especially since she knew that Alan's only way out without ending the world was "ascension" as she put it, so she likely would be able to influence things within the space.

    • @PiggyOnTheWing
      @PiggyOnTheWing 5 місяців тому +3

      Perhaps she has been capturing the ending gunshot in the different iterations of the ending she may have witnessed. Perhaps the first time Wake and Saga got there the bullet was just a bullet and their written ending was Alan sacrificing himself to save others. But this is just an ending of destruction once again. A gunshot. "We don't have time for something better. Let's go with this."
      Alice takes some her photographs as negatives. At least of the haunting she did, so she likes the method. A dark bullet in a negative photograph would give a white hue. A bullet of light. Capturing a moment of sacrifice from a self-indulgent author. The photograph is a work of art. It can be made real in the dark place. So the next time around the spiral, Saga gets sent some photos. Alan gets shot with a bullet of light. The Dark Presence in him is destroyed by it. And some clarity comes. He can recognize the spiral nature of his existence in the dark place. Maybe even remember some parts of this round. And Alice takes another photograph at the moment of sacrifice.
      Next go-around. Alice leaves the new photograph in the elevator going to their apartment. Now at the crucial moment, when writing the perfect ending with Saga. Alan knows. He knows what Saga is going to shoot him with while writing. He improves the ending to give it all the implications that a bullet of light shot into his forehead could have. The symbolic third eye. Ascension. And return/resurrection through enlightenment.

  • @liamr194
    @liamr194 6 місяців тому +7

    I'm surprised more people aren't picking up on the parallels with The Matrix, especially considering Mr Doors even says it.
    Zane - The Architect
    Mr Doors - The Merovingian (he clearly moves between spirals and universes)
    Ahti - The Keymaker
    Saga - Trinity
    Alan - Neo
    Alice - The Oracle
    Scratch - Mr Smith
    This isn't about "getting out" at all. It's about resetting the spiral or cycle, just like The Matrix. Zane needs Alan to try to get out so that the system can reset and improve.
    Scratch is the key, him being able to move beyond the dimension (or cycle) is something Zane can't contain and he used Alan - and with Alice - to reset the spiral and contain Scratch. All of the people helping Alan are written-in by Zane.
    The biggest conundrum is who is Zane and why is Zane doing this? I'm not convinced The Dark Presence wants world domination at all. Because if it did, it wouldn't return back to the dark place as Casey it would just leave and contain Alan within the dark place because Casey was free to decide. Alan's Ascension is identical to the path of Neo...
    Who evolves faster, Alan or The Dark Place. If Alan wins (eventually) he'll become the perfect writer. Until then he is trapped moving through superego, because artists are motivated by ego and NOT creating fundamental work or philosophy (whereas they used to be).

  • @sp4ky91
    @sp4ky91 6 місяців тому +23

    I think that the art pre-existing the artist is a literal interpretation of the "great artists steal" quote by Picasso. I don't think alan and alice will meet the same fate as tom and barbara since in the first game, Alan realised what went wrong with how tom brought his wife back and so he changed how he tackled that problem. And much like the previous game, Alan figures out that he needs to complete the hero's journey in order to escape (departure, initiation, return). Since he has done that he's come to the realisation that it's a spiral not a loop and thus the small increments of change will soon lead to an escape . It's sort of like your archetypal writer theory however wake will probbaly get some outside help in the form of the FBC or mr door.

  • @Khan-ig5rx
    @Khan-ig5rx 6 місяців тому +10

    The connected universe they created is one of my favorites. The game is great on its own, but Remedy really rewarded the die-hard fans with the connections and references to everything they have made. I was reading Jung when I had started playing Alan Wake: American Nightmare and I was not expecting to see the very passages I was working through to be reflected in the game I was playing. Then I wondered if the true horror of the game was not that Wake's evil double threatened to walk the earth in his place, but that they were just aspects of the same being.

  • @alphacode5
    @alphacode5 6 місяців тому +5

    this is an amazing theory, i held kind of the same theory since i played alan wake 2 but couldn't have expressed it as well as you do here. There are also even more evidence supporting this theory like:
    -The fact that the poems from this house of dreams keep appearing in AW2, pushing its canon status
    -The QR videos from the alan wake remaster where he talks about how he's been learning both the mechanics of the dark place and his own abilities as a writer
    -Rose's remarks about how the dark place, that tries to take hold over the insecurities, negativity and darkness of people, doesn't work on some residents of the nursing home because "they've led very rich lies" and thus are resilient to it, i believe alan is on a path to find a similar resilience to the darkness
    -in the quantum break's famous alan wake classroom there's a mention of the story leading to a birth of a savior
    -by the way that same board mentions a William Blake's poem that appears in the house of dreams blog, "some are born to endless nights"
    -the poem is in a page that is scratched with charcoal, with "the dark place" written on it and it is the poem that appears in "balance slays the demon"
    -that song ends with "alone at my own wake, the unraveling of reason's skein" which i believe is what the darkness exploding out of alan's head imagery represents
    is amazing the level of talent that a work needs to fit so many pieces so well without unraveling.
    I'm definitely suscribing and i would love a video on the UFO motif that is around these games, but i guess first it would need to wait for the night springs dlc

  • @LivingPine
    @LivingPine 6 місяців тому +5

    In Yötön Yö we can see Alex Casey was sacrificed so Thomas Zane can get out. So Yötön Yö was Zane's attempt to escape the Dark Place, much like Alan was trying to come up with a story to get himself out, Zane shot a film where he sacrificed Alex Casey (which I guess Alan Wake made it possible, considering he is the one that created Alex Casey, the fictional character) to escape. So Alan Wake can follow a similar road by maybe using some of Zane's stuff or even Alice's photographs. But my question is was Zane even successful at escaping the Dark Place? I thought he never got out?

  • @MAHASINO7
    @MAHASINO7 6 місяців тому +6

    Was listening to Dark Ocean Summoning and the line " Awake new and whole " seems to strongly support the archetypal writer theory as Alan incorporates his shadow part and "A WAKE new and WHOLE"

  • @LaurenceSouthDrumsUK
    @LaurenceSouthDrumsUK 5 місяців тому +3

    Thank you so much for this video! My head was hurting after completing AW2 last night. Your analysis makes total sense to me and I'm now even more excited for the future DLC's and follow up remedy games. What a masterpiece this game is. Thanks Max!

  • @georgeontherocks660
    @georgeontherocks660 6 місяців тому +14

    Considering Sam Lake majored in english literature, there's a pretty good chance he read "The Anxiety of Influence" by Harold Bloom. Wake taking Zane's place as the "archetypal writer" will be like Shakespeare escaping the influence of precursor Christopher Marlowe in order to survive into posterity, as explained by Bloom in that book.

  • @fableman92
    @fableman92 6 місяців тому +1

    What a curious and elegant essay, thank you, Max!
    I would love more lore videos from you on Alan Wake and Remedy universe as well, take care)

  • @deathsyrup
    @deathsyrup 6 місяців тому +7

    Zane is Scratch, that’s my theory. He changed his name. That’s why he looks like Alan and also wrote the story with “Scratch”. He is him.

  • @Cold_Zero_The_Wise
    @Cold_Zero_The_Wise 6 місяців тому +16

    A major issue I see these days especially in big block buster movies is a perfect protagonist one who is moral and good all the time one who cannot make any bad decisions whatsoever, everyone tried to be good or as good as possible but every one.has the capacity for bad if enough pressure is applied or the right/wrong circumstances are met and that's why I like Alan wake, for me he and Jessie are opposites, at first we think Alan is a Normal good guy and as we go further we see his fears and insecurities, his desperation and who he will drag into this and sacrifice just to save his own self, with Jessie she starts out abit rude, uncaring and unsympathetic and only concerned for herself and her brother, using the FBC to get what she want, and by the end she open up to people, starts caring about what's really going on, and choosing of her own volition to take up the burden and responsibilities of a director upon her own shoulders. It's a well written narrative so far I hope it gets complexe but not convoluted.

  • @kizuati
    @kizuati 6 місяців тому +6

    Scratch wasn't pretending to be wake. It's directly stated in the game that being pulled through the Overlap weakened the Dark Presence inside Alan.
    What he thought was Scratch being close was the Dark Presence growing stronger. It only was influencing him before taking over,not pretending to be him.

  • @liquidrufus
    @liquidrufus 6 місяців тому +4

    Hell yes. You spoil us, after this mornings discussion with Gaming University, and now this vid. Appreciate your unique insights, and all your hard work.
    Edit: Balance Slays the Demon lyrics add onto your theory.
    "Ever the light casts a shadow,
    Ever the night springs from the light.
    In the end, it's never just the light you need
    When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
    In the end, it's never just the dark you seek
    When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace
    Find the peace"

  • @GalakStari
    @GalakStari 6 місяців тому +23

    This has got me wondering. Maybe the ‘Zane’ we meet in this game is to Tom the Diver what Mr. Scratch is to Alan: a dark doppelgänger that was created when Tom sacrificed himself to stop the Dark Presence in the 70’s. Although that would beg the question, what was this ‘Zane’ up to during the events of the first game?

    • @GalakStari
      @GalakStari 6 місяців тому

      @KoraJayde-TeeJayOh right, when Alan wrote him into the story to help him escape Bird Leg Cabin? I suppose that’s possible too.

    • @CorporalCookie
      @CorporalCookie 6 місяців тому +1

      ​@@GalakStariWell at that point of the story, if This House of Dreams is still canon, Zane was living with the essence of Barbara in their own little bubble reality, inside the Dark Place, with Tom the Diver being just his body taken over by the Bright Presence. I'm not sure what Zane this is, but after seeing the Yötön Yö movie, I felt that how this Zane is currently is because he changed himself with his movie in his attempts at escaping. And another thought was that this is Zanes body, but without Zanes essence or the Bright Presence in it anymore.

    • @GalakStari
      @GalakStari 6 місяців тому

      @@CorporalCookie Wow, I especially like that second theory of yours, about how maybe it’s Zane’s body without Zane or the Bright Presence inhabiting it. Granted, he’d have to have some kind of essence or soul himself of course, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to really do anything, but still. Kind of reminds me of the Nobodies from Kingdom Hearts: beings created when a person with a strong will loses their heart to darkness, with only the body and soul left to carry on and give the Nobody life.
      In any case, I doubt the Bright Presence itself is inhabiting him, at the very least. Sure, it was enigmatic in the first game, like how this Zane is, but it definitely seemed much more benevolent when it came to helping Alan.

    • @kerrzUSR
      @kerrzUSR 6 місяців тому

      I think it is simply down to the manuscript, we know real people change based on the story and how they become characters. Tom the Diver is the Zane of Departure written by Alan, whilst Tom the Filmmaker is the Zane of Return written by Scratch/Alan. He is used a plot device and character, much like Casey is to escape the Dark place.

  • @davidzen3363
    @davidzen3363 6 місяців тому +2

    A lots of theories are possible with the character of Alex Casey, Another one is about Alex Casey existing before, but Alan stories made him an FBI detective to come help him, because of his previous books. So he would be pre-existing Alan Wake, and remodeled by him since the story can remodel people's past and memories.

  • @benfrancois7856
    @benfrancois7856 6 місяців тому +2

    I love Alan Wake 2 I've been waiting for you to do a video on this

  • @ReapersPlug
    @ReapersPlug 6 місяців тому

    Watched this 2 times in a row would love to hear you pick it a part more

  • @stankmaster5000
    @stankmaster5000 6 місяців тому +3

    Great video, but I will say that you need to make a distinction between old Scratch and new Scratch. They aren't the same. Old Scratch was created from the dark rumors about Alan, the new Scratch is just the Dark Presence using the darkness in him to control him. One is separate from Alan the other is Alan. Anyway, your point about Alan accepting his darkness has been hinted at since American Nightmare. The song "Balance Slays the Demon" doesn't fit anything that's already happened in Alan Wake, but it would fit the future. "In the end, it's never just the light you need. When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace. In the end, it's never just the dark you seek. When balance slays the demon, you'll find peace." I don't think we've met "the demon" yet, but Alan will need to achieve balance to slay it.

  • @delmattia96
    @delmattia96 6 місяців тому

    Thank you for the video!
    Found you thanks to the live discussion with Gaming University!

  • @luckymankwok
    @luckymankwok 3 місяці тому

    About the spiral theory, I noticed that in each Overlap that Saga dove into, the levels themselves are always a spiral like hallways led to the boss of each stage, the residents who became takens; If Spiral is a metaphor to transcend architype to be the best version of self, that means each of those takens that saga defeated failed to embrace their shadows and thus succumbed to the dark place

  • @CosmicTotem
    @CosmicTotem 6 місяців тому +1

    Nice theory. The Thomas Zane point does make sense, and you can also apply it to Alan. Maybe there's a different version of the characters in each part of the spiral, and when they ascend or descend they find that other version (explaining how Alan got shot and also shot himself).
    Also, one thing that I noticed is that maybe Zane wrote Alan into his story, just like Alan wrote Casey and Saga into his.

  • @whiterosesalchemist
    @whiterosesalchemist 8 днів тому

    It became clear to me from playing that yes there are philosophical aspects that will need to come about, but there's elements of multiverse theory in this as well mixed with an idea of an entity that connects worlds going by the name of Door. Saga's story is her becoming a Door by embracing the story/saga/herself. She will no doubt allow him to access different versions of the Story or connected stories to find an exit for himself and everyone else.

  • @Thelder
    @Thelder 6 місяців тому

    Great video Max
    First, I have a recommendation for you. Since you've done an analysis on Promethea, I have another comic book that you should give a try: The Incal, written by Jodorowsky and illustrated by Moebius.
    Now about Alex Casey, remember, time in the Dark Place isn't linear like in the normal world, so when Thomas Zane wrote Alan Wake as a writer, or while Alan was writing Return or Initiation, the Dark Presence made him aware of Casey existence and made past Alan write the books as part pf the plot... It's strange this kind of future events influencing things that happened before, but for me it makes more sense than some kind of precognition.

  • @UndeadAaronGames
    @UndeadAaronGames 6 місяців тому +2

    Alan wake just wrote all of it, and when I say all of it, I mean all of it. Max Payne, quantum break, Control, Alex Casey, night springs, and Alan Wake. Tom Zane and Barbra Jagger have never at anytime been real people. He even writes fictional versions of himself and people from his life.
    The last scene in the last Alan wake game will probably be a camera pulling away from him signing books at a celebration of his collective works.
    The ending line
    "It's not a Game, it's a book"

    • @DaCrazyHand
      @DaCrazyHand 4 місяці тому

      That may well be the most oddly satisfying ending at this point.

  • @Titan1930S
    @Titan1930S 6 місяців тому +1

    Yeah I was waiting For this video!

  • @johnkim7890
    @johnkim7890 6 місяців тому +3

    Great vid! Yeah I like your theory on Alan and the Jung structure and how Alan needs to ascend to the architypal writer to be able fully have mastery of the darkplace without being effected by it. Alan did also yell at Mr. Scratch to "come home!" I wonder if that was a type of acceptance of the shadow? Maybe that's the reason why Alice was able to finally communicate her intentions and the concepts of ascension and destruction. The one other thing that has popped into my mind though... and hasn't left since I finished Alan wake 2(and also since your vid mentioned the mother architype), Alan's mom Linda... who is she? and who the heck is Alan's dad? How did they get the clicker which is "potentially" an oop? Since the clicker was from Tom's lamp was there some connection? I wonder if there is some sort of connection between Alan's parents and the FBC?

    • @delmattia96
      @delmattia96 6 місяців тому +2

      Gaming University's playful theory about Alan's Dad is that he might be Balder, of the Old Gods of Asgard.
      He was a man full of lovers, so Alan's mother might have been a big OGoA fan, what do we know?
      Still, I really like the idea that the disappeared Loki might be Alan's Father.
      What do writers do, after all, if not lie and create stories?
      ---
      These ideas take root in the fun concept that "Children of the Elder God" might have been actually also referring to Alan.
      There are other small things, however I can't remember them.

  • @jonathonpolk3592
    @jonathonpolk3592 6 місяців тому +2

    Well im not surprised that the game left us with more questions than it answered. The devs telegraphed this long ago. At the beginning of AW1 during Alan's intro monologue, he specifically said that the unanswered question is the best one because it sticks with you the longest. That principle has been present in all the AW games and DLCs, and i wouldn't be surprised if it continues as such with future releases. Better to just get comfortable with not knowing and enjoying the speculation on what could be.

    • @ThyDankGaming
      @ThyDankGaming 6 місяців тому +1

      Makes the ride exciting, just one that I pray for others and myself to still be around for is all!

  • @shannongia
    @shannongia 6 місяців тому

    Great video as usual, Max.

  • @N3UROTOXIN2505
    @N3UROTOXIN2505 6 місяців тому

    “Show me the champion of liiight!
    I’ll show you the herald of darkness”. It continued so well. And it was an absolute banger.

  • @Davlavi
    @Davlavi 6 місяців тому +1

    Informative as always.

  • @hiramabiffic1218
    @hiramabiffic1218 5 місяців тому +1

    At the very beginning of the final draft Alan says Zane was a fictional poet. Zane is another creation of Alan’s

  • @Cold_Zero_The_Wise
    @Cold_Zero_The_Wise 6 місяців тому +2

    My theory is that the dark place lets alan merge realities, the reason Alan could not simply write himself out of the dark places is because for events to take place they have to be plausible, the scene and events have to make sense and be possible in order to happen, so my take is anything Alan writes has tk have been possible or already done in another reality before he can achieve it

  • @kaiuniverse876
    @kaiuniverse876 6 місяців тому

    I never, played the original alan wake. And I was thoroughly fascinated by everything that was going on in the second one. And there was a weird level of understanding i felt at the end. I felt like I only really had a few questions left

  • @blackpker124
    @blackpker124 5 місяців тому

    everything you say in all your videos goes over my head for the most part but i like how passionate you are about philosophy, so here's a like.

  • @BIG_GUY420
    @BIG_GUY420 6 місяців тому +1

    Max you should do a twin peaks deep dive. This game kinda has twin peaks vibes. Love your content man. Thanks for all you do.

  • @sycamorph
    @sycamorph 6 місяців тому +5

    I think this could mean that the dark place isn't inherently a bad thing. It actually makes me think of the ending of Rain World...

    • @CorporalCookie
      @CorporalCookie 6 місяців тому

      We kinda have been hinted that it isn't. But that it was the place where the Dark Presences and Bright Presences fought against each other, according to This House of Dreams.

  • @FromTheAtticTV
    @FromTheAtticTV 6 місяців тому +5

    Amazing video as usual. I just want to drop in a few thoughts :
    1. I think Alex Casey's existence is actually a bit simpler. Yes, Alan has clairvoyance and saw glimpses of the real Alex Casey's life that he actually interpreted as inspiration. But I think the evidence on Saga's board that says "Maybe Wake can't invent wholly new ideas. Has to use what already exists" references the fact that to make a work of art come to life in the Dark Place you need to use elements of reality to make the story more believable, therefore easier to come to life. That's why his entire Initiation draft is done with echoes of all sorts of realities combined.
    2. That being said, I love your theory about the Dark Place being the Collective Unconscious. Which, also supports one of my theories regarding why we see so many "Human Echoes" in the Remedy-verse. Characters that are somehow the same, yet different. Like two versions of the same being existing in different worlds, the same archetype, so to speak. Alan Wake/Thomas Zane, Alex Casey/Max Payne, Tim Breaker/Jack Joyce, Mr Door/Hatch, etc. Instead of the traditional multiverse, it's every possible idea in existence. So far, this is the only potential explanation I found as to why Wake and Zane's life mirror each other to the point of looking exactly the same. I do agree that Alan never met the real Zane though. I do wonder who's the guy in AW2. He seems to be the devil on Alan's shoulder. But is he a fictional character? Does he appear to Alan in the same way that Casey (the fictional one) appears to Alan in the Dark Place? I don't know.

    • @thehater6189
      @thehater6189 6 місяців тому

      This is a shortcoming of the game. The story introduces countless unrealistic things that must be accepted as true BUT Alan must work within vague confines for the sake of the plot. If thomas zane can write the clicker into power and alan can write a bullet of light into power, why cant alan just write that a massive thunderbolt strikes the lake, killing all darkness and freeing all those trapped. There is zero reason why this wouldnt be allowed but the clicker and bullet are

    • @FromTheAtticTV
      @FromTheAtticTV 6 місяців тому

      True. Even worse, the bullet of light AKA one of the most powerful weapon I've seen yet, was created only thanks to ONE photograph from Alice. She did spend some time in the Dark Place, but not nearly as much as Alan.
      I do think that Alan's biggest enemy is himself. On one hand, he didn't even know that HE was the one ruining his own work (as Scratch). He also needs to switch place with someone. That's the biggest thing. He can't just write himself out, he also needs to write someone in. But even with Saga and Casey in the Dark Place now, the Dark Presence seems to be messing with them (with this cliffhanger).
      So I get where you're coming from, but I don't think he's THAT far from getting out.

    • @ladiddas
      @ladiddas 6 місяців тому

      ⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@FromTheAtticTVSaga uses the Clicker on Alice’s art to bring the Bullet of Light into the story because she’s co-authoring with Alan. Alice never died and is actively guiding Alan and Saga. In the Remedy universe, the shoebox is resistant to any changes made by the Dark Presence. We still don’t know HOW Alice is doing any of this, which will probably be explained in the upcoming DLC or sequel.

    • @ladiddas
      @ladiddas 6 місяців тому

      Alan never wrote the bullet of light or the clicker into existence.

    • @thehater6189
      @thehater6189 6 місяців тому

      @@ladiddas he wrote the bullet? How did it come to be otherwise? He literally puts the pictures in the box and they become the clicker and bullet as you spend the whole alan part writing the story

  • @cjwinchester1206
    @cjwinchester1206 6 місяців тому +3

    Alan Wake 2 is an amazing experience. I am now in my 5th playthrough, and I can't stop playing it. Its story is so well realized, and the gameplay is truly survival horror. I was so excited to watch your theory video, and I hope there are more of them on the way.

    • @ichimarugin1995
      @ichimarugin1995 6 місяців тому +4

      5th? Whoa!!! I am doing 2nd play just for a last trophy in order to get the platinum, but after the trophy i will stop. I have so many games to start. I liked the game a lot but 1/2 play are enough for the moment for me. And then i wait for the dlcs.

    • @cjwinchester1206
      @cjwinchester1206 6 місяців тому +2

      @amerigo95wilkarate I got the platinum at the end of my 4th playthrough lol and I am still playing. That's how hooked I am.

    • @ichimarugin1995
      @ichimarugin1995 6 місяців тому +1

      @@cjwinchester1206 yeah i see ahah im happy that u like it so much

    • @cjwinchester1206
      @cjwinchester1206 6 місяців тому +1

      @@ichimarugin1995 Thank you! I hope you have a lot of fun on your end as well. Go get that platinum trophy!

    • @ichimarugin1995
      @ichimarugin1995 6 місяців тому

      @@cjwinchester1206 got the platinum! 🤙🏻

  • @andrewmah2962
    @andrewmah2962 6 місяців тому +4

    Alan Wake 3 will come in another 13 years.

  • @alanu5109
    @alanu5109 3 місяці тому

    As a writer and gamer, I love this. This game was definitely worth the wait. About to start the final draft!

  • @linakain8106
    @linakain8106 6 місяців тому

    i love the Pathologic 2 music in background, very fitting

  • @smoothtura2375
    @smoothtura2375 5 місяців тому

    I just realized that song "balance slays the demon" litelarry reffers to that theory. They sing how only when you accept both light and darkness can you find peace

  • @IRLZeni
    @IRLZeni 5 місяців тому

    So Alan is like saga in that he’s also a seer. It’s why he has his writing room like how saga has her mind place. And why they’re able to communicate the whole game. That’s where he keeps getting his “inspiration” from and where his Alex Casey ideas came from

  • @DonutStalker93
    @DonutStalker93 6 місяців тому +2

    Very glad that you threw out the "he's her dad" about Door, I was thinking the same but then I was like nah that's too obvious right? Lol

    • @Kelenae
      @Kelenae 6 місяців тому +2

      Sometimes the easiest answer is the right answer lol

  • @Wanderer_of_Sol
    @Wanderer_of_Sol 6 місяців тому

    I know next to nothing about Alan Wake, and I had no idea there was a Remedt Verse, but I feel a lot more interested and invested than I did before. I feel like when Alan Wake 1 came out my friends all just did a pretty bad job of selling me on it, but this, this I can get behind.

  • @ChefTinman
    @ChefTinman 5 місяців тому

    I just started Alan's section of NG+. Congrats on calling the story.

  • @finnpickworth3327
    @finnpickworth3327 6 місяців тому +1

    Involving Warlin door, I also believe he is a form of Martin Hatch from remedy entertainments ‘Quantum Break’. Hatch and door are similar names and Hatch has multiple selves. This also explains why Shawn Ashmore was cast as sheriff breaker, as he is the main character in quantum break. Also not sure if this is true but Lance Riddick was supposed to be cast as Warlin Door before he passed away which would link this theory even further.

    • @ladiddas
      @ladiddas 6 місяців тому

      I doubt they were gonna use Lance for this game, he was still alive when this game was in production.

  • @kessilrun6754
    @kessilrun6754 5 місяців тому

    He also easter eggs a referring to a "Spiral" when describing what Hartman became. Something like, "Stretched out thin, like a Worm, an Ouroboros...a spiral." During the hotline video in Control. In addition to Hartman having become Taken, but changed by the Hiss. The Darkness, made louder.
    The point he makes on Alex Casey being real is a good one. It needed to be iterated. Because it might just be that Alan doesn't "Create" anything. He just wills entities from other dimensions into our reality. Odin tells Saga, when she questions whether she's real or not, that she is not Alan's creation. She is a seer." So she was real before Alan brought her into the story. Same with how Zane brought Alan to the story.
    Also, you might see Max Payne or Quantum Break easter eggs, but they literally cannot tie those games into the RCU. They don't own them anymore and never did own Quantum Break. Quantum Break was a Microsoft Studios thing. Remedy I think sold Max Payne to Rockstar?

  • @makcraft
    @makcraft 3 місяці тому

    I wonder - if everything happening in Control and AW2 fits the narrative of saving Alan. Night Springs seemed to exist before Alan even thought he seems to be the author of the show. Before Bright Falls, Alan wrote mostly Alex Casey detectives, not horror, so maybe he manifested a lot more that we think - FBI Alex, Night Springs, FBC and Jesse… there is a lot of winks to that - Mr. Door mentioning that “a lot of people try to help you”. So maybe Alan writing into reality other people, who act through their narrative, still fits the story.

  • @psued0cide
    @psued0cide 6 місяців тому

    I love this theory! The idea that Alan needs to fully control "Scratch" and absorb him so he doesn't get affected is so cool

  • @twisteddevotio2456
    @twisteddevotio2456 5 місяців тому

    Interesting. Will wait for part three. Going play and appreciate American Nightmare more.

  • @MarshallPust
    @MarshallPust 6 місяців тому +2

    Can't watch cause I haven't finished it, but I love the FBC-verse and can't wait to watch this

  • @blahblahgdp
    @blahblahgdp 6 місяців тому

    And you are totally right aboiut the Word and it being god. Right after you first encounter scratch in the sheriff's department, the chapter song has a lyric
    "I created the world. First came the word."

  • @dirtylaundry022
    @dirtylaundry022 4 місяці тому +1

    Would be interested in seeing your analysis expanded with the final draft

  • @nzgberg
    @nzgberg 4 місяці тому

    One of my favorite games is how well it hits you over the head with its twist, and yet you ignore that on the first play through because the both storylines seem to be happening at the same time almost.

  • @lostonegrey1555
    @lostonegrey1555 6 місяців тому

    Im not sure if this is your type of game, But i really like the concept and philosophy of the games infamous 1 and 2. It explores the idea of destiny and moral choices which has a really cool twist at the end.

  • @gavrilovdenis153
    @gavrilovdenis153 6 місяців тому +2

    What about the doorman ?? That back guy from studio . I think he deserves a whole video to cover about . In the ending the cop tells there’s no ending and etc

    • @falcon3084
      @falcon3084 6 місяців тому +2

      It is heavily implied that he is saga father

  • @xCarnageV1
    @xCarnageV1 6 місяців тому

    Only 4 minutes in but just wanted to point out that Alex Casey could have been pulled into the Dark Place when he was Taken towards the end of the game. the timeline on this one is real whacky with the way time works in the Dark Place, so he could have been pulled into the Dark Place and sent back to the beginning of Initiation to guide Alan as the manifestation of a detective. Like you said, you can't create something out of nothing, there has to be an explanation for how Casey can look and sound exactly like his real-world counterpart without Alan having never met him up until that point.

  • @howardhavardramberg7160
    @howardhavardramberg7160 6 місяців тому

    I love the ideas of pataphysics played with in the Alan Wake games

  • @gerrardcorner6199
    @gerrardcorner6199 4 місяці тому

    fantastic video!

  • @DiamonDaniel
    @DiamonDaniel 6 місяців тому

    cant wait to watch this. downloading alan wake 2 now that i see max derat made a video about it, confirming kino.

  • @HoodeloodumGAME
    @HoodeloodumGAME 6 місяців тому

    About 'The Word of God' and 'Let there be light': The scene where Alan first meets Tom Zane The Auteur in AW2, Tom speaks a poem into a lamp mimicking a microphone - spoken word into (a) light. Whilst also being a nice reference to the 'In Dreams' scene in 'Blue Velvet' - this alludes to the idea that Tom Zane, as he has appeared in the previousd games, is a mere vessel for the 'light presence'. I also believe the light presence/Tom The Diver itself (as well as 'darkness') *as an 'entity'* is a mere plot device written by Wake in the 'Departure' scenario - and that the one Wake interacts with is a projection of an abstract aspect of himself as an artist/writer. I remember in one of the DLCs for the original game, Alan having this confused exchange about the different versions of himself in the Dark Place - and 'Zane's' relation to them. Light as 'something', 'Seine' as a fishing net - fishing ideas out of nothing (darkness), the light inside a projector - a passive element to draw out ideas and shapes. Darkness is the light sensitive 'film' that has been personified by Wake as 'Mr Scratch' or 'The Dark Presence'.

  • @VegetaEx
    @VegetaEx 6 місяців тому

    I love this Game and thansk for your Video. I'm a bit disappointed what they did with Scratch, he was such a great Antagonist in American Nightmare.

  • @ryan_currently_awake8445
    @ryan_currently_awake8445 6 місяців тому +2

    I feel Scratches presence in the story almost works better if you forget about the original Scratch from American Nightmare. Because as far as I can tell they’re completely different characters. I’m not sure if his existence has any relevance to the new Scratch. Maybe Alan’s original perception of Scratch is what misleads him into believing that he isn’t Scratch?🤔

  • @guillermoperez3614
    @guillermoperez3614 6 місяців тому

    Yes more Alan Wake videos, thanks 👍

  • @Tataruruk
    @Tataruruk 6 місяців тому

    Continuing argument about "in the beginning there was the word". The song "dark, twisted and cruel", which is supposed to be Scratch's song, contains the same line "I created this world, first came the word". That's pretty strange and somehow connects Alan scratch and Zane?

  • @joshuagraham416
    @joshuagraham416 Місяць тому

    Great video!

  • @Ozmourne
    @Ozmourne 6 місяців тому

    Finallllyyyyy an Alan Wake 2 lore video

  • @evantorres5046
    @evantorres5046 6 місяців тому

    I think the last alan wake game is gonna end with him sayin " its not a lake its an ocean, its not a circle is a spiral..." (and then a last quote thats is just as profound) while ending with a similar fate with Alice as Tom amd Barbara did in the ARG

  • @DivorcedStates
    @DivorcedStates 6 місяців тому +1

    I believe John 1:1 is also seen on the clocks in most places in the game as 10:10. Other clocks show 03:00, which is the Witching or Devil's hour. There are so many hints in these games about good vs. evil, light vs. dark, God vs. The Devil and I'm so there for it.

    • @lachlancox2403
      @lachlancox2403 6 місяців тому +2

      Yeah ive been feeling a similar vibe.
      Ahti the janitor feels like God to me, this presence that knows all (or the most out of anyone) and pushes invisible pieces on a metaphorical chess board towards some unknowable narrative.
      Jessie the director reminds me of Jesus with how she was at a very young age always tied to the paranatural. Even when she first shows up to the oldest house Ahti is the one that (i assume) let's her in on the strange and abnormal. Even calling her his assistant when she becomes director. The oldest house is even speculated to change throughout the ages as the collective unconscious shifts to more modern designs. The idea of the director dying and only being replaced by a uniquely rare candidate gives me the feeling of resurrection. (even if thats pushing it)
      Alan the writer gives me vibes of Lucifer/The Devil. They are different but they've just kinda became synonymous with each other, kinda like Alan and Scratch. Anyways I'm not trying to say Alan rebelled against God, but he also did go against the natural order and try to bring someone back from the dark place. The darkness tricked Alan and in the end he fell down into the dark place which could also be seen as hell. (if you REALLY try to push it) Now Alan works kinda like security for the dark place and seems to be friends with Ahti.
      Special mention to Dylan the chillin who is the [trigger warning] "anti christ" in this theory. He seeks to invade the worlds with the hiss and take over. Other than that i don't really know since it's hiss babel, this is where my theory falls flat.
      Do with this information what you will.

    • @DivorcedStates
      @DivorcedStates 6 місяців тому

      @@lachlancox2403 You've put into words what I've been thinking. Spot on. Yet nothing is ever confirmed and anything is possible. That's why I love this series so much.

    • @isaaclevi1487
      @isaaclevi1487 4 місяці тому

      im a bit late but this interpretation of ahti really makes sense, especially with a dialogue in which he talks about the water and how it can wash away the mess

  • @jackalope2302
    @jackalope2302 6 місяців тому +1

    "Do you read Sutter Kane?" - In the Mouth of Madness

  • @Agora13
    @Agora13 6 місяців тому +8

    A very satisfying game. We really need more survival horror games like this, we starvin.

    • @fattiger6957
      @fattiger6957 6 місяців тому +2

      Unfortunately, I don't see AW2 landing with the general gaming audience. They probably won't understand it and won't even try to.

    • @JC-kl3uc
      @JC-kl3uc 6 місяців тому +4

      @@fattiger6957Too many puzzles, and the writing is "pretentious". I can already predict this kind of complaints from your avarege Joe.

  • @SilkyForestMoose
    @SilkyForestMoose 6 місяців тому

    "He's her dad," Yeah with all signs pointing to Saga being "Actually pretty powerful," even if just by default from the Anderson blood (TAKE! CONTROL!), I wouldn't be surprised if her power was amplified by whatever Mr. Door can do. His powers aren't even fully explained by the end of the game, just that "He knows he's being watched, but he'll allow it, just this once."

  • @darklingalley
    @darklingalley 6 місяців тому

    The closer it got to release date the more clearly we began to foresee what AW2 might have in store, or ultimately lead to and descension and ascension was one. I believe it was in June of this year that we tweeted an image for AW2 of a small angel sitting on a ladder with a quote from Carl Yung "The decent into the depths always seems to precede the ascent." We aren't huge fans of Jung by any means, but we know that Remedy draws inspiration from his theories. Anyway, just a quick note. There are several pieces of evidence supporting time loops in the first game, Alan will even comment about remembering. Aside from pieces of evidence that he's already been somewhere we visit during gameplay, it's also possible to see and hear multiple "Alans" in certain parts of the game. You can only see the multiple Alans for a fleeting moment, a second maybe. We've been avoiding review and analysis videos lately, but a friend of mine saw this video and said that it wouldn't interfere with our current thoughts and ideas. This video is very nicely done. You presented everything really well. It was a nice easy watch :)

  • @thehater6189
    @thehater6189 6 місяців тому

    Much like Alan Wake 2, this video begins with a specific conceptualization and fits the game into said schemata. For those that made the game, they wanted to make a convoluted mess that is meant to go nowhere, like the first game. For Max, it is an attempt to fit said convoluted mess into a Jungian schemata. The game really just is there is an evil called the dark presence that is trying to get out of its confinement/the dark place and is doing so through the plot premise of the setting being a conduit for art to shape the world. Alan is just caught in the middle.

  • @perversemite519
    @perversemite519 3 місяці тому +1

    I think Alan achieved the self as u predicted in "the final draft" Ng+ update. U should check it out it has a lot more content for Alan and other characters from control.

  • @colbybarron8879
    @colbybarron8879 6 місяців тому +1

    I’m really curious about the connection between Mr. Door and Quantum Break’s Martin Hatch. I know Remedy doesn’t own the IP for Quantum Break, but the parallels of a being who can freely move through time and space, that’s is both outside of the story and inside the story, seems to similar to be a coincidence. I wouldn’t be surprised if it came out that the late Lace Riddick was meant to play Mr. Door before his passing, just like he play Mr. Hatch.

  • @daijones5558
    @daijones5558 5 місяців тому

    I agree with most of this, but where i disagree, is how the spiral and ascension works, if travelling on spiral, the only way to get to the end, is to travel down towards the center, but basically, yes Jungian stuff.
    Alan has been going through loops, as he's going the wrong way, and ending up circling. Aka hes doing something wrong, Alice being (spoiler) not so dead at the end has gone in to rescue him, to help him change his method of fighting, hes stuck, because his tackling the dark place in the wrong way. There seems to be hints of Alans self loathing and doubt, which ofc feeds the dark presence.
    Also i find interesting, is the many references to rituals and obsessions in the remedy verse, this seems to me to be a pretty obvious reference to OCD, the rituals are compulsions, you see the puzzle, you feel like you wanna solve it. Including Saga's puzzles which too affect reality (synchronicity/magical thinking), despite the fact many of the puzzles seem hint at a mother losing a child like saga's life in Watery,
    One other thing, is why Saga and Casey drink coffee exactly the same, mirroring each other, i dont think this is just a humourous thing to show to set the scene, a stylistic choice, like weird tv shows that have that same feel. I think theres something more going on.
    It happens more than once. Right at the start entering Bright Falls, and again meeting Alan wake.

  • @xonlyxjojox
    @xonlyxjojox 6 місяців тому

    i have a theory regarding Saga's part in the story. as we all know Saga's mom left Brightfalls when Saga was an infant. however, she ended up being part of Alan's writing. i believe that because of their power seeing the truth that runs in the family, Saga's mother was able to 'see through' the reality that was shifting in Brightfalls. as such, when she left, it created an alternative reality of which Saga actually existed in BrightFalls and ended up losing her daughter. this part of breaching of reality created a "backdoor" where Saga was able to wander through Brightfalls with no memory/reality/personality changes. she was the "Editor/Co-Author" of the whole story as such, she was able to actually change the story and not Alan himself as he keeps on forgetting or/and getting lost in the dark place. BUT
    WHO THE HELL IS HER FATHER? was he the host of the show that allowed her to enter the dark place? because while playing the host hinted to Alan that he was trying to keep things in control? keep in mind her father disappeared and her mother barely talks about him..

  • @CameronJamesH
    @CameronJamesH 6 місяців тому

    Will you be covering Talos Principle 2? Keep up the great work, Max.

  • @B0RNxVILL4IN
    @B0RNxVILL4IN 6 місяців тому +6

    This game is easily my game of the year

    • @Apesedits
      @Apesedits 6 місяців тому +1

      Lots of stella releases this year, have you played many of them?

    • @B0RNxVILL4IN
      @B0RNxVILL4IN 6 місяців тому +1

      @@Apesedits Played just about everything except for Spider-Man and Diablo, Alan Wake 2 beats em all for me

    • @Apesedits
      @Apesedits 6 місяців тому +1

      @@B0RNxVILL4IN
      Unfortunately haven't played any but RE4 remake & Zelda TOTK look tough to beat.
      OG AW was a 10/10.
      Will grab the sequel on sale after all patches have been applied & a more budget friendly price drops.