AHWM Ending 23
So this is the first ending I’ve got and the ONLY ending I’ve got so far, so Imma do some spoilery theorizing that may or may not be disproven later, alright?
Okay, I think I figured something out.
I was initially really confused by Ending 23, because random aliens out of nowhere (bear in mind I never saw ADWM) but I think I get it now.
Remember how Mark has continually stressed the meta-ness of his story, and the power of narrative as a driving force?
The reason I got that ending was because I fucked with the narrative, and so it had to jump the shark to try and resolve itself.
When I chose to go into the sewers, the narrative tried to present me with an interesting plot-line.
“Oh look! There’s a scary noise and a guard just got killed while running from the dark? Bet you’re pretty curious to see what’s going on, huh?”
And then I did the sensible thing and went towards the light, effectively shutting that entire plot-line down.
Mark even seemed pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t following the narrative tropes that would allow that story to continue.
But the narrative didn’t like that.
So it shifted settings and genres. If I don’t bite for a horror story, maybe I will for a shipwreck one.
Again, on the raft, we have another convenient plot set up with the wait for rescue/row home choice.
What would make for an interesting story is if we stayed on that raft, likely going mad with starvation or thirst, as we waited for a rescue that would never come.
I choose the less narratively interesting option of making our own way back, and the narrative punishes us by literally throwing us off the raft and having me crack my head open so I can’t interfere as it changes settings again.
This time, to survival genre.
The best trope here would be to build a shelter, right? So that the two of us can learn to survive in the wilderness, fighting for our lives against the elements, the wildlife, and potentially other stranded people too.
I go for building a sign.
At which point the narrative throws up its hands in disgust, figuratively goes “fuck this”, and gives us a *very* loosely connected alien ending where the aliens’ refusal to listen to Mark ends up screwing over humanity.
Just like I screwed over the narrative’s attempts at plot coherency.
How d’you like them apples? (Pls bear in mind I only got one of the endings so far. I could be totally wrong at this point, but would appreciate feedback!)
