Or: that time Gabbro decided to help their buddy and get off of their hammock.
-> More Outer Wilds Art!
Yapping under the read more!
And so, this is how all the 'out of the hammock adventures' would start!
I think both Feldspar and Hatchy would be similar in many ways. I think hanging out with Hatchy would remind Gabbro of feldspar. And I think that this was one of the first times Gabbro offered to go somewhere, instead of being dragged around.
I think Hatchy understood that Gabbro prefers their hammock, so they'd try dragging Chert or Riebeck along with them. But after many loops where they kept forgeting everything that happened, hatchy's resolve wore down, and they decided going solo was best. That is, until they hit a road block, and their determination started wavering. Seeing their buddy starting to break made Gabbro want to try and reach out.
Eye of the Universe as a Reflection of the Inhabitants, Nomai, and Hearthians (Theory)
MAJOR SPOILERS FOR OUTER WILDS AND ITS DLC ECHOES OF THE EYE UP AHEAD. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Also it’s a long read. Be warned.
I just had this thought after finishing the game + the DLC for the… third time now? Apologies for any mistakes going forward, but I wanted to put this into words.
For ease’s sake, I’m going to refer to the Inhabitants as Owlks going forward.
The Eye
We know this thing is quantum, ancient, and possibly sentient? Debatable last point, but I’m going to use that argument going forward. In that regard, we also know that the Eye (and pieces of it) reflect what’s around it.
We see this in the Quantum Moon, where it will reflect whatever planet it is orbiting at that time (it will also reflect the Eye itself despite it being more of an astral body than specifically a planet, but you get it). We also see this at the end of the game, where the Eye reflects aspects of Hatchy’s mind/consciousness (visions of the museum, Timber Hearth, the travelers, and other familiar faces and events such as the countless supernovas they’d seen, the anglerfish, the signalscope, etc etc).
That is the argument that I’m using in favor of the Eye’s sentience … or rather, it’s reflection of sentience. The eye reflects what is around it, and when something around it is sentient, it could reflect sentience back. So, like all things quantum about our ancient Eye, it’s sentience is only accounted for at a quantum level, only existing when there is a beholder with existence to reflect.
If you’re following me, it’s important to know what the eye isn’t doing: showing what the beholder wants to see. By mirroring sentience in the beholder, it might be easy to assume that the Eye can reflect what the beholder desires, but this would be wrong for the coming argument. By assuming that the Eye shows the beholder’s desires, it means that both the Owlks and the Nomai were duped in their decision to follow its signal; the Owlks destroyed their home in order to pursue the Eye, only for the Eye to show them that it brought death, and their decision to follow it was futile; similarly, the Nomai sought out the Eye, only for their entire clan to be wiped out by inhabiting its closest solar system, making their efforts, too, futile.
This would then mean that the Eye is malicious — by reflecting the beholder’s desire, it lures them in only to bring death and failure, when we know this isn’t the case. The Eye cannot be malevolent, but it also cannot be benevolent, because both would disregard it’s job as a mirror, a reflector. If it were either malevolent or benevolent, it would not be able to uphold its duty as a reflector, because a reflector with bias is a faulty tool. The Eye can only show what it has already been shown, even if this makes it seem biased, but seeming is not reality.
You may already see where I’m going with this, but my theory is that the Eye reflected the Owlks’, Nomai’s, and Hearthians’ societies as a whole, and in large, their fates. Here’s how:
The Owlks
The Eye casting out a signal was a neutral action. Whether it was simply its nature to emit a signal, or it had a desire to be seen, neither choice has any bias in it at its core. It is simply a neutral action. It did not warn the perceivers of danger, nor did it promise them salvation. The only thing the signal of the Eye did was evoke curiosity. We’ll see this in the Nomai as well, but first the Owlks.
The Owlks perceived the signal of the Eye and thought it to be fascinating — likely they were aware of the same facts as the Nomai were, that the Eye was timeless, ancient (possibly ageless or infinite), and mysterious. For curiosity’s sake alone, their people decided to create the Stranger, a giant space vessel that would take them to the Eye (with a constant signal, finding the Eye was likely an easier task to do than what the Nomai had to face). Unfortunately, in building the Stranger, the Owlks killed their planet and most (if not all) life on it besides themselves. With nothing else to turn back to, the hole was that the Eye would promise a new life, or at least anything but the death that they’d left in their wake.
Upon approaching the Eye, though, the mirror does what a mirror does best: reflects. Upon a closer viewing of the Eye, the Owlks saw destruction and death, because that is what the Eye saw in the Owlks. The Eye never necessarily promised death, nor did it hold some grand power, but that is how the Owlks interpreted it (likely because they did not recognize the Eye as a reflector). Horrified and angry, having destroyed their planet in perceived futility only to be met with more death, they covered the Eye’s signal and resided in its nearest solar system, having nowhere else to go, and missing home.
The Eye reflected the Owlks as destructive.
The Nomai
As previously mentioned, the Eye sending its signal was a neutral act. The Nomai perceived it and, fearing to never see it again, warped immediately without properly sending word to the other clans where they were going. The Nomai Vessel is then, of course, completely trapped within Dark Bramble (which we KNOW is malicious in nature, I’ll get to it). They enter the solar system scattered, and live the next few generations alone and lost. Try as they may to find the Eye through their string of amazing inventions and genius ideas, even risking the health and life of the solar system in the most moralistic ways possible (however moralistic blowing up the sun can be, at least), if only to discover where and what the Eye is, they are unable to. The signal is covered, and their inventions are useless in the face of limited energy.
Though the Eye could not physically offer the Nomai a signal if it wanted to, the reflection still stands. By not being able to communicate with the Nomai, the Eye reflects the loneliness, confusion, and desperation in the Nomai’s wanderlust. Unanswered questions, only faced with an unforeseeable (and likely inevitable) death by the ghost matter of the Interloper. The Nomai never got answers.
The Eye reflected the Nomai as lost.
The Hearthians
Finally, our optimistic blue bunch. The Hearthians as a group never encounter the Eye directly — they do not hear its signal, and the only interaction they have with it are practically ghost stories told through the history of the Nomai’s writings, which are largely only revealed to our dear Hatchy while they’re stuck in the time loop. And yet, even with the limited direct connection to the Heathians and the Eye, the Eye still reflects their fate in the coming end of the universe.
No matter how Hatchy plays their cards, no matter who they speak to, no matter what they discover, no matter how far they go, no matter what … the universe ends. This, ultimately, is of no fault of the Hearthians, nor is it of any fault of the Eye. But there’s that lingering thought about the Eye’s quantum nature … Follow me here.
Even though the Eye has a physical location upon being perceived, if it is ever unperceived, it will go unaffected by physical reality. Theoretically, each time the sun explodes without Hatchy perceiving it, the Eye is unaffected, and therefore, is unaffected by the universe ending — it is not destroyed, it is not harmed, if only because it does not exist. Until it is perceived again in the next 14.3 billion years, it will continue to not exist, but it will have lasted through the death of the universe, and countless universes before the last. Theoretically, if Hatchy were to get to the Eye (like we see at the end of the game) and cease perceiving it as the universe ends, and not perceive it until the next universe… Hatchy could live on.
This point can be expanded on a few different ways. Hatchy wouldn’t necessarily have to live for 14.3 billion years since they would become intertwined with the Eye’s quantum state — we see this in the Quantum Trial at the Ember Twin, where all one has to do is close themself off visually to the quantum piece and be physically connected to it in order to obtain a quantum state. This means that Hatchy would only exist with the Eye when it is being perceived, meaning so long as Hatchy does not perceive the Eye while on it (by simply closing their eyes, for example), they can live on the Eye until the next universe, where they could then thrive in their new home. They could also figure out a way to bring other Hearthians with them, possibly saving the species by un-existing just as the universe ends, and coming back into existence as another begins and something/someone else perceives them.
But this could never happen.
The Eye has seen the Hearthians and their solar system for so long. Within that solar system is Dark Bramble, the hungry planet. Born out of a carnivorous state, Dark Bramble only began as a seed which planted itself on the original, nameless planet that once orbited the sun. The seed grew, consuming the planet from the inside out, feasting on it to grow and grow until it exploded violently and destroyed the original planet, leaving nothing but remnants in its wake. Dark Bramble exists only to eat and feed, and it can only do this through vampiristic means, by feeding on the life forces of other planetary bodies. It does not stop after it has succeeded, either, always seeking out new victims, and never satisfied. We see this on Timber Hearth itself: a seed from Dark Bramble plants itself firmly into Timber Hearth, growing exponentially within the short timeframe that it had planted itself, unable to be cut, unable to be stopped.
The Eye sees this. The Eye realizes that Timber Hearth is doomed from the start. The Hearthians are doomed, no matter if the sun explodes or not, no matter if the universe lives or dies.
It is for that reason that the Eye cannot reflect anything other than death for Hatchy. No trick or plan can save them. The end comes for them at all corners. All Hatchy can do is find peace in that fact (which is what the game teaches us to do!).
The Eye reflected the Hearthians as death-bound. Not in any decision they made, and without fairness to their simple, honest lives. Simply, the Hearthians are the last. That is how it is. That is how it will always be. There is no fault to be found in them for that, but the Eye reflects anyway.
Final Thoughts
The Eye reflected the Owlks as destructive. The Eye reflected the Nomai as lost. The Eye reflected the Hearthians as death-bound.
And yet, in all of these examples, we see hope. Living counters to the concepts. Peace in the reality.
The Prisoner may have understood the Eye reflected his people’s recklessness, or he may not have. Either way, he knew that he could not let his people’s fears dictate the opportunities of others. He did not know that the Nomai or the Hearthians would exist, but by closing off the Eye’s signal, he understood that his people were negating something natural, and possibly something that was not as malicious as they thought. And so, he rebelled, breaking the shield and letting the signal free one last time. For it, he was eternally imprisoned by his people. He found comfort in his cage. He connected with a new guest. He made homages. He found peace in death. He likely regretted nothing.
Solanum grew up fearing the Eye’s intentions, pondering its possibilities, and ultimately concluding that it was not malicious or biased in any way. It simply existed, just as the Nomai did, with its own purpose. Once determined to find the Eye, Solanum grew to realize that finding it was not her biggest concern. Leave it to the others in her clan, but she had her own mission. She did not dismiss the Eye, either, but set on the path of others before her, embarking on the Quantum Trials to connect with her clan’s ancestors, to feel the presence of the Eye, and to be as close to it as she could. On the Quantum Moon, she is unaffected by time, unaware of the death of her clan, and unknowing of the impending doom of the universe, but the larger picture is unimportant to her in that moment. She is content in being so close to the Eye, knowing she may never arrive to it, but finding happiness in the collection of other Nomai who embarked on this journey before her, and even connecting to Hatchy, who embarked on the same journey she did.
Hatchy is a combination of both ideas, I’d say. Upon discovering the universe will die, and that there is no stopping it, they likely went through the same thoughts as we did while playing. How do I stop this? By ending the Ash Twin Project. The universe will end forever if I do. The time loops will still exist if no act is committed. Is that truly living? Repetition will never be a fulfilling form of living. What’s the point? And what is the point indeed?
The point is to live. To be given the opportunity to decide for yourself what you could do. To connect with what you have, not with what you can’t control. And when the end comes, to hope that you are content with what you’ve done. That is the point. The larger picture cannot be created without the small moments. The small moments mean nothing without the larger picture to collect them. You must have both. Both must reflect the other.
And so, the Eye does what the Eye does best. It reflects. It reflects the larger picture, and it reflects the smaller stories, and it reflects those that it interacts with, and it continues on to reflect those that it will encounter. All the perceivers must do is look in the mirror.
