The Theme of Family in Pathologic - a quick bit of analysis.
To me one of the most compelling themes in Pathologic is family, and how a persons connections to people represent their connections to a place.
Through my direct experience playing patho 2 and indirect experience learning about patho 1 and the demos (Iāll get to them eventually I promise) I found each of our 3 healers relationships (or lack thereof) to family communicates a lot about how each of them sees the town.
(Spoilers for the franchise below)
Daniil brings up his family in passing what? A handful of times? He has a family back in the capital somewhere, but heās clearly an independent, high achieving young adult without the strongest ties to them. His personality makes it feel as though heās been determined to handle his business on his own for a long time, judging by how quickly he steps up to take control of the town and how proud he is of his own personal achievements disconnected from anyone else.
On top of that he expresses a desire to not get married (heās married to his work and all that). Heās just not that much of a family oriented person. Even if I do enjoy what Iāve heard of his interactions with the towns kids, to me his character stands in contrast to the close knit families and noble dynasties of the town. The other people in power in the town are that way because of their influential families, each bears their family name like a badge of honour. Then we have Mr. Daniil D. Dankovsky here whose name seems to almost symbolize him standing on his own, no ties to any name but his own. (Thank you little children playing your game with these characters, fantastic naming scheme 10/10) His disconnect from a recognizable family name also reinforces his place as a mostly unwanted outsider in the town.
And of course, gotta make a quick mention of popular fanon real quick. The very popular āfix Daniilās life auā where he and Artemy raise Sticky and Murky together is just extra heart warming considering how separated from family Daniil is within the games. Iād say he seems pretty good with kids, but heās focusing so much of his energy into a career we know heās unfortunately destined to lose all progress on in the end that it leaves you wondering āWhat will be important to him after the loss of Thanatica?ā And honestly I think āMaybe heāll finally realize how fulfilling building family bonds can be.ā Is a beautiful answer to that.
Then we got Clara. Clara shows up in the town notably missing a family. Sheās a little girl all alone, stealing to survive because she has no one. Well, I suppose that mental image would be a whole lot more uniquely sad if we werenāt in the Town on Gorkhon where every second kids parents died of the plague a few years back. But unlike Daniil, I believe Clara having no biological parents actually connects her more to the town instead of just not having a strong connection to the parents one does have. Clara is a outcasted character in the beginning, she isnāt expected to have any strong family bonds, so she kind of fits into the crowd of orphaned children. Sheās also more directly a child of the earth than others, which I guess ties her more to other miracles of the steppe then the town, but hey at least people like her are known of within the town.
But there is a position empty in the town, a vital role which must be filled, the third young mistress, someone to inherit Katerinaās position. Clara was implied to be created for a purpose, but overrode that purpose in many ways, by being a force of healing in the town yes, but also perhaps by seeking out a family she was not born into and taking on a responsibility for the town from there.
To me Claraās adoption and how quickly she grows to care for her adoptive parents is very beautiful. As her mysteries are pealed back so is her perceived lack of humanity. She needs a family just like anyone else. It makes me wonder about the other kinds of people said to be formed of clay, if any of them ended up seeking out family dynamics of their own? Sorry if my understanding of her lore is a bit wonky, at this point Iām kinda theorizing off of lore crumbs lol.
Now time for the big finale of this analysis, the man who embodies this theme more than any other character, Artemy. As I mentioned in a previous post, Artemyās relationship to the theme of family is one of the most compelling parts of patho 2 to me. Although Iāll be focusing less on his kids today as opposed to that post.
Completely unlike the other two healers, Artemy is connected to the town primarily by family ties. Heās Isidorās boy, even if some npcs seem to not remember which son he is. To Artemy his last name is that badge of honour, that ticket to relevance as an authority figure that we see in the ruling families as well. To others he tends to simply introduce himself as Burakh, Burakh the local healer, sounds about right to them so he gets through situations quicker. Even after all three of his close family members are dead and buried his family connections still help him throughout the game. Trust, authority, familiarity. His name grants him all of these.
He is a menkhu, a title he inherited through blood connection, although proving himself is still an important aspect of being granted that title. His place as a spiritual leader among The Kin connects him to presumably countless generations of his ancestors. Iād be remiss not to mention the implications of the actual exonym The Kin (to be perfectly honest Iām not sure if Khatanghe literally means the same thing as āThe Kinā in their language but Iām gonna assume it does because of its similarity to other family-related words in the language). A side effect of the cultural perception of the entire community as a family in The Kin is Artemyās family circle being expanded greatly. Even before the passing of his father he had The Kin, his kin, in a literal sense too. Whereas the town seems to emanate this somewhat hostile, individualistic single family household kind of culture. Families feud with each other, whatās good for one family is prioritized over the good of the whole. But Artemy grew up partly within a cultural context where those barriers donāt separate people quite as much.
Of course, Artemy is not descended just from the people of The Kin, and that is a very deliberate choice. Artemy never knew his mother yes, but he grew up in the town likely because of her influence on the family. He is his motherās son, he is a member of a friend group of townspeople, he is just as tied to the community of the town as he is to The Kin. In my interpretation since he grew up alongside Grief, Lara and Rubin he might as well be their pseudo-sibling.
All these family connections further complicate the difficult decision at the end of patho 2. In a way the game is asking you to choose one family over the other. When viewing the stories conclusion through this lense Sticky and Murky being your actual adoptive children becomes the least relevant of any family connection funnily enough. Theyāll be there at your side regardless, but they also arenāt your only family.
Although like many members of the fandom I agree the diurnal ending, saving the children you were meant to protect, preserving the townās future, keeping the livelihoods of all the people youāre closest to intact, is the more fulfilling ending, I can see the appeal of the nocturnal ending as well. Artemy balances far too many responsibilities, family ties, and deep bonds for it to be an easy choice. But surprise surprise, the devs said it best: his is a story about love. I think the games exploration of the impossible choices love sometimes leaves us to make is phenomenally compelling. And in a way, I believe Artemy is the only person who truly knows the town and The Kin well enough to be left in charge of that choice, he is a child of both worlds. Thatās why I believe family bonds and connection to place is so intimately linked in Pathologic. Artemy is undoubtedly at the heart of this theme, not because his individual connections are stronger then anyone elseās, but because each bond of family pulls him in a different direction, and itās your decision which ones must be discarded and which ones must be saved.
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