Unraveling the Alan Wake 2 Finale: Decoding the Future and Questions to Ponder

In Alan Wake 2, an intricate storyline unfolds, blending suspenseful mystery with the supernatural influence of the Dark Place and Alan Wake's own writing. Especially towards the climax, the narrative becomes more perplexing, as Saga Anderson and Alan's narratives intertwine and they devise a strategy to thwart the evil intentions of Mr. Scratch.

Now let's delve into the events of the conclusion, the implications for the future, and uncover any overlooked details in the intricate plot of Alan Wake 2. For additional context, refer to our comprehensive recap of the Alan Wake story.

The Clicker and Saga's Plan

Firstly, it is essential to comprehend Saga and Alan's objectives in the final moments of Alan Wake 2. Throughout the game, their plan revolves around Saga aiding Alan in gaining control over the conclusion of Return, the narrative that has gradually come to life during Saga's journey. As the events of Return unfold, they begin to manipulate reality. One of the key plot elements in this tale is that Saga and her daughter Logan resided in Watery, where Logan tragically drowned years ago. However, this is not the reality as Saga remembers it. Prior to the events depicted in the game, Saga lived with Logan and her husband, David. The couple had never separated, Saga had never resided in Watery, and Logan was still alive.

Saga requires a conclusion in Return that ensures the temporary alteration of Logan's history does not endure as permanent. The narrative must acknowledge the transformation of reality and reverse these changes. In order to accomplish this, Alan must take charge of the writing and the utilization of the Clicker becomes necessary.

The Clicker holds significant value in the original Alan Wake and it is crucial to comprehend its role in the story. Initially, it was a light switch incorporated into Alan's angel lamp. When Alan was a child and plagued by fear of the dark, his mother presented him with the Clicker, claiming it possessed magical abilities capable of banishing the monsters from his imagination. Initially, the Clicker merely served as a comforting tale to assist a scared child. However, the influence of the Dark Place has elevated the Clicker to something more profound.

Empowered by both faith and the reality-warping abilities of the enigmatic Dark Place in Bright Falls, the Clicker possesses a remarkable amplifying effect. When utilized in conjunction with a narrative or artistic creation brought to life by the Dark Place, the Clicker has the extraordinary ability to make the reality-altering changes made by art permanent. For instance, the Cult of the Tree has been harnessing the power of the Clicker to materialize their ceremonial practices, albeit with limited understanding of its inner workings. This is how they have successfully vanquished the Taken creatures. If Saga were to employ the Clicker alongside Alan's revised story, it has the potential to cement the alterations made by the story into reality—thus potentially rescuing her daughter, defeating the ominous Dark Presence, and liberating Alan from the clutches of the Dark Place.

The Eternal Deerfest

Scratch, otherwise referred to as the Dark Presence, is currently on the verge of achieving ultimate victory. Prior to the events depicted in the original Alan Wake, the Dark Presence found itself trapped within the confines of the Dark Place, with no means of escape. Its influence was limited to the vicinity surrounding Cauldron Lake. Determined to break free and extend its dominance worldwide, the Dark Presence sought to utilize artists as conduits, manipulating their actions to serve its purpose. Through its prolonged possession and manipulation of Alan, it has finally crafted a narrative that will ultimately grant it liberation. The only requirement is for this story to endure until the conclusion, turning fiction into reality.

Alan's strategy to thwart Scratch involves altering the conclusion of Return. However, achieving this objective necessitates his revisiting the enigmatic Dark Place. In order to execute the rewrite successfully, he must be situated within the confines of his Writer's Room, at the pinnacle of his creative prowess. Nevertheless, in order to effect the desired modifications, Alan must first possess a thorough understanding of Return's original intended course of events.

When Alan returns to the Dark Place, we catch a glimpse of Scratch's ultimate goal: to create an everlasting Deerfest, exerting complete control over reality and shaping it to its desires. The eerie festival serves as a symbolic representation, illustrating the magnitude of what's happening. Fortunately, in the bizarre realm of Return, Alan manages to discover a physical copy of the book, allowing him to read it and alter the story's outcome.

Alan proceeds towards the Writer's Room, which surprisingly exists within the Valhalla Nursing Home. With the assistance of Rose and Ahti, he navigates his way to his destination. However, he encounters the same obstacle that has plagued him for the past 13 years.

The reason Alan has been trapped in the Dark Place all this time is that he can never quite get the story right to get himself out. He's made several attempts, but the manipulations of the Dark Presence and the mind-altering properties of the Dark Place mean he's never been able to write a story good enough to do the job. That problem persists even now. What's more, he has a limited amount of time to write, because Scratch is searching for him and means to stop him from completing his edit. If that happens, Scratch wins, Deerfest becomes eternal, and Logan dies.

The Collaborator

The X-factor, though, is Saga. She frees herself from the prison of doubt the Dark Place puts her in and starts venturing across a version of Alan's shifting reality. She still needs the Clicker, but there's a solution to that problem.

Do you remember when Ahti tasked you with retrieving Alice's photos from the basement of the talk show set? And then, a mysterious phone call instructed you to place those photos inside a shoebox? All of that was leading up to this critical moment. Saga discovers the photos in the shoebox, but due to the influence of the Dark Place on Alice's art, the photos transform into their subjects: the Clicker and the bullet of pure light. Empowered by the bullet, Saga can eliminate Scratch, while the Clicker has the potential to bring Alan's rewritten ending to life.

Through her Mind Place, Saga reaches out to Alan, and together, they collaborate on reshaping the conclusion of Return. The idea is that by introducing a fresh voice and perspective into the story, Alan finally gains the ability to defeat the Dark Presence through his writing. By himself, he was unable to achieve this feat, but with Saga's help, their combined efforts yield a narrative powerful enough to prevail.

However, sacrifices are unavoidable. Alan consistently emphasizes that this is a horror story, and it must adhere to the conventions of the genre. If the ending lacks sufficient darkness, it will not be fulfilling or true to the essence of the art. And if the art is inauthentic, it will fail to manifest in reality. That is why a somber conclusion is imperative for the success of their plan.

Once Saga reaches the Writer's Room, the climax unfolds. Casey, posing as Scratch, enters with a resolute determination to prevent their edits. However, Saga employs the Clicker to transform the story into reality. The narrative compels the expulsion of the Dark Presence from Casey and its transfer into Alan. Saga shoots Alan, ostensibly eliminating Scratch. The entire sequence concludes ambiguously as Saga attempts to contact Logan to verify whether the story has been altered and her daughter has survived. Regrettably, we are left without knowledge of Logan's response.

More to the story

So did it work? It's ambiguous. The tale concludes with Saga and Casey standing in the Writer's Room—seemingly still within the Dark Place. The beam of light should have potentially eliminated Scratch, but that's also unclear. Alan has previously vanquished incarnations of the Dark Presence twice—once in the original Alan Wake and again in Alan Wake's American Nightmare—yet it persists.

There is more to the story, especially for Alan. Remedy has recently announced two additional expansions to the story, namely the Night Springs and Lake House DLC. However, specific details about these expansions are currently scarce. There is also the mid-credits scene that adds a new perspective.

The mid-credits scene primarily focuses on Alan's wife, Alice. Throughout his journey in the Dark Place, Alan witnessed Alice's involvement in creating a new photo exhibition and a documentary showcasing her work. Alice has been plagued by visions of Alan appearing in her apartment. Initially, Alan believed it was Scratch, the antagonist, haunting Alice. However, as the story progresses, he realizes that his relentless attempts to reach Alice in their old apartment were what caused her to see visions of him. The documentary concludes by revealing that Alice tragically took her own life to escape the torment.

The truth, however, is unveiled in the mid-credits scene where it is revealed that Alice did not really perish. She staged her death after coming to the realization that her encounters within Bright Falls during the original Alan Wake were indeed authentic. Furthermore, she discovered that Alan has remained trapped in the Dark Place ever since. This revelation actually alludes to significant story elements from another game created by Remedy, Control, and its AWE expansion.

In AWE, Alice pays a visit to the Federal Bureau of Control to report the visions of Alan that she has been experiencing. She managed to capture one of these appearances on film using motion-activated cameras. It is worth noting that Alice had previously interacted with the FBC after the events of the first Alan Wake story, and her visit to the Oldest House in New York triggers her memories of the Dark Place. This strongly suggests that these events are part of a story that Alan is writing from the Dark Place, as new manuscript pages continue to appear in the Oldest House during the DLC.

The mid-credits scene reveals that Alice's supposed suicide was actually her returning to the Dark Place, but this time with a plan. It is Alice who contacted Saga and helped guide her through the Dark Place, indicating that she intends to take action to ultimately save Alan. The exact details of her plan are unclear, but Alice believes that her deep understanding of the Dark Place will give her an advantage.

It's Not a Loop, It's a Spiral

At the culmination of the mid-credits scene, Alan regains consciousness after being shot by Saga and declares, "It's not a loop, it's a spiral." Despite witnessing Alan's numerous deaths in the Dark Place, they are always temporary, and even the luminous bullet fails to permanently vanquish him while he remains trapped. Therefore, he is still alive and confined within the Dark Place.

Evidently, there is more to unveil in this tale. We are aware that Alan communicated with himself from "another point in the story," urging his other self to preserve Alice's photographs in the shoebox. Unlike other instances of the perpetual cycle, this particular call has yet to be witnessed, indicating that it originates from a juncture in the story beyond its current resolution.

The spiral line holds significant implications based on earlier events in the game. By watching Tom Zane's film, Nightless Night, during the conclusion of the cinema section, you'll come across the line once again, spoken by Alex Casey's character in the film. In this particular context, Casey realizes something grim. The film revolves around Casey being sacrificed by a cult led by Barbara Jagger, the woman he loves. However, Jagger is in love with Zane, as portrayed in the film. Essentially, the essence of the story is that Barbara manipulates Casey into becoming a ritual sacrifice to free Zane from the Dark Place. When Casey utters the words "It's not a loop, it's a spiral," he appears to imply that he has been sent downwards into the Dark Place to take Zane's place.

"It's not just a loop, it's a spiral," suggests that Alan has the possibility of using the loop to ascend out of the Dark Place, if he possesses the knowledge to do so. However, the presence of Nightless Night within the game serves a purpose and strongly suggests that someone else will need to take Alan's place in order to rescue him.

Furthermore, these hints may also allude to another antagonist in the future of the story: Tom Zane. Alan confronts and shoots Zane at one point, but much like Alan, Zane appears to possess the ability to come back to life. It is revealed that Zane has been attempting to escape the Dark Place himself and even collaborated with Mr. Scratch to achieve this goal. While it is uncertain how literally we should interpret Nightless Night, it leaves a grim impression of Zane's character and hints at his significant role in the future narrative.

What About Saga?

The fate of Saga in Alan Wake 2 remains unclear. It is implied that she is still stuck in the Dark Place with Casey, and it is unclear how she will manage to escape, regardless of the impact of Return's conclusion on reality.

However, there is a loose end that suggests this will be addressed. After Saga is thrown into the Dark Place during the summoning ritual, Tor and Odin go into Cauldron Lake to rescue her. Although they disappear for the rest of the game and the Old Gods of Asgard are not seen again, it is likely that they are still in the Dark Place. It is reasonable to speculate that Saga's storyline will be resolved in one of the DLC additions, with Tor and Odin playing a crucial role in helping her and Casey escape.

Let's not overlook Warlin Door and Sheriff Tim Breaker, who both appear to have important roles yet to be revealed. In Alan Wake 2, Door gives off the impression that he is well-informed about Alan's story and willingly involved in it. Similarly, Tim seems to have a significant part to play that remains undiscovered.

There are numerous aspects that the story has to address, and it appears that there is still a significant amount of storyline left for Alan Wake 2. Currently, the conclusion is that Alan made a selfless sacrifice to stay in the Dark Place in order to protect Saga, Casey, Logan, and Bright Falls. The outcome of his sacrifice is still uncertain, but it is evident that there are individuals who are willing to aid him. It is highly probable that the narrative of Alan Wake has the possibility of evolving into a trilogy.

Editor's P/S

Alan Wake 2's finale is mind-bending and thought-provoking. The story takes a surreal turn as Saga and Alan work together to manipulate reality and save Logan. The Clicker, a seemingly insignificant object, becomes a powerful tool in their quest. The Dark Presence, the main antagonist, is on the verge of achieving its goal, but Alan and Saga may have the power to stop it.

The game leaves many questions unanswered, setting the stage for future installments. Will Alan and Saga succeed in saving Logan and defeating the Dark Presence? What will happen to Bright Falls and the Dark Place? The possibilities are endless, and I can't wait to see where the story goes next.