Heartwarming / Outer Wilds

"Come sit with me, my fellow traveler. Let's sit together and watch the stars die."

— Chert

Even if Outer Wilds is a game about the end of the world, there's beauty and wholesomeness to be found in it.

Warning, spoilers are unmarked!

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Main Game

• You're trapped in a time loop where you're forced to watch your sun go nova again and again, but You Are Not Alone - Gabbro happened to link to a Nomai statue the same time you did. As soon as you admit you're looping too, they declare you their "time buddy" and become your confidant through the rest of the game. They can even teach you how to meditate and calm yourself, letting you (peacefully and painlessly) end a loop early.
• Chert has an emotional journey over the course of each loop, going through the Five Stages of Grief as soon as they work out that The Stars Are Going Out. But by the end of a loop, they're calm and accepting their fate, and offer to sit with you in the final moments. You can also offer them some encouragement.
  Hatchling: If it helps, we're in a time loop, so we won't really die.
  Chert: Ah, that's a lovely thought. Is that how you're coping with this? Does it help? [...] A time loop, you said? I like that idea...
• If you follow the sound of a harmonica through Dark Bramble, you'll find Feldspar safe and sound, and subsequently be able to report their survival to a relieved Hornfels. It'll all be undone by the start of the next loop, but for a moment you've made someone very happy.

Echoes of the Eye

• At the end of the DLC, you can free the Prisoner and let them know that their efforts weren't in vain. As a remix of the main theme plays, you use a vision torch to give your own slideshow, telling the story of how the Nomai heard the freed signal and followed it to the Eye, and while they passed on, they in turn inspired the Hearthians - particularly, your character - to continue the search. Afterward, the Prisoner gives a mournful/joyous cry and chooses to pass on peacefully. The last vision they give is of the two of you riding a raft into the sunset, showing just how grateful they are.

The Finale

• The Golden Ending sequence is a bittersweet Tearjerker, once you get through the creepy Mind Screw elements.
• In the Ancient Glade, everything goes dark as the universe dies, but you can light a campfire, and soon enough, Esker somehow shows up in their rocking chair, asking "Do you hear music?" From there, you can use your Signalscope to navigate the wood and track down your fellow travelers, each event a Call-Back: Riebeck's banjo is stuck in a Nomai ruin, Chert's drums are orbiting a star being studied by a telescope, Gabbro's flute is in a hammock at the end of their whimsical quantum poem, and Feldspar's harmonica comes after one last anglerfish Jump Scare.
• If you fully explored the Quantum Moon, while you're looking for your fellow Hearthians, you'll hear snatches of a beautiful countermelody played on... a piano? Who played a piano? But by following the music, and with the help of some Nomai skeletons pointing the way and giving you a shuttle to ride, you can find the seventh traveler - Solanum, the last Nomai, finally free from the Quantum Moon and able to talk with you normally.
  Solanum: This song is new to me, but I am honored to be a part of it.
• If you finished Echoes of the Eye, following theremin music will lead you to the grave of the eighth traveler - the Prisoner. But unlike the others, they won't join you immediately, and instead stand apart to speak with you.
  The Prisoner: When my kind found the Eye and realized what it was capable of, they were terrified. It was too difficult a truth. Like a light too bright to look upon directly, it burned them. When they could not unlearn was hidden away in darkness — obfuscated, then lost. They did not want to see their story end. My kind weren't always like this. We weren't always so afraid. I did what I could to set things right, yet I am still of my kind, and you now know what they did. I cannot promise our fear won't stain your mind. And so, a choice: Are you certain you want to remember me?
  • The second option is to tell them "Your journey is over now. You did well," which they accept with good grace.
    The Prisoner: My role in this ended long ago, and now I've learned my efforts weren't in vain. Thank you for facing what was hidden in the dark.
  • Alternatively, you can tell them "Join us. Let's see what happens." The Prisoner still has some misgivings, but takes their place around the campfire with your other friends.
    The Prisoner: This fire... what a warm and beautiful light it makes.
• Once everyone is assembled, the travelers play a song together, each contributing their instrument, their combined efforts creating the seed of a new universe. At that point, you can have your final words with them.
  Esker: Wow... how long has it been since I got to make music with everyone around a campfire? I'm really happy we're all here.
  Chert: Even if it's over now, I had a good time learning. But I think the rules are about to change.
  Riebeck: I learned a lot, by the end of everything. The past is past, now, but that's... you know, that's okay! It's never really gone completely. The future is always built on the past, even if we won't get to see it. Still, it's um, time for something new, now.
  Gabbro: I tell you what, this has been really fun. And I got to help make something pretty cool, so I've got no complaints. I mean, not me, exactly, but close enough. It's the kind of thing that makes you glad you stopped and smelled the pine trees along the way, you know?
  Felspar: You cut it a little close, don't you think? Well, it worked out all right in the end, I suppose. Ahh, I hope there are beasties in the next one.
  The Prisoner: ...How beautiful. It's different than I'd envisioned. Whatever happens next, I do not think it is to be feared.
  Solanum: I believe we've reached the end of our journey. All that remains is to collapse the innumerable possibilities before us. Are you ready to learn what comes next?
  Hatchling: Yes.
  Solanum: I admire your curiosity, friend. Let's find out together.
• At the end of the credits, The Stinger shows incredible new worlds, each wrapped around its own tiny sun. If you found Solanum, there will be insectoid aliens enjoying marshmallows around a campfire, proving that the Nomai and Hearthians' spirit of exploration lives on. With the Prisoner involved, there will also be a tall, piscine alien bearing a lantern with a blue flame, with a glowing blue pond in the background, adding a touch of mysticism to the new universe.

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