"Our Hero and Princess venturing into the unknown together"
Remember, this is a love story.
This page contains unmarked spoilers for the full release of the game! Beware!
- Seeing the mirror at the end of every route causes the Voices to panic. If you like, you can comfort them before approaching, telling them that it'll be okay.The Voice of the Hero: ...Okay. If you say so, then... we trust you.
- As vessels are brought to the Shifting Mound, she calls them treasured gifts. After bringing her a second one, you can ask her if there is one she would prefer. She states that she has no preference: She will accept whatever treasures you give her. After the third, she opens up more. She doesn't think it's her place to make preferences. And, even if it was, she wouldn't dream to exalt herself so much as to make demands
- The Shifting Mound, on being given her fourth vessel, asks you what you think is outside of the construct. The player character doesn't seem to remember specifics, but knows there are trees and stars and people, and the thought of people gives her pause.There is a warmth and sadness in me at the thought of people. Fresh tears on a winter's day. They are not like us. They do not last.
- In The Thorn Route, you and the Princess can finally reconcile with each other, in the aftermaths your previous betrayals. It becomes one of the most powerful moments in the game. It's even more heartwarming if you share a kiss with her, which is an option if the Voice of the Smitten is with you.
- The whole theme of distrust, hate, betrayal and forgiveness makes the Witch/Thorn route one big Love Redeems romance arc.
- Unlike in the Damsel route, every Voice is genuinely happy about the romantic turn the Thorn's route takes, and they all badger the Narrator into giving the kiss its due description.
- According to the Narrator, the Princess kisses you back enthusiastically. Of course, the Narrator hates the Princess, so he’s disgusted.
- The Princess in the Damsel Route is full of this in a nutshell, almost always smiling kindly and warmly at you.
- If you kill her and enter the Burned Grey Route, she burns the dungeon with the both of you inside — not out of spite, but because she feels that the very place drives you to hurt her and she wants it to stop. As you are engulfed in flames, she remains calm and makes her smile the last you see of her, an outcome that soothes the heartbroken Voice of the Smitten. As the Shifting Mound puts it, "Even in the end, her love never faded."
- On the other hand, if you bring the Damsel to the Shifting Mound and confront the latter, when showing you the events of the route from the Damsel's point of view the Player Character is visibly crying while the Damsel attempts to stab him. It's both sad and heartwarming seeing him struggle against the Narrator's control and realizing the only way out is to let the Damsel kill him. The narration adds to the scene with the Damsel's sorrowful voice, and the conclusion if you escaped with the Damsel is sweet.The Damsel: Your Lover drives a stake into your body. And another, and another, and another. Do I miss your heart because I can't stand to see it go?
But the stakes meant nothing to you. You had a desire, and you set that desire free, you lifting me and me lifting you, forever and ever and ever. Consumed by true belief, there was nothing that could hold us back.
- Freeing the Prisoner requires giving her your knife so that she can sever her head, then carrying said head out of the cabin. The Skeptic seems to suspect that she hasn't been killed and has a plan, and of course after her self-decapitation the Princess is helpless and may even be left for dead. Despite the Prisoner's weary cynicism and the Skeptic's... Skepticism, freeing her is about mutual trust. Outside of the cabin, she smiles faintly and says she's glad she could trust you.
- Alternately, it requires shackling yourself besides her and waiting for the basement to erode. The Prisoner Hates Small Talk and so the waiting is largely done in silence - but you're waiting imprisoned with her, so it's unlike being left alone enough that it doesn't set off the common Princess Berserk Button. When the basement erodes enough to show stars, the Princess looks up at the sky and says "Will you look at that. We made it out of the cabin, and nothing bad had to happen to either of us."
- If you accept the Shifting Mound's offer to join her in godhood, the two of you work as one to push against the bindings of the construct you'd been trapped in for the entire game, and as she gives you a soft Love Confession, it finally shatters. She offers you her hand, you take it, and together you depart into infinite reality with a heartfelt smile on her face as she looks at you.Closing line: Though conflict is in your nature, the two of you will never be alone, and the two of you will never know fear. You and She are finally home.
- If the Moment of Clarity is part of the Shifting Mound, she will reflect on how she shared herself with the Hero by taking off her mask. She notices that sharing your innermost self with all of its vulnerabilities and flaws with another person is one of the most terrifying experiences in all of existence, both to yourself and the person you show it to, but also notices that going through life and never getting a chance to show that side of yourself is perhaps the only thing that is even worse. Despite the pain it caused the Hero, the player can still show empathy and sincerely thank her for opening up and sharing that part of herself.
- It's heartwarming as it's all she ever wanted in the first place.
- If you choose to Take a Third Option in the final showdown, not slaying the princess or joining the Shifting Mound in godhood, The Voice of the Hero finally returns to you, and he's determined to help you do the right thing. And he really means it. When you two reach the cabin in her heart, he's in favor of taking the blade as a backup plan. But if you say "no," he supports you, 100%.
- When you get back to the cabin, the Hero offers to describe the cabin to you like the Narrator used to. For old time's sake. If you take him up on it, the effect is oddly comforting.
- In spite of everything he's done, it's still possible for the Player to admit to missing the Narrator. The Hero agrees, since, as much Hell as he put them through, the Narrator was still a part of them.
- In the "And? What happens next?" finale, the Player simply tells the Princess that they should leave. She'll express a slight quiet disbelief over the Player character's suggestion, but will immediately take his hand when leaving. As the pair makes their way hand in hand to leave the cabin, the Princess will express worry about venturing out into the world beyond the Cabin. You can reassure her worries and tell her "I love you", to which she'll reciprocate shyly with a blush. Despite all the horror and unimaginable grief, both the Player and Princess finally got their happy ending.
- "And if it's bad, then... it won't be bad. Not with you."
- The timid Princess will shyly reciprocate the Player character's love confession and the aloof Princess will reciprocate with embarrassed snark, but both mean every last word of it.
- What is all the more heartwarming, if you tell her all that you've ever wanted was to leave the cabin with her from the start.
- Before this ending, the Player character can tell the Narrator that he's saving the Princess, a task which you succeed in accomplishing.
- The name of the soundtrack? The Unknown Together.
- The heart of the Shifting Mound deciding she doesn't really want to be a god or end the world and this heartwarming as it shows she finally came to understand your perspective.
- In the new updates endings, The Player can apologise to the Princess and the Shifting Mound's heart will in return apologises.
- The Voice of the Hero stays behind, warmly stating that this new journey is for just the two of you to discover. If you thank him, he'll sincerely thank you back for making all the hard choices throughout the game.
- What makes the Voice of the Hero role in the "And? What happens next?" ending so genuinely heartwarming is that his Heart Is an Awesome Power ability, allowed the Player Character and the Princess to finally have an intimate conversation without any distractions from external forces. With both deciding that they don't really want to be gods, and simply resolving their relationship in a very civil but highly romantic manner. That simply couldn't of happened without the the Voice of the Hero.
- Normally in the "And? What happens next?" ending, you are greeted by the default cabin and the default appearance of the Princess. But if your first route was the Stranger's, you find yourself in her cabin instead. And not only is the Voice of the Hero with you, he is joined by the Voice of the Contrarian.
- In the basement, unchained, is the Stranger, fused form of five versions of the same princess caused when you fracture their realities and merged them back in a chaotic manner. Compared to the Body Horror they were prior, the Stranger is now physically and mentally stable while content after their stay in the Shifting Mound. You and the Voices even get to properly apologize to her for what happened during their route.
- The Hero and the Contrarian even state that they don't mind you two leaving them since they both have each other and will try to track down the other Voices.
- The 'A new and unending dawn' ending, if you aren't unkind to the Voices more than once at the mirror and then finally manage to slay the princess for good. While sad that she's gone, you can come to a mutual understanding and receive her consent on talking to her prior, with the option of acknowledging to the Voice of the Hero that you carry part of her with you. This ending sees all of the Voices finally reunited, going forward into the new world without death that you have created, together. All of the Voices are relieved to have finally escaped their ordeal and are optimistic about figuring out your new existence together in the outside world (with the exception of the Voice of the Smitten, but even he doesn't push it when the others point out you have all of eternity to figure yourself out now). In particular, the more traumatised voices such as the Hunted, Broken and Paranoid all seem to be finally healing and recovering. There's a palpable sense of catharsis when the Long Quiet, fully ascended, spreads his wings to open his own way out of the construct and exposes the Splash of Colour of the dawning sun.The Voice of the Hero: He's gone. She's gone. No-one is left to trap us here but... us.
