Episode 6:
Departure
Tropes featured in this episode of Alan Wake:
- The Alcoholic: Alan has a history of drinking, the beginning of the episode taking place the morning after a relapse. While he could be confrontational, it is implied that it never became as violent as the Dark Place tried to convey.
- Bittersweet Ending: With Barbara Jagger destroyed, the Dark Presence has been stopped for the time being. Alice is safe, but Alan is now lost in the Dark Place with nothing but himself and a typewriter. Rose is seen with a lantern, implying that she'll take over Cynthia's work, and Agent Nightingale is seen looming in the dark. Bright Falls, and by extension the world, is safe... for now.
- Eldritch Location: The Dark Place is a pocket dimension hidden under Cauldron Lake that takes the form of Diver's Isle and Alan's apartment. Reality is looser there, objects appearing as words before shining a light on them.
- History Repeats: By the end of the game, Alan is gone as a result of his fight with the Dark Presence, Rose is seen holding a lantern after surviving her encounter with it and Agent Nightingale stands ominously in the dark, implying that what happened to Thomas (the author that sacrificed himself in his fight with the Darkness), Cynthia (the super-fan that upholds the author's fight in Bright Falls) and Barbara (the Dark Presence in human form) is repeating itself.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: After Alan leaves the Well-Lit Room, he finds that it is suddenly daytime. It could have been just natural progression of time, since they have been out all night, or the Clicker — a MacGuffin made to fight darkness with light — made it happen.
- Sequel Hook:
- Thomas Zane had created a replica of Alan called "Mr. Scratch" to "maintain balance," whatever that is supposed to mean.
- The game ends with Alan finalizing his story in the Dark Place with a period... that grows into an ellipses, Alice's voice whispering "Alan! Wake-up!" implying that the story is not over.
