The Judas Kiss route will end horribly
At the end of Chapter 20, Rowan can choose to side with Matthias if they've been romancing him, despite knowing all he's done, with them planning to sacrifice either Noah or Devon instead (depending on who became the new Redfield at the end of the first It Lives book). Given what a Manipulative Bastard Matthias is, it wouldn't be surprising if Matthias betrayed Rowan once Devon/Noah had been sacrificed; once the Blood Moon Ritual activated and it was down to just Rowan and Matthias, Matthias would turn on Rowan, kill them, and merge their body with his, just like he did to his late brother, so he can be the immortal, all-powerful creature he's dreamed of being. For bonus points, Matthias would also reveal that Rowan had been romancing him, disgusting all of the love interests, especially Lincoln, ensuring that none of them would want to help Rowan. Alternatively, with the reveal that he can switch between his older self and his "younger self" because the latter is actually his late brother, Matthias may instead assume Rowan's life, impersonating them until he finds the right time to strike.- Mostly confirmed as of Chapter 22. Everyone's relationship score drops to 0, and Noah or Devon will kill Matthias and Rowan unless A) their Nerve score is through the roof, and B) they retain their power (something which requires an exact combination of choices to achieve). However, it's entirely possible to win and either walk away with Matthias or kill him so Rowan can have all the Power for themselves. Alternatively, Matthias will dump Rowan if they become fully human, locking you out of the Judas Kiss route, meaning that he can kill you if you make the wrong choices.
Potential new routes patched in
If there were ever going to be future updates that added more content, the developers may add in a couple of new routes. Here are some ideas:- Jocelyn makeup route: If Rowan went the Friends with Benefits route with Jocelyn and breaks up with her in Chapter 7, she will (currently) be unavailable to romance for the rest of the book. This "make-up" route, however, would give Rowan a chance to get back together with her. If Rowan only romanced Jocelyn, picked nearly every romantic option with her, and had a high enough relationship score with her by the carnival scene in Chapter 19, the route would unlock. Jocelyn would ask Rowan why they keep flirting with her if they didn't want to be with her, and Rowan would say that they regret breaking up with Jocelyn, they realise how much she's trying to be a better person, and that they want to get back together with her. Jocelyn would only do so if both her Nerve score and relationship score were very high and Rowan hasn't had any romantic options with anyone else, otherwise she and Rowan would be Just Friends. If this route was chosen, the options to refuse to hear Jocelyn out and tell her to leave in Chapter 21 would not be available, as Rowan wouldn't have it in them to break Jocelyn's heart a second time.
- Jocelyn breakup route: This route would require you to romance Jocelyn and Matthias, then reject Matthias in Chapter 17 (only if you made out with him in Chapter 13) or in Chapter 20. While you can still get a happy ending with Jocelyn if you do this, the route in question would play out if you refused to forgive Jocelyn in Chapter 21 (note that telling her to leave won't trigger this route). Jocelyn would angrily call Rowan out for their hypocrisy; both her and Rowan were manipulated by Matthias and Rowan did lot worse than Jocelyn did, yet she still forgave Rowan, but Rowan cannot do the same for her. As such, Jocelyn would break up with Rowan.
- Amalia suicide route: This route would easily be one of the most tragic routes in the game, and it would only be available under very specific circumstances. Rowan would have to romance Amalia up until Chapter 17 (or 18), then refuse to fix her college records and hide the truth from her, resulting in Amalia being "Alive, but left". The real kicker is that Amalia's Nerve score at the point she leaves must be below 50 (the point where a love interest has no chance to survive in Chapter 21). This would be extremely hard to achieve, given that nearly all romantic options would increase Amalia's Nerve score, and not choosing enough romantic options with her would lock you out of the route. Not only that, but every other character (Rowan included) has to die in Chapter 21 or 22, leaving Amalia as the Sole Survivor. At this point, Amalia:
- Would have been betrayed by her longtime best friend that she had just started to fall in love with.
- Would have to start college from the very beginning because of said best friend (thereby having wasted years of her life).
- Is all alone because all of her companions (and former best friend) had died.
- Has a weak mental state (her Nerve score being low).
- All of this pain would be too much for her to bear, so there would be a scene in which she ends her life. The scene would then cut to Luis' "Everyone Dies" Ending monologue that occurs if Rowan and all four of their love interests die.
- Haunted by love interest route: This ending would be quite difficult to get, because you need the watch in Chapter 7 and your chosen love interest has to die in Chapter 21 (which is not likely to happen, given that their Nerve score will probably be high enough that they automatically survive, unless you play it carefully). Long story short, Rowan's love interest dies and they are distraught, but Lincoln's watch from Chapter 7 offers the power to go back in time and save them...and Rowan refuses. The remaining characters (and Rowan's ghost in Chapter 22) would have special dialogue for this route, saying how selfish Rowan is for refusing to save the person they love. Instead of saying "You neglected to bring back one of your friends because you thought something better would come along in the future. What's more important than saving your friend's life?", Rowan's ghost would say "You neglected to bring back the love of your life because you thought something better would come along in the future. How are you so selfish that you would put your own life above that of the person you love?" In the final chapter (assuming Rowan survives and has not Ascended to a Higher Plane of Existence), their love interest's ghost will visit them and berate them for refusing to save their life. Lincoln in particular will be furious with Rowan, since that watch was his and there would be no way to use it without him, so Rowan effectively sacrificed the opportunity to revive him for nothing.
- Amalia breakup route: Currently, if Amalia returns at the end of Chapter 18, you choose to be with her in Chapter 19, and you don't join Matthias in Chapter 20, Amalia will never abandon Rowan, no matter what they do (even if they nearly joined Matthias' side after sleeping with him, killed Jocelyn, and waited to fix her college records). This contrasts with Lincoln and Abel, who will break up with Rowan for sleeping with Matthias or killing Jocelyn. However, this route would fix that. If Rowan didn't fix Amalia's records right away, lied to Amalia, slept with multiple love interests, nearly joined Matthias, murdered Jocelyn without remorse and refused to save a dead love interest in Chapter 21note , Amalia would put her foot down. She would call Rowan out for everything they've done and change her mind about wanting to be with them. Given that Rowan would have to go out of their way to reach this point, it would be understandable on Amalia's part. Bonus points if the associated achievement is called "Dying Loyalty" (description: Amalia has broken up with you. After everything you've done, can you blame her?).
Possible new Video Game Cruelty Potential actions Rowan can get called out for
In Chapter 22, Rowan's ghost calls Rowan out on all of their bad actions throughout the story (if they committed any). Here are some actions that can potentially be committed that currently don't elicit a negative response from Rowan's ghost that may be flagged as bad in a future update:- Repeated lying and two-facedness: There are several times when Rowan can lie throughout the story; to Amalia about not wanting to go to college, to Elliot about his sibling's state, and to all of their friends about their true nature. They can also be rather two-faced; they can agree with Lincoln about his father then side with Abel, they can tell Annie that they trust Jocelyn after calling her out for her past, they can tell Jocelyn that they want to go to college after telling Amalia they don't, or vice versa, and they can tell Luis that they don't have feelings for anyone after spending the entire story romantically pursuing a love interest. Too many of these lies, and Rowan's ghost will tell Rowan that they can't be trusted because of their two-facedness.
- Uncaring towards friends: This doesn't necessarily mean that Rowan has a low relationship score with their friends, it means that they have shown a lack of care for their friends at crucial moments:
- When Jocelyn opens up about her past, Rowan tells her that what she did was messed up instead of encouraging her to make things better.
- When Abel is revealed to be seeing dead ghosts everywhere, Rowan snaps at him for keeping it from them instead of comforting him.
- When Lincoln tells Rowan that they're better off without him (being upset about how he couldn't get justice for his mother's death), Rowan yells at him for being "a self-absorbed little kid" instead of telling him You Are Better Than You Think You Are.
- When Amalia is worried about her future after her college records are erased, Rowan tells her to stop moping instead of being supportive.
- Too many cases of No Sympathy, and Rowan's ghost will call Rowan out for being unsupportive of their friends.
