Control Explained - Who is Chester Bless? (Analysis) 

I'm playing awe right now and just found a document called "the blessed organization" connecting bless, blessed pictures, and blessed repair, meaning your theories are correct, nice job

The real craft of Control, or just Remedy in general, comes from the fact that no matter what, you always find out it's deeper than you thought. What other new stories and connections are lying dormant among the collectibles throughout the game?

I am beyond amazed, I can't believe that such a huge player in crucial events has gone unnoticed for so long. I recognized his name from the surfboard document, but never thought twice about it until now and this is just some incredible deductive reasoning and simply mind blowing evidence that makes me even more excited for the AWE DLC!

These games have some of the deepest and most intriguing lore ever. And this is a masterful analysis

I said it on the Discord, I'll say it again: MIND - BLOWN! Brilliant work compiling and visualizing all the evidence. Seems that this Chester Bless entity is one of the key figures of the lore. All this gives me an eerie feeling that he/it/Blessing is capable of more than just giving OoPs their powers, that there is something big and powerful lurking in the dark.

This game never cease to amaze. It's fascinating that even though you already presented a lot of information and theories , people are still able to find more. With that new portion of knowledge I'm so exited for AWE DLC. Hopefully we'll find a connection with Alan Wake and we'll learn the truth about The Board.

Confirmed in awe. The next Remedy game could be about the Blessed organization.

Man, im in love with this game. Keep coming back to it because the lore is just so crazy. Glad they did the dlc's.

So could Chester be trying to control/access the Boards power? By having his tour "The power of the Board" is he trying to force a physical representation of the Board in this dimension?

I picked up Control about a week ago and I'm close to platinum. I'm hooked! Can't wait to play The Foundation, this game is like XFiles+Alan Wake rolled up into one.

I feel like the Blessed Organization is a potential antagonist for the sequel to Control.

So as a key item here, when Jesse enters the Panopticon in the main game, she encounters the Refrigerator. Inside, she encounters "The Other", a disgraced member of The Board that is no longer a part of the Board, and though Jesse fights it a few times, in one of the DLC's, it suddenly becomes VERY helpful to her, and offers her a power that the Board denies her, is angry that The Other gives her, but later let's her keep. The Board tells her she is the first Director to be able to have BOTH powers. You may want to revisit this now that the DLC's are all out.

looks like we have a Chester Bless appearance in the A.W.E. DLC

With Control's most recent dlc, you have stumbled onto something telling. The Blessed Organization is heavily referenced in the AWE DLC. It's all setting the stage for a Control 2/Alan Wake 2 Sequel.

This last week I went through the entire game from start to finish. Story, side missions, DLC - even used a checklist to make sure I got all the documents/media... then I sat down and went through the ENTIRE pile of information... I feel like a total fool though because while I noticed almost all of this the ONE thing I didn't notice was in the surfboard document "Chester Bless". It's the one connection I didn't make. I did def notice all the references to the Investigations Sector though... and it's got me intrigued/worried. I'm sure w/e happens in AWE will be amazing... but it makes me realize I've hyped up the Alan Wake aspect so much in my mind that I might be setting myself up for disappointment. Clearly this whole Bless thing is gonna be a part of it. Hell it might be WHY the sector closed... I think in the documents it shows Investigations being open as late as 2015 and then all mention of it stops. Just for fun, you can also see in the mail room all the sectors of the FBC we visit in game... as well as one that's name is covered up and dark. We need a trailer for AWE already lol but I don't think we'll get it till June 25th, since that's when The Foundation is available for Xbox players.

This just proves I didn't pay that much attention - I didn't even know he was mentioned in the campaign!!! But this is very exciting and interesting... He owns a lot of stuff, a film studio, a repair unit (for jukeboxes only?), a help group... Possibly more. He seems to know what he's doing, possibly another organization of itself except instead of a bureaucracy... A monarchy. He seems to place himself as a ruler, possibly all-knowing, omniscient. A god? Blessed is an interesting choice, meaning in it's formal usage "made holy; consecrated". But it's not pronounced "bless-t" but "bless-ed". This could mean himself being blessed. Holy. A god, or godly artifact. I also found what was interesting is that there was a Zane who was a filmmaker, perhaps he is connected to this, perhaps he had worked with Blessed... Perhaps this could be a connection or reason why there's two Zanes. That there is only one, and something had happened with Blessed that caused him to become a poet going to Bright Falls. Though not too much evidence supports that. But the video was very interesting, and seems like another universe-wide big bad like the Not-Mother (an analysis on the events in Ordinary would be great), perhaps he works with her.

Great vid, I found it after I noticed that Blessed thread and googled it. This opens a huge area for wild speculation and I speculate that there’s a connection between Bless and the Former, and that connection is tight. We’re made to believe that Bless is some extremist group that pulls AI’s out of their hat, but case files and gameplay hint that the Former is capable of giving AI’s powers or additional powers, like the Fridge and the Flamingo, he may aswell be the one bleeding Astral into our world. This would also explain why the Board allegedly let the Nail get corrupted by the Hiss (it is stated that the broken nail is simply cannot be taken over as it’s broken) - to prevent it from getting taken over by the Former. Note this - Jukebox, Fridge, Flamingo and, supposedly, Surfboard were never corrupted by the Hiss (Camera is an oddball for this theory, though). Additional speculated connection is the The Former’s powers - he teleports Id’s like Jukebox does, Jesse is basically all “I’m good Director, I need no Board” after meeting the Former (Surfboard confidence). As a related speculation - Fondue Fountain is an aggressive AI by default, which, if you take a closer look - is not true for all other AI’s. That hammer that causes rapid deterioration? Even that doesn’t kill by itself, you die of some paranatural AIDS basically. However, the Fridge? Oh, it kills allright... Anyhow - the Former is a being that existed in the Astral plane and now it inhabits the FBC’s basement, thanks to the Astral bleed caused by damage to the Nail. A scary though, considering it tried killing you. Twice.

Fascinating stuff. I remember when I saw the investigation order in the Formation thinking this was likely going to be a future plot thread, though I didn't make the connection to Chester Bless. One of the Tokui case files mentions that the Bureau is aware of 'altered organisations' so my interpretation initially was there might be rival agencies or perhaps criminal organisations with links to the paranatural. It's looking like this guy might be a lot more important than that! Anyway assuming it is followed through in AWE it's awesome to have this kind of foreshadowing hidden in the lore

I never thought of Chester Bless as the one that blesses objects of power, thus creating them. This is a really interesting idea.

🤯 I remember reading the collectible about Chester Bless but I didn’t realize there was so much more behind it. I want to be as smart as you when I grow up 😁

Yeah, when I played, I did notice these "Blessed" companies and started to link them together, but never really went much further into investigating. But this obscure topic does bring a lot of possibilities as a lore, bringing a full potential for a second game

Having now played Alan Wake 2, I gotta know what the connection is with the number 665 appearing both in The Board message referenced in this video and that being Thomas Zane’s hotel room number 🤯

Been binging a lot of these videos since I am watching an Alan Wake II playthrough and seeing how the number 665 was relevant in context with the objects of power/board already, while it is described as "the neighbor to the beast" in AW2 is fascinating.

Hoping you release an update to this video with info we learn about Barry Wheeler in Alan Wake 2. I wonder if the DLC will shed more light on this mystery. On an unrelated (maybe) note, I was just replaying Control and just got to Central Research. Coming or of the sector elevator there is an office to the right with a film projector playing video of a bed in a room with a pair of shoes next to it. I can't seem to find any information on what this is about. Any ideas Dean?

It's my theory but I think Chester Bless will be somehow connected to Polaris. Because the Chester Cathedral in the UK is dedicated to Blessed Mary (Aka stella maris/Polaris)

Basically you're saying Chester bless is responsible for giving power to OoP? We know The Board can alter and change those powers, so why not? Maybe we're finding out more infos about all the members of the board (2 thus far). Anyway, this game surprises me day after day, but I think the main characters of this game are us. I mean remedy put the community at the center of this work. And this is something I've never seen from a videogame. (Hope the video for AWE dlc will last 1h at least haha)

I'd like to see an update to this with the new info added with the AWE dlc. Great job putting these together btw.

Great video like always. Now I’m even more excited for next DLC.

"Just as I thought I had run out of new secrets to find in Control..." Boy if I had a dollar for every time I hear those words, I would've been able to play Alan Wake back in the Xbox days. (PC was a good first step but it wasn't enough, they really should put Alan in PS4 or PS5)

Hyperreality sounds like eldritch things. Things that tear reality asunder by existing. I wonder if Chester Bless is even a man? Is he breaking the Masquerade?

Amazing video as always! Can I make a suggestion? A video about the Investigations Sector would be awesome!!! ☺️

I remember the capital B for blessed when America overnight got the fondue set. But I never thought much of it. This is crazy.

Alan Wake 2 means this video needs an update

I FUCKING CALLED IT. CHESTER BLESS IS MENTIONED IN ALAN WAKE 2

09:47 In one of the videos Dr Darling tells Emily the password is “Blackrock665” and jokes about it being “the neighbor of the Beast”. I wonder if there’s any connection there?

I just watched this video today before paying my second play through (Final Draft) of Alan Wake 2. The second time you visit Parliament Tower, there is a computer with emails from Barry Wheeler, one of which mentions him going on a Blessed Retreat and even mentions Chester by name as the owner of the company. He expresses that he's never been happier while there. Don't know fully what this means but adding more pieces to the puzzle.

Holy shit, "The power of the Board" is a pun. It makes total sense now. The whole motivational speak was Chester Bless rubbing it on the FBC's face, gloating about his knowledge of the Astral Plane, the existence of the Board and his ability to create Altered Items.

Chrono Trigger music at the end? Nice.

Bless almost comes off as the Dr. Wondertainment of Control. Only more malicious.

The former was kicked out by the board. Due to disagreements. Maybe he worked with Blessed.

Thank you for your dedication GU💯

I'm wondering if any of the details regarding America Overnight producer, Karen Harris, are significant in relation to Chester Bless. For instance, why was she targeted (although it may have been the show that was being targeted rather than her specifically)? And who is the FBC agent she was romantically involved with?

Hows this for a theory, is Chester Bless The Former? Perhaps he was creating OoP without the boards permission as an act of rebellion or as retaliation for his firing?

So Chester Bless is the FBC equivalent of the SPC’s ‘Are we cool yet?’ ?

Have you considered that The Former seems to hold a lot of similarities to the way you are describing Chester? Maybe his dissent was more than just conceptual and more fondu based....

665, the neighbor of the Beast.

Great video! Thank you for posting this. I hope you post a followup. :) Can you tell me what song you used for the background music? Link?

Ah, so this is one way to make a conspiracy string board! I've always wondered how to do that!

I think this all goes around the fact that we know nothing about the board and we asume they are the "good side", SPOILER: the foundation show us that there is some kind of conflict between the board and the former and if the board is related to the "blessed" then i think we are about to find out that we are working for the bad guys :P

You know, watching this video after playing Alan Wake 2 made me wonder why the number 665 keeps appearing... is there any significance in it, besides being the "Neighbor of the Beast"?

What do you think of the boss from the underground lab in the foundation? And do you think we'll get new powers in AWE?

I've wondered if this Blessed organization is the equivalent of Marshall Carter and Dark ltd in the scp universe. People making and selling altered/anomalous items to cuase chaos for some unknown reason.

How did you get that outfit?

Did you guys find the tape after the first encounter with the third thing about the camera, or the film reviewer ?

In the real world there's an author/bible teacher named meyer joyce (reference to meyer-joyce field?) Who wrote a book called "battlefield of the mind" could hedron be a collective consciousness like an angel that blesses users across the multiverse to prevent or stop AWEs from from tearing it apart? It could explain its hexagonal shape. Im starting to believe the countermeasure is a form of artificial hedron resonance that gave Jack Serene and Jesse their cognitive abilities and could be connected to the Blessed organization and may have caused specific events to prepare specific individuals for highly detrimental AWEs.

What if Chester is that new secret remedy game

Hi , i have question , in the research sector when you come out of elevator there are two rooms on right hand side ( not the path to hra lab ) , in the second room there is a video projector that show's a video of a room , im really curious about it ? Any idea about it ?

I’m hoping you update this after AWE 2 dlc!

9:42 665 Neighbor of the beast!!!

saw a group of dudes on reddit a few weeks ago talking about this EXACT subject & for the life of me I couldnt understand what the fuck they were trying to get at lol feel like if I would have remembered his name from the guru board document I would have had a chance at putting it together. Remedy is unmatched in the gaming industry idc what anyone says.

It's an interesting analysis but there are a couple of assumptions you make here that I'm not sure if I completely agree with... For one thing, calling Bless a cosmic/astral being on the level of the Board just because his name is similar to a word they used in something they admitted to be a failure to communicate seems like a leap of logic to me. Not that it couldn't be possible, just that there are probably simpler explanations that still fit the information we have. That doesn't have much bearing on the rest of what I have to say -- it just feels like it's missing too many steps for my taste. The other is that there seems to be an idea floating around the discussion here that anyone who encountered or knew of the entity that the FBC calls the Board would call it by the same name they do; that someone else knowing the name the FBC has given it wouldn't be significant -- even though the FBC understands so little of what it is that they just refer to it by the place it holds in their organization. My own thinking is that this should be very significant. In that context, an event called "The Power of the Board" -- taking place in the late sixties, not long after Northmoor made contact with the entity itself -- could be read as a coded message intended for the FBC, which at the very least carries the meaning "I know what being you serve" and possibly an invitation to seek out whoever or whatever this "Chester Bless" is for whatever information he might have about them. An invitation that Northmoor, in his fanatical devotion, would likely have ignored. Putting that together with the fondue set -- an attack that successfully took a major FBC disinformation campaign out of commission -- could reveal something about this "Blessed" organization's motives. It's possible they also serve the entity we call the Board, or at least another being like them, and their intention is to reveal the existence of the paranatural to humanity at large. In your video on the Board you theorized that they feed on worship -- if that's the case, I'd imagine they'd like to put as much of the world's attention onto themselves as possible. The FBC is table scraps in comparison. My own inkling would be that the entity these "Blessed" serve is the same one FBC calls the Board, because judging by the interrogation log that you find in the Eagle Limited sector during the AWE expansion and some of its supplementary documents, the FBC seems strangely prone to tripping over its own feet when it's trying to catch them, in ways it never does when dealing with individuals like Hartman -- but that's not a whole lot to go on.

(Entity A-001) cleaning a floor and dancing... who do that in game? ;) tada!

So The Former is Chester Bless?

Expand your investigating beyond >Remedy< You will find out only Panoramically. You may go insane however.

is chester a former board member who is hiding on earth in human form?

Could there be a link between the former and Chester Blessed? Like it seems like Chester is a bit rogue and cause people to die in relation to OoP. And has a connection to the board. Seems very similar to what we know about the former.

This is just a theory but Chester bless was trying to unleash the hiss in the 60s but failed I think he died back then but was taken over by the darkness that posses that old lady in Alan wake but something happened chester died in the 60s and came back from death but was possesed and chester fooled the control burau and infutrated the control burau in the 60s but Thomas zane wrote a novel in the 70s and interferes with chesters doppleganger control over chester physical body in the 70s the burau contained chester when they notice darkness spewing out of him but not without decompiling the older house trappin lots of agents and personnel in the oldest house Thomas zane jumped into the lake of cauldron lake in the 70s and found the real chester stuck on the other side with his dopple ganger in the real world of 1970s chester tells Tomas to write a savior that Savior is Alan wake Chester seen the past future n present but cannot tell tomas what he has seen but nudges Tomas to write Alan wake story starting the journey of alan fast forward to the 90s and quantum break comes into play hedron is from this reality but in this reality Alan wake is alive and not stuck on the other side like the Alan wake we've known the burau some how made it into this reality stole hedron but a piece of it was left behind chesters in this Reality but he neither dead or possessed this Chester is making jumps between realitys and because of this Reality as a whole is breaking boundaries and time is breaking ever more fast forward to 2020 and Control comes into play Jessie's the key to bringing Alan and quantum break together but Jessie and her character in quantum Break are dopple gangers with different names and roles Within there realitys Jessie won't be seeing herself in 2022 because she's dead or so we think her doppleganger maybe still alive and on the other side Jessie is able to Break realitys without anything changing in concerns to others messing everything up Jessie the key and final piece to bringing quantum break and Alan wake together hopefully the next part in Control (2022) answers who is Chester aswell as the answers to alot of questions that so far haven't been answered within the 3 games

Its Thomas Zane

Spelled with a capital B as if it was a proper name...

Holy fuck....

If we find Barry Wheeler, we find Chester Bless…

When The Board says OOP are 665, it's very interesting because in one of his presentations, Dr. Darling tells Pope the code for the quarry is 665 "neighbor of the beast." It seems like he's just being his goofy self, but now we know there is more significance.

Now after AW2 Chester Bless are direct linked with Barry Wheeler, since hes part of the "cult" (Barry emails Alice Wake about this) Close to the end of AW2 - There are lots of boxes with a brand called "Blessed" - some sort of moving company. I dont know what to think about this but Alice and Barry is connected to Bless now.

I found an interesting connection between the CHESTER cathedral devoted to BLESSED Mary and Lady Godiva (the name means gift of God. Just like ZANE). Peeping TOM and the poet Alfred TENNYSON are related to Lady Godiva. Coincidence?

Just finished replaying the game preparing for AWE, I don't remember this character or nane either!

Chester Bless sounds kinda like Jester’s Bless which sounds like a trickster god making practical jokes by giving every day objects magical properties.

Going back through these videos now, it's amazing just how much you were correct about BEFORE the AWE expansion was released. Remedy leaves a breadcrumb like no other game company

Out of curiosity, I looked up the name meaning for Chester; it has old English and Latin roots meaning "camp of soldiers". Adding in the last name it's not a stretch to translate Chester's full name to "Blessed Camp of Soldiers". Could this be a reference to the Board itself, with Chester Bless acting as a sort of go-between for or even an actual member of the Board? Is the Board this "blessed camp of soldiers"? What is the enemy these "soldiers" are engaged against? Perhaps the Hiss. Or perhaps the Hiss are merely agents for another entity that we do not know about. Or maybe Chester represents a group diametrically opposed to the Board and the "blessed camp of soldiers" are opposed to them. This is mostly speculation, but it offers food for thought.

Personal interpretation has me thinking Chester Bless as a reality compatible manifestation of the Astral Plane-bound Former. Control does mess a bit with character lineage and parallels, and Bless representing some sort of unknown counter or potential opposing force to the FBC whilst the DLC exploring further the presence of the Former, I start to see some potential connections there. Whoever he may be, I am hyped to unravel more of mystery in AWE. Also, thank you for the quality video content and analysis 😁

On an unrelated note... I thought that Tomassi and the America Overnight host sounded similar. Could it be just be the same voice actor, or could Tomassi have once been the host of America Overnight, until Chester tried to destroy the satellite program with the A.I./OOP Fondue Set...?

man, your video's are all amazes me everytime..... especially all the videos about CONTROL. & thank you for sharing about this unknown knowledge to us... waiting for more of your videos'

I am kind of wondering if we should do s deep dive into the older games to look for a reference to this Bless character. I mean the first few minutes of Alan Wake had references to characters in Quantum Break ("waves both Wilder and more Serene", so it is possible Remedy hid some clues about this Chester Bless in the earlier games.) Gah Remedy is the best, i mean what other game developer makes you wonder if this tiny, barely referenced character that might be super important is referenced in games from over 10 years ago? Bloody brilliant.

Wow zero dislikes and over 800 likes, That’s how you know the video was really good

Makes me wonder if Chester Bless was an agent of the Board who went rogue and is creating OOPs and Altered Items for no greater purpose than to create chaos...

When do you think AWE will release?

Hi Gaming University, please read this message, in executive affeirs there is a security room near the director's office, and there's a number counter above the security booth and it has the number 665 on it, and inside, on the left side of the room, where the electric quander is, there's a magazine that has the title: The Oldest Man in the World? Speculating, could be bless the Next/Other? I have watched all the videos of control, thank you so Much for your efforts, I hope it can become a thought, if you can read it :) Bye

At the way top of the power plant there’s a file about chester and the surf board he left behind in his Hollywood apartment home , Which is a object of power that gives you confidence, he disappeared with everything though just leaving the surfboard behind for some reason

Based on the intel in this segment, specifically bout Bless bein connected to the Board but also effecting objects that the FBC has to round up on behalf of the Board; Id say theres one more piece of this puzzle that can already be solved. From this, Id say that Chester Bless maybe the real identity of the Former.

Who do you support the former or the board?

Chester’s Bless sounds like Jester’s Bless, the Board might be the Norse pantheon, and the Former might be Loki. So might Chester Bless = The Former = Loki?

Phenomenal video bro!! I literally have been going over all of these "Blessed" documents over & over again & this was exactly what I was missing... the piece of the puzzle I believed wasn't even supposed to be revealed! Thank you sir, you mad lad, thank you... Great Job!

I love these videos, but in my opinion, the focus on "Chester Bless" as a real person who the Blessed companies are fronts for is a mistake. It's like thinking that one of the joking "hints" in The Simpsons about where Springfield really is must be true and the others are all jokes. It's just as likely that the name of Chester Bless -- a man who was never found by the Bureau -- is a reference to one of the Blessed companies as it is the other way around, and there's no real reason to conclude that any public-facing name used by this organization is real or true. That is to say, "Chester Bless" seems to me to be an assumed name that was chosen for the same reason as "Blessed Pictures" or "Blessed Repair".

I don't like Chester. Not only is he fucking things up for the FBC, he's screwing with Alan.

Dr Wondertainment is at it again.

Wonder if the Former has anything to do with Bless

I would love to see a supplement video for this, now that AWE has been released.

Whats up with that director with no death date? All the other directors have death dates but not that director. I cant remember his name but it was something like strom or something.

tried finding if blessed had a meaningful anagram. no luck there.

Hm that makes me wonder if the letter in dead letters is connected. The one about building god