A lot of people talk about Gregory, for good reason, but not many people talk about the romanticizing. Like, it's almost psychopathic how hard Sam tries to turn a baby drowning into a beautiful thing. Gregory didn't die happy, surrounded by toys. He died scared as his lungs filled with water and he didn't know how to stop it.
@@genericname2747 yes and no, from what i remember, Sam doesn't glorify/romanticizes his death, he wants his wife to remember him as an imaginative and happy baby, wanting her to not blame herself too hard. Obviously from a gameplay perspective where we watch everyone's last moments they made him "imagine" all those toys come to life and what not, but Sam's note is him being at peace with his son's death, and wanting his expartner to be at peace too
At the same time though Edith Jr. Was also showing really reckless behaviour while pregnant, climbing trees etc with an obvious baby bump. I don't think she fully broke the "curse" as it were.
@@CharcoalNeko No, she's VISIBLY pregnant when she goes to visit the island, and she only goes back once she finds out she's pregnant. You can look all the way down and see a clear baby bump
One of lines she writes is "if I knew there'd be so much climbing, I never would have come when I was (however many) weeks pregnant" She knew she was pregnant, she just didnt realize all the journey would entail. That being said, she still chose to continue climbing and risking herself even after seeing how much coimbing was necessary, and although in the full context we know she likely died from child birth and wouldnt have had the chance to come back, for he unborn child it would have been a more responsible decision to leave the climbing parts for later@@CharcoalNeko
Same! I was so excited and surprised when this appeared on my recommended. What a beautifully haunting game. I still hear Louis’ theme in my head from time to time.
12:45 - I watched my friend stream this on Twitch (he's a dad). And I remember the second he saw the bath tub, he knew. He said "No no no... Don't make me do this." And when the mom stepped out of the room, he had to pause the game for a moment to orient himself, and to remind us viewers that it only takes a couple inches of bath water for a baby to drown. It was a really difficult portion of the game.
I haven’t seen anyone else mention this in the comments yet but, I believe Calvin’s death could be at least partially contributed to parental neglect as well. Considering the fact that the swing, that was most likely put up by his parents, was overlooking the cliff in the first place
i have this theory that lewis's fantasy world was technically created by milton, in the sense that milton, being an imaginative child, created an imaginary kingdom to play in, imagining himself as the king, and likely roped his siblings into playing characters in his game, and lewis found comfort in mentally returning to that game.
20:07 for Milton getting stuck in the walls, depending on how the sealed them sometimes the smell may not be noticeable until they crack it open. Some people who get stuck in chimneys take a really long time to be found (though I do believe most of those cases happen in abandoned houses) Amazing video by the way!
I also enjoyed listening to another video on this game, and actually discuss what’s going on (as opposed to constantly questioning small things or those who don’t pay attention). Could be an artistic choice on the developers’ part, but even if Milton was trapped in the passages, Edith Jr. would’ve found more than his pictures, if you know what I mean. In addition, to add onto Barbra’s vignette, Sven’s injury was the catalyst for Edit leaving. While yes, it was set around Halloween (I find it amusing they gave out green apples to trick or treaters), 1960 was a different time (where they didn’t think about home invasions).
@@c4mbr1el I was referring to the passages Edith went through, although you have a valid point. Edith (I refer to the senior as Edie) only go to the third floor via roof and never got into the hall. Edith did go into Edie’s room, out the window from Molly’s, and found the passage by going through the attached bathroom.
@@Ozzygirl17 I always figured that what he fell into wasn't a secret passage, but what he thought was a secret passage, but was actually a place he shouldn't have been. When there's so many secret passages he could have figured that he found one no one else in the house had found yet, but it turned out it was a place he couldn't turn back from, potentially a part of the house people don't go to, as they don't know it's there.
It’s more likely she just walked away while the tub was full of water & he fell forward, it happens sometimes & is seen in the game itself. Only Sam, trying to say it wasn’t either of their fault & being the one telling the story, says that she must have pulled the plug & something caused it to fill again. Essentially saying “no, no, I didn’t distract you that badly, you still did what you were supposed to” when the evidence heavily shows it was a neglectful mistake from tired, frustrated, & distracted parents.
Something that I think is a really cool detail is in the first scene of the game we see a bouquet of calla lilies, which symbolize life, resurrection and fertility. Interestingly enough, the flowers have also been used as a symbol for death. With the amazing detail the game creators put into Edith Finch, I doubt this is unintentional.
(About the Barbra section) As someone who lives and grew up in the woods in the middle of nowhere, a good track from any town, It was super common to never lock our doors, we where so far out that there was no point, because the odds of somebody going all the way out there was slim to none. No one I knew growing up locked their doors. Ever, It would be very likely for a home intruder to easily get in,
For me Gregory and Lewis’ stories are the hardest. A family friend we lost a long time ago lost her baby like Gregory I was probably 5 at the time and at the funeral I wanted to hold the baby cause I thought he was a doll. Lewis is me in a different universe in the sense that there was a time when I spent years living in the stories I created in my head waiting to die after missing out on my teen years I had to come back to reality.
Tbh my theory with Molly is that she daydreamed before she fell asleep and due to the substances she experienced sleep disturbances that caused a form of sleep walking. You often dream of what you were thinking about prior to sleeping, such as her stuffed animals in a daydream. I then believe she either during the disturbance covered her face with the stuffed sea monster and suffocated or vomited and asphyxiated (with or without the stuffed monster on her face)
@@bellajones2563 I personally don’t think she climbed out of the window due to how we see her on the bed right before she dies, I only guess possibly the plushie since she has a specific monster plushy and the fabric would make it way easier to suffocate especially how it is with young children. My biggest theory is that she asphyxiated from vomiting because though what she ate wasn’t toxic enough to kill her it is toxic enough to induce vomiting and other stomach issues. Especially if she was dehydrated as well. I think the water scene might be hinting at it tbh
I was annoyed by the foxgloves being in the forest though. Those flowers love the sun and never bloom inside forests. They are only on the edge of forests or in meadows
god i love this game so much!! I watched a playthrough of it back when it came out and then a few years later played it for myself. the theme and series of unfortunate events (heh) reminds me kinda of how unlucky my own family is. It's no where near as unfortunate as the family in the game but we have some similar ones. Molly's death makes me so sad because it being so nonsensical that much more pushes the fact she was an imaginary child, too. I've always been curious about Barbara's death because I love the style of story telling but was very curious about how she passed. Calvin's death hit me the same way because it was so heartsinking. Gus reminded me a lot of myself when I was a bit younger and I wish he was actually seen and heard so badly. Its truly a game of breaking the chain of generational trauma and its so beautiful
I'm so glad you talked about this game! One of my faves ever. You also touched on a lot of stuff I haven't seen others go over, like Gus' feelings or that Edie might've been the one to write Molly's story to cope
In the end, everything happens because nobody can make good, rational choices. No one has been taught to think critically about the things they do and the consequences they can have. A series of unfortunate decisions, if you will.
I think blaming any of the events on the generations we see ignores 500 years of history, and the theory that the house that sank also had shrines to unusual deaths.
I don’t think it ignores it exactly, just puts it in a more realistic light per se? I fully believe they have a “family curse” traveling back so long but like the video said it’s more of a self fulfilling prophecy. The family curse is a mix of taught reckless, taught helplessness, taught romanticization of brutal & sudden deaths all of which can be seen before Edie. (If believing the schizophrenia theory then that’d also be part of the “family curse” being genetically passed down.) Most of the deaths are to blame by negligence in one way or another & then romanticized by those who had neglected them. Most of the deaths were acts of recklessness that caused the tragic death.
The death most terrifying to me personally is Lewis. Maladaptive daydreaming is real, and I used it for escapism for a few years, given that I despised my life so much at that point that I had to get lost in a fantastical daydream most of my day just to survive. Everyone has their own inner fantasy world, but I spent more time in mine than in real life. It does get better, but please, if you recognize yourself in Lewis, go to therapy, talk with your friends, and maybe don't listen when your therapist tells you it's all good to daydream so much. People care about you, and maybe it's more fun to make stories together than to be alone.
edit: oh immediately after I wrote this they mention the Swan 19:24 I think there are 3 options the 2 that were mentioned and a third that he ran away. Water wave talked about how Milton could’ve ran away, and how he possibly might be the prince in “The Unfinished Swan” . He goes more in depth into a lot more things and I just don’t wanna write it all.
hands off the steering wheel headphones in ready to be blown away again by the ability this woman has to put things into words that only existed as vague notions in my mind so beautifully i'm convinced she's a telepath
I've never played this game but by watching your video I can feel the sheer emotional rollercoaster of it all. You delivered this so beautifully I am left emotion. Thank you for make this video ;w;
Technically Barbara could have accidentally killed her boyfriend. She could have simply gone into hiding after dumping his body in the sea and put her ear in the music box to fake her death. The cutting of her left ear is also a reference to Vincent Van Gogh, artist of "The Scream" (Because she's known for her screaming) and who also cut off his left ear. Barbara could have suffered from the same mental illness as Vincent as well.
Oh, I wonder if you have played and/or would make a video on _The Vanishing of Ethan Carter._ It has a similar mystique to it that _What Remains of Edith Finch_ has.
What i find interesting is the rooms edith might be trying to cope in a bad way but we do figure out what the families lives were like thanks to her keeping all their stuff together it was also definitely sams fault it seems like him and kay were having relationship issues and him calling her distracted her as i am pretty sure they got into an augment
i think i disagree with the blaming of edie sam and dawn for the deaths of their children, i think all of them run from the truth of death in their own ways. edie turns death into stories to cope with an arguably unfounded guilt, sam falsely believes that death can be beat by preparation and dawn searches for someone to blame for the deaths. in truth i think there is no curse or self fullfiling prophecy, the deaths just happened. no one is liable, there arent forces at play. just a deeply unlucky family trying to cope with tragedy. but anyway, thanks for your perspective :)
I mostly agree with the points you made here, and you gave me some food for thought, but I think you've overfixated on Edie's unhealthy romanticization being some... driving force of evil in the Finch family. If you don't believe that, then you needed to reevaluate your script; it goes REALLY hard on Edie. There is NOT firm evidence she wrote Molly's letter, I don't think she intentionally withheld the information about the train from Walter, etc. She wasn't malicious or even delusional, in my opinion. Edie deals with tragedy by turning it into beauty. The mole man story is the same as the "dragon killed my husband" story: a whimsical massaging of the truth that is easier to bear than the stark reality of death. It is a sad and even endearing trait, not horrible and irredeemable as you've presented it. She IS presented as the main person perpetuating this self-fulfilling prophecy of the Finch family, but one of the beautiful, wonderful things about the game is that Everyone in the family shares this inclination. Everyone perpetuates the prophecy. Dawn writes a poem about Gus's death, Sam creates worlds for Calvin and Gregory, Walter waxes philosophic as he walks to his death. It is ALL highly romanticized, and I don't think any of these people are bad for doing so. And I don't think What Remains of Edith Finch wants you to think of them as bad for doing it either. Not purely, anyway. It's flawed in its intensity but achingly human in its tenderness. There is so much love here in this family and so much hope, despite the darkness. I think that's one of the really interesting conflict the game presents, the imagined joy vs. the terrible grief, how they coincide and can reinforce each other. But it isn't cruel. At any rate, despite that bone I had to pick, thank you for talking about this game. It definitely deserves the air time.
