The Bizarre Connection Between Steve and the End Poem 

No, you're not seeing things - this is a reupload because the last video had an issue. For those watching again, welcome back!

The way the players form their form of the Minecraft Lore is fundamentally the same way humanity uses to explain the real world. We look at the evidence given by the real world and try to come up with "Laws of Physics" to be able to explain the world around us, but we can never see the actual laws of physics to see if ours are correct. We can only see if our rules align with what actually happens.

This channel makes me feel the same excitement i felt watching vsauce or game theory as a 10 year old

Hey anyone else realize Retro does his own music? It's pretty dang good for what I'm guessing is just some free MIDI on a personal DAW and stuff. As a percussionist I appreciate all those nice features from vibes marimba and triangle and a musician in general it sounds nice.

RetroGamingNow back with another Minecraft existential crisis, and i loved it!

I think the vagueness of the stuff within Minecraft is one of the many factors that made it popular to begin with. Why tell a story with a middle and end when you can just plop the player in an empty world with a few mobs and landscapes and have them make up a story?

You know, I've always wondered who the player actually is, how he spawned, his story, his lore and canon, everything! Thank you for explaining this topic so good RGN! ❤

I'm someone with an extremely high mastery of my dreams. I can practically lucid dream on command, to the point that I can stop nightmares from happening, from inside the nightmare. Having such a deep understanding of literal dreams really helped the dream metaphor click, and for the first time the individualistic nature of the game's lore finally makes sense to me. There is one singular right answer, but by design there are also no wrong answers. I don't have to wrack my brain in a logistical way, trying to make the puzzle pieces fit together to form a full picture. It's impossible. It's a 1000 piece puzzle we have 100 pieces of. Instead, we're meant to use our minds in a creative way. Filling the empty spaces in with what we think makes a good, cohesive picture. Turning the seeds of what small hints we have into a flourishing story in our own imaginations. I think one could even say there is no lore. By choosing not to participate in the story, you remove the perceived world, thus there is no "dream."

After waiting patiently for this video, which we've known was coming for probably at least 2 years, I can tell you it did not disappoint. It's a shame that RU-vid in 2023 is filled with so much 'content'. Some like to blame a specific individual for that, to which I have no comment, however your videos, this one in particular, is not just content. The time, care and dedication put into this project can be clearly seen through what has been made. This is what RU-vid was created for. I hope this video achieves the success you deserve. Additionally, I found some things quite profound. The dream - human - interface - reality model you used is very close to an idea from the philosophy of mind called the 'veil of perception', which states that we do not and cannot experience the objective world directly. We experience qualia, AKA 'the immediate objects of perception. The clearest example to demonstrate this is colour; there's nothing colourful about different wavelengths of light, colour is a qualium. I had a strange experience during the video thinking about this, a moment of hyperbolic doubt where I wondered how different the objective world may actually be. Anyway, this video I truly felt was impactful as I hoped it would be, so I have added £20 to the fundraiser which I hope will go to good use. That's about all I wanted to formally say. Thank You.

The end poem was deeply special for me when I read it for the first time.

When the trails and tales update came out I got to work and created a foundation on the server I play on for finding, excavating, preserving AND coming up with lore behind all minecrafts ruins, structures and other mysteries. I've even written a minecraft book about the protocols and requirements for each of the ruins and structures. Some of what inspired me to do that are your videos! Absolutely love the way your ideas tie a lot of things together.

after spending a week+ clearing an ancient city, hearing the sculk sensor sfx in the bgm made me jump each time for the first 5 mins of the video. Never been more engaged

HALLELUJAH WE'VE BEEN BLESSED BY RETROGAMINGNOW HIMSELF

When I was a kid, I imagined that Steve was already there before I started playing, since his clothes are old and dirty, and from the moment I created the world, I just started to control him, in search of answers and behind infinite horizons

I am going to rephrase what I said from the previous version of this video because I rarely saw any comments about it, but Retro, thank you for reading out that message from that anonymous discord user. at the end I give my condolences to them. I am lucky enough to still have my parents, but I know that losing them is an eventuality. Cherish the moments you have with them right now, so you don't regret when they're gone forever. You all need to keep in touch with your parents! Thank you.

Amazing video, I loved the inclusion of the End Poem. All these things you mentioned combined, made me realize why Minecraft feels so unique. Kudos to you!

The end poem I see as what created the watcher idea. Two gods blue and green always watching. Tho it can get pretty out of bounds when it comes to the fanfics side of Minecraft but it’s interesting how some see them as two gods who watch and others that never connected to it

Please do make an analysis of the End Poem! PS: Also I've always seen the End Poem as somewhat detached from Minecraft itself. I interpret the two entities as not only seperate from the Minecraft universe, but from outside our reality as well. It's more about our (humans) place in the world than anything specific within Minecraft. I love the End poem, it's incredibly poetic, inspiring, beautiful, even comforting if you read it that way. If you know "The Egg", it has kinda similar vibes to it.

Now that I’m in College, that message at the end really hits me where it matters. Especially since my relationship with my parents has finally improved after a few years of mistrust.

The last bit hit hard a family' friend's dad just died last week and I totally agree cherish the time you have with your parents.

Ahh yes, finally, a classic RGN Deep Dive, the whole reason I love his channel. PLEASE do more of these, PLEASE 🙏!!!!!!

I've always imagined the end like The Void in the Amazing World of Gumball. It's a game and The End is outside the game. It's interesting that there are so many weird player movements within the end. Gravity is reversed, you can move from one spot to another in an instant. Potions last longer out in the open than normal. Building are reversed as if gravity doesn't exist. It's all outside the game, and doesn't have to follow logic.

One minute in and I'm already rethinking what's life

It always feels like I’m in a liminal space when watching these videos, like I’m going back to like 2008 and I’m in some dark corner of the internet. The visuals and music just give off this uneasy, nostalgic feeling that is very hard to fully explain.

i gave my character a back story. Since my skin is a ender dragon onesie i always had the idea that my parents were 2 players who were trying to defeat the ender dragon and failed and died and as a small child i went to find them and ended up in the end and was raised by enderman and the ender dragon. Kinda like the jungle book. So he dresses like a ender dragon and sees himself as one. the end is my favorite place in minecraft and i love ender dragons.

I've read the end poem many times, I love it and it has made me cry

What an amazing video, meaningfull, cohesive and with incredible graphics too, you have outdone yourself Retro, this video truly feels like a culmination of your channel. At this point I'll watch whatever content you have for us, your method to disect evidence is what really gets me coming back to this channel. Excelent work

masterpiece of a video.. you've outdone yourself yet again!

You are a wonderful person, Retro. Thank you for making my day better.

This is hands down the best video ive ever watched on this platform the dream concept is incredible the editing on this was phenomenal amazing job man.

i would LOVE to hear your full interpretation of the end poem. you have amazing insight into the fine details of this game, making me think about it in way different ways than i ever have in the past.

This is an so well made video, it's incredible. I love the way you explained your theories.

I've only watched the first few minutes, and this already seems like a really interesting topic! Your videos are always really high-quality, keep it up! And thanks for including my screenshot, it's around 2:56 :D (I know that there's a 100 other screenshots in that second too)

I actually experienced a dream after I read the poem for the first time, I was freaked out afterwords not only because I had a specific dream after a strange poem I just read about dreams but also because in the dream I was the player

Damn,your voice so beautiful yet soft make me sleepy and make the video better somehow.the editting also,you earn my respect and subscribe

I love your videos man. They are always so atmospheric.

The sound design really elevates the experience of your videos, keep them coming

This was one of the best minecraft analysis video i've seen in a long time, great video Retro!

great work; i love ur videos, im so hyped for the next one even if idk what it will be.

Me questioning my existence with this one 🔥🔥🔥🗣🗣🗣

This is a great video for my game development career. It taught me a lot about how to make good video game lore, how to get them wondering about the universe their character exists in. You earned my subscription thanks!

Finally another amazing video!! You won’t believe how long I have been waiting for one of these

I'm so glad you're around making stuff man, keep up the amazing work!

Always love these videos! You put so much thought into them and bring up all sorts of crazy interesting topics and ideas. Not to mention you are incredible at finding and analysing so much evidence across many platforms. But I think my favorite parts of your videos is that you are so good at storytelling and you keep me on the edge of my seat!

Thank you retro, from the deepest depth on my heart, thank you for these marvellous minecraft deepdives.

I actually really like this theory, same with all your other ones! Although I like this one a lot because of how mysterious this topic is in general. I've realized that this could be applied to other sandbox games such as Terraria, because of how similar it is to Minecraft in the way that you also spawn in a random ass world with no context. I feel like a lot of good theories like this could be made in Terraria too! I only see this mystery getting clearer and clearer and I'm hoping that we will eventually get to uncover the full story of Minecraft. Great video! :)

I’m so glad that you’ve started to upload more recently, I’ve watched all of your deep dives and mystery videos, thanks for making great videos that I can tell you put hard work into❤

You're the only youtuber I can watch without fastfowarding the videos, thank you for your great content

Right, can't wait for 'but who are we, really?' Perfect For Minecrafters Kids And Adults, Guide Book, Graphic Novels

this video was insanely high quality great job on it!

You deserve more subs. I bet these are difficult to make. I am obsessed with these lore videos, they cant come out fast enough! Makes so much sense, too!

RetroGamingNow dropping yet another philosophical Minecraft video in the middle of the night is just what I needed!

I've always assumed that the player is the child of a nature goddess who was destined to right the wrongs of the builders, bring piece to the world and restore the builders.

That message at the end hit hard, only litterally a few hours ago, my closest friend told me he lost his mum last night. Really hit me in the face how i didnt properly appreciate my perents thankyou for spreading the message, my condolences go out to the person on your server

I love all of your videos man. Keep it up!

The thing for me with the devs just saying that Steve is just a placeholder, is that there are a decent amount of things in game that contradict that. Zombies look like Steve, the Illager mansion has rooms of Steve colored wool I think there might be a few more I'm not sure but the point is there, To just say oh yeah Steve is just a placeholder for you the player just really doesn't sit right with me in this regard.

honestly, that last quote hit pretty hard. i spend so much time alone or on my computer that i don't interact with my family enough. my mother has pancreatic cancer and i know i should talk with her and spend time with her more, but i don't. i don't usually see value in sentimental things, but that simple quote changed my view of how my life is going and what i'm doing with myself. i didn't expect something like that from an RGN video, but i'm glad i did stick around to see that.

absolutely outstanding production, the music choices were perfect, the visuals were a fantastic complement to the concepts, and the concepts were creative and thought provoking!

Insanely good video. I definitely didn't expect this much depth

Beautiful video. Absolutely wonderful.

I've had some of these thoughts before, when saying that an artwork is interpreted differently by every person that experiences it. Words, colors, and images can mean different things to different people because of our experience in life. I tried writing a video essay script about video games as an art medium, but I never ended up making anything with it, for now. It's only been a few months since then, but my thoughts are more solidified now, I feel. There is more to say. We can never run out of things to say. We can assign a meaning to anything realistic. These words I say have meaning because that's how the English language was made. Artwork is anything that shows our human interpretation of the world, maybe it's all meaningless, but it feels like it has meaning. We can't explain everything we see. It's our humanity that lets us think about the meaning of anything. We exist in this world, but for what? And why? We'll never truly know, but we can try to understand what we cannot understand, even if it may be fruitless.

dude this is an amazing video, keep up the good work!

Your videos are pure gold, they boggle your brain but explain things clearly, you keeps things hidden but also reveal them you explain in depth but it feels like a story, but you still keep A sense of mystery all through and out. Even this comment doesn't make full sense but you make up a world to explain it, that is the mystery of the mind.

I believe that the two voices from the End poem are gods that created life and the Minecraft world. Maybe these two gods created the Player and the Ancient Builders + all of the mobs we see. After all, it makes a lot of sense. Why else would the player spawn into the world without any explanation. How else would any mob spawn into the world out of thin air. But you might be asking yourselves this question, if these two gods are important to the lore, then why don't we see them that much? Why do we see them only one time? Its because they don't want to interfere with life going on in all dimensions of Minecraft including the player. Think about it, if they did try to interfere with what's going on, then everyone would be aware of their presents and would try to make the gods happy. Which is something these two gods don't want to happened. They want life to go on without any interference from them directly. I think for my theory, these two gods are a lot more important then ever before. Yes we don't see them that much in game, but I feel like they serve more of a important role in the making of life in the Minecraft world. Lets also think about this further. If the gods created life, dose that means that they create the mushroom that would cause the Zombie virus for the Ancient Builders? Well yes. Mushrooms are fungus, and fungus is apart of life.

How does the player come to the world? The backstory of the player may also be left to us for interpretation. Also, I really love your videos (deep dives). Keep up the good work!

Dropped a like for the very last part... Surprisingly touching and genuinely important

This is S-tier content. I'm glad I stayed up too late tonight to listen to it. Thank you

god the end poem never fals to make me cry. its such a well written piece of poetry

this is def gonna be a great watch

This is, without a doubt, the best RetroGamingNow video that has existed. It's truly amazing as an analysis not only of the game, but of analysis itself. It's exactly the type of thematic and conceptual analysis that I adore, it's so good. I might also steal an analysis of the End Poem. Time to race!

After having just recently finally put Undertale/Deltarune down until chapters 3-5 come out (and maybe longer, I dunno...), this video hit somewhere immeasurably different, and the End Poem genuinely brings a tear to my eye like never before after such an immeasurably subjectively immersive experience. It's incredible to think that, even if not presented identically, Minecraft as well as other works of fiction are ultimately just Dark Worlds: fictional realities made subjectively from the minds of human players that mean something to each, and nothing to others. A dream, a vision, and a work of art all constructed within one's own mind. It's understandable why so many people get so attached to these realities, regardless of fact or fiction, and I thank you for making this concept so digestible with this incredibly informative video on the nature of the very universe in which we reside...

Thanks for the free existential crisis 👌😊👍

i see RTG notification. Me: time to watch this video 💪

Hello, RGN! Love your series, this was a particularly interesting episode. I appreciate that you took a look at the nature and intent of Minecraft lore, it's quite helpful.

Excellent Video! Absolutely love this deep dive.

Bro is past the 4th wall bro escaped to the 5th wall 💀

The ending hit deep man

man great video, i cant put into words how this video made me feel i appreciate you

Love the dream and interface stuff, reminds me of the empiricist philosophies of John Locke and David Hume surrounding concepts of “sense experience” (interface) and “abstractions” (world).

I have a theory that there was an ancient race of builders that looked just like the player, and they basically gained full control over the world with technological advancements and magic. But once they discovered the Nether, the overworld started getting polluted due to the foreign materials being brought back and the absurd amount of magic being spewed into the world. And the ability to brew potions only made the climate and magic crisis worse. Due to the threat of extinction, they experimented with things in an attempt to become immortal. But there were two outcomes to their attempts: a zombie outbreak, and the horrific mutation of the ones that didn't turn into zombies (endermen). All of the undead mobs such as zombies and skeletons had an instinctual hatred towards anyone who looked like their people, since it was them that turned them into such abominations. The same goes for the endermen except it was because they genuinely remembered, which is why when the player looks at an enderman it gets angry at them, because the player is the only ancient builder left. There was, of course, a one-time third outcome to their experiment though. The player, the first and only successful, perfect attempt at immortalization, which is yet another reason endermen hate the player. Then the endermen congregated and formed a plan to open up a portal to a new dimension, and mold it in their new image, and so they mutilated themselves to make a new technology capable of opening such a portal. Meanwhile the normal ancient builders retreated to the nether, enslaving piglins and forcing them to build fortresses to keep them safe, they had also discovered a cure for zombification (golden apples), and a new material that could help them make stronger weapons and armor to defend themselves (netherite). So they forced the piglins to mine for those materials. But it was too late, some infected people had slipped by and infected the piglins too, causing the eventual true extinction of the builders. My sub-theory is that the player has dementia from being so old, so they don't remember their past or what happened before they "spawned" aka woke up one morning and forgot their whole past. Either that or the endermen did something to their brain to make sure they couldn't remember, so the player wouldn't invade their dimension. Because the player is the biggest threat, the player is a true immortal being.

"but who are we, really?" the answer is: nerds

Bro your channel grew crazy big so happy for you.

Ive watched your videos for a while and that editing and that hard work that intro and everything in this channel is a masterpiece who knows that how good this channel can be i can feel the videos thats gonna come keep up the hard work good job

So what you're telling me... is that the player is actually in a coma and the world and the friends we made along the way is all apart of our coma dream?

This felt very much like "Looking too much into it" video. Loved it, the dream framework was also an interesting philosofical tool.

this opened my eyes even more. thank you!

Wow…just wow. That intro was amazing. It literally gave me chills.

This is the most meta Minecraft theory I have ever seen.

Hoping for a theory about the illagers and why they split up with the Villagers

More of these types of vids, they are amazing

A beautiful end of the video to be fair, I haven't been emotional for already quiet a while but it almost got me a tear.

I’m the player silly

While watching this video I was questioning life

This is one of the most intriguing and interesting videos I’ve ever watched

Wow, what a beautiful video. How poetic indeed that the lore of the game reflect the style of gameplay. No wonder they compliment each other so well!

I think you’ve really cracked it at this point. Minecraft theorizing is ultimately how we create the story of Minecraft and the player character is the catalyst to that story. However we play the game is valid and (even though nowadays there are elitist j*rks and commercialist greed potentially taking that from us. You know what I mean) everything we do in this game was what it was designed to do no matter how subjective it is. Similarly to that comment I made on one of your videos (I think it was the slime one) about us each having our own theories, all of which are equally valid (Remember? You even replied to it yourself and agreed, calling it something of a wonderful thing). Thank you so much RetroGamingNow for taking us on this amazing journey through Minecraft theorizing. Better than any cr*p Game Theory could ever come up with (no offense MatPat, okay maybe a little offense). You kept me… no, US intrigued and entertained with your rational and intuitive approaches. And even if this might be your last (and most controversial, if you can even consider it that) Minecraft theory (As you once stated in the Discord server), I still appreciate your effort and I’m glad that we were around to witness this masterpiece. Plus, your other videos are cool too. 💙✌️😊 With lots of Sincerity. Never stop being amazing, RGN!

Herobrine seems to be a completely normal creepy pasta as there are many. However, there is something unusual, namely his name. How and by whom was this weird name invented? It could be that someone just wrote down the first random crap that came to his mind but it is also possible that the name has an origin that goes deeper. Who knows if we will ever find out?

*A beautifully worded description of the sea aimed at painting a scene for the viewer* My aphantasia: “I like your funny words magic man”

Been waiting for this for a long time; want to get some popcorn but I literally cannot wait another moment.

I wish people would realize talking about “talking to your parents” can have some serious inherent issues with people whos parents were abusive, manipulative, and controlling. Having cut off my parents from my life, and knowing it was the right decision, I still manage to feel guilty every time people bring it up. It’s not fun :/ And yeah I know it’s not anyone else’s job to control the triggers of others, but still.