The Genius of 'Fatherland Follies' (Psychonauts 2) 

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I love how this level portrays Nick's life exactly as he sees it: A free ride.

One of my favorite lines from Gristol's little song was "Gristol Malik was their voice", where the childrens' voices start to shift to Gristol's, showing that he truly belives that HIS opinion is the only valid one.

I love the conversation towards the end that demonstrates perfectly his mindset. Raz: "Grulovia was never great. It was always a fair-to-middling country AT BEST." Gristol: "Please. I was there. You weren't. It was amazing. I had a cotton candy maker IN MY BEDROOM." Raz was talking about the actual country. Gristol was talking about his life in the palace. That stuck out to me so much.

Adding onto the point about Gristol only wishing to associate with those he perceives to be an equal, if you use Clairvoyance on the projection of Gristol you meet to get the golden egg, you'll see that he views Raz as a fellow Grulovian noble. But if you use Clairvoyance on the real Gristol, he views Raz as a lowly peasant. In other words, the mental Gristol is only amicable because he thinks Raz is an equal. But the real Gristol sees Raz as below him and has a dismissive attitude.

A point I've heard elsewhere about Gristol and eggs is that Fabergé eggs are exquisitely handcrafted out of the finest materials available... but are utterly hollow on the inside, just like how Gristol wraps himself in the clothing of a mighty wealthy king in his level but holds almost no leadership ability in the slightest. As for the caviar, idk if this was something the devs knew about but Caviar prices are expected to start dropping because there's apparently a new method of getting the egg out of the mother fish without killing it meaning you could possibly get multiple batches out of one fish instead of killing it, getting one batch and then needing to wait a year or whatever for another female to grow up and become fertile. Another example of something that is generally highly valued ending up being worth far less... much like Gristol.

Another little thing I noticed not a lot of people talk about: The Emotional Baggage. The emotional baggage in Gristol's mind is no different from any of the previous mind levels, scattered along the areas; in this case they are always found around the ride's exhibits (aka the points of Gristol's life that he is whoing off and embezzling to create pity for his situation and inflate his ego). However, while in most other minds you just find the Tags in hidden nooks or hard to reach places, Gristol's tags are all found in this very strange areas deep DEEP inside his mind, wherere its surrounding by pure darkness and where not even his obnoxious music reachs you. the same areas you can only access by Psi Blasting these mind walls and then use mental connection to even reach. In a way, Gristol's mind shows off his emotional baggage on display, but the tags to actually sort this emotional baggage are so deep, blocked and intentionally constructed to not be found, that he is purposely refusing to sort his emotional baggage because its more convenient for his narcissistic self to just put them in display for pity points. Its an interesting contrast with the baggage and tags' locations within Nona's mind too: In her mind, all the emotional baggage is found in a singular spot: The leaking dam constructing out of pure emotional baggage where Maligula is kept, while the tags to sort this baggage are all found within the quilt world; the comforting and happy world she created from living with Raz and his family.

Another thing is that Gristol was saved by Lucy from an angry mod when he was younger. And this feeds back into the whole thing of him not growing up mentally and living in the past. He fails to see that woman who saved him isn't the same one he's trying to bring back. He also seems to assume that just because she served his father, she would serve him.

Something that you can notice from the memory vaults is that Gristol didn't seem to care about Grulovia getting flooded and losing his home, and it was only when he ran out of caviar that he got upset and swore vengeance. Meaning that his grudge against the Psychonauts wasn't out of any trauma, but because his life was a little less cushy than it was before.

Im surprised you didnt touch on the enemies more, since you do have every enemy, censors, doubts, panic attacks, judges, and bad ideas, there are no regrets. Its especially apparent in the grulovian protest gauntlet. I imagine that moment as genuine trauma of his that he's buried (because it does directly counteract his course of thinking that everyone loved him), and with the most enemies in such a space in the level. So, it just reinforces his narcissistic behavior even more, proving he had his own doubts and genuine panic, but still went the way he did

I like that you brought up that Raz couldn't do anything to help/"fix" Gristol due to Gristol's own unwillingness to change. It really ties in with the lesson that goes along with Hollis's level. Raz learns the hard way that, even aside from the fact it's incredibly manipulative and a huge breach of trust, using his powers to force a change in someone's mindset can have disastrous consequences. That message also hints toward the fact that something is off with "Truman" - Hollis tells Raz that Psychonauts aren't there to fix people, and her lesson is contradicted when Truman orders Raz to fix Ford.

One thing to note about Gristole...he is not a psychic in any way. He has no mental abilities, no powers, and nothing to stand out. Yet, he's the only normal person working for the Psychonauts, and does it so well that everyone knows and likes him save 1 person. Even the other Psy6(the ones who know him), speak of him in glowing terms. This man is so dedicated that a group who's members casually scan each others minds and have no problem picking up surface thoughts on accident somehow missed all of this. He hide all of his tendencies, all of his real feelings so deep down, that even to trained mind readers, he seemed like just a pleasant guy. And he was willing to work in a menial job, seen as one of the lowest posts in an organization(How many times has a story begun with, 'I started in the mail room and worked my way up?), and do it so well that no one else was needed to assist him, despite the sheer load of things he had to do, including sort that Raz has to us TK to do, Nick apparently did all on his own. This man is the best and worst kind of monster. He was dedicated to his cause, and a true believer. That's the big thing here, everyone else you go into, KNOWS that they need help, or at least knows that there's something wrong in their own minds, but for Gristole...he sees nothing wrong with himself. And worst of all, he's not broken or damaged in any way(Some say that's not the right word, but at least with the Psy6, they're PTSD sufferers, and as someone who has that in their family...yes, yes that is the right word for that condition). He thinks what he's doing is right, and refuses to even countenance the idea that it might be wrong. So what we have here is a perfect storm. The drive, dedication, and skill, mixed with a shallow motive and no understanding of where his plans will lead, a willful ignorance of it in fact. Compared to many other villains in fiction, this guy is a cut above.

I didn't understand why they called Maligula "the deluge of Grulovia", as it is a more common the word "flood". But then it click on me that Maligula's followers been called "delugionist" actually describes Cristol perfectly.

I've always thought about gristol that one of the main reasons he developed an inflated ego was being raised not just rich, but literally the heir of the ruling family. Growing up, he likely would have internalised any praise of Grulovia as praise to himself, and same with criticism.

I think one aspect where the gameplay helps tell Gristol's story is that the level is one of the most linear in the game, barring one or two open sections (and even they don't amount to much more than a big circular room), which shows how narrow-minded his thinking has become. The fact that he's essentially singing his entire (biased account of his) backstory to you also shows his self-importance. Another thing to note about the gameplay: I don't think there are any Regrets in this level, if there are I think they're only in the angry mob segment. Another thing I love about this level: its name works on several levels. "Fatherland Follies" could mean the follies of Grulovia, the follies of Gristol, Gristol's twisted relationship with his father (and that he sees his father as committing the follies), or the fact that it takes place inside Lilli's father's body, making it a literal "father land". As you touched on in the end, the thing that stood out most to me about Gristol was his childishness. His second memory vault in particular was almost comical in how petty his motivations are, his main takeaway from being in exile and the Grulovian tragedy was crying over not getting to eat caviar as often. Lines like 35:02 and the song's "Together they rule, everything is super cool!" reinforce this childlike mentality, and I think it's part of what makes him so dangerous: he has an oversimplified view of the world while dealing with something extremely dangerous, genuinely believing that if Maligula comes back everything will magically go back to the way it was and he'll have luxury again. The way Ford and the Psychonauts are demonized in his mind is definitely propaganda, but it also weirdly gave me the same vibe as when an amateur fanfic writer demonizes characters they don't like. (or "Ron the Death Eater") I also think the state of his hotel room, with rotting food left everywhere (even the bathroom) could hint at his upbringing. He's clearly used to being waited on hand and foot and never learned to clean up after himself. Great point about him literally tying Raz's hands representing him refusing help. And then right after that, Lili beats up his mental self with a souvenir. While comical this is also interesting as, although Gristol's not a trained Psychonaut, a lot of the minds Raz visits have projections of themselves or their issues strong enough to become a boss fight. Despite Gristol's inflated opinion of himself, his mental self is incredibly weak when actively confronted, which might show how fragile he is once you get past his delusions. (This went on a while but I love discussing character analysis and symbolism.)

I just realized something: Gristol has a ONE-TRACK mind

What gave it away that Zanoto wasn't himself was his phrasing when he asks for your help with Crueller. Right as Forsythe tells Raz " you can't FIX people", suddenly the head of the Psychonauts implores you to "FIX" one of the legendary Psychic 6? That immediately made him suspicious, but I wasn't sure if the real villain was who I thought it was, or if it was just a red herring.

I love how they made an exposition dump a fun little ride

As a minor detail, in the first part of the ride (the history), Gristol is usually portrayed between his parents, drawing the eyeline to him. He's important, and prominent, but exists mainly in relation to the Gzar and Gzarina. But in the second part (the exile), he leads the royals in the board cutouts, and is the only one lit in the deathbed scene. Suddenly, he's the powerful leader, the most important one in the room while his parents cower behind him or fade into the shadows - given that this is where the propaganda becomes more overt, it's clear that now he's trying to paint himself as the hero, even as but a boy. His mother the Gzarina completely vanishes from the story after the exile part, once it moves toward the present day, meaning that even she is now irrelevant to him. Regarding redemption? Gristol needs to want it first. This game emphasises that changing people by force is wrong, but if people want help, then they deserve help. If Gristol changed, if he wanted the Psychonauts to help him overturn his warped mental world, then he is salvageable. If he does not, if he continues to maintain that he should have everything he ever wanted, then he will only perpetuate the harmful ideas he's carried with him all this time. FUN FACT: Gristol has every enemy type in the game ... except one. Whatever happened, however far he has fallen, Gristol has no Regrets.

The lyric “He’s always right” is the scariest part for me. For the other minds you go into, the people you end up helping do on some level show signs of not just needing help, but wanting/willingness to change. It’s just a matter of giving the right support or pushes from another party. As someone with mental health issues and speaking on just my personal experiences, it can be incredibly difficult to make such major changes on our own when we do have outside support. Of course, we can’t always rely on others and it’s not ideal to be severely dependent on that, but when the individual does not know how to make changes or is not in a place to maintain self-discipline on their own with major undertakings, leaving them to their own devices on how to handle things doesn’t really promote good results or incentive to change. Gristol has gone without any substantial outside force to keep his issues and negative traits in check, or anyone to truly challenge him from a position he’d be receptive to. And thus, has imbued in his mind that he is always right. He is perfect, supreme. To quote the character Simon Laurent from Infinity Train, who also has more than a few parallels with Gristol, “Why would I ever want to change if I’m always RIGHT!?” A person who sees no fault or flaw or failing whatsoever in themselves sees no reason to adjust or alter their ways. To them, there isn’t anything that needs correcting. And while in theory, everyone might have the potential to be redeemed, they have to be willing. And not everyone is.

Man, this level truly was the scariest and most unsettling in all of Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2. Even the Milkman Conspiracy or the Meat Circus weren't that creepy. And I noticed that too that Gristol did not get redemption at the end like Oleander or Loboto or even Maligula. Think about how in almost all mental worlds of Psychonauts, the bad guys were usually aspects of people's personalities that were overblown or out of place. Jasper in Gloria's Theater was her Inner Critic being too strong and vicious. El Odio in Black Velvetopia was Edgar's fury and refusal to let go. Napoleon in Waterloo was Fred's discontent with having lost his favorite game. The Butcher in the Meat Circus was Oleander's anxiety of coming short of having pleased his father. Loboto's pain in not having been accepted by his parents as a psychic. Maligula in the Festival of Senses was Fulbear's warped memory of having been abandoned by his friends. The Memory Plants in Bob's Bottles represent the pain in the losses he endured and the Moth was probably alcoholism preventing him from facing it. The Librarian was Cassio Pia's self-preservation and caution becoming too strong. The Goats in Compton's Cookoff are Compton's anxieties of dealing with people. And finally, even Maligula was only Lucrecia's most primal aggressive instinct being put in charge (and as Ford points out, we all have one deep inside us.) (A little bit simplified. Yes there is more to each and everyone of those people's demons.) But there is not demon in Gristol's mind. No part of his personality that is overblown. None than himself. In some regards, I wonder if Gristol himself is his own demon. If narcissists are their own worst enemy because it is usually themselves that prevents them from learning, growing and overcoming their shortcomings. I personally think that Narcissism is probably the most dangerous condition because everyone else will usually at some level listen to criticism and work on themselves. But narcissists often live in their own world and view themselves as infallible and everyone else as wrong.

I think it a really cool bit of storytelling that while you fight censors, bad ideas, doubts, and a judge, there are no regrets in fatherland follies.

Honestly, while the small interaction with Gristol in the Lady Lucktopus room inside his mind does show how self centered he is with acting like his current life is horrible and depraved [despite literally living in a massive penthouse suite with tons of riches to be had], I really liked how he and Raz interacted. Yeah, he was being selfish, but it was a small bit of humanity on him connecting to a fellow Grulovian. Even if he is still a selfish person, it was a neat little moment.

Well, that’s one way to show that a character hasn’t emotionally developed since 12, have their mind palace be a freaking fairground ride. I’d say theme park, but that implies decent quality, and Gristol is anything but decent.

Maybe Gristol really WAS good in the mailroom, petty little king of a petty little kingdom, but the trains run on time and all that.

it was really sweet of you to add a disclaimer about the stigma of npd and clarify that the video is specifically about grisol and not the disorder at large

One thing that I saw on a Tumblr post about the tunnel thing at 33:30- as you zoom into the giant Gristol, you hear the Grulovia song playing backwards, specifically the line "Grulovia, Grulovia, you're always right"

Since some people have written what I would have liked to discuss, I'll bring a different topic on board: Do you think that Fatherland Follies may be some kind of jab at Disney's coperate underbelly? Disney theme parks make it a priority to bring their attendees back to their childhood and to live up to the "happiest place on earth" motto. In reality, the theme parks have now become more of a place for the privilege due to the rise in prices, and judging by how self indulgent Disney has become lately, it seemed like a perfect setting for the mind of a narcissistic man stuck in the haydays and his childhood.

I just notice I think he values his workers a little higher since in his mind they have actual people there who is detailed but also in the memory he seems to remember the one holding his caviar.

First of all, the fact that Gristol/Nick was able to hide all this from an entire organization of psychics for most likely years, is impressive. Second I love the fact that the ride workers are still as disenfranchised as they would be at a real amusement park.

I read that Tim Schaefer also used Peter Pan Syndrome as inspiration for Gistol Malik’s mind.

The makers of these games REALLY did their homework and learned how to craft these minds and personalities around mental disorders

Thanks for making a point about not stigmatizing folks who have diagnoses like this. It’s so easy to villainize people who are truly struggling to meaningfully connect and engage with others. I see this most frequently with BPD, but it really is true for all personality disorders. Great video!

I like to think the arena portion of the level is to show how Gristol was so obsessed with carrying out his goals that he pushed all other problems into a single corner of his mind.

I noticed that Gristol Malik is a lot like Barty Crouch Jr. from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Both characters were moles and responsible for the main events that happened in their stories, they were both fanatics of the main villain, they both spent most of their story impersonating another figure instead of being their physical self, they used the protagonists as puppets in their plans to bring back a powerful dark lord, and they both showed no fear or worry when they got captured at the end.

The fun thing is that Psychonauts 2 or even 1 doesn't actually have a villain because they don't make people evil instead there people that have problem and that Raz needs to help

20:35 Not sure that's fully true, the fact that deep in his mind exists this version of him that embodies his thoughts right after his father died shows that it was a deeply emotional moment that stuck with him despite the fact he doesn't want to show it off. That version of him also comes off as very saddened in contrast to how he behaves typically, so I think it's less that he didn't care and more that he told himself he shouldn't care about his father's death because it's his fault this all happened as a way to cope with what he was feeling.

Gristol could be redeemed, but he would need a lot of help and to gain a level of empathy he never had before. This is a guy who, while living in luxury, thought he was living in the slums at a massive Casino Hotel.

It sounds so dumb to say this, but when I heard the name “Nick JohnSmith” I legit said “that’s a fake name, that’s a bad guy, he’s not from around here”

I know that it's a plot for a video game and on top of that bringing back Maligula without a way to control her was a bad idea in the first place, but I can't help but be impressed with what this man achieved. Despite his pampered lifestyle, he managed to infiltrate the Psychonauts, bribe and intimidate Dr. Loboto, kidnap the head of the Psychonauts, switch brains and impersonate him, then use Raz as a pawn to do what no one achieved for two decades: reintegrate Mr. Curler, then actually bring back Maligula. That's quite impressive, even if the Psychonauts are portrayed as somewhat incompetent.

29:22 Silver spoon? More like Mother-of-Pearl. Caviar spoons are made of the stuff, as it’s less reactive than silver.

Gristol Summed up everything in his post-game conversation: "Being Gzar means never having to say your Gzorry" I don't know how to feel about that phrase, whether he is actively refusing to feel guilty or if he's taking one final jab at his father for how horrible of a ruler he was (in Gristol's mind). It's probably both, and it's what best defines him.

I still just desperately want to know how Gristol acted as Nick Johnsmith that got everyone to like him so much despite him hating them all

To me, a big part of Gristol's level was the rumination. I can so clearly invision him working in the mail room, humming that song to himself and going through the same narratives and ideas again and again.

Gristol is unredeemable - not because of what he's done, but because he's not willing to accept that he was wrong to begin with - the first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem, if Gristol doesn't admit there *is* a problem there is *no* recovery

Another to note about Gristol is the cardboard cutouts of him you see at the "You must be this tall to ride" sign and the one at the gift shop. Both cutouts are gigantic or "Larger than life" adding to Gristol's narcissism with the "You must be this tall to ride" sign showing you have to be really tall to ride but not as tall as the cutout, show Gristol believes than only people of great status can stand by him but in the end these people are lesser to him.

I think the context of 6:44 is meant to be some sort of budgetary hearing where Gristol is explaining why so much of the GDP has to go towards caviar - basically like that one Dril tweet about his monthly finances where the biggest expense by far is “Candles”

My favorite detail about Fatherland Follies is the fact that of all the enemies you fight in his mind, regrets aren't one of them

I think when it comes to Gristol, like with Oleander, the key to his recovery is a resolution with his inner child. The delusions he's piled on can't be changed as his adult personality is so rationalized there's not much to be done with it.

This was an excellent kind of analysis, and while a bunch of stuff I kind of realized myself during playing, hearing about this stuff on a deeper analytical level was fantastic. No one is truly irredeemable, not if they are actually people, but a lot of work needs to be done to get there for him. Gistol Malik has many problems and he may never fully recover, but the biggest issue on that is he himself.

I don't have NPD but as someone with quite a few stigmatized disorders than you so much for being respectful, a lot of clinical counselors aren't.

While it will be tough since his talks with Raz shows how warped his perception is, however his early talk with Raz ironically shows that Gristol still cares to some degree about his homeland and people from it. This might just be optimistic thinking, especially since I only have one phyc class in college, but I believe as lone as there is at least one thing the person cares about that's not themselves, there will always be a foot in the door.

I love the plot twist , and how is been presented this hidden villain! Nice Psycology analysis!! Personally he whas a interesting character, kinda jerck but trully a interestin puppetmaster, but also hilarious when his plan flip out He also whas like a veangfull version of Anastasia!

After thinking about it for some time, I've decided that Fatherland Follies is my favorite level. It's just a superlative piece of environmental storytelling. All of that buildup and setup, the suggestion of some shadowy offstage figure manipulating Loboto and the othersfrom offstage, that something is off with Truman, the mystery of Nick Johnsmith's missing brain, all those threads come together here. This level is designed to handle the reveal of the third act twist, and it does it so beautifully and impactfully. I remember gasping when I realized how thoroughly Gristol had manipulated Raz. Masterful.

fantastic dissection! i enjoyed the hell out of psychonauts 2's story and seeing things that i missed laid out and pieced together is so intriguing. i think the best aspect of this game IS showing that everyone is redeemable like you said, showing the angry, the depressed, and even the psychotic and at times abusive have their own stories to tell through their mental constructs. id love to see more from you!

6:30 Misstake: Gristol was the Gzesarevich, his father was the Gzar

I really hope that if we are ever fortunate enough to receive a Psychonauts 3, Gristol Malik comes back as a primary antagonist. He's such a compelling antagonist and foil for what Raz and the Psychonauts stand for, and I'd love to see him take center stage in a future game - perhaps using his penchant for deceit and manipulation to lead a smear campaign against the Psychonauts.

I don't think I'd diagnose him with NPD, he's a prince who grew up in wealth. Narcissism is kinda inherent to such a life.

Something I found odd were the people other than Gristol you meet in this level. Neither of the "employees" you meet seem nearly as invested in Gristol's delusions as Gristol himself is, despite them both being constructs from his mind. I'm guessing he understands that the people he'll be working with to rebuild Grulovia won't share his vision.

I like the scene where Gristol and Raz get to talk, I could see somehow capable of change and overcoming his narccism but ultimately it's his choice to reject that. Raz could just as easily helped him but Gristol puts up walls and doesn't allow himself to change. he is redeemable but it has to be HIS choice to start that path

The bit about the propaganda you mention is really interesting, because Gristol's worldview with regards to Grulovia is pretty much note for note a fascist persecution story. In fact, a lot of the things that Gristol believes seem to match pretty closely to how a fascist sees the world. The belief in a superior chosen people or nation who were once mighty and free but were laid low by foreigners and decadence, whose only hope of rising to reclaim their greatness is through a brutal rebirth of the nation, is sort of the core fascist narrative. "Grulovia was once strong and free, but our weak king allowed the rabble and Ford Cruller to destroy us, and the only hope to restore the Grulovian Crown is to reawaken Maligula to destroy Grulovia's enemies and take back the nation" is beat for beat the kind of narrative that a Grulovian fascist would compose, and then keep repeating until they believe it. The bits that Gristol focuses on are a petty and myopic, things like the caviar obsession, but I think that really just serves to illustrate how much that kind of worldview is built on self-delusion and petty narcissism applied to political ideology.

Fun fact, "It's a Small World" was written during the cuban missle crises where people legit thought it was the end of the world. To me, the lyrics have always seemed gross and grossly desperate. Sinister in some way even. "There is just one moon, and one golden sun" in particular is chilling mainly because it reminds me of propaganda pieces about being the center of the world and the constant repeat of the main line of lyrics is despairing and cultish, like angry even. Like they want to force you to accept that perspective. In my opinion the world is rather large in all meanings of the word, not small and that's a good thing. We DON'T know eachother or all the facts of the world. Maybe it's because I was subject to it early on and had the song beat into my head but all I see in it is desperate conceit. I'm sure others have similar ideas.

ThoughtBubble please do a video about Helmut fulbear, I have autism and the concept of different senses being stimulated simultaneously is interesting with his synesthesia. Just wanted to see if you can find any similarities in the level to my own mental condition. Also the music in and visuals and everything in the level is perfect.

So I know this has probably been said but I'll ask anyway, who else made the connection that in each game Raz is facing off with a villain with a weird obsession with some form of egg?

Reminder that in the timeline of Psychonauts these games take place like a day apart from each other. 2 days at most. It's kinda hilarious

Great analysis. I admit I'm one of those people who feel that Gristol is irredeemable because he refuses to recognize there's a problem. But again it does still work with the themes of how you can't just change/fix people. On a side note: I do wonder how much of Gristol's views are colored by his father's propaganda. Like the whole "my father took a poor country girl and turned her into a war hero" is such a bullcrap propaganda line. It also strongly implies how Gristol thought that Maligula would be grateful to his family for turning her into "something more" and in turn, grateful to HIM for reviving her. Plus there's "if everyone hated us so much, how come we kept getting elected?" (Ignoring that Grulovia was run by monarchy and monarchies tend to NOT have elections.)

38:46 IDK, Post game stated that Sasha Nein plans on using him for experiments. I can see the Psychonauts installing Gristol as a prime minister of Grolavia for their own purposes

Thank you for differentiating between asocial and antisocial! It's a pet peeve of mine.

For all we know, that part of the end of the ride with gristol on top of the world, might’ve been a subtle or not so subtle idea that he plans to take over the world via maligula or some shit

I will admit, this video made me feel more sympathy for Gristol than I ever thought I could.

Your segment on propaganda just reminded me of how many times history got it wrong in American schools.

Any kid that had a cotton candy machine in his bedroom was never going to be level headed. Also the size of that crown might have something to do with it too.

Great video! I stumbled across this just after finishing Psychonauts 2, and it's a great dive into the experience articulated in a way that I hadn't thought to do. I love how in-depth you went, chronicling each new step with a lot of care and attention. After completing the game, you can find Gristol inside the Psychoisolation Chamber in the Quarry and talk to him a little bit. I can't remember every dialogue option, but he only seems interested in escaping, and bluntly asks Raz to help him do so. If you revisit Fatherland Follies via the Brain Tumbler, Raz also notes that nothing about Gristol's mind changes. These compound the idea of a character who doesn't seem interested in growth just yet, though I can easily see a Psychonauts 3 which involves a redemption arc for Gristol among other silent hopes. I really hope the series continues and that we don't have to wait quite so long for the next installment.

I find it funny that Gristol knew absolutely nothing about the intern program, so he genuinely believes that raz *was* a full on psychonaut

He reminds me of one of the Russian Czars. I think it might be Czar Peter. The one who used to stage fake battles as a child with real soldiers.

Omg, remember the scene in the first Psychonauts where Raz is on his way to the Geodesic psychoisolation chamber, and he feels like someone is watching him from the shadows? At first, because he says to Lily, "No, can't be you, you don't smell like fish...." we think that its the monster Lungfish.....but what if it was just Gristol looming, and Raz was smelling the caviar? 🤣🤣🤣

Funny thing about that chart in one of his memories. The information icon bar is the smallest, probably the only reason it's there is, because it's only worth is to preach how good caviar is.

oh hey my favorite level is psychonauts 2, ahh the huge ego of a royal manbaby, i think he will forever be a threat, if he can't be the tsar(or czar, i forgot the spelling lol) then he will try to rule another way. also one thing i noticed that seems to show more of his mentality is the placement of his baggage, all of his emotional baggage is out for all to see but the actual tags are hidden DEEP in the warped parts of his mind, i think this shows that Gristol is displaying his baggage for everyone to witness but using only as a "oh woe is me, feel bad for me" pity party.

I love how this level was basically the playable equivalent of a villain monologue.

Maybe he can get back his job in the Mail Room. Considering many liked hom I must assume he did an acual good job with that

I will say my one big issue with Gristol isn't even him self, but the fact they play on the idea of torturing him in the post-game. I feel like if Coach could be forgiven with what he did then Gristol should be able to, too. Even if you could argue the severity of the crime compared to the harshness of the trauma that caused it isn't the same.

If there ever will be "Psychonauts 3" I think it would be about Raz questioning Psychonauts morality. Nither Nona or Gristol would be judged, Psychonauts keep Gristol locked against his will and they would even make experiments on him. Sasha is even going down the path of mad doctor: obsessive desire of knowlage, experiments on people even Igore assistant. If raz start question if he's in bad guys team, Gristol might try to manipulate him and/or convince him to join his side.

I really appreciate you taking the time to emphasize that NPD does not make a person evil or a villain. It’s such a common misconception and I’m glad you’re pushing back against stigma.

I love all the levels in psychonauts 1 and 2 Shame some things were never implemented in PN2 from 1

Another thing that just hit me about this mental ride is after I started asking why Gristol's head is a theme park ride it clicked: outside of being childish, rides like It's A Small World and to some folks, including me, Disney in general, are super repetitive. Of course a narcissist would use it to say how great his country is.

Gristol was such a wack on the head for me, because it comes out of left field but after thinking about it, everything just adds up…

Man, I just noticed at 17:23 the diorama shows Kid Gristol looking confident and like he's leading his family through these dangerous lands but more interestingly, his father is worried and seems to be shielding his wife the queen with his robe. All that while Gristol is pushing the narrative that his father was weak. Makes me wonder how much of the former king's "weakness" was just him being human and having emotions that Gristol either couldn't relate to or was to preoccupied with his own wants to value in any way. I know the king was still probably a not-great person who didn't deserve his wealth and luxury but it might be another hint that Gristol was always apathetic towards others where even his father simply trying to protect his mother from the elements was "Weakness" and he as a child needed to step up and lead.

I think this is one of the first places I've online that acknowledges NPD isn't "Bad Person Disease" that dooms people with the diagnosis to being evil inherent abusers. I really appreciate it.

Another great entry as always ThoughtBubble! Can't wait to work with you on the mind-blowing collab project this summer!

Always appreciate when people quote their sources for this stuff. Your disclaimer is a good idea, mental disorders can be very diverse so we can't pidgeon hole anyone who may have a narcissistic personality as being this specific mindset. It's interesting how many little details I missed on my playthough.

Well if post game dialogue with both gristle and his mental self, says anything seems cracks are slowly forming in his mind of what he believed was true, who know maybe one day he'll wake up fully to reality

I think theres a part of Gristol thats not entirely terrible, he kept Truman’s brain chained to his wrist instead of just throwing it away like he could have

still watching the video so idk if its described here, but i like how theres not a single regret enemy in this level, he has no regrets about what he is doing or did

Another interesting point is that Gristol does not have a Grulovian accent, highlighting how disconnected he is from the people.

Thank you for this new amazing video !

There's something people don't think about think about when it comes to that Dam breaking, what condition it was in prior to it's collapse. There are three factors to the events that are unknown about the Dam whose collapse lead to the death of Marona Aquato and Lucrecia's complete descent into the mad Maligula Persona, the Dam's condition, how much water was behind that dam (probably a large amount because of the repeated rains), and why wasn't that presumed excess of water not released? Those factors would need to be answered to show if the dam collapse and Marona's death were accidental, or purposeful.

It's mainly an emotional mind roller coaster

With how sheltered he was, likely surrounded by servants and the only people he'd seen close up where ones loyal to the royal family, and only being able to see the people of the nation from very high up, far removed from the struggles of the average citizens, it really isn't very surprising that he turned out the way he did. Dissenting words where likely stomped out long before it could ever reach his ears, and it was only when the citizens became loud and persistent enough that he noticed, from the perspective of his young mind it seemed that they all, only just then, suddenly became hostile, a threat to him, his family and his lifestyle.

It's been 2 years since i finished my playthrough of this and i forgot how the one sign being washed away really took me out 'PROBLEM s'

i am SO GLAD you added a preface that ppl with npd are still people.... i rarely see that in videos talking about mental health (lookin at you psych2go >.>) and as someone whos likely a covert narcissist that rly made me happy :o)