So I decided (after getting all 8 stars) to go through the game, type up the entire script and try to decipher as much of it as I could.

 

It’s true there is quite a bit of room for personal interpretation so I’d just like to point out some things I noticed along the way (in as close to chronological order as possible).  I’d also like to open a discussion on any ideas anyone has concerning bits of the game’s dialogue as well as any answers to the questions I’ve set aside for each section.

 

Personally I believe this story may be a little too open to interpretation which is usually not a good thing.  At the end of the day I’d like to not have to rely on some sort of a popular vote to determine what the story means :-/  Either way, I’ve taken to writing down all the game’s dialogue from beginning to end (with notes on each section) to hopefully shed some light on the game’s story.

 

I understand this is a lot of writing, so as a warning – you may want to read it chapter by chapter and not all in one sitting!!

 

My main question when doing all this remains: What does the Princess represent?

 

Final note: It took me forever to type this all up and it’s very late at night so forgive me if none of this makes sense.  Most of my epiphanies come toward the end of the script but it will make more sense if you read the progression of my notes from the beginning.  I’d appreciate it if anyone adds whatever they’d like.

 

 

Chapter 1: (the last chapter in gameplay order - The Attic)

 

1a. “At a café on a bright plaza, most customers sit back, feeling the warmth of the sun, enjoying their cold drinks, But not Tim – he barely notices the sun, doesn’t really taste his coffee. For him this corner affords a good view of the city, and in the teeterings of the passers-by, in the arc of a shop-girl’s hand as she displays tea to an interested gentleman, Tim hopes to see clues.”

 

Why is Tim looking for clues?  What kind of clues is he looking for?

 

1b. “That night at the cinema, fictitious adventurers lunge implausibly across the screen. The audience here is mixed. Some are patrons of the café, now sitting excitedly in the plush chairs, eager for another new flavor, for distraction from the boredom of their easy lives. Other seats hold fishermen and farm-workers, hoping to forget their toils and rest their hands.”

 

1c. “Tim is here too, but he is scrutinizing the gloss on the lips on the screen, measuring the angle of the plume of a distant helicopter crash. He thinks he discerns a message; when the cinema closes and most of the audience strolls down the plaza to the South, Tim goes North.”

 

What message does he discern from watching a movie in a public movie theater? 

Does Tim represent someone or something other than the character in the game?

 

1d. “People like Tim seem to live oppositely from the other residents of the city. Tide and riptide, flowing against each other.”

 

1e. “Tim wants, like nothing else, to find the Princess, to know her at last. For Tim this would be momentous, sparking an intense light that embraces the world, a light that reveals the secrets long kept from us, that illuminates – or materializes! – a final palace where we can exist in peace.”

 

This is the first place (chronologically) that the Princess is mentioned.  Most people seem to agree that she is not actually a person, but a metaphor for something, representing some ideal in a figurative sense.  I’ve noticed that people have discussed MANY things she could represent with no real agreement or closure... 

Notice the “intense light” that is mentioned.  This could relate to the nuclear explosion mentioned in the Epilogue.

 

1f. “But how would this be perceived by the other residents of the city, in the world that flows contrariwise? The light would be intense and warm at the beginning, but then flicker down to nothing, taking the castle with it; it would be like burning down the place we’ve always called home, where we played so innocently as children. Destroying all hope of safety, forever.”

 

Why would he care what the other residents of the city care about him finding the Princess?

This is the second place “intense light” is mentioned.

 

(Continued in next post)

 (Continued from previous post)

 

Chapter 2: Time and Forgiveness (the first world you play in the game)

 

The painting shows Tim and the Princess? drinking wine in the garden.

 

2a. “Tim is off on a search to rescue the Princess. She has been snatched by a horrible and evil monster. This happened because Tim made a mistake.”

 

So a lot of people thing that Tim is the “horrible monster” mentioned and I tend to agree as we see her running away from him at the ending level.  So could this be Tim trying to rescue her from himself?  In other words, trying to get back to how he was before he changed somehow?  Trying to defeat the monster within himself…

What mistake is this talking about?  Maybe Tim setting off the bomb?

 

2b. “Not just one. He made many mistakes during the time they spent together, all those years ago. Memories of their relationship have become muddled, replaced wholesale, but one remains clear: the Princess turning sharply away, her braid lashing at him with contempt.”

 

Here is an instance of the Princess being talked about literally, as though she has literal human qualities.  It’s things like this that make me wonder if she’s supposed to be a real person or simply represent something…

 

2c. “He knows she tried to be forgiving, but who can just shrug away a guilty lie, a stab in the back? Such a mistake will change a relationship irreversibly, even if we have learned from the mistake and would never repeat it. The Princess’s eyes grew narrower. She became more distant.”

 

2d. “Our world, with its rules of causality, has trained us to be miserly with forgiveness. By forgiving too readily, we can be badly hurt. But if we’ve learned from a mistake and become better for it, shouldn’t we be rewarded for the learning, rather than punished for the mistake?”

Here’s the game in a nutshell.  Tim wants to go back through these past mistakes, past experiences, and fix his errors.  By fixing them, he can then continue on, being wiser from the journey.  Think of the game this way: If you could record yourself playing this game (mistakes and all) and then take out all the mistakes, only showing your perfect path through, no one would know you ever made mistakes (yet you would be wiser from making the mistakes, learning from them, adjusting your play and then erasing them and moving on).  Tim wants infallibility.

 

2e. “What if our world worked differently? Suppose we could tell her: “I didn’t mean what I just said,” and she would say: “It’s okay, I understand,” and she would not turn away, and life would really proceed as though we had never said that thing? We could remove the damage but still be wiser from the experience.”

 

2f. “Tim and the Princess lounge in the castle garden, laughing together, giving names to the colorful birds. Their mistakes are hidden from each other, tucked away between the folds of time, safe.”

Here is another place where the Princess is expressed as an actual person… unless this entire experience is supposed to be a metaphor for something.

 

 

Chapter 3: Time and Mystery

 

The painting shows Tim raising a glass of wine, a woman sitting on the left side.

 

3a. “All those years ago, Tim had left the Princess behind. He had kissed her on the neck, picked up his travel bag, and walked out the door. He regrets this, to a degree. Now he’s journeying to find her again, to show he knows how sad it was, but also to tell her how it was good.”

 

Not sure what this means.

 

3b. “For a long time, he though they had been cultivating the perfect relationship. He had been fiercely protective, reversing all his mistakes so they would not touch her. Likewise, keeping a tight rein on her own mistakes, she always pleased him.”

 

3c. “But to be fully couched within the comfort of a friend is a mode of existence with severe implications. To please you perfectly, she must understand you perfectly. Thus you cannot defy her expectations or escape her reach. Her benevolence has circumscribed you, and your life’s achievements will not reach beyond the map she has drawn.”

 

3d. “Tim needed to be non-manipulable. He needed a hope of transcendence. He needed, sometimes, to be immune to the Princess’s caring touch.”

 

3e. “Off in the distance, Tim saw a castle where the flags flutter even when the wind has expired, and the bread in the kitchen is always warm. A little bit of magic.”

 

Chapter 4: Time and Place

 

The painting is of Tim leaving or entering a room with a child in the bed.

A little about the painting: My take on this (based on the dialogue within) is that this is Tim leaving his old childhood room at his parents house – a glimpse into his past and it is a young Tim who is in the bed.

 

4a. “Visiting his parents’ home for a holiday meal, Tim felt as though he had regressed to those long-ago years when he lived under their roof, oppressed by their insistence on upholding strange values which, to him, were meaningless. Back then, bickering would erupt over drops of gravy spilt onto the tablecloth.”

 

4b. “Escaping, Tim walked in the cool air toward the university he’d attended after moving out of his parent’s home. As he distanced himself from that troubling house, he felt the embarrassment of childhood fading into the past. But now he stepped into all the insecurities he’d felt at the university, all the panic of walking a social tightrope.”

 

4c. “Tim only felt relieved after the whole visit was over, sitting back home in the present, steeped in contrast: he saw how he’d improved so much from those old days. This improvement, day by day, takes him ever-closer to finding the Princess. If she exists – she must! – she will transform him, and everyone.”

 

This makes me wonder if the Princess represents perfection somehow…  Gah! This is driving me nuts what she represents!

 

4d. “He felt on his trip that every place stirs up an emotion, and every emotion invokes a memory: a time and a location. So couldn’t he find the Princess now, tonight, just by wandering from place to place and noticing how he feels? A trail of feelings, of awe and inspiration, should lead him to that castle: in the future: her arms enclosing him, her scent fills him with excitement, creates a moment so strong he can remember it in the past.”

 

It’s things like this that make me feel this game is a little to existential with its story and that bothers me.  I’m desperately wanting this story to have a definite meaning!

 

4e. “Immediately Tim walked out his door, the next morning, toward whatever the new day held. He felt something like optimism.”

 

Ok so this chapter in a nutshell describes some of Tim’s past, and how he views it.  He looks back and sees how much he’s grown up since then, how much he’s improved; and that improvement somehow gets him closer to finding the “Princess”.  Maybe she represents consciousness or a zen-like understanding of the universe.  Maybe she is the universe… or nothing at all.

 

Chapter 5: Time and Decision

 

The painting for this chapter shows Tim (possibly as a teenager) leaving home, waiting at the airport.

 

5a. “She never understood the impulses that drove him, never quite felt the intensity that, over time, chiseled lines into his face. She was never quite close enough to him – but he held her as though she were, whispered into her ear words that only a soul mate should receive.”

 

The “she” that is being referred to here I don’t believe is the Princess.  I believe it is either Tim’s wife or mother.  The only reason I say mother is I believe she is mentioned in the Epilogue but I’m definitely leaning toward wife at this point.

 

5b. “Over the remnants of dinner, they both knew the time had come. He would have said: “I have to go find the Princess,” but he didn’t need to. Giving a final kiss, hoisting a travel bag to his shoulder, he walked out the door. Through all the nights that followed she still loved him as though he had stayed, to comfort her and protect her, Princess be damned.”

 

Okay, so in this part, I believe Tim is leaving his wife.  His wife wants him to stay with her and protect her, but he leaves to “find the Princess”.  His wife obviously doesn’t care about the “Princess” (or whatever it is Tim feels compelled to find).  He is described leaving in exactly the same way he is described leaving the Princess in 3a – picking up his travel bag and walking out the door.

 

Chapter 6: Hesitance

 

The painting shows Tim in a crazy city and it looks as though he’s thrown his wedding ring in the garbage.

 

6a. “Perhaps in a perfect world, the ring would be a symbol of happiness. It’s a sign of ceaseless devotion: even if he will never find the Princess, he will always be trying. He still will wear the ring.”

 

I believe this could be talking about Tim’s obsession with his work.  Even though he’s a work-aholic, obsessing over finding the “Princess”, he is knows he has a devotion to his wife… maybe…  But the way this is worded, also makes it sound like the Princess could be within his wife… “even if he will never find the Princess, he will always be trying. He still will wear the ring.”

 

6b. “But the ring makes its presence known. It shines out to others like a beacon of warning. It makes people slow to approach. Suspicion, distrust. Interactions are torpedoed before Tim can open his mouth.”

 

This almost makes it sound like Tim is out trying to find another woman, but his wedding ring gives him away…

 

6c. “In time he learns to deal with others carefully. He matches their hesitant pace, tracing a soft path through their defenses. But this exhausts him, and it only works to a limited degree. It doesn’t get him what he needs.”

 

What he needs… another woman?  Maybe Tim cheated on his wife and the “Princess” he once knew has vanished.  Maybe that’s the mistake he made (or one of them anyway).

 

6d. “Tim begins to hide the ring in his pocket. But he can hardly bear it – too long tucked away, that part of him might suffocate.”

 

Hmmm….

 

(continued in next post)

(continued from previous post)

7. Epilogue:

 

Each screen of the Epilogue contains one red book verse and one singing verse (SV) which is usually hidden behind a rock when the red book is open.  I have included both and call them out respectively.  It seems as though the red book contains things from Tim’s perspective, and the singing verse is from the Princess (or a woman).

 

7a. “The boy called for the girl to follow him, and he took her hand. He would protect her; they would make their way through this oppressive castle, fighting off the creatures made of smoke and doubt, escaping to a life of freedom. The boy wanted to protect the girl. He held her hand, or put his arm around her shoulders in a walking embrace, to help her feel supported and close to him amid the impersonal throngs of Manhattan. They turned and made their way toward the Canal St. subway station, and he picked a path through the jostling croud.”

 

SVa. “His arm weighed upon her shoulders, felt constrictive around her neck. “You’re burdening me with your ridiculous need,” she said. Or, she said: “You’re going the wrong way and you’re pulling me with you.” In another time, another place, she said: ”Stop yanking on my arm; you’re hurting me!”

 

So here it seems we have two seemingly different versions from each of them.  Two sides to this story.  To him, he has her best interest in mind.  To her, he’s being too overbearing and leading her poorly.  …Maybe it was she who left him.

 

7b. “He worked his ruler and his compass. He inferred. He deduced. He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. He was searching for the Princess, and he would not stop until he found her, for he was hungry. He cut rats into pieces to examine their brains, implanted tungsten posts into the skulls of water-starved monkeys.”

 

Here’s the first time (I believe) that we know what Tim is.  He is a scientist, apparently.  This mentions “finding the Princess”, and he’s doing it through science.  Why would Tim be able to find her this way?  It’s leading up to something in a little bit…

 

SVb. “Ghostly, she stood in front of him and looked into his eyes. “I am here,” she said. “I am here. I want to touch you.” She pleaded: “Look at me!” But he would not see her; he only knew how to look at the outsides of things.”

 

Here’s another great segment that wants to shout that the Princess is a metaphor for something.  Still don’t know what.

 

7c. “He scrutinized the fall of an apple, the twisting of metal orbs hanging from a thread. Through these clues he would find the Princess, see her face. After an especially fervent night of tinkering, he kneeled behind a bunker in the desert; he held a piece of welder’s glass up to his eyes and waited. On that moment hung eternity. Time stood still. Space contracted to a pinpoint. It was as though the earth had opened and the skies split. One felt as though he had been privileged to witness the Birth of the World…1 Someone near him said: “It worked.” Someone else said: “Now we are all sons of ***.”

 

Wow. Ok so now we’re being told that Tim is basically responsible for developing the nuclear bomb used in the Trinity test (I believe).  This is a pretty big deal.  Get ready for the kicker:

 

SVc. “She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: “Who has disturbed me?” But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind. She couldn’t understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world.”

 

And holy crap.  So it seems that the Princess is showed to exist within the nuclear blast.  This doesn’t mean that she’s the bomb (like what some people seem to be saying online which I don’t believe is the case – you can’t give names to birds in a garden with a bomb :-).  So I’m still desperately trying to give meaning to the Princess.  I know it sounds lame that I still can’t come up with what the Princess actually is, but all-in-all, ever time I think I have a general idea of what the Princess is, something else in the story or dialogue contradicts it.  It seems like there is TONS of contradiction going on within this story as to what the Princess is, etc.  I hope that’s not the case.

 

7d. “The candy store. Everything he wanted was on the opposite side of that pane of glass. The store was decorated in bright colors, and the cents wafting out drove him crazy. He tried to rush for the door, or just get closer to the glass, but he couldn’t. She held him back with great strength. Why would she hold him back? How might he break free of her grasp? He considered violence.”

 

Now some people seem to think that this is Tim’s wife and child but I don’t think so.  I believe this is yet another moment within Tim’s childhood, showing who he’s going to shape up to be.  Find out why in the singing verse:

 

SVd. “They had been here before on their daily walks. She didn’t mind his screams and his shrieks, or the way he yanked painfully on her braid to make her stop. He was too little to know better. She picked him up and hugged him: “No, baby,” she said. He was shaking. She followed his gaze toward the treats sitting on pillows behind the glass: the chocolate bar and the magnetic monopole, the It-From-Bit and the Ethical Calculus; and so many other things, deeper inside. “Maybe when you’re older, baby,” she whispered, setting him back on his feet and leading him home, “Maybe when you’re older.” Every day thereafter, as before, she always walked him on a route that passed in front of the candy store.”

 

So it seems Tim’s mother is restraining him from going after what he really wants.  Maybe it’s all women in his life – his wife not understanding his need to create the atom bomb.  From this, I take it to mean that there are so many things he wants to learn and achieve, that are just beyond his grasp of understanding, just beyond his potential – “maybe when you’re older”. 

 

…And on to the final message of the game…

 

7e. “He cannot say he has understood all of this. Possibly he’s more confused now than ever. But all these moments he’s contemplated – something has occurred. The moments feel substantial in his mind, like stones. Kneeling, reaching down toward the closest one, running his hand across it, he finds it smooth, and slightly cold.”

 

This passage gives me the impression that Tim is dead and the game is of him contemplating his life experiences, and what he could have done differently to make things right in the afterlife.

 

7f. “He tests the stone’s weight; he finds he can lift it, and the others too. He can fit them together to create a foundation, an embankment, a castle.”

 

Here it shows the castle made out of the blocks which are each level you’ve played through so far.

 

7g. “To build a castle of appropriate size, he will need a great many stones. But what he’s got, now, feels like an acceptable start.”

 

Hmmm… so he’s building a castle out of experiences he’s learned from.  Maybe when he’s finally finished, his princess will no longer be in another castle J

 

In summary:

So I think that the Princess may represent multiple things; if this is the case, then this story could be even more confusing than it already is.  Many things lead me to believe the Princess represents peace, or inner peace – a sort of zen state.

 

Things the Princess could represent:

Ambition

Perfection

Obsession

Absolute Power

Nirvana

Peace

 

Things the Princess is not:

A Princess

His wife (the princess cannot be his wife since there is dialogue mentioning him leaving her to find the princess, and she says “princess be damned”).

His mother

For anyone looking for more closure or a different point of view, I highly suggest checking out the gamefaqs post here: http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=943284&topic=44804212

 

About half-way down the page, there is a fantastic essay by Spark0 which I think does a better job of explaining things in a nutshell than I do :-)

 

Just thought I'd tag this for future reading. I'm too tired at this particular moment.

---

Im a solo musician trying to be heard, please add/listen to my Rock/PostGrunge style songs: myspace.com/jeromebartlesmusic

Whoa. I like your analysis. Tag

Have you considered that the Princess is his own sanity and that he has gone mad... He serches and regresses to find himself. You have done an awsome analysis and I just got the idea about Tim beeing insane by reading your text above.. It kinda makes sence when I read your analysis in ths post..

 Killr VII wrote:

Have you considered that the Princess is his own sanity and that he has gone mad... He serches and regresses to find himself. You have done an awsome analysis and I just got the idea about Tim beeing insane by reading your text above.. It kinda makes sence when I read your analysis in ths post..

Who is the knight then and who saves the princess? 

I love talking about this game, it brings very good discussion

 

Somebody has figured out that the letterbox of the princess' house has the number 6890 written on it. ISO 6890 seems to be a reference number for nuclear energy. So the princess is not actually the bomb but the whole process of nuclear reactions.

After reading through this and checking back on my understanding of his story this could possibly represent Albert Einstien.

The game is about time and relativity.

He has been studying science and resoning since an early childhood age.
He did have some bad memories regarding family and school.
He did in fact leave his first wife.
He was part of the Manhatten Project and this breakthrough was in line with his relativity and the study of light energy.
His poilitical affiliation with the Labour Zionists eventually linked him to Communists in the Cold War era which plagued his image in both the political and science community making people cautious to approach him.

This would account for the look of Tim's character, the game's relativity and time mechanic, the references to light (e=mc2), and the princess would be the wholistic theory of everything (of which the answer is 42? *joke*).

Anyhow it's an interesting idea.

---

A friendship is like wetting your pants. Everyone can see it but only you can feel the gentle warmth.

My theory is, in my opinion, Tim is a scientist that comes close to building an atomic bomb. He sees a solution very, very close (the Princess behind the glass) but he gets his funding cut off, and he feels it "running away" from him. Eventually he watches as his "Princess" goes into the arms of a shining knight, meaning that his research and an eventual discovery went to another scientist. Unfortunately, people use this the wrong way, and TIm and everyone else dies, then the beginning of the game begins with tim standing in shadow, contrasting to a destroyed and set on fire landscape. So you play through his last moments of his life. Since someone has already found the answer, he's gone insane, and that's what the game is, his quest to find the data, even though it's already been found. Maybe it's just a way to get closure for Tim, maybe he's just insane, either way, it is VERY haunting. Also, a couple of times I miss typed and noticed this Tim+e=Time What I've noticed I that no one almost every mentions the significance of the ring that Tim gets, the one that slows down time. I think it represents maybe a spouse to Tim, and to him, this relationship with her slows down the progress of getting his princess and the only way to return is to get as far away as usual

---

I'm in the Matrix, ask me anything.

thanks for typing all the dialogue up. I want to mention a few other things I just noticed while playing through it again earlier today:

- in world 5's painting you can see Tim twice. He is sitting down drinking something, as well as being behind him to the right following what looks like a blonde girl in a green shirt. If you look at world 2's painting, he is in the grass (or garden) with a blonde haired girl
- in world 6's painting in the upper right hand corner there is an Uncle Sam poster. I would say this would be further prove of the Atomic bomb and Manhattan Project.


but I believe the story means a lot of different things. You are right, the Princess stands for different things. You might also say she stands for mother nature since in SVc it states:

“She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: “Who has disturbed me?” But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind. She couldn’t understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world

I interpreted this as the bomb exploding and mother nature being changed forever. He is choosing to pursue the atomic bomb and "flirt so closely with the death of the world"

This is just my two cents. I believe that everyone will interpret the story differently based on their past experiences as well. My father designs Nuclear bombs and he recently left my mother to pursue his career (I think that's why, I will never be sure). This game really hit close in many ways; but it has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. Each experience (or building block) helps shape who we are as human beings. We need to learn from our past and not dwell on our mistakes.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

thanks for typing all the dialogue up. I want to mention a few other things I just noticed while playing through it again earlier today:

- in world 5's painting you can see Tim twice. He is sitting down drinking something, as well as being behind him to the right following what looks like a blonde girl in a green shirt. If you look at world 2's painting, he is in the grass (or garden) with a blonde haired girl
- in world 6's painting in the upper right hand corner there is an Uncle Sam poster. I would say this would be further prove of the Atomic bomb and Manhattan Project.

I agree with this.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

but I believe the story means a lot of different things.

I do to, but I want to know what the creator thinks the story means. What drove him with this story?
It may mean many things, but I think there may be a single unifying meaning, which you may have mentioned further down.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

You are right, the Princess stands for different things. You might also say she stands for mother nature since in SVc it states:

“She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: “Who has disturbed me?” But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind. She couldn’t understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world

I interpreted this as the bomb exploding and mother nature being changed forever. He is choosing to pursue the atomic bomb and "flirt so closely with the death of the world"

I thought the same.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

This is just my two cents. I believe that everyone will interpret the story differently based on their past experiences as well. My father designs Nuclear bombs and he recently left my mother to pursue his career (I think that's why, I will never be sure). This game really hit close in many ways; but it has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. Each experience (or building block) helps shape who we are as human beings.

Sorry to hear that, that's pretty amazing, how related your story may be.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

We need to learn from our past and not dwell on our mistakes.

Yes, but Tim only came to the realization through the mistakes he made. 

 BostonPimpDaddy wrote:

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

thanks for typing all the dialogue up. I want to mention a few other things I just noticed while playing through it again earlier today:

- in world 5's painting you can see Tim twice. He is sitting down drinking something, as well as being behind him to the right following what looks like a blonde girl in a green shirt. If you look at world 2's painting, he is in the grass (or garden) with a blonde haired girl
- in world 6's painting in the upper right hand corner there is an Uncle Sam poster. I would say this would be further prove of the Atomic bomb and Manhattan Project.

I agree with this.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

but I believe the story means a lot of different things.

I do to, but I want to know what the creator thinks the story means. What drove him with this story?
It may mean many things, but I think there may be a single unifying meaning, which you may have mentioned further down.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

You are right, the Princess stands for different things. You might also say she stands for mother nature since in SVc it states:

“She stood tall and majestic. She radiated fury. She shouted: “Who has disturbed me?” But then, anger expelled, she felt the sadness beneath; she let her breath fall softly, like a sigh, like ashes floating gently on the wind. She couldn’t understand why he chose to flirt so closely with the death of the world

I interpreted this as the bomb exploding and mother nature being changed forever. He is choosing to pursue the atomic bomb and "flirt so closely with the death of the world"

I thought the same.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

This is just my two cents. I believe that everyone will interpret the story differently based on their past experiences as well. My father designs Nuclear bombs and he recently left my mother to pursue his career (I think that's why, I will never be sure). This game really hit close in many ways; but it has taught me a lot of valuable lessons. Each experience (or building block) helps shape who we are as human beings.

Sorry to hear that, that's pretty amazing, how related your story may be.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

We need to learn from our past and not dwell on our mistakes.

Yes, but Tim only came to the realization through the mistakes he made. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my father's name is Tim.

 Pixelated Punk wrote:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my father's name is Tim.

Seriously? WHOA dude

I didn´t believe that nuclear theory until I got all 8 stars. Since then, I´m sure that´s the story, or at least one of the stories in the game, if there are more than one.

You know the city in the bridge's background before you get to the house? Looks like it got hit by an atomic bomb.

Wow, you know whats funny guys. I beat the game about an hour ago and then came on here to try to get a better idea of what happened. Before I beat the game, well actually before I turned on my Xbox to beat the game, my dad and I were watching a WHYY special on E=mc2 and all about the construction of the A-bomb and it stated that many of the individuals who made breakthrough discoveries neccessary for the construction of the A-bomb were not given credit and many of them became aggressive because the credit for their work was being given to others.  What a coincidence.

Also, is the entire game played backwards??? Im too tired to think. Does the whole game played in chronological order start at the attic(outside princesses house)  and make its way back to world 2, or world 1....being the house and the burning city? Do the books encountered before ever new world follow this order, epilogue being the beginning of the story and world 2(last world to have books) being the last? Or is it that the story starts with the books read immediatly after entering attic door and ends with the epilogue?? If not would it still be considered an Epilogue?

***( 0_0 )***<- head exploding

Beginning = End?

End = Beginning?

 

It's pretty amazing that a video game story can generate as much conversation as this one has :-)

Does anyone have any comments on the possibility that Tim is dead and he's going back through all his past mistakes he made in life and "fixing" them so he can build his "castle" out of metaphorical fixed memory blocks.  I still wonder if that's the case, and if so, if that means when he's finished going through and fixing all the mistakes he made in his life and his castle is finished, if his princess will finally be there...  It's almost like we played through his first moments of purgatory, but that he still has a lot of work to do...

 bad framerate wrote:

It's pretty amazing that a video game story can generate as much conversation as this one has :-)

Does anyone have any comments on the possibility that Tim is dead and he's going back through all his past mistakes he made in life and "fixing" them so he can build his "castle" out of metaphorical fixed memory blocks.  I still wonder if that's the case, and if so, if that means when he's finished going through and fixing all the mistakes he made in his life and his castle is finished, if his princess will finally be there...  It's almost like we played through his first moments of purgatory, but that he still has a lot of work to do...

Yes there has been a lot of talk that Tim is dead and going back through the memories, etc. as you stated.

Remember at the end, er the beginning, in world one, it all starts with the bog flash(BOOM)

Thanks for posting your thoughts on this game.  Its been a really interesting read. 

I think that "the princess" doesn't represent an actual person.  I think it represents his life's work, the nuclear bomb.  Since he was working on the nuclear bomb, hes busy trying to find a way to make it work. 

The ring that he carries around in that level that slows down time represents his wife I think.  He could be so absorbed trying to figure out how to get the bomb to work, that its the only thing on his mind.  His wife is going to plead with him to spend time with her and thats taking time away from him finding out how to make his bomb work.

Just to add something else to the story, the flags at each castle are nautical flags, each with an associated message (I did not discover this, it is taken from another post) :

world 6 = K [I wish to communicate with you]

world 5 = X [Stop carrying out your intentions and watch for my signals]

world 4 = L [You should stop your vessel immediately]

world 3 = U [You are running into danger]

world 2 = N [No or Negative]

When listed in reverse order like above, they make more sense. 

 

Also, I would like to share my idea about the title "Braid", since I haven't really heard anyone come up with a solid explaination.  Since the Princess's braid is the main memory Tim has of her, could the braid symbolize the glimpse we have of what lies in the future, the motivation to continue foward, discovering new technologies, so that one day we may reach the Princess herself? 

By the way, has anyone tried reading either all the books in true reverse, or set by set in reverse?  Now that I think about it, they may make more sense that way...  At the end the princess is taken by the horrible evil (tim?), and the atomic bomb is unleashed upon the world, and now Tim is trying to correct his mistakes by making sure the bomb is not used for evil?  Could the Knight also be Tim, returning to save the "Princess" from people like himself who want to exploit science for weapons and war? So in the normal ending, first you chase after the princess, but then you "rewind time" (correct your mistakes) and save her from people like yourself, returning as the knight, more noble and wiser from experince?

 

Man, this game really makes your head hurt if you think about it for too long... 

Here's a link to a similar discussion.  It's always interesting to me to watch different groups of people puzzle things out.

http://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?showtopic=190136

This game is way too trippy. Whoever created it either has something wrong with them or they were massively high...maybe both.

Hey I don't know if anyone else got this already (theres too much around the boards for me to read on this!) but I think, from a quick google, Braid was released on August 6th.... and this is the date the Hiroshima bomb was dropped.

I think the Princess is a metaphor for the secrets of the universe, the atomic bomb being the most grand example of unleashing this knowledge.  When the Princess talks about the Magnetic Monopole in one of the closure books, she's referring to a hypothetical particle that only has one magnetic pole (unlike a normal magnet which has N-S).  Tim's desire to reach "beyond the glass" is taken to mean that he understands that things like this must exist, but he can't fully understand it nor control it.  Yet the Princess taunts him with this knowledge by showing it to him every day ("walking past the candy store"), implying that the universe hints at her secrets but never fully reveals them.

Thus, the story becomes a tale of the pain and sacrifices of understanding our world, how coming to these understandings often results in (or is the result of) some terrible tragedy or experience, and our perrenial desire to undo the "bad parts".  Wouldn't it be better if we could hold some profound understanding without making these "mistakes"?  What if we could create an ultimate weapon without poisoning the atmosphere and oceans with each test?  What if we could develop and test cures for diseases without killing lab animals?  What if?

Having not personally attained the stars, but having seen the result, I take it to mean that to fully understand the Princess is a pyrrhic victory; by capturing all the secrets of the universe, we are no longer free to choose or act of our own accord.  Perhaps this is why, as I have read, collecting the stars is a rather tedious task that requires a serious sacrifice of time and game-resetting.

Instead, the "winning goal" is to build a new "castle", a foundation for understanding based on our experiences, including our mistakes, and to move forward from there.  (This also clues in to the notion that the Princess was not in any other castle, as those represent other, false foundations for understanding the universe.)

It's a brilliant game, with some deeply intellectual insights as well as fantastic gameplay.  If this made any sense, you should check out the old Interactive Fiction (text adventure) game "Trinity" by Brian Moriarty (thanked in the credits), which is also about time travel and the atomic bomb, and is often hailed as the finest game Infocom ever produced.

On the trial, how do you get the puzzle piece thats above the door, and below the cloud on level cloud bridge?

Any hints?

Wow, I love these ideas. Such a simple game, with so many layers. Beautiful.

For me, personally, even though I know the real plot and story of this game is like what's already been said, I find it more personally effective on some level just seeing the story as it's shown: Tim searching for the Princess, not really knowing why, especially as he already has a wife. Then, when he finds her in the last level (first level, whatever you want to call it), he realises that in his obsession with finding her, as he seems to love her, he's pushed her away, and he ends up being the monster he originally thought took her. Making him completely insane.

Anyway, back to the real theory =]

---

And finally, a brief mention of Gears of War 2...

That was it - ZeroPunctuation

I think this game functions on multiple levels; that's its real magic.  It's a critique of and an homage to classic platform games.  It's the story of a man's relationship with woman he love(d/s).  It's the quest for the atomic bomb.

But I think that there's another interpretation that I haven't quite seen yet.  To me it seems that there's an interweaving of Biblical and historical references to make a comment on the futility of trying to erase and to learn from one's mistakes at the same time.  In the end, though, the message is positive.  Here's what I see, if you proceed from the assumption that the Princess is G-d, and Tim is mankind.

- Naming birds together in the garden = Adam naming the animals in the garden of Eden

-  Mother / child relationship at the "candy" store = Man is not ready to know the real secrets of the universe and how it actually works; he is not mature enough to use its power in a purely creative (and not destructive) way

- Tim's "mistake" and "betrayal" - leaving (or being cast out?) of Eden to seek power and knowledge through science, to get at the "candy"

- But the Princess still loved him, even in his absence - "for G-d so loved the world..."

- In his pursuit, Tim rejects his roots (at his parents house), compromises his ethics (animal testing) and even disavows a relationship with the Princess (hiding or thowing out the ring) when it hinders his progress

- All along, he recieves warnings - the "no" flags on the castles - that this is the wrong path = I think this is a reference to how much of man's technological advancement has been used in war, for destruction, but we never seem to learn

Ultimately, Tim's really been seeking the castle with the Princess - he wants to go back to Eden, to peace.  But the path of science has only led him to destruction (the bomb) and alienation from the Princess (by trying to imprison and control her power).  Even if he reverses time, there is no way he can undo the world.  It was consumed in fire; it has changed (the last level).  But what he can do is learn from those experiences to build a castle of peace in the future - and to find the Princess again through his heart and wisdom (epilogue).

So, you could look at it as an allegory on man's relationship with the divine, but I think that's just the medium to communicate something else - that you can't erase / fix the mistakes of the past and try to learn from them, too.  Mankind must accept those mistakes and use that wisdom to create a better future.  We've done a pretty poor job so far, but maybe it's not too late.