He was in Jesse’s head in several ways, he hears and responds to her thoughts when they first meet. Jesse: “...at least he’s a friendly face” Ahti: “Better than no face at all”
There is definitely a lot of mysteries around Ahti that we have yet to learn. Between him and The Board/Former, the world is a lot bigger and stranger than we know.
I realized that at maintenance after he talks about his vacation... Jesse in her thoughts "Vacation? Right" And Ahti says "YES, Nobody's gonna cancel my holiday."
Absolutely. He was fine wandering around without one. Based upon the plot, The Board and the Astral Plane could be corrupted which suggests Ahti exists on a higher tier than even them.
@Arusiek90 your bit about Ahti making Jesse his Assistant made me think of Northmoor. In the Foundation, Northmoor discovered the service weapon and believed himself to be the first true director, thanks to his board sponsorship. But it seems that maybe Jesse is the only true director, as only she has gained the approval of Ahti, and by extension the House itself.
From the creators of "But first, we need to talk about parallel universes" We give you: "To know that, we will have to discuss the basics of thermodynamics"
My favorite part about Ahti was how there were multiple documents basically telling everyone to let him do his thing and to never bother him. I think Dr. Tan's note in Dimensional Research was the only one that was just like "okay someone needs to say something, whose man's is this??? And how is he in a R E S T R I C T E D. aReA"
Lmao. Yeah Dr. Tan wasn't in the know. I'm pretty sure at a certain point the security team gave up trying to regulate him and just let him run about doing his thing.
Gaming University I think I remember a memo from possibly Arish about how Ahti is not to really be talked about. I think they’re semi aware of what he is and know to just not mess with him.
I think ahti is also the "guard" of the oldest house, because he made the elevator that took Jesse to the executive sector appear. Ahti calls Jesse his "assistant" but to anyone else, she is the director
Personally, I believe that he's a manifestation of the oldest house, because as people have said, he calls the director his "assistant", he can read Jesse's mind, he's able to appear anywhere in the oldest house,etc
Very interesting. I didnt know that thanks! It makes sense. Even though there is no evidence for it I get the feeling that when the Oldest House was discovered in 1964, Ahti was already there doing his thing.
I study a lot of local mythology/folklore but that is one region I sadly haven't done much research into. I'm familiar with Celtic Folklore which sounds kind of similar. I can't wait for the Foundation DLC. I get the feeling some of our questions will be answered there.
I just looked it up and it appears 'Talonmies' is Caretaker/Janitor and 'Siivooja' is Cleaner but can be used to describe a janitor. I'm american and don't speak finnish so I'm not sure if I'm missing something you're seeing elfbiter. Let me know if I'm incorrect here.
@@romaliop Fair, but its moreso symbolic. The director and the managers are important, but without good janitors the whole thing will fall apart. Cant do good work in a filthy workspace, right?
I work as a custodian, and I agree with this sentiment. It’s better to work in an environment with no clutter than in one where you can hardly keep track of where everything is and can’t move around much.
I love the fact Ahti goes "Perkele" in almost every sentence. Perkele is a swear word in Finnish language. He also uses finnish sayings that don't really work as well cause he says them in english. He also has that typical finnish "rally english"
I honestly wish I knew more of the language, or any at all for that matter. From what i gather the line, "Vikingit Saatnaa" or something similar is essentially, "Viking Bastsrds" even though it translates to Satans.
@@GamingUniversityUoG That's using "Saatana" as a general expletive rather than literally saying the vikings are Saatana. It would translate more closely to something like "fucking vikings" or "vikings, bloody hell".
As a Finn, it's so bizarre to see a very familiar and a beloved actor in such a video game and in such a character. He might be new to international audience, but for Finns, he's like an old friend already.
An interesting thing I noticed with Ahti, is that in every location where there was a janitor problem, you would find one of Ahti's cleanup carts with a radio, at the Threshold of where the "normal" house is, and the mess. It's always placed as a barrier, usually right inside a doorway, or some dividing line between "clean" and "mess". He even mentions that the things he is dealing with, hate the music, I think he says that they have no taste for good music or something. So it seems like he's using the music, perhaps some kind of harmonic resonance from it, to contain the different messes in The House, until Jesse can show up and deal with it. Another point, and I might be wrong on this, as I don't know how much influence Norse mythology had on Finnish culture, but when you are down in the Foundation, one of the stone slabs next to Jesse as you head towards Ahti, looks an AWFUL lot like Yggdrasil, the world tree. I kind of got the impression that the Oldest House, might be a manifestation of the World Tree, that supposedly connects all realms. And that the astral plane is sort of the connecting tissue between them and the tree. Given Remedy's use of Norse mythology in the original Max Payne, I think it's reasonable they might plumb that well for more inspiration. But, another point that I found really interesting, is the music that Ahti gives you to get through the Ashtray Maze. It's a song by a band called Old Gods of Asgard......and I think Ahti says the song is from "his people" implying he's one of those Old Gods of Asgard. I really love this game, it's so much fun to try and figure out all the details of it.
I absolutely agree. Remedy games are so much fun to riddle out. I have noticed the Sankarin Tsngo being played at every entrance. The song refers to the Hero Archetype so thematically it would make sense every time the 'hero' has to clean up a mess in the Oldest House Absolutely the symbol in the Foundation is referring to A World Tree. Most likely it is referring to Yggrasil but I have heard some people say it is the wrong species of tree for that. I dont know Norse Mythos too well so I cant really say one way or another. I wouldnt say Ahti is one of the Old Gods of Asgard, simply that he is friends with Odin and Tor Anderson. But then we dont really know what all those old guys got into so it is possible. Personally I get the feeling Ahti is much much older than those two.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Well I don't remember much of Alan Wake, it was a long time ago that I played it, and I never played beyond the initial release of the game. I honestly forgot that the Old Gods of Asard were a thing in Alan Wake. I didn't so much mean that Ahti was from that band OGoA, but that the clearly mystical effect that music has, and the band's name, would imply the more mystical nature of Ahti. That he is whatever humans thought the Asgardians were. But their understanding is flawed, because Ahti and the other beings like him are much older and weirder than what few bits our ancestors were able to glean from them, and copy down in mythology. Could be totally wrong of course, but Remedy do love their Norse references wherever they can stuff them in xD
All very good points, I came to the same conclusions regarding the second paragraph. You also find the album cover for Old Gods of Asgard on the backseat of the car in the Ordinary Dump. When Ahti said that the song was from his people, and the song turned out to be metal, I made the connection. The connection with Yggdrasil was pretty obvious, since Ahti does mention that the Foundation is the "roots" of the Oldest House, where it grew. Early in the story, I believe the Board says "The Service Weapon / Excalibur / Mjollnir", which heavily implies that the Oldest House has taken on a form that is more familiar to us in this age. Mjollnir is another obvious reference to viking mythology.
@@Doombringer55 Yeah i saw clips about the album cover in the junkyard. I can't recall if I found that myself or not in my playthrough though. But yeah I love the interconnectivity of their games. And I forgot about the Asgardian connection from Alan Wake too. It's been so long since I played that I forgot that the band Old Gods was first introduced their. Given they have been used twice, in a way where their Power of Rock was able to directly damage/weaken the powers of darkness/negativity in the Remedy-verse, I do wonder if they are supposed to be more than just 2 old dudes who make rock and roll. I'm not up to speed on Norse mythology, or the 2 geriatric rockers in Alan Wake, but I seem to recall they were brothers right? Is there either a famous set of music/sound related Norse gods, and/or a pair of brothers from the pantheon? I know they have names that suggest who they might be, but I wonder if that's a red herring. Either they are conduits for the power of the gods, to record power into our universe to help fend off the forces of evil. Or they are gods who forgot their divine identity perhaps, and are thus living like humans because they forgot who they were.
I look at Odin Anderson as the mastermind. The point of him being the All-Father is he sees everything. In norse mythos he sacrificed his eye to gain divine wisdom, knowledge of other worlds, & the ability to read the runes. Odin Anderson stabbed his own eye out. I look at their songs more like prophecies but also second as solidifying their prophecies into reality due to the power of Cauldron lake. I believe they do have power outside their music. In one manuscript page in AW they rescue the patients of Cauldron lake lodge and are confronted by the taken. Rather than be afraid, they were excited to be able to fight the darkness again. Since they survived until Deerfest we know they were able to combat them somehow. Mjolnir summons lighting so it acts like Alan's Flashlight to burn away the darkness. I found it interesting that they mention Varunastra when discussing the Service Weapon. It is a Weapon in hindu/Indian scripture made of water and like water, it can change forms. A spear, a sword, a tidal wave, a hurricane. Very much like the Service Weapon that changes forms based upon the wielder.
Did anyone else see the note in The Foundation DLC where it says: *"Cleanliness is next to godliness"* ??? My mind was fully blown. Then I finally watched this video and I understand just how deep it really goes. This game is one of my favorite pieces of media or art I've ever consumed. It just keeps getting deeper!
There is also a memo found during Foundation that reports Ahti being in the Foundation cleaning, even during the very first FBC expeditions down there. The guy who met him was surprised to see the Bureau already sending someone down there to clean, but said the guy was very talented especially in singing, and a good guy overall. Also, we have the VHS tape altered item, again from Foundation, which is nothing more than a record of Ahti cleaning the Oldest House and singing. So much still to be said about him, he definetly is a higher entity of some sort and not just a Finn janitor
@@GamingUniversityUoG Just a random thing, I guess other might've said this too. But what if he's immune to the Hiss because of both his headphones and/or his "singing"? You said Hiss is basically "agressive sound" while Polaris is "soothing sound". What if he's literally able to out-sing the Hiss?
I don't know anything about Control, but the protagonist of the Finnish epic Kalevala is Väinämöinen, a powerful sage/seer/wizard who performs powerful magic by singing, such as charming all the animals of the forest, sinking an opponent into a swamp and turning himself into an otter to infiltrate the rivers of Underworld.
He is definately offputting. I agree, especially with all the potential power and knowledge he has I'm glad he's on our side. Man, the Ashray Maze was incredible.
I liked the very first scene between him and Jesse, listening to her inner dialogue: "I've worked enough night jobs to know it makes us seem odd. Ahti is friendly face in my book." Then Ahti says, "Better than somebody with no face at all." and mumbles about faceless people.
Ahti made me feel good, he reminds me of my grandpa who passed away some months ago. Same use of "perkele" and idioms. Can't tell if he was a supernatural entity though.
The Ashtray Maze was one of the best levels I have played in a long long time. They knocked that one out of the park. After a long mostly silent play through, stepping into this weird multidimensional maze with epic metal guitars playing on Ahti's headphones and blasting waves of Hiss was just a great moment in gaming.
I love how Remedy went for that hard sci-fi in Quantum Break and hard sci-fi/paranormal activities in Control. This is what I needed in my life haha😁 Awesome video, well done!
Fully agree. Crime Noir for MP, Stephen King for AW, Science fiction then a Lovecraftian universe in quantum break and Control. Remedy hops genres a lot. It's funny in the Alan Wake Files, Alan had an interview after the Sudden Stop came out basically stating he doesn't care about sticking to the same genre after finishing the Alex Casey crime novels. As long as the story is great he could care less about what genre the new book is. I get the feeling this is a meta commentary from the Remedy writers.
This game's got people talking about everything from entropy to Jungian synchronicity😅. What I dont think get's enough attention is how the writer took a supernatural threat (done before), but involved the government and a secretive agency in a conspiracy to cover up, contain, and utilize a malevolent supernatural force (to which they're failed spectacularly), and created basically a new conspiracy genre. As someone who is fascinated by government conspiracies and loved shows like the X-Files, this was fascinating from beginning to end. This really should be made into a TV drama or screenplay for a film. As it is, it was my surprise game of the year for 2019.
I say it as if X-Files and Warehouse 13 had a baby. I love the universe that they created with this. I know that Alan Wake is in Preproduction for a tv series so they may include FBC plot threads with it. Also random question, since you enjoy X-Files did you ever watch Millenium?
@@JMAssainatorz Oh absolutely. SCP and House of Leaves were influences in one form or another. Surprisingly I had never heard of SCP before this game and everyone was talking about how similar it is.
If you haven't already I would completely recommend playing through their game collection! Alan Wake is what got me into Remedy and inspired me in so many ways. And yes I loved Warehouse 13! I got to meet Eddie McClintock (Pete) at SD Comicon and he was a truly good person.
I wonder what English speakers sound like when we use our idioms. Probably just as nonsensical. But honestly most of his phrases I somewhat understood. Nope to see more of them.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Yes I'd love a Control sequel, even though I'm not sure it'll ever happen. He could always make an appearence in a future Remedy game though. I mean we did see Alan Wake in the second dlc so...
From what I remember my grandma telling me when I was a child, to throw the spoon in the corner (heittää lusikka nurkkaan) originates from the old times, when "talonpoikaismagia" (peasant magic) was just a daily reality with all of its esoteric small rituals infused in the daily routines, it apparently was some sort of a spell to ward off the spirit of the dead from the household by throwing their personal spoon in the corner of the home and reciting a short spell. Back in those days it wouldn't be too uncommon for people to still have their personal cutlery and cups that sometimes travelled with the people everywhere they went.
Yes, I really like how they portray Ahti as that Finn who speaks english but is still very rooted in his homecountry and is just doing stuff his own way. As a german native speaker I recognise some of those idioms from my mother language as well. The one about the buried dog is very common here, and we have a variation of the spoon phrase that goes along the lines of "giving away the spoon" which is basically the equivalent of the english "kicking the bucket".
Don't know if this has been posted previously. When you arrive at the oldest house and look at the different paintings hanging on the wall, there's a painting of Ahti that says "The Bureau at work" or something like that, so it seems likely.
Just finished the game so i'm a bit late on the comments... :) An interestinig detail i noticed is that at the very beginning of the game we walk through a balcony with 3 portraits. Trench and Darling are named under the portraits. The third one, in the middle, is a portrait of Ahti labeled "The Bureau at work", which supports the idea that Ahti's job is the same as the Bureau's - to keep the world safe from the chaos of the multiverse. Then we see Ahti himself, exactly as he's depicted in the portrait, and he lets us through into the Bureau, leading us back to the same balcony above the loby, though in a different physical place, except now insted of Ahti's portrait there is the elevator that leads into the building. Like Ahti himself is the key into the building, or even the door... Also the first time we actualy see Ahti is in the opening cutscene when Jesse sais "The world is not the room. The world is much bigger and stranger" hinting at Ahti's paranatural nature. Which is actualy confirmed in the Foundation DLC where a document describes him as the first interdimentional entity the Bureau encountered.
Jesse does say, the janitor always has the keys. I wonder if he didn't invite the bureau in the first place whether they would have been able to get in at all. Definitely the biggest mystery in the story.
@@GamingUniversityUoG I always had this theory that Ahti always knew about Polaris, and when the Hiss became too big of a threat for him to handle alone, he is the one who lead Jesse to the Oldest house.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Martti Suosalo indeed is an accomplished actor here in Finland with like 35+ years of experience. He also won a BAFTA for his role as Ahti.
Also remedy gave a hint early on into the game of ahti’s importance, his age, while playing the game you kinda find out that death in the old house is common so the fact that this one guy reached such an old age while doing such dangerous “mundane” tasks speaks to his importance
His photo is between Trench and Darling's before we enter the Lockdown. We don't see any pictures of Marshall, Salvador, or Tommasi hanging on walls so prominently, but we do see Ahti.
I wonder what he was doing about the Hiss before Jesse came along, and was still doing while Jesse was helping to clear it out. I'll bet he was kicking lots of Hiss-corrupted ass with his mop off-camera!
Probably sounding like a grumpy old man complaining about the Agents not cleaning up after themselves and wopping the Hiss with a Mop lol. No clue. As far as we saw the Huss never even so much as threatened him. We never saw them in the same room together.
@@GamingUniversityUoG I still like to imagine him smacking the possessed Guards upside the head with his mop, and fighting like he's thirty years younger than he looks. He looks like he'd fight with brute force wrestling moves. Clothesline, body slam, bautista bomb.
Dude that would be amazing. Someone needs to make some fanart of that! All the while muttering his gibberish while the Hiss go flying against the walls lmao.
Nah he doesn't fight, inside the ashtray labirint (if he controlled it), he couldn't do anything about it, he just trapped the strongest enemies and make us deal with the weaker one
In one of the files I believe he was also designated as "A-001", futher lending credence to his position as a paranatural entity, maybe even the first encountered in the Oldest House.
That was my position too when I saw that. Altered Entity 001 so to speak. There was some talk that he was similar to a House Elf bound to the Oldest House and keeping it clean from anything.
Most people wouldn't immediately assume someone was reading their minds. It's possible that since Ahti came off odd and rambling about random things Jesse assumed he was just muttering nonsense to himself. For us the audience its obvious but maybe not for the character. Not sure.
Gaming University yes the first time it can be passed off as rambling but when in the janitors office he responds to things that she’s saying right in front of her.
@@GamingUniversityUoG first time I actually thought that he just read her face. Then... I guess Jesse noticed, but since Ahti was nothing but helpful friendly janitor, she just accepted that as another crazy fact of her new reality and carried on.
Good job on the video. Ahti is brilliant right from the start of the game. After reaching the end of Control and knowing all that you know, remember this: Jesse became Director for the FBC, but to Ahti the Director is just "janitor's assistant". Right from the start he commented that Jesse was there for that job application and he was happy she got the job. If the FBC Director - at a human scale a HUGELY IMPORTANT JOB in keeping humanity from freaking out - is just "janitor's assistant" to Ahti, I think you can phatom the cosmological, transcendental implications here :)
Oh absolutely! The moment he appeared on screen and claimed she was there to be the 'Janitor's Assistant' I thought to myself, "oh that's how this is going to be" lol. He is lucky he got such a good assistant! But if the fact he is vacationing in the town next to Bright Falls is any clue, he may show up again in the future. I can't wait!
Well yes, but also the Director is nothing but a line to the Board as well. Ahti is pretty straightforwatd. What I find more interesting is the Board since there is little about them. We know they are connected to the Oldest House, which has been there pretty much since the begging of civilization, first as a Tree. We know they decide who becomes the Director and his job is to them, to be a line between the Board the our reality.
Well Jesse is more special and basically on the same level as ahti at this point because she became one with Polaris basically so she a "god" and in a way now and is "our" or the games version of "our" world/earth guardian God like being
4 years later we can now speculate that there's a treshold between the Foundation and Cauldron Lake, as Ahti's vacation takes him to Watery, and we're briefly shown a North-West looking wooded area when we find him at the Foundation. Also lots of water. (Plus the post card he sends us literally picturing him next to the sauna in Watery.)
Amen to that. I work in construction, specifically helping those who have been displaced due to fire or flood get back into their homes. So this is a personal topic for me as well. Janitors deserve far more respect for what they do to keep us going.
@@GamingUniversityUoG that’s amazing! I do social work so I always really like seeing when someone else has a career that’s geared towards helping people. Also, great work on your videos! I don’t think breaking down games like control and Alan wake are easy but you put in a lot of work and research. Keep it up man!
Keep up the good work. I know those you help appreciate the effort. Honestly, doing a analysis for Alan Wake and Control is a lot of fun. Since the writers craft such a believable world and narrative they make it easy on me lol.
The barrels you toss in the furnace are mark with biohazard symbol. It's not toxic waste. It could be poison, but the symbol is more often used to mark hazardous bio-material: virus samples, used needles and bandages, that kind of stuff. It would also be used to mark human cadaver tissue. ...Those barrels are full of human meat.
when I started the game and saw ahti the first time , when Jesse said "his face looks friendly" I thought that OK they are gonna do a plot twist and make you fight him as the final boss or something I dunno if it's just me , but throughout the game I had an uncomfortable feeling about him... I thought he was scary and unsettling
I would agree he is definitely unsettling. But that is the same for anything we dont fully understand. The only time I believe Ahti would be antagonistic is if he determined the FBC to be dangerous to the well being of the Oldest house.
I thought the same thing, but concluded: I’ll like him until I have to kill him. But I’m really glad his character goes deeper than all of that! I hope to see him more in follow up games and DLCs.
Mine was different, i felt like he's being friendly and cryptic at first. Then he said some stuffs like applying for a job and guiding me for directions where the building change in the beginning, it made sense for me a little but i am curious of his being.
My theory was basically the same, except I didn't make the Ocean god connection. Anyway here goes, Ahti was sort of like Heimdall, a watcher of dimensions that are accessible through the Oceanview Motel. The door at the foundation had a big tree on it, which made me think yggdrasil. The world tree that's branches and roots extend through all of existence, just like the motel. So if there's a "mess" in one of those dimensions, send the janitor. Jesse cleaned up the FBC, and became an official janitor. Only then could Ahti go on vacation.
The Remedy-verse is seeing its comeuppance and I couldn’t be happier for it. So much great work and creativity has flown under the radar but now with Alan Wake 2 it’s all coming out of the woodwork.
Theory: The board and Entity A-001 built the oldest house together, and then he created a body for him and named himself ahti. The board recognized him as the "janitor" because he can appear in any part of the oldest house, a regular janitor wouldn't be able to clean the oldest because it's so large
Dr. Ash had the hypothesis that The Board wasn't original to the House but latched onto to it after its inception. There was some discussion in Foundation that the Oldest House has a form of consciousness as well.
@@GamingUniversityUoG yea that's basically what it is, the board used the "nail" like a parasite to control the oldest house and directors and stuff but that won't work because Jesse has Polaris which based on from my understanding and how she is perceived by the view beings in the game that know of her the board is not as strong as Polaris. A lot of theories state that the "hiss" is yin/evil/darkness/chaos and Polaris otherwise known as "the guiding light" is yang/good/light/order Basically if we assume that's true then Polaris is the personification of the battle of light/dark and good/evil along with chaos/order eternal battle with the hiss.
@@GamingUniversityUoGwhat if ahti is the equivalent of some god who is trying to withhold entities like hiss and the board into our world? Like zeus/odin/Amun-Ra.
@@GamingUniversityUoG I'm a little late to the party, but Oldest House being living (at least it's changing by itself and reacting to something happening), vertically-oriented thing connecting realities seems likely to be the Yggdrasil. Or more like Yggdrasil is a name for the same thing as Oldest House.
I haven't studied much local folklore from Finland or Nordic Mythos but this game among the other ones Remedy produced has be really diving into it. I'm enjoying learning about the Folklore of your country.
I haven’t seen the whole of Alan Wake 2 yet, but it’s crazy how Ahti is just helping everyone. “Under the waves, of a blue lake, dwells the mighty AHTI!”
A truly unique and fantastic game that gives me hope that the whole industry will not turn into greedy repetitive uninteresting pvp shooters with tons of microtransactions and loot boxes,great job Remedy.Thanks for the very interesting video!
Seriously. I have become more and more selective with the games I play for that very reason. I'm glad we have one developer in Remedy that makes consistently good games.
Great video. The talk about Ahti needing a vacation got me thinking: Is the fact that Ahti was tired and in need of a break the reason the Hiss were able to invade in the first place?
Honestly I wouldn't try to figure out his motivation. I wonder what it would look like of Ahti got in gear and went on the offensive. Maybe his idea of going on the Offensive is guiding Jesse into the Director's Chair.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Beings on that level seem to be somewhat limited to their archetype, maybe that's just what it's like trying to express themselves on our level. I don't doubt that Ahti could kick serious ass, but the thing is - would he still be a Janitor then? Or would he become a Warrior? How would acting out of the janitor archetype change him, and his role in the Oldest House? For Ahti, going "all out" may not ever involve physical violence - for example, if you watched him clear the clog, he might simply shoo it away with his broom while shouting finnish profanities and mop up the gunk that stays behind - for the mold, he may just use a scraper and a seemingly mundane anti-fungal spray that leaves the environment mold-free, even though it really shouldn't have worked.
The hiss is the eternal opposite to Polaris and was imprisoned by her when Jesse and Dylan as kid found her. Polaris and jesse for some reason immediately seemed to like each other and so they bonded. Ahti can resist the hiss but I doubt he can defeat or get rid of it like jesse/Polaris because otherwise why would he specifically like and want jesse as director so much if jesse didn't have Polaris or become one with Polaris ahti would have been helpless as well after all the only thing keeping the oldest house together after hiss invasion is hedron a catalyst and gaurd for Polaris while she waits for jesse to mature so that they can become one and jesse can become stronger for her
I really wanna thank you Gaming University (pardon me, I don't know your name) for making this video. I played Control 2 years ago and it left me an indelible mark. Since then I've never played it again because i wanted to preserve what I've experienced the first time. I've watched all your videos about Control, many times, but for me this one stoods out from the other ones. All the videos you made allowed me to experience Control on such a different and higher level, but this one about Athi and the endless fight against entropy help me alot with my personal life, it helped me better understand my life and what i needed to do. Again, thank you so much because you made me realize an important truth about my life and my fight against chaos, it helped me alot. I don't know why I'm thanking you only now but i wanted you to know that with your work, whatever it may be, even if it's a video about video games, you can really impact people in positive ways. Thank you, sincerely E.D.
Thank you so much for your comment. My own life has taught me the value of working against universal entropy. My whole goal for the channel at its inception was to use the stories in games we love and try to find a positive message in it. I'm glad to hear I succeeded at least in some part. Have a lovely day and take care okay.
I was kind of surprised to see Ahti in Alan Wake 2 when Alan was traversing the Dark Place. The fact that Ahti referred to Alan as "Tom" as in Thomas Zane (the poet who wrote himself out of existence prior to the events of Alan Wake 1 to weaken the Dark Presence) supports the theory I had that Alan was a character created by Zane to do what he couldn't and defeat the Dark Presence for good. I have yet to finish Alan Wake 2 so please do not spoil the ending for me I want to find out for myself.
I just subbed recently after watching a few videos. I just started to play Control and I don't care about spoilers. I just wanted to comment that Ahti is definitely on a higher tier than the Board, the hiss, Polaris, the former, etc. The oldest house is Ahti's house and the Oceanview Motel is his motel. The Board answers to him, otherwise why would he basically say at the beginning, tell them I sent you and they better give you the job or there will be "work for the axe behind the sauna". In the starting monologue, We see Ahti when Jesse says "Its all a lie, something to distract us from the truth" The lie is that Ahti is "just the janitor". He's the guy thats really in charge, the referee between the forces of "good" and "evil" and keeping the balance. Hiss vs Hedron/Polaris...he's just cleaning the mess their struggle makes but he lets them act autonomously for the most part. Thats my theory anyway.
I certainly agree that Ahti plays a whole other game above what The Board is involved in. Just he doesn't really concern himself with what other entities do as long as the House is safe.
As a Finn, Hearing Ahti in the game the first time was kinda trippy. I very rarely hear Finnish accent or words in a game. I pretty much immediately connected the name to the folklore but never thought much beyond that. This was good food for thought and an awesome video. :)
In the foundation DLC there is a document that says that Ahti was able to easily move through the oldest house when the FBC had just discovered it so Ahti is likely an entity native to the oldest house
Ahti is also mentioned in either one of Ash's logs or documents in the Foundation DLC saying that he was surprise that the upper level sent sanitation staff first so quickly and that he enjoyed talking to Ahti. Finishing their conversation when Ash looked away Ahti disappeared leaving Ash alone again. Ash was pretty surprised by how a janitor of all people was able to traverse the caves better than him!
Thank you so much! Welcome aboard. Max Payne is regrettably the only Remedy title I haven't played yet. It's sitting in my Steam account and I look forward to experiencing it!.
Gaming University it holds up well for a 20 year old game! Just make sure to download the “fixall” mod in the steam discussion page there is a bug on windows 10 that will mute the cutscene audio.
I love that Ahti's idea of a vacation is to spend time at an old-folks home in Bright Falls, WA, with his friends, the Old Gods of Asgard, mopping the floors. "Be careful of your surroundings ... you never know what tree the devil shits in."
Also when you’re traversing the Oceanview Motel searching Ahti the radio program is him reading the weather forecast for Finnish waters. Great video! What an amazing game
@@GamingUniversityUoG Ahti’s dialogue has a lot of depth and is filled to the brim with Finnish sayings and quips that are just translated straight to English which makes them sound hilarious to us 😅 But your video adds even more depth to the whole thing and makes it all make complete sense. Good stuff
Lol hopefully it made sense. I know I lost a lot of people during this comparison. Always hard when english uses the same word to mean different things.
In certain universes and mythologies, for one reason or another the highest tier of Gods either cannot or refuse to directly involve themselves into the events of lesser beings and realms... but they can choose champions and guide them. Given that Jesse's, as Director, is called the janitor's assistant, it is obvious that whoever is director serves as Ahti's champion. With what little we know of Ahti, he's obviously an incredible powerful entity who is beyond the board, the astral realm, or the hiss itself. Hence why he never needs protective gear and never appears to be scared or frightened of the situation. Stressed, perhaps, but never afraid. Perhaps there is some higher law that forbids his direct involvement, or perhaps the cosmic ocean is so big he simply doesn't have the time to clean it all himself. Since we are talking high-level dimensions, the actual size of the cosmic ocean is something we probably can't even comprehend or measure on a physical scale. I think this would make sense when you consider that the house has fallen unto ruin after the fate of the previous director. The director is the champion, the champion is needed to maintain order, but a champion is no good without a guide that can direct them to what needs fixing. You could also consider that perhaps, due to what happened at the Oldest House, Ahti was forced to be directly involved because he had no champion in this world. That would also throw the greater essence of the Ocean out of balance. Having to focus so much on the realm that Control takes place in, the other realms are at risk of falling into disarray due to lack of attention. It's like when a disaster takes place in the common lounge so the janitor has to take care of it, but due to their extended focus the bathrooms become a mess. By the time they get to the bathrooms, the breakroom is a disaster, and it just snowballs from there until either the janitor pulls double duty or gets an assistant. That's why he's all too happy to take a vacation after Jesse is officially "hired."
Your breakdown reminds me of the 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. One of my favorite films growing up. The Gods were essentially playing a board game that governed the struggles Jason and his crew went through. Hera was given the rule that she could only assist him so many times before he would need to finish the journey on his own. I'd recommend checking out my Oldest House video as it touched upon some old the 'disrepair' themes you mentioned as well as why protecting the House is so relevant.
Interesting take! I, like an idiot, arrived at the conclusion that Ahti was an Old God only because a) he had that vibe, b) all the stuff a human shouldn’t be able to do, and c) when he gives you the cassette player he tells you that it’s from his “friends” aka the Old Gods of Asgard. You explained it much more eloquently than I ever could.
Those are logical connections to make. I'm still curious how Ahti knows the Anderson Brothers. Right now I use the term 'God' loosely considering the setting. Extra dimensional entities can't be classified so simply.
Just to point out, Ahti and other Finnish gods / spirits have nothing to do with the Viking mythology. Finnish Paganism is its entirely own mythology. Sure, we share some common entities such as Ukko / Perkele, the God of Thunder, but most religions have a separate deity for this and they tend to be very similar to one another. However, that's where the similarities end between Finnish Paganism and the Scandinavian Viking mythology.
Thank you pointing this out. Most of my research growing up dealt with Greek/Roman & Egyptian Mythos so I'm fairly new to Folklore and Mythos from the Northern European region. I wasn't sure about the exact relationship so your clarification is very much appreciated. I'm always learning new things!
Interesting take on Ahti. Clarification on the finnish mythology: Ahti is the god of Water, not just simply Ocean. He looks after the thousands of lakes and rivers in Finland - and the ocean. Based on that experience the Oldest House probably feels familiar to him. Waterways are constantly changing, like the Oldest house. Also, Ahti is described as very just and protective his people (waterfolk, but also fishermen and other humans who respect his waters).
@@iitu2 thank you for the clarification. This makes even more sense then. The Remedyverse uses lots of various references to water in its location, Cauldron Lake, Riverport, The Well in the Arizona desert, Oceanview, etc. It reminds me of Nereids in the Greek. The children of Oceanus who formed into rivers, ponds, waterfalls. They believed every body of water no matter how big or small had a nereid spirit that represented it. If Ahti cares for it all then it makes sense in the story.
Worked in janitor work for years. With out "US" the place would not be profitable. A company cant go forward without the janitors to keep it clean and tidy. Sometimes the lowest job, keeps it running. We were the lowest rung on the ladder, but kept the company going. Thanks to all the janitors and house keepers. You are the foundation that keeps everything going.
Bless you for your work. I work in construction and handle things like fires, mold, and things like that. So I have a special affinity for those who do the dirty jobs and keep things running behind the scenes.
What has always fascinated me about Ahti is his seeming omnipotence. He's able to read Jesse's thoughts, a feat that not even The Board is able to achieve. Ahti has the ability to move without being influenced by thresholds or altered items. What's more impressive is that he's able to pass on that ability to Jesse. He even has his own domain in the Oceanview Hotel. I've always thought that because of his power and omnipotence Ahti is likely very connected to The Oldest House, maybe even a manifestation of The Oldest House itself?
Adding this to my favorites. Not only was it a lesson on a character in one of my favorite games, it was a lesson on life/existence that I needed. Thank you.
You are very welcome and thank you as well. Part of what I try to do is use the literature in these games to talk about life philosophy. I'm glad it helped you. Have a great day!
In Trench's ramblings near the end of the game when the hiss has taken over Jesse's mind he says: "I remember it was like this dream I had last night. See there was this man, here, in this very room. And, well sometimes he was a plumber, unclogging the drain, because there was a fish stuck there. Yeah, a big fish. But sometimes he was an old God, you see, and he had put the fish there in the first place to um, well, to keep the waste - there was rising waste - from leaking out. So he was um, well he was conflicted, but he knew many things. But he was, he was also senile, like me. It was more like a riddle, or an omen, but it wasn't a very good one, or an interesting one but-but..." I assumed this was talking directly about Ahti, it fits with both the plumber motif as he fixes things as the janitor and the fish motif seeing as though he is considered an old god of the sea. I thought it was interesting too to consider the fact that perhaps the things like the clog or other things that were invading from other thresholds were allowed by him to slow the hiss. In order to get to where you need to go as Jesse you have to overcome those blockers that he is aware of and allows you to remove.
This... was genius. This video alone single handedly let me appreciate Control even MORE. And my Janitor. I will never look down on his Job ever again! :) Thanks. P.S. It's videos like this I'm always looking forward and I'm excited about, when I play or watch anything that has more mysteries to unfold..
Same here! I have always enjoyed watching these kind of videos trying to dissect the mysteries of the story. I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I always find it makes a story more enjoyable when we can really dig into the universe.
So many good points. So many astute observations with real information to back it up with. Made me love Remedy in a different way. “Entropy is not your friend” is oversimplifying the importance of struggle to being a good human being.
I never found Ahti creepy. I was a janitor for about a month but it was long enough for me to understand that a Janitor's job is very important. Their job is to clean up any mess they, or someone else finds and straightens it out/clean it up. A janitor is a warrior, his cleaning supplies are his weapons, and his enemy is Entropy.
I also have another theory, originally proposed by RUclipsr Metalyst: Ahti is representation of FBC itself, because they are “janitors” cleaning the “mess” after AWEs and paranormal objects
I loved the document saying some maintenance guys caught him yelling at the Clog. Like he has dealt with this weird stuff so long he is just done with their crap...literally
Good video. There is certainly a play on the concept of the eternal return in the meta sense of battle against entropy as you discussed, but also in the literal mechanics of a video game where "only death allows a moment of rest"(the lyrics of Sankarin Tango are illuminating) when you respawn. Also hero with a thousand faces is mentioned in the lyrics etc.
Remedy is very good and guiding the player through mechanics and setting into a certain mindset. Between the music, gameplay, and locations, they do a wonderful job at guiding the player through an experience. I'm actually reading through Joe Campbell's Herk with 1,000 Faces right now. No clue what it took me so long to read it.
At the first 10 minutes of playing the game I realized that he is important, and that he really can change the Oldest House's shape at will. I mean, Jesse walks through a corridor until she founds Ahti, and he says to her to keep walking THROUGH the corridor for the job interview. But you end up in the same place as you've entered the building with the elevator opened. I went back to check out if it looked the same but I couldn't because there was a wall from were Jesse came from. So clearly Ahti modified the place to allow Jesse to enter into the Bureau.
Oh 100%. He is very tuned into the place. "Janitor always has the keys." The moment I saw him and he introduced himself as the janitor I just started laughing
Great video! That was deep stuff man and I think you're on the correct path of who Ahti was. They should have included a bonus ester egg video of him chilling out with a beer in a sauna
Something cool i found on my second playthrough is that the board refers to to the hotline as "phone/seashell". People say you can hear the ocean when you put a seashell to your ear. You can hear the universe coming though the hotline.
Gosh, your explanation about entropy and Ahti left me speechless! I am playing CONTROL in these days for the first time, and... oh boy, how little do I understand of this masterpiece!!
It is definately something we will have to deal with. Whether it be something internal or external. The trick is recognizing it and actively taking steps to mitigate it.
A writing and sociological basic idea is also important: Nobody notices a nobody. A janitor is, for most people, is a "nobody", an appendix to a place or a building. They are there to clean. A job. Nobody cares... ...giving the perfect guise for anyone needing to hide in plain sight. Entry into any room! Moving anywhere! You can always be told "sorry, it is the time to clean here" nd for most people, it means that the caretaker fixing and cleaning comes in, the garbage goes out. It is great for you, a minor inconvinience. Now... did you picked up all the papers?
@@GamingUniversityUoG And in some parts, these people are the essence of a place too. :3 I think it is helpful that many times, real life spies and auditors take on such roles, so nobody really notices them because in people, there is a sense of "importance of titles", like "director", and not notice who has the real power by sheer connections or access or information... Which, I think, kind of fits that the janitor calls the director their assistant, since, well... She is, as he knows what he is doing, and she will just learn it. :3 I know this works because, well, it is kind of my job too, to be beneath notice and make sure things just work. If nobody knows I'm there, my job is going well. :3
When we enter the maintenance sector and talk to Ahti, he mentions a pensioner inside feeling the band around his head tighten or something along those lines. I think the pensioner he talks about is Noorthmore as he is inside/is the power core.
Good call and catch. Northmoor is absolutely inside the Power Plant l. It Is even named for him. NSC = Northmoor Sarcaphagus Chamber. I may talk about him in length some time but I don't think we have seen the last of this director.
very interesting... one thing you likely didn't think of is that when ahti gives you his walkman, it allows you to make sense of and traverse the chaotic ashtray maze.
I think everyone noticed by now but Ahti warped reality at the beggining when we meet, you enter a hallway with paintings and turn right (note this), you make a loop and there he is, where you were literally a couple seconds ago. When you enter that hallway with portraits again the exit is parralel to the hallway. So if you were entering it you would go straight forward. Remember, we went right. So I think Ahti can manipulate reality itself and appear in places in a blink of an eye, and ofcourse warp physical objects
I have just become a subscriber and found your site because of my interest in Control on the PS4. Thank you for this excellent and highly educational video. This has to be one of the best written explanations for any video game in memory for me and I have been playing for at least way before you were born as I am now 74. Kudos in the highest for this fine work. As an author and a scientist I tip my hat to you. Warmest regards, Rob Allen in Thailand.
Your comment really means a lot to me! I'm humbled. I always found Gaming to be a form of literature where we can explore academic ideas and that's what I centered my channel around. Cheers to you from America, thank you Rob.
![Control Explained - Who is the Former? [Spoilers]](/img/1.gif)
I'm just here to thank Ahti for the Headphones
I swear Ahti's Walkman is like my iTunes. Track 1 is a tango and track 2 is heavy metal!
We thank you Ahti!
Same
@@GamingUniversityUoG I wake up to Tango everyday
Comment the day
That ashtray maze fight was hella dope
He was in Jesse’s head in several ways, he hears and responds to her thoughts when they first meet.
Jesse: “...at least he’s a friendly face”
Ahti: “Better than no face at all”
There is definitely a lot of mysteries around Ahti that we have yet to learn. Between him and The Board/Former, the world is a lot bigger and stranger than we know.
@@GamingUniversityUoG this is a great point in synchronicity being made by elles. This is all fascinating.
I realized that at maintenance after he talks about his vacation...
Jesse in her thoughts "Vacation? Right"
And Ahti says "YES, Nobody's gonna cancel my holiday."
@@Maverick_69 You should've realize in the first 2-3 minutes of gameplay LOL :D
@@christofferrasmussen6533 I didn’t realize it until rn after beating the game and watching this video lol
“I was raised to treat the janitor with the same respect as the CEO” - Tom Hardy.
Amen to that.
I respect the janitor more than the CEO
I like to take out the trash. *pulls out Grip*
@@Miss_Trillium Thats a stupid assumption. It depends on the person, not the job title.
@@Miss_Trillium *YES!* 😎
Ahti didn’t need an HRA either
Absolutely. He was fine wandering around without one. Based upon the plot, The Board and the Astral Plane could be corrupted which suggests Ahti exists on a higher tier than even them.
All he needed was his little headphones and banging tunes and he was immune.
Piccaso Jenkins also Ahti: *it seems that you are lost *
Ahti was also unaffected inside Jesses "halucination" Near the end of the story, Which i find very interesting
@Arusiek90 your bit about Ahti making Jesse his Assistant made me think of Northmoor. In the Foundation, Northmoor discovered the service weapon and believed himself to be the first true director, thanks to his board sponsorship. But it seems that maybe Jesse is the only true director, as only she has gained the approval of Ahti, and by extension the House itself.
Me: "What is Control about?"
Gaming University: _puts on safety goggles_ "Let's talk about Thermodynamics."
There is a mad scientist meme somewhere to describe the weirdness of this content lmao.
From the creators of "But first, we need to talk about parallel universes"
We give you:
"To know that, we will have to discuss the basics of thermodynamics"
*Cleaning the toilet*
Mom: What are you so pumped up for?
Me: I am waging an endless war against entropy.
And I'm going to win!
Thats not wrong though. Imagine our homes if they aren't cleaned for a few months!! Unlivable!
My favorite part about Ahti was how there were multiple documents basically telling everyone to let him do his thing and to never bother him. I think Dr. Tan's note in Dimensional Research was the only one that was just like "okay someone needs to say something, whose man's is this??? And how is he in a R E S T R I C T E D. aReA"
Lmao. Yeah Dr. Tan wasn't in the know. I'm pretty sure at a certain point the security team gave up trying to regulate him and just let him run about doing his thing.
Gaming University I think I remember a memo from possibly Arish about how Ahti is not to really be talked about. I think they’re semi aware of what he is and know to just not mess with him.
Gaming University I just got to that part of the video, oops.
Saving this
"THE JANITOR HAS ALL THE KEYS"
He absolutely does. I wonder if he will ever share them at some point in the future.
He has all the keys so he can open all the doors freely..... To a certain Mr Door who holds different doors.
I think ahti is also the "guard" of the oldest house, because he made the elevator that took Jesse to the executive sector appear. Ahti calls Jesse his "assistant" but to anyone else, she is the director
In essence I agree. It must say something about his position and status if the Director is an assistant to the janitor.
@@GamingUniversityUoG That's because the Bureau is just a tool for his assistant to help him clean up all those dimensional spills.
I think ahti is more like a guard and a messenger for Jesse , without him she would’ve never gotten the keys to anywhere
Personally, I believe that he's a manifestation of the oldest house, because as people have said, he calls the director his "assistant", he can read Jesse's mind, he's able to appear anywhere in the oldest house,etc
@@viper2003923 fr
Personally I have found really funny that the word janitor in Finnish (talonmies) literally translates to: "The Man of the House".
Good take on Ahti!
Very interesting. I didnt know that thanks! It makes sense. Even though there is no evidence for it I get the feeling that when the Oldest House was discovered in 1964, Ahti was already there doing his thing.
Finland also has its fare share of lore on house elves and gnomes. In my opinion, Ahti does fit some house-elf shaped boxes, as silly it may be 😃
I study a lot of local mythology/folklore but that is one region I sadly haven't done much research into. I'm familiar with Celtic Folklore which sounds kind of similar. I can't wait for the Foundation DLC. I get the feeling some of our questions will be answered there.
"janitor" = "siivooja"
I just looked it up and it appears 'Talonmies' is Caretaker/Janitor and 'Siivooja' is Cleaner but can be used to describe a janitor. I'm american and don't speak finnish so I'm not sure if I'm missing something you're seeing elfbiter. Let me know if I'm incorrect here.
One of the many reasons i love Control, it highlights the importance of so called "low skilled" jobs
As a guy who works in the Construction field I fully empathize.
I'm not so sure you can call the job of a janitor in the Oldest House "low skilled", if you need to be an ageless eldritch being to qualify, though.
@@romaliop Fair, but its moreso symbolic. The director and the managers are important, but without good janitors the whole thing will fall apart. Cant do good work in a filthy workspace, right?
I work as a custodian, and I agree with this sentiment. It’s better to work in an environment with no clutter than in one where you can hardly keep track of where everything is and can’t move around much.
I love the fact Ahti goes "Perkele" in almost every sentence. Perkele is a swear word in Finnish language. He also uses finnish sayings that don't really work as well cause he says them in english. He also has that typical finnish "rally english"
I honestly wish I knew more of the language, or any at all for that matter. From what i gather the line, "Vikingit Saatnaa" or something similar is essentially, "Viking Bastsrds" even though it translates to Satans.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Saatana translates to satan but it can also mean bastard.
@@GamingUniversityUoG That's using "Saatana" as a general expletive rather than literally saying the vikings are Saatana. It would translate more closely to something like "fucking vikings" or "vikings, bloody hell".
As a Finn, it's so bizarre to see a very familiar and a beloved actor in such a video game and in such a character. He might be new to international audience, but for Finns, he's like an old friend already.
I read somewhere that after he was offered the role it was his kid who talked him into doing it. Really cool!
Is he in lots of Finnish movies/tv or something ? He's easily the most striking character in control
@@colorfuljosh yes
Is weird cause I didn't know him until Control but he gives a weird warmth and when I saw him in Alan wake 2 it was like seeing an old friend.
I didnt know him before control, and yet he still feels like an okd friend. I feel an odd comfort around him.
An interesting thing I noticed with Ahti, is that in every location where there was a janitor problem, you would find one of Ahti's cleanup carts with a radio, at the Threshold of where the "normal" house is, and the mess. It's always placed as a barrier, usually right inside a doorway, or some dividing line between "clean" and "mess". He even mentions that the things he is dealing with, hate the music, I think he says that they have no taste for good music or something. So it seems like he's using the music, perhaps some kind of harmonic resonance from it, to contain the different messes in The House, until Jesse can show up and deal with it.
Another point, and I might be wrong on this, as I don't know how much influence Norse mythology had on Finnish culture, but when you are down in the Foundation, one of the stone slabs next to Jesse as you head towards Ahti, looks an AWFUL lot like Yggdrasil, the world tree. I kind of got the impression that the Oldest House, might be a manifestation of the World Tree, that supposedly connects all realms. And that the astral plane is sort of the connecting tissue between them and the tree. Given Remedy's use of Norse mythology in the original Max Payne, I think it's reasonable they might plumb that well for more inspiration. But, another point that I found really interesting, is the music that Ahti gives you to get through the Ashtray Maze. It's a song by a band called Old Gods of Asgard......and I think Ahti says the song is from "his people" implying he's one of those Old Gods of Asgard.
I really love this game, it's so much fun to try and figure out all the details of it.
I absolutely agree. Remedy games are so much fun to riddle out.
I have noticed the Sankarin Tsngo being played at every entrance. The song refers to the Hero Archetype so thematically it would make sense every time the 'hero' has to clean up a mess in the Oldest House
Absolutely the symbol in the Foundation is referring to A World Tree. Most likely it is referring to Yggrasil but I have heard some people say it is the wrong species of tree for that. I dont know Norse Mythos too well so I cant really say one way or another.
I wouldnt say Ahti is one of the Old Gods of Asgard, simply that he is friends with Odin and Tor Anderson. But then we dont really know what all those old guys got into so it is possible. Personally I get the feeling Ahti is much much older than those two.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Well I don't remember much of Alan Wake, it was a long time ago that I played it, and I never played beyond the initial release of the game. I honestly forgot that the Old Gods of Asard were a thing in Alan Wake. I didn't so much mean that Ahti was from that band OGoA, but that the clearly mystical effect that music has, and the band's name, would imply the more mystical nature of Ahti. That he is whatever humans thought the Asgardians were. But their understanding is flawed, because Ahti and the other beings like him are much older and weirder than what few bits our ancestors were able to glean from them, and copy down in mythology. Could be totally wrong of course, but Remedy do love their Norse references wherever they can stuff them in xD
All very good points, I came to the same conclusions regarding the second paragraph. You also find the album cover for Old Gods of Asgard on the backseat of the car in the Ordinary Dump. When Ahti said that the song was from his people, and the song turned out to be metal, I made the connection.
The connection with Yggdrasil was pretty obvious, since Ahti does mention that the Foundation is the "roots" of the Oldest House, where it grew. Early in the story, I believe the Board says "The Service Weapon / Excalibur / Mjollnir", which heavily implies that the Oldest House has taken on a form that is more familiar to us in this age. Mjollnir is another obvious reference to viking mythology.
@@Doombringer55 Yeah i saw clips about the album cover in the junkyard. I can't recall if I found that myself or not in my playthrough though. But yeah I love the interconnectivity of their games. And I forgot about the Asgardian connection from Alan Wake too. It's been so long since I played that I forgot that the band Old Gods was first introduced their.
Given they have been used twice, in a way where their Power of Rock was able to directly damage/weaken the powers of darkness/negativity in the Remedy-verse, I do wonder if they are supposed to be more than just 2 old dudes who make rock and roll. I'm not up to speed on Norse mythology, or the 2 geriatric rockers in Alan Wake, but I seem to recall they were brothers right? Is there either a famous set of music/sound related Norse gods, and/or a pair of brothers from the pantheon? I know they have names that suggest who they might be, but I wonder if that's a red herring. Either they are conduits for the power of the gods, to record power into our universe to help fend off the forces of evil. Or they are gods who forgot their divine identity perhaps, and are thus living like humans because they forgot who they were.
I look at Odin Anderson as the mastermind. The point of him being the All-Father is he sees everything. In norse mythos he sacrificed his eye to gain divine wisdom, knowledge of other worlds, & the ability to read the runes. Odin Anderson stabbed his own eye out. I look at their songs more like prophecies but also second as solidifying their prophecies into reality due to the power of Cauldron lake.
I believe they do have power outside their music. In one manuscript page in AW they rescue the patients of Cauldron lake lodge and are confronted by the taken. Rather than be afraid, they were excited to be able to fight the darkness again. Since they survived until Deerfest we know they were able to combat them somehow. Mjolnir summons lighting so it acts like Alan's Flashlight to burn away the darkness.
I found it interesting that they mention Varunastra when discussing the Service Weapon. It is a Weapon in hindu/Indian scripture made of water and like water, it can change forms. A spear, a sword, a tidal wave, a hurricane. Very much like the Service Weapon that changes forms based upon the wielder.
The entire Remedy universe is basically SCP, now. Which is fine.
Just a lot less random and more deliberate
Yeah, somewhat.@@GamingUniversityUoG
Did anyone else see the note in The Foundation DLC where it says:
*"Cleanliness is next to godliness"* ???
My mind was fully blown.
Then I finally watched this video and I understand just how deep it really goes.
This game is one of my favorite pieces of media or art I've ever consumed. It just keeps getting deeper!
It really does! The more I look into it the more I find. It's incredible!
There is also a memo found during Foundation that reports Ahti being in the Foundation cleaning, even during the very first FBC expeditions down there. The guy who met him was surprised to see the Bureau already sending someone down there to clean, but said the guy was very talented especially in singing, and a good guy overall. Also, we have the VHS tape altered item, again from Foundation, which is nothing more than a record of Ahti cleaning the Oldest House and singing. So much still to be said about him, he definetly is a higher entity of some sort and not just a Finn janitor
Oh absolutely. He is far more than human. Able to resist the Hiss without an HRA. To what tier of entity he is, it's hard to say.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Just a random thing, I guess other might've said this too. But what if he's immune to the Hiss because of both his headphones and/or his "singing"? You said Hiss is basically "agressive sound" while Polaris is "soothing sound". What if he's literally able to out-sing the Hiss?
if you report to the board then the board reports to Ahti
I don't know anything about Control, but the protagonist of the Finnish epic Kalevala is Väinämöinen, a powerful sage/seer/wizard who performs powerful magic by singing, such as charming all the animals of the forest, sinking an opponent into a swamp and turning himself into an otter to infiltrate the rivers of Underworld.
@@GamingUniversityUoG he is entity-001
Ahti low key creeped me out. Good thing he was a good guy. Also ashtray maze was awesome.
He is definately offputting. I agree, especially with all the potential power and knowledge he has I'm glad he's on our side.
Man, the Ashray Maze was incredible.
Did you noticed how Jesse was never fazed by Ahti. Her gut instinct was proven right.
I liked the very first scene between him and Jesse, listening to her inner dialogue:
"I've worked enough night jobs to know it makes us seem odd. Ahti is friendly face in my book."
Then Ahti says, "Better than somebody with no face at all." and mumbles about faceless people.
Ahti made me feel good, he reminds me of my grandpa who passed away some months ago. Same use of "perkele" and idioms. Can't tell if he was a supernatural entity though.
The Ashtray Maze was one of the best levels I have played in a long long time. They knocked that one out of the park. After a long mostly silent play through, stepping into this weird multidimensional maze with epic metal guitars playing on Ahti's headphones and blasting waves of Hiss was just a great moment in gaming.
I love how Remedy went for that hard sci-fi in Quantum Break and hard sci-fi/paranormal activities in Control. This is what I needed in my life haha😁 Awesome video, well done!
Fully agree. Crime Noir for MP, Stephen King for AW, Science fiction then a Lovecraftian universe in quantum break and Control. Remedy hops genres a lot.
It's funny in the Alan Wake Files, Alan had an interview after the Sudden Stop came out basically stating he doesn't care about sticking to the same genre after finishing the Alex Casey crime novels. As long as the story is great he could care less about what genre the new book is.
I get the feeling this is a meta commentary from the Remedy writers.
Never heard that term used as a genre. I'll have to take a look.
Just playing Alan Wake II and you know why I am here. What an excellent story crafting. Well done Sam Lake & Remedy.
This game's got people talking about everything from entropy to Jungian synchronicity😅. What I dont think get's enough attention is how the writer took a supernatural threat (done before), but involved the government and a secretive agency in a conspiracy to cover up, contain, and utilize a malevolent supernatural force (to which they're failed spectacularly), and created basically a new conspiracy genre. As someone who is fascinated by government conspiracies and loved shows like the X-Files, this was fascinating from beginning to end. This really should be made into a TV drama or screenplay for a film. As it is, it was my surprise game of the year for 2019.
I say it as if X-Files and Warehouse 13 had a baby. I love the universe that they created with this.
I know that Alan Wake is in Preproduction for a tv series so they may include FBC plot threads with it.
Also random question, since you enjoy X-Files did you ever watch Millenium?
I belive they have been heavily inspired by the SCP universe. Couldent help but notice the similarities as i played along.
@@JMAssainatorz Oh absolutely. SCP and House of Leaves were influences in one form or another. Surprisingly I had never heard of SCP before this game and everyone was talking about how similar it is.
If you haven't already I would completely recommend playing through their game collection! Alan Wake is what got me into Remedy and inspired me in so many ways.
And yes I loved Warehouse 13! I got to meet Eddie McClintock (Pete) at SD Comicon and he was a truly good person.
They inspired also from the mini-series the Lost Room, for the Ocean Pacific and Objects of Power part. I highly recommend it!
I love Ahti's idioms like "throw the spoon in the corner" and " You think there's a dog buried in this ?".
I wonder what English speakers sound like when we use our idioms. Probably just as nonsensical. But honestly most of his phrases I somewhat understood.
Nope to see more of them.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Yes I'd love a Control sequel, even though I'm not sure it'll ever happen. He could always make an appearence in a future Remedy game though. I mean we did see Alan Wake in the second dlc so...
From what I remember my grandma telling me when I was a child, to throw the spoon in the corner (heittää lusikka nurkkaan) originates from the old times, when "talonpoikaismagia" (peasant magic) was just a daily reality with all of its esoteric small rituals infused in the daily routines, it apparently was some sort of a spell to ward off the spirit of the dead from the household by throwing their personal spoon in the corner of the home and reciting a short spell. Back in those days it wouldn't be too uncommon for people to still have their personal cutlery and cups that sometimes travelled with the people everywhere they went.
Yes, I really like how they portray Ahti as that Finn who speaks english but is still very rooted in his homecountry and is just doing stuff his own way. As a german native speaker I recognise some of those idioms from my mother language as well. The one about the buried dog is very common here, and we have a variation of the spoon phrase that goes along the lines of "giving away the spoon" which is basically the equivalent of the english "kicking the bucket".
Saving this
I think that the Janitor is the physical manifestation of the Oldest House
That's one possibility. I look at him more as the Caretaker of the Oldest House.
That is what I thought personally.
Don't know if this has been posted previously. When you arrive at the oldest house and look at the different paintings hanging on the wall, there's a painting of Ahti that says "The Bureau at work" or something like that, so it seems likely.
Personally I think that he is Merlin. The same being that once went by the name Merlin, the same way that the service weapon was once Excalibur.
Possibly just a coincidence but the word for janitor in Finnish would directly translate to "man of the house".
Just finished the game so i'm a bit late on the comments... :)
An interestinig detail i noticed is that at the very beginning of the game we walk through a balcony with 3 portraits. Trench and Darling are named under the portraits. The third one, in the middle, is a portrait of Ahti labeled "The Bureau at work", which supports the idea that Ahti's job is the same as the Bureau's - to keep the world safe from the chaos of the multiverse.
Then we see Ahti himself, exactly as he's depicted in the portrait, and he lets us through into the Bureau, leading us back to the same balcony above the loby, though in a different physical place, except now insted of Ahti's portrait there is the elevator that leads into the building. Like Ahti himself is the key into the building, or even the door...
Also the first time we actualy see Ahti is in the opening cutscene when Jesse sais "The world is not the room. The world is much bigger and stranger" hinting at Ahti's paranatural nature. Which is actualy confirmed in the Foundation DLC where a document describes him as the first interdimentional entity the Bureau encountered.
Jesse does say, the janitor always has the keys. I wonder if he didn't invite the bureau in the first place whether they would have been able to get in at all.
Definitely the biggest mystery in the story.
@@GamingUniversityUoG I always had this theory that Ahti always knew about Polaris, and when the Hiss became too big of a threat for him to handle alone, he is the one who lead Jesse to the Oldest house.
This entire remedy universe gives me goosebumps the more i look into it...
It's crazy. And the more we look the more we find.
That exact Sankarin Tango that you played in the background is actually sang by the voice actor of Ahti.
Yeah it Is really cool they managed to get such an accomplished vocalist to be the VA for Ahti!
7
@@GamingUniversityUoG Martti Suosalo indeed is an accomplished actor here in Finland with like 35+ years of experience. He also won a BAFTA for his role as Ahti.
Also remedy gave a hint early on into the game of ahti’s importance, his age, while playing the game you kinda find out that death in the old house is common so the fact that this one guy reached such an old age while doing such dangerous “mundane” tasks speaks to his importance
I see that. That fact he is still around is a testament. I think the Oldest agent we know is Frank Breaker and he retired.
@@GamingUniversityUoGFrank Breaker. Sheriff Sarah Breaker's father of Bright Falls? That makes so much sense now.
He's an ancient sea god. He's like the finnish version of Triton
His photo is between Trench and Darling's before we enter the Lockdown. We don't see any pictures of Marshall, Salvador, or Tommasi hanging on walls so prominently, but we do see Ahti.
I wonder what he was doing about the Hiss before Jesse came along, and was still doing while Jesse was helping to clear it out. I'll bet he was kicking lots of Hiss-corrupted ass with his mop off-camera!
Probably sounding like a grumpy old man complaining about the Agents not cleaning up after themselves and wopping the Hiss with a Mop lol.
No clue. As far as we saw the Huss never even so much as threatened him. We never saw them in the same room together.
@@GamingUniversityUoG I still like to imagine him smacking the possessed Guards upside the head with his mop, and fighting like he's thirty years younger than he looks. He looks like he'd fight with brute force wrestling moves. Clothesline, body slam, bautista bomb.
Dude that would be amazing. Someone needs to make some fanart of that! All the while muttering his gibberish while the Hiss go flying against the walls lmao.
Or just mopping up like nothing is nothing is wrong vibing to his walkman.
Nah he doesn't fight, inside the ashtray labirint (if he controlled it), he couldn't do anything about it, he just trapped the strongest enemies and make us deal with the weaker one
In one of the files I believe he was also designated as "A-001", futher lending credence to his position as a paranatural entity, maybe even the first encountered in the Oldest House.
That was my position too when I saw that. Altered Entity 001 so to speak. There was some talk that he was similar to a House Elf bound to the Oldest House and keeping it clean from anything.
How could Jesse not tell that ahti was reading her mind in the cutscenes.
Most people wouldn't immediately assume someone was reading their minds. It's possible that since Ahti came off odd and rambling about random things Jesse assumed he was just muttering nonsense to himself.
For us the audience its obvious but maybe not for the character. Not sure.
Gaming University yes the first time it can be passed off as rambling but when in the janitors office he responds to things that she’s saying right in front of her.
@@GamingUniversityUoG first time I actually thought that he just read her face. Then... I guess Jesse noticed, but since Ahti was nothing but helpful friendly janitor, she just accepted that as another crazy fact of her new reality and carried on.
Didnt she mentioned it at some point of the game, at leats i remember she does
Jesse doesn't really seem to question or be phased by like 90 % of the non-sensial stuff in the game not even at the beginning
Good job on the video. Ahti is brilliant right from the start of the game. After reaching the end of Control and knowing all that you know, remember this: Jesse became Director for the FBC, but to Ahti the Director is just "janitor's assistant". Right from the start he commented that Jesse was there for that job application and he was happy she got the job. If the FBC Director - at a human scale a HUGELY IMPORTANT JOB in keeping humanity from freaking out - is just "janitor's assistant" to Ahti, I think you can phatom the cosmological, transcendental implications here :)
Oh absolutely! The moment he appeared on screen and claimed she was there to be the 'Janitor's Assistant' I thought to myself, "oh that's how this is going to be" lol.
He is lucky he got such a good assistant! But if the fact he is vacationing in the town next to Bright Falls is any clue, he may show up again in the future. I can't wait!
Well yes, but also the Director is nothing but a line to the Board as well.
Ahti is pretty straightforwatd. What I find more interesting is the Board since there is little about them.
We know they are connected to the Oldest House, which has been there pretty much since the begging of civilization, first as a Tree. We know they decide who becomes the Director and his job is to them, to be a line between the Board the our reality.
Well Jesse is more special and basically on the same level as ahti at this point because she became one with Polaris basically so she a "god" and in a way now and is "our" or the games version of "our" world/earth guardian God like being
FYI: Finland is also known as "the land of a thousand lakes".
I didn't know that. That's really cool. Thanks for the info!
In finnish it's accually "the land of a thousands of lakes".
57 000 over 1 hectare lakes and if we count even smaller lakes, about 168 000.
The writer goes by Sam "Lake". The plot thickens
@@ruzzzlan "its not a lake, its an ocean" the plot thickener
4 years later we can now speculate that there's a treshold between the Foundation and Cauldron Lake, as Ahti's vacation takes him to Watery, and we're briefly shown a North-West looking wooded area when we find him at the Foundation. Also lots of water. (Plus the post card he sends us literally picturing him next to the sauna in Watery.)
Show this to any janitor if they ever feel like their job isn’t important
Amen to that. I work in construction, specifically helping those who have been displaced due to fire or flood get back into their homes. So this is a personal topic for me as well. Janitors deserve far more respect for what they do to keep us going.
@@GamingUniversityUoG that’s amazing! I do social work so I always really like seeing when someone else has a career that’s geared towards helping people.
Also, great work on your videos! I don’t think breaking down games like control and Alan wake are easy but you put in a lot of work and research. Keep it up man!
Keep up the good work. I know those you help appreciate the effort.
Honestly, doing a analysis for Alan Wake and Control is a lot of fun. Since the writers craft such a believable world and narrative they make it easy on me lol.
The barrels you toss in the furnace are mark with biohazard symbol. It's not toxic waste.
It could be poison, but the symbol is more often used to mark hazardous bio-material: virus samples, used needles and bandages, that kind of stuff.
It would also be used to mark human cadaver tissue.
...Those barrels are full of human meat.
@inovade tv dinners?
when I started the game and saw ahti the first time , when Jesse said "his face looks friendly"
I thought that OK they are gonna do a plot twist and make you fight him as the final boss or something
I dunno if it's just me , but throughout the game I had an uncomfortable feeling about him... I thought he was scary and unsettling
I would agree he is definitely unsettling. But that is the same for anything we dont fully understand.
The only time I believe Ahti would be antagonistic is if he determined the FBC to be dangerous to the well being of the Oldest house.
I thought the same thing, but concluded: I’ll like him until I have to kill him. But I’m really glad his character goes deeper than all of that! I hope to see him more in follow up games and DLCs.
He's just being a finn.
Mine was different, i felt like he's being friendly and cryptic at first. Then he said some stuffs like applying for a job and guiding me for directions where the building change in the beginning, it made sense for me a little but i am curious of his being.
My theory was basically the same, except I didn't make the Ocean god connection. Anyway here goes, Ahti was sort of like Heimdall, a watcher of dimensions that are accessible through the Oceanview Motel. The door at the foundation had a big tree on it, which made me think yggdrasil. The world tree that's branches and roots extend through all of existence, just like the motel.
So if there's a "mess" in one of those dimensions, send the janitor. Jesse cleaned up the FBC, and became an official janitor. Only then could Ahti go on vacation.
That's basically exactly it from my end as well. Probably better expressed than mine lol.
The Remedy-verse is seeing its comeuppance and I couldn’t be happier for it. So much great work and creativity has flown under the radar but now with Alan Wake 2 it’s all coming out of the woodwork.
I'm so glad that Remedy is seeing more interest. It's nuts how the series can be so slept on.
Theory: The board and Entity A-001 built the oldest house together, and then he created a body for him and named himself ahti. The board recognized him as the "janitor" because he can appear in any part of the oldest house, a regular janitor wouldn't be able to clean the oldest because it's so large
Dr. Ash had the hypothesis that The Board wasn't original to the House but latched onto to it after its inception. There was some discussion in Foundation that the Oldest House has a form of consciousness as well.
@@GamingUniversityUoG yea that's basically what it is, the board used the "nail" like a parasite to control the oldest house and directors and stuff but that won't work because Jesse has Polaris which based on from my understanding and how she is perceived by the view beings in the game that know of her the board is not as strong as Polaris. A lot of theories state that the "hiss" is yin/evil/darkness/chaos and Polaris otherwise known as "the guiding light" is yang/good/light/order
Basically if we assume that's true then Polaris is the personification of the battle of light/dark and good/evil along with chaos/order eternal battle with the hiss.
@@GamingUniversityUoGwhat if ahti is the equivalent of some god who is trying to withhold entities like hiss and the board into our world? Like zeus/odin/Amun-Ra.
@@GamingUniversityUoG I'm a little late to the party, but Oldest House being living (at least it's changing by itself and reacting to something happening), vertically-oriented thing connecting realities seems likely to be the Yggdrasil. Or more like Yggdrasil is a name for the same thing as Oldest House.
Due to being a finn I love that the game has Finnish things in it
I haven't studied much local folklore from Finland or Nordic Mythos but this game among the other ones Remedy produced has be really diving into it.
I'm enjoying learning about the Folklore of your country.
The Writer of the game is Finnish
Azmaeen Ansar bruh I think everyone here knows remedy is From Finland lmfao
I haven’t seen the whole of Alan Wake 2 yet, but it’s crazy how Ahti is just helping everyone.
“Under the waves, of a blue lake, dwells the mighty AHTI!”
Love that as a god of the depths, fisherman, and sailors he guides those who sail the Ocean of the Remedyverse
This explains why he is in Alan Wake 2.
You really out did yourself my guy🙏🏾
One thing I do have to say is, the guy has good taste in music.
Haha he absolutely does. And a great voice to go with it.
The fact that you actually reply to every comment with a proper response is super cute
I try! Chatting with everyone on these games and topics is the best part.
I do seem to remember Jessie reciting the Tom Zane poem in a psychiatrist tape as well.
Yeah she remembers Zane even though he was written out of the world I believe before she was born. There is a story there somewhere.
A truly unique and fantastic game that gives me hope that the whole industry will not turn into greedy repetitive uninteresting pvp shooters with tons of microtransactions and loot boxes,great job Remedy.Thanks for the very interesting video!
Seriously. I have become more and more selective with the games I play for that very reason. I'm glad we have one developer in Remedy that makes consistently good games.
Great video. The talk about Ahti needing a vacation got me thinking: Is the fact that Ahti was tired and in need of a break the reason the Hiss were able to invade in the first place?
Honestly I wouldn't try to figure out his motivation. I wonder what it would look like of Ahti got in gear and went on the offensive. Maybe his idea of going on the Offensive is guiding Jesse into the Director's Chair.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Beings on that level seem to be somewhat limited to their archetype, maybe that's just what it's like trying to express themselves on our level. I don't doubt that Ahti could kick serious ass, but the thing is - would he still be a Janitor then? Or would he become a Warrior? How would acting out of the janitor archetype change him, and his role in the Oldest House?
For Ahti, going "all out" may not ever involve physical violence - for example, if you watched him clear the clog, he might simply shoo it away with his broom while shouting finnish profanities and mop up the gunk that stays behind - for the mold, he may just use a scraper and a seemingly mundane anti-fungal spray that leaves the environment mold-free, even though it really shouldn't have worked.
The hiss is the eternal opposite to Polaris and was imprisoned by her when Jesse and Dylan as kid found her. Polaris and jesse for some reason immediately seemed to like each other and so they bonded.
Ahti can resist the hiss but I doubt he can defeat or get rid of it like jesse/Polaris because otherwise why would he specifically like and want jesse as director so much if jesse didn't have Polaris or become one with Polaris ahti would have been helpless as well after all the only thing keeping the oldest house together after hiss invasion is hedron a catalyst and gaurd for Polaris while she waits for jesse to mature so that they can become one and jesse can become stronger for her
Nah, he just took a vacation to Washington
I really wanna thank you Gaming University (pardon me, I don't know your name) for making this video. I played Control 2 years ago and it left me an indelible mark. Since then I've never played it again because i wanted to preserve what I've experienced the first time.
I've watched all your videos about Control, many times, but for me this one stoods out from the other ones. All the videos you made allowed me to experience Control on such a different and higher level, but this one about Athi and the endless fight against entropy help me alot with my personal life, it helped me better understand my life and what i needed to do.
Again, thank you so much because you made me realize an important truth about my life and my fight against chaos, it helped me alot. I don't know why I'm thanking you only now but i wanted you to know that with your work, whatever it may be, even if it's a video about video games, you can really impact people in positive ways.
Thank you, sincerely
E.D.
Thank you so much for your comment. My own life has taught me the value of working against universal entropy. My whole goal for the channel at its inception was to use the stories in games we love and try to find a positive message in it. I'm glad to hear I succeeded at least in some part.
Have a lovely day and take care okay.
I was kind of surprised to see Ahti in Alan Wake 2 when Alan was traversing the Dark Place. The fact that Ahti referred to Alan as "Tom" as in Thomas Zane (the poet who wrote himself out of existence prior to the events of Alan Wake 1 to weaken the Dark Presence) supports the theory I had that Alan was a character created by Zane to do what he couldn't and defeat the Dark Presence for good. I have yet to finish Alan Wake 2 so please do not spoil the ending for me I want to find out for myself.
I just subbed recently after watching a few videos. I just started to play Control and I don't care about spoilers. I just wanted to comment that Ahti is definitely on a higher tier than the Board, the hiss, Polaris, the former, etc. The oldest house is Ahti's house and the Oceanview Motel is his motel. The Board answers to him, otherwise why would he basically say at the beginning, tell them I sent you and they better give you the job or there will be "work for the axe behind the sauna". In the starting monologue, We see Ahti when Jesse says "Its all a lie, something to distract us from the truth" The lie is that Ahti is "just the janitor". He's the guy thats really in charge, the referee between the forces of "good" and "evil" and keeping the balance. Hiss vs Hedron/Polaris...he's just cleaning the mess their struggle makes but he lets them act autonomously for the most part. Thats my theory anyway.
I certainly agree that Ahti plays a whole other game above what The Board is involved in. Just he doesn't really concern himself with what other entities do as long as the House is safe.
As a Finn, Hearing Ahti in the game the first time was kinda trippy. I very rarely hear Finnish accent or words in a game.
I pretty much immediately connected the name to the folklore but never thought much beyond that. This was good food for thought and an awesome video. :)
In the foundation DLC there is a document that says that Ahti was able to easily move through the oldest house when the FBC had just discovered it so Ahti is likely an entity native to the oldest house
Absolutely. There is evidence based upon the finish translation of Janitor that suggests he is a caretaker to the house.
Theres nothing weird about Ahti, hes just finnish.
He fights all the bad things off with sisu perkele....
Nothing weird no as long as you know where he's coming from.
Mysterious, yes.
Ahti is also mentioned in either one of Ash's logs or documents in the Foundation DLC saying that he was surprise that the upper level sent sanitation staff first so quickly and that he enjoyed talking to Ahti. Finishing their conversation when Ash looked away Ahti disappeared leaving Ash alone again. Ash was pretty surprised by how a janitor of all people was able to traverse the caves better than him!
I wish the Foundation came out before I made this lol. So much good information we learn after the main game.
Great analysis, you've earned yourself a sub! I've been a fan of Remedy since Max Payne and Control was absolutely fantastic
Thank you so much! Welcome aboard. Max Payne is regrettably the only Remedy title I haven't played yet. It's sitting in my Steam account and I look forward to experiencing it!.
Gaming University it holds up well for a 20 year old game! Just make sure to download the “fixall” mod in the steam discussion page there is a bug on windows 10 that will mute the cutscene audio.
I love that Ahti's idea of a vacation is to spend time at an old-folks home in Bright Falls, WA, with his friends, the Old Gods of Asgard, mopping the floors.
"Be careful of your surroundings ... you never know what tree the devil shits in."
TAKE! CONTROL!
TAKE! CONTROL!
ok, ok, I will... jeez, being a janitor assistant is an endless job
The endless grind
Also when you’re traversing the Oceanview Motel searching Ahti the radio program is him reading the weather forecast for Finnish waters.
Great video! What an amazing game
I remember reading that at some point. I wish I understood Finnish so I could have picked up on these little things during my playthrough.
@@GamingUniversityUoG Ahti’s dialogue has a lot of depth and is filled to the brim with Finnish sayings and quips that are just translated straight to English which makes them sound hilarious to us 😅 But your video adds even more depth to the whole thing and makes it all make complete sense. Good stuff
As an engineering student, I got really confused when you brought entropy and Thermodynamics into this. But now it makes sense.
Lol hopefully it made sense. I know I lost a lot of people during this comparison. Always hard when english uses the same word to mean different things.
In certain universes and mythologies, for one reason or another the highest tier of Gods either cannot or refuse to directly involve themselves into the events of lesser beings and realms... but they can choose champions and guide them.
Given that Jesse's, as Director, is called the janitor's assistant, it is obvious that whoever is director serves as Ahti's champion. With what little we know of Ahti, he's obviously an incredible powerful entity who is beyond the board, the astral realm, or the hiss itself. Hence why he never needs protective gear and never appears to be scared or frightened of the situation. Stressed, perhaps, but never afraid. Perhaps there is some higher law that forbids his direct involvement, or perhaps the cosmic ocean is so big he simply doesn't have the time to clean it all himself. Since we are talking high-level dimensions, the actual size of the cosmic ocean is something we probably can't even comprehend or measure on a physical scale.
I think this would make sense when you consider that the house has fallen unto ruin after the fate of the previous director. The director is the champion, the champion is needed to maintain order, but a champion is no good without a guide that can direct them to what needs fixing. You could also consider that perhaps, due to what happened at the Oldest House, Ahti was forced to be directly involved because he had no champion in this world. That would also throw the greater essence of the Ocean out of balance. Having to focus so much on the realm that Control takes place in, the other realms are at risk of falling into disarray due to lack of attention. It's like when a disaster takes place in the common lounge so the janitor has to take care of it, but due to their extended focus the bathrooms become a mess. By the time they get to the bathrooms, the breakroom is a disaster, and it just snowballs from there until either the janitor pulls double duty or gets an assistant.
That's why he's all too happy to take a vacation after Jesse is officially "hired."
Your breakdown reminds me of the 1963 Jason and the Argonauts. One of my favorite films growing up. The Gods were essentially playing a board game that governed the struggles Jason and his crew went through. Hera was given the rule that she could only assist him so many times before he would need to finish the journey on his own.
I'd recommend checking out my Oldest House video as it touched upon some old the 'disrepair' themes you mentioned as well as why protecting the House is so relevant.
Interesting take! I, like an idiot, arrived at the conclusion that Ahti was an Old God only because a) he had that vibe, b) all the stuff a human shouldn’t be able to do, and c) when he gives you the cassette player he tells you that it’s from his “friends” aka the Old Gods of Asgard. You explained it much more eloquently than I ever could.
Those are logical connections to make. I'm still curious how Ahti knows the Anderson Brothers.
Right now I use the term 'God' loosely considering the setting. Extra dimensional entities can't be classified so simply.
Just to point out, Ahti and other Finnish gods / spirits have nothing to do with the Viking mythology.
Finnish Paganism is its entirely own mythology.
Sure, we share some common entities such as Ukko / Perkele, the God of Thunder, but most religions have a separate deity for this and they tend to be very similar to one another.
However, that's where the similarities end between Finnish Paganism and the Scandinavian Viking mythology.
Thank you pointing this out. Most of my research growing up dealt with Greek/Roman & Egyptian Mythos so I'm fairly new to Folklore and Mythos from the Northern European region.
I wasn't sure about the exact relationship so your clarification is very much appreciated. I'm always learning new things!
Interesting take on Ahti. Clarification on the finnish mythology: Ahti is the god of Water, not just simply Ocean. He looks after the thousands of lakes and rivers in Finland - and the ocean. Based on that experience the Oldest House probably feels familiar to him. Waterways are constantly changing, like the Oldest house. Also, Ahti is described as very just and protective his people (waterfolk, but also fishermen and other humans who respect his waters).
@@iitu2 thank you for the clarification. This makes even more sense then. The Remedyverse uses lots of various references to water in its location, Cauldron Lake, Riverport, The Well in the Arizona desert, Oceanview, etc. It reminds me of Nereids in the Greek. The children of Oceanus who formed into rivers, ponds, waterfalls. They believed every body of water no matter how big or small had a nereid spirit that represented it. If Ahti cares for it all then it makes sense in the story.
Man this video is great. The beginning scene with Ahti is DEFINITELY what fully pulled me into the game, and it just got better and better from there
First time I saw Ahti I knew we were in for a treat.
Worked in janitor work for years. With out "US" the place would not be profitable. A company cant go forward without the janitors to keep it clean and tidy.
Sometimes the lowest job, keeps it running. We were the lowest rung on the ladder, but kept the company going.
Thanks to all the janitors and house keepers. You are the foundation that keeps everything going.
Bless you for your work. I work in construction and handle things like fires, mold, and things like that. So I have a special affinity for those who do the dirty jobs and keep things running behind the scenes.
What has always fascinated me about Ahti is his seeming omnipotence. He's able to read Jesse's thoughts, a feat that not even The Board is able to achieve. Ahti has the ability to move without being influenced by thresholds or altered items.
What's more impressive is that he's able to pass on that ability to Jesse. He even has his own domain in the Oceanview Hotel.
I've always thought that because of his power and omnipotence Ahti is likely very connected to The Oldest House, maybe even a manifestation of The Oldest House itself?
Adding this to my favorites.
Not only was it a lesson on a character in one of my favorite games, it was a lesson on life/existence that I needed.
Thank you.
You are very welcome and thank you as well. Part of what I try to do is use the literature in these games to talk about life philosophy. I'm glad it helped you. Have a great day!
In Trench's ramblings near the end of the game when the hiss has taken over Jesse's mind he says:
"I remember it was like this dream I had last night. See there was this man, here, in this very room. And, well sometimes he was a plumber, unclogging the drain, because there was a fish stuck there. Yeah, a big fish. But sometimes he was an old God, you see, and he had put the fish there in the first place to um, well, to keep the waste - there was rising waste - from leaking out. So he was um, well he was conflicted, but he knew many things. But he was, he was also senile, like me. It was more like a riddle, or an omen, but it wasn't a very good one, or an interesting one but-but..."
I assumed this was talking directly about Ahti, it fits with both the plumber motif as he fixes things as the janitor and the fish motif seeing as though he is considered an old god of the sea. I thought it was interesting too to consider the fact that perhaps the things like the clog or other things that were invading from other thresholds were allowed by him to slow the hiss. In order to get to where you need to go as Jesse you have to overcome those blockers that he is aware of and allows you to remove.
This... was genius. This video alone single handedly let me appreciate Control even MORE.
And my Janitor.
I will never look down on his Job ever again! :)
Thanks.
P.S. It's videos like this I'm always looking forward and I'm excited about, when I play or watch anything that has more mysteries to unfold..
Same here! I have always enjoyed watching these kind of videos trying to dissect the mysteries of the story.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I always find it makes a story more enjoyable when we can really dig into the universe.
So many good points. So many astute observations with real information to back it up with. Made me love Remedy in a different way.
“Entropy is not your friend” is oversimplifying the importance of struggle to being a good human being.
I never found Ahti creepy. I was a janitor for about a month but it was long enough for me to understand that a Janitor's job is very important. Their job is to clean up any mess they, or someone else finds and straightens it out/clean it up. A janitor is a warrior, his cleaning supplies are his weapons, and his enemy is Entropy.
I also have another theory, originally proposed by RUclipsr Metalyst: Ahti is representation of FBC itself, because they are “janitors” cleaning the “mess” after AWEs and paranormal objects
This is really good explanation and analysis! Thanks.
I love janitors in character. So knowing Ahti shares an important role makes me happy.
I hope to see more of him in the future! It is an archetype that I love as well.
The moment you heard him said that the weird slime in the tunnel near the coolant pump is his old enemy, you know this guy is no common.
I loved the document saying some maintenance guys caught him yelling at the Clog. Like he has dealt with this weird stuff so long he is just done with their crap...literally
Even though it’s been a while since I’ve played Control, I do love watching informative videos on things I missed out on such as this one
I'm glad I could help out and you enjoyed!
Good video. There is certainly a play on the concept of the eternal return in the meta sense of battle against entropy as you discussed, but also in the literal mechanics of a video game where "only death allows a moment of rest"(the lyrics of Sankarin Tango are illuminating) when you respawn. Also hero with a thousand faces is mentioned in the lyrics etc.
Remedy is very good and guiding the player through mechanics and setting into a certain mindset. Between the music, gameplay, and locations, they do a wonderful job at guiding the player through an experience.
I'm actually reading through Joe Campbell's Herk with 1,000 Faces right now. No clue what it took me so long to read it.
The Janitor is the guy with all the keys, in a place like the oldest house keys are REALLY IMPORTANT!
The janitor knows the building inside and out, has all the keys, and can be considered its Caretaker.
Damn, seening this video after playing Alan Wake 2, I just can say how amazing and crucial for further story understanding your video is!
I news to do an update on this for sure. I'm reading the Kalevela first to get all the info before I do though.
you deserve way more views and likes! just stumbled across this, its very well made and thought through
Thank you so much for the kind words. I have a lot more in the works!
At the first 10 minutes of playing the game I realized that he is important, and that he really can change the Oldest House's shape at will. I mean, Jesse walks through a corridor until she founds Ahti, and he says to her to keep walking THROUGH the corridor for the job interview. But you end up in the same place as you've entered the building with the elevator opened. I went back to check out if it looked the same but I couldn't because there was a wall from were Jesse came from. So clearly Ahti modified the place to allow Jesse to enter into the Bureau.
Oh 100%. He is very tuned into the place. "Janitor always has the keys." The moment I saw him and he introduced himself as the janitor I just started laughing
Great video! That was deep stuff man and I think you're on the correct path of who Ahti was. They should have included a bonus ester egg video of him chilling out with a beer in a sauna
Wish we did lol. We get a post card of him just outside the Sauna but that's it
Wow, that was a much deeper and more interesting video than I had expected. Excellent stuff!
I appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed it!
This description of Ahti made me appreciate Ahti even more. Great video
Me after starting Control: Ahti is up to something
Me after finishing Control: Ahti is up to something
the first line in Sankarin tango is "I once tought the sea was lake"
Whole tune was about the eternal heroes journey. And yeah lots of Alan Wake and Max Payne references in the lyrics
Ahti is an amazing singer.
I met him once and my first thoughts were "He is a friendly face."
Better than someone with no face at all
Something cool i found on my second playthrough is that the board refers to to the hotline as "phone/seashell". People say you can hear the ocean when you put a seashell to your ear. You can hear the universe coming though the hotline.
Exactly! I love those little details.
Gosh, your explanation about entropy and Ahti left me speechless! I am playing CONTROL in these days for the first time, and... oh boy, how little do I understand of this masterpiece!!
This rabbit hole is ridiculously deep. Have fun exploring the world of Control!
@@GamingUniversityUoG thank you. :)
Your voice commentary is so well done. Perfect tone. Can see you going onto great things. Brilliant vid
I appreciate your kind words and your support! I hope so. I didn't realize there was so much interest for this kind of content. Have a great day!
He's literally fighting entropy by putting this much effort
Entropy is not a friend, it is a part of you.
It is definately something we will have to deal with. Whether it be something internal or external. The trick is recognizing it and actively taking steps to mitigate it.
A writing and sociological basic idea is also important:
Nobody notices a nobody. A janitor is, for most people, is a "nobody", an appendix to a place or a building. They are there to clean. A job. Nobody cares...
...giving the perfect guise for anyone needing to hide in plain sight. Entry into any room! Moving anywhere! You can always be told "sorry, it is the time to clean here" nd for most people, it means that the caretaker fixing and cleaning comes in, the garbage goes out. It is great for you, a minor inconvinience.
Now... did you picked up all the papers?
It is true most people don't give the caretaker a lot of notice. Kind of part of the building in a certain sense.
@@GamingUniversityUoG And in some parts, these people are the essence of a place too. :3 I think it is helpful that many times, real life spies and auditors take on such roles, so nobody really notices them because in people, there is a sense of "importance of titles", like "director", and not notice who has the real power by sheer connections or access or information... Which, I think, kind of fits that the janitor calls the director their assistant, since, well... She is, as he knows what he is doing, and she will just learn it. :3
I know this works because, well, it is kind of my job too, to be beneath notice and make sure things just work. If nobody knows I'm there, my job is going well. :3
When we enter the maintenance sector and talk to Ahti, he mentions a pensioner inside feeling the band around his head tighten or something along those lines. I think the pensioner he talks about is Noorthmore as he is inside/is the power core.
Good call and catch. Northmoor is absolutely inside the Power Plant l. It Is even named for him. NSC = Northmoor Sarcaphagus Chamber. I may talk about him in length some time but I don't think we have seen the last of this director.
Also, the Hotline that we get talking about the power plant is titled Northmoore
I've seen a lot of your videos on Control but I think this one is the best one yet.
Thank you so much for your comment! I truly appreciate it.
very interesting...
one thing you likely didn't think of is that when ahti gives you his walkman, it allows you to make sense of and traverse the chaotic ashtray maze.
That is another example of it yes. He did indeed facilitate making order of that Maze. Good Catch. Thanks for pointing that out!
nobody seems to mention that ahti also seems to have some sort of mind reading ability as he frequently responds out loud to Jesse's inner monologue
I think everyone noticed by now but Ahti warped reality at the beggining when we meet, you enter a hallway with paintings and turn right (note this), you make a loop and there he is, where you were literally a couple seconds ago. When you enter that hallway with portraits again the exit is parralel to the hallway. So if you were entering it you would go straight forward. Remember, we went right. So I think Ahti can manipulate reality itself and appear in places in a blink of an eye, and ofcourse warp physical objects
It definitely feels like he caused a building shift right then
The amount of detail Remedy put in is absolutely amazing. This “Remedyverse” is the next big thing in gaming.
I cant wait for AW2 to really being in new audiences. With the hype that is building around it I'm expecting a surge in Remedy fans.
“Who is Ahti?”
He’s our guardian angel
I can get behind that!
These videos are amazing. I'm hooked to how well you present the source material.
this video was insanely good. I really appreciated it, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed!
I have just become a subscriber and found your site because of my interest in Control on the PS4. Thank you for this excellent and highly educational video. This has to be one of the best written explanations for any video game in memory for me and I have been playing for at least way before you were born as I am now 74. Kudos in the highest for this fine work. As an author and a scientist I tip my hat to you. Warmest regards, Rob Allen in Thailand.
Your comment really means a lot to me! I'm humbled. I always found Gaming to be a form of literature where we can explore academic ideas and that's what I centered my channel around. Cheers to you from America, thank you Rob.
"What are his motivations?"
Let's talk about thermodynamics first 😂
Lmao! Welcome to the insanity of my mind.