AN END TO ALL THINGS... | Slay the Princess - Part 4
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- Slay the Princess has reached it's ending... but WHICH ending is the real one?
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The Narrator is the guy who is trying to stick to the DND script while we the player are actively trying to fuck it up.
Voice of the Contrarian in a nutshell lol
Ironically, the voices voice actor plays DND.
@@silentblackelfiedang
After you put it like that... I can really relate to Narrator lol
I love when my players surprise me. It's always fun for me.
An end is just a new beginning, and some other profound stuff.
It's also accurate to this game as reaching an end causes you to begin again.
The end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end after all.
To "begin" in a metaphorical sense? Because there's only ONE of the four endings that takes you back into the beginning.
Did you skip to the end of the video?
is that not the case with most...games that end..?
Depends which end. Some of them are endings
"They say nothing lasts forever but they're just scared it will last longer than they can love it."
Markiplier gives it a new perspective as he says that things are beautiful while you love them and a chance to leave them while you are still in love is the only thing that keeps them still beautiful because if you keep going onn forever, you start hating and resenting things and endings are the only beautiful things in the end i guess. This is a beautiful game.
This is one of those games that you could pour hours and hours into like a good book and when you finally reach the end you feel sad yet fulfilled with the journey you took. And you'll never regret it
This is one of those games that really makes you think during and after you play it.
Because it really was a "Choose your own adventure".
If you believed you needed the knife, it became something that needed the knife.
If you didn't, it didn't.
If you thought you needed to question things, it gave you reasons to question what you were being told.
And so much more.
It makes your belief the script that decides the story.
Which works much the same as it does irl.
Except instead of the world changing for you, you shape yourself into the kind of person that you think can act upon your beliefs.
Most of the time we don't even notice it.
And. . . maybe we need to. Maybe we just need to take a breath for a second and go back to where it all began. . . and then start again.
I couldn't tell you. The meaning that you draw from this will likely be different from mine, and that's just how things are.
But you should hold onto that meaning. Because it is uniquely yours, just as you are uniquely you.
Good luck out there, everyone, and perhaps we'll meet again on another vid.
16:47 Hero goes full Australian 😂😂
The storytelling skills are amazing. It's engaging from start to finish.
this game is so awesome! Even though I've played it before almost all of the princesses Mark got I hadn't ever seen because I played the game with the intent of saving her so my play through was really different. I wonder how many versions of her there are
>espouses his entire philosophy about why endings and death are important
>uses that argument to choose the "everyone except the Princess lives forever" option
I get the feeling you never had any idea what killing the Princess actually meant for the world in this game.
He did. He wasn't given the option in the basement once he took the knife. He used that argument to explain why he *_shouldn't_* pick the looping option. The ending he ultimately chose was great.
lmao Im so glad he went back for a different ending, I was tweaking when he switched those two up
@Zoova In my opinion looping is better than slaying her purely because it gives the two of you the chance to find the proper out of rejecting godhood and living mortal lives.
Yeah, he got kind of hung up on the whole "We can't be gods and live forever" deal while forgetting the "Is a world without suffering, change, death, and endings worthwhile?" question.
well but that's just because of the main dilemma of the game, right? princess herself is 'the change', and the narrator aka the echo wanted to slay the princess cause the echo always got to end due to the idea of changing. so it is true that 'the change' is the essence of 'ending things'. but every ending leads to a whole new start, due to 'the change', simultaneously, which means the change herself makes everything not only end but also loop, infinitely. to reach the ultimate end, which means to destroy the loophole and make the game come to an end, is to destroy 'the change'. while there could be no such ending without 'the change' logically, 'the change' still never would be able to finish something in an eternal sense. ironic. but it reveals that mark's not wrong either way.
Never thought I would learn a life lesson in a Markiplier lets play
What an amazing series, one of my top on Marks channel now.
This was an emotional but such a good experience i loved this game
This game is a love letter to gaming itself
I MISSED TALKING TO EACH ASPECT IN THE ENDINGS
If mark didn't load the save after he "died" to the beast princess the first time, he would have gotten the vore ending to that segment. It's uh... horrid. Possibly the most horrid.
I love Mark describing what he's perfect ending would be, then choosing the choice he thinks will leat to that ending just so he found that was not it, so he chooses the only other options and is also disappointed so he just decides to say "Nuh uh", backtrack a lot with savestates and choose the ending he desires. Based!
Not a single game made me cry... But this... This game is different
I love it when you play games like that's what really helps me get into the feeling of the game and like get down with understanding all the characters it makes me care stop what's happening😊😔😔😔
What happens to a mf when there's no one to heart lungs liver nerves them
"Everything goes dark, and you die."
Either get living or get dying, as the great Freeman once said.
Funny ass comment 😭🙏
Honestly "Heart Lungs Liver Nerves" became a sort of vocal stim for me
Get someone in your life who will heart lungs liver nerves you fr fr 💯
I love how, even in the end, the Princess is still what you expect of her. Throughout the entire game, she adapts to what you think she'll be. If you think she's dead, she's dead. If you think she's a beast, she's a beast. If you think she's innocent, she's innocent.
If you think you'll need that knife, she's someone you'll need to use it on. If you think you won't, she isn't.
In the end, that first choice is the same. Your endings are the product of what you think you'll need.
If you take the knife, you think there's some path in which you'll need to kill her, to end death. And if you change your mind, you still have the knife, and it still needs to be used.
But if you don't take the knife, then you don't think you'll need it. You don't think you'll need to kill her. You don't think death needs to end. And it doesn't.
This game is incredible.
it was different, originally. I remember a path where you'd take the knife and still end up leaving with her in the end. There have been a lot of additions and changes since the game released.
Underrated response. The game explicitly tells you that the princess is entirely a perception. You think, therefor she is. I hadn't realized/considered that taking the knife so profoundly influences that perception.
@@lordyathnon definitely an underrated comment, opened my eyes lol
that just hit me with the biggest forking brain wave ever
it makes so much sense now
i need comments like this to help me figure out what the "true meaning" the game is trying to tell, my brain just isnt big enough for this kind of shit
it’s something almost lovingly sick about two entities falling in love while actively trying to kill each other because it’s the only thing they know
The story goes even deeper than that, it's awesome and chaotic XD I'd be happy to spoil some things for an explanation. :P
Edit: 28:50 sums up things more so :P It's not that it's what they know, it's that it's what (in these forms) they've been designed to do.
♠️
@@EmotionalSupportChaosDemonI would love for you to spoil and explain to me 🙏
@@fluoriteByte whats that meant to mean
@@deeclassdude4745 the black romance quadrant from the homestuck troll romance quadrants, it mean that you hate someone so much that you love them
i love how mark just needs to know what happened with the head even though he called us weird before
I had to go look up what happens cause HE DIDN'T TAKE THE FUCKING HEAD
@@TheBluePhoenix008I looked it up and regretted it because I decided to buy the game and now in the time between his 3rd and 4th video I’ve beat the game 8x 💀💀💀 I wish I bought it before I watched any of the playthrough tho
Its funny how one of the reasons we were giving for why to take the body was to give her a proper burial, which is a very reasonable reason. As well as that the narrator was telling us to leave it, and the skeptic took pointed that out. But he wasn't listening then and thought there was no reason.
SKILL
ISSUE
NO FAITH
I scremed at my phone when he didn't take it lmao
Mark at the beginning of the play through: LETS SLAY THE PRINCESS!!!
Mark at the end of the playthrough: alright I’ll get a little sappy with the princess
I'm not too surprised. After all, this is a love story.
58:29 This makes me die laughing
Mark pretty much went all in, in pretty much all 4 parts on trying to murder a girl chained up because some narrator told him to xD
'This is a love story.'
Mark: "DIE!"
A true love story of a grown man a "princess" in a video game.
Narrator: slay the princess
Mark: lay the princess
9:56 That little “I can fix her” nearly killed me XD
I like how the Voice of the Hero has its own character development alongside the main character
fr, this game just has so much impact tbh, but i HATE how you leave the voice of the hero 😭😭
my favourite character ngl
Honestly same that was so funny
Literally went through the story archetype of the "heroes journey"
:')
Very sweet ....
You could also meet other voices at the end there. There is much more to explore, and many more princesses. I am kinda sad that he didn't meet my personal favorite one.
@@noobigod1695 eh he only left for the "romantic moment" i doubt he left forever in the world of this story
Even though he didn't truly 'want' that ending, I'm just a little salty that Mark skipped all of the voices' dialogue in that first epilogue. The Smitten romantically sobbing in the corner while every other voice celebrates their victory was my personal favorite moment of the whole game.
I get you but it’s a little much having to listen to like 10 different perspectives one after the other, especially since most of those perspectives were unfamiliar in this playthrough.
If you’ve played the game fully and discovered each and every one of them it’s kinda nostalgic but here we have no history with a lot of them.
@@cheetahda1o763 What history is there? They weren't there and then they were and the same goes for us, in a weird way.
Plus you can be unfamiliar with them and still take in all the dialogue. That's the whole point of a dialogue based game.
You can slow it down to 0.25 speed to read the dialogue
@@Dragonnerd75 That's too slow. What about 0.5?
@@Dragonnerd75 Nah just play 2x speed and get good
Not Mark being like
“Thassa beautiful thing cuz there ain’t no wrong endings, you just have to pick one.”
And then five minutes later-
“I DONT LIKE THAT ENDING I WONT ACCEPT THIS”
I mean, I agree with him. That first ending presented itself very differently like he said, breaking the cycle and such but it just turned into "you are god anyway and this universe is from your bloodshed." Like... no. That's not at all what the choice was presenting?
@@WSilvermaneit makes sense in the context of the rest of the game. You did end the cycle of life and death but I shows how little that choice means when everlasting stagnation is the alternative to death. The flaw is the narrator's perspective of death and the reality he creates as a result. It's materially same end as the first ending Mark got (the ending where you kill the princess and get your "reward") but without the enlightenment and context. Only this time you have some modicum of agency within that stagnated universe.
It may not be the ending he wanted, but it is exactly the ending he built for himself.
i think he misunderstood the choices. he was saying death was a good thing then proceeded to kill death.
@@JPaul-gl6th I agree. That first ending Markiplier got really shifts your perspective of what the Narrator actually wants. An eternity of "bliss".
40:32 I audibly gasped when I heard the voice of the Hero come back with all his memories. He was the best consciousness, our true inner voice, and it had always felt like he was the real "us" throughout the story. It made me so happy to have our best friend by our side in our final moments.
Heartbreaking that we had to leave him behind, but it was incredibly brave of him to make that choice for us. A selfless choice, born out of the desire to see happiness upon the one person he has truly ever known. Farewell, dear friend. May your voice find us again in another life.
I did tear up a little when he said 'You don't have to do this alone'
@@noabinnendijk361 I find myself to be fairly stoic in most media but damn did it get me teary as well.
For me my goat was always the paranoid voice lol
The cold was always the goat.
I got emotional 😭
Voice of the stubborn is the definition of “GO NO STOP”
the contrarian is my favorite "hold the blade the other way it's cooler! now huck it out a window, fuck the narrator" shits funny
The voice of the cold is any summer break
I love him
He's like me when I'm stuck with the same bossfight for the 100th time
GO NO STOP
Voice of the Stubborn: Says anything.
Market pliers: YEAH! >:)
Its not market pliers its marker player
Who? Oh you mean market fire
You mean multiplier????
@@al5vin964 you mean metal wire
Ahh, mark of dire!
The real princesses were the friends we slayed along the way
1K likes in two minutes
Indeed they were my friend, sure hope a funny bald guy doesn't impersonate you in the near future.
true friendship?
☹
Slay away
Btw you've only seen like 25-30% of all the princesses. Lots of the ones you didn't see are SUPER FUN
fr, the apotheosis? the wild? the fury? the thorn? so many cool ones
The razor too
The witch and the thorn are by far my favorite routes. Ans tbe wild is just insanity
@@seguaye If we've learned anything from RE, I have a feeling he will very much like Tower/apotheosis and adversary/eye of the needle lol
Knowing him, the dommy mommy made of pure knives would've made him actively salivate on cam
Something I really like is that even in the end, the princess is exactly who you think she is. If you believe she’s secretly a monster, then she’ll turn into one. If you think she’s just an innocent girl, she stays that way.
If you take the knife, she’s someone you need to kill.
And if you don’t, she’s someone you can save.
And if you just ignore the cabin then come back later, she's everything all at once because you're extremely unsure about who she is.
And in a larger context, this applies to people in general. Obviously not as strictly black and white as its portrayed in the game (people are more than you perceive them to be), but many times how you perceive someone influences how you treat and respond to them, which in turn influences how they treat and respond to you, which in turn influences your perception of them, which in turn- its a loop. Just like the game.
@@eternyti I'd say only difference between reality and the game is you have the decision not to let your perception of someone influence how you treat them, unless you really had to. It all depends on the situation really.
that's an application towards the symbolism of the mirror. she's like a mirror, your perception of the reflection is what that perception is.
@@gamenerd5062 But there is no mirror. There's the table, the blade sitting on the table and the door to the basement
I love how Mark absolutely refuses to stop playing until he actually found a truly happy ending. I wasn't even sure if there was a happy ending in this game.
Different people seem to consider different endings the "happy" one. Personally, my best ending will always be the one where you merge with the Shifting Mound and break out of the construct together.
My happy ending is the save the princess ending where you started without the knife. So sweet.
@@clairevannette4972 I like the one Mark got but the version where you take the Stranger out of the cabin instead is kinda cuter imo
That the beauty of this game. "The happy ending" is what you choose, what you believe in.
@@wiiinkstranger?
58:21 I'm happy you chose to be a little sappy. By not being stoic for a moment, you discovered something familiar in her and were pleasantly surprised. That was beautiful to see
The only thing worse than a heart revealed is a heart unshared :)
:)
I love this, it’s the small things
It's adorable
*This.* Absolutely this. ❤️
Marks first time playing he chose to slay the princess, his last choice was to leave with the princess, its poetic in a way.
Mark's*
Markiplier is definitely making his fans romantics.
@@jameswent48 that would mean mark is, LOL
@@catlover2733possessive version be like:
I mean practically 70% of people also chose this path
The hero came back because if you think about it he was the only voice without a route. He wanted to always play the role of a "hero" and he helps you do just that.
And even better, if The Stranger is your first route then the Contrarian is also there with the Hero. Both of those two had every reason to disagree with The Narrator.
The hero came back because he was the only voice with you when you first met the princess. As the comment above mentioned the Contrarian also shows up if they were with you when you first met her.
@@RiptoGakt Contrarian only disagreed with the narrator because it was fun.
@@4566Iggy No he does have a route - all of them, if you count chapter 1
I’m a little disappointed that Mark missed some of the more…powerful princesses. I think he would have really respected their…power.
Let's hope that when the Pristine Cut comes out for this game, he ends up stumbling into the Adversary and her......power
Oh..right..
Markiplier is all about power alright...
You gotta respect the power..
When I first saw this game and saw *those* princesses I IMMEDIATELY thought of Mark, but not because he’s a masochist or anything, it’s just respecting the.. power
Even when he doesnt know it, Mark is an exceptional storyteller.
He started believing he needed to kill the princess, and ended it with walking out of the cabin alonside her; it is as perfect an arc as one could want for this story.
For people who don't understand (~3 min read, also includes a TLDR version):
The Princess symbolizes change and transformation. That also includes death. Her name is the Shifting Mound (the big amalgamation of all of the princesses). The MC and the Shifting Mound are two pieces that complete each other. They were originally one God, but were separated by The Narrator. The Narrators goal was to create a world without death and change. That's why after slaying the princess, the MC is stuck in the cabin doing nothing. To The Narrator, that IS a happy ending.
The Princess in the cabin is a part of the Shifting Mound. However, the Shifting Mound is not entirely The Princess. Throughout the game, each ending you get gives the Shifting Mound new perspectives. The Princess in the cabin is the first princess you find. The Shifting Mound is an amalgamation of every possible perspective/princess in the game.
The final choices are to slay the Shifting Mound (rid the world of death and change), leave with the princess (leaving the cabin with The Princess), leave with the Shifting Mound to start new worlds, or loop the game forever to prevent the end of the world as you know it. There's no good or bad ending. It depends on your beliefs. I'll go into detail on each ending below:
SLAY THE PRINCESS: This ending is the direct opposite from the "Leaving With The Shifting Mound" ending. This rids the world of death, but also change itself. Most importantly, the MC will have to live an eternity alone. The MC will go on to forge new realities and universes, but why? Is there a meaning to life without death? Should there be life with no change? And if life is meaningless without death, why create these universes where existence is pointless? The ending depends on your answer to these questions.
LEAVE WITH THE PRINCESS: The MC abandons the Shifting Mound and godhood. They forge a new beginning with The Princess in the cabin. The MC and The Princess remain separate beings. They are free to explore this newfound freedom together without the shackles of The Narrator. The Princess can finally just exist without a role to play. I personally see this as the most romantic and happy ending. I don't have much insight on this ending. If anyone has any ideas, please reply to this comment!
LEAVING WITH THE SHIFTING MOUND: This ending is the direct opposite from the "Slay The Princess" ending. The MC and the Shifting Mound leave together. Although they are separate beings, they are able to come together as Gods to create new universes. Endlessly, they create and destroy new worlds together with their newfound power. This makes the player question things. Is it good to keep the Shifting Mound alive? Is it okay to create these worlds just to destroy them in the end? The ending depends on your answer to these questions.
LOOPING ENDING: This is the one Mark goes into detail about at 46:01. In this ending, the MC and The Princess choose to start the game over again. This means that The Princess doesn't die, but the MC dies instead. The entire world restarts back to when you first opened the game. In this ending, everything remains the same as it was before you ever learned the truth. Will you put blind faith into yourself and The Princess to keep choosing the same thing forever? Is it moral to keep this vicious cycle going when it has caused you and The Princess so much pain? This ending prevents the end of the world as you know it, but is it a good solution? Although you could theoretically keep choosing this forever, it's not likely. Someday, there will be an end. I apologize for my lack of insight on this ending. I personally find this one the most dissatisfying. Just as Mark says, everything must end eventually.
There are a LOT of details about this story that I intentionally left out for the sake of simplicity. This game can be confusing at first, so I want to start off with the basics. There are multiple video essays that you can find about this game. Overall, I find "Why Slay the Princess is a Genuine Masterpiece" by PakPak to be the most informative and easy to understand.
TLDR VERSION: The Princess and the MC were two gods that were separated by The Narrator. His goal was to rid the world of death and change. The final choice is dependent on your beliefs. Do you think the world would be better without death and change? Go with the "Slay the Princess" ending. Do you think the world needs change and death? Go with the "Leaving With The Shifting Mound" ending. Do you want to abandon your Godhood and lead a simple life with The Princess without The Narrator? Then go with the "Leave with The Princess" ending. Do you want to prevent the end of the world and keep looping the game forever? Then go with the "Looping Ending."
Damm thx for the explanation, I was very confused for a long time but now I can say that this game and story is extremely good and enticing
wait so is there only 4 endings?
Leaving with the princess ending is my favorite
At the moment, yes, however, this Fall the game is going to add a LOT more content called "The Pristine Cut" which is basically a director's cut of the game, which will include lots of more options during the game and a brand new ending :)@@lightningstrike5024
@@lightningstrike5024 Depending upon your point of view, yes. Strictly the ending, then yes, there's only four options. But how you get there can really change how you perceive that difference. A player who leans into "this is a love story" might immediately leave with the Shifting Mound and not even question it. A player who feels particularly annoyed by the Shifting Mound, but still recognizes the importance of change and death might question it, but ultimately still leave with the Shifting Mound. Ultimately, the same ending, but it can feel radically different because of how you got there.
Just so everyone knows, this game is getting a FREE dlc released in fall 2024, which, to my knowledge, contains tons of new content, including console play, new chapters and expansion of old chapters (including a new ending) so dont sleep on this game. the art, writing, humour, and the voice acting is so good that I've played it to death, and I loved every minute of it. Support hard working indie devs by buying this game, or at least try the demo or spread it via word of mouth. His game might not be for you, but I guarantee it will be for someone else, so please. His game is really something special.
Oh boi
And play Scarlet Hollow! Same Devs and a super fun adventure. It's episodic currently but its just as endlessly playable. Highly recommend Speaks with Animals on at least one run.
Mark really only explored like 5% of this game as is, and now there's going to be *_MORE?_* Please tell me the man who made In Space With Markiplier isn't going to abandon this game after getting only a few vessels.
*The Prisoner* is another one of my favorite princesses. Cutting your own head off is already pretty metal on its own, but her personality are also pretty badass. She's also very close to her chapter 1 form, which is nice. I also like the clever little *unspoken plot* she cooks up and signals to the skeptic, hoping he'll catch on, *to outsmart and fool the narrator,* as they both now know there is a force that interferes if you openly cooperate. Initially she pretends to not recognize you until you give it away when she goes "I though we weren't goint to give away the game", indicating she was already seeing you as a partner and feeling out ways to covertly cooperate with you to make it out this time and was looking for angles to set it up. And then when she cuts off her head the skeptic goes "So that's her play", followed up later by pushing you to take her head out with you, meaning he caught on to that being her plan aswell. And she winks at you as an extra hint aswell. And finally "Well played." when the gambit succeeds. She was also playing up her antagonism as part of fooling him.
From the cutting your own head off gambit to patiently outwaiting the prison itself, the prisoner breaks out pretty epicly either way. Probably the most clever princess aswell, hence "a clever heart" as the entity puts it at the end.
Or alternatively you don't catch on that she's putting on a show and hoping for you to cooperate again like you did before and instead just slay her after she trusted you. Uff.
Also, the skeptic says “I could’ve sworn she moved” to get you to think she’s still alive, and the narrator tries to deny it, because your perspective is what determines if she’s alive or not
"Clever Girl" -Jurassic Park
My personal favorite is the one at the ending of you decide to leave the cabin in the first try.
Mark did not catch on, at all xD
yesss me too. i wish she had more to he apths, which is why im so looking forward to the pristine cut ✨
I find it funny how Mark accidentally chose a world void of death and endings at first, while speaking about how things have to end and how important change is.
I get it though, I also got confused by what they all meant at the end and what would actually be what I personally would choose. It's a confusing game at times, but such a great story.
Yeah he must've thought slaying the princess would have caused the opposite. After the narrator clearly states "a world devoid of death and changes", you can see him reprocess and go oh wait that's the opposite of what I want
@@samusaran13372i understand though because if not they would loop. He mistook the end of the hero and princess looping to mean that for the entire world, not realizing it did the opposite to the life-death cycle
Taking the knife (I believe) essentially locks you into cursing either yourself or the rest of the world into either eternal life or an endless cycle
You know what's funny? That means the Narrator's plan worked on you. The reason why the Narrator tells you to slay the princess at each and every instance is to instil the idea that this is what saves the world into you. He literally conditioned you into believing that slaying her is the painful but better choice. His hail mary was just you getting used to bringing a knife and killing her.
@@RealmDragolord_X She outright says that you might make a different choice in a future cycle, so the cycle isn't really endless. So long as it is still possible to eventually end the cycle, the probability of eventually ending it in the future is 99.99999999...% (Infinite nines).
It's like rolling a die over and over again, forever, or until you roll a one. Eventually you'll roll a one. The probability of never rolling a one is infinitely small.
Love how Mark is slowly starting to look like Captain Jack Sparrow
HAHHA it’s gotta be the headband
omg yeah!! he is totally looking like Jack Sparrow and Will Turner too!!
Maybe we get to see him in the sequel hahaha
Legit
“…Pirate.”
i only just now realized just HOW choice dependent this game is. i got a completely different ending entirely (and different princesses!!)
Same!
Well... that is the point of the game
Perhaps he forgot what the game told him from the very beginning. This is a love story. There is no out.
🖤
Mark: "I shall stick to my choices"
Also Mark: [goes back to pick the slightly better choice]
I mean, can you blame him? That ending wasn't worth it.
The path of the unknown and being with someone who wants to be themselves, taking a journey filled with endless possibilities, is far more rewarding. Going alone is meaningless, but going with someone is much more exciting and comforting, knowing that you won't face the unknown alone.
Because he unknowingly chose an ending he didn't believe in where he killed the Princess and rid the world of death and change even though he went on a rant on why death is important
mark didn't stick to any choice in this second part
Constant as the Northern Star, if the Northern Star was the blinky streetlamp at the far end of a parking lot.
I mean, this is the guy that restarted his entire Until Dawn playthrough just to save Ashley. 😂
Damn, that got heavy. This game went from "Well, the name is Slay the Princess so I'm going to slay the princess" all the way to "Well, we're both divine entities that seemingly cannot exist with each other but also cannot LIVE without one another, so what existential crisis inducing option do we take for a better eternity?"
Indeed heavy and quite existential, makes you think about what awaits us on the other side.
But that true. Without death things do not change. Without change there is no death. So if you get rid of one it's meaningless change or stagnant death/life. Which the point of the endings.
Repeat , true death everything. Or stop caring about the cycle and simply leave move on.
I just realized the narrator is the true embodiment of NOTHINGNESS. He IS OBLIVION. He doesn’t hate the princess because she is good or bad, he hates her because she IS. She is the essence of change itself, beatiful and ugly, strong and weak, life and death. This endless cycle is the very thing that the narrator stands against. He wants to save everyone from PAIN and SUFFERING trough void. I kinda like this guy after actually getting to know him.
fr it got deeply philisophical fast, its a nice change of [ace from the usual youtube vid
It was nice seeing you leave with the Princess. You fought to maintain that stoic, laughing nature, but when you took her hand and the music kicked in I could see you shaken and smiling. You put it perfectly, the loop came full circle. You entered the cabin the first time to slay her, and ended up properly rescuing her at the end.
"shaken" 😂
Sure bud
2024 bait is really shit from the looks of this teply...@@maartenn2217
I find it genius to make the Princess warp and change according to how the player (the Long Quiet) feels/thinks about the Princess and what she can do. She literally acts under Pennywise rules. The only danger comes from your believing she is dangerous in the first place.
Believe she is a harmless princess and she is, whether you save her or kill her in cold blood is your choice. Believe her a trickster or hiding something under her sleeve, and she WILL have something under her sleeve. Believe her an overwhelmingly powerful diety and she will be. Everything can only be defined once you put your own onto it. What Nothing does best is restricting Everything into a single being or nothing at all.
This game is so fucking smart for what is practically a schizophrenic guy gaslighting himself to kill literally all of existence for 6 hours straight
yeah and that's why the narrarator tells you she's a princess, because by doing so, you would be inclined to imagine her as helpless and weak.
@@simplekamii Actually, the Long Quiet was the one who made her a princess and Narrator just went with it. Here is his answer to question "Why did you make her a Princess?": "I didn't make her a Princess, but I wove the idea of her into something your scattered mind could fathom. You chose for that something to be a princess."
@@TheShut1 oh thanks, I didn't find that dialogue
@@TheShut1 Further question: "Why not an ant? Or a banana?"
I love narrator characters in games. The narrator in this game is similar to The Narrator in The Stanley Parable, they both want to stick to the script and end where it should, and they'll do ANYTHING to keep you on the 'correct' path. They are the anti-theme to what mark just said at the end of the video.
Im just happy he chose the "I love you" option at the end. I was cheering for him to pick it. was not disappointed
How is that the "I love you" option when the ending they remain gods she outright says that line?
@@phantom-ri2tg I thought they meant the literal last dialog choice where he says 'I love you' right before they leave the cabin together? I don't think they were referring to the actual ending path itself.
@@paladinstorm Didn't realize they said it leaving the cabin too.
Bro why did this make me SOBBB
The whole Yin and Yang nature of the Princess and the Hero, where one cannot live without the other. Always seeming to be in this eternal battle because of their god-hood/nature, not because they hate each other but because of who they were designed to be. But in the end choosing to forge their own path away from the eternal torture and fighting, to reject their good-hood and instead explore their love for each other.
Beautiful. An absolutely beautiful game.
Ohhh, so that's what the story was
I kinda got a bit lost somewhere after Mark started debating with the weird Princess deity type thing of which I already forgot the name of
Your not the only one that turned into a waterfall
@@AxeecoThe Shifting Mound, it’s what The Narrator calls her
From what I understand, they weren't always fighting and they were once a single entity until they're trapped in the construct by the Narrator (the real one, not the Echo).
Mark's monologue at 46:00 reminded me of a quote thats stuck with me for quite some time.
"it is important to wish something would last forever, but a foolish mistake to desire eternity" from the Shield Hero Light Novel series. I believe it was in book 23 but it has been quite some time since i read them.
That summed it up perfectly
I love how Mark misunderstood the plot of the game so heavily he chose the opposite ending than the one he was preaching about. The Princess IS death, so killing her made everyone immortal so nothing can end; the opposite of what he wanted.
That's a very Mark thing to do, and I love that for him.
She's also change and transformation so killing her would also mean eternal stagnation.
Had he left with the Shifting Mound they would shatter the construct together and proceed to witness the entire life cycle of the universe again and again
Well, I think he knew killing her would mean stagnation for everyone else; however, not killing her meant stagnation for the protagonist, being forced to keep living in a cycle. Basically, the Long Quiet sacrifices their own freedom for the sake of the world's freedom, right? There isn't a world (except for the last ending Mark got) where both the world and the Long Quiet are free
@@ivanfloresvazquez7490 There is. And it's called godhood. It's the one that best supports Mark's philosophy but he prevented himself from getting it by saving in the cabin
Also the protagonist isn't being forced to live in a cycle. It's a mutual decision. And just because it's a cycle doesn't mean it has to go on forever. Eventually, or even on the second go, the protagonist might be a different choice to before. The princess even said it was likely
@@reubensalter8125 the narrator says change still exists because both the hero and the princess have pieces of the other in them.
The last ending he got truly is the best one , they are both excited about their future and about to experience it together and the credits roll. It’s a good thing Mark decided to see multiple outcomes since that’s one of the best parts of the game. This series is definitely a classic already.
0:02 Oh Mark, you don't have to justify taking the head; we were pleading behind our screens for you to do it.
I was honestly wanting to take it to give it a proper burial, even if I suspected it would end the world
@@goob-cr6yq Same, somehow it felt wrong to leave her there. It's interesting comparing this ending to the last one he does.
@@Haley_Halo Since a stranger on the internet was so kind to reply, I am curious about your perspective of the game. What did this playthrough mean to you?
@@Haley_HaloBesides had he actually sat where he was told he would've it was all part of her plan.
She needed his help to get out but instead of having him do it, she would ask him to give her blade so she could do it herself. This way she could play dead and avoid the narrator's detection. But she couldn't tell him that otherwise the narrator would try something, so she'd just have to hope he would blindly trust her.
There's also a way to finish the route with her head fully intact and it involves the chain next to her.
The cool realization for me is the Hero coming back at the end to help make a decision, almost entirely proving the point of duality. Super cool metaphors in this game.
Please please please return to this amazing game when the Pristine Blade update drops this fall! It’s going to add a bunch of content and new endings and paths. I would love to see your reactions to even some of the paths in the current version if you ever feel like exploring it more!
the WHAT 👀
hang on theres MORE to this game?? i played it myself after episode one i didnt think there could be space to add more
@@inward3179 one fun idea could be a sort of new game plus
you get a chapter 0 "The Game" with no narator or voice of the hero or anything and the princess shows you a map of all the paths with unexplored ones being greyed out
and then in the following chapters the princess replaces the narator's voice like you're playing dnd with her
they won't add this but it's what i would do if i were the creator
also what if the princess is cowardly and frees herself before you get to her and tries to sneak behind you and leave when you enter the basement
or what if the princess gets older
also, the fact that you can't slay the princess without taking the blade
some paths could be unlocked by going downstairs unarmed and then strangleing her or attempting to do so, though it does seem cruel
and maybe there could be a key stashed somewhere, the princes does ask you if you have a key after all
they give you the option to not go to the cabin but once in the cabin you don't get the option of not entering the basement, this could also be interesting
what if you could ask about the mirror in chapter one and freak out the voice of the hero, this wouldn't lead to a new path but it would be a funny gag
there's really a lot of things they could do with this game
@@greengreen110I like the chapter 0 idea it would be much easier going in past routes instead of going to saves
@@inward3179 Yeah! They’ve described it as a director’s cut and it will have 35% more content! It’ll be a free update and is slated to come out sometime this fall!
Love how Mark went on a whole speech about how important endings are but in slaying the princess he got rid of endings and everything will now stagnate. How very ironic.
They mentioned that if they abandoned there place in godhokd then something will take there place. Mabye a god or mabye simply entropy but everything will not be stagnant
He quite literally agreed with everything The Shifting Mound said/was, but failed to realize that “ending the fight” meant agreeing with her and allowing death to exist. He chose exactly the wrong ending because of poor wording LOL
@@jason.s.music.He was also impeded by his save point being AFTER the critical jucture of leaving with the shifting mound, lol
well he wanted to end, if he had combined he would have become a god. He said that even though he agrees with the philosophy he still wishes to end which is why he chose to not be a god
i was also surprised, but later on he explained that while does agree with everything, he doesnt want to be the "god", still wants to have a feel of the unknown as a person
so its basically a self centered choice of "well if i cant have it the way i want, i might as well end the loop for good"
The Narrator/Echo’s limited number of questions is part of the design, if you want to get all the answers out of him, you have to keep replaying and pursuing all the different lines of questioning.
Which is also by design to encourage doing more routes to see all the different types of Princess you can get.
You get a maximum of 5 per run, there’s about a dozen.
I sympathise with the Echo, in the philosophical quandary that the narrative of Slay the Princess is built around, he plays the role of those who suffer because of the Shifting Mound, Change and Death. In this cosmic play between Gods he is the mortals caught between given the chance to change the natural order.
In this role he is the Fear of mortality and Grief, asking that if you could change the natural order to avoid the pain of loss, why wouldn’t you?
Knowing I cannot change the way things are I must either accept it, or rail against it in futile denial but in this scenario the inevitability of death is not a foregone conclusion.
I do not agree with his solution, Eternity would become a prison eventually, but for all those who fear death, both for themselves and others, and those who have suffered because of it and would wish to avoid it happening to others, he is their voice in this argument.
He is sly, everything he accuses the Princess of being, he lies, often by omission or half-truth, he cheats like when he tries to override your decisions and will do anything he can to see his goals to completion.
In short, he’s a desperate mortal person who fears the grief death brings and will do anything to spare whatever mortal race lives outside the Construct from it.
It’s unnatural, it’s sad and so very human. I always find myself sad when I see those pieces of himself breaking in the shattered mirror, the hollow afterimage of a being that feared death so much he personified it and tried to have it assassinated facing oblivion himself. He’s resigned, every word laden with finality, weariness and defeat as his fate, the fate of the world and the future tumbles from his grasp.
And I find some kinship in that. I’ve felt what he has to some extent, like everything has slipped away from you and all you can do is wait out the end.
Personally, in regards to the philosophy about the ending, I prefer the pacifistic ending. I don’t think any heart to heart genuine at the end of a knife. Choosing to give up the onus of choice and leaving it behind together, accepting what will be and appreciating what we have, in this case companionship.
In my case I got my ideal outcome on my first run. I started bringing in a knife, trying to talk it all out before suspicion got the better of me.
By the end I was weary of the bad blood and just sought to talk it out, leave the overbearing life of godhood behind and just walk out a mortal, hand in hand, two people finally allowed to sit down and talk, decide to cut the knot and leave it behind.
Edit: Sorry for the heavy thoughts, this story cranks up the melodrama and sophistry in me. There’s a lot to think, feel and talk about in this, another of its well deserved merits.
every part of being a human is at odds with itself. we're contradictory by design.
I feel as though the narrator serves an additional, although maybe not intentional narrative. I've tried rephrasing this many times, and I'm not sure how I want to say it. essentially, he wastes what limited time he has attempting to evade death in some way. but, he wasn't really trying to immortalize himself, his motive seemed selfless, although misguided. it wasn't about him, it was about the death of every living mortal. in my own experience with death, at a young age, I wanted nobody to die, ever. it was horrifying, and absolutely heartbreaking. why can't I just have one more conversation? why can't we just have one more experience? it felt so cruel, to have someone that important ripped away. what I'm getting at is that a great deal of time later, upon reflection, I knew how many conversations and experiences I took for granted. if he had lived forever, everything would have been so much less important. finality gives life weight. with no finality there's no reason to ever move forward or change. finality drives change. my initial response, while reasonable for where I was in life, wasn't mature (of course). all things end, they have to.
I've reread this again and it's not what I'm wanting to say, but I can't find the phrasing right now. oh well. regardless, I appreciate your comment.
I think it's a maximum of 9 or 10.
Plus godhood isn't that overbearing. I mean you're not really doing much, it's just like watching TV. And you don't have to leave the knot behind if you know what I mean 😏.
@@reubensalter8125
19 in total if you count the variants of the Wild and the Grey as one each.
I count 10 if you discount the paths that can go further but since you can end the route at any of the second chapters (sans the Razor) you’re left with a total of 21 possible vessels.
@@rustkarl Actually I think it's 27 vessels in total. Plus at least 3 more with the pristine cut.
I thought you meant how many questions you can ask the narrator. My bad. It is 5 vessels per route.
im pretty sure that mentality is just humans trying to cope with the unavoidability of death, no one has lived long enough to show that being immortal deprives life of meaning@@egg_addict
47:27 at around this timestamp with the meaning of life monologue hit hard. I’ve been brought to tears honestly. I’ve been struggling to maintain a friendship in the same way that is described. I continued trying everything, constantly winding up at the same point of “Should this just end?” and I finally decided the only right answer is that yes, I need to let go. If this is something I truly love, I need to be okay with it ending. I can mourn it’s ending, but I can also remember all of the friendship in its entirety. I can remember the highs, the lows, everything, because it all has meaning. Rather than me constantly clawing at the world to keep it going, tarnishing the value this friendship had, I’m finally letting it drift away. It’s an interesting feeling and I hope I come out of it a better person. Thank you Mark for adding your wonderful thoughts to the experience that Slay the Princess is. It really impacted me in a meaningful way
TL;DR: me when i overshare online once again bc of fucking course i did
TW: gets awfully existential at the end + minor mentions of suicidal ideation
i......... bringing "the state of a friendship" into this makes this hurt so much more. Oh. Oh no.
parting ways with a friend hurts just as much as a breakup does. you can love the friendship itself and all of those memories with that person, and losing that hurts. good god i am going to cry what have you done /lh
i've lost three close friendships. the first one was... just very unfortunate timing. that person was going through a tough time at home (we were 11), and at some point they ended up taking their anger out on me. made fun of my artwork (they drew, too, and i really looked up to them, which just made them doing this hurt more), "i need help with life but you don't" in response to me saying i have a therapy appointment that day, "stop making excuses" when i am in actual pain, actively put it into my head that they didn't like me, we'd block each other for like 3 days and then go back to normal like nothing happened, it was this whole thing. it ultimately ended because i felt i deserved an apology for their actions from a year prior. i was afraid to ask for it at the time because i felt like they were the only friend i had, but then i did make a close friend (that i actually still have today, somehow), and that was when i felt secure enough to ask for an apology.
aaaaand long story short... i did not get my apology. they just started ignoring me one day. Febuary 27th 2019, to be exact. that time period of my life is a damn blur... my cat died, i was afraid my closest friend would leave me, and then that fear turned into fear that any new friends i made would want to leave me for that person and replace me with them...... it was a damn mess, really. i put myself through so much self-hatred because i wanted to prove to them that i could be... "good enough" for them, or something. in simpler terms, what happened was
>im sensitive with extremely bad rejection sensitivity dysphoria and accidentally take everything personally
>friend is hurting
>friend ends up lashing out at me
>i take it personally bc im not emotionally intelligent yet
>mfw i learn to be emotionally intelligent and a therapist friend only AFTER this friendship is over.... ouch.
i'd do things so differently if i could just relive that part of my life again. i would've just thrown my desire for an apology away and helped them. supported them as much as i could. stayed kind to them even when they were not kind to me... i guess i'd just go back to that time to be the doormat they wanted me to be. if i hadn't taken their words so personally... who knows where we would've been by now. i still see them at school. and good god does it hurt my aching heart when i hear them laughing with their new friends (we had one class together last year)... because i can still remember when it was me laughing with them. when we had fun together. when we WERE actually friends, when they showed up at my doorstep crying because they asked me to come over to their house after school one day when i didn't have a phone to text my mom so when my mom noticed i didn't come home she called the police/the school. what me and that friend were doing during that time my poor mom was so stressed? laughing together. having fun. smiling. giggling... when they showed up at my doorstep in tears, and i asked, "...are we even friends...?" and they said, _"yes, of course we're friends!!!"_ after all those things they had said to me some months prior...
............can you tell i've relived these memories a million times? to a depressing degree???
putting this into the perspective of this game just... makes it hit different. this is part of the reason i'm so scared of making friends... because i know that friendship will end either when we die, move away and lose contact, or naturally drift apart as we grow older. it's the way i am so sick and tired of people coming into my life just to leave. moving core teachers every year breaks me because i stayed at the same elementary school for 7 years, and then in middle school we KEPT our core teachers until we left for highschool... i guess i'm just too used to people i love leaving being painful. even my beloved choir teacher i've had for like 4 years had to move away at the end of this year. everything about being a senior scares me.
...even my favorite games have to come to an end. i'm working on 100%-ing them just to linger in the experience for as long as i can.
people pass by or pass away. experiences end. days end. _i_ will end... which, is kind of funny, because i find death to be a very comforting thought bc i'm very mentally ill. the fact that i won't have to exist forever... is comforting. and yet at the same time... it makes my inner self so angry. im not afraid of death, hell i'm even a professional at practicing passive suicidal ideation, and yet even so... dying when i have such big, ambitious dreams feels kind of insulting, for some reason.
ANYWAY. jfc do i love to yap... this game's fucking awesome because it's got me questioning how is it that i welcome death, but despise change?
sorry if you read this whole mess. or thank you, i guess i should be saying. i hope my words can mean something to someone
@@catsungdae You don’t know me and I don’t know you but I hope that you can find comfort and that one day you can accept that change is well, inevitable but is not bad nor is it good, it just is.
Funnily though, I have a similar dilemma with change, I know that I should accept it but it’s just hard for me to do it. Right now I’m at a point in my life where I feel stuck and don’t know where to go or what to do, I feel so unmotivated by everything a lot of days and then others I want to make something, do my passion but then I’m unable to do them because I still find myself lacking any motivation to do anything and it’s horrible.
I know that I should change my behavior and my mentality but it feels so out of reach, however this game has given me a bit of hope in reminding me of what it is to be and know that I CAN do it, that I CAN break the cycle and the habits and the mental stagnation that I have being feeling these past months, I just have to put my mind to it and see it through.
Change is inevitable and I need to come to terms with it and just let it happen.
We will push on through, stranger.
I think this is the first time I've ever actually learned something from a game. You can continue within the cycle of what you're comfortable with and what's easy and predictable or you can break the cycle just for the chance that there's something better beyond it. I think I'm going to end the game. I'm going to break the cycle and step into the unknown. I want better for myself.
This is the message I felt in my soul from this episode as well. Mark talking about change and things needing to end in order to basically bring meaning brought tears to my eyes. I found I was shivering with the onslaught of emotion and thoughts and many regrets. I didn't expect any of that but I have been moved by Mark before. I miss meaningful deep conversations like that which really keep your mind fresh and growing. My life has been stuck and I'm looping in the same miserable story with no ending in sight. I feel the desire to find a way out of the loop. The emotions brought on by the insights from Mark and this game weren't unpleasant though. These days it's nice to feel something different that I've not felt in awhile.
This is exactly what I felt too. It made me feel a bit more courageous to explore the unknown for the hope that a better one exists out there. Maybe there's an acceptance too? But I feel like that one is still a work in progress - I still need to do the experiencing to that point
The thing I learned is death is natural, change can be good and when life gives you a blade, throw it out the window (actually don't do that lol)
that's the same premise of higurashi and i love it
@@reubensalter8125obviously death is natural, that doesnt mean its good, suffering is natural, should we be happy it exists?
1:59 "... I don't think there's a perfect game to be had here. I think there's just MY game to be had."
Right there. Mark accidentally figured out the truth of living. And no... I'm jot joking.
I've needed to hear this
@@neyademon1021 Work hard, be kind, stay safe, and love the hell out of yourself.
They're not always easy, and success is rarely a straight line, but working on these 4 things are all anyone can ask of a person.
You're doing a good job, and we're proud of you.
and yet funnily enough he wasn't satisfied with his ending. deep down everyone wants a good ending
Mark has always been drawn to the sweetness and sappiness. And I think he’s grasping at a higher virtue than “things can be given meaning because they end”
But him staying true to that philosophy “everything must end” leads to the ending he doesn’t like. So almost automatically he goes back.
And he chooses the ending with a relationship. Two real people with major differences enjoying each other’s company and facing the unknown.
The importance and meaningfulness of relationships is something I know mark believes but just didn’t elaborate on in this series.
I’m just pointing out he knows deep down that it’s higher than the biological necessity of death and endings, And that it produces more meaning than self determination alone.
Beautiful Game, beautiful Mark
10/10 would philosophy again
i'd like to think mark went back because of the ending he chose isnt the one he thought would be the "everything must end" ending because in that ending the MC becomes immortal and will not actually "end". the ending that he wants is for both the MC and the princess to live normally without one being immortal or looping eternally. to live normal lives and die normally and to give meaning to life
@@zkrinv oh that’s a good one too. We do underestimate the meaningfulness and goodness of a normal human life.
@@zkrinv That's why I have a headcanon that this is the 'canon' ending despite there offically being none. Games like thse only end when you walk away, and in this ending the two just 'walk away' from it all. The game is over, the universe will go on without them, and they are now mortal with only each other to rely upon in an unknown world.
He just misunderstood what that game option meant.
It was actually the option that led to the opposite outcome of what he believes. Which is why he went back.
The princess is the concept of death. Of endings. So by killing her, he's stopping all endings and all death from ever occurring again.
Which is the opposite of what he wanted XD
To get the ending he actually wanted, to accept death, he had to free the princess. He had to free the concept of death and endings.
@@Agonylord52 ah that actually makes sense. Good response.
The game does sort of frame it as an “ending.” Which confused both me and him. But it’s the ending of all endings itself. Which of course goes against his philosophy. We were just too focused on the loop of kill the princess come back ad nauseam
But I also notice now how he shys away from the full power of the goddess ie: INFINITE ENDINGS.
I think the game wants us to see that change doesn’t produce meaning or purpose, nor does infinite quiet or stillness. But that without both of those meaning cannot occur.
I always considered the "leave the cabin together" ending the true ending too. And it makes me cry every time. I'm a sucker for a unique and strange love story.
I like that Mark explained his entire philosophy about the necessity of change and death and then chose all the dialogue options that lock him out of the ending that probably most aligns with that philosophy.
Where the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet recombine and break free of the construct as they were before the Narrator got involved.
Though I do like the ending where the Princess and the Hero just go about their lives and that's not too dissimilar.
well he wanted to end, if he had combined he would have become a god. He said that even though he agrees with the philosophy he still wishes to end which is why he chose to not be a god
Well the dialogue options are kind of cryptic, I wouldn't ever understand what to do to accomplish this first try.
@@stepgames7698 The narrator is extremely clear that killing her will break the cycle and result in one eternal universe.
@@Xsuh this, exactly
Iirc they don't recombine in that ending. Shifting Mound says that the Narrator separated them and that it's irreversible.
It's always projects like this game and ISWM and whatnot that leave me with this nebulous feeling in my chest.
*How am I supposed to move on?* How do I continue with my day? How do I click on another video when it lacks the emotional depth, how do I go back to what I was when everything else seems so shallow, now? And the thing is, I can't go back. I've been touched, moved, deeply changed. It's the ultimate achievement for creators, I think. To make something that forever impacts a person. And I can attest to that fully, for I can confirm that every time a work of art like this pulls me into this existential headpspace, my life view is forever altered. I'm not sure what to do now, I'm a bit of a loss.
I think I need some sleep, now.
All things must rest.
Literally feeling the exact same thing. Glad to know im not the only one.
i absolutely understand. I am left feeling more relaxed...and more anxious at the same time. Like I've been living life wrong the whole time, worrying too much over nothing. I've no clue what to do now for the time being. its been such a long time since a piece of art/media has affected me in such a way. hats off to the creators
@@bigbangluvabc123 And isn't it cool that's exactly the point? You haven't lived life wrong but if you think you should change something like worrying well you have that choice.(obviously I know that can be really hard! I struggle as well.) Worry or not worry you are existing and that is all that matters. It's kinda odd having a game be so existential. It reminds us of our fleeting realities. Every day we can consider us a new princess or hero. All of our past selves are apart of us now and there truly is no right or wrong way to live your life because it's up to you! I love how we all can interpret this game differently because it exactly is that in real life as well. It can leave us feeling a little shakey probably due to the existentialism of it all but I understand you completely. Ahh this became a bit long! I hope you have a good day
Indeed, we love this dance of the moment, do we not? I've been touched too deeply too many different times to calculate it all and over again. We want to say the world on our thoughts, to honor what gifts we've been given in the unending pain and pleasure. Ever different, given the chance to repeat our steps, the structures we set give us meaning whenever we follow, bend, or break them. If ya want my take on it, I personally feel as if I should create something in my own vein of infinity to offer to the crowd, as a way to repay the debt and keep the cycles spinning. A shoulder to the wheel while I'm still here to play.
Thankfully, I'm not given an immeasurable to spend and end as I please in this life(Though I'm Hindu, which does give me the chance to cackle whenever narratives swipe at reincarnation for their deeply bound stories), as I was once at a loss(and could be again in the future), but would ask of you to perhaps try your hand also at creation and giving to others after having taken this all. Regardless of what happens, I imagine it'll answer some questions that still lie on your shoulders, the ones that've pushed you uncertain with it all.
Dude… you absolutely nailed what I’m feeling that I was unable to describe. I’m so glad I’m not the only one. It really makes me feel better.
That emptiness though that you get when something like this impacts you so profoundly is absolutely insane. This game is a masterpiece. 😢
If this really is the end, then that's fine.
But I'm going to hold onto hope that Mark decides to at least look at some of the other branching paths. Especially since he missed out on some... Let's say, "bigger" princesses.
Mark has still yet to witness the *POWER* that's in the other routes of this game.
There will be Pristine Cut update in the future, so that might make him want to check the game again possibly, but also I find this "Omg Markiplier, you really gonna like this 'step-on me mommy dommy" princesses you missed, you really missing out" kinda cringe. That's like when Game Theory tried to make "perfect pokemon" that Mark would want to smash and then he rejected that. Gotta leave the man to come on that path himself, otherwise the magic is lost and it's more like artificial.
@@TheShut1 didnt he smash the second one they made tho? Lmaoo
@@Nekoriz no, Mark smashed a combination he made using the head GT second attempt and the rest of the body from a joke one from the end of the same video, which is still a good example of only him knowing what, when and in which way he likes stuff he likes.
@@TheShut1 Ok first, not everyone is like that about her. I'm more like "he needs to witness her radiance." Though the other ones I'm more interested in him seeing are Adversary and Razor because one is heavily romantic and one is just pure fun.
Also there is no magic to begin with; even in a blind no guide playthrough, it all just comes down to chance, surprise and awe.
The question still isn’t answered, WHY IS HE A BIRD?
The Narrator made the Long Quiet in his species's image.
Birb is birb.
What more is there to say?
Probably a lot, but IDK.
why not?
why are so many gods animals? there's not really an answer to that question. it just is
@@Peak_Antelopewrong, the echo is most probably a crow becaise crows are commonly associated with death and there's nothing in the game indicating that the outside world is ruled by some kind of bird people.
Also, we are a bird because birds are a symbol of freedom. We aren't shackles to the wall or the narrative like the princess.
Birds in this game are used as metaphors.
"there is no perfect game to be had there's only my game"
A motto more lets players should take honestly. It is frustrating when people miss certain things that are only beneficial, such as a special armour or weapon, but it's even more frustrating when the player constantly refers to a guide and doesn't experience the game naturally. In a dream scenario they go back after beating the game and see what they missed, but theres only so much time a content creator can spend so I doubt many will bother doing that.
Ngl? This is going to change how I play games for the rest of life. I'm going to try and stop looking at guides now. I've always been afraid of missing out on something and that's why I frantically use guides and walkthroughs.... but in reality, those guides and walkthroughs make me miss out on the most important thing of all: the actual experience, the journey itself. Kinda wild how a video game, a simple sentence from a man on the internet, and a RUclips comment can impact people like this. I've been changed in some profound way. Thank you? Yeah, thank you.
@@reydragonclaw1128 I guess I didn't even consider it in the context of regular players since we do have the luxury of being able to take our time and/or replay games but yeah, I've fallen victim to over relying on guides too. Definitely something I'll think about for future games I play too.
Eh, i still have more fun when i have a guide by my side, not like a step by step guide, but a wiki, it really feels more fun to have everything presented to you so i can plan ahead and experience at least the fun stuff.
My main example is dark souls, i was having a horrible time with the game until i visited the wiki and started seeing everything the game had, and while i got spoiled on some stuff, it just felt like a much more fun game, trying to optimize my build.
I think the Devs said something similar to new players, along the lines of "it's so much better if you try the game out yourself without any context." That way every playthrough is personalised.
Killing entropy seems like it would have... _thermodynamic_ consequences.
The poor physicists in this universe 😭
They don't exist
They literally said it's a game with the word "construct'
@@millo7295No? That's just what they refer to the "world" the Narrator made to trap Change and Stasis. It's played completely straight within the boundaries of the story. No lame META storyline or fourth-wall breaking here.
@@millo7295 "The Construct" Is "The Narrator"'s prison for The Shifting Mound and The Long Quiet, but it exists inside of a universe, there's no meta "Oh construct means game"
That's why death is pretty much incurable. It would mean stopping or reversing entropy which violates causality
"The only way to 'win' is to end it. The fun ends when you decide to put the game down. The story only finishes when you decide to end it." I love that philosophy. This is a great game and you are a smart man.
While I really love mark's playthrough, I'm kinda sad he didn't get to see the razor, the adversary or the tower ending. I feel like he would have really liked those for... various reasons.
It doesn't say [END] in the title like usual, I'm hoping this means he's continuing it.
Yeah he'd really love the adversary. The eye of the needle too. I think itd give him some fond recollections of lady dimetrescu.
honestly, i want to see him react to the stranger
same. i really hope he continues this series to try and find all the vessels!
And I would like if even if he got to those path in some future, he would be "meh" about them cause it's already played out and cliché to expect him be all over the moon to some bulkier lady that's above 5'8. It was fun with lady dimitrescu while he played RE 8 but now it seems like same old joke.
Slay the Princess: The dawn of the elusive game in which Mark gets distracted by every possible thing
I think this game is one of the best examples that portray what I mean when I say that video games are still a very underrated medium for storytelling. if your story is revolving around the human ability to make choices you would never tell that story as well through a book, a comic or a movie/series as you can through one that gives your audience the very ability to choose. whether the narrative shows you that your choices matter (like in this game) or that sometimes they don't, it has so much more impact when it's YOU making the choices and not a character out of your control.
choices in video games can very vividly highlight how significant even a very small choice can be e.g. the change in Princess' behavior depending on whether you go to meet her armed or unprotected and how there are routes that you simply cannot acces through one of those. they can also portray helplessness much better than a medium that you simply consume without interaction, the best example I can think of being a moment in Night In The Woods where you try to comfort a friend in an obvoiusly helpless situantion and you get to choose between two dialogue options "You always have a choice" and "You can always choose". it's such a small detail but it doesn't only portray the main character's lack of agency in this situation but makes you FEEL it, as you have to choose between those two options to proceed even though you KNOW it's exactly the same thing and that it won't make any difference. you don't watch from above as a character makes a choice that is meaningless, you have to make that choice, knowing fully well it is.
I find it sad that video games are associated with easy entertainment and treated like a less 'intellectual' medium than books for example, when there are so many opportunities coming with the ability to interact with the world someone has created for you to not just watch or read about but experience. I hope this prejudice fades in the future and people realize that a good game can be a FAR more valuable experience than many other works of culture and popculture. Slay the Princess is a masterpiece and an incredible example that there are stories that you can only tell by giving the audience the ability to decide where it goes for their own.
There are still so many paths left, wouldn’t be surprised if this series continues
True! He didn’t say this was the “Finale” in the title like he usually does, so there’s a good chance he might continue it
If that's the case, this just makes me want to get the game even more, despite having this specific set of paths spoiled.
He wouldnt be so evil to the devs, just buy the game its 25% off rn.
@bowldawg4394 right now, off the top of my head, I can think of 11 different princesses we did not see, not to mention alternate paths and endings to the princesses we did see.
The game is definitely worth it imo. Hunting for all the achievements was super fun too.
@@bowldawg4394 the dev recommends ppl to at least pirate their game before they watch a playthrough so it can be more personalized, definitely recommend this
Knowing Mark, he won't stop until he's gotten every single ending and tried every single possibility.
Let’s hope because their are a lot of other endings he could have gotten
I hope you're right. Cause there is some paths that i desperately want to see him react to.
While I'd love to see that, he probably wont sadly, It would have been sweet to see him get the thorn ending. I'd be really happy if he did, though :)
Got I hope so
@@sharktacos Can i ask what ending he got?
There something I always felt when watching markiplier. Whenever he plays games like this, I noticed that he shows a piece or perspective that not many youtubers do these days. He's in my eyes, honest with how he plays. When he is recording and playing he of course addresses us the viewers, but it more of an "come watch what I do." Rather that a "watch what you WANT to watch." He plays the way he wants to play, adding laughs for us to enjoy. It is of course a testimony for a game to bring this sort of feeling out to a viewer, but it's also the way that it was played that made it all the better. In this markiplier felt genuine when there were so many lies that go on around us, and I appreciate that. This felt like therapy and a lesson. Thank you for sharing your perspective, because for me, it really hit me in the heart, not in a sexual way😂 but in a fatherly/brotherly kind way. It not something I feel often. Thank you for being so genuine and expressive in your videos, and keep it up. I truly enjoy your content, and will always be back to watch more.
Also, can someone please tell me what the name of the personality game markiplier played a few years back was called. I want to try it again.
This game is definitely going on the list of "games i didnt expect to be such a beautiful, heartfelt experience" i love this game and ive seen almost none of it, i love the princess because shes relatable in the finale, i love the hero because hes the most relatable character ive ever witnessed, because he is me in a sense. This game is beautiful and i cant wait to obsess over it for several weeks
Also love that the MC is a birb
The Princess in all her good human (i.e. non-Shifting Mound) forms (and the spectre form) was my favorite character.
Maybe it's just because I'm a guy, but I really liked her innocence and her sweet charm and grace. Just as a princess should be. 😊
@@jonathangreenlees4772 this guy gets it
*Recommendation:* Btw, Mark, as you might have already know there is an expanded version of this game coming out later this year. And there are still many princesses you haven't seen. So you could definitely do a 2nd run to try those other paths in the new version.
Even without that it's a good game to go through a 2nd time, now knowing everything and seeing all the hints and connections now that get dropped throughout it.
It didn't come out yet?
@@joaop5033no, there was a minor update recently to add+change more dialogue (for example, originally there was no option to ask for her name at the final cabin and fewer options when confronting Shifty), but the more major Pristine Cut update (which has three new routes plus a new ending) will come sometime this fall
There's one more ending I really want to see marks reaction to and it's the one where you agree with the princess when she's the "shifting mound" the one where you see the most colorful ending.
The irony of me having just watched a show that talks about the point of immortality being to witness change before seeing this video.
Philosophically, the elimination of death becomes pointless if it includes the elimination of change. Death is permanent stagnation for the individual but change for wider reality. Permanent stagnation for the entire universe is like killing it all at once.
Didn’t think I’d see you here
Markiplier for President
Fr
MARKIPLIER FOR PRESIDENT 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Better than either of the current candidates
MARKIPLIER FOR PRESIDENT!!!
I concur
I LOVE SLAY THE PRINCESS AND I LOVE MARKIPLIER THIS SERIES IS THE BEST THING OF ALL TIME
What did you like most?
It sure is.
33:15 I love how The Shifting Mound immediately went "OH SHIT" the second the Beast got its sights set on you
It is specially animated I believe, like most of the other princesses shown have the appearance like this moment 35:11,
Except 36:31 , it is also specially animated too
Another note, all the princess amalgamations going towards the shifting mound are also as terrified as her at that moment
I think those animations are new! They look REALLY COOL 😁
I literally under 20 seconds ago checked you channel page because I was like "maybe he made a new video on this"
didnt find it was like welp, tabbed out, tabbed in, went to youtube homepage and here this was!
Maybe you could also check me if you have time?
Im not even joking SAMEEEE
She is everything, your choices. You are nothing, the chooser. When you are both completed and together, she consumes you, and the nothing dies. When you are completed and alone, what exists is reflections and fractures of you. But the good ending, where you leave together, both incomplete, is the most human one. Because you are finite enough to be something, without losing yourself to everything and nothing. You are not every choice, and you are not the removal of choice, and that is human life.
I feel like this comment was the final piece to me understanding this game. Ty
Beautifully said. That's exactly what I was thinking. I think this is the best ending
It's insane, I've seen like 4 play thoughs and I still see like 4+ new endings each time.
This is the third time he used this title, the previous times were for both Evil Within finales. (Though he added an AN so it is technically different.)
Note: I am not complaining, I was simply pointing out an observation I made.
Makes sense
I mean it fits pretty well
It's an honor. What was the first?
40:34 The Voice of the Hero returning felt like an Avengers Endgame moment lol
FR!!!
47:30 this whole monologue about death being important, how we can make a difference when we are alive .... This video was posted today, 2 years after Technoblade's passing, after a livestream where 100k+ people got online to cry and laugh for Alex because he didn't beat cancer, he made a difference while being alive. I do also believe that death is important, but we still mourn everyone we care about, because they meant something to us while they were alive and we will not let their memories die. I also do believe that Markiplier, as well as many other RUclipsrs, streamers, actors, musicians that I grew up with and learned from them, I will mourn for every single one when their time will be up on this earth. Even the person who is reading my comment, you do matter, you make a difference in this world, even if it's a small one, so don't be scared that death will eventually happen cause it's inevitable, but be happy for what you have and for the people that inspired you every step of your life. You are love and you are loved.
Amen to that ❤
I was just watching the third video and then this dropped
Same bro it’s crazy
I was watching an 8 bitryan video before this and can’t wait
Perfect gift for today :D
Same, man
I also agree with what Mark is saying. Even forever has an end. Even infinity is finite. Nothing is truly endless, because at some point something will come along to break the cycle. It has to.
If there is no end, then there is no point. The end gives the beginning meaning. There’s so many ways to say it, to elaborate on the concept, but it’s only reiteration. And yet, just because the end has to happen, doesn’t mean it should happen now, or even soon. The question was never “will it end”, or even “should it end”, because those answers are obvious. No, the question is “when should it end?” What is a good time? When all is done? When something remains? It’s a hard question to answer.
That's a great way to describe it, I love the way you worded that. I especially love what Mark said too. The philosophy and those questions are so complex and yet so simple, and to me that's what makes the concept so beautiful. This game articulates the subject so uniquely.
im actually crying its so poetic
I actually disagree with this sentiment. Obviously, everything will end at some point, one way or another. However, I disagree that things should end and that the end is what gives everything else meaning. In my opinion, the meaning comes from the experiences you have in a moment, and how those experiences shape you and make you feel. Sure, the end can have meaning or give perspective to the prior experiences, but it is not THE thing that gives them meaning. After all, once you end you won't exactly be able to appreciate any depth your end gave to the rest of your life. In any case, this is purely subjective, and I just wrote this to give a differing prespective, not to argue. I respect your opinion on this matter, and hope you live your best life!
@@zombiedragon9667 Except those experiences have to end for you to look back on them fondly. We're not talking about a singular end here, we're talking about ALL ends. Additionally, in the grand scheme of things, if your life never ended, if you had the time and opportunity to experience everything - or even just to have the same experience again - your memory of those experiences would sour, you'd grow jaded - bored.
The phrasing isn't literal, it's not a simple matter of "you have to die for your life to have meaning". It's that if you don't die, the meaning you find will eventually fade, you'd stop enjoying life, and the enjoyment you'd found would die.
I don't disagree with you, however. The experiences you make in life are important, and they do give life meaning, but your death will ensure that meaning never fades, so ultimately the end gives the beginning meaning.
In other words; "Yes but actually no" XD
I started to watch this series believing this game was like a horror-comedy choices game, Left with a bit of tears jealousy and more understanding in life and also a bit of existensial crisis
God damnit, I had just got passed Stanley Parable and it's existentialism, and just recently got an existential dread attack, now falling into a more heart gripping Stanley Parable type experience, the people who made this made a Gem Mine with this one, hesitating to call it a game even tho it technically is one, but it is VASTLY more of an experience than a game, and I love every second of deep thought it has to offer, also totally not in love with 'The Princess' at all no idea what you're talking about...
*Voice of the Smitten* "But she is the most Perfect Diamond! Far more Pristine than any Crown deserves to contain! So gentle, yet steadfast and brilliant! That is our Princess!"
If you have not already I can recommend "Outer Wilds". For me it was also an experience kind of game. Just don't look up anything, if you get spoiled it can ruin the experience drastically.
“ I really really really want to know I really truly want to know what happens when I take that head” the out of context videos are gonna go crazy 😭😭
I start college in the fall.. art school. No guaranteed job placement. At all. The “rant” towards the end made me cry. I have been so unbelievably stressed about school this week, worrying about debt and making time and money “worth it” while trying to fulfill my passions. I needed to hear that. That it’s about your impact, something that could last through generations, into non-human things like architecture and animal life, the environment.. but I’m letting something so human as money restrict me.
I wish you luck in your endeavors. It's all about balance, ebb and flow. Do what you need to make it in this capatalist hell, but don't go so astray that you forget your passions and morals. With enough hard work and dedication, there may be an opportunity to do what makes you happy. Sometimes, what that is isn't what you thought it would be. Maybe you learned new things, maybe as you grow more into your personhood, the subtle changes of the experiences you've accumulated shifted your perspectives and the things you want out of life. Always engage with yourself honestly to make the best choice you can. Every age is a rough age to get on the path of maturity, but this one feels like it's particularly hard. I guess, I'm just in a bit of a weird mood right now. Just an internet stranger giving unsolicited life advice. Anyway. I'm rooting for you. Be well.
Hey, I'm a fellow art student. I'm starting my final year in the fall.
I don't know which path of art you're taking (I am taking illustration and animation + storytelling). I have the same anxieties, but there are many wonderful people and studios in the industry.
Just know you can do it. Be you. You don't have to prove yourself to teachers, only to yourself. And enjoy your art journey, many people have to told me that college was one of the best parts of their lives: all the freedom to experiment before picking a specialty.
Mark always says “and as always, I will see you in the next video” but eventually the next video won’t come and all we will have left is another Markiplier promise. Nothing is permanent, nothing is like always.
Whyyyyy 😭
tbh he will probably make a video "goodbye"
@@superboxes69 or perhaps.... "buh bye"
Your comment reminded me of talkingkittycat's Steve Cash. His last video ended with him explaining that the reason uploads are sometimes far apart is that he has bipolar disorder and it makes it incredibly difficult to be creative at times. He said he was really trying, and asked for understanding. And, sadly, his last words were "I will see you guys soon"
Rest in peace Steve....
@@blahblahtoucan5329a similar thing happened with Technoblade, where his last video alive ended with him saying he’d see us later. It’s possibly even more tragic since by the sound of this his cancer was getting better at that point
The princess coming back with Slay Markiplier
Well now we know once and for all...
Who Killed Markiplier
You know it’s a good series when Mark sounds like a jester at the start and a scholar at the end.
What a phenomenal game. I hope Mark picks this game back up when the Pristine Cut comes out and explores more of the other story lines.
Pristine Cut?
@@noarayagom a massive update with a bunch of new content. It's coming out this fall