It's kinda sad that this is the only versio of the Narrator, who got to see what he always had dreamed about: A world of complete stillnes. No end, no imperfections, no death. And he got to see why it wouldn work, how his entire dream, his plan, his construct were all wrong, so in the end, he gave up, realizing that the world is indeed better with endings, giving us his blessings before fading away. Only for another Narrator to take his place, still believing in his foolish dream. RiP "Happily Ever After" Narrator, you woke up.
It's not that sad really. I mean, firstly, it's more happy when you think about it. He was just one of many. And the echo in the mirror said all of them were different. Who's to say there wasn't one just like him, or had a similar realisation? Second, another narrator wouldn't take his place since every one is a separate world. It's not really that tragic. Plus he never said it would be better with endings after all, just that it would be better without his, and if no one was hurt. He probably secretly hoped they'd live together forever 😂 Thirdly, it wouldn't be complete stillness as we do have a piece of change in us, so it would just be doing the same things over and over. And there would be imperfections but we'd either just forget about them or not notice them or both. And finally, you can apparently ask the echo about that one specifically. And he didn't "wake up" he just gained a new perspective.
Forever sounds like the perfect lifespan to me. EVERY iteration of eternity has the character(s) in a place where fun is impossible to find after a while. A mere eternal lifespan would allow you to do anything, anywhere, and not have to worry about enjoying every bit of it. Nobody pictures infinity right. That’s the problem.
@@craftingtales2790someone sounds like they’d enjoy an eternity of massive pain chilling with the only company being the heat death of the universe. Or even if we assume the world is also infinite then after enough time you’d do everything then get bored of everything. There would be no new discoveries nothing to advance technologically no new stories to experience. Every single day would be entirely boring after a certain point.
The fact that this route was able to make one of the most comedic and lighthearted of the Voices genuinely terrifying and evil shows just how well written this game is.
Basically, even the silliest and goofiest of the voices are capable of showing their darkest and most twisted sides of themselves under certain circumstances that more or less influence them. From what I can tell, all the voices (except maybe Voice of the Hero since he only wants to do the right thing in the end) are just that... voices. Voices that embody certain core traits of the Long Quiet's personality based on his choices and decisions he makes towards the Princess (and maybe perhaps how the Princess perceives him in the same way too). Smitten, for the most part, genuinely loves the Princess because that's what he is.... a Smitten voice that is a living manifestation of the Long Quiet's love and devotion to the Princess. He's always on the her side and is willing to protect and rescue her without a shred of doubt in his heart. He's an expert on the concept of romance which makes him especially very helpful and useful in the Thorn route (and THIS is arguably considered where Smitten is portrayed at his BEST). Sure, he can be silly, goofy, and even delusional (especially in the Burned Grey route) which is fairly justified because he's always thinking that every scenario with the Princess (even in the most nightmarish kinds) is a romance novel. And one has to wonder what happens if his core character when his core trait is taken town a very dark and sinister path when he's forced into a situation of the Princess He just CANNOT fathom and comprehend the very thought that the Princess does not love him back and rejects him because what he's trying to do what he thinks is best doesn't make her happy.... it goes AGAINST his nature and core trait so that is why he quickly descended into what he is in this route.
I mean, you say terrifying and evil, but I still feel super bad for Smitten here (even if he was very... uh, incel-y and posessive, and tried to force her to want to stay, to the point she was constantly on edge about making him upset). I wish he could've at least seen our true happy ending. He really WAS trying to make her happy, doing literally EVERYTHING to be ALL that she needed to want, even when he was tired. He breaks when he realizes it's not possible and that he's never going to be *all* that she wants/needs.
I imagine a lesson to be learned from this route is that blind devotion and obsession can turn into a horrible, tightening cage and that only true freedom can lead to happiness.
It honestly feels kinda romantic to me. The Damsel was a route with a fake, superficial love, with a princess that is reduced to a paper doll that only does what you want. Here, Damsel does not lose her own desires, and honestly tells you what she wants. The love between the princess and the long quiet becomes something more genuine.
@@reicho3034 I mean, she already tells you what she wanted since the start: to leave the cabin, then to make you happy. She only became/seems more complex in HEA, cause we are literally forcing a "perceived happiness" on her. She's still that so-called "paper doll that only does what you want", only this time what you want directly contradicts what she wants, so she had to bear with it for you. The Damsel route, we just gave that desire to her straight up so she's happy with whatever we do *as long as we go through with freeing her*
i really like the scene of them both at the unusually long table. to me it symbolizes their distance, in a way. how much they really do not know about each other. i just love what they did with this route. the design is so good.
yeah, and the fact that they literally spend probably an eternity eating food, playing games and talking on that table yet still barely know each other really hit home at how "wrong" it was
Yes and they both are forced to keep their distance as long as flames are lit and only once they are extinguished can they truly get close to each and speak to each other experience something simple yet intimate a dance with each other under the stars together just the two them with no shadow hang over them and judge them no expectations to me
It's fascinating to see that one of our voices can "eject" from our body. What was once a member of the family now acts like a complete stranger and you get to see how the Princess perceived us from her perspective.
They really *_were_* one and the same before, after all. Still its one thing to hear that you and the princess were split by the narrator, but another thing entirely to see a voice jump ship. That was an insane reveal!
27:47 I felt my stomach drop when i saw the option to stay in the cabin with her forever. it grinds all the goofy corniness to a halt and suddenly turns into trapping her to another set of chains . nicole’s acting was incredible this whole route.
i don't think the smitten is meant to be abusive, or even villainous in this route. when the princess acknowledges her unhappiness and torches go out, he gets smaller, and he never actually hurts or threatens her. he embodies the predictability and stability of a relationship that keeps people in them (like food, companionship, physical pleasure), even when they're unhappy with the other. it also fits why the narrator is so disturbed, he gets a glimpse of his once-ideal world without any change and sees how empty it truly is.
A bit off topic but this reminds me of a book "The Collector" by John Fowles. It really delves into the mind of obsessed simps who feed on their delusions that they perceive as love and happiness. They think they're hero who can "save" princess with their love. And when they realize princess is unhappy, their delusions get twisted and turn into abuse. Scary book, grim and brutally realistic, where for a true horror humans fit better than monsters. Gave me a ton of insight on the human relationships and leading me to hate the concept of "loving the idea" of someone. That is, I love the Damsel chapter because we let her free unconditionally out of player's kindness, but I can't relate to the circumstances of Happily Ever After as it's where the border of moral is crossed and it's no longer unconditional kindness/affection since the hero wants to keep the princess to himself. He doesn't actually save her, he just makes her cage gilded, and that's not what heroes do.
And if I remember correctly the Princess says that the Smitten is “tried”. Showing even his tried of it all, but keeps doing this because the Smitten believes this is what everyone wants, sounds familiar.
@@Lloyd-p5zsorry it's gonna sound strange but I have a really strong feeling of deja vu , I feel like I've already read this comment months ago Is there a chance that you made comment about this book somewhere else ?
I find it funny how even if Smitten was the one keeping her with him in the cabin, the Hero was actually the one who suggests to stay in the cabin first and gave smitten the idea which indirectly made it his fault as well xd
I'm not aware of there's other routes that has this, but i think this is the first route where they actually had time to be outside the cabin to do something together for a bit before the Shifting Mound takes the princess away, it's almost as if the very construct itself is letting you have a much needed moment of peace before she's gone again.
It could be the narrator. He realizes he was wrong in this route, but he also knows that the construct will keep going, rendering his realization pointless. Perhaps he does his best to let you have a bit more time before the end, rather than halfheartedly rushing the end so that you can restart.
@@candlestone5397 The narrator's not in charge of the construct through. He can only do so much with what little power he has. He's not the one who causes the world to end... ...in the end we are.
It's heartbreaking to see the Damsel trapped. It's shocking to see the Smitten become the villain. And it's surprising to see the Narrator change. What a route.
It's quite interesting how the voice of the smitten and the narrator suffer the most here in what seems to be a situation that they both wished would happen. As the shadow is the voice of the smitten, he genuinely offered his full devotion to the princess for the sake of making her happy but in the end, the princess was just trapped in a cage with a beautiful disguise. The smitten wanted to give her a chance to make decisions so she could make herself happy but it didn't work. Despite what he was doing, nothing he did could ever please the princess. Not to mention the princess was also forced to think about what she and the player(s) should do whilst under that cage until she... ran out of ideas and didn't like the place the smitten made for them and her. You could guess that the torches symbolized the princess' happiness and it was sustaining the smitten's existence and his heart too. The narrator always wanted a happy ending. He believed that slaying the princess was the only way to save the world but here, he is in a situation where it seems like happily ever after exists but... nobody was happy being put in that situation. It was an endless loop of the same good things that became tedious and boring as time passed on. The narrator was disheartened when the happiness he perceived for 'saving the world' was not what he thought it was. It scarred him deeply for a happily ever after will never be good as long as it doesn't find an ending. However, there was only one thing that the princess wanted to do and it was only one thing that would genuinely make her happy. To dance with you under the stars. Outside the walls of her cage. A happily ever after has now become a happy ending.
......... And the shfting mound hesitated. her many seeking hands paused and.... she watched. she let that part of herself have her moment of happiness, her dance. even though she would be a part of her anyway.......
the problem with the smitten is its was not a genuine love , he adore her like a simp but forget to care about himself , in the end he became a souless slave , who can never satisfy her ..... he was in love of the idea , but never the real princess
@@taddad2641Again Shifty didn't hesitate. If she did we would've seen that. What actually happened was the dance was part of the perspective and she needed to see everything before she took her. It's the same with Eye of the Needle.
@@unviewerrandom4792Again, he wasn't a slave, he was the slaver. The one with all the power when unmanaged by us. The one who gave up on trying to satisfy the princess and instead forced her to satisfy everyone, including himself, not realising how creepy it was. And again Thorn is different because we can reign him in, he is happier being the side character to our own story of redemption and love and he just makes suggestions. Edit: Okay, I'm now in agreement that he was both the slave and the slaver.
Yeah but the narrator wasn't scarred. He was healed. He got something good out of that suffering. Plus he saw how upset the Princess was and didn't even have the heart to want to kill her.
This route was honestly a delight, for all of its uncomfortable reasons. When smitten pulled our body open, I had my jaw on the floor. I was not expecting him to just outright kill us in order please the princess. Then Happily Ever After started, and I was ready. I talked with the princess, and only realized after the first table setting that the shadow was indeed the smitten. It gave me a smile, the "oh, we're playing that kind of game, eh smitten?" kind of smile. So I stayed with the princess, noticing the narrator seemed like he was really grasping at straws to keep his worldview. The food got bland, so we played games. My stomach sank first when the princess said she wasn't having fun or happy and the light went out, but then my heart dropped when even the narrator stated "This is awful..." in the most crushed tone. I stayed with the princess longer, but soon the lights went out, and we got up. I left with her, promising her the dance outside under the stars. And wow, the narrator. He witnessed his dream play out, no, he took active part in his dream by describing the once good things turn bland and horrid. Everything he fought for, bled for, died for, he sees now, in vain. What else can he do but dejectedly stand by, and hope the other side is better? I love this ending.
This is my favourite route now, there’s just so much you can interpret from it and the dance under the stars is wonderful and it’s heartbreaking when it’s taken from you. And The Narrator sees why their wish wouldn’t be a better world, that a trapped world isn’t better than one that changes and ends
The fact even the narrarator couldn't fight against when he saw the princess go through that kind of confinement. And the worst part? That's just domestic abuse, a LIGHT kind at that, that she was basically going through. Living with a person that doesn't understand her thoughts and keeps her confined with words of love... I know this game is philosophy if anything, but damn that whole ending was just "Don't Be a bitch to your wifes!"
yeeeeeah you know that wasn't about the domestic abuse his surrendering, he basically saw what his goal would bring a perfectly static world where everything even the most beautiful things lose meaning, he discovered what the future would be if he won.
People do be a hive mind, huh? Let me be the Contrarian and said that Happilly Ever After is also an allegorry for putting a brave face in a stale relationship to keep each other happy, even as the sparks are barely lit at this point. Which is why, in 53:57, there's an option to say "no, i just want to leave", and the Princess accepts it as you two depart in separate ways with a smile of relief like an amicable exes
@Ermwhat-thescallop same here. My first experience in rhis route is with Opportunist, not Paranoid, so the fact that the shadow behind the princess is Smitten evades me
Thanks for making these videos, they’re a big part of why I bought the game when The Pristine Cut released. It’s a mesmerising game and I hope it sells well
I don't think I'm going to be able to see Smitten (or any of the voices, except maybe Voice of the Hero, for that matter) the same way ever again after this. If this is how Smitten (and Opportunist) can be portrayed like this at his worst, I shudder to imagine what Stubborn, Cheated, and especially Cold are capable of under the wrong circumstances.
Cold can never be under the wrong circumstances. He knows what we truly are and he knows that, as the decider, we're the only one who can hold everything together. That's why he strikes the Princess's side during dragon - he never wanted to hurt her, he just wanted us back. Plus he's really good in Fury. And then there's Stubborn during the new Den, along with Hunted.... 😬
@@reubensalter8125 Okay, scratch Cold out. Though, I sort of meant like how the other voices if they stooped as low as Smitten and leaving the Long Quiet's body to become their own shadows like Smitten did.
@@CB-eo6xoI mean we've already seen Oppy in full control of our body during the Princess and the Dragon so I think that covers that. Though I actually think HEA is actually one of his better routes just because he gets to experience everything from a different angle, and he's united with us against Smitten. But I digress. I think some of the other voices would actually be fine. Broken would end up doing some form of soul-seaching. Contrarian, especially would take over the whole construct and change all the rules just to spite the many narrators; like he'd somehow make it so that it simultaneously across multiple worlds. allowing many perspectives to interact with each other; then throwing a huge party in the cabin while the princess in the basement is confused by the noise 😂.
@@reubensalter8125 That's honestly completely fitting for Contrarian. XD Stubborn would probably turn the whole Construct into an epic fighting arena and also create many perspectives of the Princesses into powerful and blood thirsty fighters to fight among themselves and he would partake in that too. It's like a more extreme version of the Adversary route.
The Smitten was tweaking in this route fr. Also it's interesting how the voices can manifest outside of TLQ's body if yhey have enough willpower. Or just boot TLQ out of his body all together.
Indeed. Though I imagine they have their limits. In the case of the smitten here, his presence lingers on as a phantom husband… setting the table and playing the good host, but as the torches go out one by one, their presence and power fades, and as time goes on… the same gestures that were once enjoyable and full of sweetness lose their sweetness. In a sense however, what he is offering is a compromise. Giving the narrator what he wanted and trying to make the princess comfortable and happy in her cage… but… the gilded comfortable prison is still a prison. And as the smitten realises he hurt her with his choice… he releases her from him and fades away. Dying away with the torches… but the long quiet can make the choice to start anew a last gesture… a final dance under the stars… like she wanted.
Before I often praised the Smitten for being such a love sick fool, but here we see how that love becomes possessive. When you hold onto something for too long or too tightly you end up corrupting it.
@@KhepriProductions2022 Yeah. Smitten was at his best during Torn where his love actually translates to mending a broken relationship and now he's at his worst during the Damsel where he's completely degraded himself just to continue an impossible delusion of happiness.
Smitten - and all the other voices it seem - desperately need the other Voices and especially the Hero and you to balance them out. We’ve seen things like that before but it really shows in this and the Dragon route.
I'M NOT CRYING YOU ARE In all seriousness though, this route is AMAZING. The tonal shift with the Smitten and Damsel in chapter 2 feels incredibly jarring in contrast to their fixed attitudes for the rest of the game, leading incredibly well into the dressed-up horrors of the epilogue. I'm honestly amazed how the developer managed to not only turn smitten from what was essentially the game's comic relief to easily one of the game's most hateable characters (in my eyes, anyway) but make The Narrator genuinely sympathetic to The Princess. Easily one of my new favourite routes overall.
I love that the pristine cut helps develop the characters that needed it most. The Princess and the Dragon Shows You things from the princesses perspective, more specifically, it shows YOU. You know what you are more than ever now. A quiet, Creepy and subtly changing creature that Changes just as much as the princess. Happily Ever after, oddly, Gives development to the Narrator. where before, he was stubborn, Toxically determined that his way was best, and that there is no other way forward, Here, he is shown a taste of what his world would be like, if his plans succeed. and he Realizes he was wrong. and that it is too late to stop his plans. as a whole, it means that he isnt as foolish as he once seemed, because he was wrong, and when confronted with this fact, he realizes it rather quickly. He's only Human.
I’m reminded of a song which notes that there’s a danger in loving too much, and that sometimes love isn’t enough … especially when you don’t really know the person you’re in love with. But the end dance was so sweet.
You know, thinking about this route made me think about the shifting mound saying that she wasn't death but "contain it in my multitudes". If that's the case, then she also has life in her multitudes. That's why the narrator saw the light. I'm happy for that faded echo, he saw what he needed to see and settled down, living the rest of his moments in peace.
You just made the Narrator give up? I didn't even know that was possible. He is always determined to get you to kill her I never thought I would hear that from him
We didn't make him give up. He just started to realise what an endless cycle of events would really look like. And he didn't give up, but instead he let go.
@@reubensalter8125 It depends on how you look at it. There's alot at stake. I'd hardly say theres a right answer for something so complex. To enjoy something forever or lose it forever.
It was an act of mercy from the Shifting Mound as there is no happily ever after. This was a happy ending as the princess got what she always wanted to do that made her feel genuine happiness from her heart until the very end.
well you gotta remember that the shifting mound is the princses, and the princess is the shifting mound. she is bringing a piece of herself home, and the experiences become her. ...... but even then. the mound... hesitated here. clearly so. it coulda taken her immediately, but no, she let them dance. perhaps selfishly, for she would feel that joy, feel the holding of hands.
@@taddad2641She didn't hesitate. The way this whole thing works is they only get taken once she feels she has gained enough perspective. This was no exception. But it's not really selfish if they are essentially the same being, right? There's also Eye of the Needle where we bring her out of the cabin with Hunted and are able to fight her and she takes her after it's finished. It's the same principle.
Happily Ever After chapter makes perfect sense since the Princess slowly did become a damsel in distress, in the beginning you sacrifice yourself to help her, so she was a happy-go-lucky carciture in the 2nd chapter since we resisted killing her until Smitten sacrifices our life to keep her in the cabin under the idea of building a life with her. Happy Ever After shows itself as too good to be true even to the Narrator, everything is far too nice, the Princess has to pretend that things are okay to hide her inner turmoil and the Smitten basically takes the role of the dragon against the players wishes, trapping them in a monotony that needs to be snuffed out.
This is probably the most pain a video game has ever given me. Finally having everything you could ever want, only for the happiness to become mundane and eventually become empty. At least in the morbid and dark endings there were bursts of emotions and mystery, not this stillness and apathy.
Ikr, as soon-to-be-gods, they sure dont have vivid imaginations for a fantasy lmao But i get it, you could argue that the game started simple, but The Princess gave all her ideas until she out, the game could be complex af and took hundreds of iterations for all we know cuz honestly....time works weird in this game....cuz the other example is chaining yourself with The Prisoner, what seemed to be minutes was decades Or not, maybe they're just not that imaginative...
the problem with the smitten is its was not a genuine love , he adore her like a simp but forget to care about himself , in the end he became a souless slave , who can never satisfy her ..... he was in love of the idea , but never the real princess
Actually he wasn't a slave, he was the slaver. He took control of everyone including the princess, especially the princess. He went from trying to satisfy her to forcing her to satisfy everyone without realising it wasn't what she wanted. He basically became more powerful without us. Also in Thorn he is genuine, but only because we're genuine and we're able to reign him in. All he does then is merely offer suggestions and happily play along as the side character, rather than the main character.
@@reubensalter8125I sorta agree, it's just that the smitten is also slaving himself, especially when you remember that the player (and the smitten) died just for the princess
@@HoneywithGoldie Yeah, I kinda see that now. In the end everyone is just trying to keep the flames from going out. Still doesn't excuse what he did, but at least he seemed to realise at the end what he was doing.
Hey. Oppy helped us beat the game. And he gave us more of an insider look into everything and he was perfectly aligned with us against Smitten. It's one of his best routes.
I think this update is to show some of the lowest of the low of the different aspects of TLQ/different voices.... The opportunist, when given the chance and let looss, is just too dangerous with all the desire to be the top dog and in control without any morals and enjoys all of it, even bad actions And the cold just doesnt really feel regret as he doesnt even feel which adds to the problem The skeptic, is too untrusting and fixated on "the truth" or "datas and facts" that he doesnt see the real problems....like you need another voice to either realize what he's doing is bs (cheated) or see the real problem is the princess and not some "the world is a matrix" (broken) The smitten is caring, would do anything to satisfy and protect....but this time its too fast, too soon, too much all at once. If given time he's a little much but he's right, but this time its just weird, you knew very little of her. Love at first sight on its own is too fickle.....and thats why that part of him washed away at the end, and why there was even a "No" option....what you did and kept doing there wasnt out of love, but merely put on a brave face for a fickle light of love. In the end it was too possesive, too weird, too much all at once I hope, tho i feel like there wont be more, to see more updates like this.....why they need to be whole and realize what they are currently is too jagged and unwhole.....why some of the part they have is a bit dangerous to let out to the world now
@@GengUpinIpin Actually Cold was at his best during this route. He knew we needed to be back and that was his whole aim - to get us back. Plus he's really good in Fury too. And he does feel - there are several moments where he does actually feel an emotion even in the base game
It's kinda sad that this is the only versio of the Narrator, who got to see what he always had dreamed about: A world of complete stillnes. No end, no imperfections, no death. And he got to see why it wouldn work, how his entire dream, his plan, his construct were all wrong, so in the end, he gave up, realizing that the world is indeed better with endings, giving us his blessings before fading away. Only for another Narrator to take his place, still believing in his foolish dream. RiP "Happily Ever After" Narrator, you woke up.
It's not that sad really. I mean, firstly, it's more happy when you think about it. He was just one of many. And the echo in the mirror said all of them were different. Who's to say there wasn't one just like him, or had a similar realisation?
Second, another narrator wouldn't take his place since every one is a separate world. It's not really that tragic. Plus he never said it would be better with endings after all, just that it would be better without his, and if no one was hurt. He probably secretly hoped they'd live together forever 😂
Thirdly, it wouldn't be complete stillness as we do have a piece of change in us, so it would just be doing the same things over and over. And there would be imperfections but we'd either just forget about them or not notice them or both.
And finally, you can apparently ask the echo about that one specifically. And he didn't "wake up" he just gained a new perspective.
Forever sounds like the perfect lifespan to me. EVERY iteration of eternity has the character(s) in a place where fun is impossible to find after a while. A mere eternal lifespan would allow you to do anything, anywhere, and not have to worry about enjoying every bit of it. Nobody pictures infinity right. That’s the problem.
55:25
Call me crazy, but doesn't he sound a bit like Smitten here, the way he talks?
@@craftingtales2790someone sounds like they’d enjoy an eternity of massive pain chilling with the only company being the heat death of the universe. Or even if we assume the world is also infinite then after enough time you’d do everything then get bored of everything. There would be no new discoveries nothing to advance technologically no new stories to experience. Every single day would be entirely boring after a certain point.
@@craftingtales2790 But forever is so so long and time erodes everything.
The fact that this route was able to make one of the most comedic and lighthearted of the Voices genuinely terrifying and evil shows just how well written this game is.
all thigns become monstruos when taken to an extreme, especially love.
Basically, even the silliest and goofiest of the voices are capable of showing their darkest and most twisted sides of themselves under certain circumstances that more or less influence them. From what I can tell, all the voices (except maybe Voice of the Hero since he only wants to do the right thing in the end) are just that... voices. Voices that embody certain core traits of the Long Quiet's personality based on his choices and decisions he makes towards the Princess (and maybe perhaps how the Princess perceives him in the same way too).
Smitten, for the most part, genuinely loves the Princess because that's what he is.... a Smitten voice that is a living manifestation of the Long Quiet's love and devotion to the Princess. He's always on the her side and is willing to protect and rescue her without a shred of doubt in his heart. He's an expert on the concept of romance which makes him especially very helpful and useful in the Thorn route (and THIS is arguably considered where Smitten is portrayed at his BEST). Sure, he can be silly, goofy, and even delusional (especially in the Burned Grey route) which is fairly justified because he's always thinking that every scenario with the Princess (even in the most nightmarish kinds) is a romance novel. And one has to wonder what happens if his core character when his core trait is taken town a very dark and sinister path when he's forced into a situation of the Princess He just CANNOT fathom and comprehend the very thought that the Princess does not love him back and rejects him because what he's trying to do what he thinks is best doesn't make her happy.... it goes AGAINST his nature and core trait so that is why he quickly descended into what he is in this route.
I mean, you say terrifying and evil, but I still feel super bad for Smitten here (even if he was very... uh, incel-y and posessive, and tried to force her to want to stay, to the point she was constantly on edge about making him upset). I wish he could've at least seen our true happy ending.
He really WAS trying to make her happy, doing literally EVERYTHING to be ALL that she needed to want, even when he was tired. He breaks when he realizes it's not possible and that he's never going to be *all* that she wants/needs.
Voice of the Opportunist is also quite a scary fellow in The dragon route, so this makes sense
@@taddad2641 why did I read that in the smitten voice???
I like how the Smitten is basically Narrator's kryptonite. These two literally can't exist with each other.
I imagine a lesson to be learned from this route is that blind devotion and obsession can turn into a horrible, tightening cage and that only true freedom can lead to happiness.
I imagine an equally important lesson - change is good.
@@reubensalter8125, different is good, I like different.
Okay, that dancing scene was so tender, even with a few drawings it conveys a lot
It honestly feels kinda romantic to me. The Damsel was a route with a fake, superficial love, with a princess that is reduced to a paper doll that only does what you want. Here, Damsel does not lose her own desires, and honestly tells you what she wants. The love between the princess and the long quiet becomes something more genuine.
@@reicho3034 yes, it's the start of genuine love for each other
@@reicho3034 I mean, she already tells you what she wanted since the start: to leave the cabin, then to make you happy. She only became/seems more complex in HEA, cause we are literally forcing a "perceived happiness" on her. She's still that so-called "paper doll that only does what you want", only this time what you want directly contradicts what she wants, so she had to bear with it for you.
The Damsel route, we just gave that desire to her straight up so she's happy with whatever we do *as long as we go through with freeing her*
i really like the scene of them both at the unusually long table. to me it symbolizes their distance, in a way. how much they really do not know about each other.
i just love what they did with this route. the design is so good.
yeah, and the fact that they literally spend probably an eternity eating food, playing games and talking on that table yet still barely know each other really hit home at how "wrong" it was
Yes and they both are forced to keep their distance as long as flames are lit and only once they are extinguished can they truly get close to each and speak to each other experience something simple yet intimate a dance with each other under the stars together just the two them with no shadow hang over them and judge them no expectations to me
It's fascinating to see that one of our voices can "eject" from our body. What was once a member of the family now acts like a complete stranger and you get to see how the Princess perceived us from her perspective.
And what's wilder is that THIS IS EXACTLY how her personalities have been like the ENTIRE game.
They really *_were_* one and the same before, after all.
Still its one thing to hear that you and the princess were split by the narrator, but another thing entirely to see a voice jump ship.
That was an insane reveal!
His ideals of a world without end are shattered here. It really is poetic how in truth he has this realization that he was wrong.
27:47 I felt my stomach drop when i saw the option to stay in the cabin with her forever. it grinds all the goofy corniness to a halt and suddenly turns into trapping her to another set of chains . nicole’s acting was incredible this whole route.
i don't think the smitten is meant to be abusive, or even villainous in this route. when the princess acknowledges her unhappiness and torches go out, he gets smaller, and he never actually hurts or threatens her. he embodies the predictability and stability of a relationship that keeps people in them (like food, companionship, physical pleasure), even when they're unhappy with the other.
it also fits why the narrator is so disturbed, he gets a glimpse of his once-ideal world without any change and sees how empty it truly is.
A bit off topic but this reminds me of a book "The Collector" by John Fowles. It really delves into the mind of obsessed simps who feed on their delusions that they perceive as love and happiness. They think they're hero who can "save" princess with their love. And when they realize princess is unhappy, their delusions get twisted and turn into abuse. Scary book, grim and brutally realistic, where for a true horror humans fit better than monsters. Gave me a ton of insight on the human relationships and leading me to hate the concept of "loving the idea" of someone. That is, I love the Damsel chapter because we let her free unconditionally out of player's kindness, but I can't relate to the circumstances of Happily Ever After as it's where the border of moral is crossed and it's no longer unconditional kindness/affection since the hero wants to keep the princess to himself. He doesn't actually save her, he just makes her cage gilded, and that's not what heroes do.
And if I remember correctly the Princess says that the Smitten is “tried”. Showing even his tried of it all, but keeps doing this because the Smitten believes this is what everyone wants, sounds familiar.
@@Lloyd-p5zsorry it's gonna sound strange but I have a really strong feeling of deja vu , I feel like I've already read this comment months ago
Is there a chance that you made comment about this book somewhere else ?
@ДаниилВолбушко no, I never mentioned this book before
I find it funny how even if Smitten was the one keeping her with him in the cabin, the Hero was actually the one who suggests to stay in the cabin first and gave smitten the idea which indirectly made it his fault as well xd
You can suggest it yourself if you deconstruct her.
Happiness cannot be forced or staged.
Especially when nobody is happy with it.
ooh its very, very intersting that the only time she ressits your will as the damsel is when you are wanting to stay in her prison of a cabin.
That's not really resisting you will, it's going against hers. She wants to make you happy but she also wants to leave, so she's torn by both.
I'm not aware of there's other routes that has this, but i think this is the first route where they actually had time to be outside the cabin to do something together for a bit before the Shifting Mound takes the princess away, it's almost as if the very construct itself is letting you have a much needed moment of peace before she's gone again.
You can also fight the Eye of the Niddle after you lure her out the cabin.
@@envy438Yeah but only with Hunted
It could be the narrator. He realizes he was wrong in this route, but he also knows that the construct will keep going, rendering his realization pointless.
Perhaps he does his best to let you have a bit more time before the end, rather than halfheartedly rushing the end so that you can restart.
@@candlestone5397 The narrator's not in charge of the construct through. He can only do so much with what little power he has. He's not the one who causes the world to end...
...in the end we are.
Something I love here is that you can still see her smiling as she's claimed by the Mound. It's subtle, but it's there.
Yeah. Like Spectre she probably knows she's meant to be there. Plus it'd go against the whole theme of the route if she tried to fight it.
It's heartbreaking to see the Damsel trapped. It's shocking to see the Smitten become the villain. And it's surprising to see the Narrator change. What a route.
It's quite interesting how the voice of the smitten and the narrator suffer the most here in what seems to be a situation that they both wished would happen.
As the shadow is the voice of the smitten, he genuinely offered his full devotion to the princess for the sake of making her happy but in the end, the princess was just trapped in a cage with a beautiful disguise. The smitten wanted to give her a chance to make decisions so she could make herself happy but it didn't work. Despite what he was doing, nothing he did could ever please the princess. Not to mention the princess was also forced to think about what she and the player(s) should do whilst under that cage until she... ran out of ideas and didn't like the place the smitten made for them and her. You could guess that the torches symbolized the princess' happiness and it was sustaining the smitten's existence and his heart too.
The narrator always wanted a happy ending. He believed that slaying the princess was the only way to save the world but here, he is in a situation where it seems like happily ever after exists but... nobody was happy being put in that situation. It was an endless loop of the same good things that became tedious and boring as time passed on. The narrator was disheartened when the happiness he perceived for 'saving the world' was not what he thought it was. It scarred him deeply for a happily ever after will never be good as long as it doesn't find an ending.
However, there was only one thing that the princess wanted to do and it was only one thing that would genuinely make her happy. To dance with you under the stars. Outside the walls of her cage. A happily ever after has now become a happy ending.
.........
And the shfting mound hesitated. her many seeking hands paused and.... she watched. she let that part of herself have her moment of happiness, her dance. even though she would be a part of her anyway.......
the problem with the smitten is its was not a genuine love , he adore her like a simp but forget to care about himself , in the end he became a souless slave , who can never satisfy her ..... he was in love of the idea , but never the real princess
@@taddad2641Again Shifty didn't hesitate. If she did we would've seen that. What actually happened was the dance was part of the perspective and she needed to see everything before she took her. It's the same with Eye of the Needle.
@@unviewerrandom4792Again, he wasn't a slave, he was the slaver. The one with all the power when unmanaged by us. The one who gave up on trying to satisfy the princess and instead forced her to satisfy everyone, including himself, not realising how creepy it was.
And again Thorn is different because we can reign him in, he is happier being the side character to our own story of redemption and love and he just makes suggestions.
Edit: Okay, I'm now in agreement that he was both the slave and the slaver.
Yeah but the narrator wasn't scarred. He was healed. He got something good out of that suffering.
Plus he saw how upset the Princess was and didn't even have the heart to want to kill her.
This route was honestly a delight, for all of its uncomfortable reasons. When smitten pulled our body open, I had my jaw on the floor. I was not expecting him to just outright kill us in order please the princess. Then Happily Ever After started, and I was ready. I talked with the princess, and only realized after the first table setting that the shadow was indeed the smitten. It gave me a smile, the "oh, we're playing that kind of game, eh smitten?" kind of smile. So I stayed with the princess, noticing the narrator seemed like he was really grasping at straws to keep his worldview. The food got bland, so we played games. My stomach sank first when the princess said she wasn't having fun or happy and the light went out, but then my heart dropped when even the narrator stated "This is awful..." in the most crushed tone. I stayed with the princess longer, but soon the lights went out, and we got up. I left with her, promising her the dance outside under the stars. And wow, the narrator. He witnessed his dream play out, no, he took active part in his dream by describing the once good things turn bland and horrid. Everything he fought for, bled for, died for, he sees now, in vain. What else can he do but dejectedly stand by, and hope the other side is better? I love this ending.
This is my favourite route now, there’s just so much you can interpret from it and the dance under the stars is wonderful and it’s heartbreaking when it’s taken from you.
And The Narrator sees why their wish wouldn’t be a better world, that a trapped world isn’t better than one that changes and ends
The fact even the narrarator couldn't fight against when he saw the princess go through that kind of confinement. And the worst part? That's just domestic abuse, a LIGHT kind at that, that she was basically going through. Living with a person that doesn't understand her thoughts and keeps her confined with words of love... I know this game is philosophy if anything, but damn that whole ending was just "Don't Be a bitch to your wifes!"
yeeeeeah you know that wasn't about the domestic abuse his surrendering, he basically saw what his goal would bring a perfectly static world where everything even the most beautiful things lose meaning, he discovered what the future would be if he won.
@@PsicoPrimeCan't it be both?
@@reubensalter8125 I agree, psychological abuse is still abuse, even if the party doing it is not meaning to do so
I was so surprised when I picked the option to slay the Princess here and the Narrator asked me if I was really going to do that.
"We were eating like kings and now we are eating like pigs."
Now that line deserves a chef's kiss.
People do be a hive mind, huh? Let me be the Contrarian and said that Happilly Ever After is also an allegorry for putting a brave face in a stale relationship to keep each other happy, even as the sparks are barely lit at this point. Which is why, in 53:57, there's an option to say "no, i just want to leave", and the Princess accepts it as you two depart in separate ways with a smile of relief like an amicable exes
This is how i interpreted it, didnt even notice the smitten as a shadow lmao. Maybe its just because my relationship is like that tho
@Ermwhat-thescallop same here. My first experience in rhis route is with Opportunist, not Paranoid, so the fact that the shadow behind the princess is Smitten evades me
@@TheDisquietingNight oh cool me too
Thanks for making these videos, they’re a big part of why I bought the game when The Pristine Cut released.
It’s a mesmerising game and I hope it sells well
Glad you like them!
I don't think I'm going to be able to see Smitten (or any of the voices, except maybe Voice of the Hero, for that matter) the same way ever again after this. If this is how Smitten (and Opportunist) can be portrayed like this at his worst, I shudder to imagine what Stubborn, Cheated, and especially Cold are capable of under the wrong circumstances.
Cold can never be under the wrong circumstances. He knows what we truly are and he knows that, as the decider, we're the only one who can hold everything together. That's why he strikes the Princess's side during dragon - he never wanted to hurt her, he just wanted us back. Plus he's really good in Fury.
And then there's Stubborn during the new Den, along with Hunted.... 😬
@@reubensalter8125 Okay, scratch Cold out. Though, I sort of meant like how the other voices if they stooped as low as Smitten and leaving the Long Quiet's body to become their own shadows like Smitten did.
@@CB-eo6xoI mean we've already seen Oppy in full control of our body during the Princess and the Dragon so I think that covers that.
Though I actually think HEA is actually one of his better routes just because he gets to experience everything from a different angle, and he's united with us against Smitten. But I digress.
I think some of the other voices would actually be fine. Broken would end up doing some form of soul-seaching.
Contrarian, especially would take over the whole construct and change all the rules just to spite the many narrators; like he'd somehow make it so that it simultaneously across multiple worlds. allowing many perspectives to interact with each other; then throwing a huge party in the cabin while the princess in the basement is confused by the noise 😂.
@@reubensalter8125 That's honestly completely fitting for Contrarian. XD
Stubborn would probably turn the whole Construct into an epic fighting arena and also create many perspectives of the Princesses into powerful and blood thirsty fighters to fight among themselves and he would partake in that too. It's like a more extreme version of the Adversary route.
The Smitten was tweaking in this route fr. Also it's interesting how the voices can manifest outside of TLQ's body if yhey have enough willpower. Or just boot TLQ out of his body all together.
Indeed. Though I imagine they have their limits. In the case of the smitten here, his presence lingers on as a phantom husband… setting the table and playing the good host, but as the torches go out one by one, their presence and power fades, and as time goes on… the same gestures that were once enjoyable and full of sweetness lose their sweetness. In a sense however, what he is offering is a compromise. Giving the narrator what he wanted and trying to make the princess comfortable and happy in her cage… but… the gilded comfortable prison is still a prison. And as the smitten realises he hurt her with his choice… he releases her from him and fades away. Dying away with the torches… but the long quiet can make the choice to start anew a last gesture… a final dance under the stars… like she wanted.
Before I often praised the Smitten for being such a love sick fool, but here we see how that love becomes possessive. When you hold onto something for too long or too tightly you end up corrupting it.
@@KhepriProductions2022 Yeah. Smitten was at his best during Torn where his love actually translates to mending a broken relationship and now he's at his worst during the Damsel where he's completely degraded himself just to continue an impossible delusion of happiness.
Smitten - and all the other voices it seem - desperately need the other Voices and especially the Hero and you to balance them out. We’ve seen things like that before but it really shows in this and the Dragon route.
tlq and the princess are similar beings after all, so its possible that he manifseted it so.
I'M NOT CRYING YOU ARE
In all seriousness though, this route is AMAZING. The tonal shift with the Smitten and Damsel in chapter 2 feels incredibly jarring in contrast to their fixed attitudes for the rest of the game, leading incredibly well into the dressed-up horrors of the epilogue. I'm honestly amazed how the developer managed to not only turn smitten from what was essentially the game's comic relief to easily one of the game's most hateable characters (in my eyes, anyway) but make The Narrator genuinely sympathetic to The Princess. Easily one of my new favourite routes overall.
Yes. Yes I am.
And agreed. this is one of the best routs I feel.
I love that the pristine cut helps develop the characters that needed it most.
The Princess and the Dragon Shows You things from the princesses perspective, more specifically, it shows YOU. You know what you are more than ever now. A quiet, Creepy and subtly changing creature that Changes just as much as the princess.
Happily Ever after, oddly, Gives development to the Narrator. where before, he was stubborn, Toxically determined that his way was best, and that there is no other way forward, Here, he is shown a taste of what his world would be like, if his plans succeed.
and he Realizes he was wrong. and that it is too late to stop his plans.
as a whole, it means that he isnt as foolish as he once seemed, because he was wrong, and when confronted with this fact, he realizes it rather quickly. He's only Human.
The best route in my opinion, so many metaphors both relating to real life and the main themes/philosophies of the game
I’m reminded of a song which notes that there’s a danger in loving too much, and that sometimes love isn’t enough … especially when you don’t really know the person you’re in love with. But the end dance was so sweet.
You know, thinking about this route made me think about the shifting mound saying that she wasn't death but "contain it in my multitudes". If that's the case, then she also has life in her multitudes. That's why the narrator saw the light. I'm happy for that faded echo, he saw what he needed to see and settled down, living the rest of his moments in peace.
I love the fact that the narrator just wants you to be happy at the end
You just made the Narrator give up?
I didn't even know that was possible. He is always determined to get you to kill her I never thought I would hear that from him
We didn't make him give up. He just started to realise what an endless cycle of events would really look like. And he didn't give up, but instead he let go.
@@reubensalter8125 thats giving up
@@viennasavage9110 It is giving up, but it's more letting go. It's healthy
@@reubensalter8125 It depends on how you look at it. There's alot at stake. I'd hardly say theres a right answer for something so complex. To enjoy something forever or lose it forever.
@@viennasavage9110 But he's happy to have lost it. That's what letting go is, after all
It always makes me sad when the princess gets a happy ending, but then gets swallowed by the Shifting Mound
It was an act of mercy from the Shifting Mound as there is no happily ever after. This was a happy ending as the princess got what she always wanted to do that made her feel genuine happiness from her heart until the very end.
well you gotta remember that the shifting mound is the princses, and the princess is the shifting mound. she is bringing a piece of herself home, and the experiences become her.
...... but even then. the mound... hesitated here. clearly so. it coulda taken her immediately, but no, she let them dance. perhaps selfishly, for she would feel that joy, feel the holding of hands.
Do not mourn them; they've finally become whole
But it was the right moment. Having the dance was the perfect send off
@@taddad2641She didn't hesitate. The way this whole thing works is they only get taken once she feels she has gained enough perspective. This was no exception. But it's not really selfish if they are essentially the same being, right?
There's also Eye of the Needle where we bring her out of the cabin with Hunted and are able to fight her and she takes her after it's finished. It's the same principle.
Happily Ever After chapter makes perfect sense since the Princess slowly did become a damsel in distress, in the beginning you sacrifice yourself to help her, so she was a happy-go-lucky carciture in the 2nd chapter since we resisted killing her until Smitten sacrifices our life to keep her in the cabin under the idea of building a life with her.
Happy Ever After shows itself as too good to be true even to the Narrator, everything is far too nice, the Princess has to pretend that things are okay to hide her inner turmoil and the Smitten basically takes the role of the dragon against the players wishes, trapping them in a monotony that needs to be snuffed out.
Yeah but Smitten is essentially trapped himself. At one point the princess even says he's tired.
Ok, this absolutely terrifies me more than any of the other roughs.
31:55
*When you skip the opening cutscene*
When you pull a Cheated but there's no Cheated to pull it 😂
This is probably the most pain a video game has ever given me. Finally having everything you could ever want, only for the happiness to become mundane and eventually become empty.
At least in the morbid and dark endings there were bursts of emotions and mystery, not this stillness and apathy.
When I got this ending it was just about the time that the mirror finally broke so I considered it the way it would happen
49:17 this shadow is the voice of smitten , isn't is
Yeah I saw that coming
The compromise between slaying the Princess and saving the Princess is slaving the Princess.
This is actually horrifying tbh.
What an interesting ending that points out the monotony of living a comfortable life
If only they knew how to play DnD. They could have created their own worlds with their own stories, going on and on forever just like reality itself.
Ikr, as soon-to-be-gods, they sure dont have vivid imaginations for a fantasy lmao
But i get it, you could argue that the game started simple, but The Princess gave all her ideas until she out, the game could be complex af and took hundreds of iterations for all we know cuz honestly....time works weird in this game....cuz the other example is chaining yourself with The Prisoner, what seemed to be minutes was decades
Or not, maybe they're just not that imaginative...
@@GengUpinIpin Both the princess and the Player are incomplete. They don't have much to draw from, experience wise, in order to imagine.
A picture of a life, in a picture of a life, in a picture of a life.
I feel like this is the route you should aim for being your last one. It kinda outlines the whole story and its themes.
Even the Devs say that. And everyone involved
Having the narrator realize the ending he sought sucked is so brutally good!!
the problem with the smitten is its was not a genuine love , he adore her like a simp but forget to care about himself , in the end he became a souless slave , who can never satisfy her ..... he was in love of the idea , but never the real princess
Actually he wasn't a slave, he was the slaver. He took control of everyone including the princess, especially the princess. He went from trying to satisfy her to forcing her to satisfy everyone without realising it wasn't what she wanted. He basically became more powerful without us.
Also in Thorn he is genuine, but only because we're genuine and we're able to reign him in. All he does then is merely offer suggestions and happily play along as the side character, rather than the main character.
@@reubensalter8125I sorta agree, it's just that the smitten is also slaving himself, especially when you remember that the player (and the smitten) died just for the princess
@@HoneywithGoldie Yeah, I kinda see that now. In the end everyone is just trying to keep the flames from going out. Still doesn't excuse what he did, but at least he seemed to realise at the end what he was doing.
31:48 I just heard it but near the end of the title card there's a soft jingle of bells
Yeah, I don't hear it.
Is there an OST for the part at 53:24? SOMEONE PLEASE
I think paranoyed voice is better for this ending. While he's all drama. I think he was chipping off more of this fantasy than oppotunist
Hey. Oppy helped us beat the game. And he gave us more of an insider look into everything and he was perfectly aligned with us against Smitten. It's one of his best routes.
¿Pasa algo curioso si es esta la última princesa que ofreces al monticulo?
No, the Devs just like it is people have it as their final one
God i love how fed up the Hero is at this point. I guess ripping your heart out made him snap
peak
Idk if its just me but a few of the smittens lines sound different now?
Wow. The Smitten is insufferable. Never could stand the overly romantic types.
He's not as insufferable during Thorn because we're there to reign him in. And he's really good in Burned Grey too.
I think this update is to show some of the lowest of the low of the different aspects of TLQ/different voices....
The opportunist, when given the chance and let looss, is just too dangerous with all the desire to be the top dog and in control without any morals and enjoys all of it, even bad actions
And the cold just doesnt really feel regret as he doesnt even feel which adds to the problem
The skeptic, is too untrusting and fixated on "the truth" or "datas and facts" that he doesnt see the real problems....like you need another voice to either realize what he's doing is bs (cheated) or see the real problem is the princess and not some "the world is a matrix" (broken)
The smitten is caring, would do anything to satisfy and protect....but this time its too fast, too soon, too much all at once. If given time he's a little much but he's right, but this time its just weird, you knew very little of her. Love at first sight on its own is too fickle.....and thats why that part of him washed away at the end, and why there was even a "No" option....what you did and kept doing there wasnt out of love, but merely put on a brave face for a fickle light of love. In the end it was too possesive, too weird, too much all at once
I hope, tho i feel like there wont be more, to see more updates like this.....why they need to be whole and realize what they are currently is too jagged and unwhole.....why some of the part they have is a bit dangerous to let out to the world now
@@GengUpinIpin Actually Cold was at his best during this route. He knew we needed to be back and that was his whole aim - to get us back. Plus he's really good in Fury too. And he does feel - there are several moments where he does actually feel an emotion even in the base game
@reubensalter8125 yeah, i agree. He wasnt as problematic
@reubensalter8125 also i forgot what else whats added
They just made my favorite version of the princess even better. 🥲