Outer Wilds - Solanum's Story
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- Опубликовано: 13 ноя 2020
- Solanum is the solitary Nomai, separated from her people by 280,000 years. In this video, we uncover her unique and poignant story.
My other Outer Wilds videos: • Outer Wilds
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ngl, when I first met solanum, all I wanted to do was ask her a million questions, and give her a good hug. I'd bet she'd appreciate both.
I tried to give her a hug as well. And also took a photo with her. Took some doing to get a good one because she didn't seem to understand what I was doing and kept looking at me.
I love how Solanum if you stand next to her and use the Scout to take pictures you can notice that sometimes when you are not seeing her she tries to touxh you, and when you turn around to see her she just quits her hand. IT IS SO CUTE
I feel like when Solanum died in 5/6th of the moon's locations while quantum entangled she sort of became a part of the larger entity of the quantum moon, because the quantum moon determines whether or not she even exists, meaning she has no meaningful existence apart from it and is permanently entangled, so while she may sometimes be conscious she cannot be an observer as that in Outer Wilds logic seems to necessitate separation between the conscious and the object.
Similar to how you are conscious but not observing while in the dark on a quantum object as you entangle with it,, except you can separate yourself from the quantum object but she can't because without it she doesn't exist.
Idk if that makes sense to anybody else
I always felt like Solanum is a reference to Schrödinger’s cat, the hypothetical creature that is both alive and dead until observed. If no one is observing the quantum moon, then it exists around all of the planets and thus alive-Solanum and the 5 dead-Solanums exist simultaneously. Occasionally, a Hearthian will observe the moon around one of the planets, but she died on all of those planets, so when any Heathian besides the hatchling observes the moon (just by looking up) then Solanum is unequivocally dead. But when Hatchling observes the QM at the 6th location, the quantum probability collapses on the reality in which she is alive. That had never happened in 300,000 years, which is why she didn’t experience the passage of time.
I also really like the interpersonal stories that are told through the nomai. The loss and grief by the Nomai survivors, the love stories that blossom, and the brother and sister.
I swear when you took a photo of Solenum with the hearthian I almost cried.
Nomai children's writing being bigger, clumsier and less refined than those of adults is just another great detail I missed about this game.
I like to think in the ending where the Hatchling becomes trapped on the Quantum Moon with Solanum for the rest of time, the two eventually end up learning their languages, and just talk for a while.
I love the head tilt she does when you first meet her "oh cool, another species! four eyes? huh that's neat"
Aybe being a "conscious observer" requires that an instance (person, nomai or other) needs to be able to exist at all possible places at once and of they leave, reconnect all instances of themselves from all possibilities.
Since Solanum's 5 other possibilities have been killed, only 1 possibility remains, that she only exists on the quantum moon orbiting the eye.
Maybe solanum became entangled with the moon to the point that she and the moon are the same thing.
In response to the conscious observer question. I think Solanum is a conscious observer, it's just that time isn't applicable when you're at the sixth location. If time isn't passing, observation isn't occurring.
My interpretation : Solanum is an echo - an entangled quantum instance of her forever imprinted on the the Quantum Moon while at the eye.
Makes me wonder if she'd still be on the Quantum Moon even in the new universe or the creation of a new universe finally freed her from the Moon and she would then join her people in death?
Meeting a living Nomai after all the spooky archaeology was a trip, and of course sad that we couldn't sit down for a long chat after all the intense exploration.
stumbled on this video on the steam page - this is excellent and deserves way more views than it has. nice to see some well produced and concise content on this kind of stuff, and really liked the idea that solanum may not be a conscious observer - keep it up!
Id love to hear you explain more of the individual Nomai stories. Specifically that of the creation and purpose of the Sun Station and its subsequent failure.
Thank you for the great lore of Solanum. I just finished the game and I'm mind-blowned by this ending. I happend to find this video on steam community and I think you did a really awesome job here! I'm definatly amazed by your finding that there's so many common points Solanum and the hatchling share. Also some thoughts here: while I was exploring the Quantum Moon, I'm also wondering why Solanum not going back. From my guess she might became a quantum exsistance after the interloper explosion, means she's both dead and alive at the same time, so she's not a consious observer anymore...although this still not answering many questions about her.
What I don't understand is why you can't leave the Quantum Moon when it's at The Eye and _be_ at the Eye of the Universe. Instead it takes you back to the Timber Hearth location.
Might be a good question for the lore explorer, or the subreddit. I'm sure they would have your answers
Edit: Also, for non-lore reasons you also don't have your ship at the 6th location and the gravity is too high for your jetpack. But I'm sure there's lore that explains it too
The same way entering the Eye takes you to the Observatory on Timber Hearth, It takes you home.
@@cr0ssley
This is the only caveat to the idea, I find yeah.
because when you are at the moon of the eye and go in you are not actually observing the quantum moon so you are transported elsewhere.
this is complete bullshi idk
Maybe it's something related to the fact that the Eye is quantum? Maybe..
omg that scout photo killed me
That's funny. I have never thought about giving Solanums name an english pronunciation. In my mind I always read the name so-lah-num with the u like in loop. But your way sounds more melodic
its a real word, and it's pronounced correctly in the video. It's the name for the nightshade family. I also pronounced it differently in my head tho
THIS GAME .......I'm speechless
Thank you for putting this together. I completed the game but not sure I want to leave that universe quite yet...
Note: Some of my speculation beneath "read more" includes a minor spoiler for Echoes of the Eye.
The fact that Solanum is no longer a conscious observer might stem from her state of being at least 5/6ths dead, or from her existing outside of time by being at the 6th location, or more likely, from both those factors. On any of the quantum moon's other locations she is very definitely dead. An individual who is dead cannot make any observations.
Assuming she was in the quantum tower on the quantum moon, it doesn't make much sense that her dead selves appear on the south pole rather than in some version of the quantum tower, most likely the north pole version of it. I think it's possible (perhaps even likely) that she fell asleep on the south pole on the Eye's reflection of the quantum moon (perhaps she was meditating as the hatchling can learn to do). Something we're unable to do in the game is to stop observing the quantum moon, while both on it and not in the tower without also ending the loop (despite the QM's reflection of the Eye existing somewhat outside of time, our hearthian is still tied to time via the ATP). While asleep she was no longer an active observer, allowing the quantum moon to exist in all states with her on it in all those states.
She died but her consciousness was basically "saved" by the Eye's reflection of the moon keeping a version of her outside of time. Almost similar to the manner in which the Stranger's Inhabitants saved their own consciousnesses. Perhaps their simulation is run with quantum computing technologies which allow them to separate consciousness from their physical bodies.
Mobius crafted such an amazing universe out of this singular solar system, so much to reflect and contemplate on with regards to the lore!
Finally some good content
Edit: I think solanum is 1/6% a conscious observer they exist in all plausible instances meaning they aren't but are conscious or they could be a memory an echo of a person's last memories which the eye echos louder and louder untill it reawakened the old consciousness but not all the way you could argue they're alive or is something living without a soul not living not conscious it all relies on perspective if you're looking at them and you believe you see an alive being they are but if you only expect to see a corpse they are dead their current circumstances all relies on you there is a careful balance of too much weight is placed on one side it all comes tumbling down so they are and aren't alive it all depends on you the player/observer it all is a idea nothing else untill it is observed
Thank you for this video! Super helpful
Do like how with Solanum, and the Prisoner, that both don't just magically know your character's language (excluding interactions in the glade) and with both you end up using alternate means of establishing a line of communication.
Really appreciate you making these videos. I loved Outer Wilds, but I had so many questions after finishing it. You've cleared a lot of them up!
It’s Nice to to see how Solanum sees you as a friend despite everything
I love this video and your style of talking about it, keep up the good work!
Just completed the experience last night at 3am! Stumbled upon your videos this afternoon while binging spoiler laden content. I love your take and delivery on Solanem. I’ve been playing video games for 30 years and this story and set of characters vaulted to my top 3 after a couple hours. Right next to Majora’s Mask
Great game, great videos! Thanks
I’m usually a emotionless bastard, but when I saw text from Solanum as a child, it pulled my heartstrings a bit
Great video! You did a great job with the editing, writing, and narration of it
Already subscribed and looking forward for more content!!!!
with the DLC dropping next week, can't wait to see what new stuff we get to uncover :D
What do you think about the dlc?
And update: it hurts
I’m gonna be honest, when I first got to the 6th location, I was super focused on the big hole in the sky that when I looked back down, solanum startled me! I did not expect anyone else to be there, so it caught me off guard lol
Salinum is a metaphore of the anonalies that is life and the ways that it shaped us. Apparently the question of wich come first the chicken or the egg is both.
this game is so beautiful.
I don't know that the worlds in the new universe are "planets" in the traditional sense. The curvature of the foreground in the photo seems to imply that it is shaped more like a potato chip. I like to think that their worlds are strips and ribbons like this and float through this space with threads of energy? Light? whatever that stuff is in the photo between them. So they exist in a sea like space. Held down with something like the Nomi's gravity crystals.
"The end of the universe won't happen in my lifetime." Well.... she was half right.
More exactly she was 5/6ths right.
Other Hearthians observing the Quantum Moon don't lock it in place, perhaps each observer collapses their own possibility? In which case Solanum could be a conscious observer without violating this rule. Perhaps more tragic if she is truly trapped there and alive.
I think the answer to whether or not Solanum is a conscious observer is much more simple than we'd like to believe. At any moment that she closes her eyes, she is no longer observing the moon.
It’s sad that you can see the skeletons of kids in the cave where the angler fish is
Prepare to cry.
Another great video. It occurs to me that Solanum's "survival" is kind of a plot hole though. If the quantum moon exists outside of time, shouldn't everyone who ever visited the place also be still there. I suppose it makes sense in a way, presumably a person is "there" until they leave, but no version of Solanum is capable of leaving perhaps?
Here is a theory: Solanum is in a quantum state. She is both dead and alive based on the state of the quantum moon. So what if you could put her onboard a ship and get her off the surface when at the sixth location (I know it's not possible in game). Will she keep the same state as the one when she left or will she keep being quantum. So every time we look at her she would be either alive or dead. How creepy would that be?
Woah, I hadn't thought about the fact that Solanum might not count as a concious observer. That has some interesting and rather odd implications, yes. I would guess that she's sort of a part of the moon now, and as such essentially more of a memory than a person. Or still an intelligent individual but lacking that special something that makes her count. That has some awkward implications. If she was essentially in every possible location at once, and died in all except one, then maybe, while conscious, she's no longer impartial (in an unknowing abstract quantum sorta sense), because she can't exist outside that location. Maybe. 🤔 Oh dear. I need to sleep and there's no easy answer here. 😆
Maybe solanum is a conscious observer but just like all of us, is not always observing
DLC SPOILERS:
I love that the DLC pretty much confirms that Solanum was correct. We now know that the Eye was constantly emitting a signal to whoever could receive it, but it was the Inhabitants of the Stranger who restricted that signal from getting out. The only reason the Nomai received that one signal is because the Prisoner sneakily turned off the signal restricting device for a moment, resulting in his/her imprisonment. That moment of freeing the signal is what brought the Nomai to the Hearthian System and eventually led to a conscious observe being able to rebirth the universe.