I actually felt kind of sorry for Gristol by the end, especially after I found his vault reels. He was only a kid when everything went bad, and by the looks of things Maligula genuinely did save him from danger a lot, so it's not surprising that he looked at her as his hero, especially if he didn't understand the bigger picture. Then he ends up at a young age as a displaced refugee isolated from his home country (I know it wasn't nearly as bad as the ride made out with the arctic, desert etc, but if you think of that as a kind of metaphorical depiction of how he felt it makes sense). Particularly with what Raz talks about in the post-game, about how secret service agents from the new Grulovian government might be trying to hunt Gristol and Lucretia down, it seems like he probably had a lot to legitimately fear growing up, even without the alienation of suddenly ending up stranded in a foreign land. That and from his limited perspective, he genuinely thinks that it was the Psychonauts who flooded Grulovia. All in all, I thought it was totally understandable that he ended up being kind of emotionally stunted and clinging onto a lot of naive beliefs about his childhood hero. It's the kind of stuff that ends up radicalising a lot of refugees in real life, and I think that's what makes Gristol so tragic. He's a really good villain, because he genuinely thinks that what he's fighting a kind of crusade against the people he thinks destroyed his life and his country.
@@olivercuenca4109 He still ended up being a completely entitled asshole in the end though since he was only doing all this for the sole and selfish reason of living in the lap of luxurious laziness as Gzar with servants waiting on him hand and foot with all the caviar he could eat.
@@jeffcotten1081 It's the problem of him thinking EVERYONE in Grulovia lived like that. He was so completely out of touch with the lower classes that he couldn't fathom why anyone would protest the Gzar. It's a "Let them eat cake" mindset, where the person who has it honestly thinks the peasantry has cake lying around that they can eat when the harvests fail. It's a twisted and wrong mindset, but ultimately it's one built out of a sheltered, childish naivety. It's his refusal to listen to others and obstinately believing his fantasy that ruins him. After all, Maligula saved him during the war, he honestly believed she was a saviour. He refused to acknowledge that she had snapped, and genuinely thought she'd help him take back Grulovia and save it. He's so innocently naive and his naive innocence leads him to being an entitled monster poised to destroy the world because he can't accept that he's wrong. Or rather, he WON'T accept that he's wrong. He proves that anyone could be redeemed if they allow themselves to be redeemable, which he does not. He chooses to stay a self-centred monster. I won't ever say he isn't evil, or that he has just been misunderstood, he's a complex evil, and he's the one who misunderstood. He's such a good character. Deep and shallow, Doublefine knocked it out of the park.
@@thelegendofthedogfacedwoma3708 I feel that he deserves a place on the Complete Monster section on TV Tropes due to the fact that he was willing to have countless people killed by reawakening Maligula so he could become Gzar, and the fact that him and his family was taken a lot more seriously than Oleander due to the fact that they were a lot less sympathetic. Only time will tell if TV Tropers will agree with me. I'm planning to buy this and it's prequel today.
@@jeffcotten1081 probably not a "monster", that's a strong word. But he was an immature, out of touch, manchild who refuses to believe he is wrong and whose early life of luxury compounded with his limited life experience clearly spoiled him rotten to the point it made him believe that was just the way the world worked. The worst part is that he had a golden opportunity to see things from the perspective of the common man and see the true reality most of the world lived in as an exile which his lineage clearly failed to do and grow as a person, but was so focused on his self-righteous quest for revenge and vindication that he never questioned his objective. Raz himself said it best: He is a very confused person who doesnt know what he's messing with Kinda ironic that he was probably more well-liked as "Nick from the Mailroom" than he ever was as "Czesarevich Gristol"
You know a dude's messed up when their mental vault, the things that in literally everyone else's mind shows you a horribly painful life-changing trauma... and it's him running out of caviar...
Well, Nick is a damn near Sociopathic Narcissist. He wouldn’t care about anything else aside from himself, so when he ran out of the one thing that he enjoyed, (even though he probably had thousands of other dishes to eat) he saw that as traumatic
The most traumatic thing is that he's eating caviar with a Metal Spoon, that's like cutting a cheesecake with a piece of dry dog poo. You're supposed to eat caviar with your fingers, or a mother-of-pearl spoon, or even a plastic spoon will do, a metal spoon will infect the caviar and give it a tangy, bitter metallic taste, ruining the flavor
I still didn't make any kind of connection but gosh I love it! Just like if you cheat and get clairvoyance early in the first game, using it on Coach shows him seeing Raz as a brain(what his goal was). I love the foreshadowing on both accounts.
@@quizboy99 In this game, you don’t even have to cheat. If you use Clairvoyance on Truman while he’s lying on the bed in his office, he will see Raz as a peasant. Which is, of course, how Nick sees Raz. An early hint that Nick’s brain is inside Truman’s body
@@Circuitssmith Both of those are very good hints, because they're not incredibly telling - both of them also work as mail-related terms (first-class postage and the Pony Express). I for one didn't assume they meant anything other than being mail puns.
What creeps me out about Nick is that he believes that nobody in his country was suffering because he himself was living a life of luxury, which shows a total lack of empathy. “It was amazing! I had a cotton candy maker in my bedroom!” It’s worse than believing that other people exist to serve him, he actually believes that he is the yardstick of truth and happiness in the world.
To me, Gristol is something of a dark reflection of Raz. Both worship heroes, Raz the Psychonauts and Gristol Maligula. Both want to be heroes, Raz wants to be a Psychonaut and Gristol wants to be the "saviour" of the fatherland. They are also both underestimated, nobody believed that "Nick Johnsmith" was a threat and people constantly looked down on Raz till they see what he can do. Thoughts anyone?
Both were ‘victims’ of the flood in Grulovia, except Raz has legitimately suffered due to the psychic suggestion placed on him by Ford and from the belief that his family hated him because of his psychic powers. Gristol, even when exiled, was living in the lap of luxury and only became upset when he ran out of his favourite food. He has absolutely no frame of reference for the tragedy that occurred because he believes his own happiness to be a measuring stick for the fulfilment of others
A good Villain will mirror aspects of the Hero and they often will also share similar struggles, which is what makes us root for the Hero in the end, because we see the choices they made to overcome the same obstacles our villains did, and see how they differ because of them. Gristol and Raz share many traits but the 2 best reflections Ive seen were 'using their influence to control others' (Gristol psychology manipulating Lobato; Raz changing Hollis' mind about the mission) and 'Hatred of their Family' (Gristol blames Theodore for Maligula losing; Raz is shamed and scapegoated but all his sibling and parents [though Augustos was a little better after the events of the first game]). In both we see Gristol and Raz act in similar situations, but make different choices which is pretty neat I think.
Gristol served caviar to Raz on a metal spoon because he's a peasant, Metal absorbs into caviar and taints the flavor, so you either eat it with your fingers or use a spoon made of mother-of-pearl or plastic. Serving Raz caviar on a Metal Spoon is pure evil.
Gristol also eats caviar with a metal spoon. It's probably the best metaphor for his existence. He's given everything he needs but no instructions on how to use it properly.
The most consistent theme in Nicks head is the Faberge Egg, it even decorates his door in the collective. The Faberge egg was once used by Razorfist as a analogy for spoiled but sensitive children. Ornate on the outside but hollow on the inside, people who were raised on the idea that they were meant to be something, but lacking in the effort to do that themselves. Gristol is a incredibly clever and capable person. He tricks psychic special agents and implants fears into Loboto (somehow?). But ultimately, theres a reason Nicks mind is a narration of his backstory and not a representation of who he is. Because all Gristol IS, is a sense that he deserves better. Hes opulant, hollow, and is obsessed with the idea he never "Hatched" into the Gzar. But hes not a real egg, hes a jewel toy.
I think he used Maligula as a form to traumatize Loboto since she’s basically can control water at will and a monster of a tyrant to him and others but not to Gristol, as seen how Loboto screamed at the first level, “No - No! Don’t make me look at her again!”
its also possible that he was pushed to be this way. We know he fled but whoever he was with could have told him things like "you could have been so much more" or "one day you'll show your worth" Those things can lead to the same spoilers distortions
This game has so much incredible symbolism. Some more of my favorites are the Bob Zanotto level where he literally buries his bad memories in bottles, or Lucrecia having enough emotional baggage to build a dam out of.
A very minor, yet pretty neat touch in the mole’s mind is that is one of the mental worlds where there aren’t any regrets to fight against. Kinda makes sense since you’re traveling through the mind of a self-absorbed sociopath EDIT: this is pretty minor edit, but this level of small detail is pretty on par to the milkman’s conspiracy’s absence of censor enemies
@@redlantern6669 Well it’s like this. Imagine that whatever you did was unquestionably right. No concern for morality or anything. Gristol has lost the ability to see any life or morality valuable aside from his own. Everyone and Everything is there to serve him. Interestingly, Gristol and the Milkman are similar. Where Gristol knows that his actions are unquestionably right…the milkman knows what he believes (his insanity) is the absolute truth. Gristol has no doubts, the Milkman has no inner censors.
@@MrTiptopten The Milkman had censors. They were just hiding until the agents could locate the threat. The mental construct Oleander constructed was too strong for him to destory.
Most likely after all whatever it was his father did to raz grandma it was enough to cause a total mental breakdown to one of the greatest psychics of all time
Analysis videos NEED to be made on this level. This is the ultimate look into the brain of a narcissistic sociopath. There are some details I’d like to point out here that reflect the psychology of a covert narcissist, the kind of narcissist Gristol seems to be: - A covert narcissist is a narcissist who doesn’t display the outwardly grandiose tendencies many believe are the only presentation of narcissism. They instead portray themselves as selfless and humble, in an effort to coax out other’s compliments from a place of sympathy which is a source of attention. Notice how much everyone says Nick is so nice, and he would never do such a horrible thing. Nick Johnsmith is Gristol’s false self he presents to get the attention he craves. -His mind clearly shows a totally different story to what Nick Johnsmith’s mind would have in it. Gristol conceals his true grandiose fantasies in his mind. Covert narcissists usually take on the role of a victim seeking retribution, denied their right to the grandiosity they crave. This is why Gristol says he’s “homeless” despite living in a penthouse. He sees himself as inherently deserving more than even the luxury he has now. -This is also why Gristol blames literally everyone else but himself for the unfortunate things in his life. Ford, the psychonauts, and even his own father take the fall. The one person who should most obviously be blamed for the literal destruction of the country, Maligula, is not blamed, but instead said to be “neglected in her time of need”. He is showing her empathy because he still needs to use her to meet his ends. -Many would point to his childhood as the prince as the reason for his warped perspective, but regardless of their traumatic pasts narcissists are ruthless. If he was simply in this for his country, what he wants us to believe, then he would’ve have had empathy for his father and mother throughout the story, not just when it suited him. He also would’ve honored his parents more. Instead he blames his father for not keeping the country from being flooded so he could take the throne. -Lilli’s dad not liking him is a nice touch, because it shows Truman is a man of good character. He likely has met many people like Nick Johnsmith because of his powerful place in the psychonauts. Truman gained a bullshit detector because so many people attempted to get on his good side to achieve higher status. Often covert narcissists only show respect to people who have more power than them, in order to get that power by association. -Gristol taking advantage of Loboto, a literal lobotomy victim with the inability to practice proper decision making due to brain damage, shows just how ruthless and disgusting he is. He felt like he could get away with it, and no consequences should befall him for using this traumatized man as his scapegoat. Even though the moment Lilli assaults Gristol, he acts like a little pissbaby coward again. That’s what he is when he has to finally deal with his consequences. This is getting long but I wanted to say something.
I think the other fantastic thing this level does is display the glib superficiality of delusional thought among narcissists. Notice that all the past reflection on the ride is coherent and largely stable, even if it is colored by his warped perspective. but when he envisions his own ascension to power and how grulovia would be made great, it is a blank void of broken ideas largely focused on himself alone, with the only truly Cognizant fantasies being the murder of the psychonauts and the people of grulovia cheering for him in the streets. There is no plan beyond the ascension, only a desire for power with the vague notion that he deserves it
I find this extra chilling because while he denies the bad parts of grulovia he seems to at least be faintly aware of them ("the people's complaints *drowning* in prosperity", the horde of angry peasants that comes out of nowhere from that vault), and the ending of the ride implies that he has no problem with the destruction maligula will unleash on the world as long as he gets what he sees as his.
For me it is mostly how it is all a fabrication even in his own mind. Hinting that deep down he knows these are all probably false. A Ride filled with lies one would repeatedly go on to reinforce their delusions while the bleak reality such as his residence at the lucktopus casino is hidden away. Interestingly enough after the conclusion the ride staff note that he had gone awol and express uncertainty as to whether they even still had a job. Showing the distinct possibility that he may be able to overcome his delusions and abandon/dismantle the ride for good. Though his mental self that had retreated to the lucktopus room suggests it may take some time and effort...
Crazy how the character motivations are so much deeper than your typical cartoon game in which the individuals seem to have few cares beyond setting up and delivering the next slapstick punchline. That is what struck me the most about this game. Time will tell for sure, but Psychonauts 2 has all of the makings to be among the more influential games of the decade, at least from a narrative-driven standpoint. Psychonauts 2 walks a fine line, and it does so brilliantly.
Yeah I never got the sense that he gave shit about anything other than himself. When Raz has the option to say "Grulovia is a middle-of-the-road or middling country" all he says in return is the fact that he had a cotton candy machine in his room xD. As if that exemplifies the quality of a country.
@@wrestlingconnoisseur While the level is subtle, Nicks not a deep character. His entire obsession with faberge eggs and caviar are to highlight him as a spoiled brat. Also the fact his memory vault shows him litterally care about nothing but Maligula (Who saved him so he idolized), and caviar.
I also kind of read it as he only recently started accepting the truth. The first two sections you can get to easily but the lat one where you see the most concrete truth about the people of grulovia are behind a door blocked off by the security guard at first
Holy crap. This level is probably the most terrifying level of the whole series, at least for me. I'm gonna assume the developers did a lot of research into just what someone with a sociopathic level of narcissism would think like; Gristol reminds me a lot of Handsome Jack from Borderlands, someone so wrapped up in their vanity and obsessions that they believe that any decision they make, regardless of the consequences to themselves or others, is the morally right thing to do. The whole "everyone is the hero of their own story" thing perverted to complete self-absorption. The whole world can go to hell, as long as he can plug himself back into the Matrix and live in luxury once again. Double Fine really outdid themselves here.
32:19 We've seen quite a few times how a black voided location is usually an indication of the location being a false construct, especially within the context of Psychonauts 2. So in this case, I think it's kinda telling that out of the entire level of Gristol's mind, THIS is the only place that isn't a theme park set against a black void. It's a circle of angry peasants surrounding Raz, which can just as easily be interpreted as Gristol being surrounded by angry peasants when they were protesting Grulovia's dictatorship. I think that THIS is probably the only TRUE location in the entirety of Gristol's mind; everything else being a self-inflicted falsehood he created for himself, while deliberately sealing away this particular location, to be completely denied by his narcissism and deep down traumatized mind, or to only be weaponized against intruders. It's also telling that there are Bad Ideas, Panic Attacks, Doubts and Judges in here, as if this is the only place where Gristol truly felt fear and panic in his life, and had any real inkling of just how poorly his family was seen, and possibly just how bad his idea of reviving Maligula really is. And that's the real tragedy of Gristol (for as much as tragedy can apply to this monster); deep, deep down he knows that he is not the hero of the story, that his family deserved their fate as mild as it was, and that he's deep down more broken and fucked up than he's willing to admit, but his own inability to grow and change, his inability to face this truth and turning it into a part of his false ideal, weaponizing it, means that he can never free himself from his own pain.
holy shit I love this interpretation!! it's really telling of gristol's severe disconnect from reality, and even how that grandiosity can only hide so many ugly truths
its also neat how despite how gristol sees them, looking at them closely reveals they have sad/desperate faces on them, this truly is the only real place in his mind
I really appreciate the wordplay they used for the delugionist. It sounds awfully similar to delusional, which, I think given Gristol's internal world, is kind of spot on. Speculating he kind of seems to be a representation of a narcissistic personality. He has to remind himself with big statues and boards that he is Truman and to recall important (pretty simple) information that is unrelated to him. Not to mention the statues he's put up through out his mind to himself. The whole propaganda ride is also interesting take on how narcissists tend to take what they think and apply it to everyone: "Histories think it was his greatest mistake" = Gristol thinks it was his father's greatest mistake "Gristol Malik was their voice" - Obvious there This game was a ride, and the little details really made it fascinating.
Way better villain than Coach/Lobato in the first game. I really wasn't expecting Nick/Gristol to be the mole and it really surprised me in a good way. What a great final level!
I didn't suspect it at first but then the clues helped. Like nick's brain being missing, He had a key to the bedroom with the secret mural, whem he is debrained and you hit him he says im telling my dad, and The fact we knew nothing about him
@@moneylover318 And how Nick's body was address to Truman - he wanted to make sure he could keep an eye on his own body! It's really fun spotting the twists ahead of time (I guessed the Maligula twist when I had a chat with Nona and thought "huh... she's got the same head shape as maligula..."). However I didnt figure that Nick was the mole until after the fact - for me, the first alarms were 1) Why would Truman trust Raz with such a vital mission, why would he think this random kid he's never met was the most trustworthy option? 2) Lily was very insistent her father wasn't there and couldn't feel his energy at all, but "Truman" was only pretending to be asleep and should have been easily detectable. How could she be that wrong? 3) All the way back when we first met him, I immediately thought "man, Nick Johnsmith is a stupid name" XD
Welp. I spent the whole game feeling like each mind was an (interactive) Theme Park Ride and then they made one that is quite literally a theme park ride.
Something I noticed is that if you look at the casino penthouse both in the real world and inside Gristol's mind, there are clues suggesting that he was actually pretty broken up about his father's death. For one thing the place is in a shambles with stacks of beer cans, and in the mental realm version there's a figment of Gristol lying on the bed surrounded by empty junk food packets while he himself is at the bar looking just as miserable. And when he says "my father died today" he sounds genuinely sad.
You never encounter regrets in Fatherland Follies, and you only encounter Doubts and Panic Attacks in what is implied to be a memory of Gristol narrowly escaping death as a boy. The Doubts because the reality of the angry mob contradicts his delusions of the Maliks being loved by the people, and the Panic Attacks because it's the only real traumatic memory for him.
aight but the fact that Raz’s knees got all weak and wobbly when Lili called herself his girlfriend and then he did that little smile… HE’S BABY, YOUR HONOR!
Between the first game to this one every mind you enter is suffering from some deep seated trauma. Even Coach and Dr Laboto suffered in some way. But Gristol is the only mind you go into thats just pure evil, dude is well aware that his father was a brutal dictator, but didn't care so long as he got to live the good life.
I know right? It kind of tells you that everybody is suffering in some way. and there’s always a reason for some things whether it be deep-seated trauma or even just something as minor as being so egotistical and disconnected you have your head up your ass. Although I think back to your statements about the previous game and I kind of have to laugh when you remember that Sasha Nein’s backstory.
@@sammysawshank6011 Agent Nine was hiding something in there. A lot of stuff about babies and childhood if you notice the different stages in his level something was going on.
But surely he would be a even more worst dictator than his father I bet that in alternate timeline he would do even more horrible things like for example: Kill his own family to get the the throne for his own and enslave all the citizens of Grulovia I bet he would act like The Queen of Hearts and decapitate any poor soul who eats his caviar or launch it to his face by mistake
Not exactly true. He's just buried his trauma so deep that you don't even recognize it.. His entire mental mindscape is shallow and fake because, one some level, he knows that he's lying to himself just as much as he's lying to everyone else. That surprise trap he springs on you? That's him weaponizing his own trauma against you. The reason he loves Maligula so much is that he honestly doesn't comprehend that Maligula and Lucrezia were two different people. If yo go through his memories you'll notice that Lucrezia seemed to be his only friend growing up. Of course he can't connect to other people. Growing up his every need and whim was catered to. He was given everything except discipline and love. It's easy to hurt other people when you don't know pain. He's a product of his environment. Nothing ever hatches out of a Fabergé egg and no one actually lives in a Potemkin village.
42:43 Firs time playing this game I didn't collect all the vaults in ford's or gristols mind so when I reached this point I assumed gristol and his entire family were master psychics, psychics that could control the mind but chose to use persuasion and fear to make people obey them, so when he said "so, what do you think?" Then it revealed him behind the gift shop counter I was expecting some grand psychic battle that would test all that you learned throughout the game. But after seeing him easily get his ass kicked I thought ".......oh.......well I hope maligula puts up a better fight" and she did.
Its Shows what a spoiled brat he is Its literally like that fairy tail about the princess that can feel the one pea that was put under her bed Even the slightest Discomfort is seen as the most horrible thing in the world Which is pretty poetic justice
@@onlyacomentarynothingspeci2419 idk but I bet he'll say smth along the lines of "that can't be true you look like blah blah" since Raz is actually half grulovian I believe
I got chills seeing whispering rock. And it got worse, how the hell could anybody watch themselves being treated like a puppet? It was disturbing already, but it got worse. Damn, double fine did a great job.
I remember earlier in the story when 'Truman' told Raz to retrieve Ford Cruller, "why is he trusting a ten-year old intern he barely knows with this mission?" At the time I just wrote it off as Harry Potter-esque "chosen one" storytelling but the fact that it was actually Malik manipulating Raz into bringing back Maligula made so much more sense.
I absolutely love the fact that the main antagonist of Psychonauts 2 is someone with a 'dark triad' personality disorder. They're the most destructive for interpersonal relationships according to the DSM. And Double Fine did it with such finesse and grace. Among these disorders are borderline, narcissistic, and antisocial(psychopathic) personality disorder. Gristol being a textbook covert narcissist and sociopath. I was looking forward to an exploration of that and I am glad they went there. I was also thrilled that Gristol embodied the 'Almighty Janitor' trope. He purposely put himself among the lowest ranks of the Psychonauts so that no one would even consider him as a threat or think of interfering with him until it was too late. My game of the year for 2021 for sure. Also bonus points that Elijah Wood was in the movie The Good Son, although he wasn't the psychopath there. I don't know if the casting for that was on purpose here. Since the casting for Raz's archetype was an obvious nod to Gir from Invader Zim.
@@zacharyriley4561 @Zachary Riley i meant the same thing, yeah. Dark triad disorders including borderline personality disorder actually operate on a Machiavellian mindset for the most part, so that's also correct.
@@zacharyriley4561it may be because the DSM keeps changing or being revised every few years so that's why the descriptions change. But more or less they focus on the same disorders. I'm no psychologist tho. I'm just a cartoonist LMAO. I only know these ones specifically because I've been in a relationship with someone I presume to be in the dark triad. And my family is filled with people in it. It's weird how common it actually is. So I had to study it to cope and not go mad.
Makes sense if all Gristol saw of the outside world were Potemkin Villages where a romanticized image of life for the average person in Grulovia was presented. Also, I think that the park workers represent the parts of his mind that know that he's wrong about just about everything.
I think the Park workers represent the part of him that hated working in the mail room. It was probably his only job he ever had, so any mention of work in his mind should be in relation to the mail room.
The screen space reflections look really good in this game. Everything looks really good actually. Double Fine did a fantastic job with Psychonauts 2. I await to see what they bring to us next.
Everyone from the asylum, even Loboto, weren't truly evil people. They were mentally damaged by events beyond their control. Gristol was a perfectly sane man, just selfish and narcissistic. Even during his exile, he didn't give a shit about his family's situation until it directly inconvenienced him.
So, Gristol still have a chance to get redeption? Or its officially a lost cause Like other villains like for example: Tenko Shimura/Tomura Shigaraki, Touya Todoroki/Dabi and All The Jokers versions
@@crhistianragel418 I'm not sure if it's possible. If he's really a narcissistic sociopath like people are saying, then he's the kind of guy who'd rather fake being 'cured' and get everyone off his case than admit there's anything wrong with him. Personality disorders are really hard to treat because of that. And with his spoiled upbringing giving him no expectation of consequences for his actions, that makes it even harder. He doesn't see himself as evil, he sees himself (and enjoying himself in a hedonistic manner) as the only good thing in the world. Everyone else is just an obstacle or tool in his quest for wealth and power, with zero empathic ability to see them as anything else. The only reason i don't see him as a 'Complete Monster' (by TV Tropes standards) is that Raz reacts to his delusions with pity rather than disgust (at least, after he's no longer in danger of provoking Maligula into omnicide), which leads me to believe that Gristol's not entirely at fault for how messed up he is in the head. If he were capable of feeling empathy, and chose to ignore it, then he'd be a really despicable villain.
I gotta admit, I did not see this coming. I figured Truman was the mole from the start, but I had no idea he was actually Nick, or who Nick actually was.
It’s just fascinating comparing this narcissistic sociopath’s mindscape to the other members of the Psychic Seven who have been plagued by anxiety and self loathing for the past 2 decades. The fact that Double Fine managed to perfectly juxtapose these two extremes in the same game is astounding
42:03 This may represents Gristol dangerous ambition if he continues to use Maligula, not only would he would restore his country for himself and his own glory, but with her, rule the world.
Finally played this game, it is such a bold swing to have your final level be a loredump inspired by the most infamously annoying theme park ride of all time, and it's amazing how well it actually works without being boring or annoying, and actually a fun and interesting level that keeps you engaged in the story.
I like that the whole real story is a play on the Romanov Family, Rasputin, and the missing heir Anastasia. Only instead of Communists it's a flood from a psychic woman, and a psychic woman instead of Rasputin. The Murder family isn't murdered at all, just run out to a Casino in the ocean, and Gristol is a male Anastasia that's a total asshole (It would be hard to tell how nice the real Anastasia would be since 1. she was a child when she sadly died and 2. Most of what we get from a """modern""" perspective is the Don Bluth animated musical.)
I’d also would like to add that the Communist dictatorship run by Nicolae Ceausescu that ran from 1947 until the Romanian Revolution in 1989 when Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were caught and executed for all of the human rights violations and crimes against humanity they committed. The Ceausescu family was very similar to that of the royal family in Pyschonauts 2, especially in how they took money from the people for their own personal pleasure and gain.
I wonder that too. We know he made him scared of Maligula, and Loboto is troubled already as a lobotomy victim, so maybe it was just old fashioned non-psychic coercion? Someone else in the comments described Gristol as a covert narcissist so he may just be very good at manipulating others. But I *would* like to actually KNOW what he did.
I would guess Gristol showed Loboto documentation about what Maligula did to Grulovia, and pretended she wasn't dead at all and that she would come to drown him if he didn't do as he was told.
take note that Loboto was already mentally vulnerable ever since the first game. i'm sure his egg wasn't a particular hard one to break into, and Gristol was already a psychic skilled enough to manipulate minds smarter than the good doctor. i assumed all he had to do was plant images of Maligula in Loboto's mind, and the gravity of her deeds was enough to scare him into subservience
@@KnoxCarbon oh my bad. i was under the impression he was another psychic because of how well he was aware and resistant to Raz. also cuz he was a Deluginist
Okay, but can we please talk about the use of non-euclidian geometry in this game? Like, with this scene at 11:00. where it's a small tower, that opens into this larger detached space...
Half-way through, I actually did conjure up the thought that Truman Zantotto was the mole. But I never would've thought Nick would be behind the reason why. I mean... It's NICK!
From all the Twist Villains this is the worst one (And you can´t change my Mind). There are atleast in this Stage two good Scenes: 18:57-19:04 45:22-45:43 And I can understand why everyone feels sorry for Dr. Lobotto
@@jeffcotten1081 The eggs weren’t the dominant theme. But they were there. Raz hatches out of an egg in one scene, “the world shall taste my eggs” etc.
If I had a nickel for every main villain in Psychonauts that had something to do with eggs, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t much but it’s weird that the theme went on twice
What if for the 3rd game, Raz is facing against a true psychopath and serial killer as the new main villain? I was think about a kid survivor of the fall of Grulovia someone who lost everything even his mental and emotinal sanity due to all the horror he saw And blame everyone for all this because no one helped him when he needed it most The Maliks (specially Gristol), The Psychonauts (specially Maligula), Everybody Obssesed with hunting down all the Psychonauts but most importantly: Gristol and Maligula But at the last minute, Raz has become the perfect prey for him And surely the world of his mind is a hell on Earth (maybe cursed VHS videos) and his memories photos would look like cursed illustrations
Yea that seems like a logical progression Every other mind we entered before was either a victim or cant think clearly aside from gustav who is the first true evil Charakter Though it should of course still have the child friendly look to it with the dark stuff hidden just enough so that very small kids will only get it after they are older
Most of the other characters have mental problems a dont really know what they are doing and in their own personal quit moments have deep regrets He is a truly evil person with no empathy for others
I sort of wish they made Otto Mentalis the mole. Would have made a lot more sense with the backstory. Otto reviving Maligula to gain access to the psitanium.
I think they went against that because now that I think about it it would've been obvious. I thought it was him when I realized that he's the only one of the psychic 6 we didnt explore backstory wise. I think Nick was a better decision because I didn't see him being the mole as much as Otto
well they wanted the mole be a mystery and not o it this guy right off the bat otto was to obvious while nick who would expect the freaking mail guy to be the mole
@@frankspick7544 and Nick was also posing as another victim of the mastermind with its brain being missing early in the game, and suspicion on him further faded when Raz used his body as vessel for the brain he found at Otto’s, as if THAT was gonna be Nick’s main purpose to the story
Otto still could still be evil after the game if raz talks to otto he mentions going back to the old psychonauts ways by changing peoples mind which was Fords mistake Otto with his gadgets could potentially mind control multiple people at the same time.
@@kimetheus Funny, I never suspected Otto at all. My theory was that Ford was the mole, like, maybe Maligula's psyche had been implanted in his brain like a virus and he shattered his own mind to keep her at bay.
Something really terrifying about this level is that it's the only time we're inside the mind of someone absolutely evil. Other characters before were at best twisted or traumatized but were not truly bad people. Gristol on the other hand is truly an evil mind, no saving him.
Yes. There's a room in each section that has a grammophone in it. You smash said grammophone and the music stops (until you get to the next area and you need to do it again).
What I like about this level is how lili revealed that out of all the people that liked nick the mail man Truman actually hated him and was very much annoyed by him This makes perfect sense because nick was raised not just in a royal family but a dictatorship one so even though he was a kid he learned at a young age how to be able to talk and act in front of people to manipulate them into seeing him in a positive image But Truman was a leader not just some agent or just some subject and probably quickly saw past all the smoke and mirrors nick was making to gain everyone’s trust and favor seeing him as just some annoying kiss up that wasn’t really as nice as everyone saw him as It’s a clever way to show that Truman wasn’t just doing the job or presenting the image of head of the psyconautas but he was a leader in both mind and character which looking back on some of his cut scenes which was really nick helps to see how the dramatic and calm dialogue was more of a person acting as what people thought was a commander not actually being a commander
So your saying that nick was actually the son/prince of gzar, ( which is actually like the royal name of czar of Russia 🇷🇺) but then lost his kingdom to Makigula. So this got interesting.
Everyone talks about gristol being evil, childish, spoiled, jewrlboy, hollow egg, manipulator, etc. But I want to point out, that the phrase he said about having a candy sloth machine (or something like that) in his bedroom is not only pointing out his luxurious life, but it could be also showing that he thought everyone lived that way. When everything changed (grulovia flooded, and maligula defeated), gristol was dissapointed in his life changes, though technicaly not much changed. Yet, it shoes something, that every person has: nostagia. Don't get me wrong, Gristol is still spoiled evil brat Who wants to take over the world, but one of his motives is to return the old life of grulovia to himself, return the time when he had the candy machine near his bed, the time when maligula sealed with protesters,the time when he thought he was happy, but didn't realise it. However, even if he would have achieved it, it wouldn't bring him any Joy, both rulling the world and returning grulovia's life back. Little sad for him, but he's still a selfish maniac
so i just gonna call him nick. who tf is gristol or whatever. i really hope people dont use nick as an example that All people with cluster b disorders are bad people automatically or that you should portray all the symptoms as negative. its why i get worried when ppl call me a sociopath (ive been called that so many times). anyways this game did such a good job portraying nicks mindset and how his ego developed from trauma. a shame hes such a pissbaby about it lmao. i hope one day we get to see a character with npd or aspd not portrayed in a bad light yknow
Gristol's mind is a pretty good example of how a person can believe a lie or their own perspective so much that it colors their mind and memories.
I actually felt kind of sorry for Gristol by the end, especially after I found his vault reels. He was only a kid when everything went bad, and by the looks of things Maligula genuinely did save him from danger a lot, so it's not surprising that he looked at her as his hero, especially if he didn't understand the bigger picture.
Then he ends up at a young age as a displaced refugee isolated from his home country (I know it wasn't nearly as bad as the ride made out with the arctic, desert etc, but if you think of that as a kind of metaphorical depiction of how he felt it makes sense). Particularly with what Raz talks about in the post-game, about how secret service agents from the new Grulovian government might be trying to hunt Gristol and Lucretia down, it seems like he probably had a lot to legitimately fear growing up, even without the alienation of suddenly ending up stranded in a foreign land. That and from his limited perspective, he genuinely thinks that it was the Psychonauts who flooded Grulovia.
All in all, I thought it was totally understandable that he ended up being kind of emotionally stunted and clinging onto a lot of naive beliefs about his childhood hero. It's the kind of stuff that ends up radicalising a lot of refugees in real life, and I think that's what makes Gristol so tragic. He's a really good villain, because he genuinely thinks that what he's fighting a kind of crusade against the people he thinks destroyed his life and his country.
@@olivercuenca4109 He still ended up being a completely entitled asshole in the end though since he was only doing all this for the sole and selfish reason of living in the lap of luxurious laziness as Gzar with servants waiting on him hand and foot with all the caviar he could eat.
@@jeffcotten1081 It's the problem of him thinking EVERYONE in Grulovia lived like that. He was so completely out of touch with the lower classes that he couldn't fathom why anyone would protest the Gzar. It's a "Let them eat cake" mindset, where the person who has it honestly thinks the peasantry has cake lying around that they can eat when the harvests fail. It's a twisted and wrong mindset, but ultimately it's one built out of a sheltered, childish naivety. It's his refusal to listen to others and obstinately believing his fantasy that ruins him.
After all, Maligula saved him during the war, he honestly believed she was a saviour. He refused to acknowledge that she had snapped, and genuinely thought she'd help him take back Grulovia and save it. He's so innocently naive and his naive innocence leads him to being an entitled monster poised to destroy the world because he can't accept that he's wrong. Or rather, he WON'T accept that he's wrong. He proves that anyone could be redeemed if they allow themselves to be redeemable, which he does not. He chooses to stay a self-centred monster. I won't ever say he isn't evil, or that he has just been misunderstood, he's a complex evil, and he's the one who misunderstood.
He's such a good character. Deep and shallow, Doublefine knocked it out of the park.
@@thelegendofthedogfacedwoma3708 I feel that he deserves a place on the Complete Monster section on TV Tropes due to the fact that he was willing to have countless people killed by reawakening Maligula so he could become Gzar, and the fact that him and his family was taken a lot more seriously than Oleander due to the fact that they were a lot less sympathetic. Only time will tell if TV Tropers will agree with me. I'm planning to buy this and it's prequel today.
@@jeffcotten1081 probably not a "monster", that's a strong word. But he was an immature, out of touch, manchild who refuses to believe he is wrong and whose early life of luxury compounded with his limited life experience clearly spoiled him rotten to the point it made him believe that was just the way the world worked.
The worst part is that he had a golden opportunity to see things from the perspective of the common man and see the true reality most of the world lived in as an exile which his lineage clearly failed to do and grow as a person, but was so focused on his self-righteous quest for revenge and vindication that he never questioned his objective. Raz himself said it best: He is a very confused person who doesnt know what he's messing with
Kinda ironic that he was probably more well-liked as "Nick from the Mailroom" than he ever was as "Czesarevich Gristol"
You know a dude's messed up when their mental vault, the things that in literally everyone else's mind shows you a horribly painful life-changing trauma... and it's him running out of caviar...
Well, Nick is a damn near Sociopathic Narcissist. He wouldn’t care about anything else aside from himself, so when he ran out of the one thing that he enjoyed, (even though he probably had thousands of other dishes to eat) he saw that as traumatic
@@WEB-0813 near sociopathic? Full on would be more accurate
Well he’s rich not many bad things happen to them
The most traumatic thing is that he's eating caviar with a Metal Spoon, that's like cutting a cheesecake with a piece of dry dog poo.
You're supposed to eat caviar with your fingers, or a mother-of-pearl spoon, or even a plastic spoon will do, a metal spoon will infect the caviar and give it a tangy, bitter metallic taste, ruining the flavor
@@basedbattledroid3507 a true connoisseur of the finer things in life
When you attack "Nick" in the mailroom while he's debrained, he'll sometimes shout "I'm telling my dad!"
I still didn't make any kind of connection but gosh I love it! Just like if you cheat and get clairvoyance early in the first game, using it on Coach shows him seeing Raz as a brain(what his goal was). I love the foreshadowing on both accounts.
Also, at the start of the game, a random janitor will complain that there’s caviar on the air vents…!
He also says “first class?” And “pony?”
@@quizboy99 In this game, you don’t even have to cheat. If you use Clairvoyance on Truman while he’s lying on the bed in his office, he will see Raz as a peasant. Which is, of course, how Nick sees Raz. An early hint that Nick’s brain is inside Truman’s body
@@Circuitssmith Both of those are very good hints, because they're not incredibly telling - both of them also work as mail-related terms (first-class postage and the Pony Express). I for one didn't assume they meant anything other than being mail puns.
What creeps me out about Nick is that he believes that nobody in his country was suffering because he himself was living a life of luxury, which shows a total lack of empathy. “It was amazing! I had a cotton candy maker in my bedroom!” It’s worse than believing that other people exist to serve him, he actually believes that he is the yardstick of truth and happiness in the world.
Also the fact that the only time he’s suffering id because he doesn’t have caviar left
@@4EverSmiles
Right, he literally doesn’t have any concept of home or family beyond “where I get fed my caviar.”
Plus in his mind if people do protest its because "they are stupid"
Not too far from modern man-child dictators.
To me, Gristol is something of a dark reflection of Raz.
Both worship heroes, Raz the Psychonauts and Gristol Maligula. Both want to be heroes, Raz wants to be a Psychonaut and Gristol wants to be the "saviour" of the fatherland. They are also both underestimated, nobody believed that "Nick Johnsmith" was a threat and people constantly looked down on Raz till they see what he can do.
Thoughts anyone?
And both are very good at tricking people! Raz only does it when he has to, though.
Both were ‘victims’ of the flood in Grulovia, except Raz has legitimately suffered due to the psychic suggestion placed on him by Ford and from the belief that his family hated him because of his psychic powers. Gristol, even when exiled, was living in the lap of luxury and only became upset when he ran out of his favourite food. He has absolutely no frame of reference for the tragedy that occurred because he believes his own happiness to be a measuring stick for the fulfilment of others
Let's not forget:
The last russian tsesarevich, Alexei Nikolaevich, was treated for his illness by Grigori RASputin.
A good Villain will mirror aspects of the Hero and they often will also share similar struggles, which is what makes us root for the Hero in the end, because we see the choices they made to overcome the same obstacles our villains did, and see how they differ because of them. Gristol and Raz share many traits but the 2 best reflections Ive seen were 'using their influence to control others' (Gristol psychology manipulating Lobato; Raz changing Hollis' mind about the mission) and 'Hatred of their Family' (Gristol blames Theodore for Maligula losing; Raz is shamed and scapegoated but all his sibling and parents [though Augustos was a little better after the events of the first game]).
In both we see Gristol and Raz act in similar situations, but make different choices which is pretty neat I think.
Your point of view is really interesting, and I supose in a way it is logical and maybe true, no matter if it's intentional or not
Gristol served caviar to Raz on a metal spoon because he's a peasant, Metal absorbs into caviar and taints the flavor, so you either eat it with your fingers or use a spoon made of mother-of-pearl or plastic. Serving Raz caviar on a Metal Spoon is pure evil.
Good thing he didn’t eat it then
Gristol also eats caviar with a metal spoon. It's probably the best metaphor for his existence. He's given everything he needs but no instructions on how to use it properly.
I’ve never eaten caviar, but thanks for the tip.
@@chilliicecream5456 do you know that Griswold Malik is voiced by Elijah wood the guy who played Frodo baggons from lord of the rings
@@theodorecarter6601 it's not that tastefull even, it' expensive because fishes are near to extinct!
The most consistent theme in Nicks head is the Faberge Egg, it even decorates his door in the collective. The Faberge egg was once used by Razorfist as a analogy for spoiled but sensitive children. Ornate on the outside but hollow on the inside, people who were raised on the idea that they were meant to be something, but lacking in the effort to do that themselves.
Gristol is a incredibly clever and capable person. He tricks psychic special agents and implants fears into Loboto (somehow?). But ultimately, theres a reason Nicks mind is a narration of his backstory and not a representation of who he is. Because all Gristol IS, is a sense that he deserves better. Hes opulant, hollow, and is obsessed with the idea he never "Hatched" into the Gzar. But hes not a real egg, hes a jewel toy.
I think he used Maligula as a form to traumatize Loboto since she’s basically can control water at will and a monster of a tyrant to him and others but not to Gristol, as seen how Loboto screamed at the first level, “No - No! Don’t make me look at her again!”
Ah, Razorfist. Good taste.
its also possible that he was pushed to be this way. We know he fled but whoever he was with could have told him things like "you could have been so much more" or "one day you'll show your worth" Those things can lead to the same spoilers distortions
This game has so much incredible symbolism. Some more of my favorites are the Bob Zanotto level where he literally buries his bad memories in bottles, or Lucrecia having enough emotional baggage to build a dam out of.
The Egg is also a Russian thing, right?
A very minor, yet pretty neat touch in the mole’s mind is that is one of the mental worlds where there aren’t any regrets to fight against. Kinda makes sense since you’re traveling through the mind of a self-absorbed sociopath
EDIT: this is pretty minor edit, but this level of small detail is pretty on par to the milkman’s conspiracy’s absence of censor enemies
Woah. Mind Blown. OF COURSE he wouldn’t regret anything he’s done.
what about the doubts?
what are they for?
Maybe its not doubts about his morality but maybe his doubts on the mission itself (ex: wondering exactly were Maligula is....)
@@redlantern6669 Well it’s like this. Imagine that whatever you did was unquestionably right. No concern for morality or anything. Gristol has lost the ability to see any life or morality valuable aside from his own. Everyone and Everything is there to serve him. Interestingly, Gristol and the Milkman are similar. Where Gristol knows that his actions are unquestionably right…the milkman knows what he believes (his insanity) is the absolute truth. Gristol has no doubts, the Milkman has no inner censors.
@@MrTiptopten The Milkman had censors. They were just hiding until the agents could locate the threat. The mental construct Oleander constructed was too strong for him to destory.
Considering Gristol isn't psychic himself, He must have used some BRUTAL torture methods on Doctor Lobotto!
Yeah but I wonder what kind. The game didn't really go into that
His brain is just kinda hanging out and about….
Or maybe just showing Lobotto what Maligula was capable was enough, since he was absolutely terrified at just the image of her.
Most likely after all whatever it was his father did to raz grandma it was enough to cause a total mental breakdown to one of the greatest psychics of all time
Maybe some form of hypnosis?
Analysis videos NEED to be made on this level. This is the ultimate look into the brain of a narcissistic sociopath. There are some details I’d like to point out here that reflect the psychology of a covert narcissist, the kind of narcissist Gristol seems to be:
- A covert narcissist is a narcissist who doesn’t display the outwardly grandiose tendencies many believe are the only presentation of narcissism. They instead portray themselves as selfless and humble, in an effort to coax out other’s compliments from a place of sympathy which is a source of attention. Notice how much everyone says Nick is so nice, and he would never do such a horrible thing. Nick Johnsmith is Gristol’s false self he presents to get the attention he craves.
-His mind clearly shows a totally different story to what Nick Johnsmith’s mind would have in it. Gristol conceals his true grandiose fantasies in his mind. Covert narcissists usually take on the role of a victim seeking retribution, denied their right to the grandiosity they crave. This is why Gristol says he’s “homeless” despite living in a penthouse. He sees himself as inherently deserving more than even the luxury he has now.
-This is also why Gristol blames literally everyone else but himself for the unfortunate things in his life. Ford, the psychonauts, and even his own father take the fall. The one person who should most obviously be blamed for the literal destruction of the country, Maligula, is not blamed, but instead said to be “neglected in her time of need”. He is showing her empathy because he still needs to use her to meet his ends.
-Many would point to his childhood as the prince as the reason for his warped perspective, but regardless of their traumatic pasts narcissists are ruthless. If he was simply in this for his country, what he wants us to believe, then he would’ve have had empathy for his father and mother throughout the story, not just when it suited him. He also would’ve honored his parents more. Instead he blames his father for not keeping the country from being flooded so he could take the throne.
-Lilli’s dad not liking him is a nice touch, because it shows Truman is a man of good character. He likely has met many people like Nick Johnsmith because of his powerful place in the psychonauts. Truman gained a bullshit detector because so many people attempted to get on his good side to achieve higher status. Often covert narcissists only show respect to people who have more power than them, in order to get that power by association.
-Gristol taking advantage of Loboto, a literal lobotomy victim with the inability to practice proper decision making due to brain damage, shows just how ruthless and disgusting he is. He felt like he could get away with it, and no consequences should befall him for using this traumatized man as his scapegoat. Even though the moment Lilli assaults Gristol, he acts like a little pissbaby coward again. That’s what he is when he has to finally deal with his consequences.
This is getting long but I wanted to say something.
You are GODDAMN RIGHT!
i always thought he didn't blame maligula in a bizzare form of hero worship she saved his life so after that he held her to some pedastale
I think the other fantastic thing this level does is display the glib superficiality of delusional thought among narcissists. Notice that all the past reflection on the ride is coherent and largely stable, even if it is colored by his warped perspective. but when he envisions his own ascension to power and how grulovia would be made great, it is a blank void of broken ideas largely focused on himself alone, with the only truly Cognizant fantasies being the murder of the psychonauts and the people of grulovia cheering for him in the streets. There is no plan beyond the ascension, only a desire for power with the vague notion that he deserves it
Thanks for writing it!
This is an amazing analysis, great work!!!
I find this extra chilling because while he denies the bad parts of grulovia he seems to at least be faintly aware of them ("the people's complaints *drowning* in prosperity", the horde of angry peasants that comes out of nowhere from that vault), and the ending of the ride implies that he has no problem with the destruction maligula will unleash on the world as long as he gets what he sees as his.
For me it is mostly how it is all a fabrication even in his own mind. Hinting that deep down he knows these are all probably false. A Ride filled with lies one would repeatedly go on to reinforce their delusions while the bleak reality such as his residence at the lucktopus casino is hidden away.
Interestingly enough after the conclusion the ride staff note that he had gone awol and express uncertainty as to whether they even still had a job. Showing the distinct possibility that he may be able to overcome his delusions and abandon/dismantle the ride for good. Though his mental self that had retreated to the lucktopus room suggests it may take some time and effort...
Crazy how the character motivations are so much deeper than your typical cartoon game in which the individuals seem to have few cares beyond setting up and delivering the next slapstick punchline. That is what struck me the most about this game. Time will tell for sure, but Psychonauts 2 has all of the makings to be among the more influential games of the decade, at least from a narrative-driven standpoint.
Psychonauts 2 walks a fine line, and it does so brilliantly.
Yeah I never got the sense that he gave shit about anything other than himself. When Raz has the option to say "Grulovia is a middle-of-the-road or middling country" all he says in return is the fact that he had a cotton candy machine in his room xD. As if that exemplifies the quality of a country.
@@wrestlingconnoisseur While the level is subtle, Nicks not a deep character. His entire obsession with faberge eggs and caviar are to highlight him as a spoiled brat. Also the fact his memory vault shows him litterally care about nothing but Maligula (Who saved him so he idolized), and caviar.
I also kind of read it as he only recently started accepting the truth. The first two sections you can get to easily but the lat one where you see the most concrete truth about the people of grulovia are behind a door blocked off by the security guard at first
Holy crap.
This level is probably the most terrifying level of the whole series, at least for me. I'm gonna assume the developers did a lot of research into just what someone with a sociopathic level of narcissism would think like; Gristol reminds me a lot of Handsome Jack from Borderlands, someone so wrapped up in their vanity and obsessions that they believe that any decision they make, regardless of the consequences to themselves or others, is the morally right thing to do. The whole "everyone is the hero of their own story" thing perverted to complete self-absorption.
The whole world can go to hell, as long as he can plug himself back into the Matrix and live in luxury once again. Double Fine really outdid themselves here.
While this is a pretty terrifying level in it’s own right, need I remind you of……
*The Meat Circus?*
@@WEB-0813 Thanks for triggering my PTSD. Excuse Me.
**curls up in the fetal position and rocks back and forth**
This final Level in Psychonauts 2 is not terrifying in the slightest
Looks like DJ Subatomic Supernova has a rival now in terms of pride
@@crhistianragel418 you played No Straight Roads. It's good rhythm game. Anytime you chance to play Hi FI rush. It's getting popular reviews.
32:19 We've seen quite a few times how a black voided location is usually an indication of the location being a false construct, especially within the context of Psychonauts 2.
So in this case, I think it's kinda telling that out of the entire level of Gristol's mind, THIS is the only place that isn't a theme park set against a black void. It's a circle of angry peasants surrounding Raz, which can just as easily be interpreted as Gristol being surrounded by angry peasants when they were protesting Grulovia's dictatorship.
I think that THIS is probably the only TRUE location in the entirety of Gristol's mind; everything else being a self-inflicted falsehood he created for himself, while deliberately sealing away this particular location, to be completely denied by his narcissism and deep down traumatized mind, or to only be weaponized against intruders. It's also telling that there are Bad Ideas, Panic Attacks, Doubts and Judges in here, as if this is the only place where Gristol truly felt fear and panic in his life, and had any real inkling of just how poorly his family was seen, and possibly just how bad his idea of reviving Maligula really is.
And that's the real tragedy of Gristol (for as much as tragedy can apply to this monster); deep, deep down he knows that he is not the hero of the story, that his family deserved their fate as mild as it was, and that he's deep down more broken and fucked up than he's willing to admit, but his own inability to grow and change, his inability to face this truth and turning it into a part of his false ideal, weaponizing it, means that he can never free himself from his own pain.
holy shit I love this interpretation!! it's really telling of gristol's severe disconnect from reality, and even how that grandiosity can only hide so many ugly truths
There's also the fact that this is the only place in the level where you find Panic Attacks.
its also neat how despite how gristol sees them, looking at them closely reveals they have sad/desperate faces on them, this truly is the only real place in his mind
45:38 You know, Lili showed a lot of self control considering she could've set the guy on fire.
😱😡Gasp!! Lili Just Used The C. Word!😱😡
45:33
gap!!a1sauce
u usd da word!!!
Yeah considering she was burning the other toys and stuff around her
I really appreciate the wordplay they used for the delugionist. It sounds awfully similar to delusional, which, I think given Gristol's internal world, is kind of spot on. Speculating he kind of seems to be a representation of a narcissistic personality. He has to remind himself with big statues and boards that he is Truman and to recall important (pretty simple) information that is unrelated to him. Not to mention the statues he's put up through out his mind to himself. The whole propaganda ride is also interesting take on how narcissists tend to take what they think and apply it to everyone:
"Histories think it was his greatest mistake" = Gristol thinks it was his father's greatest mistake
"Gristol Malik was their voice" - Obvious there
This game was a ride, and the little details really made it fascinating.
Way better villain than Coach/Lobato in the first game. I really wasn't expecting Nick/Gristol to be the mole and it really surprised me in a good way. What a great final level!
I didn't suspect it at first but then the clues helped. Like nick's brain being missing, He had a key to the bedroom with the secret mural, whem he is debrained and you hit him he says im telling my dad, and The fact we knew nothing about him
@@moneylover318 And how Nick's body was address to Truman - he wanted to make sure he could keep an eye on his own body! It's really fun spotting the twists ahead of time (I guessed the Maligula twist when I had a chat with Nona and thought "huh... she's got the same head shape as maligula..."). However I didnt figure that Nick was the mole until after the fact - for me, the first alarms were
1) Why would Truman trust Raz with such a vital mission, why would he think this random kid he's never met was the most trustworthy option?
2) Lily was very insistent her father wasn't there and couldn't feel his energy at all, but "Truman" was only pretending to be asleep and should have been easily detectable. How could she be that wrong?
3) All the way back when we first met him, I immediately thought "man, Nick Johnsmith is a stupid name" XD
Coach was affected by Psi metal(forgot the name of it) kind of made him crazy.’.
Welp. I spent the whole game feeling like each mind was an (interactive) Theme Park Ride and then they made one that is quite literally a theme park ride.
Something I noticed is that if you look at the casino penthouse both in the real world and inside Gristol's mind, there are clues suggesting that he was actually pretty broken up about his father's death. For one thing the place is in a shambles with stacks of beer cans, and in the mental realm version there's a figment of Gristol lying on the bed surrounded by empty junk food packets while he himself is at the bar looking just as miserable. And when he says "my father died today" he sounds genuinely sad.
Adding onto this, where do you find the Purse Emotional Baggage? Behind his father’s deathbed.
You never encounter regrets in Fatherland Follies, and you only encounter Doubts and Panic Attacks in what is implied to be a memory of Gristol narrowly escaping death as a boy. The Doubts because the reality of the angry mob contradicts his delusions of the Maliks being loved by the people, and the Panic Attacks because it's the only real traumatic memory for him.
Elijah Wood did such a good job as his voice.
Wait, Elijah Wood voice who??
@@jupiterdancer3590 Gristol Malik aka nick woodsmith
He voiced two characters, Gristol Malik AND Helmut Fullbear in Gristol’s body. Arrogant prick and doting husband. Amazing range.
Damn right he did! He is such an amazing voice actor!
aight but the fact that Raz’s knees got all weak and wobbly when Lili called herself his girlfriend and then he did that little smile… HE’S BABY, YOUR HONOR!
Between the first game to this one every mind you enter is suffering from some deep seated trauma. Even Coach and Dr Laboto suffered in some way. But Gristol is the only mind you go into thats just pure evil, dude is well aware that his father was a brutal dictator, but didn't care so long as he got to live the good life.
I know right? It kind of tells you that everybody is suffering in some way. and there’s always a reason for some things whether it be deep-seated trauma or even just something as minor as being so egotistical and disconnected you have your head up your ass. Although I think back to your statements about the previous game and I kind of have to laugh when you remember that Sasha Nein’s backstory.
@@sammysawshank6011 Agent Nine was hiding something in there. A lot of stuff about babies and childhood if you notice the different stages in his level something was going on.
@@dannytheman1313 I kinda disagree. He was pretty much so spoiled he thought he was a god like being.
But surely he would be a even more worst dictator than his father
I bet that in alternate timeline he would do even more horrible things like for example: Kill his own family to get the the throne for his own and enslave all the citizens of Grulovia
I bet he would act like The Queen of Hearts and decapitate any poor soul who eats his caviar or launch it to his face by mistake
Not exactly true. He's just buried his trauma so deep that you don't even recognize it.. His entire mental mindscape is shallow and fake because, one some level, he knows that he's lying to himself just as much as he's lying to everyone else. That surprise trap he springs on you? That's him weaponizing his own trauma against you. The reason he loves Maligula so much is that he honestly doesn't comprehend that Maligula and Lucrezia were two different people. If yo go through his memories you'll notice that Lucrezia seemed to be his only friend growing up. Of course he can't connect to other people. Growing up his every need and whim was catered to. He was given everything except discipline and love. It's easy to hurt other people when you don't know pain. He's a product of his environment. Nothing ever hatches out of a Fabergé egg and no one actually lives in a Potemkin village.
42:43
Firs time playing this game I didn't collect all the vaults in ford's or gristols mind so when I reached this point I assumed gristol and his entire family were master psychics, psychics that could control the mind but chose to use persuasion and fear to make people obey them, so when he said "so, what do you think?" Then it revealed him behind the gift shop counter I was expecting some grand psychic battle that would test all that you learned throughout the game.
But after seeing him easily get his ass kicked I thought ".......oh.......well I hope maligula puts up a better fight" and she did.
Guess being a psyhic isn't the only way to being powerful.
@@suckonfatman6027 very true
I love how they showed Nick's vision on his life. "Look how my I suffered!", but at the same time he still lives in top hotel and eats tons of caviar
Its Shows what a spoiled brat he is
Its literally like that fairy tail about the princess that can feel the one pea that was put under her bed
Even the slightest Discomfort is seen as the most horrible thing in the world
Which is pretty poetic justice
The song kids sing is going to give me heavy PTSD later. It's horrifying. I love it.
If you choose to say half, when Gristol asks if you're grulovian blood, he will say "half will have to do"
What does he say when you say none?
@@onlyacomentarynothingspeci2419 idk but I bet he'll say smth along the lines of "that can't be true you look like blah blah" since Raz is actually half grulovian I believe
@@TwoBees_or_Not_TwoBees "You're lying. I can see it in the sadness in your eyes." Or something like that.
I got chills seeing whispering rock. And it got worse, how the hell could anybody watch themselves being treated like a puppet? It was disturbing already, but it got worse. Damn, double fine did a great job.
I remember earlier in the story when 'Truman' told Raz to retrieve Ford Cruller, "why is he trusting a ten-year old intern he barely knows with this mission?" At the time I just wrote it off as Harry Potter-esque "chosen one" storytelling but the fact that it was actually Malik manipulating Raz into bringing back Maligula made so much more sense.
It's darkly hilarious how Gristol's side of the story as shown by the ride is utter BS.
Goes to show how much of a narcissist he was
I absolutely love the fact that the main antagonist of Psychonauts 2 is someone with a 'dark triad' personality disorder. They're the most destructive for interpersonal relationships according to the DSM. And Double Fine did it with such finesse and grace. Among these disorders are borderline, narcissistic, and antisocial(psychopathic) personality disorder. Gristol being a textbook covert narcissist and sociopath. I was looking forward to an exploration of that and I am glad they went there. I was also thrilled that Gristol embodied the 'Almighty Janitor' trope. He purposely put himself among the lowest ranks of the Psychonauts so that no one would even consider him as a threat or think of interfering with him until it was too late. My game of the year for 2021 for sure. Also bonus points that Elijah Wood was in the movie The Good Son, although he wasn't the psychopath there. I don't know if the casting for that was on purpose here. Since the casting for Raz's archetype was an obvious nod to Gir from Invader Zim.
Actually, it's machivellian, (Spelled wrong probably) not borderline, unless you mean the same thing.
@@zacharyriley4561 @Zachary Riley i meant the same thing, yeah. Dark triad disorders including borderline personality disorder actually operate on a Machiavellian mindset for the most part, so that's also correct.
@@rjbalbuena7789You know how sometimes sadism is added to the dark triad? Do you think Gristol has sadism?
@@zacharyriley4561it may be because the DSM keeps changing or being revised every few years so that's why the descriptions change. But more or less they focus on the same disorders. I'm no psychologist tho. I'm just a cartoonist LMAO. I only know these ones specifically because I've been in a relationship with someone I presume to be in the dark triad. And my family is filled with people in it. It's weird how common it actually is. So I had to study it to cope and not go mad.
@@zacharyriley4561 oh he's definitely a sadist haha
Makes sense if all Gristol saw of the outside world were Potemkin Villages where a romanticized image of life for the average person in Grulovia was presented.
Also, I think that the park workers represent the parts of his mind that know that he's wrong about just about everything.
If only they were paid better, maybe this would have never happened.
I think the Park workers represent the part of him that hated working in the mail room. It was probably his only job he ever had, so any mention of work in his mind should be in relation to the mail room.
Putting the word "SPOILERS" in a video title only goes so far when the thumbnail itself is a pretty major spoiler.
I mean for people who don’t know this game, it’s not much of a spoiler in the first place lol
good point, sorry you got spoiled brother.. asshole youtubers am I right?
Statement: Everything Is A Spoiler
The screen space reflections look really good in this game. Everything looks really good actually. Double Fine did a fantastic job with Psychonauts 2. I await to see what they bring to us next.
Honestly gris is more of a disturbed man then any of the people from the ashylem we saved, hé is a complete ego filled sociopath
Everyone from the asylum, even Loboto, weren't truly evil people. They were mentally damaged by events beyond their control. Gristol was a perfectly sane man, just selfish and narcissistic. Even during his exile, he didn't give a shit about his family's situation until it directly inconvenienced him.
So, Gristol still have a chance to get redeption? Or its officially a lost cause
Like other villains like for example: Tenko Shimura/Tomura Shigaraki, Touya Todoroki/Dabi and All The Jokers versions
@@crhistianragel418 I'm not sure if it's possible. If he's really a narcissistic sociopath like people are saying, then he's the kind of guy who'd rather fake being 'cured' and get everyone off his case than admit there's anything wrong with him. Personality disorders are really hard to treat because of that. And with his spoiled upbringing giving him no expectation of consequences for his actions, that makes it even harder.
He doesn't see himself as evil, he sees himself (and enjoying himself in a hedonistic manner) as the only good thing in the world. Everyone else is just an obstacle or tool in his quest for wealth and power, with zero empathic ability to see them as anything else.
The only reason i don't see him as a 'Complete Monster' (by TV Tropes standards) is that Raz reacts to his delusions with pity rather than disgust (at least, after he's no longer in danger of provoking Maligula into omnicide), which leads me to believe that Gristol's not entirely at fault for how messed up he is in the head. If he were capable of feeling empathy, and chose to ignore it, then he'd be a really despicable villain.
Can we all talk about rasputin's bloodshed screaming during that small decent?
That was me on Splash Mountain lol
Well it did look from his perspective that it was about to dive him into water so it's understandable
I gotta admit, I did not see this coming. I figured Truman was the mole from the start, but I had no idea he was actually Nick, or who Nick actually was.
Yeah the Truman part was so obvious I wasn't even thinking about Nick.
Like that there was enough hints in the game but still not to obvious
It’s just fascinating comparing this narcissistic sociopath’s mindscape to the other members of the Psychic Seven who have been plagued by anxiety and self loathing for the past 2 decades. The fact that Double Fine managed to perfectly juxtapose these two extremes in the same game is astounding
When your throne room is the gift shop...
It provides 60% of the grulovian GDP
I've had this song stuck in my head for days.
he's completely sane, he's just evil
"The People's complaints--Drowning in prosperity!"
*Christ.*
“AND SHE’S MY FAKE GRANDMA!”
42:03 This may represents Gristol dangerous ambition if he continues to use Maligula, not only would he would restore his country for himself and his own glory, but with her, rule the world.
Finally played this game, it is such a bold swing to have your final level be a loredump inspired by the most infamously annoying theme park ride of all time, and it's amazing how well it actually works without being boring or annoying, and actually a fun and interesting level that keeps you engaged in the story.
It’s so cute how Raz still goes weak in the knees when Lilly says she’s his girlfriend.
Having Lilli go in with Raz was a pretty cool change. Maybe if they ever make a third game they could add her as a second player character.
I like that the whole real story is a play on the Romanov Family, Rasputin, and the missing heir Anastasia. Only instead of Communists it's a flood from a psychic woman, and a psychic woman instead of Rasputin. The Murder family isn't murdered at all, just run out to a Casino in the ocean, and Gristol is a male Anastasia that's a total asshole (It would be hard to tell how nice the real Anastasia would be since 1. she was a child when she sadly died and 2. Most of what we get from a """modern""" perspective is the Don Bluth animated musical.)
I’d also would like to add that the Communist dictatorship run by Nicolae Ceausescu that ran from 1947 until the Romanian Revolution in 1989 when Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were caught and executed for all of the human rights violations and crimes against humanity they committed. The Ceausescu family was very similar to that of the royal family in Pyschonauts 2, especially in how they took money from the people for their own personal pleasure and gain.
One thing I still don't know: Just what the hell did Gristol do to Loboto to make him too terrified to talk?
I wonder that too. We know he made him scared of Maligula, and Loboto is troubled already as a lobotomy victim, so maybe it was just old fashioned non-psychic coercion? Someone else in the comments described Gristol as a covert narcissist so he may just be very good at manipulating others. But I *would* like to actually KNOW what he did.
I would guess Gristol showed Loboto documentation about what Maligula did to Grulovia, and pretended she wasn't dead at all and that she would come to drown him if he didn't do as he was told.
take note that Loboto was already mentally vulnerable ever since the first game. i'm sure his egg wasn't a particular hard one to break into, and Gristol was already a psychic skilled enough to manipulate minds smarter than the good doctor. i assumed all he had to do was plant images of Maligula in Loboto's mind, and the gravity of her deeds was enough to scare him into subservience
@@JackOfSomeTrades29 Gristol was a master manipulator, but not a psychic. That's what makes it scary.
@@KnoxCarbon oh my bad. i was under the impression he was another psychic because of how well he was aware and resistant to Raz. also cuz he was a Deluginist
Okay, but can we please talk about the use of non-euclidian geometry in this game? Like, with this scene at 11:00. where it's a small tower, that opens into this larger detached space...
the water and water decorations around the "dancing" Grulovian citizens is just 😱😭
For me it's the game of the year 2021
17:12 second part of the ride
29:12 third part of the ride
40:20 fourth part of the ride
43:05 dialogue with Gristol malik
28:19 funniest oh my god I can’t stop laughing at how he said it
Wait.....so is he just angry that he ran out of Caviar? IS ALL OF IT REALLY JUST OVER CAVIAR?!
He's a spoiled brat who was pampered his entire life. What do you expect?
Hey don’t know if anyone knows this yet but you can grab the bad idea bombs in midair
9:47 Oh my god Horvitz 🤣
New rule:NEVER let lily push button's!
We love you girl,but no!
Does anyone else get major little big planet vibes from this level
I learned that one on complete accident, but it helped SO much in later battles
That song gets stuck in my head for days at a time. Once it lasted a whole week
Half-way through, I actually did conjure up the thought that Truman Zantotto was the mole.
But I never would've thought Nick would be behind the reason why.
I mean... It's NICK!
From all the Twist Villains this is the worst one (And you can´t change my Mind).
There are atleast in this Stage two good Scenes:
18:57-19:04
45:22-45:43
And I can understand why everyone feels sorry for Dr. Lobotto
Has anyone else noticed that both the Coach and Gristol have a weird obsession with eggs? What's up with that?
I thought Coach had more of a obsession with rabbits and meat rather than eggs due to his past.
@@jeffcotten1081 The eggs weren’t the dominant theme. But they were there. Raz hatches out of an egg in one scene, “the world shall taste my eggs” etc.
Eggs, in this case, are symbolic for brains
If I had a nickel for every main villain in Psychonauts that had something to do with eggs, I’d have two nickels.
Which isn’t much but it’s weird that the theme went on twice
At 40:14, that red stuff on the egg... I'm hoping that's just rust...
?
11:05 you can easily heared the words "thank goodness".
What if for the 3rd game, Raz is facing against a true psychopath and serial killer as the new main villain?
I was think about a kid survivor of the fall of Grulovia someone who lost everything even his mental and emotinal sanity due to all the horror he saw
And blame everyone for all this because no one helped him when he needed it most
The Maliks (specially Gristol), The Psychonauts (specially Maligula), Everybody
Obssesed with hunting down all the Psychonauts but most importantly: Gristol and Maligula
But at the last minute, Raz has become the perfect prey for him
And surely the world of his mind is a hell on Earth (maybe cursed VHS videos) and his memories photos would look like cursed illustrations
Yea that seems like a logical progression Every other mind we entered before was either a victim or cant think clearly aside from gustav who is the first true evil Charakter
Though it should of course still have the child friendly look to it with the dark stuff hidden just enough so that very small kids will only get it after they are older
Sounds like a logical progress and the next step from Gristol.
The second gramophone is in a building behind Maligula
Friggen Hell, this guy’s mind gives Loboto’s a run for his money
Most of the other characters have mental problems a dont really know what they are doing and in their own personal quit moments have deep regrets
He is a truly evil person with no empathy for others
28:19 Oh My God!😂
This level describes propaganda perfectly
You are not immune to propaganda
Raz: AND she's my fake grandma!
Yeah, he knows what's important
so good game
I sort of wish they made Otto Mentalis the mole. Would have made a lot more sense with the backstory. Otto reviving Maligula to gain access to the psitanium.
I think they went against that because now that I think about it it would've been obvious. I thought it was him when I realized that he's the only one of the psychic 6 we didnt explore backstory wise. I think Nick was a better decision because I didn't see him being the mole as much as Otto
well they wanted the mole be a mystery and not o it this guy right off the bat otto was to obvious while nick who would expect the freaking mail guy to be the mole
@@frankspick7544 and Nick was also posing as another victim of the mastermind with its brain being missing early in the game, and suspicion on him further faded when Raz used his body as vessel for the brain he found at Otto’s, as if THAT was gonna be Nick’s main purpose to the story
Otto still could still be evil after the game if raz talks to otto he mentions going back to the old psychonauts ways by changing peoples mind which was Fords mistake Otto with his gadgets could potentially mind control multiple people at the same time.
@@kimetheus Funny, I never suspected Otto at all. My theory was that Ford was the mole, like, maybe Maligula's psyche had been implanted in his brain like a virus and he shattered his own mind to keep her at bay.
I would pay millions to ride on that thing. Fun times!
Something really terrifying about this level is that it's the only time we're inside the mind of someone absolutely evil. Other characters before were at best twisted or traumatized but were not truly bad people. Gristol on the other hand is truly an evil mind, no saving him.
the only character in this franchise with 0 emotional backstory and sympathy
he can go get stuck in Compton's office forever
Is there a way to turnoff the music that singing is enough to torture people second close to the goats chanting “eat eat eat eat”.
Yes. There's a room in each section that has a grammophone in it. You smash said grammophone and the music stops (until you get to the next area and you need to do it again).
Or i could of turn the music settings to mute.
@@Burro.. and maybe actually buy the game too bad i dont have enough thx to a quarintine.
What I like about this level is how lili revealed that out of all the people that liked nick the mail man Truman actually hated him and was very much annoyed by him
This makes perfect sense because nick was raised not just in a royal family but a dictatorship one so even though he was a kid he learned at a young age how to be able to talk and act in front of people to manipulate them into seeing him in a positive image
But Truman was a leader not just some agent or just some subject and probably quickly saw past all the smoke and mirrors nick was making to gain everyone’s trust and favor seeing him as just some annoying kiss up that wasn’t really as nice as everyone saw him as
It’s a clever way to show that Truman wasn’t just doing the job or presenting the image of head of the psyconautas but he was a leader in both mind and character which looking back on some of his cut scenes which was really nick helps to see how the dramatic and calm dialogue was more of a person acting as what people thought was a commander not actually being a commander
28:14
we may be in the mind of a Sociopath, but damn if this moment aint funny.
What’s the song for glory to grulovia and why can’t I find it in RUclips
Edit: can someone tell us in the replies if the song is released thx
OST isn’t out yet.
@@thefreelancequeen ah thx
@@thefreelancequeen date?
@@flcl7154 October 1st :/
Was searching 20mins for that Grulovia OST and glad I found this comment
I love this twist so much
So your saying that nick was actually the son/prince of gzar, ( which is actually like the royal name of czar of Russia 🇷🇺) but then lost his kingdom to Makigula. So this got interesting.
Everyone talks about gristol being evil, childish, spoiled, jewrlboy, hollow egg, manipulator, etc. But I want to point out, that the phrase he said about having a candy sloth machine (or something like that) in his bedroom is not only pointing out his luxurious life, but it could be also showing that he thought everyone lived that way. When everything changed (grulovia flooded, and maligula defeated), gristol was dissapointed in his life changes, though technicaly not much changed. Yet, it shoes something, that every person has: nostagia.
Don't get me wrong, Gristol is still spoiled evil brat Who wants to take over the world, but one of his motives is to return the old life of grulovia to himself, return the time when he had the candy machine near his bed, the time when maligula sealed with protesters,the time when he thought he was happy, but didn't realise it.
However, even if he would have achieved it, it wouldn't bring him any Joy, both rulling the world and returning grulovia's life back. Little sad for him, but he's still a selfish maniac
Does Grulovia remind you of Russia?
I believe it is a Russian country
@@mattkugelman4369 well maybe a Fusion of Romania, Bohemia, Bulgaria, and Russia.
@@meganlewis2377 its the game version of Russia Only without the accent or the vodka so a bad version of russia
@@meganlewis2377 why would Romania, Bohemia and Bulgaria be included? In the ride you can see the people wearing typical russian clothes
Grulovia reminds me the couple Gruvia from Fairy Tail
this is a royalist's wet dream
I CANT STOP HEARING GRULOVIA GRULOVIA HELP ITS TOURTURE
28:42 Hey who are you?
Leave it to a song from the inside of someone’s mine to get stuck in my mind as well
If you try to leave, Lili will call you back
I feel like the propagandaneer should've been voiced by Jack McBrayer, don't know why.
9:47 😂😂
It's Wirt from over the garden wall🥰
Greg: Wirt, I just had the craziest dream you were the heir to the throne of Grulovia!
Wirt: Wait, what's Grulovia?
Greg: I dunno.
I hate when spoilers are on the thumbnail...
Did anyone else find the stacking refrence
I swear Gristol is voiced by Elijah wood
he is!
also raz is voiced by invader zims voice actor, and the person who voices gir voices doodleraz
43:46 that is not how royalty's work
Wait, did Norma think that Raz's grand-aunt was his girlfriend..?
SWEEEEEET HOOOOOOOME GRULOVIA
4:21
So he didn’t like Nick because he was a massive kiss ass? I could see that happening
Least Scrizofenic Grulobian male.
so i just gonna call him nick. who tf is gristol or whatever. i really hope people dont use nick as an example that All people with cluster b disorders are bad people automatically or that you should portray all the symptoms as negative. its why i get worried when ppl call me a sociopath (ive been called that so many times). anyways this game did such a good job portraying nicks mindset and how his ego developed from trauma. a shame hes such a pissbaby about it lmao. i hope one day we get to see a character with npd or aspd not portrayed in a bad light yknow
Nick is a character. He's always been Gristol deep down, and Gristol is a spoiled brat who never got over losing the pampered life he never earned.
Anyone who tries using fiction as a base for reality probably shouldn’t be convinced otherwise.