Question

review

Answer 1

Okay, this is of course, my theory as the ending up open to interpretation. FYI...This topic may be a little long to explain.

After finishing the game, i went to this board and went looking straight for the ending topic thread. After adding my theory, I actually made a whole paragraph with some comparison to Donnie Darko but deleted it as I thought maybe I'm going too deep to it and deleted it. Later on browsing through the topics, I saw someone also brought it up. So then, I went to Starbucks drinking some coffee and couldnt get the game off my head. Then BAM!!! it hit me.

So here's my theory:
If you look at the game, the game makes no secret of actually using a lot of things for references. The Shining, Stephen King reference, guy waking up the after accident reminded of silent hill, etc. But I think another influence is Donnie Darko

In Donnie Darko, the movie was confusing to watch in the beginning because while you're watching the movie, you're led to believe that things are unfolding but in reality, things already have, and what you're watching is actually a time loop and the events are leading up to a key point again. The KEY EVENT in Donnie Darko is the Plane part falling and killing him in his room. He was supposed to die but he saved himself by travelling back in time. Because he was supposed to die, the world around him was being destroyed. So in the end, to make things right, when the KEY EVENT happened, he stayed in his room to sacrifice himself, to make things right.

the KEY EVENT in Alan Wake is him jumping in Lake to save Alice. When you're playing the game, you think the events again are also unfolding but it already has...Let me explain. In the ending of the game, Alan creates Mr. Scratch, he tells him that he is the one that will meet his friends. So, the whole time we're playing, we're actually playing Mr. Scratch, which explains the Alan Wake that we see in the TV screen. Alan Knew he had to stay in the cabin to continue writing but he also needed to escape to save Alice or perhaps himself, so he created Mr. Scratch. Sooooo, somewhere midgame when it showed the KEY EVENT again and shows him escaping, you're led to belive that Alan wrote himself to escape but in fact, the Alan that emerged from the water and escaped was Mr. Scratch, the real Alan had to stay in the cabin to continue writing the story. Which is why while you're playing, you'll get glimpsed of Alan in the TV talking to himself and trying to find a way to continue telling the story. That's the REAL Alan, and the one we're controlling in the game is in fact...Mr. Scratch.

So when the KEY EVENT happened in the ending... where Alan jumps in the lake again to save Alice...Only one emerged out of the water, Alice, the Alan Wake that jumped sacrificed himself to bring her back. Only this Alan that sacrificed himself is Mr. Scratch...the real Alan is still in the cabin writing the story.

I think its brilliant though because we have all 3 possible ending scenario, the good, the bad and cliffhanger in one ending.
THE BAD: much like Donnie Darko, and Thomas Zane, Alan jumping back in the water and not emerging showed he sacrificed himself.
THE GOOD: He was able to save Alice
THE CLIFFHANGER: The REAL Alan Wake is still trapped in the cabin (darkness). Because the real threat is still to come, because its not a lake, its an ocean

Answer 2

@Elsa213

Answer 3

@Marziman

Answer 4

It's flawless