(13) The Path: Scarlet Ending (Success)

[hrabbipabbi]

this game sucks! WOW

[QuiteRiQuite]

I do think the white sheets and empty rooms allude to her feeling like a blank slate that has to start anew.

[QuiteRiQuite]

This girl's self-esteem relied on her confidence as an artist. When she was young, she trusted that she was, in fact, talented and creative. She was ready to perform, but also super-sensitive to critique, so much so that a single person's opinion could make her give up on the spot. The trouble with failure is it means admitting something about you wasn't true, and if it's something you've based your whole personality on, it can be devastating.

[fareedbakhit]

call me a weirdo but this game kinda have some amazing music.

[fareedbakhit]

you can never achive what you dreamd of

that is what i learn from scarlet part.

[Kruukk]

I think Scarlet is scared she can lose something very important to her like talent. Her wolf cuts off her fingers . Fingers are something important for pianist. She is tidy but in grandmother's house there is a mess. That can mean she's scared she can fail or lose something which may affect the rest of her life...or something like that. Sorry for mistakes my english is not perfect.

[DeTutnloench]

when i first saw it my first thought was that the teacher cut scarlets eyes off so she cant see anymore

[khtwilightgrl72]

I agree on Scarlet's wolf being that she couldn't accomplish her goals(but I feel like posting what I analyzed from her ending). All the furniture either being covered up or missing- she could never really settle into something to complete it, or she never set it into motion. The green lighting/lack of creepy music-she was lost and could never really find her way, feeling a lack of meaning in life. The books- shes seaching for knowledge on her meaning. The instruments/love of arts- her escape

[UmbrellaAgentLupo]

This game is confusing 2 me 

[DahniSmith]

i like to think of this metaphor as, instead of scarlet controlling her life, her life was controlling her

[alsowikk]

Just a thing I noticed, Robin's wolf...is a wolf. Scarelt's is hiding behind a mask...like the wolf in the tale. They are the only ones to see the wolves in this type of light(and Robin was actively pursuing hers while scarlet's came out of nowhere)....I wonder what the heck it means.

[Pwn3DBoyZ]

Contrary to what Luna said a while back, the meaning was probably that her life was wasted away because of him. The "long finger nails" are actually the puppeteering gloves that they use with the string puppets. That's why in one of the pictures If you pause fast enough it looks like she's covered with rope or string. She was just a puppet who's life was wasted away because of some ambition.

[Blashyrkh22]

The music in this is gorgeous, which fits in perfectly to the dark atmosphere

[callidad]

I find this game to be more like an abstract painting or a play. Everything seems to be so metaphorical, but honestly, we can guess and guess and guess, but i prefer to look at the beauty of it all rather than the meaning of everything. If you want to know what The Path is and all of its meanings, than ask the people who created it, since they were the ones to think of all of the different things that this beautiful piece of art says. Just enjoy it in the way that you would anything else.

[GreenGem24]

Also at 3:34 when you first enter the house is that..... a dick with a sheet over it? Just an observation. <_<

[GreenGem24]

0:04 scared me o_o

[ninjaoliver1]

To Me, this game comes from the deep thoughts in the heart, not sight in our eyes!

[KazeKoichi]

Her wolf was Sephiroth.

[RubyMuto]

@KazeKoichi Sephiroth is way cooler

[RubyMuto]

I dont think that piano instructor is a man. If you pause the video at about 1:19 that person has a very feminine face. I think it looks a bit like the grandma. So going on the theory that these girls are a dying womans memories and knowing that scarlet is the oldest girl, I think her wolf is actually a broken dream she was unable to follow because of her responsibilities.

[Str1d]

@RubyMuto

It's a man, stupid.

[RubyMuto]

@Str1d oh im stupid for having an opinion, real mature.

[Str1d]

@RubyMuto

You have a dipshit opinion about something that has already been covered. It's a man. You're immature for having such a daft imagination.

[BakaKoneko]

@Str1d Why is it a man ? Can I have proof of it's gender ?

I actually tought it was a woman too, and his(her?) interpretation is not that bad, really, it makes as much sense as any other

Also, what the hell is wrong with you

[Str1d]

@BakaKoneko

Being that this debate happened a month ago, I no longer give a fuck about any interpretation, theory, or thought toward the game or it's characters. You're late and I don't care anymore.

[loki00700]

the real story is those girls are actually boys who end up playing this game

[loki00700]

atleast there is a Dick somewhere

[AndyPertamax]

3:34 there's a giant dick

[DeltaComrad]

@AndyPertamax That would probably be a clock covered with a cloth.

[HewoGuy]

Depression?

[LunaSunrise]

I'd just like to make something clear.

Piano teachers, in the past, were very harsh and brutal with their students. So her teacher might have said some very negative things to Scarlet, and probably complained about her finger nails. The teacher would have gotten a pair of scissors and chopped her nails off, but not her fingers. That's just being over dramatic. XD Hence why one of the quick flashes HAS long finger nails. It is Scarlet.

[kenocartel]

"art is where the nobility of humanity is expressed. I could not live in a word without it" im assuming she was unable to express her artistic desires on earth and has been released from her life of servitude and obligation by some perverse form of savior

[KleptoCosplayer]

Mom: Go down to Grandma's house.

Me: HECK NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Mom: Why not?!

Me: Oh my God! Have you the crazy stuff that goes on over there?! You go! 'cause I won't!!

Mom: It can't be that bad, you're just being lazy!

Me: NOT GOING!

Mom: Fine I'll go because clearly don't love her!

Me: Don't forget to stay on the path!

[DragonSongOnTheWind]

I think that Scarlet's story represents going into adulthood. The books show that she is coming to understand the harshness of the world. The floating instruments presents that, as she grows, she will have to give up on some goals. I guess the house could represent blandness in a world without the things she loved and grew up with. I like the greeness of it though, and think it represents jealousy of her younger, more free siblings. Sad.

[sailordarkmoon999]

My thoery of Scarlet....

Books, she wants to write a book of her own, instruments, she wants to make a song of her own, jars, she wants to collect bugs, but she doesn't get to because she has to look after her sisters.

Everything is covered up because she does not want to live in a world without music or art, the things covered up are taken like erased and taken out.

Her wolf is who she wants to be in the future.

Scarlet's story is about getting a job and completing dreams.

[justifiedkilling]

Everyone says the game is a metaphor for growing up, I see it in a slightly deeper context. By sticking to your path, you remain safe, and live to return home. But by venturing from the path, you discover problems, and these problems will persist in pestering you to the brink of death.

[Hippodameia]

Scarlet seems like the golden child type to me.

[WynterZ]

I would say Scarlet spent all her time doing this like practicing her music and studying, but didn't get out and experience life which left her lonely and disconnected. Maybe she had a pushy, perfectionist mother? Either way, her wolf seems to be failing to achieve what she wanted in life.

[starstuddedkrazy]

I personally believe that Scarlet's ending is the most depressing, because of the emptiness of the house. The emptiness represents her life being devoid of meaning without music, which she may have had to give up in order to care for her family, or she may have been rejected by the industry or told that she was no good. Or, as many say, she may have made beautiful music that no one understood or appreciated, even though she worked very hard, hence the images of pain and injury.

[TwilightVulpineTV]

Maybe Scarlet did succeed as an artist, but maybe she was overworked and/or had little artistic freedom. She probably had a stern tutor that forced her to study and practice a lot, hence the books on the ground and the ice.

Somewhat like @iluvpudding4eva said

[jazz8000]

at 4:56 she looks like she bleeding from eyes (stop at that moment)

[HitTheHighNotes]

never before has success felt so bitter in my heart... To be able to describe and show so much detail in death and in life, you must have experienced it once before, for yourself. The person who drempt of this game... My heart goes out to them. Bravo, that is all i can say. Bravo.

[FastFlyerJr]

Am I the only freaking one who can see that by the pictures at the end, Scarlet gets scars across the face by a swipe of the teachers long nails?

[zlgale1]

Estuans interius ira vehementi WOLFIROTH!

[zlgale1]

@zlgale1 That joke was horrible I apoligize

[BanjoKazooieTeam]

@zlgale1 did you just reply to yourself...

[zlgale1]

@BanjoKazooieTeam Yes, why?

[Ookani]

@zlgale1 I'm impressed you put the actual lyrics in! That's what I thought too tbh.

[zlgale1]

@Ookani Thank you.

[mistressFavole]

Never before the word "success" made me feel so sad...:(

[sparklycat103]

Her wolf reminds me of Sephiroth. XD

[wotjesus]

This game can only be classified as horror because of the bizarre atmosphere. There's nothing that jumps out at you or looks truly disturbing... just a bunch of random metaphors.

[JamieJamez]

Scarlet's wolf was the RIAA?

[Haeronthegreat]

The scariest bit of this game is when you walk up to Grandma's house after you've found the wolf.

[xXSafaiaShinobiXx]

The game doesn't get scary until your character is attacked by their Wolf. My heart just goes out to any of them as they're limping slowly to Grandma's house, and the color change makes it FREAKY.

Also, the inside of Grandma's house is scary, but that might just be me since it's a total mind screw.

[crysiseternity]

@xXSafaiaShinobiXx Well, it is scary while still being beautiful. this is the only game which ever gave me nightmares.

[mamangakka]

so who's your favorite girl in the path?

[AerithX]

I agree with omxgivemeaname.

The girls didn't have a mom, or at least they had an invisible one.

Scarlet was the oldest, and had the "order" to take care of all of her "sisters", so maybe she wasn't able or didn't have time for herself, to do what she wanted, to "be enjoying what's left of her youth". All the things flying were the dreams she had, and what she never could accomplish.

-Sorry for bad english D:-

[indigo1384]

no your english is very good. I understood perfectly...and thats a good interpretation.

[superbad222]

I think it represent alot about keeping things artistic because all the things in the first part of the house were white and bland and the instruments floating away and the books dissapering kind of contribute to that and once she saw the wolf her "show" was over

[omxgivemeaname]

I think that Scarlet's wolf was never being able to accomplish her goals. She never becomes a famous musician ( instruments flying away), learns about the things she was curious in (all the books) or finishes collections (empty jars for bugs and what not. Once she finds a partner she is satisfied in (man in black coat) he turns out to be a manipulator (puppet strings). Scarlet's dreams never come true.

[iluvpudding4eva]

@omxgivemeaname

actually I think it has to do with her accomplishing everything, but not being satisfied.

[dtedizkiller1]

so she devoted her life to the arts and that's what killed her?

[Pharoahs]

Because shes a book-worm, she dies a lonely person.

Meaning she died because she was a "square."

[MarchOn84]

And theyre not really deaths, all of the kids probably represent the grandma at different times in here life, one person pointed out that all of the kids' names mean red. Theyre all just parts of the grandma dying at different stages in her life

[MarchOn84]

I think that the one with the weird spinning cloud thing is the girl having an encounter with drugs...just my opinion

[ShadowSoldior]

Lol, the Freddie Kruger style fingers made me laugh.

[krestanol]

I realy love Scarlets ending... I just finished Scarlet several minutes ago...

I love when she is walking trough the room full of books! And her death... It is so artistic!

[ayame400]

o god its Claudia from sh3!!!!

[KHfanguy]

lol

[theifie]

That would make sense.

White Hair, Black Robe

It's a "Wolf"

Claudia's last name is "Wolf"

[StrictlyNeutral]

What is with everyone getting so literal with this game? It's all a metaphor for growing up. I don't think anything you see actually happened.

'Scarlet got her fingers chopped off by her piano teacher!', really? 'Carmen got raped and killed by a mad axeman!' 'Robin was mauled by a werewolf!' 'Rose got drowned by a SPINNING CLOUD ZOMBIE' god damnit people.

[ayame400]

what happened to ginger?

[StrictlyNeutral]

Weeeell... in metaphorical terms she might've had a friendship go wrong, or, uh... had her first 'time of the month', if you catch my drift. It could be either, it could be neither. It's up to you to create your own interpretation of the game. That could be what the game does best; inspire theories and discussions, from the profound to the raped-and-fingers-cut-off-by-s­pinning-cloud-zombie ridiculous.

[ZikkaChan]

@StrictlyNeutral Symbolism is fun :) It gives you something to think about and discuss, like a puzzle game...

A very disturbed puzzle game

[DrDarkheart]

@StrictlyNeutral If she got her fingers chopped off you would have noticed it when she was going to the house.

[jacodtheskater]

@StrictlyNeutral decause thats the point off the game. its an arty game made for people who seek deepness in games and dont wont to shoot everything on the screen. also scarlet didnt lose her fingers the screen shot looked like it did but it was scarlet tied up and her arms and legs were in courol

[dafullclip]

@StrictlyNeutral Hey, if it walks like a duck...I think you are over-analyzing that which can be plainly interpreted by what is presented on screen. Am I to believe all the blood displayed is from menstrual periods? C'mon man!

[ForsakenThirteen]

@dafullclip Yeah, man. It's psychological horror. You're not supposed to take what's on the screen literally, but figuratively. If you take the game literally like the assholes over at the IGN forums, you have a kid walking to her Grandma's house and somehting bad happens, boo-hoo.

[Elopona]

Je crois qu'il lui a crevé les yeux . Si on regarde image par image , on voit qu'il a comme des aiguilles qui lui sortent du bout des doigts , a 4:53 . Et puis il y a aussi le fait qu'elle soit penché en avant avec ce que je pense être du sang , a 4:56

[artem2922]

The black figurine (the man with white hair) crushed her dreams by cutting off her fingers,

[DarkRebecca]

I think she was a musical genuius. But when she had to start taking care of her sisters her music mentor became upset and slashed her. (She may have made a "puppet" out of Scarlet's corpse but it is up to you to decide)

[bijoulovesboss]

I agree about her being a frustrated musical genius.

[jakomaniac]

It looks like Seph used piano wire, and shuved some in her eyes, then used it to makem her a puppet.... then she learned that boring shit.

[wizardbaker]

Don't you just hate it when you go in the woods and sephiroth chops off your fingers

[Cestlavenus]

My theory: Again, I don't think Scarlet is ever physically harmed. The path is (imo) about coming to terms with the harsh realities that make girls into women.

Scarlet says she couldn't live in a world without art - notice how everything artistic in granny's house has a sheet over it? I think Scarlet's ravaging is her realization that caring for her sisters will prevent her from being a musician, and the spirit crushing knowledge that she will indeed have to live in a world without art.

[sweetgirl116]

i agree partially but i do think her teacher cut off her fingers.

[dungeonmunky]

I agree entirely. I think the "cutting off her fingers" is metaphorical for how she can't have a career in music because she is too busy looking after her sisters; she might as well have no fingers.

[TheRealCluelessOne]

Anybody notice the knife sharpening sound when the piano teacher starting walking back to the piano?

[bijoulovesboss]

i think the wolf- the piano teacher- cut her fingers off- also showing her being laden down with responsibilites by taking care of her sisters, and no time to persue her art.

[secondhandsmoke10]

ah maybe the blue thingy she saw was an outline of a hand with only two fingers (the thumb and pinky) aand when you pause the vid at 4:50, it'll uncover the other three (0_0)... eerie ***((=_=))shudder..***

[dungeonmunky]

Those aren't fingers, those are her arms being pulled by puppet strings. It shows that her path is out of her control; she is forced to look after her sisters.

[secondhandsmoke10]

ahh i see (00d )...

[TureLights]

Near the end when scarlet collapse, i saw someone finger's ( could be Scarlet ) tied to a string and the white hair lady with long ass sharp nails. So my hypothesis is that, Scarlet didn't have enough talent to play the piano ( because she need to take care of her family ) so the white hair lady cut off her finger's when the red curtains close the stage.

[commentmaster]

this game looks cool but still if i was grandma i would come out the house and say " well take your time bitch"

[sp4cehouse]

you become a musician, but unlike the music industry at large, you fail to make money and are eventually forgotten...

CONGRATS, YOU FAIL AT LIFE, NOW DIE

an accurate portrayal of real musicians today

[Lureahawk]

This game is more depressing then scary, if a interesting life represents going of the main road then gdm life is boring in general, going of it is nearly as boring as staying on it.

[vek329]

i think the name ''the path'' doesn't necessarely mean the physical paht in the game. but more of the the path each girl have chosen to take which maybe destroyes them represented by the death scene at the end.

[981149]

i have a feeling that this game wasn't really made to mean anything.

By declaring this as an 'art' game on their website, the developers have successfully provoked people to get the interpretion of the game for themselves to show that they have 'thoughts'.

And that is being able to influence people's mind, which is art.

[DemocraticaDori]

Sad....

[wowrulez111]

1:19 sephiroth? XD

[Frankenchokie]

Yup, he's quit villainy to become a piano instructor - it's all in his biography. XD

[KMCydney]

i think it's all about her broken childhood.She was forced to practice piano,notice the "witch" teacher,and house is sad gray and many books.

[RunyaEithelNar]

I think that you are right with broken childhood, but for me this person is similar to grandmother..maybe mother died/lwent and Grandma took care of girls and Scarlet was the oldest, so she had duties to sisters and she couldn't be artist?

[jakomaniac]

I think she wanted to be a musician but she was distracted by nessacitys like her 5 sisters, so she cant do what she wants

[BurningSunBloodyMoon]

I agree mostly with jakomaniac's interpretation. She wanted to be creative but she was too busy looking after her family. As a result she had little time to do what she wanted to do and to have fun. The house at the end appears to be very clean and clinical, with neatly laid out rows of jars on the floor, which could represent how she always had to be the orderly one, and to keep the family organised to prevent them from falling apart.

[Frankenchokie]

Yeah, I get that feeling too - her official description on the website says that she's the eldest, and because 'mam' is very busy, she has to look after her sisters.

The books could represent homework etc she has to help them with

The music is her dream - and she wants to take 'center stage', but can't because of her responsibilities.

Maybe the figure in black is responsibility, always lurking over her shoulder!

The mask represents 'putting on a brave face' perhaps

[Chance777]

I dunno, I'm getting a negative feel from the instructor. Also, the pictures at the end must represent something - and they seem to show the gray haired lady with needle fingernails and pupiless eyes

I was amused that the first thing I noticed near the beginning of entering the house was that the fridge was gone.

[runefan213]

For those who still doenst get it.

In the End (succeed) Scarlet dreams were crushed as an Artistic person or in this case maybe an Piano player?

her dreams were crushed by the black figure.

[prolulzem]

How is that the definitive ending?

[runefan213]

Hmm i cant explain more just do a research im already confused after playing the game

And i think it has something do with the piano and the Pianist?

[LemLemy]

This ending is the one that really makes me think the most. I was able to form ideas about all the other girls, but with Scarlet I just sat there thinking 'what the-?'

[Kitama23]

In this one, this woman has killed and mutilated Scarlet from what I can gather

[StrikerVulsine]

To me, the noises in the grandma's house sound like knives being sharpened.

[CHRISNICX]

at first i thought she slit her wrists

[evulnater]

Hmm, I've got to say that it looks to me like she Scarlett wasn't killed necessarily, just made into the old woman's slave to perform, like in Pinocchio.

[ThatStrangeDude]

I don't get it, was that Sephiroth-lady-thing a witch or...?

[bobugil]

SEPHIROTH

[SugoiSugar]

Jeezus, that mask makes me jump every freakin' time! O_O

[StubbornMook]

i kno right i had 2 move the screen down lol