Braid Alternate Ending - 8th Star (All Stars)

[IamJacksColon4]

Jonothan Blow has said this game is NOT about the Manhattan Project.

[itsquazart]

@IamJacksColon4 Its one interpretation and definitely apart of it but it has other meanings. I'm pretty sure he said it was not limited to that.

[IamJacksColon4]

@itsquazart

no he said it was ridiculus, he made an epic braid podcast with destructoid ive been trying to find it without luck, 3h discussion on braid.

[gelbot]

I just noticed, when the explosion occurs, he's in a bunker beneath stadium seating- another Manhattan Project allusion.

[JJnnaatt]

I didn't even know you could collect stars. The epilogue didn't make sense at all for me.

[hl2og]

So the alternate is just a false story.. like just there to shock i guess. Pretty sure the inventor of the nuke didnt get to blow it up before america dropped it.

[crustytowel]

@hl2og you... you dont know they tested them first....? theres no helping you

[hl2og]

@crustytowel Surely...

[WriterOfMadness]

Why do i get the feeling he made the princess fall when she "Exploded"

[shadowg3]

I love the happy endings :')

[highlander5523]

i like my ending better when she locked his ass out

[TheDuke1724]

The princess is a metaphor... she didn't exist, only Tim's passion to complete the bomb.

[crazeiscoolerthanI]

WOW i did not understand this story at ALL, the princess is a BOMB?!?! 0_o

[TimothyParadox1]

*catches princess*

TEMPORAL PARADOX DIVIDE BY ZERO

*BOOM*

[TimothyParadox1]

I get it... Tim is the scietists working on the project, and the princess is the atomic bomb. If he was to actually catch her, which is what happened here, the bomb explodes and the world burns. The knight is trying to keep her away from him. But if that is true, then why does the world burn anyway if the knight saves the princess? And what's with the princess constellation in the sky which implies she's dead?

[iambored2006]

@TimothyParadox1 It's the constellation of Andromeda, a princess from Greek mythology tied to a rock as a sacrifice to a monster. About the fire wall, remember it only appears in the reverse form of the level, not in the true form.

[TimothyParadox1]

@iambored2006 I meant the nuclear explosion when I said "the world burns". If Tim catches her, she explodes. If he does not capture her, he returns to the future to a world where NY still exploded. Why?

[Bottery]

I remember learning that during the Cold War Russia and the USA's race in developing the atomic bomb coincided with the race to be the first in space. Building rockets and all that. Perhaps reaching the princess in the sky came at the cost of razing the Earth.

[mattdacat13]

They incorporate how the creators of the atomic bomb could go back in time and undo it, a story about an obsessive man chasing a girl, and umm something to do with a falling princess all in the same story. The epilouge is quote from the guy who was (or still is, idk) head of the trinity atomic bomb tests. So basically, there's no curious story about this. It's about the depression the atomics bomb devastation and how the people who had their hands in the idea should all be ashamed. Sad story...

[QuikVidGuy]

Do you have to have all seven stars to do that? they seem inconsequential.

[MrRammsteinJim]

@QuikVidGuy You need all seven stars so that the fire doesn't get you while you're waiting for the chandelier to go back up. WIthout the stars you die while waiting

[Bottery]

After I beat the game I went through all the books again in reverse order to see if the story read differently.

[gardeford]

@Bottery did you read them hiding behind something with only one red book open in the epilogue?

[Bottery]

@gardeford

I mean the main story, the blue books in each world room. I read them from 5-1.

[xenteko]

Deepest game ever made? Quite possibly.

[mattdacat13]

@xenteko So that game with cute enemies, pretty environments and an innocent quest to rescue a princess is apparently all a metaphor for the creation of the atomic bomb; or, more specifically, how its creators possibly wished they could turn back time and undo all the damage. Of course, that's so far removed from this colorful run-and-jump game that it really proves how out-there some of these conspiracy nuts are.

-cracked.com

[owlflame]

@xenteko i dont know about that, but its up there, seffinetly in the top 20 right next to the path

[SuperRawr999]

No. there's a full ending video somewhere that has the actual ending. Except y'know, you don't have to get all 8 stars, just don't ride the chandelier. instead, go to the very right and climb the over-sized ladder.

[Sergent118]

wait is that it? thats the ending if u get all 8 stars?

[IHATEGAYFAMILYGUY]

0:19 (insert wtf boom joke?)

[LIGHTRONIX]

@IHATEGAYFAMILYGUY I was about to make a wtf boom version but figured no one would watch it.

[IHATEGAYFAMILYGUY]

@LIGHTRONIX

I'll watch!

[Bidmartinlo]

Brad: "Errr.... are you OK?" 'looks at the exploded princess' "Guess not." ;D

[itsMeMollyG]

@kburns2406 please explain to me what the meaning of the game is. is tim the bad guy, is he a stalker? or is the princess the bad one. and what's all this stuff about a bomb??

[DrSulfurious]

@itsMeMollyG Tim is a bad guy in all perspectives. He seeks unstoppable power without looking in any other direction beforehand. He thinks about no one, or thing, other than the power. The story is about how selfish the man is in order to obtain a power (Either the A-Bomb or A girl). He treats it / her wrongly, and so ends his world.

[Sonnee123]

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, comes to mind.

[pleasedontask]

@Sonnee123 ehhh, they both end with explosions but they're so different in theme and tone...

[kburns2406]

That explosion with the princess was disturbing. Deep, deep game though and I applaud the developers for making it.

[rangerjavi]

@kburns2406 developer actually one guy made it. Its a really deep game but is it really necessary for all the confusing text just to explain to atomic bomb? I understand the game and its message but there are a few things I didi not understand like the candy store stuff is that really necessary? Idk I was just asking maybe someone could explain those parts for me other than that very, very well and thought out game.

[kburns2406]

@rangerjavi I think some of the text in the game helps to leave this up for interpretation. The creator wanted this game to be open for interpretation and refuses to tell anyone what the game is about. Some of the ambiguous text helps to let gamers make their own conclusions.

[crisis8v88]

@kburns2406 There's really only one extremely well fitting interpretation of this game and it's expressed in this video. The reason Jonathan didn't give anything away about the game is because it would ruin the moment that it hits what is really going on and how absolutely (adjective describing your reaction here) it is. You can't build a puzzle like this and then go around spreading spoilers to ruin it.

[TheGentledawn]

@rangerjavi

The point here is that this game is not exclusivelly about an atomic bomb. And "the princess" is also not ONLY an A Bomb.

I think Braid tryed to tell a story through lots of analogies, using his personal life to explain the bomb, and vice versa

[Xana6637]

i never played it but all of the stories and easter eggs..

it seems like a horror game with the cute picture. freaks me out

[Hylian087]

Now, we're all sons of bitches.

[leopower7]

He must be glad he didn't stick his dick in her after that...

[RangerMystic]

0:19 TIME PARADOX!

[JakB001]

@RangerMystic She's the atom bomb

[MettanAtem]

I say the creator of the game made the princess explode just to mess with us.

[Hyperclaw]

@MettanAtem "Sorry, but the princess is scattered over several castles now..."

[AGrayPhantom]

I still have no idea where the "she's a bomb" thing is coming from. I've gotten the stars and "alternate ending" and I just don't get it.

[twocows360]

@AGrayPhantom

The princess is a metaphor for obsession, specifically Tim's obsession with inventing the atomic bomb. This is alluded to throughout the story. There's a pretty good explanation on GameFAQs under the "plot analysis" FAQ.

[iSOBigD]

@AGrayPhantom Tim talks about being in a bunker in the desert with a welder's glass in front of his eyes (so the bright light from an atomic blast won't damage his eye during the testing). There's also a mention of Manhattan. I think the story is that he's a scientist obsessed with creating the atom bomb and chasing that goal. Pretty crazy plotline, it's very interesting and different from other games.

[huibruben]

but there's that last lock on the door, you can hopen it couldn't you? and if you could mayebe you could go back into time and stand upstairs when you begin the last levell, thus actually creating a third and different outcome, or so I speculate..good luck and let me /us know if it works out

[AnsaMafan]

I'd say 0:19 makes abundantly clear exactly what the princess is.

[MsBickle76]

yeah, it is very clear that the princes is the "a-bomb" or "mother nature"