Some unanswered questions.

[serotonin]

- What was the deal with Professor Herbert?

According to the diaries, Herbert found his own Orb, apparently (I guess there were two at the dig site in Algeria, the broken one Daniel found, and another intact one Herbert found)... whatever happened to him? One of the diaries says he escaped into the desert with the Shadow apparently pursuing him, and the 'lost' diaries in the super_secret.rar confirm that Herbert fled to some desert town somewhere with someone named Abdullah... and implied that Herbert was actually inhabiting Abdullah's body.

I think I smell a sequel set in Algeria...


- What was the significance of the rose petals (or whatever flower they were)?

Their appearance on the ground was a constant theme throughout the game, and occasional flashback scenes and other "unsettling events" had them falling from the sky in front of Daniel's eyes.

What was supposed to be the meaning of that?


- Why was Daniel able to simply piece an Orb back together with some adhesive (twice), when evidently Alexander could never do so himself with his own broken Orb?

What made Daniel so damned special that he could do that?


- Why does the Shadow leave Daniel alone in the 'revenge' ending?

He's still the one who originally took the Orb. Why did Alexander become a suitable substitute for the Shadow's final wrath? The deaths of none of the other people Daniel associated with regarding the Orb and were subsequently killed by the pursuing Shadow seemed to sate the Shadow.


- Why did a naked corpse suddenly spawn into existence on a bed frame in front of Daniel in the prison cell area near the end of the game (after Daniel breaks out of his own cell)?

This obviously isn't as significant a question as the others, but it's an oddity that stuck in my mind. This particular "unsettling event" in the game didn't scare me so much as confuse me. My sanity wasn't low at the time, so it wasn't an insane vision. Was there some sort of larger context to the event I missed?

[Kein]

Hmmm...

- Why does the Shadow leave Daniel alone in the 'revenge' ending?

Because the original Shadow's Orb now help by Alexander. That's why he didn't want him to come closer - because the Shadow will kill them both.

Don't even ask why the Agrippa's Orb Shadow didn't kill Agrippa or why it didn't start to haunt Daniel when he assembled Agrippa's Orb... Too many question, no answers ;P

What the hell was Alexander, anyway?

He is a man, a member of Black Crow sect (or whatever it's called, AFAIR, it was black crow) who participate in (black) magic or something. Explain a bit (may be he found a way to live longer, which, actually, was his curse, because his beloved died and he still lives )

Recall the flashback scene in the Chancel in which Daniel describes the place as "Orpheus descending into the Underworld", and Alexander gets suspicious of Daniel for a moment because of his intuition.

Alexander was scared a bit that Deniel guessed his intentions to open the way to underworld/other world to find his beloved. I guess it's just Alexander who think the other world is actually Hell/Paradise or something similar. I bet no one really knew it, but -- remember Agrippa's words in teh end? He said: "He is a good person, help him Weyer". Weyer! He died long ago, and when all souls go (usually) after a death? Right, underworld. So, the Alexander was right after all, I think.

Why was Daniel able to simply piece an Orb back together with some adhesive (twice), when evidently Alexander could never do so himself with his own broken Orb?

Hmm... there is an explanation, but it's a pure guess. May be Alexander had an ability to protect himself from an Orb's effect (strong willpower and mind), thus, he saw no nightmares, which, I believe, made Daniel so sensitive to Orb's nature. He got it known in some way and was able to restore because of that.
2nd time it was an ability already.

What was the significance of the rose petals (or whatever flower they were)?

Some kind of reference to real things, requires a lot of time to wikipedia/google/dig it.

[serotonin]

I edited my OP regarding what Alexander actually is, since I decided it's going to be left deliberately and permanently ambiguous by Frictional, and so probably isn't worth debating.

However, I think we can safely conclude that whatever Alexander is, he isn't merely a human who's achieved unnatural long-life via magic/alchemy, because one of the notes written by him towards the end of the game has him referring to humans as something foreign to himself. It's clearly implied in his manner of phrasing. I don't recall exactly, but he says it like "The humans..." or "These humans..." It was a choice of wording which referred to the species in a detached manner you wouldn't expect the speaker to choose if he were human himself.

It's a note in which he describes how humans have surprised him with the collective similarity in their response to torture -- he originally expected the responses to be highly individual -- and how it's ended up being more convenient for him in extracting vitae... something like that.

Also... one of the little white canisters* you find in desks which white out the screen with a paragraph of text presumably authored by Alexander mentions how Alexander was originally banished from the dimension he's trying to return to via the Orb. It's also mentioned in a note by Agrippa (iirc) that Weyer had tried to negotiate Alexander being allowed to return to it.

So unless this other dimension Alexander was trying to return to is one that has indigenous human inhabitants, that's more hard evidence Alexander isn't human.


* What the heck were THOSE things, btw? The effect of reading them was unique enough that it seemed to suggest an other-worldly quality...

Some kind of reference to real things, requires a lot of time to wikipedia/google/dig it.

Are you just guessing here, or do you actually know what the meaning is?

[Klarden]

Alexander may have became too vain and thought himself to be something else than a simple human being. It doesn't mean he actually was. The diary is written from his point of view

Open the super secret rar, there's Herbert's diary that never made it into the game.

Rose petals - part of the amnesia portion, apparently. May be a subconscious way of Daniel showing himself where to go.

Whatever the connection of Daniel to the Orb is, i didn't really get it. Maybe Orb sometimes "felt" that someone was "ready" for it and gave in.

We actually don't know if the shadow left him alone. Remember, that we see it from his point of view. Maybe he actually died, but dreamt of being left alone. If true, maybe Shadow felt that Alexander is a more important target. Or maybe shadow did leave him alone for some time - we don't know what happened to Daniel after he left the castle.

Actually, dead bodies appear/disappear in the game several times. Sometimes it's a sanity-dependent thing, sometimes not. Nothing in the game is what it seems, it might've been there before, filtered out by Daniel's brain. Or it never was there at all.

Lanterns are a reference or a connection to Penumbra series. They contain memories and experience of people who touch it.

[Kein]

Yeah, Lanterns definitely a reference to Penumbra.

[Jinix]

Most of the story is Daniel having flashbacks to what happened when he was there the first time and hallucinations based on his own guilt and fear.
I must admit I don't relate to his character - in fact I'll go as far as to say I don't like him.
My ending was to let Alexander go to 'heaven' or wherever he went and let Daniel pay for his sins... and as for the 'head' guy, I kept thinking of a vegetarian with a goatee that drives an old volkswagon bus and I'm not quite sure why he is in the game.
I think the story and visuals are straight out of a crazy man's head and are imaginary hallucinations brought on by his guilt and fear.

[vcpinheiro14]

i have the same doubts as post #1

[bugmenot]

Why was Daniel able to simply piece an Orb back together with some adhesive (twice), when evidently Alexander could never do so himself with his own broken Orb?

Indeed. I wondered about this too... And what became of that pieced-together orb? You put it in the stand, go sabotage the machine, come back, the orb is gone. Did the Shadow absorb it? Some monster take it?

I would also say Alexander isn't just a human. The portal leads to "another world" and he wants to "return home" there.

[Kein]

Why was Daniel able to simply piece an Orb back together with some adhesive (twice), when evidently Alexander could never do so himself with his own broken Orb?

Indeed. I wondered about this too... And what became of that pieced-together orb? You put it in the stand, go sabotage the machine, come back, the orb is gone. Did the Shadow absorb it? Some monster take it?

I would also say Alexander isn't just a human. The portal leads to "another world" and he wants to "return home" there.

If you destroy the machine first and then set up the orb... well, you will see ;P

[Sexbad]

- What was the significance of the rose petals (or whatever flower they were)?

I recall many little blurbs of text and possibly a few flashbacks referring to something tasting of or smelling like Damascus Rose. I believe it is the amnesia drink that has this taste, so the petals are symbolic of the past he is trying to forget.

- Why does the Shadow leave Daniel alone in the 'revenge' ending?

The Shadow seems to be set back in its attempts to kill Danny as he kills others. Perhaps killing Alex, considering he's one powerful motherfucker, was enough to nullify the Shadow. Or, since the Orbs definitely had influence over the Shadow, Alexander's pursuit to get Orbs angered It and Alex's death was enough for Daniel to be left alone.

- Why did a naked corpse suddenly spawn into existence on a bed frame in front of Daniel in the prison cell area near the end of the game (after Daniel breaks out of his own cell)?

It's not a really big deal plot-wise, but I believe it was supposed to be a reminder of how much of a dick Danny was being, considering he tortured a bunch of people. The nakedness, I think, is also supposed to serve as a sort of reminder of how defenseless you are. It's all symbolic, not particularly meant to be focused on how it got there.