Story things I need clarified *SPOILERS*

[Bad doggie. DOWN.]

I just finished the Penumbra series, and it is probably the 2nd best single-player video game series I've ever played, right behind Half-Life/Portal. Of course, a lot of things didn't make sense, like the ending of BP and pretty much everything about Requiem. So here's some things that didn't make sense for me:

*OBVIOUS SPOILERS AHEAD*

1. Why are the animals so large and hostile? (This probably got explained in some note in Overture that I either missed or skimmed over.) Did the Tuurngait virus cause this?
2. What exactly is Red's story? He was trapped in the mine at 14, and that's all I know for sure. He was infected, right? When exactly did he get infected? Was he still in the middle of transforming when he died, like Phillips was when he got Clarence into his head, and that's why he wasn't allowed to kill himself?
3. What's up with Clarence? Why did Phillip have such an abnormal reaction to the virus? And why was he trying to get Phillips killed if he was so concerned about staying alive, as shown by when you're about to purge him from you body. Also, when he's messing with your memories, he says he's going to erase the memories of Red, but in Requiem those memories are clearly intact.
4. What's up with Dr. What's-his-face, the one who tries to saw his hand off for you? You hear him sawing something off, then a red piece of meat flies (not his hand) through the window and he attacks you, with his hand intact, I think. And why is he in Requiem at all, what's his purpose there?
5. What's with the bullet holes in the one window in Black Plague? In BP, about half way through the game, there's a window, that if you examine, says that it has bullet holes, and says that Phillips hadn't seen any bullet holes before.
6. Why is the Tuurngait seemingly omniscent? He only controls a small colony of zombies, I don't think that makes you the automatic master of the universe.
7. Why did Howard kill himself? I think this relates to the Tuurngait's omniscents, and some cop-out about it being too much knowledge for Howard to handle.
8. Why does Phillips try to get the Tuurngait killed at the end of BP? Is it out of fear, for free will, revenge, or what? And what does that have to do with him empathizing with Clarence? And why does he empathize with Clarence in the first place?
9. Why does Phillips say in the email that it will be good if he dies, and "we will all perish" if he doesn't?
9. What exactly happens in Requiem? I know that most of it takes place in Phillip's dreams after he is attacked by a Tuurngait. But why is he attacked by a Tuurngait in the first place? Does the hive mind read his thoughts while he's typing the email and decide to kill him for his betrayal of trust? And if it's a dream, why does he keep reading the diary of a man that says he's been here before? And what's with the ending where you don't get incinerated? And if you do choose to be incinerated, in that last scene is Phillip supposed to be dead in real life, too?

I'm probably gonna play through the series again soon, and I'll probably think of more questions soon. I just wish the devs would come out and clarify some of the plot points in the game.

[davva]

bumping because i wanna know

[Spooder Wekd]

1. Why are the animals so large and hostile?
There are chemicals and stuff in the tunnel system that cause that as well as the giant spiders and stuff...

2. What exactly is Red's story?
He went to work in the mine when he was 14. He went crazy by feeding on the dogs which were all funky because of the unknown chemicals and crap mentioned above.

3. What's up with Clarence?
Clarence is a result of Phillip being the only person to survive those levels, which simulate the virus taking over. He made it through and so he got a split personality instead of being totally overtaken. Clarence did a lot of stuff to mess with Phillip and actually was just trying to freak him out by saying he removed memories of Red. Clarence was also affected by the fact that he did not totally overtake Philip, though he may have been different all along and that is why he did not take over totally. He wanted to kill Phillip because that is what was best for the hive mind type thing, they were destroying all the humans because the humans were so hostile. Killing Phillip would actually free Clarence. He actually gets freed near the end but he does not obey the hive mind so they kill him.

4. What's up with Dr. What's-his-face, the one who tries to saw his hand off for you?
I don't remember that at all

5. What's with the bullet holes in the one window in Black Plague?
As mentioned above, the humans were hostile to the Tuurngait dudes, they tried to eradicate them. Presumably they had tried to do this with guns...

6. Why is the Tuurngait seemingly omniscent?
The tuurngait is not a "he" It is the collective mind of all the infected. They are from another world and have taken over other planets/universes or whatever. They have a large amount of minds. Also, they have been around for much longer than humans, and have been able to evolve really far. Lastly, human minds are very advanced, and the tuurngait may be able to unlock the full potential for use in the hive mind.

7. Why did Howard kill himself?
He could not take what was going on. The tuurngait allowed him to keep his human form in a similar way to Phillip. However, he didn't get an asshole, he got a regular voice that allowed him access to the hive mind, which was too much for his human mind. Right before he kills himself he writes the letter spoken about in the beginning of overture

8. Why does Phillips try to get the Tuurngait killed at the end of BP?
He fears them, even though they seem to be the "good guys" they put him through so much that he cannot deal with it. As for Clarence, Clarence was a part of him and he kinda liked the guy...erm.... symbiote...so he was sad to see him killed. He writes a letter very similar to the one his father writes.

9. Why does Phillips say in the email that it will be good if he dies, and "we will all perish" if he doesn't?
Phillip, went crazy through this ordeal, like his father, so he just wanted to end it. He was given access to the hive as well, which is why he hears the voices, however, he keeps his free will...Just like his daddy! He knows that him being a part of the hive only makes it stronger, so he must die. Also, if he spreads the word of the Tuurngait being good then they will be able to absorb all of mankind. He must die so he is not tempted to stop the annihilation of the tuurngait.

10. What exactly happens in Requiem?
Phillip is going through a sequence similar to the tests in Black plague at the end, or near the beginning of BP when he is being infected, not really a dream. He is part of the hive mind so yes they can read his mind. IThe notes are presumably left by his father, somehow inscribed into the hive mind and projected into the hallucination. I didn't finish Requiem so I donno about the end...

[stevensonbak]

I think I'll take a crack at this.

1. The virus did indeed affect these animals, they just have different affects on them depending on their genetic structure. The giant worms are a great example of a simple, tiny creature, mutating into a giant monstrosity thanks to the virus.

2. Most likely, Red entered The Shelter and got attacked by a Tuurngait much like Phillip did, or equally likely he was attacked by an infected dog, transmitting the virus.
And as far as I know, the "transformation" effect takes place over a period of time, its not like turning into a werewolf. He probably knew he would be overcome with the desire to kill Phillip if he came in contact with him, and that would completely ruin his chance of dying due to his inability to commit suicide.

3. You are correct, Phillip certaintly had a very different reaction to the virus, but it could be attributed to him successfully completing the "trial", preventing his transformation, but nontheless now carrying a second personality in his head, Clarence.
Clarence is also an interesting case, as instead of trying to preserve Phillip like the voices in the other infected, he wants to be freed through his death. Obviously, the Tuurngait did not take kindly to that mutation and destroyed Clarence. How Clarence developed that personality, I have no idea.
Finally, I don't he removed the memories of Red, in fact, he encouraged Phillip to remember him, trying to drive him to suicide from guilt, when there was nothing to be guilty about.

4. That character obviously was handling his infection a lot worse than Red had... Its hard to tell what an insane man will do next.
I'm not sure why he was in Requiem, my memory of that storyline is particularly foggy.

5. That is most likely an attempt by Shelter security to contain the situation towards the end of the Tuurngait Uprising... obviously, they failed.
And they're bad shots.

6. Well, according to what I remember, he is some sort of alien god that once was active in the universe, and eventually attempted to bury himself in Greenland to protect himself from humanity, so that might explain why he's so omniscient.

7. Odds are he was infected himself, completed the trial as Phillip had, and completed the final task of informing Phillip of the existence of the Shelter and the need to seal it off from the world.
So, what would you do if that was all that there was left to do? You can't leave, the Tuurngait wouldn't allow that...

8. Phillip feels the Tuurngait is just a beacon for chaos and misery, and as long as he exists, more will come and fall under his control, and the only way to contain him would be utter destruction.
That shows sympathy with Clarence because he only desired to be free, be his own man, have his own body, which he temporarily achieved at the end. Under the Tuurngait, no one is free, everyone has voices telling them what to do, so Phillip coincided with Clarence's philosophy much more than the Tuurngait's.

9. If Phillip didn't die, that means he didn't fulfill his duty of either sealing off or destroying the Tuurngait himself. Instead, like his father, he encouraged someone else with a better chance and resources to do the job, seeing as he himself was about to be absorbed into the Tuurngait.

10. The only question I cannot answer truthfully, as I played through it a long time ago, now having next to no memory of what occurred in it.

[Bad doggie. DOWN.]

Thank you so much for answering, both of you. I love how there's so many was to interpret the series. Now could one of you replay Requiem, and, by some miracle, explain to me what happened?

[Spooder Wekd]

Hah, yea most of the stuff is speculation. Many times there is no right answers, cause you fill i the gaps between the notes with your own "well this must mean..."

I'm most of the way through Requiem, probably finish it while im off for christmas.

[mmiller24]

I think most of the questions have been addressed pretty well.

As for question 10, I had always been under the impression that Philip was either killed or affected by the Tuurngait at the end of Black Plague and Requiem is the account of his after death experience or some creation of his own mind that was possibly brought about by the mostly unexplained powers of the Tuurngait. This would explain the appearance of previously dead characters and the even less real feel to the game. The alternate endings, joining Red in the incinerator or return to the fishing boat and escaping, both bring a sort of closure to the story, depending on your interpretation of how the events in Requiem were started.

Honestly, it's an extremely confusing end to the series and I doubt I can do it justice. I'll have to replay it again sometime and try to better understand it.