[SPOILER] Plot Discussion Thread *Spoiler Alert*

[cryptoshadow]

Interestingly the machine seems to be integrated with two orbs presumably found in Mexico during Oswald's ill fated expedition.

The hell is this crap? Why does informational wiki contains some tidbits of personal interpretation. We never seen a single Orb in the whole game. At all.

And at the end these weren't orbs at all.

Are we sure there aren't orbs in the temple at the end? Several people thought these were the twin's hearts but take a closer look at those pics (full size recommended if you want to see something):

Spoiler below!

These two round objects are way bigger than a heart (it's almost as big as the kid's head). Besides, there's that blue light that looks very similar to the one we could see in Daniel's flashback when he was stuck inside the tomb with the orb in Algeria...

Just for comparison, here's a screenshot from the scene where Edwin and Enoch tear their heart from their chest in the game:

Spoiler below!

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And what about the intro of the game? It looks like it's the same the room in the temple at the end.

The only difference between the intro and the final scene is that the twins are not present (same goes for the hearts/orbs/whatever above them), the lighting is red and we can hear the machine say "Daddy, please, don't kill me".

What's the meaning of all this?

Spoiler below!

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Altar (the Church)
This is the Altar in the Church, as far as I remember. The one with a pig on a cross. The animation for this entity is one where the altar itself slides along tracks on the floor, then rises upwards (presumably along a wall). I don't quite remember this - was this the way the path onwards was revealed after inserting the missing candlestick?

The path was revealed when you pushed the lever near the furnace in the room next to the altar.