A Flimsy Machine

[rotten]

Wasn't what killed the Machine was essentially Mandus killing himself at the end? Since they share a split soul? That's what I figured, since they both died simultaneously cause of it.

If so, Mandus could have just thrown himself into a pit of cogs and gotten it all over with.

Before the final section the Machine cries "Stop him! Kill him!" So Mandus' death would not be fatal for the Machine. Plus, it's not in any way obvious that what happens in the end is suicide.

[Alardem]

Intentionally or not, the Machine comes across as ineffectual and pathetic when no Pig comes to his defense when he tells them to 'kill him'. The final level really is a dying hallucination, brought about by the electric surge that Mandus sends to his own heart - the same heart which we see powering the Tesla Tower.

This begs the question as to how much more difficult it would have been for anybody else to have destroyed the Machine.

[HorrorElementFilms]

Actually, now that I'm think of the last level being a hallucination, it kind of makes more sense. And if you noticed, the prongs that held the heart in place, were the same that stab you in the end. So, you pretty much hallucinate of the last things that you see. (with the exception of the big ass temple XD)

Of course i response to Alardem, I don't believe there were many people who knew about the heart of the machine. While the Machine doesn't appear to well guarded, you could assume there was almost a "lore" of sorts about the factory. I mean, people were already suspicious, right? But I'm sure the Machine itself had a reputation of its own, that typically kept people away and not caring.

As far as the center of the machine goes, if I was the owner of this factory, I'd probably want to be the only person to even know about the center of the machine. This way, When the shit hits the fan, I'd be the person in control.

[daortir]

The OP said that the Shadow from TDD was pathetic, and I have to disagree with that. I apologize if this is slightly off-topic, but you brought it there. The Shadow from TDD was terribly effective. It pushed Daniel forward for the whole game, forcing him to go deeper into Brennenburg to take the Orb from Alexander. It did not want to kill Daniel I believe, otherwise it'd have killed him like it killed everyone that stood in its path. That also explains why the shadow takes so much time to kill Daniel in his cell if you choose the early ending.

The Shadow is far from pathetic, it pushes you forward and destroys everything you leave behind, tearing down Brennenburg once you defeated Alexander.

Sorry for the off-topic post, but the Shadow doesn't want Daniel's death in my opinion. It only kills you if you are foolish or slow enough to ignore/fail on the path it wanted you to choose.

This is just a plot theory, and I might be wrong of course.