History Fridge / UntilDawn

* Why does Emily act so unbearably? As Dr. Hill points out if you choose her as most disliked protagonist, Emily's bitchy behaviour is most likely her attempt to cover up her insecurities. Look at her situation: she's back in the place where Hannah and Beth died (which is largely her fault, having been a supporter of the prank), on the anniversary of their disappearance, and is surrounded by everyone who was involved plus their brother, his best friend and Hannah's best friend. And to top it off, she's dealing with her former best friend (who stole her boyfriend). Not surprising that she'd be feeling more insecure than normal.

** This could also tie into [[spoiler:Mike's PlotArmor. On two occasions (at the Cabin where she grabbed Jessica and in the pool where she dragged him underwater]]), Hannah refrained from killing him. She will even [[spoiler:spare him a third time if she catches him in the climax by merely throwing him aside]], whereas any other character she's caught has been reduced to mincemeat by now. It's plausible that [[spoiler:her former ([[AbhorrentAdmirer at least]]) crush on him]] is compelling her to show him mercy.

* Sam begins with equally close relationship stats among her all of the friends beside Jessica and Mike, who start off a little lower. Sam was Hannah's best friend, and Jessica and Mike played the biggest roles in the prank on her, so Sam would likely hold some bitter feelings against them. Her relationship with Jessica drops further if Jessica explains that she and Mike, the two people Sam has most reason to resent for Hannah and Beth's disappearances, are actually ''together'' now (especially considering how Sam was most likely aware of Hannah's feelings for Mike and how Jessica exploited it for the prank). While Sam is trying to move on and forgive everyone, she would naturally find it hardest with these two.

* Ashley's words during the [[spoiler:Chris vs. Ashley trap (should Chris try to sacrifice himself first) is easy to misinterpret. She shouts to him "Let me choose to save you!", which many may have assumed as Ashley giving Chris permission to sacrifice her in his place. Should Chris decide to shoot her afterwards, the event with Ashley not opening the door for Chris still plays out as if Chris had tried to sacrifice Ashley from the beginning, thus making Ashley appear very deceitful and scheming. However, her words are [[ExactWords "Let me choose to save you"]]. She wanted to make the choice herself and sacrifice herself for Chris' sake, with this not being possible and Chris being forced to decide. From her point of view, not only is Ashley's wish denied by her crush, but he chose to sacrifice her to save himself. Ashley would have perceived this as a large betrayal by Chris, hence why she is hesitant to open the door for him and leads to him being killed by Wendigo.]]

* Ashley's words during the [[spoiler:Chris vs. Ashley trap (should Chris try to sacrifice himself first) is easy to misinterpret. She shouts to him "Let me choose to save you!", which many may have assumed as Ashley giving Chris permission to sacrifice her in his place. Should Chris decide to shoot her afterwards, the event with Ashley not opening the door for Chris still plays out as if Chris had tried to sacrifice Ashley from the beginning, thus making Ashley appear very deceitful and scheming. However, her words are [[ExactWords "Let me choose to save you"]]. She wanted to make the choice herself and sacrifice herself for Chris' sake, with this not being possible and
Chris being forced to decide. From her point of view, not only is Ashley's wish denied by her crush, but he chose to sacrifice her to save himself. Ashley would have perceived this as a large betrayal by Chris, hence why she is hesitant to open the door for him and leads to him being killed by Wendigo.]]

* Anyone who [[spoiler:dies before Chapter 10 (besides Emily being shot) has their body strung up in the chamber where Sam and Mike find Josh]]. Although damaged and mutilated, [[spoiler:''none'' have been eaten. Even Beth's head, which has been in the lair for over ten months, is still relatively intact]]. Evidently, [[spoiler:the Hannah Wendigo treats the bodies of her victims like trophies instead of food. She seems to favor [[spoiler:decapitation as a preferred method of killing (The Stranger/Chris/Ashley) and will even sever the head off a corpse after her victim is dead (Jess/Matt). Given how this seems to have started even as early as collecting Beth's head, Hannah might collect her prey as a way of keeping her friends near in some strange twisted way, fitting with how she doesn't kill Josh if he recognizes her and how she doesn't behead Emily, whom she'd have the most reason to despise.]] It would certainly fit her [[spoiler:black butterfly motif.]]

* Mike promises inside the cabin that "no bear or anything else is gonna [[ExactWords open that cabin door]]". He could hardly expect that [[spoiler:something will [[BarrierBustingBlow come ''through'' the cabin door]].]]

* In all controlled segments of the game, the player never gets a chance to run. This is because the characters are still cautious of their environment, so running around like morons would just end up getting them killed. [[spoiler:This becomes more apparent when the Wendigos take over, since stopping to a halt is easier when walking, rather than running.]]
* Why did [[spoiler:Hannah go through the effort of digging a grave for Beth despite expecting to be rescued, with Beth's body eventually put in a proper cemetery? Same reason people started burying bodies in the first place. Not because she felt Beth needed to be buried immediately out of respect. Bodies eventually start to stink. Even with cold, Beth would still start decomposing eventually.]]
* Mike promises inside the cabin that "no bear or anything else is gonna [[ExactWords open that cabin door]]". He could hardly expect that [[spoiler:something will [[BarrierBustingBlow come THROUGH that cabin door]].]]
* When Josh sends Mike and Jessica over to the smaller, private cabin, they arrive to find the fuses have blown. There's also a hardcover copy of the Kama Sutra left out and a framed picture of Hannah, neither of which seem like things that would have been casually left lying around; in fact, the picture of Hannah is the only picture in the cabin. It's never explained in-game, but [[spoiler:Josh might have intended to hit them with a scare later on. Similarly, Josh's homebrew surveillance network may have overloaded the wiring, and that's why the fuses are blown.]]
* The lack of voiced lines from the person the player controls in the therapy sessions seems like it's just to keep them anonymous, but [[spoiler:even after the person is confirmed to be Josh, he still doesn't speak when the player chooses dialogue options. Makes sense - do you really need to talk out loud to have a conversation with someone who's in your head?]]
* Dr Hill's line in the first session, "You see no one can change what happened last year. The past is beyond our control." On the surface this is his attempt to comfort [[spoiler:Josh]], but on a meta level he is explaining the game, in particular the introduction - [[spoiler:Beth and Hannah]] always die as part of the plot, none of the introductory choices can change that. Dr Hill's line tells the player that from now on ''your choices will actually matter''. The way the game saves immediately after every choice also means "the past is beyond [your] control" - no reverting to previous save files for you!
* The Hand Machine in the Sanatorium makes much more sense during a second playthrough. [[spoiler:Not the handiwork of a deranged killer, just wendigo bait that a human happened to blunder into.]]
* The Lodge's name: Blackwood. At first it just sounds like an ominous name for the setting of a Horror game, but then you do some research on the [[spoiler:wendigoes. One of the most notable stories about them is written by Algernon Blackwood.]]
* Ashley's assumption that [[spoiler:Emily will turn into a wendigo due to her bite]] is generally chalked up to her panicking and being one of the more skittish members of the group to begin with, but her bio states that she's bookish and imaginative, and [[spoiler:traditional wendigo lore states that wendigo bites ''do'' turn people]]. Maybe [[spoiler:she's read stories about wendigo before (or anything that involves werewolves/vampires/zombies, adding to the confusion)]], and just didn't say anything during the Stranger's exposition because the reality of what they were up against was still catching up with her. In fact, the Stranger's own journal had to debunk the theory, [[spoiler:meaning he had considered the possibility before getting bitten himself and realizing it first-hand]].
* [[spoiler:The Stranger]] mentions how the procedure of [[spoiler:dying by a Wendigo is being immobilized, getting the skin torn off, and then eaten while alive and conscious]], yet [[spoiler:he and whoever dies to the Wendigo]] will find themselves under completely different circumstances and also the [[spoiler:fight between the Wendigos at the end]] seems to not follow the rules. That might at first seem like the information is either wrong or like the developers forgot it themselves. But once someone realizes that [[spoiler:Hannah is a very young Wendigo]], it can make sense since [[spoiler:she]] either hasn't learned about it yet or does [[spoiler:hunt more effectively]].
** This could also help to explain why [[spoiler:the Stranger dies so easily despite being an extremely experienced wendigo hunter: Hannah behaves irrationally for a wendigo, killing her marks outright instead of keeping them alive for later. The Stranger had been expecting her to try to keep him and Chris alive, so he wouldn't think to guard himself from fatal attacks.]]
* The difference between [[spoiler:Hannah]] and [[spoiler:the miner wendigos]] becomes even more apparent during [[spoiler:the second visit to the asylum]]. Just take a good look at [[spoiler:the black wolf and how he was hung to a metal grate (rendered immobile) and eaten inside out.]]
* Take a good look at the [[spoiler:bodies of the other characters in the chamber where Sam and Mike find Josh]]. Although damaged and mutilated, [[spoiler:none were eaten ''at all''. Even Beth's head, which has been in her lair for more than ten months, is still relatively intact]]. For whatever reason, [[spoiler:the Hannah Wendigo treats the bodies of her victims like trophies, not food. Maybe because a part of her still recognizes them?]] That could be the same reason why [[spoiler:she goes out of her way to keep Josh alive instead of crushing his head]].
** Another example is how she refrains from [[spoiler: killing Mike on two occasions (at the Cabin where she grabbed Jessica, and in the pool where she dragged him underwater]]) even though she could have slaughtered him with impunity in both cases. She will even [[spoiler: spare him a third time if she catches him in the climax by merely throwing him aside]], whereas any other character she's caught has been reduced to mincemeat ere now. It's plausible that [[spoiler: her former ([[AbhorrentAdmirer or perhaps current]]) crush on him]] is compelling her to show him mercy.
* Hannah's [[spoiler:fighting with the other Wendigos in the main lodge is odd until you take into account how she seems to treat her victims more like trophies and hasn't touched them at all, despite Wendigos infamously craving human flesh. The other Wendigos want to ''eat'' their prey, while Hannah wants to ''collect'' them instead.]]
* For a Wendigo who infamously is supposed to crave human flesh, [[spoiler:"Hannah" makes no effort to eat her prey, and instead stockpiles their remains in her lair]]. She also seems to favor [[spoiler:decapitation as a preferred method of killing (Chris/Ashley/The Stranger) and will even sever the head off a corpse after her victim is dead (Jess/Matt). Given how this seems to have started even as early as collecting Beth's head, Hannah might collect her prey as a way of keeping her friends near in some strange twisted way, fitting with how she doesn't kill Josh if he recognizes her and how she doesn't behead Emily, whom she'd have the most reason to despise.]] It would certainly fit her [[spoiler:black butterfly motif.]]
* Samson was a biblical warrior who destroyed a building in order to kill his enemies. [[spoiler:What does ''Sam'' do in the final moments of the game? That could be how the Devs decided on her name.]]

* When Sam and Mike find Josh [[spoiler: hallucinating in the mines, he's saying "You can't tell me what to do" over and over at his hallucinations of his sisters/the Wendigo spirit. However, he changes to "Okay, I trust you" just before the player is able to control Josh's movement for the first time in the game.]] He doesn't actually do anything regarding [[spoiler:the hallucinations, though.]] It's possible that Josh is [[spoiler:aware of the player, thinking they're just another one of his hallucinations, and is finally willing to let them control him outside of his "therapy sessions"]]
* When [[spoiler:you find out that Josh is the Psycho, remembering the scene where he taunts Sam in the video room becomes a kind of sad brilliance. He asks her, when he shows her the tape of herself in the bathroom, if those were the last happy moments of her life. Later, Ashley and Chris find videotape of Hannah during the prank -- as in, the last moments she was happy, thinking Mike was showing interest in her for the first time. Josh did the same thing, but with Sam.]]
* Sam's character stats in the beginning of the game show that she is equally close to almost all the friends, but Jessica and Mike start off slightly below the others in her regard. That makes sense, as Sam, as Hannah's best friend, would likely hold some bitter feelings against Jessica and Mike for the prank on Hannah, as Jessica was the one who orchestrated it and Mike was the one who acted it out. This would also explain why Sam's relationship with Jessica drops further if Jessica tells her and Chris that she and Mike -- both of these people Sam has most reason to resent for Hannah and Beth's disappearances -- are actually ''together'' now, especially taking into account Sam was most likely aware of Hannah's feelings for Mike and how Jessica -- again, the one who planned the humiliating prank on Hannah using Hannah's feelings for Mike -- being the one who gets with Mike later might have rubbed salt in the wound. While Sam is trying to move on and forgive everyone, she would naturally find it hardest with these two.
* [[spoiler:Josh]]'s targets:
** [[spoiler:Josh]] only takes an interest in two people for the full brunt of the pranks: Chris and Sam (Ashley was only secondary, Chris was making the choices). Two very unusual choices, considering that they were the only two not involved, as Sam tried to warn Hannah against participating, and Chris was passed-out drunk at the time. One could see it as [[spoiler: those two were his closest friends, so he feels hurt by them more.]] However, scenes with Dr. Hill keep telling us that the past can't be changed, and the hallucinations near the end of [[spoiler:Hannah and Beth, and their strange zombie faces]] show us that [[spoiler:Josh]] really blames himself for not doing anything to help, even though he was physically unable. It is very easy to conclude that this self-loathing is being projected onto Chris and Sam, because they did not help either.
** Another possibility is that (keeping in mind that [[spoiler:Josh is mentally unstable and honestly seems to think of what he's doing as a relatively harmless, potentially even benign prank]]) [[spoiler:he was following on what he told Sam earlier, which she assumed to be just a joke: it'd take some serious trauma for Chris and Ashley to admit their feelings towards each other. Josh wanted to take revenge on everyone else, but he didn't see that as an act of vindictiveness, he saw it as "healing". Why wouldn't he design his prank so that, on the way to healing his friends, he could also be extra-good towards them and help his best friend hook up?]]
*** Note though that given [[spoiler: Josh couldn't possibly guarantee what decision Chris would make in either case, especially given how difficult they would be, and it was equally likely that Chris would make the 'wrong' choice in either scenario, which could irreparably damage their relationship (and, for the second one, does cause Ashley to let him die if he chooses himself). The Butterfly Effect also notes that Josh was then upset with Chris for having chosen Ashley, and that's why he taunted him when he was found out.]]
** Additionally, note the roles Chris and Sam were given, they're both cast as the heroes of their respective scenarios. Chris is given choices, and the chance to save Ashley and show her he's die for her, while Ashley is left a terrified, helpless victim. Likewise Sam is cast as the heroine being chased by a madman, no accusations and no consequences for getting caught. The whole thing has been set up like a horror movie and Chris and Sam were supposed to be the leads while everyone else was the victims.
* Josh [[spoiler:seeing a wendigo in his hallucinations]] doesn't initially make sense. He is never present during any other moment when [[spoiler:the monsters]] are present, so he shouldn't even know [[spoiler:what they look like]]. Except Mike just recently [[spoiler:blew up the sanitarium, killing some of the six wendigos trapped there by the Stranger and releasing their spirits]]. [[spoiler:One of those monsters had sensed Josh's weak, addled mind and picked him as its next host, attempting to wear him down by hiding inside his hallucinations. It also goes a long way to explaining why he almost immediately grabbed the Stranger's head and started chowing down after Hannah tucked him away in her lair: insane and possessed, the old man's corpse registered as little more than food to Josh.]]
* Playing off the characters being Horror Movie Tropes Incarnate, check out a website that reveals the most popular names. In 1994, which is the first year in the window that all of the cast was born in (1994-1996-ish), all of the main casts' names appear as the top four girls' and boys' names respectively (and even paired up accordingly via present time couples and ShipTeasing: Michael and Jessica were first of the male and female names respectively, then Christopher and Ashley, followed by Matthew and Emily, with Joshua and Samantha being 4th). They're all named the most common/generic names of the year they would have been born in.
* Some may be confused by how [[spoiler:Hannah as a wendigo]] would only recognize Josh if he does so first. Well, [[spoiler:since all wendigo are mostly blind, it's likely only ''because'' he addressed her by name that she was able to tell who her current would-be victim was before she went for a killing blow.]]
* When you read [[spoiler:The Stranger's Journal]], you'll find a passage saying [[spoiler:that the Cree people never hunted on the mountain as they believe it to be sacred, and therefore they believed bringing harm to animals on the mountain would bring bad fortune]]. As evidenced by the game's choices and results where [[spoiler:you harm animals]], this turns out to be true. [[spoiler:It's possible that Wendigo!Hannah attacking the deer Mike and Jess find on the way to the cabin and Josh bringing the pigs to the mountain and killing them there is what causes the two characters to be doomed to their death(s) (or potential possession in Josh's case).]]
* Ashley's words during the [[spoiler:Chris vs. Ashley trap, should Chris try to sacrifice himself first, is easy to misinterpret. She shouts to him "Let me choose to save you!", which many may have assumed that Ashley was giving Chris her permission to sacrifice her in his place. And should Chris decide to shoot her afterwards, the event with Ashley not opening the door for Chris still plays out as if Chris had tried to sacrifice Ashley from the beginning, thus making Ashley appear very deceitful and scheming. However, her words are [[ExactWords "Let me choose to save you"]]. She wanted to make the choice to sacrifice herself for Chris' sake with the gun in hand, except that the story still plays out with Chris not giving Ashley the gun and still being opted to make a choice between himself and Ashley. From her point of view, not only is Ashley's final words being denied by her crush, she is also forced to watch him not honor her last wishes and instead choose to sacrifice her in his place. Ashley would have perceived this as a large betrayal on Chris' part, hence why she is hesitant to open the door for him when he is chased by the Wendigo.]]
* Why does Emily act so unbearably? As the doctor will point out if you choose her as your least liked person Emily's bitchy behaviour is most likely her attempt to cover up her insecurities. Now look at her situation: she's back in the place where Hannah and Beth died, which is largely her fault (not entirely but she was one of the major players), on the anniversary of their disappearance, surrounded by everyone who was involved plus their brother, his best friend and Hannah's best friend and to top it off she's dealing with her former best friend who also stole her boyfriend. Not surprising that she'd be feeling more insecure than normal.
* If Matt is such a NiceGuy, why would he take part in such a cruel prank on Hannah, one of his friends - and even film it? Two explanations - Matt is a pushover and while it's unknown what his relationship with Mike was like back then, in the present Matt is close friends with Jessica and Ashley and he was probably also close to future girlfriend Emily in the Prologue (if he didn't already have feelings for her). It would've been easier for him to go along with the prank and convince himself it wasn't a big deal with so many close friends going with it. Alternately, it's possible him being such a Nice Guy in the game proper is CharacterDevelopment we only see after it's already happened. He might've been more of a JerkJock before the TimeSkip and only became more considerate after living with the guilt of the twins' disappearances and the grief he would've seen it cause their friends, their families, and their community. Guilt over his participation in the prank could also be influencing his ExtremeDoormat behavior, leading him to be less assertive than he might've been in the past because he blames himself for his role in Hannah's prank and the twins' disappearances, which would tie in nicely with his GuiltComplex for not being "good enough" to save Emily from the fire tower in the ending credits.
* The WithFriendsLikeThese examples in the Prologue: Jessica, Mike, Emily, Matt, and Ashley viciously humiliating their friend Hannah, and Hannah trying to hook up with Mike when he's already in a relationship with her friend Emily. We see that Chris and Josh drank so much they blacked out, and Beth comments on him "outdoing us all." While it wouldn't excuse anyone's behavior, Jessica, Mike, Emily, Hannah, Matt, and Ashley were most likely also drinking that night, acting under the influence and not thinking through the consequences of their actions. Sam and Beth seem like the most responsible ones of the group and might've drank less or not at all.
* The answering machine message in the Main Lodge ( Chapter 2). If you listen closely; [[spoiler: The "Detective" is actually Josh disguising his voice, setting up part of his prank.]]
* Black totems warn of death, giving prophetic visions of a possible death of the character who looks at the totem, and according to the game the indigenous people of the mountain believed butterflies brought these prophecies, referencing the butterfly effect that is one of the main ideas behind the game. The black totems and butterfly effect come together in the form of Hannah's black butterfly tattoo, foreshadowing that she [[spoiler:is the killer who can cause the other characters' deaths as a result of the player's actions, making Hannah a walking, talking (maybe not so much after her transformation) black totem of potential deaths. It is also ironic for Hannah herself because unlike most other characters, her fate can't be changed and she cannot be saved from her eventual death]]. Really gives the impression that it might've gone better for everyone if Hannah happened to pick yellow or white for her tattoo instead.

** A final option is that [[spoiler: Josh]] chose them because [[spoiler:he was passed out at the time. That means that he didn't know who participated in the prank. Thus, he chooses his friends because he thought that they participated in the prank, despite being his best friends, which is an even deeper betrayal than with the others.]]

* Being [[spoiler: caught and butchered by a Wendigo]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath is a nasty way to die]], but actually [[spoiler: transforming into one]] [[FateWorseThanDeath could be a great deal worse.]] At best, [[spoiler: the infection outright kills the host and the spirit takes over]]. Yet while it is never outright stated, there are subtle implications that their [[spoiler: hosts are still alive, [[AndIMustScream trapped within a body they have no control over]], maybe even [[YourSoulIsMine merging with the Wendigo's spirit over time]], [[TheAssimilator losing their individuality in the process]].]] As Hanna's [[spoiler: old personality]] could be influencing [[spoiler: the Wendigo she became]] (as speculated above), the latter possibility is all too real.

%%* Being [[spoiler: caught and butchered by a Wendigo]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath is a nasty way to die]], but actually [[spoiler: transforming into one]] [[FateWorseThanDeath could be a great deal worse.]] At best, [[spoiler: the infection outright kills the host and the spirit takes over]]. Yet while it is never outright stated, there are subtle implications that their [[spoiler: hosts are still alive, [[AndIMustScream trapped within a body they have no control over]], maybe even [[YourSoulIsMine merging with the Wendigo's spirit over time]], [[TheAssimilator losing their individuality in the process]].]] As Hanna's [[spoiler: old personality]] could be influencing [[spoiler: the Wendigo she became]] (as speculated above), the latter possibility is all too real.

* Being [[spoiler: caught and butchered by a Wendigo]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath is a nasty way to die]], but actually [[spoiler: transforming into one]] [[FateWorseThanDeath could be a great deal worse.]] At best, [[spoiler: the infection outright kills the host and the spirit takes over]]. Yet while it is never outright stated, there are subtle implications that their [[spoiler: hosts are still alive, [[AndIMustScream trapped within a body they have no control over]], maybe even [[YourSoulIsMine merging with the Wendigo's spirit over time]], [[TheAssimilator losing their individuality in the process]].]] As Hanna's [[spoiler: old personality]] could be influencing [[spoiler: the Wendigo she became]] (as speculated above), the latter possibility is all too real.

* Being [[spoiler: caught by a wendigo]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath is a nasty way to die]], but it's probably a cakewalk compared to what [[spoiler: [[FateWorseThanDeath those who have become a wendigo are experiencing]].]] The best case scenario is that [[spoiler: an infected person is killed in the transformation, allowing the Wendigo]] full use of their corpse. yet it is all too possible that the person in question [[spoiler: is still alive, [[AndIMustScream trapped within a body they have no control over]], maybe even [[YourSoulIsMine merging with the Wendigo's spirit over time]], [[TheAssimilator losing their individuality in the process]].]] As Hanna's [[spoiler: old personality]] is likely influencing [[spoiler: the Wendigo she became]] (as speculated above), the latter possibility is all all but confirmed.

%% This isn't Troper Tales or a forum. Refrain from first person entries, speculation, and "replying" to entries. RepairDontRespond is in effect here as much as any other page.

* [[spoiler: How could Josh construct a perfect horror movie prank with all the cliches? His father was a horror film director. He probably grew up surrounded by horror cliches. Also when he, as the psycho, chases Sam, he'll laugh when she chooses to hide under the bed, because he's become GenreSavvy enough to recognize any cliches being played straight.]]

* The stalker in the mask has set up a whole bunch of stuff - a complex saw blade on a track with a switch, cameras, a canister of knockout gas, and so on. It would take a bit of mechanical know-how and equipment to prepare. [[spoiler:How did he manage to get all this stuff set up in secret and in time to ambush the group? Because he is Josh, the one person in the group who knows the area intimately, has access all year round, and has the resources for it from his rich family.]]
* When Chris chases Sam and Josh in the basement, Josh thinks it's funny. [[spoiler:The reason why is because he was planning to do the same thing, but on a larger, more elaborate scale.]]
* When Josh sends Mike and Jessica over to the smaller, private cabin, [[spoiler:they arrive to find the fuses have blown. There's also a hardcover copy of the Kama Sutra left out and a framed picture of Hannah, neither of which seem like things that would have been casually left lying around; in fact, the picture of Hannah is the only picture in the cabin. Did Josh intend to hit them with a scare later on? Did Josh's homebrew surveillance network overload the wiring, and that's why the fuses are blown?]]
* Psychoanalysis:
** The psychoanalysis with Dr. Hill makes a lot of sense, in a way. [[spoiler:Since Josh was obviously affected by his sisters' disappearance, his parents must've sent him to a psychologist or psychiatrist. Obviously, that didn't work, which is why he's a DrJerk who plays mind games with you -- because that's how Josh remembers him!]]
** If [[spoiler:the texts on Josh's phone that Sam finds shortly before TheReveal]] are any indication, he was actually a fairly decent person, going on first-name basis with his patient and being one of the only people who knew about what [[spoiler:Josh]] was planning, subsequently doing everything in his power to stop it.
** There's plenty that happens or is said during Dr. Hill's scenes that doesn't follow or seems disconnected or superficial if you assume he's talking to the player. [[spoiler:You realize just about everything works when you know he's talking to Josh. For example, in the second session, he starts by saying he'd like to "understand the root of your anxiety" even if you don't say anything implying it exists in the first session, since he already knows for a fact that it does for Josh; in the same session, your Clown/Scarecrow/Zombie choice changes how Dr. Hill appears over time (with the Zombie being the most drastic) in addition to changing what type of dummy Josh dresses in Sam's clothing to reflect both his fears and what he thinks would freak out his friends the most as a result. Not to mention these three choices in particular are some of the most cliché horror mooks in film, which Josh would be ''very'' familiar with because of his father's work making them seem less random for Dr. Hill to be bringing up.]]
** The fourth session, where the player is given a book of images of the characters and get to choose which one in the pairs they like the most, the purpose being to single out the one they ''dislike'' the most. Dr. Hill's responses when the lucky winner is revealed give some hints to [[spoiler:Josh's views on his friends and himself]] or what's about to happen.
*** Choosing Josh [[spoiler:makes Dr. Hill say it explains a lot and tells the player not to be too hard on him since he has been through a lot and that they already know that, which makes a lot of sense since Josh is the one being interviewed, especially in light of his hallucination later, which suggests that he blames himself for what happened to his sisters]].
*** Choosing Emily [[spoiler:makes Dr. Hill acknowledge that she is rather unpleasant, but remarks that her attitude might actually be to mask a lack of confidence, just as "you". Considering Josh's self-blame issues and his [[ChewingTheScenery big personality]] after he is revealed as the killer, it suggests that Josh relates to her]].
*** Choosing Chris or Ashley produces a nearly word-for-word identical line from Dr. Hill, [[spoiler:who admonishes Josh for what he's planning to do to them and asks if his feelings about them really justifies it. Considering the doctor's horrified reactions to the second trap where [[SadisticChoice Chris is forced to kill himself or Ashley]], this suggests that Josh even at that stage in the plan deep down had some doubts about what he was up to]].
*** Choosing Jessica [[spoiler:makes Dr. Hill say that Jess is cute and a maybe a bit stupid, but he then quickly reminds the player/Josh that she is "out of the way" and that they should focus on the others. At that point, Jess was with Mike at the cabin and had just been grabbed by the Wendigo and taken to the mines, her fate dependent on the player's response during the next chapter. This is a major hint that what happened to her and Mike was ''not'' part of Josh's plan, even before Josh explains his plan, especially considering the massive cliffhanger the Mike/Jessica part of the chapter ended on -- there is no way in ''hell'' you as the player could just drop that.]]
** The lack of voiced lines from the person the player controls in the therapy sessions seems like it's just to keep them anonymous, but [[spoiler:even after the person is confirmed to be Josh, he still doesn't speak when the player chooses dialogue options. Makes sense - do you really need to talk out loud to have a conversation with someone who's in your head?]]
** Dr Hill's line in the first session, "You see no one can change what happened last year. The past is beyond our control." On the surface this is his attempt to comfort [[spoiler:Josh]], but on a meta level he is explaining the game, in particular the introduction - [[spoiler:Beth and Hannah]] always die as part of the plot, none of the introductory choices can change that. Dr Hill's line tells the player that from now on ''your choices will actually matter''. The way the game saves immediately after every choice also means "the past is beyond [your] control" - no reverting to previous save files for you!

* Buzzsaw trap:
** The gore in the first buzzsaw trap seems very fake as it tears apart [[spoiler:Josh]]. [[spoiler:This is because they're not actually human organs, and it ''is'' fake -- specifically, pig intestines from the basement.]]
** Look at [[spoiler:Josh just as the saw cuts into him. Doesn't his reaction to the 'unbearable pain' as he is torn in half look a little...poorly acted? Shouldn't he look more anguished and crazed for someone who is about to die a painful death?]]
** Speaking of looking at [[spoiler:Josh, if you watch closely during the scene you can see that his neck doesn't connect to his body, it's sticking through a hole. There's also how blood does not come out of his mouth at all as he supposedly suffers from extreme internal damage, what's with having a gigantic saw cut right through him.]]
** Listen closely to [[spoiler:the psycho's distorted speak and you will hear that he has the same lisp as Josh.]] It's also more apparent on a second playthrough that [[spoiler:the voice on the answering machine is also Josh's.]]
** Looking closely, it becomes more obvious when you notice that [[spoiler: Josh's lower half never moves.]] Ashley can be seen kicking her legs and trying to climb up the wall, but [[spoiler: Josh simply moves back and forth in a strange, stiff motion. His body looks as if it's not moving of it's own volition, but rather is being pivoted manually. Knowing that the body is a fake makes it likely that it actually was.]]

* The song that plays during the intro credits, "O Death", is actually some pretty clever foreshadowing upon finishing the game once. [[spoiler:The first portion of the song is sung from the perspective of someone begging Death not to end their life yet. Hannah was stuck in those mines for who knows how long, in pain and without any food, probably begging God not to let her die. The second portion of the song that plays after the cutscene with Sam on the bus is sung from Death's perspective, claiming that nothing will stop him from claiming somebody's soul. Hannah had no choice but to start eating Beth's corpse, which resulted in her becoming a nigh-invulnerable wendigo that only wants to eat human flesh and will stop at nothing to get it.]]

** This theory could also help to explain why [[spoiler:the Stranger dies so easily despite being an extremely experienced wendigo hunter: Hannah behaves irrationally for a wendigo, killing her marks outright instead of keeping them alive for later. The Stranger had been expecting her to try to keep him and Chris alive, so he wouldn't think to guard himself from fatal attacks.]]

* Hannah:
** Hannah's Butterfly tattoo is black. [[spoiler:Black butterfly totems signal death.]]
** Hannah's [[spoiler:fight with the other Wendigos in the main lodge could have been a dispute over what to do with their prey. The other Wendigos wanted to ''eat'' them, while Hannah wanted to ''collect'' them instead.]]
** As stated above, [[spoiler:"Hannah" makes no effort to eat her prey in spite of the Wendigo's infamous craving for human flesh, and instead stockpiles their remains in her lair]]. She also seems to favor [[spoiler:decapitation as a preferred method of killing (Chris/Ashley/The Stranger) and will even sever the head off a corpse after her victim is dead (Jess/Matt). This head fixation apparently began well before she had access to living victims, as evidenced by the presence of Beth’s skull in one of her makeshift shelters. Yet in Beth's case, it seemed to be a souvenir rather than a trophy, implying that its familiarity gave her some measure of comfort. The apparent affection displayed toward Beth's head could very well extend to the other bodies she collects, and could explain why she doesn't act like a typical Wendigo; even after all Hannah went through, she still longs for the company of her friends. This would make her situation even more of a TearJerker; Hannah [[HeroicWillpower powers through the Wendigo’s overwhelming desire to feed…]] only to [[TragicMonster slaughter those she cares about anyway in a misguided, morbid attempt to keep them near]]...or [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge taking revenge on those she felt have wronged her and her sister]].]]
** It’s also notable that [[spoiler:of the six victims she can claim before Sam and Mike find her lair, the only body which hasn’t been decapitated is Emily's, whom Hannah would have had the most reason to despise]].
** [[spoiler:She may have taken Josh specifically so that he could be turned into a Wendigo and join her so she wouldn't be alone with the other Wendigos,]] which just makes things worse.
** [[spoiler:Hannah being a body collector]] would certainly fit with butterfly motifs.
** A bit of Fridge Awesome for [[spoiler:Hannah]]: It's ''very'' heavily implied that [[spoiler:the Wendigo possessing her is Makkapitew, [[EldritchAbomination the oldest and strongest of the Wendigo spirits]]. Not only is she resisting the control that a Wendigo is trying to exert over her, but she is in fact fighting against the ''single most powerful one alive''. And considering that the only goal of the spirit is the consumption of flesh, ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu she's winning.]]'']]
** Kind of a minor one, but at first, it might seem a bit off for a girl like Hannah (who's been built up to be a stereotypical female nerd and looks very scrawny) to have been able to run like she did during the prologue, not to mention [[spoiler:survive for five days without food after a fall that would've killed far tougher-looking people.]] However, one of the hints which can be found at the lodge is a ''tennis trophy'', showing Hannah was not merely a player but very nearly a nationally renowned one, with very impressive competitive achievements.

* If Matt decides to be on friendly terms with Mike, Emily will mockingly ask if they're ready to make out. When Mike sarcastically responds that they totally will, he may actually be serious; that comment could be directed toward Emily, not Matt.
* It looks like the local police at least know enough to [[spoiler:take the survivors' testimony seriously and send a team to investigate the mines, since a couple of cops run across Josh if he "survives." If they aren't carrying anything that can set him on fire, they're likely to be killed, which would incur a massive police response against the mountain and presumably the subsequent isolation or extermination of all surviving Wendigo, using whatever information the surviving characters were able to offer. (Ashley, Sam, Mike, or Chris: a lot. Matt or Jessica: not so much.) Either way, a rural Canadian police department now has tangible evidence of the existence of the supernatural.]]
* [[spoiler:As noted in [[http://morkhan.tumblr.com/post/128305872304/so-josh-is-the-last-character-we-get-to-control-in this Tumblr post,]] when Sam and Mike find Josh hallucinating in the mines, he's saying [[MadnessMantra "You can't tell me what to do"]] over and over at his hallucinations of his sisters/the Wendigo spirit. However, he changes to "Okay, I trust you" just before the player is able to control Josh's movement for the first time in the game. It's possible that Josh is [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall aware of the player,]] thinking they're just another one of his hallucinations, and is willing to let them control him.]]

* With its conclusion, the entire game can be considered a result of the Butterfly Effect, given how a simple prank [[spoiler:inadvertedly caused the certain death of three teenagers.]]

** Or, [[spoiler: Josh]] chose them because [[spoiler:he was passed out at the time. That means that he didn't know who participated in the prank. Thus, he chooses his friends because he thought that they participated in the prank, despite being his best friends, which is an even deeper betrayal than with the others.]]
** Note the roles Chris and Sam were given, they're both cast as the heroes of their respective scenarios. Chris is given choices, and the chance to save Ashley and show her he's die for her, while Ashley is left a terrified, helpless victim. Likewise Sam is cast as the heroine being chased by a madman, no accusations and no consequences for getting caught. The whole thing has been set up like a horror movie and Chris and Sam were supposed to be the leads while everyone else was the victims.

* One might notice early on that something doesn't sit right with [[spoiler:Josh as he acts a bit too cheerful and nonchalant about having his friends back at the lodge where his sisters tragically disappeared, saying things like "let's party like porn stars!" and nag at Chris to take Ashley to bed. Shouldn't he be more troubled to have the friends he thinks caused his sisters' disappearance back at the very place it happened than look forward to partying with them and care about who gets laid? Turns out it really is all an act.]]

* The [[spoiler:hallucination]] in which Beth and Hannah are singing "Frère Jacques" to Josh reinforces his [[ItsAllMyFault guilt in being asleep]] when he should have been protecting them (and depending on the player's choice, Beth could've even tried to wake him), resulting in their deaths. The English translation of those lyrics ask ''"Brother"'' Jacques, "Are you sleeping? Are you sleeping?" and references bells ringing, which could allude to a funeral toll, as Josh believes ([[spoiler:half-right, or completely correctly given on the individual's view of whether living as a wendigo is really being "alive"]]) that Beth and Hannah are dead.

* The legends of the [[spoiler:Wendigo]] state that [[spoiler:as the Wendigo consumes more flesh, it becomes stronger, and increasingly monstrous.]] Now check out how strong, resilient, and monstrous [[spoiler:Wendigo!Hannah is, especially during the final section.]] The horror clicks with this question: [[spoiler: How much of Beth did Hannah force herself to eat to become ''that'' strong?]] It's heavily speculated, though, that the reason [[spoiler:Wendigo!Hannah is so strong is because she was possessed by the spirit of Makkapitew, the alpha Wendigo that the Stranger killed right before Hannah and Beth fell off the cliff.]]
* As if the game wasn't scary enough, no one ever gives an exact count of how many Wendigo spirits there actually are. Each soul ''could'' have found a body to inhabit during the events of the game... or maybe there are hundreds if not ''thousands'' of sapient, malevolent spirits following you around, just waiting for a chance to creep inside your skull, biding their time and watching your every movement...
* Since famine has all but disappeared in Canada and the United States, (save for in aboriginal communities, which is another Fridge Horror), the benefits and temptation to indulge in cannibalism have likewise all but vanished. The Wendigos probably go for years if not decades without any viable hosts to infest. But what do predators do when prey is scarce? ''They expand their territory'', preferably into regions with abundant prey. The Wendigos in the game seem content to remain on that one mountain, but as that region will likely be abandoned after the events of the game, with not even the Stranger to keep them locked up, there's nothing to say some of them won't migrate somewhere else. Like, say, a densely populated city...

* What must it be like for a person possessed by a Wendigo? At best they die, or at least have their soul ejected from their body. At worst, the person's spirit is still [[AndIMustScream trapped within a body they have no control over]], maybe even [[YourSoulIsMine merging with the Wendigo's spirit over time]], [[TheAssimilator losing their individuality in the process]]...
* So after [[spoiler:the Stranger gets killed]], Mike is adamant about finding Josh to get the cable car key back so they can all escape. We know by now that the wendigos have been stalking these kids bit by bit all night and getting closer with every passing minute, they are not going away or giving up, [[spoiler:especially now that their biggest enemy has been killed by them]]. Suppose Mike did manage to get that key, it would mean that the group would have to venture out and trek all the way to the cable car with the wendigos right on top of them, and even if they somehow made it to the cable car, the fact that a single wendigo was strong enough to cut the cables of the fire tower and bring the whole thing crashing down, it's entirely plausible they can do the exact same thing to the cable holding up the cable car. These kids really are trapped until daytime arrives, and any attempt to try escaping would likely end in a horrible death.
* Consider what the events of the game must be like for [[AdultFear the unseen Washington parents]]. Their two daughters vanish into the mountains, never to be seen again. [[spoiler:On top of that, they watch their son spiral into depression and mental issues, seeing a psychiatrist when he's not at school, not even ''suspecting'' that he wants revenge on his friends for the prank that led to his sisters' death.]] Then at the end of the game, depending on your choices, [[spoiler: Josh is either killed or turns into a Wendigo after eating the remains of The Stranger. Whatever happens, the Washingtons will lose ''all'' their children in the space of one year, their last surviving one dying/vanishing on the anniversary of their daughters' disappearance.]]
* More mundane example, but it's extremely easy for Emily to develop a horrible opinion on Matt, [[spoiler:especially with the easiest choice to keep him alive. If she doesn't have a good opinion on him, she will ''not'' be friendly when he comes up in her police interview. Horrible enough [[NeverSpeakIllOfTheDead if he's dead by then]], let alone if [[UngratefulBitch he tried to save her and couldn't fire the flare, but they had a poor relationship besides]], but if he's alive, her saying that he left her to die and generally talking him down could have life-lasting consequences for poor Matt. Hopefully, the others would take Matt's side or at least defend him, especially Jess (who owes him her life by the end). In that case, Emily is more likely to be the one in trouble for a false accusation, especially since it will probably alienate the others]].
** Fortunately, it's just a case of Emily acting out. Matt is not a member of rescue service personnel, he is under no obligation to rescue Emily, particularly since she is an adult and responsible for her own welfare.
** On another Emily-related note, [[spoiler:if Mike almost shoots her at Ashley's insistence, she ''will'' remember it and tell the police. After spending most of the game developing into TheHero, one rash non-decision can get him in so much trouble too, and getting Emily bitten is ''very'' easy to do.]]
* [[spoiler:Sam]] was chased by the Psycho wearing only a bath towel. [[spoiler:If she gets caught and knocked out, what's the chance that our psycho, who's implied to have a crush on her, didn't...move the towel before tying her up?]]
* According to Hannah's journal, she went almost a full month [[spoiler: without food before succumbing to the temptation to eat human flesh]]. Josh, on the other hand, seems to have wasted no time at all; [[spoiler:the police would have sent rescue teams almost immediately, probably in a matter of hours. The search ''could'' have lasted days before getting that far into the mines, but in all likelihood [[RedShirt those who found Josh]] did so scant hours after the others were rescued. If this is true, then Josh must have chowed down on the Stranger's head ''just because it was there''. It was obvious that Josh was clinically insane by the end of the game, but ''holy crap'', just how unhinged would someone have to be for something like ''that''!?]]
** It could also be that Hannah forced him to eat so that he would turn and join her. A twisted mix of the wendigo's instincts and her human affection.
* Matt was filming the prank on Hannah. [[spoiler:Later, we find out that Josh was taping the game's events and was planning on uploading them online]]. With that in mind, it's not at all out there that, if Hannah and Beth hadn't gone missing, the prank would have been posted online for all to see. Hannah also removed her top, exposing herself. If it had been uploaded online, the Internet would have seen her at least in her underwear. [[spoiler:No wonder Josh chooses this form of revenge.]]

* A small example, but on [[http://until-dawn.wikia.com/wiki/Jessica Jessica's profile]], it mentions that she wants to be a model, and if Mike makes the wrong choices in the game, she can reveal that she is actually really insecure. Should she survive the events of the game, she is the most physically scarred of the survivors, with deep scars on her face and chest.
* Jessica's first possible death manages to get '''''even worse''''' when you listen closely and realize that she is ''still alive'' and actually moaning in pain before [[spoiler:the elevator plummets with her still on it]]. After [[spoiler:her terrifying abduction]], she survives [[spoiler:getting her jaw brutally torn off]] long enough to [[spoiler:be found by her horrified boyfriend (who can do absolutely nothing to help her), only to experience an abrupt and no-doubt frightening fall down the elevator]]. Let's hope that [[spoiler:the crash landing]] killed her instantly, because the final moments of that poor girl's life were already ''horrible''.
** [[spoiler: It probably didn't seeing as if you manage to do things right the elevator still falls' and she survives that.]]
* Unlike the miner wendigos and [[spoiler:Hannah]], the Makkapitew has a Native host. Since the local tribes would have known to avoid cannibalism, the Makkapitew's host had to be one of, if not the, first to turn, and has been trapped in that form for centuries. [[spoiler:While it freed the spirit to possess Hannah, the Stranger torching it at least gave the man a final rest from centuries of being a monster]].
* Unlike the rest of the group, It is possible for Matt to die without ever encountering [[spoiler:a wendigo]] which means if [[spoiler:the Wendigos didn't exist, Josh's "prank" would be indirectly responsible for his death. Given how unhinged Josh is and how vehemently he insists that "it's just a game/prank", imagine how he would react knowing his prank led to the death of one of his friends one year after their prank led to the deaths of his sisters.]]
* Throughout the first part of the game you can [[spoiler:hear and catch glimpses of the wendigos. However, they don't appear until around 3:00. That means that the crew was getting stalked by these things for about five hours before the monsters made their presence known (except for Mike and Jessica, who saw the thing TWICE before getting attacked)]].

* Unlike the miner wendigos and [[spoiler:Hannah]], the Makkapitew has a Native host. Since the local tribes would have known to avoid cannibalism, the Makkapitew's host had to be one of, if not the, first to turn. [[spoiler:While it freed the spirit to possess Hannah, the Stranger torching it at least gave the man a final rest from centuries of being a monster]].

** Fortunately, it's just a case of Emily acting out. Matt is not a member of rescue service personnel, he is under no obligation to rescue Emily, particularly since she is an adult and not responsible for her welfare.

* Ashley's assumption that [[spoiler:Emily will turn due to her wendigo bite]] is generally chalked up to her panicking and being one of the more skittish members of the group to begin with, but her bio states that she's bookish and imaginative, and [[spoiler: traditional wendigo lore states that wendigo bites ''do'' turn people.]] Maybe [[spoiler:she's read stories about wendigo before and just didn't say anything during Flamethrower Guy's exposition because the reality of what they were up against was still catching up with her. In fact, the stranger's own journal had to debunk the theory, meaning he had considered the possibility before getting bitten himself and realizing it first-hand.]]