History VideoGame / OuterWilds

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:One of the major discoveries is that though the inhabitants of the Stranger are long dead, their minds live on inside their simulation -- as long as the flames in their artifacts remain lit. Over the course of the loop, two of their simulation rooms are flooded, booting their sleepers from the simulation and killing them instantly. This is accompanied by their screams, which you will hear wherever you are in the dream.]]

* ThePlan: In order to find the Eye of the Universe, the Nomai conceived an elaborate plan to locate it. [[spoiler:They constructed two massive projects: the Ash Twin Project, and the Orbital Probe Cannon. The Ash Twin Project is a MentalTimeTravel hub of sorts, where the Nomai would store their memories, which would be sent back in time when the Advanced Warp Core made by Poke is powered by the energy cultivated from the exploding sun. The Ash Twin Project also sends back the order to fire the Orbital Probe Cannon, as well as the probe data from the previous loop. Because the cannon fires in a different random direction each loop, it will eventually find the Eye of the Universe by chance. The Nomai would then end the Ash Twin Project, which stops the sun from exploding, and then find the Eye of the Universe by taking the warp core used to power the Project back to their Vessel in the Bramble, and using that to find the Eye. Unfortunately, the Nomai were never able to use the Sun Station to trigger the supernova required to power the project. The Interloper comet soon thereafter killed all of the Nomai when its Ghost Matter-filled core exploded, abruptly ending their civilization and their designs to pursue the Eye of the Universe. However, their inability to explode the sun was the only insurmountable obstacle: if they had, this whole scheme ''would have'' worked perfectly -- and over the course of the game, it does! The protagonist getting scanned by the Nomai statue on Timber Hearth is implied to be because the Ash Twin project succeeded in finding the Eye of the Universe, inadvertently powered by the sun naturally going supernova during the heat death of the universe many millennia after the Nomai intended.]]

* GlowingEyes: The aliens who built the Stranger (like many creatures adapted to low-light environments) have eyes that are retro-reflective. When they look at something bright, their eyes shine with reflected light. This could be considered a VisualPun on the DLC's title, as illumination "echoes" from their eyes.

** [[spoiler:The Prisoner's body, like the rest of their species, is long dead; however, their mental-self within the simulation has been trapped in the Vault (which consists of two small, sparsely-furnished rooms), essentially on house arrest, for hundreds of thousands of years, with no way to end their life within the simulation so they can finally die. Tellingly, when you finally free them, the Prisoner gives a [[FaceDeathWithDignity grateful bow and leaves]] ahead of you. By the time you reach the surface again, they are gone. The Prisoner walked into the water and extinguished their Artifact, finally able to die (and at peace with themself, to boot).]]

** While its effect can be muted somewhat if [[AnachronicOrder it's found after visiting the Ash Twin Project]], reading the words [[spoiler:"22 minutes"]] in the High Energy Lab is your first indication that [[spoiler:the time loop isn't accidental after all]].

* MentalTimeTravel: This is more-or-less how the statues and the resulting StableTimeLoop works; each statue is recording the memories of whoever it's paired with and, [[spoiler:using the incredible amount of energy from the supernova explosion, launches those memories back in time into the mind of its partner at around the time they paired with the statue. This also includes memories from any previous loops]].

** The Quantum Moon. [[spoiler:Just finding the Moon is difficult enough, as it is constantly teleporting to different locations around the solar system and the only way to lock it down is to directly observe it. Then, in order to move it to the mysterious sixth location, you have manipulate the Nomai quantum tower to appear on the Moon's north pole, and then turn off the lights and turn them back on to teleport the Moon through its set locations until you reach the sixth location. Thankfully, finding the Quantum Moon is an optional objective, and only needed for achieving the Golden Ending.]]

** Reaching The Vessel [[spoiler: requires navigating through a tight cluster of blind Anglerfish without making too much sound via thrusting. But it can be made easier by leaving your spaceship behind, making yourself much smaller. Alternatively, if you fly into the red node fast enough, inertia will carry you past them without the need for additional thrust]].