Video Game / Deadly Premonition 2

"All I need to be happy is a normal life."

"It's time for us to head back out into the chaos.
Isn't that right, Zach?"

— Francis York Morgan

Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise is an open world survival horror adventure game developed by White Owls and Toybox, Inc. It is the sequel to Deadly Premonition, and is an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch.

The game takes place across two locations and time periods. In 2019, FBI agent Aaliyah Davis investigates an old serial killer case in Boston, a case that has connections to a 2005 case investigated by the first game's protagonist, Francis York Morgan.

The game was first announced in the September 5, 2019 Nintendo Direct alongside a Switch port of the original game. It was released on July 10, 2020.

Previews: Nintendo Direct footage, Japanese Nintendo Direct footage, E-Trailer.

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This game provides examples of:

• Abusive Parents:
  • Lena Dauman alludes to her father being abusive to her for being a trans woman. PJ Clarkson tearfully expresses remorse for this as he's dying, telling her that he always loved her but had no idea how to treat a trans person right.
  • Melvin raised his own daughter to believe she had to die to purify her family's bloodline as a consequence of being indoctrinated by Lena. Luckily, he manages to come to in time to save Patricia and tell her that she's too pure to die.
• Adorably Precocious Child: Patricia acts like a very formal adult and even advises other adult characters (particularly York) on how they should conduct themselves.
• Affectionate Nickname: Melvin calls Patricia CLG, an acronym of "Clever Little Girl". York also adopts the more conventional "Patti" rather quickly.
• Animal Motifs: The Clarksons are signified with a dragonfly. Lena's One-Winged Angel form even resembles a giant dragonfly. Patricia later wears a locket with a dragonfly on it.
• Artistic License – Law: The game's closing states that Avery Smith was given 4 consecutive life sentences for his involvement in the game's plot. Not only is this kind of sentence complete and total overkill (unless they're holding him responsible for everyone Saint Rouge killed over its distribution) but Avery almost certainly would be not able to be tried in a court of law because of his mental deficiencies making clear it that he didn't know what he was doing was wrong and was just following what Lena taught him to do. In a more realistic scenario, Avery would have most likely have been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial, in which case he would be indefinitely cosigned to a high security psychiatric hospital able to take care of him — not placed in a general purpose prison.
• Art-Shifted Sequel: A mild example compared to most, but the game incorporates Cel Shading as opposed to the original's flatter texturing.
• Ascended Extra: Downplayed. Zach played an integral role in the first game, but he only appeared at the very end of the game, not giving the player much of a chance to get to know him. In the sequel, he's a central character of the 2019 sections, shining a spotlight on his character and how he's similar to and different from York.
• Back from the Dead: Possibly Forrest Kaysen. He does have tangible influence over the game's events in the future, but no one but Zach and York seem to acknowledge him, implying that's he more of a spiritual presence than a bonafide resurrection, much akin to York himself in the finale.
• Back for the Finale: York comes back and merges with Zach for one final time in the ending to take down Kaysen.
• Badass and Child Duo: York's a bit unconventional, but he is still a skilled FBI agent, and he spends much of his story accompanied by Patricia, a precocious young girl. No longer the case in the present, as she's a woman in her 20's by the time she partners up with Zach.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Discussed by Zach at one point, as he interprets the Big Bad's plan as a massive Xanatos Gambit. Lena Dauman more or less accomplishes her goal of "purifying" the Clarksons and bringing their name back to glory since Patricia, the last person to carry Clarkson blood, is set to become a great heir and Danny, Galena's husband, has matured into her competent right-hand man due to the whole experience. This is somewhat supported by Lena's spirit showing her approval to the failed outcome of Melvin's sacrifice of his wife. There is also implications that Zach beating Kaysen in the far off future was part of her plan too, since Kaysen does mention Lena taking measures to fight back his control, but we learn little about those.
• Bait-and-Switch: When asked why she went to Le Carre to investigate Saing Rouge, Aaliyah reveals that she received an anonymous tip signed with the initials F.K. Towards the end of the story its revealed that Zach was the one who sent the tip. Furthermore, the initials had nothing to do with Forrest Kayson. He simply abbreviated the name of his favorite pizza place in Boston to get those initials as part of a Batman Gambit to get Davis' partner Simon to trust him. Zach even notes the happy coincidence between those initials and the ones he saw in the coffee nine years prior.
• Berserk Button: Expect Simon to go on a passionate tangent if you ever insult pizza.
• Big Bad: The whole crime plot is orchestrated by Lena Dauman/Professor R. Uniquely, she dies a little over the halfway mark of the game, leaving only what are essentially her minions and Kaysen to deal with.
• Big Good: In a strange way, Houngan the witch doctor ghost could be considered this, being a friendly otherworld figure that guides York and acts as a Foil to Forrest Kaysen.
• Big Damn Heroes: Aaliyah arrives just as a corrupted Zach is about to sacrifice Patricia, and when Aaliyah is corrupted and shoots Patricia, York arrives to grab the bullet as it hit her locket.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Clarksons are noted to have been a very influential family once, and in fact, they still hold a ton of power within Le Carre due to pretty much being behind every relevant business there, however, they operate closer to the likes of a mafia gang than an actual, respectable household. And this is not even getting into all the sorts of issues every single member of the family ends up displaying such as mutilation, incest, assassination and cult formation.
• Blood from the Mouth: Zach coughs out a small puddle of it after his cancer reaches its final course.
• Busman's Holiday: York was just in Le Carre for a vacation on a break from chasing after Saint Rouge, and then he becomes tangled up in the murder of Lise Clarson.
• Cassandra Truth: When York first meets Avery Smith, Avery makes a quick remark about doing experiments down in the cold storage facility despite not being "a smarty pants" like the others. Given his mental capacity, everyone quickly dismisses this as him doing more banal actions in his free time. 15 years later, Zach finally realizes that Avery was more or less confessing to being Professor R's lab assistant.
• Call-Forward: Professor R mentions that one day, Zach and York won't be together. That's how the original game ended. York of course says he won't be alone in response which is true he'll have Emily, but Zach on the other hand...
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The "contract" signed between York and Patricia near the beginning plays a key role in the climax. Namely, it allows York to return and join with Zach to defeat Kaysen once and for all.
  • Simon mentions a story of Zach going to a pizza place and freaking out over the red boxes. Turns out Zach went there in order to get Simon to help find out what happened to Patricia.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Avery Smith is not paid much attention in the story, but he turns out to be a key figure in the final act.
• Color Motif: Red. York's on the hunt for Saint Rouge (Rouge is French for "red"), Galena Clarson wears a red dress and heels, loading screens have red leaves floating by, and there's the mention of the Red Tree Murders.
• Continuity Snarl: In the first game, York remarks upon his first encounter with the Shadows that he hasn't been attacked so directly before. Evidently, he forgot about his trips to the otherworld in Le Carre.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Lena Dauman is this George Woodman from the first game. While George was motivated entirely by a selfish pursuit of power, Lena believed she was doing the world good by "purifying" her family's bloodline. This is reflected in their respective cults, with George being the central figure of worship in his while Lena worshiped Kaysen. George's One-Winged Angel form was a hulking ogre-like beast while Lena's is a comparatively more graceful-looking dragonfly-like creature. George's crimes only encompassed Greenvale, while Lena's are implied to be spread over the entirety of America. George styled himself as a figure of absolute masculinity, while Lena is a trans woman who presents herself as slim and stylish. Perhaps most importantly, George spent the entirety of the story as Kaysen's Unwitting Pawn while Lena actually caught on and attempted to undermine Kaysen's control.
• Cool Board: Rather than drive a car, York gets around by riding a skateboard. In-universe this is because someone stole his car and left a skateboard in its place.
• Cry into Chest: Patricia does this to York after having to see her dad and mom die in an exploding warehouse.
• Death Seeker:
  • As a consequence of her father being part of Lena's cult, Patricia believes she has to die in order to purify the the Clarkson family bloodline. However, Melvin manages to break free from Lena's control long enough to tell Patricia that she only inherited the good from the bloodline and that she should live. Though Zach hallucinates Patricia hating him for saving her, the real Patricia clearly has taken Melvin's words to heart years later.
  • Zach himself has also developed it due to him having cancer, failure to save Emily and wishing to be with York again. Thankfully he's been able to move on after seeing York one last time.
• Declaration of Protection: York promises Patricia to protect her 'from all the evils in the world' during their first meeting when she tries to playfully make him sign a contract. Reversed in the ending when she desperately begs York to sign a new contract and promises to protect a dying Zach the same way in order to bring him back to life.
• Deep South: The setting of York's sections take place in Louisiana, and every single stereotype associated with the trope, good and bad, is either present or subverted.
• Despair Event Horizon: Zach crosses it after his cancer finally kicks in and leaves him helpless to save Patricia, with him hallucinating Patricia blaming him for not letting her die all those years ago as well as the deaths of everyone else he has met. Luckily, the intervention of Aaliyah and the real Patricia manage to pull him out of it.
• Dirty Cop: Melvin is revealed to be part of Lena's cult. Downplayed in that he was indoctrinated under the effects of Saint Rouge. His final act of saving Patricia indicates that he was actually brainwashed and Fighting from the Inside the entire time.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Professor R, the mastermind behind Lise's death and the creator of Saint Rouge, is defeated in the second episode. Of course, she only proceeds to unveil an even larger conspiracy.
• Disproportionate Retribution: The prejudice Lena endured for being a trans woman pushed her to create a drug that destroyed the lives of people across the country then destroy her own family in the most horrific way imaginable. Even York tells her that her actions were far too extreme compared to what she went through. It's possibly somewhat justified considering Kaysen was influencing her, but even Zach by the end is unsure how much of her crimes were a result of his corruption and how much she legitimately planned of her own volition.
• Dragon Ascendant: Two examples. Both Melvin Woods and Avery Smith were technically assisting Professor R/Lena Dauman with her plan. Once R dies halfway through the game though, Melvin tries to finish her plan by sacrificing Patricia and Candy while Avery follows his own personal agenda after obtaining the means of growing the red seeds.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Forrest Kaysen is gone for good, York revives Zach from the brink of death, Zach has obtained a more positive outlook (and it's revealed that York and Zach can still commuicate via chatroom), Patricia is free from the bonds of her family and Aaliyah and Simon get promoted for their work (with Aaliyah's brother showing signs of recovery).
• Empathic Environment: The weather outside Zach's apartment at the beginning of the day is of a storm to replicate his cynicism. At the end, it's bright and sunny to symbolize Zach moving on.
• Erudite Stoner: Zach has taken up smoking marijuana since the events of the first game, ostensibly for medical purposes. That does little to hinder his perceptiveness.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • PJ Clarkson shows remorse that he truly loved Lena Dauman (deadname Leonard Clarkson) but just didn't know how to deal with having a trans child.
  • Melvin was able to fight off Lena's influence by being reminded of his love for his daughter, Patricia. It's this love that has him confess for his sins and he asks York to protect her.
• Everyone Has Standards: Aaliyah might believe that Zach is the culprit she's looking for, but she genuinely apologizes when she neglects his aversion to the color red and accidentally shows her bleeding finger, triggering a panic attack.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: As David Jawarah succinctly points out, Le Carre is French for "square" and one quick look at the town map will show that there's no deeper meaning behind the name.
• Exact Words: Patricia makes a contract with York that he has to protect her from all evils in the world...which includes not allowing her to have a chocolate sundae due to its sugar content. Patricia points out that sugar is dangerous, but not evil, but York still takes the sundae away from her.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Patricia changed her hair back to blonde as a way of signifying the discovery of her true self.
• Eyepatch of Power: PJ Clarkson wears an eyepatch over his left eye and leads the most powerful family in Le Carre.
• Face–Monster Turn: Kaysen briefly manages to corrupt Zach into one of his monsters after Zach crosses the Despair Event Horizon. Aaliyah's timely intervention allows him to regain his humanity.
• Framing Device: The game's backstory is explained as Zach recalling the events of what happened in 2005 to Aaliyah and Simon.
• Foil: Both York and Forrest Kaysen act as contrasting representations in Zach's mind. Zach's current status, as an insane and unstable individual obsessed with the origin of the red seeds comes from Kaysen's influence. Once York returns and saves Zach's life once more, Zach starts gradually recovering from his deterioration.
• Fusion Dance: Zach and York do one to fight Kaysen, indicated by one eye being green while the other is blue.
• Final Boss: Kaysen, once again, though a corrupted Aaliyah is the one doing the attacking.
• Foreshadowing:
  • Zach notes that Aaliyah's tie belongs to a man. Aalyiah tells Simon that this tie was supposed to be a gift to her little brother.
  • Patricia being a Clarkson was hinted at when Patricia herself doesn't know the identity of her mother and PJ Clarkson stating that he knew something about her.
    • Another one, her last name is Woods, which is a connection to the red trees.
  • When York questions how Lena is not a normal woman, the first thing he asks Melvin is if she's racist. Melvin replies she isn't. Of course it makes sense since Melvin — a black cop — is working for her.
• Freudian Excuse: Professor R, as a consequence of the prejudice she endured for being a trans woman, came to believe that her entire bloodline had grown corrupt. Creating Saint Rouge was part of a convoluted ritual to essentially purify the family name. And like Thomas and George from the previous game, she was being manipulated by Forrest Kaysen the entire time.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: York points out that Professor R's backstory of facing prejudice in no way justifies her destroying the lives Lise, Galena, and many others through her drug peddling.
• Good Cop/Bad Cop: Aaliyah and Simon play bad cop and good cop respectively when it comes to interviewing Zach, though it's less of a premeditated dynamic and more a result of Aaliyah treating the case very personally and Simon disliking having to be on the job at all and wanting to get the interview with Zach done with no complications.
• Go Out with a Smile: Melvin decides to die while stating a tagline of his own with a big grin on his face.
  Melvin: The worst father graced with the sweetest daughter...life can be a bitch sometimes. But it wasn't all bad.
• Gory Discretion Shot: The shot of Danny Clarkson getting his arm torn apart by an alligator.
• Greater-Scope Villain:
  • Forrest Kaysen yet again. He literally has no direct involvement with the plot until the last stretch of the game, at which point most of the active, living threats (that he naturally manipulated beforehand) have been disposed of. He's arguably more of a spiritual enemy for York/Zach than an actual, physical enemy in the story.
  • A non-spoiler example would be the Clarkson Family as a whole. They pretty much run everything in Le Carre and their deeply traditional, conservative mindset is what sets the Big Bad's Start of Darkness.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: In the present, it's revealed that Patricia changed her hair back to blonde.
• Hairstyle Inertia: Hair color change aside, Patricia retains the same hairstyle in her adult years, complete with the same braid.
• Heel Realization: A more restricted example. Though Professor R continued to believe in her plan to purge the Clarkson bloodline and produce and petal the drug Saint Rouge, she did realize the kind of person Forrest Kaysen was later on and quickly made last minute changes to her plan to try to stop Kaysen's, such as having the Goddess of Fertility killed so that the sole survivor of her plan would instead be Patricia. She also started leaving hints to help York in the right direction as well.
• Heroic Sacrifice: After breaking free from Lena's indoctrination, Melvin immediately goes to shield Patricia from falling debris. It ends up seriously wounding him, which leads him to beg York to get Patricia out while he stays behind with his wife to accept their deaths.
• Hidden Depths: On the surface, Xavier Johnson is a bartender whose attire consists of his tighty-whitey briefs, a cowboy hat, and cowboy boots. Beneath it, he's quite philosophical to make York impressed.
• Hijacked by Ganon: While Professor R and Melvin Woods are the key suspects of York's initial investigation in Le Carre, Forrest Kaysen is ultimately the key villain manipulating the formers to his bidding and returns in person for one final confrontation with Zach and York in the climax.
• I Call It "Vera": The tranquilizer gun Melvin Woods gives York is called "Mr. Alligator".
• If It's You, It's Okay: Melvin has always been hopelessly in love with Lena, even back before she transitioned.
• Intergenerational Friendship: York and Patricia form one over the course of the story. It picks back up with Zach 15 years later.
• It's Personal: Aaliyah is taking the interrogation with Zach seriously because her little brother overdosed on Saint Rouge — the same drug Zach and York were tracking down — and hopes to find a cure for him.
• Lady in Red: Galena Clarson makes her appearance in a red dress, shawl and heels. Her sister Candy is also in a red dress.
• Late-Arrival Spoiler: The game's entire framing device is Aaliyah interviewing Zach, whose very existence spoils the ending of the first game.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Zach calls Aaliyah and Simon an unlikely duo, and the "perfect stars for the latest video game."
• Little Miss Snarker: Patricia Woods, York's partner in the 2005 sections.
• Miles to Go Before I Sleep: Zach won't die and join with York until he helps unveil the truth of the Le Carre murders to Aaliyah and Simon. In the end, Patricia asks York to make another contract so Zach can live a little longer.
• Musical Nod: York will sometimes whistle "Life is Beautiful" as well as "Amazing Grace".
• Mythology Gag: Zach mentions that an ex-BPD rented the apartment above from his to look for his wife's murderer.
• Offing the Offspring: It's seemingly revealed at the end of the first episode that Lise was murdered by her own mother Galena. It's later revealed that Galena only did so as a consequence of being drugged by Professor R/Lena Dauman (Leonard Clarkson).
• Out-Gambitted: Forrest Kayson notes that Lena TRIED to pull this off on him back in 2005. Who ended up out gambiting who depends on how much one views Zach's actions as part of Lena's plan.
• Politically Incorrect Hero:
  • When York considers meeting Professor R on account of her potentially meeting the profile for a "tall, stylish woman" he's looking for, Melvin tells York that he's probably looking for the wrong person because Professor R isn't a "normal woman". York immediately calls out Melvin for his remark. Revealed to be subverted on both the "politically incorrect" and "hero" front. In reality, he was actually one of the people under Lena's control and wanted to keep York from discovering Lena's plan.
  • On a more minor note, Simon refers to Aaliyah as a "shrew" when first apologizing to Zach for Aaliyah's forceful behavior. Aaliyah points out that his remark constitutes an act of workplace harassment.
• Precision F-Strike: York's statement after fighting Galena Clarkson in the otherworld.
  York: Zach, pardon my language...but this case can go fuck itself.
• Prequel: York's sections take place five years prior to the events of the original Deadly Premonition.
• The Promise: In 2005, York makes a promise to protect Patricia from all the evils in the world. He arrives in 2019 just as a brainwashed Aaliyah fires a bullet at her locket which has the contract York signed.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Avery Smith is mentally a child stuck in a huge, deformed body. Tellingly, his One-Winged Angel form is literally a giant boy.
• Real After All: Much of the supernatural aspects skirt the line of Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane, since Francis Zach Morgan is of questionable lucidity even in his prime.
  • The "fairy" Zach converses with at first seems like an imaginary Replacement Goldfish he made to fill the hole York left. Then said fairy secretly unlocks his handcuffs while Aaliyah is interrogating him, allowing him to escape to rescue Patricia.
  • While both games make it clear that all the other characters saw Zach, and Zach was talking to York all the time, the climax has York physically manifest, separate from Zach and able to interact with Patricia. This definitively shows that York was not merely a split personality, but a psychic being, something altogether inhuman.
• Redemption Equals Death: Melvin breaks free from Lena's influence for long enough to save Patricia from being crushed by falling debris. He then urges York to get Patricia out of the burning warehouse before choosing to die with his wife.
• Retcon: The Director's Cut for the first game showed Zach having married and having a granddaughter but it's never mentioned in the game. Of course said Director's Cut could be taken years later. It's also possible that Patricia "adopted" him as a father, and the granddaughter was hers, even ignoring the lack of a Louisiana accent when the mother speaks at the end of the Director's cut.
• Room Full of Crazy: Zach's living room is a mess, but not in the way most people think. He has many specific spots that he dubs as "sanctuaries" which he does not allow anyone to touch, and is noted to keep certain objects tidy and organized while most of the room is unclean. This does not compare to his bedroom though, which looks like a more traditional example of this.
• Rotating Protagonist: The game shifts between sections where you play as Aaliyah and sections where you play as York.
• Sanity Slippage: Zach, as a result of the Greenvale case, has lost most of his marbles and let himself deteriorate into a pitiful state, which is not helped by the fact that he has developed cancer.
• Serious Business:
  • Pizza is not so much a favorite food for Simon as it is a stabilizing facet of the universe. So much so that Zach actually secretly gets Simon on his side by sending him an anonymous tip with the initials of his favorite Boston pizza place. As Simon puts it, pizza will never betray him.
  • For Mrs. Carpenter, bowling is a religious ritual. She's so obsessed with it that she trims her shrubbery and the fur of her pet poodle into the shape of bowling pins. And despite this she apparently doesn't consider going Pro at all. Even York is baffled by Mrs. Carpenter.
• She Is All Grown Up: Both York and Zach admit that Patricia grew up quite well over the years when they meet her again in the present.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: York angrily shuts down Lena's New Era Speech, telling her that she's nothing more than delusional cultist who took the lives of innocent people.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Melvin only ever had eyes for Lena. Him marrying Candy was all just a part of Lena's plan.
• So Proud of You: PJ Clarkson stated that he was truly proud of Lena Dauman (nee Leonard Clarkson) but just didn't know how to empathize with her being trans.
• Split Personality: David Jawarah has different roles and personalities in the hotel, noted by every time he's shown with a little bracket that shows which job he's currently doing. York however theorizes that David doesn't actually have a legitimate case of this but rather is just that devoted to every role he plays in the hotel. This interpretation is contested when David later indirectly reveals that he's actually the owner of the hotel and has a "fractured mind".
  • Zach's characterization explores what happens when someone comes to terms with the loss of another personality.
• Stalker with a Crush: Avery was this to Lise, to the extent that he actually got into trouble with the law. As a result, he ends up becoming the guardian of her body's shrine.
• Straw Nihilist: Aaliyah has a pretty dour and grounded view of the real world, which is why she so greatly opposes Zach's more fanciful accounts for much of the game. To hammer it home, she spends the entire game quoting Nietzsche himself, to Simon's irritation. It's implied she moves away from this at the end. She actually quotes Nietzsche's famous line about He Who Fights Monsters when she realizes that she nearly killed Zach in her pursuit of him.
• Sweet Tooth: Patricia loves Alexis Jamara's chocolate sundaes.
• Tagline: Melvin Woods has a tendency to explain things in a dramatic fashion with a tagline. Even in his dying breaths he can't help himself.
• Take That!: Zach mentioning the ex-BPD who rented the apartment above his trying to find who killed his wife, how the investigation team lost its funding and the suits refusing to let them work on it is a jab at Microsoft for how they cancelled funding for D4.
• Taking the Bullet: Attempted by Patricia at the climax, to protect the dying Zach from the possessed Aaliyah. However, it was defied by York with a time-stopping Bullet Catch
• Title Drop: Several times. York describes his entrances to the otherworld as deadly premonitions and Aaliyah dismissively describes Zach's reported abilities as such.
• Together in Death:
  • Zach, nearing his end, is hoping that he'll get to be with York again in the afterlife. Patricia manages to convince him to live at least just a little while longer.
  • Melvin decides to die with his wife Candy, and he hopes to see Lena too.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Simon actually literally worships pizza.
• Verbal Tic: Xavier Johnson has an interesting one, yeah?
• Villainous Breakdown: Lena's air of superiority breaks into raving lunacy after York tears down her New Era Speech. She only breaks down further after her dying father tells her that he's always loved her but didn't know how to express it properly rather than conform to her idea that he was always an abusive monster.
  Lena Dauman: C'mon, shoot me!! The Clarkson bloodline is cursed. It needs purification... a blood purge! (laughter)
• The Watson: Patricia Woods play this role in the 2005 sections, trying to follow along with York's logic.
• Wham Line: Lena's last lines are about having the pure blood of the Clarkson line bring the name back to life. But who is it?
  Lena: Patricia Clarkson.
• Wham Shot:
  • Aaliyah and Simon are entering someone's apartment. But who replies to them? Francis Zach Morgan.
  • The person whom Professor R worshipped is Forrest Kaysen.
  • Seeing Forrest Kaysen briefly in La Carre isn't too surprising considering the events takes place before the first game, Though the player gets a bit of a shock when he shows up in the present day to taunt Zach
  • When Willie the Dalmatian shows up in La Carre to guide York to the red trees, you know that there is something seriously wrong with the current quest.
• "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Zach narrates one right before the credits. Avery Smith is convicted under multiple criminal offenses and gets 381 years in prison, Aaliyah and Simon are promoted, Aaliyah's brother has begun to show signs of recovery, and life finally begins to return to normal in Le Carre.
• You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good!: In his closing monologue, Zach laments that Lena had the brains necessary to bring the Clarkson family back to greatness but instead used her intelligence to tear it down and become one of the South's most infamous criminals in the process.
• Younger Than They Look: Going by the timeline, Zach should only be 42 years old by 2019. He easily looks 10 or 20 years older than that due to his white, balding hair and thin physique. Other characters point out how young he actually is in contrast to his appearance, but note that his physical and mental deterioration is most likely due to him being afflicted with stage 4 cancer. He looks healthier and somewhat younger by the ending, reflecting his new lease on life.

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