Line #36 Fridge/TheStanleyParable


1	[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
2	* If you continue to defy the Narrator in the HD remake, you'll come across two doors, red and blue, and the Narrator instructs Stanley to enter the red door. If you notice, next to the red door is a red hand truck--visual symbolism that by going in the red door, you're going back to being "carted around" by him.
3	** The same red hand truck is right next to the cargo lift as well... Implying that you are going to get played with, should you ride it all the way to the phone.
4	** And right next to the blue door, there is a blue paint can, a symbolism for art and creativity, maybe?
5	* One of the only consistent descriptions that the Narrator gives Stanley is that his job is pushing buttons, and that is essentially the only thing that you can do as Stanley--you push buttons to go up or down lifts, you push buttons to open doors, you push buttons to give feedback, to turn off machines, and to save babies from fires. There is only one real instance in which you can make a choice which doesn't involve pushing a button, and that's when you ''pull'' the telephone plug out, at which point the Narrator realises that you can't be Stanley and instead must be a real person.
6	** Naturally, you do that by pointing Stanley at the plug ''and '''pushing your action button'''''.
7	** You also move Stanley with buttons, unless you're using a joystick.
8	** Having his instructions being defied by the player is the Narrator's BerserkButton.
9	* [[ArcNumber The number "8" is a number that is repeated often]], such as in the Demo and, in the ''Real Person'' ending, the presentation claims that doctors recommend making 8 choices a day. Why Eight? Because eight is the Infinity Symbol on its side, and it has no beginning or end. The theme that the game has no ending is very prominent in several of the endings (Such as the ''Museum'' ending when the second Narrator says the two will be in conflict forever because the game restarts) and on the loading screen the text "THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER THE END etc." The game and Stanley's manipulation by the Narrator is a never ending cycle, thus why the most important number is the one without beginning or end. 8.
10	** However, on the [[http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1p095a/ Reddit AMA]], WordOfGod states that they chose the number 8 because "Why not? Do you have a better number?"
11	** The path to the Freedom ending involves making 8 choices that influence the story's path:
12	*** 1.) Step out of the office instead of shut yourself inside.
13	*** 2.) Go to the two-door room instead of jump out the window.
14	*** 3.) Enter the meeting room instead of the maintenance elevator or cargo room.
15	*** 4.) Go up the stairs instead of down.
16	*** 5.) Enter the boss's office instead of shut yourself out.
17	*** 6.) Enter the mind control facility instead of enter the "escape" corridor or go back up the elevator.
18	*** 7.) Enter the elevator instead of fall to the bottom of the facility.
19	*** 8.) Turn the machine off instead of turn it on.
20	* When you step out into the wilderness in the Freedom ending, you lose control of Stanley and he starts moving on his own -- the only instance when he does so. (In the Real Person ending, you also lose control of Stanley, but then he just stands forever in front of the two doors.) This makes sense: the Narrator tells that Stanley has broken free of control -- including your, the player's, control.
21	* In the Freedom ending, the Narrator mentions that Stanley doesn't want control, or knowledge. Just happiness. In the Countdown ending, the Narrator mocks Stanley for wanting ''control'', then tells him where his coworkers went; AKA ''knowledge''.
22	* Also, did you notice that the ''Freedom'' ending, despite implying Stanley is free, is the only ending where you blindly follow all of the Narrator's commands? Could also be interpreted as FridgeHorror due to the feeling of not being able to escape no matter what.
23	* All three versions of the ''Games'' ending have very clever {{Development Gag}}s. In the original mod, you're sent to the beginning of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. Fitting, as it's a mod of that game. In the HD Remix, you're sent to a recreation of a ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' world, and then the first test chamber of ''VideoGame/Portal1''. The latter may seem a bit random at first, as the only connection it has to this game is that they both use the Source Engine. However, this is still fitting. This particular Source Engine build is the ''VideoGame/Portal2'' branch. In fact, most of the assets used in the test chamber map are taken from ''Portal 2'' for the sake of convenience, as opposed to just porting the entire map from the original game verbatim. ''Ultra Deluxe'' does this as well, as its version of the ending takes Stanley to ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'' and ''VideoGame/RocketLeague'', both of which use Unity.
24	* Turning the mind control on locking you into the Countdown ending is evidence of the denied symbiotic relationship between Stanley and the narrator. The ending where the narrator is the most straightforwardly villainous (including to people other than Stanley) is ''also'' the only ending where Stanley makes a choice that would have had malicious intent with or without his influence.
25	* Going down the elevator in the maintenance room leads to the Confusion ending because Stanley can't make up his mind as to whether he wants to obey or disobey the narrator, flip-flopping at every opportunity.
26	* The Updated ''Games'' ending in ''Ultra Deluxe'' shows that the Narrator is scared, and physically sickened by the thought of WideOpenSandbox games. Considering that, narratively, an open world game (relative freedom, creating your own goals/fun, etc) is the very antithesis of what the Narrator is/represents (order, linear storytelling, strict endings and beginnings) this is both inspired and [[ActuallyPrettyFunny very, very funny.]]
27	* The loading screens having the phrase "The End is Never the End" repeating make a lot more sense when you consider the game's structure. Every "ending" of the game is followed by a reset that takes the player back to the start, putting them in an infinite loop. Thus none of the "endings" are actually the end of the game. The only ''actual'' ending is when you, the player, decide to stop playing.
28	* In the Bucket version of the ''Insane'' ending, Stanley comes to think his Reassurance Bucket is literally inside him. He then is overcome by excruciating pain, blacks out, and is later found dead by Mariella. That pain is likely a massive heart attack. How he dies in the original version is ambiguous, it's just known that Mariella found him dead.
29	* One of the "new features" the Narrator showcases in the ''Stanley Parable 2'' expo is a button that is supposed to say the name of the player who presses it, which ideally would provoke an emotional reaction. However, the effect fails, because the Narrator reveals that the button is incomplete and only says "Jim". And the Narrator's idea of making players pretend to be "Jim" also doesn't work, since they can't identify with a character that was made up by the Narrator literally a few seconds earlier. However, during the Epilogue one of the button managed to achieve an emotional response in many players - because it says "Stanley", the character they've been identifying with during the entire game.
30	* On console, the female narrator's claim that the only way to beat the game is to turn off your device entirely is a lot harsher than simply telling PC players to quit the game. Gaming consoles have very little use besides entertainment and escapism, while [=PCs=] have other uses you might need[[note]]a PC without games is fully functional, while a gaming console without games is more or less useless[[/note]] and therefore turning yours off completely might be detrimental for your work, productive hobbies, etc.
31	* In ''Ultra Deluxe'', when the Bucket Destroyer seemingly breaks, the image cuts to a white void with the shadow of the Bucket Destroyer floating through it. Seems like a representation of an overdramatic reaction to its "death"... or is this really all that's left of the game? After all, the Quiz Ending proves that ''everything in the game'' (other than Stanley and the Narrator) is a bucket!
32
33	[[AC:FridgeHorror]]
34	* From the HD Remix Demo: in the emotion booth room, there's only two booths you can enter, and most of the others are switched off. Behind the two open booths, in the back row, there's a single booth that's labelled and lit: Fear.
35	* Mariella's reaction to encountering Stanley, dead of a mysterious brain dysfunction, is a [[TemptingFate fate-tempting]] self-satisfaction that she is normal and sane. Then much is made of her imminent job interview "with very important people whose decisions would impact her career, and, by extension, the rest of her life." It may be implied that Mariella is fated to be employed by Stanley's company, and has no idea that she is looking at her own likely future.
36	** In fact, Mariella's mere existence in Stanley's world (the game), whether she is an NPC or a player/narrator-controlled character means that she is damned to the exact same fate as him ''whether she gets the job or not''. She is no more a real person than the mannequin posing as Stanley's wife - the only reason she even exists is for this scene where she finds Stanley's body. The only difference between her and the dead Stanley is that she's unaware of this.
37	* If we accept the ''Real Person'' ending's premise that Stanley and the player are separate entities, [[YouBastard then Stanley spends several endings getting punished for the player's decisions, which were beyond his control.]]
38	* The Narrator seems at first to have total control over the story. He opens doors, locks off doors, shepherds Stanley through areas and even maliciously punishes him for not doing as he's told. But when the Narrator himself tries to deviate to any degree from the rough script (such as when he teams up with Stanley to make a new story), he's unable to do so and reality begins to collapse. ''So what unseen force is holding all the narrative power here?'' Not only is the Narrator dependent on Stanley, he doesn't even have the power to change the game and is just as much a slave to the unseen power as Stanley.
39	** [[MindScrewdriver Presumably this "unseen force" is in fact the developer of the game]], who controls both Stanley and the Narrator and what they can do within the boundaries of the game. But [[MindScrew even the developer doesn't have absolute power over the game]], because they have to make concessions and program it within certain convenient limitations. As much as the game mocks Stanley from being a slave to fate, the constraints of reality impact everyone in and out of the game to much the same effect.

Context Fridge / TheStanleyParable