Headscratchers / Alan Wake II

• Is Mr. Scratch his own being or the Dark Presence developing an ego whenever it possesses people?
  • One possibility is that Mr. Scratch was his own being, but by the time of Alan Wake II he's already gone and Alan is mistaking himself (albeit himself at a different point in the spiral) for Scratch.
• Why doesn't anyone have a reaction at the morgue about the two dead deputies? Their bloodied bodies are right there, and Saga or Casey don't even seem to notice let alone care or even their own colleagues. Is this part of the general weirdness, or are we expected not to care either?
  • Probably the latter. It is worth mentioning that Thornton and Mulligan did have a reaction (based on the manuscript page "Deputies in the Morgue"), but it was more disgust at the FBI agents for leaving a mess to clean up.
  • Considering how Thornton and Mulligan are both members of the Cult and in the process of being corrupted by the Dark Presence, it's highly likely that they just cleaned up the mess and kept anyone else away. I think casual dialogue from unnamed officers at the station you can eavesdrop on even mention that the two are keeping others away from the basement. The story would also have ended too early if people freaked out about the basement incident, which is something neither Scratch nor Wake would have wanted
• What's different about Alan's last loop (or twist of the spiral, I suppose) in The Final Draft? He's apparently been going through this same loop over and over again, but in The Final Draft he gets it right and emerges from the Dark Place energized and empowered. But the game is functionally identical in your first playthrough and in The Final Draft, save a couple easter eggs and bits of dialogue. Alan doesn't make different choices in The Final Draft. So what is it that makes *this* loop the decisive one?
  • Compare Alan's internal monologues at the beginnings and ends of the "previous draft" to the final one. The underlying mood beneath the original draft is foreboding, resigned and regretful; in the Final Draft, it is hopeful and determined while acknowledging how much the odds have been stacked against him and Saga. This slight infusion of hope shifts the tone of the story enough for a happy ending to fit within the narrative.
• Perhaps I missed it, but is there a Watsonian explanation for the live action "Old Gods of Asgard" having a third member while only the Anderson brothers are in it as of AW 2?
  • Bob Balder, the third member of the band, passed away before the events of the game, and was a beloved friend of the Anderson Brothers. It's possible he was brought into the Dark Place before he died by Mr. Door, or is an apparition filling in his role.