Goury1

Yeah, I'm afraid that Ron Gilbert would shoot it down with "It was all a joke". It would be a pity... I perfectly understand you! I love going through the layers and possible meanings of RtMI and the other two games of Ron Gilbert's trilogy! It has been a year since the premiere of RtMI and I'm still quite obsessed with the game! It's great that the games are constructed in such a way that allows various interpretations! No other adventure game series has had me so deep in thought for such a long time! I have recently watched Tim Burton's movie called "Big Fish". it's a beautiful film that touches on very similar themes and questions as RtMI. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

The RtMI made me appreciate the "dancing skeletons" scene in a new light too! I actually like to rewatch the scene often, ever since I finished RtMI! And, perhaps you are right, the mysteriousness and eerieness of the scene are amplified by the fact that we know so little about Guybrush's past... However, I would still like to know more about the truth behind the scene!

I wholeheartedly agree! Boybrush and Chuckie might have given Guybrush's parents the faces of the random couple, but I feel that the whole plot is too somber to be totally made up by two kids. It must have come from a real event in the Threepwood family history. Perhaps, as you suggest, Boybrush asked Guybrush about the grandparents once... I wish that Ron Gilbert focussed somewhat more on the "Guybrush being an orphan" plotline and shed more light on it...

Thank you for your reply! Your observation is very interesting! We don't know for sure if the whole "dancing skeletons / Guybrush being an orphan" plot was made up by Boybrush and Chuckie. We know that the "parents" whom we met in MI2 are just some random couple. but does that mean that the whole plot of Guybrush being an orphan was completely invented by Boybrush and Chuckie too? it's all not clear and very open to speculation... If Guybrush really is an orphan, it would make perfect sense that his evil alter ego (LeChuck) knows about it... All three of Ron Gilbert's Monkey Island games actually feel like a trilogy (similar to Star Wars)! MI2 is like Empire Strike's Back, and RtMI is akin to Return of the Jedi. Guybrush finally overcame his enemy, left behind his evil alter ego if you will, and found peace and happiness,..

Yes, I remember the quote made by Ron too! This is exactly what I thought of! The quote actually makes sense now!

If you ask me, the additional dialogue is not very funny. It just makes certain parts of the game needlessly drag for too long. Too much dialogue usually makes the punchline of a joke or an otherwise funny situation less impactful and funny... That's just my opinion, perhaps there are other players who prefer the Writer's Cut version, but it made some parts of the game less enjoyable for me...

Yes, I absolutely love analyzing various layers and possible meanings of RtMI! I didn't consider that Guybrush might be talking to his younger self all the time! It's an interesting theory, but I don't think this was Ron and Dave's intent. If Boybrush is indeed Guybrush's imagined younger self, then how could we explain the fact that Boybrush interacts with Chuckie and Dee in the park? I think that Guybrush actually is telling the story to his son... Another interesting thing to note is that: Boybrush is similar to Guybrush; Chuckie is similar to LeChuck Dee is similar to the New Pirate Leader Lila. The similarities are curious... Furthermore, the scene with the wishing well suggests that the kids are still imagining some things in the Prelude. The Big Whoop scenery, at the very beginning, is of course imaginary, as it later disappears. However, the children might be still imagining some things afterward (like the wish at the wishing well). We can't even be absolutely sure where the Prelude actually takes place and what parts of it are real or not... Perhaps the Prelude is really happening in the same old pirate carnival as the one in the Ending (just a different part of it)? Did Bobrush feel trolled at the end, because his father's story ended in the same carnival where they were spending their day together? It might even be possible, (if you take the plaque on the wall in the final scene seriously), that the Threepwood family actually lives in our modern times (sometime after 1989, when the pirate carnival was established). They are just spending their day at the old carnival... And I love Elaine in RtMI! She is so gentle and kind. It seems natural to me that after many years of living with Guybrush, she learned to put up with her husband's nonsense and love him anyway. She does confront him about his misdeeds while they are walking through the jungle. Yet she does it in a very gentle and patient way. She almost acts like a mother figure toward Guybrush... We must remember that it is Guybrush telling a story to his little son, maybe that's why Elaine is presented by Guybrush in such a gentle and motherly fashion... I know some people see Elaine's character development in RtMI as a regression in relation to her previously firey and dominating nature. However, to me, this iteration of Elaine shows that she and Guybrush still tenderly love and accept each other, while following their separate goals. I think RtMI demonstrates a real growth of their marital relationship! .

I really enjoy the additional scene with The Old Pirate Leaders in the Writer's Cut mode! I think Ron and Dave should have left the scene in the normal mode! However, I don't generally like The Writer's Cut mode. In my opinion, the additional dialogues are unnecessary and disrupt the pacing of the game (the creators themselves admit that the Writer's Cut has worse pacing). So I always leave the option turned off in my playthroughs...

Thanks, it was a great read! I also love RtMI! I have completed the game at least six times already, and I can't get enough of it! I also expressed my thoughts about various aspects of the game! I posted my text below yours, please, read it if you'd like! .

My thoughts on RtMI... I love the game! I've played it around six times since its premiere and I still can't get enough! On the surface level, it's a goofy game about pirates, but underneath, it is also a reflection on the art of storytelling. I adore the whole game, but I especially appreciate the Prelude and the Ending! I'm astounded by how smoothly they explained the ending of MI2 and transitioned to the new story! The framing device is a brilliant solution! I'm very impressed that Ron and Dave actually managed to explain the MI2 cliffhanger with a twist that nobody else had thought of earlier! And I thoroughly enjoy the deliberate ambiguity of the Ending. Guybrush is an unreliable narrator and the Ending makes us question what was real and what was not. I enjoy that Ron and Dave constructed the ending in such a way that leaves room for questions and interpretations! The makers promised to resolve the mysterious ending of MI2 and to reveal the Secret of Monkey Island, and they kept their promise, but they did it in a way that is ambiguous enough to make various interpretations equally plausible! Is Guybrush a flooring inspector with an overactive imagination, lost in his pirate fantasy in a theme park? Or is he really a pirate who told his son a story with a weird ending in order to troll him? It’s all open to debate... For me, the most resounding final statement of Guybrush is that The Secret is like a story that changes with time and the storyteller. The statement perfectly encapsulates the main theme of the game. The Secret might be a t-shirt in a carnival or a giant monkey robot or something else... RtMI strongly reminds me of Tim Burton’s “Big Fish” movie. It's a story of a man who tells fantastical tales about his life. His son tries to find out what about his father was real and what was not. it's difficult to separate fantasy from reality... Another movie with a similar theme to RtMI is “Princess Bride”. The film uses a framing story in which an elderly man reads a fantasy story to his young grandson (the grandson sometimes interrupts the story, just like Boybrush does in RtMI). RtMi is also a game about letting go and moving on with one's life. If Guybrush’s tales are indeed fictional (or mostly fictional), it implies that LeChuck was invented by Guybrush as an evil “alter ego”, a different side of Guybrush’s personality. Throughout the course of the game, we learn how alike Guybrush and LeChuck really are. LeChuck even has Elaine’s wedding veil in his cabin, which further reinforces the idea that LeChuck is really a different side of Guybrush. Both Guybrush and LeChuck are obsessed with the Secret, they are both trapped in the past, while the world moves forward. However, only Guybrush is able to leave the pirate amusement park with his beloved wife in the end. The animatronic LeChuck is forever trapped there. People complain that there was no final confrontation with LeChuck this time around. However, I think that the fact that Guybrush makes a conscious decision to leave the amusement park fantasy behind and move on with his life is his greatest triumph over LeChuck. Whether Guynrush’s stories are real or not, he is happy with his loved ones in the end – that’s what’s most important. So, yeah, I really love pondering about RtMI, as much as Dee loves to talk about anchors!

I agree! That's how I see it too! The amusement park at the end seems very delapidated, so it's probably around 2022!

I finished it two days ago and I can't stop thinking about it! How do you all interpret the ending when Guybrush finds out that he is at the amusement park? Are the adventures that Guybrush tells to his son real or imaginary? And is it all really happening in pirate times or in modern day? What's your take? I think it happens in modern time... The plaque on the wall at the end says that the amusement park was founded in 1989 by R. Gilbert. I think that Guybrush loved playing a pirate in the amusement park when he was a young man. And now he tries to convay the same passion to his son by telling him imaginary pirate stories. What's your take?

If you squint and turn your head it looks like a bunny!

My though exactly! But I guess, I'll get used to it. I really like his desingn, exept for the nose.... Anyway, the trailer looks amazing!!!

I see your point, but the "Elaine had it all figured from the start" in Tales, always felt way too farfetched to me...