demone

I like this read a lot and agree. I even think at times throughout the games, LeChuck becomes a force of nature that even Guybrush's imagination can't control and is truly horrified of him. Like in real life, sometimes our negative thoughts and feelings go rouge and we can't control them as much as we think or would like. MI2 in a way is Guybrush's imagination and negative feelings going rouge with LeChuck hunting him, his world gradually falling apart as he notices more about reality (as warned by the Voodoo Lady in the first game) and he feels lost and lonely again because the world that he went to escape into and avoid those emotions is now turning on him. That nightmare with his parents I feel is indicative of how Guybrush felt as a child, they left him and he now feels alone again. MI2 in some ways was Guybrush at his lowest in the entire series, which makes Return all the more heartwarming when you see him with a family, finally happy and content. I also think LeChuck knowing Guybrush grew up in an orphanage was also a somewhat subtle hint that LeChuck is a force and villain that embodies these negative feelings of Guybrush. It's no wonder he is his worst enemy, he represents his worst emotions.

I'm curious to see if there will be more connections between these tales and others. We already know LeChuck was the imposter Pirate Lord from the tale last month to obtain the sword he intends to use to take over the sea, so I wonder if there will be further ties to the overall lore or even the Pirate's Life tales. Would be insane to see LeChuck interact with Flameheart, but I have a feeling LeChuck's actions will serve as a catalyst for Flameheart's eventual return, but LeChuck will be defeated and banished from Sea of Thieves before that event truly occurs. There's a lot of potential for really interesting story dynamics for both worlds and I wouldn't mind if Monkey Island has a second home in Sea of Thieves every now and then.

So, in the course of watching some playthroughs of "The Legend of Monkey Island" (I really liked what I saw and I'm pleasantly surprised by how much of the original voice cast came back, right down to very minor characters), I ended up going down a rabbit hole and started to really dive into the lore of Sea of Thieves in general. I have to say, in the years since the initial release of this game, they've developed a pretty interesting and rich mythology and having other properties like POTC and now Monkey Island part of it makes it uniquely nostalgic for me. Once all the Monkey Island chapters are out, I might pick this game up for PC, because the amount of content and story alone seems well worth the price. These story expansions being free additions also further show just how passionate the staff is for these characters and stories and the respect they have for the original source material. Slight side not, but I love the graphics, it's like playing an enhanced animated movie or series, and particularly the water, waves, and sea in general all look amazing.

Yeah, Disney not even telling Ron about it doesn't surprise me, but still really rubs me the wrong way. Even with Tales, Dave wasn't excited and didn't even really want to do it until he was allowed to tell Ron and he was able to be involved in a consulting role. Beyond starting the series, Ron has always remained invested in it and the games he didn't make and always gave good and honest feedback and his thoughts on the games and usually had high praise and respect to the team working on it. I just wish Disney respected how close this series is for Ron and at least told him about it.

Wow, it's been a great year for Monkey Island and I'm all for this. Only 9 months after Return's release and we already have more Monkey Island content. I love that whenever I think the series is over, it continues in another way. I was really happy with how the main series concluded and the answers that were given, so I'm fine with this just being a love letter for the series and its characters in general. It sounds like they are trying to connect it to the series lore and if they can, that's awesome, but either way, this is a really cool way to continue Monkey Island content.

If you use one of the keys while the magic spell is still around the safe, before you collect all five keys, a unique cutscene will play where LeChuck and Madison and crew realize someone is messing with the safe. Madison and Flair both go to check it out. As far as I can tell, this doesn't have any affect on any successive cutscenes.

Ever since the confirmation that the original Secret was that Guybrush was indeed indulging in his fantasies within a massive pirate-themed amusement park, my mind has gone wild with viewing each game in this context. I'll admit, I've never done this prior to Return coming out because I wasn't that big a fan of that being the Secret, but now with how Return has handled it, I've grown to love it. With that being, I thought I would create a thread with some of my own thoughts and headcanon thrown into the mix with regards to how each game's narratives fit into the Secret of Guybrush visiting and amusement park. The Secret of Monkey Island Guybrush, having grown up in an orphanage after his parents abandoned him (at least in his mind) and bullied by his peers for his name, escapes reality to indulge in a fantasy world with a massive pirate-themed amusement park. He starts with the Melee Island park, where he completes carnival games to become a pirate, winning T-Shirts and other prizes. He is greeted by the park owner, Stan, at one point, though he finds him a bit sleazy and only obsessed with the profits the park brings in for him. Regardless, Guybrush enjoys meeting new kids, who despite finding his name weird, embrace him rather than bully him. He meets the park's fortune teller, the Voodoo Lady, who creates the scenarios for the park and guides where visitors can go for adventure. Guybrush begins making genuine friends and is in awe of the park, the attractions and especially the animatronics. However, there is one that genuinely disturbs him and that is the animatronic of LeChuck, the park's most iconic villain, inspired by the most bloodthirsty and notorious pirates of all time. An amalgamation of the worst of the worst and something that even begins to contaminate the fun fantasy that Guybrush was having up until that point. However, he also meets Elaine, another park visitor, and the pair really hit it off. Guybrush's fantasies begin taking control as his love for Elaine collide with absolute fear of LeChuck and thus, we have the basis for the first game's narrative. Guybrush and Elaine become good friends, though Guybrush's newfound ego of having friends and believing himself to some sort of hero eventually put a strain on it. LeChuck's Revenge Guybrush's ego cause Elaine and him to have a falling out. Guybrush's reality begins to break down with his imagination slowly fading throughout the game, noticing more of the real world in his fantasy. To distract himself from these feelings, he embarks on one of the park's most iconic prizes, Big Whoop, going through the extensive park attractions to get the map pieces and win the prize, which turns out to be an E-Ticket at the Dinky Island park. However, Guybrush's feelings of loneliness begins to seep back in. At one point, he hits his head and has a disturbing dream indicative of his feelings of his parents. When he needed them the most, they abandon him to the mercy of LeChuck, inspired by the animatronic, but has now become a symbol of Guybrush's fears and loneliness, something truly frightening that even his imagination can't control. He also comes across a bully, Largo, and his imagination has him as LeChuck's right hand man. All the negative aspects of his life are now revolving around LeChuck as a representation of his fears, resentments, and loneliness, explaining how LeChuck knew Guybrush grew up in an orphanage. By the time Guybrush wins the E-Ticket, his discovers the maintenance tunnels for the park and his reality comes crashing down. His negative feelings of his parents, now dead to him, cloud his mind, appearing as skeletons. It's at this point his son, Boybrush, puts his own spin at the end and the weird ending plays out. In reality, Guybrush realizes he is simply in an amusement park, but to sustain the illusion, he comes up with the scenario that the park was constructed by LeChuck, Big Whoop was a dimensional gateway to hell, the tunnels connected the islands together, and LeChuck put him under a spell. The Curse of Monkey Island This one takes places many years later with Guybrush, now a flooring inspector, rekindled his love with Elaine and the pair have been in a relationship for several years. Guybrush asks her out on a date to the park where they first met, where he plans to propose to her. However, upon arriving in a bumper car, Guybrush is amazed by all the updates Stan has made to the park with new attractions and LeChuck now a demon; Guybrush's fantasies take over once more, slowing down his proposal to Elaine. In the end, Guybrush proposes to Elaine, she accepts, and they get married several months later at the church in the Melee Island park, catered by questionable food of the Scumm Bar restaurant. Escape from Monkey Island The park begins to fall on hard times since its popularity has dwindled over the years. Stan, desperate, turns to a shady business man, who plans to update the park to be less pirate themed and more family oriented to appeal to larger commercial interests. Yes, this is my attempt to include Ozzie Mandrill. He slowly begins to update the park, even creating a new carnival game for something called the Ultimate Insult, much to the dislike of Guybrush and Elaine, who see the park as a literal part of their lives. Guybrush's fantasies imagine the previous incarnations of LeChuck teaming up with this businessman, threatening to taking away everything that made his life with Elaine. Through some of their life savings, Guybrush and Elaine are able to help Stan out, prevent Ozzie from taking over the park, and reupdate it to garner more visitors once again. This cements Guybrush as a good friend to Stan, who allows him to visit whenever he wants, even trusting him with his keys and to close the park down at times. The whole giant Monkey Robots and JoJo Jr. the talking Monkey, are a result of Boybrush's active imagination. Tales of Monkey Island Elaine and Guybrush's marriage is hitting a slight snag, as Guybrush begins to wonder if they are truly meant to be together forever. He begins to worry that Elaine will eventually leave him for someone else. That fear manifests itself as the human LeChuck, while Guybrush meets a park employee, Morgan. Guybrush begins to wonder if the park is nothing more a childhood dream he can't let go, beginning to slightly resent the park and the fantasies it creates, which manifests as the Voodoo Lady pulling the strings since she creates the scenarios of the park. Morgan and Guybrush hit it off, but Guybrush's feelings never wander from Elaine, which Morgan eventually accepts and greatly admires. In the end, Guybrush talks to Elaine and she reaffirms to him that she will always be by his side, same way that he is always by hers. Guybrush's fears of losing Elaine are banished once and for all, realizing all that the park, and the Voodoo Lady, has done for him in his life. Return to Monkey Island I think this is covered pretty extensively, so I won't go into extreme detail, but I think it's the adventure of Guybrush finally earning the most coveted prize, The Secret, in an intricate quest of earning keys in in-depth carnival games. The Secret is T-Shirt for him, but the amusement park for the player. In the end, Guybrush finally lets go of his resentment for his parents and is no longer afraid of LeChuck, who is banished to hell to fight for a meaningless Secret in the fantasy, and an animatronic that Guybrush shuts down in reality. Guybrush and Elaine start a family with Guybrush retelling the Tales of Monkey Island to his son, who puts his own spins on them with his own reimagining. Eventually, Guybrush and Elaine take Boybrush to the original amusement park, where it all began, and enjoy it as a family.

I don't think the end of the second game was the official reveal of the Secret, nor was it intended to be by Ron, Dave, and Tim. I think that ending was to set up more intrigue and get people asking as many questions as possible, while layering in big implications about the Secret. Ron obviously wanted to continue to explore the fantasy/amusement park for at least one more game, but they also wanted an ending that hooked people. The commentary for the Special Edition of MI2 reveals that they wanted the ending to be polarizing, but also get people talking and theorizing regardless if they loved or hated it. Guybrush and LeChuck being brothers, the parents, Elaine talking about a spell, among many other aspects, all did this very well. What's great is all of these plot points have been explored in the games in some way, shape or form. Were Guybrush and LeChuck ever intended to be brothers? Based on it being a clear ripoff of Star Wars, along with how it is resolved in Return, I'm going to say no and it wasn't meant to be taken all that seriously. Had they made their third game shortly after the release of the second, I would imagine they would've explained it as Guybrush's imagination being an unreliable narrator, rather than his son's reimagining, which was an idea they came up with specifically when writing for Return. It's important to note that though the Secret was the same as they conceived it years ago, the method of how it would be conveyed, along with other aspects, is what Ron still had to detail before he made Return. I think MI2 and its ending especially were really all about Guybrush realizing that something just isn't quite right with his reality. Throughout that entire game, there is something very unsettling beneath the surface. You feel it in the environment, characters, and, in my opinion, especially the music. Yes, Guybrush is being hunted by LeChuck, but his reality/imagination is also gradually beginning to fall apart. A good example of this is when you observe the water pump on Phatt Island. Guybrush will say "What's this doing in a pirate game?" Beyond the fourth wall breaking, I think it's an indication that Guybrush is realizing more things about the world around him and, around that same area, he gets his first interaction with the odd tunnel system. By the time he gets to Dinky, the unsettledness is at a peak as Guybrush navigates the jungles. By the time he reaches the maintenance tunnels filled with carnival items and no attractions, the absolute proof that he is at an amusement park, his world comes crashing down. Perhaps all the plot points, from the spell to LeChuck creating the carnival, were Guybrush and his imagination's attempt to prolong the fantasy as much as possible. Overall, I think the ending of the second game wasn't so much the official reveal of the Secret, as it was gradually peeling back the layers to the truth, while setting up more intrigue for other questions to lay the groundwork for the next game. The next game would've still been in the fantasy, but with answering the question of Guybrush and LeChuck being brothers and overviewing one more adventure in the fantasy to close off the Secret head-on. That is essentially exactly what we got with Return.

While I myself never thought Terror Island had cut content, I can definitely understand why others did. There are several areas of the island where there are no puzzles, no objects to pick up, just things in the environment that Guybrush can comment on. For me, those barren areas just added to the general eerie feeling of the island, but I can also see why others would think that perhaps those areas were originally meant to have puzzles and/or something else. Then again, perhaps there are some details not picked up on yet. I did catch another mushroom reference in one spot.

Well said. To add to this, I think the use of the word "Original" in the plaque at the end of the game when referencing the Secret was extremely purposeful by Ron and Dave. The amusement park was indeed the original Secret conceived during the development of the first game, but that doesn't mean it's the sole secret of Monkey Island. The series has become something so much more than Ron, Dave, and Tim ever intended and so much of the series was born from multiple other teams with their own takes and interpretations. In many way, the multiple endings capture that perfectly. Ron and Dave do a great job in paying homage to all the great work other teams have done on this series. Return, beyond being just a great game, is also a very humble one too in many ways in how it treated the canon.

The shackles on LeChuck's ship are only available to be observed for the serial number in parts 2 and 3. Afterwards, they are taken from the ship to use to hold Wally captive. If players do not get the serial number before the end of part 3, or don't get the key before part 5, they can't rescue Wally at the end.

Ron actually confirmed on Twitter it's not possible to complete the "murder those who get in your way" one in the pamphlet.

I'm starting to even take the ending of the second game was Guybrush accidently finding the maintenance tunnels of the park and his imagination/reality comes crashing down as a result. He realizes that it's just a park, but to sustain the illusion, he comes up with the plot points of the park being one of LeChuck's schemes to build up his undead army, with himself being under a hex of LeChuck's creation, and the tunnels connecting islands together. Then his son takes it further and puts another spin on it upon his reimagining of it with his friend Chuckie. At the end of Return, Guybrush was so entrenched in his imagination, it took him a few minutes to realize that he is still just in a park, even if it's the umpteenth time he's been there. Perhaps even Guybrush and Elaine got married there if that's where they met and he proposed to her. It would be a modernized concept since more and more couples are getting married at places that mean something significant to them as a couple and not the typical venues. The dream of Guybrush's parents from the second game are indicative of his feeling of abandonment and loneliness. They left him when he needed them the most and was raised in an orphanage. The park was an escape from these feelings for him, but they are still there, deep down. Those feelings come up in the dream and at the end, when he finds their skeletons. They are gone/dead in his life, perhaps even literally. So now, he wants to share those tales with his son and experience the park together as a family. Maybe Guybrush's thoughts at the end with just him on the bench was him thinking "Perhaps it's time I take Boybrush to the actual amusement park." The Secret and Big Whoop are all just in-depth carnival games. The prize for Big Whoop was an E-Ticket and the Secret was a t-shirt. Even the Voodoo Lady's agenda from Tales could be Guybrush's take of her being a prominent amusement park worker who creates the scenarios and stories of the park and the battles with LeChuck.

I don't think that anything was really revealed at the end of the second game. The second games final portion was very surreal and weird. Guybrush finding his dead parents, LeChuck saying he's his brother and suddenly being with a family. It obviously gave people more than enough to speculate, but I think there was a lot more Ron wanted to say about the reality. That ending was more of a "WTF did I just watch." This one was more confirmation with the added layer that there is another story going with how Guybrush retells these stories and how his son interprets them. The secret was only one aspect of this game. There was so much more going on it is themes.

What I loved about the interview in particular is how Ron really stuck to his guns regarding the Secret. He didn't say, "Well, the Secret is that it's truly up to interpretation but you can find evidence to support....," or anything like that. He specifically brought it up right as the ending began and confirmed that this is in fact the Secret people have been wanting to know for decades and what he had originally envisioned. I think the game makes that clear, especially that plaque at the end, but this was the last bit of closure I needed. This also lines up quite well with comments Ron has said throughout the years in various interviews. The original concept of the first game became too big and ambitious to reveal everything within one game, so they created a series around it to segment some of its themes and aspects. Ron didn't have all the specifics of the journey mapped, but the Secret was always there in his mind. It's great. My take on the multiple endings is this - had the third game by Ron came out relatively shortly after MI2, the ending would've probably be much more streamlined with one definitive one, perhaps with some wriggle room on certain things but not to the degree that we got here. But with 30 years of this series becoming so much more for so many more people and Ron and Dave really honing their craft as designers and writers, they wanted to be definitive with the Secret, but also allow multiple interpretations for many other aspects of the game with the inclusion of 10 endings. I'm actually very happy and appreciative that he didn't reveal which one he views as canon. If I had to guess, it would be the one that implies that Guybrush takes his family to the amusement park to finally share the experiences with his son and come full circle.

Earlier today, Laura Cress interviewed Ron on Return to Monkey Island and got into full spoilers, specifically the opening and ending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHmnvnfhHjw&ab_channel=Cressup Ron talks openly about the Secret and what has been in his mind for the last 30 years. It feels so good that Ron is finally free to talk openly about this topic after so many years and to hear his full thoughts. He also clarifies a lot of other aspects as well, such as his thoughts on the series continuing.

Just voted. It's been almost three weeks and I have yet to stop thinking about this game, the ending, its themes and so much more. To unwind after work many times these past few weeks, I loaded up some of my saves to play my favorite parts, of which there are many, over again and I'm still picking up on so many nice little details. I have gone back and replayed the previous games with renewed appreciation as well. Regardless of how I feel about the game, that shows just how special of an experience this game was. That being said, I absolutely loved it. Is it perfection? In the purest form of the definition of that word, no. But for me and my experience, I really wouldn't change anything, so that's certainly a type of subjective perfection in my opinion. Nearly three weeks later, I think my appreciation and love of the game, and the series by extension, has only increased. The emotional layers added onto the series from this game makes me experience the other games in a whole new light and I just love that. I will also say, just being on these forums and speculating before the game and then discussing it afterwards, made the experience all the better. Everyone here is pretty mature and civil, so it's easy to have genuine conversations and constructive and civil arguments.

I take that article with a little bit of a grain of salt, simply because it wasn't an answer directly from Ron in the Q&A, but the writer wrapping up the article. I don't think they can "confirm" it, especially so soon after launch. I think Ron and Dave probably said essentially what was said on Twitter; it will most likely be followed by other entries. I think writers take such comments and really embellish them. A good example would be all the articles taking "conclusion" from the site and interpreting it as, "This is it, the final one."

Nice observation on the clock, never noticed that. As for the safe, my take was it was indeed Stan who left the safe there given that Guybrush (and the hover-over text) reveals at the end that Stan was behind the gaudy chest.

I agree, but I would also add that even when Guybrush opens up the chest, he takes the Secret and disappointment in stride. He still moves on from it for better things. LeChuck's crew all bailed on him because they were horrified what would happen because he does not handle frustration or disappointment well. That is perhaps a key difference between Guybrush and LeChuck. Guybrush can move on while LeChuck is defined by it. The idea of him keeping the key because he never have up on it is a fascinating one, but he seems to have set it aside to start a family, at least for now. I really like this take as well.

Yes! I was waiting for this one in particular. Thank you!

I think @Jakesaid it best a few days ago. The lack of a confrontation with LeChuck in some ways showed that Guybrush was finally free from this perpetual state of constant rivalry with LeChuck. At the end of Tales, Elaine claimed Guybrush was finally free from his fate with LeChuck. In a way, this game proved that. Guybrush didn't need another showdown with LeChuck to win. He simply moved on in a way. I was initially a little disappointed that there was no final confrontation with LeChuck, but once I saw that short epilogue with LeChuck fighting over a meaningless chest in hell, that's all I needed. We've had five games of the typical showdowns: this one was a nice departure and a meaningful one too in my opinion. Guybrush moved on in his life and past his battles with LeChuck and obsession with the Secret to start a family, while LeChuck was consumed by it and stuck fighting for something that would not advance any of his plans in the slightest. Throughout the game, and specifically his diary, it's clear that LeChuck was in denial about how much his hatred for Guybrush drove him along with the Secret. His attempts to claim that Guybrush was more obsessed over the Secret seemed like he was projecting his own obsession onto him. In the end, Guybrush was able to move past it, while LeChuck was consumed by it. Even his animatronic is stuck in that perpetual state, which compliments his epilogue perfectly in my opinion.

I mean, at the end of the day, it's meant to be a joke. I don't think Ron and Dave forgot so much as they simply didn't want to repeat themselves.

So with Return to Monkey Island now out, headcanons are probably even more in-depth than ever. Return was one of the few games I played that seems to openly embrace and encourage individual interpretations and head-canons. That being said, I thought it would be cool to have a thread to discuss headcanons just in general. Not just about this game and its themes and endings, but how it's framed the entire series for you. Anything from Secret to the Voodoo Lady's agenda. Below is my (current) headcanon for the entire series. TLDR: Not important enough, just feel free to share your own headcanons. ----- The entire series is largely real, not fantasy, though embellished here and there by Guybrush and the reimagining of his son, which I personally view as the framing of every game in the series until Return, where Guybrush steps in as the unreliable narrator. Guybrush was an orphan, abandoned by his parents and bullied by his peers for his name and only found solace in a pirate themed amusement park/carnival. He was attracted to the pirate lifestyle as it seemed to be exciting and a way to make a name from himself. Once he was old enough, he finally decided to pursue his dream, dropped out of school, and left for Melee Island to become a pirate. Not too long ago prior to this event, LeChuck had met Elaine while he was in Melee to recruit for his expanding crew and pick up Voodoo supplies. Upon becoming obsessed with Elaine and being told to drop dead, LeChuck approached the Voodoo Lady and asked what it would take to win Elaine. She informed him the Secret of Monkey Island held many rumors of promises, enticing LeChuck to embark on a journey to find the secret. A few days after setting sail, the Voodoo Lady conjured up a storm that destroyed his ship and then influenced a trio of sharks to rescue him and wash him ashore on Blood Island. The Voodoo Lady was keen to contain the more dangerous forces of voodoo in the Caribbean and saw LeChuck as a means to absorbing them so they can be collectively neutralized by another individual, who she eventually saw in Guybrush. She was manipulating their battles to not only contain the dark forces of Voodoo, but to also compel one of them to finally unearth the Secret and lay the mystery to bed once and for all. The Caribbean had pockets of voodoo energy that converged from the Crossroads in several areas, such as Terror Island, the Rock of Gelato, the swamp on Lucre Island, but especially underneath Monkey Island, which was demonic energy and pure evil in nature. In the course of his adventures, Guybrush tried to make sense of his parents leaving him, even having a disturbing dream in MI2 that was indicative of them leaving him when he needed them the most. By the end of Return, Guybrush left the secret behind him, which was nothing more than a T-Shirt. In reality, the Secret was that Monkey Island was a convergence of multiple dimensions and pockets of time, with one being the gates to hell itself (Big Whoop). Both LeChuck and Guybrush actually knew the secret the entire time since the first game, but since it wasn't clearly labeled, they didn't think it was the Secret and believed they never truly discovered it. Stan used this to his advantage to make a fake secret as part of a marketing ploy, but the true scope of his profit scheme never came to fruition due to his various legal predicaments. In the end, LeChuck lost the faith of his entire crew and was enveloped by the promise of the secret, fighting for eternity in hell over an empty promise of power and wealth. Stan used the many adventures of Guybrush as inspiration to create a new theme park based off his adventures and the various characters. Guybrush became his best customer and the two became legitimate friends, to the point that Stan trusted him to shut down the park. The park was based off each game, with the prize for Big Whoop being an E-Ticket and the Secret being a T-Shirt (as was Stan's ploy before the park as well). Guybrush, having done enough adventuring for a lifetime, semi-retired from piracy and became a flooring inspector, with him and Elaine pirating as a vice. They wanted to start a family and had a son. Guybrush often told these tales (Tales of Monkey Island) to his son, embellishing here and there, with his son also taking liberties at times. Guybrush combined his tale of the Secret with Stan's carnival, finally taking his son there himself sometime later. The Voodoo Lady, having finally achieved her purpose of containing the darkest of voodoo energies and closing the door on the Secret, also retired and worked at the amusement park, perhaps even spending her time off searching for De Cava and finally reuniting with him. In the end, Guybrush gained everything he wanted, but only through immense hardship that showed him what really mattered (like the Voodoo Lady once said in Tales, her guidance may very well have saved Guybrush from himself). He now has a family and became the parent he always wanted his parents to be for him. He forgave them, but vowed to always be there for his own family no matter what. ---- Other pieces of my head canon: Herman was Elaine's maternal grandfather. His real name was Haratio Torquemeda, but took Marley as his last name when he married Elaine's maternal grandmother. It would fit with Escape's narrative of Guybrush as being seen as Marley. LeChuck is truly not Guybrush's brother, but his original name was Charles and nicknamed Chucky. He renamed himself to LeChuck when he became a pirate. LeChuck's voodoo priest was something of a mentor to him in younger years and instilled within him a drive for power. He would later recruit him into his army years later when he became a fearsome pirate. The five death tarot cards in Curse weren't just referring to Guybrush faking his death twice in that game, but also his murder at LeChuck's hands and Elaine spraying his ghost with voodoo root beer in Tales, and him being declared dead in Escape.

I mean honestly, I don't think anyone here will be able to say something that will serve as an "ah-ha" moment. I could be wrong of course, but I don't think it's possible to convince someone else that the ending is good; it has to come from that person's experiences and thoughts. I think some the epilogues paint a clearer picture on what happened to certain characters. I feel that there is enough evidence to support multiple interpretations. I myself am operating under the interpretation that LeChuck and all the other characters are not simply animatronics and I don't feel Ron puts a lot of pressure on that not being true. Yes, on the surface, it seems that it's being heavily pushed as fantasy, but again, many of the epilogues (along with the fact that Elaine says the story gets crazier each time Guybrush tells it) makes it clear to me that Ron doesn't want to dictate it to the player. It's an ending not for everyone, and I wish I could say something that can make it clear why I found such satisfaction from it, despite 10 initial minutes of emptiness, but I don't think words alone will do that. I made many posts about it within the last week or so, but I'm not sure if that makes it clear enough. Someone else here could perhaps make a better case than I.