Dmnkly

At this point, I think the puzzlemaster Lynchian/Terry Gilliam interpretation would be that Guybrush was an orphan who took solace in imagining pirate adventures at the Big Whoop amusement park, and everything — EVERYTHING — else is a defensive construct of his mind, including Elaine and his family. Only now he's trapped and can't cope without the fantasy, and lives life as a tripped out semi-vegetable in a late-stage Sam Lowry dreamworld. Whenever he gets a little too close to reality, things start to fray and fall apart because he just can't handle it. The choice to shut down the carnival and move on with his life ends with him looking peaceful — completely alone on the bench — because he's finally reached a level of comfort with the truth and he and his mind are all there ever was. But if he refuses that reality and turns around, he's fully embraced the fantasy, and sails off with his fictional love in his fictional piratey world. I don't think that's it. But I like it 🙂

Well, if you're not sick of me, I guess that's a good sign 😄 Thanks for the kind words. And absolutely no apologies. Even if your English weren't flawless (it is), you'd be no less welcome and appreciated!

Seconded. And it's why I was frustrated by some of the discussion on OTHER BOARDS we will not mention, because some people saw this ending as a rehash — Ron and Dave going back to the same old, same old. A tease. A prank. Letting you think there would be a resolution and then giving you the same ending yet again. Lucy pulling away the football one last time. And I just wanted to jump through the screen, "Nooooooooooo! Don't you see it? THIS is the changeup ending. THIS is the time Guybrush finally walks away and seems at peace with it. Cross-reference that with the strong themes of aging, relevance, etc. and this ending is the crysknife that slowly and quietly slipped through your shield, and you didn't see it until it was pressed up against your side."

Yes, and I lovelovelove that little touch. I suspect it's not complicated. I think it just hammers home that the kids are imagining an adventure, and as they come back to reality, the more fantastical elements quietly drop away.

Demone, I think you're very much in the right place on this, and I'm probably going to end up restating a lot of what you said. Whilst in Seattle a couple of weekends back, I told Ron and Dave that I kind of see them as Lynchian figures. By which I mean that I'm not 100% certain whether they know precisely what they're doing and it's up to us to decode it, or whether things aren't set in stone even in their own minds and the ambiguity is, in itself, part of the goal. But most importantly — same as I feel with Lynch — I'm not sure it matters. There's a very simple, surface way to interpret the ending. There are various meta levels you could easily apply to it. There are a lot of angles from which you can approach an interpretation. But I guess I'm just not convinced that ANY of them carry any weight beyond that which we feel compelled to add. The story isn't about the secret. It never really was. The possibility of learning some deep secret was *never* the real appeal of Monkey Island for any of us. And my feeling is that they've given us a nice soft landing to become comfortable with its ambiguity. Whether Guybrush is a pirate or a flooring inspector (or both), whether the stories are true or embellished tales or total fabrications for his kid's benefit... who cares? I'm reminded of how the Coen brothers kicked off Fargo with the completely fabricated "fact" that it was based on a true story. But a story doesn't have to be lowercase true to be uppercase True. Whether or not you're comfortable with the ending depends, I think, on whether that distinction is important to you.

...and may I add that this TOTALLY DID NOT GET ME RIGHT IN THE FEELS BECAUSE IT HIT SO EERILY CLOSE TO HOME.

You can see why this was SO HARD to hold onto, because it's so freaking brilliant, the way it's done. It's almost as though the retcon inserts a massive time break *within* MI2... between the tunnels and when the kids emerge. Into that gap goes everything... Curse, Escape, Tales and who knows what else. What's more, it sets up this storytelling framework that takes the emphasis off the details. Does it really matter if all of the details fit perfectly? Maybe not so much. It reminds me of the alternate timeline thing in the Star Trek reboots (before that became a big trend) — a clever way of sidestepping all of the canon and continuity questions. And it takes the question "How can you do a Monkey Island game that picks up right at the end of MI2 but still incorporates everything thereafter" and ties it up in a neat little bow. I mean, seriously... just effing brilliant.

I feel like this thread needs a HERE BE DRAGONS header, or something along those lines 😄 Worst-case scenario, Jake, you and I can just shoot the shit here until everybody else shows up.

I chugged every carbonated beverage I could find in the studio, but I'm going to have to give my belching a B-. The humdinger I was shooting for eluded me 😞

Ooooh, true, true. I was assuming that if they'd ganked somebody's art, they probably weren't clearing it with LucasArts, but I suppose they could totally do both. FWIW, IANAL, but I suspect Laserschwert would have options. Just because you don't have the rights to profit off your work, I'm not sure that means somebody who holds the rights does. Prolly more trouble/expense than it's worth for anything more than a shame campaign, tho. Also I could be completely talking out my ass.

Wow. Trying that with what is now a Disney property isn't just poking the bear... it's more like jamming your thumbs in the bear's eye sockets.

*pssh*.... as if.

Pretty much 🙂

I can't help myself, but this is really an excellent policy 😄

Oh, gads, no, that would never happen. This baby's coming and ain't nothing stopping it 😄 Now, if we're talking about any potential for Ron's future involvement or the likelihood of other things happening with Monkey Island after RMI... that's a completely different story, and that DOES concern me. But I'd be a lot more worried if this game weren't so stinking good. I don't want to set myself up for disappointment, but I have a hunch the reaction is going to be magnificent to behold.

*eyeroll*

KestrelPi, I hope you don't mind that I ganked your screenshots (with credit for choosing them!) for use in a discussion over on Twitter.

Not to resurrect a contentious issue that appears to have died down, but imma just say that I wouldn't get too hung up on trying to precisely nail down numbering/timeline/etc. I think it is elegantly handled.

There's a woodchuck joke in here somewhere, but I can't quite find it 😄

Yeeting Guybrush will be the title of my memoirs.

He's, uh... heh... also in his mid-40s these days, which might have as much to do with it as anything 😄

Oh, I knew exactly what I was doing, and it didn't take a voice director to guide me 🙂 I mean, cheap, fun, dumb, goofy, sleazy, whatever. Take it up with whoever wrote the line. But as an actor, there's only one way to read that line responsibly.

That's correct, I was replying to OP. Yes, I am also going crazy from not hearing more news about the game 😄 Which is not to put myself in your shoes. But my impatience comes from two places. First, there's still a LOT I haven't seen. Or more accurately, I've seen almost everything, but almost none of it has been in its final form. I did a playthrough months ago to prep for recording, but since GB's voice is now in the can and the performance will gain nothing from me seeing/learning more, I'm actively trying not to fire it up so I can preserve some of the unknown for myself! (Primarily voices, graphical polish and some puzzles.) Even more, though, I just can't freaking wait for all of you to see it. Social media existed last time we did this, but it didn't have the same ability to go from 0-170 mph in an instant. I'm just really, really looking forward to a big, collective outburst of joy 🙂

This can't be right. That pirate's actually working.

I have no idea when release day is, but Talk Like a Pirate Day would be sooooooooooo cool 😄