Do you want to know the secret of Monkey Island?

[Haggis]

So, let's dive into this discussion, which was prompted by Kroms:

 

I wonder if that's a comment on the whole fandom that surrounds that question. I personally want to know, just to get it over with, but do most people really feel the same?

 

Do we really, really want to know the secret of Monkey Island? Personally, I wouldn't really mind knowing it I guess, but on the other hand... wouldn't that sort of ruin the magic? Also, I'm not sure if the secret of Monkey Island is really that relevant anymore. With Tales of Monkey Island, the MI universe has moved on, and stories can be told in it without falling back on the enigmatic secret... which, for all I know, might not even exist.

[wannabe_pirate]

Despite whatever interviews might suggest, I don't think there is a tangible "secret". I think the boundary between reality and fantasy in the game is intentionally ambigous. It makes us desperate for finality and closure, but in the end, any form of "secret" would be disappointing and an injustice to the game(s). Just enjoy the ride

[SyntheticGerbil]

I give up because I think there isn't one and that we've been teased this whole time.

[Jeopando]

The REAL secret of Monkey Island? It's a giant monkey robot, everybody knows that!

 

...sorry.

 

I'd really like that Monkey Island 3b where the trilogy is completed and the secret revealed, even if there never was any secret really. It would be really logical and easy to follow the Monkey 2: SE with a kind of a Monkey 3: SE that's the ending to the series that they might or might not have planned a long time ago. I think it would be even possible to do this while keeping the other Monkey Island games canon, although not an integral part of the main storyline.

 

So yeah, as long as it comes straight from Ronzo's mouth, I accept it as the secret. I'm really curious what the secret is, but I'm not really hyped about it. It probably wouldn't disappoint me even if the secret was something really lame. Actually, that would be in the spirit of the games.

[Gabez]

I don't know... I don't think I became aware of The Secret as something that needed to be revealed until it was mentioned at the end of The Curse of Monkey Island. The Internet, and Ron Gilbert, have both made the idea bigger than it is in the games themselves. Is it mentioned at all in the first two games?

 

In terms of the first game, at least, there is no mystery. The title "The Secret of Monkey Island" surely refers to the fact that Monkey Island is a secret, which you can only get to by magic. Also, it's just a good title.

 

There are some interesting things going on with grog cans etc., but sometimes I think that calling that part of "The Secret" is reducesthe clerveness and wit of the actual game... as if it were a plot twist in a show like Lost. "Aaha, so that's what the Grog machine means!" -- like it's an allegory for something else.

 

So I suppose I don't want the secret revealed, not because it's more powerful unreveiled (because it has little power in the games anyway), but because it might reduce aspects of the first two games were elements to be explained away.

[Remi]

It's a MacGuffin.

[Jeopando]

I don't think it's a MacGuffin really, since no one's actively striving to find out the Secret. No one in the game, at least.

 

Actually, this reminds me of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The characters always have a chance to find out some great mysteries of Life, Universe and Everything, but no one's really actively pursuing them. They're interested, but just enough to find out those secrets if they're within the arm's reach.

 

Since Monkey Island 2, I think, Guybrush has every now and then brought up the Secret in dialogue choices, but it's always been just a witty remark or something that he'd like to find out if it's not too much effort.

[wannabe_pirate]

It's a MacGuffin.

 

High school English ftw. I knew I took it for a reason

[SyntheticGerbil]

I hate how somehow the secret has become something to mean that if they were to reveal it, or make one up to reveal, the series would be over.

 

I don't know why it has that kind of stake, but it shouldn't.

[Snugglecakes]

Jeopando said it best

[DAISHI]

The Secret of Monkey Island is that it's a game.

[Threepwood4life]

Apparenty the character Eubrick in DeathSpank knows the secret to Monkey Island.

[LordTrilobite]

No.

 

I want to know because everyone wants to know the Secret of Monkey Island. I mean, it's The Secret of Monkey Island. The Secret. There is no Secret that tops this Secret. It is the meaning of life.

 

But on the other hand. There's a fair chance it's not what you expected and that it will disappoint. And so it will ruin the magic. The Secret of Monkey Island will not be The Secret of Monkey Island because it won't be a Secret anymore.

 

So; Because it is The Secret of Monkey Island, I think it is best that no one should ever know The Secret of Monkey Island.

Search your feelings, you know it to be true. We mortals are not worthy of The Secret of Monkey Island.

[Fealiks]

I don't know... I know I'd love to see an alternative third game, though, and this is a great time for that.

[Aububuh]

My theory is still that the Secret is that whenever you discover the Secret, there's always some secret that keeps popping up behind it. For example,

 

MI1: The catacombs underneath the monkey head.

MI2: The underground tunnels connecting the islands, then whatever that ending was.

MI3: Not really a Secret here.

MI4: Giant Monkey Robot.

 

Fans can't be satisfied by any of these secrets, so none of them are the "True Secret" I personally think they all are, and yet none of them are.

 

Of course, this could be complete nonsense, and Ron really does have the secret buried somewhere with the Ark of the Covenant and the remains from Area 51; but probably not.

[Rosefull]

I agree with the people who want to see the alternative third game that Ron Gilbert no doubt had imagined before he left LucasArts. That game may or may not reveal the secret, but I just want the closure of seeing how the series was originally envisioned.

 

It would be cool to know The Secret, but just because people have wanted it for, you know, twenty years.

[Icebox]

Some questions are better left unanswered. Like Wally said, it's either so wonderful or so terrible that it was never meant to be found.

 

Also, I hope they never make MI3. Why? Because the development environment and internal state of Lucasarts is so different from the eldritch times that it would necessarily be completely different from what we would have experienced had Ron stayed on board back in the day. Let sleeping dogs lie.

[Farlander1991]

Concerning Monkey Island 3... I really think that Tales of Monkey Island has the plot of what should have been the plot of MI3. I mean, I don't actually think that the ending of MI2 actually meant they were surely going to make MI3. But if MI3 were to be made, I think it should have developed the tensioned relationships between Guybrush-Elaine and Guybrush-LeChuck (not knowing if he's a friend or foe, really brother or not). With some adjustments, ToMI plot could have become a great MI3, IMO. Maybe it's because both Dave and Ron put their hands on it, I don't know.

 

But CoMI cramps everything MI3 should have been in a few unsatisfying starting cutscene minutes, and then goes remaking the SoMI - I mean, come on, Guybrush washes ashore on an island, gathers a crew to save Elaine, sets sail to some lost and barely enhabited island (on both of which he meats the same Cannibals) and then kicks LeChuck's butt. I think CoMI is a good game,but I'm totally not satisfied with the plot. At all.

 

Now. The Secret. I really like the thief's quote from ToMI Ep5- it's a Secret, and if anyone knew it, it would cease to be a Secret. Something like that, the wording is not accurate. Hm... You know, maybe it would have been kinda cool if TT named the 'Secret' item as 'The Secret of Monkey Island'. So we kind of discover the Secret and actively use it, but never learn what it is.

 

PS. Not to mention that the Secret is just an overdone and overhyped joke thanks to Ron

[bergqvistjl]

I do want to know the secret, hopefully if they decide to make a final ever game, and I want it to be a proper OMG secreat, not a jokey "we're taking the piss, thats not the actual secret" like it was in EMI. (Which was fine, Its just it would be nice to have a real answer too)

[Farlander1991]

and I want it to be a proper OMG secreat

 

Well, I think that, considering this is a Secret which wasn't revealed for 20 years (I mean, if it would have been revealed like somewhere in 1995, it would have been okay), people are so hyped about it, they talk theories and other stuff, and... there's no way after all ths time, all these discussions, all what happened to the series, no way the Secret revealed will not have a "and... that's it?" reactionon 99% of MI fans. My two cents.

[Haggis]

Is it mentioned at all in the first two games?

I'm pretty sure Estevan says LeChuck went in search of the secret of Monkey Island, but I don't think Ron Gilbert actually had all that much in mind for the actual secret. I think it's just a throwaway line that slowly grew into this huge concept of the almighty Secret™ over time. Which is great, really, because that's one of the things that make Monkey Island so attractive.

[Farlander1991]

I'm pretty sure Estevan says LeChuck went in search of the secret of Monkey Island

 

Yeah, he also says that only LeChuck knows the Secret.

Also, Herman Toothrot and his unnamed captain-friend have set sail to Monkey Island to uncover the Secret. And Stan also says that they went to uncover the Secret. Everybody knows about Monkey Island and that LeChuck hides there (according to the cook), so I guess most people know about the existence of Secret.

 

And in MI2, Guybrush can ask LeChuck "What is the Secret of Monkey Island?" and LeChuck only answers something like "You'll see soon".

[wannabe_pirate]

Well, I think that, considering this is a Secret which wasn't revealed for 20 years (I mean, if it would have been revealed like somewhere in 1995, it would have been okay), people are so hyped about it, they talk theories and other stuff, and... there's no way after all ths time, all these discussions, all what happened to the series, no way the Secret revealed will not have a "and... that's it?" reactionon 99% of MI fans. My two cents.

 

 

and the secret of monkey island is.... an old stop sign and a couple of empty gin bottles

[ThunderPeel2001]

Yeah, he also says that only LeChuck knows the Secret.

Also, Herman Toothrot and his unnamed captain-friend have set sail to Monkey Island to uncover the Secret. And Stan also says that they went to uncover the Secret. Everybody knows about Monkey Island and that LeChuck hides there (according to the cook), so I guess most people know about the existence of Secret.

 

Are you sure about all that? It's been a while, but I don't remember any references to there being a secret at all.

 

Anyhoo, I don't believe there is a secret. It's a great title, but that's about it. I think someone in the office at LucasFilm Games might have asked, "hey, what IS the secret anyway?" and Ron might have come up with something on the spot -- but it certainly wasn't a huge important thing. There's a video with all the old LucasArts folk sitting around and talking, and somebody asks about it. I seem to remember Dave Grossman being unsure as to what the alleged "secret" was supposed to be. He asks Ron, "was it the underground...?" (or something like that) and Ron says yes. But it's not a big deal, I don't think. Nothing revelatory.

 

I WOULD like to know the history behind the giant monkey... considering there's a body attached to the head (which certainly is NOT mechanical in MI1), but that was probably just a really cool design decision by Steve Purcell.

 

But anyway: I voted YES. Why not? I'd rather not die and not know.

[Farlander1991]

Are you sure about all that? It's been a while, but I don't remember any references to there being a secret at all.

 

We're about to release the Russian translation for SoMI:SE, which we were making for a whole year. I know SoMI texts by heart now The Secret itself is mentioned by Stan, Estevan, Herman, Herman's friend in the log, and Guybrush when he asks Estevan about it.

 

And though I don't know MI2 texts by heart... I've played MI2:SE recently and asked LeChuck about the Secret.