Echoes Of The Eye's Story Explained - Episode 2

Hello everyone! In this episode I try to take on the herculean task of figuring out the Owlk timeline. This all makes sense to me in this order. But Its pretty open. Luckily there is a surprisingly large amount of information or detail hidden away in those reels! We also get to and cover the prisoners story in this episode! I really enjoyed going through and getting to make these videos! So thank you all for watching!
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[@squongo645]

I absolutely love the way that the expansion makes you think that the goal is to find all of the codes to undo the vault, but then pulls a complete 180 by revealing that we've always been able to unlock them and instead showing us the way to get past the locks in general. It reminds me of how the first thought of the base game was to stop the sun from exploding and believing the sun station to be the problem, only to figure out that our purpose is different entirely. Awesome dlc.

[@jixaw9383]

That’s one of the things that rubbed me wrong about the DLC. If I had more confirmation that I’d NEVER find the codes then I’d like it more, but once I finished the DLC I still felt like I was missing something

[@David_Burt_Art]

I'm not sure if the death bell reel is supposed to be an error report. Some Owlks in the simulation may not have been aware that they died in the real world, and were confused about why they weren't being woken up along with the others. My guess is that the reel was a visual explanation for those inhabitants, and not necessarily an experiment.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

That was one of the things I mentioned I think. But then why mark the reel with the symbol dedicated to glitches.

[@David_Burt_Art]

@@TheLoreExplorer My bad, didn't notice the error report slide. To the Owlks who suddenly found themselves unable to wake up from the sim, it might seem like a glitch. With the bell being a key function of the simulation rooms, it seems like a good idea to report why it might stop working. More than any lore explanation, each error report side solves a puzzle around the vault. From a game design perspective, it would make sense to keep that indicator consistent to highlight new puzzle solving mechanics.

[@centurosproductions8827]

It definitely seemed not intended, but more like a happy accident. More like they were monitoring the health or the brainwaves of the individuals in the sim. You need to know if the elderly will be okay after plugging in, after all.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Thats one of the things im trying to avoid. Yeah. From a game design perspective its obvious why those reels are where they are. And why its marked a glitch is obvious from a game design perspective. But in Outer Wilds, the base game, there is nothing we find that doesnt have an explanation or reason for being what or where it is. (unless it was designed to be a mystery like the anglers) Especially not something so key to finishing the game. Not only do we not know why they would run this test. What its in game purpose was. But, we dont even know why the recording would be where it is, or why they would choose that symbol for it. From a lore perspective, the game design needs explained. And thats being said after me studying them. Its frustrating tbh because a lot of the things seem to either be there for game design purposes. OR they are hints to super secret stuff that happened. And theres no way to confirm one way or another. Im sure you can appreciate why "The Lore Explorer" isnt happy with just saying "game design" though. As for a possible reason for them to run the test. Yeah. Thats one of the scenarios I had too. The bells stopped working and they wanted to know exactly why. But then still. (Lore wise). Why the glitch symbol and why be where it is?

[@tank19768]

@@TheLoreExplorer Well we could be mis-interpreting the symbol as meaning "glitch" when it actually just means "bug report" - the ones who can't wake up file the report, and the reel is made as a result. Similar to how someone fell below the world and filed a report, and the reel was made.

[@BarbaricCrafter1]

Thinking about the Prisoner's character design, it's pretty deliberate. The dream world connects all of the sleeping chambers through antennas, and some clever artist made the prisoner only have one antler, s/he has "bad reception" to the hive mentality that the Owlks developed on the Stranger.

[@Nighthawk20000]

I think that may be reading into things a little bit haha

[@HaasSpitta]

Or maybe they just beat the **** out of him and he lost an antler in the process 😂

[@emmanuelavalos6820]

I always thought the bell part of it was super interesting. But I am pretty sure that the bell doesn't target brain waves so much as it is just a loud sound to wake the owlks up. I theorize this because when you are living and enter the simulation, you can still feel sensations from the real world like the crashing wave (sound) and it's also why you fall sideways when the water wakes you up (since your sense of positioning shifts with the water direction). What is really neat is that this detail totally explains why the owlks can never hear the alarm bells or hear the wave from the breaking dam. Because a dead body can not hear the sound to transfer it to the owlk simulation.

[@blahblahsaurus2458]

At least in the case of the cinder isles tower, you also experience gravity shifting in the simulation because the tower falls on its side.

[@dianebrooks1859]

I wonder then if you kill yourself, will your character also not hear the dam breaking??

[@itspaddyd]

It's also noticeable when you are dead in the dream world and go past the alarm towers and don't hear the bell anymore

[@WackoMcGoose]

@@itspaddyd Maybe the alarm towers are _why_ they were testing to see if they could "wake up the dead"? It's not a very good security system if, once they all inevitably die of old age, that the alarm towers do _literally nothing_ to stop intruders from accessing the archives...

[@RazAnime]

I am somewhat certain that the Prisoner had sympathizers and might have belonged to some unofficial "resistance" faction that wanted the Eye to be found and indirectly assisted us. Here are some reasons: - There probably were still Owlks that disagreed with the choice to burn the eye and retreat to the virtual world. - In a building in the gorge, there is a broken Eye symbol. In that building you find a secret hidden elevator to a room that shows the location of the slidewheel burning rooms. My guess is that room was the room where the Eye sympathizers would hold secret meetings and after the Prisoner was imprisoned and the reels burned, they constructed hints to these rooms for future explorers (us) to find. - When the slide reels were being burnt, some of the most important reels were saved from burning by someone (it can't have been the Prisoner by this point) and placed in the hidden areas where the absence of light would reveal them to a third party explorer (us) to find out a way to reach the Prisoner. - The vision we get from the prisoner when we only open the vault partially shows the Prisoner being guided to yet another secret room by a friend of his. My guess is that this was the room that the Eye sympathizers later wanted to store important details to give to other sympathizers (like how to reach their secret meeting place). I assume after the Prisoner was imprisoned, this is where they wanted to store the codes to the Prisoner's vault, but the other Owlks had already burned them so their plan was foiled. They still brought them there regardless. I am rather sure this faction of Eye sympahtizers must have existed, what is completely up in the air is if this faction had a decent size to it or if it was as small as the Prisoner and his friend we see in his vision. One thing is for sure: The friends of the prisoners are the ones that made sure that some explorer like us could find the clues necessary to reach the Prisoner. They were heroes just as much.

[@UgoneTheBest]

I agree with this, and also, I don't think the whole population of Strangers was kept inside those 3 little simulation rooms: we have seen portraits of families, with young kids, we know their journey was long and their story did span through generations. So, I think there were way more Strangers alive, but only a few were selected to go in the simulation, while the majority did remain outside, maybe caretaking their sleeping brothers and sisters or the vessel itself. The Resistance is among them for sure! Also, a rebel faction would explain why some reels survived, and things got documented and stored, despite the effort the Strangers made to wipe their presence and history off the records of the universe. Interesting take nonetheless, thanks for sharing

[@noizepusher7594]

Also, the reels we see depicting how to get to the archives are from the perspective of a stranger helping out with taking a vault code to the archives. This is clearly something they contributed to the Eye Apologists because the slide reel depicting how to get to the archives shows it from their perspective in a realistic view just like the vision torches. This implies that this Stranger contributed this slide reel by putting what they knew with a vision torch onto a slide reel. Meaning, they had someone on the inside

[@maddaug7439]

Hey Mr Lore Explorer. I dont know if you know about this but some of the Mobius guys actually did a podcast with NoClip. They revealed some interesting things about the development of the expansion and how they plan on adding some additional context through a patch. I'd love if you made a video on it as I some of the things they spoke about was above my paygrade

[@natthecat2004]

Link for anyone looking: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqubhKpsjZKepK8

[@casedistorted]

Link? Now I want to see this Nvm you linked lol

[@Akumasama]

I get the feeling the owlks are not particularly rational. When exposed to the eye of the universe, they destroy their homeworld to build a craft that'll take them there. When they discovered that the eye had the potential to destroy the universe (because the eye is capable of doing anything), they burned their churches in their fury, spent a lot of their remaining resources to prevent anyone from finding it, and then fell into despair. When one of their own, likely driven by regret, decided to give others a chance to find the eye, they sealed him in a box, then sealed him in the dream world, then build a giant lock system to seal him even FURTHER, then burned every way they could find to unlock him, likely because, with the destruction of the eye-sealing mechanism, he was the only one who had the will and the knowledge to let others find the eye (by repairing the mechanism, maybe?). That they didn't just kill him is interesting, though. That being said, by blocking the eye, they also prevented other species, like the Nomai, from actually finding the thing. What would have happened if a Nomai, a member of a species so driven by curiosity that they were willing to *cause a supernova* to create a time loop, had entered the eye instead? What would a species driven by a thirst for discovery react to an object that allows one to define what can be discovered? I fucking love this game.

[@samuelsimpson7452]

I imagine that the Owlks made the bell glitch video as a dramatization after they noticed it. Why do an experiment that will kill a dead dreamer if it does kick them out of the dream? It's strange that the Owlks left all that deadly water in their dream worlds. They could have changed the simulation to make water a safe bouncy solid surface or something, surely. Maybe they were petrified of any change by the time most of them were dead. My theory on the codes and locks is that they were all an elaborate trap, set for a secret faction of Eye loyalists in their midst. Either that, or in their paranoia they imagined such enemies after they dealt with the prisoner. They made a big show of taking the codes to their hiding places, and recorded reels about it from the perspective of the people doing the hiding. They put those reels in rooms meant to trap anyone who followed the clues. If anyone did break into the archives, they could be cornered and trapped down there. But they didn't bother taking any more extreme measures after a living alien showed up and got access to the lanterns. They can't hurt the Hearthian, but the Hearthian can end them all with a bucket of water. The Owlks are pretty much reduced to cowering in the dark and screeching "Go away!"

[@BagelBoi4000]

I think the reason the bug report about the bell was reported was because the alarm systems they added to protect certain areas stopped working on some of them and they where tyring to identify why it worked on some and not others.

[@BagelBoi4000]

Also I dont think the glitches that let you access the vault are purpousfully like that- I think its just a big coincidence that they let you get there. I think the owelks intended for the vault to become innacessable once they had burned the codes. But honestly thats up for interpretation so who knows.

[@frogfan449]

i imagine there are many other bug reports in inaccessible shelves of the forbidden libraries, which makes the coincidence less extreme

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Its all hard because it seems their plan changed a few times. Like, first they make a code indicating maybe they will free the prisoner someday. If you wanted them gone forever dont even let them in the dream world. Or dont make codes. Or destroy the bridges and rafts to the totems and so on. But they made codes first(and even backups), indicating they didnt always plan to let them stay in the cell forever. The seconds seals totems platform seems designed to allow access from using the "fall beneath the world" glitch. Both other platforms are non accessible from this place. But the second one being accessible is hinting to me it was designed that way on purpose. And what im thinking is they coded these in for a way to free the prisoner once everyone is permanently dead on no one can exit the dream world.(The prisoner would be no danger then, right) These glitches would be a way to still get around the traps(that only owlks would know) without the codes since they may fade over time. Or they may just lose the info somehow.(They made copies so it seems they were worried about it a bit) BUT, that only makes sense if they did, in fact, plan to free them eventually. Its all so hard to say. I think the chances that all three traps just happened to line up with all three glitches would be insane. And I think they coded these in for a way to free the prisoner later on if the codes faded. But at some point they had a change of heart and destroyed the codes. Or, maybe the glitches were simply added to keep any foreign species away in the future, as they wouldnt know the glitches to access the prisoner with. And navigating your way through their cities to find them(without having a timeloop to erase those actions) would be impossible since the owlks would likely warn eachother and so on. I love outer wilds. But sometimes leaving the story so open like this feels bad. These are all vastly different scenarios that would change the owlks story significantly. But....that part of the story isnt told and its up for us to...basically just guess.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Then not only do they align. It’s certain they know the connection between the glitches and areas because they are the reels readily accessible in the locations associated with them. And even if there were more glitches that doesn’t make it that less extreme. It wouldn’t matter what glitches. The fact all three areas can be bypassed using a glitch is the big thing.

[@tank19768]

@@TheLoreExplorer The only solution I can think of is that the owlks as a culture could not bring themselves to completely destroy information - pretty much everything they did seems to be documented given the quantity of reels and the reels showing owlks walking into the towers. Perhaps it was just a step too far, similar to not being willing to actually kill the prisoner. As it comes to the glitches being specific ones able to bypass the locks? I think we have to chalk that one up to chance, otherwise it simply would be inaccessible.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

@@tank19768 Except they completely destroyed the codes to free the prisoner. Even in the dream world. Also, they do kill the prisoner by locking them away in a vault. They wont survive the week. Its sad to me there are so many possibilities and they all sort of change things.

[@Bi_scotti_5]

In my opinion, I think that most of the discoveries made about the relationship between death and the dream world by coincidence. I don't think they were trying to bring back their dead friend, they just noticed that the bells don't wake up the dead and then made a note of it. But it is an interesting idea that they might have tried bringing back their friend in desperation

[@GiftOfKnowledge-np9vg]

A possible reason for the test to see if the bells affected dead dreamers might’ve been too determine what dangers existed for the their dead numbers. After all, the dead can’t wake up; so when they get kicked, they die for real and cease to exist. So it’s vitally important to know what does or does not kick them from the dream world. Double vital once the decision was made to move the entire species into the dream world and allow themselves to all die and go extinct in the real world.

[@qwertyuiopoiuytrewp]

That reminds me, it sounds a little mean but I legitimately tried blowing out the campfire marshmallow in the direction of the dead inhabitant's flames.

[@Snacker6]

Just my two cents: What the Owlks did isn't madness. What they saw when then reached the eye is that interacting with it would destroy their race, and from what we are able to tell from the rest of the game, they may have been able to tell that it would have destroyed the universe as a whole. Seeing that, it is rather understandable that they would have wanted to seal it away to protect their universe. Reacting the way they did to the prisoner's actions is also understandable, as in their eyes, he literally put the entire universe at risk. Would that not anger and terrify you? They did not truly go mad until the elected to abandon reality in favor of the simulation As for that error report, my thoughts on in is that it is less of an error report on the simulation, and more of one on the new protections that they put into place. Those bells were put there specifically to make sure that no one could get to certain areas, and to protect things of importance. It not working on the dead Owlks, which many of them may have been at that point is a major issue with that security measure. No wonder the places it is used are also protected by Owlk patrols!

[@juke9674]

Already wondering how KZbin recognizing the game in the video as "Sea of Thieves" is gonna tie in into the Owlk conspiracy Im sure Lore Explorer is gonna have fun analyzing this one

[@807D14M0ND5]

When I played the dlc I remarked to a friend how the rocks look like sea of thieves rocks! KZbin knows!

[@LB_]

I think the slides they left behind, as well as some of the memory projections, are intended as a backup to help them remember how to find the codes again if they had forgotten over the centuries. But over time, instead of deciding to eventually free the prisoner, they decided to just make it permanent by burning the codes in the dream world too. Perhaps they burned the real world code after some time first, and then once everyone was dead and and could no longer wake up, they burned the dream world codes too, but could not remove the slide reels they had left in the real world. Either way, the existence of the slide reels and memory projections is clear evidence that they had originally intended for the prisoner to eventually be freed after enough time had passed.

[@kerryshatzer5633]

Enjoyed the series! Thanks for doing it. Maybe this has been explained somewhere, but maybe when the Prisoner turned off the Eye Silencing device and the Eye started transmitting again, is that when the Nomai first saw the Eye signal? The Nomai said later the signal stopped, so maybe that's when the other Owlks found the Prisoner and turned the device back on and then destroyed the controls. Also I think the Owlks tested the wake up bells on the dead ones to make sure if they were woken up from the Dreamworld, they would be woken up in real life and then perished for good never able to return to the Dreamworld. Great work on the series!

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Yeah! That is the signal the nomai heard! It took many years for it to reach them while it travelled in space. But yeah. The prisoners actions led to the nomai receiving the signal!

[@ink_33]

Day 1 of reminding Lore that his videos make my day

[@Abby-le6sl]

I think those smoother brainwaves on the graph are just sleeping brainwaves, not the fire taking over

[@lucasmaracaja9350]

As the bell is a security system I interpreted it as a demonstration of a security flaw

[@gabriellimonta225]

I just wanna say that I'm a fan of you work and you really helped me understand the story behind Outer Wilds and Echoes of the eye. Could you make a video talking about the symbolism present on Echoes of the Eye? Thanks for the amazing work!

[@Talathleodin]

So watched your 3 Videos of the Story explained and I had 2 things to mention. 1: I dont think they necessarily STUDIED and tested to see if the dead woke by the bells I believe with how it was played out that it was something they just happen to stumble on. I think that room the Dead Owlk is in shadow for the player to be hit with the "OH MY GOSH" factor of them being dead. To me something happened where an elder, possibly the one they at first found out could be logged in through dying, was just near some one who woke up and they kind of realized then that the bell didn't work on them. 2: and this isn't much of anything but something I found on my play though witch interested me. If you leave the tower building go across the bridge towards the projection room, on the right is a home and in that home there's portraits of the family. Of witch one of the portraits has an Owlk with a broken horn and the picture is aggressively scratched out. I think its the home of the prisoner in the ring world and their family was dishonored to be affiliated with them.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Referring to point one. I mean sure. I think that’s how they discovered it. But that’s not what we see in the slide. We see they were doing tests there. In the slide they aren’t “just near anything”. There are two owlks, both connected to monitors, and they are running tests. I’m not sure what else to call that other than studying. And yeah. I noticed the scratched out portrait rut I didn’t notice the other one in the house! I’ll look into it. Thanks for letting me know!

[@Talathleodin]

@@TheLoreExplorer It is tricky to be sure without time stamps as you mentioned. As for the instrumentation I guess since it cuts to the readouts on a separate slide not in frame of the 2 Owlks I assumed it was just an internal computer diagram to explain "no brain signal no wake up" didn't put it together at a "test" is how I read that.

[@ikerfernandez1602]

Love your outer wilds' narrative breakdown videos. Keep on!

[@UgoneTheBest]

Dude keep up this awesome series, I am seriously hooked! I love Outer Wilds and hope to join the awesome discussions about lore and implications I see here in the comment section!

[@theophiledecaesteker4749]

I don't know if you noticed but the owlks also burnt the controller that lowered the Prisonner's... prison into the water. It's one of those weird thing that you talked about at the end of your video, like, why would they build a controller only to burn it down? My personnal guess is that not all the owlks stayed on the stranger after they concealed the eye. That would explain why there is no body, no children or anything, and spaceship. I mean if the owlks really wanted to conceal themselves in the Stranger they could have just barricaded the doors and that would be it. That would also explain why some reels can still be found, and why the creepy reels and the codes were made. There is also some stuff to be said about how some people empathized with the Prisonner, maybe at first he wasn't supposed to be eternally imprisonned?

[@DannyStuart]

Regarding the reels that show the events around burning the reels and backing them up in the dream world. I think there was a secret factional element that did not believe that covering their tracks and retreating to the simulation was the correct course. I think they operated in secret and left enough breadcrumbs behind for the player to find. The pro-simulation faction seems brutal and single minded, so it makes sense that they would have to operate secretively to avoid detection. This would also explain the hidden church and the three 'traps' you have to escape to view the reels.

[@LB_]

They could wake up any time they wanted without using the alarm bells by just blowing out their own flame. The alarm bells were only to prevent trespassing into areas they aren't allowed to go into, but this security system doesn't work for the dead ones. The alarm bell would normally wake up everyone so an intervention could happen.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I think thats something we can pretty safely assume. They can blow out ours. But If they could, why would the prisoner go to the water? Maybe just so we dont see? But idk bud. There is just nothing to prove they can just blow out their own lantern from what I can see. Itd be a decent mechanic for them to add because there have been a few times where I had to hunt down water to extinguish my light.

[@LB_]

@@TheLoreExplorer We never actually see where the Prisoner goes, do we? Maybe they just stopped and looked at the raft, got the idea of sailing into the sunset with the player and left the projection staff, and blew out their own flame without touching the water. But yeah, it is definitely ambiguous. Either way I appreciate you humoring my theories and interpretations.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

@@LB_ No. We dont see where they end up. But they leave their staff for us at the waters edge so we know they at least went to the water. I suppose you can imagine scenarios in which they left us the reel and left. Or just blew out their flame.. But the implication is a pretty obvious one.

[@heyHaywire]

How i understood the Mind-Artifact and Bell-error report reel, is that in order to enter the simulation, you have to enter a "state of mind", where no outside disturbances are present, in order to keep the simulation stable. Since how could you see the dream world if you already see something? How could you hear the simulation, if you already hear something? For this reason, they had to "shut off" all senses, making the subject available to transfer into the dream. I understood the easing waves on the graphs, when the subject went to sleep, as the brain stopping to receive all information from the real world, and getting into a state, were the dream world's sensory information can be transmitted to the receiving subject, without getting overwritten by actual sensory inputs. This way, it works just like a dream, you don't feel the real world, yet feel the fake imaginary dream, and can still be woken up by giving information to any sense: touch, vision or hearing. If you want to wake up, you can, put out your artifact yourself with in simulation water, or the same way outside, OR get one of your real world senses to work, overwriting the simulation, and waking up. This is the bell's job. You are not guaranteed to wake up if you see something, nor if you are shook, you may not wake up, its just simply not reliable enough. The sound is the most reliable, as the ear, and sound detection is the highest functioning sense (if we were looking at human biology that is). By having the bells continuously ring, everyone who is in hearing distance, will have their sound in-dream overwritten by reality, and so, woken up. In the case of dying exactly the moment when a green fire and an artifact is present, the brain still stops receiving all sensory inputs (as well as other stuff, hence the even flatter graph) before actually stopping to function, making it a valid case for transferring the mind to the dream world. But, if you are dead, the brain does not respond to any real world senses, and this way, you can not be woken up by the bells. You still get woken up from the dream world if your artifact is put out: this is proven when the lowland pyre room gets flooded, and all owlks get "extracted" from that part of the simulation, waking up into their no longer functioning bodies.

[@Geidi174]

Can't deny the Lore Explorer's enthusiasm for Outer Wilds lore. V informative vids 👏

[@Bi_scotti_5]

How cool would it be if the Eye forcefield device wasn't destroyed and we got to hear the Eye's signal before arriving there? I'm sure that would mean the Eye would have to exist in the galaxy and obey the rules of quantum objects, meaning it would probably make the game chug, but I just think it would be interesting. Maybe it could be a hidden bad ending where it causes something bad to happen if you turn it back on. But then again, I'm sure the developers didn't want to steer players' opinions one way or the other when it comes to the Eye. We learn it is definitively good by the end. But keeping it a mystery until then is way better.

[@Vice_Admiral_Garp]

This is some good viewing thanks again buddy

[@LowProfile0247]

I think it’s cooler to think that the glitches used to bypass the codes were unintentional. Considering how they burned all the codes even in the forbidden archives, I don’t think they would’ve designed the traps to be passable via glitches. It’s pretty easy to overlook glitches when you’re making something, after all. Also it’s like the Hearthian is saying “no” to the codes and just breaking the simulation.

[@moon1val]

Your videos perfectly scratch the itch left by finishing the game. Good work !

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Thank you!

[@LB_]

It's easy to get back up and into the normal dream world areas after falling below the world, you just go to the forbidden archive where you learn that trick and take the elevator up. If you had lit the bridge there, you can even access the other areas as well.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Sorry if this is a double reply. But...the first person to find that glitch wouldnt have anything below. How could they...No one knew how to enter it before to build things there.

[@LB_]

@@TheLoreExplorer How do we know whether the simulation glitches were found before or after sealing the prisoner? If they were found before, I have a feeling they could have accounted for it in the design of the vault locks

[@TheLoreExplorer]

We really dont. Which is why I started the video by saying "If we thought the nomai not dating things was bad. This timeline is super open. Lets try to make a logical timeline for them" and not "Here is the defacto timeline of the owlks." But with this I just worked it out by logic. Sadly, again, in this dlc there is nothing we can use to prove anything really. But you cant build something in a place entered by glitches without knowing about the glitch. It seems unlikely theyd just drill down(to a place they wouldnt know exists and really shouldnt in their sim) and make libraries. And tbh it does seem designed to account for the vault locks. Just in the opposite way in which you expect. The owlks made sure that both the first and third totem platforms arent accessible by falling below. But the second one seems specifically designed to be accessible from there. If this was something they were worried about Im sure theyd block it off. But they didnt. They left it open. The reason they would do this is so if they lost the codes(and we know they made copies so they were worried about just this) they could still free the prisoner later on using glitches. But then they had a change of heart.

[@WackoMcGoose]

...I get the feeling that the Eye Blocker Controls were booby-trapped, set to the same alarm system as the totems in the dream world. If anyone tries to access a Forbidden Archive _or_ turn off the signal blocker, emergency devirt _everyone_ so they can find out what's going on. ...Also makes me wonder if the alarm totems tipped off the owlks that all of them are dead... Especially considering if they find your lone lantern on the ground, they _won't_ blow it out (out of fear of devirting one of their own, knowing they'll never return) and instead run up to you directly for the "HUTTAH, NECK SNAP!". They'll only blow out your lantern if _you're holding it_ (but then, how do they know with certainty that you're not holding _someone else's_ lantern...?).

[@letsdragon9427]

My thought was the glitched ringed planet symbol just meant the more technical parts involving the dream world code. A reminder it wasn’t a reel about home, but rather their placebo

[@TheLoreExplorer]

This is a very good way to look at it. Tbh I had a hard time understanding a lot of the dlc at first. Thats why most of this is just like factual event by event based stuff. I may try to take another crack at this now I understand it a bit better. But youre completely right. It wasnt necessarily a glitch. I just remember seeing bug report somewhere and thought thats what they all were. Thanks for letting me know!

[@Axelonmorales]

Maybe the bell testing on dead owlks were to know what was going to happen to the simulation version of the dead owlks, maybe to ensure they do not disappeared from the simulation.

[@tasmanwinchcombe9774]

I belive that the slide where the old Owlk dies within range of the campfire is from when the dream "VR" it's has just had it's first successful test and the younger Owlks are either excitedly showing the elder thier new invention, or trying to let the elder "see" thier home world one last time before he/she dies.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Oh bro. I really like the idea that they were just trying to show the old inhabitant the sim before they die. And it was all just sort of an accident.

[@joneaeaeeaeh9325]

My guess about the bell test is that they wanted to make sure the bells wouldn't end up "waking up" the dead, which wouldn't actually wake them up, but would just stuff their light out, killing them permanently.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Thats actually a pretty decent thought. They didnt think they could awaken the dead. They were worried the bells would, and since they cant awaken, they would deload instead. Boy do i wish they told the story in a medium in which they could actually portray that info instead of us having to guess.

[@leonader9465]

I think the bells were mostly a security measure, and them not waking dead people was seen as a bug, as it allowed them to bypass the security gates.

[@wortwortwort117]

One thing to keep in mind is that *they* (the zealots that burned the reels) were the ones that created the simulation. "glitches" like placing your lantern down couldve easily been intended by design so select individuals can access the hidden passages they created. Everything in the simulation is by design

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I did an interview with the lead dev. The glitches were just that. glitches. And for the sake of designing convenience they made the "three glitches the shortcuts". In other words there were more glitches but we only see 3 cause thats all we need to see. They also werent common knowledge to anyone aside from the creators of the sim. And they had hoped to forget them over time.

[@TheRealDubbe]

Here's my take on the Owlks testing the alarm on a dead Owlk by looking at the game mechanics. To unlock the vault with the prisoner you need to use all the glitches you've found. - Dying in the fire to enter the world in the "dead" state - Dropping between the areas while they are loading to be able to walk over the water to one of the seals - Leaving the lamp to unlock one of the seals by seeing stuff that was unseen before - Walking straight to the alarm tower thingies that would wake you up if you weren't dead I bet the last mechanic is the one which they did that test for.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

But thats only for us. When those traps were built the glitches werent the intended solution. Thats not how the owlks ever planned on opening the vault. They planned on using the codes. So they wouldnt need to test how to get around their own trap when theyve built in a solution. Or maybe Im not understanding.

[@gustavojacobina9796]

Best Outer Wilds content producer. Thak you LE

[@medblikegrave]

in regards to the bell error report; perhaps the owlks had simply observed the phenomena and felt it worth making an log about it, for science

[@juannunez6822]

I think in the reels we can see a short version of how events happened. Maybe the prisoner wasn't caught immediately as shown (as it happens in the first set of reels, where, I guess, it took them a loooot of time to build the stranger and reach the eye). However, the questions still linger; how did the owls know the prisoner awakened? 'cause he might have awakened by drowing in the dream world and just have gone silently to move the Eye's probe. Were all the owls that crazy to lock themselves so nobody could escape from the dream world? I think that they forced everyone to be in the dream world and if someone just woke up, they'd be locked for then sleeping or dying, reentering to the dream world. Was all the owl population so short? Why are no other corpses in the stranger rather than those trapped in the dream world? If there are trees in the stranger, that means they can go back to their moon and try to reconstruct it", right? I think, as seen in the reel of the eye, death to the owl results in life, so all the trees from the stranger are actually the dead bodies of all the population that traveled to the Outer Wilds solar system. That may explain how these trees are so old and how they survived in those conditions in the ship. The other dead bodies in the chambers are conseved as they are "alive" in the dream world as they're holding their artifacts. (similar to Solanum I guess). Why do they have some spaceships? Just to build the probe? I always thought that the missing person in the chambers escaped in one of these ships but I was wrong lol. I tried to search for a way in but there's nothing.

[@LB_]

The guard bells in the dream world don't look for the artifact. They look for creatures that are not in darkness. You can put the artifact down and the alarm guard will still see you if you are not in darkness. If you put the artifact down in their viewing range, they ignore it.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

But just setting it down wouldnt change where its light is? I see what youre saying though. That makes more sense but still sort of weird.

[@LB_]

@@TheLoreExplorer Try going to the Starlit Cove guard bell that leads to the two-way raft. Walk into its line of sight, then set the artifact down in front of you. It will stop seeing you. If you walk into your artifact's own light while it is on the ground, it will see you again.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

@@LB_ I know. Thats actually how I solved that puzzle initially.(and how I got the incorrect idea they were looking for lanterns being held) But what Im saying is just setting down that lantern shouldnt change what is being lit up. You can see mechanics wise it does. But it really shouldn't.

[@deskrabbit2190]

It could've been that they were unsure whether the bell interrupted the signal of the brain or the lantern and wanted to test their hypothesis using a dead and living Elk.

[@LordTelperion]

11:09 I think generations of Owl-folk had lived on their world-ship by the time of this incident, and that a counter-cult of sorts had grown around the stories of the Eye. I think maybe once the deed was done by the rebels, the ruling party decided to end future attempts by burning their own history (a kind of cultural suicide), so that the following generations wouldn't even know to try such a thing again. But the rebels would continue on for a little while, salvaging what knowledge they could and building secret enclaves in the real world, and the dream world, to preserve the knowledge of what happened.

[@DavidMGiles]

Maybe they were trying to make sure the bells going off wouldn't permanently kill people? I think that would be my concern.

[@johnmalock6517]

I just realized, I think when the owlk die and enter the simulation, they become part of it, like an ai based on their last strongest thoughts, based on the fact that they don’t project the simulation with their lanterns when you walk outside the range of yours

[@ultrafun2227]

I think the lantern projects "full HD" only for connected person

[@daveski7]

I believe the frequency of the brainwaves changes when they fall asleep simply becasue their mind is resting, hence the lower frenquency. I dont think any thoughts are being "Hijacked" This makes even more sense when we tihink about thwat the description of falling asleep at campfire is in other parts of the game. Where it talks about letting your mind be at peace etc

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Youre probably right. This also makes triple sense when you account for the dead owlk. And how they went into the dream world anyway. But there sort of has to be something that hijiacks your brainwaves though. Feeds it new info. Or else they would just fall asleep. Theyd see dreams or whatevs owl elk see when sleeping. Now I think those brainwaves that are wavy probably do just represent them going to sleep. But THEN the brainwaves get hijacked. Otherwise there is just about no known mechanism to make you hear, feel, and see things that arent real.(as if they were) edit* uggh. I guess not. How do you feed a dead brain brainwaves? I suppose we just have to say "magic". Ive been working very hard to try to make this all make sense lore wise. I can figure out the mechanics of the atp. Im pretty sure Ive even figured out the mechanics of the eye. But this sim??? ...I just call magic.

[@LB_]

I don't think they used the glitches at all to seal the vault, I think they just used the normal codes to seal the vault and then discovered the glitches later and kept them secret. You'll notice that the glitch you use to bypass a code isn't learned in the same place as where you'd normally get the code, so from each town's perspective, the glitch they found didn't affect their own guard mechanics. They likely didn't communicate the glitches to each other, as if they had they would have implemented workarounds to prevent those exploits.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I dont think they used the glitches to actually seal them. But they "implemented them". And although they dont correlate with their spaces area. The hidden libraries and the solution to the seels puzzles correlate, dont they? I think they implemented the glitches into their system so they could release the prisoner later if they lost the codes. But they wouldnt have used them to seel the vault.

[@LB_]

@@TheLoreExplorer Yes, each glitch does bypass or simplify the way to get to the forbidden archive that teaches the glitch, but they likely don't care about that since by that point the cat is out of the bag.

[@cola98765]

IIRC datamines found codes to all 3 seals. While first one doesn't do anything as it's different from correct solution, other 2 actually do something (bring the raft back and disable bell totems) This makes me think that "glitched" solution intended by devs, was not intended by Strangers.

[@juanfrancisconavarrorodrig567]

You should make a video on Owlk technology, like your Nomai tech video

[@nevillega1054]

I still don't underatand why they decided to not burn the rulls that explain to the player how to enter in the 3 library in the digital word

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The inhabitants are an interesting species. The devs say that the only reason the archives exist at all is because the inhabitants fear of death has sort of morphed into or is more akin to an aversion of permanent loss of any kind. And this is why they tend to hide knowledge instead of destroying it ::D

[@TomtheMagician21]

Plot twist, the elks are just Mark Zuckerberg and Meta

[@saqibsiddiqi1355]

dont have the game, but i have a question, what happens if you meet an Owlks outside the lantern bubble

[@TheLoreExplorer]

It plays an animation as if they physically harm you to kill you and wake you up. Like, youre a green lump of code and not a person, but it looks like they break you in half.

[@miopi.9302]

Hi The Lore Explorer! First of all thank you for every video you make :) I wanted to know how you disable de HUD? apparently there´s a mod to make that work but people say that after echoes of the eye is not working anymore, if someone else can help me it would be much appreciated!, I´m working on a video of OW explaining the full lore in spanish haha ::)

[@TheLoreExplorer]

After echoes of the eye the mods stopped working because the code was updated. Mods are back to working again. Just use the cheat and debug mode

[@miopi.9302]

@@TheLoreExplorer thank you! Will try that ::)

[@somedude4487]

Those towers that activate the bells work off of light, not just your artifact. This is why turning off the lights and hiding your light let's you get into the well. I assume you know this already now but just wanted to comment.

[@misapheonix]

Is there any indication to believe the Owlks were still alive, in the real world, when the Nomaii entered the solar system? I think this would make them (even more) creepy, after seeing a few observation rooms. Clearly they never felt inclined to interact, but also never to assist!!

[@TheLoreExplorer]

No. Its known they were long dead.

[@misapheonix]

@@TheLoreExplorer Ahhhh, you did answer this question! Sorry, I gotta sift through each video with my comments, to see replies here D: When can we deduce the Owlks died? I thought Ghost Matter (from the Interloper entry) got them. There was no sign of dead bodies in any other area outside the simulation chambers. I thought they still had to come out to look after their bodies. Did they really sink that low to disregard this?

[@gustavojacobina9796]

Amazing video LE, I only disagree with you about the purpose of the glitches on accesing the vault. I actually the "right" way to access it is only by having the passwords, and their intent on destroying all copies of then is to make sure the prisoner never leaves. I think that only the player character makes the relation between the glitches and exploit then to open the vaults. I totally agree that the elks would document the glitches to teach others to beware or use then, but I dont think they were ever meant to be "backups" for the vaults passwords.

[@gustavojacobina9796]

I actually saw you responding to another guy about the same issue. I agree is pretty insane that the glitches are conveniently at each location , but I think it's as insane that they planned to use those glitches are backups. After seeing the burned out codes on the dream world I found out that their purpose was to seal it forever, and I still stand by this. It's just as you said, it's kind of an open ended thing, so it's cool that we can make theories, but sad that we can't discover for sure what happened and the reasoning behind it

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Think about this. Your plan is to make codes that would allow someone to escape. And then destroy the codes so they cant? Why not...not make codes. Not make ways to access the totems at all? Instead, making the reels and totems accessible at all suggest they planned to free them in the future. I think that idea to seal the prisoner away forever came later. And the initial plan was to make codes to free them in the future. And if those codes are lost, theyd need a back up way to do it.

[@gustavojacobina9796]

@@TheLoreExplorer I totally see you reasoning, now I get it. Any theories on what happened for then to change the mind about the codes? Also, have you ever wondered if the Elks noticed the Nomai coming to the solar system?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Now this isnt for sure. But I think a small group of owlk felt sympathy for the prisoner. At one point they tried to free the prisoner. But again, they got caught. And so the owlks madness reawakened leading them to destroy all codes, and even the controller to raise the diving bell. As for the Owlks noticing the nomai. They were dead by the time the nomai came. I think the prisoners vision shows us that the elks perish. Then it zooms out to show the nomai finding the signal. We have to remember, even in outer wilds distances, signals take time to travel. So by the time the nomai received the signal the owlks were already dead.

[@joestack1921]

I’ve got questions about the prisoner. I assume his body is in the vault in the bell, but did the other inhabitants kill him? I just tried to see if opening the vault in the dream world would also open it in the real world, but then I realized you can’t open the dream world vault without dying so we’ll never know lol

[@joestack1921]

Ok I just watched the prisoner’s vision again and they put him in there alive. So he must have just died of natural causes while sleeping in the vault. That’s how they all died, right? They just stopped coming out to take care of their bodies. If all of this happened in the time of the Nomai, then it’s strange that their bodies aren’t more deteriorated. That’s why I was confused, thinking they were alive VERY recently

[@TheLoreExplorer]

It’s not in the time of the nomai we know. We are shown that they wither away. The signal continues to travel. Then the nomai pick it up and come to our system. They’ve been dead since before the nomai got the signal and came here. And yes. The prisoner is left to starve.

[@joestack1921]

@@TheLoreExplorer I’ve heard you mention a Reddit page or something for these discussions; could you tell me where to find the community? Thanks!

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Just the outer wilds Reddit. Google will help you get there.

[@GrandNoble]

LORE THEORY: THE PRISONER MADE THE REELS THAT SHOW YOU WHERE THE BURNING ROOMS ARE. So perhaps the order of events is a little different. Maybe the prisoner create the 'trail' to the end to help anyone who finds the stranger. The idea that the Owlks would do it just doesn't make sense. But someone trying to SHOW hey there's secrets here, go find them - makes sense to me...

[@casedistorted]

My question is so if all the strangers are dead, they all “wake up” after a certain point in the loop and disappear. If they’re dead and the dead can’t be woken up, why do they disappear? I know the water comes I guess and physically puts out their fire, but isn’t the simulation being hosted elsewhere? Or are all the 3 diff instances of simulation their own little “islands” so to speak? Interesting stuff to consider. Really good lore exploring here lore explorer, another A+ video!

[@norbertlange3184]

They are disconnected from the fire in the real world, and the sim therefore boots them. The lantern and fire is the thing still "alive". You could cheese by extinguishing the owls laterns in the real world i guess

[@TheLoreExplorer]

They are only in the dream world because their artifact is lit. The flood comes and extinguishes them in the real world. And since they cant wake up, they just die. Its hard to say where its being hosted. But if their connection to the host drops(their lantern extinguishes), they wake up. And if they cant wake up, they die.

[@thelivingcat0210]

I don’t think the glitches were intended ways of getting through the prisoner’s locks.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

No. And I dont think I say they were? The codes were the intended way to get through the locks. But they used the glitches to make the traps. Namely, the under the surface glitch. Thats where they construct the whole thing. And Im almost positive the other glitch exploits were used purposefully as well. First they made codes suggesting they were going to free them eventually. And they even made backup codes in case they lost them. So we know they were scared of losing the codes to free them. And it just so happens all the glitches(alternate way to free the prisoner) are exactly where they need to be to show us the alternative way if the codes were lost. I suppose these could all be coincidences or game design things. But if the species really made the traps without purposefully adding the glitch exploits, they are just dumb. The second totem platform is literally set up and designed to reach from the second glitch while the other two are blocked off.

[@kyleblackburne2870]

So they trapped the prisoner in the coffin and left him to starve to death. He then died and wakes up in prison forever… harsh

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Super Harsh. They may not even have gave them enough time to starve since they could probably have used the time to break the artifact.

[@spaceghostsyrup4710]

There's something weird that happenes in the the dream world where if you drop your lantern and look at a burned reel it goes very glitchy different from the blue matrix stuff and makes a difference sound it seem important but I'm lost from here its something you haven't covered either

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Are there burned reels in the dream world?

[@spaceghostsyrup4710]

@@TheLoreExplorer my bad i played again recently to try & and capture a video but it turns out it wasn't a reel it was the burnt code I guess I had miss remembered it as being a reel

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Oh. yeah. I noticed that. Its like a hole in the green digital view of this. Ill think about it and what it may be! Thanks for reminding me!

[@pancho7776]

Can you follow the prisoner in free cam?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Yeah. They disappear as soon as they leave the first floor.

[@pancho7776]

@@TheLoreExplorer thanks. That was bugging me lol

[@DwAboutItManFr]

The elk are a extremely wise and based species, did absolutely nothing wrong except the elk with just one horn.

[@FlyingTurtleLP]

So who build the simulation? If you think the owls build it, then why should they even be surprised about the lantern-limited-rendering?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The owlks built it. But they built it without even knowing how to enter it. So of course they dont know everything about it. Also, its sort of silly to imagine the creator knows all bugs. You have to use the software to find buds. You dont write them in on purpose.

[@TomtheMagician21]

Wait a minute, either this KZbin glitch that apparently unsubsribes is real or I just forgot but I wasn't subscribed so I'm here now to change that

[@nathancorliss9347]

I have an answer for the alarm test! Think about it. Anything that would “wake up” a sleeping owlk in the simulation would in fact kill an owlk that was dead in the real world. They wanted to know if these alarms would be safe for owlks living in the simulation who had died in the real world. This means a dead owlk living in the simulation volunteered to risk being “woken up” and erased from existence, which is a big risk, but afterwards the dead owlks wouldn’t have to live in fear of being accidentally woken up and erased.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Thats an excellent point I had not thought of. It wasnt trying to wake them up to regain control of their body. It was testing to see if theyd wake up at all now dead. And if so.....what happens.

[@vertice30c26]

yes, this is definitely sea of thieves.

[@pikpik_carrot3392]

So what the eye is showing is when it flashes white it is howling the destruction of there universe and the killing of them but the grass growing on-top of the skull showing that with there death new life will sprout

[@TheLoreExplorer]

So...think about this. The eye destroys the universe in your interpretation, right? So....where does the grass grow?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Like why does one part have to be literal but the next symbolic. It makes more sense to me the whole thing is symbolic. And not just every part but the part where the eye does bad things.

[@pikpik_carrot3392]

@@TheLoreExplorer well the eye has no idea what the new universe will be so it can only show it this way and the eye is simply trying to show it what it will do when they interact with it in a way they can understand

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I agree with you. I just think you shouldn’t take it literally. IMO the eye shows the owlks the same thing it shows us when we enter. Just through a vision. And the owlks either misunderstood. Or they are just that selfish of a species.

[@pikpik_carrot3392]

@@TheLoreExplorer i think they misunderstood it and maybe, after looking over the real over and over and over, the Prisoner learned what the eye was trying to say but knowing what the others would do to them they didn't tell anyone.

[@Melatonln]

Man can we like..... get more dlc pls? lol this games great

[@kingofthedamned6773]

I miss the lore explorer discord server

[@Elphealer]

Noooooo ! There are no englsih subtitles on this video T-T It will be hard to follow your speech x)

[@TheLoreExplorer]

My video settings say there are English subtitles. Sorry if its not showing up

[@Elphealer]

@@TheLoreExplorer On my side there is only Korean available x) I will try anyway to look the video this afternoon, I love your work too much to miss an entire video !

[@SolarSayl]

16:28 💀