How Dead Space Perfects Cosmic Horror

[@RommelStorm]

It's funny how at first we all thought it's just a bunch of homicidal alien race, then we found out that they were actual people transformed by the Marker, that the Marker is sentient. And then we finally found out that the Markers were merely relay networks, a signal tower if you will, to a Brother Moon's will.

[@machina5]

Lol

[@DevdevOnYT]

I wonder where the Brother Moons came from though?

[@randykrinkle7811]

@@DevdevOnYT honestly idk I feel like their from a different dimension or universe like tyranid in 40k. They’re able to communicate telepathically and warp from system with ease so def from different dimensions

[@fumothfan9]

@@randykrinkle7811 My theory i feel like the moons either evolved or were made from a galactic war. Since they require a massive ton of flesh and bones to make them. But they generate an ungodly amount of infinte energy. If you notice they rely on building up aliens to harvest them later on. They help build and evolve them. Honestly a galactic war seems plausible since wars leave lotta dead corpses everywhere. They can snuff out like 90% alien species in a war. Then the 10% finish off and control the buildup on other planets.

[@thesleeplessone6971]

@@randykrinkle7811 according to the original dead space director we were supposed to have found the origin of the necromorphs in dead space 4, and that it was somehow worse than the necromorphs

[@seansnyder3215]

Something that unnerves about Nicole’s fate is we never see her in person for real. We never come across her corpse or what ever is left of her. Who’s to say she wasn’t one of the Necromorphs we slaughtered along the way?

[@ElSauceGod]

ive always wondered that, and it’s extremely likely tbh, i wish they wouldve acknowledged that in someway

[@pewpewpew7824]

@@ElSauceGodin the 2nd game, ghost nicole says something along the lines, “how do you know you havent cut me up before?!”

[@GoReachPastElevation]

I always thought she just became biomass, simply added to the rest with not thoughts of relevancy from the marker

[@coulthard1984]

Holy crap dude. Excellent point

[@Jules279]

Legit any girl necromorph could've been her😶.

[@OmnipotentGoggles]

One thing I've always respected about Dead Space is that no one can ever look at the situation, even edgelords, and gone "Yeah I could've totally handled that!" Necromorphs can be put down, but not permanently, they're fucking *everywhere,* and the whole time both you and everyone around you is going insane due to an errant alien signal, which denies you sleep and causes you to hallucinate dead loved ones who typically encourage you to kill yourself ... in an extended outbreak, no one ever stands a chance. Even suicide plays into these bastards' hands!

[@helix33933]

If this happened in real life, I would probably steal a shuttle and kill myself. better than starving to death with no supplies, or becoming a necromorph.

[@Gothic20162]

Well I mean, considering he destroyed a moon, Isaac stands a chance. Or rather, much more of a chance than anyone else

[@luizfelipemelo1098]

​@@Gothic20162he destroyed a moon using alien tech, on earth, even with a isaac and carver humanity wouldnt stand a chance

[@truecaliber1995]

The only true micro method of containment, unfortunately, might be cremation. Burn the necromorph's dismembered, inert body so it can't be repurposed for environmental poisoning, and burn any corpses already present to prevent further spread. Though, you'd need a mentally resistant clean-up crew capable of resisting the Marker's dementia signals before even considering such a tedious process. Macro, nuclear devastation seems to be the only other way. Destroy the Marker, and you've stopped it from spreading Marker blueprints to highly intelligent but susceptible scientists. Then, it's just a matter burning any necromorph stragglers after the fact.

[@joshheralal8758]

The behaviour you described isn't what I would consider edgelord-esque.

[@Comicbroe405]

Dead Space has some of the most fascinating lore I've seen in horror games. Really hope they make a part 4.

[@yaro42]

Lets just remake ds2, and then reboot ds3

[@Comicbroe405]

@@yaro42 Not a bad idea.

[@erris5744]

Well the third game left absolutely no room for a fourth. By the end of the DLC, the human race is almost entirely dead and the Brother Moons have successfully created a new one

[@SpirosZ]

They need to remake the third game, the first two were incredible.

[@nictibbetts]

@@yaro42 based

[@alexanderstilianov]

You can't trust any of the characters, not even Isaac, as he's influenced by the Marker and has faint auditory hallucinations (whispers in the bathroom, voices here and there) since he got separated from the crew after the necromorphs attack them. Later he gets vivid visual hallucinations (Nicole) as well. Since _you_ are Isaac, you can't even trust yourself.

[@fumothfan9]

DS3 ironically took it a step further. Coop you play 2 different visions. I remember coop and my buddy freaking out blasting everything and i was like tf is wrong with you xd.

[@capcutnewb]

he’s actually much more resistant to the marker than others. Most people go absolutely insane

[@wazittuya4092]

Thanks to all traumatic isaac gone through, he's capable of fighting brother moon, just take a look how brother moon being hostile to isaac at the start of ds3 awakened dlc, he's a threat to them.

[@crazychase98]

The marker fucks with him sure. But it turned his cope of his gf into derangement. But he was not brain washed and was only somewhat effect it by itm he still wanted to destroy the marker and the infected while keeping it away from humans. Everyone else wants to get. It as close to humanity as possible because the marker wills it

[@peasant8246]

*insert Astronaut meme here*

[@DonJuanDecepticon]

There is some evidence that some of the neceromorphs Isaac has killed are actually human, he returns to an area after leaving there and when he returns there are dead humans that weren’t there previously, this “could” mean that in his hysteria while killing these things he perceives humans as the monsters. Isaac could be deceiving himself even more that we first assume.

[@JudgingNug]

Always thought it was the crazy surgeon guy hauling corpses

[@JoaoVictor-rg5ix]

At first o thought ot were the necros pilling corpses for the biomass.

[@BILLYdaGOAT-rd5im]

​@@JoaoVictor-rg5ixThat only works for necromorphs only, BUT they could be brought to one location so infectors do their thing and turn those deceased into necromorphs

[@richardcahill4419]

I remember Isaac coming across dead bodies from unitologist ritual suicide. In medical, and later on in the game there's bodies with bags over their head that Isaac hallucinates as speaking to him. I don't remember there being random corpses that were not unis

[@NFLJarhead]

@@BILLYdaGOAT-rd5imI think this is the best theory, necromorphs are a hive mind to the market, so they aren’t wild in a sense. They do have intelligence

[@bdbgh]

What adds to the horror is that it was implied that the plans for DS4 was to show that there's a bigger fish than the necromorphs and the brethren moons, makes you wonder what kind of threat can be larger than an all consuming corruption. Kinda echoing the three body problem in some aspects.

[@fumothfan9]

Yup Canned script would've been people would've made it but at a cost. So there is a super higher being that also just waits and eats moons and necromorphs somehow. Meaning Surprise Surprise We're either producers or 1st at most tier consumers like grass mice and snakes. We'd be at highest snakes but hawks would eat us and something bigger would eat the hawk.

[@mattmedrala1947]

@@fumothfan9 We're more like molecules that comprise microbes. Each individual is a cell within a hivemind, that in itself is a cell in a moon, which in turn could be a cell in a galaxy-sized network, and that food chain may extend infinitely.

[@Antrod]

Heh... makes me wonder if they were going to go "HPL Mythos" and bring out Azathoth! That would be the only being more dangerous than the Brother Moons

[@frankkober9449]

We all know it, everyone is just in fear to say his name. It is cuthulu who would be wanting for us to drive us completely insane

[@Johnsmith99663]

"Until someone makes a bigger moon..."

[@ShadoDiablosXD]

Whats super sad about these scene on 29:30 is that if you do the side quests, I believe nicoles, you learn that isaac and nicole got into an argument before he arrived in the system, then she sent her final video as everything died. From the side quest and this scene you learn that isaac never got a chance to apologize or make up. He never got to make amends and was led on by a hallucination, it makes for a rather devistating reveal as a new player. I'm a vet of the series however that side quest really made me feel for isaac as it made that scene so much more crushing for this poor man.

[@fumothfan9]

I got the hint they fought prior to the remake. After all Issac had immense guilt not only from help in getting her the job but others. In DS2 he or rather nicole's hallucination says how he never said goodbye. How she was all alone scared and died. Taunting him. Also why, even though DS3 writing is dog water, Issac wanted to save Ellie after a fight he got into with her after they broke up and how bad and guilty he felt about killing Conor was it (he new bf)? And the ending how he accepts his demise knowing at least he said goodbye to Ellie and she was alright

[@ShadoDiablosXD]

YA. I'm super happy they expanded it all. Makes me happy. I love the game and I'm very grateful to Motive for the remake.

[@JoaoVictor-rg5ix]

Telling you, they should do a deep dive exploration of this conflict in the next game.

[@Ruosteinenknight]

29:56 you can find foreshadowing for this in chapter 7 when you look for the SOS-beacon. Remember the door where Nicole came from? Well, you can afterwards turn gravity off and fly there. And one terminal has recorded tge short conversation that Isaac and Nicole had. Except the voice heard in that recording isn't Nicole's, but Elizabeth Cross's.

[@Ruosteinenknight]

@LeepeNipe32 Huh, that's actually pretty smart. I was wondering why that was in there, since it's kinda obvious giveaway. I never looked there the first time I played, since I kinda tried to get the game to the end in time and only wondered there when I was on my second playtrough.

[@poisonshelf2037]

the first letter of every chapter spell out N I C O L E I S D E A D

[@leonardosantuario3346]

@@poisonshelf2037 thanks, captain obvious. That's been known since 2008.

[@The_Sharktocrab]

​@@poisonshelf2037 always has

[@izaaak281]

@@leonardosantuario3346i didnt know it homie im a newcomer, i appreciate the info homie

[@stormhought]

I have never been scarred by cosmic horror, but when I played dead space, and there was some part where you can just go outside, and you can see the endlessness of space, and I was like, "damn, I can just leave, and fly on into endless abyss, until I run out oxygen, and I will find, nothing". I don't know, it just opened my eyes to something I never thought about.

[@ZaLewdWarudo]

Scared and scarred are very different things.

[@SinHurr]

Read "Hellstar Remina" by Junji Ito.

[@aayushdas19]

I got the exact same sinking feeling when I tried to land on a planet in the outer wilds, I missed the planet and just kept fleeting further and further away into the depths of space, it fucking terrified me to such an extent that I never wanted to play again.

[@SCP-173peanut]

You can escape, but wherever you go It wont help you...

[@teekay851]

sounds more like you lack imagination than that DS was especially eye opening, you could swim into the ocean and get the same feeling you don't need cosmic horror for that.

[@NotAGoodUsername360]

The most horrific yet genius part of Dead Space's cosmic horror is that humanity isn't irrelevant, exactly, on the cosmic scale, but rather that we are *the primordial cells* of an even greater superorganism that has yet to form. That our religious urges and yearning for a great unification in the afterlife is in fact the ultimate objective of the chemical process of life- that we were built to join together and even our intellect is nothing more than individual neurons in a cosmic, eternal brain. This changes the struggle of cosmic horror from the external to the internal- do we have the right to deny our creators the purpose for which we were built, if it is horrific in process? Would humanity be happier if our collective unconscious became our only consciousness? Is the loss of a "self" worth giving up to become a small part of a greater existence? Is it even ethical to resist this process, or is such resistance nothing more than a cancerous, selfish reaction that threatens the life of the whole? Do we have a right to condemn these beings for what they're doing to humanity, when each and every human alive is doing the exact same thing to trillions of their own cells? If our cells were conscious, would we fault them for rebelling against assimilation into the body, and would we try to stop our immune system from killing our cancers on ethical grounds, however futile that may be? The process of life is ugly and disgusting, and often cruel when you look at it from a greater perspective. But that is just the nature of life itself.

[@fumothfan9]

I took it as another way We werent relevant or irrelevant. Rather a fluke. In DS3 the tarus aliens were supposed to make the next brother moon but froze it. Had they fulfilled convergence they would've 100% targeted earth for awhile and eaten people much faster or earlier. The markers killed and cultivated people to eat them eventually once enough markers were made. IRONICALLY that extra wriggle room made people advance in ... Mining planets. Bare rock and hard metals and minerals like nothing. And Against flesh and bones it's like using a steak knife to cut through a 100 ft thick jello wall but with the force of a truck. So it'd take some time but the machinery would eventually destroy flesh and bone hiveminds.

[@mattmedrala1947]

I see the 'moons' as themselves cells in an infinitely vast organism based around organic matter and consciousness. It's possible that the universe's 'life cycle' depends on these entities accumulating enough 'life' to eventually release it on a scale vast enough to be considered a universe on its own.

[@georgekostaras]

Is it weird that I find that weirdly uplifting?

[@kck-kck879]

NotAGoodUsername 360 You sound like a filthy Unitologist. Get out of here, you religion freak!

[@Foreseer117]

You don't understand what clicked in me when you said that. I always saw the Brother Moons as immune defense, making sure that the confines of the universe, the body itself, is never ruptured. As sickening as the idea is that we are selfish to deny what creators have planned, it also gives a bit of hope. We can't be made perfect because even the body that is the universe isn't. It's such a cool way to blend the cosmic with the personal.

[@innocuousalias6632]

Isaac's crazy face is amazing on it's own but what if that's the expression he was making under the iconic helmet for half the game and we didn't even know.

[@djtrac3r935]

Doubtful, the tone of his voice really makes it obvious he’s not.

[@aydinmakesthings]

One part of the lore that always scared me was in 3. At first I thought that maybe the Aliens made the Markers. Only to find out they "Found" the Markers, and they don't even know where they came from. It scared me a lot, the fact that truly no one knows where the Markers are from!

[@fumothfan9]

Play dlc awakening. Spoilers . . . . . . . . . . . Moons made them. Brother moons. The markers were made by the previous ones to cultivate the planets, build up the species, help them evolve, make them dependant on marker energy and they build more regardless. Then they harvest them to make new moons. They make the convergence that form another moon. Then the cycle repeats. Why they do it? Since moons don't have to eat (heavily hinted) to survive. So another reason?

[@hakesz]

@@fumothfan9 Still what made the moons and whats their purpose beside reproduction. Mass Effect 3 effect honestly.

[@jessicaberry5596]

I feel your answer ruins the atmosphere of the comment you're responding to.@@fumothfan9

[@doomerbloomer6160]

@@hakesz That's a silly question. What's YOUR purpose besides reproduction?

[@JoshSweetvale]

The Bretheren Moons are also aliens.

[@Devious.official]

I genuinely love how dead space is based on the Fermi paradox, with an enemy that is an entire paradox in itself. I love the fact that we have no idea who the hell made the first marker/brethren moon

[@Groovy_Bruce]

Based on the great filter, specifically.

[@hieunguyenrileygekko]

one of the best aspects about DS is humanity itself has clear awareness about the true nature of Marker but in the end, the knowledge itself is a curse, once we know about it, we cant resist the urge to know more and to conquer it, and lead to our inevitable doom

[@Ruosteinenknight]

There's quite interesting piece expanded lore when you complete remake. Nicole managed to use Mercer's research to communicate with the marker. The marker takes appearance of Isaac's mother (who was Nicole's patient), to which Nicole asks why does it look like that. Marker answers with a question "why do you look like you?"

[@fumothfan9]

@@Ruosteinenknight yup Love how in DS remake they didnt mess up the lore and expanded on it. Though it sorta goes again the movies and comics a but everyone is still dead or dies so it doesn't matter.

[@solidicone]

Thats kinda the point they, they don't have a clear awareness about the true nature of the marker. They've got a lot of bullshit and manipulation from the brethern moons about what the marker is when in reality all the markers are is a means of procreation for the moons. They are just so far beyond humanity in terms of raw intelligence they can just make us think whatever the hell they want us to think in order to expedite the process and have been doing so for god only knows how long to god only knows how many species (at least 8 but its highly indicated that the vast majority of the milky way is populated by these moons and they use the entire galaxy as a giant ass farm and probably have several galaxies setup to do the exact same thing

[@SH19922x]

This applies to dark souls and dead space

[@Canadian_Zac]

Best way to deal with it. Is to build a bunch of rockets outside its affect. Then send drones and automated stuff to attach all the rockets to it. And shoot it out into space. Aim to take it out of the Galaxy Space is so ridiculously huge. That the odds of it ever being found again is so tiny it's 0

[@dr.veronica6155]

Part of what makes the Marker so insidious is the fact that being smart isn't going to help you overcome the Marker, it actually makes you uniquely vulnerable to it. I don't remember if this was in the first game or something we learned in the later games, but we learn that the Marker actually has a greater effect on you and influences you more the smarter you are. So, even being as strong and smart as Isaac doesn't save him, it just makes him an even more easily controlled puppet.

[@kakirin]

It's a second game reveal but could be guessed through text in runes in the first game

[@Spike2276]

It's not that you're "more succeptible" to the Marker, but rather you are uniquely succeptible to it's secondary effect: you are subliminally encouraged to build new Markers with the building information contained within the Marker's signal, which only smart people can actually decypher instead of falling prey to straight up murderous/suicidal madness.

[@fallout3freak360]

It’s in one of the audio logs in the 2nd game. Less intelligent people simply become confused and violent. More intelligent people like Isaac, Stross, and Kyne are mentally imprinted with the blueprints to build more markers. Both suffer from insanity and dimentia

[@IncoGnito-ji5du]

"escape pod 47 launched". Like a 47th extra chromosome, a necromorph

[@TheAgentmigs]

Shout outs to the sound design of this game. Is like a full on theatrical experience.

[@buckyhurdle4776]

When the scary combat music starts but you still don't see the necro yet 😰

[@cb-9938]

It goes from ambient screams and cries too silence and whispers

[@Elim-meister]

The Marker has the same effects that Reaper tech does. You hang around it long enough and start tinkering, you become obsessed and eventually lose yourself to it. It even makes you believe you're in control it when you've been a pawn the whole time.

[@staticaleel5068]

Now that you mention it, the reapers from mass effect are a similarly terrifying cosmic horror to the necromorphs. You get turned to their cause by proximity, And the entire species is aimed at destroying intelligent species once they become spacefaring, only to restart the process once a new alien race evolves. And we still don’t know where they came from.

[@jillian5394]

Most underrated KZbin content creator. How is it that you can not only explain the lore of God Of War Ragnarok, and still do an explanation video on dead space!? Like goddammit it's so good!

[@Immunity1080]

He is pretty great. From his tone and explanation to the presentation and depth. Fantastic work every video. No homo I love his storytelling voice lol

[@ricksmith7490]

The Nicole's illusions and voices are truly terrifing someone you love so deeply gone but still haunting you and there is no stopping it. The necromorphs are a phycological and biological/physical threat which is now one of my favorite horror creations.

[@duffinthemuffin5792]

I view this as sort of like the three body problem where the universe is called the dark forest and anyone who manages to reveal themselves to other major species will be destined to become obliterated and wiped out. That is my opinion is how I view deadspace.

[@arnowisp6244]

Except of other hostile civilizations. It's a bunch of Meat Planets moving around and hunting sentient Civilizations.

[@fumothfan9]

True Same vibes as humanity lost where other races or something in space tries to suppress another race from conquering and evolving. Though in the process people flip em the bird and we destroy ourselves to lose a war but win the battle.

[@mr.rodgers9891]

I love how so many lines in the game are double entendres. The writing is so superb. "Nicole is engaged at the moment" "Everybody okay?" "I'll live." How Issac reaches out for Nicoles hologram during the middle of the game and he is hit with stasis by a doctor, and Nicholes hologram disappears.

[@JoaoVictor-rg5ix]

Pure foreshadowing.

[@bombomos]

Bro perfect use with the Zelda ost What I love about this game is the Title. Once you know the back story you know how alone humanity actually is. Not because we are alone in all this Space... But because we are the last alive in all this Dead Space.

[@ChrisRedfield13]

Good ol majoras mask ost 👌

[@user-tn8rn7fd8r]

do you know the exact name of it? i really can’t remember

[@ChrisRedfield13]

@@user-tn8rn7fd8r it's "Ikana valley" I believe

[@Annihilation_Studios]

Roll credits!

[@MattCange]

Lovecraftian horror, especially when paired with a great game, is very thought provoking.

[@Digitalknifeparty]

Yep like BloodBorne

[@MrHidePatten]

Funnily enough the secret ending could indeed be canonical, considering you start the next game in a straight jacket.

[@biggreen1456]

Considering Isaac was building markers in the time between 1 and 2 I think that ending’s main point was to more directly tie into 2 when compared to the original ending’s ambiguity due to the original team not knowing if they would get a sequel

[@soraxstacy1477]

Both ending can be canon at simultaneouslendfirst ending could be what actually happened. New Game+ and secret ending could be Isaac processing what went on and eventually breaking him mentally giving us Secret Ending where Isaac finally submits the Markers' influence

[@TheCrossingDm]

To me I always thought the signal of the marker was almost like a fly spitting on its food and sucking up the remains. It's almost as if the necromorphs are active enzymes breaking down "food" for the Brotherhood moons. It's the eeriest and simplest way I understood the functionality of the markers. We are nothing but food for the cosmic beings wanting to consume and propagate the universe.

[@lanternius3812]

Even if the brethren moon exists, there is still no explanation on how the first one came to be to begin the cycle, so the cosmic horror is still technically there

[@amannamedsquid313]

A question of "What came first? The Moon, or the Marker?"

[@nicolezhang8116]

One thing l love about cosmic horror. The point isn’t to understand, there isn’t a curse to be lifted or a zombie virus to be cured. It is something we can never understand unless we go mad, and we can only suffer from the inevitability of the natural order. Man I feel so nihilistic now T T.

[@gasmonkey1000]

You and Mandalore's description of the horror of the Dead Space series really is the best. Personally I like to think it's a mix. On one hand humanity has expanded across the galaxy, they can rip planets open with gravity manipulation, and are able to grow limbs on site for amputations. On the other hand humanity is frankly dying, even before the necromorphs and the Marker pop up. Mandalore pointed out all the ribs and how the Ishimura looks like a corpse, nevermind the reason for Unitoligy becoming so powerful is due to offering an explanation and some comfort for why humanity is the only species in the stars. There's so many dead species that creatures that we would consider common place are like dinosaurs to the people of Dead Space, most commonly interacted with as plushies. And considering the fact that Earthgov was willing to break it's big rule of "don't fuck with the Marker, leave it where it is and don't let anyone near it" to try and get more electricity in Dead Space 2 doesn't sound like a good omen for humanity's future even without the Brethren Moons. It almost feels like the Fall of Rome, an empire of great power that was already on the brink due to its own issues before barbarians kicked down the support beams and eat the inhabitants

[@bluebelllove123]

I have never even played Dead Space, not even sure I plan to, but your literary analysis is fantastic. I get immersed in the details and pieces you walk us through. Your videos have defined a new benchmark for me and what I want and look for in analysis videos.

[@Konnor1224]

Dude buy it now. Support, it's so good.

[@madcap3450]

Bro I have to congratulate you on the amazing dry humor. Your delivery of that line about Raptors teaching eachother calculus had me on the floor😂

[@trintavon]

I've been watching your stuff for about a month now and it wasn't until just now that I realized you're not even at 40k subscribers. The quality of your videos is incredible, so much so that I genuinely believed you had hundreds of thousands--even one or two million--subscribers, and realizing you didn't was not only a shock, but is criminal. I hope the best for this channel, because it is amazing.

[@tifapanties25]

The real world is unfair

[@GodisGod777]

The largest in her class, the CEC's pride and joy, and yet she's gone dark. Communications have fallen silent, and an entirely unenvisioned disaster has befallen her... Sounds like a certain famous/infamous sea-going vessel in our real world. The one that was referred to as "unsinkable".

[@machina5]

Wow that's so deep

[@GodisGod777]

@@machina5 Thank you.

[@matics898]

Except the Titanic never fell silent. They were sending S.O.S and C.Q.D signals like crazy which were received by the Carpathia, the ship that rescued the survivors.

[@GodisGod777]

@@matics898 True. She was transmitting in every way her crew was able almost until the very end. So you are quite correct. But the fact remains that ultimately, she did fall silent once the ocean began to overtake the deepest most recesses of her structure, including electrics. Despite the truly heroic members of her crew keeping her breakers, dynamos and generators supplied with steam enough before the break-up.

[@philipajfry]

Interesting interbretation (sorry) that Isaac knew the whole time. I seem to recall that in the original, Nicole's message was incomplete, and Isaac had no idea she was dead. I think I may have just assumed that to be the case in the remake, but there wasn't a line that stated as such. It may have been implied, but maybe they changed it. I like some of the implications of him knowing, but it's a little flimsy believing he'd go out there if he knew. But again, saying its all because he's already insane is quite alluring. Also, when you meet Nicole for the first time (in that infested area with the gondola) you can zero-g your way to Nicole's side (inaccessible in original game) and find an audio log that plays the interaction Isaac JUST had with Nicole, and it reveals he was talking to Cross!

[@fumothfan9]

Remake takes some new liberties. So yeah OG incomplete i believe.

[@StrikeNoir105E]

The original did also imply that Isaac knew that Nicole was dead the entire time, but it was far more vague an implication there since there weren't many moments where that assumption was brought up. The Remake just makes the implication more obvious, and even allows players to piece the puzzle themselves from clues if they pay enough attention.

[@pkejesusfreak]

To be fair Issac could have just been in denial the whole time. Maybe DS took inspiration from Lovecraft's Mountains of Madness, though I'm more familiar with the game based off of it called Edge of Nowhere. It's actually a pretty cool game, if you don't want to play it IGP did a playthrough of it.

[@horizontide568]

Dude you would absolutely KILL IT doing audiobooks in the Horror genre. Your voice tone just fits especially with the ominous music in the background.

[@rubenalvarez6830]

You know what, Isaac was not lying he did build a huge marker on the Titan station thanks to dead space 2.

[@AndyCandyZeroSugar]

Part of me is sad that I never ventured to experience this story myself. Wow. Every time I saw or thought of Dead Space, every time it made me think of the violence, the gore, the brutality - even my very first impression of the game was all that, many years ago when there was only the first game. This aspect, the cosmic horror, the brilliant writing, had I known these were parts of the game too, maybe I'd have given it a go. Thank you for making this video! Watched every moment, especially the Isaac Nicole scenes with bated breath.

[@mrsubject1]

It's never too late to see the depths of horror on the ishimura for yourself ;)

[@drgraphix2912]

The use of Zelda music in these is so dang good. You make some of my favorite content on KZbin man. Keep up the awesome work :)

[@dissailo361]

You talking about horror games is perfect, your language is perfect, your descriptions are perfect, the way you go over being weak in comparison to other creatures on an incomparable scale, it really drills the fear in my mind, your constantly reminding me I am not safe, I’m doing all these tasks and I still saved no one.

[@friendlyreaper9012]

I loved the original lore from dead space 1, before the moons (who are just discount flood from halo imo). The marker was a perfect example of alien life, it's something that's completely unknown to us. Too many times are aliens depicted as humans with weird heads and stuff like that. To have a sentient piece of rock that drives people insane and uses their corpses as weapons for unknown reasons was genius.

[@JudgingNug]

Gotta agree, the moons are just dollar store Graveminds.

[@ikohly5486]

Glad I could become one of the first ten to watch one of these. I fell in love with the way you narrate your videos and its always such a treat to see a new vid on my dash. Easy subscribe.

[@loriisgorey]

Loved this breakdown, with the inclusion of the examples it felt like a very well-researched essay.

[@Schex]

I really appreciate your video game deep dives! Keep up the great work!

[@judgedread9724]

Honestly the sad part is now. Daniel's reasoning at the end is more sound than Issacs. I'd side with her. The Marker needs to be buried as deep as possible as far away from humanity as possible. Unfortunately Isaac was clearly off his rocker by the end. Manipulated by the marker. Fuck. Why don't they just throw it in the Sun? Is it not able to be melted? Even if it didn’t melt it’d be trapped inside the sun by the intense gravity and then made effectively impossible to retrieve.

[@canyongamble8487]

That's the problem though. She and Earth Gov don't want to destroy it they want it in their back pocket to continue experiments

[@shirokatatsu5886]

But she should told Issac about it. She know he hallucinating, she know he will do what "Nicole" told him to do. If she told him to watch the clip before put thing in her hand thing could have been prevented

[@judgedread9724]

@@shirokatatsu5886 I'm not gonna say Daniel's methods were entirely logical, but the end goal was the best one. Bury the Marker. Also game logic.

[@shirokatatsu5886]

@@judgedread9724 nah man that not the best method. The best is bring the thing to earth and initiate convergence Praise Altman

[@judgedread9724]

@@shirokatatsu5886 O:

[@RevenantMain1]

I'm really loving these styles/themes of video. Found you a little while after the heimdall video and now the wii song is my ringtone. You're an amazing content creator brother, keep up the solid work

[@samdurfee6093]

31:47 Issue. He didn’t know for certain that she was dead. In fact at the time the Ishimura wasn’t believed to be in any significant danger, hence why such a small relief team was sent to check out the lack of communication. Meaning that Nicole’s message was likely one of the last things sent. Earth Gov got that message and edited it so that they could spin the idea that the Ishimura was not in any real danger, only in need of some emergency repairs nothing more. Daniels had the unedited version and sent it to Issac in that moment so she could break him. So no I do t think Issac was broken before hand. Remember Daniels had been seeing visions of her brother, some she knew was dead. Isaac was shown Nicole someone Issac believes might still be alive. As a result Issac remains level-headed while Daniels becomes more erratic and hostile. Isaac does not begin to break until Daniels shows him the truth.

[@samdurfee6093]

33:39 Your argument here is a-little shady. This is a conversation that happened but in this moment Issac is seeing it replay whilst on the Ishimura where the Marker is fucking with him, this sequence is all in his head the messages are not on the screens. Issac is desperate to patch things up with Nicole he snapped at her in a moment of true distress, and Nicole did not handle it well at all lashing back at him. At this point in time Issac believes Nicole is alive and can fix things. The realization that she is dead is what breaks him.

[@matics898]

Yeah, this video was interesting overall, but the guy is trying way too hard to come up with theories and interpretations.

[@samdurfee6093]

@@matics898 that is an “issue” with games like Dead Space. Everything is explained not much up for interpretation.

[@precautiousparasite3794]

This guy came out of nowhere but started dropping absolutely banger videos, keep it up

[@genericscottishchannel1603]

humanity needs to borrow a few nova bombs

[@artoriapendragon3234]

i should provide some info here. The red marker isn't quite a fake. It is.. but also isn't.. Its the Brother Moon's method of reproduction. Brother Moons, the massive moon-like monsters who are giant necromorphs themselves, are born with the marker functioning as their brain and then the dead tissue and necromorphs made from entire species they've killed with necromorphs outbreaks forming their body. Their life cycle involves the parents sending Black Markers, and then enticing an intelligent species to recreate their markers as red markers with the promise of limitless clean energy. The red markers then create necromorphs by turning the sentient aliens/humans insane and forcing them to commit suicide and murder, allowing the dead tissue to turn into necromorphs that then go and kill all the remaining living things, recombining them into the most efficient killing machines possible depending on the species and the environment. When enough Necromorphs have formed, they are all sucked into the sky with the marker which then turns into a Brother Moon, something which almost happened at the end of Deadspace 2 and Deadspace 3 where a Brother Moon had only partially formed and was reawakened. Thus.. the Brother Moon is the only "Living Thing" left in that system, leaving a Deadspace. Nothing else lives anymore.. Hence the name of the game.

[@PRODUCTOFPAIN]

Holy fuck this is the best description I've read in such a long time. I have always wanted to know where the name Dead Space comes from and what it means.

[@GerryLo5198]

The necromorphs being flung up into the air and creating the Brethren Moon is called the “Convergence Event”, where the Brethren Moon wants you to “make us whole again”. Every red marker has a creator, and the convergence event can only be complete once the creator is absorbed as well. That’s also why the dead space universe is so screwed. Unitology is literally just a church for Markers, the church actively promotes death, and the higher ups in the religion know the true nature of the red and black markers. The Brethren Moons insidiously have brainwashed humans to actively work and make sure their brethren moons come to fruition. It all feels very hopeless and insidious, that’s why I love Dead Space so much.

[@asmkalrizion7078]

my real question tho, did Isaac actually know Nicole was dead tho? I'd always figured Isaac was given an edited copy of the recording to convince him to join the repair team. it doesn't make much sense for him to believe she was alive after watching her sepukku, so its more likely earthgov/CEC gave him a chopped recording.

[@DeadLight63]

That’s what I assumed always happened. In the original game the recording clearly cuts off or is interrupted.

[@matics898]

He definitely didn't know she was dead. This guy is reaching hard.

[@mcgfn]

⁠​⁠@@matics898Its not really a reach lol the remake takes a lot of creative liberties that the original did not have like Kendra's line from the final chapter, "Nicole has been dead the whole time, you just couldn't handle it, could you?" is an obvious implication that, at least in the remake, Isaac had prior knowledge of Nicole's death

[@kingrat2122]

​@matics898 the only reason Isaac is on this ship is because his girlfriend is dead. He had the full video Nicole sent, Kendra saw it too. Isaac, like in deadspace 2. Grieves so hard for Nicole he deludes himself into fruitlessly exploring the ship for her. Only for the Marker to give him what he's so desperate to attain.

[@TheCorrodedMan]

He didn’t want to believe it at first but, eventually, he started to believe she was. Even before they landed on the Ishimura , I think Isaac was sort of prepping himself for the possibility that something _really_ fucking bad had happened and Nicole was dead.

[@King_E_kong]

They should do a prequel dead spaces showing us how this man made marker made it to this planet that Issac finds

[@matijasostojic4288]

As far as I know, And I might be wrong, but im Pretty sure EarthGov found out about the signal And chucked the thing on the planet. That entire area of space was actually off limits but the ship was lead there by the unitologists so they can find their religious symbol.

[@DistantKingdom]

great analysis! i really love all the changes they made to Dead Space remake, solidifying it as one of my fav games of all time : D

[@aristobrat4987]

i know its a game. but i had a dream my husband turned into one of the necromorphs. i was working in the daycare and he burst in all transformed. i never understood this type of horror until i got married. i have no family bonds from abuse so when people show a dead parent i feel little to nothing. but when i went on a dead space binge and had these thoughts , jesus christ man i thought i was gonna choke on the lump in my throat. cosmic horror is truly bone chilling

[@mattmedrala1947]

Dead Space 2 features a 'daycare'...

[@Lyvarious]

Yeah it's hard to truly comprehend the horror part but once you start to 'get' it? You can really understand why a common reaction to characters in those stories will lose their mind

[@wolfscythespk]

I love this game so much back in the day. I’m so glad nowadays everyone’s taking an interest in it.

[@DeadPixel1105]

This video gives one of the best explanations and analysis of 'cosmic horror' I've seen in a while. Great video!

[@mothboi9280]

The ending your talking about in this video is actually the NON cannon secret ending. He does manage to resist kinda in cannon.

[@dinorex3464]

Both could be canon for what we know. In Dead Space 2, it is stated that Isaac was found in a crazed state and that EarthGov used him to create the second Marker. It would make even more sense if you take the Alternate Ending.

[@mw9688]

I subbed purely because of that little freakout you had over the fish people story.

[@deananderson6896]

I really wish they could have brought back the original voice actors for the remake. It would have been fantastic if they made them an Easter egg for the fans. You beat the game the first time and then you unlock the voice styles for each character.

[@Dojibu]

after watching a few of your vids, gotta say that I love the placement of the Zelda musics. Very fitting.

[@bezerk-z3697]

I don't think Hammond knew about the conspiracy because once he finds out about the EDFs orders it seems like his soul breaks and he begins to lose it. 🤔

[@jasonnewbery]

Your videos are always so interesting and the fact that you intertwine these topics with awesome video games and deep dive into the psychology and meaning behind the games and characters is just so interesting and fun to watch. More Legend of Zelda if possible would be my only request 😊. Keep it goin man 🤟🏻

[@T3AR_HD]

Isaacs own mind is trying to break out of the hysteria. If you look at the first letter of every single chapter it spells out "Nicole is dead" hinting to you about the true nature of your own fractured mind. Something hidden just beneath the surface yearning, screaming that there is something wrong, but ultimately going unnoticed until it is too late.

[@khora3845]

iirc correctly, in the novels, it was said that Altman advocated against use of the Markers for their energy output, the government assassinated him, and then used him as a martyr for Unitology to help make Markers ubiquitous

[@shawdcummings2160]

the marker uses any guilt you feel lead you to follow it or in the case of scientists and engineers make the equations extremely simple to make in alot of dead space media crew members see dead family members and in Dead Space 2 a scientist on Titan said its odd that the marker language is having so many breakthroughs in researching it its almost as if it wants to be solved.

[@DonutStalker93]

I listen to/watch a lot of these video essays and this is one of the best ones I've seen in a while, good balance of plot recounting and analysis with the extra layer of the Lovecraft themes

[@insaneepsilon6079]

Kinda also love the fact that it has a very twisted take on the Fermi Paradox.

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

Which part of this would you say is the take on the fermi paradox? That we actually have discovered aliens, they've been here all along? That we were the aliens the whole time? that the real aliens were the friends we made along the- shoot I mean the real aliens were the metaphorical aliens of- wait I mean the real aliens were inside of us all along (yeah that works)? I feel like there are a lot of things here that fit for this

[@o5-693]

This is my first time stumbling across this page, and I gotta say this video is awesome. You did a fantastic job, and have a great speaking voice.

[@pinstripe4254]

I was thinking about Lovecraft and I realized that a lot of YA novels would come off as horror to Lovecraft. A boy who discovers they are the offspring of the ocean God, A boy discovering that they are a sorcerer and brought to a world of magical horror. Considering his fear of anything different than himself and the outside world I imagine he wouldn’t care for any of this

[@TheCorrodedMan]

The concept of Lightbulbs would kill him from stress within an hour

[@pinstripe4254]

@@TheCorrodedMan lightbulbs and an air fryer

[@TheCorrodedMan]

@@pinstripe4254 “you mean it cooks things, WITH THE AIR?” (Stroke)

[@paulgibbon5991]

It reflects social changes in general. Stigmatised out-groups such as LGBT+ people, neurodivergent people or people suffering from mental illness are better understood and less of unknowable and alien--and fiction reflects that process of outsiders becoming insiders. Vampires, for example, transitioned over the 80's and 90's from terrible monsters to characters who were a lot more recognisably human (tragic, cool, sympathetic, etc). Right now, the story of a shunned outsider who learns to take pride in their unique nature, and who is threatened by bigoted and callous agents of the status quo seeking to kill them or force them to conform is a lot more resonant than the story of those status quo agents seeking to drive away the alien to keep their version of normality safe.

[@KneelBeforeNeil]

Combining so many things I love into one video. Dead Space, Cosmic Horror, and Zelda music in the background? Sign me up! Seriously, nice work.

[@Kira-xs1zv]

I just noticed how the ishimura 3:16 looks like a spine attached to a head.

[@isaac6clarke]

The artist and developers wanted it to look like something dead, with its rib cage pointing upward, but head a spine and head is another great description of it too

[@AlexLewis-ph5jm]

His voice has a strange resemblance to the narrator from the old twilight zone episodes, i love It

[@commissarkordoshky219]

Something a bit off topic but I usually see the Force in Star Wars - Especially the darkside - as a story of possible cosmic horror - every Sith lord is driven insane by the Darkside and it can be argued they lose agency and need extreme help to let go of the darkside. Even after they might be rehabilitated they probably can never use the force again or risk falling to the sweet siren call again

[@luckyflynt1646]

I wouldnt say that every Sith Lord is becoming insane or lose their agency. I consider both pretty equal tbh. There is the force, and two distinct ways to channel it. Absolute focus (the jedi remind me of buddhist monks who try to transcend and become more spiritiually pure/ more connected to the force) and raw emotion (pain, hate and anger fuel most Sith, its true, but others can be used as well). That and the Jedi have done some truly fcked up stuff themselves (in the name of the supposed greater good of course). Hell, Sith-society only exists because the Jedi persecuted the first Darkside-Users as heretics. In other words, a dogmatic slave to a teaching that he cannot understand because he forbids himself from questioning it can do as much damage as a bloodlusting berserker, if both have the power to bend reality

[@Oddlysponge]

For some reason, I always thought that Issac was honestly just so off his rockers throughout the entire series to the point that his pure insanity causes him to be a one man army. The marker just found its match, someone who is already disconnected from humanity which is why he's the only man that is so efficient at killing hordes of necromorphs with only his plasma-cutter.

[@raveneggz3337]

Fortunately we're safe from laser raptors. They haven't been around since viking times.

[@f.b.l.9813]

and all that goes out the window when you're an unstoppable killing machine that can mow down anything and everything with a starting pistol.

[@xavierdexter9371]

Your videos are horrendously underrated

[@lo-rez]

What a great video, excellent subject matter and editing also. Watched it twice now in case i missed anything. And because i wasnt ready for it to be over lol

[@Xehanort10]

21:53 Remake Kendra is Resident Evil's Ada Wong done right. She was hired by Earthgov to get the Marker but realised no one could be trusted with it not even them so she was going to try and hide it where it couldn't be found. Ada on the other hand despite being a clear villain collecting virus and parasite samples for a pharmaceutical company just as bad as Umbrella is portrayed as morally ambiguous when she's not.

[@FOWBOWZ]

I have never really been interested in dead space, but you've changed me tonight. What an interesting view into cosmic horror

[@ВладиславБулаев-л3э]

Love your videos, fam! Keep them coming ❤️

[@nicktaylor7879]

I could take those raptors if they didn't have lasers

[@tombra3059]

You always cover the things I’m most interested to that moment. Just like your god of war Ragnarok videos. Glad I found your channel 🔥

[@d4v0r_x]

there is a monster behind the curtain, but i cannot help myself, i have to see

[@kavryck]

very cool fatbrett

[@filianoreboreal2595]

02:04 question that keep me awake at night

[@Ahrpigi]

Dead Space was an incredible series. It's a shame they never made a third game, but just imagine how bad it would have felt if they messed up the horror atmosphere with multiplayer and stuffed it with bs microtransactions.

[@Caveqp]

they did though

[@yeahyeahwowman8099]

​@@Caveqpthey have this thing called sarcasm, you should look it up.

[@chan6708]

​@@Caveqpno 3rd one was never made, the marker made you think it did.

[@J_CtheEngineer]

The real horror is the friends we’ve made along the way

[@xxprototypexx5056]

Michael Altman wasn't killed by EarthGov for leaking info about the marker, they had nothing to do with it. It is explained in the book Dead Space Martyr that his death was caused by a crew who started to believe in Unitology and kickstarted the religion by turning him into an involuntary Martyr and killed him by locking him in with 3 corpses(one of them being their own friend) which turned into a brute and gave him a spoon to defend himself as a cruel joke. Then they framed it as an EarthGov assassination to make the martyr successful. EarthGov didn't kill Altman, nor did they even order it, he was killed by sociopathic extremists.

[@xxprototypexx5056]

Also, your other point of why EarthGov wanted Altman dead is just straight up false. They never wanted Altman dead due to fear of the red maker, the red marker didn't even exist when Altman was alive. Dead Space martyr is chronologically the first time humanity came into contact with the marker, and Dead Space Catalyst talks about the beginning of Marker experiment 3E on Aegis 7 and how everyone died there. Martyr takes place in 2294, Catalyst takes place in 2314(20 years after Altman's death). Your video's are informative and entertaining, but please don't just pull facts out of nowhere. Gamingbolt did the exact same thing and he got roasted for it, and rightfully so. I don't want to see you get roasted aswell.

[@xxprototypexx5056]

quick correction to my last comment, Dead Space Martyr actually takes place in 2214 and Catalyst takes place in 2294(80 years after Altman's death). While I was wrong about the exact dates, this still proves Altman wasn't even alive when the events of Aegis 7 happened. So my point still stands true.

[@johnwerner6445]

Eathgov did not even exist when Altman was alive. Its was the sovereign colonies

[@UnhealthyHeartbeatObsession]

This background music most definitely plays in your head when you first come in contact with a Marker's signal.

[@Cotac_Rastic]

One thing i always disliked about modern cosmic horror was the comically brainless authourities. Its not illegal to have a harsh and co-ordinated response to insane events. And Lovecraft had some excellent scenes of the government actually being competant. One was Inspector Le Grasse in the Call of Cthulhu, who led a large group of local police to investigate cult activity which resulted in a massive firefight; The other was at the end of Shadow over Innsmouth, Which had a convoy of federal and local police as well as US Army detachments being sent to raid the town. I vaguely recall them also bringing a warship to drop depth charges on the fish people. The raid resulted in 90% of the town disappearing into camps or Supermax security prisons and reporters where intimidated or bribed for their co-operation. I think its downright comical how sloppy Earthgov was and completely brainless they were written.

[@RevolverOcelot_]

This is excellent ! Just discovered this channel and already love it from this video !

[@hihowrya370]

I think Dead Space have the deepest lore in any horror video game. Resident Evil and Silent Hill also have a deep lore, but the former is a little bit convoluted and the latter is filled with speculations, theories and implications more than an actual in depth lore which is fine btw considering that Silent Hill is intentionally made that way. Dead Space is on a whole other level.

[@lucklamb6379]

As a deadspace fan who lost faith with deadspace3, I love to see people who appreciate a good cosmic horror story and this essay is all that insight that many people overlook, awesome my dude.

[@loganhurley5456]

Very well said, sir! You did much research and put lots of work into this! Enjoyed it from beginning to end, keep up the great work! 💯

[@ownage11445]

I’ve played the original Dead Space many times and I was desensitized from the horror. Yet I played the Remake and I’ve never had so much anxiety from a video game in my life. Every room or area I felt this intense dread. It was incredible.

[@remygallardo7364]

What really elevated the first game for me to a horrifying new level was watching Dead Space Downfall. It reframes that whole introductory scene on replays into a heartbreakingly dismal light. Every second you're traveling at FTL the last scenes of Downfall playing out. And just seconds before hailing the Ishimura Alissa floating out of the docking bay to her death.

[@thecameronator]

I love Dead Space but I still wish they kept Isaac as a silent character

[@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868]

I mean the VA did such an amazing job in 2 that he really cemented himself as the voice of isaac. Makes sense to me that when remaking the game they'd record voicelines. It's not like there were dialogue options to worry about

[@Raven_Frame]

I don't know, I feel a strong sense of disconnect when I hear other people talking about the appeal of Dead Space and survival horror/cosmic horror. Here you say that it tears down human primacy, but for me this presents a challenge, an opportunity to rise above my own fear and existential dread. And in the end Isaac does survive, admittedly altered by the marker, however living to see another day is a victory in of itself in a setting that despises you for existing. And the Hivemind is destroyed by the rocked lifted by the Ishimura, smothered by human might. As well in the second game Isaac is able to break free of the Marker's hold on him, proving that on the individual level man can overcome the Marker's influence. And for me Dead Space 2 is the end of Isaac's story, DS3 stinky.

[@SunTzu176]

>something greater than mankind, something to challenge our primacy something beyond us Issac Clarke: Nah, I'd win.

[@dannyhernandez112]

Good video I just have one small nitpick when you talk about the secret ending and Isaac losing his mind and being defeated essentially by the marker. It’s just a fun alternate ending and isn’t canon. While you can say it drives him crazy and causes him to hallucinate Isaac is the only person(at least to my knowledge) in the Dead Space universe to successfully resist and defeat a marker using his mind. And some other characters at least resist it. The marker doesn’t just over power and defeat every human mind like you’re stating it does with Isaac. If it did there would be no Dead Space 2 or 3.