S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Iceberg Explained #6 - Core Layer

[@anomalousdugout9557]

This series was nice to make but I'm tired now. Maybe I'll take a break.

[@lebedev7153]

Thank you for making such a good series.

[@JohnLavos]

This last video was simply superb. I didn't even think of those points you mentioned. The break is well deserved.

[@m1l068]

Thanks your channel is very underrated like why does it has only 16k subs

[@heyafrica6925]

Take it, you deserve it

[@lebedev6954]

@@lebedev7153 STOP FUCKİNG COMMENTİNG

[@--shaman--]

As for the "SoC is not canon" theory - in early story design documents for Oblivion Lost, it's even mentioned that player was supposed to feel doubt at the ending, no matter which one would be choosed, and wonder if it's not just a 'dream' generated by the Monolith. So the reality of ending being uncertain was an intended idea which the devs had very early in the development. Anyway, that was a great series, good to see it completed at last.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes, it all makes sense.

[@The_Cosmic_Navigator]

I always just assumed that thanks to temporal anomalies that warp or break spacetime that everything is canonical and non-canonical at the same time. All these contradictory events did happen, they just happened on multiple timelines.

[@latewizard301]

Yup, and i don't personally like that idea, but i can see it. And i do somewhat follow the original STALKER 2 plot even though i'm not a huge fan.

[@Phantom-el6oe]

@@anomalousdugout9557 Or maybe other scientist who are behind creation of c-con (owner of hands seen in ending where Strelok joins it for example) are alive and hiding somewhere after it's destruction, probably inside other active labs like the mentioned psi installations blocking off paths to power plant, and have/work on something dangerous enough to force Strelok to get allies. CoP clearly states that Monolith is loosing ground and is hold together by preachers, plus emissions that c-con was always suppressing are now going haywire. On top of that Stalker 2 trailers show laboratories that are active and one of them is filled with incubating mutants, which means that surviving scientist have lost all breaks after being cornered by Strelok and are unleashing everything in stock.

[@judsongaiden9878]

Not sure if this is true for all versions of ObLost, but you never actually "beat" OL2.2 or OL2010. After you defeat Koshei outside the Chernobyl plant (after tramping Monolith troopers into the ground outside the plant, inside the plant, then on the back side of the plant), you can continue playing around in the Zone sandbox-style.

[@kurvakus7256]

I really like the theory about whole Power plant section being a hallucination, as it puts Wish Granter in a new light, not as malicious as previously thought. In "good ending" Wish Granter lets Strielok accomplish his greatest dream of learning the secrets of the Zone and destroying it, even giving him a happily ever after and letting him live. Only in "bad endings" where he forsakes his true dreams for something petty does Wish Granter get enraged and torments Marked One. This gives a great dimension to the Wish Granter in my opinion.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yeah it really makes you think about it.

[@Irongaze86]

I can only imagine such a scenario probably went down like this: Strelok, after enduring a brutal battle into The Sarcophagus, lowers his hood, and drops his bloody AK. Strelok looks up at the legendary Wish Granter, The Monolith. Strelok ponders for a moment and wonders whether or not this object of legend is truly that, or just an illusion. He remembers what Doctor told him and holds his hands out and declares his wish. "I want the truth..." The ground shakes, Strelok can feel the rumble created by The Monolith, a rumble that resembles a groan. Strelok stands there steadfast, eager for a response. He stands awaiting his wish, or rather, his answer. Then, the crystal speaks in a deep and booming voice. "Y o u r d e s i r e s h a l l b e g r a n t e d . B u t f i r s t , e n j o y t h i s s l o g f u l l o f M o n o l i t h i a n s i n a n d o u t s i d e t h e p o w e r p l a n t . I h o p e y o u b r o u g h t e n o u g h s u p p l i e s ."

[@ASlickNamedPimpback]

14:00 in CoP, the water in the oasis heals you iirc. Since the Heart of the Oasis Artefact formed there, maybe the water is anomalous in nature, and maybe a positive emotion as it heals

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Oh yeah you are right, I kinda forgot about that.

[@meowmymix3957]

I don’t even know how many times I’ve played through CoP and I never noticed the water healing lol. Maybe because after the first run through I’m always sprinting for the ladder and fucking off when the dog spawns

[@judsongaiden9878]

Is it just me or does the Heart of the Oasis remind you of WALL-E?

[@judsongaiden9878]

@@meowmymix3957 What if it was a fleshpig instead of a doggoid? 🙃 A psionic fleshpig that could make you hallucinate that you were transforming into a clown?! 😂

[@anotheralpharius2056]

my head cannon on why you dont need an artifact detector in SoC is because strelok had the ability to see them without one

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yeah that could be true.

[@xtron1234]

He was just built different

[@cam5816]

@@xtron1234 he’s just like me fr

[@Manfred_Danfred]

The lebedev one is most interesting imo cause, as much as I am a Clear Sky member at heart, I can't ignore the fact that the leaders of the faction were completely okay with turning Humanity into basically Zombies by modifying the Noonsphere and removing emotions. Guess even good causes have their own bits of Evil in them, eh...

[@lebedev6954]

We do a little trolling its called a little trolling

[@Manfred_Danfred]

@@lebedev6954 "nooooo you can't just turn good after trying to enslave Humanity!!!!!1!"

[@lebedev6954]

@@Manfred_Danfred HAHA FUCK HUMAN THOUGHTS GO BRR

[@viannizvnv7222]

atleast we have cold

[@lebedev6954]

@@viannizvnv7222 Uh oh,guess who is going to throw him into a anomaly 😀

[@MidanMagistrate]

The story about the nuclear bomb is likely a reference to Stalker (1979) in which a scientist smuggles a nuclear bomb to the wish granter with the hope of destroying the zone.

[@MidanMagistrate]

As for the game being largely in russian- This is likely because the developers knew both Ukrainian and Russian, but thought Russian would reach a wider audience as many russians and ukrainians are bilingual in both languages.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes that's maybe what it is.

[@yercules]

I was so zoned into this one, that I felt I was actually brainwashed by the c-consciousness. Amazing final episode, thank you!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Maybe you were...

[@Lankyblankman]

A great end to a great series. I do hope that you will one day in the future make a video about about all the inconsistences in SoC.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks, maybe I will.

[@jtnachos16]

The whole 'anomalies are human thoughts' thing is a belief I've always held, but I believe it to work along a VERY different method than what you seem to believe. I'm a big believer in the 'perception is reality' phrase, which holds a particulararly interesting implication in reference to Stalker's world. From my point of view, Anomalies are the result of people's BELIEFS on how things work (IE, the ignorance of children about how fire works results in areas around the leak having fire or other elements function differently, more in line with how children or other ignorants think they are supposed to work), or even the results of their nightmares and dreams bleeding through into reality. This actually works well to explain some of the more 'out there' aspects of anomalies, like the time space ones and artifacts in general. This also makes interesting implications for things like the 'heart of the oasis', or even other artifacts, coming into existence solely because people believe that there MUST be something special about them. Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, of sorts. Meanwhile their only 'natural' aspect is the radiation they put out. Artifacts become akin to the old 'divine relics' of mythologies, being granted special powers because of what people BELIEVE is associated with the element acting as it's source.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

I see, very interesting theory for sure, thanks for sharing.

[@car_rar]

So basically the zone gives the placebo effect steroids

[@zicaowastaken]

Every stalker game is unique In SoC you play as a man who dosent know what happened because he got brainwashed by the Common-Conciousness Representatice (made this long on purpose) and he became a good guy In CS you can join some if the factions and play as a merc who is invincible against emissions In CoP you play as a military soldier

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes and that's why I love them.

[@latewizard301]

Scar is such a cool character imo. I think he's in Anomaly as Leshy? Or goblin i think it means? Which i think is a character from the Stalker Movie?

[@JillianPrimrose]

You are missing at least one: the Horror of Pripyat. Supposedly, it was going to be a special enemy of the game that would be found in Call of Pripyat, precisely in Pripyat, and would haunt the school for children in the city where you find the antenna. It would be some kind of physically invisible energetic entity that would only be seen with a certain device that was also removed in the final release. The Horror of Pripyat would have been responsible for killing almost all of the other soldiers on Kovalsky's team and would chase them to their evacuation point at the end of the game, even launching one of the NPCs into the air towards the player. It would also keep the city haunted, causing apparitions in the city, such as silhouettes of people standing in the middle of an open street or peeking out from behind a wall or looking at the player from a distance, from a high window in a building, as well as voices and sounds of footsteps or gunshots in the distance; In any case, they would disappear once the player approached said locations to investigate.

[@bobbleheadeater3209]

That's very interesting, where is this information from?

[@NomadShadow1]

27:30 “There are many small plot holes, retcons, and other weird ANOMALIES in the storyline…” ahhh i see what you did there 😉👌 nice pun

[@anomalousdugout9557]

I could not resist.

[@NomadShadow1]

@@anomalousdugout9557 😁

[@mihajlorankovic9536]

This is the masterpiece, keep up the hard work Anomalous!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thank you.

[@at0m1cdust85]

I always thought that UAV was shot down by monolith, or someone with access to a gauss rifle. Projectile punched through under the engine, left nice enter and exit holes, and maybe hit a fuel line or something else important. That lead to engine failure and crash. And maybe UAV belonged to mercenaries and either provided them with general info about the area and just happen to intercept communications of Strelok`s group, or it specifically looked for Strelok`s group before being shot down. I assume prices are so nonsencical because stalkers have very limited options when they try to buy/sell something. Traders know this and give you least amount of money when you are selling to them and ask for more when you are buying. Not like you are going to travel outside of the Zone to try and sell artifacts or other loot without food, ammo and with busted armor and weapons. Maybe Strelok destroyed c-con, got hit with psy-strike/another noosphere disturbance, hallucinated the field and then woke up somewhere in Pripyat, heard gunfire or intercepted military comms and decided to join them to get out of the Zone. Or started hallucinating while damaging wish granter/c-con pods and then woke up in Pripyat.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes, maybe that's the case.

[@thecommentingt34]

New Iceberg video?! Came here from Life Of Boris's Cooking with only S.T.A.L.K.E.R. food items.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

You can enjoy both.

[@efftohd]

The way I see it, the depiction of the Ukrainian military in the original trilogy from the Russian equipment down to the awful behaviour of its personnel (at least in SoC and CS) is more or less a reflection of attitudes expressed by Ukrainians back then. The prototype Russian equipment and antagonistic behaviour could be seen as a narrative reflection of the real-life former Soviet military, which pretty much all Ukrainians hated since 1990's and 2000's. Before Russia began violating Ukrainian territory in 2014, most people in the country treated the military with little respect and saw it as nothing more than a remnant of the Soviet times, but I have a strong feeling that will change in STALKER 2. In COP, the army got much better characterisation and had a positive side added to it, which I think is more or less telling of the gradual shift in attitude that GSC and Ukraine as a whole showed towards the military at the time (though, COP was created before Russia illegally annexed Crimea). It may sound silly, but think about it. Video games are a form of art, and art is more often than not a reflection of its creator in one way or another, so it wouldn't surprise me if the internal thoughts and biases of the developers were reflected in the game.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

I cannot say for sure since I'm not Ukrainian but I think you are right.

[@Matt-md5yt]

I understood all that. Watched Warlockracy and he did wonders talking about the history

[@efftohd]

Ah, a fellow Warlockracy enjoyer.

[@sebastianpost7237]

Yeah I see that after call of Pripyat the free stalker opinion of military begins to shift into a more positive light. It’s a set up for future potential character development of the Ukrainian military faction as a whole and we will definitely see the attitudes and points of perspective grow in new ways in the sequel.

[@efftohd]

And with recent events, I feel like we'll see some small-scale collaboration between the Ukrainian Army and a select few STALKER groups, like the Loners or Duty. I wonder if the equipment will also change, it'd be interesting to see the Ukrainian Army with NATO equipment. Maybe even swap out some weapons like the AN-94 for the license-production version of the Galil ACE, the Fort-22x series.

[@alucardonus]

Well basically... Zone has to be in Belarus as well. Belarus is Ally of Russia. So even if Russian-Ukrainian realtion could have started cold after breakdown of the union, something as dangerous, valuable and interesting as The Zone would be the reason for cooperations not only on bipolar but multinational cooperation. Imagine something as... Antarctical cooperation?

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes, this is definitely possible.

[@prophetthelast7849]

Love these lore videos but you're right,they are tiring.Get some rest mate.We'll wait for the next story when you're ready!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks for understanding me.

[@Matt-md5yt]

Glad you did this one my dude. Take good care of yourself and hope you have a great weekend 😊

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thank you, have a great weekend as well.

[@SonOfAGun-xy5hw]

17:11 I'm from Ukraine. In the early 2000s our army used some of russian guns and soviet military equipment (aircraft, for example). So this particular feature isn't fictional at all

[@Oroberus]

4:30 This is actually described extensively and one of the main plot points of the first 3 novels of Stalker, being connected to the C-Con will drain your bodies life, the more the C-Con influences the zone, the heavier the drain on the connected entities becomes. If I recall correctly, the strongest connected entity (in terms of psi-power) at her age of connection was in hter late 30th and being connected for mere 5 to 7 years led her body to be the body of an emaciated 70 year old women. Being connected has pretty much the same effect on a human boy as a human body has on an artifact, the more you use the artifact, the smaller it becomes and the less powerful it will be while being used

[@Irongaze86]

Can we all appreciate how good AD's camera skills are when it comes to the freelook command?

[@comradebear_ro2126]

2 things might have happened at CNPP with strelok involved 1 is that he made CC incapable from controlling the monolith forces around CNPP and a part of Pripyat by destroying those things coming from the ground were some kind of machine which powered the wish granter and giving the CC the ability to control the monolith forces (from where CC talked to him ) and then CC maybe had a backup plan and made strelok hallucinate via gas or via a smaller machine that made him think he went and destroyed those vats containing the bodies of CC and then he got out which in result didn't made too much of a difference only difference is that the CC isolated from monolith forces (just look in stalker COP how confused their forces are)and the zone is more or less in control of CC you know making it harder to spread and stuff like that . 2 he destroyed both the CNPP control machine and CC vats without hallucinating and escaped thus in result made the zone more unstable . BUT by how confused strelok is in STALKER COP i think that Point 1 happened where he only hallucinated that he destroyed the vats and only destroyed some kind of machine that gave CC the possibility to control monolith forces over CNPP and Pripyat ( CC is just way to experienced with mind control to not make a backup plan to make anyone who tries to stick their nose too much in CCs backyard to make use of hallucinogenic gas or maybe a machine that makes you hallucinate ,even if strelok had a psy helmet remember that the psy helm needed calibration and it might not work with all types of psy waves maybe that machine had a different frequency ). So in conclusion CCs last plan or maybe not last plan was to isolate themselves by making strelok think that he destroyed them .

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes, who knows what actually happened.

[@thefemboyking]

I'm relatively new too your channel and in my opinion that's unfortunate. Your content is awesome, straight too the point, and you perfectly explain all the information you present. You've mentioned your voice being an issue, it isn't. This channel isn't just talking about the mysterious exclusion zone but the wonderful entertaining person telling these stories and giving this info. You're a very enjoyable person too listen talk about this awesome franchise. This entire iceberg specifically was great and I learned a LOT I didn't know. Keep up the great work, you're underrated, very creative, and quickly becoming my favorite S.T.A.L.K.E.R content creator.

[@TremZaLysiS]

That was a long journey of unveiling this iceberg, congrats on finishing it! A lot of mysteries and interesting theories. I also want to mention some things here, just in case. Russian and Ukrainian versions of the game have differences in translation compared to English version and I'm not exactly sure which version of the game is considered, well more canon. One of the differences, for example, being (at least from what I can remember) the C-Consciousness scene. In Russian version (I'm from Russia) the dialogue transcript goes like this (translated it the best I could): "Greetings Strelok. I see you have a lot of questions to ask me. Go ahead, and then we'll decide what to do with you." "Who are you?" "We are C-Consciousness, a group of Scientists, who set their goal to change the world. It is known, that the Earth is surrounded by a special Informational field - Noosphere. She is intimately connected with every sentient creatures on the planet and stores all of their mental images. We decided to connect to the Noosphere and make some changes: remove everything dark created by humanity, making the world perfect. No human conscious has enough power to interact with Noosphere. That is why we combined our consciousness." "What is the zone? Why did it appear?" "The Zone - is a result of expirement with Noosphere, the informational field of Earth. We were going to connect ourselves to the Noosphere to explore ways of influencing her. But during the expirement, a breakdown happened and Noosphere Energy rushed to Earth changing everything. That is how the anomaly appeared that you call The Zone." "What happened to me?" "You are a screw that fell out of the mechanism. During one of your expeditions to the centre of the Zone you've gotten pretty close to us. Our defense system thought to be perfect, but you've managed to find a way, the existence of which we didn't suspect. We couldn't allow someone to know of our existence, the humanity is not ready yet to know the truth about the reasons on how Zone came to be. That is why we immediately started coding our agents on your termination. For unknown reason, the equipment has failed, and we didn't even notice that you were one of the stalkers that got under our control. In the result - you've gotten the task to kill yourself." "What does the tattoo S.T.A.L.K.E.R. means?" " S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - is a name of a program on peoples coding for accomplishment of some tasks. On the way to the centre of the Zone we placed several Psy installations, the largest of them is known to you as the Brain Scorcher. Anyone who attempts to make their way to the Centre are getting under our control. Then, they are going through the process of coding, becoming our agents and getting the tattoo S.T.A.L.K.E.R. . Sending them out on different parts of the Zone we change the course of events and providing our security. "What is the Death truck?" "It's our transport that we use for transporting our agents to different parts of Zone. Agents are blending in to the Stalker Community and do tasks that they were programmed to do, without even suspecting it. Unfortunately, more than half of them die during transportation, because the zone is unstable. "Why did it happen exactly here?" "Chernobyl NPP was the best suited for our expirements. Firstly, after the 1986 catastrophe not a lot of people have left here, so we could work without any trouble. Secondly, Power Plant provided us with the power, necessary for the work of installations. Thirdly, Next to Power Plant were a powerful antennas, which were used in expirements on influencing the peoples consciousness. "The 1986 catastrophe is also your work?" "No, we had nothing to do with it. Our expirement began after the accident of Chernobyl NPP." "What's next?" "What will happen next depends on you. Zone is slowly but surely growing. We barely have enough power to contain the stream of energy of the Noosphere. You can join us, our powers will increase, and maybe we will be able to take it under our control. You can destroy us, then the energy of Noosphere will rush to earth without problems, and what it will lead to is unknown." Also, in the true ending where you heard the so called Psy voices, from what I can make out and hear, they say: "Мы всегда были.... Далеко (We've always been... Far away)" and there were another voice, which I think sounded on English 33:34 "Everything is going to be alright". I don't know if this one was psy voice, or was it maybe Streloks mind. And another difference in this ending is what Strelok says, it's minor, but still: "I Don't know if what I did was right or wrong... And I guess I'll never know... But I've made my choice... And I hope it was a right one." Overall, great series and interesting theories!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Very interesting, thanks a lot for sharing this.

[@МаркоРабреновић]

Thank you very much for making this, it is amazing to see such a big effort from the community and knowledge in various fields. Best wishes to everyone and stay safe.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thank you very much.

[@datanon3059]

Anomalies seem primarily related to fears associated with locations. Ex: Fear of falling or slipping (or maybe even being hit by a grenade) makes grav anomalies, fear of shocking or burning makes electros/burners, fear of poison makes fruit punch, fear of things touching you from above makes burnt fuzz, etc. It also seems that the time during which a fear took place doesn't matter much, probably because the noosphere doesn't contain an implicit temporal component. As for the more benign anomalies like teleporters, who doesn't experience moments of disorientation or confusion when falling asleep, dreaming, or waking up? Sometimes you even forget where you are entirely. Emissions would then logically be when the noosphere tear builds up a sufficient pressure of fearful thoughts that it spills over into reality, manifesting that information into reality. Without the tear, those areas would probably just feel "creepy" to us. This makes sense in my book because what would be the logical first target for noosphere modification? Certainly not hate or anger. Fear though, changing people's irrational fears would be a good test run.

[@halfbakedchannel6065]

I'm really glad these were actual iceberg bits, and not the usual meme ones. You put in such details that would have gone over my head even after replaying dozens of times Also, about the final part about Strelok and the ending, it HAS to be a dream because Sidorovich still had hair and greasy chicken

[@isaias3423]

In 33:28 back voice, I think it is the voice of Sidorovich... It's kinda similar, and he is saying "Strelok" and some other words. If this part of the game also is a dream and this voice was Sidorovich, it might be because Sidorovich recovered strelok's body again... Or something like a dreaming loop, that he start's again and again and again... I think there might be something that trows strelok back to that moment that he was dragged to Sidorovich's bunker... There's even that part that he is teleported to Sidorovich's bunker and he shouts: "Marked one, whathe hell!"

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yeah maybe you are right.

[@Nooner301]

the only proof that backs up the fact that Strelok did destroy the monolith wishgranter is the dialogue of the monolith in CoP to me tbh, where they cant hear it anymore.

[@The93Momo93]

really enjoyed this, it's probably your best series to date, take a well deserved rest :)

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Nice, thank you.

[@GamerRoman]

I've been waiting for this like the monolith waits for us all

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Your patience is rewarded.

[@PaganHater333]

Quick Question: how does the PDA work if there is no Satellite system above the Zone. You mentioned in 10:02 that thier Sateliltes cant Fly above the Zone because of anomalies so does the PDA have a hotspot system or something because i dont get it?

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Probably through radiowaves, at least that would be my guess.

[@thehearsglow]

I had thoughts, after playing all three Stalkers and watching your lore insights and theories, that I know most of it. I was wrong. I enjoy every second of your Stalker iceberg. Giving me even more understanding that even though I played theese games, I did not understand all currents that made them so deep and unique. Glad you share those with us, thus making us more intrigued by continuation of the series. You have my gratitude, sir.

[@EastCoastTaffer]

I don’t know if other people share the same theory but in the true ending of SoC the voice sounds a lot like Doctor saying “One day things will end badly for you strelok.” Which makes me think that strelok proved Doctor wrong. And also the place where the true ending takes place looks a lot like cordon.

[@yaroslavsadovskyy516]

This channel is mind-blowing. Spent many years watching stalker-related content, but this one really ads the thrill with its theories. Thank you, author!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Very nice, thanks!

[@teoktb3108]

This series was a blast to watch, made me more excited for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2! I cannot wait to see what you'll talk about next!

[@grilledcheesinator55]

The disclaimer segment regarding the USSR was so professional, you have immediately earned my respect, instant subscriptions besides the incredible content. Keep up the good work man :)

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks :)

[@liby5958]

Dedication you put into these series is really amazing!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

I did what I could.

[@LostBear.]

Thanks for this awesome and well researched series.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

My pleasure.

[@MikeVonwolkenstein]

Awesome finish to the iceberg 🔥 was looking forward to these final entries in the series. While fearing it wasn’t going to be finished

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Glad you enjoyed.

[@khanhdinh5650]

I think the theory of the UAV belonging to Merc's client(s) makes the most sense, since the UAV is Western as with Merc's equipment. Considering the UAV is a major demanding equipment that requires an airbase, control room, remote cabin, maintenance etc., not just a kamikaze drone, it must be controlled by a military (probably Western ally or US). This means at least one of Merc's clients is some sort of Western gov/military interested enough to even send in a UAV for surveillance. Also Strelok and his group finding ways to access X-labs and CNPP certainty attracts Merc clients' attention. With S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 and recent news though, I think the writers will change the lore from Mercs being hired by Western Europe/US orgs/govs to basically hired by anyone with an emphasis on Russian-run shady orgs. This makes sense too considering Mercs do whatever for anyone afor a good pay, they did use Soviet equipment in SOC and the fact a certain military did occupy CNPP through a 'special military operation' a few months ago irl :>

[@grzyb11]

my interpretation of anomalies and emissions: when emissions happen, the power of all the thoughts of every conscious being in the world breaks out. and when it’s all focused on such a small point (the zone) it just breaks the laws of physics in areas, creating anomalies. the surroundings interact with the anomaly while it’s being created, determining the type of anomaly. artifacts are made when either something big enough just falls in, such as anomalous bread, or various particles of whatever just accumulate, and the anomaly either melts them together, or compresses them, or some other process, and forms an artifact.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes, that could be the case.

[@Big_Not_Good]

The "SoC isn't canon" hypothesis is very interesting. I've always felt like the ending of SoC didn't fit the rest of the game and the play style that it built up, this could explain that. Thanks for making these videos.

[@177Willy]

Totally amazing iceberg! I hope you will not run out of video content till 2027 when stalker 2 finally will get released

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thank you. I don't think I will run out of ideas, but I may run out of time and energy.

[@snaker9er]

Have you ever considered that the Stalker game map is only 25% of the current Zone? What I mean is we start at the southern Cordon area and to get to the center we must move north meaning that we only play the games in the southern portion of the Zone and the east west and northern areas are missing. If you start at the center and move north then the Cordon border would probably be somewhere in Belarus. I was hoping Heart of Chornobyl would take this into account so that we get a true open world zone but I am not sure if it will.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Of course, I think we even got less than 25%.

[@magister1530]

Another masterpiece from this kind frenchman

[@anomalousdugout9557]

:)

[@brambourgojgurt7973]

Actualy, in years 2010-2014 was ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych and he had good relations with russia, so the presence of spetznas forces makes sensce.

[@Just2Ddude]

Thank you for so many things that I never knew existed in Stalker Univers. Amazing video!

[@chiffmonkey]

14:58 Uncle Yar's ability to walk among zombies would certainly back that up.

[@andrewrobinson4019]

When prices of items don't make sense, I blame Sidorovich.

[@amansavant707]

A game theory I have about strelok in call of pripyat is that he joined the c consciousness but they realised he had a lot more power by being outside and influencing the military and government and that is why he joined the government and lied to the military

[@zteknik]

Excellent work!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks!

[@Sdalger_]

I really enjoyed this series

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Very nice.

[@CarlJohnson234]

Great series. Waiting for something similar or even better!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

I don't think I can do it again, but we will see.

[@CarlJohnson234]

@@anomalousdugout9557 Whatever you do I wish you great luck, greetings from Ukraine

[@foxholecreations9842]

So after going through all this, very cool video series by the way, here is my take: Lebedev is not killed with the emission but is called into the C-Consciousness because the minds originally composing it know him on some level and can form a sympathetic bond both keeping Lebedev safe and guiding him. From there, he joins the C-con, but he is is able to exert a level on control because he is the most "defined" personality. Over time, the others have blended and formed a more abstract and introspective self. This allows the Lebedv identity to take a more leading role. The real and original Strelock makes a choice or is brainwashed into joining the C-con. This backfires, however, because his will and his goals clash with Lebedev. Both are newer minds to the C-con and well-defined, but Strelock has no connection to the Group, and his goal is the outright destruction of the Zone vs Lebedev and the more averaged original C-con are agreed on a policy of containment and study. This creates dissidence in the C-con, breaking the mental network that guides the monolith faction and setting up Call of Pripyat. The Strelock seen in CoP and the fan-made Anomaly is a clone sent by the Strelock section of the C-con to explore the outside world and affect events now that the C-con as a whole is blinded through internal strife.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Perhaps this will turn out to be true.

[@michaelmcgilbery7923]

Response to your USSR didnt collapse portion. Ukrainian military up until now still uses primarily Russian weapons. You don't ditch gear just because you now have your own government. This includes armored vehicles, helicopters, aircraft, etc. The only thing that would have to be explained is the Nuke. That could be done by simply saying they never gave them up to Russia and maintained the Nuclear Arsenal and the Aircraft for utilizing them.

[@veros9830]

Thanks for the hard work putting these together. I really enjoyed these, especially the last element in this layer.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Very nice.

[@silent_bob_]

Explaining the drone is easy. USA wants to be in the forefront of science and technology. Gathering information about the Zone is of utmost importance to maintain the technological edge.

[@rtdev8512]

in the UAV section, it s highly possible that the drone is actualy sent by US government to gather information about what was going on in the zone, including its inhabitans activity (mutans, stalker, and even Strelok). and the mercenaries, being equiped mainly with western weapon, could be working for America and its allies

[@isaias3423]

Great video! As always... I really appreciate your efforts doing such hight quality content... You are someone wonderful for de Stalker Comunitty... Thx a lot!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

:)

[@MrMax2191]

Happy to see the stalker community growing, perhaps you could cover Stalker mods such as Anomaly and their stories. Anomaly has 3 storylines which are interesting, I'm interested how it relates to the original lore of SOC, CS and COP

[@mosthole]

"happy to see the community growing" then requests coverage for one of the most over shilled and covered mods in existence. If you aren't a tourist name 5 classic soc and cop mods right now

[@octaviodesumvila6969]

I was left thinking about the latest theory of whether SoC is cannon or not. Personally I think that actually in SoC we are not strelock, why? Because there are things that do not make sense in the SoC itself and even Clear Sky, for example, why the supposed strelock of SoC its skin does not match the cinematics of the game ? since the appearance of that skin is totally different from the strelock that appears in cinematics, (ok it is a first person game maybe it uses a default skin of the game and it is implied in cinematics that it is strelock) but this skin that it is used is unique in the game and it is only used for the protagonist, (it should be noted that this does not happen in Clear Sky or in CoP since the skins of the same protagonists coincide with the cinematics or even with the image of the in the inventory) . Besides, how can it be that important characters like sidorovich or the barkeep don't recognize strelock knowing that they knew him in Clear Sky and suddenly in SoC they don't recognize him at all. My theory is: Taking into account that the supposed "strelock" has amnesia and does not remember who he really is, he may confuse his true identity with that of another person, as in this case the true strelock, this character himself has scars on his face and its appearance as such could be that of a soldier monolith itself so it makes sense that "strelock" would so easily slip in to deactivate the brain cauterizer and then to the chernobyl nuclear power plant, (being himself the only stalker who could achieve such a feat) reaching the laboratory where consciousness C was found and destroying it having the "good" ending that seems like an illusion, which actually is and what happens as explained in the video that may have been captured to connect to consciousness C and putting an end to this ""strelock"". Obviously there are things that don't make sense, for example, how doc does to recognize us and even call us strelock or also the cinematics of the game. Well for me it is that in the end of Clear Sky where everyone is brainwashed and where we also see the real strelock, this "brainwashing" may have somehow transferred memories of stalkers to others and also vice versa, passing the from strelock to this monolith soldier (since there were stalkers of all kinds there) who takes his identity, that's why we have those rare memories where strelock and doc appear, and in the game's own cinematics where it is seen that we are strelock we have that appearance because like i said (we took the memories and mistook our identity for the real strelock) that's why we look like him. And when we meet doc it could be an illusion since when he finishes speaking he completely vanishes like a ghost. And in CoP the strelock that appears is the real one and he believes that he arrived at the nuclear power plant when in fact he did not but the fake strelock, but since his memories are connected he himself thinks that it was he who arrived when in reality he did not, That's why he doesn't know much about what happened at the nuclear power plant and has vague memories.

[@XanderNiles]

Making videos like this one takes a lot of effort and they are time consuming. As always, you did an excellent job my dude.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes, that is correct. Thanks.

[@VesselModStalker]

amazing video man, as always. Hope to see you making content again soon

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks, do not worry I won't be going for long.

[@VesselModStalker]

@@anomalousdugout9557 Nicee, thanks for the info

[@3NC3PH4L0N]

This channel became a religion for me

[@No_One11]

What's the name of the track at 4:40? I've been trying to find the name of it ever since Oblivion lost remake it's driving me crazy

[@vladneacsu]

Amazing episode as ever, Anomalous! Really enjoyed the whole series!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Nice.

[@BattalionSparta]

USSR not collapsing is something I wondered, mainly with Duty instead of the military. I saw Duty with all these Russian Spetsnaz and prototype rifles like An-94, VSS, VAL and Groza and that Duty has large amounts of 9x39 for sale.

[@ResistanceLion]

The another possible reference for future S.t.a.l.k.e.r seris is american film named "Forbidden planet", at least it will encourage scenery to have at least 1 scared or stupid scientist at every failed expirement, so we'll have another explanation why most of the expirements kept under secret, as well as actions of C-Consciousness to hide its own nature - simply, it was just a valuable enough security measure to kill people before they'll got to know

[@FourTraxOutdoors]

You always leave me waiting for the next "Hello stalkers welcome to the anomalous dugout"❤

[@S.T.A.L.K.E.R_fan]

Imagine that you are a tourist before the "events" in the zone and then you visited radar. Suddently the first emission occurs and you had no idea what is happening

[@thesavegecabege2712]

Okay, this one is a stretch but my theory for the SoC is not cannon is the following: Strelok managed to get into the Monolith Control room and got the good ending where he was teleported to the boundaries of the Zone. This can be backed up by the fact that there are teleporting anomalies in the Zone. Later in the events of Call of Pripyat Strelok re-enters the Zone and attempts to visit the Brain Scorcher again which as he states "Does not go to plan". Guide leads him further into Pripyat where he meets up with the military forces and would explain why he only has an AKS 74u like the ones seen in the cutscenes. I could be the furthest off compared to any prediction however that is just my theory. Otherwise my other theory is that GSC didn't expect to make many more games about Stalker after this point and just wanted an ending where the Zone is gone and all is well? Hope you see this Anomalous because it could be some good material!

[@Genuline]

6:32 would anyone know the name of the music playing here?

[@skyyy7544]

I know I left a few comments here but, I just want to tell you I love the content

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thank you.

[@scottm8292]

At the time of the development of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, relations between Ukraine and Russia were fairly good and improving. This remained the case until the Euromaidan revolution in 2013/14. GSC likely imagined that Ukrainian-Russian relations would continue to improve, which explains Ukrainian access to Russian (as opposed to Soviet) equipment in the games, such as the AN-94 Abakan and Groza. Additionally, the vast majority of Ukraine's equipment is either Soviet made or Soviet designed and then independently produced, such as the Makarov PM, AK-74u, AK-74, AS VAL, VSS Vintorez, UAZ-469, BTR-70, T-64, Mi-24, etc..

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes absolutely.

[@latewizard301]

Funny how when Stalker was supposed to release (initially 2003 i think), 2006 would not yet happen, then it was released in 2007. Reminds me of games like BF3 and BF4 both set in the future.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yeah you're right.

[@latewizard301]

@@anomalousdugout9557 can you imagine if we actually got the original STALKER as an official game, how different Clear Sky and CoP would be? Maybe a nice video idea but i don't know.

[@nicaalex6062]

Good video as always stalker.stay safe now and out of the anomalies

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks, take care.

[@ORLY911]

The field in the "happy/main" ending of SoC made me think maybe Strelok landed in around the Great Swamp and Agroprom, presumably near where docs shack is which does seem to still have some shrubbery around it albeit def not as healthy as it was in the cutscene. Unless Strelok managed to land in an area vegetated by an Heart of the Oasis, it is likely it is a hallucination, the thoughts of the c consciousness released and flooded his mind for a moment, or his thoughts of an ideal place were temporarily manifest when the c consciousness machine went down. I like to think he was teleported out, and when he awoke from his nap he found himself no longer in that nice little meadow and found himself stuck in a dinghy swamp or forest.

[@kanac-6098]

Very enjoyable series of videos I love your accent a lot :D

[@mattclarke8791]

Thank you for the videos, I've played the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games and for me, any continuity issues, gameplay oddities and items with no apparent purpose, I've just put down to "The Zone". I don't know everything about the world I live in now, how can I expect to know everything about somewhere as strange as that?

[@The_Cosmic_Navigator]

I had the same theory about human thought causing anomalies but mine had a twist. At first it was I felt like the anomalies, emissions, and psi storms themselves were the "echo" of the suffering that occurred in Chernobyl (and the surrounding area) during 86. When I researched into the history of the region this theory was strengthened. I think that Shcherhbina said it pretty accurately in the series. "Do you know anything about this town? Chernobyl? It was mostly Jews and Poles. The Jews were killed in pogroms. Stalin forced the Poles out. Then the Nazis came, killed whoever was left. But after the war, people came to live here anyway. They knew the ground under their feet was soaked in blood, but they didn't care. Dead Jews, dead Poles, but not them. No one ever thinks it will happen to them. And here we are." I think that this was the fly in the ointment when it comes to the plans of the CCon tampering with the noosphere. There was so much suffering and death that happened in that region that the proverbial dam busted whenever they attempted to tinker with the collective of human thoughts and emotions. And then on top of this you have stalkers coming to the zone hoping for riches or whatnot and then dying horribly in an anomaly, or being torn to pieces by mutants, or shot by his fellow man. The zone is just an infected wound that refuses to heal.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Very nice theory you got there, thanks for sharing.

[@The_Cosmic_Navigator]

@@anomalousdugout9557 My stint with the egg heads in Yantar was not wasted lol.

[@asdasdasdsadasd696]

I just realized I knew nothing about the game that I've been a fan of for years

[@anomalousdugout9557]

It's alright, that's the level of depth S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has.

[@hugopnik3380]

Thank you. This series was really something. I Should now play the game again.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes.

[@hiphip4808]

I would like to note that in the time Stalker takes place and was being developed, Russia and Ukraine were on fairly good terms, so I could see Russia and Ukraine working together at this time.

[@Cornyyn]

Great series Thank you very much!

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Glad you liked it.

[@احمدعبدالرحمنسلمانحسين]

There is one last theory you should add to iceberg, that is "mark one is scar not sterlok" the PDA in SOC said "find sterlok , kill sterlok" and he named as mark one becauce he had scar on face so they(c-group and monalith) can regonize him and thats why he can survive in blowout but once he done his job as marc haird to eliminate sterlok,He's no longer needed so they get red of him sorry for week english

[@anomalousdugout9557]

I know about this theory but there is one major problem about it: Scar was never tasked to kill Strelok. He was only asked to stop him by disabling his psy-protection.

[@frentzen100]

Marked One is a name given by Sid and the local stalkers to Strelok, because of the tattoo on his arm.

[@theogtoaster3316]

these videos were great, take that well deserved break

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Many thanks.

[@grzyb11]

Yo great video as always, can you tell me what song you used at 4:30?

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Wasteland I.

[@vasilzahariev5741]

The UAV actually looks like a mix between MQ-1 Predator and the RQ-4 Global Hawk.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yeah maybe.

[@ercek15]

6:30 according to me its more of the MQ-1 model than MQ-4 GH (Global Hawk) but looking at the UAV from CoP it looks like a mix of both of them but it its probobly a UN drone or NATO which as you said probobly were spying On Streloks group beacause UN/NATO has also ears in the zone (MERCS) and sendended drone to look whats going On in Zone and ocasionaly look at the main character of this - Strelok And that's the reason why it knows where are stashes I could talk about the UNSIG...but this is not canon to the CoP but most likely UN or NATO wanted to know why, how and what is going On in there, and reason why it crashed is still uknown but it couldn't be shot down by MANPADS or SAM beacause well drone would be in pieces, it couldn't be striked by a anomaly beacause there would be a signafent Mark On it of what type of anomaly it was and the most propoble would be that it just glided down to Jupiter beacause it ran out of fueal and didn't have a safe place to land so it crashed there and the drone can fly non-stop for 24h (MQ-4 if we assume that is that one) so it couldn't crash there more than 36h ago (it can't fly longer than that, On max 20km above) so UAV crashed very recently That all from me (I'm probobly wrong in some places but I'm not as much into drones as into Helicopters but it is 5 minutes On Wikipedia and you know the difrence...and some info 'bout it)

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Alright, we'll look into this thanks.

[@captainsierra8611]

What happened to your old Q&A with the friend? I cant see it anymore

[@XYZ-eo8um]

About Rubles again, there is no official exchange rate for in-Zone RU to any real world currency, which once again leaves huge pool for a speculations about it, if being a stalker is really that profitable or not. You know, traders can simply pay all stalkers, who risk their health and lives to get their hands on artifacts, in peanuts for their efforts, while at the same time they sell those artifacts for thousands, or even millions USD.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Yes.

[@onsholo]

The way that I see it, being a Stalker searching for artifacts for traders is like picking coca leaves for a drug lord...Or just to coca-cola, not much difference between the two.

[@Frank-Micah]

talking about if the final events of SoC , i remeber that after the true ending cutscene you can still play the game after that, so Sactually all the final evets really happened (i hope this fueture isn't added with the zrp mod)

[@artemzdorikov1093]

Original game is not free play after main story. I'm sorry but it's a mod Thats why some people telling new gamers to atleast play one time full vanilla

[@BlazedLizurd]

the gaping hole at the back of the crashed uav seems to point to it being shot down. maybe it was shot down by a powerful weapon with fast travel speed - like a gauss cannon. maybe monolith shot down the uav to prevent the zone secrets from being exposed.

[@111455]

given the point like nature on both sides of the tail of the UAV could it have been the gauss riffle?

[@danielaguirre9496]

well, We are certainly spoiled by this level of commitment with the lore. Most excelent analisis, wich i´m affraid now set the standars of your videos pretty high, so, even more work. I remember about the Gaia Theory, in wich all things are just an extension of the planet, as a living entity; in this theory, animals and humans are but steps of consciousness (clasicaly from plants to humans, but being extended from actual minerals to gods) Again, excelent video & analisis. Congrats. We need the SoC not cannon theory explained in further detail.

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Thanks. I'm not worried, I already peaked.

[@SkyLoVe643]

This layer is scary ! But the scariest thing of them all is the thought that SoC is not cannon

[@anomalousdugout9557]

Oh yeah, hence why it's at the bottom.

[@frentzen100]

The ShOC ending is interesting. I think up until the point when Strelok destroys the "C-Con representative" it's somewhat believable. But after that, the thing with the teleports and stuff like this is a bit too much even for the world of Stalker. I mean, why would only a teleport lead to the base of C-Con? And so on. I think what he destroyed was just a part of the whole thing, and after that he lost his consciousness, and had a weird dream about killing hundreds of Monoliths as well as destroying the whole C-Con. Remember, he lost himself and had dreams too after deactivating the PSI machines. So this could be the case what happened here as well. Maybe he got under the influence of the C-Con in that room (we don't know how much power they hold in manipulating the human brain), and they gave him that dream about fulfilling his biggest desire, and then they transported him out of the NPP to somewhere far away, so he would think that he destroyed the C-Con, and leave them alone for good. Of course Strelok did find out that thing's didn't go as he planned, that he was manipulated, so that's why he say those things to the player in CoP.