The Entire Timeline of the Inhabitants Explained

[@DerNeik]

The prisoner really is the true hero of the whole Outer Wilds story. Without his actions, probably no one would've entered the eye to create a new universe.

[@harley2938]

I don't think they made the simulation specifically to survive the heat death of the universe, but because it's the closest they can come to returning to the home they miss. They probably originally planned to live a hybrid life, between the simulation and reality. The two seem to have opposite day/night cycles. Then, they discovered that the dead could remain alive in the simulation (which seemed to be a bug and not a feature, because the bells didn't account for it), and that changed everything. That was when they decided to stop living in reality and live in the simulation as their bodies wasted away.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

A direct quote from the devs answering a question of mine about the speed that the owlks transitioning into the sim. "Probably a bit of both. The whole point was to forget the real world and live beyond the heat death of the universe (for a time at least) in an artificial reality, so the transition was probably pretty quick. " They didnt discover the sim could keep dead people alive. They built it for that purpose. They simply rushed a dying owlk to the sim to see if theyve achieved the ultimate goal of what they were trying to achieve. The entire species werent really privy to how the sim worked. The glitches were mostly unknown. But in this case , regardless of classification of the reel, its actually mission as planned. The bells were supposed to be a feature to wake the Owlks up if they try to enter the forbidden archives or free the prisoner. When they made all this stuff was when they were alive. And you basically have to wake up to find the forbidden archives or enter the prisoners vault. They are all hidden and most inhabitants dont know these pathways. So do to so you would have to wake up and go find their hidden locations. Which would be waking up everyone at your fire with the bell. Its a pretty solid measure because by the time they die in the sim its essentially too late to do the rest. Tbh I dont blame you though. Its all pretty confusing and I NEVER would have put this all together without having an interview with the devs. But I have to just rely on what they relayed to me. Then try to make it make sense.

[@skwittles778]

@@TheLoreExplorer I think it could very well be a mix of both. On top of being able to go back home, they can also just outlive the universe. Living in the simulation was pretty much just a two for the price of one special.

[@Yuti640]

remember that the quote listed above is directly from the devs, it’s completely canon and should be seen as such

[@DaveLH]

The Owlks very much parallel the asperations of "Transhumanists" like Ray Kurzweil, who literally believe that someday we will all be immortal beings living forever inside a computer simulation.

[@speedude0164]

The point of the simulation being to survive past the heat death of the universe makes the prisoner's words in the Eye make more sense. I thought what the Owlks were seeing in that vision was the Eye's Big Bang destroying this universe for good and creating a new one, so they saw the Eye as an evil power that would end everything and turned against it. It feels a bit weird for the Eye's vision to tell them "by the way, the universe is gonna die of old age" though I suppose it makes sense. They see that the heat death of the universe is coming and the Eye is the only thing that can save it by creating a new one, but instead of accepting this and staying near the Eye in preparation to pass the torch when the time came, they refused to let their species come to an end and attempted to create a way to live past the heat death. They blocked the Eye's signal so no one could enter it and create the new universe, as that would kill them. The Prisoner then rebelled as to him they were preventing the birth of new civilizations everywhere for nothing but to try and live a dream of the past in a universe with nothing (especially since 2 of the 3 simulation buildings failed, and god knows how long the 3rd would've lasted). I thought it was a misunderstanding that turned the Owlks against the Eye, but looking at it from the perspective of the vision fully showing them the Eye's mechanics and purpose honestly makes the story so much better, and it makes the prisoner seem like that much more of a hero.

[@TaniksB]

Regarding the issue of naming the inhabitants/Owlks - here's another option: They're called "Ghostbirds" in the game files. I'm too used to Owlks by now, but I'd say it's the most canon-name we have (Nothing wrong with Inhabitants of course, but that's not really a name). Sorry if you already mentioned this in a previous video.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I dont think ghostbirds was intended to be used. I asked and there is no official name. The concept art dubs them "The inhabitants" so Ive been trying to stick to the only semi official name we have.

[@oriolejb9774]

I have always just called them strangerians

[@jamfollowedbyanumber]

I just called them 'the owl fellas'

[@rayvongarlic1996]

I exclusively referred to them as "owl boys"

[@sungvin]

@@jamfollowedbyanumber I instantly imagined you walking into that house crammed with a dozen owlks, tipping your lantern and saying “How do you you, owl fellas!” :D

[@speedude0164]

Looking at it from this perspective, the Owlks are pretty much the antagonists of Outer Wilds. The point of the game is accepting the inevitable end of your time and passing the torch to those who will come next. By blocking the Eye's signal, the Owlks were preventing new civilizations from being born so they could live forever, even if that life was nothing but an eternal dream of the past in a universe of nothing. That the developers were able to build upon the base's game's story this seamlessly and expertly through DLC is hella impressive.

[@leedlelel2373]

i think its significant that they immediately went to burn the slides after the prisoner released the signal, it implies they knew another species would hear it and come, and by leaving the slide reels that show only what they want them to know, they assume they will develop their own fear of the eye and leave them alone

[@declanziolkowski]

I have already memorized the timeliness of outer wilds but here I am

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I found it impossible to do the timeline of the inhabitants. Some videos show sequential things. But then the next reel takes place in the middle of the last one. Like it was just confusing. Very impressive you were able to piece it all together!

[@ekaterinaburakova8629]

Exactly this

[@scottwaggoner223]

This video posed a curious question I haven’t thought of before; when the protagonist enters the simulation, what do the Owlks actually see? The simulation certainly wasn’t designed for Hearthians in mind, and as was noted in another comment aspects such as the spacesuit jet pack don’t transfer. I can’t imagine the consciousness transfer works 100% for an alien never envisioned by the creators of the simulation either. What if Owlks instead see a glitchy, horrific mess of an avatar that freaks them out? They seem to react the same way when you get attacked far from your flame.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The Owlk staffs are actually pretty adept at scanning things. It actually basically scans your consciousness. So I imagine it scans your consciousness to determine what "you" actually are or something. And so it leaves out space suits and the like. Basically I think our sim avatar looks like us. As mentioned in the video. Even if we were an inhabitant. The other inhabitants would act the same way they do towards us, towards them. So I dont think we are a scary glitchy mess and thats why they do what they do.

[@elenafriese891]

Also, they _somehow_ made their tech so good that a program created millennia later by a *completely different species that knew nothing about these people* could tell that a mess of data in their servers was still "you" in some fundamental way even when your body dies. That doesn't strike me as a code that couldn't scan an appearance accurately. (Now, I wouldn't be surprised if we were in their clothes or something, but still)

[@pixelcat_yt]

The prisoner is able to see our body fine and create visions that include our physical form, so I don't think that's it.

[@recordwify]

Well if you look down your still yourself not some glichy monstrosity

[@notveryartificial4486]

Bro. They aren't the same between each other either, and their avatars always perfectly align with how they were irl(as shown in a reel about an old bird dying and ending up in a simulation). This means the simulation probably scans the memories of whoever enters, and find their self-perception to base avatar on. And since Prisoner's staff picked up our thoughts quite precisely, it means their mind tech is pretty universal

[@klikkolee]

for the owlk stopping the projector in response to the light, it's not an immediate reaction like it would be if they were doing something they weren't supposed to. It takes a significant amount of time shining the light before they react and they vocalize loudly when they turn it off, which is all more consistent with irritation.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

From someone who actually does have some experience doing what they aren’t supposed to. Immediate reactions like that give away the game. Imagine an owlk walk by and the light just happens to shine through. Instant reaction gets you caught. They waited to ensure someone was actually focusing on them. At least that’s how I read it. Plus there would be no reason for them to keep it turned off afterwards.

[@recordwify]

​@@TheLoreExplorer what if the reason why he was mad was cause other olwks were doing it before we came

[@ketchuppackets4858]

@@TheLoreExplorer "from someone who actually does have some experience doing what they aren’t supposed to." I think everyone in human history has experienced this. And as someone who has experience, I can tell you that if I was doing something I wasn't supposed to, wistfully and solemnly, the moment I see a light hit my projection I'm gonna panic and turn it off. Given that they are such a close knit community (which just further explains the lengths they went with the Prisoner, since they trusted them), I would see no fault in looking back on your planet. If they wanted to forget their planet, they wouldn't have made their whole afterlife based around it. It makes no sense. The fact that it takes a bit for the Owlk to register something is wrong is precisely because you're constantly pointing it. I would bet that any other Owlk would have maybe noticed it and then left just out of respect. But because you just sort of kept watching and pointing at it, the Owlk inside had to be like "Okay wait what the hell who is that, none of us would just do that".

[@TheLoreExplorer]

You should look at my dlc interview with the devs. They were forbidden archives to even the owlks. They wanted nothing more than to forget. And watching that video is flying in the face of that. :)

[@notveryartificial4486]

Or rather it's not a quick task to get up, run to the reel projector, pull it out, and hide it. They had no remotes

[@OwenLearnsDrawing]

As far as the dam breaking goes, the antenna on the Cinder isles tower that receives data from the fire below quite literally snaps off the tower, so the inhabitants hooked up there were doubly screwed. Also if you watch the wires and antennae on the Cinder Isles tower throughout the loop, you’ll actually see entire sections stop transmitting data as the inhabitants get booted.

[@ultrafun2227]

It's sad that we can't fly the Stranger's shuttles. Imagine a spaceship that steers like the raft and can land on planets, but if you touch the water, it will shut down (like lamps)

[@jackmahoney1001]

OHHHH THATS SO COOL!! I LOVE THAT CONCEPT! the whole dlc I thought we’d find something about their weird ufo ships

[@weirdochristoffel5285]

@@jackmahoney1001me too lol first timers would think so especsialy if you can fly the nomai shuttles (sorta)

[@ollllj]

I wonder the most about; what happened to their last janitor and carpenter and gardener? Did he fly into the sun or die in a fireplace seat?

[@minicrewmate7865]

an alternative ending for removing the warp core and entering the simulation could be that you make up "games" to play, such as a wild goose chase game similar to when the owlks used to hunt you, now you hunt them back, and give them more to do in the simulation, making the wait for the simulation to power down be more bearable.

[@Jman0163]

most of my friends died, but this new weird frog is cool

[@shibainu2528]

I wonder, if you die in the cinder isles tower, do you still experience the tipping effect that you get when the dam's water rushes by the first time, then finally collapses right before End Times starts to play? That would mean that the Cinder Isles Owlks would probably be the most horrified because they heard screaming off in the distance, felt the earth move slightly beneath them, then eventually gravity flip 90 degrees as the real world tower finally falls.

[@Jman0163]

you dont feel the real world in the sim if youre dead, so it was one mass, sudden, unpredictable death after another, leaving the survivors to presumably fear how much time they had left.

[@ndre90]

​@@Jman0163nah they would all unlog at the same time as soon as the water touches the flame in the center of the room

[@Jman0163]

@ndre90 the ones in the same area do, but all the owlks were separated into 3 different areas. the first group would die, and the other two groups would be confused, then the second group would die, and the third would likely start freaking out.

[@struanpeat5116]

Do you suppose they canibalized the spare spaceship to make the eye silencer? Maybe thats why there's a ship missing

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I asked the devs this exact question! Here was their response! "When the Strangers was built, they knew nothing of what awaited them or what the journey might entail. The details of that journey are also lost now, unless some digitized record exists in one of the archives? We will probably never know. Did they lose a ship in some past adventure? Did they just have extra spots for additional vessels?"

[@struanpeat5116]

@@TheLoreExplorer my theory (since the devs seem to encourage theorising) is that they had limited material on the stranger, and instead of mining out a planets core like the nomi they chose to canibalise the ship, repurpose their computers to make the dream world, and many other unique hacks and shortcuts to save on materials Perhaps thats why alot of the areas that arnt in the main room of the stranger *feel* like the inside of a big machine, it's not just that it is a big machine, but it's one that has been rebuilt from the gound up to serve a new purpose after their arrival in the hearthian system

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Im a bit of a romantic. I like to think they had an epic struggle trying to replace some of these materials they needed. And in the harrowing process a ship and Inhabitant didnt make it home.

[@struanpeat5116]

@@TheLoreExplorer certainly compelling Or perhaps another prisoner situation One who didnt want to live a lie but felt like there was nothing they could do about it

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

Mate you put so much effort and passion into these videos, we all really appreciate it!

[@cobalttheprotogen312]

I like to think that in the ending where you bring the advanced warp core into the stranger and go into the hidden world, eventually all the owlkin just give up and you become friends with them

[@BlindShadowElSniper]

Last week i've just finished EotE and direclty came to see your takes and all the videos about the expansion. Man, your content only gets better with each video. I'm a suscriber since 2019 i think and it's amazing to see your improvment as content creator. Keep up the hardwork!

[@skwittles778]

Wait… How have you been following Outer Wilds since 2019… Finished the DLC recently, a while after it came out… AND DIDNT GET IT SPOILED? That is a skill I wish I had.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

They haven’t been following outer wilds since 2019. They’ve been following me. Lol. But now that you mention it…Actually….yeah. That’s incredible lol. How didn’t I spoil you? Also….thanks for the kind words.

[@tosten5553]

If the stranger survives for a few billion years until new stars appear in the new universe it can recharge. The inhabitants saw the end of the universe when they scanned the eye, but they also saw the beginning of the next(the grass growing on their skulls symbolize this) with this knowledge they could construct batteries to last until the new stars appear and then the stranger can autopilot to them

[@TheLoreExplorer]

We aren’t too sure how to at all works. In my understanding. The new universe actually doesn’t happen in the same place and time ours did. But I suppose there could be more than one pathway connecting to there!

[@random7546]

how would it survive the big bang, it incinerates us from the heat, and its clearly way way bigger than the distance between our system and the eye

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Everything gets sent back in time. That explosion doesnt occur where the eye was. Or in our system. It occurs where the eye sent us. Which is a new part of space and time.

[@mattomo6825]

@@TheLoreExplorer I personally disagree. I think the vision they had explains it exactly how I always thought it was. I believe that the new "big bang" actually destroys everything in the current Universe, leaving an empty canvas for the new one to grow. I don't think a different place or time is involved.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

That’s fine. The eye exists outside of time. And we see the entire universe die before we get there and observe it. We also see life growing on the skull as if it wasn’t completely destroyed. But it’s possible. Imo it seems clear the eye is a quantum black hole. So the time travel is just inherent imo.

[@vicenteisaaclopezvaldez2450]

Their stories survived the end of the universe, the cost: All and every story that may have come next.

[@devindykstra]

As much as we understand about the Outer Wilds universe, I still have one question: why did all the stars in the universe to explode simultaneously. It's something that is never really explained or even brought to the player's attention beyond Chert, the transmission we get in the Vessel, and the eye itself. Even the surviving Nomai don't seem to understand what is happening. Clearly something is causing all the supernova. So what is it?

[@Hello-Students]

**SPOILERS*** It's just because the universe is coming to an end and as a result all the other stars as well as your own are starting to supernova as well.

[@cbandit7715]

They didn't. Yoy were seeing that formt he eye but the eye is outside of time. All of those stars were going our a different times but yoy saw them all explode because the eye of the universe is outside of time the supernova is jsur chased by the sun being really old.

[@devindykstra]

@@cbandit7715 if you look around and watch the stars, you'll see them all go out, one by one. From the eye of the universe (before jumping into it) you can safely watch the universe go dark.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The end of the universe is just naturally occurring. If a star was 100 light years away. By the time we see it blow up its been dead for 100 years. And if its 1 light year away. Its been dead for one year. We also have to take into account the abstract nature of disatnce and time in outer wilds. is it 22 minutes or 5 or so years?(The amount of time timber hearth revolves around the sun) Even the devs arent too certain. One thing that is certain. The universe is ending naturally. Im pretty sure we are told this by/at the eye.

[@SBBurzmali]

@@TheLoreExplorer The issue with that is that it conflicts with what the Nomai ships are reporting onboard the Vessel, i.e. that the stars are going out slowly enough that Nomai ships can select new homes with an expectation of some amount of living to be done there. 22 minutes or 5 years doesn't really matter much as we do have a rough estimate of how much could feasibly be done in the interval of time between around 1 supernova and a ton of supernova.

[@darksunrise957]

I have a theory that the Stranger WAS properly designed to survive the supernova intact, but the issue was that the death of the sun happened WAY faster than it was supposed to. Something obviously triggered every star in the universe to supernova at the same time, so a process that should have taken thousands of years happened in 22 minutes. Presumably the Stranger would have moved much more gradually away from the star, over hundreds of years, but had to seriously rush through the steps to escape the new timeline.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Imo The end of the universe is just naturally occurring. If a star was 100 light years away. By the time we see it blow up its been dead for 100 years. And if its 1 light year away. Its been dead for one year. So they didnt really blow up at the same time. We also have to take into account the abstract nature of distance and time in outer wilds. Is it really 22 minutes or 5 or so years?(The amount of time timber hearth revolves around the sun) Ive asked and even the devs arent too certain of a direct stance they can take on that. One thing that is certain. The universe is ending naturally. Im pretty sure we are told this by/at the eye. The speed the stranger is going can be considered gradually. Seriously , its really slow when it comes to space travel.

[@thomasland453]

In terms of the time between star phases, I settled on the idea that, since we see at the end of the game that the new worlds of the universe are far more outlandish and based on what the Hearthian has known and discovered, maybe the rules of each universe are dependent on the observer that enters the eye- and so this accelerated time and the comparatively small solar systems are a result of how the previous observer chose to shape reality when they entered the eye. Not the intended idea probably but it’s an attempt at a reason if one is needed

[@SBBurzmali]

@@thomasland453 That still runs into issues with the message board on the Vessel, which implies a much more gradual process.

[@sharpenedspoon]

@@TheLoreExplorer The sky goes dark all at once in a very short (astronomically-speaking) period of time, which tells us that Outer Wilds takes place in our very near the center of the universe-a.k.a. the origin point of the big bang. Makes sense intuitively, since the Eye (re-)creates the universe, centered on itself, and the game takes place in a system located extremely close to that center point. I visualize it as though the Eye pops a galactic water balloon filled with stellar dust and all the stars fly away from it in a shockwave and dissipate about ~13 billion light-years away, at most

[@TheLoreExplorer]

There are other observations I believe suggest this too Ian. But consider this.(and I’ve made this mistake in the past too). Simply this. The observable universe. Stars will always look to be evenly surrounding us because they are never ending. Stretching far beyond what anyone could see. So that observation is sort of pointless. Though I’ve mistakenly made it in the past too. I’ve also tried to tie it back to maybe momentum , distance travelled per star , the time it’s take for the light to reach back to us. But I’m not sure if that’s a fools errand or not.

[@finn7558]

Maybe the owlks burnt the prisoners codes when the nomai entered the solar system in search of the eye

[@tomox5125]

their story is beautiful, I can't believe how good it is.

[@InvasionAnimation]

This game is so amazing! I wish I actually played it before watching walkthroughs and stuff.

[@orphieforce3866]

i agree with the timeline and overall, the headache it must have caused trying to make it as I once tried to make a timeline fitting Owlks Hearthians and Nomai but good job. love to see new lore videos

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Luckily I’m in a position where I was able to just ask the devs. Because I promise you. I wouldn’t have figured this out by myself. It was very tough when I tried due to the nature of the dlcs reels and environmental story telling! But thank you for the kind words!

[@misapheonix]

Ofc, of all the things I could focus on, the neglection of physical bodies is what comes to my mind xD I know it's never specified, but I always inferred that they neglected their bodies on purpose, to essentially forever leave behind their perceieved dismal existance. The Owlks likely thought the living in their simulation was like an Ascension! There'd be very little need to return to irl. Afterall, they came up with a seemingly perfect plan to live forever. My other take away is how likely this scenario is to real life. There probably have been aliens that came to some grandios conclusions about the universe. Whether it was a good or bad outlook seems irrelevant as, either way, creating a perfect simulation could well be the end game for all evolved species. Which would explain many things relating to how eerly quiet the universe appears, just like the Dyson Sphere theory!

[@johncarnett2668]

Hey, nice acting in the observatory in that Voicelines Mod for Outer Wilds. I did like the video too though. Great work on both!

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Hey, thanks! Glad you enjoyed them both!

[@Zapdos7471]

A really subtle element is that inside their house in the simulation the prisoner drew the eye as a flower spreading galaxies like dandelion seeds. The stem of this flower is seen growing in the last few frames of reel where a red robed stranger scans the eye up close. In the reel where they are grieving, we see the prisoner also grieving, so I think the prisoner only realized the truth of how the eye works after having settled in the digital world. This may be why the archives became forbidden - to prevent someone else from accessing the memory that reveals the truth. Also, they couldn’t let anyone see the painting or interrogate the prisoner, so the prisoner’s house was made off limits and the digital codes were burned. I think some faction of strangers (the reel burners, the red robe that scanned the eye up close) kept the rest in the dark about the truth of the eye, but they were too obsessed with preserving their people’s story to burn the painting or the digital reels. What better place to hide a painting than in a condemned building where surely nothing survived? They couldn’t even kill the prisoner. They were only okay with burning the codes because they knew the prisoner was safe inside cordoned off from the rest.

[@frankcl1]

There are some things here that still do not make sense to me. If the owlks knew that the heat death of the universe was inevitable and not caused by the eye, why did they build the jammer? And even if they thought the eye would speed up the process, once they were able to survive the heat death this would not be a problem anymore, so the prisoner disabling the jammer made sense and they had no reason to imprison them. Also, the eye signal had probably been emitted for years when they reached it, and we do know that the signal takes time to travel through space. How unlikely is it that the nomai, a specie with teleporting devices, would hear the signal released by the prisoner for a few minutes but not the signal emitted before the jammer was built? And even if they did, how would our character know the difference? I'm pretty sure that in the end, the prisoner's action made no difference and we're just lying to them.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

If I destroyed my entire planet to reach a signal. And it turned out that signal didnt benefit me in any way. I wouldnt want that constant reminder. Also, signals take time to travel through space. And many many years went by from the time they silenced the eye. To the time the prisoner released it. In this time the nomai probably advanced significantly enough to hear it. Or just so happened to be in a range where they could recieve it(maybe it redshifts too much after a long enough distance".

[@noizepusher7594]

I don’t think they “knew” it was inevitable, the autopilot was just a contingency plan for if the sun explodes. We don’t know exactly how they thought supernovae worked but they seem to have drawn a causation between the Eye and the heat death of the universe. So, in the very unlikely case that someone *does* find the eye despite the signal jammer, they set up a way to get out in case the sun does explode.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

It’s hard to say. The devs say “the whole point of the sim was to survive the heat death, at least for some time”. So they knew about the heat death. We also have to keep in mind the vision we see is an artists depiction. Not the actual vision. And we know they focused mostly on the heat death mechanic and how it’s effect them personally. But the simple fact is. They don’t seem to know how , when , or why this might happen. After seeing what they did. It makes sense to me if they think observing the eye prompts this ending of the universe. But tbh it’s hard to say if they did what they did to stop the heat death. Or because they personally don’t want to hear the signal anymore. If they thought silencing the eye would prevent the eye from prompting the heat death. Why waste most Of your resources building a sim to hide away in something designed to survive it? Why not just leave? It seems even after silencing it. They still expected the heat death. And so I can’t say for certain if silencing was a preventive measure. Or a selfish petty measure. Which they seem prone to.

[@BiggPound]

incredible video as always. thank you friend you are helping keep this nigh-immaculate game alive.

[@AninoNiKugi]

@3:18 I just realized their Sun looked a lot orange and brighter. Maybe their Sun were about to explode too and that's why they already have the technology to detect supernova and go away from it? And maybe that's why it was a relatively easy decision to destroy their home to create the Stranger? Crazy theories XD

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Nope. We see it still there many years later. When they silenced and then the prisoner released the signal again,

[@emojothejojo]

Seems more likely it is a red dwarf or something

[@AkiyamaToushiro]

Dude thank you this really helped me understand the lore of EotE

[@solanum5709]

9:02 wait, if they used their memories to recreate their home world, that means they make it to the Eye in the span of one generation ! So the travel wasn't "that" long at the very least (even though we don't know how long they live). That ties up with another comment I saw suggesting that the Owlk finding the Eye with the telescope is the prisoner (because, well, both have telescope and ties to the Eye) before they lost an antler. Which is now much more plausible if everything happens more quickly than it seems OR maybe because of their light technology, they can share visions and memories, so these memories aren't necessarily "theirs"... throwing this theory completely out of the window. But that also gives an interesting glimpse inside Owlk minds : if they can hold memories belonging to others, maybe that's why they carry so much longing and regret for their home world, even if they had left it for generations.

[@dedidedi9132]

Inhabitants of the stranger, personally I like to call them the strangers

[@Marqan]

same, it's so simple, idk why people feel the need to rename them

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Their ship is called the stranger. Not them. They don’t have a name.

[@dedidedi9132]

@@TheLoreExplorer Yes i know, Its just what i prefer to call them as they have no official name. These people inhabit the ship named the stranger, ill call them the strangers.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

You’re free to. And people will likely realize what you mean. But people don’t want to call them that because there is no right reason they should be named opposed to us. They are only strangers to us. They love. They care. They are just….owls. They like solitude. That doesn’t make them strange. Idk. On one hand “you’re thinking too hard on this bro”. On the other. Well art is meant to be analyzed.

[@dedidedi9132]

@@TheLoreExplorer thats a good point, i guess i never really seen the negative connotation of "the strangers"

[@pvcarcher7085]

At 11:22 there are 4 separate solar systems, the Hearthian system with the eye (center), the Nomai system (top right), and the Owlk's system (bottom left),... But what is in the top left.

[@zeppy6547]

is that confirmed to be the Nomai's? I didn't think the Nomai had a known system. They wander in their separate ships exploring the universe and discovering new things

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The Nomai are a nomadic species. Its very unlikely they had a home system nearby.

[@pvcarcher7085]

@@TheLoreExplorer ah thanks, this makes sense, I just watched one of the ending slide reels and there are two other systems show as well. It's likely more trying to show that there are potential others out there, not directly relevant to any known stories.

[@DaveLH]

@@TheLoreExplorer : I think the Nomai must have come from VERY far away, very likely another galaxy, and that's why their warp to the Eye was so inaccurate (they landed in DB instead), and why it took (presumably) so many eons for the signal to reach the Vessel, after the Prisoner released it.

[@Jekejsiiclsozjxx]

yo lore, theres this new up and comming mod for outer wilds, its caslled the vision. look it up. "outer wilds the vision trailer" cant link it cuz youtube doesnt let me.

[@rodrigomateus6505]

There's a chance the inhabitants had seen that the eye of the universe was older than the universe itself, like the nomai, and it also got them as much interested in the eye, would be a cool coincidence Sorry for the bad English, I'm Brazilian and still learning...

[@DaveLH]

My assumption has always been that they too saw that it was older than the universe, simply because they were unlikely to sacrifice so much for just _any_ unknown signal... Just as it was because it was older than the universe that the Nomai (specifically Escall) decided to make an impulsive (and ill-advised) warp to the Eye without telling any of the other clans.

[@rathelmmc3194]

If I were to conjecture, I'd say that they destroyed the codes in the virtual world when they started thinking they may be vulnerable in the real world. As some no doubt died in the real world, maybe they knew they were dead. Which means people in the real world had real power over them. They couldn't trust anyone releasing the prisoner.

[@DwAboutItManFr]

One interesting idea we have is using time crystals to run simulations at max entropy, meaning esswntially eternal life.

[@FranklinThe1]

Hey Lore have you ever thought about why we don't enter the simulation with out space suits on? Sure it's probably for gameplay purposes but lore wise it's for sure an oversight by the developers right? I mean the player and the strangers all enter the simulation with all their physical features and clothing so then why doesn't our clothing/what we are wearing and is on us include the hatchlings space suit? And have you ever thought about why the developers never gave the player a name? Everyone just calls us "hatchling" but everyone else has a name.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I’m sure a jet pack was just never coded into the simulation. Or something of the like. And usually devs try not to give the pc a name so you can identify it when people are talking to you. If a characters calls you Tom and your name is Franklin you’re immediately pulled out of it.

[@DwAboutItManFr]

"There is nothing you can do to avoid the heat death of the universe" the nomai literally got it figured it out for our protagonist, he can essentially live forever.

[@defiantnight2668]

Is being trapped in a time loop for literally eternity, at the end of the universe, where all your friends and family wake up every day thinking it's the last, really any kind of avoidance? Where every day you are guaranteed death by fire, over and over again? At least the Owlks had the misguided comfort of their home and their loved ones until the dam gives out. The time loop is no more of an answer than the Owlks' to avoiding the heat death of the universe.

[@DwAboutItManFr]

@@defiantnight2668 It is an answer, a really small cost to keep living.

[@juliohintze595]

So the owlks were in the simulation for around 280 thousand years, right? Must have been really inconvenient to carry those artifacts and keeping them lit for that long.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

For a while Im sure it was , yeah. But after a couple hundred years it probably just became second nature to them.

[@onecat1598]

I really wish we could turn the eye signal jammer off again, just so it would make the Nomai Eye Signal Locators functioning again.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Thatd be a pretty neat addition. Maybe wed even be able to pick it up on our signalscope!

[@Yuti640]

What the inhabitants saw when scanning the eye was the only quantum possibility in relation to the eye that was certain, that they would be destroyed and a new universe would exist in their ashes, it didn’t matter what possibility the eye went into once a conscious observer entered it, what they saw would always happen

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Imo the eye just showed them what it did. Its mechanics. We only see an owlks artist depiction of that.

[@NeroZashi]

After the dam breaks and there's no more stars, how long does the Simulation last for because no energy to power the sim ??

[@TheLoreExplorer]

We dont know. The ending we get suggests its a VERY long time. So long we forget if reality was really reality. Or if it was just some weird dream we had.

[@ekaterinaburakova8629]

Exactly my point. It just can't be as long as the ending suggests... Of course, the subjective feeling of time can be different for the hatchling.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I just did a long response over on Reddit to this. I’m short. Nomai lights inside bramble have been lit for 280k years. And fire is a source of energy. We power mars rover via heat. It’s entirely possible the green fire can power the sim. We have seen it’s capable of providing great energy (it blew a hole in the stranger). And we know they are the masters of light. It’s entirely feasible given what we’ve seen and what we know.

[@dude-xb3gg]

Were the necklaces and arm jewelery used to steter the Raft and unlock Doors?

[@SBBurzmali]

I'm not sure I can agree with some of your points. The concept of the heat death of the universe, assuming the Outer Wilds universe is at least similar to ours, would require that all energy sources be exhausted, which would include whatever energy source the Stranger is using to power the virtual world. Sure, the Stranger will survive the supernova, but without another star, a craft that is apparently, currently, designed to run on solar power isn't going to be operation all that long, especially in a universe where every star seems to go supernova and not leave behind a white dwarf or neutron star or anything. My take is that the passengers of the Stranger got to the Eye, saw that entering the Eye erases the universe and thought "Boy, that's horrific, lets make sure that no one ever does that", which I think is a fair reaction to something that could easily be mistaken for a universe ending weapon. I'd love to see a sequel or subsequent DLC that follows up on the builders of the Eye, maybe borrow something from Jerry Pournelle's Gateway series, it would be pretty neat, and could probably address the origin of the Dark Bramble and why everyone that hears the Eye's signal seems to by compelled to chase it down. That's one reason why I like the Stranger over the Nomai, the folks on the Stranger evaluated the Eye before entering, allowing millions of civilizations the chance to rise and fall, the Nomai would never have shown that restraint.

[@gobbo60880]

heres the thing, yes, if it was real life it would take WAY longer for this to happen. the point of the game though is that in our (the game's) solar system alone we have 4 separate apocalyptic events happening at the same time, with ghost matter (which is always expanding), the dark bramble, our own sun going super nova, and every other star going super nova. the point of the game is that you learn about all of these things and are pointed to the eye of the universe as a possible fix for all of these things, but the core of the story is that the universe is going to end one day eventually and the eye is going to form a new one after using your memories

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I understand what youre saying. But heres a direct from the devs. "The whole point was to live past the heat death. At least for a time". So I think the devs just consider all suns dying the heat death. We get shown this at the eye and its basically all stars blinking out. And that quote also confirms the inhabitants knew about the heat death. So it wasnt really just reactionary "Ohhh. this looks bad". They understood it. And chose to hide it because itd effect them. Either universally or personally. Personally. I wouldnt want a constant signal calling out to remind me I done goofed so bad I destroyed my entire planet for nothing. I just didnt mention that because the majority of the community still seems to think the eye prompts the heat death(which again , in outer wilds, is just the suns going out). And that interacting with it prompts this. Which imo, we know not to be true. But of course , I could be wrong about all of it except the direct quote and its implications.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

@gobbo Ghost matter isnt expanding. Its dissipating. The little kid throwing rocks at the ghost matter pen in the crater tells us this. Also, I dont think the core of the story is something you didnt expect the whole time. That wasnt really a part of the game until the end. The lesson I see all through out the game is "The end of one thing is just the beginning of another. And it always builds of the end. So lets make sure its a good one!" type thing.

[@SBBurzmali]

@@TheLoreExplorer I guess it is on the devs then, them living past the life of the star makes sense, living past the heat death of the universe only really makes sense if the star in the game is the last star to go supernova and the Stranger's crew could determine that with any certainty, which I suppose is possible, but it really comes down to the physics of the Outer Wilds universe, which we barely know aside from the few bits we can glean from the game.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I agree. But its a game in which they write the rules. So who are we to tell them they are wrong? Ya know? Something interesting to note is that we are actually the last sun dying. At least most probably. We see some stars left out in the sky. But it should take time for them their light to travel to us. While we see our sun die basically instantly. So its very likely the others died first and we are the last sun. The Inhabitants were an interstellar species. Its possible they somehow knew this would be true. Something that Ive never been able to give relevance to. Is hornfells observations. It tells us that "All galaxies are moving away from us". I think that Irl , the only time this would happen is if spaces expansion finally sped up enough and "outweighs" gravity. Since gravity still makes it so galaxies are moving in the same direction as us. And even directly towards us. But maybe thats why the eye was so compelling to the inhabitants. Especially if we consider the bright flash at the end of the game the big bang. If , in outer wilds, the big bang did occur in one point in space. And this was at the eye. This would be the center point of expansion. And everything would move away from us since we are in that system. But I dont see how to fit that into the suns dying simultaneously or in fact, into relevance at all. Like how our sun would live longer or how our solar system would form at all if everything else has such outward velocity. But if there one thing I know about Outer Wilds. They dont usually add info that isnt important to some puzzle in the game. So perhaps these stars mostly uniformly moving away from us causes the owlks to realize our system would have the most energy conservation?

[@HB-hg7xq]

Are you planning on making a video on the new songs that Andrew Prahlow released? It may be interesting to see your opinions on them.

[@reanaa]

If the universe ends and a new universe is born, then how does the stranger continue to exist? No universe, no anything else.

[@ManuelCam]

Maybe they burned the prisoner codes because someone thought that someone external may try to release him

[@bradcogan8588]

The Strangers' story is a sad one. They had hundreds of thousands of years to explore, find a new home and continue their race but out of sorrow, they abandoned the real world, forsaking their species and any future generations. It does make me wonder what the Nomai would have done, had they learned what the Eye does. The Nomai and the Strangers acted very similarly up until the Strangers learned what the Eye would do (although the Nomai had more respect for the environment or maybe they just had the means to travel unlike the Strangers who had no choice but to tear their planet apart). Would the Nomai have cloaked it and prevented anyone from observing it or would they have embraced it? Maybe they would have been divided and conflicted about it. Could be an interesting premise for a video.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I think beforehand Ill have to make an owlk motive video first. But yes. That is a good idea! Heres the thing about the Owlks though. It seems to me. They didnt do what they did out of sorrow that they would die. They were actually in a pretty good position to survive this event in their interstellar ship. And they knew it. The danger is stellar objects blowing up. And they are interstellar. Theyd be fine. Its the truth that came along with this. No , you cant just go live life. You cant go back home. You cant go to timber hearth. Youd die when the all the suns go boom boom. You cant go warn and save every species in the universe. Thatd be impossible. All they could do , aside from live with the weight of this truth on their shoulders , was forget. Go back to living in ignorant bliss. And to do so , they had many steps of removing themselves from this reality. They silenced it so it didnt call out like a bell to remind them. They built the sim so they could pretend that they never even left home. And later , they burned and hid all of this information from themselves in the forbidden archives. So , yes. It is a sad story. But its not one of reactionary fear. Or grief that they may be killed(cause again , they knew theyd survive the event). But one born out of sympathy for all other life. Which seems very human to me.

[@Raptor747]

We already know. The Nomai already knew that the universe was dying, as well as the fact that the Eye might lead to a universe-wide elimination of all but one possibility as soon as a person entered it. They were determined to find it regardless. Furthermore, we see numerous groups of Nomai come to terms with their own inevitable doom fairly readily.

[@recordwify]

Well in a mod it fixes the reason why that docking port was empty it got *MASHY SPIKE PLATE* why did I do that ok so what actually happened is that it got hit by a crusher then blew up

[@matthewadams9727]

You should do a rolplay of ecos of the eye

[@butterkirby1]

Perhaps the owlks detected the nomai entering the system looking for the eye. And when they learned this was because of the prisoners actions, they burned the codes to release him.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The owlks die before the Nomai even hear the signal. This is depicted in our vision to the prisoner.

[@bamma4]

Well the codes they burn are in the simulation so maybe some detection devices saw the nomai and alerted the owlks

[@bamma4]

@The Lore Explorer

[@TheLoreExplorer]

It’s entirely possible. Personally. I don’t think the stranger has those capabilities. When I asked the devs if the inhabitants knew of our arrival in the sim. They answered “I don’t think they have a way to know”. If the inhabitants were still able to observe the universe I don’t see this being a surprise.

[@wortwortwort117]

So why do the inhabitants "blow out" our artifact when we are holding it, but when we are not holding it, and are able to see the simulation they instead snap our necks? My idea is that they are always snapping our necks but just as the Artifact "lights up" the simulation to make it more appealing and realistic to the inhabitants, maybe it is also making it look like they are blowing out our light

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The sim only looks different to us when we aren’t near the artifact. It’s another day as usual for the rest of them. They react to what they see. Either a being with an artifact or a being without one. If we don’t have our artifact they need to reload us some other way. And so they physically harm us.

[@Yuti640]

“Survivors”

[@klikkolee]

I don't see a reason to believe that the prisoner was waiting for information to turn off the jammer. The Owlks seem to have a culture of working together, so it's likely that all of them knew everything. If the prisoner was going against the grain on such an important issue from the start, they would probably have been made a prisoner before the jammer was even built. Ultimately, it seems most likely that their views started to diverge from the group's after the point it was clear that this was not a matter for disagreement to the rest of the group, and it eventually reached the point that they chose to act on their new beliefs.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Yeah. Tbh I hear you. But I was told directly from the devs that the prisoner was granted access to the secret code room. Then shortly after. They woke up to use those codes and free the signal. And I was basically told there wasn’t “groups”. It was the prisoner vs a united species. The species just became paranoid after the prisoner. And so they build things as if there may be another eye sympathizer. Tbh it’s all kind of confusing and not entirely understandable through the reels and environmental clues. Or at least would take some massive amount of effort and time. But if you’re interested in where I got this info you can check out my dev interviews. They are in depth and the devs give great answers. Though don’t expect any grand answers about the universe. It’s mostly lore story stuff.

[@devsirmeb]

i dont understand how there can be only like 30 of them in the ship. we also never see more than that amount in their original world slides so is that their entire population?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

No. Just as there are more than 20 or so hearthians. If it doesn’t serve a purpose in the game. The devs don’t tend to add it. So extra characters wouldn’t help much. They do add a memorial of sorts where the portraits of dead owlks splatter the walls. So we can just assume they are a normal numbered species.

[@baptisteguillen7901]

Where dors Come from thé quote "how much Time has passed..." ? Pls i Nevers Saw that

[@ndre90]

The simulation wont allow them to live past the heat death of the universe because it takes energy to run the simulation, that energy that is needed for the flame to burn and that is harvested from the star

[@TheLoreExplorer]

hmmmm. Not to be rude but it seems you may be a bit confused. The energy needed for a flame to burn is provided by whatever is burning. Not the sun. We usually use gas. And the fuel packs the inhabitants have suggest theirs is as well. And it seems you may have forgotten about batteries as well. The only thing the inhabitants use the sun for is for solar sails. To move their craft. Which they wouldnt need to do anymore as the last thing in the universe. Either way, a direct quote from the devs state thats the intention of the sim. Not only to hide from reality but it was intentionally built to survive the heat death of the universe.

[@ekaterinaburakova8629]

Well, I don't think outliving the universe is impressive, because their (also our) conscious choices that lead to it were so deeply immoral... ::) As for the video - huuuge thanks; yes, I knew I would barely learn anything new, but here I am, and I enjoyed seeing all these pieces nicely ordered! Will help me at some point. I am actually quite surprised how did their gaming PCs work for so long without any power - there was literally not a single star around! Also, the dam got destroyed along with the radiators that were... cooling the servers down? How did they not overheat:) That said, I actually believe we didn't leave too long after the death of our sun. As always, good content.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Feats shouldn’t really be judged based of their motives. I understand why you’d want to do that. I have a hard time liking them as a species. In fact I guess I don’t. Personally. I had a hard time knowing the real world codes and the digital world codes weren’t burned at the same time. I thought they were burned simultaneously. But knowing they weren’t makes everything make much more sense. Thing is. I still don’t know what in game indicates that. Like how we were supposed to know. So it’s impressive if you figured it out! My gpu passively cools until it reaches around 60 degrees. And a small amount of water does still pass over them. But you’re probably right. Technically those should be radiating out into space. Other wise the whole ship should dry and fry. Also, thanks so much for the kind words!

[@k0lpA]

I don't think their choices can be said to be immoral ( at least if you mean hiding the eye ). I don't think they knew what the eye was for, all they knew was that it would destroy everything they loved so made sure nobody could trigger it.

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The devs have stated that the inhabitants knew about the heat death of the universe. And the rest of the vision depicts they basically understand the rest of the mechanics too. The only wiggle room is if they somehow thought the interaction with the eye CAUSES the heat death. But either way. Judging by their depiction. They were at the very least being extremely selfish by blocking the thing that rebirths life after such event. .

[@ekaterinaburakova8629]

@@TheLoreExplorer haha, not without your help though! I finished the DLC three quarters of a year ago and now wanted to recap the owlks' story. I watched some of your other videos on them too. The codes... It looks like a small detail, and it is obvious that the DW codes got burned after the real world counterparts. How much time it's been exactly is still unclear anyways.. ::)

[@TheLoreExplorer]

The codes? Are you saying the codes themselves are what hints at the time period of them being burned separately??? Gosh I’m so confused lol. I guess upon retrospect it’s clear they burnt the real world codes along with everything else when they digitized everything. But it always felt to me that the imprisonment prompted the burning. Like it was right after in the reels!!!! So it’d make little sense to create and burn something you could just digitize to begin with. Ahhhh. The devs did mention a surprising amount of restraints when trying to pin down their timeline. So I don’t feel too bad not comprehending them all. Anyway. I’m glad I could help you understand the story!

[@hydroflare142]

Proof that VR kills you.

[@crimeinal]

Is it actually possible to physically find the eye signal blocker in game? If so is it seen from the eye or something?

[@AlterExo_]

Yes, when at the eye if you look hard enough you can see a light floating around, zooming in with the signalscope lets you see it quite easily.

[@ThatLEG0Guy]

how do you have so much light in the simulation?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

I used the daydream mod

[@sidneyregeer8694]

You need to be less specific in your titles mate, I love your videos a lot, you always make amazing titles, but by being to specific you ruin them, like this one is great till you said : (owlks). Or about the Nomai you had an amazing title , I kinda forgot the title and am too lazy to search it but it went like: everything strange about the Nomai. Or like: the weirdest species in the universe, or something like that, which is an amazinggg title, and than you said: and me explaining all. Which completely ruined the title, I even shown that thumbnail and title to my friend and asked if he wanted to click that video and why yes or noh, and exactly because youre over specific someone would lose interest to watching the video, and I love you and I think you deserve more recognition for your amazing hard work! This is meant as constructive feedback btw, Im not trying to hate, in fact the opposite, thanks for all man! Keep going you do great!

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Trying to deal with an algorithm is hard sometimes. And then , am I trying to spread outer wilds to more people? Or ensure anyone trying to understand it can find a quick reference video. So I usually try to make it both , with a catchy name. Which is tough and so I usually end up failing. Thanks so much for your feedback! I truly appreciate you!

[@sidneyregeer8694]

@@TheLoreExplorer thats very true! And thats a great way of doing it, to be honest I didnt think in such a perspective, but I also believe 99% of views on youtube in general arent searched based anymore but completely down to the algorithm and what videos get shown, so you want the best looking thumbnails and titles! I just think you can get a lot more views with banger titles like your last video! And now this one ;)

[@catsandmeows]

omg the video is 22 minutes. was that on purpose?

[@bobfranklin2572]

Okay so when do we learn about "inner city"?

[@TheLoreExplorer]

Which is what exactly? Sorry. Outer Wilds and places/things in game usually get names by the fans and it’s hard to know everything.

[@bobfranklin2572]

@@TheLoreExplorer hehehe. Gottee! It's the opposite of outer wilds. Inner city. 🤡

[@ultraroman5755]

haha Owl City