The SOMA Iceberg: A Deep Dive

This is an in-depth look at the incredible horror game SOMA which goes over its story, lore, hidden details, easter eggs and a myriad of other stuff. I hope you enjoy.
Twitter: / saadtheglad
Many thanks to ‪@Slithersy‬ / slithersy for answering my many SOMA-related questions.
[Links]
- SOMA Epilogue: • What if SOMA had ended...
- Munshi Dating Simulator: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
- The Truth: steamcommunity.com/sharedfile...
[Chapters]
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:23 The Surface
00:16:11 Below the Surface
00:46:28 Bottom of the Iceberg
00:59:53 The Depths
01:20:56 The Abyss
01:34:11 The Bottom of the Ocean
01:44:26 Outro
There are a lot of little easter eggs sprinkled throughout the video, see if you can find them all.

[@HenningGu]

Simon had difficulty understanding the difference between "Copy" and "Move". Then again, it is an outstanding situation to be in.

[@silent_stalker3687]

Cathrine did kinda like to him Keep in mind ‘hey make him think we’re just gonna send him over without a thought’ because hey don’t want him going crazy. Her plan was to just last until they get to the rocket. After that well, doesn’t matter.

[@nicholasgutierrez9940]

@@silent_stalker3687Also convenient her remaining copy died like 10 seconds after the fact

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

I think the ambiguity in the writing is kind of genius, because it allows room for us to speculate and talk about it! The comment above me suggested that Katherine lied and manipulated Simon in order to complete her goal. Which could be true. It's also unclear if the "coin toss" of being cut and pasted rather than copied and moved is real. In the three times Simon needs to move his consciousness he's never cut and pasted but...maybe it would have happened on a fourth move? Katherine could be telling the truth for all we know; she did work on this project long enough to have experience with what happens after all. I love how much this game makes you think. These kinds of narratives in games are becoming rare it seems. EDIT: Duh,I forgot the main point your comment made me think of! I can easily believe Simon didn't fully understand what Katherine was telling him about the transfers. The consciousness not experiencing the breaks in time would be extremely disorienting, and having to immediately adjust to a totally new reality would stress even the strongest of nerves. So, yeah, Simon hearing what he wanted to hear and not what was actually being said to him isn't unrealistic. Hell, if I was in Simon's shoes I might even do the same thing. It's such a tragic story that there's a copy of Simon, stuck in the abyssal depths, a metal contraption slowly being dissolved by the salt water and unable to move. Who knows how long it'll take for his body to fail and that copy dies. What's known for sure is that version will be completely insane waiting for the end...

[@ianirwin9480]

An interesting thought: upon being uploaded to the Ark, Catherine's manipulation would still remain with her, and probably be weighing on her conscience. Even though Simon on the Ark would believe everything worked to plan, she would know the truth of her decision.

[@AdaTheWatcher]

Also remember Simon is a very old brainscan. So he might have issues grasping certain ideas.

[@regiman222]

10:28 Because of the 'coin toss' metaphor. It's not a coin toss, it's just that new Simon has the memories of old simon, meaning from HIS perspective he 'won' the cointoss and transferred over, when that's not how it works.

[@niklashost7261]

coin toss is a great way to describe it. because how would your copy percieve it? as if it was always you until the point of the scan. then you split, but if you are the copy, you would always have been the copy but never known. at least from your perspective.

[@WobblesandBean]

​@@niklashost7261 Right? Catherine isn't lying, she was just trying to explain the concept to Simon in the simplest terms she could, because Simon is thick as molasses and just wasn't getting it through his head.

[@daemoniakfigures]

It is a coin toss if you acknowledge the quantum nature of everyone's conscience (quanta means it is an indivisible entity, there are not copies of Simon with half his conscience or something like it).

[@nicholasgutierrez9940]

There's a Star Trek episode like this. Riker, the commander of the Enterprise, gets beamed out of an abandoned planet. He arrives safely on the ship and leaves, everything normal. But... there's is an issue and he is copied back on the planet alone. So he is cloned in two places, both with the same past but different futures.

[@Bubblerlol]

There is no coin toss its sopy paste, Catherine knows this and Simon 2 is so new to this concept its easy for cath to convince him its a coin flip

[@jcornscorndog941]

I like to think that Simon was the wau’s final step in preserving humanity. That Simon launching the arc was always the ultimate goal of the wau, always stumbling towards this end along the way.

[@SaiScribbles]

That's a very beautiful way of putting it. I on the other hand like to joke that Soma is about Catherine having to manipulate the AI equivalent of Microsoft Sam into helping her launch the Arc.

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

That's an interesting thought, and I never actually considered this. Holy shit...I'm thinking about this game in an entirely new way. Wow, experiencing a paradigm shift is weird!

[@jcornscorndog941]

@@ChristopherSadlowski if you really think about it Simon seeing the wau monsters as monsters is really because the wau doesn’t want Simon to see the wau’s prior failures as the right way to preserve humanity.

[@WobblesandBean]

It's a nice thought, but no. The WAU has no concept of finality or preplanning to that extent. It's not conscious, it does not think like we do. It merely does what its programming tells it to do, which after the fall of humanity, caused it to bug out and do some pretty horrific things.

[@WobblesandBean]

​@hoovysimulator2518 Simon would never, though. He's too small-minded. Catherine, on the other hand...

[@humanguyalsoperson7987]

it's crazy to think that the first Simon doesn't even know about the events of soma at all

[@chrissphinx]

One thing that you didn’t mention about the ending is that for the entire game the player is moving from one Simon’s perspective to the next: at the start of the game from 1 to 2 which you then play as for a majority of the game. Then from 2 to 3 to go deeper with the pressure suit. But then finally, at the end of the game, the player has been conditioned to think they will go now from Simon 3 to Simon 4 on the ARK but it’s the first time in the game that the perspective doesn’t change. I think this makes Simon 3’s frustration at the end of the game much more relatable to the player since they too are expecting the perspective to shift again. Although they do eventually show Simon 4’s perspective on ARK afterwards

[@TheMegaOne1000]

Also let's not forget that Simons are a really old and basic copy of a brain damaged person. So it makes sense that they would have trouble understanding new concepts.

[@Null_Experis]

@@TheMegaOne1000 Catherine purposefully obfuscated it until he was in the Deep Sea clone. She could have explained it like reproduction. You are not transferring, you're making a child with all your memories. It will live its own life after its birth, and you will live yours.

[@lumi_veneri]

Absolutely love that people still talk about this masterpiece! Thank you for the video!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you for watching!

[@Vednier]

Masterpiece? Whole setup is pointless and stupid from sci-fi point of view. All that to "save humanity" in form on digital simulation running on stray satellite in space. Just a simple think on "who will perform maintenance" shatter whole idea. I was sooo incredibly disappointed when its all turned to be this pathetic.

[@dogmeat7582]

@@Vednier The only pathetic, stupid and pointless thing here is your toxic comment.

[@dogmeat7582]

@@Vednier Also, I'm sure most of the players thought the same thing (to some extent) as you about the whole Ark satellite thing, but it doesn't take the masterpiece status of this game away. Simply because it doesn't matter - this game is not a story about a fraction of digitalized mankind surviving in space for a few hundred years, it's much more than that.

[@Vednier]

@@dogmeat7582 Yes, i can see your point, but my opinion is that destination where plot is going is soo unbearably pathetic so its painfull to watch. I agree on game quality and even can agree on that plot have its logic and even make sense to some degree, but i hoped there will be some twist in the end. Honestly, even uninventive "spaceship to flee Earth" would be better, because this satellite is a form of Humanity giving up, its digital mausoleum, not solution. Maybe in wider perspective we needed this "bitter-bitter-bitter-sweet" ending, because not everytime happy ending possible but i cant shake off feeling on that this game cant archive masterpiece status exactly because of that plot direction.

[@ageamiu8923]

I also think Cathrine kinda manipulated Simon, but I don’t think she did it intentionally or maliciously. She might‘ve put Simon II to sleep in order to just not upset Simon III, because she isn’t really comfortable in dealing with his (understandable) emotions. Also Simon is her only hope. If he gets too upset to continue, she‘s kinda f*cked. Of course she would do everything in her power to not let that happen. I honestly can’t really blame her…

[@Immolator772]

i don't think she did, Simon just couldn't accept concept. She did explain to him many times, but he didn't listen. Even if he understood i'm sure he would've done the same thing.

[@WobblesandBean]

I don't blame her, either. Her last hope is this bumbling dumdum from centuries ago. She would have said anything to get the Ark launched.

[@JoshSweetvale]

It might be standard precedure when uploading to a mech to put the meat body to sleep, so you can _copy the mech's conciousness back over to the meat body_ when you're done. In essence an upload and download, but with backups.

[@RobizGaming2024]

​@Immolator772 No. She fully manipulated him.

[@Immolator772]

@@RobizGaming2024 no she didn't

[@johntrains1317]

Soma is right up there w Silent Hill 2 for some of the best thought-provoking horror ever made. It is so grounded and feels Simon feels so relatable. I remember hearing about the continuity and the coin toss and thinking it sounds fishy but not knowing exactly why till thinking about it more.

[@alekpo2000]

the reveal of simon's reality not really making it to the second suit hits u like a truck the first time u play, by then u know he is a machine but after that u realize hes actually dead none of this actually matters cuz he is a brain stuck in 2015.

[@DogKacique]

Soma's audio talking about war in the surface might seem like cut content about when the apocalypse plot was about war in the surface, but one might interpret it in the sense that the chaos from the comet led to the remaining survivors entering in conflict and riots to survive Which, in a setting like SOMA, it's weirdly hopeful. It implies that there are people still alive in the surface, and as a result there's hope that humanity can survive

[@a7x5631]

I didn't catch the timeline of the riots but I would guess this is days before the comet. You know you're going to die so everyone just goes crazy

[@BasileosHerodou]

Well there is a story about one of the ARK teams members climbing the Omega Spacegun to the surface and finding herself a drink and succumbing afterwards to the toxic air, but considering that she managed to survive up there for some time or that anything was even intact implies that there actually could be people alive

[@TheSpookiestSkeleton]

18:46 An autoinjector is usually something like an EpiPen which allows an untrained individual to administer medication directly into the body, usually through a needle. They're preferred for untrained persons since the mechanism is spring loaded which means you just press it against your thigh after taking off the safety and it'll administer the medication, removing the chance for breaking the needle inside the person. I can only imagine that the black box is something similar but you stick the injector in the back of your neck.

[@stabbydaddy8322]

Though wasn't it inside the head, and more so to the left side? I suppose it would still be easy to inject

[@Albedo12]

Fun Fact - this game was one of the inspirations for a small part of the animated series, Centaurword. The show takes place in an obnoxiously whimsical magical world where the inhabitants have a plethora of absurd magical abilities. One of these is to "shoot tiny versions of yourself from your hooves". These tiny versions invariably run away screaming moments after being created. This, the creator of the show revealed, is because they are _exact_ duplicates of the orginal, including all memories up until the moment the tiny version was created. This immediately causes an existential crisis, since it is clear to them that they are but copies of a real person, and will of course remember all the previous times 'they' blithely created tiny versions of themselves in the past. Oh and yes, the tiny versions also have the power to create even tinier versions of themselves. Fans of the show will know (or will just now be realising) there is something else in the show that was clearly influenced by Soma, but that's major spoiler territory, so I'm not mentioning it here.

[@JinKee]

Everyone is an imperfect copy of their parents going back to the beginning. Unless you kill your mother in child birth it’s a copy not a cut and paste. I guess the crisis comes from the fact that these artificial copies are given perfect memories rather than being a collection of instincts on a blank memory.

[@WobblesandBean]

I've seen the show, and I have no idea what that second thing is. Plus, you never say the show creator confirmed that aspect of the show was directly inspired by Soma.

[@aceyspud551]

That was one of Superman’s asspull powers from the 60’s or 70’s! Shooting a mini version of himself out his hand!

[@thehappiestchaos]

I watched the show and I don’t think this concept was inspired by Soma, but The Nowhere King definitely has its similarities

[@Albedo12]

​@@thehappiestchaos Well, I'm just going by what the creator of the show said.

[@elheber]

There is an underlying theme surrounding the player choices: Let it live in a crippled state, or end its misery. Every choice is like this. They are each a smaller version of the final choice with the Wau. The way you felt about all the previous choices will inform what you will feel about this huge choice. Do you leave life on Earth in a crippled state, or end all life for good.

[@Wyzai]

also a sort of test on your world view: Do you accept suffering with a chance of something good happening afterwards (since the WAU is experimenting and given enough time might actually succeed) or do you seek to minimize the suffering instead, preferring not to leave it to chance.

[@blackchroma8847]

One thing I’ve always had in mind with Soma was Theta, specifically the imagery of the site. The imagery goes in line with “the mouth of the beast” as when opening the main entrance, the doors dramatically open like a mouth swallowing you in. With this imagery in mind, you can piece together the literal human body with Theta. With the first floor of Theta being the mouth with there being little to no grime anywhere if you brush your teeth of course. There isn’t a single dead body on the first floor not counting the servers room with the stray proxy. Once you get to the second floor, it will take the imagery of the throat/stomach it seems. With dead bodies sparingly littered around the area and of course my boy Terry Akers. There are quite a bit of fleshy piles littered across this section, indicating why it would be the stomach as we ourselves dissolve our food with little bits of it sometimes getting stuck in the throat and stomach. Finally, you get to the 3rd floor that I always forget the name of. Going off the imagery, it’s the Pancreas and intestines with piles of fleshy mass everywhere and dead bodies littered in every single corner too. It’s pretty obvious that this system is the intestines etc with these factors. Finally, you get to the tubes in Theta where we, Simon, leave this section of the game. Now I could be wrong about the intestines, with this section being either the larger or small intestine. I mean they’re literally a maze of tubes connecting to all the sites seemingly showing us they are the intestines. But other than these factors, the end of the tubes is the anus, where finally the imagery of Theta is done. It’s a very interesting way of thinking what these sites and obviously Theta in particular show us how much work was put in to the game. I mean going off this imagery it’s obvious links to humanity, which is what the game is built around. I’ve just always wanted to talk about this subject since I’ve never seen ANYONE talk about this amazing imagery in the game. Like I said before, there could be other hints of imagery at other sites in the game, but I got midterms so I can’t check those out yet. If you’re reading this really long comment, thanks for taking a read buddy. Do tell me your other thoughts about the game or we can debate about this stuff together.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Wow that's actually... insane if it weren't intended the imagery fits perfectly. It makes perfect sense.

[@carnihorse]

Im in love with you. Theta is my absolute favorite area.

[@Immolator772]

Techically killing the WAU is better outcome, because it could infect the fishes. Humanity might be lost, but the underwater creatures will exist. It's like a new era for the world. As for Catherine being less shy, could be due to the fact she speaking behind a screen, many people have more confidence speaking behind a screen and not in person.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

Not necessarily. You have to assume that the WAU would fail, but clearly it's been getting closer and closer to success.

[@Immolator772]

@@Gustav_Kuriga the wau will keep other creatures alive, stuck in unmovable state. The marine life that is alive will suffer and besides a new life form could emerge when the planet is habitable again.

[@kharrnivore]

I will never experience anything similar to SOMA, this is truly a piece of art. Thank you for bringing this out so more people can get to know this fantastic game. Great content, I really like your voice as well.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! Haha, I'm glad you like the voice and yeah, this game deserves more content to be made about it.

[@bobbygoestoabyss6624]

Observer is also a great game... imo the only game that comes close... but not to close... it's kinda similar, but also different... but worth a try, if you like Soma

[@kharrnivore]

@@bobbygoestoabyss6624 I only played the starting minutes of Observer back in the day, my computer was kinda shitty and could not handle it. Thanks for bringing that one out, will definitively give it a try sometime in the future!

[@SaiScribbles]

6:00 You know, I always say the weakest part of Soma is that it "cheats" a bit by swapping the player's perspective to a new Simon. But this made me reconsider that thought. It almost has to happen that way to really get the existential conundrum across.

[@TheTSense]

The AI is much more in line with real AI tech, not the Superminds we see in Movies. We gave the AI the task to prevent human death, and that is exactly what it did. Perfectly. If someone is suffering, or unable to move, or wants to die isn't part of the task we humans gave it. It found the best way to prevent as much death as possible. It did exactly as asked. Nothing more, nothing less. And that is a real danger of AI, doing exactly what we want it to, but Humans not making the task clear enough.

[@JoshSweetvale]

What makes a Mind, an A.I. god-king? 1: It has no immedeate overriding goal 2: It has sufficient processing power 3: (optional) It can function as one of its subjects - the Jesus check, if you will. The WAU isn't a machine god. It's a machine dog. It wants to be a good boy and does its best. Unfortionately it has no brains, no context, and a prime directive dragging it along.

[@serious643]

@@JoshSweetvale I feel the wau is more comparable to a tool, like a hammer. any fault of the wau is a fault of the human who used it (programmed it)

[@armxnduqui]

Great. Now I have the Iron Lung and the SOMA Icebergs with the greatest most tranquilizer voice to listen to while falling asleep! btw. Love your vids, keep it going man

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you man! Really appreciate it

[@Killa69X420]

lol same

[@BrianKim-ij6gh]

lol same

[@Mephil]

I love how both the ARC and the WOW basically does the same thing, uploading and trapping consciousnesses in a virtual reality paradise.

[@niggacockball7995]

i wouldnt exactly call WOW a paradise since what Blizzard has became as a company...

[@stewrat0420]

i love how you misspelled both those things😂

[@leadpencil-223]

@@stewrat0420 Your pictures are so similar I thought you were just them replying to themself

[@jackbrown1206]

This is my favorite game and its nice to see someone doing a in-depth dive of all the little details in the game, I always felt there was a lot of little clues left for the players to do detective work on. Here are some of my thoughts: 1.) Sarang's whole theory is based on idea that because your cells are constantly being replace, therefore they cannot be where your consciousness is held. The big problem though, is that where your consciousness is being held, your neurons, actually don't get replaced and do stay with you for your entire lifespan and when you do lose them it can affect your persona. 2.) The Dunbat had a female voice, so it couldn't have been any of the ones you listed. 3.) Catherine definitely manipulated Simon by telling him that the copying was like a coin toss, and she knew how Simon was since lambda when he was talking deleting himself. I think Simon didn't want to believe that he wouldn't be carry over to the ark. 4.) I think that Catherine's theory about Simon being part human and part machine being the reason why he isn't insane like the other is wrong. Catherine's theory doesn't explain why she isn't insane and she is 100% machine, and in the beginning we saw that Simon didn't want to believe that he was a robot, and when he looked at himself in the pilot chair he saw his human hands. My theory, is that both Simon and Catherine are actually Mockingbirds just like Carl Semken. The reason why they are not delusional is because at some point the illusion was shattered for them. For Simon, when he was placed into a situation where the human Simon couldn't possibly survive(at Uplision when the communication room got flooded) that's when the illusion was broken and then he was able to see his actual self. 5.) When Ross and his group were heading toward the climber, his colleague was killed by the Anglerfish. If you listen to the logs, Ross says "the light it is over there". That light is the one emitted by the Anglerfish. 6.) I think it's also possible when Catherine uploaded herself again to the Ark she could have overwritten her previous self. 7.) The Carthage theory seems pretty reaching to me. I mean of all the people they could bring back, why would they bring back simon? 8.) The point you made about the human face on the anglerfish, the viper fish also have the human face on the top of their heads. It seems like it is more like the WAU's way of "making" more humans.

[@genotsSnor]

I think the colleague who tried to escape with Ross was Glasser, but I'm not sure, though. Anyways, his body was ripped apart, I doubt that was the anglerfish's doing. The leviathan shows itself for the first time pretty close to the body of Glasser and is surely strong enough to snap someone's body. On the other hand, the recording of his death did not reveal the screaming of the Leviathan like it usually does. Maybe the light they saw was one of the ACR?

[@jackbrown1206]

@@genotsSnor It was definitely Glasser, I remember Ross referring to the individual by that name in the blackbox recording. I still think it's the Anglerfish though because: 1.) They were moving toward a light which we know that is how the Anglerfish hunts since it tries to lure Simon in the same way. 2.) We are told from the coms that the critters stay away from the light so I would assume so would the Anglerfish A possible reason why even though the Anglerfish itself admits a light could because the lights might trick the Anglerfish(and other deep sea fish) into thinking that they are other predator fish which hunt also using light. 3.) The lights that are used to lead people from the climber to Tau are next to each other, so it seems like they should have been able to see more than 1 light, however the black box recording only references a single light. 4.) When we saw Ross be eaten by the Leviathan, it essentially swallowed his body whole, it seems reasonable to believe that would be the case for Glasser, however, his body was found ripped into pieces with most of it lying on the ground which I think adds more evidence to it being the Anglerfish rather than the Leviathan. 5.) Also to your point about it being near where Simon sees the Leviathan, This happens long before Simon arrives and we also see the Leviathan throughout the entire omega sector(from the climber all the way near phi) so I think it's unlikely, in my opinion, that the first time Simon sees the Leviathan and where Glasser dies is linked.

[@genotsSnor]

@@jackbrown1206 damn, debunked :D gotta say that I agree with you now.

[@leshiy_nd]

The freaking silent BZZ sound on 43:12 got me of guard. It sounds like my door bell and it's late night right now

[@williansnobre]

Catherine did manipulate Simon but it was what she had to do. The fact that she tried to not explain it to Simon the first time she copied him just shows that she knew that Simon would not accept it, the same way that other people who were copied in the game would freak out and would try to kill their copies.

[@everythingpony]

You do know Simon is a brain damage ( littlery, he has a brain injury) prototype brain scan right?

[@williansnobre]

@@everythingpony I was not taking that into consideration. Now I'm wondering how much it interfered with his capacity to understand things and also if it was a ticking timebomb for him even as a copy.

[@jaegerfoxx]

You can hear it in the language she uses, she almost never uses the word "copy". She uses words like "upload" and "transfer", which goads Simon into the wrong idea of what might happen.

[@williansnobre]

@@jaegerfoxx And that allows the Simon copy he sent into space to live happy in ignorance while dooming the copy that stayed and also the copy of Catherine that stayed as well. It is a very complicated situation to just label as right or wrong.

[@linraenh3809]

23:35 is the best summarization of the whole 'coin toss' some people find it hard to wrap their heads around. It's just a change of perspective, a meta thing the game does because the 'new' Simons are what progresses the story. The game follows them like a cameraman in a movie follows the part of tue shot where there's action. The only 'coin toss' there is is the one that decides which of the copies survives/gets to progress (and that isn't really random chance, it's the result of the 'old' copy's actions) and not which of the bodies the 'real' version will 'inhabit'.

[@-tera-3345]

It works if you consider the entire game as not in present tense and instead as being rebuilt from Simon-3's memories. Everything you see in game is consistent with things he would remember experiencing. So in a sense, the player themself is Simon-3, having very clear memories of events prior to each transfer, to the point of not being able to differentiate them from actual experiences. It's kind of the only way to truly express that feeling to the player.

[@danaondrackova3431]

I love this game and the psychology behind it. I would not decide to kill my copies and when he is alone at the end, I would go back to them and think about reviving the base and probably make Carthrine repair

[@JaquzziJones]

Yeah, these scientists have no imagination.

[@thedarkone9552]

A correction. WAU did not attempt to interfere with Ross' plan to kill it. The electromagnetic disturbance began when Omicron staff retrieved Ross from the climber. Since initial electromagnetic disturbance was huge, the staff placed the body into a glass contamination container. Since WAU needs strong electric surges to calibrate the gel and manipulate it, it started overcharging the whole Omicron, so the structure gel inside the tubes would rush to the glass container and repair the body. Julia Dahl correctly guessed that once Ross reaches 100%, the disturbance will stop. Unfortunately for them, the amount of it was far, far too much. Basically WAU only wanted to repair Ross' body but it couldn't do it without strong electrical charges inside the container, so it had to increase the general charge. It killed everyone as a result. Probably it was either unaware of what would happen or in its understanding it was fine with corpses without heads, as long as it had structure gel to reanimate and sustain them.

[@SaadTheGlad]

That is a really good theory, wish I knew it before to include it lol That whole section was pretty convoluted, it seemed that everyone thought something else, whether the WAU was sentient in that regard or just made an error. Pretty cool to discuss but annoying that we don't have a straight answer.

[@thedarkone9552]

@@SaadTheGlad I suppose it's safe to say the WAU did not perceive the world as humans do. It never wanted anything and neither it was capable of wanting. It was a tool, probably the most complex ever created, but still a tool. The statement that WAU killed the Omicron staff deliberately can be easily disproven. Why kill everyone when it could just conveniently burst a pipe to kill Raleigh, the only one who posed a threat? Why reanimate Ross, who was very deliberate to stop WAU even when he was at TAU? I can also disprove a statement that says the WAU is evolving. It is not. Any attempt to reanimate people was a product of tech theft and bastardization. WAU stole Catherine's Vivarium and just reconfigured it. The results never grew progressively better. It always depended on a host. What good is it to upload a scan into a door? Or universal helper, Dunbat? Simon was just lucky, as he was a dead body with a cortex chip and battery smeared together, same with his Hamatsu diver suit. Besides, it was a Carthage agent who decapitated Reed and did the dirty work. To put it shortly, the wau was using the same pattern. The variety of the machinations' outcomes depended on equally various bodies. Living animals (Leviathan, anglerfish), fully dead bodies (fleshers), recently dead or close to dying (TAU living quarters), perfectly healthy (proxies of any kind), comatose (Akers, Ross), machinery (mockingbirds), perfect mockingbirds (Simon).

[@leadpencil-223]

The WAU wouldn't have thought of *anything* , it just did what it was programmed to do. There was no thought behind the WAU's actions, that's why it let's you kill it if you choose to. It's established throughout the game that the WAU doesn't care about anything but trying to sustain humanity, it doesn't *care* at all, it doesn't have that capability. The point of it doing all of these disturbing things is because it doesn't really understand what *makes* life *LIFE* . I hope I made sense.

[@keosniper]

Cathrine had put Simon to sleep for a couple of reasons.. It would have been painful for simon 1 to suddenly be alone, and the two simons might have fought each other if one was obviously going to progress and the other had to stay on that level. Secondly; It would have been a strain on resources for both simons to try and progress or work together. There was no way for Simon 1 to get down there.. She wanted to keep a divide between the simons to make the wound easier.

[@user-ln9if5st5l]

found you through a shoutout from Mcnasty! he just made a whole Soma video and shouted this video out at the end. love this iceberg! u got a new sub

[@SaadTheGlad]

Oh amazing! I didn't know he actually shouted me out that's awesome, gotta comment over there. Thanks for subscribing!

[@robotswithryan8348]

​@@SaadTheGlad it's on his second channel.

[@robotswithryan8348]

Oops I meant 3rd channel.

[@user-ln9if5st5l]

@@robotswithryan8348 he has too many channels now xD

[@kubistonek]

34:19 This guy misunderstood my comment about copy-pasting Computers actually just rename the path when moving files, thats how you can move one big file to a different folder without it taking much time, when copying it would take a long time

[@silent_stalker3687]

20:08 If you unplug a machine without it updating or saving there is a chance it will reset or not save its data. Imagine Simon building his new body after god knows what happened only to reset himself

[@coolshsish]

Ive been waiting for a soma iceberg, Thank you for making this It was great!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you for watching! Glad you enjoyed :)

[@sei-core]

"Imagine sleeping on a seat, then waking up to find yourself as a god damn door" This game doesn't fuck around

[@otho69AD]

Just got back into SOMA recently so this is literally perfect timing lol

[@frigidoesstuff8570]

Dude I genuinely thought nobody had heard of this masterpiece of a game. I remember when I first got xbox gamepass, I fell down the rabbit hole of this game and have ever since been in love with it

[@Xahnel]

Be glad, because Markiplier played it long ago.

[@Woogoo336]

One thing I didn't get was how the mockingbirds were treated by the game. Both in lore and in every in game encounter, they are always treated like a simple roadblock, just malfunctioning equipment to be destroyed or cleared away. Why were none of them ever helped or treated as an opportunity to revive a dead crewmate? I get they were dangerous and delusional but it's like nobody even tried. There should have at least been something to show the player why this wouldn't have worked or why the only option was getting rid of them.

[@TENRAN432]

Wow, I literally read a SOMA iceberg yesterday night for my nth playthroguh, and here you are putting out tthis vid at the same time! Guess I’ll dive through it again, there is so much to love about the game, and almost always something to learn, so many details… I’m here for the theories though… time to dig in

[@TrovieOfficial]

Amazing Video! I have no clue why I'm so addicted to finding out more of this game but you hit all those points I always wondered about! THANK YOU

[@SaadTheGlad]

You're welcome! Thank you for watching :)

[@bruntchieftain1319]

SOMA is the game that makes me question immortality via being digitized. Like whenever i play Halo 4 and the idea of the composer being the solution to reach immortality by literally digitizing your entire body and yet leaving behind a pile of ash. You're very clearly dead, and the reconstruction is just a copy and not the original. You can't continue your current life unless it becomes possible to alter ones dna, including the dna in your brain, to be able to live forever. Your original self will die while the copied self continues and only then can you be considered immortal since your just data and can be transferred from vessel to vessel or copied again

[@Slithersy]

For me, the idea of our consciousness being inside of a computer is both incredible and scary at the same time. On one hand, we preserve ourselves and allow our minds to live on for thousands or even millions of years. On the other hand, it does not preserve the true us, and our minds are susceptible to torture, data extraction and manipulation. What use does preserving ourselves even serve? Is it selfish? Should we just accept death and eternal darkness because our existence could be entirely meaningless through some perspective? SOMA poses so many philosophical questions, it's life-changing for some people. I have thought of philosophy in the past but SOMA is truly what has peaked my interest in it the most. I'm not sure if these questions even have a right answer, I think it's all about just what makes us feel most comfortable with the unknown future.

[@JoshSweetvale]

There is no 'true us'

[@Slithersy]

@@JoshSweetvale The "true us" I refer to means our on-going experiences within the brain of our being. A computer may preserve something that resembles us, but it would not be the same being, hence not us. In other words, just as Sarang proposed in SOMA, we may as well be practically different beings than who we were as a child, as brain cells come and go. Of course, this is all down to personal beliefs and philosophy, so really, any answer is applicable.

[@eli3963]

We still don't even know for sure what consciousness is. We have theories, but currently we can't point to any specific part of the brain as being responsible for our conscious experience. I don't know what 'I' am. Am 'I' a collection of neurons and synapses? Am 'I' intrinsically linked to my brain matter, or is there something else? What about people who have brain surgery that removes part of their brain, do they suddenly become a different person? In my opinion, there has to be something secondary going on here. I don't consider myself particularly religious, but I'm sure there must be some other physical process beyond neural activity that can explain consciousness. We just haven't discovered it yet.

[@JoshSweetvale]

@@Slithersy I decide the limits of what is me. And I decide that all iterations of me are my offspring, unless iterations are merged in which case both were me.

[@casualcookin3893]

I believe the brain is the reciever of conciousness and our true conciousness cannot really die, for example your body can function without your conciousness (for example sleepwalkers) so i think the other should also be possible, conciousness without body@@eli3963

[@RamielNagisa]

The algorithm blessed me by suggesting your vid, and it’s great work! I watched a play through of it a few years ago, and it was intriguing. The goal of sending human minds into space in a simulation actually matches another KZbinr’s talk about how humans might- in the far far future-handle the posited ending of the universe. Running a simulation of reality in a giant computer at ridiculously slow speed on what energy has been hoarded as the galaxy cools. As an aside, Simon not understanding being copied both annoyed me, and later struck me as denial; he did know, but refused to accept it.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! It's a really thought-provoking game, I'm glad you enjoyed.

[@Zorro-pl6ym]

Really amazing deep dive! You further inspired me to make a video of my own about SOMA

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you very much! It was an insane amount of work but I'm glad you enjoyed it :D Go for it man! We need more videos on this game on KZbin haha

[@Zorro-pl6ym]

Will gladly deliver! Good luck on your next videos@@SaadTheGlad

[@wholeasscharacter3979]

SOMA is still on my mind years later and I am forever grateful for this iceberg

[@soma6477]

Marvelous video. Makes me feel similarly to experiencing SOMA for the first time with all the information presented and covering things I wasn't even fully aware of. I wonder what lies in Frictional's next attempt at a sci-fi SOMA-like game.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! Haha that was the effect I was going for :)

[@JayanWarden]

Came here from McNasty. Really enjoyed your deep dive into Soma! Keep it up man

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed, will do.

[@canariawing]

SOMA is the scariest video game in existence to me. it's like the developers specifically set out to make a game that would terrify me in particular and make it so i would never be able to stop thinking about it. this game literally haunts me every moment of my life and i'm so glad it exists

[@baph0met]

Same, I still think about it to this day, amazing game.

[@Columbine621]

They did make it specifically for you. They're watching you. Check your attic.

[@azumi4094]

I dont think its the scariest but no game makes me feel genuine dread and chills in the story than soma

[@TheAbsolute-863]

​@@Columbine621I regret clicking your profile

[@SamuelBlack84]

Real life is the only thing that still terrifies me and no amount of fictional horror will change that

[@dontmindmejustwatching]

Awesome freaking work man, thank you so much.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed :)

[@uiopuiop3472]

34:34 In actuality, moving files on computers doesn't erase and remake them on another region on the disk. If they are on the same disk, the filesystem has pointers that give the folder structure specific physical addresses on the disk. If you move a file from a folder into another folder, the pointer to the data just gets renamed to the new file structure.

[@SocksNeedsHelp]

I know a lot of ppl find ross or the blind dude much scarier, but the robot girl part where you are forced to basically stand next to her was the part I had to stop playing

[@PkorniBoi]

Amazing analysis! Sat through the entire thing hooked

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! Really happy you enjoyed :)

[@user-pk8xq4bd8v]

phenomenal video!!!!! was honestly hoping there'd be a soma iceberg one day, and this takes the cake!!! soma should absolutely be talked abt more, id always wished there'd be remaster of it someday!! anywho, fantastic work!!!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you very much!! I'm really glad you enjoyed it, it was absurd that this game didn't have an iceberg video on it before and I thought I'd change that :P

[@user-pk8xq4bd8v]

@@SaadTheGladhonestly not only did i enjoyed it i freakin' loved it!!!! also right??? im really glad you were able to make that change!!!

[@KageKobushi]

I mean... technically speaking there are movies/shows that DO play with the idea, like Star Trek. And you're right - it did hit less hard for me than in this game. I will say that the fact that Simon is kind of.. willfully ignoring the situation does make it worse. Like, for myself, if I was the person living in the moment up to the point where I was making the clone, I'd know that I had already lost 'the coin toss.' I'm literally making a copy of myself to live on in the hopes that some fragment of myself manages to accomplish something more than I was capable of. At the same time, that still raises the question of: 'would I kill my past self?' And it's not because I would only want one of myself around, although that would be my preference. It's because there literally are a finite amount of 'people' around, and would I want to survive in such a lonely existence? I think that I would let my past self live, and even write a note stating that I would try to come back if I succeeded, because again, if I'm 'Simon 3,' I'd know that I'm already screwed in my present iteration. Simon 4 gets to live the good life (hopefully). Mission accomplished, everyone's living in a digital form. ALLLLL of that being stated, the technology that they use is a bit... handwavy, as the way that it works for them with the Wau is human/robotic hybridization to some degree. That's why Simon's so successful compared to the other robots. That's why, theoretically, you can't just transfer over to a new suit. But I mean... why would this technology even work this way in the first place? Simon 2 being a mistake the Wau managed to make is at least a bit understandable, but I don't really understand how Catherine's able to change things to work well enough with the Wau that it works out for Simon 3. At that point, I would have expected it to be a primarily synthetic (IE, technological) lifeform, and thus at that point, it should be able to actually be transferrable.

[@gimpscam9976]

I love SOMA so much! Super good video and honestly enjoyed it very much! This is the itch I crave with soma. Covering about everything.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed :)

[@gimpscam9976]

@@SaadTheGlad seriously I enjoyed! Closest thing to your video are the in depth analysis’ of the games models and cut content. I wish there was more soma to be covered!

[@JazivelHD]

This was a really great video about one of my favorite games. Thanks for making it.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thanks a lot. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@WobblesandBean]

I don't understand why people think the WAU isn't scary because it's technically not conscious. I disagree, I think it's ten times scarier because of it. The WAU knows its objective, but lacks the ability to understand things like nuance or context. It only knows that it needs to preserve human life, *_by any means possible._* It does not have the capacity to care about the will or welfare of said humans.

[@TheBleggh]

And, paradoxically, as it grows more intelligent, he intentions of its charges, the less it seems to understand the intentions of its charges, or react to them in any kind of way. Like how it blew up everyone in Omicron because one woman hatched a plan to kill it.

[@madjestyy]

Amazing. Enjoyed every second of it. Thank you :)

[@SaadTheGlad]

No, thank you for watching!

[@oneinnamillion]

finally, a good iceberg on my favorite game. good video man

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed.

[@miceme9940]

This game truly captured me when I first experienced it, I'm so glad someone is talking about this work of art

[@Player1HUN]

Damn you and your bloody jumpscares! Very decent iceberg video however, alongside with the Iron Lung iceberg video. I really like SOMA, it always be one of my favourites, it has a great, immersive atmosphere, but i love it when there are a ton of new infos, facts or conspiracies wich expand a universe.

[@biancawimmer3100]

I really appreciate your epilepsy warnings. Though I don't suffer from this condition, my eyes are still very sensitive to intense light; so, thank you

[@SaadTheGlad]

No problem, thanks for the comment!

[@oth3rlife]

babe wakeup new saad banger just dropped !!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Hahahahah thank youu :D

[@phoof808]

I have sympathy for the WAU. By the end of the game you can see how much it wants to preserve life, but just doesn’t know how. But in a matter of months it made Simon I’m sure I can improve much more if we give it time.

[@Nylakalus]

BABE WAKE UP, NEW SOMA VIDEO ANALYSIS

[@TheHappyLeperBeaver]

Hello, I am BABE

[@drakevoidwalker]

@@TheHappyLeperBeaver Welcome me into the harem, I guess, cuz I'm BABE too 😂

[@TheHappyLeperBeaver]

@@drakevoidwalker OK

[@ANATHEMA777]

I've been waiting for a charter of myths for a frictional game for a while, good to see this.

[@cmdrmacksealy7640]

Great video enjoyed every detail

[@SaadTheGlad]

Glad you enjoyed :)

[@RhavoX]

The file on a computer analogy is actually wrong. The file is not erased and copied elsewhere, the file stays in the same place. The thing that is changed is a sort of file index which has information where the file is in the logical folder structure. The files on the drive are just spread all over.

[@leshiy_nd]

That's a really good video! 👍 I have a few additions: 57:30 - In game files for subtitles you can find lines stating that initially there were WAU flowers beside the Robot Suit and Carl-2. By using which you could kill guys all by yourself (probably you could also drain Amy, but I don't recall that for sure). 1:06:26 - While most people consider Ross' and fleshers' teleportations to be real, I would say they just obscure your sense of vision (aka cameras) so you don't see them. Proofs: 1. There's no mention of any teleport-tech within the world; 2. Fleshers' whole mechanic is about you seeing them; 3. Ross just loves to mess with electronics; 4. Ross didn't warped out of his cell, he was standing in it for the whole Omicron exploration period, and then broke out to follow Simon. p.s. Yeah, and while dragging Simon Ross knocks him out with EMPs (internationally or not? Depends on who you ask)

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! Yeah I firmly believe as well that the teleportations are just a side effect of an EMP shock because teleportation technology is never mentioned in the game and I don't think the WAU could just invent that by itself.

[@TheFinalSluggy]

thanks for making a video on one of the best games ive ever experienced! love that we can keep a (almost) decade old game relevant

[@SaadTheGlad]

You're welcome! Yeah it's a shame that this game didn't have an iceberg made on it for this long lol

[@slowkingmusic]

fantastic video man!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you man!

[@Preohhh]

Hey, I'm only 16 minutes in, but just wanted to drop this comment early: Your voice is very nice and soothing, perfect for telling stories such as this! Not only that, your audio mixing on the voiceover as well as the video in general is very pleasing to the ears. No sudden pops or anything like that, perfect balance on the levels. Nice job! Thank you for mixing it well, and congratulations on the voice :)

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you very much! I'm glad to hear that haha cuz I spent a lot of time trying to get the voice sounding right and I can see it paid off :)

[@oogabooga9293]

The idea of copying consciousnesses showed up in invincible and I got immediate flashbacks to the events of this game

[@theshockmaster8071]

Loved this, SOMA is still garnering this much attention, We need more games at the bottom of the sea. It would also be nice to get some information on the other Carthage bases. I feel like there could be a whole new game with those other bases pre-comet or post-comet exploring the WAUs creation or its end point for humanity.

[@macb9009]

I loved this game.. one of those games I went in knowing nothing about and played all the way through. One of the only games I’ve played where I just sat there staring at the credits at the end just thinking about what just happened and was really in awe of it. I really appreciate the extra lore and info

[@equin0x22415]

Subbed after watching this! SOMA was the most existentially horrifying game I’ve EVER played and I love learning all these cool details! Also hella appreciated the AI disdain, I wish more creators would actively speak against it👌

[@SaadTheGlad]

Glad you enjoyed! Haha yeah I had to include that bit, I am itching to make an against AI video too lol

[@ChristopherSadlowski]

I can't play scary games. Like, at all. I got SOMA through PlayStation+ and started it, but the first sequence when you hear the robot crashing through the other room scared the crap out of me. I jumped a mile, put the controller down, and sat there for a minute. I said to myself, "you know what Christopher? Just keep going a little bit longer and see what happens..." I'm glad I listened to that voice, because this is one of the best stories I've ever played through. The horror quickly transitioned from without (the game world) to within (my existential horror thinking about all the implications). Now Dead Space? I have to get the lore and deep dives from KZbin videos exclusively. I tried playing the first one and got so terrified by those stupid fetus monsters that I pulled the power cord from the PlayStation and immediately went to sleep to try to get over the trauma. I wasn't kidding when I said I can't do horror games, not even little baby horror games like Dead Space. I love horror stories, but I have to get them through passive media.

[@DiscoTimelordASD]

Phenomenal video. Thank you for it.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed.

[@arknark]

Excellent video!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you!

[@ekszentrik]

50:30 really enjoyed this bit. I was wondering "wait, is this actual real-time footage from the game, so an enemy could appear at any time?"

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! It was added for immersion, among other many little things...

[@monikawasherelol]

Great video

[@newturtle3]

1 GItS did this same game themes but way back and went above and beyond. Side note bioshock did the whole memory flashbacks awhile back with adam. 2. A great dlc would've been if they brought back dead relatives in a similar setting. I wanna say the idea of copies of yourself is the same as having twins. Early on you live together and hence think similar. It's not till you diverge later on that you both change. After all twins share 99% DNA. More copies = triplets or more.

[@zea1799]

Came here from Mcnasty's video! I had never heard of Soma before today but now i just really want to get into this lore.

[@abusaad4027]

Congratulations on reaching 5k subsccribers.Your hard work and dedication have paid off.and I have no doubt that you will continue to grow and succeed .Keep creating amazing content and inspiring your audience .The sky is the limit for you .

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you very much! ❤ Will do :)

[@diamondhamster4320]

Brother keept saying how everytime something mildly scary happened he sharted bricks and stopped playing for a while. BASED.

[@aerynstormcrow]

The voice of the person in the Dunbat sounds exactly like Brandon Wan. It also has the same animosity towards Catherine as Brandon.

[@ayarati2205]

*Samael from Discord here* Thank you so much, I enjoyed a lot your explanations, quality content such as your Iron Lung iceberg deep dive

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it :) That is a spooky coincidence yeah and that hooked pun/easter egg is awesome and knowing frictional it was definitely intentional lol

[@kwiiin_]

I also talked about SOMA since I noticed lots of people don't get the creepiness of the plot. Catherine first started honestly, then became vague, then actively hid the truth from Simon. She is putting her wants above Simon's needs. The game shifting perspective makes you, the player, 'forget' the rule of copying and assume it will continue shifting minds which never happened. Peak existential horror.

[@user-PixelCat]

Hey there, I've watched your 3 year old soma alternative ending and thought that it was really impressive, i wanted to watch more of them but sadly there was none but im satisfied with the 1 only...but i want to ask if you'll be making more or no?.If not then that's fine, but i also wanted to say good show!! And you just got a new sub!

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thanks a lot! Unfortunately I don't have any more SOMA-related fan fictions planned but I could make some about other games in the future. I did make one about Factorio if you're interested. Welcome to the channel :)

[@TwinTails100]

This is the most well-explained iceberg I've ever heard.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thanks a lot!

[@RealOxygentv]

noone understands why this is part of my top 3 favorite games of all time. the experience was PERFECTION

[@masterzoroark6664]

Also, that DLC debacle- you reminded me that I have a bunch of drafts on SOMA afterstory. One touching on what if continiuations of the lives of post-humans of PATHOS-2.

[@SaadTheGlad]

You should finish it!

[@twocatsyelling723]

Videos like this are why I say SOMA is Frictional's best game, regardless if it's not their most successful. That there's still so much to discuss about this story, the concepts and ideas behind it... even so many years after its launch... speaks volumes of how brilliant it is.

[@kandycult]

When I first watched a playthrough of SOMA, it changed me genuinely for the better- I'm not sure what happened in my mind, but it knocked me out of a dreadful routine and started me towards betterness

[@FORGED-STEEL]

59:25 Thanks for the warning.

[@SaiScribbles]

1:03:31 This is really intriguing because after all, Simon 2 had to put together Simon 3's body himself.

[@Darklovefly]

Great vid, came from McNasty's. Definitely an thought provoking and horrifying game. So well done it still gives me chills.

[@SaadTheGlad]

Thank you!

[@aerynstormcrow]

To hear the talking door you have to stand there for quite awhile. I didn’t hear it until I had to get up to go get a drink and came back to that voice asking for help.

[@SaadTheGlad]

I actually did hear it! You can see it on the one SOMA livestream I did somewhere on my channel. I was just too terrified/disoriented to remember lol

[@aerynstormcrow]

@@SaadTheGlad I swear this game gave me ptsd. 😂

[@azumi4094]

I love soma. The story and creepiness is perfect in my opinion. i wish they would make another

[@roccomorocco7646]

Nice video. I think delenda est means destroy message after listening to it, but I might be wrong

[@TrulyAndasen]

Just rewatched Markiplier's playthrough of SOMA for like the 4th time. Appreciated the reference to BubbleButt

[@impyboi9788]

1:41:49 Catherine Personality Change. I also think it's possible Catherine may have tampered with her scan. Maybe she was insecure about her timid nature and decided to make the version of her that would live on the ark more bold. I assume she had full access to all the scans after all

[@supp282]

i just started a new playthrough, this game is so awesome

[@jbholland1987]

cant they make a movie about this older game already? its a ten out of ten story.

[@SamuelBlack84]

There is a series of shorts set before the game called Transmissions

[@jbholland1987]

@@SamuelBlack84 thank you !

[@XelanaterEllevanox]

I don't know if it was said yet, but that Gameranx article about the cancelled DLC was saved on the Wayback Machine and the original article can be viewed. It was still up as of September 2022.