Outer Wilds DLC; Slide Reel #20

[@EsplodingBomb]

The Strangers sacrificed everything to seek out the Eye. Seems like without the ability to warp travel they needed to devise a solution to surviving their long trip through space to reach out system. They uprooted their lives, tore down their homes, and packed it all aboard The Stranger. If I had to guess based on their reaction to first receiving the Eye's signal, this was probably a first-contact scenario for them, the first sign of intelligence they had ever found, it would be no wonder they were so curious about it even before they could properly scan it and understand its meaning

[@noizepusher7594]

I have a head cannon that this was foretold in their religion

[@radio5637]

Fun fact: if you play this reel backwards then it's about how aliens from our solar system came to a small moon and tore down their space ship to restore its environment

[@miicro1]

saw a streamer play this game on stream, was doing the reels backwards lmao

[@mikey5878]

Never go all-in in the unknown.

[@ridjf]

Why'd they even censor that slide reel? "We can't let them know we fucked up and ruined out environment! Even in death we've got an image to maintain."???

[@ChewingGumFlavor]

From a game design pov, before we found out this reel, the strangers give a very creepy, malicious, and terrifying vibe. After learning that their search for eye also cost them their home from this reel, our perspective on them really changes to a more sympathetic one. I think the writer is trying to illustrate the importance of understanding, and trying to relate to the others from their pov. From an in-game lore angle, their intention was to burn every reel, to protect their secrets. Given that the protagonist learned enough about them from the reels that didn't get destroyed, and foiled their plan, I think their censorship is justified. So the real question is why are some left unburned?

[@ridjf]

@@ChewingGumFlavor They already had sympathy with the burnt lantern reel where they were sobbing over the landscape reel of their home planet, that clearly broadcasted grieving.

[@ChewingGumFlavor]

@@ridjf yeah, but after meeting these guys in the dream world I would say we need a lot more than half a reel to have any sympathy for them, which this completed real delivers

[@Swedgers]

It's a humanising touch, I think. It was just too painful for them to remember, so they burned out those slides before they uploaded them to the simulation.

[@Gasmaskkiller123]

I don’t think it’s censorship, it’s shame, it’s the same reason why instead of seeking a new world to live on the owls resign themselves to an eternity in the dream world, it’s easier to pretend the past never happened at all than to try and move on from it. I think that’s why they’re so hostile to you as well - you’re an impossible presence in their dream world and your being there goes against their delusions

[@Julian_H]

I love the music from this reel but can't find it in the soundtrack :(

[@Magy21453]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJ3XnX2haLlsps0 is this what you're looking for?

[@timlwry]

the first seekers

[@BenjaminWheeler0510]

:(