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elf-trash · 4 minutes ago

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Thoughts about the ending of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 under the cut (specifically about the Maelle ending, havent played the other one yet, but just also overall)

First off, before the fight between Verso and Maelle, the scene between Renoir and Maelle is fucking gut-wrenchingly heart-achingly sad. On the one hand you have the Expeditioners, Lune and Sciel, and even Maelle to an extent. Who to me are definitely by any thought process or theory, living creatures with agency and a right to life. They are begging with a literal *god* for their life, to simply just be allowed to live. They didnt ask for any of this. Their world was turned upside down and torn apart by a tragedy that they arent directly involved in or at all a party to. In a world, that a year ago, they didnt even know existed. Sciel just wants her husband back. Lune just wants an opportunity to live her own life outside of her parents shadow (which btw, huge parallel to irl Verso if he Painted this Canvas as a child). Gustav wanted a world where he can teach his apprentices and have a life with the woman he loves. And their entire world, their very existence, comes down to the decision of a grieving and broken, very human, and very flawed, family.

On the other you have not a *god* but a *man*, just a regular human man. A man who has not only seen what being stuck in your creation can do, but by his own admission, has lived it himself. A man who has seen his family torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy. A man *desperately* trying to save his wife and get back his daughter from the same creation. From a world that, while once his sons, that he and his wife have turned into an unspeakably tragic battlefield. He has already lost his son, very nearly lost his wife, his oldest daughter is out avenging his sons death and his youngest daughter is permanently scarred and disabled. And he realizes that, for now, she is lost. That Alicia is lost and Maelle is all that remains. He resigns himself to it and tells her, knowing its likely a lie, that he will leave the light on for her. Because almost as important as his daughters life, is his daughters happiness and he realizes that right now, and maybe forever, Alicia cannot be happy while Maelle might be able to find it.

Which brings us to Maelle. Poor fucking Maelle, genuinely. Sixteen years as an outcast, in a world of orphans she was especially alone until she found Gustav and his family. Knowing there is no life for her in Lumiere she joins an expedition as young as she is allowed. She then finds out that she isnt actually even *from* Lumiere. She is Alicia Dessendre, her brother, Verso (who we will get to) died in a fire to save her. A fire that left her permanently disfigured and scarred her throat so badly that breathing is difficult and speaking next to impossible. And now, she is left with the most impossible of choices. Live, in her own words, in the shell of her body with a family that despite it all seems to love each other incredibly fiercely and that she clearly loves back. Or lose her real life, mind, and body to live with her found family and hold on to the shred of her brother without the damage of the fire on her body. And finally Verso. Or Painted Verso. He Who Guards Truth With Lies. The man who has lived 100 years. The man who lived 100 years in the shadow of a man he can never be, because that man is him. But it isnt. He is the replacement. The Copy. Aline, as The Paintress, made him in her grief tinged mania, desperately trying to cling onto the spirit of the real Verso. He has lived 100 years and seen countless friends die. He has the memories of Actual Verso, but he looks into Maelles eyes and knows that she doesnt see him as Verso. She cant because he isnt. Through the entire cinematic after the final Renoir fight he doesnt say a single word. He doesnt look at Renoir, Renoir doesnt look at or acknowledge him. He just stares through the proverbial looking glass at what Aline has become and feels all 100 years and Versos memories on top of that and is so tired. After he goes through the looking glass, he pleads with Maelle that he doesnt want this life anymore. To just PLEASE let him go. Begging, essentially, for the same thing Maelle begged of Renoir. The agency of choosing peace over a broken life...and Maelle, too hung up on her own grief, cant grant it. And then there is the piece of Verso`s actual soul doing the painting in the in-between.

Which brings us to the final cut scene for if you chose the Maelle ending. Which, like I said last night, is absolutely haunting. I dont think Maelle realizes it, and I dont think she is intended to have, but she has fallen into the exact same trap that Aline did. She, seemingly, didnt just bring all the Gommaged people back. She turned Lumiere into her and her family`s own perfect Utopia. Gustav and Sophie are happily together, Sciel has her husband back, Monoco and Esquie are in Lumiere and it isnt at all a big deal for the people there. And Painted Verso. He wasnt allowed to die, but he was all "allowed" to age. He is "allowed" to play his piano conercto at the opera house in Lumiere. All with the expression and body language of a man walking to the gallows, and the knowledge that sitting in the crowd is the woman responsible.

While I havent read it, there is a famous short story by Ursula K Le Guin titled The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. The basic premise is that Omelas is a Utopian society, but the price of the utopia is that one child must live in abject misery and darkness, and that once they reach adulthood Omelians are shown this terrible secret. And I cant help but feel like there is a parallel between the adults who choose to stay in Omelas and Maelle. Who knows this Utopia she has built is built on the foundations of a shade fo her brother who cannot help but resent her and the shard of his soul forced to live on to fuel her.

And that doesnt even begin to cover the fact that, with the time difference (it seems years in the Canvas only last days or weeks, or at the most months in the real world), I doubt Renoir and Clea (who I havent hardly mentioned and probably deserves her own deep dive) are going to allow for their daughter and sister, respectively, to quietly waste away. Selfish or not, theyre going to, eventually try to get her back.

And the thing is. While it might seem like I have been critical of Maelle here? I get it. I fucking get it so hard. I know I called it an impossible choice, but if left to choose between her life as Alicia and her life as Maelle, I would almost certainly choose Maelle. And of course a sixteen year old with the power of a god, whose life has been marred by devastating and impossible tragedy, is going to give herself and her friends and their families the utopic ending. Hell, me as a full grown adult with an understanding of grief and depression would be hard pressed to not do the same. Even if, maybe even especially if, I viewed my creations as living.

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elf-trash · 5 hours ago

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I finished Expedition 33 last night, and if I don't talk about both endings and my feelings, I will go insane. Do NOT 🫵 read this if you haven't finished the endings, for real

This game has me so...! Gnawing on my hands, gnawing on my hands

By the time the choice comes around, I had a feeling about which one I'd ultimately prefer, but I wouldn't know for sure unless I played both. Imagine my surprise to not only see my preference change but to also find so much more to wrestle with than I expected with both.

I don't currently prescribe that one ending is automatically the "good," "right," or "morally correct" ending over the other. Neither is perfectly happy, or particularly neat, or overwhelmingly cathartic. They're messy and complex and painful like the grief they're addressing, their futures equally uncertain. It really does come down to personal preference, what the player is willing to sacrifice and let go of, what they are most emotional about.

I chose Maelle's first because I thought it would be the one that I'd stick with. She had my loyalty first over Verso, and I was unwilling to lose Sciel, Lune, Monoco, and Esquie. I wanted a future for them where all the pain and terror they've endured could be transformed into happiness. I wanted their loved ones returned to them and for me, as the player, to have Gustave back, allowing him and Sophie to have their "in another world."

Throughout Act 3, Verso seems to be thawing slowly to the idea of living on, too. He's still soul-tired and painfully aware of his own existence within the scope of the Dessendre family's ongoing strife and grief, but if everyone in the Canvas is real, that means he is, too. The others accept him as himself, Verso, and not Verso Dessendre. He talks about going on more adventures with Esquie. Of bringing back all the people he's lied to, so he can get the chance to explain to them why, to maybe reconcile with them. Losing Julie in particular cost him deeply, and that's a wound that could be addressed at last. He romanced Sciel in my playthrough, and he's taken aback and a little hurt when she calls off their situationship if her husband can be revived, implying how much he's starting to value that connection with her. He wants to win back the trust he broke with Sciel and Lune, in particular. He and Maelle plan to perform a concert in Lumiere. He and Monoco are him and Monoco, in complete understanding of each other as the best of friends are. He and Lune discuss future plans and how settling down doesn't seem like him.

And that's really the glaring crack of it all. Verso is trying to get on board and imagine a future where he doesn't want to die, where living seems worth it. A lot of people call him a liar and a betrayer, but I think the person Verso lies to most is himself. Because all these glimmers of hope for the future are also met with constantly losing his family until he's alone. They had to kill painted!Renoir and painted!Aline. Maelle Gommaged painted!Alicia right in front of him without giving him a chance to say goodbye. Painted!Clea had to kill herself to escape from the Canvas. Verso even had to put Simon to rest and carry on his mission.

By the time the party arrives to confront real!Renoir, I truly believe that Verso was on board with their plan, or as on board as he could be: defeat Renoir, protect the Canvas, revive everyone, keep living. If Verso had premeditated betraying the party, I feel like he would've done so during the Renoir fight, choosing to side with him to stop Maelle in that moment. Instead, during and directly after the fight, something happened. Many somethings that shattered Verso's illusions and his lies until he couldn't run from the truth they concealed anymore.

The first was real!Aline returning to the Canvas to influence the fight in Maelle's favor, something she had no business doing in her current condition. The second was Renoir showing the party Aline's suffering in the real world, suffering she was enduring to keep painted!Verso and the sliver of her son's real soul alive. The third was Renoir's many pleas and desperation for Maelle to not end up the same way, for fear of losing her to this obsession, too. And the fourth was Maelle's lie that she wouldn't. There's a particular thing Maelle does when she's becoming manic. Her eyes get super, almost uncomfortably, wide, and Jennifer English puts this high strain on her voice because she's trying to convince you that she's not lying, that she herself believes every word. It's like looking at a glass sculpture that's seconds from shattering at the right pressure. This has happened a couple of times throughout the game, particularly when things are getting desperate and unmoored.

The camera focuses on Verso every time these events are playing out, and every time, his despair grows stronger and stronger. He feels personally responsible for all this suffering and for the suffering his presence has yet to cause. And here is Maelle, who has previously seemed so certain of herself, so steady, so confident, especially with her memories back, and now she's unraveling right in front of Verso, and she hasn't even taken full ownership of the Canvas yet. Of course that's the moment he betrays the group and their wishes. Yes, Verso wants to die, Maelle's ending makes that heartbreakingly clear, but I think he also wants to save Maelle, the single member of the Dessendre family that is both real on the outside and real to him. He doesn't want her grief and guilt over Verso's death to bind her to it any further, and he doesn't want her to hide behind her love for her painted!friends and family to do so. The escapism has to end. She has to face reality.

But like I said, in this instance, I chose Maelle's ending, A Life to Paint, first, and what plays out is both idyllic and horrific, but not at first. Maelle compromises with Verso, giving him the option to grow old at last. For them to have "just this one lifetime" together, implying she'll leave the Canvas and rejoin her family after Verso lives a natural life and dies. Lumiere is restored. The past dead expeditioners are revived. Gustave and Sophie are together and happy; Sciel has her husband back. All have gathered to watch an aged Verso perform, like they'd promised before.

But Verso is reluctant to play. He's visibly tired, visibly unhappy; he looks dead on his feet. And the shot of Paintress!Maelle is viscerally shocking, eerie, and unsettling. Everything is in monochrome, and suddenly, nothing feels right. She has a child with her, a child with Verso's dark hairstyle, and now I'm left wondering if that child is the next Verso, the one who will take over when the aged Verso expires, this one lifetime stretching out endlessly in another version of immortality, with Maelle never intending to leave.

I'm reminded then, too, of the Gestrals and their reincarnation cycle. What we learn about Noco's death from Monoco is that Noco was once his mentor, that Noco has died many times, and that Monoco got in trouble for "skipping the queue" and reviving Noco early because he missed him so much. Every time Noco is reincarnated, he has none of his past memories and he's never the same Noco as before. Monoco has had to mourn not only Noco's death but also the Noco he loses once Noco is reborn. Yet he can't let him go, has to continuously bring him back and reforge their relationship even though it causes Monoco incredible pain and grief each time.

So how do we know that all the people Maelle resurrects are truly "them"? How do we know that Gustave and Sophie are the Gustave and Sophie that we know and not the versions that Maelle simply remembers or wants them to be? Is any of this sandbox truly real anymore, or is Maelle's fantasy of an ideal existence playing out at the cost of Verso's actual soul, his child self trapped in suffering to maintain the Canvas, not to mention her and her family's health and mental states?

On the flip side, there's Verso's ending, A Life to Love. He defeats Maelle and holds her as she Gommages and returns to the real world, comforting her the way real!Verso did before he died. He gives Verso's soul the choice to stop painting, knowing the Canvas will cease to exist soon after, killing Sciel, Lune, Monoco, and Esquie along with all chance of them bringing back everyone else who's been Gommaged. If you believe the people and creatures in the painting are as real as those without, then this feels like murdering entire civilizations and ecosystems. All so painted!Verso can finally die and for Maelle and the other Dessendres to face their grief and heal. Do the needs of the few overshadow the will of the many?

You have Monoco and Esquie embrace Verso as a final goodbye, themselves willing to go, in total understanding of Verso's choice. You have Sciel step forward, reaching her own understanding with Verso as someone who's also had grief blind and bind her, who knows how far into the dark you have to sink to attempt to take your own life.

And then there's Lune, who cold-eyed stares right at Verso before sitting down in full view of him, unforgiving, uncompromising, unflinching. Over and over, Verso has betrayed her trust, burned her hope, and her judgment of this choice is the last thing she will ever give him, on behalf of those they've lost and those they now can never save. This is a moment that stays with you well past Lune's Gommage, a silent, accusing voice saying, "I can't believe you would do this."

And we return to the real world at last, the Dessendres finally reunited, each of them standing over Verso's grave, honoring his memory and commiserating over their shared loss. The siblings stand equidistantly apart from their parents, who take comfort in each other, seeming to have reconciled after being so long at war. Maelle is muted and scarred, having returned to a life she claimed she'd find no joy in—but she and Clea share a smile over their parents' behavior, their earlier animosity stowed away, for now at least. It's not clear if Aline still blames Alicia for Verso's death or if Maelle is still subject to Clea's harsh judgments. It's not clear how much mourning and growing closer the family has yet to do, but there's a hopeful note that wrestling with losing Verso is getting a little more endurable.

But is the chance for the Dessendre family to heal worth all the lives in the Canvas? Should Aline and Renoir have preserved their son's soul no matter what? Should Maelle have been forced into a life where she is disfigured, in constant pain, unable to speak? Would it have been better if she'd stayed in the Canvas, even if it was to live a lie so she'd never need to face reality?

A Life to Paint and A Life to Love both present a very "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omales" angle that people are going to be chewing on and arguing about for a good, long time, and I'd rather people did that than be perfectly content with it, no notes, you know? It's why this game is going to have incredible staying power beyond release and award seasons. The way it turns a macro-story about saving a civilization and defeating monsters into a micro-story about shared grief and the sometimes terrible choices you make because of your pain is extraordinary. The way it confronts your relationship with art, your co-dependency on it and your avoidance of reality, is a discussion that really hits home with me.

That's probably why I prefer Verso's ending, although I truly enjoy both, the results they give and the questions they present. Painted!Verso being able to save not only Verso's soul and Maelle (not to mention the Dessendre family at large) feels like more of a tangible "win" to me than Maelle's, even though it really hurts losing Lune, Sciel, Monoco, and Esquie for good. Those are my little guys that I love so much, you know? I went on this journey with them! Shouldn't that mean something?

I think we've confused meaning with being rewarded, and using that reward to attribute meaning. I've seen the sentiment of it all being for nothing if you don't choose Maelle's ending, that bonding with these characters is pointless if you can't save them, and, hm, really? Can't the journey still matter, even if you don't get the desired outcome? Aren't the bonds still real, even if they're broken? For instance, maybe you think the last several Star Wars movies or tv shows suck. Does that mean it was pointless to develop bonds or strong feelings for any of the characters or story beats? If something connected with you, shouldn't you still value it, even if you have to let that connection go in some way or form?

For me, we wouldn't feel the attachments we do to those in the Canvas without Verso painting it, his death, and his family's expressions of grief. We wouldn't have the Canvas' wonder and whimsy without young Verso's initial vision. We wouldn't have the Fracture, the Axons, the Unfinished Nevrons, the Gommage, etc. without various members of this family making chess moves against each other. The Dessendres give Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a level of depth and meaning it wouldn't have otherwise, and it feels only natural that it ends with them and their collective willingness to move on, leaving no one else behind. (Or, who knows, maybe they'll all get on board with Clea's vendetta against the Writers, a revenge quest that is its own kind of faux-healing and avoidance.)

We even see Maelle holding Verso's stuffed Esquie at the gravesite. She still carries everything and everyone in the Canvas with her, just in a more healthy, less obsessed way. We know, also, that Maelle is a great and strong Paintress in her own right. What kinds of Canvases will she create? If reality gets to be too much at times, can she escape for a while but know when it's best to return, thanks to her parents' lessons and warnings?

I don't really have the answers to any of my questions, and that's okay. I'm happy to speculate forever. What a game!

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