No One Lives Under The Lighthouse – Unraveling the Plot (Director’s Cut)

Compared to the Original version the Director’s Cut is way more deeper and cryptic. I hope this will help shed some lights on it.

Introduction

Note: Credit goes to AltairGigi

Compared to the Original version the Director’s Cut is way more deeper and cryptic and not always clear from the beginning.

In the OG it was basically a loop with the ‘guide’ taking a new keeper on the island where a monster hunts him to feed the entity (brougth on the island by the guide) living under the lighthouse. The keeper would then become the monster hunting the next keeper and so on unless the loop is broken.

While the first part of the DC is practically intact the second half of the game keeps the ‘loop’, with the player becoming the new monster, but adds a series of elements that do not give a clear picture of the happenings.

Here we will present the hints and elements the game gives us and we’ll try to unravel this hank.

Plot Summary

As said, the first part of the game is identical to the Original version and straigh linear. We are the new keeper of the lighhouse and we need to attend to it. As day passed we are hunted and persecuted by a creature which in the end force us jump in a well. There, we found a strange temple and we get flashbacks of the life of a keeper in the past. In the end we confront the keeper and we either kill him or sacrifice ourselves in the pit. In this later case we reborn as the new monster and we harrass the new keeper.

At this point, the plot revolves around a drunken man whose son died in a misteryous way. We get hints that his son was killed by the villagers of the island in somekind of ceremony (the church and the fashback with the red lights). The true ending itself confirms that the one living under the lighthouse was the father, who perhaps is experiencing some sort of dream revolving around repentance. We don’t know if for not having saved his sons or if it was the father the one who killed him, since the son’s body is hidden in the basement. His addiction is probably the consequence of the loss.

In a scene, when we slowly morph in the monster, we also get the POV of the guide so there is a possibility that the guide, the keeper, the monster and the father are the same “person” (if the theory of the dream is correct) yet in the “flashbacks” we also get dialogues that hinted to something in the light of the lighthouse and to another missing keeper. The identity of the entity in the church is also unkown but is linked to repentance and might be a representation of the father’s guilt.

Identities

During the flashbacks when you dig in the grave a dialogue says “don’t lose your mind because of lonelyness” which is the same phrase told by the guide when you arrive at the island. A villager also tell us that a double minded man is dangerous. Furthermore, in the good ending, it is revealed we are the guide and the keeper appears on our side. In the scene we are putting the rifle back in the chest for the next keeper. In the true ending, the reflection in the mirror confirms we are the guide. So, the guide and the father are the same person.

Dream and Delusion

The dialogue with the entity at the end of the game clarify this is a dream we are repeating thousands of time since we are failing a trial. The entity mentions a sin and repentance being the only solution. This confirm that the loop is a dream and that we, the father, did something terrible that deserve repentance. Did we kill our son or something worse?

Memories

One might wonder wether the flashbacks are truly memories of the pasts. Various elements seem to suggest they are although probably filled with oneiric elements (the shadow of the keeper in the basement and the moth flying out of the tomb). The sequence of the memories also follows the order of the days: first the beginning at the beach, then the day with the moth, then the rainy day and finally the red light/foggy day. This suggest that the loop is based on the memories of the father.

Repentance

The dialogue with the entity at the end of the game is enlighting for the true meaning of the plot and the achievements needed to unlock the true ending are the keys. Let’s see what they say:

The Emperor: Your chambers will be as the Lord’s temple.

In the flashbacks we see that the lighthouse and the house of the father are dirty and in disorder because of his grief and drunkness. This might therefore poin to the need to clean the outside to give order to our inner chaos. The Tarot card of the Emperor symbolize stability but also compassion.

The Hanged Man: Where it all began meet the restless hoovering between life and death.

The restless is a keeper and the text of the achivement tell ‘Then, your fate was revealed’ which points at the infinite loop of the death of the keeper. The Tarot card of the Hanged Man means self-sacrifice.

The Wheel of Fortune: Let the wheel of fortune turns and remind you of your true self.

To achieve this we need to kill the monster in the arena. This might means that either we are the monster (see below) or that we need able to fight our inner demons. The meanning of the Tarot card of the Wheel of Fortune is success.

The Star: Take the star of Bethlem out of the ground.

This is a sign of what you need to do for repentance and to achieve the final achievement “Judgement” which is bury your son. Multiple hints among the phrases told by the villagers in the flashbacks also reference to death. The Tarot of the Star means loss.

These final achievement hold the greatest meanings:

The Lovers: In pursit of yourself, remember who you are and what happened to your son.

To achieve this you need to catch all the keepers as the monster. As we do we get passages of the story of Joseph from the Bible. This means three things: we are the monster; we are also the keeper; our son was killed and we were fooled it was an accident. The Tarot card of The Lovers means relationship but also failure.

The Moon: In shadow of the moonlight thou hast committed a sin thou hast forgotten.

To achieve this we need to kill the keeper as the monster in the arena. This means we are the monster and that we did kill a keeper. The meaning of the Tarot of she Moon is hidden enemy.

Conclusion

I believe that the father and the son were the keepers of the lighthouse and that the son was killed and because of the loss and lonelyness the father became alcoholic and out of his mind. He would therefore go in a homicidal delirium by bringing new keepers to attend the lighthouse to then proceed to haunt and kill them. Trapped in a delusional dream looking for repentance, he endlessly relived the death of his son. Finally, he would accept the burden of the loss, bury his son and end his self-inflicted isolation.

Bonus: Seaguls

As said by user Atd1973, the seagull at the end of the true ending might be the son’s soul finally fred. The various references at dead seaguls we unbury in the third day as well as the seagull that fell dead in our house in the fourth and that we may bury to unlock the achievement “The High Priestess” might confirm this.