That's Enough Tumblr For You, Ace....

That's enough Tumblr for you, Ace....

Shhh soft carnival post-

They’re very rare, so we must be quiet as to not scare it away-

kiss,, kiss around the chain -

Getting some thoughts out about Everhood 2 ( or: Analyzing the Root of All Evil )

Finished Everhood 2, and I may as well share my thoughts about the story. While I'm not sure if I'd say the story is better than the original, I think overall I actually may have preferred this game more to the original.

The pacing was far better for me, characters had a lot more time to breathe, which gave me a lot more time to get invested in them and really grow to care about them, which was unfortunately a nitpick I had with the original, as the majority of it's characters, barring a few, didn't really leave an impression on me, as it felt like they went by way too quickly.

But enough about that. I've got some thoughts to empty out regarding the story. Particularly an analysis regarding the Main Antagonist…

I think the main idea that Everhood 2 attempts to communicate is the nature of conflict within all storytelling and its relationship with the ones who experience said stories. This is most prominent in both our role as the player and through the character, The Root of All Evil / Shade.

The Root of All Evil isn't actually evil in and of itself, even if it's very much the core cause behind the evil characters in the story. There's no denying it's role as main antagonist, yet being the main antagonist does not necessarily denote it as being truly evil.

The entity itself holds no malice. It's an "entertainer," as it describes itself. While we are misdirected into reading it as evil incarnate and our ultimate nemesis in the game, it would be far more apt to label this entity as conflict itself, rather than evil itself.

Shade is the primary motivator of the story. The plot is set into motion by the stopwatch guiding us to them, where they immediately put on a grand show of their so-called "evil intent." They are present in the beginning and always on the sidelines, behind multiple characters, orchestrating massive, grand schemes, and giving us our central purpose: to find enlightenment and defeat the villain who antagonizes us time and time again. Each antagonist has some form of relationship with Shade, whether directly working with them or merely being influenced indirectly in their grand, cosmic game.

Yet, when Shade loses their puppets and is brought to confront us one-on-one, we begin our path to achieve enlightenment regarding the nature of our adversary, our role, and our entire quest.

Shade holds no particular drive to harm, and as said earlier, they lack any true malice. If anything, they treat you cordially when the game begins to reach its end. The enlightenment the player receives, confronting the End of Time as the literal end of the game's world, through the journey to meet God, implies that we are going to see God as an individual when we find our enlightenment, a character unto themselves, some unknowable entity that knows all. And this is not technically incorrect.

The twist is ultimately that we, ourselves, are already God in the world of Everhood. We are the player, after all. And so, the entire story revolves around us. The very fate of the world is determined by us. We lack conventional omnipotence, instead being a transcendent being that exists beyond the world and is unable to enter it directly, acting, instead, through a silent proxy and relying on others to complete our goals when needed.

Shade, as our counterpart, is just as much a God as we are. Shade manufactures conflict for the sake of the story to continue, as that is their ultimate purpose, being the embodiment of conflict itself. We, as players, are brought to overcome conflict—to give ourselves satisfaction and feel complete as we triumph over a truly memorable adventure. Shade's only goal is to entertain us with stories. Shade is transcendent as well, as conflict ultimately exists in all storytelling, yet unlike us, it exists in the world of stories, not in reality (well, not as we know it in fiction). Just like us, it acts through proxies and vassals to complete its goals.

Both the player and conflict necessitate the existence of the other. Shade is obsessed with us because we are their purpose. Their entire purpose is to create challenges to entertain us. That is why they exist: to put on a show for others to enjoy. An "entertainer", as said earlier. Thus, why so often Shade is found associated with Jesters. They are both based around the concept of entertaining others.

The plot is based around common set-pieces seen in adventure stories. Journeying to a mysterious island with a strange curse, or traversing colorful locales to get the power to confront a ferocious dragon, said to be the representation of our internal darkness. All steps on the journey to beat the villain: all motivation to keep us driving forwards to complete the story.

Ultimately, this is why Shade can't actually be "beaten." Why there's no real final boss battle against the main antagonist. We can defeat its proxies, and it even tries to give us a climactic final battle and ultimate villain utilizing Riley (proceeding to accidentally exert too much power and kill them instead, because nobody's perfect), before settling on using itself as a proper final challenge after the credits roll in a jaunty mock fight.

Conflict is the root of all storytelling. As long as stories exist, conflict will exist. As long as Everhood keeps getting played, Shade will still exist. And, as said by the Divine Mushroom, the quests will never end.

It never ends in Everhood.

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vancobunker

1 year ago

Wow, Ace.. thank you for your sacrifice.