#ln2 spoilders

[supercasey]

Little Nightmares 2 Ending Theory

WARNING: Spoilers for the story/ending of Little Nightmares 2 ahead!

So I finally finished watching SuperHorrorBro’s playthrough of Little Nightmares 2 last night, and while the ending gutted me like a fish (I literally cried myself to sleep, I was so emotional) after thinking it over throughout the day, I’m starting to like the ending a lot more, mostly through my own theory/interpretation.

The basis for my theory is this; Six didn’t betray Mono. No, Mono sacrificed himself to save her.

I believe that from the moment Mono watched as the Thin Man stole Six away, he knew his fate was sealed. In that moment, Mono chose to go rescue her, all the while knowing it wouldn’t end well for him.

Throughout this game, we’ve been shown not through words, but through actions how much Mono and Six care about each other. All the times Six has counted on Mono to come back for/save her, all the times Mono has trusted Six to catch/throw him, all the moments they worked in-sync to escape certain death, etc. These two care very deeply for each other, and would do pretty much anything to keep the other safe.

By the time the duo has gotten through the hospital, they trust each other with little hesitation or doubt, so you can imagine Mono’s horror when the Thin Man took his best friend from him, and the amount of dread he felt at the prospect of trying to fight such an unbeatable force of nature.

For context real quick, I also believe that Mono knows a lot more about the universe he’s in than we’re able to see from gameplay alone. In fact, I believe that before the game even began, Mono was being raised similarly to the Pretender in VLN, in that he was being groomed in preparation to someday become the next controller of the signal tower. However, likely just before the game started, Mono ran away, donning his paper bag in order to keep from being recognized by the Pale City’s inhabitants.

I think that at first, Mono just wanted to take down the signal tower by himself or run away from his destiny, but once he met Six and escaped the Hunter with her, he became determined to now only keep her company, but keep her safe from the terrifying world he’s been trapped in all his life.

So back to the last chapter of LN2. Once Mono defeated the Thin Man (who may have been his own father because I can’t let that theory go) and entered the signal tower in search of his friend, I believe he learned the truth; he realized that the tower- and by extension, possibly the entire world- cannot exist without a monster of some kind living within it’s walls. Whether that’s just a random victim of the Thin Man’s occasional kidnappings (the shadow children, Six, etc) or someone with the power to control and manipulate the signal however they see fit (the Thin Man, Mono, etc) doesn’t matter; so long as the tower has a body, it won’t destroy itself, and by extension, the world.

Instead of just turning tail and leaving Six behind to be that body, Mono made a decision; that he would be the sacrifice, if only so Six could survive.

Cut to after the boss fight with Six, and Mono jumps to her as the tower crumbles around him. As we saw, Six manages to catch him just in the nick of time, but as she goes to pull him up, Mono mouths a message to her; “Let go.” At first, Six is confused- why would Mono want to be dropped? He saved her; this is their chance to escape!- but Mono just shakes his head and continues to mouth the words to her. Finally, perhaps while crying at the loss, Six lets him go, forced to watch as Mono plummets to what she believes is his death.

Mono doesn’t scream on the way down. Why would he? It was his idea, after all.

In the end, Six escapes what would’ve been her end, only to be haunted by the part of her left behind by the Thin Man, the phantom a grim reminder of the friend she had to lose in order to make it this far. In the meantime, Mono takes his fated place in the signal tower, slowly but surely growing to become the next Thin Man and take his rightful place as the signal tower’s next ruler. He couldn’t escape his destiny in the end, but it’s not so bad if it means he got to rescue his best friend in the process.

So no, I don’t think LN2 is meant to be a paradox or time-loop (and not only because I fucking hate paradox stories). I think Mono knew his fate earlier than we as the audience did, and instead of running from it in order to save himself, he chose to give up his freedom so that he could save the person he loved. It’s not a happy ending by any means, but it doesn’t have to be. Mono did what he thought was right, and I don’t think Six will ever forget that (or forgive herself, but that’s another story altogether).

((I’m sorry if this theory sucks; I’m very new to Little Nightmares lore, but I really like the universe!))