#you wouldn’t bash the game theory of a silly little birthday boy would ya? cmon

[leather-field]

extremely vague spoilers for pathologic 1 and 2 endings‼️‼️‼️

So. You know how Pathologic 2 Haruspex route is pretty clearly portrayed as, on some level, a play being staged in the Theater? I mean, you start the game backstage after a failed production, and in the (implicitly canon) Diurnal ending you end the game by exiting into the wings. Plenty of characters refer to you very literally as an actor, including your own “replacement” on day 11 (who you even meet on a stage!), and the events of the Deal & Late endings (and all your deaths) serve to further cement this fact. Plus, on a more metaphorical level, the Haruspex is portrayed as a character who is not entirely opposed to the idea of having a prewritten fate. Like, he understands that he is not in control of the story, but ultimately he doesn’t need to be as long as he’s in control of his own actions? He just needs to know his Lines (hee hee hoo hoo). There’s also the fact that the Haruspex is connected to the Town (seeing as how saving the Town is his ultimate goal) and the Theater is also representative of the Town. The Theater is the Town in microcosm; any event which takes place in the Town takes place on the stage, and vice versa. The backdrop of the stage is literally the Town itself flanked by the two Mistresses. 

We know the Haruspex is an actor in the Theater. That’s the context in which his story is framed. But—hear me out—it’s not how the other two healers will be portrayed. They’re going to have different meta explanations, for Character Reasons, and also because the Haruspex route doesn’t have either of the secret endings from Pathologic Classic (which made me suspicious).

I think the Bachelor’s route will be the one to utilize the angle about the Powers that Be. First of all, it’s intrinsically connected to the Polyhedron, which is in keeping with both his canon ending and his parallel to the Haruspex. Second of all, it’s just a way bigger slap in the face for him—he’s the one who wants to overcome inevitability, so discovering that he was never in control of his actions at all would of course be the worst epiphany ever. In the Haruspex’s storyline, the Bachelor might be an actor, but in his own storyline he is a puppet for a child as they play a meaningless game with his life. Also, it would make sense for his prologue to start in (or maybe at the base of) the Polyhedron, and for Measly and Thrush to take the place of Mark Immortell (so they can berate him for doing a terrible job at stopping the plague). In his canon ending he could also end in the Polyhedron (where Measly and Thrush could “dismiss�� him in the same way), ‘cause the Polyhedron is the most significant location for him and it’s also…basically the only thing left in his ending. The same applies to all his deaths and whatnot. It’s mechanically similar to the Haruspex’s route, but narratively it fits the Bachelor much better to have his route framed in a way that emphasizes the futility of his actions. 

As for the Changeling route’s framing device… Well, she’s always been the one who was most aware of Pathologic’s meta, right? So, yeah, she’s gonna be in a video game. Canonically. She’s gonna get death penalties and pro/epilogue explanations from the Tragedian and Executor who represent the developers. It fits, okay?? She’s connected to the game’s world as a whole rather than any specific part, she’s often alluded to as a vessel of some higher power who is incomprehensible to any of the characters, uh…there are…two of her…? I don’t know. It made so much sense in my head and I got so excited about this idea. I’m too tired to explain every little detail in a coherent manner, so just, like…fill in the gaps, I guess? You can do it. I believe in you.

Anyway, yeah, that’s my Pathologic 2 prediction. I’m sort of…half-expecting this to actually happen, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if it didn’t. I just think it would be cool, y’know?