As the long awaited and spiritual successor to Shadow of the Colossus (SC) and Ico, The Last Guardian had a lot to live up to. The title brought more story and heart to the table than a lot expected but it also has people scratching their heads as to what it all might mean. With a game this amazing and as many unnamed locations, people, creatures and untold lore there are throughout the series - just where should we begin? Well, I like to think that the setting of a story is everything. And, to me at least, the setting of this game really seems to tell all.

(Includes TLDR at bottom, I know I’m usually wordy but I’m super invested and interested in the story and I think this theory covers every possible angle.)



[Trico and the child meet initially.]

The Last Guardian (TLG) begins in a small chamber at the bottom of an industrialized canyon-valley. The creature is left abandoned at the bottom of the canyon and chained to the ground. For the majority of the game a child and his companion, a mythical griffin-type beast recognized by him as “Trico”, navigate the ruins of what is called an ancient city. Within this city, the areas traveled seem to be more reminiscent of an ancient factory or military installation than a cityscape. This idea really came to me when Jacksepticeye mentioned that the whole system seemed automated near the end of the game.

Industry is easy to recognize. It includes the import of raw materials and the production of something with a greater or more specific purpose than the raw ingredients could have naturally. Graphically, it doesn’t hurt recognition to place a few large chains, transport rails, cargo railway cars, industrial-sized vats, high-temperature or heavy-weight pouring vessels, collection molds and a few barrels around for good measure.

[For example: large chains and deteriorating rail lines can be found throughout.]

Because gardening is one of my great interests, I’ve learned a great deal about what boils down to the production of materials and importing of raw products. One base idea in particular stuck with me about soil improvement - something like “always import carbon/phosphate”. When I recognized the setting of the game to be a factory and thought about it, everything just seemed to fall into place.

It would be best to start at the beginning.



[The barrel is key.]

One of the first things we are meant to interact with in the game are these seemingly light-filled barrels, which are found nearby several butterflies. Throughout the game they are used to heal Trico or placate his hunger. Just what are these barrels? We finally learn something regarding their origins near the end of the game. Two similarly kidnapped children are delivered into the top of a tower connected to the factory - in return, a single light-filled barrel is shot into the air. Perhaps this high-velocity launch and the desperate, hungry pack of creatures led to some of them falling into the canyon below? No matter where the barrels ended up, this procedure would simply be a way to reward the creatures for the delivery. However, I believe this is all more directly related to the children than one might like.



This is your only warning.

[I still am not one hundred percent sure about the tattoos or eye-light thing.]



Chronologically, the story of the game starts with a kidnapping. Now, young children have no inherent skills, knowledge or strength; everything that we know and are capable of as adults is what we work towards and achieve from childhood onward. So, why kidnap small children? It would seem the only answer is because they, more specifically their bodies, contain some element that the ancient factory needs. In the fantasy world that TLG is built around - that element, it’s safe to guess, would be magic or spirit.

Think about it - at the beginning of the story the child is taken from his village by the creature. To be more specific the child is chosen from a room full of children – each appearing to be about the same age and size of the player character. Then why was he chosen? It’s possible that in this world each child is born with or exposed to some amount of magic which would make them suitable for “importing”.



[The butterfly effect, some might say.]



Upon watching the scene again closely, it seems that a butterfly preemptively chooses the child before the creature arrives – perhaps by hovering over him the child is exposed to something that marks him for the creature. It isn’t easy to say why this is shown - whether the butterfly is attracted to the magic within the child or because he has a strong spirit and is chosen as a possible way to shut down the factory… I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll get to the butterflies in a second but for right now let’s focus more or less on the second step of “production”.

Logically, the next stage of production after importing the raw material would be refinement. When there are metals that are contaminated with other metals – the raw import is boiled until it reaches a point where one floats and the rest sink in order to separate and refine the desired material. Or something like that, I’ve seen How It’s Made a few times so I’m not an expert on metal refinement. As far as bodies and magic goes…that process probably gets nasty. If the import and refinement process is anything similar to modern day factories you wind up with a larger amount of byproduct than the desired, pure material. The byproduct in this case would, unfortunately, be the bodies of the children; with the pure, refined material being magic or spirit.

[“There was nothing else for it. I would have to try and dispel the heady scent.” // A heady scent is particularly strong, potent or intoxicating.]

We first encounter the vats when Trico is lured to them by their smell. He ignores the child’s vocalizations, ignores everything – even his own goal of reaching the top of the central tower – so he can reach the source of the scent. This behavior was purely animalistic instinct. So, why was he drawn to the scent? Why was the vat left out or why was it even around? Why not just dispose of it?

[”Scientist reveals how the smell of death creates a heady mixture of scents…” // There are animals which prefer a variety in their diet including berries, mice, insects, and dead animals.]



Stay with me for a moment, okay? I know it’s way more information than even I wanted to read about dead stuff. Most recognize that animal traps include some kind of bait. Sometimes this bait is fruits or other vegetation but for carnivores this bait is more often some kind of meat protein.



So, what is the next step in industry after refinement? Production. We have to ask ourselves at this point – what does this factory actually produce? It appears to make barrels and smelly vats, but it also has an abundance of disembodied suits of armor. This armor, upon being busted by Trico, emits a blast of teal-colored mist and then is scattered on the ground in pieces – left lifeless but otherwise undamaged. This teal-colored mist is closely related to the color of the steam that can be seen coming from the vats. So it’s safe to assume a connection exists between the two - a connection that is further discussed below.

[Notice how nervous Trico is, the height of the gates, plus the discarded spears already on the ground.]



These vats, when you combine them with the multiple trap-like areas within the factory speak to a mass capturing of the winged cat-turkey creatures. Remember this stage in the game where Trico seemed particularly wary of the area ahead? So it would seem that the system feeds into and perpetuates itself at this stage. Import children; produce barrels, smelly vats, and potentially an endless supply of worker-bee soldiers. It’s as if this part were set up to run automatically so that the managers could focus on something more.

What then, is that greater purpose? What is the factory meant to produce with the more refined magic or spirit?

The mirror we use throughout the game is vital to not only the story’s progression but to accessing certain parts of the factory – more important parts of the factory in terms of production and operation. The very idea that mirror, which is a vital key, would be left somewhere unimportant is unimaginable. So just what does that low-altitude, early-game room have in it? In terms of factory production, what many recognize as a coffin would become a collection mold.



A mold for what I can’t be certain but, with what I know of Ico and SC’s themes being that of resurrection or everlasting youth and life, it’s some kind of ritualistic way to bring someone or something back to that world. Perhaps it is both a coffin and a collection mold in that the magic or spirit, with the help of gravity, is drained toward that chamber. Whatever it is it isn’t good and it can’t make up for the uncounted lives taken for this process to occur. In my opinion, you don’t have an army without someone or something to guide it. People or creatures don’t just band together without leadership. There is something or someone directing their actions as a whole. Still, in my book, the end doesn’t justify the means – whatever it is can call itself benevolent all day and still be evil at its heart.

[I worry what that may mean for this fantasy world. Did we, as the player, stop production or merely delay it?]

I will make this one observation about this room and about the game in general - it’s clever to put the end at the beginning in a sense, to show what won’t be understood until later in order to keep the mystery going.



That’s all we can guess from the setting of the game itself so what else is left for us to discover? If we look at the game from another perspective, by analyzing the colors and symbolism used within, we might find something else. Let’s look at symbolism and colors, shall we?

[Edges are either intuitive or “highlighted” to make it easier for paths to be spotted in more open-world level design.]



For all the colors available to them as opposed to early video games, TLG has a nicely chosen color scheme in certain aspects of the game. Like many moderately open-world platformer-type games, the game uses a color scheme to direct the player to act. Dying Light players were guided to climb objects associated with a yellow color or item near their top. Similarly, the game Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End had the player scanning for handholds with white or yellow edges. The colors to watch out for in TLG follow the same pattern – up to a point.



[White tiles guide or mark pathways in dimly lit areas, particularly helpful in the rubble of a tower later on.]



[Seemingly color coded items throughout the game.]



Usually objects we need to interact with glow white like switches and barrels while pathways through the rubble are checked with white tiles. The most dominant color used in the game for this guiding purpose is a strong blue-leaning teal color. Teal can be found many places in-game which makes it difficult to analyze for meaning: butterflies, steaming vats, heavy-weighted pouring vessels, mist from the soldiers, influential electric-type towers and cages, the runes and magic, and lastly is also found horns on the creatures and armor.

[“Many cultures associate the butterfly with our souls.” // “…representing endurance, change, hope and life.”

Butterflies are seen throughout the game – more specifically they can be seen in just about every location within this industrialized canyon.



[Butterflies hovering through various switches throughout the game.]



These butterflies in particular are given a memorable and striking teal color and, with their movement, help to draw the player’s eye to switches and barrels throughout the game. Because of these helpful actions which benefit the player along with their symbolism – it’s safe to assume they are a force of good.



Which souls could they be but those of the kidnapped children? They guide the child to barrels, highlight vital levers, and keep watch over both the creature and child through tough times. If while watching the story again you view the butterflies as lost souls hoping for change the story seems much more coherent albeit much more sad and dark.

[I only noticed the color in hindsight, after thinking about the factory setting, but it seems too similar to be a full-stop coincidence.]



The last piece of the puzzle is the color teal. It has something to do with this process of refinement. The solution seen in the video has a similar strong blue-ish color. It ties together the greenish-hue of the mirror and the stronger blue color of the butterflies. I’m a bit lost as to why so many items where assigned this color in-game except for the idea that they are related somehow. Let me try to get my thoughts completely in order here.

[You probably can’t help but notice the butterflies now, right?]



TLDR



Most of this has been covered above already, so don’t worry about it.



Returning to the village: all the children were in one room, on an upper floor – easy to defend compared to them being all over the village. All of the men had spears and were ready to jump up and defend at a moment’s notice – but from what? It would seem that they are startled by the creature’s appearance, more than that it was unexpected, and that they are unprepared to fight off something so large. Looking back – it also seemed that they are somewhat used to the idea that their children might be taken and that the child would become a “chosen one”. I can only guess that in years past the soldiers might have been the ones to abduct children from the villages. If that were the case, it would make sense that the children are in an upper story and not below ground somewhere. Also, the most common weapon in the game is a spear and is used both by the villagers and the hollow soldiers. When looking at medieval weapons, the reach that a spear has in turn makes a spear the only real counter weapon in both offense and defense. So the weapons that the village had made it seem to me at least that they were more used to fighting off soldiers – though they are used quite effectively against Trico throughout the game, the villagers seem absolutely in shock at the creature’s appearance. The creatures may have also been used longer because they are sent out with full body armor, instead of it just being for control.



[I still think it’s odd that it’s sculpted like a baby bird though…]



Think about the factory. Through processing and by starting with the children being imported into the top of the tower the materials – whatever they are – are helped by gravity to go through processing. Perhaps first in the line they produce a barrel of light, this could be the magic or light that each child has. Next the byproducts, the bodies, are heated in vats. The fumes coming out are described as “heady” or strong and rise from the vats which suggests they are hot. Hot air rises. These smells seem to catch and keep the creatures attention, so from what I’ve shared about animal traps that much makes sense. This heating causes some kind of magic or malice to float to the surface where it is collected in the heavy-weight pouring vessels – one of which is found – earlier on in the game and therefore lower in altitude than the vats.



Somewhere along the line, and this is purely guessing due to color association, some of it is condensed and put into suits of armor. I say condensed because the fumes that come from the suits after Trico bats at them dissipate in mid-air instead of rising like steam. Why make this jump – that humans would in some sense boil down to good “light” barrels and bad “malice”? Sorry, dark I know but I have to try and explain it.



[Id is primal desires while Ego is reason and self control.]



Look at it this way… In psychology there is a theory about something that is referred to as the Id and the Ego. The Id is more animalistic in nature while the Ego is all of our ideas and proper thoughts, hopes and dreams. The plot of the game has a child and animal navigating the maze-like ruins of an ancient factory, which now that I think about it reminds me of the brain – multilayered, connected up, down, left, and right… Nevermind. But the Id and the Ego seem to be strongly paralleled to in Trico and the child, as well as soldiers and the butterflies. Perhaps that explains the teal of the horns and armor? Perhaps the teal can’t fully be explained.



Anyways, all of this production leads down to the coffin or collection mold at the bottom of the valley. Which leads us to… I don’t know at this point. Was the factory so ruined and worn down that the process wasn’t fully working towards the end goal any longer? So much of it was destroyed, rail lines broken and production seemingly stopped. Surely if the mirror / key was taken at the start of the game by the child the coffin or collection mold couldn’t be unlocked and opened in the future, even if children were being dropped off throughout the game without our awareness. I’m pretty sure that as broken down as the ancient factory was it was only able to produce the barrels at that stage – meaning that the only thing the factory had been doing for who knows how long was kidnapping and killing children to produce barrels without being able to go any further with the end goal.



Hundreds or thousands of pointless deaths is terrible even when there’s some kind of end goal. But hundreds or thousands of deaths completely without meaning, without anything coming out of those countless sacrifices at all is just depressingly unacceptable.

[It’s all just so cute!]



Either way, I really feel that TLG had some of the most heart-warming / soul-wrenching moments in it that I’ve seen in video games lately. It was a much different game than SC due to the story elements, and in my opinion was a much better game because of them. I enjoyed watching Jacksepticeye play both games and while I wasn’t too fond of SC, I liked the dynamics of the fights and the design of the creatures. It reminded me a lot of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess due to the style and the darker atmosphere. Really I just enjoyed watching / listening because it’s heartwarming to see someone talk about something they love. That’s part of what brought me to watch TLG – the love that he has for the series. Trico, by and far though, is what won me over. He’s just so adorable. The way Trico moves, acts, and responds in my opinion is industry changing. Trico is just spectacular. The programming that went into him is just incredible to think about… Well, I’d like to take a moment to thank you all for listening to this theory and ask you now what you think. Does this theory seem to hold any water? Let me know.

Seán, @therealjacksepticeye, if you ever see this - thanks so much for all that you do in helping to keep people’s spirits up and making their day a little better. This theory goes out to you, because it’s what I like to think that I’m good at and I wanted to try and create something for you in return for all the times you’ve made me smile over the years.



Thanks for your time everybody.

Be good, do good, be careful.

~Sousie

