The Narrator is the guy who is trying to stick to the DND script while we the player are actively trying to fuck it up.

The real princesses were the friends we slayed along the way

I’m a little disappointed that Mark missed some of the more…powerful princesses. I think he would have really respected their…power.

40:32 I audibly gasped when I heard the voice of the Hero come back with all his memories. He was the best consciousness, our true inner voice, and it had always felt like he was the real "us" throughout the story. It made me so happy to have our best friend by our side in our final moments. Heartbreaking that we had to leave him behind, but it was incredibly brave of him to make that choice for us. A selfless choice, born out of the desire to see happiness upon the one person he has truly ever known. Farewell, dear friend. May your voice find us again in another life.

What happens to a mf when there's no one to heart lungs liver nerves them

9:56 That little “I can fix her” nearly killed me XD I like how the Voice of the Hero has its own character development alongside the main character

Marks first time playing he chose to slay the princess, his last choice was to leave with the princess, its poetic in a way.

I find it funny how Mark accidentally chose a world void of death and endings at first, while speaking about how things have to end and how important change is. I get it though, I also got confused by what they all meant at the end and what would actually be what I personally would choose. It's a confusing game at times, but such a great story.

Mark at the beginning of the play through: LETS SLAY THE PRINCESS!!! Mark at the end of the playthrough: alright I’ll get a little sappy with the princess

Btw you've only seen like 25-30% of all the princesses. Lots of the ones you didn't see are SUPER FUN

Mark has always been drawn to the sweetness and sappiness. And I think he’s grasping at a higher virtue than “things can be given meaning because they end” But him staying true to that philosophy “everything must end” leads to the ending he doesn’t like. So almost automatically he goes back. And he chooses the ending with a relationship. Two real people with major differences enjoying each other’s company and facing the unknown. The importance and meaningfulness of relationships is something I know mark believes but just didn’t elaborate on in this series. I’m just pointing out he knows deep down that it’s higher than the biological necessity of death and endings, And that it produces more meaning than self determination alone. Beautiful Game, beautiful Mark 10/10 would philosophy again

Not Mark being like “Thassa beautiful thing cuz there ain’t no wrong endings, you just have to pick one.” And then five minutes later- “I DONT LIKE THAT ENDING I WONT ACCEPT THIS”

i love how mark just needs to know what happened with the head even though he called us weird before

I love how, even in the end, the Princess is still what you expect of her. Throughout the entire game, she adapts to what you think she'll be. If you think she's dead, she's dead. If you think she's a beast, she's a beast. If you think she's innocent, she's innocent. If you think you'll need that knife, she's someone you'll need to use it on. If you think you won't, she isn't. In the end, that first choice is the same. Your endings are the product of what you think you'll need. If you take the knife, you think there's some path in which you'll need to kill her, to end death. And if you change your mind, you still have the knife, and it still needs to be used. But if you don't take the knife, then you don't think you'll need it. You don't think you'll need to kill her. You don't think death needs to end. And it doesn't. This game is incredible.

I also agree with what Mark is saying. Even forever has an end. Even infinity is finite. Nothing is truly endless, because at some point something will come along to break the cycle. It has to. If there is no end, then there is no point. The end gives the beginning meaning. There’s so many ways to say it, to elaborate on the concept, but it’s only reiteration. And yet, just because the end has to happen, doesn’t mean it should happen now, or even soon. The question was never “will it end”, or even “should it end”, because those answers are obvious. No, the question is “when should it end?” What is a good time? When all is done? When something remains? It’s a hard question to answer.

God damnit, I had just got passed Stanley Parable and it's existentialism, and just recently got an existential dread attack, now falling into a more heart gripping Stanley Parable type experience, the people who made this made a Gem Mine with this one, hesitating to call it a game even tho it technically is one, but it is VASTLY more of an experience than a game, and I love every second of deep thought it has to offer, also totally not in love with 'The Princess' at all no idea what you're talking about... *Voice of the Smitten* "But she is the most Perfect Diamond! Far more Pristine than any Crown deserves to contain! So gentle, yet steadfast and brilliant! That is our Princess!"

I love how Mark absolutely refuses to stop playing until he actually found a truly happy ending. I wasn't even sure if there was a happy ending in this game.

Love how Mark is slowly starting to look like Captain Jack Sparrow

There's one more ending I really want to see marks reaction to and it's the one where you agree with the princess when she's the "shifting mound" the one where you see the most colorful ending.

Voice of the stubborn is the definition of “GO NO STOP”

*The Prisoner* is another one of my favorite princesses. Cutting your own head off is already pretty metal on its own, but her personality are also pretty badass. She's also very close to her chapter 1 form, which is nice. I also like the clever little *unspoken plot* she cooks up and signals to the skeptic, hoping he'll catch on, *to outsmart and fool the narrator,* as they both now know there is a force that interferes if you openly cooperate. Initially she pretends to not recognize you until you give it away when she goes "I though we weren't goint to give away the game", indicating she was already seeing you as a partner and feeling out ways to covertly cooperate with you to make it out this time and was looking for angles to set it up. And then when she cuts off her head the skeptic goes "So that's her play", followed up later by pushing you to take her head out with you, meaning he caught on to that being her plan aswell. And she winks at you as an extra hint aswell. And finally "Well played." when the gambit succeeds. She was also playing up her antagonism as part of fooling him. From the cutting your own head off gambit to patiently outwaiting the prison itself, the prisoner breaks out pretty epicly either way. Probably the most clever princess aswell, hence "a clever heart" as the entity puts it at the end. Or alternatively you don't catch on that she's putting on a show and hoping for you to cooperate again like you did before and instead just slay her after she trusted you. Uff.

1:58 he HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD with this one. there is no perfect game to be had. there is just what the player chooses to do. your experience is shaped by your choices. no two runs of slay the princess will be the same. that's the way it's designed. this is such a good way to look at the game. i love this game and can't tell people to buy it enough, and this sums up why very well. one of the developers said himself that it's best to experience it on your own, because it is shaped by your choices and your perceptions. there are around a dozen possible routes, and each of those have multiple different endings and different chapters 3 and even 4. i would seriously recommend playing yourself if you're curious about those other routes. (if you dont want to, watching a dozen other youtube playthroughs *does* generally work as well) just experience what this game has to offer, it's amazing

The irony of me having just watched a show that talks about the point of immortality being to witness change before seeing this video. Philosophically, the elimination of death becomes pointless if it includes the elimination of change. Death is permanent stagnation for the individual but change for wider reality. Permanent stagnation for the entire universe is like killing it all at once.

An end is just a new beginning, and some other profound stuff. It's also accurate to this game as reaching an end causes you to begin again.

For people who don't understand (~3 min read, also includes a TLDR version): The Princess symbolizes change and transformation. That also includes death. Her name is the Shifting Mound (the big amalgamation of all of the princesses). The MC and the Shifting Mound are two pieces that complete each other. They were originally one God, but were separated by The Narrator. The Narrators goal was to create a world without death and change. That's why after slaying the princess, the MC is stuck in the cabin doing nothing. To The Narrator, that IS a happy ending. The Princess in the cabin is a part of the Shifting Mound. However, the Shifting Mound is not entirely The Princess. Throughout the game, each ending you get gives the Shifting Mound new perspectives. The Princess in the cabin is the first princess you find. The Shifting Mound is an amalgamation of every possible perspective/princess in the game. The final choices are to slay the Shifting Mound (rid the world of death and change), leave with the princess (leaving the cabin with The Princess), leave with the Shifting Mound to start new worlds, or loop the game forever to prevent the end of the world as you know it. There's no good or bad ending. It depends on your beliefs. I'll go into detail on each ending below: SLAY THE PRINCESS: This ending is the direct opposite from the "Leaving With The Shifting Mound" ending. This rids the world of death, but also change itself. Most importantly, the MC will have to live an eternity alone. The MC will go on to forge new realities and universes, but why? Is there a meaning to life without death? Should there be life with no change? And if life is meaningless without death, why create these universes where existence is pointless? The ending depends on your answer to these questions. LEAVE WITH THE PRINCESS: The MC abandons the Shifting Mound and godhood. They forge a new beginning with The Princess in the cabin. The MC and The Princess remain separate beings. They are free to explore this newfound freedom together without the shackles of The Narrator. The Princess can finally just exist without a role to play. I personally see this as the most romantic and happy ending. I don't have much insight on this ending. If anyone has any ideas, please reply to this comment! LEAVING WITH THE SHIFTING MOUND: This ending is the direct opposite from the "Slay The Princess" ending. The MC and the Shifting Mound leave together. Although they are separate beings, they are able to come together as Gods to create new universes. Endlessly, they create and destroy new worlds together with their newfound power. This makes the player question things. Is it good to keep the Shifting Mound alive? Is it okay to create these worlds just to destroy them in the end? The ending depends on your answer to these questions. LOOPING ENDING: This is the one Mark goes into detail about at 46:01. In this ending, the MC and The Princess choose to start the game over again. This means that The Princess doesn't die, but the MC dies instead. The entire world restarts back to when you first opened the game. In this ending, everything remains the same as it was before you ever learned the truth. Will you put blind faith into yourself and The Princess to keep choosing the same thing forever? Is it moral to keep this vicious cycle going when it has caused you and The Princess so much pain? This ending prevents the end of the world as you know it, but is it a good solution? Although you could theoretically keep choosing this forever, it's not likely. Someday, there will be an end. I apologize for my lack of insight on this ending. I personally find this one the most dissatisfying. Just as Mark says, everything must end eventually. There are a LOT of details about this story that I intentionally left out for the sake of simplicity. This game can be confusing at first, so I want to start off with the basics. There are multiple video essays that you can find about this game. Overall, I find "Why Slay the Princess is a Genuine Masterpiece" by PakPak to be the most informative and easy to understand. TLDR VERSION: The Princess and the MC were two gods that were separated by The Narrator. His goal was to rid the world of death and change. The final choice is dependent on your beliefs. Do you think the world would be better without death and change? Go with the "Slay the Princess" ending. Do you think the world needs change and death? Go with the "Leaving With The Shifting Mound" ending. Do you want to abandon your Godhood and lead a simple life with The Princess without The Narrator? Then go with the "Leave with The Princess" ending. Do you want to prevent the end of the world and keep looping the game forever? Then go with the "Looping Ending."

1:59 "... I don't think there's a perfect game to be had here. I think there's just MY game to be had." Right there. Mark accidentally figured out the truth of living. And no... I'm jot joking.

I believe the reason the endings were so harsh and limited when you brought the knife down to ‘her heart’ was because you finally had the choice to willingly grab the blade. Before, even if you denied it, the narrator would make it appear anyways, so you had to slay her. The narrator is now gone, and you willingly took the blade to the princesses most vulnerable area. So the only options are what you had throughout the game. You die and the cycle continues, or you kill her and it’s finalized until you go back to an old save because the ending isn’t satisfactory and you loop the cycle as the player instead of as the hero. So essentially both choices here lead to a false death that continues the cycle. When you don’t take the blade it’s finally because it won’t be forced upon you like before. So you are entering her heart without the intent of violence for the first time in the whole game. Which allows you to be free with her and actually have a heart to heart.

Mark: "I shall stick to my choices" Also Mark: [goes back to pick the slightly better choice]

Perhaps he forgot what the game told him from the very beginning. This is a love story. There is no out.

It's always projects like this game and ISWM and whatnot that leave me with this nebulous feeling in my chest. *How am I supposed to move on?* How do I continue with my day? How do I click on another video when it lacks the emotional depth, how do I go back to what I was when everything else seems so shallow, now? And the thing is, I can't go back. I've been touched, moved, deeply changed. It's the ultimate achievement for creators, I think. To make something that forever impacts a person. And I can attest to that fully, for I can confirm that every time a work of art like this pulls me into this existential headpspace, my life view is forever altered. I'm not sure what to do now, I'm a bit of a loss. I think I need some sleep, now. All things must rest.

The last ending he got truly is the best one , they are both excited about their future and about to experience it together and the credits roll. It’s a good thing Mark decided to see multiple outcomes since that’s one of the best parts of the game. This series is definitely a classic already.

I think this is the first time I've ever actually learned something from a game. You can continue within the cycle of what you're comfortable with and what's easy and predictable or you can break the cycle just for the chance that there's something better beyond it. I think I'm going to end the game. I'm going to break the cycle and step into the unknown. I want better for myself.

58:21 I'm happy you chose to be a little sappy. By not being stoic for a moment, you discovered something familiar in her and were pleasantly surprised. That was beautiful to see

Once you look past all the murder, gore and depression it’s actually a really cute game.

She is everything, your choices. You are nothing, the chooser. When you are both completed and together, she consumes you, and the nothing dies. When you are completed and alone, what exists is reflections and fractures of you. But the good ending, where you leave together, both incomplete, is the most human one. Because you are finite enough to be something, without losing yourself to everything and nothing. You are not every choice, and you are not the removal of choice, and that is human life.

Love how Mark went on a whole speech about how important endings are but in slaying the princess he he got rid of endings and everything will now stagnate. How very ironic.

She’s basically death and your Basically life seeing them both leave together is a nice thing to see you both go onto the other side and can basically construct the world together maybe have a lil demigod and you send her gifts and she takes care of them forever. Like the lil life and death comics at least I like the idea of that.

It's insane, I've seen like 4 play thoughs and I still see like 4+ new endings each time.

Markiplier for President

I like that Mark explained his entire philosophy about the necessity of change and death and then chose all the dialogue options that lock him out of the ending that probably most aligns with that philosophy. Where the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet recombine and break free of the construct as they were before the Narrator got involved. Though I do like the ending where the Princess and the Hero just go about their lives and that's not too dissimilar.

This is one of those games that you could pour hours and hours into like a good book and when you finally reach the end you feel sad yet fulfilled with the journey you took. And you'll never regret it

The witch to thorn route has to be my favorite. Sad mark didn’t get to experience it

Even when he doesnt know it, Mark is an exceptional storyteller. He started believing he needed to kill the princess, and ended it with walking out of the cabin alonside her; it is as perfect an arc as one could want for this story.

0:02 Oh Mark, you don't have to justify taking the head; we were pleading behind our screens for you to do it.

My realization at the end. The main character was made to be self-ist. The hero and the princess were originally one and the same, but love each other romantic.😂

it’s something almost lovingly sick about two entities falling in love while actively trying to kill each other because it’s the only thing they know

Bro why did this make me SOBBB The whole Yin and Yang nature of the Princess and the Hero, where one cannot live without the other. Always seeming to be in this eternal battle because of their god-hood/nature, not because they hate each other but because of who they were designed to be. But in the end choosing to forge their own path away from the eternal torture and fighting, to reject their good-hood and instead explore their love for each other. Beautiful. An absolutely beautiful game.

I am actually glad he decided to explain Markiplier in space and how it shares a similar thing to this game. People liked it people hated it but in the end people are left with the choice to make the story go down a path they want to go down as he said. There will be people who like it and people who hate it. But it honestly still is a work of art in my personal opinion because the fact you get the make the story and you can make the story end and you can live with that ending or you can forever be stuck with the choices that lead you to forever travel down a endless path over and over and over again. But with that being said I do agree with my boy Mark here. All things must come to a end as it is in life. No one and nothing can be forever.

Bro the way that the Voice of All the Heroes came in... Shivers LMAO

I find it genius to make the Princess warp and change according to how the player (the Long Quiet) feels/thinks about the Princess and what she can do. She literally acts under Pennywise rules. The only danger comes from your believing she is dangerous in the first place. Believe she is a harmless princess and she is, whether you save her or kill her in cold blood is your choice. Believe her a trickster or hiding something under her sleeve, and she WILL have something under her sleeve. Believe her an overwhelmingly powerful diety and she will be. Everything can only be defined once you put your own onto it. What Nothing does best is restricting Everything into a single being or nothing at all. This game is so fucking smart for what is practically a schizophrenic guy gaslighting himself to kill literally all of existence for 6 hours straight

There something I always felt when watching markiplier. Whenever he plays games like this, I noticed that he shows a piece or perspective that not many youtubers do these days. He's in my eyes, honest with how he plays. When he is recording and playing he of course addresses us the viewers, but it more of an "come watch what I do." Rather that a "watch what you WANT to watch." He plays the way he wants to play, adding laughs for us to enjoy. It is of course a testimony for a game to bring this sort of feeling out to a viewer, but it's also the way that it was played that made it all the better. In this markiplier felt genuine when there were so many lies that go on around us, and I appreciate that. This felt like therapy and a lesson. Thank you for sharing your perspective, because for me, it really hit me in the heart, not in a sexual way😂 but in a fatherly/brotherly kind way. It not something I feel often. Thank you for being so genuine and expressive in your videos, and keep it up. I truly enjoy your content, and will always be back to watch more.

Him not meeting Domination is a crime!!

I really loved watching your playthrough. This game is a work of art and has some of the most profound, philosophical and insightful moments that I’ve ever seen in a video game and I’ve really enjoyed seeing you play through it. And with your spiel towards the end on the nature of things ending and you searching for a way to be free of the cycle was just… mind-blowing. The bittersweet nature of death being a necessity and life needing to go on and for death to come is comforting to me, especially, given how I’ve dealt with loss and the worry of it especially through this year. Hearing you talk about this and seeing your choices unfold through the game offered a kind of healing and comfort through this story I didn’t really expect when I clicked on the first part to this series a few days ago. Hats of too the creators and everyone involved, too. Everything about this I loved.

"there is no perfect game to be had there's only my game" A motto more lets players should take honestly. It is frustrating when people miss certain things that are only beneficial, such as a special armour or weapon, but it's even more frustrating when the player constantly refers to a guide and doesn't experience the game naturally. In a dream scenario they go back after beating the game and see what they missed, but theres only so much time a content creator can spend so I doubt many will bother doing that.

I love how Mark misunderstood the plot of the game so heavily he chose the opposite ending than the one he was preaching about. The Princess IS death, so killing her made everyone immortal so nothing can end; the opposite of what he wanted. That's a very Mark thing to do, and I love that for him.

I start college in the fall.. art school. No guaranteed job placement. At all. The “rant” towards the end made me cry. I have been so unbelievably stressed about school this week, worrying about debt and making time and money “worth it” while trying to fulfill my passions. I needed to hear that. That it’s about your impact, something that could last through generations, into non-human things like architecture and animal life, the environment.. but I’m letting something so human as money restrict me.

I'd love to see even a short clip of him getting the one ending he didn't see, it's my favorite for a lot of the reasons he was talking about not wanting them to get stuck in a loop, as well as its grandiosity. I love the music and the imagery of them breaking the construct together

Killing entropy seems like it would have... _thermodynamic_ consequences.

While I really love mark's playthrough, I'm kinda sad he didn't get to see the razor, the adversary or the tower ending. I feel like he would have really liked those for... various reasons.

47:27 at around this timestamp with the meaning of life monologue hit hard. I’ve been brought to tears honestly. I’ve been struggling to maintain a friendship in the same way that is described. I continued trying everything, constantly winding up at the same point of “Should this just end?” and I finally decided the only right answer is that yes, I need to let go. If this is something I truly love, I need to be okay with it ending. I can mourn it’s ending, but I can also remember all of the friendship in its entirety. I can remember the highs, the lows, everything, because it all has meaning. Rather than me constantly clawing at the world to keep it going, tarnishing the value this friendship had, I’m finally letting it drift away. It’s an interesting feeling and I hope I come out of it a better person. Thank you Mark for adding your wonderful thoughts to the experience that Slay the Princess is. It really impacted me in a meaningful way

Man....I didn't expect this end to impact me so much...........to hit my heart as hard as this has............I find myself tearing up at the end here, wondering if there had been a better option.........an even better way but..........I guess the only thing that really matters is..........they were able to get at least something they both wanted, and that was to be together..........such a truly powerful and impactful game, a masterpiece as well. Thank you Mark, for taking us on yet another incredible journey here.

Slay the Princess: The dawn of the elusive game in which Mark gets distracted by every possible thing

Damn, that got heavy. This game went from "Well, the name is Slay the Princess so I'm going to slay the princess" all the way to "Well, we're both divine entities that seemingly cannot exist with each other but also cannot LIVE without one another, so what existential crisis inducing option do we take for a better eternity?"

Honestly, I love the leave with the princess ending. For me, I know that death and change is what gives life meaning, but having to make those choices isn’t something in my playbook 😅 I also love the romantic part of this ending. I’m not good with love, I only confessed my feelings once and well, didn’t turn well but we are still close friends, even if I still kind of like her. Seeing a choice to live a simple life with the people you love in life we were given is something I want for my life. I don’t want to choose who lives and who dies because I don’t that burden to be on me. I want nature to takes its course and decides things for me, even if there are choices I don’t agree with. I hope I get the life I want, with the person I like or with another, either way I’ll hope and dream. Live your life guys, and hopefully you have no regrets in the future. ❤🙏

46:00 he made this whole speech about cycles and how things shouldn't go on forever and it's important to understand everything comes to end and knowing that is good, and then kills the Shifting Mound, damning everyone in the universe to a life without death, exactly the opposite of what he was speaking for. To be fair, the way he had framed it, it was either cycling eternally so the universe can keep ending and starting its stories, or ending it and taking away everyone else's ability to end their stories. Guess his brain just overloaded.

33:15 I love how The Shifting Mound immediately went "OH SHIT" the second the Beast got its sights set on you

The Narrator/Echo’s limited number of questions is part of the design, if you want to get all the answers out of him, you have to keep replaying and pursuing all the different lines of questioning. Which is also by design to encourage doing more routes to see all the different types of Princess you can get. You get a maximum of 5 per run, there’s about a dozen. I sympathise with the Echo, in the philosophical quandary that the narrative of Slay the Princess is built around, he plays the role of those who suffer because of the Shifting Mound, Change and Death. In this cosmic play between Gods he is the mortals caught between given the chance to change the natural order. In this role he is the Fear of mortality and Grief, asking that if you could change the natural order to avoid the pain of loss, why wouldn’t you? Knowing I cannot change the way things are I must either accept it, or rail against it in futile denial but in this scenario the inevitability of death is not a foregone conclusion. I do not agree with his solution, Eternity would become a prison eventually, but for all those who fear death, both for themselves and others, and those who have suffered because of it and would wish to avoid it happening to others, he is their voice in this argument. He is sly, everything he accuses the Princess of being, he lies, often by omission or half-truth, he cheats like when he tries to override your decisions and will do anything he can to see his goals to completion. In short, he’s a desperate mortal person who fears the grief death brings and will do anything to spare whatever mortal race lives outside the Construct from it. It’s unnatural, it’s sad and so very human. I always find myself sad when I see those pieces of himself breaking in the shattered mirror, the hollow afterimage of a being that feared death so much he personified it and tried to have it assassinated facing oblivion himself. He’s resigned, every word laden with finality, weariness and defeat as his fate, the fate of the world and the future tumbles from his grasp. And I find some kinship in that. I’ve felt what he has to some extent, like everything has slipped away from you and all you can do is wait out the end. Personally, in regards to the philosophy about the ending, I prefer the pacifistic ending. I don’t think any heart to heart genuine at the end of a knife. Choosing to give up the onus of choice and leaving it behind together, accepting what will be and appreciating what we have, in this case companionship. In my case I got my ideal outcome on my first run. I started bringing in a knife, trying to talk it all out before suspicion got the better of me. By the end I was weary of the bad blood and just sought to talk it out, leave the overbearing life of godhood behind and just walk out a mortal, hand in hand, two people finally allowed to sit down and talk, decide to cut the knot and leave it behind. Edit: Sorry for the heavy thoughts, this story cranks up the melodrama and sophistry in me. There’s a lot to think, feel and talk about in this, another of its well deserved merits.

Something I really like is that even in the end, the princess is exactly who you think she is. If you believe she’s secretly a monster, then she’ll turn into one. If you think she’s just an innocent girl, she stays that way. If you take the knife, she’s someone you need to kill. And if you don’t, she’s someone you can save.

Mark, you NEED to play Outer Wilds. As someone who loves space and philosophical narrative games, *you can't not.*

There are still so many paths left, wouldn’t be surprised if this series continues

The question still isn’t answered, WHY IS HE A BIRD?

I think you chose the right ending in the end. I mean you tried the "reward" ending of an eternity alone and that was pretty boring. I mean that cabin doesn't even have wi-fi!

“What I offer you is not perspective. It is truth.” As mortals, the ending Mark chose is the one we should strive to achieve. As a conflict of gods, it’s Echo vs the totality of the princess. Echo suggests a world with no source of pain, while Princess suggests the already complicated discussion of freedom. The player and the princess are linked with each other. While she is personified as death and he as change, both can be either. If she kills the player, everything loops, but with the uncertainty of satisfaction as there’s no guarantee you’ll choose the same decision. This ending I feel is best personified by the voice of the Cold, where it’s boring, as the outsider we are, not the player. If the player kills her, then there’s a split. BUT, the player could inherit both change and death, while transcending the bounds set by Echo. The most dissatisfying thing to me as a god would be the inexistent state of anything. With creation at the player’s fingertips, both she and Echo could return, everything resolved past the conflict set by Echo. Back to the quote at the start: this is the lynchpin where I believe Echo is correct, where the Narrators have always been the good guys (especially since Echo was always aware of his encompassing ambition). The topic of truth can’t exist in the state of nothingness. With bounded rules (which this game has, as Echo was above even the princess), there will always be an unattainable path. In that sense, what validity does truth have if it talks of such a path? In such a bounded reality, any notion of perspective is the only way to find truth (not just eyes, but on a grander scale of precognition and stuff like that, like if you had a time machine to check each possibility). As an external outsider, we are aware of such lacks of truth, and she should know that, too, as Echo existed. So, she was delusional, and Echo’s experiment is the way to go. Plus, she was arguing that in the presence of her equal, who she still lacked knowledge of. Great game! It beholds the impact of Undertale’s choices with the insight of DDLC’s story. In this discussion, I can still use Monika’s perspective to help explain the princess’s delusions. I really can’t tell if I like DDLC(+) or Slay the Princess more.

47:30 this whole monologue about death being important, how we can make a difference when we are alive .... This video was posted today, 2 years after Technoblade's passing, after a livestream where 100k+ people got online to cry and laugh for Alex because he didn't beat cancer, he made a difference while being alive. I do also believe that death is important, but we still mourn everyone we care about, because they meant something to us while they were alive and we will not let their memories die. I also do believe that Markiplier, as well as many other KZfaqrs, streamers, actors, musicians that I grew up with and learned from them, I will mourn for every single one when their time will be up on this earth. Even the person who is reading my comment, you do matter, you make a difference in this world, even if it's a small one, so don't be scared that death will eventually happen cause it's inevitable, but be happy for what you have and for the people that inspired you every step of your life. You are love and you are loved.

Please please please return to this amazing game when the Pristine Blade update drops this fall! It’s going to add a bunch of content and new endings and paths. I would love to see your reactions to even some of the paths in the current version if you ever feel like exploring it more!

Mark: I don't think stagnation is good, life is about acceptance and moving on. He then proceeds to kill the very essence of change, thus dooming the universe to eternal stagnation lol.

Yup, I'm convinced. One of the magnum opuses of Markiplier's life will be a game that explores this. An actual fun-gameplay videogame, that embodies his philosophy to life and death A journey that goes for as long as you want, but when you're ready, and when you've done your stuff. It'll end. Leaving you only with the memories. ALSO this game and their creators worked really dang hard I am stunned by how much work and updates have been done to complete this game (I remember watching playthroughs of it when it was incomplete) The game developer put a ton of philosophical thought and ideas into this, and made an extremely in-depth and entertaining Choose Your Story clicker game PACKED with the deep stuff as well as the romance and adventure The massive amount of philosophy and thought that went into this... And the endings were all very cinematic Genuinely felt like it was a culmination of all the things we PERSONALLY went through (still have no idea the EXTENT of how varied the responses can get how meta does the game go??? Absolutely love it when a game dev makes me question this)

*Recommendation:* Btw, Mark, as you might have already know there is an expanded version of this game coming out later this year. And there are still many princesses you haven't seen. So you could definitely do a 2nd run to try those other paths in the new version. Even without that it's a good game to go through a 2nd time, now knowing everything and seeing all the hints and connections now that get dropped throughout it.

40:34 The Voice of the Hero returning felt like an Avengers Endgame moment lol

I just realized the narrator is the true embodiment of NOTHINGNESS. He IS OBLIVION. He doesn’t hate the princess because she is good or bad, he hates her because she IS. She is the essence of change itself, beatiful and ugly, strong and weak, life and death. This endless cycle is the very thing that the narrator stands against. He wants to save everyone from PAIN and SUFFERING trough void. I kinda like this guy after actually getting to know him.

As someone who watched all of Unus Annus the bit near the end got me teary eyed. I think you missed one ending you could get where you surrender to the Shifting Mound without going to her heart, but you still got most of them.

Me: *crying during my own "slay the princess"* im sure that Mark's playthrough wont make me cry" Mark's playthrough: *makes me cry* Even though I've got diferent ending, neither of those two that Mark got, I do agree with his philosophy and it's both very touching and reassuring at the same time.

51:44 "Loading will lose unsaved progress." When he became God, all the voices came back and the title card showed up, that wasn't the end. Afterall there is nothing to save when it *is* the end... And he missed it. 😢 59:33 Ah yes, my favorite animals, "Snake, Cat and Small Monster"

Honestly I really love marks random philosophical speeches in some videos. But he does always have a point.

Im just happy he chose the "I love you" option at the end. I was cheering for him to pick it. was not disappointed

This is the third time he used this title, the previous times were for both Evil Within finales. (Though he added an AN so it is technically different.) Note: I am not complaining, I was simply pointing out an observation I made.

Mark always says “and as always, I will see you in the next video” but eventually the next video won’t come and all we will have left is another Markiplier promise. Nothing is permanent, nothing is like always.

Mark: Actively agreeing with the need for death and wanting to not kill her Also Mark: Takes the knife and stabs her and then gets confused why he got an ending he didn't want

If this really is the end, then that's fine. But I'm going to hold onto hope that Mark decides to at least look at some of the other branching paths. Especially since he missed out on some... Let's say, "bigger" princesses. Mark has still yet to witness the *POWER* that's in the other routes of this game.

That game was so beautiful. From reading the comments there is much more we didn’t get to see but the overall story and feeling was amazing. Getting to meet all the different voices and having that happy ending was beautiful. Solid 10/10 in my book

I love that ending I think it just envelopes how life is and how you never know what will happen but the people you choose to have around you can make even the bad times seem just fine. Thank you for playing this game Mark truly was a great time.

You know it’s a good series when Mark sounds like a jester at the start and a scholar at the end.

“ I really really really want to know I really truly want to know what happens when I take that head” the out of context videos are gonna go crazy 😭😭

I really hope this game pushes him to make his own choose your own adventure game like this just like how Iron Lung pushed him to make a movie. A game like this made by him where it’ll leave a mark (no pun intended) on your brain would be really enjoyable, especially with his creative prowess that’s shown in other projects like In Space

I never thought a story could be this deep. Parts 1 through 4. They all act the same, but Markiplier made it even better. His words were just so perfect, especially at the end when he had so much trouble deciding. I think that I can strongly say that everyone here felt that pain with you. I hope you had just as much fun making this as all of your viewers did watching it.

All I can say is that I'm blown away by how thoughtful and intense this game is. I don't think I've ever been so enraptured by a game, at least not in such an emotional way. It went from spooky horror game to a discussion on the meaning of life to a beautiful story about two people just trying to figure stuff out. In the end, really love the way it all played out, exploring the unknown together. I think it's what I would call, a happy ending. And as much as the ending may not have mattered (at least according to the Shifting Mound), I feel it's only human nature to wish for a satisfying ending, even while cherishing the path taken along the way. Thank you, Mark, and the developers of this game, especially Tony and Abby (and everyone else as well, Jonathan and Nichole did absolutely amazing with their voice acting, Brandon did crazy good on the music, and everyone else on the team obviously crushed it), for such an amazing experience. This is going to stay with me for a long, long time.

the "i enjoyed getting to know you" made me a little teary eyed - cause that's so true with how some relationships come to an end - where you loved every second of it - but everything comes to a close eventually . even if your 2 gods of creation. i also love that the "true" ending where you leave the cabin with her is completely open ended - not only do we not know whats out there - the 2 gods who know and are everything - don't even know. (because it technically doesn't exist its just THE END_)

This game style is the same as "Do Not take this cat home" I'd love to see you play that one too if you felt like trying it out.

The line "I don't want to forget you" broke me. Sent me back to my first girlfriend, and that feeling of not knowing what would come after. In some ways, it still feels like I got stuck there, and never moved on.

Mark being bashful about the hero saying "I love you" to the princess is adorable, even if it the most "stereotypical ending" that of course the Princess and the Hero should be together as all fairy tales go, but in the context of this story its deeper than that. Because the two are gods, well aware that each carries a part of the other, that each is a mirror of the other. That she is a god of transformation, of change, without willingness to bend, yet that is the part of her that is your guide through the game, the piece you keep no matter what ending. To love the other is to love oneself, and to hate the other is to hate oneself. If love grants joy, than that is the ending that is most satisfying, as this was. It doesn't matter what was out the door at the end, a peace was made, through love and hope. A shared feeling, a singular thought.