Maybe it’s not just the house that changes. When Jesse picks the service weapon for the first time, the board refers to it as “sword” too, and as everyone knows “gun” hasn’t always been a thing. And as we found in Sankarian tango, every time there is a new hero with a new face. By the way awesome video as always!

The oceanview motel could also represent the Nexus between the 9 realms. While I know there aren't exactly 9 doors i still think its an interesting comparison

If it does come to it, I'm really interested to see how Remedy will tackle Ragnarok.

I love how you're still dissecting this game and its lore, and making videos about it. Thanks for providing my Control fix

Finally the giant elephent in the room is being discussed

So glad you mentioned House of Leaves. I remember reading Sam Lake's Twitter some time after Alan Wake came out, and he mentioned that House of Leaves is a huge inspiration for him. I read it after that. So when I played Control I was like "yep, that's House of Leaves right here", haha. I also really love that you don't shy away from terms like ontology and archetype. Some channels would omit them thinking the viewers would find them too hard to understand. But this deep analysis is what I love about you. Keep up the good work!

Wow, I never thought of the house LITERALLY being Yggdrasil, and the board possibly being Nidhogg or at least something trapped in the roots.

Now that I recall, Cauldron lake was one of Numerous lakes that line up, to connect into several worlds, yet the one shadow realm, the Darkplace Alam Wake was trapped in, has a beast attempting escape, it may not be the dragon, but an entity that may trigger Ragnarok. What we ARE Missing for Ragnarok to occur is a 'Baldur' to be slain. And the only things and persons who seems to not 'Feel' pain in the Remedy-verse are: Alan Wake - Who's very existance is at the end of the story because 'realities' are made as long as he makes his stories, both his escape and his shadowy hound attempting eacape The Hist, whom do not feel pain, as pain is irrelevant to them, being a sound entity that wishes to take control. The house itself, being aware and regardless of the 'damage' continue to function and even accommodate any new world, entity or idea as long as they are present within it. Or Jesse herself, whose source of pain has finally been laid to rest, the projector and her long lost brother.

Thumbnail: House or tree? My dumb ass *whispering*: It's a treehouse... But seriously great Video once again.

Control has captivated like no other story has in a really long time. I’m a serious lore junkie and these videos are great for that. Thanks for making these

WOOOW!! Thinking of how long since the last Control video you made... and here it is! HAA!! I love synchronicity.

"All things serve the tower." "Ya whatever dude, just help the janitor regulate some shit so we don't all die horribly."

I lowkey wanna see Remedy made a setting loosely based on the realms at norse. Or atleast a modernized of those.

Further evidence of the Oldest House being a tree is at the end of the Janitor's vision quest. On the central pillar of the basements foundation next to the "Foundation" control point is inscribed the picture of a tree with its roots reaching down like columns, just like those in the basement.

I just finished Control for the first time - and then I came across your videos. I literally can’t stop watching them.

This is the another feed for my curiosity, nice work! I wonder how that "Ragnarok" will be in the next game (if it actually happens).

I'm so glad you connected it to House of Leaves! When I got my hands on the Control Art Book, I read about that when they were discussing their inspirations for the Oldest House. I haven't gotten around to reading it yet, but I think this video gave me the motivation. Thank you once again for another awesome analysis, keep up the good work! I always look forward to seeing your videos on Control

I was hoping all the "House's" in your video would be in blue. It's funny how Control is inspired by the setting of House of Leaves, and yet Alan Wake is definitely more inspired by the House of Leaves' plot.

Hey man, great work as always. Funny story: Your channel spontaneously came to thought last night and I had to check if you had any new Control related videos... And voila, today we have a new video. A case for the Synchronicity sector haha. I love your explanation of the Oldest House. You touched upon the the Dark place. So, basically, since it seems to be one of the wells watering the tree, then it's not just one of the thresholds to a different reality (just another door in the Oceanview Motel). It's much more important. The more I think about it, it seems to me that the Dark place is what gives the Oldest House the power of creation (even the root in your photo of the yggdrasil is a spiral, just like the symbol on the door to the Dark place haha). It's growth, the power to shift among other things might come from the Dark place. This also makes me think about the relationship between the Dark place and the Astral plane (seems like a good idea for the video btw.). Both are linked to consciousness (the former is more personal and related to the creation from chaos and the latter even looks light, pure and stable. The formations in the Astral plane... everything is rigid with simple, basic structure, plus it is linked to collective consciousness, so that's a form of stability, or unity as well). To me the Dark place is more personal and chaotic, while the Astral plane is collective and structured, yet both manifest into our physical reality. One could even link it to physics and vibrations. Collective vibrations synchronise, causing the increase in amplitude. A single vibration (an act of creation) can then either increase the collective vibrational amplitude by joining the collective phase of the system or lower it by going entirely against it (the Board could be influencing the collective vibrational frequency in this way). If the vibration is completely out of phase it can greatly disrupt the way the the whole system is vibrating, causing chaotic vibrational patterns (which is what the Hiss does). Sorry, got a bit technical there. One proof this theory can be seen in the technical drawing of the Board (I think it was either a poster or in the documentation, can't remember, just Google it). The Board is depicted as being sturdy and rigid on the outside but filled with dark mist-like vapour, similar to that within the Dark place. This is due to the fact that the Board is constantly introducing its own will (its singular creation or vibration) into the collective consciousness that is the Astral plane. You can say that the dark mist inside is the visual manifestation of the Board's hidden (inner) agenda. Thoughts? Additionally, now this is a stretch, but if what I stated above is true, could it be that the entities inside the Board use the Nail to tap into Yggdrasil (the Oldest House) and through it feed from one of the Wells (the Dark place). The Board does seem like a parasite after all, like the Hiss, but not as chaotic. Like a different kind of tumour (like I described with vibrations). And Nails are used to pierce the bark of trees, to make it bleed. Just some food for thought :) I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Also, one more gem. You talked about the wells of the World Tree and Samantha WELLS momentarily popped to mind. Fun little nugget. :) Anyway, looking forward to your next video.

I believe ragnarok in the remedyverse could be the end of the oldest house to save everything from the end time from quantum break; it’s the end of all things that could be brought on by the board escaping the house and Jesse must use her skills and Alan’s knowledge to possibly help the former set things right across the multiverse, changing ragnarok more into what it is in mythology by allowing two people to reshape what the world is, just on a more supernatural level by stopping the darkness rather than changing all of existence. Remedy could go a million ways on this but it would be a great tie in for quantum break that could even conclude that storyline.

I am really glad you brought up the House of Leaves connection. I was thinking about it constantly while playing Control

I've just finished this playlist and I want more! I really loved seeing you two, GU and Max Derrat collaborate and make content, Thank you both so much :) waiting to see what else can be unfolded in the Remedyverse...

Man, I’m so pumped for their next game and I love how you find more and more about the ones we have so far.

Great video. It's wonderful to find someone delving so deep into Control's brilliant lore. I had a thought. I believe when the Board describes the Oldest House as a "house/prison" they're referring to Dylan calling the Oldest House a prison. This is much like when the Board refers to Jesse as "Jesse/Dylan." I think they're conflating Jesse and Dylan together. It's possible that because Jesse and Dylan are (or were) connected through Polaris that the Board has trouble seeing them as two completely separate individuals. The Board could be a collective of connected entities and so they see Jesse and Dylan as something like themselves. They assume Jesse will see the Oldest House the same way Dylan does, or at the very least she'll get the reference.

Great video, makes my day when i see these. The consept of The Oldest House was always my favorite part of Control, yet I missed some (most) of the conections you made so your videos are acctualy really educational. And I'm going to have to read House of Leaves now.

Could the serpent be “ the former”? Since you can see it outside the astral plan the end of the foundation dlc escaping the “ prison “

Really enjoyed this one, great work!

It always a good day when The Dean goes back to The Oldest House! I am currently about halfway House of Leaves, since you mentioned it a while back. Funnily enough, I did not see the connection between "Ash Tree Lane" and "Ash Tray Maze". It blew my mind when you brought it up! Great video, as always!

I've been waiting for you to make this video with this exact topic. That's awesome man keep it up I love these videos

Omg this is probably my favorite part control right behind ahti cant wait

Always excited when you have more control content iv replayed it 6 times definitely one of my favorites ever.

My little ape brain loves these videos. Thank you for putting the time in to make them.

Watching this series of videos, I was reminded of something I read about the mutual fund company "BlackRock". This company is basically the majority shareholder of almost all the banks in the world and of almost all the companies listed on the stock market such as apple, microsoft, IBM, coca cola, monsanto, Ford, Chevrolet, airlines, etc etc and it also manages the retirement funds of many or all the countries of the world. In several videos it is said that they are the ones who control the world. The wars, the deforestation of the Amazon, and everything bad that happens, because they could order, as majority partners, that they stop doing these bad things. And well, what reminded me about the oldest house is that someone said that their headquarters is a very tall black building that no one knows what it looks like inside and that it is located in New York. So this, coupled with this company Controlling the world, reminded me of the game...

Another amazing video. Your channel should be in the 500k subs. This man is a legend.

Man i love these videos, they are so interesting and goes to show how much care and attention was put in Control. Nice work man Also could you do a video about the former?

Fantastic! Well done! I love all the effort you put into making these video’s.

Haven't commented here in forever, but it's amazing to see how much you've grown GU! Congrats so far:D and can't wait to see more Remedy and other game content in the future!

I think oldest house is Ahti's body since Ahti (in Finnish means is Ocean God) and Oceanview Motel connected to Oldest House refers to Ahti's Eyes. House is always moving like a body breathing or ocean's waves. And Ahti can manipulate Oldest House to let Jesse to bypass security. Also refers to Director as Assistant as in anti-body to fight of any infection. And as Ocean the deeper you go the more weired things become. Board refers to it's self as Prisoner that is in a Cell but maybe Board is a Cell in a body 😮. Also to note the first character/thing you meet in game is Oldest House then Ahti that maintains Oldest House😊

That pre-settlement Manhattan Island doc was a crazy cool find. Also a direct reference in game. Fucking sick

That was so good and to short. Thank you for your dedication

You have a great way with words. Great analysis.

Great video! Question: given what you addressed in this video, what do you think the Former represents in this cosmology? (I know you already did a video on it, but your opinion may have changed since then). Also: if you aren't familiar with it, I would recommend reviewing some of the lore from Mage: The Ascension. It seems like the devs drew heavy inspiration from this system, especially with respect to ontology and how the collective unconsciousness shapes reality.

love these videos dude. keep them up

It would be interesting to see how King Arthur acted with the service weapon as well as Thor. Maybe not in control 2 but the next game, we will see the previous wielders of the service weapon as well as learn the identity of the Board

Another great video about a great game. I platinum'd control a few weeks back and I love hearing your take on everything ☺

Great work as always. I wonder how the Oceanview Motel might connect to this? It's also described as a Place of Power, and functions as a nexus as sorts connecting different locations. If the Oldest House is a tree, could the Motel be a sapling?

Heads up, the oldest house exists; it's the "AT&T Long Lines Building" in NYC and is just as spooky as it is in the game.

this made me read House of Leaves, and wow, what an amazing ride

Yes I was waiting for a video like this

When I see your channel has new content, I just rush to it-ignoring everything else. Out of all the channels and content creators I subscribe to and follow on KZfaq, your channel is the only one that truly excites me, and, being someone with an exceptionally strict taste, that is saying a lot. I need to find time to watch your Control and Alan Wake videos again because they are just too good. I was wondering if anyone from Remedy has ever contacted you regarding these thorough analyses. I think you would make an amazing fit for their writing and storytelling team. Anyway, I believe inspiring people is one of the noblest things anyone can do. Your content is so inspiring. I wish to read more on psychology and symbols to be able to discuss more of these with you. I look forward to your new Remedy videos. Cheers.

You deserve a PhD for this kind of research. Thank you.

Love this... thank you for taking the time.

Haha, amusing. I've actually got "House Of Leaves" on the bed next to me right now.

A thought came to me with the part about the Urd, what if the board are supposed to be these three figures leading to their split talk/multiple meanings being usage as viewed from two out of the past, present or future with the Former being what would have been the third part of them?

You are becoming better with each episode my friend ! About Ragnarock I think Jessy is the one who will play a part of it however by freeing The Former who will clash with The Board or by taking them out herself that would explain why Ahti called her "Perkele" ... what make this theory interesting is that Ragnarok is also known in Norse literature as the "Twilight of the Gods" and if you see the lyrics of Take Control you will find this line : "I see a vision rising, dreary Fading in as children play twilight games In the town called Ordinary An eye of light reveals a gateway to doomsday" According to the song it's very clear that what happened in Ordinary was the start of doomsday "Ragnarok"

Ragnarok is basically the end of the world, if Ragnarok is the end of everything, i wonder what would cause the end in the world of control. The hiss? The board? It's all interesting yet terrifying thinking that the oldest house alive and that over thousands of years, potentially millions that it's always been around. Man i really want a Control 2. I simply picked the game up in Gamestop thinking it looked interesting. I'm so glad i did.

Did anyone else notice the wood grain impressions in the House's concrete walls? Presumably no concrete was ever physically poured into actual wooden forms to leave that grain behind, but the wood the Oldest House used to be as a tree apparently still left its mark in giving its new appearance shape.

Finally, i gain my complete form. Thanks for the truth insight ✨

The location of the tower also holds meaning, the real 33 Thomas Street is a building that people just ignore in NYC. It was once called the AT&T Long Lines building serving as a nexus of sorts, NYC and as such the building gets its water from three aqueducts. Though I doubt Remedy dug that deep, they just picked the building location because the real one makes a good imposing brutalist structure fitting to be FBOC HQ.

thanks for these videos, brother.

I love how the actual building at 33 Thomas street looks similar to the oldest house, having no windows and being a skyscraper

The oldest house has always reminded me of the tardis. Perception filter, bigger on the inside. The hero(director) reminds me of the doctor. The shifts in the oldest house reminds me of the tardis changjng its layout with a new desktop or changing its room layout. And then with the oldest house possibly being a tree where the tardis (should be) able to change its appearance to other objects.

Im curious about something; if you took a picture of the cityskape with the oldest house in the frame and then took that same picture after being aware of the oldest house would you suddenly see it in the original picture? Something else im curious about is with the ever shifting oldest house, when northmoor and his team first entered and then made the site their hq did they have to collectively think about the various sectors that they would need to function as the agency they are. Dr ash mentioned that they used control points to stabilise the inside but not on where say the containment sector was a prison. Did the board exert their power on the oldest house like how they gave northmoor the service weapon to provide the space for an agency that will become a useful tool to them hence forth?

Coming from Remedy's Nordic background, it doesn't surprise me if they're inspired by Nordic Mythology!

What about the possibility that Nidhogg has already been released? Or rather, what if Former is Nidhogg? The Board is the one that called the House a Prison so it’s probably a prison for one of their enemies, like the Former, which we see at the end of the Foundation being released into the Foundation and possibly out of the House. Maybe the Nail was used to keep Former trapped in that area of the House/Astral Plane, and everything that happened to the Nail released Former.

I think its the human mindscape manifested as a building, a 'House'. Cauldren lake/dark place is creativity and creation manifested, hence why it has such a powerful affect on the multierse (possibly even CREATING the entire verse) but the house is only effected by human thought. It may have a influence on humanity but only on a very small scale.

Another great video. This game is so deep! And love all of the Norse mythology. The last few games I have played have been centered around Norse mythology. Very interesting stuff!

This just made me think the Former may be a representation of Nidhogg.

I want a sequel to this game so bad

I like in Spanish version of this game the house is translated as the "Inmemorial house"

Just a reminder that Ragnarok (meaning "Doom of the Gods/Ruiling powers) is not an "End times" but a renewal, afterwards a new Golden Age would begin. So if it happens in the Remedyverse it may be just the end of the Board's reign (Odin, Thor and many ruiling Gods die). Also, Nidhogg survives Ragnarok, so if the Board is Nidhogg, it will just be separated but still "looming". But i believe FORMER is Nidhogg. The archetype of the rebel/antagonistic force against the gods/ruiling power (Nidhogg, Loki, Surtr, Prometheus, the Dragon of Revelation) which means we can't "date" when FORMER rebelled, because he IS the archetype of the "rebel entity". P.s.: Ahti is basically Ratatoskr (who tends to the Tree of Life) and Uriel (the angel who guards Eden and the Tree of Knowledge).

7:13 the idea that the Norns have any kind of Temporal distiction is widely disputed and soley based on a minor quirk of their names, as the stories do not elaborate in the actions of specific norns, only the group as a whole

Just ordered the book. Thx for the advise.

Sounds like the perfect way to have all remedy games protagonist come together with dimensional issue. Watching this i come to conclusion the board looking for something or trying gain something beside Who ever was truly watching the oldest house had to leave . The board never controls anything in the house just the astral plane and a which looks like they near powerless when the hiss in to the plane.

Yet another great analysis. So I guess we should expect a lot of stuff going on in AW2.

Does that make Dylan a version of loki leading an army of hiss and other beings during ragnarok ?

Good video, as always! Is House of Leaves that good? I want to read it for a while but don't know if I should. It's quite long but seems so interesting.

Nidhoggr lived in te Tree's rooots, but there was also an eagle who lived in the branches (the Astral Plane?*). They used to argue and insult each other (the Board vs the Former?), and the communicated by using a squirrel as messenger (... THE DIRECTOR?!? Just kidding XD) There is still so munch we don't know about the Board, the Former, Chester Bless (the "Son"?) and the House and is hard to make theories. *The word "astral" clearly make reference to a higher place, but we know that the conection between it and the House is in the Foundation. Maybe it is another "well"

Many Kudos

Recently bought House of Leaves. Killed it in a week. It's truly one of the most impressive creations I've ever experienced. Even now, something itches in the back of my head to read it again and again. So, thanks for citing it, otherwise I'd have nothing to h(a)unt me! =P

Great info, another aspect of the Oldest House that peaks my interest is the location itself. Why New York City of all places? I funnily enough asked ChatGPT what would it perceive as the capitol of the world? Not just geographically/politically, but culturally, socially, economically. Immigrants would see the Statue of Liberty with wonder and optimism for a better future. With the amount of literature, music, commerce that surrounds the city, hell even the UN is headquartered here. NYC is what our collective unconscious designates as the nexus of our reality. Of course the Oldest House would use this as its blueprint to be its home as the nexus for ALL other realities.

the fact that the board described the service weapon as a “gun/ sword” , like Excalibur. & The oldest house is a place without a location , much like Avalon from Arthurian myth. Maybe King Arthur was a former director ? ( personal headcanon )

Hey @Gaming University, can do a video on how Hartman, alan, jesse, the hiss, and the former is linked?? In the one dlc, we have to go up against hartman who is corrupted with darkness. His only weakness is light but he also end up attacking the hiss as we can see in the final battle against hartman, the hiss attacks both jesse and hartman but pays more attention to hartman. Why did the hiss consider Hartman more of a threat than jesse?? Does the Hiss not want another entity other than the board and polaris to get in their way??

Finally some kind of news yesterday that Epic games is going to be publishing Alan Wake 2 with Remedy!

The fact that the former is now out of the astral plane makes me think that if control 2 comes out, then the board and the former will duke it out

Recall that at the end of The Foundation DLC, there's an earthquake as Jesse repairs the Nail, after which a very worm-like Former is released at the root of the Oldest House. Coincidence? Remedy doesn't do coincidence...

Oh shit, just realizing this now. Is the worm like creature we fight Nidhog?!

I don't know if you're familiar with house pf leaves but there's clearly a lot of inspiration for Control taken from it, including alot of this yggdrasil stuff

Duuuude this game made me think of House of Leaves too!

Nice......very nice...

33 Thomas street is a real place, and the building was an inspiration for the FBC building. The real building is also a skyscraper without windows.

Where is the ashtray and cigratte object of power in control? Could Jesse bind herself to it? How does one break someone's "bound" to an object of power? Can an object of power be bound to people simultaneously? After binding, can the object of power contained anywhere without worry?

9:07 LMAO, and I just commented on a previous video how I thought The Board seemed very similar in relation to the Oldest House/Foundation as Nidhogg and Yggdrasil and it's roots! Good to know I was late to the party!

I like the brutalist architecture

Hopefully you’ll see this but if the dark place and oldest house are directly connected then how does the ocean view motel fit in to all this

I know this is a ridiculous thing to fixate on, but are ang other military history / history buffs curious about why the "Rangers" appear to be armed with Lewis guns (a WW1&2 era light machine-gun). There's so many vintage looking items in this 2009 world and I get that the house rejects a lot of modern technology.... But a WW1 weapon system ?! That stood out to me beyond the VCRs and bakelite phones.

Unless Remedy pull a sleight of hand, the signs are kinda pointing to the conflict between the Board and Former (Níðhöggr in this scenario?) being at the heart of the next game. There's clearly some history there, and probably some bad blood; it's also clear from the Foundation DLC that the Board isn't as in control (teehee) as they'd like Jesse and the FBC to believe. There are likely forces at play in the conflict that have not been introduced yet, and the Oldest House will be the key battlefield. That said, I really hope we get to travel to other realms, starting from Slidescape-36.

Hmm. Here’s an idea. The oldest house take on the form of symbols. But that doesn’t mean it is confined to them. So who is to say there MUST be a Ragnarok? What if other symbols could show up that explain events pointing in different directions?

Then Ahti might be Mimir. Wise, caretaker and love water

I always considered The Oldest House as a lifeform. At least semi-sentient. And Ahti behind part of it, like a way for it to communicate. That said, what if we were to consider Norse mythology as part of the Remedy Universe? It would imply there are multiple versions of the Oldest House in different parts of the world throughout history.