When I decided to write about Outer Wilds, it was hard to narrow down the exact location I wanted to cover.  Let’s see, we’ve got a planet being torn apart from the inside by a black hole, an ocean planet covered in tornadoes, and a bizarre place where the fabric of space itself doesn’t work quite right and just so happens to be inhabited by giant anglerfish.  And then there’s the Eye of the Universe, a mysterious…thing that is beyond our mortal comprehension.  And as we all know, the unknown might just be the scariest thing out there.  Spoilers for Outer Wilds follows.  

As you explore your solar system, you learn about an alien race called the Nomai who were so desperate to reach this so-called Eye, they were even willing to trigger a supernova to find its exact coordinates.  The Nomai died before they ever had a chance to achieve their goals, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use the clues they left behind to find it ourselves.  

When I first reached the Eye of the Universe, I had no idea what to expect.  And if I had anticipated answers, I didn’t get them.  Looking out the window of our borrowed Nomai vessel and laying eyes on the Eye is an absolutely surreal experience.  From here, it just looks like some sort of purple, crackling energy.  And far, far beyond it, our sun.  Our dying sun.  Soon enough, it explodes into a supernova, expanding into a white ball of light before fizzling out.  Our solar system is gone.  And this time, we won’t reset to 22 minutes in the past.  This is our last chance.  Whatever happens now, there’s no going back.  Better make it worth it.

Setting foot on the marbled blue and black landscape outside and seeing the last sparks of the sun glowing a brilliant blue against the blackness of space, it hits you that everyone you ever knew is now dead.  In fact, your entire planet is gone.  You’re the only survivor, lightyears away from all that you ever knew.  It’s isolating.  It’s…better not dwell on it.  We’ve finally arrived at the fabled Eye the Nomai had been so keen to research.

What happens when a conscious observer enters the Eye of the Universe?

It’s a question the Nomai were never able to answer.  But perhaps you can.  Forging onward, bolts of lightning narrowly miss you, and…a tree appears directly in front of you, providing the oxygen you need to keep going.  How…convenient…  It’s dark here, but ahead, it’s hard to miss the massive vortex.  Now’s your chance to discover firsthand what happens to a living being in a place they were never meant to enter.  You could say it’s for science, but does that even matter anymore?  Does anything?  Honestly, it’s not as if you have anything better to do. Not anymore.

You jump inside and…at first, it’s like some sort of liquid is oozing around you in purple pillars that seem to stretch on for eternity.  And the next thing you know, you’re in…the museum of Timber Hearth?  Yeah, I’m not even going to question anything at this point.  It’s dark, and it’s not quite the same as you remember, but it’s the closest to home as you’ll ever be at this point.  But is the Eye recreating things you remember or is it all just in your head?

The next sequence of events is fuzzy and makes little sense.  You are shown countless stars, all dying, just like your sun.  You find yourself in a void before your feet hit solid ground again, surrounded by the familiar pine trees of your homeworld.  It’s dark and lonely, and you wander aimlessly at first.  Is this it?  Is this all there is left of my existence?  Can I even die here?  Or will I be trapped here for eternity?  A figure emerges from the darkness, and when you run towards it, it’s you!  The next thing you discover is a campfire and an empty chair that continues to rock as if someone is still in it.  Might as well toast some marshmallows, if only to avoid thinking about the uncertain state we’ve found ourselves in.

Guided by your signalscope, it’s not long before you start recruiting all the old members of Outer Wilds Ventures, alongside the last Nomai, Solanum.  All gather around the campfire for one final song before a new universe is born.  But here is where I must speculate.  None of these people are actually here, are they?  No, I think it’s pretty obvious they aren’t.  Riebeck outright says as much, and Solanum expresses her appreciation for you remembering her.  But that’s just it.  She’s not grateful you remembered to invite her.  She’s grateful you remembered her at all.  That you even remember that she once existed, like all the other Hearthians joining you.

No, none of these people are here.  And it makes me wonder…how long have you been here?  I mean, how long, really?  Depending on how long you spent looking for your missing comrades, as the player, you probably didn’t spend too long in this place.  But as for our protagonist, for all we know, he could have spent days here.  Weeks.  Months.  Our sanity slowly, but surely, eroding away.

For all we know, we’ve spent so much time in isolation that we hallucinated all of these people into existence, all for a false sense of companionship and to remind yourself of a home that you’ll never be able to return to.  That’s been burned to oblivion by an explosion of cosmic proportions.  Did the Eye understand your desperation and create illusions of what you wanted to see or did you dream it all up entirely on your own?

The Eye of the Universe is one of the most unsettling endings in any game I’ve ever played.  It deals with topics we will, thankfully, never find ourselves in, the last being in a dead universe.  Inside…something of unknown origin and purpose.  Sure, the ending is hopeful, as a new universe is created in place of the old one.  But I couldn’t imagine finding myself in our dear astronaut’s shoes.  How awful it must be to lose one’s family, your home.  But how incomprehensible it must be to not only have no planet to return to, but no solar system.  No…existence.  We escaped death.  We escaped the demise of an entire universe.  But should we have?  No, I can only imagine the Eye knows we’re not supposed to be here and has created an illusion to try and make its guest a little more comfortable.

But I guess in the end, we were still surrounded by friends.  Even if it’s all just a hallucination, I guess we gotta take whatever comfort we can get.  Because otherwise, I’d have to remember that, outside, we’re surrounded by unfathomable nothingness.  If I was given the opportunity to escape fate, but be the sole survivor, I would absolutely not take it.  Because some fates are worse than being disintegrated by a supernova.