Post by Rezerkity in [SPOILERS!] Hotel Capabilities Theory Thread

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I don't remember too much about the Hinterlands, I haven't played through it again in quite a while since I didn't like Storm or P very much until the Hinterlands was finished, due to being impatient to see more of the main cast. I think the implication of the Tapir's salt was that it was specifically pure salt, and not tainted salt. Or perhaps the spirits in the Hinterlands aren't inherently malicious like P mentioned, which is why the salt doesn't affect them?

It certainly would be very interesting if the stipulation was exclusively that living things created by the hotel were hostile. I think Asterion would look very cute, tending to a garden, perhaps this will be addressed in the future by the writers. There certainly isn't any confirmation I'm aware of between a difference of "imported being aggressive" and "native being aggressive", the application of it to guests not being aggressive to Asterion certainly is a good argument.

As for the afterlife, I think that's a question that Hermes could answer. After all, isn't he supposed to frequently visit Hades to deliver messages? Wasn't the letter delivered by him alluded to have been from Poseidon?

chapomon1 year ago

I don't think the salt the Tapir God gave Oscar is a trick, it truly is blessed salt. My point was that not all salt will cleanse defilement as expected just because it is salt. I'm sure most of the time it isn't an issue but it seems like not all salt is created equal.

I'm pretty sure the letter is from Poseidon though I wouldn't think he'd be in the underworld. He's probably still alive, likely going crazy like Zeus and Hermes if his letter is any indication. The reason why I say Zeus is also going crazy is because I suspect the old man the MC meets on his travels is Zeus. I think this because the contract of the realm states the order of inheritance of the deed if the master did not appoint an heir to their sons or other living male relative from closest to furthest. If there is no possible person that meets that requirement to inherit the hotel, then the deed goes to Zeus to which he gets to give it to anyone he chooses. This would lead to the question on if it's only the Greek gods going crazy and if so, what is causing it. I think it's the internet, as access to the internet grows, knowledge of how the world works spreads further and people stop believing in magic and superstition.

Rezerkity1 year ago(+1)

In one of the Ruthless endings, the old man is in fact the MC, passing the deed on to a younger person, in almost direct mirror of the usual opening scene. I'm not sure if this is to be considered canon however, but it's worth mentioning.

Jean-Marie was stated to have brothers, so multiple, though the age of them is quite vague.

The old man being one of the gods is something that came across my mind several times throughout the story. You raise a good argument with the Zeus theory though, definitely adding that to my Minotaur Hotel thesis. :p

So, order of Master being handed down is:

Selected heir

Oldest male offspring

Oldest male sibling

Oldest living nephew

Oldest ascending male

Overseer, who picks a new Master

The Olympians had to vote to pick an Overseer, and in addition, only that Overseer may enter the hotel, while all gods are banned from entering it. This leads me to believe that, Hermes, himself, is the old man, simply disguised. I believe he was pretending to be Clement (just like how his human name is groanworthy, Jean-Marie Clement).

So, my theory is that Hermes is the Overseer, selected by the gods of Olympus. I don't believe the old man is anybody else.

chapomon1 year ago

I went back and reread the labyrinth constitution, you're correct, I must have misremembered reading that the order of succession ended with Zeus and not the Overseer so it would make sense for Hermes to have been the Old Man at the start. Hermes makes the most sense for being the Overseer since just based on his Greek lore and the fact that since the only Olympian to be allowed to enter the realm is the one voted as Overseer. Nikos will mention that he answers to him if you uncover Argos' true identity after the Hermes nearly killed him and Pedro. I do wonder what was Herme's intention with the letter and what his logic behind that subterfuge was; even if it doesn't make an actual logical sense or is just born out of the madness overtaking him.

Step 1: Pretend nonsensical letter he delivered was written by the old man that gave the deed to the MC, who he believes is Clement. Despite the fact that he first said that he didn't remember who sent the letter in the first place despite being the same name as his fake last name. Causing Asterion untold distress.

Step 2: ???

Step 3: Profit. Minotaur Make-out Motel established.

It could also be as simple as he wanted to fuck with them because he is a trickster.

I haven't had a chance to see the other Ruthless endings but I have read the While You Live ending. If it uses the Old Man sprite in the ending to represent the MC, I see that just being poetic of the theme of recursion and not meant as a definite identity of the Old Man that gave the deed at the start.

Rezerkity1 year ago(+1)

I'm not quite sure what Hermes' goal was with the letter either, if he made it.

The letter was described as being indecipherable, save for a sentence at the bottom, the rest was just scribbles and unreadable as described by the flavour text. "I'm sorry for not being good enough. .P" is specifically what it says. After you read out the letter, Hermes says Clement was the name mentioned by Headquarters.

Hermes said it was from headquarters, and, since he is an Olympian, I would interpret that as the letter being from Poseidon, who in the story is technically Asterion's father/grandfather. He voted in favour of Asterion, but we have no transcript of it yet, that content isn't in the game currently.

The only other Ps we know of are Pedro, and Pedro's father.

As for it being a ploy to get Asterion and MC even more intimately involved, I don't think that is the case. Why would Hermes interrupt the happiness by making Asterion distressed? Just so MC can emotionally support them? Perhaps it is some kind of test? But letting Asterion know that Clement is still alive seems more like some form of torture than anything else. Hermes is clearly in Asterion's side of the ring, too. However, he did succeed in making MC and Asterion talk more about their feelings. But it could equally just be Olympus making sure Asterion suffers a little more.

It's tricky, with what little information we have. Poseidon may be a stretch, but we are limited on choices regardless. I feel that the story of Clement may be somewhat related to Tithonus, a man who was given eternal life, but not eternal youth, and went mad as his body refused to die. The main takeaway from that story was that Asterion ended the man's life with the Threadcutter labrys, a weapon which can kill the immortal, and that "to free somebody from their shackles, you take on your own". This is also shown in the Ruthless ending where Asterion leaves the hotel, and only Argos stays behind, his pelt turning him into the new minotaur.

Perhaps we simply don't have the information required to solve this mystery yet? Or maybe it is as simple as Hermes screwing with us for fun?

itch.io

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