I just recently went and got the true end I admit it didn't take long for me to see this cat was some eldritch entity. Like the person above me PedroGM0 said it would maybe be interesting to see a ending where the entity was more benign however I feel that would go against the point of the story. But I guess that's where a fan story would come in. I guess the cat with scars on it's right eye is not related to the entity right I hope?
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Okay I see sad the kitten has it's right eye scared shut but also since the entity went away in the ending how does one explain the option to return to before the end game choice to kill it? The entity even acknowledges the as it puts it poor conclusion so is IT still alive after the ending or when it evaporated was it truly dead?
Spoilers
IT is still alive at the end, just too weak to regain control over the protagonist without the protagonist giving IT back that control by choice. IT got so powerful from 'consuming' all the victims you set free at the end of the game. It'll take a while before IT gets that powerful again.
The reason why you can go back at the end is a bit more technical. I REALLY struggled with the choice to allow it because it meant letting people replay the game and see things they might've missed.
I was really considering making it impossible to do so by removing the LOAD option in the menu and having it be that you only see the empty box for a few seconds whenever you press the start the button - a way of respecting the protagonist's struggle and final decision to move on.
I also considered letting people replay the game at the cost of losing all their progress and having to start over from the beginning, but I landed on what you experienced as the final result.
Okay I was just wondering but also can I ask just how powerful is IT? It's shown that everything after the prologue and before the true end was all in the protagonist's head but is IT capable of doing those things? It's clear it was able to somehow warp reality as everything looked gray or white and the sky turned red but as I said could IT do the things shown in the other endings too outside ones dreams?
Spoilers!
Like IT said, IT is powerful, but also not so much.
The truth is that IT only ever has as much power over a victim as that victim is willing to hand over to IT. That's why the cat targets vulnerable people at particularly low points in their lives -- as seen in the three interlude stories ITs victims tell you at certain points during the game. IT goes after people willing to give up control over their lives in exchange for the 'love' IT offered.
So while IT can warp reality and do everything shown in the different endings -- it's really only possible to affect a willing victim. Once a victim opens their self up to IT, there's usually no way for them to go back because by the time they've realized they were tricked -- IT has already absorbed them into itself.
IT isn't actually interested in doing anything like what's shown in the game. That was all just the protagonist's delusions getting warped and corrupted for fun by the cat. ITs only interest is to keep its chosen victims and make them part of itself.
Hope I explained that okay!
Yeah that helps but one other things what happens to those absorbed or otherwise become one with IT? Are they just stuck inside it forever does IT interact with them at all? I already know from the others saying it seems to take time for ones body to go away while inside IT but if that happens what then? And I'll guess IT has no gender either being an eldrich being an all.
Spoilers!
When victims are absorbed, they get stuck and can't escape. Once their bodies fade away, they're unable to return to their lives -- essentially dying inside of IT. The only thing that remains is their will. IT would continue to interact with them for a time, but once their bodies are gone and they become completely absorbed, IT tends to move on to the next victim. IT doesn't forget about them, but IT gets distracted by new prospects continuously.
IT's greedy for a lot of things -- attention and power being at the top of the list -- but it can't exactly have attention and power without some kind of community:
Something other than itself to pay IT the attention IT craves. And something other than itself to lord that sense of power over.
IT made the mistake of overlooking the nature of the victims' captivity. Since they were part of IT, their power grew as ITs power grew. When the protagonist is absorbed at the end of the game, the victims finally reach the level of strength needed to beat IT -- it helps that the protagonist was also willing and able to fight back against IT, not being as broken-spirited as ITs usual targets are.
Also yeah no official gender for IT!
Hope that helps!