Analyzing the Construct from Slay the Princess
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- The cabin in Slay the Princess is a mystery. But the mystery doesn’t just end with the cabin and even after going through the game several times, you may find yourself wondering about the place.
Today, we’ll be piecing together the lore of the construct, form a coherent theory and see if we can find the truth.
Voiced by Dipper.
Thanks to Mayana, Ant, Narrator Useful Dump.
0:00 Prologue
0:50 Chapter 1 Prison for the gods
3:53 Chapter 2 Cabin in the Woods
5:19 Chapter 3 One Way Out
6:39 Chapter 4 Shell
8:26 Chapter 5 Prison of Belief
10:41 Chapter 6 Escape
Music used:
Firelink Shrine: • Firelink Shrine
The Princess: • Slay the Princess - Th...
A Moment Trapped for All Time: • A Moment Trapped for a...
Prisonic Fairytale: • Prisonic Fairytale
The Moment of Clarity: • The Moment of Clarity
The World Ender: • The World-Ender
Fragmentation: • Slay the Princess - Fr...
Sealed Vessel: • Hollow Knight OST - Se...
The Beast: • The Beast
Ordinary Vanity: • Ordinary Vanity
Transformation: • Transformation
Epilogue: • Dark Souls 3 OST Epilogue
The Unknown Together: • The Unknown Together
Other video material sourced from youtube and pexels.com - เกม
![ชวนน้องลงทุ่ง - เงาะน้อยเพชรบ้านแพง X น้องมายด์ [ Music Video ] Official Saman Music](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Bq7Hw9culjE/mqdefault.jpg)
![[4K직캠] BABYMONSTER(베이비몬스터) - FOREVER](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PS3UAFto1z8/mqdefault.jpg)
Both The Long Quiet and The Princess being the prison would also add another layer to the "become your own jailor" achievement in the prisoner route.
In the Mutually Assured Destruction & The Empty Cup chapters, the Long Quiet manages to get rid of all voices including the Narrator, and the construct changes when he does. When the voices are gone, the basement turns back into its original form from Chapter 1 and when the Narrator is gone, nothing is left.
Since the voices are created from past experiences, silencing them means disregarding all those experiences which have shaped the construct and the princess. With all those memories ignored, the construct snaps back to how it was before those memories even existed. The princess remains the same because her present self is the only thing not ignored. The Long Quiet also forgets all that the Narrator has told him including that famous "You're on path in the woods", which makes the woods disappear. As the game says, "There is only the dance".
If that's how it works, I can see why the Narrator is so eager to say those first lines as soon as he awakes! Without those there is no available perspective of the surroundings, no path in the woods, no cabin, no prison, nothing.
That would explain why the presence of he voices diminishes the power of the narrator, he no longer is he only voice shaping your perception
I'm fairly certain that the Construct _is_ the Long Quiet, and His.. "body"; the threads (or, perhaps more accurately, feathers) of His form woven into an imitation - partially reinforced by the Long Quiet's belief in it, partially through the effort of the Narrator - of a path in the woods and a cabin. The Narrator quite literally trapped the Long Quiet in His own body.
This explains why the Narrator is able to influence the world around the LQ - because; by making himself a part of the Construct, a part of the Long Quiet's body, like the world's most thanatophobic parasite; he can somewhat influence its motions.
This explains why you need to have your memory wiped by the Shifting Mound after She unravels the illusion of a material space in order to return to it, because its existence is solely contingent on the Long Quiet's continued belief that it is, indeed, a path in the woods.
This explains why He can let the Princess out of the cabin, because that can be seen as expelling her from a part of His body.
And I'd venture to say this also explains why the "Slayer"'s body slowly withers to nothing as he gets closer and closer to discovering what He and the Construct both are.
Also, according to Abby Howard, the background in the mirror is a part of the "Slayer"'s body, so.. make of that what you will.
The narrator mentions that the entire "princess" set up, wasn't his idea. I think he just set up the basic context of the scenario, and the specifics fell to the Long Quiet. *You* conceived of the Shifting Mound as a princess because it's something both important but "on your level". The features of everything were your perception, only slightly guided and reinforced by the narrator in the direction he needed using the bits of himself he effectively left within you. Past that point he's ad-libbing.
I find it interesting that the Long Quiet is effectively the foundation for this pseudo-reality, the ground and firmament, while the Shifting Mound is effectively everything else. Not just the forest, but the stars in the sky. But even then, the cabin *interior* changes. Even in the Moment of Clarity when all the construct is breaking down, the walls themselves remain and even when those fly away the Princess is *still* trapped until you give her your hand (even if you were broken to assent). It seems that the "cabin" isn't strictly you or the princess. Furthermore, in the end of the spectre ending's first run, the narrator says that he "made this happy place for you" and I believe he's referring to the cabin itself. This leads me to my conclusion, that the cabin is the domain of the narrator, who has special control over it. But since the narrator is also in you now, the cabin is part of you too.
Addending this because I thought of something else.
I think the cabin is the truest form of the construct. Like everything else its specifics were decided by the Long Quiet, but it seems the most "narrator" part of you, the one work of artifice in this entire place. Even then though I don't think it's truly "part" of the narrator, but his creation. The mirror is the narrator's aspect, and the cabin persists even in his absence. The Burned Gray, for all her idealism, seems to have an intuitive sense that it's the place, the cabin, that drives you two to hurt each other, and her solution is to destroy it. But it won't last forever, whether or not you engage with it, it breaks down. But without perspectives and self-understanding, that doesn't do either of you much good and you'll just languish in ignorance and mentally decay into nothing.
There’s something else that never changes along with the cabin’s exterior: the pristine blade. I feel like that should’ve been at least mentioned, even if its true nature and purpose is fairly obvious by comparison.
The only time the Princess is dead and stays dead, no matter the path, is with a stab in the heart.
You have to break her heart.
3 am brain is writing this, but I want to add something:
in chapter 1, the narrator has a lot of power. he can lock the door and drop the knife into the basement all by himself.
for chapter 3s, in the wounded wild route, it's mentioned that the narrator cannot control reality because he's "tired". like an echo, they fade over time, as perhaps so is the case for the narrator's strength and influence.
in the wraith route, even as the visual of the hallway matches the narrator's words, the wraith defiantly says "you cannot describe me into existence. the door is right there." and so it is.
Another way you could describe the Construct is that of "a Story". The very words being "Your on a path in the woods" being the first thing we hear immediately shape's Quiet's perception of reality. It also explains how the Narrator, who was presumably a simple mortal (or whatever he was) trapped not 1 but 2 gods. Because they were new gods they had no context of what they are/were, in doing so he trapped them within the very context of the story were playing!
One thing that adds to this theory is that the narrator never knew the princess, would be a princess. That was the protagonist's subconscious doing.
To psychoanalyse a god, she had to be someone above you, but approachable. Not an ant, or a soggy piece of bread.
Even in the ending, when there is just a mountain of women left, the cabin still exists unchanged.
But now I wonder, why does it disappear when you meet the Shifting Mound before she's complete?
Hmmm. I think I can explain this but it'll take a bit.
In the Wounded Wild ending, you and the princess are temporarily fused into a gestalt entity before cutting yourself out, which reveals the cabin, which then proceeds to consume you. And when you reach the princess, her heart is already exposed. On one hand there's the whole power of perception thing, but I think the nesting doll comparison may be even more apt than we thought. Remember, the forest, the Wilds, *is* the Princess. She can call upon it. The Shifting Mound, was the forest before she takes her final form.
In the Moment of Clarity ending, the cabin disappears, but the Princess is still down there. The cabin is just the exterior; its walls can be undone, or even circumvented entirely as a spectre, but it's still just sort of "there". Furthermore, the game makes a big deal about the Princess's heart. It's the only way to actually kill her.
I think the construct exists in microcosms. The cabin disappears as do all other non-quiet features, but it's still there. You can see the hands of ol Shifty trying to break out. And the cabin exists still, in the same place it always does; around her heart. It's a cage that can be entered which holds her core. In whatever form it takes, the Princess's wilder, abstract self surrounds it.
I am taking a liking to these video essays. I never fully considered the implications of the construct
Perhaps the Cabin is better compared to a chest rather than a prison: It's meant to keep certain things in and other things out, but what's inside may be precious rather than a prisoner.
When talking about a human chest, it obviously contains the vital organ of the heart, but the heart in turn is taken poetically as the centre of emotion.
To "get something off one's chest" is to releive the tension of emotional contents that wish to be let released.
I wonder, then, what is the piece of the shifting mound thay we find at the end of routes. She grabs the princess, but she isn't just that princess, as her conscience exists in some form even before awakening her (you can feel her and even be killed by her if you avoid the cabin in your very first run)
She is the wrangle of hands. Almost mindless, as the mind is in the princess, but with a nature, and a drive to follow that nature.
At first I thought she would be the woods, since they are the only part of the princess outside of the cabin (and the narrator would only dare use the least, more mindless droplet of the princess to create the outer layer), but it doesn't quite fit, does it? The woods are reset after each run, and they change based on your perception, but she doesn't seem to be influenced by you except for when you meet.
I guess she could still be the woods; or, I'd say, the woods from previous runs. That would explain why she needs at least one run to exist. Then, she remains outside of the woods of the current run, like an extra, thin layer, awaiting to grab the princess once she is out of the cabin
She could also be the part of the shifting mound that's still within you. It awakens as a princess frees herself and grows more and more coherent until the critical threshold is reached and it can literally wrench the rest of the shifting mound out of the basement, starting the climax.
This is why you can only really SLAY the princess in chapter 1(or the end). You always have a little part of the princess in you telling you that the best you can achieve is mutual destruction.
Actually, thinking along these lines, the Princess you find at the end in the cabin might be that internal piece of the princess. and if so that might explain what actually happens if you and the princess leave the cabin together. You sort of reverse the process the shifting mound used to awaken, pulling it through the lens of the princess to make it fold to your construct of the princess. while also binding yourself back down to just "The Slayer".
either that or the more likely scenario that the base consciousness/soul of the Princess and the Slayer just dip to lead mortal lives while leaving the voices to be The Long Quite and the reflections to be The Shifting Mound.
@@thatguydownthestreat The thing is, you don't have a part of the princess in you, not literally. You have a part of what should had been in her, and her has a part of what should had been you. But the princess is still the princess, and you are still you.
In other words, the Long Quiet is Stillness, with a little bit of Change. The Shifting Mound (aka the Princess) is Change, with a little bit of Stillness. The Long Quite has a bit of Change in him, not a bit of Princess
~°*Random theory i had to spit out for no reason!*°~
Doesnt it seem that everything in STP has been almost solved? We all know shifty is change and is based around perception.Long quiet is death and his perception can change the princess.And now,we know the cabin is the REAL prison for the princess
But one thing is missing...
THE MIRROR-
We see the mirror in every other chapter besides the first one,but why? Everytime you try to touch the mirror it usually disappears and unlike narrator,shifty,even the cabin, The mirror is not in the end game
So heres my theory..
Every chapter we have a voice,right? We have 11 voices in our head.You may ask,'how do the voices relate with the mirror?'
You see,in the spectre route,when we let her 'take our hide',she desctibes the voices as 'Pieces of broken glass' or something like that.. (I kinda forgot,im not 100℅ sure)
And everytime shifty wipes our memories and we go back,we hear glass shattering before we wake up in the path to the cabin
In the razor,cheated implied that more voices is the key to beat the razor.At the end of 'The empty cup'/'Mutually assured destruction',when we clear our mind,razor says we're different almost making her different
THE MIRROR IS OUR MIND
It may sound farfetched.. But
The mirror reflects our mind
The voices are our 'perspectives' like how the princess is shifty's
and the mirror 'contains' them like how hands contain the princess
Each voices reflects how we interacted with the princess (except hero) and the way we think about the princess is based on how she interacted with us.
The devs said 'Because his nature is paradox,he both does and does not have a beak'
His nature is PARADOX and the wiki said it implied that long quiet can shift like the princess
THE LONG QUIET'S SHIFTING
We dont PHISICALLY shift,but our mind does.Do you guys notice how most of the choices in the chapters besides the first seem like they were influenced by the voices? Some of them even break the forth wall by directly 'speaking' to us (Ex.in the end of damsel route when narrator said for us to kill damsel)
The voices can also interact with the physical world,and some of there words also influence how we see the princess (This is seen most in the adversary)
Because The long quiet is related with The shifting mound.We shift along with her,but not exactly the same.Our mind shifts,the voices are the foils to the princess's different forms and are also reflections of how we perceived her (Most seen in the beast) but only the PRIMARY voice (or starred voice) of the chapter can have that PURE effect
Ex.Cheated saw razor as a cheater and a sick killer (In my opinion),and even with that many voices,even with smitten.She still was that sick killer
TO WRAP IT UP
Lets wrap this up,the voices are your 'perspectives' or reflections of how you interacted with the princess (Except for hero) And the mirror is your mind
In the end of razor she said we were different,that is because we had all the voices,thus we were 'complete' (In the moment of clarity, you didnt actually achieve them becuase you didnt got killed over and over)
The mirror shatters when shifty wipes our memories because we forget how we interacted with the princess in the past
The mirror is our mind and it appears in every other chapter because it is a sign that we are getting bit-by-bit complete because we have collect another voice but it goes away cause we arent fully complete.The reason narnar (Narrator) cant see it is cause he isnt a part of your mind,that also explains why the voices can see it
YOUR QUESTIONS
'Why are the voices afraid of the mirror?': Because it will contain them,like how shifty holds the princess with embodied hands.The voices feel afraid while the princess feels cold
'Why is the Narrator seen in the mirror?': I have said that he isnt a part of your mind but a part of the construct/long quiet.He cant see it cause he isnt a original part of him but instead a forced one
'Why did the mirror shatter when we see narrator in it?': Because the mirror cant contain narrator inside.Narrator isnt a perspective and so the mirror breaks
'Why is hero the only voice seen in the end game?': Because hero is a special voice (Explanation in replies)
'Where were the other voices in the end game?': Hero said they were somewhere in her.There are only two possibilities in my mind.Its either: The mirror broke casue it couldnt handle to contain narrator so shifty handled the voices for you...OR...
Because the voices are based on how we interacted with the princess,they may be stuck with the different perspectives
(Im getting tired.I will update my theory time to time.Please feel free to reply)
Oh wow. I had no thought much about the mirror, due to it seeming quite daunting to tackle, but I think you possibly hit the nail right on its head with this one.
So... Why is hero a special voice?
@@karolissad.4270my guess is that because the Narrator starts you off with this idea that you're this "hero" slaying the princess and saving the world, the Voice of the Hero essentially becomes your primary conscience. As such, he's the closest to you of all the voices, and is able to find you unlike the other voices when you're confronted by Full power shifty
@@Metamine0 fair fair
What a excellent analysis tbh.
The cabin best home fr fr
I think the cabin is the part of the Shifting Mound that the Narrator placed inside the Long Quiet. Love the video
I saw a few gameplays of this game, honestly the work you guys put together is amazing and this video just helped me wrap my head around it better on how things work
It's an amazing job, i hope you guys are praoud of yourselfs
Ohhhh wonderful analysis! The construct has always been the most confusing part of stp for me, and this video really helped. You mentioning the cabin walls always staying the same - I’d never noticed that before! I wonder if it’s related to how the Narrator wove himself into the construct, describing that since he was an echo, the shifting mound (and even LQ) couldn’t change him. It fits with how the cabin exterior is unchanging regardless of everything. Also interesting that the only time the cabin fully leaves is when the Narrator does too. And how interesting that LQ is the only one who can bring about change to the cabin walls - breaking the windows with contrarian, the structure decaying with the prisoner. What a wonderful game, that there’s so much to explore and analyze. You did amazingly, thank you!
This is amazing! you deserve all the views
Wow, thank you!
Amazing analysis!!!
Woah wait when did she say "am I not in the trees? Am I not in you?" That sounded like adversary
These videos are amazing! You're the best STP youtuber
oooooooo
an Analysis of the Construct? Interesting!
You really deconstructed the Construct. That was a great analysis. I never considered the Construct to be alive before. But I guess it makes sense.
This video and the others that you make are good or funny but this type of video is really great
Can't keep me locked up forever...
YAY, it's been put into words! Thank you for this.
Its a crazy catacomb
Love the content you make
Promising channel!
We need an unravel PMV!
Greetings!
Praise algorithm gods!
I miss your memes. But this is great too
A multiversal construct?!
I didn't really think about the Construct before, but I just decided to make a fanfiction with the Construct as the mc. No, I will not watch this video until I am done with making a oneshot of reasonable length.
Drop the name when it's ready
Penumbra Overture
I like these vids best
I thought this was a ai voice until I heard you breath in
You have a very kino voice
Me trapping my gf in my own body as a cabin because boss told me to
Who's Dipper
My friend
First :3
🐜
But how did the narrator, a mortal human without any said supernatural abilities able to make a construct of stp by mere belief alone
5:30
If this is true then how come she breaks out by herself in the Apotheosis route?