What do the Endings in Somerville Mean? Answered

Somerville, released November 15th, 2022, is a unique, complex Sci-Fi Adventure. Outside of its unpolished finish, its storytelling in the last two Chapters is very interesting and has room for interpretation. The Endings are unique, and a lot of people are already asking important questions regarding the abduction and soldiers who help you along the way. This is my Somerville interpretation and what the Endings mean.

Humanity’s Last Hope for Survival

Time

My first Somerville interpretation is that the main gameplay takes place a week after our protagonist loses consciousness. We are not told how much time had passed since Chapter 1. But we can assume that days, perhaps a week has passed since the protagonist’s interaction between the woman who crash-landed into the family home basement. Originally, I assumed that less than 24-hours had passed, what with our dog lying beside us waiting for us to wake up. However, the inclusion of the three soldiers who had gained the abilities of the alien’s form of communication and control implies that far more time had passed.

Somerville is either the first or last place to get hit in the invasion. If it started there, we could assume that our protagonist was unconscious for far longer than we originally thought. If it ended there, then the soldiers came from somewhere much further away. The technology used inside the underwater facility is futuristic. But enough time had to have passed for the recruitment of the heroic soldiers that gave up their lives and humanity through experimenting with the alien technology.

The Unnamed Heroes

Infusing themselves with powers way past our human comprehension. Tasked to end the invasion, either through a means of taking Earth back by force, destroying the ships from within or choosing a diplomatic approach as the alien powers allow humans to communicate with them. However, something went wrong. After the Pilot crashed into our house, giving us her power as she knew she was going to die, the plan had changed. The other soldiers, either linked directly to the pilot through the alien powers or there had communication with her before she crashed, where they could follow the movements of our protagonist after leaving the house.

Either way, the other soldiers, I am going to refer to them as the Warrior and Sniper, watched and followed the protagonist from the distance. Ensuring that he was always safe, they give their lives to prevent him from being taken. This is how we gain the second power. The final power is gained in Chapter 12, after the soldiers meet each other. Whether or not this is real or crafted in our protagonist’s subconscious is uncertain as the woman who gives us the final ability is indeed the Pilot from Chapter 1. With all powers obtained, the soldiers haven given up their life for the cause, our sole goal is to try to finish what they started.

In Your Hands Now

Somerville became more than a game about finding your wife and son, but a game about what we would choose as the outcome of the Human Race. Would our protagonist be fuelled with rage, ready to take down the Mothership from within or would he try to communicate with the beings in charge of the invasion? If we decided on the latter option, it would prove to be the harder task to complete as in order to gain the Understanding Ending, we are required to work out how the aliens communicate. What the colours Blue, Orange and Purple truly mean when they converse. This is crucial to getting the best ending in the game.

Our protagonist was not chosen, nor special. He was just a father, a husband who tried to help the Pilot who happened to crash-land into the family house. The task to save humanity, the concept of saving one person over the billions on Earth, fell into the hands of a single man, uncertain of the future. We, as players get to decide what outcome we want. Do we settle for a replica of our family, to free them from confinement, to avenge them, or to try and save everyone?

Why Alien Abduction?

Film Similarites

My next Somerville interpretation is that the alien abduction is similar to the idea behind The Matrix. I believe that humans were being taken and put into simulations as a form of gaining fuel. Another film comparison that I thought of when playing is Monsters Inc. How the monsters were simulating the horror of the monster under your bed, inside your closet, to simulate fear in children. This is then used as fuel.

The other Somerville interpretation I have on the alien abduction is that the aliens have seen that on Earth, we are the most intelligent animal therefore we could be taught alien language by placing children inside simulations (they are the most likely to pick up a new language) so that the species could communicate with each other.

Friend or Foe?

After all, when the aliens invade, they are immediately greeted by missiles and bullets from advanced human aircrafts. We do not know whether the aliens came in peace or with the sole intention to destroy humanity. But what we do know for a fact is that humans are kept alive and being placed inside simulations replicated regular human life. Two key moments inside Chapters 12 and 13 are:

1. The aliens could interact directly to the simulation by using the powers of melting and hardening. These transform the environment of the simulation, resulting in the children inside the simulation being frightened. But as seen in simulation 1, a girl is attempting to communicate with the aliens using a torch, inputting different sequences. This implies that the girl at least understands on some level that the aliens communicate in sequences of three and have different colours corresponding to different phrases or emotions.
2. In Chapter 13, the protagonist holds hands with people trapped in a line. They appear frozen in place or perhaps similar to what H.P. Lovecraft has said in regard to seeing something far beyond human comprehension is that our brain self-destructs as a result. In the Understanding Ending we can see people running to the doors leading to another world, implying that the people lining up are indeed still alive. But why is there a line of humans? Maybe they have been placed there specifically as a means to communicate with the aliens. But this can also be looked at from the point of view that the aliens are using humans as a source of power, linking them together to create one power source.

Are the simulations used to teach humans alien language or are they being used as a source of energy? What do you think of this Somerville interpretation?

What Do The Endings Mean?

The Somerville Endings are very unique and complex. This is my Somerville interpretation of the Endings:

Resignation

Inside the Mothership, the aliens try to trick us with an illusion of our family. The world around us is clearly not that of ordinary life. Gifted powers and tasked to save humanity. This is a lot to put on an ordinary man who just wants his family back. He is saved on top of the bell tower, leaving his family behind. The guilt he would have felt in this moment would be immeasurable. So, in the first instance he has, he decides to sit down and forget all about the invasion. Leaving the fate of humanity in the hands of someone else. But there is no one else. He sits down and forgets about it all. The illusion fades away. Left stranded, becoming part of the alien debris.

Resignation Reprise

The next illusion offered by the aliens is that of your house with your wife and son inside. However, once more this is not really your family. It is another simulation of your ordinary life. Likely to have the exact same outcome as Resignation. Although this is kinder than Resignation, living your life out in a simulated version of the real world with the family you love. It is not real and never will be. The path behind our protagonist crumbles away. There is no leaving this place. But if you accept this offer, maybe he just does not want to leave, and this illusion is enough for him.

War of the Worlds

Avenge your family and bring down the Mothership from within. Although this sounds like a great plan in writing, by freeing the children inside the simulations and later seeing in Understanding that the people standing in a line are in fact real. You are not only condemning the aliens to burn, but humanity with it too.

Family First

The aliens offer your wife and son, this time it is different. Whether they are a reincarnation or abducted by the reptilian-like aliens on top of the bell tower is uncertain. Although, I believe that they are real. The ball that they are held in is similar to the one trapping the kids. Not just this but, the wife is walking, meaning that she is in some kind of simulation too. Here you can free them, like you freed the children from earlier. The eye breaks, your family freed but our protagonist gives his life to free them.

Understanding

After inputting the correct sequences, having a conversation with the aliens, your final offer is your family, alive and unharmed. Whatever you said to the aliens worked. As doors appear in front of you, shining a bright light promising a better world on the other side. It is not just your family that is freed. As doors appear all around and as you walk through with your family, you see others running to the doors in the distance. Humanity is free.

That is my Somerville interpretation. For more Somerville content, see: Somerville Review: Family is Hope.