0:00 Intro 0:08 Who is Stanley? 1:23 Who is the Narrator? 2:34 What is "The Stanley Parable"? 4:12 Why did Stanley make "The Stanley Parable"? 6:01 Conclusion
I thought Stanley was a character in narrators head. He's so lonely that he makes up characters. He writes stories and endings with Stanley, and he slowly forgets. Stanley gets buried in his mind, and so the "epilogue" is just Stanley wandering through narrators memories.
If I dont remember wrong. After getting all the figurines the narrator wonders what was before all that. And then wonders why he created Stanley Can someone tell me if I remember wrong?
Ive always thought that the Narrator was Stanley's Boss because of how his Boss room looks like its from a cartoon villain or you know, "person that gives you orders but never you never get to see them face to face"
Awesome video. Though I'm really surprised you didn't mention the Ultra Deluxe endings basically clarifying the "Stanley is the Narrator" theory. You can find plenty of evidence that Stanley is daydreaming/fantasizing and the Narrator is part of his psyche in the original full release - but the Ultra Deluxe release basically punches you in the gut with the Figurines Ending. Instead of "the Narrator was all in Stanley's head", we get "Stanley was all in the Narrator's head", which seems like a paradox... until you realize it's easily solved with "They are the same person, each 'half' is a projection of the real man". But the part about the game having no canon ending because "life doesn't have a canon ending"? Brilliant. Really taps into the existential dread Stanley Parable always gives me.
This game has just enough small details to make things make sense. Im just surprised that Joe (426)Jim(possibly 437) timekeeper (432) Stanley's wife(434) bitterman(428)or the broom closet were not even mentioned.
This video is SUPER good! I'm surprised you have so little views on it. This is one of my favorite videogames ever and I'm glad this was recommended to me :D
thanks that means so much to me. i’m not too upset about the low view count cause right now i’m a nobody so it makes sense not many ppl have seen it yet
You literally just made sense of the entire "frame story" of the game, the reason WHY it exists and this has ONLY 4 k views... This is actually the best video I've seen this week
something i noticed playing the game is how when Stanley leaves free's himself from the mind control facility you no longer control his movements. Stanley just walks and looks around by himself, as if the mind control facility was meant for you to control Stanley this whole time.
I theorized mostly based on their dialogue and not the philisophical meaning I had a whole different outcome to that question. (keep reading to hear explanation) Basically, I thought the mind control thing and the story were written by the narrator and Stanley was just randomly chosen by the narrator to be the one to lead the story and wrote most of the story. I took this from him breaking the fourth wall several times. The overhead and skip button endings make more sense taking into account that the narrator definitely isn't human, (even if there is proof that Stanley isn't human either) with the narrator being able to survive for several years and slowly losing his mind. The narrator also relies on Stanley for support and as someone to move the story along, he quotes in the skip buttin ending that he can't interact with anything in the room, impyling that he usually can interact with the rooms, as well as his projects for bits or the "new game" the narrator also shows an attatchment to Stanley as if he didn't mean to have one. The clock is also a big part of the story in determining this as the narrator brings it up multiple times as well as talking about resetting the story. The narrator has a lot of content attributed directly to him as well as a few pretty sad endings featuring the two characters. including the Stanley button and the overhead ending. the skip button ending is both kinda sad and extremely creepy as you can hear the narrator repeating the words the end is never the end like being seen in the loading screen, which would also imply that the two are stuck in an infinite time loop where if anything happens to either of them (the skip button ending) the they will reset the entire story. (in the skip button ending the narrator is the one who loses his mind and dissapears while stanley is finally the one being left alone before it resets.) meaning both of them are crucial to the story. I completely forgot what I was making a point about now so im gonna end it here.
We are the alchemists of our own lives... we are our own narrators just in the same way we are our own main character. Life will happen as it happens, it just depends what path you chose...
The player isn’t employee 427. Within the mind control complex you can find a headcam of employee 427, who is at the time staring at some boxes. Idk what to do with that. There’s also some pretty sus notes found under the stairs by the panic ending, and in the lounge.
I personally believe the narrator to be stanleys subconscious trying to guide him to his sense of "rightness" after becoming self aware and realizing how stanley is living his life without personal choice.
Theory the ending where Stanley goes Crazy is the canon ending where the game was in his mind and he eventually went insane and then Marihellah finds Stanley
I thought that the canon ending is the Skip Button since it is the only one that connects with the epilogue and only in that ending does Stanley not return to his office.
The Stanley Parable is about the relationship between storyteller and story. You can enforce your characters to end up exactly where you want them to, logic be damned, or you can create a character with personality and then a world with rules and events with reason, and just ask yourself "what would the character do?". I think the most famous writer with this Style is George RR Martin. You can be surprised by your own story if you let it grow naturally.
I think the narrator is the real person because he say at the end "i must go to reality, i cant anymore run away" or something like that, i think thats mean the naarator has created his own world to escaps from reality and we are just hes imagination and without hes imagination he can live anymore in the unreality and must back to reality.
You're paying the developers/publishers of The Stanley Parable to tell you, the consumer, how stupid you are to be buying this game. Stanley is us, the gamer.
As from what I understand from Schopenhauer and his philosophy is that one has free will and freedom. In so that one is pushed forward by their past and pulled forward by one’s desires informed by their past or wishes. Such as say one becomes aspiring basket ball player. That choice was based on one’s wish and will, and in so locks the person in the path to potentially become a basketball player. But good breakdown of the game.
Honestly some endings of this display the existential dread very well. This could be a horror game tbh if it only were for those endings lol. What gave me real dread was the Escape ending. I don’t know why, something about this long ass staircase, the darkness, and the narrator gone is just so fucking unsettling.
You're wrong about the part that narrator is just apart of stanleys imagination because the vent ending clearly states:"you didn't think i was actually just a recording did you what a silly and trite explanation that would be all the back and forth between you and me all the absurd adventures we've been through and it all turns out i'm just a tape recording it was all just in stanley's head i bet that's the kind of twist you think is revelatory i bet each and every time you watch a movie where it turns out all to be in the main character's imagination you must absolutely bolt off the couch in pure shock at the phenomenal and intricate storytelling it must be so simple to be you"
@@Mr.Coffee576It's true that in one ending the narrator admits to being real, but then in the Skip Buttom Ending he ends up trapped for hundreds or thousands of years (and strangely still alive) while Stanley fast-forwards time. That makes me think that the narrator is not human because if he were, it would be impossible for him to survive for so long in that ending and not die quickly
@@SixtyStone they are 2 dif people but it doesnt mean they arent the same character yknow what i mean , stanley is only a decoy/character to tell the story
My man, you’re taking a parable too literally. The Stanley Parable is a parable on game design. The narrator is the game designer reacting to the player’s gameplay. It’s commentary/criticism of the game design industry and it’s practices, as well as the players that play games. Of course, the designer is having fun with the way the narrator acts, dramatizing some reactions or adding goofy situations. 1:16 The “lack of choice” is the game designer having a planned route to play. Given the chance, players tend to find and take alternate routes. The game designer needs to plan around this, and sometimes, as seen by the narrator, it can be frustrating or difficult. 1:39 Dramatized players resetting before reaching an ending, but this one probably is more likely just for fun. 2:03 The game designer wants players to play the game and won’t be able to continue to be motivated without people playing their games. 3:03 Someone attacking the dev’s game or concept or just another non-theme related thing. 3:13 Games don’t exist without developers. 3:25 He is literally talking about YOU playing video games. Lights on a screen aren’t real, as such you’re imagining the game. Now, watch the full talk here and think of the narrator as talking about you. Stanley is imagining the game. Stanley isn’t the character you play as. 3:48 Player expectation vs reality Stanley is a man who sits at a computer all day pushing buttons. Stanley is the player. The moment Stanley stops being told to press buttons, you become Stanley. When the narrator is talking to Stanley, he’s talking to YOU.
I thought Stanley was a character in narrators head. He's so lonely that he makes up characters. He writes stories and endings with Stanley, and he slowly forgets. Stanley gets buried in his mind, and so the "epilogue" is just Stanley wandering through narrators memories.
I wasn't too far off apparently lol
Oh my god I think my brain just exploded do you have any idea what you’ve just done to me oh my god
@@distantmaniacallaughter8690 help are you alright 😭
that's actually such a good concept
If I dont remember wrong. After getting all the figurines the narrator wonders what was before all that. And then wonders why he created Stanley
Can someone tell me if I remember wrong?
I’ve always theorized The Narrator was an extension of Stanley, I’ve just never been able to have it make sense. Well done, good sir!
Ive always thought that the Narrator was Stanley's Boss because of how his Boss room looks like its from a cartoon villain or you know, "person that gives you orders but never you never get to see them face to face"
Awesome video. Though I'm really surprised you didn't mention the Ultra Deluxe endings basically clarifying the "Stanley is the Narrator" theory. You can find plenty of evidence that Stanley is daydreaming/fantasizing and the Narrator is part of his psyche in the original full release - but the Ultra Deluxe release basically punches you in the gut with the Figurines Ending. Instead of "the Narrator was all in Stanley's head", we get "Stanley was all in the Narrator's head", which seems like a paradox... until you realize it's easily solved with "They are the same person, each 'half' is a projection of the real man".
But the part about the game having no canon ending because "life doesn't have a canon ending"? Brilliant. Really taps into the existential dread Stanley Parable always gives me.
This game has just enough small details to make things make sense. Im just surprised that Joe (426)Jim(possibly 437) timekeeper (432) Stanley's wife(434) bitterman(428)or the broom closet were not even mentioned.
The thing I like about this game is that even the theorizers don't know what is going on
i bet it has a simple meaning or the developer just wanted to mess with us
@@AdSoyad-rp1vm mm, yes. It is all according to plan.
This video is SUPER good! I'm surprised you have so little views on it. This is one of my favorite videogames ever and I'm glad this was recommended to me :D
thanks that means so much to me. i’m not too upset about the low view count cause right now i’m a nobody so it makes sense not many ppl have seen it yet
You literally just made sense of the entire "frame story" of the game, the reason WHY it exists and this has ONLY 4 k views... This is actually the best video I've seen this week
something i noticed playing the game is how when Stanley leaves free's himself from the mind control facility you no longer control his movements. Stanley just walks and looks around by himself, as if the mind control facility was meant for you to control Stanley this whole time.
I theorized mostly based on their dialogue and not the philisophical meaning I had a whole different outcome to that question. (keep reading to hear explanation)
Basically, I thought the mind control thing and the story were written by the narrator and Stanley was just randomly chosen by the narrator to be the one to lead the story and wrote most of the story. I took this from him breaking the fourth wall several times. The overhead and skip button endings make more sense taking into account that the narrator definitely isn't human, (even if there is proof that Stanley isn't human either) with the narrator being able to survive for several years and slowly losing his mind. The narrator also relies on Stanley for support and as someone to move the story along, he quotes in the skip buttin ending that he can't interact with anything in the room, impyling that he usually can interact with the rooms, as well as his projects for bits or the "new game" the narrator also shows an attatchment to Stanley as if he didn't mean to have one. The clock is also a big part of the story in determining this as the narrator brings it up multiple times as well as talking about resetting the story. The narrator has a lot of content attributed directly to him as well as a few pretty sad endings featuring the two characters. including the Stanley button and the overhead ending. the skip button ending is both kinda sad and extremely creepy as you can hear the narrator repeating the words the end is never the end like being seen in the loading screen, which would also imply that the two are stuck in an infinite time loop where if anything happens to either of them (the skip button ending) the they will reset the entire story. (in the skip button ending the narrator is the one who loses his mind and dissapears while stanley is finally the one being left alone before it resets.) meaning both of them are crucial to the story. I completely forgot what I was making a point about now so im gonna end it here.
That's a really good theory!
This was a very well put together video, you honestly deserve more views, hope the algorithm blesses this video so more people can see it.
We are the alchemists of our own lives... we are our own narrators just in the same way we are our own main character. Life will happen as it happens, it just depends what path you chose...
The player isn’t employee 427. Within the mind control complex you can find a headcam of employee 427, who is at the time staring at some boxes. Idk what to do with that. There’s also some pretty sus notes found under the stairs by the panic ending, and in the lounge.
Thank you for this video, I’ve been trying wrap my head around it. This video deserves way more views. Man keep it up this is really good stuff.
2:05 this is a very sad ending.
This is an incredibly interesting take of TSP! This feels like how you describe it…maladaptive daydreaming?
I personally believe the narrator to be stanleys subconscious trying to guide him to his sense of "rightness" after becoming self aware and realizing how stanley is living his life without personal choice.
Theory the ending where Stanley goes Crazy is the canon ending where the game was in his mind and he eventually went insane and then Marihellah finds Stanley
I thought that the canon ending is the Skip Button since it is the only one that connects with the epilogue and only in that ending does Stanley not return to his office.
The Stanley Parable is about the relationship between storyteller and story. You can enforce your characters to end up exactly where you want them to, logic be damned, or you can create a character with personality and then a world with rules and events with reason, and just ask yourself "what would the character do?". I think the most famous writer with this Style is George RR Martin. You can be surprised by your own story if you let it grow naturally.
I think the narrator is the real person because he say at the end "i must go to reality, i cant anymore run away" or something like that, i think thats mean the naarator has created his own world to escaps from reality and we are just hes imagination and without hes imagination he can live anymore in the unreality and must back to reality.
Gives me severance vibes from the starting episodes
0:56 when i here that music i can feel every note in my head per gusebumbs hard to explain i know
Did anyone else see another person walking at the "What is stanley?" Part 😟
Amazing explanation! I’ve always been curious of what the story was about but all the other video I’ve found have been way too long to sit through
You're paying the developers/publishers of The Stanley Parable to tell you, the consumer, how stupid you are to be buying this game. Stanley is us, the gamer.
Stanley Parable
Okay, but what if Stanley had pressed another key while doing his job, not the one he was told?
WAY better review than IGN review. I was gifted this game
so glad you got to experience the stanley parable. it’s one of those once in a generation gaming experiences
As from what I understand from Schopenhauer and his philosophy is that one has free will and freedom. In so that one is pushed forward by their past and pulled forward by one’s desires informed by their past or wishes. Such as say one becomes aspiring basket ball player. That choice was based on one’s wish and will, and in so locks the person in the path to potentially become a basketball player. But good breakdown of the game.
Stanley feels like a dad who wants his son to make a good life introducing things like in a goody way
Can you explain the Mariella ending?
Stanley Parable
Wow. Everything you said was so deep and really got me rethinking life. I NEED TO DOWNLOAD THIS GAME RIGHT NOW!
Stanley Parable
Okay so what happened to all of his workers though?
they exist he’s just playing my a game with himself and ignoring them mostly
TSP is actually great accidental representation for Maladaptive Daydreaming and Dissociative Identity Disorder
Honestly some endings of this display the existential dread very well. This could be a horror game tbh if it only were for those endings lol. What gave me real dread was the Escape ending. I don’t know why, something about this long ass staircase, the darkness, and the narrator gone is just so fucking unsettling.
It seems almost like a psychotic simulation/ a duality narrative “chickrn or egg” thing
Is there an explanation video of the first stanley parable game?
I would love to see a video on a game called The Indigo Parallel, it is a super weird game
It is confirmed that the narrator is the embodiment of divorce, the literal idea idea thought.
I thought that the narrator is the concept of divorce
The ending of this video triggered my abandonment PTSD.
abandonment PTSD is called BPD
Amazing video
I love it I love it I love it
bien joué très très bonne video bien expliqué
Stanley Parabole
But whant about the Collectables ending?
Where in that ending The Narrator says that HE created Stanley because he was lonely
You're wrong about the part that narrator is just apart of stanleys imagination because the vent ending clearly states:"you didn't think i was actually just a recording did you what a silly and
trite
explanation that would be all the back
and forth between you and me all the
absurd adventures we've been through and
it all turns out i'm just a tape
recording it was all just in stanley's
head i bet that's the kind of twist you think
is revelatory i bet each and every
time
you watch a movie where it turns out all
to be in the main character's
imagination you must absolutely bolt off
the couch in pure shock at the
phenomenal and intricate storytelling it
must be so simple to be you"
In one of the endings, the narrator admits that he is real and he is actually employee 427, and Stanley is the imagination. I dont remember which one.
@@Mr.Coffee576It's true that in one ending the narrator admits to being real, but then in the Skip Buttom Ending he ends up trapped for hundreds or thousands of years (and strangely still alive) while Stanley fast-forwards time. That makes me think that the narrator is not human because if he were, it would be impossible for him to survive for so long in that ending and not die quickly
Stanley Parable
Also it's confirmed that Stanley and the player are diffrent.
where
@@gocrucial If you disobey the narrator the whole time and not pick up the phone in the phone room
@@SixtyStone they are 2 dif people but it doesnt mean they arent the same character yknow what i mean , stanley is only a decoy/character to tell the story
My man, you’re taking a parable too literally. The Stanley Parable is a parable on game design. The narrator is the game designer reacting to the player’s gameplay. It’s commentary/criticism of the game design industry and it’s practices, as well as the players that play games. Of course, the designer is having fun with the way the narrator acts, dramatizing some reactions or adding goofy situations.
1:16 The “lack of choice” is the game designer having a planned route to play. Given the chance, players tend to find and take alternate routes. The game designer needs to plan around this, and sometimes, as seen by the narrator, it can be frustrating or difficult.
1:39 Dramatized players resetting before reaching an ending, but this one probably is more likely just for fun.
2:03 The game designer wants players to play the game and won’t be able to continue to be motivated without people playing their games.
3:03 Someone attacking the dev’s game or concept or just another non-theme related thing.
3:13 Games don’t exist without developers.
3:25 He is literally talking about YOU playing video games. Lights on a screen aren’t real, as such you’re imagining the game. Now, watch the full talk here and think of the narrator as talking about you. Stanley is imagining the game. Stanley isn’t the character you play as.
3:48 Player expectation vs reality
Stanley is a man who sits at a computer all day pushing buttons. Stanley is the player. The moment Stanley stops being told to press buttons, you become Stanley. When the narrator is talking to Stanley, he’s talking to YOU.
thanks for the video!! but i still dont get it
Stanley Parable
IF I told you the narrator is not a god but is a demon
Why would the narrator be a demon?