#because Alex Casey hated Alan's gut the first time he met him on Cauldron Lake's shore lmao

[fras-redacted-shapes]

Alan Wake (whose face and voice we find on Thomas Zane and Casper Darling, respectively) ends up in an antagonistic relationship with Alex Casey (whose face and voice we find on Sam Lake and Zachariah Trench, respectively).

Casper Darling and Zachariah Trench? By the end, their relationship was antagonistic.

The Casey-Trench voice was once a guide-friend for Wake-Darling.

And then, they were fighting.

One was suspicious of the other, thinking he was lying, hiding something.

While the other was unaware of the darkness that was growing and consuming the former's mind, his ignorance letting it fester. Feeding it, even.

The original faces, Thomas Zane and Sam Lake? In this latest iteration they've spoken with their own voices while in the Dark Place, only in the presence of a camera.

Alan Wake and Zachariah Trench? In the end, while in a nightmare dimension, both get shot by a woman who both of these men meddled in their lives, threatening the well being of their loved one.

At least one had a hand in his fate, willing it, accepting it. The other? He was fully gone, his will overtaken by the nightmare.

A version of Alex Casey did say it after all. He and writer, they were the same.

And finally, the real Sam Lake? By happenstance he offered his face for a collaborative project, and became a symbol. Even if he tried to fight it, tried to replace it, he had to concede. The story demanded it, as if writing it wasn't enough, the narrative claimed his visage.

There's no need to make overt mentions or put the image of the Ouroboros in posters. The serpent is interwoven in the fabric of the narrative itself.

#now we're only missing a scene with tom zane and sam lake being best friends and the mirror image will be complete #not so much theory crafting more like rambling #because Alex Casey hated Alan's gut the first time he met him on Cauldron Lake's shore lmao #remedy writing in mirroring-self-consuming #self-generating loops and spirals #alan wake 2 #remedy connected universe #control remedy #zachariah trench #casper darling #tom zane #alan wake #dunno where I read that Ilkka Villi's accent was too thick back then so Remedy went with a different actor for Alan's voice #which if true it would an excellent companion to Sam Lake giving his face to Max Payne due to limited budget #One was like: we only have enough money to pay for James McCaffrey's voice #The other: yeah we can afford two actors for Alan Wake #Then a few years later: we are going to exploit all these little fun facts and make them an integral part of the narrative #remedyversetxt