Discussion on the possible Abigail's death, on the true nature of the Constant, of "Them" and more. (With sketches)

[Pop Guy]

Attention: the theory expressed in the following topic comes from a happy intuition of @CaptainChaotica, Always be praised

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Most likely, the next character rework is going to be Wendy. Wes is in a gray area (will he remain a challenge character?), while Wilson and Maxwell, due to the great importance they have as protagonists of the game, will be reworked last in my opinion. (And Wilson, who has never been reworked, will he really be changed?)

Let's talk about Wendy:

a lot has been said about how she should be modified in terms of mechanics and gameplay.

But what will we discover about the past history of this beloved, tragic and mysterious character?

We know that she is the niece of Maxwell, daughter of his brother Jack. We know that she was probably born in the United States, that her twin sister Abigail died in circumstances not yet clarified and that from her death on she brings "the ghost" of her sister inside.

Here, personally I don't believe that Klei will reveal details about Abigail's death, in Wendy’s short story.

Apart from the short on Winona, which seemed the prelude to great revelations, all the other short films were poor in information. 

I would still try to make assumptions: we know that Wendy and Abigail were born and grew up at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Between 1918 and 1920 the Spanish flu caused a worldwide decimation, bringing to death about 100 million people.

In 1918, if Abigail and Wendy were born reasonably around 1904, both should be 14 (the age I always thought they were).

What if both of them contracted the Spanish flu?

Unfortunately, Abigail died while Wendy survived. And it was precisely the fact that she survived her sister, without there being a reason, that traumatized her: why had she survived, while Abigail hadn’t? This unconscious sense of guilt is the pain Wendy carries with her. Having seen the plague victims die around her, that's where her sentence "everything dies" comes from.

For this I think that the new skin of Wendy will be the skin from plague, of which I enjoyed making a sketch!

Note: Other concept art on the same idea in the following pages of the discussion.

[Thomas Die]

what if abigial's existance is simply a projection like wagstaff or the wendy willingly went to the constant so that she could be with her sister as the constant has magical properties 

[NormalPinkerton]

That's the most likely option, but wouldn't it be interesting if a nightmare creature attacked Abigail, like in the Willow short but this time they actually kill her? And then there's the possibility of Klei just not showing how she died and starting after her death, they could even just show Wendy in the constant feeling sad.

[minespatch]

2 hours ago, thomas4845 said:

what if abigial's existance is simply a projection like wagstaff or the wendy willingly went to the constant so that she could be with her sister as the constant has magical properties 

OH! Reminds me of Aunti-em in Wizard of Oz.

[EzLo54]

[Fuffles]

Honestly after the Woodie Short, my belief for more Backstory has just died. If I had to hope for something in Wendy's Short, I'd love to either see Abigail's Death or how Wendy deals shortly after the Death of Abigail

[sinisterrkid]

4 hours ago, Pop Guy said:

We know that she is the granddaughter of Maxwell, daughter of his brother Jack.

I don't wanna think of the implications that genealogical tree suggests.

She's actually theorized to be the niece of Maxwell.

[Zeklo]

I'm still a firm believer that Abigail may have died during the San Fransico earthquake as a side-effect of Maxwell's final act—the timing and location is too perfect to dismiss. It's already an event we're aware of occurring, and we know Jack headed West, so it's not unbelievable. It wouldn't be out of the question to say family would come and see Max's "big act".

[fimmatek]

1 hour ago, Zeklo said:

I'm still a firm believer that Abigail may have died during the San Fransico earthquake as a side-effect of Maxwell's final act—the timing and location is too perfect to dismiss. It's already an event we're aware of occurring, and we know Jack headed West, so it's not unbelievable. It wouldn't be out of the question to say family would come and see Max's "big act".

Are there any signs that suggest they were in San Francisco when the earthquake occured? For me it seems that Wendy and Abigail didn't know Maxwell (or William) well in the real world, especially not his shadow magic, otherways Wendy would have recognised him in the Constand, wouldn't she?

[Zeklo]

3 minutes ago, fimmatek said:

Are there any signs that suggest they were in San Francisco when the earthquake occured? For me it seems that Wendy and Abigail didn't know Maxwell (or William) well in the real world, especially not his shadow magic, otherways Wendy would have recognised him in the Constand, wouldn't she?

There's no signs for anything in this thread. Hence speculation. My point was, we already know that Maxwell likely played a part in said earthquake—an event we know is relevant to lore—where as the spanish flu has never been relevant, and the timeline for that is a bit off as well.

As far as recognizing Maxwell, Wendy does recognize a "connection" but that's it. You can amount this to age if you so desire.

[Pop Guy]

10 hours ago, thomas4845 said:

what if abigial's existance is simply a projection like wagstaff or the wendy willingly went to the constant so that she could be with her sister as the constant has magical properties 

It could be, actually I also believe that Abigail started to manifest itself only after Wendy entered the Constant ... it is also true that with the Willow's short we saw that shadows can also travel in our world, so in reality the boundaries between dimensions are more fragile than we think!

9 hours ago, NormalPinkerton said:

That's the most likely option, but wouldn't it be interesting if a nightmare creature attacked Abigail, like in the Willow short but this time they actually kill her? And then there's the possibility of Klei just not showing how she died and starting after her death, they could even just show Wendy in the constant feeling sad.

It would be a bit repetitive to see yet another character being attacked by a shadow. However, Abigail's death, as you describe her, reminds me of Abdul Alhazred in Lovecraft: in the seventh century in Damascus, gutted in broad daylight from an invisible creature!

7 hours ago, EzLo54 said:

6 hours ago, FuffledBeeQueen said:

Honestly after the Woodie Short, my belief for more Backstory has just died. If I had to hope for something in Wendy's Short, I'd love to either see Abigail's Death or how Wendy deals shortly after the Death of Abigail

6 hours ago, sinisterrkid said:

I don't wanna think of the implications that genealogical tree suggests.

She's actually theorized to be the niece of Maxwell.

I apologize, in Italian there is only one word to indicate every possible and unimaginable type of "nephew". I corrected

@Terra M Welch Forgive the question: why do you put the fool face in all my posts? Do I write in too horrible english or is there some problem that I don't understand? :'D

@FreyaMaluk Hi Freya! Forgive me if I mention you in the topic, but I'm curious about what you think of the Spanish flu theory and my Wendy skin :'D I was thinking of doing drawing again but better, with her in a field hospital and next to the bed with the lifeless body of Abigail under a veil, what do you think? Like the father of Scrooge mcDuck in the Don Rosa $aga

[Mike23Ua]

Admit-ably I only came here to look at your sketch art and did not actually read the post.. but I do have to say I absolutely love that sketch drawing and would like to have that exact look as an in-game skin!!! (The one I use in my own game with currently existing clothing items looks similar to it.. I like the whole poor Raggy clothing street rat-type vibe... it seems to fit Wendy quite well.)

[Pop Guy]

Thank you so much for the nice words! I wanted Wendy to look like a sick of plague, so I thought that dressing her with rags, bandages and making her look dirty and smelly was fitting with what I wanted to communicate.
For the hat instead I was inspired by Che Guevara's Basque: I imagined Wendy saying: "The Spanish flu didn't kill me, the not even the Constant will succeed!" and since it seemed like an guerrilla soldier's phrase, I instinctively thought of Che! :'D
However soon I will make a more elaborate artwork on the same concept

 

[Terra B Welch]

Please don't drag me into your thread please. Thanks!

[Pop Guy]

4 minutes ago, Terra M Welch said:

Please don't drag me into your thread please. Thanks!

Please block me, so you will never read anything by I again, darling 

[TipherethB]

3 minutes ago, Terra M Welch said:

Please don't drag me into your thread please. Thanks!

You could just not respond... ?
 

11 hours ago, Pop Guy said:

[snip]

ohmygodiloveher

[Pop Guy]

2 minutes ago, Mattyington said:

ohmygodiloveher

Thanks a lot!! Soon I'll try to make an even more beautiful composition with the same concept! 

       

[Zeklo]

7 minutes ago, Pop Guy said:

Thanks a lot!! Soon I'll try to make an even more beautiful composition with the same concept! 

Would love you to see you try and apply the same concept to the Don't Starve models. 

Curious how a scarf would look.

[TipherethB]

Just now, Pop Guy said:

Thanks a lot!! Soon I'll try to make an even more beautiful composition with the same concept! 

Make sure to tag me when you do! I Wonder if we'll get to see Abigail in this one!

 

[CaptainChaotica]

12 hours ago, Pop Guy said:

would still try to make assumptions: we know that Wendy and Abigail were born and grew up at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Between 1918 and 1920 the Spanish flu caused a worldwide decimation, bringing to death about 100 million people.

In 1918, if Abigail and Wendy were born reasonably around 1904, both should be 14 (the age I always thought they were).

What if both of them contracted the Spanish flu?

Unfortunately, Abigail died while Wendy survived. And it was precisely the fact that she survived her sister, without there being a reason, that traumatized her: why had she survived, while Abigail hadn’t? This unconscious sense of guilt is the pain Wendy carries with her. Having seen the plague victims die around her, that's where her sentence "everything dies" comes from.

This is exactly what I'VE been saying!

I'm glad somebody else agrees with me.  But seriously, I've been thinking the Spanish Flu possibiilty since early 2016, and I think my first post mentioning it here was in May of that year, June at the latest.  : P   See, my thinking was: 

1.  Klei had ALREADY brought a famous real-life historical tragedy from the early 20th with the "Maxwell's shadow magic probably caused the 1906 San Franciso earthquake" thing, so, I figured...why not _another_? 

2.  The flu took out WAY more people than the actual first World War. Way WAY more.

3.  The timing matches up with the game's timeframe (Wilson got to the Constant "around 1920") pretty damn well.

4.  And yes, the Spanish Flu made it to America.  And it was widespread, so the chances of an individual person getting it are pretty good.  

And that's why I've always thought that.  

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EDIT:  I'm curious exactly WHICH version of the Wizard of Oz you're talking about, Minespatch!  In the way more famous movie, it was OZ that was the dream and Auntie Em was a real human being.  In the books, she was a real human being and she and Uncle Henry eventually get to go to Oz and live with Dorothy, as a way to stop aging and have a happier life.  I think Auntie Em ends up as some kind of at least honorary royalty? because Dorothy was also made a princess earlier?  Something like that.

So...figment of Dorothy's imagination?  Do tell.

...Notorious

[Pop Guy]

6 hours ago, CaptainChaotica said:

This is exactly what I'VE been saying!

I'm glad somebody else agrees with me.  But seriously, I've been thinking the Spanish Flu possibiilty since early 2016, and I think my first post mentioning it here was in May of that year, June at the latest.  : P   See, my thinking was: 

1.  Klei had ALREADY brought a famous real-life historical tragedy from the early 20th with the "Maxwell's shadow magic probably caused the 1906 San Franciso earthquake" thing, so, I figured...why not _another_? 

2.  The flu took out WAY more people than the actual first World War. Way WAY more.

3.  The timing matches up with the game's timeframe (Wilson got to the Constant "around 1920") pretty damn well.

4.  And yes, the Spanish Flu made it to America.  And it was widespread, so the chances of an individual person getting it are pretty good.  

And that's why I've always thought that.  

If you give me the link to your discussion, I'll put it at the top of the page!

Anyway Yes:

1) Klei has already been inspired by real historical tragedies... even if for years he seems to avoid references to the real world :'D

2) The Spanish influence has decimated 5% of what was then the world population, it seems to me.

3) Times coincide perfectly, I always thought that Wendy was 14-15 years old when she joined the Constant. Once one enter, as we know, time stops making a lot of sense, so it's not incongruous that it still looks like a child.

4) Wendy and Abigail, among other things, were daughters of European immigrants, presumably of a socially low family (William Carter, before becoming Maxwell, did not seem rich at all, on the contrary...) Surely this has helped expose them to infections.

[FreyaMaluk]

8 hours ago, Pop Guy said:

 

@FreyaMaluk Hi Freya! Forgive me if I mention you in the topic, but I'm curious about what you think of the Spanish flu theory and my Wendy skin :'D I was thinking of doing drawing again but better, with her in a field hospital and next to the bed with the lifeless body of Abigail under a veil, what do you think? Like the father of Scrooge mcDuck in the Don Rosa $aga

I actually like the idea. We got no evidence so far for itbut the emotional state of recovering from a serious illness and loosing your sister in the process can explain her emotional state to the t, but any other similar incident as well could achieve that like if Abi died while they were playing together... Actually there is a quote referring to Abi as the Ophelia

, so there could a line of lore there pointing out that maybe Abi died while playing with her sister in a lake. Imagine if you cannot save your sister cuz you cannot carry her weight and you have to swim away and leave her to save yourself instead. That would be devastating as well. 

There are multiple scenarios that could fit so we will have to wait for the cinematic. 

[seyfitoplar]

I am only here to say your art is really nice

[Remps]

did klei confirm next rework for wendy ? 

[Swanky Psammead]

I've always favored the Abigail-died-in-San-Francisco-earthquake theory. It makes for very elegant conservation of detail story-ways, and adds more depth to the relationship between Wendy/Abigail/Maxwell.

Maxwell's quote for a failed Abigail revive implies some feeling of guilt to me, if that means anything. The only other people he ever shows remorse for harming are Charlie and the Ancient Guardian.

If Wendy doesn't recognize him as her Uncle Maxwell, I'd guess it's because they never actually met before his Final Act. We know Maxwell and Jack's mother hadn't "met the twins yet" as of Jack's letter, and their family'd been kind of scattered across two continents more than once; doesn't seem like they had proper reunions very often.