#cycleknots

"Don't be too hard on yourself, kid. It's a mess in there."

"Oh, I just hate to see you like this."

One of my favourite things about this level is it makes it so clear that Hollis is already mentally unwell. You fight a crowd of Bad Ideas before you change anything in her mind. She is already suffering.

Then you find her quiet room, and what originally looks like an organized and peaceful place expands to a literal web of overthinking, every possible idea happening at the same time. You trigger a reaction that rids her of her self preservation instinct, and next thing you know she's risking her own life, along with those of the children and other agents. It's a level that forces Raz to see the difference between what he did at the summer camp and what he's doing here. He has never stopped to consider the consequences of his own actions, and it could cost him everything.

You find your way back into her mind, and any common sense is locked within this web. To even get to it, you need to fight through the addiction and false hope you gave her, at the same time dismantling her mask of repression.

You find your way to her, and have to face off against the original problem you made, in the process saving the people who just earlier that day treated you like absolute shit.

Slight side note but I really love that during the fight, Adam's first reaction when he and Lizzie get thrown is to comfort her. Their friendship is one of my favourite things that go on in the game's background.

You destroy it, and in a fit of guilt and nostalgia, Hollis forgives you almost immediately. You did what she never could, and she assumes that means you know better. Sasha is the one that has to talk to Raz, likely because Raz holds his opinion to higher importance.

In Compton’s mind (during one of the commercial breaks) you’re shown a cereal box with a bee on it, and are immediately swarmed with regrets, because bees are Cassie, and Cassie is gone.

You fight multiple bad ideas in Hollis’ mind before you alter any of her thoughts (excluding the mental connection tutorial) because Raz didn’t MAKE her snap all on his own, she was already struggling and overwhelmed.

Tia is a pink carnation (both her plant form and the blooms that lead to her bottle). The most common meaning of them is literally “A mother’s eternal love”. It’s also a thank you flower and a flower for remembrance.

The path to Truman’s bottle is lined with black delilahs; Betrayal. His animate plant version seems to be a snapdragon: A flower relating to deception, but also presumption. A request to not assume things, because you never truly know how someone is feeling.

Helmut’s path is marigolds. They stand for grieving, mourning someone held so close to the heart. I wasn’t able to find any official standing on what his plant really is, but to me, the petals seem to be zinnia petals. (There is a type of zinnia called a cactus zinnia, so I thought it might be a play on words, but maybe that’s a stretch.) Zinnias are known for their endurance. They stand for everlasting affection, remembrance, and a sense of youth, even in old age. It’s a TRIBUTE flower.