Is the Nameless Puppet actually Carlo?
I've been thinking about the Nameless Puppet victory badge's flavor text since I got it.
Though the game skirts around whether or not Nameless Puppet had an ego--
--I've always firmly believed Carlo is still partially present within it (which is why I theorize P never "fully" awakened). I think he's fragmented--partially in his portrait, partially in P, and partially in Nameless Puppet.
The portrait has his soul.
And Nameless Puppet has his body.
But anyway, re-watching the end cutscene now hits so much harder.
First of all, the whole time, Nameless Puppet is trying to kill P. That's why he breaks free from Geppetto's strings, he has to kill P. He has to destroy the heart in P: Carlo's heart that P has been leveling up. Sound familiar? It was also the mission of Romeo...
...because, like Romeo, he knows "it all" (all of the death and destruction Geppetto has caused) would never end if P remained. I think ATP, he cannot fathom losing Geppetto, like, it's just not on the table. Which is why P has to be the one to go.
I also think he simply does not want to be brought back to life at any cost. Especially not the one Geppetto has paid.
But then Geppetto protects P, and Nameless Puppet almost seems shocked, in disbelief of what just happened. Nameless Puppet, the one who was uncontrollable and frenzied, calmed, at last.
...and gently places a hand on Geppetto. Gently. The Nameless Puppet, being gentle. Tender. Loving.
"The remains of a heart turned from madness to regret."
Even after everything--even in a state like this--Carlo still mourned his father. And I do believe that Carlo was, to some extent, present within the Nameless Puppet to elicit such a reaction. He had to have been.
