#sdv unsolved?

So, us Stardew players can definitely agree that Pelican Town has some shifty stuff going on, but I want to talk about one specific thing.

The player’s relationship to Alex.

Wait, wait, wait, don’t get the pitchforks out yet. Hear me out.

The very first time I played Stardew Valley, back in the 1.1 update around 2018-19, I was trying hard to branch out to every NPC I could. Some of the bachelors and bachelorettes were nice, but most of them to me seemed like they were better friends than they were marriage candidates.

Until I fell in love with Alex. Hate me all you want for loving him as a girl, but I don’t give a shit.

I was paying serious attention to the characters backstories, and I noticed during Alex’s eight heart event that his mom’s music box sounded very familiar, but I didn’t know where I had heard it.

Then I logged in the next time, and I realized it. The Stardew Valley theme. And Grandpa’s theme was the same tune.

Now, to little kid me, this implies one of two things. Either ConcernedApe really loved the melody (understandably), or there was a connection between Grandpa’s theme and the music box.

So I looked for canon connections, and Evelyn mentions that she and George were close to the player’s grandpa. Alright, cool, but if they knew our grandpa, how did Alex not know us?

Grandparents love talking about their kids and grandkids. I’m basing this off the fact that mine won’t shut up about talking about me. It’s kind of embarrassing at times.

Well, Alex mentions his father was a drunk (bastard), and his mother was the one always there for him.

As for the player, we only ever hear from the one parent. Mom if you play as a boy, and dad if you play as a girl. No known siblings, cousins, nothing.

This is particularly strange. If you had a good relationship with both parents, you’d think that you would hear from both of them. So the player probably doesn’t have good relations with their other parent.

Neither does Alex.

But let’s establish the relationship between Grandpa and Clara (Alex’s mom) first.

So, their melodies are the same. This means that Grandpa must have at some point either taught Clara the melody or gave her the music box as a gift. Or they could have bonded over the same song.

Clara would have probably met the player’s grandpa through Evelyn and George.

But Alex and the player don’t know each other. So why?

Their parents must have talked at some point. Evelyn, George, and Grandpa appeared to have a healthy relationship with each other. And like I said, parents/grandparents like to talk about their kids/grandkids.

So, did the player’s and Alex’s parents get into a fight and just never introduce the Alex and the player to each other? Or they lost contact? Yes, Alex’s mom died, but surely the player’s parent(s) still had Evelyn and George’s number?

Now this is the part that the trail goes cold. I think this becomes the creative part for the player to decide, but little me stretched the theory a little far.

Since the player and Alex both are missing a parent, what if those missing parents became the reason the families never introduced their kids to each other?

It could be why Alex’s father became drunk. Because he couldn’t have the person that he decided was better than the parent he was married to. That the time he left meant he divorced Clara. Even if the player is female, this could be partly why Alex is bisexual. Because his father was just as gay as Alex is.

Obviously, this isn’t the best answer. It was just a theory I had, that’s all. I was young when creating it, and I don’t expect you to believe it.

But it is an idea.