One of the greatest parts of Outlast 2 is the way that the developers have left the story open to interpretation by every player who completes it. No matter what you think of the horror tropes used, or the lack of narrative, the game itself has a deeply embedded story hidden throughout the various documents and recordings in the game. One question we’ve seen being asked quite a bit, though, is “what does the ending mean”. To help you out we’ve put together a detailed explanation of what we believe the Outlast 2 ending means.
It should be noted that there are some extreme spoilers in the following article. If you haven’t beaten Outlast 2, and plan to play it at some point, do not continue beyond the image below.
Outlast 2’s Ending Explained
We’ve already explained the story and given you our thoughts on everything that happens to Blake during his journey. But, after you survive the onslaught of crazy cultists, and even survive being crucified and buried alive, you find your wife Lynn, at the edge of the mines. Together you escape, and she has the baby while a storm rages outside the old chapel in Temple Gate. After having the baby, Lynn says three final words to Ethan before dying, “there’s nothing there”.
These final words have left a proverbial wrench in the gears of the story, and a lot of players are scratching their heads right now, wondering what the heck this ending means. Of course, everything we’ve included below is merely our interpretation of the information provided by the game, so if your opinion is different, be sure to let us know.
As Blake walks away from Knoth and Lynn’s bodies, the world around him changes back to the school, and Jessica—with rope burns around her neck—leads him into the back room of the kitchen, where they used to fool around when they were kids. Together, Blake and Jessica kneel, and Jessica says a short prayer, and the credits roll.
Based on everything we’ve seen in Outlast 2, it would appear that Blake finally loses his mind and succumbs to the madness that has been eating away at him. His part in Jessica’s suicide (the fact that he did not stay with her when she begged him to) has left him ridden with guilt for many years, and the microwave signals from the tower set up to control the minds of the people in Temple Gate have finally broken him.
It’s unclear what happens to the baby, if the baby was even real, or if it was just an illusion caused by the signals playing tricks on Blake’s mind. As we mentioned above, Lynn says “there’s nothing there” just before she dies, which leads many to believe that she was talking about the baby that Blake believe he had just delivered. It’s possible that Lynn was in a much stronger mental state, as she was several hundred feet below ground, which would have kept the microwave signals from reaching her as much.
Of course, as we mentioned in our explanation of the story, Knoth also saw the baby, but this could easily have been a shared hallucination due to prolonged exposure to the mind-altering waves of the radio tower that was supposedly setup by Murkoff Corp. This theory is possible because over time Blake’s mind has grown weaker, with hallucinations becoming more and more frequent throughout. What began as a simple nightmare has at this point evolved into a new reality for Blake, a reality that he eventually gives into completely.
There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, and collecting every document and recording in the game won’t even paint a perfect picture. The developers have left the interpretation of the events in Outlast 2 up to the audience, and this is just what we believe based on the information we’ve found in the game.
You can return to our Outlast 2 game hub, where we have even more helpful articles, or be sure to take a look at our Outlast 2 all recordings and documents guide, which will help you pinpoint all the documents and recordings in the game.
