Endings

This article contains major spoilers. Reader discretion is advised.

This page is about the major endings in Darkwood. For the detailed fate of the characters, see Endings/Transcript.

In Darkwood, players can get two major endings, which only depend on their actions during the Epilogue. After finishing the Epilogue, the player can replay it again if they want to get the other ending.

Note that there are two ways to progress from Chapter 2 to the Epilogue:

• follow the Cripple's request on burning down the Talking Tree. (achievement Only Ashes Remain will be rewarded either ending)
• go through the Radio Tower Bunker. (achievement Merciful will be rewarded either ending)

Ending 1: Bliss

"The rustle of the woods stretching away to the horizon kept the stranger awake for a long time.

Eventually fatigue washed over him and the man fell into a deep, much-desired dream."

First ending is fairly straightforward to obtain.

1. Follow the Road to Home.
2. After entering the Epilogue, start heading east until you will find a town.
3. Find your building, go up the stairs and find your apartment, get changed.
4. Interact with bed and go to sleep.

This ending rewards the player with the achievements Bliss, in addition to Only Ashes Remain or Merciful (see above).

In this ending, the Protagonist seemingly escapes from the Forest, returns to his home and has a well-deserved rest.

Ending 2: Burn Them All (True ending)

"A great fire consumed the woods for a couple of days, gradually claiming many of its inhabitants.

The fire consumed the last road leading to the heart of the woods"

Second ending is obtainable similar to first one, but there are some changes.

Some of these steps can be skipped, but the player must notice a portion of the key events (steps 5, 10, 11) that happen in the Building in order for the roots to appear in The Apartment.

1. Follow the first 2 steps of Ending 1:
   • Follow the Road to Home.
   • After entering the Epilogue, start heading east until you will find a town.
2. Walk through the city, enter the building.
3. Almost immediately south of the building entrance, there will be a staircase leading down. Take the staircase down. You will now be in the building Basement.
4. All of the basement doors will be locked. Follow the path north, and enter the open door.
5. Turn the radio in the same room as the Jar on. Continue to change the channel until the radio stops. It will tell you in broken English to "Go to sleep." and then the lights go out.
6. Go back up the staircase.
7. (Optional) Before going further up the staircase, go to the northern hallway. The homeless man will ask you to spare some change. Ignore him. Instead, attempt to open the metal door in front of it. Afterwards, walk away slowly. The metal door will open and a woman will yell at you. WHILE she is yelling at you, peer through her door to see a fetus on the ground. Keep looking at it until she closes the door.
8. Go up the stairs to your apartment.
9. (Optional) In the hallway, try to look through the cracks in the wall.
10. Keep running down the endless hallway until meeting the ground covered by visible roots.
11. Enter your apartment, get changed. Walk into the northern room with the dog. Move any furniture and examine the roots below it (only need to examine once).
12. Go to the kitchen, search the room for the Large Screwdriver, and return to the living room.
13. Begin to remove the flooring in the room.
14. Remove the flooring leading towards the bedroom. Once there, open the bedroom door, and remove all flooring inside.
15. Examine your bed. Search the bed, and under it.
16. Move the bed, revealing a hole. Go into the hole.
17. You will awake on-top of the tree, completely naked, without any items or anything. Move through the trees until you come across a bright, white light, known in-game as "The Being."
18. Talk to The Being, you can listen to it if you want to, but in the end, you must remove your hand away forcefully.
19. Go south-west of the being, along the path, until you encounter Maciek. The Protagonist will recognize him as "One of us."
20. Forcefully take the Flamethrower from him.
21. Burn. Them. All. Move towards the way you came in, while simultaneously burning everything in sight, as well as The Being.
22. Try to escape, but in the end, he perishes with The Being anyway. He dies for the cause.

This ending rewards the player with the achievements Burn them all, in addition to Only Ashes Remain or Merciful (see above).

In this ending, it is made clear that the Protagonist has not escaped the Forest, but has become a Sleeper, trapped amongst hundreds of others in a massive tree, at the heart of which lies The Being, the source of The Plague. The Protagonist investigates the surrounding of the areas in his dream and realize he is in a dream. He manages to uncover the facade and wakes up.

The Protagonist finds out that he had crawled through an organic tunnel that has closed behind him and disrobed in the process. Exploring the area will reveal that he, and hundreds of other Sleepers are trapped in a valley surrounded by thick roots with no exit. The Sleepers are being gradually consumed by the roots, and will eventually starve to death, including the Protagonist should he fall asleep in his dream, resulting in the Bliss ending.

At the center of the heart of the Forest, the Protagonist will encounter the Being. He may place his hand on the Being and question the Being, but it will offer no answers to his questions. The Protagonist must fight to remove their hand from it, or he will fall back asleep.

The Protagonist will then seize a flamethrower from another Sleeper and former Outsider, Maciek. He then proceeds to set The Being and the heart of the Forest on fire, along with hundreds of other sleepers in the process. The Protagonist may attempt to escape on a small branch clogged with fleeing Sleepers, but his surroundings will catch fire so quickly he and the Sleepers will all burn to death.

With the death of The Being, The Plague and root network ravaging the forest will cease to exist, and the Darkwood and many of it's inhabitants are consumed by a massive forest fire over the course of several days. Depending on the choices of the Protagonist up to this point, some characters may manage to hide from the flames and escape from the woods.

The Protagonist's clothes

His fate is sealed... and so is the Forest's

Fates of the Characters

"But not everyone perished..."

Main article: Endings/Transcript

Trivia

• The ending Bliss may be a reference to the idea "Ignorance is bliss", considering how the alternative ending turns out.