Outlast 2 is not a game for the faint of heart. If you’ve played the first game, then you already know that the experience revolves around the player being unable to defend themselves as they explore an area full of horrors and nightmarish events. However, unlike many horror games, the frightening happenings aren’t being done by monsters, at least not in the literal sense. Behind the gruesome acts you’ll bear witness to are humans who genuinely believe they are doing the lord’s work.
While the cult theme is at the top layer of Outlast 2’s story, there’s actually a lot more going on beneath the surface. It turns out that while the setting and antagonists are quite different from what fans may remember from the first game, the two games are still connected on a deep level. It can be a lot to take in and a bit confusing, but don’t worry, we’re here to break the story down for you.
This should go without saying, but we must warn you that we will be spoiling the entire story ahead. This won’t be a vague breakdown, so if you want to experience the twists and turns that Outlast 2 has to offer for yourself, we suggest turning back right now. If you’re just dying to find out what’s behind the evil in Arizona, then read on.
Another note is that we will only focus on points that are crucial to the core plot of the story. There are some interactions with other characters, such as the Sculled which is a faction in the game, that don’t have much to do with the central narrative.
SPOILERS AHEAD! FINAL WARNING!
Important Characters
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
Outlast 2 doesn’t have an extraordinarily large cast, but there are a few characters you should know about. The story revolves heavily around these few individuals, and you’ll see their names pop up constantly.
Lynn Langermann – An investigative journalist who heads to the area to look into the suicide of a young woman who died under very mysterious circumstances.
Blake Langermann – Lynn’s husband, assistant, cameraman, and the person you’ll control throughout the game. He’s haunted by old memories from his childhood and fighting to find his wife.
Jessica Grey – A girl that both Lynn and Blake went to school with. She passed away a long time ago.
Sullivan Knoth – Leader of the Testament of the New Ezekiel (the cult you’ll run into during the game).
Val – Once a trusted member of the Testament of the New Ezekiel, now leader of the Heretics, a sort of rival cult. Something worthy of note is that Val is referred to as a man in documents you find written by other cult members, yet appears as a woman when you finally meet. It’s never outright stated if Val is transexual and the cult refuses to identify her as a woman due to their strong religious beliefs, if Val actually identifies as a man, or the character was altered. Based on the few docs and interactions you do come across with Val, we’re pretty sure it’s the first option.
Ethan – A nice man you meet in this hell of a town.
Jane Doe – The girl who kicked off the whole series of events with her suicide.
The Opening
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
There are a lot of things that happen during the opening of Outlast 2 that are all very important to the overall story. It’s sort of spit out in rapid fire so we’ll try to keep it as simple and clear as possible for you. The first thing is the reason for the Langermanns to be out here in the first place. A young woman, who is known only as Jane Doe in the beginning, was found on the side of the road pregnant, covered in filth, and muttering nonsensical verses. She was soon found dead by her own hand. While it’s not detailed, it was said that she strangled herself to death (possible hanging?) and that she had high counts of mercury in her blood. The entire situation stinks of all types of weird, which makes Lynn want to do a bit of investigating.
While on the chopper on the way over, Blake wakes from a dream where he’s screaming out the name Jessica (which obviously isn’t his wife’s name). Turns out that she was a fellow student back when the two were in the fourth grade, and she too died by her own hand. It’s inferred that she hanged herself (you see her hanging in visions although they never say that’s how it happened) and the current situation may just be dredging up these old, dark memories for Blake. You don’t find out why the memories are coming on so strongly now until later.
The final thing that happens during the opening scenes is that a bright, white flash of light engulfs the helicopter, causing it to lose control and crash. It’s not initially clear what this flash is, but it is important so don’t forget it.
After the helicopter crashes, you wake up alone to find the aircraft completely destroyed and your wife and pilot missing. After walking a bit, you discover the pilot tied to a post and skinned, something that didn’t happen during the crash. It’s your first sign that there’s some foul play lurking in the shadows and is your introduction into the cruel world of Outlast 2.
Testament of the New Ezekiel
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
The people who skinned your pilot belong to a religious group, a cult known as the Testament of the New Ezekiel. Headed by one Sullivan, the group lives in an isolated, rural area of Arizona where they live as a community that follows the holy doctrine with special attention to Knoth’s Gospel, a new book guided by the hand of god that he’s writing for the bible. They come across as pious yet filthy, strictly following the teachings and leadership of Knoth.
The group doesn’t take kindly to outsiders because they are worried about the coming of the anti-christ. You, being a man, can impregnate one of their women with a demon seed so you must be dealt with. It’s why they’re trying to kill you rather than have you join them. Lynn, however, has yet to be killed. As you progress through the opening moments, you actually find Lynn and start to escape. However, realizing that she is gone, Knoth broadcasts over the loudspeakers to the whole area that Blake must be killed and Lynn must be captured so her baby can be dealt with. He claims to have examined her and found her to be with child. Blake is confused because as far as he knew, they weren’t having a baby anytime soon. More perplexing is that Lynn keeps saying Knoth is wrong, yet won’t say anything else.
Either way, the Testament of New Ezekiel is hunting both of you. They seek to take your life, and to kill the growing anti-christ that is slowly forming within Lynn. The cult eventually surrounds you but are killed by a group of what appears to be beasts lead by a woman. It turns out they’re all human and are a rival faction of sorts to the Testament of New Ezekiel known as the Heretics.
The Heretics and the Truth About Jane Doe
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
The heretics are led by Val, who was once a trusted member of New Ezekiel. It was Val that was entrusted with the all-important task of caring for the children. You may have noticed that you don’t run across any young individuals while playing the game, and there’s a good reason for that. They’re all killed. Now it’s not stated that Val is the one who kills them, in fact it’s pretty clear that everyone must play a part in the bloodshed or else they’re considered to be a traitor. Oftentimes it involves cutting the babe right out of your spouse, which is very gruesome.
It’s not clear if the child murdering is what caused Val to go her own separate way. Reading certain documents shows that she loved caring for the children and looked at them as if they were blood relatives. The heretics take Lynn, presumably to have the supposed baby that’s growing inside of her killed. After taking her they leave you be, which is another odd event in Outlast 2 as everyone else seems hellbent on killing you.
Shortly after meeting the heretics for the first time, you meet another interesting character, Ethan. He’s a member of Knoth’s “family” but he seems to be on the outs with them after he did something against the rules. Knoth raped his daughter (which isn’t considered rape in the cult) and got her pregnant. He then ordered Ethan to cut the baby from his daughter, which he naturally couldn’t bring himself to do. So he lies to buy his daughter, who is named Anna, time to escape. She does successfully flee the area and is found days later wandering the road, only then she was known as Jane Doe.
Ethan lets you stay the night at his house, but is considered a heretic. So later on he is murdered by the good ol’ axe lady you keep running into. He keeps your location secret to the end. The events that happened with his daughter opened his eyes to what was going on and he refused to be a part of it any longer.
Visions of Days Gone By
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
Throughout the game, you’ll be struck by visions of the past at certain key points in the story. They all take you to a school, the very school Blake and Lynn attended when they were children. Outlast 2 opens with Blake screaming out the name Jessica, and this is where he knows her from. She killed herself when they were still in school, and she now haunts your mind and the reason for that is a combination of guilt and familiar events.
Jessica was your friend in catholic school, a place where the teachers were as violently strict as the cultists you come across in the game. Anything that was against scripture was done in secret to avoid punishment. Jessica and Blake were close in school, very close. They used to sneak into the school’s kitchen area to fool around, but one day they were caught leaving. Father Loutermilch (the way his name is said just sounds all types of evil) catches the two leaving school well past the bell and decides to interrogate them. Jessica is really the one under fire, but she asks you to stay since she’s terrified of the father.
After some questioning, the father decides to send Blake home but keep Jessica around. She asks you to stay but you leave anyway. One reason is because you were ordered to do so and the other is that you two just discussed how you’re in love with Lynn (while in the fourth grade) and want to be with her. When you leave, you can hear Jessica’s screams which send you running back inside.
Father Loutermilch beat Jessica unconscious. You sit there, holding her in your arms. Blake has witnessed women being abused and treated like nothing before, has seen them fall victim to senseless violence, and it all started there. He left her alone because of his love for another even though he cared for her too, and that has always weighed heavily on him.
Yet it’s a bit odd that this is all hitting him now, right? You could blame it on the recent trauma, but he was dreaming about Jessica once they started getting close, and the white light that engulfed the helicopter seems to precede each of these “visions” as well. Even more notable is that the visions are much more than mere memories, Blake can move through them, feel them, and as time goes on, they grow more violent.
Halfway through the game, a demon appears and starts giving chase. The demon happens to be a manifestation of Father Loutermilch, and you can discern this by the scar from the previous memories and images you see of him. Yet that’s sort of a distraction. Blake seeing a demon isn’t as important as why he’s seeing these things in the first place. And that’s where the connection to the first Outlast, to Mount Massive Asylum Slaughter, is made.
The White Lights and the Murkoff Corporation
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
Ah, the Murkoff Corporation. They were behind MKULTRA experiments at Mount Massive Asylum. You know, the same experiments that turned patients at that facility into superhuman, killing machines. Their experiments tend to take on supernatural forms and influences, such as the Walrider which many believed to be a spirit or even a god. We’re not sure what it is about how Murkoff creates things, but it’s another experiment that has everyone overly zealous and seeing bright lights.
The lights and odd visions are being caused by a microwave signal from a nearby radio tower. They appear to be part of yet another mind control experiment, but instead of giving anyone control they appear to just be driving everyone mad. This phenomenon may have to do with the location itself as a document you find states that certain areas receive a much stronger signal than they should, causing a “feedback loop.” This loop lets others carry the signal to affect those around them. That possibly explains why so many people follow Sullivan Knoth, he can be one of the loop’s focal points. Val, too, may be one, which is what allowed her to separate and form her own mad group rather than flee the area entirely (which a sane person would do).
It’s never clearly stated why the microwaves cause the visions. Perhaps to weaken the host and allow for better control, or just because it’s messing with the brain in unnatural ways. You can chart Blake losing his mind by the visions though as they become more and more violent. At first they’re just vivid memories preceded by light, but eventually the lights are no longer present and the visions take on horrifying elements such as the aforementioned demon Loutermilch. As you continue through Outlast 2, you’re being exposed to these waves, essentially making you crazier and crazier, which makes the events near and including the end extra odd.
The Heretics, New Ezekiel, Lynn, and the Coveted Baby
Outlast 2: Story and Ending Explained
So we know about Knoth and his crew, Val and the Heretics, and we now know that Murkoff has their hands in this filthy pot as well. After fighting with both factions and dealing with his mind losing itself, Blake finally finds Lynn in the mines. He has to deal with the heretics first, but after seemingly losing to them, and being struck unconscious, Blake finds himself in the mines again and is able to escape where he finds his wife free from the heretics (we have no idea how she got away since she was bound when we last saw her).
After getting to the chapel, Lynn, the woman who swore she wasn’t pregnant just hours ago, gives birth. She passes away during labor and as the baby cries, Blake blacks out. Upon awakening, Knoth can be found sitting nearby. He informs you that he’s killed everyone, all of his followers. He then tells you to kill the baby or else it will bring about a scourge upon the earth, right before slitting his own throat before your very eyes.
Blake takes the baby outside to see all of the dead cultists. He carries the baby through the town where he watches the sun rise and has another vision, it’s a girl with a bruised neck in the school kitchen praying.
What the Heck Happened in That Ending?
If you just read that ending and are extremely confused, we don’t blame you. In order to understand the game’s ending, you need to understand only two things:
1) Lynn was clearly not pregnant at the beginning of the game, at least not pregnant enough to birth a child in the short time you’ve been in Arizona.
2) Murkoff’s experiments and the “feedback loop.”
Right before she dies, after giving birth in front of you in the chapel, Lynn says one last thing: “there’s nothing there.” It sounds confusing at first, especially if you were just rushing through, but what she means is there’s no baby there in your hands. She was kept in the mines, so it’s safe to say that she didn’t fall victim to the microwaves and can still clearly see what’s happening in reality. The reality is that you’re standing there holding nothing, or perhaps an actual piece of her. I personally believe that Blake ends up killing his wife in his psychosis, believing that he’s actually delivering a baby. The baby that can’t possibly exist because he’s only been here for a night, two at most depending on how long he fell unconscious.
Yet it was Knoth who strongly believed that Lynn was pregnant, and remember that thing about feedback loops? He seems to be the center of one and can project his beliefs so that you can see the same. You see a baby because he believes there is one. He sits there with you in the chapel seeing the baby as well, what he believes to be the anti-christ, evil incarnate.
Another possibility, which also maintains that there is no actual baby, is that you’re dealing with the Walrider from the first game again. The mind experiments lead to the development of this being who could take someone who’s witnessed horror and trauma as a host and even be controlled by them. It viewed its creator as a father and sought to protect its host at all costs. This, mixed with the mind control, may explain why Knoth didn’t just kill Blake and the baby at the end, though he could’ve easily done so early on. You falling under the effects of the mind control placed you above the cult and somehow safe.
It seems as if you’ve completely succumbed to the mind control and are now just like all the cultists you saw before. It’s not clear what comes next for Blake now that everyone is dead. Will he leave? Will we have to wait for an expansion? I’m definitely curious to find out Lynn’s side to the whole ordeal.
Do you agree with our description of the end? Do you have some of your own theories? Feel free to share them.
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