CHAOS THEORY.
GAME PLAY.

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I do hope if you've made it this far that you've enjoyed Chaos Theory! So thank you for following Willow's journey during Until Dawn and be on the look-out for my other fic for the game coming soon!

Below is just some fun stuff I wanted to include regarding the game and if Willow was truly a character within it!

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Here's the full explanation of what Willow's character arc would be if she was actually in the game. Basically, this story is detailing what happens if you manage to save Willow and keep her alive during a playthrough.

Like Jess and Josh, Willow is very hard to keep alive if you don't do the right things. Much like Josh, Willow can only die in one specific scene. Many ways depending on what occurs, but only in one moment can she die. If you save Willow in that moment, then no matter what happens in the final chapter, Willow survives the burning of the Lodge. What you would do with the other characters depends on how many of them will survive with her.

I imagine it would be a trophy for the game if you manage to have just Willow as your sole survivor. You know, if she was actually part of the game. So in my version of the game that includes Willow, she is the sole survivor if you keep her alive.

Gotta stay alive out of spite, you know?

Plus, toward the end, she really does have hypothermia and a concussion. The last chapter is when the second stage of hypothermia hits, and going into the second body of water just made it worse, which is why Willow is confused as to why the others wouldn't be in the basement ─ she doesn't remember seeing how many bodies were hanging and since she never looked at the bodies directly nor asked, she didn't know who was dead and who wasn't aside from Jess and the flamethrower guy.

All chapters referenced in this are referring to actual chapters of this story, not the game chapters. Just so you know.

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Here's How It Works:

In Chapter 1 ─ This is Willow arriving and climbing the rock wall like you see Sam do. That scene for Willow would be a tutorial. Willow tends to jump off a lot of things from walls she climbs or drop downs in the mines and sanatorium. It's important for her to be able to do those QTE's later in the game.

Also like Sam, Willow can find a Totem. Her totem is Guidance and is telling you that you have to hide as Willow in that scene in the mines. Hiding is the option to go with.

In Chapter 4 ─ Willow finds her Death Totem in this chapter. If you do not manage to successfully hide in the mines as Willow, she will die. This Totem shows one of three deaths that Willow can face in that moment.

In Chapter 5 ─ This chapter holds the scene in which Willow can die. It is very early on in the game. She faces a QTE while running from the Wendigo, while not knowing what is chasing her.

If she fails the QTE, she will trip and fall. The Wendigo will catch up to her and gouge out her eyes.

If Willow manages the QTE, but chooses to continue to run instead of hide, the Wendigo will corner her and pop her head off instead. Like shown in the Totem in this story.

If Willow manages to hide, but fails the Don't Move Sequence, the Wendigo will grab her through the wood and slam her into the opposite wall before gouging her eyes out.

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Make sense? I hope so.

So, in this story version, Willow is kept alive, but some of the others aren't. Whoever was playing this game didn't manage to save all of the characters.

My other thing I want to mention is that the playable moments in the game for Willow include when she is with Mike as it is the first half of their time in the sanatorium. Once Willow leaves the mines between Chapter 5 and 6, she runs into Mike, who is following the stranger.

If you don't keep Willow alive in the mines, the playable characters continue as shown in the game. You will play completely as Mike going to the sanatorium and later in the safe room.

If you keep Willow alive in the mines, you continue to play her through her joining Mike, going into the sanatorium, and down to the morgue. When/if they enter through the hole on the left side of the screen, Willow will have a QTE. If you fail the QTE, she will slip while sliding in the hole, but Mike will catch her. If you manage the QTE, Willow lands find on her own, just like Mike did.

You can chose to let Mike touch the hand in the morgue or not. That is why Willow can stop Mike from getting his fingers caught in the trap, like she did in this story. If you do not stop Mike from touching the trap as Willow, you then have to make the choice to cut off his fingers or pry open the trap with the machete as Willow.

Once they find the key card and go through the door in the morgue, it cuts to a cut scene of them going back up and getting chased by the wolf and then you start playing as Mike once they can then enter the chapel with the key card.

And, whoever was playing this game kept choosing for Willow to lie to her friends rather than be honest. Willow's two dialogue options when playing as her have one to lie/hide things or to be honest about what is being talked about. This includes when Willow and Mike meet up. Her options are to lie/hide her encounter in the mines from Mike or tell him the truth. This player chose to lie/hide the encounter from Mike.

Her dialogue options are important because Willow is meant to be an honest person throughout the game. If she is honest with Mike from the start, they quickly start to realize together that a human wouldn't be capable of killing Jess by ripping her jaw off, if the player is unable to save Jess. Or if the player saves Jess, Mike and Willow will still come to the conclusion together as long as she is honest with him about her encounter in the mines instead of hiding it.

The only time Willow does not have the option to be honest is when Josh asks if she is going to get comfortable in the Lodge. Willow has two options: lie by omission or lie entirely. Lying by omission is the closest Willow can get to honesty in that moment.

I hope all of this makes sense to more than just me. I will keep saying that in-between all the things I'm trying to explain to anyone who is willing to read this.

When it comes time to be down in the safe room, you are playing as Willow, not Mike as I stated above. Like in the sanatorium with the dismembered arm scene, you have the option to stop Mike from shooting Emily by disarming him. If you don't disarm him, he will shoot Emily. Once Mike and Willow leave to go find the cable car keys and Josh, you then switch to playing Ashley like normal.

Willow is no longer a playable character after the safe room.

No matter what happens between the safe room and the end scene at the Lodge, Willow will be the sole survivor if the player, you, cannot keep the others alive. She will always manage to get out of the Lodge before it explodes.

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