Opening Image
Erzi wakes up in a cramped room, gasping Laurence’s name. He’s finds himself in what resembles an idyllic dream he once had — retiring from the Church with Laurence in the countryside — apart from an injury. Erzi is suspicious that the scene is too perfect, remembering that he last saw Laurence at a clocktower, badly hurt. Despite his injury, confusion, and the “fake” Laurence’s warning, Erzi runs towards the clocktower in the distance (not realising that the clocktower is very far, and very, very, very large).
It turns out he’s in Puppets’ territory. The Puppets behave unlike human — quickly proven when they torture and sacrifice outsiders to their god. Erzi frees a prisoner, so the Puppets hunts both of them.
Theme stated
Erzi and the Prisoner flees to a small village outside the Puppets’ territory for supplies, thinking he’s escaped the Puppets. The villagers let Erzi resupply when he offers to help fix tools for them. The Prisoner says that not everything can be fixed. Sometimes there’s no solution, no right answer. Erzi disagrees — you’re just not trying hard enough.
Setup
Erzi meets the Midwife, who encourages him to find and save Laurence from the Healing Church that have “brainwashed him”. Erzi learns the rules of this strange, new world: multiple versions of Yharnam all existing in the same plane of existence, what the puppets are, what’s with the Anchor, and the Expedition that broke the Dream.
Multiple expeditions from different factions are heading towards the Anchor and locked in a bitter war of sabotage trying to stop the others from getting there first.
- The Healing Church: Destroy the Dream totally. They might be erased from reality due to paradoxes, but their existence is so miserable that they don’t care.
- “Official” Expedition: Stabilise the Dream and destroy the Anchor properly to prevent another time loop. They have integrated people from multiple time loops. Includes people from the 33rd time loop. They want choices to have meaning again.
- Aspirants: Control the Anchor to decide when it loops. They’re motivated by pure power.
- Preservationists: views the Anchor as a work of god. They are in heaven/hell and they should remain there.
Also the Puppets: not wanting things to change, but stopping anyone trying to reach the Anchor. And the Hedonists: no consequences, so they do whatever they want.
Erzi relates most to the Aspirants so he joins them.
Catalyst
Erzi joins the Expedition and they’re attacked by none other than Laurence. Ludwig is killed and Erzi takes it on himself to continue the quest alone.
Final Image
Erzi swims in the cosmos under the watchful, almost parental gaze of the Great One. The young god finds that it’s natural to swim and act like Great One, than it was to be human. The night sky is alive and vibrant with stars. As all the possibilities open to him, Erzi picks a random direction and they swim without a destination.