After Epilogue was released, it seemed that the story had been solved.
All the mysteries that once troubled theorists, from plot twists to the Lock codes, were now
common knowledge.
However, throughout all of this, one mission--the Killhouse--has remained an enigma.
In this video, I hope to explain as much of this mystery as possible, but note that no
one thus far has reached the full truth.
I'm going to start with what we know for sure.
The Killhouse is a real location in the canon, and it's used by Halcyon for training.
The Killhouse is also the setting for the Gala, which is a canon training mission.
The events of the Gala, are all simulated, meaning that all the NPCs are just Halcyon
operatives playing along.
No one is actually being killed- they're just acting for the sake of training.
I know this is a bit of a stretch in logic, but it's clearly what Cish intended.
The official explanation for the Killhouse is that it's a simulation, just like the Gala.
All the guards and SWATs are just actors who are playing along for the sake of training.
Also, all the guns and bullets are fake and no one is actually getting hurt.
I know that this doesn't entirely make sense, and there are a few logical questions, such
as how they managed to fake the explosions or what if someone dies by accident, but it's
clearly what Cish wants us to believe.
Seeing as the Gala is a simulation, and that's a canon fact, then we have to accept that
the Killhouse could also be a simulation, and that it's something that could've happened.
However, there's a problem with the official explanation.
If this had actually happened, then it would've been during our time in Halcyon, but on June
25th, 2020, Cish edited the Wiki to say that the date of the Killhouse is after Epilogue.
The Freelancer isn't alive after Epilogue, since they died to an explosion at the end
of the Black Dusk.
Rose is also dead, which is confirmed by the Lock code for the Scientist.
She was killed by Falcon on the same day that Dedication happened.
If the Freelancer and Rose are both dead at this point, but that's when the Killhouse
starts, then clearly, the Killhouse has to be some sort of afterlife or post-death experience.
This may seem crazy or far-fetched, but it's the only logical explanation for the Killhouse
happening after Epilogue, something confirmed in both the Wiki and the order of the missions
in the speedrun tab.
This shows that the story of Entry Point is not entirely realistic: there's some sort
of mystical element as well, which makes it even harder to figure out the story.
This video so far has been largely factual, but now, it's time to explore all the different
interpretations.
One interesting thing about the Killhouse is that not only does it happen in some sort
of afterlife, but it also happens several times.
Rose's dialogue suggests that we've done the Killhouse a bunch of times, to the point where
it feels like home.
It's hard to tell exactly what the rules are for this afterlife, but I would assume that
every time we finish the mission, we restart, and then we do it again, and again, and so
on.
It's almost like our soul is stuck in the Killhouse, and we're fated to keep training
there forever in some sort of time loop.
Like everything else in this video, I know this seems far-fetched, but we know that the
Freelancer is doing the Killhouse in the afterlife, they're doing the mission several times, and
there's no evidence of them doing anything other than the Killhouse, so it's reasonable
to assume that there's some sort of time loop.
This makes you wonder whether the Freelancer really knows what's going on.
Do they know that they died, and Rose died, and so on?
Honestly, I don't think they do, or else their dialogue would be a lot more distressed.
They seem to be in a state of perpetual ignorance, where they genuinely think they're just training
with Halcyon and don't realize the reality of what happened or what's going on.
This is evidenced by the mission description of the Killhouse.
Even though what's happening isn't real and it takes place in some sort of post-death
dream world, it's explained in a way that makes it seem as if it were real.
There's some sort of logical explanation given for everything in the mission: it's portrayed
as a training simulation like the Gala, even though it isn't.
You may be wondering why Cish chose the Killhouse of all places.
My best guess is that the Killhouse is very iconic and seems to represent a generic mission.
If you really think about it, the Killhouse has a lot of small features from other missions.
In addition to obvious similarities like having guards and SWATs, it also has the Diamond
Drill from the Black Dusk, the Circuit Boxes from the SCRS, the quadruple Sawblades from
the Blacksite, the Demolition Charge from the Withdrawal, the computer from the Financier,
and so on.
Basically, the Killhouse seems to be a collection of all our memories from our life as an operative,
put together into one mission.
It also makes you wonder whether any memories from the Freelance Heists made it into the
Killhouse, but that's a story for another day.
I'm sure a lot of you already know about the Nightmare Assault, but if you don't, then
feel free to pause the video and read the Wiki entry about it.
Anyway, the most interesting line in the Nightmare Assault is the very last thing Rose says,
which is this phrase in French that I can't actually pronounce.
The meaning of this phrase is "goodbye until we meet again," which implies that even after
the Nightmare Assault ends, the Freelancer and Rose are still going to meet.
This would imply that the Killhouse repeats, even after the Nightmare Assault ends.
We know that finishing the Nightmare just makes you restart the loop.
It wouldn't really make any sense to go through the Nightmare only to return to the normal
Killhouse as if nothing happened.
Thus, finishing the Nightmare would just make you restart the Nightmare.
Maybe this is the reason why the word "Provenance" appears so many times at spawn instead of
just once.
Thus, we're left with two infinite time loops: one where the Killhouse repeats, and one where
the Nightmare repeats.
However, you can't have two infinite loops on the same timeline: it's not logically possible.
Thus, there have to be two separate timelines in Entry Point.
One of these timelines would have to be the normal story that we're used to, which I'll
call the main timeline, while the other would be the alternate timeline.
The Killhouse infinite loop would be at the end of the main timeline, while the Nightmare
infinite loop would be at the end of the alternate timeline, though the opposite could also be
true.
Also note that, whenever there's two timelines within the same story, there's got to be a
point of divergence.
Before this point, the two timelines are the same, but after it, the alternate timeline
stops following the main timeline.
This generally creates a ripple effect, where one event changes the next event, and so on,
such that the ending is totally different from the main timeline.
Actually predicting the point of divergence is nearly impossible, at least until the Freelance
Heists come out, as they might give some clues.
However, we can figure out a few things by comparing the normal Killhouse to the Nightmare.
In the normal Killhouse dialogue, Rose is fairly neutral, which suggests a mixed ending.
On the other hand, in the Nightmare dialogue, Rose is extremely disappointed in the Freelancer
and is scolding them for their actions.
This means that in this timeline, they did something they weren't supposed to do, some
sort of revenge that Rose was extremely unhappy with, to the point where she's punishing them
by making them live through their personal nightmare for all eternity.
Personally, I think the Killhouse follows the main timeline.
That's because both Rose and the Freelancer ultimately got what they wanted, which was
to destroy Halcyon, though it wasn't necessarily worth it.
I guess being placed in the Killhouse represents a world where they never get to take revenge
against Halcyon or deal with the tragedy that came afterward.
Instead, they get to eternally live in the relatively blissful ignorance and lack of
perspective they had back when they were a Halcyon operative.
The lights going off in the Killhouse would represent the point of divergence, which is
something they weren't supposed to do.
Canonically, the lights don't actually go out during the mission; it's probably just
a gameplay mechanic to make the Nightmare accessible.
The thing they weren't supposed to do is clearly some sort of revenge, as that's what Rose
is so upset about in the Nightmare dialogue.
If this is the same revenge that happened in the main timeline, then something about
it must've been different.
However, the appearance of the Diamond Drill suggests that the Black Dusk still happens,
even in the alternate timeline.
Also, the Nightmare is Legend only, and the timer is 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Black Dusk Legend also has a timer of 15 minutes, and you can use the
Diamond Drill on the Prototype Vault.
This make me wonder, what if the Nightmare Assault is an allegory for the alternate timeline
version of the Black Dusk?
What if there's actually something inside the vault this time?
And what exactly is it that goes wrong compared to the main timeline?
To this day, these questions remain unanswered.
And that, is the unsolved mystery of the Killhouse.
Before I finish, I'd like to clarify a few things.
FIrst, Epilogue probably follows the same logic as the Killhouse, which is how Rose
is able to communicate with the Freelancer.
Also, Cishshato recently implemented an alternate soundtrack to the Deposit.
I won't make a full video on this until I figure out a proper explanation, but I feel
like it's relevant to this video.
The alternate soundtrack isn't just some silly easter egg that CIsh randomly added: it's
probably some sort of reference to the alternate timeline.
Also, the soundtrack is titled "Victory is Ours," which makes me think, whose victory
is it?
Could it be Halcyon's victory in the alternate timeline?
Anyway, I know this video was really long and complicated, but I really hope you this
changed your perspective.
If you have any thoughts or theories, then the best place to share them is in my Discord
server.
It only takes a minute to verify, and you can easily discuss theories with the community,
or... spam memes, I guess.
Anyway, I'll see you guys next time.