Summary
WARNING: Spoilers for Alan Wake 2Alan Wake 2continues the turbulent tale of the titular writer as he attempts to defeat the Dark Presence and escape his imprisonment within the warped space and time of the Dark Place it calls home beneath Cauldron Lake. Though Alan has learned a lot about the shifting rules of reality during his 13-year-long limbo in it, he had some prior help along the way. In the first title, Alan encounters a strange figure clad in a vintage diving suit while lost in the depths of the lake. This was later revealed to beThomas Zane, a mysterious figure who explained many details about the nature of their shared predicament.
Thomas Zane returns inAlan Wake 2,this time with an expanded role and personal connection to Alan. Fans, along with Alan, learn much more about Zane’s life and personality, and most importantly, his idea about how they both might collaborate on a grand plan to contain the Dark Presence and break out from the Dark Place together for good. While things don’t end up going quite so smoothly, Zane remains an enigmatic figure in the plot, and the story so far leaves space open for him to play a big role in the future.
How Alan Wake 2’s Thomas Zane Is Set Up To Return In a Big Way
The History of Thomas Zane
In the original, Zane’s identity was unclear at first. As Alan learned more about thehistory of Bright Falls, he uncovered the fact that Zane lived there during the 1970s. Eventually, Alan discovers that it was in fact Zane who was responsible for releasing the Dark Presence. By all accounts, Zane was a talented filmmaker and poet as well as an avid diver.
While indulging in his hobby, Zane’s lover, Barbara Jagger, drowned and was possessed by the Presence. Zane attempted to correct this with his art, but by cutting corners and not conforming to the Dark Place’s esoteric rules properly, ended up making things worse. This all set the stage for Alan to fall into a similar trap years later.
Having spent so much time in the Dark Place, Zane was able to inform Alan about its specific rules, laying the groundwork and warning him not to repeat his mistakes.Zane acted as a mentor and guideas Alan was drawn deeper into the changing realities caused by the Dark Presence influencing his writing. All the while, Zane provided further assistance as to how Alan could outwit it and end the terrors he was unwittingly unleashing, as well as prevent the tragedy from occurring again.
Thomas Zane’s Role in Alan Wake 2 and Future Content
During the events ofAlan Wake 2, as Alan searches the ominous Oceanview Hotel, he enters a room occupied by Zane, who uncannily resembles Alan himself in appearance. Here, a series of flashbacks reveal that they dreamed up a scheme together in a psychedelic haze to combine their areas of artistic expertise and find the loophole that would let them both leave the Dark Place.
Zane would make a movie based on Alan’s writing that, together, would create the perfect escape avenue. Alan then visits the Poet’s Theater. While there, players can watch one ofAlan Wake 2’s lengthy live-action scenes. This is Zane’s masterpiece, “Nightless Night,” essentially an avant-garde film depicting his intended method of escape.
However, the film is not what was promised, and Alan confronts Zane over his deception. They struggle, and Alan seems to shoot Zane before fleeing. After that, Zane is not seen again. Given the nature of the Dark Place, though, and Zane having already been in it for decades, his fate is left ambiguous at best. Still, it’s highly unlikely that it will be his final appearance.
Remedy has confirmed thatmore story content forAlan Wake 2is coming soon.With Tomas Zane being intimately connected to the overall story, it would be no surprise if he featured in this, perhaps even as a playable character in certain sections.
Alan Wake 2
WHERE TO PLAY
A string of ritualistic murders threatens Bright Falls, a small-town community surrounded by Pacific Northwest wilderness. Saga Anderson, an accomplished FBI agent with a reputation for solving impossible cases arrives to investigate the murders. Anderson’s case spirals into a nightmare when she discovers pages of a horror story that starts to come true around her.Alan Wake, a lost writer trapped in a nightmare beyond our world, writes a dark story in an attempt to shape the reality around him and escape his prison. With a dark horror hunting him, Wake is trying to retain his sanity and beat the devil at his own game.Anderson and Wake are two heroes on two desperate journeys in two separate realities, connected at heart in ways neither of them can understand: reflecting each other, echoing each other, and affecting the worlds around them.Fueled by the horror story, supernatural darkness invades Bright Falls, corrupting the locals and threatening the loved ones of both Anderson and Wake. Light is their weapon—and their safe haven — against the darkness they face. Trapped in a sinister horror story where there are only victims and monsters, can they break out to be the heroes they need to be?
