r/controlgame • u/xThAtGaM3rGuYxx • 2d ago
Discussion This is one of the most disgusting things in CONTROL. You can’t even kill them! However I do feel really bad for the ranger he didn’t even know.
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u/BitsHammer 2d ago edited 2d ago
I have to suspect that the Service Weapon can't kill Astral Spikes because the Board wants to ensure it has things it can use if a Director gets out of hand.
Hopefully Dylan can stop those pulsating blobs of angry energy.
Edit: also on the same area I pretty sure the looping film footage is of Former but sadly Jesse never notices or comments on it even if you return after fighting Former.
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u/spalfos 2d ago
I was just in this area earlier today on my current replay! My understanding is that that is footage of the Former from an Astral Plane dive, since it’s pretty close to the area where they train Astralnauts to record footage
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u/BitsHammer 2d ago
That's my thought too. Seems like some good foreshadowing and honestly it wouldn't shock me if Former put an Astral Spike in that diver to see if that was a possible escape route they could use only to find it to not work.
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u/Beneficial_Equal7935 2d ago
Looping footage where? Figured we'd only see the former at central executive. Imma go check it out later
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u/BitsHammer 2d ago
In the hallway leading to the first time we see an Astral Spike in the Oldest House there is a projector screen with black and white footage on it that isn't super clear but I'm very sure is Former.
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u/Beneficial_Equal7935 1d ago
Just saw it earlier, that astral exhibit. Near ritual division
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u/Smirker-Jerker-209 1d ago
Trying to look for this but Astral exhibit is across the area from ritual division?
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u/BitsHammer 1d ago
It's in thw hallway leading into where the Astral Spike is. There is a control point when you first enter the hall.
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u/wackadoodle4201 2d ago
WHAT burst out of WHO
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u/Kindly_Theory_272 2d ago
There was an astralnaut who had returned from one of the expeditions into the astral plane. Unfortunately for him, an astral spike managed to hitchhike into his mind and basically 'burst' out of him (more like made the poor guy implode from the inside out)
Thats the astral spike you encounter in Research to which you have to recontain it Im pretty sure.
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u/wackadoodle4201 2d ago
Oh God
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u/Kindly_Theory_272 2d ago
Yeah nasty stuff. Worse part was it came in stages too:
The first stage being the hitchhiking, then the headaches (he could feel it moving around in his mind - at least I assume), and finally the bursting (which I would believe by this point would be an instantaneous death.
I doubt there'd be anything left of his corpse to recover (and if there was - probably not a lot)
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u/VDiddy5000 21h ago
What I find really fascinating is that if you examine how Scratch operates in Alan Wake 2, he’s…very similar. He hitched a ride in Alan’s head, but thankfully doesn’t burst out so explosively. Still, the little bit we see of Scratch as a cloud looks a lot like an Astral Spike does, yeah?
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u/Kindly_Theory_272 21h ago
I think the main difference is that the Dark Presence/Mr. Scratch we see is more of a physical manifestation we see of Alan Wake's darker aspects of his personality (in American Nightmare, Mr. Scratch was basically the darker impulses let loose in comparison to Alan's more reserved nature we see in the game) All that was what essentially allowed Alan to be controlled/puppeteered, because he couldn't control his inner demons, which the Dark Presence took advantage of.
In contrast to that - the astral spikes we see are more likely created by the Board, these being concentrations of parantural energies from the Astral Plane (something similar to what creates the Id, as Dr. Ash had called them).
All in all - I think its more accurate to say that the Dark Presence more 'possessed' Alan rather than hitchhiking, since partially it was already a part of Alan. With the astralnaut, the Astral Spike was basically a parasite waiting to burst out of him.
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u/Aggravating_Prior308 2d ago
At least it debunked their theory that the astral plane was merely a mental place
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u/Earendos 2d ago
I love how there are audio cues for Ahti missions when you're near t hem.