In the mind-bending PS5-exclusive Returnal, fans are sent on a journey through Selene's life and relive some of her past, present, and future. The game tells its complex narrative through short flashes and a few dynamic cut scenes that make up three "endings" to Selene's journey. MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD.

The last two of these endings of Returnal center around a car driven by Selene's mother Theia, little girl Selene, and someone in an older astronaut suit. While driving her child, Theia notices someone in an old style spacesuit standing in the middle of the road, to which she swerves before her car goes careening into the lake.

The game shifts and bends the concept of time with Selene living out her full life in one ending before she is pulled out of her grave and back into the loop. Deciphering the meaning behind all the clues is as easy as the game itself, which is not at all. However, developer Housemarque may have left more than a breadcrumb trail leading to the real meaning behind Selene's seemingly never-ending journey. Based on the clues, the other memories, and all three endings, the interpretation in the car crash and the victims can be narrowed down to a few prominent possibilities.

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The Spaceman

Someone in a vintage space suit before they are hit by a car.

Despite the confusing appearance in the vintage spacesuit, the astronaut doesn't appear to be any kind of illusion or hallucination. This is further proved in the last two endings when players can hear the astronaut connect with the back of the car. In the last ending, the game seems to imply Selene was the Spaceman, as the camera enters the back of her helmet before the audience sees the crash from the astronaut's perspective. Selene may have literally been transported back in time and thereby causing the accident herself, but it definitely seems to imply some form of guilt in the same way she shoots down her own ship by coming to Atropos.

Whether The Spaceman is literally Selene or not could go either way. If it was, that means that the forces of Atropos sent her back in time and placed her into an older spacesuit, which admittedly doesn't make a whole lot of sense. If the driver was Theia, she wouldn't have been able to recognize her daughter's adult face or the space suit with alien attachments, so the older suit is curious. One potential explanation would be what the mind can see and process, meaning because she was a child, it's a memory of a more classic space suit than necessarily hers. It could be that the planet allowed Selene, and therefore the audience, to see through the eyes of the person they hit that night. The alien's presence during the crash could explain the interference on the radio, as that is common in UFO stories.

What It Means

returnal delayed

Also in the secret ending of Returnal, players are faced with a woman in a wheelchair who looks like the "What are they selling?" lady from the SpongeBob SquarePants meme. This husk is revealed to be Theia after she leaps at Selene's throat and her daughter shoves her away. It's believed that the wreck caused the mother's paralysis and made Theia resent her daughter even more than what was apparent before the crash. As with Selene shooting down her own ship, perhaps she blames herself for the wreck, after distracting her mom with the White Shadow, and that's why the car crashes.

With how long it takes to play Returnal, given the lack of save features, it can take a while before players collect all the clues in the game. By the time they do, it might take just as long to try to figure out what it all means, if they can come to any conclusion at at all. That being said, Returnal is a beautiful game that isn't afraid of playing with time and perspective to tell its intriguing story.

Returnal is available now for PS5.

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