Control Explained - What is The Nail? (Symbolism)

when the oldest house was first discovered director Northmoor and his research team venture deep into the foundation of the structure it was there at the crossroads that the service weapon presented itself to the new director it appeared on a pedestal before a monolithic structure that became known as the nail dr. Ashe refers to the energies that converge upon the nail as non Aristotelian Aristotelian logic is based upon a binary logic system that is to say that things are either true or false good or bad existent versus non-existent this is the logic generally used in modern times but the energies converging on the nail were described by a Theodore Ashe as non Aristotelian this mode of logic includes seven parts as compared to the two part Aristotelian system with this model the nature of something can be unknown it also allows for multiple conclusions to be true at once such as in Schrodinger's cat within the context of the nail we must look at definitions of reality as that is what dr. Ashe is describing in regards to the energy that converges on the nail dr. Ashe is likely saying that the energy exists but the exact nature of what it is is not able to be determined within the foundation dlc the damage to the nail caused the astral plane to bleed through this implies a connection between the oldest house in the astral plane what is a nail after all it is an object that binds things together this non immersed Italian nail binds the astral plane to the oldest house and as Pope states with a broken connection the pipe against a leak this makes it even more interesting that the nail is located at the crossroads this is after all a place where two forms of reality cross paths the symbolism does not end here another data point jumped out to me upon hearing the name of the structure the six the letter of the Hebrew alphabet is evolved it is used grammatically to bind two concepts together valve can mean the hook or the nail depending on the translation in this case the meaning is identical the valve binds the oldest house and the astral plane as evolved as the 6th letter there are other comparisons made to the number six the sixth day of creation within Genesis was represented by yes owed and involves the creation of the first man dr. Ashe even named is one of the it'd Adam throughout the foundation DLC comparisons between the Tree of Life in the oldest house are openly discussed this provides a link to the topic we have just gone over on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life the ninth Sephirah is yes owed and literally means the foundation it is said to be the foundation from which God built the world and acts as a transmitter for the sefirot above to be filtered down to the tenth node mouth couth mal couth means the kingdom and as the plane of manifest reality let's sum up and bring it back to the nail in the crossroads much like the hebrew letter v' of the nail binds the astral plane and the oldest house together just as bob is the sixth letter the sixth day of creation and Genesis is represented by yes ode this is the foundation of reality which also acts as the filter between that which is above in the manifest world represented by mal cous [Music] I used the word filter intentionally here because it leads us into the final data point related to the nail for anyone familiar with Tarot the sixth card is represented by the letter v' of and has symbolism related to the link between the heavens in the world that would be the Hierophant the Hierophant acts as the mouthpiece between god or a higher consciousness to the ears of humans this would be the same role as the board there are non averse detailing energies that cannot be understood by us so the board attempts to translate them in the form of archetypes and links those energies with objects such as the service weapon within the foundation of the world the nail is erected over the crossroads of reality the board plays the role of the Hierophant using this connection and translates these energies into a form we can understand by the end of the foundation DLC Jessie begins to question the board and their motives this can be explained by the Hierophant as well when the card is drawn upright it represents spiritual guidance and knowledge in other words the way the board wants us to perceive them however much like the black pyramid when it is drawn inverted it represents the corruption of the Hierophant that would be dogmatic teachings indoctrination and inflexible thinking when we put our blind faith in the Hierophant we follow their words as gospel we do not question whether the mouthpiece is telling us the truth or lying to us the board acts as a collection of higher offense who govern the director and the oldest house when the nail was broken the board was terrified this is because their rule was to be the mouthpiece between humans and the non Aristotelian energies found within the astral plane so when that connection was opened and the two planes were open for travel their role was threatened they go so far as to threaten Pope telling Jessie if the researcher does not cease and desist her investigation into the nail they will end her the Board ordered director Northmoor to abandon all research within the foundation and the nail giving the same instruction to director Faden the reason this research was abandoned was because the board feared that if the research continued and FBC gains a better understanding of the world that the board would be obsolete like the Hierophant the board's only power is to be the middleman between the FBC and the wisdom to be found within higher tiers of reality dr. Hesh and dr. Pope both wished to tear down the middleman and have direct access researching the mysteries of the nail and the foundation would have facilitated this so what is the nail it is a structure erected by the board in order to create a link to the foundation since the oldest house acts the world tree it links to all thresholds of reality this puts the board in a position to guide the director as a corrupted Hierophant and by extension control all of reality but what if one of the higher offense did not agree with rest we know that the former was fired from the board for a difference in opinion could this have been it it has been teased that dr. Ashe and the former may have developed a relationship within dr. ashes secret lab a smaller version of the nail can be found which could potentially be related to the former directly was the former giving dr. ash more direct information when the nail was broken I wonder what all leaked out of the astral plane the path was opened allowing many things to go in and out of the breach unchecked we see the former within the foundation at the end of the story is it possible that the former slipped out from the astral plane into the oldest house before the nail was repaired if so we have a question if the board is the inverted correct Arif and that is the former the upright pure Hierophant this corrupted archetype tells only lies wealth pure one tells truths all we know is that right now Jesse does not trust either faction without more information I suggest we do the same after all it is always in our benefit to not blindly follow any Hierophant no matter what form they take we must always question those who speak on behalf of others trust but verify [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Gaming University

Views: 46,821

Keywords: Remedy Entertainment, Remedy Games, Video Games, Game Theory, Gaming University, GameTheory, alan wake 2, gaming, controlremedy, Control Explained, control What is the Nail, The Former, what happened in control, remedy games control, Control Rumination, Control spoilers, Gaming University Control, Control The Former, Foundation DLC, Control Story Explained, Control Foundation DLC, control dlc, control the foundation, Control The Nail, Control The Nail Explained, control lore

Id: _np8tsybNqo

Length: 8min 32sec (512 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 19 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/clamorsilentii]

Wasn't there a part in the DLC after Jesse talks with the Former that she thinks the Board may have infected the Nail on purpose, for her to come and cleanse it?

[u/DinerEnBlanc]

Great video, though I don't remember Pope being threatened by the board, when does this occur?

[u/RcregerRemedy04]

Yes! Another one! Love your videos!

[u/Gizah21]

Love the content you’re putting out. Finish up those max payne videos. One of my favorite games of all time and watching how you intertwine everything is interesting.

[u/HaruhiJedi]

I think The Board let the Nail be corrupted by Hiss for Jesse to clean up so they could get a sample of Polaris that they couldn't get from the control points. Polaris has to disturb The Board for her great power, even more knowing that the Pope does not revere them, but Jesse / Polaris.

[u/Significant-Spray]

Amazing video!

I have come to the conclusion that mostly those that love this game have been challenged to read through all of the collectibles, think outside of the box and perform their own side research. Those that haven’t been too impressed are not interested in games that challenge them to think and do more than what is in front of them.

I have a friend that played the game briefly. He gave up on it because he didn’t like it and that it didn’t make sense. I asked if he read through the collectibles he had so far and he said “hell no, I’m not reading through all of that”. He asked me if I did, and I said yep! You miss out on like 80% of the information you need to start piecing the story together.

Just my opinion!

[u/clamorsilentii]

Your'e right that at this point it was all speculation, but maybe the Nail wasn't fully under the Board's control? I know that you discussed how the Board acts as a Hieophant between the astral plane and the Oldest House (awesome video btw), and since the Board obviously seems corrupt or wanting more control over the Oldest House, maybe it didn't have full control over the Nail and needed to infect it for Polaris to fully cleanse it and thus making it able to gain full control. The other interesting part is that the Board needed Jesse to break the three keys/locks to give the Board access again, but why were those keys/locks set up agains the Board in the first place? Again, all speculation, but fun stuff to theorize about