Sons Of The Forest is the sequel to The Forest,
a survival horror game with a world full of intrigue and mystery. Like its predecessor, Sons Of The Forest does
not spoon feed a straightforward story to players. However, for those with an investigative eye,
the world of Sons Of The Forest, an island simply known as “Site 2”, tells a complex
and chilling story, all of which will be covered in this video. Sons Of The Forest starts simply enough. On the surface, it appears that the Pufftons,
a family of billionaires, bought the Site 2 island and turned it into a vacation destination,
with luxury bunkers for a privileged few to live in. According to a brochure, one of these bunkers
is named “Holosprings” and it can be viewed from the outside, within one of Site 2’s
many cave systems. In any case, something has gone wrong, the
3 Puffton’s on the island, Edward, Barbara, and their daughter, Virginia, along with all
other Puff Corp employees, have been radio silent for around 7 months, and are presumed
either dead, missing, or worse. In response, The Protagonist is hired by Puff
Corp and sent to the Site 2 island as a member of one of two small teams. Not much is known about the protagonist, but
given his tattoo, we might infer that he is a Demon fighting mercenary, prepared to handle
a worst case scenario. This is exactly what happens as an unknown
attacker, or group of attackers, shoots the Puff Corp helicopters out of the sky. Whether it be fate or luck, the Protagonist
survives the rough landing, but is briefly knocked unconscious. Upon awakening, he sees a mysterious individual,
wearing a silver jacket, glowering over him. It seems plausible that Silver Jacket had
something to do with the two helicopters being shot down. Silver Jacket points the business end of a
revolver at the Protagonist’s face, but after a moment, decides to send him back into
the realm of dreams, rather than end his life. Coming back to consciousness for a second
time, the Protagonist discovers he wasn’t the only one spared. A dazed and deafened member of the team, Kelvin,
also survived the crash. This is where the Protagonist’s journey
begins. Stranded on a mysterious island with nothing
but a small survival kit to accomplish his objective: find the Pufftons and get them
off the island. Looking at the GPS, there are several marked
locations. The protagonist comes to learn that the green
Points of Interest are subterranean facilities built by Puff Corp. Meanwhile, the purple icons are GPS Locators,
worn by deceased Puff Corp operatives. It would appear that the Protagonist is not
amongst the first individuals hired by Puff Corp to investigate the happenings at Site
2. While exploring the island for clues, the
Protagonist encounters a young woman in a swimsuit, with an extra arm and leg. He recognized her as Virginia Puffton, daughter
of Edward and Barbara Puffton. Despite the obvious physical mutations, Virginia
is friendly enough, if not a little timid. She observes the Protagonist from a distance,
and runs when approached by him. This is in contrast to the island’s many
tribal inhabitants, which quickly begin hunting the Protagonist. When the Protagonist begins delving into caves,
looking for clues and equipment that will help further his objective, he is confronted
by a waking nightmare. Starting with cadaverous humanoids wearing
featureless faces. Followed by hobbling torsos, vertically bisected
to form gaping maws with protruding ribs for teeth. They would often spew viscous clear gunk that
coated and solidified on the surrounding cave walls. Worst, by far, were the babies. Barely recognizable, the pint-sized mutants
rolled and flung their mangled bodies at the protagonist in numbers, chipping away at his
defenses. This horror is contrasted by an abundant and
alluring gold metal ore, which permeates many of Site 2’s caves. Within the bunker where the VIP Keycard is
found, surveillance footage reveals a pivotal moment in the genesis of the mutants at Site
2. It shows Puff Corp executives and guests of
honor all gathered in a banquet hall. All at once, the wealthy undergo a writhing
transformation, becoming the mutants that now plague the island’s subterranean locals. The Protagonist investigates the banquet hall,
discovering the deceased mutated forms of many important individuals. Most notable being Edward Puffton. Fortunately, Virginia and Barbara Puffton’s
chairs are vacant, indicating that they either were not at the banquet, or that they somehow
escaped unscathed. Before leaving, the Protagonist notices a
magazine that spotlights a “revolutionary new metal”. It certainly looks like the metal he has observed
within the caves of Site 2. This reveals another possible motive for Puff
Corp’s acquisition of Site 2, to extract and profit off of this extraordinary metal. Indeed, an email exchange between two Puff
Corp employees confirms this suspicion; Rob Blue informs Jackson Poulet, “FYI, This
is what we are looking for.” following the statement with a picture of
the golden ore. In addition, other magazine articles refer
to artifacts composed of unknown metals, hinting at a deeper conspiracy as to the significance
of the golden ore. But more on that later. With the knowledge that Edward Puffton has
died, Virginia Puffton is safe above ground, and Barbara Puffton is still missing, The
Protagonist sets out to investigate the remaining Puff Corp bunkers. After traveling across the island, the Protagonist
enters a remote bunker that requires the Maintenance Keycard to access. Only a short distance in, he stumbles upon
a chaotic fight between a large, baby spewing mutant, and a young man. The Protagonist recognizes the man as Timmy
LeBlanc, one of the team members that flew to Site 2 in the other Puff Corp helicopter. Timmy gained notoriety when he was saved from
Site 1 during the events in “The Forest”. Although it’s been more than a decade, Timmy
still bears the same scar on his forehead. The Protagonist and Timmy stand off against
the mutant, and are eventually joined by an older man, who makes his relationship to Timmy
known. “Get down, son!” This is Eric LeBlanc, the main protagonist
from The Forest, and father of Timmy. Neither of the LeBlancs are strangers to abominable
mutants and strange ancient artifacts. Years ago, the lives of both Eric and his
son were irrevocably altered when their flight crashed onto the peninsula known as Site 1,
due to an EMP blast originating from an ancient artifact. Eric and Timmy survived the crash, only for
Timmy to be abducted by Doctor Mathew Cross. Mathew planned to sacrifice Timmy’s life,
to save the life of his own daughter, Megan Cross. While searching for his son, Eric would come
to learn that Site 1 was owned by a company known as Sahara Therapeutics. Sahara employed scientists, such as Mathew
Cross, to perform genetic experiments on unwilling human subjects, by exposing them to the effects
of ancient artifacts that were found on the peninsula. Most of these experiments resulted in abominations,
not dissimilar to the ones that would later inhabit the island known as Site 2. However, the ancient artifacts also appeared
to possess other capabilities, to resurrect the dead, cure disease, emit bursts of energy,
and even interact with parallel universes. In the end, Timmy was both killed, and later
resurrected by these artifacts. The artifacts, however, imprinted a permanent
scar on Timmy, leaving him with inner demons, along with an instinctual understanding and
fascination of parallel universes. Returning to the present, a 3rd character
enters the chaotic scene. Without warning, Eric LeBlanc is shot by the
individual in the Silver Jacket, who is accompanied by an armed escort. Moments after, the Protagonist is knocked
unconscious by the mutant behemoth. Eric LeBlanc might have recognized Silver
Jacket, as she shares a remarkable resemblance to Megan Cross, the then younger girl he encountered
at Site 1. Megan Cross allegedly perished at Site 1 all
those years ago. However, stranger things have happened around
the ancient artifacts on these two islands; Timmy himself was brought back from death
by the Resurrection Obelisk. Since returning from Site 1, Timmy has devoted
himself to studying and understanding the concept of parallel universes, writing a renowned
book on the topic “Parallel Universes and Travel Between Them '', this phenomenon appears
to be central to the mysterious capabilities of the ancient artifacts. Parallel universes could explain many of the
parallels between The Forest and Sons Of The Forest. In The Forest, Virginia is one of the mutants
created by Sahara Therapeutics when they used the Resurrection Obelisk ancient artifact
on a 12 year old girl, resulting in her mutations. Virginia grew additional appendages, and resembles
a more severely mutated version of the Virginia that the Protagonist encounters at Site 2
in Sons Of The Forest, (Virginia Puffton). Similarly, Silver Jacket could be a parallel,
grown-up version of Megan Cross, now working for Sahara Therapeutics. Even if Silver Jacket is not Megan Cross,
it is reasonable to speculate that these interlopers are agents of Sahara and have either caused
the catastrophe at Site 2, or are at least interfering with Puff Corp’s investigations
into it. A headline news story from The Sunset Times
asserts that PuffCorp outbid Sahara Therapeutics for a remote island. In addition, an annotated stock chart indicates
that, following the start of the bidding war for the island, PuffCorp’s market value
began to grow, while that of Sahara Therapeutics plummeted. Then there are the handful of messages between
Puff Corp official Jackson Poulet, and Hector Liter, a possible PuffCorp spy that was sent
undercover to work for Sahara Therapeutics at the Site 1 peninsula, with the goal of
relaying important information back to Jackson at Site 2. Hector sends photos of 2 different artifacts
found at Site 1 to Jackson, and suggests that they may be related to a certain Cube found
at Site 2. The 2 artifacts that Hector reports on are
the Resurrection Obelisk and the Power Obelisk, both playing pivotal roles in the events on
Site 1 involving Eric and Timmy LeBlanc. If this “cube” is indeed a related artifact,
then it is likely to possess similar properties. From these emails, two conclusions can be
inferred. The first is that PuffCorp and Sahara Therapeutics
have a shared history of conflict centered around Site 1, Site 2, and the ancient artifacts
therein. The second conclusion is that the true motive
for PuffCorp’s purchase of the Site 2 island was to safeguard the Cube from prying Sahara
eyes, while giving themselves unrestricted access to study its capabilities and how it
might be utilized to their advantage. Returning to the Protagonist, he survives
the behemoth mutant attack by yet another miracle, awakening to find the room deserted,
and the doorway he entered through completely blocked by the now-dead mutant. Descending through the bunker, searching for
an alternative escape, The Protagonist finds a couple printed emails that reference the
cube. One mentions that the artifact causes a brief
dimensional switch. Another has a typed entry that is summarized,
rather bluntly, by a written note, “SAFE IN CUBE”. The Protagonist also stumbles across a curious
suit of armor that appears to have been forged from the revolutionary gold metal found throughout
Site 2’s caves. Either it was created by Puff Corp, or it
was yet another recovered artifact. Regardless, it could prove useful, so the
Protagonist stowed it in his pack before continuing on and finding a way out of the bunker. Days pass as the Protagonist exhausts all
other leads. He eventually befriends Virginia Puffton,
who shows a proclivity for ballet, and shooting multiple guns at once. Before leaving Site 2, the Protagonist aims
to discover the fate of Barbara Puffton, as well as the source of the mutants running
amok. Just over 2 weeks since his arrival at Site
2, the Protagonist enters the last bunker marked on his GPS. Deep in the bunker, he discovers what appears
to be a young girl’s room. The pointe shoes, along with the small ballet
stage and barre, indicate that this room likely belonged to Virginia Puffton. Logically, the private collection of paintings
and decadent abode at the base of the bunker could only belong to Edward and Barbara Puffton. The pieces of artwork on display are expertly
painted, and all feature the same subject. While the surroundings change, the Golden
Cube remains as a constant. Upon further investigation, the Protagonist
discovers that something broke into the Puffton’s bunker bathroom. Stepping through the steam, he emerges into
a small cave and discovers a gold door with exotic patterns and a hand-shaped seal. Following his intuition, he dons the suit
of Golden Armor, and lays his hand within the seal. Upon contact, a group of discordant chimes
resound from the doors. There’s a click, followed by the loud and
drawn out sound of metal grinding against rock as the doors slowly swing open. Carefully, the Protagonist makes his way into
the cavern. The air is stagnant and polluted by the acrid
odor of brimstone. An orange glow can be seen in the distance. But before he can get close enough to make
out the source, a low, guttural hiss emerges from the shadows, giving him pause. The source of the noise stepped into the light. At first the Protagonist mistook the monster
for another mutant. But something was different about this creature. It didn’t share the disheveled and haphazard
appearance of the mutants. Rather, it was organized and purpose-built. Two memories flitted through the Protagonist’s
mind. During his first day on the island, he stumbled
upon a Holy Cross. Because of his limited arsenal at the time,
he foolishly attempted to use the cross against the mutants. Of course it didn’t work.. the idea was
utter lunacy. But then came the other, more recent memory. It was of a scribbled note he found in the
Puffton’s abode, mere minutes before discovering the Golden Door. It stated, rather simply, “CROSSES BURN
DEMONS”. Fishing through his pack the Protagonist pulled
out the Cross and raised it towards the lunging demon. It staggered back, as if repelled by an invisible
force, and bursted into flames. Moving forward, he found the source of the
orange glow, it was magma. Cross gripped tight, the Protagonist continued
making steady progress through the personal slice of hell. Further on, he plucked a hand-drawn diagram
from a skeleton. A note in the top left stated “Cube activates
EVERY 8 cycles”. The protagonist recognized the diagram as
resembling a moon calendar, which he had seen on a magazine cover, elsewhere on the island. He read that one moon cycle is roughly 29
or 30 days. Perhaps those were the cycles that the note
was referring to. Thinking back to his mission brief, he recalled
that the Pufftons were missing for no less than 31 weeks upon his arrival at Site 2. The Protagonist quickened his pace through
the magma tunnels as he did the calculations in his head. 31 weeks is enough time for a little more
than 7 moon cycles. And it had been a couple weeks since he arrived
on the island. If the Cube’s activation coincided with
the disappearance of the Puffton’s, then he may only have hours, perhaps minutes, before
the Cube would activate again. The Protagonist was moving so fast that he
almost missed it. Beside a pool of lava, he found several hand-drawn
notes that were in miraculously good condition, given the circumstance. The one that caught his eye depicted a large
cube, with a written note beside it, “Stay in the CUBE”. Reading the ominous message, The Protagonist
solidified his resolve. He wasn’t sure what the Cube’s activation
would do, but he was going to make sure he was inside it when it happened. Rushing onward, the Protagonist sprinted to
the bottom of a magma-lit cavern. Pushing himself through a crack in the wall,
he saw it, the giant golden Cube. The clever Timmy LeBlanc was there too, and
he waved the Protagonist over. A Laptop was in Timmy’s hands, with a large
countdown on display; it would hit 0 in less than a minute; The Protagonist was just in
time. As the Cube began to close, The Protagonist’s
companions barely slipped in behind him. They were followed closely by Silver Jacket,
but she was too late, and the Cube shut her out. Just like when the Protagonist opened the
Golden Door, a series of discordant chimes resounded through the Cube and it began to
shake, as if it were in motion. Unexpectedly, Timmy clutches his head and
starts to collapse. A plethora of parallel Timmys suddenly emerged,
vanishing just as quickly. Timmy was still living a cursed existence
due to the experiments performed on him at Site 1. And he did have plans to visit Site 2. Perhaps this, getting inside the Gold Cube,
was his goal, as whatever the cube did to Timmy seems to have exorcized the demons from
within him. As Timmy regains his composure, the Cube shutters
to a halt. With a flash, the cube face opposite to the
one they entered through vanishes, revealing a futuristic and alien cityscape. As he stood there, staring, The Protagonist
felt the Golden armor begin humming, resonating with the Cube. It is unclear whether it was The Protagonist’s
gesture, or if it was just a matter of time, but the view of the futuristic cityscape briefly
flickers, then vanishes, replaced by a rocky cave wall, before the cube shuts altogether. It would appear that the note on the artifact
causing a brief dimensional switch was accurate. Turning around, the original side The Protagonist
entered through opens back up, revealing what was once Silver Jacket, but has since been
transformed by the Cube into a writhing, mutated mass. From this, it can be deduced that the Cube’s
activation was responsible for the catastrophe at Site 2 and disappearance of the Pufftons
those 8 Moon cycles ago. Barely escaping with his life, The Protagonist
is left with a final choice. To leave with the LeBlancs and his companions,
or to stay on the island, continue fighting the demons that inhabit it, and solve the
mystery of the Cube. That is the story of Site 2 and Sons Of The
Forest, or at least the story regarding the major events that take place. But take it with a grain of salt, as there
are lots of articles and pieces of evidence that were not discussed here, and many gaps
in the narrative needed to be filled by speculation in order to make a cohesive story from start
to finish. Even then, I personally have many questions
that I was not able to answer by exploring the game. Some of these questions are simple. Such as the identity of the Protagonist. He looks like Carl Planter, pictured on the
Maintenance Keycard. But that doesn’t really fit in with the
story. If the Protagonist was Carl Planter, why wasn’t
he on the island when the first catastrophe occurred. Or at the very least, why didn’t he have
his own Keycard. There are also questions regarding the ultimate
fate of Barbara Puffton, how long the Pufftons were on the island before the catastrophe
occurred, and just how Timmy managed to beat us to The Cube, getting past the Gold Door
and a horde of Demons. There is also this page with symbols and corresponding
numbers. And I have not found these symbols anywhere
else in the game. There are more nuanced questions, such as
where the true demons come from, why people outside the Cube turn into mutants, what the
range of the Cube’s mutating capabilities when activated is, and if it can be augmented
or suppressed. Then there is speculation to be had on the
many references to holograms and virtual reality. Giving rise to the question of whether the
events that take place in the game were all just part of a simulation. I think there is a lot of room to interpret
and speculate when it comes to this game’s story and ending, so share your thoughts in
the comments section. This is a new style of video I am trying so
please let me know if you liked it and would like to see similar style videos covering
other games! I also just want to take a moment to thank
my collaborator and good friend, Krazyflips, who provided invaluable help in researching
Sons Of The Forest and The Forest, and in designing the assets used in this video. If you want to see more great content, you
can head over to my channel, and if you’re new, consider subscribing, you’re helping
me feed my cat, her name’s Marshmallow. Have a great day, if you’re here today,
have a great Monday, and a great week, and as always, thanks for watching!
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