10.4 Theory (Continued) – Applying This To Emma During The Game

So Emma’s protected world starts to crumble (this goes back to the personality disassociation), which affects her mental state and causes the hallucination of the scarecrow now being able to speak. This only happened for the first time after Emily showed up. And as we’ve seen, this surprised even Emma.

The point I’m trying to make is that 2^nd half of what she says here. “If they continue arguing like this tonight, I will go to the garden tomorrow and burn it. ” This shows how unstable Emma’s gotten. She’s saying that, if the scarecrow fails to make Freddy and Kreacher stop arguing, then she’s going to burn the scarecrow. This could possibly have deeper meaning because, if we think about this from Emma’s perspective who has one personality stuck in the past, she could be referencing when her mom and dad used to quarrel, or during one of her dad’s moods when he drank. Regarding whether this last bit is true, when she says she’s going to burn the scarecrow has implications that she may be implying she’s threatening to burn Leo, her father. I mentioned before that she does have those tendencies of destroying stuff due to her skill in game and due to her past, when her father sold or destroyed the items in their house and she possibly destroyed some of them too to keep looters from taking them. The implication of burning Leo could also go back to how (at least later) she can’t recognize Leo as her dad. He’s changed due to his rage. So she treats him as such.

Either way, this hints towards the act of and why she burns the scarecrow later. By this point, now that she’s met Leo in the game, who’s no longer the man she once knew. So even more of a reason why she burns it (rather than trying to burn Kreacher) now that she’s encountered Leo and seen him. The father she once loved, and obsessed over, even imagined a scarecrow to be him, becoming someone unrecognizable is the last straw (is that a pun? Oops) and she has a mental breakdown. This mean she’s likely hallucinating more.

Now, since this involves Kreacher, it is highly likely he was in the scarecrow (especially since he did it once already, he said he’d “ continue this tomorrow ”, and his worn clothes have burns on them). Emma even comments on the scarecrow being “ heavier than you look ”, hinting at Kreacher being in there further. There is still a chance this isn’t the case, since we have no real confirmation one way or the other. I’m not saying I don’t believe he’s in the scarecrow, I’m just trying to have an open mind just in case. Either way, moving on.

Another comment Emma makes is “I can’t imagine what you’d look like in 10 years. ” I believe this is referencing Leo, not Kreacher. Emma had electroshock therapy for nearly 10 years. She didn’t even know something had happened to Leo until after she got out and saw reports of the fire (though the side of Emma stuck in the past still sees him as alive, especially due to imagining him as the scarecrow. And I’ve already mentioned how she refuses and didn’t want to believe he died from her deductions). The point is, she’s making a comment and wondering what Leo would look like (if he were alive) in the potential future compared to the Leo she knew back when life was happy and they had a potential future, and when he drank.

Even more evidence that she’s referring to Leo is the fact, soon after she says this, she is forced to run from the hunter, aka Leo. She in fact does see him, in the future, but he is nothing like what she wanted. Again, this causes (more) mental breakdown.

But before she sees him, before her image of him in the future is proven false, she says, “ Don’t worry. I won’t leave you. I’ll keep you in my suitcase and take good care of you. ” This goes back to her love for her dad. Even when her mom left, even when her dad started to drink, she still loves him. This also goes back to how she was willing to hug the scarecrow despite him being dirty for the same reason, paralleling how her mom rejected Leo for his clothes being “dirty”.

After she sees Leo though, things change, as I’ve already mentioned.

“I have no choice. Sorry, darling. Your time is up. Helping me makes you happy, right? My little angel. After all, in a sense, you’re also a part of me, aren’t you? ”

The “I have no choice” could be a symbolic of her feelings towards her father now that she’s encountered Leo after all this time (just like the letter promised, with the thistle foreshadowing revenge also having been true). Her attachment to her father, and thus the scarecrow, is now gone. That’s why she’s now willing to get rid of it (and her father).

The “After all… you’re also a part of me” possibly goes back to Emma’s mental breakdown after seeing Leo. Her protected world has been shattered. Reality has forced its way in. As a result, this could mean something happened with her personality disassociation. Maybe it’s kind of like Jack’s situation. Maybe the two sides (or at least the more dangerous one) are aware of each other’s existence, or possibly the divide has disappeared.

“Sorry, darlings. Perhaps what I really need is neither of you. Farewell. I hope you can see the pyre Emily. I’ll be here waiting for you. Don’t disappoint me. ”

Like with Jack, maybe the two sides are merging, or maybe like the Ripper to Jack, the one side is trying to get rid of the other. That could be why she says “darlings” rather than just referring to one thing/person. She could be referring to the scarecrow (aka Leo) as well as her other self (the one stuck in the past, the one that has the other personality protect it from reality). She no longer needs Leo, now that she’s seen what he’s become. She also no longer needs her other “protected”, reality denying self. Now, she only wants Emily. That’s why she lights the scarecrow: as a way to hopefully get Emily’s attention. “I’ll be here, waiting for you” means that Emma is going to stay there in that spot until hopefully (for her) Emily notices and comes to her.

But she never will, since Leo already got Emily. That’s why Emma only manages to find Emily’s syringe. That’s what we see about to happen to Emily at the end of her diary, after Freddy learned she was the one that killed Martha (his and Leo’s wife), and after he set her up to be discovered by the hunter.

The fact Leo comes from the factory where Freddy was, I believe it is also likely Leo got Freddy too. But more on that later.

(Separate theory from the one I’ll discuss later: what if Freddy got Emily found/caught by using himself as bait? Maybe that’s why he says “Martha, see you in hell. ” Maybe he found out Leo was the hunter for the game or something, and knew Leo would come for him. I’ve already established Freddy is smart, and we saw him looking around the factory with the “I will find you” on the wall. That could’ve been how he found out. That or maybe even if he didn’t know the hunter was Leo, he still intended to use himself to draw the hunter to Emily. That could be why Leo comes from inside the factory rather than outside. Freddy got the hunter’s attention, who focused on Freddy first before going after Emily. This was just an interesting thought I had while writing this section. Feel free to think whatever you want).

Emily is gone. She’s never coming to Emma, but Emma doesn’t know this. She’s decided to abandon everything she once clung to (Leo and the past). (But it’s also possible she could mean something malicious for Emily too. Emily gave her the electroshock therapy, as well as was the person that is responsible for her mother dying. If she managed to find out, she could mean something other than to just be with her…. But that’s a real stretch. I just wanted to mention it anyways. )

The problem is that, if the fire is something Emily can find, then so can the hunter. We know, according to one of the clown’s skins, that the clown was able to find the scarecrow due to the fire.

If the clown could spot it, so can Leo. And if Leo can spot it, that means Emma’s going to die too. We already saw he was willing to chase her earlier, but he didn’t recognize her or stop. This signifies he won’t hesitate later either.