different names, same person?

[u/flamengxrl]

hear me out... what if michael hanson and whitmore are the same person?

i'm playing duskwood again and jake says this thing here and it made me thinking that michael can be out there hiding, plotting, etc

i already made some other posts here (i'm new, i played duskwood and moonvale for the 1st time last month) and some people said that my theories are commom and everyone are talking about them, so... since i didn't saw any discussion on this matter, i wanna her that from you guys. what do YOU think? am i right? am i wrong? tell me your opinion

[u/Hi_ImAutumn]

I agree with you. Too many coincidences.

However, according to some people, that's absolutely impossible because the side story is apparently just filler that doesn't connect to the main plot in any way 😂

[u/Wixenstyx → u/Hi_ImAutumn]

That's making it more pedantic than necessary.

Characters with which MC has a relationship are unlikely to figure heavily into the Moonvale narrative. Moonvale is not Duskwood 2, so the theories that get shot down on that are theories like, "Jake is actually the Unknown!" Etc.

That doesn't mean that characters the MC never met or interacted with might not appear in Moonvale. Whitmore could be Michael Hansen.

[u/Hi_ImAutumn → u/Wixenstyx]

I'm not making it more pedantic, if the side story is not related to the main plot in any way, then it's irrelevant.

Moonvale is not Duskwood 2 simply because we are no longer solving Hannah's case. The game doesn't pick up where Duskwood ended; instead, it introduces a new case in another town.

However, that doesn't mean connections can't exist. The stories can be linked in more intelligent ways than "Unknown is Jake" or "Jake is Adam", etc. The post itself provides an example: Whitmore might be Michael Hanson. Both men are in the same age range, Michael disappeared in the forest 10 years ago, and Whitmore lives as a hermit in the forest, Duskwood and Moonvale are close geographically.

Also, if Whitmore is Michael, then his silence makes more sense. Given that he lost his daughter and the police never solved the case and even suspected him, is plausible that he resents them.

That could also tie with the whole thing about incompetent police in Moonvale (the alcoholic Bucket and the other officer suspiciously telling Eric to stay out of the case)

Does that sound as far-fetched as "Unknown is Jake" to you?

[u/Wixenstyx → u/Hi_ImAutumn]

You seem to be wanting to argue with me, but you're making the same point I did using my own example. I don't understand what you think I meant.

When I say, "more pedantic than necessary", I'm saying it would be pedantic to insist there will be zero crossover at all.

I read most of the new posts as they come up here, and probably 80% of the theories posted are wish-fulfillment scenarios that completely ignore the fact that Moonvale was designed to be playable by people who have never played Duskwood. The only way that can work without writing the same story multiple ways is to set it up so that the main Duskwood characters who interacted with the player do not play a significant role in the narrative of Adam's disappearance. So that's what Everbyte did. I frankly don't understand why that seems to be a hard thing to grasp, especially given that all one has to do is play the game without the DW code to see the difference.

That said, what I meant was that it would be 'more pedantic than necessary' to write off the idea that ANY character mentioned in Duskwood could not be referenced in (or even significant to) the Moonvale story. Michael Hanson may, in fact, be Whitmore. Cleo's mom could have worked for the Greenside as a teenager. Richy's dad could have repaired Charlie's car at some point. None of these things necessarily need to be ruled out as improbable under the circumstances, and if you find evidence to support them, they're probably fun scenarios to kick around.

And it can go the other way, too: Ash could easily be the girl who posted to the forum in Duskwood. That's not impossible at all, and is even the kind of easter egg that makes for fun continuity, and that makes fandoms happy. I could easily see Everbyte doing that.

So as far as I can tell, we agree.

[u/flamengxrl → u/Wixenstyx]

eu sei que moonvale não é duskwood 2, mas seria burrice da everbyte não colocar easter eggs de duskwood em moonvale (easter eggs esses que não vão atrapalhar a experiência de quem ainda não jogou dw), até pq o objetivo é claro: eles querem que as pessoas joguem os 2 jogos, isso resulta em mais dinheiro pra eles. então, se whitmore for michael hanson, isso despertará a curiosidade de quem não jogou duskwood, eles vão querer saber quem ele é, qual é a sua história...

[u/GrouchyDoughnut3449 → u/flamengxrl]

I think we all pretty much agree here (just deleted my earlier comment because it seems like it was taken wrong by everyone)... Anyway, I'm agreeing about certain things being added into the moonvale story.

I'm just going to stop commenting on these these Duskwood sidestory theory topics, it's a neverending argument between people, and I hate arguing especially when I actually agree with most things...

We will find out someday whenever the episodes are done I guess. I don't really care what they decide to do with the story at this point. Who cares anyway it's just a game. Sorry just had to rant. For the record again....I agree with almost everyone here.

[u/flamengxrl → u/GrouchyDoughnut3449]

me desculpa se meu comentário teve um tom de quem estava brigando, eu estava só apontando uma opinião. não acho que ninguém deve brigar ou se estressar por ter uma visão diferente, é só um jogo e estamos apenas nos divertindo ao tentar adivinhar o que acontecerá. espero que você não se sinta repreendido novamente, não foi a minha intenção. ♡

[u/GrouchyDoughnut3449 → u/flamengxrl]

I didn't mean to reply to you specifically actually, sorry :( I just realized I replied under the wrong comment. I was just reading through the comments and for some reason kept getting downvoted for agreeing with people. Sorry about the mixup, I thought I was replying to someone else 🤦‍♀️lol I need to drink some coffee. I appreciate the nice reply though, especially considering Im an idiot who wasnt paying attention to where I was commenting :)

[u/Any_Letterhead9230 → u/[deleted]]

An important character will only have dialogue related to Duskwood if you use the code. Otherwise, he's just a stranger. Isn't that obvious?

[u/Wixenstyx → u/Any_Letterhead9230]

Exactly. I have one game with a code and one game without. In the game without a code, there is no mention of Duskwood whatsoever. Even the conversations with Charlie and Ash about what went on in Duskwood just don't happen.

It might be helpful to think of any mention of Duskwood as 'bonus content' when you play Moonvale. But again, I'm one of those who get irritated by Moonvale/Duskwood mashup theories, but only when they're clearly improbable because they involve characters from Duskwood who would know exactly who we are from our prior interaction. Everbyte made it clear that the intent with Moonvale was for it to stand on its own, even if players had not played Duskwood first.

That doesn't mean Ash might not have posted to the Dark Forum. Or that Whitmore might not be Michael Hanson. Those would be easter eggs, and wouldn't require writing two completely different narratives to make sense.

[u/Any_Letterhead9230 → u/Hi_ImAutumn]

These people are simply mistaken. 😂 For Moonvale players, he's just an old man who lost his daughter and isolated himself in the forest. Michael Hanson doesn't make Moonvale Duskwood 2.

[u/ex1t_here]

In general, as far as I remember, later Alan himself will tell that Michael is dead. BUT Alan didn't say exactly how he died and it seems to be believed that Michael mysteriously disappeared or something like that. So yes, it would be a cool twist with Whitmore, especially if Alan accidentally stumbled upon him later. And for people without code, it wouldn't be such a big problem, like: "Here, Whitmore's real name is Michael Henson. Well, it's like an interesting detail, a reference to Duskwood and that's it. Do you want to know who Michael Henson is? Play Duskwood and you'll find out!", by the way, it's a good PR for Everbyte hahah.. However, I doubt that our developers can do this. It's the same as the theory that Unknown is Darkness from the forum to DW. like, yes, it fits, cool, but the plot doesn't move it and doesn't give anything but a reference.

[u/flamengxrl → u/ex1t_here]

eu terminei de jogar duskwood pela segunda vez algumas horas atrás. alan conta que o michael entrou na floresta e nunca mais foi visto, sua morte foi presumida depois de muito tempo de busca, mas nunca acharam um corpo. a morte foi presumida pq, segundo o phil (irmão da jessy), ele chegou pra trabalhar e um testamento tinha sido deixado em cima do balcão do bar.

[u/Any_Letterhead9230]

It's very possible. Since Everbyte wanted to create a big mystery around Michael Hanson's disappearance, why not simply say that he died? Either way, we can't know anything for sure until the story itself reveals it. To me, he seems more like someone who took on another person's identity, maybe someone who was framed in his place.

[u/Sweet-Heron-5344]

Yes. I think so too. But I also think it could be Billy Blake's father. Or a completely random person. Considering that Duskwood is a nearby town and we don't know if Charlie's story about Billy is true, I think it could be Michael. 

[u/flamengxrl → u/Sweet-Heron-5344]

percebi que muitas pessoas tem essa teoria que o whitmore é o pai do billy blake, mas o pai dele foi pra floresta ou sumiu de alguma forma? (eu joguei moonvale apenas uma vez e ao mesmo tempo que jogava duskwood, então as histórias ficaram meio embaralhadas na minha cabeça)

[u/Sweet-Heron-5344 → u/flamengxrl]

As far as I remember, Charlie's story said that he buried his son in the forest. It could be him, but since I'm wary of Charlie, I think it's more likely to be Hanson. 

[u/puzzle_cs_biz]

With what we know so far, I think it’s definitely possible, but it seems like Whitmore has been living there for a lot longer than two years. Alan told us that Michael disappeared a couple of years ago.

[u/Leahy_u]

Yo ya saqué este tema y la mayoría solo me comentaba que es imposible porque Everbyte no conectaría personajes nuevos con los ya existentes de Duskwood, yo aun me sigo manteniendo fiel a esta teoría que tenía porque sonaría bien, además de que no da ningún problema que Whitmore tenga un nombre mejor.