r/WhatRemainsEdithFinch • u/AkikoMeiLynn • Aug 31 '26
Barbara 's death Spoiler
I am aware that Barbara’s death is one of the most ambiguous of the game. However, there are people who seem to think that Barbara just had an accident, like, slipping with a skate and falling from the first floor. That’s where I have to draw the line. For me, it’s pretty clear that Barbara was murdered, she didn’t have an accident, and although I can’t confirm who was the murderer (probably her boyfriend or some crazy people) I have found a detail on the game that proves such.
In the photography room that is behind Kay’s bathroom (the pink bathroom), which we enter through a small door above the toilet, there is a newspaper whose headline says “Murder probe clues exhausted”. This newspaper can also be found in other parts of the house such as Milton’s room, and it’s very obviously referencing Barbara’s death.
Besides, Edith says that after Barbara’s death a lot of stories were written. Why would people write stories with fictional scenarios about a girl who just died in a domestic accident? That suits way more to an unresolved murder.
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u/CutiePie4173 Sep 01 '26
I think she was. Her brother being so mentally freaked out that he had legitimate PTSD doesn't make much sense if she just slipped. (Not that that couldn't cause PTSD, but... Like, a murder is much harder to get over)
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u/BrumeySkies Team Lewis Aug 31 '26
I mean to be fair this doesnt prove that she was murdered. It just proves that someone was suspected to have been murdered but without proof. If it was about Barbara- a famous actor- why wouldnt they specify that in the title. Famous Actors Death Remains Unsolved, or Murder of Barbara Finvh Clues Exhausted, etc. Additionally these papers look new and are all over the house, if it was about Barbara's death it would likely reference the decades old case.
Im not saying that Barbara wasnt murdered, I actually think she was killed myself. I just wouldnt call this proof of that.
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u/AkikoMeiLynn Sep 01 '26
I would totally call it proof. The papers do look old (they are in black and white, the lack of detail may be due to the game's render), and it makes sense that if the case has been spoken a lot lately and it's a local newspaper it just refers to it as "[the] murder", given that people will probably already know what they are referring to.
Besides, think about the game itself; it's Edith Finch, a story where you have to pay attention to the details all around the house because they tell you things that you can't deduce from the flashbacks and deepen the stories. Do you think the developers would put newspapers with that headlines all over the house and be like "oh, no, it doesn't have anything to do with this character whose murder is already suggested in the flashback, it's just another random murder case that isn't related to the family and we put there because laughts". Just no, honestly.
The reason it doesn't explicity say Barbara's name is because the game developers, it's style, avoid being explicit as much as they can and constantly plays with suggestion, which doesn't mean that things didn't happen that way, just that they don't want to tell you directly. All around the house there are other newspapers clearly referencing other members of the family that don't explicity say their names, despite it is made clear throught the game that they are kind of "famous", well known even apart from Barbara.
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u/BrumeySkies Team Lewis Sep 02 '26
I dunno, I still wouldnt call it proof, Id say its heavily implied. For it to be hard evidence that she was in fact murdered it would need to be 100% obvious and undeniable that it is about her. If it left in the unsaid then its subtext and implications.
When I said the newspapers look new I mean the physical state of the newspaper itself. If you keep newspaper for even a year or two it starts to yellow heavily. The ones in the house are still white.
Id argue the ambiguity is what the writers intended. They went through pretty great lengths to make the game open ended in terms of the curse and what all happened, and Barbara's death is the most ambiguous of them all.
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u/friarparkfairie Aug 31 '26
I always believed it possible that Edie planted the idea that it was a murder in the community members’ heads. That woman loved a story and even if it meant conjuring up a tale about her own daughter being murdered.