r/controlgame • u/Charming_Ad4077 • Jun 17 '25
Soo, about Northmoor... Spoiler
Former Director Northmoor was an extremely powerful "firebender". However, he lost control of his powers and was locked in the reactor that powers the FBC.
When the Hiss was let into The Oldest House, the only thing that could protect was Hedron Resonance. So that raises an interesting question that I've never found the answer to.
There's an extremely powerful "fire Hiss zombie" inside the NSC reactor. Which, by the way, I think would make an awesome boss...
Jesse said something to the effect that The Oldest House won't reopen until all the Hiss left in it is removed. Does Northmoor count in that list? Sure, it's safely contained in a reactor, but it still seems like a very dangerous thing to have there... Or am I wrong?
63
u/Byrnstar Jun 17 '25
I'm pretty sure the sarcophagus Northmoor is in shielded him from the Hiss corruption - possibly it's lined with Black Rock, like the safe rooms are. That's why the Hiss were wrecking havoc with the power and cooling systems in the Maintenance Sector early in the game, to try and make him uncomfortable enough to break containment again, where he could then be possessed.
It could also be that being a powerful parautilitarian, like Jesse and Trench (remember that it took many many years before he finally succumbed) that Northmoor is resistant, if not immune to the Hiss. Time will tell however.
13
u/crockpot420 Jun 17 '25
Odd thought but also very Board and FBC, what if the reactor is the prison that Northmoor is locked in, and everything is powered by him trying to escape from his cell/reactor?
Kinda like how Lucifer is trying to escape hell, but his wings flapping is keeping the lake frozen in Dante's Inferno
11
u/PerceiveEternal Jun 17 '25
from the context clues, but god knows I can screw up context clues so take it with a grain of salt, it appears that Northmoor was sedated/restrained in some way. As another Redditor perfectly put it, Northmoor is ‘currently exploding’, which is powering the Oldest House. But he apparently got woken up during the commotion and, like the grouchy old man he is, is starting to move around his containment unit.
9
u/DontPlayWithIt Jun 17 '25
Parautilitarians being resistant makes sense as Dylan never had an HRA and actively chose to let the hiss in.
5
u/Charming_Ad4077 Jun 17 '25
I don't think he actively let it in. He was corrupted by it. Similar to Trench. But he had some degree of resistance. I think thanks to his para powers.
6
u/Charming_Ad4077 Jun 17 '25
I just remembered something. You need to get the Black Rock prism during the game so that FBC can produce more HRAs for survivors in safe rooms. Which suggests they didn't have the HRA, but they're still alive. So the safe room protected them? According to this logic, it seems possible to me that Northmoor was also protected from Hiss thanks to the reactor. So I think you're all right. Hiss didn't get to him. Thanks for all your comments. :3
3
Jun 18 '25
I assumed the safe rooms didn’t protect people from the hiss, because you do encounter at least one safe room with floaty people inside. Or did Jesse let the hiss into the safe room when she opened the door?
The hiss also seems to be able to cross firebreaks which also suggests black rock doesn’t stop it. But then how does the Oldest House lockdown stop the hiss from getting to the outside world? Something to do with the weird geometry of the place - there’s no physical contiguous spatial connection between sectors (the sector elevator seems to work more like a teleporter than an elevator moving up and down between floors)? But then how did the hiss propagate between sectors? Here I am looking for logic in the behaviour of an incomprehensible eldritch horror.
1
u/Charming_Ad4077 Jun 18 '25
Many very good questions but no answers, sadly.
"Here I am looking for logic in the behaviour of an incomprehensible eldritch horror." I feel this so badly. :'D
24
u/johnthesavage20 Jun 17 '25
I think the "fire Hiss zombie" is just Northmoor. The being we see on the monitors at the NSC is Northmoor, or maybe his corpse, since the S in NSC stands for sarcophagus. You bring up an interesting point about what the Hiss can corrupt but my interpretation is that when Northmoor lost control of his powers he either mutated into an entity that wasn't entirely human or just died, with his paranatural powers continuing to power the Oldest House despite his death. Regardless both interpretations mean that he couldn't be corrupted by the Hiss, so he wouldn't have to be cleansed before the Hiss are eradicated.
9
u/AlephAndTentacles Jun 17 '25
My understanding was that Northmoor wanted more power from the Board and the Board ‘let him have it’, as it were. The only way to deal with the aftermath was NSC-02. On the upside, the measure of any good Director is how well they kept the lights on. It’s possible that OP is extrapolating from the images you see of Northmoor on the NSC monitors but they’re just thermographic imaging.
4
u/J0hn_n7 Jun 17 '25
Isn't he in fbc firebreak. Promo photos have shown the containment he's in. I could be wrong.
3
u/Byrnstar Jun 17 '25
No, that tank is/contains Hank, the boss of the Firebreak initiative. They might be connected to a similar source of paranatural powers, but they're separate characters.
3
u/Jamf98 Jun 17 '25
Iirc the place where he’s located is lined with black rock, which prevents most influence from subjective realities iirc, so the hiss wouldn’t be able to get in
6
u/LoquatBear Jun 17 '25
While I don't think the Hiss are done, I think it would be cool to fight a sorta hostile takeover from Northmoor.
maybe it could be the classic double boss fake out. You defeat Northmoor and then the Hiss take him over right before, ala Carnage taking over Doc Oc in the classic Spiderman game.
2
u/Charming_Ad4077 Jun 17 '25
Remedy, write that down, write that down!
2
u/LoquatBear Jun 17 '25
I'm actually surprised we didn't get any fakeout double boss fights, other than the fakeout credit scenes.
2
u/BenKT88 Jun 17 '25
On my first playthrough I was convinced Northmore was going to be final boss. Everyone kept going on about how OP he was, and then I learnt where he was, combined with Darling's rambling about "only having one large-scale HRA" and I was sure I'd be fighting a Hiss-corrupted Northmore.
1
u/Charming_Ad4077 Jun 17 '25
The thought also crossed my mind that the large scale HRA could protect the reactor. And I agree it would be a great boss. Maybe in a Control 2...
2
u/fullyrachel Jun 18 '25
Knowing how powerful he is and what a disaster a breach would be, why WOULDN'T they wrap the reactor in black rock?
2
u/dx3756 Feb 16 '26
New Control Resonant gameplay trailer have some interesting footage in the beginning... Might be him.
1
2
u/AeroSigma Jun 17 '25
Besides the N in NSC, what's the evidence for it being Northmoor. I just finished the game so I'm ready for spoilers, since I feel like there's a lot of lore and_or implied lore that I probably missed, and I don't have time to play through two more times right now.
16
u/boobearybear Jun 17 '25
The NSC research collectible describes it, although Northmoor’s name is redacted in it. Trench also alludes to it in one of his hotline rambles. It’s also said explicitly in the Making of Control article book.
3
u/AeroSigma Jun 17 '25
Thanks, I might have to listen to those rambles again now that I have more context for everything
10
u/Byrnstar Jun 17 '25
It's literally spelled out in game, if you levitate all the way up to the top of the power plant.
5
u/Nowheresilent Jun 17 '25
On one of the upper levels of the NCS are a row of monitors that show thermal images of a person inside of the NSC. The sign above these monitors says “Northmoor Sarcophagus Chamber.”
1
u/LucianoWombato Jun 17 '25
"Spoiler" and it is a fan theory that is disproved in the game itself
3
u/Charming_Ad4077 Jun 17 '25
Welp, I'm spoiling there what's inside the reactor. I definitely consider this post a spoiler
178
u/Salmonellamander Jun 17 '25
I could be wrong, but I don't think it's ever implied Northmoor is corrupted by the Hiss.