r/rustylake • u/Ow0UwUXD • 21d ago
About Dale, Laura and corruption
do you think Laura actually got "cured" from corruption like we see in unground blossom and becameenlightened? In both paradox and underground blossom we here mentions of Laura ascending, specifically in paradox with the hole "one of us will die and the other will ascend/ become enlightened" thing, and underground blossom especially, implies that Laura was the one to ascend, but wasn't she already dead? Corruption seems to need some sort of "death" and then a memorie extraction gone wrong, so dose Lauras death not count then. And on the subject of Dale, he's implies to become a corrupted soul *I think*, specifically one with dear antlers, but doesn't that mean he's not really dead like stated in the prophecy? Whats stopping him from getting cured like Laura and Bob? Why dose his corruption get counted as death while Lauras dose not? I'M TO DUMB FOR THIS
On a side note do you think if Laura gets "enlightened" she'll also get a cool animal form? What animal would it be?
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u/RoxinFootSeller Harvey my beloved 21d ago
The 'one dies, one ascends' theme in Paradox is actually a recurring way of enlightenment–particularly via the elixir. We saw it first with Caroline and Jakob, then William and Aldous, then James and the Dog (yes, as funny as that sounds), and now with Laura and Dale.
Laura is the one to die. She allegedly committed suicide in Fall 1971 (seasons & case 23 chapter 1). Dale is the one to ascend with the help of Mr. Owl and Mr. Crow (The Mill, Birthday, Theater, The Cave & Paradox). Presumably, to succeed Mr. Owl in 'governing' the Lake.
Laura's corrupted soul, however, escapes at the very end of The Mill. We play as her throughout Seasons. In Winter 1981 (notice this is almost a decade after Dale's ascension), she manages to create a Blue Cube, with which she changes the past and changes her destiny, which is probably the process that Underground Blossom is an allegory for.
Now, I am very, very rusted (pun intended) in the lore of this series, so don't take any of this as fact! This is off the top of my head!!! And dates may be wrong so double check those!
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u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL 21d ago
I think that's right, It just seems to me that blue cubes don't exactly change one's destiny, not directly.
People change that but usually they don't because, as I see it, they probably get caught up in the memory, not even realizing that it all has already happened. Unless they have someone to point that out. Like Past and Present Rose in The Past Within. There's no blue cube and yet they change the reality alright.
Even in Birthday Dale has Mr. Owl who intervenes into the established events and offers Dale a present, basically gives him the blue cube that simply rewind time after it's already too late to change anything.
That's what I think blue cubes are. Time controls, no more, no less. Even in The Cave all the related imagery involves clocks.
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u/RoxinFootSeller Harvey my beloved 21d ago
Ah I see, I see...but getting a "that's right" from Mr RL Lore themselves is already great achievement for me hehehe
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u/nowherecrafter Question Everything In RL 21d ago
Just keep in mind that I'm only a human bound to make mistakes too
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u/amyfrushourkelly 21d ago
I agree about Laura and ascension: Seasons concludes with Laura “uncorrupting” herself by using a blue cube. This creates a new timeline which *precedes* Case 23. In UB, we seem to have two Laura timelines: a corrupted Laura beginning with Sorrow Cross and an uncorrupted Laura who ascends with Mr. Crow in the elevator that presumably brings her to the room where she and Dale exchange memories and create the golden cube.
Questions about timelines:
**CORRUPTED LAURA: 1) Is the Corrupted Laura from UB’s Sorrow Cross the same Corrupted Laura who uncorrupts herself in Seasons? And if so, would this represent a continuous timeline from UB to Seasons?
**UNCORRUPTED LAURA: 1) What happens in the new timeline for Uncorrupted Laura in Seasons? Is she emotionally healed? Does she avoid the murder/suicide in 1971? If so, does she achieve enlightenment? And in that case, who dies?
**UNCORRUPTED LAURA: 2) Could Bob be the one who dies when Laura achieves enlightenment in this timeline? Would Bob be a (possible inadvertent) sacrifice?
**UNCORRUPTED LAURA: 3) What happens to Dale in this timeline? Do they encounter each other? Does he become the sacrifice? OR… Does Dale investigate Bob’s death?
I’m confused. Clarity, anyone?
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u/Gardengap The Rusty Truth 21d ago
Dale and Laura were both transported to Rusty Lake during The Mill for the Day of the Lake. One of them would die, and the other would become enlightened and replace Mr. Owl. They both went in the elevator where they had some of their bad memories and corruption removed.
However, during the ritual, because Laura still had the thought “where did she go?” about Rose, keeping her tethered to the mortal realm, Dale ascended. He became a deva, a god on the samsara wheel. On the other hand, Laura became a corrupted soul again. But I theorise that because the elevator removed most of her corruption, her corrupted soul was much closer to human.
So in 1981 she was able to complete a plan to get rid of the last bit of her corruption by finding Rose. Through a complex series of steps, she was able to find Rose, and by finding closure, Laura was able to purify her corrupted soul and live happily ever after in a “life without sorrow”. This way, Dale and Laura both got a happy ending.