Finding New Hope: Acceptance, Empathy, and Transformation: Nier Replicant, Part 2

For those who want to review or who missed it, Part 1 of the Nier Replicant Series is here.

Part 2 is going to focus on endings B, C, and D, with Part 3 focusing solely on ending E. At the end of ending A, Nier and his party become aware that the shades are what remains of humans and the humans who live in the world are shells who control the simulation. Path B takes you back to the moment when Kaine is released from petrification and the monster sealed away in stone comes back for a fight after 5 years of captivity. I want to focus this piece on Kaine and Tyrann because her reality as half-replicant/half-shade is something which is world-breaking. Her journey to find hope in response to Tyrann who builds her internal dialogue provides a great reflection in how to build one’s own identity in the midst of trauma because of the bonds we build. Finding hope and connection changes our trajectory and enables us to be more present to the world around us.

Spoiler Warning: Heavy Spoilers for Nier: Replicant endings B, C, and D are ahead.

Tyrann expressing his hatred of all humans and craving for more vengeance.

Kaine and Tyrann

Tyrann is an asshole, full stop. He is a shade who fused himself with Kaine and gives her extra destructive power. He craves destruction of everything. He fuels Kaine’s rage for being bullied in the Aerie and losing her grandmother to a Shade. Kaine has no friends until she meets Nier and Emil so Tyrann’s negative and rage-filled self talk is the only companion Kaine has for years. In the screenshot above, Kaine is expressing doubts about killing a shade because she can hear the shade communicating with his robot friend. Tyrann insists on killing the shade and robot in path B.

Kaine and Emil forced to sleep outside after saving the village.

Kaine and Emil

All it takes is one person to step into our lives and give us a chance. Emil is that person for Kaine. Emil also has a troubled past. He was built as a weapon and he had to petrify his sister in order to prevent her from breaking loose and destroying the world. In path A, you meet Emil as a young boy with his eyes covered while Nier is a child. As an adult, Emil gets a fun mask. (Fun Fact: Yoko Taro, the Creative Director of Nier: Replicant often wears an Emil mask when doing interviews.)

This scene takes place right after the party saves the town from a giant shade. The villagers are all afraid of Kaine and Emil because they are accused of attracting the shades to the village. This screenshot is a rare moment of Kaine letting down her guard to share gratitude for Emil’s help in removing her petrification. It is very difficult for us as a people to truly let our guard down with others. Many of us have wounds as deep as Kaine’s. Not all of us are lucky to have an Emil, someone who can listen and be present, even if he has to wear a mask to prevent you from turning into stone. Emil states, “at least in this form, I can look at you while we are talking” and he is as happy as he can be, even if he has to always wear a mask to protect others.

Kaine and Emil build the plan to petrify Kaine to prevent the monster in the library from destroying the village. The best of friends are the ones who can understand what needs to happen in order to help the common good (in this case, petrification) and yet always come back to fix what is broken if we have to put those we love in a challenging situation (curing the petrification). In this case, Kaine consents to petrification knowing the village is at risk. To not have this consent would be abuse, which is never okay.

Overcoming Grief and Loss

Because of the support of her friends, Kaine is able to build her own resolve. Some of this resolve comes from her love for Nier but key to this dialogue is Kaine saying that Tyrann is not the only voice in her life anymore. People choose self-absorbed behavior because they are unable to truly encounter and embrace other people; whether through trauma, sociopathy, psychopathy, or grief. Kaine’s ability to have a safe space to be herself and friends who love as well as fight with her to be better help her overcome her inner destructive voice. A tough decision comes after you play through Path B and move to endings C & D

The Final Choice

Do you kill or save Kaine? When Kaine is taken over by the Black Scrawl after defeating the Shadowlord in Paths C & D, Nier has one last fight to prevent Kaine from going on a path of destruction (especially if she were to escape the castle). Tyrann has forced this situation by merging a shade with Kaine as a replicant. Path C is the option to kill Kaine. The game strongly recommends you take this path first, as Path D forces the erasure of all of your save data. Killing Kaine leaves a relatively unsatisfying ending with a gentle kiss and a gratitude for ending Kaine’s pain. For me, Path C is a desperate choice that gives little reward because Kaine dies and the rest of the ending remains the same as Path B.

Path D is a much more interesting choice. Path D is the option to sacrifice your life for Kaine’s. However, this is not a simple death, everyone will forget you have ever existed. The game asks you four times if you really want to delete your data. It is a painful forgetting of existence because everything you have collected disappears in front of your eyes. Kaine wakes up and heads toward Yonah with a lingering feeling something is missing. The player then has to create a new file with a different name in order to move toward ending E. The flickers of memories are a key theme as you explore Path E.

Conclusion

Kaine goes through much trauma in order to find herself and build her own resolve. She has to overcome the shade who has merged with her and has to open herself up to her companions in order to survive. Both mental health journeys are exhausting for Kaine.

In our own lives, as gamers, many of us have trauma and bullying in our own past. Kaine is a great example of overcoming and still keeping her edge to deal with world crises. Phenomena Gaming is a space where people can find themselves and grow into leaders. Gamers are largest untapped audience for making our world a better place. If Kaine’s story touches you, I would love to hear about it. You can reach me at adam@phenomenagaming.com as well as on Twitter @whatcouldbeingb.