How would the story of the supposed Secret Ending
After defeating the penultimate colossus in the Desert Fortress with the door of his arena open, the supposed Secret Ending would automatically be released.
From this point on, the following story that was assembled by me, is just a theory based on rumors from players who had said that Fumito Ueda gave certain interviews by saying how some parts of a supposed Alternative Ending were, besides an analysis that was made by me, from the two Storyboards that Fumito Ueda had put on his twitter years ago.
PART 1: AFTER THE 15TH COLOSSO DEFEAT
We can see in the first storyboard the following scenes (except the scene below where Mono tries to pet the Agro mare, as this part of the Storyboard corresponds to a background drawing in the notebook):
After Wander defeats the 15th colossus, through his power, Dormin controls the black tentacles that leave the body of the penultimate colossus and are placed inside Wander's body as part of the agreement. As Wander obtained the power of the first 15 colossus in his body, it would lack only the last colossus. In addition, Wander is under the control of Dormin, from the moment that Wander had defeated the first colossus acquiring the first part of the essence of Dormin, like a blood agreement.
Dormin controls Wander's body, levitating him from the 15th Colossus Arena and bringing him to the Sanctuary of Worship, where Wander falls from the sky until he is landed in the sanctuary corridor through the hole where Dormin announces the colossi. As Dormin has control of Wander's body, Dormin can soften the fall of the body to the floor of the sanctuary, avoiding the risk of death. Then the 15 shadows corresponding to the 15 defeated colossi appear around the Wander lying on the ground.
After that, the idol of the 15th colossus collapses itself and the 15 shadows disappear. Soon after, the Agro mare returns from the Arena of the 15th colossus to the Sanctuary of Worship. Wander rises from the ground, looks up and awaits the announcement of the last colossus to be said by Dormin.
Instead of making the announcement of the last colossus, Dormin tells Wander that time is running out.
Then Wander realizes that by wasting time on the secret path guarded in the East Region of the inaccessible areas of the map, he has delayed his journey, and as a result he hears footsteps of horses riding over the huge bridge. Wander imagines that Emon and his guards are looking for him and have already entered the Forbidden Land. Having notion that he does not have time to face the last colossus, Wander mounts the Agro mare and decides to hide from Emon and his guards somewhere in the Forbidden Land.
PART 2: THE WANDER TRAIL
We can see in the second storyboard (in the images above) the following scenes:
- Mounted in Agro, Wander leaves the Sanctuary of Worship, leaving behind the corpse of Mono at rest on the altar - as the first comic shows in the images above.
- Emon and his guards are halfway down the huge bridge - as the second comic shows in the pictures above.
- Wander and Agro make the outline to the right of the huge building underneath the huge bridge - as the third comic shows in the images above.
- During the ride, Wander and Agro cross the path to meet the deer ("Bambi from the Secret Garden"), whose neck is leaning toward the ground eating a plant - as the fourth picture shows in the pictures above.
- After that, Wander watches Emon and his guards approach the door of the Shrine of Worship as shown in the fifth and last comic in the above images.
During Wander's escape since leaving the Sanctuary of Worship, there is the possibility of playing a soundtrack that is not part of the OSTs of the game and that was discovered in 2014 by hacking by the player with the nickname 703tomato. The link to your discovery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_b9gI9gn3M
After Wander and Agro escape from Emon and his guards, both go towards the Arena of the 15th colossus. Wander descends from the mare, leaving her behind, since Agro can not pass through the broken column that interrupts the path, at the entrance of the castle.
Wander decides to hide from Emon and his guards at the Dam hidden in the Eastern Region. Wander enters the digger that was fired in place of the stone door before facing the 15th colossus. Wander descends the elevator, then the mysterious stone door of the arena closes again.
Finally, Wander travels again the entire secret path guarded in the hidden Eastern Region until arriving at the dam.
PART 4: EMON AND HIS GUARDS TAKE PROVIDENCE
Meanwhile, in the Shrine of Worship, the front door automatically opens to Emon and his guards who are waiting there. Before the group enters the sanctuary, Emon tells his guards that he heard horse footsteps from far away as the group crossed the huge bridge, imagining that it might be the individual who stole the Ancient Sword and entered through these lands, and then Emon recommends that their group enter the sanctuary mounted on their horses, unlike the other Ending (which they entered leaving their horses at the entrance gate).
As they descend the spiral staircase, Emon and his guards watch the idol of the last colossus still intact. Emon then looks at the altar and is surprised to see Mono's corpse resting there, causing Emon to imagine that Wander may be behind all that is happening. So Emon decides to take action.
Knowing that the last colossus has not yet been defeated and that his idol remains intact for too long, Emon imagines that Wander has noticed the presence of the guards and may have hidden in some part of the Forbidden Land. Emon orders all the guards to stand in front of the huge gate at the entrance of the Arena of the 16th colossus, and prevent Wander from entering the confrontation with the last colossus. Meanwhile, Emon decides to wait alone in the corridor of the Sanctuary of Worship, since he knows the necessary secrets of the Forbidden Land, such as preventing the resurrection of Dormin.
PART 5: EMON'S INTUITION
As he prayed around the corpse of Mono on the altar, Emon remembers the visions he had before entering the Forbidden Land (corresponding to the visions of the mysteries of the Forbidden Land that Emon had during the opening of the game). Because of this vision, Emon follows his intuitions and decides to investigate on his own where Wander may be hiding. Emon imagines that the footsteps he had heard during the cavalcade with his guards on the huge bridge might have been Agro's next to Wander, who followed in the direction of the Arena of the 15th colossus. Then, Emon rides his white horse, leaves the sanctuary and heads towards the Arena of the 15th colossus.
Upon arriving there, Emon finds the Agro mare that was left behind. By having knowledge of the secrets of the Forbidden Land through the vision he had (during the opening of the game), Emon has the intuition that Wander may have entered the elevator below the stone door and that Agro needed to be left behind because of the column which blocks the entrance to the Arena of the 15th colossus.
Then Emon decides to ride on his white horse and head towards the Arena of the 11th colossus, more precisely at the location of the procedure to release the supposed Secret Ending, where this place corresponds to the meeting point of the points of intersection of the memories of the old engraved shamans in blocks of stone and passed the knowledge of the mysteries and secrets to the future shamans through ancient omens.
Upon arriving there, Emon descends from his horse and waits for the flock of birds to approach the place where he awaits him. Then Emon throws himself off the cliff and hangs on one of the birds that takes him to the dam in the Eastern Region of the "inaccessible" area of the map. After releasing the bird, Emon waits next to the orange-shaped structure for a surprise encounter as the bird returns to its original location.
PART 6: AN UNEXPECTED MEETING
At this point, Wander is traversing the entire secret trail of the Eastern Region. Upon arriving at the dam bridge, Wander has an unexpected encounter with Lord Emon. Then begins a series of dialogues between Wander and Emon.
Emon begins by giving a sermon to Wander for stealing the Ancient Sword and asks him to carry the weapon. Wander obeys the order by taking the sword out of the scabbard and delivering Emon, but by placing the sword in Emon's hands, Wander accuses Emon of having sacrificed Mono and decides not to forgive him when he discovered such an act through a vision when Emon grabs the neck of Mono with his own hands, hanging it in the middle of a forest and witnessed by the guards of Emon who were around him. Then Emon explains to Wander that he had no other choice but to sacrifice her, cutting off evil at the root, because of an ancient prophecy that said that a pure-hearted maiden would join Dormin by becoming a "Queen" and that this prophecy would torment the plan of future shamans to keep peace on Earth.
However, Emon needs to convert Wander by explaining everything again about what it is to be a shaman. Emon reveals that fate chooses an individual to be a shaman when they have the following vocations: entering into trance, manifesting unusual powers, invoking spirits, coming into contact with nature, and having premonitions. On the other hand, shamans can also be seen as "bad omens" for their villages. Emon tells Wander that he was destined to be a shaman and that he possesses great potential for innumerable vocations, and not to waste them with his self-centered actions.
After a long explanation, Emon accuses Wander of having committed a forbidden act having had a romance with Mono, and that because he was a special clan of the shamans, in addition to being aware of the prophecy, he should have been more responsible for even knowing that Mono carried a cursed destiny, according to the prophecy.
So, Wander responds to Emon that the Mono's sacrifice may have been in vain, for Wander says he had a monkey omen waking up from the altar after defeating the 8th colossus, and further says that once a vision comes it is impossible to change the final destination, even if one or another event is changed in the middle of this path. Finally, Wander explains that his egocentric attitude of having made a pact with Dormin was because of his love for Mono, and that he would not mind the consequences of his actions and asked Emon to take more account and understand his feelings.
PART 7: THE DECISION OF EMON
However, Emon understands Wander's feelings and says he has regretted sacrificing Mono, as Emon had another omen after he murdered Mono. Emon then tells Wander that he had a vision of Mono giving birth to a future child who carries within himself a mysterious sacred power, and that by having sacrificed Mono, may have interrupted a new and mysterious human existence, but does not understand the meaning of it. Because of this, Emon decides to find a way to redeem himself for what he has done, and proposes to Wander, a plan with his collaboration to mend his possible mistake that triggered this series of events.
As a final decision, Emon reveals step by step the plan they will put into practice from this moment as they walk through the secret trail in the Eastern Region. Wander tells Emon that it is very dangerous to tell the plan during the walk, as the Dormin can hear and observe everything that happens in the Forbidden Land (for example, when Wander received tips from Dormin when confronting the colossi). But Emon tells Wander not to worry, because Dormin can only observe everything that happens inside the seal of the Forbidden Land and the place where Emon and Wander are, represents the part of outside the seal, that is, the clouds that cover the "inaccessible areas" of the map is the outer side of the sealing where Dormin does not know what happens in those regions, in addition to the rest from outside.
After the plane is counted, both enter the old elevator that is in the cave, below the Arena of the 15th colossus. The elevator is fired up taking the place of the stone gate again. Emon and Wander return to the Sanctuary of Worship, both mounted on Agro.
PART 8: THE EMON PLAN IN PRACTICE
As they enter the Sanctuary of Worship and stand near the altar of the Mono, Emon attempts to contact Dormin. In the first instant, Dormin does not even speak a word ignoring his call, as strange that Emon is next to Wander. In the second moment, Emon warns Dormin to undo the pact that Wander had made and that he will no longer comply with the agreement. Then, Dormin gives an ironic laugh and tells Emon that this desire is impossible to realize. Dormin further compliments that once the agreement is made, there is no more undo. But Emon responds to Dormin who knows another way to be undone of Wander's pact, and by surprise, Dormin confirms that there is a breach in the contract. Dormin says that if another living being wants to take the place of the host, this desire is possible to be realized.
Knowing this, Emon proposes a new agreement with Dormin. Emon tells Dormin that he will switch places with Wander in the pact and that he will defeat the last remaining colossus as long as Dormin continues to keep his word of resurrecting Mono. Dormin asks Emon why he decided to make this choice and what the reason is, and Emon responds that he agreed to do this madness because he feels guilty for what he did when he took Mono's life back and wants to return his life in return for his own. So, Dormin says that the ritual of switching the black tentacles from Wander's body to Emon's body involves a lot of risk, since it is necessary to levitate the Wander at great heights and that he must have some measure of safety to avoid the huge fall when he is in the sky. Dormin complements his speech saying only he can only control a body that is host of its power. That is, when the black tentacles are removed from Wander's body, Dormin can no longer control his body, only Emon's body. In response, Wander shows Dormin, the cloth that he had covered the corpse of the Mono when entering the Forbidden Land, in which it became the Parachute and which is the safety measure not to die during the fall.
Without much delay, Dormin begins to perform the ritual. Dormin levitates the body of Wander through the hole which is made the ad of the colossus, near the altar where rests to Mono. While Wander is levitated to reach the skies at the top of the Shrine of Worship, Dormin removes the black tentacles from the first 15 colossi of Wander's body and transfers it to Lord Emon's body. At the end of the ritual, Wander is fully purified and no longer has the pair of hornets on his forehead, while Emon now has the pair of hornets, becoming the new Dormin host.
Completed the transfer ritual, Wander falls from the sky through the holes where Dormin makes the announcements of the colossi and opens the Parachute. Instead of Wander landing down the hall of the sanctuary, he descends upstairs, waiting above the hole in the roof near the altar where Mono rests. This action of Wander, is part of the plan of Emon during the hike in the occult Eastern Region.
While Wander waits praying agazixado around the hole in which Dormin makes the announcements of the colossi, Emon mounts in the mare Agro and goes towards the confrontation with the 16th colossus to fulfill the established new agreement.
PART 9: FULFILLING THE AGREEMENT
Shadow of the Colossus - Unreleased Music Track Found in 2014! (Unknown OST - 1)
PART 3: THE WANDER HIDING
Upon arriving at the entrance gate of the 16th Colossus Arena, Emon meets with his guards who had ordered him to remain on guard at the scene. Emon does not want to involve them in the situation where he is with Wander, and to hide the fact, Emon puts on his shaman mask so his fighters do not see their horns, but Emon needs to explain why being with the mare Agro (instead of his white horse) and the Ancient Sword in his hands. Emon invents a story saying that it was also the search for Wander who decided to hide somewhere in the Forbidden Land, but left the mare behind and in despair, also let the sword fall. So Emon advises his fighters not to worry, that Wander can not go very far, for without the Ancient Sword he can not defeat the last colossus or even make the covenant.
Finally, Emon distracts his fighters with his primary purpose, ordering them to search the entire Forbidden Land together looking for Wander, especially in the temples, and then bring Wander alive to Emon. The combatants obey the order, mount their horses and go looking for Wander. Meanwhile, Emon uses the Ancient Sword to open the huge gate and enters the Arena of the 16th colossus. As he crosses the collapsing bridge, Agro falls off the cliff, hurling Emon forward (just like in the other Ending), however, Emon only glances back to see Agro fall without caring much about the mare's fall.
Emon climbs and enters the place to confront the 16th colossus. In this Alternative Ending, the player does not control Emon to face the last colossus, because the game shows only a brief summary of the scene in which Emon passes through the barriers and scale confronting the 16th colossus. Upon reaching the top of his head, Emon gives the final blow on the light blue symbol, defeating the last colossus. The black tentacles leave the body of the 16th colossus and Dormin control them to enter Lord Emon's body.
At this point, the pact is completed by initiating the resurrection ritual for the physical form of Dormin. In addition, Dormin complies with his word and resuscitates Mono, but Mono still does not wake up since his body is in trance, because of the ritual of resurrection in which his body and soul must be perfectly connected. Then Dormin levitates the body of Emon from the Arena of the 16th colossus, bringing his body asleep through the heavens until he falls through the holes where Dormin announces the colossi in the Shrine of Worship.
At that moment, Wander, who waits upstairs (around the hole near Mono's altar), sees Emon's body falling from the sky, and being part of the secret plan, Wander grabs Emon's arm, pulling him to the ground. Where Wander waited, avoiding the fall of Emon in the corridor of the Sanctuary of Worship. Then Emon wakes up and hands the Ancient Sword to Wander. Emon asks Wander to stab him in the heart to avoid Dormin's resurrection. With regret in consciousness, Wander stabs Emon. In withdrawing the sword, black blood spreads across Emon's body and then his body mutates. Emon becomes the colossus Dormin (the same physical form of the other Ending) and at this moment, Dormin rages along the 16 shadows corresponding to the 16 colossi that are around him.
Dormin enraged with Wander, discovers that both he and Emon arming against Dormin when he did not feel their presence inside the Forbidden Land. When feeling betrayed by a mortal, Dormin enters in a state of fury, decides to take the life of Wander and to enslave the human race making its shadows, however Wander promised to Emon that it would conquer and it would stop the beast Dormin.
PART 10: THE FINAL BATTLE AGAINST DORMIN
At this moment, the decisive confrontation begins. Wander faces Dormin who is the 17th colossus in the body of Emon and at the same time the 16th alternative colossus, since Emon defeated the 16th colossus without the command of the player.
The player controls the character Wander during the confrontation. The battle begins with the energy bar and stamina to the minimum values (the size of when they were before facing 1st colossus in the first gameplay), because the consequences of the ritual of transferring the black tentacles to the body of Emon, made Wander (which resulted in the reduction of the energy bar and the stamina), and every time Wander defeated a colossus, his energy and stamina bar increased as the black tentacles entered his body. In addition, pressing Start displays the rainbow icons (in the quadrant I2 on the map) and the 16th colossus that Emon had defeated (in the F8 quadrant of the map). The items purchased in Hard Time Attack can also be used during battle, especially the Sword of the Sun that is the best weapon to face Dormin, because his weak point is light, since his physical form is made of shadows. To complement, the battlefield is a copy of the top floor of the hole where Dormin announces the colossi, but the place is enclosed by four walls lithographed with the four stone blocks of the huge bridge. In the middle of the arena, there is a huge hole. If Wander falls from the hole, even opening the Parachute, it will be considered Game Over, having the next option to give Retry and restart from the battle against Dormin or leave the game choosing Quit Game. On the screen of Game Over, appears the face of Dormin. That is, there is no way out of the battlefield.
The goal of the battle is to climb Dormin and remove the single sigil in your head. But Dormin only has scalable hair on her head, shoulders and chest. The only way to climb it is through the black tentacles on his back. But the tentacles are very small and do not reach the ground. It is necessary to send the 16 shadows of the 16 colossus into Dormin's body. The player would have to form the rays of light when combined with any swords (by pressing the O button) to reflect in the shadows that will run and enter Dormin's body. If a shadow is picked up by Wander, it will be frozen for a short time, during which time Dormin will be able to punch the ground and consume Wander's energy or even kill him. In this first part of the battle the song "40 - Anger" of the OSTs of the game is played: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZNbipcOdxA
Shadow of the Colossus OST 40 - Anger
Depois que as 16 sombras entrarem no corpo de Dormin, a criatura aumentará de tamanho e os tentáculos em suas costas também aumentarão, alcançando o piso. Assim que terminar a cena em que Dormin aumenta de tamanho, começará a segunda parte da batalha. Dormin faz os mesmos ataques que fazia no outro Final (quando a criatura era controlada pelo jogador no corpo de Wander). Enquanto isso, o jogador terá que controlar Wander esquivando dos ataques de Dormin (soco, joelhada, baforada azul) até escalar o colosso pelos tentáculos. Durante esta segunda parte da batalha, é tocada a música "41 - Final Battle" das OSTs do jogo (á partir dos 8 segundos): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd-rZmR6VRI
Shadow of the Colossus OST 41 - Final Battle
As soon as Wander reaches the top of Dormin's head and removes the magical stealth between the horns, a scene is released. Dormin falls from the hole through which he announces the colossi and during the fall in the corridor of the Sanctuary of Worship, Dormin hits his head on the floor and breaks one of the horns, while Wander is caught in the hair of Dormin. Then Wander loosens himself from Dormin's hair, runs to the end of the sanctuary corridor, climbs the spiral staircase, and stands at the edge of the stairs (the same place where Emon threw the Ancient Sword at the water fountain, another Ending), while Dormin is immobilized because of the fall.
Also acting as part of the secret plan between Wander and Emon, Wander hurls the Ancient Sword from the edge of the ladder to the water source and opens a portal of light. As soon as the magnetic field of the light portal is fired, not to be sucked, Wander waits at the door of the Shrine of Worship. Meanwhile, Dormin in Emon's body is dragged and sucked into the portal of light. As soon as the portal of light is deactivated, the sound of the gale within the corridor of the Worship Sanctuary, caused by the magnetic field, shakes the whole sanctuary and draws the attention of the guards who are still looking for Wander through the Forbidden Land. The guards, not knowing what is happening, decide to return to the Sanctuary of Worship to see what is happening there, and abort the mission of searching for Wander.
PART 11: MONO'S AWAKENING
As promised in the agreement, the Mono girl wakes up returning to the living world and rises from the altar. Mono walks forward, and without understanding what is happening, she looks up and watches the hole through which Dormin announced the colossi. Agro returns from the Arena of the 16th colossus where he had fallen from the small bridge that collapsed, to the Sanctuary of Adoration with the paw limping. Mono sees Agro ascending to the altar and approaches the mare to caress it (corresponding to the sketch in the bottom of the notebook of the first Storyboard that Fumito Ueda had put on twitter and similar with the scene of the other Ending).
Meanwhile, Wander descends from the parachute of the huge bridge near the entrance to the Shrine of Worship, to reach the altar of the Mono. However, before reaching there, Wander finds the group of guards on the way. Emon's guards torment Wander by beating him to death on the steps leading from the Sanctuary of Worship. Nearby, Mono hears groans of pain near the altar and despairs when he sees his beloved Wander being mistreated by the guards. Then Mono leaves the altar approaching the edge of the sanctuary exit, and asks the guards to stop hurting Wander. Then the guards look back and are frightened to see Mono alive, for they had witnessed his death at the hands of Emon.
At this moment, the archers are preparing to attack Mono, feeling like a threat. Wander badly injured and dying on the ground, asks the guards to save Mono's life. The shooters shoot several arrows towards Mono. Then, Mono panics and becomes annoyed without having to react to the sniper's attacks, but a miracle happens. Mono feels a heat in his belly generating a glimmer of light that covers his body and repels the arrows by damaging them, as well as instantly heals his wounds, while several electric currents are generated from his belly reaching the guards that fall on the ground and are unhappy when they have been electrocuted, while near there, the guards 'horses desperate with the situation, run wildly everywhere, while Agro sits inside the sanctuary hiding inside one of the idols' currencies. Soon after, Mono, looks at the fallen guards on the ground and down the stairs to help Wander who is near death.
PART 12: A HAPPY FINAL !!!
However, Wander recovers with self-healing, one of his shamanic abilities. Then Wander and Mono climb the stairs entering the Shrine of Worship hand in hand. Meanwhile, Agro, who was hiding inside one of the idols' currencies, approaches the couple. The three continue walking toward the end of the sanctuary corridor passing through all the shattered idols. As they approach the uncharted water fountain, surprisingly (unlike the other Ending) they find a chubby boy totally naked with only one horn on one side of the head while the other horn is broken. The boy (who was Emon) rises from the empty fountain and approaches the couple. Wander clothes the naked boy with the cloth that had covered the corpse of Mono at the beginning of the game, that is, the Parachute. Then the boy decides to accompany Wander, Mono and Agro who climb the spiral staircase and leave the sanctuary through the front door.
As they leave the huge building, in a mysterious way, Wander sees that the huge bridge that connects the Wind Slit with the entrance to the Sanctuary of Worship is still intact (unlike the other Ending that the huge bridge collapsed when the supports collapsed and self-destruct as soon as the light portal was deactivated in the water source). Then the four of them decide to cross the huge bridge, heading for the path of freedom once they pass the Wind Slit.
During the crossing of the four, the "Credits" of the game appear on the screen accompanied with the song "42 - The Farthest Land (Reprise)" of the OSTs of the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdV3k8i1Cyw
Shadow of the Colossus OST 42 - The Farthest Land (Reprise)
During the Credits, while Wander, Mono, the boy (former Emon) and Agro walk through the huge bridge, some animal scenes are shown by places in the Forbidden Land (unlike the other Ending which showed flashbacks of the 16 defeated colossi). The animals that appear are: the doves in the Sanctuary of Worship, the turtles near the Arena of the 6th colossus, the fish that swim in the Arena of the 8th colossus, the black-tailed lizards inside the cave near the Arena of the 16th colossus, the brown birds of the supposed Last Big Secret in the F1 quadrant (which shows when the four approach the Arena of the 11th colossus as they walk on the huge bridge) and the deer (bambi) in the Secret Garden.
After the Credits, the four characters cross the Wind Slit, so the boy with only one horn goes towards the Agro and climbs on the mare. Meanwhile, Mono next to Wander are emotionally embraced and watch the boy riding in Agro behind Wind Slit, and thus completes another epic ending. But there is something unbelievable to come that will jeopardize the romance between Wander and Mono, and peace on Earth...
