The Ending Of Control Explained

Remedy Entertainment's "Control" is an incredibly ambitious title. Many of its environments are comprised of stark black and white geometric shapes that clash with one another within brutalist architecture. Its combat is filled with sleek flying, telekinetic powers, and energy bolts that send shards of concrete raining across the environment. One of the most striking elements of "Control," however, is the game's cryptic narrative. 

As players complete the game, they witness mind blowing paranormal entities and a terrifying presence from another reality. At the end of the day, they are left to piece together information about the world from reports filled with confounding redactions. Even when important entities such as the Board speak directly to protagonist Jesse Faden, they often do so in esoteric ways that are clouded with double meanings and riddles, leaving Jesse and the player both trying to figure out their meaning.

This tone and narrative delivery is part of what makes "Control" such a special and unique third-person shooter, but it can also leave some players confused or guessing as to what they were ultimately meant to take away from the experience. So, if you want to get a quick refresher — or just want to know what you just played — here is a full explanation for the ending of "Control."

After finding pockets of survivors, Jesse agrees to help them in exchange for information regarding her brother Dylan. She then sets out on a campaign of cleansing sections of the FBC of the Hiss' corruption. This mission eventually leads her to Dylan, who the FBC refers to as Prime Candidate 6. When Jesse finds Dylan, he is contained in a highly secure cell that isolates him completely from the outside world.

She learns that Dylan was brought to the FBC at an early age so that he could be groomed by them to become the perfect successor for director after Trench's death. This plan was eventually abandoned, however, as the process saw him becoming too attuned with supernatural energies and abilities, which in turn made him incredibly dangerous. At one point he killed a handful of agents that were working on his case, which caused the FBC to change its mind about using him as a candidate for director.

Because of his power the FBC did not think that it was safe to let him go, however. The company decided to keep him as a prisoner deep within the FBC until he either died or the agency decided that it had a use for him. 

After freeing herself from the Hiss' control, Jesse learns that Dylan being brought to the FBC was part of the Hiss' plan. While he was contained, the Hiss was able to slowly corrupt him and convince him to help it, allowing it to use his natural proficiency to open a doorway to the Board itself. This is revealed to be the Hiss' primary goal: to corrupt and either control or destroy the Board entirely. Without the Board and the Federal Bureau of Control in the way to stop it, there would be few forces in any dimension that could halt the Hiss' expansion.

Jesse is ultimately able to prevent the Dylan and the Hiss from opening the doorway, however, and is even able to purge the Hiss from Dylan entirely, leaving him in a comatose state. This leaves the Hiss weakened, though it is still present in the FBC at the end of the game (which is why players still have to face the infected while they wrap up all those pesky side missions). Ultimately, Jesse is able to fully accept her role as the FBC's new director and is intent on fulfilling the duties and responsibilities that are brought along with the title. 

While a link between Remedy Entertainment's "Alan Wake" and "Control" was teased in the base game, the existence of Remedy's connected universe was explicitly developed in the latter game's second DLC, "AWE." This story expansion is concerned with the dark entity from the lake that was at the center of the strange happenings in "Alan Wake," which has suddenly escaped the FBC's containment. Having been infected by the Hiss, the entity rampages in a section of the FBC, preventing any agents from daring to enter. 

Jesse learns about the presence's freedom after being approached by a ghostly apparition of none other than Alan Wake himself, who has been trapped in a real called the Dark Place since the ending of "Alan Wake." As Jesse works to quell the dark entity and return it to captivity, she gets closer to Wake, and the writer eventually reveals that he played some role in the Hiss' creation. During "Alan Wake," the title character began to realize that the things he wrote about were manifesting themselves as reality. He tells Jesse than he wrote about the Hiss so that his protagonist — Jesse herself — had a force to fight against and eventually overcome. 

However, it remains unclear whether this fully explains the genesis of the Hiss, or just means that Alan influenced them slightly and perhaps began their invasion of the FBC as a consequence. It's also unclear just how much sway Alan may continue to have over Jesse's reality.

While the FBC is at the core of the game's story (and the entire multiverse around it), it is easy for players to miss a lot of the context and background of the Bureau, which it is mostly explored through lore attached to collectibles. 

With that in mind, it is important to know that the Federal Bureau of Control is a clandestine agency that works independently of the United States government. Its headquarters is referred to as the Oldest House, which is located in New York City. However, the building is only noticeable by those who the building allows to see it, and its interior constantly shifts.

As Jesse explores the building in the game's campaign, her connection to the Bureau is strengthened as she becomes more familiar with its layout and facilities. Her missions sees her restoring it to its "normal" appearance by cleansing Hiss control, earning the trust of the people working within the Oldest House, if not their cosmic overlords.

As explored in the Foundation, the Bureau also recently began losing its way in the years preceding "Control." Once the Board became involved in its affairs, the FBC started following its orders and whims much more closely, especially as it began deriving more and more of its equipment and capabilities from gifts given by the Board. This led to the FBC becoming little more than a tool manipulated by the Board.

One of the central themes of "Control" is the power held in belief. Reading through collectibles scattered throughout the game reveals that one of the reasons the power the supernatural entities and objects have been granted power is that enough people believe in them. In other words, if enough people believe in a creature like the Loch Ness Monster or Chupacabra, that belief alone can manifest it in the real world.

This is brilliantly interwoven into the universe of "Control," particularly in the ways in which it integrates elements from SCP into its universe. SCP is an online community that writes various horror stories to create a universal and open mythology of forbidden creatures and objects, which in turn fuel stories, videos, and even games for the community to enjoy. In much the same way, the Bureau is full of beings created by humanity's collective consciousness.

The theme of belief is also explored by Jesse's personal story. When she first becomes the director of the FBC, she does so reluctantly, just to get what she needs out of others. By the end of "Control," however, she believes that she really is the Bureau's director, and accepts the role wholeheartedly. This is further expanded on in "The Foundation," which sees her believing in herself and her morals enough to reject the Board's influence, all for the FBC's betterment.