One thing I missed from the first 4 games (i.e myst - myst IV) was the fact that you, the player was helping Atrus throughout the 20 some odd years you spent in those 4 games. Now my assumption with Myst V is that the player is someone completely different who I guess stumbles into K'veer at the start of the game.

Atrus at the end of Myst V still thinks you're his "old friend" thats helped him find his wife, etc. So does anyone know what happened with the mysterious stranger who helped Atrus in the past 4 games and who this new person is in Myst V?

Welcome to the forums!

Although the time line is a bit hard to reconcile, the most probable explanation is still that the 'stranger' who helped Atrus in Myst, Riven, Exile and Revelation is the same as the one in End of Ages. Remember Yeesha's words at the very beginning (I quote from memory, so it may not be entirely accurate): "If you're looking for Atrus, he won't be needing your assistance." So apparently, the player in End of Ages has assisted Atrus before.

Heh, this has been a point of contention for people in this community since the game came out .

There are those (including myself) who believe that the individual that you "play" in the games is the original stranger from Mysts 1 through 4. You and Volgeaar have pointed out the biggest indications for this... Yeesha's apparent recognition of your past deeds, and Atrus referring to you as his "old friend."

Others, though (perhaps fueled by the declarations in the Prima Strategy Guide), are of the opinion that the person you "play" in Myst V is actually one of the Uru explorers, who for the sake of argument happens to be you. The largest point made by this side of the debate are that Myst V is 200 years after Myst IV, and that the stranger, being human, wouldn't have been able to live that long. Yeesha's apparent coldness toward you despite her obvious friendship with the stranger when she was younger also aides this argument, but the counter argument is of course that the stranger is really Atrus' friend, and as such, Yeesha may not know "you" as well as Atrus does (speaking from personal experience, I can definitely see where Yeesha's somewhat distant attitude is coming from).

Unfortunately, we don't have an official, canonical answer to this question yet. It's possible that we may get the answer at some point in the future, during the events of Uru Live, which will take place after the events of Myst V, based on the latest batch of information released by Cyan, but for now, they're being intentionally vague ,which means that the Prima Guide may be in error (it wouldn't be the first time canon has been fabricated by the Guide writers to make a better tale out of it ).

Yeah I agree even though I dont like it. I really did wish you were the same character from the first 4 games, but since Myst V came out after Uru I tend to believe you're just some random explorer who found his way into the K'veer tunnels. Another thing that wasn't really explained was how Catherine died. if the D'ni can indeed live hundreds of years, did she just die from some random cause or was she killed? This too is not explained and I havent read the Prima strat guide so maybe someone knows more than I do.

Catherine isn't D'ni, she's Rivenese, and presumably they don't live as long. While there is no official information on her passing, I think it's safe to assume - for now, anyway - that she died of natural causes.

The thing that gets me, honestly, is that Yeesha mentions that you were "brought" there... not that you stumbled across something or happened to show up there, but that you were brought there specifically for a purpose and it was generally assumed by the one doing the bringing that you would know what to do. It gets a touch philosophical and even perhaps a touch religious, so I'm kind of skirting the details, but according to her journals, Yeesha at least believes that whoever had helped her father in the past was guided to him by the Maker, and given Cyan's reluctance to confirm or deny the identity of the player in EoA, I think the Prima guide may be wrong in its assumption of who you are. A random Uru explorer just doesn't seem to fit with the scope of the game and the behavior of the characters within it.

Might we still be our self, and brought through time (what is 200 years actually? time & space being at some point open to our awareness) to this place in order to help? Might not Yeesha's teachings (not all of which we are privy to?) have allowed others to perfect the art of writing to allow tranferring through more than space through the books? Let's hope such mysteries will be revealed soon . . .

This message has been edited. Last edited by: yaycc,

How do we even know the guy you play in Myst is actually human anyway? I mean I read the book of Atrus a LONG time ago so I dont remember how the avatar you play throughout the games found the Myst book anyway. Maybe the player is just another D'ni that went into hiding and found the Myst book.

If anyone actually knows please post.

We know that when you fall through the star fissure on Riven, you end up in the desert in New Mexico - in Uru Ages Beyond Myst, you can see the remains of the telescope and a wahrk skeleton near the volcano, and in Myst V End of Ages, a Riven dagger is planted in the volcano's crater. So it's reasonable to assume that you/Atrus' friend/the player found the Myst linking book there too.

Sorry to be so late to this discussion, but I just completed Myst V last night after not playing since January.

I find it interesting to hear that the Prima guide says that the player is not the "friend" from the other games, and find it unplausible that you are someone else.

Yeesha's coldness towards you is explainable in that she's on the edge of madness herself. She at times seems to be very angry at her father for the burden he has given her, yet still yearns to be in his arms. She is clearly at odds with herself and what she knows. The inner turmoil of her being "the grower" is taking its toll, so clearly she's not going to jump up and down to see the "old friend" that has helped before, especially given that she doesn't know what will become of the tablet. It all hinges on the tablet.

So, in short, the player IS the old friend and is clearly referenced as such in the game.

I always figured that the easiest way to reconcile the differences is that time moves differently for each age. It wouldn't be that far fetched, and it explains why Atrus and Catherine are so much older, and why you're still alive.

Eh, right, I'm late with this answer. Sue me. Still, it is rather obvious to me that the player is the same person as in the first four of the series. Some good reasons have been mentioned above. But I also thought of a very good explanation for Yeesha's coldness. Quite apart from the fact that she must have become bitter by her failure to understand the tablet puzzle, and that she didn't now you well, for her many decades have gone past and there's another thing - not in the game. Just what would you have done on completing Myst 4? Wouldn't you, after the end cinematics (I didn't complete the game so sue me again), leave Yeesha to the care of those wise women in Serenia, link back to Tomahna, write a note to Atrus to the effect that his daughter was nearly done in by one of his wonderful sons but that he'll find her in Serenia and that as far as you're concerned, he can get lost? After that I figure you'd return home and decide not to return there ever again.

Greetings all, from Artúr;

It has been many years since I last did the original MYST journey, but I do not recall Atrus ever mentioning a daughter named Yeesha anywhere during that game. I may be mistaken, though, for as I said, it has been many years. I think I need to re-visit the original Myst...

As for Yeesha's "coldness" toward the Stranger, she does say at the end of Myst 5 "I am not given easily to those not close to me" - meaning, to myself at least, that she has a difficult time being "warm" to those she does not have a personal connection to. She has a very personal connection to her father, Atrus - and to at least some extent, to the Bahro.

There is one thing I am puzzled by, though: Someone said that Uru Live takes place after Myst 5, yet Uru Live supposedly also takes place before Myst 5, since it is a continuation of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst (which is where the "called" find the Cleft, and D'ni)...and in Myst 5, the great Shaft is sealed. I remember in Uru, how reference was made to the Shaft being sealed BEFORE the "called" arrived (the player). Here is what puzzles me: If Uru does take place AFTER Myst 5, how is it that Yeesha is young and vibrant in Uru, yet old and graying in Myst 5? Shouldn't it be the other way 'round? And why no reference to someone helping in Uru, since the Bahro have not yet been freed in that portion of the Journey (just ONE reason I say that Uru and Uru Live take place BEFORE Myst 5)?

Anyone have the definitive answers?

--Artúr

Anyone have the definitive answers?

I do not think so... so far. I am aware that there is much speculation on that subject on the Mystonline forums.

My view on this:
I beleive it is related to time traveling with a side effect.
The universe could have found a way to protect itself against the many paradoxes related to time travel.

I am aware that the creators of the first Myst did know something about the "quantum" theories and made it an underlying factor in the game.

So maybe, what is the future in this dimension, could be the past in an other one (or vice/ versa). The possible quantums universes are infinite. It would cover all the possible actions/reactions of a given change at any/all moments.

Some mystics beleive it is the "conciousness" that is traveling from one universe to another. (not the body). Consciousness is suppose to experience a very short moment in time from one body in a dimension to another similar body in the the next one.

"The Traveler" began its journey, at minimum, at the time of the big bang.

We are made of star dust that was "present" at the begining.

Our limited brain does not remember everything but maybe "soul" does.

quote:

It has been many years since I last did the original MYST journey, but I do not recall Atrus ever mentioning a daughter named Yeesha anywhere during that game. I may be mistaken, though, for as I said, it has been many years.

You are not mistaken. Yeesha was a baby in Myst III: Exile. Atrus and Catherine had only their sons Sirrus and Achenar prior to Myst III.

The player plays the same character as in all the myst games they are the same. The uru games are spin offs and therefore anything sayed in them will not affect the myst saga. You play the stranger ,the same one.

Nope. The Stranger in Myst V was another one. And it's no longer a stranger. It has been revealed in Myst Online that the stranger you played in Myst V was actually Dr. Watson, former chairman of the DRC.

quote:

It has been revealed in Myst Online that the stranger you played in Myst V was actually Dr. Watson, former chairman of the DRC.

Bullroar. I played myself; play whomever you wish.

quote:

Originally posted by erik.am:
Nope. The Stranger in Myst V was another one. And it's no longer a stranger. It has been revealed in Myst Online that the stranger you played in Myst V was actually Dr. Watson, former chairman of the DRC.

I did follow your link but I was not able to find that statement. Maybe a better quote might help us find it.

I sure hope Watson was not in my pants when I played Myst 5 but it might explain why "we had" so much problems with the slate drawings.

Maybe he was focusing too much on the money in my pocket.