Farewell: Difference between revisions
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This checkpoint is also the location of the Moon Berry, which is discussed in more detail in the Secrets section below. |
This checkpoint is also the location of the Moon Berry, which is discussed in more detail in the Secrets section below. |
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== Music == |
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{{Main|Celeste: Farewell OST}} |
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Unlike all prior chapters, Farewell has its [[Celeste: Farewell OST|own OST album]], composed of thirteen distinct tracks (including six serving as the primary soundtrack for this level). Additionally, the leitmotifs featured within are quite distinct from prior chapters, because of how the chapter takes place in space. |
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== Speedrun strategies == |
== Speedrun strategies == |
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Revision as of 09:33, 19 January 2021
| Farewell | |
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Madeline, the Bird and a Jellyfish as depicted in Farewell | |
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| Chapter | 9 |
| Strawberries |
 1 •  1 |
| Sides | A-side only |
| Characters |
• Madeline • Badeline • Granny • Bird |
| Soundtrack |
Celeste: Farewell OST: 02 • Fear of the Unknown 03 • Joy of Remembrance 04 • In Stasis 06 • Beyond the Heart 07 • Final Defiance 10 • Farewell If carrying Golden Strawberry: 13 • wavedash.ppt |
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Level navigation Core ← Farewell | |
Farewell is the final chapter to Celeste, as well as being the longest and hardest[1]. Released on September 9, 2019 as free DLC (update 1.3.0.0), it features a space-themed setting, and various new mechanics such as 2-Dash Refills, Pufferfish and Jellyfish, alongside mechanics from every other chapter mixed in.
Farewell introduces Wavedashes to the player, but also uses other tech such as Wallbounces. Unlike all other main chapters in Celeste, only one side (an A-Side) is present, due to the developers not wanting to split up the experience. It is initially unlocked as soon as 8A is completed, but more than half of the chapter's checkpoints are gated off by a Crystal Heart Gate requiring fifteen hearts to open.
Many characters make an appearance in this chapter. Madeline and Badeline play major roles throughout the entirety of this chapter. The Bird becomes a central character and gameplay mechanic as opposed to its use in chapters 1-8, and Granny plays a significant narrative role, forming part of the backbone of the plot behind Chapter 9, with Theo making an appearance in the ending cutscene.
Plot
Start through Remembered
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The beginning of Chapter 9 is the same thing as the end of Chapter Summit. Madeline lands on a grassy platform, one which (previously) would lead up to a crystal heart. As Madeline approaches Granny, a cutscene trigger occurs, and Granny turns into a gravestone. The weather turns from sunny to gloomy, representing the sudden, unexpected shift in the plot's tone. Madeline reacts in a very sad tone, but also shows hints of anger.
Badeline then appears, confronting Madeline about how she never attended Granny's funeral (which presumably happens sometime between the events of Chapter 8 and Chapter 9); Madeline fell apart when she received the news, so she couldn't handle it. The Bird then lands on the gravestone, signaling its presence. It then starts flying away, and Madeline starts chasing it via two Badeline orbs and three clouds. The second Badeline orb launches Madeline into space. Badeline becomes confrontational during their ascent; Madeline explains that she's chasing the bird because it's a part of Granny. Badeline explains that Madeline is in denial, that it's just an (ordinary) bird. Fear of the Unknown starts playing after this cutscene.
Badeline then confronts Madeline again as she lands onto a moon block platform in space, asking how she can breathe in space, but Madeline rejects her attempts at convincing her, becoming confrontational, and eventually telling her other part to leave. Past this point onwards, Madeline only has one dash, instead of two, but is also much more determined than usual. After navigating it through various rooms containing various new elements, such as Jellyfish, and older objects, such as Dream Blocks, Madeline arrives at large room where the bird can be seen; the Power Source room. As the bird flies upwards, it seals five key blocks behind, forcing Madeline to retrieve five keys (or skip it entirely). Navigating upwards using the Red Orb in the room, after all keys are unlocked, will lead to another room, where the skies will turn into a paler shade of (albeit mystic) blue. Joy of Remembrance starts playing, suggesting that Granny is just be around the corner. After making it through many more rooms, Madeline makes it to a Crystal Heart. This one is gray in color, and is named "Empty Space". The heart collection sound resembles the C-Side (golden) heart collection sound.
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Event Horizon & Determination
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As Madeline arrives at the Event Horizon checkpoint, the bird can be seen at a short distance. However, as she continues to give chase, the level becomes increasingly glitchier, with "glitch tiles" (forest green, checkerboard-like tiles with a paler green outline) spawning and moon rock tiles falling off. A Crystal Heart Gate falls in front of Madeline once she reaches (relatively) solid ground again; going past this gate requires that she either skips the gate, or has 15 crystal hearts. The next room contains an Internet café and an intro car. Entering the Internet café will allow Madeline to turn on what looks like one large computer; this computer runs BerryOS, a parody of Windows 95, and features a very similar boot jingle. A file named "wavedash.ppt" will be opened; this presentation teaches Madeline about how to wavedash; 13 • wavedash.ppt plays during this presentation. At the right of the café is a training zone, complete with a silhouette of Madeline performing the required moves; completing these require both wavedashing and wallbouncing. Soon after, the Bird can be found again; reaching it requires a wavedash, exactly like how the presentation foreshadowed it. The Bird manages to force Madeline off itself, and subsequently flies away, leaving Madeline alone on another platform. The mountain climber wonders whether her other part was right, but her determination ultimately soars through. Another strike of thunder turns the level's theme into the "glitch" theme permanently, complete with a black hole in the background.
Beyond the Heart starts playing, and the difficulty spikes up considerably past this point. Elements from all previous chapters are now integrated; none of Chapter 9's "new" elements are included, minus double diamonds; however, zippers have been reskinned from their Chapter 1 appearance, and spinning blades (from Chapter 5) now appear as spinning stars. A short section at the end of Event Horizon features Madeline, in feather form, chasing after the bird; however, it escapes again, leading to Determination. Determination is almost a continuation of Event Horizon, but it reintroduces even more elements back into the game, such as wind. At the end of the final room of the chapter, a feather gauntlet, is a Badeline orb. Using this orb will boost you into Stubbornness, and into another custscene with Badeline. Throughout the course of both Event Horizon and Determination, the black hole in the background becomes darker and darker. |
Stubbornness
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As soon as Madeline lands, and sees Badeline again, she claims that she doesn't need her help. Badeline attempts to ask Maddy why she is still chasing the bird, but Madeline's determination starts pushing itself even further.
Badeline attempts to convince her that she is dreaming, and that none of the events of Chapter 9 are real. Madeline, however, continues to deny this, claiming that Granny will "disappear forever" if she wakes up. She than lashes out at her other self, claiming that she wants her to disappear, and calls her selfish. Badeline attempts to reason with her, stating that she needs to "take a step back", but Madeline continues to turn against her; this ends up with Badeline merely wishing her "good luck" prior to disappearing again.
The music Final Defiance, which is much more monotonous and empty than the previous tracks, and which merely consist of a beat that is normally reserved for Cassette Tape rooms overlaid over an ambient track, plays over the course of this chapter. The majority of moon rock tiles have been replaced with glitch tiles, representing simply how far Madeline's determination is pushing her. The next several rooms consist uniquely of Cassette Block gauntlets, but with the presence of three or four colors instead of strictly two. The first room of Reconciliation is the final Cassette Tape room. Throughout the course of Stubbornness, the black hole in the background becomes darker and darker, until it is almost pitch black.
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Reconciliation & Farewell
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Madeline finally manages to trap and catch the Bird in the first room of Reconciliation. A tune, 09 • Futility, plays as both Madeline and the Bird ends up collapsing into some moon rock. Madeline then interrogates the bird, trying to know where Granny is, but it ends up solely making a cry of pain. She then freaks out, but the bird manages to get back up; Maddy then apologizes, attempts to chase after it again, and fails to do so. Her determination leads even further, leading her to contemplate leaving the mortal plane to rejoin Granny.
Badeline then makes a reappearance, telling her to stop. Maddy reiterates how much Granny means to her, and subsequently, starts wondering how her other self can cope with Granny's passing so easily. Badeline then states that it wasn't easy, but she wants to, alongside Maddy, survive this, and not be stuck in Farewell forever. Madeline then finally breaks down, acknowledging that she can't bring Granny bird, and that chasing the bird is futile at best. Badeline then tells her that she should "wake up" and face this, but Maddy can't, because the bird was still stuck inside a maze of obstacles (because of her fault); she suggests setting things right first, by setting it free. Badeline agrees, but reiterates that she wishes to leave this place afterwards.
Madeline then now starts venturing off, in order to free the Bird. Elements from the first four subsections of Farewell, such as Jellyfish, make their return. The black hole in the background turns brighter, from black to purple, and eventually to magenta pink. Badeline, even though she hasn't "merged" back with Madeline in order to give her a permanent double dash, helps intermittently via Purple Orbs, and the Bird now can also launch Madeline rightwards, helping her as well. Several rooms with electrical boxes must be cleared of electricity, allowing the Bird to proceed. Badeline then comes back to encourage Madeline as they arrive to the final screen, aptly named Farewell. If Madeline ends up dying too many times during this final room, which normally takes more than a minute to complete, Badeline asks Maddy if she's okay, and encourages her yet again. Upon completion, Badeline will ask her to say goodbye on her behalf, before boosting her up one final time.
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Post-Chapter
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Madeline lands on some clouds, presumably in heaven. She gets excited when she sees Granny, but she does end up commenting about how she is in a dream. Granny refutes her point. 
Madeline then apologizes for not attending her funeral, to which Granny starts laughing, stating that funerals are for "all you suckers stuck living without me". The mountain climber than continues to confess her feelings, saying that she misses her, but as she attempts to approach Granny, the latter fades into dust. Madeline then wonders how she's going to make it through. As the screen fades to white: "Like you aren't... gone forever?" This is the first time Madeline demonstrates fear since she was first propelled into space. (Later, after Madeline wakes up...)  Madeline is on a video call with Theo. She apolgizes for having vanished for quite some time, and says that she's finally starting to come with to with Granny's passing. Theo agrees, stating that he misses her a lot, but suddenly interrupts things to say that he remembered something: a photo of Theo's grandpa, Carlos, with Granny, at Celeste Mountain. It is then revealed that they were friends too, and that they shared the mountain. Several easter eggs are present in the cutscene are present, but most notably, Madeline is revealed to be trans during this cutscene. A small trans flag can be seen at the right of Madeline's mechanical keyboard, alongside a pride (rainbow) flag.
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Gameplay
This section is still a work in progress!
Start
The first checkpoint doesn't feature any gameplay, aside from a few trivial clouds and floating platforms that the player must traverse. It mainly serves as a plot-development chapter which introduces much of what makes Farewell itself; see Plot for details.
Singular
The Golden Strawberries can be found at the start of this checkpoint. The first room introduces the Double Dash Crystal, an object that gives the player two dashes. The first three rooms of the checkpoint are fairly straightforward, but the next three rooms are much harder, rivaling the difficulty of many C-side rooms. This is likely because the developers wanted to dissuade people from trying Farewell before their skill level is high enough.
In the seventh room, the player is introduced to Exploding Fish. The second half of this checkpoint includes many rooms that showcase the various properties of the fish.
Power Source
At the start of this checkpoint, the game introduces Jellyfish Parachutes to the player. The first room has a noticeable split path. The top path is intended for speedrunners, as it requires a wavedash to pass, and the game has not taught the player wavedashes yet. There are a few more rooms that teach the player properties of the jellyfish, and then the player reaches a very large room with electricity everywhere. A red bubble appears, and the player must find 5 keys to clear the path for the red bubble to travel upwards. Once the player finds their way through the maze and clears out the electricity, they gain access to five rooms, each with a key at the end. These rooms serve to teach the player various techniques they can perform with the jellyfish. Once the player takes the red bubble upward and out of the maze, the next checkpoint is reached.
Remembered
When the player reaches this checkpoint, the background turns from a dark indigo to a lighter blue, and the music changes. They must clear a new gauntlet of rooms, most of which contain a jellyfish or an exploding fish. These rooms are very difficult, even harder than most B-side rooms. The end of the checkpoint is marked by a fake Crystal Heart, entitled "Empty Space".
Event Horizon
At the start of this checkpoint, the game starts to glitch, with the background briefly flickering to a dark void. In the very first room, the player is greeted with a Heart Gate, requiring 15 hearts to pass (so the player must collect all 8 blue hearts and must complete all the B-sides except chapter 8-B). However, there is a way to bypass this gate, described under the "Speedrun strategies" section. In the second room, the player reaches the "Internet Café", which shows them a humorous presentation teaching them how to wavedash. Next, they must clear three tutorial sections, where there is an image of Madeline on the screen showing the player exactly how to complete them. After catching the bird, lightning strikes, and the level permanently enters the "glitch" state. After this, there is a long series of levels that the player must pass. The levels utilize mechanics throughout essentially every previous chapter (although not including the jellyfish and exploding fish), and are extremely difficult.
Determination
This checkpoint is essentially a continuation of the previous checkpoint, Event Horizon. Both checkpoints involve a huge variety of gameplay mechanics, utilizing almost every mechanic introduced to them throughout the game in new and creative ways. This checkpoint, along with Event Horizon, are considered to be the most difficult checkpoints in Farewell.
Stubbornness
When the player reaches this checkpoint, the background becomes darker and the music becomes quiet and ominous. The player is re-introduced to the cassette blocks from the B-sides, except this time, there are 4 different colors instead of two. The player then must complete a series of challenges based off the new cassette blocks. The last three rooms feature a different tempo than the default, which is the first time in the game this has occurred. This checkpoint is relatively short when compared to the other checkpoints in the chapter, only containing 7 rooms.
Reconciliation
Continuing off the previous checkpoint, the first room is another cassette block screen. However, it ends in the player catching the bird again, and after a discussion with Badeline, the background lights up once again. The player must now clear a long series of levels, and they are reintroduced to the Jellyfish and Exploding Fish, mechanics not seen since the Remembered checkpoint. The first half of the checkpoint is a relative break in difficulty, although these levels are not easy by any means. The second half introduces some harder rooms utilizing the jellyfish and exploding fish. The background vortex gradually gets lighter as the player progresses, ending in a bright pink. Meanwhile, the music also progresses through four different stages, each one more intense than the last.
Farewell
This checkpoint only consists of a single room (excluding secrets), but it is by far the longest room in the game. Players can expect to take between 1.5 and 2 minutes to complete this one room. There are Binoculars, that let the player see most of the room, however some of it is hidden from view. The level begins with the player holding the jellyfish and being flung by the exploding fish (which, incidentally, is the first instance in the entire game where jellyfish and exploding fish are used in the same room). Then, the player must navigate through a series of electricity and jellyfish barriers, and must be careful not to let the jellyfish touch the barriers. The player gets flung by the bird, and then they grab onto another jellyfish, and then wind appears. After a short series of obstacles, the wind changes direction, so now it is pushing the player straight up. This allows the player to float in the updraft, and they can move in any of the 4 directions by pressing the movement keys. The player must avoid multiple series of obstacles, and then they must release the jellyfish to trigger a Touch switches surrounded by electricity. After some more obstacles, they finally reach the last Power Box, which they can break in order to finally finish off this extremely long level.
This checkpoint is also the location of the Moon Berry, which is discussed in more detail in the Secrets section below.
Music
Unlike all prior chapters, Farewell has its own OST album, composed of thirteen distinct tracks (including six serving as the primary soundtrack for this level). Additionally, the leitmotifs featured within are quite distinct from prior chapters, because of how the chapter takes place in space.
Speedrun strategies
Power Source Key Skip
Taking a previous jelly into the Power Source hub removes the need to take the roundabout route, by having to collect the pink crystal in order to hit the power box. Instead of that, you can do a jellyvator through the tight gap into the small hole with the box in it. This speeds up the process of removing the electricity, however it's only a part of the speedrun strategy. Dying means having to take a slower route to unlock another jellyfish.
After the player has collected the double dash, they can jump off of the floating platforms with the jellyfish, and get to the top route, where normally they'd have to collect a key. After that they need to stay in the middle of the small hole right next to the spikes, jump, throw the jellyfish into the tight tunnel, quickly move back to the red bubble, and regrab the jelly by dashing upwards into it, before it goes too low. It allows the player to completely ignore the need to collect any of the keys, and go through a secret path on the right which takes them straight into Remembered (the next checkpoint).
Crystal Heart Gate Skip
If the player starts at the beginning of the giant piece of ground with the incoming heart gate, it's possible to do a superdash into a wavedash off of the sticking out 2 tile block, to successfully dodge the falling gate. It saves a lot of time, as the player doesn't have to wait for the opening animation to end, however due to required quick reactions, it may be risky for challenges such as a golden strawberry run.
The skip can be done without needing to collect every Crystal Heart, however it's there to warn casual players that the chapter will get a significant difficulty increase, and they might not be ready for it yet.
Secrets
Debug Mode Room
In the first room, it's possible to teleport to the very right side through Debug Mode, which will show a giant box with the text "DEBUG MODE :)", an intro car and a bunch of other decals at the top, as well as a snake made out of red and green bubbles. If the player goes back to the left, they can activate a secret dialog in which Granny says: "I see you have discovered Debug Mode". This is because the player doesn't activate a trigger that's right before reaching Granny, which changes the appearance of the room.
Hidden Intro Car
In the falling pillar room of Remembered, there's a small hidden area in the top-right that can be reached if the player takes a jellyfish from the previous room. It will reveal a little area with a hidden intro car.
Kevin Room
The final room of Event Horizon features a small hidden area that can be accessed by going left, when the player starts going up with the feathers towards the end. The small house is an ARG (alternate reality game) puzzle managed by Kevin himself.
The ARG reveals various different images and hints that had to be opened through a spectrogram in a specific way. If the glitch files were put together in the proper order, it would reveal a big list of various names from the Celeste community.
Demodash Room
In Determination, the vertical star room has a hidden entrance in the right path that takes the player to a small room with walls of crystal spinners that can only be passed through with demodashes. This room was meant to be a homage to the demo dash, which is a major speedrunning trick that has been discovered later after releasing the game. It's also meant to be an alternate, slightly faster route to reach the next room. Since entering the room is very tricky and failing can cause a lot of time loss, this route is very underused in normal speedruns, apart from TAS or challenge runners.
Moon Berry
After breaking the final power box, the player can go to the left, which allows them to jump off of the floating blocks that were scattered around the massive room. They will reveal an alternate path that eventually takes to a secret room in which the player has to perform a spawn exploit to reach the next room, which is a long jellyfish challenge room. After reaching the very end, the player will find a few floating platforms and the Moon Berry floating right above them. After getting it, they can use the Badeline orb to get to the ending cutscene, or, if they are carrying a golden strawberry, the golden strawberry room.
Golden Strawberry Room
If the player finishes the final room, while also holding a golden strawberry, they will be taken to the "true" final room with a unique appearance. The golden room is known for having a yellow/gold color grading, as well as the wavedash.ppt music playing. The room is meant to be a sort of surprise for everyone who's going for the hardest golden strawberry, however in fact, the room is very forgiving and it has several watchtowers that allow the player to check and analyze the obstacles that they have to face. Despite it being an extra challenge, it's meant to be beatable through sight reading, without the need of any practice. If the player reaches the very top, they will find a Badeline orb that takes them to the ending cutscene, and a green flag referencing the end of the PICO-8 version of Celeste.
Trivia
- Despite Farewell being possible to play before Summit C-Side, the chapter starts at the very end of 7C. This might have been a leftover or a reference to the chapter, as formerly Farewell was meant to be a post-game chapter available only after finishing every C-Side, but the idea was scrapped later in development, as the developers wanted more people to be able to play it.
- Farewell was also meant to be a pack of difficult rooms at first, before Maddy figured out a story for the chapter and added more rooms. It's speculated that the original version was meant to have only Event Horizon, Determination and Stubbornness as their checkpoints.
- In the game files, Farewell is referred to as "LostLevels", as it was supposed to be a hidden pack of various challenges at first. The old level name is also a reference to Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (known as Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan). This is not the first time a Mario game has been referenced in Celeste: Chapter 4's Crystal Heart references Super Mario Bros. 3.
- The green flag and the sound it makes in the Golden Room is a reference to the Pico-8 summit flag.
- If the player manages to reach the Moon Berry room while also holding a golden berry, it will temporarily detach from them and move to the next spawnpoint, as the player has to perform a death exploit to reach the next part of the challenge.
- The heart gate in Event Horizon is the only entity that can kill a player with invincibility on.
- If a player completes Farewell using the main route only (i.e. ignoring secrets and speedrun paths), then there will be exactly 100 screens. There are a few screens that contain multiple respawn points (e.g. the first two tutorial rooms in Event Horizon are technically a single screen), and these screens are counted only once.
- The final cutscene reveals tiny pride flag hanging next to Madeline's computer, hinting that the protagonist might be transgender, which caught a lot of interest within the community. On November 6, 2020, Maddy Thorson confirmed that it indeed is true on a Medium blog post.
- During the 1.3.3.x beta phase, the hidden Demodash room has gone through multiple changes in which Maddy attempted to make the room be a more accessible speed path. The room ended up being reverted eventually, as the majority of people found the original Demo room to be a well hidden nod to the speedrun trick.
Celeste base game chapters
