The Church in the Darkness

The Church in the Darkness

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The Church in the Darkness: Complete Endings Guide
By Blackout905
A guide to unlocking all possible endings for The Church in the Darkness
   
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Summary
The Church in the Darkness features 19 different endings, which are organized by player actions (horizontally) and preacher personalities (vertically) on the Endings screen. Most endings can be reached by determining which preacher personalities are in play, then choosing an action based on what endings you haven't reached. I've labeled the primary patterns below:



It's important to note that murdering/abducting a preacher will supersede your behavior towards Alex, so you can either save or leave him behind to reach these endings. To reach the endings labeled "Leave Alex Behind" or "Get Alex Out", you need to be sure to take those actions without murdering or abducting the preachers.

Endings by Player Action
  • Leaving Alex in Freedom Town unlocks "Left Unfinished", "Difficult Choices", "Turns to Ashes", and "Home" (not shown on chart as it does not align).

  • Getting Alex Out of Freedom Town unlocks "Last One Out", "The Last Door", "The Nearest Exit", and "Ties that Bind" (see Peaceful Variations below for more info on this ending).

  • Murdering the peaceful preacher unlocks "Bad Life Choices" and "Killer's Kiss".

  • Murdering the destructive preacher unlocks "Unforgivable" and "In Her Own Mind".

  • Abducting the destructive preacher unlocks "This Bird SIngs" and "Sun through the Jungle".

Variations
Some of the endings don't follow the pattern exactly, including most of the fourth column (Peaceful). These endings have been marked with a purple star on the chart. See below for how to reach these endings.
Achievements
You can unlock the below achievements by following this guide:
  • Ending is the Beginning: Unlock 1 ending
  • I've Always Been Around You: Unlock 10 endings
Destruction Variations
River Runs Deep
Most endings in this row are achieved by murdering the peaceful preacher and leaving the destructive preacher to their devices. However, that's not an option when both preachers are bent on destruction.

To achieve this ending, kill only one of the preachers, and leave the other one behind. You can either take Alex with you or leave him behind.

Justified
In a reverse of the above, most of row 4's endings are reached by murdering the destructive preacher and leaving the peaceful one be. Again, this isn't an option when both preachers have destructive personalities.

To achieve this ending, kill both of the preachers. You can either take Alex with you or leave him behind.

Another Way
The other endings in this row are achieved by abducting the destructive preacher, thus preventing them from enacting their plan. Once again, this pattern can't be applied when both preachers have the same personality.

To achieve this ending, abduct one of the preachers. You can either take Alex with you or leave him behind.
Peaceful Variations
Broken Promises
To achieve this ending, you must become a murderer. You can kill one or both of the preachers or Alex to unlock this ending.

Ties that Bind
As stated above, this ending is unlocked by getting Alex out of Freedom Town. However, since the preachers are peaceful in this scenario, Alex will not want to leave, and the option to have him follow will not appear. Instead, you must subdue him and carry him to the insertion point.

Taking a Chance
This is an easy ending to reach. Once you talk to Alex and he refuses to leave, simply head back to the insertion point by yourself.

Home
Once you talk to Alex and he tells you where the preachers are located, go talk to Isaac. Do NOT choose to subdue or kill him. Wait for him to invite you to live in Freedom Town, then select Stay when the option appears.
6 Comments
Munty 4 Jan, 2023 @ 1:22pm 
Just in case it is helpful for anyone else, I have been advised by the dev in a post I made that you need to play a pacifist run in order for the abduction ending to take! So perhaps I killed someone at some point and that made it not work? Can't confirm without playing again but will update if and when I do!
Blackout905  [author] 9 Dec, 2022 @ 2:19pm 
@Munty As far as I'm aware, there isn't another action needed to trigger that ending. I wonder if it's a bug? Might be worth making a post about it in the community to see if the developer can help. I'm also a completionist, so I feel your pain.
Munty 9 Dec, 2022 @ 1:13am 
Hi @Blackout905 thanks for the reply. In both cases there was only one evil preacher and I carried them unconscious all the way to the extraction point. The ending text confirmed that they had been abducted both times but the ending was the one you get when you kill them rather than the bottom one. Is there some other requirement in order for this to trigger? As a completionist, this really bugs me!
Blackout905  [author] 4 Dec, 2022 @ 10:26am 
@Munty It's been a long time since I played, but I'll try to help. Did you get both of them all the way to the extraction point? Also, was the other preacher also evil, or were they good?
Munty 4 Dec, 2022 @ 4:00am 
Just had the exact same problem with abducting the evil isaac. How is this meant to be done???
Munty 3 Dec, 2022 @ 5:26pm 
Please help! I abducted an evil rebecca, used subdue not kill, but ending the game while carrying her with me gave me the ending like I'd killed her. The ending text even acknowledged the fact I had kidnapped her but I didn't get the ending unlocked...