Quantum Break is Remedy Entertainment’s 2016 action-adventure game published by Microsoft. It was supposed to be the launching point for a new flagship franchise for Microsoft. Up there with Halo and Gears of War. However, lackluster reception and the dissolution of Remedy and Microsoft’s partnership seem to have put an end to that plan. As it’s been 8 years and a sequel still isn’t in the works. Though Remedy are open to the idea.
Remedy’s 2023 survival horror game Alan Wake II and its following Night Springs DLC renewed interest in the IP. Thanks to several clever references scattered throughout the plot. In fact, it seems that Quantum Break may actually be one of the most important editions to the Remedy Connected Universe. Something that didn’t even exist properly until 2019’s Control. So I’ll break down the important elements of Quantum Break, and how they tie into Remedy’s grand overarching storytelling.
I’ll Come Back for You
A core piece of Quantum Break‘s plot is the relationship between Shawn Ashmore’s Jack Joyce and Courtney Hope’s Beth Wilder. With the two of them seemingly destined to work together and protect each other to prevent The End of Time. However, things don’t work out too well for them.
Time Breaker
Thanks to time travel shenanigans, Beth dies in 2010. Six years in the past. And one of the final moments of Quantum Break is a flashback to when Jack traveled back in time to the start of the game. He sees Beth during a stutter – where all time is frozen for everyone without chronon powers – and promises to come back for her. Something that challenges the laws of time travel the game established.
“I’ll come back for you”
Quantum Break works off of the self-consistency principle. Meaning that a time traveler can not change the past. Because when the past was the present, their future self was already there. This is made evident several times throughout the story. As Jack, Beth, and Paul Serene end up causing past events they traveled back to prevent. Meaning Jack essentially plans to break the laws of time travel to save Beth.
However, a Quantum Break sequel seems unlikely. Microsoft owns the IP, and Remedy don’t work exclusively for Microsoft anymore. So a lot of the ideas presented in Quantum Break also manifest in Remedy’s Control and Alan Wake II.
Partners in Time
Remedy have expanded on Jack and Beth’s relationship. Essentially establishing it as a multiversal constant. No matter the reality, their counterparts always find each other. This is set up in Alan Wake II and expanded on in the Night Springs DLC.
Ashmore’s character in Alan Wake II, Tim Breaker, sees into the multiverse in his dreams. Always seeing a different version of himself. And in each dream, he sees the same red-headed woman. A description that matches Hope’s characters. Which makes Tim determined to find this red-headed stranger.
The Time Breaker
The Night Springs DLC episodes “North Star” and “Time Breaker” expand on this. As a multiversal (and potentially fictional) doppelganger of Jesse Faden (protagonist of Control, played by Hope) runs into The Sheriff, played by Ashmore. And Shawn Ashmore playing Shawn Ashmore encounters several different versions of Hope on his journey through the multiverse. And one version even references the “I’ll come back for you” line, which may be another multiversal constant.
So there’s a good chance we’ll see the real Jesse interact with or find Tim either in Alan Wake II‘s Lake House DLC or the eventual Control 2. But only time will tell.
The Master of Many Worlds
It’s a pretty bold strategy on Remedy’s part to make the central antagonist of their universe a character from one of their most poorly received games. Though it seems to be paying off for them. And taking risks that no other studio would is basically Remedy’s motto at this point.
A Hatch in Time
One of the biggest mysteries in Quantum Break is the late Lance Reddick’s Martin Hatch. CEO of the antagonistic Monarch Solutions, yet actively working against the main antagonist, Paul Serene. Players barely get any information on him until nearly the end of the game. When he leaves a note for Jack detailing his ability to shift between realities. And how he sees it as his mission to open other people’s eyes to the infinite realities that are out there.
Rest in Peace, Lance Reddick
The final stretch of Quantum Break also sets up Martin Hatch to be a Shifter. A very dangerous humanoid only present in The End of Time. Jack never fights him or sees him in this state. Though Quantum Break ends on the cliffhanger of Hatch asking Jack to join him at Monarch Solutions, promising it will be better with Paul Serene gone.
Warlin Door
Reddick was supposed to play the similarly enigmatic Warlin Door in Alan Wake II before his passing, with David Harewood chosen to fill his shoes. With Mr. Door being the host of a talk show in The Dark Place that regularly features Alan Wake. And much like Martin Hatch, he also draws the attention of Shawn Ashmore’s character. As he haunts and hunts Tim in his dreams. Which we see more of in the Night Springs DLC.
“Time Breaker” shows us that Warlin Door, “The Master of Many Worlds,” is traveling through the multiverse and killing every single version of Shawn Ashmore for an unknown reason. We also see his origin story where he stumbles across something in a cave that spreads him across all realities with the ability to shift between them at will. Which matches Hatch’s story in Quantum Break of receiving powers similar to Jack from a more natural source.
The Master of Many Worlds
So it seems very likely that Warlin Door and Martin Hatch are the same person in different realities. And he probably has two different names to avoid infringing on Microsoft’s IP. Regardless, he’s clearly being set up as a huge threat.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
All of this comes together to set up what I believe will be the endgame of the Remedy Connected Universe. As Warlin Door is hunting Shawn Ashmore, will be coming after Alan Wake eventually, and is known to Jesse Faden. As her brother, Dylan, told her about him. He can also dream the multiverse like Tim.
Remedy would not tie him to all of these protagonists for no reason. They plan things out way too carefully for that to be the case. So Quantum Break very well may be the first appearance of the Remedy Connected Universe’s Thanos. Whether we’ll get an official Quantum Break sequel to expand on this, or have to settle for vague allusions, remains to be seen. Though Quantum Break‘s involvement in gaming’s most interesting universe can’t be ignored.
