As expected, the ending of Life is Strange: True Colors packs an emotional punch, with players discovering the truth about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Gabe Chen, brother of protagonist Alex Chen. Life is Strange: True Colors has already won itself scores of fans thanks to its immersive storytelling, relatable characters, and its gorgeous setting of Haven Springs. Many outlets have even gone as far as calling Life is Strange: True Colors the best in the series so far.
WARNING: Spoilers for Life Is Strange: True Colors below
Part of the beauty of the Life is Strange series is the way each story unfolds. Players have the option to influence the narrative and characters in a way that is unique to them, allowing for the games to be played with an individuals’ head or heart. This is something that continues in True Colors, perhaps even more so than in the previous Life is Strange titles. Thanks to her power of empathy, Alex can sense people’s emotions as an aura around them. If she then creates a ‘nova’ she can also experience their thoughts and memories, offering a truly immersive gameplay experience. Because of this, throughout Life is Strange: True Colors' story players not only feel a bond with Alex, but they form a connection with the rest of the Haven Springs community as well.
It is due to this connection with the extended cast of Life is Strange: True Colors that the death of Gabe Chen at the end of the first episode is such an impactful one. In a relatively short space of time, Gabe had become a source of comfort and compassion to not only his little sister Alex, but to players as well. He is level-headed, caring, and everything one could ask for in a big brother. Sadly though, his life is cut short when an explosion in the mountains causes a landslide, which sends Gabe over the edge of a ravine and to his death. This is a real tragedy for Alex and the Haven Springs community, even more so as Gabe - along with Alex and his friend Ryan Lucan - had called Typhon (the mining company and main employer in Haven Springs) to let them know that there were people in the mountains and had asked them to call off the scheduled blast until the area was clear.
Life is Strange: True Colors - Why The Blast Still Went Off
In the subsequent episodes of Life is Strange: True Colors, Alex works with her new friends Ryan and Steph Gingrich to uncover what happened on the night of Gabe’s death. Soon the trio begin to uncover evidence that Typhon deliberately decided to ignore Gabe’s call, and to set off the explosion in the mountains anyway. The ending of Life is Strange: True Colors, along with the game's final episodes, explains the reason why Typhon chose to ignore the safety of Gabe and the others that night.
Leading up to Life is Strange: True Colors' ending it is disclosed that Jed Lucan, the local barman and Alex’s landlord in Haven Springs, used to work as a foreman for Typhon. Eleven years prior to the events of True Colors, Jed had led a team of miners into the mountains. The earth around them was considered too wet to support the weight of the mining work, but Jed ignored this and decided to carry on with the job. Eventually, a pipe burst and trapped several of Jed’s team in a flooding cave beneath the mountains. Jed decided to leave his trapped miners for dead, despite them being his responsibility, and instead escaped with those who were not already trapped beneath the earth. One of the miners who was trapped as a result of Jed’s actions happened to be Gabe and Alex’s absent father, John Chen.
Following the death of his miners, Jed made a deal with Typhon to cover up the accident and his involvement with it. Jed was then decorated as a hero, with people celebrating his efforts in saving the surviving miners. However, back in the present, Typhon was due to get an inspection which left those involved with the cover up anxious that the true events from eleven years ago would be discovered. As such, Typhon devised a plan which directly leads to Life is Strange: True Colors' ending; The scheduled blast that went off on the night of Gabe’s death was actually a cover up for a second unscheduled blast - one that was intended to hide the remaining evidence of Jed’s reckless actions and his deceased miners, before the inspection went ahead.
Life is Strange: True Colors Ending - How Alex Finds The Truth
When Jed realizes that Alex is on to Typhon in Life is Strange: True Colors, he pretends to act as an ally. Jed offers to lead Alex into the mountains, under the guise of showing her what it is that Typhon is covering up. However, when he gets to the mine shaft, Jed pulls a gun on Alex and shoots her, leaving her for dead down in the mine. What Jed doesn't know, however, is that Alex survives the gunshot and her subsequent fall.
After regaining consciousness, Alex manages to use her powers to find her way out of the mines and back home (on the way discovering her old necklace that her father had taken with him when he went to work with Typhon). On her return to Haven Springs, Alex confronts Jed in front of the town’s people, leading to Jed’s guilt at his actions to bring forth a confession and his ultimate arrest.
Following this confrontation in Life is Strange: True Colors' ending, Alex then has a vision of her and Gabe chatting together once more on the roof of the bar. Here, the siblings discuss Alex’s future, and whether she should stay in Haven Springs or leave the town and pursue her music career. This is one of the final choices that players make, as they can do either. Players can also leave Haven or stay in Haven with either Steph or Ryan, depending on who the player had ultimately decided to romance during the main story. There is also the option for Alex to leave or stay in Haven single at the end of Life is Strange: True Colors, should players have decided to not follow the romantic leads in the game's earlier episodes.
Life is Strange: True Colors is now available on the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Google Stadia, and it will launch on Nintendo Switch in 2021.