Returnal secret ending

After watching the last, sixth sequence related to Selena's house, the main character finds in her hand the keys to the car in which she and her mother fell into the lake. You may remember that Theia, having stepped onto the bridge, noticed an astronaut on the road and turned abruptly, trying to hide from the mysterious figure. She broke through the fence, causing the car to fall into the water.

After defeating the last boss in Returnal, Ophion, Selene will walk up to the car a second time and open the driver's door, which will activate other vague memories. Selena meets a monstrous version of her mother (or maybe a reflection of herself?). The woman first sits in a wheelchair, which confirms a spinal injury sustained during a car accident. When Theia suddenly stands up and grabs Selena, she pushes and begs to be left alone.

It is worth noting here that the distorted figure looks like she is pregnant, which confirms the information obtained during one of the episodes related to Selena's house.

Soon after, Selena appears on the bridge where the car accident took place. This could mean that Selena was an astronaut all this time, and it was she who caused the car accident - perhaps intentionally.

Is it important that Teia looks exactly the same in this scene?like Selena. A child sitting in the back seat asking his mother about the White Shadow (the Moon - Selena's unfulfilled desire to go into space) can really only be an excuse to commit an accident. The woman adjusts the rearview mirror and does not answer the question, as if the child was not there.

This confirms the cut-scene fragment, which you can watch after completing 5 sequences in Selena's house. The woman regains consciousness and sees the moment when the ship flies to the Earth. It was then that Selena realizes that it was she who broke Helios and that she is to blame for all the other events.

Unlike the first ending of Returnal, this time we see a scene in which Selene/Theia gets out of the car and swims to the surface, and a bright light (of the sun) screams "Helios". After a while, an astronaut appears on the screen.

Helios in Greek mythology is depicted as a god and the personification of the Sun; he is also the brother of Selene (goddess of the moon), and both are children of Theia, goddess of sight and bright sky.

After this scene, Selene reappears on the planet Atropos. Unfortunately, it's impossible to tell if the following events you're witnessing are happening in real time, or if it's the character's moment of agony after a car accident. The moment a woman blames herself for what happened on the bridge and the time loop she's stuck in is her penancee.

Atropos in Greek mythology - the third part of Moira, the goddess of fate - she marked the end of the life of each of the people.

It can also be assumed that since childhood Selena was obsessed with the idea of becoming astronauts and blamed her unborn child (boy) for the fact that because of him these plans never materialized. A woman is fired from the Astra program (in one of the scenes she finds a letter from the corporation in her house) and she does not fly into space. The car accident may have been intentional and was intended as an act of suicide. The moment a woman swims to the surface and yells "Helios" may be the moment she changes her mind and accepts her unborn son. According to this theory, the child you can play as in one of the episodes in Selena's house could be her surviving son - he even listens to a recording of Selena's voice in which the woman informs her child that she has not returned home yet and gives instructions on how to how to cook your own food.

The time 8:36 that appears on the car radio display, as well as on the electronic clock on the dresser in the hallway and on the radio in the kitchen, may (but not necessarily) refer to the gospel according to John 8:36 - "So if the Son will set you free then you will be truly free.”