Stepping into his manager's office...
The Narrator as you ditch him in the Boss's Office
The Escape Pod Ending, also known as the Launch Pod Ending, is the ending that occurs when the player goes through the Boss's Office and then walks backward, disabling the Narrator.
This ending is in the HD Remix and Ultra Deluxe.
Obtaining the Ending[]
Exit Stanley's Office. At the two doors room, pick the one on the left. Once you get to the staircase, go up to the Boss's Office. Enter it slowly, and quickly step back when the doors begin to close.
The Ending[]
When the doors to the Boss' Office close, the Narrator goes completely silent, indicating that he may or may not be trapped inside the room. Unable to progress, Stanley must backtrack through the re-acessable office until he reaches his own. A door will have opened where Employee 428's office would have been, revealing a black space.
Stepping into the abyss, Stanley will enter a room with a large sign reading "YOU ARE NOW LEAVING". Continuing on, he will discover an inaccessible elevator, with another sign reading "ESCAPE POD - FLOOR 760. Stanley traverses up several floors and flights of stairs until he reaches the 760th floor, where one last sign awaits him. The sign details how the Narrator and Stanley must both be present for the ending to play out as intended; however this text is largely not legible/erased in the HD Remix and Ultra Deluxe editions due to weathering effects near the bottom of the wall.
Going through the final door and entering another black abyss, the escape pod opens in anticipation, but before Stanley can reach it, the game breaks before restarting.
With The Bucket[]
If Stanley is holding the Bucket, the ending plays out almost identically. The two leave the Narrator stuck in the Boss's Office, and they travel further back to the Escape Corridors. However, once Stanley is able to reach the escape pod, he instead inserts the The Bucket into it after caressing it lovingly, while Stanley's Sacrifice plays. The pod closes, Stanley is left alone in the dark and the game restarts itself.
Post-Bucket Ending Changes[]
Persist until a reset happens[]
- A restart directly after completion of the ending, the Bucket will be gone from its pedestal, forcing you either to begin the game again, or finish a bucket-less ending.
- Two restarts after completing the ending, a replacement bucket will be placed onto the pedestal, and the Narrator will ask you not to lose this one. A sign reading "REPLACEMENT BUCKET" will be placed over the number 422 on that employee's desk.
Persist indefinitely[]
During the Epilogue, the Escape Pod with the Bucket inside will land to the right of the buried Memory Zone, having the bucket inside. The bucket can be grabbed from there, although it won't alter the ending itself at all.
Trivia[]
- Using console commands in the HD Remix will let the player access floors 752 and 753.
- The windows showing the office on every floor actually use wormholes that transport the view into every single floor.
- In the original 2013 Source version, The ending will break if you enter the right door first, then detour to the left door. You can break the ending by jumping out of the window when you're back at the office after backtracking. Sometimes, the Narrator lets you go back to your office without triggering the Coward Ending; if you do that during the ending, the ending will break again. You can also break the ending if you get the blue-shaped office and you do the Whiteboard Ending.
- During the detour you can fix this by approaching the left door behind it just before going up to the Boss's Office.
- In the Ultra Deluxe version, using the detour does not break the game.
- You can grab the Bucket on the way back after activating the Ending.
- Grabbing the Bucket after trapping the Narrator in the Boss' Office previously triggered him to speak. This was fixed in an unknown update.
- In Ultra Deluxe, the Out of Map Ending is blocked by an invisible wall, preventing the player from going through the window.
- Some fans of The Stanley Parable have created their own version of the Ending. Here are some examples.
- This ending doesn't seem to be affected by alternate spawns, such as the Blue Office. After the player backs away from the Boss's Office and retraces their steps, it will bring them back to the normal office spawn, which is where the door for this ending can be accessed.
- In the HD edition, an error is displayed in the console indicating that there are no Narrator's lines. Also, there are too many triggers in this zone for an empty zone.
- In Ultra Deluxe, if the player enables Low Dexterity Mode before backing out they will have enough time to venture inside the Elevator Room before the doors to the room close. This makes the doors to the room stay opened, while the Narrator still talks as if Stanley was still in the Boss's Office. Once the player steps out of the elevator room, the doors close and the Narrator finally goes silent. This may be proof that the Narrator isn't actually trapped in the Boss's Office during the ending.
Video Guide[]
| v • e Endings | |
|---|---|
| Left door | Freedom Ending • Countdown Ending • Museum Ending • Mariella Ending • Escape Pod Ending • Heaven Ending • Broom Closet Ending • Press Conference Ending • Bottom of the Mind Control Room Ending |
| Right door | Confusion Ending • Powerful Ending • Cold Feet Ending • Apartment Ending • Not Stanley Ending • Zending • Games Ending • Art Ending • Tape Recorder Ending • No Buckets Ending |
| Two doors room not required | Coward Ending • Out of Map Ending • Serious Ending • Whiteboard Ending |
| Progression Endings | Paywall Ending • New Content Ending • Skip Button Ending • Infinite Hole Ending • Sequel Ending • Figurines Ending • Epilogue |