The Curator

The Curator
Talks	In the Museum Ending
Appears in	Not physically, but talks in the Museum Ending
Playable?	No
Objective	Show Stanley the Museum
Also known as	Museum Narrator, Female Narrator

"Farewell, Stanley," cried the Narrator, as Stanley was led helplessly into the enormous metal jaws.

The Curator

The Curator is a minor character who only appears in the Museum Ending.

Information

The Curator begins her (only) appearance when you are about to be crushed by a set of metal jaws machine activated by the Narrator, right after you fall into a moving cart line at the end of the "escape" hall next to the Mind Control Facility.

The Curator stops the metal jaws, jeering at how the normal Narrator tells the entire story, saying that "it would be just a few minutes before Stanley would restart the game, back in his office, as alive as ever".

The Stanley Parable Museum

As you enter the Museum, The Curator explains that "when every path you can walk has been created for you long in advance, death becomes meaningless, making life the same". The Curator once again mocks the male Narrator by saying "Do you see now? Do you see that Stanley was already dead from the moment he hit start?"

As you reach the back part of the Museum where an on/off switch is, The Curator giggles and says: "Oh, look at these two. How they wish to destroy one another. How they wish to control one another. How they both wish to be free."

After you flick the switch and the whole world turns pitch black, The Curator then says: "Can you see? Can you see how much they need one another? No, perhaps not. Sometimes these things cannot be seen".

The Metal Jaws

The Curator, now with much desperation in her voice as you inch closer and closer to true death, quickly breaks the fourth wall: "But listen to me, you can still save these two. You can stop the program before they both fail."

[PC version:] "Push 'escape', and press 'quit'."

[Console version:] "Turn off your [console]."

"There is no other way to beat this game. As long as you move forward, you'll be walking someone else's path. Stop now, and it will be your only true choice. Whatever you do, choose it! Don't let time choose for you! Don't let time-" and then you will get crushed and actually die, and the whole game will turn black. There, you must literally restart the whole game, because it won't be restarted for you automatically.

Original Mod

The Curator was also present at the original Half-Life 2 mod, though her voice was higher than her voice in the HD Remix. Like her counterpart, The Curator also displayed her contempt towards the Narrator in her quote, "It's a shame, then. That for all his work, it was such a meaningless victory to the narrator. Did he really think he would accomplish anything by murdering this disposable vessel?"

Speculation

• One possible explanation regarding her negative comments on the Narrator might imply that The Curator is, perhaps, another side of the Narrator, who seems displeased by the current existing storyline, which had Stanley always reappearing in his office, either after being killed or set free.
• Due to her first line, "Farewell Stanley, cried the narrator, as Stanley was led hopelessly into the enormous metal jaws.", it's possible that she's the Narrator's narrator.
• When she says "Oh, look at these two. How they wish to destroy one another. How they wish to control one another. How they both wish to be free." and "Can you see? Can you see how much they need one another?", it's possible that she's talking about Stanley and the Narrator. The Narrator, because he is the creator of the story, wants Stanley to follow his orders, thus controlling him. Stanley, because he is the hero/player, also wants to control the Narrator, because at the end of the Escape Pod Ending, Stanley needs the Narrator to go on.

Trivia

• The voice actor for The Curator, Lesley Staples, is only credited in the game's Museum, and in the game's credits. 
• The Curator is voiced by Kim Hoffmeister in the Half-Life 2 mod.

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