Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Ending: Should I Choose Maelle or Verso In the End?

After the long adventure in Verso’s canvas, everything finally comes to an end, and it is time to decide the fate of the canvas. Clair Obscur Expedition 33 designs two endings for players to choose: fighting as Maelle or as Verso. Generally, Maelle hopes to preserve the canvas to make up for the life she could not have in reality with her dead brother, while Verso wishes that Maelle could destroy the canvas and go back to real life. Both endings have their tragic and redemptive effects in a way. This post explains the gist of the plots of Clair Obscur Expedition 33 and its endings, with interpretations of what each ending represents!

What Is the Main Story of Clair Obscur Expedition 33?

Before going into details about Clair Obscur Expedition 33 ending, let us go through the story first.

It starts with the grand expedition of saving the people in Lumiere from the gommage (being erased from the world), and ends with the revelation of the true identity of the Lumiere people, who are the canvas’s creation.

Ignorant of the nature of their lives, people in Lumiere embark on expeditions with no returns, paving the way to find the cure for the gommage with generations of sacrifice. Members of the Expedition 33 shoulder the same mission of seeking the truth behind the gommage and stopping the paintress. However, the erasure of the paintress only leads to the complete gommage of everyone living in Lumiere.

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The secrets of the Dessendre family are gradually unveiled through Maelle’s nightmares and Verso’s explanations. The Dessendres lose their son, Verso Dessendre, to a fire in their mansion. The fire also takes away Alicia, the younger sister’s voice and face. The canvas left behind by Verso becomes the sole comfort to the rest of the families: the mother Aline, the father Renoir, the elder sister Clea, and the youngest one, Alicia. The sadness finds its relief in the canvas’ creation.

The struggle inside the canvas is the inner manifestation of the Dessendres’ family disputes. As the paintress, Aline, wishes to stay longer with the creatures in the canvas, Renoir erases the creature slowly, hoping to push Aline out of the addictive canvas. Eventually, it is up to Maelle and Verso to decide the fate of the canvas, which is equal to the fate of the Dessendre family.

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When to Choose the Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Ending?

The ending of Clair Obscur Expedition 33 happens after defeating the curator (Renoir). Players need to defeat Renoir three times in the game. After forcing the paintress out of the canvas, Alicia, together with the Expedition 33 team, needs to defeat Renoir, who shows up as the curator in the final battle.

The absence of both Renoir and Aline from the canvas leaves Maelle and Verso to decide the fate of the canvas. The dialogue options will pop up for players to choose either to fight as Maelle, who wants to preserve the canvas, or to fight as Verso, who wants to destroy the canvas.

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The choice will lead players to the duel between Maelle and Verso. Different epilogues directly follow the victory of the duel, depending on the players’ choice. If players choose to fight as Maelle, the epilogue is A Life to Paint. If players choose to fight as Verso, the epilogue will be A Life to Love.

Finishing the epilogue will take players to the credits roll, and finally, the main menu. To experience the other ending, players need to manually load the previous save, as the game does not automatically take players back to the choice again.

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Fight As Maelle: A Life to Paint

Determined to save the canvas and spend her life with Verso’s creations, Maelle will have a life on the canvas if players choose to fight as her in the end. She will not return to real life or reunite with her family. Instead, she finds her happiness and comfort with Verso, her painted brother, in the canvas.

Lune, Sciel, Gustave, and other citizens of Lumiere will be revived from the gommage. Maelle, who is also Alicia and possesses the paintress’ power in the canvas, brings the people and creatures in the canvas back to life. She saves Verso’s canvas from destruction.

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A Life to Paint is the happy ending for the canvas and the people of Lumiere. They can be brought back to life again and reunite with their loved ones. The final scene in the theatre gathers all the familiar faces in the game, including Gustave and his girlfriend.

However, this ending has a tinge of sombre undertone as well, when the camera turns to Verso and Maelle. Too much drawn to the canvas life, Maelle seems to be incapable of returning to her life in reality. Verso is the one in the canvas who bears witness to Maelle’s decision. It is almost a moment of horror when the game shows Maelle’s eyes covered in the paintress’ paint, and the screen color fades into black-and-white. This shall be further discussed in the last section of this post.

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Fight As Verso: A Life to Love

Choosing to fight as Verso will sacrifice the canvas and have Maelle return to real life in return. Verso in the canvas has lived through a long time. Different from other characters in Lumiere, Verso is part of the expedition 00, and later realizes his true identity. Although Verso Dessendre has already died from the fire, a shred of his soul is preserved in the canvas. It is incarnated as Verso in the expedition.

In order to force Maelle to return to her family in real life, Verso chooses to sacrifice the canvas, with all its creations, in A Life to Love. Verso and other creations in the canvas embrace their fates of annihilation peacefully. Esquie, Monoco, and Sciel accept Verso’s choice with calm and the warmth of friendship. The only exception is Lune, who struggles to face the inevitability.

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A Life to Love is a sad ending for the canvas and the people in Lumiere. On the other hand, it is a path of sacrifice to continue life in reality. The end of the epilogue brings the players to the world outside the canvas, to Verso Dessendre’s grave, where the Dessendres reunite. The Dessendres can finally grieve their loss, reconcile with the past, and continue their lives in reality.

This choice will give Maelle a life facing the future, although it is a tragic end for people in Lumiere. Similar to the moment of waking up from a long dream, A Life to Love is a rather promising ending.

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Which Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Ending Is Better?

Given that there are two endings in Clair Obscur Expedition 33, many may ask which ending is better. Conveniently, the game ends with the epilogue, so different endings only bring players to the different cutscenes without further progress. Therefore, players can easily reload and go through both endings without too much trouble.

Generally speaking, both endings are pretty balanced in terms of their promising side and tragic undertone. The difference lies in that the two cutscenes show the positive and depressive sides in a different order.

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A Life to Paint starts with a joyful moment of people in Lumiere gathered together for Verso’s performance. However, the color quickly fades into black and white. The screen shrinks to the classic 4:3 aspect, giving the scene a more sombre and ominous touch. While people in Lumiere are celebrating their rebirth, only Verso sees through the nature of the gathering. Maelle sacrifices her life in reality for a life in the canvas.

Contrarily, A Life to Love starts with the sacrifice of the canvas, but ends with a tone of redemption and relief. While the reality side of A Life to Paint is left blank, A Life to Love brings players to Verso’s grave. The Dessendres can say proper goodbyes and continue their lives.

Which ending is better? It is choosing between the nostalgic and the present, between making up for the lost and seizing the current moment.

FAQs

What is the true ending of Clair Obscur Expedition 33?

There is no true ending or fake ending to Clair Obscur Expedition 33. However, some players may regard the Verso ending as the true ending. This ending cutscene brings players back to reality, to the moments of separation from all the creations on the canvas. As the characters fade in front of Maelle, they are also waving goodbye to the players, after the long journey together.

Is Maelle the real Alicia?

Yes and No. Maelle, early in the game (before the gommage after beating the paintress), is the painted version of Alicia. However, Alicia has entered the canvas as Maelle after the gommage, thus truly becoming Maelle in the later part of the game. It seems like Maelle has part of Alicia’s consciousness in the game, but she also has her own thoughts and feelings before Alicia enters Maelle’s body on the canvas.

Who is Verso in Clair Obscur Expedition 33?

Verso is the painted version of Verso Dessendre on the canvas. Verso Dessendre, the son of the family, died in the fire in the family mansion in reality. His canvas has preserved part of his soul, and his family has the power to create a world inside the canvas. Additionally, Verso in the canvas is a member of Expedition 00. He builds the city of Lumiere together with Renoir.

Conclusion: Clair Obscur Expedition 33 Ending

From the grand expedition to save lives from being erased to the crystallized theme of love and care among the families, Clair Obscur Expedition 33 gradually unveils the nature of the expedition and leads the story to a more specific family tragedy and struggle. Although the story might not seem as grand and heroic as the beginning, the theme has been consistent throughout the game: confronting the grief and carving a path to the future. It is a shared theme that unites the people from Lumiere and the Dessendre family in Clair Obscur Expedition 33.