Stray Ending Explained

So, enough time has passed that we are confident that we can finally say what we’ve thought of the ending all this time. The game has been out for a while now and seeing as it is a short but sweet 6-8 game, it’s about time we talked about the Stray ending explained.

With that said, we are about to enter major spoiler territory. If you want to turn back and finish the game, you might want to do so now. It won’t take long at long. Unless you’re enjoying the sights and sounds of a post-human society run by robots. Which in itself is quite intriguing.

Alright. In this Stray Ending Explained guide, we lay out all the details of how it all ended and the bits and pieces we’ve extrapolated from the ending cutscene. We also want to touch up on the fate of the Companions and the understate big reveal that no one seems to be talking about.

The beginning of the end starts with the duo exiting the subway car and entering the lounge area that’s right next to the Control Room. The Companions here have kept the place nice and tidy all these years, obediently following the orders of their human masters. This is the only place where we encounter Companions that aren’t sentient. (The prison doesn’t count. Those poor fools suffered a more horrible fate.) We’ll get back to the Companions in a moment. For now, let’s focus on our cat and B-12’s final moments together.

To open the doors to the surface, B-12 must somehow lift the lockdown that’s kept the city literally in the dark. It starts off simple enough – walk all over keyboards until everything lights and whatnot. But it is not until B-12 starts work on the unlocking sequence do we find out the true price of freedom.

By the time we disable all the locks, B-12’s drone body has finally exceeded its limits. In one final act, we had to pick up the drone and deliver it to the console so that B-12 can lift the lock. We don’t exactly know how uploading your consciousness can disable the lockdown but it needed to be done. Our cat stayed with the drone shell until it was time to go.

During the game’s final cutscene, we are greeted by lots of sunlight and vegetation. There’s nothing quite this kind of ending. We even get a final glace at our furry friend as it turns toward the camera for one last time before fading into black.

At this point, we can assume that the quest to find the rest of the cat family continues. It’s going to be a lot easier now that our cat is free from the depths and darkness. Maybe a sequel might give more answers. But honestly, with how the game ended so peacefully. We don’t think a sequel is warranted… at least not right away. It takes a certain something to make a sequel work. And a lot of things could go wrong if it’s handled poorly.

But, we’ll see. All we know for sure is that the city and our cat are free. In every sense of the word.

What about the Companions?

With the opening up of the shelter, the Companions living there no longer have to live in fear. The ever-encroaching Zurk infestation has been pushed back. The only place it can freely grow now might just be the Sewers. As for the Sentinels, it seems like they’ve served their purpose and have now been deactivated. That’s what we saw when they cornered Clementine. The Outsiders will definitely follow in our cat’s furry paw steps and experience the outside world for themselves. All they need to do is to get the elevators running. They’ve got all the time in the world to find a way.

On a final note, speaking personally, I want to know what happened to the rest of the shelter cities. The one we reside in is City 99. What about the others? Are there humans left? Cats somehow survived and thrived outside the cities. Who’s to say that humans can’t do the same? Just because B-12 was the last “human” in the city, doesn’t mean that it was the last human on Earth. But let’s say B-12 was indeed the last, it’s still worth exploring and seeing the state of the rest of the other cities. And hopefully, they all aren’t consumed by a city-sized Zurk that’s mutated out of control.

That’s just my two cents on the matter, we can leave that there… for now.

If you want to know how we think about the game read our review for Stray. Also check out our other Stray guides and articles: