In Wanderstop, you play as Alta, a fighter who has fallen from grace after losing for the first time in three years. To reorient herself and figure out how she could let herself lose, she travels to the forest in search of Master Winters, whom she believes is the only one who can help her.
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Alta then becomes stuck in a clearing within the forest, where Boro’s Wanderstop tea shop operates, and Alta finds herself brewing tea for wayward customers that also find themselves here. Below, we’ll explain exactly what the clearing is and why it won’t let Alta leave.
There will be spoilers for Wanderstop’s story below!
What Is The Clearing?
The clearing is the main setting of the game, where the Wanderstop tea shop is located. The clearing is set within a mysterious forest that seems to drain Alta’s power, eventually knocking her unconscious if she stays outside for too long.
Within the clearing, the Wanderstop shop resides in the center, and various plantlife like tea leaves, mushrooms, and a few other trees grow nearby. There are a few exits scattered around the clearing that lead to the forest, but each time Alta tries to leave through one, she eventually wakes up back on a bench, her strength drained.
So, why can’t Alta leave the clearing? Essentially, the forest surrounding the clearing has a way of altering itself based on the mental state of one of its inhabitants; in this case, that is Alta. Because of Alta’s self-doubt and uncertainty, she is mentally unable to move on from her defeat, while also physically unable to leave the Wanderstop.
The clearing is essentially an area created specifically for Alta’s healing; Alta prevents herself from leaving the forest until she has come to terms with her mental turmoil. For Alta specifically, this involves brewing tea for customers that come in, allowing her to take the concept of relaxation and recovery and turn it into a series of objectives to be completed.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as Boro explains that everyone has different methods for managing their emotions.
Each time Alta makes significant progress towards her goal, the customers will stop responding to her, and she has to reflect at the shrine to transition the clearing to a new state of being. Each time, the clearing changes slightly; different seeds will appear, some things will be in different places, and the color of plants will change.
This is because the clearing is a reflection of Alta’s state of mind. As she works towards her healing, the clearing compensates by bringing in new customers that want different types of tea; things change locations to interrupt the sense of complacency that comes with routine, which was what led to Alta’s downfall in the first place.
In Chapter three, after Alta regains the memory of her attacking Master Winters, her overwhelming sense of guilt greatly alters the clearing, giving the plant life a grayscale appearance, and the only customer that arrives never makes a request for tea.
Why Do Customers Stop Talking?
After completing each of the currently available customers’ requests, they will stop responding to Alta, instead wandering around the clearing until Alta is ready to move on by visiting the shrine. It’s never explicitly stated in-game why this happens, but we believe it has to do with Alta’s checklist method for her recovery.
When she subconsciously deems that she has made sufficient progress, she allows the clearing to change slightly, and she no longer has need for the previous customers. As cruel as it sounds, these customers aren’t killed or never existed to begin with. Rather, they are sent back on their way and Alta is able to continue forward as well.
In Chapter five, returning a parcel will get you mail back from Gerald, who appears during the first chapter. This indicates that, at least for Gerald, he is perfectly fine, and perhaps even continuing his own journey to becoming a knight in the forest.
Why Is Boro Different?
Unlike the other customers that lose the ability to speak when Alta is ready to move on, Boro does not. He is able to retain his consciousness as he aids Alta throughout her recovery. He implies that there are others like him, that are able to resist the effects of the forest, with Nana the merchant making a return appearance in the game’s final chapter.
But why is Boro different? It could be that he is a static fixture of the forest, or perhaps he is the embodiment of some abstract concept that can’t be so easily lost.
During the final chapter, Boro reminds Alta to try to be bored, whether by doing nothing or doing everything until she gets tired of it. Boro tells Alta that being bored is an essential part of life, and that one cannot be doing something all the time, which is how Alta had lived her life until that point.
Put that way, it becomes obvious that Boro is essential to Alta’s recovery, acting as the polar opposite to her way of life. Because the clearing reflects Alta’s state of mind, Boro can’t leave the clearing until Alta is ready to, so it makes perfect sense that he stays around for her entire journey, right until the end.
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