# The Stanley Parable Insanity Ending - Existential Punishment for Avoiding Your Boss


About 13 years ago, I first saw the Insanity Ending from The Stanley Parable, a first person walking simulator/exploration game with multiple endings. The main character Stanley is an office worker who steps out of his workroom to find the building completely empty of employees other than himself. He's then given instructions by a sardonic British narrator who also gives commentary on events in the game. The player controls Stanley and can choose whether or not he actually listens to the narrator. 

{{< youtube c3raVsi_0iM >}}

## The Insanity Ending

To achieve this ending, you must follow the narrator's instructions until you reach the staircase. He instructs you to walk up the stairs to go to your boss's office, but if you refuse and go downstairs instead, the Insanity Ending is triggered.

Mr. British Narrator then narrates the inner monologue supposedly taking place in Stanley's head. 

{{< admonition quote "Narrator" >}}
Stanley just couldn't do it. He considered the possibility of facing his boss, admitting he had left his post during work hours. He might be fired for that. And in such a competitive economy, why had he taken that risk? All because he believed everyone had vanished? His boss would think he was crazy. And then something occured to Stanley, "Maybe," he thought to himself, "Maybe I am crazy." 
{{< /admonition >}}

All of this occurs while the player walks through an endless loop of the downstairs garage/storage rooms. Stanley continues spiraling, questioning why there was a British man's voice in his head and wondering if the whole situation is a dream. He attempts to wake himself up from what he believes to be a dream.

{{< admonition quote "Stanley's attempt to wake up" >}}
He would prove that he was in control. That this was a dream. So he closed his eyes gently and he invited himself to wake up... "Let me wake up," he thought to himself... "My life is normal. I am normal. Everything will be fine. I am ok."
{{< /admonition >}}

But when he opened his eyes, he was still in that same downstairs area.

{{< admonition danger "Stanley losing his mind" >}}
Stanley began screaming, "Please someone wake me up! My name is Stanley! I have a boss! I have an office! I am real! Please! Just someone tell me I am real! I must be real! I must be! Can anyone hear my voice?! Who am I? Who am I?" And then everything went black.
{{< /admonition >}}

### Switch to Mariella's POV

[![A different Mairella angle - Reddit](https://preview.redd.it/a-different-mariella-ending-angle-v0-f50zw00selx81.jpg?width=1080&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=6935b19af2982aa47b6c0584e6afe87ea90bba5a)](https://www.reddit.com/r/stanleyparable/comments/uiq8ow/a_different_mariella_ending_angle/)

After everything goes dark for Stanley, the camera pans to his limp body on the sidewalk. The British voice begins narrating from a new character's point of view: Mariella. 

{{< admonition abstract "Narration on Mariella" >}}
This is the story of a woman named Mariella... On this particular day, her walk was interrupted by the body of a man who had stumbled through town talking and screaming to himself, and then collapsed dead on the sidewalk. And although she would soon turn to go call for an ambulance, for just a few brief moments, she considered the strange man. 

He was obviously crazy; this much she knew. Everyone knows what crazy people look like. And in that moment, she thought to herself how lucky she was to be normal, **"I am sane. I am in control of my mind. I know what is real and what isn't."** It was comforting to think this. 

And in a certain way, seeing this man made her feel better. But then she had remembered the meeting she had scheduled for that day. The very important people whose impressions of her would affect her career, and by extension, the rest of her life. She had no time for this, so it was only a moment she stood there. Staring down the body. And then she turned and ran.
{{< /admonition >}}

### Mariella's POV Song - *Contemplating Stanley*
{{< youtube 8Nr1qOTFsmE >}}

This is the song that plays while we see Mariella's POV. The suspenseful-ness to the sound matches Mariella's anticipation for her important work meeting. It's strangely hopeful and a bit tense with the guitar and chime sounds, which adds to the contrast between Stanley and Mariella's journeys. 

### Original Version

I remember being in middle school watching PewDiePie play the game and get this ending (before he got canceled lol). He played the original version, which was a mod of Half Life 2. The Insanity Ending had slightly different dialogue with Mariella being a bit more sympathetic to Stanley, but the overall message remains the same.

{{< youtube id="-R0ijKPJGyc" start="565" >}}

{{< admonition quote "Narrator Dialogue at 9:25">}}
The tragedy was not the death of a single person; it was that she would never know this man's story, never hear in his own words what had happened to him, or what he believed had happened to him.

For to know these things would be to exist inside the head of the man himself, so all she could do was observe from a distance and pity him. But Mariella had places to be...
{{< /admonition>}}

{{< admonition note "Side Note">}}
I tried my best summarizing this ending in text form for the sake of this blog's readability, but I don't think I can do it justice. I suggest watching the videos above or even playing the game yourself for the full experience.
{{< /admonition >}}

## Reflection

![Mariella standing over Stanley's body](https://i.postimg.cc/QxDY12Gp/Stanley-Parable-Mariella.webp)

![Family Guy death pose](https://preview.redd.it/family-guy-death-pose-peter-falls-down-the-stairs-v0-cyknzos0ptoa1.png?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=b3415a8cf3d154b7c1dfc17df04da125ef596cfd)

Unfortunately, I cannot take Stanley's death pose seriously after seeing the Family Guy one so many times. But memes aside, this was my favorite ending in The Stanley Parable. All the endings are thought-provoking or existential in some way, but the Insanity Ending is the one that stuck with me after all these years.

It's ironic how judgmental Mariella is towards Stanley, despite them being fairly similar based off of what little we know about them. Both are career-oriented, conscientious office workers having their lives narrated by the same British voice while trying to appease their respective bosses. Both of them even rationalize themselves as being 'normal'.

So often it's easy to judge the Stanleys of the world because we don't know their stories, like how the narrator mentions in the original version. It's easy to be a Mariella. In fact, it's arguably more convenient and safer to be a bystander like her. Mariella's gratefulness for her grasp on reality and avoidance of Stanley are very human traits. 

It is sadly common for people to look the other way when someone is going through a mental health crisis. Especially if they're a stranger in a big city. I found this ending to be a poignant example of society's ignorance of severe mental health issues, particularly ones like psychosis.

I also found it humorous that this ending is essentially a punishment for not going up the stairs and refusing to see Stanley's boss. It's like an indirect critique on work culture where avoiding his boss leads to Stanley losing touch with reality. Although some found this ending to be a bit mean-spirited of the narrator, I found it powerful.

Every time I see someone on the street showing signs of mental instability, I think of Stanley and I try to be more understanding than Mariella was. I'm sure I'll still be thinking of this ending in another 13 years from now. 

Happy first blog post of 2026!

[![The Stanley Parable - Steam store banner](https://shared.fastly.steamstatic.com/store_item_assets/steam/apps/221910/header.jpg?t=1765834020)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/221910/The_Stanley_Parable/)