| “ | Mom spent months searching for my brother. Then she sealed the doors.
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Milton Finch (ˈmɪl.tən ˈfɪntʃ | Miltin Finch) is the secondborn and the second son of Sanjay and Dawn, the younger brother of Lewis, and the older brother of Edith. Milton disappeared for unknown reasons in 2003 (a year after his father's death) at the age of 11 years old, when his sister Edith was only 4 years old. He was never found.
In a Reddit AMA with Giant Sparrow, Milton was confirmed to be the same character as the King from the studio's previous title, The Unfinished Swan.
Personality[]
Milton is a prodigy child and was very passionate about painting in particular. His room, styled to look like a castle, is filled with paintings and art supplies.
Gameplay[]
Milton's story plays out as a cartoonish flipbook that he made, entitled "Milton Finch in 'The Magic Paintbrush'". When Edith picks it up, she flips through the pages to animate the story. In the story, Milton is working on a drawing of a man, which comes to life and gives him a paintbrush. Milton proceeds to use the paintbrush to make a flipbook (implied to be the one Edith is holding). The perspective zooms in on this flipbook, wherein Milton uses the brush to paint a black door with a gold knob. He turns the knob and opens the door before stepping through it, bowing, and closing the door. At this point, the flipbook ends and Edith puts it down.
The Unfinished Swan[]
| This section contains spoilers for The Unfinished Swan. |
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Within The Unfinished Swan, the King is stated to have been "young, arrogant, and amazingly talented," enough that he left his garden entirely white as he was "convinced no color (...) was good enough for his garden". He disliked imperfections and others interfering with his artistic vision, and would try to appease the subjects he attracted to his kingdoms until eventually driving nearly all of them away. He is portrayed as conceited, self-centered, and "never [having] had much luck with people", but was obsessed with carving a legacy that would live on after his inevitable death. After tiring of creating kingdoms for "less than perfect” subjects, he painted and fell in love with a female version of himself to marry; however, he never noticed her clear disinterest in his constant gifts and projects for her, nor did he notice her pregnancy until five months in. The Queen would leave the King on a boat the night prior to the birth of their son, Monroe, causing the King to stop painting. Nine years later, the King decided to create a monument of himself to be his legacy; however, he would not get past creating a 100 ft. tall scale model before his powers started to fail. He fell asleep one night, but became entrapped in a dream he could not finish. By the end of the game, the King is indicated to be on the verge of death; his powers are failing, he senses his own death and sees himself attending his own funeral, and he comes to reflect on his life and become content with the impermanence of his creations. After waking up upon Monroe's arrival and passing on his paintbrush to him, the King asks him to leave quickly as "none of this will last for long", indicating that he dies soon after his son's departure. |
Trivia[]
- Many of Milton's "Missing" posters can be found scattered throughout the game.
- As he was never found, dead or otherwise, in the family cemetery, there is a memorial instead of a headstone for him, with only his year of birth and no year of death. This may be the case as Milton disappeared and was never found insisting that it's unknown when he died showing no year of death.
- Though his younger sister Edith was viewed to be the last Finch member to survive, it may be hinted that she predeceased Milton making him the last Finch as The Unfinished Swan is referenced as a sequel to What Remains of Edith Finch.
- As he disappeared before Edith's death and there was no sign of him, though, it was viewed that he died before Edith.
- Besides Milton being the King from The Unfinished Swan, another game by Giant Sparrow, his room has several other references:
- Milton's paintings and sketches all depict characters and locations from The Unfinished Swan and are in black-and-white, resembling the game's art style.
- Framed on the wall is a large sketch of Milton's cartoon version of himself, which is the same as the King's younger version of himself which can be seen in The Unfinished Swan.
- The King's logo, which appears in many locations throughout The Unfinished Swan, is painted on an easel next to Milton's memorial shrine.
- A white sculpture of the first level of The Unfinished Swan can be found on the first level of the tower.
- Milton's flipbook depicting himself creating another flipbook within it may be a reference to the King's use of the Droste Effect (in which an image appears recursively within itself) in some of his self portraits.
- A weather vane on top of Milton's tower depicts a swan.
- There is a model of a boat with two balloons on top of it, as well as a painting that resembles structures from The Unfinished Swan.
- Additionally, the music that plays in Milton's room is a reprise of the theme Clarify from The Unfinished Swan.
| This section contains spoilers for The Unfinished Swan. |
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  The King's old house.
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Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Milton's memorial stone in the Finch cemetery
- ↑ After completing Milton's flipbook and heading down the tower.
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Dawn's Branch |
Dawn Finch • Sanjay Kumar • Lewis Finch • Milton Finch • Edith Finch • Christopher | |
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Sam's Branch |
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Edie's Branch |
Edie Finch • Sven Finch • Molly Finch • Barbara Finch • Walter Finch • Calvin Finch | |
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Odin's Branch |
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Other |
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