Remedy Entertainment says that it has begun work on a sequel to Control, which is great news. While the ending of the first game brings Jesse's search for her brother Dylan to a close, the game leaves a lot of doors open overall. The threat of the Hiss hasn't been stopped entirely by the end of the game; there's a good chance that Control fans might find them batting with this mysterious hostile force in the future. There's also quite a few Control characters who could still inspire compelling new plot lines after only having a limited impact on the first game's story.
Dr. Casper Darling is one of these characters. Control fans will remember Dr. Darling as the Bureau's former Head of Research, frequently appearing in videos scattered throughout the Oldest House that explained the Bureau's work and discoveries. While Darling's work had a major impact on Control's plot and supporting characters, Darling himself makes no appearances in Control, and his fate at the end of the game is unknown. Control 2 could change that. Jesse is bound to face another overwhelming supernatural threat in the upcoming game, meaning that she may need Darling's help to save the Bureau and the world.
Darling's Potential Role
Although Control makes it clear that humanity struggles to understand the world beyond Earth, Darling is constantly enthusiastic about his attempts to study the supernatural forces alongside the rest of the Bureau. Notably, Darling's research saves the Bureau from total destruction; without the HRAs that he created, the Hiss would've destroyed the Bureau and likely begun taking control of the entire planet before Jesse even arrived. While Darling's presence is felt, he is never seen. The end of Control implies that Darling left Earth's dimension when he communed with the mysterious Hedron just before the Hiss infiltrated the Bureau.
There's no knowing if a human like Darling can survive in the strange cosmos of Control, but at the very least, Control doesn't explicitly say that Dr. Darling is dead. Since the Bureau has ventured into other realities before, it's entirely possible that Darling is currently traveling across the multiverse and seeing the worlds he dreamt about understanding for so many years. Thanks to these journeys, Darling may have learned a lot of valuable things about the world of Control. If Jesse needs to learn more about the Hiss or another cosmic threat in Control 2, then it would make sense if she tried to find Dr. Darling, using him as a source of knowledge when confronting the unknown.
Building Control 2 Around Darling
Control 2 could definitely get a lot out of a Darling-heavy narrative. Jesse's search could physically take her to a variety of different dimensions that Darling traveled to with Hedron's help, which in turn could introduce a lot of interesting new enemies or allies from across the cosmos, as well as mind-bending settings that put various twists on Control combat and exploration. Alternatively, Jesse may never meet Darling face to face. Instead, she may look for a way to reach him through the Hotline. This Object of Power can deliver messages from all kinds of extradimensional beings, and if Darling has been communing with the cosmos for long enough, then Jesse might be able to connect with him through it.
Darling seems like an invaluable resource that could shed a lot of light on the Control world and the next game's plot. As a human who has experienced alternate realities, he could act as a perfect bridge of understanding between the Bureau and the dimensional breaches that they study and combat. Whatever Control 2 has in store for Jesse and her Bureau allies, Darling could have a highly positive impact on their mission. One can only wonder what form Darling might take after all this time outside reality, though.
A sequel to Control is in development.
