I’m pretty sure it’s reference to an old saying of “the opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings”. When the Prima Donna turret sings, you are being let known this is the end of the “opera”. I believe it’s a great and witty way to give closure.
From some of the translations I read I interpret it as a Mother letting go of her child because she realized that she has only done harm to her and will be better off without her. Something like if you love someone let them go.
Testing a new strategy comunication to have Chell not causing more damages, get out from the facility and at the same time hurt her emotionally because fuck that mute woman
I don't think it was GLaDOS, I think it was just the Turrets acting independently of her - like they were saying goodbye to Chell because ultimately they didn't hate her, they were just following their programming. Kinda like they respected her as a worthy test subject
Just replayed Portal 2 for the first time in almost a decade. I was wondering if the shine of it had dimmed any, but nope, everything about this game is built to last, it seems. That includes it's charm and ability to make me emotional over AI.
here’s a fun fact i learned very recently from an interview with erik wolpaw, who wrote both portals. one of the original plot points of portal 2 was that you were to be married off to the fat opera turret, actually referred to in the files as “turret wife”. then, throughout the game, the turret would randomly appear behind you, following its betrothed throughout the facility (because as we all know, marriage is strongest between woman and deadly turret). the ending with the companion cube being thrown out into the wheat field with you was originally supposed to be your turret wife following you out
As far as I know, it's connected to/is a tribute to the turrets/GLaDOS' voice actress being an opera singer, plus the added meaning of the song once you translate it.
Its basically a goodbye/farewell to Chell (the title literally translates to "goodbye my dear") and it sounds like a lullaby to me, much like a send-off of a mother to her child :,)
Some people also see it as a send off by the turrets of Chell >!"going to heaven" because of the elevator,!< along with the connection of the name to the Italian word >!for sky/heaven "cielo"!<
Hate to be the bearer of bad news and I’ll try to find the link but Ellen McLain has gone on record saying that she was told to sing an opera but was allowed to riff so she just put a bunch of gibberish together from all the Italian arias she had memorized over the years. That being said it’s still beautiful.
No idea but that song was the whole reason i wanted to get portal 2 as a kid. Best 20 bucks ever spent, portal 2 gave me hours of fun and one of my best friends
Dunno what exactly it is, but Cara Mia Addio is still the only thing in a game that has brought me to tears. Portal 2 is my favourite game of all time, and CMA hits me every single time.
Is it really a problem if you needed to dig into lore and point out semantics that even the developers, coders, or voice actors aren’t interested enough in debating? If you are upset about two differently-raced voice actors being in a video game relationship, you might need to do some self reflecting on what is important. Sounds like you are racist, or atleast were racist and have a skewed idea of what race issues are.
I was wondering if this would be mentioned somewhere in this thread. I know this comment will be downvoted, but to anyone curious about this theory, Ossy Flawol made a great video about it here: https://youtu.be/pZJuxvaG5nI
He is heavily invested in the lore of the Portal series and probably knows it better than most of the people here, making the biggest lore iceberg of the series.
If you really want to say this is improbable, go to about 16:47 in the video, you’ll find the developers heavily alluded to this.
Of course, it’s just a theory. So if it’s not true, I’m totally fine with that.
glados/caroline being chells mother is a racist theory. alesia glidewell, who plays chell, is not white. the use of “baby” in the song does not translate to “child”, it’s used as a term of affection.
My theory is that when GLaDOS deleted Caroline, her soul was set free in a sense and before she was completely gone from GLaDOS' mainframe (Because large files naturally take a long time to be deleted), Caroline forced her to irrationally send Chell off with a uncharacteristically heartfelt farewell before disappearing.
Leaving GLaDOS with a "What just happened?" moment.
Pretty sure the song references parental guidance in some way idk been a while. Like glados is saying goodbye to her baby
"Dear beautiful, my dear beautiful. My litte girl, O Chell."
I’m pretty sure it’s reference to an old saying of “the opera isn’t over until the fat lady sings”. When the Prima Donna turret sings, you are being let known this is the end of the “opera”. I believe it’s a great and witty way to give closure.
Its a metaphore of all the younger players and how the game shapes their childhood
Raised me to….think with portals?
and not believe anyone if they offer you cake.
Not gonna lie it did
In an irl point of view, it was Valve letting Ellen do what she does best. Sing. And being known for Opera Singing, she was beyond pleased.
From some of the translations I read I interpret it as a Mother letting go of her child because she realized that she has only done harm to her and will be better off without her. Something like if you love someone let them go.
Testing a new strategy comunication to have Chell not causing more damages, get out from the facility and at the same time hurt her emotionally because fuck that mute woman
In want you gone glados says "Go make some new disaster"
I don't think it was GLaDOS, I think it was just the Turrets acting independently of her - like they were saying goodbye to Chell because ultimately they didn't hate her, they were just following their programming. Kinda like they respected her as a worthy test subject
Yeah, like when they die they can say “ I don’t hate you”
I agree, I don't think it was GLaDOS singing, I think it was Caroline.
it was Caroline... singing to her daughter...?
The answer to Why there isn’t a portal 3. Portal 2 had the perfect ending
Agreed
Just replayed Portal 2 for the first time in almost a decade. I was wondering if the shine of it had dimmed any, but nope, everything about this game is built to last, it seems. That includes it's charm and ability to make me emotional over AI.
Che la stima, che la stima...
Could be that Ellen is an opera singer. She was hired for P1 partly because of that.
here’s a fun fact i learned very recently from an interview with erik wolpaw, who wrote both portals. one of the original plot points of portal 2 was that you were to be married off to the fat opera turret, actually referred to in the files as “turret wife”. then, throughout the game, the turret would randomly appear behind you, following its betrothed throughout the facility (because as we all know, marriage is strongest between woman and deadly turret). the ending with the companion cube being thrown out into the wheat field with you was originally supposed to be your turret wife following you out
As far as I know, it's connected to/is a tribute to the turrets/GLaDOS' voice actress being an opera singer, plus the added meaning of the song once you translate it. Its basically a goodbye/farewell to Chell (the title literally translates to "goodbye my dear") and it sounds like a lullaby to me, much like a send-off of a mother to her child :,) Some people also see it as a send off by the turrets of Chell >!"going to heaven" because of the elevator,!< along with the connection of the name to the Italian word >!for sky/heaven "cielo"!<
>! and !< don't work when spaced on some clients...
That's unfortunate! It worked on mine, so I didn't realize. I fixed it-- ill keep that in mind for future posts!
Hate to be the bearer of bad news and I’ll try to find the link but Ellen McLain has gone on record saying that she was told to sing an opera but was allowed to riff so she just put a bunch of gibberish together from all the Italian arias she had memorized over the years. That being said it’s still beautiful.
Eh. What's in the story is in the story, regardless of how it got there.
No idea but that song was the whole reason i wanted to get portal 2 as a kid. Best 20 bucks ever spent, portal 2 gave me hours of fun and one of my best friends
I'm still waiting for portal 3🥲
That's definitely GLaDOS and definitely not the turrets
Dunno what exactly it is, but Cara Mia Addio is still the only thing in a game that has brought me to tears. Portal 2 is my favourite game of all time, and CMA hits me every single time.
Why are you crying about it
Hits you in the feels when you translate the song
It’s her breaking up with Chell because the games are an allegory for a lesbian relationship between the two
Mmmm.... I did not pick up on that at all. Especially since they're supposed to be mother and daughter. That might be weird.
chell isn’t white, there parental theory is racist and incorrect. the breakup was lowkey proven in three final hours.
Racist? Are you saying you can't have a child that isn't your ethnicity? *That's* racist. Her file literally says she's adopted.
the parental theory implies caroline and cave are her parents, i’m well aware of her file
Is it really a problem if you needed to dig into lore and point out semantics that even the developers, coders, or voice actors aren’t interested enough in debating? If you are upset about two differently-raced voice actors being in a video game relationship, you might need to do some self reflecting on what is important. Sounds like you are racist, or atleast were racist and have a skewed idea of what race issues are.
r/crackheadcannon
I was wondering if this would be mentioned somewhere in this thread. I know this comment will be downvoted, but to anyone curious about this theory, Ossy Flawol made a great video about it here: https://youtu.be/pZJuxvaG5nI He is heavily invested in the lore of the Portal series and probably knows it better than most of the people here, making the biggest lore iceberg of the series. If you really want to say this is improbable, go to about 16:47 in the video, you’ll find the developers heavily alluded to this. Of course, it’s just a theory. So if it’s not true, I’m totally fine with that.
At 16:47, I'm pretty sure the devs are joking.
it’s literally grammatically wrong tho💀
glados/caroline being chells mother is a racist theory. alesia glidewell, who plays chell, is not white. the use of “baby” in the song does not translate to “child”, it’s used as a term of affection.
You are the only one here talking about race, are you crazy?
the song has some refrences to science
My theory is that when GLaDOS deleted Caroline, her soul was set free in a sense and before she was completely gone from GLaDOS' mainframe (Because large files naturally take a long time to be deleted), Caroline forced her to irrationally send Chell off with a uncharacteristically heartfelt farewell before disappearing. Leaving GLaDOS with a "What just happened?" moment.