The upcoming episode of the iconic Monkey Island Series has finally returned after years and years of waiting! As Guybrush Threepwood’s thrilling stories were once again delivered, Return to Monkey Island transported viewers back to their childhood. Only PC and the Nintendo Switch support the puzzle-filled casual adventure game. As for today, we will discuss the Return to Monkey Island Ending because several fans found it confusing.
Playing some point-and-click adventures is a terrific way to unwind, especially if the plot is masterfully written. With the Monkey Island video games, the genius Ron Gilbert accomplished exactly this.
Before you learn every ending, you can also learn which Return to Monkey Island mode to play: casual or hard mode?
Return to Monkey Island endings explained
The famous and popular pirate adventure series was expanded in Return to Monkey Island. In 1991, the most recent game (Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge) was made available. In the new game, Guybrush Threepwood is introduced. Up until he starts telling the audience and a “Special Character” his narrative, Guybrush seems to be leading a fairly unremarkable life.
Return to Monkey Island’s concluding scenes initially confused us, but after some thought, they truly made sense to us and improved the entire experience. Therefore, we will describe the game’s finale in our guide along with the other endings you can obtain while playing.
A serious warning that this guide will contain some big SPOILERS is in order before we get into the mix of things. We don’t recommend reading the rest of the guide if you haven’t finished the game because it describes every possible game ending.
After that, let’s discuss the endings Guybrush Threepwood can have in Return to Monkey Island! In this guide called “All Return to Monkey Island endings explained,” you are going to learn every possible outcome.
All Return to Monkey Island endings explained: About Return to Monkey Island
During the Golden Age of Piracy, The Return to Monkey Island takes place in the Caribbean. Guybrush Threepwood, a perennial favorite protagonist, is included in the mix. Guybrush still displays his tenacity to unearth the Monkey Island Secret in the game.
The game plays similarly to a lighthearted point-and-click adventure game. In Return To Monkey Island, where the player is required to solve numerous puzzles and travel to other islands, the difficulty setting can be changed to either Casual or Hard Mode to change the severity of these problems.
Many well-known locations from earlier games are present in Return to Monkey Island. In addition to seeing Monkey Island, you may also visit and explore Melee Island. The game’s narrative opens with Boybrush, Elaine and Guybrush’s son, playing around in an amusement park with Chuckie and Dee. Boybrush is the Special Character that we previously described.
He finally gets down with his father, who insists on telling him how he discovered the Monkey Island Secret. Guybrush is your main character, and this is where your adventure starts. Following that, you will recount the entire adventure and make many decisions. In contrast, Guybrush is still telling his son the tale in the present.
We can now turn our attention to all of the potential outcomes in the most recent Monkey Island game since the fundamental overview of Return to Monkey Island has been covered.
All Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Every outcome
Despite the fact that Return to Monkey Island’s majority of players only got to experience one or two endings. We may certainly say that there are a lot more possible endings. However, each of these outcomes is mostly achieved by selecting a particular response when speaking with Boybrush.
Nevertheless, while controlling Guybrush’s stories, there are still a couple more endings you can encounter. The game, as we have established, chronicles Guybrush’s search for the Monkey Island Secret. He has to locate five keys and open a Hidden Chest on Monkey Island in order to accomplish this.
You get the opportunity to experience Guybrush’s exploits on Monkey and Melee Islands as he goes on his voyage. There are a number of decisions you can make close to the game’s end that will change how Return to Monkey Island ends.
We have divided these options into many parts to make things simpler for you. The thin line that separates each of the game’s endings’ imagination from reality forces you to question whether Guybrush’s stories are actually true or are merely fiction (More on this later).
Here are all the possible Guybrush endings in the most recent Monkey Island game, without further ado!
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Leave the chest key
It was pretty unexpected for us as well to arrive to Melee Island after finishing your quest in the catacombs of Monkey Island by hunting for the last set of keys and the chest! Guybrush will be perplexed as to why he has returned to Melee Island before realizing that he is in Stan’s Pirate-themed Theme Park.
After investigating the amusement park, Guybrush runs across Stan, who hands him the keys and instructs him to shut everything down before leaving. The lights can then be turned off, and the player and Elaine can go.
But LeChuck, Madison, Trent, and Lila will all be animatronics when Guybrush runs across them. The locksmith is then able to hand over the key to Guybrush while being held upside down by LeChuck.
However, if you disregard the key and leave the theme park, the game’s ending will be different. You’ll see Chuckie pursuing Dee in the post-credits sequence. The final key will be in Dee’s possession.
By choosing this outcome, the Secret will remain a secret, and Boybrush will complain that his father is terrible at coming up with satisfying conclusions for his stories.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Don’t open the chest
We mentioned in the last ending that you could exit the theme park with Elaine even if you didn’t have the key. But you can also get to a somewhat different conclusion. This is possible if you obtain the last key while ignoring the hidden chest in Stan’s Amusement Park.
Although the mystery is left unsolved, this ending is nonetheless entertaining to experience, especially if it is your second or third playtime. LeChuck and a couple of the other villains we described previously are animated when you wander throughout Melee Island’s Theme Park. LeChuck is holding the locksmith upside down, so you may get the key from him here, lock the park, and depart with Elaine.
If you choose the aforementioned conclusion, you will follow the customary closing scene, but after you have finished, tell Boybrush your story. Elaine will want you to accompany her when she goes to pick him up. Guybrush will, however, take a while to sit on the bench, and in the last few seconds, he will take out the last key and mull over the possibilities.
Despite this, Guybrush can be seen in the post-credit scene watching the chest key suffocate in lava in the Monkey Island tunnels.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Open the chest
We have now examined every possible ending that may be reached by either ignoring the key and the chest altogether or gaining the key and leaving the chest. If you choose to take the key and unlock the chest for good, we’ll talk about how the most recent Monkey Island game ends.
By now, if you finished the game, you would be fully aware of what the Secret chest contained. If you’re unaware, the Monkey Island Secret was actually a novelty T-shirt with the words “I found the SECRET of Monkey Island and all it was was this stupid T-SHIRT” printed on the front.
Yes, we are aware that the ending was somewhat underwhelming, but that doesn’t diminish the game’s lovely capacity to tell an exciting tale! Therefore, if you do choose to open the chest and leave the theme park with Elaine, a ton of Guybrush’s mini-endings are now available to you.
However, it is where the story’s plot ends. But when the game resumes and Guybrush tells Boybrush the entire tale, he is quite upset. Boybrush once more accuses his father of creating unhappy endings (we concur, Boybrush!). The idea that The Secret of Monkey Island was only a T-shirt is beyond his grasp.
Boybrush then coerces Guybrush into telling him the truth about what he really discovered in the Chest. You have a choice of 5 different answers at this point in the game. These will each open a different dialogue scene and a post-credit scene.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Gems, rubies and gold!
“The Chest was filled with gems, rubies, and gold,” is the first response you can give Boybrush. Even while we are aware that is untrue, Boybrush is ecstaticly proclaiming that they have finally become wealthy. This option elicits Boybrush’s best response out of all the possibilities.
Elaine then arrives and collects Boybrush so that she can show him the Galleon sailing away from the docks. Guybrush responds that he’ll be there shortly when she invites him to join her. Boybrush can be seen fooling about on top of a mound of riches in the post-credits sequence.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Lifelong friends
“The secret was really the friends we made along the way,” is the second possible dialogue option while speaking with Boybrush. Guybrush explains to Boybrush that while the endings are usually a lesson, the middle of the story is the most exciting portion. Boybrush, however, refuses to budge and asserts that it sounds like “those stupid grown-up replies.”
Boybrush then contacts Elaine and informs her that his father is keeping a secret from him (this dialogue is quite reoccurring with most of the dialogue options you choose). The remainder proceeds in the same manner as it did in the previous ending we looked at after that. On a little boat, Guybrush is seen sailing joyfully with a few of the other characters in the post-credit sequence.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: The secret
You can use the dialogue option that says, “Your mom was right, it’s better not to know,” while telling Boybrush the secret. Guybrush responds by noting that once you know the answer to a question like that, you miss the point of the entire narrative. Of course, Boybrush isn’t happy with that response and immediately phones his mother.
The dialogue scene continues in this manner for the remainder of it. In contrast, the chest is shown lying in a ditch during the post-credit scene while someone keeps covering it with soil to permanently bury it.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: The truth
One of the simplest options to choose from while crafting your own finale for the plot of Return to Monkey Island. Choose “I wasn’t making anything up, that was what really happened” to respond to Boybrush. Boybrush’s response doesn’t seem to change despite the fact that he is unhappy with the response; who wouldn’t be?
In Return to Monkey Island’s post-credit scene, three amusement park tickets—possibly for Guybrush, Elaine, and Boybrush—are shown being moved across a countertop.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: “There isn’t any one answer to what The Secret is”
One of the best options you have for the game’s conclusion. The answer makes a subtle allusion to what the game is truly trying to accomplish by providing the player so many choices. Therefore, if Boybrush wants you to reveal the true nature of the Secret, you can respond, “There isn’t any one answer to what The Secret is.” Guybrush will now discuss how a story can alter over time and depending on the person telling it.
Which is precisely what Return to Monkey Island’s entire plot was about. Guybrush modified the narrative for his son in order to suit his preferences (your in-game choices). Boybrush rejects the profound response despite it, and the rest of the scenario falls apart just like it did with the other possibilities.
While the post-credits scene depicts a banana perched atop a rock in reference to what Guybrush revealed to Boybrush in response to his query regarding the location’s mystery, Monkey Island.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Catacombs
Return to Monkey Island has a few mysterious endings in addition to the straightforward resolutions we previously stated. They are not widely known among gamers, but don’t worry; we will go through them all for you. You may get back to Melee Island by going through the enigmatic door once you’ve solved the last mystery in the caverns of Monkey Island.
Stan will then give you the keys to his amusement park when you meet him at Melee Island. With these keys, you can go back and find the hidden door to the catacombs and open it to get there. The tombs’ staircases can then be used to return using Guybrush as a guide.
You will have the choice to go back to Elaine in the amusement park for a while. Return to Monkey Island offers two other post-credit scenes if you choose not to do that, though.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: What if you don’t have the chest key?
If you leave the chest key in the theme park, the first ending is the one you may obtain by going backwards in the Monkey Island catacombs. The post-credit scene will show Elaine and Guybrush at the helm of a ship, sailing through the seas in search of new adventures, if you go back to the catacombs without the chest key.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: What if you have the chest key?
A new ending will become available if you are successful in stealing the final Chest Key from the locksmith in Stan’s amusement park. In the catacombs, Guybrush will reverse his course and eventually come to terms with his poor decision. You may see Lila and LeChuck sword battling close to a lava pool in the post-credit scene, with the Chest positioned in between them.
Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Drowning
After completing the game’s initial playtime, you can attempt to obtain another secret ending. By far the worst way to wrap out Return to Monkey Island is with The “Drowning.” The Drowning finale consists of three distinct moments that you will experience.
The game will return to your chat with Boybrush when you first let Guybrush drown (by keeping him submerged for 8 minutes). Because he is aware that his father did not pass away, he will ask him to quit being silly.
You will be returned to the talk on the bench, where Boybrush will implore his father to stop, if Guybrush drowns once more. Guybrush will then apologise and claim that he was unaware of Boybrush’s intense interest in the plot.
The game will return you to the bench, but this time it will be empty, if you drown three times. A statement will eventually display on the screen stating that “Guybrush Threepwood died on this very day many years ago by accidentally drowning.”
The caption will also state that he abandoned his wife and their unborn children. implying that Boybrush doesn’t exist and that the entire tale is rather a product of his own imagination. Consequently, the game’s secret drowning ending is by far its most depressing.
About Return to Monkey Island endings
You’re already familiar with the majority of Guybrush’s most recent escapades’ conclusions. We must admit, though, that the conclusion did stump us. What hit us was a mystery to us. Guybrush returned to Melee Island, how did it happen? Is Monkey Island a real place? LeChuck: Was he a robot all along? Was the Monkey Island Secret nothing more than a T-shirt?
We were flooded with inquiries. But that’s the real beauty of how effectively Ron Gilbert told the tale in Return to Monkey Island. Even though it was merely a point-and-click game, the storyline was surprisingly well-developed.
The gamer has complete control over how they interpret the outcome. Despite that, it was good to see Guybrush unwinding and enjoying some family time after years of engaging in pirate exploits against LeChuck’s wishes. The best explanation for the events of Return to Monkey Island is that Guybrush never truly left the theme park and that the entire adventure was created in his mind. This would account for his chance visit to the Melee park and his observation of LeChuck as an animatronic.
Ron Gilbert did a superb job in the development of Guybrush. He took on the position of a narrator who described the main events of a heroic protagonist’s daring quest. Boybrush, on the other hand, stood in for the younger gaming generation that was becoming acquainted with the interesting Monkey Island series.
The conclusion actually has a really endearing side to it when you think about it. Although at first it may have seemed a little anti-climactic, the way the narrative was told and shown was very lovely. This concludes our guide called “All Return to Monkey Island endings explained.”
Will there be more games in the Monkey Island series?
What Terrible Toybox has in store for the Monkey Island series has not yet been made public. Nevertheless, there was a subliminal signal in the dying moments of the match. which, in order to discuss it here, we purposefully omitted from the prior section. Boybrush is brought by Elaine after Guybrush finishes his story while speaking to him.
Elaine informs Guybrush that she discovered the missing Mire Island treasure map after Boybrush departs. Guybrush doesn’t really respond to it in a noteworthy way. But it does give all the Monkey Island lovers a ray of optimism that perhaps a new game is in the works.
All Return to Monkey Island endings explained: Conclusion
We hope you liked our guide called “Return to Monkey Island endings explained.” You can also learn how to find Return to Monkey Island trivia cards by visiting our tutorial! The game is available on Steam.
