Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ending explained – Who should you side with?

This article contains major spoilers for the ending of the game. Do not read on if you don’t want to know what happens.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s story is one of the strongest aspects of an excellent game, and it all comes to a glorious conclusion when you launch your assault on Lumiere and confront Renoir. However, that’s not where it ends, as after Maelle makes peace with her father, her and Verso enter a strange new area with a hollow boy painting on the canvas. 

After an argument between the siblings, you will be forced to choose who to side with in this final confrontation. We’ll explain the consequences of each choice and what each of the endings means.

If you side with Maelle

Despite what she said to her father in the previous scene, Maelle intends to live in the canvas until it kills her, much like her mother. Overcome by the grief of the real-life Verso’s death and her mutilated state as a result of the fire, she has no desire to live in the real world.

Defeat Verso, and you’ll be greeted with a rather traumatic scene of Verso begging her to stop, but she ignores him. We then cut to some time later, where Maelle has used her Paintress powers to restore everyone in Lumiere, including Gustave, and they all watch the painted version of Verso play a piano concert in a scene that is as beautiful as it is twisted.

If you side with Verso

While this painted version of Verso may not be the real thing, he still recognises that the boy painting on the canvas is the last remnant of Verso’s soul, and he sees that it’s tired and wants to stop. This is why he turns on Maelle and decides to forcibly eject her from the canvas and destroy it.

Defeat Maelle, and Verso will do just that, ejecting Maelle against her wishes and walking away with the boy. We then see her and the rest of the family back in the real world, attending Verso’s funeral as Maelle – now back as Alicia – says goodbye to her brother for the final time.

Who should you side with?

This is an extremely difficult decision, and as there are no in-game rewards behind either choice, it is simply a matter of who you think makes a better argument. Do you think Maelle’s desire to stay in the canvas until it kills her and force Verso’s soul to keep painting is a selfish way to deal with her grief? Or do you think that forcing Maelle to live in a world where she is a ghost in her own body, with one eye, no voice box, and a dead brother is a cruel fate?

It’s a heartbreaking decision either way and there really is no right answer, it’s just down to what you believe is right.