Come along Stanley. I want to show you something beautiful.
Narrator
The Zending (also known as the Suicide Ending) is an ending that occurs when you take the red door after jumping through the cargo lift in the Warehouse. The ending name is a mash-up of "Zen" and "Ending".
Obtaining The Ending
Exit Stanley's Office. At the 2 doors, pick the one on the right. Pass through the Employee Lounge, and to the Warehouse. Get on the cargo lift, and jump off of it onto the raised platform below. Walk through the red door. When the Narrator opens a door, walk through it. You will end up in the Starry Dome. Proceed through the open door to the right, ascend the stairs, and plunge to the floor. Repeat it 4 times.
The Ending
Stanley will take small fall damage every time he plunges to the floor. Even though the game has no visible concept of health, with only the screen turning slightly more red as his health deteriorates, the player can still receive damage from sources such as this. Stanley will die if he keeps jumping off the ledge, much to the Narrator's distaste.
Behind the scenes
- This ending was actually inspired by an unintended possibility in the original Half-Life 2 mod, where it was possible to repeatedly jump off the scaffolding to the floor in the Mind Control Facility until dying.
- In the original Half-Life 2 mod, this ending is replaced by a different version of the Phone Ending, though it doesn't involve any phones, it's just the ending received after going through the red door in the colored-doors room there.
- This is the only death ending that makes the Narrator sad.
- According to the Developer Museum, the Starry Dome was originally a different room, with 3 levers which the player would pull to activate it.
- There is a special console command named "tsp_enablemenunarrator", which is supposed to make the Narrator plead to Stanley not to quit the game if he pauses. The sound file doesn't exist however, meaning only the closed caption shows. This is a remnant of the earlier design of this ending before it and the "Starry Dome Ending" were merged.
Endings | ||
---|---|---|
Left door |
Freedom Ending • Countdown Ending • Museum Ending • Mariella Ending • Escape Pod Ending • Heaven Ending • Broom Closet Ending • Elevator Ending • Bottom of the Mind Control Room Ending | |
Right door |
Confusion Ending • Powerful Ending • Cold Feet Ending • Apartment Ending • Not Stanley Ending • Zending • Games Ending • Art Ending • Vent Ending • No Buckets Ending | |
Does not require the Two Doors Room |
Coward Ending • Out of Map Ending • Serious Ending • Whiteboard Ending | |
Progression Endings |
New Content Ending • Skip Button Ending • Mostly Infinite Hole • Sequel Ending • Figurines Ending • Epilogue |