If Alan is going to escape from The Dark Place, he needs to learn to play by its rules and take down one of the mysterious individuals that’s been causing him such strife. Here’s how to find the Grandmaster of the Cult of the Word in Alan Wake 2.
Dream Logic
As you progress through Initiation 8: Zane’s Film, Alan will be forced to confront several horrible truths about the story he’s writing, ultimately culminating his search for The Grandmaster, the masked leader of the Cult of Words. The ominous figure has seemingly figured out how to break out of the story he’s been written into and begins to contact the writer directly, an omen that he needs to be stopped before he gets too powerful. To do that, you need to enter the Projector Room and stop his showing of Nightless Night, a film the cult reveres as a sacred text.
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Now, you might be thinking that reaching the Projector Room is a simple task. Opening your map, it’s clear that there’s an entrance to it at the back of the main theater. Indeed, if you make your way into that small foyer and use the Angel Lamp to either siphon or project the light, you’ll see a doorway. Easier than expected!
Unfortunately, your assumption would be incorrect. That doorway is actually where you’re meant to exit the Projector Room. It appears due to certain textures loading too slowly, meaning if you do step across the threshold you’ll be trapped in the stairwell. There’s actually a different way to track down the Grandmaster, which requires some creative thinking and keen observation.
Open the Door
I’m writing this guide because, honestly, this process caused me a great deal of confusion. When you enter the theater, you’ll want to open Alan’s plot board and attach the “Grandmaster” scene to the Theater Hall. The environment around you will shift and you’ll notice that a new film is playing on the big screen.
There’ll be a single person standing in the bottom-right corner. Wearing a scary deer mask and emitting a white light, he eventually turns and opens a door through which he exits.
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What you want to do is get on the stage and interact with the image of the man and/or the door. Doing so will cause Alan to transition into a corridor that leads to the Projector Room. This took me ages to figure out, mainly because I was too busy trying to keep the hordes of shadows at bay. My advice is to activate the scene while you’re standing on the stage, ignite a flare, and use the door. This will keep the enemies back and should give you enough time to safely pass through.
While you haven’t actually managed to find the Grandmaster in Alan Wake 2, doing the above is enough to satisfy the conditions of the objective. Besides, if you keep following the path (and the loop that comes with it), you’ll eventually encounter the leader once again. Try not to let him get away.
