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Quote1 Young man, I've been waiting for you. For a long time. Quote2
― Cynthia Weaver, Episode 5: The Clicker

Cynthia Weaver was a major character in the Alan Wake franchise. In her youth, she was a writer and editor for the The Bright Falls Record of Bright Falls, Washington. In 1970, she befriended Finnish filmmaker Thomas Zane and starred in one of his films, "Tom the Poet". Infatuated with Zane, she became an eccentric figure in Bright Falls after his disappearance into the Dark Place and acted on his behalf. Cynthia later became obsessed with light, and provided several sources of light to the town to protect it from the Dark Presence, earning her the nickname "The Lady of the Light". Holding residence in Bright Falls Light & Power, she protected an object of power known as the Clicker in the well-lit room of Bright Falls Dam. The Clicker was meant for a writer named Alan Wake to fight against the Darkness, written by Zane.

In 2010, Alan Wake arrived in Bright Falls. After his wife, Alice, was imprisoned in Cauldron Lake by the Dark Presence, Cynthia assisted Wake by giving him supplies needed to fight against the Taken. He was later directed by the Anderson Brothers to seek her out in order to save Alice. Wake arrived to the Bright Falls Dam, received the Clicker, and used it to defeat Barbara Jagger - freeing Alice. Cynthia later retired, as local waitress Rose Marigold became the town's new "Lamp Lady". In 2023, at the Valhalla Nursing Home, Cynthia became a Taken after Rose took Zane's Angel Lamp that had once protected Cynthia and gave it to Alan in the Dark Place. Afterwards, FBI Agent Saga Anderson killed Cynthia to save her grandfather, Tor.

Biography[]

Background[]

Cynthia Weaver was born to the prominent Weaver family in Bright Falls, Washington in 1946. Her grandfather, Bartholomew Weaver, built the Mountain Manor in 1910, but was bankrupted due to lack of funds. She became a newspaper writer and editor for The Bright Falls Record.

In the 1960s, Cynthia befriended Finnish filmmaker Thomas Zane. Tom and his partner Barbara Jagger were drawn to Cauldron Lake, a threshold and place of power that allowed the works of art created there to shape reality. The two purchased the old manor outside Bright Falls to establish an artist commune called the Oceanview Hotel. With them was Tom's assistant Emil Hartman, and local musicians Odin and Tor Anderson of the Old Gods of Asgard. In order to derive most of the lake's power, Zane and Barbara resided in Bird Leg Cabin on Diver's Isle, an island on Cauldron Lake. While in Bright Falls, Zane created a film called "Tom the Poet", in which he played a fictionalized version of himself as a poet and diver. The movie also starred Barbara, Hartman, and Cynthia. It was after this film that Cynthia believed Tom to be a poet rather than filmmaker, and shortly after developed a deep infatuation with him.

In 1970, Barbara drowned when she dived into Cauldron Lake in search of the lake's power. Cynthia was saddened by her death, but also slightly relieved as she was jealous of Barbara being Tom's lover. Hartman convinced Zane to write her back into existence. Unknown to them, Cauldron Lake was a threshold to another dimension called the Dark Place. Residing there was a resonance called the Dark Presence, an entity desperate to be unleashed upon the world. It brought back Barbara as Tom wrote, but it wore her face and compelled Zane to write the Dark Presence free. Realizing his mistake in writing her back, Tom tied up Barbara and cut her heart out. He then wrote himself out of existence and caused the caldera beneath Cauldron Lake to erupt, swallowing Diver's Isle and taking him and Barbara with it. As they sank, the Dark Presence claimed Barbara's body while the Bright Presence took Thomas'.

Cynthia was employed by Zane to be the "Lady of the Light", a protector of the town by preserving the lights and keeping the people safe. She also acted on messages by Zane through the lights, television, and her dreams. She took residence in Bright Falls Light & Power and acted on behalf of Zane. As a contingency, Zane wrote that any of his belongings left in a shoe box would remain in the real world. He used the lake's power to write a character called Alan Wake, who would someday come to Cauldron Lake and defeat the Dark Presence using the Clicker, a light switch from his lamp imbued with magical power, given to Cynthia. Zane wrote that Alan had nightmares and a fear of the dark as a child; to help him overcome his fear, Alan's mother gave him the Clicker, pretending it was magical and it could defeat the monsters from the dark. The page described Alan remembering this when years later he stood at the bank of Cauldron Lake holding The Clicker in his hand just as he was about to jump into the Lake to defeat the Dark Presence. Zane then wrote Cynthia to have The Clicker for safe-keeping in the Well-Lit Room of the Bright Falls Dam, waiting years for Alan to commence on his journey. Cynthia also planted chests full of supplies throughout the area to assist Alan in his fight against the Dark Presence, using glowing paint to guide him. Zane then had the Anderson Brothers write the song "The Poet and the Muse" to guide Alan in seeking Cynthia, the "Lady of the Light", in order to defeat the Dark Presence.

Alan Wake[]

In 2010, Cynthia meets Alan at the Oh Deer Diner, worried about Wake getting hurt in the dark hallway that leads to the diner's restrooms. She was constantly seen holding a lantern and is easily frightened by the dangers of the darkness. The residents of Bright Falls have labeled her as the "town eccentric", due to her obsessive maintenance of the town's light-bulbs. Before she became obsessed with the light, she used to be the editor of the local newspaper, but focused on "other things".

It appears that Cynthia was actually somewhat manipulated by Thomas Zane and is also known as 'The Lady of the Light'. She exists to conflict with the Darkness throughout Bright Falls by providing its buildings with plenty of light bulbs and living in the town's power station, so as to remain forever in the light. She has also held feelings for Thomas Zane, this can be seen in Episode 3: Ransom where she writes Thomas' nickname "Tom" and love hearts all around the basement of an abandoned house with light-sensitive paint. She has also confessed that "a part of her" was happy when Barbara drowned in the lake.

Cynthia saw Alan as a foolish man; she probably knew Alan had tried to revive Alice but instead gave darkness power. Though she said that he was smarter than Thomas.

In Episode 5: The Clicker, Cynthia's role and purpose are fully explained - including how she is protecting the legacy of Zane in the "Well-Lit Room". She has been protecting the clicker, an artifact given by Alan's mother and written by Thomas Zane. She has been preparing for Wake's inevitable battle against the Dark Presence: all of the hidden caches left behind, the seemingly abandoned power company trucks filled with supplies, even the messages left behind in the unique light-sensitive paint.

Her forced obsession with light is shown at its peak in the Well-Lit Room: hanging lights have been arranged in such a way as to allow NO shadows at all. She even keeps a systematic mental log of the light-bulbs position, brand and model for easier maintenance and she constantly replaces the bulbs despite saying that she was "tired" of all of it.

In The Signal DLC, while she does not make a physical appearance, Alan may come across a cardboard standee of Cynthia which comes with the following description:

  • "The lady of the light! The cloud of gloom in the Well-Lit Room!
    Weaver's difficult and uncompromising life is illuminated in "Cynthia Weaver: Carrying the Torch," , an enlightening and occasionally harrowing biography by Ellen Adams, who was an intern at the Bright Falls Record under Weaver's editorship."

Alan Wake 2[]

Since Alan's disappearance in Cauldron Lake, Cynthia had grown older and became more tired from her duties, ultimately residing at the Valhalla Nursing Home and passing on her Lady of the Light duties to caretaker Rose Marigold. Cynthia would often chastise Vladimir Blum for being too lax about changing the lights, so she checked them herself for a time until she physically could not due to her age. Based upon messages from "Alan," Rose would steal Cynthia's Angel Lamp and toss it into the Dark Place for Alan to use, which made Cynthia despondent as it was one of the last items from Thomas left in her possession. At the nursing home, she received romantic attention from aged rock musician Tor Anderson, but her obsession and desire for Zane is aggravated. Her paranoia and her despondence over Zane led her to become more vulnerable to the influence of the Dark Presence.

However, her aged stature led her to be careless, which led to the light in her bathroom breaking as she forgot to change it. This enables the Dark Presence to enter her bathroom and drown her while she is taking a bath. Her dead body drowned in her tub is briefly seen by Alan in the Dark Place. She is then turned into a Taken, with the moniker "The Drowned Lady," and all the lights in her room were smashed to pieces. She becomes an apparition that haunts the nursing home and the wellness center; Rose and janitor Ahti are aware of Cynthia's transformation, while the other nursing home attendees were unaware of her death and possession, with some patients and staff being killed or becoming Taken because of Cynthia. Her drowning, coupled with the urban legend of the drowning of a teenager named Norah Hesberg in a bunker, led to the formation of the Overlap where she resides.

When Saga Anderson, Tor's granddaughter, goes to the nursing home to seek out Tor and Odin, the Dark Presence used Cynthia to separate them by using Tor's attraction to Cynthia to lure him away. Odin becomes bedridden, while Tor is lured by Cynthia into the Dark Place through the nursing home's pond. Cynthia deactivates the nursing home's power and kills Vladimir, forcing janitor Ahti to move the nursing home residents to a well-lit place while Saga investigates the home to find Tor. Saga goes to Cynthia's room to find "Anger's Remorse," an Old Gods of Asgard record dedicated to her, to enter the Overlap in the pond formed by Cynthia.

Ultimately, Saga enters the Overlap where Cynthia uses water to hunt her down. After receding the water and exposing Cynthia, Saga manages to kill Cynthia, rescue Tor, and leave the Overlap.

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

Logladyalanwake

Twin Peak's Log Lady (left) and Cynthia Weaver side-by-side comparison

  • In the Alan Wake Files, there is a clipping of the 'Volcanic quake sinks island, damages power plant' article from July 20, 1970. this article was written by Cynthia Weaver, Special to the Bright Falls Record.
  • She bears a strong resemblance to Twin Peaks Log Lady, which Remedy has admitted to being influenced by.
  • In the novel, Weaver noted Sheriff Sarah Breaker made up a nasty rhyme about Weaver when she was a little girl. Sarah became nicer later although she was scared. Weaver also drank a cup of coffee on occasion with Sarah's father Frank Breaker.
  • On page 286 of the novel, Weaver makes a reference to Alan and Tom looking alike “You look a lot like my Tom, Mr. Wake, ” said Weaver, shuffling forward, their footsteps echoing. “Perhaps that’s because you’re both writers.”
  • Despite her lingering feelings for Zane over the years, she resents him (on some level) for forcing her into the position.
  • It might be hinted that Cynthia's obsession of light might have only developed after Thomas Zane manipulated (wrote) her in his book. Her resentfulness to him might explain that she knew of Thomas Zane's manipulation.
  • Cynthia has provided Alan with flashbangs, flares, flare guns, ammunition and various other light equipment. How long and how she obtains all of these supplies are unknown.
  • Cynthia is similar to Rose as both of them also harbor feelings for famous writers (Thomas Zane and Alan Wake). This could be due to Alan's manipulation.
  • In the abandoned house found in Episode 3: Ransom, she has written (in light-sensitive paint) "You talk to me on TV". This could state that Cynthia had talked to Thomas Zane via television. She also says in Episode 5: The Clicker, that "He talks to me, you know. Through the TV..."
  • Cynthia uses light-sensitive paint as a means of communication, as light-sensitive paint can be seen almost everywhere in the game and can only be seen by those who had been touched by the darkness, she could have possibly been to every place that Alan had gone.
  • In the abandoned house which Alan must go in through the basement, there are hidden messages everywhere on the walls mostly "Tom", also "I curse you Thomas Zane" and a heart with T.Z and C.W in it.
  • It seems Cynthia might have Bi-polar feelings for Thomas Zane from an obsessive longing to bitter hate, this can be seen from her paint in a basement of an abandoned house and in the power plant.
  • Cynthia has a red couch in her safe room, which is identical to the ones scattered around the area of Bright Falls. It might be a hind to the several places she went to during her life, given that she was also the one hiding the hidden chests of supplies.
  • In the Official Survival Guide, the book notes that the manor ruins by Mirror Peak were built by a man named Bartholomew Weaver in 1910. It's most likely Cynthia was related to this man as she sprayed more messages about Thomas Zane on the ground floor here than anywhere else in the game.
    • It's unknown if Cynthia inherited the manor land as the building was not completed due to bankruptcy.
  • Mental illness may be hereditary in Weaver's family as it's noted that during construction of the Manor House by her ancestor, Bartholomew Weaver, that the cost of finance for the house caused mental strain.

Gallery[]

Alan Wake[]

Alan Wake II[]

Diary[]

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