Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 has more than a few hints for what could come in Chapter 3. Here's what the ending could mean for the future of the game.
The second chapter of Poppy Playtime has released, and its ending has some interesting implications for Chapter 3. A lot happened in the Playtime Co. factory as players evaded the elastic Mommy Long Legs, with little hints at every turn and especially towards the end. Certain things about the series have become more clear, but by the time Chapter 2 is done, the game has created almost more questions than answers.
At the climax of Ch. 2, Fly in a Web, players kill the main antagonist, Mommy Long Legs, by grinding her in an industrial shredder. After a strange hand snatches away what's left of her, the player character will get on the train to leave Playtime Co., only to be betrayed by Poppy at the last minute and get sent deeper into the factory before getting in a crash that renders them unconscious. Some of the events during the ending of Poppy Playtime's Chapter 2, like Mommy's death, were not surprising since the player also killed the antagonist of Chapter 1, Huggy Wuggy - but the mysterious hand was completely unexpected.
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Poppy Playtime Chapter 2 released not even a year after the first, so news on the third could come at any time. Until it does, theories and speculation will abound, with every player having their own idea of what the next entry might hold. Gameplay footage and the source code itself is already being picked apart for any scrap of a clue. Hopefully, news on Chapter 3 is soon to come, with confirmations for the themes that Ch. 2's ending teases without spoilers or too many leaks from outside parties.
Daddy Long Legs was a fan character that made the rounds of the internet after Mommy Long Legs was announced. Some of Poppy Playtime's other monsters, Huggy Wuggy and Kissy Missy, were confirmed to be an item by MOB Games, and given Mommy's name, speculation of a similar male counterpart circulated in the time leading up to the release of Ch. 2. In the game, Daddy Long Legs was confirmed by a poster in the factory that featured "Mommy Long Legs & Family", consisting of Mommy Long Legs, Daddy, and a baby. Daddy Long Legs looks fairly similar to most fan depictions; blue instead of pink with traditionally masculine touches such as a moustache and fedora hat. His actual appearance isn't shown in-game beyond the caricature of the poster, but the ending holds a hint to what he might be like in future entries.
After Mommy Long Legs' death, a strange black hand, on a bloody exposed arm bone, appears and takes her body away. The owner of it remains shrouded in mystery - with Poppy Playtime's VHS Tapes making only one mention, confirming it to belong to Experiment 1006 - and has no other appearances to offer an explanation as to who or what it might be. With Daddy Long Legs' canon reveal, however, it's entirely possible that it is him. In the scenes where Mommy's fingers are visibly extended, they look like something similar to the hand's long, spindly ones could be beneath her skin, and since Daddy is meant to be her counterpart, it makes sense that they would share such a design. As she dies, she also screams, "You've made me part of him." If she's referring to the hand's owner, it would confirm it to be male, and reveals his motivation for taking her corpse.
From the exposed bone in the arm, it would appear that the hand's owner was left half-finished when the factory closed, so he may be using parts of Poppy Playtime's other scary toys in order to complete himself. This would explain Daddy's strange absence in the game. He is supposed to be Mommy's spouse, but if he was never completed, and is hunting other toys to add their parts to his body, then she would indeed fear him rather than displaying any affection. This scene appears to be setting him up as the main antagonist of Ch. 3, so it's possible that Daddy will chase down the player in an attempt to steal their body parts and use them to make himself whole.
Along with the main antagonist, Ch. 2 may have teased the setting for Chapter 3 of Poppy Playtime. Just before the credits run, a sign pointing to an area of the factory known as "Playcare" is visible, implying that this is where the player will go after they awake from unconsciousness. The name appears to be a portmanteau of "Playtime" and "Daycare," which means that this area of the factory may be designed to cater to infants or very young children. As such, Ch. 3 may have much more childish themes than the first two entries, even bordering on babyish. Baby Long Legs, or other toys designed for or based on babies, could play a major part.
Related: Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2 - Where To Find The Collectable Statues
Alternatively, this could be the area where the orphans of the Playtime Co. Foster and Adoptive Care Initiative were housed. Playtime Co. ran a program designed to place the orphans of the world in loving homes before its closure, and while playing Poppy Playtime Ch. 1, lore concerning it can be found. It was apparently poorly managed, and employees were pressured to foster or adopt these children. This combined with the question of how exactly the company cared for so many of them implies sinister intentions, such as using them to create its monstrous toys. If this is where the orphan children stayed, then the full details of the program and whether or not they were used for experiments could be revealed once Ch. 3 releases.
Poppy was the first toy that Playtime Co. ever invented, and designed to be hyper-intelligent to the point where she could hold real-time conversations. Despite being the titular doll of Poppy Playtime, players didn't significantly interact with her until Ch. 2, when she was abducted by Mommy Long Legs for trying to aid the player. After Mommy's death, however, Poppy betrayed them. Hints have been coming that Poppy is one of Poppy Playtime's main villains for some time, and at the end of Fly in a Web, she confirmed it by switching the train tracks and sending the player character to Playcare, saying that they are "too perfect to lose."
Due to another detail at the end of Ch. 2, Poppy may not be acting as the main villain in Ch. 3 despite seemingly being confirmed as an antagonist. She's cut off while speaking to the player right before the train crash, implying that something or someone found her and pulled her away from whatever system she was using to communicate with them. This means that she could have been captured by another toy, presumably the main monster of the next chapter. Since she was talking about the "terrible things" that have happened in Playtime Co. and sounded like she intended to right those wrongs, her captor could also be Laithe Pierre or Elliot Ludwig, both theorized to be overarching antagonists in the series, who wouldn't want the player meddling in their experiments. Part of the plot of Poppy Playtime Ch. 3 could be rescuing Poppy, especially if she has good intentions like she implies she does.
Next: Poppy Playtime Ch. 2 Theory - Stella Is Actually Kissy Missy
Austin Geiger is a nerd and a Game Features author at Screen Rant. He has loved to read, write, and play video games for longer than he can remember, and does each one daily. He likes Pokemon, Digimon, The Elder Scrolls, and more.