You can read part one here
Ghost of Nicole: Moment of truth. Isaac! Who am I? Am I your friend? Your lover? The one shred; one light; one bright, shining star you clung to in this universe? Or am I your guilt? Crushing the life out of you because you can’t get over the fact that I’m dead? That you feel responsible? Who… am… I?!? Why do you keep fighting me? Why can’t you let go?
Isaac Clarke: Because you were my everything. And if I let you go, I’ve got nothing left.
(Nicole’s face changes to how it was when she was alive.)
Ghost of Nicole: Step four: Acceptance. Now you’re ready to finish this.
(She turns around and walks away.)
This scene unfolds towards the end of Dead Space 2 and marks the beginning of the game’s final act. For far too long, Isaac has been unable to let go of Nicole, and his guilt over her death. What makes this moment powerful isn’t just the emotional weight, but the fact that the fourth and final “step” isn’t about forgetting or detaching, but acceptance, of who she was, what she meant to him, and how deep that loss still cuts.
It’s the point where, for just a few moments, Dead Space stops being a horror video game and becomes a love story. We witness Isaac’s broken heart laid bare, the pain of losing the only person who truly mattered to him.
Because you were my everything. And if I let you go, I’ve got nothing left.
But for Isaac to survive, and heal, he has to let go. He has to find the strength to destroy the Marker.
I can’t even count how many people I’ve worked with who feel like they’re not really living anymore, simply because they can’t let go of the past. Being stuck in traumatic experiences, or haunted by survivor’s guilt, keeps them from being present. It dulls the joy of everyday life and numbs the connection to people and moments that matter.
Unfortunately, loss is something we all go through, sometimes as part of life’s natural rhythm, and sometimes because, well, shit just happens. And I’ve had more than enough personal experience with the latter.
Letting go doesn’t mean forgetting the people we’ve lost. It doesn’t mean pretending we’re okay, or that their absence doesn’t hurt. Letting go means accepting that they now live on in our memories, not in our reality.
In Dead Space 2, the conversations Isaac has with Nicole’s ghost are hallucinations, a cruel manifestation of his guilt. It’s to that ghost he finally confesses the fear that kept him stuck:
...if I let you go, I’ve got nothing left...
In the final boss fight, the Marker uses Nicole’s ghost in one last desperate attempt to break Isaac. But by then, Isaac is stronger. He’s faced his darkness. He’s named his deepest fear. And that’s when healing can begin.
And that’s true for us, too. Whether through online counselling, talking to a counsellor in person, or even reflecting in moments like these, there is a way forward. You can confront the pain. You can begin to heal.
You can let go, and still loving the ones you have lost.