How Gustave could have changed the entire ending of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

WARNING!!! This article contains MASSIVE SPOILERS for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33! Do not read on unless you’ve already played or watched the game. Especially because, frankly, a lot of things in this article won’t make a whole lot of sense to you unless you know what happens in the whole game anyway. You have been warned!!!

(Also, shout out to a particular friend of mine for helping me think up some of the ideas for this article. They know who they are, and they’re the best! Thanks buddy!)

Ok, with that out of the way, let’s talk about this absolutely brilliant game! Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a role-playing video game that came out in April 2025, developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive. It’s about a group of volunteers called Expedition 33 who travel across the world to try and destroy the Paintress, this god-like figure who kills people at or above a certain age every year, until eventually, there will be no people left in the world.

This game took the gaming world by storm! It has been highly praised by critics and gamers for its stunning visuals, incredible voice-acting, engaging story, and satisfying turn-based combat system. Hmmm...a video game with an interesting story? Well, you know I had to talk about it then! And what I really want to talk about is Gustave.

(Gustave from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

Gustave is the main character in the game, the character that the player primarily plays as (although you can switch characters in your team during parts of the game). However...he’s not the main character for the entire game...at the end of Act 1, about a third of the way through the game, Gustave is killed! The player then primarily plays as Verso, a new character who basically takes over Gustave’s role.

I think I speak on behalf of most players when I say Gustave’s death was an absolute gut-punch! He’s such a sweet and likeable character that you spend most of your time with in Act 1. His relationship with Maelle as her guardian and adoptive big brother in particular is adorable, but his friendships with Lune and Sciel are also great. And his death comes out of nowhere! It’s so unexpected and cruel that I think it shocked most players, not just me.

(Image from Gustave’s death cutscene)

But I don’t want to focus on Gustave’s death, per say. I want to focus on what I think would have happened if Gustave hadn’t been killed. I genuinely think if Gustave had been saved by Verso (which we find out Verso could have done, if you progress his relationship with Maelle enough), his existence alone could have completely changed the trajectory of the game. And I think we could have gotten a much happier ending, instead of the bad ending, or the better but still pretty tragic ending the game had.

So, Gustave dies at the hands of painted Renoir. This happens just before painted Renoir is prevented from sending Maelle out of the Canvas because Verso swoops in at the last minute to save her. We later find out that Verso actually could have saved Gustave if he had wanted to. He was hanging back until after Gustave was killed. The reason is because he was worried that if Maelle found out the truth about the Canvas, and Gustave was still alive, she wouldn’t help him stop the Paintress, since the Paintress’ death ends in the deaths of everyone else in the Canvas.

(Verso from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

This does make a lot of sense for Verso’s character. However, I think it’s also equally likely that, in an alternative version of the game, Verso would have saved Gustave. Since Verso was spying on Maelle the whole time she was travelling with Gustave and the team, he would have seen how much Gustave meant to her. And he would have seen how much Gustave cared for Maelle in turn. I think Verso would have saved Gustave, in my version of the story, because he would have wanted his little sister to be happy. Or at least, happy for a little bit longer, before killing the Paintress ends up killing everyone else except him and Maelle.

With Verso saving Gustave, this also means Maelle would have come to trust Verso quicker and more easily, which I believe Verso would have wanted. And it would have meant Maelle wouldn’t have been so hellbent on killing painted Renoir. She would have been more focused on the Paintress, which again, is something Verso would want.

(Maelle from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33)

However, with Gustave still being alive, I do think this would end up causing some friction between Verso and Gustave. After all, Maelle was originally Verso’s little sister, not Gustave’s. Verso would therefore feel compelled to be her big brother, and I think Gustave would at first find this very suspicious. And in turn, watching Gustave get to do brotherly things with Maelle would have rubbed Verso up the wrong way. I think, eventually, Verso would explain to Gustave that he has a little sister himself, and that Maelle reminds him of her a lot, as a way to throw off Gustave’s suspicion.

I think, in my version of the story, Gustave and Verso eventually would feel like brothers towards each other. After all, neither of them have brothers, both of them only have sisters. I think they would eventually begin to bond over their love for their families, their need to protect their loved ones, and the fact they have both been surrounded by death their whole lives. I also think that since Gustave is fascinated with the world they explore, a world that Verso knows a lot about because he created it, Verso would have enjoyed discussing some aspects of the world with Gustave.

I think these two bonding would have also made it harder for Verso to betray them all when the Paintress is finally defeated, and everyone gommages. Which means, Verso would be more willing to go along with Maelle’s plan on trying to fight the real Renoir and preserve the Canvas, instead of letting it be destroyed like in his original plan.

(Image from ‘One Heartbreaking Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Parallel Hides in Plain Sight’ by Carla Carmona on GameRant)

Once Maelle brings back Gustave, Lune and Sciel after the Paintress is defeated, and they all learn the truth about the Canvas, I have a feeling that Gustave would probably attack Verso. After all, Gustave thought Verso was like a brother, so I feel like he would have a right to be angry. The others would probably have to step in to break up the fight. Gustave would end up reluctantly agreeing that they needed Verso’s help, but would remain pretty icy towards him for a while. But I think eventually Gustave would come to understand that Verso did what he did because he was trying to save his mother. Gustave would do anything to protect the people he loves too, so I think eventually he would forgive Verso.

With Gustave back with the team as well after the Paintress is defeated and the truth is revealed, I think Maelle wouldn’t end up as focused on preserving the Canvas for Verso’s sake. In the original game, when Maelle gets her memories back, she becomes obsessed with preserving the Canvas because she feels guilty about being responsible for real Verso’s death. She therefore wants painted Verso to live the life that she accidentally cut too short. But I think, with Gustave there, she would be more focused on wanting to save all her friends, not just Verso.

I think this desire to save everyone in the Canvas would lead into ultimately what I believe the best ending could be: I believe, at the end, Gustave would be able to convince Maelle to gommage Verso. It wouldn’t be an easy decision, of course, since Maelle still feels responsible for real Verso’s death, and wants more time with her real brother. But with Gustave and Verso becoming brothers, I think Gustave would be able to convince Maelle that this isn’t what Verso wants. Also, Maelle has another big brother now in Gustave, so perhaps that would make letting go of Verso easier.

(Maelle and Verso)

In my version of the story, I think the real Renoir would see Maelle choosing to gommage Verso, with Gustave’s influence, and this is what would convince him to let the Canvas live. With Maelle letting Verso go, he would be convinced that she wouldn’t become obsessed with staying in the Canvas the way his wife did. And Gustave would help Maelle learn to use the Canvas safely, with her coming and going instead of staying indefinitely to her detriment. Gustave loves her too much to let her stay indefinitely if it meant her real body suffered. He would remind her when she needs to leave, and that she can always come back later, and he and the others would still be there. And maybe, with enough time, Maelle could even teach her mother to enjoy the Canvas without Verso being there, or the rest of her painted family.

This is the most ideal ending I can think of for the game. Everyone in the Canvas gets to live, and Maelle and the rest of her family don’t use it in a toxic way. Obviously, I understand the point of the real game’s endings is that they were supposed to be sad. Even the ‘good’ ending is supposed to be tragic. But I’m just saying that, if Gustave hadn’t been killed in Act 1, I think he could have been the key to a much happier ending.

One last thing I want to address is something a YouTuber called FatBrett commented on (he’s made some brilliant deep-dive videos into the characters of Expedition 33, I highly recommend checking him out!). When Brett did a deep-dive into Gustave’s character and story, he said that he thought Gustave would end up being restless in a world where there was nothing left to explore, if he had lived, hence he was doomed to die regardless. But I actually disagree with this sentiment.

Gustave became an innovator because he, first and foremost, loved his home and Sophie. Heck, he wanted to have children with her! I think, if the Canvas lived, and Maelle learnt to use it safely and brought everyone who had died back to life, Gustave would have lived an incredibly satisfying life with Sophie, raising their children together. And I think he would have become someone in Lumiere who could help the rest of the citizens adjust to a world where they realise they were created by a Paintress.

(Gustave and Sophie. Image from ‘The Surprising Reason Expedition 33 Is Outperforming Other JRPGs’ by Trone Dowd on Inverse)

Also, I don’t think he would have stopped inventing. Sure, Maelle can just paint anything into existence, but I think Gustave would have still gotten joy from making things with his own hands. I can imagine at some point Maelle asking him why when she can just create whatever he wants out of thin air, and Gustave would explain that he enjoys the challenge of figuring it out himself, and making something that he can say was made with his hands and his skills, instead of relying on Maelle. I think Maelle would appreciate that and therefore let him keep tinkering away at his projects. Therefore, everyone lives, Gustave lives a happy, meaningful life, and Maelle is eventually healed by embracing her love for Gustave and her other friends.

Anyway, those are my thoughts on what would have happened if Gustave hadn’t been killed in Expedition 33. I’m sure other people have written their own fan stories, articles or videos talking about this topic as well. If you guys know of any, feel free to comment below and let me know about them. I’m curious how other people imagined what might have happened if Gustave hadn’t been killed.

Since I enjoy linking storytelling and video games, it’s been fun imagining how the story could have changed with this one character sticking around. I might do this with some other games I like; write about how a game’s story might have changed completely with one little change. I might turn it into a bit of a series, we’ll see. But anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this article, and I hope you stick around for the next one! (Like how I wish Gustave had!).

Sources:

https://www.expedition33.com/

https://www.youtube.com/@fatbrett

My buddy! <3