That is cause we don't know where Paul Serene exited the time machine. Game only tells that there was a single exit point present in 2021. That's it. Maybe Monarch moved it or maybe that time machine was destroyed. We don't know cause that was supposed to be explained in game's sequel.

Now When Paul Serene exited the time machine in 2021, time was frozen and since Paul was chronon active , SHIFTERS were attracted towards him. At that time, he couldn't use the same exit point, maybe it was broken after use and maybe shifters attacked and damaged it, hard to say.

Remedy was going to add that scene in the game. Sam Lake even said in an interview that we were going to add a whole scene about the point where Paul Serene and later Beth Wilder were sent in the future.
But they never did cause they had to "polish" the game.

And please remember, that the core was still at the library the first time he traveled to 2021, the core being moved in the game happens AFTER Paul returns, meaning that in our "fixed" timeline, the core is moved AFTER he went to the future. Which would mean he did in fact exit the at the site with a broken machine.

How he managed to fight his way to the swimming hall and use that machine is an entirely different bag of worms.

Originally posted by The_GarlicBread:

That is cause we don't know where Paul Serene exited the time machine. Game only tells that there was a single exit point present in 2021. That's it. Maybe Monarch moved it or maybe that time machine was destroyed. We don't know cause that was supposed to be explained in game's sequel.

Now When Paul Serene exited the time machine in 2021, time was frozen and since Paul was chronon active , SHIFTERS were attracted towards him. At that time, he couldn't use the same exit point, maybe it was broken after use and maybe shifters attacked and damaged it, hard to say.

Remedy was going to add that scene in the game. Sam Lake even said in an interview that we were going to add a whole scene about the point where Paul Serene and later Beth Wilder were sent in the future.
But they never did cause they had to "polish" the game.

Yeah, it is acceptable explanation. But. when Will and Jack got out of the time machine in the pool at the end of the game, this is still a flaw, because the core of this time machine, Paul has already transferred from there

Originally posted by LazarusLongNL:

And please remember, that the core was still at the library the first time he traveled to 2021, the core being moved in the game happens AFTER Paul returns, meaning that in our "fixed" timeline, the core is moved AFTER he went to the future. Which would mean he did in fact exit the at the site with a broken machine.

How he managed to fight his way to the swimming hall and use that machine is an entirely different bag of worms.

Yes, but that machine that Paul found at the end of time wasn't in the pool. At the end of the game, he himself moved the machine from the pool to the place where he would find it at the end of time in order to close the event loop. And by the way, Will and Jack were supposed to be in the place where Paul had already moved the car from the pool. But they still went out in the pool, where the core was no longer there.

Originally posted by majzerofive:

Originally posted by Kraken_078:

Yeah, it is acceptable explanation. But. when Will and Jack got out of the time machine in the pool at the end of the game, this is still a flaw, because the core of this time machine, Paul has already transferred from there

I'm not physicist, but the core is the key part in the presented machine. As Paul explained at the very beginning, the core opens a contained black hole ("replicates the effects of a rotating micro black hole"). The machine is irrelevant. Humans are irrelevant. What you ought to have is the core and the corridor. The following example is inadequate, because the core replicates a black hole, so basically a micro black hole exists in ALL TIME, but it'll help grasp the concept. The core is basically something like a shifter. A shifter exists in all variations of a given interval of time, while the core exists in all the time intervals. If the core is built in 2009, you are able to use it in any following year to return back to any second in time from 2009 to the time you decide to use it. Paul Serene used the same core in the same place. But you're allowed to move the core, as long as it has all the necessary parts to it, you can move through time (corridor and the necessary programming). You move through the corridor, which HAS to be connected to both cores at both ends (technically one core, but whatever). As long as you have the corridor and programming for the interacting with the machine from both ends.
1. Paul used University core which then is transferred to Monarch HQ, Jack uses Monarch HQ's core to go back in time to the university.
2. Paul used Pool's core to go back in time to kill Will, Jack and Will use pool's core to travel to the present.

This is exactly what I'm talking about, in the second example, the core of the time machine was no longer in the pool. But Will and Jack ended up in the pool at the end of the game anyway.

Originally posted by majzerofive:

Originally posted by Kraken_078:

This is exactly what I'm talking about, in the second example, the core of the time machine was no longer in the pool. But Will and Jack ended up in the pool at the end of the game anyway.

"micro black hole" is an elegant way of saying "we don't know anything about it and its properties". Physicists can't know what's inside the black hole, how to use it etc. Everything that science community knows about black holes is that little ball of darkness from the game would kill the life in our universe, with ease. So, let's say you can contain it, somehow. You manage to somehow program it. You cannot predict the result. Black holes might not be bound to our perception of time or space, meaning a black hole can be used to warp space and time in such ways that you're able to travel any distance, including through time. Which is basically presented in the game. You travel any distance and any amount of time. All you need is a black hole on both ends and end points to enter and exit appropriately. The core which creates a contained micro black hole is linked through any time and any space. It is not explained explicitly, but it is implied by the fact you're able to travel space distances also. Don't forget that if you travel two minutes any direction in time, you're actually warping space also. Otherwise you'd end up inside a wall or in the space, buried etc., because the earth constantly revolves, circles around the sun and travels at immense speed through space (our solar system also revolves around something). So, naturally, the core is linked to the other version of the core, otherwise you don't have any practical means to calculate your exact position in the universe (not to mention your target position).

Yes, I completely agree with you and it is this logic that is broken at the end of the game when Will and Jack went into the future where there was no longer the core of the time machine that they used in the past. They (Jack and Will) should have exited in the place where Paul had already transferred the core, and not in the pool.

I think the biggest plot holes are elevators working while time is stopped

Originally posted by Futaleufu:

I think the biggest plot holes are elevators working while time is stopped

I think it is because Jack's body produces a lot of chronons, so everything he touches begin to work in time stutter

Here are a few possible explanations, in my point of view:

Unexplained Machine State: The game doesn't clearly state the condition of the time machine at Monarch Solutions in 2021. It could have been broken or inaccessible, and the game doesn't provide details.

Paul's Motivations: Paul Serene might have had personal reasons for choosing Will's time machine over the one at Monarch Solutions. It could be due to unique features or connections he had.

Temporal Loops and Causality: The game itself deals with complex time loops where actions in the past affect the future. Paul's choice might be part of a larger temporal plan to ensure specific events occur.

Narrative Convenience: Sometimes, science fiction stories prioritize storytelling over scientific accuracy. Paul's choice might have been made to advance the plot or create dramatic tension.

In the end, while it's good to question the plot, the game's narrative might leave this choice somewhat mysterious to keep the story engaging, which is good.

"Stephen King once wrote that 'Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear.'

"In a horror story, the victim keeps asking 'why?' But there can be no explanation, and there shouldn't be one. The unanswered mystery is what stays with us the longest, and it's what we'll remember in the end. My name is Alan Wake, I'm a writer."

That's the opening monologue of Alan Wake.

Every game by Sam Lake ( Except Max Payne ) is like this. The ending is always ambiguous.

We know the ending of Alan Wake, We know the ending of Quantum Break. We Know the most cryptic ending of Control and AWE DLC.

Remedy Connected Universe is just beginning. Maybe this all will be cleared in sequel, maybe not. One thing's clear, Ahti is at the centre of it all.

The most interesting in this all is that in ALAN WAKE, Thomas Zane says,

For he did not know, that beyond the lake he called home,
Lies a deeper, darker ocean green.
Where waves are both WILDER ( Beth Wilder ? ) and more serene. ( PAUL SERENE ? ).
To its ports I've been,
To its ports I've been.

Anyway, Let's see what happens in Alan Wake 2 and it's DLC.

I doubt this will be resolved (fully) in Alan Wake 2 because QB's rights belong to Microsoft, and unlike the Alan Wake rights which Remedy bought back, these they haven't. So Shawn Ashmore is a new character in AW2, instead of Nick and Beth we have Dylan and Jesse and come to think of it, QB seemed to treat Alan's books as fiction rather than the paranatural artefact that they are now.

Actually, there is the Novelisation of Quantum Break (you can find it on amazon), which is slightly different story wise from the game (it's made with intention of it being an alternative timeline to the game), which explains that Paul ended up in the Machine in Monarch Tower, where he has been given some basic resources, and send back into the world to experience it, so he will end up where he should, so everything will happen as it happened. And then he came back through a different Time Machine that Beth Wilder came through, but it was not the pool one at the time.

Originally posted by Futaleufu:

I think the biggest plot holes are elevators working while time is stopped

Well that would work on the elvator interface, but elevator is a box on a wire that is being pulled up or down by a machine on top of the shaft.
Jack controlling the interface would require to somehow make working a whole set of various interconnected items that are far from each other.
Also how is Fiona opening the doors for him?
I love the game but the last part bugs my brain.