What Happened to Kyle Crane After Dying Light 1? An Investigative Breakdown

As an avid fan who has analyzed all the available evidence closely, I have a theory about the mysterious fate of Kyle Crane based on Dying Light‘s epic conclusion and unresolved cliffhanger. While Techland has yet to confirm Crane‘s canon storypath, there are strong indications pointing to the outcome and its larger implications on the sequel Dying Light 2 set decades later.

The Definitive Endings – A Heroic Sacrifice or Monstrous Destiny

At the climax of The Following expansion, players decide whether Crane should:

A) Detonate a nuclear warhead to contain the Harran outbreak once and for all, at the cost of the city and his own life.

OR

B) Take an experimental serum that could potentially transform him into a sentient Volatile able to guide survivors to safety.

A Heroic Sacrifice

If Crane activates the failsafe protocol, the screen fades to white as the nuke goes off, presumed to have killed him, the Mother, and every living creature trapped in Harran‘s quarantine zone. No body is shown – only the enveloping blast.

As the GRE‘s undercover operative willing to sacrifice everything for the greater good, this final act encapsulates Crane‘s tragic heroism. He contains the outbreak to prevent global spread, albeit at the grave cost of millions of lives and the loss of the very survivors he had fought to protect.

Crane‘s Last Moments As The Nuclear Blast Destroys Harran

A Monstrous Destiny

Conversely, if players decline the failsafe, Crane is shown being injected with and transforming from a series of Virals into a hulking Volatile monster after killing the cult leader. The screen then fades to black.

Based on precedents of sentient Virals like Tolga and Fatin being able to retain intelligence and speech in The Following, many fans speculate Crane may have survived as an advanced Volatile. Perhaps he was even able to guide survivors to safety without fully losing his humanity, as initially promised by the rogue scientist.

Kyle Crane Volatile Mutation Concept Art

So which outcome actually happened? Where did Kyle Crane end up in the aftermath?

Crane‘s Role In The Harran Outbreak Containment

Dying Light 2 confirms that the GRE and Global authorities eventually contained the Harran viral outbreak, developed a vaccine, and allowed civilization to endure for another 15-20 years in quarantine cities like The City. This was likely thanks to Crane‘s exploits and Ultimate Sacrifice ending.

Otherwise, an advanced sentient Volatile Crane managing to escape Harran‘s blast zone could have triggered outbreaks globally based on the sequel‘s lore and timeline. The swift quarantine and concealment of Harran‘s fate points to Crane heroically enabling the nuclear sterilization option, canonically sealing his own death in the process.

But with zero direct signs of Crane in Dying Light 2 set decades later, our protagonist‘s true fate remains shrouded in mystery even if his pivotal legacy helped buy mankind precious time against the zombie hordes. The only glimpse is an Easter Egg finding his bracelet.

For all intents and purposes, Kyle Crane appears to have perished after detonating the nuclear device when last seen in The Following. His body was likely incinerated with the countless infected and survivors – the screen fading out before the fireball visual confirms this.

And yet…some Volatile clues and clues keep the theory alive that Crane COULD have altered into a highly lethal sentient monster able to escape the blast, albeit eventually dying out, cured, or simply left obscured from records. As a games journalist and DL superfan, I‘ll break down the evidence!

Investigating The Cured/Evolved Volatile Theory

Let‘s analyze the clues that Kyle Crane MAY have bonded with the Volatile serum, become an Ultra-Viral, and somehow evaded death despite catalyzing the city‘s erasure.

Exhibit A: Mutation Precedents

Dying Light establishes that some infected can retain high functioning and mutation stability like Bolters, Virals, and Tolga/Fatin in The Following DLC. The elderly twins demonstrate that constant exposure can allow infected hosts to keep intelligence, memory, and even speech/rationality intact.

We know Crane was heavily exposed after being bitten and then took an experimental serum designed to advance and accelerate mutations to produce enormously strong and fast sentient Virals. If the Twins could last that long without a cure, perhaps Crane‘s fresh infection and specialized gene therapy administered by Dr. Camden allowed him to become an ULTRA-Viral? Maybe he fled underground.

Dying Light Viral/Volatile Mutations

Exhibit B: The Rogue Scientist‘s Ambiguous Claim

The Rogue Scientist claimsVOLATILES do possess a Hive Mind of sorts. By harnessing Crane‘s mutation, he believed their shared consciousness could be tapped so Crane controls other infected rather than lose his personality. This KEY quote sums it up:

"With this, I will have access to a network of unconscious information. I will know things about people, about infected."

Later he specifies Crane would guide survivors to safety even in his monstrous form. Was this just mad delusion or an insight into technologically exploiting the volatile neural link for control? Something clearly allowed Tolga/Fatin remnants of cognition too.

Perhaps Crane DID briefly harness such abilities before the bomb‘s concussive forces broke the link. He may have slipped into the subterranean tunnels or outlying areas instants before the blast wave hit.

Exhibit C: The Serum‘s Sundown Delay Effect

When Crane first takes the serum, he remains lucid and human initially. The Rogue Scientist says nightfall activates the mutations. This delayed effect buys Crane critical HOURS that allow him to conceivably escape the blast radius once he sets off the nuke.

By the time he begins mutating, he‘d have a massive headstart to vanish from the nuclear ground zero miles away in underground tunnels. The concussive blast would still interrupt volatile neural links, but Crane could go feral and survive so long as he avoided the initial fireball‘s incineration zone.

Exhibit D: Lack Of A Body In The Following

Some may claim Crane clearly perished since we see the nuke engulf all of Harran on camera. But AFTER he hits the launch trigger, it cuts away before showing the explosion actually consume the lab or Crane himself. Like the serum‘s delay, this seemingly minor omission leaves room for interpretation.

In the finale, we don‘t actually see Crane get vaporized. No money shot of his demise. The blast may have propelled him miles away into darkness or catacombs as the fireball closed in behind him. His body missing from later infection studies or the Museum lends some credibility to this theory as well.

Exhibit E: Kyle Crane‘s Bracelet In Dying Light 2

The biggest evidence comes from Dying Light 2‘s Easter Egg paying homage to Kyle Crane with his trademark accessory found in a box at the infamous Fish Eye Canteen. Recovering this bracelet implies Crane WAS present when The City fell to infected hordes prior to Aiden‘s pilgrimage, or someone else found remains.

Why would random scavengers take a meaningless trinket off a dead outsider from nota destroyed Harran as a bizarre keepsake? They almost certainly looted it from a still-living (or Undead) Crane who somehow made his way to The City before going missing. It can‘t be mere coincidence with both games directly connected.

The Bracelet Easter Egg Strongly Hints Crane Reached The City

Ultimately, without explicit word from Techland, we can only theorize and speculate about Crane‘s true fate. But the clues above lend credibility to my own long-held belief based on hundreds of hours analyzing Dying Light‘s lore:

Kyle Crane FAKED his death by escaping Harran‘s blast radius temporarily, mutated into an Ultra-Viral thanks to experimentation, journeyed to The City to find a cure before going missing after assisting early outbreak efforts there. He remains lurking in The City ruins or beyond to this very day…

Do you agree Crane could realistically have bonded to the Volatile serum, tapped some viral hive intelligence as the Rogue Scientist envisioned, and slipped away from certain death in time? Share your own theories! The lingering mystery keeps the story and debates alive.

Whatever truly happened to Kyle Crane after Dying Light 1‘s epic finale, his legacy helped save what remained of mankind – even if the greatest zombie outbreak fighter eventually became part of the monstrosities himself. But from hero to horror, Crane symbolized humanity‘s resolve.

And that glimmering bracelet recovered centuries later shows the legend still somehow survived when so many others perished.

Never say die…