Ilmo and Jaakko Koskela are twin brothers from Watery, Washington that appear in Alan Wake 2. Although they are simple and grounded in appearance, they are highly influential in Bright Falls and Watery, owning several businesses and attractions to draw tourism to the town.
Like other characters associated with the events around Cauldron Lake, the brothers' background may be influenced by the writings of Alan Wake.
Background[]
Ilmo and Jaakko are Finnish-American brothers from Watery. Ilmo is the owner of the Watery Lighthouse Trailer Park, though both brothers are part of the Kalevala Knights, who are known to make parade floats. Ilmo is highly entrepreneurial, developing several products and attractions around Watery that he manages with the more timid Jaakko. Their products include Ahma Beer and Bright Falls Organic Coffee Blend, and their attractions include the Coffee World theme park, the Koskela Brothers Book Club, and the self-titled Koskela Brothers Adventure Tours around Bright Falls and Watery.
Whilst identical twins, the two have noticeable differences in personality and style, Ilmo being cleaner shaven and more loud and jovial, and Jaakko with a large beard, being quieter and less ambitious. Jaakko is also a father, and has two children: Charlie and Charline, who also work at Coffee World for the brothers.
Although Cauldron Lake and the surrounding wilderness was fenced off by the Federal Bureau of Control due to the 2010 incident, the brothers would regularly ignore this and infiltrate the area for their tour guide activities. The brothers, like certain other townspeople, were aware that mysterious events often occurred around Cauldron Lake. Convinced the government was hiding something, the brothers managed to infiltrate the Lake House, the FBC's laboratory at the lake, by delivering coffee, and stole a number of files. Through these files, they learned about the Dark Presence, the Taken, and a way to kill Taken: by cutting out their heart and using the Clicker in the hole.[1] They became resolved to defend Watery and Bright Falls from the Dark Presence, knowing that a new generation of guardians would be needed to replace the aging Torchbearers. Seeing double during a long night of smoking and drinking, Ilmo saw the FBC's black pyramid logo as a spruce tree and came up with the plan for their group, the Cult of the Tree. They would become boogeymen, masquerading as a dangerous cult to scare people away from Cauldron Lake. This was apparently highly effective, with the name alone doing "half the work."[2][3] The brothers used the Kalevala Knights Workshop as the cult's headquarters, and rigged the FBC's Cauldron Lake monitoring station to alert them when something was happening in the lake.[4]
Several months after the cult's founding, the brothers responded to an alert from the monitoring station, but instead of Taken, they found the Clicker, which they quickly integrated into their method for killing Taken.[4] The cult recruited various local townspeople to become vigilantes and hunt down Taken to protect the town from the Dark Presence, unaware it would play a large part of Alan Wake's attempts to escape the Dark Place. The brothers would join fellow cult members in killing Taken who would emerge from the lake, rip out their hearts, and ultimately use the Clicker inside of them to cleanse and ultimately kill them. Having read about what happened to Barbara Jagger, they planned to kill Alan if he emerged since they believed he would come out "bad" like Jagger.[1] Both brothers were attacked by the Dark Presence in their nightmares, but their strength and will enabled them to resist the Dark Presence; instead, the Dark Presence went after deputy sheriffs Mulligan and Thornton later on.[5]
Events of Alan Wake 2[]
The Koskela brothers first appear in the prologue, though they are not identified. They are dressed in their full cultist regalia and appear to the Taken Robert Nightingale as shadowy, monstrous figures with distorted voices. They are alerted to Nightingale's presence by Vladimir Blum (also not identified), and quickly manage to subdue Nightingale and tie him to a table behind the Cauldron Lake General Store. Beginning the ritual, Ilmo stabs Nightingale and cuts out his heart,[6] but the group is interrupted by Tammy and Ed Booker, forcing them to flee before they could complete the ritual. FBI agents Saga Anderson and Alex Casey soon arrive in Bright Falls to investigate the murders.
On the first return to Cauldron Lake, Saga can optionally meet Ilmo accompanying Federal Bureau of Control technician Steven Lin, who is repairing the FBC monitoring station; Ilmo was hired by Steven as an escort through the woods. If this occurs, Ilmo immediately asks Saga about the murder investigation, claiming that he is well-informed because of his business ventures in Watery and Bright Falls, and then advertizes the brothers' amusement park Coffee World. The two bond over their European backgrounds, with Ilmo sharing how Watery was founded by Finnish immigrants, and how his Finnish mother and Saga's Swedish mother similarly knitted Nordic-style sweaters.
After Saga manages to kill the Taken Nightingale and bring in Alan Wake for questioning, Saga travels to Watery following one of Alan's manuscript pages. She encounters the brothers, who, having been warped by Alan's story, believe that they have always known Saga. Alan had written that Saga had once lived in Bright Falls, and took residence in Ilmo's trailer park before Saga's daughter Logan tragically drowned. Ilmo points Saga to her trailer with the key found in Coffee World.
The brothers' cult would begin unraveling once Alan would begin enabling some cult members, such as Mulligan and Thorton, to be possessed by the Dark Presence so Saga can retrieve the Clicker. After Alan finally emerges from the lake after thirteen years, the brothers instruct the cult to find and kill him. Saga discovers during her investigation that the brothers have founded the cult, and she ultimately saves Alan from the brothers' attack. The Federal Bureau of Control led by Agent Kiran Estevez arrive and apprehend the brothers, several cult members, and Alan. However, an attack by the Dark Presence and several Taken lead to several cult members, police officers, and FBC Agents being killed or possessed, ultimately leaving the brothers as the sole survivors.
After Saga helps eliminate the Taken, Saga goes to the holding cells where the Koskela Brothers and Alan are held, with the brothers threatening Alan and telling Saga to kill Alan. When Saga almost gives Alan the Clicker, Alan reveals himself to be possessed by Scratch. Jaakko insults and threatens Scratch, saying that they have been waiting for him. However, Scratch phases through his jail cell and through Jaakko, instantly killing him and, leaving Ilmo distraught. After Saga fends off Scratch, Ilmo stands over Jaakko's body and takes responsibility for his brother's death. Ilmo comes clean over the cult's origins to Saga.
In the transformed Bright Falls created by Scratch, Ilmo can be seen in one last commercial for the book club, reviewing Return. However with Jaakko dead, there is nobody left for him to bounce off with in the ad, though Jaakko simply appears as a faint shadow. He can also be seen on a Parade Float in the back where he raffles off the last copy of Return. If the player gets a hold of the last copy of Return and remains stationed there, the player can hear Ilmo being one of the people shouting things at Wake.
Trivia[]
- Both brothers are portrayed by Peter Franzén.
- Their low-budget and humorous advertisements are collectibles for Saga around Bright Falls.
- Ilmari Huotari in the Nightless Night short-movie is also portrayed and played by Peter Franzén.
- Ilmo's name is derived from the Finnish name Ilmarinen, meaning 'air'. Ilmarinen appears in the Kalevala as a blacksmith and inventor of the Sampo. The Sampo is a magical device that brings riches and good fortune to the holder. One can argue that in a similar way, Ilmo tries to bring the 'Sampo' (good fortune and business) to Watery due to the town slowly dying out.
Appearances[]
- Alan Wake 2
- Prologue: The Cult
- Return 1: Invitation (in an advertisement)
- Return 2: The Heart (Ilmo only)
- Return 3: Local Girl
- Return 4: No Chance
- Return 6: Scratch
- Return 8: Deerfest (Ilmo only)
Gallery[]
Concept Art[]
In-game and Renders[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Koskelas Break Into The FBC Lab
- ↑ Saga: How long has the Cult been around for?
Ilmo: Certain folks around here have always known about Cauldron Lake. Before us, it was the Torchbearers. When I inherited the mission, I wanted to call it a “cult”. It was genius. Just the name did half the work. Made people too scared to go in the woods at night. Business 101. Fear is a great motivator.
(Optional conversation during Return 6: Scratch) - ↑ The Cult Of The Tree Is Born
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Cult Finds The Clicker
- ↑ Ilmo Resists The Dark Presence
- ↑ Identified as Ilmo by dialogue line IDs. One example is NA_MM_PROLOGUE_01_200_NIGHTINGALE_MURDER_CULTIST_ILMO_PROLOGUE_3776: Where’s the rest of the stuff? We need to finish this.