York/Zach Theory (SPOILERS!)

Hi forum post!

I have played Deadly Premonition a couple times, and I have just finished Deadly Premonition 2 once, currently playing a second run to finish all the side quests.

I have my own theory of York/Zach, which I have also posted onto a topic on Deadly Premonition 1.

I have based my theory on my time playing both games, watching cut scenes multiple times, and on all the wonderful theories I've found online. So here goes, Zach!

My theory is that York is his own conscience from the White Room in the image and possibly the personality of Zach's father, in the body of Francis Zach Morgan, that was created for Zach when he was sent to the Red Room by Kaysen.

Everyone in the first and second game know him as Francis Zach Morgan due to his FBI badge, however, York obviously refers to himself as York since Zach is still in the Red Room. He is adamant that people call him York despite his body, badge, and true name being Zach, because he IS York. This is why people are always confused at first by his introduction. Also, when York is talking to Zach, people are visibly confused as it just seems like he is talking to himself (even though WE know that's not the case).

This is where my theory gets funky, and I'm happy to talk with people about this! I believe, when York was finally able to pull Zach out of the Red Room, everyone's memories of York and the name Francis York Morgan are swapped with memories of Francis Zach Morgan. This is why, despite York being clear that he is called York while Zach was in the Red Room, everyone calls him "Zach" or "Agent Zach" instead of "York" once Zach has full control over his own body again.

What makes me believe this theory is at the end of DP1, everyone calls him Zach with no memory of ever calling him York, and in DP2, Patricia has no memory of York even when he was right in front of her next to Zach, and called Zach "Agent York" through the entire game up until the final episode.

Lastly, in regards to the FBI badge saying Francis York Morgan, and the photo of York, I believe are illusions created by York to protect Zach until he is able to escape the Red Room (and to fool the players in the first game!). I think the badge has his real name and appearance, same as his Le Carre and Greenvale case files with "Francis Z Morgan".

Please feel free to ask me any questions or hit back with your own theories! :)

I'm pretty sure what's going on is that the only trick relevant to the player is York's appearance/name, really only in visual elements. Everyone in game sees Zach, and sees his badge as Zach, hence the confusion over him always telling people to call him York. There's enough of a time skip right at the end of DP1 for it to be possible for him to start telling people to call him Zach off camera, and really it's just a writing thing to reinforce that it's a different character. There's a lot of stuff that would clearly have happened between the final boss and the last few scenes, so we can just assume he started saying "actually, call me Zach now, not York". I don't think there's any memory manipulation or whatever, it's just certain visual elements being meant to trick the player.

Also, there's the matter of the scar. People clearly see Zach because they comment on his huge scar all the time, but York reacts as though they're talking about the tiny scratch on his cheek and plays it off as nothing major. It's a little weird cause York is missing hair where the scar would be, but doesn't actually have the scar, so when people mention it, they're very much seeing Zach.

Basically, it's all in York's head, he sees himself as York in all relevant visual ways, but nobody else does. They see Zach, but interact with York.