Blackouts

In Heavy Rain, Ethan Mars suffers from strange blackouts as a result of the car accident that killed his eldest son, Jason.
This article contains spoilers and is compiled from content found in early builds and development videos. It is recommended to complete at least one playthrough before reading below.
==Events of Heavy Rain==
The blackouts are first seen in the deleted chapter "Underwater," which takes place directly after "Father and Son." After Ethan puts Shaun to bed and goes downstairs, he discovers that his duplex is rapidly flooding with water. The water bursts a hole in the front door, and Ethan is pulled under by the current. He then finds himself in a surreal house submerged underwater, and discovers the drowned body of a young boy. Startled, he regains consciousness only to realize that he is outside in the rain, with no memory of how he got there and with a small origami figure clutched in his hand. As he walks away, a sign reveals that he is near Carnaby Square.
The next morning, Ethan prepares to take Shaun to school. As they are about to leave, Ethan finds a newspaper on his front porch reporting that Jeremy Bowles has still not been found. Reading the newspaper causes him to have a flashback to the previous night, and he realizes that Jeremy was the child he saw. Ethan can optionally tell Clarence Dupré, his psychologist, about his blackouts in "The Shrink."
After picking Shaun up from school, Ethan takes him to the park to cheer him up and buys him a ticket to ride the carousel. In the original version of this scene, a tsunami floods the park and surrounding streets, and Ethan awakens in the submerged house to find Shaun floating in the water. In the finished game, Ethan simply loses consciousness in the park and wakes up in the street. In both versions, he is nearly hit by a passing truck after regaining consciousness. Ethan frantically searches the now-empty park and his duplex to no avail, and collapses to his knees only to realize that he is holding an origami figure.
Grace Mars later mentions the blackouts to Carter Blake and Norman Jayden in "Police News." She claims that late one night (after Jason's death and soon after Ethan came out of his coma), Ethan left and did not return until about three in the morning. When he returned, he spoke nonsensically about "drowning and the rain," and she notes feeling like it wasn't really him speaking to her. The following morning, another victim of the Origami Killer was announced. Grace makes a point to say that the incident may not be linked to the murders, but her statement rouses Blake's suspicions that Ethan is the killer.
Following up on Grace's report, Blake and Jayden question Dupré in his office. Dupré initially refuses to talk to them, citing patient confidentiality, but caves when Blake attacks him. He informs them of Ethan's blackouts and produces an origami dog, explaining that it fell out of Ethan's pocket during a session a few weeks prior to Shaun's disappearance. Blake orders the police force to consider Ethan their prime suspect.
Madison Paige follows Ethan when he undertakes the third trial, and is forced to flee the Marble Street apartment with him when the police raid the building. After narrowly evading arrest (or being broken out by Jayden if he is caught), Ethan returns to his room at the Cross Road Motel, joined shortly afterward by Madison. Madison confronts him, asking him if he is the Origami Killer. Regardless of player choice, he eventually admits to her that he suffers from visions of drowning bodies. When she suggests telling the police, he turns her away.
If Ethan makes it to the warehouse, he can confront the real killer, who reveals that he was present the day of the accident. It is implied that witnessing the accident inspired the killer to begin the murders.
In two of his worst endings, Ethan continues to suffer from the blackouts, irrespective of whether or not the killer survives the events of the game. Tormented by grief, he eventually commits suicide.
==Trivia==
* Heavy Rain: Cutting Room Floor reveals that the blackouts were caused by a psychic link formed between Ethan and Scott during the accident at the mall. The scenes explaining this were removed late into development, but some references to the supernatural elements were left in the final game, creating a plot hole.
*According to a now-deleted development blog, the blackout sequences were removed in early December 2009, just two months before the game's release.
*While never stated, it is possible that the link was formed due to psychic abilities present in Ethan, which were triggered by the head trauma he suffered in the accident. In "The Shrink," Ethan can ask Dupré about whether his blackouts are linked to the accident, and Dupré responds that "we really aren't sure what effects a shock like that can have on the brain." Scott is also never shown or mentioned to be suffering from similar hallucinations, suggesting that the connection only affects Ethan.
* The blackout sequences were designed as separate chapters and have their own chapter select banners. These appear under the internal names "Underwater" and "Swimming Again," but a list of the chapter select names instead give their intended titles as "Blackout" and "Second Blackout."
* In the original version of the blackout at the park, distorted cries resembling John Sheppard's can be heard shortly before Ethan notices the oncoming tsunami.
* It is possible, though unconfirmed, that the submerged house is based on the one Scott lived in after he was adopted by the Shelby family. It does not resemble the trailer the Sheppard family lived in, and no indication is given that they lived anywhere else before John's death.
* Several key items appear in the blackout sequences, including:
** A Royal 5 typewriter.
** Several origami figures.
** Orchids.
** Signs for Carnaby Square.
** A photo of Scott during his time as a police officer.
==Videos==
File:HRPReview RestoredBlackoutContent
File:Heavy Rain - Deleted Blackout Scenes
File:Heavy Rain - Blackout Scene Exploration
Category:Gameplay
Category:Events