Mr. Owl

* Underground Blossom
* Rusty Lake Hotel & Cube Escape: Birthday

**Mr. Owl** is a major, though rarely appearing, character in the Rusty Lake series. The owner and manager of Rusty Lake Hotel, he is seemingly behind the events of the games.

In his past life, he was a human named **Jakob Eilander**, a member of the Eilander family.

## Cube Escape: The Mill

In 1972, he leaves two notes for Mr. Crow on the top floor of the Mill. The first explains that the Lake desires fresh memories, and he will be sending Mr. Crow the body of Laura later in the month. However, he warns that Mr. Crow must use the machine wisely, as extracting painful memories causes corruption of the body. The second letter explains that the Corrupted Souls are still wandering around the Lake, but that he may have found the one, Dale Vandermeer, to stop them. If Dale can find two cubes, he will bring the storm and Mr. Crow can take him to the Cabin.

After Dale places the black and white cubes into the TV, he disappears in a flash of light. His unconscious body lies on the ground by the Chapel, with a beam of light shining down on him. Mr. Owl steps towards him and spreads his arms out, mysteriously causing Dale to rise. As this happens it begins to rain, powering the Mill.

## Rusty Lake Hotel

He introduces himself to the player in 1893, as the owner of the Rusty Lake Hotel. He explains that there are five guests arriving who all have their own reasons to be here, and he has his own reasons to let them stay. There will be five dinners, and the player must make sure that each is worth dying for. He ends by wishing to the player to "make some memories". On the first night, the phone will be ringing. Mr. Owl tells the player to look at his portrait, where it is holding mushrooms needed for Mr. Deer's dinner.

On the final night, Mr. Crow gets the player to take the last dinner to Mr. Owl's room. Once inside Mr. Bat blocks the way out. Surrounded by the skulls of the dead guests, Mr. Owl thanks the player for all of the memories as the Lake will be grateful. He has extracted the memories of the five guests into black cubes, which he keeps in five large tanks. Interacting with the tanks causes the Corrupted Souls of each guest to emerge then fade away, trapped in the tanks. Mr. Owl explains that their memories are not only the key to the past, but also the future. Underneath the plate cover for the final dinner is a white cube. The cube takes the player to the middle of a foggy forest, with the guests' Corrupted Souls wandering around. Collecting their black cubes eventually leads to a solitary elevator shaft, which Dale silently rides up to the Hotel.

## Cube Escape: Birthday

On Dale's ninth birthday in 1939, he receives a present and letter from Mr. Owl in the mail. His letter warns that this day will be the darkest of his life, but that the past is never dead. He tells Dale to look at his present, which he claims will "turn his day around". When unwrapped, the present appears to be a strange device that requires certain objects to power-up and activate.

In the kitchen, there is a snow globe locked in the cupboard. By putting the code 1966 into the globe, Mr. Owl appears inside. He tells Dale to deal with his past, and only then can he become who he is truly meant to be. Before leaving he gives Dale a pocket watch, the final piece to assembling the machine.

## Cube Escape: Theatre

In 1971, a man wearing a Mr. Owl mask with Harvey on his shoulder comes from behind the curtains. He welcomes Dale to the theatre of his mind, and presents him six plays about the past, the present, and the future.

He reappears for the sixth play, "*The Mill*", but this time he is wearing a mask of Dale's face. He explains to Dale that Bob's memories now belong to the Lake and that extracting them caused his Corrupted Soul, one of the six stages of the wheel. Upon finishing the final play, Mr. Owl congratulates him on his mind reaching a higher state of consciousness, and that he is now learning about his past and future, and what he may become. He ends by telling Dale to continue his journey as an elevator comes onto the stage.

## Cube Escape: The Cave

During the Winter of 1972, the player finds Mr. Owl lying down on the ground. He is wearing a diving suit, but the tube connected to the suit has been cut. Because of this, the suit is filled with water and he cannot breathe air. Sounding as if he is drowning, Mr. Owl asks the player for help. After the tube is repaired the helmet is pulled off, revealing a man. When given the extract of the Elixir, he will change into his familiar owl form. However, he is unable to hold his owl form for long, and reverts to being human.

He tells the player that Dale is about to begin his journey. They must gather the memories, as they need them for their future, the full Elixir. Mr. Owl tells them to descend into the great depths of the Lake, and wishes for the player to take care. After speaking, he gives them a box containing a green gem and a card with a picture of Laura.

He is also seen on one of the cave murals showing Dale Vandermeer, with Mr. Owl's assistance, walking through the Hotel guests' Souls to the white cube found at the end of the game.

## Cube Escape: Paradox

In 1972, after Dale awakens in the Paradox Room the second time, he finds a letter placed on a chess board written to him by Mr. Owl. He writes that, similar to a game of chess, they all have a role to play in Rusty Lake and Dale must use all of his minds to find their places on the chess board. After completing the puzzle and getting a black egg, he gives it to a hand behind a curtain, which disappears to reveal Mr. Owl underneath.

Appearing in human form, he complains that he cannot think. When placing the "present mind" in his head, he becomes his owl form. He tells Dale that finding his Corrupted Soul is his final test. When the "past mind" is used, he becomes his previous form of Jakob Eilander. He explains that he was once a man like Dale, but the Lake helped him to become something else. When the "future mind" is used, his head becomes a fish. He reveals that his time is limited, and that he needs a successor to rule the Lake in his stead. Telling Dale to face his Corrupted Soul, he disappears and leaves him three cubes needed to get the blue vial.

## The White Door

Mr. Owl, in his human guise known only as the Manager, runs a mental health facility in 1972 called The White Door. However, the real purpose of the facility is to extract the memories of the patients, to create black cubes. He sends messages to the doctors through the computer system regarding Bob, noting that he is their most important patient and that his memories are extremely valuable to their organization. He also messages Sarah, allowing her to retrieve his memories but warning her to be careful as he has a particular interest in his memories of Laura. He informs her that if she erases Laura from Bob's memories, his mind will become useless.

During Bob's stay, he relives his memories each night in his dreams. In his sixth dream, he phones the White Door to which Mr. Owl answers that he was expecting him. After being driven to the facility, Mr. Owl tells Bob that he has made the right choice, and they are here to help him retrieve his lost memories and bring colour back into his life. Bob signs a paper granting them permission to intake him at the facility, given several items that he recognizes, and then he is taken to his room.

## Trivia

* He is voiced by Bob Rafferty.
* Mr. Owl's species may be the Great Horned Owl.
* Though unseen, his first confirmed interaction with the other events happens in the first chapter of Cube Escape: Case 23, where he takes the body of the Woman.
* He is mentioned in 1859 in Rusty Lake: Roots, as Mr. Crow leaves to assist him. He does not make a physical appearance.
* In Rusty Lake Paradise, Jakob Eilander is burned alive in a large wicker owl after the tenth plague. As he is surrounded by the flames, he and his mother's Soul become Mr. Owl.
* In Underground Blossom, a statue of Mr. Owl can be seen in Child Lane.