Milton Finch

— Edith Finch

**Milton Finch** (ˈmɪl.tən ˈfɪntʃ | Miltin Finch) is the secondborn and the second son of Sanjay and Dawn, the younger brother of Lewis, and the older brother of Edith. Milton disappeared for unknown reasons in 2003 (a year after his father's death) at the age of 11 years old, When his sister Edith was only 4 years old. He was never found.

In a Reddit AMA with Giant Sparrow, Milton was confirmed to be the same character as the King from the studio's previous title, *The Unfinished Swan*.

## Personality

Milton is a prodigy child and was very passionate about painting in particular. His room, styled to look like a castle, is filled with paintings and art supplies.

## Gameplay

Milton's story plays out as a cartoonish flipbook that he made, entitled "Milton Finch in 'The Magic Paintbrush'". When Edith picks it up, she flips through the pages to animate the story. In the story, Milton is working on a drawing of a man, which comes to life and gives him a paintbrush. Milton proceeds to use the paintbrush to make a flipbook (implied to be the one Edith is holding). The perspective zooms in on this flipbook, wherein Milton uses the brush to paint a black door with a gold knob. He turns the knob and opens the door before stepping through it, bowing, and closing the door. At this point, the flipbook ends and Edith puts it down.

## *The Unfinished Swan*

After tiring of creating kingdoms for "less than perfect” subjects, he painted and fell in love with a female version of himself to marry; however, he never noticed her clear disinterest in his constant gifts and projects for her, nor did he notice her pregnancy until five months in.
The Queen would leave the King on a boat the night prior to the birth of their son, Monroe, causing the King to stop painting. Nine years later, the King decided to create a monument of himself to be his legacy; however, he would not get past creating a 100 ft. tall scale model before his powers started to fail. He fell asleep one night, but became entrapped in a dream he could not finish.
By the end of the game, the King is indicated to be on the verge of death; his powers are failing, he senses his own death and sees himself attending his own funeral, and he comes to reflect on his life and become content with the impermanence of his creations. After waking up upon Monroe's arrival and passing on his paintbrush to him, the King asks him to leave quickly as "none of this will last for long", indicating that he dies soon after his son's departure.

## Trivia

* Many of Milton's "Missing" posters can be found scattered throughout the game.
* As he was never found, dead or otherwise, in the family cemetery, there is a memorial instead of a headstone for him, with only his year of birth and no year of death.
* Besides Milton being the King from *The Unfinished Swan*, another game by Giant Sparrow, his room has several other references:
	+ Milton's paintings and sketches all depict characters and locations from *The Unfinished Swan* and are in black-and-white, resembling the game's art style.
	+ Framed on the wall is a large sketch of Milton's cartoon version of himself, which is the same as the King's younger version of himself which can be seen in *The Unfinished Swan*.
	+ The King's logo, which appears in many locations throughout *The Unfinished Swan*, is painted on an easel next to Milton's memorial shrine.
	+ A white sculpture of the first level of *The Unfinished Swan* can be found on the first level of the tower.
	+ Milton's flipbook depicting himself creating another flipbook within it may be a reference to the King's use of the Droste Effect (in which an image appears recursively within itself) in some of his self portraits.
	+ A weather vane on top of Milton's tower depicts a swan.
	+ There is a model of a boat with two balloons on top of it, as well as a painting that resembles structures from *The Unfinished Swan*.
	+ Additionally, the music that plays in Milton's room is a reprise of the theme *Clarify* from *The Unfinished Swan*.

* In *The Unfinished Swan*, the King mentions "a heavy knocking at the door, just like on the night [he] left." A room of "the house [he] grew up in" is also explorable (likely Dawn and Sanjay's house, as Milton had only stayed in the Finches' house for a year).
* In *The Unfinished Swan*, the King is mentioned to have hated the sea, as the only castle he had ever come close to finishing over the course of a day had been washed away by the waves. He is also mentioned to have never been afraid in his life prior to creating a "horrible creature" to destroy the invading vines.

## Gallery

Milton's memorial shrine.Milton's missing child poster.A photograph of Milton, his mom, and his siblings from Dawn's classroom.Edith's journal sketch of Milton.A photo of Dawn, Lewis, Edith, and Milton.A photo of Edie, Dawn, Edith, Lewis, Milton.In-game shot of Milton's memorial shrine.
## References

1. ↑ Milton's memorial stone in the Finch cemetery
2. ↑ After completing Milton's flipbook and heading down the tower.

## Navigation

 Sam's Branch
 Edie's Branch
 Odin's Branch
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