Emesis Blue Explained- What is Emesis Diazepam, Who Respawned At The End, Is Ludwig Dead, And Dell’s Bar

Quite possibly, the single best SFM animation film I’ve ever seen, Emesis Blue, is everything a horror hybrid should be. It is smart and mysterious, with endless layers to unpack. In the story of one man who might be losing his mind and another trying to save a kidnap victim, nothing is as straightforward as it seems. Time and space mean nothing in this war allegory for damnation and rebirth. It might also be a complex horror science fiction hybrid so ingenious you can’t see the entire truth. After watching this labor of love that took years to create, you may have some questions. Here’s everything you need to know about Emesis Blue, the Valium, respawning, purgatory, and what happens at the end.

The ending of Emesis Blue

After blowing up the Conagher Slaughterhouse, a front for a Helix respawn facility, Soldier is debriefed and instructed to keep his mouth shut. He attends Governor Archibald’s funeral, and Spy, who miraculously survived the previous events of Emesis Blue, declares himself the new Chairman of the Board of his foundation. Doe refuses to pin the guilt on Dr. Ludwig, so Spy steps up. Spy also lies about what really went down inside the slaughterhouse and said Dr. Ludwig did everything, including Scout and his mother’s death.

Ludwig, who respawned at some point from his death by Russian Roulette, sits up in the coffin and shoots Spy multiple times while Doe looks on, shocked. Ludwig then narrowly escaped getting shot by stealing an ambulance. While this happens, Doe follows Blue Man and shoots him in the back of his car. Red Man sees his brother dead and, while gloating, is run over and killed by Ludwig in his escape ambulance. Both Mans are now dead, and in theory, there is no longer a need for respawning because the war is over.

Ludwig walks into Dell’s bar in the middle of a darkened space and talks briefly to Dell, who makes a call to Scout while he is in the restroom. Ludwig takes some of his Emesis Diazepam and sees Archibald come out of the restroom stall. At this point, the camera pulls back to reveal Ludwig in the front seat of the ambulance, dead, having hit a light pole.

The briefcase everyone had been chasing was open and emitting a red light. In the final moments, we see a silhouetted figure emerging from the fiery door of what appears to be the slaughterhouse. Considering the facility collapsed before the funeral, this is probably the scene where Ludwig respawned to find his way to Archibald’s funeral. We don’t know if Ludwig will respawn again, perhaps using a mobile unit in the briefcase, or if he is dead for good now.

Who are the nine mercenaries?

Halfway through Emesis Blue, we learn the respawned are nine unfortunate men who were spared from death row by agreeing to participate in the respawn experiment. The program was created to continue the war between the Man brothers by allowing their soldiers to respawn on the front lines. One hundred men were selected, and of that group, only nine survived and lived to function.

We have limited information about who each of the nine mercenaries is, and most of it is suspect. At the very least, we can assume Heavy, Spy, Doe, Ludwig, Demo, and Pyro. An argument could be made that Scout either saw something he shouldn’t or is one of the respawned himself. Archibald might be one of the respawned, as having a governor in your pocket would be very useful to a corrupt corporation and a handful of evil rich brothers. Maybe what we were told about the purpose of the machine and initial experiments was all a lie.

The respawned experiments could be random people or soldiers who were kidnapped and experimented on against their will. It is also possible that the program expanded to include influential figures who would be useful to the Mans over time. That might explain why Jules wasn’t aware of what Emesis Diazepam was. In that same phone conversation, Archibald says he could use the machine to escape. Even if he wasn’t one of the nine original respawners, he might have put himself in the device, which is how Ludwig sees him in Dell’s bar at the end.

What is Purgatory Bar or Dell’s Bar?

Everything you need to know about the bar can be determined in the very first shot of it. The unmistakable call back to the bar in The Shining is purgatory. It is a space where people go before being respawned. Dell, the strangely calm and preternaturally knowledgeable bartender, tells Demo when he enters, “It’s eternity in here.” Archibald’s appearance at the end signifies that Ludwig is also dead but might also indicate that Archibald is capable of respawning or that this liminal space is for all dead people and not just those waiting to be respawned. Assuming we can trust the newspaper headlines and other characters’ involvement, this all can’t be the product of a fevered mind. Ludwig is struggling with his sanity and possibly his morality, but that doesn’t mean someone didn’t do this to him. He may have psychotic episodes, but he is a healer at heart.

Maybe none of them are alive in the traditional sense. It seems an odd coincidence that the number of people who died at Archibald’s funeral is the exact number of mercenaries that survived the respawn procedure. Additionally, unreliable narrators or outright lies heavily manipulate much of what we learn. It’s possible nothing beyond the name of the companies is true. The people who were experimented on could be random men, not death row inmates. It might explain the moral compass Ludwig and Doe struggle with the entire film.

If the bar is purgatory, war is Hell, and peace is Heaven. Maybe none of what we see is real, and all of it is the struggle to choose where any of them deserve to go after death. I have a hard time buying this theory, but it at least bears mentioning.

Jules Archibald is the face of the company, but it is possible that he is just a figurehead, and the real power rests with Dell. It would explain why he seemed so in control in the bar. It is also possible, however, that he may have been the brains of the operation that was killed and stuck a copy of himself in the machine before he died to live on as a digital version. Maybe he is the corrupt file?

What’s in the briefcase in Emesis Blue?

The briefcase glows red at the film’s end and presumably causes Ludwig’s crash. While we never see what is in there, some assumptions can be made. It could be a mobile respawn unit from the Red side or something completely unrelated. On the other hand, it could hold the key to the universe. I am also curious if the Red respawn unit was destroyed, does that mean there is a Blu one somewhere?

What is Emesis Diazapam?

Those who take it were told it is similar to Valium. It is supposed to mellow tempers and control anxiety. I think it is safe to conclude it is not that. In the final moments, Ludwig takes some of the pills and looks horrified at the bottle. Combined with the clues throughout and Archibald’s concern that it wasn’t what he thought it was, we can conclude it is something else. Maybe something to destroy memories or an antipsychotic to control these death row inmates? It could also induce paranoia and anger resulting in increased violence and better soldiers.

Time and death don’t work the same in the world of Emesis Blue. Time runs backward, and characters can interact with past versions of themselves. It is all confusing stuff that the film deliberately leaves the rules vague. No doubt this film will be unpacked countlessly over the coming months. The only thing we can say for sure is it is a masterpiece and deserves a bigger audience. Emesis Blue is currently streaming on YouTube.