- Welcome to the Oh Deer Diner!
- ― Rose, Episode 1: Nightmare
Rose Marigold is a major character in the Alan Wake franchise. Rose is a waitress of the Oh Deer Diner and caregiver at the Valhalla Nursing Home in Bright Falls, Washington. She is also known for her obsession with the writer Alan Wake. When Alan arrived in Bright Falls in 2010, she was touched by the Dark Presence to lure him into a trap. The Dark Presence also possessed and killed her boyfriend, Rusty Johnston. After Alan disappeared into the Dark Place, Rose regained her sanity. Still affected by the Dark Presence, Rose became the town's "Lady of the Light", protecting the townspeople against the Taken like Cynthia Weaver before her.
In the following years, Rose received messages she believed to be from Alan, instructing her to assist the "hero", FBI Agent Saga Anderson, who would help prepare for Alan's return from the Dark Place. This included leaving Alex Casey Lunchboxes for Saga to find on her journey. To help Alan find his way in the Dark Place, Rose sent down the Angel Lamp, once belonging to Thomas Zane, to give him light. In 2023, Rose and Saga successfully managed to free Alan from the Dark Place using the manuscript Rose found, and later rescued Alan from his doppelgänger, Scratch.
Biography[]
Background[]
Rose Marigold grew up in Bright Falls, Washington. Raised by her father, he often used to say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." As an adult, she became a waitress for the Oh Deer Diner and lived alone in a trailer of the Sparkling River Estates. Despite her positive disposition, Rose lived in quiet and desperate longing.
At some point in her teen years, Rose became obsessed with writer Alan Wake, most notably his crime detective novel series, Alex Casey. She spent her time managing a fan blog and following his career online. After the selling of his last book, "The Sudden Stop", Rose procured the life-sized cardboard cut-out of Alan from the Bright Falls Book Store and placed it in the diner. At her home, she built an entire shrine of Alan Wake novels and photographs. When lonely, she would talk to the Alan Wake cut-out.
By 2010, Rose started dating Rusty Johnston, the park ranger for Elderwood National Park. Rusty taught her how to dance and was her only true friend in Bright Falls. He was in love with her, and Rose was aware of this. Even though she liked him as well, Rose fantasized someone like Alan Wake as the man of her dreams to fulfill her ambitions of a grander life.
Bright Falls[]
In Bright Falls, Rose meets Jake Fischer when he enters the diner and starts to flirt with him when she realizes he is a reporter. Jake notices that she is a fan of Alan Wake, as evidenced by the cardboard cutout of Alan in the diner. When she next meets Jake, she becomes rather jealous of Ellen Adams, a woman who came to the Oh Deer Diner to meet Jake. Despite this fact, she is still amiable to Jake whenever she meets him, and comforts him when he doesn't look well. When Jake enters the diner somewhat looking ill, he tells her a woman just bit a cop. Although she initially sees nothing, Deputy Mulligan enters the diner with a bleeding hand, which Rose helps put pressure on.
Alan Wake[]
When Alan Wake walks through the doors of the Oh Deer Diner, she doesn't quite acknowledges who he is until she looks up, and then begins gushing being Alan's biggest fan. Annoyed with her enthusiasm, Alan groans and interrupts her by asking where he can find Carl Stucky, to which she directs him to the bathroom in the back of the diner. When Alan leaves after receiving the cabin key and directions from Barbara Jagger, Rose wishes Alan goodbye. Later that night, Pat Maine announces that a certain celebrity was in town for vacation on his radio show "The Night Owl," and Rose calls in to reveal it was Alan Wake.[2]
One week later, Rose encounters Barry Wheeler, Alan's literary agent, who arrived in town after Alan and Alice went dark for the whole week. She affirmed that Alan and Alice had indeed arrived in Bright Falls. Later that morning, Rose delivers coffee to Rusty at the Elderwood Visitor Center when she encounters Alan and Barry again, relieved that Barry found him. The following morning, Rose was visited by Barbara Jagger and touched by the Dark Presence, influencing her to entrap Alan Wake. She calls Barry under the ruse created by Barbara that she had the rest of Alan's manuscript pages at her trailer. When the two arrive at her home, Rose serves them drugged coffee and knocking them out until nightfall. On his way out of her trailer, Alan notices Rose rocking back and forth, reciting lines she would say to a customer at the diner, realizing that the Dark Presence used her to get to him. Barry, however, believes she turned against them on purpose and steals the cardboard cut-out of Alan she kept at the diner.
Revealed in The Alan Wake Files, FBI Agent Robert Nightingale tried to interview Rose after the events of the trailer park. During which, she found it quite hard to focus after being touched by the Dark Presence. She admitted to Nightingale of hurting Alan and how a "woman in black" made her do it. The interview ended with her breaking down crying. Following Alan's disappearance into Cauldron Lake, Rose regained her sanity, but she still remained affected by the Dark Presence. Rose is seen carrying a lantern, similar to Cynthia Weaver, at Deerfest. Nightingale watches her from behind, enclosed in a dark building.
Post-Alan Wake[]
From the Dark Place, Alan began writing a follow-up story that would set him free. The sequel involved a "hero" coming to save Alan, with Rose delivering a particular manuscript to aid the hero. Rose received messages from Alan, similar to Cynthia Weaver and Thomas Zane, to assist her throughout the years. In 2014, Barry Wheeler opened the Valhalla Nursing Home to house the Anderson Brothers, Pat Maine, Cynthia Weaver, and the other elderly citizens of Bright Falls. Rose applied for a second job as a caregiver there. On March 21, 2014 - the Federal Bureau of Control began observing Rose's day-to-day operations.
After Cynthia retired, Rose became the new "Lady of the Light". Like the chests Cynthia left behind for Alan, Rose left various Alex Casey lunchboxes in the area with scrapped manuscript pages, Alan Wake fanfiction, and words of affirmations to support the "hero" who would come to Bright Falls and help bring Alan back. She employed Valhalla resident Mandy-May to knit ornaments to signal their location. Rose also learned how to use a rifle and began hunting Taken in order to protect the town during her spare time.
Night Springs[]
In an attempt to escape the Dark Place, Alan repurposed a Night Springs episode entitled "Number One Fan". He selected Rose as the obsessed fan in order to help him escape. Bright Falls temporarily became Night Springs, similar to the town in Arizona. Night Springs was transformed into Rose's view of the world in which she is universally beloved and in a relationship with Alan Wake. While waiting on her patrons in Nite's Diner, she receives word from her talking fish that Alan is in danger. Rose arms herself and goes to his rescue at the mansion outside Night Springs.
Upon entering the boatyard, she encounters Alan's evil twin Scratch. He vows to destroy Alan and escapes, leaving his army of Haters to stop Rose. She manages to fight them off and follows his trail to the ranger's cabin. Scratch reveals that it was a trick and that he's at the beach. When Rose travels to the beach, Scratch reveals that this was all a distraction while his Haters attack the mansion and kill Alan. Rose fights her way through the woods where she encounters a talking deer with the voice of Alan, reaffirming their love. Arriving at the mansion, Scratch reveals himself to be a werewolf and attacks Rose. She manages to subdue Scratch and spares him, encouraging him to be the best version of himself and not try to compare himself to and envy his brother. Rose clears the mansion full of Haters and reunites with Alan, to which she dances with her idol before the pair share a kiss. Despite the ending, the episode is not enough for the real Alan to escape the Dark Place.
Alan Wake 2[]
By September 2023, Alan messaged Rose that he was in need of a light. Rose stole the Angel Lamp from Cynthia Weaver that had once belonged to Thomas Zane and was attached to the Clicker. She placed the Angel Lamp in a shoebox and sent it into the black puddle outside for Alan to receive in the Dark Place. Shortly after, without its protection, Cynthia was possessed by the Dark Presence.
On September 13, 2023, FBI agents Alex Casey and Saga Anderson arrive in Bright Falls to respond to the ritualistic murder of Robert Nightingale near Cauldron Lake. The witnesses, Tammy and Ed Booker, are brought to the Oh Deer Diner by Sheriff Tim Breaker. Breaker has Rose make coffee and pie for the Bookers and FBI agents. As Agent Anderson enters the diner, Rose greets Saga and seemingly recognizes her. She also gives her condolences for the death of her daughter, Logan. Sage doesn't recognize Rose, and is disturbed by Rose stating her daughter was dead.
The following day, Rose and Vladimir Blum take the Valhalla Nursing Home residents to Watery. Saga arrives to town as well and sees Rose watching Ahti sing. As Saga greets Rose, she tells her not to interrupt Ahti. Shortly after, Rose and Blum take the residents back to Bright Falls.
Later that evening, Saga arrives at the home, wanting to see her grandfather, Tor Anderson. Rose says that she cannot see Tor because he had an accident. Saga lies by saying she wishes to say hello to the other residents. Upon investigating, she learns that Rose is keeping Tor in the Wellness Center. After Saga navigates the Wellness Center, she finds Tor being beckoned into the black pond by a Taken Cythina Weaver. Rose and Saga attempt to keep Tor from entering the Dark Place, but to no avail. After Saga confronts Rose, she reveals that she is aware of the supernatural happenings and has been preparing herself and the other residents in the home, acting on messages from Alan Wake and waiting for the foretold "hero" - which is Saga - to receive the manuscript she had been keeping. She also admits she had been the one leaving behind the Alex Casey lunch boxes for Saga to find. Rose then departs from Saga and the home, acting on instructions by Alan to help him later on in the story.
Rose is later seen by Alan Wake after his escape from Scratch's Return-altered version of Bright Falls. When Alan reaches the Valhalla Nursing Home, Rose opens the doors for Alan to escape Scratch and the Tornado. She is happy to see him again and reveals that she had been acting on his messages for all these years, with Alan not recalling ever sending her any messages. She ignores his denial and directs him upstairs to the Writer's Room.
Trivia[]
- In the early beta versions of Alan Wake, Rose had the same face as Sheriff Sarah Breaker whilst wearing a blue outfit, rather than red. Her voice sounded a lot older and country as well, and seemed to be more obsessed with Alan than the final version of Rose.
- Per Alan Wake Illuminated, Rose had a rough childhood, and books and movies were her escape to a happier reality. Her love for Alan is more about the fame and glamor he represents rather than anything romantic.
- When Alan asks her if she has the manuscript pages in Episode 3 when he and Barry Wheeler are in her trailer, despite being Touched, she makes a pose and tells him that he needs a "muse to inspire [him]". This means that she may be jealous of Alice, since she is Alan's muse and love. Similar to how Cynthia was jealous of Barbara Jagger and was relieved when she died.
- When she's feeling lonely she will talk to the cardboard cut out of Alan Wake.
- Rose's uniform in the mini-series Bright Falls is a bit different from the one she wears in Alan Wake, it is brown instead of red, and it lacks the hat.
- In the mini-series, she is played by Merette Bartles and is cradited as "Rose Darkens".
- In Alan Wake 2, Rose writes a zombie post-apocalypse fanfiction featuring herself, Alan, and Scratch in a love-triangle. Despite writing a piece of fiction, it does not come to reality. It's possible that one needs a certain level of artistic talent to achieve actual changes in reality, or the Dark Presence chooses what comes to life or not.
- In mythology, Baba Yaga (which is another name by which the Dark Presence is often called) has three enchanted minions: Bright Day, Black Night, and Red Sun. Bright Day and Black Night are depicted in paintings in Cauldron Lake Lodge. Rose often dresses in red and her first name is a shade of red, while marigolds are often associated with the sun due to their bright color and sunburst shape, suggesting that Rose herself is Red Sun.
Appearances[]
- Bright Falls
- Episode 1: Oh Deer (1st Appearance)
- Episode 2: Time Flies
- Episode 4: Local Flavor
- Alan Wake
- Alan Wake 2