The Binding of Isaac is well known for its very dark story, along with its rather unique sense of humor. The story, which involves a mother seeking to murder her own son, is a very striking one, especially the first time you learn of it.

As you play through the game more times and unlock new and more revealing endings, many different interpretations of Isaac's story begin to form and get disproved. Items take on new meanings, characters are painted in more or less sympathetic lights, and the truth of the matter is obfuscated. It's confusing, is what we're getting at. Let us unconfuse it for you.

Please be warned that this article will discuss potentially triggering topics, namely child abuse, child death, parental abandonment, and suicide.

Updated October 3, 2023: We've gone over this article to make sure things read well and the information is accurate and clear.

What Happened To Isaac's Mother?

The entire premise of The Binding of Isaac revolves around Isaac's mother and her descent into madness. Before the game starts, Isaac and his mother have a happy life, with Isaac having the typical life of a small child and his mother being a religious person who watches Christian broadcasts.

One day, Isaac's mother starts to hear voices that tell her to kill Isaac, and she obeys them. Isaac notices her walking toward his room with a large knife, and subsequently dives into the basement to hide.

This is why the first floor of the game itself is a basement, with Isaac delving deeper and deeper underneath his house to escape his mother.

The story's setup is a reference and sendup of the story of the biblical Isaac. The biblical 'Binding of Isaac' is the story the figure is most well known for and involves his father, Abraham, being instructed by God to kill Isaac as a test of his faith. In the bible story, an angel intervenes at the last second to prevent Abraham from killing Isaac - this may be why the Bible item in the game can be used to instantly end the fights against Mom and Mom's Heart.

What Happens At The End?

The Binding of Isaac has a great many endings to unlock - over 20, in fact. These endings play when you beat one of the many final bosses that the game has. Some of the final bosses stop being final bosses once you unlock floors that take place after those boss battles.

This is why the next sections mention different final bosses.

In the original ending of the game, when you manage to beat the Mom boss fight, the ending that plays directly references the bible story noted above. The narration states that an angel intervenes, though the animation actually seems to indicate that Isaac's mother is knocked out by a falling bible. The further implications of what would happen when she wakes up are not explored.

There are lots more endings to unlock, however, when beating other bosses in the game. In the first batch of endings, which unlock after beating the next final boss after Mom, Mom's Heart, a chest features prominently. The endings have Isaac opening the chest, revealing new items or character unlocks for further runs.

The endings that unlock after beating the next batch of final bosses that unlock (Isaac, ???, The Lamb, and Mega Satan) tell a different story when pieced together. These endings imply that Isaac himself got into the chest, which seems to be located inside the basement.

Inside the chest, Isaac begins to suffocate, with one possible interpretation of this being that the game consists of Isaac's hallucinations in the minutes leading up to his death. Isaac's mother searches for him, putting up missing posters.

One of these endings shows Isaac reading the bible and then looking ashamed. This ending implies that Isaac got into the chest willingly as a form of suicide to atone for his perceived sins.

Another ending, achieved after beating Mother (a separate boss from Mom), one of the two absolute final bosses as of Repentance, shows Isaac drawing a picture of his mother as a monster. When his mother discovers the picture, she is shocked and angry, and punishes him by throwing him in a closet. This abusive scene, paired with his mother's recital of the Lord's Prayer, could be seen as a contributing factor in the ending that implies Isaac's death was a purposeful suicide triggered by feelings of sin and shame.

Where Is Isaac's Father?

Isaac's father is a far smaller character than his mother, but he plays a big part in the overall story. It is revealed during the true final route of the game - which is triggered by obtaining Dad's Note from the end of the secret floor. To access the secret floor, you'll need to return to the starting room of Depths 2 (the floor with the Mom fight) after obtaining the Polaroid or the Negative by teleporting out of the boss room.

You can also use the Faded Polaroid to unlock the passage to the secret floor.

Obtaining Dad's Note begins the ascent, which takes you through all the floors of the game in reverse order. At the beginning of the floors you return to, voice clips play of Isaac's parents arguing with each other. From these clips, we can ascertain the following:

• Isaac's father has spent a lot of money, possibly the family's entire savings, and possibly on gambling. This would explain the presence of slot machines throughout the game and the fact that Greed is the most prevalent of the seven sins.
• Isaac's father drank a lot.
• Isaac's mother blames his father for Isaac being a 'disturbed' child.
• Isaac's father disagrees with how far Isaac's mother takes her religious lifestyle.
• Isaac's father left, believing himself to be doing more harm than good by staying.

This implies that Dad's Note might be a note that he intended to leave before abandoning the family or maybe a note that he left for Isaac to read.

The Final Ending

Despite how grim and depressing everything we've covered thus far is, the ending achieved upon defeating The Beast (the absolute final boss of the game) has a more positive interpretation to consider.

This ending seems to follow the fights you hear during the ascent. It contains imagery that doesn't fit together in one coherent story, such as Isaac being dead, Isaac being alive but his parents being dead, and both a happy family life and his father leaving them.

After these images flash past, you hear Isaac's father asking Isaac if this is really the story he wants to tell and that a happier ending might be nicer. It is then revealed that they are telling a bedtime story together.

The game being an abstraction of a bedtime story would solve many inconsistencies - a sleepy child's story would be incoherent and contain plot holes. This also provides a far more positive interpretation of Isaac's deaths - both in the endings and in-game - he's just falling asleep before the story can reach its conclusion.

This ending's final line is Isaac's father repeating the intro that plays every time you load the game up, adding further evidence to the theory that each run of the game is simply another bedtime story being told. This would also provide an explanation for why the game is a roguelike - as the story is repeated, more characters, bad guys, and weapons are added to keep things interesting for Isaac (and you, the player).

NEXT: The Binding Of Isaac: All Transformations, Ranked