Karen's Room

"It's just a room now, Sean... Nothing to see." — Claire Reynolds to Sean Diaz in "Episode 2: Rules"

Karen's Room
Type:	Bedroom
Location:	Reynolds Household, Beaver Creek
State:	Oregon
Appears in:	Episode 2: Rules

Karen's bedroom is an explorable location in Episode 2 of Life is Strange 2. Located on the upper floor of the Reynolds household, it is the former room of Karen Reynolds, the mother of Sean and Daniel Diaz. After Karen left the family, Claire and Stephen Reynolds decided to box away her belongings and lock the room, where it remained closed until Daniel coerces Sean into unlocking it to find mementos of their mother.

Overview

"It's her teenage room. I'm sure she... sorted through her things before leaving for Seattle."

— Sean to Daniel after he asks about the room (determinant).

Notable Items

• CD Player - A teal CD player sits next to a CD rack, although only one case still remains on the shelf. If Sean plugs the CD player in and tries to play it, he finds an adult ticket for a trip from Portland, Oregon to New York City.
• Chest - A chest is located beside the CD player, where Sean can look at a disposable camera, a set of eclipse glasses, a pair of hiking boots, and a pair of roller blades. Other items in the chest include a tape cassette, a sea dollar, a frisbee, a basketball, a spherical chicken plush toy, and some books.
• Boxes - Several boxes can be found lying around the room filled with Karen's belongings, including photos, books, and magazines. In an open box near the door, Sean can find pictures of Karen as a child.

Karen's poem.

• Poem - On her desk, Sean can find one of Karen's old journals open to a written poem, where she expresses her desire to escape.
• Pen pal note - Underneath her bed, Sean can find a note written in crayon from Karen's old pen pal, Emma. In it, Emma describes her home life with her large family and how she's jealous of Karen for being an only child, and mentions that Karen has previously told her about being lonely in Beaver Creek.
• Books - There are various books located on a shelf next to Karen's bed. On the top shelf is a lone book entitled "Young & Free", advertising "easy tips to travel the world before your thirties". The lower shelf seems to contain well-known young adult novels, as Sean mentions he had already read several of them in the 10th grade.
• Letter - Underneath Karen's old teddy bear, Ulysses, Sean can find a note addressed from Karen to her parents following the October incident in Seattle. It reads:

Mom, Dad,

I've heard the news about Seattle. I'm heartbroken.

I have no idea what's going on but I do know Sean & Daniel are innocent.

You're the only family they have left so please help my boys if they come to you.

You can reach me at this address, it's a PO Box I use sometimes.

I know you don't owe me anything. But I beg you, please, help my sons if you can.

K.

Episode Two - "Episode 2: Rules"

After being driven home from the Christmas market by Charles, Daniel asks Sean to let him visit Karen's room after hearing about Chris' mementos of his own mother. Sean reluctantly decides to come with him to ensure that they don't leave evidence. After either finding the key to the room inside Claire's cardigan or letting Daniel break the door open with his powers, the brothers explore the bedroom and find a recent-looking letter from Karen among her old belongings. Within the letter, Karen pleads for her parents to help Sean and Daniel should they find them after the Seattle incident, causing Daniel to believe that she wants to find them.

As he asks to reread the letter, Claire and Stephen return home from church and find the brothers in the room, causing Claire to angrily confront them about violating their privacy and breaking her rules. While Sean and Daniel argue with her over their right to know about their mother, Stephen is overcome with emotion and leaves the room. A few minutes later, their arguing is interrupted by a loud crash and Stephen yelling for help, and the three rush out of the room.

Interactions

PC users: Hover over the text to see Sean's comments. See here for all interactions in the game.

Prior to Daniel requesting to enter the room:

• Sean can try opening the door to Karen's room. (Comment: "It's been locked ever since we got here. I kinda don't give a fuck.")

After finding the key in Claire's cardigan:

• Sean can open the door.
• He can look at Karen's perfumes. (Comment: "It's like... she almost never used those...")
• He can look at and discuss with Daniel a teddy bear. (Comment: "I think I remember that one. Karen showed it to me once. U... Ulysses? Ulysses.")
• He can examine a family picture of Karen, Claire, and Stephen. (Comment: "They looked happy. How could she send all of this to hell?")
• He can look at some Polaroid photos tacked along the desk. (Comment: "These pictures are so... random.")
• He can look at some crystal rocks. (Comment: "Is that an amethyst? She was into new-age bullshit?")
• He can look at one of Karen's old poems. (Comment: "Yeah, you finally left forever...")
• He can switch on and off a lamp.
• Afterwards, he can look at a carving. (Comment: "Well. Figures Karen was already looking for an exit...")
• He can look at a pen pal letter underneath the bed. (Comment: "Man, that pen pal sure loved listening to her own voice...")
• He can look at an old phone. (Comment: "Guess the 'no phone' rule wasn't such a thing back then...")
• He can examine a book on travel tips. (Comment: "Hope you enjoyed your trips. So you didn't bail on us for nothing.")
• He can look at a stack of board games. (Comment: "I don't recognize any of these games...")
• He can look at more of Karen's books. (Comment: "Read a lot of these in the 10th grade... Yawn.")
• He can look at a mostly empty CD rack. (Comment: "This playlist is boring as hell.")
• He can look at and play a CD player. (Comment: Look: (sigh) "I miss my music."
  Play: "I think it's not plugged.")
• Afterwards, he can plug the CD player into its socket and attempt to play it, discovering a ticket from Portland to New York City. (Comment: Play: "The fuck is wrong with this? Oh. Hiding spot. Smart.."
  Examine: "So... Karen was already serious about running away...")
• He can open a chest, where:
  • He can look at a disposable camera. (Comment: "Karen liked to take pictures of strangers when we walked down the streets.")
  • He can look at a pair of hiking boots. (Comment: "Never been a big fan of hiking... but here I was... walking my way down to Mexico...")
  • He can look at a pair of eclipse glasses. (Comment: "I think I saw a moon eclipse once, before Daniel was born.")
  • He can look at a pair of roller skates. (Comment: "I miss my skateboard... and going to the park... with Lyla.")
• He can look at a box of Karen's things. (Comment: "They wanna forget anything related to Karen... I can relate.")
• After Daniel takes the bear, he can look at and read a letter. (required) (Comment: "These letters look... pretty recent...")

Trivia

• If Sean turns on the bedside lamp, he can examine a carving on the side of Karen's old dresser that reads "Exit Door To Somewhere Else". This may be a reference towards a similar graffiti which can be found in various places throughout Life is Strange.

The "Exit Door To Somewhere Else" carving on Karen's nightstand.

The "Hole To Another Universe" graffiti.

• Karen had a CD for the single "Rude" by Magic! on a rack inside her bedroom. This song was released in 2013, and its presence as part of Karen's belongings contradicted her having cut ties with her family in 2008. This temporal inconsistency has now been corrected with a new CD cover. It is believed this was either patched upon release of Episode 3 or shortly after its release.

The original "Magic!" CD.

The patched CD which removed the temporal inconsistency.

Gallery

An elevated view of Karen's room.

A low-angle shot of Karen's room.

Karen's old desk.

Karen's old teddy bear, Ulysses, on top of a drawer.

Karen's remaining furniture and belongings, all covered up or boxed away.

A chest of Karen's old belongings.