Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
In October 2013, 18-year-old Maxine "Max" Caulfield (Hannah Telle) returns to Arcadia Bay, Oregon, to attend Blackwell Academy. During her photography class with teacher Mark Jefferson (Derek Phillips), Max experiences a vivid and catastrophic precognition of a tornado destroying a lighthouse and approaching the town. Leaving for the restroom to regain her composure, she takes a photograph of a butterfly on her camera, and then witnesses classmate Nathan Prescott (Nik Shriner) shoot and kill a young woman in a fit of rage. In a sudden effort, Max develops the ability to rewind time and saves the woman, revealed to be her childhood friend Chloe Price (Ashly Burch). The two reunite and visit the lighthouse, where Max reveals her powers to Chloe. Strange weather patterns and other anomalies begin occurring throughout Arcadia Bay.
The next day, Max's class is disrupted when Kate Marsh (Dayeanne Hutton), a fellow student who has been bullied over a viral video depicting her kissing several students at a party, attempts suicide by jumping from the roof of the girls’ dormitory. After rewinding time and reaching the roof, Max either saves Kate or fails to convince her not to jump. Following the incident, Max resolves to uncover what happened to Kate and to Chloe's missing friend Rachel Amber. That night, Max and Chloe break into the principal's office, discovering evidence that implicates Nathan. The following morning, they sneak into the motorhome of drug dealer Frank Bowers (Daniel Bonjour), learning that Rachel had been romantically involved with him, a fact she kept from Chloe. Max later examines a childhood photo of herself and Chloe and is unexpectedly transported back to the day it was taken. She prevents Chloe's father, William (Joe Ochman), from dying in a traffic accident, inadvertently creating an alternate reality in which William is alive but Chloe is paralysed from the neck down due to a separate accident. Heartbroken, Max uses the photo to undo her actions and return to the present timeline.
Continuing their investigation, Max and Chloe discover a bunker beneath a derelict barn owned by the Prescotts, where they find binders containing photos of restrained young women. Among the images are photos of Kate and, to their horror, photographs depicting Rachel's corpse being buried. The pair rush to a scrapyard, where they discover Rachel's remains, devastating Chloe. They later attend a school party to confront Nathan, who sends a text message threatening to destroy the evidence. Returning to the scrapyard, they are ambushed by Jefferson, who anaesthetises Max and kills Chloe with a gunshot to the head. Max awakens in the bunker, where Jefferson reveals himself to be a psychopathic serial killer obsessed with abducting and photographing young women, explaining his desire to "capture the moment innocence turns into corruption." He reveals that Nathan had been acting under his influence and had accidentally killed Rachel by overdosing her. Having murdered Nathan himself, Jefferson plans to kill Max once he has completed photographing her.
Max escapes by entering a photo and returns to the beginning of the week during Jefferson's class. She alerts David Madsen (Don McManus), Chloe's stepfather and Blackwell Academy's head of security, preventing Chloe's death and leading to the arrest of both Jefferson and Nathan. Max travels to San Francisco with Principal Wells in Jefferson’s place, where one of her photographs is displayed in an art gallery. While there, she calls Chloe and realizes that the storm has still reached Arcadia Bay. Max returns to the moment she took the winning photo, leading her through multiple collapsing timelines that manifest as a dream-like nightmare.
Reuniting with Chloe at the lighthouse, Max blames her own decision to save Chloe earlier in the week for causing the storm. Having kept Max's butterfly photo, Chloe then offers Max a final choice: use the photo to rewind time and allow Chloe to be killed to save Arcadia Bay, or remain in the current timeline and allow the town's destruction to save Chloe. Chloe believes that there are people in the town who deserve to live rather than die for her own survival, including her mother Joyce, and implores Max to sacrifice her. Max protests, not wanting to lose her, but Chloe urges her to make the choice.
If Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe, she reluctantly returns to the Blackwell restroom at the beginning of the week where she listens as Nathan shoots Chloe dead. Nathan and Jefferson are arrested, the storm never occurs, and Max attends Chloe's funeral with Joyce, David and the rest of the town.
If Max chooses to sacrifice Arcadia Bay, she destroys the photo, and she and Chloe watch as the storm devastates the town before dissipating. The next morning, Max and Chloe leave the ruined town together.
The next day, Max's class is disrupted when Kate Marsh (Dayeanne Hutton), a fellow student who has been bullied over a viral video depicting her kissing several students at a party, attempts suicide by jumping from the roof of the girls’ dormitory. After rewinding time and reaching the roof, Max either saves Kate or fails to convince her not to jump. Following the incident, Max resolves to uncover what happened to Kate and to Chloe's missing friend Rachel Amber. That night, Max and Chloe break into the principal's office, discovering evidence that implicates Nathan. The following morning, they sneak into the motorhome of drug dealer Frank Bowers (Daniel Bonjour), learning that Rachel had been romantically involved with him, a fact she kept from Chloe. Max later examines a childhood photo of herself and Chloe and is unexpectedly transported back to the day it was taken. She prevents Chloe's father, William (Joe Ochman), from dying in a traffic accident, inadvertently creating an alternate reality in which William is alive but Chloe is paralysed from the neck down due to a separate accident. Heartbroken, Max uses the photo to undo her actions and return to the present timeline.
Continuing their investigation, Max and Chloe discover a bunker beneath a derelict barn owned by the Prescotts, where they find binders containing photos of restrained young women. Among the images are photos of Kate and, to their horror, photographs depicting Rachel's corpse being buried. The pair rush to a scrapyard, where they discover Rachel's remains, devastating Chloe. They later attend a school party to confront Nathan, who sends a text message threatening to destroy the evidence. Returning to the scrapyard, they are ambushed by Jefferson, who anaesthetises Max and kills Chloe with a gunshot to the head. Max awakens in the bunker, where Jefferson reveals himself to be a psychopathic serial killer obsessed with abducting and photographing young women, explaining his desire to "capture the moment innocence turns into corruption." He reveals that Nathan had been acting under his influence and had accidentally killed Rachel by overdosing her. Having murdered Nathan himself, Jefferson plans to kill Max once he has completed photographing her.
Max escapes by entering a photo and returns to the beginning of the week during Jefferson's class. She alerts David Madsen (Don McManus), Chloe's stepfather and Blackwell Academy's head of security, preventing Chloe's death and leading to the arrest of both Jefferson and Nathan. Max travels to San Francisco with Principal Wells in Jefferson’s place, where one of her photographs is displayed in an art gallery. While there, she calls Chloe and realizes that the storm has still reached Arcadia Bay. Max returns to the moment she took the winning photo, leading her through multiple collapsing timelines that manifest as a dream-like nightmare.
Reuniting with Chloe at the lighthouse, Max blames her own decision to save Chloe earlier in the week for causing the storm. Having kept Max's butterfly photo, Chloe then offers Max a final choice: use the photo to rewind time and allow Chloe to be killed to save Arcadia Bay, or remain in the current timeline and allow the town's destruction to save Chloe. Chloe believes that there are people in the town who deserve to live rather than die for her own survival, including her mother Joyce, and implores Max to sacrifice her. Max protests, not wanting to lose her, but Chloe urges her to make the choice.
If Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe, she reluctantly returns to the Blackwell restroom at the beginning of the week where she listens as Nathan shoots Chloe dead. Nathan and Jefferson are arrested, the storm never occurs, and Max attends Chloe's funeral with Joyce, David and the rest of the town.
If Max chooses to sacrifice Arcadia Bay, she destroys the photo, and she and Chloe watch as the storm devastates the town before dissipating. The next morning, Max and Chloe leave the ruined town together.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Life Is Strange (video game). Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license