Chapter 2: Old Site is the second chapter of Celeste. The chapter introduces several new objects, and is the first chapter to include a large amount of story content (detailed below). This chapter also introduces one character: Part of Madeline.
Gameplay
Objects
Start
The B-Side Cassette Tape for the chapter is located here.
- Conveyor-Belt Platforms
- Diamonds
- Disappearing Platforms
- Falling Platforms
- Skull Binoculars
- Smashable Walls
- Spikes
- Star Blocks
- Strawberry fragments, small peg-like items that will form strawberries if the player collects all fragments on a screen without touching ground.
Intervention
- Diamonds
- Disappearing Platforms
- Falling Platforms
- Shields
- Shield-Activated Platforms
- Spikes
- Springs
- Star Blocks
Awake
- Disappearing Platforms
- Spikes
- Springs
Crystal Heart
- Main article: Crystal Hearts Guide
The Crystal Heart is located in the first sub-chapter, Start.
Alternate Sides
The B-Side is divided into three sub-parts: Start, Combination Lock, and Dream Altar. The first sub-chapter, Start, includes three objects: Star Blocks, Spikes, and Diamonds. The second sub-chapter, Combination Lock, includes six objects: Star Blocks, Spikes, Shields, Shield-Activated Platforms, Diamonds, and Springs. The third sub-chapter, Dream Altar, includes five objects: Springs, Star Blocks, Spikes, Diamonds, and Skull Binoculars.
The C-Side includes seven objects: Star Blocks, Spikes, Springs, Shields, Shield-Activated Platforms, Skull Binoculars, and Diamonds. Note that this list of objects is nearly identical to the list of items in the B-Side sub-chapter Combination Lock, with the only difference in the objects list being that the C-Side has Skull Binoculars, which Combination Lock does not.
The B-Side and C-Side both place a heavy emphasis on the Star Block Jump maneuver, a maneuver where the player has to hit the jump key the moment that they touch the exiting edge of a Star Block, propelling the player both forwards and up. Most of the B-Side's screens (and all of the C-Side's screens) are impossible to navigate without using this maneuver.
Plot
I tried to warn you.
This section contains spoilers for Chapter 2: Old Site. Do not read the following section if you wish to avoid spoilers for Chapter 2: Old Site.
After a significant amount of exploring, Madeline encounters a large mirror. As she passes by it, she sees in it a reflection of herself with various features changed (the reflection has purple hair, white skin, and red eyes). Madeline stops after passing by the mirror and walks back over to it, where she again sees this distorted reflection. The reflection then walks over to in front of her, breaks out of the mirror, and runs away. After this occurs, several non-interactive blocks in the level transform into Star Blocks. Using these Star Blocks, Madeline continues to explore.
Near the Celeste Memorial, Madeline explores a previously-inaccessible area, where she finds her reflection from earlier sitting by a dead campfire. The reflection reveals herself to be not Madeline, but Part of Madeline. The two converse; Part of Madeline attempts to convince Madeline that Madeline should stop climbing Celeste Mountain, saying that it's too difficult a task for Madeline to manage. When Madeline insists that she needs to continue climbing Celeste Mountain, Part of Madeline proposes that the two of them go home together, then begins chasing Madeline through the level.
After an intense chase, Part of Madeline stops chasing Madeline and disappears, laughing. Madeline continues running until she encounters a pay-phone, which she observes to be ringing. After some hesitation, Madeline picks up the payphone, and is answered by a green-haired boy, who she has an increasingly confusing conversation with. After revealing that he knows that Madeline is calling from a payphone, the boy insists that Madeline called him. Madeline then reveals to him what has just happened to her over the course of the chapter, but he insists that she's making all of it up. As she tries to reveal more of her experiences to him, she realizes that she's dreaming, which he confirms, then gives her more evidence to believe that she's dreaming. Part of Madeline then appears in front of Madeline, telling Madeline that it's time for her to give up and go home, after which the payphone transforms into a giant monster and eats Madeline.
Madeline wakes up to find herself back at the Celeste Memorial, where everything has returned to normal. Madeline then encounters Theo, and they converse briefly. Madeline then continues until she finds the payphone again; she uses this to call her mother, who tries to help Madeline calm down.
Quotes
I tried to warn you.
This section contains spoilers for Chapter 2: Old Site. Do not read the following section if you wish to avoid spoilers for Chapter 2: Old Site.
Part of Madeline: You can't handle this.
Madeline: That is exactly why I need to do this.
Madeline: Are you the weak Part of Me, or the lazy part?
Part of Madeline: I'm the pragmatic part.
Speedrunning Record Progression
Clear (2A):
| Name | Time | Date | Days Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yp | 1:59.442 | 20/2/2018 | 1 |
| Yp | 1:58.150 | 21/2/2018 | 5 |
| Zifre | 1:54.444 | 26/2/2018 | 30 |
| Buhbai | 1:51.911 | 28/3/2018 | 4 |
| Buhbai | 1:51.078 | 1/4/2018 | 14 |
| Buhbai | 1:50.704 | 15/4/2018 | 1 |
| Buhbai | 1:50.058 | 16/4/2018 | 5 |
| Buhbai | 1:48.732 | 21/4/2018 | 21 |
| Promblemstrol | 1:48.358 | 12/5/2018 | 9 |
| Promblemstrol | 1:47.474 | 21/5/2018 | 11 |
| Promblemstrol | 1:46.862 | 1/6/2018 | 29 |
| Promblemstrol | 1:45.638 | 30/6/2018 | 21 |
| Buhbai | 1:45.519 | 21/7/2018 | 57 |
| TGH | 1:45.128 | 6/9/2018 | 31 |
| Buhbai | 1:44.346 | 7/10/2018 | 1 |
| Buhbai | 1:43.938 | 8/10/2018 | 20 |
| Buhbai | 1:43.700 | 28/10/2018 | 32 |
| Lev067 | 1:43.258 | 29/11/2018 | 40 |
| Lev067 | 1:42.782 | 8/1/2019 | 10 |
| Lev067 | 1:42.476 | 18/1/2019 | 41 |
| Lev067 | 1:41.150 | 28/2/2019 | 36 |
| FPlush | 1:41.065 | 5/4/2019 | 2 |
| FPlush | 1:40.657 | 7/4/2019 | 0 |
| FPlush | 1:40.351 | 7/4/2019 | 12 |
| FPlush | 1:40.011 | 19/4/2019 | 7 |
| FPlush | 1:39.858 | 26/4/2019 | 96 |
| Lev067 | 1:39.824 | 31/7/2019 | 85 |
| Lev067 | 1:38.838 | 6/10/2019 | 1 |
| Lev067 | 1:38.396 | 7/10/2019 | 84 |
| Lev067 | 1:37.580 | 30/12/2019 | 50+ |
B-Side (2B):
| Name | Time | Date | Days Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| TheFallingLotus | 1:48.834 | 20/2/2018 | 158 |
| Benteezy | 1:43.717 | 28/7/2018 | 9 |
| Scrublord | 1:43.649 | 6/8/2018 | 11 |
| Jumpyluff | 1:42.646 | 17/8/2018 | 22 |
| TGH | 1:42.527 | 8/9/2018 | 25 |
| Jumpyluff | 1:40.946 | 3/10/2018 | 2 |
| Jumpyluff | 1:39.807 | 5/10/2018 | 51 |
| Problemstrol | 1:39.144 | 25/11/2018 | 27 |
| Aurora Dash | 1:38.209 | 22/12/2018 | 2 |
| Aurora Dash | 1:32.701 | 24/12/2018 | 267 |
| Fishmcmuffins | 1:32.038 | 17/9/2019 | 3 |
| Zkad | 1:29.318 | 20/9/2019 | 5 |
| Aurora Dash | 1:28.213 | 25/9/2019 | 2 |
| Zkad | 1:27.975 | 27/9/2019 | 144+ |
C-Side (2C):
| Name | Time | Date | Days Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doroco | 31.603 | 29/1/2018 | 5 |
| Really_Tall | 25.058 | 3/2/2018 | 1 |
| TmLuffy | 23.783 | 4/2/2018 | 37 |
| TheFallingLotus | 23.392 | 13/3/2018 | 116 |
| Bewnie | 22.712 | 7/7/2018 | 33 |
| Buhbai | 21.947 | 9/8/2018 | 62 |
| Jumpyluff | 21.454 | 10/10/2018 | 1 |
| Jumpyluff | 21.386 | 11/10/2018 | 321 |
| Zkad | 21.165 | 28/8/2019 | 31 |
| Zkad | 20.995 | 18/9/2019 | 153+ |
Full Clear:
| Name | Time | Date | Days Standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audien | 6:08.832 | 23/2/2018 | 18 |
| TheFallingLotus | 4:29.246 | 13/3/2018 | 41 |
| Saieden | 4:14.745 | 23/4/2018 | 61 |
| Jumpyluff | 4:06.687 | 23/6/2018 | 1 |
| Buhbai | 3:44.196 | 24/6/2018 | 53 |
| Buhbai | 3:38.416 | 16/8/2018 | 470 |
| UltraMarlin | 3:32.976 | 29/11/2019 | 81+ |
Major Strategies
The A-side version of the level contains the "cutscene warp" glitch, where, by being in a particular location at the moment a specific cutscene begins, then immediately skipping it, one can clip into the ceiling, saving about one second.
The B-side version contains an esoteric skip sometimes referred to as "altarskip", where 5-6 seconds can be saved with the use of a pixel-perfect diagonal demodash.
