The Oldest View - The Rolling Giant is the third video in the The Oldest View series. It was uploaded on October 8th, 2023.
Summary[]
Part 3 of The Oldest View begins with a shot of a woodland, with the camera gradually moving back. Nature sounds are mixed in with what appears to be a swarm of people yelling. The video abruptly shifts to a YouTube-style buffering screen before loading to Wyatt filming a follow-up video to his first video (The Oldest View Part 2) to discuss what transpired in that video and how it has been a few days since his previous upload. He also claims that he hasn't been down the stairs since his previous video. He had, however, visited the hole several times. He followed the advice of one of the viewers who mentioned using trail cameras. He obtained two trail cameras from his former botany teacher and placed them around the hole. He concealed one within the hole and one outside of it.
The Trail cameras captured nothing significant near the hole, only a deer and grass moving in the breeze. He goes on to say that in his last video, he ended it because he was worried about tripping a quiet alarm and running into people, so he left and went back up the staircase. He intends to return to the hole after his lessons to investigate. The trail cam footage that Wyatt shows gives us a date for this video. The trail cam film indicates the date 05/22/2023, implying that this movie takes place shortly after that date.
He mentions the fragrance of cut grass as he nears the bottom of the stairway, describing it as a cornfield smell. He opens the wooden door and walks into the still-dark outlet. There was no music playing this time. He walks over to the roller gate and opens it.
When Wyatt opens the door, it slams open at the top of the frame, making a loud noise. He swiftly escapes to the stairwell and returns to the mall after approximately 15 to 20 seconds. There is an AMC in the center of the mall, with other stores all around it. He discovers a sign identifying the mall as Valley View Centre at Dallas Midtown. As he moves deeper into the mall, he notices that many of the stores are art studios. As he wanders, he comes across a gigantic puppet with a disturbing face and giant hands made of flowers and leaves. It appears to be on some kind of moving cart. As he approaches the giant, the center of the mall comes to life, with the lights gradually turning on and music playing.
He begins to make his way back to the stairway, careful not to be spotted by anyone in the mall. He returns to the wooden door as soon as he enters the empty outlet from which he came. To his dismay, the staircase has collapsed and is now covered in rubble. He tries but fails to move the rubble. After a little moment, he realizes he must return to the mall to locate another escape.
As he returns to the mall, he notices a bright red exit sign above him and begins to follow it to a possible exit. Along the way, he discovers more paintings in display cases and leaves on the ground in front of one of the images. He gets to the end of the illuminated exits only to discover that the mall is fully beneath the earth.
He returns to the mall's center, looking for another exit. As he approaches the center, he hears thunder overhead, and some of the mall lights go out or flicker. The music has entirely stopped, and he spotted the identical gigantic on the other side of the mall, displaced from its original location. He begins to come in closer, passing an escalator, but the giant vanishes as he passes the escalator. He was perplexed but brushed it aside.
He searches for a directory board in the hopes of finding another exit on the map. He begins to walk down a different section of the mall after consulting the map. He thought there was another exit that way, but all he found was a kid section with a mini-playground. He discovers a roller fence gate leading into Midtown Artist Studios. When he looked inside, all he saw was a gloomy forest, and he could even hear bird sounds. Before continuing his investigation, he hears a squeaking and squealing sound and returns to the mall's center.
Wyatt hears noisy wheels behind him on his way back. When he looks back, he is startled to discover the giant immediately behind him. He approaches it and says "hello?", believing that someone is probably moving it around. When he realized there was no one there, he began walking back while keeping his gaze fixed on it. He eventually turns around to continue walking. He hears the rolling sound again and spins around to find the giant has approached him. He informs the giant that, "I'm leaving." and "I'm trying to leave." and walks backward, keeping an eye on it. This is the point at which he realizes there are no individuals involved. Suddenly, he hears thunder and some lights go out, forcing him to turn his back on it. The giant then rolls towards him again. He spins around swiftly and becomes startled to see the giant has rolled a lot closer than last time, the only thing Wyatt can say is "Fuck.", knowing exactly what he has got himself into. He still keeps his gaze fixed on it and continues walking backward. The thunder distracts him once more, and the figure rolls towards him. When Wyatt glances back, instead of the giant stopping in place, it instead continues moving towards him, indicating that it has got aggressive. Wyatt then says to the giant, "Hey, hey!" but to no avail, Wyatt starts running towards the escalator and goes halfway up before turning back to stare at the giant. The giant refuses to ride the escalator and begins to roll away. Thunder can be heard again.
Wyatt begins to plot his escape and dashes down the escalator in an attempt to reach another exit. The giant begins to pursue him as he runs. Wyatt's exit is also barred, and he can't go back the way he came because the giant is approaching from that direction, so he knocks his body against a neighboring wood panel going into a nearby shop. He enters before the giant can reach him. The business is deserted on the inside. The room appears to be in the process of being built. He dashes deep into the back of the shop, which leads to the maintenance corridors. He hurries down the corridors when he hears the front windows of the shop being smashed. He reaches the end of the corridor and enters another empty shop on the other side of the mall.
He approaches the front of the shop gently, where there is a roller gate door similar to the one he first opened. He quietly opens it and then closes it behind him to avoid making any noise. He then enters another mini-hallway through a glass door that leads to an office.
Wyatt enters the room and looks around for anything that can help him escape. There is documentation for the mall spread around on the tables. One paper includes a diagram of numerous streets associated with different tree varieties. He discovers a document that informs him: "If all key escape routes become unreachable, please see Document 18371905." He discovers the document, a mall map with the emergency exit route in case all others are closed. The map indicates an exit at AMC Level.
He makes his way back to the mall's main floor, only to find trees and grass all over the area. Flora covered the floors, and part of the lights altered to a more blueish hue. The music has returned, but not as upbeat and happy as it was before. The sound of thunder has also returned. After looking around, Wyatt makes his way to the mall's heart. He notices the AMC floor by the escalator and begins to approach it. But before he can reach it the giant appears from around the corner behind the escalator, this forces Wyatt to dash with a scared "Fuck." to the second escalator on the other side and climb it. After climbing the escalator he tries to take the elevator, only to realise that it is out of order, he then notices a stairway at the other side of the AMC floor and climbs the stairs. He notices a sign directing him to the emergency roof exit, making him realise that he'll have to balance on the edge of the walls at the mall's tallest point.
But before he can begin to make his dangerous balancing escape, he notices the giant ascending the escalator, to which he responds with "you gotta be kidding me.", realising that the giant could climb the escalators the whole time. When the giant reaches the top and looks at Wyatt, he asks, "What do you want!?!" to the giant, to which it responds by flickering the lights. The giant turns slightly and reveals Wyatt's dead horses and dead human carcasses on the floor, which freaks Wyatt out. The giant then proceeds to roll full on into the stairway and Wyatt sprints to the left to avoid being slammed into. The giant smacks against a nearby wall, forcing it to break. Wyatt makes his way to the rooftop emergency exit. The music changes back to upbeat and happy.
He makes his way to the exit gently, trying not to tumble. Wyatt turns to see the giant rolling away from the stairs on the other side. The giant is no longer visible for the remainder of the view in the mall. As he approaches the entrance, we see what appears to be the same staircase we saw at the beginning, but as he places his weight on the metal support beam, it fractures, sending him to the bottom of the mall, screaming for his life.
The screen goes black, and the next thing we see is Wyatt's dead body, which appears to have slipped into the same state as shown in The Oldest View Part 1 when everything is monochrome save for the color green. The scene shifts, and we see the giant's face in the distance behind some woods, while thunder can be heard in the background. The video fades to black and then finishes.
Trivia[]
- Revisiting the Unknown: Wyatt's decision to return to the mall demonstrates a classic human trait: curiosity, combined with a drive to understand the inexplicable. This mirrors countless explorers or researchers in history and literature who, despite the risks, are drawn to uncover the mysteries of the unknown.
- The Rolling Giant: The antagonist of this video is a real-life art piece. Created by Kevin Obregon, The Rolling Giant was made for an art festival honoring important figures in Dallas's history. It represents a French botanist by the name of Julien Reverchon, who lived in Dallas, hence the flower hands.
- The Valley View Mall: The mall that Wyatt finds himself trapped in is a real place. It was called the Valley View Center, it was located in Dallas, Texas. The Rolling Giant was stored in this mall up until it was demolished in the May of 2023.
- Timeline: Given that the trail cam pictures date to May 21st and May 22nd, it implies that the events in this video take place on May 23rd, which also coincides with the real-life demolition of the mall.
- Music: The music that plays at 19:15, when the mall comes to life is Unnamed Shopping Muzak by Josh Augustin, though higher pitched.