This Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 discovery may change everything about Gustave's story

Players of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 discovered a detail that could have serious implications for understanding Gustave's story. Sandfall Interactive crafted an incredibly twisted narrative for its game, which swept a pile of awards at The Game Awards 2025 and continues receiving recognition.

Major spoilers ahead!

Reddit user young_clayton spotted a newspaper featuring news about Gustave's expedition. While this isn't surprising given the significance of the event for Lumiere, the newspaper was reportedly found in Renoir's atelier in the real world – outside the canvas. This suggests Gustave may exist not just as a painted character.

Most likely, this is just a reused asset from Lumiere, and the developers simply missed that the newspaper mentioned Gustave. However, this hasn't stopped fans from crafting theories. Some propose a Matrix-like scenario where paintings exist within paintings, with powers growing stranger the deeper you go. Another theory suggests Gustave is a real person, possibly close to Aline, whom she added when reshaping the canvas.

Gustave's death became one of the game's most emotional moments, and if he truly exists in the real world, this opens intriguing possibilities for a potential sequel.

Some fans even speculate that the real Gustave might be a writer and directly connected to Verso's death.