The Rope
A mysterious rope leads scientists into the unknown.
The Rope is a French drama miniseries created by Dominique Rocher and Éric Forestier. The story follows a group of scientists at a remote Norwegian ground station who find a mysterious rope nearby in the woods.
- Type
- Environmental traversal object (not carried)
- Function
- Swing across chasms and broken walkways
- Persistence
- Fixed location; appears at specific points in the level
- First appears
- Ico (PlayStation 2, 2001)
- Developer
- Team Ico, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Studio
- Director
- Fumito Ueda
- Interaction
- Grab, swing, release at correct timing to land on far ledge
Lore & Background
The series is based on a German novel by Stefan aus dem Siepen, originally set in the 19th century involving farmers. Co-creator Éric Forestier noted the original story was handled in a 'very binary way' with men following the rope while women stayed at the village. The adaptation gives the story a modern retelling involving space exploration. The rope is seemingly endless and appears at the edge of a forest near a remote ground station in northern Norway. Following the rope leads to visions, deaths, and eventually reveals that the rope intersects with another rope.
In Their Own Story
The ledge ends. Beyond it, nothing but a grey throat of stone descending into a dark Ico cannot fathom. Yorda stands at the very edge, her horned head tilted, watching the nothing below. She does not step forward. She does not need to. Ico knows what he must do.
He reaches up. His fingers close around the rope—coarse, damp, smelling of old water and rust. He swings. The world tilts. For a heartbeat he is airborne, his boots scraping the air, Yorda's small shape shrinking behind him on the ledge. The rope groans. His grip burns. He lets go.
He lands hard, boots skidding on the far stone. Behind him, the rope swings back and forth, empty, a metronome counting the seconds until Yorda's footsteps echo across the walkway. She is there. Her hand finds his. The torch is lit. They walk on.
Reader's Guide
The series was produced by Les Films de l'Instant in co-production with Arte France and Versus Production. Filming took place in France, Belgium, and Morocco from October 14 to November 27, 2020. Scenes of the Norwegian ground station were shot at the former Lessive Space Telecommunications Earth Station in Han-sur-Lesse, Belgium. Additional scenes were shot in Havrenne, and a café used in the series is located in Namur, Belgium, meant to represent Oslo, Norway.
Did You Know?
- The series includes a content warning at the start of each episode: 'This program has scenes not recommended for young or sensitive audiences.'
- The original novel by Stefan aus dem Siepen is set in the 19th century and involves farmers from a village.
- The rope in the series is revealed to intersect with another rope at the end.
Elsewhere in the Ico universe
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