Braid has provoked more talk and discussion from the community than any title in a long time, partially over its fascinating and deliberately ambiguous themes. In this post I'm going to poke into them a little. Obviously spoilers are rampant after this point, ye be fairly warned.
SPOILERS
Although none of the themes of Braid are entirely clear, the most obvious one to me seems to be a commentary on the linear nature of time, and how humans do not necessarily perceive it as such. This is rooted in the game's basic mechanics of course, exemplified in its time manipulation gameplay, but is also highly prevalent in the surrounding text. Many passages talk of how time appears different to Tim than to others, and the text that opens the first level (world 2) in particular ruminates on how a less strictly linear progression would allow learning from mistakes without punishment. Directly attached to this is the idea that time progresses differently according to perspective, a theme which underpins the game's unique conclusion of course, but is also very clearly exemplified in World 6, where the ring which Tim carries is both a gameplay device but also an item of great emotional significance in the plot. Ultimately, the entire game hinges upon the concept of time and how it shapes our perception of those around us.
A second theme that I personally see within the game is an understanding that appearances are often deceiving. The 'princess' Tim is searching for may not actually even be a physical person, but rather an emotion or ideal, and in any case, she is actually actively fleeing from him. Remembering that the events of the final level take place chronologically before anything else in the game, so the Princess has already fled, and the entirety of your quest is futile, though you obviously don't know it until the end. Perhaps the most telling moment occurs at the end of world 6, which chronologically is the last moment in the game, where the dinosaur that emerges confesses that he has never even met the princess, before he asks the killer question 'Are you even sure she exists?'. The correct answer is of course 'No', since the princess has long vanished from the game. Her absence can be seen in the progression through the levels which become increasingly dark and damaged as you play through, possibly in direct correlation to the increasing distance of the princess. Of course, you'd be totally aware of this deception if you had seen the game's chronology correctly, which leads back to the idea that time is perceived differently depending on person and viewpoint.
As to the more specific details of the plot, I'm pretty much as clueless as anybody else. It's possible the entire idea of the narrative is as a Macguffin to carry the themes, a theory seemingly supported by comments made by creator Jonathan Blow. I'm not convinced, and I think that although the plot by no means has a traditional coherence there is more to it than a series of random statements. Based on the close, near obsessive nature of their relationship as described in the texts, plus the creepy nature of the final level (man waits outside womans bedroom, then chases her as she tries to stop him), I'm going to suggest a possible Tim-as-obsessed-stalker scenario. It explains his undying infatuation with her, as well as hinting at the 'mistake' that he made that he's striving so hard to eliminate. What if his mistake was merely meeting her? It also explains why he believes they had such a deep and meaningful relationship while she runs immediately at the sight of him, and the way that the game is a delusional 'quest' for someone who is already long gone. Theres plenty of holes, but it carries a certain logic and certainly adds a dark undertone.
The other common theory is that the entire narrative is actually an allegory for a real life event, namely the creation of the atom bomb. There's certainly plenty of evidence for this idea, most prominently the flaming city that opens the game and ultimately closes it (a set of twin towers is clearly visible from the attic, suggesting it's New York) as well as the direct quotes pulled from the epilogue. This idea recasts the role of the Princess not as a person but rather as an idea, a concept that seems within reach, but always keeps escaping at the last moment. I like the proposal, and it's certainly a bravura idea, but it also seems a little loose and takes no account of the text given outside of the epilogue.
Both of these ideas fail to take into account huge chunks of the game, and no explanation I've yet seen can do so. For example, what is the meaning of the four paintings built from the jigsaw pieces, which seemingly are totally disconnected from the plot in any sense (clearly the person in them is different every time, and is not Tim). The flags at the end of each world are apparently naval signals, what do they say and how do they fit into the levels? What, if any, is the significance of the dinosaurs? Nobody knows, and this is part of what makes Braid so fascinating. Like Lost, it's inscrutability provokes debate, and allows each player to create his own personal context and motivation for the game. Until Jonathan Blow reveals the purpose, if ever, Braid remains an mystery wrapped inside an enigma, and that only enhances it's lustre.
EDIT: Apparently, finding all the hidden stars in the game unlocks an alternate ending, which, suffice to say, seems to corroborate the 'bomb' theory. It certainly fills a major piece of the puzzle in.
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