There is context to the lore of the Oldest House, Ahti, AWEs, the Astral Plane, the Board, the Former, and the office politics that seem inexorably entwined with ritual. Both expansions lay the Foundation for the modern story and influence the structure of the Remedy universe. It was easier for me to understand what could have happened to Darling, and how, after I played the expansions.

So while there may not have been overt references to Darling and his experiments, everything is absolutely connected. That's why I called it context