- Feb 2, 2005
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I have a spoilery question about the chronology of events. I also know that some people read the forums on tapatalk, which may not recognize spoiler tags, so I thought that it might be best to put this kind of discussion in a separate thread that those people could choose to avoid entirely. I must say that I have not thought about a game this long and hard ever. I also can't remember a game that so effectively drew me into the game world and stayed with me so long. I think it's worth discussing in it's own thread anyway.
I've read a few deconstructions of the plot and I've come across some conclusions that I didn't get out of my playthrough of the game. I also have some speculation as to what happened. Others who have beaten the game are welcome to tell me if they got the same thing out of it as I did.
Everything below is a major spoiler. You have been warned.
SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW
One thing I've seen repeatedly is that the transformation of Dewitt into Comstock is in the future of the Dewitt we play in the game. I didn't get that at all. My impression is that the baptism, which was the moment Comstock was born, occurred about 20 years in both Dewitt and Comstock's past. The pivotal difference between the two worlds was Dewitt's decision to either be baptized or not to be baptized. That's the whole reason that the Columbia universe can be said to have a "root", where you can go back far enough and snuff out the entire Columbia universe by killing Dewitt in one universe rather than facing an infinite number of Dewitts undergoing an infinite number of baptisms. I can't see how the older Dewitt would become Comstock when both of them have that moment in their past.
There are also a few indications that Dewitt has been going back to Columbia over and over again. The Lutece's seem to demonstrate that with the coin flip and the 122 marks under "heads" showing that the coin flip has occurred many times before, and has always had the same result. I never saw the mechanism by which he has been returning to Columbia though. Does it always end in his death at the baptism waters? I don't see how that's possible, since that was supposed to wipe out the Columbia universe entirely. Did he simply fail and die trying to save Elizabeth the other 122 times, after which the Lutece's simply go back and get him from another similar universe? I suppose that last one makes the most sense. After the baptism initially created the Columbia universe, each universe would probably branch out into many more universes based on Dewitt/Comstock's possible decisions after that point, leaving many Dewitt's for the Lutece's to choose from. Perhaps it took the "right" Dewitt to get the job done, hence the 122 unsuccessful attempts. They couldn't be bringing him back to the same Columbia universe though, or else he'd be meeting himself every time. So each attempt was a different Dewitt being taken to a different Columbia every time?
The last problem I have is with the very last scene. Elizabeth brings Dewitt back to the baptism waters and drowns him to get rid of Comstock before he was ever born. The thing is, we're the older Dewitt at this point. The actual baptism was years in his past. It's true that going back and killing Dewitt at the baptism would cause this Dewitt to cease to exist, along with Comstock, but that doesn't change the fact that this Dewitt is just further along the timeline. Killing him would affect his future decisions, but would not affect the original baptism. Even if she went into the past and killed him, we shouldn't have seen it from the first person perspective. Something I noted was that shortly after arriving at the baptism waters for the last time, Dewitt seems to forget who Elizabeth is. He says something like "Wait, you're not...Who are you"? The only conclusion I can draw from this is that he is literally becoming the previous Dewitt, who naturally would not know who Elizabeth is, as she wasn't born yet in his timeline. This transition isn't accompanied by any other indicators though, so I was never certain of it. It would semi-explain how his death is supposed to solve things though.
Well those are my questions. If anyone else has anything illuminating about them to say, or has musings about the game plot in general, feel free to post them. That's what I made this thread for.
I've read a few deconstructions of the plot and I've come across some conclusions that I didn't get out of my playthrough of the game. I also have some speculation as to what happened. Others who have beaten the game are welcome to tell me if they got the same thing out of it as I did.
Everything below is a major spoiler. You have been warned.
SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW SPOILER BELOW
One thing I've seen repeatedly is that the transformation of Dewitt into Comstock is in the future of the Dewitt we play in the game. I didn't get that at all. My impression is that the baptism, which was the moment Comstock was born, occurred about 20 years in both Dewitt and Comstock's past. The pivotal difference between the two worlds was Dewitt's decision to either be baptized or not to be baptized. That's the whole reason that the Columbia universe can be said to have a "root", where you can go back far enough and snuff out the entire Columbia universe by killing Dewitt in one universe rather than facing an infinite number of Dewitts undergoing an infinite number of baptisms. I can't see how the older Dewitt would become Comstock when both of them have that moment in their past.
There are also a few indications that Dewitt has been going back to Columbia over and over again. The Lutece's seem to demonstrate that with the coin flip and the 122 marks under "heads" showing that the coin flip has occurred many times before, and has always had the same result. I never saw the mechanism by which he has been returning to Columbia though. Does it always end in his death at the baptism waters? I don't see how that's possible, since that was supposed to wipe out the Columbia universe entirely. Did he simply fail and die trying to save Elizabeth the other 122 times, after which the Lutece's simply go back and get him from another similar universe? I suppose that last one makes the most sense. After the baptism initially created the Columbia universe, each universe would probably branch out into many more universes based on Dewitt/Comstock's possible decisions after that point, leaving many Dewitt's for the Lutece's to choose from. Perhaps it took the "right" Dewitt to get the job done, hence the 122 unsuccessful attempts. They couldn't be bringing him back to the same Columbia universe though, or else he'd be meeting himself every time. So each attempt was a different Dewitt being taken to a different Columbia every time?
The last problem I have is with the very last scene. Elizabeth brings Dewitt back to the baptism waters and drowns him to get rid of Comstock before he was ever born. The thing is, we're the older Dewitt at this point. The actual baptism was years in his past. It's true that going back and killing Dewitt at the baptism would cause this Dewitt to cease to exist, along with Comstock, but that doesn't change the fact that this Dewitt is just further along the timeline. Killing him would affect his future decisions, but would not affect the original baptism. Even if she went into the past and killed him, we shouldn't have seen it from the first person perspective. Something I noted was that shortly after arriving at the baptism waters for the last time, Dewitt seems to forget who Elizabeth is. He says something like "Wait, you're not...Who are you"? The only conclusion I can draw from this is that he is literally becoming the previous Dewitt, who naturally would not know who Elizabeth is, as she wasn't born yet in his timeline. This transition isn't accompanied by any other indicators though, so I was never certain of it. It would semi-explain how his death is supposed to solve things though.
Well those are my questions. If anyone else has anything illuminating about them to say, or has musings about the game plot in general, feel free to post them. That's what I made this thread for.
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