Re: BioShock Infinite
About the ending
About the ending
Spoiler
I feel pretty comfortable understanding multi-universe theory, problem is that the ending doesn't work. Think about it like this, you are DeWitt A, the DeWitt that rejected baptism, Comstock is DeWitt B, the DeWitt that accepted baptism (there would also have to be a third DeWitt category, one who chose not to attend the baptism altogether, but this one is not broached in the game), and each of these would have an infinite variations of that DeWitt.
DeWitt A
-Goes to baptism
-Rejects baptism
-Meets wife
-Has child
-Wife dies during labor
-Sells daughter to Comstock
-Brought to Comstock by the Luteces
-Rescues Elizabeth
-Kills Comstock
-Learns of truth
-Drowns in baptismal pond by Elizabeth's hand
As you can see, there is a problem here, not only is this DeWitt the wrong one, he dies AFTER he had already gone through the baptism. As they go through tears, DeWitt A never reverts or advances, he's always DeWitt A, he may gain new memories, but going to Rapture DeWitt doesn't turn into a 90 year old man, he's at the same point of his life. Taking DeWitt A to the baptismal and drowning him wouldn't cause Comstock to never be born, because DeWitt A is already parallel to DeWitt B (Comstock).
Also, going to another universe/timeline, DeWitt isn't supplanted, there would still be two of him, just as he gets to be face to face with Dewitt B (Comstock). So, to truly end the cycle, Dewitt A and Elizabeth would have to find the pre-branched DeWitt and kill him (which would create a grandfather paradox).
But, maybe all that is the point, with the cyclical references throughout the game (like the Luteces seeing which coin flip you chose this time, etc) maybe the circle of events isn't broken. Maybe all those lighthouses, all those possibilities, aren't just infinite worlds, but rather infinite worlds created by Luteces interference. Maybe Comstock's reality is the true reality, in which Rosalind Lutece creates Columbia and first pierces reality to find Robert Lutece, creating the second universe. Together, they create a way to pierce realities whenever they want, and Comstock orders them to find him a daughter, so they begin poking holes in reality to find a DeWitt with a child, and they find a broken man who sells his daughter. Always the scientists, the Luteces decide to test reality itself, by introducing a DeWitt into the reality to see where it goes and what changes. They let it play out, then do it again in another reality with another DeWitt. Thing is, none of these realities exist until touched, so all those lighthouses were the Luteces past experiments all shown together through the prism that is Elizabeth's powers.
Things that lead me to that thought, the multiple options picked in the coin flip and the "this time" conversations the Luteces have, as well as the graveyard where there are two Lutece graves, after all if two Luteces need another reality to experiment in, they can't have two other Luteces running around at the same time.
DeWitt A
-Goes to baptism
-Rejects baptism
-Meets wife
-Has child
-Wife dies during labor
-Sells daughter to Comstock
-Brought to Comstock by the Luteces
-Rescues Elizabeth
-Kills Comstock
-Learns of truth
-Drowns in baptismal pond by Elizabeth's hand
As you can see, there is a problem here, not only is this DeWitt the wrong one, he dies AFTER he had already gone through the baptism. As they go through tears, DeWitt A never reverts or advances, he's always DeWitt A, he may gain new memories, but going to Rapture DeWitt doesn't turn into a 90 year old man, he's at the same point of his life. Taking DeWitt A to the baptismal and drowning him wouldn't cause Comstock to never be born, because DeWitt A is already parallel to DeWitt B (Comstock).
Also, going to another universe/timeline, DeWitt isn't supplanted, there would still be two of him, just as he gets to be face to face with Dewitt B (Comstock). So, to truly end the cycle, Dewitt A and Elizabeth would have to find the pre-branched DeWitt and kill him (which would create a grandfather paradox).
But, maybe all that is the point, with the cyclical references throughout the game (like the Luteces seeing which coin flip you chose this time, etc) maybe the circle of events isn't broken. Maybe all those lighthouses, all those possibilities, aren't just infinite worlds, but rather infinite worlds created by Luteces interference. Maybe Comstock's reality is the true reality, in which Rosalind Lutece creates Columbia and first pierces reality to find Robert Lutece, creating the second universe. Together, they create a way to pierce realities whenever they want, and Comstock orders them to find him a daughter, so they begin poking holes in reality to find a DeWitt with a child, and they find a broken man who sells his daughter. Always the scientists, the Luteces decide to test reality itself, by introducing a DeWitt into the reality to see where it goes and what changes. They let it play out, then do it again in another reality with another DeWitt. Thing is, none of these realities exist until touched, so all those lighthouses were the Luteces past experiments all shown together through the prism that is Elizabeth's powers.
Things that lead me to that thought, the multiple options picked in the coin flip and the "this time" conversations the Luteces have, as well as the graveyard where there are two Lutece graves, after all if two Luteces need another reality to experiment in, they can't have two other Luteces running around at the same time.
Spoiler
Even though there are a lot of ambiguities and more than just a couple plot holes, this game might have a better story for it since these discussions would never happen if it were plainly cut and dry.
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