Ark of the Lost Angels

I finished The Walking Dead game, and had some thoughts regarding the ending. I chose to have Clementine shoot Lee, giving him the peace of mind in dying instead of becoming a threat to his friends, allowing him to pass in peace, relatively speaking. It also served as the conclusion of Clementine’s arc, turning her from a little girl that would make excellent zombie food into more of a survivor. By killing Lee, Clementine embraces the mentality of doing anything to survive, as with Lee’s head destroyed, the chance of him being a threat to anyone is completely eliminated.

The idea of making a choice for practical reasons as well as sentimental reasons is something I mentioned in my last blog post, but it’s an effective through line. I mentioned before the idea of saving Carley because she was better with a gun, and also saving the kid at the farm because of the parental instinct. Both choices led to roughly the same outcome, and it calls to mind the “Constants and Variables” theme from Bioshock Infinite as a meta-commentary on gaming as a whole, but that’s for later on in the semester.

Clementine’s character was definitely a standout, simply because of how much time was put into the relationship with her. She was a surrogate daughter for Lee, who had lost his real family, so not only was she a path to redemption for him, but any character that provides a constant companion and reason for action like that, once again making the comparison to Bioshock Infinite with the relationship between Booker and Elizabeth, will usually lead to an emotional reaction from the audience as the emotional reason for action and the practical reason for action (to progress the game) are one and the same.