If Booker always refused the baptism, he would continue to live and have Anna and would never have to give her up to Comstock. But being that this choice is a variable, Booker choosing to refuse it means there are always universes in which he accepts the baptism and becomes Comstock, resulting in some version of the events of the game. This includes Elizabeth becoming omnipotent and drowning Booker before the baptism.
However, the act of drowning Booker before the baptism means that Elizabeth would no longer have ever existed, and would therefore not have been able to drown him after all. When Booker accepts the baptism, it leads to the series of events that results in Elizabeth becoming all-powerful and drowning him before he even makes the decision. Because of this fact, the choice to accept the baptism creates a paradox, meaning it is not a possibility.
This means that the only possibility allowed by nature is to refuse the baptism, making the refusal no longer a variable, but a constant. Thanks to Elizabeth, no branching universes are created at this point and Booker goes on to raise Anna without her being taken away by an alternate version of himself. The problem with the Paradox Theory listed here is that if there are infinite universes, i.
In other words, alternate universes are branching off constantly and at all variable points, instead of the single arbitrary point of whether or not Booker chooses to be baptized. Only this constant branching could provide infinite post-baptism-refusal Bookers to the Luteces, since universes would need to be branching off constantly based even on Booker's minor decisions. But if Booker's minor decisions after the baptism decision result in the creation of new universes, so do his minor decisions before the baptism.
This means that there are an infinite number of Bookers in different universes all go to the river and have a chance to make the baptism decision. Drowning Booker before he is baptized in one of these, as happens in the ending then eliminates the infinite number of worlds in which that Booker becomes Comstock and in which fire rains from the sky, etc. Similarly, Elizabeth asks Booker how he deals with all the things he's done shortly after he rescues her and he replies that he just learned to live with them.
One of the central themes, then, is whether or not a man can truly leave his sins behind him by participating in a ceremony. Despite being baptised, washed of his sins and born again, Comstock goes on to commit further atrocities despite Wounded Knee "burnt the teepees with the squaws inside" , possibly because he believes himself to be truly another person following the baptism.
However, he remains the same ruthless, cruel man internally. In this sense, then, the drowning death of Booker at the end of the game could be viewed, not as a physical death, but as a metaphysical one where Booker relinquishes the concept that his sins can be washed away solely by the act of baptism without an internal change.
Does this Booker have any knowledge of the events in the game, like a bad dream? I think so. Elizabeth asks Booker near the end if he is afraid of God and he answers in the negative.
I'd like to think that Booker has been shown Divine Grace. This idea is purely theoretical and has little or no basis in the facts as presented by the game. It does however reconcile many of the paradoxical issues that other theories are plagued with. The thought is that the final baptism sequence is a place wholly of Elizabeth's creation and not an actual place within any of the timelines - a place outside of all universes. This is reinforced by the fact that the people that would have been present for the baptism do not appear in the final sequence.
In essence, the final scene is symbolic in nature and not literal. Elizabeth has created a place where drowning one Booker can stand in for killing however many Bookers as is necessary in order to stop the creation of Comstock in all universes. You could also say that one sacrificial lamb cleanses away the sins Comstocks of all Bookers in all universes.
Thus it could then be theorized that only the Bookers who accept the baptism die who's to say how this symbolic drowning would manifest? They may die soon after or even before the baptism leaving all the Bookers who refuse the baptism to live on - giving us the final scene after the end credits.
Bioshock as a series has always been about ideology. Digging below the surface of the first two games reveals distinct references to and discussions about the philosophies of Ayn Rand. Bioshock Infinite takes this idea an entire step further by tackling numerous ideas and philosophies.
Namely, Bioshock Infinite includes themes about American Exceptionalism, Absolutism, Objectivism, and the concept of redemption among others. Booker's first few moments in Columbia are potentially meant to present some overly optimistic caricature of the American dream and one view of the American past. Very, very quickly the game takes a darker turn and soon we see a different side of Columbia.
This time Columbia is a much more pessimistic view of the American dream and the American past, which includes a moment where characters dressed in a way that heavily resembles the Ku Klux Klan shooting "Crows" at Booker. However, both of these views are essentially caricature, and neither of them are entirely true or false, from a certain point of view. They are both two sides of the same coin. BioShock Infinite, then, reveals itself to be about perception and self image, and uses other thematic elements as a framing reference to approach this central theme.
Initially, the game looks at war and heroism. Booker's assault on Comstock examines how we might might dress up or distort our own pasts to cope with our misdeeds or failures. The motorized patriots are a symbol for the false effigies of past idols we create and use to justify our actions and beliefs. Infinite goes on to frame it's discussion on perception using themes of class warfare, first exaggerating the atrocities perpetuated on the working class, and then revealing their hypocracies.
At no point does the game exempt Booker, and therefore the player, from anything he or she sees. Because Booker worked for the Pinkertons, he is, in a way, guilty of creating the state of places like Finkton. Because, in one reality, Booker is a hero to the Vox Populi, he is guilty of their crimes as well.
Because Booker, in one reality, is also Comstock, he also bears his crimes. BioShock places the burden of responsibility for the entire state of the world on its players and then, in its ending, it explains why this is. Elizabeth and the Luteces explain that reality isn't objective at all, as Rand so strongly asserted.
According to BioShock Infinite, there are countless perspectives and views of the same thing and each one is just as real to it's own believer or creator. Booker was a divided man. He wrestled with the guilt of his past and pondered whether he could ever be cleansed of his sins.
The Booker that became Comstock believed that, indeed, we can all be forgiven for what we have done, and forget what came before us. The Booker that fought Comstock rejected that notion, believing that we have to live with our sins for the rest our lives. Then in the final moments of the game, Booker ends his life drowning in waters in Baptism, finding the space between redemption and damnation.
Maybe, the game is asking us to look at both sides of every coin. When Booker DeWitt enters the tear offered by the Luteces, he suffers from a significant trauma - damaging his memory of past events the preceding 20 years of misery, seeing Comstock take his daughter, seeing the Luteces through the unstable rift, etc.
Within a few minutes of this event, Booker's mind has re-aligned to become the 'blank' action hero we need him to be to build our player narrative on top of. Further rift travel effects the mind less and less - possibly the damage is done. We know how the next part plays out - but one thing may have escaped your notice.
Without fail. If Booker is pushed beneath the surface, events conspire to kill him. When you are baptised on first arrival in Columbia, the priest sees you for who you are and drowns you. Another iteration of Booker avoids that, and we pick up where we left off.
When you are escaping from Songbird for the first time and fall into the bay, you die. Again, a new iteration of Booker takes up the story. When we push Comstock's head into the font on his ship, dead. Somewhere, another Comstock doesn't get drowned there - we never see that story, but I wouldn't fall asleep in the bath if I were that guy. What she can do is reflexively move to the nearest, living Booker to continue her at this point unconscious mission.
In the final scenes, where the Annas come together to drown the successful DeWitt, I see two possible resolutions. Either this represents a group of deities trying to explain to a monotemporal being what they are doing - all the DeWitts who enter the waters will die; or that is where all the successful DeWitts go when their mission is complete.
Comstock must be eliminated, and any DeWitt who has crossed path with Comstock must sadly perish; this would indicate that there are considerably fewer Comstock actors than DeWitt actors - considering the vast amount of effort, chance and energy required to engineer the Comstock future this seems likely.
The DeWitt we see at the end is the DeWitt the Annas have been working towards - in his life, he did not get baptised. None of the Comstock universes ever invaded his to steal his Anna remember, considerably fewer Comstock universes and he was not required to complete the Comstock elimination event chain.
No Rapture, no Columbia. They happened. Killing the Booker who lives in an alternate universe 20 years after the baptism won't do a thing to the Comstock would-be at the baptism.
But since all almost all? Some effect did take place. This idea also gives reason to Booker waking up at the end of credit. Another question that bugged me was: "What happened when Booker crossed the tear for the first time when the Luteces came to pick him up in their raincoats?
Back to topic, when Booker first crossed a tear for the "first time", he fainted and fell down on the floor I personally cannot determine whether he did cross the tear. But that is again off-topic.
To make some sense of this we have to answer one more question. He opens the door and back into the game he goes. Similar mechanism with more emotional contents was displayed a few times in the game as plot, like at beginning of the game when Booker was "drowned" by the preacher before he enters Columbia. I came up with one idea to help myself understand this:.
Every time Booker crosses to a different universe, his consciousness enters the body of the Booker in that world. If there is a conflict, he creates a new body. The real physical body of his is back in his PI office because it was not able to cross the tear Robert Letece's body was ok with the crossing, apparently.
If the Booker in another universe is killed, his consciousness slips back to his original body, ready to cross again. Being able to do this is what Booker got for crossing the tear. The same rule can also hold true for Comstock, no contradiction was found so far.
In the Chen Lin chapter there is one universe where Booker is a martyr and no living body was in existence thus I added in the creating body idea. Later I realized I also have to reconcile the fact that his consciousness did not enter Comstock's body duh so I used the word "conflict.
Booker does not identify with Comstock in both thought and body. I have not yet determined which is the reason his consciousness did not enter Comstock as it entered the Comstock would-be from 20 years ago. Alright here's the deal.
This is quantum mechanics, and it's what makes possible multiple realities simultaneously. Then you see Robert turn around and 'heads' has been marked a ton times to be exact and 'tails' has not been marked a single time. This suggests that Booker has been here many times in order to save Elizabeth and every time he has choosen heads. Every time the ending has been the same. This correlates to the central theme, which I'll leave for you to interpret. Every 'choice' you make in the game leads to the same ending.
This is strongly supported when Booker and Elizabeth arrive at the area with all the lighthouses near the end of the game. Elizabeth says something like, "All different versions of us, but we've ended up in the same place. Search "Quantum Entanglement" to get a better understanding of this.
Last edited by stellar. Originally posted by Lloyd Irving :. Per page: 15 30 With Elizabeth's powers now at full power, she is able to explain to Booker what exactly is going on. Elizabeth leads Booker through Rapture to a Bathysphere , which takes them to the lighthouse from the original "Bioshock. Elizabeth explains that there are infinite variables, but only three constants, fixed figures in time and space.
There's always a man. There's always a city," she tells Booker. It's at this point that it is revealed that Booker sold his daughter Anna to Father Comstock in order to wipe away his past deeds. He tried to get Anna back, but failed to do so, resulting in her losing part of her pinky finger. There is only one ending regardless of the numerous choices you can make throughout the game.
User Info: SirQuackberry. There is only 1 ending, the choices you make are largely inconsequential although a couple decisions will give you an item or aesthetic change to you or Elizabeth. User Info: Soulshrimp. Sign Up for free or Log In if you already have an account to be able to ask and answer questions. Answered Is this game open world? Answered How does your choice of Elizabeth's pendant effect the game?
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