Analysis of the plot. Bioshock. Part Two: Death of the Prophet (Topic)

We continue to analyze the plot of Bioshock Infinite and the entire universe as a whole. We chronologically arrange facts on the shelves in order to understand what Bioshok was about. We've already figured out how Zachary Comstock came to be, who created the flying Columbia, and why the 122 versions of Booker went to rescue Elizabeth. I recommend that you read all this in the first part of the analysis [if you have not done this], which is important for understanding the whole concept of the material.

1984

Getting on the airship, the heroes do not have time to fly away from Colombia, because they are attacked by the guardian Elizabeth Nightingale. He destroys the airship, and the heroes miraculously escape during the crash. At this time in Colombia, everything is really bad. After the death of Jeremiah Fink, devastation reigns in the streets, as the people began to riot, and the army of the populists only adds fuel to the fire. Booker and Elizabeth realize that they will not leave Columbia as long as the nightingale is alive. In order to kill him, you need to get into the Comstock house and take the control device over the guard.

To enter the prophet's dwelling, you will have to open the door with a fingerprint scanner. Elizabeth, who hates her mother for locking her in the tower, offers to ravage her grave and “rip her hand off.”

Lady Comstock's ghost appears from the tomb and Booker has to pacify him. How the ghost appeared at all is unknown. Perhaps because of anger at Elizabeth's mother, she unknowingly pulled her out of another reality where she lives, but something went wrong. There is no exact answer. In any case, in order to fully get rid of the ghost, the heroes have to carry out a little investigation - so they learn that Elizabeth is not Zachary's daughter. Lady Comstock knew this, and she was killed. Not knowing all the details and relationships, the heroes assume that Rosalind Lutes is Elizabeth's real mother.

Having made their way to Comstock's house, a nightingale attacks them and almost kills Booker. Elizabeth surrenders herself to the nightingale to save him. DeWitt cannot leave Elizabeth and goes to wrest her from the clutches of the enemy. As Booker moves forward, he quietly lands in 1984. There he is transported by an aged Elizabeth from 1984, a reality where, in 1912, Booker could not save her. In this world, she was able to destroy the siphon holding her strength, but since she is already old, she cannot move through the worlds herself, but only transfers the necessary people to her.

After going through the strange future of Colombia, he finally meets old Elizabeth. She shows him her reality, where Columbia attacked New York in 1984 and destroyed it, and Elizabeth could not stop it. This war is the revelation of Comstock, where, thanks to the power of his lamb, he was able to destroy sinners on rotten American soil. Elizabeth from 84 gives Booker a message from 12 about how to destroy the nightingale. She asks Booker not to allow what will happen in 1984 [by the way, the year is a direct reference to the novel by George Orwell] and returns him to his reality of 1912.

Strangle him in the cradle

All this time, Zachary tortures Elizabeth and tries to force her to accept the fate of a lamb, so that she can help rid the world of sinners. Booker saves her and transmits a message from 1984. Elizabeth wants to kill the prophet, but DeWitt will not let her do it. Doesn't want her to get her hands dirty and will kill him herself.

Having made their way through the crowds of enemies, the heroes finally meet Comstock in person. He is trying to build a righteous person out of himself, ala "I'm just a good preacher who carries the word of God, I'm not responsible for all the horrors that are happening now." He is grabbed for a short time and he breaks down, starting to yell at Booker, and makes him remember how he sold his daughter. DeWitt's nerves are giving way. He angrily beats Comstock with his head on the edge of the font and drowns him in it, saying that they are not alike.

After this episode, Elizabeth understands a lot. She takes the control panel of the nightingale and uses it to destroy the siphon. Booker recalls how he sold her and apologizes, suggesting that Elizabeth's new powers be used to "strangle Comstock in the cradle" and avoid all this horror.

Jumping between reality and time, Booker observes snippets of the past and other realities where he goes after Elizabeth. As a result, they return to the moment of baptism. DeWitt realizes that he is Comstock, and that he himself is a Booker from a reality where he was not baptized. The only way to stop this whole vicious circle, "strangle Comstock in the cradle" - is to die yourself. He turns around and sees around him 6 Elizabeths from other universes [that is, out of 122 cases, the Lutes plan worked only in 6]. They take the combined Booker / Comstock and drown him in water. He accepts his fate.

Thus, Booker DeWitt dies in all realities, preventing baptism from occurring. Therefore, there is no Comstock, Elizabeth and Columbia. However, there are still a few Elisabeths ...

"I chose the impossible ... I chose ... Delight"

So we smoothly move on to the background of the first part of Bioshock. In 1919, Andrei Ryanovsky fled the USSR and moved to America. He takes on a new name, Andrew Ryan, and becomes a henchman of individualism. Andrew creates a mega-corporation, and the further time goes, the more he realizes that humanity is going to hell. There are a lot of "parasites" in the world that do not allow strong, intelligent and creative people to develop, limiting them, supposedly for the good of the majority.

After the attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Ryan puts an end to his conviction and wants to build a city for the intelligentsia, the smartest and most talented people, where the free market will make laws, and all citizens will live by the rules of sound selfishness. To hide his utopia, he decides to build a city under water.

In 1946, the construction of a city called Rapture comes to an end. The greatest minds and creators of our time are beginning to settle in it. The final construction ends in 1951. However, utopia has its ideological holes. For example, in the city there is a problem with the labor force that would serve it, because the elite do not want to do this.

Ryan also forbade any contact with the surface and religion, because it only interferes with the development of humanity. Former mobster Frank Fontaine begins to organize the supply of contraband from the surface and with the money earned opens the Fontaine Futuristic company. Together with Dr. Brigitte Tenenbaum, he spreads Plasmids in Rapture, DNA-enhancing drugs that give people extraordinary power. To create them, they use little girls called sisters, who are guarded by monsters in Big Daddies spacesuits. As a side effect, plasmids cause addiction and mutation.

Ryan learns about Fontaine's deeds and forcibly nationalizes his company, during which Frank allegedly dies. In fact, he takes the name Atlas, and begins to gather an army of disaffected against Ryan. In 1958 he will attack the Cashmere Restaurant and other elite places in the city. Civil war breaks out, as a result of which some parts of the city are drowned. But Ryan is still in control and fixes the problem. Atlas together with Tenebaum create a secret weapon against him and call him "Ace in the sleeve".

Buried Underwater

Elizabeth didn't kill all Comstocks. One survived, and in his reality, when he took little Anna from Booker, he did not have time to drag her through the portal, and when closed, instead of her little finger, her head was cut off. He becomes depressed, and the Luteses decide to send him to Rapture so that he is forgotten. Since Comstock could not stand by his actions, passing through the portal to Rapture, he forgets everything and becomes Booker DeWitt again. There he opens a detective agency. He becomes attached to the homeless girl Sally and helps her to survive. However, being a gambler, he takes her one day to the casino. There she disappears and DeWitt is tormented by her conscience.

One day Elizabeth comes to his office and says that she is also looking for Sally, although she does not explain the motives. They go to the artist Sander Cohen on a tip. He reports that Sally is in one of the flooded parts of Rapture, where mutants roam. The heroes go there and find a girl who is hiding in the ventilation shafts. To get it out of there, they close all the exits from the system except one, and raise the air temperature so that it crawls out. The plan works and when Booker pulls Sally out, he realizes that she has turned into one of the little sisters.

Sally screams and calls out to her Big Daddy, Mr. Bubbles. At this time, DeWitt remembers that he is Comstock and tries to apologize to Elizabeth, but it gets late, Big Daddy stabs him through and he dies.

All this was a plan of Elizabeth, who is trying to destroy all Comstocks. She took Sally from the casino and brought her here.

Ace in the sleeve

Elizabeth is tormented by the fact that she used Sally. She opens her eyes and sees Atlas [as it turns out, this half-flooded part of Rapture is his base in preparation for the overthrow of Ryan], and his men, who are searching Comstock's corpse, and they take Sally somewhere. They want to kill Elizabeth, but she sees Booker [a projection of her memory], who helps her find the words when talking to Atlas. She, on the advice of Booker, says that thanks to Dr. Souchong's technology, she will be able to raise the flooded part of Rapture for Atlas and his attack, in exchange for this they will return Sally to her. The deal is closed.

Later, Elizabeth finds her own corpse and recalls that Big Daddy killed her after Comstock, and all of her copies from the multiverse united into one mortal shell. So she survived, but lost her strength. A voice in the form of Booker is the only thing left of them and helps her navigate her memories of parallel worlds.

After finding Suchong, she learns that he once built the same machine as the Luteses and collaborated with them to create Columbia, Rapture, Nightingale and Big Daddies. Elizabeth uses the car to travel to Columbia and retrieve the Luteus particle that will lift the department store. Suchong asks her to also get there a substance that made the nightingale a devoted protector to use on Big Daddies [not all of them protect the sisters and are loyal to them]. She succeeds and uses the particle to pick up a piece of Rapture.

Atlas deceives her and takes her prisoner, as he realizes that Elizabeth somehow knows too much. He tries to find out from her where the Ace in the Sleeve weapon is and injects her with a truth serum. Elizabeth recalls how she saw this weapon in one of the realities, gives information and is knocked out from an overdose of serum. She wakes up in two weeks - a full-fledged civil war in Rapture. Threatening to kill Sally, Atlas sends Elizabeth for the code to the "ace." She finds him, but refuses to speak. Atlas beats Elizabeth with a wrench, and a lead comes to Lizzie.

She is standing in the toilet of the plane, entering the cabin, sees how suddenly one man pulls out a pistol and grabs it. Unwittingly, she says the weapon code: "Be kind." Atlas hears the code and finishes her off. This is how Bioshock Infinite will end, the plot of which makes your head spin.

Before her death, Elizabeth saw a future in which that man from the plane saved all the sisters and Sally too. Who is this person - we will tell you in the last part of the analysis of Bioshock.

The Topic of Article: Analysis of the plot. Bioshock. Part Two: Death of the Prophet.
Author: Jake Pinkman