History Fridge / BioshockInfinite

** "''You never need to doubt it''
''I'll '''make you''' so '''sure''' about it...''"

** ''You never need to doubt it/I'll '''make you''' so '''sure''' about it...''

* Why was Elizabeth not indoctrinated? Because the Luteces already showed him the future where [[spoiler: Elizabeth succeeds him and begins a violent campaign against the world he so despises]]. As far as Comstock is concerned, this is her destiny. He doesn't feel the need to indoctrinate her because he is certain that Elizabeth will eventually accept this role, even if it takes some convincing.

* In the ending of Burial at Sea, [[spoiler: Atlas crosses the MoralEventHorizon and beats Elizabeth with a wrench. She appears to be dead and in heaven, then we see Sally gripping her hand and Elizabeth smiling. What's so bad about that? Atlas ''didn't kill her''-he beat her several times then left her to suffer an extremely painful death.]]

* When Elizabeth asks Booker how old he is, he simply responds that he's younger than forty. A look at his Pinkerton contract tells us that he was born in 1874, making him thirty eight. Elizabeth is nineteen. Doing the math [[spoiler: after you learn that she's his daughter, you realize that he and his wife had her when Booker was just ''nineteen.'' Imagine you're nineteen, your young wife just died giving birth, and you're left to take care of the baby singlehandedly -- suddenly his decision to give Elizabeth away, let alone to someone who he was led to believe had the means to take care of her, makes a lot more sense.]]

* When Elizabeth asks Booker how old he is, he simply responds that he's younger than forty. A look at his Pinkerton contract tells us that he was born in 1874, making him thirty eight. Elizabeth is nineteen. Doing the math [[spoiler: after you learn that she's his daughter, you realize that he and his wife had her when Booker was just ''nineteen.'' Imagine you're nineteen, your young wife just died giving birth, and you're left to take care of the baby singlehandedly -- suddenly his decision to give Elizabeth away, let alone to someone who he understands to have the means to take care of her, makes a lot more sense.]]

* Thematically and progression-wise, [=BioShock=] Infinite is the exact opposite of the original game. The initial levels of [=BioShock=] seem to be nothing more than just an exceptionally good sci-fi horror game, but as you get deeper, and start collecting more and more audio logs, the curtain peels back and the game becomes a fascinating and twisted study on scientific morality, the practical viability of objectivism, class inequality and how the exceptionalist attitude projected by most in the city would ultimately lead to their demise. Throughout the game, you are allowed to make morality choices that ultimately affect your ending, and while the decisions you are given seem very black or white, in the context of the story, there's a lot of room for grey. On the other hand, Infinite seems to be making very obvious but superficial negative commentaries on Columbia's social dissonance (i.e. racism is obviously bad, social inequality is obviously bad, etc.) and the choices in this game are much more cut and dry in terms of "right" and "wrong". However, as you move deeper into the game, the layers peel back and reveal the time travel and dimension-hopping elements of the game which become more important than the social commentary. The choices you make in this game ultimately don't affect your ending. [=BioShock=] Infinite, at its core, is just an excetionally good sci-fi game that disguised its true nature by heaping on deliberately heavy handed morality early in the game.

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* This may be unintentional, but think about the events in ''[=BioShock Infinite=]'' and its title. You're going through alternate realities to find out the truth of an EldritchAbomination, eventually hoping to prevent it from being unleashed, and end up with a GainaxEnding. [[spoiler:Sound like Marathon Infinity]]?

** R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People." A big-band version is played on a phonograph on a platform by the gondola to Port Prosperity. Fitting, as it was previously where the Lutece Twins (who are rather cheerful folks utilizing "shiny" quantum powers) were holding hands while dancing. Not to mention the original song by R.E.M. was inspired by a Chinese propaganda poster.

* Sure the ending renders this moot, but more than a few of us would shudder at the realization that [[spoiler: [[https://sites.google.com/site/sprage39/video-game-thoughts/bioshockinfinite/whyagoodchunkofthegametakesplacein1914 the Elizabeth we save isn't the one Songbird takes away]]]]. Along the same note, in an earlier segment of the game, is the Elizabeth that stepped through a tear and got grabbed by the police the same Elizabeth that we saved shortly thereafter? It is assumed to be, but can we really be sure that is the case?

*** However, WordOfGod is that this is a case of GameplayAndStoryIntegration -- the people you possess in the game commit suicide because they were possessed by ''The False Shepherd'', specifically -- that then turned into GameplayAndStorySegregation in ''Burial At Sea''. Not that it makes things ''too'' much cheerier; the residents of Columbia are so indoctrinated that being under Booker's CharmPerson power triggers a suicidal "redemption" urge. Think a little about what that says about Comstock's charisma and his influence over his flock...

** Lets just look at the person falling. According to the opening, Colombia is at least 15,000 feet. Lets just lowball it at that. Terminal velocity of an average human is between 53 to 56 meters per second, lets highball it at 56 and assume they reach immediate terminal velocity to cut down on math. 15,000 feet is 4572 meters. At ''minimum'', that's just over ''80 seconds'' of falling.

** Interestingly, the scene still bears a striking resemblance to the opening of the original [=Bioshock=]. Booker, just like Jack, finds himself alone on a small island containing only a lighthouse, not knowing where he is or what he should be doing. The interiors of the lighthouses in both games contain artifacts alluding to the city you're about to visit. This culminates in the player finding a capsule (a bathysphere in ''Bioshock'', a rocket in
''Infinite'' which takes them on a one-way trip to the city. The parallels make become especially notable when you remember the reveal that Booker was deliberately brought to the island by the Luteces for their own ends [[spoiler: just like how Frank Fontaine deliberately set up Jack to stumble into Rapture]].

* You ever notice how the vending machines in Columbia have automated voices that sound ''suspiciously'' like the ones used for the "Circus of Value" machines in the previous games? Fink's company built Columbia's vending machines, and as we learn in ''Burial at Sea'' [[spoiler: he had access to a tear that allowed him to view Rapture]]. He has also displayed a fondness for exploiting tears to plagiarize ideas. He probably got the idea for the vending machines from observing their use in Rapture, and may have deliberately given them the same voice.
** The vending machines in the previous games could be hacked to get discounts, a mechanic that is conspicuously absent from ''Bioshock Infinite''. This might be because Fink saw how Rapture's vending machines could be hacked and had his version modified with stronger security measures to prevent it.
* Why was Elizabeth not indoctrinated? Because the Luteces already showed him the future where [[spoiler: Elizabeth succeeds him and begins a violent campaign against the world he so despises]]. As far as Comstock is concerned, this is her destiny. He doesn't feel the need to indoctrinate her because he is certain that Elizabeth will eventually accept this role, even if it takes some convincing.
* The barbershop quartet, sponsored by Fink Industries, was originally known as the "Bee Sharps." What's Jeremiah's favorite animal? A bee, because according to him it is a constant worker. Calling a musical group the "Bee Sharps" (along with the obvious play on "be sharp") is a subtle way of encouraging workers to keep working.

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** The whole concept of "constants and variables" is also continuing the theme of commenting on the linearity of video game narratives. Many video games like to give the players options, but it is impossible to do without some parts being fixed, meaning that there are "constants" that will always happen regardless of your actions, and "variables" that are affected by the player. This is true of the ''Bioshock'' series as a whole. In the original game, there were "constants" (Jack's plane always crashes, he always arrives at the lighthouse, he always enters Rapture, he always has to face Steinman and Peach Wilkins, he always confronts Ryan, he is always [[spoiler: betrayed by Atlas]], and always [[spoiler: takes down Frank Fontaine]]) and one variable (whether Jack chooses to save or harvest the Little Sisters. ''Infinite'' is just more upfront about it.

** The whole concept of "constants and variables" is also continuing the theme of commenting on the linearity of video game narratives. Many video games like to give the players options, but it is impossible to do without some parts being fixed, meaning that there are "constants" that will always happen regardless of your actions, and "variables" that are affected by the player. This is true of the ''Bioshock'' series as a whole. In the original game, there were "constants" (Jack's plane always crashes, he always arrives at the lighthouse, he always enters Rapture, he always has to face Steinman and Peach Wilkins, he always confronts Ryan, he is always [[spoiler: betrayed by Atlas]], and always [[spoiler: takes down Frank Fontaine]] and one variable (whether Jack chooses to save or harvest the Little Sisters]]. ''Infinite'' is just more upfront about it.

* Despite the fact that Elizabeth is meant to take over Columbia and wage war on the world below, it seems Comstock has done nothing to actually indoctrinate her in his ways. Despite being in her early 20s, when she is let out by Booker, she is sympathetic to the plights of the minorities in Columbia and upon seeing a picture of Comstock himself for the first time, she says she doesn't like his look. Even odder considering she and Booker talk about how Columbia indoctrinates other children who live there. The only "reason" one could imagine that Elizabeth was completely left to her own devices to form a belief system that doesn't align with Columbia's is that her being a bigot when Booker meets her would make her less sympathetic to the audience.

* Imagine what would have happened if Fontaine or Ryan had gotten their hands on Suchong's machine, the one that opened a tear into Columbia. Especially Ryan, who has a rigid ideology that he uses as the basis for strictly-enforced rules. Either one would likely have wanted to exploit the discovery of tears. Best case scenario Fontaine might have tried to use them similarly to Fink, making a fortune plagiarizing ideas from other universes. Worst case scenario, Fontaine or Ryan might have tried to use them to further assert or even expand their authority. Knowing this puts Elizabeth's actions in a new light. Her motives go beyond protecting Sally, she's also trying to make sure neither one has a chance to become another Comstock!