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8'''As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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12[[folder:Fridge Brilliance]]
13* 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 after you learn that she's his daughter, you realize that he and his wife had her when he was just ''nineteen.'' Imagine you're nineteen, your wife just died giving birth, and you're left to take care of the baby completely on your own -- 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.
14* Most black residents of Columbia came there directly from [[https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Solution_to_Your_Problems Georgian prisons.]] This being the Jim Crow era southern U.S., surely many of those prisoners were innocent... but many ''weren't'' as well, and it's worth noting that the vast majority of state-level prisoners to this day are [[https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/pie2019.html violent offenders]]. Certainly, even in a highly racist society, prisoners would be far more disposed to arbitrary violence than the general population. This further explains why the Vox Populi rebellion is so bloody and rampant, and why Fitzroy in ''Burial At Sea'' was unsure if she could control her "troops." The underclass of Columbia had a disproportionately large number of people who were ''already'' violent criminals.
15* Remember what Elizabeth says at the end about Constants and Variables? "There's always a lighthouse, there's always a man, there's always a city..." Most people understand that it's an allusion to how the stories in all the [=BioShock=] franchise open up. But then it occurs: not only do the stories begin the same way, but all the good endings have a consistency as well.
16** Respectively: There's always the hero (''Jack'', ''Subject Delta'', ''Booker [=Dewitt=]''), he always leaves Rapture with somebody in tow who's been isolated (''the little sisters'', ''Eleanor Lamb'', ''Elizabeth''), he always dies one way or another ([[AGoodWayToDie old age]], [[DiedInYourArmsTonight Big Daddy Coma]], [[DeathByDrowning drowning]]), and he always does so surrounded by his multiple (adoptive/)daughters.
17** A bit of this applies to Minerva's Den too, with ''Subject Sigma/Charles Porter'', ''Pearl Porter'', and ''also likely dying of old age, presumably next to his wife's grave'', respectively.
18** And again in ''Burial at Sea- Episode 2'' where Elizabeth herself becomes the hero, and ultimately dies making it possible for Jack and the Little Sisters to leave Rapture.
19** It's also worth noting that Elizabeth's story is strikingly similar to that of Eleanor Lamb in ''Bioshock 2''. Both were torn from their "fathers" ([=DeWitt=]/Subject Delta) by the BigBad (Comstock/Sofia Lamb) who becomes the center of a religious cult. Elizabeth/Eleanor are then grow up being imprisoned while their captors try to force them into a supposed "destiny" that they ultimately refuse to accept. Both develop unusual "gifts" (Eleanor learns to communicate telepathically, while Elizabeth learns to make use of tears) that they use to escape their confinement, which is accomplished with the aid of their father. Finally, the father sacrifices himself to free their respective "daughter."
20** 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 betrayed by Atlas]], and always takes down Frank Fontaine) and one variable (whether Jack chooses to save or harvest the Little Sisters). ''Infinite'' is just more upfront about it.
21* Looking back at the endings of all the [=BioShock=] games, they're each narrated by someone of a different nationality. Tenenbaum is German, Eleanor is British, and Elizabeth is American. Elizabeth is the first American narrator, because she acts as a cautionary warning that America can be its own worst enemy.
22* Why does [=BioShock=] never take place on the ground? Because it's a story about [[KnightTemplar extremes]], and a world on land would be [[StealthPun the middle ground]].
23** Continuing on in this vein, perhaps the next game in the "Bioshock" series will be set in space...
24* Funny thing about "Bioshock Infinite", it's more-or-less "Bioshock 3". What's the Roman numeral for 3? III. And what is the title of this third installment? "Bioshock '''I'''nf'''I'''n'''I'''te".
25* One of the big complaints about ''Infinite'' was the [[GameplayAndStorySegregation preservation of mechanics from previous versions of Bioshock]], such as Vigors/Plasmids, and the player character looting trashcans for items. Well we know how the first one fits together, what with Finkton's tears into Suchong's labs being a two-way window and all, but what about Booker dumpster diving when Columbia is still shiny and new and not yet a desolated ruin? That doesn't make a whole lot of sense- unless Booker was always spending his money on gambling and drink and his baby and as such had to "cut corners" to get his own meals. A penniless drunkard would have no compunctions against rooting around inside a trashcan for a half-eaten bag of popcorn, would he?
26* Why is it that Possession is such a drain on salts until you upgrade? It's because you were given a free sample -- something you can only try out a couple of times per go. The Possess For Less upgrade is basically you shifting from trial-version to official!
27* A Bible passage tells the story of how Jesus stopped a crowd from stoning a prostitute by demanding that the one who is without sin may cast the first stone. Booker wins a raffle to cast the metaphorical 'first stone' at an interracial couple. Earlier when Booker first arrived in Columbia he had to go through a baptism, which is traditionally seen as a way to cleanse one of their sins.
28** Interestingly, like much of Columbia's propaganda, this passage is not true to the original Biblical texts and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_and_the_woman_taken_in_adultery scholars almost universally agree it was inserted much later]].
29* The Cage, or the Bird? Like the two faces of a coin, both are actually same thing from different perspectives. Back in the early 20th century, there used to be these novelty toys involving a loop of string and a card with a bird printed on one side and a cage on the other. When the loop of string is twisted and released, the card quickly flips back and forth, creating an optical illusion where the bird is in the cage. Aside from foreshadowing how Songbird can be defeated, it also illustrates ''[=BioShock Infinite=]'''s concepts of predestination and free will (which the Cage and the Bird symbolize) and their simultaneous representation in the story. This also doubles as a quantum physics reference: the illusion of the card showing both bird and cage represents a quantum superposition. Booker choosing one of them for Elizabeth to wear collapses the superposition into either one or the other. Made better by this being implied to be one of the variables (as opposed to the constants such as the coin toss).
30** In the end, it doesn't actually matter which brooch is chosen. Unlike the original [=BioShock=], where player choices were important to determining the ending, the choices in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' are only there to give the ''illusion'' that player decisions impact the story, again playing with the idea of predestination, states of existence, and decision-based multiverses. Some players will put lots of symbolic consideration into a decision that will ultimately mean nothing more than a tiny cosmetic change for Elizabeth.
31* The comment that people brought back from other realities have conflicting memories about what happened in the other reality? That applies to YOU THE PLAYER. Every time you respawn you have memories of another reality where you got killed. From an ingame perspective, this would be identical to what those [=NPC=]s are feeling, there are memories where things went horribly wrong and you died, but then again, things didn't go that way, you survived.
32* One of the plasmids used in the original ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' is Electro Bolt, and after using it is described as, "bucks like a mule." One of the vigors revealed in Infinite is Bucking Bronco. And the actual counterpart is "Shock Jockey".
33* From what we saw in the beginning of ''[=BioShock=] Infinite'', Booker is travelling in a boat along with a lighthouse-like structure to (supposedly), get to Columbia in the sky. Since the first game was set in an underwater world, the opening of them contrast with each other. The first game started on a plane and then goes to the ocean, where Infinite starts in the water and goes into the sky.
34** 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 just like how Frank Fontaine deliberately set up Jack to stumble into Rapture.
35** At the end, it is also implied that the narrative we ''thought'' was happening (that Booker is supposed to find Elizabeth and bring her to someone to solve a gambling debt) is a mental construct produced by Booker himself, and the Luteces played along with this narrative to move him forward. This is not entirely unlike how in the original Bioshock we initially assume Jack is just a normal person who stumbled into Rapture by bad luck and has to survive long enough to find a way out, which also turns out to be a narrative Frank Fontaine concocted to manipulate him.
36* Why is Columbia a flying city? Given the religious fundamentalism, it may be Comstock's attempts to create a form of 'heaven'. Sure enough, as soon as you arrive on Columbia:
37-->'''Booker''': Where am I?\
38'''Priest''': Heaven, friend. Or as close as we'll see 'til Judgement Day.
39* The background material about Comstock states that he was at the battle of Wounded Knee and also used Columbia to raze Peking to the ground during the Boxer Rebellion (supposedly in retaliation for Americans being held hostage). But in the game itself, Booker had never heard of anyone named Comstock at the battle of Wounded Knee. Why? Because Comstock was the name a alternate version of himself chose after accepting baptism for his sins after the battle. Which then led to the events in the story. Same thing goes for why Slate has not heard of him.
40* Vigors and the Songbird sure are reminiscent of the Plasmids and Big Daddies from [=BioShock=], aren't they? That's because a log entry implies that Fink's been viewing a tear to Rapture's biolabs.
41* How do you control a songbird? Put him in a cage. C, A, G, E are the notes Elizabeth needs to play to control him.
42* The subtitle of ''[=BioShock=]: Infinite'' refers to the infinite multiverse that [=BioShock=] takes place in.
43* Some people are probably disappointed with how some gameplay sections from the trailers aren't present in the final game. Then you see the E3 Elizabeth in the ending alongside multiple other Elizabeths. The beta/E3 sections were alternate timelines from the main, meaning they may have happened after all - just not for you.
44* [=DeWitt=] has a number of interpretations of his MeaningfulName.
45** All the [=DeWitts=] are arranged alphabetically in order of plot importance: '''A'''nna (Elizabeth, the MacGuffinSuperPerson), '''B'''ooker (the PlayerCharacter), and '''C'''omstock (the BigBad). Incidentally, the player's Booker is the [=123rd=] iteration pulled in by the Luteces, judging by Robert's tally of the coin-flip.
46** Other Name meanings: Booker - Book-maker. Comes into play when you realise how much Booker wants to re-write his own story. [=DeWitt=] - The White One. Pretty self-explanatory.
47** Bryce [=DeWitt=] was also a famous scientist in the field of quantum physics, and the suggester of the Multiverse theory.
48** [=DeWitt=] is also very phonically similar to 'do it', which is played with in a few lines of dialogue in the game. 'Do it' fits neatly with the predeterminism of the game.
49* The ending seems as though it would erase all Bookers, but we see this isn't the case at the end (or at least it seems that way). The Brilliance, however, is that Booker is killing every version of himself that went through with the baptism. All the ones that ran away from the baptism survived, thus leading to Anna and Booker together at the end.
50* Songbird's behavior is a lot like a Big Daddy from the first game. Justified because the techniques used to make it came from a tear from Rapture. Which also explains why you could control it in the end, as some version of the same vocal commands Fontaine used at the end of [=BS1=] to shut Jack down.
51* If you think about it, Elizabeth has some elements of the Big Daddy/Little Sister relationship as well. She's acting like a normal person would behave if they were guarded by a Big Daddy, and not some's been brainwashed like a Little Sister. But a MeaningfulBackgroundEvent during Songbird's death is that of a Little Sister mourning the loss of her Big Daddy. So when Songbird dies, how much of Elizabeth's reaction is due to StockholmSyndrome and how much is genuine?
52* At the very start of the game, you're shown a quote about a mind struggling to fill in memories. You don't realize it at the time, but this is exactly what Booker is doing... and what ''the player'' is doing, trying to piece together Booker's backstory.
53* The Tower is a recurring symbol throughout the game. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tower_(Tarot_card) Look at the meanings of the Tower]]. And in many versions, it's struck by lightning. What happens, visually, when the Songbird destroys it?
54* It seems weird that women are so equal in Columbia when one would expect it to be a far more chauvinistic society. There is, however, some historical backing for this. One of the arguments for women's suffrage is that it would help keep white protestants in control. Considering how Comstock needs as much support he can get, he probably didn't need to hear any more. When you consider how Comstock also selected his successor to be a woman and that having women active in society would help people get used to that, this was probably a no-brainer for him.
55* After Booker's initial dumbstruck reaction to first seeing Columbia, as well as his admission to Elizabeth that he had never heard of the city before taking on the job, the line "I don't keep up on current events" might seem a bit of an asspull from the writers in order to preserve the wonder of experiencing a new city firsthand... until you find out that Booker is actually an alternate reality version of Comstock, the 'Prophet' of Columbia, and that in his reality the city never existed because he himself never founded it.
56* Heard all those anachronistic covers of more recent songs, like 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', 'God Only Knows' and 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'? In modern times, these songs won't be original ones, they would be treated as historical songs, being "written" decades before their times. Given a double fridge brilliance in that Booker and Elizabeth's voice actors made a cover of 'Will the Circle Be Unbroken'.
57* The use of religion in the game has been controversial, but there's quite a bit of brilliance in it.
58** Booker is able to save the world from Comstock only by being drowned in every universe where he's baptized. In other words, he saves the world by ''dying for our sins''. Which religious figure did the same thing? Hint: the Preacher who baptizes Booker says his name.
59** This time, he understood the meaning behind the ritual properly. It was not a ticket out of guilt, but a step to coping with the guilt and atoning for what he'd done and become a better father.
60** Booker, who the main religious establishment of Columbia hates and fears, is revealed to have been martyred as a hero to the Vox in one universe, then seems to come back to life. Comstock would certainly believe him to be the anti-christ, seeing his actions as a perverting of the Jesus mythology.
61** Common use of "AD" is used to notate '''A'''nno '''D'''omini, or ''in the year of the Lord'', a timeline marked by the unusual birth of a child who performed miracles.
62* While there's a lot of skillful foreshadowing in the game itself, an absolutely brilliant example can be found in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHW78X1XeE trailer]].
63-->'''Booker:''' [[ArcWords Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt]]. That was the deal. [[LaserGuidedAmnesia The details elude me now]]. [[BlatantLies But the details wouldn't have changed a goddamn thing]].
64* Why can't Handymen be Possessed?
65** Because they essentially already are. The cybernetic enhancements strip at least a bit of their free will away from them, and make them fight when they don't want to, judging by their not exactly taunting "taunts".
66** Alternative Handymen Possession theory: The immunity is grounded in the fact that they're cyborgs: Possession can be used to control organics or synthetics, but not a mixture of both.
67* The first time you see the Luteces' faces has quite a bit packed into a short scene.
68** They make you play a game of heads and tails. So far it has always come up heads, just like in ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead''. This is a brilliant reference because most of what they say falls into the genre of absurdism, they are into physics like Rosencrantz, they enjoy word-play that borders onto philosophical debates, they present to you choices that actually have no effect of the game echoing the free will vs. determinism theme in ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead'', and they have been dead for the whole game.
69** The marks on the chalk board Robert is wearing? It plays into the idea at the end of constants and variables. While Booker can have a few choices during the game (who to throw the baseball at, whether or not to kill Slate) when you get right down to it, they don't matter, because they're always going to lead to the same result. This explains why there's only ever one ending for this game, considering the original [=BioShock=] was one of the first games to popularize moral choices that led to a different ending back before the whole trend got used by every single game ever; in a way Infinite is deconstructing the entire concept, because when you have a developed character like Booker, it doesn't matter what choices he makes (the variables) because they will never change ''who he is'' (constants) and because of that, only occur. Once you get right down to it, the Luteces are probably '''fascinated''' by that, the impossibility of a coin landing on heads every single time, no matter which of the infinite number of multiverses they decide to ask him to flip in.
70** This all helps illustrate that Infinite is another game in the series making a meta-commentary on video game linearity, choice and story branches. No matter what happens, the general storyline, even the ending, does not change. Even with access to infinite universes, with infinite possibilities, the player can not really deviate from the story the dev team chooses to present.
71** "The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none existed before...", which is exactly what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern do for most of their play.
72* There's a brilliant bit of foreshadowing during the rowing sequence at the beginning. The "Gentleman" says the Booker "doesn't row". The "Lady" replies, "He doesn't ROW?" (the subtitles make sure you get the emphasis). The man then replied, "No, he DOESN'T row." First play through, you just figure they're weird, especially since the woman's response of "Ah, I see your point," comes across as sarcastic. Second play through, you realize that they know that in no universe do you EVER row. It's not that you can't or won't, but that you simply DON'T: it's a constant. Which is also an explanation for why they start panicking if you stay on the boat for some time: Each Booker reaches his lighthouse and his city--it's a constant. A Booker that ''doesn't'' go? "The universe has gone horribly wrong!".
73** the fact that Booker doesn't row also alludes to the fact that his choices don't have any meaningful impact on the story. He has no agency, he does not "row".
74* Consider some of the songs featured:
75** The red tear in the music shop has Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" coming through it. A song which includes the lyric, "Some boys take a beautiful girl and '''hide her away from the rest of the world'''." Elizabeth really just wanted to have fun. Also:
76*** "Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones" -- Elizabeth commiserating with Lady Comstock
77*** "My father yells what you gonna do with your life" -- Father Comstock's criticism of her indecision between following him or the false shepherd
78*** And then "Oh daddy dear you know you're still number one" -- Elizabeth drowning Booker, preventing the creation of a "number two", Father Comstock
79** Battleship Bay's soundtrack is a street organ rendition of the same song, to which Elizabeth is happily dancing right after escaping from her "gilded cage". While Booker is more worried about being pursued and his debt, she just wants to have fun, indeed.
80** When you first enter Soldier's Field, you hear "The Readiness is All", which is pretty much a white power song meant for Columbia's children. But the part about "the warring hordes come marching into town" really did come true.
81** "God Only Knows (What I'd Be Without You)". After all the time and space shenanigans, what would Booker be without Elizabeth? What would Elizabeth be without Booker? God only knows. We eventually find out what each would be without the other. Booker, after losing Elizabeth, falls into the bottle for years in an attempt to forget selling his daughter. Elizabeth, without Booker, becomes Comstock's heir who rains death on the future New York.
82*** NTM the lyric "[I'll love you] ''As long as there are stars above you''" - somewhat ironic given that in a floating city, there would be nothing '''but''' stars above them.
83** Tainted Love - Some of the lyrics could be interpreted as being about Elizabeth and Songbird's relationship. "Sometimes I feel I've got to run away I've got to get away" "Once I ran to you now I'll run from you"
84** Tears for Fears "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Comes up a few times from a cameo, Elizabeth singing it, and a Fink record. It's fair to say that this could be considered a representation of Comstock's desires to rain fire from the skies with Elizabeth. It could also be interpreted that, at some point in space and time, everybody has a desire to rule or reign. Comstock is Booker, it's clear he wants to rule. Eventually Elizabeth gives in and follows up to Comstock's wishes, and Daisy went mad while ruling the Vox Populi and now wants to take over everything for herself.
85** {{Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival}}'s "Fortunate Son." An acapella gospel version is sung by a girl during the Vox uprising. It's quite appropriate.
86** 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. Also, it fits with the popular misconception that the original song by R.E.M. was inspired by a Chinese propaganda poster.
87* Early in the game, the folk song "Goodnight Irene" can be heard playing. John Mellencamp had a song of the same name based on the folk song. The name of the album that song was on? '''Big Daddy'''.
88* The song ''Goodnight Irene'' is sung at the start of the raffle. And one of the lines is "Sometimes I get a notion to ''jump in the river and drown.''" How does the game end again?
89* During the ending when the multiple Elizabeths drown Booker, they begin to vanish. However, you'll notice the Elizabeth you've been with during the game does ''not''. And then the screen goes blank, similar to the post credits scene. This means that the Elizabeth you saved from Columbia could very well still be alive and kicking in the same way Booker is, perhaps even maintaining her powers. She might just have gotten to Paris, after all]]. Particularly fitting, given the emphasis on quantum mechanics in the game. Both the pre-credits and post-credits scenes have ambiguous, unresolved endings, and multiple interpretations of the endings could consequently be true.
90* Gear is pretty bizarre: you'll find hats that make you invincible while eating, shirts that give you more ammo from dead enemies, pants that give you ghostly allies, and shoes that give you health from melee kills. Where's the narrative justification in all this? Like everything else in Columbia, Gear is probably powered by tear energy siphoned from Elizabeth, which we know can do ''anything''.
91* Both the Boxer Rebellion and the Lakota Sioux Ghost Dancers were fueled by Christian-influenced Millenarianist theologies, laying the groundwork for Comstock's similarly apocalyptically focused cult of the Founders, the Prophet, and the Lamb.
92* 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. Sound like [[{{VideoGame/Marathon}} Marathon Infinity]]?
93* Why does Elizabeth specifically mention ''Literature/LesMiserables'' when she describes a revolution? Besides her obsession with Paris, a film version of it had just come out when the game was released! Though she was clearly talking about the book, and the context suggests she doesn't know how it ends.
94* Why do the Negro workmen in Battleship Bay have the same model? Daisy Fitzroy said in recordings that when she was on the run from Comstock she used her race to blend in, because to the guards, they all looked the same.
95* When you meet the Lutece twins in the BBQ restaurant early in the game, you can attempt to shoot them, but the bullets don't register and they'll just tell you that you "missed". At first this just seems like a joke about the nature of friendly [=NPC=]s in games, but it actually makes a ''lot'' of sense with their reveal of being unstuck in time.
96* The fact there's an infinite number of alternate versions of people running around has a habit of causing {{Psychic Nosebleed}}s when through a paradox in time and space, they suddenly retain memories from a different version of themselves that they never actually lived through personally. This actually happens to Booker multiple times, but it's only pointed out after you get Elizabeth and it's fairly obvious what caused it. But wasn't there a moment where Booker got a nosebleed before he even got to Monument Island? Back when he was being confronted by Comstock in the form of a static image while he shouted down on him from the loud speakers. But why the nosebleed? Perhaps he remembered experiencing this moment before, only it was different... [[VideoGame/BioShock1 it was a different city, a different man shouting at him, and instead of calling his army off he was siccing it upon him]]. But surely it's just a ContinuityNod, like being dropped off at the lighthouse at the beginning, right? It couldn't be anything that intentional. [[GainaxEnding But then again, I seriously doubt it's anything so simple as mere fan service]].
97* Another theory regarding the first nosebleed: Booker's first nosebleed is a side-effect of the paradox of directly interacting with this universe's version of himself. The nosebleed happens again when he kills Comstock.
98* Early in the game when going through the Hall of Heroes, Elizabeth remarks that she has read about how Comstock fought at the Boxer Rebellion, to which Slate angrily shouts "COMSTOCK WASN'T THERE!" It's more complicated than that, though: After the battle of Wounded Knee, Booker turned to baptism to assuage himself of his guilt and PTSD, but whether he goes through with it or not is what creates Comstock. However, it is telling that if he does get baptized and is born anew without sin, he goes on to create the Hall of Heroes which feature him as the glorified hero of those battles. And yet Booker, who refused baptism and wasn't absolved of his guilt, instead insists he's no hero for his deeds and doesn't even want to ''talk'' about his involvement in Wounded Knee. Once again, however, Comstock did the exact ''opposite'' of repenting. By attempting to take credit for Wounded Knee and repeating his actions by razing Peking to the ground, he's shown he's utterly ''unrepentant'' for his actions. He's actively trying to turn his vices into virtues. Booker, who genuinely repents of his deeds at Wounded Knee but can't see baptism washing away the sin, later drowns and is reborn in a new and possibly happier life.
99* If you listen to [=NPCs=] walking before you enter the Fair, you learn that Monument Island was once like the Statue of Liberty, where new immigrants passed through to enter the city. Now it's Elizabeth's prison. This further underscores how Columbia is a twisted version of America: a symbol of Liberty is now a symbol of Imprisonment.
100* Many players were vexed that, after Elizabeth kills Fitzroy, the game seems to lose all interest in the internal matters of Columbia entirely and focuses exclusively on our protagonists, treating Columbia as nothing more then the place they're running around in. Why ignore the city when the first half of the game seemed so obsessed with it? Several reasons:
101** Firstly, Elizabeth and Booker don't really seem to ''care'' anymore. Think about it; Booker was in awe of Columbia (for more reasons than just the positive) because it was totally new to him and he's never heard of or seen anything like it before. Elizabeth is much the same, having spent her whole life cooped up in a cage with nothing but books and lockpicks, and is at first excited and later disturbed by how wondrous and massive the city is compared to what she's always known. By the time Songbird ruins their escape, the initial curious wonder has worn off. They've seen more than enough of Columbia, for what it wants to be seen as and for what it actually is underneath, and now they just want to '''leave''' and get to Paris. From that point on they're focused more on their own internal drama than whatever the ruin of a city is still putting itself through, because that's what will actually matter when it comes to them finally escaping.
102** Second, from a meta perspective, we as players don't care about Columbia anymore. Not really. We've seen the city as tourists, we've seen the seedy underbelly, and we've seen it reduced to a battlefield in civil war. What's left for us to see... but what we've ''already'' seen elsewhere. [[VideoGame/BioShock1 In Rapture]]. We know how the story of Columbia ends, so there's no reason to keep reading along.
103** Another reason from a story perspective is that, compared to Rapture, there really isn't anything or anyone ''worth saving'' in Columbia for Booker and Elizabeth to care. After seeing the city for what it is, they ultimately find it pointless to save it without destroying the whole thing. Rapture at the very least had people who deserved to be rescued, such as Tenembaum and the Little Sisters. But neither the Founders nor Vox Populi offer anything really to justify Columbia's continued existence, let alone worth salvaging for the rest of the world. All they care about by that point, as mentioned, is to simply ''leave.''
104* Comstock accuses Booker of being a False Shepherd. Comstock is Booker and has led all of his flock astray.
105* There's actually been a theory forwarded on some forums that Comstock is an atheist. A lot of Comstock's heretical actions according to Christianity make sense if you view he's attempting to create a secular scientific Christian Apocalypse. He's created his own substitute for Jesus, Mary, and God with Elizabeth, Lady Comstock, and himself. He isn't waiting for Jesus to return but actively preparing for his own Apocalypse with his own raised messiah. Plus, his prophecies are the result of science, passed off as gifts from God]]. Comstock may desperately ''want'' to believe in God but has no faith.
106* Comstock has a baptism to absolve himself of his actions at Wounded Knee. Booker does not. Comstock later takes credit for his actions at Wounded Knee, popularizing them. Booker is afflicted with horror and guilt over them. In short, Comstock never repents of his sins while Booker does. Comstock's baptism is meaningless to him, save as a means of gaining a new identity. Later, Booker has a sincere baptism that allows him to be reborn as a new person.
107* The different endings in the previous [=BioShock=] games can be somewhat explained by the ending. Go have a look see.
108* Many players were annoyed they didn't have the option of a morality-based bad ending for Booker. Thing is it'd be redundant because by the end, it's revealed that thanks to trans-dimensional meddling, Booker's been trekking his way through the setting of the "bad ending" of his own personal story all along, a flying city that "bad Booker" founded while under the alias of Zachary Comstock.
109* Why does Elizabeth seem to be able to scavenge items (like rare weapon ammo) for you even when they cannot be there? She doesn't pick them up. She pulls them out of alternate realities. She also explains that the tears she opens are a form of wish fulfillment, which explains why she always has the item Booker needs at the time (e.g. ammo if his weapon's running out, health kit if he's injured).
110* Some people have wondered why anyone would pick the cage at the start of the game. The bird can symbolize freedom, or the Songbird. The cage can only symbolize confinement, right? Look closer; the cage is empty.
111* As an [[EasterEgg Easter Egg]][=/=][[EarlyBirdCameo Early Bird Cameo]] early on in the game, when you first see the Statue of Columbia, there is a pair of binoculars that you can use to the left of it. As you look in them, you can see a couple right in front of you that weren't there before; a man and a woman, the man is juggling and the woman is watching him. However, when you exit out of the binoculars, the pair have vanished. At first, it seemed odd, but I brushed it off as a glitch. On my second playthrough, I instantly recognised them - it's Robert and Rosalind Lutece, before you encounter them at the fair!
112* Why do the people of Columbia not practice ethnic slavery even though they openly idolise it? Because Jeremiah Fink controls the city's industry, and he's figured out that he's getting a better deal out of wage-slavery -- he can hire and dismiss workers as he pleases with no owner's obligations towards them and make them compete with each other for who will do the same work in the shortest amount of time for the smallest pay. This way, he also won't be responsible for the actions of the malcontents like he would if they were considered his property. Some analyses have shown that urban factory workers in the Gilded Age North were treated worse than Southern slaves for this very reason. Slaves were expensive, but workers were dispensable. You could always hire a new child to run the lard machine (and get [[NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer free lard out of it]], or at worst be out a batch), but a working slave would set you back several hundred dollars, and the outlawing of the slave trade meant that breeding was the only way to replace lost stock. Of course, the rise of unions and labor laws changed those economics dramatically... which is precisely why Fink, ''et al.'' crack down so hard on such "infringements" on their power.
113* In this universe/set of universes in which Columbia exists, who discovered quantum mechanics? Einstein coined the theory of relativity in 1905, and Max Planck coined his eponymous Planck's Law in 1900. By contrast, the city was launched in 1901, and the theory behind it was writ. I would assume the Luteces discovered it in this world (or perhaps the basics were writ[=/=]working in another universe, then she traveled back to invent the field entirely in the universe the game is set in). In that case, it makes for an amusing bit of unintentional FridgeBrilliance: [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert the game involves the time-travelling founder of quantum mechanics designing advanced, anachronistic sci-fi technology and giving it to hyper-patriotic Americans to fight against Marxists]].
114* There are (at the moment) 4 [[BlingBlingBang Gold Weapon variants]] that are acquirable by pre-ordering the game and the DLC. Comstock's China Broom, Comstock's Bird's Eye, Comstock's Broadsider, and Comstock's Triple R. But Comstock is never seen with them and Booker gets a damage buff while using them. Booker is Comstock's AlternateUniverse self.
115* According to the [=BioShock=] wiki's entry on Lutece, their last name comes from the French word for the Roman city that became Paris. So in a way, Booker did take Elisabeth to Paris after all, albeit as a small child.
116* During the ending [why does the door into the lighthouse from the original [=BioShock=] lead into the land of infinite doors? Because that first game was where it all began. There's always a man, a lighthouse, and a city, but [=BioShock=] was the first game to inspire it all; millions upon millions of stories in potential games, sequels, and fanfiction all waiting behind that first ever door that lead beyond the sea...
117** I didn't even notice this until I went back and played the original Bioshock again, but look at sequence where Booker and Elizabeth arrive in Rapture again. You've been there before- not just Rapture, but that ''exact room''. It's also the same area where Jack also began his journey into Rapture. [[note]]For reference, the room Booker and Elizabeth enter is encountered in the original ''Bioshock'' a few minutes after Jack leaves the Bathysphere. It's right in between when the splicers try to throw a burning couch at Jack, and the tunnel that starts flooding after being hit by the plane's tail section[[/note]]. That room was also where you really started to get going in the original game- it was where you found your first plasmid, and also where you got your first weapon (the wrench). Bathysphere Elizabeth leads Booker towards is also roughly in the same spot as the where Jack's first arrived.
118* Slate:
119** He seems really on the nose with his confrontations with Booker in the Hall of Heroes, doesn't he? Almost to the point where it's implied that Slate knows the truth of Comstock/Booker's relationship. Remember, this is the universe where Booker became Comstock, which means Slate knows full well about how his old war buddy went and got saved and ended up building Columbia. So when he sees Booker come in, sans beard and holier than thou attitude, it's pretty obvious he knows the score, even if he's not in on the specifics of how tears and alternate universes work.
120** This also explains the reason behind Slate's uprising. He knew Comstock was Booker, so he didn't mind the Hall of Heroes expanding on the prophet's war record. Then, when Booker came on the scene, he thought that he had been duped for years by a man pretending to be his old friend.
121* Before you get into the actual city of Columbia, you're stopped by a blind preacher who wants to baptize you. [This preacher turns out to be the same preacher that baptized an alternate version of Booker and "remade" him as Comstock, and his blindness was the only reason why he hadn't recognized Booker. Hilarious when you look back on the preacher's first words to you- "Is it someone new?"
122* A woman yells over to Elizabeth, calling her Annabelle. True, it was probably just a ruse to get Elizabeth to admit her real name - but technically, the woman got it right the first time; that is, if Anna [=DeWitt=]'s full name is Annabelle.
123* When you first see the policewoman, she appears to be primping herself while looking in a compact mirror - actually, she's looking over her shoulder while giving the signal to the rest.
124** The entire setup has different shades of brilliance - some of it just comes off as odd, such as with Ester. Other times it seems almost absurd - like the two people pretending to be a hot dog vendor and his customer. But one huge giveaway that most people tend not to notice, is the white male sweeping the floor. In modern times, it's not even noteworthy. Even in ''real'' 1912, it would be considered normal. In 1912 Columbia, where blacks practically exist to do jobs white people can't bother with, it would be a giant red flag.
125*** Alternatively they put the cops in jobs that would be done by the Irish as well. This in itself goes deeply into how flawed Columbia is and playing with expectations for the player. By that point you're used to Columbia being such a twisted reflection of America's past, both Booker and the player will think that it's another poor Irishman struggling to survive in Columbia.
126* Preston Downs recalls in an early Voxophone where he jokingly told Comstock he's had to scalp a few white men in the past for "bedding down with the local color", and Comstock didn't so much as crack a smile. Not only is such stoic resolve totally in character for a holy man like him, but it's also likely a touchy subject considering the stigma of his Sioux ancestry.
127* The opening quote is by "R. Lutece". As all the Lutece's vox are focused on Rosalind, you therefore assume it's from her. Till the end where you see them pull Booker through the tear, and Booker begins forming "his story", where they note that this proves Robert's theory, meaning the opening quote is his.
128* When you think about it, the game is actually very pro-spirituality, despite having Comstock existing because of undergoing conversion to an extreme form of Christianity. Besides the whole "true baptism" mentioned above, the entire game is a morality play in modern form. We have Booker and Elizabeth, the protagonists, Comstock, Fitzroy, and Fink the embodiments of sin (ego, extremism, and greed, respectively), and the plot structure follows the everyplot of a morality play for both our leads: Hero begins in innocence (Liz in her Tower, pre-Wounded Knee Booker), Hero falls to temptation (Liz giving into her hate and despair in the BadFuture, Booker selling his daughter to pay for gambling debts), Hero finds redemption (Future Liz helping you stop the BadFuture, Booker willingly sacrificing himself to defeat Comstock forever). You know who wrote morality plays? The Catholic Church]].
129* You thought "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" was just a nicely chosen song that fits with the game, complete with "city in the sky" imagery, didn't you? Right up until the ending, the StableTimeLoop/multiverse collision. Booker's death in the river (or, if you prefer, Comstock's death in the cradle) took all of the timelines involving Comstock and pinched them off, creating a closed circle. What kind of circle isn't broken? ''A closed circle''.
130* The identity of Songbird is left pretty vague in the plot, probably on purpose. Is it a robot? A human turned into a monstrosity, ala the Big Daddy? But we can get a possible clue on his identity in the ending. Notice that both 'Bookers' (Comstock and the real Booker) die by drowning. Songbird also dies of drowning. It's already been put forward that an AU Booker may be the Songbird, and a few Voxophones speak of the difficulty in creating him along with Fink's insight through tears to Rapture. An AU Booker, ridden with guilt, would be the perfect candidate for the father/protector figure of Songbird]]. Could this be a subtle hint by the developers as to his identity? After all, Songbird is based on a big DADDY.
131* Elizabeth's choker, upon closer inspection, has an infinity symbols pattern.
132* Robert offers the free bird emblem because he is the one who sets the game in motion by insisting that they make amends for kidnapping Elizabeth and essentially "freeing" her, while Rosalind has the cage emblem because she studied Elizabeth while she was still in the tower and--because she admitted the truth to Lady Comstock--was indirectly responsible for her being imprisoned in the tower in the first place. It could also be an early indication of the Lutece twins' true personalities: Robert holds the free bird emblem because he is the more optimistic of the two [and believes that it really is possible to undo what Comstock's done; Rosalind, being more cynical and pessimistic to the point that she wonders if there's any point in trying to change the past, holds the cage. Alternatively, it could represent their roles in transferring Anna from Booker to Comstock. Robert is from the world with the 'bird': Anna, Rosalind is from the world with the 'cage' she is kept in. Robert takes the 'bird', Rosalind provides the 'cage'.
133* Some regarding the AnimalMotifs in this game. Columbia's propaganda touts Elizabeth as the Lamb of Columbia, an animal usually associated with innocence. But then as you move through the game and listen to the things said concerning her, the lamb symbolism takes a sinister turn into a different animal entirely.
134** Comstock relates a story about a dog he had named Bill who would "remain loyal" no matter how much he abused him. Y'know, abuse like the torture Comstock put Elizabeth through near the end of the game.
135** BadFuture Elizabeth (in vox recording) refers to the surgery/torture to make her obedient as a "leash" of sorts AND the vox recording compares the procedure itself to Pavlov's famous dog experiment.
136** So to sum up, Comstock wasn't raising Elizabeth as a "lamb". He was raising her as a "dog", or more precisely, a vicious attack dog to be unleashed on "the Sodom below". Add fire into the mix from the whole "burning down the mountains of man" bit and you basically have a hellhound.
137* Booker's words when confronting Comstock reflect his own self loathing for selling Anna.
138-->'''Booker''': She's your daughter, you son of a bitch! And you abandoned her! Was it worth it? Huh? Did you get what you wanted?
139* In the beginning of the game, the Luteces barely acknowledge Booker and ignore his questions in favor of talking to each other (or pursuing cryptic, barely related banter with him in defiance of his questions). As you learn more about the Luteces, you assume that's because they're adrift in space-time and might not even be completely capable of addressing Booker/acknowledging him as real. So it becomes jarring when, at the end of the game, they begin looking at Booker directly and giving apropos responses to his statements... until you realize that they're bothering to address him properly now because this Booker has succeeded in his mission, and they barely acknowledged him in the beginning because they didn't plan to get their hopes up over a man who would likely die.
140* We know that people have possibly-fatal difficulty assimilating their memories of the world they came from, with the world they find themselves in. The opening quote about forming new memories explains why the Luteces only give Booker maddeningly vague hints, and let him work things out slowly for himself as he becomes more grounded - and as he develops a relationship with Elizabeth, giving him more strength to cope with the revelations.
141* Regarding the significance of Constance Field. She's not related to the Songbird or the Luteces, despite what some theorists may think. No, she foreshadows something much more important: CONSTANTS.
142* Out of all the monuments in Paris, Elizabeth is most fascinated with the Eiffel Tower. This is probably partly for the obvious reason that it's a landmark all the players would recognize. It may also be a nod to the Chicago World's Fair, which inspired the aesthetics of Columbia, since the Eiffel Tower was created as a World's Fair centerpiece.
143* When you are on the gondola going to the First Lady airship, and you pass the Luteces, Robert is painting Rosalind, who is posing. As the painting comes into view, you can see Robert's actually painting a self-portrait. At first it just seems like another instance of them acting quirky and weird, but by the end you realize by painting himself, he ''is'' painting her, since they're the same person.
144* When Comstock is speaking, the player can sometimes hear an echoing effect on his words; it's most noticeable when he's speaking to Booker the first time he gets a nosebleed, or later in the game on the Hand of the Prophet. This effect almost makes it sound as though the sound is coming from 'behind' the player - or, in other words, as though Booker was saying Comstock's dialogue. That makes perfect sense if you consider that they're the same person. The reason Booker's nose bleeds is because he's experiencing that cognitive dissonance, and 'hearing' himself as Comstock!
145* The choice between the bird and the cage seems really obvious, symbolically speaking. The bird stands for freedom, the cage for confinement. However, with a little bit of thought, those meanings can be reversed - the bird could stand for the Songbird, who was keeping Elizabeth captive, and the cage for CAGE, which led to Elizabeth's ultimate freedom!
146* In Matthew 3:11, John speaks of baptizing people with water, but also speaks of after him and who is mightier than he, with fire and the Holy Spirit. When our hero, Booker, is baptized with water, he becomes the BigBad of the game and piles a multitude of sins upon his head. During the course of the game however, he is baptized with fire - the burning of New York City - and with a truly holy spirit - namely, the spirit of forgiveness - which his alternate self, Comstock, explicitly denounced. After this, he is purged of his sins, and reaches his happy ending. Truly, the baptism of water was the less effective.
147* Particularly observant players may notice something peculiar about the Luteces early on: their attire, while quirky and not so glaringly out if place are at best late-Victorian vintage, which would be considered outdated in 1912. This is a subtle hint to the revelation further down the line that they're DeadAllAlong. Especially given that they're shown wearing identical clothes back in 1893.
148* One of the things you hear in Columbia is the preacher giving a sermon listing Comstock's supposed accomplishments, noting that each one "would have been enough". This is a clear reference to Dayenu, a Jewish prayer song sung at the Passover Seder ("Dayenu"'s rough English translation is "It would have been enough"). The game was released on the first day of Passover 2013.
149* The whole game is chock full of gory, Tarantino-esque bloody violence which goes almost unremarked upon by Booker, but after she commits her first murder, Elizabeth seems absolutely ''horrified'' by what she's just witnessed and how bloody it is. Possibly another series' nods to accepted gaming tropes--any real person would be as traumatised as Elizabeth was, but the average gamer would (and by that point probably already has) snap a hundred peoples' necks without a care in the world.
150** A less meta explanation for the killing: Booker is a war veteran who committed acts of violence at Wounded Knee that were too gruesome even by that time's standards, not to mention his past as a Pinkerton. Elizabeth is a civilian who had virtually no contact with other human beings until a few hours ago. Understandably she'd be horrified by her first kill.
151* The very first "choice" you make in the game has only: be baptized, or wander around the room forever. You MUST go through the baptism, even insincerely, to enter Columbia. Columbia only EXISTS in those universes where Booker went through a baptism and rechristened himself Zachary Comstock, not to actually better himself but to simply assuage his guilt, which is an insincere reason for baptism. At which point another universe's Booker was brought in to stop him, who had to insincerely be baptized to enter... It's a ButThouMust moment crossing over with a StableTimeLoop. Which feeds into Fridge Brilliance part two: the thing about loops is that they're (more or less) circular. And what's the name of the song that Elizabeth sings to the scared child, with Booker backing her up on the guitar?
152* Why is the Fraternal Order of the Raven building so gross? All that food is meant as an offering for the birds but it's all human food rather than things they actually like to eat so it's just left to rot. It's a nice representation of the way a Klansman thinks: even when they're trying to be nice they can't wrap their heads around ways of thinking that are different than their own.
153* Speaking of Ravens, notice how many of the ravens in the Raven building were sitting on desks? Those were writing desks. I guess we have the answer to Lewis Carroll's riddle.
154* More on the Fraternal Order of the Raven: The order believes that John Wilkes Booth was a hero and Abraham Lincoln was the enemy to be destroyed. When you go through the building, you get the vigor for crows. Most probably thought, 'Eh, close enough' and moved on. However, why wouldn't they just call them the Order of the Crow? Sure, it doesn't sound impressive. Until you realize what they truly are. Another term for a group of ravens (or order, if you like) is a conspiracy of ravens. What do they believe again? 'Crow' is also a racial slur for a black person, which would make them, as a white supremacist group, averse to being called crows.
155* The fact that Raven Zealots can be found among the Vox Populi seems like a classic case of GameplayAndStorySegregation, until you realize they worship ''Lady'' Comstock above all else, and a few members may have learned about the truth of her murder, plus the doubts surrounding Zachary Comstock's lineage. Alternatively, some members of the Vox may have donned similar outfits in respect to her, given her [[NiceToTheWaiter progressive treatment to her servants]].
156* Zachary and Elizabeth are both names with deep Christian histories and connotations.
157* As you first arrive on ''The Hand of the Prophet'', Comstock tells Elizabeth (over the PA system) that she clearly knows that there's something weird about Booker but "can't quite put your finger on it". Quite apart from the fact that it sounds like a cheeky hint as to Booker being the cause of Elizabeth's missing finger, this isn't the first time someone in the [=BioShock=] series has used this particular turn of phrase: Andrew Ryan in the first game, hinting at Jack's true origins.
158* In the scenes in Booker's office with Elizabeth, you can hear Robert Lutece banging on the only other door in the room, demanding to be given "the girl". As the ending shows us, the only other room in that apartment was Anna's nursery.
159* The realization of the reason why Booker knows how to play the guitar and Elizabeth knows that song by the starting tune. Booker used to sing it to her as a baby.
160* Major one on Songbird. Why is it that our indestructible bird can drown? Simple: Songbird was built for the air, it stands to reason that his body would be designed for pressures corresponding to the air. Lightweight body as well. But his body wasn't built for water, thus water pressure crushes him like a tin can.
161* The game makes the player feel a lot of VideoGameCaringPotential towards Elizabeth, to the point players stopped using executions because they made her scream. Especially appropriate considering you're her ''father'' throughout the game.
162* Near the very end of the game, Elizabeth explains that, despite there being "a million, million" worlds, there are constants and variables. "There's always a lighthouse. There's always a man, there's always a city..." It's easy to dismiss how similar these constants might be, but you were just on a bathysphere in Rapture. So, how is this significant? While in Rapture you can observe a familiar sign from the first game, where surface travel and bathysphere use was restricted... And only those who have genetic makeup similar to Andrew Ryan could use them.
163* The second time Booker enters a door showing him the many lighthouses, right in front of him is another version of himself and Elizabeth. There's even a glimpse of yet another iteration of them running. It can be inferred that these Bookers were ones that couldn't handle the assimilation of new memories (which is why the Luteces were observing Booker very closely when he goes through the third lighthouse), or they ''refused'' to die for Comstock's non-existence. Our Booker was just the very first to not only be able to cope with the new memories, but also to be willing to smother Comstock in his metaphorical crib.
164* In some ways, Rapture and Columbia are counterpoint to one another, and not just the obvious ways. Both are ultimately brought to ruin by excessive greed (Fontaine and Fink/Comstock's respectively), but in different ways. In Rapture the unchecked development of ADAM and Frank Fontaine's unscrupulous empire starts a war between him and Andrew Ryan, while in Columbia it's the vicious oppression and exploitation of the working class that creates the Vox Populi, who given the chance start a war with the Founders. This plays very naturally into the idea of constants and variables.
165* How did Booker end up in Comstock House that made it the dark, gloomy, frightening ruin instead of the warm, inviting mansion that we see it as when we finally rescue Elizabeth? When Booker ran through the fog in order to make it to Comstock House, he probably ran through a tear that he couldn't see in the fog, which transported him there.
166* Why would Elizabeth's powers become [[PubertySuperpower stronger after puberty]], given that they're a result of her being in two Universes at one time rather than any biological factor? Throughout the game, Elizabeth refers to her ability to open tears as a form of wish fulfillment, and notes that she didn't begin to resent the Songbird until she was older. Since the majority of people become more interested in the opposite sex during their adolescent and teenage years (and an even broader majority are interested in either the opposite sex or peers of their own sex), it's not hard to imagine that she would have had a stronger desire to leave the circumstances that she had previously seen as normal.
167* Booker becomes Comstock after being baptized and becomes a sociopath, whereas Prime!Booker doesn't and is still trying to become a better person. Baptism isn't vindication-your "sins" are no more because they were the correct course of action; it's forgiveness-your sins are no more because you turn away from them and repent-the Bible refers to this as "Casting it into the sea". Booker was desperate to escape the consequences of his actions, and likely saw baptism as a "Get Out of [[FireAndBrimstoneHell Jail]] [[KarmaHoudini Free]]" card. It's not; it's a Good Start, but you have to work from your end. Prime!Booker understands that, but [[MoralEventHorizon doesn't believe he can be forgiven]].
168* Of the various events that allow you make a choice, some expire after a set period of time. Invariably, if you let the choice expire, you end up with a worse outcome than if you make the "wrong" choice. If you wait too long to choose whether to pelt either the couple or Fink in the beginning, you lose out on a gear later in the game [[PermanentlyMissableContent (and you can't get it by any other means)]]. If you wait too long to either draw on the ticket clerk in the Arcade or demand your ticket, you get stabbed in the hand (the result of the "demand your ticket" choice) for your trouble. That seems a strange feature, but if you think about it, it fits the a theme established in all of the games: the importance of choice. No matter what choice you make, the important thing is to choose. Regardless of the outcome, it's always better than agonizing over making the right choice.
169* A sign near the beginning describes Comstock as the prophet leading people to Eden, not Heaven. Eden is ultimately a place of ignorance, devoid of knowledge, and a fable metaphorically describing childhood. Becoming an adult means leaving ignorance behind, and the price is accepting death.
170* Rosalind seems markedly less inclined to emotion or empathy than Robert is, more fatalistic, pessimistic, etc. She is also content to exist forever outside of time and space as a bewildering demi-god, whilst Robert would evidently prefer to give up their powers in exchange for a normal life and the possibility of having children, according to one of the voxophones. At first glance this looks like a simple case of playing against audience expectations, making the female the less empathetic, but on further consideration it does indeed make sense to have Rosalind be far more bitter and cynical than her male counterpart. This is a time period where a pair of women you pass by on the boardwalk are discussing how distasteful it is that their friend has a ''job''. Rosalind not only has a job, but has unlocked the secrets of an entire new subcategory of physics. And where Robert could expect to be praised for his work, Rosalind more likely often met with derision or even outright dismissal in regards to the very same scientific discoveries. Her indifferent attitude and self-centric goals are thus a logical result of the oppressive society in which she was raised, and not merely a set of arbitrary distaff traits meant to counter Robert's idealism.
171* The Lutece Twins from the main game are clever foreshadowing to the fact that Comstock is Booker as the two are different enough to survive in the same universe together, unaffected, while other universe parallels cannot. This cleverly hints to Booker surviving in the same universe than Comstock.
172* When Elizabeth bargains with the Songbird for Booker's life, why does it take her to Comstock House instead of Monument Island when she says that she'll let it take her home? Because you're still in the world where Elizabeth was moved to Comstock House and Booker was a martyr of the Vox Populi.
173* When Elizabeth says that she doesn't know if she travels to other worlds or creates them according to her desires, it could be a reference to the Many Worlds Interpretation of quantum physics, which in fact seems to be partly true in this game. According to it, universes are constantly being created because for each possibility there is a universe in which it becomes true (although in VideoGame/BioShockInfinite some things that seem possible never end up materializing because there are some multiversal constants which in reality make them impossible). So, following this interpretation, each time Elizabeth decides to open a tear to another world and cross it she would be creating new universes in which she does just that, one from which she leaves and one into which she enters. Furthermore, if Elizabeth's thoughts can influence whatever her powers bring to life such as with the Siren, that would explain why the new universe to which she arrives after crossing the tear has some things in common with the old one even if they don't seem to make logical sense (like the Monument being also broken in the Vox Populi world, for example).
174* The probable reason that the consumables here include so much more fresh produce than Rapture is because of the increased space and sunlight available.
175* Even if Fitzroy doesn't denounce Booker as a ghost or an impostor, sooner or later Booker would end up fighting the Vox. Why? Because he himself has massacred civilians in the past, and realized that nothing would ever justify that.
176* The design of the Downtown Emporia level counts. You can either go through Harmony Lane or the Market District in order to reach the entrance to Comstock House, but much like the choice of which brooch to wear, this doesn't have much of an impact on the overall plot. No matter which path you choose, you will always end up at the entrance to Comstock House.
177* Probably an obvious from of Fridge Brilliance, but the placement of certain Voxophones from certain characters makes sense considering the locations tie into their personalities, occupation, or relations to other characters, even Rosalind Lutece has placed her Voxophones in deceptively random but accessible locations far off the beaten path because she knows Booker's most likely to go out of his way to sniff around said locations for whatever might be useful. Yet most of Comstock's Voxophones are placed in completely random yet easy to find locations such as a barber shop or an ice cream shop, which technically hold no relation to his religious personality nor his job as a prophet (though most of his recordings sound like he's giving a sermon). However, if you take into account that Colombia as a whole is his big passion project, it would make sense for him to go to these locations if only to see how they hold up and he'd certainly preach his word to his adoring public whenever he has time, and probably left his voxophones behind willingly because he expects people will want to hear his words again.
178* Booker is pretty progressive for his era, especially during the public stoning of the mixed-race couple. It's horrifying from a modern perspective, but such an act would've been seen as acceptable at the time even by people outside of Columbia. Yet not only does Booker have the option to throw the ball at Fink instead, he sounds quite miffed at the situation as a whole. [[TheAtoner Not surprising, given his own past history with racial violence.]]
179* Despite the close bond between Elizabeth and Songbird, she talks about how she came to resent him during her imprisonment because he seemed to keep her locked up. He also shows considerable hostility towards Booker until Elizabeth finally manages to calm him down. In ''Burial at Sea'' we learn that they first met when Songbird crashed into Elizabeth's tower after escaping from Fink's lab, probably having a limited understanding of the world around him, maybe even a childlike mentality). Perhaps the reason why he never helped Elizabeth escape from he prison (and, as she notes, unwittingly becomes her "warden") is because ''he never actually realized she was imprisoned.''. Since he's only ever seen Elizabeth at the tower and never seen her friends, Songbird made the mental association that the tower is just where Elizabeth lives and where he can find her. This also explains why he showed so much hostility to Booker- he legitimately thinks Elizabeth is being kidnapped and wants to help her (possibly because she had no other friends up to that point, meaning that in Songbird's mind anyone else was probably an enemy). It's only when Elizabeth manages to convince Songbird that Booker is a friend that he finally helps them.
180* The first time you escape Songbird, you briefly see him attempt to follow you into the water of an artificial beach, before his eye starts to crack, forcing him to retreat, indicating that he can't properly function in aquatic environments and foreshadowing his eventual demise at the game's end.
181* 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'' 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.
182** 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.
183* Why was Elizabeth not indoctrinated? Because the Luteces already showed Comstock the future where Elizabeth succeeds him and begins a violent campaign against the world he so despises. As far as he's 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.
184** "''You never need to doubt it; I'll '''make you''' so '''sure''' about it...''"
185** Really this is another parallel that demonstrates Booker and Comstock are the same person - after all, when Booker was sticking to the mission to take her back to New York, didn't he just assume she'd go along with it?
186* 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.
187** It's also an obvious nod to [[https://simpsons.fandom.com/wiki/The_Be_Sharps The Be Sharps]], arguably the most popular fictional Barbershop Quartet to ever exist.
188
189!! Burial at Sea:
190* In Episode One, the head of Sally's doll that Booker carries around is foreshadowing for the horrific fate of the Elizabeth that this version of "Booker" caused when he tried to steal her from his alternate self, and the cause of the "debt" that Elizabeth means to repay--revenge for her own accidental murder by the ''player character''.
191* Why don't the splicers kill themselves after Possession wears off? Because they're already such batshit insane psychos that not even killing their buddies at the behest of their enemies does anything to sway their conscience!
192* Speaking of Possession, It's actually a bit of a tip off on the fact that Booker is actually a version of Comstock, as it seems it's much more useful now. How this tips it off is one simple fact, Comstock was in control of Columbia, he liked to be in control, he liked to control others, he wanted to control everyone. So what a fitting vigor/plasmid for him to use.
193* It's revealed that Atlas refers to the "Would You Kindly" control phrase to command Jack as the "Ace in the Hole." Now, what's the most important card in the deck after the Ace?
194* Speaking of that, there is very early foreshadowing. In Elizabeth's dream, when she's chasing after Sally. A great wind halts her chase and a deck of flying cards blow past her, one card turns around as it passes by her face and the world slows down a tiny bit. It was an Ace.
195* The end reveals that this Elizabeth is the same one we knew throughout the game, but why is it that she doesn't react to you executing person after person after person in exceedingly brutal and gory ways? The answer is simple, it is not just that she is more mature. But it's also that you are Comstock. Elizabeth has seen you commit atrocity after brutal atrocity. Why should goring someone with a spinning hook surprise her?
196* In the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUQsbEO0bGw&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DhUQsbEO0bGw&has_verified=1 trailer]] for Burial at Sea: Part 2, eagle-eyed viewers will notice that Bookerstock's hair is white. Now remember that while Elizabeth's Rapture Model was released, Booker's wasn't. And the only depiction of him, in the art for Part 1, shows his head covered with a hat. The reason why they didn't show Booker's game model was because fans would instantly recognize him as Comstock. A more subtle one can also be seen in the trailer: ''VERY'' attentive viewers will notice that Bookerstock's eye color is blue. Booker's eyes are green. Yet more evidence that this is ''not'' Booker.
197* In Burial at Sea: Part 1, Booker's starting weapon is a Hand Cannon. Why does he use a revolver instead of a pistol? First of all, revolvers were much more widespread in the police back in the 1940s and 1950s. Second of all, a detective would not have his semiautomatic jamming on him when he attacks someone, say an escaped serial killer. And third of all, it's actually a subtle hint towards his true identity. In the promos, Booker is often [[http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2013/093/c/3/booker_and_elizabeth___bioshock_infinite_by_benlo-d60ctfw.jpg seen]] using the Broadsider pistol. But in the Hall of Heroes, the [[http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18kcf4575bzo2jpg/k-bigpic.jpg Comstock statue]] is wielding a Hand Cannon. No wonder Comstock would use a weapon he would want to use!
198* There's a girl named Cosette in Paris. The [[Literature/LesMiserables reference]] is obvious but the girl is a brunette unlike the musical's classic blond Cossette. Recall now that Elizabeth predates the musical so only knows [[ShownTheirWork the original book where Cosette is a brunette.]]
199* In this [[SarcasmMode delightful]] little [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WcJZSrzIFU film]], the name, which is in French, translates to "We looked at each other and were observed." What happens when you turn around? You see [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WcJZSrzIFU&t=0m58s this man sitting there. Watching you.]]
200* The DLC makes it clear that the Vigors and Tonics are plasmids, and use ADAM. You can even find evidence of Fink's frustration in hunting down the sea slugs at the bottom of the ocean. "Why couldn't it be some sort of miraculous ''seagull?''" Why didn't he just make his own version of the Little Sisters? Because unlike Rapture, Columbia ''does'' value childhood. Orphans are rare, and those that exist would be well-cared for by their surviving relatives. With Fink's reputation as a family man and a Christian, there's really no way he can justify taking girls from their families. He could conceivably take them from the slaves, but when they inevitably realized what the girls were being used for, they would rise up in a blind rage--and quite a few of the whites would join them, judging by Preston's reaction when he realized what had been done to the little Sioux boy.
201* A lot of criticism has been aimed at the fact that Elizabeth lets herself become mortal and sacrifices herself just so she can save Sally and the rest of the Little Sisters. But was it really just about saving Sally? No; she did everything she did because it lead to Jack eventually bringing down Fontaine. Remember Fontaine's admitted goals in the first ''[=BioShock=]'': he eventually wanted to [[TakeOverTheWorld return to the surface with his new empire]]. At worst he would have subjugated the world with an army of jacked-up (if mentally unstable) super humans. At best, he would have put ADAM on the market and [[CrapsackWorld turned the surface into a copy of Rapture]]. Much like Booker saw a future where Columbia ended up destroying the surface, Elizabeth likely saw a future where Fontaine brought ADAM to the surface and caused a decline in society like what happened in Rapture. The parallels are even more obvious when you compare them to the revelation that Daisy Fitzroy demonized and sacrificed herself to eventually bring Comstock's end, this was bigger than saving just the Little Sisters, this was about ''[[SavingTheWorld saving the entire world]]''.
202** Adding to that, if we consider Bioshock 2 to be canon, then the downfall of both Ryan and Fontaine would immediately be succeeded by [[Sofia Lamb taking over Rapture, only for her plans to then be dismantled by Subject Delta and Eleanor Lamb]], combined with CM Porter and Tenenbaum making a cure for ADAM sickness, would thus make Elizabeth's actions, cause the nightmare of Rapture to end PERMANENTLY.
203* You find infusions all over Columbia, so why are you the only one with a regenerating magnetic shield? Because the Lutece's gave you that one drink without the health or salts option - all the other infusions would let people have health or salts! This also explains why some people need to be shot in the head multiple times.
204* In the end, Elizabeth did end up bringing fire upon the "Sodom Below", Rapture. It was just further below than Comstock imagined.
205* Hey, remember how, no matter how long you took to track her down, Daisy still hadn't killed Fink Jr.? Remember how she monologued at Booker, gesturing dramatically with her gun? She spends most of the game being extremely pragmatic, except for this one point. This is because she knows she has to be killed by Liz.
206* Look at the names. Anna. Booker. Comstock. Daizy. Elizabeth. Fink. The only main characters who don't fit the pattern are the Luteces, which makes sense because they're far, far outside of conventional existence.
207* Elizabeth could have tried to assassinate Atlas/Fontaine directly, but she doesn't. Without Atlas, Ryan's grip on Rapture would become a stranglehold; no one else has the power to challenge him. Events of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' have to happen the way they happen for the cycle of violence to end.
208* Most of the anarchrostics actually have songs that contradict the original intention such as "Shiny Happy People" being satirical of Chinese propaganda and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" being a quest for power ,but also the consequences of it. That might be because Albert Fink doesn't care about context as he got the songs by spying in on people from the future causing an in-universe example of IsntItIronic and TheCoverChangesTheMeaning.
209** A bonus one is considering how the "Shiny Happy People" cover is done in the style of Music/LouisArmstrong and this is Columbia we're talking about, it's specifically about HappinessInSlavery as opposed to about the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
210* It's been noted that there's questions on why the Vox needed Chen Lin if there were mini-armories scattered about Columbia. The answer is in the question: The armories are scattered through white supremacist Columbia. Paid in company scrip and oppressively watched when about the city proper, there's no way for Columbia's underclass to actually acquire weapons in any meaningful way without Chen Lin.
211* Elizabeth talks about how she initially saw Songbird as a friend but then came to see him as her warden since he seemed to be maintaining her imprisonment. However, in ''Burial at Sea'' we also learn that his imprinting on her occurred he crashed into her tower right after escaping from Fink, probably with a limited understanding of the world around him. Perhaps the reason he never attempted to rescue Elizabeth was because he ''didn't realize that she was being held against her will.'' After consistently finding her at the same tower, Songbird also probably just came to see the tower as where she lived. Elizabeth, being a child and probably not understanding her situation, might not have thought to ask him for help. As she got older Elizabeth probably assumed Songbird was working for her captors and assumed asking for help would be pointless. As a result Songbird probably never recognized that she was a prisoner. So when Booker showed up and helped Elizabeth escape, Songbird fought back because he legitimately thought she was being kidnapped. Note towards the end when Elizabeth manages to convince Songbird this is ''not'' the case, he immediately begins helping them.
212* There's a particular irony to the death of Suchong. The man is obsessed with creating a bond between the Big Daddies and Little Sisters, and at first it seems like a simple case of being killed by his own creation, but it actually goes deeper. Not only is Suchong killed by his own ambition, he dies ''not even knowing his goal has been fulfilled.'' For all his arrogance and his sense of superiority to others, Suchong completely fails to create the desired bond, which is only successfully formed by an unrelated incident]]. Not only this, but he remains completely oblivious to the Bond which now exists, recording an audio diary in which he rants about his constant failures while two little sisters try to get his attention. Those two girls were probably trying to get his attention because they wanted to introduce Suchong to their new "friend" (the Big Daddy they helped earlier), only to get dismissed. All Suchong had to do was be nicer to the kids, and if he had taken a few minutes to listen to them, he would have seen that they successfully bonded. Instead, he ignored them and remained oblivious to the breakthrough that had just happened, receiving what would have been in his mind an unprovoked Big Daddy attack that seemed to come out of nowhere.
213* Seeing the origins of the bond between the Little Sisters and the Big Daddies puts their relationship in a new light! When Elizabeth encounters the injured Big Daddy, she finds two Little Sisters who are initially scared until they realize that he is just injured and needs ADAM, one even allowing it to be extracted from her own body to help him, and this act earns his respect. The Little Sisters in the original games show a great deal of affection for their Big Daddies, and we see it reciprocated as much as is possible (i.e. Subject Delta giving them piggyback rides). Consider that both here and in ''Bioshock 2'' we learned that being transformed into a Big Daddy is an excruciating experience designed to take away their humanity, and the procedure was often if not always performed on unwilling subjects, and that when they were transformed they were basically made into slave labor (Big Daddies were originally used for maintenance and construction). Why are the Big Daddies so attached to their Little Sisters? Perhaps it's because the Little Sisters are the only ones who ''actually treat them as people'' rather than a tool to do menial labor or a brute to run from or fight. If what we saw of Sinclair's transformation in ''Bioshock 2'' is anything to go on, having one small group of people willing to recognize your humanity might just be the only comfort Big Daddies have.
214[[/folder]]
215
216[[folder:Fridge Horror]]
217* Remember the coin flip? Count the tallies. Booker's (or rather ''Bookers'') flipped the coin over a hundred times. And that's assuming the Luteces are still on the first set of chalkboards. The exact number of the coin flip tally (at least, before ''your'' Booker's result is tallied) is 122. Now, recall the numbers on the bell code that got you into Columbia at the start of the game.
218* Whenever you die, and Elizabeth is not there to revive you, you return to your apartment. You then step back out, creating an alternate universe where you did not die. The tick marks on the chalkboard, and the alternate, battered, bloody Elizabeth you see at the end? They come from all the times you came to Columbia and FAILED.
219* Sure the ending renders this moot, but more than a few of us would shudder at the realization that [[https://sites.google.com/site/sprage39/video-game-thoughts/bioshockinfinite/whyagoodchunkofthegametakesplacein1914 the Elizabeth we save might not be 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?
220** Look closer. Elizabeth passes completely through the Tear in question (and the cops aren't visually distorted, and are outside of the Tear's threshold), and we can hear her struggling with them after the Tear closes. Said struggling is only muffled, rather than being distorted like the audio that comes through other closed Tears in the game. All in all, yes, we can be sure that that's the same Elizabeth. As for the Songbird bit, the two arguments for that theory aren't entirely solid, as pointed out by the arguments themselves.
221* Related to the above, Booker jumps universes with Elizabeth multiple times. But what happened to the Bookers and Elizabeths of the universes they enter into? We do know that one Booker joined the Vox uprising and died as a martyr, but the others are left unaccounted for. And by extension, the Comstocks of the earlier universes remain alive and well. At least until the ending where Elizabeth proceeds to drown each Booker that would turn into Comstock, retroactively removing him from existence.
222* While riding in an elevator with Booker, Elizabeth opens a tear to let a bee in the elevator escape through the window of a house in an alternate dimension. Then the Songbird of that dimension sees Elizabeth through the tear from outside the window & swerves toward her but she closes the tear just in time. Anyone in that house is dead now.
223* Did baby Anna suffer from Tear Sickness? And that doesn't even account for her newly-severed finger...
224* Elizabeth has been kept in a huge chamber and her every move is watched through one-way mirrors. ''Every move.'' Since she was really young. Not only that but they've kept souvenirs. Some are mild-flavoured creepy like her teddy bear or her poetry book. Then there's full on extra-strength "What-The-Hell" with her first menstrual pad. In the darkroom, someone was apparently developing several photographs of Elizabeth changing, with it being clear that she is obviously meant to be naked in them. One doubts that saying it was "ForScience" is a justification for how utterly disturbing this is.
225* More on the subject of Booker. Ever wonder why the Battle of Wounded Knee is called the ''Massacre'' at Wounded Knee? It's implied Booker ''himself'' might be the reason why. It's revealed that Slate's soldiers gave him the ''nom de guerre'' of "The White Injun" because he collected so many grisly trophies from the dead, while Comstock's Voxaphone recordings reveal that after he was (correctly) accused of having Indian blood, he decided to prove them wrong by burning tepees down with the inhabitants (women and children) still inside. Since this took place before the point of divergence that turned Booker into Comstock, then Booker is guilty of this as well. [[TeensAreMonsters Bear in mind, that was all when he was sixteen]]... Furthermore, one Voxophone confirms that Booker [=DeWitt=] speaks Sioux. It's no jump to know which tribe his Indian blood comes from. Now, what tribe was at Wounded Knee? Booker slaughtered ''his own people''.
226* On the Action figure for the Boys of Silence, the clothes look too small for the person, especially the pants. Given that their uniforms are all but synonymous with school uniforms, it isn't much of a jump to guess that they wore those clothes for a very long time - from an early age. Add in Columbia's extreme nationalism, would it really be out of the question for them to be kids taken off the street? Paralleling the Handymen's former crippled nature. Confirming in the art book: The boys are from an orphanage.
227* More Fridge Squick for the shippers who were looking forward to a long tradition of Liz[=/=]Booker fic. You know how peaceful interaction with Liz is a lot like a very involved DatingSim? Yeah, she's Booker's daughter. So yeah, if Booker was ever attracted to her {{Moe}} personality and looks? [[ParentalIncest Yep]]. This sheds a notably icky light on a bit of dialogue in the game, where Liz casually asks "Mr. [=DeWitt=]" if he "has a woman in his life".
228* You know the BadFuture? First New York, and then possibly the planet? Given who Comstock is, who's to say he'd be satisfied with redeeming ''one'' universe? Elizabeth ''outright says'' in that millions of other universes await their judgement once she's dealt with one.
229* Bit of Real Life Fridge Horror: Comstock purely going evil because of his religion, while his presumably agnostic or at least lapsed alternate universe counterpart Booker seems like it would be making religion into a strawman... and then you read up on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Theology dominion theology]], and other Christian movements towards theocratic government, particularly in the US. '''There are real people like him'''.
230* When Booker is baptised and allowed into Columbia, he's almost drowned; judging by the comments of the people in the garden outside the chapel, this is standard procedure - which raises the question of just how many people have been accidentally killed as a result.
231* During the level 'The Hand of the Prophet', you drop multiple Patriot pods off a sky line to reach the top of a zeppelin. During the lighthouse scene at the beginning of the game it shows that Columbia's flight-path stays primarily inside the US, given that at least a day have passed since Booker entered Columbia (Hall of Heroes and Comstock House take place at night). That gives Columbia more than enough time to get past the coast of Maine, and the pods were probably designed to be dropped. [[ParanoiaFuel So where did the Motorized Patriots in the pods go, and what did they do once they got there]]?
232* When you finally get to Fink's office, you find a voxophone of Songbird. In it, Fink talks about a new process he discovered that fuses man and machine and is irreversible. The context is mainly toward the creation of Songbird... but what else in [=BioShock=] does that create? The Big Daddies. Apparently, he saw, using Elizabeth's tears, how a Big Daddy is constructed and how it operates. They even have similar traits: both are assigned as guardians to females (Elizabeth for Songbird, a Little Sister for a Big Daddy) and have lights that display their current status (green = peaceful, yellow = alert, red = hostile).
233* Something to consider. The Songbird was built using techniques gained from Rapture through a tear about Big Daddy construction. So what of the technique(s) they were using to turn Elizabeth into a FallenHero that attacked NYC in Rapture? Specifically, to make a Little/Big Sister?
234* Here's game: when you sit in the lighthouse's chair, [[StupidityIsTheOnlyOption it seems like Booker would've at least tried to have avoid getting strapped down]]. However, as soon as he does get strapped in, the chair quickly turns upside down to face an incinerator. ''Columbia doesn't want you there if you don't follow even the smallest of its rules''.
235* Here's a really chilling one. The (fictional) laws of nature that led to Elizabeth developing her powers would still exist, even if Elizabeth herself is RetGone. What if someone else, less morally scrupulous than her, got such powers -- and ended up rewriting reality at a whim? This may even have already happened...
236* What did Booker do that even the Pinkertons won't associate with him?
237* Possession:
238** The advertisement for the Possession vigor reads "Any stallion can be tamed." It initially seems to refer to the vigor's ability to possess machines (given Columbia's automaton horses), but when you realize that you can upgrade it to possess people, the phrase takes on a portentous double meaning. Booker only uses it to possess enemies to fight for him, but given the "love" imagery surrounding Possession, who's to say that civilians don't use it as a LovePotion to "tame" attractive people and bring them under their thrall? In fact, a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2vZBafoR-E kinetoscope]] in the ''Clash in the Clouds'' DLC cheerfully confirms its use as a rape drug.
239** Made worse by the ''results'' of using Possession. Even when the possessed individual doesn't kill anyone or even attempt to, their first response is to immediately pull out a gun and shoot themselves. While that would be an unlikely result if the person weren't already armed (and most people normally aren't; the game is set in Columbia during a crisis), what kind of long-term psychological harm would result from being affected by the vigor, even ''excluding'' the obvious?
240*** 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 (this also explains why Splicers in ''Burial At Sea'' don't kill themselves once it wears off). 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...
241* One of Rosalind's voxophones states, "Our contraption shows us the girl is the flame that shall ignite the world. My brother says we must undo what we have done. But time is more an ocean than a river. Why try to bring in a tide that will only again go out?" Made more chilling by the Fridge-Brilliant ocean metaphors, it is likely that the Luteces helped lead you willingly to slaughter, only to have Ryan break ground for Rapture a few decades later... ''And knew it the whole time,'' but were only interested literally undoing their part in such events, nothing more. This would explain their absence from Burial at Sea: Episode 2. With the last Comstock dead, they no longer cared what Elizabeth got up to. Without their seemingly superior abilities at subtle manipulation of the worlds, she was forced to manifest in Rapture Prime and become mortal.
242* Based on a theory from the Heartwarming section, the song "Goodnight Irene" is sung from Booker's point of view. One of the lyrics, as said earlier, is "Sometimes I get a notion to jump in the river and drown!" ''How many times has Booker contemplated suicide?''
243* Who was that unfortunate man in the lighthouse who had been shot in the head with a bag over his head, with the rest of the place looking like he was attacked, chased up the stairs, then dragged back down before being tied in that chair and tortured before finally being finished off? Another Comstock, perhaps? Or just some random stranger that lived in the lighthouse and kept it going?
244* Who won the war for Columbia in the end in that universe? Was it the Vox, who would turn it into what might be a lawless dystopia? Or the Founders, who would not only put down the Vox once and for all, but maybe even enact a Holocaust 30 years early in revenge?
245* Even if Booker and Elizabeth went to Paris, it's unlikely they would have gotten a happy ending. Remember the year the game takes place in 1912. [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI What happened to France two years later?]] Frankly, it's quite possible that the ending of this game was the only way that it could have ended happily or even in a way that would be considered bitter sweet. Elizabeth, as she exists in all of the Universes seen up until the end will never have a chance at a normal life. The people of Columbia aren't likely to stop following her unless the city is destroyed, and even if it is, there's still no way that all of the other countries in the world won't desire a means to control her power. Hiding it would be difficult, since she's able to create tears involuntarily. There is no good ending for Elizabeth if Comstock continues to exist, because existing as a being capable of hopping from dimension to dimension will inevitably lead to a short, violent, and frightening life without a stable home anywhere in any reality. By killing the Booker who becomes Comstock, Elizabeth gives a version of both herself and Booker a chance at a normal, peaceful life. Maybe even one where she gets to see Paris, provided this version of Elizabeth isn't the one Booker attempts to give to the last Comstock in ''Burial at Sea''.
246* At Soldier's Field, two women are talking about a boy who was sent to Comstock House and was never heard from again. The horrors you encounter in the BadFuture at least to some extent still exist in 1912.
247* If you chose to spare [[BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama the interracial couple]] in the raffle, they will show up later to reward you with some gear. If you chose to start the execution instead, Fink's assistant shows up and rewards you, leaving the couple's fate uncertain.
248* Whatever the debate about police powers in the modern era, in 1912 they were certainly greater than they are today, sometimes (and depending on the level of local corruption) to the point of having almost no restrictions at all. So you realize that the police in Columbia are likely those who couldn't handle even the minuscule, almost cosmetic restrictions placed upon them in the America of that era. They already show their brutality on a regular basis, but this thought really brings it home.
249* Consider this; Columbia is a city that's constantly floating over the mainland United States, now look back at any moment you defeated an enemy by tossing them out of Columbia (such as knocking a foe off a Skyline, or using the Undertow Vigor), now consider any poor bystander who sees your defeated foe falling from the sky, best case scenario: they see a regular human being fall from the sky to their death and find themselves horrified and [[ParanoiaFuel paranoid over what else might fall from the sky]]. Worst case scenario: A Patriot or Handyman falls from the sky, survives the fall, and slaughters god-knows-how-many people without a care in the world.
250** 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. At least we can take solace in the fact that Handymen and Patriots ''''won't'''' survive that landing.
251* "Songbird. He always stops you." How many times did the BadFuture Elizabeth see Booker try and fail to save her younger self?
252* Booker is a man obviously suffering from all kinds of trauma, PTSD, guilt, and shame over his past actions. Right before he was drowned, after seeing all of the horrible things Comstock was responsible, one can only imagine how far he sunk past the DespairEventHorizon upon realizing the two of them are the same person.
253* If Anna is indeed in the crib in the post-credit scene, she would still have to live with an alcoholic father with a severe case of PTSD. Best case scenario, Booker gets his act together and raises her in poverty. Worst case scenario, Booker remains the same deadbeat jerkass who would consider selling his kid to settle a debt, even if Columbia no longer exists to buy her.
254
255!! Burial at Sea
256
257* Elizabeth's actions:
258** She ultimately leads to Atlas being able to attack Rapture and put his plan with Jack into motion. She's therefore responsible for the deaths of everyone on that plane Jack hijacked, as well as the death or splicing insanity of the citizens of Rapture. The fact that this is portrayed as a good thing is slightly perplexing.
259*** In fairness, Elizabeth's final words are that she can see all the doors and what's behind them, and behind one of them she sees Jack. Without her sacrifice, there would have been '''no''' universe where Ryan and Atlas were defeated. Furthermore, depending on your interpretation of Elizabeth's words, you can see it as her ensuring that Atlas and Ryan's defeats at the hands of Jack and the Little Sisters being saved is now a "constant" since Atlas has to show up in each multiverse to Rapture ''somehow'' - So, in a way, she '''did''' manage to save the world from Rapture and Atlas countless times over.
260* In the ending of Burial at Sea, 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 enough so she could slowly bleed to death. Fortunately, Sally's presence and seeing the Doors allows Elizabeth to seemingly die content without much suffering.
261* The ending of Episode 1:
262** We see the ending of Episode 1 from Comstock's perspective. Anna's head gets cut off on his side. Now, re-imagine that scene....from ''Booker's'' perspective. Whatever Comstock felt is ''nothing'' to what Booker would have felt. Remember.. "I sold you...I Sold You!"?
263** As if it even needs to be made worse, it's easy to assume what happened after that if Booker was discovered in the street cradling the ''headless corpse of his baby daughter''. Most likely he was arrested, accused of her murder and sentenced to death. And, knowing Booker, he probably didn't resist in the slightest.
264*** More likely, [[DrivenToSuicide he would have just shot himself]], unable to live with the guilt of [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone inadvertently killing his own daughter.]]
265* Atlas performs the whole lobotomy scene with the nice, yet unsettling background of "The Great Pretender" by The Platters, and given the whole Atlas/Fontaine persona, that seems quite fitting for him. But with lyrics such as "I'm lonely but no one can tell", "adrift in a world of my own", "You've left me to grieve all alone" and "Pretending that you're still around" that may just as well be the perfect song for Elizabeth, who's alone in Rapture ("adrift" fits just right with an underwater city), distraught by loneliness and grief to the point of hallucinating that Radio-Booker is still with her.
266* Given that ''Literature/BioShockRapture'' makes a reference to a Comstock mining empire existing in the Rapture timeline at some point in the early 1900s, it opens up the possibility that not ''every'' Comstock was wiped from the multiverse. That there are universes where Comstock neither had the clout, influence nor support from the Luteces but nonetheless successful enough to run his own business. This could explain why Rapture still exists even though Comstock is "erased."
267* The reveal that vigours are basically non-watered down plasmids adds one retroactively to Bioshock. Apparently, the reason why plasmids are addictive and vigours aren't is the watering down part, meaning a lot of problems in the first two games could have been avoided if Suchong, Fontaine or Ryan cared a little more about human lives than profit.
268* 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. Both would want to exploit tears for their own gain. Best case scenario either Ryan or Fontaine use it to plagiarize ideas from other universes, much like Fink, and then use those profits to further strengthen their grip on Rapture. Worst case scenario, they start getting ideas about expanding their influence into other universes. We've already seen how dangerous it can be when this kind of technology falls into the wrong hands. It's not just about saving Sally, it's about preventing Fontaine or Ryan from becoming another Comstock!
269* Rosalind Lutece says in a voxophone in ''Burial at Sea Episode 2'' that she and Robert are considering going back to their own timeline to have a child. Considering they are genetically identical except their sex chromosomes, their child would almost certainly have severe genetic diseases.
270* Although Atlas had probably always planned to kill Elizabeth [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once she'd served her purpose]] he seems a lot more eager to do so when he confronts her at the end. Being pissed off by Elizabeth didn't help, but during the lobotomy scene Atlas actually has a moment where, after being provoked, he actually slips up and speaks to Elizabeth in his native Brooklyn accent. In his mind, this makes Elizabeth a loose end that needs to be dealt with. He was probably getting increasingly anxious about the presence of a witness and was ready to jump on the first opportunity to silence her. And that's assuming he didn't know about her breaking into his secret dressing room.
271[[/folder]]
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273[[folder:Fridge Logic]]
274* On the [[Headscratchers/BioShockInfinite Headscratchers tab]].

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