Headscratchers / Far Cry 3

"Did I ever tell you... the definition of insanity?"

— Vaas

• How did Jason and his friends originally plan to leave the Rook Islands? I get that they're supposed to be naive and short-sighted characters but they had to have had some plan to get off the islands once their vacation was done. Was the pilot from the skydive plane supposed to return for them later? If so, why didn't this happen?
  • What in the game indicates that the island they are on is in the Rook Islands? There is nothing which indicates how old the footage is, nor are there any identifiable landmarks in it. They could have been on a completely different island a week or two earlier, and wind up on Rook after a three-hour tour.
    • Watch it again (both the opening scene and the footage played on the TV in the basement of Hoyt's compound), you'll see the arch rock formation that Jason had to pass under to get to the Medusa, particularly at the part where Jason kicks the palm tree. Also, if you remember the flashbacks, Doug (who pretty clearly worked for Vaas) asks if they have enough money to charter a boat (no doubt to see if they had rich parents who'd pay a ransom), Jason then suggests "...something extreme", and Doug suggests skydiving. Finally, just seconds before Grant gets shot, he says "We never should've made that jump alone." Why would he say that unless it was the parachute jump that got them in this situation? So yes, the footage was taken on Rook Island and they clearly did skydive onto Rook island.
  • I think they were counting on meeting the pilot later, or maybe they arranged to catch a ship, but whichever it was, their transportation guy was secretly working with Vaas the whole time and simply sold them out and ran off. I believe it is canon that they all learned about Rook Islands in the first place from a guy who was secretly a minion of Vaas', so presumably he has a whole front network for luring people there.
• Why didn't Jason just call the U.S. government for help after he escaped? Yes, the island is crawling with pirates, and a rescues mission will be tricky. But why didn't he even try?
  • Using... what, exactly? The only line of communication he has is a spotty cell phone on an island where the only working communications systems are owned by the pirates. Cell phone reception in the South Pacific is extremely spotty, and he doesn't have a satellite phone. Once he gets in touch with Huntley, he does have government support - or at least, as much support as is possible to get out there.
  • The island is probably sovereign territory of another nation, too, since the presence of a CIA agent seems to indicate the world knows Vaas and Hoyt are there and yet aren't acting on it. (This is Truth in Television with modern piracy). Granted, I doubt Jason knows or cares about the complexities of international law, but still...
• When Jason came to save Keith, he's fully equipped with guns, grenades, Molotov cocktails, etc. But Buck still trying to attack him with only a knife...And the fact that Jason didn't just shoot him, Indiana Jones style.
  • Close quarters combat with a knife is really the last place you want to be using a gun. There's a reason why the best counter to a machete-wielding opponent in-game when he gets too close is to use your own knife or tanto. Jason grapples with Buck because in the time it would take him to draw any of his weapons, Buck would have gutted him.
• Why didn't Jason just tail Buck home, put a bullet through his head, and save Keith a lot more agony? He's already demonstrated his capabilities for stealth and tailing.
  • You think Buck wouldn't have been ready for that? He's not a moron, and if he gets a whiff of Jason doing the incredibly obvious ploy of tailing him back to his safehouse, Buck will have Keith killed. Rook Island is not an urban environment where cars can easily blend in, and considering how few vehicles there are driving on the roads, it would be extremely obvious who would be following Buck.
    • So why, before going down into the cellar where Keith was, didn't Jason either hose Buck with lead, or failing that, kept his gun out while descending the stairs?
    • Buck's spent the entire time with one safeguard or another to prevent Jason from doing precisely that whenever they've met. I wouldn't put it past him to have explosives wired to a dead man's switch. That and up until that point Jason has had no reason to distrust Buck's agreement once the knife was handed over.
    • One of those really tricky dead-man's switches that don't go off if you're killed in a dramatic knife fight? Jason was very openly distrustful of Buck for as long as he'd known him, remarking to himself that he'd kill him after finding Kieth. It's much more likely that Jason didn't actually believe Buck about where Kieth was and wanted to see for himself before perforating his only avenue to finding his friend.
  • Jason is still new at the fuck it just kill and take what I want thing. Like sure It Gets Easier but it's not until he hears Riley is dead that he really plans assassinations.
• Just wanted to hear the community's explanations for the gameplay after completing the story. In the end, Jason has either been killed in a ritual sacrifice or has left the island, yet after the final scene plays out Jason is returned to the island, with no explanation whatsoever, and given that there is sufficient evidence on his person that the final act of the game actually happened i.e. his bandaged finger-stump, it can also be assumed that the choice Jason makes at the end has already been seen through at this point.
  • Depends on the ending. In the ending where he leaves the island, it is in fact Jason dreaming of Rook Island in both sleep and PTSD flashbacks. In the ending where he is killed by Citra, it's his final punishment: an eternity on Rook Island. One may think it paradise as Jason is a Blood Knight, but there is no-one to defeat: only pirates and privateers. No Vaas. No Hoyt. No Citra, even. And when Jason finally clears out the outposts and completes all the mission, there is nothing left to defeat period. Only animals and Rakyat who are not nearly as tough as his now dead enemies. He is left alone on the island, no friends, no enemies, nothing. He has the urge to kill, yet he has done all that could be done. A lonely, despairing, boring hell. The perfect punishment for a Ax Crazy maniac who killed his own friends to rule the islands.
• In one of the Lost Expeditions DLC missions (the one down by Rook Point Tower) there are at least two corpses of WWII-era Japanese soldiers curled up next to an AK47. But Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945 and the first AK47 prototypes were built in 1947. How did those guns get down there?
  • Which is made all the more puzzling when you realize these are actually AK-103s (as indicated by the 90º gas block and AK-74 style muzzle brake), which weren't made until 2001.
  • They're the Japanese soldiers who didn't surrender. They got the AK47 from someone they killed, then died with it.
  • But isn't there something in the handbook about all the remaining Japanese soldiers committing seppuku when they received the order to surrender?
    • The Japanese soldiers on the Rook Islands didn't receive the orders. Their radio operator, General Tadao, sabotaged the radio equipment in a fit of despair after receiving news of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima and writes about it in his two Letters of the Lost. Another letter from another soldier describes how the writer did commit seppuku after word finally did reach them, but there are no dates attached. The soldiers might have found out about it any time between 1945 and a few years before the events of the game, for all we know, and a thousand arms smugglers could have easily run AKs through the area and been ambushed by the remaining Japanese forces.
• In the good ending, how did Jason and his friends get that boat out of the cave? Access to the ocean is blocked off by huge boulders, and the boat is beached.
  • They blew up the boulders with explosives, then pushed the boat out onto the water.
• How did Buck always know where Jason was? He wasn't a hallucination.
  • I think he planted a tracker on Jason.
    • Jason actually surmises that and Buck says something to the effect of "Well, duh."
• If Citra and Vaas are siblings, why are their last names different?
  • Probably because both of them are batshit crazy and one or both changed their last names.
    • Citra did join a "new family." Changing her name would be rather appropriate. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if "Citra" isn't even her original name.
• What the hell was Hoyt thinking by blowing up the Cruise Ship? When the Costa Concordia ran aground it was international news for weeks and that was an accident. Killing thousands of people, of which a good portion are presumably American. The media outrage and international call for action would mean that Hoyt would be staring down the barrel of a NATO taskforce within a month.
  • Hoyt probably scared the hostages' next of kin into not alerting the media or authorities by threatening to hurt or kill them. If he did that successfully, the ship would merely be declared missing when it didn't make its next port on schedule.
  • Also, the families of the hostages would have had absolutely no clue where they were being held or who was holding them. Hoyt also, presumably, would not have gone back and told the families that the hostages had been killed, but would instead have simply stopped communicating entirely. So the families of those dead people probably don't even know they're dead. As far as they know the mysterious kidnapper has just stopped calling back. Even if they did go to the authorities they couldn't take action because there would be no definite target to take action against.
  • Thousands is also a bit much. It wasn't that big of a boat.
• Why do the privateers fight you in the final mission? Hoyt's dead and it's clear from their dialogue that they know he's dead. They are mercenaries and there's no-one to pay them. They have nothing to gain and everything to lose by continuing to attack Jason. They're not bonkers like Vaas' men. The sensible thing to do would be to shrug and head for the nearest boat off the islands, not throw themselves at a man they know can kill dozens of them at a time. Especialy since now they will get no reward even if they can kill him.
  • Most likely? They think they're acting in self-defense. Jason has proven able of killing dozens of them at a time, yes, but he's also proven very, very willing to do so. They figure you're going to kill them anyway just for being in your way, so they might as well take the first shot.
  • Also, you're forgetting that Hoyt was their meal ticket. And apparently a fairly substantial one at that. Once word got around that Snow White killed Hoyt, a lot of those mercenaries are going to be upset about all the money they won't be making anymore. They may have heard that Jason has killed dozens and dozens of their comrades but that doesn't make them immune to overconfidence. You don't become a hired killer if you aren't willing to put your life on the line and take on other killers.
• How did Riley, who by his own admission does not know how to fly a helicopter, manage to start it up after just a few seconds in the pilot's seat? If this video is any indication, even if you know how to do it, it can't be done in just seconds.
  • He picks up after his older brother in instant mastery.
• How does Hoyt not know what Jason looks like? Vaas had the drivers licenses of both Jason and Grant, did he never show them to Hoyt? What about the footage played on the TV in the basement of Hoyt's compound, did he not watch it? Vaas also saw Jason face to face several times, so you'd think he could give Hoyt a detailed enough description of what he looked like. After all, how many white Americans with short spiky dark brown hair, an unshaven face, dark brown trousers, a dark blue v-neck shirt, and Rakyat tatoos on their left arm are there on Rook island? You'd think that would be enough of a description to go on.
  • Hoyt came by in the beginning, when Vaas was scaring Jason and Grant. Maybe Hoyt saw him there
  • Well, Hoyt was more interested in Vaas taking care of the "rejects", and he was far away when he told Vaas to stop. When he met with Vaas, Vaas did try to tell him about the Citra "inking that that white boy", but Hoyt was too pissed off to listen. Honestly, the nickname "Snow White" should've been a clue, but he is a slaver, he must see bunch of white people. It's also possible with how Riley's dressed mixed with Grant's unshaven face and left arm tattoo, and Vaas's...temperamental nature he brushed it off as Vaas confusing Brody brothers togethers. Maybe he was watching the footage because Vaas held onto their cards and didn't have him to question anymore?
• If Hoyt knew who Jason was from the moment he witnessed him torturing Riley, why didn't he just kill him and Sam right after that? He could have secretly told some privateers what they were and have them ambushed at separate locations before they even got to destroy the satellite dish.
  • I can think of two explanations for this. If he did know from that moment, he was simply playing with his food since he's a blood hungry psycho and all that. Either that, or he only got the full footage later on and figured he would settle things at the poker game since he'd be in a position of strength anyway.
• It's been a while since I played this. What exactly did Citra do to Jason to change him so drastically? I liked Jason more, when he was this normal guy, trying to save his friends. Or was it just the news of Riley's death?
  • There's all the drugs Citra's been giving him, along with her constantly boosting his ego. As a twenty-something year old still trying to find his way in life with a rocky relationship, suddenly obtaining an identity, and it being the savior of a people- including a woman who nearly worships you- it seems crazy to give it up.
• If Vaas was formerly appart of the Rakyat, and implied to be the Warrior before Jason, where's his tatau? I mean, short of getting it completely removed. There's been footage of him with tattoos released, but was it an artistic change or did they not want to be so obvious in the Vaas-Jason connection?
  • Check out his lower forearms. One of them has a bandage or cloth wrapped around it...Could be covering up his tatau?
• I really don't get why his group of friend treats Jason like he is a screw up. He is still young enough to have his fun without regretting it, his financial situation doesn't seem bad and he could get a job if he wants to. Like his girlfriend nags him that they have to end the vacation early because she got an audition but given he has nothing to do back home it's kind of normal he is a bit bummed about it.
  • Because, as he proves, he has the potential to be so much more than a directionless jetsetter (but Be Careful What You Wish For, Liza). Also, apart from Oliver and maybe Riley (who seems to be the youngest), the others appear to have some impressive accomplishments under their belts: military service, championship athlete, Wall Street banker. Jason doesn't seem to do anything productive in his off time.
  • Jason's older brother was in the army, his younger brother got his pilot license, and he doesn't have a job, and wants to party.
• Is Rook Island part of any country? I'm not asking "Where the Hell Is Springfield?", I'm wondering if it's supposed to be part of another sovereign country (I guess the most plausible candidate would be Indonesia or Malaysia?), in-universe. Or are we supposed to assume it's like Skull Island, a place that's gone mysteriously unmapped and unclaimed to modern-day? The promotional material seems to suggest that people know what the Rook Islands are, in-universe... but somehow I just can't imagine the Rakyat complying with Indonesian tax collection or census efforts.
  • Well, with all the violent people (whether native or pirate) and aggressive wildlife (again, native or imported), it's possible that whatever country owns it just doesn't see it as valuable enough to ever check up on. The population is small and poor, so the tax money they could collect if they tried might not even cover the expenses of visiting, considering they'd need a military escort. And while the pirates are a huge threat on the islands themselves, we don't know much about how they act in the surrounding area. They seem to make their money off human trafficking and drugs, which are despicable, but not necessarily an immediate threat to the local maritime economy.
• How come we didn't get an extra mission at the end where Jason goes after Doug, the guy who got them captured by the pirates (who was even working with them)? I get that Jason might feel that enough blood was spilled and everything, but would he really be ok with letting him off after everything he and his friends had to go through because of him? (This is all assuming that the ending where Jason and his friends leave the island is the canon one)