History Analysis / LifeIsStrange

Therefore, I consider Sacrifice Max to be my preferred ending to Life Is Strange. First, Max would be dead, so she wouldn’t have to live with the back-breaking guilt of the other two choices. The ending would epitomize her character development; even if she had known in Episode 1 that Chloe was the blue-haired girl in danger, she hadn’t yet gone through the experiences that would have made her willing to try and save her. Most important of all though, is that it would have demonstrated to the world/fate that she had learned BOTH of the lessons provided by the two endings. By choosing to sacrifice herself, Max is acknowledging that her past inactions, despite being too young to understand the consequences, led Chloe to that point in her life. Max is now choosing to replace her previous inaction with an action that will likely result in her death, and she has learned to accept that consequence. As for Chloe, the Sacrifice Max ending would likely have been the best ending for her as well. In the only canon ending in which she lived, she would have had to live with the crushing guilt that someone sacrificed hundreds of lives for her sake, knowledge that few people would have been able to handle. However if Max sacrificed herself Chloe would have realized, despite having to grieve the loss of another loved one, that someone did love and care about her even if they never said it which lay at the heart of all her problems. This potentially could have resulted in her finally overcoming her current problems and living a long and happy life. Is it possible that Sacrifice Max wouldn’t stop the storm? Of course, but based on the little evidence we had at the end, the probability was no different than assuming that Sacrificing Chloe would do the same.

Therefore, I consider Sacrifice Max to be my preferred ending to Life Is Strange. First, Max would be dead, so she wouldn’t have to live with the back-breaking guilt of the other two choices. The ending would epitomize her character development; even if she had known in Episode 1 that Chloe was the blue-haired girl in danger, she hadn’t yet gone through the experiences that would have made her willing to try and save her. Most important of all though, is that it would have demonstrated to the world/fate that she had learned BOTH of the lessons provided by the two endings. By choosing to Sacrifice herself, Max is acknowledging that her past inactions, despite being too young to understand the consequences, hurt Chloe and led her to that point in her life, and Max is now choosing to take an action that will hopefully make up for it. As for Chloe, Sacrifice Max ending would likely have been the best ending for her as well. In the only canon ending in which she lived, she would have had to live with the crushing guilt that someone sacrificed hundreds of lives for her sake, knowledge that few people would have been able to handle. However, if Max sacrificed herself, Chloe would have realized (despite having to grieve the loss of another loved one) that someone did love and care about her, even if they never said it, which lay at the heart of all her problems at that time. This potentially could have resulted in her finally overcoming her current problems and living a long and happy life. Is it possible that Sacrifice Max wouldn’t stop the storm? Sure, but based on the little evidence we had at the end, the probability was no different than assuming that Sacrificing Chloe would do the same.

This finally brings us to the last choice of the game: Sacrifice Chloe or Sacrifice Arcadia Bay. To me, the choice was not about Free Will VS Destiny, Emotional Need VS Rational Thinking, The Needs of The Many VS The Need of The One, or The Greater Good. For me, it always came back to the game’s central theme, that any choice, whether to act or not, has a consequence, and most of the time people can do nothing except live with it. Max must somehow find the strength to live with the knowledge that her past inactions led to her best friend’s death, even though she was too young/innocent to understand the consequences of her inaction. Or she must learn to live with the fact that the use of her time powers created an event that wiped out her hometown and killed over a thousand innocent people. The problem I have with these two endings is that I cannot imagine a scenario in which Max, or anyone else in her position, would have the mental fortitude to live with those consequences and turn out alright. Life Is Strange is about living with the consequences of your actions and inactions, no matter how horrible they are. The problem is, there is always a limit to how much horribleness a person can handle, and the developers seem to cross that limit in both endings. Neither of the two endings are acceptable to me, as I cannot imagine Max (or Chloe if she lives) getting at least a mildly hopeful ending (and that is regardless of what the developer's say).

Desperate for love and affection, Chloe would naturally gravitate to anyone who would show her even a sliver of it. In her case, it was her supposed “angel” Rachel Amber, who would fill that void. However, through the course of the game, Chloe (and the player) learned that she didn't know Rachel well as she thought she did, and her "angel" was far from the perfect person that Chloe believed her to be. Even before playing the prequel (which only reinforced some of my biggest concerns about her), I had a feeling that Rachel was not as much of a saving grace as Chloe had claimed. By their nature, humans, especially during adolescence, are heavily impacted psychologically by their environment and the company they keep. If Rachel had been everything she was made out to be, she would have been a net positive person in Chloe's life. Her positive influence should have helped Chloe overcome her feelings of grief and abandonment, encouraged her to complete a GED, and helped her reconnect with her friends and family. She also should have served as a voice of reason in Chloe's life, tempering the girl's more aggressive and destructive behaviors. If Rachel had been a true friend to Chloe, then Max likely wouldn't have needed to reconnect with Chloe at all for Chloe to start regaining her former self. To me, Rachel was not a positive influence for Chloe at all, and was likely a more flawed, self-centered, and manipulative person. Unfortunately, Chloe was so starved for love and affection (and was so afraid of losing it) that she unconsciously ignored any flaws in Rachel that would threaten their relationship. If Chloe had been more aware of Rachel’s flaws and the issues with their relationship, she likely would have been more willing to leave after Rachel had gone missing; agreeing with everyone else that Rachel must have already left Arcadia Bay. As a result of the rose-tinted glasses Chloe kept on for their entire friendship, she ended up staying long after she probably would have left. Also, because she wasn't the positive influence Chloe and everyone else made her out to be, Chloe never overcame her rashness, impulsiveness, or self-destructive behavior. As a result, Chloe made the decision to blackmail someone she knew was not mentally sound. Because no one acted as the positive influence she needed, she ended up dying alone in a bathroom from a gun shot wound.

One of the things a player might learn rather quickly about Max is that she is terrified of making bad decisions, and thus prefers not to make any. Max did not contact Chloe for five years, even though she wanted to, because she did not want to screw it up or fall short in some way. She did not try to answer questions in class unless prompted by her teacher or turn in a photo for the Everyday Hero contest because she was afraid of putting herself out there. For most of the game, she considers her inactions to be well-intentioned.

It is not until the end of episode 3, when Chloe justifiably snaps at Max for not reaching out to her for all those years, that we are confronted with how problematic a character flaw this is. Instead of taking responsibility for her past mistakes, Max tries to use time travel to fix the problem. Instead, the alternate timeline makes Chloe’s life even worse, forcing Max to make a heartbreaking decision to restore the timeline to its original state. However, by doing this Max finally learns the lesson: that inaction, no matter how young, ignorant, or seemingly well-intentioned you are, can have horrible consequences.

Though she had never intended it, Max was the main reason Chloe ended up in that bathroom at the beginning of Episode 1. During the time travel segment in Episode 3, Chloe came across as an outgoing and passionate girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and had a deep love for those she cared about. The loss of the two people in her life that she was closest to in quick succession, her father and Max, caused her overwhelming trauma and grief. The only other person who could/should have helped her, her mother Joyce, had to devote all her time to keeping the family financially afloat, and ended up marrying a person who, though a good man underneath, had unacknowledged PTSD that only served to alienate his new stepdaughter from him. Filled with untreated grief and trauma (due to their struggling finances) and increasing feelings of abandonment from everyone she had once been close to, Chloe believed that no one loved her anymore. This belief evolved into Chloe acting out to fill the void in her heart, becoming more impulsive, self-centered, and self-destructive.

As I wrote above, Sacrifice Max will always be my canon ending for Life Is Strange, but I think I understand why the developers did not include it (other than it being the obvious choice, or a lack of budget). Life Is Strange is about living with the consequences of your actions and inactions, no matter how horrible they are. That lesson is pointless if you are dead, and thus don’t have to live with it.

This finally brings us to the last choice of the game: Sacrifice Chloe or Sacrifice Arcadia Bay. To me, the choice was not about Free Will VS Destiny, Emotional Need VS Rational Thinking, The Needs of The Many VS The Need of The One, or The Greater Good. For me, it always came back to the game’s central theme, that any choice, whether to act or not, has a consequence, and most of the time people can do nothing except live with it. Max must somehow find the strength to live with the knowledge that her past inactions led to her best friend’s death, even though she was too young/innocent to understand the consequences of her inaction. Or she must learn to live with the fact that the use of her time powers created an event that wiped out her hometown and killed over a thousand innocent people. The problem I have with these two endings is that I cannot imagine a scenario in which Max, or anyone else in her position, would have the mental fortitude to live with those consequences and turn out alright. Neither of the two endings are acceptable to me, as I cannot imagine Max (or Chloe if she lives) getting at least a mildly hopeful ending (and that is regardless of what the developer's say).

Maxine Caulfield was the only person who could have saved Chloe, not from the events in the bathroom, but from the domino effect that led her to it. She was the only person in Chloe’s life that had the desire, understanding, love, patience, and time to help Chloe heal from her grief and feelings of abandonment and return to the good person she used to be. This was clearly demonstrated at the climax of Episode 5; despite having reconnected only four days before, Chloe had overcome her anger towards Arcadia Bay and past self-centeredness to the point that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of the town. Through their interactions, it became clear that Max was the true "angel" of Chloe Price, but she was too late, by a razor thin margin. If Max had bothered to at least reach out enough to make Chloe believe she hadn’t been abandoned, to serve as the positive influence that Chloe needed in her life, she might not have fallen for the possibly toxic friendship that Rachel provided her. This would have drastically changed Chloe's fate, and possibly even Rachel's. However, Max didn’t, because she did not understand that her inaction could cause such terrible consequences to herself and others. As a result of Max’s inaction, Chloe ended up in dying alone in that bathroom, believing that no one loved her, that everyone she loved had either died or abandoned her. Never knowing that her best friend, her "true angel", sat less than five meters away from her.

Desperate for love and affection, Chloe would naturally gravitate to anyone who would show her even a sliver of it. In her case, it was her supposed “angel” Rachel Amber, who would fill that void. However, through the course of the game, Chloe (and the player) learned that she didn't know Rachel well as she thought she did, and her "angel" was far from the perfect person that Chloe believed her to be. Even before playing the prequel (which only reinforced some of my biggest concerns about her), I had a feeling that Rachel was not as much of a saving grace as Chloe had claimed. By their nature, humans, especially during adolescence, are heavily impacted psychologically by their environment and the company they keep. If Rachel had been everything she was made out to be, she would have been a net positive person in Chloe's life. Her positive influence should have helped Chloe overcome her feelings of grief and abandonment, encouraged her to complete a GED, and helped her reconnect with her friends and family. She also should have served as a voice of reason in Chloe's life, tempering the girl's more aggressive and destructive behaviors. If Rachel had been a true friend to Chloe, then Max likely wouldn't have needed to reconnect with Chloe at all for Chloe to start regaining her former self. To me, Rachel was not a positive influence for Chloe at all, and was likely a more flawed, self-centered, and manipulative person. Unfortunately, Chloe was so starved for love and affection (and was so afraid of losing it) that she unconsciously ignored any flaws in Rachel that would threaten their relationship. If Chloe had been more aware of Rachel’s flaws and the issues with their relationship, she likely would have been more willing to leave after Rachel had gone missing; agreeing with everyone else that Rachel must have already left Arcadia Bay. As a result of the rose-tinted glasses Chloe kept on for their entire friendship, she ended up staying long after she probably would have left. Also, because she wasn't the positive influence Chloe and everyone else made her out to be, Chloe never overcome her rashness, impulsiveness, or self-destructive behavior. As a result, Chloe made the decision to blackmail someone she knew was not mentally sound. Because no one acted as the positive influence she needed, she ended up dying alone in a bathroom from a gun shot wound.

!The Ending: Having to live with the horrible consequences of your recent actions, no matter how ignorant...OR...Having to live with the horrible consequences of your past inactions, no matter how innocent

Through their interactions, it became clear that Max was the true "angel" for Chloe Price. Maxine Caulfield was the only person who could have saved Chloe, not from the events in the bathroom, but from the domino effect that led her to it. She was the only person in Chloe’s life that had the desire, understanding, love, patience, and time to help Chloe heal from her grief and feelings of abandonment and return to the good person she used to be. This was clearly demonstrated at the climax of Episode 5; despite having reconnected only four days before, Chloe had overcome her anger towards Arcadia Bay and past self-centeredness to the point that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of the town. If Max had bothered to at least reach out enough to make Chloe believe she hadn’t been abandoned, she might not have fallen for the possibly toxic friendship that Rachel provided her, which would have drastically changed her fate. However, Max didn’t, because she did not understand that her inaction could cause such terrible consequences to herself and others. As a result of Max’s inaction, Chloe ended up in dying alone in that bathroom, believing that no one loved her, that everyone she loved had either died or abandoned her. Never knowing that the one person who could have saved her failed to do so by a razor thin margin, by less than five meters and/or less than five days (depending on how you look at it).

This finally brings us to the last choice of the game: Sacrifice Chloe or Sacrifice Arcadia Bay. To me, the choice was not about Free Will VS Destiny, Emotional Need VS Rational Thinking, or The Needs of The Many VS The Need of The One, or The Greater Good. For me, it always came back to the game’s central theme, that any choice, whether to act or not, has a consequence, and most of the time people can do nothing except live with it. Max must somehow find the strength to live with the knowledge that her past inactions led to her best friend’s death, even though she was too young/innocent to understand the consequences of her inaction. Or she must learn to live with the fact that the use of her time powers created an event that wiped out her hometown and killed over a thousand innocent people. The problem I have with these two endings is that I cannot imagine a scenario in which Max, or anyone else in her position, would have the mental fortitude to live with those consequences and turn out alright. Neither of the two endings are acceptable to me, as I cannot imagine Max (or Chloe if she lives) getting at least a mildly happy ending.

Therefore, I consider Sacrifice Max to be the perfect ending to Life Is Strange. First, Max would be dead, so she wouldn’t have to live with the overwhelming guilt of the other choices. The ending would epitomize her character development; even if she had known in Episode 1 that Chloe was the blue-haired girl in danger, she hadn’t yet gone through the experiences that would have made her willing to try and save her. Most important of all though, is that it would have demonstrated to the world/fate that she had learned BOTH of the lessons provided by the two endings. By choosing to Sacrifice herself, Max is acknowledging that her past inactions, despite being too young to understand, hurt Chloe and led her to that point in her life, and Max is now choosing to take an action that will hopefully make up for it. As for Chloe, Sacrifice Max ending would likely have been the best ending for her as well. In the only canon ending in which she lived, she would have had to live with the crushing guilt that someone sacrificed hundreds of lives for her sake, knowledge that few people would have been able to handle. However, if Max sacrificed herself, Chloe would have realized (despite having to grieve the loss of another loved one) that someone did love and care about her, even if they never said it, which lay at the heart of all her problems at that time. This potentially could have resulted in her finally overcoming her current problems and living a long and happy life. Is it possible that Sacrifice Max wouldn’t stop the storm? Sure, but based on the little evidence we had at the end, the probability was no different than assuming that Sacrificing Chloe would do the same.

As I wrote above, Sacrifice Max will always be my canon ending for Life Is Strange, but I think I understand why the developers did not include it (other than it being the obvious choice, or a lack of budget). Life Is Strange is about living with the consequences of your actions and inactions, no matter how horrible. That lesson is pointless if you are dead, and thus don’t have to live with it.

Desperate for love and affection, Chloe would naturally gravitate to anyone who would show her even a sliver of it. In her case, it was her supposed “angel” Rachel Amber, who would fill that void. However, through the course of the game, Chloe (and the player) learned that she didn't know Rachel well as she thought she did, and her "angel" was far from the perfect person that Chloe believed her to be. Even before playing the prequel (which only reinforced some of my biggest concerns about her), I had a feeling that Rachel was not as much of a saving grace as Chloe had claimed. By their nature, humans, especially during adolescence, are heavily impacted psychologically by their environment and the company they keep. If Rachel had been everything she was made out to be, she would have been a net positive person in Chloe's life. Her positive influence should have helped Chloe overcome her feelings of grief and abandonment, encouraged her to complete a GED, and helped her reconnect with her friends and family. She also should have served as a voice of reason in Chloe's life, tempering the girl's more aggressive and destructive behaviors. If Rachel had been a true friend to Chloe, then Max likely wouldn't have needed to reconnect with Chloe at all for Chloe to start regaining her former self. To me, Rachel was not a positive influence for Chloe at all, and was likely a more flawed, self-centered, and manipulative person. Unfortunately, Chloe was so starved for love and affection (and was so afraid of losing it) that she unconsciously ignored any flaws in Rachel that would threaten their relationship. If Chloe had been more aware of Rachel’s flaws and the issues with their relationship, she likely would have been more willing to leave after Rachel had gone missing; agreeing with everyone else that Rachel must have already left Arcadia Bay. As a result of the rose-tinted glasses Chloe kept on for their entire friendship, she ended up staying long after she probably would have left. Also, because she wasn't the positive influence Chloe and everyone else made her out to be, Chloe never overcome her rashness, impulsiveness, or self-destructive behavior. As a result, Chloe made the decision to blackmail someone she knew was not mentally sound. Because no one acted as the positive influence she needed, she ended up dying alone in a bathroom in the town she hated her entire life, believing that one loved or cared about her.

Through their interactions, it became clear that Max was the true "angel" for Chloe Price. Maxine Caulfield was the only person who could have saved Chloe, not from the events in the bathroom, but from the domino effect that led her to it. She was the only person in Chloe’s life that had the desire, understanding, love, patience, and time to help Chloe heal from her grief and feelings of abandonment and return to the good person she used to be. This was clearly demonstrated at the climax of Episode 5; despite having reconnected only four days before, Chloe had overcome her anger towards Arcadia Bay and past self-centeredness to the point that she was willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of the town. If Max had bothered to at least reach out enough to make Chloe believe she hadn’t been abandoned, she might not have fallen for the toxic friendship that Rachel provided her, which would have drastically changed her fate. However, Max didn’t, because she did not understand that her inaction could cause negative consequences to herself and others. As a result of Max’s inaction, Chloe ended up in dying alone in that bathroom, believing that no one loved her, that everyone she loved had either died or abandoned her. Never knowing that the one person who could have saved her failed to do so by a razor thin margin, by less than five meters and/or less than five days (depending on how you look at it).

This finally brings us to the last choice of the game: Sacrifice Chloe or Sacrifice Arcadia Bay. To me, the choice was not about Free Will VS Destiny, Emotional Need VS Rational Thinking, or The Needs of The Many VS The Need of The One. For me, it always came back to the game’s central theme, that any choice, whether to act or not, has a consequence, and most of the time people can do nothing except live with it. Max must find the strength to somehow live with the knowledge that her past inactions led to her best friend’s death, OR that the use of her time powers created an event that killed hundreds of people. The problem I have with these two endings is that I cannot imagine a scenario in which Max, or anyone in the same scenario for that matter, would have the mental fortitude to live with those consequences.

Therefore, I consider Sacrifice Max to be the perfect ending to Life Is Strange. First, Max would be dead, so she wouldn’t have to live with the overwhelming guilt of the other choices. The ending would epitomize her character development; even if she had known in Episode 1 that Chloe was the blue-haired girl in danger, she hadn’t yet gone through the experiences that would have made her willing to try and save her. Most important of all though, is that it would have demonstrated to the world/fate that she had learned to accept the lessons being taught by BOTH of the two “canon” endings. By choosing to Sacrifice herself, Max is acknowledging that her past inactions, no matter how innocent, hurt Chloe and led her to this point, and Max is now choosing to take an action that will hopefully make up for it. As for Chloe, Sacrifice Max ending would likely have been the best ending for her as well. In the only canon ending in which she lives, she would have had to have lived with the crushing guilt that someone sacrificed hundreds of lives for her sake, knowledge that few people would have been able to handle. If Max sacrificed herself, Chloe would have realized (despite having to grieve the loss of another loved one) that someone did love and care about her, even if they never said it, which lay at the heart of all her problems at that time. This could have resulted in her finally overcoming her current problems and living a long and happy life. Is it possible that Sacrifice Max doesn’t work? Sure, but based on the little evidence we had at the end, the probability was no different than assuming that Sacrificing Chloe would stop the storm.

Desperate for love and affection, Chloe would naturally gravitate to anyone who would show her even a sliver of it. In her case, it was her supposed “angel” Rachel Amber, who would fill that void. However, through the course of the game, Chloe (and the player) learned that she didn't know Rachel well as she thought she did, and her "angel" was far from the perfect person that Chloe believed her to be. Even before playing the prequel (which only reinforced some of my biggest concerns about her), I had a feeling that Rachel was not as much of a saving grace as Chloe had claimed. By their nature, humans, especially during adolescence, are heavily impacted psychologically by their environment and the company they keep. If Rachel had been everything she was made out to be, she would have been a net positive person in Chloe's life. Her positive influence should have helped Chloe overcome her feelings of grief and abandonment, encouraged her to complete a GED, and helped her reconnect with her friends and family. She also should have served as a voice of reason in Chloe's life, tempering the girl's more aggressive and destructive behaviors. If Rachel had been a true friend to Chloe, then Max likely wouldn't have needed to reconnect with Chloe at all for Chloe to start regaining her former self. To me, Rachel was not a positive influence for Chloe at all, and was likely a flawed, self-centered, and more manipulative person. Chloe was so starved for love and affection (and was so afraid of losing it) that she ignored any flaws in Rachel that would threaten their relationship. If Chloe had been more aware of Rachel’s flaws and the issues with their relationship, she likely would have been more willing to leave after Rachel had gone missing; agreeing with everyone else that Rachel must have already left Arcadia Bay. Because of the rose-tinted glasses Chloe kept on for their entire friendship, she stayed long after she probably would have left. Made a rash and highly impulsive decision to blackmail someone she knew was not mentally sound, because no one helped her temper those impulses and she was desperate to find the only person she believed still cared about her.

When I played Life Is Strange, I realized that Max was the only person who could have saved Chloe, not from the events in the bathroom, but from the domino effect that led her to it. Max was the only person in Chloe’s life that had the desire, understanding, patience, and time to help Chloe heal from her grief and feelings of abandonment and return to the good person she used to be. This was clearly demonstrated at the climax of Episode 5; despite having reconnected only four days ago Chloe has overcome her anger towards Arcadia Bay and past self-centeredness to the point that she is willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of the town. If Max had bothered to at least reach out enough to make Chloe believe she hadn’t been abandoned, she might not have fallen for the toxic friendship that Rachel provided her, which would have drastically changed her fate. However, Max didn’t, because she did not understand that her inaction could cause negative consequences to herself and others. As a result of Max’s inaction, Chloe ended up in dying alone in that bathroom, believing that no one loved her, that everyone she loved had either died or abandoned her. Never knowing that the one person who could have saved her failed to do so by a razor thin margin, by less than five meters and/or less than five days (depending on how you look at it).

Though she had never intended it, Max was the main reason Chloe ended up in that bathroom at the beginning of Episode 1. During the time travel segment in Episode 3, Chloe came across as an outgoing and passionate girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and had a deep love for those she cared about. The loss of the two people in her life that she was closest to in quick succession, her father and Max, caused her overwhelming trauma and grief. The only other person who could/should have helped her, her mother Joyce, had to devote all her time to keeping the family financially afloat, and ended up marrying a person who, though a good man underneath, had unacknowledged PTSD that only served to alienate his new stepdaughter from him. Filled with untreated grief and trauma (due to their struggling finances) and increasing feelings of abandonment from everyone she had once been close to, Chloe believed that no one loved her anymore. This belief eventually evolved into Chloe acting out to fill the void in her heart, becoming more impulsive, self-centered, and self-destructive than she used to be.

Desperate for love and affection, Chloe would naturally gravitate to anyone who would show her even a sliver of it. In her case, it was her supposed “angel” Rachel Amber, who would fill that void. The problem is that through the course of playing Life Is Strange, Chloe and the player realized that Rachel was far from the perfect person that Chloe made her out to be. Even before I played the prequel (which only reinforced some of my biggest concerns about her), I had a feeling that Rachel was not as much as a saving grace as Chloe had claimed. If Rachel had been the saving grace that Chloe claimed, then she would have helped Chloe overcome her feelings of grief and abandonment and helped her reconnect with her friends and family. She also would have been a net positive influence in Chloe’s life, tempering Chloe’s more aggressive and destructive behaviors. If Rachel had been a true friend to Chloe, even if she disappeared like in canon, we would have seen a more stable and less impulsive Chloe. Instead, Rachel chose not to help her clearly troubled friend, and Chloe was so starved for love and affection (and was so afraid of losing it) that she ignored any flaws in Rachel that would threaten their relationship. If Chloe had been more aware of Rachel’s flaws and the issues with their relationship, she likely would have been more willing to leave after Rachel had gone missing; agreeing with everyone else that Rachel must have already left Arcadia Bay. Because of the rose-tinted glasses Chloe kept on for their entire friendship, she stayed long after she probably would have left. Made a rash and highly impulsive decision to blackmail someone she knew was not mentally sound, because no one helped her temper those impulses and she was desperate to find the only person she believed still cared about her.

Though she had never intended it, Max was the main reason Chloe ended up in that bathroom at the beginning of Episode 1. During the time travel segment in Episode 3, Chloe came across as an outgoing and passionate girl who wore her heart on her sleeve and had a deep love for those she cared about. The loss of the two people in her life that she was closest to in quick succession, her father and Max, caused her overwhelming trauma and grief. The only other person who could/should have helped her, her mother Joyce, had to devote all her time to keeping the family financially afloat, and ended up marrying a person who, though a good man underneath, had unacknowledged emotional issues that only served to alienate his stepdaughter from the rest of her family. Filled with untreated grief and trauma (due to their struggling finances) and increasing feelings of abandonment from everyone she had once been close to, Chloe believed that no one loved her anymore. This belief eventually evolved into Chloe acting out to fill the void in her heart, becoming more impulsive, self-centered, and self-destructive than she used to be.

!The Ending:
Having to live with the horrible consequences of your recent actions, no matter how ignorant you were.
OR
Having to live with the horrible consequences of your past inactions, no matter how innocent you were.

!The option to save Chloe and why it exists

... a k a Max is not [[Franchise/MassEffect Commander Shepard]]

Ultimately that is the choice the game puts to the player. Should you as the player act like you are playing VideGame/DeusEx or VideoGame/MassEffect3 and make the cold calculating choice? Or should you realize that you are role playing as an eighteen year old introverted art student and act with the heart?

The ending cutscenes play out accordingly. Sacrifice Chloe and all you see Max do is cry -- she weeps uncontrollably, huddled in the corner as Chloe gets shot, then is shown crying at the funeral. This cutscene is a WhatTheHellPlayer montage saying, "Look! Because you made her act according to the brutal calculus when she wasn't prepared to handle it, she is now [[BrokenBird broken]]!" The other cutscene where she saves Chloe shows a happier Max. Yes, the town was destroyed, but in the end she didn't lose her {{true companion|s}}. She isn't as broken about Arcadia Bay being destroyed and whatever loss of life may have occurred because they are abstract things, while Chloe is a concrete real thing that she didn't have to sacrifice.

At the end of Day 5, you are presented with a binary choice -- [[TheNeedsOfTheMany Save Arcadia Bay]] or [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl Save Chloe]]. The game sends you clue after clue, hint after hint that Chloe is a DoomMagnet and trying to save her only [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes bad things to continue to occur]]. Almost every day has you trying to save Chloe's life, be it Nathan with a gun, Chloe shooting at junk, Chloe playing on the train tracks, Chloe becoming a quadriplegic who is slowly withering away, Chloe being killed by [[spoiler: Mr. Jefferson]] and so on. The game is telling you that [[WebOriginal/TheAngryJoeShow YOU DONE FUCKED IT UP!!]] when you saved Chloe the first time, and the only way to prevent the tornado from wrecking the town is to go back to Day 1 and let Nathan kill Chloe. Now, accepting that realization and fixing the timeline would have in itself been an excellent ending -- by providing AnAesop about causality, how linear time strongly enforces it, and the disastrous pitfalls of messing with it. So why does the game allow Max to not learn that valuable lesson, instead opting to save Chloe?

It is because Max would have to learn the extremely FamilyUnfriendlyAesop that sometimes an innocent life must be sacrificed for the greater good.

The ending cutscenes play out accordingly. Sacrifice Chloe and all you see Max do is cry -- she weeps uncontrollably, huddled in the corner as Chloe gets shot, then is shown crying at the funeral. This cutscene is a WhatTheHellPlayer montage saying, "Look! Because you made her act according to the brutal calculus when she wasn't prepared to handle it, she is now [[BrokenBird broken]]!" The other cutscene where she saves Chloe shows a happier Max. Yes, the town was destroyed, but in the end she didn't lose her [[TrueCompanions true companion]]. She isn't as broken about Arcadia Bay being destroyed and whatever loss of life may have occurred because they are abstract things, while Chloe is a concrete real thing that she didn't have to sacrifice.

At the end of Day 5, you are presented with a binary choice - [[TheNeedsOfTheMany Save Arcadia Bay]] or [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl Save Chloe]]. The game sends you clue after clue, hint after hint that Chloe is a DoomMagnet and trying to save her only [[NiceJobBreakingItHero causes bad things to continue to occur]]. Almost every day as you trying to save Chloe's life, be it Nathan with a gun, Chloe shooting at junk, Chloe playing on the train tracks, Chloe becoming a quadriplegic who is slowly withering away, Chloe being killed by [[spoiler: Mr. Jefferson]] and so on. The game is telling you that [[WebOriginal/TheAngryJoeShow YOU DONE FUCKED IT UP!!]] when you saved Chloe the first time, and the only way to prevent the tornado from wrecking the town is to go back to Day 1 and let Nathan kill Chloe. Now, accepting that realization and fixing the timeline would have in itself been an excellent ending - by providing AnAesop about causality, how linear time strongly enforces it, and the disastrous pitfalls of messing with it. So why does the game allow Max to not learn that valuable lesson, instead opting to save Chloe?

The ending cutscenes play out accordingly. Sacrifice Chloe and all you see Max do is cry - she weeps uncontrollably, huddled in the corner as Chloe gets shot, then is shown crying at the funeral. This cutscene is a WhatTheHellPlayer montage - saying look! Because you made her act according to the brutal calculus when she wasn't prepared to handle it, she is now [[BrokenBird broke!]] The other cutscene where she saves Chloe shows a happier Max. Yes, the town was destroyed, but in the end she didn't lose her [[TrueCompanions true companion]]. She isn't as broken about Arcadia Bay being destroyed and whatever loss of life may have occurred because they are abstract things, while Chloe is a concrete real thing that she didn't have to sacrifice.

Now, consider who is this particular Aesop useful to? It is usually people with tremendous responsibility and a great deal of authority over people, who will assist that leader. People like [[Franchise/StarTrek ship's captains]], [[Film/{{U571}} mission commanders]], [[VideoGame/MassEffect field commanders]], secret agents, law enforcement superagents, ICU personnel doing triage, emergency medicine specialists, governors, presidents, prime ministers etc. For the most part, these people volunteered for the job, or were otherwise qualified for it, thus they are ''receptive'' to this lesson. Now consider what Max Caulfield is? She is a shy introverted photography nerd who is in high school. She is just concerned with navigating high school cliques, not navigating a spaceship through a mine field. She just wants to make it through her Science, Lit and Art classes, not make it through a ZergRush, a MacrossMissileMassacre and a BeamSpam. The most risky thing she would have ever considered doing, is to [[NonNudeSwimming dip in the pool]] with Chloe and maybe steal a kiss, not say, infiltrating an enemy base and stealing vital intelligence. She is content to trade barbs with [[AcademicAlphaBitch Victoria]], not trading broadsides across the bow. Max is even an ActualPacifist who DoesNotLikeGuns. She realizes, like other teen superheroes such as Franchise/SpiderMan do, that with her ability ComesGreatResponsibility. But should she be expected to learn the harsh truth about [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 the brutal calculus]]? Should she be expected to at that age bear the burden of sacrificing Chloe, knowing that doing so will save the town? Or would it be ok for Max the high schooler to just want to be with Chloe?

Now, consider who is this particular Aesop useful to? It is usually people with tremendous responsibility and a great deal of authority over people, who will assist that leader. People like [[Franchise/StarTrek ship's captains]], [[Film/{{U571}} mission commanders]], [[VideoGame/MassEffect field commanders]], secret agents, law enforcement superagents, ICU personnel doing triage, emergency medicine specialists, governors, presidents, prime ministers etc. For the most part, these people volunteered for the job, or were otherwise qualified for it, thus they are ''receptive'' to this lesson. Now consider what Max Caulfield is? She is a shy introverted photography nerd who is in high school. She is just concerned with navigating high school cliques, not navigating a spaceship through a mine field. She just wants to make it through her Science, Lit and Art classes, not make it through a ZergRush, a MacrossMissileMassacre and a BeamSpam. The most risky thing she would have ever considered doing, is to [[NonNudeSwimming dip in the pool]] with Chloe and maybe steal a kiss, not say, infiltrating an enemy base and stealing vital intelligence. She is content to trade barbs with [[AcademicAlphaBitch Victoria]], not trading broadsides across the bow. Max is even an ActualPacifist who DoesNotLikeGuns. She realizes, like other teen superpowers do heroes such as Franchise/SpiderMan that with her ability ComesGreatResponsibility. But should she be expected to learn the harsh truth about [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 the brutal calculus]]? Should she be expected to at that age bear the burden of sacrificing Chloe, knowing that doing so will save the town? Or would it be ok for Max the high schooler to just want to be with Chloe?

THAT is the choice in the end.

It is because Max would have to learn the extremely FamilyUnfriendlyAesop that sometimes an innocent life must be sacrificed for the greater good.