Line #35 Headscratchers/Hitman2


1	'''As a Headscratchers subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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3	! General (Story)
4	* Why did the Shadow Client let 47 take out 9 of his associates before luring him to the asylum? Couldn't he have done so in the beginning?
5	** I get the impression the Shadow Client is a BadBoss that is practicing YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness. He's employing terrorists, criminals, and general scum that 47 is cleaning up after him. We have evidence of this as early as the Paris mission in Hitman as he lets 47 eliminate his conspirators in IAGO.
6	** He probably wanted 47 and Diana to ingratiate themselves with Providence; they would feel less suspicious of him taking out their former Constant if he helped them do their dirty work.
7	** He wanted to obtain the drug that was able to restore 47’s memories first. Olivia said it that they originally intended to use it as bargaining chip.
8	* It doesn't seem in-character for 47- even though he was young and less skilled- to kill someone in the way he killed the Burnwood parents. He's always held himself to this ideal of no witnesses and as little collateral damage as possible, but Diana was in the bomb range and he didn't silence her afterwards, which implies she wasn't one of the targets. Either way, it seems a lot messier than he was conditioned to be.
9	** He might have been specifically instructed to make it loud and messy. The Burnwoods were killed after going against a company for dangerous waste disposal, so their murder could have also been orchestrated to send a message to anyone else who might have followed in their footsteps.
10	*** This is actually brought up in the very first page of ''Birth of the Hitman''. At that point, he had no concept of poetic justice or being all that subtle. The contract specifically wanted the hit to kill their parents, and presumably to send a message to not mess with Blue Seed; Diana herself is explicitly not the target. 6 even mentions that it'd send an even greater message if Diana survives.
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12	! General (Gameplay)
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14	* How do falling kills count as accidents? It's hard to believe people would think a target simply fell or jumped to their death, especially if they're leaning on a balcony and/or 47 was next to them.
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16	* How do drowning kills count as accidents? Do people seriously believe that the targets fall into a toilet, drown and mysteriously fall out?
17	** Household accidents are actually extremely common, especially in bathrooms. It's not unheard of. People in real life have died by falling and cracking their head into a toilet or by something happening while they're throwing up into that same toilet. You'd be surprised at some of the seemingly ridiculous accidents that can take a person out.
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19	* How do poison kills count as an accident? When someone collapses after eating or drinking something, it's pretty clear that they have been poisoned.
20	** It's not so much an accident more than it can't be traced back to you, or anyone in particular. There's some plausible deniability that it was an honest mistake, for example.
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22	* Why can 47 eliminate targets in the middle of their phone calls and have no repercussions, especially when the call is to the other target or to powerful associates like Margolis's spy in Paris or De Santis's bosses in Sapienza?
23	** For all they know, they just rudely ended the phone call.
24
25	* How can 47 incapacitate/eliminate guards while they are radioing in a disturbance and not alert anyone?
26	** Same reason above; they are assumed to have rudely ended the phone call.
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28	* 47 can apparently impersonate specific people and fool even those who met said person before. He can also wear outfits designed for people significantly smaller than him and have them fit perfectly. So what exactly prevents him from cross-dressing and impersonating women?
29	** There are presumably limits to even 47's superhuman disguising abilities.
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31	* Likewise, it must be assumed TranslationConvention is happening, or multiple times 47 would give himself away by not speaking the local language (Yuki Yamazaki in Hokkaido, for instance).
32	*** He is is a super-clone, it's quite possible his ability to remember stuff better than a human probably comes in handy. Or, he forgets the language whenever he goes to a new location. Anything not critical to his current mission isn't needed.
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34	* At least two opportunities involve 47 getting photographed. Why doesn't this count against getting a Silent Assassin rating?
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36
37	! Hawkes Bay
38	* Alma Reynard is a target because she is a known agent of the Shadow Client. Why doesn't Orson become a target as well, given that their conversation reveals that he is her right hand man and does missions on his own? There are even challenges involving killing him, yet doing so results in non-target penalty.
39	** Reynard was probably registered as a target before 47 infiltrated her mansion. Orson was a lesser threat than she was, so he was forgotten.
40	*** It doesn't take much listening to their conversation to also determine that Orson is an idiot. He's only her right hand man because he's her lover.
41	** 47 is only dispatched to take out the highest value targets that would be the most difficult to reach. Orson would likely be eliminated by Providence's own forces.
42
43	! Miami
44	* What was so important about the race or about Moses Lee that Robert Knox was planning to murder Lee with a car bomb?
45	** Sierra's biography states that she isn't above cheating her way to victory, since she paid someone to break another kid's legs during a running competition.
46	* How ''is'' Mark Faba surviving all of the assassinations?
47	** Body doubles, as he mentioned on a phone call.
48
49	! Colombia
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51	* Why isn't Hector Delgado, one of the Cartel heads, a target? Wouldn't the ICA learn their lesson about letting the family of one of their targets live?
52	** The ICA is strictly business oriented. They only kill the people they’re paid to kill. Hector wasn’t on Providence hit list, because he’s suffering from cocaine withdrawal and is no longer in charge of anything. Besides even if they had killed Hector, someone else would’ve taken over. The goal wasn’t to destroy the Delgado cartel, but to break up their alliance with the Shadow Client or at least weaken it, so that it no longer poses a threat to them.
53	* Why build a massive chemical plant in the middle of Columbia's jungles when they don't even have paved roads to the village?
54	** [[BoringButPractical Because there are no paved roads]]: It's a lot easier to transport the refined product than tons of source material.
55	* Why use a giant herbivore as your cannibal monster?
56	** Rico's [[TooDumbToLive stupid]], that's why.
57	** Who would suspect somebody of feeding their enemies to an herbivore?
58	** Feeding a person to a wild animal as a method of execution is already wildly impractical. Rico just does it as a way to show off.
59	** He kind of comes off as one. Placid-looking on the outside, merciless and bloodthirsty on the inside. And swanning about convinced there's no one to stop them doing whatever they like.
60	* Is Rico Delgado truly a sociopath? He seems to genuinely grieve for his uncle and cousin, and loves his pet hippo. Did Diana misdiagnose him?
61	** The traditional definition of sociopathy means being incapable of understanding the difference between right and wrong. Sociopaths are still capable of feeling empathy and emotion. They can genuinely care for their friends and family yet at the same time see no issue in running a criminal enterprise.
62	* Why does 47 allow himself to be photographed with Rico's wife? Since he doesn't like being caught on security cameras, you'd think he would at least do something to get rid of the picture.
63	** He's likely just going along with it to please Catalina since she's a big fan of P-Power, and she's too star-struck from seeing him to notice it isn't actually him. He is also further away from her in the photo and has glasses obscuring his eyes, and the shade would make it hard to tell from a distance its not the real P-Power.
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65	! Mumbai
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67	* Did the Maelstrom not think surrounding a hilltop shanty house with dozens of guards would draw attention?
68	** That's what the guards are for; protecting the shanty from nosy intruders.
69	* I get that it's meant so the Maelstrom opportunity would be practical, but why would his sniper shots be accident kills? Rangan and Shah were shot in the head, why does it at best illicit a shrug from their guards and employees?
70	** The shot can't be traced to 47, only to the Kashmirian. As for the reaction, yeah, practicality.
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72	! Whittleton Creek
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74	* Did Janus actually recognize 47 during his massage and was taunting him about it (possibly FaceDeathWithDignity) or was it just random but apropos rambling?
75	** [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation It's up for you to decide]].
76	* What was the point of this mission? Did Grey and 47 really just go after Janus out of revenge, or did they predict that his funeral would be attended?
77	** Pretext. They needed to search the area for clues about Providence, and needed to frame and assassinate Janus to go there.
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79	! Isle of Sgàil
80	* Why doesn't the Constant have a bodyguard? Even if he didn't want one, wouldn't the Partners want to make sure he's well-protected?
81	** The Partners are mostly content to let Edwards mind his own business; they have the switch after all. And Edwards may have planned on getting captured.
82	** The Constant is supposed to look inconspicuous. As mentioned by the captured herald in Colorado, he looks like an average person in business attire. Having a bodyguard would bring a lot of attention to him.
83	* Why has Diana "never heard" of the Partners's families? As an ICA handler, shouldn't she be up-to-date with shady rich families like them?
84	** There are hundreds of shady rich families, Diana can't remember all.
85	** It could also be read as Diana simply bluffing and pretending she doesn't know about them, or she was intending to aim it as an insult to counter the Constant's boasting about their power.
86	** There's a good chance that those aren't even their original names, as the DLC missions later show they have the ability to fake their own deaths and create completely new identities to escape suspicion.
87	* Why is Sophia Washington so worried after the Constant discovers her deception? It's not like he can actually do something about it, the Partners clearly don't care about him.
88	** The Constant is NotSoHarmless.
89	* How is the ancient Aztec necklace so durable that 47 can use it as a garrotte?
90
91	! Singapore
92	* Just how in the hell did the Heavenly Guard manage to smuggle Han Ldong and his wife into Singapore? The country's laws are incredibly strict, and its officials are legendarily near-uncorruptible.
93	** They probably bribed the border guards (there should be a few bad eggs to exploit) and just waited at the port to refuel.
94	** So, the WorfEffect for crookedness?
95	** No law enforcement system is perfect. If you have the resources and the will, you can eventually find a way in.
96
97	! New York
98	* What exactly are the quartet attempting to find in the Partners's bank records? The Partners's names are clearly stated in the obituaries.
99	** Other intel about the Partners, like their family and associates, before their names/accounts are changed too.
100	** The Partner's names are fronts, they need to find their money. As they shed their old identities like a snake-skin, they would go through the process of laundering resources to the new identities, and that's what 47 was trying to follow.
101	* Why does Director Savalas need to be eliminated? Providence already knows that 47 and Grey are after them, and they know how 47 can pull off silent assassinations and accidental deaths. At this point, Savalas's death would alert Providence that the bank has been compromised.
102	** Perhaps it's so Savalas would not be able to aid the Partners in swapping their identities again.
103	** It's simply a measure to buy time. Savalas would have immediately sent a warning to the Partners once she discovered the data theft. With her dead, she can't report back to the Partners and they'll have to wait until word of her death trickles back to them before they even suspect something is wrong.
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105	! Haven Island
106	* When strangling Steven Bradley with the weight, why does 47 put it back on the stand? And why doesn't anyone react with surprise on how Bradley mysteriously choked to death without a weight on his neck?
107	** The idea is that it's not immediately clear that he was assassinated, so anybody who finds his body won't immediately assume there's an intruder.
108	** They would have initially assumed that he overexerted himself and died of a heart attack.
109	* Why is Ljudmilla Vetrova so eager to send 47!Rieper on errands? Was he the only action-oriented guest at Haven Island?
110	** The only one that just so happened to arrive while she was planning her escape.
111	** Not every of Haven’s clients is a criminal and those who are, are rich white-collar criminals. So yes, master thief “Tobias Rieper” was probably the only one and him coming to Haven was golden opportunity for Ljudmilla.
112	* Who are the guests on Williams and Bradley's private villa and island? Aren't those private areas?
113	** Friends or coworkers.
114	* How did the Constant get himself free? Even going with the theory that he's working with Grey, there are only two women with him on the tanker, both very surprised at his disappearance.
115	** Diana and Hall are hardly professional guards, an ally of Edwards and/or Grey could have sneaked in and rescued him without the two women noticing.
116	*** Grey could have even secretly smuggled something to the Constant to cut his bonds and arranged an escape route for him in advance.
117	** The sequel states he bribed one of the crew members to free him. How he did this is unknown, though given The Constant is a master of reading people with only thin information to go off of, it's well within his characterisation to have escaped how he did.
118	* On that note, how did the Constant transfer the Partners's money to himself? Disregarding possibly Grey, he has no allies and has not shown any skill with computers.
119	** The aforementioned mysterious ally.
120	** There is very little we know about the Constant and what sort of connections he may have independent of the Partners. It is very possible that he has his own insiders in Providence loyal to him.
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122	!Himmelstein
123	* Why did Alexander Kovac order all the bodyguards assassinated along with the three targets?
124	** One of the Yardbirds might have informed the guards of the casino loot, so Kovac just wanted to tie up loose ends.
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