Constants and Variables-Exploring the Many Doors of Bioshock Infinite

7/22/2019 Constants and Variables-Exploring the Many Doors of Bioshock Infinite

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By Order of the Prophet

Vox propaganda seized by

her Columbias Flying squad

~1912~


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~Constants and Variables~Exploring the Many Doors of Bioshock InfiniteBy-A.J. Carroll

othing can be quite so fulfilling or, in some cases, quite so maddening as a good ending.

Lao Tzu once said, Amidst the worldly comings and goings, observe how endings

become beginnings. Ever since its release in the late March of 2013,Bioshock Infinite

has done just that. Everywhere I turn Im seeing more and more about just what happened at the

end. Debates have fired up all over the internet, theories have been wagered, pleas for

understanding have been put forth; but, in the end, its hard not to ask the obvious question:

What just happened!?

So what didjust happen? Well, if you are willing to follow me into my madness I will

attempt to show you. In this essay I will tackle several core elements of the beautiful, yet

complex plot ofBioshock Infinite. First and foremost, I will recount the last moments of the

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game following the Protect the Zeppelin campaign1. Following the recap I will give an in-depth

analysis examining the many plot twists and revelations as well as provide diagrams that will

help readers get a clearer picture of the multiple time lines and universes at play. Included with

my findings I will also examine the many different themes abound such as fate versus free will

along with the time period and key historical events. Lets begin with the end.

Smothered in the cribfter fending off the Vox Populis attack on the Hand of the

Prophet, Booker joins Elizabeth at the bow of the zeppelin.

Monument Tower appears on the horizon, its copper plating

exposing the Siphon: a massive device hidden inside that is

designed to leech away Elizabeths abilities to manipulate

tears. To destroy it means finding the truth about Elizabeths

powers, her severed pinkie finger and the nature of Comstocks final

words. Booker orders the Songbird to destroy the Siphon but as the

hulking beast rips it apart, a blast of energy blankets the area. The

Whistler used to control the bird is rendered useless by the electrical pulse and the Songbird,

enraged, bears down on Booker and Elizabeth. But just as all seems lost, Elizabeth, having

regained her full powers, opens a tear and the Songbird disappears. Booker and Elizabeth emerge

in Rapture, the underwater city used as the setting in the firstBioshock, and look on as the

1 Note that due to the nature of this article it contains many spoilers so only those who have completed the

game should continue.

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Songbird is crushed to death by the immense pressure of the ocean. Elizabeth comforts him in

his last moments before he slips away into the deep.

Disorientated, Booker asks where they are. Its a doorway, one of many, Elizabeth

remarks. After a brief tour of Rapture, Elizabeth leads Booker to a bathysphere that takes them

above the sea to the lighthouse that Jack had entered in the beginning of the firstBioshock. As

they near the lighthouse, Elizabeth exclaims that she can see a million doors opening and

closing. Confused, Booker questions if its the stars shes looking at,but Elizabeth doesnt

answer. They come to a locked door leading into the lighthouse. After her attempts to pick the

lock are unsuccessful a key appears in her hand. Where did it come from? Booker says. Its

always been there. I just, couldnt see it. She replies. They open the door.

On the other side they come upon a sea of lighthouses. Elizabeth reveals that it wasnt the

stars that were the doors but the lighthouses, each one a million different realities. She goes on to

say that each reality is a set of constants and variables, each one different yet the same. Some

things are altered, different choices are made and each one shapes a new world. Theres always

a lighthouse. Theres always a man, theres always a city.

Elizabeth tells Booker. I can see them through the doors. You, me,

Columbia, SongbirdBut sometimes, somethings differentyet

the same.

Booker and Elizabeth eventually step through one of the

doors and find themselves in another sea of lighthouses resembling

the one Booker encountered in the beginning of the game. Booker

witnesses another Booker and Elizabeth traversing the paths before

them. Its us, Booker exclaims. Not exactly, Elizabeth corrects.


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We swim in different oceans but land on the same shore. After a short discussion about the

nature of fate and time Elizabeth leads Booker to the place where it started.

They open one of the doors and emerge in a moment from Bookers past: a small river

where a preacher is performing baptisms. Booker reveals that shortly after the Battle of

Wounded Knee, he sought religion as a way to absolve himself from the sins he had committed.

But just as he was about to receive the baptism, he fled. Troubled after reliving the memory

Booker pleads to leave, citing Elizabeths earlier wish to go to Paris, but she objects saying that

they must find Comstock. Comstock is dead! Booker snaps. No, Elizabeth retorts. He was

here. They step through the next door.

This time they emerge in October 8th

, 1893. Booker claims that this was the day he accepted the

deal to retrieve Elizabeth from Columbia. The man who hires him turns out to be Robert Lutece

who gives Booker the choice: Bring us the girl, and wipe away the debt. Booker steps through

the side door in his office to find a crib with a baby girl inside.

He is shocked, claiming that there was no baby, that his wife and child had died during

childbirth and that if there had been a child he certainly would not have given her up. Elizabeth


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He wakes at the sound of Elizabeths voice. Now bearing the full weight of his sins for

selling his daughter, Booker declares that he will go back to when Comstock was born and

smother (him) in his crib. Elizabeth asks if this is truly what he wants to which Booker replies,

I have to. Its the only way to undo what Ive done to you.

Booker opens the door and steps back into the baptism he had rejected over twenty years

before. Elizabeth tells him that this is, and is not, the same place as he remembers. At first

Booker is confused and doesnt recognize Elizabeth, an effect of having multiple different

memories. She is then joined by several other Elizabeths, each one from a different reality. They

explain that in this reality, instead of declining the baptism Booker accepted it and was reborn as

Zachary Hale Comstock. The diverging realities occurred by a single choice: to receive or

decline the baptism. In order for Comstocks elimination from all other worlds is to smother

him in the crib before Booker is reborn and takes his new name. Accepting his fate, Booker

allows the Elizabeths to drown him in the river. With all realities of Comstock eliminated, the

Elizabeths begin to fade away until there is only one left: the Elizabeth that led Booker through

the doors. The screen then cuts to black before she disappears.


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and C.1. These points of inception begin each separate timeline noted below. The arrows

pointing left and right signify when one reality has transposed onto the other. The arrow pointing

left is Comstocks entrance into Bookers reality in 1893, while the arrow pointing right is when

Booker enters the reality of 1912 in which he travels to Columbia to retrieve Elizabeth.

Now that we have a clearer understanding of these two paths, let us examine Bookers choice to

be drowned by the Elizabeths. The plot designates that Comstock is born once Booker had

accepted the baptism therefore starting the Comstock timeline. Elizabeth reveals that the only

way to truly end Comstocks atrocities is for Booker to be drowned before he surfaces and takes

the name of Zachary Hale Comstock. Box C.1 shows the demise of Booker/Comstock at the

baptism after Booker allows the drowning.


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which states, The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none

exist.So what does this have to do with the secret ending? Lets examine the evidence. I

believe that there are several clues indicating that this Booker remembers the events of

Columbia. This is not the Booker we have led through the game, after all, we watched him die.

Instead, I believe this is another Booker that has been transposed into this remaining reality by

Elizabeth. There is a high possibility of this since we do not see the last Elizabeth disappear at

the end of the game. Perhaps with her powers restored she has become something akin to the

Luteces

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. If so, she is separate from all timelines and therefore free of the collapsing reality.

Now, this seems all well and good but where is the proof that this is possible? It all

hinges on Bookers monologue at the end of the game. As he awakens he calls out Annas name.

Standing from his desk he slips into her room and asks, Anna, is that you? If this Booker is just

a Booker who never encountered Columbia or Elizabeth, a man

with gambling addiction and poor drinking habits intact, why

would he ask is that you? Wouldnt he know his daughter is in

her crib? That line of questioning wouldnt occur to him unless he

knew the gravity of her being there in her crib and not in

Comstocks custody. I believe that Elizabeth gave to this Booker

the memories of the one that drowned so that he might learn to be a

worthy father and cherish their time together as he raises his

daughter. This way Booker has grown as a character rather than remain the same destitute thug

we meet in the beginning of the game.

2 Refer to the sectionHeads or Tails


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Anthony Burgess, author ofA Clockwork Orange, went on to state of the film adaption,

There is, in fact, not much point in writing a novel unless you can show the possibility of moral

transformation, or an increase in wisdom, operating in your chief character or charactersWhen

a fictional work fails to show change, when it merely indicates that human character is set, stony,

unregenerable, then you are out of the field of the novel and into that of the fable or allegory.

(Burgess).Bioshock Infinite is anything but an allegory. Change and redemption are all core

themes in the game. Several times Elizabeth questions Booker, as well as herself-by evidence

from her Voxophones-on the nature of their sins. Do you think its possible to redeem the kind

of things that weve done? she asks. Redeem? Booker replies. I dont see much use in that.

However, Booker himself comes around in the end evident by his willingness to die in order to

undo what happened to Elizabeth and the people of Columbia. Like his characters, Levin seems

to detest the idea of an unalterable fate but rather that redemption is something that can be

achieved and that sins can be atoned for.

There is another possibility to be considered if the Transcendental Elizabeth still exists.

At one point during the game, Elizabeth asks Booker, Did I just bring us to a world where Chen

Lin was alive oror did I create one? I told you, I always thought my little trick was a form of

wish fulfillment. I got my wish. If this is the extent of Elizabeths powers now, what could a

fully powered Elizabeth do? Could she create an entire universe in which Booker and Anna are

together? Its highly possible. However, I believe the evidence supports the previous theory,

although, like the doors inBioshock Infinite, the possibilities are endless3.

3With the core intent of my essay now completed I will address a few more questions and themes Ive

encountered in my playthrough as well as those Ive stumbled upon in forums across the internet. If you have

already found the answers to your questions you may skip ahead to the concluding section To Bring in a Tide.


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Heads or Tails?obert and Rosalind Lutece present Booker with a coin

and ask, Heads or tails? An innocuous request until

we see that according to the hash marks on the sandwich

board it has been heads one hundred and twenty two

times without a single tails called. Thus begins the reoccurring

theme of fate versus free will. In a way, the Luteces

themselves represent these opposing viewpoints. Rosalind, a

fatalist who-when it comes to describing herself-claims she is

someone that instead of seeing a blank page sees King Lear.

This attitude reflects in her dialogue as she constantly doubts Roberts experiment, placing

herself as a firm advocate for fate and its irreversible nature. Robert, however, is an optimist with

a guilty conscience. He largely rebels against his twins fatalism, opting more for the effect of

choice on the outcome of events rather than abject linearity.

Here, Ken Levine has created two of his most endearing characters. Robert and Rosalind

Lutece: two beings that, after being murdered by Jeremiah Fink via a malfunctioning Lutece

Tear, wind up outside the timeline allowing them to travel to any reality they please. Utilizing

this uncanny ability they guide Booker through the events ofBioshock Infinite and offer support,

albeit, through cryptic means. One would think that this alone would make them stand out as

unique characters but there is something else that must be noted. Robert and Rosalind are the

same person, but from different realities.

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After Robert is transfused into Rosalinds world she comments, What separates us

now, but a single chromosome? However, among their commonality and witty, if not ultra-

literate, banter there is a distinct difference between the two other than their gender. Why is

Robert an optimist while Rosalind a fatalist? I believe the answer lies in the time period.

The Luteces both grew up at the turn of the century and both sought a career in physics.

However, during this time such a position was rare, if not unheard of, for a woman. Take for

instance the KinetoscopeA City in the Sky? Impossible!The great lady of science shows off her

wonders! How does that darn thing fly? Rockets?Balloons? Quantum mechanics! says the

little lady! (We say its more like womans intuition!). This Founder propaganda is perhaps the

best instance in the game portraying the rights and roles of women during 1912. Rosalind, most

likely, was submitted to this kind of prejudice all her life which would have, undoubtedly, made

it difficult for her to succeed in her field. This could attribute to her way of thinking as opposed

to Robert who, most likely, never encountered this kind of difficulty.

Another frequently asked question is wouldnt Rosalind still invent the Lutece Tear and

build Columbia? I firmly believe the answer is no. Comstocks vision and funding largely led to

Rosalinds development of the machine. Without Comstock, and his rapt fanaticism of a flying

city, Rosalind would have most likely continued to struggle through her career as a physicist.

Another thing to note is that the ability to create tears largely came not just from

Comstocks funding but alsowith the collaboration between Rosalind and Robert. The Lutece

Field entangled my quantum atom with waves of light , Rosalind documents in the Voxophone

Whispers Through the Walls. Sound familiar, brother? That's because you were measuring

precisely the same atom from a neighboring world. We used the universe as a telegraph.

Switching the field on or off became dots and dashes. Dreadfully slow, but now, you and I could


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whisper through the wall. By working together, the Luteces developed the technology that

would place the city of Columbia in the sky, a city, lighter than air.

Runs in the familyhemes in the Bioshock series vary drastically from politics to

social behaviors, ethics, religion, addiction and racism but one

constant that is hard to go unnoticed is the theme of fatherhood.

From Andrew Ryan to Comstock, from Jack to Booker, from

Big Daddies to the Songbird everything revolves around the core

issue of the father, but why?

I believe that the nature of this issue is also partly connected

to the other present theme of choice. Andrew Ryan and Zachary

Comstock are the fathers that chose gain at the sake of their children. Jack and Booker are the

fathers that chose redemption4. Then there are the Big Daddies and

Songbird, the fathers without choice, the surrogates. One thing that

these men have in common is that at one point or another they had to

acknowledge their children, to accept them whether by free will or

not. By direct or indirect interaction, the impact of their choices can

be viewed upon the actions and consequences of their daughters.

One instance that stands out most in my mind is the death of

Daisy Fitzroy at the hands of Elizabeth. After taking a child hostage,

4 If Jacks good ending is to be accepted as canon.

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Daisy claims that the only way to end the Foundersreign is to pull it up by the root,

insinuating that the children, too, must be exterminated. Elizabeth intervenes and stabs Daisy in

the back with a pair of scissors. Coated in Daisys blood, Elizabeth watches in horror as the Vox

leader bleeds to death at her feet. Booker reaches for the visibly stunned Elizabeth, but she pulls

away. I guess it runs in the family, she says before fleeing. At this point in the game, she is

hinting at the relationship between her and Comstock but after we learn that Booker is her father

this moment becomes even more intriguing.

At the Battle of Wounded Knee, Booker was responsible for unspeakable acts of violence

against the Native Americans which earned him the nickname The White Injun. As evidenced

by the Preston E. Downs Voxophone Coming for Comstockand the Comstock Voxophone The

True Color of My Skin,it is heavily implied that Booker himself is part Native American and that

due to his fellow soldiers taunting him he sought to hide his lineage by slaughtering as many

Indians as he could. Bookers life after that moment is shrouded in

violence. This, in a way, is a reflection upon Elizabeths own life

once she joins him in escaping from Monument Island.

This is an interesting moment to examine considering the

drastic change for Elizabeth. All her life she has known nothing else

but the Tower. However, once Elizabeth joins Booker on their

escape from Columbia she is plunged into a world of unspeakable

violence. She is even more horrified to see how accustomed Booker

is to it. During the Battleship Bay arc Booker encounters an ambush


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tools as he puts it. You hurt people, Elizabeth remarks. Ill tell you this, Booker replies.

Sometimes theres precious need for folks like Fitzroycause of folks like me.

Bioshock Infinite takes an interesting turn at this point by neither siding with the

Founders orthe Vox Populi. Instead, the game seems to point out the follies of both, favoring

more a criticism on extremism and how it consumes not only the people involved but the world

around them. Founder and Vox alike no longer resemble individual people but embody the core,

immoveable concepts that are driving them to battle. Execute anybody who looks like theyd

give us trouble, a Vox announcer declares. Anyone with a gun, anyone wearing glasses. Round

up the rest. Similarly, the fairgrounds at the Columbia Raffle have games in which people can

shoot Vox caricatures for fun.

Drown in flame, the mountains of mannother popular movement during this time period was the

birth of American Exceptionalism, the idea that America is

superior to all other nations. This belief stemmed from the

Industrial Revolution which helped place America at the

forefront in the world economy. A new sense of patriotism

emerged in American communities and spear-headed the idea

that it was the nations responsibility to spread democracy to the

rest of the world. Another factor tying into this budding

Exceptionalism, as well as the game, was the 1893 Chicago

Worlds Fair: the birthplace of Columbia. Historically, Columbia was the White City built to

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house the festivities of the Worlds Fair. In the world ofBioshock Infinite, however, this was the

location from which Columbia took to the sky. With it swelled the sense of superiority that

would later grow into the Founder party.

Somewhere between 1899 and 1901 Columbia intercedes in the Boxer Rebellion and

effectively levels the rebel forces. After the events in Peking, the United States chastises

Comstock for his brutal methods, which leads to Columbia seceding from the Union. With its

isolation, Columbia adopts a new twist on Christian religion, one that ultimately adopts the

Founding Fathers as deities along with a sense of righteous duty to defend the interests of its

largely Caucasian populace.

Columbia flourishes under Comstocks firm hand and Founder dogma, but underneath its quaint,

Fourth of July charms lies something sinister. Columbia is, in fact, an immense warship driven

by Comstock and fueled by Elizabeths powers. The Seed of the Prophet shall sit the thrown,

and drown in flame, the mountains of man is Comstocks sole desire for Columbia. With it

emerges a new kind of belief that the only way for Columbia to spread its values is by


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domination and violence, a concept known as Jingoism. By destroying the Sodom below

Comstock feels that it shall be cleansed and that Columbias people will repopulate the earth in

its image, for what is Columbia if not another ark, for another time.

As Levine demonstrated in the firstBioshockhow Objectivism could sink the city of

Rapture he also demonstrated how superiority and fanaticism can effectively clip the wings of a

flying city.

To bring in a tiden closing, I hope this essay has served to answer the questions that many gamers have had

since their completion of the game. Naturally some questions will go unanswered. Theories

will remain, but there lies the mark of a truly great story.Bioshock Infinite has left our minds

to wonder what happens next. By doing so it has endeared and endured. It has raised the bar for

effective storytelling in the gaming medium and legitimized itself as something one could call

art. The characters and themes demonstrate an evolution from mere entertainment to a level of

importance akin to post-modern literature. Whatever the case may be, it will be interesting to see

the impact it leaves on the gaming culture as well as future titles to come. Perhaps Lao Tzu said

it best; maybe endings and beginnings are different names for the same thing, a tide that at once

goes out only to return again, for what are endings but another beginning, in another time.

~The End~

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Constants and Variables-Exploring the Many Doors of Bioshock Infinite