#Life is Strange Endings

[onyx-archer]

A Timey-Whimey (Shit)Storm: A Critical Look at Life is Strange 1's Ending.

It's been a hot minute since I did one of these essay type posts, and I know that the title is may suggest some kind of dislike of the game or something, and incite the ire of fans, but at least hear me out a little before getting mad. I actually enjoy these games, along with the comics, so I'm coming at this from a place of love. I especially have a soft spot for the original Life is Strange, I've just had this on my mind for a while.

Obviously, there will be spoilers for "Life is Strange," but I will also briefly cover spoilers from the Life is Strange comic series, and a brief, albeit minor spoiler of Life is Strange 2's 5th episode, and some stuff from Life is Strange: True Colors' "Wavelengths" DLC. If that ain't your bag, then you've been warned. All of it will be under the cut anyway. Before that though, I have some other house keeping to get out of the way.

I want to make it abundantly clear up front what my stance on the game being covered is, so there's no room for misunderstanding. I quite like the original Life is Strange. It's probably my favorite game of it's type (narrative adventure game in the Telltale style). I don't like Before the Storm or Life is Strange 2 though, but both of those will eventually get their own posts. I do like True Colors though.

I also want to make it clear that I am 100% on the side of "Pricefield," but I'm not really making this post from the place of a Pricefield bias or whatever, so I want to head that off at the pass.

With that, the rest is under the cut. Again, hella spoilers inbound, you've been warned.

Life is Strange is the kind of game that I have a pretty lukewarm opinion of genre wise, but manages to keep me engaged through the way it unfolds. I'm not especially fond of the narrative adventure game genre that was popularized with Season 1 of Telltale's The Walking Dead, despite having played quite a few of them. I like a few, sure, but it's generally not something I'm fond of. If not for the fact that Chloe's character design appealed to me (you'd know why if you've seen my original characters), I'd have never even touched it.

I have fond memories of playing the original Life is Strange with my best friend back when it was still being released, and how we'd actually hash out our thoughts on what decisions made the most sense in the moment while playing. I initially remember hating the ending of the original making my choices feel meaningless (as by the time "Polarized" came out, my friend and I weren't able to play together due to us living in 2 different cities at the time), and it was only after letting it marinate for a while that I came to the conclusion that I liked one of the two possible endings, and disliked the other.

I'm (rather obviously) on team "Bae," as far as the endings to the original are concerned. To me, this is the only ending that actually makes sense unless you want to argue that the whole point of the story is some fatalist, deterministic experience at it's core (which I've certainly seen argued multiple times), but I don't think that ideology is even remotely interesting to think about, and is flawed as hell. That's beside the point though. The part of this post that is dedicated to the first game is, primarily, about the reason why that ending is the only one that makes sense to me.

Throughout the game, Max (and by extension, we, the players) use her time travel powers to ultimately solve a few puzzles, and to otherwise scope out minor multiple decisions we make during the story. The moment we see Max use her powers for the first time is when Chloe (whom she doesn't recognize at the time) is shot in the girl's washroom at Blackwell. However, before she does this, she sees the vision of the Storm, and is jolted awake by it in the middle of class.

From here, the game tries to heavily imply that Max using her powers to save Chloe from being shot is what ultimately made the Storm come to pass, and drops mentions of the concept of Chaos Theory multiple times. I'm not going to bother explain what that means, but it does at least make some kind of sense. Max using her powers can alter the course of things, and create an untold amount of diverging timelines. We see this obviously through the "Bay" ending, as Chloe's death happens, and no storm comes. This is clearly to enforce the idea that Chloe not dying does something that causes the storm.

However, where this concept begins to eat shit like a skateboarder failing to bail properly from a bad Tre Flip is when Max goes back in time via a photo for the first time. She prevents the death of another person, Chloe's father, William. As we all know, this action has the consequence of Chloe eventually getting into a car accident and becoming quadriplegic, and is doomed to die when her respiratory system gives out due to the nature of the injury.

Now, this specific timeline brings with it questions, and the game doesn't really bother to answer them, despite it being a big hole in the whole "Chloe's death prevents the storm" idea.

The main question is "why didn't William not dying yield a storm?" If the idea of preventing a person from dying has far reaching consequences, and can lead to a storm, then why did William's survival not lead to a storm? Wouldn't that be a bigger shift to the "natural order of things" that Max saving Chloe did?

The cop-out answers I've heard to this are things like "she wouldn't have done it if she didn't save Chloe first to begin with" and "she didn't over-use her powers during the period of William's accident, so the storm wouldn't have been bad." I've even heard the idea that Chloe's accident is the universe saying "fuck you" to Max saving William, and while that is certainly believable, it ultimately makes you wonder "why are the dead whales even a thing in the 'William Lives' timeline?"

The second time I was left wondering is "in the timeline where Max is taken to the Dark Room, Chloe is very dead, so how is it that the storm happens at all if Chloe's survival is the reason it happens?"

Naturally, people will say "the act of saving Chloe sets things into motion, so it's too late to stop the storm by that point." It's here where I call bullshit, because it then makes you ask the question I brought up earlier: "why didn't the timeline where William lives have a storm after he was saved?" If the universe is pissed that Chloe lived, then her dying should prevent the storm, right? But if the universe is pissed at her living, then why isn't it pissed about William cheating death due to Max's intervention?

If it was just the timelines where William died but Chloe lived, I'd be like "alright, sure, Chloe cheating death caused the problem." But Willian's death being prevented doesn't do the same, so it's inconsistent reasoning at best.

Again, by the logic of the "Chloe being alive causes the storm" viewpoint, William should lead to that happening 5 years prior if he survives the day he's supposed to die, but that doesn't happen. If the storm is caused by Chloe being alive, then what does it matter which day she dies, so long as she dies before the storm is scheduled to happen? Unless you want to argue some divine punishment is occurring via a pissed off God, which would make the whole thing feel worse, then there is no logical consistency with the idea of "Chloe Alive = Storm, but William Alive =/= Storm."

It's by this logic that I think that the storm is tied to Max using her powers, rather than specifically the act of saving Chloe. This is then later reinforced, at least in part, by the sequel comics. Now, I know people will argue aren't canon, but they offer a look into a post "Bae" ending, and answer some questions about it in an official capacity, even if it's just meant to be a single view as to what could happen.

In those comics, Max's powers are tied to the storm, and are tied to her flickering between different realities, which lead her to a universe where Chloe and Rachel are alive and in LA for 2 years. She is later forced to confront another storm, and is able to prevent it from doing any damage, and then uses it to power a leap back to her original reality, albeit with the help of a guy who has the power to travel between dimensions, Tristian.

So in short, official media confirms that the powers are connected to the storm, and not necessarily Chloe's life. Max first uses her powers to save Chloe, sure, but the storm isn't linked to Chloe's fate by itself.

However, this is merely part of the justification I have for what I ultimately think is the "better" ending. The other is a simple question: how do they know that Max preventing herself from saving Chloe will stop the storm

Yes, we as the player, the outsider looking in, know that Max preventing herself from saving Chloe will lead to a Storm-less timeline, but in the scene where they decide that is what they have to do to stop the storm from happening, Max says that she caused the storm, and basically says it's due to her fucking with time. So how do they come to the conclusion her using her powers, the thing that caused the storm in the first place, to fix one more thing suddenly prevent the storm? Why would she even think that's a good idea when the consequences of her meddling with time are literally barreling toward Arcadia Bay?

In short, the metatextual element of this scene causes the internal logic of the choice to make no sense. If the use of powers causes the storm, then why would they even think using them again would fix things? If it's Chloe being alive, then William being alive should have done the same thing.

Basically, I think the issue with the ending isn't inherently the choice itself, but the logic for why the characters would even think a Hail Mary play like "go back in time and prevent yourself from saving Chloe in the first place" would even remotely work, given that they have two running ideas of the cause of the storm, and only one of them actually makes sense outside of a passing thought.

The issue with the "Bay" ending is that it leaves you with questions that have no good answers, but the "Bae" ending's questions are easier to answer.

In the "Bay" ending, if the photo jump is to the past where Max knows she can rewind time, even if only barely, then what's stopping that Max from abusing her rewind anyway? If the powers are the cause of the storm, then leaving her with the knowledge of it even being a thing is dangerous for the week leading up to Post-Photo-Jump Max's return, where that Max knows to not abuse her powers. Heck, if past-Max doesn't know of the rewind yet, and Photo-Jump Max knows that, then she can still save Chloe, and past her wouldn't know about the idea of time travel, so she'd not abuse the ability. Sure, there'd likely still be some kind of repercussions for messing with things, but it'd be significantly lessened if her powers are the cause of the storm, and not Chloe surviving.

So again, if Chloe's death has to be the thing that prevents the storm, why didn't saving William cause a storm? Why didn't Chloe dying to Jefferson at the end of Episode 4 stop the storm? If it's not Max's abuse of her powers that causes the storm, then what's stopping her from abusing the power in a Chloe-less world? We know thanks to the comics that she retains the ability to time travel after the week is done. Hell, if the "leaks" of an alleged Max-focused sequel game being in development are true, then it also confirms Max keeps her powers in a more concrete way than the comics did, so what's stopping her from abusing them outside of a sense of grief over losing Chloe?

I ask those questions because the act of letting Arcadia Bay get destroyed in the "Bae" ending doesn't highlight the issues with explaining how the storm came to be in the first place, and it ultimately could be either Chloe surviving when she should have died, or a consequence of Max abusing her powers during the week. It ultimately says "this is the cost of saving your friend. You made this bed, now lay in it."

The "Bae" ending reinforces the idea that Max shouldn't mess with time, and it shows the active consequences of doing so. It actively makes the "your choices will have consequences" thing the game shoves in your face at the beginning of every episode actively mean something, but in a way that isn't inherently obvious from the jump. From a metatextual standpoint, it's honestly really smart to have the idea of "choices and their consequences" be more of a theme rather than just a mechanic. Max ultimately has to live with the fact that her selfish desire to save her friend cost hundreds of people their lives, and she's not the only one who knows about that burden, because Chloe will have to spend a long time coming to terms with the fact that Max chose her over the lives of others when push came to shove. It ultimately feels like the journey meant something in the long term.

Conversely, the "Bay" ending just leaves me like "so there's no real consequences for anything, because this is how things would have played out if Max didn't have powers." Sure, Max has to live knowing her friend is dead because she wasn't allowed to save her, but she'd at least live knowing she did it for the greater good. It tries to say "this is the right choice" but fumbles because it ultimately just leaves people like me poking holes in the time travel logic. So long as she doesn't try to prevent someone's death again, she's free to use and abuse her powers however she wants. It doesn't reinforce the idea of "messing with things has consequences," it just lets Max have the ultimate do-over, where the only consequence that matters is her best friend is dead. She has to live knowing she let her friend die. At most, it's a tragic thing that will affect a few people, and that's it. To me, it just feels incredibly hollow.

Even if you like the "Bay" ending, I think you have to admit that the "Bae" ending has the time travel feel less problematic from a narrative logic standpoint. It, at the very least, doesn't require the answer to the question of "what caused the storm in the first place?" unlike the "Bay" ending, where it's left up in the air if it was Max's powers or Chloe's life that was behind it. From here, I'm going to basically go into some minor points as to why I think the "Bae" ending makes the most sense as the "canon" one for the series after the first game. These are not as important to the broader point, but still. If you wanna dip from the post now (assuming you made it this far) then cool, hope to see you when I talk about why I hate Before The Storm, cause that may interest people.

Some people like to suggest that the "Bay" ending has more potential for expansion, but I strongly disagree. That ending's future story potential, at least as far as Max is concerned, is just "Max has to learn to deal with the grief of losing her best friend" and otherwise has no real direction. If she meets Steph or something in a future game, for example, it ultimately will be a bit awkward for Max, and that's it. In the "Bae" ending, there's actual potential for drama if Max interacts with a former resident of Arcadia Bay, knowing she let it burn for the sake of one girl.

We can see how each ending effects David via the 5th Episode of Life is Strange 2. We know that regardless of Chloe's fate (at least as far as the two timelines that branch off from the first game's ending are concerned), David ends up in Away. David and Joyce split in the timeline where Chloe dies, and obviously Joyce died in the storm in the timeline where Chloe lives. We see how this effects David, but even then, there's more of a story to be told with Chloe surviving vs dying, at least in my view. Chloe and David being able to set aside their past issues and becoming the family Joyce had longed for them to become is a far more interesting story than David trying to reconnect with Joyce after Chloe's death split them apart. I'm not trying to suggest David is a great character or anything, but it's notable that Chloe and David's relationship is more interesting to explore in a post-Storm world, because he actually has a reason to become a better person in a Joyce-less world vs a Chloe-less one. It ultimately makes more sense for him to end up in Away because of Joyce's death rather than Chloe's. We see he really wants to be there for Chloe when he saves Max from the Dark Room, and we see how much Chloe's death affects him in that timeline, so I'm not saying he wouldn't relocate because of it if she died in the bathroom... but the drastic change he undergoes between Life is Strange and Life is Strange 2 really only makes sense in a world where he lost Joyce, and has to be better for Chloe's sake.

Steph is another character where it only makes sense to have Arcadia Bay get demolished, rather than have Chloe die. Sure, Steph is a very emotional character at her core, and runs from things that make her uncomfortable, no matter how good her life is going outside of that... but I honestly think it makes more sense for her to run from the past in a world where her hometown got levelled, because she'd have some kind of survivor's guilt because of the fact that she lived and her mom didn't. Yeah, she could still have survivor's guilt after learning both Chloe and Rachel died, but I'd argue it'd make more sense that she'd be running from Mikey in a world where the scars of Arcadia Bay run deep, rather than what happened to Chloe and Rachel. What reason would she have to avoid Mikey, her best friend, in a world where she doesn't have to feel bad that Mikey's family (presumably) died in the storm? In a world where her survivor's guilt would make talking to others from Arcadia Bay more painful and awkward for her? You could argue that, yeah, Chloe's death could hit her hard because they were good friends, and that because of Chloe being friends with Mikey too, that she'd avoid Mikey for that... but I just think it's more believable that she'd cut herself off from her past in a world where Arcadia Bay was destroyed.

Either way, this post and the time it took to write it got away from me, and I may have to refine it later when I eventually turn these essay type posts I've made into videos. For now though, hopefully this was an interesting read, and hopefully I've conveyed my views on the ending of Life is Strange's first entry at least somewhat succinctly.

[polarolds]

SHE'S BACK

[lanalove2012]

[goodfellowe]

how we feeling baers

[sleepytownzzz]

can i light your cigarette?

[bigfatbreak]

everything happens so much

[cerealshroom]

i played life is strange and now i cry myself to sleep every night. anyways here's some max sketches

[butterfilledpockets]

see ya soon fellas ;]

[no text vers bellow <3]

[kouzzy]

Celebrating pride month still, that one Anne Hathaway picture but with my favorite girlies

I love them so very much

Tell me some wlw pairings to draw because they need more fanart

Edit. I didn’t quite intended this as the ship of the three of them but I love the turn it is taking.

This could be just the chloe struggle to hold onto rachel and the mark she left on her but also Max’s effort to be there for her now, OR the three being very much in love, I love it

Also I added the tag of the ship because I didn’t knew the name of it, love u

[tapakah0]

"In our house the lights go out at 11. But we couldn't sleep, Uncle Michelangelo didn't sleep either. He showed us glowing insects and said they were butterflies! They were very beautiful, I would like to see the ones that were in his world"

"Uncle Michelangelo misses Raph"

[the-meme-monarch]

they weren’t kidding that frisk someone can sure strange

anyway so the “see you in the next hell, losers” is inspired by this video ! it made me Think. undertale was their first hell(possessed by the SOUL), deltarune is their current hell(wants the SOUL back)

and the “try as you might, you continue to be yourself” is from when you get a second red flag in Ball Game in undertale ! thought it’d be ironic since. theyre kinda not acting like themself since they don’t have the SOUL anymore. not that they even really know who they were without it

also knight chara is here

[emerynn-art]

she just can't catch a break </3

[kettlefire]

Age is but a Number (DPxDC)

Daniel Fenton was only thirteen months old when he took his first steps. Only fifteen months old when he said his first words. He was two years old when he uttered his first sentence.

Danny could walk back his whole timeline from the moment he opened his eyes into this world. Except, none of those moments counted. They held no true weight for Danny's life.

No, there were certain moments that mattered. That had a clear shift to his life. Not every moment, not every milestone mattered.

Danny was five years old when he first felt the sting of disappointment at his parents missing a school event. He was six years old when the lab door was closed in his face for the first time, but not the last time.

He was eight when his young mind realized who was the one raising him. The one feeding him, waking him up, getting him dressed, and dealing with his tantrums.

Danny was ten when he learned to love and hate his parents for the true first time. Seeing both the good and the bad in them, and still loving them despite it.

He was eleven when he watched his sister crack under the pressure. Stood teary-eyed in the doorframe of her bedroom as he watched her cry and sob. He was twelve when he got into his first real fight with his mother, hiding away at Tucker's place for a few nights.

Danny was fourteen years old when he stepped into his parents' portal. When he accidentally hit the on switch. When a combination of ectoplasm and electricity ruined his life.

He was only fourteen when he experienced death for himself. Felt his life force leave him, and flood him at the same time.

Danny was still only fourteen when his world changed. New powers and abilities appear out of thin air. When a crazed billionaire latched on to him. When Danny had taken the mantel of a hero without meaning to.

He was still just fourteen when his life was filled with constant fighting. Both ghostly and human. Things got more tense between Danny and his mother. School was a weight that Danny wasn't sure he could handle.

Danny was fifteen when he had an existential crisis. The weight of a looming crown he was meant to take on the moment he turned eighteen or died fully. Having witnessed timelines where his family was gone. Having recognized a pattern of repetition in a life that Danny didn't want.

He was still fifteen when he made an impulsive decision. It was stupid and rash. Something expected from an angsty teenage boy, and not from an heir to a throne and a town to protect.

There had been no big fight. No big showdown. His parents still didn't know his secret. Danny hadn't bothered telling Tucker, Sam, or Jazz about his great plan. One moment, Daniel Fenton was in Amity Park. The next moment, he was gone without a trace.

Danny is just a fifteen year old boy, perched on a hill miles away from home. He didn't know what he was doing or what he was going to do. He didn't even know what state he was in.

He had just flown through the sky, a bag of emergency supplies slung over his shoulder. Danny had no intentions of stopping. That was until he stumbled cross a state line, and felt it.

A strong sense of caring and love. A feeling that Danny could only compare to the love he felt from Jazz. There was a strangeness in the air, but also a feeling of home. It drew Danny in like a moth to a flame.

Danny was just fifteen, curled up on a damp hill. Staring up into the night sky, and wishing for things to be different.

Not completely different. He didn't want to get rid of Phantom. Didn't want his life to go back to how it had been. Danny wanted things to get better. He wanted to feel like a kid again, something he realized he hadn't felt in a long time. Despite Jazz's best efforts to shield him.

The first tear had left Danny before he even realized it. A shaking hand wiped the tear away, silently cursing at himself for being such a baby.

Except that wasn't the only tear. It was like a dam, he never knew was there, had broken. Tears streaked down Danny's cheeks faster than he could wipe them away. Choked muffled sounds quickly turned to harsh gasping sobs.

Danny was only fifteen when he finally broke. Curled up on a random hill in a random state in the middle of nowhere. A glowing young teenager whose glow only seemed to dull with each gut-wrenching sob. Yet the stars seemed to twinkle even brighter than ever on this countryside.

So lost in the whirlwind of emotions that Danny was too young to fully decipher, he never noticed the approaching vehicle. Didn't so much as flinch when it came to a stop near him.

Danny's pain radiated with each sound he made. With each tear that left his toxic eyes. There was seemingly no end to it all. Until a single voice managed to pierce through Danny's bubble.

"Oh, dear... It's just a boy. Quick, grab a blanket!"

A small, frail voice was all it took. A voice weathered with age, and a tremble to it. Danny's whole body froze, head lifting to look at the speaker.

Except his vision had been quickly covered for a brief moment as an old flannel blanket was suddenly wrapped around Danny's shoulders. It smelt of dirt, hay, and warmth.

A kind old woman quickly followed to take a seat beside the glowing teenager. A warm, loving smile on her lips as she brought a thermos to Danny. An equally old and warm man seemed to follow behind her.

Danny's sobbing had quieted as quickly as it had started. The teen was completely bewildered, stunned to silence. This old couple, the embodiment of the American dream, didn't so much as blink at the sight a glowing boy crying on their land.

She had called him a boy. She had called him a boy. Danny was just a boy to her. His hands trembled as he accepted the thermos, taking a drink from the still hot coco inside.

Danny's stunned silence must have spoken volumes. The old man had given out a chuckle, moving to stand beside his wife.

"Don't worry, bud. Our son is just as strange as you."

Danny was just fifteen years old when he stumbled onto the Kent farm. When John and Martha Kent stumbled upon a crying glowing boy. When a sweet old couple hadn't cowered in fear but instead embraced Danny. Offering kindness and comfort with no strings attached.

He was only fifteen when he found himself a new home. A new life. One where he didn't have to be anything more than a teenage trying his best. When his powers weren't needed, only appreciated. Never expected.

A life where a warm home-cooked meal and a mother's kiss seemed to greet him every morning and night. Where a father's touch seemed to linger in every tractor lesson, every game of catch, and every time Danny learned more about the farmer lifestyle.

Danny was fifteen when he found his family. When he met the equally kind son of an amazing couple. When he had someone willing to teach him how to handle his powers, but never expected him to.

But Danny was seventeen when his past came back. When a town and people he cared about, all came flooding back in. When the guilt and shame of abandoning them came flooding back in.

When his new picture, perfect life started to crumble around the edges. When he realized life never went well for a Fenton and Fenton-adjacent. The perfect safe bubble had to burst eventual.

And well, that's a story for another day.

[ohnoafterlaughs]

Pricefield commission for @charles12-13 and @bosterm! A moment of reassurance between Max and Chloe, set shortly after the Bae Ending.

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[iramerle]

Finished Life Is Strange 2 yesterday 😭 loved it sm and I will do more fanart

Ofc got the blood brothers ending because diaz brothers should stay together 😤

[sleepytownzzz]

emergency contact 📞