#part of violets route will be about how she feels she failed minnie and so refuses to fail clementine and continuously makes that choice

[spacedlexi]

i thought we were gonna kiss up here are you still not over your dead girlfriend

[pi-creates]

If tfs had multiple endings (like something like clementine dies or even aj) what kind of endings do u think would be really cool to have? Personally dam now that I think about it an aj death ending is so dam sad but so interesting at the same time 🤧🤧

I'm with you, anon - as sad as more "bad endings" can be, it is more interesting to have those options be there and exploring the consequences fully. And this is the kinda thing I really like exploring - the alternate paths and how those things can play out if you just tweak the little things. So yeah, I hope you don't mind reading, I have a lot of thoughts on this one.

As for what kinda endings I would have liked to see, I'm a fan of having a diverging point in the last episode as you leave the cave after choosing if you trust AJ, and after James' fate is set as cooperative, pissed off with you, or dead.

You exit the cave and I want your level of friendliness with your saved companion to matter - you know how the game lets you BFF or romance the characters regardless of if you're an absolute dick to them? Yeah, well, I would prefer if at this point they only came to help you out if you were nice to them - if you were a dick, then even if you are their romantic partner they don't feel more obligated to help you over the other kids that got rescued. It’s not an act of cruelty on their part, but one of basic numbers - they have several friends to look out for right now.

In that situation you're a man down and Tenn is the one to mention the bridge - you get a scene more focussed on Tenn and AJ talking and get to hear AJ's attitude change towards Tenn based on whether you trusted him more or not. It could be AJ lecturing Tenn about survival stuff and how AJ wants to teach him, or it's them being more childish and maybe talking about Science Dog - just some fluff that makes us happy to see that AJ has a friend.

The bridge plays out mostly the same, and Clem cannot avoid her leg being damaged in the fight if it's just her and Tenn on that side of the bridge - I bring this up because I would like there to be a scenario where Clem can save her leg.

In theory, I would like it if a Clem who has earned cooperation from all of her companions and James has the ability to have another person on her side. James coming up on the bridge in the herd Minnie brings? Him having a character arc where if you pushed that sometimes the peaceful option might just lead to more death? Can you just imagine for a second that he sneaks up on Minnie as she's about to swing that axe down?

So let's say you have 4 theoretical combos happening with how many characters you have on the bridge:

Clem + AJ + Tenn = Clem is injured and Tenn's fate is determined by AJ being able to convince him to let his sister go (through mutual trust between them) or if AJ fails Tenn follows Clem's lead and also feels like AJ is too young to make decisions and therefore trusts his sister's manipulation more.

Clem + AJ + Tenn + Louis or Violet = same as canon. Clem is injured, Tenn and Louis or Violet are determinant on if AJ is trusted.

Clem + AJ + Tenn + James = Clem is not injured, but James will die in his struggle with Minnie - he saves Clem from the axe moment but without the extra backup he gets shoved through the hole in the bridge and falls to the rocks, Tenn's fate is still determined by AJ being able to convince him to let his sister go.

Clem + AJ + Tenn + James + Louis or Violet = Clem is not injured, James stops the axe moment and with the added backup of Louis or Violet he doesn't fall off the bridge, and Tenn's is saved by Louis or Violet while James keeps Minnie back. Louis or Violet also get off the bridge unscathed with James’ help to throw Tenn over. BUT James will always be the last person on that side of the bridge and his fate is determinant on trusting AJ (did you trust AJ to go with his own thoughts? And does AJ still think James wants to hurt them, or have you instilled enough thoughts that people can be redeemed into his head?) - AJ may choose to shoot James if he still views him as crazy, or irredeemable for his actions in the cave - this will still be a point of contention amongst the rest of the survivors.

So going over all that, you could theoretically end up on the other side of the bridge with these combos:

Injured Clem + AJ Injured Clem + AJ + Tenn Injured Clem + AJ + Louis Injured Clem + AJ + Violet

OR

Clem + AJ Clem + AJ + Tenn Clem + AJ + Louis + Tenn Clem + AJ + Violet + Tenn Clem + AJ + Louis+ Tenn + James Clem + AJ + Violet + Tenn + James

And now the combo you get is important, because an injured Clem can't climb that gate, she's stuck going for the cliff climb since she has more time to climb that before the walkers surround it. But an un-injured Clem has the choice of going over that gate - and that is the no bite route.

Going over the gate is shown to be a safe way home for a single kid to manage, so this group is safe at least from walker bites. There would need to be another emotional high point to this route that's the equivalent to the bite, though... and I'm not entirely sure what that would be. Maybe this is the route where that original thing where they wanted Sullene to chase Clem down as revenge for killing Yonatan can happen and Clem and AJ end up separated. I dunno... it's not the same parallel to season 1, but if they are desperate to have a similar feeling of dread maybe they can have another fake out where Clem gets shot in the scuffle and you once again switch to AJ panicking and trying to patch her up but the scene ends with Clem passing out before we know if he did a good enough job before either the rest of the group finds them, or AJ has to leave Clem and find the school. Or perhaps AJ can get shot here and we have another divergence. And to keep things sort of level with the amputation route, let’s call the shot a really bad shoulder hit that will result in that arm no longer having proper mobility even if it heals.

So in that scenario, let's say you can get 4 endings out of it. If you have friends you ended up separated from, then they're searching for you and can help with the medical emergency - they can save the person in time before they succumb to blood loss. But if you have to get to the school because you didn't have friends left here, then maybe it's too late. So Clem can die, Clem can be injured but recovering, AJ can die, or AJ can be injured but recovering. Then you have to incorporate all those other options into the "back at school" moment. So on this route, death situation of Clem or AJ also means Tenn is always dead and Clem's Saved friend is still alive, but they didn't come to find her after the cave, so you have that added tension to explore. Maybe you can even explore if AJ or Clem even wants to stay at the school if that was the end results - I dunno, it’s just an interesting thing to ponder. But the recovering situation can theoretically mean that no one died in the last episode, which is a marvel in and of itself.

But if you have an injured Clem who need to climb the cliffs, or an uninjured Clem who simply decided the cliff was a better option... this is where things get a little more complicated.

I would like it if in this scenario you could ask your Saved friend to either climb the gate (with Tenn and James if they are still alive) or come with you for the cliff. If they climb the gate, then they’re safe, it’s the same as canon and they get back to the school fine on their own. But if you ask them to stay, then there’s another option at the base of the cliff to determine the order in which the characters climb up. If it’s just you and AJ, then AJ always goes first, and everything proceeds as it does with canon. 

The problem is that an injured Clem is going to climb slower, so who goes last? If Clem is last, she gets bit, there’s no avoiding it - but if her Saved friend is climbing ahead of her, now they are there for the rest of the scenario watching a bitten Clem desperately keep AJ and them safe.

But if you make your Saved friend climb last, then it’s them who gets bitten, they go through a similar drama to a bitten Clem and plead to at least try to get them back to the school so they can make sure that Clem and AJ get back safely before they go. Same drama as canon, but happening to a different character... the difference being that an unbitten Clem in this situation who didn’t trust AJ to make his own decisions... well.... this one is on her shoulders, AJ’s not going to intervene. Does Clem make the choice to give their leg the axe, or does she kill them so they don’t turn, or does she just leave them there and take AJ to safety? And does the amputation option even work for them? Ehhh, let’s just say it does, Clem can’t be the only example of that working.

But finally... for like an ultimate downer moment, what if Clem is injured and climbs slower, but also asks her Saved friend to climb the cliff last? Well, we’re in for a double whammy. In this situation, your Saved friend is getting bit, and so is Clem. You both struggle to the barn, poor AJ is trying really hard not to break down while keeping the both of you moving, and you end up in the barn with Clem and her Saved friend debating what to do. Do they lament that this isn’t how they wanted things to go, or do they thank you for making sure they don’t leave the world alone? Do they make the suggestion that AJ does about being left as walkers, together forever and all that? And again, I wish there was some divergence here.... like, I get the want to surprise the player with  Clem still being alive - but does AJ still make that call when there’s more than one person telling him to just leave, or to kill them? I wish this was another moment where if you built up trust with AJ, then he saves you both by trusting in himself to try to save you, but if you didn’t trust him then he follows your word.

So on this route, you could have Clem die (potentially with the Saved friend as a witness), Clem could have her leg amputated (potentially with the Saved friend as a witness) , Clem could die with her Saved friend, Clem and her Saved friend could both be amputees, the Saved friend could die alone, or the Saved friend could have their leg amputated. 

So in total, we’re looking at... 10+ endings if you want to count in all those minor variations on who was romanced, saved, betrayed, etc.

And looking at it all.... I know it’s a lot. But in a world with all the resources, time, and motivation, I would have loved to have that many variations on the ending. It makes a happy ending in a choice based game feel so much happier and deserved when we know a “bad” end was so nearby too. Plus I really like when games provide “middle of the road” endings where they are varying levels of positives and negatives and it’s up to you to interpret if such a thing is good enough to still be considered an overall good situation.