The Plague (Spoilers)

[DBladedPantz]

After playing through a second time and getting both endings that are possible in the game, does the plague leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth? I spent the first half of the game reading excerpts from survivors and logs of those who succumbed to the plague learning how the game universe basically fell apart due to the ravages of the plague. It felt eery, supernatural and most of all unstoppable by humans. Basically from what I gathered the sheer size and scope of the plague completely took people not only by surprise, but also left them completely helpless. Even the scientists who risked their lives to study and learn about the plague (the good doctor and his research on the rats) could do no more than postulate that the size of the rats that spread the plague indicate that they are not "of the isles" and that they must have come from the long abandoned and mysterious continent.

Basically, what I am upset about is the revelation that such a monstrous and uncontrollable thing like the plague was due to the machinations of one man. The game spent all this time trying to hype up the idea that this plague was magical (or at least due in no small part to the Outsider) and this felt backed up by the heart who makes the statement about how "The Doom of Pandyssia has come to the Isles." Even logs of the explorers who ventured to the mysterious and dark continent (presumably where the denizens of the Isles must have come from) indicate there are all sorts of magical and mysterious elements at play there. Dark forests, reports of large and mysterious beings with wings (dragons?), and hell, even the whales have extra tentacles and fins. Clearly we aren't dealing with the everyday flora and fauna of our universe, but it definitely tries to ground us in a reality very SIMILAR to our own.

So after all this, does it disappoint you as it did me that after all this talk of supernatural and mysterious causes, that we could just write off the entirety of the plague and the main event surrounding the people of Dunwall as due to the actions of just ONE man? It felt like a cop out and definitely jaded me for the final missions and I wonder if anyone else got the same feeling. The number of questions raised by such a statement outnumbers the questions that are supposed to be resolved with this revelation I think. How did he know he was dealing with a plague? How did he not catch it? How did he find a way to spread it to the poorer denizens of Dunwall before a cure had been devised? How did Sokolov find a way to dissect and learn about the rats without catching a plague fever himself? But more importantly, if inspiration for "science" comes to the great thinkers in their sleep when the Outsider visits them, why is it that the plague somehow loses its otherworldly nature in the waking hours? I guess I might be griping over a triviality, but the implications from the game's literature spent an awful lot of time convincing me of one thing just to have the carpet pulled out from under me.

[CrazyJaney]

That's not actually accurate. The machinations of that particular one man did involve bringing the Rat Plague to Dunwall, but it did not actually happen because of him - he had not yet put his plan into effect when the Plague appeared. Check out the pre-release animated shorts, "Tales from Dunwall" - particularly the second one "The Hand that Feeds" - for the real story behind the origin of the Rat Plague. http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_421265&feature=iv&index=3&list=UUEvNGwLX3AKUAZRwTqrhhSQ&src_vid=JDCUCSIOLu4&v=RHCGpNC0UKc

[aykincakaloz]

This is exactly what I felt about the issue. The plague was mistified and at times, it was the main antagonist. However, when the game ended, it seemed an explanation was cut short on both ends; how it started and how it was cured.

My guess, is that they deliberetely left a DLC shaped hole in the story. The story of Dunwall and the setting is very well done and thought of, it is made to support a game much longer than Dishonored, maybe even several games.

Sequel?

I really DON'T want to see a sequel to this game. Everything involving Corvo and his story was tight and it fit perfectly into the game. Adding more to it would only diminish it. BETHESDA PLEASE DON'T DO IT!

However, I would really like to see a few more games based on the world of Dunwall. Perhaps a prequel that tells the story of the late Empress, in her fathers time. Perhaps a story of why this political conspiracy started and how the plague was found and brought to Dunwall as a result.

It would be well worth the time I think.

[DBladedPantz]

Agreed, it left a large hole that hopefully will be revisited with the Daud DLC coming here sometime in December. However I certainly hope it doesn't get done by Bethesda, since this is the brain child of Arkane studios and they just used Bethesda for publishing it.

You know, after watching those web shorts it doesn't change my mind in the least of what I have said and what the game stated about Hiram Burrows being the man who put the machinations of the plague into being. That second web episode mostly said to me that the story described takes place during the plague and that the Outsider while granting powers to the boy only gave him control of the rats that spread plague. Nowhere did I see that the web episode was implying the boy spread the plague in the first place. Instead it gave me the impression that he was granted temporary control of the kinds of rats that spread it until he lost control and was bitten. If I've missed something in the details please let me know, otherwise I fail to see how they have done anything but reinforce what I've said.

[Turtler]

Again, guys, Burrows didn't do it. The Outsider did. And if *anything* can do justice to how apocalyptic the plague was made out to be while still being the work of a single "man", it's The Outsider.

DBladedPantz, check Burrows's recording in-game. He confirms the plot that he intended to spread the plague, but he *also* mentions that his synthetic plague was made irrelevent and unnecessary by a completely different one. Namely the one caused by The Outsider and The Boy. This is a big part of the reason why he is so psychotically out to lunch: because he can't control it like he wanted to.

END OF THREAD.