[SPOILERS]Regarding the ending

[Nihilusion]

I'm a little confused here. Randall saves Stella and "inspires" her to strive forward, to never give up, to keep fighting, to survive, etc. but then he stays behind and faces incoming horde. Is he intentionally commiting a final suicide mission, and going against every thing he has just told Stella, or is there something more?? Also, throughout the entire game he appears to be searching for his wife and daughter (even in the end), and yet there's a flashback when he clearly shoots the dead.

Either this game had some poor writing, or Im starting to think Randall is just crazy. Can someone please elaborate on this? Thanks

[Seiji]

The entire game he's desperately trying to find his wife and daughter, surviving and doing what has to be done to be able to be with his family again. The problem is, his family is already dead. Having to kill the people you love most can definitely twist your mind, he couldn't bear to live with it, so, to protect him, his mind blocked that event. When he finally remembers what happened, his reason to go on ceases to exist, he gave up on fighting. Maybe he felt that it was the only way to be with his family again.

I think he sees a better future for Stella, so he tells her to keep fighting. Maybe he feels the need to encourage her, otherwise his death could impact her too much, make she give up too, I don't know.

It has been a while since I finished the game, but that's how I remember the ending. Maybe someone can come with a different perspective or point something I got wrong :)

[Winsyrstrife]

Check out the alternate ending for a different twist on the storyline. I think there's more to it, but I'll enclose it in spoiler tags, just in case.

I think Randall was carrying a severe amount of psychological & emotional pain, stemming from his betrayal & abandonment as a child. His father's departure created a rift in Randall's life, that was filled with paranoia/suspicion of others, withdrawal from social interaction, coupled with fear of loneliness (Pg. 19-20). If you have all the pages of the diary, cross-reference pages 2,4,8, latter of 10, 20 & the latter of 25.

I also believe that Randall developed some form of DID (dis-associative identity disorder) as the result of early childhood experiences. His secondary personality being violent/murderous. While Randall is suspicious of others, parts of his journal entries border on justified violence as a form of self-defense. He has a negative experience on Oct 19th, followed by an entry on Oct 22nd that's been marked out, followed by several confirmations of fear on Pg 24. There's also the entry on Pg 29-30. Most of these odd entries are referred to as dreams or dream-like states, which occurs sometimes for those suffering from DID.

All of that plays well into either ending, as a man coming to terms with the sum of his life, or a startling discovery/realization (alternate ending).