So... lets talk about Horses

[WarlordJim]

I just finished the game and i kept getting a certain vibe through out the game that isnt yet a fully formed theory or thought but i'll just put it out there for discussion before i go to bed :)

Ok so Polle means horse also its used as slang for heroin, (so is dragon) not to mention all the coffee is gone ... are they all actually in rehab? i mean he does say at one point "10 mg oxycodone extended release capsules. The good stuff." so thats one thing .. but also the horses everywhere?
theres gotta be something behind horses being althrough out the game right?
the blind beast that chases you is a horses head,
when you scan with the ultrasound there's a horse skeleton..
Jimmy comments that he cant believe they sell the plushies of polle to kids,
the polle talking statue gets chopped up and he mentions that it appears to be mocking them all,. The pony express is the company they work for and so on..
anyway i'm keen to hear peoples thoughts..

another thing that also sticks out to me is why does Polle call Jimmy "old man?"

anyway i gotta get to bed its late and i'm i'm in for some weird dreams after playing this game.

[eceser]

Oh, I just automatically connected all the horse stuff to Pony Express and what it means to Jimmy (a future, money, safety, respect etc.; all down the drain after the trip) but you might have a point that it goes even deeper than that. I didn't know about the heroin thing, but it wouldn't be a surprising symbolism considering everything else, I just can't quite grasp it.
I interpreted the "Boss? Old man? Seems a little above your pay grade." thing to point out how immature and irresponsible he was, and how he kept acting as the captain despite having no qualifications. Basically that it was too big a title for him. Though I can't lie, it did confuse me a little too, so I can't say it for certain.

[Captain Cuddles]

Cool theory.
I actually have a sister that was a recovering alcoholic, and while she was "dry", she would sneak into the bathroom and drink mouthwash just to get a buzz. I think there is a lot of truth to this theory.

[stinkyhead]

in my observation, polle is actually symbolic of the fetus inside anya and the responsibility that becoming, genetics wise, a father, represents in jimmys mind. its why polle calls him old man--because in a lot of cultures, "hes my old man" can mean "hes my father."

the horses constantly following jimmy are just reminders of jimmys interpretation of "responsibility" for his actions--something big and scary, something to run and hide from, something to cover up.

the fact that the pony express mascot is what becomes the external vision of the internal concept of the fetus and responsibility, im not 100% sure of, but the fact that the horse has plush toys marketed to kids may be a factor.

a rehab analogy doesnt exactly make sense to me--no rehab staff are going to allow this manner of bloodbath, and the letter that gets sent from hq telling curly hes getting a promotion while everyone else is laid off doesnt translate well into that kind of setting.

[casualghost]

i saw it all as his looming guilt, the horse always watching from wherever he is. In a lot of the dinner table sequences the horse is grinning in the background, almost mocking everybody there. i feel like it could also very much symbolize the fact that anya's baby is one of the biggest factors in why jimmy decides to crash the freighter. no matter where he turns, it's right there, staring him in the face, taunting him.

when he speaks to polle near the end of the game, there's the nighttime screen behind polle, and polle's speech text is a very similar shade of blue to anya's. i saw somebody on tiktok theorize that this conversation could very well be anya's real personality, without the trauma and abuse he put on her, speaking to him, chewing him out, because polle says "if all of that is true, why are you still so focused on him?" in reference to curly, because jimmy believes he owes curly the biggest apology while he refuses to believe he did anything to anya deserving of an apology. it's even more infuritating when he takes his own life, still not taking responsibility for the rape and the child, not feeling any remorse for that specific action. because he sees crashing the ship as his biggest mistake and does not credit the fact that the reason he crashed the freighter is because he raped anya, in turn spelling out his own demise and everybody else with him.

i feel like there really could be so much more symbolism behind the horses, because they really are everywhere in this game. so much of jimmy's guilt is followed by that horse, and he seems to hold some distain and grudge towards it, like he does with anya, anytime he mentions the horse he sounds grumpy and anytime he talks to anya, he's the same way.

before he meets polle on that mountain of mouthwash containers, he walks through a hallway full of ID cards, but when you look closely at the walls, there isn't a single one of anya's IDs. only swansea, curly and daisuke, furthering the fact that he never saw anya's death as her fault. i feel like he's the type of guy to think that suicide is selfish. when anya locked herself in the med bay, jimmy expressed concern about curly, NOT anya, when she was the one telling him from behing the door "you told me to take care of this" it's almost like he disregarded the fact that anya might be hurting herself and the baby instead. like he wanted that to happen.

[Yolomancer]

he walks through a hallway full of ID cards, but when you look closely at the walls, there isn't a single one of anya's IDs. only swansea, curly and daisuke, furthering the fact that he never saw anya's death as her fault.

Good detail - I got the vibe that the ID hallway was a "walk of shame" moment for him, didn't notice Anya's wasn't around.

[sleampy]

Originally posted by Yolomancer:

he walks through a hallway full of ID cards, but when you look closely at the walls, there isn't a single one of anya's IDs. only swansea, curly and daisuke, furthering the fact that he never saw anya's death as her fault.

Good detail - I got the vibe that the ID hallway was a "walk of shame" moment for him, didn't notice Anya's wasn't around.

Actually, I'd like to point out - Anya's ID IS in that hallway, appearing just about as often as everyone else's - /however/, her face on said ID is always obscured by someone else's. The ID is there, just not her face, ever. Interesting thing to think about.