Rachel caused the storm, not Max

[Tazzells]

WARNING: HEAVY SPOILERS

Okay so,

There is a pretty popular theory that suggests Rachel Amber also had time travelling powers as well as Max. This happens to be a theory I agree with after looking at the situations and circumstances of Life is Strange, of course I won't say 'evidence', as there really is no evidence otherwise it would not be a 'theory'.

Now before I start, I want to be clear that it was not me who came up with this theory, I just want to give my reasons for believing it because I feel that there is a certain point of the game that many may see as a plot hole, but could actually be another point towards the 'Rachel is a time traveller theory'.
So with all that out of the way, lets start.

If anyone has not heard of the theory that Rachel can time travel as well as Max then allow me to explain. Rachel Amber is known throughout Arcadia Bay as this amazing, wonderful and beautiful girl who is humble, nice, sweet, a party animal and all round beloved person. Loved by everyone (excluding Victoria). It is said by multiple characters in the game, Hayden being one of them, that Rachel can fit into any clique and make friends with anyone. She was insanely pretty and had the body of a model, she even had perfect grades! I mean how can anyone have time (pun absolutely intended) to socialise with all groups of people, exercise and eat healthy enough to get a model's body, sleep a healthy 8 hours a day AND study enough to be top of the class at school? Seems pretty impossible right? Well yeah I would say so, but the way I've been paying Life is Strange; I've basically been doing the same thing with Max.

As soon as Max discovers her amazing time powers, she gets to make life so sweet for her. The first thing she does is impress Jefferson with her incredible knowledge of photography and John Lennon quotes. Then she heads outside and she socialises with every group of people she can see. She impresses the skaters with her knowledge of tricks, she impresses geeks with her understanding of Drones, She saves girls getting hit in the face with footballs and she makes friends with Juliet Watson by reminding her what her last name is! And of course the greatest of all achievements; She saves a victim of bullying from committing suicide.

So by the end of the game she is given the title 'Super Max' and she is loved by all, even Victoria and Frank if you hit all the right buttons. Max is on par with Rachel Amber, which is how the theory of Rachel having the same powers as Max came about.

Now its time to give you MY contribution to the theory, which is what the title of this discussion is all about. It is my humble belief that Rachel is blame for the storm wiping out Arcadia Bay and NOT Max. Why? Well let me explain. The game starts with max waking up from a dream of a tornado heading towards Arcadia Bay. Dazed and confused, Max writes it off as a dream and continues with her life, eventually going to the bathroom to wash her face. At this point we all know whats coming; Nathan and Chloe come in, arguments happen, shots fired. Its at this point where Max first uses her powers and discovers that for some reason she can rewind time.

We've all played the game, we know what happens, I'm just setting the tone here so bear with me.

My point is that Max discovers her powers AFTER her vision of the tornado, not before, but after. The game leads us to believe that the impending doom that the tornado brings is the result of Max constantly disrupting the natural flow of things. It tells us that Chloe was supposed to die in the bathroom with Nathan, and all the countless other times when she almost dies again is the universe trying to fix itself by killing Chloe, but since Max keeps saving her and disrupting the universe's intended flow of events, a tornado forms.

But the thing is, if Max never had the powers in the first place, the tornado would not be there as she would not be able to rewind time and save Chloe, so why on earth does Max get a vision of the tornado BEFORE she discovers her powers. Where did the tornado come from if Max had not even had a chance to use her powers yet? The only logical answer would be that the tornado came from Rachel.

If we consider that the theory is true, and that Rachel had time powers like Max did, we can assume that she also used them during one of her many adventures with Chloe, but what could she have done that would disturb the universe so much that a giant tornado would form? Well in the first episode of Life is Strange, Chloe says something that didn't mean much significance the first time I played the game, but after replaying it with this theory in my head it raised some questions; there is a line the first episode, when Max reunites with Chloe and the both of them are in Chloe's bedroom, Chloe refers to Rachel as her 'Angel' and says that she 'saved her life'. Now it is entirely possible that this was said metaphorically as Chloe was at the time feeling abandoned and possibly even contemplating suicide. But lets assume for the purpose of this discussion that it was meant literally and that Rachel actually physically saved her from an immediate death using her time travel powers like the many times Max has done throughout the game. With this in mind, maybe Chloe was not supposed to die in the bathroom with Nathan after all, perhaps she was supposed to die at an even earlier point in her life before we even start the game, perhaps at the time that she was hanging out with Rachel who then used her powers to save her from that death. Max saves Chloe countless times, in my play through she was saved a total of 5 times, and I'm sure that number varies with other players, but there is no evidence that suggests that her death in the bathroom with Nathan was her FIRST death, and in my opinion the very presence of the tornado supports that it was not, I believe she was supposed to die earlier than the beginning of the game when she was with Rachel, and I believe that Rachel used her powers to save Chloe from her destiny which in turn caused the formation of the storm.

But why didn't she get the same choice that Max did? Why didn't she have the choice of either Sacrificing Chloe to save Arcadia Bay, or vice versa? Well its quite simple, maybe she simply wasn't aware of the storm she had carelessly created, maybe she WAS aware and had every intention of allowing the storm to destroy Arcadia Bay in order to save Chloe, or maybe she just did not live long enough to make that choice as she was murdered by Jefferson, leaving the burden of the storm to Max.

Some might say that if Rachel truly did have the power to rewind time, she would have saved herself from Jefferson and lived to this day, but if you refer to the conclusion of episode 4, Jefferson takes Max by surprise and injects her with some form of anaesthesia, numbing her powers for a short while. The only reason Max was able to save herself is because she eventually woke up to use her powers again, whereas Rachel was not so lucky and died of an
accidental overdose.

In conclusion, I believe that Chloe Price's death was destined before the events of Life is Strange, and that Rachel Amber had time travel powers similar to Max's which she used to save Chloe from that death that in turn created the storm that Max has a vision of before she discovers that she too has time travel powers.

With Life is Strange: Before the Storm just around the corner, Dontnod Entertainment have announced that time travel will not be making a come back. But I like to believe that it is because the game will be from the perspective of Chloe Price, who was not aware that Rachel had these powers to rewind time as she was never told.

These are just my thoughts, and are not to be taken seriously.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my ridiculous theory, please let me know what you think, do you agree or perhaps have a different theory of events?

[Yanarsen]

Sry, too much text to read, but depending from your title, I can say that none Chloe or Max caused the storm. Developers want to say its Chloes fault, just to feel guilty for manipulating with time, to show us that super powers create super bulls.hit as Max said at some point of the game. But you can watch on that from million aspects during the game. First of all, game starts with Max dream about storm, when you still don't meet Chloe. How would you explain that? Intro storm kills every theory about Chloe causing it.
When I read your entire comment, we will discuss further. :P

[Jeckenn]

Yes a popular theory and mostly because when Max and Chloe are on the beach and the storm is raging in episode 5, Chloe says to Max something like, "Maybe the storm is because of Rachel's revenge". I can't remember the exact words she used but that is why this theory is popular....

[Tazzells]

haha sure go ahead :) it is indeed a lot of text sorry about that I just wanted to cover everything XD

[CZBGR Icepick]

tl;dr.

Rachel may either be a time traveler, or has a multiple personality disorder....

In the case of the former, perhaps it ended up that there were multiple Rachels existing in the same plane. But the problem is the space-time continuum. How does she avoid the trouble of the causal loop and the usual paradoxes? Unless, of course she had this planned.

Or, perhaps, somehow she clones herself. One or both to ensure she has a personality for each area of concern. Note the contrasts of what Frank felt about her, how Chloe felt about her, and the truck driver's description of her.

But if she didn't have that power, she could have multiple personalities. A psychological disorder. You would probably see this from the way Mr. Jefferson talks about her. In the subgenre style of Southern Gothic storytelling, I'd liken her to a fairy princess. Maybe she has "special powers", caricatured to some sort of supernatural explanation. All the more power to her, whatever it is, and more symbolic that the aftermath of her death is the storm that is the catalyst of the whole story. The ultimate question is:

Who is Rachel Amber truly?

I suppose we'll finally find out when BtS has the first episode released 2 weeks from today.

[talemore]

"In conclusion, I believe that Chloe Price's death was destined before the events of Life is Strange"

When you reach the end Chloe will talk about "our" fate. Max, I can't tell if she's already dead but the game points at Max being a metaphoric ghost. It's least to say Max is already dead if we go after what we are told in the game. Max is shivering with the same light of the doe who is a spirit. You know what makes less sense in the game, how them found the body but left it there and when them came back for a second time Chloe will comment: she's still there. The reason why them didn't go to the police is because of what Max will say. We actually murdered someone.

[CZBGR Icepick]

Originally posted by talemore:

"In conclusion, I believe that Chloe Price's death was destined before the events of Life is Strange"

When you reach the end Chloe will talk about "our" fate. Max, I can't tell if she's already dead but the game points at Max being a metaphoric ghost. It's least to say Max is already dead if we go after what we are told in the game. Max is shivering with the same light of the doe who is a spirit. You know what makes less sense in the game, how them found the body but left it there and when them came back for a second time Chloe will comment: she's still there. The reason why them didn't go to the police is because of what Max will say. We actually murdered someone.

I thought about this, but then remembered the sequence of events. They went to look for Nathan, and thought he was responsible. That caused them to get the run around, so that's why they went to recheck, only to fall for the trap.

[talemore]

Originally posted by CZBGR Icepick:

Originally posted by talemore:

"In conclusion, I believe that Chloe Price's death was destined before the events of Life is Strange"

When you reach the end Chloe will talk about "our" fate. Max, I can't tell if she's already dead but the game points at Max being a metaphoric ghost. It's least to say Max is already dead if we go after what we are told in the game. Max is shivering with the same light of the doe who is a spirit. You know what makes less sense in the game, how them found the body but left it there and when them came back for a second time Chloe will comment: she's still there. The reason why them didn't go to the police is because of what Max will say. We actually murdered someone.

I thought about this, but then remembered the sequence of events. They went to look for Nathan, and thought he was responsible. That caused them to get the run around, so that's why they went to recheck, only to fall for the trap.

The plan for chloe was to get there an kill Nathan on the spot. There was no other plan. Max didn't stopped Chloe from going to the junkyard to kill Nathan.

There's no "We" in the context because all kills are made by Chloe and deciding who's going to live or die is what caused the spiral of death. You saved a murder from being killed only to watch further people on the line die. This is how I think how Max see her responsible for chloe's action because if Max hadn't saved Chloe these people who died by the hand of chloe could had be spared. I don't know if Max is Chloe's pretended friend or if Max is pretending to be friend with Chloe, she was saved by a higher being who used Chloe like she manipulated everyone else in Arcadia bay.

[The Civillian]

Originally posted by talemore:

Originally posted by CZBGR Icepick:

I thought about this, but then remembered the sequence of events. They went to look for Nathan, and thought he was responsible. That caused them to get the run around, so that's why they went to recheck, only to fall for the trap.

The plan for chloe was to get there an kill Nathan on the spot. There was no other plan. Max didn't stopped Chloe from going to the junkyard to kill Nathan.

There's no "We" in the context because all kills are made by Chloe and deciding who's going to live or die is what caused the spiral of death. You saved a murder from being killed only to watch further people on the line die. This is how I think how Max see her responsible for chloe's action because if Max hadn't saved Chloe these people who died by the hand of chloe could had be spared. I don't know if Max is Chloe's pretended friend or if Max is pretending to be friend with Chloe, she was saved by a higher being who used Chloe like she manipulated everyone else in Arcadia bay.

Ok with the Chloe being a murder part I honestly think your wrong.

Yes Chloe was angry, and rightly so, all evidence pointed to Nathan so yeah she wanted revenge, But didnt you hear what CHloe said about killing Nathan, she hoped Max would rewind it.

My thinking is Max was going to let Chloe do it, snap a pic and then rewind it and STOP her before she actually did it.

Chloe gets the best of both.

We all know Chloe would regret it after anyways and Max would NEVER have allowed CHloe to actually go through with it.

Hell I gaurentee everyone tries to get the notebook of frank without incident, Yeah Chloe dislikes/distrusts frank after she finds out about Rachel and him but she aint gonna kill the guy over it.

Another thing, Chloe is NOT a bad person, Shes a god kid thats had a pretty ♥♥♥♥ time of it in all honesty.

But as the week goes on you see her change JUST because Max is back in her life.

She even goes as far to offer herself up on a HUNCH it will save the town...A HUNCH.

As for Rachel causing the storm, I've ALWAYS thought that, And Max's vision/dream w/e was a warning it was comming, but thats a whole new Fan-fic im getting the itch to write...gotta finish Playing for keeps first though...stupid brain.


But lets take it from your point of view and get rid of timetravel and the super tornado for a second.

Max saves Chloe without timetravel, just quick thinking...what next..

They WOULDNT go looking for Rachel (No timetravel powers keeps Max on level ground)

They may well look into what happened to Kate, perticually if she does jump (Probably would without Maxs help) Thus leading to Nathan and drugs, hand info over to cops/David w/e and thats that.

Rachel gets found that way.

Chloe aint a bad person, ♥♥♥♥ just happened and she went a little off the rails....

Put you in her place, someone you REALLY care about turns up MURDERED, and you KNOW who did it, what is your FIRST thought..

If you say anything other than beat the ♥♥♥♥ outta em or kill em, then you dont know what its like to care for someone that much. (No offence you just aint found/met that person yet)

[talemore]

All are innocent until proven guilty, everyone's capable to do great deeds. You don't like the idea the storm is the revenge of Rachel Amber and it keeps raging until Chloe dies. The topic is about Rachel is the cause of the storm and not if Chloe is or isn't innocent.

Without the storm and the rewind powers the hope of Max is a wishful thinking. What do we know about Chloe Price when it's revealed in the nightmare chloe was making Max a partner in crime and Max formulated it as if she was manipulated by Chloe to make crimes. A.k.a stockholm syndrome.

[headholo]

shouldn't the title be spoilered ?

[CZBGR Icepick]

Originally posted by headholo:

shouldn't the title be spoilered ?

Not really. Fan theory.

[Harem Route]

Originally posted by CZBGR Icepick:

Originally posted by headholo:

shouldn't the title be spoilered ?

Not really. Fan theory.

Well... technically, it assumes that "Max caused storm" is canon, therefore is a spoiler. So yeah... the title should be something like "Fan theory (spoilers ahead)".

That said, the game is 2 years old. I'd say the time for "spoilers" is long gone. It's almost like saying that "Vader is Luke's father" is a spoiler.

[CZBGR Icepick]

Originally posted by Simon.cleric:

Originally posted by CZBGR Icepick:

Not really. Fan theory.

Well... technically, it assumes that "Max caused storm" is canon, therefore is a spoiler. So yeah... the title should be something like "Fan theory (spoilers ahead)".

That said, the game is 2 years old. I'd say the time for "spoilers" is long gone. It's almost like saying that "Vader is Luke's father" is a spoiler.

Title says Rachel, not Max. So, it's fan theory, not canon.

[Noctuah真実]

Amber is bliss .
With a flick of my wrist,
Chloe thrived, as they died,
Sayonara, Bay made of disgusting glass,

Also, I bought 28 CSGO Keys to trade,
why do I have to wait 7 more DAYS
AFTER WAITING 30... I should be 118 on Steam by now..

[Harem Route]

Originally posted by CZBGR Icepick:

Originally posted by Simon.cleric:

Well... technically, it assumes that "Max caused storm" is canon, therefore is a spoiler. So yeah... the title should be something like "Fan theory (spoilers ahead)".

That said, the game is 2 years old. I'd say the time for "spoilers" is long gone. It's almost like saying that "Vader is Luke's father" is a spoiler.

Title says Rachel, not Max. So, it's fan theory, not canon.

Again, "Rachel caused storm, NOT MAX" assumes that contrary to what the title says, canonically Max did. Therefore, spoilers.