Justify your ending. (SPOILERS - DUH)

[J. Kimble]

Well, just finished the game, and phew... it was an emotional rollercoaster. Phenomenal.

I did see the two headlines in the steam... thing... for the game that kind of gave me a "outside the narrative" perspective on the endings: firstly, that it would be a "ZOMG le Mass Effect endings" (so-called "bad endings") dichotomic choice (though I didn't guess exactly what the choices would be until the very end of Ep 5), and secondly, that there would be a sequel.
While playing the game I was very skeptical of the idea of there being a sequel, but by episode 5 it made sense (a time travel story not being able to make a sequel? Lol), and in the context of my preferred ending, it makes a hell of a lot of sense.

But even purely "within the text", I feel justified in my choice of ending.

In the ending I chose... (drumroll please)... I let the tornado destroy Arcadia Bay.

The way I look at it, over the course of the game the story raises some very serious philosophical questions, relating to agency/responsiblity, existence, and free will, and while both ending choices are supportable by reference to one's own perspective on these things within the rules of the LiS universe, the way I look at it the "neat bowtie" is on the ending where you let the consequences of your actions play out, rather than hitting the "reset button" one last time.

Whether or not Max was given her powers for any purpose, I think her having them gives her greater responsibity for her choices than "mere mortals", and that undoing all the things she did would be an abdication of her responsibility for her actions throughout the story - ie: render your choices meaningless, as you were just "closing" Max's own time loop, rather than enforcing her will on the universe and letting the chips fall as they inherently would.
Going through a near-literal reality-warping hell and suffering and FEELING so much for the sake of her principles and her friends, only to cancel that out for deterministic surrender to the universe seems to me to be just as bad as a "you lose" screen popping up at the end.

If the moral of the story is to accept responsibility for one's actions and not to dwell on changing the past, then it makes more sense to me to actually apply that principle by letting the results of Max's emotions and logic (ie: YOUR choices) play out in the world, rather than making Max a slave to "destiny" - abandoning (and destroying - depending on whether you think any of the realities that didn't end up playing out actually exist(ed) if they were nullified by retroactive time travel, which I don't, them having been nullified - their only "existence" is as Max's memories) not just her friend but her principles and her agency.

Basically, the "real" destruction of Arcadia isn't any worse than the cessation or nullification of the existences of the alternate realities that Max's time travel caused. Materially, there's actually less destruction in the "destroy Arcadia" choice, if matter even exists; the more important principle is the moral one of accepting responsibility - exemplified by the "destroy Arcadia" ending.


TLDR: I'd rather have an ending that looks like the ending of Terminator 3 (♥♥♥♥ gets ♥♥♥♥ed up IRL, life goes on) but has the conclusion of Terminator 2 (no fate but what we make for ourselves) than an ending that looks like Terminator 2 (I cannot self terminate - cancel my existence to save the future) but has the conclusion of Terminator 3 (Judgement Day is inevitable).

PHEW

Post your thoughts.

[Blackwell_ninja]

I tried to put myself in the place of Max, so I imagined person that means everything for me in the place of Chloe. Then it was very easy choice. After credits ended, I called my gf and told her that I would let our city to be razed by tornado for her life. She said it´s one of most romantic things I said to her

[n3rull]

I put a lot of extra philosophical ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on top of what BaeOverBay said, that starts from me not being a religious person, proceeding to indicate that there is not global good that we need to give a ♥♥♥♥ about and that we're all alone here, trying to make whatever we can with the limited time on our hands.
Finally I conclude that other people don't really HAVE TO matter to YOU. There is no "the World" for you, there's only "your world". You experience only that fraction of eternity when you live and only witness the fraction of universe's history that is taking place around you during that time and this is all that should matter to you.
Unfair? Deal with it. If you can't live without a person, then go for it and save her. No matter the cost.

Then there's a few other arguments like the remorse Max should feel, because Chloe's despair and where it brought her (including Nathan's bullet in her stomach) could've easily been prevented if Max gave a ♥♥♥♥ about contacting her old friend when she needed Max most. Max, you ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up, so it's your duty to swallow the consequences and make it up to Chloe.

[sir noisse defunct]

I let the tornado destroy Arcadia Bay, too. I felt like the whole game was about saving Chloe, and I've done too much already to save her to just turn around in the final moments of the game and say ''kthxbye'' to her out of nowhere... it felt like the decision made itself.

[Disthron]

Originally posted by J. Kimble:

.... and that undoing all the things she did would be an abdication of her responsibility for her actions throughout the story.

No, hitting the metaphorical "reset" button IS Max taking responsibility for her acctions.

If she let's Chloe die, she is letting go of her personal needs for the greater good. Sacreficing Arcadia bay might be totally understandable, but it's also pretty selfish. We are lead to belive that pretty much everyone else in the down dies.

Originally posted by J. Kimble:

If the moral of the story is to accept responsibility for one's actions and not to dwell on changing the past, then it makes more sense to me to actually apply that principle by letting the results of Max's emotions and logic (ie: YOUR choices) play out in the world, rather than making Max a slave to "destiny"

Here's the thing, Max is NOT a slave to destiny. She CAN save Chloe, but the price is the lives of all the other people in Arcadia Bay.
If you sacrifice Chloe, your Max belives the price is too high. That her feelings are NOT worth more than the lives of everyone else in the town. It's a downer ending but not really a "you lose" screen.

Also, when the time line is changes, the town/people from the old timeline aren't destroyed, they are changed.

In closing, I think your idea about "letting things play out" is bacwards. It's not responsible of her to allow an entire town full of people to die when she could prevented it. You emphasise all the people she helped throught the game, but all that would be destroyed allong with the town.

I chose to sacrifice Arcadia the first time too. But then I went back and changed it. It's a pretty sad ending ether way.

[Sunsetter]

Sacrifice the town, because I don't think Max went through all that ♥♥♥♥ with saving Chloe just to let her die in a stinking toilet, oblivous to everything. That, and the townspeople had plenty of time to get out of the way of the tornado so f*ck 'em.

[takezo689]

I chose to reset time and not prevent Chloe's death. I want to make the distinction that I didn't make the decision based on 'sacrificing' anybody. I don't consider it sacrificing Chloe for the town, I simply believe that Max needed to go to the original point of using her powers and not use them from that point.

I believe if she made the decision to let the storm rage on, she would put herself in a moral quandry. She would have used her powers to save her friend. And whether or not it is true (some posters doubt the existence of the tornado is linked to Max's time travel) Max herself believes that she caused the tornado. So if Chloe were ever in trouble again (say she got hit by a bus the next day) Max would have to use her powers again to save her (otherwise all those that died in the tornado would've died in vain). Max would be a slave to her powers. Part of the glory of living is that we have to make decisions and live with them. Max on the other hand would simply spend her life choosing the best path. And since Chloe knows of her powers, if anything bad ever happened to them, she would inevitably blame Max. (i.e. if Max lets Chloe get caught with the weed in episode 1, Chloe gets upset because she knows Max could've prevented it.)

On the other hand, if Max decides to never use her powers from that point on, she would be tortured by the fact that she used her powers to save her friend, but hypocritically won't use those powers again to save other people. In effect, she would be admitting that she used her powers to save one friend (possibly in exchange of other people's lives) but won't do that for other people. Where do you draw the line there? And if Chloe were to die again, she would just let that happen? She wouldnt' be tempted to use her powers again? Not likely.

So I chose for Max to go back in time and let Chloe get shot, because it would be the easiest for Max. She would live life knowing that she has a power, but never used it; not even to save her friend. It should make her life choices simpler from that point on, because she will never have to question whether she should or shouldn't have used her power.

Some people say it invalidates her previous decisions, but I disagree, because she was able to connect with Chloe for the week. And Max obviously changed throughout the story. Supposedly from that point on she would gain the confidence to put herself in the world more, because she would truly know the value of time.

[ShadowDragon8685]

I'd already decided, by mid-way through Episode 2, that Chloe Price was worth everything to Max Caulfield.

Arcadia Bay is a bargain by comparison. My Maxine Caulfield has backed Chloe to the hilt, no matter what; when she wanted to steal money, when she was arguing and not nessessarily in the right, when she wanted to do irresponsible jackass fun stuff... To the hilt, all the way.

Arcadia Bay was the extension of that. Max Caulfield would watch the world burn to protect her beau. They have a bond that cannot be simply expressed, a bond that makes lips quiver and hearts pound, but not sexual; not just sexual, or just romantic, or just BFFs. It's all of that and more.

So she chose her Bae, over the Bay. I don't think she even had to think about it, so much as take a moment to fully appreciate what she was doing, and that she was going to do it. Like going over a cliff bungee jumping, or diving down a tall waterslide.

[Jeckenn]

Well the first time I played the final it seemed like the thing to do was to sacrifice Chloe so I did that and it was late so I went to bed. I tossed and turned and couldn't get to sleep until I got back up and replayed the last scene and saved Chloe and once I did that I slept like a baby soon as my head hit the pillow.

It was all the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ BullCrap in the dream that had me all mixed up and I still hate that part of the game and find it difficult to slog through it and it even caused me to loose sight of Max's purpose to come back to Arcadia Bay. That purpose is for Max and Chloe to be together for the rest of their lives and NOTHING else matters at all...

[Rexx]

I was already too attached to other characters, and already balanced out the scales so I had to sacrifice Chloe

I did try to replay the game though, to see the other ending. This time I saved more than Alyssa (the truck driver, Evan) and had time to actually see the bodies. And then Max herself says 'I hate to think of kids out there' then I just quit. I couldn't justify letting the entire town go down for that.

Though I wish that radio tower dude bit the dust. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

[Xialoh]

I sacrificed Chloe. Reasons:

1. The storm is a result of Max's time traveling. If you let the storm destroy Arcadia Bay, it's mass murder plain and simple. Accidental? Sure. Doesn't change the facts.

2. Chloe doesn't want her family to suffer on her account. Change the past to save her father and she ends up asking Max to kill her. The same happens at the very end of the game. Sacrifice Arcadia Bay and you pretty much straight up murder Chloe's mother. And David, whom Chloe might actually care about once you make her realize that he's not a monster after all and saved Max's life.

3. Chloe is lovable, but reckless and impulsive. And that's just the icing on the cake to the fact that the universe itself is clearly trying to kill her. She dies on several occasions throughout the game, for reasons ranging from murder, to slip ups, to accidental suicide. She gets involved with bad people and doesn't hesitate to drag Max into it. For this reason, I'm reasonably certain that even in the ending where you save her, a logical continuation of the plot would have Chloe dead again within a year or two at most, though a solid two weeks seems equally likely.

Continuing this chain of logic, the Max that has sacrificed Arcadia Bay to save Chloe will likely do everything in her power to save Chloe each time she potentially dies, because how could she let her die now that she's let thousands of others die (many of which she herself cared for) to save her? Chloe will be all Max has left aside from her parents. If the storm is the result of Max's timeline changes, she's going to create another one. Some more people are going to die. Hopefully they don't choose to drive out to Seattle to see Max's parents first thing.

In any case, it's could easily become a slippery slope that destroys a lot more than Arcadia Bay. Maybe the next disaster is an earthquake covering two states. Maybe meteor showers suddenly become kind of a big deal. It seems like fate wants Chloe dead, so we should assume that sacrificing Arcadia Bay isn't necessarily where it ends.

4. Letting Chloe die doesn't undo everything, and it doesn't make the power meaningless. She used her power to enjoy a week more with Chloe. She will likely stop Nathan and Mr. Jefferson's rampage as a result. Good things still happen.

5. There are other people that should amount to more than a statistic to Max in Arcadia Bay. Kate? Warren? Joyce? Several other people that she's come to like over the course of the game, including Victoria herself? You potentially save a lot of lives over the course of the game (I did anyway). How do you resolve yourself to say that all of their lives combined aren't worth it in the face of preventing Chloe's death, when she doesn't even want you to? In fact, that save Chloe ending is probably more painful for Chloe than it is for Max. Chloe has more to lose (her mother), and thus more to live with. How would you honestly feel about that if you were in Chloe's shoes? Would you be happy with your best friend sacrificing your parents and thousands more people just for you?

Stop looking from Max's perspective and look at it as Chloe for just a bit. Then step back into Max's place and ask yourself if you're doing the right thing from any conceivable point of view other than the self serving one. And remember that Arcadia Bay is full of innocent people, with just a few psychopaths sprinkled in.


I think that's enough.

[Rexx]

@ Raile couldn't have broken it down better.

[ShadowDragon8685]

Originally posted by Raile:

I sacrificed Chloe. Reasons:

1. The storm is a result of Max's time traveling. If you let the storm destroy Arcadia Bay, it's mass murder plain and simple. Accidental? Sure. Doesn't change the facts.

And if you let Nathan kill Chloe, it's murder. There is blood on Max's hands one way or another, so it might as well be the potential blood of people who have a legitimate chance to save themselves, rather than the blood of her best friend.

2. Chloe doesn't want her family to suffer on her account. Change the past to save her father and she ends up asking Max to kill her. The same happens at the very end of the game. Sacrifice Arcadia Bay and you pretty much straight up murder Chloe's mother. And David, whom Chloe might actually care about once you make her realize that he's not a monster after all and saved Max's life.

We don't know that. We don't know that Joyce is dead, or David. Hell, we don't know who dies except eight people whose names were never revealed to us.

[qipte]3. Chloe is lovable, but reckless and impulsive. And that's just the icing on the cake to the fact that the universe itself is clearly trying to kill her. She dies on several occasions throughout the game, for reasons ranging from murder, to slip ups, to accidental suicide. She gets involved with bad people and doesn't hesitate to drag Max into it. For this reason, I'm reasonably certain that even in the ending where you save her, a logical continuation of the plot would have Chloe dead again within a year or two at most, though a solid two weeks seems equally likely.

Continuing this chain of logic, the Max that has sacrificed Arcadia Bay to save Chloe will likely do everything in her power to save Chloe each time she potentially dies, because how could she let her die now that she's let thousands of others die (many of which she herself cared for) to save her? Chloe will be all Max has left aside from her parents. If the storm is the result of Max's timeline changes, she's going to create another one. Some more people are going to die. Hopefully they don't choose to drive out to Seattle to see Max's parents first thing.

In any case, it's could easily become a slippery slope that destroys a lot more than Arcadia Bay. Maybe the next disaster is an earthquake covering two states. Maybe meteor showers suddenly become kind of a big deal. It seems like fate wants Chloe dead, so we should assume that sacrificing Arcadia Bay isn't necessarily where it ends.[/quote]

This has a lot of bad assumptions in it.
First off, you're assuming that Chloe's behavior in the worst week of her life is Chloe for the rest of time.
Secondly, you're assuming that super-storms and what-not will always be an inevitable result of saving Chloe's life
Thirdly, you're assuming some agency or Final Destination type BS is "out" for Chloe.

4. Letting Chloe die doesn't undo everything, and it doesn't make the power meaningless. She used her power to enjoy a week more with Chloe. She will likely stop Nathan and Mr. Jefferson's rampage as a result. Good things still happen.

It kills Chloe. That's the overriding factor.

5. There are other people that should amount to more than a statistic to Max in Arcadia Bay. Kate? Warren? Joyce? Several other people that she's come to like over the course of the game, including Victoria herself? You potentially save a lot of lives over the course of the game (I did anyway). How do you resolve yourself to say that all of their lives combined aren't worth it in the face of preventing Chloe's death, when she doesn't even want you to?

Kate is in a hospital, which tend to be built as designated storm shelters, and she's fully mobile and physically healthy. Her chances of survival could only be better if she were holed up in the Dark Room or standing on the lighthouse cliff next to Chloe and Max.
Warren and Joyce and Frank Bowers and Pompidou were only in the diner at the eleventh hour because Max called them and told Warren to wait. In this timeline, they would have piled into Warren's car and GTFO'd. Also, the diner was unexploded in the Save Chloe ending.
Victoria and others? They're at Blackwell, which was built in 1910, and built to last. Also, it's rather from the main town. They have better chances than anyone else.

Stop looking at this as "If I save Chloe, everyone else is dead." They might be placed in peril, yes, but the newspaper from earlier shows that they knew a storm was coming. On the Oregonian coast, people don't live without knowing how to handle a sudden and intense storm. Everyone Max has grown to know and like has a better than average chance of making it: David is either going to be in the Dark Room or the police station, which is built heavy. Joyce, Warren and Frank are going to be mobile in Warren's car, probably with Alyssa, and they would have moved out about 45 minutes before the twister moved into the town. Hell, Frank was injured, so they probably went to the hospital and took shelter there.

In fact, that save Chloe ending is probably more painful for Chloe than it is for Max. Chloe has more to lose (her mother), and thus more to live with. How would you honestly feel about that if you were in Chloe's shoes? Would you be happy with your best friend sacrificing your parents and thousands more people just for you?

Yes. Yes I would. Because I don't want to die. I'd feel like ♥♥♥♥, but I'd feel a lot worse if I knew they were capable of leaving me staring down the barrel of a .45 for the sake of nameless "thousands."
But then, if they could leave me staring down the barrel of a .45, then they weren't really my best friend, were they? You know what they say: a friend bails you out of jail, a best friend is in handcuffs beside you.

Stop looking from Max's perspective and look at it as Chloe for just a bit. Then step back into Max's place and ask yourself if you're doing the right thing from any conceivable point of view other than the self serving one. And remember that Arcadia Bay is full of innocent people, with just a few psychopaths sprinkled in.

Yes. Saving Chloe is absolutely the right thing to do.[chloepriceprotectionsquad.tumblr.com] I refuse to subscribe myself to any moral or ethical standpoint in which sending my sobbing, terrified best friend/lover to face a madman with a gun is the right thing to do.

Nothing is worth that. I refuse to bear that kind of guilt, or soul-destroying emptiness. Max wouldn't want to wake up later, sobbing, clutching a pillow which is a poor substitute for the friend she killed.

I do believe that Maxine Caulfield would trade the world for Chloe Price. Arcadia Bay in its entirety is a bargain. The buildings of Arcadia Bay and maybe some of its citizens? Highway robbery.

[Xialoh]

Originally posted by ShadowDragon8685:

[ counterpoint ]

Friend, I'm going to reluctantly refrain from calling you straight up insane. I'm willing to assume you're either trolling me (extremely likely) or very young and selfish.

I will dignify some of this with a response, but given the words you're saying, it's quite blatantly futile. I always engage in exercises of futility for a little while though, so here we go..

And if you let Nathan kill Chloe, it's murder. There is blood on Max's hands one way or another, so it might as well be the potential blood of people who have a legitimate chance to save themselves, rather than the blood of her best friend.

By not using time travel to prevent Nathan from killing Chloe, Max murders Chloe? What? No. That's quite incorrect. Adjust your perception of reality. Chloe placed herself there, Nathan shot her. And Chloe wasn't there because she wanted to make a donation to the Nathan Prescott Foundation for Troubled Teen Addicts. She was blackmailing him for drug money.

None of this is Max's responsibility in any conceivable way. Even from the "with great power comes great responsibility" standpoint, it's still not Max's responsibility, because using her power equals mass murder.

Again, adjust your perception of reality.

We don't know that. We don't know that Joyce is dead, or David. Hell, we don't know who dies except eight people whose names were never revealed to us.

Fair, though I feel like someone told me that the devs said that the sacrifice Arcadia Bay ending means everyone in Arcadia Bay dies. If that's not the case, then alright.

This has a lot of bad assumptions in it.
First off, you're assuming that Chloe's behavior in the worst week of her life is Chloe for the rest of time.
Secondly, you're assuming that super-storms and what-not will always be an inevitable result of saving Chloe's life
Thirdly, you're assuming some agency or Final Destination type BS is "out" for Chloe.

Chloe outside of the worst week of her life is still pretty messed up. Take a look at her, her reputation, what people that know her have to say about her. Take a look at who she associates with. In an alternate reality she asks Max to murder her, despite how monumental a request that is, and how much Max clearly doesn't want to do it.

I concede that super storms may not continue to happen, while maintaining that it does happen to be the logical assumption given what the game presents as the reason for its occurrence. ****ing with time to save Chloe made it happen. It can be assumed that this trend has a reasonable chance of happening again, possibly in another form (like I said, meteor showers, earthquakes, torrents of flaming space bunnies flooding the streets, etc).

Lastly, if there isn't some Final Destination type BS going on then it's even worse, because it means Chloe is good at dying all on her own, without the universe putting forth any particular effort to make it happen. Worst week of her life or not, if she dies that many times without any supernatural interference, then she is the very definition of reckless. Probability makes me think she's likely to trip and break her neck on a flat surface all things considered.

I'd advise you to accept the idea of Final Destination type BS being "out" for Chloe as the explanation for her myriad of possible deaths.

It kills Chloe. That's the overriding factor.

It doesn't change or override a single thing I said given the alternative.

Kate is in a hospital, which tend to be built as designated storm shelters, and she's fully mobile and physically healthy. Her chances of survival could only be better if she were holed up in the Dark Room or standing on the lighthouse cliff next to Chloe and Max.
Warren and Joyce and Frank Bowers and Pompidou were only in the diner at the eleventh hour because Max called them and told Warren to wait. In this timeline, they would have piled into Warren's car and GTFO'd. Also, the diner was unexploded in the Save Chloe ending.
Victoria and others? They're at Blackwell, which was built in 1910, and built to last. Also, it's rather from the main town. They have better chances than anyone else.

Stop looking at this as "If I save Chloe, everyone else is dead." They might be placed in peril, yes, but the newspaper from earlier shows that they knew a storm was coming. On the Oregonian coast, people don't live without knowing how to handle a sudden and intense storm. Everyone Max has grown to know and like has a better than average chance of making it: David is either going to be in the Dark Room or the police station, which is built heavy. Joyce, Warren and Frank are going to be mobile in Warren's car, probably with Alyssa, and they would have moved out about 45 minutes before the twister moved into the town. Hell, Frank was injured, so they probably went to the hospital and took shelter there.

I was under the impression that the storm being quite as devastating as it was came as a surprise. Where in the game did you get the idea that Warren, Frank, and Joyce would have all left if not for Max? It's possible that I missed this point, but I don't remember anything suggesting that they had plans to leave, yet stayed for her. It seemed to me that they were staying there for shelter, but the storm turned out drastically worse than expected.

Jefferson seemed surprised by the storm, and if everyone knew so well in advance that a superstorm was about to nearly destroy the town, I have to question why it is that David prioritized coming out to the farmhouse over making sure Joyce was safe. Even being kicked out, I'm pretty sure he would have made sure his wife was safe before doing more investigating if he was as aware as you suggest everyone was.

You also seem to be disregarding the whole supernatural time travel induced storm bit. It's not just a storm. It should be assumed to be a storm worse than anything anyone would have ever expected to happen, hence there being people dead and actively dying in the streets before the thing has even hit its peak. At least it was certainly played up to be that bad. I feel like the devs did a poor job depicting an obliterated town after the fact though.

Yes. Yes I would. Because I don't want to die. I'd feel like ♥♥♥♥, but I'd feel a lot worse if I knew they were capable of leaving me staring down the barrel of a .45 for the sake of nameless "thousands."
But then, if they could leave me staring down the barrel of a .45, then they weren't really my best friend, were they? You know what they say: a friend bails you out of jail, a best friend is in handcuffs beside you.

This is the part where I believe I thought to myself, "holy ****, is this guy for real?".

Same reaction when I read it the second time too.

Chloe is a better person than you. Chloe was prepared to sacrifice herself for her family and "nameless thousands" (which you say like they're so insignificant..). You're sounding like that guy in the last Hobbit movie, shoving children and elderly people aside and crossdressing so that he can get the women and children protection. No one else is as important as you, unless you make an exception?

The problem here is that you're now telling me that you'd want someone to murder thousands of people to spare you a death that only hasn't happened yet because your friend got surprise time travel powers and UNDID what already happened, which is you dying because you're trying to blackmail someone that you apparently realize is an unstable drug addict.

Nothing that happens to Chloe is her fault though. She's the perfect, completely innocent and blameless victim. The whole world can suffer as long as Chloe Price gets to walk away from all the things that aren't her fault.

I like her a lot, but to call her death Max's fault is...I don't even know.

Again though, I can't imagine that you made this comment in all seriousness. Given that, disregard this part of my response. I grow increasingly convinced that you're saying these things for personal amusement.

Yes. Saving Chloe is absolutely the right thing to do.[chloepriceprotectionsquad.tumblr.com] I refuse to subscribe myself to any moral or ethical standpoint in which sending my sobbing, terrified best friend/lover to face a madman with a gun is the right thing to do.

Nothing is worth that. I refuse to bear that kind of guilt, or soul-destroying emptiness. Max wouldn't want to wake up later, sobbing, clutching a pillow which is a poor substitute for the friend she killed.

I do believe that Maxine Caulfield would trade the world for Chloe Price. Arcadia Bay in its entirety is a bargain. The buildings of Arcadia Bay and maybe some of its citizens? Highway robbery.

Is that your tumblr? Aha. Alright I'm convinced. Chloe Price Protection Squad? lol. I'm gonna finish this post anyway though.

Chloe sent herself to face that madman. She even knew he was a madman, given that that was half of her blackmail plan. Quoting from the wiki:

After staring into the mirror and giving himself a pep-talk, a blue-haired girl enters and begins to demand money from him. Nathan is quick to respond that the money is not his, stating that it belongs to his family. The blue-haired girl, unconvinced by Nathan's reply, threatens to expose his drug dealing to his family and his mental instability to "everybody".

If the game is teaching about the consequences of actions, its showing that Max can't fix Chloe's mistakes. Chloe is going to pay for it one way or another, along with potentially everyone within several miles of her. Max just awkwardly gets to decide the means of payment.

[Disthron]

Originally posted by Raile:

And that's just the icing on the cake to the fact that the universe itself is clearly trying to kill her.

This is the only real disagreement I have with your post. A small nit pick really. The univerce isn't out to get Chloe. If that were the case Max wouldn't be able to stop it and we would have a pre-destination thing going on.

As you stated in your post, Chloe is acting very recklessly. The structure for her death had been astablished long before the start of the game. Hanging around with drug dealers and unstable people ect.
So by the time Max shows up she has to patch up the situation as best she can. But there is still a lot of inertia to deal with.

So I don't think there is some force out to get Chloe, it's more like reckless behavior leads to bad outcomes and there was a lot of recless behavior leading up to that week.

[Rexx]

Come on man Chloe got killed by Max even when they were fooling around with the gun (s least i had that happen). There is time travel in this universe, so why not some sort of fate or destiny out to off her? Because honestly, that's one thing that made me not even trust the 'Sacrifice Arcadia Bay' thing. Chloe's luck and decisions combined will always have her dying.