Lisa: The Joyful Ending Discussion [spoiler]

[Chaika, Top Score!]

Hey, first and foremost spoiler so anyone who hasn't beat the game I don't recommend reading this thread.



To those who have beaten it or at least know the ending, what are the feelings and ideas that you pull from the vaccinated ending? Obviously it's not really a happy ending, but it's not a void of depression either.

First to describe the scene again, we see two graves, one with the flowers Brad and Buddy picked on top and the other with Rando's mask. We see mutant Brad, the baby and an older Buddy with Yado's trumpet. Obviously Rando is in the grave with the mask, as for the second grave, it has to be either Buzzo or an empty grave to represent Brad's grave since his mutated form isn't the same as human Brad. Some have argued that mutant Brad is just a hallucination, I don't agree with that. All of Buddy's hallucinations showed Brad as a human; I don't see her hallucinating about mutant Brad.

To describe what I gathered from this ending, I think after vaccinating herself from Joy and realizing Brad loved her Buddy seems regretful for her actions. I would guess she's abandoned the notion that she was some Messiah figure that would restore humanity, yet at the same time she wants to make amends for all the chaos she created and the people she killed. The first way to make amends is by giving Brad and Rando proper burials. The second way is by calming down the joy mutants using Yado's trumpet; that way even if humanity is going to go extinct, at least it'll die in a calm peaceful slow death.

As for the baby, I see it representing Buddy abandoning her violence, anger and death dealing in exchange for raising a life. As for where the baby came from I'm not sure. Theories go that either Buddy found it and the adoption cycle continues, its father is the guard who may have raped Buddy when she was kidnapped by Rando's men, or mutant Brad's child. In any case the child is the only other human contact Buddy has now from what it seems. From how I look at the scene Buddy has detached herself from the rest of Olathe and leaves it to die in peace without joy mutants attacking. Not out of spite, but just from realizing that she wans't some savior figure and in the end Rando was right about abandoning this Messiah-complex she held when she was younger.

From Buddy's posture and isolation, I think we can see she definately is regretful for killing her brother and causing such chaos and lonely from losing the two people who understood her. However I see it more like the end of a tragic figure who becomes more enlightened after their tragedy and learns from it. To use a Greek tragedy as an example, Oedipus stabs his eyes out after killing his father and having sex with his mother but in later stories becomes something of a wise wanderer who other protagonists turn too. I see Buddy as someone who won't return to society, likely she'll keep isolated just herself and her son and continue her job of keeping joy mutants calm and happy so they don't harm anyone. Once she dies of say old age, I wouldn't be surprised if she passes this job and Yado's horn onto her son to continue the peace after her death.

Overall, I see Buddy following Brad's footsteps. Getting sucked into darkness by guilt of her actions and finding a second chance she can attempt to raise to make amends. Maybe this baby Buddy is raising can become the light that pulls her slowly out of her darkness, like Buddy was too Brad. Hopefully, with her freedom from the Joy addiction Buddy has more success in that than Brad did.

[uuuhdavid]

I REALLY hope another expansion pack comes out for this game clarifying this, this is some messed up ♥♥♥♥.

What if mutant brad had sex with buddy because buddy had that trumpet that controlled mutants?

Maybe she controlled brad to have sex with her?

We really need clarifcation.
Otherwise, it's such a good game and I guess it's a great ending to LISA.

[Chaika, Top Score!]

Originally posted by Sans:

What if mutant brad had sex with buddy because buddy had that trumpet that controlled mutants?

Maybe she controlled brad to have sex with her?

We really need clarifcation.
Otherwise, it's such a good game and I guess it's a great ending to LISA.

It's definately not outside the realm of possibility. I doubt Buddy trusts any other man in Olathe and unless attitudes changed she's probably still a kill on sight target; as shown by the signs of her late in the game. That's probably another reason to stay isolated, luckily for Buddy if anyone tried to kill her as an angry mob she has literally all the Joy mutants of Olathe to defend her.

Also mutant Brad is probably the only living thing she trusts at this point. If I recall correctly, even when you fight it at the beginning of the game Mutant Brad doesn't actually hurt you with any of his moves. He just cries and wails.

While it definately is disturbing, it makes sense for someone so lonely, isolated from human society and already pretty messed up mentally.

[meme man]

The father of Buddy's child could be Bolo as well.

[AnnieBee43]

or the one and only dale spooner (whom needs to rot in hell) as it states that somebody named dale did something to buddy

[meme man]

He could also be Sticky. I know Buddy told Rando he didn't touch her, but there is a possibility he did, and that she lied to avoid outraging Rando.

[Chaika, Top Score!]

It'd have to be Stick or Dale then, I recall some discussions that stated the baby still shows up at the end even if you let Rando fall and kill Bolo yourself. Though I haven't tested that for myself since I finished my first game on one save point.

Honestly though I think when Sticky told Brad "Don't worry, I made sure of it." when talking about saving the human race, I think he's referring to giving her up to Rando. One impregnation isn't going to save humanity, what would save it is sending her to a gang to be a perpetual baby machine until she hit her 40's. Though realistically it'd only continue humanity for one regular generation followed maybe by a few inbred generations before they died out again.