*SPOILER* Theory About The Game's Ending

[GetMoist]

I think that there is way more to the ending than the game lets on.

Okay, so the game starts with a helicopter sequence that ends with the crash. You then flash back to the start of the operation and play everything up to and exceeding that point.
The developers have said they used a fade-to-black, fade-to-white mechanic. Whenever there's a fade to black, it's a normal transition. A fade to white happens when Walker holucinates or is lying to himself. If you look at the transition when you first gain control of Walker after the flashback, there is a fade to white.
The developers have also brought up the possibility of Walker dying in the crash. What if the entire game is just Walker reliving his journey? It'd explain all the creepy ♥♥♥♥ in the enviroment (the pictures with eyes blacked out, a poster with Konrad's face in the first chapter, Konrad replacing the woman on the flag thing, the changing graffiti further up the path depending on if you shoot Briggs or let him burn etc.) and why Walker says "we did this already!" the second time through the helicopter chase. It'd also explain why there is no real choice to certain events, as Walker is just reliving a path so can't change the things he did. If you shoot the soldier instead of smashing his skull in, for instance, the radioman still acts like you bashed hs skull in. You could put this down to a glitch or design overview, but I think that there's more to it than just that.
After the crash, Walker witnesses his squad die and does nothing but cause more pain and destruction. Konrad torments the player and clearly wants him to pay for his sins. Strangely, he clearly wants the player to shoot him and "deny" the truth of what he is. In the ending where the player goes home, there's a white transition. The endings where he dies or accepts what he is (or both) have a black transition. Considering he is already dead, he can't go home. Konrad's speach about "the line" adresses this directly. Walker crossed it, and now he can either die or keep living in his hell. What happens to Walker after the white fade is unsure, maybe he goes back to replay the events and live through his hell again (in which case, every playthrough of the game counts as a continuation of the story, which would be a nice touch) but Walker only really has his peace after crossing The Line when he accepts what he has done.
What do you think of this theory? Agree? Disagree? Please tell me.

[Staatsfeind126]

Disagree, your theory is not bad but i think he wasnt dead at the beginning^^

[GetMoist]

Originally posted by Staatsfeind Nr.1 (Anarchist):

Disagree, your theory is not bad but i think he wasnt dead at the beginning^^

Then why is there a fade-to-white at the start?

[CordedUberator]

Unconsciousness? Delerium?

I personally prefer the death idea. It makes for a more emotional narrative if you consider it as a man walking through his own personal limbo/hell. Unfortunately, you're not the first to suggest this idea, but it is an interesting theory nonetheless.

[A Disappointed Horse]

Personally, I don't like the idea that Walker is dead at any point before the end (where you can choose to kill him). I think it over-complicates things.

[GetMoist]

Originally posted by Necrojax:

Personally, I don't like the idea that Walker is dead at any point before the end (where you can choose to kill him). I think it over-complicates things.

Whilst it is complicated, it makes sense. Othewise I don't understand why there's a fade to white and numerous other points I adress exist.

[CordedUberator]

Originally posted by Necrojax:

Personally, I don't like the idea that Walker is dead at any point before the end (where you can choose to kill him). I think it over-complicates things.

How does it over-complicate things? It explains everything. Otherwise, the scene in the helicopter where Walker is confused that they did this already makes no sense contextually, at least, not without breaking the fourth wall. It also explains all the side stuff stuff like Konrad's face being everywhere, and impossible happenings (like a tree being alive and then withering when you turn around and look at it again.)

[darx202]

I think the entire game is a sort of purgatory. I think Walker was alive and did all the things in the game up until the helicopter crash, where he dies. This is where the player begins the game. Then after that, he just repeats the things he does in an endless cycle as punishment for the things he has done. Sort of like the legend of Tantalus and his boulder. All the stuff after the helicopter crash is just inside of Walker's head.

[Daddy Shark]

I think the OP is at least partially correct. He's dead the whole time reliving his screw-ups over and over it seems to me. There's too much weird stuff going on even before the chopper goes down.

Here's the part I don't get. At the part where Walker picks up a busted radio and starts talking to an obviously made-up Konrad, Lugo and Adams would have immediately relieved Walker of his command and called in a medical evac for their lieutenant that has obviously got some mental issues going on. There's no way I'd follow a man - one that I trusted or not - into carnage like that while he's in a state like that.

[Negra Jesus El Savior Christ!]

Originally posted by JKflipflop:

Here's the part I don't get. At the part where Walker picks up a busted radio and starts talking to an obviously made-up Konrad, Lugo and Adams would have immediately relieved Walker of his command and called in a medical evac for their lieutenant that has obviously got some mental issues going on. There's no way I'd follow a man - one that I trusted or not - into carnage like that while he's in a state like that.

I agree that this is the biggest hole in the game, so far as I'm concerned. Followed promptly by the 'choice' immediately after that...

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the best interpretation is it's inside of Walker's head at that point. He's not speaking in real life into the broken radio, he just imagines / thinks that he is. Similarly, where you have to choose between the two prisoners, the snipers are simply imagined and the body he decides to save is never actually shot down.. or something along those lines. It'd kind of work, and it's shown that he's having pretty bad hallucinations at that point.

Furthermore, why does no one ever bring up the truck?

http://i.imgur.com/QumcM.jpg

Bam. Conrad's face on some random-ass truck in the very first mission as if he's a logo or something. Pretty clearly marking the entire game as a 'dream sequence' of sorts.

[GetMoist]

I think that Adams and Lugo have a lot of respect for Walker, and they clearly see that something isn't right but went with it. They were all looking for someone to blame other than themselves and Walker gave all three of them that. Still, the choice between the soldier and the civillian didn't really make too much sense and is the one major issue I had with the game.
The one question I have is a white cartoon man on the billboard who is pointing his hand in the shape of a gun to his head. I've seen him in footage of the game on the billboard, but in my game he isn't there. Is there a reason for this?

[MrMcSwifty]

Originally posted by JKflipflop:

Here's the part I don't get. At the part where Walker picks up a busted radio and starts talking to an obviously made-up Konrad, Lugo and Adams would have immediately relieved Walker of his command and called in a medical evac for their lieutenant that has obviously got some mental issues going on. There's no way I'd follow a man - one that I trusted or not - into carnage like that while he's in a state like that.

Was it really "obviously busted" though? One of the things I appreciated about that scene, and really any in which Walker is addressing Konrad on the radio, is that the things Walker says are vague enough that if you remove Konrad from the conversation, it still makes sense. It's difficult to explain, but if you disregard all of Konrad's radio dialogue and just listen to the things that Walker says to him, it could easily appear to Adams and Lugo that Walker is having a one-way conversation without getting any direct response back. Even when Walker starts demanding answers and eventually begins threatening Konrad, his side of the conversation is structured in a way that would appear he's speaking "at" him and just assuming he's recieving the message, rather than actually having a two way conversation.

[darx202]

I never noticed that McSwifty. Good catch. I'll try to replay the game and verify. I'll post back on Sunday if i can.

[GetMoist]

One quick thing I just discovered; during the penultimate chapter after fighting the Lugo heavy, if you die inside the buidling during the firefight, youu get treated to a really creepy easter egg before you respawn :/

[CordedUberator]

Originally posted by McSwifty:

Originally posted by JKflipflop:

Here's the part I don't get. At the part where Walker picks up a busted radio and starts talking to an obviously made-up Konrad, Lugo and Adams would have immediately relieved Walker of his command and called in a medical evac for their lieutenant that has obviously got some mental issues going on. There's no way I'd follow a man - one that I trusted or not - into carnage like that while he's in a state like that.

Was it really "obviously busted" though? One of the things I appreciated about that scene, and really any in which Walker is addressing Konrad on the radio, is that the things Walker says are vague enough that if you remove Konrad from the conversation, it still makes sense. It's difficult to explain, but if you disregard all of Konrad's radio dialogue and just listen to the things that Walker says to him, it could easily appear to Adams and Lugo that Walker is having a one-way conversation without getting any direct response back. Even when Walker starts demanding answers and eventually begins threatening Konrad, his side of the conversation is structured in a way that would appear he's speaking "at" him and just assuming he's recieving the message, rather than actually having a two way conversation.

That doesn't explain anything to them when Walker talks about "having to choose" when looking at dead bodies, or why he suddenly yells attack if you choose to shoot at the snipers. To them, he was shooting at either corpses or the air which is abnormal behavior to say the least.

[Skully]

A couple of interesting articles to support your thesis;

http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/14/3590430/dont-be-a-hero-the-full-story-behind-spec-ops-the-line

http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/07/20/the-story-secrets-of-spec-ops-the-line

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/726042/spec-ops-the-line-post-mortem-finding-deeper-truths-within-the-narrative-with-walt-williams/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN6YTm9DoQk