Story Clarification (SPOILERS)

[Nidstang]

So I've played through Psychonauts 1 and 2, and watched a playthough of Rhombus of Ruin (I don't have VR), but I'm still a little confused about some details...

What exactly was Loboto's role in these games?
My understanding is that in the first game he was working with Oleander to provide him the kids brains for his tanks. Then Loboto escapes when Raz storms the Asylum and becomes tangled with Oleander. Then in Rhombus of Ruin, he's revealed to be working with a mole, which leads into the events of Psychonauts 2, and the reveal that he was actually working for Gristol Malik? Why wouldn't Oleander know about Malik? Was he working for two different "moles" at once, or did he just meet Gristol in between the Meat Circus and Rhombus of Ruin? Considering all the games happen within days of eachother...

I guess I'm just a little confused as to what Loboto's angle is through all three of these games. Is he just easily taken advantage of?

[Mobile Suit God Damn]

My interpretation is that Loboto was ordered by Malik to find a councelor at the summer camp and get them to do evil brain stuff and Oleander was the perfect candidate. The perfect patsy.

[lieutenantkirtar]

I'm not sure. I never was really clear on why Oleander turned evil then was perfectly fine at the end. According to the wiki it was his normal insecurities magnified by the huge deposits of psitanium at the camp.

Same thing with Loboto, he just happened to be at the camp. Again the wiki says he was probably a patient at the psych ward and stayed in the area like the other patients did. But I don't remember anything in game that corroborates those theories.

I believe Malik did actually pay Loboto for his brain transplant by giving him the underwater facility you go to in Rhombus of Ruin but I don't know how or if Oleander paid Loboto.

[Gorlom[Swe]]

Wasn't it explained that Loboto was a mercenary? Malik and Oleander are simply two different clients.

[WeissRook]

Pretty sure there's some talk during either Rhombus or 2 where Loboto says he thinks his original employer would have been mad had he found out he was working for Oleander. His primary employer since before the first game was Malik. Working with Oleander was basically just a side job for extra cash, since according to the mind vaults, he was SUPPOSED to be headquartered in the Rhombus with the fish people. From what I can tell, Loboto just seems to be adept at removing brains and keeping them functional (and later re-inserting a brain into a brainless body).
The biggest question I have is how Oleander even found Loboto in the first place for that job. We can see later that Oleander's morality is highly questionable, so him coming up with the tank idea on his own is highly plausible.
Oleander wouldn't know about Malik because Malik was Nick the Mailroom Guy that everyone likes during all that until the incident that starts Rombus of Ruin and no one even notices he's missing until after Raz is assigned to the mailroom, when they just find Nick brainless.

[eglepe]

The way I understand it he just took jobs from two different clients. What I'm not sure about is why he couldn't tell us who his employer was. He seemed compelled to silence somehow but Malik isn't psychic so how was he able to do that?

[Xirce]

Originally posted by eglepe:

The way I understand it he just took jobs from two different clients. What I'm not sure about is why he couldn't tell us who his employer was. He seemed compelled to silence somehow but Malik isn't psychic so how was he able to do that?

From my understanding, it was more so Malik simply was like, "Hey, you know Miluga? Yeah, I know how to bring her back to life, so if you don't follow my orders, you will die."
Loboto is pretty much insane, so with just that pure fear, Loboto himself probably ingrained it into his mind.

[eglepe]

I guess that's plausible