Ending of Bioshock

After multiple weeks of harsh concentration on the game of Bioshock, it has finally come to an end. Although, that’s not to say that I’m not still thinking about the game. The biggest surprise to me at the end of Bioshock was the Booker and Comstock were somehow the same person. You have to be a serious intellect to have predicted that. Having that said, now that I know they’re the same person I wonder if I would pick up on more details of Bioshock hinting at it. As the narrative began to unfold, I still had so many questions. Perhaps it was the physics component that I couldn’t grasp, but why would Booker give Comstock his child if Comstock was an alternate version of Booker? After finishing the game I immediately went to youtube to watch an explanation of the ending. The baptism scene was especially confusing to me as multiple Elizabeths reappeared from different universes. Did every one of them have the power to open tears? How’d they all end up in the same universe? With that said, I still want to know more about Elizabeth. I understand she’s Booker’s daughter but I still feel like she is a mysterious character. For example, where did her tears come from? I personally felt as if the game missed out on explaining that detail. Was she born with them? Do they have something to do with Booker? Or is that all just for the players own interpretation?

I am truly looking forward to our in-class discussion about the end of the game so I can have it explained to me many, many times. As I mentioned before I wish I had taken note of some of the smaller details implemented in the beginning of the game. I am honestly tempted to play Bioshock again so I can have a deeper understanding of how this all could even happen.

Posted on by Josephine Bossidy
Categories: Uncategorized

5 Responses

  1. Micaela Willoughby says:
    December 3, 2018 at 4:34 am

    A lot about this ending didn’t make sense to me. Like I suspected that Comstock and Booker would be the same person, but I had no real backing. It was just because everyone said the game had a wild ending, so I was like “What would be the wildest thing ever?” That, and the way Comstock talked to Booker… it was pretty personal. Also, also–as much as i hate to say it–the fact that a romance between Booker and Elizabeth was never even hinted at made me consider them being related (but when Comstock wasn’t her actual dad… I was thrown… but I guess he was… in some way? In some reality?)

  2. Alexander Clinton says:
    December 3, 2018 at 11:45 am

    He gave Ana away to be relived of his gambling debt as we know the Booker we play as had a serious gambling problem. Robert Lutece says that he will relive Booker of his debut if he gives hi his daughter and he does. However, Booker regrets it and fights with Comstock through the tear to try and pull Ana back, but he can’t and a. Comstock gets her.

    • Josephine Bossidy says:
      December 5, 2018 at 3:45 pm

      This explanation provides reasoning for why Booker chooses to give his daughter away in the first place. But it is still weird to me that Booker chooses to give his daughter to Comstock, who is an alternate version of himself.

  3. Wogan Snyder says:
    December 3, 2018 at 1:43 pm

    I think Booker’s “gambling debt” may have simply been a self-constructed way to protect his mental state from the idea that his daughter was taken from him. In the scene wear we witness Comstock taking Anna/Elizabeth away (where she loses her finger) Booker is actually fighting Comstock from taking her. This leads me to believe that Booker may not have literally give Anna/Elizabeth away, but instead subconsciously perceives the situation as such but covers this up with the idea of a “gambling debt.”

  4. Jaclyn Kemly says:
    December 3, 2018 at 2:32 pm

    I’ve also thought about how I might pick up on more clues while playing the game if i were to play it again already knowing the ending. I also immediately watched an explanation video and spent a lot of time on wiki pages, so i sort of understand now how booker and comstock are the same person. In a number of universes, booker refuses baptism and remains booker. In the other universes, booker receives baptism and is reborn as Comstock. But i dont think there was any way to see this coming.