For starters, sorry if someone has already talked about this, but I haven't seen it anywhere. I also understand that this could go into any number of threads that have brought this topic up, but most of those are so focused on other discussion that I think this would get lost. Also, as the title suggests, there will be spoilers, so if you want to, save this page and come back to it after beating the game.
OK, the only people here are those who have beaten the game or never plan to play it and are just curious? Good, so here's my thoughts.
As many of us know, at the end of BioShock Infinite, when Booker lets Elizabeth kill him to destroy Comstock's timeline, it remains unconfirmed if Comstock continued surviving in other universes. As I began thinking about it more, I actually had to ask the question: What if we didn't just destroy Comstock? What if, in Booker's sacrifice, we also destroyed our Booker as well?
Let's start off with a concrete event of the game. Remember when the Vox Populi took over? In that universe, Booker was heralded as a hero who died in the Hall of Heroes, and his conscious got "uploaded" (for lack of a better term) to our Booker, with Booker fully aware of it. Also remember when Booker killed Comstock shortly before the final battle? He mentioned how Comstock tore off Elizabeth's finger and put it on him, only later to say he had no idea what happened to her finger. Was he remembering another timeline where that did happen but that Booker was killed trying to stop Comstock, only to have that Booker's consciousness uploaded into our Booker's consciousness?
Here is where the epilogue comes into play. The Booker that we are in the end is not our Booker: He is one from a timeline that continued on even after our Booker's timeline ended. Comstock's timeline was destroyed when Booker died in the timeline that created Comstock, effectively preventing the timeline from ever existing because Comstock never underwent the baptism. At the same time, our Booker's timeline would have been brought to an end because, as Elizabeth said, they all lead to the same place: Booker's death. It doesn't matter if he chose the bird or the cage, which implicitly led to two different timelines given the second Booker/Elizabeth team we saw in the end. He died, and it was the inevitable end of his timeline, regardless of any choices he made after giving away Anna.
However, just like the other Bookers' consciousnesses were uploaded to our Booker's conscious as they died, perhaps this is what happened when Booker destroyed Comstock's timeline and brought his own timeline to an end: The collective conscious was all placed inside a Booker from a timeline that was still in existence. Perhaps it was one that hadn't undergone the baptism but had never encountered Comstock (as indicated, Anna was still with him). Regardless, the end result is multiple timelines ended prematurely, but Booker's collective consciousness exists inside a different Booker's timeline that is still going on. In the end, this idea of timeline end/consciousness uploaded would continue until one last Booker dies with no others in existence. Also, Booker would remain unaware of all this going on. The only time Booker became aware of his other consciousness was when he crossed over into their timeline (as with the Hall of Heroes, or how Comstock's voice echoes in his mind as if it is part of him).
Now, is there any benefit to the new Booker? I can't really say. Perhaps there is: The new Booker would have been able to work through his problems as a result of the conflict that occurred between the other consciousnesses, and the resolution of those conflicts would lead to his own inner resolution to dealing with his sins at Wounded Knee. Again, though, he'd be unaware. As Lutece said, "The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist..." The new Booker would remember it as his own inner thought process, not as the result of some grand conflict on Columbia, similar to how Booker became unaware of all that happened with Anna/Elizabeth and created a new inner conflict for himself after being brought to an alternate timeline.
Anyways, I'm sure there's a whole lot more we can go through as a result of this idea. So what do you all think? Does this idea hold up, or are there ways in which it just is not possible given other revelations in the game? Also, if you have anything to add, please do.
OK, the only people here are those who have beaten the game or never plan to play it and are just curious? Good, so here's my thoughts.
As many of us know, at the end of BioShock Infinite, when Booker lets Elizabeth kill him to destroy Comstock's timeline, it remains unconfirmed if Comstock continued surviving in other universes. As I began thinking about it more, I actually had to ask the question: What if we didn't just destroy Comstock? What if, in Booker's sacrifice, we also destroyed our Booker as well?
Let's start off with a concrete event of the game. Remember when the Vox Populi took over? In that universe, Booker was heralded as a hero who died in the Hall of Heroes, and his conscious got "uploaded" (for lack of a better term) to our Booker, with Booker fully aware of it. Also remember when Booker killed Comstock shortly before the final battle? He mentioned how Comstock tore off Elizabeth's finger and put it on him, only later to say he had no idea what happened to her finger. Was he remembering another timeline where that did happen but that Booker was killed trying to stop Comstock, only to have that Booker's consciousness uploaded into our Booker's consciousness?
Here is where the epilogue comes into play. The Booker that we are in the end is not our Booker: He is one from a timeline that continued on even after our Booker's timeline ended. Comstock's timeline was destroyed when Booker died in the timeline that created Comstock, effectively preventing the timeline from ever existing because Comstock never underwent the baptism. At the same time, our Booker's timeline would have been brought to an end because, as Elizabeth said, they all lead to the same place: Booker's death. It doesn't matter if he chose the bird or the cage, which implicitly led to two different timelines given the second Booker/Elizabeth team we saw in the end. He died, and it was the inevitable end of his timeline, regardless of any choices he made after giving away Anna.
However, just like the other Bookers' consciousnesses were uploaded to our Booker's conscious as they died, perhaps this is what happened when Booker destroyed Comstock's timeline and brought his own timeline to an end: The collective conscious was all placed inside a Booker from a timeline that was still in existence. Perhaps it was one that hadn't undergone the baptism but had never encountered Comstock (as indicated, Anna was still with him). Regardless, the end result is multiple timelines ended prematurely, but Booker's collective consciousness exists inside a different Booker's timeline that is still going on. In the end, this idea of timeline end/consciousness uploaded would continue until one last Booker dies with no others in existence. Also, Booker would remain unaware of all this going on. The only time Booker became aware of his other consciousness was when he crossed over into their timeline (as with the Hall of Heroes, or how Comstock's voice echoes in his mind as if it is part of him).
Now, is there any benefit to the new Booker? I can't really say. Perhaps there is: The new Booker would have been able to work through his problems as a result of the conflict that occurred between the other consciousnesses, and the resolution of those conflicts would lead to his own inner resolution to dealing with his sins at Wounded Knee. Again, though, he'd be unaware. As Lutece said, "The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist..." The new Booker would remember it as his own inner thought process, not as the result of some grand conflict on Columbia, similar to how Booker became unaware of all that happened with Anna/Elizabeth and created a new inner conflict for himself after being brought to an alternate timeline.
Anyways, I'm sure there's a whole lot more we can go through as a result of this idea. So what do you all think? Does this idea hold up, or are there ways in which it just is not possible given other revelations in the game? Also, if you have anything to add, please do.
