Bioshock infinite: Potential plot holes

[arcticphoenix95]

After finishing a second play through of Bioshock infinite I decided to compile a short list of plot holes I noticed during my run through and share them with my fellow escapists for discussion and debate. Feel free to add any other plot holes you have noticed in the comments section. The list is as follows: 1. If the luteces could appear at any point and time in the multiverse, why didn't they go back to the point where booker was first offered to be baptized and drown him then, if that was their intended goal. If that wasn't possible, why didn't they provide more assistance in other ways? For instance, what was stopping them from grabbing the device needed to control songbird and give it to Booker. 2. If Comstock foresaw the events of the entire game and was aware of future events, was he also aware that Booker and Elizabeth would erase him, Booker, Elizabeth and indeed all of Columbia from existence? If so, why didn't he stop them using his precognition? 3. How did the siphon in the tower work? They only appeared in one room at the bottom of the tower and Elizabeth was at the top. Moreover, how did it function outside the tower? Did it form a barrier around Columbia that would siphon her powers wherever she went? 4. When Elizabeth was younger she could create tears to any place she wanted to go; So what was stopping her from opening a tear to say, Paris, and leaving Columbia forever? 5. At the fair it's shown that vigors are available to the public, with one woman handing out free bottles of the possession vigor. So why is Booker the only person besides two enemy types and Cornelius slate shown to use vigors? 6. How does the baptism only turn Booker into either: A. A depressed, gambling addicted, alcoholic living in squalor or B. A cartoonishly evil racist bent on world domination by way of a giant floating city? Wouldn't there be more versions of booker, each one with a different personality depending on whether or not they were baptized instead of just two? 7. Why do Booker and Elizabeth think erasing themselves, Columbia and tens of thousands of lives from existence and possibly creating a paradox that could destroy the entire multiverse a worthy sacrifice on the off chance that Comstock might not exist anymore? 8. Wouldn't there be an infinite number of universes where Elizabeth decided NOT to drown booker? Infact, wouldn't there also be an infinite number of universes where someone ELSE became Comstock instead of booker?

 

[CityofTreez]

snip

1: I would guess because they wanted to see what Booker would do? They had already sent Booker after Liz 122 times before, so I would assume they wanted to see if/when Booker would accomplish his goal and redeem himself.

2: He only saw the future threw the tears the Lutec's opened. So he might have never seen that exact future, just knowing that Booker was coming. Though, I might not be right.

3: Maybe the Bioshcok wiki can help you out there. I don't see that as a plot hole though.

4: Because the Siphon drained her power.

5: Uh, suspend disbelief here I guess? I mean, maybe Columbians did use the Vigors but we never saw them do it. Or the sample that we got at the fair was not strong enough to use. or something.

6: Possibly, but they can't explore 100 different ways that Booker could have ended up. They chose those two.

7: Got nothing.

8: Yes. I think.

 

[Valdsator]

8. Wouldn't there be an infinite number of universes where Elizabeth decided NOT to drown booker?

It took me a while to realize why this isn't a plot hole. If I remember correctly, there were 3 points in the ending that should have, according to the rules of the story, branched off in to what you described. Booker pleaded to go to Paris twice, and the last time was when Elizabeth asked him if he was sure about trying to kill Comstock before opening the door.

So, these decisions do branch off in to universes where they say, "to hell with this, lets go to Paris!" But, there also exist the parallel universes where Elizabeth goes back in time to drown Booker. So if that erased Comstock, can Elizabeth exist? No. Can the Booker we played as exist? No. Did they go to Paris and hang out? They couldn't have, they don't exist. They were screwed over by the versions of themselves that decided to go through with it.

Infact, wouldn't there also be an infinite number of universes where someone ELSE became Comstock instead of booker?

Hell, Booker could probably still become Comstock. What if in another branch he didn't participate in the Battle of Wounded Knee, but still did something that called for baptism? That would be a different branch that wasn't erased. What if in the branch of the Alcoholic Booker, he changed his mind yet again and still became baptized? That's a bit less likely, but could still result in another Comstock.

As for other plot holes, wouldn't travelling between universes result in Comstock possibly telefragging himself? There's multiple Comstocks who want Anna, right? Who's to say there are the same amount of Bookers who are willing to sell Anna, or who even had the child? Wouldn't this result in multiple Comstocks travelling to the same universe? That or there's some upper layer of universes that contain universes, designed to take care of travelling between universes... or something.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I think I can answer most of them. #3 is more difficult. Elizabeth obviously possessed some ability, whether it be through the experiments done to her or due to her single being being split across two timelines is up for debate, so her powers were not entirely linked to the Siphon. As for the tears themselves, I'm not sure.

Anyways, here's the others.

1. If the luteces could appear at any point and time in the multiverse, why didn't they go back to the point where booker was first offered to be baptized and drown him then, if that was their intended goal. If that wasn't possible, why didn't they provide more assistance in other ways? For instance, what was stopping them from grabbing the device needed to control songbird and give it to Booker.

During the opening, the Lutece's comment on how they are conducting an experiment, which is hinted at throughout the game. They were probably more interested in their own experiment, seeing the constants and variables of the different universes, than they were in defeating Comstock. They were willing to help to some extent, but their experiment likely would only be made complete if they left Booker to his own devices as much as they could.

2. If Comstock foresaw the events of the entire game and was aware of future events, was he also aware that Booker and Elizabeth would erase him, Booker, Elizabeth and indeed all of Columbia from existence? If so, why didn't he stop them using his precognition?

As Lutece pointed out in one of the audio logs, it doesn't show the future, only the probabilities that X will happen. His abilities to see the future were limited (ex. he knew Booker was coming, but he predicted the wrong date). He also expected Booker to die, which might have happened in other realities that he didn't see, because the probability that Booker actually would die was much greater than the possibility of him living.

Also, though this is more flimsy, it is possible that the Luteces' and later Elizabeth's messing with the timeline hid the particular timeline we followed out of view. Comstock, especially towards the end, seemed to have very little understanding of what was actually going on. More than likely, if this were the case, it was the Elizabeth from the future sending Booker back into the past that negated everything Comstock saw.

4. When Elizabeth was younger she could create tears to any place she wanted to go; So what was stopping her from opening a tear to say, Paris, and leaving Columbia forever?

There's no indication how young she was when that happened, so it is possible that she was too young to really understand that Paris even existed. She also may have tried and Comstock caught her in a similar manner to how he took her from Booker.

6. How does the baptism only turn Booker into either: A. A depressed, gambling addicted, alcoholic living in squalor or B. A cartoonishly evil racist bent on world domination by way of a giant floating city? Wouldn't there be more versions of booker, each one with a different personality depending on whether or not they were baptized instead of just two?

It's pointless speculating. All that matters are the two Bookers that exist in the game, because those are the only two being affected by the events.

7. Why do Booker and Elizabeth think erasing themselves, Columbia and tens of thousands of lives from existence and possibly creating a paradox that could destroy the entire multiverse a worthy sacrifice on the off chance that Comstock might not exist anymore?

Elizabeth was able to see all possibilities simultaneously, as hinted throughout the ending, so she knew that Booker's idea to kill himself would erase Comstock from existence. It also wouldn't destroy all the other lives in collateral damage, it would just make their lives different, as they would live on Earth rather than Columbia. Slate existed before Columbia, and it was only in a reality where Columbia existed that he was in Columbia. Remove Columbia, and he would exist somewhere in the United States. This would go for anyone who was in Columbia.

8. Wouldn't there be an infinite number of universes where Elizabeth decided NOT to drown booker? Infact, wouldn't there also be an infinite number of universes where someone ELSE became Comstock instead of booker?

The Elizabeths that did it were doing so outside of natural time and space, so variables probably didn't play a role. Heck, the whole ending was done outside of natural time and space, so variables couldn't play a role on their choices at that point, as there simply weren't any timelines to contain them. Previous choices mattered, given the second Booker/Elizabeth group, but anything after that didn't.

Otherwise, it is again pointless speculation, because all that really matters are the Booker and Comstock that we dealt with.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

That or there's some upper layer of universes that contain universes, designed to take care of travelling between universes... or something.

This is exactly what I thought of in order to make the ending make sense in my head.
If Elizabeth kills Booker then all the events of the game couldn't have happened, so I just figured that everything existed along some grander timeline. All the time/universe jumping, it all occurs over the course of this grander timeline so Columbia exists up until the point when Elizabeth kills him. Sorry if this is confusing, I have a hard time thinking about it myself, it's not exactly the most logical thing to start with, after all.

Then again, I also came up with this vague explanation that since she killed Booker outside of regular time and space, it all somehow made sense. Don't ask me how, I just threw the "grander timeline" and "outside dimensions" theories together and figured that somewhere in there is an explanation that makes this all make sense.

I tried thinking about it once, but I started bleeding profusely from my ears and nose, so I figured I shouldn't dive too far into it.

But if someone has an explanation that actually does make it all work, I'd love to hear it. If not, I'll stick with my loose theory.

 

[Valdsator]

If Elizabeth kills Booker then all the events of the game couldn't have happened, so I just figured that everything existed along some grander timeline. All the time/universe jumping, it all occurs over the course of this grander timeline so Columbia exists up until the point when Elizabeth kills him. Sorry if this is confusing, I have a hard time thinking about it myself, it's not exactly the most logical thing to start with, after all.

I totally get what you're saying, and oddly enough I hadn't considered that problem within the story despite it being something I run in to whenever thinking about time travel. When did the Comstock Booker branch disappear? I feel like the upper timeline is the simplest solution.

I was originally referring to the humorous possibility of multiple Comstocks getting in each other's way in Booker's universes. If there are multiple, similar Comstocks with their own separate universe, but now they can travel to any universe, that means two or more could try moving to one Booker universe at the same time, probably resulting in some horrible death. Although, thinking about it, my vague solution doesn't really fix that at all.

 

[Dryk]

7. Why do Booker and Elizabeth think erasing themselves, Columbia and tens of thousands of lives from existence and possibly creating a paradox that could destroy the entire multiverse a worthy sacrifice on the off chance that Comstock might not exist anymore?

As long as Comstocks exist, there will be a twisted Elizabeth somewhere that wants to travel from universe to universe causing destruction. If he's not stopped from existing then the whole multiverse is at risk.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

I know gamers love contuity and its alot of fun playing through games in a sort of empirisist plot nazi kind of way, but plot consistency is something Bishock Infinite clearly doesn't care about.

I know the elaborate narative structure of the game lends itself to a this sort of play and that's proabably intentional but its clearly something that doesn't matter given the core themes the game was getting at.

in fact i'd wager plot holes were put there intentionally to direct us towards one of the prominent themes(the reading i took as dominant) which is neverly expressly mentioned.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

SNIP

1. The luteces can choose when to appear and where but they dont exist in the material world. I dont think they can interact with things or stay for a significant period of time. They were obliterated from all material planes.

2. Because he saw SOME timelines not all. Remember the timeline we see where old Elizabeth is evil? Thats the one he saw. To break her he needed to give her hope, the hope we provided. We were neccessary as booker to ALMOST rescue her and fail totally. Then time broke her to make her evil. He couldnt see all events because the Luteces are there to fuck everything up in THIS particular reality.

3. It drained her of her powers until she was almost empty. By destroying it you release them and she gets them back totally.

4. The siphon was built age 11-13 (Puberty). Before that would YOU run away from home into a weird field you can barely understand? She didnt even live in the statue. She just lived with Comstock. She was happy. Why would she leave?

5. No idea. Good point.

6. Easy. The Baptism had a weird effect on Booker. If Booker accepts he feels like the horrific shit he did before doesnt matter anymore, that by being forgiven he shouldnt feel bad or regret his sins and shouldnt work to be a better person. So he REMAINS a racist. He hated indians remember? He burnt a shit tonne of them. On the other hand the booker that rejects the baptism understands that NOTHING can make his sins go away. He is guilty. He works to become a less hatefull person and run away from his horrific past. He turns to alcohol and gambling to escape this.

7. Elizabeth realises in ALL scenarios, no matter what ANYONE does Comstock wins in some realities and exterminates everyone brutally. Its better they didnt exist (So it isnt murder) than that happens which leads to point 8.

8. When Elizabeth transfers you from one universe to another she doesnt really go through a portal. What she does is make a tear SO wide it covers the entire universe so it overlaps EVERYWHERE all the time. Its why dead and living versions of the same people fuse minds and go a bit mental. Overlapping a universe forces them into the new universes body. At the END of the game Elizabeth takes EVERY universe. ALL of them. And puts them all on top of eachother at one time for one event. Booker becomes EVERY booker. And some of the God Elizabeths from these universes are there to assist in the drowning. So when booker is killed ALL the universes bookers die. All of them.

 

[arcticphoenix95]

SNIP

SNIP

1. They were shown interacting with objects in the material world, like the rowboat to bring booker to the lighthouse. Besides it was never mentioned in game if there was a limit to the amount of time they can stay at any particular point in space-time, and I doubt there would be. 2. If the luteces can't interact with the material plane how would they be able to interfere with Comstock's knowledge of future timelines? 3. I was asking how the siphon worked. Because unless they jury-rigged a stolen portal gun to create some kind of quantum entanglement mechanism, it wouldn't have been able to suppress Elizabeth's powers in the tower, let alone in different sections of Columbia. 4. At some point in her life she began to view songbird as her warden, and monument island as her prison. Its not explicitly stated when that occurred but given the circumstances it might have been fairly early in her life, possibly before the siphon was built. She also never lived with Comstock. 6. Right, but I'm saying those could not have been the only two possible outcomes. In the multiverse even a binary choice could have hundreds, potentially thousands of outcomes, each with varying degrees of similarity compared to the original timeline. 7. It's denying someone the right to exist; In multiple realities. Which is ethically questionable no matter how cartoonishly evil they are. Not to mention physically impossible, because there will be always be new universes where Comstock exists and succeeds in his plan. 8. Except the booker in the post-credit scene. Who appeared to be living in the same conditions as if he refused to be baptized. If that's true, then we would also have to assume that there are other universes where booker was baptized and became Comstock.

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

SNIP

1. They tend to jump around pretty damn randomly. I dont mean they cant touch things or manipulate things, just that their control in doing so might not be strong enough to do it themselves. You also have to remember that they disagree with eachother about what to do anyway, act or not act, so getting a third party to decide might be a compromise even if they COULD influence events. Perhaps making Elizabeth, since she becomes a god and not subject to anything the Luteces might want anyway, do what they desire requires our direct interaction.

2. Via making Booker do things that he wouldnt have otherwise. By subtly changing some variables.

3. No idea whatsoever. Like i said i thought it was vampiric. It drained her and it gave it back when it was destroyed, releasing the energy.

4. Its explicitly stated that she got VERY powerful when she had her first period (you can even FIND her first period in a jar, yeah this game is that disgusting and they were running tests on it) before that her powers were not strong enough to escape properly i imagine. Very shortly after that the siphon was built, speculation, she didnt have time to formulate an escape? I do believe an audio log had Mrs Comstock being pretty damn angry and demanding the child NOT live with then. Since we dont know when its dated its assumed at SOME point in her past she lived with him. I gave you reasonable ideas as to why a plothole might not exist based on speculation, if your ideas for why one could exist are equally based on speculation theres not really a lot i can do.

6. Of course not, but its stated that the two extremes are the most dangerous, Comstock and Booker who otherwise never would have met without the whole inter-dimensional travel milarcky. Everyone inbetween doesnt get to the right positions to be interacted with in that way i imagine. Even in infinite universes some things are impossible. Comstock had to be X racist and fervent to gain Y support. Without Y support he simply had NO way to gain enough people and funds to found the city. They may be subtly different yes but theres a "You must be this extreme to enter line" i imagine. Its not that theres no middle ground. Its that they are boring and irrelivant. Booker either becomes a priest or a regular joe. None of those are rich enough to found a city or desperate enough to sell a daughter.

7. Comstock can travel between worlds remember, he would wipe them out anyway. And denying people the right to exist is a theme of the game. Its a horrible sacrifice and to be frank i dont need to try and justify it. The characters did what they did. And no, i covered this. Like i said some things are impossible. After that Baptism its simply impossible for booker to become comstock if he rejects it. His mind, in every reality, is altered by that experience of rejecting it too much to ever become Comstock. No possible paths after rejection lead to Comstocks. So Elizabeth kills EVERY booker that takes up the baptism. With the drowning. Leaving those who dont take it alive.

8. Elizabeth purposefully targeted ALL universes where he was baptised and killed him, she forced the choice out by taking EVERY timeline at once and forcefully altering it so they ALL ended the same way. She removed variation. Every other choice remains creating different universe except the baptism, which she forced to have a single outcome. Its like a bottleneck. She smashed every universe together and ended them IMMEDIATELY after booker accepts. So every booker that accepts dies. Every potential comstock dies too

 

[Dansen]

I have a solution to everyone's problem. KILL LUTECE. Then everything could have been avoided. The time travel multiple realities thing is bs, as it contradicts itself in several places and doesn't establish any basic rules for said time travel.

 

[Requia]

Concerning the baptism, with no quotes given the number of people this addresses:

It's not the act of baptism but what the baptism represents. Comstock's religion has at its core infinite forgiveness, because this is the only way Booker could believe that he himself could be forgiven. At the very beginning of the game booker derides the idea ("Good luck with that Pal" of his sins being washed away.

This is why the baptism is an important moment, it separates the Bookers (who cannot forgive themselves) from the Comstocks (who can excuse anything they do as 'God forgives me').

 

[Panorama]

for 5 it could be that they are hugely expensive, we just steal them or kill people for them. and the free sample, well if it is a lovely place as it is meant to be no one will use it for illegal means. However this does lead me to bioshock 1 and 2 if the splicers are meant to be that way because of there adam use etc... shouldn't they have plasmids?

 

[arcticphoenix95]

for 5 it could be that they are hugely expensive, we just steal them or kill people for them. and the free sample, well if it is a lovely place as it is meant to be no one will use it for illegal means. However this does lead me to bioshock 1 and 2 if the splicers are meant to be that way because of there adam use etc... shouldn't they have plasmids?

The adam used in plasmids was adapted to rewrite a person's genetic code in one specific way, something that couldn't be done with raw adam. And I doubt the splicers would possess the mental capacity, let alone the scientific knowledge needed to turn adam into plasmids. Plus, the only way for a splicer to get adam was to kill a little sister by first killing a big daddy; Even if they did, they would kill each trying to claim all of the adam for themselves.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

1. The Luteces had two uses for Booker, one for each of the Lutece: Robert Lutece saw him as a means to get Comstock his heir (Elizabeth/Anna), Rosaline Lutece saw her version of Booker as... well... Comstock. If they drowned Booker, that would mean no Comstock, no Elizabeth, and probably none of the technology available which allowed them to bridge the gap between their universes. (Remember, Rosaline and Robert are alternate universe versions of each other who converge in the Comstock universe).

2. Because fuck you, (For real, Comstock probably didn't see all of his future, just most of it that was based in Columbia).

3. Siphon worked as a means to control Elizabeth, a means of energy, and a means of prophecy - hence how people like Comstock and Fink could see what would come in the future. How it works is some bullshit nobody wants to hear or explain.

4. She says so right after you are introduced to tears, sometime after you have the moral decision for Slate. The conversation goes "Why did you come back?" "I don't know. Family?" It's some sort of imprisonment psychology, it's not that much of a plothole.

5. You could say the same thing for other Bioshocks.

6. There's two paths: Booker moves on with his life (eventually makes Elizabeth-Anna), or Booker has a great repentence for his life (Comstock). If you think there could be so much more room for alternate Bookers then fuck you, THIS IS A MULTIUNIVERSE I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT.

7. THIS IS A MULTIUNIVERSE I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT.

8. NANANA NOT LISTENING MULTIVERSE MULTIVERSE NOPE NOT GOING TO GO INTO THAT BECAUSE MULTIVERSE MULTIVERSE OH LOOK GUYS GO SHOOT THEM PLEASE

 

[Zip Loc]

1. If the luteces could appear at any point and time in the multiverse, why didn't they go back to the point where booker was first offered to be baptized and drown him then, if that was their intended goal. If that wasn't possible, why didn't they provide more assistance in other ways? For instance, what was stopping them from grabbing the device needed to control songbird and give it to Booker.

Simply because they were looking at Booker as another experiment in probability. There was a reason behind why they made Booker participate in seemingly trivial probability tests, eg a coin flip or a lottery number. They didn't intervene because what good scientist would contaminate their experiment?

2. If Comstock foresaw the events of the entire game and was aware of future events, was he also aware that Booker and Elizabeth would erase him, Booker, Elizabeth and indeed all of Columbia from existence? If so, why didn't he stop them using his precognition?

As mentioned above, he only knew what the Luteces showed him. And the Luteces showed him one of a myriad of possibilities, only some of which occurred during the game. Hell, if Comstock hadn't been as much of a hypocrite, your point might have held water, but the fact that he killed the Luteces because they knew too much left him only with knowledge of what the Luteces showed him. Even so, what person in their right mind would voluntarily choose to reveal something like their untimely demise to somebody who, for all intents and purposes, is an egomaniacal cult leader?

3. How did the siphon in the tower work? They only appeared in one room at the bottom of the tower and Elizabeth was at the top. Moreover, how did it function outside the tower? Did it form a barrier around Columbia that would siphon her powers wherever she went?

The tower siphon applied only to the tower. However, it most likely takes some time for Elizabeth to regain full control, hence why even though the tower siphon is destroyed, she can't simply leave immediately. Alternatively, just like in Lady Comstock's tomb, there might be other hidden siphons around Columbia, thusly stopping her from utilising the full extent of her powers.

4. When Elizabeth was younger she could create tears to any place she wanted to go; So what was stopping her from opening a tear to say, Paris, and leaving Columbia forever?

Note: she was young at the time, why would you run away from a place where you felt safe when you weren't sure how the exit opened, and whether or not you could come back? Anyway, I'm fairly certain Booker and Elizabeth explore this at some point during the game.

5. At the fair it's shown that vigors are available to the public, with one woman handing out free bottles of the possession vigor. So why is Booker the only person besides two enemy types and Cornelius slate shown to use vigors?

It is probably heavily stigmatised in Columbia, hence why you only seem to see outlaws (Slate) and outsiders (Booker) wielding them, or those who use them out of a lack of choice (Firemen) or religious devotion (Crows). Remember, Columbia is like an idyllic version of early 20th century life in America, it even hosted a World's Fair in that universe. It is highly likely that such wonderments as vigors were shown off in the World's Fair as a demonstration, if nothing else. Alternatively, it could be that Vigors are prohibitively expensive, hence why you have convicts (Firemen), imprisoned for life, and cultists (Crows) using them. Before anyone tries to turn this argument against me, the reason why the Founder's forces aren't all Vigored up to the eyeballs is because just like in the U.S., Columbia's government has to pay for what it buys, and even then, there would probably be unwanted side-effects to overuse of Vigors, which, due to Farmboy McMilitia's fascination with them, would most certainly happen. And everyone who played the game saw those growths up the side of Slate's face, which are probably a side effect of Shock Jockey.

6. How does the baptism only turn Booker into either: A. A depressed, gambling addicted, alcoholic living in squalor or B. A cartoonishly evil racist bent on world domination by way of a giant floating city? Wouldn't there be more versions of booker, each one with a different personality depending on whether or not they were baptized instead of just two?

As explained higher up the thread, if you kill Booker at that point, you stop any of the events post-baptism happening. If there was no baptism in that timeline, then all is well. If there was a baptism, well then it just got wiped from history. And anyway, as I explain later, there is no way Elizabeth would run the risk of her life happening again.

7. Why do Booker and Elizabeth think erasing themselves, Columbia and tens of thousands of lives from existence and possibly creating a paradox that could destroy the entire multiverse a worthy sacrifice on the off chance that Comstock might not exist anymore?

Because at the end of the day, only certain Bookers, certain Elizabeths, all Comstocks, and all Columbias would cease to exist. All the people would still live, just not on Columbia. And the paradox? I would say that it was a handwave on behalf of 2K, but when Booker dies, Comstock dies. And when Comstock dies, all Elizabeths cease to exist. I'm reticent to say that they died, because they continue to live in alternate timelines, but named Anna. But I digress. If all Elizabeths cease to exist, then there is no-one left at the baptism. You can't say that the preacher would save him, because he couldn't see what was happening even if he tried.

8. Wouldn't there be an infinite number of universes where Elizabeth decided NOT to drown booker? Infact, wouldn't there also be an infinite number of universes where someone ELSE became Comstock instead of booker?

My apologies if I misread this, but it seems like you are saying that there might be somebody who is a complete double of Booker's experiences, and chooses the same method as half of the Bookers to forgive himself. Never mind the fact that what I just described is one hell of a coincidence, it looks more and more like divine intervention, or something else forcing the hand of fate. Feel free to argue, as Einstein did, that "God does not play dice with the universe", but you have to remember that the audience for this is the mainstream and they would start to call shenanigans if this person chooses the exact same name that a reborn Booker would and eventually becomes the leader of Columbia. And as regards Elizabeth choosing not to drown Booker, you seem to have forgotten that Elizabeth very clearly rebels against Comstock's philosophy of "infinite forgiveness", and Elizabeth, as shown on multiple occasions throughout the game, judges Booker quite strongly, so when she finds out that Booker is Comstock, all of her hatred for Comstock would be pushed onto Booker, all but eliminating any hopes that Elizabeth would spare Booker. She would consider every Booker who is baptised too dangerous to continue down that path, even if the baptism causes Booker to choose a different name and a different profession, solely because the risk is too great that he could, irrespective of name and profession, take control of Columbia, completing the timeline.

 

[Festus Moonbear]

#8 is definitely true and is inevitably suggested by the whole theme of the game - it's Bioshock Infinite after all, not Bioshock Very Many But Still Finite. If every single choice/possibility is represented by a world, then there is no way to eliminate any choice; doing so will simply make another split. There must also be a world where Booker didn't get Baptised but became Comstock anyway, or where Booker's next-door neighbour became Comstock. That's if you follow the logic all the way to its natural conclusion, which I'm not sure is what they really want us to do.

For me it was more of a clever metafictional way to comment on how games are played and replayed, and no two playthroughs are alike. Every time you die - parallel universe! Every time you turn left instead of right - parallel universe! Every time you start a new game - parallel universe! And so on. "There's always a man and a lighthouse." I was half afraid that Elizabeth would outright say this to Booker (y'know, "we're just characters in someone's game", or something), but thankfully she didn't and it was left as no more than a hint. Maybe.

 

[Panorama]

for 5 it could be that they are hugely expensive, we just steal them or kill people for them. and the free sample, well if it is a lovely place as it is meant to be no one will use it for illegal means. However this does lead me to bioshock 1 and 2 if the splicers are meant to be that way because of there adam use etc... shouldn't they have plasmids?

The adam used in plasmids was adapted to rewrite a person's genetic code in one specific way, something that couldn't be done with raw adam. And I doubt the splicers would possess the mental capacity, let alone the scientific knowledge needed to turn adam into plasmids. Plus, the only way for a splicer to get adam was to kill a little sister by first killing a big daddy; Even if they did, they would kill each trying to claim all of the adam for themselves.

I was thinking before they became splicers, they were the general population of rapture, they were normal people they are able to use vending machines no different to anyone else. and as the game charges you adam to buy these plasmids, and these people are turned in splicers from over consuming adam isn't it likely that someone used a vending machine to buy a plasmid otherwise they were just getting adam and doing nothing with it.

 

[Wyes]

snip

1. They mention at one point that being smeared across probability space has minimised the impact they can have on any one timeline, so they have to choose junctures where these small influences can have large outcomes.

2. In at least one timeline, he did stop them (and it only gets set right due to the powers of Old Elizabeth).

3. I think we just have to accept this one as is. I'm sure there are some fan explanations out there, but I don't feel it's a crucial part of the narrative to know how it works.

4. As others have said, this was the purpose behind the siphon. She said when she was younger, she always wanted to come back, which is why it was only necessary later.

5. Gameplay and story segregation? But yes, this is a little bothersome.

6. Yes, there would be, but the baptism (or lackthereof) is the first branching point that leads to alcoholic Booker or Comstock Booker. Remove this point and there's no splitting (though admittedly we have to assume Elizabeth's cosmic powers prevent there from being other timelines where they didn't do this, or accept that time and multiverses work in certain ways in the Bioshock multiverse).

7. Read above - as far as the game is concerned, there is no uncertainty in their decision (or very little), and with Elizabeth's powers the whole multiverse is at stake.

8. Read 6, but yes, we have to rely on Elizabeth's cosmic powers to prevent this.