![]() Playing the endings in the order I did actually made Kenny's ending more moving it felt like I'd discovered the “real” ending the second time around, the one that offered the greatest sense of closure. It's not exactly a happy ending, but it's a powerful one. He completely recognizes what he's become but keeps fighting against it to be better, and his sacrifice at the end, based on another Clementine choice, gives meaning to all his struggles. Replaying the ending answered that question, and the answer is no. Would he have become a monster on his own, without Jane intentionally pushing him over the edge? But it also cheats Kenny of a natural conclusion to his. Jane forced the fight, and helping her fulfills her character arc. In the climax, Clementine has to choose who to trust: the sane-but-cynical Jane, or the unhinged-but-fiercely-loyal Kenny? I just couldn't bring myself to trust Kenny after two full episodes of him yelling, beating people, and insisting he get his way. Even the final showdown was predictable, but my appreciation for it flipped completely when I replayed my choices. Of course the group's moment of happiness is just a lull between bad times and worse. Of course Kenny was going to angrily yell at everyone and be overly protective of Rebecca's baby. The first hour was so predictable I mostly felt bored, like both I and the game were going through the motions. Jane, meanwhile, is desperate to be the big sister to Clementine she couldn't be to her real sister. The episode is actually more about Kenny than it is about Clementine it not-so-subtly builds towards the realization that Kenny is a monster, sadness and loss twisting his insides until only rage comes out. Jane and Kenny, the ultimate survivors, see their character arcs come to a head. Clem, like any good protagonist, is injured, but soldiers on. The characters drag on towards an unhappy ending Clem, Luke, Kenny, Becky, Mike and Jane have a brief moment of happiness around a campfire before tragedy whittles down their numbers. The overall story arc plays out predictably, following the same framework of a TV drama finale. The first half of the episode is an exercise in inevitability. Maybe I could've saved Kenny from a beating. But the story works, because unless you replay those moments, you never know for sure. Saving one survivor over another may affect the short term, but every path, be it bloody or guilty or stoic, intersects eventually. In most cases, different dialogue choices lead to the same reactions. If you've ever replayed any of the Walking Dead's dramatic decisions, you know what I mean. Until this episode of The Walking Dead, I was convinced that Telltale's narrative power came from the illusion of choice. I didn't expect the story to change so dramatically, or that replaying those decisions would completely change how I felt about the episode, but it did. I sacrificed the purity of the story, the agony of making blind decisions, to see if things would play out differently. But I did cheat, or do something that feels like cheating, to me: after finishing episode five, I went back to two moments and did things differently. Not with a code or a hack that lets Clementine and all of her friends live happily ever after. I cheated in episode five of The Walking Dead Season 2.
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