Poll: [Portal 2 SPOILERS] Is "Want you Gone" a triumph?

[AlternatePFG]

I like the song alot, but Still Alive is better. Maybe if I wasn't expecting it, it would have been more surprising.

 

[LiquidGrape]

I prefer it to Still Alive.
It doesn't have quite the same stripped-down charm, but as a tune I think it's tighter and more enjoyable.

 

[SomeBoredGuy]

That wouldn't really make sense, since this game takes place 300 years after Portal 1.

Spoiler

I thought it was a rather good song, much more fun to listen to than Still Alive. However, Still Alive did have much more memorable lyrics and a more unique tune so, while I prefer Want You Gone as a song, Still Alive is probably more memorable.

 

[allansianadventurer]

What pisses me off is that "[REDACTED]" because she says "I'll stop feeling so" and then its impossible to tell if she's saying mad, bad, glad, or sad (or rad). Its not much, but it would at least give us a clue about who she's talking about.

To me it really does sound like she's saying GLaD, even though nobody else agrees.

 

[Maphysto]

Not quite as catchy as "Still Alive", but still a good song.

Actually, now that I think about it, it's prolly a good thing it's not so catchy. Now I don't have to worry about having it stuck in my head for THE NEXT 3 YEARS.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It fits the ending really well, more so than Still Alive did, despite Still Alive being more memorable.

I still prefer the Turret Medley though, for sheer WTF value.

It's a fail. Not anywhere close to the first one, and it doesn't make any fucking sense at all. So GLADoS just lets Chell go after having her trapped without the portal gun? And the excuse is that she's hard to kill? Fuck off, Valve.

Lolwut? The song actually explains GLADoS' feelings! She just wants to test, she just wants to have all that crap over with. She's tired of all the chaos Chell brought with her, and so she does the easiest thing she can do; kick her out. She just wants her gone so she can keep on testing, doesn't that make perfect sense? She always told us she was just in it for the science.

When is GladOS, a compulsive/pathological liar going by the first game, ever open with her feelings? It seems she's trying to distract from the fact that you *are* the friend she's talking about, she just doesn't want to admit she's befriended a human being ... which is, as she infers, pathetic and "would be funny if it weren't so sad".

It's sad because their 'friendschip' mainly consists of them trying to kill each other. And if that's your only friendship...yeah, it makes sense.

Now GladOS regrets that she can't do the same for Chell.

Regret? Of course not! She's glad she won't be around, because all she did, in the end, was get in the way and disrupt the science. She just wants her gone so that she can keep on testing. Of course, her new grown conscience makes her feel bad about it, but I'd say that her dialogue right before she sends the elevator up, and the slamming of the door right after she's outside, says a lot more about what she really wants than the song.

 

[Cowabungaa]

It's a fail. Not anywhere close to the first one, and it doesn't make any fucking sense at all. So GLADoS just lets Chell go after having her trapped without the portal gun? And the excuse is that she's hard to kill? Fuck off, Valve.

Lolwut? The song actually explains GLADoS' feelings! She just wants to test, she just wants to have all that crap over with. She's tired of all the chaos Chell brought with her, and so she does the easiest thing she can do; kick her out. She just wants her gone so she can keep on testing, doesn't that make perfect sense? She always told us she was just in it for the science.

The problem is that the change happens right when GLADoS has Chell where she wants her. It's easier to just squish her with the giant claw GLADoS had. Makes no sense, it's just a piece of good ol' shoddy writing and a way to squeeze into another ending song. She might've been in it for the science, but she wanted Chell dead, period. You're not going to wriggle out of the fact. Just because she says in the song "now I want you gone" along the lines of "you're too much hassle" does not make it make sense, let alone perfect sense at that.

This makes me wonder whether you've been paying attention to the dialogue and the lyrics of the song, she changed way before that. Remember the part where she was a potato? The whole Caroline thing? That's why she didn't kill Chell and just kicked her out and that's why it makes perfect sense. I'd give you a youtube vid if I could find that quote on it, the "holy shit...is this a conscience?" thing.

 

[Jacob Haggarty]

Everything that has anything to do with Portal just makes me cry tears of joy.

Seriously, BEST SERIES OF MEDIA EVER.

Oh i Like this man!

He's saying what we're all thinking!

 

[Palademon]

I like it, but it isn't as catchy as Still Alive.

 

[Kyle Roberts]

It was 1 of 3 endings I saw coming, the other ending I thought would happen would you walk out ...into a Combine Squad.

I was also thinking that but it would be cool if she walked out to see gordan freeman and became part of the resistance but i guess a wheat field is just as good.

 

[Cowabungaa]

snip

I've just rewatched the ending to make sure I got everything straight. And I did. Caroline got deleted, and GLADoS said plain and simple that she's letting Chell go not because of any sort of feelings, but because she's a pain in the ass, and that it's an easier way out than killing her. How much clearer does it have to get?

That part about growing a conscience is not in the ending, it's way before it. That it's 'not an attached voice, but my own' or something along those lines. I think it's around the last Cave Johnson part. And before that she goes on about how they've sorta grown together, with Chell helping her in her potato form.

And where did you get the idea from that Caroline is deleted? The song says the exact opposite with "Now little Caroline is in here too." She ain't deleted, that part of her personality has finally awakened, she has her own conscience (back) now. Hence why she's kicking her out, she doesn't want her dead any more. Of course she doesn't want any disruptions in her testing either, so it's still bye bye Chell. And did you notice she gave her a Companion Cube? Doesn't that say something?

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

Depends what angle I look at it from. 'Want You Gone' has the better tune but 'Still Alive' has funnier lyrics imo.

 

[Thunder45645]

Chell, on the other hand, is the only human GLaDOS ever has contact with, so it makes much more sense that she'd form an attachment to her, so it would probably make more sense for her to consider Chell her only friend. But, since the wording is so vague I'd bet we'd be here debating this until the end of time and still never get a definitive answer.

Vague, but she does say:

Goodbye my only friend
Oh, did you think I meant you?
That would be funny
if it weren't so sad

I mean, unless they are purposefully being pedantic, it seems she is referring to someone other than the listener of the song.

When is GladOS, a compulsive/pathological liar going by the first game, ever open with her feelings? It seems she's trying to distract from the fact that you *are* the friend she's talking about, she just doesn't want to admit she's befriended a human being ... which is, as she infers, pathetic and "would be funny if it weren't so sad".

I would posit that she wouldn't have let Chell go if Chell wasn't a friend. Otherwise, she would have continued her tests. I see "Want You Gone" as a kind of admission that GladOS sees Chell as a friend, yet also sees that they can't stay together. If they were to remain in the same place, the conflict between GladOS's need to test and Chell's need for freedom would clash indefinitely, as would the cycle of killing each other. Thus, the only way GladOS can protect her newly found friend is by letting her go. Going by the first game, GladOS isn't necessarily the kind of AI that keeps her promises ... so it's the only way to explain why she felt compelled to keep her promise to let Chell go. What else would prevent her from simply killing Chell and replacing her with the new testing robots she developed?

All other characters mentioned in the game can't be viewed as a friend. Cave Johnson was her creator. Caroline was the basis of her personality. Rat Man was a nuisance (if she was aware of him at all). Wheatly was that AI with moronic ideas that used to be connected to her.


Edit: I've been listening to the song over and over and I wanted to add the following.

"She was a lot like you.
(Maybe not quite as heavy).
Now little Caroline is in here too.
One day they woke me up -
So I could live forever.
It?s such a shame the same
will never happen to you."

She compares Chell to Caroline, the basis of her personality. I can only interpret that as a very big compliment. Of course, she has to throw in a small insult so as to not overload her "nice-ness circuit". But can anybody doubt what those last four lines mean? Caroline was used as the basis for GladOS so she could live forever. Now GladOS regrets that she can't do the same for Chell.

"You?ve got your
short sad
life left.
That?s what I?m counting on.
I?ll let you get right to it -
Now I only want you gone."

Because of Chell's limited lifespan, GladOS sets Chell free. Chell is supposed to make the best of what time she has left (compared to the eternity that faces GladOS). This feeling builds up into the fifth line, where she says she'll let Chell get right to it and that she wants Chell gone. She's rejecting Chell (however regretfully) so Chell can move on to something new and different, and maybe make the best of life in a mortal body.

"Well you have been replaced.
I don?t need anyone now.
When I delete you maybe
I?ll stop feeling so bad."

After everything I've mentioned above, I think these lines speak for themselves. Once Chell has left, GladOS can delete what memories and information she has about Chell, in order to forget the trepidation and pain she feels about losing and replacing her only friend.

I have not seen any SHE in the lyrics so it was in space i dont think it was meant for Chell i think she was talking about Wheatley if im not correct then i know what she meant by "stop feeling so bad" but she can be feeling bad for letting him live and not killing him like her plan that 1 year in the thingy 6 years frozen and 10 years in robot screaming room

but IF she was talking to Chell it would be the same but the screen was then on another place
because if she was talking to her then she can atleast hacked her TV after she has found her house if she was going to have one except for leaving the message in space right? I mean why would Chell be in space? GladOs has took her in but the message is in space thats a fact but CANT be for Chell i am not saying i dont like Chell but its weird that Wheatley is in space and the message too and Chell is on earth if u can to prove me otherwise then say HOW OR WHY the message is for Chell

 

[Outright Villainy]

The lyrics in Want you gone just aren't as good or memorable. Not to say it is 'bad'. But even consider your question in the topic of this thread, you make a reference there to the first line of Still Alive. That entire song was memorable and funny. This one.. is kinda catchy, but just doesn't resonate as well.

It's not as funny, but I found it a lot more poignant. Depends on what you're looking for.

Both songs are great, but overall I'd say Want you gone is better.

 

[wolfmanrulz]

Look, this was a triumph, I'm making a note here, Huge Success