Questions and spoilers about Bioshock Infinite.

[King Billi]

How's it going people? I just completed Bioshock Infinite the other day and wanted to add my thoughts to the general conversation which I fear I'm probably a tad late for.
I don't have any strong opinions on the ending or the overall theme of the game I really just wanted to offer a few minor questions in the hopes of starting a new conversation to hear some of the various opinions on this game not necessarily related to "big" questions.

I hope I'm making sense. Anyway here are a few small questions I had upon completing the game...


How old is Booker Dewitt supposed to be and why does Comstock look to be so much older than him even though they're the same person?

What ever became of that big game hunter guy, I forget his name? I found quite a few voxophone recordings of him and I kept expecting him to turn up at some point but he never did... Maybe I missed one vital voxophone which would have concluded his little side story but I can't help feeling that he may have had a larger role to play in the game at one point but was cut.

Finally was anyone else kinda disappointed that Saltonstall wasn't anywhere to be found in this game? That guy who first appeared in that original concept demo way back when... I know the game still had a long ways to go in development at that time and that some changes are inevitable but still...

If you have any answers for me I appreciate hearing them and also if you have any questions or observations of your own to share I'd to love to hear them as well.

Thanks.

 

[Magicite Spring]

I can answer the question about Comstock. I'm not sure how old Booker is in Infinite, but there is a reason why Comstock is so much older. Basically, its a side effect of using the tears to look into the future. The tears accelerated his aging, as well as causing him to become impotent.

Not sure about the hunter guy, I think Fitzroy killed him or something. Someone else will need to clarify.

 

[Zhukov]

How old is Booker Dewitt supposed to be and why does Comstock look to be so much older than him even though they're the same person?

Given that we don't get precise dates for many events and the potential time travel that can occur when stepping through tears, Booker could be anywhere from his mid twenties to his early forties. Given his appearance, I'd put him him on the later end of that scale.

As for Comstock looking older, prolonged exposure to the tears causes premature aging (and also infertility).

What ever became of that big game hunter guy, I forget his name? I found quite a few voxophone recordings of him and I kept expecting him to turn up at some point but he never did...

Last voxophone I recall had him renouncing Comstock and joining the Vox.

Of course, I may have missed one as well.

Finally was anyone else kinda disappointed that Saltonstall wasn't anywhere to be found in this game? That guy who first appeared in that original concept demo way back when... I know the game still had a long ways to go in development at that time and that some changes are inevitable but still...

I'd forgotten about him until you mentioned it, so... no, can't say I missed him.

 

[King Billi]

As for Comstock looking older, prolonged exposure to the tears causes premature aging (and also infertility).

Sounds like they just needed an excuse for why Comstock and Booker don't look alike, I guess it shows that they were at least aware of the problem but I don't see why they couldn't have just used the excuse that the reality Comstock lived in was just further in the future than Bookers reality? I mean towards the end of the game Booker enters a tear in which Elizabeth is much older and destroying a very modern looking New York City(although admittedly I have no idea what New York circa 1912 really looked like).

Thats the problem with these kinds of stories when it all comes down to alternate realities and infinite possibilities it becomes difficult to see why anything really matters.


Oh! I've got another one... Who was that dead guy in the lighthouse?

 

[James Joseph Emerald]

The dead guy in the lighthouse has no real explanation. Ken Levine admitted somewhere that he just added that stuff in at the very last minute to make the opening more "ominous", because some focus group said the beginning was too boring or something.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I think the difference in age is caused by the fact that Dewitt is brought into the future (of 1912) at the start of Bioshock: Infinite. At least, that's the only explanation that makes sense for me, because otherwise he would be at least 40 years old at the time of the game (and possibly much older) based on Elizabeth's age and the date of the Wounded Knee massacre. And he just doesn't look that old to me.

On the other hand, both of the Lutece twins are give or take the same age, despite one of them being from Dewitt's world and one being from Comstock's. Then again, those two pretty much seem to be cheating the system, so who knows? The explanation that Dewitt is brought forward in time to Columbia just fits together more neatly for me.

 

[rhyno435]

Who was that dead guy in the lighthouse?

I read that he was a guy that Comstock had sent to the lighthouse to kill Booker when he arrived (because he'd seen the future, where Booker arrived, through a tear), and the guy had been killed by the Luteces, who then left a message for Booker saying "Don't disappoint us".

That's also why you see a map, with a sticky note that says "He's on his way. You must stop him. -C" That was a note from Comstock to the dead guy warning him that you were coming.

I think that's how it's meant to be interpreted anyways.

 

[The_Scrivener]

Who was that dead guy in the lighthouse?

I read that he was a guy that Comstock had sent to the lighthouse to kill Booker when he arrived (because he'd seen the future, where Booker arrived, through a tear), and the guy had been killed by the Luteces, who then left a message for Booker saying "Don't disappoint us".

That's also why you see a map, with a sticky note that says "He's on his way. You must stop him. -C" That was a note from Comstock to the dead guy warning him that you were coming.

I think that's how it's meant to be interpreted anyways.

Agree with this although the gravity of the scene and its first impression nature are way too present to not be accounted for in a solidified way. There comes a point where you need to ask your audience to stop making inferences and instead, actually explain everything. This is much easier in any game where time rifts and the like aren't a huge focal point.

But ultimately, BI is such a good game and its ambition and beauty are so surreal and wonderful that I'm willing to allow it to only lift 90% of its own plot weight instead of the usually prerequisite 100.

 

[Glongpre]

I think the difference in age is caused by the fact that Dewitt is brought into the future (of 1912) at the start of Bioshock: Infinite. At least, that's the only explanation that makes sense for me, because otherwise he would be at least 40 years old at the time of the game (and possibly much older) based on Elizabeth's age and the date of the Wounded Knee massacre. And he just doesn't look that old to me.

On the other hand, both of the Lutece twins are give or take the same age, despite one of them being from Dewitt's world and one being from Comstock's. Then again, those two pretty much seem to be cheating the system, so who knows? The explanation that Dewitt is brought forward in time to Columbia just fits together more neatly for me.

He isn't in the future it is just a parallel universe. Others have said why Comstock appears older.

 

[Geo Da Sponge]

I think the difference in age is caused by the fact that Dewitt is brought into the future (of 1912) at the start of Bioshock: Infinite. At least, that's the only explanation that makes sense for me, because otherwise he would be at least 40 years old at the time of the game (and possibly much older) based on Elizabeth's age and the date of the Wounded Knee massacre. And he just doesn't look that old to me.

On the other hand, both of the Lutece twins are give or take the same age, despite one of them being from Dewitt's world and one being from Comstock's. Then again, those two pretty much seem to be cheating the system, so who knows? The explanation that Dewitt is brought forward in time to Columbia just fits together more neatly for me.

He isn't in the future it is just a parallel universe. Others have said why Comstock appears older.

I know it's a parallel universe, but it's shown that when moving between universes you can also move between times and locations as well, eg. going from the sky in 1912 to the bottom of the ocean in 1960.

Basically, I think the explanation that Dewitt was brought forward in time to 1912 when he was moved into the Columbia universe makes more sense than Comstock being prematurely aged by the syphon, but either explanation seems to work. Unless there's a voxophone in the game that specifically mentions Comstock aging prematurely which I haven't heard, because I don't remember anyone commenting on it during my playthroughs.

 

[King Billi]

Not sure about the hunter guy, I think Fitzroy killed him or something. Someone else will need to clarify.

I think I just found him in the game... and killed him! I think he's Jeremiah Finks head of security.

In the Good Time Club right after Booker and Elizabeth pass through the first tear there is a short fight in the big room where Fink tried to recruit Booker earlier and one of the enemies here looks very similar to him and is even wearing the same hat. I think Fink is even yelling at him over the loudspeakers for letting Booker and Elizabeth in.

If it's really him then I find it even more interesting how he manages to remain present in the story supposedly due to the fact that he remains alive in the other alternate realities...

I don't know why this one seemingly unimportant character fascinates me so much?

 

[Magicite Spring]

Not sure about the hunter guy, I think Fitzroy killed him or something. Someone else will need to clarify.

I think I just found him in the game... and killed him! I think he's Jeremiah Finks head of security.

In the Good Time Club right after Booker and Elizabeth pass through the first tear there is a short fight in the big room where Fink tried to recruit Booker earlier and one of the enemies here looks very similar to him and is even wearing the same hat. I think Fink is even yelling at him over the loudspeakers for letting Booker and Elizabeth in.

If it's really him then I find it even more interesting how he manages to remain present in the story supposedly due to the fact that he remains alive in the other alternate realities...

I don't know why this one seemingly unimportant character fascinates me so much?

That is extremely cool if it is correct! When i play through again I'll have to look out for him. It just goes to show how much care and thought went into the game when you see details like this around