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What happened at the end of BioShock Infinite?
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Jul 18, 2014 · Every time the ending has been the same. This correlates to the central theme, which I'll leave for you to interpret. Every 'choice' you make in the game leads to the same ending. This is strongly supported when Booker and Elizabeth arrive at the area with all the lighthouses near the end of the game.
So, technically, there are two endings -- and the second one is more satisfying -- but from a practical standpoint they're essentially the same. I just started playing Bioshock Infinite and wondered if there's any different endings in the game like in the previous games. Or is there any moral….
- Overview
- NOT THE ENDING YOU THOUGHT IT WAS?
- SUMMARY
- HOW?
- MULTIPLE UNIVERSES
- Booker DeWitt Universe
- Comstock Universe
- Disrupted Universe
- ROBERT AND ROSALIND LUTECE
- THERE ARE DIFFERENT TIMELINES?
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The End
What happened at the end of BioShock Infinite?
•This Timeline might also help out if you're still confused.
Booker DeWitt is Zachary Hale Comstock. Therefore the only way to prevent the creation of Columbia is to kill Booker during his transformation into Comstock.
When Elizabeth becomes omniscient, the knowledge of every universe is common to her and she realizes the implications are much bigger than Comstock and Columbia. She sees that the universes in which the "Booker" character lives lead to the inevitable: a man builds a city, attempts to leave society behind and create a utopia, which ultimately leads to corruption, downfall and destruction -- sometimes the destruction of Columbia, sometimes the destruction of civilization by Columbia. Players of the original BioShock will recognize one of many alternate cities as Rapture.
As Elizabeth puts it: "There's always a man, always a lighthouse, always a city."
At the end of the game, Elizabeth takes Booker to the lighthouses so he can comprehend things and show him what needs to be done for the greater good. When Elizabeth asks Booker if he fears God, it is a hint that she is a moral person and may feel obligated to do the right thing.
After successfully destroying the siphon through use of the Songbird, Elizabeth now has full use of her ability, and is omnipotent. This is because the siphon was preventing her from using her abilities to their full potential. The only thing preventing Elizabeth and Booker from leaving Columbia behind and travelling to Paris at this point is Elizabeth's knowledge of the events leading up to this point. She now wants to stop the events that occurred at their source, Comstock's birth.
IGN Editors Discuss the Ending of BioShock Infinite
Elizabeth leads Booker through several lighthouses, including one which contains Rapture, a city which existed in the first two BioShock games. Through use of these lighthouses, BioShock Infinite simplifies the multiverse theory. The idea that surrounds this theory is that there are an infinite number of universes which exist, based on simple or extreme adjustments made which weren't made in others. To simplify, there is a universe in which Hitler died at a young age, thus several events following his leadership never occurred. This is where the "Infinite" in BioShock Infinite comes from. There are an infinite number of BioShock universes. In BioShock Infinite's case, Comstock came into existence, and created Columbia, whereas in BioShock 1 and 2, Andrew Ryan came into existence, and created Rapture.
Because of Booker's ability to use a bathysphere near the end of the game when Elizabeth brings him to Rapture, there's speculation floating around regarding Andrew Ryan's true identity. Most signs point to Andrew Ryan and Comstock being one and the same, but we will know the truth in due time.
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In BioShock Infinite, we're given two main universes. One in which DeWitt accepts his baptism and eventually becomes Comstock, thus leading to the creation of Columbia. The second is where DeWitt refuses the baptism, thus creating the man you play as throughout the game.
The crucial point in Booker DeWitt's existence is that of the baptism which occurs after the battle of Wounded Knee. Because of this decision at the baptism, there are two main universes which exist in BioShock Infinite. Booker either accepts or denies the baptism.
In the first universe, Booker declines the baptism and remains himself, has a daughter named Anna, owes a great debt through his gambling addiction, and gives up Anna to Robert Lutece, who is working for Comstock, in order to pay the debt. He changes his mind at the last second, and while trying to pull Anna away from Comstock, who is escaping through a tear created by Rosalind Lutece's machine, her pinky finger is cut off as the tear between their universes closes.
The Booker in this universe lives in regret and depression for about 20 years. At some point during this time, he brands "AD" on his hand, standing for Anna DeWitt. Booker is eventually pulled over into Comstock's world by Robert and Rosalind Lutece. Booker invents an entirely different story within his mind in which he is tasked to retrieve a girl in order to pay off his debt to a man in New York. This is where the opening quote in Infinite by Lutece comes into play: "The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist." DeWitt needed a reason to be in this alternate place that wasn't entirely his own; his imagined story helped his mind remain stable. This also explains the conversation between Booker and Elizabeth when he says he had never heard of Columbia before arriving there. The city simply did not exist in his universe.
In the second universe, Booker accepts the baptism and becomes Comstock, creates Columbia, and foresees the future through use of Rosalind Lutece's tears in the universe. He looked into the universe in which Booker, the false shepherd, attempted to overthrow him. In this universe he also saw his own daughter lead Columbia after his death, and drown in fire the mountains of man. Before confronting him, near the replica of the siphon, there are panels depicting your exploits in Columbia, the last of which is Comstock standing at the basin. Because his exposure to these tears made him sterile, he had to open up a tear into a universe in which he had a child and retrieve her.
In the Sea of Doors, we see other instances of Booker and Elizabeth. This means that ours is not the only Booker to make it here. Since there are only a few Elizabeths at the baptism, it could be that there are clusters of universes; most of them do not have an Elizabeth that gets her full powers back, but one universe does. Thus, the other Bookers we see walking are each closing their own cluster of universes. It could also be implying that the other pairs we see are other players who finished Infinite.
At the end of the game, Booker/Comstock once again approaches the baptism scene by the river and is joined by different versions of Elizabeth/Anna who have stepped into this universe and timeline. With their help, Booker finally realizes he is also Comstock. The previous two choices lead to the repeating cycles -- the Elizabeths know that the only way to break out of them is to disrupt the "always a man, always a city" world order and destroy "the man" before he builds the city. The Elizabeths drown Booker; and he doesn't struggle much as he resigns himself to his fate.
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In the universe where Booker DeWitt exists, Robert Lutece is born rather than Rosalind Lutece. In the universe where Booker becomes the version of Comstock we see in the game, Rosalind Lutece is born rather than Robert Lutece.
Prior to meeting Comstock, Rosalind Lutece's research in the existence of a floating atom lead her as far as the creation of that atom, and a means of which she could communicate with Robert Lutece through Morse code. It wasn't until she received funds from Comstock that she was able to create a machine that could open tears into other universes. This benefited her ultimate goal at the time, which seemed to be acquiring Robert Lutece.
In the Booker's universe, Robert Lutece is assigned with the task of retrieving Anna DeWitt from Booker. At the point which this exchange takes place, a portal is created between the two main universes in order to bring Anna to Comstock. Rosalind is on the receiving end, and attempts to get Robert to come through the portal as well so they can be together. Booker makes a last minute decision that he wants his daughter back, and attempts to pull her away from the tear, but is unsuccessful and her pinky finger is cut off.
Many years later, Robert Lutece, being remorseful for stealing Elizabeth from Booker and setting her on a path to attack those living on the surface of earth, gave Rosalind an ultimatum that he would leave her life if she did not help him send Elizabeth back to her own universe. Comstock, whether aware of this plan or just trying to destroy any chances of word of what he had done getting out, ordered Jeremiah Fink to sabotage the machine to kill Robert and Rosalind. However, their consciousness was instead fused with the possibility universe, giving them apparent immortality and ability to travel through time and space. This would make it easier to carry out their plan.
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It should also be noted that early in the game, when the Luteces had Booker flip a coin, Robert carried a chalkboard with heads marked many times. When Booker is asked to choose, he either says heads or tails, but the coin will always land on heads, as it is a constant. It is revealed later that Robert conducted experiments on different Bookers in different timelines to try to change his choices. The telegram about not picking the #77 baseball, the coin flip, the choice of pendant, etc. were all attempts to do this, but as Elizabeth explains: "There are constants and variables."
From the beginning of the game, the Luteces know what's going to happen, because they've been through all of it before with other Bookers. Think of your playthrough of the game as Booker's hundredth or so attempt at preventing Comstock from ever existing.
It could be said that it's Booker's 122 or 123rd attempt, based on the bell-ringing combination at the lighthouse: 1x 2x 2x. Also, after you flip "heads" early on in Columbia and the Luteces mark a 13th notch on the chalkboard, Robert turns around and there are 2 columns of 11 sets of 5 notches, making 123 total notches including your playthrough.
During the beginning of the game while in the boat with the Luteces, Rosalind asks Robert if Booker rows. Throughout each and every attempt they've made to get Booker to Elizabeth, he's never helped row the boat. This was a minor detail Rosalind forgot.
There's a man who Booker finds dead at the lighthouse. This was likely a man sent by Comstock in order to prevent Booker from making it to Columbia. It's also likely that during one of the first attempts to get Booker to Elizabeth, this man killed him. Thus he was killed by the Luteces during any attempts after this one. A note found in the lighthouse that reads, "Be prepared. He's on his way. You must stop him. - C" The C stands for Comstock. This was probably a letter left for whoever the dead man is.
When Rosalind hands Booker the shield during the Comstock Center Rooftops portion of the game, both her and Robert are surprised that it doesn't kill him. This was likely an experimental item that killed Booker in other previous attempts.
There are other various moments in the game which indicate that Booker's been through all of this before, and the Luteces almost treat him like a lab rat in a maze.
Sep 13, 2016 · In BioShock Infinite the origin of the Vigors, manufactured by Fink, is never explicitly revealed. But there's a clue to where they could have come from in the Magical Melodies Voxophone.
Apr 4, 2013 · We expect BioShock to make us think and to reconfigure tropes, and Infinite does that despite the mechanical approach to narrative that tends to happen when you deal with interdimensional...
Mar 26, 2013 · I heard that Bioshock 2 has at least 2 different endings, based on to what actions you take & to what effect you put your charge to. I won't spoil anything, but I highly doubt the ending I...
May 10, 2021 · While the story sprinkles in hints toward its mind-bending ending throughout the game, the final cutscene can be sensory overload with how much information it throws at you. These narrative chances paid off, as "BioShock Infinite" received a 94 on metacritic for the PC version of the game, garnering nearly universal praise when the epic sequel ...
