Character choices and effect on Clementine
I feel like everything in the game is leading up to how Clementine will act once the game is finished. Even things such as choosing to take or leave Lilly will effect how she views you-- anything that she sees, she's absorbing and she's learning lessons. I feel like it's going to get down to the wire where she will have to either act in her own best interest and be cold blooded or have mercy.
I'm trying to compile all the instances that it's been obvious that Clementine's character is being developed. Outside of the Lilly incident and not murdering/murdering the people at the dairy, I can't remember any... Does anyone else remember any?
So far I've got
- Stealing food/not stealing food from the car
- Killing/not killing at the dairy
- There have been a few dialogue instances where you've been given the option to clarify the difference between killing never being okay, killing being okay in certain circumstances, and killing being okay regardless
I'm trying to compile all the instances that it's been obvious that Clementine's character is being developed. Outside of the Lilly incident and not murdering/murdering the people at the dairy, I can't remember any... Does anyone else remember any?
So far I've got
- Stealing food/not stealing food from the car
- Killing/not killing at the dairy
- There have been a few dialogue instances where you've been given the option to clarify the difference between killing never being okay, killing being okay in certain circumstances, and killing being okay regardless
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Comments
I think little things like how you treat Ben will affect her as well since she seems to feel 2nd closest to him (after Ep. 3).
Yeah, I think this is definitely one of the big ones. If you steal the food, then you're essentially telling her that it's okay to do that kind of stuff now.
In a positive way. If she (or any of them) try to stick to pre-ZA ways of life, they're dead.
She asks about what Lee is planning to do with Lilly when he does take her, so...
Everybody in the group (except possibly Lee) thought leaving Lilly was the only logical thing to do, so it doesn't surprise me that Clem didn't question it if you do leave her. While Lee is her main moral guide, I'm sure she's getting lessons from others as well.
Ben kills three people: So sweet and scared; defend him with your life; get him some warm milk
It's surreal
I get the resentment against Ben, but he didn't murder them nor was it his intention to get anyone killed. He was naive and trusted that the deal would work out and it turned against him and affected the entire group. There is a vast difference between Lily and Ben - Lilly pulled the trigger in cold blood. Ben didn't.
I'm not saying that he wasn't responsible though. I mean, we can blame Lee for wanting to go to the farmhouse in Episode 2 and say he got Larry and Mark killed, but it just doesn't work that way.
I took the food, and what taking the food does is teach Clementine a utilitarian viewpoint that's absolutely essential to learn in the ZA.
There are three likely outcomes wrt the car and the food in it:
1) You leave it alone, continue on without it, and
a) its owners return at some point and eat the food
b) its owners never return and the food spoils
2) You take the food and eat it.
The result of 2) is superior to the cumulative result of 1) because, with 2), the food never goes to waste.
It's not even the case where by choosing 2) you're implying that you're more important than the owners of the car. It's simply by choosing 2), you're ensuring that valuable food does not go to waste.
And that doesn't even take into account the likelihood that the car owners are beyond aid and won't return. After all, under what circumstances would you leave a vehicle open and unlocked like that? The chances that the food inside would spoil are good.
Finally, there's another scenario in which not taking the food is a genuine mistake, namely: it's value to you is enormous. The value to its owners, if they're even alive and still in the area, may be comparatively insignificant. The food may have been only a small part of their total supplies, an amount they won't inordinately miss, whereas you are certain of it's substantial, even critical value to you and your group. In short, this food cannot be of greater value to the owners of the vehicle than it is to you.
In contrast to what you wrote, by taking the food you've taught Clementine a valuable, positive, moral lesson that will go some way towards increasing the chances of her survival. Later that evening you will, of course, sit down with her and explain the choices and outcomes wrt the car. You'll also be clear with her that if the owners of the car had been present you would not have done more than ask for some of their food.
I'm morally certain that simply leaving the car and taking the good chance that the food will spoil is a profoundly foolish act.