I think I get what Telltale was TRYING to do with Sarah...
Unlike a lot of other forum members here, I don't feel Telltale's decision to kill Sarah was out of cruelty or ableism. Sarah was always meant to be a tragic character, in that she simply wasn't wired to survive in this "brave new world."
Despite Lee's best efforts, Clementine was exposed to the horrors of the ZA at an early stage. Whether these horrors truly desensitized her, or merely haunt her, is up for the player to interpret, but the fact remains Clem had the opportunity to adapt. Sarah didn't, thanks to Carlos's well-meaning but misguided decision to shelter Sarah from...well, everything, really.
Now, Sarah might have some form of autism (although this was never confirmed), but I've seen people with autism learn to cope even under the most traumatic circumstances. However, it was clear from the moment Clem first met Sarah in her bedroom that her innocence had become outright naivete a long time ago. While I think trying to stay optimistic in such a bleak world is a commendable trait in itself, it was obvious that Sarah's story wasn't going to end well, no matter how Clem treated her. The more I dwell on Sarah's arc in season 2, the more genuine pity I feel, more so than any other character in the series.
This isn't meant to excuse how Telltale finally chose to kill Sarah, but I think the IDEA behind her character was sound. It's just the execution that was lacking.
Comments
I thought Telltale said somewhere that she had PTSD? If so she had to have seen enough fucked up stuff to get this condition. Carlos was sheltering Sarah to stop her from having an episode. Which is why he's hesitant about her being friends with Clem, Clem could accidently trigger something. It seems to be the case when she freaks out after every bad incident Sarah's goes through (that being said who the fuck wouldn't get a little freaked out?). Clementine just seems stronger than her mentally. She adapted while Sarah couldn't. This was due to Clem being forced through so much shit, while Sarah maybe not so much (we never really got much back-story to her).
Edit: I should say I agree with you on all points, except the autism thing.
Pretty much. Doesn't stop people from getting pissed off, though. She could've at least had a quick end, like giving us the option to shoot her before the walkers got to her.
I have to disagree, the execution felt more mean-spirited than lacking or tragic.
I felt that Sarah's role in Amid the Ruins didn't fit the mould of a tragic figure, especially since her brutal deaths barely leaves much of an impact on her group, let alone traumatise them. Instead she was portrayed as a liability who had to die for the safety of her group for the crime of not getting over her father's death soon enough.
If she was meant to be a tragic figure, her group should have been a lot more broken up with the death of a child who did no wrong to anyone, to the point where even the birth of AJ wouldn't be enough to raise everyone's spirits again, since Sarah's death means that AJ could very well end up sharing her fate eventually.
But considering how the group barely lifts a finger to save her from her second death scene, ignores her if she sits in the corner of the camp upon avoiding her first death, coos over a new-born baby while ignoring a little girl's horrific death while having more debris crushing her corpse, and the fact that her father's death is never discussed in the group (especially since he's a doctor, who they've just lost), I'm inclined to believe that she was never intended to be tragic, but irrelevant at best.
I think you hit the nail on the head!
It's funny you use that word, because her death felt more like an execution :P
Pretty much, yeah.
I've always thought of Sarah as a plot device to test the character's morality and pragmatism. From the beginning it was obvious that Sarah suffers from panic disorder or some other kind of anxiety disorder (I know the writers confirmed her PTSD, I'm just saying personally I was unaware of that information prior to me playing S2 and I immediately thought she had panic disorder)....Carlos foreshadows that Sarah would "cease to function" should she truly be exposed to reality of the world...which becomes evident after Carlos' untimely demise....so then Sarah's true purpose becomes apparent at the trailer (and again Parker's Run if she leaves the trailer with you)...do you try and save Sarah regardless of her personal capacity to protect herself or do you let her die b/c she's a burden and her death is inevitable( due to her mental capacity )?
I assume Sarah did not communicate much with anyone in the group other than Carlos. She was just there. If she dies in the trailer, I believe Rebecca does show sadness. I think Luke showed a little emotion (unless his ribs were hurting him that much while walking). But on the second death, Rebecca is having the baby then and there. All the focus is making sure she is okay and the baby is alright. At that point dealing with someone who was just there, I probably wouldn't show emotion for Sarah.
Of course it wasn't. People just like to jump to unnecessary conclusions.
Take this for instance, if it was any other character like Pete or Alvin not wanting to go on (Sarah obviously didn't, she just wasn't physically able to so I've changed the circumstance a bit), they wouldn't be calling it ableism. They'd call it good writing. But because they made a character with a mental disability placed in that role, people will think that Telltale is treating their own character ableisticly (is that a word?)
Truth is, no matter how much people find her "annoying" (I don't know how tbh), she's a very well written character. I think some people are just upset that she dies in the same episode without making much of a difference or not being able to save her.
There's always one version of the choice that makes the story make more sense, and leaving sarah in the trailer gives Sarah's character a better end, the rest of the remaining cabin group respond a lot better plus Sarah dying like that and not being able to move is better than just falling etc.
i think the main problem people have with it is that anyone who likes Sarah gets the worst death for her
I feel like Telltale became influenced by the audience public dislike to Sarah. (I don't hate Sarah at all, but the majority- Especially "let's players"- seemed to hate her...)
The more the series carried on the more I felt like the writers had made her character into a big joke. Like they wrote her purely for the fact that she could become a hate target or ongoing hate joke. Which is terrible.
This is just a personal opinion from what I've seen but Sarah's death if you choose to save her in the trailer just seemed like a massively insulting joke.
Like a TROLOLOLOL moment...
I think this is what bothers me the most. And Jane, of all people, is the only one who acknowledges her. Like yeah, the baby's here, but at least show some empathy for the poor kid once it's all over FFS.
Telltale Logic
I should care about a newborn "baby" with no lines, and is nothing more than a plot device, than a fifteen year old girl with severe mental problems who just lost her father maybe three hours ago.
Agreed. I was moreso upset with the timing over her deaths but her death scenes were pretty exciting (lets be honest, some deaths in TWD are more entertaining than others)