Luke du Lac in Episode 5
There's a TL;DR at the end if you need that
So after episode 4 I was pissed off at Luke for screwing up guard duty so he could hook up with Jane, I understood his motivations but he put the whole group in some serious danger. He was a disappointment, but in this episode he completely turned it around.
It is my opinion that in TWDG there aren't really any "right" answers, because it's all subjective. The reason I do multiple play-throughs is so that I can see where the other choices would have led me, and what other character interactions I would have had. Regardless of whether or not going across the ice to try and save Luke was the "right" choice or not, if you chose to just cover him you missed a scene that I think was important to Luke's development as a character. Not saying you should have picked one or the other, but if you haven't seen what happens if you try to save Luke, I highly recommend you check it out.
During the scene on the lake, I chose to go back to try and get him for two reasons, the first one was because when we were all sitting around the campfire together I told him I would go back for him, and he told me he'd do the same for me. The second reason, and the more major one was because I could tell that if I wasn't going to try and get Luke, Bonnie would try to get him herself. She weighs a lot more than Clem, and would cause the ice to break even further, possibly causing a huge hole that I feared would make others fall in (I was hoping telltale would give us the option to belly crawl across the ice because doing this for safe weight distribution seems obvious, but that never happened).
When I inevitably fell in and walkers started popping out I panicked. Kicked one away then went to find the surface when the other one appeared. I had no clue what I was going to do, I thought I had messed up and Clem was going to die when all of a sudden Luke showed up and grabbed the zombie to save us. After we're pulled out and he is dragged down I was in shock. I didn't mourn him at first, I guess I did not even really process his death and how much that meant to me until the day after I finished playing. I know this is a video game but think about this in real life terms. What Luke did for Clem was brave and selfless, he was close to the surface, close to people who would've been able to pull him out.
If I was in the same situation I hope I would be able to be that brave, but honestly, I am not sure. I don't think many people would. Luke saving us was on par with what Lee did to save Clementine, maybe even better. He was not already doomed for death because he did not have a bite like Lee did. I still like Lee better, and I'm sure he would've done ANYTHING with or without the bite to save Clem, but theoretically Luke sacrificed more. Because it all happened so fast and there were so many other things we needed to focus on after that I don't think we had enough time to be grateful for his sacrifice. Just... Honestly think about that situation, and what most people would do. Even selfless people would have a hard time because you're already oxygen deprived in freezing water, you would have to fight against every instinct in your body to stay in the lake any longer.
Luke let me down before this episode, but his sacrifice for Clem has made him a hero in my book. It doesn't erase any mistakes that he made, I always thought he was just a good man who was striving to be a hero, but In this episode he finally reached that status. He was incredibly brave and I think he deserves more recognition.
TL;DR Luke ended up being a brave man whose sacrifice was under-appreciated.
*Luke du Lac is a reference to Lancelot du Lac, the knight Sir Lancelot who was a part of King Arthur's round table. Lancelot du Lac means Lancelot of the Lake.
Comments
He's definetely a hero in my book too. He could've escaped, but instead chose
to save Clementine.
If it wasn't for that stupid bitch Bonnie who have the "smart" idea to get near him while the ice cracking,he would've survive.
Agreed with all of this!
Luke has been pretty selfless throughout the season and all of his moments of self-sacrifice are non-determinate. No matter how cruel you are towards him in previous episodes, he will always come back to rescue you and the group from Carver's community. He will always beg you not to come any closer on the ice and risk falling through. He'll always grab the walker from behind, the same one that drags him down with it, just so it doesn't get to you first.
I imagine Lee would be happy with him. He went out the same way he was introduced: protecting Clementine.
Double post.
Luke was the only character that didn't want Clem taking all the risks, I'm not saying Luke doubted her, just that Luke didn't think that a little girl should do everything
I always liked Luke and the brotherly bond he had with Clem; I felt he was one of the best companions Clem has had so far in her journey... His saving Clem brought a lot of feels, especially with the whole 'I would come back for you' segment the night before. But tbh, his death didn't affect me as much as I thought it would and I think TTG sidelining him as a character post AHD is perhaps to blame for that.
luke was always nice, i tought he would survive it but no... and he is a big hero he saved clementine when she felt in the cold water he gave all he had in him to save clementine
he deserved better than this poor Luke.
I hope Luke gets to meet Lee. ;_;