Why Clementine should be Season 3's protagonist/deuteragonist
Seeing as I have an obsession with Clementine as a character and I'm extremely bored, I'd figure I'd preach to everyone as to why I believe her story needs to continue.
I'll start by extracting a few sentences from this article that details Clem's creation and Telltale's initial plans for the game:
"Though Lee Everett is the character you control in The Walking Dead, he wasn't the character that the game is built around. 'Clementine was literally the first idea,' says Vanaman, who planned Episode Fives’s outcome before writing a single line of dialogue."
"Clementine isn't just a collection of polygons on a television screen. She's broken through the barrier, securing a place in the hearts of many - a feat most video game characters never accomplish."
Those two quotes essentially sum up the message I'm trying to convey here. Clementine to me and many others is the very foundation of The Walking Dead Game series... Without her, I'd most likely lose a large chunk of interest in future seasons simply because she'd been developed for so long only to be tossed aside when things were about to get interesting.
Depending on the player's ending, Clem's reached an extremely intriguing emotional point. No matter what, she's more or less lost everything important to her bar Kenny/Jane if you let one of them survive. Hell, if you rejected the family during the Jane ending then she's even sacrificed her innocence; I want to see the apocalypse continue to affect her now she's approaching her teenage years, because those years are what will permanently shape her personality as an adult. Will she become cold or remain invested in the ways of empathy and humanity, rather than purely focusing on pragmatism?
Regardless of what ending you personally accepted, AJ is within Clementine's care. Having been raised by Lee and taught how to survive, I'm anxious to see how Clem will approach bringing up Alvin Jr, and this is something that could be explored within the third season. Perhaps you'll end up abandoning him, realizing that he's nothing but walker bait... Or maybe you'll do whatever you can to ensure this baby/toddler survives, considering him a beacon of hope and a living manifestation of the future? This would continue to build upon the theme of choosing between humanity or survival, serving as an excellent way of developing her character.
An argument I often see against Clementine's return is that playing as a child is boring and unsatisfying. If you truly believe that, then I'll direct you to one of the plenty of games that allow you to exercise mad power fantasies as a strong adult. Playing as a child is anything but boring. It's a concept that's been explored by barely any game developers, and seeing a young-un adapt to an apocalyptic situation is unique and immensely engrossing. Rather than simply ploughing through walkers with sheer brute force, Clem has to use her wits and intelligence to overcome physical threats, and that's something I enjoy experiencing a lot as a player.
Some people claim that Season 2's finale gave excellent closure and allows our imaginations to craft Clementine's future... But I'd disagree. Each ending is far too open-ended for the series to end here. I'd almost feel cheated if it did. These two seasons of development would be wasted, and there'd be no hook to Lee or any of the characters we originally came to know and love. The great thing about Clem is she's been with us since the very beginning, and that means we get the opportunity to hear her talk about old friends and previous events which overall make everything feel that much more real and believable.
What's the point of seeping back down to the drawing board and starting from scratch? It'd feel like a spin-off game if all previous development was rendered irrelevant and Telltale instead started up a new story. I'd rather Clementine die in Season 2 and that be it over with than get thrown into an entirely different group that we all know's going to end up dead anyway. Attachment would be extremely difficult without Clem being the anchor holding it all in place.
Maybe I'm cruel... But the idea of Clementine living a happy, normal life within Wellington seems too happy and far-fetched for The Walking Dead universe. I want to see her suffer! 
I want to continue her journey and I want to see the implications her experiences have on the people around her and her mental state. It's crazy how much potential Clem has, and I think it's more than obvious that her continued involvement in the story would earn Telltale the most money... And for good reason! People love her, after all.
TL;DR: Clementine still has a large amount of potential. Throwing her away now would make the past two seasons feel pointless and TWDG's heart and soul would be absent. It wouldn't feel the same.
Comments
Gonna bump this seeing as I'm curious to see how many people agree and how many disagree.
From what I have seen most of the people that either want a new protagonist or for Clementine to not appear in Season 3 want that simply because they fear that continuing her story would render their personal ending and thus choice pointless, others have stated that they are content with the ending they have and feel that it provides enough closure to be final.
As far as I am concerned though, Clementine should be the Season 3 protagonist (not deuteragonist, we have seen how the last one ended up), however you have to think about the implications this has, obviously Telltale has to somehow tie in all the different endings into one storyline without making our choices seem meaningless. That is the problem we should come up with a solution to.
If anyone can think of an idea that would provide us with an actual solution on how to start Season 3 properly it would be much appreciated.
I agree with almost everything, although "I want to see her suffer!" feels quite misplaced if I am honest, also about "I'd rather Clementine die in Season 2 and that be it over with than get thrown into an entirely different group that we all know's going to end up dead anyway" do you really mean this?
I have faith that Telltale will up their game and make our Season 2 endings feel meaningful in the third season. In the Playing Dead video they claimed they already had ideas going forward so I'm sure they'll manage to present us with something satisfying. Then again, I wouldn't particularly care if my choices didn't affect the outcome of the story itself. My only concern is that all the dialogue choices and decisions I make influence Clementine herself and the way she acts.
As for the first sentence, no, I'm just kidding! xD I love Clem and it'd be great if she made it through everything alive. But in terms of the second sentence you mentioned, yeah, I do mean that. Maybe I'm a false fan for only wanting the game's seasons to continue for as long as Clementine does, but meh... I just think seasons without her would feel empty.
Personally, I hope her story is over because I got the perfect ending and it ended happy. I don't want it to continue and end sad.
That's fair. I'm just more partial to stories that have a definitive beginning and end, rather than ones that make me wonder about what happened. My ending was Clem being alone with AJ, which is of course very dark and honestly quite worrying and I'm left concerned about what's gonna occur in future.
If I were penning Season 3, I'd switch to a different protagonist (i.e., playable character) than Clementine. Yet, I wouldn't abandon her story. Instead, much like Lee served as the protagonist in Season 1, but the story was still about Clementine, I'd set up Season 3 to do the same. That's why the protagonist I'd choose for Season 3 would be...her uncle. Another father-figure type. Someone who lived apart from Clementine's family when the zombie outbreak occurred. And, for him, his personal journey is an attempt to rejoin his brother's family (and hence, Clementine...because we already know her parents are dead).
I'd open the first episode of Season 3 with her uncle having finally made his way to Clementine's home, only to discover the dead babysitter...the same message on the answering machine from her mom...and I'd even let him discover a camcorder with the home movie the babysitter took of Clem discovering those baby raccoons in her treehouse and telling her mom about it on the phone. To me, that would immediately invest everyone playing this new protagonist in finding Clementine and helping her. It'd be a lengthier version of what Lee had to go through while looking for her in Savannah. And that's what episode 1 would focus on. This protagonist would start his own journey towards Savannah (in a car so he could make better time)...only, we all know he'd be headed in the wrong direction, because we already know Clementine and her group moved north towards Wellington. He would encounter various challenges in heading there, thinking he was going to rejoin his brother (Clementine's dad). And, along the way, I'd have him encounter someone like Molly who can tell him about Lee and Clementine. And, for story purposes, that encounter would redirect his path, turning away from Savannah and back north in an attempt to find Clem. He might even take Molly with him.
Episode 2 would then have him encounter another familiar face...Lilly. He might trust her initially, but once he discovers she too has a history with Clementine, he might take her with him, as well, all of them working together to head north. And, since Molly never met Lilly, she wouldn't know any of her history and why Lee's group abandoned her. Lilly would probably lie about it, wanting the others to trust her so they'd accept her and she could belong to a group again. There'd be more difficulties and complications as they continued north, but also small clues and hints of Clem's survival.
Eventually, in Episode 3, I'd consider having them encounter (and rescue?) Christa. She'd be able to provide the most concrete and recent information regarding Clementine. And, like the protagonist, there could be an amount of guilt and concern driving Christa to want to help find her. Like Kenny in Season 2, I imagine Christa would be a bit worn down from her own ordeals. But looking for Clementine with her uncle would give her purpose again. Maybe there'd even be an opportunity for the protagonist to bond with Christa, and even fall in love to create further emotional ties to the character. That would pay off dividends if Christa is eventually one of the characters killed off in Season 3.
By episode 4, I think it'd be time to finally find Clementine. The timeline would have advanced a bit from where Season 2 left her. Much like the gap between the ending of Season 1 and how we saw Clementine in Season 2 with Christa and Omid, she would have aged a bit more. However Season 3 ended up (and the choices that were made regarding who was with her or whether she headed off alone with AJ), those choices would decide the circumstances of how she's found and the fate of those who were with her at the end of Season 3. Regardless, she'll be reunited with her uncle (and Christa, Molly, and Lilly, potentially). But, episode 4 will also need to present some new danger she's facing...some kind of trouble which her uncle will have to help her overcome or escape. The remainder of episode 4 will lay the groundwork for that.
And then we get to episode 5. This is where Lilly (if she's still alive) will create additional problems and complications with whatever challenge Clem and her uncle are facing. You'll have to decide exactly who you're willing to sacrifice in order to save Clementine. Maybe it comes down to a choice between Christa (whom you've just bonded with), your niece Clementine, or yourself. Either way, it should present even more gut-wrenching decisions and outcomes. But, overall, it should continue Clementine's story. It puts her back in touch with more characters who know her (rather than all new strangers). And it sets up Season 4 (hopefully) for turning back to Clementine again as a playable character, but with an extra set of experiences for her to draw on through the interaction with her uncle.
But that's one idea, I guess.
Because she's awesome, I lover her, and she's the coolest little girl I know.
Woah! Upvote for effort and creativity.
I like the general idea of this and could see it working pretty darn well. Hell, Clem doesn't need to be protagonist or deuteragonist for me to be interested, I just want her to have a large role to play and this concept of yours appeals to both me and those that don't want to continue playing as her anymore.
Yep. That's the idea. Satisfy both camps just enough that it draws everyone into the story. The bottom line is you still get to experience Clementine's story moving forward. She's in the episodes (but not every single one). Yet, her presence is there (much like Lee's in Season 2) in the earlier episodes with the camcorder flashback and the stories Molly, Lilly, Christa, and her uncle would have to share about her. By the time you get to the ending of Episode 3 or 4 and encounter her again, it'll set up some pretty good drama for the wrap-up.
Good idea
Although Telltale scrapped the idea of playing as her brother because they already know each other, a bond already,so wouldn't that be the same with the Uncle? Unless he didn't actually see the family much
I don't think that matters as much now seeing as the player's bond with Clementine has already been completely solidified. I do think the uncle would have to be pretty distant, though, for us to actually be able to tailor his character into something we want, rather than something already set in stone.
That's exactly the way it would need to be. This uncle would have been estranged from Clementine's family. He wouldn't have seen them in quite some time, but the zombie outbreak would finally have given him the clarity he needed about what his extended family (and brother) means to him. As a result, he'd be trying to reconnect with them, both to make amends and to ensure they're safe. Maybe he believes he's better suited for surviving and he thinks he can help them. And, once he learns Clem's parents are dead, she'd be his last remaining family to reconnect with. That would set him up as a flawed, sympathetic character from the get-go...much like Lee.
Timeskip a few years...
Clem becomes the new Lee.
AJ becomes the new Clem.
The journey goes full circle and the student becomes the mentor. I believe this would be a perfect way to cap off Clem in a trilogy.
The unfortunate thing is the comics pretty much prevent this. There could be a time-skip of a few years but I think it'd be difficult for us to grow a bond with a virtual toddler. Because Clem was eight when we were introduced to her she already wasn't completely dependent on others and was able to think and speak for herself... I'm worried a toddler might just be a bit of an annoyance or at least a lot less engaging than Clem was, but perhaps Telltale could pull it off. I think it'd be best for AJ to either end up dying or remain a baby, and definitely not be the key focus of Season 3. Telltale would be retreading old ground if they did that.
Nope. The comics just did another timeskip of "indeterminate time" (Kirkman's wording). There's headroom for a timeskip.
Oh! I'm not all too familiar with the comics so that's news to me. Well, in that case... Awesome. Glad to hear Telltale get more freedom with Season 3.
It happened very recently and is the key reason why I think Clem will still be the protagonist.
5 endings can be resolved very easily with a timeskip and since the comic just skipped, it makes sense the game would too.
It's my hope that Clem eventually ends up with Rick's crew. Carl and Clem would be a cute couple.
Enough father figures. Besides, if Clem had any family left she would have mentioned them at some point. This is a real ass-pull.
Christa was pretty much third-place in terms of the bond she left with Clem, even though the writers never really seemed to acknowledge that the woman literally kept Clem alive far longer than anyone else so far.
I fully agree with everything you've said. I just made a post in some other thread on my thoughts about this but yeah. They have more potential now than ever before, I can't see them throwing it all away now. If they do start over, then what was the point of the first two seasons? To build up to.. Nothing?
Game can't go past comics so the oldest she can be in season 3 is 14 which is a great teen age in my opinion. Or they could just pick it up where they left off.
I agree with you I don't think Clem's story has been told 110% yet and I feel she should get one more season at least... If we played as someone else all our previous choices will have little relevance to the story...
Simple. Get Clementine snd AJ alone, for at least a few episodes. BAM.
Ok, now since it's just Clem and nobody else but AJ, we can finally see her strive as a character and build off of all of our previous choices. She was there for all of them after all. Everything you've done up to this point has shaped Clementine into your own unique version, now lets allow that flower to blossom and see what we've done.
I totally agree with you, I would love to see Clem as a hardcore survivalist (Like Jane) in season 3.
This is The Walking Dead we're talking about here. You know that right? There is no happy ending in a zombie apocalypse, the end of the world isn't supposed to be happy. There are small moments of joy here and there, but that's all you can hope for. This is not that kind of story, and that's why I love it so.
I'm pretty sure that the recent timeskip in the comics was around 2 years unless i missed one of Robert's letter hacks, i think the "indeterminate time" that Kirkman was referring to was how long Rick was in a coma for.
I would love for Clementine to be protagonist in season 3 and if she isn't i would want her to have a really strong deuteragonist role.
I want Clem and only Clem, just because I want to see what SHE has become with no more people guiding her along. I really want to see how she'll deal with AJ too. They've just built up far too much potential with her character to have it any other way. I honestly feel like next season is what the whole thing was leading up to in regards to her character. The first two seasons were all about teaching her how to adapt to the world, now we're putting her to the ultimate test and we have to be there every step of the way, because whatever is coming next is going to be huge. She's all on her own now. It will be the moment when all of our choices in shaping this girl come together into what she'll become when she's figuring things out all by herself for once.
I hope that's how it plays out anyways..
I agree with you. A week ago I finished TWD2 and still can't stop thinking about TWD3. I spent a lot of time on reading "things and stuuuff" on this forum, and here is my conclusion about "what we will get on TWD3 and why I believe that Clem will be still main character?"
It was the editor that said 2 years. Kirkman corrected him with indeterminate in the next issue.
I wanted Christa to show up in ep 5 so we could play as her in season 3 with Clem around as the person our choices made her. Since Christa didn't come back I think season 3 should go back in time and we play as Christa from the time they were separated. The timeskip required to make AJ someone I really want to deal with as just Clem is unappealing in terms of continuing the story.
As I stated before, if Clem's story ends, the series should end.
I don't honestly see another option here, if Telltale decides against it, that's completely fine, but I wouldn't support that decision.
Yeah, it'd be awesome to see a 14 year old Clementine. She'd probably be pretty damn tough for her age considering the constant exercise she'd naturally acquire throughout survival and because of her being a teenager it might make a little more sense for her to be making decisions.
Here's a reason:
She's the main character of the series.
Yea for some reason I really want to see what she will be like in season 3 in her teen years.. watching her slowly grow as each season goes on is extremely satisfying to me.
its kind of weird to think that Clem is actually older than most on here.. The outbreak began in 2003 so that would make Clem 19 in 2014.
Mhm. And who could turn down a face like this?
Thank you! This is one of the best threads I've read since episode 5 was released. I agree with everything you said and I hope that Telltale feels the same about this character.
This was my idea too, would make more sense from a writer's perspective in my opinion too. We'd come across full circle with a trilogy showing Clementine's beginnings to her becoming a hardened heroic survivor, like Lee was.
Plus, I simply don't think it's such a good idea to change the protagonist every season. It worked from Lee to Clem since you trained her to be able to take care of herself. But Season Three I just don't see it working unless they just want to reboot the series. And if they do that, I think they should just restart the number and not call it Season Three.
At this point, I don't think Kirkman will really mind anymore. TT's TWD has become something far bigger than a spin-off, it has it's own entity now that I feel like it deserves 100% create control from Telltale at this point.
Plus, it takes place in a different State, I doubt the ZA will be ending any time soon so I don't think there's really that much of a problem being a time-skip to be honest.
Exactly. I specifically play The Walking Dead to have my emotions toyed with, and in my opinion there's nothing better than a story that can bring me to tears.
Sean Mackiewicz confirmed in the Letter Hacks that it has been two years since "All Out War" ended, making it the longest time skip in the Comic Series, in the following it was mentioned by Robert Kirkman that the timeskip length was supposed to be a secret.