My thoughts on the ending of the final season

Here are my thoughts on the end of the final season and thus the game series as a whole.

Considerations

When speculating on the ending, there are a number of things to consider:

  • Telltale lead writer James Windeler said that they want the game to have a "satisfying", but also "emotional" and "gut-wrenching" ending.
  • This game most likely won't (or at least not entirely) have the "Telltale curse": determinant characters always dying/getting written out of the story or your choices not mattering in general. This is because it's is the final season, so Telltale can make branching paths without having to tie them back together. That said though, I wouldn't expect anything big until the last episode.
  • Overarching themes from previous games. As this is the end for the series, these will likely play some part in the story.

Death of the main characters

In order to have a satisfying ending, Clem's (and by extension Lee's) "legacy" (like survival techniques, morals and philosophy; the player's decisions for the most part) need to be carried on by someone. To put it in other words, if Clem dies without a "worthy successor", the entire series will feel wasted. Well, in my opinion at least. So with this in mind...

Clem and AJ

Highly unlikely. I just don't feel like there's anyone who could succeed Clem other than AJ, so at least one needs to survive.

AJ

Possible, but not very likely. Though Clem would still be alive, she would have failed her "objective" of keeping AJ safe at all costs. This would most likely change her for the worse and make everything from the end of Season 2 to the end of this season feel kind of wasted.

Clem

More likely than I'd like. AJ would need to be safe and Clem would need to pass on her legacy to him before she dies for this ending to "work". Made more likely by: possible book-end with Clem dying like Lee did, heavy foreshadowing and shock factor. Made less likely by: predictability, AJ still being too young and the emotinal bond that players (and even Telltale) have developed with Clementine.

Neither Clem, nor AJ

Pretty likely. Though it'd be harder for Telltale to make an emotional ending this way, this is the "safest play" for them.

Miscellaneous

One of the most prominent themes of the game series is the dilemma of always being on the move vs settling down (and by extension: going with groups vs staying relatively alone), so I wouldn't be surprised if the very last choice would be related to this.
I also think that it's very likely that we'll get multiple endings.
Lastly, I'd like to discuss some of the achievements for Episode 4. They don't reveal that much, but if you want to avoid even the smallest spoilers, then I don't recommend clicking the show button.

  • "Goodbye" points towards somebody's death, though it could be anyone: Clem, AJ, somebody from Ericsson or someone we haven't met yet.
  • "You and me" probably means that Clementine will do something that Lee did. This could mean good (protecting AJ) or bad (Clem getting bitten).
  • "Promise" is pretty self-explanatory. Could be foreshadowing, however.
  • "Lost and Found" is the "big one", the one everyone is speculating wildly about. As it has been noted before, it says "Clem's hat", not "your hat", which would imply that we'll be playing as someone other than Clem (AJ most likely). Remember that at the end of Season 1, when Lee found Clem's hat, Clem wasn't the one who got bit and that this doesn't necessarily mean she's dead (or anything for that matter). And since there could be multiple endings and this achievement is an optional one anyway, I wouldn't start panicking just yet.

Thanks for reading my post, I hope I didn't bore anyone to death with my wall of text.

Comments

  • By leaks you mean the episode 4 achievements?

  • Yep, those are the ones.

  • I've seen people talk about them on these forums, they are not technically leaks. So you should be safe to talk about them in spoiler tags.

    Yep, those are the ones.

  • Yes, please, it would interest me these famous leaks !

  • edited August 2018

    I'm pretty sure the descriptions of those achivements are considered leaks though, as they are not supposed to be visible yet.

    NexusFire posted: »

    I've seen people talk about them on these forums, they are not technically leaks. So you should be safe to talk about them in spoiler tags.

  • In my opinion, there's going to be at least three different endings.

    • Clementine dies.
    • Clementine lives, but gives AJ away because she can't deal with him any longer (not that likely).
    • Clementine and AJ keep going together.

    Lastly, I'd have liked to discuss one of the leaks about the last episode, but that's not allowed here, even with spoiler tags. If someone has an idea how I could give my thoughts about it, let me know.

    Just don't on here unless you can find someone to PM.

    https://www.deviantart.com/xzombiealix/art/Discord-Sever-for-Walking-Dead-Final-Season-Leaks-760253005

    That Discord seems like the thing you're looking for, but I haven't checked it out for obvious reasons.

  • edited August 2018

    My problem with your idea is why would anyone go with the ending in which Clementine dies, if they can get a happy ending instead? It wouldn't be impossible to make such an ending appealing, but it would certainly be hard.
    As for the leaks, I wanted to share them with this community in particular, but if that's impossible, then nevermind.

    In my opinion, there's going to be at least three different endings. * Clementine dies. * Clementine lives, but gives AJ away because

  • My problem with your idea is why would anyone go with the ending in which Clementine dies, if they can get a happy ending instead? It wouldn't be impossible to make such an ending appealing, but it would certainly be hard.

    Make it a really emotional and satisfying ending. Lee's death was sad, but fitting. I agree it's kind of predictable, but you wouldn't conciously choose this ending the first time you play the game (unless you're not playing blind). It would just happen. You can still go back later or use a different save file.

    As for the leaks, I wanted to share them with this community in particular, but if that's impossible, then nevermind.

    Well, at the risk of sounding like an asshole, for the most part this community doesn't want you to share the leaks with them as it would ruin the experience for many. I know that there are a lot of people who want to discuss the leaks too, but you'll have to find them and PM them probably.

  • edited August 2018

    Make it a really emotional and satisfying ending. Lee's death was sad, but fitting. I agree it's kind of predictable, but you wouldn't conciously choose this ending the first time you play the game (unless you're not playing blind). It would just happen. You can still go back later or use a different save file.

    You are right actually, I take back what I said.

    Well, at the risk of sounding like an asshole, for the most part this community doesn't want you to share the leaks with them as it would ruin the experience for many. I know that there are a lot of people who want to discuss the leaks too, but you'll have to find them and PM them probably.

    You are right, I just wanted to include it in this post, because it is very much relevant. Oh well.

    My problem with your idea is why would anyone go with the ending in which Clementine dies, if they can get a happy ending instead? It wouldn

  • edited August 2018

    You can ask a moderator whether it's allowed to talk about secret achievements.

    Make it a really emotional and satisfying ending. Lee's death was sad, but fitting. I agree it's kind of predictable, but you wouldn't conci

  • edited August 2018

    Nah, it's definitely a leak (as I said, we are not supposed to see the descriptions yet) and those are forbidden. It's fine.

    NexusFire posted: »

    You can ask a moderator whether it's allowed to talk about secret achievements.

  • Okay.

    Nah, it's definitely a leak (as I said, we are not supposed to see the descriptions yet) and those are forbidden. It's fine.

  • The episode 4 achievements arnt really leaks and their descriptions are not enough for you to be able to put anything together, its just wild speculation, they can still mean a ton of other things. Theres only one thats straight forward on what it is, but even that one isnt a spoiler.

    I'm pretty sure the descriptions of those achivements are considered leaks though, as they are not supposed to be visible yet.

  • Well, nevermind what I said then. I'll put that section back in.

    Poogers555 posted: »

    The episode 4 achievements arnt really leaks and their descriptions are not enough for you to be able to put anything together, its just wil

  • Interesting thoughts tbh.

  • If you're still wanting to talk about the achievements, it is allowed as long as you're using spoiler tags and are talking in a clearly marked spoiler thread. I asked one of the moderators so don't worry.

    Well, nevermind what I said then. I'll put that section back in.

  • Poogers already told me just a couple of comments before you and I put the mentioned part back into the main post, but thanks anyway.

    NexusFire posted: »

    If you're still wanting to talk about the achievements, it is allowed as long as you're using spoiler tags and are talking in a clearly marked spoiler thread. I asked one of the moderators so don't worry.

  • Oh sorry, I didn't notice. :D

    Poogers already told me just a couple of comments before you and I put the mentioned part back into the main post, but thanks anyway.

  • When I read the title I thought I traveled to the future rofl.

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