Tales from the Borderlands: A History of Cut Content Part 1 and 2
So I went on a deep dive of Tales from the Borderlands to try and uncover as much unused content this game had to offer. No secret this game has a ton of rewrites and a lot of it is sitting in the files. Theres a ton so I wont be surprised at all if I missed a big chunk of unused stuff.
I have put together almost all cut content from Tales from the Borderlands in 1 single video. There is a ton here, a fair amount is stuff you may have already read here, but a good amount isn't. Some is pretty well known and some isn't. There are a few scenes I managed to get working again as well. Either way I feel this video summarizes everything a lot clearer.
Yes this is an hour long. (There are time stamps)
Part 2 (with time stamps)
Note: This is messy. Im sure its hard to understand when reading it but I wanted to put together as much as I could as clearly as I could. But even then Im sure it wont be the clearest thing to read. You have no idea how unorganized this stuff is. Way more complicated than just reading. Anyway:
If anyone has questions about stuff I'll answer best I can. I'll even go back and see if theres more to some stuff if people are interested but anyway. Long post ahead:
Episode 1:
Marcus’ intro is different, is more focused on how “someone else” will tell the story. Starts with the stranger who then comes across Rhys.
Rhys isnt kidnapped by the stranger, instead Rhys is hitchhiking and is picked up by the stranger. Rhys can reveal he use to have a partner but they’re relationship came to “an end” after a gunfight. (meaning at one point Rhys and Fiona would have tried to kill each other)
Rhys seems to know where the Stranger was going as Rhys is there on purpose. The roles are almost switched. (seems to be implied the Stranger originally was going after a Vault and Rhys wanted in and was tagging along) (In general Rhys refers to Fiona as his partner to the Stranger a lot- so at one point the matching outfits like many thought before were probably more important)
From there its unsure if this is part of the same original scene or an alternate version, but if it is the same version the Stranger would trick Rhys and not take him to where Rhys thought he was going but make some sort of excuse about stopping for a dying nephew or Grandma. Then he would pull the gun on Rhys and they meet up with Fiona. Worth noting, I could find one animation left over from when this happens that involves Rhys putting his hands up specifically due to the Stranger, but it seems everything else was deleted.
(An alternate scene of the very start before Rhys is knocked out appears to be Rhys buying land from the Stranger from Eden-4. It also seems at one point Rhys was selling land to robots and the Stranger. Also in general Rhys seems to dislike robots in this build)
Most interesting part about this is the Stranger just says what happens. He has the Gorty’s parts- tells them they opened the vault a year ago with the robot but failed. And he wants them to work together as they were the closest in succeeding. Rhys and Fiona dont want to work together again.
Funny - after this the script itself literally says (ALT SCENE WE WILL PROBABLY GO WITH) and its the scene we got in the final game. Weird how it seems like it was last minute.
Helios scene is mostly the same. However the eridium deal that was mentioned in the Rhys cosplay guide is actually hinted at.
However big change is Vasquez hires Rhys to do the vault key deal for him. He is the one to tell them to steal 1 million dollars to go and do the deal for him and then they all benefit. Also Vasquez killed Henderson because Henderson didnt want to do the deal.
Its also implied Rhys and Yvette were dating in this build.
(There is an alternate scene that has voice lines left for Vasquez as well. Pretty much the same as the one in game but theres a lot more history between Rhys and Vasquez with Rhys telling him he took his job. You can also fully tell Vasquez you know about the vault key and he will threaten to cause an “accident.”)
On Pandora there was a car hacking mini-game. Also revealed originally why Rhys never used his robo arm for strength. They originally intend for it to be purposely fragile. Here Vaughn was very nervous and kept throwing up. Also at one point this is where the narration would begin with Rhys, not on Helios.
There would be an actual gunfight at Prosperity Junction and Shade would assist you in fighting them. Possibly left over from one of the first ever screenshots of this game. Also it appears Bossinova and Zer0 appear here as well.(also backing up that screenshot) The money also gets stuck in corrosive acid. The Shade fight still has some Shade audio.
The key deal is pretty much exactly the same - nothing worth telling really.
Its then Fiona’s turn. At this point we already met up with Fiona so the stranger just makes them change story perspectives. Fiona is in debt to the mob (Vallory.)
Sasha wasnt the bartender someone else was and you could get drinks and ask about Vallory. Could also play cards. Finch and Kroger would come up and harrass you before Vallory comes and stops it so they can talk. (also you could hit Kroger with a crowbar for some reason)
The deal goes down with Vallory and August. Finch and Kroger are there as well. You dont actually bring the key to the bar though. The whole time August is being ignored by his mom when he keeps saying not to trust Fiona. This is less so about tricking them and more so making a deal to get yourself out of debt. In Fact they know the key is fake- youre selling your plan for them to make money so they leave you alone.
This part is confusing as it contradicts the last scene. Seems they were unsure what to do with Finch and Kroger. Apparently they’d show up to the deal trying to take the money for themselves and threaten August. And another they are there to enforce the deal goes down for Vallory. In all versions August doesnt like them.
In another scene they have Fiona hostage having to wait for the deal to go down. Here they accidentally reveal they are going to rob August. Also Kroger has a sister on another planet Fiona can try and get Finch and Kroger to betray each other.
Once everyone is in the Caravan Rhys argues with Felix about it being outdated.Theres a 4th wall break where Rhys says Fiona was yelling at him super harshly but in reality she was really nice to him. Also Vaughn’s questioning of Rhys’ friendship happens here when talking to Fiona. Says they were friends in college but ever since Handsome Jack he’s been trying to fit a mold, wonders if they’d be friends had he met him now and not before. Fiona also gives Vaughn and Rhys a gun and a shield. (also very strange in one single line - seems at one point Felix was Sasha and Fiona’s real dad, not adopted father.)
At the arena theres a bigger focus on the team up with Fiona and Sasha telling Rhys and Vaughn they are either in or out on this plan. There seems to be no fake Rhys plan, instead at the hatch Sasha cant life it, so Rhys makes fun of her for not being able to, then Rhys tries and cant, then Fiona, and none of them can even when all of them are lifting. When Vaughn helps then they lift it. (unsure if thats foreshadowing to Vaughn being buff af)
Rhys and Sasha in the hatch for the most part is the same. Doesnt seem to be a scene where Rhys cant snap the bandit neck or the case being down there. Biggest change is how Sasha wants the stun button as she pretty much tries to grab it like a little kid while going “I want it me me me me me” and instead of an elevator they take a mine cart. It doesnt appear like the cart would go fast but would be on a rail with a 800 meter drop. Sasha would be afraid of heights Rhys to get her mind off it tells her to tell a funny story about Fiona. Or he can mess with her and keep talking about high up they are. They talk about fears and Rhys fears are “currently Hyperion, not accomplishing anything in his life, and being forgotten.” Or he can say he isnt afraid of anything.
Fiona and Vaughn is also very much the same, but mostly dialogue. Biggest thing worth noting is Vaughn is unsure if Sasha wants to “screw him, or screw him” (as in screw him over or… you know) Fiona responds with Sasha is with August, he isnt her type, or she likes husky men.
The scene where the arena starts is pretty much exactly the same except for different lines. There is references to Vasquez and Rhys working together like originally planned with Rhys saying he isnt going to help him after all he did. Also you could really sell out Vaughn hard to Vasquez by full on telling Sasha you dont give a shit what happens to Vaughn. Also for some reason Vasquez wants Rhys to bring Sasha to him, kinda random and not sure why he wants her. LoaderBot was also going to return here and help Rhys.
The Fiona segment with Felix betrayal has nothing worth noting.
The aftermath is almost the same just that it isnt as “oh shit we lost” type of feel. More dialogue including Fiona being really mad they lost the money. Nothing really unused, just the characters stating a lot of the obvious. Stranger at the end is interesting as it seems like Handsome Jack was originally viewable by everyone. Rhys mentions Jack screwed with “us” and Fiona mentions it as well, seems implied Fiona could interact with Jack.
The next time segment is different it goes on longer. Rhys mentions a “cool robot” and they argue over “spoilers” and Rhys says the stranger doesnt mind spoilers. The stranger says thats correct he doesnt and then says hes going to spoil them now, one of them isnt going to make it out of this negotiation. Episode end.
Episode 2:
Starts the same way no change worth noting.
Same for the Fiona scene. Same for the Rhys scene. However it seems you could loot Pollux for a ring and his medals.
The caravan scene was the same except that Jack was telling Rhys when and where to turn. This is probably why that scene in the Next Time in 101 has Rhys driving while Jack is with him. Also seems like Fiona was driving at first instead of Sasha. Also at one point Sasha was guiding Rhys and telling him when to boost to hit the Rakk Hive.
In the desert Rhys and Vaughn could get into a fight about betraying each other to Vasquez and Vaughn feeling like Rhys doesnt treat him like a real friend. They’d get into a fight threatening violence, Vaughn says he could kill Rhys right now if he wanted no one would know. Also the argument is mostly about how Vaughn apparently saved Rhys’ life earlier.
Next big change is when Vasquez shows up, August is there as well. (Or its possible its determinant and they switch roles based on some kind of choice) They both tell them to dig. Really weird is Vasquez says he knows they are “working with Sasha and Livia.”Reference to how Fiona’s con name was this in ep 1. This part of ep 2 may have already been written way back as it seems to follow one of the earliest known storylines of this game where you have to kill Vaughn because he hates you. So it is possible Fiona was originally Livia. Jack also mentions he recognized Vasquez here who was originally a masseuse for Jack.
Fiona at scooters: Fiona mentions this is Vallory’s area again and to be careful. It also appears Fiona Sasha and Scooter already knew each other in this build. Scooter also seems to have a big crush on Sasha and really wants to talk and impress her. Tector also shows up at the garage arguing and threatening Fiona on August’s behalf. He also harrasses Scooter over ownership shit. Jimbo is also there. August then shows up with some goons gets mad at Scooter for being “with his girl” and then throws a hood over Fiona’s head.
This part is confusing as it randomly inserts itself between the Scoot garage. It also jumps around like crazy and has no real structure, sorry if this is super confusing. Suddenly Rhys and Vaughn are hiding somewhere (I'm assuming a sewer) and Vaughn starts to act “normal” again which Rhys notes. Jack sees anti-hyperion propaganda and is confused why Pandora hates him. (Also again, it seems like others could see Jack at some point as Vaughn responds to Jack twice. Jack asks for an Amen and Vaughn says it as well as Vaughn apologizing to Jack. Just a ton of acknowledging what Jack does or says. I may be wrong but it really seems like it was at least considered at some point.)
Also it appears they are hiding from Athena or trying to find Athena (most likely trying to find Athena.)
August also shows up- again and now puts a hood over Rhys. Now they are with Fiona who tells them to take off their Hyperion badges already as it makes them a target. From there Fiona says the docks are “this way” and Rhys says “Athena awaits.” It seems like they were taken to the Purple Skag.
Again very confusing and not in order. Rhys and Vaughn go to Felix’s safe house. (or are currently in a pawn shop finding their way to Felix) (Fiona earlier mentions going there to get his contact list.) While there they come across an echo of Vallory saying she knows they are in Hollowpoint. Apparently they are also hiding in Emmit’s pawn shop. Emmit would apparently sell to Hyperion for whatever reason. Vallory demands the money be left as a dead drop at an address or else.
Theres also scenes with Fiona Rhys Sasha and Vaughn hiding from Tector and Jimbo who wants to kill Hyperion. They are trying to make their treck towards Felix’s place.
OKAY! So after that super confusing mess it gets even more confusing after they finally reach Felix’s safe house. (or possible now the purple skag. Sorry how unclear this is)
August Tector and Jimbo and Vallory find Fiona Vaughn and Sasha. Sasha and Vaughn are hostage. Vallory wants her money. Also it appears in episode 1 you could convince Finch and Kroger to betray Vallory. (a bit confusing) NEXT Vallory makes Fiona choose which finger she is going to cut off of Vaughn. Vallory says she hired one of the best bounty hunters ever to kill Fiona in 2 days if she doesnt get the money. However Athena isnt that bounty hunter. Instead Vallory tells them to find Athena to send them in the correct direction. (HOWEVER! Because this is the most confusing mess of rewrites I have ever seen- later in the script its revealed Athena was hired by Vallory to kill them so uuuuhhhhh)
The Felix echo log is differet with him saying Hollowpoint isnt safe. He also mentions years ago he helped a young woman on Pandora, probably the woman in the photo of the actual game. Apparently he stole 7 million dollars from Vallory or something- again this is so confusing.
The Athena chase. Athena fully admits that she will kill you in 2 days. Athena is straight up about how she will kill us, Janey watches her say it. (Seems implied they broke up and are exes at this point) There is no secret dynamic this time. Also it seems like Sasha’s hand might be cut off somehow? Its mentioned August cutting someones hand and later Sasha mentions she has a ton of blood lose and needs a doctor. This might be for Vaughn as well but it isnt clear) Anyway Athena does tell them all about Gortys and what it does and where to go. She says they have 48 hours to get it all sold and have the money or else she kills them. You can convince her to bump it to 72 hours. There was also a choice for you to join Sasha in “indimadating” Athena/Janey by acting very “bro” like (think of it like Key and Peele skit but instead of it being a rap battle, they are talking all “tough” and hyping each other up. It doesnt do anything like one of them getting out of control though 
)
ALRIGHT! So after this we finally get ready to leave Hollow Point. Tector is back again and he is coming with us. However - it seems Fiona and Sasha want no part of that and drive off without him,or just run him and Jimbo over. Scooter betrayed his family. It seems like either you drive off without Tector and Jimbo or Scooter makes them leave.
From THERE it seems like Tector and Jimbo come back and chase them in a van (or are still in the garage- again there is a ton of contradictions) and are shooting at Fiona and Sasha. Then Loader Bot finally appears and fights them. (It is possible there are 3 loader bots) All of them are very vulgar saying Holy shit and talking about enjoyment of killing. Athena would help out for some reason and then theres a choice to get the caravan or help Scooter.
Once we finally get to Rhys in Old Haven Vaughn talks about how theyve almost died and feels the “3 of them” (Jack) make a good team. However Loaderbot didnt bring them there, instead Fiona and Sasha pick them up in the desert. Cut to the future Fiona says Rhys doesnt like this part because it makes him”look bad.” Funny 4th wall break of Fiona and Sasha catching Rhys and Vaughn up by just going “blah blah blah Atlas blah blah blah Athena.” Theres a scene of Fiona and Sasha driving there talking about how much their life is changing and if they can trust Rhys and Vaughn still. Also Scooter can be with you at this point so looks like if you help him he tags along. Scooter would keep talking about Old haven Ghost Stories. There may or may not have been zombies falling off roofs. Scooter also continued to show he wanted to be with Sasha.
Once they enter its largely the same with everyone dead but Scooter and keeps making his voice echo while saying how he will do anything to keep Sasha safe. Vaughn trips over Fiona, the lights are all off. Also it seems like the facility would be infected with Rakk. Unsure but they find themselves in a room full of “pillows” but then Vaughn yells that they arnt pillows, sadly it isnt clear what they are actually in. Also theres a fake out Scooter death where it appears everyone thinks he fell down a massive hole in the dark or got seperated but he didnt. He finds a door. The facility its self apparently looked more like an ancient ruin. Also the statue looked a lot like Vaughn. Cassius also appears as a hologram here and so does Pollux. They “welcome you” to the Gortys project saying its a combination of the military and science devision. Scooter also points out Pollux looks a bit like Vaughn. This whole area seems like it would be a HUB. Rhys would then stumble upon Cassius and his cat who he calls Dr. Whiskerson. Also Cassius was keeping Vaughn hostage or something. It seems Rhys wants a computer key from him, Rhys hacks into the system using Cassius stuff. The Galitarium is said by name. Then again theres another hub. Rhys talks to Fiona and Sasha and interestingly this convo was used in the final game in some form (or it was unused audio but it uses a different audio code so it was def swapped.) The line being Rhys saying the “Dont worry guys things may look dark now but our sunrise is just around the corner!) Also in the hub it looks like Sasha’s injury (possible hand related) was due to Kroger as it was due to someone with a hook hand (Kroger’s beta model had a hook hand)
From there the scene seems to finally catch up with Vasquez and August coming down. They split them up just as before.
Anyway - Rhys and Fiona make Gortys. Gortys already starts talking. Jack wants you to trust him so they can take control of the holograph Pollux, Cassius is really nuts in this version and he puts the whole facility in lock down. Also insane about Gortys is she had a southern accent and Scooter liked her a lot. She also had a very “adventurous persona” (think Saxton Hale from TF2) Also she may have been a he as Rhys calls Gortys Mr Robot. There was also a lot of poisonous gas.
There seems to be an alternate version of this scene where August and Vasquez dont come down and instead its only Cassius losing his mind causing problems saying they are stealing his and Pollux’s work going “Cassius and Pollux forever!!!” and is strangling Vaughn, they convince him to let Vaughn go because Vaughn looks like Pollux. He seems to think Vaughn is Pollux. (Also Cassius first name is William.)
Anyway - it then also seems August and vasquez are there as they wont leave until they get Gortys.
Anyway the ending was still trust Jack or Fiona. Jack still said the same thing, hack the turrets (and the system its self like Pollux it seems) while Fiona sees a big button saying launch and eject. A lot of this is still in the game’s voice files so at one point it seems the idea of it ending Gortys being fully made and talk was in check and trusting Fiona leads to an ejection scene.
Anyway, that's episode 2. Basically 3 fucking episodes in all that. Sorry if it was confusing I dont blame you. It has so many alternate scenes and ideas its insane to try and figure out what the actual order is.
Episode 3:
Thank God this one and 4 arnt nearly as crazy as the rest of the season’s changes.
Trust Jack - basically the same just more voice lines not said in the final game.
Trust Fiona - A few minor changes. Rhys and Fiona talk more before she opens the vent. Also once upton in the chaos everything calms down for a second because Vasquez and August think Rhys and Co blew themselves up. Also doesnt seem like theres the turret part or anything like that after they leave the vent instead they take the remote from Vasquez and free loaderbot. Fiona throws Im assuming Rhys her hat because things are gonna get “messy”
When Vallory shows up she wants Gortys to sell her. Says she kills all our friends and sells Gortys. The “fabrication part” is changed. After Fiona “defeats” Vallory Sasha says Fiona is her hero and Vaughn begs for an autograph. The other option was 2 vault hunters show up out of nowhere and cause panic which Rhys tells the Stranger isnt true. (most likely it was going to be Brick and Morty start attacking Vallory or something in this fabrication Fiona is making, Rhys says they dont show up till later) Also a fake choice was to just shoot Vallory in the face. Another one was Fiona being overly bad ass with a slow mo of Vallory going “Shes too powerful to be stopped by us! Run!!!”
The scene is different as well as Vasquez makes everyone get in line (kinda like a firing squad is seems) The scene plays out basically the same for the most part minus alternate lines.
Biggest change is Vasquez is shot in the crotch and his dying words are “tell...yvette…”
When Athena talks to them theres some left over Goons who beg for death and jokes about how they have families.
More well known cut content - Gortys acted like an annoyed teenager now.
In the caravan there was a few changes. Fiona was sleeping not Sasha who was driving. Here you could tell Vaughn about Handsome Jack if you didnt tell him in episode 2. Fiona would tell you to shut up for behind loud. Also seems like at one point Jack made Rhys punch Vaughn, vaughn then gets a choice to punch Rhys back to “turn off” Jack.
The Jungle Hub scene is pretty much exactly the same but Vaughn might be angry at Rhys and start talking about himself in 3rd person because he doesnt want to talk to Rhys. So he says “Vaughn is upset with what Rhys has said and its hurting their friendship” stuff like that.
Inside the Atlas Facility there was some stuff to do. For example an intercom. Most of you probably know this as there are voice lines still in there but Sasha would start her radio broadcast on it talking about music and Rhys hops in with an air guitar. Also looks like we played as Rhys, not Fiona. Probably changed later because the quick change needed money that Fiona had not Rhys. Cassius also greats everyone like a guest - not hiding and in panic.
Sasha and Rhys scene: Apparently you could tell Sasha about Jack. In the future the Stranger ask and Rhys either says he did or didnt tell her about Jack in his head.When you tell her she is in shock. In fact it seems the original point of this scene was telling Sasha about Jack. Also Vaughn is heard on the intercom narrating his own story. Sasha can get mad at you and also upset if and she almost spills she has feelings for Rhys.
Fiona and Athena is the same but instead of a plant you fought a Bullymong (still animation in the files as well.) Funny thing is they have descriptions of what each character is doing in a scene and this one is “Athena: I GOT YOU HERE FOR THREE MINUTES!” “FIONA: THREE MINUTES OF- PLAY TIME!!!”
After Rhys is knocked out and returned- another more well known one, the gang tries to wake him up. Fiona suggests slapping him for 100 bucks or kissing him. The kiss thing is weird as I've now finally found more to it. Strangely the other part of it isnt in the same scene but that does happen time to time and it doesnt make sense for it being in the hub scene. Anyway, it would appear that for some reason Fiona was going to “kiss Rhys awake.” Vaughn asks Sasha “Are they gonna kiss?” and Sasha says “awkward or uncomfortable” followed by Vaughn saying “Rhys and Fiona sittin in a tree…”
At first there is dialogue before of Sasha saying “they never talk” which I thought would be in the hub area as Vaughn and Sasha watch Rhys and Fiona talk but it doesnt make much sense for what they say afterwords.
Assuming after they kiss Vaughn says “This is about to get ugly. Or real. Or real ugly.” kind of implying things will get “real between Rhys and Fiona.” Sasha’s response is “get a room.”
End of Rhyiona.
The Vallory Battle is pretty much the same but there's a ton of extra Vaughn shouting stuff at bandits. Just think Borderlands 3 Vaughn. I think he may be fighting them off.
Athena was going to just surrender to Brick and Morty. Vallory took Springs to threaten if Athena didnt stop. Janey was going to be at the end of the episode where she finds out the truth about Athena.
Episode 4:
It had a different intro. It would be meta about how Part 4 was the “weak part of the story.” Stranger mentions how theres always parts where the story takes a break. Fiona is sleeping at this time. The Stranger implies Rhys is just going to say a bunch of filler. The stranger monologues about storytelling which Rhys disagrees with, Fiona wakes up asking if they are on part 4 and joins the stranger in roasting Rhys for not understanding organic storytelling.
Apparently there was a contact the stranger had who would sell him another Gortys piece. Its just listed, has no actual interaction.
The heist plan is practically the same again - just changed lines but nothing story changing. Vaughn was going to be a bit more present saying how they kicked their asses and glad they killed those goons.
Heist montage has only one real change. When Fiona and Scott grab hands Scooter says she has “soft paws” really creepy and Fiona says “dude…”
Scooter garage: similar but August enters with Fiona and Sasha. Youd tell Scooter about what happened to Athena and August would chirp in if you weren't being truthful about him beating you. Springs is mad about you lying about Athena to her. Claims its annoying hearing the Crimson Raiders saying they caught Handsome Jacks Body Gaurd.
Determinant Vaughn scene seems the same.
Pizza Party - Rhys would kick in a psycho’s face. He started kicking a lot so much Jack keeps commenting on it. Jack also is trying to be buddy buddy with Rhys about running Helios. For the most part no changes.
Before Take off - You’d talk to Fiona about the outfit she was wearing instead of Sasha.
Spaceship - There was going to be oxygen leaks that needed patching that Fiona would do. Springs would help guide you (over intercom I'm assuming) Scooter too.
Once the Caravan landed on Helios, Rhys would have to explain why they were there over the intercom. The excuse would be arms dealing and taking Atlas Weaponry. When describing Fiona and Sasha Fiona is hat girl Sasha is either pretty one or tiny one. Ironically the one time it would actually change based on if your romanced Sasha is a cut line AHEM
More of the same until Fiona reaches Hub of Heroism. Originally August would also be down there as well. He’d just make sure you and Sasha had it under control - then back to regular game.
Tour scene - After everyone dies Fiona was going to go to Rhys/Vasquez’s office. Mostly the same but the biggest change was Mr. Blake’s nephew was there and would have been really annoying. There’d also be more questions about Jacks rise to power.
Vasquez Yvette office is the same.
After this scene Fiona talks to Rhys and the dialogue is different and more focused on “plan B.” Fiona would also being posing as a janitor now.
Finger Gun fight - First youd be talking to some guy called Hordy Beeman saying how he’s missed Vasquez and his yelling. Then you’d come across the accountants.
Prison - Biggest change Felix is alive. He is in the prison cell. He was captured by Hyperion about the missing money and they want answers. Its revealed he faked his death no matter what choice. Even more crazy is this is all pretty much finished. Completed chores and voice lines in the files- theres even stuff for him in episode 5 kinda surprised this was cut. There was a choice to leave him in the cell or not. Also Sasha would come down to the prison before the rest of the scene plays out, she knocks out the guard.
Jack office scene is pretty much the same.
Episode 5:
In the files not actually in the script - theres side notes and one of them is an idea that Jack toys with Yvette to mock Rhys. To save Yvette Rhys has to lose his arm.
At one point Yvette seems to be not locked up and has her guards. She will then get rid of them if you are friendly. Later in the core she could send guards after you again.
Rhys could leave Jack’s office a bit different, just straight up jumping down it saying “Rhys out bitches.” He could then potentially land on Yvette. It seems either this one was of the alternate scenes based on if you trusted Jack or not in episode 4 as this scene is different as another version of this that seemed to have gotten much further. Although not mentioned actually happening, once Rhys meets up with Rhys and Sasha he keeps talking about how the robot arms kept touching him and were trying to get inside him and how hot they were. He keeps talking about it and when touched screams about how he doesnt want anyone to get inside his body. But thats about as far as this alt scene goes, this next scene is what seemed to have the most done.
In the script - Fiona chops off Rhys arm because he gets stuck in the trap door. A few ways to do it one of them she turns on the trap door and it crushes his arm but releases Rhys.
This is what it probably is: Rhys gets stuck in the trap door, Fiona has to remove his arm by using the trap door trap it is stuck in and crush it off. Rhys complains about it and is mad about how expensive it was. In this version Rhys is escaping with both Fiona and Sasha - they dont get seperated. Rhys has to hide though so he has to hide in in a laundry cart. (Felix would also hide in the cart if he was there) Fiona and Sasha then push him pretending to be janitors to try and save him from Jack. This would go on at least till the scene where Jack is on all the monitors and talking to Fiona. Rhys would be present in the scene.
Jack then tries to convince Fiona to betray Rhys. He brings up things like Rhys choosing to let Sasha fall in ep 3, not trusting Fiona, selling out Vaughn, things like that. You could consider the idea of turning Rhys in but it doesnt look like you actually could. Rhys would comment that you tried selling him out in the future though. Fiona can either say Jack is lying and Rhys is a good person or agree that Rhys is an asshole. Jack offers you to rule Hyperion if you betray Rhys.
It appears at one point Rhys would turn off all of Helios power and there was a blackout.
Episode 5 everyone regroups - Fiona says to ditch Rhys or wait for him
Looks like Finch and Kroger steal the caravan. Fiona Sasha and August go to the escape pods.
At one point it seems there was a fix the Caravan mini game.
There were parts where it would go back to the future. However this was probably cut due to pacing as well as the stranger reveal being a bit too obvious (he starts talking about his parts
rusting)
The Jack death scene is mostly the same, nothing worth noting. Doesnt seem like theres a version of this if Rhys didnt have his arm (which is surprising as Rhys losing his arm on Helios went on for a while. Even has some animation left over with the laundry carts)
Gortys on Pandora. Vallory dies no matter what. If you warned her August isnt mad at you, if you didnt August threatens you. Sasha either tells Fiona to leave August alone or Sasha punches August. Unsure what causes this. However August never dies, Fiona tells August they are going their separate ways and never wants to see him again. (if he threatened you) Felix would have been at the Gortys on Pandora scene or was planned if they ever put him in ep 4. Unsure what he would have done there.
In the present it seems at one point Finch would have been in Kroger’s role. Unsure but it seems like at one point either Finch or Kroger die in the past whoever lives does this role instead. Whoever appears in the future would still “kill” loaderbot as in the files there is still animation for Finch killing Loaderbot. Fiona can make fun of his face and hair where she would have made fun of Kroger’s stache. Rhys would have been a bit more defensive of Fiona in the scene as well saying he wants her to get out of it and not die.
When assembling the team there was a lot more dialogue. Each time you picked someone your team would discuss that option before making it. Also again, even if he thought dead Felix could be recruited, Loader Bot would reveal he isnt dead. (They really wanted to bring him back it seems)
Theres some sort of dramatic speech Rhys and Fiona give. Im not sure where this fits in the story at all I almost feel its some kind of post episode scene or something. It contains Pollux who talks about how Fiona scooped his eyes out and now he can “truly see.” They even brought back the guy who sold you mask and Tector too.
It seems it may have been a speech for whatever team you get. So it seems it would include Pollux, Tector, someone named Jones, “Guy Fiona stole money from”, psycho buddy, mask vendor, gary, biker buddy, and Shade. Not sure why some of these are options for more reasons than just some are dead no matter what.
Zer0 also helped you because he was impressed about Bossanova originally.
The actual battle has no changes it seems. From there almost no changes at all other than slightly changed unused lines of what is still present in the story...
Misc
Here Im just gonna post random things I find. A few things.
It seems Dumpy was originally able to be upgraded at the quick change as well. Im unsure as what his upgrade would be but its possible it may have been to fix his crappy voice and make it sound more happy.
In episode 1 theres an animation thats apparently Fiona being tied up and Rhys comes to save her, but context behind it is weird as its just this lone animation with no animation for Rhys freeing her, just Fiona being freed by Rhys
Rhys' air guitar is super disappointing. Unless Im just unable to get it to fully animate, this is all thats left of it lol
Comments
Anyway that was a lot of time I'll never get back
I've only skimmed so far, but it looks to be an impressive and comprehensive write-up of lost trivia, etc. I'll have to come back to this at some point - thanks for sharing!
Holy wow that's a lot of work. How long did it take you to dig through everything?
It seems like originally the main characters were a bit more scummy and asshole-ish than the bumbling dorks they ended up being (which I prefer personally).
Probably around 5ish hours and that was just skimming. Funny thing is I am positive I missed a lot of other cut content.
Episode 2 suffers the most of the scummy side imo. The Vaughn fight has dilouge of them both saying they hate each other and how Vaughn is nothing without Rhys. A lot of the episode 1 stuff is pretty in-line with the rest of how the characters act though I would say.
I will say the original opening is interesting. Marcus straight up says this story starts with a "mysterious stranger" and like I said, appears he is driving down the road until Rhys stands out to hitch hike with him. This intro is actually really interesting imo. Rhys acts like he knows everything about the Stranger while the Stranger is confused about why Rhys wants to go where the Stranger is going if he doesnt know what the Stranger is going.
Holy moly that's a lot of stuff. I've only read the stuff about EP1 for now (and a bit of EP2), but a lot of it is pretty interesting and stuff I'd like to have seen.
This is very interesting
OMG. Telltale was really trying to push some kind of drama right off the bat between Rhys and Vaughn already culminating in a friendship-ruining fight in episode 2. Boy am I glad that didn't come to pass. I need my Bros to be Bros.
I have videos of 2 of these cut scenes, let me upload them now.
Scrapped Bandit Fight with Rudiger and tons of Steves
(Episode 1)
Scrapped Helios Mission Planning, with the “soft paws” joke and the Hyperion Bigshot getting flattered by Sasha
(Episode 4)
These were shown off by TheOnlyRyann on Twitch a few months ago and I saved the vods because I was interested in Tales’ cut content. PLEASE GO FOLLOW HIS TWITCH! If you have any questions on Tales’ development go to his stream and he will 100% answer. Please give him the ad revenue, I don’t want to feel bad for reuploading these.
Damn, that's a lot of stuff I didn't know. Thanks for compiling all of this poogers.
The episode 1 'Next time on' now makes more sense. Vaughn present in Hollow Point, Fiona being on Athena's hit list and poor forgotten Jimbo appearance. (although I love the on going joke of him being in every 'Next time on'. Having Scooter around could be fun though) Anyway, it's interesting that Pollux looking like Vaughn was a plot point, I thought it was just a coincidence or early Vaughn design.
I'm really glad they didn't go with the 'Felix is alive no matter what' route, that's like the opposite of the classic 'determinant characters always die'. I could see him surviving where Fiona doesn't warn him about the bomb, (because he knew about it and killing himself for no reason just... doesn't make sense lol) but if Fiona shoots him, then it should be RIP for him. So yeah, if he appeared in my game, I'd be really annoyed.
TBH it looks like that the plot we got in the end turned out to be better in general (which usually doesn't happen when I'm reading about Telltale's cut content kek). Especially the bit with Vaughn being so sinister, ugh. Still wish they included some of the voice lines they decided to cut though, these are usually a gold mine.
Damn that was super cool, probably one of the best looks at a Telltale beta in any form. I had no idea Ryan showed this stuff on Stream.
Just out curiosity, do you know if any other kind of stuff is out there? I desperately want to see if theres any Beta ep 2 out there seeing how insanely different it was going to be. Really weird how Scooter was going to be a super major character. (Also the ep 4 lift off at Hollowpoint seems to be using the "docks" mentioned in episode 2 beta)
Yeah its crazy how the episode 1 next time is honestly pretty much 1 to 1 to what was going to happen in Episode 2. Even the weirder stuff like Sasha pinning down Janey makes sense now.
Only thing Im unsure about the crashed Hyperion ship in the Eridium Blight. Couldnt find anything explain it. Seems instead they re-purposed it for the episode 4 future segments. (Worth noting its a different location and a new scene, but they reused a lot of its assests)
It was set up in episode 1 as well. I didnt go as deep into it but when playing as Fiona and talking to Vaughn, Vaughn keeps talking about how Rhys is really a real nerdy guy who knows "more about board games" than he does but feels lately he wants to be a dick like everyone else at Helios. Fiona can then start suggesting he should stop being friends with him. Then the ep 2 stuff, and the ep 3 stuff goes on for a while and Vaughn gets really pissy at Rhys. Kinda surprised it went on that long with them trying to get each other to hate each other.
No one:
Me and the boys looking for that sweet unused Tales from the Borderlands content:
That. Is. Awesome.
I love how barebones Episode 1's previs seems since they were in early production and voicework hadn't started yet, so Ryan had to voice characters himself. Really cool behind-the-scenes stuff.
Then at Episode 4's development stages, I guess voicework was able to start earlier and they had more to work with, both in models and sound effects.
What's cool is that the heist sequence has a few longer/altered scenes like the caravan lifting off into space, the Tour Guide pass acquisition and the heist music went on for longer. Seems Jared E-J had a guitar solo later on in the track. (Unless that's stock music. Could be.)
The ep4 one is stock music, YouTubes algorithm noticed the music
So Im just gonna add this here in a comment even though it isnt related at all but I dont want to make a separate thread for this.
Most of us already know about Wolf Among Us cut content. But Poker Night 2 is really weird.
First, there is beta Wolf Among Us animations. Sadly they dont seem to work within Wolf Among Us. There are 3 of them. One of them is Bigby doing a front flip in werewolf form, and the other 2 are Cinderella animations- specifically the ones in those videos of her fighting Dee. These ones involved her on the scaffolding and mentioned her boots. Also I feel dumb cuz I forgot where I found this one, but theres also a Cindy running animation that I dont remember where I found but it isnt PN2 or Wolf Among Us. It may have been GOTG.
Also Poker Night 2 has more interesting stuff. Larry was a character you'd play Poker against and the Medic from TF2 was as well. Apparently someone named Colonel Lawrence Bridges was playing Poker as well but I have no idea who that is. It is possible that would have been "the player."
Next is Lee would have a cameo and most interesting is Bigby would have cameo. It would appear he would be a special "kicked out" session for the player saying you couldnt hide from him here.
Edit: Also forgot to mention. The scrap of Fabric in Ep 1 was always planned to be Nerissa's as its labeled as "Nerissa Fabric." Also theres textures for a mermaid version of Nerissa
This is really cool. Do you have any scripts for Bigby or Lee's dialogue in Poker Night 2?
Lee and Carley have dialogue scripts, so do Larry and the Medic/Engineer. I’ve seen them.
I don’t know about Bigby.
It seems like at one point you could unlock a "Fables" set for the Poker Night theme, so there would have been a Wolf Among Us styled Poker Night. This seems to be Bigby kicking you out. Gonna spoiler tag these cuz large images.
First one:
This one (split in 2 parts) is weird- context may be they "changed the story" of Bigby being nice instead of beating you up
Lee stuff. He may have also been considered as playable but Larry and the Medic have a lot more stuff including Larry having a heart attack and the medic saving him:
Also Carly has one line of dialog about batteries. Seems she'd randomly pop in to say it to Lee.
I think I might just start Borderlands within the next month, so I'll make a note to read this after I play Tales.
Wow, just wow!
Props to poogers, guys! He spent so much time doing this, thank you poogs!
This is incredible. I wonder if they got any further than the script writing stage? More to the point, I wonder why they cut all of these characters out. Bigby seems like he would've been a fantastic addition to the cast.
I don't suppose you'd be okay with showing us Larry having the heart attack and Medic saving him? That alone would be worth the price of the entire game for me.
Sadly it seems like its all been purged to my knowledge. Kinda surprising Medic and Larry were cut though as they have a ton still in the game. Bigby would have been cool but that may have been some kind of choice of not doing it as it would be a "beta" Bigby and things could (and probably did) change drastically from PN2 release to Wolf Among Us release. Didnt want a glaring difference (like Bigby using a different voice or something)
Shamelessly Bumps
"Please sir, can you spare an hour."
For whatever reason, this made me think of Big Smoke's order.
I'll check out this video, when I have time...whenever that is.
Great video took me 2 hours to fully process everything,there are a few things i wish they would've kept in but i think it worked out pretty well in the end compared to wolf where i was surprised the game was even finished at all with how much they changed the story.
Thanks! Honestly I think I'd argue Tales had the biggest changes in terms of story more so than Wolf. Hell this video doesn't even talk about the oral history interviews with things like Vasquez being Rhys' dad, Rhys and Vaughn killing each other, Vault being opened in episode 3, all that jazz. I mean the script files are massive in Tales with all the cut story. After episode 3 was when they finally got focused and there aren't any major major changes anymore once episode 4 and 5 roll around. Wolf kinda just had trouble getting started and hiccuped with Branagin, Tales has almost 2 completely different episodes that happened in live development. Episode 2 may not sound that different in the video as it is going to the same places, but the amount of plot per scene is so drastically different its crazy. (Seriously, I've really breezed over a lot of this major story stuff in this write up and in this video after getting a better grasp on what was going to happen. Its seriously stacks up to a few hundred pages per episode.)
There's SOOO MUCH To TFTBL's history/cut content and its great to finally see a video made! I've been fucking around in TFTBL's files for awhile and i always love finding new shit, like the demo assets and shit, involving Fiona's beta model.
I was checking out the scripts mainly for cut interactions, but shit is usually so jumbled and out of order its usually impossible to even make out wtf is even going on.
I always feel like theres so much more hidden shit I haven't even FOUND in these files, and it makes datamining tftbl one of the coolest things ive done. There's soooo much shit in there. Good on you, dude, for making a video containing the most interesting shit! and an ESPECIALLY fantastic job on somehow reconstructing those scenes ingame.
This really makes me want to just datamine all of the other Telltale games to see what other stuff they've scrapped.
Good job, Poogers! This is amazing, and the fact you rebuilt the scenes ingame makes it even better.
The amount of cut stuff in Tales files isn't even funny. I've already been thinking of making a follow up video to share more of the smaller things because there's so much. (Hell just realized the other day I missed something pretty big too.)
I wish the script files were not the worst things in the world lol, there's a ton of repeating and out of order interactions, but you may stumble upon something super cool and interesting. Hell I seriously breezed over these cut script scenes with things like Cassius in episode 2 with Scooter becoming a new member of the team and Vallory cutting off fingers. This may still be somewhere in the files but the "script" part is gone because the actual location was removed, but episode 2 seems like Rhys and Vaughn would be in a sewer for a scene that was removed as theres a segment in the script talking about them finally escaping from somewhere that smelled really bad, as well as there being some sewer texture stuff left over.
There's even this one file that has this list (literally over 1000 pages of text) of unused stuff like animations. None of them are able to be used as its just their names, but theres a lot of stuff in there including cut stuff from other Telltale Games. From the top of my head Tales stuff included the name of the file where Kroger gets killed by a fan, as before I had no idea how he he got his head cut off from a crowbar, and another saying Vasquez kissing Fiona's hand, and Fiona and Janey getting into a "catfight" Scooter breaks up.
Thanks my guy, sadly a lot of the really cool stuff to data mine kinda died with ANF as the rest of the games dont got that much left over to find out for that specific game. However, some do have stuff from other Telltale games. Cindy from Wolf has a few animation files that appear a bit randomly. TFTBL has animation for Cindy using rebar to fight from that video, and GOTG also has animation for Cindy doing other combat stuff. GOTG also has some sort of cut "bro-handshake" Rhys and Vaughn would have done that would have been an over the top quick time event you could fail.
That still seems kind of interesting to me. I know there's some stuff in TWAU, and I get I could probably find that stuff from Youtube. But, for some reason, using the actual tools to do it seems fun.
Honestly it is a pretty horrible terrible experience, at least when it comes to "putting the scenes back together." Actually browsing the files is pretty fun though, but coming across animation files that can be put back together honestly sucks. There is a ton of trial and error, so you gotta figure out which swap is going to work out, hope it is even the correct file to swap out, and then hope the file you're trying to get working again actually works and wasn't wiped clean. (The most disappointing thing in Tales files honestly is the fact so much of it is left over, but they whipped the file, so its blank, but still remains.) Then you gotta reset every time and swap each file in. The actual game check points can be an issue too, so then you're gonna want something to be able to fast forward to reach the part you want. Basically it is a lot lol.
Im like 90% sure the next video InColdBlood is going to make is going to be on Detective Brannigan and he will reconstruct the original opening scene as it pretty much is 90% finished. So look forward to seeing Bigby smash Branagin against a wall n shit yo
That's indeed hmm.
It's pretty crazy to see how much stuff changed between the initial pitch and the final product (and how much was still in the files lul), especially those first 2 episodes.
Thanks for making this, must have taken you a long time. It was a good watch.
Honestly wish Telltale openly talked about cut content more often as I really think Telltale games have the most interesting cut content in games. The Oral history of TFTBL and that recent Wolf Among Us stream is really the most we've ever seen Telltale talk about old versions of games and in the grand scheme of things they barely said anything.
Honestly I think Tales has the most unused content of any other Telltale game. I seriously am thinking of making another video simply because since I've uploaded it I've already become aware of even more things even including what I can only assume was original story stuff before the 2013 reveal trailer happened.
Parte Dos
ᵀʳᶦᵉˢ ᵗᵒ ˢᵗᵒᵖ ᵗʰᵉ ᵀᵉˡˡᵗᵃˡᵉ ᶠˡᵃᵐᵉ ᶠʳᵒᵐ ᵈʸᶦⁿᵍ ᵒᵘᵗ
Still not used to hearing the actual disembodied voice of Poogs himself.
Thank you for your deep dive, again, man. Tales is really one of the most interesting projects they took. They really rolled with it in almost any way they wanted to.
Same here
Just finished Part 2 and NGL dude you are the king of the telltale fanbase.
yaaaay!
Oh my god,did they really cut that line at 30:17 shame on you telltale that would've been amazing. And those Athena lines,goddamn.
I only knew about Cam being another character you could've played everything else to me was new,even that trailer with Marcus too bad he wasn't in the game.
Anyway thanks for the video that was great.