I don't know why I said that quote Sorry. Dishonored 2 is coming out soon, and OH MY GAWD! Am I excited! To get ready for the sequel I replayed the game and got the "Low Chaos" ending. Which signifies that I either killed a few, or no one. And I read the book: Dishonored The Corroded Man I then watched some gameplay, that Arkane studio have revealed where we can see Corvo Attano, protagonist of the first game, and something cought my eye. Yes, I am aware that Eliminate doesn't mean kill my main point is to show how aggressive Corvo is thinking Wait, eliminate? As in killing him? As in Corvo’s first train of thought went to the murder rather than to incapacitate him? Questions like these filled my mind, so I thought to myself: Is this just Corvo getting older and more cynical? Emily Kaldwin says this if you play as her instead: I mean... she has the right idea! So why not Corvo? And this leads me to a couple of questions: Just what were the canonical choices Corvo made in Dishonored? And did it change him? your experiences have a big part moulding you into who you are, and Corvo has some weight on his shoulders. Born into poverty, he lived with his parents and sister in the capital of Serkonos: Karnaca which is where the second game will take place. However, everyone in his family met with tragedy either through death, or simply disappearing, leaving him alone. Needing to defend himself, he got so good with the blade that only at the age of 16, he won the annual tournament, The Blade Verbena which got him a spot in the Grand Serkonan Guard where he served two years. Being as skilled and devoted that he is, the duke of Serkonos gave Corvo to the Emperor as a political gesture. Now, we do not know what position he got under the Emperor, but considering that just one year later, the heiress of the throne: Jessamine Kaldwin I chose him to be the Royal Lord Protector, we can think logically that he served as a royal guard, as he had to be very close to the young girl. The title that was given to him created quite the scandal evidence being a tweet by creative director of the game: Harvey Smith as Corvo is the first Lord Protector who did not come from nobility, or even from the Isle of Gristol. And this can even be seen in game: Serving as Lord Protector for six years, Corvo Attano and Jessamine Kaldwin became lovers. Seriously, these two are amazing together! They had to keep this tryst a secret, as a monarch can only be courted by nobility which Corvo sadly isn't. And while they indeed kept their relationship a secret, many understood that something was going on: F U U A-HOLE Four years after they started enjoying life, yes, that is her full name. (Didn't know that before reading the book) was born. They were together for eight years, and while they couldn't officially be a full family, Corvo did act close to her, Hugging her, playing with her, teaching her, and training with her. But then, something horrible happened: The doom of Pandyssia, the rat plague arrived in Dunwall. This plague caused people to cry bloody tears, throw up their insides, and go insane as weepers. As this plague came out of nowhere and hard, the Spymaster, Hiram Burrows, asked Empress Jessamine, two years later to send the Lord Protector to the other Isles to ask for help, and she agreed. Everything I have talked about, is what happens before the game begins, so everything I will say from now on, will be what I believe to be the canon of the game. I will give evidence for all of my claims, and I will try to get major and minor decisions that the player can make. Try to think of it this way: what would Corvo do if Dishonored was a movie? So Let's begin! Returning home from the other Isles, sadly with not so good news, Bublé truly knows how to touch my heart <3 Corvo meets up with Emily. Who is really happy to see her fa- Lord Protector* And here we have our first decision to make: Small but significant, he obviously have an important message to Jessamine, but we know that he cares about Emily for obvious reasons... Now luckily, the answer is actually in the Corroded Man, where Corvo reflects on that day, and he mentions that he indeed did play hide and seek with his daughter, there we have that. Meeting up with his one true love, he delivers the message that informs that the other Isles will blockade them, as they themselves have no means of helping the city of Dunwall. And just as one would believe that things couldn’t get worse, the Whalers attack. and their leader: Daud kills Jessamine. Leaving her on the ground, bloody and terrified for her kidnapped daughter, asking with her final breath for Corvo to save their Emily. And by the way, this was the last thing she felt: So she couldn't even feel the comfort of her love's arms Damn you Daud... Anyways! Corvo gets framed for the murder, and end up being tortured for six whole months. Personally interrogated by the High Overseer Campbell and the Spymaster, who now is the Lord Regent, Hiram Burrows; they tell him that they were the ones behind it, and that they're trying to get a confession out of Corvo. Tortured for such a long time, he still did not give in. Then the day before his execution arrives, and he is able to break out of prison with the of the loyalists; individuals who fights for the restoration to get Emily on the throne, and end the asshat's tyrannical reign. When exiting the sewers, he meets Samuel Beechworth, who ends up becoming a good friend of the former Lord Protector. When getting to the headquarters, he meets the freedom fighters; Admiral Farley Havelock and Treavor Pendelton, who is part of one of the most influential families in the parliament, and some others. (Love all of these chraracters! So well written) The two men tells Corvo that he needs to kill certain individuals to weaken the power that the Lord Regent has built for himself, and if he does this; they will help him get Jessamine’s murderer. Before going out on his first mission, Corvo meets the Outsider in a dream, who is pretty much a godly being. The man gives our hero two things; the mark of the outsider, which grants Corvo magical powers, and the heart of a living thing, which allows him to hear secrets and find runes to improve said powers. This heart actually contains the spirit of Jessamine, proof of this is that Harvey Smith has confirmed this, but the heart does say some things that directly prove it as well. Love the heart mechanic/lore. 100% perfect! Waking up, Corvo gets his first assignment; to kill High Overseer Campbell, and save Overseer Teague Martin. Callista Curnow, a maid at the pub, also asks Corvo to save her uncle, Geoff Curnow, who Campbell is planning on killing as the captain’s allegiance can’t be bought. When getting to the Distillery District, our hero gets into contact with the character Granny Rags, who asks him if he could help getting rid some thugs outside of her home. We know that Corvo does this, as if he don’t, you won’t be able confront her and Slackjaw, the leader of the Bottle Street Gang, later in the game, and we do know that it happens, as Slackjaw will die if not saved then, and as he is shown alive in the book, The Corroded Man, we can come to this conclusion. However, while he did help her getting rid of the criminals, he did not help her poison the elixir that the gang is making at their hideout, as it will spread the plague further, and Corvo is not willing to do this, as Jessamine wouldn’t have wanted that. *epic walk* So this shows us that Corvo honours the late Empress’ memory by helping her citizens, even if one of them ends up being one of his biggest challenges later. Continuing on toward his target, the former Lord Protector meets up with Teague Martin, who is chained down as he is one of the loyalists. Saving him, Corvo eavesdrops on some Overseers, who are talking about the heretic’s brand, which is given to the religious who goes against their teachings. We know he heard this as the two men are standing just behind the gate where Martin where locked up, and because Thaddeus Campbell’s fate, is that brand. The greatest evidence for this is again, the great Harvey Smith! Pause if you need to read! So he smashed the glasses as one of then had the poison, and it would be to big of a risk to switch them, and follows the pair down to Campbell’s secret room, where he saves Geoff and knocks the mad man unconscious. Grabbing the journal that hold information on where Emily is, he brings the body to the interrogation room, where Corvo brands him. *Scream of pain* *Goes back to sleep* :) In the end, Corvo Attano’s first assignment ended with a non-lethal decision, so so far so good! Adrian!!! So let’s head to Corvo’s next targets, the Pendelton twins; Morgan and Custis, brothers of Treavor, who has Emily with them. Now this is actually where things get a bit dark for our hero, Treavor makes it really clear that they do not have much time before they will relocate the young girl, as the fate of Campbell has gotten them scared. So if Corvo does not hurry, he might never get to see his daughter again. so obviously he is a bit stressed. In this mission, Corvo went asking Slackjaw for help, as in the Book there is a familiarity between the two men, and he helped the gang leader in exchange for easier access to the brothel where the twins are. The criminal also told Corvo that he could help him getting rid of the twins without killing them, but as the only way to do so includes torturing someone, he declines, as he rather would kill the guilty, than torturing someone unrelated, plus the book does show that Corvo dislikes this method of getting information. Getting to the Golden Cat, Corvo had one thing on his mind: Save Emily. He had a time limit, and therefore it is in my belief that he became a fiend in this mission, killing relentlessly anyone in his way, not the innocent of course, but he killed his targets, and got Emily safely out of there. Now, why do I believe that he acted like this? We know that Corvo isn’t above killing security, as in the DLC missions where we play as Daud, Damn him... he talks about a mad murderer roaming Dunwall. And Corvo does get the title: Pretty awesome title in my opinion These aren’t the only reasons of course: If you go with the non-lethal route without getting spotted, Admiral Havelock still states this: And in Havelock’s own log, the entry about the Pendelton mission, he writes: Again, he writes this no matter how you play the game, low chaos or high. Corvo would not have held back, when he knows that his daughter is trapped there, and may be moved somewhere unknown. Saving the heiress, Corvo gets his name out in the city as the Terror of Dunwall, and as he returns Emily to the Hound Pits, he is immediately asked to retrieve the Royal Physician, Anton Sokolov, who may know who is boosting The Lord Regent’s economy. Corvo does this of course, and on his way he does save the people who are locked in a cage, as Jessamine hated the thought of locking up innocent people. When getting Sokolov to the pub, they lock him up. Here we are given a choice to bribe him for information, or use scare tactics. Again, not one for torturing, Corvo probably went with the bribe route. Meaning that he confronted Piero, who’s spying on Callista bathing, and tells him to not do so, as Piero himself says: And that means that he did not walk inside the bathroom to flirt with Callista, as his love will only stay with Jessamine. TRUE OTP! DAMN YOU DAUD!!! Now, getting information from Sokolov, Corvo knows that he needs to get rid of one of the Boyle sisters, and luckily, the book explains everything. There are three sisters: Waverly Boyle, who looks down on others. Lydia Boyle, who is artistic. And Esma Boyle, who ...is my favorite of the three... Is a lover of life! And to just go off topic a second, she is one badass in The Corroded Man, like seriously. Not many can stand up to an assassin and tell him to get out of their house. BAD BADASS Got to admit, it is fine And speaking of the book, it states that Waverly is the one who helps Hiram Burrows, but before Corvo can stab her in her heart, lord Birsby stops him, and pleads for her life, telling Corvo that he can get her far away from Dunwall, where they can live together. And Corvo agrees. He also fulfils Treavor’s request to deliver a letter to Lord as he has shown to do what the others has asked of him, this ends up in a pistol duel, which again means that Corvo killed the noble, as he is honorable. Having gotten rid of every supporter of the tyrant, it is time to get revenge. Corvo returns to Dunwall Tower, ready to end everything. I will admit, this is where I had the most problem doing my research, here really wasn’t anything that could give me an answer to if Corvo killed Hiram or not. But then in the midst of my dispair! Harvey Smith! went on reddit and wrote this! This is how it all went down if my logic is sound: Corvo snuck into the tower. He knocked the guards unconscious and confronted the regent on the intercom, as we can see that when it comes to important people, Corvo will not hide himself from them, he wants them to see his face, which he shows to the tyrant. HOW DARE YOU! He then meets the propaganda officer, who tells Corvo of the Lord Regent’s audio graph hidden in a safe, which holds the confession of the crimes he was behind, the murder of Jessamine Kaldwin. This confession gets played through the entire city, which gets Hiram arrested. And here we get to why the death of the royal interrogator is important, if one of the guards leading Hiram to Coldridge Prison gets knocked unconscious the criminal will make a run for it to the dark torture chamber. Now, as Corvo isn’t one to kill anyone irrelevant, it is my belief that, lore wise, the Spymaster does indeed run down to the dark abyss, and Corvo follows, ending up killing the man he hates so much, and at the same time, killing the one who tortured him for 6 whole months. The Lord Regent is dead! Finally, we can think that everything will improve from now on, right? I really liked Eisenberg's performance, F**k me, right? Betrayel! Again… Like seriously, Corvo probably will have tons of problems trusting others in the future. Yes, the loyalists, being so close to control the empire themselves, tries to get rid of Corvo, who obviously wouldn’t allow this. The only reason he survived, was because of Samuel, Bless his heart ;( sent Corvo’s poisoned body down the river by boat to protect him. And this is where we can find out what kind of person Corvo truly is, as he meets him. I Will Murder You Damn You Daud The Knife of Dunwall, the man who personally killed the Empress, stands before Corvo, and throws his gear down into the darkness. And now we have our own mission, the only mission in the game not given by the loyalist or the Empress: And that mission, is to get revenge. The first choice presented to us is if we want to recover our gear; Corvo does do this as we can see him having his sword in the DLC mission. Sneaking past the assassins, Corvo actually confronts Daud, and this action in itself is so important to his character. Remember, he does not need to kill Daud, at this point; Emily may be in danger as the loyalists want to use her, and it is possible to leave without a fight, but as the DLC shows us, Corvo does fight him. He wants Daud’s blood, and the assassin understands this. btw, this fight is amazing! And so, the two men chosen by the Outsider have a fight no other men could have. Both of them proved proficient, but: *Dramatic blade cross with Wonder Woman trailer music* And now we come to the hardest decision Corvo ever had to make in his existence; to kill or not to kill the man who extinguished the light in his life. Daud asks for mercy, telling Corvo that after killing the Empress, he changed, and he wants to start over, far away from Dunwall, and as he is telling Corvo this, the Lord Protector listens silently. A whisper, echoing in his ear: If you choose to kill Daud, this is the animation: Damn you! And this is what Corvo does in the DLC, in other words; this is what he did in the lore of the game. He goes in for the kill, but he stops, because as he lifts up the assassin to end his life, his vision turned forward to what was behind Daud: The Statue... of Jessamine Kaldwin. The woman who loves Corvo. Every person that the protagonist have killed before this, was to protect Emily and stop the tyranny of the Lord Regent, but now? Corvo is about to kill a man, who is begging, not for the greater good, but for personal gratification. If Corvo killed people who couldn’t defend themselves like this earlier, he would have gotten the “High Chaos” ending, and if he did get that, what would Jessamine have thought of him? We actually know that now. As the outsider, or as I like to call him Harvey Smith answered this tweet: Corvo knew Jessamine. And he knew that she would never have forgiven him for murdering someone who was asking to be spared. So he does something we the player can’t do: He let his grip go of the assassin, and walks off to save Emily, fully knowing that Daud would go free from his crimes. In the book, that takes place over a decade after the game, Corvo still wonders if he made the right choice. Over ten years, he asks himself this, only to remind him that yes, he did the right thing. On his way back to the hound pits, he confronts Granny Rags, who is about to kill Slackjaw. Considering that Slackjaw is in the book, and that Harvey Smith has confirmed that rags was indeed killed by Corvo, we know that they fought together to kill her, as Slackjaw reminisce on this. Returning to the pub, Corvo saves Callista, Piero and Sokolov. Finding out Emily’s location, Samuel brings him to Kingsparrow Isle, where the final choice awaits. Sneaking past the security, he gets to the highest point of the lighthouse, where he finds the dead bodies of Treavor and Martin, poisoned by Havelock, who talks to himself about his failures and the reason he did everything in the end. The hope of improving the Empire, and the fear of what would happen to them after restoring Emily on her throne, considering the shady stuff they had Corvo do. Confronting his former friend, Havelock says that he is unwilling to fight him, and that he believes that Emily will become a good Empress. He ends his monologue by telling Corvo kill him, or send him to Coldridge prison, as it doesn’t matter anymore. After everything with Daud, Corvo decide to stay his hand, and extends it to the key to his daughter, but as he grabs it... A fight starts, we know this as again, harvey Smith tells us that Havelock was either killed, or took suicide. I think he was killed, because if he is still willing to fight to the bitter end, he would battle the Lord Protector, only to fall like those before him. ow Corvo then opened the door, seeing his daughter safe, and ready to take the crown. Corvo Attano is a man who knows loss, having lost his blood family, and his true love. He’s been betrayed twice by those in a position of power, causing his willingness to trust others to waver. He has killed many, and with that, there was the potential of turning into something horrible, something his daughter catches a glimpse of in the book. But as he stood on the edge of losing himself, Jessamine, even in death, led him through the darkness of what could be, making sure that the only thing he had to do, was to follow his duty and honor that his title demanded of him: Lord Protector And that is the mind of: Corvo Attano.
Would of been neat had they gone with what Mass Effect did in porting over saves to affect the storyline...
Amazing! I really enjoyed this! :)