The Complete Timeline(s) of Bioshock Explained

[@CharlatanWonder]

Holy shit one million views. Thanks everyone!

[@forceghostyoda9705]

You are welcome.

[@Lucien135]

You deserve it my man, you saved me from falling asleep at work and listen to something that kept me from crashing the crane. Well done 👍

[@quanwilliams3552]

Never played the game but the story is interesting 🤔 😳

[@misterkevinoh]

Okay, I thought I was going crazy with how broken BAS made the canon. Thank you for the clarification!

[@superwawa136]

what is the background music that is played throughout? but mainly around the 13:00 mark?

[@kasperschaug1128]

"in order to prevent all the timelines from ever happening, Elizabeth realized that the only path forward was to kill the developers before they made the game"

[@darienfoster2375]

But would she do it if it meant she wouldn’t exist

[@stpidstuff]

@@darienfoster2375(spoilers for Infinite) In Infinite she killed Booker at the end to kill Comstock because Comstock is Booker, and the only way to undo the evil Comstock did was to kill Booker before Comstock could ever exist. Let me explain. Basically, at the baptism after Wounded Knee, there's a 'split'. To make this easier to understand, I'll use a timeline. At the start, Booker lives his normal life up until that baptization. That moment is where Comstock is born, but only if he accepts the baptism. So then Comstock (alternate universe booker) goes on to make Columbia, and then later takes Anna from his alternate universe self and raises her as Elizabeth. If he declines the baptism, he stays Booker, becomes a gambling addict, and sells his baby to pay off a debt, which Comstock then takes from him. This is where the game starts. 20 years after that baptization, Booker is taken into that alternate universe where Comstock is by the Lutece twins. (I'm assuming, at least, but that's most likely how he's there since they are able to traverse the multiverse like Elizabeth, and are also rowing the boat at the start.) Cue the story of the game and then at the end Elizabeth sends Booker back to Wounded Knee during the baptism and instead drowns him, which deletes all Comstocks from existence. And that's the ending explained. I don't know about the other Bookers, but I'm assuming they're still there, since they decline the baptism and go on to do other things. Also, question, is the Booker we play as the 'prime' one? Like, is his universe the OG one? (I know that the one we play as has taken 123 tries to beat it the first time and technically it's not the same one as the 1st one, but maybe there's 'save files' or something like that where he can just restart over again)

[@Phantom86d]

That's how Deadpool did it... It didn't work out for him either.

[@Izzy-nh9sk]

Wait so does that mean that bio shock infinite happened before the 1st bio shock? With Elizabeth knowing she would have to sacrifice herself for Jack later on to kill atlas/frank So if I’m not wrong the timeline of the bio shock games would be. 1. Infinite 2. Bio shock 3 Bio shock 2 Hopefully in the 4th bio shock game coming soon they talk more about Jack because I feel like we don’t know him as well. Just that Ryan was his farther and was the ruler of rapture. But yeah let me know if I missed anything did hard bio shock fans.

[@Phantom86d]

@@Izzy-nh9sk As the Timeline would be cyclical, the End was also the Beginning. Ergo the Infinite part. Like Ragnarok is both an end and beginning in Norse mythology or anytime you try to plot out the Doctor Who timelines you just get a dream catcher crossing different points of the same cycle. Which also works with the Lutece pair rolling on repeat.

[@fathimujadidi7925]

Some of us are here exactly because we will never get enough of Bioshock, aren't we?

[@angerybigdaddy8541]

We wont

[@jdproductions3646]

We are they are making another bioshock game for next gen that’s all they could say

[@brandonc5074]

I play bioshock one and two 3 maybe 4 times a year

[@DreamcastTrash]

And cause i just bought the collection for switch 😂 i plan on playing them all, but i felt that a refresher wouldn't hurt

[@SoulOfDerp]

I just replayed Bioshock 12 and inf and is still confused by the infinite time line. It just doesnt make sense, and this video pin point to me how it doesnt make sense. I thought I dont get the full picture because I did not find all recording but..... well it actually doesnt make sense.

[@kasperschaug1128]

"It is implied that the twins have seen Booker fail at least 122 times" *Proceeds to die 500 more*

[@eric13zombie]

It did say “at least” 😂😂😂

[@naniby2157]

Irrational Games HQ CEO *hits blunt* "I have an idea"

[@kaba1996]

Ken Levine wake up!

[@sandalogaming6766]

Fontaine: “Yo Andrew, pass the boof.” Andrew Ryan: *starts smoking “Naaaaaaah” **Fall of Rapture ensues**

[@gabrielbelouche3954]

@Logicalwren 23 Sander cohen: "enters whit a bag of bath salts"

[@PerishingPurplePulsar]

@@gabrielbelouche3954 Suchong is just sitting in the back corner of the room on DMT rambling about some weird floating city stealing his ideas

[@pinkysaints2309]

Bioshock is just Arya Rand hitting the bong

[@darkroninmarvel]

This somehow makes the x-men movie continuity look simple in comparison

[@joelhot17]

....thanks now my mind is piecing itself back together after being blown, at like 9:50 at night

[@tomsmurf4225]

It was all pretty straightforward until infinite and BaS fucked the timeline to death.

[@benedictjajo]

@@tomsmurf4225 ok boomer

[@theskieshavefallen8408]

I agree.

[@scottiebones]

Bioshock infinites timeline mixing with rapture is what complicated everything, but burial at sea dlc helps tie it all in... Still complicated

[@boomkruncher325zzshred5]

To be honest, Booker being a child soldier makes his mindset understandable. He became a monster to “protect people”, and that left him broken, to either be “reformed” into a deranged prophet in Zachary Comstock or to remain a broken and decrepit mess for the rest of his life. 😞

[@wanderingbufoon]

But he is Zach..

[@GIRru11]

@@wanderingbufoon That's what he said

[@SaraSara-oe6il]

@@GIRru11 but he's Zach...

[@christophercrafte]

@@SaraSara-oe6il That's what he said

[@spartancecchi]

@@christophercrafte but he is Zach..

[@sithplayz826]

“ Songbird would go on to become one of the most feared entities in Columbia and a popular children’s toy” yep sounds about right

[@matthewlui1004]

Bioshock: Being complicated enough on its own. Bioshock Infinite & Burial at sea: Allow us to introduce ourselves.

[@Samsungor]

"And Delta must find Eleanor quickly" *mean while me setting up traps for atom harvesting for half an hour*

[@AlfonsoSRT]

Atom? Dude, I think it's very very clear it's called Adam... You know? Adam? Eve? It's freaking written everwhere?

[@RLV_Edits]

@@AlfonsoSRT Chill bro

[@Her_Imperious_Condescension]

@@AlfonsoSRT What game have you been playing? I'm pretty sure it's Atom and Eev. -Avid Byohshock fan

[@grapeape8599]

Condescension avid buoshoc fan

[@pokespartytv8086]

@@Her_Imperious_Condescension ew “byoshock”

[@joeker5208]

then Bioshock 4 comes with Ken Levine saying the previous games were all just dream

[@the_grass_trainer]

He'll deny the 4th game's legitimacy because he isn't making it.

[@christophergirardi8145]

Just like the he did with the second.... Thankfully he's not involved with the 4th one

[@joeker5208]

@@christophergirardi8145 oh praise the heavens

[@matstick1100]

I just played burial at sea a few days ago and got thinking about how weird the bioshock timeline is after the release of infinite, this video came out in the perfect time for me

[@gabey4heal467]

Br? zerei ontem o Burial at the sea, e chorei que nem um vagabundo

[@lukaiankamara8425]

Gabriel Lima Guimarães Esse jogo é maravilhoso, eu só joguei a campanha principal, não tinha a dlc burial at sea, mas vi um vídeo que explicava a história e eu acho que foi um belo desfecho pra história, conectou todos os jogos

[@gabey4heal467]

@@lukaiankamara8425 é menos conectou o 2

[@lukaiankamara8425]

Gabriel Lima Guimarães Assim, ele não foi mostrado naquelas cenas finais da Elizabeth, mas ainda assim aconteceu e cronologicamente ainda seriam os últimos acontecimentos da saga até agora ou para a eternidade já que não sabemos se ainda terá um novo bioshock muio em breve

[@gabey4heal467]

@@lukaiankamara8425 espero que tenhamos...

[@ligma286]

Your telling me a giant war happened because of a sea snail

[@irlbaka7815]

LMAO

[@Brind-amour]

Hahaha! 😂

[@luifollower2206]

This comment is underrated

[@cale900]

slug* but essentially yes.

[@narsicko6919]

Pretty much yeah

[@lokp7]

I always expected songbird to be a booker from another timeline that has been submitted to the same procedures as the big daddys or whatever, I was sure songbird's identity was something they would address (not that I needed that personally, but the narrative seemed to point in that direction, especially after BaS where they seemed to try addressing even minor stuff no one asked for).

[@InfinityNexusReviews]

Yep, that connection to her made me think it was going to be another Booker too. Songbird had that fatherly protective thing so it would have made sense.

[@pokespartytv8086]

@@InfinityNexusReviews yea fatherly....almost like a B I G D A D D Y. But that would be crazy. Its like he protects her like shes a little sis-

[@cvb5092]

Fan theory? Songbird is a version of Booker Dewitt who was captured by Comstock to serve as Elizabeth’s protector. In a similar fashion as how Mark Meltzer was captured by Lamb and transformed in a Big Daddy so he could stay with his daughter. This makes more sense than it should🧐

[@kaleey]

So do you think that Songbird had an organic part inside, just like the Big Daddies? I always thought that he was the exception and was a full robot

[@TheSpidersider]

@Kaley Burial At Sea reveals there's a guy inside the suit. There is a room with diagrams for Songbird that show it.

[@SpoiledSoda]

Something that I think you messed up on is in bioshock 2 Mark Meltzer is given the choice to become a big daddy or die during the game when you control Delta as you can hear him in Dionysus Park fighting a big sister upon first arrival there. proving he is still human and has full consciousness. You placed his story in the section between bioshock 1 and 2 when the choice actually takes place during the 2nd game but you only get the audio diary and discover his fate in the lower part of Fontaine Futuristics meaning he was there before Delta arrived in the lower lab. He is alive and searching for Cindy at the same time as Delta but he is ahead of him and ultimately is transformed into a big daddy before Delta reaches the lab.

[@Brind-amour]

Impressive!

[@sodenkamp]

I see how there wouldn't be a grandfather paradox for killing booker to avoid everything. But if infinite wants to run with the entire "there are infinite universes with infinite possibilities" thing (which in my opinion was kinda pretentious and poorly executed). Then shouldn't there still be timelines where booker doesn't die and either does or doesn't get baptised? I mean infinite possibilities right. I don't see how killing one instance of booker fixes everything in this setting.

[@GameCat16]

Haven't finished the video, so I don't know what Charlatan says, but there are two things to note here. 1.) The ending to the Main Game was originally intended to be open to interpretation, so there was no definitive answer as to whether or not it worked. Two players could play the game, with one walking away thinking that the drowning worked and the other walking away thinking that it didn't. BaS kind of retconned that by having Elizabeth refer to Booker-Stock as "that final Comstock," but BaS wasn't a part of the plan originally. The point is, when the game f came out, no one was supposed to know exactly what happened. 2.) Infinite operates on a spin of multiverse theory with "Constants and Variables." Every reality must follow a set pattern, that's very specific, yet vaguely defined. Always a Lighthouse, always a man, always a city. It's supposed to be a play on sequels, linear game design, a destiny. If one looks closely at Infinite, one will see a bunch of similarities (some obvious, some subtle) to the original game's story. In Infinite's case, every players' playthrough and every players' death, is a part of the story; every time we die, the Luteces go and get another Booker and bring him to Columbia, with there likely being an infinite number of Luteces doing this at the same time. All of our playthroughs go relatively the same because there is a set destiny. In the case of the Baptism, there are only two choices; accept or reject. Realistically, yes, there are countless things one could do. But in accordance to Infinite's rules, Booker can only ever walk away from the Baptism (and become a drunk gambler stuck in a life of violence), or accept it and become the religious leader of Columbia. Hope that all makes sense.

[@theunfamousone2818]

@@GameCat16 if it truley is infinte then the line always a light house always a city always a man doesn't make any sense and infinte shares a lot more similates to 2 then 1 making the mirror to 2 then to 1

[@GameCat16]

@@theunfamousone2818 It's not necessarily supposed to make sense. If it were, there would be more of an explanation, not only of the rules but why they're implemented. The point is, there are infinite realities, but they all follow a specific pattern for reasons that no one knows. Also, there are similarities to both: to BS1, we have a socially inept scientist who is responsible for the technology that we see everywhere (Tenenbaum to Lutece), another scientist/ engineer who built off of their work (Suchong to Fink), a rebel who teams up with the new arrival only to betray him later (Atlas to Fontaine), said rebel getting stabbed to death by the damsel-character, the damsel character (Elizabeth to all the Little Sisters), the ruler getting killed by the visitor, WYK to "Bring us the Girl and Wipe Away the Debt", AD to Jack's chain tattoos, the protagonist dying surrounded by his daughters (Jack on his death bed to Booker in the river), etc. To BS2, we have the parent-child tug-of-war between the antagonist and protagonist as well as all of the mirroring, the death again (can't think of anything else at the moment).

[@theunfamousone2818]

@@GameCat16in B2 having to make your your way through the city to get your daughter meeting people you knew before, having to deal with someone who wants you dead for something you didnt do, soneone who calls you tin, meeting someone who has gone mad and is better off dead,preventing an attack on the surface (that wont come for many years) that will be lead by your daughter who has been influnced by the other parent, finding out that one of the people your trying to track down is yourself (minervas den)

[@Fragmentsinfractals488]

This is simple. At the end of the main game, Elizabeth become physical god, a science apotheosis, if you will. As a physical god, she uses her power to force a variable into a constant. From outside the multiverse, the variable that leads to Comstock is walled off, so Comstock cannot get out of the worlds hie does not already exist in.

[@irlbaka7815]

I just wanted booker and Elizabeth to be happy and run away to france together😭😭😭

[@irlbaka7815]

@@Sirschannelllll yaaa father and daughter !:) I wanted them to live a happy life :(((((

[@yekendrashrestha2576]

sweet home alabama

[@irlbaka7815]

@@yekendrashrestha2576 No gross

[@yulinfu860]

remember the beginning of Burial at sea e2? It was REALLY beautiful

[@andrewu1353]

They do get to live happerly, Anna gets to grow up as she should , get a real childhood with booker. Ala post credit infinite scene. She's in the crib.

[@Ken9284]

Come back when you get some money, buddy!

[@pickleman47]

Come back when you got some currency, fella!

[@G.Redgrave]

I have a familia to feed -Ammo Bandito

[@peoplehumans939]

Come back when you get some coin, Brother.

[@katiemartin487]

They say that you can’t hear pictures, well in Bioshock, you can.

[@aaronramen5926]

Ha Ha Haaa- Ken Levine

[@ChrisPortalBits]

I bought the Bioshock Collection for the Switch and have just played through all 3 games. Bioshock Infinite left me with far too many questions, and so I decided to take a risk and watch an hour-long video that youtube recommended to me. I can gladly say I wasn't disappointed! This is exactly what I was hoping to find, and I think you did an excellent job of coherently explaining the timeline, even the Reverse-Flash explanation. I can only imagine the amount of effort that went into this, and I applaud it!

[@ladylunaginaofgames40]

I also recommend seeing a 12 video series that covers the timeline in far more detail and involved more gameplay at the same time. be warned as the dude they picked to do the rapture timeline is a bit on the quiet side. P.S. as a fan of Bioshock, I also bought the game on switch and it was my first time playing it after watching sooooo many playthroughs. My one comment is this: Frame-rate for BS 1's hacking game *Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks*

[@ChrisPortalBits]

Luna Royal Games Thanks for the recommendation! I had never played Bioshock and hadn’t been spoiled so playing through the first game was an absolute treat! I didn’t mind the hacking minigame’s framerate, but I DID mind the lack of auto-saving and the number of crashes I experienced (around 4 or 5)

[@ladylunaginaofgames40]

@@ChrisPortalBits that's because the first two games were made before autosave was common in video games. The two games have been known to crash in their remastered forms and is why you should saved often. I think I experienced three crashes per game (minus DLC)' only one brought me to the start of the level cause I forgot to save. Make sure to close the game all the way when your done to minimize crashes

[@ChrisPortalBits]

Luna Royal Games Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the tip!

[@denhund101]

Exam result day Mom : You failed physics.... Me : Not all of me failed physics mom.

[@rampagerslife]

i've played through infinite like 3 times and this still gave me a better understanding of that confusing ass story

[@wanderingbufoon]

Comstock is Booker and Elizabeth is Anna. Comstock lost his daughter and so he went and gained her back by stealing from himself in another reality. He was naive then. But the more he contemplated about it, the more he understood. The more he understood, the more insane he became to the others. Only the twins and Elizabeth (in the end) understood him. Unlike the 3, Comstock was bound to a certain fate. This fate also binds Booker with it too. This was all due to Comstock's actions and Anna becoming Elizabeth. It is a story of grief, motivation to get back someone that was once lost. Only to find yourself robbing. Although it can be overturned by creating more mess. Combine 2 fates into 1, why not combine them all into 1? This was Booker's sacrifice for. To set all of his possibilities into one. (All of our actions in the game are all canon)

[@rampagerslife]

@@wanderingbufoon to clarify, i was referring to the order of events and the multiple different timelines present in the game. I pretty much fully understood the surface level plot of infinite, it was more stuff revolving the lore and more specific details that were difficult to wrap my head around at first.

[@wanderingbufoon]

Rampage Gaming ah yeah. To me, my first playthrough of that game was me just going on the hunt for rapture stuff. Like the songbird's creation and what not. I think i was completely lost for the first time in that playthrough during the Vox Populi mission. It only ever clicked when I got to the point where I was just before the Lady Comstock one. Then was lost again when I fought her wraith.

[@rampagerslife]

@@wanderingbufoon the first time around i barely paid much attention to the story as the gameplay was pretty fun (especially considering it was my first bioshock game). but i felt it was way too easy so i played through it on hard then after that, i started a 1999 mode run, which i have yet to complete. the final mission was hard enough on normal difficulty, i don't think i can be bothered finishing that on 1999 mode.

[@yulinfu860]

we are not doing some kind of research or something...so just learn the basic, I think that will be quite enough

[@ness6714]

"Come on, the problem isn't that hard!" The problem:

[@geraldyeager7652]

The test is only one question. The question:

[@TonyPajamaz]

I’ll never forget the introduction to columbia. It was so beautiful.

[@cryojudgement2376]

I think one of the coolest parts of the bioshock 2 was Mark Meltzer. He parallels Jack and you can actually see his journey right behind him. And then soon after the last audio diary he chooses conversion into a big daddy to be paired with his daughter in a big daddy little sister relationship. And then once you kill him you see his corpse is named Mark meltzer rather than Brawler class big daddy

[@AlexZebol]

Killing Big Daddy is a mercy though as it is nothing, but a brainwashed abomination with former human mutated body and organs being grafted into the suit.

[@CharlatanWonder]

www.humblebundle.com/store/bioshock-the-collection?partner=charlatan Here's where you can get all the Bioshock games if you've SOMEHOW not played them all on PC. [Affiliate link]

[@ByzantineEmpireForLife.]

Where is the spider man?

[@CharlatanWonder]

HOW DID YOU FIND ME IN THIS REALITY JAMESON????

[@rampagerslife]

from my understanding of all this, it is actually possible for the next game to give information that fixes all of the ret-cons and puts everything into a semi-cohesive narrative that just involves a lot of time travel. the general idea im getting is that burial at sea rapture and original rapture are two different timelines themselves, one where Columbia does exist and another where it doesn't. both of which however end in the same overall state which ends up merging the timelines themselves. basically making it so the events of rapture as a whole are two simultaneous timelines that split off and merge together with the respective creation and destruction of the Booker stock. my hope is that the next bioshock game essentially takes place after all those events, in the newly re-merged rapture timeline. this way it doesn't just negate the effects of infinite or b.a.s. but rather embraces them without breaking the suspension of disbelief of the players (more than it already has been). (as for booker joining the military at 11, maybe we just ignore the rank he got before leaving the army and say that the highest rank he got was at least corporal and collectively accept that this whole mess never existed. sure it leaves him joining at 14 which isn't much better but at least it's believable in the setting)

[@Samm815]

I don't think Booker was erased at the end of infinite just Comstock. The post-credit scene seems to imply that Booker is still alive and will be able to raise Anna DeWitt. The only thing that was erased was the Booker that accepted his baptism. Also big thanks for the Reverse Flash Theory, that was the biggest thing that bothered me after all these years.

[@petrino]

i mean... Davy Crockett managed to choke a bear when he was only 3. so why cant booker go to war at 11? :P

[@olbradley]

This is probably the single most complicated and confusing alternate timeline game I have ever seen.

[@elalcortas1528]

FNAF has entered the chat

[@neighborhoodofmemes8486]

Dark souls has entered the chat

[@Jazz_Jacob]

COD Aether Zombies has entered the chat

[@geraldyeager7652]

Laughs in Zelda

[@graphite7898]

@@elalcortas1528 FNAF isn't even remotely as complicated, it just has a very round-about and convoluted way to tells it's linear story.

[@theroebuck123456789]

Glad Bioshock is being talked about again. I've been looking up news for the next Bioshock ever since I finished Infinite and Burial at Sea

[@kingbaco1233]

Play prey (it’s bio shock basically but with aliens)

[@theroebuck123456789]

@@kingbaco1233 already played, wasn't as emotional as Bioshock

[@rofljohn23]

The thing that always bothered me about Bioshock Infinite is its (non)handling of infinite timelines. Infinite does not mean alot or alot alot, it means i n f i n i t e. Erasing Booker from a couple timelines is meaningless! Elizabeth could build an entire starsystem of planets made from Booker corpses and still wouldn’t be any closer to making the Bookers extinct than if she hadn’t bothered in the first place! Furthermore, there would also be an infinite number of universes, where Booker is stillborn, died as a child, or killed in war etc, but events happen that lead to the building of Sholombia by an unrelated Shomsock that blows up New York. There is literally no end to it. Once you pull the infinite universes card, you cannot put it in a box later. It is lazy writing to put stuff like multiverses or timetravel in your universe and then only use the implications of that existing whenever it is convenient for your plot.

[@davidnewhart2533]

Yeah honestly, the only to end the whole Booker/Comstock thing is if Booker somehow transcended time.

[@tropicaltracerbirdie2241]

I listened to this in my background and was really, really interesting. Never really played the games, but curious about the lore and setting from what I've seen on the net and might look into playing it sometime now. Good job on creating and working on this probably insanely-detailed and devoted hours of explaining the canon lore. Very appreciated vid!

[@InfinityNexusReviews]

You should play all three in order. It's a shame you've ruined the experience for yourself, but they're still worth playing.

[@tropicaltracerbirdie2241]

@@InfinityNexusReviews I definitely will sometime. I've seen people play through the first one a bit when it came out years ago, so the plot with Andrew Ryan was a shocker when I saw it, but as for the other ones, I haven't seen yet/played them yet (save for this video). I still want to explore those neat worlds in the bioshock universe one day, even if knowing the plot ahead of time.

[@InfinityNexusReviews]

@@tropicaltracerbirdie2241 as someone who's 100% all 3 I thoroughly recommend not watching anymore videos.

[@tropicaltracerbirdie2241]

@@InfinityNexusReviews Yeah, I'll keep away from most vids related to it until I play them. I'll have to jump into those game soon.

[@InfinityNexusReviews]

@Vicodyn yes, because there are still all the audio logs to be experienced plus actually walking around Rapture and Columbia.

[@hidan407]

I wish Infinite didnt happen. I mean yes the lore and gameplay was nice but it seriously fucked up the whole timeline cause Elizabeth technically causes the Civil war out of misplaced revenge that ironically got many more little sisters and Civilians killed compared to if it never happened.

[@vodkaboy]

Our decisions are not always rational and well thought.

[@derkommentierer4160]

Hey Charlatan, it would be cool if you would make an video about the former Plans for Bioshock Infinite and how they didn't come to play. I know you talked about it in your ''Why Bioshock 2 is such a disappointment'' video but it would be nice if you could talk about it in general.

[@CharlatanWonder]

Well I'm always a sucker for yet another bioshock video.

[@demokosonofazathoth2555]

@@CharlatanWonder how about doing a video on the half life timeline?

[@horacegentleman3296]

Bioshock 2 and especially Minerva's den are the best games in the series.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@CharlatanWonder Bioshock 2 and especially Minerva's den are the best games in the series.

[@carinacelestia]

Was perfect to listen to in the background while I started my newest crochet project. I love the bioshock series and its always a pleasant walk down memory lane whenever I listen to videos like yours. I'm sure I'll be back.

[@C_Nic]

I always thought that any continuity errors or the alternate endings of the first two games could simply all be different universes. So, all of these things did happen, just in alternate realities. Like the Rapture in Burial at Sea is a different one than the original game. There are a few instances in the games that suggest this. The most notable one is that Sally, who wears a red and black dress, did not appear at the end of the original game. This suggests that these are two different Raptures. Jack saving the little sisters in Burial at Sea doesn’t canonize the good ending. It just means that Jack saved the little sisters in that reality. In another reality he harvested them and the bad ending became true.

[@offcutt]

So what you're saying is, we should scrub Burial at Sea from the lore I'm down with this

[@jessiehall1828]

And reinstate bioshock 2

[@shaunrichards3869]

It’s already reinstated

[@shaunrichards3869]

It’s a full on sequel to the first game, you can’t remove it.

[@jessiehall1828]

@@shaunrichards3869 they did bioshock 2 was made by a different studio and in infinite and burial at sea there is no mention it’s technically non cannon

[@roseradeinc8725]

@@jessiehall1828 why would there be? Both Infinite and BaS are prequels to the first Bioshock. So logically, it would only address that game since it comes directly after

[@peli2865]

Love this vid. Though, if I had to choose between the book lore or BaS, I’d take the book. It disrupts the least amount of story continuity in the BioShock universe. We obviously want to use Levine as a source of canon since he’s the architect of the universe, but he ignored Bio 2, Minerva, and the ARG (and in some places, Bio 1) when he made Infinite and BaS. He seems to see the Bio universe through the prism of Bio 1, Infinite, and BaS, even though there’s little to no continuity errors if you only look at Bio 1 and 2, the ARG, Minerva’s Den, and the book. Minor side note, Lutwidge tried to keep people from knowing about Rapture before he found it, not after he escaped. He concealed it at first because he wanted to find it before Celeste Roget. Once he found it and escaped, he tried to spread the word. There are medical documents from Tollevue Hospital where he tells his examiners about the city and plasmids, but they don’t believe him. And he was placed in Tollevue after he assaulted Lex Harlan, a publisher who heavily edited his book series about Rapture called Utropolis.

[@angrybrony]

well ken is we in the biz call "a massive pretentious jagoff".

[@Christian-gr3gu]

Once again showing that Bioshock 2 is better than infinite

[@isaiahsmith7123]

I think most of it can be Canon if we consider Infinite and BioShock 1 discontinuous events in alternate universes.

[@CharlatanWonder]

The kicker is the while not credited as an author, Levine was consulted quite a bit during the writing of the book to make sure it adhered to canon.

[@lokp7]

I always liked Infinite more as a spin-off of sorts (something that BaS made impossible since tho), and I do think the original story's heart wasn't supposed to be related to BioShock in the traditional manner, It just got incredibly tangled up with it in the process ( that's why it took so long and 2k had to send that guy to finish the game with Ken Levine). Infinite wanted to prioritize its somewhat melodramatic personal story over a reflexive story of the city itself, the big picture would serve the narrative in a much less cynical way than the first BioShock; it would rethink its position on "would you kindly" by coming around and reaffirming the power of traditional narrative even in games (it's not the same as if it had never even asked the question in the first place). It would have severed its relation to Bioshock with a precise "coup". Even the idea of consciously implementing choices that change nothing in the end (especially the bird or cage) always seemed to me like an argument for a different type of engagement with the meta-level; Infinite couldn't shut its eyes to the discussion the first Bioshock's plot twist established, so instead, it tries to take a different stance on the matter. Infinite's spirit seemed represented in Elizabeth herself, engaged on a youthful quest of independence that is always getting shut down because of the persistence of the past (Ken Levine wants to make something else, 2K wants to fund more Bioshock). It also tried rekindling the original flame of certain themes, going back to the draft board and taking a different path from the one the original BioShock took, but mostly they just end up refurbishing its elements to serve the new double purpose (represented in-game by the Lutece twins, the cities that are the opposite of the other one, songbird, etc). In the end, It failed to become what it wanted in the beginning. It couldn't make its point just by being something of its own, so it kept mingling its themes with more and more meta-commentary on its own double position; it is its own self but its also a BioShock game. It reminds me of what Kojima did in MGS2 a bit. Booker represents the tragic conclusions of this; it needs to fully address the past and kill it, drowning itself in the process, the only logical answer to someone who finds himself "knee-deep" and can't get out. (Ken Levine "breaking his toys so no-one else would play with them" metaphor). There is a lot more to talk about but, basically, Infinite is a game conflicted with its own existence, it wants to uphold independence, but to do that, it is forced to engage with what had it in chains in the first place, basically admitting that itself was never independent. ; when Elizabeth dreams of fleeing and not engaging in a suicidal mind-bending dig through the past, it's also Ken doing so and expressing that he dreams of resisting the suicidal mind-bending dig through his own past, that is, his past work and its legacy. Therefore, I must think of the game itself as a representation of its themes, and so, it does achieve its first level of meaningful artistic expression. BUT WAIT! Ken also asks if "will the circle be unbroken?" for himself, that is, if the game will be able to escape this meta-trap HE found himself into, If it will be experienced as it's own independent narrative about something more and not as the meta hell he, unfortunately, created for himself as the author. Then the fans answer: "I want to flee and not engage in painful shit from my past", "I cry when facing the facts that a road to peace is always a road through the truth, and there's no going back from it, the ones who hurt us will never unhurt us, we will never come out clean of this process, this is actually a process of more loss (only with purpose) and not a way to get what we lost back, THERE WILL NEVER BE A PARIS. KEN LEVINE BROKE THE MOTHERFUCKING CIRCLE. He made meaningfully, and therefore expansive (infinite?) art out of a shit short-circuited experience and shit mindset he had. ps. other works of fiction did the same thing thematically I know, time-travel stories even, but that was not the point. Other creators found themselves in the same position and thrived, also not the point. ps2. I know that Levine's actions after the game launched (BaS the more vicious of his crimes) might be evidence against what I'm saying, but that's because he himself wasn't necessarily a factor in my reading of the game, as when I played it he wasn't by my side point shit out hahaha.

[@CharlatanWonder]

I personally write off BaS as Levine attempting to break his toys so that no one else could play with them when he's done and would not be too surprised if BaS and possibly parts of infinite are disregarded in Cloud Chamber's unnamed Bioshock sequel.

[@bifurioussiren]

@@CharlatanWonder I'm so curious, how is BaS him breaking his toys? I enjoyed it myself but I wasn't thinking about Ken Levine. It makes sense that a creator who already had one game come out against his wishes, Bioshock 2, would try to find a way for them to not be able to make a real Bioshock Infinite sequel. It's sad that artists visions can't just be respected and instead every idea or property mined mercilessly for more ways to make money by greedy corporations.

[@jeffvella9765]

I am sorry but if an artist cannot come up with new good ideas of how to make a GOOD story driven game, then it is a sign of incompetence and not purpose. Also, I think the ending could have been executed a lot better, like informing the player, how killing the MC is better than stop him from being baptized in any other way? Or how killing the MC in only 1 timeline removes the MC from the rest of the timelines? Or showing us why they have to drown him? why not doing it himself? Why bother convincing him then? Why bother transferring the player back in time to experience drowning? Infinite unanswered questions which prove lack of imagination or proper story telling and not brilliance. And if you really want to mess with time, then why not give the player more hints that this is happening and put a choice in there or 2 by the end of it? I like the game but the lack of feedback regarding the story was too much in this game. I would not give the story more than a 6/10, while it's presentation and lore was excellent, it's substance and plot lacked. In BS1 the answers were there in the game and if you payed attention, you would have understood the plot by the end of it or before. BS infinite would have you collect all the tapes to be able to peace out 1/3 of the plot, 2/3 are all unanswered questions or paradoxes which are not meant to be answered in a satisfactory way. A game should never not reward the player that pays attention. That is indeed the biggest sin in the game. Pun intended. Edit: Another thing that does not sit well with me is the immorality of it all. Just because an innocent girl was trapped in a tower, it does not mean she would go ahead and kill a person even though there could be other ways to solve the problem. That reasoning is flawed and immoral. Effectively she is killing herself, which is so much the opposite of when she wanted to see Paris. This self destruction motivation is not explained well in the game at all. The proper thing to do in that case is to accept the fact that Colombia existed and the father and daughter survived it to live happily ever after. yes a lot of people died but so what? It was not them that created those deaths, messing with time is dangerous and creates more problems than it solves. The game proves it with the engineer situation where both husband and wife died after they messed with the timeline. I honestly feel that the killing of the MC was more of an afterthought than originally planned. Once the girl has her mojo, she could have stopped all the baptisms in all the timelines by simply guiding her father on the right path in history. The man was already conflicted by the decision in the first place, a single whisper at the right time could easily convince him either way. Why does the MC say that he wants to kill a baby? Why does his daughter agree? So stupid, immoral and out of character.

[@lokp7]

@@jeffvella9765 I think that he didn't care anymore for the many possibilities of the plot he made, he opened a can of worms he couldn't close even after years of trying, then 2K sent that other dude to be an editor and make this thing work by abandoning all this expansiveness ( gameplay and narrative wise) and focusing on a main theme. And this (meta) theme he had going with Elizabeth's story just had to have that tragic conclusion, because it was allegorical, it was a message he wanted to convey (you could say it was forced tho). I wanted to be able to say that you probably feel weird about how heavy-handed it was because that's not what you would expect from sci-fi, time travel stories but, actually, most ones I know are the exact same way; very contrived to have end in a emotionally decisive note, pretty much the opposite of "infinite".

[@jeffvella9765]

@@lokp7 I could have come up with a solution in 5 minutes and I am not a genius. It is clearly incompetence of whoever finished the plot side of the game.

[@straysheep5312]

Something that I didn’t understand was that in Burial at Sea Ep. 1, when the big daddy comes to save Sally from Booker. In Ep. 2, we see the first time a big daddy and a little sister form a bond. I guess Suchong simply didn’t know that the little sisters with Atlas had already made a bond with their big daddies.

[@jasonroussos1585]

Ken Levin tried to retcon Bioshock 2 because he didn't like it. The first bond was established between Eleanor and Subject Delta by Gil Alexander after Suchong's death. It is better explained if you think that the Burial at Sea universe is an entirely different universe than the Rapture universe.

[@wargex]

I think the best way to explain the protector bonds, is there are two forms of them. A mental, and physical. Like addiction. You can get mentally addicted to something where you chose to partake in a task or substance. And Physical, where if you don't partake in a substance(or in bioshocks case, a task), you can die. Alpha series were made to have a physical bond, without their little sisters they die. And mental bonds where they're compelled, to protect little sisters, either by emotional choice or mental conditioning/control. They even stopped doing the physical bonds after the alpha, because after a little sister was gone, you just had this husk of metal with a dead person in it. Even Mark Meltzer wasn't turned into an alpha, and he still had a "bond" with his daughter. Bioshock 2 would have had to retcon BS1 and Burial At Sea for Delta to actually be the first "protector bond" unless they're speaking from a pure physical standpoint. since the audio diary you find in BS1 is the same diary Suchong was making in B.a.S alpha series make their own sounds from other Big Daddies, the recording was def not an alpha series in BS1 and was a Bouncer. Ive seen people say BS2 is in a different universe to BS1 so like you can take peoples advise and just assume all three games have little to nothing to do with each other at all. Or the stories/universe are too big with too many different hands on it for it not to have continuity errors and contradictions. Also just did a little digging, the two bonds are called "Pair Bond" and "Protector Bond" Gil Alexander describes a Big Daddies as protecting little sisters from mortal danger, but not really caring. Elizabeth presumably was the first to make a bond on an emotional level, which would explain why the Big Daddy left Sally to be kidnapped by "Atlas".

[@CharlatanWonder]

www.humblebundle.com/store/bioshock-the-collection?partner=charlatan BIOSHOCK IS ON SALE AGAIN (partner link)

[@KeepCalmSoldierOn]

39:28 military promotions back when we're VERY fluid. My grest grandfather made Sergeant Major going into WWI because he had a highschool education. It's completely possible that Booker was very intelligent and was made NCO because of it

[@officercat7907]

That’s what I was going to say too. Also, him being a child during enlistment makes a lot of sense. A lot of young boys died in WWI or were sent back home due to this.

[@griffingiles2534]

I think one thing that could help ease the contradictions between the first game and Burial at Sea could be that when the Burial at Sea (BAS) took place, Booker was transported to the Rapture timeline, which created several changes. Effectively creating alternative Raptures that are linked to the Columbia timelines. Plus, the ending of BAS where Elizabeth dies after seeing Jack could be taken as a sort of 'reset' back to the prime Rapture timeline. Granted, this is just my head canon for the series.

[@BOBINDUN]

Don't say Elizabeth died 😭😭 she didn't die she's living the rest of her life in France. And Anna and Booker get to live their lifes together just the two of them happily ever after. OKAY!

[@griffingiles2534]

@@BOBINDUN Perhaps in other unaffected timelines in your head canon. 😆

[@synnamon_toast_crunch]

@@BOBINDUN well too bad because the only way she could break the cycles of timelines is her own death.

[@BOBINDUN]

@@synnamon_toast_crunch what about the after credits timeline?

[@synnamon_toast_crunch]

@@BOBINDUN the one from the main game?

[@anu_start]

Bro, this is just the bioshock channel now

[@blackraptor1154]

ANU START His ñame used to be Atlas, The Charlatan Wonder.

[@anu_start]

@@blackraptor1154 huh, never new that

[@genuineculter5640]

Was it ever not the Bioshock channel?

[@Safetyswitch]

@@genuineculter5640 well, there IS another bioshock based channel, it's called the bioshock hub. so, it'd be confusing to have 2 bioshock channels

[@DagothDaddy]

I like Robert being the one who crossed over and felt bad for Booker and Elizabeth. It makes you see hos snarky comments to his sister in a different light almost as his outlet for dealing with her much colder nature.

[@alericantonelli4656]

To be fair, Having seen all this, I believe that the Burial at Sea DLC is it's own separate timeline from regular Bioshock timeline given all the retcons and differences.

[@mikfhan]

Same here, it sort of avoids retcon being necessary. Sort of also takes a jab at Elizabeth thinking she can erase history by wiping out Booker DeWitt. She may have obtained great power when the Siphon was destroyed, but the timelines are infinite; there is ALWAYS a man, always a lighthouse.

[@neighborhoodfriendlymoron6539]

Agreed

[@alericantonelli4656]

@@mikfhan fixed parts of time. Dr who goes into great detail about that

[@thefilmpost2686]

I love these games because I love stories with rich, detailed and believable backstories. These games inspired my love for movies as a result. So, after many years obsessing over these games and with me starting film school soon, I am here to get a clear understanding of this world to create my own screenplay that I hope will eventually get made and shown to the world, on the silver screen or the small screen. Also gonna be replaying the games, particularly the first two, attentively, listening to all audio logs and soak up any and all details that need addressing. If I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do it right. For the fans, and for myself.

[@Hempujonsito]

26:25 The Mark Meltzer side story must be one of the best video games stories ever

[@neighborhoodofmemes8486]

I’d say the survivalist is one of the best

[@andrewu1353]

It was gonna be the whole game of Bioshock 2 at one point, you where going to be mark meltzer

[@Zeion97]

This came up in my auto play and I must say, this is the first time in awhile I’ve been glued to a video, especially a hour video and so deeply enjoyed it. You did a absolutely amazing job summarizing everything and explaining it out, and the details on how every event effected the series as a whole and such was spectacular. Amazing land I loved it!!!

[@alextheidiot7971]

this is one of those games that you just can’t get away from

[@carlomarmo1878]

50:31 “booker and elithabeth”

[@georgelucas9699]

If I had to sift through all of this time-nonsense I'd be slurring my speech too.

[@carlomarmo1878]

@@georgelucas9699 ya ik i was just playin haha

[@mohutchmo9591]

barely 15 minutes in and i have to take a break because this guy's tonguey voice makes me want to spit

[@katiemartin487]

This video is really good. I've been a BioShock fan for seven years and I could never fully understand the whole multiverse thing from Infinite and I also didn't like it how Burial at Sea tried so hard to connect itself to the first game and avoided any connections to the second game's past events before the civil war. Anyway, great timeline video.❤️🤓👍

[@sarcasticm.8416]

thank you for your service... I originally put on this video as a background while remote-working, but the complexity of the timeline in Infinite and BaS induced such a headache that i had to focus on your video rather than on my work haha

[@GustavArthurSimon]

It actually would be fun for a spin off or something to follow up the „bad“ Bioshock 1 ending, where Jack uses the remains of Rapture to conquer the world. Now that I think about it: would Bioshock 2 even be possible if we take the bad ending as fact?

[@solardjinn]

It might be possible as Dr. Lamb would still have her stronghold in Persephone. It would potentially be a second war between The Rapture Family and Jack's Faction/followers

[@GustavArthurSimon]

Rafi Levitt That sounds really cool.

[@theunfamousone2818]

Even mark metzer (to a point) makes sense in the bad ending as its possible rapture was not known to have started the war

[@jase276]

Even though NPCs joke about the endings in Bioshock 2, the canon ending is the good ending. So, no, if the bad ending became the new canon one, I don't believe Bioshock 2 would be possible. At least, not with Sofia Lamb as the main antagonist. Hell, Rapture probably would've already been nuked by then. edit: Actually, scratch that. Bioshock 2 could still take place, assuming Jack just goes to the surface without messing with Sofia's area, but I'd still imagine we would bomb the hell out of Rapture long before Delta wakes up.

[@TheEman11910]

@@jase276 I mean theres no indication that Jack knew about Lamb, and if he did she likely asked for rapture while he took the surface. Bioshock 2 could totally have still happened.

[@marcusblackwell2372]

I notice something fascinating: Bioshock Infinite's Universe is younger than Rapture's universe(s)

[@sorian_delorean3348]

What do you mean?

[@marcusblackwell2372]

@@sorian_delorean3348 the Columbia timeline was set in 1912, I think, and Rapture's timeline was set (in-game, at least) in the late 1950s. Sorry if that still makes no sense. Columbia & Rapture are a little more than 4 decades apart from each other

[@sorian_delorean3348]

@@marcusblackwell2372 cool

[@yerite2521]

well it makes sense since Infinite and the DLCs are all prequels to 1 and basically the basis of why 1 ever even happens

[@sebastiannienow6981]

Appreciate all the work that must have gone into this, it'll be interesting to see what direction the new game takes. I'm hoping it's mostly a self-contained story in a new city.

[@DerpedGamer]

Bioshock Infinite made me questoon the ENTIRE timeline of the whole series. Thankfully I stumbled across this video and it did a really good job explaining things in more detail and helped me understand the story a little better. I always appreciate creators putting time and effort into videos lile tgis because it allows casual gamers like me to get a better understanding of the overall story without COMPLETELY destroying my brain. Thanks for explanation because otherwise I would've just given up understanding this series

[@GustavArthurSimon]

Thank you for this. I‘ve only started playing Bioshock a few months ago. And quickly played through all parts back to back. (I’ve somehow avoided any conversation about the games prior so I was able to go in blind). This video and the ones before clear up so much about the universe. I do have a question to your or and other interested people in the comments. My main problem with Bioshock infinite (more story-wise apart from the (in my opinion) boring gameplay) was always that it felt like it didn‘t add anything to the whole of Bioshock. The game itself is completely self contained and doesn’t seem to explore any themes similar to the first games in a deeper way. Just to say it right now: I am one of those people who genuinely like the second game the most. As initially I didn’t think about the overall story that much and the gameplay in the second one just feels better. (The Fontaine twist and the ending in the first game came of as pretty cheap to me). Right when I first started infinite and stepped out of the ....sky bathossphere?.. I yawned at the great Comstock mosaic. Yay, I thought. Yet another piece of popular media „talking“ about religious fanatism and the worship of a supposed shepherd only to come to the shocking revelation that that‘s a big nono. The first games had such interesting core ideas and this one is just - as you say - bright lights and loud noises.

[@GustavArthurSimon]

Whoops. Forgot to even pose a question there. Here it goes: did I miss something or is Infinite really as shallow as it feels?

[@GustavArthurSimon]

At least the second game knew it‘s place after the first and explored the forming of a family (almost socialist?) cult out of the ruins of capitalism and didn‘t try to to anything as over dramatic as the third.

[@angrybrony]

@@GustavArthurSimon pretty much. BSI really barely touches some of the question it raise beside "yo dog, being super racist is wack yo!" and "one dimensional evil religious bad guy is super bad" and "fuck you, your choices don't matter" even the way they take care of "infinite" comstocks don't really make sense when you break it down. and ken basically also fuck for liking BS2 even tho elizabeth is pretty point for point just eleanor.

[@theunfamousone2818]

100% percent agree when presented with bird or cage I choose the cage expecting something intresting and when I got the c-a-g-e notes i thought that was the dirrect outcome controlling the song bird on the second playthrough i choose the bird and got highly disapponted that nothing changed except a cosmetic you can barely see

[@MrAsh1100]

@@GustavArthurSimon Infinite is definitely very shallow. For the most part, it doesn't go deep into its concept of religion fanaticism or r*cism. It does go a bit with a grey where the Vox are no different than the Founders when they start butchering people....but.....it doesn't seem shocking to me as well since....well, that's what usually happens in a revolution. Also, in one room where it was shown some Founders were murdered, it just doesn't shake me at all since most of the murdering was done off screen and you don't get to do anything other than see the end results which is a damn shame for a game trying to live up to the glory of being an immersive sim (which we can all agree, BSI isn't remotely close to one, its basically a Halo/CoD clone with some form of powers reminisce of some old games but just very confused with its core identity). And that Lighthouse bs. I just turned off my brain at the end. Couldn't get a lick of it into it after hours and hours of game to get to a point where the game says the shit that you do doesn't matter as there's always a Lighthouse or something and infinite universes blah blah blah. Oh and that grandfather paradox bs. Elizabeth being a God of some kind doesn't mean she's the God of everything, she still have rules to obey to and that was one of em. And what about Lutece??! Weren't they also the ones that made the time/dimension travelling bs? Shouldn't we had killed em to prevent all of this. Oh and yes, there's a grandfather paradox to it as well. Honestly, Infinite is a game that had grand ambitions to be big, like really really big but falls apart upon close scrutiny and at worse, just doesn't work as a big game concept. Comparatively to 1 and 2 where it kept itself grounded as possible with societal ideologies or human psychology. On another note, Prey is pretty good. I would say Prey is the sequel to Bioshock 1 and 2 and its worth a play for anyone that loves immersive sims and the concepts that were introduced in those games and just stay far away from Infinite.

[@SuperMattman88]

Dude great freaking job on this video! Please know your hard work doesn’t go unnoticed.

[@crystal1211797]

When he started explaining the alternate timelines at 58:30, I felt like a genius for understanding what he said but it was actually his amazing way of explaining it that got through to me

[@vicrattlehead5051]

I've played all three games multiple times throughout the years, from xbox 360, ps4, switch and now my steam library. For some reason they're just games i don't get tired of and come back to every couple of years

[@htasul]

Is it just me that wants another Bioshock game!? Such an awesome series

[@visionhawk4403]

I really appreciate all of the hard work that went into this. I'm replaying the series right now and, since it's been like 10 years since I played them, the ret-cons were getting to me. So, I needed a video to help figure it out. I found this and it was...perfect!. Thank you so much for this!

[@maxzapsgamingzepzeap2337]

Honesty my understanding of Burial At Sea's timeline and retcons is that, because it's clearly an alternate reality, the retcons are basically there to signify the changes from the original timeline along with the change of Booker's existence, after all in my opinion. The BAS timeline and the main Bioshock timeline have to be seperate for many reasons, one example being how all the names of the Plasmids are swapped out for the names of the Vigors instead despite those Vigors obviously never existing in Bioshock

[@bigdaddy496]

As a veteran of the army, I can tell you that the requirements for nco ranks has changed several times. It looks like you got your info for the modern rank structure, but back in the day these requirements were different. We have a 14t named CSM Clemm, who made sergeant major in 13 years. It really depends on a few things - how many of a particular m.o.s. they have that are n.c.o.s, if the soldier shows promise and works hard they can also recieve waivers, and what the promotion point scheme is set up during that time frame. Back in Booker's day I am almost certain that they didn't do promotion points.

[@TheEman11910]

me being bored. me seeing a bioshock timeline an hour long. me thinking "You poor bastard"

[@CatholicDisgrace]

It doesn't matter how many times I've watched this video, I'm always coming back to watch it again and again. You've done such a great job explaining the Bioshock Timelines and I really love this video. Keep up the great work.

[@brownleelogan1]

I always just figured that the Rapture in BAS was simply just a different version of rapture, given all the plot retcons, as well as minor things like weapons and plasmids

[@TheEman11910]

BAS could just simply be a new timeline

[@TheErazor21]

Why? I thought BaS completes all the materials for BS1 prologue

[@brownleelogan1]

@@TheErazor21 well yeah, it's supposed to, but there's still a lot of stuff that doesn't add up between BAS and the first Bioshock

[@TheErazor21]

@@brownleelogan1 can you describe it? I wanna know

[@alexmercer5414]

@@TheErazor21 well the skyhook rails and different name plasmas like old man winter

[@sonickitch]

the domino visual representation made the words more clear , thank you. i think i understood when i played the game but that visual explanation helps alot

[@justin-hurd]

I've watched this twice and still can't fully rap my head around it. welp! more reason to watch again :D

[@Papa_Khan]

I guess the only way a version of columbia still exists (seen in the tears in Burial at Sea) is because of Elizabeths mere existence. Because she is still alive, a timeline where the events of infinite still exists even if that is the only one in the entire multiverse of lighthouses. And BaS Booker exists because he escaped the timeline collapse like you said.

[@andrewu1353]

Exactly , that Comstock hid, avoided the domino effect of infinite ending (so a Columbia exists). But one Liz didn't disapear at the smothering (as every other did cos they smothered their booker that baptises that create them). Liz is alive in BAS cos her Comstock isn't killed before she is created like the rest but by the big daddy. So in knowing she can't be happy existing (Paris) with rapture and Sally, agrees to set in motion the one thing that saves Raptures girls. Given that some things are stuck as constants or variables. (Ha cheers,. I'm more typing this out to explain to myself 😁)

[@pontuskarlsson675]

Really appreciate the time you put in to this man, respect.

[@voxiom6487]

I dont get the part with W - Y - K, Fontaine said he ordered Jack like chicken in a Suchong's restaurant. Didnt suchong just tell him how exact;y does the activation phrase sound like? Why did Elizabeth had to reveal this to him? Why does he think that Elizabeth knows the phrase, not Suchong at this point?

[@poiuppx]

Burial at Sea really REALLY only works if we assume BaS!Booker's appearance in Rapture radically shifted things just enough to create an alternate timeline (e.g., his detective work resulted in a permanent or temporary closure of certain areas, resulting in the 'plot hole' of changing around locations in said story DLC). Effectively, we end up with two different Raptures; one as seen in the first two games, and one in BaS. This doesn't negate the value of Elizabeth's final visions of Jack, however, as neither the actions of Booker nor Elizabeth may have been sufficient to shift that. However, it's probably for the best we don't try to reason out what impact this all would've had on Bioshock 2... I would argue the mere existence of BaS, however, puts to rest the idea that everything actually resolved perfectly through the drowning plan. We're talking about a multiverse now. One exception proves that a universal constant- either he's Booker the drunk broke widower who can be lured into service by the twins, or he's the deranged rapidly-aged Prophet -isn't. What's more, it leaves out a wide array of different possibilities, since Comstock being 'out of place' as BaS!Booker saving him means *every version of him who was similarly out of place was untouched*. Which could also mean any version of normal Booker that is also out place was untouched. Any sufficiently removed or shielded version of Elizabeth, too, might be out of place enough to be untouched. Would the majority of the above have been wiped out by the eradication of the standard split? Yes, but as seen thanks to BaS, majority is not totality. And once you breech that wall once in a potentially infinite multiverse, you're going to end up with exceptions to the rules of all shapes and sizes. Not to mention the dangerous question now left hanging in the air. If a Booker could be safe from this by, essentially, accident, what about an Elizabeth who decided she didn't agree with the plan to kill all Bookers and their derivatives? What happens if she, with all that power and omniscience granted by the ending, saw her fellow selves and their plan and decided no? Granted, this has been fanfic fodder since about ten hours after Infinite was released, but BaS makes those fanfics potentially valid answers. There is no telling how many variations and alternate versions exist out there. Hell, it's not entirely outside the realm of possibility that there existed a Columbia where Elizabeth had this power from the start and protected the entire city/timeline from the end of Infinite. It isn't so unimaginable that a being whose very existence can inspire paradox and invoke it could also shield against it, after all...

[@andrewu1353]

Imagine if that's that bioshock 4 is 😅. You are very right, once they show one escape is possible for Comstock, there are many. Arguably the 1 Liz we don't see disapear at infinite endong is the one remaining due to BAS..But it creates the exact problem. I hope BS4 developers resist the urgh to have the twist be, X is Elizabeth ! Or Y is Comstock. At least save it for a few games down the line 😁

[@Predatornc1]

35:26 this is where the fun begins.

[@henrymarckisotto9025]

"Finds looking a certain way is pointless" Little sisters end up all looking the same

[@AndGoatz04]

"the metal gear time line makes no sense!" *Ok, but have you ever thought od the bioshock timeline(s)*

[@toxicavenger64]

Kingdom hearts timeline: Hold my beer.

[@samholmes7030]

*stares in Legend of Zelda* 😅

[@layahrigmaiden1311]

@@toxicavenger64 Evangelion would like to have a word with you.

[@zoltanz288]

And there is Legacy of Kain. which makes all other ones seem laughable.

[@georgerobinson4654]

Ok, but is it as confusing as metal gear timeline?

[@SpaceageSlim]

At least that story gets more fun and ridiculous as it goes; this one just gets so far up it's own ass it's eating bile for breakfast

[@johnnybensonitis7853]

Metal Gear timeline has the comparative difficulty of reading the alphabet.

[@georgerobinson4654]

@Metsarebuff 22 i feel they just kinda gave up taking themselves seriously after 4

[@roughrambo1000000]

@Metsarebuff 22 that's why we don't talk about BAS

[@sophiasantiagogonzalez7608]

What about the yokoverse and zelda timelines

[@chrislopez7395]

Your timeline explanation of the reverse Flash and the situation with the Comstock/DeWitt is spot on

[@RenanL.S.]

It is impressive when you finally discovers during the game that Andrew Ryan was actually the good guy all along and Atlas is guilt of everything. Great plot twist.

[@BOBINDUN]

"Good guy" I wouldn't say that bud

[@RenanL.S.]

@@BOBINDUN I think that he is mostly good, despite being a corrupted version of his former self.

[@TheCrashunderride]

@@RenanL.S. He was a Libertarian nut job that enslaved Children. He wasnt a good guy by any stretch

[@BrandonGavin_EDC]

He’s definitely not good, he’s just not the bad guy of the story that you are led to believe as Jack.

[@brennanferguson3537]

That is not in anyway what you discover... His philosophy was rotten to its core, and he couldn't even stay loyal to his own values when the chips were down. Andrew Ryan is very much one of the bad guys.

[@DoeSwiftandBond]

for such an absorbent vast divulging of dense information and story- I suggest if you should make another video of this style that you offer some small 5-15 second pauses in between segments to allow better cohesion that may enable spectators to digest all of this successively layered information.

[@chuckledux186]

40:17 Good Ol' "Shanghai'd" I loved the basis for that word. However the Chinese Overlords were never pirates, so I'm not allowed to say why.

[@dieramthomas]

I play this all the time to fall asleep to. Voice is so soothing 🙌🏽

[@BaAl-Alex]

this was an amazing summary of the bioshock lore. Thanks for helping me understand this amazing story/stories. big big thanks and all the respect for the effort

[@MrXsunxweaselx]

This is the only video I have ever seen the auto-subtitles work this well. You must be speaking clearer than 99% of the world, kudos.

[@Frog_Mario]

I hope that if Bioshock comes back in the future, that burial at sea gets a remake that actually makes sense

[@zangetsuee]

you deserve triple the amount of likes and views NGL. Having just finished Bioshock Infinite I was left without words and needed someone to explain what just happened So in Short, Thank you!

[@jeremy123577]

So everything from bio 1 to infinite just comes back around to bioshock 1 good ending

[@Amymay-ql4wv]

There's a massive clue as to Jack's heritage right at the beginning of bioshock 1, when atlas says about the bathyspheres being coded to Ryan's genes, and we the player as Jack are able to use them. When I first played and didn't know of the plot twist with atlas/Fontaine, I figured out from that comment we were somehow related to Ryan, I just didn't know as to how

[@coreymartin6363]

Ok, one more comment (for now, at least), or maybe more of a question: Did Andrew Ryan really intend to commit suicide by Jack/golf club, or was he confident that he could convince Jack to overcome the "would you kindly" programming with his "a man chooses, a slave obeys" speech?

[@DaGamingCore]

Well, Atlas had told Jack to kill Ryan. I think Ryan knew this, and decided to shoe Jack the truth with his final moments

[@yomiha.toysjogja]

This exact question haunts me for a week after i finishes Bioshock 1 but i don't bother googling for an answer. Judging from Andrew Ryan personality, even though his ideal utopia has turned into a mess and Fontaine-Atlas, plus Sofia Lamb thing stepping in make people against him, i don't understand why he would keep on fighting them and suddenly loses himself after meeting Jack and decided to die by "asking" Jack to kill him. In the other hand, i don't think Andrew Ryan would have sudden sweet fatherly feeling and hoping Jack would overcome the mind-control, though... For me, his quotes "A man chooses, a slave obeys" sounds like he's being arrogant and telling that Jack is only Fontaine's slave. Also, there's some implausible plot holes that kinda annoys me. Cited from BioShock Wiki : Jack is the illegitimate son of Andrew Ryan and Jasmine Jolene, Ryan's mistress. While pregnant, Jolene suffered some *financial difficulties* and decided to sell Jack, as an embryo, to Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum on behalf of Frank Fontaine, *without consulting Ryan.* Why would she did not consult with Andrew Ryan? Why she wouldn't at least asking for money or some kind of responsibility from him? i believe Andrew Ryan would have more than enough money to raise a single children. Some of you might say, maybe Jolene didn't want people know Andrew Ryan impregnated her because it will affect his reputation. Oh! what a hefty sum of morality she got there. Even if she thinks like that, she could being silent and raise the children alone (with a financial support from Andrew, of course) wtf? Talking about morality, she "sold" her son though. Cited from another page of BioShock Wiki : Within Rapture, Jasmine Jolene began working at Eve's Garden in Fort Frolic. With the salary granted to her by Sander Cohen, she was only able to afford housing in Artemis Suites. *However, when she became Ryan's mistress he granted her a comfortable lifestyle and a luxurious apartment in Olympus Heights. * Bruh she is living good life with Andrew Ryan. Why would she wanted to sell the kids? The answer (of course from Bioshock Wiki) : In *1956* Jasmine became pregnant by Ryan. She was hesitant to tell him about this, so she asked her friend, Anna Culpepper, for advice. Culpepper advised Jasmine that she should try to become independent so that she wouldn't need to rely on Ryan's continued good will to support her. AFTER EVERYTHING ANDREW RYAN GIVE TO HER AND SHE JUST GETTING PREGNANT, SUDDENLY SHE SOLD BY ANNA F^#%&#G CULLPEPPER GREATEST ADVICE OF ALL TIME AND WANTED TO BE F&##%#@%NG INDEPENDENT AND SELL THE F&*#&%ING UNBORN FETUS. WHAT A GREAT PLOT BRO. Years 1956 is the key point here. Jack was born in 1956 but Suchong (which is responsible for his development in Fontaine Futuristics) gives him eating "Lot 111" potions that enhance growth and according to his audio diaries "by the age of one, weighed fifty-eight pounds and had the "gross musculature of a fit nineteen-year-old", thanks to Lot 111". From the audio diaries we learned that Jack is actually only 4 (human)years old when the airplane crashes happened in 1960. I don't think Andrew Ryan would be amused to see his 4 years old kid looked like a guy in his fresh graduate college. post notes : pardon the grammar and structure, i know im not the brightest in english class. If there's something i missed, i encouraged you to strike my statement and tell me which one is wrong because i really love bioshock storyline but i hate plot holes lol

[@albertonavarro8904]

I think he just decided to have Jack kill him, as he had the Rapture auto-destruct set up anyway.

[@hobojo476]

I think he knew he couldn’t stop it so instead ordered jack to do it so that it was his choice. That’s part of the reason he says “a man chooses, a slave obeys” By choosing to die he gets to die a “man” not a “slave”

[@lary3709]

I am a huge Bioshock infinite fan have replayed the 1st and infinite games multiple times over since they released. I still had some questions about the story and this video finally answered them for me.What a great video explaining the timeline properly.Thanks for that.

[@Mayhem_Cube]

I have never played Bio Shock Before downloaded all three games and fell in love with this franchise. Now I am in the middle of Bio Shock 2 and also am loving that game.

[@hunglikearooster]

This video was phenomenal and very thorough. I've played all these games three times (a bit on the low end, I know) from top to bottom and failed to see all the connections. Thanks to you I have a much better understanding of it, even though I still think Infinite's ending is the dumbest thing ever. Can't wait for your update after Bioshock 4. Also I didn't know until this video that Booker/Comstock's wife's name was Annabelle Watson, which clears up why Elizabeth was mistaken for her in Battleship Bay.

[@Gabriel199016]

Wow... infinity is such a mess, everything was just fine until that game came along and fucked the timeline up. If i was in charge of the franchise i would just put future entries in a "timeline where all that comstock and elizabeth stuff never happened" and just forget about it.

[@devonscott4118]

This explanation is spectacular and spot on! I don’t think anyone could’ve articulated this better! No lie.

[@MrBlaktoe]

Man I remember the teasers and how everyone, including me, was going ga-ga over the water. Ah... a simpler time.

[@nwww4067]

Great video ! I’ve always liked to think that the main timeline with B1,2, and 3 are still the true canon. Burial At Sea is just a timeline that was completely out a wack and mixed up due to Elizabeth using her powers, and Elizabeth’s final mission was to tie up its loose ends, and make sure Jack Ryan and Delta succeed there too.

[@n.o.9838]

I haven't played Infinite since I bought it at launch and through the first half of the explanation for that game I thought "wait this is better than I remember should I go back and replay it?" and by the time we got to "...and then Elizabeth became a Quantum Goddess" I remembered why I was so disappointed in it in the first place. I never played Burial at Sea, even though I purchased the season pass. Years later I read a plot synopsis that basically confirmed that it was Ken Levine's big middle finger to everyone who didn't like Infinite and *did* like Bioshock 2 and I felt justified that I never touched them.

[@berrakkrmz1771]

omg this video is great. thank you for explaining it all makes sense now. still i got lost a bit but i ll watch few parts again to make it clear!

[@InfinityNexusReviews]

This is good and I appreciate you attempting to explain the existence of Bookerstock in Burial at Sea, but I think the explanation is wrong because if one Comstock can just ignore the end of the main game then there's no reason why they all can't. I love the DLC but I still haven't come across a satisfying explanation for the root of it all.

[@hamzairfan5550]

I have played all the games and know the complete story(s), but will most certainly watch an one hour video just because I cant get enough of this :)

[@ambitalol123]

'This might end up being confusing thanks to multi-verse and time travel...' - yeah yeah yeah let's do thiissss!

[@bumpdat01]

Thank you for all the hard work you put in C.Wonder!!!!