Dishonored, and the Morality of Uncheckable Power

High chaos certainly has the same feel as "You did it because you could. And because you could, you had to."

As I put it to a friend, Dishonored rewards mercy, but being merciful and being good are not the same thing.

Hide-and-seek community needs more representation in media

I think my favorite part of this game is the tone that The Outsider takes with you depending on whether you choose High or Low Chaos. He's neither good nor evil, sure. But he also knows that he gave you unrestricted power. He expects you to use that power selfishly, and hold it over the common man just like all the others have done. Daud, Delilah, Granny Rags, the Executioner. They all have Marks, and they've all chosen to exert their power over others in one way or another. So he sounds...more or less bored when you do the same in High Chaos. In True Chaos he sounds mocking, like he gave you all that power and you still failed. It's only in Low Chaos that he sounds...satisfied. By showing mercy and leaving the world in a better state, you truly surprised and fascinated him by being totally unlike all the others. And as a result he seems content with what you showed him.

Even if the first guard WAS mean to Corvo, he was almost definitely under the assumption that Corvo wasn't set up, like most people.

“Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement.” is the quote that always comes to mind when a game lets me decide between killing and sparing. Dishonored gives you so many tools to effectively kill everyone in your way, then tells you you're a bad guy for using them and it's hard to really figure what I think about that. On one hand, you're missing out on all the fun by not killing, but on the other, it makes doing "good" a real mechanical concession and that adds so much you don't see in any other games with a morality system. You actually have to go out of your way to end on low chaos and not just slit every throat in the game and have rats feast on the corpse for your amusement, it's fantastic. But it's not as fun as high chaos, and games are supposed to be fun. All this without even going into the actual morality of the chaos system, which is also extremely interesting to analyse, considering how much bad you can do just to avoid slitting throats. The DIshonored series is super interesting to dive into.

This game taught me that when no one can stop me... my preference is for nonlethal take downs. Even when I got to Nightcity, it was the same story. No one will ever know I was there, and no one can do anything to stop my actions, but they all get to wake up the next morning with the ringing headache of being swiftly knocked unconscious and a story to share with their friends.

I think another thing that is worth mentioning is that the introduction to the rats in the sewers also has very important dialogue. "Rookies like you never saw the guy. He could fight 3 on 1 in the yard. The guy is a whirlwind." Even before being granted superhuman powers, Corvo was absolutely the best fighter in Dunwall, and probably even the entire empire. He was ALWAYS going to be unstoppable.

“Listen buddy, the rats need food and I make sure they have it. I’m doing a service.” -Corvo Probably

Power doesn’t corrupt, but you can trust the corrupt to want it more than most.

Fun fact about Havelock at the end. On my second playthrough I tried something quite silly, knowing where the key is, I snuck behind him and grabbed the key, blinked to the door and let Emily out. The game ends right there with Havelock just standing right there somehow not hearing anything, completely unaware that I just saved Emily before he even knew I arrived on the island.

"You watched and listened when other men would have shouted in rage. You held back instead of striking. " My favorite quote of the game, made me realize the virtue of insight back in the day when I was a lot younger. And turned me wiser for it. Well, i like to think it did.

10:32 "She starves so that her children can have bread" - As my focus goes to the blinking purse just perfectly ready for the taking xD

And then there's the morality of sparing and how it doesn't equal forgiveness. You can "spare" Lady Boyle by giving her away to a pervert.

Whenever I play dishonored, I can't help but go Clean Hand and Ghost at the same time. It just feels fitting that the man who was slandered, who's name was shouted and damned across an empire, would take down those same corrupt people without a word, or even a glimpse at who or what could do it. Plus I like the achievements. Keep up the good work! Loving your vids from what I've seen.

Finally someone who gets it. Whenever I hear people whine about "being punished for having fun" I get a little frustrated about how bad you can miss the narrative

What I love about Dishonored's story is how it shows what having absolute power can do to a person. High Overseer Campbell is supposed to be the head of the state church, but he is, of course, a massive hypocrite as he takes full advantage of his station and breaks most of the tenets of the Order. The Pendleton twins are just spoiled rich brats who were always awful people, especially towards their younger brother, Treavor. Despite them being terrible people, the twins were the ones who inherited most of the family's wealth and are the ones calling the shots. Hiram Burrows believed that he knew what was best for Dunwall and the Empire and believed that if everyone just did as he said, the world would be better. He first saw the poor as a blight on the City, so he used his connections as Spy Master to smuggle rats from Pandyssia and started the plague. When that failed, he decided to have Empress Jasmine assassinated so he could take over as Lord Regent, and all he did was make things worse. The Loyalists become just as guilty as Hiram and his cronies. They realized that in their efforts to overthrow Hiram's illegitimate regime, they had replaced him, and were poised to take over the Empire for themselves. They could've been better than those they had Corvo take care of, but instead fell victim to their greed and lust for power. And just like Campbell, Morgan and Custis Pendleton, and Hiram Burrows, Martin, Treavor, and Haevlok pay the price for their corruption. You can chose to have Corvo become corrupted by power the same as everyone else, or you can chose to restrain yourself, and do what's only necessary to achieve the greater good of the city and the Empire.

my issue with all stealth games is that im a perfectionist and so no one can spot me ever or I will restart the mission.

What i like, how Emily see you, the drawing of his father or the mask.

One of the things I find particularly interesting about doing a Low Chaos/Clean Hands run is that you can't just knock someone out and wash your hands of them. My first time playing, during Corvo's first 'Mission' dealing with Campbell, I knocked someone out and left him sprawled out in the alley between Granny Rag's house and bottle street, assuming there would be no issue because there was no one left conscious in the area to find him. The rats ate him. I had to re-do the level because a wandering swarm of rats came across the man I had knocked out, leaving him defenseless, and stripped the flesh from his bones. It was counted in my kill count, his death was on my hands. It was not enough merely to stay my blade, if I wanted my hands to remain truly clean I had to not only not kill anyone directly but I also needed to ensure their safety while they could not defend themselves. Every time I knocked someone out, I not only had to dedicate the extra time required of a sleeper hold, or the extra resources of a sleeper dart, but I had to take the time to find somewhere I could leave someone where they would be both hidden and safe, and then go to the effort of getting them there safely (Word to the wise, if you toss an unconscious guard down to far a distance to your 'safe' hiding spot for them the fall damage will kill them). Mercy was not a choice simply made in the moment when choosing between a blade or a chokehold, but something that had to be actively continued long after the lethal choice would have ended.