I love how with a little prodding he basically *wants* to confess, and rant on and on, just because someone's actually listening. Well worth exploring all his dialogue.
They basically say that the Phasmid is the only reason he's still functional after so long alone. He kept himself apart from humanity for too long, living in terrible conditions, both hating and envying the people he saw through his scope. He hates Harry, he hates Kim, but at least to them; he matters. He's not a forgotten relic of a war most in this city are too young to even remember, he's their suspect and because of that they will treat him as someone important. They stand and listen to what he says, they ask him questions, they care about his answers. They are the enemy in his eyes; but at least the enemy finally deigns to notice him again after all these years. Not only does he have someone to talk to again, but he MATTERS again.
He was alone for far to much time. You can hear he realy wants to talk but also how hard/tiring it is for him. Like using muscle that was not used for years.
"The mask of humanity fall from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone -- everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the word. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed."
The Deserter: "And then you see it. As it strangles and beats your friends to death... the sweetest, most courageous people in the world." He's silent for a second. "You see the fear and power in its eyes. Then you *know*." You: "What?" The Deserter: "That the bourgeois are not human."
*YOU* - "You cared about him?" *THE DESERTER* - "All human beings care about each other." A little flash of anger. "I cared for... seeing his head explode. And now... god damn this world." one of my favorite bits of this conversation. the deserter is such a great character. time x bitterness has obviously rotted his brain out but periodically he'll drop the most wonderful little nuggets of insight.
This confrontation is already great but it feels extra haunting as a chilean. A genuine project to make a better country that was utterly crashed by (the aid of) a foreign power, that killed and tortured thousands in order to extinguish that dream. When the deserter says that the conditions for the revolution are gone and never coming back it feels really compelling to agree with him, specially with how shitty things are rigth now but he is wrong because inequality still exists, the conditions are stills there. It is our job to keep the flame alive and remember and carry the hopes of those who died fighting for a better future. 50 years later, the dream of Allende, the dream of the comunne of revachol, still exists. La historia es nuestra y la hacen los pueblos.
@@intifadayuri uh oh everyone look at how good of a person yurikadzz is, white knighting attention seekers is being an attention seeker just so you know
He actually reminds me so much of the broken man speech by septon meribald in the asoiaf books. I'm not sure if you're referencing that, but if not you should listen to it its my favorite bit George RR Martin has wrote.
I seriously don't understand people who say this """""plot twist""""" was out of place, were we playing the same game? Did you explore dialogue options???? Love this ending. Extremely sad and comforting at the same time.
If you're referring to it being the deserter, I think there were two issues people had: 1. Disco Elysium establishes some fairly big characters and players who are all involved in the opening, and around the victims' death. There are a mixture of motives and suspects, and trying to piece together who is lying and what really happened is Disco Elysium's gameplay. That it turns out to be none of the potential suspects and a person who was not known to you as a character is dissatisfying. b) The deserter's story in large part relies upon the political history of Disco Elysium's world, and a lot of people really didn't get on board with the world-building. There seems to be a broad consensus that Disco Elysium's strengths are in its character writing (specifically the various inner voices of Harry), and that the "tell don't show" long history descriptions were its weakest part. That's not all the deserter is, of course, but his is a character that rises from a section of Disco Elysium that many wish wasn't there in the first place.
@@kjaamor2057 That's very surprising to me, because the fans I've met I don't think Disco Elysium's characters would have made sense without the backdrop of the blasted district and the crushed revolution - the grief of the characters, including Harry, is deeply connected with the grief and failure of the whole city. Maybe people began to take real interest in the political side of the story when the Final Cut version was released, since the original version was critiqued for having too few politically-charged choices.
@@dsch0I think the problem lies with that people didn’t “get” the world building because 90% of it was off the beaten path. Having to connect all this quite heavy world building like the pale/phasmid and other various political and scientific concepts from a bunch of side NPCs scattered around the map isn’t particularly great. Its fun for the fans I imagine like me and you who are happy to sink in another 10-20 hours and properly delve into it but when virtually none of the wider (and very important) world building features in the the main quests it’s a slight problem for more casual players. I think why a lot of people couldn’t interact and get into this world is because so much of it is easily missed. There’s no reason to be interested in the political aspects of a world if you don’t know enough about it.
"No superiors can relieve me of my duty, you bulldozed them all to a mass grave for trying to free humanity." A haunting conversation with a totally broken man, this is one of the worst things a human can turn into, the impossibility of seeing the full picture of such a huge scale war, of such an injustice. Sometimes having your whole memory wiped may be the only thing that saves you.
The greatest 'final boss fight' in a video game imo. It's not 'hard' in the traditional sense, it's not really epic or emotionally satisfying in any conventional way, but as the climactic conflict that brings the game's tension to a close, I can't think of anything better. It helps that the voice acting for this part is just fucking *spectacular*. Charles Lines, take a bow.
A dying man in a dying world, angry everyone he knew and loved was taken from him. Angry that inhumanity, capital won and conquered humanity. Angry he did not have the decency to die with his comrades.
@@hegaliandialectics4289 ? lol what. He even admits that his memory and meaning of time is blurry. All he remembers is his anger towards the "capitalists." He didn't have the decency to accept his loss, so he wanted to destroy others. Funniest of all, he did this out of jealousy lmao
@@2460-1 I think you missed some dialogue my man. He actually will go into detail and explain his position as a political commissar stationed at an Anti Air costal battery. The one in the game. His entire unit his brothers and sisters were murdered by the Coalition invasion. As well as 30 million more. The Deserter deserted during this and deeply regrets his cowardice. He was supposed to die with his comrades. He is a man completely broken by war. A representation I think of what little is left of the communists in our world IRL. Bitter and old. They lost, capital destroyed and gutted the leftwing around the world. The deserter represents the need to properly mourn that loss but to also move on from it and rebuild a new left. Disco Elysium is literally our world except more fantastical. Capitalism won and the wonderful world and oh so bright and not hopeless future ahead of us is the manifestation of that.
@@hegaliandialectics4289 I remember that. It still doesn't change the fact that he is an extremely bitter and terrible person. Hard to sympathize with a loser who can't accept defeat. Lmao. Rene the fash at the very least accepts what happened and moved on, while this bitter commie watched him live a happy life for so many years. He probably could've moved on if the phasmid just left him alone, but this is what we know of him.
@@hegaliandialectics4289 Funny that he talks about “the mask of capital” yet in the same breath he masked his intentions towards Klaasje behind a grandiose reason for the cause of communism. He is a hypocritical deserter, blaming the world for his own shortcomings.
I have to admit, the way Disco Elysium handles the killer is pretty interesting. A lot of mystery stories has the culprit be some sort of mastermind, or at least an overarching villain responsible for the entire story. They don't do that here. While Iosef committing the murder is what set off the story to begin with, that's literally the only thing he actively does to influence the story - and unless you go out of your way to look there's barely any hints the man exists until you find him. Most murder stories at least make it fair by introducing the murderer before the reveal. And then there's the motive - rather than be part of some dastardly plot, the murder happened basically out of a combination of jealousy, bitterness and 'f&ck that guy in particular'. All in all, it does make finally finding him come across as a little anti-climatic to some players, particularly since Iosef doesn't put up a fight. But that's actually okay. The murder mystery is only a small part of what makes up this game - what's important is the events the murder set off and how everyone reacts to it, not the killer themselves and their motive. You want a good example? The Tribunal scene exemplifies it, and a good argument can be made that said scene is the real climax (at least in terms of action). Of course, that doesn't mean confronting Iosef is bad - far from it. It's the moment where you finally get some answers, and much of your discussion with him is an exploration of how flawed, bitter, despicable and yet _pitiable_ the man is. There's also the Phasmid, but that's another thing entirely. Of course, it's possible I'm just spewing hot air and have no idea what I'm talking about.
Nono, I see exactly what you're saying. I can accept that some would say that this is a game about solving a murder, but only if we accept that DE then is a game that's "not about what it's about". It's about everything else. I'd say the murder mystery is what happens, but it's not what it's about. If the mystery had been that it was actually someone we'd met (Surprise! It was Evrart all along!), that would genuinely take away from the beauty I see in this game. It's a game about ruins and how we'll die in them if we choose to. The Deserter is anticlimactic, but also the perfect incarnation of that concept.
but it's not, once you take a step back. the game has been telling you the entire time about the shadow of failure and despair that carpets the city, suffocating it just as international powers did decades before. the characters that lived through the revolution, and the characters who lived after, all exist in the rubble of what could have been. the killer wasn't the deserter, even if he fired the shot. it was the cruelty and paranoia of those at the top of capital who turned boys into killers like the krenel mercenaries, and crushed the hopes and dreams of lives of revachol. the real killers live thousands of miles away in absolute luxury.
I did all the side content and it was known to me that some unknown sniper did the killings before I went to find Ruby. There's plenty of evidence for it.
In my very recent hard core run, I was so glad to be manage to be Mazovian enough to remind him of the Revolution song's lyrics notably and that he finally accept me as a genuine comrade. Even more moving.
his logic may be wrong, his actions may be wrong, but the pain he feels, the deepest sorrow that burned a hole right through his heart isn't. how could he have done otherwise? his future died on a cold night fourty years ago. he's watched the city rebuild into what he would have expected a ultraliberal state to do: as cheap as possible, as morally detached as possible. without hope, without a future. they live, but they do not dream of a better world.
@@machinatingminotaur6285 His future was destroyed by his own actions. He's alone, bitter, and has destroyed the lives of others with that bitterness. He's like most M@rxists; self destructive to their fellow humans. A cancer that really shouldn't be tolerated.
I went from hating this reveal at the beginning of the conversation to thinking it was one of the best reveals ever by the time the conversation was over. And when the Insulindian Phasmid appeared I felt it was one ot the only sublime moment I'd experienced in a computer game, along with entering Hyrule Field in OoT and taking a turner too quickly and flipping the car over in GTA 3
He's so well written, so much depth that's not apparent to most people. Actual marxist philosophy instead of just popcultural leninism, the deep seated melancholy and survivors guilt, the implication of an underlying medical condition, his psychological scars and his misogyny born out of a hatred for a life he was never able to live...
@@olenickel6013 Given the people who wrote the game it makes a lot of sense. It moves me to remember what is needed for us to move forward, but it also shows a horrific reality of watching a revolution fall to betrayal and the genuine revolutionaries that fall leaves behind. Harry is an Anti-Revisionist MLM I just know it.
@@EggEnjoyer pop culture Leninism is the popcultural understanding of Leninism, the bunch of ideas and terminology that a broader audience could identify as communist without deeper knowledge of the philosophy.
I'm glad that while he has elements of both Marxism and Leninism, he leans into Marxism so heavily that he is decisively not Marxist Leninist, which would have been the easy but poorly unsubtle route in ideology. Very much the pre October revolution bolshevik that would scarcely resemble what tankies larp as nowadays.
@@VerniasAugoeides yeah you can see the parallels and where they split, even as a commissar, it just seems like the theory hadn’t had the same growth as in our timeline. Plus with Mazov being like a weird mix of Marx and Lenin in general, there’d have to be someone who’d synthesize their version of what became ML to us thanks to Stalin.
I just finished the game. What an amazing experience ! This scene wrapped everything up perfectly, imho. I suspect that the entire game will linger in my memory for years to come.
Dross in a lot of ways is like Harry. Completely stuck in the past not moving on or accepting that what happened will never change. He will never have his communist utopia. Harry will never get Dolores back. The difference is that Harry had a chance if the player allows, to change and grow and maybe grow past his break. Maybe find someone new. Harry had the option to be like Dross, to shut people out. I wonder what the voices in Dross’s head sound like. What are his skills telling him? Harry’s fried from all the drugs he took and Dross by the phasmid. He could’ve kept living influencing people teaching a new generation. But he sits alone, on the abandoned island. Watching, judging, and putting himself higher and higher on his pedestal. Trying to make himself above it all when all he does is slink in the shadows hating everyone who moved on.
Basically dross is a reflection of what Harry will become if he continues down the path he was previously on, people that were “has beens” quickly become “never was” if they don’t try to get back up
I had such a good first run, but the smallest thing. I could not catch the mayflower, so I missed this entire beautiful scene. Thank you for sharing comrade
Only this game can introduce a main character at the 12th hour and have him be so fleshed out and so fitting for the story and the world. There is nothing like Disco Elysium, and I don’t there will be anything like it again
In the end, we all feel like a last surviving defender of a commune if we’re on the left, but we need to embrace hope like in Latin America, and dare to dream again.
Maybe it's not in the spirit of the video, but honestly I spent an hour waiting for you to take that composure check and with at least one skill point in your inventory and doubtless all the world's clothing you failed it. You actually failed it. A 1 hour 25 minute video, and 1 hour and 18 minutes in you fail the big check. Hnnnnnngh.
Dross was a character who really disgusts me in a way I cant explain. A political commisar who abandon his post, wrote a critique of himself, and the only man who is still fighting a war he lost long ago. And digging into why he killed the merc at the beginning showed that under all his rhetoric, hes still a human, jeaous and spiteful. The part that was saddest was when he learbed that Rene died of a heart attack earlier in the week. A man his complete polar opposite, still managed to mean more to Dross than anyone else in his life. Rene had friends, a love interest, and pride for what he did in his past as a solider. Dross was a coward who had no one, killed out of spite, and was a political officer in the army. But in the end, all it took was a stick bug to make the world seem less bleak.
This man is tragic in his inability to connect with human beings beyond idealogical, he doesn't even show a hint of respect for you until he believes you are communist enough for him
I have to disagree. He openly confesses to caring about Klaasje, and he does all but say that he feels a connection with René despite the fact that they are as diametrically opposed as could be from an ideological standpoint.
How could he? He lost, he was one of the good guys, he tried to free the fellow worker. But failed, he didn't even have the courage to die with his peers. Humankind is lost, there will be no revolution and capitalism will consume everyone and every aspect of life is valued on money. He is a dissgrace as the world around him, he doesn't deserve love or peace after running and hidding, and how could this future deserve love? He is masterfully written, the ultimate old timer
The Deserter: He opens his eyes and stares right through you. "It was real. I'd seen it. I'd seen it *in reality*." HALF LIGHT: "Some kind of great terror. Worse than you've ever seen." You: "Seen *what*?" The Deserter: "The mask of humanity fall from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone - everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the world. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed." "And then you see it. As it strangles and beats your friends to death... the sweetest, most courageous people in the world." He's silent for a second. "You see the fear and power in its eyes. Then you *know*." You: "What?" The Deserter: "That the bourgeois are not human."
The recording quality is on par with Kim's. That's my observation with a dedicated soundcard, good EQ, and a pair of ATH-M50X. I don't know what your problem is with the quality. His vocal signature is different from Kim's (has more resonance and bass), but that's about it.
This moment was a disappointment to me for a while, but after reconsidering it, this anticlimax was warranted. Maybe not the ideal ending, but it fits.
I loved it. The game is mostly about Harry, with the detective plot being subsided pretty early (at least after we leave for the other side of the river), and this wreckage of the man fits the theme of not being able to stand straight perfectly. Not to mention the phasmid...
I can't really consider it an anti climax because of how on point the dialogue, voice acting, and music are. That, and the fact that instead of a mega twist it's a crime where the perpetrator makes sense in the context of everything. You're still left with that bizarre concept of him somehow being animated by the Phasmid, though.
The climax of a story usually isn't right at the end of a story, the mercenary tribunal was undoubtedly the climax and this is more of the Falling Action/resolution of the game.
I much prefer the original VA. The original VA makes him sound like a broken old man, as he should. However, the new VA makes him sound like a Sith Lord.
@@JamesTobiasStewart True there are some VAs and scenes i vastly prefer from the old version. But as a package the Final cut is amazing with everything voiced.
This scene just reminded me that what the hell happened to all communists in the world? Or the people who lived under in commun system. I am not talking about china at this point they are as capitalisr as it gets.
It depends on where. Countries like France and Italy had robust communist parties post WW2 which lost heart and dissolved after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In places like South America, Indonesia, and the Middle East, the communist movements there were basically all violently destoryed, usually with the backing of the United States
@@graetestfanever1 which is the conclusion I reached after giving it much thought. I still dislike the character and find it difficult to accept that many people can see past his horrible crimes.
@@Kris.G I dont think anyone sees past his crimes per say. Its just that, at least an game, theres very little they can do about it. They have a (very vague and limited) system and thats it. Besides, its very unlikely that the poor bastard has any mind left now.
![Judicial Opinions: What Makes Disco Elysium a Modern Classic? [Full Spoilers]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n_7ngJDbUQE/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Complete Story of Destiny! From origins to Shadowkeep [Timeline and Lore explained]](/img/n.gif)
I love how with a little prodding he basically *wants* to confess, and rant on and on, just because someone's actually listening. Well worth exploring all his dialogue.
Humans are social animals, him basically leaving himself on that island and denying himself any interaction for years upon years can drive anyone mad.
very normal behavior. fiction likes to talk about super-cops who can get anyone to talk; simple fact of the matter is people want to talk
I wonder how much deserter inspired by japaneese soldier who surrendered after decade oos ww2 and how similar was his behaviour?
They basically say that the Phasmid is the only reason he's still functional after so long alone. He kept himself apart from humanity for too long, living in terrible conditions, both hating and envying the people he saw through his scope.
He hates Harry, he hates Kim, but at least to them; he matters. He's not a forgotten relic of a war most in this city are too young to even remember, he's their suspect and because of that they will treat him as someone important. They stand and listen to what he says, they ask him questions, they care about his answers. They are the enemy in his eyes; but at least the enemy finally deigns to notice him again after all these years. Not only does he have someone to talk to again, but he MATTERS again.
He was alone for far to much time. You can hear he realy wants to talk but also how hard/tiring it is for him. Like using muscle that was not used for years.
"The mask of humanity fall from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone -- everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the word. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed."
Timestamp?
@@thepopulargirl1784 16:15
The Deserter: "And then you see it. As it strangles and beats your friends to death... the sweetest, most courageous people in the world." He's silent for a second. "You see the fear and power in its eyes. Then you *know*."
You: "What?"
The Deserter: "That the bourgeois are not human."
Some of the realest shit I've ever seen
And then you know.
"I can see it" Kim's reassurance and kindness in that moment was a physical blow. I actually teared up.
sorry but timestamp? I may have missed it
@@seanfussa3076it's not in this vid, I realize now. My b.
@@seanfussa3076 1:24:30
The "I exist too" was powerful, too.
*YOU* - "You cared about him?"
*THE DESERTER* - "All human beings care about each other." A little flash of anger. "I cared for... seeing his head explode. And now... god damn this world."
one of my favorite bits of this conversation. the deserter is such a great character. time x bitterness has obviously rotted his brain out but periodically he'll drop the most wonderful little nuggets of insight.
This confrontation is already great but it feels extra haunting as a chilean. A genuine project to make a better country that was utterly crashed by (the aid of) a foreign power, that killed and tortured thousands in order to extinguish that dream. When the deserter says that the conditions for the revolution are gone and never coming back it feels really compelling to agree with him, specially with how shitty things are rigth now but he is wrong because inequality still exists, the conditions are stills there. It is our job to keep the flame alive and remember and carry the hopes of those who died fighting for a better future. 50 years later, the dream of Allende, the dream of the comunne of revachol, still exists.
La historia es nuestra y la hacen los pueblos.
Nada que perder, y todo por ganar.
La memoria de Allende vive en toda latinoamerica
uh oh lets make it about you
@@50blessings13 yeah God forgive someone feels identified with a videogame, right??? 😅
@@intifadayuri uh oh everyone look at how good of a person yurikadzz is, white knighting attention seekers is being an attention seeker just so you know
"Are they not heartbroken? How could they've moved on?"
I can only hope to write something half as eloquent and thought-provoking as this scene one day
Same, the entire game makes me think this way but this scene alone...
You have to write something that means something to you.
I think you will
You search for a killer but you find a broken man
He actually reminds me so much of the broken man speech by septon meribald in the asoiaf books. I'm not sure if you're referencing that, but if not you should listen to it its my favorite bit George RR Martin has wrote.
"You had feelings for that woman."
"There's..." he sighs, "there's nothing to hold on to, only this... It's not enough."
"Its not un-proletarian to feel something"
I seriously don't understand people who say this """""plot twist""""" was out of place, were we playing the same game? Did you explore dialogue options???? Love this ending. Extremely sad and comforting at the same time.
It was perfectly consistent. It all led to this.
If you're referring to it being the deserter, I think there were two issues people had:
1. Disco Elysium establishes some fairly big characters and players who are all involved in the opening, and around the victims' death. There are a mixture of motives and suspects, and trying to piece together who is lying and what really happened is Disco Elysium's gameplay. That it turns out to be none of the potential suspects and a person who was not known to you as a character is dissatisfying.
b) The deserter's story in large part relies upon the political history of Disco Elysium's world, and a lot of people really didn't get on board with the world-building. There seems to be a broad consensus that Disco Elysium's strengths are in its character writing (specifically the various inner voices of Harry), and that the "tell don't show" long history descriptions were its weakest part. That's not all the deserter is, of course, but his is a character that rises from a section of Disco Elysium that many wish wasn't there in the first place.
@@kjaamor2057 That's very surprising to me, because the fans I've met I don't think Disco Elysium's characters would have made sense without the backdrop of the blasted district and the crushed revolution - the grief of the characters, including Harry, is deeply connected with the grief and failure of the whole city.
Maybe people began to take real interest in the political side of the story when the Final Cut version was released, since the original version was critiqued for having too few politically-charged choices.
@@kjaamor2057 sounds like those people are dum
@@dsch0I think the problem lies with that people didn’t “get” the world building because 90% of it was off the beaten path. Having to connect all this quite heavy world building like the pale/phasmid and other various political and scientific concepts from a bunch of side NPCs scattered around the map isn’t particularly great. Its fun for the fans I imagine like me and you who are happy to sink in another 10-20 hours and properly delve into it but when virtually none of the wider (and very important) world building features in the the main quests it’s a slight problem for more casual players. I think why a lot of people couldn’t interact and get into this world is because so much of it is easily missed. There’s no reason to be interested in the political aspects of a world if you don’t know enough about it.
"No superiors can relieve me of my duty, you bulldozed them all to a mass grave for trying to free humanity."
A haunting conversation with a totally broken man, this is one of the worst things a human can turn into, the impossibility of seeing the full picture of such a huge scale war, of such an injustice. Sometimes having your whole memory wiped may be the only thing that saves you.
25:05
8:19 Love how he introduces himself, especially at the end, he says "The Commune of Revachol" with blue reverence.
The greatest 'final boss fight' in a video game imo. It's not 'hard' in the traditional sense, it's not really epic or emotionally satisfying in any conventional way, but as the climactic conflict that brings the game's tension to a close, I can't think of anything better. It helps that the voice acting for this part is just fucking *spectacular*. Charles Lines, take a bow.
The current one is Charles Lines. Mikee was from the original
@@pepitojudeallen797 Thanks, amended.
It was VERY emotionally satisfying
Gwynn from dark souls :(
A dying man in a dying world, angry that he didn't get to build his own future, so he destroys the futures of others as revenge
A dying man in a dying world, angry everyone he knew and loved was taken from him. Angry that inhumanity, capital won and conquered humanity. Angry he did not have the decency to die with his comrades.
@@hegaliandialectics4289 ? lol what. He even admits that his memory and meaning of time is blurry. All he remembers is his anger towards the "capitalists." He didn't have the decency to accept his loss, so he wanted to destroy others. Funniest of all, he did this out of jealousy lmao
@@2460-1 I think you missed some dialogue my man. He actually will go into detail and explain his position as a political commissar stationed at an Anti Air costal battery. The one in the game. His entire unit his brothers and sisters were murdered by the Coalition invasion. As well as 30 million more. The Deserter deserted during this and deeply regrets his cowardice. He was supposed to die with his comrades. He is a man completely broken by war. A representation I think of what little is left of the communists in our world IRL. Bitter and old. They lost, capital destroyed and gutted the leftwing around the world. The deserter represents the need to properly mourn that loss but to also move on from it and rebuild a new left. Disco Elysium is literally our world except more fantastical. Capitalism won and the wonderful world and oh so bright and not hopeless future ahead of us is the manifestation of that.
@@hegaliandialectics4289 I remember that. It still doesn't change the fact that he is an extremely bitter and terrible person. Hard to sympathize with a loser who can't accept defeat. Lmao. Rene the fash at the very least accepts what happened and moved on, while this bitter commie watched him live a happy life for so many years. He probably could've moved on if the phasmid just left him alone, but this is what we know of him.
@@hegaliandialectics4289 Funny that he talks about “the mask of capital” yet in the same breath he masked his intentions towards Klaasje behind a grandiose reason for the cause of communism. He is a hypocritical deserter, blaming the world for his own shortcomings.
I have to admit, the way Disco Elysium handles the killer is pretty interesting. A lot of mystery stories has the culprit be some sort of mastermind, or at least an overarching villain responsible for the entire story.
They don't do that here. While Iosef committing the murder is what set off the story to begin with, that's literally the only thing he actively does to influence the story - and unless you go out of your way to look there's barely any hints the man exists until you find him. Most murder stories at least make it fair by introducing the murderer before the reveal. And then there's the motive - rather than be part of some dastardly plot, the murder happened basically out of a combination of jealousy, bitterness and 'f&ck that guy in particular'. All in all, it does make finally finding him come across as a little anti-climatic to some players, particularly since Iosef doesn't put up a fight.
But that's actually okay. The murder mystery is only a small part of what makes up this game - what's important is the events the murder set off and how everyone reacts to it, not the killer themselves and their motive. You want a good example? The Tribunal scene exemplifies it, and a good argument can be made that said scene is the real climax (at least in terms of action). Of course, that doesn't mean confronting Iosef is bad - far from it. It's the moment where you finally get some answers, and much of your discussion with him is an exploration of how flawed, bitter, despicable and yet _pitiable_ the man is. There's also the Phasmid, but that's another thing entirely.
Of course, it's possible I'm just spewing hot air and have no idea what I'm talking about.
Nono, I see exactly what you're saying. I can accept that some would say that this is a game about solving a murder, but only if we accept that DE then is a game that's "not about what it's about". It's about everything else. I'd say the murder mystery is what happens, but it's not what it's about. If the mystery had been that it was actually someone we'd met (Surprise! It was Evrart all along!), that would genuinely take away from the beauty I see in this game. It's a game about ruins and how we'll die in them if we choose to. The Deserter is anticlimactic, but also the perfect incarnation of that concept.
but it's not, once you take a step back. the game has been telling you the entire time about the shadow of failure and despair that carpets the city, suffocating it just as international powers did decades before. the characters that lived through the revolution, and the characters who lived after, all exist in the rubble of what could have been. the killer wasn't the deserter, even if he fired the shot. it was the cruelty and paranoia of those at the top of capital who turned boys into killers like the krenel mercenaries, and crushed the hopes and dreams of lives of revachol.
the real killers live thousands of miles away in absolute luxury.
I did all the side content and it was known to me that some unknown sniper did the killings before I went to find Ruby. There's plenty of evidence for it.
This guy simultaneously felt so sympathetic despite being a bitter old man who basically hates everyone.
In my very recent hard core run, I was so glad to be manage to be Mazovian enough to remind him of the Revolution song's lyrics notably and that he finally accept me as a genuine comrade. Even more moving.
This ending fit perfectly to me
With the themes of the game as well as the fact that the killer holds up a metaphorical mirror to the protags face.
Thank you so much for going all the options here! This must have taken ages to make, but it's super interesting, so thank you. :)
*"Death Blow.* You're one of them. Tell me, who speaks like that? We had 50 million people on Caillou alone..."
This was such a rough part of the game for me. It's important to remember that the deserter is wrong, there is always hope.
We march on.... someone has too
yea which is what the phasmid represents, which is why the deserter cant see it
his logic may be wrong, his actions may be wrong, but the pain he feels, the deepest sorrow that burned a hole right through his heart isn't. how could he have done otherwise? his future died on a cold night fourty years ago. he's watched the city rebuild into what he would have expected a ultraliberal state to do: as cheap as possible, as morally detached as possible. without hope, without a future. they live, but they do not dream of a better world.
@@machinatingminotaur6285 His future was destroyed by his own actions. He's alone, bitter, and has destroyed the lives of others with that bitterness. He's like most M@rxists; self destructive to their fellow humans. A cancer that really shouldn't be tolerated.
Man I'm so disappointed I failed to catch the fucking may bell flowers and missed out on this..tree...
I went from hating this reveal at the beginning of the conversation to thinking it was one of the best reveals ever by the time the conversation was over. And when the Insulindian Phasmid appeared I felt it was one ot the only sublime moment I'd experienced in a computer game, along with entering Hyrule Field in OoT and taking a turner too quickly and flipping the car over in GTA 3
"Hatred got this man, a long time ago."
43 years, fighting alone, the desserter is what happens to a desserted revolution. we can do better together comrades
The scene left me speechless especially with that beautiful haunting score 💔
God I fucking love him so much
He's so well written, so much depth that's not apparent to most people. Actual marxist philosophy instead of just popcultural leninism, the deep seated melancholy and survivors guilt, the implication of an underlying medical condition, his psychological scars and his misogyny born out of a hatred for a life he was never able to live...
@@olenickel6013 Given the people who wrote the game it makes a lot of sense. It moves me to remember what is needed for us to move forward, but it also shows a horrific reality of watching a revolution fall to betrayal and the genuine revolutionaries that fall leaves behind. Harry is an Anti-Revisionist MLM I just know it.
@@EggEnjoyer pop culture Leninism is the popcultural understanding of Leninism, the bunch of ideas and terminology that a broader audience could identify as communist without deeper knowledge of the philosophy.
I'm glad that while he has elements of both Marxism and Leninism, he leans into Marxism so heavily that he is decisively not Marxist Leninist, which would have been the easy but poorly unsubtle route in ideology. Very much the pre October revolution bolshevik that would scarcely resemble what tankies larp as nowadays.
@@VerniasAugoeides yeah you can see the parallels and where they split, even as a commissar, it just seems like the theory hadn’t had the same growth as in our timeline. Plus with Mazov being like a weird mix of Marx and Lenin in general, there’d have to be someone who’d synthesize their version of what became ML to us thanks to Stalin.
I know there’s a lot in this video but this is the most Manic Street Preacher references I’ve ever seen in a game and I’m here for it
I knew all the spoilers. And i still was surprised. This game is beautiful.
I just finished the game. What an amazing experience ! This scene wrapped everything up perfectly, imho. I suspect that the entire game will linger in my memory for years to come.
Years
one. hour. of text.
the best part?
I was enthralled the whole time.
Dross in a lot of ways is like Harry. Completely stuck in the past not moving on or accepting that what happened will never change. He will never have his communist utopia. Harry will never get Dolores back. The difference is that Harry had a chance if the player allows, to change and grow and maybe grow past his break. Maybe find someone new. Harry had the option to be like Dross, to shut people out. I wonder what the voices in Dross’s head sound like. What are his skills telling him? Harry’s fried from all the drugs he took and Dross by the phasmid. He could’ve kept living influencing people teaching a new generation. But he sits alone, on the abandoned island. Watching, judging, and putting himself higher and higher on his pedestal. Trying to make himself above it all when all he does is slink in the shadows hating everyone who moved on.
Basically dross is a reflection of what Harry will become if he continues down the path he was previously on, people that were “has beens” quickly become “never was” if they don’t try to get back up
We need a game as this man
Fantastic character.
I had such a good first run, but the smallest thing. I could not catch the mayflower, so I missed this entire beautiful scene. Thank you for sharing comrade
Only this game can introduce a main character at the 12th hour and have him be so fleshed out and so fitting for the story and the world. There is nothing like Disco Elysium, and I don’t there will be anything like it again
Min 14:00 begin that part of the monologue.
24:30, otro gran momento
In the end, we all feel like a last surviving defender of a commune if we’re on the left, but we need to embrace hope like in Latin America, and dare to dream again.
I don't think you want to use Latin America as a modern example. Most of us are corrupt, and filled with infighting.
Maybe it's not in the spirit of the video, but honestly I spent an hour waiting for you to take that composure check and with at least one skill point in your inventory and doubtless all the world's clothing you failed it. You actually failed it. A 1 hour 25 minute video, and 1 hour and 18 minutes in you fail the big check. Hnnnnnngh.
28:55 I can feel that mouse tilt lmao
Dross was a character who really disgusts me in a way I cant explain. A political commisar who abandon his post, wrote a critique of himself, and the only man who is still fighting a war he lost long ago. And digging into why he killed the merc at the beginning showed that under all his rhetoric, hes still a human, jeaous and spiteful.
The part that was saddest was when he learbed that Rene died of a heart attack earlier in the week. A man his complete polar opposite, still managed to mean more to Dross than anyone else in his life. Rene had friends, a love interest, and pride for what he did in his past as a solider. Dross was a coward who had no one, killed out of spite, and was a political officer in the army.
But in the end, all it took was a stick bug to make the world seem less bleak.
24:47
i was looking for that moment exactly easily the best part
25:00
27:50
31:55
This man is tragic in his inability to connect with human beings beyond idealogical, he doesn't even show a hint of respect for you until he believes you are communist enough for him
I have to disagree. He openly confesses to caring about Klaasje, and he does all but say that he feels a connection with René despite the fact that they are as diametrically opposed as could be from an ideological standpoint.
How could he? He lost, he was one of the good guys, he tried to free the fellow worker. But failed, he didn't even have the courage to die with his peers. Humankind is lost, there will be no revolution and capitalism will consume everyone and every aspect of life is valued on money. He is a dissgrace as the world around him, he doesn't deserve love or peace after running and hidding, and how could this future deserve love? He is masterfully written, the ultimate old timer
16:16
The Deserter: He opens his eyes and stares right through you. "It was real. I'd seen it. I'd seen it *in reality*."
HALF LIGHT: "Some kind of great terror. Worse than you've ever seen."
You: "Seen *what*?"
The Deserter: "The mask of humanity fall from capital. It has to take it off to kill everyone - everything you love; all the hope and tenderness in the world. It has to take it off, just for one second. To do the deed."
"And then you see it. As it strangles and beats your friends to death... the sweetest, most courageous people in the world." He's silent for a second. "You see the fear and power in its eyes. Then you *know*."
You: "What?"
The Deserter: "That the bourgeois are not human."
@@garr_inc
L to ya
@@lanceelopezz223
I am too old to understand what exactly you mean by this
Luigi if he was in Disco Elysium
Helps me see all the shit
Good voice actor, but the recording quality is a bit low quality if you compare it to Kim's.
The recording quality is on par with Kim's. That's my observation with a dedicated soundcard, good EQ, and a pair of ATH-M50X. I don't know what your problem is with the quality. His vocal signature is different from Kim's (has more resonance and bass), but that's about it.
27:53
"stop liking what i don't like"
Chose the moralist path for this run, I see.
This moment was a disappointment to me for a while, but after reconsidering it, this anticlimax was warranted. Maybe not the ideal ending, but it fits.
I loved it. The game is mostly about Harry, with the detective plot being subsided pretty early (at least after we leave for the other side of the river), and this wreckage of the man fits the theme of not being able to stand straight perfectly. Not to mention the phasmid...
anti climax? i found this extremely satisfying
@@santiagogallego8695 yes, anti climax. I found it really disappointing too.
I can't really consider it an anti climax because of how on point the dialogue, voice acting, and music are. That, and the fact that instead of a mega twist it's a crime where the perpetrator makes sense in the context of everything. You're still left with that bizarre concept of him somehow being animated by the Phasmid, though.
The climax of a story usually isn't right at the end of a story, the mercenary tribunal was undoubtedly the climax and this is more of the Falling Action/resolution of the game.
10 morale, someone invested in volition
GENIUS
The future...
I much prefer the original VA. The original VA makes him sound like a broken old man, as he should. However, the new VA makes him sound like a Sith Lord.
Yeah, this is one of several VA changes I am not all that fond of. This VA does a decent enough job, but the original was better.
@@JamesTobiasStewart True there are some VAs and scenes i vastly prefer from the old version. But as a package the Final cut is amazing with everything voiced.
This scene just reminded me that what the hell happened to all communists in the world? Or the people who lived under in commun system. I am not talking about china at this point they are as capitalisr as it gets.
They got murdered mostly.
Jesus was the first communist if you think about it. And what did humanity do? Kill him.
You might consider reading "The Jakarta Method" by Vincent Bevins on this topic.
It depends on where. Countries like France and Italy had robust communist parties post WW2 which lost heart and dissolved after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In places like South America, Indonesia, and the Middle East, the communist movements there were basically all violently destoryed, usually with the backing of the United States
We lost. What he described happened, all throughout the third world. They bulldozed us into graves. We just have hope left.
I don't want to talk about this shit anymore tell us, the gamer, he also heard the city.
Reject stalking cowardly incel loner commissar, embrace based war veteran and cute stick bug.
Says the kid with anime pfp
@@DZGC43 but what anime is it?
This needs to be an anime.
I noticed that all his insults are written the same way marx, engels and lenin insulted people in their books lol.
They really aren't
I love how he's basically just a pathetic incel draped in communist rhetoric. A true Redditor
A dreadful, delusional man with no regard for human life. Him being the reason behind the case felt somewhat disappointing.
In what way? I find it perfectly fitting with the story and themes.
As the game explains to us: life is disappointing. Life doesn't care if you find it so. So, make what you can of it.
@@graetestfanever1 which is the conclusion I reached after giving it much thought. I still dislike the character and find it difficult to accept that many people can see past his horrible crimes.
@@Kris.G I dont think anyone sees past his crimes per say. Its just that, at least an game, theres very little they can do about it. They have a (very vague and limited) system and thats it. Besides, its very unlikely that the poor bastard has any mind left now.
@@jimmybean420 I do understand how the situation influenced his actions but I have absolutely no sympathy for him.
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24:47