Tagged as Samuel Beechworth

Contributors:

Eels

Eels: So samuel has always fascinated me as a character because he's extremely necessary from a game mechanics perspective (he gets you from place to place), but also breaks hard from that role in such an amazing way when he only gives you half the poison. Like, narratively, what a whopper - he's just the guy who gets you around, but then suddenly he's super important

He also hits on a ton of thematic elements of Charon from greek mythology

1. he's a boatman, obviously, and Dunwall is essentially a city of the dead during DH1

and 2, Corvo's about to be executed when he escapes coldridge, a dead man walking. Who he was before has been killed over the six months in prison, and so in one sense Samuel carries a dead man who hasn't had the chance to begin to build himself back because of all the shit going on

In another sense, the Corvo of DH1 who steps out of Coldridge is actually more like Heracles and other greek heroes who enter the underworld and then return back to the living world, traveling in both directions on Charon's boat: Samuel takes him from where he begins into this city embroiled in plague and death, constantly crossing a literal river, and then returns him again to a more hopeful world when he saves Emily and they can start growing and healing (if the player makes LC choices).

BUT, something I think is the coolest part - Samuel actually turns one big defining feature of Charon on its head. Charon explicitly never judges his passengers

And Samuel does, and hard, even though he keeps it under wraps until near the very end. As a player, I found his judgement is actually the most important in the entire game!!

He's the only one who fully witnesses everything that Corvo chooses, and sees him living with those choices in the direct aftermath. He sees what happens in the districts where Corvo's been, for good or ill, and has an agency that Charon never does.

Charon doesn't judge - Sam judges. Charon carries the dead - Sam carries Death (in HC, at least).

Anyway I think sam is dope

I go wild for this concept of him as someone whose primary role is as a witness, for Corvo narratively (insert my million hcs of interactions they have while traveling) AND for the player

Addendum

Eels: Another thing i just realized: the amaranth is the same shape as a fucking coffin

the shape of it always bugged me (and the other boats in the game with their funky lil square bows) but that's IT that's the SHAPE

yeah idk just like man thinkin about how he's made his life on the water and he'll die on it and the hopelessness of the plague like he's already got his coffin all ready... burial at sea or some shit idk how he'd want to go out but that makes sense

one more nail in the coffin (ha) for how dunwall is a dead city

Custy: I was thinking that it just fits with Corvo's skull motif too and general representation of death in some way but :eyes:

Eels: i could be reading way to much into them saving polygons or smth but like YEAH it fits!!!