Tagged as Daud, The Outsider

Contributors:

Hiaen, Blue, Pip

One of the things I like about Daud's character arc is that it's the start of a redemption arc.

By the end of it he's far from redempted and of course he isn't!!! he has a kill count in the triple digits and nearly destroyed a city out of negligence! you don't come back from that in the span of a few months!!!!

But he's taking the necessary steps not only to recognize his faults and change his behavior, but also to actively repair some of the wrong he's done while never expecting forgiveness or reward out of it

I like that his redemption arc is not depicted as "you did bad things but you switched sides now you're good" but rather as a harrowing, confusing, lonely time where he has to reconsider his whole life experience, the entirety of his actions, and all the people he's surrounded himself with. Because you don't build a life of crime for 30 years and then turn it around painlessly.

He knows he fucked up this time but also he has no idea how to fix that shit or even live differently because he doesn't know any other life than this. So he stops killing because it's killing that fucked shit up right? But that's far from enough, plus he has the whalers to handle and it's obvious they disapprove of the sudden lack of murder.

I like that too: that part where it's terribly difficult for daud to turn his life around without any external help. Not killing, not taking contracts is a first step - it's just an absence of action. But doing something to repair the damage is harder. He doesn't know where to start, and his whole environment is rather unadapted to a change of morality - Dunwall at that moment is at its most violent, and the Whalers are probably very happy with the state of things.

In that sense, the Outsider getting involved is a good opportunity. He originally doesn't investigate Delilah with any redemption in mind: he's heavily questioning himself and needs a distraction and the mystery is right there. But once he finds out what's up, he follows it through to the end and saves Emily from a rather horrific fate - one first little thing fixed.

After that there isn't really any more active action of redemption, but simply removing himself from the world and ceasing any criminal activity is a rather heavy weight to take. For someone who's spent their whole life living exclusively out of crime, to stop doing the only thing he's ever known is a brutal overhaul.

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Blue: imo the dlcs are often viewed as dauds redemption but it is incredibly important to note that, daud did not set out to save emily kaldwin - that is absolutely key. He did do that, and when he realised what was at stake he actively worked to that goal, but from the start of the dlcs he has no idea what is truly going on and is almost grapsing blindly trying to understand what the outsider has given him. I think it is interesting - in light of previous outsider discussion as well - that the outsider gave daud delilahs name knowing fully what the outcome would be - daud would track delilah down and stop her, or at least attempt to stop her. I think this is the only example i can think of pre-dh2 where the outsider is more involved with things? In dh1 he simply marks corvo and observes events. If he did not mark corvo, things would've played out the same roughly, in terms of targets etc. But in the dlcs, if the outsider did not intervene, did not give Daud delilahs name, daud would not have set upon that path. So, ultimately, when the outsider gave daud delilahs name, he knew what would follow, if that makes sense
also, 2. idk i just really like the idea of daud being so down, so like lost?? that when he is offered something that might change what is to come or whatever, that he just takes it. Daud's actions in the dlcs are for his own peace of mind really. He is offered some like,,idk how to describe it but something to alleviate his depression and he takes it. I like how w daud his "redemption" is really him looking at all his past choices and deciding to move away from that but at the same time he completely leaves that part of him behind - no offer to help corvo etc., daud is just like ok. and goes. compared to other villians having redemption where they actively like work w the heroes or whatever. and also, just how daud saves emily but again, doesnt ever tell anyone (bar the therapy audiograph he clearly records as seen in dh2 lmao), it really shows that his actions are for him alone, and not for show.
i suppose tl;dr - 1 - the outsiders role in the dlcs is inch resting, 2 - daud "redemption" is different to most villians redemption stories and solely for him alone

Pip: i think t he thing w the dlcs is also that its not really a full redemption arc; its the start of one. its the open-ended potential and the realisation that he still has the capacity to do good. the outsider gave him the name knowing he would go searching, but daud made the choice to specifically save emily when he worked out what was up. it didnt have anything to do with him! he didnt do it for anyone else! the outsider gave (always with the giving!!! gifts and such) daud the chance, the choice, to do better, giftwrapped (initially) in a mystery.
arguably, dauds redemption arc doesnt get completed until doto, where the lc ending closes it all completely? not super sure abt it but i like the idea of it. the outsider gave daud a name so he could regain some humanity and start down the path of redemption and quit being a Knife, a Tool; and now in doto, daud gives the outsider a name so he can become human again and stop being an inhuman Thing, the void-vessel he was made into