![]() ![]() Our perpetrator, the man behind the murder we’re investigating. The other character shackled by his past is the Deserter, Iosef Lilianovich Dros. The only thing left for Harry is to move on, but he’s had a lot of trouble doing that. As the dream-Dora says, they’ve done all they could and now it’s over. Nothing we do in the dream matters, because there’s nothing to be done anymore. It’s an idealized image, full of grief and self-loathing. Unless we manage to dodge all reminders of her (a difficult task), Harry will see her in a dream. A fascist Harry can even blame the inherent infidelity of women. How Harry approaches it depends on us – he can blame himself, blame Dora, want to get her back or not. Harry’s thoughts try to shield him from it with varying success. When memories of Dora resurface, it’s traumatic. The issues that likely caused the breakup got worse afterwards – the alcoholism, working in frantic bouts of productivity, impulsiveness. That is a very long time to spend unable to move on, but it’s also clear that it’s just part of the problem. This was at least partly caused by Harry’s alcoholism and erratic behavior, but the details elude us.Īccording to Harry’s deeply exasperated partner at the very end of the game, the breakup happened six years ago. He had a girlfriend named Dora and they broke up. We spend much of the game having little knowledge of just what happened and we never really learn much when we do. ![]() But the event that seems to have singularly accelerated his downward spiral is the break-up. Harry has led a hard life by all accounts, and he’s to blame for at least some of it. Harrier du Bois desperately needed to escape who he used to be. Both through the drinking and, possibly, exposing himself to the terrible force of the Pale. Indeed, there are strong hints that the utter obliteration of his memory happened on purpose. He is a man haunted by his past, even though he can remember none of it. Stepping into Martinaise with the mother of all hangovers, the protagonist is the fulcrum of the game’s question about the past and how to deal with it. Later on we do receive a hint it might have been more than just poor management… more on that below. Every government, every political philosophy has failed in Revachol. We have the option to express our opinion, but the end result is the same – nothing works in Martinaise and Revachol in general. The other one claims all these companies died on their own accord, due to mismanagement, incompetence, and market forces. A malignant entity that targets the inhabitants. It’s exemplified in the “Doomed Commercial Area.” This dramatic name refers to a building littered with failed businesses: RPG designers, hairdressers, a gym, et cetera.Īccording to one of the two remaining business owners there, it’s a curse. Nothing new happens, there’s nothing to look forward to. Revachol feels like a place where nothing really changes. The Coalition government that took over following the defeat of the Revolution keeps it this way for monetary reasons, and the practical results of it are all too predictable. But ever since then, the city has existed in a state of limbo. It was destroyed, its soldiers killed, and its influence rooted out. Revachol (of which Martinaise is just a part) hasn’t moved on from the Revolution. But more broadly, its looming presence creates the atmosphere of time standing still. The legacy of the revolution has a strong influence on individual characters and informs the political situation the story takes place in. They still bear the scars of the revolution that died decades ago. The streets of Martinaise are heavy with it. When our fearless protagonist steps outside the hotel in which he woke up as a blank slate, he is already confronted with the past. But the heart of the game is loss, memory and moving on. ![]() While the game is a detective story on the surface, the murder investigation isn’t the most important part of it… although it does still connect to this motif. Dealing with the past and holding on to it. The main theme of Disco Elysium, as I see it, is the past. As such, major spoilers will follow – read at your own risk. Today, I will do the opposite and delve deep into the game’s themes. Back then, I avoided spoilers or anything that might clue a new player too much about the plot. I wrote briefly about it after finishing for the first time. One that delivered on the promise of Planescape: Torment. A game that breathed some fresh air into the frankly increasingly stale RPG genre. Disco Elysium was an unexpected hit of the last year. ![]()
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