Posted October 26, 2019
Warning: heavy spoilers from the Gemini Rue storyline!
Gemini Rue is one of those games whose story and characters stay on your mind for a long time after you've played it. I still think about them, even the not-so-prominent ones. So today... let's talk about Balder.
One of the main topics of the game is that, no matter how many times memories were wiped, there is always a part of us that can't be erased, as Sayuri says near the end. A soul, if you wish. That's why, even after forgetting everything about their previous lives, Sayuri and Charlie keep helping strangers -because their inner moral compass tells them it's the right thing to do. And that's why, even if they can retrieve their memories, it is not needed to fully be who they are -because their true self is already within them.
So... where does this leave Balder? Every time he ends up a bully, a traitor or a murderer. Does this mean that his real identity is being that way?
In my opinion, not necessarily. Another plot point in the story is that the Center 7 trains their prisoners in specifc skills and implants fake memories in their brains with the hope of using them to get their objectives in the future. Charlie is trained in gun combat (and possibly detective skills). Sayuri is taught how to use computers and technology. What if Balder got the shortest straw and was chosen to become a murderer?
The only time we see Balder without the training by Center 7 is just after he is memory-wiped (as a punishment for trying to kill Charlie). Then he is vulnerable and afraid of the apparently inoffensive Charlie, even if he doesn't remember him. Is it just a side-effect of the process, or perhaps he isn't inherintly as violent as we might initially think?
Don't get me wrong: I do believe evil exists in the world, that there are truly bad people who enjoy hurting others, and there is not always a reason to justify the way they are. I am just wondering if we are hurrying to place Balder with the rotten apples before getting to know who he really is. Maybe his own moral compass is not as strong as Sayuri's or Charlie's and he is more susceptible to manipulation. Maybe they went too hard with the experiments on him. Or perhaps he is evil. Part of what makes this story great is that we can't know for sure and it is left to our own imagination and conclusions.
And on a final note: I would have loved if the big twist had been instead that Azrael and Sayuri manage to arrive to Center 7, only to find out that Azrael's brother does exist but it is Balder, not Charlie as previously hinted. So now they have to handle the rescue of Center's 7 resident bully and sworn enemy of Sayuri's friend Charlie. But that would have required a totally different story.
Gemini Rue is one of those games whose story and characters stay on your mind for a long time after you've played it. I still think about them, even the not-so-prominent ones. So today... let's talk about Balder.
One of the main topics of the game is that, no matter how many times memories were wiped, there is always a part of us that can't be erased, as Sayuri says near the end. A soul, if you wish. That's why, even after forgetting everything about their previous lives, Sayuri and Charlie keep helping strangers -because their inner moral compass tells them it's the right thing to do. And that's why, even if they can retrieve their memories, it is not needed to fully be who they are -because their true self is already within them.
So... where does this leave Balder? Every time he ends up a bully, a traitor or a murderer. Does this mean that his real identity is being that way?
In my opinion, not necessarily. Another plot point in the story is that the Center 7 trains their prisoners in specifc skills and implants fake memories in their brains with the hope of using them to get their objectives in the future. Charlie is trained in gun combat (and possibly detective skills). Sayuri is taught how to use computers and technology. What if Balder got the shortest straw and was chosen to become a murderer?
The only time we see Balder without the training by Center 7 is just after he is memory-wiped (as a punishment for trying to kill Charlie). Then he is vulnerable and afraid of the apparently inoffensive Charlie, even if he doesn't remember him. Is it just a side-effect of the process, or perhaps he isn't inherintly as violent as we might initially think?
Don't get me wrong: I do believe evil exists in the world, that there are truly bad people who enjoy hurting others, and there is not always a reason to justify the way they are. I am just wondering if we are hurrying to place Balder with the rotten apples before getting to know who he really is. Maybe his own moral compass is not as strong as Sayuri's or Charlie's and he is more susceptible to manipulation. Maybe they went too hard with the experiments on him. Or perhaps he is evil. Part of what makes this story great is that we can't know for sure and it is left to our own imagination and conclusions.
And on a final note: I would have loved if the big twist had been instead that Azrael and Sayuri manage to arrive to Center 7, only to find out that Azrael's brother does exist but it is Balder, not Charlie as previously hinted. So now they have to handle the rescue of Center's 7 resident bully and sworn enemy of Sayuri's friend Charlie. But that would have required a totally different story.