Anyone else had fun with Abel? *SPOILERS*
Haven't refreshed the stats, but I'm surprised only me and 7 percent of players let Abel turn into a walker.
Yes, not only did I torture Abel but I let him turn. I didn't buy his pleading and begging, I'm sure everyone have sad concerns right before they die but it didn't convince me at all.
He ultimately was still a child slaver and him trying to excuse it with the "but the other people are worse" fallacy was pretty bad. He didn't really have remorse for anything, actually.
I let him turn and encouraged AJ to watch (don't know if AJ watches regardless) not just for the thrill of it, but to show AJ that Abel must pay for his crimes. In my headcanon , I also did it because the narrative has also implied that turning into a walker is the worst thing any human being can go through.
Both Lee and Abel (and some other characters) wish heavily to die completely before turning into walkers. Being a walker is basically the physical compliment of hell/purgatory by the remaining survivors of the apocalypse. it's seen as a moral grace to actually kill someone before they turn.
So socially, it's offering the person who is close to dying a rather strange form of repentance.
Clem kills Lee to be merciful. Offering the same action to Abel would mean that both Lee's request and Abel's are equally deserving. My Clem who has no remorse or concern for Abel, definitely doesn't view his and Lee's request as the same. And so letting him turn and suffer is Clem's way of discerning judgement over who deserves "repentance" (people like Lee) and who deserves the eternal hell that is to turn into a walker (people like Abel).
Specifically, it's teaching AJ that. If AJ knows that killing Lee was to give him him mercy, then he also learns that letting Abel turn is give him punishment.
That's what I figured why Telltale gave us these 2 options. Abel dies regardless but they could have easily had another scenario where Abel's organs are intact and you have the choice to either let him go or kill him, but they decided to have him dead no matter what. So the mercy kill vs turning is basically your Clem's opinion on punishment.
Also, it's not like his death is drawn out or anything or grotesque for the sake of it. He dies fairly quickly on his own.
Comments
I know he was bad but it was still sad to see for me anyway. I'm not that heartless at least in my first play through. I'm trying to teach aj that's it's not good to kill/be mean unless you have to
I mercy killed him. I was also completely kind during the interrogation.
I have to say Lily's reaction to AJ and Clem saying they let Abel turn is also very worth it.
I punched him and let Rosie loose on him, but I'm not heartless enough to deny a man his final smoke and then torment him with the idea of him turning into a walker.
Did everyone forget Abel shot at AJ and enslaves kids to be child soldiers?
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There was no reason to let him turn. I wanted Clem to kill him by her hand. I tortured him, let him sweat, then killed him.
I slapped him awake and slammed his head, but then after that I was pretty nice to him. However I didn’t kill him. I let him turn for the trouble he put us through. He wasn’t “hungry as hell” at all. The Delta feeds their people. He took from starving kids. Not only that, but he sprung our traps so we couldn’t catch our food. I wasn’t about to let him get off easy.
Sadly for Abel i didn't forgot about what he did to AJ
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I didn't, however it also harms AJ to see needless cruelty including watching a man suffer and die and then turn into a walker. I hurt him, got the info I needed, and made sure he would never hurt anyone ever again.
I believe AJ watches regardless.
I didn't lay a finger on Abel in the interrogation, I gave him water, allowed him to smoke, and when he asked me to show mercy and to prevent him from becoming a walker, I happily adhered to it. Regardless of actions, Abel is a human, the only difference between him and Clementine is he abducted children to use for war. That surely warrants punishment, but I firmly believe that torturing a physically broken and dying man to be inhumane, even if they did questionable and inhumane acts themselves
Yup even got Rosie onto the action
Honestly, there were zero rational reasons to torture Abel. He spills the most important information out anyway.
No he doesn't.
Ooh, so edgy.
i slammed his head every chance i got and burned him but i couldn't refuse killing him even tho i wanted to hurt him as bad as i can but when he start coughing too much blood and clem's look changed from i am control here to what i have done i felt bad and i couldn't make him suffer more and he gives me what i wanted the location of my friends so he earned his wish in my book.
Also, torture is stupid and rarely ever works, and it's weirdly romanticized in a lot of fictional stories.
Hell, there was an interrogator back during WW2 (that worked with the Nazis, no less), that never once resorted to physical violence to get his answers, and he's considered one of the most effective in his field.
I'm actually glad the game gave us an opportunity to learn what we need to know without laying a single finger on Abel, instead of just falling into the same trap everything else does.
I'm the kind of guy to have devilish thoughts like torturing the fuck out of able's ass but end up doing the kind thing and showing him mercy...he doesn't deserve it but my clem is too kind....TOO MUCH KIND.
I went in thinking i'd torture him, but remembered where that got me with that prick Randall in the Michonne saga. So I tried being calm just in case. My whole reasoning was "Abel is gonna live, this decision will haunt me. And if i'm nice he might remember it when i'm down and out later" in typical TT fashion. But....
The cocksucker died. Hacked up a blood nugget lol. I did poke out the cigarette on his cheek because he was being snarky, I gave him water though, and I put him out of his misery.
Torture literally works in the game.
Abel gives complete details of not only the boat but the Delta's mode of operations and how they used city names to co-ordinate with each other.
Clementine literally has insider knowledge of the Delta after she tortures him.
Or should I say that promising to give mercy to Abel doesn't offer you any real rewards. He lies even when he's begging for mercy.
Wheras being ruthless with him regardless of torture or not, rewards you will ALL he knows.
For Clem, this is incredibly IMPORTANT. More important than Abel's wellbeing.
I Tortured Abel and let him turn, I want my Clem to be Ruthless and I am teaching AJ to be Ruthless too.
Torture works in the game, sure. But being cooperative also works. You miss out on a single code word if you promise him mercy. If we're gonna metagame this, the information off of Abel's note does nothing more than give you one extra detail, which only has any kind of effect based on whether or not you obtained it in the first place. It's hardly a 'reward' in that sense.
The actual pertinent information, that being where your friends are located, is always given to you regardless of your methods.
Knowing that the code word is Rockingham can actually save the first guy on the boat from being killed or beaten into a coma by Clem.
So strangely enough, torturing someone for information can end up offering pacifism at a later date.
Well technically, you're still able to get that information without outright torturing him. It's the [Let him sweat] option that gives you the note. So you're still able to treat him well and mercy kill him while still getting the same information someone who tortured him all the way and let him turn did.
This is true. Again another TT decision where only the last two choices are valid.
Does anyone think getting the note out of Abel's boot will affect EP4 or not?
In one instance, Clem only has knowledge of the boat.
In another instance, Clem not only gets the boat's location but she also gets an illuminating disclosure of the current operations the Delta have and how they run their structure.
Thank you for saying it! Torture almost never works. Abel made good points: "I can't tell you shit if I pass out from the pain". And then on top of that, anyone would admit to a crime if it meant stopping torture, leading to false confessions. This happens with police interrogations too. Police don't care whether the person is guilty or innocent. They just want them to admit that they did it. So they isolate and pressure the suspect until some of them just say "Fuck it" and make some shit up to just make it stop.
I guess you never check pms