My Complex "Friendship" with Kenny.
In season 1 i had a somewhat complex relationship with Kenny. I'm not team Lily nor Team Kenny but by the end of episode 5 I counted Kenny as a good friend even though it was a rocky journey there. It went like this...
I could be described as definitely being more on lilys side then kennys but it wasnt personal it was just that i thought the motor inn was the best bet.
I had quite the unorthodox journey with kenny but by the end i considered him a friend and hope to see him in season 2 alive! Any one else have this kind of relationship with Kenny. Great Character!
- In Episode 1 I saved Duck and defended him from Larry.Kenny saved my life when Larry Knocked me down.By the end of episode 1 me and Kenny are good friends.
- Episode 2 was the big turning point in my relationship with Kenny,at the start of the episodes a rift is beginning when he wishes to leave and i want to stay,i make sure to feed duck though and he is happy enough with that. I agree with him that something suspicious is happening at the farm and then the meat locker scene happens,i decide to try and save larry but kenny kills him.I'm angry at kenny and he is angry at me for not having his back,then we attempt to save katjaa and duck,danny attacks me and is about to kill me while kenny does nothing to intervene,Lily saves me and Lee gives a look of dissapointment to kenny. After the farm I told kenny that he isn't a bad man but he's no hero and he destroyed two people's lives. I do agree to take the supplies.
- Episode 3 there is a clear division now between me and kenny and when i get attacked in the drug store he once again does nothing to save me.At this point i am really angry at kenny,i tell him the best plan is to stick with the motor inn,he doesnt agree.Later in the episode after the bandit attack i feel sorry for kenny when i find out duck is bitten,i tell him that he has to man up and fight him in the train beating him up but apoligize afterwards,but that fight was along time coming.After Katjaa and Duck die I am devasted for kenny and vow to support him and go along with his boat plan.
- In episode 4 I get Kenny to kill fivel since i killed duck,i felt this could go some small way to give him some closure. I agree that he should beat up ben but i couldnt let ben die,i get kenny to join me at the end when i tell him clem is my family and he recognizes that i was there for him when it counted.
- In episode 5 i console kenny on the rooftop,i lose my temper with him in the attic and throw the bust at him,i say i wasnt going to hurt him and he says i know,i then apologize for any hurt i caused over a bottle of whiskey and the relationship between us seems to be as good as its been since the end of episode 1. I refuse to leave him with ben and tell him its not ok.When he "dies" i think Lee summarized the relationship i had with him best when he says "He wasnt a bad man,maybe people didnt always agree,maybe even me" and "he was what counts for a friend nowadays".
I could be described as definitely being more on lilys side then kennys but it wasnt personal it was just that i thought the motor inn was the best bet.
I had quite the unorthodox journey with kenny but by the end i considered him a friend and hope to see him in season 2 alive! Any one else have this kind of relationship with Kenny. Great Character!
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Comments
He just wanted to protect his family but unfortnately failed . I can imagine Lee would be like Kenny if he lost Clem the same way Kenny lost Katjaa and Duck .
Yeah i didnt always agree with kenny like when it came to the motor inn.But I respected that he was doing what he thought was best for his family and thats all any man can do. The fact that he is a flawed character is what makes him a good human character because all humans are flawed.
Yeah we definitely weren't bro's but there was a respect there and I think it was just a case of two friends put into shitty situations with contrasting ideals which strained the relationship.
True he was there for Lee in his biggest hour of need.
1.) Best Bros for Life (You side with Kenny on every single choice except maybe one or two dialogue choices) (Get bro speech)
2.) Bros (You side with Kenny on many things and agree with him on most terms) (Still get bro speech)
3.) Friends... Mostly (You side with Kenny half ,or a bit less, of the time and help him in most choices)
4.) Frienemies (You side with Kenny sometimes and help him out usually)
5.) Group Members (Usually don't side with Kenny and help out half or less of the time)
6.) Enemies (You never side with Kenny and almost never help him out or agree with him)
In my main playthrough I was in "Bros" stage
Thats a good summary, i'd say i am number 3 or 4.
It felt like the right thing to do save Duck defend him against Larry and Console him when he is down
Episode 2 of course I fed the kids first and I chose Kenny for my next meal because he was always there to back me up
Then the meat Locker happened...
I wouldn't kill Larry especially when I saw how broken Lilly was and I knew I had to save Larry despite him trying to kill me and being aggressive and rude because I know Lee in a way deserved it...
Then Kenny Killed him just as it started to look like Larry was going to make it (he started muttering)
After this Kenny betrayed me he shouted at me for not having his back left me to be attacked by the Saint John's which would have led to my death if not for Lilly...
I had lost my main ally and was left to the Woman who I had disagreed with at every turn...
Kenny showed no remorse for what he had done and only showed contempt
Episode 3 is when I started to hate Kenny mixed with him saying I've never looked after him, him leaving me for dead in the drug store and him hating me at every turn I felt I had no one sane to turn to...
Then Lilly killed Doug and I had lost the only guy truly on my side and I had lost Lilly as well...
I was angry at Kenny for the double standards he was using on me when he shouted at me for not telling him my secret and how he treated Lilly after he himself was a murderer
By the end of episode 3 I pitied Kenny and realized he had lost everything but I still loathed him as he was a man more willing to fight me than admit his child was dying whilst he was happy to drop a salt lick on Larry's head almost instantly
Episode 4 Kenny further declined into nothing but a Drunk who forgot not just everything I had done but Molly who had saved him just hours ago...
At the end of the episode Kenny had wanted me to kill a scared teenager and said I had never been for him and when I said 'I need you' he claimed I had never helped him...
Episode 5 Kenny in some way found redemption as he forgave Ben when he shouted him down and forced him into a standstill
In the end Kenny had a noble death sacrificing himself in an attempt to save the one that had harmed him so much and in the end I forgave him but it will never undo how he betrayed me...
The one I highlighted in bold is me a bro even though I still don't get why he didn't give me the damn bro speech!
Of course, even though I'm Team Kenny pretty much forever, I still can't stand the way he treats Lilly in Episode 3. Yeah, you may think (correctly or not, we'll never know for sure) that her dad was dead, but it was still her dad! Don't act like a piece of shit to her because her father died in front of her (I still don't forgive Lilly shooting Carley, just saying Kenny should have been more respectful given the circumstances.)
I had similar experience as you regarding Kenny. Kenny leaving me to die in the drugstore was the last straw. When he did it the first time I was pissed but thought he just froze up and was a coward but in episode 3 when he was giving me dirty looks and shaking his head when Lee wasn't looking I didn't trust him. I remember thinking I wish I could have taken Ben on the supply run instead. Then it turned out I was right to be suspicious of him since he stood there watching me when I was being attacked by walkers and didn’t show relief when I escaped them. Then there was the train fight where he pushed me and said my relationship with Clem was a fucking sham. When I asked him to help me find Clem he was the only one in the group that didn't want to come so I told him to fuck himself and he got beaten up by Vernon's group.
Prior to episode 3 I had a lot of tolerance for Kenny even though I felt he left Lee to do the dirty work and take all of the risks. I mean Kenny convinces Lee to investigate the ST John’s hidden room whilst he went to have the group meal because he suspected that the ST Johns were up to something then when Lee tells them to stop eating the food he acts like he doesn’t understand why Lee is against them staying there and says way to scare the kids Lee when Lee mentions that their eating human meat. Even in episode 4 when he wants to confront the mystery figure he sends Lee to approach the person whilst he hangs back in the Alley. In my first playthrough I got my ass kicked by molly and he was nowhere to be seen, it was Clementine that had to shout out so Molly didn’t kill me and he would have done the same thing in that scene, if I had helped him kill Larry.
I think that Lee's decisions can make him a good friend to Kenny but Kenny’s decisions don’t make him a good friend to Lee. The things he asks Lee to do are generally things the player would have problems with e.g killing Larry, letting the woman suffer in the streets so he could loot more supplies and taking the food from the station wagon when all of the other group members express being against it. Then when you don’t go along with his decisions or instructions he tells you he's been keeping score on all the times you had his back. Well I was keeping score as well and he only had my back once, in episode 1 when he went back for me. I repaid that favour with interest.
So though he may have made up for the way he treatment Ben by staying with him in the streets, he didn't square things with me. To have done that he would have needed to have saved Clementine or die trying.
Then by that reasoning Ben should be the most realistic and most lovable character. No one in the game was more flawed than Ben. Whereas Ben can often be forgiven for just being a flawed character lacking good judgement Kenny’s behaviour was inexcusable. Kenny talks about keeping scores. I kept score too. By my records there are 3 points in the 5 part story where Kenny will choose to leave you to die or at least get your ass kicked. In the barn after he convinces Lee to check where Danny is and assures Lee he will back him up, when he stands there watching Lee come within inches of death in the drugstore and when he sends Lee to confront the person he thinks is the episode's antagonist, the guy on the radio and the person ringing the bells trying to get them killed. He tells Lee he will back him up then he stays out of danger without backing Lee up when Molly sneaks around the newspaper stand and attacks him.
Lilly saved my life at the dairy and she saved everyone when the bandits hit the Motor Inn and even though she may have gone mad and lost herself as long but as you didn't murder her Dad she had your back and had genuine concern for you whilst Kenny would abandon you unless you agreed with him at every point...
Lilly may tell your secret and take the RV but she was in a state of having no choice and was left to either be seen as the only bad guy or if Kenny got his way she wouldn't have had much of a future...
Even though I consider her stealing the RV as wrong, no matter what, given that if the train hadn't worked she was basically murdering six people, you haven't told me how her leaving Lee and Clem behind, no matter how many times they have taken her side, isn't a betrayal. You side with her dad in the drugstore, give her and her father food, try to save her father's life, even though the guy tried to murder you, and then give her a second chance after she murdered another group member, and what does she do? She says that you and Clem can go with her, and as soon as you step off the RV, she leaves Lee behind with people that, if you sided with her consistently, both of them hate. That sounds like a betrayal to me. And let's not forget that she had no idea that they were trying to get the train to work. It sounds a lot to me like she was leaving Lee and Clem to die, despite all they may have done for her.
Then let us agree to disagree. A truce, I say.
(Did no one get my Lee reference?)
Oh well...
I got it . And i wanted to respond to you like this " What about protection ? What about when this forum falls ? Somebody's got to be thinking about this shit !
IT'S NOT GOING TO BE BETTER OUT ON THE ROAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WHAT I KNOW! I know your not above CAPSLOCKING! I know that someone has been stealing our THREADS,thats right stealing! And the list of people I can trust get's SMALLER EVERY DAY!
He's riling everybody's threads , otherwise .
So you want me to start one ?