Why did Kenny stay behind with Ben?

edited July 2013 in The Walking Dead
He had enough time to lock Lee inside the fenced off bit so surely he had enough time to quickly shoot Ben in the head and climb up the ladder with Lee. It might be a little bit mean this way but there's not much point in dying (probably) just so Ben has a couple more seconds of living
It seems so unnecessary, I don't understand why he stuck around. Am I the only one who thought this?

Comments

  • edited July 2013
    Believe me I have thought about this a lot but I guess Kenny didn't want to just shoot Ben and leave, he didn't want Ben to die alone, he felt responsible because he had been wishing for Ben to die and when it happened he realised it wasn't really what he wanted because it wouldn't bring Katjaa and Duck back, Kenny wanted to do the right thing for Ben, seeing him helpless and hearing about how he never saw his family, Kenny finally forgave him.
  • edited July 2013
    I've thought about this and I think Kenny might have wanted to die. I know the he says "You don't end it because it's hard" and all, but did he mean it? That's the real question.

    Maybe when he said that he was also trying to convince himself not to do it. But when Ben needed his help, he saw it as a chance to kill himself while still serving a purpose to the group.

    Maybe?
  • edited July 2013
    I got the Christa version in my initial run, but my interpretation is this:

    In the attic, since the group finally had time to rest and think, everything Kenny had done up to that point (the meat locker, wanting Ben dead, never trusting anyone, and just a general loss of humanity) caught up with him, and he finally realized what he had become. He traded his humanity in order to protect his family, but then they died, and he couldn't handle it. He even says (in the Christa version) that Kat would talk to him every night about how selfish and unthoughtful (yes that's a word) he was becoming. He stayed behind with Ben and tried to save him so he could become someone Katjaa could be proud of again, and to make up for all the bad things he'd done trying to survive. For Redemption. He even says Katjaa would want him to do it.

    Or maybe he's bad at math, and didn't realize how many walkers there actually were.
  • edited July 2013
    I got the Christa version in my initial run, but my interpretation is this:

    In the attic, since the group finally had time to rest and think, everything Kenny had done up to that point (the meat locker, wanting Ben dead, never trusting anyone, and just a general loss of humanity) caught up with him, and he finally realized what he had become. He traded his humanity in order to protect his family, but then they died, and he couldn't handle it. He even says (in the Christa version) that Kat would talk to him every night about how selfish and unthoughtful (yes that's a word) he was becoming. He stayed behind with Ben and tried to save him so he could become someone Katjaa could be proud of again, and to make up for all the bad things he'd done trying to survive. For Redemption. He even says Katjaa would want him to do it.

    Or maybe he's bad at math, and didn't realize how many walkers there actually were.
  • edited July 2013
    :eek: that's soo sad! I've never had the christa version but that makes a lot of sense thanks for clearing that up
  • edited July 2013
    Yeah, it made no sense for me either. I felt a little betrayed at that scene to be honest. Just minutes ago Kenny swore to help my handless Lee to find his little girl, and then he decides that staying behind with a dead man is more important, than helping his best friend who, let's be honest, might need more help in the near time. To be honest, the first time I approached the scene, I still had two bullets in my Glock and I wish when Kenny asked I could have just shot Ben and then be like "can we go now?". Yeah, it's harsh, but dammit, Kenny, I needed you more than Ben did :D
  • edited July 2013
    Or maybe he could "YANK" Ben off, better than dying while getting devoured by hundreds of walkers in a narrow alleyway lol. Srsly emotions take over logic nowadays..Just because "you feel it's right" doesn't mean it's right, it means you are relying on emotions, only ppl with higher thinking rely on logic even if their false emotions force them to do otherwise.
  • edited July 2013
    or (this is just me) he really wanted to kill the sun of a b!tch that got his family killed so he waited watching him be eaten alive before taking his own life.

    (re reads own statement) on second thought i don't think he could be THAT angry from it. whatever you guys said makes more sence.
  • edited July 2013
    Kenny was at the end of his rope and saw a chance to redeem himself before dying. At least, that's the way I interpreted his actions.
  • edited July 2013
    It's just something he had to do, you know that.
  • edited July 2013
    My own interpretation is that when Ben got impaled and the walkers came, the situation immediately reminded Kenny of Shawn back in episode 1. We know that Kenny highly regret leaving Shawn to die, and repeatedly believes that he killed Hershel's son. Seeing Ben in a helpless state about to be eaten by walkers, Kenny immediately thinks back to Shawn. He couldn't just shoot Ben and run away again. He wanted to do the right thing. Even if he couldn't get Ben out, he died with him to make sure he did not make the same mistake twice.

    He didn't want to do it for himself, he wanted to do it for Ben.
  • edited July 2013
    Kenny was acting completely out of character in the Ben Rescue Scene for mere Shock Value -
    In my own personal opinion...
  • edited July 2013
    I think Kenny thought that there was some chance, as small as it was, that he could help Ben at that point, or if he couldn't he would be with Katjaa as he says if you choose a dialogue option. And then when he realised there was no way out, he used his last bullet on Ben and tried to fight his way out. Him fighting against the walkers suggests to me he wasn't suicidal.

    When he says:
    "You don't just end it cause it's hard. You stick it out, and you help the folks you care about."
    I think he did exactly that, because he tried to help Ben and he obviously cared for him, especially after what Ben said to Kenny in Episode 5.

    And also when Kenny says:
    "It's just something I gotta do, you know that"
    I think that he was talking about trying to save Ben, and after everything that happened Kenny can't just leave Ben behind, or shoot him and then leave. I think he was saying that he had to at least try to save Ben.

    Edit: I agree with what Rock114 Zeruis said as well, him trying to save Ben (or Christa) was sort of redemption for past actions like what he did on Hershel's farm.
  • edited July 2013
    To paraphrase Kenny:
    "Suicide ain't the answer, I tell you what - Now wait here whilst I walk to my death, Bobby..."
  • edited July 2013
    I agree with Rock and Zeruis, but I like to think he did not want to die, he tried to save him and when he knew he could not he put him out of his misery, and then try's to escape but by then there are two many walkers.
  • edited July 2013
    The Law wrote: »
    To paraphrase Kenny:
    "Suicide ain't the answer, I tell you what - Now wait here whilst I walk to my death, Bobby..."

    Lol, pretty much this:D

    From my pov Kenny was using Ben as an excuse to end things early. To be fair, the guy had been through a lot and suicide is understandable at that point but...the fact that Kenny berates Katjaa moments before walking to his death is what pisses me off.:mad:
  • edited July 2013
    If you think about everybody in his group were already dead. Lee was bit and ben was dying. and we barely met christa and omid like 2 3 days ago so what did he have left
  • edited July 2013
    Narrative convenience. That's all it was. The writer needed to get rid of Kenny, and if the player had chosen to save Ben, the scene in the alley was used to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

    There might be a rational explanation for Kenny's behaviour in that moment, but it doesn't make the sequence any less infuriating. Ben was clearly a goner one way or another, and if Lee had shouted something to the effect of "Kenny, I'm bitten, you're the last chance Clem's got", he might have been convinced to escape alongside Lee. It's obvious that Kenny was basically unhinged by that point, even if his wish to save Ben was noble.
  • edited July 2013
    Kenny knew he wasn't getting Ben out of there. Heck, he locks off his only viable escape route if you try to talk him out of it.
  • edited July 2013
    True, but if he wanted to die then why did he fight back and then run away from the horde instead of just stand still?
  • edited July 2013
    I have two theories for this. The first being a goof on the developers part. What do I mean like that. Remember back in episode when when getting the pharmacy keys, and the Doug says "Watch out." Then they show the walkers. Clearly the dev's intended that the walkers turned then Doug called "Run." But it can be interpreted in others. The same may go for here. The intention of devs may have been for the walkers to be too close that Kenny could either try to save Ben or Leave him, though with how the game panned out it seems like there was a plethora of time.

    My other theory is that Kenny wouldn't give up on Ben, and so he stayed behind with him "You stay around for those you care you don't just end it cause it's hard." I think Kenny finally cared for Ben, and so he stuck it out with him.
  • edited July 2013
    True, but if he wanted to die then why did he fight back and then run away from the horde instead of just stand still?

    The desire to go down fighting as an alternative to direct suicide perhaps?

    It's like he says, his outcome would either be helping Ben, who was clearly beyond saving, or seeing Katjaa again.
  • edited July 2013
    True, but if he really wanted to die then why does the other "death" seem very unsuicide like.
  • edited July 2013
    Different scenarios equating to different thought processes?

    I guess you can chalk up the end results to writer's convenience either way. I was just giving my interpretation of the Ben ending scenario.
  • edited July 2013
    I know, I like to think it was not suicide, we really do not know for sure.
  • edited July 2013
    Pell3t wrote: »
    If you think about everybody in his group were already dead. Lee was bit and ben was dying. and we barely met christa and omid like 2 3 days ago so what did he have left

    Clementine.
  • edited July 2013
    Kenny treated Ben badly and when Ben went off Kenny felt sorry so he stayed with him when Ben fell to make up for it.
This discussion has been closed.