What if we just never see L*** again?
Luke, that is. What if we never see him again?
To date, we've had plenty of exposure in-game to the 'somebody dies out of the blue' kind of tragedy. What we haven't had very much exposure to is the kind of tragedy Ben went through: the tragedy of just not knowing. No one of all that great importance has a true question mark next to their fate anymore.
So Luke vanishes at the end of Episode 2...and we never see or hear from him again. Perhaps some minor evidence suggests Kenny killed him, but when accused Kenny hotly denies it, forcing you to choose who to side with: the people in the new group that are doing the accusing or Kenny who is being accused.
Yet the issue is never neatly wrapped up in a bow and resolved. He's just gone and his fate never clearly established.
How would you react?
Comments
I think he will come back and not only because of the tweet Scott Porter put out...
I just think telltale has more for his character. It'd be a waste to show Clem and his brother and sister relationship and just completely have him gone out of no where for the rest of the series.
His voice actor has been recording lines for the game
Well, i don't think he dissapeared, maybe TT wants us to think that, or that he is a traitor or that Kenny kills him (Kenny could have done that before :0) im sure Luke is gonna play a hero role maybe next ep :0
Then take it as a hypothetical situation.
I would never really feel the same about Kenny since he was the last to see Luke.
Since Luke's VA recorded lines for episode 3, I'm pretty sure we'll see him again. Though there is a slight chance he was recording zombie noises or something like that. (I hope not.)
I would be seriously pissed if Luke never came back. That's bad storytelling on TTG's part. You can't set up the potential for a great brother/sister relationship between him and Clem, the personal conflict between him and Kenny, and the huge cliffhanger of where/why he went when Carver attacked the lodge, just to kill him off-screen. Yeah, TTG has killed a lot of character abruptly, but they know how to tell a good story.
Plus, it would destroy a lot of people's opinions about Kenny, if Kenny killed him. I get the idea that TTG is going to keep making us choose between Kenny/"our old life" and Luke/"our new life," and 1) we can't make that decision if Luke's not in the picture and 2) who want want to go with Kenny if he was capable of killing an innocent guy out of jealousy over a little girl.
Luke isn't my favourite character or anything but I would be disappointed if we just never see him again.
Who says Kenny killed him? It could have happened exactly as he said. He told Luke to piss off and then Luke disappeared. Whatever happened to him is just as much of a mystery to Kenny as anyone else.
The issue would be: do you trust Kenny when he says he didn't kill him? Or do you side with the members of the new group who are accusing him of killing Luke? There is no definitive proof either way. There never will be. It comes down to trust. Do you trust Kenny or don't you?
Really, we've had the 'get multiple chances to side with one person or the other until it reaches a breaking point where you must side definitively with one' routine before with Kenny and Lilly. If its just going to be a repeat of that scenario, except with Luke replacing Lilly, that would also be pretty tired storytelling. I think having that routine suddenly shaken to pieces by the reality of a post-apocalyptic world, where people can and do just disappear and are never heard from again, would actually add a nice bit of energy to what seems so far to be strictly formula.
Well, Kenny has already inexplicably refused to tell us where he is.
Refused is a little strong of a word don't you think? He didn't have much time to explain with the hostage situation.
he did it twice didn't he? He could have just given us an idea, especially since its a highly important situation
I think he was a little caught up in trying to basically snipe guys in the dark.
I trust Kenny not to out-of-the-blue murder somebody just because they're jealous. Kenny seems a lot more tense, but he's still not fundamentally a bad guy.
Don't forget, with males depression often manifests itself in aggressivity, (taking the box from Sarita, the dinner table conversation) but I highly doubt he'd be straight-out-murder aggressive.
Luke went somewhere, and he's a big character. I could be wrong but it seems inconceivable that he simply disappear...
'Jealous' might be too light a word for the situation. He thinks he's finally got a family back together, with Sarita to replace Katjaa and Clem to replace Duck.
Luke and his group seem to want to take that away from him. They want to rob him of his family for a second time, taking Clem with them when they go. In a rational mindset, this would obviously not lead to murder...but who knows where Kenny is at mentally at this moment?
I guess we'll find out where Kenny's head is. Obviously, given what people have said above, this won't happen and Luke will return. Yet as a thought experiment I find it fascinating precisely because Luke has been built up as such a big character. What better way to blindside people?
Call it the Psycho effect.
Since Lee died only character I care about is Clem everyone else is either a threat or must serve a purpose then I will give permission them to die know sounds bad but how honestly feel all about Clem as for the rest meh maybe Kenny
Luke's VA is recording new lines, so it's practically confirmed Luke's going make an appearance later on in the season. But I hope there's a twist involved. Maybe he really did "cut and run" because he knew Carver would be coming back and he'd face the brunt of his anger for leading the cabin group out of Carver's settlement. I can't say for sure. I don't think Kenny had anything to do with his disappearance however. It's possible things went down a little differently than how he described it, but I highly doubt he murdered him in cold blood with no good reason other than jealousy. Kenny may be unstable and probably depressed, but it's not in his character to do that.
Luke seems like a nice guy, but there's something.. off about him. I can't put my finger on what it is yet. Maybe it's because he's too friendly when I've become used to asshole characters, or it's some trait of his I subconsciously picked up on. I guess we'll see. I don't know enough about him at this point in the season to form an educated opinion.
I thought it was Lee in the title, and I was like "not this again.."
I'd be sad, he's a bro, he's Clem's bro, They take walkers out together.
Luke will be back because of Scott Porter's tweet (and possibly the fact that he's an important character).
I like your idea that when they get to the camp, the cabin group will accuse Kenny's group (or just him and Sarita) about Kenny killing Luke. You/Clem will have to side with either group deciding whether you think Kenny DID kill Luke or if you trust that Kenny DIDN'T kill him. Of course Luke will come back showing the cabin group that Kenny didn't kill him.
This would be cool if it did happen and if it did.
I think people are over-estimating Kenny's damage. There are obviously problems after the events of season 1, and there are associated risks (ie not wanting to give up to Carver under any circumstances - s2e2 end or s2e3 trailer) but people are stretching this to the idea that he is an extreme loose cannon. To be honest, he wasn't the rational of beings even in season 1, even before his family died.
The main problem with this is the 'of course Luke will come back showing the cabin group that Kenny didn't kill him.'
Part of what makes this idea interesting to me is the concept of never getting a clear answer. Not ever. We've gotten clean and clear answers to almost everything in this series to date, even wildly improbable things such as discovering the fate of Clem's parents.
What I want to see is a circumstance, or multiple circumstances, in which all you're left with is questions, above all the question 'Who do I trust?'
If Luke just shows up, then the issue is clear. You should have sided with Kenny. If we never find out what happens to Luke, the issue would never be entirely clear. And sometimes that's more tragic, infuriating...and interesting...than having every answer handed to you on a silver platter.
The main problem with this is the 'of course Luke will come back showing the cabin group that Kenny didn't kill him.'
Part of what makes this idea interesting to me is the concept of never getting a clear answer. Not ever. We've gotten clean and clear answers to almost everything in this series to date, even wildly improbable things such as discovering the fate of Clem's parents.
What I want to see is a circumstance, or multiple circumstances, in which all you're left with is questions, above all the question 'Who do I trust?'
If Luke just shows up, then the issue is clear. You should have sided with Kenny. If we never find out what happens to Luke, the issue would never be entirely clear. And sometimes that's more tragic, infuriating...and interesting...than having every answer handed to you on a silver platter.
I was speaking hypothetically. The situation would be Luke doesn't return, and either Kenny admits that he killed him or we find out some other way.
You make an awesome point, I never considered the possibility of the cabin group accusing Kenny of killing Luke if he doesn't return. But it's completely plausible, even if Luke does return later on. I'm sure we'll hear some discussion from the group about Luke's whereabouts. I assumed it would be something like "How could Luke do something like this to us," but they could also blame Kenny for Luke's disappearance or even accuse him of murder. (I could see Nick doing this, if he's still alive.)
I'm intrigued by your trust idea as well, especially since that's a major theme of this season. Do we trust Kenny's word that he didn't kill Luke, because we've known him a long time, he's always been an honest guy, and he (determinantly) had our back (as Lee)? Or can't we trust him, because he has become so emotionally unstable and now seems capable of killing someone out of spite/jealousy?
I agree, there's something off about Luke. I'm hoping it's nothing major that completely ruins his character, but rather something that temporarily destroys our trust in him, only to have him earn it back as the season progresses.
Yea luke could show up but that doesn't mean we should've sided with kenny for all we know he injured luke (just throwing it out there)
Agreed. Luke will come back I'm sure and we'll find out what happened to him. I believe Kenny knows more than he's letting on though. I don't believe Luke would just up and leave his group behind just because Kenny was pissing him off.
We feel protective of Clem in S1 but why should we pretend to be Lee in S2? We are Clem in S2, we can feel protective of her but it doesn't need to mean other characters are expendable now
Eh, Matt and Walt are incredibly friendly but good people, Omid, Glenn, Doug and Carley, Shawn, Katjaa and Sarita also actually ja. If we count Pete and Lee, that's pretty good in a post apocalyptic world :P
Yeah, you're right :S Dunno what it is about Luke. Could be just me, maybe he really is an OK guy.
No just personally Clem only character I care about don't hate other characters just not connected with them like S1 just stating only be devastated if something happened to Clem just hope other characters can have positive influence in her life before anything happens to them
I surprised myself with how many good people are in the story now o.o I thought the assholes outnumbered the good people in the story
Off screen death for Telltale A BIG NONO