New info and theories for Present Rhys?
So. It's been an idea floating around for a while that present Rhys may not be Rhys, but is actually Handsome Jack. Aside from the newfound taste in yellow and apparently higher social status though, there hasn't been much evidence. After all, the Jack we know would never call himself a bad guy.
But we do know now for a fact that this Artificial Idiot(haha see what I did there) is capable of taking over Rhys entirely, even down to speaking through him. The apparent flaw being that he gets forced out by severe head trauma(fortunately or unfortunately, Rhys seems to be prone to that). Jack is also one of the prominent characters that we never get to see in any present scenes, so he could be doing anything right now, including being dead- double dead.
In the present scenes, Rhys has been smacked in the head exactly one time, about two lines into the game when he's knocked into his splash screen. One of the lines being a snarky insult about the Stranger's attire doesn't quite inspire confidence that those two lines really belonged to him, so my question is: Do you think Present Rhys is Handsome Rhys who simply got the Jack smacked out of him for a while? Or, if not, what is your opinion on what's happened with Jack and Rhys?
Comments
I think it might be determinant depending on what you chose to do with Jack. (I really want it to be Handsome Rhys) The only time Rhys has a yellow eye in the past is when it was enhanced by Jack. So the future yellow eye could just be an enhanced version of his old one not necessarily be due to Jack. Or it could be due to Jack's possession either being exposed to it over and over again or for a long period of time or they have sort of merged. Which kinda makes me think Jack can't leave Rhys's body if it's true.
(Also...Why is the number typing security thing gone?)
I do love observing present Rhys very closely in his scenes, looking for clues, but so far there isn't much evidence either way...
Present Rhys did walk face-first into a tree branch in Ep.3, but it's unclear whether he hit his head or just stabbed himself in the echo-eye, or else. Fiona did notice and mention his frequent head-trauma though. Additionally, I thought some of Rhys' modern-segments speech patterns and mannerisms seem... odd. Pay close attention to the moment he spots the Gortys upgrade on the ground. I feel like something's off there, and I could easily see Handsome Jack letting out that chuckle... but then - it's just a chuckle, hardly evidence of anything. Inconclusive.
Picking these scenes apart is fun though.
I dunno, despite everything he doesn't sound or behave like Jack. He just seems more pissed and irritated, less friendly towards Fiona on occasion. But in fact, they're both like that so maybe it has nothing to do with AI after all. I think it's more about the fact they didn't open the Vault but still stuck with each other and fed up by all that. And there's also Sasha and Vaughn.
You guys notice that Rhys' eye was blue for a bit in the future?
I'm so confused.
Oooh i thought it was a glich :0
Wait, when?
I was thrown off by this in my first playthrough too, and swore I could see it changing color... But after I played the ep. again I'm not so sure anymore - it might have been a glitch, or I mistook Rhys' eye reflecting light for it turning blue, because it didn't seem to do it the second time I went through the episode. If you look closely at the Atlas facility drone-control sequences it almost looks blue as well, but it's just lighting up, I think..? Ugh, idk...
I can't really believe, Present Rhys is just Handsome Jack in disguise, his mannerisms and way he talks are too similar to how he was prior and after Jack's integration. While I do love the Tyler Durden possibility, I just can't believe he's taken over Present Rhys. Both he and Fiona have upgraded; clothing, Rhys' arm, and possibly Rhys' echo eye too but Jack's mannerisms would spring out, there's no way he could stay in character for 5 minutes let alone the hours we've seen them in the present.
I'm more willing to bet Jack has actually left Present Rhys and may be within Helios, we get a hint that he wants to jack into their system through his dialogue in episode 3 and Jack could do so much more if he was back in the castle rather than in a pauper. What we'll probably see happen is when they get to Helios, Rhys will have to let Jack jack into the system and that'll probably bring us to where we are in the present and could explain why they're both so mad at each other during the present since I'm sure it'll be one of those lesser of two evils Rhys will have to choose from.
Are head injuries even necessary for Jack to show up anymore? Regardless of whether or not you let him into your systems at the end of Episode Two, he still shows up in the caravan while Rhys is just standing there.
It seems head trauma gets rid of him though.
Hail to the captain, baby
The only time I think you could pass Rhys's dialogue off as Jacks is the stuff he says before the stranger smacks him in the face. (You could make an argument that him asking what's happening is generally confusion about where the hell he is) Other then that I think it's def Rhys. One thing that interests me is the blue tattoo Rhys has. (which is the same colour as Jacks wrist tat) We don't know if he had that before or if it's new. But If Jack does have control over Rhys I wouldn't be surprised if the guys new fashion sense was do to Jack.
Well, this is my new favourite thing.
Other than the stuff at the beginning, I think his line when he is first dragged towards Fiona, "you no class, scheming, Pandoran SCUM!" is the most Jack-ish line in the history of the world - but those are the only two that really stand out to me.
I just don't know if Jack could pull off a convincing Rhys for that long without slipping more than that (those who chose him saw how quintessentially Jack he was when he took over), especially within seconds of waking up etc.
I'm not sure about this, but I don't think that's Jack. In episode 3, present days, Rhys made faces that convinced me, it's not HJ but Rhys DID something terrible that he regrets (maybe by Jack controlling him or tricking him to do)... Fiona is VERY pissed at him, but what happened? I'm dying to know.
I don't think I made it clear enough but that's what I meant, yes. It is theoretically possible that before he was smacked it could've been Jack. He doesn't act nearly Jack enough in any of the scenes we've seen of the present otherwise, but the two lines before he was hit aren't enough to judge for sure.
This may be just me, but I hear Jack's speech pattern as kinda... disjointed. Ok, that's not really the right term, but he tends to stutter a bit, and repeat certain parts... you know, like 'No, no no no no' or 'I can a-a-almost guarantee no one dies..', 'the-this me... the me that I am right now'... which is why I find Rhys' 'huh...huuh..hahaha' when spotting the Gortys upgrade in the modern segment oddly familiar.
But even I'm 90% sure it's just me being obsessive and paranoid, haha, so, yeah. :P Still fun to speculate.
Yeah, Jack does have very specific intonation - almost like a stammer. And I first thought the same with Rhys wigging out, but then I thought that it was just part of the gag because immediately before Fiona was saying there was something wrong with his brain.
It could still be a clue, though!
After the conversation Rhys has with Handsome Jack on the roof, weither he trusts him or not, after they show the future again he seems a little upset and suggests that they should take take a break because it's getting too dark. Really makes me wonder what happened...
The theory is well... Sorta true, and sorta not, according to choices.
Also, I have a theory too. Am I the only one who thinks Rhys looks, well, sadder in the present day?
I think Vaughn is dead.
Vaughn is nowhere to be seen at the end of episode three. His last showing, well was with... She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-Because-Of-Spoilers.
My speculation is that if you refuse to work with Jack, something happens that Jack could help with but doesn't because you didn't form an alliance with him and in turn it causes Vaughn or Sasha to get killed
If you did form an alliance with him, he takes over Rhys and does something crazy that gets people killed
I'm really hoping that's not the case. If you didn't trust Jack at the end of Episode Two, then the two of you have a conversation about how you'll eventually die if you can't bring yourself to trust someone you don't like. And even the Atlas facility scenario seems like a nod to that. If you don't trust Jack, Vaughn gets hurt. If you think about it, it VERY easily could have been bullets that were shot at him, as opposed to those dart things. In Jack's scenario, Vaughn is indeed not hurt. I'd love to see a situation were NOT trusting Jack costs you dearly, like you lose one of your friends or something.
something occurred to me regarding Jack , he may be evil but is technically a vault hunter just one with an army. Si regarding the ending to the pre sequal with the alien saying that they end all the vault hunters possible for war . Maybe jack digital jack may make it to bl3
There is a theory that Vaughn is the stranger that kidnapped them. I think yours definitely holds up too though
Or Rhys with Jack talking in his head constantly. That would be an awesomely hilarious game!
.
Nooo, he is my broest of bros! I don't let a bro die.
Don't worry bro, bros stick together through their bro's hard times. Right bro? I would never let some bro think they're bro enough to kill my bro, bro.
If it was like a Krieg scenario, where he was Rhys, but was also sharing a brain with Jack! That would be the best thing EVER. ^^This is my new favorite idea.
There's one point in present day that makes me thing Jack is still talking to Rhys, maybe not controlling him, but still talking. The part where Fiona asks him is all his friends were murderous psychos or something Rhys just goes really quiet for a second, like he might be listening to someone.
Nowhere else can this be seen though.
Noooo I'm really starting to regret I didn't form an alliance with him
so... Rhys has an echo eye, an robotic arm, and USB thing in his head... he is a Cyborg, and Jack might have got stuck in his cyborg part, changing them both into a single being
Was it this scene? I didn't see it in my first playthrough but when playing again I spotted it and managed to get a screenshot just in time. The port or whatever it is, is also lit up. Could this be Rhys trying to get himself back from Jack's control? Could Jack be in control of Rhys' body but not his brain? Or could it just be a glitch?
I think the yellow eye just means that the Echo-Eye is enhanced not so much that Jack is taking over because if you pick Jack at the end of episode 2, the drones he controls are colored blue while the ones Rhys controls are colored yellow.
But maybe both of them have merged into one persona? Rhys does seem a bit more like a dick in the present day
Not meaning to plug or anything but I made a thread about this actually :P
https://www.telltalegames.com/community/discussion/97083/yellow-echo-eye-does-not-mean-is-in-control?new=1
Yeah, the port lighting up is really puzzling to me - surely it's more than a glitch - there's got to be a purpose to it.
It has to have a purpose. It would be quite an obvious glitch, so I would say it has some significance we just don't know what it is yet. I hope it isn't just a glitch and instead it's TellTale being sneaky.
wut :0
Yuss