By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Fable II - One of the greatest endings of all time (SPOILERS)

So I've been thinking about it for a few days and I think I finally decided I really liked Fable II's ending.  At first I was pretty dissapointed with it:

  • Very anticlimactic
  • The choices only seemed to matter if you're good
  • it was just very different
  • it didn't seem like a real ending

But now that I've had some time to think about it, I think Fable II's ending is probably one of the greatest game ending ever.

First, the events leading up to the ending...

You work your way through this world with long wave fight after long wave fight.  You finish an especially annoying fight against a great shard and Theresa then tells you it's time to go to the spire and finish.  From your previous encounter there you know it's a large and confusing place and you are definitely in for a long hard fight.

I decided I had enough potions and even though it was late, I was ready and prepared for the fight of the game.  I get to the hero guild and then I enter one long scripted sequence.

Theresa oddly disapears

Buddies go away

Lucien talks

Lucien kills me and my dog.

I go to the Perfect World.

What I thought was going to be a five minute flashback turned out to be a very moving little sequence of spending a wonderful day and getting to know my sister again and even miss her.  It was happy, sad, very moving, and totally not what I expected.

I finish that sequence and come back.  OK.  Now it's time to give it to Lucien.

I get to the tattered spire without my dog and I'm ready for a grind up to Lucien. 

Wait...what?  I'm there and he's just talking to me?

Now what?  The game is giving me the option to just shoot him and probably kill him?  No, I want to hear his monologue.  It's the usual stuff but interesting so I keep listening.

BAM

Reaver suddenly kills Lucien and I'm just shocked.  Out of nowhere the man I had spent the entire game waiting to kill is killed in an instant and falls away.

After that, some talking and then my wish.  After my wish everyone goes their separate way and I'm placed back in my world.  Alone (I picked the Sacrifice)...

But the Fable II ending was anticlimactic!

Yes, that is probably one of the most anticlimactic endings I've ever witnessed but it was incredibly moving because everything took you by surprise.  Nothing was what you expected.

Most games end with a boss fight, then a cut scene, and then it ends.  Fable II does things completely backwards.

You start with the fight against the great shard.

You get the cut scenes leading up to and after Lucien's death.

You are put back into the world to play.

This ending was just so different and so many moving and unexpected things that it really sticks with you.  I've rarely every beat a game that I continue just to ponder over days after beating it.

The choices only seemed to matter if you're good

While I still think the game is only truly good if you play pure good I think the ending choice is still hard and meaningful (assuming you care about your choices).

If you're playing good it's obvious you have another very touch choice.  You've already given up experience and your youth, but are you ready to give up your family and dog?  I sat at the decision screen for several minutes just unable to decide.  No game has ever moved me like that.  I finally made myself choose the sacrifice because I was the good character and I felt the consequences of the good actions.

I wanted to be selfish and get my loved ones back but that character had to make the tough decision.  I returned from the tattered spire and found my statue and the note and it was just so moving.  The world felt so empty because I had no dog and my house was empty because there was no wife and child.  At the same time it also felt a little wonderful because I knew I made such a difference.  Really no game has moved me like that.

Now if you're playing evil you have another choice.  It's obvious you're not likely to care about everyone that died at the spire but will you care about your loved ones?  You're an evil bastard and the scourge of the world but what does it mean that you gave up what should mean most to you to get back your dog like you know you want to?

I obviously can't talk much about that decision since I haven't had to make it yet, but I think it will be a meaningful one when I get there and I would actually like to hear from people that have played the evil side and see what they though.

The ending was just so different

I know I touched on this above but it deserved to be said again-- this ending was different.

In a world where we have our GTA clones and Halo killers, Fable II did something different.  They chose not to do the same old thing as everyone else but to give us something truly refreshing.

This is one of the most unique endings I've ever experienced and it's one I'll probably always remember because of that.

But what about the ending being bad because it wasn't a real ending?

I was upset with the ending at first because it wasn't a real ending but then again, Fable II is a living world and should it end after you save it?

Yes, it's obvious that they left it open for more but it also wouldn't be right that the game just ends.  You saved the world and whether they love or hate you it keeps going.  The fact that it's still there after you're done just makes it seem more real.

 

 

So yeah, there you have it.  I was dissapointed with Fable II's ending at first but after thinking about it I really do think it's one of the greatest endings of all time.  It did just so many unique and moving things that it's one of those things I'll always remember and move it up there with the other great game endings.



Around the Network

Too bad the reviewers didnt actually beat the game,if they did they would of given it at 9/10 or even 10/10..



Garnett said:
Too bad the reviewers didnt actually beat the game,if they did they would of given it at 9/10 or even 10/10..

 

that is one of my main complaints about completely trusting a reviewer that doesn't share my gaming style



I dunno. You make valid points. but really, It was just disapointing to me. Especially the farm part. I mean touching yes, it was a good storybook ending, but game ending? it didn't do it for me.



"Let justice be done though the heavens fall." - Jim Garrison

"Ask not your horse, if ye should ride into battle" - myself

You know Twesterm, your article was great, I have also thought long and hard about the ending, but I must admit that I saw its brilliance instantly.

First, the prelude. The farm section of the game was vastly engrossing to me. Its scenery very much reminded me of the final Boss Battle in MGS3, which is a good thing, btw.

The twist, that the little box you spent the intro to the game trying to afford was ultimately, the ultimate weapon against Lucien, was magnificant.

Now, of course, the best character in the game is Reaver, without question. The now famous, and much lamented killing of Lucien by Reaver was a magnificant bit of character development, while at the same time very endearing and unexpected. Something you won't find in too many games endings.

I mean, these people would really have rather had a final boss fight where you kill the bad guy? That's just absurd. How predictable, redundant, and pointless is that usually? Remember Bioshock? The ending kept it from being the best game of all time.

What the ending did, was humanized Lucien, created an immortal character in Reaver, and brought a sense of realism to the closing storyline. It also managed to surprise and delight me at the same time. You always get the feeling in these games "I wish I could just shoot this guy" and Peter knew that we were gonna listen to every last word of Lucien, too.

Anyway, an even more interesting aspect of the ending is this:

The letter from your sister has three possible explanations, as to who the tall thin scary man is.

One, it could be Scythe, the hero from TLC. He was the first king and hero of Albion, and is immortal. He is also very thin because his blood was sucked out or something. This would mean Rose was alive.

Two, is the person is your hero from the first game. He certainly would be scary, seeing as how he used the sword of aeons against Jack of Blades(confirmed in the game), meaning he took the evil route in the first fable(or at least made the evil decision to keep the sword, which text in Fable 2 confirms), according to the canon. This would mean your sister is dead. This would also explain why she had trouble remembering his name, as the hero has no name in Fable 1. Rose would be dead in this scenerio.

Three, is it could be Jack of Blades, inhabiting the long dead corpse of your hero from the first game(after the final choice in TLC). Jack's mask would be on the hero, making him a thin, scary corpse. His obvious motive would be to regain worldly form by teaching your now living sister(if it's canon that you chose love, which it will be) the ways of a hero, and then using her body to revive his evil plans for world domination. Again, Rose would be alive and breathing, assuming it is actually Jack.

All three people know about the family and the bloodline. All are thin, and have questionable and/or multiple names. Scythe was the first archon.

Now check this, since it's canon that you killed your sister instead of destroying the Sword of Aeons, and since the guide in Fable 2 is the hero's sister from the first game(as confirmed by Peter himself) then she is simply a shell of a being, not inhabiting a true body, and those her motives become clear, as to why she needs to power of the spire, and why she revived the bloodline to obtain it, instead of easily stopping the spires original construction(which she obviously could have done, being immortal and psychic).

Two things become obvious. Theresa is immortal, and when she was struck down by her brother in Fable 1, she had forseen this and took precautions to preserve her essence. The power of the spire was greatly desired by her, for numerous reasons, the most likely of which is to preserve her own existence. It was very likely that she herself was working with a resurrected, but weakened jack of blades the whole time, and actually brought about Rose's original death, in an attempt to involve you and your blood in the scheme to take down Lucien.



I don't need your console war.
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
You're power hungry, spinnin' stories, and bein' graphics whores.
I don't need your console war.

NO NO, NO NO NO.

Around the Network

The ending sure is great. The choises are hard to make and after you've made one you can see the consequenses. In my case it was complete lonliness 'cause i've played as evil and chose wealth.




 

I'm about to see this letter. I chose Sacrifice and the credits are rolling.

I'm sad. I don't believe it. It was so touching. My dog, my poor dog.

I'd completely forgotten about my big sis. But showing her to you then hearing her scream as you're forced to run away with her. Then telling you you can save her or save the loved ones of all those throughout Albion.

Geez.



starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS

starcraft said:
I'm about to see this letter. I chose Sacrifice and the credits are rolling.

I'm sad. I don't believe it. It was so touching. My dog, my poor dog.

I'd completely forgotten about my big sis. But showing her to you then hearing her scream as you're forced to run away with her. Then telling you you can save her or save the loved ones of all those throughout Albion.

Geez.

 

IRL, that would be no question to me. Screw friends and strangers. Blood is blood, playa, and when it all comes down to it, I would never sacrafice my lifetime of happiness and fufillment for an ideal.



I don't need your console war.
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
You're power hungry, spinnin' stories, and bein' graphics whores.
I don't need your console war.

NO NO, NO NO NO.

MY DOG!!!!

What am I going to do?

I can't finish the archeologist quest GAH!!!



starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS

starcraft said:
MY DOG!!!!

What am I going to do?

I can't finish the archeologist quest GAH!!!

 

Shoulda saved your dog, hippie. What will you become? A former dog owner, apparently. Mah dog is still finding treasure, bro. I saved him and all I love, and f everybody else.



I don't need your console war.
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor.
You're power hungry, spinnin' stories, and bein' graphics whores.
I don't need your console war.

NO NO, NO NO NO.