Many crazy things happen at the end of BioShock Infinite, but the final mind-warping sequence is kicked off by a surprise trip to Rapture, the underwater city from the original game.
While I was playing through BioShock Infinite, I thought it was strange that there were literally no references to Rapture or Andrew Ryan at all. Like, zero. Even if it wasnt integrated into the plot, I thought perhaps Id at least find a newspaper clipping lying around talking about that other unbelievable city, or some passing mention of a rivalry between Ryan and Comstock or something.
When you get to Rapture, Elizabeth explains it by saying its another possible universe. Okay, I thought, were simply playing in a different game universe accessed via lighthouse, and didnt really think about it much past that.
What I failed to realize is what she really meant. That Rapture, and really all the events of the original BioShock are direct, alternate parallels of everything that happens in BioShock Infinite, right down to the characters themselves.
The proof that cant be overlooked? In the original BioShock, its made expressly clear that only Andrew Ryan himself can operate the Bathyspheres in the city once theyre on lockdown. Part of the twist of that game as that you can also operate them, and you eventually discover than you, as Jack, are Andrew Ryans illegitimate son (or probable clone) which allows you to use them yourself.
In Infinite, youre operating them once again.
The implication here is that DeWitt/Comstock is Jack/Andrew Ryan. Both was some version of the other, who goes on to kill their elder who has created a massive city as a tribute to their own ego. I even think that they do it the same way too. We are explicitly told that Booker enters Columbia from a parallel universe via the lighthouse, but we have to remember that Jack did the same thing. By entering through a lighthouse, that would also indicate hes coming from another universe as well, right? Perhaps his plane crashed through a tear?
What else do we have if Jack is Booker and Andrew Ryan is Comstock? Well, we have the obvious idea that Rapture is Columbia, sunk under the ocean instead of floating above it. In this universe, things get a bit wonky, but the comparisons are still clear. Plasmids are Vigors, EVE is Salts. Taking it a step further, Atlas/Fontaine is Daisy Fitzroy, the blood thirsty working class hero/eventual psychopath who challenges Ryan/Comstock and leads to Rapture/Columbias downfall.
Dr. Lutece is Dr. Tenenbaum, looking after the little girls with magic powers. That would make Little Sisters fractured versions of Elizabeth, looked after by a multitude of Big Daddies, all condensed into the massive Songbird in Columbia. The brown hair, the nearly identically arranged blue and white clothes. Its now impossible for me not to see Elizabeth in the Little Sisters. Their eyes are glowing yellow, but if I bet if that light faded, youd see a sparkling pair of blue eyes staring back at you.
It all lines up almost perfectly, but is still hidden enough where most people (myself included) might not realize the full extent of the crossover until days later. Its too well arranged not to have been crafted on purpose. Look at Elizabeth next to that Little Sister! How is something so obvious, yet so subtle at the same time? Well, because most of us were attempting to untangle the events of Infinite alone, a monumental task in itself. There really wasnt time to make all these connections in the moment.
Many thanks to a few commenters for pointing out the Bathysphere genetic code item, which led to me attempting to unravel the rest of the parallels. I highly doubt Im the first to do so, but if I can help blow some minds by spreading the theory, that works for me.
So, am I crazy or is this yet another purposefully planted piece of the already masterful plot?
Now for the new question. What happened in Ryan/Bookers life to spawn the creator of Rapture over Columbia? Is there even a knowable answer to that?
There is so much depth in this ending.
