Dontnod Entertainment's 'Life is Strange': Exploring the Multiverse (Part 2/3)

Welcome to Part 2 of my discussion of Life is Strange!! Nice to see you here. (Didn't read Part 1, but want to? Here it is.) Sorry I took too long to get this up. I've been insanely busy lately—unexpectedly getting a part-time job, many birthdays, including mine, and many creeping college deadlines that are right after one another—and I didn't want to be publishing this kind of post without reviewing it a couple thousand times.

Anyway, in this post, I'll be diving into the theory of multiverse. Aside from the butterfly effect, Life is Strange revolves around the multiverse theory, using it as a mechanism for Max's time traveling.

[SPOILER ALERT for Life is Strange and possibly Bioshock Infinite: 
Reader discretion is advised after the following chunks.]

I've made another post about the theory of multiple universes when I discussed about the game Bioshock Infinite (you can read it here), and I was and still am pretty passionate about whatever the heck I was saying. The theory of multiverse entices me because, even as a little young'un, I wondered if there was some parallel universe in which that, for example, I was born a boy, or I was a girl who made all the opposite choices. (Child philosopher?) So... you have to understand that discovering a theory that revolves around those thoughts was like discovering Narnia.

The multiverse theory brings up the possibility that maybe the reality we're living in isn't the only reality that exists. Maybe those other realities were and continue to be born from the different decisions and options we were offered and continually are offered in our lives. An infinite amount of realities.

Please note that I'm not criticizing the plot by being overanalytical. I accept the game as it is, and I understand that the multiverse theory is very difficult to implement in games, but... whenever the multiverse theory is being presented in any form of media, I have an itch to jump at it and have a philosophical discussion about it. I just... love... talking about it...!!!

Let us discuss the concept of time traveling into photos. A cool, mind-boggling concept, but I feel that the developers missed one small, extra step to make the game more consistent with the actual multiverse theory.

Before I start rambling, I should establish what I'll mean by "constants" and "variables." I don't mean the constants and variables from your Algebra homework. Constants are events in a universe that have to happen. They are unchanging events. Like huge boulders. Variables are the different choices that can be made from those constants. (Note that these terms were coined in the Bioshock Infinite game.) These terms establish some boundaries I can work within, because without these boundaries, the theory of a multiverse is nearly infinite and really hard to work with.

Alright, I'm going to assume the plain fact that Max enters Blackwell is a multiverse constant—one of the "Big Mommas" of constants that exist in all universes. So, Max enters Blackwell. What she chooses to do with herself at Blackwell, either be a nerdy girl who is outside the crowds, or a preppy girl who hangs out with the Vortex Club, those two options or variables split to become alternative universes of each other. The universes I want to focus on are the ones where Max is the nerdy girl who stays outside of crowds, which I'm going to call the nerd-Max universes for convenience.

Within these nerd-Max universes, there are also smaller constants that only exist among the nerd-Max universes. Those smaller constants are Max's photos. Because these photos are constants, they must exist (or have happened) among all nerd-Max universes. So the big question is... from each photo, does Max know which nerd-Max universe she's entering into? In the reality of Life is Strange, she probably doesn't.

To explain further, each photo is a small constant, so before the taking of each photo lies the many different variables and choices that Max could have made. No matter how small the different choices could have been, they could have altered each universe to be a little different from each other (otherwise known as the butterfly effect). Therefore, theoretically, Max could have entered into a nerd-Max universe she didn't intend to go in. I doubt there would be any drastic differences, but not addressing this aspect of the multiverse creates a small shortcoming.

What would have created more consistency is if every time Max entered into a photo, she would enter into a "database" of universes that have that photo as a constant, kinda like that place in Bioshock Infinite with all the lighthouses. From there, she could properly locate the specific universe she needed to go back into. If she really is a "time lord," she should be able to distinguish the differences easily, just as Elizabeth from Bioshock is able to. Using a "database" of universes also appropriately emphasizes the infinite nature of the multiverse (and explains more how the effects of a little tampering could ripple out across many, many universes).

"Constants... and variables."

Then again, maybe that would make the game a little too complicated. (chuckles nervously)

Next and last topic of discussion, which I won't be diving too deeply, regards what happens to the Max that remains in a particular universe. Specifically, take the Max that was at the Two Whales Diner getting Warren's photo. When that Max travels back in time, what happens to the Max that remains in that universe? That universe in which Max remains must become an alternative universe in itself. So does she die along with Warren and everyone else in the Two Whales? Or does that universe collapse entirely due to Max's tampering in the past? (I actually highly doubt the latter, because Max's warning Chloe doesn't prevent the hurricane from happening.)

Sooo... what happens to Max?

She looks sad

Fun trivia: Using logic from Bioshock Infinite, if Max really does die in certain universes, her deaths would explain her random nosebleeds. Haaaaa, right? But of course, the logic of Life is Strange strongly implies that her nosebleeds are simply from an overexertion of her powers. But... imagine her deaths really were the reason... that's some trippy stuff.

At any rate, this kind of time traveling was pretty sa-weet; I choked on air in Episode 3 when it was introduced, in fact. How Max crossed over entirely to the alternate universe just because William, Chloe's father, did not die that day demonstrates the potentially dangerous power of the butterfly effect. Scary stuff.

My theory of why this crossover happened is that William picking up Joyce, Chloe's mother, from the market may have been a multiverse constant (Big Momma constant). And because Max tampered with such an important constant by preventing William's death, Max crossed over to the alternative universe. The variables from constants are what differentiates the alternative universes from each other. Moral of the story: don't mess with the constants.

Doesn't it give you chills?? Even in our own lives, one simple, altered outcome of a constant could have drastically changed our lives. It could have landed us into a devastating car accident that paralyzed our entire body. Or, it could have influenced us to be a punk rebel who regularly smokes weed. In another universe, the alternate version of ourselves could be living a consequence of that particular outcome, whether the consequence be good or bad.

That alone is why I'm intrigued by this theory. I've made bad decisions over good ones before. I've chosen to do certain gestures over others. I've chosen a certain lifestyle over others. What would have happened if I chose to do the opposite? How drastically would my life have changed? Would it have even changed my life at all?

Hmmm...