Lindsay Wagner is the latest addition to Kojima’s mystery game, Death Stranding.
What she means might be the key to understanding everything we have seen so far and I’ve
come up with a suitable theory that might just crack the meaning of her relationship
to Sam.
And let me tell you, this will be expansive.
It’s possible that Wagner’s role is what defines Sam in the 4th trailer.
I have intended to further analyze Sam’s character in this video, but this particular
theory on it’s own is a lot bigger than I anticipated.
So I’ll go over Sam’s role in the 4th trailer on a later episode.
Plus I have got much more to talk about so stay tuned.
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With everything put in order, let’s begin.
Lindsay Wagner is one of the many babies found in the game trailers, but before I explain
Lindsay’s role, I need to explain a minor, yet critical detail in this trailer for it
to make any sense.
Let’s take a look at the picture that norman is so attached to.
A picture taken of him along with two other unknown female characters.
The middle lady dressed in business attire could possibly be Sam’s superior, or family
friend, but the one to the left appears to be an valuable women in Sam’s life, his
wife.
If you examine this picture long enough, like me, you’ll notice it was taken at a formal
event, like a wedding for instance.
Both Sam and his supposed wife to be seem to be in appropriate apparel for a marriage
ceremony.
Norman dressed in what looks like a dress uniform that might resemble some sort of relation
to the military, with his hair pulled back and dark blue suit.
But honestly that flag behind him might be mixing my thoughts on the manner.
The bride is wearing a blue gown, which isn’t necessarily rare at weddings and could resemble
loyalty and honor, another hint towards a military type wedding.
The lady in the middle might be a public servant that ordained the wedding and could easily
be associated to Sam and/or his wife, since they seem pretty close in the picture.
Not literally.
Well they are close in the picture, but..
Forget it..
The last and perhaps the most important part of this picture that is so easily unnoticeable,
is that the wife is pregnant.
If this doesn’t get you on board to the whole attraction between Sam and this lady,
I don’t know what will.
It’s time to go down a deeper hole.
Sam’s interest to this picture is completely unordinary, he is inspecting it as if he has
never seen it and doesn’t even remember the events taking place in it.
His eyes are so glued to it that he won’t bother giving the proper attention to Léa
Seydoux’s character, who is monologuing while circling him like a wolf.
He must be used to this kind of attention.
So in words, he must be confused about his association with this unknown pregnant women.
Now there has been one other time before this where we have seen Sam’s confusion.
We are going back to the first trailer when Norman holds a new born child.
This mysterious little baby is, at the time, connected to Sam.
He is also compassionate for it, until the baby disappears.
This moment when Sam’s expression immediately changes has been on so many of own minds,
what happened?
Lets say for now that the event in the first trailer is prior to the events in the 4th.
The confusion Sam has in trailer number 4 is similar to his confusion in trailer number
1 because it is the same question he has been asking himself since the beginning, “Who
is that baby?”
The newborn baby in the first trailer is the unborn baby within the picture of the 4th
trailer, which would mean that it is Sam’s child.
In the first trailer, We see the physical connection with the cord, which would associate
the two.
Sam even displays fatherly love right before the disappearance of the baby.
Whatever happened when the baby disappeared, an impact altered Sam’s memory which caused
him to leave behind his past life.
This is why his expression changed immediately after the disappearance and it’s also why
he doesn’t remember the photograph or the people in it, including himself.
Which brings me to Lindsay Wagner, a character which has little screen time in the 4th trailer,
but just enough to speculate her relations.
Let’s go over the clip once more.
She tells Norman’s character Sam that he is too late and questions if he still doesn’t
know who she is, which he doesn’t.
It’s obvious that the two characters have known each other before, at a time before
Sam has forgotten everything.
And it seems to Lindsay’s character that it should be obvious to Sam and perhaps us
as the viewer, as if we have seen her before as well.
Up to this point we have been analyzing the smallest details of Death Stranding in each
trailer and I believe this clip with Lindsay’s character is one of the most essential details
in this trailer.
This is the first time in a Death Stranding trailer where Kojima added an additional clip
that didn’t correspond with the overall theme or events in the trailer.
Hideo loves symbolizing and connecting elements in a story, especially for a game that revolves
around connection between character through cables, and in this particular presentation
of the game it’s as if Kojima is informing the viewer to examine what we have seen so
far.
The first thing I want to examine is how Sam is puzzled for the 3rd time, up to this point.
So let’s put into perspective and connect the 3 times Sam has had difficulty recollecting
his memories.
The disorientation this time around is complicating, but if we look at the viewpoint of the last
two times he was lost in thought, it revolved around relationships.
The first time he shows compassion for a baby, but suddenly loses that emotion without regard.
The second he is trying to link his relationship with the ones in the picture.
And the third, he approaches Lindsay where he first left her, on the beach where it all
started.
In the moments leading up the trailer’s conclusion, Wagner articulates a compassionate
expression towards the camera and Sam.
This expression can bear so much with so little time; sympathy, comfort, nervousness, fear
and worry.
The connection she feels for Sam is tenfold, since only someone who expresses these types
of emotions to another would indicate a close attachment to said person, usually a family
member.
This is Sam’s daughter; the same baby in the picture and the same one in the first
trailer.
If that isn’t enough, take a look at one of the promotional wallpapers for the 4th
trailer, featuring Lindsay holding a baby.
That baby obviously wasn’t in the trailer, so unless Kojima just really loves babies,
this wallpaper is a symbol.
Once this trailer released at E3 2018, Kojima was immediately outfitted with that poster
on his shirt.
The poster of the women that was featured in the smallest portion of the trailer.
Although Hideo does hold a lot of respect for Lindsay and loves to flaunt his admiration
for things he loves, he is further proving that Lindsay was the pivotal moment in the
trailer.
So let’s examine a little closer.
Lindsay’s baby is highlighted in an almost circular rainbow as if the image is wanting
us to look at the child.
She’s also holding the baby in the same location, probably on the same spot, `man
held the baby in trailer 1.
There is significance to this location, Lindsay, and the baby.
That baby might possibly represent Lindsay in the state we have last seen her.
It’s as if Lindsay is saying, “hey, this was me in the first trailer.
Right here.”
Now you might be wondering the gender of that baby in the first trailer, but the matter
of the fact is we can’t really determine at the given positioned angle.
Just like I have explained in past analysis episodes, Kojima forces us to look at the
environment in a certain angle that obstructs our view.
You might also be wondering how Lindsay’s character is around the same age as Sam.
If Lindsay truly was Sam’s child, why hasn’t Sam aged?
Norman’s character has been one of the unusual ones we have seen out of the handful presented
so far.
He’s had enough happen to him to call him special, he can resurrect from the dead as
well as find himself in a purgatory state, an unusual feature in the abilities of the
average human species.
Hideo has also stated that Norman’s character has a unique nature about him, one in particular
is his ability to withstand the dangerous effects of timefall.
Sam is an essential and uncommon piece of the puzzle, so if he holds some power, that
power might ultimately make him immortal and allow him to outlive his own daughter.
If that is the case, that might also explain Lindsay’s expression and tone of sympathy
in trailer 4’s conclusion.
She could be worried for his struggle.
Immediately after her appearance, we are accompanied with the final cryptic text on screen, “Give
me your hand in spirit.”
This could illustrate a life forgotten and the souls that were shared between an everlasting
bond, a father and a daughter.
Giving us, the players, the chance to aim and recollect everything Sam has forgotten.
Before wrapping up, I want to go over why I think Lindsay isn’t Sam’s wife, another
person who would share that similar affectionate expression, because let’s us be honest,
I know someone is going to ask.
If we compare Lindsay with the alleged wife in the picture, Wagner just doesn’t seem
to fit the profile.
Even through the distorted effect from the timefall that landed on her face, the women
doesn’t necessarily look like Lindsay.
She has a different hairstyle and facial structure than the Lindsay we see at the end of the
trailer, but could easily be classified as her mother.
What is legitimately interesting about this photograph is how its folded perfectly in
half so we wouldn’t see her pregnancy until the last moments of the trailer leading up
to the reveal of Lindsay Wagner’s addition to the cast.
But what the real mystery here is how he folded the picture.
Who folds a picture like this?
Seriously.
Before I give my final thoughts on Death Stranding, don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t
already.
Stay tuned for more Death Stranding analysis episodes in the weeks to come.
I have found a lot of details hidden in the 4th trailer that could mean a great deal to
what is actually going on, so if you want me to further analyze those thoughts as well
as Sam’s character, please click the like button and let me know in the comments section.
Death Stranding is not only a game, but a box filled with mismatched puzzle pieces that
keeps accumulating with even more confusion.
That is what Lindsay Wagner is in Death Stranding, confusion.
She is by far the most complicating character that we have seen so far, as she doesn’t
seem to be dressed up for the part of the apocalyptic scene.
For all we know, this scene could be a vision of Sam’s that could help remind him of his
previous life and the loss of his new born daughter.
We are starting to see a thin line that connects characters, environments and a story, but
what does it all mean and how does Wagner relate to Sam.
Also, if we put into perspective that Sam is immortal, the event within the first trailer
could have been a few dozen years prior to the events in the 4th, since Lindsay has grown
quite a bit.
So how much time is passing in between events?
Could we actually be dealing with a change in time and space?
I want to hear the thoughts of the people.
Who do you think Lindsay represents?
Do you believe she is a fabrication of Sam’s imagination or do you think she really is
his daughter?
Thank you for watching the episode.
I understand this is one of my crazier theories on Death Stranding, but know that it’s simply
speculation and something I came up with.
We’ve got to grab onto something to comprehend a piece of this riddle.
Ending the episode here.
Thank you again and I’m looking forward to hearing from you.