Ballerina is what happens when a studio wants to extend a franchise but really has no reason to do so except a financial one. Subtitled From The World of John Wick, this action thriller contains too much action and precious little thrills. Directed (maybe) by Len Wiseman of Underworld fame, Ballerina is set in the same universe as the four majestic adrenaline epics starring Keanu Reeves, and incorporates as many elements from those films as possible, including the Continental Hotel and the Ruska Roma, not to mention appearances from Ian McShane, Anjelica Huston, the late, great Lance Reddick, and Mr. Reeves himself. But what is also found in ample supply in the John Wick movies and sadly missing in Ballerina is heart, character, and a sense of conviction. At the center of the movie is a miscast, utterly bland Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro, whose father’s death sent her as a little girl into the custody of McShane’s Winston Scott and, eventually, the tutelage of the Director (Huston) of the Ruska Roma ballet/assassin school. It’s there that Eve goes through the usual training montage, with her inability to dance only matched by her evident aptitude at killing and fighting. Once her training is complete, Eve is sent out into the world on Ruska Roma business, but of course her main goal is avenging her dad, who was killed by members of a mysterious cult led by the enigmatic Chancellor (Gabriel Byrne). No sooner can you say “she’s gone rogue” than she does just that, jetting off to Prague in pursuit of a cult member (Norman Reedus) who’s trying to get himself and his own little daughter out from under the Chancellor’s thumb, while finding herself at odds with the Director and pursued by the Chancellor’s minions at every turn. The movie’s thin “lady vengeance” premise, which we’ve seen countless times before, is reheated once again by screenwriter Shay Hatten, who has co-written the last two John Wick entries but seems lost here. Unlike John Wick himself, whose single-minded quest for revenge over the death of his dog took on mythic overtones as more layers to both John and the surreal world of elegant criminality in which he moved were revealed, Eve has nothing to define her that hasn’t been done or said before. It doesn’t help that Armas, while up to the role’s physicality, offers nothing in terms of personality—she’s an empty vessel. Which is a shame, since she’s displayed earthiness (Knives Out), complexity (Blonde), and a sexy playfulness (No Time to Die) in previous work. The rest of the non-Wick cast is forgettable as well, with Byrne’s Chancellor and his entire regime badly underdeveloped, and Reedus completely wasted in what amounts to maybe two scenes. McShane, Reddick, and Huston just go through their paces, spouting lots of portentous lines about “choice” and “fate” that ring mostly hollow, as does a late-stage twist that carries no weight because one of the characters involved barely registers. As for the Baba Yaga himself, the largely non-verbal Reeves is the “Chekhov’s gun” of the film: introduced briefly in the first act, he inevitably turns up again in the third act, parachuted in by the magic of rumored reshoots even though his contribution to the narrative amounts to absolutely nothing. It’s always nice to see him, but if you took him out, it wouldn’t drastically change the picture. Speaking of reshoots, there’s a Frankenstein nature to the proceedings that provides evidence for the reports that Wick director (and franchise torch-bearer) Chad Stahelski refilmed much of the movie after Wiseman’s first draft came up short. While the first act is a murky, enervated slog, things seem to pick up in the middle, with a more eye-catching color scheme (such as a sequence in a neon-lit club reminiscent of a similar scene in the magnificent John Wick: Chapter 4), a creative, free-flowing use of the camera, and some of the more inventive, oddball action that has become part and parcel of the franchise—most notably in a scene where de Armas and an enemy smash a pile of dinner plates over each other’s heads with manic Three Stooges-like energy. Unfortunately, there’s also a sadistic edge to a lot of the action this time as well, particularly in a climactic fight involving flamethrowers that badly wants to emulate the famous overhead apartment shot from John Wick: Chapter 4 but goes on for far too long and ultimately becomes actively unpleasant. That’s a problem with even the better action on hand in Ballerina, as if the filmmakers want to make up for the film’s deficiencies by overdoing what the series is best known for. Hatten’s script was an original piece that was rewritten to fit into the John Wick universe, with elements introduced in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum to pave the way for the arrival of Eve and Ballerina. But this reverse engineering highlights the pitfalls of trying to create a cinematic universe without stopping to wonder whether it’s a good idea. Watching John Wick stonily fight and slaughter his way through his off-center world and its population of funky, eccentric weirdos has been fantastic fun (the threat of an arc-undermining John Wick 5 notwithstanding) because of the unique nature of the character and that world. But dropping the more conventional, cliched tropes of Ballerina into the mix, along with a protagonist (and actor) not nearly as compelling, only exemplifies that the John Wick movies are character-driven first and foremost. All the brutal action, heavy-handed callbacks, and predictable cameos in the world can’t make this Ballerina into a better dancer. Ballerina opens in theaters in the U.S. on Friday, June 6. Join our mailing list Get the best of Den of Geek delivered right to your inbox!

Heading into Doom: The Dark Ages, I thought the game being a prequel to the 2016 series reboot would make a good entry point for the series. Despite enjoying high-octane first-person shooters, Doom and its 2020 sequel Doom Eternal somehow never landed on my radar (although I will defend the so-awful-it’s-good 2005 film and its first-person-shooter sequence). So I entered The Dark Ages, something of an origin story for the Doom guy and his crusade against the forces of Hell, ready to gorge the lore and push through the series. After completing its roughly 10-hour, 22-chapter campaign, I can definitively say: That shit doesn’t make any sense. And it doesn’t matter. We got demons to kill. The Dark Ages casts you as the Slayer, a remarkable soldier who’s so much better at murdering demons than any of the human rabble you come across. Why is he the best demon murderer? Shh, demons to kill. Doomguy is kept in reserve by some sort of alien group called the Maykrs (a tragedeigh pronounced like “makers”), chilling in a ship floating above the human-versus-demon battlefields. He’s almost like The Winter Soldier in that he’s kept as something of a prisoner in between being called upon for demon-slaying missions. In the early parts of the story, before he breaks free, he’s basically loaned out to techno-medieval humans as they battle against hordes of demons from Hell. Or are they aliens? Is this game set on Earth? Dude, there are demons to shotgun in the face. While on loan, Doomguy shows up everyone incapable of killing demons by slaying hundreds upon hundreds of them himself, sometimes just by jumping from really high up (so cool). He fights with some human kingdom in its quest to keep some MacGuffin away from some Big Bad Demon. The story takes the Slayer to Hell and also to an alien planet… maybe. Who really knows? You’ll be too busy parrying attacks with the chainsaw shield or piloting a mech suit to care. Its story won’t be receiving any honors come awards season, but Doom: The Dark Ages’ gameplay might. Parrying attacks and an emphasis on melee add welcome variety to the ways the Doom Slayer battles enemies, and by the end of the game, as you’ve upgraded his arsenal, you’ll truly feel like an unstoppable demon-killing machine, swapping between from the skullcrusher to the accelerator to more depending on what the situation calls for. Once the BFC — big fucking crossbow — winds up in your hands, it’s truly lights out for the demons. Though its plot may not matter (or make a lick of sense), by the end of The Dark Ages, you’ll at least understand the fear Doomguy instills in demons after you slaughter who knows how many of them, including their leader. Doomguy’s taken over the Maykr ship, now seemingly his base of operations for his demon-slaying exploits. He’s the demons’ nightmare, their eternal enemy, their John Wick after his puppy was killed. He’s unrelenting in his quest to rid the cosmos of demons. Why again does he need to kill demons? Hey man, just enjoy that sweet, sweet chainsaw shield.

Best of the rest Research roundup: 7 stories we almost missed Also: drumming chimpanzees, picking styles of two jazz greats, and an ancient underground city's soundscape Jennifer Ouellette – May 31, 2025 5:37 pm | 4 Time lapse photos show a new ping-pong-playing robot performing a top spin. Credit: David Nguyen, Kendrick Cancio and Sangbae Kim Time lapse photos show a new ping-pong-playing robot performing a top spin. Credit: David Nguyen, Kendrick Cancio and Sangbae Kim Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more It's a regrettable reality that there is never time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across each month. In the past, we've featured year-end roundups of cool science stories we (almost) missed. This year, we're experimenting with a monthly collection. May's list includes a nifty experiment to make a predicted effect of special relativity visible; a ping-pong playing robot that can return hits with 88 percent accuracy; and the discovery of the rare genetic mutation that makes orange cats orange, among other highlights. Special relativity made visible Credit: TU Wien Perhaps the most well-known feature of Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity is time dilation and length contraction. In 1959, two physicists predicted another feature of relativistic motion: an object moving near the speed of light should also appear to be rotated. It's not been possible to demonstrate this experimentally, however—until now. Physicists at the Vienna University of Technology figured out how to reproduce this rotational effect in the lab using laser pulses and precision cameras, according to a paper published in the journal Communications Physics. They found their inspiration in art, specifically an earlier collaboration with an artist named Enar de Dios Rodriguez, who collaborated with VUT and the University of Vienna on a project involving ultra-fast photography and slow light. For this latest research, they used objects shaped like a cube and a sphere and moved them around the lab while zapping them with ultrashort laser pulses, recording the flashes with a high-speed camera. Getting the timing just right effectively yields similar results to a light speed of 2 m/s. After photographing the objects many times using this method, the team then combined the still images into a single image. The results: the cube looked twisted and the sphere's North Pole was in a different location—a demonstration of the rotational effect predicted back in 1959. DOI: Communications Physics, 2025. 10.1038/s42005-025-02003-6  (About DOIs). Drumming chimpanzees A chimpanzee feeling the rhythm. Credit: Current Biology/Eleuteri et al., 2025. Chimpanzees are known to "drum" on the roots of trees as a means of communication, often combining that action with what are known as "pant-hoot" vocalizations (see above video). Scientists have found that the chimps' drumming exhibits key elements of musical rhythm much like humans, according to  a paper published in the journal Current Biology—specifically non-random timing and isochrony. And chimps from different geographical regions have different drumming rhythms. Back in 2022, the same team observed that individual chimps had unique styles of "buttress drumming," which served as a kind of communication, letting others in the same group know their identity, location, and activity. This time around they wanted to know if this was also true of chimps living in different groups and whether their drumming was rhythmic in nature. So they collected video footage of the drumming behavior among 11 chimpanzee communities across six populations in East Africa (Uganda) and West Africa (Ivory Coast), amounting to 371 drumming bouts. Their analysis of the drum patterns confirmed their hypothesis. The western chimps drummed in regularly spaced hits, used faster tempos, and started drumming earlier during their pant-hoot vocalizations. Eastern chimps would alternate between shorter and longer spaced hits. Since this kind of rhythmic percussion is one of the earliest evolved forms of human musical expression and is ubiquitous across cultures, findings such as this could shed light on how our love of rhythm evolved. DOI: Current Biology, 2025. 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.019  (About DOIs). Distinctive styles of two jazz greats Jazz lovers likely need no introduction to Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery, 20th century guitarists who influenced generations of jazz musicians with their innovative techniques. Montgomery, for instance, didn't use a pick, preferring to pluck the strings with his thumb—a method he developed because he practiced at night after working all day as a machinist and didn't want to wake his children or neighbors. Pass developed his own range of picking techniques, including fingerpicking, hybrid picking, and "flat picking." Chirag Gokani and Preston Wilson, both with Applied Research Laboratories and the University of Texas, Austin, greatly admired both Pass and Montgomery and decided to explore the underlying the acoustics of their distinctive playing, modeling the interactions of the thumb, fingers, and pick with a guitar string. They described their research during a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in New Orleans, LA. Among their findings: Montgomery achieved his warm tone by playing closer to the bridge and mostly plucking at the string. Pass's rich tone arose from a combination of using a pick and playing closer to the guitar neck. There were also differences in how much a thumb, finger, and pick slip off the string:  use of the thumb (Montgomery) produced more of a "pluck" compared to the pick (Pass), which produced more of a "strike." Gokani and Wilson think their model could be used to synthesize digital guitars with a more realistic sound, as well as helping guitarists better emulate Pass and Montgomery. Sounds of an ancient underground city Credit: Sezin Nas Turkey is home to the underground city Derinkuyu, originally carved out inside soft volcanic rock around the 8th century BCE. It was later expanded to include four main ventilation channels (and some 50,000 smaller shafts) serving seven levels, which could be closed off from the inside with a large rolling stone. The city could hold up to 20,000 people and it  was connected to another underground city, Kaymakli, via tunnels. Derinkuyu helped protect Arab Muslims during the Arab-Byzantine wars, served as a refuge from the Ottomans in the 14th century, and as a haven for Armenians escaping persecution in the early 20th century, among other functions. The tunnels were rediscovered in the 1960s and about half of the city has been open to visitors since 2016. The site is naturally of great archaeological interest, but there has been little to no research on the acoustics of the site, particularly the ventilation channels—one of Derinkuyu's most unique features, according to Sezin Nas, an architectural acoustician at Istanbul Galata University in Turkey.  She gave a talk at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in New Orleans, LA, about her work on the site's acoustic environment. Nas analyzed a church, a living area, and a kitchen, measuring sound sources and reverberation patterns, among other factors, to create a 3D virtual soundscape. The hope is that a better understanding of this aspect of Derinkuyu could improve the design of future underground urban spaces—as well as one day using her virtual soundscape to enable visitors to experience the sounds of the city themselves. MIT's latest ping-pong robot Robots playing ping-pong have been a thing since the 1980s, of particular interest to scientists because it requires the robot to combine the slow, precise ability to grasp and pick up objects with dynamic, adaptable locomotion. Such robots need high-speed machine vision, fast motors and actuators, precise control, and the ability to make accurate predictions in real time, not to mention being able to develop a game strategy. More recent designs use AI techniques to allow the robots to "learn" from prior data to improve their performance. MIT researchers have built their own version of a ping-pong playing robot, incorporating a lightweight design and the ability to precisely return shots. They built on prior work developing the Humanoid, a small bipedal two-armed robot—specifically, modifying the Humanoid's arm by adding an extra degree of freedom to the wrist so the robot could control a ping-pong paddle. They tested their robot by mounting it on a ping-pong table and lobbing 150 balls at it from the other side of the table, capturing the action with high-speed cameras. The new bot can execute three different swing types (loop, drive, and chip) and during the trial runs it returned the ball with impressive accuracy across all three types: 88.4 percent, 89.2 percent, and 87.5 percent, respectively. Subsequent tweaks to theirrystem brought the robot's strike speed up to 19 meters per second (about 42 MPH), close to the 12 to 25 meters per second of advanced human players. The addition of control algorithms gave the robot the ability to aim. The robot still has limited mobility and reach because it has to be fixed to the ping-pong table but the MIT researchers plan to rig it to a gantry or wheeled platform in the future to address that shortcoming. Why orange cats are orange Credit: Astropulse/CC BY-SA 3.0 Cat lovers know orange cats are special for more than their unique coloring, but that's the quality that has intrigued scientists for almost a century. Sure, lots of animals have orange, ginger, or yellow hues, like tigers, orangutans, and golden retrievers. But in domestic cats that color is specifically linked to sex. Almost all orange cats are male. Scientists have now identified the genetic mutation responsible and it appears to be unique to cats, according to a paper published in the journal Current Biology. Prior work had narrowed down the region on the X chromosome most likely to contain the relevant mutation. The scientists knew that females usually have just one copy of the mutation and in that case have tortoiseshell (partially orange) coloring, although in rare cases, a female cat will be orange if both X chromosomes have the mutation. Over the last five to ten years, there has been an explosion in genome resources (including complete sequenced genomes) for cats which greatly aided the team's research, along with taking additional DNA samples from cats at spay and neuter clinics. From an initial pool of 51 candidate variants, the scientists narrowed it down to three genes, only one of which was likely to play any role in gene regulation: Arhgap36. It wasn't known to play any role in pigment cells in humans, mice, or non-orange cats. But orange cats are special; their mutation (sex-linked orange) turns on Arhgap36 expression in pigment cells (and only pigment cells), thereby interfering with the molecular pathway that controls coat color in other orange-shaded mammals. The scientists suggest that this is an example of how genes can acquire new functions, thereby enabling species to better adapt and evolve. DOI: Current Biology, 2025. 10.1016/j.cub.2025.03.075  (About DOIs). Not a Roman "massacre" after all Credit: Martin Smith In 1936, archaeologists excavating the Iron Age hill fort Maiden Castle in the UK unearthed dozens of human skeletons, all showing signs of lethal injuries to the head and upper body—likely inflicted with weaponry. At the time, this was interpreted as evidence of a pitched battle between the Britons of the local Durotriges tribe and invading Romans. The Romans slaughtered the native inhabitants, thereby bringing a sudden violent end to the Iron Age. At least that's the popular narrative that has prevailed ever since in countless popular articles, books, and documentaries. But a paper published in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology calls that narrative into question. Archaeologists at Bournemouth University have re-analyzed those burials, incorporating radiocarbon dating into their efforts. They concluded that those individuals didn't die in a single brutal battle. Rather, it was Britons killing other Britons over multiple generations between the first century BCE and the first century CE—most likely in periodic localized outbursts of violence in the lead-up to the Roman conquest of Britain. It's possible there are still many human remains waiting to be discovered at the site, which could shed further light on what happened at Maiden Castle. DOI: Oxford Journal of Archaeology, 2025. 10.1111/ojoa.12324  (About DOIs). Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban. 4 Comments

On Wednesday, EA both shuttered its studio Cliffhanger Games and cancelled the Black Panther game it was developing. Since it was originally announced in 2023, we hadn’t heard much about the game, other than that it would have been an open world adventure starring the titular hero. Now, a new report from Bloomberg has shed some light on what exactly Cliffhanger was working on, and I’m both sad and angered all over again.The entire report is worth reading, and the section that really catches my eye is about how the Black Panther game would have adapted the Nemesis System. Cliffhanger was started by ex-developers from Monolith Productions, the minds behind Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its sequel Shadow of War, and reportedly the Cliffhanger team was attempting to create a new system that expanded on what the Nemesis System from those games could do. Monolith’s Nemesis System involved procedurally generated enemies who had unique traits (mostly grudges directed toward the protagonist Talion) and who would eventually return for a rematch. Some would flee from battle only to come back stronger later in the game. Others perhaps defeated Talion and were shocked to later see he was battling them again. Enemies would even get promoted among the ranks of Uruks, making it feel like your foes weren’t just nameless fodder to be slaughtered.It was a thoroughly inventive enemy system, and an expanded version of it sounds like it would have been a wild ride in Cliffhanger’s Black Panther game. According to the Bloomberg story, the game would have featured “various playable heroes” vying for the title of Black Panther, like T’Challa, his sister Shuri, and everyone’s favorite scene-stealer from the 2018 film, Killmonger. They would all be opposing an alien invasion from Skrulls, shape-shifting aliens featured in MCU films like Captain Marvel and comic event series like Secret Invasion.Skrulls sound like such a perfect fit for the Nemesis System; as Bloomberg reported, Skrull enemies could even pose as your allies, throwing a whole new layer of intrigue and immersion into the Nemesis System, already one of the more original ideas seen in contemporary video games. I can only imagine how exciting it’d be for one of your allies to suddenly attack you, revealing themself as a Skrull leader you thought you bested for good earlier in the game.And now because EA doesn’t seem to know what it’s doing, we won’t be getting Cliffhanger’s revamped Nemesis System. And, even worse, the talented developers behind this system are left looking for work and wondering what’s next for them.See More:

Late last month, some 14,000 baby chicks in Pennsylvania were shipped from a hatchery — commercial operations that breed chickens, incubate their eggs, and sell day-old chicks — to small farms across the country. But they didn’t get far. They were reportedly abandoned in a US Postal Service truck in Delaware for three-and-a-half days without water, food, or temperature control.By the time officials arrived at the postal facility, 4,000 baby birds were already dead. The thousands of survivors — mostly chickens, but also some turkeys and quails — were taken to Delaware’s First State Animal Center and SPCA, which worked tirelessly to find homes to take in the animals as pets.The incident has received extensive national news coverage, and it highlights an often hidden aspect of America’s network of small poultry farms and backyard chicken operations: the shipping of millions of live baby animals in the mail to be raised for eggs or meat.Most chicks survive their journey through the mail, but many don’t. In 2020, 4,800 chicks shipped to farmers in Maine perished due to postal service delays, while in 2022, almost 4,000 chicks destined for the Bahamas died on the tarmac at Miami International Airport from heat exposure. There are plenty of other stories of chicks dying in the mail, and backyard chicken enthusiasts say it’s not uncommon for a few birds out of every 50 or so that they order from hatcheries to die in the mail or shortly after arriving. Mass-casualty mail-order events are rare, but when they happen, they tend to receive news attention. It’s a weird-sounding story with aggrieved customers and sometimes, a hopeful outcome, like the thousands of rescued birds in Delaware. But many more farmed animals die in transportation than most of us realize. That’s because these animals — whether raised by backyard poultry enthusiasts or major meat-producing conglomerates — are commodities, and their deaths merely a margin of error baked into the economics of the annual hatching, raising, and slaughtering of billions of chickens for food. What happens between the factory farm and the slaughterhouseAnimals raised for food are often transported numerous times throughout their lives, and they’re typically treated like cargo rather than living, feeling animals. Sometimes, it’s boxes of day-old chicks shipped through the USPS from a small hatchery to a small farm. But more often, it’s truckloads of fattened-up chickens or pigs moved from a factory farm to a massive slaughterhouse.More than 9 billion chickens raised for meat annually in the US are kept on factory farms — long, windowless buildings that look more like industrial warehouses than farms. The birds have been bred to grow enormous, which causes a number of health problems, and in these overcrowded facilities, disease spreads quickly. The conditions are so awful that up to 6 percent die before they can even be trucked to the slaughterhouse. That’s over half a billion animals each year.Once the survivors reach about 6.5 pounds, they’re quickly and tightly packed into crates. Those crates are then stacked one atop another onto a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. They’re still babies, at just 47 days old, but 6.5 pounds is their average “market weight.”Chickens packed into crates bound for the slaughterhouse. Jo-Anne McArthur/We AnimalsMost chicken farms are located close to a slaughterhouse, so the trip isn’t too long — often 60 miles or less, according to the National Chicken Council. But “even if it is a short journey, the weather and the stocking density has a huge effect on mortality,” Adrienne Craig, an attorney at the Animal Welfare Institute, a nonprofit that advocates for more humane conditions in animal transport, told me. “They could be transported for 45 minutes and if it’s 110 degrees,” a lot of chickens could die. They can also become stressed and physically aggressive toward one another when packed so tightly. The US poultry industry doesn’t publish statistics on how many animals die in transport — what they call “DOAs” (dead on arrival). In the early 2000s, according to the data analytics firm Agri Stats, Inc., the DOA rate was around 0.36 percent. Assuming this hasn’t changed much (a reasonable assumption, as it’s not so different from DOA rates in many European countries), around 33.8 million chickens in the US died in transport in 2024, or 92,602 every day. (The National Chicken Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for industry DOA figures.)To put that into context, around 33 million cattle are slaughtered for beef each year in the US. In a 2023 report, the Animal Welfare Institute published a report that details a number of mass-death events in chicken transport. Here are just a few:In 2018, 34,050 chickens died in transport to a Pilgrim’s Pride slaughterhouse from severe cold and wind. (Pilgrim’s Pride happened to be the top donor to President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.)In 2020, more than 9,000 birds raised for Butterfield Foods died after being held overnight in unheated transport trailers when the temperature fell to minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit.In 2022, a transport truck carrying birds for Lincoln Premium Poultry — Costco’s in-house chicken production company — caught fire and 1,000 birds were burned alive, while an additional 1,500 were injured and euthanized.The DOA rate is even higher for pigs, with about a million every year either dead on arrival at the slaughterhouse, unable to move or keep up with other pigs after unloading, or in such a terrible state that they must be euthanized on arrival. Blood is seen on a truck bringing pigs to the Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon, California. David McNew/Getty ImagesAnimal rights activists give water to pigs arriving by truck to the Farmer John slaughterhouse in Vernon, California. David McNew/Getty ImagesSimilar to poultry birds, pigs and cattle are subject to extreme temperatures, but they’re often transported much further distances. And a typical beef or dairy cow is shipped multiple times to different farms, and often across state lines — not just the trip from the farm to the slaughterhouse. These long distances mean the animals are living in one another’s urine and feces while on the truck, and, according to Craig, they can experience bruising when jostled around as truckers navigate curves and bumpy roads.Animals have no federal protections in transportation trips under 28 hours, and the federal Twenty-Eight Hour Law, intended to reduce their suffering on those longer journeys, is poorly — and rarely — enforced. The law also excludes poultry birds — the vast majority of animals raised for meat. The average consumer, if they think about farm animal suffering at all, may only think about it in the context of factory farms or slaughterhouses. But the factory farm production chain is incredibly complex, and at each step, animals have little to no protections. That leads to tens of millions of animals dying painful deaths each year in transport alone, and virtually no companies are ever held accountable. These deaths are just as tragic as the thousands who died in the recent USPS incident, and they are just as preventable. The meat industry could choose to pack fewer animals into each truck, require heating and cooling during transport, and give animals ample time for rest, water, and food on long journeys. But such modest measures would cut into their margins, and if there’s one thing that should be understood about almost every major US meat company, it’s this: They will always cut corners on animal welfare to increase profit unless they’re legally required to change. You’ve read 1 article in the last monthHere at Vox, we're unwavering in our commitment to covering the issues that matter most to you — threats to democracy, immigration, reproductive rights, the environment, and the rising polarization across this country.Our mission is to provide clear, accessible journalism that empowers you to stay informed and engaged in shaping our world. By becoming a Vox Member, you directly strengthen our ability to deliver in-depth, independent reporting that drives meaningful change.We rely on readers like you — join us.Swati SharmaVox Editor-in-ChiefSee More:

Sad Eagle Scream Eagleopolis has fallen despite Helldivers 2 players slapping up 2.5 billion squids for an opening victory in the battle for Super Earth, leaving six Mega Cities to defend "To unleash the flames of Justice and triumph over Tyranny, we must battle through the inferno before us." Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on May 23, 2025 Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Well, good news, Helldivers 2 managed to win the first major order of the battle for Super Earth by slaughtering over two billion Illuminate. The bad news? It's not stopped Eagleopolis from falling. As it turns out, not even the biggest number of Helldivers the game's had since last spring diving in to help try and hold off the invasion of fresh Illuminate baddies was enough to stop one of Super Earth's seven Mega Cities being reduced to ruins. It's ok, don't cry. Hug your SEAF buddy and watch a clip of someone surfing on a Leviathan if that'll help. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The previous major order, which was the Helldivers' initial defense of Super Earth after the Illuminate invasion of their home planet began with the arrival of the Heart of Democracy update, ended this morning. Things looked good, the goal of casually killing 2.5 billion Illuminate had been achieved. Let the good times roll right? Nope, said Arrowhead. "Eagleopolis, a venerable stronghold of Managed Democracy since time immemorial, lies in ruins," the studio informed us all via its latest MO briefing, "Its tattered shopping centers stand in warning as to the fate that awaits the rest of Super Earth, should our mission fail." So, that's one of the seven Mega Cities which make up Super Earth destroyed, but there's still a long way to go in the battle for Super Earth, and that win has seen folks make some progress towards wiping out the entire Illuminate fleet or forcing it to retreat. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Illuminate Fleet Strength currently stands at 49%," Arrowhead continued, "Six Mega Cities remain standing. The Helldivers must dig in, alongside their SEAF allies, and continue to fight, day and night, to defend the heart of our Federation. The surviving Mega Cities must be defended at all costs. The Helldivers must deploy to the Mega Cities as Illuminate pressure shifts among them to prevent them from falling. Once they fall, they cannot be reclaimed." Hence the latest order's goal - successfull extract from missions against the Illuminate 20 million times, in order to strike a further blow to the fleet's big invisible health bar. And, of course, to avenge Eagleopolis, which I'm sure people on the game's subreddit would be cut up about if they weren't too busy post fan art about loving their SEAF trooper buddies in a fashion that totally isn't getting a bit creepy. Are you shedding super tears for Eagleopolis? Let us know below!

Mount Holly, Blue PrinceThis year’s surprise hit Blue Prince is a proper video game wonder. It’s an architectural puzzler in which you explore a transforming mansion left to you by an eccentric relative. The place is filled with secrets, and whenever you reach a door you get to pick the room on the other side from a handful of options. The whole game is a rumination on houses and how we live in them. Nostalgic and melancholic, it feels designed to make us look harder at what surrounds us.The Edison mansion, Maniac Mansion Photograph: Lucasfilm GamesThis Addams’-style Queen Anne with clapboard facades and dark windows is a classic haunted house, reportedly inspired by the Skywalker Ranch. The great twist of this early LucasArts adventure is that all kinds of spooky things are happening, but the fiends and monsters you meet are often surprisingly charming – the odd hamster-in-a-microwave incident aside. Maybe not a great place to live, but these guys would make memorable neighbours.Spencer mansion, Resident Evil Photograph: CapcomNestled amid the foreboding Arklay mountains outside Raccoon City, the Spencer mansion is what would have happened if the murderer from the Saw movies had become an architect. This vast country pile in the Second Empire style is lusciously adorned with oil paintings, antique furniture and hidden rooms. However, any potential buyers should know it’s essentially a vast trap, filled with puzzles and monsters, designed to kill anyone wanting to investigate the massive bio-research facility beneath it.Finch house, What Remains of Edith Finch Photograph: Giant SparrowBased on Goose Creek Tower in Alaska, Finch house is a monument to the doomed family who once lived there, which explains why the bedrooms are sealed off like museum exhibits. Floors are piled up haphazardly and navigating the interior can feel like moving through the transformations of a pop-up book. Living here would be fascinating, but you’d need good joints, what with all the stairs. On the plus side, the bookcases are filled with works such as Gravity’s Rainbow, Slaughterhouse-Five and House of Leaves, so you’d get to catch up on your postmodernist reading.The mansion, Jet Set Willy Photograph: YouTubeOne of the great video-game homes, this strange mansion is left in disarray after an almighty booze-up. The rooms feel very much like a lurid hangover, incorporating stomping boots, chomping toilet seats and at one point, an entire tree. What makes this classic platformer so haunting is the juxtaposition of domesticity and surreal horror. The bedroom is out of bounds and the refrigerator threatens to extend for miles. Oh, and there’s an entrance to Hades on the floorplan.Island cottage, Animal Crossing: New Horizons Photograph: NintendoNintendo’s dreamy deconstruction of capitalism is so close to being a doll’s house for adults that it makes sense that you get your own home to decorate. Beyond choosing the wallpaper and adding just the right indoor plants, you also have an option to fill the air with recordings of music performed by a local dog. This sounds childlike, but the compulsion to refine layouts feels like a very middle-aged kind of obsession, and in one of many brutal lunges at realism, you don’t even get to enter your house without first being handcuffed to a gigantic mortgage.Snowpeak ruins, Zelda: Twilight Princess Photograph: NintendoWhat’s your favourite Zelda dungeon? Allow us to make the case for Snowpeak ruins, from the slightly under-loved Twilight Princess. There have been better puzzles in Zelda, and better rewards for beating a boss, but this cosy getaway high in the mountains is easily the most warmly domestic space in the entire series. It’s not just down to the warmth radiating from the many hearths or the juxtaposition to the icy chill outside. It’s the presence of two gentle Yetis, wandering around despite your dramatic arrival, tending to bubbling pots of stew.Croft Manor, Tomb Raider Photograph: Square EnixLara Croft’s country house may have started as a place for the games to tuck away a tutorial section, but the Manor quickly evolved into a vital part of the series’ appeal. Croft isn’t just gymnastic and deadly, she’s absolutely minted. Her house is filled with the strangely proportioned rooms you often got when PS1 games ventured indoors, and there’s often a hedge maze alongside a gymnasium. Croft has a room just for her harpsichord! And she has a butler who’s happy to wearily plod along behind her and endure an eternity locked in the freezer.Luigi’s Mansion Photograph: NintendoLuigi’s Mansion was the first game to give either one of Nintendo’s plumbers much in the way of a personality. It’s tempting to argue that’s because Luigi’s thrown in among ordinary domestic clutter here, rather than being let loose to jump and dance through worlds of colourful whimsy. The mansion in question may be filled with ghosts, but it’s also filled with bookshelves, hallway carpeting, light fixtures and a decent-sized kitchen. It’s the perfect place for the ever-roving Marioverse to settle down for a moment and offer a sustained depiction of a single place.The lighthouse, Beyond Good and Evil Photograph: MobygamesJade is a photojournalist rather than a soldier, exploring a fantasy world that’s based on Europe rather than the US or Japan. No wonder, then, that instead of a mansion or hi-tech HQ, she gets to live in a lighthouse on the misty shores of a quiet water world. The lighthouse doubles as a refuge and orphanage, and it’s a delight to spot the little details the designers have included, whether it’s the chummy mess in the living spaces, or the crayon drawings on the woodwork.Botany Manor Photograph: Whitethorn GamesPlayers are drawn to Botany Manor by the puzzles, which revolve around uncovering the conditions required to allow a series of flowers to grow and thrive. But the space itself is arguably the thing that draws everyone back until the game is complete. Here is a version of early 20th-century English elegance pitched somewhere between the worlds of Jeeves and Flora Poste. The colours and sense of expectant stillness, meanwhile, could come from a piece of Clarice Cliff Bizarre Ware pottery.The Carnovasch Estate, Phantasmagoria Photograph: SierraWhen novelist Adrienne Delaney moves into this remote New England property seeking inspiration, she loves the giant fireplaces, labyrinthine corridors and authentic gothic chapel but isn’t so keen on the presence of a wife-murdering demon intent on decapitating, stabbing or squashing residents to death. Heavily inspired by The Shining and the works of Edgar Allen Poe, adventure designer Roberta Williams built this mansion to be the ultimate gore-splattered horror house. Viewing recommended.

A massive amount of Warhammer 40K games are currently on sale across PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam as part of the annual Warhammer Skulls event. If you’ve been wanting to kill some Orks, there’s never been a better time.Suggested ReadingThe Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: June 2023 Edition Share SubtitlesOffEnglishSuggested ReadingThe Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: June 2023 Edition Share SubtitlesOffEnglishThe Top 10 Most-Played Games On Steam Deck: June 2023 EditionHappy Warhammer Skulls: Festival Of Video Games! I can’t believe it’s here already. It feels like it arrives sooner and sooner each year. Don’t worry, there are plenty of gifts waiting for you under the bloody iron tree, including a ton of discounts on big games like Space Marine 2, and even some free games and news on upcoming Warhammer games, too.Here are some of the best deals we’ve spotted across Steam, PlayStation Store, and Xbox Marketplace.Steam DealsBoltgun: Words of Vengeance - Free! Gladius Relics of War - Free! ($40) Space Marine 2 - $36 ($60) Warhammer 40K: Boltgun - $11 ($22) Warhammer 40k: Darktide - $16 ($40)Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate - $12 ($45) Necormunda: Hired Gun - $8 ($40)Warhammer: Realms of Ruin - $12 ($60) Total Warhammer - $15 ($60)Total Warhammer II - $15 ($60) Total Warhammer III - $20 ($60) Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - $3 ($30) Warhammer 40k: Battle Sector - $12 ($40) Space Marine 2 - $42 ($70)Warhammer 40k: Darktide - $18 Xbox / $28 PSN ($40)Warhammer 40k: Boltgun - $10 Xbox ($22) Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate - $12 Xbox ($45) W40K: Shootas, Blood & Teef - $8 ($20) Warhammer: Realms of Ruin - $12 ($60) Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader - $25 ($50) | Also on Game PassNecromunda: Hired Gun - $8 ($40) Warhammer: Vermintide 2 - $5 Xbox / $15 PSN ($30)Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground - $3 Xbox / $4 PSN ($20) If you’re wondering what Boltgun: Words of Vengeance is, it’s a short, free riff on Boltgun in which you type words and phrases to slaughter your foes. Apparently it’s little more than a fun little commercial for Boltgun 2 but hey, you can’t beat the price! Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun - Words of Vengeance Launch TrailerBesides these deals across console and PC, Games Workshop shared some news about new and upcoming Warhammer games during Thursday’s event. The company revealed a new remaster of the original 2011 Space Marine that is set to arrive on Xbox, Game Pass, and PC in June. (No PS5 port, weirdly.) It also announced Boltgun II, a sequel to the wonderful boomer shooter FPS Boltgun. The sequel is coming in 2026. We also learned more about Space Marine 2's upcoming horde mode and got a teaser trailer for the free update, too. .

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun — Words of Vengeance is a new typing action game that’s free to play on Steam, and it challenges the player to enter words and phrases from the Warhammer 40K universe to slaughter your way through an environment filled with foes and Doom-like graphics. The game was announced as part of today’s Warhammer Skulls 2025 games festival, alongside other titles including Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy I and an expansion to Space Marine 2. A typing game might not sound challenging, but spelling is unpredictable 40,000 years in the future. Just take the main character’s name: Malum Caedo. Boltgun: Words of Vengeance is available to play now on Steam, but be warned: a single typo could spell the end. Recommended Videos Several classic Warhammer games are making their return through remasters. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is getting a Definitive Edition that includes all its expansions and upgraded visuals. Following the success of Space Marine 2, the original Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is back in the form of the Master Crafted Edition. On the new release front, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy is an upcoming RPG from Owlcat Games, the developers of the excellent Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader. Fans of old-school shooters will get more of what they love in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun II, a sequel that is dropping on Steam, Xbox Series, and PlayStation 5. There’s also a new mobile grand strategy title called Supremacy: Warhammer 40,000, and you can pre-register now on Android. Players who want a taste of Twisted Metal action can play Warhammer 40,000: Speed Freeks, a combat racing game that’s now leaving early access on Steam. Space Marine II is also getting a new Horde mode, while more new content has been added to a lineup of existing Warhammer games, including Tacticus, Vermintide II, Battlesector, Gladius, Blood Bowl III, and more.

Antoo Member May 1, 2019 4,507 Full on spoilers for TLOU1, TLOU2, and both seasons of the show ahead I saw this clip on the TLOU subreddit making the rounds. Neil goes into the viability of the cure, and he says this: "Could the Fireflies make a cure? Our intent was that, yes, they could. Now, is our science a little shaky that now people are questioning it? Yeah, it was a little shaky and now people are questioning that. I can't say anything. All I can say is that our intent is that they would have made a cure. That makes it a more interesting philosophical question for what Joel does." Click to expand... Click to shrink... https://www.reddit.com/r/thelastofus/comments/1krqoz0/neil_debunks_the_cure_viability_debate_once_for/ I can't post the interview due to the interviewer, however, if you are a fan of TLOU, I would suggest maybe looking for articles/posts covering it or finding the interview yourself. Neil goes into A LOT. I'll bullet point some highlights. Show highlights: - Neil says Ellie and Dina's relationship was intentionally static in the game. The same approach wouldn't work for the show because shows need movement. - The series needs constant conflict/progression because story is everything in the medium. In games, you can have nothing of high importance going on for a while and still be invested due to interactivity. - He recognizes the divisiveness of the second season from game fans. He's appreciative of their love for the material and finds it cool how people see a game as standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a HBO show. He thinks it highlights how gaming has elevated as a medium. - Abby's motivation and the porch scene were moved up due to the reality that the second game needed multiple seasons to be fully adapted. Neil and Craig felt these elements wouldn't land if they kept the game's structure due to how long TV viewers would have to wait to get to them. There was a fear that the impact of these elements would have been lost due to people not remembering the previous season clearly enough to draw connections. - Craig is very intrigued by the idea of the prophet and wants to expand on who she is in the future. Game highlights: - There was originally a sequence planned for one of the flashbacks in TLOU2 where we would play through an infected attack on Jackson as Ellie alongside Joel. - There was no intent for the WLF/Seraphite conflict to serve as an allegory for the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He took inspiration from the latter but he also took inspiration from other conflicts. Neil feels certain people online were cherry-picking statements to fit a narrative. He views the game conflict as a secular group clashing against a religious group. - He confirms he would be open to TLOU3 like he said in the documentary but wants to ensure he has the right idea for it that lives up to the series' pedigree - Neil's top priority right now is Intergalactic above all else. He claims it has the deepest gameplay they've ever done.  Last edited: Today at 2:57 AM Red Kong XIX Member Oct 11, 2020 13,276 Never understood why people thought they couldn't. That's the whole point of the ending. Joel being selfish, not willing to sacrifice someone he cares about for the greater good.  ConflictResolver Member Jan 1, 2024 4,907 Midgar I thought it was left vague in both the game and the show until the show's latest episode.   Philippo Developer Verified Oct 28, 2017 8,836 Heh, I liked the ambiguity of not knowing if there was a 100% success guarantee out of sacrificing Ellie.   Lotus One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 124,081 I'm still saving her.   FTF Member Oct 28, 2017 33,203 New York Philippo said: Heh, I liked the ambiguity of not knowing if there was a 100% success guarantee out of sacrificing Ellie. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Agreed. It should be left unknown.   Bansai Teyvat Traveler Member Oct 28, 2017 14,176 Maaan Neil really needs to stop, feels like he's stripping away what's left of the nuance with those latest comments on the story. Then again, his story, his right I suppose, my headcannon remains strong and stubborn though. :P btw. interesting interview 🤔  Risev "This guy are sick" Member Oct 27, 2017 3,896 Red Kong XIX said: Never understood why people thought they couldn't. That's the whole point of the ending. Joel being selfish, not willing to sacrifice someone he cares about for the greater good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I always got the impression the game wanted you to skip through the bullshit and just assume the cure would work, but it's still mediocre writing at best: - the lead doctor was a veterinarian. - the fireflies were desperate, lacking man power, and funds. - literally almost zero testing on Ellie before Just wanting to rip her brain out of her skull - literally zero attention given to the special circumstances that could have led to ellie being immune  The Quentulated Mox Corrupted by Vengeance Member Jun 10, 2022 6,565 hell yeah, next we should ask christopher nolan if the top was gonna fall down   Mauricio_Magus Member Oct 25, 2017 15,827 Death of the author applies here, I don't really care what he has to say if it's not in the original game/text. It's clearly supposed to be ambiguous and it's staying that way for me.  Axiom Member Oct 25, 2017 308 Neil knowing the answer isn't the same as Joel knowing the answer - the only guarantee was that Ellie was going to die.   FTF Member Oct 28, 2017 33,203 New York The Quentulated Mox said: hell yeah, next we should ask christopher nolan if the top was gonna fall down Click to expand... Click to shrink... lol   Threadmarks Clarification on cure New Index OP OP Antoo Member May 1, 2019 4,507 For further context, he also states that if you had a different takeaway on the ending scenario of the first game, that's fully valid as well. He's just clarifying his authorial intent while also acknowledging that a player/viewer may read the situation much differently. I think he finds the philosophical question of saving a loved one versus saving the world more interesting than the specifics of how they got to that point.   New Index harleyvwarren Member Oct 31, 2022 5,299 Illinois I always assumed there was a shot at a cure and that's what Joel denied humanity with his selfish, murderous behavior. There was no ambiguity about it for me playing the second game. It's just not subtle at all.   behOemoth Member Oct 27, 2017 6,687 ConflictResolver said: I thought it was left vague in both the game and the show until the show's latest episode. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I think his answer still keeps it vague, but emphasising that serious possibilities existed   Besiktas Member Sep 2, 2024 914 Why creators their own productruin years after a good product releases. Man just focus on making new stuff instead of clarifying theories.   Risev "This guy are sick" Member Oct 27, 2017 3,896 Antoo said: For further context, he also states that if you had a different takeaway on the ending scenario of the first game, that's fully valid as well. He's just clarifying his authorial intent while also acknowledging that a player/viewer may read the situation much differently. Click to expand... Click to shrink... With all due respect to Niel, but that'a bullshit lmao. He also said the exact same thing about Ellie forgiving Joel / knowing he killed the fireflies at the end of the first game just a month or so before the release of Part 2 which gives a clear answer and renders any other interpretation invalid   Kenzodielocke Member Oct 25, 2017 13,948 It's kind of moot if you make this so technichal Could they make it, could they deliver it, etc.  Lotus One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 124,081 FTF said: Agreed. It should be left unknown. Click to expand... Click to shrink... The game came out over 12 years ago. The idea that a creator/author should just shut up and literally never comment on an ambiguous ending or complicated choice is so weird to me, especially when it's just his opinion at the end of the day.  Shoot Member Oct 25, 2017 5,909 Red Kong XIX said: Never understood why people thought they couldn't. That's the whole point of the ending. Joel being selfish, not willing to sacrifice someone he cares about for the greater good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... This. I was surprised to see people online saying they couldn't make a cure. It also obviously had no bearing on Joel's decision to massacre the hospital either. He just went back to doing what he used to do with Tommy for 20 years. Definitely makes Druckmann's recent comment about doing what Joel did sound sociopathic.  VAD Member Oct 28, 2017 6,099 Philippo said: Heh, I liked the ambiguity of not knowing if there was a 100% success guarantee out of sacrificing Ellie. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yes, me too. I liked that the Fireflies were acting on the basis of hope rather than hard facts. Maybe Joel was right to save Ellie from pointless sacrifice. Maybe Ellie's savior complex was based on nothing and she was right to just live and enjoy life as it was.  Khanimus Avenger Oct 25, 2017 46,469 Greater Vancouver Woah Woah Woah... You mean Joel is a shitty self-serving asshole??!! Say it ain't so...  Zemoco Member Jan 12, 2021 2,621 Death of the author and all that, he really shouldn't confirm something like that. I suppose it's his right, but it hampers the discussion irrevocably. In either case, it does not make any sense on any level to kill the one girl with immunity milliseconds after making the deduction. Not to mention since the Fireflies are murderous, lying pricks anyway, it doesn't make any sense why Joel should believe them just because an omniscient entity (as far as the universe is concerned) confirmed it.  SirKai Member Dec 28, 2017 10,181 Washington Will never understand why people split hairs over this or claim the supposed "ambiguity" of the vaccine viability adds anything to the story. In BOTH games, every character that matters is confident in the possibility of the vaccine, and that is what is important. People so DESPERATELY want to be morally vindicated that siding with Joel is not just righteous, but also rational even pursuit of a vaccine, even though the most passing glance interpretation of the ending is OBVIOUSLY written to not satisfy that perspective. It's a trolley problem, and the trolley problem is what makes the ending, and Joel's decision, interesting. If it's not actually a trolley problem, the ending and the story lose a lot of their depth and impact.   Last edited: Today at 3:02 AM Risev "This guy are sick" Member Oct 27, 2017 3,896 Khanimus said: Woah Woah Woah... You mean Joel is a shitty self-serving asshole??!! Say it ain't so... Click to expand... Click to shrink... if only he picked up the phone when Neil was calling to tell him the cure works...   SCUMMbag Prophet of Truth - Chicken Chaser Member Oct 25, 2017 7,199 Red Kong XIX said: Never understood why people thought they couldn't. That's the whole point of the ending. Joel being selfish, not willing to sacrifice someone he cares about for the greater good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... This. TLOU isn't a written masterpiece so there's some holes but the intention of those scenes were pretty clear. A lot of the ambiguity comes from things like "they did no testing" and "they decided this far too quick" which are just leaps you'd make to keep the pacing of your game.  Milk Prophet of Truth Avenger Oct 25, 2017 4,292 No shit. People trying to "um achually ☝️🤓" their way out of Joel's choice ruins the entire point of the ending in the first place. If there's no realistic way to create and disperse a vaccine then there's no choice in the first place. At the same time, I get it. Obviously you want to realistically analyze parts of a story you're experiencing. But story intent still applies, in this instance, it's literally just better to accept the Fireflies at their word and assume a cure would work.  Kalentan Member Oct 25, 2017 50,658 I feel like the cure having been likely possible is far more interesting because it means Joel's decision has more around it. Cause yeah, his decision to kill them all means a lot more than if the cure was never possible and they were just a bunch idiots cause then Joel was 100% in the right to stop them.   Glio Member Oct 27, 2017 27,779 Spain Red Kong XIX said: Never understood why people thought they couldn't. That's the whole point of the ending. Joel being selfish, not willing to sacrifice someone he cares about for the greater good. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Because the science behind it was pretty stupid, tbh. But you're right, from a dramatic point of view, it needs to be that way.  bob1001 ▲ Legend ▲ Member May 7, 2020 2,109 If they can make a cure: The ending is a moral dilemma, where Joel is willing to sacrifice humanity to save the person he loves. If they can't make a cure: Joel is saving a child from child murderers. I never understood why anyone would prefer a Mario saves Peach style ending instead of the actual interesting ending we got. When you question their ability to make a cure you are arguing the ending is worse than it is.  Kalentan Member Oct 25, 2017 50,658 bob1001 said: If they can make a cure: The ending is a moral dilemma, where Joel is willing to sacrifice humanity to save the person he loves. If they can't make a cure: Joel is saving a child from child murderers. I never understood why anyone would prefer a Mario saves Peach style ending instead of the actual interesting ending we got. When you question their ability to make a cure you are arguing the ending is worse than it is. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Exactly.  Risev "This guy are sick" Member Oct 27, 2017 3,896 Milk said: No shit. People trying to "um achually ☝️🤓" their way out of Joel's choice ruins the entire point of the ending in the first place. If there's no realistic way to create and disperse a vaccine then there's no choice in the first place. At the same time, I get it. Obviously you want to realistically analyze parts of a story you're experiencing. But story intent still applies, in this instance, it's literally just better to accept the Fireflies at their word and assume a cure would work. Click to expand... Click to shrink... I'd say this is Neil's biggest shortcoming as a writer and is worth criticizing: wanting you to make leaps and just skip through some plot holes for the service of the plot. Uncharted 4 also contains an extremely glaring plot hole that you have to gloss over to enjoy the story  Kenzodielocke Member Oct 25, 2017 13,948 The arguments about if the cure would have worked come usually from people who want to justify hie actions. The justification there actually is, love. Edit: "They didn't even ask her" point is also kind of moot because how often we heard from Ellies mouth that she would have done it.  mbpm Member Oct 25, 2017 29,491 I thought it was more interesting leaving it unknown   psynergyadept Shinra Employee Member Oct 26, 2017 19,044 It was always the case; people just obscured things to make themselves feel better about Joel's decision. The whole point of the games ending was dealing with the "Save many by the cost of one/few" trope we've seen before.  EatChildren Wonder from Down Under Member Oct 27, 2017 7,595 Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The story is infinitely more interesting and thought provoking, particularly in regards to character motivations, actions, and subsequent consequences, when the climax of the first game is viewed through the lens of the unknown; that people and groups make decisions and take actions, sometimes decisively and recklessly, without knowing for sure what the totality of consequence will be, or being fundamentally unable to know if the risks taken are worth the cost. I don't even care about the science behind it (which is dumb). Knowing the cure would/wouldn't work sucks shit and is a boring lame framing of the narrative. Not knowing adds a hefty ambiguity and weight to the choices made. People making decisions, or committing to causes, without ever fully knowing for sure how subsequent events will transpire, is literally how life works is is the ultimate fuel and weight behind our personal journey through guilt and accountability.  SirKai Member Dec 28, 2017 10,181 Washington Risev said: I'd say this is Neil's biggest shortcoming as a writer and is worth criticizing: wanting you to make leaps and just skip through some plot holes for the service of the plot. Uncharted 4 also contains an extremely glaring plot hole that you have to gloss over to enjoy the story Click to expand... Click to shrink... I'm not a Neil defender, but that's not a shortcoming of a writer; that's just an extremely basic aspect of storytelling to motivate the drama and create interesting circumstances. Pretty much no long-form story that depends on exceptional scenarios is going to be free of contrivance or convenience. Some stories obviously take it too far and it can make the narrative feel too arbitrarily authored and unnatural, and every individual person has their own threshold for how far they can suspend their disbelief, but the willingness to trust writers by suspending our disbelief is what makes stories strong and effective, and a writer depending on their audience to be able to do that, at least to some extent, is not a weakness.  Altairre Member Oct 25, 2017 5,211 Risev said: With all due respect to Niel, but that'a bullshit lmao. He also said the exact same thing about Ellie forgiving Joel / knowing he killed the fireflies at the end of the first game just a month or so before the release of Part 2 which gives a clear answer and renders any other interpretation invalid Click to expand... Click to shrink... It doesn't really matter what he says because within the text there clearly is ambiguity and there is basically no way to retcon that away. Considering their situation, what the audio logs say and the state of the world it's definitely a long shot but it's also THE long shot. Risev said: I'd say this is Neil's biggest shortcoming as a writer and is worth criticizing: wanting you to make leaps and just skip through some plot holes for the service of the plot. Uncharted 4 also contains an extremely glaring plot hole that you have to gloss over to enjoy the story Click to expand... Click to shrink... I'm not sure that the situation in LoU qualifies as a plot hole tbh.   Jubern Member Oct 25, 2017 1,597 Mauricio_Magus said: Death of the author applies here, I don't really care what he has to say if it's not in the original game/text. It's clearly supposed to be ambiguous and it's staying that way for me. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Exactly where I stand. Why he would want to clarify/comment on this so long after the fact leaves me dumbfounded.   FTF Member Oct 28, 2017 33,203 New York EatChildren said: Boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo The story is infinitely more interesting and thought provoking, particularly in regards to character motivations, actions, and subsequent consequences, when the climax of the first game is viewed through the lens of the unknown; that people and groups make decisions and take actions, sometimes decisively and recklessly, without knowing for sure what the totality of consequence will be, or being fundamentally unable to know if the risks taken are worth the cost. I don't even care about the science behind it (which is dumb). Knowing the cure would/wouldn't work sucks shit and is a boring lame framing of the narrative. Not knowing adds a hefty ambiguity and weight to the choices made. People making decisions, or committing to causes, without ever fully knowing for sure how subsequent events will transpire, is literally how life works is is the ultimate fuel and weight behind our personal journey through guilt and accountability. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, this is what I meant and said sooo much better lol.   Cantaim Member Oct 25, 2017 35,072 The Stussining I always thought it would have worked as well. The entire game is building up to Joel facing the Trolley problem but with Ellie on the track. I don't think it really has any teeth if you just say killing Ellie doesn't do anything.   Crossing Eden Member Oct 26, 2017 58,520 Kenzodielocke said: It's kind of moot if you make this so technichal Click to expand... Click to shrink... You aren't supposed to because it's not real life Cantaim said: I always thought it would have worked as well. The entire game is building up to Joel facing the Trolley problem but with Ellie on the track. I don't think it really has any teeth if you just say killing Ellie doesn't do anything. Click to expand... Click to shrink... It's funny because literally nothing about the story ever implies that the cure wouldn't work. For every single thing that gets addressed in a "grounded" way that particular tidbit has never been more than people using it as an excuse to justify/lighten the severity of Joel's actions. "Eh does it really matter that he shot up the hospital at the end of the day? Not like the cure would've worked anyways. I, the player/Joel did nothing wrong."  TacoSupreme Member Jul 26, 2019 2,092 SirKai said: I'm not a Neil defender, but that's not a shortcoming of a writer; that's just an extremely basic aspect of storytelling to motivate the drama and create interesting circumstances. Pretty much no long-form story that depends on exceptional scenarios is going to be free of contrivance or convenience. Some stories obviously take it too far and it can make the narrative feel too arbitrarily authored and unnatural, and every individual person has their own threshold for how far they can suspend their disbelief, but the willingness to trust writers by suspending our disbelief is what makes stories strong and effective, and a writer depending on their audience to be able to do that, at least to some extent, is not a weakness. Click to expand... Click to shrink... Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree with this. It's not about suspending disbelief, it's about the game deliberately making the whole situation with the Fireflies seem sketchy. I genuinely spit out my drink and started laughing when it was revealed that they were going to instantly take the precious immune person and dissect her almost immediately after getting their hands on her. This goes beyond contrivance or convenience and into the realm of deliberately misleading the player into thinking there's ambiguity. All it would have taken is something denoting the passage of time prior to wanting to scoop out her brain and it would have been fine. It's not about suspending disbelief, it's about making unneeded decisions that mislead the player.  GMM Member Oct 27, 2017 5,797 If they really would have made a cure or not kinda doesn't matter in the context of the story, it's about how Joel put himself over the needs of the world. Everyone out there trying to survive would agree that Ellie's sacrifice would be worth restoring some semblance of peace to the world even if it wasn't a safe bet, Ellie herself would have wanted to save the world but Joel made that choice for her. It's all about Joel being the selfish person he is, he chose himself over everyone else.  Terbinator Member Oct 29, 2017 13,379 Honestly don't think the cure being viable or not matters at all. Joel makes the decision to save Ellie to save his second daughter. It's really not that deep and you also have no agency over this in the game. Whether that's the moral thing to do on the promise of a cure is an open question.  MrKlaw Member Oct 25, 2017 36,871 Reality doesn't matter (I disagree - they are barely properly staffed, they've never done this before or seen it before so its a hail mary at best etc etc all the discussion) but from a story perspective it makes sense that at least Joel believes its possible to have a cure - it makes the narrative and his reaction stronger, and the 'my life could have meant something' from Ellie's side stronger to create that necessary tension. But I don't like it.  Sinah Member Jun 2, 2022 1,254 I mean yeah so? Honestly personally i don't think it even really matters at that point world was already in a absolute shit state with literal cannibal and murderers everywhere and the infected can not be cured so you still have millions of monsters running around everywhere ripping ppl apart. There was nothing worth saving even if they did manage to make a cure and actually distribute it which is definitely the bigger problem here considering the state the Fireflys where in and the logistics involved.  Last edited: Today at 3:24 AM Vyse One Winged Slayer Member Oct 25, 2017 1,641 Joel might have pressed a 100% cure button that kills his daughter but even a 1% chance it was a hail mary by sketchy people guaranteed the slaughter.   Agni Kai Member Nov 2, 2017 10,001 None of you (and I do mean none of you) would let your child die to save other people. This new piece of information changes nothing. Joel could've never know.  Crossing Eden Member Oct 26, 2017 58,520 Agni Kai said: None of you (and I do mean none of you) would let your child die to save other people. This new piece of information changes nothing. Joel could've never know. Click to expand... Click to shrink... He never once doubted that it would work though.