Death Stranding is set in the United States following a cataclysmic event that brought about creatures known as BTs (Beached Things). Sam Porter Bridges, the protagonist, sets off on his journey to connect the chiral network (wireless communications network) so that America can become connected and whole once again. Little did he know that once he completed the chiral network, Amelie would be able to connect to all of the beaches and bring about the Last Stranding. The world will end when an unprecedented number of BTs cause mass voids. However, there’s more to the story if we find parallels to real life. In this article, I will discuss the core themes and explain the game's ending.
Chiralium – What is it?
Chiral are small, golden particles found in Deathstranding. It’s something that is exuded from dead bodies, and from BTs – it was brought into the world by the death stranding and the beaches. Chiral brought about the phenomenon known as time fall, which speeds up time for things that come into contact with raindrops. Its exact uses are not explained in detail, but in the game, chiral is something that is significant but can’t be seen, but at the same time also has a huge impact on their lives; it kind of feels like the internet, and here’s why:
The chiral network is a mix of two parts: the hardware and infrastructure to set up the connection, and the software in Q-pid, which acts as the activator for the network. The chiral network is based on Mama and Lockne’s ability to communicate over long distances due to their DOOM’s ability. If we picture this connection with an allusion to our lives, the chiral network is the internet. It allows for the connection of individuals over vast distances without ever seeing one another. The chiral network is the "Internet" and gaining access to this network means unlocking the ability to communicate remotely. Those living in a city, and those living in rural areas—regardless of where you are—can interact and communicate if they have access to the "internet". This is really the underlying theme of Deathstranding—that the world is connected and human bonds are important. This wireless network can also be seen as a time sink. Keep in mind that the game is about people living secluded lives inside a bunker. This means that time passes without them realizing it because they don’t get to see the sun go up and down. When you become too consumed with your own thoughts to notice the surroundings, time fall may symbolize how time passes quickly when you are isolated.
Beached Things – What are they?
Beached Things (BTs) are dead humans with resentment or something else tying them to the plane of the living. As the name may suggest, a BT comes from a "Beach" which in Death Stranding is a plane that sits between the worlds of the living and the dead—basically the boundary before being able to reincarnate or move on.
The BTs are the souls of dead humans who have been stranded in the world of the living. BTs are like whales that are stuck on a beach—unable to move or escape, waiting for death or someone to help them. When a person is depressed and lost in their own thoughts, that’s what it can feel like. This game covers depression, and isolation. Throughout the game, BTs attack Sam, pulling and tugging at him and trying to drown him in the pool of black tar. It’s a visual representation of being pulled into darkness—to demonstrate how it feels to be in a situation without connections and bonds; how it can feel suffocating. Amelie is the prime example of that in Death Stranding: an isolated individual with no method of contacting the outside world (unless they already have a connection), isolated on her own Beach, even willing to end the world so she no longer needs to spend time alone.
Higgs – What does he represent?
Higgs is a superhuman, the most powerful DOOMS ability user, who is able to teleport, float, and even control BTs, making him the most dangerous enemy in Deathstranding. The more powerful DOOM's abilities, the stronger their connection to the other side, to the beach.
If we use the examples discussed earlier as an allusion to real life, Higgs is the biggest internet user. He is also the ultimate recluse. He is most affected by being stranded in darkness; his mental state is fragile. His only beacon of hope and light is Amélie. Throughout the entire game, Higgs acts as a puppet for Amelie—a tool for bringing Sam to Amelie. Once her goals were achieved, she abandoned Higgs and took away his DOOMs ability. What this symbolizes is losing all that he lived for—his light, his hope, his motivation, and his means of existence. Essentially, it’s stripping someone who is fully reliant on the chiral network and banishing him from being able to access it. Before he met his end, he was given two choices: 1) become stranded on the beach alone, or 2) end his own life. Higgs seemingly chose to end his own life, and this really shows how losing your purpose and being isolated can be devastating. This idea is reinforced by lore if you take the time to dig into Higg's personal records. Even before meeting Amélie, he was already descending into madness. Throughout the game, you deliver pizza to an individual called Peter Englert, who you find out at the end of the game was actually Higgs. He is isolated in a hut in the middle of nowhere, and his only interaction is delivering pizza. While he always orders pizza, it's always for other people, like his sister or his father. However, to our knowledge, these people do not exist because Higg's father was already dead before he even joined Fragile, but he imagines them to still be around. It shows that Higgs desires interaction and attention but lacks the means to do so. It’s also important to note that Peter Englert is never connected to the chiral network, which means Higgs never opened up to being part of the chiral network. He wanted to be, but he was afraid of taking that step.
Amelie – What does she symbolize?
Amelie is the main "villain" in the game if you can call her that. She is the extinction entity, whose existence will bring about the end of the world. She is the soul portion of Bridget Strand, with no physical body and no way to return to the land of the living. She is the embodiment of isolation and loneliness.
Amélie is both a beacon of light and a figure of loneliness. While this sounds contradictory, it makes sense in the context of the game. She serves as the goalpost for Sam. The entire journey is to complete the chiral network so that Amelie can finally connect with all of the beaches. The ending of Deathstranding shows a change. As the chiral network grows, Amelie gains more insight into the world and humanity as a whole. She offered Sam two choices: to sit with her and watch the end of the world or to sever his connection to her to delay the last stranding. Instead, Sam chose to reach out to her and hug her, showing Amelie that there is someone who cares for her and that he will be there to support her. She changes her mind and isolates herself to give humanity more time to evolve. While the ending may seem confusing, it shows a change of heart. By witnessing humanity through Sam’s journey and knowing that Sam is there for her, she realizes she isn’t alone and decides to sacrifice herself for the sake of humanity.
This act of self-sacrifice demonstrates how much impact a little bit of human contact can have on someone trying to escape depression. Amelie’s change is a reminder of how a bit of warmth for those that you care about can have such a huge impact—if Sam did not reach out to her, perhaps there would be no tomorrow in Deathstranding. The hug that Sam gives Amélie shows growth for Sam and the significance of the cutscenes to follow.
Sam & Cliff Unger – What does their relationship mean?
To build on the theme of beating depression and building connections, we are shown a series of events and revelations after the ending with Amélie. Cliff Unger has been coming after Sam for the entire game, searching for his BB, who we believe to be Lou. It turns out his BB is actually Sam—Cliff Unger is the biological father of Sam Porter Bridges.
The importance of this event is that it shows us how the connection between Sam and Amelie was formed. We are shown that Bridget killed Sam and Cliff. Amelie, feeling remorseful for her counterpart Bridget, brought Sam back as a repatriate, which set the Deathstranding in motion because she interfered with the cycle of life and death. This builds a bond between Amélie and Sam—a connection beyond the realms. At the same time, it also shows Sam starting to overcome his fear of building connections—first with a hug with Amelie, his adoptive mother and sister, and now with a hug with Cliff, his biological father.
Sam overcomes his fears
At the beginning of the game, Sam faces challenges in forming connections, both emotionally and physically, due to their fear of physical touch (aphenphosmphobia) and past traumas. In the ending sequences, we see Sam overcoming this fear and starting to open up to others.
Toward the end of Death Stranding, we are given one final task from Bridges. The mission is to send Lou to the incinerator because she has started to die. In the final moments, Sam decides to swap the BB container with his handcuffs and have the handcuffs destroyed. The handcuffs—which act as a tracking system as well as a symbol of Sam’s absence of freedom—are finally destroyed. In a last-ditch attempt to save Lou, Sam recalls that Deadman mentioned that removing Lou from the BB container may let her live, so Sam decides to remove Lou from the container. For a moment, it seemed like the baby had died, but after a short wait, they eventually opened their eyes. Sam hugs the child and walks off into the distance, and that is the ending of Death Stranding.
To understand the significance of this series of events, it helps to know a bit about Sam’s backstory. Lou’s name is actually based on Louise, who was Sam’s unborn child and died with his wife Lucy. In Sam’s eyes, Lou is his child—the one that Sam (and we as players) have grown to love throughout the journey in Death Stranding. Throughout the journey, Sam has learned to care and love again, and fittingly so now that he has a child to look after!
You may also be interested in:
- [Guide] Death Stranding Difficulty Levels Explained - Choosing Best The Difficulty For You
- All Death Stranding Villains And Their Motives
- Death Stranding Amelie Explained (All You Need To Know About Her)
