Defragmentation affects the rest of MGS4's cast as well. The game's Epilogue, Naked Sin, encapsulates the spirits of the three preceding Saga titles, now freed from the connective trope of the Hollow Victory.

Naked Sin's first sequence blends elements from MGS1's bad and good endings: Meryl accepts Campbell as her father, and love blooms on the battlefield inmarriage. (Drebin reinforces the latter idea by sending the newlyweds “a shower of flowers” from the rear of his ATV, an image that combines both blooms and a war machine.) Meryl and Johnny wed in the presence of the new Foxhound, Campbell, Mei Ling, and Otacon – all of whom were characters in (or compilations of references to) MGS1. Spirits soar, and everyone appears in the thrall of Naomi's end-game injunction to “choose life, then live.”

The only person missing is MGS1's hero, Solid Snake.

Naked Sin's second sequence supplements the high hopes that concluded Sons of Liberty. Raiden reclaimed his identity from Solid Snake's mold at the end of MGS2, and, at the end of MGS4, he reclaims his physical identity and disconnects himself from his role as Gray Fox's proxy. As in MGS2, Rose confesses to Jack that she had lied about their relationship. Despite these lies, she, Jack, and Little John unify as a family, finally making good on the happiness promised at the end of MGS2. Little John's imitation of Raiden as a superhero reinforces MGS2's theme, the patterning of one's identity off of cultural memories, suggesting Jack's own erstwhile veneration and imitation of Solid Snake.

Again, the only person missing is Solid Snake, Raiden's catalyst toward self-knowledge.

The Epilogue's third installment likewise brings together the theme and spirit of Snake Eater's finale but with an important distinction: Solid Snake still stands in for MGS3's main character, Big Boss. Solid Snake is absent from the other endings because he is still acting as Big Boss's proxy.

Old Snake is the last character in MGS4 circumscribed by form. Naked Snake had stood over the empty grave of The Boss to honor the memory of a mentor whom he had killed under Zero's command, and Old Snake stands over Big Boss's empty grave similarly to honor the memory of a mentor whom he had killed under Zero's command. Snake recalls MGS3's theme, the power of historical circumstances to shape lives, when he observes, “Our time has ended. Our war is over.” The scene conflates two of MGS3's most iconic moments together (Big Boss's graveside salute and his execution of The Boss) when Snake appears to execute himselfin a graveyard filled with white flowers.

But Operation Snake Eater was not Solid Snake's mission. Still living as a proxy, absent from his places during the revived endings of MGS1 and MGS2, Snake almost dies misplaced at the iteration of MGS3's ending.

<< [Defrag]         [Subtraction] >>

Table of Contents