Originally posted by 4 / / itchy tasty:If it's not already obvious: I prefer Alette surviving as well because Rook would have done anything to prevent her death and protect her, it was like his whole MO. I plan on playing it through twice, once with each character (and if I'm really ballsy, once with Egil/Ekkil). Though, my first playthrough ended with her dying. And hey, good for us, we get two versions of a story! Personally, I feel like Alette surviving is the more positive choice and is what I consider my headcanon. I don't know if I would consider one route 'better' than the other but the story will probably move in vastly different directions. Alette may find her own romantic interests in this story (Egil, Ludin, Eyvind, hell, maybe even Tryggvi, there's a lot of single young dudes) but I think the focus will be on her stepping out of her father's shadow and into her own identity.

This is a more familiar story but for good reason - most everyone has his or her own personal version of this story when they move out of their parents house. Alette is absolutely not ready to take on the leadership role of her father but will probably spend the story growing into that identity and seeing herself as worthy of such responsibility, with both positive and negative consequences. Having Rook die and allowing Alette to take center stage seems more hopeful, but much more uncertain - a new, untested generation must rise to face the challenges of its time. The clan is stronger than the individual. Perhaps his story will allow him to find some personal satisfaction in his journey (Oddleif?) and a focus on the idea that no matter how much it hurts, duty is always more important than one's own feelings. Rook doesn't have much personal reason to go on any more - he only has duty. I'm guessing that Rook's route in BS2 will focus on his duty to the clan and the obligations of a leader holding together a sad wreck of a man. This seems to be reflected in his artwork for BS2, he looks haggard as hell.

The human advantage over the varl is that the humans have a future, but the varl's procreation problems mean they don't. There's just something about the young dying in a story that makes things feel more hopeless. To me, having Alette die is way more depressing. Spoilers for the end of Banner Saga 1 (though if you're here, you probably know how it ends), but I want to know what people think about each ending for Banner Saga 1 - specifically, whether Rook or Alette dies.

The banner saga 1 best ending