Ben's Point Is That He Has No Point

[Textbook]

As others have observed, Ben is a puzzling character. He's the classic underdog, a well-meaning but incompetent loser who's used to being overlooked and under-rated. I, like a lot of players, disliked him and wished quite often that he had died where Mark did and found him useless but I kept him alive in episode 4 because I knew that in episode 5 he would do something awesome to redeem himself and reward you for sticking with him.

Yet of course, he not only dies anyway, but dies in a trivial way and takes Kenny, who was relatively useful, with him. His moment never comes.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but is Ben's role to teach us a lesson about the world of The Walking Dead, that people can live short and painful lives without hokey Hollywood moments? Is the point of Ben's life that in Kirkman's world, characters don't necessarily have a point or grand destiny, they just live and die however the dice land?

[thestalkinghead]

yeah just like life, most people will never do anything worthy of a Hollywood film in their life then they die and that's it

[Siniistar]

Originally Posted by Textbook

As others have observed, Ben is a puzzling character. He's the classic underdog, a well-meaning but incompetent loser who's used to being overlooked and under-rated. I, like a lot of players, disliked him and wished quite often that he had died where Mark did and found him useless but I kept him alive in episode 4 because I knew that in episode 5 he would do something awesome to redeem himself and reward you for sticking with him.

Yet of course, he not only dies anyway, but dies in a trivial way and takes Kenny, who was relatively useful, with him. His moment never comes.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but is Ben's role to teach us a lesson about the world of The Walking Dead, that people can live short and painful lives without hokey Hollywood moments? Is the point of Ben's life that in Kirkman's world, characters don't necessarily have a point or grand destiny, they just live and die however the dice land?

pretty much. Ben wasn't meant to ever have a redeeming moment, just to show that sometimes you just die because the ZA is just that unforgiving.


i think most people's issue with him however is that you can see that reality in pretty much most characters already. making a whipping boy wasn't really necessary

[Charles_K]

He serves to show what kind of player the person really is in Ep. 4: the pragmatic survivalist like the Crawfords, or a more idealistic and "moral" person who saves a person who means good but has been absolutely nothing but trouble (leaving Clem being the last straw for many).

[hplikelike]

Originally Posted by Textbook

As others have observed, Ben is a puzzling character. He's the classic underdog, a well-meaning but incompetent loser who's used to being overlooked and under-rated. I, like a lot of players, disliked him and wished quite often that he had died where Mark did and found him useless but I kept him alive in episode 4 because I knew that in episode 5 he would do something awesome to redeem himself and reward you for sticking with him.

Yet of course, he not only dies anyway, but dies in a trivial way and takes Kenny, who was relatively useful, with him. His moment never comes.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but is Ben's role to teach us a lesson about the world of The Walking Dead, that people can live short and painful lives without hokey Hollywood moments? Is the point of Ben's life that in Kirkman's world, characters don't necessarily have a point or grand destiny, they just live and die however the dice land?

There's still the possibility he has a moment of redemption if Kenny isn't in your party. I heard Kenny saves Christa if Ben isn't there, maybe Ben saves Christa if there's no Kenny. And maybe Ben does something if it's just you and him. Can anyone confirm?

[Dildor]

Originally Posted by hplikelike

I heard Kenny saves Christa if Ben isn't there, maybe Ben saves Christa if there's no Kenny. And maybe Ben does something if it's just you and him. Can anyone confirm?

Ben saving somebody? Hahahaha.....

[JakeSt123]

Ben's an average person, not everyone has a special skill, and not everyone is interesting. He's just a student who managed to survive long enough to find his way into a fold with some competent people, an average joe.

[JulianAR]

It's sad, really. How life can cruelly take away your chance to be somebody important or meaningful, or how it can take every decision you make and turn it into an incompetent one without you knowing, and then punish you for it. Ben's character was tragic that way, in which his fight against his fate of being nothing but an unhelpful loser simply led him to a meaningless death. Perhaps he stayed to defend Clementine when she was being attacked. Then he would have gotten eaten and Clem would have still been in trouble, and still needed to be rescued by Chuck. Perhaps he didn't make a deal with the bandits. At a much sooner point they would have attacked the camp and killed Carly, Duck, Katjaa, and then Ben, making his decision pointless.

Fate has a funny way of getting what it wants, when it wants it. And fate wanted Ben and his decisions to be pointless. Such is life.

[Kaserkin]

Originally Posted by JulianAR

It's sad, really. How life can cruelly take away your chance to be somebody important or meaningful, or how it can take every decision you make and turn it into an incompetent one without you knowing, and then punish you for it. Ben's character was tragic that way, in which his fight against his fate of being nothing but an unhelpful loser simply led him to a meaningless death. Perhaps he stayed to defend Clementine when she was being attacked. Then he would have gotten eaten and Clem would have still been in trouble, and still needed to be rescued by Chuck. Perhaps he didn't make a deal with the bandits. At a much sooner point they would have attacked the camp and killed Carly, Duck, Katjaa, and then Ben, making his decision pointless.

Fate has a funny way of getting what it wants, when it wants it. And fate wanted Ben and his decisions to be pointless. Such is life.

Replace the word "fate" by "Telltale Games".

[Zarron]

Originally Posted by hplikelike

There's still the possibility he has a moment of redemption if Kenny isn't in your party. I heard Kenny saves Christa if Ben isn't there, maybe Ben saves Christa if there's no Kenny. And maybe Ben does something if it's just you and him. Can anyone confirm?

Unfortunately, by that point, everyone is back together (Kenny cannot not be in your party at that point, only Ben is a variable.)

[harrisonpink]

The way I always interpret Ben (speaking solely for myself) is that not everyone needs to have a cut and dry "role" to play. Ben's just a person. Real people don't always fit into roles, or serve a specific function. Maybe that's why I like him so much. He's just a boy, but everyone expects him to be a man.

[Kaserkin]

Originally Posted by harrisonpink

The way I always interpret Ben (speaking solely for myself) is that not everyone needs to have a cut and dry "role" to play. Ben's just a person. Real people don't always fit into roles, or serve a specific function. Maybe that's why I like him so much. He's just a boy, but everyone expects him to be a man.

I get it, but why making him do such stupids things? I understand about the deal with the bandits, but what about the hatchet in Crawford?

[Tyrant]

Removing that hatchet was the dumbest thing I've seen anybody do. Obviously the first order of business was securing the premises, why in the hell would you remove something that keeps the front doors from opening without asking anybody?

[Textbook]

Previously I called Vernon's betrayal the biggest bum note in the game, but I've come to realise that isn't true - it's Ben and the hatchet.

Two things:

i) He's in a hostile environment which has been strategically blocked off to contain zombies. Nobody would casually open doorways that have been deliberately sealed by others.

ii) Even worse, the zombie crowd that pursued Kenny and Brie, which stays there after they've gone, magically disappears while Ben makes his move.

It really was quite a transparent attempt at forcing a zombie chase and thus some cheap drama.

[HiggsBoson2142]

The character of Ben is a funny one, being that he's one of the few that really mess things up. Like Carl in the TV Series. But, even though he messes up, he's one of the few people left that have still kept their humanity together. And I love him for that.

[Kaserkin]

Originally Posted by HiggsBoson2142

The character of Ben is a funny one, being that he's one of the few that really mess things up. Like Carl in the TV Series. But, even though he messes up, he's one of the few people left that have still kept their humanity together. And I love him for that.

+1.

[JulianAR]

Originally Posted by Kaserkin

I get it, but why making him do such stupids things? I understand about the deal with the bandits, but what about the hatchet in Crawford?

Because him being a complete average joe that doesn't do anything extraordinary and at the same time doesn't make any mistakes is completely boring. There would actually be no point to his character, and no point focusing on him, let alone bringing him into the story at all. The only way to show his humanity is to show him making the mistakes of an idiot.

[Kaserkin]

Originally Posted by JulianAR

Because him being a complete average joe that doesn't do anything extraordinary and at the same time doesn't make any mistakes is completely boring. There would actually be no point to his character, and no point focusing on him, let alone bringing him into the story at all. The only way to show his humanity is to show him making the mistakes of an idiot.

The deal with the bandits and leaving Clem in the streets were realistic mistakes, but the hatchet was far fetched.

[hplikelike]

Originally Posted by Zarron

Unfortunately, by that point, everyone is back together (Kenny cannot not be in your party at that point, only Ben is a variable.)

So you're saying that if you tell Kenny not to come with you, he comes anyway?

[Textbook]

That's right. This is why people are complaining about the "choices" being illusory. The game is actually on rails.