While I agree that he shouldn't have left the means to disable the self-destruct in place (the "genetic key card" thing) he as much as said it himself: you had breached all his defenses, leaving him with nothing to stop you. He didn't
let you kill him so much as he changed track and instead of trying to prevent you from being able to kill him, he did his best to "break" your programming.[/quote]
He could have said "would you kindly kill yourself" and it would have been over. Or would you kindly kill Atlas and Fountain. He KNEW about your programming and he knew the control phrase.
The genetic key on him made no sense at all. You did breach just about all of his defenses. But he DECIDED to kill himself AND Rapture.
Remember what he said? He said "a MAN decides, a slave OBEYS".
Ryan's philosophy rejected God, patriotism, and serving other people. He believed in the individual. He believed in being a MAN. Which to him meant doing what he HE wanted and doing it well.
He killed himself on purpose. He had no intention of breaking the programming.
Its not like he could have grabbed a pistol and dueled with you. Not and live to tell about it -- you'd walked through all the best defenses he had, dozens of big daddies, hundreds (if not thousands) of splicers, you'd mowed down sentry cameras and turrets... need I go on?
Choke on your own tongue... would you kindly.
Keeping Rapture a secret is one thing. Trying to prevent all commercial (and, as was suggested, cultural) contact is another, and just plain stupid.
Again, you'd have to read Atlas Shrugged to understand it seems.
The game is clearly based off that book.
You might be able to make people by from inside the city, but there is no chance whatsoever of making them not-curious as to the goings on of the world they left behind. Maybe a few people could be convinced to loop inward on the city, but not all, not even most.
They let people come and go prior to the riots. The whole idea of the city was that it be self contained thought. With no contact with the outside world.
So? Public official using his public office to improve his private position. AKA: Corruption.
Not at all. Fontaine broke the rules and thus had to pay. Ryan went to great personal expense to take him down. Who else should benefit from defending the city?
How was Ryan not entitled to Fontaine's fortune? Most of it Fontaine had stolen or made by causing problems for ryan in the first place.
I don't have any complaint with ambition, and in fact the little intro movie to rapture was enough to make me really leery of the guy. Most of what he said I could live with, and on some level agree with. But the instant he talked about "petty morality" as being a bind on scientists, alarm bells should have gone off in everyones head.
So I'm going to guess you're against human embryonic stem cell research?
And having allowed the genetic manipulation of Tenenbaum go through, there is no doubt on my mind that it swung the wrong way. Heck, if nothing else the big daddies would be enough for me to be upset, though I might buy them. But the little sisters? No. Way. In. Hell. None. Having allowed, in fact having supported that... project... As far as I'm concerned, that alone was enough to earn him the title of villain. Tenenbaum... she changed her heart, and tried to free the sisters. She's debatable as to whether she ended as villain, though there is no doubt in my mind she started as one (I do believe in redemption, after all...).
I agree, Ryan's support of the big daddies and little sisters doesn't make much sense and it was absolutely bad.
It doesn't work with ryan's philosophy and it's a plot hole. Ryan shouldn't believe in making slaves and that's what the big daddies and little sisters are... slaves. You heard how Ryan refused to regulate plasmids because that was a control on the market? That feeds into the whole "a man decides" mantra. Ryan should have allowed people to decide to have the slugs put in their bellies with some kind of plasmid. Then some people could have the production of adam be their job. Those slugs didn't need a some fluid out of a corpse to make them work they worked all by themselves. But apparently they worked better as a parasite in a human being... and even better if fed a special mixture.
And then he destroyed.
Ryan believed he "Owned" Rapture. So destroying it was a right he had.
He killed people for no better reason than they had opposed his will. He admitted -- he was proud! -- to having burned an entire forest to the ground simply because it was being made into a national park.
Again, you're not understanding the philosophy here. Ryan owned that forest. He bought it.
They tried to steal it from him. So he destroyed it.
Savvy?
He tried to kill everyone inside his city by destroying the air supply. He tried to turn the place into a totalitarian state when he began to loose control of his oh-so-precious "great chain".
Ryan was clearly insane towards the end. But you have to see he was pushed. He didn't start out that way he was attacked and his defense naturally led him to some very nasty decisions.
Eventually, Ryan took the final measure and decided to kill himself in a way that proved he was a man and YOU are a slave. Thus proving the very mantra of his life. And then he blew up rapture.
The fact that you could stop the self destruct is a plot hole.
Long story short: Ryan may have been your hero, but he was never, will never, can never be anything but a villain to me. Death may have been an excessive punishment, but there is no doubt in my mind that he deserved it.
You're not making an effort to understand the man. I recommend you read Atlas Shrugged as I don't think you can understand Ryan without reading the book he's based upon.
Ryan isn't really my hero, I admire him to some extent simply because he accomplished so much... made so much possible. But I see his flaws clearly. Men like Ryan have to be kept at arms reach... and you have to watch them and be read to defend yourself should they decide to "do" something to you. But they're admirable in that they don't live to dominate people but to dominate themselves. They live to empower and enrich themselves which often indirectly helps most people.
In any event, Rapture couldn't survive without Ryan... And Fontaine was just slime. Rapture might have survived and done well without Fontaine in there to screw it up.
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