The Sanatorium You might feel a slight sting

A case for Scolar Visari

Visari is dead; long live Visari?

For those who experienced the final level of Killzone 2, some anomalies must have been puzzled the more eagle-eyed players towards the last surge towards the ending. With the most recent formal showing of Killzone 3, the clip gives credence to the speculation that Scolar Visari may yet be alive. This article will explore some of the curious occurrences that may manifest some of the aspects to this somewhat obtuse theory.

Before any points are discussed, a warning will be issued right now that some spoilers may be in the article regarding the final moments of the gameplay and the final cutscene.

Now that is out of the way, this article will proceed; several brief aspects will be examined starting from Visari Palace towards the final push.

On the Steps of Visari Palace

Towards the final push to the halls of Visari Palace when you approach the last opposing squad of Helghast, one of the Helghast soldiers states that he cannot contact headquarters and a little later these Helgans retreated into the building; this is the first curious anomaly, since the protection for Visari would be the utmost priority to the Helgan soldiers, cutting comms would have been counterproductive. Now what may have been happening is that since the Helgan central command had Visari secure, pulling out and leaving a decoy for the ISA to buy them time... without informing the outer perimeter that they were sheep for the slaughter.

Upon the defeat of General Radec Rico and Sev headed towards the chamber of Scolar Visari, but in the hallway there were dead Helghast scattered on the way. It seems likely that after the squad's retreat into the chamber after their calls were unheeded that they ran smack dab into Radec. Since Radec has eliminated his own men for sloppy dressing, one would imagine that retreating, even from certain death, warranted an on the spot execution; but there may be another explanation. The dead in the hallway possibly reveals that when the uninformed squad got near the central chamber of Visari, that they may have seen something they were not meant to see or tried to escape along with the others who left the planet. Seeing that they were not part of that particular plan in either circumstance the soldiers were summarily killed (by the way, if you happen to bring a StA3 LMG with you, after you kill Radec, sweep the reticule over Radec's body; it registers him as still living).

Rico shot after Visari got in his face, not before. Although it seemed that Rico lost it, it's quite possible, however unlikely, that Rico may have noticed that Visari had a different eye color than before. The only reason that is a possibility is because other than Rico's very odd actions throughout the game, After Shooting Visari, he sat down and basically started to rock in a corner. Another possibility is that most people who only played the first game saw Rico as a jerk; but those who played the other two saw a radical shift in his personality. It is also possible that Rico may have been drugged and brainwashed to kill the decoy in Killzone: Liberation after he was captured using the same techniques that the larger Helghast are subjected to before they are sealed  in their massive powered suits of bulletproof armor.

Facial Features do not match between Killzone 1 and 2

Since man first figured out that a king is not a god and is indeed mortal, attempts on their lives have always been sought out by enemy and ally alike.  Since the sword of Damocles is no less present over Visari's head than any other leader, and with an impending invasion by the ISA, even a moderately intelligent Dictator would see the wisdom of having a body double. In the following picture, there are several huge distinctions that separate the earlier manifestation of Visari from the latter.

Starting from the top line:

- The eyes are different colors. This is the second most significant difference because eye colors don't change easily when factoring in lighting or other natural factors like Heterochromia or major demelanization due to genetics. While it may be contacts or in the future there may well be a pill that can change eye color, it's highly doubtful that is the case.

- The base of the nose is of a different thickness betwixt the two. While age may be a factor in the shape of his face, the base of every human nose is bone, and is not subject to change this drastically through the natural aging process.

- A slight crook in Visari's "2009" nose. The nose of the younger Visari Visari is very aquiline and his face is symmetrical; "2009" has several asymmetrical details, his nose being one of them. While many people with different views than the current regime may have wanted to slap Visari up a bit, many, many bullets tend to seek out and find the enemies of Helgan's finest son, as well as some friends on his Christmas card list (Don't cheap out on a Dictator).

- The tip of the nose of "2009" is bulbuous in comparison to the pointy nose of the younger Visari; this could be due to the process of age, so it's not a huge point, but it is still a point to be had (no pun intended).

- The lines around the mouth of the younger Visari are more pronounced than the older one. This is an inverse activity to the aging process and not likely to occur.

- The lips of the younger Visari are thinner than the older Visari. Lips tend to get thinner with age and the sharp features of the younger Visari are not likely to soften in such a manner.

- The chin of the Older Visari is cleft whilst the younger Visari is bereft of such a feature. This is the most important feature to suggest that Visari had a double because while the eyes are an easier thing to change, to put a cleft in a man's chin is a more  difficult thing to accomplish; and to do so in the middle of a military campaign seems most unlikely.

This picture of Visari taken from another angle will serve to emphasize some of the points made above:

Say What?

The most suggestive "hint" that Guerrilla Games may have left us is the newest official trailer of Killzone 3. In the newest clip available, it is narrated by Scolar Visari himself. While this does not mean that he is alive or even thought of in terms of leadership in Killzone 3, in keeping with the spirit of the game and with history, it is not prudent nor wise that the leadership would allow the "spirit" of Visari to hold the rungs of influence too long. When Lente was no more, he was replaced with General Metrac. When Metrac was taken out, Radec took control. Visari, while the most influential Helghast in their history, needs to be replaced to keep the monolithic structure of the Helgan civilization intact. Seeing that there was no easily visible successor other than the ones that kept dying as Generals, another leader would fragment their society along the military and civilian lines almost immediately if their regime were viewed as an oppressive one.

Perhaps we have not heard the last of one of the most Charismatic characters this gen after all.

The Doctor is [out]