It is the year 1946,
and the Nazis are an ever looming threat. As the Allies struggle
against the overwhelming tide of fascism, I, Captain William Joseph
Blazkowicz, am on a mission to cut the head off the snake. Lead by
Wing Commander Fergus Reid and with aid from Private Probst Wyatt III
and the rest of our squad, I storm the infamous Castle Wolfenstein in
order to assassinate General Deathshead. As the source of the Nazis
inexplicably advanced weaponry, ridding the world of his evil would
cripple their efforts across the theater of war. At first, all goes
well. Fergus's leadership, and my prowess on the battlefield, allow
us to make steady advances as our Allied forces distract the enemy.
This progress comes
at a heavy price, as many of the others in our unit simply don't make
it. Ultimately, with just me, Fergus, and Wyatt remaining, Deathshead
easily captures us. But simply killing us isn't enough for the
depraved sadist. He sees potential in my teammates, Fergus and Wyatt
both, for use in his experiments. Unable to choose which one to
dissect, this evil man forces me to make that choice for him, or
he'll execute all three of us on the spot. Having gotten to know and
value the leadership of Commander Reid, and not having as much time
to cultivate that same bond with Private Wyatt, I make the grim
decision to spare my Commander, leaving an innocent young man to die
a needless death.
My first
playthroughs of both Wolfenstein: The New Order, and it's sequel, The
New Colossus, were conducted under the timeline where Probst Wyatt
III was sacrificed to the experiments conducted by General
Deathshead, leaving Fergus Reid to take a leading role in the Kreisau
Circle, the resistance to the Nazi-controlled world government that
would reign supreme in light of our failure to assassinate
Deathshead. Now, several months after the conversation around The New
Colossus ended, I find myself with not a lot coming out. This meant
it was the perfect time to make a run of both games, but instead
sacrificing Fergus to spare Wyatt, and see what I had missed as a
result of my previous choice.
Had I known back
when I made my first choice what I know now, I would never have
sacrificed Wyatt. Out the two timelines, the one where he is spared
is superior.
One of the ways in
which this manifests, even in The New Order, is by the companion
character each one of them adds to the resistance in their timelines.
In Fergus's timeline, a mathematician/philosopher named Tekla is
recruited into the Kreisau Circle. She believes that there is no such
thing as free will, that everything is a matter of cause and effect.
Her cutscenes discuss this and other philosophical concepts like the
conscience and the soul, whether or not they exist, and how/why that
would matter. While these are fascinating questions that my inner
philosophy student would love to discuss to no end, the answers
aren't particular relevant to the thematic content contained within
either The New Order or its sequel.
In addition, when I
sat down to plan out how I would write this piece, arguing in favor
of the Wyatt timeline, I found myself completely unable to recall
anything about Tekla or her character from my original run of
Wolfenstein: The New Order. I didn't even remember her name, relying
on Google and YouTube to bring back what was lost in the confines of
my mind. That, to me, spoke more about how I must have felt about her
back then more than any recollection ever could.
But in the Wyatt
timeline, she's not there at all. Where Fergus's leadership paves the
way for a analyst like Tekla to join the group, Wyatt approaches
things differently. Instead, his command brings the guitarist known
as J (heavily implied to be this universe's Jimi Hendrix) into the
fold. In the interactions between him and Blazkowicz, he brings up
points that much more directly relate to the story of a world in
which the Nazis won World War 2 and conquered the earth. Namely, when
BJ calls out that J has yet to actually take part in any of the
fighting, he counters by pointing out the real life hypocrisy of the
United States going to war against Nazi Germany when they were also
participating in systemic oppression and racism against minorities.
In a way, it even foreshadows the direction Machine Games would
eventually take the sequel, moving to America and putting a sharper
focus on that inherent systemic inequality.
It would be unfair
to compare my personal memories of J with those of Tekla. Having just
played through The New Order in the Wyatt timeline a week ago, of
course they are still fresh. That said, when I speak with friends who
saved Wyatt way back in their original game, and haven't played
since, they still talk about how incredible J is in all of his
moments. On top of the aforementioned social commentary, J leaves his
mark through the scene where he shares some hallucinogens with BJ and
in his death, playing the Star-Spangled Banner at max volume as he is
shot by a group of Nazi soldiers. While Tekla struggles to stay with
players, J remains memorable long after the game is complete.
But beyond having a
better supporting character, Wyatt himself is more compelling a
character than Fergus. This is easier to talk about in The New
Colossus, because that's where the bigger divergences start to
happen. Early on in the Fergus timeline, a Nazi general hacks off one
of Fergus's arms, which he later gets replaced with a robotic
equivalent. Despite being attached to him, the arm has a mind of own,
often sabotaging its alleged master. Much of the drama and comedy in
the B-plot of this timeline comes from these antics. While I did
chuckle more than a couple of times at Fergus’s expense, that
subplot doesn't go anywhere and he ends the story in much the same
place he was when it began. It felt as if Machine Games didn't know
what they wanted to do with his character, which comes in stark
contrast to Wyatt.
Unlike Fergus, who
has always been comfortable taking the lead, Wyatt is both timid and
easy-going. In The New Order, and the start of The New Colossus, he
has difficulty coping with the fact that people in the resistance
look to him for leadership and guidance. Once Caroline, the current
head of the Kreisau Circle, is killed, Wyatt nearly has a panic attack as he realizes he's the only one who could be reasonably
expected to take charge. In this state, he goes through the belonging
he salvaged from J, who had died in The New Order, and started
partaking in his... secret stash. This not only does create some of
the funniest moments in the game, but also one of the most touching.
Towards the end of
The New Colossus, after the party scene, Wyatt goes missing. When
Blazkowicz finds him, he's in bad shape. Up until that point, we as
players don't have many chances to see what Wyatt was like before we
first met him. But here, in the grip of the an acid trip, we start to
get the full backstory of a young boy whose dad had planned for him
to enter politics. A kid who, without a clear idea of what he wanted
to do or what he was even good at, joined the military and got swept
up in events largely beyond his control. It's hard, at least for me,
not to feel a pang of sympathy for the character.
Seeing Wyatt and
what is clearly a low point makes what happens next all the sweeter.
After seizing control of the Nazi's global oversight apparatus and
eliminating Frau Engel, the general in charge after General
Deathshead is defeated in The New Order, the resistance comes
together to broadcast their message to the American people. It's here
the Wyatt, this inexperienced and inept kid thrust into a position of
authority, finally begins to take up the mantle everyone around him
knew he was able to. He delivers a powerful speech on his own,
clearly nervous but still comfortable enough to be a leader. (Credit
also goes to his voice actor for nailing the perfect balance of
emotions for that role.) Where Fergus goes nowhere (and even his
version of the speech just has him flailing around at the tail end),
Wyatt develops as a person.
Though Fergus can
certainly get the job done, keeping the story going, he's static.
There's nowhere for him to go as a character. Compared to him, Wyatt
is a much more flawed and vulnerable human being. Instead of being a
weakness, those flaws give him a weight and emotional heft than
Fergus cannot hope to reach. They also afford him room to grow,
culminating in a resounding resolution for his arc. If you, like me,
sided with Fergus on your first run, you owe it to yourself to
experience the Wyatt timeline in all its glory. And if you haven't
played the new Wolfenstein games at all, get on that.
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