Talk:Comstock House

Tears and Timelines
Based on how the article is written now, old Elizabeth brought Booker to 1984 as he crossed the bridge, and all of Comstock House was played in 1984 up until the point where he specifically states he is back in 1912. I can find two problems with this theory -

First, assuming this is true, what is the significance of the Lutece encounter? Booker finds them as he nears the end of the snowy part and says "its a tear. What is it?", to which Rosalind replies "why do you ask what, when the delicious question is when?"

The tear he and Rosalind discuss never plays any audio, and seems to have no significance outside of the alternative theory. Rosalind and Robert's dialog is the same - so why are the Luteces there?

Another flaw of the bridge theory is that if Booker went though the entirety of Comstock House in 1984 as Columbia attacked New York, wouldn't he have known it? The level is very quiet, and, aside from the occasional enemy, peaceful. If there was a war going on outside, wouldn't there be some indication of it? Furthermore, why would old Elizabeth bring him to Comstock House's entrance as opposed to directly to her? If he was indeed her "last hope", why would she risk him dieing at the hands of the Boys of Silence?

An alternative to this is that there either was no tear on the bridge, or the tear did not lead to 1984. Instead, Booker only visits 1984 when old Elizabeth says "take my hand" from the ledge - this, to me, seems like the most likely. Even when young, it is unlikely Elizabeth could have lifted Booker with one hand, and especially not when she is in her 90s.

Because of this I interpret the "take my hand" to mean "take my had as I lead you into this alternate universe", as opposed to "take my hand as I pull you up to this ledge." If the player looks behind old Elizabeth, nothing is at first visible - but when she lifts him, suddenly airships, fireballs, and a sky appear. Most importantly, the player can quite clearly hear noise of explosions and airships, which they could not hear only moments before and, seemingly, only a few feet further away from the action. There simply has to be some sort tear travel happening at this point, as in no other way can the situation make sense. 81.0.104.90 09:32, May 8, 2013 (UTC)