The other day, I had an interesting question: could you play the first season of Telltale's The Walking Dead without disqualifying Lee as Pure Good?
For those who are not aware, Lee is considered Inconsistently Admirable due to being a determinant character who can make several morally-questionable decisions and kill numerous people. So I went back to look at all of the (major) decisions in the game and tried my best to pick the ones that would lead to the closest form of a Pure Good playthrough you can get.
I did this deciding on the choices that would count the least as preventions, or ones that could be explained or justified more than others.
With that being said, let's get into it!
Prelude[]
Firstly, let's address something off the bat. We all know about how Lee murdered his wife's lover prior to the game's events, which itself would normally disqualify him from being Pure Good, but you have the option later on when talking to Carley to either say "I killed him in a blind fit of rage. I was angry and stupid" or "He was a bad guy who had it coming to him". Those aren't the exact lines but I'm paraphrasing.
I think if you choose the former option, it technically counts as Lee showing remorse, and PG characters CAN kill, they just to need 1. kill infrequently 2. kill in self-defense or 3. if not in self-defense, they need to atone for it.
So let's say Lee shows remorse for killing the man, is it possible to beat the game then without doing a SINGLE morally questionable decision?
Episode One: "A New Day"[]
First major decision of the game: Lee has choose between saving Shawn and Duck on Hershel's farm. If you save Shawn, that means Lee was willing to let Duck possibly die. If you save Duck, that means Lee was willing to let Shawn possibly die. But you have the option to tell Hershel you wanted to save them both. So what would normally be a prevention can then not be a prevention
Tell Hershel the truth, Duck or Shawn, it doesn't matter (but say you wanted to save them both), Side with Kenny at the drug store...
Now the one I'm hung up on is whether to give Irene the gun or not, because you could argue it's wrong to not give it to her because she didn't wanna die and come back as a walker, but it's also arguable that it's wrong to let someone kill themselves.
But I think there's a justification for both decisions. Either Lee values a person’s life enough to not let them die, or he respects their wishes and understand their situation so he allows them to do what they feel is necessary.
Ok, so for Irene it doesn't matter whether you give her the gun.
The last major decision for Episode One is saving Doug or Carley. There isn't a correct option here, it may seem but I argue Carley is the correct option. Because if you don't save Carley, then Lee doesn't reveal his criminal past to the other group members, which would be a prevention.
Episode Two: "Starved for Help"[]
Chop David's leg off, don't shoot Jolene (the crazy lady in the woods), Don't help Kenny kill Larry, Don't kill either of the St. John brothers, and Don't steal from the car.
Easy, simple, to the point.
Episode Three: "Long Road Ahead"[]
Try to save the girl in the street (or shoot her to put her out of her misery). This one sucks because if you do either you lose time to gather supplies, but it's not a prevention like leaving her to die would be.
The next one is a hard one: Do you abandon Lilly or not?
Arguments for and against: Abandoning her can be seen as cruel as she says "but I'll die out here" and Lee responds "I don't care". Which could be a prevention. But if you bring her and she steals the RV, Lee is liable, which could also be a prevention.
However, the justification for leaving her would be that Lee is prioritizing the safety of the group. Leaving her can be seen as a good thing depending on how you look at it, but her stealing the RV if you choose to bring her along can never be seen as a good thing.
Continuing on with Episode Three: Don't fight Kenny on the train, but what about Duck?
I believe Lee killing Duck himself rather than forcing Kenny to or choosing to leave him to turn is the "best choice". If you remain silent and let Kenny choose what he wants to do, he simply says "let's...let's just go." While letting Kenny decide for himself wouldn't be a prevention, it also wouldn't be anything "heroic" either, and I feel like if you're doing a Pure Good playthrough you would want to be a hero. And the hard thing for your friend when he can't stands out more as "Good" than simply letting your friend take the coward's way out.
Now the last one for Episode Three is helping Omid or Christa onto the train. This one's also easy, choose Omid since he has a broken leg.
Episode Four: "Around Every Corner"[]
The first major decision is whether to kill the zombie boy in the attic. This is literally the same as killing Duck, you can either kill him yourself, force Kenny to do it, or leave him. So I say kill him.
When you meet Vernon, don't lie to or threaten him.
Now, are we leaving Clementine at home by herself or bringing her to Crawford? Either way, the argument can be made Lee is being irresponsible.
I'm gonna say leaving Clementine behind is the better option, because the whole reason Lee was afraid to bring her in the first place is because Crawford supposedly killed kids. While it was abandoned when they got there and Clementine would have been fine either way, it's MORE irresponsible for Lee to bring her than not. So Clem stays.
Don't vote to kick Ben out and DON'T let him fall to his death (obviously).
As for the final decision, I think it's pretty easy, reveal your bite to the group.
Episode Five: "No Time Left"[]
Cutting off Lee's arm doesn't matter, you can do either. Don't lose your temper with Kenny. While you hypothetically could, since Lee doesn't hurt anyone when he does and PG characters are allowed to get upset, it's best to avoid it, especially since we want to tone down Lee's wrath. I don't think it matters if you choose to surrender your weapons to the Stranger or not. If you don't, Lee lies and says he doesn't have any on him, but it's not a prevention since this man kidnapped Clementine and is holding Lee at gunpoint. I would surrender them anyway, but either choice is fine.
Now, do you kill the Stranger?
Once again, I'm gonna say either way it doesn't impact anything because if you do kill him, it's in self-defense.
And the final choice of telling Clementine to shoot Lee or leave him....also doesn't affect anything.
Overview[]
Episode One[]
- Tell Hershel the truth
- Save Duck or Shawn (it doesn't matter, just say you wanted to save them both)
- Side with Kenny (and apologize for losing your temper)
- Give Irene the gun or Don't - Doesn't matter
- Save Carley
Episode Two[]
- Chop David's leg off
- Don't shoot Jolene
- Don't kill Larry (try to save him)
- Don't kill the Saint John's
- Don't steal from the car
Episode Three[]
- Try to save the girl in the street (or shoot her to put her out of her misery)
- Abandon Lilly (but show remorse for it later on)
- Don't fight Kenny
- Kill Duck
- Help Omid
Episode Four[]
- Kill the boy in the attic
- Don't lie to or threaten Vernon
- Leave Clementine
- Save Ben
- Reveal Bite
Episode Five[]
- Remove Arm or Don't - Doesn't matter
- Don't lose your temper
- Give up weapons (or don't) - Self-defense
- Spare the Stranger (or don't) - Self-defense
- Tell Clem to shoot Lee (or don't) - Doesn't matter
Conclusion[]
Let me know what y'all think in the replies!