Who's the Girlfriend in the Durability Narrative?
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Spurious Interrupt
- Cyborg
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Feb 19th '13, 23:34
I can't find any discussion about this on the story board (I may be looking at the wrong one).
She is the dark one, the enemy and lover without whom your very existence would be pathetic and vulgar. 
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Spurious Interrupt
- Cyborg
- Posts: 94
- Joined: Feb 19th '13, 23:34
Right. I've wondered if it's Durandal. I mean, it makes more sense for him to be knife, but it still kind of works.
Durandal is the knife, the object that captures the full attention of the narrator, even if he mishears the name as 'durability'. I wonder, is this an admission from Greg that Tycho didn't turn out to be as interesting a villain as he'd hoped?
We see the diagram of "The Flower" right before the girlfriend is introduced, to remind you of the first part of the trilogy. Hmm, was there any character in Marathon who tells you about subjects you should already know all about? (The Marathon is under attack. The fusion pistol has two firing modes. Save the humans.) Who just drones on about Durandal and your relationship? (Durandal is acting funny. Grab these chips for me. Good luck.) Who's not in on your jokes? (I've only allowed her access to one terminal here.)
We see the diagram of "The Flower" right before the girlfriend is introduced, to remind you of the first part of the trilogy. Hmm, was there any character in Marathon who tells you about subjects you should already know all about? (The Marathon is under attack. The fusion pistol has two firing modes. Save the humans.) Who just drones on about Durandal and your relationship? (Durandal is acting funny. Grab these chips for me. Good luck.) Who's not in on your jokes? (I've only allowed her access to one terminal here.)
I've usually interpreted the girlfriend as being Durandal himself. There's the girlfriend's "ongoing rant-word 'durability'" which seems representative of Durandal's obsession with immortality.
Then when the narrator speaks to his girlfriend over candlelight dinner he says, "If there is no justice, then how can the ends justify the means? ... You lit the candle to get the light from it... Does the light justify the destruction of the candle? What is justification to a piece of wax? Its the same as the justification that you've given me about this 'durability' and our relationship." It seems to imply that their relationship (or its destruction) is the means towards durability; which seems parallel with Durandal's manipulative relationship towards the Security Officer.
Ultimately, I don't think there's any answer that will fit perfectly. You could make a good case that Durandal is the narrator and the security officer is the girlfriend (the SO's constant survival and refusal to die being a form of saying "durability"). The knife could be Jjaro technology but so could the chewing gum smeared on the floors.
Then when the narrator speaks to his girlfriend over candlelight dinner he says, "If there is no justice, then how can the ends justify the means? ... You lit the candle to get the light from it... Does the light justify the destruction of the candle? What is justification to a piece of wax? Its the same as the justification that you've given me about this 'durability' and our relationship." It seems to imply that their relationship (or its destruction) is the means towards durability; which seems parallel with Durandal's manipulative relationship towards the Security Officer.
Ultimately, I don't think there's any answer that will fit perfectly. You could make a good case that Durandal is the narrator and the security officer is the girlfriend (the SO's constant survival and refusal to die being a form of saying "durability"). The knife could be Jjaro technology but so could the chewing gum smeared on the floors.
Hmmm... it's been a long time since I played, but I don't remember anything about a girlfriend. I do remember the knife, and durability and feeling that Durandal was the knife constantly proving the SO's durability by sending him to imminent doom, time and time again.