The Laura Captured ending lives rent free in my head
Mostly because thereās no real justifiable or even logical reason for Travis to do it. You could say it was an impulsive decision at best or a premeditated backup plan at worst.
If Travisā family members are alive you could maybe make an argument that heās desperately trying to protect them by locking up the one witness who knows the full story.
If theyāre all dead thoughā¦ then why? Thereās zero reason to keep Laura. Max is cured or dead. Thereās no reason that sheās a threat to Travis anymore. Even if Travis is still seeking revenge on Silas, how much āhelpā can Laura possibly offer? Especially as someone twice captured and in worse conditions than the first time, I canāt imagine her cooperating much.
Thereās also the question of Max. If Max is dead then problem solved, but if Max is alive, do you really think Travis would just let him go? The game doesnāt account for this, but I place my bets on no and that he offs Max just like he offs Ryan when Laura dies ā to protect himself from witnesses ā cause thereās no doubt Max would bring outside authorities to find Laura. It makes sense because Travis would be in full damage control mode and with Chris and Kaylee dead, he wouldnāt hesitate to tie up another loose end. And honestly, I canāt imagine that Travis would imprison Max like he does Laura. Thereās no way he would go to lengths he did during the summer a second time.
No matter which way you slice it, the Laura Captured ending has some dark implications.
Why?
Well, if Travis doesnāt see Silas through, thereās no way for him to heal. Either heās still on the hook to save Caleb or heās ātrying to protect his familyā or heās alone.
In reality itās a purely selfish decision.
If Travis for real wanted to protect himself and his surviving family, heād simply kill Laura for being a witness and his hostage. Just having to keep her alive puts a huge burden on him. The possibility that she might escape puts an additional burden on the family. Not killing her is a massive risk.
If he wanted revenge for her killing his family, he should still kill her, but curiously Travis only takes direct eye-for-an-eye style revenge on her when she shoots him and leaves him for dead. She can kill Kaylee, Constance, Jed, is basically responsible for Chrisā death even if Ryan is the one who pulls the trigger, and bites the shit out of Travisā arm while in werewolf mode, but even thatās not enough for him to kill her.
If he sincerely wanted her help, he wouldāve tried to convinced her somehow to stay and help him.
If he was intending to protect her, then he wouldnāt have shoved her down there half naked still drying in her own blood with zero explanation.
No, he imprisons Laura because he selfishly wants to. He doesnāt want to kill her because she hasnāt caused him any grievous bodily harm, but he doesnāt want to let her go either. He knows that her part in his life is over, and that sheāll go far away from him and never see him again.
He must think that heās gone this far already, what more does he have to lose?
Cause, like, seriously, what is his endgame here?
The original plan was that he was gonna let Laura and Max go after killing Silas and curing everyone.
But what is the plan now? Even if he (and/or his family) manages to track down Silas and kill him at some point after that night, then will Travis finally let Laura go? Iām not sure how that wouldnāt completely backfire on him. Unless Laura can successfully convince him that sheāll keep quiet (no guarantee), or Travis somehow gets Laura on his side, sheās probably stuck there forever.
The only solid conclusion I can draw from this ending is that Travis wants Laura ā and without closure from killing Silas that night ā he will never let her go.
