The Dishonored Series as Environmental and Social Commentary
insights that can guide choice and thus offers vital information about the vast inequalities within Dunwall ’ s social structure . The Heart returns in Dishonored 2 with the same purpose , whether the player chooses to embody Emily or Corvo . However , to trap Delilah Copperspoon ’ s soul so that she may be defeated , Jessamine ’ s soul is eventually purged from its artificial housing , and the Heart is destroyed during the process of returning Delilah ’ s missing soul to her body . Jessamine ’ s last words to Corvo or to Emily depend on whether the player has played at a Low or High Chaos level and are infused with either hope or despair over her lover ’ s or daughter ’ s fall to darkness . 8
The vast devastation of the plague permeates thought and theology throughout Dunwall . Of the plague , a prophecy the player can find in the game reads , “ A crawling foulness will overcome you because you did not shut the gates of your heart to iniquity .” Although this seems to be a statement aimed at Dunwall ’ s elite , their direct suffering as a result of the plague proves minimal , while the poor die in droves , their shrouded bodies discarded in piles . The game graphically illustrates this idea of suffering and inequality through the appearance of those infected by the plague . The infected eventually drip blood from their eyes and are beleaguered by insects . These Weepers , as they are called , will attack Corvo on sight . Further evidence revealed as the game ’ s narrative unfolds shows that the citizens have the right to weep , both literally and sym-
8 Dishonored : The Death of The Outsider uses a different in-game tool than the Heart provided to Corvo and to Emily in the first two games by which the player embodying Billie Lurk can gain similar insights into the world around her . Billie gains the ability to listen to the chatter of rats , who sometimes provide information about infiltration points into buildings and at other times speak of the cruelty they have experienced given that they are seen as vermin . For example , some of the rats recount the agony they had experience when they were caught in traps .
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