Those Endings Tho--Connor's Story **Detroit: Become Human Spoilers**

I've spent a large portion of my gaming time the last week playing through the enjoyable Detroit: Become Human multiple times in an effort to experience the numerous paths and endings.  Trying to land on a satisfactory ending for all three characters can be a bit of a challenge, but on my final playthrough I think I managed it.  If you haven't played it yet I would highly recommend it...and now you should stop reading.  (The rest of this post will deal with the endings and major storyline spoilers for Detroit: Become Human--spoilers ahoy!)

Connor (Machine)

Connor's major conflict is choosing between accomplishing his mission (unraveling the mystery behind the wave of android "deviancy" plaguing the city of Detroit) or siding with the android deviants.  I found Connor's "machine" playthrough the be particularly painful.  One of the best parts of Connor's storyline is his relationship with his grumpy, washed up, human cop partner, Hank.  In a machine playthrough you frequently have to make choices that strain your relationship with Hank.  Hank already dislikes androids, but he comes to absolutely loathe the machine version of Connor--quite frankly, that's not unreasonable.  A purely machine playthrough means prioritizing accomplishing the mission over everything else--when Connor's faced with the choice of saving Hank when he's hanging dangerously from a ledge or catching a runaway deviant...Hank stays hanging (but does survive).  From that point on the Hank/Connor relationship is very strained and only gets worse.  Having Connor choose to shoot the Eden Club deviants (which is heartbreaking....) pushes Hank to a point of extreme frustration...in one of the most tense exchanges in the game (during the Bridge interlude) he shoots Connor!  Of course this isn't the end for Connor--CyberLife can always send another one.

Things get even worse when Hank takes Connor to meet the reclusive founder of CyberLife, Elijah Kamski.  It's during this exchange that Kamski pushes Connor to choose who he really is through a brutal test--he hands Connor a gun and offers to help with the investigation if Connor will shoot ("shoot" is a nice way of putting it--it's basically an execution) one of the Chloe androids.  Machine Connor doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger...after all, it's all about completing the mission.  It's a particularly brutal scene and Hank is disgusted--he peels out of the driveway leaving Connor behind.  At the police station Hank and Connor find out that they've been taken off the case (if you've chosen correctly with Kamski, Connor already knows how to find Jericho) and a frustrated Hank hands in his badge and gun...he's done with it all.  Connor goes to Hank's house to speak to him and finds a combative Hank who doesn't want to talk and who orders Connor to leave...it's when Connor closes the front door that he hears a single gunshot.  Hank has chosen to commit suicide.  It's a real punch right in the gut.

Since the police investigation is over, Connor's taking his orders directly from CyberLife.  The mysterious Amanda (who, even after multiple playthroughs, I'm still not completely sure who/what she actually is--possibly a CyberLife AI modeled after Kamski's college professor) tells Connor that he needs to do whatever it takes to stop the deviants (who are now led by Markus).  Connor heads downtown with the intent of killing Markus--he finds a good viewpoint, pieces together a sniper rifle, and prepares to take the shot...fortunately for Markus, Connor is disturbed by the SWAT team that has been ordered to round up all androids.  Players can choose to fight off and kill the SWAT team or to have Connor leap to his death (choosing to save time by coming back as another Connor).

Connor reappears just in time to confront Markus as the androids are making progress in their march (or fight depending on the choices you've made for Markus) toward the detention camps.  It's here that players are forced to choose between playing as Markus or Connor--choosing Connor (and winning the fight) means that the android revolution is definitively stopped and that Connor has accomplished his mission.  

It's machine Connor's happy ending, but it doesn't turn out that way at all.  Upon returning to CyberLife and meeting with Amanda, Connor discovers that he's done such a good job that they've managed to create an upgraded version...Connor's model is now obsolete and he's going to be deactivated.  A depressing end to an equally downer of a playthrough.

My favorite Hank and Connor moment.

Connor (Deviant)

If you don't want to be completely depressed by your choices for Connor, choosing the deviant option is much, much better.  You get to fully enjoy the burgeoning friendship between Hank and Connor and don't have to make decisions that feel horrible (leaving Hank to hang on the ledge, shooting the Eden Club androids, and shooting the Chloe android).  Amanda hates you, but screw her/it.  Things turn out much better for deviant Connor--he plays a vital role in converting thousands of androids at the CyberLife headquarters (with the intervention of his buddy Hank) and helps to turn the tide for Markus and the other androids who are attempting to liberate the detention camps.  Amanda does try to hack Connor, but he's able to locate Kamski's backdoor and free himself of CyberLife control.  The best part is the epilogue during the credits...you see Hank and Connor meet up and share a nice hug--it's a cute moment and the beginning of a great possibility for a future human/android buddy cop scenario.

I really like Connor as a character and my favorite moments were the ones where he used his ability to test blood samples (which he does by licking them...something that was initially shocking and which humans frequently express disgust about).  I love it when Hank tells Connor not to lick the evidence and later how disgusting Connor is.