Spoilers ahead for those who haven't played far harbor or whatever




In far harbor, the player is asked, "What's the oldest memory you have?" And the sole survivor, inexplicably answers, "I remember waking up in the pod."


That _can't_ be the real sole survivor's oldest memory. Previous to that, he/she had spoken of the state of the world pre-war, and that he/she was a soldier/lawyer, and remembered codsworth. All of those things mean that the SS memories go back further than the pod. But the answer is unmistakable. The SS of far habor does not remember any of that -- things specifically spoken about previously.
So the sole survivor wakes up in the pod, and then, sometime after that, is replaced by a synth secretly (maybe while asleep), who we who are now playing, not realizing that we're now playing a new character. |
There's no other explanation. Even Bethesda as shoddy writers couldn't accidentally write that the sole survivor's oldest memory is waking up in the pod -- that has to be a deliberate choice to inexplicably ignore pre-war memories.
I mean, if it was an accidental goof in the writing, it's a weird one, even by bad writing standards. The writer surely knew that the SS would have remembered pre-war life, but chose not to make that the dialogue option. It's really, really bizarre. But then why would the institute create a synth that they can't control, who knows nothing of them? It's really, really bizarre, regardless of whether or not it was an intentional plot point
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It's an interesting idea and one that I've certainly seen grace elsewhere boards.

I personally lean towards the memory mention was simply Bethesda making a half-ass attempt at keeping the SS's backstory ambiguous for players (even though his immediate life and career was rail roaded).

Personally, I think the "Am I a synth?" question is too complex for the simple minded plot that Beth concocted for Fallout 4

@ Sirdanest

I think that this is actually the Sole Survivor breaking the fourth wall. Because the first memory the player with have of Fallout 4 is getting ready in the morning with their husband / wife before the bombs fell. So naturally, it'll be the first memory that either Nate or Nora will have. Which pretty much makes it an Easter Egg. It's just how video game logic works.

The way I've always seen that line of dialogue, is that it was Bethesda's way of leaving it up to the player's interpretation on whether or not their character is a Synth. I don't think that scene really meant anything other than to possibly add fuel to somebody's head-canon if they wish for their character to be a synth. At the end of the day, the answer is up to you.

It'd make it really bad writing. And not the normal kind of bad writing. We'd already seen previous memories, already had in numerous scenes and dialogues the past be chosen for us -- by far harbor, it was "too late" to make the origin ambiguous.
I mean, it would have been a neat scene if indeed that really was the player's first experience/memory with the sole survivor, and there wasn't other dialogue of even older memories.
There really isn't any plausible way the sole survivor would pick that as her oldest memory if it wasn't true. Disappointing, Bethesda. You were _almost_ on to something.

I really like the SS is a synth theories, but the base game doesn't convey that idea very well. I honestly think the whole "I can't remember anything before I woke up" thing is just Bethesda trying to validate the idea that the player has authorship over their character. After all, the Player can recall other details, and does all the time. The player recalls stuff before the war, like visiting Diamond City while it was a baseball stadium, which would definitely be a memory they had before the war.

If there were more signs, like the player recalling events wrong, or not knowing certain details about pre-war events, like say when they meet the Ghoulified Chinese sub captain. That would really change things. But no, until Far Harbour there are no real references that anything is off with the Sole Survivor, and that really sucks.

Imagine a Brotherhood playthrough, where you're super anti-synth, anti-Institute, you go along with Maxson, kill Danse and everything, and then at the end, on his death bed, Shawn tells you that you're just a machine he made. And the only reason you're doing this is because you're broken. That would be a real gut punch.

It's one of the more frustrating things in Beth's games tbh. They've done stuff like this before, where they dangle a bit of info, or offhandedly hint at some darker truths to their world (like Rorikstead in Skyrim or the whole stuff with Obadiah and the Krivbeknih in Point Lookout) but never commit or follow through. It's like they're always just on the cusp of something great, but won't take that next step.