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[B33]

A more meta troll would have been Elizabeth kills herself ;0.

Hear, hear.

I know it was discussed a few pages back, but the consensus seems to be that Fink designed The Songbird as a means to appease Comstock's desire to keep Elizabeth tucked away in her tower as he vetted her.

Someone postulated he was literally ripped from Rapture, but I think Fink just saw a glimpse of the Big Daddies and decided to create something extrapolated from this concept. This would make sense, as The Songbird operated under low pressures (city in the sky) whilst Big Daddies ran optimum under high pressures (city under the water).

Regardless of how The Songbird came into existence, I'm going to assume by the blood flowing out of his visors (refer to the image above) that at least PART of him is organic. Whether he's cognizant or not seems to be ambiguous.

He's not completely mindless, as he refrains from killing Booker when Elizabeth apologizes and asks him to take her "home."

But then a portion of the game is spent controlling the beast by song.

So perhaps he's a mixture of leather, mechanics, and some organic parts; all programmed to do the bidding of Comstock and Fink (á la Handymen and Big Daddies)?

 

[dark_inferno]

So perhaps he's a mixture of leather, mechanics, and some organic parts; all programmed to do the bidding of Comstock and Fink (á la Handymen and Big Daddies)?

Levine confirmed that the Songbird is mostly Leather

 

[Neiteio]

I think the most satisfying thing about Infinite's story is it started strong like BioShock 1, it ended strong like BioShock 2 (and its DLC), and it was consistently interesting throughout, feeling grander than either of its predecessors when all things are considered.

 

[B33]

Levine confirmed that the Songbird is mostly Leather

I'm aware of this, but he's clearly not JUST leather, as made evident by the screenshot above.

 

[blindrocket]

Hear, hear.




I know it was discussed a few pages back, but the consensus seems to be that Fink designed The Songbird as a means to appease Comstock's desire to keep Elizabeth tucked away in her tower as he vetted her.

Someone postulated he was literally ripped from Rapture, but I think Fink just saw a glimpse of the Big Daddies and decided to create something extrapolated from this concept. This would make sense, as The Songbird operated under low pressures (city in the sky) whilst Big Daddies ran optimum under high pressures (city under the water).

Regardless of how The Songbird came into existence, I'm going to assume by the blood flowing out of his visors (refer to the image above) that at least PART of him is organic. Whether he's cognizant or not seems to be ambiguous.

He's not completely mindless, as he refrains from killing Booker when Elizabeth apologizes and asks him to take her "home."

But then a portion of the game is spent controlling the beast by song.

So perhaps he's a mixture of leather, mechanics, and some organic parts; all programmed to do the bidding of Comstock and Fink (á la Handymen and Big Daddies)?

Perhaps what led to the technology of the Handymen was experimentation to create Songbird.

 

[Sorian]

I think the most satisfying thing about Infinite's story is it started strong like BioShock 1, it ended strong like BioShock 2 (and its DLC), and it was consistently interesting throughout, feeling grander than either of its predecessors when all things are considered.

I have to agree with you here. I was peeved during the whole siren part because I feel like it broke flow but it didn't end up taking to long and they pulled me right back in after that part. There was never a time that I stopped playing the game because I was bored or felt like doing something else.

 

[Neiteio]

I have to agree with you here. I was peeved during the whole siren part because I feel like it broke flow but it didn't end up taking to long and they pulled me right back in after that part. There was never a time that I stopped playing the game because I was bored or felt like doing something else.

In my mind, BioShock's third time's a charm.

BioShock 1 started strong but fizzled after the twist, devolving into lazy level design and gimmicks like randomized powers and shrinking health bars, and culminating in a generic, cliche boss battle.

BioShock 2 started slow, with forgettable early areas, and took a while to accelerate, but it never stopped accelerating, picking up speed through Pauper's Drop, Siren Alley, Fontaine Futuristics, etc, and ending on a tremendously high note.

BioShock Infinite has the narrative strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither. They finally got it right, imo, and fittingly enough, the multiverse angle makes it such that this could be the last game bearing the BioShock name, and it would feel all too appropriate.

 

[EliteArtist]

I think it was a missed opportunity with Songbird. We're essentially told that he's a warden, but we never really get much of that outside of him snatching up Elizabeth once and wrecking her tower. I felt like there was going to be more there, but it was quite shallow throughout. He's just a tool and when he does inevitably meet his end, it's not sad or as bittersweet as intended.

Though drowning alone makes me feel for him. Worst way to go out.

 

[Tummi Gummi]

Going to be totally honest and say I preferred Bioshock's final fight to Infinite's, gameplay-wise.

 

[Jarekx]

I keep changing my mind on how much I like this game. At first, I was pissed for figuring out a major part of the revelation at the end. Although, not all of it, and although some of it was stuff I would have never thought of, it still left me unsatisfied.

Then I read a bunch more of this thread and things I didn't notice during my playthrough made me change my tune. All that optional depth that you could miss is fantastic. I loved seeing the coinflip counts, the sequence at the beginning on rowing, and numerous other small things that really bring it all together. also thought about everything I enjoyed up the ending, especially when you are transported to the alternate future with Elizabeth taking out New York. That sequence itself made me feel like the worst pile of crap for not being there to save her.

So now, I think after watching the ending again I like it a bit more, but it still doesn't hold up (for me) to other stories I've experienced recently that deal with very similar subjects. I still love this game.

 

[clav]

Just had a discussion with my friend who also completed the game to completely make sense of the ending.

Booker in all realities committed atrocities as highlighted by visiting the Battle of Wounded Knee and the Chinese exhibits. There, Booker and Slate slaughtered many Native Americans and Chinese people, so they have both sinned by killing minorities.

These events afterward are where Booker divides the world to two.

Booker A does not baptize himself and lives life normally. Has Anna. No Comstock. No debt.

Booker B baptizes and goes on his crazy journey to become Comstock aka the prophet and leads Columbia to secede the union. The Luteces, crazy quantum physicists, introduce time tear to Comstock to make people into believers that he is the prophet. However, doing so makes Comstock age quickly and now Comstock cannot fulfill his ultimate dream of ruling the world because he's infertile due to his age. He would need an heir to fulfill his duty.

Luteces play with time tears and find that Booker A can have a child. Using time tear, they somehow mess with Booker A's timeline that he would need to give up Anna to pay off his debt. Anna is brought in to Booker B's aka Comstock. Comstock now has an heir, and he can die because Anna will fulfill his duty.

Because of the idea of infinite possibilities, one of the events possible is that Comstock who used the Luteces to bring in Anna is that he goes on to kill the Luteces "in an accident" in order to prevent a correction in the timeline. However, this operation fails and creates multiple realities timeline which then these crazy physicists use this phenomenon as an experiment to bring each other back. Booker B then senses the Luteces upheaval plan and warns his believers about the false shepherd, and his coming will destroy the lamb (his heir).

Knowing about time tears and feeling bad about taking away Anna in the first place, male Lutece wants to do right by time tearing to Booker A's altered timeline post no Anna that he must bring the girl back to New York alive to prevent Booker B's endgame. Female Lutece disagrees but grudgingly goes with what her brother wants. Luteces experiment which Booker would successfully avoid the world apocalypse. However, in all trials, Booker A chooses the same results even if he is told the results beforehand (e.g. coin flip always heads tallies on chalkboard, Ball #77 from telegram), and the world ends the same. They are trying to see what variable they can change to prevent Booker B's end game come true.

Anna in all these events becomes a time god and sees that the only resolution to this is to destroy the event when Booker B chose baptism. This is the story's ending assumption and why some people are having problem with the story. Because Booker B chose baptism, and that baptism opens the road to making Booker B to becoming Comstock, there remains that one possibility that Booker B wants to kill the Luteces which then repeats the events that the Luteces experiment with Booker A's in different variables.

By eliminating the chance of Booker B's possibility, only Booker A will exist, which is what the ending + post credits suggest. No Booker B. No Comstock. No Lutece.

Whatever. Maybe my friend and I are crazy, but this to us seems like a "logical" ending.

 

[Cassius]

When you arrive in Finkton and you hear the metronome over the loud speakers and see the workers scrubbing along to the beat. Chilling.

 

[Draper]

I think it was a missed opportunity with Songbird. We're essentially told that he's a warden, but we never really get much of that outside of him snatching up Elizabeth once and wrecking her tower. I felt like there was going to be more there, but it was quite shallow throughout. He's just a tool and when he does inevitably meet his end, it's not sad or as bittersweet as intended.

Though drowning alone makes me feel for him. Worst way to go out.

DLC?

 

[Sorian]

Booker A does not baptize himself and lives life normally. Has Anna. No Comstock. No debt.

Luteces play with time tears and find that Booker A can have a child. Using time tear, they somehow mess with Booker A's timeline that he would need to give up Anna to pay off his debt. Anna is brought in to Booker B's aka Comstock. Comstock now has an heir, and he can die because Anna will fulfill his duty.

I stopped after reading these two paragraphs. Booker A is just as much of a shitty person as Booker B. He was guilty about offing the indians and resorted to gambling to forget about the guilt. The twins didn't do anything to cause his gambling debt. Booker A was a dumbass and did that himself.

 

[Neiteio]

I stopped after reading these two paragraphs. Booker A is just as much of a shitty person as Booker B. He was guilty about offing the indians and resorted to gambling to forget about the guilt. The twins didn't do anything to cause his gambling debt. Booker A was a dumbass and did that himself.

Erm, you should reread what he wrote. He's not talking about whether Booker is guilty of anything.

 

[blindrocket]

I don't know if this has been posted but at the 2:00 mark it shows a poster of young Comstock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwjskJu8Nls&feature=endscreen&NR=1

 

[Neiteio]

I don't know if this has been posted but at the 2:00 mark it shows a poster of young Comstock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwjskJu8Nls&feature=endscreen&NR=1

I don't think that's canon anymore. That was before they went with the bearded prophet design. Young Comstock would just look like DeWitt.

 

[Sorian]

Erm, you should reread what he wrote. He's not talking about whether Booker is guilty of anything.

Reread it, still don't agree. My last post still stands that Booker A made the debt himself and I still don't agree because the drowning eliminated all Booker A's and Booker B's IMO. The drowning happened before the split just to make sure.

 

[XANDER CAGE]

I don't know if this has been posted but at the 2:00 mark it shows a poster of young Comstock.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwjskJu8Nls&feature=endscreen&NR=1

"leaked beta"? Isn't this just E3 footage and whatnot?

 

[clav]

Reread it, still don't agree. My last post still stands that Booker A made the debt himself and I still don't agree because the drowning eliminated all Booker A's and Booker B's IMO. The drowning happened before the split just to make sure.

But booker A's timeline was altered to make it seem like he has debt seen what the Luteces can do with time tears.

 

[Neiteio]

Reread it, still don't agree. My last post still stands that Booker A made the debt himself and I still don't agree because the drowning eliminated all Booker A's and Booker B's IMO. The drowning happened before the split just to make sure.

Where did he say Booker -didn't- make the debt himself? He never said that.

And he points out, right at the start, Booker did terrible deeds in all timelines. He says:

"Booker in all realities committed atrocities as highlighted by visiting the Battle of Wounded Knee and the Chinese exhibits. There, Booker and Slate slaughtered many Native Americans and Chinese people, so they have both sinned by killing minorities."

 

[EliteArtist]

DLC?

I'd rather the DLC explore other facets of Columbia or the Multiverse. Songbird's story is done in my mind. I know it's contradictory to what I was saying about pay off, but I don't need to know his origins post game. The game had it's opportunity to flesh him out and if they just add it after the fact, it doesn't sit right with me.

 

[Sorian]

But booker A's timeline was altered to make it seem like he has debt seen what the Luteces can do with time tears.

Everything else in the game at least has a vague hint somewhere that forshadows or explains something. There is absolutely nothing I can think of that supports the twins messing with Booker A's timeline to add debt when there wasn't any. Booker DeWitt is a shitty person who will accept vice into his life before virtue, that's a constant.

 

[B33]

Perhaps what led to the technology of the Handymen was experimentation to create Songbird.

Good postulation.

I think it was a missed opportunity with Songbird. We're essentially told that he's a warden, but we never really get much of that outside of him snatching up Elizabeth once and wrecking her tower. I felt like there was going to be more there, but it was quite shallow throughout. He's just a tool and when he does inevitably meet his end, it's not sad or as bittersweet as intended.

Though drowning alone makes me feel for him. Worst way to go out.

I disagree.

He plays an integral part of the story and whether he's actually on screen or not during these moments, he's sort of an omnipresent being throughout.

What about the rather tense scene where the Luteces attempt to call for him on a piano (sort of a bait and switch moment)? Or the sequence on the skyline in the water toward the beginning? Or the airship part? Or the whole last battle where he is taking down swarms of zeppelins and enemies for you? Plus there are several moments Booker and Elizabeth discuss him in passing. And at least a couple of nods are made to his origins.

Too much of the character wouldn't have worked. The Songbird is akin to the shark in JAWS. He's frightening and meant to be a deterrent that serves as Booker's perennial roadblock to obtaining his Quarry.

It's much better to leave the audience intrigued and clamoring for more than annoyed and indifferent. "Oh, I wish more Songbird was in the game." versus "Ugh, Songbird again? Meh."

 

[Sorian]

Where did he say Booker -didn't- make the debt himself? He never said that.

And he points out, right at the start, Booker did terrible deeds in all timelines. He says:

"Booker in all realities committed atrocities as highlighted by visiting the Battle of Wounded Knee and the Chinese exhibits. There, Booker and Slate slaughtered many Native Americans and Chinese people, so they have both sinned by killing minorities."

Umm...?

Booker A does not baptize himself and lives life normally. Has Anna. No Comstock. No debt.

Luteces play with time tears and find that Booker A can have a child. Using time tear, they somehow mess with Booker A's timeline that he would need to give up Anna to pay off his debt. Anna is brought in to Booker B's aka Comstock. Comstock now has an heir, and he can die because Anna will fulfill his duty.

Also, in the post right above yours.

 

[blindrocket]

I don't think that's canon anymore. That was before they went with the bearded prophet design. Young Comstock would just look like DeWitt.

Right, I was just showing what they were planning on going with at some point.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

Yeah. I liked the game and especially the setting, but gameplay wise this is not the step-up from Bioshock that I expected. I mean that E3 demo was on an incredible scale. I at least expected a setpiece of this magnitude, having the feeling you are actually traversing a giant city in the clouds by means of a railing system. Right now it pretty much felt like Rapture with separately themed areas capped off by loading screens. I hoped it would be more like you could traverse between areas via skyhook, in the meanwhile masking loading with a longer skyhook traversal animation. All the loading took me out of the game and sometimes killed the great immersion the game establishes. I didn't like the new Tomb Raider very much but one thing that game did right was not to break up the exploration through loading screens and mask loading in-game, thus keeping you immersed and giving more sense that the environment you are exploring is big and connected.

In the final game it pretty much felt like all the skyhook stuff was just a small circular rollercoaster ride around a combat area. Seriously missed potential in my opinion and something that I was expecting a whole lot more of based on pre-release footage.

Agree that the 2011 E3 footage was a lot grander than any of the final game's levels, but I felt Infinite was still able to avoid and mask loading screens far more than the original game. Soldier's Field up into Lady Comstock's airship and the entrance to Hall of Heroes is one big map for instance (broken slightly up by the elevator ride to HoH admittedly). Ultimately it was probably having to accommodate the 360 and PS3 which led to those sort of huge, multi-tiered maps having to get stripped down a bit. If that was the case sort of wish Infinite got yet another delay to hit the Durango and PS4, even if that wouldn't have been the best business sense.

Spoiler

Didn't you guys at Polygon give it a 10/10 regardless?

 

[Neiteio]

Oh wait, claviertekky did say "no debt." Didn't catch that before. My apologies, Sorian.

 

[Berto]

When you arrive in Finkton and you hear the metronome over the loud speakers and see the workers scrubbing along to the beat. Chilling.

Yeah those mechanic and rithmic movements gave me a strong Metropolis vibe.

 

[Sorian]

Oh wait, claviertekky did say "no debt." Didn't catch that before. My apologies, Sorian.

Heh, no worries

 

[Sorian]

Booker in all realities committed atrocities as highlighted by visiting the Battle of Wounded Knee and the Chinese exhibits. There, Booker and Slate slaughtered many Native Americans and Chinese people, so they have both sinned by killing minorities.

Also, for the sake of being thorough, Booker A has absolutely nothing to do with the Boxer Rebellion. Booker B does because Columbia intervenes in the rebellion but Booker A does not.

 

[LumpOfCole]

Comstock-canon is also where Peking Duck comes from.

Because when Columbia floated down to intervene, everyone in Peking had to duck.

 

[blindrocket]

Who do you think left the message on the lighthouse door, the Luteces?
Who killed the man in the lighthouse and left the message on his body to not disappoint them?

 

[clav]

I'm still totally lost.

Is there no absolute conclusion of what happened or is this where Ken Levine wanted us gamers to discuss our own interpretations?

 

[Sorian]

Who do you think left the message on the lighthouse door, the Luteces?
Who killed the man in the lighthouse and left the message on his body to not disappoint them?

Both were the twins. Presumably, the lighthouse keeper was a sort of gatekeeper for columbia under orders from Comstock to kill anyone trying to enter. In the first attempt at getting Booker to succeed, the light house keeper kills Booker and the twins decide to kill him in advanced in all other scenarios so that Booker can get through unmolested.

The notes seem to have been put in place to lend urgency to Booker's mission so that he didn't decide to skip out on it.

 

[sappyday]

Who do you think left the message on the lighthouse door, the Luteces?
Who killed the man in the lighthouse and left the message on his body to not disappoint them?

The Luteces

 

[The One Who Knocks]

Who do you think left the message on the lighthouse door, the Luteces?
Who killed the man in the lighthouse and left the message on his body to not disappoint them?

The Luteces murdered him. They did it brutally and left the notes to feed into Booker's delusions so Booker wouldn't feel comfortable betraying them and flee to Paris. He even tells Elizabeth that these aren't the sort of people you want to cross.

EDIT:

I'm still totally lost.

Is there no absolute conclusion of what happened or is this where Ken Levine wanted us gamers to discuss our own interpretations?

Here are all the current timelines I've seen of what happened:

Lutece's Perspective of Events:

(my initial one)

(XAL's cleaned up timeline [the end being a yellow alternative universe is the only part where this would be incorrect I'd feel. EDIT: Looking through it again, I don't like some of the things at the start, particularly about Robert Lutece being from Booker's timeline. I'd need to check the date that Elizabeth was taken but I don't see any reason why Robert Lutece would have to be from Booker's timeline, I will have to check when Anna was taken to confirm that Robert Lutece came through before Anna though]) EDIT: Actually, I'm far more skeptical of this timeline than I initially was, Robert Lutece discovers tears at the same time as Rosalind Lutece does. I would use this cautiously, I need to confirm a few things before I can state a huge portion of events are correct since the chromosone slowing him down is definitely incorrect.

Booker's Perspective of Events/Ending Timeline:

(EatChildren's which was then modified by Zkylon to change the beginning section to green instead of yellow; this highlights the looping paradox by showing the loop while showing Booker's entire perspective)

(my version of the paradoxical ending showing why Booker must reject the baptism; the paradox I'm referring to is the paradox visually shown in EatChildren's timeline, it's the red events in this one)

I know it's probably not the written explanation you wished for and I'll explain it in a written format if all of the timelines aren't enough to clear up whatever confusion you have it's just that, by now, it's been asked so many times by people asking for specific segments that it's difficult for me to compile everything in one post since wherever your issue lies with the ending could be in numerous places. Without some specifics of where to start, it could result in a post of significant length that, literally, goes through a significant portion of the entire game's plot.

 

[Gyrian]

It's not hard to picture Booker spiraling down to the bottom from the guilt of what happened at Wounded Knee, then afterwards losing his wife in childbirth. All the drinking and gambling just dragged him down to his lowest point where he gives up Anna (then goes to immediately regret it).

Comstock just took advantage of the opening. To pay Booker's debt would be trivial at the point where he was.

BTW, I am loving the discussion on this thread. Made it about 1/4th in so far.

 

[Yoshichan]

Okay... so I just beat it. Anyone got a story summary for me?

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Going to be totally honest and say I preferred Bioshock's final fight to Infinite's, gameplay-wise.

is there some secret final boss in BS1 I didn't play

surely you don't mean that Quake 4 reject piece of shit...

 

[Sorian]

I'm still totally lost.

Is there no absolute conclusion of what happened or is this where Ken Levine wanted us gamers to discuss our own interpretations?

As far as I am concerned, the quote at 28:23 in this video is the definitive proof that shows they killed him "before the choice was made" before the baptism ever occurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hzkbYv3OTo&list=UUICMrU9Jv7dmwzeT7438XRg

 

[Vitet]

But booker A's timeline was altered to make it seem like he has debt seen what the Luteces can do with time tears.

But the debt maybe isn't with the Luteces. They just tell to him to give Anna and all his debts will be paid

 

[B33]

Who do you think left the message on the lighthouse door, the Luteces?
Who killed the man in the lighthouse and left the message on his body to not disappoint them?

Here's my postulation interspersed with bits of information found in the game.

The city of Columbia doesn't just float, but can move, and it does so in a trajectory that can be seen at the beginning of the game in the lighthouse. Do you recall how you ring the bells before entering into the pod? That red light and horn are what signal the city to move into position. So the lighthouse seen at the beginning seems to be the primary way of entering Columbia. Perhaps the keeper in it was employed by Comstock to guard it?

Furthermore, there's a note that more or less serves as a warning to the lighthouse keeper from Comstock. We're led to believe that there is a universe in which Booker is killed in a struggle with the lighthouse keeper.

It seems that the Luteces murdered him and perhaps set it up as something for Booker to extrapolate his mantra "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt" further.

 

[EliteArtist]

Good postulation.



I disagree.

He plays an integral part of the story and whether he's actually on screen or not during these moments, he's sort of an omnipresent being throughout.

What about the rather tense scene where the Luteces attempt to call for him on a piano (sort of a bait and switch moment)? Or the sequence on the skyline in the water toward the beginning? Or the airship part? Or the whole last battle where he is taking down swarms of zeppelins and enemies for you? Plus there are several moments Booker and Elizabeth discuss him in passing. And at least a couple of nods are made to his origins.

Too much of the character wouldn't have worked. The Songbird is akin to the shark in JAWS. He's frightening and meant to be a deterrent that serves as Booker's perennial roadblock to obtaining his Quarry.

It's much better to leave the audience intrigued and clamoring for more than annoyed and indifferent. "Oh, I wish more Songbird was in the game." versus "Ugh, Songbird again? Meh."

I felt like he wasn't all that omnipresent though, just a conversational topic that came up every now and then. While you can interpret that as omnipresence, I didn't feel like it was. Of course, I'd assume Songbird would be searching for Elizabeth constantly instead of just appearing when he's called. Even if there was overheard dialogue from other characters saying "You seen the bird? He flies by every day like he's searching for something". That translates more to his character than "Oh he's a thing to be called"

 

[sappyday]

Honestly they were both equally disappointing, however Infinite's ending makes up for it while Bioshock's does not.

 

[Sorian]

Okay... so I just beat it. Anyone got a story summary for me?

Might as well just pick a page and start reading Yoshi, like I told someone else earlier today, this thread is just an infinite loop of the same ideas over and over again. That guy said it worked and he started on page 88 (I assume on a 50 page count setting).

 

[Yoshichan]

Might as well just pick a page and start reading Yoshi, like I told someone else earlier today, this thread is just an infinite loop of the same ideas over and over again. That guy said it worked and he started on page 88 (I assume on a 50 page count setting).

Perfect, thanks man.

 

[Sorian]

Perfect, thanks man.

No problem, hit me up if you have any questions.

As far as I am concerned, the quote at 28:23 in this video is the definitive proof that shows they killed him "before the choice was made" before the baptism ever occurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hzkbYv3OTo&list=UUICMrU9Jv7dmwzeT7438XRg

Also putting this here so it doesn't get buried on the last page.

 

[blindrocket]

Here's my postulation interspersed with bits of information found in the game.

The city of Columbia doesn't just float, but can move, and it does so in a trajectory that can be seen at the beginning of the game in the lighthouse. Do you recall how you ring the bells before entering into the pod? That red light and horn are what signal the city to move into position. So the lighthouse seen at the beginning seems to be the primary way of entering Columbia. Perhaps the keeper in it was employed by Comstock to guard it?

Furthermore, there's a note that more or less serves as a warning to the lighthouse keeper from Comstock. We're led to believe that there is a universe in which Booker is killed in a struggle with the lighthouse keeper.

It seems that the Luteces murdered him and perhaps set it up as something for Booker to extrapolate his mantra "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt further.

That does make sense. While I assumed that the Luteces committed the murder and left the notes to Dewitt, I was not completely convinced. It seemed a bit messy for them, considering how button-up their characters tended to be. But perhaps those types are the most dangerous... The idea of making the crime a but grisly to help convince Dewitt to have a sense of urgency is a good one.

The lighthouse served as a way for land-dwellers to enter into Columbia as Comstock summoned them after their succession from the Union, so it would make sense to put a guard there. Every lighthouse should have a keeper! For some reason I thought that dead body with the bag over his head would serve as something else to the story.

 

[Korey]

As far as I am concerned, the quote at 28:23 in this video is the definitive proof that shows they killed him "before the choice was made" before the baptism ever occurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hzkbYv3OTo&list=UUICMrU9Jv7dmwzeT7438XRg

Agreed. The drowning happens before the choice is made. This fits better with what she literally tells you, and the thematic message they were trying to end the game with.

However, this makes the post-credits scene not make sense. After reading a lot about this, there's just no good way to reconcile the two, unless the scene is a dream of some sort, a non-canon wink to the player, or a mistake.