Chloe Price - the BEST Best Friend
I played Life is Strange Season 1 for the first time in January of 2023. I didn’t seek out spoilers before playing, but in the case of an eight year old game, especially one which was a commercial success, it’s difficult not to be spoilt at least a little bit, by sheer popcultural osmosis. So even though I had made no effort to learn anything about the game before playing it, I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting myself into. Or so I thought.
I knew the main character was going to be a teenage girl coming back to her hometown after many years of absence.
I knew the main character was going to discover she had the power to travel in time.
I knew there was going to be a serial killer on the loose, whose identity the main character would try to uncover.
I knew the main character, upon returning to her hometown, was going to meet her old friend. That old friend would turn out to be just the worst – mean, manipulative, uncaring.
And I knew the final choice of the game would involve either letting the main character’s hometown be destroyed by a tornado, or sacrificing the old friend to prevent that from happening.
Before I fired up the game, I thought my main source of entertainment would be the shitty old friend character. That I would love to hate that character. And I planned on choosing the ending in which the town is destroyed, of course ironically, as an “evil” ending. Because how on Earth would it make any sense to choose one person over an entire town, especially if that one person is mean, manipulative and uncaring?
When the credits rolled after Episode 1, I knew I had fallen victim to false advertising. Where was this mean, two-faced friend, manipulating Max for her own ends? Instead of someone I would love to hate, I got a complex, but deeply sympathetic character. A hurt, scared, vulnerable kid who got in trouble way over her head and was in desperate need of someone to care about her. And fortunately, Max was the person to care about her.
By the end of Season 1 I couldn’t fathom how could anyone sacrifice Chloe to prevent the Storm. Max sacrificing Chloe makes to me just as much sense as Lee Everett throwing Clementine to the walkers, if he ever had the option to do so. To tell you the truth, my reaction to Chloe Price was similar to my reaction to Clementine from the Walking Dead Season 1. And aren’t they kind of similar? Two kids who have a tendency to get themselves into trouble and need bailing out. But that doesn’t mean Max or Lee should give up on them.
I invite you to watch the three part video essay I made where I explain why I think saving Chloe Price is actually the moral, narratively fitting and satisfying conclusion of Life is Strange Season 1. In this video I’d like to share with you my thoughts about the character of Chloe Price. And my thesis is the following. Chloe Price is a great, devoted and faithful friend to Max Caulfield. She is the BEST best friend Max could ever hope for.
What is the most convincing and most dramatic way of demonstrating that you are somebody’s friend? Saving their life, of course. Especially if saving their life involves risking your own. In fact, this is how the line of attack employed by Chloe haters goes: “Max saved Chloe’s life so many times and Chloe did nothing comparable in return. That means, she’s a bad friend”.
What if I were to tell you, that Chloe saved Max’s life just as many times as Max saved hers? And if you take the full context of what was happening into account, it was actually Chloe who did more of the lifesaving than Max? Don’t believe me? Let’s count all the times the girls saved each other’s lives.
The first time Max saved Chloe’s life was in the school bathroom on Monday, when Max, having witnessed Nathan murdering Chloe, rewound time and started the fire alarm, giving Chloe an opportunity to escape.
The second instance of Max saving Chloe was on Tuesday at the junkyard, with Max rewinding time to prevent Chloe from being struck by a ricocheting bullet. I am going to count this instance, but several things need to be said about it. Firstly, it is choice-dependent and doesn’t happen in every playthrough. It is possible to play the game without Chloe being struck by a ricocheting bullet at the junkyard. In fact, I only learnt it was possible for Chloe to be wounded in such a way after I had already completed the game, when a clip of it happening was recommended to me on YouTube. The injury can happen during the latter portion of Chloe’s revolver training, when she asks Max to pick targets for her. Max has multiple targets to choose from, more than Chloe has bullets left, so Chloe never shoots them all. The target which causes Chloe to be struck by a ricochet is a metal barrel. Once again, if you don’t pick this particular target, Chloe is never struck by a ricocheting bullet at the junkyard. Secondly, this possible injury is not caused by Chloe being a bad shot. On the contrary, Chloe seems to be a natural talent at shooting. In the initial part of the training, she hits very close to the bottles, needing only minor adjustments to hit them dead-on. Had those been man-sized targets, she would have incapacitated them. In the latter part of the training, Chloe hits every single target Max picks, even very small ones, like a car’s gas cap, without fail. The injury is cased by Max telling Chloe to shoot at a flat metal surface, which causes the bullet to bounce back. If anyone is to be held responsible for this injury, it should be the person picking the targets. And yes, while waving around an unloaded gun on Monday was a breach of gun safety on Chloe’s part, it had noting to do with her potential injury on Tuesday. The injury is potentially caused by Chloe hitting the target Max picked, but the bullet bouncing back, not by Chloe being clumsy and pointing the gun at herself. Thirdly, there’s no concrete proof that the injury caused by the ricocheting bullet would have been fatal. It’s not immediately fatal, as we hear Chloe crying out for help. Perhaps it would’ve been fatal. But it’s just as likely that Chloe would have survived, especially if she had been rushed to a hospital. Both girls have cell phones and there’s reception at the junkyard. The junkyard is within walking distance form the Two Whales Diner. Who knows, maybe if Chloe ended up in a hospital and stayed there for the rest of the week, her life would have been in less danger overall, with Mark Jefferson unable to murder her in a hospital full of people. Having said all of that, I am going to count this as an instance of Max saving Chloe, even though it’s optional, it’s mostly Max’s fault for telling Chloe to shoot at a flat metal surface and the injury might not have been fatal.
The third instance of Max saving Chloe happens shortly after the second, when Chloe’s boot gets stuck on the rail tracks near the junkyard and Max frees her before an incoming train kills her. As an aside note, it is possible for Max to save Chloe’s life in that instance without rewinding time even once, as long as she moves fast enough.
The fourth instance of Max saving Chloe’s life is when she performed a time jump through a photograph to prevent Chloe’s murder and her own capture at the hands of Mark Jefferson on Thursday night. By doing so, Max was not only working to undo Chloe’s murder, but also to prevent her own imminent murder.
I am not going to count Max performing a time jump using a photograph to prevent Chloe from taking part in a car accident as an instance of Max saving Chloe’s life. The accident left Chloe paralyzed from the neck down and her condition continued to deteriorate to the point that it was likely that she would be killed by respiratory failure in the foreseeable future. But we are never explicitly told how long that would take. It is reasonable to assume, that in October of 2013 it was still many years away. If her death due to respiratory failure was imminent, she would have no reason to ask Max to kill her. And since the main reason she wished for death was to spare her parents from financial ruin caused by the costs of her medical care, her predicted respiratory failure had to be years away, so that the costs of her treatment in the meantime were substantial in comparison to the costs her parents had already borne. If her death was just weeks or even months away, it would make very little difference to her parents’ already strained finances. If Chloe dies in the alternate timeline, it’s because Max chooses to overdose her with painkillers. Otherwise she remains alive for what is reasonable to assume would be years. It is also worth mentioning that Chloe’s suicidal ideation in the alternate timeline seems to be partially caused by her feeling abandoned by all of her friends following her accident, chiefly Max, who never bothered to visit Chloe after her injury. I think that if Max had decided to accompany Chloe in her illness, Chloe wouldn’t have been so desperate and she would have been eager to spend whatever time she had left enjoying all the remaining moments of joy and happiness with her friend Max, instead of being desperate and hopeless and only wishing for an end to it all. Also, by preventing Chloe from taking part in an accident, Max was merely reversing the consequences of her earlier choice. So for all of those reasons, I am not going to count it as an instance of Max saving Chloe’s life.
So Max saved Chloe’s life four times. Five if you include Max reversing her own choice which led to the emergence of the alternate timeline.
How does Chloe’s record compare to it? Let’s see.
The first time Chloe saved Max’s life was on Monday, at the school parking lot. Max was assaulted by Nathan. Chloe appeared in the nick of time to give Max a ride. It is very likely that had Chloe not rescued Max, the confrontation would have turned out to be fatal to Max. We know for a fact that Nathan was absolutely capable of murdering someone he considered to be a witness to one of his many crimes. Moments before he almost murdered Chloe, who was a witness to Nathan roofying and assaulting her in his dorm room as well as a witness to his drug dealing. In order to silence Chloe, Nathan threatened her with a loaded gun and when she tried to break free, he pulled the trigger. It is very likely that Nathan would have attempted to intimidate Max into silence the same way, which would have ended up with his gun going off once again. We also know for a fact Nathan was walking around campus armed, because on Thursday, when he accidently bumps into Max at the dorms, he has a gun on him. And since the conformation in the bathroom took place just moments prior, it’s unlikely he had the time to hide the gun someplace safe. We know he didn’t discard the gun, because has the exact same pistol on him on Thursday. So yes, hadn’t it been for Chloe taking Max to safety, Nathan’s assault upon Max would’ve likely ended for her the same way Chloe’s confrontation with Nathan in the bathroom initially ended – with the tweaking out thug attempting to intimidate a girl by waving a loaded gun around and the gun going off, killing the girl. Remember, Nathan was a proper junkie, tasting his owns stash, which included stuff way harder than MJ. Given his erratic, aggressive behaviour, it is likely Nathan was often on methamphetamine or some other strong stimulant. He probably was all doped up on Monday, to give himself courage before confronting Chloe. And let’s face it, even sober he was no criminal mastermind, which is why him repeating with Max what he did moments ago to Chloe was most likely, especially since Max enraged him by scratching his face to break free. David would have arrived at the scene too late, just like he would have arrived at the scene of his daughter’s murder.
If you don’t believe my very pessimistic appraisal of the parking lot situation, then let’s submit it to Max’s judgement. After all, she was at the centre of it, so who better to judge how dangerous it was? Max explicitly writes in her diary that Chloe saved her in the parking lot. Max is perfectly aware that she was in deadly danger that Chloe saved her from.
It is important to note, that Chloe saved Max in the parking lot, even though she had to risk her own life to do so. Remember, this was moments after Nathan had almost murdered her. Someone else, seeing an armed junkie thug who almost murdered them moments prior would get the hell out of Dodge, not stop to help. Not Chloe, though. Seeing her would-be murderer in the midst of assaulting another victim, she stopped to help and even opened the doors of her truck to let Max in, even though by doing so she risked Nathan assaulting her or even pulling his gun out and finishing what he started moments earlier in the bathroom. Another very important thing to note is that the encounter at the parking lot was the first time Chloe saw Max in five years. Five years that Max ignored Chloe despite Chloe’s attempts to reach out, which left Chloe feeling abandoned. At that point, Chloe had no idea it was Max who had started the fire alarm in the bathroom. At that point Max was solely the best friend who ghosted her for five years.
Try putting yourself in Chloe’s boots. A boy from your school roofies and assaults you. When you confront him about it, he points a loaded gun at your face and threatens to murder you. You barely escape him. And when you’re driving to safety, you see the same boy assaulting someone else. Someone who turns out to be your former best friend, who ghosted you right after your father’s death, when you needed emotional support the most. What do you do? Do you stop to help your old friend, risking that the armed junkie thug finishes the job as you do so? Or do you go around the entire situation, speeding to get to safety, unwilling to risk your life for the friend who hurt you? Chloe chose the first option. Would you? Would you be as good of a friend as Chloe?
And yes, Warren also helped Max at the parking lot by momentarily tackling Nathan, allowing Max to hop into Chloe’s truck. Both Chloe and Warren should get the credit for saving Max from Nathan. But if Chloe hadn’t shown up to give Max a ride, the distraction proved by Warren would have been for naught.
The second time Chloe saved Max’s life was on Thursday and once again it involved Max being assaulted by Nathan. In Episode 4, Max sneaks into Nathan’s dorm room, looking for evidence of his involvement in Rachel’s disappearance and Kate’s kidnapping. And she finds evidence aplenty of Nathan being a degenerate assaulter. As Max and Chloe are about to leave the dorms, Nathan shows up. At the sight of Max, he has a fit of rage and goes straight for Max. We know for a fact that he was armed, because moments later, after Warren had bitchslapped Nathan, Chloe found a gun on him. His aggression indicates that he was once again likely doped up just like he’d been on Monday. Both Max and Chloe immediately realize the gravity of the situation. They are in a tight corridor with no chance of escape. An armed, enraged junkie thug is coming straight at them. The same thug who has already on multiple occasions threatened to murder them both. The same thug who’s already had a live firearm aimed at Chloe’s face and almost murdered her just three days prior. Look at Chloe’s face. When Nathan shows up, her facial expression is one of fear. She is horrified to know that she’s once again inches away from being murdered by the boy who assaulted an threatened her. And yet when Nathan starts walking towards Max, Chloe’s terrified facial expression is replaced with one of determination and immediately, without hesitation, she steps in between Max and Nathan and pushes the armed, enraged thug away, thus putting herself in exactly the same danger she was on Monday in the school bathroom. Chloe’s actions buy Max precious moments, which allow for cavalry in the form of Warren to arrive and give Nathan a well-deserved beatdown. Ohhh, what’s the matter, sweet prince? I thought assaulting others and reducing them to lying unconscious on the ground in foetal position was fun! So fun that you had to take a picture to use it for … educational purposes later on.
On Thursday, just like on Monday, Max’s life was saved by the combined effort of Chloe and Warren and once again they should both get the credit, because without either of them Max was likely to be murdered by Nathan. Had Chloe not pushed Nathan back and had he been allowed to reach Max, he likely would’ve attempted to intimidate her the same way he’d done to Chloe on Monday – by pointing a live firearm in her direction, which would’ve gone off in the struggle ensuing from Max trying to break free or Warren joining the fray. It’s also interesting to see Chloe’s and Warren’s roles in this encounter reversed in comparison to the parking lot encounter from Monday, when it was Warren acting as a distraction and Chloe acting as the cavalry.
Once again, would you step between your friend and an armed thug who almost murdered you three days prior? Would you shield your best friend with your own body from an armed, violent junkie thug, risking your own life in the process? Would you do so instinctively, without hesitation, conquering your fear the second you saw your friend was in danger? If not, then you’re a worse friend than Chloe Price.
The third time Chloe saved Max’s life was at the beach on Thursday, when Frank attempted to murder Max.
In Episode 4, Max decided to confront Frank Bowers, Arcadia Bay’s preeminent supplier of date rape drugs to unstable teenage boys. Max asked Frank, pretty please, to divulge who exactly he had sold date rape drugs to. The date rape drugs that had been used to roofie and assault Kate and Chloe. Frank, instead of being ashamed that his product had already been used to roofie and assault multiple teenage girls, was self-righteously indignant that Max wanted him to divulge his trade secrets. He even went on a tirade, explaining how Max had it easy, going to a fancy school, when Frank had to work hard for a living, supplying hard drugs to schoolchildren and date rapists. And as usual, he was quick to start threatening teenage girls with death.
The confrontation at the beach can go three ways. Let’s start by addressing a common misconception. Chloe haters peddle the false notion, that the confrontation with Frank has to get violent the first time you attempt to talk some reason into him, with Chloe shooting him dead and Max being left with an option to rewind time and try again to find a peaceful solution. This is supposed to show that Chloe is a cold-blooded killer, so itching to snuff out a human life that no matter what Max does on the first try, Chloe starts blating anyway. This is patently false and all three outcomes of the confrontation can be achieved on the first try, including the peaceful resolution, provided you choose the diplomatic dialogue options. However, if you fail to appease his majesty the drug lord of Arcadia Bay, he lunges at Max, weapon in hand, with obviously violent intent. At that point, Chloe has no choice but to defend Max and herself. This ends with Frank injured in the leg or dead, depending on whether Pompidou was involved in the altercation or not.
If Max has convinced Frank to lock Pompidou in the RV, then Frank draws his weapon and lunges at Max. He is equipped either with his switchblade or with Chloe’s revolver, if Max handed it over to him in Episode 2. Frank’s murderous intent is especially evident when he’s wielding a knife. He lunges at Max, aiming with the blade for her throat. Chloe, ever Max’s loyal bodyguard, immediately steps in. If she’s equipped with a firearm, she draws it and shoots Frank in the leg. It’s a seriously badass moment, with Chloe quick drawing and immediately firing, hitting a moving target without fail, stopping his assault on Max as his knife is inches away from Max’s throat. If Chloe is empty-handed, then she does something even more badass. She WRESTLES Frank, who is much taller and stronger than her. She does so when Frank is assaulting Max with a knife and she does so even when Frank is armed with a gun, on either occasion turning Frank’s weapon against him and wounding him in the leg. This turn of events shows Chloe’s bravery, loyalty and utter devotion to her best friend Max. She sees a violent, armed thug assaulting her friend, the thug who has threatened her with death on multiple occasions before and instead of running away or cowering, she immediately steps up to defend Max, facing a knife- or gun-wielding career criminal empty-handed if that’s what it takes to protect Max.
Frank’s injury is always non-fatal. He’s back up and walking moments later. Cops could take lessons from Chloe. She incapacitated a violent felon who was about to murder someone and she did so without causing any serious harm to him.
And yes, I know that once Frank is on the ground, he starts lying through his teeth that he wasn’t actually going to hurt Max. Sure thing. He was just goofing around when he lunged at Max with a knife, aiming for her throat. A violent career criminal, who we know for a fact had killed someone with a knife in the past, who had threatened teenage girls with death multiple times before, who would use his own stash and upon using it would become so violent that even his own underage girlfriend had left him out of fear for her life, lunged at another teenage girl, weapon in hand, face contorted into a grimace of rage, shouting threats and curses. Who in their right mind would look at a situation like that and conclude that said violent career criminal was merely horsing around and nobody would get hurt? Given Frank’s history of violence and drug use, any rational person would see it for what it was – a life or death situation, with Max in mortal danger, requiring immediate and decisive action to defend her life.
If Max hasn’t convinced Frank to lock Pompidou in the trailer, Frank’s aggressive screeching prompts Pompidou to attack Max and Chloe. Dogs are excellent at reading their owners’ demeanour. Pompidou sensed his master’s rage and attacked its object. Pompidou is a large dog. He was trained for combat, as we know that Frank got him from a dogfighting ring. I don’t believe there’s such a thing as in inherently aggressive dog, even the larger breeds. Unfortunately, Pompidou was raised by a violent criminal and as all dogs, he is faithful to his master. So when his master starts raging at Max and Chloe, Pompidou instinctively reacts, attacking the object of his owner’s hatred.
If Pompidou runs at Max and Chloe and Chloe is still in possession of a firearm, Chloe defends Max and herself, shooting and unfortunately killing Pompidou. Seeing this, Frank attacks the girls, openly declaring his murderous intent, which forces Chloe to shoot him, in this version of events killing him as well.
Let’s get one thing straight. In that version of events, Pompidou was going to kill Max. We know that for a fact. Because if Max has told Chloe to discard her firearm and she is no longer armed in the moment Pompidou attacks them, the game reaches a very rare point when you have to rewind. This only happens a handful of times in the course of Season 1. Almost always you get the option of accepting the consequences of your choices. Only if the result would be Max’s death, you are forced to rewind, as Max can only rewind time in relation to her surroundings, but not herself. So any injuries she might sustain would remain even upon rewinding the action that caused them. In those rare moments, the screen goes grey and you are forced to rewind and try something lese, as progressing further upon the same path would result in something horrible and irreversible. This happens when Jefferson is about to overdose Max with sedatives in the Dark Room. And it also happens when Pompidou attacks Max and Chloe is unable to stop him because she has discarded her firearm just like Max told her to do. Because of that, we know that either Pompidou would fatally bite Max or Frank would kill her in order to eliminate a witness, knowing that if Max told the cops she’d been mauled by Frank’s dog, Pompidou would most likely be put down. And once Chloe uses the deadly force necessary to defend Max from Pompidou, Frank makes it clear that he intends to murder the girls in revenge, forcing Chloe once again to exercise her inalienable right to self-defence. In this version of events she shoots him dead, but given that he is armed and openly declares his murderous intent, using deadly force to counter his assault is justified. And even if Chloe managed to shoot him in the leg, it’s likely he would keep coming at them to get his revenge, for example attempting to murder Max later in the diner as she’s looking for Warren’s photograph.
As you can see, at the beach in Episode 4 Chloe saved Max’s life, once again defending her from an assault by a dangerous criminal. Perhaps more than once, depending on how many times you replayed Max’s confrontation with Frank. It doesn’t matter if Max ultimately managed to rewind time and resolve the situation without setting Frank off, thus erasing the time or times Chloe had defended her life. Because had Chloe not defended Max, there would have been no Max to rewind time and redo the situation in search of a bloodless solution. Remember, Max is unable to rewind any injuries she might sustain. So if Frank or Pompidou had killed or wounded her, that would have been game over. Without Chloe acting to defend Max each time, it would’ve been impossible for Max to keep rewinding time and trying different options. Besides, we counted all the times Max saved Chloe, even though some of those instances were erased by rewinding time. So let’s keep a consistent standard. Which is why we’re counting it even though some players resolved the matter peacefully on the first try. Remember, we counted Max saving Chloe from a ricocheting bullet at the junkyard, even though some players, like me, had never seen that happen in their playthroughs.
The fourth time Chloe saved Max’s life was at the beach in Episode 5, right after Max had managed to escape from the Dark Room. Max was so exhausted from the multiple time jumps she had performed in quick succession, that she only managed to stay conscious long enough to tell Chloe that she didn’t want to live without her and then she collapsed. Remember, this was on Friday. The Storm was already on its way to Arcadia Bay. The girls were right in its path. Had they stayed at the beach, they would’ve been killed. They had to escape to their safe spot at the lighthouse. Climbing uphill in the middle of an apocalyptic hurricane might sound daunting even when everybody involved can move on their own. But when someone loses consciousness and has to carried all the way uphill in conditions like that?
Let’s state the obvious. Had Max remained on the beach right where she collapsed, she would’ve died, killed by the incoming Storm. Max lived solely because Chloe carried her all the way uphill to safety. It doesn’t matter that Max can rewind time. Once again, Max is unable to rewind any injuries she might sustain and so she is unable to undo her own death. Had Max been killed by the Strom as she lay unconscious at the beach, there would’ve been no Max to rewind time to undo that outcome.
By carrying unconscious Max all the way from the beach to the lighthouse, Chloe saved Max’s life, at a significant risk to her own. Without being burdened by Max’s limp body, Chloe could’ve simply ran to safety. But carrying Max, she was slowed down to a crawl. The fact that she chose to carry Max to safety proves that she is a loyal friend and that she holds Max’s life more precious than her own. If Chloe truly was so selfish and self-centred as her rabid haters claim, she would’ve ditched Max and focused on saving her own skin. At that point Chloe didn’t require any further help from Max. Jefferson was in jail, Nathan was dead and Rachel’s body had been located. If Chloe really only cared about Max insofar as Max was useful to her, she would’ve left her to her fate. But she didn’t. She chose to save Max’s life even though it required risking her own. Because that’s what best friends do.
The fifth time Chloe risked her own life to save Max’s was in Episode 5 at the lighthouse.
Notice one very interesting thing. When the Storm comes, at the beach Chloe openly muses the possibility of it being Rachel’s revenge upon the town. After dragging unconscious Max to the lighthouse, some fifteen minutes later, Chloe says that everything, including the Storm, had to happen for a reason and it couldn't have been any other way. Replay that sequence and notice how defiant of a look she has on her face. And then, after a few brief seconds, her defiant look gives way to a look of profound sadness and she does a complete 180, offering her sacrifice. In the span of seconds she went from defiance and musing that perhaps the Storm had to happen to coming up with a way to stop the Storm at the cost of her own life. When Max pushes back against the idea, Chloe keeps arguing in favour of her own death, absolving Max from blame by saying she is simply meant to be murdered.
Why does Chloe make this massive heel turn in such a short span of time, mere seconds? Because after saying her piece about the Storm being inevitable, Chloe saw how devastated with guilt Max was. Chloe’s offer to be sacrificed is in large part motivated by the desire to save Max from her guilt. Seeing how wracked with guilt Max was, Chloe decided to give Max a way out. Chloe didn’t want to live if the cost of her survival would be her best friend having to live with guilt.
If you think that I’m exaggerating Chloe’s devotion to Max, then remember that Chloe’s last words are always that she loves Max. If you overdose her in Episode 4 or if you sacrifice her in Episode 5, just before she dies, she always says she loves Max. Regardless of player’s choices throughout the game. If your last words, no matter the timeline, are always to profess love for someone, I think it’s fair to say you genuinely and deeply care about that person.
Chloe cares about Max so much, that when she saw Max crushed with guilt, her immediate reaction, with no hesitation, was to offer her life so that Max’s conscience would be spared. Chloe knows Max is an empathetic person. She called Max kind and caring. She knows it would be difficult for Max to endure guilt. And so she would sooner die than allow Max to live with a guilty conscience. Can you even imagine the sheer loyalty and devotion to another person that would take? To give up your own life not even to save a friend’s life in the physical sense, but in the emotional sense, by relieving their guilty conscience? It definitely proves that for Chloe the sight of Max in pain, even emotional one, is unbearable and she would stop at nothing, including sacrificing her own life, just to put a stop to Max’s suffering.
Ask yourself this. Would you be ready to sacrifice your own life just so your friend wouldn’t have to live with guilt? If you wouldn’t, you’re a worse friend than Chloe Price.
I am baffled by people saying Chloe Price is selfish. Imagine living in a small town. A town where your beloved father was killed by a drunk driver. A town where you were told over and over again that your grief over your father’s unjust death was unreasonable and that you should quickly move on, like your mother did. A town where most of your peers treated you like a freak, like trash. A town that made you an outcast. A town where a violent drug dealer trapped you in debt when you were still a kid and threatened to kill you if you didn’t pay up. A town where your stepfather hit you. A town that killed the person you fell in love with, but not before showing you they lied when they promised you a life together. A town where a boy roofied and assaulted you. A town where your assaulter attempted to murder you when you had the audacity to confront him about it.
Would you, without hesitation, on the spot, volunteer to die to save such a town?
If you wouldn’t, you are more selfish than Chloe Price.
So now that we’ve counted all the instances of Max and Chloe saving each other’s lives we have Max saving Chloe’s life four or five times, depending on how you count and Chloe saving Max’s life five times. Looks like a tie. But didn’t I say that it if you take everything into account, it was actually Chloe who did more of the saving? Yes I did. Consider two more things.
Firstly, only one instance of Max saving Chloe involved Max risking her own life, that being escaping from the Dark Room. Which she had to escape anyway to save her own life. The other four instances involved no danger or risk to Max. Meanwhile, all five instances of Chloe saving Max’s life involved Chloe putting her own life on the line. It’s also worth pointing out that unlike Max, Chloe has no superpower and to save Max she had to rely on her own reflexes, wits and strength.
Secondly, the girls are tied only if Max chooses not to sacrifice Chloe at the end of the game. If Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe, she travels back in time and undoes every single thing she’s done throughout the week. She undoes all the times she’s saved Chloe’s life in particular. This is Max’s conscious decision. She has the option to take back her rescues of Chloe’s life. If she chooses to do so, then we shouldn’t count any of those instances. Because you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t say she saved Chloe’s life five times if at the end she consciously chose to erase all five times from ever happening. If at the end of the game Max chooses to sacrifice Chloe, that means she chose to save her life zero times.
In contrast, even if Max wavers in her resolve and chooses to erase every single thing she’s done throughout the week, Chloe stands by her actions. She never takes back all the times she’s saved Max’s life.
So if Max chooses not to sacrifice Chloe at the end of the game, the girls are tied. They saved each other’s lives the same amount of times. Notice that I am not counting Max choosing not to sacrifice Chloe at the end of the game as a separate instance of saving Chloe’s life. That is because on Friday at the cliff Chloe’s life is no longer in danger. If Max does nothing at that point, Chloe lives. On Friday, Chloe requires no further saving. I see no reason to count Max choosing not to kill her best friend as another instance of saving her life. That way we would count Max’s Monday rescue of Chloe in the bathroom on Monday twice – first time when she did it and a second time when she chose not to take it back. If Max choosing not to kill Chloe is Max saving Chloe’s life, what is she saving Chloe from? Herself. I think that not killing your best friend in a trolley problem is the default position and doesn’t count as saving their life. It’s simply staying faithful to them and resisting the urge to kill them to become a small town hero.
So as you can see, in the “sacrifice Arcadia Bay” ending the girls are even. And in the “sacrifice Chloe” ending the score is five to zero for Chloe.
There it is. Definitive proof that Chloe is indeed the BEST best friend there is. And we didn’t even need to click through the dialogue tree of the average Chloe-hating NPC, whose arguments boil down to “but … she said that one mean thing that one time”. Fine, she did. That pales in comparison to her willingness to die for Max, doesn’t it?
