Dishonoured 2 posits the important question: "What if you were framed for the murders of people who were calling for a democracy, but in a rude manner?" The answer, of course, is to continue with a monarchist system, but it's okay because you're a good guy and there's nothing wrong with the status quo at all (despite you being overthrown twice by people with bad intentions).

As a series Dishonoured seems convinced that the status quo is important to uphold, despite it being a monarchist system in which nobody has the right to vote on their leader. There are worker's unions, but because of how the government is set up they are often crushed with military force. By the end of the game, so long as you've gone the low chaos route, the main character reflects on their journey through Karnaca and speaks of taking an effort to pay attention to the injustices in the world. Now there are, of course, certain democratic institutions, but they seem reserved for the rich and powerful. The same rich and powerful who have been routinely condemned and shown to be nothing more than selfish egotists throughout the series. How then can you choose to uphold the status quo of monarchist rule? How is the answer not to institute democracy?

Gameplay wise the game is an improvement in almost all aspects. With a now wide variety of non-lethal methods for neutralising enemies the player isn't reliant on simply choking or using sleep darts to take combatants out. This allows for an aggressive, yet non-lethal gameplay style, which is great. My only complaint is that the mechanic for slipping under low obstacles seems to have weird detection issues that make it unnecessarily hard to get in through windows or the small hatches on the top of elevators. The introduction of black markets is a great way to add both persistent shops and interesting puzzles for the player to solve. Figuring out the solution to black markets is great, and makes the player feel clever. Beyond that, the inclusion of two playable characters allows the game to be enjoyed in four different ways. Not to mention the addition of new game plus, allowing you to mix up the playstyle with the other's abilities. Or even denying the outsider's gift entirely, allowing for a complete run without any powers at all.

Besides my complaints of what the game is telling the player, I don't find the story terribly egregious. The gist is that Delilah has been revived after Daud neutralised her (it doesn't seem clear which method is canonical), and has staged a coup on the capitol after smearing Corvo and Emily's names. What follows is you piecing together what happened and how to eliminate Delilah for good.

Interestingly there doesn't seem to be a lot of ethical dilemmas in taking out targets. One of the most interesting dilemmas is which group to support for Karnaca's future. Neither group seem particularly poorly fit, however. The Overseers are obviously evil religious zealots who use their power to enact martial law on the people, while the Howlers are a group of street thugs who kill and threaten those who deny them their will. Both choices seem like they'd have their positive and negative outcomes, but the ending keeps it vague.

Now, for the choices that actually matter in terms of ethical dilemmas. With Jindosh you cause irreparable brain damage, causing him to forget most memories. He's essentially reverted to the brain power of a small child. After performing this on him he begs for death, but it actually seems like he's enjoying life with a caretaker later on. This as evidenced by an audio recording on Abele's office during the grand palace mission.

With Abele you conspire with his body double so that you may trick the guards into believing that the real Abele is the body double, who has deluded himself into believing that he is the real one. This choice is possibly one of the most cruel the series has seen. You've essentially gaslit Abele into believing that his entire life is a lie. One could argue that he deserved it, but I'm not so sure.

Ashworth's non-lethal ending isn't so bad. All you do is revoke her supernatural connection to Delilah. Of course, for her this is devastating, but it doesn't seem like such a bad ending in comparison to Abele's.

Finally, we have Delilah's ending. You have to create a cursed rune to place on the throne so that she may be trapped permanently in her false world. It's unclear what specifically happens, but it would seem that she gets the ending she desired, just not how she intended it. Perhaps it's more cruel than I think, but it seems fine. An interesting thought though, is the question of whether she can come back again. What's different this time from the last? Is there not a precedent for some ex-witches to attempt to bring her back again? We see in Death of the Outsider that there are still witches left over from Ashworth's coven. She was, after all, stuck in a painting the first time around. What makes this second painting any different?

Only time will tell what comes of Dishonoured. Death of the Outsider seems like a definitive end to the series. A farewell to games that I have enjoyed profusely. Maybe that's for the best? What use would another Dishonoured game serve? Would it continue with Delilah or would it make up a new bad guy? Would it be a prequel? Showing Daud's previous exploits? Wouldn't that be boring though? He's obviously a killer up until Jessamine's death. We might never see another game in this series, but that's fine by me. All three games are important to me, despite the issues I have with the messages they put forth.

Thanks Dishonoured, Thishonoured.