The Dishonored Series as Environmental and Social Commentary
ture and motivations explored further in this paper . The final story in the Dishonored series picks up only a few months after the events of Dishonored 2 , but approximately fifteen years following the events of Dishonored , enabling the player a view of the fictive world unfolding across a relatively long span of time . With respect to the ecological disasters in Dunwall and Karnaca and the hunting of whales to the point of extinction , little has changed . 10 At one point , the player embodying Billie can observe a poster that refers to whale oil rationing in Karnaca . This poster serves as one of several physical locations in the game where the Void , a symbolic representation of the desperate state of both the poor and the environment , appears to be bleeding into the real world . At these locations , The Outsider will speak to Billie , commenting on events around them . However , it is unclear whether The Outsider has created these rifts between planes or simply takes advantage of their existence . At this particular poster , he describes Karnaca as having been built on the bones of dead whales and ominously contends that “ it will all shudder and writhe .” Whether he will be the instrument of such a reckoning or merely acts as its harbinger remains uncertain . Still , his potential loss , his removal from a world already on the precipice of ecological disaster and persistent suffering , weighs heavily across those who inhabit it . One citizen wonders , “ What will we have left if The Outsider ’ s gone ?” However plaintive the inquiry , it is one the narrative resists answering . Depending on player choice , the narrative concludes with either The Outsider dead at Billie ’ s hands or freed from his prison in the Void , but provides no additional information regarding the fate of Karnaca , Dunwall , or any of the world ’ s other lands .
10 All of the explored areas in the three games appear dependent on whale oil . Dunwall presented the most sustained and massive whale hunting and processing industry . Karnaca appears to have a lesser trade in whale oil , evidenced by several areas near the water where carcasses are processed .
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