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Tear Jerker / Code Vein

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As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

  • The fate of Oliver Collins, your first companion. You only have him for a short while, but in that time he proves himself to be the kindest character in the cast, genuinely looking out for you and treating you like a friend, as opposed to your current handlers, who treat you like cheap slave labor. Then a feral Revenant damages his mask, dooming him to become a Lost. When you next see him, he's fully turned and massacred the group that "owned" you, forcing you and Louis to put him down. Then his Vestige reveals that he had previously been forced to sell out a young boy's parents to Silva in exchange for the Blood Beads his own group needed to survive, and his final moments lucid were spent noting that this is a karmic end for him.
  • Seeing the memories of the other Attendants of the Relics. Like Io they have no memories or identity, and exist only to seek out and serve a Successor. Either wandering aimlessly until they find them, or are killed by the Lost. Io's somber reflection on how easily their fate could have been her own is especially poignant.
    • One memory shows one of them crossing the Despair Event Horizon after losing her successor, showing that even they are not immune to becoming lost.
    • While you're at those scenes, "Memory of the Lost" plays.
    • To make matters worse you eventually have to fight one of them on your way through the final dungeon. While not particularly challenging the fact that you have no choice but to kill her is sad enough.
    • Upon reaching the gate to the final boss you meet all of the remaining Attendants, who have gathered outside the door to Silva's chamber for some reason. After exchanging a few words with Io, every one of them turns to ash, and there is no way to help them or prevent it.
  • The fate of the Successors, unless you are able to restore their memories by finding all their vestiges. Each gains a moment of sanity where they are able to say goodbye to their loved ones, who are forced to watch as they turn to stone forever. It's especially hard for Mia, who has to watch Nicola die twice.
  • All three endings for the game are tinged by tragedy to varying degrees:
    • As the worst ending, Heirs is the most overtly tragic: After absorbing Silva's relic, the player begins to frenzy, forcing Louis to Mercy Kill them to prevent the Queen from fully reviving. Afterward, the remaining members of the party become Successors, taking on the Relics and returning to the Crypts to delay the Queen's return. Louis takes Silva's place on the throne in the Gaol of Stagnant Blood, maintaining the Red Mist. The last scene is of Io crumbling to ash at the bloodspring where she and the protagonist first met, bidding them to sleep well.
    • To Eternity: The protagonist defeats Silva, but is forced to take his place on the throne in the Gaol of Stagnant Blood to maintain the Red Mist, potentially forever. Io remains at their side, petrifying as she waits for them to awaken. Though there is a small glimmer of hope in this ending, as at the end, it shows the protagonist beginning to stir.
    • Even the best ending, Dwellers in the Dark, is unable to fully escape tragedy: The threat of the Queen resurrecting is ended, the shortage of blood beads is resolved, there is no danger of the Red Mist dispersing, and the Successors have been restored to their former selves, but it all comes at the cost of Io sacrificing herself in your stead, taking on the Queen's Relics and transforming into the Weeping Tree.

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