Tear Jerker / Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

"Ratchet!"

Following on from the ending of Tools of Destruction, A Crack in Time is probably the strongest contender for having the most (and most notable) tear-jerking moments in the franchise.

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

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• This game gives us more details about how the Lombaxes fell: Alister Azimuth gave Tachyon permission to use lombax technology, despite knowing that Cragmites were genocidal monsters, Tachyon was Obviously Evil, and Ratchet's father Kaden warned him to keep Tachyon away from advanced technology. This began the Final Solution against the lombaxes, and resulted in the survivors blaming Azimuth for their downfall, barring him from joining them in their dimension.
  • We also learn what happened to Ratchet's mother: Kaden refused to take refuge in the Court of Azimuth in favor of saving her, but by the time he arrived home, she was already killed in the onslaught. And while we already learned what ultimately happened to Kaden last game, Alister's description is pretty distraught:
    Azimuth: I don't know how long he survived until Tachyon caught up with him... but I know I was responsible for his death.
  • There's also the indication of what Alister's exile has done to his psyche: years of isolation and living with the shame he brought upon his race have made him bitter, depressed and paranoid, with his first impression upon seeing Ratchet being that he's nothing more than an assassin. Hell, when you realize it, he might have only started being more active in the grand scheme of things because Nefarious was specifically after the Great Clock, considering that there's no sign he tried cleaning up Tachyon or the space pirates' messes even once.
  • In general, despite not being a full-on villain like most examples, Alister Azimuth is probably the straightest-played Knight of Cerebus the series has had up to this point. Morally bankrupt businessmen like Drek and Vox were sources of comedy due to their over-the-top personalities, and even Tachyon— the xenophobic tyrant responsible for Ratchet and Alister's situations in the first place— had at least some moments of humor like a haiku about eating cupcakes and killing Lombaxes. And yet, absolutely none of Alister's character, backstory or personality are played for laughs once, and the game wants to make it crystal clear just how badly the series' past has screwed him over, or vice-versa.

• While it's not brought up too frequently, Ratchet was at one point willing to change the past to have his family back even if it meant he and Clank would have never met. This is from the same guy who was willing to look for Clank for two years or so, and the worst part is how believable it is—Ratchet never had it easy, being no older than a teenager when he lived alone on Veldin, with no friends and only a wrench to protect himself with.
  Azimuth: Ratchet. There's... something I haven't told you about the clock. If we succeed—if we turn back time and stop Tachyon—the present as you know it... will no longer exist.
  Ratchet: You mean, I won't remember Clank?
  Azimuth: I mean... you will never have met him in the first place. The clock may offer some kind of temporal immunity for those who use it, but... well, there are no guarantees.
  Ratchet: (somberly) If this is my only chance to save my family... I have to take it.

• Orvus' disappearance. Not only is it sad hearing Sigmund hide his grief from Clank as he replays the message Orvus left for him, and it's clear he had a strong bond with Sigmund. It's also the later section of the game where we as the player are unable to save him in the past. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, even if Ratchet doing his best to save his best friend's sort-of-father even with hardly any context doubles as somewhat heartwarming.

• This ordinarily snarky series took a turn for the sincere towards the end when Clank decides to stay behind at the Great Clock: "It is what I was built for." He holds his hand out to Ratchet, who simply kneels and hugs him close. The events that follow don't make you feel any better.

• Ratchet's above-pictured Disney Death, which happens just after his and Clank's hug. Or more specifically, Ratchet's actual death before Clank takes his one risky shot at turning back time to save him.
  • Alister's response to Sigmund's attempt to stop him once he kills Ratchet: "Miserable heartless soulless little robot!"
  • The cutscene "The Plumber's Advice". To those reading who haven't memorized the cutscene titles, "The Plumber's Advice" is the scene where Clank is in the Orvus Chamber, after Ratchet's death, staring at the Great Clock's controls. Though it's obvious that he wants to undo the aforementioned death, we hear one of Orvus's lectures ("The Clock is a gift -- and not to be tampered with") in the background, obviously keeping him from doing so.
  • Clank's tone of voice always stays fairly constant, regardless of his emotional state. When Ratchet's dead body tumbles over the ledge into emptiness, Clank screams his name. It is the only time in the entire series that he raises his voice above "polite, but firm".
  • Clank messed with time in order for Ratchet to live. That means that the Ratchet he saved has no idea Alister actually did murder him; and Clank, knowing that Alister meant a lot to Ratchet decides not to taint his memories of him further by telling him he should be proud of him through it all for making the right choice in the end instead of holding a grudge. Clank's an incredible friend, but it does add another layer of sadness as Clank is basically forced to move on without any kind of relief from basically having seen his best friend die. Ratchet won't ever know, and Clank won't ever have the heart to tell him.

• Alister Azimuth's Face–Heel Turn is just as sad as it is shocking or dramatic. Over the course of the game, Ratchet's seen Alister as a father figure and was genuinely happy to find another Lombax to interact with after so long, especially since Alister knew his father Kaden personally. Granted, Alister also spent a lot of the game rambling about the Lombaxes and how much Ratchet takes after his father, but he was still supportive towards Ratchet, even saying that he would've taken him in as a child if he knew he was still alive. But come the end of the game, Ratchet's decided to accept the past and move on to a better future, but Alister simply cannot with all the guilt, shame and resentment he's been carrying for over twenty years. Hence, a clash begins, Alister loses any sense of composure, and Ratchet's forced to once again chase after the general with his life on the line.
  • A lot of Alister's dialogue towards Ratchet during their fight in the Orvus Chamber definitely qualifies. Some are apologetic given Alister's viewpoint, some twist the knife when compared to how much pride Alister put in the younger Lombax earlier in the game, but most of them are really just Alister distraught over how things have turned out in the end. Here's a list of them:
    Azimuth: I didn't want to do this! You were supposed to be here, on my side! We could've saved them together!
    Azimuth: I'm sorry it has to be this way! I wanted you here with me!
    Azimuth: It's a good thing your father isn't alive to see you like this— a coward, a traitor! He would've been so ashamed!
    Azimuth: You want them to stay out there in some strange dimension forever!? They never should have left! I should have protected them!
    Azimuth: They didn't all escape, you know! Hundreds were lost! Tachyon destroyed everything in his path!
    Azimuth: There are no more Dimensionators! This is our only chance!
    Azimuth: Why are you fighting this!? Don't you understand what I'm trying to do? I'm trying to give you your family back!
    Azimuth: This is the best you've got? You're nothing like your father!
    Azimuth: You'll be alone! For the rest of your life, you'll be alone!
  • There's also this exchange later into the fight, which really hammers in just how much Ratchet and Alister's relationship has broken:
    Azimuth: You're fighting your own so that some Cragmite can kill your father!? Your mother!?
    Ratchet: But you're risking everyone else in the process!
    Azimuth: You're darn right I am! And if you want to stop me, you're going to have to kill me!

• And after the fight is done, we get the scene in which Alister Azimuth realizes his mistakes and promptly dies via Heroic Sacrifice. Even if it is a relatively short scene compared to other examples, that only serves to emphasize how sudden it is. And the fact that it sticks unlike Clank's kidnapping or Ratchet's quickly-undone death makes it even more heart-wrenching.
  • Here's how it happens: Alister finally grasps that his plan to turn back time isn't working and that the Clock is in the midst of collapsing on itself and taking the universe with it. He realizes his mistakes with shock and horror, gives a soft, sincere apology for what he's done, and promptly goes to fix the Clock's control mechanism, with the resulting quantum energy surge killing him. We see Alister's lifeless body on full display— with it being made heart-wrenchingly clear that Ratchet's ally is dead— and his pocket watch clattering on the ground. The very same pocket watch keepsake which showed a picture of him and Kaden together.
  • His last words: "Take care of yourself, Ratchet." They're nothing too special on their own, but they mark that in the end, Alister truly cared for his young friend and wanted him to have a better future in some way, even if that meant killing him and potentially saving his past self. It's a shame that it was a future he would have never been able to see.
  • His watch clattering on the ground may have some more symbolism attached to it, since he won't be needing it anymore: you could say that in the end, and especially thanks to his last act of self-sacrifice, Alister at least got to reunite with Kaden and the other Lombaxes lost in Tachyon's rampage after all those years.
  • The cutscene's name from the extras menu is "The Last Lombax", in obvious reference to Ratchet himself. Angela's disappeared off the face of the universe, and Alister— the one living connection that Ratchet had to his heritage and family— is dead and gone. Now, Ratchet truly is the only Lombax left in his dimension, and most of the opportunities he had to change that have passed.
    • This becomes even sadder when you realize that Alister was the last Lombax in existence in the brief timeline where he killed Ratchet. So no matter what circumstance, destiny dictates that one Lombax dies and one Lombax lives. And if that isn't just depressing as a thing to think about, I don't know what is.

• Ratchet's response to Alister's death is to quietly pick up his pocket watch, take a brief look at the memento inside it, and look back to Alister before lowering his head in grief. Afterwards, just as he is about to leave the Great Clock in his ship, he quietly mourns both Alister's death and his parting ways with Clank. Granted, Clank decides to rejoin him in their lives, but it's still pretty sad.
  • It's also a testament to just how much Ratchet has changed over the seven years' worth of games prior: compared to the cockier, trigger-happy, thrill-hungry Ratchet of the PS2 era and his personal desires for "the life, the fame, the money, the babes" as stated in Deadlocked, this Ratchet is a more mature, seasoned hero who truly understands how fragile life is, having now lived through tragedy first-hand. Sure, this means his negative traits have mellowed out, but after the tribulations of the Future series, his trademark attitude is now at least partially replaced with a noticeably more melancholy outlook on the world.
  • It's all but stated in the WildStorm comics that Alister's death in particular is why Ratchet chose to retire from adventures and heroism.