SPOILER WARNING: The following reveals a huge plot point at the end of Chapter 17: High Noon that directly plays into the ending of the game.
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Game: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday
Chapter: High Noon (Chapter 17)
Location: Main Square, Tehran
Summary: The revolution has arrived. A tumultuous moment heralding a new era for Iran, photojournalist Reza Shirazi finds himself in the midst of turmoil as the peaceful demonstration turns into a massacre by the army and state police.
Reza flees the chaos only to be caught up in a more personal conflict: His rebel cousin Ali who is fatally wounded and his brother Hossein, the prodigal son whose duty to the Western-backed Shah as SAVAK officer pitches him at odds with Reza's cause. As Reza attempts to de-escalate the rising tension between the two armed men, a torrent of gunfire hurls towards them and he must think fast: Protect Ali or Hossein?
Though the split-second dilemma relies on an instinctive reaction, how the player chooses will be a culmination of their experience of Reza's journey with Ali and Hossein representing two halves of his consciousness: A freethinking future for the nation or an inadvertent return to patriarchal loyalty through brotherly* devotion.
Bibi Golestan, leader of the Student Front. Photo credit: N-Fusion Interactive (Presskit) A Year of Transformation
Reza the reluctant has now become Reza the revolutionary: The photographer whose images capture the heart of the movement as it evolves on the world stage, brutal yet uplifting in its defiance of a corrupt regime. This is a different Reza from the self-professed "neutral" reporter at the beginning of the story; this Reza has shed his innocence for audacity, embracing the notion that positive change comes only when we use our power to enact it. His decision solidifies the transformation of his character as he is forced to navigate the principles of passive resistance (exemplified by Babak Azadi, Bibi Golestan, and Ayatollah Shariamadari) and retaliation towards the government's attempt to silence the protesters (Ali Shirazi).
Preserve the Cause (Save Ali)
Though Ali's ethos is aligned with the peaceful intent of his fellow activists, he understands how collective movements can fail against an authoritarian government that feels threatened by the empowered masses. His advocation for retaliatory violence is necessitated by the need to defend oneself, show strength against oppression, and remove the Shah and his colonial shackles** "at all costs." While this aggressive approach is met with some contention, Ali remains an integral part of the revolution's morale: "A united front of students, religious groups, intellectuals, workers, farmers, peasants, and bazaar merchants" who all share a common vision of a future worth fighting for.
To leave Ali to die while defending Hossein violates the principle of aiding the most vulnerable in a time of crisis, and it borders on betrayal: By favouring an individual complicit in serving the state's police force (the same CIA-backed faction who burned the Cinema Rex with several hundred civilians inside) is to throw aside everything the revolution stands for.
Saving Ali is about more than saving Ali. For the integrity of his convictions, protecting his rebel cousin is the final stage of Reza's metamorphosis as he severs the old country to clear the way for a progressive new ideal. "There's no shame in being invested in your people's future," his father reassures him, an ex-revolutionary who encourages Reza to find his path - a reminder that in a world on the cusp of change, each generation must surpass the one which precedes it and lay the foundation for the next.
Protesters gather to listen to Bibi Golestan and Brother Abbas.
Screen capture: FetchQuester
Family First (Save Hossein)
When the Shirazi family home is hit with a blackout and Reza finds himself searching through his father's archives by lamplight, brightly-lit scenes of his childhood come into focus as the rest of the world's darkness dissolves around him, invoking a bygone era of an Iran where brotherhood is central to the lives of Reza, Ali, Babak, and Hossein. Their rites-of-passages are intimate and radiant in the films and photos that Reza relives, reflecting a time when Ali and Hossein were neither rebel or officer but lifelong brothers and friends.
Is this how Reza sees them as the conflict spirals out of control on the streets of Tehran?
There has never been any question in Hossein's mind where his true priorities lie: The dutiful son who jeopardized his own safety to cover for Reza during a shakedown by SAVAK in search of Ali's whereabouts. Hossein pleads with Reza to keep their scuffle secret as they enter the family home to spare their family grief - although wounded pride will later cause him to renege this agreement and compel their parents to intervene.
Yet Reza's commitment to Hossein isn't so clear-cut until the scenes from Evin Prison unfold, witnessing his broken brother suffer at the whims of interrogator Assadollah Lajevardi (aka Hajj Agha). As the series of flashbacks weave in and out of the main narrative, the role reversals parallel one another with an unnerving accuracy; Reza is pressed to disclose confidential information on Bibi's status (which appears unknown) in a sadistic show of testing loyalties that results in further torture of Hossein.
Once again, Reza is faced with "saving" his brother as the chimera of his ambitions have crumbled with the rest of the revolution. Perhaps the one redemptive moment he can cling to is the recognition of Hossein amidst the gunfire as their ideologies disappear and they see one another for who they truly are: Vulnerable young men who only have each another as their frail futures hang by a thread.
Scenes from the streets: Shopkeepers, workers, students selling books/pamphlets, and Saman, the walking memorial commemorating the fallen.
Photo credit & edit: FetchQuester
Spoilers affecting choice:
If Reza throws Ali to the ground to protect him from the gunfire, Hossein feels betrayed and later attempts to strangle Reza during their interrogation; Ali eventually succumbs to his wounds and dies.
Saving Hossein results in instant death for Ali. Hossein remembers his brother's actions and refrains from attacking Reza if he has "protected" him during interrogation; Reza is held at gunpoint by Hajj Agha instead.
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*The concept of brotherhood/sisterhood encompasses many layers of relationships that signify love between friends, compatriots, activists, colleagues, and believers (especially Muslim), and is used frequently in the language of the revolution as it is ingrained in the culture of Iran. In this post, "brotherhood" is referring to close familial relations.
**When democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh brought in social reforms and nationalized the oil industry, the US and UK orchestrated a coup to overthrow him and implant the Shah which eventually led to the unrest of the late 1970s. Peter Brinson and Kurosh ValaNejad's The Cat and the Coup is an intuitive retelling of the period which pays homage to Iran's rich history while confronting Western tyranny.
- Lucy A.
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Sources:
1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories/N-Fusion Interactive); Wikipedia; guides.gamepressure.com
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