Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-86.46.22.35-20130403153709/@comment-25366375-20141118164653

Jim Logan wrote: he was training kids and slapping them around in the late 80's, not the early 80's What Solidus CIA paramilitary duties were prior to the late 80's, nobody knows. Just saying it's plausible is all. There's a hole that can be filled by Kojima, that's all I'm really driving at here.

Jim Logan wrote: Solidus NEVER met Big Boss, why would he meet Big Boss in TPP then MAGICALLY FORGET about it by MGS2? Well I could speculate or toss out "nanomachines" or the fact that he's aged, but in reality it can be chalked up to a retcon. Kojima has said that there will be minor inconsistencies in the story and I don't consider Solidus meeting BB to be particularly huge. Solidus had admiration for BB and much like Liquid, he tried to surpass his father and create a similar world. It could be that Solidus had this desire after meeting BB in 1984 and considering his charisma and prowess he was inspired to form Sons of Liberty and its associated consequences. This could then lead in to Solidus activities in the late 1980s, having some warped sense of what Big Boss' ideal world looks like, perhaps misunderstanding his father's vision. He would be manufacturing soldiers that were not tools of the government, but instead mentally conditioned to thrive on the battlefield and nowhere else. If I remember correctly, Solidus never said "I never met Big Boss" (he may have, I just don't recall), and if that's the case then MGS2's fiction still stands firm. Am I saying Solidus is Ishmael beyond a shadow of a doubt? Of course not. All I'm saying is that there are plenty of dots to connect from a narrative point of view.

Besides, we don't know if Ishmael appears anywhere other than in the hospital scene. It seems silly that he wouldn't, but let's presume you never hear from him again; Solidus/Ishmael could have snuck in to the hospital, perhaps several times over the 9 years, observing his father in admiration and protecting him from the Patriots. Once he learned of Cipher's plan to attack the hospital - assuming for now it is Cipher - Solidus swoops in to save Big Boss and then disappears. Perhaps then Ocelot later informs Big Boss about Les Enfant Terribles or something. I think I've made my point about it being workable from a narrative perspective.

I mean really, the issue with most Ishmael theories (as fun as they are to discuss) is that they all lack sufficient evidence, either to be proven or disproven. Ultimately, I don't necessarily think that Solidus is Ishmael, it's just at the current time it seems to make enough sense to be possible. I want to avoid saying anything definitive until the game's release, and my completion of it.