Virginia’s Mysterious Story, Symbols, and Endings Explained

The truth is out there.
Virginia

Cord McCarran

Recommended Videos

The passage where Anne awakens to find him sat at the end of her bed imposes him as an almost father-like figure. McCarran was willing to destroy Halperin’s mother to stop her from closing in on the truth; Anne was willing to burn the box to protect her father from whatever was inside. Anne feels a connection to McCarran, and it’s one that’s racked with guilt – she feels ashamed that she is anything like him. The way that he throws her badge back at her on the bed is almost shamefully disapproving in the way that only a father could be. He is a symbol of her responsibility toward the regime, and to her complicity within it.

Virginia

The Bird, the bull, and the Door

The bird that pops up periodically throughout Virginia takes on a fairly important role. It becomes more elusive as the story unfolds, and Anne – literally at one point – fails to grasp the bird before it disappears. It is truth. It is freedom. Perhaps the most important scene is the one in which Anne descends into the morgue – a gloomy, brown brick morgue filled with shadow – the bird at first appears dead, but then re-animates and escapes by flying out the window. For Anne, this means that escape is still possible. In another scene she also finds the bird inside the box – the box that contained Lucas’ film, and very similar to the box she burned. The box hints at a second chance for Anne: if she burned the first box, she now has a chance to do right by what’s in this box, and get to the bottom of Lucas’ discovery. Finally the bird is found imprinted on the blotter acid and it is this that leads Anne to her final visions, whereupon she reaches the truth at the center of the conspiracy.

The bull comes to symbolize a couple of things. Firstly, and most importantly, it is often an obstacle: appearing for the first time in the middle of the road, causing Halperin to break suddenly. It then appears in Tarver’s dreams, standing in her room, or walking toward her slowly at the gas station. The second interesting aspect to the bull is that it’s undeniably male. The male presence, even in absolute silence, is something that constantly intrudes in Anne’s life, both in male superiors within the agency, men in bars, men in elevators – it is something that is omnipresent and inescapable.

The door that haunts Tarver’s dreams is the same one that housed her father’s box. The door comes to stand for the guilt and secrets behind closed doors in kingdom, and it serves as a constant reminder of the choice Anne made – just like the key.

Virginia

The End(s)

Is there really a way out of that prison cell? Well, the ending can be taken a number ways: the sequence wherein Anne climbs the agency ladder by investigating her colleagues could be interpreted as a vision that Anne had of what her future may be, or that may be the future, and everything afterwards could be the dream. It recalls the ambiguity at the end of Scorcese’s Taxi Driver in that we’re not certain which to take as reality.

Both agents drive through the tunnel outside of kingdom and spot Lucas walking by the side of the road, guitar case slung over his back. Was this his true fate? We know that case can’t have his guitar in it, because Tarver found the guitar in Lucas’ closet. It’s also reasonable to consider that if he truly just left by the road just outside of Kingdom, someone likely would have picked him up, and recognized him from the missing person posters plastered all over town. It may well be that what we see at the end is a form of afterlife. It is interesting that when Halperin and Tarver are in their favorite diner at the game’s finale, Tarver leaves the broken key on the table as they get up to leave, suggesting she has truly left her baggage behind, once and for all.

It is possible to interpret this as reality, however, and that both agents have left behind their careers within the corrupt institution of the bureau and are leaving for greener pastures. On the way they spot Lucas, who had simply decided to leave as well. A brighter ending certainly, though perhaps one that feels the  less likely of the three. If you have any other ideas then please let us know in the comments below; there aren’t likely to be any wrong answers to this one.


Twinfinite is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article 10 Things Marvel Rivals Can Learn From Overwatch 2
Marvel Rivals promo art
Read Article 5 Ways Marvel Rivals Is an Overwatch Clone & 5 Ways It’s Completely Different
marvel rivals characters backs
Read Article 2024 Is the Year of the RPG
dragon's dogma 2 trickster with illusion
Related Content
Read Article 10 Things Marvel Rivals Can Learn From Overwatch 2
Marvel Rivals promo art
Read Article 5 Ways Marvel Rivals Is an Overwatch Clone & 5 Ways It’s Completely Different
marvel rivals characters backs
Read Article 2024 Is the Year of the RPG
dragon's dogma 2 trickster with illusion
Author
Joshua Wise
Graduated in 2014. English BA. Didn't care much for the real world. Decided to spend too long in fictional ones. Decided to write about it. Always in pursuit of an idle life...