Following on from part one, I aim to keep this discovery train rolling with more thoughts about just what the hell is going on in this game. We left off at the beginning of Mission 12 where we intend to rescue Huey because:

• a) He asked us to.
• b) He is suspected of tipping Skull Face off about Mother Base.

I'll explain why b) is kinda dumb but firstly, I want to just say how good this mission was. You have a massive trek to your objective, find Huey in a base crawling with Walker Gears and then your extraction is hampered by this:

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

Sa-hel-anth-rop-us (and other Technological Inconsistencies)

Yep. Its a hell of an introduction. Inside the lab it looks like a Rex clone but it soon becomes apparent this is the most advanced Metal Gear will see in this series. In 1984. It has fingers which it needs to hold its Sword-Whip because OF COURSE IT DOES! It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder what will happen in the preceding years to make that obsolete and it also presents a very obvious problem when you're dealing with a long-running series that decides to plug gaps in the timeline.

Snake Eater approached it well with a good mix of conceptual 60s future tech not too far from reality. The Shaghohod, whilst not being a bipedal nightmare tank was a tank that could bolster missile range providing it had a runway large enough to pelt down. And it was powered by the Space Race which makes a surprising amount of Cold War sense. Now, when Granin mentioned his desire for walking tanks, I wrongly assumed this was some sort of pipe dream that, in the fiction would take until 1995 to realise.

Nope. In Portable Ops, RAXA is this weird winged thing with stubby legs. You can see them trying to edge towards REX without explicitly going bipedal. In Peace Walker, it's a four-legged beast accompanied by a support unit of other tanks and mechs. By the end of that game, you have a Metal Gear of your own which looks like a slightly primitive Rex. Beating Hal to the punch by 30 years is amazing.

Now, I understand that as a game designer or artist working on a series, you want your new thing to be better. A new thing in an old time is tough to pull off and I guess with Sahelanthropus and ZEKE they've stopped trying to keep the mystique around Metal Gear alive. By the end of the series, everyone has one. In this dark middle chapter, we have the most imposing. I'll admit tying it in as the missing link should make it a landmark as being genuinely upright but... you... already managed this 10 years ago, Huey. And just what did happen to ZEKE? I can't for a minute expect Skull Face to turn over Mother Base and then decide not to go looking for the giant monster on the sea floor. Is this all cobbled together from ZEKE? Is that still hidden away?

Walker Gear I'm totally okay with, even if they are getting kinda mass produced by a Russian military that's still getting their arse handed to them.

Huey is a Mad Scientist

Truly. Upon his rescue we immediately interrogate him over the events of Ground Zeroes Now, when it comes to whodunnits, it's rarely the first guy you come to. Mud is slung in Miller's direction to, seeing as he originally came to Cipher to try and give MSF some work. Thing is, Paz is a much, much more likely candidate to have spilled the beans. I mean, it has to be.

SHE'S ON MOTHER BASE FOR THE ENTIRITY OF PEACE WALKER!

They don't need another insider. They have all they need and are just waiting for the right time to strike. Is this base in Ground Zeroes another Mother Base? Do they relocate every few years 'just in case'? Any idea how much that would cost? It's Paz, plain and simple. She gets interrogated by XOF, they get what they need and then bomb her up. Huey's not a turncoat. He's just a psychopath.

He moans about how he was forced to work for 9 years on Sahelanthropus yet he clearly did an awesome job. When he's let off the hook, his Battle Gear speech gives me the creeps. You love work, you. Those 9 years were probably alright. It also highlights the big difference between him and his son. Hal likes to build Gundams. Huey likes to build straight-up Murder Gears. Post Metal Gear Solid, Hal spent all of his days hacking and flying helicopters. Huey gets aroused at explosions. I bet they didn't get on.

So with Huey dismissed, I'll turn to Miller. They could have him be a snitch. They're on opposing sides in Metal Gear 2 and the signs of strain between him and Big Boss are definitely getting a lot of mileage. I'd like to think Kojima would refrain from having best friends turn on each other but then that's the kind of twist he loves. C'mon, Hideo. It's Paz.

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the process plants use to convert sunlight into carbohydrates. It has never been recorded in humans. We have other things for that. Despite this, Hideo Kojima has decided two characters in his universe will become plants. The End uses it to allow him to wait for long periods of time and it has presumably extended his life significantly. He does this fully clothed. Quiet also has this. Ocelot explains that this is the only rational explanation for her not eating since being held captive on Mother Base. PLANTS STILL NEED FOOD! Flowers in a vase of water will still die. It needs roots. It needs nutrients from soil to survive. Otherwise it's just a terminal illness you're prolonging.

How do you survive, girl!?

She breathes though her skin, apparently.

The skin is the body's largest organ and makes up about 15% of our body weight. It does lots of amazing things like hold all our internal organs together but it doesn't play an active role in helping us breathe.

Wise words from www.herbhedgerow.co.uk.

Now, there could be some other emotional reason why Quiet runs around. Heck, Afghanistan and Africa are very warm but the reason you're giving me is piss poor. Particularly as she appears in the prologue. At night. Fully clothed. I'll not say much more on the matter. It's been covered.

Big Boss' Cult of Personality

I mentioned in the first part how Big Boss is still being given agency over Mother Base despite logically being a vegetative shell. During the Huey rescue and other instances, Miller and Ocelot play devils on Big Boss' shoulder and, whoever loses out just goes, "Whatever you say, Boss!" Someone also references how they fulton soldiers against their will and eventually they 'see straight'. Firstly, I think that's why Ocelot spends so much time at Mother Base. Torture is his hobby. Secondly, it highlights the kind of offshore madhouse they operate. It's a militant cult and Big Boss, with his legend and mystique is their Brian Jones.

It looks even more like Jonestown now the kids are onboard. That was a cool mission. Running through that valley with 6 kids whilst Quiet provided cover felt pretty neat. Miller disapproves of their presence, or rather, their purpose. Big Boss wants them as soldiers. Miller wants them to be educated and shipped off. Tell him no, then. I dare you. That's the stature he has at this point and you can really believe that:

1. He'll go rouge and create ANOTHER military cult.
2. Many, many, many more people will want him killed.

You don't finish this path a misunderstood hero. You can explain to me how everything works at the end of this but I'm still not sending you a birthday card. Oh, another thing, whilst I'm on the subject. The tape where Huey gushes about Dr. Clark's work. For one thing, I've never liked Paramedic's retcon into a big science McGuffin but the cold reaction Big Boss gives to the cloning speech has me flummoxed. I can't tell from his reaction whether he's not acknowledging it because he knows there's three kids rolling around calling him Dad or whether he's got some convenient amnesia from the coma.

Team Skullface

At the time of writing this I've just played through Mission 20. I still have little idea about Man of Fire's identity beyond he looks like Volgin. Please don't be Volgin. Skull Face's motives or indeed if Psycho Mantis has any stake in this beyond, "I'm a child soldier. YAY!" I don't think he's got the mind-reading down otherwise I'd still be hiding behind rocks waiting for Sahelanthropus to pass. Clearly there's something shady going on at the hospital with the disease. I suspect its some experimentation with parasites or something. Maybe even exposure to uranium. Anybody else spot the P.T. audio in that place? I knew a boss fight was coming but that whole area was done well. That tape was just the icing on the cake. I suspect not going super deep into Ground Zeroes beyond finishing the main mission has hurt my Skullface knowledge. He is a bad man that does bad things and yet he might come off as the lesser of two evils at this rate.

Hope you enjoyed this speculation. I'll carry on til I finish this thing. There's still an awful lot I want to know. For know I'll lay down what I think will happen.

• He and Cipher call an uneasy truce after all this. Zero's main opposition inside his own organisation is snuffed out so they reform Foxhound and Big Boss is placed at the helm.
• Meanwhile Big Boss uproots Mother Base to a new land-based location because, at this point he is Joseph Stalin. He cannot trust anyone.
• Man On Fire will turn out to be Volgin and not someone in a Volgin suit. Boo.
• Sehalanthropus will be defeated by the Killer Bee. That's an easy one.

Also, now we're in Africa we're sort of not picking sides any more. It's a bit like how I played Far Cry 2 although I did grimace when Miller said in a mission briefing 'it wasn't about revenge'. Read the back of the box, Kaz. Master. Benedict. McDonnell. Whatever.