25 Times That Life Is Strange 2 Foreshadowed Its Outcomes

A game like Life Is Strange 2, that is based on choices and consequences, is expected to play with this motif even in ways that are not that obvious, predicting both minor and major events. There are several instances, right from the start, where the characters, main or secondary, say things that sooner or later become realized, either as straight reality or as tragic irony. In this article, I will refer to a few memorable ones. Due to the nature of this analysis, many spoilers follow, so be warned.

Foreshadowing #1: In Episode 1, during Sean's dialogue with Lyla on the porch, Lyla spots a passing plane and all of a sudden her mood changes from her regular loud and jolly one to that of an unexplained melancholy. She confesses that she gets "so emo sometimes" and wonders whether Sean will be her best friend forever, even after they finish school.

Outcome: If Sean calls Lyla back from his grandparents' house, he will learn from either her or her mother (depending on whether you have already communicated with her once at the end of Episode 1 or not), that she is in a mental clinic, suffering from severe depression after Sean and Daniel left.

Foreshadowing #2: During the dialogue with Lyla in Episode 1, if Sean choses the grim answer to her question about them possibly holding onto their friendship, he replies that there is no way they can remain friends, as they are both considered outcasts because they are not "clean" white Americans. Which, by the way, is a blatant irony in Sean's case, since he is the only one who can proudly claim he is a native American, given his Mexican heritage. He says that if they keep on hanging out together, it could be a one way ticket to jail.

Outcome #1: In Episode 5, Sean gets briefly in jail after he and Daniel get arrested while trying to pass through the blown-up frontier wall.

Outcome #2: Later in Episode 5 he indeed ends up in jail if he had educated Daniel well and they both surrender, and is condemned to pass fifteen years of his life behind bars (Redemption ending).

Foreshadowing #3: In the dialogue with Lyla in Episode 1, Lyla mentions that Sean will probably pass the wall (aka, leave the country) way before she able to do the same.

Outcome: This carries a double foreshadowing - a prediction and a tragic irony. It is a prediction in the case that Sean, either with Daniel or alone, manages to escape to Mexico in Episode 5 (Blood Brothers & Parting Ways endings).

And it is a tragic irony in the case that Daniel denies Sean's will to surrender and leads their car beyond the frontier (and, therefore, the wall) only to see minutes later that his brother had been shot dead during the escape (Lone Wolf ending).

Foreshadowing #4: In Episode 1, Sean goes down to his father's garage to ask for money for the Halloween party he was going to attend. After Esteban stops working, he asks Sean if he finally decided to join him under the hood, referring to his job as a mechanic.

Outcome: In Episode 3, the sub-chapter where Sean, either with Finn and Daniel or with Cassidy, sneaks in Big Joe's yard and tampers with his vehicles is titled Under the Hood, which is an expression referring to the car's engine that is under the hatch and also implies illegal activity.

Foreshadowing #5: During dialogue with Esteban at the garage in Episode 1, when Esteban mentions a friend of his with a health issue, Sean comments that he'd better never get old.

Outcome: This becomes a tragic reality in Episode 5, in the Lone Wolf finale where Sean is killed while Daniel leads the car through the Mexican border amidst flying bullets.

Foreshadowing #6: While in the garage in Episode 1, there are several things to see and comment on; one of them is a huge poster of a movie with the title Chupacabras from Outer Space.

Outcome: At the start of Episode 5, when Sean and Daniel are sitting at the edge of the canyon and Sean goes on with the story of the wolf brothers, Daniel interrupts him to provide his version of the story and, depending on their dialogue minutes before, his take will feature "the evil Chupacabra". Moreover, when Sean can draw the landscape in his sketchbook, he has the option to draw Daniel fighting the Chupacabra over the canyon.

Foreshadowing #7: In Esteban's garage in Episode 1, there is a religious icon. When Sean sees it he comments that he's happy Esteban doesn't make him and Daniel go to church.

Outcome: You can choose to stay faithful (oh the irony!) to this statement, so when Claire asks the boys to pray in Episode 2, Sean has the option to say that their father never made them pray or go to church, which, depending on how Daniel will react, will infuriate their grandmother or slightly disappoint her.

Foreshadowing #8: While still in the garage in Episode 1, Sean can examine the car's engine, at which point he says that he'd be fucked if he had to help Esteban with his work.

Outcome: This finds an ironic conclusion in Episode 5, in the Blood Brothers ending where Sean and Daniel manage to successfully escape to Mexico together, and we see them six years later in Puerto Lobos, where Sean is working in his own garage as a car mechanic.

Foreshadowing #9: In Episode 1, in Sean's room, there is a magazine titled Tattoo5, and when Sean sees it, he comments that his father would cut his arm off he ever got a tattoo.

Outcome #1: In Episode 3, he has the chance to get rather artless tattoo from Cassidy's hand, depicting either three weed plants or a scrawny wolf.

Outcome #2 (unofficial): In the game's files, there is a version of Sean's character model from the Blood Brothers finale in which he has two tattoos: one on his left forearm depicting a human heart being covered with bugs and a second one on his right arm picturing a headless serpent. For whatever reason, these tattoos are not featured in the game, but still they are a cool addition.

Foreshadowing #10: In Episode 1, after Sean and Daniel escape from their home, at some point they arrive at a solitary river bank where they decide to camp for the night. Before darkness falls, they can carry out several activities at the shore, and one of them involves fighting together against an enemy tree à la Lord of the Rings. During the "fight", Sean says that no one can beat their fellowship.

Outcome: This statement is reminded several times throughout the story with either Sean or Daniel saying that no one and nothing will separated, but finds its ultimate and conclusive proof at the end, if in Episode 5 they escape to Mexico together and stay forever united (Blood Brothers ending).

Foreshadowing #11: In Episode 1, at the gas station where Sean and Daniel stop to rest for a while, there is a poster advertising a local church. When Sean sees it, he'd rather pass.

Outcome: In Episode 4, he is forced to infiltrate the community of a religious cult while looking for Daniel who had been captured and brainwashed by their leader.

Foreshadowing #12: In Episode 2, when Sean and Daniel are in the cabin in the forest, you can see several things of interest in the rooms. In the bedroom, there is a letter on the table signed by a certain Dr Fischer, who informs their patient (probably the previous resident of the cabin) about his chemotherapy process.

Outcome: In Episode 4, Sean finds Daniel in the community of the religious cult, under the surveillance of their evil female reverent whose name is Lisbeth Fischer. Whether it is the same person as the doctor, a relative of them or it is simply a case of co-incidence, it is still one more foreshadowing.

Foreshadowing #13: In the abandoned cabin in Episode 2, when Sean and Daniel examine the board where Sean keeps track of Daniel's impressive progress concerning his super power, he mentions that Daniel will be moving cars around in no time.

Outcome #1: A bit later in the same episode, Daniel has the chance to save his buddy Chris by shoving a police car out of the way.

Outcome #2: Also at the end of the game, in case Sean and Daniel agree to escape, Daniel uses his power to move  police cars and cops out of their escape route (Blood Brothers). He does it again if Sean wants to escape but he disagrees, in which case he only pushes the cars out of the way, making sure no human being is hurt (Parting Ways), and also if Sean wants to surrender but Daniel refuses, shoving everything and everyone out of the way but also causing Sean's tragic end (Lone Wolf).

Foreshadowing #14: Just before leaving the forest to go to their grandparents' house in Episode 2, Sean and Daniel encounter a hostile cougar which kills their little dog and threatens to attack them both. Depending on your choice at that point, Daniel may kill the cougar by levitating it and breaking its neck (the other option is to have Sean simply drive it away with a stick).

Outcome: At the end of Episode 3, if Sean does not agree to do the heist with Finn, Daniel will go with their friend instead. When Sean finds about it, he runs to Merrill's house with Cassidy. Depending on how high or low Daniel's sense of brotherhood has been up to then, and on how much he trusts Sean or not, he may violently attack Cassidy by levitating her, just the way he did with the cougar. Although Daniel may do the same to other people later on, independently of gender, in this case it is some kind of inside joke, as Cassidy is obviously a bit older than Sean and, therefore, in Daniel's eyes, a cougar woman wanting to steal his brother from him. Regardless Daniel can levitate Cassidy even in the case that Sean does not get romantically involved with her.

Foreshadowing #15: While at the grandparents' house in Episode 2, Sean has one last chance to call Lyla. If he hasn't called her before, her mother answers if he does so now, and if Sean discloses his identity, she tells him that she advised her daughter to let the Diaz boys go because they are never coming back and they shouldn't.

Outcome: This last statement proves to be true in turn, in the case that either Sean or Daniel or both make it to Mexico at the end of Episode 5 (Blood Brothers, Parting Ways & Lone Wolf endings).

Foreshadowing #16: While going to get Daniel from Chris's house in Episode 2, Sean can pass from the back yard of the Eriksens, where he sees the snowman that Chris had built missing his left eye.

Outcome: Due to Daniel lashing out at the end of Episode 3 and destroying Merrill's place, Sean ends up with losing his left eye.

Foreshadowing #17: While exploring their grandparents' house in Episode 2, Sean spots an aquarium, but he can see no fish in it. He asks Daniel to move a log and reveal the fish, and when Daniel does so, a red and blue tropical goldfish appears. When Sean sees it, he exclaims "Wow, he is beautiful", while staring at the sparkling creature. While still exploring the house after seeing the fish, as Sean passes by the aquarium, the fish hides again behind the log, at which point Daniel tells him that "you scared him back into his cave". Then Sean replies that "[he] will see it one day or another".

Outcome #1: Towards the end of the same episode, Sean and Daniel are at the Christmas market, where they meet Cassidy and Finn, Sean's two potential romance options for the following episode. The incident with the goldfish sort of foreshadows Sean's choice of Finn, who is a beautiful young man with red hair and blue eyes, sharing those attributes of the fish. And Sean is indeed destined to see him "one day or another".

Outcome #2: Then in Episode 3, when Sean and Daniel meet by the lake to do some training, Daniel mentions a secret cave that Finn wants to show them at the other side, nodding to the cave of the beautiful goldfish in the aquarium. If you decide to match Sean with Finn, all these incidents and statements get a rather interesting hue. (For more exploration into this specific theme, you can read my related article "Brotherhood and Romantic Love In Life Is Strange 2")

Foreshadowing #18: In Episode 2, after Sean and Daniel open Karen's bedroom, they can explore the place for a while. There is a storage box with several things that Karen used to own, and one of them is a pair of hiking boots. When Sean sees them, he says that he was never a fan of hiking.

Outcome: In the first parts of Episode 5, we see him doing just that more than once: he goes hiking with Daniel at the start, and later on with both his brother and Karen.

Foreshadowing #19: At the start of Episode 3, we get a flashback, three months before the Seattle incident, when Sean, Daniel and their father still lived peacefully at their home. You have a brief chance to explore a limited amount of items in the house, and one of them is Sean's "squad" sweater that is lying on the floor of the bathroom. When Sean sees it, he says that "they're probably gonna bury me in this thing."

Outcome: It is yet one more foreshadowing that becomes a tragic reality in Episode 5, in the Lone Wolf ending if Daniel has low morality and Sean decides to surrender. Daniel disobeys him, he locks the car's doors so that Sean cannot get out and he leads the car through the frontier gate, killing everyone in his way, but as soon as the car enters the Mexican territory, Daniel realizes that Sean has been killed by a bullet during the escape. Sean is wearing his "squad" sweater when he dies.

Foreshadowing #20: In Episode 3, while Sean and Daniel are at the lake, Daniel randomly asks Sean about Arizona. When Sean wants to know why he is asking, Daniel replies "for no reason".

Outcome: Much later in Episode 5, they find themselves in Arizona, living with their mother and her friends in the desert for a brief period of time.

Foreshadowing #21: In Episode 3, when Sean and Daniel are sitting with their friends around the camp fire sharing their worst memories, Sean has the option to tell them about how Hank Stamper back at the gas station locked him up and wanted to have the brothers arrested. When Hannah hears the story, she makes a comment about vigilantes like Stamper.

Outcome: Then in Episode 5, after Sean and Daniel arrive at the wall and Daniel uses his power to break it open, they get attacked by two such vigilantes, a man with his daughter, who are illegally keeping watch at the border to make sure no one gets in.

Foreshadowing #22: In Episode 3 and the camp fire scene, when it is Finn's turn to recall his worst memory, he refuses to do so, claiming that he is only looking to the future, hoping to realize his dream of living at a beach house in Costa Rica, overlooking the ocean.

Outcome: In Episode 5, if Sean has romanced Finn and forgave him about the heist, and at the end decides to cross the border while Daniel has high morality, Daniel will help him escape but he himself will stay behind. Sean will go to Mexico as he wanted, and six years later he will send Daniel a postcard showing him with Finn, posing together at the ocean beach. Which means that Finn's dream came true thanks to Sean (Parting Ways ending).

Foreshadowing #23: In Episode 3, Sean has the option to stay behind at the camp fire when Daniel goes to sleep. If he does so, Finn will give him a fancy haircut. This may be an optional decision, but at this specific point agreeing to do it equals some kind of ritual to freedom, and becomes a rather strong element that foreshadows a couple of canon developments that will follow in the next chapter.

Outcome #1: In Episode 4, Sean appears with his head almost completely shaved, since he got that bad eye injury after the incident at Merrill's place, and obviously had to undergo some surgery at the hospital. This, in connection also to his subsequent quest through the Nevada desert and the trials that he has to go through until he finally gets reunited with Daniel is like one more rite of passage and a literal and metaphorical change of skin.

Outcome #2: In Episode 4, when Sean finds Daniel he is under the surveillance of Lisbeth Fischer, who wants to take advantage of the boy's power in order to present him to her flock as some kind of prophet. For this purpose, she cut his hair to match the image of several saints and prophets, but she did so in a really tasteless way (don't leave your day job, Lisbeth). If Sean's initial haircut was a ritual to freedom, Daniel's haircut is a ritual to imprisonment, since he has been brainwashed by Lisbeth so as to serve her plans. 

Foreshadowing #24: In Episode 5, while Sean and Daniel are in Karen's car, heading to the Mexican border, Sean takes his hands off the steering wheel and has Daniel drive the car using his power.

Outcome: A bit later, in the Lone Wolf ending, Daniel refuses to surrender and he uses telekinesis to drive the car through the frontier, resulting in tragedy.

Foreshadowing #25: The last one is not so much a prediction as it is a confirmation, since it happens in reverse; but it may become one if specific decisions are made. If you check Sean's sketchbook in Episode 3, there are two pages dedicated to Finn, and in the second Sean has drawn a sketch depicting the two of them sitting together at the shore of the lake. Sean's note about this sketch says that they watched an amazing sunset in silence while sharing a joint.

Outcome: In Episode 5, after Sean meets his mother, they go to a motel to rest for a while before going back to Lisbeth's church to get Daniel. There, Sean has the chance to speak with Karen and allow her to open up to him. If all goes well, their discussion continues on the porch outside where they may smoke a cigarette. When this happens, Karen tells Sean that this is what she used to do with his father and assures him that "that's when you know someone is good to you, when you can just sit together, shut the hell up and watch the universe do its own thing", literally describing the scene with Finn that Sean had drawn in his sketchbook. No doubt that clever fox Karen took a peek in there while Sean wasn't looking.