Until Dawn is a game about survival, unless we’re talking about Emily, in which case I’m waiting for the first opportunity for death’s sweet embrace.
The characters in Until Dawn largely play into well-known horror archetypes, whether it’s the sexpot blonde who’s always getting herself into trouble, the character who can’t die and seems destined to see the credits, etc. These movies typically have someone you really hate too, a character the audience is rooting to die the whole way through.
THERE ARE SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON! SPOILERS ABOUT THE STORY AND SPOILERS ABOUT HOW MUCH I HATE EMILY! SPOILER: SHE SUCKS.
Emily is that character in Until Dawn, earning the title of Most Wanted To Be Killed in record time. The writers want you to hate her, so every line of dialogue drips with smarm, arrogance and an obnoxious valley girl twang that makes you want to drive a screwdriver into your ear.
These are all codewords for: “I am a miserable human and I don’t give two shits about it.”
All of this is apparently the very first time you meet Emily. “Where’s the bellboy when you need one?” she playfully cries, as her boyfriend sighs and carefully lugs her bags up a mountain.
When she arrives at the cabin, she can’t help but immediately be unlikable, picking a fight with her ex-boyfriend’s new significant other. Her desperation to seem above everyone else only reveals how little she actually thinks about herself. I’d feel bad for her if she wasn’t the worst.
And right after, hen Emily flips her shit over a missing bag, that’s when it was over for her.
This was the moment my wife turned to me while we were playing, fire in her eyes, and became determined to make sure Emily did not survive the night. It was scarier than anything Until Dawn had thrown at me yet, so I quickly said “yes m’am” and began operation Let’s Kill Emily.
This doesn’t become possible until later in the game, when we made the decision to have Emily and Matt split off and look for help. (Using horror logic, we figured distancing them from the group would increase the chances of the two finding themselves in trouble and possibly dying. Mike was a cool guy, but he was worth losing if it meant having Emily out of our digital lives.)
Eventually, they stumble upon a tower with a working radio, but Just As Everything Seems Great, things go wrong. Someone sabotages the tower, it begins to collapse, and Emily is dangling from the edge. This was the moment where my wife started rooting at the screen like it was football Sunday. “Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!”
WHO WOULD WANT TO SAVE THAT? IF YOU SAID YES, CONSIDER YOURSELF BANNED.
But I couldn’t do it. More specifically, it seemed like Matt wouldn’t do it. Despite my best efforts to try and save Emily, however, her big mouth got in the way and the game did the job for me.
…or so it seemed.
As is the case with most horror, people aren’t dead unless you see their heads literally fall off. (Even in that case, don’t count out some magic voodoo or a lightning bolt to reanimate people.)
She shows up a little later, right after Matt’s jaw is dislodged from his face, and continues to be stick around way longer than she has any right to be. I was actually given another opportunity to kill her off, as the group suspects she may be infected with the virus turning people into the hideous creatures running around, but my good guy intentions kept her alive yet again.
(Cue additional grumbling from my wife.)
In the game’s final moments, the remaining survivors are confronted by certain death in the cabin, the characters come up with one last play. They flood the cabin with gas, hoping to use a nearby light to ignite the place.
At this point, I have Mike, Emily, Sam and Chris still alive and kicking. I ended up panicking during the game’s final choice and…
Goodbye, Emily. You will not be missed.
Comments
22 responses to “Emily, Who Is The Worst, Deserves To Die In Until Dawn”
So, your wife becomes sadistic after another woman complains over a handbag?
That’s about the size of it… but to be fair, Emily is really unlikeable. I gave her until she ran off after Mike to try and sleaze her way back into his affections.
Yeah we had a room full of people last night who all wanted Emily to die as quickly as possible…
This is too real. She was just the worst.
I shot her in her stupid dumb head. No hesitation. Best decision ever 10/10 would shoot again.**SLIGHT SPOILERS DUH**
I don’t think Emily is the worst character at all. Yeah sure she can be an annoying mole who walks all over Matt but Matt doesn’t seem to care much so that’s probably a dynamic of their relationship. And out of all the characters, she easily has the worst time of it in the game. I’m pretty sure she is the character has the most chances to die off the top of my head (The list by memory being Emily:4, Sam:1, Mike:1, Ash:2, Chris:3, Matt:2, Jess:2, Josh: 1).
Having played through it several times and knowing the outcomes of every choice etc, I’d say Ashley is probably the character most deserving to die. The fact that if Chris chooses to point the gun at her and pull the trigger it eventually leads to her choosing to not let him into the house when he’s being chased by the Wendigo. Also how quickly she throws Emily under the bus when she’s been bitten…. One could argue that she remembers that Chris “chose to shoot her instead” but that doesn’t justify not letting him in and thus causing his death and becoming a murderer. Chris had the choice to either shoot himself or shoot her, so who can blame him for saving himself. Also the fact she can choose not to tell Emily that the bite isn’t infectious. EVIL EVIL ASH!
“UNDERSTAND THE PALM OF MY HAND YOU B**CH!”
P.S. – That’s not the games final choice btw… You get two more chances to RUN/HIDE and you need to hide both times and literally NOT MOVE A MUSCLE. The part where Handigo is screaming right in Sam’s face was one of the most intense moments I’ve ever had playing a video game. Inbetween these two choices Emily, Chris and Ash (if they’re alive) will decide to play the hero and piss bolt out of the nearest cabin door leaving the others to deal with the Wendigos.
You can also choose not to shoot at all in that scene, and she’ll love you for it and let you into the house. One of the totems alludes to this, and it looks like the best* choice to make.
Yes I’m aware of this. I actually haven’t had her lock the door one me, I’ve just read on it. The point I was making, in all the different butterfly scenarios that play out (whether good or bad), Ash comes across as the most psycho as she willingly lets some one die. (except maybe Mike when he shoots Emily – which you also don’t have to do obviously – although that shows how much the game developers knew most people would hate her. They literally give you the chance to shoot her in the head)
Lol, I thought Emily was hilarious. I wanted her to die until about halfway where she became totally capable.
Like OMG. Save me Matt. Don’t think.
To be honest I think Emily is too real as a character which makes people hate her.
SPOILERS
U should have stayed on the conveyor belt at the mines as she was running away. There’s a rock grinder at the top.
This article x1000. Emily was THE WORST.
I know a few girls (including my mom) who have similar traits to Emily.
Additionally, they’re all asian, so now my subconscience is making racist comparisons.
IT’S JUST A JOKE, HAAAAN
Prank* But I appreciate the enthusiasm.
Haha, oops! You’d think with the amount of times they replay that line I would have remembered it right :/
Emily somehow was the only one who survived my game…
Lmao, the worst possible scenario this game has to offer
*SPOILERS*
You can see Emily flirting with her ex very early in the game if her and Matt split up when he’s carrying her bags.
I’m still early in and Chris is the only one I don’t want to kill.
Emily actually becomes really likeable. I mean I’m pretty sure your meant to dislike her but when she starts fending for herself you’re slowly like wait a sec? Shes badass! No one deserves to die, she just deserved a small smack on the wrist, Emily was by far one of the most capable, on her own, female characters.
Weird, my wife loves Emily and hates Ashley as she whines too much. Played through it twice, now going for an “all dead” scenario. See how we go. I’m going to shoot that Em in the head.
I remember when she was falling she started alternating between begging Matt to save her and screaming insults at him, and then the fact that Matt dies if he (a) agrees with her earlier in the game, (b) lets her keep the flare gun, or (c) tries to rescue her twice is what makes her insanely hatable. It’s not because she’s too real; it’s because the game shows absolutely nothing good about her character and plenty of bad, and also because the game is literally rigged to punish the player for looking out for her character!
Emily is my favourite character. Sure she’s a bitch at the beginning of the game who makes everyone else do stuff for her but when she’s alone in the mines, she really shows that she is a strong female character who can fend for herself. I think what makes me like her so much is the police interviews at the end of the game. If her and Matt have a high relationship status then she really regrets being horrible to him and she talks about how much she actually loves him, despite what everyone else may think. There is also a scene in the bonus chapter (if you got the special edition of the game) where her and Matt go to look for her bag and she apologises for being so high maintenance and thanks Matt for dealing with her; and since most people got the normal version of the game, they will miss out on this side of Em unless she’s alive in the last chapter and Matt was nice to her (which probably wont happen a lot since most people hate her from the start).