1. So I'm assuming at this point that Vigors are a stand-in for Bioshock's Plasmids. The parallels are immense. Both are magic tonics that give one superpowers. Both are apparently created by a genius inventor (Fontaine/Fink). I vaguely remember that Plasmids were created from sea slugs on the ocean floor using stem cells. Perhaps that is true here. Perhaps Fontaine and Fink are even the same person? Goes beyond the evidence at this point.
   
   
2. That said, there's something odd going on here. The society in Columbia has an awfully blase attitude towards people downing shots of super-serum and gaining the ability to hurl people into the air. A carnival booth operator apparently hands one out capable of inducing telekinesis to everyone who wants to play a little carnival game, which is impressive sang-froid given the barrels of fireworks littered all around the carnival. It also confuses me, as the entire premise of Bioshock 1 (and 2) was the utter destruction that unfettered access to superpowers inflicted on the society of Rapture once use (and abuse) became widespread. Maybe Columbia is in the early stages? Or maybe there's some limitation I don't know about.
   
   EDIT: Turns out there is. I didn't realize the carnival version is only temporary, as later on you have the option of buying the full Vigor for more money than you will have at this juncture. Still seems dangerous, but perhaps mindsets on such things were different before the Great War.
   
   
3. Okay, the second barker refers overtly to the Vox Populi spreading "dissent" and "lies", which means my theory as to a competing political or religious organization (possibly both) is probably correct. So what is their philosophy then? Is the name Vox Populi one they use, or one that was given to them? My assumption is the former, as it sounds like something a bunch of populist rebels would adopt. What agenda do they have then? My guess would be Atheism, Socialism, Anarchism, or some combination of the three, as they would both be appropriate for the period. I expect we'll find out.
   
   
4. Sort of a continuation on 2 above, but the second carnival game involves the use of real shotguns. Was that normal in state fairs around the turn of the 20th century? It may well have been, for all I know, but it further re-enforces the carefree attitude of Columbia in general towards the possible ramifications of violence. An innocent society that would never think of such things perhaps? No idea.
   
   
5. Why would the troops of a flying city-state need mechanical horses?
   
   
6. Booker records himself saying "What's a Voxophone" on a Voxophone. I wonder if that will come back at any point?
   
   
7. I'm afraid I couldn't make out any of the lyrics to the bluegrass quartet that Booker visited shortly after the voxophone booth (too many other barkers). But they looked like they were standing in front of a Texas Flag, distinct from what I presume to be the flag of Columbia (which we've seen on a couple buildings), that consists of a single star on a bed of 13 stripes. What symbolism that has, I don't know, but I suppose it's possible the backdrop was just bunting of some sort.
   
   
8. The Third Barker mentions "the anarchist Daisy Fitzroy", whom I assume to be a leader of the Vox Populi, which if true, confirms one of my theories above concerning their politics. How exactly Anarchy is supposed to work in a flying city is beyond me, but it's certainly possible the label is one being invented by her opponents. It's also possible she's the girl we're here to get, though my money'd still be on this "Lamb" that we've been told about. Of course, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that they are one and the same.
   
   
9. What the hell is that "Handyman" supposed to be? It sure doesn't look too happy to be up there, but the barker doesn't explain what he is or what his purpose is for. I would hope that's cleared up at some point. My guess would be along the lines of a proto-Big Daddy? Perhaps literally. This is a prequel after all.
   
   
10. I do like the new style of Monty Python/daguerrotype montages explaining the vigors more than I did the old Pipboy style from Bioshock 1/2. Though why the hell would they set up a booth with free samples of a security-machine-defeating vigor in front of a security machine designed to keep people out of the raffle? Why would they give out samples of that at all? It made sense in Rapture, but I don't feel it does here."
    
    
11. So this is the sequence that you were all referring to from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. A few notes that I picked up. The man and woman in this sequence sound an awful lot like the man and woman from the rowboat. Other than to ask the question of heads or tails, they do not address the protagonist directly, turning away from him, just like the mystery boaters, conversing with one another about something that makes no sense as though Booker were not there. As many of you pointed out, the play they are referencing is a heavily meta-laced play, in which the two bit characters discuss fate and destiny, insignificance, and other such matters. What does all this mean? I have no idea. Is this the same couple as from the rowboat? If so, why doesn't Booker recognize them? Are they some kind of meta-plot-device?
    
    Wildly unsupported theory #4: Booker is making this entire thing up, lost in some mental delusion thanks to a horrific tragedy and trauma which he blames himself for. The man and woman who keep appearing are the representations of his conscious mind rejecting the delusion that he has created for itself by pointing out its false nature and hinting at the rigid causality involved in the game, forcing him along a given path to confront Comstock. What Comstock represents in this theory, I leave to other people.
    
    
12. Songbird Songbird from the sky... awful violent for a nursery rhyme, but then it's no worse than Ring Around the Rosie I suppose. Is the Songbird a real thing? Or a symbol for the Vox Populi (or something else)?
    
    
13. Salt?
    
    
14. That's a nasty looking instrument the cops have there. Doesn't seem tremendously practical, but what do I know?
    
    
15. This came up before, but I noticed it more just now. The three symbols on the bells before, and on the statues and balloons in Columbia, are the Sword for Washington, the Scroll for Jefferson, and the Key for Franklin. War, Law, and Science. Fitting emblems, particularly given Columbia's role as an extreme version of turn-of-the-century American Exceptionalism. There's a palpably triumphalist mood to the entire city thus far, though it does seem to be a functioning state, by and large.
    
    
16. The voxophone from Constance was sent to "Madame Lutesce", whom, if I remember correctly, was the person who sent us the telegram. Moments later we see that the statue is to "R. Lutesce", who gave Columbia her wings. The inventor of the technology that levitates the city, I must presume, particularly given the reference from Constance as to her books on the sciences. We now have explicit confirmation of "the girl in the tower", which I presume to be that giant angel thing.
    
    
17. The song that plays directly after the statue is Goodnight, Irene, a folk song that dates back to at least 1933, and probably several decades before. This, at least is not an anachronism, but it is interesting, in that the song is a blues staple for a reason, as it is morose and even references suicide. It would seem somewhat out of place for a festival day at a triumphalist city like Columbia, but perhaps they liked the melody?
    
    
18. The false shepherd mark that Booker bears is plainly supposed to be some kind of number of the Beast. But what does AD mean? Anno Domini? I don't see the connection. None of the characters we've met so far seem to have those initials, though... Booker's last name is DeWitt. He would be BD then. Maybe there's a connection there?
    
    
19. Aaaaand of course Booker draws 77, despite being warned not to by the telegram. I like the touch that the raffle balls are baseballs. It may just be me, but I'm getting a strong reminder of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", a short story from 1948 about a "free" lottery in a small town. In that story, one member of the town was selected at random to be the scapegoat for the town's sins and then ritually stoned to death. Maybe it's just my assumption that things can't be as perfect as they're assumed to be. My guess, given everything we've seen thus far, is that having chosen the lucky number, Booker will "win" the prize of being ritually sacrificed or some such.
    
    
20. 
    
    Jesus loving Christ.
    
    Okay so... um... yeah, not so much with the sacrificed thing. A black woman and a white man, I'm assuming this is a punishment for interracial marriage? They're described as groom and bride after all. And the announcer (I just noticed) appears to be Jeremiah Fink himself. Just a question. What happens if you choose to throw the ball at the couple? Does the cop still grab your arm? What if you don't throw it at all? On another note, I guess we know what that weird device is for.
    
    Okay, so Columbia is ultra-America as it was in the early 1900s, warts and all. Plainly racism is alive and well here, as was historically the case in the US at the time, though I confess, this is taking it a bit far even for then. What does this development mean? Are the Vox Populi integrationists as well as "anarchists"? Perhaps that's where they get their anarchy slur from. No doubt we'll be meeting them soon.
    
    
21. Obviously now that the combat has begun, there's going to be fewer hints than there were, and thus less for me to speculate on, but there's still a bit going on. One of the policeman shouts "The fireman! He's here!" Are you the fireman? Is that tied into this false shepherd notion? And what does the Fireman mean?
    
    EDIT: Nevermind.
    
    
22. The loading screen when you enter the Blue Ribbon shows a Pinkerton's badge, which I am assuming belongs to Booker (or belonged at least), especially since it's laid atop a Pinkerton's agency form with Booker's name and vital statistics on it. I further assume the case file there relates to the girl you're trying to find. So Booker is a Pinkerton, or was one.
    
    
23. It's almost like these two mystery people know where you're going to be...
    
    Wildly unsupported theory #5: These two are time travelers, who are using their foreknowledge of events to arrange to be in positions where they know Booker will go. They've done this routine, watching him get close and fail, hundreds and thousands of times already, which explains why they knew your coin flip was going to come out heads, and also why they knew you weren't going to row the boat. It further explains why you were unable to shoot them, as they knew you were going to do that, and used that knowledge to subtly move out of the way of the bullet based on the trajectory they knew it would take...
    
    ... wait... no, for them to know that, they would need to have seen it happen the first time and then one of them would be dead. Maybe the other one then used more time travel to warn the one who was shot, which thus allowed them to evade the bullet. A simple test: Line up a shot that would normally hit both of them and see if it works.
    
    Of course this theory does not jive with the Comstock-is-a-time-traveller theory except in ways that go way beyond the evidence at this point. More details as they become available.
    
    
24. The festival marks Columbia's "secession" from the Sodom below. So was Columbia a recognized, federalized part of the US? Or was that a figure of speech, referring to the fact that they simply left the ground behind.
    
    
25. Something odd here. There's female cops in this world. Given the racism, I would not have expected to find women in Columbia's police force, as that's wildly anachronistic to the period. There was even a mention earlier about how science was not a proper pursuit for a lady, yet apparently wielding machine guns was?
    
    
26. The civilian who lets you loot his house (how nice of him) describes himself as a "Progressive", which is an interesting term to use. 1912 was the year that Theodore Roosevelt founded the Progressive Party, while this is also the middle of the so-called "Progressive Era" that lasted from around 1890 to 1929. Progressives originally were somewhat liberal rationalists who advocated improving the lot of workers, unionization, trust-busting, and the general establishment of social programs and laws. Who knows if that term has any meaning in Columbia, as Progressive around here could mean "Let's only beat racial minorities. But it does cast a bit more light on the mainstream viewpoints of Columbia proper.
    
    
27. The flyers in the Montgomery Residence are staples from the Abolitionist movement and beyond into Reconstruction and the equality politics of the late 1800s. I would wager, given what we've seen thus far, that the former might well be as important as the latter in Columbia. I couldn't help but notice four beds in one room you entered? Might this be a stopover on some kind of Columbian Underground Railroad?
    
    EDIT: The Fink Voxophone would seem to confirm this, as the blacks are convicts from Georgia imported to perform menial labor at what I will assume, based on everything else, is slave-terms. Lovely.
    
    
28. A "pretty interesting respawn screen" indeed. I'm not sure what theory that lends credence to, but it would seem to suggest that everything that's happening in Columbia is not real, or being imagined, or perhaps that this is all a memory of the "real" present in the 1930s when the airships attack New York.
    
    
29. That line in the "Half a Jew" voxophone from Comstock, about how a hundred pages will suffice for his biography for "he knows how it ends", is very interesting. It would seem to confirm the Comstock-Time-Traveler theory from before, as it means he has advance knowledge of how events are to play out. Which leads to a thought...
    
    Wildly unsupported theory #6: Fusing theories 2 and 5, what if Comstock and the mystery couple are all time travelers? Perhaps they're playing a dueling game of trying to outmaneuver one another to arrange for Booker to win or lose by manipulating events around him to help or hinder his progress? But then why wouldn't Comstock have simply had Booker arrested prior to arriving, or some other such thing? And how does this interface with Lutesce, who seems to also have foreknowledge of what's going on here? More data required.
    
    
30. The voxophone about Otis mentions that he took the locked chest from a "lodge" where secret ceremonies are performed, and something about "feathered brothers"? A masonic cult in Columbia? Seems a bit anachronistic. Is this perhaps connected to the "Songbird" the girls from before were singing about?
    
    
31. Columbia was built in 1893? That's less than three years after Wounded Knee, which Comstock is supposed to have participated in. Did he build the thing in three years? Or did he start it before the massacre took place? Or was my previous theory accurate and Columbia itself is from the future? This is becoming ridiculous...
    
    
32. So the reference before to suppressing the "Orientals" was in reference to the Boxers. And moreover, it appears that Columbia was at least at one point affiliated with the US government, as Washington is giving them orders to stand down from their actions with the Boxers, whereupon they seceded from the US itself. So that means that Columbia was certainly built with the knowledge of, and likely with the help of the US government. But when? And how? And was time travel involved at all? If the US government knew about Columbia's construction, then it can't have just materialized overnight. Perhaps Comstock brought the technology back to do it, but then what was the role of this Lutesce woman?
    

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