"Far Cry 6" Ending Analysis

So, I know this game came out last year, but I had just gotten around to beating it (literally within 45 minutes of writing this post) and I have mixed feelings about the long-wielding, twisted, flip-flopped experience I'd had to get to the final resolution. At face value, many who have played the fifth installment of this series may in a sense note they're living in some sort of Groundhog Day scene, as a lot of the mechanics and mission quests feel similar, albeit not from lack of trying, to its predecessor, with the sole distinction being the obvious and necessary change in plot. 

Anton Castillo (left) and 13-year-old son Diego Castillo (right).

I'll give you this warning now, though: this post will contain spoilers. If this is something you're not okay with, you need to finish the game before you proceed. Stop scrolling. Stop reading. Back out of this article, finish the game, and then come back. If you're okay with the ending not being a total surprise (which, believe me, it won't be if you're familiar with every other Far Cry game), then read on. I will be not only discussing the ending in full detail, but I'll also offer up some perspectives not commonly talked about as well as attempt to wrap up loose ends. We have a lot to unbuckle in this, so grab a snack, carry your phone with you to follow along during your traditional poop session, and prepare to keep up. 

Again, you have been warned.

Dani Rojas with Clara Garcia and Juan Cortez.

A tale retold

For brevity, I'm not going to go into the nitty-gritty of Far Cry 5, with the possible exceptions of some compare and contrast concepts, but assuming you're reading this after having played the fifth game, you know of the story of Joseph Seed, his heralds (two brothers Jacob and John and pseudo-sister Faith), and his massive deluded, less-than-orthodox cult following helping Joseph rise to power to suit a common goal. It's a classic tale of man vs. the world--its villain arc solely the discovery of self in a sense of a prestige God complex.

This game, though in a sense taking on a more political approach, follows a very similar and, ironically, predictable pattern as Joseph had spoken out about his disdain for murder, war, poverty, slavery, etc. and this game kinda reinforces all of those ideals. While game development company Ubisoft does its best to send a similar message by adopting these oppositional ideals, the game actually seems to hold a mirror to the previously mentioned. Certain parts of the maps are fortified and occupied by FND soldiers (short for Fuerzas Nacionales de Defensa, translation: National Defense Soldiers), whose sole purpose is to serve the commander in chief, occupy fuel depots and protect chemically contaminated herbs, and treat an entire nation less than suitable for what others may deem a "necessary and utilitarian purpose". They would often take "Fake Yarans" (outcasts of society), prisoners, and innocent civilians in to achieve this purpose, therefore using greed as a means to justify a better world. This can be done voluntarily or by force, and those who do not comply are killed to preserve the strongest links. 

Dani Rojas, female/male protagonist.

Dani Rojas: Leader of La Revolucion

Whether you choose to play as a female or male throughout the story makes little difference (but the choice is there, just an FYI). Regardless, you will be obtaining the part of the main protagonist Dani Rojas, a rigid ex-military member, who grew up at an orphanage in the fictional country of Yara (YAH-duh, for Spanish pronunciation), which is strongly reminiscent of Cuba. From the beginning, all Dani knows is to fight as typically anyone with a background such as that knows, so they (save from referring to binary gender pronouns throughout) don't have much of a character arc from that point on. The game starts off with Dani celebrating a solidified escape plan on a rooftop in the heart of Yara with two close friends, Lita Torres and Alejo Ruiz, when some commotion starts in the streets below. The soldiers open fire on the citizens present, leading Ruiz to also throw something at the soldiers and openly insulting El Presidente Antón Castillo (ann-TONE CASS-tee-o), which results in him getting killed as well. From there, Lita and Dani sneak their way out of the building, through the sewer drains below the city, and to the dock where a boat is waiting to take them and a crowd of refugees to Miami, Florida in the good ol' USA. 

They also sneak a little boy on there, who did not have any bargain for boarding (will be important, so hold). They don't make it very far when the boat is infiltrated and Castillo himself, alongside his military commandant, and begins a mini monologue ("Mi papa loved to fish", amirite?) In this, he spoke of his time as a young boy with his father, who was president before him, as they fished off of a boat to catch and release. He did this to most of the fish except for "a big fish", which in this case he (Antón) refers to his 13-year-old son Diego Castillo, who was the hooded boy who snuck onto the ship outbound towards Miami---the same boy Dani and Lita snuck onto the boat. Diego pleads with his father to let the refugees go and even offers their services of making Viviro, a cancer-curing drug with less than ethical origination, rather than taking their lives. Castillo states that "they could be good workers [and rebuild paradise]... if you wanted them to live, you would've never set foot on this fucking boat." He takes Diego before allowing his men to shoot and sink the boat, killing all aboard except for, you guessed it: Dani.

The logo of "Libertad", similar to the Yaran flag.

Viva Libertad

Dani leaves the beach where she and Lita washed up to follow a series of symbols and codes to locate the camp of the mercenary revolutionary army known as "Libertad" (or, as Castillos refers to them, "terroristos" or "Fake Yarans"). These guerillas are vicious, resilient and headstrong and have made it absolutely clear that they will stop at nothing until each Castillo is put into the ground. The militia is led by one Clara Garcia, a former wealthy "true Yaran" journalist who previously voted for Castillo during the election because he promised change. She was expecting Lita (Lita mentioned in the beginning staying and fighting rather than escaping like Dani and Alejo planned) and was slightly disappointed to see that only Dani was the sole survivor. Dani simply stated she wanted a boat out of Yara, but Clara stated that Dani was now in her camp and therefore under her thumb. 

If Dani wanted out of Yara, she needed to offer a service to Clara first. "Free elections, free expression, free the outcasts---a Yara free of Castillos." She, after locating and recruiting Juan Cortez (former guerilla fighter with experience in specialty weapons), was then recruited for a rescue mission of guerillas who were held captive on an FND ship. Following this, Clara gets Dani off of the ship and, in a cutscene, explains the situation in a little bit more detail.

Dani's plan is to move to America, work shitty jobs to scrape money together, and later open a body shop---a plan Alejo was also a part of. Clara goes on to say that "Yanquis (Yankees) will pay you to park their cars or pick their fruits, but you'll never be one of them. The American Dream doesn't come in our color." Dani mockingly asks what Clara's plan is if Libertad claims victory, and despite feeling Clara will give a confident response, she simply replies: "the next president won't last six months before they are assassinated... [the list] is a vision, Dani, but I'm not as naive as you think. This revolution will free Yara, but won't fix it." Essentially, Clara counts on a revolution that will give Yara the air to breathe, but lungs that are impaired. She also knows that, in spite of it all, she won't live long enough to see it.

Note: also worth mentioning that there is a secret ending following this cutscene. Clara keeps her promise and gets you a boat. You can sail away from Yara and make your way to Miami. In a separate cutscene on some beach there, Dani hears the news that Castillo lives for another three months, Clara Garcia was killed by elite task force members, and that "the war in Yara is over", but considering the censorship control in Yara propaganda, it's hard to back any of this up for sure.

 It seems kinda weird to put this cutscene analysis in here, but I think that it's necessary because it gives a sense of foreshadowing. Clara is a natural-born leader. She's realistic and knows that a rise-up against authority doesn't guarantee true freedom. It just breaks the bonds long enough to maneuver. Without order, Yara won't be any better than how it was. 

Speaking of how it was, I want to get into Castillo, who he is, and why he's such a "bad guy"--- so much so that his own people want to spill his blood.

The Villain Arc of El Presidente Castillo

I mentioned before that Antón's father was president long before him. In fact, 50 years before he was. When Antón was his son's age, he watched the members of the revolution, "Legends of '67", murder his father right before his eyes before forcing him to work hard labor in a tobacco camp, even allegedly saving the field sickle he used to do so as a reminder for the vision he idealizes. Since then, he'd always been under the assumption that his land was stolen from him. His mother had continued his education throughout his imprisonment. When he witnessed an economic decline, he was convinced that the Castillos were the only ones who could save Yara. So, fast forward a good 40-some years and he runs for president and wins. He promises to restore Yara to how it was, at least in economic means. He instead rules with restrictions to free speech and expression and damns anyone who opposes his ideals. Civil unrest occurs when sanctions are placed on Yara, leading them to rely on black market smuggling, and this forces Castillo to further clench his iron fist. 

He knew that his ambiguous but arbitrary methods would come with backlash and constant oppositional pushback (even eventual assassination, much like what happened to his father), so as a form of insurance he bore a child with Maria Marquessa, a wealthy "propaganda princess of Yara", thus resulting in the existence of Diego. From that point on, Diego's sole purpose was to be groomed to be the next leader of Yara and carry on his father's legacy. His father never had him because he wanted him---Castillo didn't even like kids. Diego was solely an asset. 

His mother died of breast cancer and, in that same year (circa 2007), he developed acute leukemia before Diego was born and, as a result, Maria convinced him to conceive. Maria does not tell Diego of who she actually is to him; rather, she writes a letter to Castillo stating that she will reveal her identity on his 18th birthday and that should anything happen to Castillo (as he likely wouldn't raise Diego to adulthood), Diego would be taken care of financially. 

Castillo is a very stoic and fearless leader, even in the face of his enemies. Unlike in the previous installment where each killing of a herald actively sends Joseph Seed into a deeper devastating crying fit, Castillo is not phased in the slightest. In fact, he seems more annoyed than anything with each member that's killed off. It further solidifies that Castillo sees everyone around him as expendable, caring only about greed more than the empathy of others. I've seen many threads comparing him to the likes of Hitler and Khmer Rouge and I honestly can see a lot of these attributes about him in direct reflection of them. The one thing that Castillo values more than anything, though, is the truth. Lies hold no value in Castillo's eyes.

The thing that I admire most about Castillo (and really any antagonist in the Far Cry series) is that they're so relatable, despite knowing that what they're instilling is nothing short of evil and selfish. It makes you kinda grimace, but nod your head in a sort of agreement and think, "I mean, really when you think about it..."

A perfect example for Castillo would be this scene, where Castillo is being interviewed by an American journalist. I highly recommend that you guys watch it for the full context, but I'll summarize it here. 

It's an on-camera interview where a woman asks him about his role as president, the creation of Viviro, and the rumors surrounding his authority of utilizing slave labor for the production and distribution of it. She also (indirectly) accuses Castillo of being avaricious for holding on to a miraculous medicine such as Viviro when there are citizens of other countries who are suffering and ultimately dying from many different forms of cancer, including her own father, who is stage four. 

Castillo completely slam dunks this interview, stating that Americans always expect what does not belong to them and, like other countries that have undoubtedly also placed sanctions on Yara, will learn to wait their turn. When asked if Viviro is built off the backs of slave labor, Castillo opens with his typical: "truth or lies?"

"The truth, of course," she responds.

"...slavery was your first corporation---1800 to 1860, cotton was your number one export. Grown by whom?... slaves. 4 million Americans worth 3.5 billion dollars. The number one asset in your economy was people who look like me. What is that called?"

"A history lesson," she answers snidely.

"A head start," he corrects her. "Replaced by a billion dollar prison industry that pays its inmates pennies." He then goes on to say that every day, people like him, her, me and all of you use products every day that stem from unethical production, from the clothes we wear to the cell phones we use and that, at the end of the day, no one thinks about where any of that comes from. They only focus on the outcome.

Yeah... this is the scene that really had me thinking "holy shit, I can't even hate this man anymore..." Yes, Castillo is horrible. He's grotesque and horrendous and forces those who don't worship him to work in unsafe conditions likely for less than they deserve, rendering many of them weak and doomed to fight off a terminal illness acquired from said work. That being said, Castillo really is playing off of the playbook written by another faction of people, utilizing the same methods that he's adopted. Again, it goes back into the idea of a God complex (i.e. if I do it, it's okay; if others do it, it's despicable) and just how serious it can be for a tyrannical government, a fascist political figure (Hitler, Stalin, Logan for you Fable fans out there), and hell even a president in a well-developed world like the United States.  Unfortunately, it paints you in a negative light to be a leader and have such a heavy weight such as a whole kingdom or a whole country on your shoulders. In many forms of literature, leaders who end up being authoritarians will always back what they say with "sometimes to do what's necessary/right, we have to make sacrifices and think of the whole rather than the few". Castillo is no exception.

Now, with Anton Castillo out of the way let's move on to his heralds: Maria Marquessa/Dr. Edgar Reyes (both are pretty easy to take down and one of them you don't even technically kill), Jose Castillo, and Admiral Benitez/Sean McKay.

Maria Marquessa, the propaganda regulator of Yara and the birth-giver of Diego Castillo.

Maria Marquessa/Dr. Edgar Reyes and Maximas Matanzas

So, as I stated before if you're familiar with the previous game, you know that there are various "mini-bosses" you have to fight before you square up with the big dog. This game is no exception. In Yara, there are regions that are overseen, or in other words "controlled", by different members of Castillo's regime. With that, there are different members of guerillas in these regions you must recruit into Libertad, but each group has a personal beef with each herald, you see?

Maria Marquessa honestly really just felt like a filler to the story, as she doesn't really add anything incredibly sufficient to the game. Obviously, she's somewhat important because, you know, Diego but the game really could've done without her presence. She manages all media that plays throughout Yara, including TV and radio. She's also responsible for putting on a display show for touring foreigners that want a taste of what Yara is like. More specifically, they want to know what Viviro is, how it works, where it comes from, and the key figures responsible for its production. This is where Dr. Reyes comes in. 

Dr. Edgar Reyes, founder of the chemical and pharmaceutical company that makes Viviro.

Dr. Reyes is the scientist responsible for the creation of the chemical that was sprayed onto the tobacco plants in Yara and therefore used to create the pharmaceutical Viviro for profit. In fact, he is the head of Biovida (the company responsible for its cultivation) and the development of the carcinogenic fertilizer known as PG-240. This is the same fertilizer that's making enslaved laborers throughout Yara come down sick with terminal illnesses. He is probably one of the most sadistic doctors I've ever met (Outlast doesn't count) and shows devout loyalty to Castillo and his method, no matter if the means are morally feasible or not. He has a right-hand man named Sergio Estevez, but you don't see or hear about him much throughout the game with the exception of letters found throughout Yara and a car chase takedown to discover the location of Reyes. A lot of his sadistic principles are reflected in Nazi scientist Josef Mengele, who performed deadly botched procedures on captured Jewish prisoners in Auschwitz. 

Maximas Matanzas.

Maximas Mantanzas is the group residing on this side of the island, and even though they're not much of a fighting-type rebellion, they strive to assist the revolution based on making radio music ("Radio Libertad") to outright embarrass Maria and the rest of Castillo's regime by calling out censorship and the lies spread by the Castillos to cover up the conspiracy of the work they are doing. Granted, you do have members of Maximas that do fight (Paolo and Talia), but most of it is just partying and drinking in the name of shitting all over the Castillo "government". Your final mission with them is to kill Maria Marquessa, Estevez, and Dr. Reyes in that order. Completing this mission makes Maximas join the fight with Libertad. Also, Talia and Clara go way back, so that kind of helps.

Jose Castillo, Anton's nephew and general of the FND.

Jose Castillo and the Monteros

Jose Castillo is Castillo's little bitch boy of a general. He is a slave driver, responsible for the moving of Viviro (specifically the cancer that fuels it) all throughout Yara. His region is where most of the tobacco fields thrive and is therefore cultivated. There isn't much background on him as a character, not that it would help because he's incredibly pompous and is just overall a displeasing person.  I can't help but feel a disdain for this antagonist. I couldn't relate to him at all and I spent most of my time mocking his ego than I did trying to understand his motives. 

Carlos Montero.

Carmilia "Espada" Montero.

The Monteros are the guerillas residing in this portion of the map, and by locating and assisting Camilia "Espada" Montero, meeting Carlos Montero (a former farmer that used to aid in the Biovida fields and, in turn, got sick from it) and doing a few quests for them, their recruitment to Libertad occurs after Espada puts a live grenade in Jose's mouth and makes his head explode. Seriously. It was such a hardcore way to go out. Couldn't have envisioned anything better. Espada does have a brother named Alejandro who you have to find at one of the FND plants and convince to rejoin his family, as he "believes in Castillo" and has made up his mind of who he wants to follow. You do bring him back, but things get... dicey, made worse because Carlos sacrificed himself to do so. He's pretty much an outcast and no one really wants him around. Blood is complicated.

Admiral Benitez.

Admiral Aña Benítez/Sean McKay and La Moral/Legends of '67

Another to make the list of unlikeable and dry characters is Admiral Benítez. She, like Castillo, is very dry, lacks remorse or really any sense of a personality, and is dictative in how she rules the FND naval force. Although it's not revealed in dialogue cutscenes, finding letters throughout Yara will reveal more about her past... and boy did she have an interesting one.

She was the quiet middle child of the family, raised on her parent’s yacht and, in turn, on the waves of the sea. She strived for bigger things, so she cut off ties with her parents and joined the military. She was the youngest lieutenant to serve in Castillo's army, where she met her to-be husband León while she was stationed in Esperanza, the capitol of Yara. According to a note found in Fort Fortana, her parents were accused of smuggling funds from Yara, and when they went to her for assistance in fleeing to the U.S., Benítez turned them over to the authorities and oversaw their execution, weeping not a single tear.

She went on to have two children: 9-year-old Aña "Gorda" Benítez and 3-year-old Aña "Lita" Benítez. She left her children with her husband to reside in Esperanza while she traveled for work, protecting trade and naval forces that surrounded Yara whilst working alongside McKay.

Sean McKay.

Sean McKay, originally believed to be a "Yanqui", is a Canadian businessman who supplies funds to Yara in order to fuel the production of Yara's arsenal, defense spending, and that sweet, sweet PG-240. He is a viable asset (and major asshole) for Castillo. He's married with children, but has a handful of mistresses in Canada, the United States and United Kingdom. He's claimed to have "overthrown" many third-world countries, and is simply seeing Yara as another investment to add to that list. He owns a company called "McKay Global", a contracting firm that offers business propositions, that ensured Yara was getting what they needed financially. 

You have the option to kill or spare him at after infiltrating one of his yachts.

(Left to right) Lucky Mama, Lorenzo, and El Tigre.

Jonron of La Moral.

Yelena, leader of La Moral.

La Moral and The Legends of '67 operate in this area, with Jonrón and Yelena and El Tigre and Lucky Mama being the main characters, respectively. 

La Moral is a group of college drop-outs with a hell of a lot of spunk (looking at you Jonrón) and a "take no prisoners" attitude. Though not as organized or experienced as other guerillas, they have the same fight and fearlessness in them that are essential to institute a revolution. They are later accompanied by the Legends of '67 which, as previously mentioned, had paid their resistance dues by taking down Gabriel Castillo during his reign of power, leaving Antón fatherless and Yara free from restrictive confines. Think of a more retro Libertad. Despite the deaths of Jonrón and El Tigre following the death of Benítez, La Moral and the remainder of the Legends join with Libertad after McKay is infiltrated, regardless of whether or not you kill him.

Free from Castillo

Before we highlight the ending, I want to touch one more cutscene analysis that I think really molds Clara’s character development.

There’s a point in the game (a quest starter) where Clara radios Dani and tells her to meet her at the old orphanage where Dani was raised. She gets there and Clara is on the balcony of it, staring out over the lights to the Torré del Leon. 

The first part of the cutscene is a past conversation (flashback) between Talia and her. Clara is holding her father’s gun and Talia asked her what she’s doing. Clara confides that she’s sick of the protests, her friends disappearing and seeing no change in the betterment of all Yarans. Talia asks her if her plan is to storm the capitol and put her daddy’s gun to Castillo’s head, and Clara asserts that she’s “going to build an army and I’m going to put Castillo in the fucking ground”. Talia is less than supportive, asking her if that’s her dream. In the real world, people like Talia (something that Clara cannot relate to due to her upbringing) don’t get the luxury of asking “what if”. “My mama used to tell me—‘save the dreams for the rich, fair-skinned Yarans.’ Us? We don’t get to dream. We survive.” She wraps up the conversation by stating that it’s not enough to kill Castillo to grant Yara’s freedom, but that you have to convince Yara that it’s that freedom that they want. This is likely one of the few moments that Clara and Talia meet face-to-face on good terms before they break off.

Dani gets there and asks Clara why of all places, she chooses Dani’s old orphanage to meet. She doesn’t directly answer the question, but instead goes on to say that Libertad has their hand around Castillo’s throat and now wants to meet with Clara for presumed parlay. Dani is in disbelief and offers her opinion, which Clara asks for—that Castillo is always two steps ahead of them and won’t stop until he’s assassinated. Clara confesses that the point of the revolution is not to kill Castillo, even though that’s how it appears at face value, but to free Yara and give it a chance to write its own future. Clara knows that Dani believes it, too, because she had previously had an opportunity to kill Diego (the actual parlay between Clara and Castillo has not happened yet) and didn’t do it. “If Yara is going to have a future… his people; our people, we need to co-exist.”

So, here we go. You have background of the whole game and everyone in it. Now it's time to finally analyze the showdown.

After taking out the last of the heralds, you get a radio call from Juan telling you "it's fucking D-Day, Dani!". You meet him at a statue just outside of Esperanza and witness a plague... cue cutscene. Juan tells you that Clara went to meet Castillo on her own for parlay and instead was captured by him. She was being held captive on his private island, and you are to dress in an FND uniform and sneak past the soldiers in order to enter into his private mansion, which honestly isn't hard as long as you aren't spotted.

You get in to find out the truth about everything: Castillo is dying of cancer. Viviro worked for him all the way up until six months previous to these events before cellular regrowth occurred. He had Diego to ensure that Yara would be taken care of after his death. All of this can end and Clara can be set free if Dani promises to submit to Castillo and become the general for his army. Unbeknownst to the opposing party, Juan is in a sniper location and is prepared to fire at Castillo as soon as he's in line of sight. Clara is furious with Castillo, blaming his constant separation of the Yarans for all of this discord and implores Castillo to "let us pick our own future". Juan gets no line of sight for Castillo and instead aims at Diego. He's close to taking him out before Dani jumps in the way and saves him. Castillo kills Clara by shooting her in the head; Diego and Castillo flee. You now fight your way out of the mansion. 

When the smoke clears, Juan meets in the courtyard and Dani is incredulous towards him, stating that the deal was to shoot Castillo, not Diego. It's unclear whether it's because Dani truly has a heart for children as she's an orphan, or that Diego has saved/spared her on two separate occasions and she feels as if she owes him---maybe even sees potential in him not becoming the monster that is his own father. However, Juan sees this from an entirely different perspective, essentially stating that any Castillo is a dangerous Castillo, and that ridding Yara of Diego would ultimately save it from ever having a repeated cycle. Despite this, the revolution persists. Dani infiltrates Castillo.

The last twenty minutes of the game throws a lot at you. You have to fight your way through the capitol with your now assembled militia in order to get to Torré Del Leon, where Castillo is hiding. You get to the top and Castillo is passive and stoic in greeting you, but more in a matter-of-fact tone. This is reasonable, considering he's facing death anyway and therefore doesn't seem worried about the outcome of their reunion. A city is left with thousands dead and up in smoke and "you don't put out fires with free elections". He's apologetic to his son because he ultimately didn't want him living the same life that he did. "Last lesson, mijo. There is one thing in life that will always be true. Do you know what that is?"

"Death," Diego answers. Castillo kisses him, making Dani swear that they will protect him, "from your friends... from the monsters". Despite you promising that you will, Castillo then shoots him in the torso. He takes a sickle to slit his throat, him also falling to the ground. Despite Dani attempting to staunch the bleeding, Diego is accepting of his fate, telling you that "you're the lucky one". It's the same line that both Lita and Clara have told you before. You were the lucky one to survive Castillo's attack on the boat, you were the lucky one to rescue Clara's imprisoned guerillas, and you're the lucky one who got past Castillo's strongest forces to see to his final moments. He then succumbs to his injuries, and they are apprehended by Libertad. Out of majority, the group votes that Dani oversee Yara until a free election can be held, but Dani is not like Clara in the sense that she's not a leader---not a diplomat. Dani leaves Yara in the hands of Libertad as a whole rather than the sum of its parts, much like how a revolution should be led, as no one person takes sole responsibility. 

You can find the scene here if you want to see it for yourself.

I'm not gonna lie to you---it took me a couple of plays to figure this whole scene out. If there's one thing I've learned from my cinematography class, it's that scenes in entertainment always have symbolism. You just have to look between the lines. This scene is full of them, which really helps you put together a safe determination of what the ending means, so let's break it down based on what I've seen.

• The keywords in the conversation he has with his son. "I never thought that you would have to face what they put me through." These are words he used to express sympathy for his son and an indicator that history really does repeat itself. He follows this not long after with "only one thing being true" (which is big because, again, he's a very honest man and would much rather speak the truth). He favors the truth. He needs the truth. In truth, the only thing Diego is guaranteed is death, and he'd rather be the one responsible than ambitious, vengeful guerillas who only see red crosshairs on him. He knows exactly what's in Diego's future, and it doesn't look promising.
• Secondly (and I did fail to see this in really any of the Reddit or game review threads/articles I've read), but Castillo kills himself, again, with the same blade he used during his days cutting tobacco plants. This is just speculation, of course, because you never actually see his sickle in the game. This is indicative of ending his poorly crafted and problematic life the same way that it started: a gun for the one he loves and a knife he was forced to befriend.
• Third, Yelena knocks over a tower on a model laid out on a table, which was used to demonstrate Castillo's plans for "watching a sunset at every intersection". This is the same building model that Castillo moved during this scene. Castillo and his vision are dead, and Libertad's vision is born.
• Juan rests against the table and picks up an unlit cigar, smelling it longingly. In one part of the game, Espada complains of not being able to smoke a decent cigarette due to most of Yaran's natural tobacco plant being tainted with Biovida's chemical. The first time in a long time that he smells a clean cigar is Castillo's unlit one.
• This is less obvious, but I genuinely feel like Dani is to Libertad like Diego is to Castillo: groomed for a sole purpose with the determination (sometimes hesitancy) to fulfill it. Dani doesn't really know what to do for Libertad in the same way Diego doesn’t know what to do for the people of Yara, and this confusion and sense of uncertainty makes you feel like you know what it is you’re striving for, but you don’t know how to get there or who is really considered “the obstacle”.

But what does it all mean!?

So, I promised you guys a breakdown of the ending, talking about what I think it means, and how it may affect future Far Cry games assuming it's canon. Here is my take on it.

Dani Rojas fought for freedom, but in the end she never intended to be a leader. She expresses discomfort at being the newly assigned head honcho of Libertad after Clara's death, even making a half-assed awkward speech to the other guerillas. She just doesn't have that kind of energy about her. Juan even notices this very, very early in the game, pointing out Dani's thrill for the kill, and after Clara's death where he tells Dani that the world has "too many Juans, maybe even too many Danis... but there will never be enough Claras". Juan's idea of Libertad was to have the headstrong aunt/mother of the resistance (you) bring the family (other factions) together for a long-awaited feast (revolution) at grandma's (Clara's) house. It turned into something else which, while not ideal, was not a surprise to any of them. 

Much like everyone else, Clara was no stranger to what the revolution would cost her. She knew the risks and knew there was a good chance she wouldn't make it through once she'd made a name for herself, but she achieved her goal in being feared by Castillo and his regime because of what she started and what Dani continued. After all, on the boat ride from the escaped ship in the first mission, Clara states that her job is to "show others how to break the cycle", and that doesn't necessarily have to include her. In the beginning, it was all about killing Castillo and making him pay for what he's done to her country, her loved ones... but she'd come to terms with how bloodshed really doesn't solve anything, and that the best way for Yara to break its restraints and rewrite their future is to learn to come together. There is no such thing as "True Yarans" or "Fake Yarans"; it's all one Yara. It's unclear why she lets off in the beginning that she wants Castillo's head despite the conversation with Talia long having had happened, yet seemingly switching up halfway through the game. Maybe an epiphany happened, I don't know...

Castillo is a monster---has been and always will be. It's important to note, though, that he was not born that way. Much like Clara stated that Yara is caught in a cycle of tyranny and revolution, the Castillos will be caught in a cycle of suffering and revenge. It doesn't seem evident now that Diego would've been that way, but we can make a safe assumption that it's a high probability. At 13, Castillo's father was killed by guerillas. He lost his freedom, his childhood and any safe aspirations that he'd had to be who he wanted to be. Revenge was all he's ever known and he's lost his trust with his own nation. He was afraid of where Yara's fate was headed, so he did the only thing he knew how with the little skills instilled by his father and ran for president to restore his ideals. In his mind, he was saving and rebuilding Yara, despite the price that had to be paid. 

He needed Diego far more than Diego needed him, so he'd hoped that raising Diego would give him the same high ground that he'd had. Seeing Diego turn out far different than he'd hoped, though, a young boy who was considerate and compassionate of his people, he knew this would be a kink in the work he was trying to do. We see this in a couple of instances where Castillo orders Diego to kill another person to teach him a lesson, but he can't bring himself to. He fears that Diego won't have the edge in him necessary to make grueling decisions as a sole provider to an entire nation. 

This frightened him, though, because he knew that people like Juan Cortez would constantly see Diego as a walking threat, despite proving time and time again that he is nothing like his father. So, he did what he thought was the most rational decision and took his son's life before anyone else could, therefore preventing him from living out a life similar to his---full of mistreatment and exile from his own people. 

I think the central theme, or point if you will, of this whole game falls on two main points: 1.) it is that revenge is a snowball that hits the mountain and causes an avalanche; 2.) we are stronger together than we are heavily drifted apart. 

Think the Saw movie franchise---the fifth one, when each subject was supposed to work together in each trap (despite their whole lives centered around only benefitting themselves) so that they all made it through. "The whole is much stronger than the sum of its parts," Jigsaw states to really emphasize the point of these trials and what it was supposed to teach them. 

Or Saw III when Jigsaw put Jeff through a series of trials for the subjects who all had a hand in causing his son a terrible demise in a drunk driving accident. His test was the will of forgiveness and salvation for those that didn't deserve it, as he could decide whether he was willing to make the small sacrifice to save each individual and redeem them for what they'd done or walk away and allow the bloodshed to spill over in his son's name. Ultimately, he ended up forgiving and even attempting to save some of these people because he knew that letting them die wouldn't "redeem" anything---it wouldn't bring his son back and it wouldn't make him feel better. Or does he since, ya know, he ends up killing John Kramer.

Or, if we want to keep it in the video game universe, let's look at The Last of Us: Part II. I won't get too deep into it, but it is also a game about forgiveness and how vital it is to break a cycle---not for you, but for those around you. For the ones that you care about. We spend most of our energy driving ourselves to seek revenge---to make others suffer in the ways that we have. We fail to realize that suffering thrives and multiplies when it's placed on others---when we lose family members to suicide, when we condemn people for casting judgement or harm onto us, when we divide ourselves with an "us v. them" mentality, society crumbles. Families break apart. People get hurt; some people die. In a time where everyone under one roof shares one common goal, the self-entitled thinking has ultimately diverted the attention to what is most important: the safety, security and liberty of everyone involved (I'm looking at you, America). Republicans versus Democrats, liberals versus conservatives, the young versus the old, the men versus the women... our society is so glorified on civil conflict that we have forgotten the bigger picture. Sometimes, to do what's right and what will benefit the majority, we have to make great sacrifices, including some of the most self-gratifying ones. I honestly feel like that was the intended shot that Ubisoft was taking when they made this sixth installment. As a country now, we are so broken that it will take years of diplomacy and patience to mend it all, and much like Yara, even with a broken cycle we would still have ways to go before the ones on the bottom get a fighting chance to the top.

I hope that this blog really helps you kind piece together everything and gives you a better idea of how to take in the ending. If there's something that I didn't touch on that might help you or fellow gamers, go ahead and post a comment below! I try to respond to as many people as possible. What did you think about Far Cry 6? Did you love it? Did you hate it? Are you in between? Is Castillo really this evil man, or does he really have Yara's best interest at heart? Let me know your thoughts and opinions, as well.

In the meantime, happy gaming!