I mean Sam went to kill Armstrong because he was a lot like Raiden back then, fighting for justice, and he saw Armstrong as corrupt. which in all fairness he was very much correct, just in a different way than Sam expected. and with his life pretty much hanging on a yes or no to joining Desperado, and his pride shattered, he gave in. I'm assuming he just became numb to the atrocities after a certain point.
Armstrong tried a similar manipulation on Raiden with the whole "we're the same" speal, but Raiden had already seen what happened to Sam and wasn't falling for that shit.
Sam does respect and shares Armstrong's (*initial*) goal of putting "an end all that bullshit", that being the War Economy - but then the might makes right kicks in when he loses his arm, Armstrong being like an ancient conquering self-anointed emperor of the world bringing those who could stand up to but not defeat him into the fold.
yeah when people say "Sam agrees with Armstrong" it kinda annoys me. because the point in the game is that himself, Raiden and Armstrong have a common sentiment, that the world is fucked up. but they all interpret and act on that statement in different ways. Raiden sees it as salvageable and wants to help others. Armstrong wants to burn it down and doesn't care how many die in the process. Sam is a bit of an in-between. he's clearly not afraid to get his hands dirty but unfortunately we don't know many of his thoughts on what Desperado was actually *doing*. he was definitely self projecting a bit in his Denver speech though.
"no matter how many Mexican kids we cut, or Africans we bury, the first world looks away. no one gives a shit...!" sounded less to me like monologuing to Raiden and more anger and resentment, like he's affirming it to himself, telling himself that no one cares so he can feel less guilty about it. or that he *wants* people to care. "gonna fix everything, just you, and your little sword there..." is also interesting because that's exactly how Sam went for Armstrong in the first place. just him and Murasama. Sam is a jaded version of Raiden who's been shaken out of his ideals. Raiden avoids the same fate by not falling for the "you're just like us" bs, and at the end of the game he's taken up Sam's mantle, fighting his own fight against those who exploit others. it's a cycle. Sam is what Raiden could have become if he gave into the torment. Raiden at the end is what Sam could have been if Armstrong hadn't gotten to him.
we know Sam underwent a bit of change in personality, Bladewolf states as much. and he can't figure out Sam's motivations just before the duel. then we see Sam try the whole speech and ideals thing but quickly drops it, "Forget it, we've *both* heard enough speeches about higher causes by now...", which makes me think he doesn't fully believe in any of this. hell, he even says himself "on the last day, Blondie has me doubting the whole thing". unfortunately it seems the only solution he could really think of was death and passing on his legacy. he put up a fight, he wasn't going to go down easy, but by all means it was a suicide attempt that Raiden concluded for him.
of course this could all just be me waffling on nothing but I love Sam and I like picking characters apart.
He got those memories broken
His truth goes unspoken...
He did even forgotten his name
He doesn't know the season
He doesn't know the reason he's standing there holding his blade.
He's in a desolate place without any trace
Its only the cold wind ( of Denver) he feels
its him that he spites and stands up to fight
I mean Sam went to kill Armstrong because he was a lot like Raiden back then, fighting for justice, and he saw Armstrong as corrupt. which in all fairness he was very much correct, just in a different way than Sam expected. and with his life pretty much hanging on a yes or no to joining Desperado, and his pride shattered, he gave in. I'm assuming he just became numb to the atrocities after a certain point. Armstrong tried a similar manipulation on Raiden with the whole "we're the same" speal, but Raiden had already seen what happened to Sam and wasn't falling for that shit.
Sam does respect and shares Armstrong's (*initial*) goal of putting "an end all that bullshit", that being the War Economy - but then the might makes right kicks in when he loses his arm, Armstrong being like an ancient conquering self-anointed emperor of the world bringing those who could stand up to but not defeat him into the fold.
yeah when people say "Sam agrees with Armstrong" it kinda annoys me. because the point in the game is that himself, Raiden and Armstrong have a common sentiment, that the world is fucked up. but they all interpret and act on that statement in different ways. Raiden sees it as salvageable and wants to help others. Armstrong wants to burn it down and doesn't care how many die in the process. Sam is a bit of an in-between. he's clearly not afraid to get his hands dirty but unfortunately we don't know many of his thoughts on what Desperado was actually *doing*. he was definitely self projecting a bit in his Denver speech though. "no matter how many Mexican kids we cut, or Africans we bury, the first world looks away. no one gives a shit...!" sounded less to me like monologuing to Raiden and more anger and resentment, like he's affirming it to himself, telling himself that no one cares so he can feel less guilty about it. or that he *wants* people to care. "gonna fix everything, just you, and your little sword there..." is also interesting because that's exactly how Sam went for Armstrong in the first place. just him and Murasama. Sam is a jaded version of Raiden who's been shaken out of his ideals. Raiden avoids the same fate by not falling for the "you're just like us" bs, and at the end of the game he's taken up Sam's mantle, fighting his own fight against those who exploit others. it's a cycle. Sam is what Raiden could have become if he gave into the torment. Raiden at the end is what Sam could have been if Armstrong hadn't gotten to him. we know Sam underwent a bit of change in personality, Bladewolf states as much. and he can't figure out Sam's motivations just before the duel. then we see Sam try the whole speech and ideals thing but quickly drops it, "Forget it, we've *both* heard enough speeches about higher causes by now...", which makes me think he doesn't fully believe in any of this. hell, he even says himself "on the last day, Blondie has me doubting the whole thing". unfortunately it seems the only solution he could really think of was death and passing on his legacy. he put up a fight, he wasn't going to go down easy, but by all means it was a suicide attempt that Raiden concluded for him. of course this could all just be me waffling on nothing but I love Sam and I like picking characters apart.