Did ‘Death Of The Outsider’ Undermine Daud’s Character?
From a legendary assassin to a deranged old heretic
From a veteran assassin to an unsung saviour of the Empire, Daud, the conflicted anti-hero of the Dishonored franchise (2012–2017), stands as the series’ most complex and enthralling character.
Yet, his inclusion and role in the final DLC, Death of the Outsider undoubtedly compromises the cathartic resolution to his redemption storyline already achieved in earlier games.
‘I murdered an Empress but saved her daughter, who will one day rule the Empire. Those were my choices. I’m ready for what comes.’
- Daud in The Brigmore Witches and Dishonored 2
Dishonored first introduced Daud as a ruthless and highly-skilled mercenary leading a band of assassins known as the Whalers, hired by members of Dunwall’s scheming aristocracy. Daud’s character fundamentally changes once he assassinates Empress Jessamine Kaldwin and kidnaps her daughter, Emily, a treasonous act that catalyzed the Empire’s plunge into disorder and tyranny.
As the above passage indicates, Daud felt immensely responsible for his role in the murder of an innocent woman and in sparking the near-fatal collapse of the Empire. He even embarks on a perilous quest to save the new Empress Emily from a further heinous plot to steal the throne.
The next time the player meets Daud is fifteen years later in DOTO after he returns from exile to Dunwall a bitter and dying old man. This time around, he’s hellbent on retrieving a fabled sacred weapon he intends to use against the series’ enigmatic Machiavellian deity, the Outsider. A figure charged with ruling over the vast purgatory known as the Void.
Daud curses the Outsider, the ‘black-eyed bastard,’ as the true being responsible for all the evils to befall the world, claiming that he only gifts people with his Mark, including Daud, to enact his twisted agenda on the world.
This radical departure from Daud’s earlier reconciliation with his past actions signifies that he never changed or was never capable of great change to begin with.
If anything, he reverted to his previous volatile behaviour by triggering another possible doomsday scenario following his successful defeat of the Outsider, leaving the fate of the universe hanging in the balance more than ever before.
‘He gave himself one last task that he hoped would atone for his lifetime of anger and hate and violence and deceit…Daud was going to kill the Outsider’.
- Extract on Daud in Dishonored: The Return of Daud
Although Daud convinces himself of the legitimacy of his mission, he has regressed from accepting full ownership to deflecting responsibility for his actions. He reduces his status to that of a mere victim, or ‘puppet’, thereby painting the Outsider as the true villain.
His noble undertaking to slay the Outsider subsequently resembles little more than a misguided crusade for heroism, a narcissistic ploy conceived by an idle killer to shift the blame and absolve himself of his past transgressions.
‘It was the face of an obsessive. A loner, standing apart from the world, years of running from his history culminating in a new monomania, the all-consuming reason for his being.’
- Extract on Daud in The Return of Daud
This controversial evolution, or rather, devolution of Daud’s character ultimately echoes the recurring theme of the series, concerning the freedom of choice.
Daud’s sole justification for killing the Outsider rests on his belief that the Outsider bestows his powers to select people in otopt them into leading a destructive and criminal existence.
However, the actions of characters such as Corvo and Emily who use their gifts to fight corruption and restore order to the Empire largely discredit Daud’s argument that all people are blameless, unknowing pieces in the Outsider’s grand plan.
‘Sometimes I ask myself, without these gifts, would I be a man to fear?‘
- Extract on Daud in The Return of Daud
After all, it was the Outsider who approached Daud following his murder of the Empress, offering him the name of Emily’s would-be killer so that he could find and defeat her, redeeming himself for killing Emily’s mother in the process. He further informed him that he alone could still shape how his story ended.
While the Outsider is an untrustworthy figure, Daud’s entire reason for resenting him rests on a stubborn refusal to confront his sins and morbid passion for killing, rather than to free others from the Outsider’s corrupting influence.
Whether a conscious decision to explore the character with a new perspective or a gratuitous gesture to please the fans, Daud’s portrayal in DOTO is undoubtedly problematic.
It denies players the satisfaction of Daud’s redemption arc established during earlier games by instead implicating him as an inherently flawed character, which he may well be. Nevertheless, reverting back to his old ways makes Daud’s overall character transformation feel trivial and arbitrary in retrospect.
