Is Lou dead in Death Stranding 2?

Given how unclear the consequences of this altercation are, plenty of players are wondering if Lou was killed during this event.

We'll do our best to explain what happened, but of course, there are major spoilers ahead for the ending of Death Stranding 2 – you've been warned.

Is Lou dead in Death Stranding 2?

Like we said in the beginning, this is a Kojima game, which means nothing is ever simple.

That's why, the answer to this question is somehow both yes and no, and neither yes nor no – here's our simplest explanation.

When Fragile and Lou are attacked, Fragile attempts to send Lou away to keep her safe.

Somehow (it isn't ever really explained as far as we remember), this separates Lou's ha (physical body) and ka (soul).

Fragile manages to blink Lou's ha away, but her ka remains tethered to this world, and takes up residence as a BT in a BB pod in Sam's bunker.

Sam, grief stricken, continues to envisage Lou as a baby, just as she was in the first game, although encounters with Higgs later in the game confirm that Lou's ha is, in fact, 'dead', so-to-speak.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD: This is your final warning!

Later on in the story, you find out that Tomorrow, Elle Fanning's character who you come across midway through the story, is actually a grown-up version of Lou, or Louise, as she now calls herself.

She's managed to grow up over the course of the game because time passes differently on Earth than on the Beach, where Fragile teleported her to.

That's pretty much all you need to know! Basically, if you're reading this near the start of the game, you haven't seen the last of Lou.

The minutiae of Lou's situation can be experienced for yourself in-game, and we'll no doubt get plenty more deep-dives into the lore as more and more people finish the game, so watch this space!

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