So did Kellogg babysit the synth shaun? i dont understand why he would do that or why they would even let him but it's the only way the memmory sequence makes sense...

I got the impression that he raised him from an infant until about 7 or so before the courser took him away. With Kellog as a father it is no wonder why Shaun turned out strange.

I shot him the moment before he died....Synth Shaun died in the explosion.

It seemed to be a temporary means to try to lure the player character (who would be looking for Shaun) and bring him in. Which means that they found out that the player escaped pretty early in the game (maybe they monitored the facility). Plans changed, so the synth Shaun was retrieved and Kellog got he new orders.

Synths don't age; Synth!Shaun was never an infant, he was "born" as a 10 year old and will remain one forever. As CaptainSevek says, the real Shaun sent him out with Kellogg to serve as bait for the player. Shaun knew the player had been thawed, because he gave the order for them to be so himself.

This.

Valentine mentions having seen a young kid with Kellogg recently. Which is what leads the Sole Survivor to jump to the assumption that Kellogg has Shaun. Eventually leading the SS to track down and kill Kellogg.

Its also why Kellogg later remarks that he thinks the "Old man probably got the better of me in the end."

Synth Shaun was sent to Kellogg, who had orders to watch over him in Diamond City. Ostensibly it was to test how the child interacted with the above world. In reality it was to give the Sole Survivor a bread crumb to chase down Kellogg with.

The real Shaun had the Sole Survivor's cryopod release him (likely having an Institute operative set a timer in the Vault's main computer and then quickly leave), and knew when the Sole Survivor would be emerging. It's implied, heavily, that they have been surveiling him the whole time as Shaun wanted to (in his words) "see what would happen".

Father (old Shaun) also explicitly says he set Kellogg up because it seemed fitting to give the SS a chance at revenge for their murdered spouse.

I think the synth Shaun's probably where sent out from time to time as part of the experimental process of perfecting the Synth Shaun. Would require someone to take Synth Shaun out and expose him to the world. That's what I took it for. edit: although, why make a Synth Shaun child, except to draw our character? I think that must be it.

I recently finished the MQ, and was only a little torn between Institute and Railroad. I favored the railroad a little, because my character fell for Curie, and felt that the institute might want her at some point for a memory wipe. But, the only thing that seemed to make any sense from the "story" perspective of a father looking for his son in a world that was completely new and foreign was to side with Shaun and the institute. No other choices really made any sense to me. I wanted the "argument" put forth by the Institute to sway me, but it didn't. I ended up siding with the institute, not because I believed any of the (annoyingly vague) best hope for humanity (in what way? why synths? - never explained to me satisfactorily) dialogue, but because Shaun was my son, and this new world was so strange to me as a grieving husband and father, that some connection to my past in the form of my advlt son was the only thing that really had any pull for me. I am on a new play through, and desire to experience a different outcome than siding with the Institute, but I am hard pressed to find a "reason" not to side with my son.

When playing the Institute ending this part really bothered me. When Father (my son) explained that he didn't expect me to actually live but was watching me to see what happened, etc., there was a whole lot of dialog I wanted to say that I wasn't given the option to say. Seriously it about ended my Institute role-play right there but I played along to see the ending. But that whole story line just feel apart at that point.

Same. That whole conversation felt very weird. What I got from the whole storyline is that even as an old man, full of regrets, Shaun can't stop manipulating and experimenting on people. He's tying up loose ends with you, his sole parent, instead of spending every waking moment getting to know you.

IMO, the right thing to do would have been standing outside the survivor's cryopod when it opens, and then explaining everything in detail right then and there. Of course, that'd make for a boring game.

In the end, Shaun has some real problems with how he handles and treats other human beings.

It was Synth Shawn, Kallog said "the old man (Father) wanted me to take care of the kid" it was all part of Father's plan to have you kill Kallog.

On my Minutemen ending, this is the point where I basically just told him F-you and overtly backed out. In my other playthrough I keep stringing him along trying to get inside information but there is something imminently satisfying about telling him point blank that he is a disappointment and walking out.

This. And of course being the obvious bait on the hook so to speak.

IMHO a stupid plan. It was more likely that Kellogg kills the SS. In fact I only able to kill Kellogg because I can reload each time I die ...

wait you died somehow?

Yep, but that's not the point. Shauns explanation makes no sense to me.

Kind of depends when you go. I was somewhat afraid of that fight because of the way Kellogg was built up so I delayed it for quite a while. Mid 50's, I think, with a gauss rifle and Deliverer already in hand. I was still worried it was going to be a tough fight, so I popped a couple chems and a stealthboy as soon as he went red, then 2-shotted him. A bit of a let-down, really.

I agree. The whole Institute story line doesn't make much sense to me at all.

I think it would have made more sense, if Father didn't reveal that he was Shawn until much later in the quest line. If he is really so messed up that he hasn't wanted to get to know me for so long, then he probably wouldn't even reveal it until his deathbed sequence. That would have made more sense to me, anyway. They could have made the Institute argument stronger, and made me want to side with the Institute for some meaningful reason, and then gave the reveal at the end, that Father was actually Shawn all grown up. Maybe put me in situations with Synth Shawn not even knowing that he was a synth until some kind of "reveal" sequence....

Could have been much better.

edit: or maybe if you side with the Institute, and due to his own psychosis, he never reveals that he is Shawn.. But if you side with BoS and have to kill the Institute, then he reveals that he is Shawn, to make you feel bad for going the BoS route, but too late to stop...

For the people who beelined for him, straight through the main story, he's a real tough fight. He has access to gear that's usually not available until later. He's tough, fights like a Courser, and has a powerful gun.

OTOH, he can be outleveled pretty easily, and has little chance against some high end builds (power armor and a gatling laser, or out stealth boying him, or robotic engineer hacking his synths, etc).

Of course you can wait until you are stronger. ( in the end, two nukes kill him quick enough too ) But if you are role playing, waiting does not make sense. At that point of the story the SS still believes that Shaun was just recently kidnapped, and you have to find him ASAP

Not sure it was his plan at the beginning, since he himself says he didn't expect you to live. Be kind of hard for a dead SS to kill Kellog. I think Father added the 'justice' part long after you proved yourself. Enough in fact to be Kellog's replacement, which is what I think Father really wanted all along. Someone who could go topside that he could completely trust.

I think Father may have revealed himself sooner just so he could use that to manipulate you into doing his bidding. I don't think (by his own admission) he ever understood the love you had for him, but he had no problem using it for his own purposes.

100% agree! As soon as he told me who he was and then went on to say that he released me, just to see if I would even survive in the wasteland... I was so over "finding poor Shaun" at that point. And he waited for 60 years to release his own mother? Another strike against him!

Hmm, yea, that would make sense. He was hoping that the SS love for Shaun was strong enough to just agree to anything he said and/or asked the SS to do. However, the Wasteland is an unforgiving place and I guess he never thought it could change the SS in many different ways, like make them harder, tougher, smarter, more resilient etc.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of siding with the Institute "despite" the fact that Shawn is Father, instead of "because" Shawn is Father. Siding with the Institute may make more sense if (as the OP indicated in another thread at the moment) I plan on taking over when Father dies, to try to make the Institute into something of my own desire, instead of what Father and the directorate have made of it.

I felt like another Kellog, as I was forced to kill the RR and BoS. Kind of a crappy story line as a whole, I think.

Oh well, I plan to go BoS this time, so I am sure I will have another host of "wishes-it-was-a-different-way" coming up... ;P

I've played three endings so far (I didn't think there was a Minuteman ending, but apparently there is, it's just similar to the Railroad ending)... and now I have loaded up a savegame before I alienated any faction and I'm stringing them ALL along. I won't "end" the game because none of the endings are satisfactory. In "real life" they would not let me string them along indefinitely, but in the game they have not (yet) pressured me to take that final alienating step.

This way I can run missions for the Railroad, BoS, Minutemen ~and~ Institute. All the while also doing side quests, exploring and working on settlements. I am "only" level 84 or so (first playthroughs 'finished' around level 75 - 77).

In my mind, I am continuing to help the Railroad liberate escaped Synths (without going so far as to murder innocent civilians, stop the production of more Synths, and destroy the most advanced tech in the Commonwealth).... and I am also helping the Brotherhood with their tech scavenging and scientific studies (~without~ pointlessly attacking the Railroad) and hiding the location of the Institute from them.... and I am helping with the Institute's studies without exterminating the BoS or Railroad which, as the Director, is ~my~ prerogative.

I see no need to pursue the "ending" that the game wants me to follow, since it makes no sense to me. Instead, I am (in my head, anyway) quietly working with ALL the factions to try to come to a common ground. Once Shaun (and possibly Ayo) kick the bucket and Maxson has a Kylo Ren breakdown and gets killed off, maybe more moderate heads will prevail. The Railroad ~might~ have to go away... they may be too extreme and their raison d'etre is still pretty up in the air (Synth Sentience). Aside from their outlying fanatical members, the Institute and BoS could conceivably reconcile (the Institute are basically Scribes anyway).

I don't think that's true. The Gen-3's are referred to as "artificial biologics", which implies a normal (if man-made) life process. Also if they didn't age it would make them much less useful as long-term infiltrators.