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I finished the main campaign in Borderlands (DLCs pending yet, but I don't think my answer is there), I reached the Vault, was expecting riches that'd blow my mind, and all I got was one big monster.

Perhaps I missed it in some dialog, but what was the point in opening it for that? Was the plan of the woman that guides you throughout the game for you to kill that monster?

She even says that the vault cannot be opened again for 200 years, will the monster re-spawn then and has to be killed again?

Was the monster protecting something? If it was, why not entering the vault after killing it?

I really liked the game but was disappointed by the ending (or most likely didn't get it).

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  • I get the feeling they didn't really know how to end it, but I felt the same way at the end.
    – Doozer Blake
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 14:15
  • for disappointment & tentacles
    – Rusted_Silver
    Commented May 27, 2017 at 3:15

4 Answers 4

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It is true that the Borderlands ending is one of the most disappointing endings that a game ever had. Quoting Paul Helquist, senior designer:

I think what's great about where we did leave the player is that we have pretty much infinite options of where we want to go next[...]
[...]The ending of the game, for better or worse, didn't paint us into any corners.

So what I presume is that they will dig deeper into the story around the Vault in Borderlands 2 (released somewhere between 04-2012 and 03-2013).

To give you a little bit satisfaction from the ending, consider this explanation I found on the web a while ago, that made the ending slightly more acceptable:

The world is named Pandora, implying that something can be opening from it, this being the Vault. The legend of pandora's box detailed that the greatest evils of mankind were locked away in it, and someone was foolish enough to open it. Once the evil was released only one slither of goodness was left within, and that was hope. So think of the Destroyer as evil in a physical form, sealed away in Pandora's box so to speak, and the character you are playing is the one final hope for the planet.

I do hope that the ending in Borderlands 2 will be a better one than its prequel's.

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  • I read somewhere recently (maybe GameInformer's Bordlerands 2 coverage) that Gearbox doesn't like the ending in hindsight. They thought it would be funny that there is all this build up, but then nothing. I got the impression that they're going to do a better job with Borderlands 2.
    – Adeese
    Commented Oct 13, 2011 at 15:41
  • @Adeese, yeah you're correct. Pretty much what they said was, they didn't like the ending because the whole time they'd built you up as a vault hunter looking for riches, and then you don't even get any money, effectively meaning you did everything for nothing.
    – Mr Smooth
    Commented Oct 14, 2011 at 0:10
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I the context of Borderlands 1 I guess the point was just a challenging boss-fight to finish.

However, in Borderlands 2 they flesh out the story (includes mid-game spoilers):

Angel and the Hyperion corporation were manipulating the player all along. They wanted the player to open the vault as it would facilitate the mining of Eridium on Pandora.

It's also revealed (even later game):

The 200 year limit was due to the time it takes for the key to recharge on it's own. With a Siren (suitably charged by Eridium) the key can be recharged in a few years.

Finally, in the end game for BL2:

So all through Borderlands the player is being manipulated so that Handsome Jack and Hyperion can get the key. Jack already has a Siren who can recharge the key, and has another 'vault' that he wants to activate using it.

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  • 3
    I'm in mid-to-late BL2 and it is taking all of my will power not to mouse over those boxes!
    – Alex
    Commented Oct 23, 2012 at 12:35
  • Spoiler , Lilith is a bitch
    – Rusted_Silver
    Commented May 27, 2017 at 3:16
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Well in the Borderlands official guide book it is said that the Eridians sacrificed their whole civilization to imprison the destroyer in the vault and to create the Guardians who protected the vault from being opened.

Also 4n631 or Angel says that she didn't tell the main character what was in the vault just so that she could get him there. She expresses regret over the deception but says that it was the only way to get the vault hunter there.

She says in the dialogue at the beginning of the battle that the destroyer is immortal in it's own realm but that when it enters this world it will require a host which is vulnerable. So actually the whole point of the game was to kill the Destroyer so that it couldn't wreak havoc in the universe at least for the next 200 years :)

I didn't like the ending either at first but when I read this it gave me some sort of weird satisfaction like: "Oh, so there WAS a meaning for all this stuff after all" Although I do hope that Gearbox will do a better job with Borderlands 2, maybe let us hunt for riches FOR REAL this time?

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I liked it because in bl2 you found out the only reason you opened the first vault was To prove to his boss he was right and take over Hyperion for him self and get rich> On enridiem witch is worth a lot in the other worlds and found the second vault witch then you had to kill the warrior and then let Lilith destroy the key and see there are many more vaults on Pandora or other planets it is hard to tell but if you pay attention to dialogue you will under stand plus there is a vault in mister torges campaign of carnage.>

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