When we first play Metal Gear Solid 3, it doesn’t even occur to us that one of the Cobra Unit members, whom we also have to face in some way, is already dead. This is how the game introduces us to The Sorrow, affectionately known as “The Penitent,” a ghost we will see on different occasions giving us clues, helping us, and also forcing us to cross a river full of soldiers we dispatched ahead of time.
But who is this ghost? Why does he help us during the game? And most importantly, why is he dead? These are questions we will answer in this article as we review the history of the most enigmatic and mysterious character of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, The Sorrow.
An impossible love
There isn’t much information about this character’s childhood, but it is estimated that he was born between 1900 and 1910. It is said that he had no remarkable combat skills or with weapons, but his ability as a medium and his great summoning capacity allowed him to assume the combat and fighting techniques of the spirits he connected with. In addition to this, he could also communicate with dead soldiers to know the enemy’s location and devise strategies around this.
Without a doubt, this ability earned him a place in the Cobra Unit, where he met and acted under the command of The Boss, and together with her, he was sent to complete a series of missions in World War II, starting with the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942.
The mission the unit had to carry out during the war was so dangerous and secret that they were forbidden to be taken prisoner, let alone leave their bodies if they died. All unit members carried a microbomb that would activate upon death to prevent leaving evidence of their presence.
During this time, The Sorrow began to feel intense sorrow at the sight of the number of wounded and dead returning from the front lines, his ability to feel the suffering around him also tormented him, plunging him into a constant state of grief and sadness, which would give him his code name within the unit.
During this time, The Sorrow and The Boss became close, their relationship going beyond a simple military arrangement, and during the war, The Boss became pregnant. It wasn’t until The Boss was assigned to a mission in Alamogordo that she learned of her pregnancy, a mission that failed due to her distraction by the pregnancy, resulting in a 3-month coma.
Later, during D-Day, the Cobra unit is sent to Juno beach to dismantle various V2 missile installations, The Boss begins to have contractions after being shot in the belly. In the chaos of battle, The Boss undergoes rudimentary surgery that leaves her with a snake-shaped scar on her torso. In this way, The Boss gives birth to The Sorrow’s son, a child who would immediately be taken by the Philosophers.
After this, in 1947, the Cobra unit was disbanded, sending each member back to their home country. At this time, The Sorrow returns to the Soviet Union and actively participates in government missions. They remain apart from each other, while The Sorrow completes missions for the Soviet Union, The Boss works for the United States, unaware that they are playing for enemy sides.
The Soviet Union’s Sputnik project caused a stir in the United States administration. The Boss, through the Philosophers, placed a spy in the Soviet Union, but this did not sit well with the Soviet Philosophers, who, in retaliation, sent The Sorrow to deal with the spy.
Unaware that The Boss was the one who sent the spy, The Sorrow manages to convince him to join the Soviets, causing this spy to become a double agent, who begins to send false information to the United States. This causes the failure of Operation Mercury, where The Boss was sent into space.
The Philosophers then decide to send The Sorrow to eliminate The Boss, and vice versa, forcing them to complete the task if they wanted their son to live. This is how they meet at the Tselinoyarsk bridge, to meet for the first time in a long time, and to bid each other farewell.
Having served under The Boss’s command and having not only the respect and admiration of a soldier but also the love he felt for her, The Sorrow decides that he must be the one to die in that encounter. Although The Boss is not convinced of this, she eventually agrees, and with a trembling hand, she shoots him, piercing The Sorrow’s left eye and ending his life.
Life beyond death
The mediumship abilities possessed by The Sorrow gave him the ability to exist in the world of the living as a ghost, showing himself only to those he wants to show himself to, and during the events of Snake Eater, The Sorrow serves as a guide to Naked Snake.
In 1964, the Cobra Unit reunites, this time under the orders of Colonel Volgin, to keep Nikolai Sokolov, a space scientist, captive, whom Naked Snake was tasked with rescuing and extracting during the Virtuous Mission.
When Naked Snake is thrown off a bridge, the river carries him to a shore, where, badly injured, he encounters the remains of The Sorrow. From then on, The Sorrow began to accompany the Cobra Unit, observing everything without their knowledge. When Naked Snake returns for the Snake Eater mission, The Sorrow begins to follow him, watching his actions and occasionally giving him clues and guidance during his mission.
Later, Naked Snake falls from a waterfall, and upon coming into contact with the water, he enters the spiritual realm, where he must walk a river that seems endless, and that is full of the souls of the soldiers he killed during the mission. The Sorrow confronts us with the result of our decisions, making us feel the grief felt by the spirits of these soldiers.
And right here is when he gives us a premonition of the future. The Sorrow tells Naked Snake that they will all die at the hands of their children. This implies that The Sorrow now has the ability to access the 4th dimension and see the future. At the end of the river, Snake encounters The Sorrow’s corpse, and he sends him back to his own world. Later, he continues to guide Snake, showing him how much time is left before the C3 explodes in the Shagohod hangar.
When facing the last member of the Cobra Unit, The Sorrow is present, and when defeating The Boss, he is the one waiting for her on the other side. We can briefly see a hidden scene of The Boss’s ghost alongside The Sorrow after defeating her. And together, they fade away into the afterlife.
A lesson about sacrifice
The Sorrow, although little is known about him, what is known is fascinating. A soldier, with supernatural abilities, who is overwhelmed by the pain around him and who despite this can find love in the midst of chaos is simply moving.
I must emphasize that, although for many, that river section is completely irrelevant, when I played it, I found it incredible. How can you defeat a boss who is already dead? You can’t hurt him, and realizing that the ghosts walking downstream were my victims made it even more eerie, especially because I hadn’t realized how many soldiers I had killed. Obviously, after finishing this section, I continued with my killing spree, more because I was scared of being discovered than because I preferred to kill them all, but it did seem great to me that the game put you in that moral questioning.
Returning to The Sorrow, what makes him a remarkable character for me is his altruism and selflessness. Deciding to be the one to give up life to save someone else is extremely extreme, being in that position where it’s either you or the person you love, I think it’s too overwhelming to think clearly. And definitely the weight of love, of respect, has to be extremely enormous to decide to be the one who must die, but… Would The Boss have made the same sacrifice if he hadn’t proposed it?
It’s okay to be altruistic, and to give without expecting anything in return. But my dear digital legends, it’s also fair that we receive something in return, that the love we give to others is returned to us in some way. The moment we start giving, and we settle for not receiving anything, we lend ourselves to abuse, and that’s when little by little, others start asking from us, until we’ve given everything and can’t give anymore.
Then comes depression, comes emptiness, the lack of purpose in our lives, and we start becoming emotional dependents, which makes us even more vulnerable. And we don’t set limits, and people keep demanding, and we keep giving, until one day we explode and it’s too late.
Stop for a second to think, what you do for others, do you also do it for yourselves? If the answer is no, then it’s time to practice saying “No.” The Sorrow could choose not to go to war, could flee, and avoid all the pain that the spirits caused him on the battlefield, he could even avoid death. Many problems can also be avoided by saying no, choosing our well-being over others, because, at the end of the day, my dear legends, we are alone, inside our heads, we are the only company we have, and if we don’t take care of that little soft thing inside us that we call “me,” we will hardly be able to take care of anyone else.
The Sorrow was a sacrificed man, who gave a lot of himself to others, and who perhaps died without even giving himself a moment of peace. By the way, did you notice that The Sorrow, although a character steeped in pain, is always smiling? Sometimes, those who suffer the most are the ones who show a better face to the world, they are the kindest, the funniest people, despite the battle they are fighting within themselves.
I hope you liked this reflection, and if you liked this story, you might also like: Metal Gear Solid: Gray Fox – Frank Jaeger
What’s up, gamers! I’m Andrea Villasmil, the one weaving magic behind Joystick Latino. From the glorious era of Metal Gear Solid on the PS1 to today’s RPGs, video games have me hooked. Besides being the boss around here, I’m an editor and translator on this wonderful website. I’m also a music teacher, delving into the world of dubbing and voice acting.
Between psychological thrillers, RPG sessions, and delicious pasta dishes, I have a great time sharing my obsession for games on Joystick Latino. See you in the game, friends!
