A series of new Death Stranding trailers shown at Gamescom 2019 offer more information on the characters of Mama, Deadman, and the Bridge Baby. The game's creator Hideo Kojima also used the event to share a new Death Stranding gameplay trailer, which continued highlighting the oddities of Kojima's game.
One of the new Death Stranding trailers revealed Mama's tragic backstory. The character, played by Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actress Margaret Qualley, explains to Sam that the otherworldly baby he can see can't hurt him like the other spectral monsters. Mama says that the baby is hers, but was born on the other side. Yet, the two are connected via the umbilical cord, which also prevents her from leaving. It's an odd and creepy scene, and Sam seems as confused as viewers.
There was also a video for Deadman, the character portrayed by the director Guillermo del Toro. Deadman seems to be some sort of expert about the Bridge Baby that Sam carries around with him. He tells Sam that the baby can be upgraded and viewers see Sam place the baby's pod into some sort of device so that it can install an update.
This update helps the baby to synchronize to its mother. Deadman also explains that Sam should only see the babies as "equipment," but with players able to soothe the babies too, it's difficult to see how people won't get attached.
Worryingly for Sam, Deadman says that the baby has been "in service" for more than a year, so it may need to be "retired." It's unclear what may happen when they need to be retired and where that leaves Sam.
The new videos have left fans trying to put the pieces together too. While Death Stranding is a famously confusing game, with trailers being designed to send fans on a clue finding adventure, they may be closer to having answers. One theory is that because the babies are connected to their mothers, they are able to offer a connection to the other side, and that's why Sam is able to use them to detect creatures from the other side. That may or may not be what's really happening in the game, but fans don't have long until they'll find out.
Death Stranding will launch on November 8, exclusively for the PlayStation 4.
