George’s Baseball Cards in Far Cry 5
Far Cry 5 introduced players to the fictional Hope County, Montana and the cult known as Eden’s Gate that had taken over the region. Among the many side missions and activities for the player to discover was a questline focused on collecting baseball cards that belonged to a local man named George. Finding and returning George’s prized baseball card collection offered insight into one resident of Hope County impacted by the cult and provided some lighthearted distraction from the main storyline. Let’s take a deeper look at George’s baseball cards and what they revealed about life under Joseph Seed’s oppressive regime.
The first mention of George’s cards comes early in the game when exploring the rural areas outside Falls End. Radio calls from resistance members describe a distraught man searching frantically through the rubble of his home, crying out that his baseball card collection was missing. Feeling sympathy for George, players could choose to help in the search. Clues led to discovering the cult had ransacked George’s house after he refused to join Eden’s Gate. His most treasured possessions were stolen, including a near complete set of cards from the 1960s.
Tracking down the first few cards involved infiltrating cult outposts and listening for hints among captured communications. Cult members were heard mocking George and bragging about destroying what was important to him. Finding the scattered cards buried or hidden in strange places slowly helped piece his collection back together. Along the way, notes provided more context about George. He was a lifelong resident with a passion for baseball since childhood. His card collecting began in the 1960s and became a source of pride and joy and a connection to his past.
With each new card found, George’s excitement and gratitude grew. He eagerly shared stories about the players and years represented in his rediscovered collection. Interacting with George offered players a brief reprieve from the violence elsewhere in Hope County. It showed the human side of those affected by the cult and what was truly at stake – people’s livelihoods and identities being stripped away. George came to represent the ordinary citizens who just wanted to live freely without Joseph Seed’s imposed way of life.
By returning a few cards, George provided valuable intel on cult activities he overheard while searching. He was hesitant to directly confront the cult but helped the resistance however else he could. As more cards turned up, stashed away or discarded without care, George’s enthusiasm to share more memories kept the player motivated to find them all. The full story of how his collection was stolen and scattered emerged – a cult enforcer took delight in destroying what was meaningful to George as punishment for his disobedience.
Tracking down the final few cards led to a massive cult compound. Hidden away in a back room behind layers of security was a trunk containing the rest of George’s prized 1960s set, carefully organized and preserved. Upon returning the complete collection, George’s joy and relief was immense. He invited the player to look through the cards with him, recounting each player and season. Finishing the quest showed not only George reclaiming what was most important to him, but also striking a blow against the cult’s efforts to dehumanize and demoralize the people of Hope County.
George’s Baseball Cards offered players a heartwarming moment of normalcy in an otherwise chaotic open world. It presented the personal impacts of Joseph Seed’s regime beyond just violence and oppression. Individual identities and passions were deliberately targeted and destroyed to assert the cult’s control. Helping George recover his cherished collection from childhood gave purpose to exploring every corner of the map. It highlighted the resilience of ordinary people like George despite facing tremendous hardship. Even with the county overrun, small acts of kindness and individual freedoms still mattered greatly. Tracking down those baseball cards came to represent standing up to the cult’s attempts to diminish personal happiness and erase the past.
In the end, George’s simple questline tapped into what made Far Cry 5’s setting and story compelling – the human stakes of such a situation. Beyond just combat, it showed one way the cult terrorized residents and the satisfaction of pushing back against their control, even in small ways. Reuniting George with the piece of his past so callously stolen stayed with players long after the final confrontation with Joseph Seed. It highlighted that even in the darkest of times, the smallest of personal triumphs could shine a light on hope for the future.
