"The material base for an uprising has eroded, the working class betrayed mankind and itself. The historic opportunity for a revolution has passed."

I like to hope that even if this seems true, the adaptability of the human race means that even after the worst of climate disaster, the fascist regimes that will come from that, war, etc. As long as someone is still alive, there's hope.

"After life, death. After death, life again. After the world, the pale; after the pale -- the world again."

Brings me back to this video by @kayandskittles.

There is a reason he is called by the deserter and not his name in all dialouge boxes. He deserted everything, but the fight most of all. The union is developing into a militant workers movement working within their historical moment. The deserter just gave up.

okay, *this* time the game is making fun of him

No one is being made fun of. The Deserter has its pathetic sides, just like Evrart or the Student Communists. Communism has a vast, contradictory soul, and all of them partake in it :)

There will be many more opportunities in the future. We are not chained to the past.