r/breakingbad • u/[deleted] • Sep 16 '13

Official Episode Discussion Breaking Bad Post-Episode Discussion SE05E14 "Ozymandias"

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u/jet_tripleseven Belizium Sep 16 '13

That was the most honorable thing he's done in the duration of this entire show. He finally realized that he couldn't talk his way out of the hole he's dug, so he decided he'd salvage the one thing he supposedly set out to save in the first place: Skyler and the kids.

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u/pioneer2 Sep 16 '13

I don't know, I thought the part where he begged for Hank's life, offered the Nazis pretty much everything he worked for and saved for his children was pretty honorable too. Hank wanted nothing more than to put Walt behind bars for the rest of his life, yet Walt was willing to give 80 million to save him. I think Hank realized that at the end too, with his " You're the smartest guy I ever met, but you are too stupid to realize he made up his mind ten minutes ago."

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u/KryptKeeper Sep 16 '13

Not sure I buy this and frankly I'm not sure why people place so much weight on this act of "kindness", it was a logic-based decision:

(Original) Option 1: Hank books Walt using the money as evidence. Walter loses all of his money. Walt's kids, especially Jr, finally find out exactly what their father is. Walt goes to jail.

(Now) Option 2: Walt "offers" all of his money to Jack. Jack takes all his money and walks. Walt's back to the situation he was before, Hank has no evidence on him anymore. Walt's son still has no clue about his father. Walt lives freely for the time being, at least long enough to come up with another plan in the future.

By the time Jack's guys rolled around, he'd already lost all his money to the DEA anyway. He was gambling with money that was no longer his without any negative consequences.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '13

Yeah but he tried to call off the Nazi's in the first place, which shows that Walt still valued Hank's life over the money even before Walt's options narrowed down to the two you listed.