Iirc, it's that that it got washed up in a hurricane three years prior to the game.

I think the bigger question is how the Bakers are the only people in the world to notice this gigantic tanker that washed up on the bayou.

Ah I think I vaguely remember that being mentioned in the story. Seems hard to believe though such a huge tanker could end up there. I suppose it was cruising near the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico.

That's a good point too. lol The Umbrella Corps were apparently watching the events that were unfolding with the Bakers for a couple years it sounds like though. So they knew it was there, maybe they were attempting to keep it covered up as much as possible, which might explain why they did nothing about the killings the Bakers were doing. Still it's a god damn tanker ship, it should be visible for 3-4 miles in all directions since it's like Louisiana and it's flat....

Did they really have to bring back Handsome Jack? Even if he was just some kind of holo-ghost, it felt really forced and more for the sake of fanservice than anything.

That sucks. I don't have a clue why Handsome Jack is such a fan favorite to begin with, he was the worst part of BL 2 for me. He's constantly toying with the vault hunter, regardless of how quickly they're single-handedly destroying battalions of soldiers and mechs, including a giant flying gun-fortress, and he's still like "Yeah, I meant for you to do that, loser. But seriously, if you take one more step, I'll kill you."

I dunno. I guess that was the whole point of his character, but my point is, he's a jebpiece. I don't get his appeal at all.

Yeah Jack was an arrogant shit but that was precisely the point. He's a complete psychopath and basically the most powerful person on the entire planet and any previous resistance to him was basically decimated on the spot. It's sort of like Kefka in FFVI, where he spends half the game sitting on his throne with a world destroying death laser collecting dust because his Achilles heel is that he's way too arrogant and thinks you don't stand a chance anyway, considering he's already destroyed the world once and became the most powerful person on the planet. Jack has that same character flaw, coupled with the fact that he genuinely believes he's doing everything for the greater good. He's the hero in his own mind, so why not have some fun while saving the world? If you play The Pre-Sequel it's actually kinda hard to not see his point. He was an altruistic, selfless hero at one point and in his naivete was constantly taken advantage of and betrayed until he just snapped. So by the time of BL2, his goal is to exterminate Vault Hunters because they're the exact reason for all the insane lawlessness and wanton murder on Pandora, he states over and over again that he's trying to rid the planet of the thing that's causing the most trouble, and he's not exactly wrong. He got twisted along the way and became a psychotic murderer in the process and he absolutely is an evil prick who deserves to be killed, but the main difference between he and the Vault Hunters is that they/you were driven by selfish greed from the outset, whereas he's always seen himself as a protector, his power just got to his head and he became a goofball drunk on sadistic bloodlust, possibly because he just enjoys punishing the people who hurt him so much. Also keep in mind just how much his demeanor changes when you start going after the people closest to him. His bulletin rescinding the reward on your head because he's now determined to kill you himself after you kill his daughter is actually pretty damn chilling. I get your point but I think he's a surprisingly fascinating character for somebody who seemed like a one-note tryhard comedic villain at first.

His only real crime is that he keeps the New U machines up and running. I always attributed your respawns to videogame logic (you die so you get another chance because it's a game and that's just how they work), but I realized recently that there's an in-game explanation for it, and it's specifically because of machines scattered across the planet that his company owns and operates. Like what the hell dude? I died the same way you did hundreds of times leading up to this point, you didn't even try to respawn, moron.

I feel like the Pre-Sequel starts out making him seem sympathetic/framing the story as his Start of Darkness, so to speak, but I feel like they drop some hints that he's at least somewhat morally ambiguous when the game opens. He was already developing a giant death cannon on his own (that he effectively had complete control over) and I thought there were some hints that he had already enslaved Angel at that point. Basically he still had the emotional capacity to be altruistic but was also pursuing some pretty unscrupulous goals at the same time. IMO that actually makes the story better, since it sort of subverts the common "pure good guy falls from grace" trope with the less common "chaotic netural guy falls to neutral evil."

I think I missed out on a lot by not playing the Pre-sequel, but even so, I get what you're saying - there really is an interesting arc to his character and a lot more depth than I thought. I really should've noticed that after the Angel fight, where the jokes stop and things get personal, but I guess I just already made my mind up at that point. (Bloodwing, never forget) I appreciate you guys taking the time to explain that to me - definitely gonna play through the game again and probably look into getting the Pre-sequel, too