Faith Seed (Far Cry 5)

== Overview ==
“Once you fall under Faith's spell, you're a goner. As Joseph's voice, Faith acts as a divine instrument of chaos to keep congregation in a state of bliss.”
— Ubisoft's description of Faith Seed on Far Cry 5's site
“The path to Eden is clear to those who have faith.”
— Faith Seed
Far Cry 5
Rachel Jessop, better known as Faith Seed, is one of three secondary antagonists in Far Cry 5 and Inside Eden's Gate, she was also the adoptive younger sister of Joseph Seed. Faith was the herald of the Henbane Riverregion.
== History ==
Faith is not this young woman's real name, as Joseph mentions she was "not the first" to carry it. In-game dialogue from Tracey, as well as a phone recording from Faith herself, reveals her name to be Rachel Jessop. From other notes found in-game, she is the latest 'Faith' and possibly at least the third or fourth one; it is known a blonde named Selena replaced a woman with black hair, and the corpse of a woman named Lana was disposed of after her death. It is unknown if the black-haired woman and Lana were the same person, or if yet another woman wrote an unsigned confession of doubt. In the game files, Faith is often referred to as Selena Seed, which indicates that at some point during the development of the game Faith's original name was meant to be Selena but they changed it for some reason, just like Virgil Knutsen, the mayor of Fall's End, was renamed Virgil Minkler.
Only a sketchy account of Faith's life can be pieced together from various dialogs with other residents of Hope County. It should be noted, however, that these bits of information are sometimes based on hearsay and come from people who are often profoundly biased against Faith.
The current Faith was born to the affluent Jessop family that owned a conservatory in the eastern part of Hope County. Faith's father was a doctor who experimented with plants as part of an altruistic effort to save people[2]. Before the atrium was converted into a Bliss research facility, Faith's mother grew orchids in one of the greenhouses[3]. Due to her personality and naivety Faith suffered a lot of abuse and, as a result, turned to drugs for comfort. Tracey described Rachel as a person who was always too nice, who always kept the peace and was ready to agree, "avoiding fights instead of realizing when a fight needed to happen... Good ain't nice and Rachel did not get that. It was the only thing we ever fought about before. And she could not fight even when it was to save her own damned skin." According to Sheriff Whitehorse, Tracey and Rachel, who were friends, 'joined a free spirit movement in the west, smoking doobies, banging on drums'[4]. But Rachel and Tracey fell on harder drugs and fell out of favor with their community. Tracey searched for a new home and found the Project at Eden's Gate, and Faith decided to return with her to Hope County to join the cult.
Things changed for her when she met Joseph. According to Faith, the Father welcomed her, introducing her to a strict moral code without drugs and alcohol whereby she recovered from her addiction. Unlike Rachel, Tracey soon realized the Cult's duplicity and left them, while Rachel immersed herself completely in the ideology of Eden's Gate. Moments before her death, Faith tells a different story, about how Joseph took her when she was 17, drugged her and threatened her. According to The Book of Joseph, she was given a dose of scopolamine and became "purified", taking on the role of the sister.
== Far Cry 5 ==
And I saw, and behold... a white horse!
Spoiler Warning: Plot and/or ending details for Far Cry 5 follow! Read at your own risk!
Faith is one of Joseph Seed's Lieutenants and is in charge of the Henbane River area of Hope County. She is in charge of the manufacturing of Bliss, which keeps the cult in a state of euphoria. She often appears to them while the cultists are on the drug, and she can give them commands that they tend to follow.
The first time she appears to the Deputy is through an auditory hallucination. She remarks how she was like a rat in a maze chasing a wedge of rancid cheese, but The Father was the one who helped her look beyond the maze. She also appears in the mission Clean Water Act next to the pumps, where she tells the Deputy that "you can stop the water, but you can't stop the bliss."
=== A Leap of Faith ===
The first time Faith captures the Deputy in the Bliss, she tells the story of her past, involving her drug addiction and suicidal thoughts. But this all changed when she met Joseph. Although she reveals later that she was captured and drugged by Joseph when she was 17, she tells how the Father made her feel reborn. Faith then grows wings out of Bliss, takes the Deputy's hands and flies to the top of the Father's Statue. She then reveals that to prove herself to Joseph, she had to jump from the top of the Father's Statue. At the top, Marshal Cameron Burke is standing there. She flies off to watch the Deputy jump and says, "the path to Eden is clear to those who have faith." The Marshal turns to the Deputy and says to "walk the path", then he jumps. After he jumps, the Deputy is prompted to take this leap of faith. As the Deputy falls, Faith's disembodied voice says "I will give you purpose. I will set you free." The Deputy awakes on the ground surrounded by dead bodies. After the Deputy stands up, Faith's disembodied voice asks "Do you feel different? Do you feel alive? The first step is always the scariest." She ends with an ominous "I'll see you soon."
After you burn Faith's copy of Joseph's words, she comes through and asks "What have you done? His words. Don't you understand what he'll do to me?" This is the first indication that Faith is still terrified of Joseph. During the mission Sins of the Father, when the Deputy is going to burn the Bliss flowers, Faith, still nowhere to be seen, asks "Are you sure you want to do this? These flowers bring hope. You bring destruction." During the same mission, in front of Jessop's Conservatory, she can also be heard saying "You must be dizzy. So many roads to choose. What to believe? Who to help first? When to trust? When you find the path, you'll see clearly. Come with me and I'll show you the path." Faith speaks to the Deputy again in the mission Salvation, saying "Do you see it? The transformative power of faith? The poor souls who struggle with doubt are brought here to be enlightened...It's beautiful, isn't it?"
=== The Bliss ===
The second time Faith abducts the Deputy, she leads the Deputy to a tree where the Father is giving a sermon. This whole scene is cascaded by Joseph's theme music. Here Joseph drops a hint to the Deputy about the nuclear ending. He then preaches to the Deputy about the evils of the world, but Faith is nowhere to be found.
=== Ignorance is Bliss ===
The third time Faith captures the Deputy she became a little upset and says : "I know you have your doubts, but this is the only way the story ends. Nothing you can do change that. Your friends on the outside... they're controlled by fear. They don't understand". She then turns to the Marshall saying : "But he does. He'll show you." After the conversation with the Marshall, when the Deputy stop him before he joins Eden's gate she screams : "Leave him alone. Leave him alone !".
During the mission War on Drugs, Faith says "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice..." ending on a mildly threatening note. But after a few seconds, she follows up by saying "None of us are perfect. We all...make mistakes from time to time. Even myself." After a few more seconds, she continues her statement by saying "Foolishly, I thought we were coming to an understanding. Foolishly, I thought we were building trust." She then finishes by stating "But that trust has been broken. Again and again. So there will be no more interference. No more distractions. No more pity." This is the exact moment where Faith turns hostile towards the Deputy.
=== The Lesson ===
The fourth time Faith captures the Deputy, she is clearly angered. She points out how selfish the Deputy is acting, in her perspective. She looks in the distance, then grabs the Deputy's hand and they speed towards Marshal Burke and Virgil Minkler, who are playing cards. Virgil says to the Marshal that if he wins this hand, the Marshal has to wear a Cougars button. Faith then lectures the Deputy on hubris. Faith reaches her hand toward the Marshal's gun. She turns to the Deputy and glares, saying "If violence is the only language you choose to speak, then I'll speak your language." The Marshal, under Faith's control, pulls his gun out and shoots Virgil in the chest. She then acts apologetic saying "I'm sorry I have to do this. I wanted there to be another way. But you made your choice." She shoves the Marshal away, and he opens the gates to the Hope County Jail, allowing the peggies to enter the Resistance stronghold. The Marshal then destroys the gate controls and then turns towards the Deputy. He says "I told you. I didn't want to leave", then he shoots himself in the head.
During the mission The Lesson, Faith is standing next to the air vent, where she tells the Deputy "Aww...still trying to be the hero...it's too late, you know. You should have listened when you had the chance." She then disappears into the Bliss.
=== Paradise Lost ===
The last time Faith captures the Deputy during Paradise Lost, she is not there to welcome the Deputy to the Bliss. Instead, the Deputy wakes up in front of gates opening. Faith's voice comes through saying "Now you see what we can do. Come to me and I'll show you a world you never dreamt possible." While walking towards the Bliss flower field, Faith appears walking towards the Deputy holding Sheriff Whitehorse's hand, singing the song "Amazing Grace". Faith then threatens the Deputy to not interfere with the Sheriff's brainwashing. She then levitates above the rock and begins to shoot magical blasts towards the Deputy while angels attack on the ground. Every time she gets hit, a cloud of blood and red flower petals trickle towards the ground. She then splits into multiple forms, yet only one being the real Faith. Sad music cascades this scene to help accentuate how sad and broken Faith really is. She is able to absorb many shots. Right before her health bar runs out she pleads to the Deputy saying "It's not my fault. None of this was my fault! You think I wanted this? He plied me with drugs, he threatened me! I was 17! I was just a child!" As she takes the last shot, she screams "NO!" with terror and sadness carrying it. The Deputy is then transported to a river where a bloodied Faith stands. She looks at the Deputy with hurt, saying "You still don't understand. You don't know what it is you're doing do you? Joseph believes he's our savior. But you'll be the one who decides what happens. You were the start. You'll be the end." Faith then takes a step towards the Deputy with her arm extended, looking for help, but the Deputy backs away. Her face conveys a flurry of emotions until she nods sadly with acceptance. She then wades into the river and continues her final words by saying "It was always going to happen this way. You'll walk the path. You'll rescue your Sheriff. You'll be the hero. And then... you'll choose." She falls into the river, finally succumbing to her injuries. A ring of Bliss surrounds her body. Even though Faith is technically dead, her disembodied voice weakly states "And if you don't listen to him, he'll be right." A stream of Bliss comes from her body and flies into a Bliss flower, which the Deputy picks.
== Personality ==
As stated by others, Faith is a siren leading others to their doom whilst keeping them blissfully happy. Being a master manipulator, she easily conveys herself as a victim to garner sympathy and loyalty for Joseph yet this only hides her cruelty. Faith sees little to absolutely no wrong in any of her actions as in her mind she is providing happiness and peace to her followers who make their decisions to be part of The Bliss on their own, spinning her enemies as violent extremists attacking innocent people. She tends to present facts and describe events in a way that suits her beliefs and her agenda, but the motivation for her actions seems to be grounded in her eagerness to protect the purity of the Bliss, her fantasy world, from disruptive influences - a world where she is loved and her vulnerable ego is not threatened by mockery, derision, and insults. Until the player reaches a high enough resistance level in her region, Faith sticks to peaceful attempts to convince the Junior Deputy to join the Cult. However, she is capable of cruelty - Jasmin Chan who lived at the Chan Residence complained to her about the noise coming from the construction site of Joseph's statue and she promised to send her Cultists[5] to "apologize to Jasmine", but they killed Jasmine Chan instead. She also 'convinces' Marshal Burke to deliver a televised message that places the blame for the Cult's violent response squarely on the Junior Deputy.
To help manipulate her victims, Faith likes to depicts herself as innocent and childlike as can be seen in The Bliss where she often giggles, runs and skips around to appear harmless. Her likeness such as dressing completely in white and attempting to appear pure is to make herself appear like a flower - both in attempt to help her manipulations and convince herself, despite this Faith holds doubt in her own purity due to her implied past of drug addiction and her true value to the Seed family. Her recorded message that can be played back at Eden's Convent claims that she left behind her Rachel persona, but the fact that she felt it necessary to mention it suggests that Rachel may indeed have misgivings about her transformation into Faith.
Despite claiming to be loyal to The Father for accepting her for “who she is” and giving her a new family, Faith apparently lives in fear of whatever punishment Joseph will inflict upon her should she disappoint him. As the fourth Faith, she is constantly worried that one day she could be replaced like her predecessors - this is especially evident when the Deputy burns her personalised Word of Joseph and she sounds terrified over what he will do to her. Her fear of Joseph also explains her violent response to Jasmine Chan's complaint (see above). During her fight with the Deputy, Faith screams that was she bombarded with drugs and threatened by him to do his bidding when she was seventeen.
Of course as Virgil, Dutch, Tracey, Whitehorse and virtually everyone says Faith is known to be a liar so everything she says holds some doubt. Faith acknowledges this fact during a spectral encounter but she simply asks the Junior Deputy if they are going to judge her based on what other people say
== Abilities ==
Because scenes where Faith interacts directly with the player only occur while under hallucination, it is difficult to gauge whether or not Faith has any notable physical capability or combat training. She can harm the player during her boss battle, but she appears to shoot using magical attacks during the previously mentioned hallucination sequence. As the Rookie can die from these attacks, there's something in the real world causing said damage, but it's unseen. However, it is also possible that the attacks are purely mental and result in severe brain damage that eventually kills the victim. The latter hypothesis is more consistent with how Faith and her abilities are portrayed in the game.
She is incredibly alert and perceptive; able to gauge the weaknesses of people often just by looking at them. In the Inside Eden's Gate short film, she's able to pick up on Sara's loneliness within a minute of meeting her, and gathered Marshal Burke's deep unhappiness with his life when he was handed over to her following his fall into the Henbane in the Prologue.
Combining her perceptive nature with her knowledge of the use of Bliss, Faith is incredibly manipulative to people under its thrall, hallucinating that they are in Eden. She can get Marshal Burke to follow her every command, and the Angels follow her instructions to the letter. Other people on the Bliss also follow her instructions, as seen by the many corpses at the base of Joseph's statue, that jumped on Faith's suggestions. 
While in the Bliss hallucination, Faith appears to be able to fly, sprouting wings made of light. In addition, she can run abnormally quick for someone of her build. Of course, as this is a hallucination, it's unreliable to base her abilities on this.
Faith has the ability to convert people into Angels by having them exposed to high concentrations of Bliss administered either in gaseous or liquid form. Multiple members of the resistance mention they have a hard time killing Angels because they recognize them as people they knew from the resistance who were captured and pacified through this method.
== Trivia ==
* Just like the other heralds, Faith transformed her sin (drug addiction) into a virtue. While the hard drugs she had used were only for her own 'benefit', the Bliss, in her view, benefited others who were exposed to it as it pacified them, made them forget their fears, and prepared them (i.e. the Angels) for serving a higher purpose: the survival of mankind.
* Faith is absent from the Arcade Editor mode for unknown reasons.
* Her line, "He plied me with drugs, he threatened me, I was seventeen, I was just a child," which she tells the deputy during the last fight with her means that it has been 7 years since she became a potential candidate for the role of Faith. As it is known that there were at least two or three other persons carrying the name "Faith", it is reasonable to conclude that several candidates must have been prepared (drugged/brainwashed) for this role, and when one of them failed or was outperformed by the next best candidate (possibly in terms of her ability to exert mind control over Bliss-addled persons) then the incumbent "Faith" was replaced, which is evidenced by notes found in the game.
* Based on the notes and hints by Joseph, Faith Seed is important to him. Although for him, the one who has the role for Faith Seed is not as important to the point that he treats them like a common angel based on a note. Rachel seems to be an exception to this treatment, but it was revealed that the only thing that keeps her special to Joseph is her devotion to him as he states.
* Based on Joseph's own words about his wife, "She had faith that things were going to work out. She always had faith…", Joseph may see Faith as a substitute for his deceased wife, despite her being their adoptive sister. This is supported by the fact that Joseph's tattoo of his deceased wife includes Bliss flowers as a part of the composition. Apparently, for Joseph his wife was the embodiment of faith, and adopting women as his sister and dubbing them 'Faith' might have been an unconscious attempt to recreate the only person who became part of his family.
* Faith has a tattoo of the chemical formula for cocaine and scopolamine on her left forearm (C17H21NO4), which strongly hints she was telling the truth about her background as an addict.
** This also gives hint that scopolamine is the drug that is the inspiration for the bliss drug.
** A table in the Hope County Jail's laboratories showing the structural formula of scopolamine indicates the same.
* She is the herald of the Henbane River. It is named after the Henbane flower, which has hallucinogenic properties, further hinting to the inspiration for the Bliss flower.
* Based on her tattoo, and the story she tells The Deputy about using a needle, it hints that Faith’s drug addiction was of something more than cocaine - as cocaine is mostly snorted and very rarely injected.
* Faith is only ever seen once in-game in the real world, during the prologue when the Junior Deputy is prompted to arrest Joseph, where she stands behind him. All other encounters occur in Bliss hallucinations.
* She is a former close friend of Tracey Lader.
* Despite Faith’s dialogue admitting that she was exploited by Joseph, Joseph seems to care for her during his eulogies.
* Joseph also mentions that he put his "faith" inside her.
** If this is spoken by him figuratively, he may be speaking about the exchange of mutual faith between him and Rachel Jessop.
** If this is literal, this may be a hint that he exploits Rachel sexually and not just through drugs or extortion.
* Joseph mentions that Rachel was the most devoted of all of the Faith Seeds.
* Both Faith and John Seed seem to be afraid of The Father.
** This is hinted when she says, "You don’t know what he’ll do to me" further supporting her claims of abuse from Joseph.
** This is proven as they both avoid confronting him.
* Many phones found in the Henbane River region have messages left from Faith.
* She can sometimes appear while the protagonist is affected by the bliss and sing or speak a few lines.
** Furthermore, if one of Faith's visits are triggered after the Deputy voluntarily talks to Faith when she has the quest icon above her head or if the Deputy is pulled into the Bliss after freeing a hallucinated captive who exudes Bliss vapor, Faith will say "I'm glad you came" rather than "Welcome to the Bliss," when she blows bliss in the Deputy's face. 
** When appearing randomly, she is singing or humming the cult song: "Oh the Bliss", at a different tempo.
* The line: "No more distractions. No more pity" hints that Faith spares the Junior Deputy out of pity.
* In all scenes, Faith is barefoot.
* Faith's epiphany is accurately reflective of the events of the end-game: in Where It All Began, Joseph does present the player with a choice, and the choice will determine which ending happens. If the player chooses to resist Joseph, Hope County is destroyed by a nuclear attack, bringing forth the Collapse - and Joseph is indeed proven right.
* She can sometimes be heard speaking to the Junior Deputy even though far from any bliss sources. This is likely a prolonged effect of the bliss. 
* It also seems that when Faith has control over people in the Bliss, they have an increasing amount of blue butterflies, shown by when the Marshall begins the attack on the prison he has multiple on him. However, it also seems that if under her influence for a short amount of time, the victim will have fewer butterflies, as evidenced by Sheriff Whitehorse having few butterflies around him. When we first see the Marshal in the Bliss he has around three blue butterflies, but when he kills Virgil the number of blue butterflies increased.
** This likely means that her control over a person progresses in time. This is evident in that Faith at first needs to touch the Marshall to control him, but as time passes she is able to control him without physical contact.
* While hunting anywhere in the Henbane River region, Faith can appear and speak a line or sing. She can appear randomly. Sometimes when affected by the Bliss, sometimes when you cause damage to her properties or the cult’s properties in the Henbane Region. It is also common for her to appear holding a flower and skipping or walking around in a small area.
* While in the game she is only seen in real life once when the Deputy is tasked to arrest the Father, she also appears in the live action short film Inside Eden’s Gate.
* Faith is a talented singer, as proved by her rendition of "Amazing Grace".
* During her first encounter with the deputy she is the least hostile to him/her, unlike the other heralds Jacob and John, but she can be extremely violent to the point where she uses her manipulation to kill when provoked at a certain level.
** This is seen when she influences Marshal Burke to kill Virgil Minkler solely to punish the Deputy for their repeated interference.
* Hurk has a crush on Faith (along with many, many other people).
* A note can be found in a church north of the Hope County Jail written by Faith, where it mentions she isn't the first person under Joseph to go by Faith. She also says that she is losing faith in Joseph's plan and is scared of what he will do to her.
* Rachel Jessop is the owner of the Jessop Conservatory. When you liberate the Jessop Conservatory, Sheriff Whitehorse mentions that Rachel Jessop is the one who turned the Jessop Conservatory to the cult.
* It's unknown what became of Faith's real family but it's likely she had them killed or turned into Angels once she was bestowed the title as "Faith." 
* After Update 1.06, Faith is available as a Special Outfit for the deputy.
* While Faith’s body isn’t able to be found after her death, her boss fight area and the pond in which she died in can be found near Faith’s Gate.
* Faith has gone through the most changes in design among the Seed Family. With one of her designs even has a different hair color. The design that matches or at least closely resemble her final design is the full render or the one used in the map icon and the cult vignette. Certain file path names in the game files also suggest that the character was originally called 'Selena Seed', which was later changed to 'Faith'.
* Faith is the only cultist who is unarmed and does not use any physical weapons when she attacks.
* Although she is described by Tracey and other Resistance members as "a liar", she does not lie about the final confrontation in the game and its consequences.
== Gallery ==
Faith Seed 2.jpg
Category:2010s
Category:Brunette
Category:Computer-Generated Villainess
Category:Delusional
Category:Lawful Evil
Category:Master Manipulator
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Category:Torturer
Category:Video Game Villainess
Category:Fate: Deceased