Some Rei Sintra Conspiracy Theories (SPOILERS !!)
As usual, if you don't want to catch spoilers, don't read this.
So I've read some threads in the forum about Rei's sudden change in attitude during the ending and everything, and after reviewing things myself I came to the conclusion that it isn't really as abrupt as you think.
The Theory: Sintra and Rei are actually two separate entities. Sintra is the kind AI Brian meets and interacts with briefly until a certain point, and Rei is the human soul who you really realize is probably evil and a complete a-hole at the end of everything.
I'd like to start with Atia Moeta talking about the story of the family. It was said that they were a normal family, but because they weren't able to have a child they went to a black market to adopt... wait what?
Now, I'm aware that the common sense of Yuppie Psycho's world is drastically different from ours. The fact that Kate and Brian are able to shrug off bodies, poison gas, demons, psychopaths, and whatever on their first day on the job, and still contemplating staying "because it's bad to quit on the first day of your job" shows you just how screwed up their whole world is. But still, if you want to adopt a baby, you can literally just go to an orphanage to do so, or if a lower-class citizen, just pick up one from the dumpster. No, I'm seriously not joking. This is a world where hiding from monsters, being hired to hunt down witches, and having to fear for your life is considered a "harder than usual day at work". Picking up thrown babies from dumpsters should probably be among the easiest thing to do in that world.
So something isn't quite right here, but let's put that aside for the moment.
Two, the Sintra family quickly rose to power and become the most powerful company in the world. Let's remember that the citizens here are separated by class and that the more powerful they are the more corrupt - I mean in the normal sense - they become, with Chapman probably being the least bad among their bunch. With him as a baseline, there is really no reason to believe that the Sintra Family is any different until proven otherwise. So when they obtained Domori, there is a chance they hadn't wanted to adopt her as her child, they just wanted to use her a money tree and grow their power and wealth beyond imagination. Even if that was really their wish from the start, who's to say that their desire hadn't become warped when they realized just what kind of bring they had brought into their house? The fact is that they had kept Domori inside her room within a magic seal, and used her to grow their corporation. Also, it seems like Rei was the only one besides the parents who are allowed to play with her in that room from time to time.
From the flashbacks, you can also see that Rei Sintra is less the sweet AI Brian had interacted with in the virtual world, and more of a spoiled brat who got tired of her sister not being able to get out and always playing with dolls (dolls that a certain mouth cannot resist feeding on, apparently...). There is too little information to make accurate deductions, but I think it's reasonable to say that a child born in the most powerful company in the world in a family who kept a living talisman of luck and prosperity "like an animal" probably isn't going to grow up as a good person.
With that in mind, we later learn that Rei and Domori had actually swapped bodies because the Snake had taken advantage of Domori's desires to play with Rei forever. In reality, what the Snake really wanted to do is destroy Sintra Corporation and Rei utterly, as evident during its final clash against Rei. Somehow, the Snake must have taken advantage of a momentary opening during the body swap to trap Domori in Rei's body, and Rei in Domori's body. Then, she kept Rei's body frozen and stored safely in her lair.
Now then, let's go back again to that cutscene where Atia Moeta talked about how Domori had become extremely unstable after Rei's disappearance. The reason behind it is simple, it's because she is Rei trapped inside Domori's body and caged behind a magic seal. The green eyes in the cutscene and Brian's realization near the end of the game seem to prove that Rei was in Domori as well.
Rei hadn't shown any surprise when Brian realized that the family had burned her instead of Domori. That means that Rei had retained at least retained that part of her memory. With that in mind... why the hell would she feel any love towards her sister, Domori? Yes, the Snake was really behind all this, but Domori had to agree to make the body swap happen in the first place because she was the one with all the power. This meant that Domori had unwittingly caused her to be caged up in a magic seal like an animal for months or even years, before ultimately burning them alive because her magic wasn't bringing luck and prosperity to the company anymore. Rei also looked like she would take revenge if it was the last thing she could do in that cutscene. With all that in mind, is it really reasonable to think that Rei's feelings for Domori are just normal sibling affection only?
Back to Rei. There are a couple of circumstantial pieces of evidence that point toward current Rei being a bad, bad girl. The first circumstantial evidence I noticed is Doshi. At the end of the game, we know that Doshi had spent his entire time in the company trying to rebuild the Sintra android. He went so far as to risk his life at the Hive to scavenge for computer components, and later tasking you to find some of her scattered parts. At first, it looks to me like a passion project to Doshi or something he's just really obsessed with for some reason. But later on, when you were escaping the canteen, Doshi gave you his keys and said: "If I can't make it burn it all. Destroy it!"
Again, remember that Doshi had probably been working on the android the whole time he was in the company (although to be fair it was only one day for Brian, so I can be wrong), so his decision to destroy his life's work, even when he was about to die, seems a little extreme, don't you think? Why not tell Brian to inherit it or fix it, which the latter we actually succeed at? It's almost like he thinks that the android is dangerous or something. Later on, the first thing he asks you after you talked to him at the lobby is again about the android. The second he heard that you'd fixed the android, he rushed up the stairs without a single thought. His reactions seem to suggest that something is up. Still, there isn't much lead to follow in the actual game, so we can only wait for the devs to elaborate in a future DLC.
The next circumstantial evidence is the whereabouts of the head, also the strongest piece of evidence in my opinion. Sintra's android head - the very first - was located in Spader's exhibition. if you noticed, every single piece of "art" that was present in that exhibition was a monster of some sort, all the way down to the receptionists. What does this imply? This implies that the Sintra head is a monster herself. It also implies that she's not the Sintra we know. Remember, this head has probably been stuck inside that exhibition box for a very long time, so it is incredibly unlikely that she's the Sintra we know in the virtual world. There is further circumstantial evidence below that support this theory. Also, Spader was being very subtle about it, but to me, he seems to be implying that Brian is saving people purely because he wants to save people, or saving his friends purely because he wants them to be their friends, which is a selfish motivation. So selfish in fact, that he might've blinded himself from the truth right in front of him.
The last piece of circumstantial evidence surrounds Rei herself and the Snake after Brian'd put the head back to the body. I my opinion, the sequence of events after Brian'd put her head and her body back together is incredibly suspect. At the very beginning, Sintra told Brian to go away and leave her alone. Up until that point, Sintra still seems to be Sintra. After Brian had hugged her, Rei woke up and pushed Brian off hard, saying something like, "we're not dating or anything". Okay, seems a bit excessive and out of character, since Sintra's an AI who barely knows anything about human relationships, much less dating, but maybe she's just shy. Second, she calls Brian "stupid". That's a bit rude and uncalled for, but maybe it's yet another show of shyness. Then, she said, "And stop calling me Sintra. That's what they called my father". My name is Rei". At this point, alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear in your ears, and it's not even over yet. She went on to say, "Not only that, I also have access to the Sintranet records. That's why I recognized you." This... doesn't sound like how you'd describe meeting another person. This sounds like what someone would say after reading your profile. Heck, even if I'm to assume that this is her "robot" personality at work, she still should've said something like "My memory of you has also been downloaded into this body. That's why I recognized you". And finally, "Whoa! It feels good to be out again. I'm free at last!" Oh yes, that's totally not ominous or anything.
Once you realize that Rei is probably not the Sintra you know, everything that happens afterward takes a sinister turn. For example, why did she destroy the Athame Dagger? There is no reason to destroy it. At the time, the reason she gave is that she didn't want you anywhere with her sister with such a dangerous weapon, but if that's the case she could've just kept the dagger herself. Brian would've given it to her willingly, and she didn't need to destroy it. Also, the item works as a talisman, so they didn't even need to use the weapon unless absolutely necessary. There's just no real reason to destroy such a potent and useful tool right before the ultimate boss battle... unless it was a threat to her own wellbeing. That's the theory anyway.
Next, when Brian escaped the water and said that he felt like he was a prisoner in a nightmare, she commented, "I understand you better than anyone". Yes, that might sound like what an AI trapped in a virtual world will say, but if you really think about it... it's not really true, because Sintra didn't really see her environment as restricting. She's an AI, and she lives in the virtual world. Why on earth would she feel restrictive? It's her natural world! Also, she has her own entertainment such as sorting through a tonne of data at her leisure, swinging on a virtual swing, or swimming in a virtual pool. She enjoys them. She just didn't act like someone with who she was trapped or confined, until the point she seemed to suffer from an existential crisis. Rei trapped inside a head inside a devil's exhibition, on the other hand... that sounds far more like it, doesn't it?
About that existential crisis, Sintra once asked Brian if she is corrupt. I believe she's asking this because she's supposed to be AI, and yet she has memories of Rei that don't belong to her after she saw the photo. That was why she wanted to know if she was defective. I don't think the "corrupt" she was saying was the same "corruption" the Snake was spreading.
Now then, let's fast forward to the confrontation between the Snake, Rei, and Brian. Personally, I think that the Snake is probably REALLY Domori's true friend. Yes, the Snake fooled Domori with the body swap and froze her in Rei's body, but that's only because it saw the Rei Family for what they are, scumbags who kept Domori chained and miserable while they use her as their money tree. The Snake was trying to destroy the family that had made Domori's life miserable. "Stop messing around and let Domori go! She doesn't belong to you.", Rei had said, and the Snake replied, "Funny you should say that. You're the people who bought Domori like she was an animal." Caged and used like one too btw, by let's not forget about that. Also, when the Snake said, "Hahaha... 'her sister', she says. You're so naive", is it really speaking to Rei... or is it speaking to Brian at the time?
Also, repeating the line, "You're the people who bought Domori like she was an animal." Didn't you find it strange that it said: "you're the people" instead of "your parents" or "your family"? It almost sounds like Rei was there as well, or even the one who had wanted to buy Domori in the first place. But that should be impossible because Domori was supposedly bought BEFORE Rei was born, as shown in the timeline of this link: https://steamcommunity.com/app/597760/discussions/1/1647665620925553529/. Again, this is clearly stuff that will be explored in a DLC, sequel, or prequel in the future.
Finally, the ending. Everyone noticed that Rei and Domori had swapped bodies again, as evident by their eye color. Everyone also noticed that Rei is acting a bit like a terrible person, or a LOT like a terrible person actually, openly making fun of Hugo and not caring that Brian, the man who had saved her life, returned her freedom and her heritage was punched in the face another ending. There is not a trace of the friendly Sintra Brian knew earlier because she really isn't her. Sintra is Sintra, Rei is Rei. Brian had just replaced a tyrant with another tyrant. The princess is in another castle, but the hero has no idea.
The ironic part is that the way Rei's acting, in the end, is exactly how the heiress of the most powerful company in the world should end. Also ironic is the possibility that Brian was the one who suggested the body swap in the first place because maybe Rei's soul needs to be in Rei's body to be fully acknowledged by the company's magical/sci-fi scanner. I mean, there are devils and monsters, it really isn't that far-fetched. That's the good ending. The bad ending is Rei using Domori's guilty conscience to force her into initiating a body swap, regaining her human body while trapping her sister inside a shell, wanting her to suffer as she did when she was just a head, kinda like Darth Sidious and Darth Vader.
On a final note, I really suspect the Three Saints' story is a lot more complex than is suggested, with possibly a betrayal or two involved. In the epilogue, we learned that Hugo and Corvo are actually quite close to each other, so despite Brian's belief Hugo just doesn't seem like the one who had killed Corvo. So, who did? I guess we'll have to wait for the DLC.
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