A pivotal cutscene which reveals the character's duplicity and the true nature of his "Would you kindly?" catchphrase became a widely discussed aspect of BioShock in the aftermath of its critical and commercial success. Commenting on the sequence of events that ends in Ryan's death and the revelation of Atlas' identity as Fontaine, Wes Fenlon from PC Gamer thought that it was rare at the time for video games, let alone a shooter game, that would question or comment on its relationship with the player as part of its exploration of objectivism and free will. Mike Diver from Vice considered the scene to be "gaming’s greatest plot twist" with how it subverted expectations of player agency, and observed that the "would you kindly" phrase inspired memes and easter eggs in other video games. David Sims from The Atlantic concurred, calling the revelation of Atlas as the game's true villain to be "brilliant", "the game’s way of ultimately mocking the illusion of choice it supposedly offered". Sims interpreted the plot twist as conveying the essence of the game's goal-oriented design philosophy, and that like many other video games, the purpose of its in-game world is for players to navigate a very specific story toward pre-written endings.
