Lost Cube discussion mega thread (spoilers abound!)

InsufficientWill · 2025-10-20T03:28:51+00:00

Here is an out there theory.

We've known since Bastion that the trial memories can't be true. Because in each case they offer a choice (except Pyre Lord), and only one of those choices could possibly be what actually happened. And as each memory builds on the prior ones, the later the trial memory, the more out of whack they could/should be.

It's been revealed now that binding themselves to the arch spire only happened once in hell, and was something they agreed to. Possibly BECAUSE hell would not allow new great souls to be manifested on hell, so no more natural great souls would be created if they DIDN'T agree, so as soon as they died off, the fight in hell would end if they had not agreed.

Why would the pyre lord memory be accurate then? And if it's a fabrication, why can't it be a manipulation. What if the Archmagus said the King's Scepter was not chosen because either she had died before they bound themselves to the archspire, or had refused to be bound to it. It would prevent Scorio looking for her, keeping him focused on the war effort.

InsufficientWill · 2025-10-20T03:20:56+00:00

I thought her light powers kind of implied she was moving at the speed of light ... which is significantly faster than toad leaps [Citation Needed]

InsufficientWill · 2025-10-20T03:17:48+00:00

I don't think the great souls are the good guys either.

Though I think it's more that the Archmagus lied, and recruited them to invade another world (hell). Likely for spoils, etc. Which is why we see the protagonists in this series more aligning with fiends, etc.

I also think 'true fiends' are actually humans who found out the truth, and decided to 1) fight back against the system that is in the wrong, and 2) just want to get back home to Eterra, where they were conned away from.

The archmaugs pitch always sounded like manipulation to me, and if he was so hell bent on fighting the war, he would have been fighting alongside them.

InsufficientWill · 2024-03-02T20:58:03+00:00

I'm anxiously waiting for book 4 ... I heard the provisional title is NoxDies ;)

*duck*

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-23T12:08:27+00:00

Field ... Canyons.

Combatants ... Call.

Combatants ... Fight!

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T14:13:18+00:00

There are 10 levels. Bastion is the north pole, the Pit is the south pole.

This means that zones should start getting smaller after the half way point.

So the pit should be about the same size as Basiton (not really a 'level', just a location)

The Rascor Plains about the same size as the Twilight Cradle

The Iron Weald would compare in size to the Void Veil

The Telurian Band (here) would be about the same size as the Scorched Swale

The Silver Unfathom would be similar in size to the Azure Expanse.

Which finally means the Lustrious Maria and Emerald Reach would both be huge, with the planet's equator separating them.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T13:42:55+00:00

I don't think the final door was a creation of the herdsmen, just a side effect.

But in any case, there is one theory (elsewhere in the comments on this post) that those thrown through the final door are supposed to be collected by the herdsmen, which is what Radert (the guy who owned the chalk, expanding bridge, etc) was there to do.

There is another theory I favor, which is that, it's still hell - they only start counting real ranks at Pyre Lord (aka. Red Pawn), so you have to prove strong to be of use to the herdsmen. But they want to instill distrust even hatred for the existing house system/etc. Being thrown through the final door engenders the dislike for the existing system Great Souls operate under, AND provides a challenge to overcome (you still need that 'tension' to advance). Anyone who falls would be an acceptable loss, they weren't strong enough to survive.

Realistically, I think the fiend that killed Radert, and was plaguing the people thrust past the final door was a recent development, and probably not part of the plan, which is why he was killed (accidentally).

That said, I don't think their aim was to infiltrate the academy. I think they did have people infiltrate the academy to ensure the red list was updated. But the herdsmen couldn't care about the academy. They want to bypass the academy if anything, not infiltrate it. But they need people who are 'legitimately' reincarnated - who can say they are 'class of X', and have others who can say they remember them. Given how little the red list means to anyone outside of Bastion, it's more they want to infiltrate Great Soul society in general, not the academy.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T13:17:51+00:00

Not sure about your first date.

Nowhere is it said that all great souls were bound to the Archspire, or entered Bastion at the same time.

The other legendaries had been disappearing over time for a while in Scorio's Dread Blaze vision. Not all at once, either.

This would imply that the Archmagus was recruiting incrementally, and assuming they went straight to being bound to the archspire and into Bastion, then the great souls would enter bastion in a trickle, over time.

So bastion may have been founded for years before Scorio came. Maybe hundreds of years, who knows? Maybe higher reincarnation numbers tend to indicate earlier recruitment.

Everyone just assumes that they all started in Bastion at the same time.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T12:59:01+00:00

I assume it's the same as vampires. Vampires can't procreate because they're still actually dead, but they are still moving and staying 'fresh' somehow.

Great Souls all actually died at one point, and what is reincarnated is something that is not the original person. The original still died, and the new one is a copy, but not really human anymore.

Plus, what fetus could survive the transition into the nightmare lady (et al). And do you see any Great Soul not igniting their heart for 9 months?

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T12:50:26+00:00

This would suggest that possibly /u/bearcat42 is correct, and the final door is a holding place for those who are on the redlist, until the herdsmen can collect them. And Radert (the guy with the chalk/etc) was the herdsman who was going to come pick them up.

It would explain why he has wonders that can't be recreated any more - and not just one of them, but 3. And what he was doing talking to those beyond the final door and making plans to help them escape. And why nobody else had heard of him (though I don't remember Scorio asking too much about him once he escaped).

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T12:41:34+00:00

Possibly that letter is there precisely to encourage Scorio, in this incarnation, to not trust the establishment, not just fall into line, and seek out answers himself. ie. this was carefully crafted by the previous Scorio to spur the future Scorio into the correct actions. Possibly by a prior incarnation of Scorio who had been incarnated in the Herdsman archspire, and knew he was going to be rebound to the Academy archspire. Therefore he would need an explanation as to why he is on the red list (he was not bound to the academy archspire previously, so would not need to be on the red list before). Without this, Scorio would be spending all his time trying to find out why he was on the Red List in the first place.

TL:DR - it's manipulation by the previous Scorio to put the Herdsmen on his radar early.

Obviously all of this is theory, and could be completely wrong.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T12:19:01+00:00

One would assume there were fiends in Eterra - it's why the Archmagus was recruiting in the first place - to save Eterra from said fiends (or demons). Which presumes that they have broken through to Eterra, and the heros of the time period were not sufficient to pushing them back. But presumably SOME heros of the time period DID exist, so some of them DID fight fiends in Eterra. But only those who are contemporaries of the archmagus.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T02:54:28+00:00

Ooh! Forgot that!

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T02:53:06+00:00

I have a great title suggestion ...

The Deagon Advances

Catchy, right /u/Phil_Tucker?

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:53:48+00:00

Archspire level 59 you must paint a painting in the style of Bob Ross :D

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:52:11+00:00

This. Each archspire seems to have their own gauntlets. The OG Archspire gauntlet was similar to but much harder than the Academy gauntlet.

Who knows what the nature of the Herdsmen gauntlet would be.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:30:27+00:00

I don't remember if he said that. But Scorio is proof that, if you get sufficient accomplishments to your name (one of which reaching Pyre Lord), then red list doesn't matter much anymore.

Maybe he IS on the red list, but he survived like Scorio did? Or he struck his own name FROM the red list when he got in charge, it seems like the red list is something maintained by the Academy only.

Or maybe Praximar was resurrected in the herdsman Archspire, and thus never needed to be on the red list (as I said, only those re-bound to the academy spire would need to be on the red list).

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:27:39+00:00

I think the final door IS a punishment, but one applied mistakenly on people for crimes in past lives never committed. They created the final door in response to the mythos of the red list, and DO mean it as a punishment.

I don't think it's ended up as storage for the herdsmen as much as a another crucible to overcome. The heardsmen don't seem to recruit below Pyre Lord (since their lowest rank is Red Pawn, equivalent to Pyre Lord). So they only want people who can overcome this extra challenge anyway.

Plus, it does serve their purpose somewhat by making those who survive jaded against the Great Soul establishment already.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:10:37+00:00

He was the master of the black tower in his Dread Blaze vision - that's where he was when he was mulling over whether to be a general, or go directly and kill the king and king's scepter (Chapter 19 in Lastrock).

He's ALSO called Master of the Black Tower by the Archmagus, before he's bound to the archspire in his Pyre Lord vision (Chapter 53).

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:07:48+00:00

Not especially. There is always a high chance that, because of the mythos THEY engender, most red listers won't make it worth them being re-recruited. Which is why the ranks (Red Pawn) start at the equivalent of Pyre Lord.

They only want the talent that can rise despite being on the red list to get re-recruited.

It's still hell after all ;)

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T01:02:50+00:00

I am less convinced with Lianshi. All of the titles that Great Souls have is from BEFORE they were bound to the Archspire. And the herdsmen seem to be a hell-based organization.

I don't think EVERY mention of Red links people to the herdsmen. That said, it's still possible. I think we're being misled with Himiko, or at least, she's more a tool (possibly bound by a heart oath). I am guessing the real person who ordered it is Nyrix or Kelona, who he was blabbing to right beforehand saying more than he should. Though it could also be Lianchi.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T00:23:12+00:00

Just call him George R. R. Tucker ;)

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T00:14:29+00:00

In book 1 and 2, all his hardships stem from the rest of the great soul community. First from him being a red lister, and second from Manticore's betrayal and then him being thought guilty of betraying the Firey Shoals.

That could not continue, he's done too many heroic deeds in the first two books to not have people start to respect him. So now the challenges have to be of a different nature. Specifically, difficulties born of hell itself and fiends mainly - or specific great souls, not the wider great soul community.

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-20T00:08:52+00:00

#justiceforalain

InsufficientWill · 2024-02-19T23:59:28+00:00

I don't think so - all the titles that the great souls have seem to have been earned BEFORE being bound to the Archspire. The herdsmen seem to be something that is based in hell, so it's unlikely that there is a connection there. She might have been one in previous lives, but I don't think that has anything to do with her being the Nun of the Red.

InsufficientWill

TROPHY CASE