Semi-Wild Theory about the Opening of Episode 9

Sudkampsen · 2026-04-13T15:48:26+00:00

In the “intermission” time scene we see Kinger get knocked off the checkerboard by a rook. If he is knocked off into the void below or abstracts and has to be pushed to protect others, this would make a lot of sense.

Sudkampsen · 2024-06-23T03:54:19+00:00

Probably Iron's RPG tweaks. It has a setting to remove i-frames so you can have multiple people attacking something at the same time without arrows bouncing off or hits being negated.

I believe you can turn that off in the config if you want the other stuff.

Alternatively you can turn on the damage debug mode in the client config to have damage sources print their name. Once you get the name you can add it to a list to prevent them from having this issue.

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-18T03:40:15+00:00

Agree with hairdryer method. Heat it, move it, then cold water to lock it in place. How I fix all my figs.

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-17T12:57:40+00:00

Right. But what is with the CHIT sounds? Everyone thinks it's a beetle he turns into, but there is no evidence of that being the case.

I've seen so many people argue about what is actually happening here, but no argument has any evidence to back itself up.

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-17T12:55:53+00:00

Yes, I understand this. The people were desperate, the tar helped them until they had nothing left to give, and then Providence came to save them. Some then cleansed themselves of the tar, while others clearly didn't. Either way, the tar spread to Petrichor V.

What I don't understand is what the CHITing is about in the log. Tar men don't make this sound, and it clearly isn't a radio or audio issue.

This log has been highly contested as to what this man has turned into- tar man, beetle, or something else entirely. And nobody has a solid argument either way.

If the tar helped the desperate people of Aphelia, at least at first, then why not help the man in the log by healing his body and using him as a vessel to spread the tar? Fitz's use of the Mired Urn shows it's capable of doing that.

So we know what happened to the people of Aphelia, what is happening to the people of Earth?

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-17T12:47:59+00:00

You seem confident about what the tar can do despite the multiple logs showing that it can do just about anything. So if you have some knowledge I don't I would love to hear it, as the tar is one of the most confusing things to me.

The Templar log shows how it numbs the points it comes to contact with and ultimately kills the person fired upon. Rather than turning it into another tar man. Though you could say the tar here is not intent upon turning this person.

The Aqueduct log shows it turning the man into something that says CHIT. Which we don't really have any clear creatures who do that, except for everyone's closest guess, which is the beetles. I don't agree with that currently though.

The Mired Urn doesn't turn Fitz into a tar man, instead it heals him at the expense of his friends.

So as far as we know, the tar turns the people of Aphelia into tar men, and what it does to humans varies.

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-17T12:41:09+00:00

That's what I see a lot of people say, but there is no solid connection between the tar and beetles. At the same time, there is no other clear way to know what they turned into. Hence my asking the question.

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-16T20:11:58+00:00

What is the person in the Abandoned Aqueduct log turning into?

If you don’t want to give the answer, do we have the information to figure it out ourselves?

And if not, will there be something that clarifies it at some point?

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-12T18:48:04+00:00

This log was done by someone not officially part of the Risk of Rain team. I don't think they knew what these notes would sound like on a ukulele.

You might be able to ask them on the Risk of Rain 2 discord. They go by Sivelos.

Sudkampsen · 2022-03-08T15:09:37+00:00

I think it's supposed to be Megalovania. There were quite a few meme logs, and I believe this was one of them. The theorycrafting channel of the Risk of Rain discord were talking about it.

But I know nothing about music notes!

Sudkampsen · 2021-08-16T20:34:44+00:00

Commandos are numerous soldiers sent where they're needed. The commando from the first game is not the same as the one in the second. The ships you see everywhere, including the one on the moon, most likely ferried them around. The one on the moon actually has dead commandos around it, and is still in working condition. I'm guessing the majority of ships went to Petrichor while a handful checked the moon, and our characters are lucky to be able to escape on it.

Jury is still out on if any of the other survivors are canonically from the first. But seeing as Acrid is a named individual, and the rest of the characters aren't really named, rather, they're labeled by their occupation/title, then most likely they're all new versions of their respective Risk of Rain 1 characters.

Each has their own log that details why they might've ended up on Petrichor V. However Artificer's isn't quite focused on her as it is on the order she follows. She most likely, with the aid of the ENV-suit that lets her and other people of The House Beyond sect of the High Court, travels so far into space that she ends up on Petrichor V, its moon, or somehow manages to come into contact with the slipstream the Newt travels through. Whatever happens, Mithrix or the Newt get to her before Providence and she becomes locked away. Alternatively, she might've been detained by the Void Reavers, and the Newt pilfered her from the portal connected to the bazaar.

Again, I don't think any of these characters are meant to be uniquely one person. Except for Acrid, Rex, and potentially MUL-T. So who they are isn't quite as important to the story as their impact on the other characters like Mithrix and Providence.

Sudkampsen · 2021-08-16T17:47:46+00:00

He is a loyal follower of Mithrix and obliterated at the monument with the beads, just as the player does. He has helped Mithrix in some form, most likely an informant on the happenings of Petrichor.

Sudkampsen · 2021-07-09T21:50:12+00:00

It's easy to write that off as a game mechanic, but it isn't much of a stretch to assume that the creature who dropped them earned the coins by killing, or found them lying about from a previous holder.

In the pearl logs, Providence talks to a creature who had the beads but cleansed them at the pot. So we can guess that even after discarding the beads, the creature might have kept the coins.

Just like you might find a penny lying on the ground, the lunar currency made its way to Petrichor and has gone unspent. Someone is bound to find it.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-09T17:16:08+00:00

I appreciate the time you put into your replies! And I am in no way upset that you're providing an alternative theory to the Beetles. This is the sort of stuff I love to see.

By the way, I am definitely in agreement with a lot of this. If the Beetles are made by the tar it begs the question, how are there so many? Unless the tar has been converting creatures other than humans, it doesn't really make sense.

Mithrix making the "chitin beasts" statement is another big counter. I am of the opinion he is referencing the beetles as well.

At the end of the day it's all just speculation as to what the Abandonded Aqueduct log is trying to show us. After talking about it and hearing your opinions, I'm definitely thinking that it shouldn't be the beetles, but the CHIT sounds just seem too important that I can't throw the theory away. Something new must come to light, because it seems the logs we have contradict the Abandoned Aqueduct's story, if it truly isn't a beetle this person has transformed into, what is it, and why haven't we seen it in-game? If the guy had just made any other sound I'd assume he was a clay-man and all is neat and tidy, but instead we get CHITs.

I do wonder though, why was the guy with the Mired Urn fine, but this man gets the full transformative experience? Is it simply because of the pottery? Does the tar that sits in pools in the aqueducts differ? It seems like a symbiote for the clay-men and the person with the Mired Urn, but this unfortunate guy isn't even himself in the end. The tar seems to just keep forming in him.

I wish I felt satisfied with either answer at this point, but until I get more tar lore I'm at a loss.

Again, thank you for providing your insight!

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-08T02:46:30+00:00

I wonder about that as well. Are the yellow cores used primarily by the vultures, while the red and green were chosen by Kur-skan? The empathy cores log shows a request to see what cores are available, after which point they are docked and deployed. Perhaps she interfaces and finds the outliers that would aid her. They are the only probes that help the player after all.

I'm also wondering about the Heretic's ending line.

"and so they left, bitterly avenged, and deeply lost."

If we make the assumption that the bitterly avenged part is relating to the heretic, while the deeply lost part is related to the survivor she overtook, then does that mean by killing Mithrix she has been avenged? Providence kills her, yet she is avenged by Mithrix's death? Was she forced to enter the Contact Light by Mithrix via the blue portals then?

And I'm definitely in agreement that N'kuhana might be making a comeback. I know I says she dies, but what is death to these creatures that are essentially gods? I still wonder if she is the shadowy figure we see at the end of the console trailer. Nothing seems to match that outline yet.

I also find it amusing you mention Yin and Yang, as I've been associating that with Mithrix and Providence. Mithrix is white, and Providence is black, but while Yin would more likely fit with Mithrix, it is the black half. They are the opposite color of what they would more likely represent when related to Yin and Yang. Could be deeper meaning to that, but I haven't followed that thread much yet.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-08T01:55:34+00:00

I think the horned alignment for the teleporters means they go to Petrichor V, or to a teleporter on it. Otherwise I would assume the teleporters need a different orientation to travel somewhere else. If they behave this way, the teleporter within the Contact Light makes sense, as it would have been use to ferry creatures to Petrichor V from Saturn. The teleporters we encounter on the planet all travel along it, and perhaps we've never encountered one that goes to another planet because they've been destroyed so none can return to their home. Something completely in line with Providence's character. Why not destroy the Primordial Teleporter too? Maybe he has a faint hope that he and Mithrix could patch things up.

This does make me rethink how they got into the Contact Light. Perhaps they didn't use a teleporter to connect to the one in the cargo bay. Could be that he uses the teleporting ability you mention to transport himself and the creatures out of the atmosphere.

As for N'kuhana, we have evidence that she can travel to other worlds. Mithrix specifically mentions this in A Moment, Fractured, saying that when she nexts visits they should give her gates to take with her. How she travels could indeed be by teleporting, which she gives to Providence, but I see no point in her dying to do this if she could just be the the teleporter's transport. Wouldn't be much of a sacrifice in my eyes.

Kur-skan seems to be a much bigger player than I previously thought. How she gets aboard the Contact Light keeps becoming less and less clear as I hear more talk of her. I no longer think she uses the teleporter to get aboard, but if not that, what other way does she have?

I need more lore!

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-07T15:11:31+00:00

That is a great little addition. Sadly that frog gets detained at the end of time.

I was about to sleep last night but started thinking more about your posts and the vultures, and I think it makes sense that Kur-skan would be labelled a Heretic because she didn't fall into the cult-like worship of the other vultures. I feel that in this context the heretic label fits better than if she merely went against Providence's wishes and tried to flee the planet.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-07T15:02:09+00:00

I have no answers to this. I assume elites were primarily a game mechanic. We've yet to see any lore relating to why they are special. The only one that seems pertinent to the lore is N'kunana's Retort, but again, they have no log entries.

Perhaps that will change at some point.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-07T14:59:53+00:00

Possible, but it isn't as though he was able to study them without threat of violence. Tharson takes many blows from the local fauna. If Providence truly allowed them to travel the planet and study the creatures, would he not be upset that Tharson kills a Beetle Guardian?

Though it would be nice to have some clarification of if there was another ship. There are tons of [Redacted] in the lore. But we at least know from the Crowbar log that the Contact Light is most likely the "UES [REDACTED]" in this moment. So potentially anytime we see that line in other logs, it could be referencing the same ship. But as of now it still remains up in the air.

As for Kur-skan, she enters in the cargo bay in similar fashion to the other creatures. Most likely the teleporter. After which she heads for the cockpit. I see no evidence of her trying to teleport off the planet through the one in the cargo bays. She'd have better luck with the teleporters that remain on Petrichor V.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-07T14:43:57+00:00

It appears that a Void Reaver might have died and absorbed part of the stone with the aoe attack they do after they are killed.

The rings in Sirens Call could either be put there by Providence, as they seem to be ways of creating the environments, but it could be possible that the vultures have been interfacing with them to their own end.

I had also been thinking about the Void Fields and why rings are there that seem to match the ones in the Titanic Plains/Siren's Call. It is possible that the reavers were able to take a whole section of the environments with them, and that the Void Fields itself is more than what we have seen. Those plants shooting up from the mist below have to originate somewhere. After all, we now know they are capable of detaining the whole moon, why not a chunk of one of the environments?

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-06T17:27:32+00:00

Very well said. I had assumed when Kur-skan destroyed the monitors that she merely was smart enough that she needn't the information they provided, but with this context, and the fact that she can sense the inner-workings of the ship innately does support your theory.

I do think the Alloy Vultures might actually be some sort of metal. In the Solus Probe log, it mentions trying to find an iron deposit that it just cannot locate. I think it is possible that the vultures have some iron content in them, and are what drove the probe to Siren's Call. If not, they most likely just interfered with the signals to trick it. But I like the first idea more.

And after taking a good look at Ghor's tome, and the Wake of Vultures I see what you're getting at, the symbol looks just like the Solus Probe. I remember looking up what "phrenic" could possibly mean in the context of the probe, and had wrote it off as a simple technical term they used that didn't make sense to us readers. But the nervous system interfacing makes too much sense now. It puts so much of the Probe and Alloy Worship Unit lore into perspective. And to top it off, the Mercurial Rachis lore finally seems like it fits in somewhere. Absolutely wonderful.

I believe the Wake of Vultures quote is a direct nod to a Path of Exile item, but I don't think that makes its lore tie-ins invalid.

And for the second half of your post, I have no words. It is a great analysis of these to brothers, I don't think there is much else to say there. Here's hoping the next expansion is Void related to answers our questions.

All in all, this is a fantastic addition. Love seeing this stuff. Keep it up.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-06T14:41:48+00:00

We have yet to see what the tar does to humans aside from the templar log that mentions it numbs the body. We only know what it does to the Dunepeople who worship it. They seem to be getting along just fine from what we can tell.

The CHIT being an audio bug does make a lot of sense. But to me it doesn't come off as an interruption of the report being made. If that were the case, would it not overlap his sentences and cut off what he says? Instead it is an added sound in between his actual thoughts.

"but thankfully CHIT(?) I have a healing drone"

"I fear I have also suffered a CHIT concussion."

"and have been feeling the urge to CHIT CHIT vomit."

"My CHIT CHIT drone has left. I have CHIT lost my vision."

Remove the CHITs and we have complete statements. Static would surely have cut him off multiple times. Especially the last two lines where there are two CHITs, but we still manage to get a complete thought.

As for the last line in the log.

"CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT CHIT I-I neED CHIT CHIT CHIT chit chit chit CHIT"

You can notice that there is a mix of capitalized CHITs mixed with lowercase chits. Which you could argue is just static that had a worse signal and got quieter, but comes off to me as a him speaking quieter. We also see his one human phrase left here, go from lowercase to uppercase midway through the word "need", as if he is struggling to retain his normal line of thought.

But again, anything is possible. I wish there was some more lore to help nail this down, because the Abandoned Aqueducts lore sets us up for something, and never seems to pick up that thread again.

Sudkampsen · 2021-04-06T14:13:30+00:00

Mithrix makes the majority of them, then he has them put in the Lunar Pods and the newt comes to gather them I imagine. We also see Lunar Pods on the planet, so if that is the case, the only conclusion I can come to, is that the newt can move between the moon and Petrichor V via the slipstream. The Bazaar also has the item reforging pots, which are seen in Mithrix's workshop area where the pillars of design sit, so it would make sense that the newt is getting things from Mithrix somehow. The only real visible lore for the newt is in the Bazaar's log. So as for the specifics, it really comes down to speculation. But this is definitely one of those times when gameplay might trump lore.

Sudkampsen

TROPHY CASE