Unifying Control Theory (WIP)

This theory relates the overall theme of control with respect to the overall narrative. The theory attempts to explain: Why the dragon gives visions in 1,2, Saga, but not Orta, why the ending of Saga was trippy, and the motives of the Seekers, the Empire, and Craymen’s faction, the nature of the ruins, the purpose of control of nature and causality, the objective and nature of the Dragon. I make some assumptions but they’re fairly reasonable, I think. I’m touching many issues here but they all factor into each other at some point. I’ll try to make this as clear as I can. Not to good with this stuff.

Here goes.

Please note, when I use the term Sestren, I use it as the collective term of the gold sestren you encounter in Saga/Orta and the Dragon. Below explains why I use this.

Assumption: The dragon, although dubbed by Lundi, as a heresy program, is in actuality an integral part of sestren and carrying out functions while paradoxical to sestren’s current objective, ultimately exists to carry out Sestren’s overall objective, that I will mention later.

Why I think this: Forbidden Memories level in Orta, as well as the dual nature of the two sestren creatures we see in the first vision of the sestren fight. Gold Sestren refers to the Dragon as it’s other half. The black Sestren-like creature that is seen ‘turning’ into Lagi in the vision sequence.

Assumption: Dragon/Black Sestren can predict future events.

Why I think this: See assumption one. The Dragon can relay visions of the future to humans. Conversely, Sestren/Gold dragon relays visions of the past to the Dragon and Edge, further insinuating their duality.

Assumption: Sestren can affect causality.

Why I think this: The Dragon’s corporeal form directly influences the events of the game and the motives of the Empire, Craymen’s faction, and ultimately Edge.

Assumption: Sestren can more or less control causality.

Why I think this: With the ability to predict the future and carry out the will of Sestren through the Dragon, as well as the vast Ruins network collecting environmental data, and the Dragon being unstoppable, Sestren can manipulate events to happen, although very generally. That’s why visions aren’t very specific, but the overall course of things eventually lead to what the dragon predicts.

Assumption: Sestren/Gold Dragon controls humans and their population with respect to biomonster populations in order to maintain environmental equilibrium.

Why I think this: Craymen expresses these thoughts when he’s showing Edge around the Tower. Gash also speaks of this as their main reason why they want to destroy the tower, because, quite frankly, the world in their current state kinda blows. Craymen wishes to maintain the Tower network and sestren (like Gold sestren wants to do) to maintain humanity, while Gash wants to free themselves from it so they can live through free will (like the Sestren/Black Dragon wants to do) (again with the duality).


Character Motives, an Aside: It’s possible to draw some parallels between factions and Sestren, as I mentioned above.

Empire - Wants to control people through ruins for purely selfish reasons. Why craymen believes people will ultimately destroy themselves if left unchecked.

Craymen - Wants to control/maintain ruins for the functions that the gold Dragon/Sestren expressed: To maintain humanity and to prevent it’s self-extinction, which the empire seems to lend itself toward doing.

Seekers - Objectives mirror that of the dragon/black sestren. Free humanity, free will, blah blah blah.

Here’s where things get trippy.

Recap:

Okay, so you’ve got Sestren, trying to free humanity, but it can’t because it’s nature is paradoxical. While simultaneously knowing all, all it can do is defeat iteslf through the mechanizations of the Dragon and the Tower network and Gold Dragon/Sestren. imagine a snake biting it’s own tail for sustenance. That’s all of causality in this world. It’s nature. Sestren is caught in it’s own predestination loop.

Sounds like Sestren could use a bit of help getting it’s **** together. Now entering: the Biggest Deus Ex Machina that can surpass even an omniscient being.

The player.

Assumption: The player is outside of the causality loop created by sestren.

Why I think this: Are you being controlled by an inter dimensional omniscient being right now that exists as a big flying dragon/Big huge towers right now? Probably not. I don’t think I am, at least.

Assumption: Through the incarnation of the Divine Visitor, the Player frees the world from it’s own while-wend loop.

Why I think this: You did press “the button”, didn’t you? Even if you didn’t, the thing goes on anyways…:confused: (don’t bug me about this, the game was made that way by the programmers, not sestren)

Assumption: Assuming the causality loop brought by Sestren is taken down, the dragon can’t produce any more visions because it can no longer predict the future.

Why I think this: With the objective of the Dragon completed in Saga, and causality is now in the hands of humans and other creatures, the dragon can’t predict what will happen. Thus, no vision in PDO. Orta missed out, I guess.

More to come, I guess. Not sure if I covered all my bases here. I know that Lundi mentioned that there were people against the towers during their construction, but that could factor into the dual nature of sestren.

Aside: I wonder if parallels can be drawn from programmers and games and Sestren and it’s respective world.

Edit: Cleaned it up a little bit.

Well I like it so far, and I’m really looking forward to finding out what sort of finer results you glean from the styling. I actually avoided reading this for a while cause I was in the middle of finalizing a theory of my own, the text of which just wouldn’t become an accurate enough reflection of everything I was thinking about until recently. I saw a hint of the theme you were on and I didn’t want to be influenced or distracted (or inspired even, I had enough stuff of my own to pen in) by anything here.

I can’t be quite certain, but it seems you may share the same general assumption about the “ecosystem” and what it represents as myself. If so that’s already the central premise of the theory I’ve finished, and along with the almost mystical flavor this is oddly parallel to what I’ve been embroiled in for a couple weeks so it’s almost weird and very cool to see someone else treading similar waters!

Just a couple technical notes on what you have at the moment: it’s generally accepted that the Gold Sestren we see in Orta is literally only the “Heresy Program”, gold now because it took Sestren Exsis’ place. You may knowingly be breaking with that assumption, or not, just thought I’d clarify. But also Lundi never terms it the “Heresy Program” as such, that term is a fan extrapolation from “Heresy Dragon”.

Right. I’ll correct that in a future revision (The heresy program/dragon term). I believe Lundi only termed it such because of the Dragon’s apparent purpose.

But yeah, I seriously believe that the Gold Dragon is not another incarnation of the “Dragon” Half of sestren, but the other side that you defeat in Saga. The “Black” half of sestren I thought was already established as the dragon (at the end of Saga, when all the dragon heads pop out of it). The gold sestren seen in saga is seen ‘banishing’ the black sestren in the first vision it gives you.

To be clear, does that mean you think the ‘Sestren’ from the memory orb in Orta is entirely “old Sestren”, and therefore… it’s saying farewell to it’s black dragon soul half? Which would mean Orta’s dragon is still essentially the Heresy Dragon complete?

The Gold Sestren encountered in Orta is the Gold Sestren from Saga. The Gold Sestren who managed the tower network and subsequently humanity. He mentions resting because he is, for now apparently, no longer needed since the tower network is deactivated, and asks the Dragon to ‘look after our friends’, which I believe means humanity.

I had not ever remembered that the incorporeal dragon that talks at the end of Azel was black on gold, until I saw it mentioned in this site. Something is ringing in my mind about it, like at the time I almost wanted to believe it meant the one in Orta was a recording from way back, as in when the Heresy half first split with Sestren…

So in general I’m intrigued with the possibility here, but I’m curious if you have a scenario in mind for how/why Sestren Exsis has to question it’s other half about it’s motives? And also why the dragon would become mortal “out there” after it had already been “out there” before.

The Dragon became mortal after the tower network was deactivated. I assume that means that the ‘black sestren’, the heresy dragon, became completely corporeal with the added ability of reproduction (a means to “Watch over our friends”)

Gold Sestren, I guess, cannot comprehend why the Black Sestren/Dragon why it wants to free all living things from the tower network. After all, it’s prescribed function is to maintain the tower network.

Note the final battle music is called “recurrence”, which I believe implies that the dragon has attempted to take on sestren before…like in the first Sestren vision, perhaps.