lore-discussion-spoilers

[grizzled vector]

The camera kinda makes the krill look smaller than they are because you're looking from a much higher point of view than the actual skykid. If you zoom in when they float over you they're kinda terrifying

[long vessel]

I may have worded it poorly but I meant, like, how long they are. 69 feet, 8 inches. That is... big. They definitely LOOK big, but dang, that's biiig

And then thinking about that and comparing it to the krill swimming behind the leviathan and how tiny it looks in comparison - it's hard to even wrap my mind around how big the leviathan would be lol

I'm also surprised by how tiny the Vault elder is in comparison to the others!! They're only 2 inches taller than me lol

[versed mirage]

Are we going to count stuff in the artbook as cannon?

[waxen ermine]

Maybe, it was advertised to have lore

The Art of Sky contains over 260 pages of never-before-seen concept art, behind-the-scenes commentary, and fresh insights about the game’s characters, history, and lore.

[versed mirage]

Hopefully it's distinguishable from the cut or unused content easily

[grizzled vector]

69 feet is slightly longer than an articulated bus, which... sounds about right tbh. I don't really remember how large the Leviathan is compared to a krill but... yea. Sky has some pretty ridiculously large creatures tbh. The elder whale in the Sanctuary is probably at least as large as the Leviathan if not larger. The elder manta is pretty large too, for that matter

The Vault elder is the most reasonably sized of them all, yea. Even the Valley siblings are pretty ridiculously tall in spite of looking like teenagers compared to the rest of them

Then again, we only really ever see them as spirits, and it's unclear what exactly determines how large spirits are. The Elders were godlike beings and not normal Ancestors, but even the regular Ancestor spirits skew towards being pretty tall. Even child spirits like Hide and Seek pioneer are about as tall as a max height skykid with a huge potion if I recall correctly

I remember hearing there was some sort of an Elder Bird during the season of Rhythm (not Megabird but was supposedly pretty large too). I haven't seen it since I wasn't playing that far back

[spiral vault]

"insights about the lore"

[waxen ermine]

Insights from the creators themselves, of course (which is the closest to correct you can get)

[waxen ermine]

I went to treasure reef, noticed a faraway lump, used the camera item

It’s the Leviathan! I wondered if it was a static object but the tail moved, so it’s definitely there
I wish I could go up to it, but there’s a wind wall

[lyric imp]

Whale at sanctuary is much, much smaller than leviathan

[lyric imp]

https://youtu.be/Rozpvn71g7Y?si=fqzo7IxAGZm2E8eW

[lyric imp]

After doing the final abyss quest, you can go again to the place where you get eaten to find it swimming there

[waxen ermine]

Yup, but sadly the wind wall
He’s harmless too, I wish I could hitch a ride on him

[lyric imp]

I'd argue the idea of the megabird has changes since concept art. It's hard to say how important it is to the lore since we have few clues, although you could argue that the weird shape at the end of rebirth is the megabird. Originally it wasn't as much of a bird as it was an abstract shape that was the guiding principle of rebirth, cycle, migration, light, life and all that, rather than an actual creature. The shape in orbit doesn't look like most birds in sky, but it does kind of resemble profile of the nightbird from peaks

[north onyx]

Well he can stay there, and not get any closer to the swimmy fun time reef

[crimson grove]

Hello everyone I’ve removed a few messages that were shared earlier in this channel. As a reminder, we don’t allow discussion that includes any hacked, modified, datamined content or similar.

Please keep this mind if you weren’t aware of this, and keep discussions here about what can be experienced in the game or is otherwise shared through official sources. Thank you!

[grizzled vector]

Pretty sure at this point the concept of the "megabird" has evolved into the concept of The Light. "Megabird" is a label that does explicitly appear on some of the concept art, but yea, I don' t think it was ever meant to literally be some Big Bird flapping about the Sanctuary or any other in-game area. It's more of a concept that all souls were once part of something greater and when they die they return to it for a time.

[waxen ermine]

In the concept art storyboard, it was supposed to physically appear

During orbit, the player would see megabird fly over the planet the same way you see the sun peeking over earth in those space shots, and then join them

[grizzled vector]

About the only time it would make sense to "see" the "megabird" as drawn in the concept art is during the ascension to "the orbit" except like... not from your personal point of view. The camera would have to zoom waaay out to reveal that you are part of the stream of souls and the stream of souls is just one strand of many that add up to the "megabird"

[waxen ermine]

(Sorry for the screenshot, my iPad couldn’t copy paste images from Tom Zhao’s site, it always goes to the next one in the slideshow)

[grizzled vector]

Yea basically it would have to be something like that which...

It's one of those cases where you can draw it as a concept artist, but good luck rendering it in-engine. Even games that specialize in rendering space scenery would probably struggle to render that vision properly

They'd have to pretty much make a custom engine specifically to just render that one scene. Or use some major scene trickery to make it look like it's that large while it's really scaled down and only looks large from that angle as long as you can't move the camera. Or something

And then it would arguably still just be really confusing more than anything because the player still has no clue what they're looking at. It would pretty much be like, "So I died and on my way to heaven I got hit by Sozin's Comet? Cool, I guess"

[waxen ermine]

More art of the megabird flying over and the player joining them

[crimson grove]

@grizzled vector from my earlier warning, no discussion at all will be permitted: no hinting at it, spoiler tagging etc. I understand you may not agree with this, but I hope this makes it clearer. We will be deleting messages and taking further action if necessary

[spiral vault]

I think this was re-interpreted as the credits scene

[hidden rune]

I either need a multi message lore-dump or a google docs containing the most important bits because I am not gonna be able to read through all this in one sitting-

[wild crater]

hey, can I send it in dms? :D

[hidden rune]

Yeah! :>

[regal patrol]

Oh hello may I have it as well

[spiral vault]

I gotchu

[untold ridge]

I made a observation while in the wasteland, the crabs when a krill's light approaches, they hide in their shells from the krill and stops hiding when the krill moves away

[waxen ermine]

No way, that’s so cool!!
Please film!
So not only neutral crabs, but dark crabs are scared as well

[untold ridge]

ill do so rn

[untold ridge]

there you go

Sky's national geographic

[waxen ermine]

Amazing work, thank you!! We also learned they can climb insane heights, LOL
((Crab: I have decided I will defy gravity today))
So yeah they are hermit crabs, they get scared and hide in their rocks when krill’s arrive

[molten dust]

LORE QUESTION FOR TODAY!

what do you think are the in-game reasons for server splitting? i wanna hear people

[waxen ermine]

Uh… the.. world thinks you spent too much time with your friend? XD
Jk jk

[spiral vault]

What????

[molten dust]

agh. meant in universe. brain not braining

[spiral vault]

Well, the sky world is just that, one world

There's probably just one "server" per map

[nimble ingot]

The shattering broke time in the realms.
Skykids arrived after it happened so are not as affected. But a side effect is skykids appearing and disappearing from one instance to the next.
(This is a joke theory, but one I like to think justifies how the game is designed with server splitting and server merging).

[spiral vault]

I think the first sentence is true, with the realms being frozen in time

[versed mirage]

I’m not sure about that, the trailers for the PC release state “Many years later” or something along those lines. So some form of time still progresses

[nimble ingot]

Time in the realms, I meant.
Outside the realms like the Aviary and Home island are known to have a day and night cycle.
Similarly, the Prairie Peaks (and Sanctuary Islands) are also exceptions.
I assume these areas are just beyond the range of Eden.

Many areas in the realms do to show any change in their time of day, unless your skykid is making progress through them towards to the temple (and therefore towards Eden).
The closer you are to Eden, the more dark and stormy the sky becomes (from Dawn, Day, Rain/Forest, Sunset,Valley, Dusk/Wasteland, Night/Vault and then Storm/Eden).

Time is broken, not frozen.

[waxen ermine]

I don’t think time is broken, it’s just gameplay and theming

On another note, I remembered crabs can dig and burrow just like the ones in game, even hermit crabs! :)

https://youtu.be/Qm9DU-ttCKo?si=tadnuZ83Rn6qDAxC

https://youtu.be/ml4BPswXDWo?si=z8ubutiRuMYGJb-e

[vital glade]

Hey lore chat! I’m not usually in here but I was curious if my suspicions are correct. Did the sanctuary spirits get stranded at the Sanctuary?

[nimble ingot]

awww hermit crabs ❤️

I beg to differ on the gameplay aspect.
If TGC is able to add in a day and night cycle. Why are the other areas in the game not given the feature as well?
If the idea was to theme each realm to a time of day, and have the "day" progress as the player does. There would need to be a reason to why when the player is not making progress, the time of day would not progress either.

The syncronisation of the skykid progressing towards Eden compared to time also progressing can tie into a narrative of the game.
Namely that time broke and the skykids are helping to restore that.

[nimble ingot]

It may be possible.
It is also possible that the ancestors discovered the island and visit it to enjoy its natural wonders.

[vital glade]

I’m only thinking they got stranded less than wanting to explore because the only boat (I can find) is wrecked. Maybe it’s possible that they got wrecked but went “oh wait it’s nice here”

[lyric imp]

Is it the one that iirc Baudshaw made?

[spice sun]

It does look like it, yeah. But I’m curious about the chairs, because they looked like they were there before the spirits came. That could imply there were people before them, but that seems unlikely.
My theory is that sometime during the Sanctuary spirits came, or after, there were spirits bringing bells and power diamond holders. That explains the crashed boat- and also, the polluted geyser near it. It not only irregularly erupts, unlike the other ones, but it erupts darkness- and power diamonds were made form darkstone.

[lyric imp]

Possible, although what we see here are darkstone containers. What this suggests is that a transport of them crashed, but imo it'd be a stretch to say that this ishow all the spirits came about - especially so since iirc the boat and geyser started to be there as a part of days of nature a few days ago, while sanctuary existed earlier than that

Also, these are the names
Most likely there would be some kind of hint if they were stranded, such as at least one spirit would have sth like 'castaway' in their name. It looks more like they just chillin'

[lucid bridge]

I don’t think they’re stranded, just vacationing. The Sanctuary Guide has 5 wing flaps (or whatever they’re called 😅) so they can hold the hands of their fellow spirits and fly/use geysers/ride mantas to get to the wind paths (which I presume still existed at that time) or go to the Bird’s Nest area.

The Abyss spirits are definitely stranded, as are the Enchantment spirits. Their emotes and memories focus more on survival.

[nimble ingot]

The names sound like holiday goers.

Fun fact, I recall an old concept art that called the chill sunbather a "beach bum" lol

[oblique garnet]

I saw this a couple months ago too! It was quite shocking to me

[spiral vault]

Either that, or they were just rowdy

[spiral vault]

The ancestor spirits can't fly

[versed mirage]

Can we put artbook stuff here?

[odd wasp]

Hi so i am not much aware of it .. came back after 2 years , do we know what happened here?

[deep hatch]

my boyfriend just made me notice something... what if the twins once were siamese twins? that explains the prosthetic arms and the (collectively) two eyes.

idk I was just looking for the hair prices

[spiral vault]

Like... joined together? Maybe, although it makes more sense that they're two split halves of a whole

[deep hatch]

yeah, conjoined twins, yes.

two split halves of a whole… it does make sense as well but it still goes back to the same concept

also it doesn’t make sense for the valley to have 2 elders rather than one, but maybe they were too young and all? kinda like kirby?

[spiral vault]

The scene is right before the Shattering, a devastating event where the giant Eden Diamond broke and caused the spirits to die.

Here, the Elders are trying to stop the Eden Diamond from breaking, but they clearly failed. At the very top of the memory, you can see a star like object falling into the diamond. This is probably the Eden Elder.

[spiral vault]

I think it's because, each elder kind of represents their realm.

So Valley Elders would be twins because Valley of Triumph is a competitive place with a lot of dual elements

[deep hatch]

oh…. yeah, fair enough.

but what do the other elders represent? the wasteland elder specifically. like… what’s the whole point of the wasteland in on itself???

[odd wasp]

I have so many questions on sky lore got any guide?

[versed mirage]

Military Occupation

[royal python]

just realized a small silly detail. so in aviary, when a new day starts, the bells in the tower ring like a bunch of times, idk how many i haven’t counted but anyway. this matches up with when you are in orbit(?) or at that part before going to the gate at the very end when you get your WL and as you approach the gate you can hear bells ringing. i think, like how the aviary bells ring for a new day, the bells here ring for a new life, and the whole thing with sky’s kingdom is meant to represent both a life cycle and a day cycle so i think that’s pretty cool.

[spiral vault]

Wasteland Elder is a warrior to help fight off the dark creatures

[spiral vault]

Also, when you first pick up the candle in aviary, bells start ringing

[lyric imp]

And there are two kids hugging instead of one and unlike all other wl, they have masks

[lyric imp]

Or just protection, at least as an idea

[versed mirage]

Why does the Eden shard have a diamond indent in it?

Actually it seems like it's on all the corners...

[lyric imp]

Yes. You can find posters related to it in the secret area, and also devs have talked about it early in the development on twitter. This is pretty much certainly correct... Though tbh i haven't connected the bells, but it adds up

[lyric imp]

You mean in the memory?

[versed mirage]

Even in Eden it has the indents (Outside the memories)

[lyric imp]

Huh. My guess is that they're just places that shattered off, but i'm not sure if i'm correctly picturing it in my mind. Do you have any screenshots?

[versed mirage]

I have something but I'm not sure if I can share it cause it's artbook

Idk are we allowed to share things from the art book?

[lyric imp]

I dm'd a mod about it, but we'll see if they answer

In the meantime...

[cobalt palm]

Yes, sharing artbook pieces is fine, so long as you don't publish vast amounts or whole chapters

It is worth adding a spoiler and saying it's from the artbook, as an example, I love the foreword of the Rain chapter outlining some of the kings story

[grizzled vector]

I'm not sure if they were ever conjoined twins per se but the game does seem to hint at them really being one entity split in two. It might be a nod to the fact that the original concept for the Valley Elder was one entity (a "Priestess" also labeled as "Samekh" in early concept art).

I don't think it was ever really explained how or why the Valley Elders got split (or how they survived it, for that matter), but most likely it was just a thematic decision – Valley being a place focused on competitive games, it makes sense to have two Elders with a sibling rivalry energy. Though I think it was mentioned that all Elders are technically "siblings" in a sense, and ironically the label applies to the Valley Elders the least

[waxen ermine]

So this confirms that the king exploded into all the light children
I’m shocked, it literally says it right there…
Even more shocked that the king actually willingly atoned for his sins

[grizzled vector]

Presumably the Wasteland wasn't always a wasteland. It most likely ended up as such as a result of pollution, which was a result of the process of extracting light for the production of the "power diamonds"

[waxen ermine]

So in that Eden shattering picture then, while the Eden diamond is breaking apart from all the souls and exploding, is the king himself diving in headfirst and causing himself to explode into the sky?

[grizzled vector]

Well, or at least this was the outline of the story at one point. It doesn't seem like it's definitively stating that this is the current canon.

(And the original concept would have involved the whole "Atonement with the Father" story beat, which would have had to happen while the Ruler was still around, so it would have been the player who convinced the Ruler to do that)

[waxen ermine]

No wait, I just realized that might be happening after

All we can see is his head, upside down above the diamond
It’s probably already exploding and releasing light into the sky

[grizzled vector]

Though if the Shattering was the source of the Descendants then I'm not sure how it was supposed to have happened at the end of the game we would be playing as the Descendants

[waxen ermine]

To clarify in case you don’t know,
“Atonement With the Father” is not a literal meaning, it’s a stage in Campbell’s Hero’s Journey (which the Sky gameplay trailer for Steam I think? It uses the words “embark on a Hero’s Journey”)

Where the main character faces a male figure who is like, the final boss ( example: Darth Vader who is very literally a father)

You’ll see a lot of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey terms thrown about in the concept art

E.g temptation, belly of the beast, crossing the first threshold, refusal of the call, dragon battle, etc

[grizzled vector]

Yes, I am aware. (And it doesn't even technically have to be a literal male figure or a literal father, but that's besides the point). But there was concept art for that story beat that featured the Ruler and mentioned that the players were intended to face them.

[waxen ermine]

Now that I think about it, what if it’s the King who went on the Hero’s Journey and his return is the third part of it? (I know, Sky kids are literally meant to be doing the main heroes journey, but hero’s journey is split into three parts)

[grizzled vector]

My point is that the excerpt from the book apparently says that the Descendants are the result of the Shattering releasing all the stockpiled Light (and souls). But if it happened as a result of the Ruler's decision to sacrifice themself (or really as a result of Ruler anything) it would have had to happen during the game, in the original concept. Before they cut the whole final boss fight part of it

[grizzled vector]

"||The Ruler would sacrifice themselves to share light back into the skies. And the light souls would then return as descendants||"

[crimson grove]

Yeah that’s alright! Mael answered it earlier, but I’ll add a pinned message for reference:

[crimson grove]

Hi all Just a heads up that artbook content from “The Art of Sky” is allowed to be shared in this server, including the STAR content in-game— Feel free to share your favorite parts and talk about it with others here (as long as it follows our usual rules, of course )!

While it’s not something we’ll strictly moderate, we are encouraging members to spoiler tag book pages as a courtesy for those still waiting to receive their own books, but that will not be necessary in this channel.

Have fun theorizing!

[crimson grove]

Hope everyone receives their books soon! Such an exciting time

[grizzled vector]

I think there was another excerpt shared the other day that mentioned something along the lines of the Isle Elder "recognizing the Child being reborn" after "inspecting the light" (the Child implied to have been the Ruler)

So it kinda does seem to imply that either each player is in fact the reincarnation of the Ruler in their own game, from the narrative standpoint, or we are all collectively a reincarnation of the Ruler as various fragments (as there was too much to reincarnate in a single skykid)

Though it's kinda hard to say anything conclusively without reading the whole book, and even then the book seems to discuss the development process, so it's not necessarily giving the canonical story (and there might not be one canonical story, intentionally)

[waxen ermine]

We know how it is for the player, but how about the king? I got this from a blog so it might be in the wrong order

Call To Adventure:
Player gets called down from the sky (“Now, I call to you”). King falls down as well

Refusal of Call:
I dont know if this applies for the player. Maybe the king meets his “parents” (boatman and ushering stargazer) and doesn’t want to leave

Acceptance of Call:
Player goes on adventure. King goes to prophecy cave

Crossing first threshold/ entering unknown:
I think the concept art used this to describe isle, for the player. For the king it’s probably him being in the caves with other students, like going to school

Belly of the whale:
I don’t know why but the concept art used the pathway between forest and prairie for this label. King discovers himself through.. something?

INITIATION
Meeting the goddess:
I don’t know who this is for the player. Might be the king’s teacher who teaches magic

Road of Trials/ The Dragon Battle:
For some reason, the different prairie areas are labeled this. The king of course is doing the elemental trials

Temptation from the path:
The book and concept art seems to describe forest elder as this. In the king’s case, she might have strayed him when they discovered how the dark stone works

Atonement with the father:
Child goes to Eden to deal with the darkness. Maybe at this point the king realized his mistake and goes to face it head on

Apotheosis:
Kid gains enlightened form and flies through orbit. Probably the same for king.. something.

Ultimate boon:
Ascended candles for the kid. Maybe the king’s one is releasing light

RETURN

Refusal of the Return:
Kid maybe doesn’t want to leave orbit. Maybe the king didn’t want to come back, having split into kids

Magic flight/Rescue from without:
Another character comes and rescues the hero, after the hero has earned the right to be rescued.
(I can’t think of how this applies but the hugging scene comes to mind)

Crossing of the return threshold:
The kid passing through the orbit door to return to living

Master of the two worlds/ Freedom to live:
The kid gets the freedom to go between worlds and orbit pretty easily

[spiral vault]

Probably yes, and the hugging is the atoning

[waxen ermine]

Sorry for the spam… that’s all I could think, sorry for being sloppy

[grizzled vector]

As I mentioned the last time we were discussing Campbell's Journey, the way they labeled the story beats in the concept art doesn't even really match what those story beats are supposed to be in Campbell's Journey. Like, Apotheosis isn't really supposed to be the end of the story where you go to heaven after defeating "the final boss." It's supposed to be, roughly speaking, a part before the final boss where you get powered up enough to have a shot at defeating them

But yes, it's possible that they were trying to use the Hero's Journey template for both the player's story and the Ruler's own story. But the way they used the template might differ from what Campbell actually described. Which, by the way, is fine as long as the final result works

And yea in the original concept there were multiple temples of the Light in the Prairie and we were supposed to fight dragons within them. Obviously that didn't make it to the final version, likely both for complexity reasons and because they weren't really trying to make a dragon fighting game in the first place

[waxen ermine]

Dragon battle doesn’t literally mean there was gonna be dragons to fight
It was just the Campbell labels

[grizzled vector]

Right, but the early concept art did mention literal dragons to fight, as far as I remember. Though again, it's concept art. Normally it's meant to be a starting point to be iterated on and refined into the final game

[waxen ermine]

? I don’t know what you’re talking about
All I can think of that praire one with some temples being labeled “Dragon Battle”, but it was in the same text format as all the other references to Campbell’s hero’s journey (capital letters, etc)

Found it here, please compare with the other titles “Road of Trials”, etc
It didn’t literally mean there was a dragon to fight, it’s just the label

[grizzled vector]

Ok yea I found a better quality picture on Tom Zhao's website and I guess there weren't actual dragon fights planned as a mechanic. My bad.

[peak lance]

woah

seahorses sure are freaky. surprised there aren't any seahorse fishes in game alerady.

[waxen ermine]

Now I’m imagining warriors riding them as horses

[grizzled vector]

It's interesting because in real life whales eat krill and mantas eat crabs but in Sky mantas and whales are soft and squishy and eat sunlight while crabs and krill are terrifying creatures of darkness

[peak lance]

crabs are cute though

[grizzled vector]

Seahorses are not crustaceans though so they'd probably still be creatures of light if they ever got added.

[peak lance]

wish we could pet the whales in this game. I live near a zoo with a ray petting area and they are so :smooth:

[grizzled vector]

Crabs are terrifying though. A group of crabs is merciless and will send you to Eden much faster than the krill if you're not careful

[peak lance]

zoo rays my beloved

they're kinda slimy and smoooooth and some of them really like petting so they circle back a couple times . the keepers trim their poison barbs so people don't get stung. it is an AZA accreddited zoo and I love them.

[soft timber]

:o!!!!! Seeing this is amazing as we get to see more detail of some of the object that are hard to see, like the Diamond having more cracks and details we would have a hard time seeing

[deft rune]

I have a question. I’m sure it’s been answered before but I keep seeing art of the Mega Bird. Is it like an actual cannon thing in sky or is it a fan made thing?

[spiral vault]

that's me fr

[cobalt palm]

Sterling ivy did a reading of one of my lore pieces that I built up here over the years, and it has me in tears

https://www.twitch.tv/sterling_ivy/v/2177789145?sr=a&t=8355s

Sorry for the twitch promote, but the reading of it just makes me emotional

[lyric imp]

This might suggest it, but i can bet you my cat that this is not the whole story. The eden crystal seems to still be erupting into shards which we clear to release the creature souls trapped within. This is the meaning behind shard cutscenes, collecting jellyfish, mantas or crabs, as well as shard memories - they are memories of the creatures. To my mind this theory is very very hard to debunk, which would mean that sky kids are either not the light from within the crystal per se, or that there's huge term ambiguity and light, soul, memory, epirit, etc. are distinct concepts that can operate somewhat independently

[grizzled vector]

The "megabird" is a concept that is featured in some of the concept art for the game. "The Light" is probably the closest current equivalent that actually exists in-universe. It's not really a "really big bird" per se, so much as a sort of a super-entity all living souls come from and merge with when they die

[grizzled vector]

I agree the skykids appearing from the Shattering doesn't make a whole lot of sense (especially considering that the Shattering released the souls of light creatures – presumably they weren't processing the Ancestors themselves to charge it). However, it does seem like the Shattering may have been a part of skykids' origin story at least at some point in development

I mean, it's hard to say how exactly reincarnation works in Sky, but presumably pieces of manta souls would not reincarnate as skykids

[spiral vault]

I wonder about this, I always assumed the creatures we fly through in the Aurora Concert were past versions of us. Also, since everyone comes from the light and they're all united, maybe the souls are mixed in

[spiral vault]

I think it's a great theory, I would like to see the original message as well

[cobalt palm]

Sorry

This is all still fairly fan theory ish but

Ultimately they come from Eden, and are likely the parts from the giant diamond which causes the storm in Eden, so they are probably made of charged up crystals, similar to those we see in Prairie Peaks, and which grow on us when we start losing light, which is a complete other theory on what Skykids are made from...

Firstly we know that dark plants surround light creatures, from the manta in forest, and more recently the butterflies being released when we burn darkness with the latest update.
Secondly we know that the spirits were able to create memories of themselves, and from Performance they can store those for later viewing, and they are often surrounded by darkness (when we complete a spirit memory we “unlock” it from a dark shell).

We also see from the Abyss murals, Prairie memories, and Forest temple, that light creatures are captured, and transported, and kept in cages or tubes.
And there's implications that crystals get charged from light, as they glow when we walk near them, so it could be that light from those creatures are being extracted into the diamonds, and the pollution of wasteland pipes, bones, and from the ship crashed contains the remains of those creatures?

Could it be the energy from creatures get “locked” into the shards of Eden, and so the memory we see after the quest is of the energy locked in that shard.
What underlies the power the diamonds used by the ancestors, is the nature of the creatures captured in the shard.

Prepare for tragedy...

It appears that not all darkstone contains memories of creatures, the black shards only grow darkness around them.

Either this means that they never had creature energy put into them, or after time or usage, the energy of these creatures gets depleted, though we have so far only seen charged, and uncharged shards and none “inbetween”, even in Eden.

The real tragedy of this is all the red shards contain creatures power, and they are the ones that hurt us the most, from red shards to falling red rocks in Eden.

||The loved ones who give us energy and light during our journey cause us the most pain in death||

This was built up over several theory posts here, the main ones I'll try to link
#lore-discussion-spoilers message

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

Some text is verbatim from those posts, as I had it in a doc while I pieced other bits together

[grizzled vector]

From the excerpts from the Art of Sky it sounds like the darkness comes from the "void" which in turn is absence of Light. But it seems that "absence of light" is its own kind of entity in Sky. Which is to say, when darkstone isn't filled with Light it's not just "empty" but rather "filled with darkness" I guess

[spiral vault]

I think void is a distinct entity from both light and dark, there was another fan theory that was like this

[cobalt palm]

Yeah the artbook does also talk about corruption as a state of being, originally termed as "calcification" if that helps give it a more solid terminology

[spiral vault]

https://www.tumblr.com/lelanida/749918328355717120/the-dualism-of-sky-a-small-essay?source=share

[grizzled vector]

It's also easy to miss but as we burn the red plants around the red shards, the crystal itself "drains" of the red light and becomes black. Though it also shatters when fully drained. It seems that darkness/void/whatever it is might have a special relationship with red light compared to others.

[cobalt palm]

Red light from Enchantment is associated with the darkest places, and it's symbol is very similar to that in the performance stage for the fog effect.
Red and darkness/corruption and possibly the void seem linked

Could be red is the color of corrupted light, as blue is for light touched by water, or cyan by air, orange by fire, and green by earth

[grizzled vector]

By the way, it's also worth pointing out that the color stones from the Days of Color ritual kinda drain your cape color. Somehow it's less "greedy" than the shards, and doesn't drain it noticeably, but you can see the animation of the little pieces of light flowing from your cape into the corresponding stone.

[cobalt palm]

They are probably darkstone diamonds after all, and we can only give pure light from our candle, that it drains our cape makes quite a bit of sense

[grizzled vector]

I seem to recall that blue was meant to represent the "opposite of light" in at least some of the concept art (e.g. the Ancestor spirits are blue because they don't have any Light in them) but obviously there is also "blue light" as its own entity, though it's unclear what it is. It's possible that something similar is happening with red crystals. Red light is a kind of light which is its own entity, but red crystals are not "full of red light" but rather them being red represents them being "full of darkness" or something

[spiral vault]

Perhaps there are different types of light, with different properties (it's like that in real life)

[grizzled vector]

In real life different types of light don't really have different properties, it's all fundamentally the same phenomenon (electromagnetic waves) and the difference is in wavelengths and intensity. "Colors" are really just a phenomenon of perception, not a property of light itself. In Sky, different colors of Light seem to be associated with fundamentally different kinds of "energies"/elements/magic/etc

[lyric imp]

I'd like to add something. Sky logic seems to be largely based on vibes, energies, if you will. It's governed less by physics and strict laws and more by something akin to achemy.
That being said, light seems to be represented by yellow and orange and be associated with connection, warmth, kindness, soul, authenticity, life, beauty, etc.
When it comes to darkness, we encounter two pervasive themes rather than one: blue (or rather cyan-ish aqua blue) and red. Both seem to symbolise darkness, but blue is passive darkmess, while red is active. Consider: unactivated power diamonds, plants, idle krill lights, darkstone gems, crystals growing on us when extinguished vs red shards, targetting krill lights, particles of light being drained from us by water or small shards, eden crystal

Interestingly, the one with particles seems to be the charging animation from lightbloom or jellyfish, but in reverse. Aside from that...
You could make a case that light (yellow) is an energy, darkness (blue) is in some way a lack of light, while darkness (red) is in a sense energy of darkness. Based on the similarities you could make a case that red symbolises light tainted by darkness or something, i won't be the one to tell

[grizzled vector]

Yea, Sky definitely is not based on physics. Light, in real life, is a form of energy. Darkness is simply absence of energy (at least in the visible part of the spectrum). Energy can dissipate over vast volumes to the point of becoming imperceptible (diluting into "darkness"), but darkness "consuming" light is an absurdity.

It makes intuitive sense because it plays into familiar tropes, and so it's a common storytelling shortcut, but it also creates lore and storytelling issues down the lines because it's difficult to make a coherent explanation of how the world works where energy works like this.

But yea, I get the impression that in Sky "light" is a sort of a sentient entity that also happens to possess energy (or even is an infinite source of energy) but "darkness" is also an entity that can possess energy as well (but "colors" it red or whatever)

[soft timber]

Appears The Darkness in the sense of Sky seem to be it's own energy of sorts, kind of like how Light is a form of energy in both Sky and irl. The fact that it is more tangible in the universe of Sky than simply being the absence of Light makes it more of a force that has always been there, just not in the "natural" sense. (Mostly in the sense of Darkness always being there but not in the amount that we see in the game)

[grizzled vector]

Yes and no though. As far as I can see at least, Light seems to be a self-sufficient self-sustaining source of energy. Light-based life seems to exist in a cycle that can operate quite possibly indefinitely, as far as we can see. "Darkness" seems to "hunger" for the energy light has, but does not seem to operate in the same way. It seems to simply use whatever energy it can get a hold on to try and hoard more, with no real plan or agenda beyond that.

It's not uncommon for writers to try and make "darkness" a stand-in for entropy, but it's also not uncommon for writers to botcher it because they often don't really understand what entropy is (in fairness, not all scientists understand it all that well either). It's also hard to make compelling narratives that accurately portray thermodynamics and entropy because it doesn't really lend itself to optimistic stories

Which is to say, it's not automatically bleak on the scale of human lifetime (or even on the scale of the age of human civilization so far), but when you have entities like immortal gods with vast cosmic powers, accurate portrayals of entropy would tend to go south very fast

As a possibly somewhat off-topic example, Guild Wars 2 resolved its long-running dragon threat story arc with the End of Dragons expansion where they actually have an antagonist point out that the whole time you thought you were fighting to save the world, you were actually just massively accelerating the heat death of the universe (or at least that setting's equivalent of it). Which is actually an extremely valid point. But GW2 being a combat focused MMO, you then proceed to form a raid group and defeat entropy itself in a fight, hammer to the face style. Which is comically absurd but in all fairness there wasn't much else they could have really done there, narratively speaking.

[hushed steeple]

This game has lore, can somebody tall me?

[upbeat notch]

Its alot of lore so here ya go: https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:Amity206/Sky_Lore_Theories

[hushed steeple]

Thank you

[upbeat notch]

Idk if this still gets updated tho...

[hushed steeple]

Haha this lore has violence, sky is the last game I expected violence lol

[upbeat notch]

I mean it has a violent past lol

[hushed steeple]

"Sky: The Two Embers" do you know what is this?

[upbeat notch]

Oh its an official animated sky series

Have all the trailers:
https://youtu.be/JeOzyoz6vj8?si=SJ4xwhAyahPNdbcM
https://youtu.be/KxHFy9503N4?si=UG8ngcxMHfHjwHPK
https://youtu.be/GO1il8fOPCE?si=WyVf6spg9jEf9z3R

[hushed steeple]

Wow

The animeted sky series is a different game

[upbeat notch]

Well I mean it plays in the past of the game

[hushed steeple]

So this why it has so many NPC

[upbeat notch]

wdym?

[hushed steeple]

I mean in sky game we rarely see NPC but in animated series they are children playing, others doing their work etc..

[upbeat notch]

Yea, basically this was the Kingdom at its peak (or close to it) then the whole eden shattering happend and now only some ghost ,that didnt move on, live in sky...and us Sky kids too ofc

[hushed steeple]

So the people we see in sky game are just a memories of the past and some are only alive like grandma.

[upbeat notch]

Well I mean they are all just spirits, including Grandma

[hushed steeple]

So no one is alive?

[upbeat notch]

The only living things are creatures of Light and creatures of darkness and Sky kids (us)

[hushed steeple]

Man this is sad

So sky game is dark game disguise in colour

[upbeat notch]

Well I mean our Ancestors (the spirits) are still themselves...just that they are now Immortal Ig...

They are fine!

[hushed steeple]

You tramatized me now, I can't see the game same again lol

Now this game give me the fear and hunger waib

[upbeat notch]

...I think Im not gonna show you the concept art then...

[hushed steeple]

What, shows me

[upbeat notch]

Ok

[hushed steeple]

Man... this whole months I was talking to spirits and I didn't know

[upbeat notch]

By: https://www.tomzhao.com/sky1

So this is eden

[hushed steeple]

The big guy is Eden?

[upbeat notch]

Nope that area is eden and that big guy is the reason why we die there (not because of debry like in the game)

[hushed steeple]

"Journey" is this different game?

[upbeat notch]

Ya

[hushed steeple]

Is this game connected to sky game?

[upbeat notch]

Some people say no some say yes

[hushed steeple]

Where can I find this?

Is it on steam

[upbeat notch]

Yes it costs money tho

[upbeat notch]

lol

[hushed steeple]

One day I will play it but it is for that day

Is they are multiplayer in lore?

[upbeat notch]

Wdym?

[hushed steeple]

I mean many sky kid in lore

[upbeat notch]

I mean we got concept art (https://www.tomzhao.com/sky1)

[hushed steeple]

They should add many NPC in the game called survivor

[lyric imp]

Consider that pretty much every instance of red type of darkness wasn't there originally. Red light was pribably created by ancestors. Red shards go without saying. Pollution came from industry. The only one you could contest would be krills, though based on the whole abyss lore we might guess that they also weren't there originally

[upbeat notch]

Why?

[hushed steeple]

I mean some human should have survived

[upbeat notch]

I mean the ancestors are sorta alive cause they are spirits now but properly remember their human lives

[hushed steeple]

What are the wing light?

[lyric imp]

Actually the only natural darkness seems to have been raw darkstone like we see in peaks and from what we can see, it's pretty tame. Darkness in sky doesn't seem like some threatening, primordial force, as much as an element that really doesn't like to be messed with. All the problems seem to have appeared when ancestors tried mixing light and darkness, more or less

[hushed steeple]

Why spirit needs wax?

[upbeat notch]

Imprints of children of light

[upbeat notch]

Wdym?

[lyric imp]

Arguably something a lot like souls, though resembling more some kind of animating energy rather than carrying personality of individual sky kids. Hard to say, really

[hushed steeple]

I mean the spirit are already dead so why do they take candles for us

[upbeat notch]

Candels are kinda the currentcy in sky

[hushed steeple]

If you are dead why do you need money

[upbeat notch]

properly for anything but things you need to survive lol

[lyric imp]

It's probably just a gameplay mechanic. It's kinda like asking in some other RPG game why a merchant will buy from us infinite broken swords or sth like that

[hushed steeple]

I was just curious

I know it is gameplay machinic

[upbeat notch]

Tho I guess they acctualy would need candels to survive, concidering they give us light, Ima assume they are light creatures BUT they are dead so they would properly need someone else to give them light and thats us through candels

[hushed steeple]

Hmm that makes sense, but who put candle in game everyday? Hahaha

[upbeat notch]

you mean those we light?

[hushed steeple]

Yap, they are candles they should melt out everyday. so someone put new candle there everyday on same spot

[upbeat notch]

We know the ancestors made those candels so maby they dont really melt (they just go out)

[hushed steeple]

Or maybe they are creatures who resist darkness

[upbeat notch]

the candels?

[hushed steeple]

Yes they are evolved to look like a candle and they take light from sun and resist the darkness

[upbeat notch]

Uuuuh

[hushed steeple]

Don't you think it makes sense have you seen creatures in sae they look the same if you look

[upbeat notch]

I dont think they are creatures

[hushed steeple]

Look some of those look like a candle 🕯️

[upbeat notch]

wha

[hushed steeple]

What?

[upbeat notch]

nvm

[hushed steeple]

Anyway do you know what is wig light? and why we have to collect them to fly ?

[upbeat notch]

Yea they are imprints of children of light so basically all the winged lights are where children of light once were

[hushed steeple]

So your Saying is we wear there?

[upbeat notch]

Can I show you all this stuff in DMs?

[hushed steeple]

Okay

[untold ridge]

i noticed (which probably others noticed too) your light which is in your chest dissapears when your pulling out a candle as if your making that light manifest into a candle

[spiral vault]

Here's a more up to date document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12XSkaMV_5UYG-an_Qo37ItyKP6GaqBBA6iRqBVE2qck/edit#heading=h.cmfnuox3fw3h

[spiral vault]

Nope, they're all dead, it's been centuries since the civilization has collapsed and the sky children have to pick up the pieces

[spiral vault]

I think the candle wax regenerates by itself

[hushed steeple]

Hmm I think your right

[spiral vault]

I think they are, this is how you view it

The narrative of the story is around a specific skykid, to first skykid to fall after a long time

There are others, but they come after you in the narrative, that's why you're the first to restore the seasonal areas

Obviously, trying to mix lore and gameplay mechanics is hard, but it can be done

[hushed steeple]

What is your opinion of on king ?. do you think they should add him.

[spiral vault]

Already added, they're just called different things

TGC officially calls them "Ruler", but that's a garbage name, other names include Resh, Storm, and Eden Elder

[hushed steeple]

Are they same creature?

[spiral vault]

Probably, but don't know for sure, it's old concept art

[hushed steeple]

The tail look the same maybe he get corrupted by darkness or something

[grizzled vector]

"Ruler" is a title, not so much a name. Not sure how it's "garbage" though. It's basically the equivalent of King except it's gender neutral and does not imply a particular social order for the rest of the society. Eden Elder is arguably a misnomer since they weren't really one of the Elders, and "Resh" is one of those names only referred to in early concept art. Storm is more of a name for that general area/stage of the game.

[waxen ermine]

It’s possible he’s named “Ruler” so we know he’s both the prince and king (which some people can get confused that they’re two people)

[hushed steeple]

Where can I find this "Ruler".

[grizzled vector]

There is no Ruler "at present time" in the final game. The concept art suggests that at one point they were considering having some sort of a confrontation in-game between the Ruler and the players, but this isn't in the game (and they confirmed the Ruler is no longer around to be saved/redeemed/etc). It's possible that you as a player are a reincarnation of the Ruler (or that we are all fragments of that soul reincarnated as separate people) but I'm not sure there's a clear and definitive answer right now.

The animated series is supposed to focus on the story of the Ruler and one other character, so that might add more context if they ever actually finish it

[waxen ermine]

Now that I think about it, Hopeful Steward is a Sky kid right? And with the confirmation that kids were Resh, is Hopeful Steward the bonafide strongest incarnation of the king?
They seem to have heavy influence over the village, they can order the player around, they can call out the guides out of their houses to party, and does the strongest fireworks with the fireworks staff
And for some reason enchantment guide rewarded them with cool looks when they sat back and made the player do all the work
(Also one of the only guides to receive their own special name instead of something like “Revival Guide”, others include AURORA, The Rose)

[hushed steeple]

Do we die in end of the game? If so mean we get reincarnated ?.

[grizzled vector]

Yes

[hushed steeple]

By who?

[waxen ermine]

Also in the newest update, apparently moths who start their game no longer have the candle built in, but pick it up after finding it next to Steward’s husk
(As in they’re the Sky kid who dropped it)

I found out when I asked my discord friend what was taking them so long when I was trying to get them into the game Sky, turns out the intro cutscene has been changed and it’s longer

Sorry if this seems weird, but you react with suspicious squint emotes to a few of my messages, why is that, tem? Do you think I’m lying?

[grizzled vector]

It's kinda unclear what exactly the Steward is. They do seem to wear the default skykid mask I don't recall any other spirit wearing (most Ancestor spirits wear a Gratitude mask or something else instead). But they're a spirit, which is not really a normal state of existence for skykids. I also suspect they're the other Ember the series will revolve around, so I doubt they're a reincarnation of "Resh" as such. But I'm honestly not sure anymore

[waxen ermine]

And people have pointed out that Steward has the same chest diamond mark that Sky kids have but without the chest light
(Which is assumed to be the dropped candle we stole)

[grizzled vector]

I meant it as more of a "hmmmm... weird" in reaction to the change. I don't think you're lying. Sorry I gave you that impression

[waxen ermine]

Ohh that’s why! Thank you for the clarification, I just jumped the gun
Sorry for the misunderstanding

[grizzled vector]

It's ok, no worries, sorry for the confusion

[hushed steeple]

Why do we collect emote?

[waxen ermine]

Another thing about steward I find interesting, when you do the honk, the light guides you to them.. not sure what lore wise this means (since it always guides you to Eden)

Second image is comparing the chest diamond shape only Sky kids have

We collect emotes because it’s gameplay, for players to have a sense of progression other than winged lights, also because so we can chat online

[grizzled vector]

Lore-wise skykids needs to learn emotes because they're basically kids who fell from the sky to the world where everyone is dead. They weren't really raised or socialized. They learn expressions from spirits by associating them with memories that put those expressions into context

Not that that makes a ton of sense if we're meant to be some reincarnation, nor does it explain how other skykids would understand what those expressions mean. But yea, the out-of character reason is that it's an MMO so of course it has to have collectible cosmetics

[grizzled vector]

Well, the Steward does guide you to Eden eventually so maybe the Light just figures "I'll just point them to this guy and save myself some time"

Honestly I'm even more confused now. This whole time it seemed like the candle/inner light was one of the things that made skykids skykids, and distinct from Ancestors. If now it's something you pick up from Steward then... what does that even mean? Where did Steward get it? Where did everyone else around you get it? Are we even "skykids"/Descendants anymore (does that distinction even still exist)? And if Steward was a "skykid" then how comes they're still a spirit?

Anyway, it's way late here so I'm going to ponder this another time. Take cares everyone!

[upbeat notch]

Maby they dont have the inner light anymore cause they are dead
Btw unlit players also dont have that light

[waxen ermine]

Bye!

Yeah, it feels less special when kids can’t have their own light…
I know this is something from the original Sky Kids Light Awaits thing (the earliest version of Sky), where Sky kids pick up a candle from the floor to take for their own

[upbeat notch]

bye

[waxen ermine]

Which means developers are taking things from concepts and beta that they originally want to implement, didn’t implement at first, but are implementing now

E.g
-Aviary
-Opening cutscene now has players taking candle
(There is probably more but I forgot)

[upbeat notch]

Also the fact that players had 15 wedges in the beginning is interesting (in the opening cutscene for new players)

[waxen ermine]

wasn’t it 14? I remember it ticking off my OCD that only one was left without the extra lines

[upbeat notch]

Ya wait its 14 I just checked again

[waxen ermine]

Yeah… how annoying! Why not 15? Why leave one star unlit? Gah, my OCD..

[upbeat notch]

Btw I saw a video where there is a barier where you need 500 wl

[waxen ermine]

Yeah, according to the comment, it was a dummy Eden door left hidden underground, it was removed at one point but players demanded it come back so they brought it back

[upbeat notch]

huh

[waxen ermine]

Which means, what other things from beta/concepts do they plan to implement that currently isn’t in the game? The king himself? Megabird?

[upbeat notch]

The Statues in Golden wasteland being turrets? lol

[waxen ermine]

That sounds like a nightmare! XD

[upbeat notch]

Imagine being hunt down by a krill and active turret fire lol

[waxen ermine]

Actually, now that you say it, if it’s actually Sky Kids turning on the turrets and shooting at the krill’s, I’d be much happier LOL
(Sky kids have been shown throughout the game to turn on old technology)

[upbeat notch]

lol yes pls

But if its not the King is just casually using the castel doctrine to shoot at kids lol

Yea no I hope they dont bring that feature back

[lavish tapir]

On a similar note, I think the earning of emotes is more to help the Ruler understand their people more. Since they’re going on this trek of reincarnation, they’re learning of the lives/memories of their citizens and how their choices affected these people. It’s through learning about others that it can help them to be emotionally ready to make the sacrifice needed in Eden/better understand the full consequences of their actions. At least that’s how it makes sense to me.

[spiral vault]

Hopeful Steward probably had a special relation to the king, they are probably the manatee child in Two Embers

[inland cliff]

Do you think that the crabs are mostly just a neutral, or to put it bluntly, an invasive species more than a light or darkness creature? Their population rates are high and they roam free in every realm while light and dark creatures are strictly restricted to a realm due to differences in the environment. Plus crabs are the only species shown to be edible (Pleadful Grandparent bonfire) so it's believable that crabs have a neutral state that can be cooked and edible

Adding to the invasive thing, since they exist everywhere with drawings on enchantment cave showing them attacking villagers, it's most likely they have high territory invasiveness, unlike dark creatures attack for light power

[spark hawk]

I would think that they're only territorial because of the corruption and stuff
The darkness spores that cling onto them is essentially what makes them aggressive. It's almost like a parasite because if you put corrupted crabs next to a light source they kinda glow red (almost like they're getting hurt), whereas uncorrupted crabs don't do that and don't really mind the company of the skykids (ex: Pleadful Parents bonfire mentioned before.)

This is all based on my observations haha

As far as attacking the ancestors n stuff, I think it's because darkness was around even then.

[waxen ermine]

Yes, they are neutral creatures,
In the sun they are normal and some people keep them as pets like Enchantment Guide

In caves and darkness, or spoiled by corruption, they might become corrupted crab

In the mural they attacked the villagers because the villagers drained their pond, they were peaceful at first

[forest hornet]

Also aren't there Crabs in sanctuary that are friendly and don't have the darkness particles
They're on one of the small distant islands if I remember right

[spark hawk]

I think so, but I might have to go there today to really take a look at it

[waxen ermine]

In fact, the scared person at aviary is staring at enchantment guide’s pet crab sitting on the window
(You will find his crab wandering in his house too)

[winged vortex]

I have a question; If Skykid is Ruler's reborn, then is the destruction and rebirth of the Kingdom Ruler's stirring the pot?

[waxen ermine]

What do you mean? Isn’t it the Sky kids trying to fix his mess?
The Sky kids haven’t caused any destruction themselves, just unfortunate surroundings around them keep getting worse

(Like the shard rains, prairie peaks being sharded with a monster, a geyser getting corrupted, somehow a vortex having fishing equipment when Sky kids don’t go fishing)
I blame you, Anxious Angler! You’re the only fisherman spirit in this world!

[waxen ermine]

Ohhh, that’s what you meant, sorry
Idk… maybe?
He did sacrifice himself to turn into Sky kids to try return some light, but I guess it didn’t work..?

Or maybe not, the army of Sky kids could try cleaning up his mess to atone for stuff

I guess like the Lorax story, he only saw the extent of destruction when it was too late, an gave the last seed hoping someone who cares a whole lot will fix it

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
Nothing is going to get better. It's not”

[winged vortex]

But, the Isle Elder recognize that the Child has been reborn as Skykid.
I mean, do Skykids have a memory as a Ruler?Do they try to save the kingdom because they have remorse as a Ruler?

[brisk python]

reading through the art book and oh my god, all of this lore how we're the ruler's light coming back as descendents

[waxen ermine]

Maybe they do, deep down, but don’t remember and have to be reminded by the elders
(Remember, they bow to you, then the camera scrolls up to the crown constellation,which shows the king at Eden)

It also made me rethink the shattering scene, why do we see the king’s head upside down floating above it, but not the rest of the body

Maybe the light and stars is bursting out of his head into the sky at that moment

[winged vortex]

Makes sense, Skykid can be made from Ruler's light, but maybe has a different mind, such as player's.

[lyric imp]

Perhaps crabs are a light creature that is just easily corrupted by polution. Imo the bonfure isn't about eating them but about purifying them, which is why those crabs aren't hostile

[grizzled vector]

I dunno, they do seem to appreciate it if you take them off the frying pan. Though I'm also not sure if the Ancestors eating other creatures is supposed to be a thing, so it's kinda unclear what exactly that spirit was trying to do

Also note that in the memory the crabs are running away from them, which is not really a normal behavior for corrupted crabs (or non-corrupted crabs, for that matter)

[inland cliff]

I don't think skykids are shards of the ruler/king, or even have that much relation to him as a creator/creation cus the motives behind the king is still very unknown

Our skykids are more likely to be falling stars, deteriorates from the Megabird itself since they're seen to be made out of planets and stars/comet with the main purpose was to revive the land with a new generation of skykids

[grizzled vector]

Apparently the Art of Sky book mentions that the Isle Elder recognizes the light of the Ruler when they meet you or something. Or at least that may have once been part of the story concept. Honestly without seeing the whole book the excerpts might be muddling the issue more than they help

[inland cliff]

Either way they're still pretty territorial in nature, we know they still cause trouble to people even in dark environments or not, like how a crab can steal from Pleadful Grandparent

[inland cliff]

It's still fun to make theories and assumptions, just that everyone had a different idea, plus tgc gave us nuts to work with

[spiral vault]

Yes, because even if the individual souls are different, everyone originates from the light

[long vessel]

Off topic but this is one of the many reasons I wish we had other sorting options for our emotes - I'd love to sort oldest to newest to recreate my skykid's personal history

[grizzled vector]

I kinda doubt they even store that but yes, it would be nice to have that and other sorting/categorizing options

[lyric imp]

Tbh i wish there were customisable buttons at the top of the screen as a part of your basic UI so that you could do things like bow without opening the menu and looking for them. For some people it'd be stuff like kiss, confetti and bow, while for others things like fire, prop, shared memory, etc.

[grizzled vector]

I believe something along those lines might be coming in a future update but this isn't really the channel to discuss that

[cold sparrow]

Certainly not. Beta content is not allowed to be mentioned outside of the beta channels

[lyric imp]

[spiral vault]

they said that in a sky 2024 update news thingy

[cold sparrow]

oh did they? neat!
but yeah, even so, this is the lore channel not the ui channel

[solid cave]

so what is this?

is there a reason for this?

[inland cliff]

I don't remember correctly whether it's from light awaits or after sky official release but it's supposed to be a placement for a light-collecting quest where you sit on the meditating circle platform next to the bird, idk why it was removed

[waxen ermine]

Who knows though? It could be reimplemented, like aviary and the opening cutscene where the player finds a candle and takes it for themself

It gets me eager to wonder these things

[solid cave]

i'm just sad there's a sacrificed bird here :( hope it's not in vain

also, it's pretty big! why do y'all think it's so big?

it seemed really important

[hushed steeple]

What's a calamity storm???

[waxen ermine]

I’m gonna assume it’s when the Eden diamond first shattered

[hushed steeple]

Fatality

[frosty rampart]

What theories you guys have on the end of the sky's past civilization? My theory is that the eden shard blew out shards everywhere across the mountain and it was like Eden " living hell ". An eruption like from volcano that not only spreaded the shards but also darkness instead of light this dark mist of some sorts like ash and people either suffocated or were crushed by shards or crystalized from the shards draining energy from you .
Any ideas?^^
I'm interested

[upbeat notch]

So what I noticed about the statues is that in their last Memories the people seem rather care free so I assume what killed them was something invisible like a disease or invisble fallout. What I also noticed is that all the statues seem to be kneeling and clutching their chest so I assume its something sudden but painfull like concentraded darkness radiation from the exploding eden crystal

[ruby arrow]

the eden blast killed all the civilization so that was there final pose before they became rock statues

[plucky monolith]

See what I thought was because they have to be “lit” to be freed from the statues is that the moment the Eden crystal shattered, it triggered a form of loss of light the way sky kids experience loss of light and wl when near a red shard or corrupted water.
So the spirits were busy doing their day to day and when the crystal shattered they lost their light and froze the way sky kids do when we lose our light, till someone comes and lights us up.

[grizzled vector]

I don't know how much inference we're really meant to draw from that tbh, it seems more like a production/gameplay concern than faithful representation of the lore. The concept art considered the idea of spirits wandering around reliving their memories in an endless cycle until you do a little ritual to free them from being stuck in that loop. What we see in the final version is most likely what was most expedient production-wise and most intuitive to the players, even if it doesn't make much sense. For example, each realm has what looks like a bunch of graves at the beginning of that realm, but you find the actual bodies at the end of the memory – but only after you relive the memory. Unless it's implied that we go back and dig out the bodies to burn them where the memory ended...

I think it's also unlikely that each spirit had the exact same body when they died, and died in exact same posture, but they also probably didn't want to make a separate model for each spirit and pose it differently

Also I am pretty sure those are their strongest/most significant memories, not their final memories. Some of them reference other spirits in a way that doesn't really add up if the end of the memory was the moment everyone died

[normal ermine]

The dark stone are very valuable, but is it really worth it? I came to believe that the very first start of the end happening was the infection. We first encounter dark plants as soon as we enter hidden forest, they grow in shady places (kind of like moss). It's also the same place where we're also introduced to dark stone. The mining of the dark stone was at first safe, but slowly it became dangerous. People started to fall, complaining of pain in their chest, strange rocky texture started to appear on their skin. When reliving tearful light miner's memory it shows them and the other miners getting trapped and trying to escape, only to slowly die and the spirit becoming the last victim. I believe that the infection was slowly infecting others and the forest elder was trying to convince the king to stop the production of dark stone.
(I made this sound short to prevent myself from accidentally writing a documentary, also srry if my grammar doesn't make sense)

[cobalt palm]

The first place on the main path we see darkness is the bell towers of Prairie, which happens to also be the first place with the doors with diamonds in, if you don't count the "belonging" cave to the side of Isle, which wasn't originally there at launch (pre belonging)

As for the spirits, I like to think that it was the last memory they recorded, or favourite memory they had, the new aviary intro implies that the spirits used to have a flame inside them as well, but that it faded, whether they could use it to light candles is unclear, but fire and candles were definitely important to their culture.

[upbeat notch]

Yea I guess youres makes more sense cause multible spirits in one Memory but only one "corpse"

[cobalt palm]

That does also explain how one spirit can be in multiple locations at the same time

[upbeat notch]

True!

[upbeat notch]

Growths like these? (Source:https://youtu.be/JeOzyoz6vj8?si=HM8L1w5tBXgHh6Cb)

[normal ermine]

Yes

[upbeat notch]

: D

[grizzled vector]

Yea, not only are there multiple spirits per memory but, for example, Twirling Champion has two other spirits in the last fragment of their memory, whose own final fragments are elsewhere. Scaredy Cadet and Marching Adventurer both feature in each other's memories but are in different parts of the forest, etc. I don't remember if any of the original "temple" spirits cross-reference each other like that, but I think some might

[tidal edge]

I think that it’s a mix of pollution in general, and is more a statement of stewardship of the earth. We start to deal with polluted water in the form of acid rain, which is acid because water itself doesn’t hurt the kids, and then in wasteland with the polluted water. You see the large pipes and pollution there too in what i perceive as the old “city” of the realms, where pollution is the worst. There’s far reaching effects of pollution, so it affects as far out as the distant isle with darkness plants, and especially close with corrupted crabs. Vault was mostly safe because it’s indoors, but then there’s eden, another source of pollution. I see the breaking of the red crystal as akin to a volcano eruption which, while not manmade pollution, has similar effects to it, but this is a “manmade” eruption. So after the first shattering, I feel like the spirits got sick and had airways obstructed, thus the clutching at chests. The statues in Eden are differently posed due to proximity to the shattering.
My theory’s mostly in my brain because of tgc’s earlier Flower game though.

[cobalt palm]

I was able to capture this one showing the crystals skykids grow a little more clearly too

[grizzled vector]

From the recently posted excerpts from Art of Sky it seems like the corruption is the result of the "void" which is left behind when light is diverted from its natural cycle and used to power the darkstone. So while it's clearly meant to mirror real-life industrial pollution, lore-wise the mechanism isn't quite the same. For example, the rain probably isn't "acid" in a real-world sense, but it somehow carries "darkness"/"void" which saps your light.

[cobalt palm]

Almost exactly like the raw crystals we see in prairie peaks

[upbeat notch]

Maby its like super small crystal shards or the same oily stuff that is in golden wasteland, btw whats that oily stuff in golden wasteland?

[cobalt palm]

I wonder if that is due to the creatures being used for "unnatural" purposes in the forest temple factory.
Though why the rain stops when we reach the end of the bridge rather than open the cages in the factory is a bit more of a mystery, unless the bells signal new shipments of materials, and so that opens the gates to free the jellyfish.

[grizzled vector]

Season of The Little Prince calls it "dark water" (and implies that some Ancestors may have been drinking it in a manner similar to alcohol). My impression is that water can "hold" the "darkness"/"void" the same way "darkstone" can "hold" light.

[upbeat notch]

Ah thank you ^^

[cobalt palm]

That's further supported by the darker abyss creatures wanting to be deeper in the water than the light creatures

[grizzled vector]

If corruption comes from void left behind when light is "removed" then "darkstone" might not itself contain any darkness, but rather "spreads" darkness by absorbing light around it, leaving void in its place

[cobalt palm]

There's no dark plants in Prairie Peaks, but the large crystals are in the darkest places, tbh Peaks is the only evidence on raw crystals we have right now

I wonder if the crystals are more of a neutral state, and only when you imbue them with light does it attract darkness, like when you have a brighter light, the shadows are deeper.

[grizzled vector]

Presumably darkness does not simply spawn dark plants around itself, there have to be plants to be corrupted into that state or existing spores of dark plants. But also, dark plants don't seem to grow from darkness. They seem to grow on light creatures (from something as small as butterflies to even large animals like seals and turtles). Darkness does not seem to "feed" even its own "side" but rather absorbs energy from light (and simply hoards it?)

[cobalt palm]

It's an older concept, but it sounds like the idea of calcification, where light left too long becomes harder and more crystaline

[grizzled vector]

Which could be where "darkstone" comes from

[upbeat notch]

I know what Im about to say makes no sense but: This sorta remind me of P- Typ doping where you basically replace an element with one of a lower main group, therefore creating a hole because one electron is missing. The neighboring electron fills that hole but because of that there is a new hole where the neighbouring electron was, the cycling continuing forever and such (I know this makes no sense lol but Ima just put it here)

[cobalt palm]

I've always associated darkness with greed, and envy
#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[frosty rampart]

I mean during days of nature dark plants were there and the raw crystals are also shown in the Aurora's song all soft inside in those caves in forest 😅

[cobalt palm]

Ah yes, the spirits were in the caves below grandma in forest, mining crystals, as we were jellyfish

[frosty rampart]

I also am thinking now that they harnessed those crystals to make the Eden crystal more powerful so if it it's built from it it makes sense to make the ancestors be crystalized when it got out of control

[grizzled vector]

No, it kinda makes sense, I was kinda thinking of darkness as "electron holes" too

Of course electron holes create "positive" charge but that's really just a matter of convention, the point is that "positive charge" in this case comes from a neutral atom losing a charged particle and becoming oppositely charged as a result.

[cobalt palm]

Sky lore introduction course to chemistry physics, and semiconductors

[grizzled vector]

Yes, but it also seems like the Ancestors (and Descendants as well) might actually be made of "living stone" of sorts.

"Aaaaaaall is stoooone
(and aaaaall is soooft inside)"

[cobalt palm]

Thinking on it, ingame Aurora's concert is the only time we see a "flashback" to how the spirits were before they were trapped, and the animations TGC have done for Switch, PlayStation, and PC release, and the teasers for two embers are the only time we see what spirits used to look like when they were ancestors.

Ingame, they appear as spirits, but in the animations, they certainly seem more "substantial"

Or possibly ingame is yet another memory, so that's why they look spirity

[grizzled vector]

I mean, yes, they're ghosts because they're dead, they weren't "spirits" when they were alive. Though they seem suspiciously substantial for ghosts, being able to manipulate physical objects and all

[waxen ermine]

I managed to join a moth before the aurora concert, and like a genius (sarcastic) I tried flying directly above the hole to see what was firing the red laser beams (assuming it’s the turrets)

I got blasted by red light and burnt out immediately, so that’s likely what would happen if turrets existed in the game

(Why would they have turrets firing into the sky anyway?)

[pastel brook]

You're a part of the Isle of Dawn where the light comes from the dark 🕯️

[waxen ermine]

Oh my god!! I love that song, it’s quoting Everything Matters by Aurora

Why wasn’t that song in the concert? The duet is angelic sounding and it mentions light

I never did get a chance to look down properly, I was flying too fast and kept getting damaged

Didn’t get anything interesting or new about the fighting shots, but I did notice

-The spiky haired guy resembles “Civilian Male” in the concept art (they said there was civilian protests in the lore book)
-They’re definitely attacking the mantas (and mantas may be fighting back)

[cold sparrow]

considering the aurora scenes also feature mantas, likely as mounts, it might have been some form of aerial defense

[waxen ermine]

They seem like riderless mantas to me (none of them had any riders)
All I can think of is how the concept art mentions light creatures started attacking people around the Valley era, and the king’s side won, and to celebrate the victory they had mantas in cages and stuff

Idk if we assume something like
-People lived in harmony at first
-They rode mantas and stuff
-(according to concept art) light creatures were attacking people for the pollution they caused
-People likely saw it as unprovoked and fought back
-King’s side won, they captured and caged the mantas
-They broke out of the cages and flew straight to wasteland to fight

Just realized, maybe the turrets target light creatures

[long vessel]

This is exactly what I was thinking. There's also other concept art somewhere that says light creatures were kept out of the "holy land" but I'm not sure if I'd be able to find it

[waxen ermine]

I know what you’re talking about, it’s the Eden picture
(The king probably forbade them from it)

I keep thinking the megabird likely sent the king, the first Sky child to return ancestors to the sky to fulfill their life cycle, but he got greedy and enjoyed living like them
Shame he turned into someone against light

Also getting Steven universe vibes from him reincarnating into many children
This might sound a little cringe, but I can’t help but imagine an emotional scene

Where the kids are confronting their inner turmoil, look to the king and say “you just turned into us to escape punishment! So you wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of your actions!”
And he comes down and hugs them and says something heartwarming (I can’t think of any lines right now)

[spiral vault]

Another name for the Shattering, I think Shattering is the more official one

[novel marten]

“We elders wanted the best for our people, but we lost the heart of our kingdom by taking too much. You children of light are here to light the flame again. You are the blood to bring life to our fallen kingdom. You’re everything we dreamed our nation could be.

You don’t have to forgive me. I still haven’t forgiven myself, fully. But if anything good happened from this whole mess… it’s all of you.”

[rain frost]

As a fellow Steven universe enjoyer, that comparison slaps honestly

[grizzled vector]

I think it also mentions driving a car which would have fit less well with the Sky setting (and the whole "spirit of nature telling you the environment is important" theme)

Seriously though, I think it's an awesome song by itself but it is one of her more ambiguous songs that have more of a mood than a message, so for the concert they probably picked the ones that were less vague

[waxen ermine]

Oh yeah, you’re right

[cobalt palm]

Did someone say Sky car?

[grizzled vector]

imagine if during that song everyone turned into cars

in other news, just noticed something in the Wasteland earlier

Tsadi: "My lord, the civilian rebels keep attacking the darkstone factories that are producing all the pollution that's killing everything!"
Resh: "Clearly it's a public image issue! We need rebranding!"
Rebranding: ^v^

[spiral vault]

I assumed that image was built into the factory

[bleak ferry]

what are our capes made of

[waxen ermine]

Light, because they cast no shadow (and requires light to recharge)

[forest hornet]

Pure light

[bleak ferry]

does that mean all of our clothes and other items are made of light

[spiral vault]

Some, but maybe not all

[rain frost]

regular clothes dont seem as magical so probably not? has anyone noticed if outfit pieces cast shadows lol

[waxen ermine]

Also something I realized, you know how there’s spirits who wear the same masks as the elders? Are there much connections between them?

Isle Elder - Rejecting Voyager: ???
Prairie Elder - Exhausted Dock worker: The dock worker goes to sleep, and when we first see praire elder he’s waking up from sleep
Forest elder - Apologetic lumberjack: ???
Valley elders - ??? :???
Wasteland elder - Fainting Warrior: They both get exhausted and collapse
Vault elder - Levitating Adept: Well.. they’re both good with the levitating magic

[forest hornet]

Well it's only the cape that doesn't cast a shadow so no?
I'd have to check in game

[bleak ferry]

well in the game it says that spirits "teach" us to wear their cosmetics

[waxen ermine]

In the concept art, the mask was labeled with “stone”
So it’s probably that
And maybe fabrics

[spiral vault]

I think it's less "skykids figuring out how to put a pant leg on" and more like "skykids recreating the ancestor's clothing using their light"

[bleak ferry]

yeah thats what i thought so too. spirits clothing and capes are made of fabric and we skykids give them candles to "learn" how to wear them using our light

that makes me wonder tho cause if our clothes is actually made of light how come it casts a shadow

[spiral vault]

Our bodies

[bleak ferry]

wait your right

[spiral vault]

The bodies are made of some stone material, and then there's the fiery light core in the middle, and then all the light clothing

[bleak ferry]

are our bodies organic or artifical?? if we are made of stone

[spiral vault]

Such definitions don't really exist in the sky world

[bleak ferry]

i see

[rain frost]

I got curious and I found evidence for our clothes (not just capes) being made of light. On these pics, my skykid is wearing a long skirt and her feet are buried in the sand, yet the shadow reflects a good deal of her legs.

[manic cave]

hold on i barely ever go in here but qnh made me think, are sky kids just meteors?? since were implied to be made out of crystals and rock like geodes and we literally fall out of the sky upon rebirth

[grizzled vector]

I would hope not. Meteors are stuff that doesn't make it to the surface. If they do reach the surface that makes them meteorites.

But, yea, pretty much.

[light olive]

My question is what are the Winged Lights—like, the glowing children we collect and stuff?

[lyric imp]

They can't be theor last memories because you can see some spirits appearing on others' memories, meaning they'd have multiple final moments

[lyric imp]

Oh.

[lyric imp]

Interestingly, during the first playthrough when you enter the forest, there's a short cutscene with your sky kid shivering in cold

[lyric imp]

Or might just be water polluted with darkstone. We could assume that the stuff we find in wasteland and polluted geyser is the same thing,though sounds and density differ. The one in wasteland is more like oil. Nonetheless, we find a massive darkstone shipment crashed in the shipwreck map, so it might be a strong hint - though pipes are another one. You could argue that the pipes might be connected to the ones in eden, since there's only vertical distance between the two

[lyric imp]

Not only. There's also the concert version of all is soft inside

There's an interesting piece of concept art that shows the old idea of dark plants. I like it a lot bc i'm fairly confident they haven't changed much since then

[celest birch]

That literally looks like rot and honestly, I now wish that this variant be implemented as well.

[real mortar]

Spoilers for artbook!

I was just reading through the art of sky and I found an interesting mention of the early themes of stars and constellations including ideas such as "Megabird, Mega Tree (Roots), and Life Cycle"

There's a section regarding the "ecosystem" of Sky funnelling us all into the storm and allowing us to be released back. I know that we often consider Megabird's presence in game and their symbolic appearance at the end of our journey through orbit, just before we should rebirth, but I never considered looking at the system as a tree and roots. Now that I do, the whole system does appear very similar to the meaning of the Celtic tree of life of balance and harmony and rebirth!

It's surprising that I missed this theme of the roots of a mega tree in game when we have the swimming mural within the office entrance as one very clear example

[grizzled vector]

My understanding is that "corruption" is ultimately the result of the "void" left behind when light is harvested. It is unclear what exactly "carries" it. It could be darkstone, but there are some issues with that hypothesis. For one, it would mean that the process of producing darkstone involves washing at least some of it away, which in turn implies it either dissolves in water or the process creates fine particulate. But darkstone is supposed to be rare and valuable, aside from also being poisonous, so they probably would have tried to filter and recover it instead of letting enough of it get washed away to poison an entire realm.

I feel like it makes more sense for pollution to be the product of deterioration of "organic" material (bodies of the light creatures whose light has been extracted).

[celest birch]

Funny you say that, since I once implied in here that the poison the Herb Gatherer pours into the Crescent Lake (that later makes him ill) is made of decayed remains of light creatures.

And we do have that one whale skeleton overgrown with Darkness Plants ...

[grizzled vector]

I'm also not sure what those metallic urns are. I used to think they're power cells of sorts, containing power diamonds, but I also suspect they might just be waste containers. Darkstone does not seem to need to be contained to function. On the other hand, the urns at the polluted geyser seem to produce some sort of air current when geyser erupts, so they may be power cells of some sort. It's possible they're used as a secondary power source to extract additional energy from the pollution. It seems like overkill when light already seems to provide a perpetual source of energy, but it's possible that its energy is actually finite and only appears endless for gameplay reasons

[grizzled vector]

Note that light creatures don't normally decay though, from what I understand. The normal process is for them to just grow until it's time for them to return to The Light, at which point they completely dissolve into presumably non-poisonous light-like motes, at least in some early concept art, if I remember correctly. It's only creatures that die "unnatural" death that leave behind stuff like skeletons and, presumably, other corruption. Crescent Oasis does not seem to have any darkstone processing facilities so Herb Gatherer would have had either procure some poison from elsewhere or kill some light creature to create the poison. Not that it would have been difficult to procure some of the waste considering the Wasteland is basically drowning in it.

Poisoning the town's only apparent source of clean water to capture the only creature that might be able to purify it still doesn't strike me as a great plan though

[celest birch]

... Or pretty much procure some from the Hunter, since the dude is seen to be a type of a reckless hunter/poacher.

Tell me about it when it comes to poisoning the lake. What the yikes, Herb Gatherer.

[grizzled vector]

I am also confused as to why Hunter was hunting creatures to begin with. Did the Ancestors eat them after all?

[waxen ermine]

There are hints that ancestors do in fact need to eat (while Sky Kids don't)
Like teabrewer, anxious angler (and a personality fact saying they make sure to get everyone food before they go hungry)
The fact they go fishing, and that there's a pot of crabs being cooked in wasteland (it was formerly a skewer with crabs but they changed it to pot)
And they have farms at the ark and collect mushrooms

[grizzled vector]

They probably meed to eat something (and I think the concept art even mentions food stores for light creatures) but I thought there was also the whole "Sky has no teeth" thing and only dark creatures are explicitly seen as predatory, preying on the light creatures

[waxen ermine]

Didnt know about the teeth thing, they probably eat magically
(Like how Sky kids can, just stick food to their face and it disappears)

[grizzled vector]

Though I suppose Ancestors are bordering on being dark creatures, what with all their corruption and stuff, so there's that

[waxen ermine]

True enough

Wait, if they said darkness comes from absence of light, the void and such
What if in the abyss murals, they were sucking light from light creatures and eggs, but not too much to kill them
(I mean, you need to keep cows alive to keep milking them, right?)
What if it was enough for them to turn into dark creatures (and the elder manta became the leviathan)

[grizzled vector]

I think it was mentioned at some point but in all fairness I don't know if it's still a thing. Season of Passage features tusks, which are literally teeth

[waxen ermine]

Maybe that's why they went full on with sucking out the light, and sucking them dry, or else they became dark creatures
Better to have ash and dust and stuff than monsters

[grizzled vector]

Except that ash and dust is still toxic and creates monsters elsewhere, but I suppose at that point that's Someone Else's Problem™️

[waxen ermine]

Poor Wasteland XD
And the elder and his warriors too, must have been huffing toxins the whole time trying to protect the king, no wonder he collapsed from weakness
If spirits can sneeze, (and deep breath animation) they can probably cough too

[grizzled vector]

Hard to say how their metabolism and internal organs work especially if they are in fact made of stone but there's probably a reason Wasteland Elder was kinda half-corrupted in the concept art

[waxen ermine]

Oh, god! Now that you say it, no wonder! Poor guy, and he does his best to protect the kids

[grizzled vector]

He mostly seems to protect that one kid in particular, who went on to become Ruler. The civilian rebels were also someone's kids, presumably

[waxen ermine]

Oh no no I meant the concept art where he holds back against the dark monsters so that the Sky kids can escape

But ahhh so many souls suffer in that war

[grizzled vector]

Oh, that part, yea. I think it's mostly the gate that holds back the monsters now but yea, he protects us in concept

[lyric imp]

I'd argue that fine particulate is exactly the case. It was surely valuable, but i'm not so sure it was rare. Have you seen the old refinery concept art?

[lyric imp]

They are raw darkstone containers. You can see them in both refineries at input holes, you can see them in shipwreck, by the boat next to the geyser, and in treasure reef where iirc you also find minecarts and stuff

[lyric imp]

There was a long discussion on abyss a few months ago and it was back then a pretty popular theory that abyss had some kind of a research facility where they did exactly that and that was how krills came about there. There is even some old concept art of a mural that shows mantasturning into krills, though in the end it wasn't added in that exact form

[upbeat notch]

This concept art right? (By: https://www.tomzhao.com/sky1)

[kind stirrup]

ok guys i havent been here a lot but i really want to learn more about the lore, so here goes (pls correct me if im wrong about any of this)

i know that the skykids (us) were sent down by whoever to restore the world of sky cuz the previous people messed it up really bad (with the pollution from cultivating and manufacturing darkstone, and experimenting with mantas) and then complete the light cycle by going to eden. but i dont understand why going to eden is good, other than the out-of-lore reason to get ac, cuz clearly pnr is not a fun experience for our lil guy

[upbeat notch]

Well in eden we free other sky kids so we basically make it that there are more people that restore the world/ more sky kids that fight against the darkness

[kind stirrup]

yeah but arent the other skykids (though npcs) also like us? at the end when u run out of wl u turn into a statue and then go into orbit etc, but also those statues did that too so isnt it just the same amount each time (unless there are new players or more skykids being sent down)

so its like a loop. idk if this makes sense

[upbeat notch]

Well theory is that we acctualy didnt come back on our own but that there was another sky kid that gave us a Winged light just like we did before we died...soooo that way we come back

[kind stirrup]

ohhh okay okay that makes a lot of sense actually

[upbeat notch]

ya ^^ and that thing we enter in orbit is The Light/ Megabird (which I see as a Hivemind sorta thing but idk if theres any proof lol...)

[spiral vault]

Probably to help free the statues

[pastel brook]

Why do you think the Ancestors liked boats so much?

[waxen ermine]

Unprompted Sky bot?

[grizzled vector]

It likes the boats and cannot lie

[grizzled vector]

Well, as the concept art above describes, the normal lifecycle for all Sky creatures is to eventually go to the Holy Mountain to die/return to the Light. There isn't really a "why" so much as "it's just how it works"

That said, the Ancestor civilization also messed with that cycle because the souls also carry "Light" which can be used to charge "darkstone" for a wide variety of industrial applications. Eventually it resulted in bad things and some belated attempts to undo the damage, but the current situation is that the cycle is still somewhat disrupted, though probably not quite to the same extent it was before.

Basically there is this cosmic collective semi-conscious entity that's known as "The Light" (and also referred to as "megabird" in some of the earlier concept art) and all light in the world is really borrowed from that entity and is supposed to return to it eventually before being "reincarnated" back into the world. The Ancestors disrupted this cycle by hoarding the light in the world below, and part of what we're doing each trip to Eden is returning it back bit by bit

[grizzled vector]

Yea and the golden urns most resemble "B-fly traps" to me. I.e. they don't transport raw darkstone, they transport light creatures from other realms and then transport the leftover waste "away"

It's possible the remains of the creatures become toxic from being "pressed" into darkstone and retaining some of the darkstone on them, but I think it's also possible they're toxic on their own simply because the light was drained out of them so they are now "filled" with void.

The whole reason darkstone would be toxic is that it would draw light from its surroundings, leaving void instead, but in this case light has already been drained so there is no need for darkstone to be present in the leftover waste for it to have void

[robust flare]

I got the book. And now I'm seeing all my theories coming to life and I didn't even share it all

Feeling accomplished and awestruck at the same time

Okay not all my theories

I had read about so many cultures and religions, I read about the construction of shrines, I read about how civilization starts and the social structures. I read about ecosystems, water cycles, the carbon cycle. I read about uprisings against upper powers, wars over resources. I learned about The Hero's Journey, Jungian Archetypes and the concepts of the self, Joseph Campbell. Now I'm seeing so much of it in the book.

I even read about production, manufacturing, and consumerism stuff.

Also indigenous stories about the stars

Sorry I'm going through something 😭❤️❤️❤️

[lyric imp]

By golden urns you mean those shapes that we find in refineries, shipwreck, reef and geyser?

[waxen ermine]

Ooh, please do tell!! I didn’t notice jungian archetypes in this game, what’s that about?

[spiral vault]

Crazy that you predicted the book

[brave patio]

Waiting for my book to be delivered…

[solid cave]

do you think that this spirit burned the darkness off the crabs?

[robust flare]

@waxen ermine Jung had a theory that everyone has an underlying archetype, with its own purpose, and a rival "shadow" archetype that needs to be faced in order to find the "true self". Here's some of the archetypes, but Jung believed there were more than can be listed.
I think the archetypes are related to anima and animus but I don't quite remember now. The theories are really weird tbh. There's a thing about everyone having a "feminine" and "masculine" side and you need to have both for the true self.
The MBTI was also inspired by this.
AND there's the Joseph Campbell (blech, he is gross) connection. His theory that many (all?) stories follow the same route. And through that, the character finds their True Self (or they fail at finding their True Self).
I also found the Elders' MBTI if you're interested 🤣 Official, but not necessarily fully relevant to today's lore
You can see the hero's journey inspiration in Journey and Sky!

here's something from a presentation TGC did

Here's where I got the MBTI from, and you can see some of the Hero's Journey stuff here.

Isle elder - ENFJ
Prairie - ESFJ
Forest - ISTP
Valley - ESFP
Wasteland - ESTP
Vault - INFJ
Eden - ENTJ

I may have written some wrong, there's just so many weird letters goin on there

Maybe the hero's journey stuff was elsewhere oops

Here's another mention of archetypes in making the story of the Isle elder

Some of my theories weren't in the book. I thought the citadel might have been built for safety, for the upper class (whereas the wasteland lower class were basically doomed).
I also still wonder about the vault. My thoughts were that the vault could mean multiple things. Graveyard vault, church vault, storage vault. There's an association with the dead, there's clearly a religious element, and there's the storage of precious memories

After yesterday's shock I'm ready to do more work

[waxen ermine]

So cool!! Thank you for sharing!
That presentation looks to be online, where can I find it? I love the elders are being given canon personalities (I never figured that the grandpa would be optimistic and quizzical!)

[robust flare]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SkyGame/comments/uyd5ci/does_anyone_has_link_to_the_sky_concept_art/

[waxen ermine]

Thank you so much!!

[waxen ermine]

Sorry for the embarrassing question, but I’m struggling to find where this one came from?

[robust flare]

Hm lemme check. Not embarrassing at all, I have zero organization!

It's from the Jennie Kong presentation!

[waxen ermine]

Thank you!

[waxen ermine]

So uh, watching the video and um... So crabs are supposed to represent envy/ crab mentality?

Does that mean krills represent wrath, or somethin?

[long vessel]

Adding onto this, I recently learned from a Brazilian friend that the Portuguese name for Vault is actually the Reliquary of Knowledge

[robust flare]

Oh whoa! That's awesome!!

[robust flare]

Not sure!

I probably can't work on lore as much as before. I have some hand problems which make it hard to write and draw.

[cobalt palm]

I have a sky dichotomy that I'm surprised I haven't said about before.
Clouds...
Jenova loves clouds, as evident from the Cloud game, and there's a feeling of "good bright shiny" clouds, like those in Prairie, and "bad dark menacing" clouds like in Eden.
However, all clouds recharge us, which seems odd, as both the spirits murals for clouds, the spirals, associate it with darkness (the red spiral from Enchantment, and fog icon in the Performance theatre)
Clouds also block light, but they fly, something more associated with Light beings (krill being an exception).

My thought is, are clouds to Light, how void is to Dark, that clouds are the darkest part of the light spectrum, as the Void (that we see at least) is the lightest part of the dark spectrum.

So on a continuum we would have
The Dark - Void - dark creatures - ancestors - skykids - light creatures - cloud - The Light

[waxen ermine]

Very interesting!

[grizzled vector]

That, or clouds somehow store light (e.g. from the sun). Though that would raise the question of why we don't see elders trying to use the clouds to charge darkstone. It's possible that clouds have low energy density/recharge slowly/are otherwise impractical for industrial applications, but have about just enough light to recharge the capes of a handful of moths.

[cobalt palm]

I guess trying to transport cloud would be quite hard to do 😂

[waxen ermine]

That's clever to point out, it's not used in charging darkstone, when it would've been the most obvious and helpful

[cobalt palm]

Maybe it's like the reason our powerstations don't use lightning. It would be an ideal solution, if it wasn't so impractical

[robust flare]

Imagine trying to touch the clouds and your hand just bounces away 🤣

[waxen ermine]

They don't even have to capture it, they could just have high diamonds up in the sky in the clouds that get charged infinitely (I guess like solar or wind power)
My best guess, gameplay vs story segregation

[grizzled vector]

Yea, Sky clouds work a bit different than they do in reality. Real life clouds are mostly just small water droplets, if I remember correctly. Sky clouds are probably made up of very small cats that don't want to be touched

[cobalt palm]

Tbh they did build their realms "in the clouds" maybe that's why forest and wasteland are so low, they used up too much structural supportive cloud, and everything fell through

[cobalt palm]

Now imaging clouds filled with mischief krillcats

[grizzled vector]

Though if clouds are in fact made of water in some sense, it would imply that both light and darkness/void can be stored in the water

[robust flare]

Now I'm imagining a bunch of Samanthas in the clouds

[waxen ermine]

Sky the game oddly has a lot to do with sea and ocean stuff, and water

-Sea creatures, we got mantas, turtles, crabs, krills, whales
-Boats

[cobalt palm]

During Bloom, at the ark, don't the spirits send up a light to cause it to rain?

[cobalt palm]

The Sky is just a vast ocean of air

[grizzled vector]

Though we don't see large bodies of water recharging us, like dark water in the Wasteland drains us. On the other hand, if water even in such rarified form as clouds is enough to charge our capes rapidly, it would probably take lots and lots of light to charge an actual lake or whatever. And it would be so full of energy it might no longer be safe to recharge from it

[cobalt palm]

There are some oob areas, so probably not lore relevant, that have underwater clouds, I think prairie peaks, and starlit desert's jellyfish cove are the main ones that come to mind

[grizzled vector]

Yea but those seem more like gameplay obstacles to prevent you from swimming further. You wouldn't really have clouds underwater. That would imply clouds are made of something else that is insoluble in water and is actually denser than water, which... doesn't seem to make much sense

[robust flare]

(not lore related, but I have a Samantha figure in my nest )

[untold coral]

what if the currency in the game is a source of food?
like, think about it, wax can be the flavor and the candle can be the food. we humans do not like wax, but sky kids adore it, absorbing the wax is like eating the candle, and the forging candle part show how many wax we should absorb to be full, and when we get a candle, it means that we are one way through, and if we can get 20 candles a day, we need to ear 20 kg of wax to be full, and the other currencies are the additional food.

[robust flare]

I think it probably is something like that! Worth noting that the candles themselves are called uhhhh
Something
I forgot

Light tributes

[long vessel]

As a Samantha I feel both called out and very confused. Who???

[robust flare]

3 krill in a trench coat! Samantha Cruse!
Also known as 3 sassys in a trenchcoat

[long vessel]

I... I think I need more info lmao. Is there a wiki page about her??

[robust flare]

@agile galleon

@long vessel https://youtu.be/8SuRG9DwVgE?si=KsDdD2E_Fc84zhhx

[cobalt palm]

OMG I didn't realise anyone had really ever watched that one!

[soft timber]

I give a comment!

[spiral vault]

Well, it's not food, more like energy. You don't need candles to live, it's just that additional wax can get you extra stuff

[untold coral]

i still count it as food because if you're dying and someone lights you, it refills your energy

[polar forge]

un-lurks to eat some randos candles

[agile galleon]

[grizzled vector]

Honestly it's kinda unclear what counts as "food" in Sky and how it works (and how much of it is gameplay versus faithful representation of how the world works). In real life, food is essentially "fuel" that is slowly "burned" as you breathe, releasing energy. That, and food is also building materials for your body to repair and grow. The energy "stored" in food ultimately comes from the sun.

In Sky you get "wax" either from lighting candles or from burning dark plants. Dark plants seem to get their energy from "feeding" on light creatures (either butterflies or remains of larger creatures), but it's also worth noting that there are butterflies trapped in dark plants in the Wasteland, which hasn't had a thriving ecosystem since before the Shattering. And these butterflies are still alive when you free them, after the dark plants have been feeding on them for who knows how long (possibly since before the Shattering). And as for red candles, what they are and where they come from seems to be one of the greatest mysteries in the Sky universe

It's also worth noting that we players call it "wax" since that's what candles are made of. The game calls it "pieces of light" (but the game calls many things "pieces of light" so that's not really helpful). These "pieces of light" are probably what was originally described as "motes" in the concept art. If I remember correctly, they're supposed to be remains of light creatures who died "peacefully" by returning to the Light atop the Holy Site (now known as Eye of Eden, though it's unclear if that's the name of the mountain, the realm, the crystal, or something else entirely). The original idea for the motes was to be used as a sort of a power source for Ancestor devices, e.g. opening doors and such

We were also apparently supposed to compete for motes with crabs and/or "lost souls" but I assume that they weren't able to make it work in a fun and meaningful way (especially in a multiplayer setting) so at this point we just have a built-in candle with seemingly unlimited amount of energy to do anything from opening doors to powering a system of gondolas in the Valley. Cape energy seems to be the only leftover of the concept that light is supposed to be scarce and precious resource.

Ironically, in the final game the hardest place to recharge the cape is the Prairie Peaks area, since there are no dark plants or candles. But even then it's not exactly difficult, you just kinda have to use the energy sparingly

Anyway... as far as I can tell at least, de facto light creatures (and possibly skykids) seem to be effectively endless sources of energy (or at least can produce energy for a very long time until they're eventually exhausted). So they kinda don't need "food" just to live. "Wax" could serve as more of a "building material" function. It's possible that items cost candles because spirits "make" them out of the candles we give them. But it also seems possible that "items" are really more along the lines of illusions/holograms "made of light" and spirits teach us how to produce those illusions in exchange for candles. What exactly spirits want with candles is unclear though.

The fact we "forge candles" from the "wax" we "eat" kinda suggests they are not necessarily food, but it is possible they're similar to honey produced by bees – technically it's regurgitated pollen but it is in fact still digestible as food and has other useful properties (anti-bacterial etc).

So best guess is that the skykids themselves don't really "eat" candles, but spirits may use them to replenish their energy. Considering they're not alive, it's possible their energy isn't as "endless" as that of the living – though like butterflies they are also still around even after the darkness has been feeding on them at least since the Shattering, so... I dunno

[long vessel]

Hey team, any theories who this guy next to the catapult might be and what significance the bird figurine might have here?

[long vessel]

Also, thank you!!

[robust flare]

OH IT'S YOU. I actually just was searching for Sam at the anniversary event and I was super happy to see other people enjoyed having a drink there 🤣 I'll subscribe 😌

[cobalt palm]

Aww thank you, I did a fun lore one about the King's story last week, I need to do more lore vids, but they take so long to put together compared to everything else

[robust flare]

Yeah, when I do lore stuff it's very disorganized. I just write down all my messy thoughts and test the theories out against the things I know.
I wanted to make a lore site for all the work I've done but it's too much work 🫠

[robust flare]

I have a bunch of discord channels and notebooks and I pick a random one and just throw things in it

Here's some of the lore discord channels I throw stuff in. Some are older. Also why did I put something about migraines in one 😭

[grizzled vector]

I seem to recall those discussed before in this channel. A quick search suggests that the warrior actually dates back to the beta/Light Awaits days, and the little bird statue thing is called a "bird shrine"

[robust flare]

OH I DIDN'T REMEMBER THE BIRD SHRINE THERE WOOO I THOUGHT THEY WERE ALL GONE

[grizzled vector]

There are also some entertaining suggestions about the Ancestors possibly trying to use the catapult to launch themselves back into the sky

[grizzled vector]

I seem to recall some being there in the Sanctuary that were part of the season questline?

[robust flare]

Oh right! I guess the model is all over. I associate it with the old home shrines that were in a few places around the realms (boneyard, battlefield, before I joined I think one in prairie village)

[grizzled vector]

Interesting. I didn't realize those used to look like that. I do seem to recall seeing a few that would teleport you back home but since you can "go home" from anywhere I think they removed those

[robust flare]

Apparently they confused moths
...Which as sad as it is that they're gone, that sounds familiar
I think I was one of those confused moths back in 2020

[oblique garnet]

I'm cooking something

[dreamy juniper]

Yeahhh I miss those

[robust flare]

Actually maybe what I was confused by was the bridges not activating correctly...still a problem today. But anyway.
Those statues are wonderful, I wish there were more of them

[soft timber]

I believe similar, albeit bigger, versions of this little "bird shrine" is also seen in Sanctuary :3

[pastel brook]

I've heard a rumour that mods don't know what sneep snorp is because they're always here

[oblique garnet]

So idk if this was already a popular theory, popular interpretation of concept arts or even just mentioned here before.
I remember reading parts of it scattered in lorechat tho, of that I'm sure.

What if the giant Eden crystal (idk the agreed upon/official name) is supposed to hold Light or creatures of Light etc. from returning to Orbit and/or Megabird? (Reasons I can think of: It could be for the power source, ...)
And this hidden away Light that didn't return to Orbit either

A) attracted more Darkness for balance. The quantity of Light was higher than it should be, as new Light kept being brought to the planet while it never returned. So with time, more Darkness came as well, but the Darkness spread wider and was not imprisoned in one area, so it became a threat and possibly left its own areas and intruded the "Light areas" basically.
Ultimately, the crystal shattered and let out all the Light and creatures to Orbit. (The stream directly goes upwards, the creatures migrate in masses with the player's ascension)

—————
or
—————
B) became the Darkness (fully or mostly), either because it was on the planet for too long or because the imprisonment made it transform. This would mean that after the shattering, all the Darkness came into the world and possibly left only memories of the times before, when all of it was still Light. (Shattered memories, abundance of Darkness in GW and Eden compared to early areas)

This would assume that Darkness forms on the planet contrary to Light in the stars/orbit. Darkness could originate from underground, like the King Krill.
This would also assume that Darkness creatures are separate from Light creatures. Unless all of them could be separated into three categories: Light, Darkness, Creatures. This would suggest that Darkness as a corrupting force forms on the planet, while Light does in the stars.

If anything that is known or widely agreed upon contradicts (or supports) this, please tell me! I like to know anything.

[grizzled vector]

It's more or less similar to what you're describing. There were also some excepts from Art of Sky posted a couple days ago that mentioned something on that subject. Basically, "darkness" seems to have come from the void left behind when all that light from creatures was getting trapped in darkstone. And yea, it seems to be a corrupting influence and maybe even caused some of the light creatures to mutate into "krill" over time

[oblique garnet]

Thanks for telling me more!
You mean the art book right?

[grizzled vector]

Though the Shattering did not by itself release all the trapped light directly into orbit. It seem to have made it possible to ascend again, but even that seems to require skykids to work. "Red shards" that happen from time to time seem to contain souls of light creatures (or sometimes even crabs) but you still have to cleanse the corruption and gather the fragments before the soul is actually free

And those shards don't just fall randomly out of the sky. If you watch from, say, Prairie or Forest entrance at the right time, you will see the shard eruption take place from the Eye of Eden

[oblique garnet]

Crabs are neutral right? I've seen that they can be good and evil

What are (red) shards made of?
But it's definitely something I haven't thought about while writing that, thanks. So A) would be less likely in its current form, it rather seems like B)

I've also seen that light creatures migrate to Eden even in its first areas (and obviously in the ascension part after PNR) which would mean that the cycle is still always going

Maybe the whole "in the stars/on the planet" stuff isn't so accurate then. Because what I get from what you're saying is that every creature has both Light and Darkness inside them, but only one shows primarily, and Light is dominant.

Something about the (early?) concept arts I've seen before: There was this graph with Megabird, where it shows how the cycle works, and the additional info is something like "creatures bring light from the planet to Megabird" (or other way around?). Which would be (in the first case) different than skykids who bring light down from Orbit to the planet. I think?

—————
Hmm but skykids also kind of bring light back to the stars, is it maybe both simultaneously?

[waxen ermine]

they do bring light do the stars so that’s correct

I think I figured out the difference between their regular flying boats and air diamond boats

The latter is automatic, we don’t see any riders on the boats capturing mantas during the aurora concert
Maybe the first had people genuinely rowing the oars inside

Also realized, do the elders have parallels to constellations and zodiacs irl?

Isle: ???
Prairie: Aquarius (A guy with a jar)
Forest: ???
Valley: Gemini (The twins)
Wasteland: Orion (the hunter)
Vault: ???

Other constellations based on people/items that I have no idea how they fit in:
Virgo: the maiden
Libra: The weighing scales
Sagittarius: The archer
Cassiopeia: Queen who boasted about her beauty

[meager arch]

helllo, does anyone know what is this?

[royal python]

just fireworks for celebrating something i forget what. might be each new month? i don’t remember

[robust flare]

Yeah, I think the first of each month! I keep forgetting to visit

[spiral vault]

Red shards are probably fragments of the eden diamond launched off

[grizzled vector]

I think I remember seeing concept art saying that "full" souls ascent to the "megabird" and then "empty" souls return to the world, but it doesn't specify what they're full or empty of. It might be light, but I think it might make more sense if it was memories/emotions/experiences. There's plenty of light in space but not a whole lot to experience

The darkness on the Ancestor spirits might also be "feeding" off of their memories, considering they no longer have any light to feed off per se

[grizzled vector]

The fireworks were the final quest of the Season of Revival and a celebration of the revival of the Aviary. But yea, it happens again on the first of each month

[oblique garnet]

Oh yes that makes more sense, also with the early stages of Sky I think (where in Eden you lost memories? But idk the details, it just reminded me of that).
How do you mean that the darkness might be feeding off of their memories? Would the darkness be the natural consequence of memories but no light, or is the darkness this independent "entity" that can feed off of the memories when there's no light?
(I think it's the latter cuz earlier we talked about that but still wanted to clarify. It would also parallel the "dawn to storm" daytime and weather interpretation of the realms (which is metaphorical for the life of humans and how they feel over its course) possibly?)

[oblique garnet]

What's the Eden diamond made of tho?

[spiral vault]

Darkstone, the material used to power the sky world

[oblique garnet]

Ok that's what I thought, thanks!
So what things can shards aka darkstone contain? I would assume that they can at least draw light from surrounding sources and contain it. And the souls of (light) creatures were mentioned too, I wonder in what way that would work. Maybe the memories that the darkness feeds off of as said by tem?
When having cleansed a red shard, the shard glows in a bright white or blue-ish(?) manner and bursts/gets destroyed. What does that mean and what's happening there?

[spiral vault]

I think that's the spirit being freed

[spice sun]

Visiting Starlight Desert again because i love the Little Prince book and the season
I think it’s sorta amusing to see that for all the praise and attention Gloating Narcissist wants, the place where we have to start his spirit memory is one of the few places away from where you can see him from the stage. Of course, you free his spirit in front of those mirrors, but the irony just hit me right now
Also, where did Gloating Narcissist get a mini boat for him to fly around the stage doing tricks? I want one it also flies on its own (since it would be inconvenient to have to manually pilot a boat when your aim is to show off to a ‘crowd’), which implies darkstone use
I find it very interesting how, despite there being no people watching, Gloating Narcissist thinks there are people applauding him. Which could mean either one of two things:
1): The Gloating Narcissist was somehow able to record audios of people cheering and just plays it whenever he wants to gloat about himself. (They didn’t have to be cheering for him per se, either)
2) The Gloating Narcissist is having auditory hallucinations of people cheering for him.
The second one, however, doesn’t really make sense, since iirc the SkyKid can also hear the cheering. The first one is more plausible, especially since we can light firework dispensers that seem automatic (oh, the wonders of darkstone). If the gloating narcissist can set that up on his stage, he can definitely set up automatic cheering

[grizzled vector]

Darkstone can absorb the "light" from living creatures, and that seems to be what's being used to "physically" power mechanisms like automatic doors, flying boats, and so on. As a side-effect of the process of how light is taken from the light creatures, their souls also appear to get trapped in darkstone, but that probably isn't intended since their memories probably don't help power anything physically (and in fact having that many souls in one crystal could be one of the reason it shattered)

The part about memories is just my speculation based on the concept art and the fact that the spirits also seem to have darkness/corruption growing on them.

I'm just assuming that memories are valuable, in a sense, both to the Light and the Darkness, as "experiences"

Creatures who return to the Light probably bring back their light as well, but collecting light in the world probably wasn't the original goal of the life and reincarnation cycle. "Collecting" experiences could be, considering The Light seems to have some degree of consciousness/self-awareness. Season of Shattering also seemed to imply that besides The (Ancient) Light there is also "The Ancient Darkness" which could also be a conscious entity of some sort, and so could also value memories/experiences for similar reasons

[inland cliff]

Something I found in Journey discord, I think this is the first time sm1 have actually done a full-on theory abt the connection between sky cotl and Journey, you should check it out

[winter whale]

Excuse me, which ancestor is the fourth task of the daily task?

[cold sparrow]

#questions-and-help

[oblique garnet]

I love sky lore
(gonna reply maybe when I have time)

[robust flare]

I had theory that the ancestors read the prophecy in the constellations, since people have used the constellations as guides throughout history, various peoples. Still could be the case I think.

[cobalt palm]

That would make sense, and make a bit of sense as to what they are doing in citadel with all of the rotating orbs and interlocked rings

[versed mirage]

After playing both games. They both play out VERY similarly, even down to some key moments.

[inland cliff]

Tgc definitely used the same trope for both games, which means theories circulating abt the connection between them is bound to happen

I think originally Sky was supposed to be an environmental game such as Flower, hints were given in concept arts like vault was supposed to be a night city, but eventually they changed Sky to have the same journey aspect as Journey™ with more open social interaction

[hushed steeple]

GOT MY BOOK

IT HAS THE FULL "TETHS FRIEND"

Will do a full lookthrough later but it fleshes out all the parts we read and saw of the concept arts we have!

Calls king "the ruler" and explains a lot more motives and jack.

[brave patio]

Still waiting for mine… sobs

[robust flare]

I have the book, it's AMAZING. It tells SO MUCH. I'm amazed still

[hushed steeple]

Which valley elder is Sah and which one is Mekh?

[versed mirage]

Is Oreo cannon to the lore?

[hushed steeple]

Oreo is more or so just a cute dog/Easter egg. Oreo is a real dog!
(They have an instagram, “thatskyoreo”)

[livid crypt]

is this channel 100% Art-Book-Chat now? I've been poring over the book and while most of it isn't surprising, there are some great little bits of lore buried in there

[hushed steeple]

King rebirth confirmed, at least 3 new megabirds, full view of "teths friend" sketch, more of that rual town setting I liked, AND ancestor shepherding and rebirth cycle FINALLY EXPLAINED.

Lot more "hot dating" prototype images too. Those are always delicious.

Im not sure why I never figured the light being harvested was actual ||human souls||

[long vessel]

As a non-book-haver, I'm eating up the delicious crumbs

[hushed steeple]

We allowed to post pictures of it providing its not like full scans of the whole thing?

[livid crypt]

yeah, this part went just a little darker than I expected! it raises the stakes for all those lost butterflies!!! And see channel pins about sharing images from the book. tl;dr it's allowed

[hushed steeple]

Cool. When I get home i'll discuss whats new

[still solar]

Hello people, we chattin about the lore drops with the book?

[iron geyser]

There’s books???

[still solar]

Book ^

[iron geyser]

That’s cool :0

[hushed steeple]

Anyone know what that clear card with the chibi krill on it is?

Comes with the book.

I have no idea what it does.

Is there secret messages or something?

[cold sparrow]

afaik those are just little collectibles
a free gift
I have like 5 of those now, with different motives

[hushed steeple]

Why does it have a protective sticker to pull off on the upper corner?

[cold sparrow]

it's made from a material and printed in a way that is very susceptible to scratches, especially from transport
the foil is there so it arrives unmarred
often used on acrylic charms too
the extra sticker in the corner is just there so it's easier to remove the protective foil

[gilded tartan]

I took an upturned white crab from the sanctuary cave and brought it out in the open. it turned gray. wonder if there's a meaning or lore to it

[livid crypt]

IRL filter. Turn any scene into an in-game experience!

[robust flare]

Shall I put a story from the book here?

I transcribed it because I'm bad at taking pictures

[hushed steeple]

Yggdrasil lookin world. They called it "mega tree" Like the roots were literally cut open or had rooms in em.

[spiral vault]

That sounds like an exaggerating

[hushed steeple]

And heres the big reveal, a basic rundown for the premise, with a big ol heap of KING REBIRTH THEORY

[spiral vault]

Well, not 3 megabirds, just 3 iterations of the same concept, it's not like every concpet art is canon to the modern game, some of them are, but some have been replaced or edited

[hushed steeple]

At least 4 megabirds :]

Theres also this whole ongoing idea about giants\cloud giants eho lived alongside regular ancestors that was just COMPLETELY DROPPED or maybe contributed to elders or something but the closest thing is the office robot, who is a remnant of those ideas.

And after light ||human souls|| migrate, they are ||cleansed and have their memories wiped to be sent back down and reincarnate as a new life||

[gilded tartan]

"The Ruler would sacrifice themselves to share light back into the skies and the light souls would then return as descendants" - i knew it, skykids are the king, or like the light fragments of the king. but then of course the light was also hoarded and usurped by the king so.... lol

[hushed steeple]

Yeppe, theres more later when it describes meeting the elders.

Personal thing, but im happy creature war (which I found a silly premies) got "evolved past"

Also all this time I thought Tsadi's animal was the OX LION and SPIDER. But actually the lion was originally a corrupted form of RESH. Eventually they wanted bulls and lions as end bosses. Then more animals, then giants wearing animal masks, then the blue and black concept elders we all know, THEN the actual elders in game.

Finally the full reveal of "Teth's friend"
🥺
She ride whale

[gilded tartan]

what does it mean that the 'plotline evolved and remnants of this story remained in GW'? If remnants of this story remains in GW, then it's canon. what plotline evolution is it talking about?

[hushed steeple]

Having a war place remained. What the war was about and eho was involved prolly what changes.

[gilded tartan]

what's 'eho'?

[hushed steeple]

ALSO AT ONE POINT THEY HAD ELDER VOICE LINES?!?!!

[hushed steeple]

Who that I don't care to slpell rhoight

And for everyone askimg why forest water hurts and is polluted but water other placed dont

Also the diamond at the top of eden is a light mining device

And the eden hug seems to be about the player and their avatar

[hushed steeple]

Few new megabirds

One last thing about king rebirth theory :]

[gilded tartan]

eden hug is the king/prince, but then skykids are the king's lights reborn, so yes lol

[hushed steeple]

Yeah! Lol two pieces of apple is still apple.

[vestal night]

whats the eden hug

[rare ruin]

What happened to the mega bird?

[spiral vault]

Still there, we see it in the credits

[dusky dune]

My whole thought process has been completely switched holy barnacles

[stiff turret]

I thought oreo was dead bc of the tombstone in the 8 person puzzle/event area lmao

[robust flare]

Oh I also noticed something in the book about the player and the Child of Light after Eden. There's a hint in the reflection in the picture. Lemme find it

[robust flare]

Megabird is now less of a physical thing and more of a representation of all of us connecting!

[hushed steeple]

I still prefer it being vaguely bird SHAPED though.

[waxen ermine]

I am eating this stuff up!! Fantastic work people!!
I wish Prince had the crown when you hugged him

[strange flare]

exquisite lore we have today

since we are the king, and also a part of megabird, I'm not sure what happened?

Are we sort of like
all connected but separate in some way?

[strange flare]

Another thought that just came to me is that, someone once said the elders bowed at us because we are the king returning.

Seeing it mentioned that the Isle elder recognizes the flame, I suppose other elders must've done the same too.

Seeing elders as they are now, it makes me think just how powerful the king was before they (shatter?) and (the pieces of their light) reborn as us.

[waxen ermine]

Not only that, but after they bow the camera tilts up to reveal the crown constellation, then shows the Eden king constellation
(Which is like, textbook movie making stuff?)

Like
We bow to you ---> There's a crown above --> The crown is your destiny being revealed--> You're the king

(Imagine it like in a movie context
An elder says to a reborn child, "Welcome back, your highness", they bow, it pans up to a glass window painting of the king and it cuts to the child reborn with the faces interposed... Something like that)

[strange flare]

I forgot to mention that crown constellation yes!

The crown constellation is uh, made of many stars that are also on our friendlist, we are the king!

[waxen ermine]

Yup!
Before the update, the crown constellation was perfectly identical to the one shown in Vault

But now they changed the friend crown constellation (while keeping the vault cutscene constellation the same) and I don't know why

Image 1: How it was before
Image 2: How it is currently
Image 3: How the crown appears in the vault to show Eden

I have no clue if they changed their mind on the kid being the king, or they wanted to use the Eden crown constellation for something else, or clean it up/modernize it (without changing the vault cutscene)

The new friend constellation crown does have the Eden King head at least

Does anyone know at what update they changed the friend constellations?

[strange flare]

perhaps

the crown symbol was still there in the background

perhaps it means we are a part of the king, but not exactly the way he used to be

as the players (us) are ever changing

I'm just rambling nonsense but that sounds like a nice headcanon

[waxen ermine]

https://thatgamecompany.helpshift.com/hc/ru/17-sky-children-of-the-light/faq/890-patch-notes---april-5-2022---0-17-0-187527/

Found it, this update (I think)
So the crown was probably changed from community feedback and trying to have a cleaner UI and making it easier to use for players (RIP lore)

Based on community feedback about ways to make the Spirit and Friendship Constellations easier to navigate and organize, we’re introducing some changes to the constellations that aim to make them easier to use.

Art has also been updated for constellations and stars

[tulip badge]

heyy

[waxen ermine]

How did you find this?!
My jaw is dropped so hard I can’t speak

[cold sparrow]

ohhh this is gonna be amazing

[waxen ermine]

It took a while to compose myself
Did you find this legally or anything? I want to discuss it but I can’t find it on YouTube

[tulip badge]

That's right, Two ember animation clips were released in China for the first time. The first episode has been released. And Chen from TGC has released a lot of surprising news in the Chinese server. I can't wait to share the news here.

This was released in China. I don't speak English so it takes a long time even if I use a translator

[waxen ermine]

Ohh I see!! Thank you!!
…WAIT, WHAT?! THE FIRST EPISODE IS OUT?!

[strange flare]

I personally won't spoil myself with it

but other than that I have a few questions, can someone confirm this?

I found this somewhere and I'm not sure if it's real or not

[strange flare]

I also remember there is a carcass near the forest temple, where you get the "whale call" I think?

not sure tho...

[cobalt palm]

The two embers is getting closer

[rare ruin]

Perhaps they were soldiers? I assume other elders would support each other since the ones we see in game seem to be fine with each other. (As shown in the vault of knowledge when they all greet the player)

[strange flare]

mhm mhm
It's just something I find interesting, more in what way are they related to the symbols

since the events in the battlefield does include similar symbols. which I think sometimes symbols could develop amongst the people, beyond its original purpose

[robust flare]

I transcribed a lot of stuff from the book (because I can't write a lot anymore with my hand problems but wanted to see things side by side). But there's a lot of text, so I leave it to you all; should I post the transcriptions here?

[hushed steeple]

It probably helped them decide they want whales in the game. But, this whale had an entirely different destiny. Lets just say, hes probably not a whale anymore.

[hushed steeple]

Im not sure what interpretation is being shown here, but all four images are real.

Is it trying to say the twins represent the sides of the war by having the same patterns as shields, because due to the thing cut from the aurora concert I think they were on the same side.

[narrow marsh]

Was a mining device or is?

[hushed steeple]

Likely still is. But does not seem to be working at full capacity considering souls are still rebirthing, and its completely shattered.

Good!

[vernal thunder]

maybe there was a dispute between the elders and the gw elder summoned the krills bc the gw elder got so mad with rage at the other elders??
but maybe it backfired and it created eden and all the krills were left in gw and eden.

[robust flare]

My messages kept getting deleted, wasn't sure if it was a bug. I'll just summarize something the book said. In the book it says the Wasteland Elder was the Ruler's General, protecting the Ruler's regime from civilian protests and against the new Dark Creatures

[hushed steeple]

Every elder gets a description.

[robust flare]

I love the book so much. I'm glad I got it. Highly recommend for lore enthusiasts
I hope they make a cheaper version available

[spiral vault]

That's definitely how it's framed in-game

Elders bow to you, representing the realms you've completed-> But you're not finished, there's a 'secret' constellation -> the constellation is for Eden, and you have to go there

[spiral vault]

https://youtu.be/X7K_RKIv4iw?si=c2IBTwEjkvjEBwu-

It's just,, so peak... I think the music is an updated/rearranged version of this

[spiral vault]

ITS HERE

Here's whatr I see:

1. Either the Orbit, or the child hug, the bluish dark child is the King and the bright yellow one is Steward
2. Hopeful Steward and Vault Elder doing an inefficient Vault CR
3. Citizens watching Eden rising
4. Some sort of war, many of the outfits are loose
5. The Eden "castle", more like a futuristic city

[spiral vault]

I checked it and it's not the first episode, just two short scenes, one with hopeful steward and manatee, and the other in Eden

[spiral vault]

That's absolutely abyss guide on the left

[hushed steeple]

KING KING KING KING BRBRBRB

LAMMMMMMED!!!!!

ACTUAL GAME CHARIES

[dusky dune]

BWXJJWZ GOING INSANE

[gilded tartan]

woa those are the twins right? so apparently one is pro dark stone and one is pro light creatures? O.O

[long vessel]

Also the adult with the Steward has the same kind of darkstone blight that the adult with the Prince does

[forest hornet]

Little thing i noticed but it looks like this guy has the wind prophecy symbol on their neck

[robust flare]

At last, you return to this world.
Remember, Child -
Your light is a gift.

(This quote just hit me so hard)

[robust flare]

Hold up, let me just scream real quick

HOW DO I WATCH IN THE STATES

Nvm not a full episode apparently

Void of Shattering says that above

Oh I bet it was at that Sky event that's going on in China

[lapis plover]

Is this our first canon confirmation of the King? Most of the evidence for their existence comes from outside the game iirc

[gilded tartan]

is this stewie btw? hi stewie!! ^w^

[lapis plover]

Ironically one of my favorite clips from the trailer is this. It looke like the manatee has a mobility aid of some sort, which is wonderful to see! Hope/Stewie cares about their pet so much ❤️

[hushed steeple]

I don't trust it at all. Im completely convinced that thing is gonna corrupt or die or both.

[shrewd mango]

A Friend told me that the event that's happening on China is apparently the anniversary?

[lapis plover]

Oh, nooo, you're probably right 😭

[hushed steeple]

For real tcg "we want you to feel emotion in our artsy farty animated series" is not gonna be trusted to keep a cute animal companion alive. Its indie game law.

So now my heart is hardened! I will only feel emotional if it actually ends up ok the whole way through!

[twin halo]

I can't believe they exist, I have waited for so long for event the tiniest canon content of them aughhhhh

[hushed steeple]

KIIIIIIIIINNNNNNG RESHYRESHKINGRULERKINGRESHALEFKING🎉🎉🎉🎉

[shrewd mango]

I am eating this all up thank you for sharing the art book lores
Me when there's a new King/Elder content:

[twin halo]

Guys I am so happy

[rare ruin]

WHAT WHAT WHAT??? Where did you get this!!??? Alsjnajsbxk

[twin halo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEn-FjCnz74
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrYpUg4YqPM&t=200s

[gilded tartan]

all hail eden king!! hehehe

[rare ruin]

My heart is going to explode!!! Im so excited!!!

[quaint rune]

IM LOSING MY MIND HELP

THE KING IS REAL IM CRYING

[blissful palm]

Agh why's all the cool stuff either in concepts or that animation project

[twin halo]

at least the animation project should be canon
which makes it the first actual canon appearance of Resh (Orbit aside)

[dusky dune]

SCREECHING OF EXCITEMENT EGEGEHRGGR

[hushed steeple]

[rain frost]

going crazy insane
seeing the elders and the steward and everybody is so exciting :DDD

[rain frost]

also that bit where ||the soldiers got hit with the krill?? it looked so viceral, even more deadly than in the game, i love it||

[gilded tartan]

dawww....we need manatee plushie uwu

[sterile sentinel]

Sky lore about king mentioned???

[twin halo]

https://tenor.com/view/an-emoji-disintegrating-in-pain-gif-22507163

[deep crown]

If the pull off a good show, ill forgive them stealing money from my pockets.

[serene geyser]

The video was on a YouTube channel where someone was posting spoilers about Sky's beta test.
It may be fraudulent, and I don't know if it's an official TGC video, so I think it's best not to mention it.
I'll report back on this video later in the feedback channel.

If the video poster was a member of Sky Creator Trope and had received permission from TGC to post the video, there wouldn't be a problem, but there was nothing written in the video's description, so I'm suspicious.

[hushed steeple]

Only china gets new updates? 😭

(Thats a joke, I think its fun when information can be shared between different regions reveals)

[sly lake]

They got the preview during their anniversary event, which China Sky's anniversary is a little earlier than ours, as it's happening right now. So we might get this same or more info when our anniversary happens next month!

[hushed steeple]

Lol, yeah! Then lets be excited both now and then!

[sly lake]

Yes!! I'm glad there are helpful people at the Chinese event who are able to share clips though. Excited to see more!

[frozen harness]

Tell me if I'm not allowed to post this: the new movie Sky: The Two Ambers preview from the chinese server (5th year anniversary)

Oh u guys are already talking about this. My bad

||but apparently the next two seasons (after duet) will collaborate with the movie which means we are finally getting some canons!! The last one I remember was like the season of shattering||

[serene geyser]

Sorry, I didn't know that the video was from the Sky 5th anniversary event in China.
I'm Japanese, and I don't watch or share any information about the Chinese Sky (because it's considered a spoiler in the Japanese Sky community).
However, the YouTube video I reported earlier seems to be a clear unauthorized repost, so I think it was the right decision to report it.

[forest hornet]

Isn't it a series not a movie?

[frozen harness]

I don't know, some people tilted it to "The Sky Movie", but I do know ||there will be two storylines, so it's probably not just one episode||

[empty belfry]

i was SCREAMING. ACTUAL FOOTAGE OF RESH.

[frozen harness]

Sorry... Who's Resh? The king?

[empty belfry]

yesss the guy in the image is resh

[noble ferry]

Yea, Resh is the beta name for The King, the ruler of sky

[frozen harness]

I found the full lived preview, different from the YouTube "trailer" above

But i think the trailer got more information lol

[noble ferry]

Now that Resh's actual design has been shown, time to throw away my resh design!
Oh wait, it's a sky au I can do whatever I want with my sad man

[frozen harness]

We need a dedicated channel for this

[robust flare]

FOUR YEARS I BEEN PLAYIN, FOUR YEARS WONDERING ABOUT THE KING

[twin halo]

war is over my friend

[viscid scaffold]

I’m probably late to this but my brain is buzzing dude

What does it meannnnn

[robust flare]

Nvm looks like I shouldn't bring that up
Deleted the comment just in case

[frozen harness]

The first picture is asking "isn't this Vault of Knowledge?", and the image is titled "The King", subtitle "Heart of Eden before getting out of control"

Also i don't think it's related to Season of Abyss

But the third and fourth are indeed related

[desert grotto]

Where’d this animation from??

[viscid scaffold]

The reason why I included the big crystal in prairie peaks was because me and a friend of mine theorized that the giant red crystal in Eden is a huge mass of blue crystals, you can see in different spirit memories that spirits used to mine these crystals, maybe to build this crystal/power source

[viscid scaffold]

Bilibili (I think that’s how it’s spelled)

[desert grotto]

Did tgc post the links?

[hushed steeple]

Billibilli?! Will it be a youtube series as well?

[viscid scaffold]

It was shown for Sky’s 5th anniversary in China I believe

[viscid scaffold]

I have no idea :’D maybe

[static zephyr]

HEY I’m back after a year and a half but I’m very late but I have two lore/theory questions for you guys!

1. Why do children of light wear mask and more importantly why don’t we have a face?

2. What do you guys think caused the battle that happened in the golden wasteland (as shown in the aurora ‘the seed’ segment which could very much have happened because of all the wepons left behind at the Seen?

[versed mirage]

1. I think it’s just aesthetic choice for the game.

2. Most likely a power struggle of colliding beliefs

[static zephyr]

Like the vault of knowledge wanting to store knowledge instead of giving it away, for example?? Because that’s the vibe I always got from it

[versed mirage]

Not sure, but potentially

[static zephyr]

I mean think about it what if the reason why the golden wasteland is a wasteland is because of a domino effect the battle (possible war) caused
And maybe caused Eden to well…become Eden

[spiral vault]

Possibly the same person who was on the ship, maybe a prophecy related

[versed mirage]

Not sure if it was the battle or just cause it’s where it seems like everyone dumped their garbage

[static zephyr]

Also fair

[spiral vault]

There are some places, such as the eden mural, which show the king quite accurately to how it's shown in the two embers

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[spiral vault]

From a friend:

"Hopeful Steward has a manatee in Two Embers. Two Embers takes place before Sky: Children of the Light. Hopeful Steward does not have a manatee in Sky: Children of the Light."

[frozen harness]

There you go, i recorded it
https://youtu.be/D7w9kNn_aMY

[spiral vault]

We know a lot about the structure of the Two Embers:

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/Sky:_The_Two_Embers

[static zephyr]

Do you know if two embers is cannon?

Like the Aurora concert which doesn’t technically take place but the stories are being told is taking place/have taken place

[frozen harness]

We have information saying future seasons would collaborate with the series, make them cannon in some sort, even if the series is an adaptation

[spiral vault]

Absolutely, it's supplemental content

Even without any tie-ins (also how would they even do that, two embers covers the entire sky world?)

[static zephyr]

Maybe we’ll get outfits or stories involved in it???

[spiral vault]

The two main characters are the eden king boy (a character who is dead) and hopeful steward (already exists)

It may be an introductory place to start for new players

[static zephyr]

Wait wait! It’s already known that we’re at least a fragment/ are either the son or the king so Maybe we’ll start collecting more fragments of ourselves, and the story will start to unfold itself??? And we don’t have to fill as many holes holes

[frozen harness]

The boy's name in Chinese is 晨星, "Star/Amber of Dawn", the girl's name is 暮星, can be understood as "Star/Amber of Twilight"

[frozen harness]

Really? I thought is boy is the king lol. The description says he got currupted while trying to get power to change the world

[spiral vault]

Yeah, the boy who became the eden king

And then hopeful steward, the long-haired kid

[static zephyr]

Yeah I think it was talking about the king
But my theory is that well “ trying to get power to change the world” caused an imbalance in light and dark which caused a Domino effect which somehow led to the shattering of Eden we just need to somehow fill in those holes and figure out what those events are and hopefully this new series will at least fill in some of those gaps

[spiral vault]

The king is dead, and the story is already unfolded in the past, we just have to pick up the pieces for the future

[frozen harness]

oh wait I read wrongly. I thoght u r saying they're the children of King 😂

[spiral vault]

That makes no sense honestly

Wait, it kind of does

That's their common names, maybe at the end we'll see "Twilight" become the Hopeful Steward

[robust flare]

The war was an uprising against the ruling class for misusing light! Protests were squashed by the Ruler's General (Wasteland Elder)

[spiral vault]

Star of Dawn makes some sense, they fell in the Isle of Dawn

But does this imply Hopeful Steward fell in the Golden Wasteland?? That actually makes a bit of sense, from what we've seen

The biggest question is, will they interact, the series focuses on the two of them, but we haven't seen any scenes yet of them directly interacting

[frozen harness]

Dawn and Twilight gotta be the best translation for now, until the official names are out

[spiral vault]

It's a bit strange, because to introduce the series to new players, they won't be called the Hopeful Steward, even though the connection is obvious

The wiki said there would be narration but no dialogue

[frozen harness]

yeah there is not dialogue from the preview

[dusky dune]

Very hyped to see how it unfolds tho for sure

[static zephyr]

Haha sorry about me being a bit disconnected with the lore/ theorizing as I said, I’ve been gone for about a year and a half thanks to burn out so I’m not really filled in as I used to be

[robust flare]

Things recently got crazy lore-wise. Like, past few days

[static zephyr]

Oh fun I came in just the right time (:

[frozen harness]

Also in the Chinese version, the official name is now 双星 (meaning "Two Stars", but much more artistic) instead of 两个余烬 (Two Ambers)

[pastel brook]

We ask everyone to please post only in English on this server, @frozen harness. Unfortunately, moderators and staff aren't able to support all the languages spoken by our global Sky family.

[static zephyr]

skybot not now!

[rain frost]

i think they will interact but be from different eras kinda. in the new clips, hopeful steward arrives at eden when it seems to already be on a path of destruction, i.e. i think the king is already an adult by then

[static zephyr]

I can’t wait to see Eden in this style I bet it’s gonna be absolutely bone chilling!

[frozen harness]

I agree, they are people of different ages

[spiral vault]

It's supposedly 10 twenty-minute episodes

So let me guess what will happen

1. Introduction to the world and the birth of the king
2. King goes through the prophecy stuff, the Steward's manatee makes an appearance
3. King journeys across the sky world to help stuff, but discovers industrial activities and becomes greedy
4. King makes it to Vault, slowly starts building Eden, sees darkstone sickness but ignores it
5. Steward falls in Wasteland, adopts the manatee creature, explores a slowly dying Wasteland
6. Wasteland tensions reach a breaking point, Steward and the Manatee try to find a solution, king announces the eden diamond
7. Wasteland war officially starts, it's chaotic, Steward tries to make it to the king to stop the eden diamond
8. Wasteland war continues, Vault Elder tries to calm things down but fails, Steward makes it through the wasteland temple
9. Steward rallies the other elders, goes up through Vault, Eden Diamond is close to breaking
10. Steward retreats, unable to convince the king, elders try to stop diamond but fails, and then shows the present

[frozen harness]

Im more excited to see it in the game, if it ever happen

[cobalt palm]

Tbh I think this is Eden

[static zephyr]

It is

[spiral vault]

That's the most confusing part, eden elder is probably a skykid like us

1. Resize potion, might be crazy but it could explain Vault Elder being there (possibly showing magic)?
2. Mech, close to what was shown in the concept art but really silly
3. Skykids turning into adults is optional and a bad idea, causing to become corrupted

[static zephyr]

Do you not see the massive honk-ing crystal?!

Jokes aside I agree

[robust flare]

I'm guessing the steward shows the Ruler love. Empathy. And the Ruler sacrifices himself out of regret for everything, a last call for help before he goes.
Sorry, my cold fog brain is getting to me

[rain frost]

i feel like the steward has to visit aviary village at some point. not sure when if they're born in wasteland but eh,,, maybe they were born there but raised in the village? and then made the trek to eden

[cobalt palm]

Going to call it, dark dragons were created as a sort of war machine by the king

[spiral vault]

Steward is so linked to Aviary that I think they built it, maybe after the eden diamond exploded

[rain frost]

ooo i buy the last one

[static zephyr]

To expand on that they weren’t always dark dragon/krills I think they were corrupted by darkness in some form which ate them from the inside out, which could explain their, skeleton appearance
But I still think that they are the whales that we see everyone’s a while that got corrupted by darkness, which then got eaten from the inside out by darkness parasite

[frozen harness]

the manatee got crystals corruption on it that's why (it's in the preview)

[cobalt palm]

Maybe aviary was in the realms at one point, and got blasted, maybe aviary was even near Eden, and got "relocated by force"

[spiral vault]

It seems like a temporary refuge for people in the shattering era, if it was blasted it would be more damaged

[robust flare]

Tomorrow I'll do some studies ✨ If my brain allows me to think tomorrow, hopefully my cold gets better. I bet there's hints about aviary's origin in the game

[cobalt palm]

Yeah, I'm imagining there is probably a way they are constructed, but that could very likely be one way.

[static zephyr]

I hope you feel better with your cold!

[rain frost]

yeah maybe, i always feel unclear on how much civilization still existed after the shattering. i wonder who helped steward build it, since they cant have done it by themself (the other guides like in the game maybe?)

[cobalt palm]

It also looked a bit like it had a prosthetic flipper, or maybe that's a cast for a flipper bandage

[spiral vault]

My favorite part has to be the details, you can very easily tell which area is which, along with the perfectly accurate murals

I just hope they make it accessible to newcomers

[rain frost]

hi crazy version of my/void's idea: what if the king and the steward are literally the same age (fell from the sky around the same time) but the king chose to grow up and the steward didnt

[robust flare]

Thank you! It's not actually that bad a cold, but ofc still not pleasant. Mostly it's affecting my thinking skills. I keep forgetting basic words
I'll let y'all know if blue crystals grow on my skin

[cobalt palm]

As in lore newcomers or Sky newcomers?
Or those who first know of Sky through the two embers?

[static zephyr]

Nooo well then I’ll just relight you then! Or I’ll grab a hammer to help you break them off!

[spiral vault]

That sounds cool, but I personally like the magic theory the most, maybe the king wasn't respected as a child and turned to the vault elder for a more artificial way

Also, resize potions are made of AC, so there could be a scene where creatures are harvested for their souls and used for magic

[rain frost]

oh that would go so incredibly hard

[dusky dune]

me writing all this cool stuff down for au ideas gehxhsj

[spiral vault]

All three, but most importantly the last one

It would be cool, since hopeful steward is basically the main npc in the game, so people who watched the show first would immediately understand the mindbending trauma they went through

[cobalt palm]

Yeah I definitely see that, there are some fan made animations of communities I'd never think to look into, but they were enough to intrigue me to look more into them.

[frozen harness]

Again we need a dedicated channel for the series at some point

[frozen harness]

Someone just posted a better version ~~imma delete my video ~~

[spiral vault]

Well, I think it's better for here or another server

[viscid scaffold]

I don’t know if this is anything but krill eyes glow the same color as the Eden crystal in the trailer before they aggro on something 👀

Also there might be a really messed up analogy somewhere if the king grew up and Steward didn’t because the king was corrupted —> you become less pure and innocent as you grow up :’]

[versed mirage]

Did the king use dark dragons as a defense since his castle was in the sky and away from everyone?

[viscid scaffold]

WAIT I see you omg this makes sense

And there’s one shattering memory that has krills flying around the Eden crystal I think, guys what if he made the krills to protect it

[noble ferry]

My sky au lore is in shambles
But like, JUICY CANON LORE

[versed mirage]

Also with the leaked trailer, dark dragons are far more terrifying in the trailer.

[viscid scaffold]

SAME MAN 😭 boutta rewrite all my Sky ocs

[dusky dune]

ALSO SAME PFT

us in sky: casually dodging Krills

Meanwhile sky people in Two Embers: intensified screeching 💀

[viscid scaffold]

I got jumpscared when the krill attacked immediately, like dang dude you’re supposed to give them a few seconds T_T

[noble ferry]

But like, at least I will have an actual idea on how the hell will I write resh and alef’s backstory because i havent set anything in stone for the two of them

One thing is still concrete though, my main sky oc will still have an actual fragment of resh’s soul due to circumstances
All the other skykids are changed to be born from Resh’s sacrificed light and some megabird light

[versed mirage]

They should be like this in the game

[dusky dune]

Sky hardcore mode be like- /jk

[noble ferry]

id love to ramble on my au but this is lore chat and i gtg

[viscid scaffold]

I agree but also I pity the moths that have to deal with that lol

[versed mirage]

Honestly though, part of me thinks they’re even more similar to the Journey war machines than people think

[waxen ermine]

We are eating good!!!

This stuff is fantastic!!

Also I know this theory sounds crazy but

With all the other biblical stuff this game hints at!!! (garden of Eden, the area being called “The Original Sin” in Japanese, wasteland at one point being called “Shores of Manna”)

The king’s name

Star of Dawn —> Dawn Star —> Morning Star —> Lucifer (which means morning star)

Yes… the king is actually the fallen angel devil (think Paradise Lost)

He fell from the sky (heaven) and convinced mortals to commit sin in the earth

[versed mirage]

Also can the king just fly?

[waxen ermine]

He is a sky kid, I don’t see why not

[dusky dune]

lol he just
✨ascends✨

[waxen ermine]

It’s funny to imagine him running out of wing flaps, going over to a fire to recharge, then coming back to fly up to the diamond

[dusky dune]

LOL THE MENTAL IMAGE

[waxen ermine]

Context: In Biblical narrative, the Devil/Satan/Lucifer was an angel who disobeyed God, when God asked all the angels to bow down to Adam and Eve. He considered himself superior to clay beings. For this disobedience, he was cast out of heaven.

He was a fallen angel. In revenge, he convinced Adam and Eve to sin, getting them cast out of heaven as well. And he proceeded to convince all of their descendants to keep committing sin and mischief of the earth

Now think about King, he is a child of light fallen from the sky, whose actions increasingly worsen the world and he’s a powerful influence

[inner radish]

that... thats a dark theory

[versed mirage]

Bro is an admin on a Gmod server about to ban everyone.

[noble ferry]

bursts in
I have a skykid named and based after lucifer-
anyway stuff about my sky au
basically, alef was born sometime after resh and was also a skykid
hopeful steward is still going through a little rewrite but they’re a friend of alef
elders i could ramble on all day like a crazed conspiracy theorist

[waxen ermine]

I don’t think I’m allowed to post fan art here but I drew this out in case anyone wants to see #sky-fanart-sketches-and-art-chat message

[rain frost]

i love that 😂 The Mighty King Resh had to stop and recharge his wing ghjfghfjd

[strange flare]

my personal headcanon is with the resize potion

which in a sense you can never tell how old sky kids are, and height are more optional

[waxen ermine]

Well, they are kids, at least we can confirm that

(But dang! Imagine growing up and surpassing the elders in height! So cool)

[rain frost]

also i love the idea of alef and hope being friends as kids, even if it prolly wont happen in the show
i made a fanart of it hehe: #sky-fanart-sketches-and-art-chat message

[urban flint]

I think that if we would become adult we would be tall as normal spirits

Since if I remember seeing we are shorter than most of the adult ones

[strange flare]

ol here is my take

recently I went on a krill photoshoot session

I almost got krilled a few times, but point is. when krills flew nearby they have an almost mechanical-like noises

like metal clicking, idk if that was anything tho

[waxen ermine]

Oooooh
Thank you for your brave contribution, soldier of science!

That is very strange

[rain frost]

ive noticed that noise but never realized it was metallic! that lends even more credence to the "krills are wearing armour/machinery" theory

[rare ruin]

Theory but maybe krills were the first creatures corrupted? That could explain why they (may) have machinery on them since sky people are the only known beings that build stuff (as far as i know)

[strange flare]

my other theory is also about krills being deceased mantas that got their light harvested

the remnants (pollution/darkness) becomes/corrupted the dark plants

I thought the making of Eden Diamond uses up a lot more of it, hence what happened in the wasteland.

krills are bigger than most mantas but not bigger than the whales/arowana looking thing (i think)

Which to me implies that krills are dead elder creatures (shrunk because of decay/death) or it is an amalgamation of all the decayed waste melded together

[long vessel]

I don't know if I even fully believe this yet but in the trailer/teasers we see manatees with caravans and some sort of spotlight on their head that doesn't seem biological... we don't really have many manatees in the world anymore, other than the baby during Days of Nature, and certainly none caravan size. So... what if those became the first krill?? And turned with the equipment still attached? Just one of a dozen theories lol, but possible maybe

[waxen ermine]

That might be the krills actually

Someone posted concept art of the trailer, the creature had the same forward pointing horns as krill

(I guess it was removed in the final version because it was too obvious)

Look here and compare

[long vessel]

Oooh, I hadn't seen that version, thank you

[waxen ermine]

Not only that but the caravan creature has many fins in the trailer like krill

So:
-Multiple flapping appendages
-Roughly same sized
-Matching horns from concept art
-Spotlight eye

[long vessel]

Mhm, that's what I keep thinking. I definitely think we're onto something

[strange flare]

possibly!
There's an evolutionary theory where butterflies evolve into mantas, and mantas evolved to gain another pair of wings, and another until they become giant like the arowana/whale or maybe the collosal manta in vault of knowledge

from that I theorized that the butterflies can also become birds or jellyfish

I'm not sure where I will connect the manatee on the line, my best bet is probably the bird

A common theme I noticed is that as things evolve (in this case mantas and manatee) grew another pair of limbs when they evolve (manatee on trailer)

[strange flare]

krills must've been like the horses of sky people before they become well a krill

[rare ruin]

This will probably not be canon at all but i really like the theory that krills are corrupted sky people.

Like they became so devastated that they were consumed by this darkness. Its edgy but still pretty cool

[waxen ermine]

Yeah! (Replying to the krill horse thing)

Now that I think about it, natural manatees don’t have spotlight eyes

And the caravan manatee looks like it’s wearing a headgear, just like how some horse riders make their horses wear headgear to only focus on forwards and not the surroundings

[rare ruin]

This!

[long vessel]

Yep, and it makes sense, too - the scene we see them riding the caravan is when they're headed into dark forest, so the headgear seems to allow the light to be concentrated into a beam, like a flashlight for navigating through the dark

[waxen ermine]

Like this

So maybe the manatees sight is only concentrated in what we can see from its spotlight, it has forced tunnel vision

(They probably don’t want it getting spooked by surroundings or turning around and going somewhere else)

[long vessel]

Potentially!

[waxen ermine]

Maybe when they corrupted, all that harness and armor like you said, merged with it

[long vessel]

That's what I was thinking. Either that, or like someone else mentioned, perhaps they were armed with it by the king after they became krills to protect the kingdom/keep light creatures out. Either way sounds plausible to me

[strange flare]

interesting...

[long vessel]

Also, I know this is a super easily accessible photo, but I love the detail on it for this particular discussion

[strange flare]

ooo

[long vessel]

The scales in particular, aside from the light feature, are very reminiscent of krill

So whether the manatees/seals are the light creature that becomes krill or not, it seems safe to say that gear is almost definitely used on krill one way or another

[strange flare]

I think it is likely the harness?

could also be why krills have terrible vision

[long vessel]

Fun, kinda dark theory though - krill have those scales all the way up and down, right? So if they're the same creature, would that possibly mean that those manatees/seals were even more armored at the point they turned? Like, maybe they were the ones being used in battle? As armored mounts, maybe? (And maybe also as weapons themselves?)

[viscid scaffold]

This might be a stretch but, maybe the king used dark energy to make them more dangerous? From squishy and friendly into the spiky aggressive krills we know now

[long vessel]

I also wondered something along those lines - like what if the gear they're armed with is darkstone augmented and that's part of why they turn?

The blue/red of krill lights definitely make me think they could be using darkstone tech for at least their gear

[viscid scaffold]

Honestly I’m hooked on the idea that they’re war-machines because now that I think about it, the sounds they make when they fly by you sound really mechanical, like gears spinning

And they follow the same routes, like they’re programmed to do that (that might just be game design though and nothing more lol)

[long vessel]

I also love that idea and think it could be possible - but then it makes me wonder about the leviathan, the whole abyss lab, and why the krill there act the way they do (especially the one that just follows behind the leviathan). I definitely feel that they're probably corrupted creatures, but I also dig the idea that maybe the king tried to weaponize the krill once he realized how effective they were at eliminating, well, anything in their sight

[viscid scaffold]

Mmmm yeahh, dude I need Two Embers to release the sky lore is eating away at my brain

[long vessel]

Same. I am genuinely losing sleep over this night after night lmao

[waxen ermine]

Wait, does the artbook say if the krill’s are corrupted creatures? Or just “the embodiment of the darkness left by absence of light”

[long vessel]

Hmm. Hopefully someone with the book can chime in. Do we have a picture in chat of where it mentions it??

[rain frost]

i think it'd be interesting to see the possible evolution of this gear - first as mostly-harmless harnesses used just to guide them as mounts, and then as the war begins, we see the addition of full body armour and a new helmet that not only looks scarier with the horns, but now has the power to steal others' light

[long vessel]

Sameee. Like, there's so much damage to the architecture and I know some of that is probably from the shattering, but like, how much of it was also from war? From using giant armored mounts to smash into walls/past gates? So much to think about

[hallow topaz]

I totally forgot to mention it but during the Days of Nature event, I noticed that the giant crystal in Prairie Peaks was glowing red when the shards were falling from the sky into the water.
Now that you have put it here next to the Eden gem I think the one in Prairie Peak is potentially a new Eden gem, it's just unrefined.
I swear it made a slight humming sound too... it definitely felt like it was resonating with that same energy that came from Eden...

[hallow topaz]

I studied their sound up close too (there's a spot in GW where you can sit on the rock as they fly by really closely where they don't notice you) - the sound to me sounded like chains and the steady rolling sound of wheels. All metallic. I also did think that they sounded like harnesses but this significance went over my head.
I had thought that the game devs probably mixed a bunch of urban, metallic sounds together to give the vibe of industry and hint at the way it is a corruption against natural process.
Now I'm totally into the theory that they were once the manatees - those metallic chain and wheel noises could totally be interpreted as the clinking of harnesses!

Just wanted to throw this in and say, that it looks to me like there was an elite class that took it upon themselves to separate from the corrupted land below, abandoning the majority of the people to the ever expanding wastes.
This, I can believe, caused uproar.... and this maybe.... I can connect with the theory that krill were made by Resh to 'protect' the elites way of life by fighting the people below.

Oh wow I was just looking at the pics I took from the trailer and I just realised something...
The adult here has crystals on them - their light is weak. They are dying 😢 (protagonist childhood trauma incoming) *plus, they live under a tarp. Total poverty clearly.

[rain frost]

there's a star trek tos episode exactly like that
it's also ironic that they wanted to separate themselves from the corruption but like. eden is the most corrupt place of them all now lmbo

[hallow topaz]

EXACTLY. The arrogant fools... only thought of themselves... now look at them.

[rain frost]

also, i dont recognize this parent from the game but how crazy would it be if they were included in a tie-in season or smth (and we got to cry more 🥲 )

[strange flare]

In the path to orbit a whale could easily smash through those buildings, the krills couldn't get through walls without bonking themselves

another thing is krills evidently have more legs than the big manatees

krill are like an actual krills lf a millipede (?)

so I'm somewhat on the corrupted creature theory/waste from the creature's dead body after their light was absorbed

[strange flare]

It's definitely very interesting

though I heard from other people that the krill are very fast in the trailer (Chinese sky), unlike in the game, they immediately attack and from what I see from this e previous trailer(that we have), they flew as fast as trains?

This makes me think krills are amalgamation of more than one creatures, like that but also zombified

While the new trailer and concept art implies that krills are from manatees. I think in season of abyss it implies that it was mantas. It was seen in the mural that the treasure reef was once a manta hatchery.

but in our time we can find krills there

[hallow topaz]

They definitely seem zombie-like.

Perhaps they have slowed down over the (possible) hundreds or thousands of years that they have been around. They are tired.

[strange flare]

It would also be impossible to play hehe

Anyway, have anyone theorized if dark plants could affect other creatures using its spores?

It's a theory i don't really have evidence besides the dark particles from it

Carbs in Sanctuary Island in certain place are tame and wouldn't hit you

but the crabs in the cave with dark plants are suddenly aggressive

could it somehow summoned krills too?

Also another interesting idea is if we'll ever get to see a forest full of dark plants (would be cool)

[hallow topaz]

I do believe that the dark plants make the creatures aggressive.
Speaking of crabs, you reminded me of the Deer season task to rescue the crab from the dark plant.
Why are the ones by the campfire in GW friendly though? Just because you save them from the pot? Aww

AND SPEAKING OF SANCTUARY...
...I had another thought the other day:
GIANT HOLLOW SHELL. It looks like a giant shelled creature once existed and what we see left behind is it's fossilised shell.
The idea that way back even further in the history of the world of Sky there were ENORMOUS creatures. There must have been so much more light back then.
(Like in the history of earth: there used to be so much more oxygen in the atmosphere and this helped the animals to grow so big.)

[rain frost]

where is the giant hollow shell?

[hallow topaz]

It's the giant circular room with the huge dark plant in. Also the wing light at the very top

[rain frost]

which realm is this? or is there a picture somewhere?
im sorry im still a bit new but im very curious about your theory

[hallow topaz]

The Sanctuary island has an interior area that is a giant circular room, with a spiral slope going upwards. It's where the giant dark plant grows.
The shape of the room and the details of the spiral are like a giant shell. When you look at fossilised ammonites for example, the whole thing turns into rock but sometimes the interior space can be hollowed out, leaving the distinct spiral shape.

[rain frost]

ohh the cave with the crabs! yes i see what you mean, it does resemble that with the staircase. you think the island used to be some kind of,,,, giant hermit crab perhaps?

[hallow topaz]

I'm actually thinking now that the whole island WAS a giant shelled creature. The remains fossilised and the island grew around it.
It would explain why there is a rich deposit of that black stuff that the Ancestors used to harvest.... oil is the remains of billions years old sea creatures after all...

Imagine the amount of light a creature that big used to be made of...

[rapid latch]

i heard mechs are their in sky

[lament quarry]

Hello sky kids! I don’t usually talk about lore and stuff like that but I recently grew quite interested in the realms before the corruption. Can anyone tell me a little about golden wasteland and/or Tsadi? I don’t know much so just anything would be helpful XD

[signal nacelle]

How the Hacker do I get access to lore and lore and lore more openly ( My weakahh eyes cannot distinguished lore in game)

[shrewd mango]

Resh apparently sacrificed himself to return the light but it failed (cause the diamond is still active) Now I wonder, the statues we save in pnr are also skykids like us, why are they there? What if resh ralied a bunch of skykids/ancestors to help destroy the crystal? or maybe they are part of the townsfolk? that infiltrated the castle that was caught in the eruption?

also with that knowledge that resh sacrifice himself, does that mean that he IS the spear looking thingy above the crystal on the last shattering memory?

[shrewd mango]

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[lament quarry]

I thought Resh was corrupted and that’s why he ‘made’ the crystal but when he activated it he realized his mistake too late. And so he was uh idk how to explain this he was kinda engrossed by the crystal

[shrewd mango]

Concept arts, Official trailers, official animations, lore seasons, murals, Season of abyss and shattering, Aurora concert

[lament quarry]

Thank you!!!

[primal dune]

wheres that text from?

[shrewd mango]

an art book page someone sent here!
#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[primal dune]

oh thank you!

[noble ferry]

dont forget about the murals!
Especially prophecy season's murals!

[robust flare]

THE RULER IS A CICADA, CONFIRMED

[cobalt palm]

Just going through the past Two Embers trailers, and noticed the crabs have similar glyphs on them as the bells, so possibly crabs were created as creatures by the ancestors.
#lore-discussion-spoilers message
Maybe spies that try to find and extinguish light?

[spiral vault]

We're shorter than even the child ones

[spiral vault]

This might be controversial, but I don't think a tie in season will happen.

It takes place across the entire sky world, where would you place it?

Also, the two main characters can't even be in the season, one's in Aviary and one's dead

Most of the characters seem to be base game spirits we already know

[urban flint]

Yeah true

But now since I saw trailer once again it got me thinking

Since the King also was Sky Kid like us at the beggining (falling from the Sky)

Does that mean we can get as tall as him somehow?

[vocal forge]

Im elated about the new trailer as it gives us new eyes on what resh might have been doing, as well as the purpose of some structures. To think of those massive pipes near the eye of eden, pumping loads of light into.. who knows where. My boyfriend also brought up the possibility of a terrracotta army and the king stautes near the wasteland temple being weaponished, due to the way the mountain was glowing in the trailer once resh took time. also the detail of the sashes slung around their shoulders depicting seniority is really interesting. We were also theoirsing the tunnels were similiar to the ones in treasure reef before they flooded.

[cobalt palm]

There was a concept that some of the wasteland statues being like "turrets"
#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[pallid dust]

Wait. Sorry, is there a new trailer out? Where can I watch it, I completely missed it

[vocal forge]

Oh wait a miute.. OH YES THERE IS A NEW TRAILER! You guys only have the one minute one. There was a four minute one too.

Here is the other one: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV15S421d7pq/

[pallid dust]

[oblique garnet]

[interesting lore theory]

[versed mirage]

I like the infection-like darkness thing shown off, I kinda want that in game.

[vocal forge]

notable frames..

[viscid scaffold]

I forgot where I saw this, but someone made a theory that since we’re a fragment of Resh, sky kids are technically elders, but way smaller and weaker since we’re just a small part of him

I dunno maybe we become way bigger and more powerful with enough light

[urban flint]

Wasn't there an information that Elders are not from this world?
I wasn't here for some time so I don't remember do we have any informations on this topic T~T

Maybe