lore-discussion-spoilers

[hushed steeple]

Even gratitude guide. “No idea what this fantasy animal is but im selling it!” While skykids go “tiger I want the tiger!” And the guide like, “the what.”

[tulip aspen]

not really in that case

[keen shore]

I realized something and I can’t tell if it’s actually important or I’m just overthinking things (second option happens a lot)

So there’s a total limit of 8 players in each server right?? Someone mentioned (I think it was alasdair) that it could be canon that only 8 skykids exist at all. I was thinking about that and wondering, why would they choose 8 specifically?? Assuming it is important to the lore and not just due to server requirements it just seems like a random number.
But if you think about it there are 8 elders, right? 6 for each one of the main realms. There are two valley elders so that bumps it up to 7. Then you add the Eden elder and get 8

[lilac glen]

The friend constellation is a wrinkle in it (showing us interacting with more than 7 others), but that’s definitely interesting to think that there are fewer skykids than we thought :0

[keen shore]

Does this make sense or does it sound like a fringe conspiracy theory

The friend constellation is a crown which could add to it. I guess you could explain more being present In the friends constellation by saying it would just be a bad decision to limit amount of friends to 7 due to how low the number is

[frigid tinsel]

can't remember which dev livestream it was, pretty sure it was a Q&A, that they said the server limit is due to mobile capacity. it makes sense cos 8 is a significant number in computing.

[keen shore]

This is probably correct, I wasn’t fully confident in its importance, but might as well mention it

[tulip aspen]

nah it was fruity originally iirc

either 8, or 24 as per the "favorites" constellation

i personally think it's a lot more than 25, and no i dont think we have to understand or fathom just how exactly every single player being canon could work

[tulip aspen]

i wouldnt follow it personally, but i do have to admit it's ingenius as ever of you, there's a reason you've become so valuable here

its also kinda cool thinking about skykids being reincarnations or something of each elder

[rustic heron]

The presence of a crown constellation related to other Sky kids, the fact that Eden’s end features us reconciling with a sky kid that we merge with, and the vault cutscene that features elders kneeling in respect to us, and that we acknowledge this instead of being surprised suggests that we are aware of something in terms of a relation to the king.

Reincarnation being such a prominent part of the game, and memory being so heavily featured, you would think we would have memories too.

I doubt skykids are stars; it’s likely we were born of Eden instead.

We initiate the hug at Eden’s end, with presumably a complete stranger. That hardly makes sense to do, after you’ve supposedly died.
The alternative is that we know what we’re doing, and we (the player skykids) do it for a reason.

[tulip aspen]

its... not really a prominent part of the game

it was a poetic message about living beyond a simple life (journey to eden), afterwards you are embracing friendship and meaning

thats... kinda it lmao

i doubt skykids were stars
oh well that puts a dent in the fabrication

[rustic heron]

Did you just pull a “Maybe the meaning is the friends we made along the way” on me?

[tulip aspen]

no not really

[rustic heron]

In any case, I think it’s more that coincidence that there are so many parallels with symbols of kingship related to skykids.

I mean, why Sky kids? Elders were guiding spirits to the stars king before the first child of light arrived. The Isle Elder, the spirits in Isle of Dawn, all feature a prominent system of directing spirits to temples, culminating in their ascension to the stars.

The elders still exist. Why are we tasked now, after all this time, to guide the spirits to the light?

[hushed steeple]

8 dead prophet students

[late wasp]

because we are not important. just one of the many skykids (winged lights) that came before us

[hushed steeple]

There was not enough souls to recycle before, all unconnected. Prolly.

I think skykids came very soon after kingdeath.

[late wasp]

there is a total of 105 Winged Lights, and 63 dead Skykids in Eden.

note: spirits are often located separate from their corpse, which in pretty much every quest we guide the spirit to their corpse.

(we do the same with the dead Skykids, guiding the Winged Lights - their spirits - to their corpses in Eden)

it's a situation where we are just another skykid sent to the skyworld, we are not special, but due to all the dead skykids sent before us, we become stronger and special. not because of something intrinsic to us, but because there were others who sacrificed themselves before us.

[hushed steeple]

Skykids as a race seem pretty special storywise though

Sorry to deviate from the topic. Please carry on, though just curious if there is a section where there are screenshots of all the hieroglyphs in the game?

[tulip aspen]

the elders still exist
p sure they're dead fam

their souls/spirits are what we see in a vision when we meditate at their throne, and their souls are either already in the Sky with the Light, or they are trapped somehow in those pocket dimension dreams

[tulip aspen]

THIS^

[hushed steeple]

Woah, all of them? I don’t think we got one for all of em. But I seen a few collected by area. A prophecy one, an abyss one ect ect.

[tulip aspen]

@keen shore hows that been going btw?

[frigid tinsel]

Apparently there’s gonna be a dev q&a at some point. Here’s a tweet asking for questions: https://twitter.com/thatskygame/status/1486141872909258759
Go wild lorechat

[tulip aspen]

@compact shale

[compact shale]

WHY NOW?!

oH. uM

I DONT HAVE TWITTER

[tulip aspen]

no not now, at some point

[tulip aspen]

give me a list ill do it

[compact shale]

it's in our dms

[keen shore]

I need to do golden wasteland today. I’ve combed through valley of triumph like three times to make sure there’s nothing but that one sparrow constellation in citadel so that’s why it’s taking so long
It just seems so wrong for there to be just one yknow???

[tulip aspen]

I think it would be stereotypical of a civilization that is prideful and strong to feel like there is no need to record things primitively

also by valley's age they possibly already may have built vault so maybe all history is just stored at the vault rather than recollected in written murals

also you're amazing

[rustic heron]

We are important, though. A disembodied voice literally tells us about our destiny to guide the lost souls back to the Light, and this Light is, presumably, the voice of God.

The Elders bow to the Sky kids. We have the power of flight, something that’s akin to divinity. We alone can ascend, unaided, to the Light.

No other character in Sky could be more important.

I mean, how can we be unimportant in the story we’re a part of?

This whole game is like a giant analogue of positivity, that your path is worthwhile and filled with wonder.

That’s one of the analogues Journey embodied, and this game is basically Journey 2.0.

I dunno. That sense of wonder is what drew me into the lore in the first place. That even as one of many, the journey I took was unique and as important as anyone else’s.

The companions we make are parts of that story, helping to color the story we were going through, not a way to trivialize our experience as mundane.

[harsh pecan]

Pretty sure we are important

[compact shale]

Lapis, I'm curious...
What do you think our future is?
We were told to guide the lost souls back to the light, what happens when we're done with that?

What do you think is the True Ending of Sky?

[tulip aspen]

lapis demands that we dont come from the light, so-

[hushed steeple]

Wasteland: dangerous waters, terrified spirits, murderous krill, bashing hateful crabs, green polluted atmosphere, ruined buildings, signs of war such as sharp pointy weapons, barb, and shields, more krill, infested with dark plants, literal frogging skeletons!
Sky kid: ladeedadeeda, this is fine and dandy, lalala.

[compact shale]

To tell you the truth, it's hard to tell our end right now. I'm just looking for opinions. Because I think "True Ending of Sky?" is a fantastic writing/art prompt

[tulip aspen]

noice

[half shadow]

personally I think the true ending of Sky is the sky children become the new denizens of the Kingdom after defeating all of the remaining darkness and putting the spirits of the Ancestors and Elders to rest. potentially, putting an end even to the cycle of continual rebirth, possibly by “rescuing” or defeating whatever remains of the cause of the destruction (King/Prince, maybe)

[hushed steeple]

The spirits are restless, THEY DEMAND MORE CANDLES!!! APPEASE THEM!!

[half shadow]

I think that whatever caused the total destruction of the world is also the reasoning for why the rebirthing process occurs during Eden. One theory I like is that through the rebirthing process, we as the Skykids are actually becoming stronger and will end up eventually breaking through and initiating a “true end”

[tulip aspen]

lapis be going to town

[rustic heron]

So, this is going to be a long one. If my tone gets too terse or cynical, please call me out on it.

There is a very distinct split in wester and Easter philosophies in the perception of time, as I’m sure you know, but I’ll explain further for completeness. Western philosophy perceives time as linear and finite. Things have endings and beginnings.

Eastern philosophies, by contrast, embody a notion of time being circular, repetitive. There is no end and beginning, only the cycle of events.

I see a very heavy eastern influence in Sky and Journey, one where time is cyclical. Even in western themed games like Dark Souls, the notion of time being cyclical and repetitive is fundamental to the setting.

There is no ending or beginning. Sky is about telling the same story in and infinite number of ways, repetitive yet unique.

For each Skykid, we are pieces of the King. That’s why the King is “beyond saving”. We are just another cycle of the King, living the same life, but in a different way.

We complete the trials.
We guide the spirits.
We unite the Elders.
We reach the Light.

The cycle changes, but plays out fundamentally the same. Eden represents embracing the cycle, embracing what we are. The hug is that analogy; we and the king are one and the same, and we go through the same cycle.

Perhaps one day, the spirits will return, and one day after another sky kid will arrive. They will complete the trials, guide the spirits, and unite the Elders.

Maybe their Eden will be a paradise. Maybe it will be a monolith to divinity. Maybe their Eden will be something abstract.

Regardless, their Eden will lead to the Light, and the cycle will continue again.

There is no end or beginning. It’s the Journey that matters.

[tulip aspen]

yeah, told you fruity xD

lapis doesn't believe in any of the lore

[compact shale]

what a ride
i feel like crode

[half shadow]

I super like this idea!! more or less sums up the more esoteric ideas expressed in the story

[frigid tinsel]

Lapis doesn't believe your interpretation of the lore

[tulip aspen]

indeed, that too

[hushed steeple]

Ok but we have a serious matter to attend to, these spirits are unhealthily addicted to candles, how are we going to fix this, I can literally smell all of dismisses candles from home.

[compact shale]

I will now torture you.

All candles in Sky now smell like this one. /lh

[rustic heron]

Skykids create candle rehab.

[frigid tinsel]

that was beautifully put. while I don't believe the "skykids are the king" theory myself, you make a great case for it and explain your thoughts well. wonderful fellow SU fan

[half shadow]

I think that as well as the cycle of rebirth continuing, it’s allowing the Skykids to continually grow and improve the world around them via the Seasons, which allow them to unlock previously ruined areas of the kingdom, experience the lives of new spirits, and learn the history of the world they are still in the ongoing process of restoring. Like Lapis said the journey of it all is what really matters. Whenever the true end of the game does come around, I do eventually believe there will be something with more of a finality to it, but I really don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon

[rustic heron]

I’m sorry. I like some of the ideas, but everyone being just dead or an illusion feels wrong to me.

I don’t mean to sound pushy or anything. There’s a lot of solid evidence in favor of your ideas too.

[half shadow]

i think sometimes an issue with Sky theory is what to take as literal and what to just accept the way it’s presented tbh

[tulip aspen]

no of course, that's canon to you, and everyone's ideas and beliefs are important to be heard

it really was beautifully written

[compact shale]

That's what I'm probing your lorey heads for. Once we save everyone, once we restore all that needs to be restored... then what?

[rustic heron]

I used to go on the SU subreddit specifically to make funny image edits that I spent way too much time on.

[half shadow]

like, are the spirits dead? are they alive? do they actually come back or is it all made up? who knows, and it doesn’t actually have to matter that much

[rustic heron]

It happens again. I like thinking that Journey was one iteration of this cycle. We’re another.

[half shadow]

I don’t think anybody can guess up to that point. Maybe the cycle is leading up to something that ends it and maybe it doesn’t. That’s a reason to keep playing I think

[hushed steeple]

Yeah, you're right see, I peeled off the fake sticker.

[compact shale]

Guess it is. For some reason I'm morbidly curious as to what we'd see when Sky has to announce its End of Service.

[hushed steeple]

No, I won't allow it.

[half shadow]

yeah I feel you, logistically speaking I think we’re pretty far away from it though

[rustic heron]

We steal the source code and open source it. Sky lives forever, hahaha.
Or better yet, TGC releases the source for us to build on. Their last gift to us.

[compact shale]

Okay that would be sick (both meanings at once)

[hushed steeple]

New players seeing the chaotic new seasonal areas the players made:

[frigid tinsel]

this has Celeste modding energy.
Celeste: a game that's ridiculously difficult already
modders: what if it was harder

[hushed steeple]

Shoot, I need to finish this project that's due tomorrow and its already 10:00 pm

[rustic heron]

Okay but imagine: an actual pogchamp emote.

Let it sink in for a moment.

[half shadow]

same time zone hyyyyype

[half shadow]

how can skykid pogchamp if no mouth actually their eyes just getting really wide would be kinda hilarious

[rustic heron]

Think bigger: we give the skykids mouths.

WE GIVE THE SKYKIDS FINGIES AND TO ES.

[half shadow]

Skykids get mouths only if it’s funny for them to have mouths IE Roger Rabbit rules

[tulip aspen]

i really do think the og og og ending could still become the actual ending for the final season of the game at the end of Sky's life:
The King is the last soul to save

we are slowly fighting our way closer and closer towards the crystal, and as we get closer, the King's silhouette becomes clearer, and he lashes out in anger, and we must get to the crystal under him like in light awaits, in order for this concept art to become a reality

a party of 8 that we need in order to heal each other and get that far, gets to the ending

it shows your friends around you die, and then now you're put in a special server alone, and you must give them your last wl and make it to the foot of the king

after you shut down the crystal you start to die, everything starts exploding, and the prince saves you and drags you to the beacon of light, where you both begin to ascend

it shows the statues of your friends being freed and flying upwards

you hug the prince in limbo, and then the prince leaves you, and you wake up in the beacon of light with your friends, as you all ascend into space, where a massive form of light, the most physical aspect of the megabird, carries you into space towards the true credit ending

ope whoops meant to add this image

[willow bear]

Just had a thought that
Eden is a nuclear power plant,
skykids are radionuclides, and
krills are scientists to fix the world apocalypse

[harsh pecan]

Dang

[lofty void]

wh

[keen shore]

Who built these pillars?? [located in forgotten ark area outside the cave]
They look oddly similar to treasure reefs arches

[harsh pecan]

Enchantment spirits? Or the old inhabitants of that place (before Enchantment) if there were any

[keen shore]

I don’t think enchantment spirits had any real reason to build the pillars, considering they already had the wreck for shelter, so I’m leaning towards second one. Given the architecture similarities i wonder if it’s the same group of spirits as in abyss

[rigid mural]

Makes me think of the entrance of isle of dawn

[compact shale]

I think the Ark's location is part of some sort of trade/merchant route. I guess the gate was there for some reason but it broke down. It would also justify Ark's location having a wind path.

[keen shore]

It does… I was wondering about this too because just the rough stone structure in general looks very isle of dawn-y. Also the fact that there’s next to no ruins in forgotten ark that can’t be attributed to the ark itself (these pillars are the only example I could find) is weird because it could mean a lot of time passed between abandonment and now?? Although if we say the abyss civilization made it that timeline conflicts with those conclusions

[keen shore]

The “gate” is right outside the tunnels, so I’m not sure it’s a gate. Seems weird to have something so big and dramatic lead to a hole in the ground

[keen shore]

Also this arch in abyss resembles the flight ones pretty closely, down to the… I don’t know if you can call those chimes anymore and the chipped blue paint

also why is there a comically big spoon under the water in forgotten ark

(this is probably an important practical tool I have never seen before, but to me it’s what they use to stir the cauldron)

[lofty void]

I think that’s a catapult

[keen shore]

EVEN BETTER love the catapult
Although, I don’t know how reasonable it is for a random catapult to be in forgotten ark

[compact shale]

maybe there are light spells that involve lightyeeting /lh

[rustic heron]

It's a cereal bowl. Spirits gotta eat something.

[lofty void]

not anymore they don’t

[rustic heron]

Stop, they're already dead

[wintry estuary]

They eat candols and hearts from players

[compact shale]

they need candles to worship the megabird

[rustic heron]

Skykids hitting on other skykids: eat your heart out. Then proceeds to pull out a heart and eat it.

[keen shore]

Hyper realistic candle

[wintry estuary]

That's traumatizing-

[lofty void]

horrible

[wintry estuary]

Sky kids should fall when other sky kids bonk them change my mind

Imagine sky kids getting blown away by the deep calls..-

[keen shore]

Wonder if all of golden wasteland used to look like this. Also fun fact the abyss ruins have the gondola pillar things? that activate the boats from village of dreams

[hushed steeple]

I- I'm sorry b- but I couldn't fi- find it anywhere............

(I shame myself a little bit for this joke)

[keen shore]

Also what is THIS??? (exit doors of valley temple)

[hushed steeple]

I think this pillar was used to move the carts rather than the gondolas.

[hushed steeple]

That is clearly a picture of the valley elders having ruled over everything and the king being a decoy, or so that's what they told me.

[keen shore]

I think the remnants of Eden have that shape but I can’t remember, and I am not dying to find out

[rustic heron]

Shadow government Elders confirmed canon. Eldluminati.

[hushed steeple]

It does, generally. And I'd show you a picture but I'm for some dumb reason unable to rename photos very easily if at all on this tablet.

[tulip aspen]

people say it was aboard the ark, so the enchantment crew might have had it as a defense (?)

[hushed steeple]

I know valley once had a canon in light awaits, perhaps valley just throws all their junk down through the clouds and this catapult was junk.

Speaking of which, have we figured out who that is by the catapult in grave yard?

[compact shale]

Has anyone found anything that looks like catapult ammo? Because clearly in-universe we skykids don't know so we use ourselves as the ammo.

[hushed steeple]

"I'LL MURDER A THOUSAND SKY KIDS BEFORE I LET MY WINGED LIGHTS DIE!!!!!"

[rustic heron]

I find it odd that levitation technology exists in sky, but then there's catapults and spears as weapons.

Surely they had something more advanced?

[keen shore]

This implies they just brought a catapult on their boat for no reason at all which just makes the idea even funnier

[going through wreckage] “wait, why do we even have this”

[compact shale]

Maybe levitation was really hard for most ancestors, and you had to have a clear mind and/or purple light to do so.

[hushed steeple]

Hmmmmmm, maybe the weapons powered by diamonds were biodegradable?

[keen shore]

From what we see of levitation it seems to only work if the object in question contains darkstone, which is too valuable to stick in every weapon

[hushed steeple]

Yes, I also think that they made dark stone powered weapons biodegradable.

[keen shore]

I don’t really see this being true considering that we can still see darkstone around without any signs of decay, unless you mean the stuff around it, which is possible so that they could just remove it and recycle the darkstone. The issue is that we never see half rotted weapons and they could just make the darkstone part easily removable without going to all that trouble

[half shadow]

My dyslexia kicked in and i was wondering what the hell “leviathan technology” was

[hushed steeple]

I was kidding,
Also are you saying that you can't be evil and care about the enviroment, I mean look at wasteland, how do yoh explain that if the evil team didn't have biodegradable weapons?!

[half shadow]

to be honest i think the reason there isn’t more obvious weapons lying around is because it would either look ugly or be a pain to render

[tulip aspen]

all we know is it was a >honored soldier

the fact that those statues existed *before the civil war means... wars happened before the one we see evidence of

[hushed steeple]

His name was Francis Brought worst

I need sleep but I can't get it because of important things.

So anyways did anybody get my pictures as requested?

[rustic heron]

I'll try and get some tonight. I got other pictures to get as well.

I've been in lore chat so long, I forgot Sky was a game and people actually play it.

[tulip aspen]

amazing

[rustic heron]

I am having a hard time finding intentional candles in Sky.

Diamonds? Everywhere. Triangles? It's like there was no Spirit Pythagoras.

[tulip aspen]

the heck is a pythongorilla

@stable veldt hey could i use this pls 👉 👈

(so sorry for ping)

[stable veldt]

Ayo sure

That theory can be expanded to what skid personality is, or at least what they remembered the most from their journeys such as bones from GW, mantas, structures, etc

[upbeat wind]

Ok so when ur reborn the elders have like some sort of glow up in them idk I just saw a video unlocking the elders

[stable veldt]

Yeah the elders also ascend, following to the upgrade aftere receiving skid's light

[upbeat wind]

Ah yess

I saw a spirig with a yellow Cape and he gave me his power to strengthen my Cape to fly

[stable veldt]

Yeah it's called Wing Buff, using your ascended candles makes the spirit ascended. I'd reckon that's the moment where we actually (and finally) successfully ascending the spirit rather than just freeing them from their tombs

[upbeat wind]

Ah ok

[hushed steeple]

Are the skykids blind? If we think about it, it makes a lot of sense

[rustic heron]

Pythagoras was a Greek philosopher. His most famous contribution is the Pythagorean theorem, denoting the ration of the ides of a right triangle.

[stable veldt]

Dont think skids are blind, they follow the gaze to new players or stuff

[tulip aspen]

aa ty

[rustic heron]

I doubt it, but on the concept of eyes:

Look at how some of the spirits blink. The animation actually just moves the eyes of the model, then they move them back.

[tulip aspen]

where's the wrong triangle when you need it

[upbeat wind]

This was when I was reborn and I gotta say its pretty sad to see my sky kid die...

[stable veldt]

And then you'll get reborn with stronger wings so no worries

[hushed steeple]

It feels like they are typically, they reach out and touch whatever they are near, they honk/deep call, which outlines everything they are near, and they don't open their eyes (when maskless) if they aren't blind I feel they can't see very far, and wearing a mask typically helps with their sight some

[upbeat wind]

Yea I think that when u lost all ur fire they have closed eyes

[stable veldt]

Other theory rather say that the skids wear masks to hide their light so when they open their eyes they wont be like this living glowstick

[upbeat wind]

So it could be like they had lost their sight or they could need a mask to see

[stable veldt]

I'd say skids aren't blind, they can see pretty far to an extent at least. If not how do they navigate islands without consistently honking

[tidal valve]

Maybe hiding their light from krill OwO

[hushed steeple]

Their eyesight is just generally really bad I think? Similar to bats, and it's why they reach out and touch things pretty often, it could be, well, not bad, but I think it's fairly different than our sight, if anything they might be terribly nearsighted, things might be too bright for them essentially, which causes visual impairment

[stable veldt]

Either too bright or too dark

[rustic heron]

This is what spirit eyes look like without masks:

Diamond eyes.

[half shadow]

tho, remember that the spirits are Ancestors, and skykids arent the same race

[nimble ingot]

yup.

1. That is the partly because of the limitations in the game
2. Because of #1, it is part of the game's style
3. It may look odd on spirits but is accepted. I believe this is also partly the reason why maskless skykids have closed eyes. It looks a but better than glowing diamonds for eyes.

[tidal valve]

They left their glasses at home

[rustic heron]

Oh, I'm sure. Sky is pretty optimized for phones, so models tend to be simpler. Still, tiny diamond eyes.

[half shadow]

they’re honestly really cute

[rustic heron]

Gonna do a picture dump of all the diamonds and triangles I can find in Sky.

[tidal valve]

oop I got a spoiler for one of the abyss quests and I am ✨worried ✨

[half shadow]

🔹w🔹 pls no abyss quest spoilers

[tidal valve]

oop that’ll be a lot of screenshots, diamonds are EVERYWHERE

[rustic heron]

I'll compress them. Saves space, considering the volume.

[tidal valve]

idk if it’s just me but I always get excited for whatever the next seasons may hold, like I know we’re still in abyss but mhhmsofkajen I get excited thinking about the new seasons that’ll come and the new lore we’ll learn

I appricate that flight strayed away from the original eden idea since 3 dark themed seasons in a row would be too much for me

But the fact that a season centered around eden was nearly made a possibility? Exciting

[rustic heron]

I just noticed. So each portal to each realm has the stone figure of the elder for that realm, right?

[nimble ingot]

a stone mask that looks like the elder of the realm, yes.

[tidal valve]

in home space? or on the eden gate, isle elder isn’t on eden gate bc he didn’t get invited to the party ugh RUDE

[rustic heron]

^This. Where's Isle's elder?

[tidal valve]

Idk if it’s a corincidence or my hatred in understanding shadows in art but I’ve recently realised that in home space the only realm door that has a shadow is isle door (not super important though... I don’t consider home space cannon? In a lore sense)

Also, I personally believe that there’s a connection to eden and isle, the door that isle elder guides you to open has the mural of all the realm portals, a door in eden has that as well

But I also believe that isle is seperate from eden to help reinforce the idea of rebirth and death to be more seperated, and to make the rebirth cycle in isle more special, as life starts in isle and then ends at eden

Also on maps of sky isle is the only realm that isn’t connected to any of the other areas (excluding home space of course I don’t consider it to be in the realm of sky lore wise)

[rustic heron]

So, I've been thinking about this a lot. Eden doesn't have a seventh Elder statue.

[tidal valve]

in concept art there is a eden elder I think? I’m not too sure

But eden is mostly the designated spot for the king, the only mural of him in game though is the final prophecy mural after fire trial and one of the murals at the very end of vault, his part in the game is very unknown

King symbols are very prevalent in sky though!

[tulip aspen]

that would be so true if WE WERE BORN AT ISLE AND NOT HOME TGC

[tulip aspen]

the valley elders must share a chair

[late wasp]

yeah, it also shows how vault elder was something like a "leader" of the elders before the arrival of the king

[tidal valve]

Well, when you start the game you are in isle! I think that us being reborn in home space is more of a qauality of life type of thing, it would be very inconvenient if we spawned in isle and had to go teleport home right after haha

[rustic heron]

Well, here's the thing. We notice the king's mural show's the King kneeling. Who else have we seen kneeling?

The Vault Elder.

[tulip aspen]

where does it show that?

@tidal valve for some reason afte prophecy they changed it so you start at home and not isle

it's really dumb

[tidal valve]

Ooohhh musical chairs cannon in sky now?

[nimble ingot]

While I am with you on the front of isle being set apart from other realms.
I would like to add, Dawn is the only realm with no daily quests, or seasonal candles, it is also the only realm to feature all realm constellations when you complete the elder's cutscene. The dawn elder is the only elder not on the door that seals Eden from the rest of the realms. The realm is also where a skykid start their journey for the first time, as the portal would be the only one to work at the very start of the game.

This may be due to the realm being the start, acting as the tutorial to the game. Though the realm could also have another reason since it does have access to the prophecy caves, which leads to the wind paths. That and the realm does connect to Daylight Prairie.
So, the realm is small and the furthest from Eden. Though the fact that the dawn portal and the Eden gate are the only standing portals at home, when you start he game for the first time does suggest these realms are connected. However the skykid cannot enter Eden (due to it being sealed) until they have gone through all of the realms.

[rustic heron]

Vault is directly underneath Eden. And we never see any mention specifically that the figure in the mural is male-identifying.

[late wasp]

at the very top of eden there is that collection of gravestones
vault elder is at the center of the other 5 (6 - valley) elders

[tulip aspen]

we don't know that it's vault's chair.

while i was joking before, valley elders literally do share a weird throne

also this may be due to the king being massive lol

[rustic heron]

What if it's not a king?

[harsh pecan]

Wdym

[late wasp]

but it is... it has her face like in other props of the game
it's basically the real version of the place we see in vault top

[tidal valve]

I def think that there is a hierarchy in sky since different social systems were teased in concept art, and a little in game,

Not sure about elders though since I don’t think there’s a lot of info on them, would be super interested to know their sitting though, if they were all made equal? Or if they are just seperate from each other, I like to think they work together though

[rustic heron]

Just that. It's not just kings that wear crowns.

[rustic heron]

That's concept art. The final version doesn't necessarily reflect those designs. We have only ever seen 6 elder statues, even in Eden, realm of assumedly the Eden Elder.

[late wasp]

yeah, i think vault elder is probably just the "first among equals" due to knowledge. probably why her gravestone is placed differently than the other elders'

[harsh pecan]

Look at the Wasteland statues, they’re statues of the King

[late wasp]

the devs talk here and still refer to that character as "king"

[tidal valve]

Oh, what’s different their their gravestone?

Everybody is free to make their own theories though! personally I’m not super informed on king stuffs

Cannon is super vauge anyways

[rustic heron]

Sure, but that could just be a title. Where are the king's statues in his realm? Where is his throne?

[tidal valve]

King statues that people refer to in game are the statues you see in gw! they have the symbol of the king and the exact shape, you can also see king symbols in other areas like prarie too

Obvi it’s up to you if you want to believe in the king or not! His role in-game is really minor... at least, you don’t see him much

[harsh plover]

Hmm… that’s right

[harsh pecan]

Does he need one?

@rustic heron go to the area before the temple

[rustic heron]

The only statues I've seen in GW are the two in front of the entrance to the first temple where the first Krill is. They look more like guards to me.

[rustic heron]

The throne is as much a symbol of a ruler as their crown. It represents their seat of power, literally and figuratively.

[tidal valve]

I mean like pillars! The ones you see in the distance as you fly past, I’d send a photo but I don’t have any!!

[nimble ingot]

I think I found the eden throne.
This is an old screenshot from Light Awaits.
Even though this throne is no longer in the game, and even if it were to be back in the game, it would likely have changed.
I still find this interesting.

Come to think of it, isn't there a mask at the top of the ruined structure in the fist part of eden? ||(where you exit Vault and make your way up, but before you see the first krill)||

[harsh plover]

Oooh

[harsh pecan]

I’m kinda confused, do you have a problem with the King’s role or the gender

[tidal valve]

Wait a mask? Like the ones on the doors?

[nimble ingot]

If gender is an issue.
A king is male.
If there were to be a female ruler, then it is a Queen.

[harsh pecan]

Exactly

[tidal valve]

Wait... can I ask for a more detailed explanation where the mask is? Sorry I’m super curious but I don’t understand your description

[late wasp]

when you ascend the Vault and find their gravestone, it is surrounded by the other 5 gravestones instead of being part of the semi circle. the vault elder's gravestone is at the center.

while at the vault this is probably part of a vision. in Eden this is a real location, at the top of the mountain.

[nimble ingot]

I am getting an image. one moment

[late wasp]

the entire game is his realm. what are you talking about?

[tidal valve]

Omg I’m so sorry idk why but I find reading really hard

Just to recap, you mean the part in vault with all the different elder statues where you meditate?

Ok I understand now!!!!! <3333

[harsh plover]

there is probably a king or maybe not

[harsh pecan]

There is, I think it was confirmed before

[half shadow]

Even if the word King/Prince is used in concept art, amongst the devs, and generally accepted as fanon, nowhere has the actual title of “King” or “Prince” appeared in Sky.

Considering that, canonically, all life forms in Sky are genderless and referred to without traditionally gendered pronouns: Even if the title of King ever comes up, it should be assumed that it holds no gender specification within the universe of Sky.

[harsh pecan]

True

[rustic heron]

This is a bold claim. Do you have evidence for it? I see a castle in Eden, and no other Elders in Eden, so it's open for the King. The other realms had Elders long before the King arrived; would they just allow one person to take control over all the realms?

[harsh pecan]

Prophecy murals

[half shadow]

if anyone’s seen the pirates of the caribbean movies: think Pirate King Elizabeth Swann

[late wasp]

what? lapis, come on. why do you always have to complicate things? lol
all the locations we meet is part of the same kingdom.

[rustic heron]

My most powerful spell is casting doubt.

[half shadow]

I think what Sophos is saying that everything within a kingdom logically counts as a king’s “realm”

[nimble ingot]

There are some in Wasteland, those are called King Turrets.
And there are others that look more like an ancestor in the ||final area in the Eye of Eden. It holds a diamond and has a halo behind then on the large statues, just look up and around while sacrificing your winged light.||

The thrones though is nowhere to be found, that or not recognised as a throne

[tidal valve]

It’s a jar of dirt

If u don’t want it, give it backkk

[harsh plover]

so if there is a king… what happened to his kingdom or his castle

[late wasp]

: the king is male
: "prince" and "king" is just their name. "King" is neither male nor female.

[nimble ingot]

There is to say, a very big explosion.
Either that, or the storm did most of the damage.

[half shadow]

what happened to the kingdom?

points at everything

[harsh plover]

Maybe both

[harsh pecan]

It got destroyed

[tidal valve]

There’s a timeline for the concept art on tom zhao’s website but other then that, most of it is just theories that people make, there isn’t a true cannon reason for the king and whatever happened

It’s fun to speculate though!

[harsh plover]

they have seen the abandoned fortress in the golden moor?

[nimble ingot]

yes, it was from Light awaits. Since the current game changed since the global release, the concept art back then may no longer be accurate.

[harsh plover]

it seems that there was a battle or a war

[tidal valve]

I’d love a game with the concept art ideas

The elders as animal bosses oohh just hits different

[rustic heron]

I'm taking pictures of all the statues in GW right now.

[harsh pecan]

They look like the King right?

[late wasp]

after beating Eden a couple of times now (I redid it just to master the level's layout)
i have changed my take on the crystal.

i no longer think the king is there, inside the crystal...
I noticed how the crystal placement was a direct attempt at capturing all souls-light trying to go into orbit. like a bear waiting for fish with an open mouth.

naturally, all that power was too much for the crystal and it could not withhold it all, and exploded.

[harsh pecan]

bears I like your theory

[half shadow]

By god you’ve cracked it. It’s bears all the way down

[rustic heron]

Ah, but who else is seen to be holding a diamond prominently?

[tidal valve]

Interesting take! I also fitting as when you do die in eden, you hug a skid that’s empty of light, and the song for that moment in game is hug the king, maybe he got trapped from the crystal and had their soul destroyed from that

[harsh plover]

That’s what you think?

[harsh pecan]

Bruh

[late wasp]

because the Beam of Light is there before the crystal
meaning the crystal was placed specifically at the beam of light

[rustic heron]

Like I said, Casting Doubt is my most powerful spell.

[tidal valve]

I don’t think your casting as much doubt as you think, dun dun duunnn drumroll ending

[harsh plover]

Oooh i like that sketch ✍️

[harsh pecan]

Yeah

[late wasp]

yeah, it's one of the most important lore concept arts by tom zhao

[nimble ingot]

A bit reminiscent (reminds one of) a game called, Shadow of the Colossus

[tidal valve]

My fav concept art is the mindscape, makes sense it was scarped but ugh clenches fist I still love it so much

[rustic heron]

I'm getting there. I've got a plan.

[harsh pecan]

You sure?

[tidal valve]

Oh a free recomendation? Let me screenshot it to the abyss of reccomendations I never touch but promise I will

[half shadow]

oh also what i was typin earlier regarding gender in Sky:

The subject of gendered terms and pronouns differs depending on language but just going off of what devs have confirmed re: everybody in Sky being genderless along with the consistent use of they/them in out of game references to individual spirits, it’s pretty clear that binary gender roles as we know in our world don’t exist in the universe of Sky, even when it comes to a title like “King.”

sorry for the topic change i just love this part of the game dearly

[rustic heron]

Let me ask you this: Is it more plausible to believe in something we've never seen in-game, or to use what is in the game to find what is truth?

[harsh pecan]

According the multiple theories, we have seen the King in game

[nimble ingot]

Ok, so nothing like the diamond shaped mask form the other image: #lore-discussion-spoilers message
However, it the the closest you can get to a mask in Eden, before the final area.

The older image of that mask is not that of the elders we have met. Even if the image does not show it, there other realm thrones are as follows:
Dawn, Day and Forest are to the left. Then Valley, Wasteland, and Vault are to the right. This one is right in front of the Eden gat, so it has to the eden throne.

[rustic heron]

Where?

[harsh plover]

the game is too good

[late wasp]

also, i've been meaning to show another observation i made
crabs appearance in game are basically just the bony structure of the flying creatures. either they come from skulls or, more likely, it's just converging evolution doing its magic.

[tidal valve]

No no go ahead! I love a new discussion! But yes I agree, I also like to think on a game play perspective of sky being inclusive to everybody gender being super vauge helps draw more people in an relate to the characters and world of sky

Also the purpose of journey was to bring a gaming experience where people from different countries/ ages/ gender can still get along and understand each other, removing the idea of gender is very on brand!

[nimble ingot]

the water mural, and the all elder cutscene in Vault.

[harsh pecan]

1. Prophecy murals
2. Statues (yes they technically count)
3. Eden
4. Elder cutscene
5. Other King references

[half shadow]

as a trans person it’s just. so important and cool and i love it very much lmao :,)

[harsh plover]

But i want to know if there was a war between dark creatures and elders

[late wasp]

I mean... can we go meta for a moment?

[rustic heron]

Prophecy murals show a glowing individual. They wear no crown. Heck, you've completed teh trials. Is the player character the King? I've seen that refuted quite a bit.

[pastel brook]

we have many trials ahead of us

[tidal valve]

Oh cool! Thanks u!! <33 for all the effort into going through eden just because little ol me can’t read have a gold sticker

[harsh pecan]

Look at that last part

[nimble ingot]

Based on the old lore (light awaits), yes.
The creatures were being corrupted by darkness and started attacking ancestors.

Since the current lore in the game is different to Light Awaits', this theory needs to be confirmed to be included.

[rustic heron]

Eden show's no crowned figure. The Elder cutscene shows a crowned figure that makes no appearance anywhere else.

[harsh plover]

The giant light fish looks like an Arowana fish

[tidal valve]

In the end we all evolve into crab

[harsh pecan]

Bro it’s confirmed that the King exists, what more proof do you need??

[nimble ingot]

Its no worries.
This is in the first part of the realm ||(where you go through the eden gate) ||
I'll explain where it is:
||You make your way up the windy paths and before you go into the structure that has the first winged light, the 'mask' is right above the door on the right)||

[late wasp]

Technically Skykids are genderless, BUT, we (players) bring gender into the game. And we are skykids. So is the "King". I'm not going to say Skykids have gender, but in a more meta way, they do. Because the people playing them have gender and dress/act accordingly (or non-accordingly). So in a meta-view, we can say Skykids do have gender, and the "King" was merely expressing that.

this is NOT my personal view of the lore, by the way. in my opinion, "King" is just the name that genderless skykid took for itself.

[tidal valve]

Omg aahhhhh your too kind <333 xoxoxo thank u so much!!

[nimble ingot]

hmmm... fair enough.
The hats the statues have in the final are are not crowns, per say. I will give you that.

[rustic heron]

I never said there wasn't a king. I am refuting that the currently held notion of the king is not right.

[harsh plover]

Uuuh i like that

[tidal valve]

Also I remeber a discussion about light creature migration and if eden was apart of it, and from my last eden rerun, if you oob and fly around the clouds you can see streams of birds sooo the light creatures do migrate through eden

Guess we got our moral support buddies from up above as we hide from krill together

[late wasp]

yeah even not oob they are there in 1st and 2nd area

[tidal valve]

how have I never seen them, too focused on not dying I guess

[harsh pecan]

Your previous messages say otherwise

[nimble ingot]

That could be the case.

I presumed the reason the skykids are neutral by default is to allow the player to relate the character more easily than just be stuck choosing a 'boy or girl' skykid.
Children have fewer differences between genders before they reach puberty. So it makes sense for the skykid to have a gender neutral body build.
That said, a skykid can change their appearance with cosmetics, which can either result in a masculine/feminine appearance, or still maintain a neutral appearance by the players.

[tidal valve]

do we have a resh denier in chat, sshhh don’t tell the propagandists

[harsh pecan]

We already know

[rustic heron]

No, I said the evidence wasn't convincing for the currently held theory of who the King is.

[tidal valve]

I just wanted to make a jokke

[late wasp]

you can see them on the right heh
(it's a trap though, don't try flying up the Eden using them lol)

[harsh plover]

Why the krill’s look like shrimps?

[nimble ingot]

Being a Megabird follower, I believe the King cannot be the only ruler of Sky.
Though the king did exist in the past. It is just that he is not here anymore.

[tidal valve]

megabird >>>> king

[rustic heron]

Look, the way I see it, there's nothing to lose entertaining my current idea. If I'm wrong, then you can have a good laugh.

But if I"m right...

[harsh plover]

Nobody have the answer…

[tidal valve]

It’s bc they r tasty monch crunch

[harsh pecan]

Bruh did you think we thought the King was a manta or something????? I think everyone knows that the King is the King

[nimble ingot]

Megabird **<- **King

[tidal valve]

I will accept no megabird slander

[rustic heron]

You say that, but where is he? No memories, no statues, no figure with a crown.

You have concept art that isn't reflected in the game. That's all I'm saying.

[nimble ingot]

The origin of the dark dragons are as mysterious and deadly as the dark waters they come from.

[harsh plover]

https://tenor.com/view/church-baby-praise-worship-feel-the-spirit-gif-17753272

[harsh pecan]

No statue? Did you forget everything that was mentioned about the statues?

[rustic heron]

I'm getting the evidence to disprove that right now.

[late wasp]

tbf the king's presence is very subtle
some of the statues are just the sentinels

[tidal valve]

this chat is evolving to ace attorney

[harsh pecan]

And what kind of evidence would that be

[harsh plover]

Jajajajaj your right jajaja

[tidal valve]

you want to hold the hammer slamming thing they have in the court?

[rustic heron]

I'm in GW right now taking pictures. And doing a CR and WL run at the same time.

Multitasking.

[harsh plover]

Can I ?

[half shadow]

Well, yeah technically every player brings their own individuality into a game by like Sky - which is arguably an RPG to some extent - and one’s own personal experiences, beliefs, and identity will color every interactive piece of media they consume. I don’t think we can say that the King being a King is “putting gender into the game” when we yet have to see the title even mentioned in-universe as of yet. All we know is from file names and concept art, both of which are dubiously canon themselves. If the King does eventually play a major role in the game at one point and officially appear, they might not even be called King at all, so I think it’s sort of hard to speculate on that.

Regardless, yeah, the neutrality of the player character is deliberate and allows the player to customize their avatar in any way they want, as well as perceive them as whatever gender identity they desire, so in that sense of course gender exists in the game. And it’s likely not too many players will look this deep into it, but I think it’s still important for the canon acknowledgement of a genderless universe, society, and culture, to be recognized and accepted especially amongst the theorycrafting community when discussing the lore of the world.

//HOOO BOY SORRY ABOUT THAT

[tidal valve]

Of coruse! But we can take turns

[harsh pecan]

Compare the statues you see to the concept art of the King, don’t tell me they don’t look similar

[harsh plover]

Then it’s going to be a pleasure

[rustic heron]

I don't use concept art for unused concepts as justification for lore.

[harsh plover]

https://tenor.com/view/judge-tapping-listen-lets-start-lets-begin-gif-15039933

[tidal valve]

Wouldn’t call it unused if the same design for the sillohute is still in game

[late wasp]

[harsh pecan]

Yes

[half shadow]

also Sophos I hope it doesn’t come off as if I’m arguing with you I p much agree with what you’ve said it’s just that I have a Lot Of Thoughts and tend to ramble about specific things i’m passionate over when it comes to games I like

[rustic heron]

Reusing assets is a thing. Doesn't mean that it's the king.

[late wasp]

@rustic heron I will also reply to another one

[harsh pecan]

Why would they reuse assets for something like that?

[half shadow]

what happens when the king is revealed to be the megabird will the chat just explode

[rustic heron]

It's a cool design.

[late wasp]

Ash also says:

"the king plays an active role in the story of sky but maybe not in the way you may think "
"he's not there in the same way as the elders you see in the cutscenes "

[tidal valve]

no I’m a megabird supporter I don’t follow king

[half shadow]

a civil war would break out surely

[harsh pecan]

And by the way, earlier you claimed that you weren’t saying the King didn’t exist, but now…

[late wasp]

to be fair, megabird atheism has since grown on me.
I wish I could find the person that planted that seed into my head.
Might have been Jam.

[tidal valve]

A civil war?? More like a personal identity crisis

[half shadow]

reasons I support the king:

1. that video one of the devs made of the Resh model dancing makes me absolutely crack up every time i see it

[cosmic willow]

this is one of the king statues

[nimble ingot]

I agree with the @half shadow

Gender in the game can be either the traditonal roles (male/female), or forego that detail to allow open interpretations.
There are few characters that have identifiable genders (To name a few, in no particular order: the pointing candlemaker and his family, the skater girl, the forest elder, the dawn elder, the wasteland elder, the water prophet, the fire prophet etc. )
However a gender on some characters do not have to be an end all, be all case.

Since the game made the point to be open to interpretation, players can consider fanon to be as important as canon, if they so choose.
This though makes theorising what could be canon more difficult as it has to undergo scrutiny.

[rustic heron]

I'm still not saying that. I'm saying the evidence you are providing isn't evidence justifying your claim.

[harsh plover]

Easy brothers

[cosmic willow]

i can see that

[harsh pecan]

Just look

[tidal valve]

I think it’s time to slam that hammer

[rustic heron]

That's not ingame. That's concept art.

[cosmic willow]

however,what proof would be sufficient for you?
would you like to elaborate on what constitutes evidence

[harsh plover]

Yeap here it comes

[half shadow]

the proof is the Resh getting jiggy video

[rustic heron]

Your picture. Where is that? That's convincing.

[late wasp]

this is in game, @rustic heron
and confirmed by the devs to be the king in this very channel lol

[cosmic willow]

It’s in wasteland,battlefield

[cosmic willow]

I have more pictures that might be even more convincing if you wish to listen

[harsh pecan]

In the concept art, the figure was labelled as the King and it just so happens to match the statues you claim aren’t statues of the King, is that not proof?

[late wasp]

Ash also confirmed they are statues of the king

[tidal valve]

Order order order in the court

[rustic heron]

I'd like to see it for myself, but if you have more pictures I'd like to see them.

[harsh pecan]

Bruhhhhhhh the location was stated multiple times already

[harsh plover]

the trial begins between those who believe that there is a king and those who believe otherwise

[cosmic willow]

might I add this collage is technically a mix of concept art and in game images
I could,of course take you to see all those images you believe to be proof

[late wasp]

what are you trying to achieve, Lapis?

[harsh pecan]

“Casting Doubt” I assume

[rustic heron]

Okay, Mune? You're being very caustic right now. I'm sorry I didn't agree with what was being said, but I don't really appreciate your tone right now.

[tidal valve]

well hope order is achieved in court im going to fight some lineart (the truest form of evil)

[harsh plover]

Hey hey hey No fights here take it easy

[cosmic willow]

here’s a bit more
the picture with sky kids in it is taken at the top of wasteland’s temple,and it’s got a very similar shape to the king statue in concept art.
this proves that while much of the concept art has been removed from the game,some persisted.
The King may not be directly stated to be in game,but hints of his influence linger.So many of those hints,many of us have came to the conclusion that he is or at least was a part of Sky’s lore

[tidal valve]

That’s a really nice photo, how did u get up there? Isn’t there a wind wall

[harsh plover]

Yeap it is a really nice photo

[cosmic willow]

there is,but I had the help of a friend (wasteland ult skid)

[harsh plover]

I’ll be back brothers

[harsh pecan]

Goodbye

[tidal valve]

Have funsies!! <3333

[late wasp]

king really be looking down on us
that absolute look of judgement, like that statue knows my darkest and most hidden sins lmao

[cosmic willow]

have fun azrael

[harsh plover]

Im going to play sky

[dawn reef]

See ya,have fun

[harsh pecan]

Nice

[cosmic willow]

oho it really do be like that

[tidal valve]

Omg hope king didn’t see me pick my nose I definitely didn’t do that

[cosmic willow]

I really do hope he doesn’t pass judgement on those who dismiss him
because it’s gonna be b e a n time

[harsh plover]

Jajajaja

[harsh pecan]

Sure you didn’t lol

[tidal valve]

Uh oh I really am feeling the peircing eyes of the king

[cosmic willow]

he knows~

[tidal valve]

He’s giving me,,,, shia labouf musical

[late wasp]

like this
||covered your character cause the point was not to insult you, but to show how he looks like he is looking down with eyes of judgement lol||

[harsh pecan]

He knows~
And I know he knows

[cosmic willow]

that image is on point I love it

[harsh plover]

Oh oh

[harsh pecan]

LMAO

[dawn reef]

That face

[tidal valve]

picks nose secretly

[harsh plover]

He knows

[cosmic willow]

he sees what you’ve done

[late wasp]

one more thing for me to be stressed about while doing GW

pictured: my skid and the king statue

[dawn reef]

So...any theory about Forgotten Ark?

[harsh pecan]

And I know he knows, and I know he knows
And deep down he knows, he knows
And I know he knows, and I know he knows
Well alright
Oh I, oh I-I-I
I can't be what you want from me
Well alright
Oh I, oh I-I-I
I can't be what you want from me
Well alright

[tidal valve]

I think the basis is, arc got struck by lighting, or krill? Shipmates tried to make food to survive/ gather reasoruces

Dun dun dun, death

There’s some Theories with the light they are seeking and the connection to light seekers I thiinnkkkk?

[harsh plover]

Noooo

[rustic heron]

I found the statues. You know, for the longest time I hadn't realized those were statues of the king. They looked like pillars with stars on them.

I'm convinced. Thanks for the help.

[cosmic willow]

no problem!

[harsh plover]

Brothers servers are failing again 🥺😢

[dawn reef]

Ok

[tidal valve]

Oop still? I was just going to log on tomorrow tbh, although I haven’t seen my sky friends in a while and they tend to be online right at reset, rip

[cosmic willow]

they are,,,

[late wasp]

we saw how lights from the sky can be fashioned into powerful magic that can be used to make any land inhabitable.

we also see how the ark (carrying the elements, not animals) was forgotten, but not "lost". meaning, it wasn't that crucial at all, it was simply forgotten, meaning one of two things:

1 - the ark wasn't that important
2 - they didn't expect to hear back from the crew of that ship

we can work with both, if we assume that those arks like the story of noah, are sent to start anew somewhere. they are colonists. they enter a desert and turn it into a lush prairie, etc. which is basically what the powerful magic does.

[harsh plover]

😢😢 and i wanted to play uuuuh 😢

[tidal valve]

The earth still spins, we will have another day <33

[dawn reef]

Thanks

[rustic heron]

Wait. What are statues of the king doing in the realm of the GW Elder?

[harsh pecan]

I think it’s cause they like the King

[rustic heron]

But wasn't it theorized that GW Elder fought against the King? That's why he's weakened in his cutscene?

[harsh pecan]

Hmm, maybe that was before the war you mentioned

[stable veldt]

the other scenario I could see is instead the GW Elder used to serve the king, entire GW was a bastion ordered by the king to be made so that civilians could escape from attack of creatures

[cosmic willow]

that’s where the fun part comes in
the GW elder could’ve been the king’s fighter before the war,or the statues came after the war for the King to assert his dominance on GW,as he had defeated it as a show of pride
a giant statue of you on your defeated foe’s temple does quite the job of intimidating their allies does it not?

[harsh pecan]

Oh interesting

[rustic heron]

GW's spear does look like the symbol of the King, and the shield is the symbol of light.

[stable veldt]

maybe it was shown to fight off dark creatures? Some time the king still needs light espite extensive use of darkstone

[harsh plover]

hahaha damn stop talking about the king, we already know he exists… end of the topic

[harsh plover]

😢 I know…

[harsh pecan]

Dw it’s fine now, Lapis knows

[stable veldt]

time to see if TGC make king-related season and we could get the mask like in the concept art, would be hella neat

[rustic heron]

Yeah, I was wrong. That's good, because my other theory that Vault Elder was an adoptive mother of the King is even more supported now that I'm sure the King exists.

[late wasp]

looking at evidences to make a informed opinion about it.
we know the entire land is one country ruled conjointly by 7 elders (counting the valley twins).

vault elder's stone being centralized implies they were the "first among equals" of the elders, and the de facto leader of the ancestor race.

we see this in both the vault and in eden, implying those things were built before king's arrival.

meaning: they were already under attack and abandoned most areas to live in GW and Eden by then.
King arrived at this point, to "save" them. Which is why he is only present in architecture in those places too.

[cosmic willow]

There’s an answer for this,and it’s the two shields theory
around the battlefield,there are two types of shields,one with a diamond and another with a sun
this theory proposes that the shields came from a civil war,with the rebels(who wanted to protect the light creatures from exploitation) with the sun shield and the king’s army (to suppress them) with a diamond shield.
In the vault mural,however,the GW elder is shown holding a shield with the shape of the diamond shield
This,and the use of a king spear and a sun shield,can mean that the GW elder switched sides from the king’s side to the rebel’s side.

[late wasp]

and how the Vault's symbol is a diamond, and the GW is just the city where the Vault is located. etc
theory doesn't hold much to scrutiny to be honest, and I even tried to help 2shield theory for a while.

[harsh pecan]

Ikr

[rustic heron]

So, another question. Say someone joins the lore channel today. How would they find out about all of this? I had to start an argument to get this far.

[late wasp]

asking and being nice. it's how i learned in 1 week

[harsh pecan]

It’s fine, sorry about the attitude

@rustic heron they ask

[stable veldt]

i joined the lroe channel after lurking for around a week or two, opening each document dropped and every newbie questions being re-answered again, that's how i know most of sky's lore now without interacting

[rustic heron]

I'm sorry I was being pushy. I didn't mean to frustrate anyone.

[harsh plover]

Im kidding brother I like this type of conversation

[harsh pecan]

Sorry too

[cosmic willow]

Theories like this can be found in lore docs,or blogs on lore (tumblr??)
Honestly most of this is from asking or just thinking up stuff on your own and getting feedback to refine it

If we’re lucky we may summon a dev in here to answer some questions so that’s a way of getting stuff to build on

[harsh plover]

Yeap that’s Right

[rustic heron]

2-day sky lore speedrun My current PB.

I'm glad the King is like in the concept art. It's a mega cool design. If only we could meet him.

[tulip aspen]

hmm okay then, interesting

[cosmic willow]

boy do I have news for you
||there’s a particularly prevalent theory that the kid we hug after dying is the king
it’s very poetic in a way,like an act of kindness to him is what helps us regain our light like how a hug can recharge a friend||

[tulip aspen]

i mean that design is still directly referenced in wasteland, those statues in front of the actual temple are exact replicas of the king from the concept art

[rustic heron]

Haha, ho boy.

[cosmic willow]

don’t worry about it jam he’s been convinced

[dawn reef]

Who is Megabird in Sky?

[tulip aspen]

w h a

[cosmic willow]

jam I’ve already procured evidence proving it to him and he’s been convinced so we can kind of settle this now

[stable veldt]

the big round thingo after you went pass eden, it is believed to be the source of all life and when such life dies they went back to megabird to be rebirthed

[rustic heron]

#lore-discussion-spoilers message

[late wasp]

a name for the Galaxy
||embrace Megabird Atheism||

[dawn reef]

Ok

[harsh plover]

Whuuut ?!

[tulip aspen]

the megabird is the entity in Orbit, a giant mass of Light energy that all Light Beings come from and belong to
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QeIMzNaPz-TzC8ZHrdUYTOZ99zObm1PYx65sejTyIfc/edit?usp=drivesdk

it's called megabird by lore vets because the entity is named that in concept arts, and people love personifying the megabird as some sort of god

[late wasp]

it's also called that in file names

[rustic heron]

I actually had this rolling around in my head, that I posted earlier today as well: #lore-discussion-spoilers message

[cosmic willow]

at least that’s what i remember
i don’t know exactly where,but I think there was something about his file name that was named king.jpg or sth
i’ll update when I can confirm or deny this

[dawn reef]

Thank you

[lyric isle]

https://twitter.com/thatskygame/status/1486141872909258759
alright lore gang

[rustic heron]

You know, the logical next step to using butterflies as energy would be doing the same with more complex creatures.

But the real question is, what would you power with all that energy?

[lyric isle]

who’s willing to ask about the air meter

[rustic heron]

What about the air meter?

[tulip aspen]

bruh

[stable veldt]

The entire boat gondola in village of dreams looks promising

[lyric isle]

we have an opportunity to ask about the dreaded ‘breathing’

[cosmic willow]

the elevator in vault which carries you throughout the entire realm could be something else that be powered

[rustic heron]

You need air to light a candle. We're a living candle. We "breathe" air.

[lyric isle]

yeah, but

we can ask the devs

ask about the looooore

[stable veldt]

Inb4 their answer is "mechanic" Rather than honking candles

[lyric isle]

imagine if it was “we weren’t thinking about that tbh, it’s just a nice thing to finally implement”

please don’t be

[late wasp]

basically everything you use your candle to activate

[lyric isle]

i’m legit scared to ask in the case my theories turn to dust but we’ll have an answer

can we ask if the LP spirits are real too? or is that irrelevant

[cosmic willow]

yep
and that is probably a worthy sacrifice

[late wasp]

they will probably ignore, cause they want to talk about season of abyss

[rustic heron]

Theories are made to be refuted. That's the best part. Knowing the answers is boring. Finding the answers is fun.

[lyric isle]

no but it’s a central mechaniccc

ok yeah

[stable veldt]

The fun part is that you can make really wild theories such as the king has a huge mechsuit and malfunctioned ala FNAF and it has the possibility to be true

[rustic heron]

I had a theory that the Vault Elder was the King.

[lyric isle]

I have the most outrageous and convoluted LP theory ever, which is probably completely wrong but is fun to think about

if you’ve heard me mention a dream experiment then hoo boy

[rustic heron]

Didn't work, but it was fun to think about.

[cosmic willow]

that theory doesn’t sound like that much of a stretch actually
I’ve seen many sky artworks and fanfics of the idea of the mech suit and with it corrupting him
it’s all in the range of speculation,and it’s wonderful

[stable veldt]

I'd say no way. King might be the child of light in the murals

[rustic heron]

The entire discussion above pretty much put the nail in the coffin of that one, but it was cool thinking that children of light can become elders, and that after the destruction of Eden the Vault Elder lived out the remainder of their lives preserving the memories of a dying civiliization.

They then pass the torch to you to free the spirits from their regret and grief.

[stable veldt]

That would be interesting, at the same time wouldnt a cotl die and instead rebirthed, or their soul can also be trapped like the ones in eden? But instead since they have closer affiliation with darkstone maybe they also preserved their memory before finally ascending

[rustic heron]

I have a more tangible theory that the Eden incident halted the cycle of death and rebirth. The King was split into many pieces, and these are his rebirth. All the Skykids are collectively the King, and we return balance to the cycle by doing what the King originally was created to do:

Shepherd the spirits to the stars for their rebirth. You can read the more complete version here: #lore-discussion-spoilers message

[stable veldt]

I think it's already widely accepted Eden indeed halted the cycle. Like Zhao's original timeline concept, because of that many creatures of light attacked the population and that's the reason why GW fortress was erected. Some say the king was punished by fractured into many pieces to restore the wrld over and over again, each of everytime spirits come until everything is done.

But of course, with TGC keeps adding new spirits, it will never be done

[rustic heron]

This implies that our ability to fly is a path to divinity, since Spirits can't fly and, consequently, can't reach the stars without help. Elders helped them by building technologies like flying boats to assist them into orbit.

The First CoTL was a direct line to the divinity because they can ascend to orbit on their own. Thus flying is an act of divinity as it is a direct path to the Megabird.

The King use this innate ability to fly, which is also innately the ability to produce light, to further technological progress. He took it too far, and the Diamond in Eden is representative of the this: it spews out light and overcharged Darkstone.

[stable veldt]

this is interesting. You implied that the king abused his light powers rather than abusing technology to actually cause eden

[rustic heron]

Both. The King has natural access to the Light, so he can freely explore light-powered technologies. It was an experiment gone wrong, one where the King reached to far and to high. Perhaps he was seeking to conquer the heavens in his vanity.

Spirits do not share this ability, however, and abused another source of light: the light creatures.

The ones that were corrupted by the waste product caused by the advancement of technology were the corrupted creatures, like Krill. That's what was attacking, and why the Krill remain.

It may have been a tower of babel scenario. Perhaps the King wanted to create a way for all beings to fly. The giant diamond in Eden was made to power a light bridge directly to the megabird.

But the Darkstone material couldn't handle the amount of light needed to power such a thing, and it grew uncontrollable. It absorbed him as well, and thus it had an infinite source of light to power it as it crumbled and erupted.

Maybe there was so much light that it caused the creation of darkstone everywhere. The shells of the spirits we find could be darkstone as well, cracked and unstable, sucking in the light of the spirits. That's why the shells glow the same color as light-filled darkstone.

[nimble ingot]

I have a rough theory that the darkstone might have been at some point considered sacred.
Which would parody the tales of Moses, where the jews awaited Moses to return from a mountain. Moses gas given the ten commandments and when he returned, he found out his people made a golden calf and started worshipping it.

The golden calf was made by the people. Gold is a valuable material that is used in trading, technology and even believed to have good and evil properties (prosperity vs greed).
When applied to Sky, the darkstone material could stand in as the gold in the story, as it is mined from the earth, used in trade and technology, and even used as a sacred symbol. Though the darkstone can corrupt things, and may have played a role in why Eden is constantly battered in a restless storm, and why there is a ||giant red diamond at the Eye of Eden||.

[rustic heron]

I've always believed that darkstone predated the King. The Pointing Candlemaker's cutscene shows him directing a family of spirits toward the temple on a floating boat. Darkstone was a tool to power flight for spirits, and butterflies were physical representations of light, which is the same as the ability to fly.

Unlike the other like creatures, we can absorb the butterflies, so they may just be light and not creatures at all.

Well, it looks like we absorb the butterflies. The random ones that recharge our light in isle and prarie shrink and disappear as they charge our capes, so I'd assume as much.

[stable veldt]

wait that means we commit mass slaughter againts butterflies!?

Sky kids are a sin, the king was right. Lights are truly evil

[nimble ingot]

That is an interesting observation I would like to see for myself. (After the server recovers, it was a chore to get the dailies done at the least)

If the butterflies do disappear when giving light to skykids, how would the swarm replenish? The game can always respawn them and there is little ingame evidence to what happens to the butterflies when the players stick around long enough.
All we can gather, from a gameplay perspective, are they can spawn from jars (as in, they are stored in there and skykids free them, from a lore standpoint), can spawn in certain locations such as the butterfly fields, the island hidden the cloud beside the dawn templ etc.

Perhaps the butterflies follows a similar life cycle as real life butterflies, although the game cannot show the process due to its limitations. First off, the process would be so subtle and tiny, it would be a hassle to see it from a small screen, let alone angle the camera to see it up close. That and it is possibly an unnecessary detail compared to what the game is focusing on.

Considering an alternative result, the butterfly charges a skykid and then returns to the swarm.
Then the butterflies are sustainable power sources, though only at a small scale.
The game only renders butterflies for the client. Meaning if one skykid gets charged by butterflies, other skykids do not see this interaction from their perspective. Ergo, it is currently impossible to observe butterflies charge multiple skykids. Though you do see the skykid does get charged by them regardless.

Thank you for pointing that out.

[rustic heron]

If the Megabird exists in all things, then it would make some sense that there are just fonts of light, the endings to the Megabird's strands. That's where the butterflies come from, I think. They are created and fade constantly.

[tulip aspen]

ah yes, because in your mortem auctor the spirits were always spirits, so they'd feed directly on light energy huh

[late wasp]

are there power crystals in the trials? oh nevermind, it does not matter.

trial wall shows Dawn Elder using a flying boat to send King to the mountains.
That proves they already had dark stone technology then (before King's arrival)

[rustic heron]

On the contrary, the can't feed on light. Light is equivalent to flight, which is why Skykids can fly. They use light ot power vehicles of flight.

[late wasp]

also, something i barely see people commenting on, is how the vault of knowledge made some groundbreaking advancements for all ancestorkind, with the development of telekinesis and floating (meditation). these would make ancestors not require animals nor technology to fly.

[tulip aspen]

absorb them??
i always see them fly away after

[stable veldt]

for me, sometimes it dies out, sometimes it flies away, most of the time flies away. So we might be debating upon app optimization here

[late wasp]

it's funny because for a time i also considered this
||and it's still a backburner in the back of my mind||

[rustic heron]

I play on Switch, so not sure how much optimization would come into affect on that platform.

[stable veldt]

biggest question: Are skids stinky? Sure they go into waters, but most of the time water sources in sky are polluted, they also don't really change their attire most of the time, hell if the clothes = light theory is true, that means the clothes is part of our body, which means it's stinky

[rustic heron]

It's one of my favourites, but now that I'm sure the king exists, it's a pipe dream.

[tulip aspen]

fr lol

[late wasp]

I do too, but from my experience, the butterflies just power us then fly away. which is not a strong evidence, but something else is:

prairie elder shows how you can turn fire/light into butterflies. (aka create life)

[rustic heron]

There's the random ones that don't come from anywhere too. Stand in any one place in isle and prarie long enough, and a butterful will recharge part of your cape before disappearing.

[nimble ingot]

They are commenting on the body of the vault elder.

[late wasp]

they do have a big bank of stored knowledge in that vault

[potent sedge]

i wanna hear yalls theories/interpretation about sky's story and/or other things relating to sky
especially about (spoilers Eden) ||what is the Home-looking place when you fly to Orbit||?

||I think it's the original Home, the very first Home of the Elders and, if it's written in canon, the King (who later becomes the Corrupted King).||

[tulip aspen]

guys...........

[cosmic willow]

what did I just come back to

[tulip aspen]

do you mean the place with the giant doorway you enter to be reborn?

[nimble ingot]

going by Light Awaits logic. That might be the case.
Though I was not in Light Awaits and cannot find enough evidence to make that statement with confidence.

[potent sedge]

||nononoo when you first fly up from Eden into Orbit||

[potent sedge]

i'll send a screenshot and ping ya
wait nvm can't bc i don't have the screenshot OOF

[tulip aspen]

ok!

[potent sedge]

my personal theory is that ||of course the Elders shepherded the stars back to the sky (you know, our ancestors), but it was in Eden, not the Home we know. But when whatever kind of catastrophe (if it's ever canon, I would looove for it to be The King honestly) destroyed Eden, the Elders had to go to a different Home to protect the Skykids, which is why previous Skykids who tried to go to Eden (to fix it) died (aka the statues we see which btw some do shatter, so it's essentially souls that can't go back to bodies). ||

[harsh plover]

Im back brothers

[potent sedge]

Another theory I have is that Skykids are made of three things, the soul ||(the blue orb once you become a statue)||, the light (the ||WL|| and ||the white child you hug||), and your body ||(grey kid in (idk what that state is called, in between Eden and Orbit)||

[nimble ingot]

If I may add on to the past about the statues.
||Open completing the area, by hugging the light kid in the dark void. A cutscene plays with the statues breaking, a group of glowing skykids rise up and fly towards teh diamond. It is interesting to note, they do not fly up just yet. The cutscene specifically shows them flying towards the diamond.
I tested that theory by only saving the statue closest to the diamond and it shows the skykid not fly up to the sky.

While we do see the glowing skykid join us in our ascend to orbit, I wonder if they had done something to the crystal before they joined us on the way to Orbit.||

Would they be the ones responsible from maintaining a time loop?
Would they be the ones that prevents something bad from happening?
If so, why is it the skykids's mission to keep that up, to get more time to prevent a disaster?
If skykids dont go to eden, what would happen? (another explosion)

I go through Eden every week and have done so since I started playing the game, and yet the answers to those same questions are still out of reach.

[potent sedge]

sooo many questions aa

speaking of ||the diamond||, what the heck IS it?
||is it a collection of the remains of Eden/Home/previous kingdom (idk)? Is it an actual crystal||

[stable veldt]

it's called darkstone, it absorbs light and it powers things

[potent sedge]

is it the same thing as ||the red stones/crystals we find in eden?||

[late wasp]

so spirits can only leave the skyworld through temples
does the fact that seasonal spirits leave skyworld from their location imply those are potential locations to build temples?

[nimble ingot]

I think it is like the other power diamonds, as in batteries of light.
Except it is much bigger, and more like a nuclear generator. (headcanon)

[potent sedge]

hmmm

[stable veldt]

probably yes actually

[severe gazelle]

This has probably been brought up already.
And we saw these big claw marks on one of the towers...

But possible spoilers for the abyss season? This is my theory based on what I've seen so far and this too lol

||so seeing as we saw big King krill, surely these marks were made by them right?||

||This means that mb this area used to be a seaside town/area from the GW. And just as prosperous as the valley bc of the structures resembling stuff from the valley. Anyways that's besides the point, my HC is maybe as the King ancestor spirit became corrupt, he didn't notice the fact that this area was maybe becoming more infested/overran by krills. Until one day mb the massive King krill came and wrecked havoc on the village/town whatever. And as a results it caused the entire area to fall into the see/maybe King krill dragged everything into the ocean. And this forced him to take action and used the power of the light creatures to shut the big boy in? Coz when you dive down there you'll see that they're trapped in cages.||

||alternatively, maybe the king was trying to find a new way to fight enemies/resistance (referring to the Battlefield area in GW), and hence maybe King krill was the first ever experiment on corrupting light creatures idk. And unfortunately it became so volatile and hard to tame that it dragged the village down so they had to shut it away||

||obvi maybe a little bit after the Fall of sky, when there was a few survivors left, mb the ancestors and spirits of this area were some of these survivors probably gathering the power diamonds for themselves and as a result diving and looking through the sunken city. Idk what's going to happen next in terms of quest but it'll be interesting...||

||I'm not a beta tester but assuming what happened in flight, I think spirits probably stumbled upon the trapped light creatures and might have a wish for us to free them as a result. This probably means that King Krill will be set free etc.||

[nimble ingot]

This is more for fun, than a lore prompt.

Assuming a skykid does know how to cook and have access to most real life ingredients, what kind of treats/drinks/meals do you think they can make?

[grand bay]

TT

[nimble ingot]

I like to believe a skykid can enjoy a mooncake, or even a cloud bread every now and a again.

[boreal nebula]

I like how the the doorway in Abyss resemble the Torii ⛩ in Village of Dreams

Make me wonder if the top part fell/got destroyed and now it's forever ruined the perfect replica

Or maybe it was just a fase, like the concept that showed the ideas they add in developlement (even if those elabotr concepts never came to be)

[true grove]

Random thing: I think i know why yoga spirit is dancing in the air, it might be because teh caves had higher water level and it was like a boat docking area so the yoga spirit might be on the boats

[oblique torrent]

Hello

||Anyone know about the statue in Eden? Not the statue we usually give them wings, the statue in the outside of the last race||

I have a pic

[nimble ingot]

Not sure, though the blue colour either suggest they are stable and have soul power, or they are the final form of corruption on an ancestor.

I would love to see if TGC would consider expanding on this in some way.
While it is a bit unsettling when thinking about it, but still, it is what makes the lore so intriguing.

which one?
Can you ellaborate?

[oblique torrent]

I don't have a pic

Because they disappeared :((

[harsh plover]

Really?

[true grove]

I think they are referring to the one statue near the pnr tunnel that breaks apart and flies off
It looks similar to the one in the picture above

[frigid tinsel]

Jam and Lapis competing on how much psychic damage they can afflict on me

[harsh plover]

Youre right…

[nimble ingot]

If that is the case, I think it is still there when I scramble up there.
When I am there for whatever maddening reason, I'll try to grab a screenshot of it.

I am still confused why they are calling it a race.
I can imagine it being a very dangerous race against the krill at the top of Eden, though the only places where the word 'race' comes to mind is in Valley of Triumph.

hey, who gave everyone lemons!?
🍋 !!?

[harsh plover]

I don’t know but I don’t like it

[nimble ingot]

there, Giving out lemons is not a good idea, @pastel brook

[harsh plover]

I prefer to be an orange 🍊

[pastel brook]

[nimble ingot]

too bad my guy, I like birds more than a sour fruit.

[harsh plover]

I see you’re a man of culture

[rigid mural]

Whoa thatskybot art

[harsh plover]

Aaah you want to fight!!!

[lofty void]

HWHDHHAHAHAH

[rigid iron]

https://tenor.com/view/sky-children-of-the-light-sky-children-of-light-sky-cotl-king-resh-resh-sky-children-of-the-light-gif-24624725

[lofty void]

*activates memory cube*
takes 99999 psychic damage
*deactivates memory cube* …cool!

[harsh plover]

Aaaah hahahaha not again lapis

[frigid tinsel]

Please I’m in class

[turbid cliff]

Lapis n o

[rustic heron]

What? I’m not doing anything. Just talking about capes and archivists.
On an entirely unrelated note, do you think there are Spirit plumbers? There are so many pipes everywhere, and someone has to dig in and fix all that plumbing

[turbid cliff]

I don't trust that sunglasses emoji

L a p i s

[lofty void]

l a p i s

[rustic heron]

I am actually curious if the King can fly. Imagine looking in the sky and seeing something the size of a jet airliner slowly drifting above you.

[frigid tinsel]

i think the king is too big to fly

[rustic heron]

Or maybe he has the fabled 12th wing wedge.

[rustic heron]

If the King is the single most concentrated being of light, having the collective light of all Sky kids, he should have enough flight power to lift off.

Then again, I don’t think anyone has done the lift calculations for any of the sky kids to determine how much light energy is needed for flight, so it’s all speculation.

[nimble ingot]

There was someone that did the math about that, interestingly enough.

[livid crypt]

@rustic heron please help us keep this server safe and welcoming for all members by not sharing or hinting at topics that are not appropriate to a game about children

[frigid tinsel]

so anyways
when it ever becomes possible to get a 12th wedge, i think it'll look rather weird. the one tier 3 wedge we have is, whats the word, makes the cape look symmetrical. having two of them would feel off balanced.

[willow prawn]

Guess we'll just need to get krilled

[rustic heron]

I think in comparison, the scarf mechanic in Journey worked better in that regard. You can just make a scarf longer.

[nimble ingot]

The most possible winged light any player can get is 188.
That is when they were able to get wing buffs from every travelling spirit, and every location in the game.

A 12th wedge would only be another level few players can achieve when there area enough winged light to do so, although every player thereafter will eventually achieve that milestone too.

[rustic heron]

Perhaps not. We haven’t seen every spirit return, and ts’s have their trees reworked before they release. It could be that we never see all spirits return as a ts.

[rigid mural]

There's still more spirits that didn't become TS yet, I think it will be possible soon (-ish) if they show up & the new season areas got plenty winged light !

[rustic heron]

Regardless, the current theoretical winged light limit is still far off from the 200 needed for the 12th wedge.

[nimble ingot]

As the seasons pass, it will be more difficult to have traveling spirits return that had given winged light in the past.
Veal is right about there being more spirits that have not become traveling spirits yet (excluding the flight season due to them being tired).

[frigid tinsel]

the new season areas don't really get a lot of winged light, 1-3 at most (excluding Sanctuary as an outlier). so it'd be a while even with more areas and wl added to reach 200

[rustic heron]

The limitations of the current TS system become more apparent as we get each new season. It may be impossible to reach the theoretical WL limit.

[rigid mural]

I think that with dismiss and juggler having passed by, only one or two spirits from 2020 didn't become TS yet; at some point we are fated to get a bunch of spirits that nobody ascended yet when 2021 TS show up.

[frigid tinsel]

inb4 when it does become possible to hit 12th wedge, the devs adjust the wl scale so it maxes out at 11th wedge at 200

[nimble ingot]

I wonder if there would be a different way.
I doubt letting more multiple traveling spirits return would be a good idea, given the current candle price.
Though perhaps an update to the system where a group could return with lower prices would be nice. The total cost could be similar to how it is with one spirit. But the difference could be instead of buying, say for example, 1 cape for 70 candles. It could be 2 capes for 40 candles each.

[keen shore]

Hey I was reading through the message backlog to try and catch up, and I didn’t really see your theory on what the king actually is. I am really curious and may have just missed it in the flood of messages but would love to know :3c

[rigid mural]

Eh, why not, nothing but the flying race and maybe Eden requires having that many wedges anyway.

[half shadow]

i believe it’s the King = us theory which I personally think is rad

[rigid mural]

12 is a pretty recurring number tho, both zodiacs got 12 characters for example. It would make sense to cap, if the devs intend to do that, at 12 wedges.

[rustic heron]

I was trying to justify the Vault Elder as the Eden Elder, and by extension the king. It fills some holes, like the missing Eden elder statue, the wounds on the Vault Elder’s mask, and the lack of bowing to the player skykid.

The King=Us theory is contradictory to this

Likewise, Vault being the King doesn’t explain the skykid within Eden’s center.

[keen shore]

It’s possible, although I doubt the king and the vault elder are the same person. Vault elders mask is different and they don’t really resemble a skykid which is the current theory on what the king actually is, based on the ushering stargazer’s memory combined with the prophecy murals. The elders do look pretty different from us in general, enough that I doubt they began as skykids, although this is possible as we currently don’t know where they came from.

I could totally see the vault elder controlling Eden as like a province before the arrival of the king, but I would need to see more evidence in game of that first - although iirc there is a giant statue of them in the last area, so maybe? My first impression of Eden though is that it’s a sacred area that no one person is really supposed to control

[nimble ingot]

Just to add on to the 12th wedge idea.
By my count, there are 29 spirits that have not come back as traveling spirits (excluding those that have arrived by mistake)
So, given that about 2 spirits arrive every month. That and assuming any future traveling spirits would be new ones, the soonest one can expect to see some 12th wedge skykids are within 14 months, and the the majority of older players reaching the 12th wedge being around in 18 months.

[tulip aspen]

id rather they eventually rework Eden so that it actually focuses on teamwork in order for survival to happen, so that it doesn't seem as impossible to push past the pnr pnr

[nimble ingot]

Respectfully, for the teamwork feature to work, the game needs to allow players interact with each other more.
I rarely see more than 5 players at a given moment aside from 8/4 player puzzles.
Partly the reason teamwork tasks are tedious and frustrating is to get players to cooperate, and more so for the game to allow enough players to appear in the same instance long enough to start working together.

Even players that have enough friends would occasionally have trouble staying together because of the instance feature.

Once that is sorted out, then one can start working on ways for players to learn to work in teams.
Lest there be a repeat of the Assembly quest struggles.

Take note that the assembly quests were a wonderful idea and fun.
The game made it difficult for enough players to join in the same instance to get the quest started.
One the one hand, there could have been the case of not enough players that would help in the moment, or the game simply does not merge instance of players that are waiting for more players to start a quest.

[keen shore]

Oh god I cannot imagine having to rely on others ingame more than I already do. I’m way too shy already lol

[tulip aspen]

frrrrr
i want to someday see constant server merging, no matter where you are, if you're playing alone, you should never not be in server with 3 or less people

imagine a Sky where the game is constantly pooling together players so that every area always feels alive

but as for eden, no, i mean actual friends, not random strangers

you should bring actual friends into eden with you to pursue the king into the storm

[tulip aspen]

....assembly is meant to be done with friends

i really hate everyone complaining they can't find enough random people to help them on the quests, it gives TGC such a wrong priority; it creates dumb new mechanics in the workshop like the new summoning statue at prairie village

the amount of people that sat there at the quest circle just waiting in an empty server and then went to discord to complain about it for the next year is appalling

[keen shore]

…I still haven’t managed to finish all the assembly quests even after roughly a year just because of the fact I have to do them with other people

I just realized. I can actually be defeated by the power of friendship

[tulip aspen]

i mean, if you dont like being forced to interact with people, then it's understandable
That's your choice, and that's okay!

[keen shore]

I want to interact with others and then I see someone to interact with and turn into a ball of anxiety before I can work up the nerves to actually do it

[tulip aspen]

oof
well you interact with us, and you're an amazing person to have around here

im sure your confidence will grow with the times, we all end up seeing it happen

[frigid tinsel]

discord died when i tried to post this but now can
__
I do believe there was some adjustments to what the Elders presided over during Sky kingdom era and skykid era.

For instance, we know there was a "Golden Valley," which suggests Valley of Triump and Golden Wasteland were once considered a single realm. perhaps the Valley Elder(s) and the Wasteland Elder once ruled together, but with power diamond production, now-Wasteland Elder primarily overlooked what was becoming a wasteland while the now-Valley Elder(s) primarily overlooked the city.

now-Vault Elder does appear to have the ability to summon all the Elders together, as per their cutscene, and the rest of the Elders' altars surrounds their own. also it does seem odd that the Vault is its own "realm" when considering how it's a building and it's inside the Eden mountain. was it once considered part of Eden? but as things developed, especially with power diamond production, Vault Elder began primarily focusing on the Vault while someone new, perhaps the king or Chosen One, oversaw Eden?

[tulip aspen]

the og intentions of the game, long before light awaits was for the game to be much more mechanically about friendship and teamwork

dozens of important game mechanics were designed to mandatorily only be possible, with FRIENDS

from the botched in-app-purchase dream of Chan to make us only able to buy things for each other and not for ourselves, to keeping away the darkness, boosting each other with team platforming abilities, and fending off hostile entities, it was all supposed to represent how we cant do it alone

of course, they went for a more manageable disposition in the end when approaching light awaits, likely due to both development constraints, and also because they didnt think of a way to design the mechanics well in time before it was too late to go back

i know the media process
i know the "we have to work with what we have the deadline is too close"

people are so against it and uncomfortable with it now, when in reality making friends used to be a large part of the only way to make it to Eden.....

[tulip aspen]

yea in reality none of the levels in the kingdoms are actually "realms", they are called that for level-sectioning's sake

[wise rampart]

yeah. The transitions were originally much more fluid, and had no social spaces.

it would be odd to name something the valley of triumph when half of it is a city and the other half a barren waste. The undertones are very different as well

[nimble ingot]

yes and yes.
Though having stranger come and help is nice.
Seeing players come together would look more interesting than seeing one try to do it all alone.

I suppose that idea should be carefully worked out. It is not always simple to make it work. Let alone something the player would be interested in. If they are not able to adopt a incentive to make the game work. The game will mostly default to a state of you need more players just because. There is no other benefit in the game for multiple players to work together other than just meeting a arbitrary (tongue and cheek) number of players to progress.

Here is an idea, one that TGC can steal for the benefit of the game.
A minigame that relies on say 4 player to progress.
Let say for instance it is in the wasteland and players need to stay near each other with their candles to keep the darkness at bay. If they dont, the darkness will start to move in on them and snuff thier lights. When the players start to work together like that, they can start to explore the area.
The area does not have to be large, nor claustrophobic, just a comfortable amount of space, with the occasional obstacle for the player to figure out.
Here is where a new feature would really help the game (in my opinion).
During this minigame, the players are able to grab each other, not just hold hands, they can work in tandem or move as one. This ability can also let skykid climb on each other shoulders to reach higher places.
This new ability could be used to help player reach places if they cannot fly. Or even move objects that blocked entrances.
Interaction like that encourages players to work with each other, instead of idly standing by and waiting for another player to just press a button.

[wise rampart]

Moving away from lore discussion for just a small second, the issue with that is that unlike assembly, who knows if it would be voluntary? Since all of my friends no longer play sky, it would effectively softlock me from completing wasteland, much like it did for assembly, and still does.

[nimble ingot]

would it be nice to be able to interact with players without needing to spend candles to enable the interaction?
Almost like the chat benches, except for the cheeky need to place down another candle instead of waiting for a new one to appear.

Something like the guide feature where players can hold hands to help find spirits. Except the feature is always available and there to encourage players to interact with each other. And not just to look for spirits.

[tulip aspen]

back then making friends was absolutely canon

these days people can claim friends aren't canon, because with the lack of mp necessity for the journey to eden, they.... uh... didnt need to have friends

i think that's fascinating, just how much our dispositions and own experiences with the game shape our views and theories

i took my time, 2 months, before i first went to eden

i got adopted, i had a thriving friend group from it, and eventually i became the person everyone knows

all before i went to Eden
it made every name I saw there in the Sky all the more meaningful, it made my first journey into the storm so powerful, as my fellow moth friends and i that i had bonded with for months, watched each other die, then be reborn

but for most people, mp is a commodity, a decoration, less than important, and it shows in their takes on what multiplayer in Sky means to them

i adore launch-Sky for that
i don't really applaud TGC for it, because they didnt intend anything in general, and this freedom to choose to have friends came out of development constraints

but in the end they gave us, exactly what it says on the playstore

it's a beautiful "social experiment"

[nimble ingot]

That is a fascinating analogy.
Also touching to hear your experience in sky. I suppose players would either have a similar experience, with having friends early on and growing in the game alongside them. While others may have a different experience that oddly can also work in the universal lore of sky (the possibility of skykids having different origins)

Just to compare and contrast, I had infrequent play times. Friends were not an issue as far as the game was concerned, it was only up to around season of flight (a year and a half later) I joined a group of friends and stuck around long enough to become fond of.

[tulip aspen]

yeah i hate the doors, they are the worst things to have been left as examples of what could have been, yet it's all TGC could really manage to physically produce of the 'teamwork' aspect before launch la sigh

it's really sad how extremely unintentional things like rocket and chibi-falling through doors prove to be better game mechanics than anything we intentionally got at launch
(except handholding, which lowkey revolutionizes gaming for me ||(but they hate dragging for some reason and don't understand it because they don't play their own game)||)

stuff like raising candles together burning all plants in a very large radius, distracting krills with the staff, flying nearby each other makes both players fly faster, and using USEFUL spells on you and your friends to heal and boost everyone

it could all have been so amazing
it could all still be so amazing, yet it'll never happen

#buffglowspell

[steady tinsel]

Hello everyone, i am very interested by all the old stuff or very first stuffed that happened in Sky or that were in Sky.
I would love to know more abt all of them, like the « king » in eden, or glitch pink cape or the theory of the prince, or even abt the turtles that were in sky before. Does someone have a list of them ans there explanations please ?

[haughty talon]

I think the community around sky, various glitches and whatnot (how TGC didn't intend the game to be played) is what's keeping it interesting sadly. Like here this channel is the only place to sanely know what sky is all about. So anyone without access to this lore chat just about thinks what they could and may not understand much about game lore at all.

[wise rampart]

The King was the original ending of sky in the concepts. He was a gargantuan mechanism with the prince inside, corrupted beyond recognition.

the deactivated sentinel statues in the wasteland resemble him

[tulip aspen]

i can help you with at least one of those haha

"in my analysis pages, you'll see me say "the king/prince"
the more accurate term is "the royal" but everyone likes the former term

in concept art the climax of the ending of the game is fighting the King, a corrupted Elder who is as tall as a skyscraper.
architecture all over Sky and concept art references the King

the prince is also mentioned in concept art, but we have absolutely no solid evidence of who or what they would be/have-been

the king and prince are often mentioned interchangeably, and there is reasonable evidence to suggest they are the same person, but it is also popular to assume they might be father and son due to some concept arts giving them two different names. These days in lore, we can assume the king is still there hiding in the storm somewhere because the devs said he is still an important part of the story, but also 'cant be saved'. We dont know if he's still a towering colossus, but if he is that's scary

as for the prince, (whether or not it's a different person), it's largely assumed they are the 'Chosen One' who defeated the trials and made the prophecy come true, likely to be coronated as prince or king

canonchasing wise, talking about the prince/king always leads to dead ends, but headcanon/fanfic wise, they're an unlimited amount of possible content lolol"

[rigid mural]

eludes me why prairie elder being flight questgiver's tutor isn't shown in the game, only on here and social media
like the clothes match but the patterns are kind of common to most basic clothes spirits so it's not super obvious either

I think the link between these two would be stronger within the game if the prairie constellation was drawn somewhere near the flight qg, or even a depiction of the elder teaching some spirits among which the qg can be recognised

[tulip aspen]

yea fr

i could see it now

"hey mr chan what if we make the flight guide the apprentice of the prairie elder"

"sure ash it was your character anyways, you can post it somewhere but you know we wont actually add that to the game"

"...not even a mural?"

"lmao nah"

[haughty talon]

The QGs hair accessory is kind of shaped similar to prairie elder hair

[rigid mural]

A bit of a stretch imo but I concede.

[haughty talon]

TGC probably doesn't have time to concentrate on narrative building.

[rigid mural]

Ash is in charge of design; not sure how much influence they have on the plot sadly.

[tulip aspen]

im afraid they do, it's called "getting a proper narrative writer that isn't focusing on 8 million other things"

they have three narrative people, one is a director of another department, and the other two also work in other departments (iirc)

[nimble ingot]

Seeing they had a fantastic elder bird drawing, that did not make it to the game. It is a real shame.

[rigid mural]

NO WAY
narrative building ??? in my visual storytelling game ???
I do think narrative building is pretty important considering most of the game's lore is guessed through what we can scavenge ingame /nm

[rustic heron]

It doesn’t really work as an idea, but it made more sense when I wasn’t aware of the king statues in GW.

On that note, I think I missed the statues because my game gets really dark sometimes. I had to have it pointed out to me because I thought those statues were broken columns.

In terms of Elders and realms, if we see the Elders as guides, Vault could be the final guide, storing the entire life experience and memories of a spirit before the ascend and are reborn. The vault is the collective memory of the entire civilization in that view.

[tulip aspen]

lapis w ha t

yes lmao vault is a library of knowledge lapis

you know what would help your game be less dark? glow spells actually being useful!!! :D

[rigid mural]

upper left corner. tom zhao concept art, found on his site

[half shadow]

my game gets super duper dark as well it’s real hard to see

I think that’s one thing that was meant when the devs said that the King wasn’t around anymore but their influence was present in the world. We see the four point star/diamond “King” emblem in a lot of things across the world, including the supposed statues of him

[rigid mural]

could be what ancestors that ascend left behind (memories) before eden went ka-boom

[tulip aspen]

i wanna ask ash what their take on dragging is, as a player, when they were moreso a player, especially if they were a very busy person

[half shadow]

Dragging?

[rustic heron]

I’m sorry, but I’m not really comfortable with your tone. This wasn’t as obvious to me, and I sometimes don’t feel very welcome sharing my thoughts here because of comments like that.

[half shadow]

I wish glow spells lasted longer or that you could just get more of them at a time. They seem to be one of the spells that the spirits are allergic to gifting you randomly too

[haughty talon]

May be vault elder has such a sobering expression since they have been hearing the screams of those poor souls echoing in the vastly empty chamber that is vault...

[rigid mural]

ow the edge 😂

[half shadow]

best elder is isle elder

[nimble ingot]

mind the step
*falls off tower

[tulip aspen]

that's very fair, it was really rude of me

the glow spell thing wasnt directed at you, but i shouldn't have been so aggressive about vault

im sorry

[half shadow]

hey here’s a question: do we think that the Treasure Reef was always underwater?

[rustic heron]

That’s okay. I think it’s just you and others have been doing this for so long, what’s obvious to you and other lore veterans is new and exciting for others.

[nimble ingot]

Based on the murals, it looks like it used to be above water.

[half shadow]

yeah, it leads me to think that too. but then it appears like it’s underwater during the time of the Abyss crew crash landing into it

[haughty talon]

May be unpopular opinion : I see prince and King as one person just representing different ages of same person. From flight seasons quests we came to know that when we see spirit memories and help spirits in the quests.. Some times we are reliving past actions, sometimes we are helping them in current time to fix something. So there is room for TGC to show same narrative from two different points of time at the same time and we may be confusing it for 2 different persons?

[half shadow]

in concept art it’s alluded to the King just being an older or more corrupt Prince

[nimble ingot]

The crew could have been there after the island flooded.
Assuming when the island used to be habitable, the abyss crew would not be able to snag the diamonds then.

[half shadow]

yeah, I'm almost thinking the same. it's interesting to try and get a timeline of events sorted.

[haughty talon]

Yes. The mural has water level way below what it is currently seen. So the band of scavengers treasure seekers should have come waaay after the water level rose

Look at the water level (extreme left) it is way below that circular structure that's now under water and holding manta

[lusty merlin]

100%i always concluded the prince and king were the same people, still its debatable if the prince grew THAT tall or hes just in a mechasuit of the king to look stronger to their subjects (that one is a personal head cannon of mine that i doubt will happen)

[nimble ingot]

I really love the fact the mural had an old detail of the middle tower being a manta statue.
This used to be the case while the season was in beta, but upon release it was swapped out with an uncomfortable spike.
It is an unfortunate change that could have been fun for skykids to land and play on. Now it is just a shiny topper of a tower, nothing more.
Feels like a missed opportunity in my opinion.

[late wasp]

what's up with that dead frozen bird in the valley?

[half shadow]

I think it’s a snow sculpture

[late wasp]

it is so weird how it is placed in an altar-like thing

[stark marten]

From what I understand, it's an old relic from the original beta/Light Awaits version of the game. There used to be a lot of random quest things in the realms where you could complete them and get a candle or something as a reward, and the bird there was one of them

[late wasp]

ah, that's so nice.

[sage isle]

good evening, lore chat. how's everyone?

[harsh pecan]

Good morning!

[cosmic willow]

morning

[sage isle]

quick question. We have the civil war concept, and what's the other concept we have or are figuring out?

[harsh pecan]

Resh

[sage isle]

Resh?

[harsh pecan]

The King

[sage isle]

ohhh

[rustic heron]

There are also a lot of smaller lore concepts too, like if the fish in the Treasure Reef can also fly, like the mantas.
I saw some discussion about it and the other reef wildlife before, but I missed it due to being embroiled in other discussions.

[willow prawn]

So I just got the weirdest bug in Abyss, and when swimming next to one of the boat mushrooms, my game did a classic lag and stranded me in the netherland

[willow prawn]

The good news is that I'm getting wax from something..??? like a constant stream of wax, aaaand, that all I see is how Abyss looks underwater but without the water. Will send you a pic later! Shame I can't move my camera.

I think you'll find very interesting to see the structures more clearly

[rustic heron]

Please do. That’s super interesting.

I had something similar happen to me in GW. I got stuck between the warp from graveyard to battlefield, and I got shunted into an empty pocket space between the two.

I’ll send pictures too. Nothing interesting there, but it was a weird place to be in.

[harsh plover]

Im back brothers

Now update me

I need to know everything

[static meteor]

this is so cool 👁️ ive seen a few people get this bug but i havent gotten it myself, it's definitely useful to visualize what it was like before it was sunken

[harsh plover]

Damn looks nice

[willow prawn]

it was very cool! And I wasn't drowning
Thankfully because I was stuck

[static meteor]

apparently you slowly absorb all the wax in the area too except for the clams so stay put and take advantage

[harsh plover]

Who take the pictures?

[willow prawn]

So that's what happened!

I stayed there until it ran over don't worry

[frigid tinsel]

i still stand by headcanon that Isle elder names all the moths. good lad themself sees a nameless child and parent mode kicks in

[sage isle]

he probably gets so happy when he sees a moth waddle up to the alter thing

[hushed steeple]

Headcanon that....they also still love fancy skykids anyway. Not just baby mothies.

[rigid mural]

sorry, had to illustrate it

[frigid tinsel]

omg thats so precious

[keen shore]

Alternatively: [sees you fall from the sky] OH NO NOT AGAIN

[rustic heron]

To play devil’s advocate: What if Isle hates sky kids because they remind him of the King, and specifically directs them to Eden to fix the mess the King made.

I can just imagine him thinking “I’m too old for this. You go fix everything, small child.”

It’s even funnier if you imagine that he teaches moths to fly by punting them out of the temple.

[rigid mural]

why so much violence, the isle elder even summons birds to guide you through almost the entirety of your journey

[frigid tinsel]

I feel like Isle Elder is too kind to show their misgivings.

[rustic heron]

Because violence breeds violence. But in the end, it has to be this way.

[keen shore]

Or they’re just happy they get another chance (wasn’t isle elder supposed to be the one who raised the king in concept art???)

[frigid tinsel]

if we wanna go angst route, there's a quip that Isle Elder raised Chosen One and feels guilty over how they turned out. so Isle Elder is committed to never repeating their mistakes, to never let anyone go down the road Chosen One did. They are always a comforting yet solid presence to the other skykids, someone they can talk to about anything, someone always supportive no matter how they themself feel at the moment, because they feel that responsibility over the skychildren.

[rustic heron]

I agree that Isle Elder exudes confidence and strength. It’s actually refreshing to see an aged character depicted like that.

[sage isle]

lapis. corner. now.

[digital willow]

Why do spirits have capes? And why can skykids fly with them but not spirits?

[frigid tinsel]

capes were prob a fashion thing for the ancestors, even if they couldn't fly. capes probably didn't start off as a means of flight when they were conceived by the ancestors. it looks as if skykids were modeled, to some degree, off the ancestors (ex: masks), so it wouldn't surprise me if their creator Megabird took the idea of capes and decided to make the skykids fly with them.

[rustic heron]

I’m actually not sure why the have capes. Spirits seem to wear them a lot, so maybe they have symbolic importance.

As to why they can fly, I believe it’s because ascension is an act of divinity, a continuance of the theme of death and rebirth by returning to the stars, and then descending from the stars.

Our skykids are tasked to guide the spirits stuck in the kingdom to the megabird, and so we are given a portion of light to free them.

In my eyes, light and flight are the same, hence why Skykids filled with light can fly, and spirits who don’t naturally have light cannot.

[half shadow]

Yeah, skykids arent the same species as ancestors/spirits, but skykids seem to have been deliberately made in the image of young ancestors

[tulip aspen]

aaàaaaaaaa

[tulip aspen]

yep!

[sage isle]

in the Nintendo ad for sky coming out on the switch, it looked like sky kids were around before everyone went south. unless it's just a child who hasn't grown up yet

[frigid tinsel]

yea, that looks like a child, but it's debatable whether that's an ancestor child or a skykid

[keen shore]

Imagine raising a kid only to have them destroy everything, dying yourself, then waking up and there’s 10000 of them now

[tulip aspen]

also, in the concepts, the other elders hated and shunned isle elder

all we know he ever did was raise young ancestors, ferry far-fallen ancestors further into the kingdom, and raise the prince

unless it was one of those other things, did he protect or support the prince when something happened....?

[tulip aspen]

prolly an ancestor

Skykids are the new breed meant to save ancestors, and have capes

i really dont believe they existed yet

[frigid tinsel]

granted we know there was at least one skykid during the ancestors' era – Chosen One

[keen shore]

Maybe they do hate them post disaster as kind of an irrational thing, believing they could have stopped it (not true)

[tulip aspen]

yea for ancestors it likely had symbolic importance

[sage isle]

so, let me get this straight

there was a chosen sky kid, who was gonna fix something about the mega diamond. They failed and now there's a million other sky kids who are sent in their place to fix their mistake?

[tulip aspen]

definitely, we feel safe as a child in that adult's care, and i think it ties up that theme of isle really well

[rustic heron]

I don’t think that skykids are all that different from ancestors. Honestly, the only notable difference is the forehead light and the chest light where the candle resides.

Perhaps skykids are just ancestors with innate light?

[frigid tinsel]

I imagine Isle Elder remained closest to Megabird or spoke ill about the darkstone to power diamond manufacturing before the other Elders caught on for why it was bad, thus was shunned

[frigid tinsel]

fun fact: the tallest skykid is still significantly shorter than the child spirits

[tulip aspen]

hmm not really

the prophets had a prophecy that a being would defeat their trials, and they would be worthy of great power

in stargazer's memory we see a child crashland during the ancestor's time, and this child is presumed to be the prince, who is raised by the isle elder and then takes on the trials

the prince likely wasnt a skykid, and just kind of special ancestor child

[keen shore]

Comparing skykid and child ancestor heights really makes you understand the need for the hypothetical mech suit in the first place

[sage isle]

h u h. this is so confusing but so interesting

[rustic heron]

I agree with this. Isle Elder seems to stand alone, confident in the tradition of guiding spirits to the temples and to Eden.

Perhaps the King’s ambition ran counter to this, so the split resulted in Isle’s mask being broken?

[frigid tinsel]

"Chosen One" refers to the proto-skid who completed the trials

[tulip aspen]

basically, yep!

fruity and i came to that conclusion, and then salem helped me become much more confident in it!

if you'd like you can read about the research and theories here
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1thcKlrpEPO87cz0hgM5rbMZilC97-2chVEe7uC7WI0c/edit?usp=drivesdk

[rustic heron]

Those spirits always looked like young adults to me. They’re shoulder height to the adults.

[keen shore]

Imagine being beaten at the prophecy trials by a 3ft tall child

[frigid tinsel]

this goes more into my ficverse headcanons, but I imagine the king had enough of Isle Elder and attacked them before banishing them, hence the broken mask.

[rustic heron]

Do you have a collection of these somewhere? I want to compile my own thoughts, but if the idea already exists there’s no need.

[frigid tinsel]

if you wanna compile your own thoughts, go ahead, they're your thoughts

[keen shore]

Minor side note. So birds help clear clouds right, and also can be born from clouds. Does this mean the areas got opened up by just turning all the clouds into birds?? Do the other elders have powers similar to that or is it just the isle elder?

[tulip aspen]

so basically, there are ancestors, which are the initial intelligent species

they all fell from the sky, possibly on purpose, possibly on accident

they had come from this giant mass of Light in space
they were supposed to try to reconnect mentally to that Light, in order to ascend back up to it, but it wasn't going well

they began to build a kingdom but were confused, so the prophets had a vision and saw a being defeating a group of trials, and being given great power to lead them all to salvation

many ancestors tried the trials but failed, until a special child ancestor that fell from the sky a long time later finally defeated them, and was crowned prince/king

after that, according to the concepts, the prince may have singlehandedly discovered and developed darkstone and the crystal technology

the giant diamond in eden was created for an unknown purpose, but recently i have been led to believe it was intended to send all ancestors straight back up into space without a complicated ascension process

the crystals created some sort of corruption pollution, and the giant diamond exploded

we dont know much about the apocalypse that followed, and there's even theories that there were multiple apocalypses all at once

after the dust settled, likely decades later, all of the ancestors were dead

a loooong time after that, the mass of Light sent angels to retrieve the souls of the ancestors, and that's us! our job isnt done until every spirit hidden in new areas is found.

[sage isle]

oh sweet Jesus

[tulip aspen]

and yes i just casually summed up my 4 months of research that i had found out with all of my lore people here LMAO

@keen shore @compact shale im seething that i was just able to do that

[tulip aspen]

hmm, i dont ever want to do to anyone again what i did to you today, and ill admit, you coming in with your own perspectives has been charming, so i really dont think you have to read any of it if you dont want to

that being said here's my compilation of all of the biggest theories and topics ive written about
||https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XrfbCBoPzm4GBZXS6rP1eK9X7XyN11RfttUi_03zQgc/edit?usp=drivesdk||

[sage isle]

Jam, when was the last time you slept-

[frigid tinsel]

as if a quarter of these docs aren't others' quotes from lorechat

[rustic heron]

No, I want to. My first message on this channel was looking for docs just like these. I couldn’t find them in the pins of the channel, so I yolo’d and just decided to bash my head against the wall until I learned everything.

[tulip aspen]

im a traveling musician and tradesman working on dock construction and jazz gigs at shady places so uh

yes :D

@frigid tinsel i never want my voice to be the only one heard, and I've been trying my best to include any logical takes that even differ from mine, cos im trying to solve Sky, not insist whatever i want is right

so yes, of course i need quotes, i need all of us working together in order for us to make progress on all of this, and im so glad we have/do

[rustic heron]

I’m a major proponent of archiving thoughts and theories, what does and doesn’t work, and building off of that. Not everyone is, but I prefer it if possible.

[keen shore]

I’m going to leave for about 45 minutes to cr golden wasteland and check for any murals in the main realm, then record them

[tulip aspen]

gl fam!!!

[frigid tinsel]

imagine not having Discord open while playing Sky /j

[tulip aspen]

watch the lore bible look either exactly like this, or not be even one word similar

[frigid tinsel]

devs: write that down, write that down

[tulip aspen]

that'd be worse

[cosmic willow]

tgc,probably:the real lore is the skids we befriended along the way

[harsh pecan]

😭

[keen shore]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-yA8OdJ2NzwNc8c15sQB3UALYn3psT3c6mWgIV64jFM/edit valley of triumph and golden wasteland are added :^)

[tulip aspen]

your sacrifice will not be forgotten

[tulip aspen]

@frigid tinsel sorry for the ping, but do you have resentment towards me using your quotes in some of the docs?
i can remove them if you'd like

[stable veldt]

I'm tempted to contribute in lorechat as illustrator but idk, a lot of are all talented , if anyone need illustration hmu :")

[tulip aspen]

do you have any art we could see at the very least id love to see it!

[frigid tinsel]

any and all contributions are welcome. it's nice to see art inspired by this chat

[stable veldt]

I think it would be againts the server rules to shill my insta :"), and alright, I'll draw something soon related to lorechat instead (any request which btw?)

[tulip aspen]

its my dream to see a thing portraying all of the active people's skykids be shown debating in this giant room, where the lorechat folk hide away and thrive

[stable veldt]

send me your skids in dms and i'll draw them all

[tulip aspen]

ive always headcanoned that whenever we as players interact with other players in a sky sense, that's canon (to me)

even outside of game, i can just imagine our Skykids rn are just sitting around chatting and theorizing

even outside of the official server, scary antics like kp and the skyblr, i see it all as skids still interacting

[stable veldt]

If we're talking about what skids are doing outside us controlling, I would assume they probably meditate/went to sleep, like those AFK animations

[distant turtle]

E1 and E2 are Prairie, Forest, Valley, then Wasteland, Vault, Eden. You wrote that Wasteland temple isn't shown, but it is shown at the bottom of E2.

[tulip aspen]

ik ik its just my little thingy lol

[hushed steeple]

Completely worth getting summoned for. I love it a lot ✨

just kidding I love getting summoned

[frigid tinsel]

in my ficverse, lorechat is the rumor mill
not that I have characters based off these antics here no no really

[rigid mural]

gives you all a blue cape and lightseeker masks

[frigid tinsel]

ah, i haven't been around long enough to do that

[frigid tinsel]

but i have two skids

[keen shore]

Thank you, I mixed up the shape. Although that still means valley isn’t represented which is ??

[tulip aspen]

people with cr-grind alts " "

/j

[stable veldt]

basically lorechat

[keen shore]

I have. A really goofy request

[stable veldt]

jam keeps adding emote and i fear for their health (also what's ur req?)

[tidal valve]

awe cute drawing (-,: I the archive in vault

[keen shore]

Can you draw the enchantment guide attempting to stir the cauldron with a massive spoon that looks like this. I’ve been envisioning it in my head for the last day and cackling to myself

[frigid tinsel]

actually not an alt, I tried making one self-insert character and ended up with two. not the first time this has happened too

[tulip aspen]

s a l e m w h y

[keen shore]

Trust me. It’ll be hilarious

[frigid tinsel]

oh that's awesome

[distant turtle]

Excuse me for using your image. Bottom to top are Prairie, Forest, and Valley temples.

[rigid mural]

Valley my beloved.

[tidal valve]

The other side of isle temple I believe have the other realm temples as well!

[keen shore]

I think you’re right, I just need to check the shapes tomorrow to be sure

[tidal valve]

The shapes of the temples are also referred in the sky a beginners guide on the thatskygame offical YouTube channel I believe?

[keen shore]

Are they? Interesting, I didn’t realize. Thank you, its easy for me to mess up small things like that, so I appreciate the correction

[distant turtle]

I didn't notice the mine mural until I saw your page. What do you think the story is there?

[tidal valve]

Whoops it’s not on that YouTube video, I swear I remember a diagram with the temple mural drawings somewhere though

[hushed steeple]

“We don’t need this catapult anymore what should we do with it?”

“Big cereal”
“Pardon?”

[keen shore]

My god it’s beautiful. Thank you so much

[stable veldt]

"See, i custom made this spoon to fit 2 skid a scoop"

[tidal valve]

Or the spoon is large enough to spoon feed a cute little baby krill

[keen shore]

The mine mural by itself doesn’t really give us a lot of information, just that darkstone was mined there. The only thing about it that interests me behind that is the part where it shows the boats going to the lighthouse, I wonder why

[stable veldt]

maybe it was the forgotten ark

[half shadow]

i’m thinking of the giant spoon vine

[tidal valve]

I think the lighthouse was where the manta/ darkstone factory was, so the minerals were transported there

We’re talking about abyss right?

[tulip aspen]

salem trying to pick up the giant spears cos i asked them to while i stand there taking notes

[frigid tinsel]

we need a Salem flipping out over the giant spears like "do you even lift bro?!"

[keen shore]

Hold on they need a reference

[frigid tinsel]

Salem: trying fruitlessly to pick up the giant spear
Jam: do you even lift, mate?

[tulip aspen]

"they HAVE to be used against dark creatures Jam!!!"

"but the tHemE cHanGed Salem!"

"well what do YOU think they're for??"

"I- ....maybe can the ancestors lift them?"

"I've measured the spears, I don't think so"

"I..... could you measure again...?"

a real conversation that happened

[keen shore]

This is what I look like irl hope this helps /j

[wise rampart]

comically large spoon

[frigid tinsel]

Salem is a cat, no wonder they're obsessed over spoons and spears

[keen shore]

I have the muscle tone of a skeleton so this is accurate

[tulip aspen]

when you think about it this is exactly how our brainstorm over it went right salem?

[frigid tinsel]

honestly I think some skykids in-universe would be furries I mean look at all the animal masks

[frigid tinsel]

Rallying Thrillseeker is dressed as their mantasona

[cosmic willow]

totally
not to mention I think it was once stated animal masks reflected the wearer’s role in the kingdom (was it by Ash?)

[keen shore]

Who came up with this system. I have a suspicion it was the forest elder

[stable veldt]

so the forest elder is a furry?

[rustic heron]

So that's why she has so much hair.

[tulip aspen]

we already knew that shes a furry

[keen shore]

Oh yeah totally. I have no evidence though, just trust me

[frigid tinsel]

you're onto something

[keen shore]

“So I was thinking, maybe we should wear animal masks, I think it should be neat”
“Okay, but why?”
[panics] “it’ll… help us identify different jobs…”

[rustic heron]

Do you think Prarie Elder styles their hair to look like butterfly wings?

[keen shore]

I didn’t at first but now I do

[frigid tinsel]

wut why didn't I notice that
I just assumed they were balding
okay in hindsight doesn't make sense for immortal, prob nonbiological beings

[rustic heron]

Do you thin Forest Elder styles their hair to look like Jellyfish?

[frigid tinsel]

Lapis here with these big brain takes.
never thought of that but it makes sense

[rustic heron]

Maybe GW elder styles his hair to look like Krill?

[stable veldt]

forget king propaganda. Forest elder furry propaganda is where its at

[frigid tinsel]

oop here's the point of contention.
if Wasteland Elder styled their hair to look like krill, that might mean krill existed before the kingdom's fall/Eden exploded. then again, why would Wasteland Elder style their hair like something so menacing?
but yea it does look like krill

[keen shore]

The entire reason ancestors wore masks in the first place is because of forest elder, mystery solved

[frigid tinsel]

I think if the Elders don't wear masks, they'd had typical faces, except Valley Elder(s)

[keen shore]

The statues in GW have eyes and noses so at the VERY least they would probably have that

[rustic heron]

It's possible. Corruption might have occurred at a much lower rate, but still happened on very rare occasions. Having fought with something so rare, GW Eleder styled their hair that way.

Maybe .creatures of light become corrupted at great depths, like in abyssal waters? It would be very rare, and the ones that become corrupted seek light outside the water.

[keen shore]

after killing a rare monster I think this would make a great hairstyle

[rustic heron]

I kinda like the thought that creatures of light need to be under a light source, or they slowly corrupt. GW being covered in couds and eternally dark, coupled with polluted waters, accelerated the corruption.

[frigid tinsel]

Wasteland Elder, standing over dead krill: what a fiercesome opponent you were. how little we understand of you. there must be a way to honor you.

[rustic heron]

Vault Elder hates animals because you don't let animals in a library (do spirits have service animals?)

So they don't style their hair, hence the headdress.

[frigid tinsel]

there's a concept some tumblr user is developing that skykids who struggle to fly have service mantas and it's the cutest thing

[rustic heron]

Oh, here's a good one. Isle Elder loes birds. His beard looks like folded wings. Isle Elder styles his beard like bird wings.

[tulip aspen]

so much to do

[frigid tinsel]

this looks like my mind, just needs 40 more tabs open

[rustic heron]

Do you use chrome?

[frigid tinsel]

looks like Android

[tulip aspen]

your mind has a girl holding a pumpkin in it? (i prolly should have cropped that )

[rustic heron]

There's an extension for chrome browser called "The Great Suspender". It suspends unused tabs, freeing up the unused RAM.

[frigid tinsel]

prob, my oc universe has at least 25 unwritten stories and I can't keep track of all the characters

[keen shore]

Visual representation of my mind as I try to cr golden wasteland and get distracted by a sword yet again

[frigid tinsel]

anyways i'm making my class read Sky fanfic again cos the browser froze on the Sky: Children of the Light tab and it won't respond to force quit

[rustic heron]

Do you think all the sand in Isle and GW is from dead spirits being eroded by wind over centuries?

[frigid tinsel]

coughs in Minecraft

[keen shore]

I think the sand in GW is just dried up soil because all the plants died due to the storm/lack of sunlight, but Isle… maybe. I mean, it was green at some point
Also how did it become 1 AM that shouldn’t have happened

[rustic heron]

I live in PST, so it's 10pm here.

[keen shore]

Luckyyyyy… I’m going to go to bed goodnight

[frigid tinsel]

same, goodnight lorechat

[rustic heron]

I wonder if Spirits ever invented cloud beds?

That's be the pinnacle of technological progress.

[frigid tinsel]

cmon TGC, if you were to have one thing in this game about being in the literal Sky, you gotta make sleeping on clouds canon

[rustic heron]

The real lore is the TGC is run by actual skykids banding on computers and honking.

[tulip aspen]

shore gang shore gang

[rigid mural]

Went to visit Daleth
Isle Elder and Prairie Elder clearly show Eden in their cutscenes.
Forest had it in Light Awaits but it got scrapped from the live game.
From then on, the last three realms do not show Eden, albeit one could argue Vault kinda shows it through the last of the constellations.

On another detail, while concept art of the Isle Elder had their design be strongly avian (with the T mask looking like spread out wings or a beak) if not straight up a bird (reeeaally early stuff), the current design is much more humanoid.
Though... the beard being divided in two more-or-less symmetrical parts may be an echo to bird wings and their past design...

[harsh plover]

Ooooh the background looks goood

[rustic heron]

I don't understand. Execution? Child of Prophecy isn't the Prince?

[harsh plover]

Me too I don’t understand

Can some one please bring a doctor to explain this

[tulip aspen]

huh

[half shadow]

I think it’s just a headcanon they have

oh did it get deleted?

[fossil mason]

Hello

[half shadow]

howdy

[harsh plover]

Really?

[tulip aspen]

A mass of Light sits in space, a collective conscious

Ancestors came from the Light, either sent or fell by accident, falling as pure Light energy, then gaining hard shells upon landing.

These ancestors began building a kingdom, but due to the religious subtexts of worship and meditation, it's theorized that they were supposed to reconnect mentally to that Light in space, in order to ascend back up to it. (that theory may be incorrect and they might've had no real way to return)

Powerful deities; Elders, were sent by the Light to help them ascend, tasked to help the ancestors grow both spiritually and keep their kingdom thriving, but even then the ancestors still couldnt ascend..

The prophets had a vision and saw a being defeating a group of trials, and being given great power to lead them all to salvation.
Ancestors tried the trials but failed, until a special child ancestor that fell from the sky a long time later, defeated them, and was crowned prince/king.
After that, via the concepts, the prince may have then discovered and developed darkstone and the crystal technology, mass producing it.

There seemed to be resentment in the kingdom with one side preferring spiritual traditions, and the other preferring technology.
Civil war breaks out.

The giant diamond in eden was created/harvested for an unknown purpose, but recently i've been led to believe it was intended to send all ancestors straight back up into space without a complicated ascension process.
(Made before or during the war???)

The crystals created some sort of corruption pollution, and the giant diamond ruptured.
We dont know much about the apocalypse that followed, and there's even theories that there were multiple apocalypses all at once.
After the dust settled, likely decades later, all of the ancestors were dead.

A loooong time after that, the mass of Light sent angels to retrieve the souls of the ancestors, and that's us! Our job isnt done until every spirit hidden in new areas is found.

_
_
.....idk
it just might work
that might just be a valid possible timeline
hmmm

[tulip aspen]

anyone see any faults in it?

[nimble ingot]

The game lore is open ended, with a few canon beans added in for good measure.

I think the ancestors might have a bigger role in making power diamonds. While in the old lore, the elders used dark stone to become more powerful, which lead to their corruption (or implied being/becoming corrupted in Light Awaits).
Since the Current game does not touch on corruption much, there is little evidence to see if the corrupt elder angle is still the case.

[late wasp]

something i noticed, Jam, which can help with the part where you said:

"that theory may be incorrect and they might've had no real way to return"

is how Spirits can ascend to space from either the Temples or from the holiest of places: Eden.

but there is also a third option, without Elders or Eden. Seasonal Spirits ascend to space together, as a group, without an Elder Temple, and without Eden.

Meaning, ancestors can ascend by themselves, granted they do so in groups. (Spirits Guides seem to have become "lesser" Elders too)

[nimble ingot]

Take note that season spirits can only ascend when skykids have fulfilled their wishes.
Which may suggest that spirits without temples, can ascend once skykids have helped then, similar to shepherding non-season spirits to their remples.

[late wasp]

yeah, but the point is that the location is not so much necessary. and thus, if we consider a world pre-elder / pre-skid, we can assume they did so on their own.
technically spirit guides serve the same function as elders and skids: guiding spirits.

(the funny part is how seasonal spirits often live in a world post-eden explosion)

[late wasp]

another point, Jam. about this quote here:

"the prince may have singlehandedly discovered and developed darkstone and the crystal technology"

cave of prophecies mural for the water trial shows the dawn elder sending Prince into the clouds using a flying ship. the implication here is that they already had dark stone technology.

[nimble ingot]

hmmm...
That is an interesting notion, an ancestor fulfilling a similar role as an elder.

I wonder if that lore hint of the Flight guide being an apprentice to the Day Elder, would also suggest other season guides could be similar to other elders (as priest, follower or apprentice).

[late wasp]

yeah, responding to you i realized most of those people that ascend on "their own" (with skid help) came after the elders. maybe the elders did help the ancestors my teaching them one thing or two.

||my favorite thing will always be how the vault ancestors were learning to fly. with enough time they would do it||

[harsh plover]

Im back brothers, now tell what did I miss

[nimble ingot]

pirates - I mean - Scavengers have arrived in the season of Abyss.
There is treasure to be had, and a potential monster lurking in the water based on the memory of the Anxious Angler.

[lusty merlin]

Soooo me and my friends visited the giant statue on top of the wasteland temple and I noticed something, the giant statue and the smaller ones infront of it have these valves I think.

and these seem to be connect to the pipes that stretches all across wasteland, the staues on the ground in-front of the temple don’t have these valves and it makes me wonder why these are here.
The giant statue is textured and everything and there’s details on the valves, so it couldn’t be a random design choice

One of my friends suggested it could be vale’s for fuel but both of us can’t think what type of thing would need that much fuel

I just thought it was a cool detail because no other statues are like this

Sorry if this has been discussed before I just thought this was rlly interesting

[true grove]

Ah yes the cannons

[frigid tinsel]

Turrets

[nimble ingot]

The turrets are canon.

[true grove]

What's the difference 💀

[frigid tinsel]

turrets are, to put simply, a type of cannon in a high tower meant to shoot at things below.

in Zhao's concepts, the turrets were supposed to shoot lasers at skids and you would have to avoid them

[tulip aspen]

well of course the kingdom played a part in general with harvesting and refining darkstone in their machines, i think i added the fact that the concepts say the prince did that because it's the only way the prophecy would make sense, along with him using the giant crystal as a portal back to the Light for the whole kingdom

thanks for the feedback!

what do you mean by corrupt elder?

[tulip aspen]

yepyep

however, that is a 2000 unit message already lol, and

1. explaining seasons already stretches the lore since they dont really serve proper purposes in the launch-game story and
2. if TGC actually cared about making the seasons credible to lore, they'd prolly make us travel to the Elder of that realm before we can actually use the emotes of that season

however, we know exactly who TGC is, so we have to accept the game being more shallow than the story as usz, and take that in stride :D

[tulip aspen]

I've always theorized those are cannons

[lusty merlin]

OOOO that would make a lot more sense! Maybe it could also explain why graveyard is the way it is

[tulip aspen]

well, I've actually theorized all of the statues are turrets, in the way of the concept art where the head can look around and shoot beams

so the lower statues would theoretically shoot simple beams at infantry, while the cannons were meant to take out artillery and wagons, especially if they used Light Dragons (cinematic trailer creature) as war wagons

[late wasp]

some of the early spirits did travel to the temple. the "purple" ones?
like the gratitude spirits .

but there are also small hints that the seasonal hubs are "pseudo-temples", like the sanctuary that even has the tolling bells before the spirits ascend summoned by their guide (like other spirits go to temple summoned by the elder)

the same repeats in a few other instances. it seems that, the spirits that have a hub of their own, ascend from their "pseudo-temple", while the spirits just chilling in another area, go to the real temples.

[nimble ingot]

In the old lore, the prince may have discovered dark stone, but the ancestor refined it. Unless I misunderstood the concept art of the old timeline.

What I mean about the corrupt elder part, is that the wasteland elder was once considered to be either partially or about to become corrupted by the darkness, based on the concept art. That and the corrupted king concept art.
Seeing the current lore has changed since the time of Light Awaits, the corruption of the elders part is (to my knowledge) not yet confirmed.

Sure the wasteland elder looks perfectly find in the current game, I cannot say the same thing with the King without proof.

[tulip aspen]

interesting....

I've had two theories before that had absolutely no evidence

the first is that Light magic carries the boats, the second is that the Isle Elder has the power to make boats fly just by his will since he's the ferryman (a bit corny)

a much much better answer about how ancestors would have traveled without darkstone is the flight style; using light creatures to pull the boats

i need to go to the candlemaker to study the boat that appears in his memory but ill have to do it later

tbh it'll likely be a lost cause since i doubt they'd make it a diff model than any other power diamond boat

[tulip aspen]

yea but what im saying is he 1. found it (hidden in the forest) and 2. figured out how to refine it then 3. ordered the kingdom to begin mass producing it in temples and structures

ofc he didn't do all of it by himself lmao

[harsh plover]

😱

[keen shore]

Hey, you know what device would send the boats flying straight into the air, giving them enough distance to successfully overcome the gap? /j

[late wasp]

the prince?

[keen shore]

catapults :3

[wheat leaf]

Salutations!

[tulip aspen]

hmm ig

it could be true; especially when ash gives us a million WAFOs whenever fruity and i asked questions about how seasonal spirits ascend

but i just want us to recognize seasons don't really serve as functional lore when in the end, especially seasons before they had actual new areas, those spirits were just cosmetic trees they really wanted us to buy from

[wheat leaf]

WAFOs?
And I can agree with that, you could replace them with literal trees and hardly anything would change about the lore. Asides from the fact that emotes would be far stranger, don't want a Skykid to fractalize for an emote.

[keen shore]

ALMOST FORGOT but while searching GW yesterday I noticed this diamond shaped hole in the elder statue. I wonder what would happen if you put a power diamond in it
(I’m pretty sure there are the same holes in other statues but I can’t remember which ones)

[tulip aspen]

when ash the dev can't give us an answer to a big story question, or she can't think of how best to answer, she will just say "Wait and Find Out"

it's so much so her catch phrase that if you look at her bio she even says it there

[late wasp]

those are just how the game represent gravestones.
you can see some more easily at the start of Isle or Prairie

[frigid tinsel]

i don't think those are the Elders' gravestones. they don't seem all that dead, yknow

[tulip aspen]

they appear to you in visions, not irl

also, ive been thinking

[frigid tinsel]

there's been no confirmation if they're just "visions" or "pocket dimensions" or what have ya's. Elders are said to exist in a place "beyond space and time"

[hushed steeple]

Is the mysterious voice that aurora sings in the game supposed to canonically be eden?

[tulip aspen]

what if.... that's tsadi's tomb..?

[late wasp]

I'm pretty sure Ash or someone else had to confirm they are dead, because other people didn't see it too.

This also serves to give us some timeline. Since in the "flashback / vision" of the Vault Elder we can see them surrounded by the other Elders' graves. Implying Vault Elder was the last one alive. (before dying too)

[keen shore]

Are they even gravestones?? Something about that idea bothers me but I can’t put my finger on it
I think it’s because there are more statues than just the vault elder in their temple area although tbf that can just be explained by the whole illusion thing… although I’m 90% sure they’re still there when the illusion fades

[tulip aspen]

i certainly know it's not irl either way lol

it's the same talk as what we've had about the trials

if it's not a vision, then that means you're saying that they... physically teleport you to another place? to a place "beyond space and time"

if that's what you think that's really interesting

[hushed steeple]

Sky is already like about ascending, so its probably true

[tulip aspen]

hmm so they ascend on the spot for a moment?

[hushed steeple]

Maybe its just a fragment of ascension

[tulip aspen]

interesting, i wonder how that would work

[hushed steeple]

Like ur half ascended, you can enter places beyond space and time but you arent quite yet a fully ascended being

[tulip aspen]

meditates at the Elder's throne and just starts floating upwards into the ceiling

[hushed steeple]

Maybe trials are, well, trials for us if we can even handle ascension before going into the real tjing

And i also have a question: why didnt the children we save in eden ascend earlier? Is it bc they didnt collect spirits? Bc they didnt get blessed with winged light? In journey (spoiler alert for journey) its clear what happens, you die but the elders revive you. But its not quite clear why we even got revived or why the kids that became statues didnt ascend earlier

[frigid tinsel]

Vault Elder's altar being surrounded by the other Elders' altars and the other Elders being present in their cutscene gives me the sense that they were in some sort of leadership role, able to call forth the other Elders for meetings and whatnot.

the tomb idea doesn't really sit right with me cos it seems too small to fit Wasteland Elder's body. others, perhaps. cremation maybe, but even then it seems there were inconsistent Elder body disposal (oh hate that phrase).

I've never heard about any dev confirming that the Elders are dead. I do know one of them said that Elders exist "beyond space and time." the fact that Elders are present in the Sky world and appear sometimes in Orbit reminds me of liminal spaces, the transitional, in-between places. so they may not be dead, but they not be alive, somewhere in-between that grants them the ability to traverse between Orbit (perhaps to converse with Megabird) and the living Sky world (to be in tune with the ancestors and light creatures). hence their ability to ascend spirits.
of course, they're limited to these sort of pocket dimensions within the Sky world. perhaps due to Eden exploding – I'm thinking of that Eden OOB with the Elders' bodies suspended flung from an explosion.

[tulip aspen]

as far as we know, that white figure we hug is indeed us and our anime powers of believing in ourselves help us to overcome death

im semijoking but that is literally as far as we know

[late wasp]

I don't personally believe they "bury" their dead in Sky. But they do build/place gravestones to represent a dead person.

[keen shore]

So side note about the boats from earlier. Darkstone can make stuff levitate but it works more similar to magnets than just putting a piece in something and making it float magically. The gondolas in village of dreams have those massive pillars with darkstone on top, where the boats can only float once those are activated (not on their own). The same pillars are shown underwater in the treasure reef where they probably would’ve been used to levitate minecarts. And in valley’s citadel, the orreries are levitated and spun using massive rotating wheels of darkstone underneath them.

The only places these pillars are not shown in relation to boats (off the top of my head) are in:

• Isle & Prairie - we only see boats here in spirit memories. May have to relive a few memories to check fully if they have diamonds, but it is entirely possible they use a different, less efficient but more sustainable, way to travel. Also off the top of my head the slumbering shipwright doesn’t include diamond holes in the boat they’re making although this could be just because it’s unfinished
• Wind Paths - boats here are pulled by mantas
• Vault of Knowledge - who knows how much of this place is an illusion — also the darkstone floating above the elevator seems to help it move to some extent, plus it’s really late in the timeline so they could have figured out a way to move past the magnetism limitations that isle would not have had access too. ALSO, the only things the spirits can levitate in their memories have darkstone in them
• & the two boats leading to treasure reef and forgotten ark, which do have diamonds. Forgotten ark boat rises above the water to some extent but mostly stays in it, while treasure reef boat stays above the clouds. My personal theory here is that the water vapor (clouds) and water sources in general are just so contaminated with darkstone at this point that the magnetism levitation still works to a lesser, much weaker extent. (1/2)

[tulip aspen]

the tomb idea doesnt sit right with me either tbh, but yes, ive always already assumed they have the power to appear to us when we meditate at their throne, but that they are generally in the Light already

[hushed steeple]

I thought the white person was another winged light. Maybe the kids who died in the eden storms are now the winged ligjt? Tjeir souls? And now we return their souls. The white person may be a winged light, our own winged light, our soul. Maybe we ascebded bc we returned our soul ourselves but the kids couldnt return them by themselves

[keen shore]

Since there are no visible levitation pole ruins in isle, I think it’s safe to conclude they used an alternate technology. Did I just write a whole essay on how to float boats? …maybe (2/2)

[tulip aspen]

it's important, so ty

[keen shore]

Thanks, glad to know my habit of overanalyzing minor details comes in handy sometimes

[hushed steeple]

Ive always wondered ehat skykids even are, in the early days of beta it says that you have been seperated and stranded from your family, and it says "maybe you can find a new family here"or somethung along those lines. But now u just magucally appear out of nowhere

[frigid tinsel]

similar to my own idea – the darkness in Eden petrifies skykids and traps them, effectively killing them and keeping their soul unconscious in this void of darkness. in order to ascend, they need light, so other skykids give their petrified peers winged light in order to reawaken them. that winged light is ours now, so it conforms to our appearance (hence why the white kid is delit like us and always the same height as us) until the petrified skykid accepts it by hugging it.

[wheat leaf]

Who is Tsadi?

[frigid tinsel]

the fanon name for the Wasteland Elder. all the Elders have names from concept development but they're no longer canon, but the community tends to use them.

[wheat leaf]

I see. Thank you.

[hushed steeple]

Oooh i need to search em up

[late wasp]

having to prove this is a little weird, cause i don't think the game even tries to make it ambiguous.

they are dead. they are spirits (ghosts).

[wheat leaf]

https://sky-children-of-the-light.fandom.com/wiki/Seven_Days_of_Sky Here's the wiki link to the released original doc.

[keen shore]

Wonder if the whole beta idea about losing your family and then making new friends which become part of a constellation is directly related to spirits forming constellations. Just a thought

[hushed steeple]

The most shocking oart here is that apples with salt and pepper is an existing concept

[frigid tinsel]

@wheat leaf they're based off Hebrew letters
Isle Elder – Daleth
Prairie Elder – Ayin
Forest Elder – Teth
Valley Elder(s) – Samekh
Wasteland Elder – Tsadi
Vault Elder – Lamed

[hushed steeple]

Oh wow

[frigid tinsel]

here Ash is saying that the spirits, in reference to the ancestors, are dead. the "valley twin elder spirits" was edited in to mess with us

[keen shore]

Things I can write 2000 character essays on: how to float boats using rocks in a fictional universe
Things I cannot write 2000 character essays on: actually important academic things

[wheat leaf]

That's actually fairly interesting. The devs have quite the history of using other languages for reference and the like, tbh.

[late wasp]

"spirits are spirits"
"they are ghosts"

she is saying: "spirits are ghosts"

and them call the valley elders "spirits", aka "ghosts".

[nimble ingot]

Sky is haunted = CONFIRMED

[hushed steeple]

There is this theory that the realms represent one realm throughout time, is that canon? Bc it was speculated here that the boat technology wasnt figured out yet in isle

[keen shore]

Horrible character idea: skykid who doesn’t believe in ghosts and finds increasingly ridiculous ways to explain everything away

[frigid tinsel]

the spirits refer exclusively to ancestor spirits. nowhere in game are Elders referred to as spirits. as I mentioned before, Ash edited their message to say "valley twin elder spirits" specifically to mess with us. you can see in that last message there's a little (edited) notation

[wheat leaf]

Sky's haunted.
What?

Salt starts being spread around. Sky's haunted.
(Apologies, that was lame.)

[wheat leaf]

Also. This would be very interesting.

Eden and the Flight are hallucinations, perhaps? Or just the Flight?

[keen shore]

I don’t think this is possible due to vastly varying geography, although there seems to be vastly varying levels of technology between the realms. I think the current idea is that the varying technology is just due to how much each elder is okay with it and/or the fact that some realms are much more densely populated than others

[hushed steeple]

"They are all on a halloween costume party and they all coincidentally chose to be a ghost."

[keen shore]

They think all the spirits are their friends dressed in really good costumes trying to mess with them

[frigid tinsel]

this is on par with an atheist character in a story where the gods are actively involved in the world

[hushed steeple]

Well, we are talking about decades and centuries, and it doesnt have to represent the exact same place, just the same, like, kingdom or sumth

[late wasp]

also keep this in mind, @hushed steeple

[wheat leaf]

Like an Atheist bard in D&D

[tulip aspen]

since i headcanon that all of player's interactions are canon to Sky, in and out of the game, that already does happen

[keen shore]

meets isle elder “dude, I know that’s you in stilts and a fake beard, you can stop messing with me now”

[nimble ingot]

about ash saying the outfits look different on skykids.

I would think it is obvious when it comes to the absolute unit of a man that is/was the fire prophet.

Heck even the yeti's outfit would be big enough to cover a king size bed! XD

[tulip aspen]

sees the candlemaker omg is there something in these candles cos im tripping out

[wheat leaf]

Perhaps he just swiped capes and stitched them together meticulously.

[keen shore]

They keep conveniently looking away and not paying attention when the spirits just start yelling at them out of sheer frustration

[keen shore]

Oh, I get what you mean! Thought you were talking about the exact same place in different timelines. I personally don’t believe that they’re from entirely different spots in time, because there’s no precedent for time travel yet, and also because even in the earlier realms everything looks abandoned and you still have to save spirits that would otherwise just have to go to the elder temple and wouldn’t really need you. The most striking difference in isle specifically is the fact that it suffered desertification. If it was a different space in time, it would probably still look and feel green and inhabited. However, this is all just educated assumptions and could be proven wrong

[covert oar]

Does anyone knows the lore of abyss spirits? How they died

[wise rampart]

not yet, no, but I have theories

they’re ill prepared to face the dragons, and obviously don’t know that they exist. They are just scavengers after all, likely searching for resources following the collapse of eden and the realms

[late wasp]

it is also possible they were just stranded and lived there for the rest of their peaceful lives

[wise rampart]

Similar to the Forgotten Ark spirits. They presumably shipwrecked, set up shop, and lived out the rest of their days

[tulip aspen]

damn the boat does indeed seem to be a power diamond boat

hm......

[rustic heron]

I think the point of contention here is that Spirits needed to ascend to orbit in some way, since they can’t fly.

How else would they ascend, as a genuine question?

[half shadow]

yep the darkstone-powered boats are their only known methods of flight

[harsh plover]

this game has a very interesting story behind