Hello there, fellow Escapists. This would be my first real post (yay me...). So needless to say, I'm disturbingly stoked for the release of D3. I recently picked up a copy of the Book of Cain, and started pouring over it like a religious scholar. The most important section, in my mind, is the Prophecy. If you want to avoid (what I hope to be) potential spoilers, stop reading now.
Still here? Cool. The Prophecy, I believe, is the key to unlocking the D3 storyline. It goes a little something like this:
...And at the End of Days, Wisdom shall be lost
as Justice falls upon the world of men.
Valor shall turn to Wrath--
and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.
Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all--
as Fate lies shattered forever.
Let's dissect the Prophesy, line by line, what we know of the game, and apply the data from the Book of Cain.
According to the BoC, the Archangel of Wisdom, Malthael, went missing after the Worldstone was destroyed. The BoC even relates the disappearance with the first line of the Prophesy. The next line, ?as Justice falls upon the world of men,? relates to an in-game event. The game starts with your character hunting for the Fallen Star (source: open beta), which struck the ancient cathedral in the ruins of old Tristram. The beta ends just after you defeat the Skeleton King, supposedly because there's a huge plot twist right afterward. My theory? Well according to the listing of the Archangels in the BoC, Tyrael is the Archangel of Justice. He's also sort of been a rogue since the appearance of humanity in Sanctuary. I believe he is indeed the Fallen Star, and has been cast out of the High Heavens.
Why? Well let's look at the Prophecy again. The next line is ?Valor shall turn to Wrath.? Imperius is the Archangel of Valor. I say he's Fallen, and become the embodiment of Wrath, antonym of Valor. Next line: ?and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.? Auriel is the Archangel of Hope. Is it possible she's turned just as Imperius has, and become the opposite of what she embodies? If so, then the two could have cast Tyrael out of the High Heavens. The next two lines are a bit tricky. ?Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all?as Fate lies shattered forever.? Ok, there's no Archangel of death, but there is Itherael, the Archangel of Fate. Now, this is pure conjecture (?right, Moosemade, because everything up til now has been pure fact...?), but is it possible that Itherael has also turned, and become Death, a relative of Fate?
Now, what does this mean? I think it means that we'll be spending a good amount of time fighting our way through the High Heavens in this game. This is supported by some old screens from the original D3 engine from years ago. It depicted our heroes fighting through Heaven. Consequently, if anyone has those screens, let me know, as I want to make sure I'm not subconsciously using revisionist history. But there's two or three loose ends that need addressing. The first being the video of Azmodan, Leah, and the Black Soulstone. In said video, Azmodan, the Lord of Sin, says that he wants to Black Soulstone. What IS the Black Soulstone, though? Well, according to the BoC, the Black Soulstone was created by a rogue Horadric mage named Zoltun Kulle. It apparently had the power to command both demonic AND angelic essences.
Conjecture mode again: Alright, according to the BoC, Azmodan ?believes that all beings find their truest identity by embracing the far limits of perversion and depravity.? Now what is Wrath, Despair, and Death other than perversions of Valor, Hope, and Fate, respectively? Could it be that Azmodan is using the Black Soulstone somehow to corrupt the Archangels?
Now, it's entirely possible that I've gone all John Nash and I'm seeing connections where there are none, but like any madman, I'd like to think otherwise. Let me know what you think of my ?little? theory, and post your own theories, as I'd love to hear them. No theory should go without scrutiny, and no theorist should theorize in a vacuum. So the more more we toss theories around, the better chance we have of not being surprised when the game comes out. Wait, that doesn't sound good at all...
Still here? Cool. The Prophecy, I believe, is the key to unlocking the D3 storyline. It goes a little something like this:
...And at the End of Days, Wisdom shall be lost
as Justice falls upon the world of men.
Valor shall turn to Wrath--
and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.
Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all--
as Fate lies shattered forever.
Let's dissect the Prophesy, line by line, what we know of the game, and apply the data from the Book of Cain.
According to the BoC, the Archangel of Wisdom, Malthael, went missing after the Worldstone was destroyed. The BoC even relates the disappearance with the first line of the Prophesy. The next line, ?as Justice falls upon the world of men,? relates to an in-game event. The game starts with your character hunting for the Fallen Star (source: open beta), which struck the ancient cathedral in the ruins of old Tristram. The beta ends just after you defeat the Skeleton King, supposedly because there's a huge plot twist right afterward. My theory? Well according to the listing of the Archangels in the BoC, Tyrael is the Archangel of Justice. He's also sort of been a rogue since the appearance of humanity in Sanctuary. I believe he is indeed the Fallen Star, and has been cast out of the High Heavens.
Why? Well let's look at the Prophecy again. The next line is ?Valor shall turn to Wrath.? Imperius is the Archangel of Valor. I say he's Fallen, and become the embodiment of Wrath, antonym of Valor. Next line: ?and all Hope will be swallowed by Despair.? Auriel is the Archangel of Hope. Is it possible she's turned just as Imperius has, and become the opposite of what she embodies? If so, then the two could have cast Tyrael out of the High Heavens. The next two lines are a bit tricky. ?Death, at last, shall spread its wings over all?as Fate lies shattered forever.? Ok, there's no Archangel of death, but there is Itherael, the Archangel of Fate. Now, this is pure conjecture (?right, Moosemade, because everything up til now has been pure fact...?), but is it possible that Itherael has also turned, and become Death, a relative of Fate?
Now, what does this mean? I think it means that we'll be spending a good amount of time fighting our way through the High Heavens in this game. This is supported by some old screens from the original D3 engine from years ago. It depicted our heroes fighting through Heaven. Consequently, if anyone has those screens, let me know, as I want to make sure I'm not subconsciously using revisionist history. But there's two or three loose ends that need addressing. The first being the video of Azmodan, Leah, and the Black Soulstone. In said video, Azmodan, the Lord of Sin, says that he wants to Black Soulstone. What IS the Black Soulstone, though? Well, according to the BoC, the Black Soulstone was created by a rogue Horadric mage named Zoltun Kulle. It apparently had the power to command both demonic AND angelic essences.
Conjecture mode again: Alright, according to the BoC, Azmodan ?believes that all beings find their truest identity by embracing the far limits of perversion and depravity.? Now what is Wrath, Despair, and Death other than perversions of Valor, Hope, and Fate, respectively? Could it be that Azmodan is using the Black Soulstone somehow to corrupt the Archangels?
Now, it's entirely possible that I've gone all John Nash and I'm seeing connections where there are none, but like any madman, I'd like to think otherwise. Let me know what you think of my ?little? theory, and post your own theories, as I'd love to hear them. No theory should go without scrutiny, and no theorist should theorize in a vacuum. So the more more we toss theories around, the better chance we have of not being surprised when the game comes out. Wait, that doesn't sound good at all...