Lore question: Elder control over their troops.

[Ixal]

With Advent defectors now being a thing I wonder how the Elders maintain control over their army. Obviously the network is not mind controlling the troops, as otherwise defecting would be kinda hard. At best it is a killswitch when a Advent soldier disobeys.
Do you think that Advent are controled differently than aliens? Aliens do not seem to be connected to the network (although that might just have been a gameplay decision to prevent instant kills on them).
The chosen seem to folmow the Elders of their own will (probably have been brainwashed into it). Does this also apply to grunts?
If yes it would mean that any alien might possibly defect like the Advent did. Not that Firaxis would likely implement recruitable aliens. Still, irät raises the question what could have happened if Valen had not pissed of the Viper King. A mass uprising of Vipers could have been a real possibilities (which doesn't mean that it would have been a good idea to let Vipers breed uncontrolled).

[SamBC]

I expect Advent are MCed, but just some of them manage to shake it off.

[Wintermute]

Originally posted by SamBC:

I expect Advent are MCed, but just some of them manage to shake it off.

Or they started being MCed after initial bunch run off.

Current ADVENT troops are pretty much brainless, only following commands from tactical network. Officers are more intellegent than that, but I suspect not by far.

[TOG | Fulgrim]

Maybe their chips developed flaws somewhere along the line, perhaps due to some trauma, EMP exposure (non-fatal, obv.) that allowed them to have independant thoughts/actions? Or maybe they were earlier subjects that were created before they perfected the process, and the control regain was gradual enough to go unnoticed? I'm certainly interested to see how they explain it.

[Scarface One]

Well I have a theory on the Skirmishers:

The Contagion: It was a plot point in the XCOM 2 book and was unheard of in the game, much to my dismay. All that was revealed about it was that it was something that ADVENT and the aliens fear and would send in ADVENT flamethrower units to get rid of it. ADVENT Purifiers anyone? It also affected animals and plants. Maybe they were exposed to it by the Reapers or by an accident and it caused a change?

[BrowneHawk]

I'm going with straight up brainwashing. We see first hand how advent is on a propaganda campaigning against xcom. Also the tech they used against the commander to learn all about xcom is most likely the same tech used to brain wash.

We also have to assume that some of the alien races were brought into the alien empire willingly. SO the chosen might just see them as legit overlords and serve.

[Gamefever]

I agree with Maebus, Advent maintain their actual control with plain ol, brain washing.
The Elders personify themselves as the gods and really there isnt a lot to say otherwise....We do hear a clip about one of the characters saying
"Down with false gods"

[talemore]

We already know every advent is a wolf dressed like a sheep. We are allying with aliens when we used to kill them.

The chip is never explained how it works in xcom2 while it's explained in the book that advent implants wires through the body who allow control of the body. That the chip is able to receive and send combatdeata tells us that advent in xcom2 are Artificial intelligences just like julian unaware that them are not alive. Meld can be involved in the creation of Adventsoldiers and the line between mechanic and biological is uncertain. Meld doesn't exist in xcom2 so there's no explanation why the chips are working the way them do or why these advent went rouge and if the network is psionic it's likely advent is controlled in pods/squads and not individual and only advent officers are A.I's while the grunts are not. This too question if The commander is a robot because them used the data from the commander to the advent officers.

[Chances]

They mentioned these Advent Soldiers had their chips removed to become Skirmishers. So perhaps likely a flaw in the chip, damage to it, or an interuption that ruined the connection for that brief moment for them to snap out of it.

The trailers mention the removal process is brutal, which suggests to me these defectors are basically completely cut from the network, otherwise there may have been this likely 'kill switch', which may suggest where the blind loyalty is made.

[PsychoDino]

Originally posted by Ixal:

With Advent defectors now being a thing I wonder how the Elders maintain control over their army. Obviously the network is not mind controlling the troops, as otherwise defecting would be kinda hard. At best it is a killswitch when a Advent soldier disobeys.
Do you think that Advent are controled differently than aliens? Aliens do not seem to be connected to the network (although that might just have been a gameplay decision to prevent instant kills on them).
The chosen seem to folmow the Elders of their own will (probably have been brainwashed into it). Does this also apply to grunts?
If yes it would mean that any alien might possibly defect like the Advent did. Not that Firaxis would likely implement recruitable aliens. Still, irät raises the question what could have happened if Valen had not♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥of the Viper King. A mass uprising of Vipers could have been a real possibilities (which doesn't mean that it would have been a good idea to let Vipers breed uncontrolled).

Psionic network run through the commander, now being run through the ADVENT network tower

[|H|H| Fr3ddi3]

My opinion.

Skirmishers are possibly some of the first Advent Soldiers not just because of how they look, but because they use ballistic and not laser based weaponry. Unlike their current Advent goon counterparts you see in the campaign they were not born in test tubes, but were actually normal humans, perhaps some of our best troops (maybe even X-Com personnel) who's genetics were tampered with by the Ethereals (they got previous in this regard) and they were brainwashed into serving Advent.

But they were 'defective' for one reason or another and thus broke free from Advents mind control, The Ethereals in reponse ironed out the flaws in subsequent renditions of their cloned army but in order to have complete control over them they had to dumb them down, hence why they are not as powerful as the Skirmishers..

[Shadow of Epsilon]

It's possible that the Elders control over the Advent forces is a type of mind control that isn't always active. There could be periods where direct control is low or nonexistant. Such periods would allow Advent troops to be free long enough to remove their chips.

Another possibility is that we've all had a bit of a misconception over how Advent defectors first began; instead of freeing themselves through sheer willpower, their chips may have been first removed by the resistance a few years into the war.

Final idea I have regarding Advent troops is that they may have drifted outside the range of the network tower, or however they're linked. If I recall correctly, Tygan showed the player that ordinary troops recieve orders psionicly through their captains. If the captain died, the remaining troops could have been cutoff from the network. (Granted in game, they may still be shooting you because you're still shooting them).
--
As for the Aliens, they seem to be controlled, not through mind control, but through fear and intimidation. The Elders are incredibly powerful and information of they dying may be classified to most species. They're either going to sever the Elders of their own will, or because they'll be mind controlled if they don't.

There's also a possiblity that they're afraid of whatever the Elders are afraid of. During the final mission (if my memory serves me), they claim to be doing everything in order to "Defy that which would consume us all." Also claiming that "You're victory here means the end for all others...It will follow you as it followed us...You are not ready, We must not fail." The Elders seem to believe that something is coming that only they could defeat. Not to mention from their perspective they're sustaining several different speices and trying to prevent their own extinction. (Also, to them, Earth is probably a rush job. "[They] can live for millennium, [20] years is a pit stop"-The Doctor).
--
As for the Chosen, I don't think their brainwashed. Based on the cutscenes in the new mission "Lost and Abandoned" The Chosen seem to have been created by the Elders, instead of being another species they collected. Besides the Chosen to serve the Elders in exchange for their power. They also seem to sadisticly enjoy their job of hunting you down.

[PsychoDino]

Originally posted by Shadow of Epsilon:

It's possible that the Elders control over the Advent forces is a type of mind control that isn't always active. There could be periods where direct control is low or nonexistant. Such periods would allow Advent troops to be free long enough to remove their chips.

Another possibility is that we've all had a bit of a misconception over how Advent defectors first began; instead of freeing themselves through sheer willpower, their chips may have been first removed by the resistance a few years into the war.

Final idea I have regarding Advent troops is that they may have drifted outside the range of the network tower, or however they're linked. If I recall correctly, Tygan showed the player that ordinary troops recieve orders psionicly through their captains. If the captain died, the remaining troops could have been cutoff from the network. (Granted in game, they may still be shooting you because you're still shooting them).
--
As for the Aliens, they seem to be controlled, not through mind control, but through fear and intimidation. The Elders are incredibly powerful and information of they dying may be classified to most species. They're either going to sever the Elders of their own will, or because they'll be mind controlled if they don't.

There's also a possiblity that they're afraid of whatever the Elders are afraid of. During the final mission (if my memory serves me), they claim to be doing everything in order to "Defy that which would consume us all." Also claiming that "You're victory here means the end for all others...It will follow you as it followed us...You are not ready, We must not fail." The Elders seem to believe that something is coming that only they could defeat. Not to mention from their perspective they're sustaining several different speices and trying to prevent their own extinction. (Also, to them, Earth is probably a rush job. "[They] can live for millennium, [20] years is a pit stop"-The Doctor).
--
As for the Chosen, I don't think their brainwashed. Based on the cutscenes in the new mission "Lost and Abandoned" The Chosen seem to have been created by the Elders, instead of being another species they collected. Besides the Chosen to serve the Elders in exchange for their power. They also seem to sadisticly enjoy their job of hunting you down.

Maybe the chip they used in the Skirmishers were not perfected yet