Rain World Lore speculation (the Hunter Ending) [Spoilers]

[jrubz]

Hunter ending, of course sadly still hasn't been ported over to PC yet (I completed a save-moon run thinking it would trigger the special ending, well, I can say I saved moon and ascended successfully)

But it clearly shows the hunter falling into the hands of an iterator. People say it's Silver of Straw, which of course apparently committed seppuku and left the world right after a "triple affirmative" solution to allow creatures to ascend.

Now... if that hunter ending is indeed Silver of Straw... might the iterator purposefully found a way to ascend itself to actually pursue and save the Hunter? And what we are seeing is SoS right after her physical death?

[Chap]

don't know what you mean when you say "pursue and save" seeing as silver of straw metaphorically yeeted the hunter into pebbles's playground hoping to save moon. i think the hunter ascending was an added bonus. kind of like "oh wow this cancer creature i made actually ascended, good for him, now come here and keep me company while i wait for other iterators to find out how to ascend like me."

[jrubz]

Chap님이 먼저 게시:

don't know what you mean when you say "pursue and save" seeing as silver of straw metaphorically yeeted the hunter into pebbles's playground hoping to save moon. i think the hunter ascending was an added bonus. kind of like "oh wow this cancer creature i made actually ascended, good for him, now come here and keep me company while i wait for other iterators to find out how to ascend like me."

all kinda true. The lore of the iterators feels so nebulous sometimes. Even Five Pebbles is clearly a jerk, yet he still tries to help you. Without the echoes, he effectively does help you ascend, so he does his job.

I still think the vid that jokes about SoS partying so hard to Carameldansen she dies is the true triple affirmative canon...

[takasaur]

I believe the Hunter's sickness is actually a kind of organic substance similar to "the Rot", caused by purposefully implanted biological material from Sliver of Straw.

Five Pebbles' experiment consisted of creating a creature or code that can rewrite the self-destruction taboo in his cells. His biological material only. He is not fully biological, neither fully mechanical. Mechanics do not contain cells - this means that the only part of him that is preventing him from suicide is his organic matter.

I think Sliver of Straw completely skipped the step of rewriting her cells and flat-out removed her biological matter from the mechanical parts, implanting it into a being that could ascend, without directly killing herself. This is why she was capable of "destroying/killing" herself (her mechanical, cell-less parts) and sending a triple affirmative through the mechanical communications systems before she destroyed her body (or metal shell).

Since the cells are meant to adapt and grow, being living and adapted to the Ancients' technology, it's likely that they spread similarly to a very aggressive cancer. This meant that the Hunter had a limited amount of time, and was why he becomes ill late into his cycles.

No Significant Harassment (being the one sending the slag keys to Looks to the Moon through Hunter, as seen through the pearl) was likely involved to send the Hunter away to rescue Moon before ascension, once Sliver of Straw had "died". I do not believe NSH is dead, likely either fine or simply inactive, in a comatose state like that of Moon.

When Hunter ascends, the biological material that was incapable of destructing itself leaves the physical realm on impact with the void fluid - this means that the "living" part of SoS has ascended, and the mechanical part (un-alive, therefore being unable to ascend and technically not part of her organic body and conscious) was destroyed beforehand. This means every part of her is non-functioning and will never be functioning again - she has managed to ascend with her biological matter inside something else (essentially what makes her her) and destroy the shell that kept that matter.

And that's how I think Sliver of Straw killed herself. Lol.

[RCMidas]

Here's the fun part: SoS had already died and, presumably given the transmission of the triple affirmative, ascended by the time of the Hunter cycles. The pearl sent by NSH to Moon opens with his own triple affirmative - and whilst his tone suggests he is joking ("I thought that would get your attention"), one implication may be that he worked out what SoS had and was using the Hunter to that end.

In essence: using a slugcat to carry an iterator's consciousness into the Void Sea before the slugcat's body fails under the pressure of the implanted iterator tissue.