[Spoilers] Naru's past

[YellowDemonHurlr]

I just found the body of Naru's dad and got "The Cycle" achievement. I assume that that's the end of the DE story. But I'm left wondering why Daddy didn't like the forest spirits and didn't want Naru to associate with them. The story makes a big deal of that point, but provides no actual explanation. Am I missing something?

[YellowDemonHurlr]

That would make sense. Do we actually know that Naru and her dad are susceptible to spirit light like the owls are? Kuro and her chicks are the only things we ever see actually harmed by light from the spirit tree. Sein fights off other creatures, but he's clearly using some sort of weaponized version.

[DimasW]

Originally posted by WolandPL:

Well... Naru did hide inside her home in the prologue, which appears to be under ground (she took Ori with her probably because she didn't know that Ori won't be harmed). That means her kind is also vulnerable. Gumon were hiding inside Forlorn Ruins, besides they were smart, so they probably knew how to avoid being killed.

So the final question should be "Why Naru and Gumo are still alive after that giant shockwave in the epilogue, but Kuro is being desintegrated?"

Umm... Magic. Don't question it.

Seriously though, maybe Kuro was way too close and that was a different kind of light... I don't know, there's something going on but it's not explained. Maybe we will get more lore and information how this world works in future games (if there will be any future games in this universe - I'd love to see Ori 2, but it is not my decision what Moon Studios will create).

Well here is something interesting https://twitter.com/OriBlindForest/status/728583718793777155

[YellowDemonHurlr]

Originally posted by WolandPL:

Umm... Magic. Don't question it.

But I have to question it! It's what I do! :p

While I don't have anything in particular against the "Spirit Light hurts all creatures of darkness, including Naru and Gumo," it does require a number of assumptions. We never actually see the Spirit Tree's light hurt anything but the owls, and while Naru and Gumo look similar, that's hardly conclusive of a shared vulnerability.

Originally posted by WolandPL:

Well... Naru did hide inside her home in the prologue, which appears to be under ground (she took Ori with her probably because she didn't know that Ori won't be harmed). That means her kind is also vulnerable.

Naru had to know about the relationship between the Spirit Tree and the forest spirits. Sein said that she had cared for the Spirit Tree when she was young and the Spirit Tree was "just a sprout," and she was friends with Sol and Eki.

What would make more sense is that she was either just freaked out by the big light show because she wasn't sure what was going on, or she knew exactly what it was and didn't want Ori to leave. There's nothing to say that she knew she would be hurt.

Incidentally, what Sein said suggests that Naru is either much older than we thought (on the order of several centuries at least) or the Spirit Tree is much younger (probably less than a century). Which raises the question: who kept the forest in balance before the Spirit Tree? It also either means that the Spirit Tree started growing forest spirits at a very young age (because Naru was still young when she met Eki and Sol), which seems strange, or that Eki and Sol were not children of the Spirit Tree.

Originally posted by WolandPL:

Gumon were hiding inside Forlorn Ruins, besides they were smart, so they probably knew how to avoid being killed.

We don't necessarily know that they were hiding, just that that's where they lived. Given the fact that they powered their machines using the Spirit Tree's light and Sein knows a fair bit about them, they probably had a good relationship the tree. While this doesn't rule out that the light could harm them, there's no specific evidence that it does, either. Gumo seems scared of Ori when he first meets her: that could be because she's a creature of light, or because he's in Gollum mode over the water vein. Given that he lives by himself, he's probably not the most stable individual.

[YellowDemonHurlr]

Originally posted by WolandPL:

Sein only says "I remember them! Many years ago, when the Spirit Tree was but a sprout...", but nothing about Naru actually taking care of the growing Spirit Tree. And Sein saying "Us" and "We" could mean that he (she?) identifies more with spirit guardians rather than the Spirit Tree. So if you do something good for a forest spirit, Sein would say that THEY are very gateful.

That could be true. I had not thought of that.

Originally posted by WolandPL:

As for the Tree... it doesn't have to be that old; probably it was growing really fast. Eki and Sol could have been born when it was the size of an average apple tree commonly found in orchards (near my home these trees are not taller than 5 meters, but they have A LOT of apples every year, it's actually crazy lol)

Sure, but there's a big difference between growing apples and growing a mobile, sentient, fully independent life form. Plus, there's the growth itself: by age 50, giant sequoias reach around 40m. The Spirit Tree must be several hundred meters tall, that sort of growth takes time. Plus there's the fact that we have the "ancient being" achievement when we meet the Spirit Tree.

Or, more likely, it's a plot hole. The DE storyline seemed a bit... hastily assembled.