Spoiler question about YorHa Ending E

[Comander-07]

Maybe I missed something important or it wasnt told in the game, but what was the acual plan for YorHa here?

step 1 - Create fake messages from humans on moon to give androids something to fight for so they dont loose the war
step 2 - deliberately build in a backdoor so the machines can hack into and kill every single member of Yorha so that they cant figure out the truth about mankind
step 3 - ???
Step 4 - profit.

Am I missing something major here? I understand the plan was for YorHa to end so YorHa could not figure out mankind is a lie, but why? They either loose their will to fight and die. Or they get killed in the process. What was someone trying to achieve with this?

Also I read on the wiki the project Yorha itself is only 5 years old and apparently 2B/E had to kill 9s repeatedly and erase his memory everytime he figured it out. When was this ever part of the game? I played 40h and I feel like 90% of the story is not even in the game.

[shoopy]

The creator of YorHa actually intended to win the war, or at least keep fighting it, and set up the lie that humans were still alive in order to increase morale. One of the YorHa units, No.9 found out about the plan and went rogue, setting up the backdoor and setting up Project YorHa to be destroyed to cover it up. Then another unit called No.2 kills him. And then everything is rebuilt with automated manufacturing.

Basically it's 9S predecessor going crazy from knowing the truth and 2B's predecessor killing him because of it and the cycle repeats.

[Psyntifik]

Continually cycling the war gives the androids a purpose in life - which is a major theme in this game. But the revelation that it was all the name of machine evolution is a pretty drastic one. If you're struggling to remember anything revolving around that, I suggest you look up a few recaps online.

The story is pretty convoluted, but it all makes sense, and it's pretty clever.

Originally posted by Comander-07:

Also I read on the wiki the project Yorha itself is only 5 years old and apparently 2B/E had to kill 9s repeatedly and erase his memory everytime he figured it out. When was this ever part of the game? I played 40h and I feel like 90% of the story is not even in the game.

2B killed 9S thrice in the game.
But what's important to remember is that Nier: Automata doesn't exists in a vacuum. Things happened before you started playing, and things will happen now the final credits have rolled.

[lessthanoff]

As was mentioned, YoRHa turning out the way it did was a result of a cocktail of actions by the upper-tier androids, no.9 and N2.

The androids were programmed to protect humans, and knew that without them, they would be incapable of fighting the machine invaders at their full potential. They also feared the idea of running out of androids to continue the fight, considering how long the war had been going on. So they decided to do two things: 1.) create the lie that humanity had secretly fled to the moon while setting up the moon server to send messages to Earth, and 2.) to use machine cores as a handy way to create a "sub-race" of androids without having to waste any more of the androids the humans left behind (this is why the YoRHa androids don't have names, compared to all other androids who do).

No.9 was a very early 9S model, who discovered the truth about humanity and YoRHa. He's also the one responsible for those bizarre 9S voice recordings you hear throughout Route B, during those picture-book cutscenes. He went nuts and killed the android who spearheaded the project and, in his madness, made alterations to it -- programming the backdoor in the YoRHa bunker to open so that the machine logic virus would flood through it like water gushing through a broken dam, wiping out everything.

N2 (the ego that emerged from the network -- aka the red girls) found this backdoor, as was intended, but instead of wiping out the YoRHa androids immediately, it decided to take advantage of the situation and use YoRHa to further its own evolution. Up until that point, it had altered the network's plan to perpetuate the war by severing its own forces from the collective (in order to maintain its original directive -- to "defeat the enemy"), and used the war and the semi-opposing subset machine factions (like Pascal's village, the Forest machines, etc.) to place evolutionary pressure upon itself. Using YoRHa for additional evolutionary pressure allowed the machines to evolve to the extent that it was able to birth Adam and Eve as the next step in machine evolution. Then, once N2 was satisfied, it proceeded to use the logic virus to launch a wide-spread assault on all of the subset machine factions as well as taking advantage of the backdoor to wipe out YoRHa, since it no longer had a use for them for the purposes of evolution.

[lessthanoff]

Regarding 2B and 9S, 2B has been killing 9S again and again for years prior to the beginning of the game. Being forced to do this tormented her, because each time, she developed a strong emotional attachment to him. This is why her feelings towards him during the game seem so inconsistent. In order to protect them both, she decided to cease all emotional investment towards him, so that when she has to inevitably kill him again, the pain she endures will be lessened, as well as the potential pain he will endure should he realize that his friend/lover has betrayed him. But, of course, this facade often cracks in-game when she has to face the reality of losing him again.

Think back to all the times during the game when 2B's emotionless personality fell apart completely when 9S was in danger: the beginning of the game, when 9S is severely wounded; 2B becoming visibly distressed (fist-clenching) when she realizes that 9S lost all his memories after the tutorial; 2B freaking out and becoming enraged when she sees what Adam did to him; 2B no longer caring about the mission-related info the commander is providing and is instead only worried about what will happen to 9S (after she saves him); 2B breaking down and crying when she has to kill him and reset his personality/memories to prevent the corruption from getting into the bunker -- also when she says "It always ends like this."

There are plenty of signs in the main story, and even more in certain side quests like "Amnesia" and "The Wondering Couple."

I feel like so many people miss the point of her character, and just assume that the cold, unfeeling 2B we see throughout the game is all there is to her, when that's not the case at all. That cold, unfeeling version of her personality is just a mask she's wearing, while the "real" 2B is someone we only catch brief glimpses of throughout the story, especially so during the last moments of her life.

[*D4rKsKy*]

Everything makes no sense in ending E thats why i love it xD
Its an infinite cycle of nothing.

[Comander-07]

So its as I assumed, the vast majority of the story only gets hinted at in the game.

About No.9, you arent consistent here - did he create the backdoor because he wanted all YorHa androids to die or because he wanted to conceal the truth? Was there even any other kind of androids other than YorHa aside from the resistance? Did not look like it in game.

Was the machine network involved with the creation of YorHa? Considering they had thousands of years to advance while YorHa is supposed to only be 5 years old?

[shoopy]

Originally posted by Comander-07:

So its as I assumed, the vast majority of the story only gets hinted at in the game.

About No.9, you arent consistent here - did he create the backdoor because he wanted all YorHa androids to die or because he wanted to conceal the truth? Was there even any other kind of androids other than YorHa aside from the resistance? Did not look like it in game.

Both. Because he went batsh*t crazy. I don't think we really know if there are other types of androids or not. Devola and Popola are kind of a different type of android so who knows if there aren't other kinds.

Was the machine network involved with the creation of YorHa? Considering they had thousands of years to advance while YorHa is supposed to only be 5 years old?

No. YoRHa was the project of an android named Zinnia. Machines may have been around for thousands of years but they were still stuck, maybe increasing in technology but staying the same behavior wise. They just took advantage of the opening in YoRHa as a convenient coincidence.

[lessthanoff]

Comander-07, I feel like this just isn't your type of story. Automata doesn't spoonfeed you information with easily-digestible bites. You're meant to think about what you saw and put the pieces together yourself.

I think that if Taro had straight-up explained everything without leaving anything for the player to figure out, it would have ruined the story for me. I personally enjoy convoluted narratives that give me a bunch of puzzle pieces I need to put together in my head. That's entertaining for me.

But maybe that's not your thing, and that's okay. Not every story/game is for every person.

[Comander-07]

Originally posted by lessthanoff:

Comander-07, I feel like this just isn't your type of story. Automata doesn't spoonfeed you information with easily-digestible bites. You're meant to think about what you saw and put the pieces together yourself.

I think that if Taro had straight-up explained everything without leaving anything for the player to figure out, it would have ruined the story for me. I personally enjoy convoluted narratives that give me a bunch of puzzle pieces I need to put together in my head. That's entertaining for me.

But maybe that's not your thing, and that's okay. Not every story/game is for every person.

except thats not what is actually happening here. There is no story in the game, its only hinted at. The actual story exists apart from the game.

I just wanted a simple answer to the questions, no explanation of the empty story telling.
Because its entirely possible I missed major parts since I did not have all the archive information gathered, but for me, when I spend 40h on a game, the story should be told in it. The major part is missible.

And it relies on information from other sources then the game. Thats all right and cool, but that doesnt make it actually good or something to figure out. You cant get spoonfeeded with information when there arent any to begin with.

Originally posted by slandy:

Originally posted by Comander-07:

So its as I assumed, the vast majority of the story only gets hinted at in the game.

About No.9, you arent consistent here - did he create the backdoor because he wanted all YorHa androids to die or because he wanted to conceal the truth? Was there even any other kind of androids other than YorHa aside from the resistance? Did not look like it in game.

Both. Because he went batsh*t crazy. I don't think we really know if there are other types of androids or not. Devola and Popola are kind of a different type of android so who knows if there aren't other kinds.

Was the machine network involved with the creation of YorHa? Considering they had thousands of years to advance while YorHa is supposed to only be 5 years old?

No. YoRHa was the project of an android named Zinnia. Machines may have been around for thousands of years but they were still stuck, maybe increasing in technology but staying the same behavior wise. They just took advantage of the opening in YoRHa as a convenient coincidence.

I thought the resistance were androids without blackboxes or something?

so in short the project was sabotaged by some android number 9?
Since YoRHa is only 5 years old and the machines killed the aliens 300 years ago or so, the possibility exists in my opinion. Its not that they became self aware only now

[shoopy]

Originally posted by Comander-07:

so in short the project was sabotaged by some android number 9?
Since YoRHa is only 5 years old and the machines killed the aliens 300 years ago or so, the possibility exists in my opinion. Its not that they became self aware only now

It was both sabotaged and made real by No.9. In is insanity he decided he would make the server on the moon become a god to androids, and because he knew YoRHa would learn the truth, he set them up to be destroyed.

So not only did he destroy the truth, in the end he also created the lie as well.

[Comander-07]

Originally posted by slandy:

Originally posted by Comander-07:

so in short the project was sabotaged by some android number 9?
Since YoRHa is only 5 years old and the machines killed the aliens 300 years ago or so, the possibility exists in my opinion. Its not that they became self aware only now

It was both sabotaged and made real by No.9. In is insanity he decided he would make the server on the moon become a god to androids, and because he knew YoRHa would learn the truth, he set them up to be destroyed.

So not only did he destroy the truth, in the end he also created the lie as well.

when was that ever specified in the game? some archive information?

And isnt it true that YoRHa is the biggest/only group of androids aside from some resistance forces?

I just dont get the thought behind it, all androids were supposed to be killed, so why would they need a god. But well when he was insane I guess it doesnt need to make sense

[shoopy]

Originally posted by Comander-07:

Originally posted by slandy:

It was both sabotaged and made real by No.9. In is insanity he decided he would make the server on the moon become a god to androids, and because he knew YoRHa would learn the truth, he set them up to be destroyed.

So not only did he destroy the truth, in the end he also created the lie as well.

when was that ever specified in the game? some archive information?

And isnt it true that YoRHa is the biggest/only group of androids aside from some resistance forces?

I just dont get the thought behind it, all androids were supposed to be killed, so why would they need a god. But well when he was insane I guess it doesnt need to make sense

It's from an outside piece written by Yoko Taro which is pretty much canon.

Yorha wasn't that big and resistance androids presumably outnumber them, or at least they did at one point. Androids have existed for thousands of years, all the way back to before the first machine war. Androids predate what happens in Automata by at least 6000 years.

Edit:
Also androids had been fighting on multiple continents, while when Zinnia was creating YoRHa he didn't think there could be more than about a hundred units.

[Comander-07]

Originally posted by slandy:

Originally posted by Comander-07:

when was that ever specified in the game? some archive information?

And isnt it true that YoRHa is the biggest/only group of androids aside from some resistance forces?

I just dont get the thought behind it, all androids were supposed to be killed, so why would they need a god. But well when he was insane I guess it doesnt need to make sense

It's from an outside piece written by Yoko Taro which is pretty much canon.

Yorha wasn't that big and resistance androids presumably outnumber them, or at least they did at one point. Androids have existed for thousands of years, all the way back to before the first machine war. Androids predate what happens in Automata by at least 6000 years.

Edit:
Also androids had been fighting on multiple continents, while when Zinnia was creating YoRHa he didn't think there could be more than about a hundred units.

I know its "canon" but when its not in the game its not in the game. Nier Automata is big enough to fit in enough story. But all the important parts seem to be missing.

The game never gave me the feeling that there were other Androids then YoRHa ones, aside from the resistance which seems to be completely random. It makes sense to sacrifice a small group (YoRHa) in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the androids, but it seems to me this is not the actual situation. After all I never even heard about other groups. Seems odd considering the endless war with the machines and all.

Who even is Zinnia? Was that ever mentioned ingame?

[shoopy]

Originally posted by Comander-07:

Originally posted by slandy:

It's from an outside piece written by Yoko Taro which is pretty much canon.

Yorha wasn't that big and resistance androids presumably outnumber them, or at least they did at one point. Androids have existed for thousands of years, all the way back to before the first machine war. Androids predate what happens in Automata by at least 6000 years.

Edit:
Also androids had been fighting on multiple continents, while when Zinnia was creating YoRHa he didn't think there could be more than about a hundred units.

I know its "canon" but when its not in the game its not in the game. Nier Automata is big enough to fit in enough story. But all the important parts seem to be missing.

The game never gave me the feeling that there were other Androids then YoRHa ones, aside from the resistance which seems to be completely random. It makes sense to sacrifice a small group (YoRHa) in order to ensure the survival of the rest of the androids, but it seems to me this is not the actual situation. After all I never even heard about other groups. Seems odd considering the endless war with the machines and all.

Who even is Zinnia? Was that ever mentioned ingame?

Not entirely clear on who Zinnia is aside from being the creator of YoRHa.

There aren't a lot of androids shown in the game, but there are likely more living somewhere else. Remember they had an aircraft carrier after all. There has to be a lot more of them somewhere.

[Psyntifik]

The story is already convoluted enough to try and fit in the history of YoRHa and such.

What's in the game makes sense - it's just a lot of it is expanded on outside of it.
All of the absolute major plot points are either forced pickups, or in gameplay/cutscenes.

Iunno, to me it was pretty enjoyable and far less generic than I expected it to be.

Maybe you should watch the 4 part breakdown from Clemps. There shouldn't be many - if any at all - questions after that. And it's pretty well presented.