Story Theory - (Lots of Spoilers!!!!!!)

[Diicoxic]

The story of the Rodinia Project is told through the icons of its “secrets”.

It begins with a trio of what will be referred to as “the diamonds”, in the first secret titled Exodus. The definition of an exodus is “a mass departure of people, especially emigrants.” This can also specifically refer to the departure of the Israelites from Egypt, led by Moses. In all secrets featuring the diamonds, one diamond is noticeably larger than the others. In a religious context, this may be a representation of Moses leading the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. However, in a literal sense, the diamonds may be escaping their home planet and traveling through space in search of a new home, or perhaps the specific target of a mysterious legendary planet: Earth.

The second secret, titled Discovery, features the diamonds discovering a planet presumably without a sun. The third secret, Darkness, reinforces the idea that it is or always has been surrounded by a dark fog that cannot lift without light.

In Illumination the sun is created, mirroring the biblical line of “Let there be light!” the next secret, Infestation, reveals that the surface is covered in long, black tendrils. Referring back to the religious context of the story, this represents the Israelites coming to the Promised Land only to find that it is occupied by forces they are not certain to defeat.

The situation represented in Conflict is the Battle of Jericho, the first battle by the Israelites to take the Promised Land from its Occupants. The black tendrils seem to be wielding tiny glowing orbs, much like the secrets you find in the game. Also, when you look closely at the “vines” that seem to be growing all over the world, you see that they are pulsating, fleshy beings - these are the black tendrils, or the occupants of the promised land. They may be giving you these secrets as a hint to their history.

Unyielding is the continuation of conflict, representing the overall fight for the promised land. The diamonds are clearly losing their battle, connecting to how the occupants of the land were much larger and warrior-like than the Israelites. However, in Desperation, the diamonds attempt to suppress their enemies with a flood, which overcomes the tendrils for a time, seen in Imprisonment, where they are kept at bay. This may be the diamonds themselves flooding the planet or calling upon some higher entity to do so, and is the analogy to the biblical Great Flood. (Maybe. I’ve never read the bible, but I’m researching and doing my best.)

Unfortunately for the diamonds, Imprisonment doesn’t last very long, as the black tendrils escape in Breach. This begins the point where I think the religious undertones of the game kind of drop off. Maybe they don’t and I’m just lost, but I think the only further thing with any religious aspects is the establishment (Or ideas to establish) of a new society in Blueprints and Convergence.

However, keeping with the literal story, the diamonds do build the ideas for landmass and manage to create the nexus on this watery world, their headquarters in Blueprints and The Nexus.

In the end of the game, you connect the pathways between all the Nexus towers and Rodinia is created, but these pathways were actually connected before, as seen in Convergence, where the diamonds almost achieved their goal. However, the black tendrils, after their escape in Breach, come up and break the pathways so that the land cannot be created. This is shown to happen in Contamination.

However, after completing all the levels, you finally create Rodinia in In The Beginning. This is part of your history in the Rodinia Project world, but it is unclear who you are as well as what your motivations are. Perhaps you are one of the Diamonds, who are actually human beings in diamond-shaped ships. You may also be a higher entity.

I would also like to go over the significance of Rodinia. While there were supercontinents before Rodinia, such as Vaalbara, Ur, and Kenorland, Rodinia’s significance is that it was a supercontinent very close to the time life is thought to have begun, about 1.1 billion years ago. Life such as grasses are shown on the landmass in In The Beginning, suggesting the diamonds may have created life on Earth.