My stab at figuring out the plot (MASSIVE SPOILERS)

[Saucy Jack]

I mean, from a timeline perspective, the following events HAVE to occur in order:

1. The escape pod mishap at the end of the game throws the protagonist into the past (since time manipulation is one of mana's effects) and he loses his arm.

2. One-armed protagonist crashes onto the (at that point) mana-less island in the tribal-islander portion of the past (he wasn't carrying much mana, but he says the ship's engine is mana-based, so that would explain the amount in the crater maybe?).

3. Due to protgonists's knowledge and possession of mana and various technologies, the tribal islanders make him the One-Armed King (OAK).

4. Pestilence breaks out; cause is unknown but the islanders blame OAK, so it stands to reason that either the mana OAK brought with him is the cause, or OAK himself is an asymptomatic carrier.

5. Tribal islanders cliff-yeet OAK; he respawns with both arms and is renamed the Immortal King (IK).

6. Tribal islanders cripple IK and bury him alive in the pyramid for centuries with no way out - I believe this is the "dark time" he mentions and also why he always carries the amber pills (to avoid the buried-alive-for centuries scenario in the future).

7. Centuries pass, and either the tribal islander descendants modernize, or the tribal islanders die off and the island is discovered/modernized by colonists.

8. Abby's archaeological team FINALLY kills IK with the cyanide gas, respawning him...somewhere?

9. IK uses his knowledge of mana and technology to position himself as The Crown (TC).

10. Pestilence takes hold in the modern population (which gives credence to the "IK is an asymptomatic carrier theory"; Abby mentions that she thinks her team has unleashed something and also DOESN'T make mention of a zombie plague. In fact, one would think that if the Pestilence were an issue in Abby's day, archaeology wouldn't particularly be ANYONE's focus.)

11. Society tries to implement various protocols to survive the Pestilence:
11a(?). At some point a failed last stand to FIGHT the zombies is made at Pilgrim Park, as evidenced by all the turrets
11b. Some hole up on a "Survivor Island" off the northwest coast
11c. Underground bunker-shelters are built using at least some mana-tech (which is why the bunker transmitters go mana-nuclear if they're destroyed)
11d. The Ark is also built in hopes that survivors from the island / bunkers will be able to rebuild society after the plague burns itself out
11e. In what appears to be a last resort, the escape pod(s) are also built as a means to leave the island completely rather than try to remain and survive the Pestilence

POSSIBLE STEP HERE: Either multiple escape pods were built and at least some were used, or TC *said* multiples were built but then only built the one that ends up being used in the game's ending. It's even possible that multiples were built by TC but deliberately sabotaged in order to keep the Pestilence from leaving the island.

12. TC creates the breadcrumb trail to the Crown Station so that he can piece together bit by bit who he is after years in isolation (fueled by his previous experience with long-term isolation in the pyramid burial chamber).

13. TC holes up by himself in a bunker and most likely told everyone else to use the bunkers as well, though he probably knew they'd turn into the monsters that come out when a transmitter's turned on. I think the encouragement to use the bunkers instead of the pods are the "lies" he makes regretful mention of in his Crown audiologs; I think the reason why he was by himself was because he knew that if he had bunker-mates he wouldn't be safe due to them turning into zombies.

14. TC runs out of food years later and re-emerges from the bunker to a completely zombie-infested island with no apparent survivors except himself; this is where the game begins.

Thoughts?

[Panterich]

I don`t like to guess parts that are not in the game. It is not known if even the Devs thought it through. For example, there is no stated connection between mana and pestilence, as well as between pestilence and ex-humans. What you make of it is just a shortest path. Maybe King himself is the source of everything. Or maybe there are third parties. Shoud just wait for expansions imo. So i`ll try to put in some facts instead, that you might`ve missed.

There is a matter i don`t fully grasp, and haven`t seen in discussions. There was some kind of bio-waste port north of first farm. Were there any solid leads? Then there was a note slightly north of train-fix-camp at Central, that suggest TC knew about "facility". Did it reference a prison port or a bio-waste port? So the question is: does TC know someone is dumping waste on his island? That may be a third party i was talking about earlier.

One of the audio logs suggests that TC pieces it ALL together, but fails to make a solid choice, so (here come guesses..) probably combines means for paths for himself in the future with different outcomes and goes into hiding/waiting, knowing about (or even initiating) loss of memory - dark times in his words.

Originally posted by Saucy Jack:

7. Centuries pass, and either the tribal islander descendants modernize, or the tribal islanders die off and the island is discovered/modernized by colonists.

There are 2 points that might be relevant here.

1. The outside supplier of crates is called "motherland". According to mystical tablets, "mothers" are sent off the island. Perhaps their descendants came back at some point. Abby mentiones her mother`s bead.

2. There are no mentions as to what happens with the Ark. I doubt it ever leaves the Island, as there is mana and fabricator onboard. Perhaps it goes back in time along with the pod. It can then be a resurrection point for IK, as well as a foundation for TC.

[svenmn]

This is helpful, thank you.

[Nelfie]

You can in fact loot the IK in his tomb if you manage to get there without dying. But as soon as you die, as you may know, your old dead body vanishes with all the loot along with it which is why it's empty when you open it.

[Gedatzu #<3 ♜]

Thats a solid theory!
Ive pierced together roughly the same picture after my 60 hours.
It would be really cool to get some more lore in future updates.
Maybe the pestilence has something to do with the fourth mana effect?
Or did I just miss the fourth effect? I thought the radios never cleared that up.

[JayJay]

I have no idea if this was intended but it fills in the holes of my playthrough nicely and i'm going with it.

[musizlover2008]

The ending was a bit vague, it didn't mention anything about going back in time, only that he lost an arm.

[HereIsPlenty]

Originally posted by musizlover2008:

The ending was a bit vague, it didn't mention anything about going back in time, only that he lost an arm.

It was implicit. There are also more clues when you play New Game plus.

[Celendrin]

People are really trying to guess at what the 'plot' of the game is?

It's the same like all the other 99% of games on steam --

warnings about impending ---------- through the 'chain of command' of the 'royal' priest class (called 'Crown' station etc),

which are put into action by the mlitary (hence the 'bases' etc),

who prepare ahead of time knowing it's all planned (hence the 'ark' - same as the 'Noah' ark in Norway now etc, it's surreal to see people talking about this game and not seeming to realize almost everything in this game is literally happening / happened in real life )

then it continues down into population control (i.e. the 'quarantine' tid-bits on items and the radio station messages),

then as bigger 'plagues' , cataclysmic events happen etc (stringed muscial instrument, rabies, etc)

pretty much the 'end of the world' occurs and a few people who prepped and went to stay in bunkers were 'safe'.

The 'mana' in the game stems from the knowledge and ability of the priest class (Order of the Serpent in real life) to understand metaphysics and how the universe works etc,

These were the people behind monolithic architecture all through the world ('stone henge' being a typical example),

builders of pyramids etc

At one point there is a cryptic message, "remember the snakes"

That's the devs way of putting that in there even though it probably goes unnoticed by most people playing.

I think people need to start taking time off work and really paying attention to the media (including all the games they play and see on steam) because this stuff has really become over the top redundant,

it's literally impossible to play a game and _not_ see these exact same message put in them over and over.


I'm sorry if this makes some people uncomfortable but it gets disturbing to see so many people be 'blind' to the obvious messages put into the movies, games and media all the time constantly around all of us.

The dev is doing what he can to make some money before time runs out to get a spot in the underground bases they built for those in the (serpent) hierarchy that can afford it.


(Side note, for the dev -

this 'formula' is well and good, but what happens to those that can 'see', including the "Key" (the power of R-------e in all things, otherwise known as "----"),

if a person ascends to that level how can he make it clear to the Hierarchy he is at that level to partake in being able to secure a spot in the underground bases or the various spots created for safety for the Serpents?

Yes there are various mystery schools to join but they are each more vague then the next one, they do not seem to be time-efficient or have any capacity to actually listen to a person to learn what he knows - there is too much hierarchical segregation)