The Lotus: Twin Souls, One Mind (Spoilers)

[Mints]

Like many others here I've been quite confused with the motives and history of the Lotus. I've seen plenty of people who think she has been brainwashing us. Now the Ropalolyst boss fight voiced lines have Lotus telling us the opposite: That she was brainwashed by us. After replaying many of the narrative quests and stressing over some minor details I'd like to construct a theory that both of these are correct: Lotus and the Tenno brainwashed eachother.

Hunhow can see directly into Natah's mind. He can discern her true motives. When he first awakened he questioned why Natah did not complete the final step of their plan. A later voiced line in The Second Dream mentions that the Tenno "corrupted [her] precepts." However, I don't believe this means she was brainwashed or forced to do what she did. Another of his lines is: "You betrayed us. As I awake, so will they. They will say you're riven and want to reclaim you. I will not be able to stop them." Notice the use of the word "riven" and the context in which it is used. Hunhow implies that the Lotus chose to do what she did and that the others would perceive that she had become riven. So what does riven really mean? Good question. I can only speculate that it means a Sentient that has been forcefully reprogrammed by the Orokin thus necessitating its reclamation.

Teshin, who is canny to many of the mysteries of the past, knew the Lotus was a Sentient. His knowledge on this matter was limited to what Lotus now claims to be a lie: That Lotus was compelled to act with mercy when confronted with the Zariman children. But was it a lie? If it were a lie, and Lotus was reprogrammed by the Orokin,  why would she take an active part in the destruction of the Orokin after the fact? Why wouldn't Hunhow see her as riven? The truth could be something even more sinister: Lotus is the continuity of Margulis in the shell of a Sentient.

Ballas was convinced that Lotus was Margulis. He understands the mysteries of the Void and Transference better than anyone. He created the Tenno. He knew where Lotus was and how to free her. When he frees her there is a noticeable instance of transference static that causes the Operator to recoil in pain. We also know that Ballas intentionally betrayed the other Orokin for an unknown purpose. I believe this purpose was an attempt to resurrect Margulis by using Natah as a vessel and the two of them willfully conspired to do so.

Do you remember what it takes for continuity to occur? The host must be driven to despair so that its consciousness can be superseded by its possessor. Imagine the despair Natah must have felt when she realized the Tenno were really child soldiers poisoned by the Void much like herself, used and abused by her enemies. Like her they were forced to kill and doomed to never have a family of their own. Consider that, at that very moment, Natah was as close to Margulis to the Tenno as anyone or anything. What if she chose to assume Margulis' identity and, somehow, this resulted in Margulis' Oro becoming entangled with Natah's? How else could she hear the Voice from beyond the wall?

So what else do I have to back this up? Well, this entire thought was spurred while I was considering the nature of the alignment system. What do the Sun & Moon mean exactly? The only constant theme of the Sun & Moon alignment choices are that the Sun rejects the Void while the Moon accepts it. I'm starting to think that the Sun is Natah's Light while the Moon is Margulis' Oro. Take The Sacrifice for example: After stabbing Ballas the Sun taunts him and mocks his suffering while the Moon flatly states that the cycle has been broken to which Ballas responds "Now I know what she sees in you." But then something happened: She prevented Ballas' death for some reason, potentially to subject him to extreme psychological torture similar to what he did to Ordis or Umbra. Note how this is similar to the Sun alignment response's interest in his suffering. This intervention spurred Ballas to change his mind entirely, to reject the idea that Lotus is Margulis and state that "only the Sentient is real."

Ballas has been driven mad with grief and can not believe that Margulis would ever do this to him. He is blinded by his pain and unable to accept the fact that Margulis might think he deserves worse than death on a Tenno blade. Keep in mind this is the woman he turned his back on and executed. Not only that but Lotus has been "deprogrammed" by her family and this heavily affects the expression of her personality in the same way that modifications to a Cephalon's precepts cause it to behave differently even though it retains a person's soul. Under all the schemes and betrayals I think Lotus is both Natah and Margulis together even if the dominant personality appears to have changed.

The real question is: What do you think?

Edited August 19, 2019 by Mints
Clarification of initial premise.

[PhazonMagala]

Nothing. I dont care about plot ans story in video games.

But it's probably Ballas fault... I hate that guy

[Mints]

9 minutes ago, PhazonMagala said:

Nothing. I dont care about plot ans story in video games.

But it's probably Ballas fault... I hate that guy

Fair enough. Even I can see this is a lot of text trying to make sense of plot fragments that could be retconned at any time. Personally I have a strange combination of admiration and hatred toward Ballas. He's done terrible things and betrayed almost everyone at one point or another sure, that's enough to hate him. But I can also see that everything he has done is either a result of his social position or his personal convictions. He reminds me of ancient Greek figures. He's not a victim but he's not pure evil either.

Edited August 19, 2019 by Mints

[Raqiya]

spoiler tag?

[Mints]

Just now, Raqiya said:

spoiler tag?

Added. My bad.