Deepspace Tunnel

This is interesting because in Buddhism, it is believed that people are trapped in an endless cycle of suffering involving death and rebirth (which is known as samsara) and a bodhisattva is someone who can exit that cycle, but instead chooses to stay behind and help others escape. source

Associating Rafayel with a bodhisattva is fitting since in Gem Affection he chooses to be imprisoned with MC in order to help her escape. This is also similar to what he does in the Sea of Golden Sands, and seems to be a recurring theme for him.

Another nice detail about his outfit is the Ruyi symbol.

Zayne/Caleb

These two kind of match yin and yang, but not as neatly. Yin energy is cool which would be Zayne (ice evol, people misread him initially), and yang energy is warm, which would be Caleb(well liked by people and viewed as warm). Zayne is also a warm person on the inside, and Caleb has a hidden cold side. But in terms of colors, yin would be dark and yang would be bright. 

But then Zayne has a moon connection with a moment's post of the moon and a line from an old event where he says the moon is beautiful (so yin again). While Caleb's opening for the game has him smiling at us against a sunny backdrop (yang). 

There's probably more obvious connections I'm missing as I find their myths have a lot going on and I end up getting lost in random rabbit holes, like I did for yin and yang 😅

Rafayel/Valko

When I started working on this, I thought it was strange how dark Rafayel's abysswalker outfit was compared to Xavier and Zayne's. Like maybe it was because he was the middle guy so he walked both sides. But with the release of Valko, maybe they will play off the other in a similar way? 

You see, every cell in the human body has a limit for how many times it can divide before it starts to break down and that number is called the Hayflick Limit. When a cell pushes past that number, it becomes like an invasive species. It begins multiplying uncontrollably, introducing mutations and crowding out everything around it, eventually spilling over into other tissues and organs where it doesn't belong, all with the single-minded goal of survival.

Something similar happens in game during the Chronorift Catastrophe when Wanderers invaded Earth, nearly destroying all of Linkon city and attempting to spread across the globe. It's also seen on a smaller scale when humans transform into Wanderers as black crystals erupt across their body and spread until there's nothing left of the person underneath.

Now, if breaking this limit causes destruction both in life and in game, what does that make MC? She has an aether core, she can't die, and she's even been called a bomb. She has all the makings of a monster.  

MC gives us the answer herself in Death and Rebirth, when she is asked what separates humans from Wanderers: 

"The line between humans and monsters depends on whether they've lost control. Once someone loses control, they become a monster capable of hurting others." 

MC doesn't seem to be out of control so where does she fit in all this?

Well, there's a type of cell that ignores normal limits without destroying everything. Normally, cells have a protective boundary (telomere) that loses a small part of itself every time it divides. This boundary keeps shrinking with each division until there is nothing left, then the cell starts to break down. 

But stem cells on the other hand, can rebuild that boundary and keep dividing forever without mutating and going out of control. And under the right conditions, a stem cell can transport to different parts of the body to become any cell the body needs.

That sounds a lot like MC. She loses part of her memory every time she dies and every time she is able to rebuild it. Like how she named a fish Reddie without knowing that in another life she had a fish familiar named Red or how songs that should be foreign bring back feelings from a past life.  And just like a stem cell, MC's evol allows her to support different evol types and travel to different timelines (which we saw in the Wander and Wonder cards).

But in World Underneath 6: Sealed in Dust, the scientists at the Gaia Research Institute only focused on her immortality and how the energy inside her continued growing with each death cycle they inflicted on her. They did this to her for 49 days.

The Catastrophe hit after day 42.

The Hayflick Limit is 40. 

What they didn't realize was that for MC every death was another division. Every division, another mutation, and every mutation, another broken timeline. The Wanderers invading Earth wasn't some random event, they were mutations entering the timeline. 

The main story was never set in one chronological timeline, instead it plays out across many timelines and what we see happening to MC on a large scale is also repeated in the smallest unit of life. 

Infold put the explanation for the Catastrophe in the teaser and if you look at that image again, it isn't just a planet suspended in a web of stars. It's a nucleus, sitting inside a cell.

The floral hairpin accessory references Zanhuawei (簪花围), a traditional hairstyle from Xunpu, a fishing village in China. Women there braid their hair into a bun, secure it with an ivory pin, and decorate it with colorful flowers.

The flowers symbolize blessings for health and prosperity, and were traditionally used to mark milestones in a woman’s life such as adulthood or marriage. The custom also appears during Mazu’s Pilgrimage Day, a celebration honoring Mazu, the sea goddess. During this celebration Xunpu women lead the procession wearing these vibrant headdresses. 

There’s also an interesting article about how the popularity of this tradition has brought new interest into Xunpu and also created business opportunities for local women. It's also the source of the images in this post: (Flower Power, Yang Feiyue, China Daily, 2024).

References / Image Credits:

A Blooming Miracle: Women of Xunpu Village and Their Floral Legacy, China Development Brief, Apr 22, 2024, by Liu Qi, edited by Smiley Wang

Image 1: A local senior woman helps a tourist don the headdress in August. Photo/Xinhua, China Daily

Image 2: Huang Liyong, a Zanhua headdress tradition inheritor in Xunpu village, Quanzhou, poses with two women to demonstrate the distinctive Xunpu headdress. Photo provided to China Daily

Those red flowers come from the datura plant, a plant that is so toxic that in some places, just growing it is illegal[1]. Kind of like how Sylus, as the leader of Onichynus, is involved in many illegal activities. 

The similarities don’t stop there. Unlike most poisonous plants which often have medicinal uses, the datura is mostly known for its lethal toxicity. This is like Sylus, who despite his capacity for good, is cursed to be a poison to his lover and is known to many as evil and dangerous. 

The flower follows a nocturnal cycle, blooming in the evening and closing shut in the morning[2], just like Sylus is active at night and shields his sensitive eyes from the sun during the day.

Datura has also historically been used to induce hallucinations and vivid dreams[3]. This parallels Sylus’s strong presence in MC’s dreams like in No Defense Zone or more obviously in Beyond Cloudfall where dreams were how they communicated with each other while separated. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura#Toxicity

https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/beauty/Sky_Islands/plants/Datura_wrightii/index.shtml

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_stramonium#Uses

Red Velvet datura image: https://www.brugmansia.us/cultivar/red-velvet-2/

So I went back through his cards to document the mole’s journey for myself. In the first slide you’ll see four examples where the mole appears on his index finger in three of them, and then suddenly shows up on his middle finger in one. I’ve labeled each and zoomed in for clarity and maximum mole exposure. 

Then in the second slide, I recreated scenes were his mole is most visible, using Glint Photobooth. And…the mole is gone. Completely erased from his 3D model, as if it never existed at all.

Is it a continuity error? A sign that Zayne is a becoming a Wanderer? A small detail cut to lower the 40GB game update size? Or is it just a lost relic from the game’s beta days? It’s probably the last one. But still, justice for the mole! 

Source: Mole Watcher Weekly, Vol. 3, Issue 2: “Zayne’s Dermatological Timeline.”

M57’s Color Order

M57 is the textbook example of the dying phase of a star like the Sun. When it starts to die, it pulses and throws off its outer layers. This creates separate shells, each with its own color based on the gases inside it.

Green core: This is the part closest to the star’s core/heart and contains oxygen gases. 

Yellow transition zone: Where oxygen (green) and nitrogen (red) blend together, creating an in-between state. 

Red outer edge: This is the outer edge of the planetary nebula with nitrogen gases. It’s where the most fragile pieces of the star start to disappear into space. 

Just like each shell in M57 marks a phase in a star’s death, each myth marks a phase in Xavier’s journey.

How Xavier’s Myths Match

Xavier’s three myths don’t just match M57’s colors, they match the way it functions:

Green (Shooting Stars): Here we discover Xavier’s core and learn that he rejected the throne because of the human sacrifices made to power Philos. This is where his journey to save MC begins. 

Yellow (Twilight’s Dawn): Twilight's Dawn shows this transition perfectly. His success in saving MC represents stability, but it's mixed with warning signs of collapse. He's burning out maintaining two identities, MC nearly died, and his spaceship is a reminder of failed timelines. 

Red (Where Stars Scatter): This is where things break apart completely. Xavier's red myth shows a failed timeline that's falling apart and eventually destroyed by MC so he can try again in another loop. 

All of this combined explains why Xavier is always sleepy. Dying stars pulse violently and as each shell created becomes energy and material lost. Xavier’s exhaustion after using his power is him slowly being drained with each timeline attempt like each pulse outward. That red collar around his neck is basically the ring containing what he’s lost and what he still has left to burn through.

What Comes Next

But planetary nebulae aren’t the end of a star’s story and neither is this the end of Xavier’s. After the shells fade into space, the remaining dust and gases become nebulae (the birthplace for new stars) and eventually the star life cycle begins again.

Since nebulae often appear to be pink and Xavier’s next myth will be pink, there’s a good chance his next myth will represent a new path opening up for him. 

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The Prophecy Everyone Keeps Misreading

Prophecy referenced throughout the myths and misinterpreted by previous Sea Gods. To the Sea God entity, this obviously means: “murder a girl for power.” But nope. Plot twist! It’s actually about love and trust! Who knew?

Forgotten Sea: Rafayel is a Brat (But He’s Pretty)

This is Rafayel in his “mutual feelings are optional” phase. With MC’s kiss of desperation, Rafayel instantly falls for her and insists that she become his bride, completely missing the fact that she’s choosing him because it’s better than drowning.

He keeps asking for her heart but has no clue what that really means, and his love is pushy and one-sided. But by the end of the myth, he starts to realize that he can’t form a bond with her if he doesn’t listen to her.

And in a flashback from Tears of Romirro, we see this growth in action when he refuses to take her heart and she tries her best to help him.

So Rafayel stops being selfish, MC starts to really care, and this is where their bond begins to deepen (but it’s still complicated).

Tears of Romirro: EMOTIONAL DAMAGE

It’s a new myth and neither of them remembers Forgotten Sea (oh...that's why it's called that). But this time their story starts with Rafayel who can only listen to MC’s curses and sometimes silly rants instead of responding.

Because of this, when they finally meet again, he treats her with care and kindness without any conditions. And when he asks for her heart, he’s no longer demanding it. He’s asking if she feels the same.

MC is still fearful of the prophecy, but this version of Rafayel, who still loves her even though she screwed him over big time, finally moves her heart. So when she decides to sacrifice herself to save him, it’s not an act of fear or obligation, it’s an act of love.

Her sacrifice is the moment when the prophecy is fulfilled.

Left: MC invoking their bond. Right: after being stabbed the mark glows brighter.

Granted, MC thinks she’s ending their bond. But no girl, you just locked him in for eternity.

Sea of Golden Sands: Rafayel tries to Delete the Lore (Literally)

Things are different now. Lemuria is dried up and Rafayel remembers everything. He visits MC multiple times to see if she also remembers, but she doesn't. So to protect her from repeating Tears of Romirro all over again, he tries to erase her from the Tome of The Sea God.

Spoiler: It doesn’t work.

She remembers anyway, and their memories shared across timelines come rushing back. She returns to him, showing that their bond is still there.

So at this point, the prophecy is already fulfilled and there's no need to fight against it anymore.

Because of MC, neither of them will ever die. And because of his bond with her, they can keep their memories, learn from their mistakes, and maybe one day break the cycle and save Lemuria without needing another sacrifice. This is what makes Rafayel the last Sea God.

TL;DR:

Rafayel’s myths are about their emotional bond.

Forgotten Sea:  He’s a brat, she’s into it. Bond kicks off.

Tears of Romirro: He grows, she’s all in. Prophecy fulfilled.

Sea of Golden Sands: He tries to hit undo, but too late. Their bond is eternal (and it’s a good thing).

This is why Rafayel is the last Sea God. No one ever fulfilled the prophecy the right way before, but he and MC finally did.

Anyway, that’s my take! What do you think? Did the third myth change your perspective? Did you notice any other signs of their bond deepening?

The Rule-Breaker

SN1987A was originally Sanduleak -69 202, a massive star that should’ve stayed a red supergiant star before exploding, but nope! It shed so much mass to its companion that it transformed backwards and became a blue star again, basically flipping the cosmic rulebook. 

You know who else does this? Zayne!

In the Sacred Chapter myth, he sacrifices his heart to resurrect MC and in Snow's Embrace, he pours out his divine power to protect her. Each time, he sheds a part of himself just like Sanduleak -69 202 shed mass, burning through everything, including vital organs, to protect what really matters. (Gotta love a man who has his priorities straight).

The Backwards Discovery

Here’s another connection: astronomers had to work backwards to figure out what the star used to be. They saw the supernova first, then pieced together the mass loss and transformation that came before.

Zayne’s myths unfold in the same way. We meet him at the Tower of Secrets, where he’s in an unstable state, like a star ready to explode. 

Then we trace back through Snow’s Embrace, where he sends out all his divine power (cause he’s thorough like that), and finally to Sacred Chapter, the origin/divergence point of his story. 

The narrative moves backwards, revealing the sacrifices and transformations that led to Zayne becoming who he is now.

The Hidden Core Mystery

The myth/star parallels get even more interesting. For over 30 years, astronomers couldn't find the neutron star, the core/heart, that SN1987A should have left behind. Yet billions of neutrinos (small particles of light) detected during the explosion proved the core existed and that even stars enjoy a good game of hide-and-seek.

Left: the Kamiokande detector that captured neutrinos from SN1987A, proving the star’s core existed. Right: jasmine ‘buds’ from Tower of Secrets, representing Zayne’s hidden memories waiting to be discovered.

In Tower of Secrets, Zayne's countless jasmine buds tell the same story: proof that his memories still exist inside him, just transformed and hidden. When MC finally makes one bloom, it's the discovery astronomers waited decades for. What appeared lost was just waiting to be found.

Breaking Cosmic Rules for Love

SN1987A didn’t follow normal supernova evolution because of a hidden companion and Zayne doesn’t follow divine law because of MC. Both stories show how love and sacrifice can break the expected path, and how what looks like loss may just be change.

But what we’ve seen with Zayne is only the beginning. Each LI has their own cosmic story which I’ll be sharing in the future, so please check back!