Lotus-soda

cataclysm's entire wiki page, including all of his dialogue. i will be going line by line, pointing out specifics (if i find any) and where they may overlap with fire spirit content released in either ovenbreak or kingdom.

how cataclysm's mind works, what he believes he is achieving and, most importantly, answering the question proposed in his in-game story; what is there to gain from destroying an entire world?

i will not be addressing HOW cataclysm may have corrupted, given we simply don't have enough information for it to be anything more than baseless speculation! the reasoning could truly be anything, and i don't think me speculating from nothing will add anything to my analysis on him. (though, i may touch on details relating to it! you'll see what i mean later.)

for anyone who is unfamiliar with Immortal Cataclysm;

immortal cataclysm, as pictured above, is an ovenbreak costume (confirmed for kingdom release at a later date) released in the first half of the treasure of legends update. the update he was released in will be important later. i won't be analysing his design just yet, but i would like to point out just how Demonic he looks, and the fact his othala seems suspended between ribcage-like marks on his suit. i will address these and what they may mean later! there is also another major design detail to discuss, but. well. guess when we're saving it for

i will save the information on his kor name for later :) it is incredibly important for a point i'd like to make regarding kingdom, its future and the ways fire spirit (alongside the other guardians, but this is not about them) is currently haunting kingdom's narrative

i will also be addressing his story later! there's a lot to go over for dialogue, and i'd like to stick to that first.

moving on to dialogue for now;

lets start with the main quote on his page.

this is the most straight-forwards cataclysm line. you do not need to analyse anything for this, he is telling it how it is; he won't stop until the entire world is burning, and you're fucked if you think you can stop him.

moving on to general quotes.

this is referring to his story. 'I've waited ages for this moment!' 'After sleeping for aeons beneath the Dragon's Valley'. this may have larger meaning in correlation to immortal cataclysm's motivations, though. lets circle back to this one later, if there is a connection to be drawn.

captain obvious is obvious! /silly yeah, this is very straight forwards. he means what he says! he won't stop 'til there's nothing left but ashes in his path.

and THIS is why i said you're fucked if you think you can stop him. he laughs at the sheer idea of someone trying to stop him. immortal cataclysm is surely, completely certain that he is unstoppable. not a single cookie can smother his flames now. this line will come back later. keep this in mind

oooh boy, this line. what cataclysm is implying here is incredibly straight-forwards. chaos energy is what fuels him. chaos MAGIC is what fuels him. he is not referring to the idea of chaos in itself, but rather chaos as a concept as it's portrayed in cookie run.

i'd like to point out that nether queen's element is chaos. this will come back later.

the return of captain obvious! nothing to say for this line. you get what he's saying, and who he may be saying it to really does not matter. moving on.

well, he could, couldn't he?

and burn it all he most certainly did. this line is so, so incredibly important to the general consensus on immortal cataclysm. you have to understand, this is implying that cataclysm successfully destroyed almost ALL of earthbread. there is near nothing left. the gift he gives you is something he scrounges up from the ashes he leaves behind. that is downright horrifying.

not only is it horrific, it's also incredibly telling on just how strong immortal cataclysm is. think of all those incredibly powerful forces on earthbread. where are they? has he destroyed them, too? we'll answer that later.

well, that connects back into the previous line. everything's on fire. everything is burning under him, burning like he is. and in classic fire spirit fashion, there he is laughing about it! another tally on the cataclysm is scary as hell board!

and here comes the endings. here comes finality.

in one line, immortal cataclysm tells you what his goal is. to burn it all down, and restart from the beginning. but why?

well, lets go into the guardians of nature, what their jobs are and what their purpose is in an end of the world situation. i promise this is necessary, stay with me here.

Nature, as explained by frost queen cookie, is a primordial force tasked with keeping earthbread in perfect equilibrium. all things powered by life powder flow in harmony with nature. the source is what all life powder returns to, in order to be recycled to new life (though, with the introduction of tartrus, i'd say there's a marked difference between life powder and the soul. the soul can remain, but the life powder will be recycled by nature. that's not relevant, or maybe it could be in regards to fire spirit's former mortality, but it is interesting.)

and the principles of nature cannot be broken. the world's mechanism must continue revolving. so, nature chose beings to guard it. a tree, a wind spirit, the sea, the moon, the sky, a mortal who heard its call- and a mortal who bartered with a dragon and got far, far more than he bargained for. (to note; the core 5 were brought together by millennial tree. stormbringer, frost queen and sherbet were picked by nature itself. and we have no idea how nether queen got here.)

so, what are the guardians of nature?

well, the guardians of nature, also known as the elemental cookies or nature's heralds, are cookies who 1. embody their specific elements and 2. are tasked with overseeing the cycle of life. each guardian exists to protect the cycle, and ensure it's equilibrium. the cycle of nature is ever-changing, and they move with it. they exist everywhere and nowhere all at once. if the cycle is off-balance, the guardians are tasked with rebalancing it. (see wind, piercer of darkness.) if nature is threatened, the guardians are tasked with protecting it. (see the dark enchantress war.) if they break the laws they are appointed to uphold, nature responds by placing them in slumber and depowering them so nature can recover (see dark winged guardian).

so, with this in mind.

what happens if the guardians fail?

what is their job in an end of the world scenario?

what happens if, say, someone sets the world ablaze?

well, we haven't seen the fire scenario exactly, but we have seen something similar.

the story of this costume pair. sweetness shall fade at twilight. stay with me here, i promise this is circling back to immortal cataclysm.

sweetness shall fade at twilight is an AU costume set placed in a timeline that, mysteriously, has been plunged into an eternal dark winter. the cycle of life itself has stopped turning. all guardians are deceased or otherwise lost. i won't paste the whole story in here, because this post is getting long enough as it is, but i will show you the final segment of the story.

"Everything shall begin anew." "You are right. So it shall."

A dark pillar of light shoots up from the earth, while a white one flashes across the sky. The two lights meet where land and sky connect. The world is cloaked in darkness and light. The two forces cancel each other out. The world turns into a void. The two Cookies smile as it engulfs them.

"Everything shall begin from oblivion." "Sweetness will fill the world once more."

everything shall begin anew. everything shall begin from oblivion. sweetness will fill the world once more.

We need to set it all ablaze, and start from the very beginning.

see where i'm going with this?

immortal cataclysm's goal is to restart the cycle. immortal cataclysm's goal is to set the world ablaze, and start it again from the very beginning. there is something he seems to have found fundamentally broken within the flow of nature in his own timeline, so therefore, it has to end. it has to restart.

the supporting evidence for this lies in several of his lines. set it all ablaze and restart from the beginning.

both flames and the world have an end, but that's what makes them beautiful. i don't care if even i disappear. that might even be better. (and, wow, what a line man. we'll circle back to that.)

immortal cataclysm's end goal IS, in a backwards sort of way, a guardians duty. nature is flawed, nature is broken, so he's here to correct it. both flames and the world have an end. everything shall begin from oblivion.

night raven's dialogue reflects this, as well! night raven's goal is, by all accounts, a twisted desire to assist with the flow and balance of nature. these weeds have thrown it off-balance, so he is here to cull them and correct them. cataclysm likely runs under similar, but not the same, logic. the exact details of cataclysm's goal and WHY he chose it are unclear.

for further evidence;

a gray sugar crystal shines with the light of a newborn star. we will come back to this line later.

immortal cataclysm's end goal is made perfectly clear. burn the world, reset the cycle.

'but bunny, why did you waste so much time going over something so basic?' well because so many people misunderstand cataclysm's end goal and i admit it drives me a little crazy HAHA

note, there is supporting evidence stated in arcana of truth and deceit. the guardians, in several timelines, are the sole pieces responsible for the upkeep of a timeline. it is just that in kingdoms, it is them And the soul jams. we will assume, until stated otherwise, that cataclysm's timeline was one reliant upon solely the guardians.

note 2, 'but you cant use kingdom info for ovenbreak analysis' yes i can. you have to understand there is not enough about cataclysm nor fire spirit in ovenbreak for anyone to draw a single conclusion from. if you are an ovenbreak fan here to tell me that i can't use kingdom to analyse an ovenbreak costume, i will block you!!!

so, we understand cataclysm's goal now. restart the cycle from the beginning. bring forth the worlds rebirth. we understand what he has to gain.

with this in mind, let's move back to dialogue. from here onwards, we will be referencing his goal as previously established, and focusing more on his mentality.

there is an implication here that cataclysm is surprised at the prospect of anyone having possibly escaped his flames. interesting.

i admit, i don't have much to observe on this line. cataclysm is inviting someone to watch the sea of flames with him. i imagine they will end up in those flames, too.

and back to endings. immortal cataclysm seems to have a bit of a focus on those, which is fair given what his goal is. however, there is a large implication laid within this line. 'both Flames and the world have an end'. cataclysm accepts that he himself has an ending. and he finds it beautiful. fire spirit, the man who bartered with a dragon to avoid his own ending, now finds his ending in unison with the world a thing of beauty. that alone speaks volumes on immortal cataclysm's mind. what he's thinking through this is such a far cry from what he would usually be thinking.

and this line furthers that.

immortal cataclysm does not care if even he disappears, at the end of this. in fact, he thinks that may be better. again, finality as a beautiful thing in contrast to fire spirit's constant fleeing from the idea of an ending. immortal cataclysm clearly does not want to bear witness to the aftermath of his destruction. he will cause it with a laugh and a grin, but he does not want to be there once the smoke clears. this flows into fire spirits subtle themes of ideation and death.

so, all this to say he probably isn't doing so well!

i've paired these lines because there really isn't much to say. captain obvious, etc etc. it is interesting that he says no amount of water in the world will help, though. so water cannot stop immortal cataclysm. another tally on the terrifying chart (and one frantic tally on the 'oh we're so fucked' kingdom chart) it is even more interesting that cataclysm is so sure that he is completely unstoppable. that chaos energy really is fuelling him.

so remember how i said there was a design detail i wasn't going to address til later? it's later now

the orb is gone.

the dragons bead is gone. immortal cataclysm has surpassed his need of reliance upon the red dragon. now, if you are as insane as i am about fire spirit, you will know how downright scary that detail is. he has no shackles on him now. he's got no limits. add a tally to the 'we are so fucked' kingdom chart!

well that's just not how that works. moving on

again. cataclysm refuses to stop. nothing can stop him. not water, not you, not the whole world's efforts. you cannot talk this man down. the world will be reborn from flame, just like he was.

well. clearly, cataclysm just wanted it to be over by the end of his war path. he seems relieved. he seems as if the weight of it all finally settled on his shoulders, and he's just glad it's OVER. interesting. finality is beautiful to him, and here he is rushing to meet it.

'Blue sugar crystal which carries the energy of the deep blue sea.'

well, no amount of water in the world will help.

and finally.

'think of all those incredibly powerful forces on earthbread. where are they? has he destroyed them, too? we'll answer that later.'

well. we know where they went, now. holy shit what a scary implication dude.

so, what have we discovered through cataclysm's dialogue?

his goal is to restart the cycle of life.

he is completely unstoppable. no one was able to stop him. not even the other guardians.

he has surpassed the red dragon.

he finds endings beautiful. interesting.

and finally, he is successful on his mission. all life on earthbread is destroyed.

now, i could stop here. i COULD. but wait! there's more! that i will link when it's up!

oh my god i hit the image limit. i fear i will have to stop here then, i have a lot more images to add.. who knew that there was a 30 image per post limit?

well, that's part 1 done! thank you so much for reading the first half of my immortal cataclysm insaneisms. in part 2 we'll be going over; content associated with cataclysm, my personal analysis on his design, what i think kingdom will do with him and why cataclysm is the stronger candidate for a corrupted fire spirit than lord of ash! if this post ends up needing a part 3 i will be walking into the ocean