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Review of Hints

So, if you’ve been paying attention to the show, you’re probably aware of all the basics, such as, for example, that crystals can possibly be manufactured (episode “The Masked Masher”). But that’s not enough, we need new information. Let’s try to extract it from the hints that Mr. Asaph Fipke so kindly provided us. Let’s review them.

Our first stop is the episode “The Black Gorge”. Let’s remember the plot: our heroes decided to fly over the Black Gorge, but “something” sucked the energy out of their crystals and they fell down. But Piper found a solution:

She launched the Condor using this crystal, since the Black Gorge doesn’t affect it for some reason. Let’s remember this, it’ll come in handy.

Our next stop is the episode “Storm Warning”. Again, let’s remember the plot: the heroes stole a box of Leech Crystals, which steal energy, from the Cyclonians, and they discharged the Condor’s crystals. However, Piper again saved the situation by telling Stork to get rid of the crystals.

As we can see, as soon as Stork put the crystals in the isolator, the energy miraculously fully restored, and the Condor was able to take off. Let’s remember this and move on.

Our next stop is in the episode “The Lesson”. Let’s carefully watch what Arygyn will do now:

Let’s not get stuck on it, let’s remember it and move on.

Now let’s take a closer look at the episode “Five Days”. This time, there’s not much to comment on, it’s enough just to see it once:

Someone sees a glimmer of kindness in our beloved Master Cyclonis in this scene, while others quite reasonably ask: “who made that picture?” For us, it’s important that a photo can be stored in a crystal. Let’s remember this.

Our last stop is in the episode “The Key”. In this episode, we are introduced to the Binding.

We won’t dwell on them too much, just note that the abilities transferred through them are very reminiscent of the properties of some crystals. Let’s remember this and move on to the next step.

Fundamental Principle of How Crystals Work

So, let’s write down what we learned:

The Black Gorge somehow absorbs the energy of crystals, but does not affect the Solaris Crystal

If you drain the energy from crystals, and then remove the absorber, the energy of the crystals is immediately restored

Arygyn can turn off a crystal

Photos can be stored in crystals

Some abilities transmitted through Binding resemble the abilities of crystals

The inputs have been received. Now we can try to interpret them. I propose to do this with the following three postulates:

Postulate One: Information Can Be Stored in Crystals

This postulate is probably obvious, but its significance is far from obvious. For now, let’s focus on the fact that, in addition to photos, it should be possible to store, for example, a control program for a Suit of Untold Vengeance in a crystal.

Judging by the fact that the Medulla Crystal affects the user, we can assume that it is controlled using a neuro-interface, and the Medulla Crystal acts as a kind of “intermediary.” But that’s not important to us. Let’s move on to the next postulate:

Postulate Two: All Crystals, Without Exception, are Energy Receivers

Even the Solaris Crystal. It may sound crazy, but this assumption is fully consistent with what we see. If crystals receive energy from somewhere outside, then the miraculous restoration of energy after Stork hid the box in the isolator requires no explanation, and turning off in the Black Gorge can be compared to losing signal on a cell phone when you are outside the coverage area. However, the Solaris Crystal is still incomprehensible, as is the scene with Arygyn, so let’s move on to the final postulate:

Postulate Three: Binding is a Channel Through Which Crystals Receive Energy

So, the last postulate is quite straightforward. The scene with Arygyn should now become a little clearer, but the Solaris Crystal still requires explanation. Apparently, crystals are constantly and continuously in Binding, otherwise they would have turned off in the Black Gorge once and for all, as Arygyn seems to have done. However, in this case, we will have to assume that the analogy with cellular communication is not entirely correct, and in the “poor coverage area” the Binding simply weaken, but do not disappear completely. Weakening, they cannot provide the Condor’s take-off and the operation of the main systems, but are still able to maintain the Solaris Crystal in working order. The function of the Solaris Crystal is to accumulate solar energy; to store it, it uses the energy received from Binding. Most likely, there is not enough energy in one crystal to lift the Condor into the air, so the following explanation suggests itself: with the help of the energy accumulated by the Solaris Crystal, you can “strengthen” the weakened Binding. Apparently, this is exactly what Piper meant; in any case, this seems like a plausible explanation.

Binding and Information

According to the third postulate, this technique should be perceived as a temporary transformation of the user into a crystal. How exactly such a transformation occurs, I, unfortunately or fortunately, do not want to and will not explain, so let’s immediately move on to “unique” crystals, for example, this one:

According to the first postulate, to make this artifact, we need to record a “spell” - let’s call it that so as not to drown in the wilderness - of transforming an object into cheese in the crystal. This example is indicative, but other “unusual” crystals work in a similar way. We won’t dwell on them, let’s move on to the next point.

Source of energy

So, we assumed that crystals receive energy from somewhere outside. This entails the assumption that somewhere on Atmos there must be a source of energy for all crystals without exception. Drawing an analogy with cellular communication and, in principle, with radio waves, it is quite logical to assume that the source of all crystalline energy should resemble the TV towers and antennas familiar to us. Following this logic, the purpose of this structure becomes quite transparent:

Somewhere at this moment, an image of an incredibly advanced civilization may arise in your head, possibly reaching or very close to type 1 on the Kardashev scale, which built this transmitter to meet its energy needs. However, despite the fact that this conclusion seems logical, there are no explicit indications in the canon that this is the source of energy. With the same probability, it may be, for example, the core of the planet, and then the image of an incredibly advanced civilization will have to be seriously revised, and the purpose of this structure will remain a mystery. But whatever the source turns out to be in the end, our assumption leads us to a problem that we will now try to solve.

The One

In the episode “Origins”, this character claims that Piper is “the One”. The meaning of his words remains very, very vague to this day, but now we can try to assume what is behind them. First, you should ask an important question: since we assume that all crystalline energy is transmitted through Binding, then why are crystals needed at all on Atmos? You can just train “crystal mages” who will use Binding with the energy source, and no one will know grief. And so it turns out that this statement fits very conveniently into the picture of the world that we have just outlined. Thanks to it, we can assume that not just anyone is able to use Binding directly with the energy source, which is why they need crystals in order to be able to use this energy at all. Thus, I propose the following interpretation of these words: Piper is the primary crystal mage, that is, able to use Binding directly with the energy source. Master Cyclonis, in this case, will be a secondary crystal mage, that is, able to use Binding with crystals already connected to the source, but not directly to it. I believe this explanation is exhaustive, so we can move on to the final part of this analysis.

Piper’s Illness

Well, the moment has come to try to jump above our heads and stretch the facts to make our interpretations work on Atmos. Based on the third postulate, her illness can be explained as follows: Binding themselves are harmful to health, and their constant use will inevitably lead the user to such an outcome. However, Piper did not use Binding for 6 weeks and still got sick, and Cyclonis uses it like there’s no tomorrow and nothing happens to her from this. It is impossible to explain this just like that; we need a new entity. In order not to be completely unfounded, let’s try to derive it from these scenes:

We see that as soon as this aura covered Piper, she immediately felt better, and that Cyclonis clearly knows something that Piper doesn’t know (and doesn’t want to tell us). In order not to go beyond the third postulate, we will have to assume that secondary crystal mages, passing crystalline energy through themselves, cannot fully control it. Even after interrupting Binding, a residual charge remains in them, which, if not removed, will sooner or later bring any crystal mage to this state. Thus, I assume that Cyclonis, unlike Piper, knew that deactivation was needed to work with Binding. And in our case, Leech Crystals can act as deactivators. As for Piper’s healing, in that case we will have to assume that at this moment she used Binding directly with the energy source, thereby removing the residual charge. It sounds very doubtful, but there seems to be no better option…

So, I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything. If you’ve read this far and haven’t died of boredom, then congratulations. I do not claim to be the ultimate truth, just thoughts out loud.

According to the episode ‘Energy Crisis,’ Atmos has money similar to dollars and called the same, and according to ‘Masked Masher,’ bartering also takes place, as Finn traded a certain amount of crystals for 6 tickets. A quick Google search suggests that on Earth, similar tickets could cost around $200, which roughly corresponds to 200 liters of gasoline. If we calculate energy output, the crystals on Atmos are apparently almost free (well, you wouldn’t refuel an airplane with 200 liters of gasoline), but this is not cartain. It’s possible, of course, that this isn’t the case, and Finn simply agreed to the most exploitative offer, but we’ll never know that for sure.

More importantly, the fact that bartering is common on Atmos at all might indicate either that their society is genuinely medieval with weakly developed monetary institutions, as esteemed @rin-henricov writes here, or that the Atmosian economy is completely screwed due to the war. I mean, it’s unlikely you could swap an engine for, say, chrome pipes on Earth, or vice versa. And then we can confidently say that if credit exists on Atmos, it’s far less common than on Earth, and given the lack of developed information technology on Atmos, they most likely have checks instead of bank cards. You know, you probably write someone a check, and that person receives payment from the bank.

In the episode ‘Talon Academy,’ Lynn also draws attention. Logically speaking: she was shot down on her very first combat sortie, her parachute didn’t open, and she only avoided falling into the Wastelands because her opponent showed incredible mercy in the heat of battle. Surely, something must have clicked in her head at that moment - that next time she might face an opponent without such mercy, and that perhaps it just wasn’t worth it? But that wasn’t enough for her! She still wants a rematch with them, so much so that Piper had to talk her out of it for half the episode…

What Does the Canon Say?

There are many hypotheses in the fandom explaining his actions - ranging from simple bullying, almost like in school, to a choice dictated by the structure of the Atmosian economy, which the author describes as similar to Orwell’s 1984. What interests us, however, are the canonical facts. Let’s review them.

1. The Co-pilot

Before his betrayal, Ace was the co-pilot of the greatest Sky Knight - Lightning Strike.

If you think about it, the co-pilot of the greatest Sky Knight is a fairly significant position, one that wouldn’t be given to just anyone. Therefore, Ace must have somehow proven himself to end up here.

2. Free Atmos Propaganda

At the beginning of every episode, Aerrow tells us who Lightning Strike is and describes his goal as follows:

From a political perspective, this is an extremely harsh statement; Cyclonia is presented as absolute evil, subject to complete and unconditional dismantling. Such statements usually imply decisive action and achieving goals by any available means.

3. No One Likes Traitors

Throughout the show, Ace is portrayed as none other than the second-in-command in Cyclonia.

However, traitors are usually treated differently: betray once, betray twice. Carver is a testament to this. But this doesn’t affect Ace at all - he enjoys the exceptional trust of Master Cyclonis.

4. Loyalty

At the end of the episode “Age of Heroes Part 2,” Ace shields Master Cyclonis from falling debris.

However, he could have, let’s say, chosen not to do so, yet he risked his life regardless.

5. The Strength of the Sides

In the episode “Origins,” we see chronicle footage of the Battle to End All Battles. Let’s count the forces deployed by each side.

13 ships, including the Condor. Now, Cyclonia.

Lightning Strike faced 10 Cyclonian battleships.

6. Battle Results

The final shots of the chronicle show that Cyclonia retained at least 3 of its battleships.

However, what happened to the Sky Knights’ fleet is not specified.

7. The Medulla Crystal

In the episode “Energy Crisis,” Ace hides the Medulla Crystal from Master Cyclonis and secretly acquires the Suit of Untold Vengeance.

Yet, after he was ready to shield her from falling debris, this seems quite contradictory.

Conclusions

So, we have reviewed all the available information. Based on this, we can formulate several fundamental questions:

How did Ace become the co-pilot?

What is the influence of Free Atmos propaganda?

Where did Master Cyclonis’s trust and Ace’s loyalty come from?

Why did the Sky Knights lose the Battle to End All Battles?

Why did Ace hide the Medulla Crystal from Master Cyclonis?

It is likely that all these factors are interconnected. And to find this connection, I propose the following hypothesis.

Patriotism Leads to Betrayal

So, this is likely a case where patriotism, under certain circumstances, can indeed lead to betrayal. To understand how this happens, let’s reconstruct the context of the Battle to End All Battles.

The Influence of Propaganda

There has been an unceasing war between Free Atmos and Cyclonia for hundreds of years. A new phase has just begun; both sides have ambitions for victory, and the population is tense. This is ideal ground for the ideology of ridding Atmos of evil to take hold: people tired of centuries of war will enthusiastically join the ranks of the Sky Knights to end the conflict.

Ace then appears on the scene. If we assume this propaganda affected him, it becomes perfectly clear how he rose to the position of co-pilot. He was a patriot driven by the desire to rid Atmos of evil, and therefore he trained long and hard, eventually earning a spot next to Lightning Strike.

However, every patriotism has one very serious drawback: if the patriot’s country is losing, it becomes very hard for them to accept.

The Weaker Side

Free Atmos’s situation is clearly not the best. Even if we imagine that Ace genuinely shot down the Condor with this attack…

…it still means the Sky Knights had at least 12 ships left in the air against 10, but despite this, they lost. From this, we can draw a rather grim conclusion: this entire Battle to End All Battles was a suicide mission; the Sky Knights were weaker and could not outfight the Cyclonian fleet in a classic artillery duel.

If the Sky Knights’ command were not complete idiots, they should have understood this and waged war according to their capabilities. That is, they should have waged an asymmetric war with sabotage, guerrilla tactics, hit-and-run maneuvers, and the like.

Propaganda vs. Reality

At this point, reality begins to contradict the propaganda. Ace, seeing this discrepancy, might have started thinking: I was promised that we would rid Atmos of evil, a decisive victorious war, and what did I get? Sabotage? Guerrilla warfare? We are constantly hiding in corners like rats, and our comrades are dying in pointless raids! Why is this happening? Why aren’t we giving the enemy a decisive rebuff, like warriors? Why aren’t we gathering our strength and crushing Cyclonia with a decisive blow? What are our comrades dying for? What is this all about?! Is the command out of its mind?! Maybe they’ve been bought?!

And against this backdrop, he began to have conflicts with this very command and his direct superior, Lightning Strike. The result was that his comrades, seeing that while he was useful, he was also conflict-prone, tried not to provoke him unnecessarily and, for example, didn’t inform him about the sabotage objectives of the missions he participated in. This continued until this Battle to End All Battles was announced.

The Meaning of the Attack on Cyclonia

And at this point, we need to consider: if the Sky Knights couldn’t defeat the Cyclonian fleet - couldn’t meet the necessary condition for dismantling Cyclonia - then what was the point of this entire attack? Let’s refer back to the chronicle footage.

It shows squadrons of Storm Hawks and Rex Guardians flying toward the citadel and shelling it. But what are they doing at this moment? What combat mission are they performing? Too much was at stake for this to be just a spectacular show.

Since we already know the Sky Knights were waging an asymmetric war, and that, at least, the stated goal of this attack was the dismantling of Cyclonia, it means that what they were doing must align with the nature of the war and the stated goal. In that case, pressure on Cyclonia’s military-political leadership fits this description. If that is so, then Cyclonia had only one thing at that moment that could be used for that purpose: the Empress and her only granddaughter.

Now, we can consider two options: the Sky Knights intended to break through to Cyclonia with the force of two squadrons under artillery cover to either eliminate both of them, thereby sparking a struggle for the throne among the Cyclonian elite, or to capture the young Master Cyclonis to use her as leverage against the Empress.

The first option can be immediately doubted: in that case, Cyclonia would still have its fleet, and something would still need to be done about it. It’s far from certain that the Sky Knights would have succeeded in defeating it while the situation on Cyclonia stabilized, and that power wouldn’t ultimately pass to a more competent person.

The second option might even seem foolish: it is obvious that the Empress was not born yesterday to yield to such intimidation. However, perhaps that is not the case.

From the heroes’ stories, we learn that their home terras were destroyed by Cyclonia, and Terra Merbia was attacked at some point but apparently survived. And here it is important to note that, despite all this, Cyclonia never achieved the fall of Free Atmos, nor the defeat of the Sky Knights, nor even any elementary weakening of the latter. This gives us the reason to doubt her sanity: purely practically, she had to expend resources on these attacks, use up a huge amount of crystals - and for what? What did she achieve with that? Avenged her dead son? Sure, sure. In that case, the military-political leadership of Free Atmos might very well have hoped that after the capture of the granddaughter, the grandmother might panic over her safety, might start acting irrationally, and perhaps would agree to some serious concessions, such as a significant reduction of the fleet, for example.

On the Eve of the Battle to End All Battles

Okay, let’s assume the goal of this operation was to capture the young Master Cyclonis and immediately retreat afterward. But what does this have to do with Ace? Obviously, he wouldn’t have been informed of the command’s true intentions, and he would have been infinitely glad to learn that command finally got smart and gathered all their forces to crush Cyclonia. But let’s suppose he somehow found out about this plan - perhaps by overhearing a conversation. In that case, Ace would have realized he was simply being deceived, and that the Sky Knights weren’t coming to crush Cyclonia, but were rushing into a dubious venture without a clear idea of what they would do next, or even whether they could secure those concessions.

And, essentially, this could have been the last straw. Realizing that the command was not planning to win, that the Sky Knights would suffer devastating losses not for victory, but for some unclear purpose, Ace might have decided to sabotage this attack to, as he saw it, compel the command to do what it should be doing - waging a decisive war of annihilation, rather than raids that only result in huge losses with no visible outcome. But what happened, happened. The propaganda that was supposed to motivate Ace to fight against Cyclonia turned against Free Atmos itself.

Ace and Master Cyclonis

After the betrayal, Ace defected to Cyclonia. And here, the contradiction with the dislike of traitors immediately disappears: it is unknown what position the previous Empress gave him. It’s highly unlikely he was some significant figure in Cyclonia. And this remained the case until the power passed to her granddaughter.

There was a poll here asking: can Ace consider himself a hero after what he did? I won’t claim to know his specific personal opinion, but it’s quite plausible that the young Master Cyclonis could have thought so. From her perspective, he might be a true hero who risked everything to save her from the fate intended for her. This also resolves the question of where Ace’s loyalty came from: while her grandmother treated him with suspicion because he was a traitor, she considered him a hero, and when she inherited the throne, she made him her right-hand man. Perhaps there’s no better reason to be loyal.

The Medulla Crystal

At first glance, something completely incomprehensible is happening here. Ace is Master Cyclonis’s right-hand man, enjoys her exceptional trust, and is infinitely loyal to her. This means he wouldn’t hide the crystal for no reason, and we need to find something that could have pushed him to do it.

We can consider the possibility that, upon finding this crystal, he fell under its influence, and he started going mad back on terra Saharr. But then the question arises: how did he find it? It’s unlikely that a crystal meant to be destroyed would be left in the most visible place to be accidentally found someday. This suggests Ace was either intentionally looking for it or received it from someone, and in either case, this doesn’t look much like loyalty.

Another possibility is that it was his reaction to the appearance of the Nightcrawlers in Master Cyclonis’s service.

It is not definitively known who they are, but for 32 episodes, until “Royal Twist,” no one knew they even existed, and in “Cyclonia Rising Part 2,” Ace isn’t exactly happy about their arrival in new gear.

In this case, it can be assumed that Ace might have considered them a threat to Master Cyclonis and hoped to get rid of them using the Suit of Untold Vengeance. Then, where he got the Medulla Crystal becomes less important, and his actions no longer show any obvious contradictions.

Conclusion

The Calendar

We’ll start with the fact that, as it happened, our favorite show doesn’t have a calendar, and we’ll have to create one ourselves. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We will do this by analogy with other franchises where fans took some significant canonical event as the starting point. For example, in Star Wars, the Battle of Yavin IV was taken as the starting point, and their calendar is Before/After Battle of Yavin IV (BBY/ABY), and in Avatar: The Last Airbender, they took the arrival of Sozin’s Comet (BSC/ASC, now the Genocide of the Air Nomads - BG/AG). For us, this event is perhaps the defeat of the first Storm Hawks, and our calendar will be BSH/ASH. For example, our favorite show begins in year 10 ASH, and most of the main characters were born in year 4 BSH. We’ve sorted out the calendar, let’s move on.

The First Mention

So, as strange as it sounds, this is one of the simplest things to date, alongside the emergence of the Sky Knights. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have noticed anything and never would have joined the fandom. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Let’s listen to what King Agar and our beloved Stork say in the episode “Calling All Domos.”

Riiiiight, what do we have here?! Serpegris is only produced in the stomachs of dragons, and no one has seen it for 1000 years! Even comments are superfluous. >:D Considering Rinjiin’s testimony that they started being hunted, and that’s how they disappeared, we can date these dragon frames with high confidence to approximately 1030 ~ 1010 BSH. Well, they weren’t destroyed in a single day, and the Serpegris reserves shouldn’t have been depleted instantly either. You must agree, that was easy! :D

What is Rinjiin Hiding?

And, as everyone has likely already guessed, the real reason they started hunting the dragons was different. Let’s listen to what Rinjiin thinks about this.

Taa-a-a-ake it easy, Rinjiin, but lying is not good! Harmless and deadly threat are mutually exclusive concepts! >:D But if Rinjiin is lying, then for what purpose were they actually hunted? What was so special about them that people just decided to exterminate them? Well, of course, it was Serpegris! Apparently, ancient Atmosians needed it so badly that they decided to do something like that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aerodynamics

So, can the Condor break apart at a very high speed? The answer is: definitely, yes. Let’s look at its blueprint and compare it to an airplane.

It’s immediately obvious that the airplane is one large tube, whereas the Condor is three gondolas, positioned at different heights. But what really draws attention are the points where the side gondolas are attached to the central one. I certainly don’t want to model the aerodynamics, nor will I, so we’ll stick to a thought experiment: at a sufficiently high speed, the aerodynamic drag from the air would be so strong that it could cause the Condor’s right gondola to fly to the right, the left one to the left, and the central one to continue moving straight. Picture that? Only fly at permitted speeds…

What is a Tick?

So, the only known thing about this unit of measurement is what the radar on the heroes’ exchanged ship showed:

Now we can substitute real units of measurement.

1 Tick = 1 Kilometer

If so, detecting an object the size of a motorcycle at 150 km on Earth via radar is quite a lot, and the “wow” factor is completely justified. Although, since this radar showed Cyclonians riding skimmers, this isn’t a radar but a transponder, and in that case, Piper’s surprise can also be understood - the radar on the Condor might well have been operating over much shorter distances.

However, if this is the case, the Colonel was planning to accelerate the Condor to 4200 km/h - and that’s not just fast, but very fast. According to the internet, the experimental Soviet MiG-25M (I came across the figure 3900 km/h) and the American SR-71 Blackbird (some sources say 4300 km/h) could achieve comparable speeds.

And although the density of the Atmosian atmosphere is unknown, I personally wouldn’t consider the assumption that the Condor could withstand a speed 3.5 times the speed of sound without falling apart. The aerodynamic drag at such a speed would be enormous, and the Condor is clearly not designed for flight in such conditions. Also, we would have heard a sonic boom in a couple of scenes if it had broken the sound barrier.

Unless, of course, the Condor is made of Adamantium and you can use it to descend from orbit. Then we could consider it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Wait a minute…

1 Tick = 100 Meters

Well, in that case, 150 ticks = 15 km, and 4200 ticks/h is 420 km/h. On Earth, regional airliners fly at this speed, and a radar range of 15 km is, let’s say, a bit small for a wow factor, but if we assume the Condor had the radar it found rather than the one it should have had, then it’s a stretch, but… it might pass. Maybe. However, in this scenario, the cruising speeds of Atmosian ships must probably be around 80-100 km/h, which is a bit slow for air transport and more reminiscent of blimps or… Well, looking at the ships flying on Atmos, this is believable. At least the idea that the Condor could try not to fall apart at 420 km/h (and it would certainly try). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Did Stork Brake the Condor Correctly?

So, Stork suggested shutting off the engine and deploying the landing gear and something he called “safety shoots” to increase air resistance.

There’s little to comment on here. Obviously, if Condor had released all that stuff at full speed with the engines running, at best it would have just bent and fallen off, and at worst, it might have spun Condor around, pointing its nose toward the Wastelands, for example. But if they first shut down the engines, waited for Condor to slow down naturally, and only then released all these items, it might actually have worked out. Actually, that’s probably exactly what happened. Stork was just unconscious and imagined that everything happened instantly. Well, he wouldn’t intentionally damage his ship, would he? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Which Instruments Are Not Working?

So, here we are in the Great Expanse. The safety line hasn’t snapped, everything is under control! And immediately, this stuff failed on us:

And also this, but nowhere is it reported what exactly it is, so unfortunately, it’s impossible to take it into account. In the episode “Dude, where’s my Condor,” there is a hint that at least one of these dials is a speedometer, but there is unfortunately no direct indication of this. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Now, let’s think about what could have disabled all of them at once.

Version #1: The Sky Siren

The simplest, most obvious, and moreover, logical explanation.

As we all remember, after our heroes started resisting this, ahem… lady, the instruments started showing signs of life one by one, and eventually, our heroes escaped the Great Expanse. Therefore, it is likely that she can cast illusions not only on living beings but also on electronics, which is why all these instruments failed. Logical? Definitely. However, there is one rather serious question regarding this version that forces us to treat it with great caution. Let’s recall how the Condor’s power system works.

So, the Condor’s energy source is the crystal array, and… presumably, energy lines run from it to the engines, presumably there should be controllers somewhere managing energy flows, engine thrust, lighting, and finally, heating? Well, the creators don’t seem eager to share detailed blueprints of the Condor.

And the question is, if the Sky Siren can cast illusions on the instruments, why wouldn’t she do the same to the controllers? The engines fail, the lights go out, the Condor is forced to land and cannot take off, and the Storm Hawks spend 24/7 dreaming of their deepest desires and become an easy snack. And even resistance won’t save them - food supplies are finite, and the Sky Siren just needs to find a pebble and wait by the sea in a philosopher’s pose. But we didn’t see any of this. Maybe the Siren skipped classes, but that’s not certain. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Version #2: Radio Horizon

So, the idea is that the timepulse has a certain radius of action within which one can receive a signal from it and determine their location.

Well, just like a radio transmitter is only visible within the radio horizon, and the greater the distance, the higher the transmitter needs to be, or even use Earth’s ionosphere as a reflector.

This is how over-the-horizon radar works, if anyone knows. For the same reason, the regular radio on the Condor might not work - the radio station was beyond the radio horizon at that moment, and it doesn’t have enough power to reflect off Atmos’s ionosphere, and it’s not a fact that Atmos even has one. And Aerrow’s watch might be connected to the Condor’s timepulse, or might itself be its receiver. Like on Earth, some devices use GPS for time synchronization. Why install a separate device when GPS broadcasts time from the sky 24/7? But if it’s jammed, it suddenly turns out the clocks stop working. This has happened. So far, everything still looks logical, but other problems arise here.

Firstly, the compass. It’s hard to imagine it somehow being dependent on the timepulse or other signals, unless Atmos has some other positioning system besides the timepulse. One could, of course, say that in the region they ended up in, there are iron deposits causing a magnetic anomaly, but… Secondly, what about the unknown instrument? Even if one of them is a speedometer that really can work in GPS mode and glitch without a signal, it’s still hard to imagine how this and the magnetic field could affect the other instruments, whatever they are: an altimeter, a barometer, a thermometer, or the Condor’s internal sensors, finally. This version is perhaps not much better than the Sky Siren. Let’s keep thinking. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Version #3: Energy Field

So, we dismiss the non-working radio as being due to the radio horizon, and try to explain everything else by the influence of an energy field generated by deposits of some crystals in the region.

The idea is that all their technology runs on crystals, so if an energy field affects it, it could cause interference in its operation, leading the instruments to display nonsense, like Aerrow’s watch. The immunity of the controllers to this field can be explained by the fact that they operate at high voltages, unlike the instruments, which are highly susceptible to it. The only problem is the compass, but judging by the fact that Piper tried to fix it with crystals, it’s possible (but not certain) that it also runs on them, and such deposits could affect it too. Another potential issue is that such deposits usually don’t extend indefinitely, but if we assume the Sky Siren is smarter than she appears and intentionally guided our heroes around them, then it seems to fit.

Again, we don’t know exactly how the instruments on the helm work, so we can’t be 100% certain it’s this way and not some other way, but since this version doesn’t require the Condor’s engines and electrics to be disabled, nor does it require those instruments to be tied to the temporal pulse, it seems the most plausible. Or at least, more flexible. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How to Navigate in the Great Expanse?

Well, it’s time to build our devil’s contraption from available materials, thanks to which we can, if not escape, at least try to determine our location. So, someone has probably already guessed, but still, can someone tell me WHAT our heroes could try to do to figure out where they are?! >:D Okay, okay, here’s a hint: the Condor has plenty of spare parts and skimmers.

I don’t hear an answer! What instrument could the Storm Hawks build to get out of the Great Expanse?! What? What are you whispering from the back of the hall? >:D Absolutely correct! Of course, they could build a gyroscope!

A gyroscope is the stupidest device possible. It’s just a heavy disc on a three-axis gimbal, and the only thing required of it is to spin very fast. And then magic happens: due to the law of conservation of angular momentum, it will try to maintain the orientation of its axis, and as Atmos rotates, it will start to deviate from its initial position. This way, they can determine the direction of Atmos’s rotation and, consequently, the direction North! And then they just align the gyroscope according to this direction and fly away! Well, with a little plot assistance, of course, but it’s certainly better than becoming a snack for the Sky Siren! :D

And all it takes is taking apart Finn’s skimmer for parts, removing its wheels and bearings, using pipes and other parts to build a gimbal suspension, installing the wheel in it, asking Junko to spin it with his mighty hands, and voila! There’s a ticket out of the Great Expanse! Well, maybe not a ticket. We don’t know how the Sky Siren would react to such flagrant impudence! :D But more importantly, why didn’t Piper think of doing this?! She’s our navigator, which means she simply couldn’t not know about gyroscopes and inertial navigation, could she?! She couldn’t have, right? Couldn’t she?.. :'D

Description and Stated Principle of Operation

First, let’s listen to what Stork thinks this crystal does…

…and then let’s ask him to demonstrate how this manifests.

And here’s one more moment for good measure.

Those in the know have probably already figured out what’s wrong with this artifact, but I still need to explain it to everyone else.

What is Gravity?

To put it as briefly as possible, according to Uncle Einstein, gravity is the curvature of space, thanks to which, for example, parallel-moving objects that would never meet under normal conditions suddenly begin to approach and collide. Let’s look at the illustrative visualizations in 2D and 3D.

Now let’s look at the screenshots. And who can tell me what we DON’T see in them if this is truly gravity?! >:D Exactly! If it were gravity, it would attract all objects indiscriminately. But the fact that it attracts Radarr but not Aerrow, and that you can disable the attraction of new objects while leaving the already attracted ones, cannot be achieved simply by chance - it would require a very specific metric of curvature, which you simply cannot create at the snap of a finger. But if this is true, if this crystal can genuinely create any curvature metric just by Stork’s gulp pressing a button, it means that whoever made it has advanced so far in their development that they are capable of building a real warp drive, just as Uncle Miguel Alcubierre advised, and unlocking a Type 3+ civilization.

Well, that’s a faster-than-light engine, for those who don’t know. And they could also create genuine artificial gravity without SMS or registration massive centrifuges and Coriolis forces. Oh, and they’ll be able to build a Penrose machine as well, while they’re at it. After all, it’s the most efficient energy generator in the universe.

If Not Gravity, Then What?

But since it doesn’t look like the Atmosians can easily even reach orbit, and we don’t see any starships or other fantastic paraphernalia, we want to find another solution that doesn’t involve all this curvature fuss. And, I must say, something similar that could replace gravity has already been shown in our favorite show. Let’s ask our beloved Master Cyclonis to… uh… show her royal hand.

And looking at how she effortlessly pinned the far-from-skinny Repton against the wall ten meters away, why couldn’t we assume that the Gravitron Crystal does something similar, only in reverse and slightly less spectacularly? In that case, the description of this artifact is extremely simplified, and it ceases to be a marvelous technology worthy of a Type 3+ civilization. Along with that, any need to assume that spaceships towing black holes must be roaming the skies of Atmos disappears as well. Well, perhaps it disappears; after all, we haven’t seen any real aliens in all 52 episodes, have we? >:D

The kind of planetary structure you are describing is impossible in real life! >:D Well, if I correctly understood that you mean the entire rocky ‘surface’ of Atmos floats in a giant subsurface ocean. In our solar system, something similar occurs on Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moons - Europa and Enceladus - but their surfaces are icy, not rocky, which allows them to float in such an ocean. A rocky surface would simply break apart due to higher density and sink into that ocean. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But even if we somehow prevented the surface from breaking apart, the water in that ocean would hardly be water in the sense we are used to, because under such extreme conditions, it would definitely transition into various exotic forms, such as Ice VI, for example. A vast system of underground rivers and lakes would probably be much more realistic.

If I’m not mistaken, in real life, aging in all species occurs due to the shortening of DNA segments - telomeres. Well, maybe I confused something, after all, I’m not a biologist. And looking at the biological diversity of Atmos, perhaps the same thing is happening to them, but this is not certain. Perhaps there is some other mechanism, but those questions are not for me; I cannot suggest one.

Regarding solar cycles, since I consider Atmos’s sun to be a red dwarf, such stars are known for producing powerful solar flares that can, for example, strip a planet of its atmosphere. In reality, this would certainly cast significant doubt on the very possibility of life - at least life as we know it - existing on Atmos. However, regarding aging, I personally don’t see any direct connection, although it could cause cancer. Although the local biosphere would probably need to be more resistant to it…

It’s Complicated

So, in astronomy, to find out the gravity of a distant planet, all we really need is… for that planet to have a moon. :D That is, we can observe the distance and orbital period of the moon around its planet, and then, using the laws of celestial mechanics, we can determine the planet’s mass and, consequently, its gravity. Simple, right?

Now, guess what our beloved show kindly tells us about all of this…? That’s right! Absolutely! Nothing! >:D

We don’t know the altitude Aerrow flew at in the “Stratosphere” episode, nor the time it took him to complete an orbit, and we can only judge the size of Atmos by very indirect clues. But what are these more substantial reasons we can be so sure of?!

The answer to that question is the Barrier Cliffs.

How High Can Mountains Be?

Now, let’s look closely at the screenshot again. Piper kindly informs us that they were at an altitude of 20 leagues in the stratosphere at that moment. And it doesn’t really matter what a league is right now. Let’s just imagine it means 20 kilometers. That’s already a pretty significant stratosphere on Earth. Now, even without calculations, let’s consider: it seems like the height of these mountains is roughly the same as the altitude where Condor is currently located. That is, definitely more than 10 kilometers high.

Now let’s compare this to Earth’s mountains: who can tell me the highest mountain on Earth? Well, it’s Mauna Kea in Hawaii! A whopping 10.2 kilometers from its base on the ocean floor, making it 1.3 kilometers taller than Everest. Who knew?! >:D

Essentially, on Earth, this is close to the limit. Theoretically, it could reach 12 kilometers, but that becomes difficult. However, for Olympus Mons on Mars, this is far from the limit! It stands at a full 22 kilometers high! And it’s not just the tallest mountain on Mars, but the tallest mountain in the solar system!

Since the fact that the Barrier Cliffs are very high is presented as a given, this is the more substantial reason to assume that the gravity on Atmos might be similar to Mars’s - that is, about 2.5 times weaker than on Earth. Indirectly, this also suggests that Atmos might be roughly the same size as Mars, but we have to consider the possibility that Atmos could have a low density, which could ultimately make it larger. Also, those in the know have surely noticed that purely from an astronomical perspective, all of this raises a lot of questions, such as why Atmos hasn’t lost its atmosphere yet. But that, as they say, is a whole other story.