#aaaauugh

GET OUT OF MY HEAD NOW NOW NOW

I just think that Sabi and Emmet deserve to have a little nap right now, so here they are having a nap in Braviary's nest :>

One thing that made me go "Why?" during the finale with eote finished was the section with the prisoner. We have to blow out the candles representing each species, but the one with the Hearthians have three framed pictures instead of one. The people depicted are Hal, Tephra, and Gneiss specifically.

And I wondered: "Why them?" Maybe the reason is that they are all special to the Hatchling themself. There's certainly dialogue to imply that for Tephra and Hal. Maybe it could also have been to show Hearthians at each stage of their life: child, adulthood, and senior. After all, Hearthians are the only species we see at multiples stages of their life. It makes sense we have a more complete picture of them.

But one thing that stood out was that Hal worked with the Hatchling to create the Nomai translator tool, which is what brings Hatchling this far. Gneiss made the instruments for the travelers, which are instrumental (hah) in the finale.

So both of their contributions are important. What about Tephra then? Well, they familiarize you with the signalscope, teaching you to seek out signals. Gneiss does that too, though. So what else?

I propose this: When the Hatchling agrees to play with Tephra and Galena, they close their eyes (isn't watching) so Tephra and Galena disappear to another location. You must track them down with the signalscope to their hiding spot. Sounds very, very familiar with something else, does it not?

I do recognize that this probably making a great reach. After all, if we want to talk about people who made great contributions to Hatchling's journey, members of Outer Wilds Ventures are stronger candidates compared to Tephra.

I TRIED