NightRaptor

Second, and the last competence to discuss overall: Antimony Pulse.

Antimony Pulse's name harkens back to the same chemistry-type naming of Arsenic Dip(/Touch of Arsenic) that Gaius (and Rosemary) have. The attack is connected to Gaius by way of Roland's association with him, but it isn't either an implantation or influenced competence like Aurum's Lie, Touch of Arsenic, and Philosopher's Stone are; Antimony Pulse, while being indisputably connected to Gaius, is still entirely unique to Roland without borrowing/sharing its animation from one of his.

Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from Latin stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous grey metal or metalloid, it occurs in nature mainly in the form of the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient times and were powdered for use as medicine[.]

It's usage in medicine makes sense in regards to the Prison having formerly been a hospital, and in the event you save Magdalene first, the cutscene upon entering the operation room details Roland mentioning her not being worth precious anaesthetics. Either those anaesthetics came from the Medical Ward, or they came from the Industry District. Them being from the Industry District is plausible given the medical documents in the Ward's office pertaining to Jadon's admission and dismissal, where they say he was to be transferred to Gaius' private medical facility which, being owned by Gaius, would suggest it's located somewhere within his District.

Regardless, the entire situation with the Chimeras, Manticores, Judas, and Lilithe being surgically-fused abominations is rooted in medicine.

The industrial methods for refining antimony from stibnite are roasting followed by reduction with carbon, or direct reduction of stibnite with iron.

While iron is a part of the whole Prison Medical Ward puzzle, I don't think it has any connection to Roland in particular, thus it is unbolded.

The mention of refining antimony involving roasting, however...

Antimony trioxide is a prominent additive for halogen-containing flame retardants. Antimony is used as a dopant in semiconductor devices.

Flame retardants are a diverse group of chemicals that are added to manufactured materials, such as plastics and textiles, and surface finishes and coatings. Flame retardants are activated by the presence of an ignition source and prevent or slow the further development of flames by a variety of different physical and chemical mechanisms.

This could refer to how Roland's burn was notably slow in comparison to the instant eruption other Elsens go through upon burning. Despite his head being consumed in black flame, he remains lucid and in control as opposed to devolving into mindless hostility and only being able to utter a final semi-lucid statement before perishing. He remains fully in control of his actions and remains aware and cognizant even when dying that other burnts don't exhibit. Given that it's antimony that serves to slow the further development of flames and antimony as a substance used in chemistry marks the competence's manifestation as a result of his connection to Gaius, one can extrapolate that it's because of his connection to Gaius that caused him to burn so slowly.

Doing something so selfish and hurtful to an innumerable amount of people all to stick it to someone you loved because you found their final say on something you disagreed with contemptible or odious. Doing it while also believing your actions would serve to posthumously make them proud and make reality that which they grimly accepted as infeasible.

While Gaius himself is similar to Zaphkiel, so too is Roland— though more specifically in the vein of how Zaphkiel initially was when Hugo was still alive and then him changing from the death of his Father that instigated this whole downward spiral. Roland, like Gaius, tried to play god, though the intent behind each of these actions are opposite.

Gaius played god in that he was a desperate mortal man just trying to keep the world afloat and save everyone by way of shooting straight to a miracle cure than taking the long way because he didn't know how much time they had left and every second counted, because once Death arrived, that was it. Gaius' act of playing god was out of necessity, while Roland's was for the sake of abusing his power and authority over those dictated lesser than him. Gaius' violation of ethics was in the manner of "the end justifies the means" and having to sacrifice the few to save the many; it was a grim but necessary act, for if the Districts could be upheld without the blood of the innocent, I have no doubt Gaius would've taken that route in a heartbeat.

Of course, that is if a more ethical alternative was just as, if not more effective than the murder of hundreds. As much as Gaius would rather not sacrifice his morals any further, he is logical and pragmatic in his actions and if an alternative isn't as efficient as killing hundreds of people, it could lead to a creeping landslide as the at first seeming negligible deficit starts building as the most vulnerable people that relied on the old process start having worse quality of life which then domino effects into those less and less vulnerable and dependent that it becomes a wide-scale problem. Ones add up, as I say. Such a risk would not go overlooked by Gaius. Too much is resting on his shoulders for him to miscalculate and everything be lost as a consequence. He's already lost his science friends, his wife, his Guardian friends, Abram, and his son, he needs not cost the entire city.

But Roland? There is nothing necessary about what he's doing. He's doing it because he can. He's doing it to rub it in Gaius' face that this science is more effective than whatever it was that Gaius turned to. I've already analyzed both in an earlier part of this analysis and in one of the posts in my account of the game's events that the crushers' initial purpose was to use spectres as a source of energy by way of mutilating them. While ectoplasm is still used as an energy source to an extent within the Factory, it's not utilized via crushing the spectres into bloody mangled messes— plus Asterion handles the bulk of the power supply. Such an example of less gruesome and, admittedly, cruel, ectoplasm usage is in the Third Eye machines where the contained spectre is transformed into raw energy that is absorbed by a subject.

We never see this in action, but given the function of this machine, I doubt it reduces the contained spectre to a bloody pulp like the unnecessarily cruel crushers.

The act of fusing ghouls with people using ectoplasm and crystals could well have been yet another form of Gaius trying to figure out how to empower himself and the Guardians, testing it on other people to see what effect it would cause before quickly banning it and moving onto another method. It's so gruesome and out of character for even someone like Gaius despite his questionable–to–outright violation of ethics that one wouldn't otherwise think this science came about from him. It also goes to show just how desperate he was that for a moment, he truly stooped that low. But he gave up on this experimentation since, as it is clearly displayed by the Manticores, Judas, and Lilithe, the subject is reduced to mindless bloodlust from the pain and combination of psyches. It births incredibly powerful entities that only seem lackluster because the one they're up against is The Batter, but against other ghouls or normal people, they are very effective. It promises an immense boost in power at the expense of one's lucidity and stability of mind. A cost that is far too steep and is not worth it if the subject is, for all intents and purposes, dead.

Magdalene's spirit in Layer 3 of The Tower has her exhibit memory of killing Roland, meaning she had some level of cognizance, but she had no control over her actions as she attacks The Batter mindlessly. So while the subject may not become completely mindless, they become trapped in their own mind without full autonomy over their actions. At best stuck in an "And I Must Scream" situation. It is easy to see why this science was banned, but Roland must've only seen the effectiveness of power in the results and viewed the lost of autonomy and potentially consciousness in the wake of it as an acceptable cost. It's... understandable how he could've come to such a conclusion. They were in the midst of a war, after all. And given the nature of this science in its cruelty, it can be inferred that it was Gaius' last attempt at producing a means of fighting back against the spectres before Abram learned the Truth and the influx of spectres and ghouls dramatically slowed with the Corruption of The Queen.

I believe this so because, with how horrific this is, it rings strongly as a last desperate attempt at something resulting from a man going insane from grief and his accumulated failure upon failure and the resulting rage and self-hatred from that. It rings as both just throwing random things together and hoping maybe this mishmash is the ticket, and an act of vitriol and trying to force a square peg into a triangle hole, getting it stuck partway.

Then the war suddenly ended and there was no longer a need to produce a means of fighting back against The Queen's army. And this deplorable violation of ethics and his own morals was promptly banned. It is no wonder his fatal flaw is desperation.

Desperation is a powerful thing that can completely warp a person into the very opposite of who they once were. The lengths one is willing to go to achieve something. How much of their morals they're willing to sacrifice in the wake of it. For the sake of their desires.

Nathan, the one to reinvent guns and created other crystal-incorporated weapons so that even the common man could fight back, died. Rosemary, the one to create bombs and other chemicals that could be used in warfare, died. Margaret, the one who worked alongside Gaius in conceptualizing the Third Eye project and was to enact the fruits of their labor upon the willing participant of one of Gaius' friends— whom of which was a Guardian— died. Jadon was out of commission from this freak accident. Malachi became unstable from what became of Jadon and threw himself wholly into fighting without regard for himself. Adam was already deemed a failure. At this point, he felt he had no choice but to try to brute force a solution that would actually work. His anger clouded his sense of morality as by that point he only cared for results. Something that could actually help them stand a chance against The Queen's army. And it was only when it was no longer necessary that his desperate anger ebbed and he saw just what he was willing to do to achieve an effective, working result even if it cost the subject their mind. The very drawback he kept dismissing past means of empowerment because of. Because if the subject lost their mind, what was the point?

See now what your desperation has wrought.

Do you like hurting others?

Out of all the methods Gaius tried to empower himself and the other Guardians or even the common man with, the act of forcibly merging people with ghouls is displayed nowhere within the Factory or even Research Facility. We only know Gaius had something to do with it— much like the crushers— because of Roland. Roland who saw the effectiveness of the results and deemed them worth the cost. Roland who disagreed with Gaius banning this research when it had such potential.

Having to go to such lengths is no longer necessary, thus Gaius shifted gears to less egregious methods of producing a deus ex machina; a philosopher's stone. Roland performs this banned science to stick it to the person he both loved dearly and became contemptuous of in his foolish desperation for self-preservation when the key was right in the palm of his hand but he refused to use it.

Gaius could've used that research to at least save himself; transform himself into something great. If more study was put in, there was a very real chance a way of maintaining the subject's consciousness and sanity could've been discovered. That is likely what Roland thought. But Gaius squandered that chance by banning it and had to resort to the faulty alternative of connecting his armless half-torso to a giant machine while clones of him that run on vague organic bits of memory run the District.

In the end, Gaius does finally give in and resort to merging himself with something, but that something is the extraction of his brain and placing it within a mechanical confine. It maintains his sanity and grants hims immense strength— and at first seems to have been the solution to freeing oneself from the Corruption all along. The Philosopher's Stone of this banned science being the ingredient to the Elixir of Life that is placing the Corrupted subject's brain in a robotic body.

But, as is known, this was not the case. Gaius was still Corrupted. He still lost. Perhaps if this procedure were done with any other Corrupted than Gaius— what with his enigmatic, stubborn form of Corruption— it might have worked, but we don't know. We only have Gaius to go off of. What Roland in the main timeline doesn't know is that Gaius' death was inevitable. One can extrapolate that he believed that had Gaius not banned this research, he might've survived. That he isn't performing a science Gaius banned just to spite him, but out of convincing himself that if he could perfect this practice, that means Gaius always had a chance at surviving and he threw it away.

...

Just like Zaphkiel, he is.

But... it was inevitable. And in death, he realizes this and accepts this harsh truth.

Unlike Zaphkiel.

Ah. Right. The citations. The other bolded part of that one in particular before I went down this rabbit hole.

Semiconductor was bolded as it further connects Roland to Gaius by way of similarity to New Divide (mho symbol in the attack animation indicating electric conductance), Azoth Conductor (self-explanatory), and Arsenic Dip (arsenic can be a semiconductor if amorphized). Again, Antimony Pulse's animation is not shared with Gaius, but the connection to him is present nonetheless.

Additionally before I forget, Antimony Pulse has the ability to inflict burning. Just like how Arsenic Dip can inflict burning.

A yellow allotrope of antimony, assumed to be analogous to yellow arsenic, forms by oxidation of stibine (SbH3) with air or oxygen at −90 °C.

Antimony as being analogous to arsenic, hm?

Antimony trioxide is formed when antimony is burnt in air.

Antimony(III) oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Sb2O3. It is the most important commercial compound of antimony. It is found in nature as the minerals valentinite and senarmontite.

Other names

Antimony sesquioxide Antimonous oxide Flowers of Antimony

Of course. Why wouldn't Roland exhibit his association with Gaius' work in bringing trees back? While that work was the focus of him and his wife's efforts, Roland displays much commendation towards this work in so far as using it as a means of persuading The Batter to not kill Gaius.

He even emphasizes the fact that despite how unnatural the trees are, they are more natural than they started out, subtly stressing and saying that the current state of the trees was an act of dedicated work that took a lot of time. That this is what the Guardian of this District is putting his efforts into; this incredibly benign thing rather than abusing and killing people.

The skeletons are well-hidden.

Molten antimony trifluoride is a weak electrical conductor.

More electrical conductance.

One of the alchemical symbols for antimony

...Earth shares its alchemical symbol with antimony.

Bird of Jove.

Antimony trichloride is the chemical compound with the formula SbCl3. It is a soft colorless solid with a pungent odor and was known to alchemists as butter of antimony.

I initially was going to refrain from citing this since I'd considered it too obvious. Like, of course Roland also exhibits a connection to alchemy, why wouldn't he? But the point of analysis is to discuss all connections, so I have done so now that it's relevant.

Antimony was frequently described in alchemical manuscripts, including the Summa Perfectionis of Pseudo-Geber, written around the 14th century.

However, antimony in some of its forms is prone to exploding or very easily producing an exothermic reaction from even being slightly scratched.

A rare explosive form of antimony can be formed from the electrolysis of antimony trichloride, but it always contains appreciable chlorine and is not really an antimony allotrope. When scratched with a sharp implement, an exothermic reaction occurs and white fumes are given off as metallic antimony forms; when rubbed with a pestle in a mortar, a strong detonation occurs.

It is brittle or soft; easily prone to breaking under stress.

Pliny the Elder also made a distinction between "male" and "female" forms of antimony; the male form is probably the sulfide, while the female form, which is superior, heavier, and less friable, has been suspected to be native metallic antimony.

Elemental antimony adopts a layered structure (space group R3m No. 166) whose layers consist of fused, ruffled, six-membered rings. The nearest and next-nearest neighbors form an irregular octahedral complex, with the three atoms in each double layer slightly closer than the three atoms in the next. This relatively close packing leads to a high density of 6.697 g/cm3, but the weak bonding between the layers leads to the low hardness and brittleness of antimony.

--

And another form of antimony is referred with the name of "Flowers of Antimony". Antimony itself is, despite its outdated usage in medicine, incredibly toxic.

Coins of antimony were issued in China's Guizhou in 1931; durability was poor, and minting was soon discontinued because of its softness and toxicity.

The medieval Latin form, from which the modern languages and late Byzantine Greek take their names for antimony, is antimonium. The origin of that is uncertain, and all suggestions have some difficulty either of form or interpretation. The popular etymology, from ἀντίμοναχός anti-monachos or French antimoine, would mean "monk-killer", which is explained by the fact that many early alchemists were monks, and some antimony compounds were poisonous.

Retroactively, once one knows of the horrific acts done to people by Roland, it serves as foreshadowing for him being an outlier in the science team. While the others were held relatively pure intents in their work (with the most muddying being Margaret's and Gaius' experiments on ghouls), Roland was doing shady things behind Gaius' back. Shady things that turned out to be a revival of immoral research that was banned. His work served to sully Gaius' legacy. A toxic plant in the garden with an unassuming appearance. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

A poisonous flower that finally bloomed upon being wholly placed within a volatile environment that both nurtured and destroyed it. A flower that only became toxic due to being manipulated. A seed planted that germinated into dangerous thought patterns. A continuation of the cycle of blame.

Antimony and many of its compounds are toxic, and the effects of antimony poisoning are similar to arsenic poisoning. The toxicity of antimony is far lower than that of arsenic; this might be caused by the significant differences of uptake, metabolism and excretion between arsenic and antimony.

Of all Gaius' competences that Antimony Pulse bears similarity to, the one that is explicitly poison is the one with the highest correspondence. Interesting.

Like arsenic, the most serious effect of acute antimony poisoning is cardiotoxicity and the resulting myocarditis; however, it can also manifest as Adams–Stokes syndrome, which arsenic does not.

Cardiotoxicity is the occurrence of heart dysfunction as electric or muscle damage, resulting in heart toxicity. This can cause heart failure, arrhythmia, myocarditis, and cardiomyopathy, resulting in a weakened heart that is not as efficient at pumping blood. While some of these effects are reversible, others can cause permanent damage, requiring further treatment.

Myocarditis is inflammation of the cardiac muscle. Myocarditis can progress to inflammatory cardiomyopathy when there is associated ventricular remodeling and cardiac dysfunction due to chronic inflammation. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain, decreased ability to exercise, and an irregular heartbeat. The duration of problems can vary from hours to months. Complications may include heart failure, due to dilated cardiomyopathy or cardiac arrest.

Adams–Stokes syndrome [...] is a periodic fainting spell in which there is intermittent complete heart block or other high-grade arrhythmia that results in loss of spontaneous circulation and inadequate blood flow to the brain. It is characterized by an abrupt decrease in cardiac output and loss of consciousness due to a transient arrhythmia; for example, bradycardia due to complete heart block.

The "pulse" in Antimony Pulse. This descent into poison leaves not the source unscathed. Roland is not immune to his own ire; this self-destructive downward spiral that explodes and inflicts hurt upon all in vicinity. In order to truly stop the madness in the Prison, you must delve into the heart of it all and put an end to that which pumps out abominations and poisons the very structure that "nurtures" it. A backup generator when the real heart falls. Even if The Warden is gone, lest something is done about Roland, several tens more people will be snatched and subjected to fates worse than death. Until he burns out completely, this will continue.

He dies either way. It matters not in the end. Sure, either the world is brainwashed into perfection, the world rapidly decays into the Nothingness, or the world is granted an instant death by it being turned OFF. Death of the self, or just death. Death by Lilithe, or death at Death's hand.

To ignore it and let it fester even if it doesn't matter in the end when oblivion is inevitable is against the subtle nudging the game does to The Player.

The game is asking you to care.

Even though everything is lost, and there's nothing but pain and sorrow, when you're given the chance to be kind; to lighten the load even if it's ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things, in the moment, it does matter. With what time remains, your actions matter. So why spend that time ignoring the plights of others? Being cynical, and actively malignant? The world is already a bad place steadily marching towards an inevitable tragic end, so why add fuel to the fire? Why make things worse than they already are?

They are hurting.

They are asking you to care.

Inhalation of antimony dust is harmful and in certain cases may be fatal; in small doses, antimony causes headaches, dizziness, and depression. Larger doses such as prolonged skin contact may cause dermatitis, or damage the kidneys and the liver, causing violent and frequent vomiting, leading to death in a few days.

Another popular etymology is the hypothetical Greek word ἀντίμόνος antimonos, "against aloneness", explained as "not found as metal", or "not found unalloyed".

How ironic...

For antimony-importing regions, such as Europe and the U.S., antimony is considered to be a critical mineral for industrial manufacturing that is at risk of supply chain disruption.

He felt himself an important and valuable asset. He was the only one working with the Rebellion who had this sort of knowledge and the ability to put it into practice. He was also the intermediary for Gaius and functioned akin to a valid authority of a high enough level to greenlight certain projects in Gaius' place. Roland's frequent absences did not go unnoticed.

Biology and medicine have few uses for antimony.

--

Antimony is used in bullets, bullet tracers, paint, glass art, and as an opacifier in enamel.

Foreshadowing, but also odd. As far as the information we're given suggests, Roland had nothing to do with Nathan's field of research. So the only analogy that can be made between Roland and bullets is him getting shot by Vanni in the middle of his battle and subsequently dying.

This is more an analysis of Roland himself than Gaius, but the similarities to Gaius' competences in Antimony Pulse alone cannot be understated. They are both even only accessible once the power supply at the end of a labyrinth is shut down. Although... Roland is akin to what Gaius would've become had his sense of morality devolved into conditionality; that he maintains his morals only when they don't inconvenience him, otherwise he drops the facade and anything's fair game. Gaius was the last remaining tether on Roland's morality, and with his death he spiraled into oblivion. I believe too, that Roland was also his. That with Gaius' track record for his good intentions causing either severe irreparable injury to his friends or outright resulting in their deaths, that eventually some freak accident would've occurred that finally killed Roland and completely sent Gaius over the edge.

...

Perhaps that is what lead to Gaius reconsidering this banned research and thus becoming Gaius Construct.

Because he had nothing else left to lose.

He was already hopeless and kept himself alive and sane through sheer force of will and obligation to the people of Arbela. With the grief that would come from Roland's death on top of all the other deaths of his loved ones and laundry list of failures, he would snap and accept what he'd been trying to deny the whole time. What he ignored and refrained from looking at out of obligation and a staunch belief that it's not over 'til it's over.

That none of this is worth it. All of this effort in the past couple years has been for nothing. The world is inevitably going to fall regardless of what he does. He'd at best just delay it because what can he do against Abram who's trapped in the Tower out of reach? If he can't do anything about the source of the problem, all his efforts are wasted. Yet he adamantly continued on because fully consciously acknowledging that— accepting that— would break him. It was unacceptable. And his grief would slam him in the face with the reality he refused to look at. Because he owed it to all the people his act of enabling the wrong person wrought; an eternity of penance.

He would finally acknowledge the farcity of all this and adopt a "to hell with this. To hell with it all" mentality and focus his efforts wholly upon himself. If this final selfish, abhorrent act truly was the key he'd been searching for the whole time, brilliant. If not, what does it matter. He's lost everything. Even if this truly is the philosopher's stone he'd been searching for all this time, it is but a pyrrhic victory.

Roland, is a window into just the kind of monster Gaius would've become had The Batter never appeared.

A shadow. The you that wasn't chosen. That didn't come to be.

That could've been if things were only slightly different.

Jump into an open mouth and fall deeper. Your mind an open grave, your heart an open casket.

The corpse of a husband who cared too much.