Diablo 3 lore examination v. 1.5

[Roland]

http://www.d3armory.com/forums/topic/2843/

I updated my article. Added about 7 pages (in word,) go to bottom of page 2 to read the update alone if you've read it before, if you haven't I recommend you read the whole thing.

I wrote it for www.d3armory.com, by the way.

[Thirty-Thirty]

Ahoy,

Wow. A sign how excited I am that I read the whole thing. There are parts where I agree and disagree. They've all been discussed at length here at one point or another.

In general, I base nothing on the concept art: there are just too many unknowns, IMHO, for it to be a vaguely worthwhile excercise. Particularly, I'm hesitant to say which characters are which, much less where they are. Stuff from the cinematic and the site, however, I'm confident to use as material. A lot of the article gives a good indication of what was potting in the books, which is quite handy. But I'll discuss, starting from your summary. (If I omit a point here, it's because I have no contention or comment. I've answered in order of the length of my answers.)

2) Tyrael is most likely not corrupted yet, it would be boring to have things that clear cut, though he may very well be struggling with evil inside of him, much like the wanderer between Diablo 1 and 2.There's a big split in the community about this, notably motivated by the line about the "failing luminaries of heaven" on the site. I'm on your side: I don't think Tyrael will be evil at the beginning of the game, even if he changes as part of the story.

3) Inarius, Lilith, Beliel, Azmodan, and Imperius are probably the real threats here. It is likely the Nephalem will be in it and there may be a female demon instead of LilithThat Belial and Azmodan will feature prominently - at least initially - is amongst the only things I feel is certain, thanks to an allusion in an interview. (Still can't find that darned link.) Which of them will be threats I'm not sure. I think Imperius will be an enemy, as will Belial and Asmodan, but I don't know enough about the characters of Inarius and Lilith to guess their ultimate goals.

9)Imperius is back, and he's going to try to destroy everything.
Not sure about that part, but he is certainly my candidate for the "failing luminaries" line.

5) The Nephalem, Inarius, and Lilith are all probably returning to wreak havoc and destroy everybody.Not sure about that, but I think they'll play some role. I think Blizzard intend to employ the canon they've created through the books.

6) The brothers can return, but only if Blizzard wants them to.
It's a gut thing, largely baseless, but I think Big D, and possibly brothers too, will be back. It'll be some new incarnation, so that the gameplay is fresh, but I'm of the opinion that a Diablo game isn't a Diablo game unless the final boss (pre-expansion) is the scampering red beastie himself.

4) The destruction of the Worldsotne probably wounded Tyrael, allowed the rebirth of the Nephalem, the possible return of Lilith, and the invasion of both Heaven and Hell.I'll let that slide, but something about the idea of Tyrael being wounded like that doesn't sit well with me. The dual invasion thing I totally agree with though: we're going all-out three-way war. Typical Blizzard.

1) The meteor had in it Imperius and probably is a harbringer of a war of Heaven on Sanctuary, Tyrael was also around the church when it struck.This is my biggest gripe.

I agree with your analysis that Tyrael is in the cathedral at least soon after the impact, but I disagree about the Imperius part. The bulk of your evidence for this is taken from a number of items of concept art, and I disagree with connecting them all to initial meteor strike at the cathedral. There are many that make sense, but I won't believe anything short of Blizzard telling me about the angel-like guy rising with fiery wings. A new artwork (http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss55-hires.jpg) is up, so I'm presuming it's going to be the model for someone important. Heck, it may well be Inarius, but I won't connect him to the meteor just yet. I'm even less sure about claiming a pencil sketch is "certainly" Tyrael.

Taking a stab at the whole plot? Bleh, I just won't. There are honestly a billion options anyone could suggest, and we really don't have enough to imagine what the lore guys at Blizzard have managed to come up with.

[Roland]

I can't respond well to this reply for the following reasons:

You disagreed only with my conclusions, and didn't even comment on my methods, if you give reasoning behind your points I'll reply to each of them in turn. The new Artwork I all but proved was Imperius, what problem do you have with my reasoning?

Please cite your problems with my logic, not my conslusions, I have nothing to go off of here.

One thing though, the artwork of the angel (I believe is Imperius, I don't know why you disagree) appears to be a storyboard like for a cinema or something, also, if you zoom in closly you can see it was made digitally, as opposed to all most of the other artwork, in which you can see the brush strokes, probably oil paintings.

[Tanith]

Question...

-Tyrael is being punished (confirmed)

Not questioning you, just wondering who confirmed it, and where. I've heard this from other sources, but haven't been able to track it down.

Very nice article, btw.

Tanith :thumbsup:

[Thirty-Thirty]

Truly, I only really disagree with one of your conclusions: the Inarius-in-the-cathedral thing. One cannot argue substantially with speculation, because it's taken as uncertain anyway. I don't think the evidence you've provided proves that the fire-angel-guy is Inarius, in the cathedral.

Please cite your problems with my logic, not my conslusions, I have nothing to go off of here.
I base nothing on the concept art: there are just too many unknowns, IMHO, for it to be a vaguely worthwhile excercise. Particularly, I'm hesitant to say which characters are which, much less where they are.The bulk of your evidence for this is taken from a number of items of concept art, and I disagree with connecting them all to initial meteor strike at the cathedral.In particular, your claim is that the metamorphasis artwork (http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss35-hires.jpg) is in the cathedral, based on the "architecture". I don't deny that he's rising. But I don't see why he wasn't just standing on the ground, somewhere other than Tristram cathedral, to start off with. I also feel claiming that the figure in the sketch at the top is Tyrael, on the grounds of "the hooded face, distinct armor design, and flowing cloak behind him" is a bit much to be conclusive. I don't think these things uniquely describe Tyrael, at all. And I'd hardly call the armour in the sketch "distinct".

Rest assured, yours is an excellent summary of just about everything available. I used your summary to indicate the logic of which points I was arguing about. The only one for which I have a substantial point is the Inarius-in-the-cathedral-and-meteor part, anyway. The rest (like Big D being the last boss) is pure speculation.

Oh, and while we're getting sidetracked onto the new pic, is that a portal behind the fire-angel-guy? It reminds me of the portals to Act IV, Abaddon, and the Pit of Acheron. (Pure speculation.)

[Roland]

Truly, I only really disagree with one of your conclusions: the Inarius-in-the-cathedral thing. One cannot argue substantially with speculation, because it's taken as uncertain anyway. I don't think the evidence you've provided proves that the fire-angel-guy is Inarius, in the cathedral.


In particular, your claim is that the metamorphasis artwork (http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/_images/artwork/ss35-hires.jpg) is in the cathedral, based on the "architecture". I don't deny that he's rising. But I don't see why he wasn't just standing on the ground, somewhere other than Tristram cathedral, to start off with. I also feel claiming that the figure in the sketch at the top is Tyrael, on the grounds of "the hooded face, distinct armor design, and flowing cloak behind him" is a bit much to be conclusive. I don't think these things uniquely describe Tyrael, at all. And I'd hardly call the armour in the sketch "distinct".

Rest assured, yours is an excellent summary of just about everything available. I used your summary to indicate the logic of which points I was arguing about. The only one for which I have a substantial point is the Inarius-in-the-cathedral-and-meteor part, anyway. The rest (like Big D being the last boss) is pure speculation.

Oh, and while we're getting sidetracked onto the new pic, is that a portal behind the fire-angel-guy? It reminds me of the portals to Act IV, Abaddon, and the Pit of Acheron. (Pure speculation.)

I think your getting Inarius and Imperius mixed up, but that's probably just a typo on one of our parts. Anyway, I all you said is just a judgement call so it's a flip of the coin whose right.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's a portal behind him, you can see if very clearl y if you put the right filters on, but I havn't a clue what the whole actual sword is or why there is a portal in it. :thumbup:

[Cyborgasm]

"The Nephalem, Inarius, and Lilith are all probably returning to wreak havoc and destroy everybody"

Nephalem/Inarius/Lilith are all enemies, and the nephalem are humans who reached their potential. They're not bad guys.

[angers]

good work Roland, thanks for posting it here.

[Schwalker]

"The Nephalem, Inarius, and Lilith are all probably returning to wreak havoc and destroy everybody"

Nephalem/Inarius/Lilith are all enemies, and the nephalem are humans who reached their potential. They're not bad guys.


Are we sure about that?...

I mean, the Nephalem was extremely powerful and more or less resembled the ancient gods who according to the sagas was not people you wanted around your home.
How would they regard "todays" humans? As a pitiful parody of themselves perhaps or just as Inarius dwarfed and weak disposable toys?

[Vertigo X]

Are we sure about that?...

I mean, the Nephalem was extremely powerful and more or less resembled the ancient gods who according to the sagas was not people you wanted around your home.
How would they regard "todays" humans? As a pitiful parody of themselves perhaps or just as Inarius dwarfed and weak disposable toys?

Do you mean the 'present day' humans from the Diablo universe? As far as I'm aware, the humans 'today' are the same as the humans 3000 years ago, when the edyrem had a peek at their potential. The Nephalem wouldn't disrespect their younger descendents.