#metroid prime 2: echoes

[free-chozo-hrt]

With all this talk about Metroid Prime 2, I feel the need to share a piece of lore that the game doesn't state outright, but I find it fascinating and I want to share because it's a really cool piece of sci-fi worldbuilding I haven't seen anywhere else.

Aether is described as a "rogue planet." If you're not an astronomer, that might not mean much to you, but I assure you it's more than just flavor text. In astronomy, a rogue planet is one that does not orbit a star. It was formed in a solar system, but has since been ejected and now drifts through empty space.

In real life, a rogue planet would be very cold and dark. Without a nearby star to shower it with solar energy, a rogue planet could not sustain life in the same way as earth.

Aether is very much the opposite of cold and dark. During its golden age, it's described as a natural paradise abundant with life. What's more, the planet is suffused with a golden glow that shines light on its surface, even in the absence of a star. Next time you play around in Metroid Prime 2, take a careful look at the sky. I guarantee you won't see a sun anywhere!

How is it possible for Aether to have light and life when there's no sun to provide it? Well, Aether is a very unusual planet. It's permeated by a miraculous energy field that the Luminoth call the Light of Aether, and they worship this lifegiving wellspring of energy as a central pillar of their culture. When the Luminoth stretched their energy sources thin, they created energy controllers to regulate the Light of Aether, feed it with other energy sources, and spread it across the world so that everyone could benefit from it.

And in case you missed it, it's a really clever design choice that the Luminoth are moth people. They worship the light! It's hardly a novel fantasy trope, but it ties everything together quite nicely.

[n64retro]

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Retro Studios / Nintendo Gamecube 2004

[mhexart]

Warm up sketch

[nintendometro]

'Metroid Prime 2: Echoes' was released on the Nintendo Gamecube 19 years ago today in the US.

[hyenamonster-art]

I think about Luminoths a Normal amount.

[berardbro]

Light and Dark

[rescuedrop]

Daily drawing practice day 415 (5/19/23)

[deerest-me]

``Portal control system online. Portal generation initiated. Walk into the portal to transport to Aether.''

[coldgoldlazarus]

Echoes dares to ask -and answer- one of the most difficult questions of our time

How many Samus's does it take to change a lightbulb?

[it-seemo]

"May the light of Aether serve you well."

[tallon-underworld]

This is one of my favorite shots in all of Prime 2. Even though it's just a holographic recording of O-Lir, it looks like his soul is emerging from his body, pleading to Samus from beyond the grave. It's a beautiful bit of cinematography.

[free-chozo-hrt]

I have a lot of thoughts about the Ing

They're the bad guys of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. Creatures of darkness, born from a dimensional tear caused by a catastrophic meteorite impact. The evil, aggressive, warlike counterpart to the peaceful Luminoth. The Ing fought ceaselessly to take all of Aether's planetary energy for themselves. They cared not if the light world fell to ruin. They were monsters.

But I can't help seeing things from the perspective of the Ing. There's a lot we don't know about them; they don't leave logbooks behind like the Luminoth, or at least not ones we can read. What was it like for those first Ing who appeared upon the creation of Dark Aether? Did they have no memory of a life before? Did they have to build their society from scratch in a world that was already dying? Or, by some quirk of spacetime, did their world already retroactively exist well before the meteorite impact, when they suddenly found half of their planetary energy depleted?

The arrival of the meteor created an impossible situation for both the Luminoth and the Ing. Each had their own world, but there was only enough planetary energy to sustain one. They were doomed to never coexist peacefully. For one to survive, the other had to die.

If you were in the place of the Ing, would you have done any differently than them? Would you have not fought tooth and nail to keep your brand new world alive, when the only alternative is oblivion?

Pictured: A Warrior Ing just before the collapse of Dark Aether (source)

[revenantfire]

Been playing through the Metroid Prime series for the first time... If anything happens to U-mos I will kill everyone on the planet and then myself

[jimmawww]

Fave Game Over Screens

Ocarina of Time

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Shadow The Hedgehog

Resident Evil 4

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Nier

Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

GTA V

Devil May Cry 3

Super Metroid

Metroid Prime

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Mass Effect

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Sonic The Hedgehog

Super Mario Bros

Super Mario 64

Luigi's Mansion

Donkey Kong Country

Banjo Kazooie

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Dark Souls

Gears of War 2

Final Fantasy VIII

Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy XII

AeternoBlade II

[nintendometro]

Emperor Ing Battle (Phase 1) 'Metroid Prime 2: Echoes' Gamecube Kenji Yamamoto & Kouichi Kyuma

[mhexart]

Savior’s Long Shadow