Here it is, my theories and thoughts on Chapter 2! This one took me a while, but I hope I cover almost everything that I wanted, aside from things like the Gnosis process. This post covers everything in Chapter 2 up to the current version, Nerus 0.10.2. I don’t plan on making big posts like these anymore unless I think it is necessary, but I plan to post things that I think are interesting in smaller formats.
Memories
In the egg menu, we are given up to 9 different memories to watch, slowly unlocking new memories by continuing the story. Labeling them from bottom to top, left to right, the current memories available are Obli 1, Obli 2, Bitey 1, Alessia 1, Aloys 1, Bitey 2, Alessia 2, Aloys 2, and Milkshake. I’ll be going through the memories in the order listed above and only talking about the memories themselves, plus some theories to go with them if applied.
But before that, I will like to discuss some things that I find interesting or just plain weird in the context of the story.
The first one is these intermissions.
C52
What’s weird about them is that these intermissions only appear in the Prologue and Chapter 2, Obli 1. They don’t appear in Alessia, Bitey, and Aloys' stories once, but only in Neru and Shax/Obli’s stories. I can’t find a real reason why this happens or what these intermissions say about the story, but it would seem that Roddorod has intentionally done this for a reason. (Other than story reason, it can also hide some sort of secret with a way to trigger it.)
The second one is the way the story uses different perspectives. Thanks to Arden_Arteles for bringing this topic up, the story uses two different perspectives: the first and third-person perspectives. It’s strange enough that there are two different perspectives, especially in how the story is structured, but what makes it weird is when they are getting used. When talking about the memories, in particular, the only time they used the first-person perspective is in the Prologue and Chapter 2, Obli 1. Only when Neru and Shax/Obli are present and are the main focus does it use the first-person perspective, while the rest of the memories use the third-person perspective. This switch of perspectives is important when discussing the burned man, but for now, keep it in mind.
-Obli 1
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What’s so interesting about this quote is the implication that a soul from a descendant can easily be changed into a mortal soul. This can also be said for a shapeshifter's soul, making it seem that both souls are closer to a mortal's soul than I initially realized.
C54
Oceros is trying to prevent any changes from happening to the original descendant, trying to preserve everything they once were. However, based on what Obli has said about Oceros, it could be possible that he had lied to Lucusti about not being able to prevent memory loss. If this is the case, it brings out this question: why did Oceros bother to remove the memories from the descendent?
The first thing that comes to mind is that Oceros don’t want the descendant to turn against them, and removing the memories from the descendant when they were a shapeshifter would remove all chance of sympathy they would have towards them. Yet, when Obli turned back into a descendant and even had a Great shapeshifter turn his alliance, Oceros is unhappy or even mad towards Obli. Although this can be one of the reasons why Oceros has their memory removed, it isn’t the main reason he had the memories erased.
Another thing that comes to mind is that Oceros didn't want the descendant to find out about the truth of the process itself. Maybe when a descendant 'dies' and is in the process of being reincarnated back into a shapeshifter, they would find something that Oceros doesn’t want them to know. It is hard to say what that is they would get to know when they get reincarnated, but it is something that Oceros doesn't want them to find out.
C55
Three ideas come to mind to explain the creation of the spell and why Oceros wants to hide it.
Possibly, Oceros got forced to make a quick decision to save the descendants that were damaged in the first war, not having a choice but to agree with any condition Nomino had laid out. If any other descendant or shapeshifter heard what Oceros has done, many will determine that Oceros is a weak leader, making the descendants overall look weak. Descendants who found out this truth would not trust Oceros anymore, either dividing up the descendants or making another group that doesn’t have Oceros involved.
Another idea is that Oceros and Nomino were planning this spell in advance, making it seem that Oceros also has some involvement with the first and second Wars. The reason can vary if this was the case, but the main reason why Oceros will do this is to protect the descendants' future. (It’s possible that by colluding with Nomino, the descendants will have a better future than if they didn’t.)
It is possible that someone else made the spell, and Nomino has little to no involvement with it. It could be possible but unlikely since the spell itself also involves shapeshifters.
C56 & 57
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Why are there now blessed humans? Ever since the first War, it would seem that the descendants were fully in contact with humans by showing up as descendants and helping them, so what’s the point of blessing humans with different appearances? I find the idea of blessing humans not beneficial for the descendants because it allows shapeshifters who are not good with transformation, like Neru, the ability to invade Earth easily. (Maybe it’s to show good faith with humans, but I would think that the miracles from the Archons would be enough to satisfy humanity.)
C58
The quote could explain why the descendant has to intervene with humanity’s technology since, in Aloys 2, Aloys comments that humanity was slowly going towards its destruction because of the technology they created. But I find no reason why the descendants are trying to prevent humanity from their destruction in the first place.
One idea is that the descendants want to protect humanity, so fewer people go through the gnosis process. Yet, the memory in Obli 2 shows that other lifeforms in the universe seem to be getting neglected, so why would you have 7 archons reside to protect Earth and not spread them out to help every lifeform in Demiurge's domain?
Another idea is that they wanted to protect Earth because of the teleportation device. Both wars started because the shapeshifters wanted to use the teleportation device for their interests. So having more than one archon protecting the teleportation device would make it impossible to be hijacked. The reason why the archons are on Earth can’t be this for the simple fact that there is more than one teleporter in Demiurge’s domain, and they have all been destroyed. (This also doesn’t address the reason why the descendent doesn’t want to destroy humanity. It is shown that humanity is easily influenced based on how archons were able to get them under control, so it’s reasonable to think that the shapeshifters could also do the same, which they are doing right now by fixing the teleporters.)
C59 & C60
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Why do the shapeshifters want to destroy the world and themselves? The only possible answer to this could be because of something like the gnosis process or even Nomino’s teaching, but this doesn’t seem to apply to every shapeshifter. Neru, Shax, and Servos don’t seem to display the same kind of destruction that other shapeshifters have.
C61
The aeon moving in the 'teleportation realm' make it seem there is a connection between the ‘teleportation realm’ and the aeons in some way. (Maybe Obli is actually traveling a void version of Demiurge's domain while using his transportation magic, allowing the aeon to have the ability to travel to Obli tries to teleport away.
C62
This is quite a different reaction compared to what Alessia sees. The death of an aeon, a being made out of souls, makes it seem that a soul disappearing is more elegant, but Chapter 1 shows otherwise. Maybe it is because the mortal souls are somehow ‘worst’ than that of an aeon, or that those mortal souls in Chapter 1 were going through the gnosis process. (This is unlikely, however, since most people who died in Chapter 1 didn’t turn into an abomination like Diego.)
C63
I find this quote quite strange since it implies the expectation of the Herald. Maybe there were other Heralds before Obli, or Nomino is comparing the future version of Obli to who he was during the memory.
C64
Nomino changing the way he speaks compared to how he sounds before makes this quote so fascinating. This could imply that the character we know as Nomino is just an act they do when interacting with the shapeshifters, or this could be another person talking through Nomino.
C65
I always find this quote interesting, not only saying that Nomino resembles more of an aeon than other shapeshifters but also saying that everyone born in Demiurge's realm is great because of the ability to take. This seems to have some relevance to Alessia’s dream, so this could be a foreshadowing of what is to come.
C66
Based on what Obli has said in Chapters 1 and 2, it would seem that Obli has forsaken the idea of saving the life of mortals. Instead, he is willing now to sacrifice them to bring back Neru and to help the Demiurge.
Sidenote, it is also strange how Obli said ‘we’ in this context.
-Obli 2
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What I find really interesting is the connection between Nomino and Oceros. As talked about before, these two seem to have some sort of connection that we don’t know.
The only thing that Nomino shows resentment towards is the Aeons themselves. In the prologue, During Nomino’s rambles towards Shax, he resents the aeon because they try to control God.
Oceros has shown to distrust many people in the story. Oceros distrust Obli, the descendants, Nomino, and the shapeshifters. It is also possible that he even distrusts the Demiurge. Even with these possibilities, it’s hard to say how any of it correlates with Nomino’s resentment against the aeons.
C68
It would seem that Obli has always been on a set path dictated by fate, yet it also might be possible that Obli has chosen to walk down this road. (Maybe the events of The Redd Manor can show more insight into this?)
C69 (nice)
The creation of mortals. Although, it makes me wonder whether the Demiurge went to different planets to give life or the space monster somehow found a way to spread life throughout the universe.
C70
Who can this be?
Thinking about the characters, I couldn't really say who this person is. Although Nomino fits the bill of being a person Obli wouldn’t like to encounter, I wouldn’t think Nomino would just stumble his way to find the Demiurge since he seems to know everything in advance. Noch wouldn’t make sense either since they wouldn’t just ‘stumble’ to find the Demiurge either.
The other characters wouldn’t make sense, so it could only be a character we haven’t met so far in the story.
C71
Why did Noch write this?
There is only two interpretation I can think of to explain the letter. Either Noch really wants to kill the Demiurge, or Noch wants to ‘kill’ the Demiurge by freeing him from his responsibility of protecting the creation he made.
Yet I find it hard to believe that Obli would follow the instruction to help to end Demiurge's life since he also wants to save him. (Maybe Obli wanted to go with the plan so that he could stop it, or Noch just wanted to bait Obli to meet up with him.)
-Bitey 1
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This one strikes as odd since that would imply that Rel’s family is nearly as powerful/influential as Bitey’s family. (Why would Bitey’s family, a family with so much power, go on a joint vacation with Rel’s family unless they are powerful themself?)
C73
This seems quite strange to put in here. Who is the person who attacks Bitey? Based on Bitey's intuition, it wouldn't seem to be people based on his job, so it has to be something else. (Possibly could relate to Rell or his family business?)
C74
Traveling around?
If they are traveling around for pleasure, it doesn’t make sense for Rel to bring David, Angela, and Gabriel and leave Alessia behind. According to Bitey, it would seem that Rel would still be a detective, so it would make sense for him to travel around for that reason. It also wouldn’t be far fetch for Rel to be solving a mystery regarding Gabriel’s business, making sense for David, Angela, and Gabriel to come with his travels.
C75
This is quite a strange thing to have. Bitey’s comment could imply that there is a hidden room that Angela was in, or it could be that someone else was inside the house other than Alessia and Angela.
C76 + C76bish
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Who was this person that Angela mentioned? The only person with yellow eyes is Noch, but I find it hard to believe that Noch would visit Angela since he can’t leave his island. This quote also might show signs that Angela was abusive towards Alessia, but strangely, Alessia never brought this up. (Maybe it is too touchy for Alessia to put down even in her diary.)
(These two events might be connected, but there is no evidence to suggest this, i.e., someone went to Angela because Alessia was getting abused by her.)
-Alessia’s Diary 1
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The person Alessia was referring to is similar to Nomino, yet, Nomino doesn’t have any of those colors. Maybe there are other beings like Nominos in the universe other than Nomino himself?
-Aloys 1
C78
This reaction is similar to how Alessia reacted in Chapter 1. It might imply that Alessia is somehow similar to Aloys in some way.
-Bitey 2
[Bitey’s discussion with the policeman.]
There is something strange happening with Alessia’s family. Maybe the family business is to help fix the teleporter? Also, who is the shapeshifter who is imitating David? This couldn’t be Obli since Noch didn’t mention him when telling the information to Aloys in Aloys 2. So could it be possible that another shapeshifter would play a big role in the story?
-Alessia Diary 2
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It would seem that Rel and Angela's relationship with Rell wasn’t going well.
