I've always wanted to see the story dive into Kain's conquest of Nosgoth. We get these small peaks at how things may have worked out, and we see how they end with the clans of Kain's progeny. But we also see hints of how his conquest began with BO2. At the least, we can see that the conquest was messy and had at least two different phases.
I replayed the original Blood Omen recently, and I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Ottmar's daughter. If Kain had acquired Willendorf in the second timeline as well, then he'd have been married to her. Would've been interesting if Kain had turned her and she ruled beside him as queen.
Ah, these videos are such a treat! Not only do they invoke pleasant nostalgia of my childhood, but as an adult I am very much fsacinated by both the meticulousness and detail put in place by the developers, as well as fondness of the community for the game. Thank you for keeping those memories and helping paint a cohesive vision for the universe of Nosgoth.
great video. Would like to see you elaborate on Voradors connection to Kain a little more: Vorador was a servant of the circle, since he was as first Vampire made from human stock, indebted to Janus, the tenth guardian and helped greatly in forging the reaver. That makes Vorador have a lot of insight he might only share so little of, but his service to the pillars might be part of the reason he helped Kain conquer on his first campaign, maybe on his second run too. Or Vorador saw himself as freed of further debt to the pillars by Kain destroying them through his refusal of self sacrifice. But since Kain was still the bearer of the reaver and had the guardians powers, Vorador might still have felt responsibility towards Kain. Just like he felt generous helping out young Kain on his way before he knew that Kain was the balance guardian. Also, Kain drank the blood of the Hylden architect in BO2, which altered his own blood in a way he could destroy the mechanism below Meridian. I suspect this gave Kain another glimpse of power not necessarily pointed out in the games. What if the architects genes are part of the reason Kains powers and mutations went as they did? What if both vampire and Hylden blood was needed to fulfill the "blood curse" implemented on the ancient vampires to "give their gift" to human recipients?
i know there was cut content in definace of an elder kain reviving vorador. but that is still cut content. i'm still a firm believer that that it was the younger kain soon after blood omen that brought vorador back in all versions of the timeline.
29:25 I love how Kain's words echo things that have already happened, his true nature and things yet to be revealed. 'But they could not kill me' = 'But I am already dead' (before killing Moebius, at the end of Blood Omen 1). You can't kill what's already dead. 'I still walk the earth, weak but alive' = 'I'm an undead and I'm cursed' (also, Vampirism really was a Hylden curse). 'They have taken everything but the beating of my undead heart' = 'I don't know it yet, but I don't need a heart, anyway' (massive Defiance spoiler). 'Now they will learn of fear, these mewing babies who thought they could destroy me' = 'Basically what I said about causing a carnage in the town where I was murdered, at the beginning of Blood Omen 1'. 'I shall regain my powers, and I shall come to them in the night' = 'He will come when the moon is full and learn to call death from the sky' (that's how Kain learned to master the power of thunder, in Blood omen 1).
I think Voradors presence during Blood Omen 2 can be explained in 2 (well 3 I guess) ways. First, vampires are depicted as far more durable during Soul Reaver. Even an impaled vampire can just get back up if you remove what killed them. Following that logic, simply returning Voradors head to his body should in theory be enough for his soul to return to his body, thus reviving him. Kain originally didn’t do that, since Moebius statue still held his head in the future Raziel accidentally traveled to. Which means the paradox at the end of SR2 changed that. The second option is that following the paradox, Vorador was simply never meant to be executed and thus never died. Which would weaken Kains dilemma since he wasn’t the last vampire, but it’s still possible. (The third and most likely option is that the BO2 team didn’t care or didn’t know that Vorador was supposed to be dead and just used him as he was one of the few important characters in BO1 for brand recognition)
#3 and #1 definitely have merit. #2 is kinda disproved by kain threatening to return Vorador to the grave - showing he was dead and had been resurrected. #3 is kinda confirmed by developer comments. BO2 team 'threw it over the fence' to sort out later and it was Sr team that came up with justifications to resolve most of BO2's inconsistencies. #1 is kinda half there. The vamps of vorador's generation aren't necromatic like Kain's so they don't automatically revive but need a little kick. This is what happens to Janos. It's not his heart being put back in but the energy of the Reaver that gives it the kick to start the revival. Worth noting that Defiance originally planned for Vorador's resurrection to be shown. It involved Raziel recording the head and reviving Vorador in the same way he did Janos. Obviously can't happen like that now though.
Not sure I quite follow you? Hope I've got you and am explaining this correctly. SR2's Latest time period - the time of the Demon hunters - is 100 years before the BO2 intro. But SR2 also introduces a final timeline change at the end of the game that happens in the era of the original Sarafan order centuries earlier. That change allows Raziel to survive and you see that mature through Defiance with several time jumps to where it sets up the events of BO2. All of the stuff seen In BO2 with Kain and Vorador raising an army and fighting a new Sarafan order formed by the Hylden is a product of the timeline change and raziel's survival. Once the Hylden and the new Sarafan have been put down it will be 100 years before Kain revives the original Sarafan warriors as his vampire sons for SR1's backstory. Kain's empire as seen in SR1 seems to happen in all timelines. Kain's army of BO2 as its precursor just happens in the most recent alteration of history. Hope I've explained that well enough
Blood Omen 2 isn't necessarily a bad game, but we saw a significant drop in the quality of the script. Some names reached the brink of ridiculousness, like 'The Seer' and 'The Beast'
I did read some fanfics that also have vordor exiled instead of killed, and thats what i like to think happened, vordor was a brilliant character and a survivor so i like to think even into nosgoths wasteland future he was still alive
I actually had dream where I was in Soul Reaver 1, the environment was a mix of subterranean ruins and underworld. Visuals of my dream were like Soul Reaver 1 with DirectX 12 graphics.
I absolutely love how you don't just reuse in game dialogue, but do your own analysis and use your own words. Another great video, thanks.
I've always wanted to see the story dive into Kain's conquest of Nosgoth. We get these small peaks at how things may have worked out, and we see how they end with the clans of Kain's progeny. But we also see hints of how his conquest began with BO2. At the least, we can see that the conquest was messy and had at least two different phases.
This!
I love how you didn't say "we don't know who raised Vorador" but you said "we don't *yet* know," and I want to be so sure we'll find out one day too.
I replayed the original Blood Omen recently, and I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Ottmar's daughter. If Kain had acquired Willendorf in the second timeline as well, then he'd have been married to her. Would've been interesting if Kain had turned her and she ruled beside him as queen.
Ah, these videos are such a treat!
Not only do they invoke pleasant nostalgia of my childhood, but as an adult I am very much fsacinated by both the meticulousness and detail put in place by the developers, as well as fondness of the community for the game. Thank you for keeping those memories and helping paint a cohesive vision for the universe of Nosgoth.
Great! New lovely LOK video to watch this evening!
Many thanks for another fantastic video Raina! Now my birthday is complete!😊
Happy birthday!
@@BoushoC Thanks 🙂👍🏻
great video.
Would like to see you elaborate on Voradors connection to Kain a little more: Vorador was a servant of the circle, since he was as first Vampire made from human stock, indebted to Janus, the tenth guardian and helped greatly in forging the reaver. That makes Vorador have a lot of insight he might only share so little of, but his service to the pillars might be part of the reason he helped Kain conquer on his first campaign, maybe on his second run too.
Or Vorador saw himself as freed of further debt to the pillars by Kain destroying them through his refusal of self sacrifice. But since Kain was still the bearer of the reaver and had the guardians powers, Vorador might still have felt responsibility towards Kain. Just like he felt generous helping out young Kain on his way before he knew that Kain was the balance guardian.
Also, Kain drank the blood of the Hylden architect in BO2, which altered his own blood in a way he could destroy the mechanism below Meridian. I suspect this gave Kain another glimpse of power not necessarily pointed out in the games. What if the architects genes are part of the reason Kains powers and mutations went as they did? What if both vampire and Hylden blood was needed to fulfill the "blood curse" implemented on the ancient vampires to "give their gift" to human recipients?
Why does it look like the Sarafan Lord is dabbing in the artwork at 13:27
i genuinly cant unsee that
Another great video love your channel can't wait to see what you do next
I love this channel!! LoK lore is always a treat 🙌
I always assumed that bald vampire used to be a sarafan knight, considering his muscular appearance.
Good video raina and baziel.
What a great Sunday!
i know there was cut content in definace of an elder kain reviving vorador. but that is still cut content. i'm still a firm believer that that it was the younger kain soon after blood omen that brought vorador back in all versions of the timeline.
Excellent lore video.
29:25 I love how Kain's words echo things that have already happened, his true nature and things yet to be revealed. 'But they could not kill me' = 'But I am already dead' (before killing Moebius, at the end of Blood Omen 1). You can't kill what's already dead. 'I still walk the earth, weak but alive' = 'I'm an undead and I'm cursed' (also, Vampirism really was a Hylden curse). 'They have taken everything but the beating of my undead heart' = 'I don't know it yet, but I don't need a heart, anyway' (massive Defiance spoiler). 'Now they will learn of fear, these mewing babies who thought they could destroy me' = 'Basically what I said about causing a carnage in the town where I was murdered, at the beginning of Blood Omen 1'. 'I shall regain my powers, and I shall come to them in the night' = 'He will come when the moon is full and learn to call death from the sky' (that's how Kain learned to master the power of thunder, in Blood omen 1).
God I love this series of videos, please never stop making them. Do you guys have a patreon ?
Thank you kindly! No Patreon but we have ko-fi :) I added links to the video description.
I always thought the concept art of Sebastian in the Blood Omen 2 manual went crazy hard
*And so, the Legacy of Kain and the Arcane Tomes of his Vampire Army Saga continues.......*
I never noticed that the Cabal vampire looked like the one in Kain's army in the prologue.
I think Voradors presence during Blood Omen 2 can be explained in 2 (well 3 I guess) ways.
First, vampires are depicted as far more durable during Soul Reaver. Even an impaled vampire can just get back up if you remove what killed them. Following that logic, simply returning Voradors head to his body should in theory be enough for his soul to return to his body, thus reviving him. Kain originally didn’t do that, since Moebius statue still held his head in the future Raziel accidentally traveled to. Which means the paradox at the end of SR2 changed that.
The second option is that following the paradox, Vorador was simply never meant to be executed and thus never died. Which would weaken Kains dilemma since he wasn’t the last vampire, but it’s still possible.
(The third and most likely option is that the BO2 team didn’t care or didn’t know that Vorador was supposed to be dead and just used him as he was one of the few important characters in BO1 for brand recognition)
#3 and #1 definitely have merit. #2 is kinda disproved by kain threatening to return Vorador to the grave - showing he was dead and had been resurrected.
#3 is kinda confirmed by developer comments. BO2 team 'threw it over the fence' to sort out later and it was Sr team that came up with justifications to resolve most of BO2's inconsistencies.
#1 is kinda half there. The vamps of vorador's generation aren't necromatic like Kain's so they don't automatically revive but need a little kick. This is what happens to Janos. It's not his heart being put back in but the energy of the Reaver that gives it the kick to start the revival.
Worth noting that Defiance originally planned for Vorador's resurrection to be shown. It involved Raziel recording the head and reviving Vorador in the same way he did Janos. Obviously can't happen like that now though.
Awww shii a new LOK vid
Amazing vid! But I'm confused a bit. The timeline of SR2 is after BO2? Kain had his BO2 army before sarafans vampires?
Not sure I quite follow you? Hope I've got you and am explaining this correctly.
SR2's Latest time period - the time of the Demon hunters - is 100 years before the BO2 intro.
But SR2 also introduces a final timeline change at the end of the game that happens in the era of the original Sarafan order centuries earlier.
That change allows Raziel to survive and you see that mature through Defiance with several time jumps to where it sets up the events of BO2.
All of the stuff seen In BO2 with Kain and Vorador raising an army and fighting a new Sarafan order formed by the Hylden is a product of the timeline change and raziel's survival.
Once the Hylden and the new Sarafan have been put down it will be 100 years before Kain revives the original Sarafan warriors as his vampire sons for SR1's backstory.
Kain's empire as seen in SR1 seems to happen in all timelines. Kain's army of BO2 as its precursor just happens in the most recent alteration of history.
Hope I've explained that well enough
@bazlmoon Yes! Thanks for the explanation! :)
This is such insane lore that is just left in limbo. I hate the video game industry sometimes.
Your life's span is a flicker compared to the mass of doubt and regret that I have borne since Mortanius first turned me from the light!
Blood Omen 2 isn't necessarily a bad game, but we saw a significant drop in the quality of the script. Some names reached the brink of ridiculousness, like 'The Seer' and 'The Beast'
I did read some fanfics that also have vordor exiled instead of killed, and thats what i like to think happened, vordor was a brilliant character and a survivor so i like to think even into nosgoths wasteland future he was still alive
I actually had dream where I was in Soul Reaver 1, the environment was a mix of subterranean ruins and underworld. Visuals of my dream were like Soul Reaver 1 with DirectX 12 graphics.
You should be able to use Ray Tracing and DLSS for Soul Reaver. NVIDIA recently added physical based rendering support in its new cards for old games.
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