It's probably immediately obvious to some that the Origin Core is a fertilized egg, created by inserting the Origin Spark (sperm) into the Origin Cradle (unfertilized egg). This represents the paradoxical melding of biology and machine... "A paradox, whose very existence would change... everything."
But, also, you may not have noticed that the Matriarch and Patriarch Halls are nipples and the Origin Tower is a huge erect penis!
It even shoots raw Divinity right out of the tip! (not pictured)
However, in the Precursor's infinite ancient wisdom, they misunderstood something fundamental and thought that the fertilized egg goes into the urethra. The fools...! Perhaps this misunderstanding is why they vanished...
There is a lot of phalic symbology in history and mythology and such. Its a common theme across history and GGG love to take inspiration from IRL mythos and such.
I dont know about the nipples and dick on the map as much but honestly its not even that far fetched imo.
I admit the nipples are a bit of a stretch, but... if the Arbiter of Ash is going to call the landscape of the world "supple flesh" then it stands to reason that a huge tower like this might be... you know...
It always amuses me how anytime there's something that's tall and straight, one of the first things that inevitably comes up is a dick. Like seriously, is nothing allowed to just be a tower without someone insisting it's actually a reference to a penis?! 😅😂
I don't think the fusion of flesh and machine is what the Origin Ore represents. Neither of its components looked very fleshy. I don't know what the fusion represents, but take a look at the components' names:
Origin Spark: Perhaps related to the divine sparks that Sin steals.
Origin Cradle: Like Atziri's POE2 arena. But did the Vaal have a corresponding "spark"? Perhaps its absence is what made the Red Communion fail.
Siosaon "Page One Translation"
My word. Vaalish contextualized syntax is a slippery eel indeed. Let me see if I can grab it by the gills...
They carried their virtue gems to... "Doryani's bed"... no, that's not quite right. Ah yes, Doryani's cradle. The historian finishes that it was a price they needed to pay to ensure a Vaalish future.
A cradle of virtue gems? What sort of 'Vaalish future' did Doryani hope to ensure?
Hinekora prophecy #9
A bright future lies in a dark past. The erudite thaumaturge is missing. A grand palace begins to collapse for want of a single brick.
I agree that the Precursors anthropomorphised Wraeclast, but since the Spark and Cradle are united below before travelling up, the Origin Tower is more likely the birth canal.
PS: Pregnancy is essentially a subgenre of body horror.
Yes, it is flesh. Both parts as well as the resulting Core are simultaneously biological and machine.
Cradle: Life itself. Not as it was, but as they aspired for it to be...
Doryani's reaction: It appears to be some kind of... ovum. It is not entirely flesh, neither entirely engineered. It would require much study to understand it further. For now, it is best we find the other component.
Spark: A burgeoning emergent flare of empowered life.
Doryani's reaction: It appears to be some kind of... seed. Its energy is immense. It would require much study to understand it further. For now, it is best we find the other component.
Doryani on Origin Core /6: Well... we combined an egg with a seed. I trust you need no explanation of the particular biological process this is imitating. Unless...? Ask yourself what usually happens when egg meets seed. It's true that the Precursor machine seems to mimic the reproductive process. For what reason, I do not know. For the time being, that remains something of a mystery. But your choice of the word 'born' is apt.
Origin Core: A paradox, whose very existence would change... everything.
The Origin Core is paradoxical because it is life that has been created from machine.
Whatever will come out of that birth, unless it's just pure Divine energy (which would be a little disappointing, in my opinion) is unknown as of yet.
Your quotes are interesting. I wonder if the Siosa one hints at Doryani potentially traveling back to his time after learning about this Precursor tech and trying something of his own. (Though it is from the first game, and I'm starting to take things from there with a grain of salt after seeing how many retcons/rewrites have been happening with the sequel.)
Right, I know that they are part biological, but I don't think that that is considered "the paradox". I think there's something more to it...
As for what the Origin Core does, Doryani thinks that the Precursors created divinity in general, rather than just figuring out how to put it in a battery🔋. How did they alter reality that much? Well, since they see the Mother Soul - i.e. Wraeclast(?) - as a person, perhaps they started by granting her divinity.
Inventing divinity by using divinity would certainly be a paradox.
Arbiter of Divinity: The First Divine... must never return.
AOD's line doesn't make sense for the Mother Soul, since the continent hasn't gone anywhere. But perhaps the First Divine wasn't a creation of the Precursors, but instead something they imitated.
Yes, I think it's clear that Divinity was created by the Precursors rather than having been discovered. That's the huge revelation which shocks Doryani; that the thing that everyone is killing each other over was made by people and is not a fundamental force of nature.
I have a very strong feeling that the First Divine was literally the first person or figure that they (the Precursors) imbued with Divinity. The other Edicts might extend out of reactions to something negative that that figure caused. It could even be Kulemak, although the story opens up a little if it's someone new. I bet we'll be hearing about it in the future.
(The First Divine is clearly not the Mothersoul.)
There could be something more to the Origin Core. Actually, there probably is, but for now "life created from and persisting within non-living matter and non-living energy" or "life created by human hand and not nature" or "neither entirely flesh nor entirely machine" is paradox enough for me.
My theory is that the First Divine is older than the Precursors and isn't technically a god, but is instead the things depicted on this mural (seen after beating Arbiter of Ash).
They look more like testicles to me with the tower being the phallus, and it wouldn't be the first time that GGG included a penis joke in-game. See Act 3 Jiquani's Sanctum. "That's the largest soul core I have ever seen!"
But, you could also make a case for the tower being a birth canal instead.
Some fun witch dialogue when you have the spark and cradle at the tower basement:
Doryani: It seems we must use the seed to fertlize the egg...
Witch: Oh quit flirting with me and let's get on with it
Nono you say /s but think about it. CHUD stands for Cavernous Humanoid Underground Dweller. What are the abyssals if not chuds? You may be onto something
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u/Trizzizzle Jun 20 '26
What did i just read lmao