#obey me nighbringer spoilers

[astaroth1357]

My Incredibly Spoiler Heavy Thoughts on Nightbringer

TURN BACK IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST IN PLAYING THE GAME AT ALL. I MEAN IT.

Hello. I have completed all 10 lessons on the Normal difficulty. These are my thoughts:

First, a disclaimer. All of this is my opinion. If you feel differently about a character or plot point, that's fine. This is all just as I see it.

Holy hell, I love the setup here so damn much. The Nightbringer story so far is truly more than just a rehash of the OG plot, largely because of all the small stuff that keeps happening in background. Yes, we're befriending the brothers again, but we don't know WHY. Why are we in the past? Who sent us there? What do they want from us, or... what do they want out of somebody else?? 👀 I have to hand it to the writers for coming up with this premise, it's soild. Will they stick the landing...? We'll see.

The New! (Old) Cast

Lucifer:

Whelp, Luci is being colder to us than ever... But far more openly involved with his brothers than we saw previously. You can really tell that this is fresh off of the War and he's just trying his best to keep everybody corralled and (somewhat) comfortable.

He still holds onto his Celestial Realm prejudice against demons, so he doesn't trust MC at all which is an interesting turn on the dynamic from before. As a human, Lucifer saw us as weak and insignificant so he didn't give us much time of day. But as a "demon," and someone more knowledgeable about the Devildom than himself, he has to suck it up and rely on MC even if he wants them to stay away.

By the end of Lesson 10, it's safe to say whatever trust he had in MC is going to be shattered. MC has talked their way out of a lot, but even Dia looks shaken by their abilities this time... I'm curious to see if they can reestablish a relationship with him when he was already keeping them at arms length to start with.

Mammon:

Ah, Mammon... Once simp, forever a simp across time and space. Bless him. I guess he's just doomed to always fall first when it comes to MC. It DOES NOT take long for him to be down bad even if you don't romance him specifically (I would know because I'm trying to stay mono-Levi this go around).

Aside from his tsundere-ness, though, we do get a look into more of his insecurities. I find an interesting pattern developing in him where he just tends to latch onto a person and follow them unfailing. He did that with Lucifer before the Fall, he didn't even think about the consequences before going through with it. You could see him doing much the same with MC. I think it stems from a lack of confidence in himself and his own abilities, constantly relying on others to guide him through big decisions and provide him with validation. Add another poor thing to the list...

Leviathan:

I swear to God, the devs realized that Levi's charm lies in his pathos, so they went out of the way to make him EVEN MORE pathetic than normal. I still love him for it, of course. But seriously, Levi starts out practically afraid of his own shadow when the story starts. It makes sense, Levi would have probably one of the more negative impressions of demons of the seven, having fought them head on. He was a shut in before the War and now he's even more terrified to leave the house, let alone his room... (I can't be the only one who's wondering how the hell Dia's going to look at him and go, "Ah yes! I see Admiral material right there!" right?)

I do like that the writers took the time to show that he's one of the more empathetic brothers, right alongside Asmo and Beel, even if he's bad with people. Levi is quick to sympathize with beings and creatures who don't fit in and it's always very sweet to see. I also guess that Simeon wrote TSL in secret or after the War? You think he would know of it at least having lived so long with the author... Anyway. I digress.

There's a lot of... small things around Levi that I think hint at the inner feelings of the brothers, though (of all seven of them, he has the WORST poker face I swear). I may touch on those in another post because I need time to gather my thoughts on how it all connects there... Anyway, he's still my favorite and I'm going to try to see if there's any truth to this "you get a deeper connection if you stick to one brother" thing. Wish me luck.

Satan:

Okay, load your guns now because I think Satan is the real star of the show here. They're actually pulling way more than the "He's mad because he's seen like Lucifer" card. We're at a point where Satan doesn't even consider himself associated with the brothers AT ALL. That means something and has consequences on the story. He didn't even go with them to check on Beel, despite having enough fire power that he could have probably helped a lot.

Now before someone goes screaming at me that they've devolved him into comic relief, I'd first like to ask what did you think he was going to be? OG Satan told us himself that he used to feel nothing but anger. He's going to be pissed, irrational, and violent. He's Wrath.

What truly they're giving us under all of that is a look into a vulnerable guy who doesn't know anything about the world around him and is trying to pick it up on his own because his brothers can't (and maybe won't) teach him. They keep chaining him up (which I hate btw) and talk about him like he's a beast. But it's partially because they're such terrible communicators that he flies off the handle so often to begin with.

Satan is more alone than really anybody else is the Devildom. His brothers already have all this history together and memories shared during their time as angels, stuff he has no context for and could never experience himself. He's still an outcast among demons for his association with them, despite being a fully fledged demon in his own right, and he doesn't know why he has to be linked to them because he barely knows them anyway. He's taking baby steps to understand the world, but when he goes to his brothers to ask questions they lampshade him for even having clear thoughts. All they see him as is a roaring beast. This version of Satan is fascinating to me. How does he start here and end up the eloquent, emotionally-controlled bookworm with a planet's worth of connections? I gotta know!!

Asmodeus:

They FINALLY started giving Asmo his proper flowers! I still think it could have been more, but he's gotten way more depth than he had before. I know that Asmo part technically involved MC's input the least out of all of the brothers, but I think that was by design.

Asmo is a surprisingly introspective individual under his urge to perform. MC didn't have to give much input because he just didn't need as much. He knows himself very well (unlike some of the others). He's an emotionally intelligent guy who can sort out his own inner problems and remain empathetic enough to want to help his brothers in his own way. I wanted to hear more from this side of Asmo, honestly, but the game seems to make it clear that he's content with his spot of being the family's brightest smile. I hope it makes more appearances as we go on.

Beelzebub:

This one is tricky, because lesson 10 leaves off on a cliffhanger related to Beel... So I think Beel's feelings will have more consequences than the other brothers' on the story. Most of all that we see of Beel is, unfortunately, him being hungry or off being wholesome with Belphie but lesson 10 did give us some eye-openers regardless.

First, apparently if he flies off the handle, Beel is quite the challenge to handle. It takes Dia himself to restrain him, which is pretty insane for the sixthborn in the line-up. It's possible some outside magic is cranking up his power somehow, but we won't know until the next lessons are out.

Secondly, I find it very interesting that Beel's "heart-to-heart" moment with us is being saved for last... It was definitely the most surprising one of the secrets in the teasers (in my opinion). Beel and Belphie are glued to the hip and share everything together so for him to have a secret "not even Belphie" knows is pretty shocking. I hope it's not just that he saved Belphie instead of Lilith since we all already know that. It'd be a pretty cheap pay off to all this buildup... Not that I haven't been disappointed before or anything.

Belphegor:

Similar to Beel, Belphie doesn't get much attention until the end and it isn't much that we haven't heard before, unfortunately. You kind can't blame them, since plumbing out Belphie's inner trauma about the War was the entire climax of the first game. It's nothing we don't already know. That being said, I think there's some more interesting things that are being said about Belphie or left unsaid by the others that I find more fascinating to keep track of.

TLDR, I think there's some weird distancing going on between Belphie and the others. It doesn't seem super apparent, but Levi dropped some weird bombshells early on and I can't help but notice how he just never seems to be without Beel. Those two are close, yeah, but in this game they're practically a unit. I'm pretty sure Belphie is using Beel as a security blanket of sorts. He's also the ONLY one to mention Lilith in any great detail. Unsurprising, but it's worth noting that the others haven't really brought her up despite it (supposedly) starting the War.

Diavolo:

Somebody give this guy a vacation and a raise... So apparently, the brothers were cast down, the old King took one look at them and counted to seven, then conked out. Now our boy has to rule the kingdom. He's... the same really. As far as I can tell. You can really see how much he's taken to the brothers' antics though, which checks out in the other game too.

WAAAY more fascinating to me is apparently there's some kind of body called the House of Lords who think that Dia is too young for the job. What's the House of Lords?? Who are they? Are they like a council or advisory board...? Or is this a UK setup? Is there a Parliamentary board?? I dunno, could just be my Poli Sci talking but I'm now so lost on how the Devildom operates now...

Barbatos:

Oh my God, if there is any character I could live vicariously through, it was Barbs here. For whatever unnamed reason he is NOT having any of Solomon's shit right now and I'm living for it. Setting my delight aside, we don't get to see very much of him and what we do see doesn't really differ from the norm, which only makes his detest all the more shocking.

Through Barbs, we also see just how potent the power of the pacts can be when Solomon summons him and more or less forces him to do as he says. Nothing seems to stop him from retaliating after the fact, as he sent Solomon off who knows where, but seeing that kind of power wielded over a being who's almost unattainable to us is... Well. I feel bad for Asmo.

Simeon:

There's a lot to unpack with Simeon... and a lot of it is in the stuff that goes unsaid. First, I already found it strange that he didn't seem surprised to see Satan in the House. Or if he was, he didn't say it or bother introducing himself which is... telling for a guy like Simeon. He's back to being Luke's minder in front of demons, but I can't help but notice that he doesn't do much to counter Luke's tirades. He only indicates that it's impolite to say them, so he may still harbor the very same feelings.

Simeon and Lucifer have something of a heart to heart together that they never would in the OG title where Simeon admits his biggest regret. It isn't that he didn't follow Lucifer, as we might think, but that he doesn't feel like did enough to reach out to him before he made his decision. Lucifer dispells this, but I think it goes to show that Simeon stands behind his decision to stay and that it was the better option. Lucifer also confront Simeon on why he didn't take a high position (seraph) and instead settled for archangel. It's left open ended what his real motives for that would be, but I suspect that it has something to do with Simeon's troubling streak of going against the grain, even in subtle ways. Or he has too much anger about what happened to accept taking Lucifer's old position.

I found it interesting how easily these two seemed to talk about intimate topics together here where Lucifer barely even acknowledges Simeon's attempts to reach out in the OG story. I wonder what may have happened to sour their relationship so severely...?

Luke:

Luke the Racist Chihuahua returns!! Okay, I'm being a little mean but he's pretty much just self-righteous little kid the whole way through. I will admit, it is a little funny that the person who came up with the nickname was actually Lucifer. I think it's now retconned and confirmed that Luke and the brothers never knew each other before the Fall... though Luke seems to know OF their former selves in some capacity. I could be misinterpreting things though.

The Rat Bastard Solomon:

I swear to God this was me playing through the whole game tied to this guy.

He's lying. A lot. Constantly. And it pisses me off to no end. I was wondering why things he was saying and the stuff he was doing weren't lining up and OF COURSE it's because he's either working his own agenda or being outright deceitful. I hate him so much, y'all, you don't even know...

That aside, as an impartial observer Solomon is pulling a lot of work to support MC and you can TELL how down bad he is for them, which actually has significance for the plot I think. He's keeping them in the dark about something, but considering his feelings I say we can at least be charitable and assume it isn't to hurt them or cause them any suffering... intentionally. He's also as unscrupulous as ever, considering how he ordered a very angry Barbs around and more or less took advantage of a life or death situation to make a pact with Asmo.

So. At the end of the lessons, we're reintroduced to the mysterious Nightbringer. The character who actually sent us back in time at the start of the game. Yeah, it wasn't Barbatos... probably. At least not our reliable neighborhood butler anyway. They seem to be different entities but I THINK they might share some connection....

I have to wonder who disguised MC when they first arrived. The marketing made it seem like it would be Solomon but the marketing has been hit or miss on actual accuracy about the game we're seeing. If it was Solomon, then he had to have known where the MC was before he called. If it was Nightbringer then... well actually. We need to touch on that first.

Nightbringer:

Now, much of this is just me speculating so take things with a grain of salt. Nightbringer's name is blocked out, but it seems like it identified itself to us in the beginning before sending us to the past. It appears like it wants something from Solomon.... to fully corrupt him maybe? And it's using MC as leverage against him.

I suspect that all of the weird stuff that has been happening is tied to its meddling in some way, but to what end is unclear... Sending Levi and MC into TSL, tricking Asmo then trying to feed everyone to a spider, and, likely, whatever is going on with Beel. I can't tell if it's trying to push MC and the brother's closer together, or just making vaguely comical attempts at homicide by fictional characters, spider, and Gluttony incarnate.

The situation with Adam does give us a hint into its nature. It appears to be some kind of dark, trickster being that gives a person what they desire, but never the way they intended. A walking monkey's paw, if you will. Solomon says that Nightbringer made him what he is today, so perhaps he worked under it or is simply under the influence of one its "deals." Their relationship is adversarial, though. When they're speaking, they talk about the two supernatural sides, Angel and Demon, and Nightbringer seems to want to force Solomon to make a choice between them. Lose his humanity, maybe?

I'm not quite willing to say that Nightbringer is a demon just yet, at least not one of the ones we normally encounter. Something about it seems... older. More powerful than that. But we'll have to wait for more info.

My crackpot theory?

Solomon has made a deal with Nightbringer in order to go back in time and do... something. He's after something. Nightbringer agreed, but dragged MC along as collateral for Solomon to get it done within a certain amount of time or makes sure he honors his part of the bargin. Barbatos knows this, either because he is linked to in some way to Nightbringer or saw it happen in the doorway, and is disgusted by his actions but unable to speak about it due to the pact. Or, you know. That's our present Barbie also dragged along for the ride and he's pissed that he's been essentially hijacked and taken away from present Diavolo, but forbidden to speak about it.

[erisaha]

I was inspired by this post to post the og and nightbringer student ID of the characters side by side. Left is obey me right is nightbringer. Will post the others!

Part two: https://www.tumblr.com/erisaha/747947632096313344/this-entire-time-weve-been-wondering-why-simeon

Part three:

[emmys-grimoire]

Nightbringer - Lesson 1 Summary & Analysis

It turns out I probably won’t get to lesson 10 by the end of the weekend, so I’m getting started on my lesson 1-5 summaries. 

I have school throughout the week, but I’m hoping to crank these out every other day until we finally catch up to the current lesson. I’m not used to doing ten lessons all at once! But we’ll get there, eventually.

Also expect fewer screenshots than usual after this summary. The analysis portion will also be lighter until we get to the meat of the story. Lessons 1-3 are pretty light.

Caution: spoilers ahead.

The Story

The game begins with a chatroom with an “unregistered” individual with a demon icon. When you ask who they are, they’re cryptic and don’t give you a straight answer (“Perhaps you know me, perhaps you don’t”) but they make it clear they’re *very* acquainted with you. They claim nothing remains hidden to them and they see everything (whether it’s past, present, or future) and they show you a group picture of the brothers. They ask you if you know them, and you can either confirm or deny you do. If you claim you don’t, they say something must have gone wrong but not to worry, you soon will.

They tell us they’re going “to take you someplace where you’re happy. A place that will bring you more joy than any other”.

They also claim that “time” is like a “dark, heavy mud” to them that sits in a container and swirls around like a vortex. They get all cryptic again and begin asking you questions they know you don’t have the answer to (“Will you be entering your own past?” “Or the past, present, or even future of someone you don’t know?”) before yeeting you back in time.

You wake up in the student council hall much like you do in the OG game. Also like in the OG game, Diavolo is the first to greet you, though this time he’s in his full-fledged demon form and shocked/confused at your sudden appearance. He and the brothers found you knocked out cold and they’re glad you’re finally awake. They just assume you’re a lost demon, but it’s never really elaborated on *how* you look like a demon.

Lucifer asks Diavolo what they’re going to do with you, and Diavolo tells us the facility they’re currently in is still under construction – and they found you there. He wants to know just how you got there, and asks if you’re even from the Devildom, you’re none the wiser. Then character introductions are had! Then your cell phone rings. Those are still apparently a thing.

It’s Solomon. You have a short conversation and he deduces what might have happened.

After the phone call, Diavolo continues the introductions – but you’re interrupted by none other than a near-feral Satan, who at this point is the living manifestation of wrath. We learn he’s so destructive that they had to wrap him in chains and throw him into a locker, but apparently Asmo didn’t make sure the chains were tight enough because he didn’t want to harm his tender hands, so he’s predictably ultra pissy now. You’re still given introductions, but the brothers aren’t allowed to interact with you before Satan threatens to kill everyone. Diavolo is amused more than alarmed.

Satan begins lashing out physically and everyone takes cover. Leviathan asks why he has to be stuck with Satan as a brother, and Asmodeus reveals it’s because the Demon King insisted they do. Lucifer says that they’re new to the Devildom, as because of that, they’re in no position to refuse him. You’re finally allowed to cut in and ask either when the Great Celestial War happened or if you’re in the past.

The answer you get is the same: Mammon is predictably confused about your questions and asks if you got hit in the head during the war, which just concluded. Diavolo asks your name.

Satan interrupts again. You try to use your pact to make him “stay” but it doesn’t work. The brothers are confused and wonder if you were trying to cast a spell. Satan advances and… Ruri-chan suddenly interrupts. It’s your phone again.

Leviathan is enthralled. He tells you that it’s your job to play Ruri Tunes all day every day.

Lucifer tells him to snap out of it, they’re in the middle of being attacked. Suddenly, you “feel a warm light building inside” and your “stay!” actually works this time. The others are shocked when all the brothers suddenly get grounded. Diavolo laughs at all of them. The others are less than amused, but Diavolo concludes *fate* must have brought them all together. In the OG game, Diavolo is a big believer in destiny, so it looks like they’re continuing this trend with him.

He expands on what was said before, and explains that the brothers are former angels who were cast out of the Celestial Realm following the Great Celestial War. He admits things are a bit unstable in the Devildom at the moment.

As a result he hires you as their babysitter attendant. The brothers are less than enthused, Lucifer insists they aren’t children, but whatever Diavolo says goes.

Due to the newness of their friendship, Lucifer isn’t the lapdog he is in the OG game. He complains about and questions Diavolo’s commands more.

He’s also less considerate to technically newborn Satan, but Satan is perpetually trying to murder everyone, so…

You exchange DDD info with Diavolo so you remain in contact. It may be centuries earlier than the present timeline, but cell phones and social media are forever, apparently. Asmo insists on signing you up for everything.

Belphie is getting sleepy, and you can suggest they head back to the House of Lamentation. Diavolo is perplexed at you even knowing what it is because it’s only very recently been built in the Devildom. The brothers are excited to finally have a home of their own. Apparently they were staying at the castle in the interim.

We learn the House of Lamentation still has the cursed history it did in the previous game. You learn Mammon isn’t scared of ghosts at this point. Belphie falls asleep and Lucifer decides it’s finally time to go.

Diavolo forbids you from staying at the House of Lamentation, and seems perplexed to learn you don’t have your own place. He shows you the Wanderer’s Whereabouts app, that you can use to spy on the brothers as though they were ants in an ant farm.

Before he can tell you where you’re going to stay, Solomon drops in! He introduces us as his apprentice. Diavolo is stunned and though Solomon didn’t have any close demon relationships other than Barbatos. You can imply you’re his best apprentice or someone more… intimate. 

Diavolo suggests we bunk with Solomon at his place. When you’re finally alone with him, you chat about what happened. You give him the run-down, then he suggests you go home. You’re staying at Cocytus Hall this time.

When you arrive, Solomon explains what happened at length. We just blipped out of existence in the present timeline, apparently. He had to analyze the magical traces our yeeting left behind to deduce where we went, and he asked Barbatos to send him back to that point in time instead of just bringing us back, apparently.

And we can’t send ourselves back yet! Wonderful. Our pacts have weakened in our travel through spacetime and, while not entirely severed, need to be reforged in order to realize their full power again. It is the only way to go back.

Lucifer texts you and tells you to come to the Demon Lord’s Castle tomorrow. Diavolo has something to talk about.

The following morning, Asmo and Mammon arrive to escore you to the castle. Solomons busy in the kitchen fixing breakfast. The two of them are excited to try food prepared by the most famous sorcerer from the human world. Knowingly, you try to escape before it’s too late. Asmo lingers behind and swipes a muffin.

You take a detour and go shopping instead. The brothers haven’t been allowed to go exploring since they fell because they’ve been stuck in the castle up until now. Mammon brandishes Lucifer’s credit card, and Asmo foolishly believes Lucifer must have lended it to him. You can remind them that you’re wanted at the castle, but Mammon brushes you off and calls you a killjoy.

It isn’t long before we get to encounter some good ol’ fantasy racism!

Mammon is kicked out of one of the shops. Since the newly-transformed demons are newcomers and having been out and about their new home yet, they weren’t expecting such a cold reception. 

Asmo decides to distract Mammon from his stewing with ice cream. Mammon admits some of the Devildom foods sound gross, but they’re growing on him. He finds something written on his popsicle stick: the word “WINNER”. It activates a gacha and he wins a hostile giant snake.

You flee, but you’re pursued. Asmo doesn’t have his charm powers yet, so you have to settle for lobbing the noxious muffin at it after calling the help hotline printed on the stick fails.

Once you finally get to the castle, you tell Diavolo what happened and he finds it hilarious. Lucifer wants to lecture, but simply confiscates the credit card. You can suggest where he should hide it. Mammon and Asmo leave, and you can finally get back to business.

Diavolo wants to establish RAD, and he wants you and Lucifer to be founding members. This is why they’ll still be in the school uniforms. Lucifer doesn’t trust you and doesn’t believe this is a good decision on Diavolo’s behalf.

What follows is the most Lucifer-esque “but thou must” dialogue choice reactions yet. If you refuse:

Okay man. I was just agreeing with you.

Afterwards, he makes it clear he doesn’t intend on being your friend.

Then the giant snake returns, and he’s forced to ask you for assistance.

Thoughts & Analysis

This was essentially just a re-introduction lesson, but it does set up the background of the situation up nicely. The brothers are newcomers to the Devildom and they're still having trouble adjusting to their new environment... and more importantly, their new environment is reacting to them.

The goal of the first season of Nightbringer is clear: you must reforge your pacts in order to get back to the present timeline, but thankfully it's not just a retread of the OG Season 1. I don't know why we can't just have Barbatos snap his fingers and fix everything like he's done before -- it's clear he can ferry people back and forth (though he claimed it can be imprecise) -- but I've always had a problem with Barbatos's powers and how he's supposed to fit inside the cosmology of the universe. It felt like him being a demon put too much power in the Devildom’s hands, and they had to nerf him later to make things happen even though it doesn’t really make much sense (he gets rid of the dark crevasse in S4 but it’s effects remain for... some reason?)

But now we have *another* entity that can travel through time. Spoiler alert: the demon in the prologue video is not Barbatos, and Mr. Bowlcut is not Solomon. I'll expand on that in the later lessons, but it looks like we might finally have a Big Bad on our hands.

I'm *not* terribly fond of everyone looking exactly the same as they do in the previous game -- and there's no reason for them to don uniforms for a school that still doesn't exist yet -- but whatever.

My opinion on the story has improved as it’s progressed, nitpicks aside. It’s not perfect, but the writing team is trying again.

[rosesansstuffs]

SPOILER L-13 SPOILER L-13 ⛔🚫‼️❗‼️

(The way I straight up choose going home with him bcs knowing he's so lonely w/o them around and the GUILT uuhgGhkgGhh🤧😭😭)

[alans-maladaptive-daydreams]

Am I stupid or are they almost forcing them to return to the celestial realm, abandoning Satan in the process, and if they refuse, will they consider it a violation of the pact?

After all they've been through they want them back?

If so, and my English isn't failing me, they can fuck themselves

I'm upset and I KNOW my MC will be throwing hands

[yukis-tasks]

Lose your WINGS!??!!

Please don’t let that happennn!

[annkous]

Lesson 25 is here! This week we solve Asmo's inner turmoil and finally find out why Barbatos hates Solomon's guts so much.

We got "eternal" for the rhythm games, too!

We start where we left off on lesson 24: entering the garden among Barbatos and Solomon looking for Little D. Nº5 to help Asmo.

Barbatos starts saying he remembers visiting Solomon in the human world, and Solomon begins to show signs that he remembers something. Then he says he remembers the when, just not the what, and Barbatos just gets more pissed off.

lmfao but finally, Barbatos gets to the crux of the matter: he went to visit Solomon and saw a list of all the demons Solomon had made pacts with...

And he was number eight.

That's all. That's literally the whole reason he's mad at Solomon. He's jealous and hurt due to a list. Holy shit.

Solomon tries to clarify he wrote them down without any order in particular, that he wrote them just as they came to mind. Someone save him he's making it worse.

Sorry Sol I love you I swear but I chose to back up Barbatos for fun

All this build-up for this. Incredible. I remember seeing people theorizing Barbatos' anger had something to do with time traveling shenanigans too. I was not expecting that. I prefer it over the feud he has with Thirteen, though, I know if it'd been about food I would've been disappointed. This is way funnier and you honestly don't see it coming ngl.

Back to the more pressing matter, Little D. Nº5 finds you, following Barbatos' indignation about being a "mediocre middle number", and without any previous warning, teleports all of you, it included, somewhere else...

That somewhere turns out to be Asmo's subsconscious, just like Mammon.

Asmo's on top of a throne, with Mammon, Levi, Satan, Beel and Belphie serving him around. They don't speak, they remain quiet even in front of you and Solomon points out they look worn out and exhausted, but Asmo doesn't seem to care. However when you ask him if "is this truly what you want?" you get points with him ;; hang in there, Asmo.

For now, however, he only has eyes for you and himself. He tries to beckon you, but you can resist. If you do, you win points with Barb and Sol.

Lucifer is missing from the group, though, and Barbatos notices.

Barbatos teleports both you and Solomon away to wherever Lucifer is, leaving him alone to fend Asmodeus.

You arrive in a weird dark forest, with a nice background music too.

Now that would be an interesting idea to explore, but I'll tell you here and now that sadly, no, we won't :( when asking Solomon, he just says this place might be so deep in Asmo's mind, not even he knows it exists. Mostly bevause this place doesn't "fit" Asmo.

You two have to look for Lucifer, though, because he seems important to Asmo just as he was to Mammon.

Yeah they do, despite all their bickering they really love their older brother.

After trekking for a bit you find a cabin in the woods, and lo and behold, Luci is there. You ask him why he's there, and he tells you he was a sorcerer that used to work under Asmo, until Asmo banished him for telling Asmo he was not beautiful, "not as you are now."

He asks about Asmo, so you can tell him you've just seen him or that you're going back to see him. Lucifer simpy gives you an apple to give to Asmo, and that's all you get from that little visit. Solomon, sensing it's the key for this, takes you both back to the castle where Asmo was.

Nor Asmo nor Barbatos are in sight, though, only the brothers and Little D. However, when you ask to see Asmo, the Little D. doesn't take it very well and does a 180 on you, commanding the brothers to get you.

Solomon, being our current knight in shining armor, tells you to run and go save Asmo while he covers you. We don't have a choice here, so we just run for it, leaving Solomon behind like this, probably.

We finally reach Asmo, who's alone in his room. There's no sign of Barbatos anywhere.

Asmo's delighted you came to "see" him, and continues to try and make you profess your undying love for him and that he's first above anyone else. Gotta snap him out of it.

We remember the whole Barbatos convo with Solomon about not being on top of the list here, too, and we use it to try and get to Asmo.

But it's not working very well...

He's about to lock you up (oh boy) when the apple Lucifer gave you falls to the floor. Asmo spots it immediately, realizing it's one of Lucifer's apples, Apparently, it's one of his favourite things, sp he takes a bite... and suddenly feels very, very sleepy.

Oh no.

Lucifer, always on time. Colorized.

The scene just ends there... and switches to this.

In hindsight I should've seen it coming tbh.

Basically, Asmo has fallen asleep forever. Lucifer has put him to sleep, granting his wish to remain forever beautiful by never aging.

Little D. Nº5 is inconsolable, and crying out as if he were Asmodeus himself. He keeps sobbing about how he doesn't want this, and how he wants to go back to his brothers :( Barbatos and Solomon think he's mixed with Asmo's feelings, or that he's embodied Asmo himself. In any case, what he feels is what Asmo wants, and him crying is just like Asmo crying.

But here we know how Snow White goes (at least the modified children's tale version...), so we step up to save Asmo.

I love the forehead option for them so much you have no idea-. I'm always surprised when they go on about love and I think I'm going to have to show romantic love towards one of them no matter what, and then I'm given a platonic option for it. I love that it's an option, even if I prefer the romantic type.

Whatever kiss you choose, it works, and you wake up back in the garden where Little D. Nº5 last teleported you. You're back with Solomon, Barbatos and the Little D, who's just snoring on the ground. It's adorable, but you have to go check on Asmo, so off we go to the House of Lamentation.

There's a bit of a commotion there, though.

If we think about the previous lesson with its chat + videocall at the end, we'll remember that all the brothers were talking about taking a little payback by drawing on Asmo's face as he slept.

Well, he's awake and yelling at everyone, so you can guess what's happening lmao

It is said (and proven) that Asmo's even scarier than Satan when angry. Also gotta love Lucifer smoothly avoiding his part in all this mess. Big brained asshole.

However your arrival makes Asmo flip completely. He's grateful you've saved him ;u; and offers to do anything in exchange.

So of course, we ask for a pact, bamboozling almost everyone else who's present. They don't think Asmo's gonna do it, but he does it in a heartbeat. WELL, TWO PACTS DOWN, I GUESS.

The end of the lesson starts, once more, with the brothers and you all enjoying breakfast together, but this time Lucifer ends up delivering a lecture that has everyone rolling their eyes and giving you pleading looks so you save them from this torture.

Asmo offers to team up with you to prank Lucifer. So you accept, obviously, because they're menaces and you can't really say no to them. Spoiled, the lot of them.

Anyways, you get to choose what prank befalls the poor man. I chose kitty speak. It was hilarious.

But now he's pissed off, obviously, so you all have to book it. A lighthearted end for this lesson. There's no clear hint (that I've seen) about who's the next demon that's going to succumb to his sin, so either they're moving to a mini interlude in our pact-making or they're leaving it as a surprise.

But we still have a videocall at the end of the normal story, plus the extra lesson and the bit at the end of the hard mode, so let's get to it.

The videocall is between Barbatos, Luke and Solomon, where Solomon apologizes for summoning Barbatos away when he was with Luke back in the previous lesson (when he needed help subduing Asmodeus). Solomon offers to pay Luke back for the scare by either helping him bake again or to make him a cake himself. Luke fights for his life trying to dissuade Solomon from cooking anything at all lmao. The call isall lighthearted and adorable.

Critically acclaimed.......... w-was this a ffxiv reference???? Hello?????? I mean English isn't my native language but I've never seen those two words used to talk about a living person before omg

The extra lesson takes place when Asmo wakes up in his bed after the whole ordeal, realizing how everyone's responsible for waking him up. He really wants to go to them and apologize, so he does.

Except, as we already know, his face is painted, so the brothers are having a hard time holding back their laughter, and it's not until Asmo finally sees his face that all hell breaks loose and the moment is lost lmao.

Then comes my favourite, the extra scene unlocked in hard mode. It's called "Butler for a Day".

You're sitting in the garden with Asmo and Barbatos while they're just talking about Solomon.

They also rip him a new one.

Barbatos asks you to please not be like Solomon now that you also have pacts, and to be considerate towards your demons. Sir this isn't our first rodeo sjdfsf

Here comes the kick, though: Solomon went begging to Barbatos to forgive him, saying he'd do anything to get back on his good graces, so Barbatos made him be Diavolo's butler for a day.

We actually see Solomon chasing Diavolo around, who seems to be having fun too lmao of course he would.

At least after this they should be on better terms...

And that's all for this week!

I, hm. I feel it wasn't as "deep" as Mammon's chapter, but maybe it's because they touched on Asmo's homesickness back at the beginning of Nightbringer. I liked that chapter of his a lot and how he was written there. Still, I sometimes feel they don't really know how to grasp Asmo beyond his "I want to be loved by everyone" thing. They could've delved a bit deeped in the whole "dark forest" part and how Asmo isn't always happy and probably gets tired of keeping up a smile for the sake of everyone (and himself too), but they just left it there. Maybe it's just me, that I haven't fully grasped everything in this chapter, but it's how I feel after finishing this one. I did like the start of Asmo's predicament, though, in lesson 24, with Solomon having to step in and actually fight him to stop him. The resolution doesn't feel as fulfilling as Mammon's did, and it makes me a bit sad for Asmo.

Asmo's really close with Lucifer, too. I don't know, I feel there's wasted potential ;;

Since there's no hint for who's next, I guess we can only wait...

Stay safe and don't forget to stretch <3

Edit: WELL LESSON 26 IS OUT SO WE KNOW WHO'S NEXT

[phasmophobia-territory]

Jesus Christ finally someone says this. I got upset when I suspected this behaviour in the fandom but now it's just confirmed.

Note that I don't think they have an excuse for harming others. That's bad. None of the brothers have excuses for harming you.

Hell, I don't blame people for disliking Belphegor. There are a lot of times when I hate his actions.

But it's just funny how Belphegor is the worst person ever to some people, and those very same people go on to not care about Lucifer's crimes.

At least Belphegor earnestly tried to make up for it in Season 1. Him making a pact with you was not for selfish reasons. He made a pact to protect you. He's giving complete control of himself to you. That's a big deal to a demon, mind you.

I've seen people say: "Oh, I just made a pact with him out of pity." And I'm like: No?

You have everything to gain, while he has everything to lose if you make a pact with him. You're not doing Belphie a favour.

But with Lucifer (and remember I love him to bits) I remember him apologizing, yeah, but only to right after say something along the lines of "Oh, but I did it for my brothers so I'm not really sorry. If you're a threat I will kill you." Like bruh.

Sure, he has a reason. But his actions are extreme. I recognize that.

However when Belphie does the same ignoring the fact he actually makes it up to MC then certain people are like: "Ooooh, that Belphegor! He's so irredeemable! How can you forget that he KILLED us? How can the fandom forget his crimes so easily??" (I have issues with people saying "Belphegor killed us", btw. you technically never even experienced death, but that's a big theory for another day.)

Like I've seen somebody suggest that Belphegor should be locked up forever for planning to murder you/attempting to murder you.

Really, bro? Then I suppose Lucifer and Leviathan should be locked up forever too, right?

...No?

Then why should Belphegor be?

Note that Belphie irritates me at times. Especially when he was in his manipulator era. I don't like when he hurts us, so I don't blame you if you dislike him.

But if you're one of those people who hates Belphie for hurting us and will never forgive him, but in the same breath doesn't hold the same standards to Lucifer... It's the textbook definition of double standards.

You can hate whatever character you want for the most petty reasons (I'm the same way, all power to you).

But don't act like Belphegor's an irredeemable POS while not holding the other brothers to the same standard.

Gonna go out on a limb and say that maybe forcing morals through the lens of how humans view things as an absolute judgment isn't a sure fire way to judge actions.

It's very clear demons do not have the same emotional control we do. That things they feel are immensely strong. Their inability to ignore their sins is a prime aspect.

We see Satan in Nightbringer, and we understand that he is not in control of his actions and therefore we don't look at him like an irredeemable monster. We see him lose complete control to the point where they have to restrain him so he both doesn't hurt them or himself. And then we see him in lesson 10, smiling at a napping cat and all is forgiven. Beel went on a destructive rampage and I don't see anyone commenting how humans don't act in such monstrous ways. We don't judge Mammons fuck ups because of his greed, we understand its something he doesn't have control over in the way a human does. Beacuse they're demons.

Belphie's actions weren't forgotten. In the end his only gift to us was a pact, because what else could he offer you that makes up for what he did. Something that gives you control over him.

Lucifer has now tried to actively kill us 3 times. Twice in season 1 and now in Nightbringer but he isn't given the same scrutiny for it. Belphie is.

Saying that humans don't react to trauma that way is pointless. He isn't a human, and he doesn't have the same emotional restraint a human does. He's traumatized, racked with survivors guilt and all of that is buried under the weight of transforming into a demon where he feels things more intensely then that of an angel.

If I don't look at Lucifer with such a critical eye, I won't do it to Belphie.

Demons are not going to feel and act in ways humans do. Thats the whole point.

[astaroth1357]

I just learned that Solomon is the root cause of Mammon's gambling addiction, thanks I hate it-

[emmys-grimoire]

As a sidenote I do find it very funny that the real Raphael didn’t actually show up in this season until the very end, and in a hard mode node, too. He makes a cameo during Asmo’s arc too but it’s presumably Nightbringer masquerading as him lol

[acaribeau]

Ok, I don't think this theory for many points BUT it's really interesting so... You forgot the strongest point to make this possible.

Solomon has already used spells that let him use a Vessel, like a human-like puppet, realistic enough to make the brothers think is the real Solomon

They were speaking with him while he was doing research in other place

So... Simeon could be a vessel. Michael can have 2 faces at the same time. The brothers could interact with both without suspicion. He could pretend being Simeon for so long that it can develop in a double personality, speaking with another side and face of him.

And this goes more fucked up if you unite it with the theory that Nb is Michael 💀 that would really be a sick plot twist

Obey Me Theory:

Simeon and Michael are the same person.

Disclaimer:

Yes, I know about the "But then wouldn't..." objections to this theory; I'll present my evidence and then address those at the end.

I came up with this idea after going through specific things in my personal MC lore, but there ended being so many things that fit that I actually really liked it.

To be clear, this idea is to say: Simeon is Michael's alternate identity. Simeon as we and others know him has always actually been Michael; there's no "real Simeon" hidden in a basement somewhere while Michael impersonates him.

Evidence (spoilers for Obey Me and Nightbringer):

There are hints and suggestions throughout the story - confirmed in hard mode in NB - that Simeon is actually a considerably powerful angel. Powerful enough to be a seraph like Lucifer was.

In Season 1 and 2 of the original Obey Me, Simeon acts as the representative of the Celestial Realm in the Devildom. He's obviously high up.

Diavolo says that Simeon is the one person he doesn't want to anger. Diavolo. The would be King of the Devildom.

Note that Diavolo can tell when someone is lying. Simeon does an excellent job of tip-toeing around issues and details, not disclosing the full truth, etc.

Diavolo says he finds angels in general difficult to work with. He finds Simeon difficult. And Simeon does live up to that difficulty (hard mode Season 2) - and he puts it a very interesting way.

He tells Diavolo that if a matter (the dangerous information Diavolo's been hiding from Lucifer all Season 2) concerns the Celestial Realm, then of course they'd interfere...

...that's what Michael told Simeon to tell him, anyways. Simeon speaks with a lot of authority for someone who's not even a seraph.

Pretty much all the information we get about Michael and his current intentions come from Simeon.

And after this - what happens?

The incident with the Ring of Light.

Mighty coincidental that Simeon happened to be able to stroll into Michael's Lucifer fan-shrine and nick the ring from there, huh?

The explanation Simeon gives for knowing that the ring existed - "Michael would never let something of Lucifer's go" - is also interesting.

If Simeon were Michael, then he would know the solution of giving MC the ring from the very beginning. It'd be easy for him to stay calm, cool, and collected - Michael already gave a mortal (Solomon) his ring, and he knows Lucifer's ring can do the same thing.

Additionally, we have the sequence where a voice - almost certainly Michael - speaks to MC in a vision sort of sequence.

The voice specifically says that it would have expected MC to be an awful person, since Lucifer and co. care about them so much.

Notably, Season 2 is also the turning point for several of the side characters. Diavolo and Solomon get some ship tease for feelings, and Simeon steals the ring for you...

But this conversation could also be Michael/Simeon acknowledging his feelings for you - a human. Simeon confesses to you in Season 3...

...where it's also revealed that his worst fear is his (and Lucifer's) father.

If Simeon is Michael, this makes a lot of sense. Michael, like Lilith, has fallen in love with a human. He's even also - technically - interfered in a human's lifespan by saving you. He would fear his father, for the same reason Lucifer would.

Now, this also makes plenty of sense if Simeon isn't Michael... but just imagine.

The bone-chilling terror of having fought and beaten Lucifer and his family, having killed Lilith...

Only to eventually fall into the same circumstances that she did.

But who will fall with Michael? Who will rebel against heaven to protect him? He expunged those who were guilty of this sin, and now he is guilty of it himself. He erased all possibility of change or rebellion with his own hands.

There are other reasons to be suspicious.

In Nightbringer, Simeon and Diavolo each attempt to tempt Solomon to their side. But Diavolo's angel counterpart in the Celestial Realm is Michael, the authority figure; not Simeon, the powerless archangel.

Simeon and Solomon get along pretty well. Michael liked Solomon enough to give him the Ring of Knowledge.

What else do we know about Michael?

Most people describe him as eccentric.

Simeon wrote?? A whole book series?? About Lucifer and his brothers????? Why???????

For bonus eccentric humor: in Season 2, Simeon writes a play. He puts Lucifer and Diavolo (who have been on bad terms with each other) into a love triangle with MC.

Season 2 marks a big breaking point for Luci and Dia's relationship, with MC at the center, and both of them develop feelings for MC.

Simeon recognizes it when people tease Luke - and he is basically Luke's guardian - and pretty much says it's okay up to a point.

"Sure, tease this little kid I'm responsible for, a little taunting is good for the soul." He even seems to imply he likes to do it, too XD

He actually takes a lot of weird antics and wacky hijinks with stride. I don't think it's because he's a responsible adult. I think it's because he's another weirdo, masquerading as a responsible adult.

Several characters also talk about Michael working Raphael very hard, and having very particular demands.

We see exactly how extreme and demanding Simeon can be in Season 2, when we put on a play. He has a vision. And he's going to make EVERYONE do it, RIGHT.

We also see Simeon the taskmaster with quite the temper in Season 3 when he's running a cafe. He gets EXTREMELY mad, to the point of getting everyone to sit down and obey him, despite being normally very calm.

Michael is a huge Lucifer fanboy.

Simeon is constantly texting Lucifer ingame, even when Lucifer ignores him. He also joins Diavolo in on complimenting Lucifer's looks as an angel.

He admits that he does care about Lucifer and the brothers. We get hints that Michael feels a similar way.

In Nightbringer - Simeon ruminates deeply over a specific day where he, Lucifer, and Raphael were spending time together.

Lucifer confirms to him that he had a nice day, that day - that Simeon did notice his discomfort, and it was a relief that Simeon reached out in the way that he did, even if Simeon is rethinking it now.

It makes more sense for Simeon to be ruminating over this if this day is just a representation of his inability to reach Lucifer, to make Lucifer see his side of things.

Anyways, that's most of the things I noticed that make it look possible.

So, why doesn't anyone recognize him?

There are a few different possibilities.

They don't know what Michael really looks like.

I've seen screenshots of a devilgram floating around where angel Mammon is chatting with angel Lucifer, and he mentions that Lucifer actually has twelve wings - he just doesn't have all of them out at once.

If Michael has a similar number of wings, and does use all of them, then it's possible no one ever got a good look on him.

Also notable is that Lucifer's angel outfit is pretty conservative - if Michael was similarly clothed, with the addition of gloves, and some kind of veil/mask (he is supposed to be eccentric), they actually may just legitimately not have a good picture of him.

For personal reasons (I want to know what Michael looks like), this is my favorite theory.

Michael has used a glamour to change his appearance.

I'm relatively sure that angels can do this; they can "wear" their wings or not, and demons have similar abilities, so I don't think it's out of the realm of reason.

No one remembers what Michael looks like.

When we meet Michael in the finale of Season 2, we see just a glowing light from above. It's possible that we did see Michael then, but we just don't remember it.

Lucifer and his brothers might have forgotten Michael's appearance post-fall.

Michael texting himself? Simeon's punishment?

The text from Michael to Simeon was the most obnoxious dramatic conceit in the game.

We don't see ANY more communication between the two, at all, and are only informed of any of it afterward. It was literally just there to be a cliffhanger/source of excitement.

I think the hint is in season 3, where Simeon's greatest fear is his father.

Because if Simeon is Michael, then there's only one higher power who can punish him. The fact that Simeon was hiding who he was - that could also really explain his dodgy behavior in Season 4.

After all, after punishing Lilith for doing exactly what he just did, it'd be extremely hard to face them and be honest about what happened.

There's probably more to this theory to iron out and explain, but yeah. I do like the idea, and find the possibility fascinating - for some reason, I've picked up a bit more on Simeon these days.

Nightbringer really has made the side characters soooo much juicier >.>

[alans-maladaptive-daydreams]

You have no idea how much I love that MC encourages Luke in things like this and always wants to do things with him without pointing out if it's "too childish", he is just so sweet 🥹

[yukis-tasks]

Obey Me Hard Mode Lesson 24

[loweya-blog]

THANK YOU OP!! THIS!! Just cause it's not a world ending catastrophe or death or angst doesn't mean its any less important! The characters were being developed in calm thoughtful ways. A character doesn't need to constantly be in angst or suffering in order to develop as a person.

I adore how Nightbringer (the game) really focused on the brothers' relationships with each other and with the MC this season. The dynamics between the brothers are one of the most important aspects of the story to me. It's about how they have endured trauma and loss together, how they're building themselves back up, and how they're getting through everything as a family.

Don't get me wrong. I do want to learn more about Nightbringer (the person), how MC is going to get back to the present (or if they ever will lol), and whatever is going on with Michael. But...I just really really, really like seeing the brothers learn how to navigate their place in the world alongside each other. It's sweet and heartfelt.

A bit more spoilery (and negative I suppose lmao) thoughts under the cut:

Also, it drives me insane how some people are saying that the story past lesson 11 is basically just filler. I understand being underwhelmed by the ending, but to say that lessons 12 to 20 are all unnecessary bewilders me.

We get Beel learning to stop blaming himself over Lilith's death, Beel and Lucifer bonding and comforting each other, Satan accepting his brothers...as his brothers, the brothers learning how to bond with Satan and stop being so afraid of him, Lucifer allowing himself to be vulnerable in front of the MC (without them having to be in a coma), Lucifer realizing that his brothers don't regret following him to the Devildom, the brothers coming to the conclusion that they don't hate the Devildom and that they could never abandon Satan, and so much more.

To say all of that is filler, and therefore, unnecessary to the plot and could easily be cut out, is a little maddening to me. But...you know.

[emmys-grimoire]

Okay...

Well, that lesson came out of nowhere. No promotion, no buzz, nothing.

Because of that, I'm tempering my expectations. It might just be the last leg of the story they should have included in the previous season, but they couldn't justify squeezing it in for some reason. We're still focused on the pacts to get back home, but now we have a two-month window within which we must do it (before the official founding of RAD), or else MC/Solomon will lose their magic and it'll all be for naught.

Interestingly enough, I think we could simply ask them for the pacts right off the bat and be done with it. Therefore, they're going to have to create conflicts to prevent that from happening right away. Mammon's acting out by being overly greedy, so that might set the trend... Levi becomes super envious, Asmo super lustful, Beel super gluttonous, etc. If it's all tied to them being avatars now, I'd like to have some clarification on what that entails, finally.

I also want Nightbringer to be involved and resurface (he's been absent for a while now), but it doesn't make sense for him to create these obstacles for us to overcome and become closer to the brothers anymore. A good portion of them have all but declared their love for us already. If anything, he should probably be helping us overcome these problems so his plan can get off the ground more quickly.

Mind you, I don't think we're returning to our timeline. There's no way they're going to make us bond with these versions of the brothers and then just cast them aside. I'm fully expecting another timeline merge at the end, like what we got at the end of S1.

Hopefully, the journey to that conclusion is at least interesting.

[acaribeau]

That's exactly why I'm not buying the "Simeon is the present human Simeon who travelled through time"... All of them felt MC presence in their room. Including Satan (who is a newborn), Luke and Simeon.

Or the time isn't linear (that's what allows Barbatos and Nightbringer go to whenever they want) and casualty works in both ways, past and future, generating with this what we know as Destiny

They attached too soon to MC in og bcs they knew them in NB, but they were too close in NB bcs they were close in og, creating the feeling of "meeting a soulmate" when their souls are only unconsciously awknoledging that they loved MC, wherever in time it is.

"Our love for you transcends time"

Is that or Solomon/Nightbringer went crazy and create a spell who trapped everyone in a little world.

Or Solomon isn't even Solomon, is someone impersonating Solomon (is too sus. Ik Sol is sus by himself, but he's even more sus that I don't think lying about his identity would be a problem...)

Is Simeon hiding something? Yes, but I don't think is human!Solomon. Like... He should've to hide it from Lucifer, Diavolo, Barbatos AND Michael, bcs someone had to give him the custody of Luke for stay in Devildom. And sending a human Simeon and a little angel isn't really safe :$

Hey guys......are we like.......

are we like......100% sure it's time travel...?

no because luke who has never stepped foot in the devildom saying "i feel like i know this place"?? The fact that mc's presence in the room can be sensed even though they've never even been there before???