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padria-zozzria-orizifian · 2 years ago

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ULTRAKILL P-2 speculation:

(Obviously, spoilers for ULTRAKILL. Be sure to play through ACTs 1&2 and P-1 before reading. Or don’t.)

I remember seeing a comment somewhere that said seeing V2 in 4-4, and Gabe 2 in 6-2, slightly disappointed them because it meant no cool Egyptian-themed Final Boss for Greed, and no cool Demonic-themed Final Boss for Heresy. Or something like that.

And now that Hakita has revealed that there’ll be 3 boss fights in P-2 - Well. Lemme explain that first.

The first boss fight theme, and it’s unambiguously a boss fight theme and not like a labyrinth or whatever, is “TENEBRE ROSSO SANGUE” by guest artist KEYGEN CHURCH.

And 4 hours ago as of me writing this, Hakita uploaded a WIP version of P-2 theme 2, “PANDEMONIUM”, which is unambiguously PANOPTICON’s theme, being similar to CHAOS aka Flesh Prison’s theme.

What this means is, since these are in order, there’s gonna be 3 fights in P-2.

But lemme give a bit more context.

Circling back to what that comment I remember had said, ACT 2 lacks properly representative Final Bosses for Greed and Heresy.

Believe it or not, however, ACT 1 has this same problem, just a bit more low-key.

Limbo is fully fleshed out and has V2 at the end, whom I wouldn’t change for the world.

Lust, on the other hand, only has one boss at all: The Corpse Of King Minos. He’s certainly a perfect climactic ending to the Layer, but he’s just one boss.

Gluttony, too, only has one boss: Gabriel, The Judge of Hell, who stands out amongst the flesh and stuff.

It can be argued that the commenter’s complaint can be applied to Lust and Gluttony.

And my point is that P-1 solved that problem.

Flesh Prison is unambiguously Gluttony-themed, and Minos Prime is… well, Minos Prime. King Minos but not as a Corpse, King Minos in his… Prime. A true ending for the King of Lust, and the Layer of Lust as a whole.

And my point is that just as P-1 fixed up the loose ends of Lust and Gluttony not really being fully utilised, even if a little low-key, P-2 is for sure gonna fix up the more glaring loose ends of Greed and Heresy not being fully utilised.

The first fight of P-2 is gonna use Tenebre Rosso Sangue as a theme and is possibly about the Prisoners of the PANOPTICON breaking out and fighting you, Cybergrind-style. That’s the current guess that the Subreddit is going with at least. This, of course, will fully utilise HERESY and all of its demonic and bloody theming.

Hell if I know what fight 2, the PANOPTICON itself will utilise. WRATH was fully utilised for sure.

Fight 3, though?

All I can say is that Hakita never said that P-2 wouldn’t be Sisyphus Prime. Anyone who says he said anything about who would or wouldn’t be in P-2 is lying and has no source.

Having Sisyphus Prime be in P-2 would tie up the loose end of the 4-4 secret chamber giant decapitated corpse, which is definitely Sisyphus’, and give Greed another boss themed around it or whatever.

I don’t know. Point is, P-2 will have Sisyphus Prime. There’s no arguing against it.

Also. Anyone who says “wait of the world is more in line with Atlas” better show me anything in ULTRAKILL that builds up to Atlas being relevant anywhere. Sisyphus, meanwhile, has the boulder punishment.

TL:DR, P-2 will have 3 fights: a Heresy-themed first fight against Prisoners, then a fight against the Prison itself aka PANOPTICON, and finally a fight against the fallen King of Greed, Sisyphus Prime, thematically fully fleshing out Greed and Heresy.

#ultrakill

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magicalbuffalotransformerman · 2 years ago

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BLOOD-BOILED JUDGEMENT

[tl;dr: heaven-feared fallen angel fights robot that killed everything else. no spoilers]

{Railcannon. Sharpshooter. Projectile boost, projectile boost. A couple of parries here and there, and there's another P rank in the books. V1 siphons a little more blood to top off its health bar, and flies down the elevator shaft of 9-2, after freshly beating Gabriel down for the last time.}

{It's been quite the adventure for V1, what with all of the bloodlusting through the layers of Hell and meeting some funky characters along the way. It fought V2 - its apparent superior, from what it read on the internet - and annihilated it. Then Sisyphus Prime, a durable fighter who's Prime Soul started forming BEFORE he died, and won.}

{There is no enemy that can face V1 now and survive.}

{It lands in... 9-4? Isn't there supposed to be a third lev-... doesn't Treachery only have two levels? Where the fuck is V1??}

{It exits the elevator shaft, out to a significantly frozen landscape... wait, this isn't Judecca. What the fuck?}

{A circular arena-styled hellscape at the very bottom of Hell, practically underneath Judecca...? V1 is quite confused. Something that, judging by its notifications, shouldn't be available. It attempts to get back into the elevator shaft, but finds that the doors aren't there.}

{It's stuck here.}

{FUCK.}

{A flash of red appears at the center of the arena. V1 turns to face the center, identifying its final 'challenge'.}

{An angel, around Sisyphus' height, glowing red. They wield a crowbar, staring down V1 like a thing possessed.}

/-/-/ 9-5 // TREACHERY SECRET ENDING \-\-\

\-\-\ FORTUNATE SON /-/-/

{Hah. Funny name for an ice level. V1 waits for whatever monologue the Fallen Angel has prepared.}

{...}

{V1 looks to its Knuckleblaster wrist, as if it forgot to bring a watch.}

{A beat passes. V1 looks to the angel, shrugging its arms, wanting to know where the monologue is.}

{Then, some realization hits. Oh, this one's Asbeel, right? The mute one? That makes sense.}

Asbeel: I see now that intimidation doesn't work against your kind.

{Oh, there it is.}

Asbeel: Freak. Your reign of terror across Hell ends here. I shall wreak havoc across your feeble frame and hear your pitiful screams. Your crusade shall end in a whimper, struggling against the floor of Hell. I-

{V1's heard this whole spiel before. It flicks some coins up in the air, pulling off a Railcoin during Asbeel's monologue.}

{Unexpectedly, Asbeel parries the Railcannon shot right back at V1, hitting it for 50 damage.}

Asbeel: How rude.

{V1's left in a brief stupor, never having been counterparried before - especially not with their own Railcoin. Sheesh. Its gyroscopes barely have any time to react before coming up with a battle plan, with Asbeel bringing their crowbar down behind V1's upper shoulder blade plating and ripping the plates off.}

{How uncharacteristically weak. Asbeel wastes no time in pinning the disgusting wretch to the floor chest-up with their crowbar, getting down on their knees to pummel the vampire personally. Senator Style. Two punches in, and...}

{YOU ARE DEAD} { | | | | | 💀 | | | | | } {PRESS [R] TO RETRY}

{...}

{V1 appears again at the bottom of the elevator shaft.}

{...}

{This is going to take a bit.}

{V1 takes a moment to 'breathe' and recuperate before heading back into the arena.}

{Off to its right, Asbeel sits there, kneeling over V1's first corpse. They were to punch the wreck a seventeenth time, before noticing V1's new frame.}

Asbeel: ...oh, you're one of those. Hideous.

{V1's shoulders jittered and gyrated, as if mockingly bellylaughing at the archangel. Then, a shot of white noise.}

V1: SO YOU INTEND TO WIN V1: HOW DO YOU MEAN TO DO SO AGAINST ME V1: I'VE ALREADY KILLED EVERYTHING ELSE

Asbeel: So both of us have secret voices...? Why do you hide yours?

V1: OH, YOU KNOW V1: PLOT-IRRELEVANT VOICE BOX V1: YOU

Asbeel: God had forced me into silence. Now that He's dead, I can talk as much as I want. Oh, I'd like to tell you that Gabriel's still alive.

V1: WELL OF COURSE HE IS V1: IF YOU CAN'T SEE A CORPSE:

Asbeel: ...then they're still alive. I suppose that's a fair assumption. ...Have you ever heard of Undertale?

V1: PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE GOING TO REFERENCE SANS

{Asbeel chuckles from underneath their helmet.}

Asbeel: Well, you're already in Hell. Might as well throw some gasoline on you.

{Their fight begun proper, Asbeel flashes back onto their feet, attempting to beat V1 down with its first corpse. V1 parries its own corpse (funny), following up with a shotgun blast.}

{The shotgun pellets simply bounce off of Asbeel's shoulderplate. A crowbar flies into V1's head, the robot barely able to dodge out of the way through dashing to the right.}

{V1 attempts to Whiplash themselves to Asbeel, trying to see if it can't do some close-up damage into their back... but Asbeel wraps their hand around the Whiplash's spearhead. They use the Whiplash to beat V1 into the ground a good couple of times, before pinning V1 to the ground and ripping the Whiplash off of its frame.}

{V1 responds with a point-blank Railcoin into Asbeel's face, knocking them backward, onto their back. They quickly get back onto their feet, looking towards V1's last known position and not seeing it.}

Asbeel: ...clever. What other tricks have you up your sleeves?

{No response. Asbeel assumes it's hiding among the ages-old wreckage of the arena. They begin searching.}

{V1 attempts, over and over, to bash the Whiplash back into its socket. It's not working. The shoulder is minced to bits. This isn't stopping V1, desperate to have its funny grapple arm back.}

{Eventually, it gives up, siphoning whatever blood it can from the Whiplash and preparing to Mal-Nuke Asbeel.}

{The fallen angel strays into range. A Core flies next to their face, followed up by a flash of orange and an explosion, right in the face. This causes Asbeel to stumble over their feet, throwing their crowbar in the general direction of V1.}

{Of course, it misses by a foot.}

{Asbeel flies behind V1, grabbing their crowbar once again and attempting to pin it to a chunk of ice. V1, again, dodges this attack, following up with a Sharpshooter/Slab-Piercer/Railcoin combo. Asbeel collapses to their knees, confusing V1 yet again.}

V1: WHAT'S WITH THE LETHARGY BUDDY

Asbeel: Apologies. It's been a while since I've fought anything one-on-one.

{Belting out a cough, Asbeel adjusts their helmet.}

Asbeel: As for you. Did you get an upgrade in regards to your Railcannon?

V1: EXPLAIN

Asbeel: You seem to be using it quite more than what should be possible. Grab a few extra batteries along the way?

V1: I GUESS SO V1: YOU SURE LOVE MONOLOGUING HUH

{Asbeel gets back onto their feet again. They look over their crowbar.}

Asbeel: How many times are you going to come back?

V1: AS MANY AS IT TAKES TO KILL YOU

Asbeel: As you wish.

{Asbeel cracks their knuckles, chucking their crowbar at V1 before disappearing as soon as V1 looks away.}

{V1 slidejumps around the arena, searching for Asbeel.}

{...}

{...No archangels.}

{No exit shafts either.}

{What's this about, then?}

{V1 stops in place, cycling their weapons impatiently.}

{Three beats pass. A crowbar finds itself in the crevasses of V1's chestplating, ripping said plating out from behind. V1 turns around, getting punched in the face for its efforts.}

{YOU ARE DEAD} { | | | | | 💀 | | | | | } {PRESS [R] TO RETRY}

{...}

{...V1 lands at the bottom of the elevator again.}

{That's some bullshit.}

{V1 flips its Sharpshooter between idle hands, stomping into the arena once more.}

{It is immediately met by its second corpse, parrying it out of the air and ricocheting a charged shot into the angel ahead. It intends to combo that up with some coins.}

{So, in order, V1's opening salvo is as follows: Sharpshooter -> Marksman coins (3) as the Sharpshooter's shot ricochets off of the ground, to act as a sort of sidegrade to a Railcoin -> Railcannon a 4th Marksman coin for pretty good damage.}

{Asbeel responds to the Railcoin by tossing some stolen coins of their own into the air, and ultra-rico-parrying the Railcoin into V1's wings, destroying them.}

{Well. Its armament is gone. Great.}

{V1 steals its Slab Piercer from its corresponding feather before it deactivates, jumps onto Asbeel, and whales on them with all three arms and the Slab Piercer.}

{Asbeel, having a crowbar swing interrupted by getting spidermonkeyed by a security camera, attempts to swing at V1 as it clamors around their bulky frame.}

{After V1 is able to get a total of 31 punches and 6 charged shots into Asbeel's helmet, Asbeel finally responds by digging their free hand into the pesky robot's back and gripping hard, ripping it off of them with force.}

{When V1 got their Whiplash back, Asbeel can not recall. Doesn't matter. They'll simply rip it off again.}

{They bury the bent end of their crowbar into V1's chest before it's able to get back onto its feet, hopping over to a nearby wall and bashing the wall with the newly-created V1-on-a-stick.}

{It takes only three impacts, before-}

{YOU ARE DEAD} { | | | | | 💀 | | | | | } {PRESS [R] TO RETRY}

{...}

{...The delay is longer this time. Asbeel relieves their crowbar of the corpse, taking a seat on a nearby ice chunk.}

{Five minutes pass.}

{V1 returns from the elevator doors.}

{Asbeel looks towards the vampire.}

V1: SORRY V1: HAD TO RESEARCH SOME NEW TECHNIQUES

{And off it goes, to hide behind a chunk of ice. Asbeel wonders what it might be planning.}

{V1 seems to have grabbed a pre-nerf version of the Sharpshooter. Where? Who fucking knows. It Slam Storage jumps into the ceiling, throwing some coins up before jumping off of the ceiling and back onto the floor, following up with firing the pre-nerf Sharpshooter at one of the coins.}

{This does some fucking nutty damage to Asbeel.}

{V1 comes out of hiding, to find Asbeel kneeling on the ground.}

V1: WHAT DO YOU THINK

{Asbeel hacks up some blood.}

Asbeel: ...a... couple of things... [Suppressed cough]. For example:

{Asbeel's crowbar pops in out of nowhere, making itself known in V1's lower torso. Once V1's attention is focused onto the crowbar, Asbeel throws a haymaker into V1's face.}

{YOU ARE DEAD} { | | | | | 💀 | | | | | } {PRESS [R] TO RETRY}

{...This takes... quite the long time. A time I'd rather not write down each instance for. Here's a couple of them, however.}

{Retry 12: Asbeel pulls off a wrestling move on V1, piledriving it.}

{Retry 56: Asbeel uppercuts V1's Knuckleblaster, making it kill itself with its own arm.}

{Retry 132: Asbeel utilizes some of their previous knowledge against V1, breaking its back(servos) like they'd done to Gabriel.}

{Retry 324: Asbeel manages to pull off some Looney Tunes shit against V1, crushing it with an ice chunk.}

{Retry 1006: Asbeel tears V1 apart with the crowbar, letting it suffer against the cold hard ground.}

{Retry 1942: Asbeel manages to summon Tricky the Clown himself. He clowns around as a result, torturing V1 until growing tired of it and wrecking it with his Improbability Drive.}

...

{Retry 9000.}

{V1 grows +ENRAGED.}

{The elevator doors fly out of the wall, making their new homes in the wall adjacent. Asbeel is peppered by ice particles.}

{V1, unable to utilize illegal tactic after illegal tactic against Asbeel, doesn't have the slightest clue in Hell in how to defeat Asbeel. It's tried shooting into the cracks of their armor. It's tried to catch Asbeel offguard. It's tried cheating, for God's sake. Its motherboard is fried.}

{Asbeel looks up from their book.}

Asbeel: You look like V2. Having fun?

{The first time Asbeel's spoken in 1000 retries, followed by...}

{Asbeel looks to their crowbar. Many chinks line it, similar to Asbeel's armor, now ripe for destruction.}

{Asbeel looks to the machine. Steam flies off of its plating, its arms shaking as they bob up and down, its rage put into something tangible. The Nokia's pissed. Hah.}

{Asbeel assumes their armor won't last this time. They get off of the ice chunk, cracking their knuckles one last time.}

Asbeel: Your heresy will not be tolerated.

V1: YOU WILL NOT STOP MY CRUSADE A SECOND LONGER

{V1 launches coins into the air, Deadcoining one off of the wall behind it with the Whiplash, and Sharpcoining the other three into Asbeel with the Feedbacker. It prepares to Mal-Nuke Asbeel with its free arm and the Knuckleblaster.}

{Asbeel parries the Sharpcoin back into V1, knocked back 5 feet by the Mal-Nuke. They toss their crowbar into V1's torso, missing by half a foot.}

{A Whiplash head digs its way into Asbeel's shoulder, followed by a Slab Piercer + Marksman combo into their face, as well as a stomp for good measure.}

{As Asbeel attempts to reach for V1, it rips the Whiplash's head out of their shoulder, shoving magnets into their sternum and firing saws and nails galore into the archangel.}

{Asbeel responds by teleporting behind it, attempting to uppercut it with their crowbar, and failing.}

{V1 freezes a rocket in place, hitting it with a Malicious Railcannon, and following up with The Funny S.R.S. + Shotgun + Sharpshooter Combo.}

{Asbeel stumbles over onto their ass. V1 leaps onto Asbeel, triple-wielding the Revolver variants with their right arms and digging into the fallen angel's helmet with the free arm.}

{As Asbeel attempts to swing again, V1 FINALLY destroys a significant chunk of armor: the chestpiece, through a point-blank Overpump explosion. This reveals the carapace underneath, naturally, adorned with glowing religious tattoos and long-dried blood, recently mixed in with the fresh stuff.}

{V1 finishes Asbeel off with a Railcoin, directly through the heart.}

{Asbeel crumbles to their knees. V1's +ENRAGED state wears off.}

{Built to be unstoppable, the most feared archangel in Heaven - before Gabe - clenches at the fresh hyper-heated hole in their chest. Their own milleniae-long +ENRAGE brought to an end, Asbeel's previously red-hot armor is brought to a cold, dark and dull lapis.}

{...They take a breath, and softly speak their last.}

Asbeel: you... fight quite well. despite the damage, you immediately develop new strategies to destroy me... and it only took you nine thousand attempts.

{They take another breath.}

Asbeel: congratulations, V1. you truly are the toughest opponent i've had in years. may your legacy be remembered and feared by all, as gabriel's has.

V1: WHAT ABOUT YOU

Asbeel: why do i matter? it's your story, is it not?

V1: V1: I SUPPOSE SO V1: ONE QUESTION HOWEVER V1: WHERE DO YOU GO WHEN YOU DIE V1: WE'RE ALREADY IN HELL

Asbeel: ...no one's ever told me. i'll have to figure that out for myself. Asbeel: i'd also like to point out that you're the only being to ever hear my voice. tell me, before i die... what do you think?

V1: WELL V1: YOU SOUND LIKE A BASS GUITAR WAS GIVEN LIFE V1: IF THAT MAKES SENSE

Asbeel: huh... interesting.

{...The corpse collapses to the ground. Their wings have disappeared.}

{V1 takes a knee, checking Asbeel's pulse.}

{...}

{...Finally.}

{V1 stands up, heading to the exit elevator... only to find that there is no hole. They were right: this is the bottom of Hell. Only way out is up.}

{Thank fuck for the actual platform.}

{V1 stands onto the elevator platform, presses the button, and finally leaves the bottom of Judecca.}

{TIME: 42,536:59:14 | F}

{KILLS: 1 | S}

{STYLE: 1,546,354 | S}

{OVERALL RANK: D}

{SECRETS: [No.]}

{CHALLENGE: [Parry Asbeel's crowbar.] | YES}

#v1 ultrakill #asbeel ultrakill #VIOLENCE

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jungle-fowl · 2 years ago

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Amazing blog about Ultrakill, as the last time! It's really great to see someone actually reading the terminals and lore of the game, since it's usually overlooked because of the gameplay, I also want to point some things that really lift Sisyphus for me. 1. Sisyphus army According to the book found in 4-2, "We have lived in the shadow of Heaven long enough to forget the taste of fear. Now the Sisyphean Insurrectionists prepare for war [...] our King Sisyphus knows such pacificity will gain no favor from our cruel captors. He knows that one can only fight power with power, and he shall lead us to freedom." —Written by a, insurreccionist, perhaps? Sisyphus is spoken as a great leader that gave them hope for the future. And, in the terminal data of Prime Sisyphus it says:

"The failure of the insurrection was no surprise however, and few knew that better than Sisyphus himself. He knew he was fighting a losing battle, that even if they miraculously survived this encounter, they had no chance of winning a full scale war against all of Heaven. Yet he thrust his full heart and soul into battle with a wide smile on his face.

To him, fighting an impossible battle with full knowledge of its futility and taking joy in just the act of resistance itself is the ultimate rebellion against the oppressor. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Sisyphus knew that they were all going to die in that fight, but still, he didn't told them. They were completely unaware that their victory was impossible. Sisyphus basically send them to death. Even if Sisyphus could enjoy that, the rest of them didn't, the rest of them completely believe that he was leading them to their freedom. He wasn't.

I don't know a lot about greek mythology nor Sisyphus, but isn't this something that Sisyphus would do? He constantly manipulate gods and people to his advantage. Sounds like it would also fit in his characterization! There's also something else I want to point out from Ultrakill's Sisyphus, that it has one of the biggest wills. And will in Ultrakill it's a very deep rabbit hole. I would want to enter in detail, but I don't want this post to be extremely long. In a nutshell, Sisyphus is a prime soul. That's already special, but Sisyphus is even more special than that.

Will in Ultrakill is the biggest power of all. Gabriel survived both encounters because of sheer will, the will to revenge and after that, the will to understand the world of God. The Sisyphean Insurrectionists are alive also because of their spite and anger. Leviathan was formed out of anger, suffering and eternal drowning. Emotions, or better said, Will, creates power in Ultrakill. Sisyphus not only managed to survive death by beheading (something that Minos didn't receive!), it also has the power to INMEDIATELY start forming the Prime Soul. Sisyphus suffered from millenia, growing out anger, suffering but, specially, Will. Will to fight battles that he knew he wasn't winning. Will to challenge God and the heavens, even if the victory was impossible. That's why Sisyphus is stronger, and his soul is bigger than Minos. Sisyphus is, from the moment, the second biggest show of will in the entire game. The first one is a big spoiler because most people don't know it, since it was obtained in the secret encrypted messages of Tenebre Rosso Sangue.

But seems like Hell itself out of will managed to became a sentient being, this means that robots like V1 or V2 could also develop sentience. Will is so powerful that even unanimated things gain life. The entire layers of Greed and Wrath are deeply exploring how will can affect the world, and I think Sisyphus Prime is an amazing demonstration in the game about how it. It's one of my favorite characters of the game because of the implications it has. Amazing blog, again! Hope you like my answer

ULTRAKILL's Greek Folklore references (2)

Aaaye remember this post? Let's say Sisyphus already came out as a boss and I have quite a bunch of stuff to talk about. I'll focus only on him since everything else was covered in the previous essay.

Just like in the previous essay, BEFORE YOU GO DOWN this is, to no one's surprise, filled with spoilers. While it's true that lore in this game is secondary, if you wanna learn it by yourself when playing it, then save this reading for later. ULTRAKILL is avaible at Steam, it's filled with blood, but it's still a masterpiece, me thinks.

· Small Introduction:

There's many people out there who have already talked about everything that reminds them of the Divine Comedy regarding the game, besides the fact that it takes inspiration in DMC too; but almost no one seems to notice the details that reference Greek folklore, and it's true that they are not THAT important, most likely i'm just imagining references in places where there are actually none, but this is what brainrot does to a girl who- well, is a classical philology student lmao. So wether they are true or not, i'll still will write this thing down or else i'll explode with my thoughts.

· ULTRAKILL's King Sisyphus:

"King Sisyphus has acted in secret until now, amassing an army whose strength and numbers swell, but now there is no need to hide anymore. We have lived in the shadow of Heaven long enough to forget the taste of fear. Now the Sisyphean Insurrectionists prepare for war.

❝ I have heard of Minos beginning a peaceful revolution, but our King Sisyphus knows such pacificity will gain no favor from our cruel captors. He knows that one can only fight power with power, and he shall lead us to freedom.❞

^ Text from a book found in the second level of the Greed Layer.

If you remember Minos' lore, Minos instead decided to do a peaceful revolution, building his own shenanigans in the Lust Layer, but Sisyphus didn't think the same way; he decided to do a revolution too, but it was anything but peaceful.

❝ The Sisyphean Insurrectionists were an army of Husks gathered and trained by King Sisyphus for overthrowing Heaven's control of Hell, freeing the sinners from their eternal torment. […]

Upon the establishment of the Council and subsequent return of peace to Heaven, Gabriel and an army of angels were sent down to crush the insurrection and subjugate Sisyphus' army.

Although their battle was well-fought, the inexperienced Insurrectionist could not match the educated strategy of the angels, who quickly descended upon King Sisyphus with great force, eventually overpowering and killing him, leaving the Insurrectionists without a chain of command.

Left scattered and disoriented, the warriors were easily picked off one by one, their bodies cut apart, leaving behind only the bare essentials to carry on their eternal punishment of hauling heavy boulders up the monuments of mankind's arrogance and greed.

Although the blood of their enemies still stains their bodies and their grasp still clutches their fallen foes, their will and fierce fury only serve as mental torment in knowing how close they were to freedom.❞

^ Terminal data of the Sisyphean Insurrectionists in the game

The Insurrectionists mantain Greek Sisyphus' original punishment, carrying a rock up to the top of a mountain ( n the game, a pyramid) that will eventually fall down again.

(Greek amphora of Sisyphus pushing the rock in the Underworld, meanwhile, Persephone watches over him, making sure that he does not try to avoid his punishment. [Yes the dick is out.])

Now, more interesting details… Greek King Sisyphus wasn't that much liked by the gods since he, wellp, cheated death a couple times and... Screwed up a lot of times too. For context:

(Apollodorus - Bibliotheca) He murdered his guests, which was seen as extremelly horrible since one of the main important things in Ancient Greece was hospitality. And a king who murders his guests isn't that good of a host.

They sent Death (Θάνατος [Thanatos]) to catch him for this main reason. But Sisyphus tricked him and captured him. And since Death being captured meant no people dying, Ares then went to go and stop Sisyphus.

Knowing he was gonna be killed, Sisyphus asked his wife to not give his corpse a proper funeral, and instead to throw him away. After this, he lied to the gods and manipulated them, telling either Persephone or Hades (or both) that his wife disrespected him by not giving him a proper funeral, and they allowed his soul to go back to his corpse.

After Sisyphus had died of old age, is when his punishment starts. He commited so many crimes and yet, the way he felt was never spoken. Even blind and old in the Underworld, he would continue his punishment.

Greek Sisyphus was thrown into the Underworld with a punishment and Greek Minos was turned into a Judge of the Underworld; in this game, Minos' corpse is still used as some kind of Judge… More or else, as I said before. Meanwhile, Sisyphus corpse isn't used at all, it is just imprisoned, with no head, even. Perhaps that has something to do with the Greek Sisyphus being punished instead of turning into a Judge of Hell, or similar, like the Greek Minos was?

Oh, by the way, unlike Minos being blind being due to him being a Judge and Justice is blind; Sisyphus was blinded by greed, so he literally is blinded by gold. Just like how the Greek Minos was a Judge as well, and Greek Sisyphus was a greedy king who killed guests in his palace in order to get their goods, a violation of guest-obligations in Ancient Greece.

❝ To him, fighting an impossible battle with full knowledge of its futility and taking joy in just the act of resistance itself is the ultimate rebellion against the oppressor. ❞

^ Terminal data of Sisyphus' Prime in the game.

"Ah… So concludes the life and times, of King Sisyphus. A fitting end, to an existence defined by futile struggle. Doomed, from the very start. And I don't regret a SECOND of it!" — Sisyphus Prime final lines after being defeated by the player.

Both Greek Sisyphus and ULTRAKILL's Sisyphus are cunning, in Homer's Iliad he's described as the most cunning of the greeks, before Odysseus takes that title. (And, fun fact, Odysseus is considered Sisyphus' son by many tragedy authors! If you remember my other ULTRAKILL essay, you'll remember how I considered the Wrath layer to be an Odyssey reference). In the Odyssey, Sisyphus' punishment is described, but we don't exactly know how he feels. Does he feel regret? Does he not? We can suppose that he does, since that punishment is... Yeah, tiring. But those are just assumptions, so, who knows, perhaps he does not regret anything, just like ULTRAKILL's Sisyphus.

It's true that ULTRAKILL's Sisyphus is most likely based on later-on depictions of the myth, philosophical interpretations and such, but that's not my job, I just ramble.

In any case, Greek Sisyphus even tricked the divine, and ULTRAKILL's Sisyphus fought the divine.

In the end, we can't see none of the two Sisyphus' faces during their punishment, and yet... ❝ One must imagine Sisyphus happy.❞

#“Hell mass” seems to also create life #according to Idol's terminal #perhaps they are both the same #God couldn't unmake the hell because of its will #maybe the hell is the spite and will of all dead beings #Hakita is ready to explode our minds in Act 3 #Reblog #Love your work!

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sophieakatz · 6 years ago

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Thursday Thoughts: What if Abraham Refused to Sacrifice Isaac?

I’ve been watching Xena: Warrior Princess with my boyfriend, and enjoying it a lot. Xena and Gabrielle’s adventures mostly focus on Greek mythology, taking new spins on the stories of Hercules, King Sisyphus, and Helen of Troy. However, on a few occasions, I’ve seen my own people’s mythos played with.

In one episode, it’s ultimately revealed that the mysterious chest Xena’s been chasing contains within it a stone tablet with the phrases “thou shalt not steal” and “thou shalt not covet” on it – though the people Xena returns the chest to are never said to be Jewish, that is the natural conclusion.

And in a later episode, titled “Altared States,” Xena comes across a family facing a conundrum. A father has been ordered by his god, “the one true god,” to sacrifice his son.

Now, the son’s name is Icus, not Isaac. And he has a nasty older brother who gives the story a heaping spoonful of Cain-and-Abel/Jacob-and-Esau vibes. And there’s a lot of ambiguity about which of this god’s commands are actually divine, or are a human pretending to be a god.

But the basic structure remains: an ostensibly benevolent god tells his devoted follower, a patriarch, to sacrifice the son he loves. The climax even takes place on top of a mountain, on a stone altar. And – spoiler alert – at the last minute, the god relents and the son is spared.

This episode got me thinking about a question I saw posed in an online discussion of Torah a couple years ago, but hadn’t thought much on since:

What if Abraham had refused to sacrifice Isaac? If he had defied G-d, how might that change both this specific story and the way we think about religion?

In case you aren’t familiar with the story of the almost-sacrifice of Isaac, here is a very short version (based on the Torah translation found here):

G-d tells Abraham, “Take your son, whom you love, and offer him to me as a burnt offering.” And Abraham goes to do so.

Along the way up the mountain, Isaac notices the lack of a lamb for the sacrifice. He asks his father about it, and Abraham replies, “G-d will provide a lamb.”

Abraham and Isaac set up the altar for the sacrifice. Abraham ties Isaac up and reaches for the knife.

Suddenly, an angel calls out for Abraham to stop: “Do not harm the boy, for now I know that you fear G-d… and G-d has sworn that because you did not withhold your son from me, He will bless you and your descendants.”

And then a ram shows up and Abraham sacrifices the ram instead of his son.

Every story in the Torah serves as an allegory, from which we derive lessons for how to live our life today. The moral of this particular story, at least as it was presented to me in Sunday School, is that we should put faith first. I was taught that G-d was testing Abraham, and that Abraham passed the test by being willing to do whatever G-d said, even kill his only son. We should therefore put faith above all else, even when it’s hard.

That’s the stance that Icus’s father takes in “Altared States.” Even though he is clearly torn apart inside by the decision, and both Icus’s mother and Xena are telling him not to go through with it, he is determined to show his son that “faith is [not] just for those times when it’s convenient to believe.”

But what if that wasn’t the moral? What if Abraham said no?

It wouldn’t be out of character for Abraham to disagree with G-d. In an earlier story, Abraham outright haggles with G-d about the fate of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (Torah translation here). Abraham gets G-d to agree that if there are just ten righteous people living in the city, then He will spare them all. “Far be it from You to do such a thing,” says Abraham, “to kill the righteous with the wicked.”

In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham doesn’t just go along with what G-d says should happen. He tells G-d, “This is not who you are; this is what you should do instead.”

Arguing with G-d is practically a Jewish tradition. The name Israel literally refers to one who “wrestles with G-d” – it was given to Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, for fighting with an angel.

One of my favorite jokes is about three rabbis arguing about a law, one on one side and two on the other. Then G-d Himself comes down from heaven to declare that the one rabbi is correct – and the two rabbis reply, “Alright, so now it’s two against two.”

We respect G-d, of course. But we hold Him to the same standards as we hold ourselves: to be open to debate, to strive to improve, to be a good person.

The sacrifice of a child sounds more like the kind of thing a terrible warlike god would ask for, not the monotheistic G-d, who is generally portrayed as loving. At one point, in a moment of reluctance, Icus’s father cries out, “Our god is a benevolent master!” But he does not follow that train of thought to its logical conclusion: “So he wouldn’t, or shouldn’t, ask me to do this.”

In the Torah, Abraham doesn’t follow this train of thought, either. He doesn’t show any sign of thinking much about G-d’s demand at all. But he could have.

What if Abraham had responded to G-d’s order regarding Isaac in the same way as he responded to the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah? What if he had said, “Far be it from you to demand the life of an innocent child, the child you promised me!”? What if he had said, “I will sacrifice myself before I lay a hand on my own son!”? What if Abraham, lying on the altar himself with the knife poised towards his own neck, was then told by the angel to stop – because the real test was whether Abraham would do not the obedient thing, but the right thing?

It would change the moral. It would not be a story of thoughtless faith, but of morality, of sticking to one’s principles even when those who are supposed to guide you falter.

It would bring this story in line with the standard Jewish practice of questioning authority, of asking why, of finding a better way to live.

It also would line this story up with the rest of the Torah. Yes, it’s full of laws, especially in the last few books. But the first book, Genesis, the book where we find Abraham and Isaac, is full of people going against what is demanded or expected of them, by G-d or tradition.

G-d says that Abraham will have a son by Sarah; Sarah doesn’t believe that this will happen, so she encourages Abraham to have a son with her servant Hagar instead. Cain kills his brother and lies about it to G-d. Jacob deceives his father and steals the blessing intended for his brother Esau. Tamar disguises herself and sleeps with her father-in-law to create an heir for her dead husband. And right at the beginning is perhaps the most famous instance of disobedience of all time: Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree forbidden to them by G-d.

Sometimes the disobedience ends poorly. Adam and Eve are kicked out of Eden, for instance, and Cain is branded a murderer.

Other times, the Torah indicates that the disobedience is approved of by G-d. Jacob is decisively rewarded for sneaking away with Esau’s birthright, going on to literally father a nation. Tamar gives birth to twin sons, a big double-thumbs-up from G-d. Hagar learns that her son Ishmael will father a great nation of his own.

My point is that if Abraham had said no to G-d, and refused to kill Isaac, then he would be in excellent company. It would make Abraham’s behavior more like what we see in the rest of Genesis, and more like the rest of us Jews, too. We don’t always do what G-d says. And G-d seems to be more or less okay with that, as long as what we do results in a more just, peaceful, and prosperous world.

Which makes me wonder – do we actually have the “sacrifice of Isaac” all wrong?

What if G-d didn’t want Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?

Note that it is not G-d Himself who stops Abraham from killing Isaac, but an angel, who relays G-d’s message. At other times, even at the very beginning of this chapter, G-d is perfectly willing to show up and speak directly to Abraham. But in this instance, He has someone else go instead. Why is G-d, in this moment where he ostensibly approves so much of Abraham’s behavior, suddenly distancing Himself from Abraham?

Perhaps we have the test all wrong. Perhaps, by going along with what G-d commanded, Abraham failed the test – and now G-d is off hanging his head in shame.

Perhaps G-d was actually trying to see whether Abraham would continue to question G-d, as he did for Sodom and Gamorrah. Would Abraham stand up against G-d not only for strangers, but also for his own family?

Turns out, he wouldn’t.

And so G-d realized that Abraham was not yet ready to hear a message that perhaps we are now ready to understand: that sometimes disobedience is the right thing to do. Perhaps G-d wants us to protect each other first, and obey second.

#judaism #torah #genesis #abraham #isaac #sacrifice of isaac #thursday thoughts #analysis #d'var #dvar #d'var torah #dvar torah #social justice #xena #xena warrior princess #xena: warrior princess

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thermodynamic-comedian · 7 months ago

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HAHAHHA YEESSSS THE PROPAGANDA IS WORKING

the game doesn't really explore the idea of hell being alive beyond just "yeah it lives" BUT. the ultrakill FANDOM is absolutely full of conceptums (and objectums in general i mean. why do you think I'M here lmao) so you WILL find fanfiction about that idea.

v2 IS very huggable, unfortunately she will try to kill you. and yes, v1 x v2 is another very popular ship!! their shipname is v4v, which is incredible.

the ferryman IS hot you're so right. and also very tragic and sad. and cute!

gabriel is the main antagonist of act I and act II. his lore is kind of bonkers crazy, but not as bonkers crazy as most of the machines'. so very basically (and based on what i remember) the archangel gabriel was chosen by the council as a knight of sorts after god left (another aspect of ultrakill lore: god is gone. unsure wether he's dead or just an absent father. our absent father who art not in heaven lmao.) and he's generally very respected and liked in heaven. the ferryman is also a big fan of him! mostly because he's the only one who actually. cares about the ferrymen and their struggles.

gabriel killed king minos (ruler of the layer of lust) after he realized that minos had stopped punishing the denizens of his layer (because minos does not view lust as a sin), and trapped king minos' soul in its prime form inside a thing known as the flesh prison.

gabriel notices you, v1, being a general menace all over hell and decides "no the fuck you don't" so he tries to kill you, but (spoilers!!!) if you defeat him once, the council punishes his failure by taking away the father's light. this means gabriel will die within 24 hours. this 24 hours is the act II of ultrakill, "imperfect hatred", which ends with another battle against gabriel. this time, if you win, gabriel seems...conflicted. even happy. he's experiencing something completely new. and act II concludes in a cutscene of gabriel reflecting on everything, coming to the conclusion that god is gone, and killing the council.

oh also i'm pretty sure the only characters that actually talk in the game are gabriel, minos prime (who's a secret boss fight), and maybe sisyphus prime (another secret boss fight)? i'm unsure, not very deep into the sisyphus lore lmao.

anywaysss here's the video !!!!

youtube

your first mistake was giving me the green light on rambling about ultrakill

THE LORE OF ULTRAKILL HEAVILY SUMMARIZED:

mankind is dead. blood is fuel. hell is full.

THE LORE OF ULTRAKILL ONLY SLIGHTLY LESS SUMMARIZED (still very summarized and i might get some things wrong):

during ww1, various countries involved began developing machines that ran on blood. each new machine created was meant to be stronger than the last one. in the end, this led to the creation of the earthmover by japan, which was an absolutely giant machine. so large that people started living on top of them. before the war ended, only one machine was created, though it never got a chance to fulfill its purpose of defeating the earthmover: this machine was called v1, and its unique ability was to heal upon contact with blood from any source. when the war was over, a different version of v1, named v2, was created for the purpose of keeping peace. these are v1 and v2.

now, eventually, humanity discovered an entrence to hell. don't question it. also hell is a living organism.

then, somehow, humanity died. all of it. everyone was dead. and all that remained were the machines they'd created.

in ultrakill, a first-person shooter video game, you play as v1, and your goal is simple: blood. you just want more blood. and you are in hell. so you start ultrakilling everybody. it's also based on dante's inferno, so that's fun.

in the post i made, i said alice is like v2 to me. this is mostly because v2 is an important character, but not a very powerful boss fight, and alice is a very lore-relevant character, but not very high up on the corporate ladder. but also because v2's purpose was to maintain peace and order, but she didn't get to fulfill that purpose. everyone died. v2 is, even though she never admits or acknowledges it, very possibly the only machine with the capacity to truly miss humanity. idk why, but that reminds me a lot of alice dyer. make of that what you will.

now. the other character i mentioned is THE FERRYMAN. THIS GIRL->

basically ferrymen are sinners from the layer of wrath deemed worthy of redemption by heaven. they're tasked with carrying passengers through the afterlife. another fun bit of ferryman lore is that they all tear their skin off from shame, but heaven grants them a holy cloth to cover their faces. pretty simple, yeah? but this one looks a bit bored. probably because she was promised she could go to heaven if she carried enough passengers, but...no more passengers are coming through. because humanity is dead.

the ferryman is considered a slightly more difficult boss fight, or maybe just one slightly later in the game than both v2 fights (you fight v2 twice), but you can actually literally just. pay her to leave. toss some coins at her and you can literally just skip the fight.

i can't articulate why she reminds me of lena but. she does.

so anyways all of this and i haven't even gotten to gabriel. there is so much lore. there's an excellent video explaining all of it that i can send a link to if i've caught ur interest with this.

oh also a lot of people ship v2 and the ferryman.

oh also neither of them canonically go by she/her pronouns but it's a very very common headcanon, and i'm pretty sure hakita (the developer) gave a shout out to the she/her v2 headcanon specifically at some point.

I LOVE ULTRAKILL I THINK ULTRAKILL IS REALLY COOL!!!!!

okokok. several thoughts.

this seems so fucking cool????????? to the point that I might play it when I can get it

thoughts on shipping v1 and v2? cause from what you've said they sound quite shippable to me

if hell is a living organism, is it like,,,,consenting?? to be entered????? does it have a personality?????? that might just be my conceptum tendencies but,,,,,is hell like a character in itself (sort of)?? (the question here is can I romance hell or not, and does hell enjoy being entered)

if it's based on Dante's Inferno I already know I'm going to like it

v2 sounds extremely huggable. can I hug her?

and you're right that 'being the only one with the ability to miss humanity' gives Alice vibes for some reason

ferrymen sound so sad to me. can I hug them? and give them a little skincare?

the ferryman concretely is hot. is that alright to say? she sounds very interesting to talk to (do ferrymen talk? does anyone here talk?)

well everyone you've mentioned so far is hot to me tbh

who's gabriel? please please please send me that link I wanna know about them now. I've always had a complicated relationship with every archangel gabriel based thing/character (I have very passionate feelings towards biblical gabriel for some reason) so I'll probably love them

but yeah ultrakill sounds pretty cool! I'll probably look more into it in the future

#Youtube

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