#It's the black hole kod

[butterflydm]

structural overhaul for TGS-AMoL

spoilers through a memory of light (all the way to the ending)

Instead of doing the same sort of evaluation that I did with the Jordan books, I am going to propose a different structure for the final three books, one that I've been working on as I've been going through my reread.

There are a couple of big changes to fix things that felt like plot holes/character issues but I tried to keep all the major milestone points. The bulk of the changes that I would suggest are in ToM but there are a handful of significant elements for both TGS & AMoL. This post is only covering the Sanderson books, taking off from the end of KoD.

The Gathering Storm

Rand's storyline in TGS stops after the aftermath of Natrin's Barrow, holding the rest for ToM.

Parts of Perrin's plotline from ToM get moved to here, including some of his wolf-dream training so that it feels a bit more spread out. Maybe end his storyline here with him going into the 'fear dreams' of other sleepers for the first time. Cut out all the Whitecloak infighting and etc. that we had at the beginning of ToM, though. Begin Galad's part of the story with him running into Basel Gill.

Cut out Hinderstap entirely, starting Mat's storyline with him searching out the mystery woman who ends up being Verin (this will save us a tiny bit of page space in AMoL as well).

Include Mat's ToM chapter where he encounters the gholam again in Caemlyn and then have Mat and Elayne reunite in this book, holding the rest for ToM.

Pretty much all of Egwene's TGS plotline stays intact, except for not having her epilogue where she sees the light from Dragonmount.

Everything else basically as written.

Towers of Midnight

Start with ruthless!Rand meeting with Egwene, as opposed to zen!Rand. Ruthless!Rand still has all the same motivations about wanting to succeed at the Last Battle, and this means that they can have more genuine friction, because Rand really will be Not Doing Well.

The remaining parts of Perrin's storyline stay in ToM (though the bit where he and the wolves watch Rand on Dragonmount is either cut or placed as part of the epilogue to the book), so that would be the results of the trial, making his new weapon, facing Slayer, accidentally helping Egwene.

Have Mat give into his curiosity and open the letter from Verin. Mat leading the charge to prevent Caemlyn from being invaded would be an excellent reason for everyone to trust him with the armies in AMoL and not having Caemlyn be invaded would save us some page time in AMoL, leaving room for more character moments. And it can still be turned into a frantic series of events that requires tactical knowledge, since there would still be a Darkfriend betrayal of the guards, etc.

Egwene is gathering forces to potentially face either the Last Battle or ruthless!Rand. Because Rand is Not Doing Well, she isn't having everyone and their cousin reassure her about Rand's state of mind.

If Rand isn't involved in cleaning up the Black Tower anyway, then it's fine for it to happen while he's still ruthless!Rand, so give this storyline to Nynaeve. Suggestion: the trigger is Nynaeve going to Myrelle to get Lan's bond, since Myrelle is literally right outside the Black Tower. This way Nynaeve gets to be involved in the Black Tower clean-up, and is one of the primary PoVs about the events there, which would help it feel more connected to the rest of the story.

Then we move into the Rand & Tam scene, Rand nearly kills his dad and then runs away.

Mat goes to the Tower of Ghenjei and saves Moiraine, placed in-between Rand's lowest moment and his epiphany.

Rand on Dragonmount. The original "Apples" chapter from the start of this book is the epilogue, maybe also including Egwene looking out and seeing the light on the mountain.

Everything else basically as written.

A Memory of Light

The important zen!Rand scenes (telling the Aiel he's ready to meet his toh, weeding out the Darkfriends, apologizing to his dad; saving Ituralde; meeting with the Borderlanders) take place early on in AMoL. This is mostly a single chapter in ToM, so it won't take up too much page time, lol. I would also strongly suggest some or most of these scenes being in Rand's PoV rather than Min's. It was a huge mistake to have the readers shut out of post-epiphany Rand's thoughts.

Mat goes with Moiraine to Merrilor; Moiraine is the key to getting Egwene to believe that Rand has really changed from ruthless!Rand to zen!Rand, because of how Rand reacts to seeing that she's alive. It's hard to believe that Rand is hard as a stone when he's weeping all over Moiraine's shoulder.

Mat finds out how worried everyone is about the Seanchan attacking them from behind while they go after the Dark One and volunteers to go to Fortuona to bring her another potential peace treaty (this is when he tells them about the marriage). This is the biggest actual 'plot' change. Reasoning as follows:

While I understand that Sanderson needed an excuse to get Mat to Ebou Dar to impregnate Tuon as per the Jordan-written epilogue, I am not impressed by the way he chose to handle it. And my way solves the problem of: when would the Emond's Field Five get to reunite. Because 'never' is actually a terrible answer.

This also means that when Mat goes back to Ebou Dar, he's not being a deserter from the Last Battle (which is completely counter to Mat's characterization! His main heroic character trait is "grumbles about it but does the right thing anyway" -- abandoning your friends and the fate of the world to go hang out with the slavers who have invaded your continent isn't 'the right thing' in any circumstances). He'll genuinely be trying to help both sides in a good way and not a slaver-apologist way. It doesn't fix Mat's face-heel turn in CoT & KoD but it helps it make a bit more sense, I think, especially if Mat actually tries to stand up against Tuon demanding everything and bargains her down to the terms the Westlands have agreed they're willing to live with. Just... giving their marriage an actual narrative purpose would be nice and make their subplot feel like more than just a distraction from the main storyline.

It also would actually make logistical sense and Mat wouldn't magically teleport down to Ebou Dar while managing to magically summon his horse from Merrilor. Two things that he cannot actually do.

And then we continue on with AMoL mostly as written. Because of earlier cuts, we can cut the Hinterstap & Caemlyn assault sections, which should free up some time to find in the Rand stuff as suggested above, as well as accommodating Mat being at Merrilor. In general, I would say cutting down on some of the battle portions of the Last Battle would be fine; like @markantonys mentioned to me in my reread posts -- do we really need three separate duels between Demandred and A Great Swordsman?

Minor characterization fixes that I would also suggest:

Fortuona: the main suggestion that I have about her isn't actually 'for' her but for Mat (and Min) -- maintain the complicated way that Mat was thinking about her in ToM rather than cutting Mat off from his past loyalties at the start of the book. This would be easier once he's going there as a negotiator rather than a defector, as per the suggested changes above. For Fortuona herself, I do think that it's too late to try to shoehorn any significant character development in (it needed to begin in CoT & KoD, when she was away from her powerbase, if it was going to happen), so I think Sanderson made the right call there, but not taking Mat backwards at the start of AMoL would be good, as would not having Min just instantly give Fortuona the same exact kind of special treatment that she gives to the savior of the world and the man she says that she loves (Rand). It is, frankly, just weird how quickly Min folds herself into the Seanchan hierarchy and even when Mat starts questioning the slavery system again (finally), we never see Min doing that in her own PoV -- she has unspecific criticisms about the Seanchan Empire but never thinks about them clearly even in her own thoughts.

Nynaeve: Beside the big Black Tower plotline shift, she should not find out that Elayne is pregnant in ToM. It adds nothing to the story except bafflement when she proceeds to say goodbye to Rand very soon after and not only doesn't say anything to him but doesn't even think about it. After her thoughts of horror about how Min and Rand are shacking up without being married, she should have SOME big feelings about how Rand is having kids with Elayne without being married to her.

Tam: should already know about Elayne when he reunites with Rand and meets Min, since Perrin talked about how Elayne was planning to marry Rand while Tam was still with his people, so Tam should mention her to Rand and/or Min. Minor comedy element to serve as a moment of breaking the tension of prepping for the Last Battle! Explaining Min's viewings and/or Aiel relationship customs to the dad! Also, have Tam get 'introduced' to Elayne & Aviendha as well. It's so weird in AMoL when Tam and Elayne treat each other incredibly formally even though Elayne has announced that she's pregnant with Rand's kids. Basically, actually deal with people finding out that Rand has multiple girlfriends, rather than everyone acting like a memo was sent out that read: "Dragon Reborn dating three women: be cool about it and please don't have any emotional scenes".

Aviendha: have her leave for Rhuidean BEFORE the Semirhage attack in TGS. Her distance before that is explainable, if frustrating, but having her still stay away from Rand after that happens just feels bizarre and infuriating. This also means that her Rhuidean chapters can happen earlier in continuity, and she can come back to the main storyline sooner.

Unfortunately, the issues with both Perrin and Mat's characters are deeply embedded by this time, since they were focused on so much in CoT & KoD, but I would suggest, as mentioned above, that having Mat personally take an active role in protecting Caemlyn from invasion and then leveraging his marriage to actually be useful in AMoL would both work wonders, because as it is, the only person who gets anything useful out of the Mat-Tuon marriage is Fortuona, while Mat just gets weighed down with liabilities.

Though a lot of that goes back to one of my core issues with the Seanchan, which is at play in both the Jordan and Sanderson eras -- the only reason they are as effective as they are is because the narrative and our protagonists keep helping them (ex. the Wondergirls not telling all their allies the sul'dam secret and not making it public knowledge -- especially egregious with Elayne, who knows what she wants to do to undermine the Seanchan and has plenty of motivation to do it but just... doesn't bother???; Mat just aimlessly bumbling around with Tuon for two books; Perrin choosing to reach out to the Seanchan for help when Faile is kidnapped instead of sending one of the Asha'man back to Rand to see if he can help, since at that point Perrin has actually completed his secret mission for Rand and technically has Masema with him, etc). So when the narrative then goes "ah Our Heroes have no choice but to ally with the slavers", I immediately go, "yes, you did have choices, you just inexplicably chose not to do those things". The narrative never successfully sold me on the lack of choice for our protagonists, because it was just too easy to see the Hand of the Author(s) protecting and shielding the Seanchan from the natural narrative consequences of their actions.

So, that would help with Mat. IDK how to help with Perrin's characterization. That's a mess. It's possible that it might feel less like Perrin did a pay-to-play instant upgrade of his wolf abilities if it's spread out over both TGS and ToM, though. With the Whitecloak stuff... it's just so hard for me to care about Perrin getting ~closure~ for killing two Whitecloaks knowing that he gets away with selling two hundred women into slavery. Perrin and Mat are the two characters who were most broken by the Slog, but Mat is much easier to rehabilitate than Perrin (and tbh Sanderson was mostly doing a good job with it until Mat's off-the-page face-heel turn in AMoL) because the puzzle pieces are all there for Mat to have a good story; while Perrin was basically just an empty frame that had to be filled in from scratch. I do think (again agreeing with @markantonys) that instead of him napping for a large portion of the Last Battle, that he should have had Elyas's place in rallying the wolves for the fighting (and maybe delegate some of the TAR stuff to the Wise One Dreamwalkers, who get pretty underused here).

Egwene should be fine once we've adjusted Rand's structure to have ruthless!Rand last longer. There's nothing wrong with the majority of her plotline in these books; it's just that her behavior would make more sense if we were still dealing with ruthless!Rand.

Min: having her and Mat be instantly familiar with each other was definitely a shortcut to shift her into the Seanchan plotline but it is such a glaring plothole. They barely know each other! They have maybe met once, back at the very end of book 2, when Mat was desperately sick from the dagger. Her memories about him should be the same as Uno's ("always snapping at people, eyes sunken in his head. Half-dead, half-spoiled"). The only things they would really know about each other are the things that Rand has told them about each other. Yet Min is able to instantly 'recognize' Mat's 'signature hat' despite him not getting it until book 4 (I guess Rand must have really been obsessed with Mat's fashion and explained it to Min in detail!).

Basically, Mat and Min treat each other with the familiarity that Min and Perrin should have with each other (from the winter they spent together between 2 & 3). Fixing Mat's storyline would definitely help this, as he and Min would get to 'reunite'/meet with all Mat's friends present to vouch for him.

Min also immediately being all about Fortuona is a story beat that feels like it dismisses Min's personal experiences with the Seanchan, having helped rescue Egwene from slavery back in Falme. So… write that differently, lol.

Otherwise, I would put some of the skipped reunions and emotional moments actually on the page: Mat's reunion with the rest of the EF5 I covered above (aka, it should have happened), but Sanderson should also have kept the cut scene about Aviendha, Elayne, & Min making bridal wreaths for Rand or another scene where we actually get to see them (or ideally them plus Rand) all together; we should have actually seen Elayne & Gawyn reunite (they have not seen each other since... book 3? I'm pretty sure not since book 3); we should have had Rand's ACTUAL reaction to finding out that Elayne is pregnant and not having it happen off-screen and just referenced in his narration (we see both Nynaeve's and Mat's reactions to Elayne's pregnancy but not Rand's? wtf!); seeing Egwene & Gawyn's marriage seems like it would have been more relevant than seeing Morgase & Tallanvor's, etc.

Overall, fewer battles, more character moments.

Yes, it's the Last Battle but it's also the last book with these characters and they deserve their emotional send-off as much as just a narrative/plot one. That's my general feeling. There's a lot in the last three books that I like, but there are also some very strange choices and while "we were trying to preserve Jordan's bits of completed writing as much as possible" can probably explain some of the odd beats, I doubt it explains all of them.

#wot #wheel of time #wot book spoilers #wot spoilers #the gathering storm #towers of midnight #a memory of light #mat cauthon #rand al'thor #egwene al'vere #nynaeve al'meara #perrin aybara #wot reread #because it all came out of thoughts as I did my reread #i was originally going to post this wednesday #but then we got the news that the trailer will be coming out #so that's where my brain will be tomorrow

[apod]

2017 February 16

The Tulip and Cygnus X-1 Image Credit & Copyright: Ivan Eder

Explanation: Framing a bright emission region, this telescopic view looks out along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the nebula rich constellation Cygnus the Swan. Popularly called the Tulip Nebula, the reddish glowing cloud of interstellar gas and dust is also found in the 1959 catalog by astronomer Stewart Sharpless as Sh2-101. About 8,000 light-years distant and 70 light-years across the complex and beautiful nebula blossoms at the center of this composite image. Ultraviolet radiation from young energetic stars at the edge of the Cygnus OB3 association, including O star HDE 227018, ionizes the atoms and powers the emission from the Tulip Nebula. HDE 227018 is the bright star near the center of the nebula. Also framed in the field of view is microquasar Cygnus X-1, one of the strongest X-ray sources in planet Earth's sky. Driven by powerful jets from a black hole accretion disk, its fainter visible curved shock front lies above and right, just beyond the cosmic Tulip's petals

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170216.html

[jensyao]

was not satisfied with the previous playlist so I made a part 2

...tried not to do duplicates. revisited stuff I haven't heard in years 

bonus: https://www.datpiff.com/Nas-Life-Is-Good-Mixtape-The-Prequel-mixtape.368508.html

https://www.datpiff.com/Crank-Lucas-The-Rapducer-rap-Producer-Unofficial-Mixtape.822375.html  

Name/Artist/Album "Shabba REMIX (Audio) ft. Shabba Ranks, Busta Rhymes, Migos"/A$AP Ferg/ Work REMIX (Explicit)/A$AP Ferg/ Don't Know What to Tell ya/Aaliyah/Aaliyah - I Care 4 U If your girl only knew (Dj Lennox Remix)/Aaliyah/Never Forgotten Ohio Streets/Aarophat/The Minority Report Terrorist Threats ft. Danny Brown & Jhene Aiko/Ab-Soul/ "Hustle Hard (Remix) ft. Rick Ross, Lil Wayne"/Ace Hood/ Moving at the Speed of Life (feat. Slug)/Aesop/"Legendary Music, Volume 1" Rap Fanatic/Afro Classics/"Legendary Music, Volume 2" Stick Up/Afu-Ra & Big Daddy Kane/Just Bring It! Jane Meets Chrissy/The Alchemist/Retarded Alligator Beats Bubblin/Anderson Paak/ Might Not (feat The Weeknd)/Belly/Up For Days RAW FREESTYLE/BIG DADDY KANE x KOOL G RAP/ DJ Mike Nice's Doo Wop My Niggaz Freestyle (Extended Version)/Big L/The Tommy Gibbs Collection: Disc IV - Outtakes Day One '99 (Live from Amsterdam)/Big L/We Got This / The Heist "John Blaze (feat. Nas, Jadakiss, Raekwon, Fat Joe)"/Big Punisher/Endangered Species "Wishful Thinking (feat. Fat Joe, Kool G Rap, B-Real)"/Big Punisher/Endangered Species You Ain´t A Killer/Big Punisher/Soul In The Hole Soundtrack Super Lyrical/Big Punisher/Clack Thought/Capital Punishment 10 2 10 Remix feat. Rick Ross & Travi$ Scott/Big Sean/ Fast Line (feat. Dr. Dre & Jadakiss)/Bilal/Masterpiece 03 Respek/Birdman/ Biz Is Goin' Off/Biz Markie/ Definition/Black Star/Rawkus Records: Best of Decade I 1995-2005 RE:Definition/Black Star Feat. Mos Def/Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek - Reflection Eternal (The Re-Union) Respiration/Black Star Feat. Mos Def & Common/Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek - Reflection Eternal (The Re-Union) Look Alive (feat. Drake)/BlocBoy JB/ First Things First/Blu & Exile/Below The Heavens "Hot Nigga remix Ft Fabolous, Jadakiss, Chris Brown, Yo Gotti Rowdy Rebel, Busta"/Bobby Shmurda/ "Never Scared ft Jadakiss,Camron,Busta Rhymes"/Bonecrusher/ "Some H**s (Feat. Bulletproof, Chino XL & Killer Mike)"/Bun B/II Trill (Bonus Tracks) None Of Us Are Free/Bun B/Kweli: Confidential - The Best Of Talib Kweli No Competition (Feat. Raekwon & Kobe)/Bun B/Trill OG: The Epilogue "You're Everything (Feat. Rick Ross, David Banner, 8Ball & MJG)"/Bun B/ Calm Down ft. Eminem /Busta Rhymes/ "No Problem (feat. Lil Wayne, 2 Chainz)"/Chance The Rapper/Coloring Book "How Great (feat. Jay Electronica, My cousin Nicole)"/Chance The Rapper/Coloring Book "Freestyle Over Raekwon ""Incarcerated Scarfaces"" Instrumental"/Charli Baltimore & Cam'ron/"The Mix Tape Volume 3: 60 Minutes of Funk, The Final Chapter" Let 'Em Live (feat. Kool G. Rap)/Chino XL/I Told You So KING CHI/Chino XL/ Kingdom (Remix) ft Vince Staples and Jay Electronica/Common/ "All Black Neighborhood Feat. Royce Da 5'9"""/Consequence/ Say My Name Feat  Papoose & Peedi Crakk/Consequence/ Bulletproof Feat Yelawolf Prod By J Rob/Cyhi Da Prynce/Royal Flush 2 Napoleon (Prod M16)/CyHi The Prynce/Black Hystori Projects Legend/CyHi The Prynce/ "I Feel Like Pac / I Feel Like Biggie ft. Meek Mill, Rick Ross, T.I., Swizz Beatz"/D JKhaled/ Day One/Diggin In The Crates Cru/Hip Hop #54 "BOYZ IN THE HOOD FT. MEEK MILL, PUSHA T, & TY DOLLA $IGN "/DJ Drama/ "My Way (feat. Common, Lloyd & Kendrick Lamar)"/DJ Drama/ "Same Ol' Story [feat. ScHoolboy Q, Cory Gunz, Childish Gambino]"/DJ Drama/ Wake Up Show Anthem/DJ King Tech/The Wake Up Show "Rosecrans ft. The Game, Candace Boyd, Problem "/DJ Quik/ The Message feat. Mary J. Blige & Rell (Prod By Lord Finesse)/Dr. Dre/The Underboss Files All Me (feat. 2 Chainz & Big Sean)/Drake/ 4PM In Calabasas/Drake/ No Apologies/Eminem/Eminem Presents: The Re-Up Campaign Speech/Eminem/ KILLSHOT/Eminem/ Lose Yourself (Original Demo Version)/Eminem/ Microphone (Tim Westwood Freestyle)/Eminem/ Renegede (ORIGINAL) ft Royce Da 5'9/Eminem/ "Detroit Vs. Everybody ft Royce da 5'9"", Big Sean, Danny Brown, Dej Loaf, Trick Trick"/"Eminem,"/ Symphony 2000/Epmd Feat Lady Luck and Method Man and Redman/Out Of Business Chief Of Staff (Feat. C-Dot)/F.L.O./Planet F.L.O. Nightmares Ain't As Bad/Fabolous/Friday On Elm Street Panda (Freestyle)/FABOLOUS/ F vs J Intro/Fabolous & Jadakiss/Friday On Elm Street Theme Music (feat. Swizz Beatz)/Fabolous & Jadakiss/Friday On Elm Street Ground Up/Fabolous & Jadakiss/Friday On Elm Street Soul Food/Fabolous & Jadakiss/Friday On Elm Street "Stand Up (feat. Future, Yo Gotti & Jeezy) [Remix]"/Fabolous & Jadakiss/Friday On Elm Street "Terminally ill (feat. Tech N9ne, Chino XL, KXNG Crooked, Rittz)"/Forever M.C./ New Day (feat. Raekwon)/Freddie Gibbs/The Coldest Nappy Heads (Remix)/Fugees/Blunted On Reality Fu-Gee-La (Refugee Camp Global Mix)/The Fugees/The Score 227. The Fugees - Ready Or Not/The Fugees/Top 250 of the Greatest Hip-Hop and Rap Songs Pt. 1 318. The Fugees - Fu-gee-la (1996)/The Fugees/Top 250 of the Greatest Hip-Hop and Rap Songs Pt. 3 Commas (Remix) ft. Rick Ross and Big Sean/Future/ March Madness ft. Nas (Remix)/Future/ "Move That Dope ft. Pharrell Williams, Pusha T"/Future/ "Same Damn Time (Remix) ft. Diddy, Ludacris"/Future / All Dogs Go To Heaven (R.I.P Nate Dogg) (Nate Dogg Tribute)/The Game/ Bang Along/The Game/ Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe (Kendrick Lamar Song Remix)/The Game/ Celebration Remix ft  Bone Thugs N Harmony/The Game/ Murder Feat  Scarface & Kendrick Lamar/The Game/ "Rollin' (Music Video HD) Ft. Kanye West, Trae The Truth, Z-Ro, Paul Wall & Slim Thug"/The Game/ Sauce/The Game/ Versace (Remix) [ Ft  Migos & Drake ]/The Game/ Above The Clouds featuring Inspectah Deck/Gang Starr/Moment Of Truth Family and Loyalty ft J Cole/Gang Starr/ Mind Playing Tricks On Me/Geto Boys/We Can`t Be Stopped The Champ/Ghostface Killah/Fishscale Nutmeg (Feat. RZA)/Ghostface Killah/Supreme Clientele Apollo Kids (Feat. Raekwon)/Ghostface Killah/Supreme Clientele Stay True (Deck’s Beat) (Feat. 60 Second Assassin)/Ghostface Killah/Supreme Clientele Malcolm/Ghostface Killah/Supreme Clientele Child's Play/Ghostface Killah/Supreme Clientele Cherchez LaGhost (Feat. U-God)/Ghostface Killah/Supreme Clientele Resurrection Morning feat. Raekwon and Bilal/Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge/Twelve Reasons To Die II "The Sun (Feat. Raekwon, Slick Rick & RZA)"/Ghostface Killah & Trife Da God/Put It On The Line Press Rewind (Remix - Bonus Track)/"Ghostface Killah feat. Big Stat, Bronze Nazareth & Agallah"/Ghost Files - Bronze Tape Cold Crush/"Ghostface Killah feat. LA The Darkman, Chris Rivers, Ras Kass & Harley"/Ghost Files - Propane Tape Flowers/Ghostface/Raekwon/Nuclear Warfare Dirty South (featuring Big Boi of OutKast & Cool Breeze)/Goodie Mob/Soul Food Swivel/Headnodic/First Takes Kawa no Nagare no Youni/Hibari Misora/ 以心伝心　松岡英明/Hideaki Matsuoka/ Playas Rock/Hurricane Chris/51/50 Ratchet Bad Dope/Ice Cube/Everythangs Corrupt Fire Water/Ice Cube/Everythangs Corrupt B-Boy Spacemen/IDE & Alucard/Uncovered Remains At Least/IDE & DJ Connect/Ideology STOP (feat. Q Da Fool)/IDK/IDK & FRIENDS :) Paranoico/iL' Cuervo/Campo De Maíz 04. Golpe De Estado/Immortal Technique/Fuck The Government EP Rich Man's World (1%)/Immortal Technique/ Cole Summer (Prod. By J. Cole)/J Cole/Truly Yours 2 Kenny Lofton (Prod. By Canei Finch)/J Cole/Truly Yours 2 Chris Tucker (Prod. By J. Cole  Co Prod By Canei F/J Cole/Truly Yours 2 Head Bussa (Prod By J. Cole)/J Cole/Truly Yours 2 Cousins/J Cole/Truly Yours 2 3 Wishes (Prod By Jake One)/J Cole/Truly Yours 2 The Reasons ft. Bobwire/J Cole/ The Sickness (feat. Nas)/J Dilla/The Dark Side of Lord Quas ATM/J. Cole/KOD Can I Holla At Ya/J. Cole/Truly Yours Crunch Time/J. Cole/Truly Yours Rise Above/J. Cole/Truly Yours Tears For ODB/J. Cole/Truly Yours Stay (2009)/J. Cole/Truly Yours Deja Vu/J. Cole/4 Your Eyez Only Crooked Smile/J. Cole/ Drank In My Cup/J. Cole/ Get Free ColeWorld/J. Cole/ High For Hours/J. Cole/ How High/J. Cole/ I'm A Fool/J. Cole/ Miss America Reprise/J. Cole/ Return of Simba/J. Cole/ Thug Lovin' (Ft Bobby Brown)/Ja Rule/Exodus Wonderful (feat. R.Kelly & Ashanti)/Ja Rule/Exodus New York (feat. Fat Joe And Jadakiss)/Ja Rule/Icon Uh-Ohhhhh (feat. Merc Montana & Lil Wayne)/Ja Rule/The Mirror Sunset (feat. The Game & Stephanie)/Ja Rule/The Mirror 11 Caught Up/Ja Rule/ Put it on Me (Remix)/Ja Rule feat. Vita & Lil' Mo/The Fast And The Furious OST Ice Pick (feat. Styles P)/Jadakiss/Friday On Elm Street 04 Creating Governing Dynamics/James Horner/A Beautiful Mind 05 Old Ball Players/James Horner/Field of Dreams WIN/Jay Rock/Redemption I Miss U (Remix) ft Aaliyah/Jay-Z/Black Album (The Prequel) Marcy Me/JAY-Z/4:44 Dead Presidents 3 (Original)/jay-z/ PARTY LIFE INSTRUMENTAL/Jay-Z and Marvin Gaye/Brooklyn Soul Animal Rap feat. Kool G Rap/Jedi Mind Tricks/Jedi Mind Tricks - The Best of Jedi Mind Tricks [CD1] I Against I (Feat. Planetary)/Jedi Mind Tricks/Violent By Design Cold Summer (feat. Tee Grizzley)/Jeezy/Pressure Me OK/Jeezy/Seen It All: The Autobiography (Deluxe) beat 72 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ jensyao - test beat (256kbit)/Jensyao/ russian (256kbit)/Jensyao/ test beat 11 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ test beat 12 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ test beat 13 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ test beat 14 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ test beat 23 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ test beat 30 (256kbit)/Jensyao/ World Domination/Joey Bada$$/1999 Pennyroyal/Joey Bada$$/1999 King's Dead Freestyle (Kendrick Lamar Remix)/Joey Badass & XXXTentacion/ Houseshoes/John Jigg$/D.R.U.G.$ (Destined to Reach Undeniable Greatnes$) Bank Account (Remix)/Joyner Lucas/ DNA. (Remix)/Joyner Lucas/ Gucci Gang (Remix)/Joyner Lucas/ "ISIS Remix ft Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mac Miller, J. Cole, Logic"/Joyner Lucas/ Look Alive (Remix)/Joyner Lucas/ Mask Off Remix (Mask On)/Joyner Lucas/ Panda Remix/Joyner Lucas/ Oh My Lord (feat. Special Ed)/Junior M.A.F.I.A./Conspiracy Back That Azz Up (feat. Mannie Fresh & Lil Wayne)/Juvenile/400 Degreez Track 13/Kanye West/Kanye West's First Beats (Disc 1) All Day/Kanye West/The Life of Paul See Me Now (feat. Beyoncé & Charlie Wilson)/Kanye West/MBDTF: The Complete Collection Addiction (Kenny Dope remix)/Kanye West/Sky High: Presented by DJ Benzi and Plain Pat Yikes/Kanye West/ye Brothers ft Charlie-Wilson/Kanye West/ Famous Remix (feat. Rick Ross)/Kanye West/ Freeee (Solo CDQ OG Version) [Fresh Leak 2019 Yandhi]/Kanye West/ New Slaves/Kanye West/ 舟木一夫／高校三年生/Kazuo Funaki / The Only Nigga/Kendrick Lamar/Bad Kid Chill City (EP) Want In Life/Kendrick Lamar/Bad Kid Chill City (EP) HiiiPower/Kendrick Lamar/Bomb First County Building Blues (Bonus Track)/Kendrick Lamar/"Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City (Target Exclusive Deluxe Edition) CD2" Blow My High (Members Only)/Kendrick Lamar/Section.80 untitled 07 | 2014 - 2016/Kendrick Lamar/untitled unmastered. Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe ft. Jay-Z (Official Remix)/Kendrick Lamar/ Exclusive Freestyle w/ Big Boy/Kendrick lamar/ The Jig Is Up (Dump'n) ft Black Hippy/Kendrick lamar/ LOOK OUT FOR DETOX/Kendrick lamar/ "The Recipe (Black Hippy Remix) (Feat. Dr Dre, ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul & Jay Rock)"/Kendrick Lamar/ "U.O.E.N.O (Black Hippy Remix) ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul & Jay Rock"/Kendrick Lamar/ "Westside, Right On Time feat. Young Jeezy"/Kendrick lamar/ What the Deal/Kendrick Lamar/ Black Friday/Kendrick Lamar & J Cole/ Can't Fade Us ft. Ty Dolla $ign/King Los/ Ill Street Blues/Kool G Rap/ Honest Truth feat. 38 Spesh & AZ/Kool G Rap & 38 Spesh/ The Streets Of New York/Kool G Rap & DJ Polo/ Rapfilm/Kool Savas/ Life Of a Bandana/KXNG Crooked/ Professional Rapper (feat. Snoop Dogg)/Lil Dicky/Professional Rapper Family Feud ft Drake (DatPiff Exclusive)/Lil Wayne/D6: Reloaded Bloody Mary ft Juelz Santana (DatPiff Exclusive)/Lil Wayne/D6: Reloaded Dedicate/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Mona Lisa (feat. Kendrick Lamar)/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Took His Time/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Start This Shit Off Right (feat. Ashanti & Mack Maine)/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Demon/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Used 2/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Let It All Work Out/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V Better Get Em/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Famous Ft. Reginae Carter/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Form Good/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Glory/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Hoes Ft. Christina Millian/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Hush Hush/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) If I Don't She is Mine/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Just Chill Ft. Justin Bieber/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Life Of Mr. Carter/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Mona Lisa Ft. Kendrick Lamar/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Moral To The Story/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Mute Ft. Big Sean/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Never Really Mattered Ft. Birdman/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) No Brainer Ft. Flow/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Open Safe/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Outro C5 My Niggaz/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Poison Ft. Mikky Ekko/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Scottie Pippen/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Shake It/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Take It Slow/Lil Wayne/Tha Carter V (ORIGINAL VERSION) Believe Me Ft Drake/Lil Wayne/ Gotti (ft. The Lox)/Lil Wayne/ Hasta La Vista/Lil Wayne/ In This House (feat. Gucci Mane)/Lil Wayne/ Light Up ft Justin Timberlake/Lil Wayne/ Original Silence ft. Mack Maine/Lil Wayne/ She will Ft Drake & Rick Ross (Remix)/Lil Wayne/ Start A Fire feat. Christina Milian/Lil Wayne/ Velvet/Lil Wayne/ What About Me/Lil Wayne/ Lovin' It/Little Brother/The Minstrel Show Stay Schemin' Freestyle/Lola Monroe/ Phat Rabbit (Album Version)/Ludacris/Back For The First Time Southern Fried (Intro)/Ludacris/Chicken-N-Beer Wish You Would (Feat. T.I.)/Ludacris/Theater Of The Mind Last Of A Dying Breed (Feat. Lil' Wayne)/Ludacris/Theater Of The Mind I Do It For Hip Hop (Feat. Nas & Jay-Z)/Ludacris/Theater Of The Mind Drogas/Lupe Fiasco/DROGAS WAVE The Show Goes On ft. Lil Wayne & Drake /Lupe Fiasco/ SLR 2 (Kendrick Lamar Response)/LUPE FIASCO/ SLR 3 (Round of Applause)/LUPE FIASCO/ 恋の嵐/Mariya Takeuchi/ Mathematics/Masta Ace/The Falling Season 五輪真弓   心の友/Mayumi Itsuwa/ 恋人よ／五輪真弓（本人歌）/Mayumi Itsuwa/ No Church In The Wild Feat Rick Ross/Meek Mill/ Started From The Bottom [Freestyle]/Meek Mill/ Hot Girl Summer ft. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign/Megan Thee Stallion/ Panda Remix/Montana of 300/ なごり雪 - イルカ/Nagori Snow/ Not for Radio (No Diddy)/Nas/Nasir Bonjour (feat. Tony Williams)/Nas/Nasir Adam and Eve (feat. The-Dream)/Nas/Nasir Deja Vu/Nas/"Unreleased,b-sides,and Collabs" Not For Radio (Instrumental)/Nas/ Feel Me Flow/Naughty By Nature/Naughty's Nicest Shake Your Tailfeather/Nelly feat. P Diddy & Murphy Lee/Bad Boys 2 Soundtrack Chun-Li/Nicki Minaj/Queen Rich Sex (feat. Lil Wayne)/Nicki Minaj/Queen 槇原敬之 - どんなときも。/Noriyuki Makihara/ Gimme The Loot (Never Before Heard Uncensored Version)/Notorious B.I.G./Ready To Die (The O.G. Edition) The What (Feat. Method Man) (Original Version With Unheard Lyrics)/Notorious B.I.G./Ready To Die (The O.G. Edition) Breaking Old Habits Feat. Slim Thug & T.I/The Notorious B.I.G./ Time's Up/O.C./ Bring it On/Organized Konfusion/ Aquemini/Outkast/Aquemini "13th Floor , Growing Old"/OutKast/Atliens Elevators (ONP 86 Mix)/OutKast/Atliens 0 to 100 Freestyle/Papoose/ Freestyle ft. Canibus (Guerilla Monsoon Rap)/Papoose Feat. Canibus/DJ Kay Slay & The Alchemist Bust It Baby Pt. 2 (Feat. Ne-Yo)/Plies/ Grind With Me/Pretty Ricky/ Santeria ft. Kanye West (OG)/Pusha T/ The Story Of Adidon/Pusha T/ "Tick, Tock [Man With The Iron Fists OST] Raekwon / Joell Ortiz"/Pusha T/ What Would Meek Do OG (J Cole and Drake Diss) ft Kanye West/Pusha T/ Did You Ever Think/R. Kelly/R. [Disc 2] Revolutions Per Minutes/Reflection Eternal/Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek - Reflection Eternal (The Re-Union) World's Finest (Feat. Meek Mill & Kevin Cossom)/Rick Ross/Black Dollar Stay Schemin (Feat. Drake & French Montana)/Rick Ross/Rich Forever Don't Kill My Vibe (Freestyle)/Rick Ross/ "No Games (Remix) (feat. Meek Mill, Wale & Future)"/Rick Ross/ Often (feat. The Weeknd & Schoolboy Q)/Rick Ross/ Oyster Perpetual/Rick Ross/ Port Of Miami II Freestyle/Rick Ross/ White Iverson (Remix)/Rick Ross/ Beats Keep Callin' (Freestyle)/Royce 5'9/ Let's Take Them To War (Freestyle)/Royce 5'9/ Wait a Minute (Freestyle)/Royce 5'9/ windpipe/rza ft. ghostface and db/ghostface meets mf operation ironman disc 1 "Do What I Do feat. Nas, Rick Ross & Z-Ro"/Scarface/Deeply Rooted (Best Buy Deluxe Edition) Keep It Movin' feat. Avant/Scarface/Deeply Rooted (Best Buy Deluxe Edition) You feat. CeeLo Green/Scarface/Deeply Rooted (Best Buy Deluxe Edition) Mental Exorcism/Scarface/Deeply Rooted (Best Buy Deluxe Edition) Born Killer/Scarface/ THat Part (Black Hippy Remix)/ScHoolboy Q/ 赤いスイートピー - 松田聖子/Seiko Matsuda/ 輝いた季節へ旅立とう/Seiko Matsuda/ Brother (Watching)/Shad/The Old Prince Rose Garden/Shad/TSOL Still Can't Stop The Reign (feat. Notorious B.I.G.)/Shaquille O'Neal/You Can't Stop The Reign 昴 （谷村新司）/Shinji Tanimura/ "Street Talkin' - OutKast, Slick Rick"/Slick Rick/The Art of Storytelling Me & Nas Bring It to Your Hardest/Slick Rick/The Art of Storytelling I'm Back/T.I./No Mercy Watch What You Say To Me (Feat. Jay-Z)/T.I./T.I. Vs. T.I.P. Hurt (Feat. Alfamega & Busta Rhymes)/T.I./T.I. Vs. T.I.P. Motivation/T.I./Urban Legend ASAP/T.I./Urban Legend The Greatest (Feat. Mannie Fresh)/T.I./Urban Legend "Stand Up (Feat. Lil Jon, Trick Daddy & Lil' Wayne)"/T.I./Urban Legend I'M FLEXIN' (Remix) FT. BIG K.R.I.T. TWISTA & RICK ROSS/T.I./ Guerrilla Monsoon Rap Feat. Black Thought & Pharoahe Monch/Talib Kweli/Quality "Know Bout Me ft. JAY Z, Drake, James Fauntleroy"/Timbaland / SICKO MODE/Travis Scott/ASTROWORLD Rumble in the Jungle ft.Fugees & Busta Rhymes/A Tribe Called Quest/The Lost Tribes Scenario/A Tribe Called Quest/ ZIPLOC/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS OKRA/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS BRING IT BACK/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS ROSE TINTED CHEEKS/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS 435/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS CRUST IN THEIR EYES/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS GELATO/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS PEACH FUZZ/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS BRONCO/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS TIPTOE/"Tyler, The Creator"/THROWAWAYS POTATO SALAD/"Tyler, The Creator X A$AP Rocky"/THROWAWAYS The Game Belongs To Me/UGK/Underground Kingz 12/*unknown*/Japanese 2/*unknown*/Japanese 7/*unknown*/Japanese 9/*unknown*/Japanese "O Let's Do It (feat. Diddy, Rick Ross, Gucci Mane) (Remix)"/Waka Flocka Flame/ Poor Decisions (Feat. Lupe Fiasco & Rick Ross)/Wale/Maybach Music Group: Self Made Vol. 3 (Deluxe Edition) Tell Your Friends/The Weeknd/Beauty Behind The Madness The Hills/The Weeknd/Beauty Behind The Madness Initiation/The Weeknd/Echoes Of Silence Same Old Song/The Weeknd/Echoes Of Silence Call Out My Name/The Weeknd/"My Dear Melancholy," I Was Never There (feat. Gesaffelstein)/The Weeknd/"My Dear Melancholy," Reminder/The Weeknd/Starboy The Birds Part 2/The Weeknd/Thursday In Vein / Or Nah/The Weeknd/ Some Way ft. NAV/The Weeknd/ The Wings Of A Boy That Killed Adolescence/Yasuo Uragami/Gundam Wing Operation 1 OST I Don't Like Fairy Tales/Yasuo Uragami/Gundam Wing Operation 3 OST Around the World/Yo Gotti/I Still Am "OJ (Explicit) ft. Fabolous, Jadakiss"/YOUNG JEEZY/ リラの咲くころバルセロナへ/光GENJI/ G.O.O.D. Morning/2 Chainz/ "Spend It Remix (Feat. T.I. Rick Ross, Fabolous & Trey Songz)"/2 Chainz/ When We Ride On Our Enemies/2Pac/Better Dayz [Disc 1] Street Fame/2Pac/Better Dayz [Disc 1] Hold On Be Strong (Feat Stretc/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los Str8 Ballin (Feat Danielle Sen/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los How Do U Want It (Feat Fatal A/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los Me Against The World (Feat DJ/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los Let's Get It On (Feat Notoriou/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los Letter 2 My Unborn (Feat Wallen/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los Runnin (Feat Notorious B.I.G.)/2Pac/DJ Fatal Presents 2pac-The Los Troublesome '96/2Pac/Greatest Hits never call you bitch again/2Pac/Live Thug Luv 2/2Pac/Makaveli - Volume 8 [The Remix Album] 4 My Niggaz (Ft. Storm)/2Pac/The OG Project Vol. 3 Revolution (Feat. Busta Rhymes)/2Pac/Rap Phenomenon II Gunz On My Side (Feat. Busta Rhymes)/2Pac/Rap Phenomenon II 2 Glocks (Feat. Bounty Killa & Wayne Marshall)/2Pac/Rap Phenomenon II Baby Don't Cry (Feat. Wyclef)/2Pac/Rap Phenomenon II Me Against The World (Feat. Bun-B (UGK) & Brooklyn)/2Pac/Rap Phenomenon II On My Block (Feat. Scarface)/2Pac/Rap Phenomenon II Outta Control (Instrumental Remix Feat. Mobb Deep)/50 Cent/The Massacre (Instrumentals) Get In My Car (Instrumental)/50 Cent/The Massacre (Instrumentals) "Love, Hate, Love (Street King Energy Track #6)"/50 Cent/Street King Energy The Streets (feat. Bun B)/8ball & Mjg/Living Legends Shot Off (feat. Ludacris)/8ball & Mjg/Living Legends

[thesffcorner]

Dishonored Retrospective Part 11: Death of the Outsider Changes

My friends we have finally reached the end; Death of the Outsider. At the time of writing this, this is the final part of the Empire’s story; even if Arcane ever decides to revisit this world, the story that started with a man being marked by a demigod so he could save his daughter is over, and for the conclusion we are going up against that very demigod.

I will come clean with my bias immediately and say that I absolutely love this game. It’s my favorite in the whole series, both in terms of gameplay and story. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Story and Overview:

Death of the Outsider came out in 2017. It was originally planned to be an expansion of Dishonored 2, like KoD and BW were, but it ended up becoming a stand-alone adventure instead. In keeping with tradition, the protagonist has once again changed, and this time we play as Billie Lurk, right after the events of the second game.

It’s a new day in Dunwall; Emily has taken back the throne, the new Duke is ruling Serkonos and after 15 years and everything that happened in the previous game, Billie decides it’s finally time to find Daud. Inspired by nightmares in which she sees the Void and loses her arm and eye, she sets sail for Karnaca and docks at an abandoned carriage line near the Albarca Baths.

Karnaca has changed since last you saw it. Not only does it have a new Duke, but depending on what you did with Paolo in the last game, the Howlers are no longer the big bads around. They have been replaced by a new, much darker gang called the Eyeless, and these guys are heavy into the occult. The gang consists of a lot of different factions you’ve already fought before; Howlers, Witches and random thugs, which is fitting since the fall of both Paolo and Breanna have left a power vacuum on the streets of the city. This is also a handy way for the developers to reuse enemy models, while still keeping the story consistent.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the friendliness of both the Grand Guard and the regular City Watch. There are wanted posters everywhere for Meagan Foster, meaning that Emily was much less forgiving than she made it out to be in the last game. You will still want to avoid any official law enforcement, so it’s business as usual.

Enemies:

DotO continiues in the tradition of KoD and BW in that we have a few modified and few new enemies. First we have the City Watch, Grand Guard and Overseers, and for our gang quota we have the Eyeless. The first three are the same factions you have always fought, and as I mentioned the Eyeless are a joint group of some of the enemies you fought in Dishonored 2.

In addition we have some more Clockwork soldiers, though these guys are a nerfed version. They can’t see from the back anymore, and are much smaller, though they compensate for it with the world’s creepiest smile! I don’t know if I’d want to put my money in a bank that has psycho-robot guards that smile. 

For the new enemies we have the Blind Sisters of the Oracular Order, the Cultists and the Envisioned. The Sisters are the female counterpart of the Overseers who rarely leave the Abbey, but have done so now because of the whole the world is cracking and the Void is seeping through. You were introduced to them in the Royal Conservatory level of the previous game, but this is the first time you actually get to meet them. They are as, if not more dangerous than their Overseer brethren, and if I have one complaint about them it’s probably that they have no interesting abilities or powers. They are just female Overseers with swords.

The cultists are similar to the Eyeless, if the Eyeless were as, if not more fanatical than the Overseers. They are an odd mix of scholars and murderers, and their designs are quite cool in that their faces are starting to turn to stone. They also become invulnerable if they are alerted, though I’m not sure if this is a glitch or an actual ability. 

Their Envisioned cousins on the other hand, are possibly the toughest enemy to kill in these games. They are made of stone, and practically indestructible. They are the highest form of whatever the cult is trying to achieve; immortal, eternal and unperturbed by mortal affairs. The original cultists who killed the Outsider have now become Envisioned. 

Weapons, Powers, and Gameplay: 

For the weapons, Billie has even more variety than Emily. Like Daud, she uses a launcher instead of a crossbow and also like him she uses electric bolts instead of sleep darts. There are grenades, spring razors, sticky grenades, rewire tools, and stun mines and my new favorite weapon, the hook mine which can be lethal or non-lethal depending on how you use it. It’s pretty great option with some hilarious results.

The biggest and best change are by far, Billie’s powers.

 Like with Emily, the developers decide that Billie too should spend the first level powerless, but they learned their lesion and made the level much more appropriate in difficulty for an under-powered character. It doesn’t feel like you should be able to use your powers but can’t for some reason.

Once Billie does get her powers, (in a pretty gruesome way thanks to the Outsider), her arm and eye get replaced with pieces of the void. She now has the ability to zoom into things (Corvo style) and reshape her arm into a sword. She also gets 3 powers which can’t be upgraded by runes and deplete mana when used. They are: a version of Blink called Displace; a version of Dark Vision called Foresight; and an entirely new power called Semblance which allows Billie to steal the face of anyone around her and wear it for a limited amount of time.

Not only are these powers super fun to use, but they can also be used in conjunction with each-other to traverse the levels in very creative ways. For example Displace is a very interesting twist on Blink; it allows you to place a marker and then displace to it. You can’t place a marker behind an obstacle and if you place a marker where someone else is standing, they will explode.

Foresight is a bit like Eagle Vision from Assassin’s Creed; it allows you to mark objects and enemies, but it also lets you travel in spirit form through grates, holes and even fly. What’s more, it can be used in conjunction with Displace, where you can place a marker in spirit form and therefore circumvent locked doors and obstacles.

This isn’t to say that Corvo or Daud or even Emily didn’t have interesting powers, but unfortunately a lot of them were geared towards a more high chaos style of play. The game never really encourages you to explore these powers in a real way, with very, very few exceptions in the first game like having to use Bend Time to get out of the duel with Lord Shaw. With Daud and Emily especially, upgrading powers like Far Reach and Summon Assassin is pointless if you are paying low chaos, because they only make your powers MORE lethal instead of helping you explore the world in more fun way.

Here, not only can you not upgrade the powers (thereby rendering them useless) but also none of them are inherently lethal. You can use Displace like that if you want to, but that’s not its primary use. Moreover, the game has entire challenges designed around these powers and using them, so it actively encourages you to use them and get comfortable with them. It honestly made me want to replay the other games by exploring the powers even more than I had before because it’s so fun.

Mana is no longer a resource you have to collect or buy, but this time around bonecharms are more important, since Billie can’t upgrade her powers. I will admit that I never paid too much attention to bonecharms in any of the other games, other than for collection purposes; this is the first game in which I considered crafting and had to really think about which charms were better suited for what level.

Another change is the absence of Outsider Shrines. Since the connection to the Void has been severed for a lot of witches and occultists (and Billie doesn’t need runes), there are no shrines in the game. Instead the Outsider speaks to Billie through rifts in the Void, which thanks to her new magic eye she can now see. These take the same form as the rifts we saw in Crack in the Slab and can be anything from photographs to wanted posters. They also cause some funny contradictions which we’ll get to in the level breakdown.

Billie also has a heart relic, similar to the one the Outsider gifts Corvo in the first game, except hers it’s a gift from Deidre (implying that Deidre was some type of a witch?). It allows Billie to listen to and understand rats which is a neat power. They will often warn you about impending danger, secret passages and generally cryptic warnings.

Favours, Black Markets and side-quests are also back. Favors can no longer be purchased outright, but this time they are rewards for Contracts, which Billie can take on and complete. There are tons of these, ranging from the lethal to the non, with some rather hilarious ones like killing a mime or robbing a bank teller. They can be found on notice boards in the Black Markets and are a fun addition to the content that also ties Billie more to what Daud was doing in the DLC with the favors.

Speaking of Daud, he’s one of 3 returning characters, other than Billie and the Outsider. We also have a ton new faces, which we’ll go over in the level breakdown but I’ll just list them here: Jeannette Lee, Dolores Michaels, Eolina Rey, Euterio Cienfuegos, Shan Yun, Ivan Jackoby, Sister Rosewyn and Brother Cardoza.

One thing that I do like to mention now, is how much these games took leaps of progress in terms of diversity. If you remember the original game, it had like 5 female characters in total, no female enemies, and no poc. Fast forward to this game, and our lead is a bisexual, disabled black woman, the main villains are an overweight Asian opera singer, a bespectacled councilman and a black female bank-owner, and the enemies are roughly equally divided between male and female and consist of all different races, ages (and even body types). It’s truly commendable how much these games improved on that front.    

Level Breakdown:

DotO has 5 levels, and like always they are divided in 3 categories: city, combination, and single location levels. The Dreadful Whale makes a return as well, but it’s a more limited space than what it was in the previous game.

And with that, it’s time to go over the levels. Join me next time, when we discuss levels 1 - 3 and some of the more interesting story beats. 

part 10 < > part 12

#dishonored retrospective #dishonored doto #moni talks