Remnants Notes for Chapter 11

I said a lot on things concerning this chapter that were talked about last notes section. So I'll be quick about this. Mainly because I'm not in the best of moods right now, but mostly because there is little to talk about that isn't spoilers.

So there is a heavy horror aesthetic here, as many noticed, but really the big objective here was to pair off certain characters and see how they interact. As well as introduce a few more ancilliary characters I can bring in for future scenes so I actually have a better supporting cast. I've been meaning to give more batarians and jackals proper names. But it just took until now to make it a reality.




Revtok for example was in a chapter of BBR, he was easy. I meant to bring him into the story sooner, but due time constraints I never got around to it. I really wanted to insert him but the chapters were already bloated enough. So I found a place to do it here.

The big revelation was what had brought down the Dauntless in the first place. And it's a bit of a teaser for events yet to come further down the line. Mainly it was just the best explanation I could come up with for why Promeatheans were here, even if they were just Crawlers. It also allowed me to illusrate how desperate and devoted the Forerunners were to their cause. How much they were willing to sacrifice to protect the Galaxy. How little they valued their own lives in service to a greater responsibility. I'm not trying to praise them too much here, it's just me illustrating how important these relics are if they were willing to kill themselves and become AI just to protect this one object.

Having the female squad members bond a bit was also nice. Plus I was able to go further into Taq's motivations. She's more than just in it for the money. She likes the money, but there's more to it than JUST money. There's more at stake overall for her. I suppose it might seem weird that she got away without being executed or anything, but I think excommunication is a harsh sentence for anyone in a religious society. Especially for civilians. Within the military, imprisonment or death makes a certain degree of sense. But I don't think even the Covenant would kill you for saying things they don't agree with. They'd just publically shame you, like the old Pilgrim colonies did. Taq weathered that and moved on with her life from there doing what she wanted to do in the first place.

The big thing in this chapter though was Shepard and Varvok's confrontations finally coming to a head. In a way, this was a bit more personal. We've all had time we've come to blow with other people, those we like and those we don't. I think our slightly more wired society has made it less face to face, but we do encounter it. And I think when it does happen face to face it becomes more visceral. I've had my share of arguments, I never feel good after any of them. I feel more angry at myself and have an increased desire to see things mended.

I translated that to here in many cases. Where Varvok and Shepard finally just admit to each other why they don't like one another. It leads to some hurtful places, eventually blows are exchanged. In the aftermath, it only made sense that at this point Shepard would realize he's let this go too far. So this opens the chance for them to actually start working with one another. To actually start respecting each other as soldiers and not just tolerating one another. This is certainly not the end of things, but it is the point where both characters need to start moving forward with their relationship. They now understand that their fighting will not help anyone and that whatever animosity they have between each other needs to be worked out.

Not an easy feat. But they're willing to try.

Well, that's all I can do without spoilers. Join me for the next chapter which will hopefully come out much sooner than this one did.