Dr. Ratio and Lygus are brothers. Hear me out. Spoilers for 3.5 obviously
Shoutout to you. Thank you. Youāre not even a Ratio fan and you understand him better than 90% of the community does.
Yes, Ratio would absolutely agree with Lygusās feelings towards Nous and if you disagree with that you donāt understand him.
However, itās his methods and the cruelty Lygus exhibits in attempting to free people from Nousās imprisonment that Ratio absolutely would not fuck with (which again, this person gets YAY)ā¦
ā¦which is why I think Ratio is also a segment of Zander. And that at the end of Amphoreus, heāll kill himself and the other segments while doing a big fuck you to Nous.
Hear me out.
Firstly, this shit
Ratio pookie bear why is the omega symbol there in your school notes. I canāt read Chinese and Iāve heard some people say it has something to do with Veritas Primeās name but like⦠why is it there. Are you telling us heās HSRās best bred bottom or are you telling us his dislike of Nous goes beyond just wanting other people to not want to follow that Path (or any Path, for that matter).
We learn from Lygus (although Iām gonna be honest⦠looking back at the 2.6 Unknowable Domain Update, and the 3.4 As Iāve Written Update weāve known this since then, he just says it explicitly in the main story) that Geniuses are all trapped by the Erudition due to the determinism set by Nousās calculations, whoās Lygusās/Zandarās (although heās just 1/9 segments) creation, which are literal Instants in the Universe, ones that canāt be avoided, thus Lygus wants to kill THEM to rid the world of a predetermined future and let knowledge be free again, to escape that cave which everyones trapped in, even if it means destroying the universe in the process..
..except itās a little more complicated than that.
And thereās one sole character who challenges all of his assumptions + the path heās walking down.
Patavia Adler Sommerville, aka a Member of the Council of Mundanites (and Polka Kakamonds #1 booty cal- *gets shot*), Dr. Ratioās successor, and the Fucking Reason Amphoreus Exists In The First Place.
YEAH. You heard me right. Lygus hates her ass for it too. āPuny scholarā oh youāre furious she affected Nous more than you ever could.
Okay really- TLDR if you didnāt read Unknowable Domainās first half (please do itās some of HSRās best writing), Patavia discovered the heart/core of the Scepter System (all while Polka was stalking her the whole time), got the opportunity to ask Nous about something new and thus crown herself as Rubert 3, however she hesitated due to self-doubt and instead asked to understand everything already known, Nous obliged, causing every Scepter to shove all the known knowledge of the universe into her brain, frying them all and shutting down the system for good, as well as dropping the iconic āMundanites cannot become Geniusesā line which I will get to because itās extremely important.
Now, this system shut down Patavia sparked is what caused Nous to stop giving commands to Scepters- thus allowing for Lygus to take over Amphoreusās scepter, switch its calculations from Erudition, thus leading to the nightmare hellscape planet we all know and love.
A glorious butterfly effect, and you know whoās character is centered around that-
-Polka Kakamond! Who was also stalking Patavia for her whole life.
āMundanites cannot become Geniusesā but Polka dedicates her time to murdering Genius Society members who step outside the circle of knowledge in a way that messes with Nousās calculations, thus throwing off their predetermined path for the universe. Lygus likely knows this, hence why he Polka-proofed the planet as his improvements on Irontomb absolutely count towards that Iād imagine.
However, this raises the question⦠why was Polka watching Patavia her whole life then? If Mundanites cannot be Geniuses- if their actions cannot sway the fate of the universe- then why follow her?
Well, itās because they CAN. Predeterminism is a prison Lygus trapped himself in. Not only did Pataviaās actions cause an unknown butterfly effect to lead us here, but that was her CHOICE as well. Her self doubt- her unwillingness to pursue Erudition to its very end- is what might cause the end of Nous itself.
And itās because she cares about the other people ātrapped in the cave.ā She wanted to understand everything already known for the sake of the present rather than some distant starry future. Thereās a text in game which I canāt find right now, but it compares Mundanites and Geniuses, stating that Geniusesā intellect may be sharp, but a Mundanites is broad.
It made me realize that Patavia is far from the failure her fellow Intellegencia Guild members saw her as- she simply asked too difficult a question.
Let me put it like this; whatās harder?
Trying to discover a new species of butterfly (what a Genius would do), or understanding the intricacies of every single one currently known to man (what a Mundanite would).
Youād obviously pick the second one, and Patavia made the same choice, hence why she couldnāt comprehend all that information because no matter how intelligent you are, her human brain doesnāt possess the processing power for that shit. I think she could have become a Genius had she believed in herself, and chosen to ask something new (even if that would lead to Rubertville)
Donāt believe me?
Well then, I have one more question (trust me Iām going somewhere with this I just need to lay the foundation).
Why was Polka following her?
āYou already asked that.ā Kind of. I asked from the perspective of the viewers with the information we know now- that Pataviaās actions ultimately led to this shitshow.
Polka Kakamond likely didnāt know that- otherwise sheād probably be here by now. I will address the other conclusion which is that she does know and she in fact wanted Patavia to fail in order to free the universe of Nous- hence why sheās not here yet for some reason- in a minute.
From Polkaās perspective, itās most likely that she was stopping another Rubert from coming into existence, as even if trapped by the Erudition, the calculations one can produce as Rubert can still discover things that push the boundaries of the Circle of Knowledge. Therefore, if it was truly impossible for Patavia to become a Genius, there would be no reason for Polka to follow her throughout her life, especially to the heart of the Scepter System (unless sheās got a crush or somethi- oh god spare me plea-).
Rather, again, it was Pataviaās CHOICE not to go down that path, aka the universe ISNāT predetermined- itās just people like Geniuses⦠people like LYGUS, choose to operate within its framework.
Or, thereās the other possibility- she followed Patavia to ensure she did shut down the Scepter System to then lead to the creation of Amphoreus. This would kind of reframe everything we know about Polka- considering how she DESPISES butterfly effects and random chance- (which again goes against determinism, if this universe were truly trapped, Polka wouldnāt need to kill people), but Iām going to lay that down for now and get to the real conclusion of this baseline + self indulgent tangent-
-that being; Lygus does not hold a monopoly on how to free oneself from Nous.
A Mundanite cannot be a Genius- therefore they cannot be trapped by Nousās pre-determinism, because the self-improvement they desire for themselves and others require so much knowledge and growth and delving into things other than the Erudition to the point where even the Scepter System- an extension of Nousās thought itself, cannot provide it for even just one person and remain intact. Thus, the decisions of a person acting within what is already known are much harder to determine as theyāre not searching for the same, new things Nous is- theyāre trying to understand the meaning of whatās already there. Nous defines knowledge- but THEY cannot control what people choose to do with it.
So finally, FINALLY, weāre getting back to Dr. Ratio.
As Pataviaās successor, and the supposed āGeniusā of the Council of Mundanites⦠a name which will become awfully suspicious in a short bit- he already has plenty of grounds to appear in this story (omg itās almost dead horse beating time) since someoneās gotta deal with the consequences of Pataviaās actions- and the playable guy to inherit her position makes the most sense. This began with a Mundanite, so it should end with them, as stories usually go.
However, beyond fulfilling that typical arc, Ratioās also got many other reasons to get involved with this- like his aforementioned dislike of the Erudtion in the first place. If weāre getting an arc where the main villain wants Nous dead and buried for how they mislead people⦠but we also have a playable character who, despite not being insane about it, shares similar sentiments⦠and they donāt show up? A missed opportunity would be an understatement for how stupid that would be.
And⦠it seems like the game agrees.
DEAD HORSE TIME AWWW YEAH.
This Cosmoddesy event is going to be my best man at my wedding with Castorice.
Anyways, this stupid glorious thing released in 2.1 (that Iāve been going insane over for more than an actual fucking year at this point) was gifted to us by Sparkle, who, supposedly, according to her hi3 collab can actually influence the way stories in these games develop. Fun!
This is also the first mention of Amphoreus in the story of HSR anywhere. Thanks Sparkle!
Hereās the things in this that have already happened.
A) A āDivine Mechaā and member of the Genius Society ā This is most likely referring to Lygus, its most definitely about Zandar, however itās what comes after it that makes it complicated
B) During Amphoreusās āAeonic Ageā āļø
Well, we havenāt heard of that. However, Lygus implies that in 3.6 and 3.7, the different paths aka Aeons are going to start fighting over things⦠therefore I believe this āAeonic Ageā will be mentioned in the next patch or two; and will refer to this
C) āimmersive theatrical showā ā + āļø
Weāve experienced an immersive theater already! (Lygus sending us to go through Phainonās memories), and it also seems like he refers to the story of Amphoreus itself in that. However, this mysterious āspecific locationā and the events of the show itself (which youāll see) havenāt happened yet, at least not in the way the Cosmoddesy tells us. Phainonās does not play out like how this does.
D) Our āDivine Mechaā sends a āwoman adorned with a strange plaster cast headā to help us. āļøāļø
HMM. I wonder who that could be.
Who in this game wears a plaster cast head. Itās a mystery.
Anyways, definitely not a stand in for Dr. Ratio lady then proceeds to teach the Trailblazer how to act. Definitely not like a certain professor. And if we fuck up and arenāt genuine about the Choices We Make
E) Definitely not a stand in for Dr. Ratio lady says his follow up attack voicelines twice
Piss her off well enough and she even throws the head at you.
However, if you succeed, and IMPROVISEā¦
F) she gifts you a āmutually assured destructionā button.
One of these bad boys.
āSeemingly triggering the complete annihilation of the other button holder, along with the entire Penaconyā
Hey. Dr. Ratio. The āPenaconyā in this situation is obvious⦠but whoās the other button Holder?
Could it be him, perhaps?
Could Ratio possibly be another one of Zandarās nine segments? And that the ending to Amphoreus- how we truly defeat Lygus- is Ratio sacrificing himself to kill Lygus and the other remaining segments (hence why I was wondering if the āDivine Mechaā is Lygus specifically, or another Zandarling).
Yes, Ratio gives it to us, the player- but why does he even have it in the first place. Moreover, in this event, Lady Greenday (mysterious plaster head Dr. Ratio stand in woman) is a masked fool just like Sparkle, and a subordinate to her screenwriterness as a playwright. Theyāre KIN.
Continually, this would fill so many gaps in Ratioās backstory- like how we donāt even know if he has parents, or what planet heās from, or like.. anything to do with his culture. His lack of connections would make sense if he was never originally his own person, and instead a segment of Zandar. Interestingly, this could also mean Nous never gazed at him, not just because he doesnāt stride the path of Erudition- but because he was technically ALREADY a Genius by being part of Zandar. That āself-deprecatingā laughter he let out could have been at the fact that heād never escape the fuss of being stuck within Nousās calculations- within Zandarās legacy.
Well, until he gave up on that and became a Mundanite. Stepping out of the cave he and Lygus both despise.
Ratioās done the one thing Lygusās arrogant ass has refused to do this whole time- TALK TO THE OTHER PRISONERS. Learn how the cave itself works rather than yearning to understand the world outside of it. Freeing himself from that hunger Lygus has inflicted upon himself, uncaring of whether the one who creates the shadows cares about it or not. A predetermined future will not impact or prevent him from making choices to better his and others lives⦠therefore the cave isnāt a prison to begin with.
He acknowledges everyoneās worth and is not willing to throw away their lives for a future universe theyāll never get to see- one that might even end up the same way. Lygus is no different from Nous in the way that he traps the Chrysos Heirs in their own predetermined fates, and I wholly expect Ratio to call out this hypocrisy of his if this does happen. How can Lygus expect a future universe to not fall to the same fate if the vehicle that creates it is based off the very same thing heās trying to prevent in the first place?
Ratio also desires a world without paths, and I believe he wouldnāt be opposed to Nousās fall- just the consequences that would be brought about if it happens, hence the strange relationship displayed in that Cosmodyessy event.
Either way, they have some sort of connection, and I canāt wait for that to be explored.
I hope this made some semblance of sense⦠my rants are understandable to me but probably pure insanity to anyone not in my brain. Thanks for reading/hearing me out anyways!
Ratio being a segment of Zandar could make this story more relevant as well:
Ratio creates a machine, then seems to regret creating it due to the harm it causes. A direct parallel to Zandar creating Nous.
Things Zandar has created: Nous, the Genius Society, Imaginary Tree Theory, defining the Primum Mobile āwith incorrect logicā, Amphoreus and its residents, and the 9 Zandar segments. Seeing as how he regrets making at least half that list, Iād be willing to bet regretting his creations is an ongoing theme of his.
Now, this could just be a parallel between 2 separate characters. But damnit OP I think youāre onto something.
















